Miss Bluebell Hope in Black – LoveIn Rewind
Prologue
Ireland, 5:00 a.m.
It was a very tempestuous night in North Ireland. Every light in the houses of Delany St. were turned off and everybody inside was asleep, not aware of the hell the rain was unleashing, including the members of the Brooke family. Except one. A girl was sitting on the edge of her bed in the room upstairs, staring at the wall blankly. Her name was Bluebell Hope. She was a beautiful and gorgeous girl, with long and straight wine-red hair. Her eyes were green, but sad. Her face held the ghost of countless tears. Bluebell Hope suddenly woke up from her state of utter depression and stood up precipitously from her bed and rushed to the wardrobe. She picked up the first clothes that she found and put them on hurryingly. She grabbed the rest of her clothes and packed them in a ball and into her suitcase. Bluebell was now downstairs, suitcase in hand, scribbling a note for her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Brooke. Then she was out of the door, into the storm. No umbrella, Bluebell didn't care about the rain. Bluebell didn't care about anything anymore. At the airport, Bluebell bought the first one-way ticket to London.
"Dear uncle and aunt, it's useless that I stay here any longer after what has happened. In the night, memories suppress me and I can't take it anymore. I decided to forget the past, and take my life into my own hands. It's not your fault, really, but I know that if I stay here I will not make it. So I decided to leave far away from here and never come back. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I promise. I love you guys, Blue."
"Wait For Me to Come Home"
-Ed Sheeran, Photograph
Three months after the Battle of Hogwarts
"Alohomora." The front door of Grimmuld Place 12 opened slowly inward and Harry Potter stepped in the house. The dust fell on his round glasses and he rubbed them clean with his shirt. The house was eerie in its stillness and dirty being. There were huge and extended spider webs in between the walls, the heads of the house elfs were still exposed, and the portrait of Mrs. Black was still hanging behind the filthy curtains. The spell of Dumbledore's face, that was meant to keep away Severus Snape, had been removed from the hallway. Harry closed the door behind him and admired the house that was now his. There was a lot of cleaning to do, that's why he had invited his friends Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville to come help him. After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry had stayed back with everyone to help rebuild the school and remove the bodies of the ones that had died fighting. Harry skipped lunch and sat down on the dusty couch in the living room, letting the memories overwhelm him. Those past months were very hard to live through, especially Fred's funeral. It was held in a small church near the house of the Weasley's. It had been very difficult, not only Harry had to be there for his best friend Ron and his girlfriend Ginny, but also for George, who was staring at his brother's coffin like it was his own dead body. Another more difficult thing to live through had been Remus and Tonks's funeral. This time it was Harry who needed his friends. He had lost his last chance to have any form of family. Of course, Harry suffered also for his poor godson, Teddy Lupin. Harry saw himself in the orphaned boy, because he, too, had lost his parents. Remus and Tonks were buried together, still hand in hand. Harry was interrupted from his sea of memories by a knock on the door. His friends had arrived. Together they cleaned the house without stopping to rest, and with a little more difficulty, they managed to remove the creepy collection of the heads of house elfs of the Black family, with the help of their magic. At the end of the day, Harry and the others sat down in the living room, sipping a refreshing Butterbeer and playing wizard chess. Ron is deep in an argument with Neville about Quidditch players, while Hermione is talking with Luna about Luna's unusual necklace, which held a small picture of a copy of the Quibbler. Ginny, however, approached Harry on the couch and put a hand on his shoulder, saying, "How are you doing, Harry?" Harry shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I don't know. It's weird being in this house after all that has happened." Ginny looked around the room to see if anybody was listening, and then she said in a low voice, "Are you thinking about Sirius?" When Harry didn't answer Ginny tried again. "Do you want to talk about it?" Harry inhaled deeply and started talking. "I don't know, Ginny. It's complicated. Sometimes I would like to be a normal boy, not the Boy Who Lived, not the Chosen One. Just Harry. I would like to be like Ron." Harry and Ginny turned to look at Ron, who was enthusiastically telling the story of when he and his family went to that family place in North England, and how fun it was. "I would, too, like to have a family to count on, but I was forced to grow up without my parents, in a house where no one ever loved me. After, when I met Sirius, I really believed that we would go to his house to live together. He promised me that when all this is over, we'll be a proper family…. I would like to talk about my family like Ron does about his. When people look at me, they see the Chosen One, not the son of the Potters. You know, even if it was pretty obvious, I never told anyone that…I wish that everyone that I've lost came back to life." Ginny rested her head on Harry's shoulder and whispered, "I know that I could never know exactly what you're going through, but remember that I'm here for you, and I love you. Always."
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, a peculiar stone, which was left there in the grass in a disastrous night, lightened up a silver colour that illuminated that special part of the forest.
Two weeks later – Ministry of Magic
Harry, Ron and Hermione were walking in the Auror hallway in the Ministry of Magic, talking eagerly about how they graduated to be Aurors. Ron leaned towards Harry to whisper, "Do you think we'll be allowed to put on of those muggle, what are they called, telepisitions in our office? You know, we could do a spell to watch Quidditch." Hermione heard Ron's whisper and smacked his arm with a heavy book. She said crossly, "For Merlin's Sake, Ron! They're called televisions and remember it's not only your office. By the way, they'd never let us put one of those in our office. Like if I don't see enough Quidditch already from you guys…" Harry looked at Ron with a half exasperated and half humored expression. "Hermione's right, Ron." Then Harry leaned into Ron to whisper, "We'll get discounts to go see Quidditch live." The Golden Trio stopped in front of a door in the Auror corridor that held three gold-metal tags.
H. Potter
R. Weasley
H. Granger
They looked at each other with a crooked smile and then Hermione twisted the handle and opened the door. "Woah." They whispered in amazement. Their office was huge. The walls were red and gold (the colours of Gryffindor house). There were three massive desks made of oak, with piles of paperwork on top of them. The walls held their certificates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There was one large window with the view below of the fountain in the center of the Ministry. Under the window there was a coffee table in between of two red and throne-like chairs. The place smelled of books and ink. There was also a fireplace with a pleasant hot fire burning inside. Their desks held name tags, too. Hermione's desk was in between the boys'. They each sat in their desks and started to check their papers and started to work. The afternoon light illuminated their office after a few hours of hard work. Suddenly, their door busted open and an enthusiastic Ginny came in the room, jumping with a piece of paper in her hand. "I've been accepted! I've been accepted!" Ginny screamed. Hermione was now out of her seat, jumping with Ginny. "Oh my God! I knew you could make it! Congratulations!" Harry looked at the girls quietly, waiting for an explanation, but Ron said, "Okay…what are you celebrating about?" Ginny ignored Ron's question and looked at Harry, eyes shining with joy. "I have been accepted to be the new journalist for the Daily Prophet." Harry stood up from his chair and said grinning, "I never knew you signed up to be a journalist in the first place." "I know, I know. But I never knew I could actually get accepted." Ginny said. Then she jumped in Harry's arms and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron stared at them annoyed. "Are you two done yet?" Harry looked at his best friend chuckling. Meanwhile, Ginny walked up to Ron and grabbed his left cheek, saying, "Aww, Ron. You're so cute when you're jealous." Ron slapped her hand away, frowning. "I'm not jealous, I'm just fed up of you two love birds always kissing in front of me. It's gross." Harry smiled. "As if you never kiss Hermione in front of us and whisper sweet nothings in her ear." Both Ron and Hermione's faces reddened. Half an hour after, they all head out of the office to the Weasley's, where Molly invited them for dinner, after their first day at work.
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Professor McGonagall was having her usual lesson of Transfiguration the second day of school, transfigurated in her cat form. She was sitting on the floor on top of two steps of stairs, her desk behind her, watching her students transfigurate rats into goblets. Suddenly, a gap of white luminescent light appeared under the two steps of the classroom and the light spat out a figure of a man with a long and silver robes, and white and lengthy beard. The old man staggered backwards, unbalanced, and tripped on the two steps behind him, collapsing on top of a bespectacled cat, smashing it. The cat let out a loud hiss and a huge and long, "MEAOWWWWWWWWWW!"
Villa Malfoy, Bexley Street
In an isolated street, in a small and melancholic town, there was the new villa of the Malfoy family. Inside, Draco Malfoy was sitting at the table of the living room, while his mother was giving orders to her house elfs. His father's office was on the right of the living room, and the door was enough opened for his son to see inside. Lucius Malfoy was drinking a bottle of whiskey, with his feet on his desk. His eyes were red and tired, his clothes ripped and filthy. Draco looked at his father disgusted. After Mr. Malfoy walked away from the Battle of Hogwarts with his family, they found this villa in an unknown town of wizards and witches and Draco's father fell in depression, after ruining his family's reputation. Draco spent his days in his room or downstairs, watching his father drink and ruin his life. Draco stood up from his chair and walked out of the front door silently. He walked in the ugly streets of the town, hands in pockets. Unexpectedly, he encountered a group of boys and men gathered around (Draco had to raise his head to see who was standing in the middle) a cute and innocent-looking girl, around Draco's age, who had her back to the wall. She had black and wild-looking hair, and big chocolate and puppy eyes. The men were walking closer and closer, complimenting her good looks. But the girl was cornered and scared. Draco pushed his way through the group and put an arm around the girl. "What are you trying to do with my girlfriend?" Draco dragged the girl out of the group and walked away from that street. They walked silently on the sidewalk. After a few minutes, the girl said, "Thanks." "Whatever, I was just trying to build my reputation." Draco said coldly. But the girl looked at him suspiciously, not really believing what he said. A few seconds later he asked, "Where is your house?" "I don't want to go home." The girl said quickly and alarmed. Draco peered at her, but didn't say anything. He started walking to the opposite side, alone. The girl stared at him walking away for a moment and then decided to walk with him. She was a little shorter than him, so she walked looking up at him. Draco noticed her staring at him but kept quiet, and kept walking. After a while, they arrived in a park and sat down on the grass to look at the sunset, silently. At first, Draco waited for the girl to go away, so he could be alone, but she didn't move. They sat together without saying a word, but it wasn't at all awkward. Draco decided that if he was alone, and the girl was also alone, they could be alone together. After the sunset, the girl finally spoke out loud, "It's late, I should be heading home." Draco nodded. The girl stood up, brushed off the grass from her pants, and turned around to walk away, but Draco's voice stopped her. Emotionlessly, he asked, "What's your name?" The girl turned around, beaming. "Astoria."
Hogwarts
The old man tried to stand up from Miss. McGonagall but fell back down in the process. The cat shrieked again, "MEAOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! FTZZZZZZ!" The man finally managed to stand up properly and the cat transformed in a full grown human of a very angry and confused Professor McGonagall. She massaged her back and then looked at the mysterious man for some minutes. She then realized who the man was. Prof. McGonagall staggered back in shock and whispered, "Oh…my…" She covered her mouth with both hands. "Professor Dumbledore?" Dumbledore looked around the classroom with his spectacles, the second year students stared at him with mouths hanging. "Oh." Said the Ex-Headmaster. He glanced at the woman and said curiously, "Minerva, would you be so kind to tell me how much time has passed from my death, please?" Minerva, staggering at every letter, said, "A—a year and a…and a…half." "Oh." He answered half astonished and half curious. He looked around the classroom one last time. "Oh, well. I shall be heading to my office. Meet me there at the end of your lesson, Minerva." McGonagall gawped at the door Dumbledore went through for a couple of minutes and then she slowly turned to her thunder-shocked students. "Okay, kids, the lesson is finished. Go to your houses and wait for further news of what just happened." McGonagall picked up her robes and rushed outside the door. She whispered her password at the door of the office, "Meow." And the Gryffin Door opened and McGonagall entered. Dumbledore was behind his desk, reading a book. He raised his gaze to look at her, his spectacles on top of his nose. "Has your lesson finished already, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked. McGonagall sat down on the chair opposite the desk. Although she was still in shock, the Professor scolded a little her Headmaster. "Oh Albus, try to be serious for once. We have to talk seriously about this." Dumbledore nodded and placed the book on the desk. "My apologies, Minerva. Even though I might look relaxed and at ease with this, I, too, am confused and dumb folded." "What do you think has happened, Professor?" Minerva asked, sitting straight in her chair. "That, I do not know. I just remember my death and my apparent resurrection. I know nothing in between." "Many things happened, good and bad." Minerva stood up from her chair and went to the Pensieve, she transferred her memories to the silver-ish water. She pointed at the water with an open palm. "Here, Professor."
Dumbledore is transported to his funeral…he walked around to see the people who had showed up…he saw Harry hand in hand with Ginny Weasley, who were reassuring each other…at the end of the funeral Harry and his friends were arguing by the lake mysteriously…
McGonagall entered the Headmaster's office…Severus Snape was sitting in the chair behind the desk, who was looking out of the window seriously…
The Carrows were forcing students to do the Unforgivable Curse called Crucio on first year students…
It was the night of the Battle of Hogwarts…one of the Carrows spat in McGonagall's face and Harry Potter appeared from under his Invisibility Cloak and shouted, "Crucio!"…he then explained that he had to find one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and that he needed more time…
Voldemort's voice hissed in every head of every student of Hogwarts, "I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded."…
Everyone was gathered around Harry and Voldemort in the Great Hall. They were both circling around each other, wands in hand…Harry's spell won and Voldemort's body fell to the ground…
The Great Hall was crowded with bodies…Dumbledore saw Harry walking between the bodies on the floor, and he decided to follow him…they saw Fred's lifeless body surrounded by his family…Lavanda Brown enclosed by her friends…Harry stopped in front of two bodies holding each other's hand…Dumbledore realized it was Remus and Tonks…he looked back at Harry and what he saw broke his heart…Harry stared at the bodies blankly…he could see that, inside, the boy's heart was falling to pieces…
Dumbledore looked at McGonagall astonished. "So Harry did it. We're free." He thought for a minute, his head low, and then said, "Minerva, could you please summon Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood? Tell them to come here for a special meeting." Minerva nodded. "And Potter? What about him?" "No, not for now. Also, tell his friends not to tell him about this."
The Corner Pub, London
In an unpleasant and malodourous street of London, in the corner of the street, there was an also unpleasant and malodourous pub called The Corner. There was indistinctive club music coming from the building. The back door opened into a small street and the music escaped from the door, the sound louder. From the door came out a beautiful girl with red hair, wearing black clothes and black Converse shoes. Her face was serious and emotionless while she threw the garbage into the container. She then entered the pub again. The back door was behind the counter of the local. People partied wildly on the dance floor, but Bluebell just went to work behind the counter indifferently. She quietly prepared some drinks. "What's up, baby?" A guy said smiling, elbows on the counter. "As always." Bluebell answered without looking at him. He ignored her answer. "Girl, you know you look so hot when you snub me. Do you wanna dance?" Bluebell continued to prepare the drinks, without answering. "Do you have a boyfriend or something?" The girl finally looked at him in the eyes and said coldly, "Listen, dude, if you don't want any drinks then that's the door." "Come on, girl, I just wanna have fun." The man came closer. "Go to hell." Bluebell answered furiously. Then, another girl came by the counter, wearing a mini skirt and a leopard low cut shirt. "One Martini, please." The guy forgot about the waiter and tried with the other girl. "Hey, what's up, baby…" At two in the night, Bluebell left her work to the other waiter, took her bag and headed towards the door. "Hey, David, call my girlfriend!" Someone shouted in the pub before she left. "Which one?" Bluebell closed the door behind her and came out on the street, heading to her apartment. Before entering her apartment, she collected the mail under the door.
The Corner – Monthly Salary
Energy Bill
Delany St. – Robert Brooke
Once inside the apartment, Bluebell threw the first two letters on her desk and then threw herself on the bed and opened her Uncle's letter.
"Dear Blue, a friend of mine from London found you on a website for work and called me. Gave me your address, too. I'm sorry that you wanted your place to be a secret, but your Aunt Emily and I are so worried about you. We promised your parents we'll take care of you, but you're not making this easy for us. Please, keep in contact, you don't have to tell us everything that's going on in your life, but at least tell us if you're okay. Your Aunt Emily sent you something to your apartment that will arrive in a couple of days. Stay safe and stay strong. Love you with all of our hearts, Robert and Emily."
Bluebell smiled for the first time in weeks and slowly fell asleep clutching the letter to her heart.
Lovegood House, a hill in the countryside
The Lovegood house had been rebuilt on the same spot as the previous one that had been destroyed by the Deatheaters. Inside, there were peculiar objects, like the owners of the house; Luna and Xenophilius Lovegood. Harry and the others circled the house, guided by an enthusiastic Luna that showed them their mini sculptures of their faces made of clay. Neville's statue had a huge hat with a cactus on it; Ginny had long red (instead of ginger) hair and big brown eyes; Hermione's hair was exaggeratedly bushy and she had beaver-like teeth; Ron had Ginny's red hair and green freckles, and Harry's glasses were inclined and his scar enormous and red. Ron looked at his sculpture with wide eyes, "What the—" Hermione elbowed him in the ribs, and hissed, "Ron, shh!" Ron massaged his side, "They're—they're very…peculiar." Luna smiled at him and said, "Thank you Ron, it's kind of you even though you don't like them." Hermione threw a deadly look at Ron. He jumped and went to stand behind Harry. Xenophilius came into the room saying, "Tea's ready!" Harry and the others (except Neville, who never tasted the tea) exchanged a horrified look between them. "Don't drink it." Harry whispered in Ginny's ear. Neville said, "What?" "You have no idea." Ron whispered to Neville. Five minutes later, they all sat on a couch around a coffee table and pretended to drink their tea. Xenophilius was the one to break the silence. "I'm sorry." Everyone, including Luna, looked at him surprised. "For what?" Ginny asked. "For calling the Deatheaters on you." The man said staring down at his tea. "It's okay, Sir. We understand why you did it." Harry said softly. Ron looked at him dazed. Unexpectedly, an owl flew into the house through an open window and threw a letter in Hermione's face. Then it flew away. "What…" Hermione whispered opening the letter. "It's from Hogwarts." Hermione read the letter to herself first:
"Dear Miss Granger, I'm pleased to inform you that you and Mr. Longbottom, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Miss Lovegood are urgently invited to a special meeting at Hogwarts School, tomorrow evening at 7 pm. Please be very discreet about this, and please don't share word with Mr. Potter. The motive will be explained at the meeting. Regards, M. McGonagall, Vice-Mistress."
"What does it say?" Luna asked curiously. Hermione closed the letter and laughed nervously. "Nothing, Professor McGonagall gave me a wrong mark on my test." "But they're all O's." Ron pointed out. Hermione purposely stepped on his foot. "Look at that garden! It looks amazing, can we go see it, Luna?" Hermione exclaimed. "Sure!" Luna said happily. Everyone stood up, but Hermione said to Harry, "Harry, I'm very sorry, but I think I left my wand upstairs. Could you go get it?" Harry nodded and went upstairs. He didn't find Hermione's wand, so he came back downstairs. He stopped to look outside the window and saw his friends talking in a circle mysteriously. "Hermione, your wand is not there." Harry called once in the garden. The circle broke swiftly, everyone walked in an opposite direction, pretending to look at the plants. "Oh, sorry! I just remembered that I have it in by bag." Hermione said laughing anxiously. "Come on, let's go see that massive flower, it looks fascinating!"
Grimson Street, Jinx Town
Masks, death, a pale and snake-like face emerged from darkness…green jets of light, screams…Voldemort's nerve racking hiss, "Join ussss, boy. You are one of ussss."…and then there was light, and a beautiful face appeared…her laughter dragged him out of the darkness… her big chocolate eyes inviting him…wild and bushy black hair…she laughed and jumped around in a garden…and then darkness took him away from her…and Voldemort's pale and long fingers closed around her and pulled her away from him…she screamed…he heard his own voice shouting, "NOOOOOO!"…
Draco was thinking about his dream that morning, the way he had woken up sweating. He was walking in his town, on Grimson Street. He stopped when he heard loud shouts coming from a house on his right. "YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH! A SQUIB HAS MORE SKILLS THAN YOU!" A man's voice shouted. "I don't care! Leave me alone!" A girl's voice bellowed. The door of the house busted open and a girl appeared on the porch. Draco's heart skipped a beat. It was Astoria. Her face was red and sad. Draco looked at her, hands in pockets. She swiftly sprinted up to him and threw her arms around his waist, hiding her head against his chest. She started sobbing silently. Draco's heart pounded quickly. After some seconds, he wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her hair, and he closed his eyes. After some minutes, Astoria stopped crying and Draco took her hand, walking towards the park. They sat in the same spot as the last time. "Now you'll think my family is mental." Astoria said laughing softly. Draco continued to stare forwards. "You don't owe me an explanation." Astoria ignored him. "My family hates me because I'm not a good witch. I have been home-schooled, you know. I never had friends. Until I met you." Draco kept staring forwards, but his heart skipped a beat. Astoria laughed. "I don't even know your name. What is it?" He hesitated for a while, and then he said evenly, "Draco." He paused, and then said threateningly, "Don't laugh." "That's the cooler name I have ever heard." She beamed. Draco felt her smile, and he couldn't help himself but look at her. Her smile was amazing. Then he returned to stare into nothingness. Coldly, he asked, "How old are you, seven?" "I'm sixteen." Astoria said chuckling. He glanced at her. "You're still a little girl." Astoria crossed her arms on her chest. "Why, how old are you?" "Eighteen." Draco answered emotionlessly. "Well, you're not that old." "You could come to my house." Draco said unfeelingly. Astoria looked at him puzzled. "What?" "I can teach you magic. I'm very good at it. I studied at Hogwarts." "Really? I always dreamed of going to Hogwarts. Wait, does this mean that you were in the Battle of Hogwarts?" Astoria asked with worried eyes. "Yes." "So did you fight Deatheaters and stuff?" This time she looked exited. Draco looked down and didn't answer, tightening his jaw. "Did you meet Harry Potter?" "Yes." Draco said angrily. "But that scum has nothing to do with me." Astoria gawped at him. "What? Harry Potter is a legend!" "Not for me." Draco frowned. "You're really a little girl, aren't you?" Astoria looked at him suspiciously. "So you fought in the Battle?" "Yes, I already told you." Draco said annoyed. "Which side?" Draco didn't answer. Astoria covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my God. You're one of Voldemort's followers!" "IT WASN'T MY CHOICE!" Draco shouted. Astoria looked at him for a long moment and then, unexpectedly, stood up and said, "Okay, let's go to your house."
Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts
It was 7 pm. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville walked in the Castle of Hogwarts and into the Headmaster's office, escorted by McGonagall. "Meow." Minerva meowed the password at the entrance. Ron doubled over chuckling silently. Hermione elbowed him in the same spot as the previous day, and Ron suppressed a scream. The door opened and they entered. What they saw stopped them dead in the tracks. Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his chair behind the desk, reading a book. "Is it just me or is Albus Dumbledore sitting behind the desk?" Ron asked bewildered. "I see him too." Luna said casually, like commenting the weather. Neville, who was left behind because he had to tie his shoelaces, came in the room and said, "What did I lose?" He looked at Dumbledore and remained petrified in the spot. Hermione closed her mouth and recomposed herself. "No, it's not really him. I've read about a spell that project the body of a person that looks totally real. But they can't talk." "I admire your vast knowledge of spells, Miss Granger. However, I am real and I am healthy and alive." Dumbledore said smiling kindly. "He talked!" Ron cried to Hermione. "I know that, Ron." Hermione said trying to sound calm. "A powerful spell allows that." Ginny said in a small voice, "Guys, why isn't Dumbledore in his portrait?" They all followed Ginny's gaze and saw that, indeed, Dumbledore's portrait was completely blank. "Or maybe it means that we're all dead." Luna said happily. She looked up at the celing. "It's full of Nargels here!" Everyone looked at her shocked. Ron was breathing heavily. He whispered, "Hermioneeeeeeee…!" "Luna, what are you saying?" Ginny said shaking her head. Then, she turned around. "By the way, where's Neville?" Neville was still petrified in the spot. Dumbledore stood up from his chair, placing the book on his desk, and walked up to Ron, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I am very happy to see you, children, but above all, I am proud of what you have accomplished. You saved millions of lives and ended a war. Something not even one of the best wizards could do." "He touched me, Hermione." Ron whispered terrified. "He touched me." Hermione's face contorted a little and she started crying, then she lunged forward and hugged Dumbledore. "Come on, Miss Granger. There's no need to get emotional. From what I learned, I haven't been dead for so long." Dumbledore said. "Welcome back, Sir. How are you doing?" Luna said happily. "You might want to know that your head is full of Wrackspurt. It's dangerous, they enter in your ears and make your brain go fuzzy." "Thank you Miss Lovegood for your recommendation, I will keep that in mind." Ginny went up to Neville and smacked him on the head. He woke up from his trance and looked around, lost. "Welcome back, Mr. Longbottom." Dumbledore said smiling. They all sat around Dumbledore's desk and listened to him. "I am not sure how it has happened, but I appeared in Prof. McGonagall's classroom not remembering the time I was dead. When I appeared I think I might have broken a few of McGonagall's ribs. I am trying to figure out why this has happened and I wanted to ask you if it has something to do with Mr. Potter. If maybe one of you knows if Harry was trying to find a way to bring back his loved ones. Now, you might be asking yourselves why I am keeping this from him, the reason is because I do not want to give him hope that his parents or other dear people that he lost might come back as I did." Hermione answered first. "No, he didn't tell us nothing about this. And he would never do something like that." Ron added sadly, "To be honest, Sir, Harry gave up on bringing his parents back from the first year of Hogwarts." Ginny was staring at a wall deep in thought. She decided to keep quiet. Dumbledore continued, "I would like you to help me figure out the reason I came back to life. Please, do not tell anything to Harry about this until we know something for sure. Hermione and Ginny, you go to our library to look for books about this argument. Neville and Luna, you go to the library in Diagon Alley. Ron, you check in the Restricted Section." Ron said shakenly, "Why me?" They all nodded and after some minutes they greeted Dumbledore and walked out of the office. Dumbledore, now alone in his office, walked to the window and flicked away a bug who was staring at him suspiciously, then he sat down in his chair and continued reading his book. Page number 777 showed the image of the Resurrection Stone.
Dumbledore is alive!
My name is Rita Skeeter, the most famous and talented journalist of all time, but you already know that. Today I have big and shocking news for the magical world. I convinced my boss to write this special article by myself, since unfortunately, I have a new partner, Ginny Weasley. Remember that everything that I write is true and based on true facts.
-By Rita Skeeter
'I have witnessed personally, in ways that I cannot reveal, that Albus Dumbledore is "healthy and alive", as he said himself. It happened in the Transfiguration classroom of Minerva McGonagall, at Hogwarts, second day of September, at nine a.m. When he appeared, he says, "I think I might have broken a few of McGonagall's ribs." 'What does this mean?! Is Dumbledore abusive? Or perhaps he has a secret love affair with Miss McGonagall? I cringe at the thought… 'Also, he summoned Harry Potter's friends, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Ron and Ginny Weasley my colleague. He asked them for their help to find the reason for why his resurrection has happened. Although, all of this, Dumbledore warned, has to be kept a secret from Mr. Potter. 'Are Harry Potter's friends betraying him? Is Harry Potter going to forgive them? What if they were just using him to win the war and then they dumped him? Did he break up with his girlfriend Ginny Weasley already? They looked so in love… 'What would Harry Potter's parents think of him? Talking about Harry's parents, Dumbledore also said that Harry produced a spell to bring back his parents, but the Headmaster, cruelly confessed that his parents are dead and will never come back. 'This whole situation seems suspicious. What if Dumbledore faked his own death? What if he wanted to escape the war? Is the legendary Headmaster of Hogwarts, famous for his great defeat of Gellert Grindelwart, really a frightened duck? 'In my opinion, Albus Dumbledore is not what everyone thinks he is. And about Harry Potter, I think he is just a twelve year old boy who seeks for attention. Maybe he wants to bring back his parents so that he can demonstrate what he has accomplished in these past years. As for his friends, or I must say fake friends, I think they built a reputation thanks to Harry Potter's fame. 'And if you really want to know more, Dumbledore is also abusive to little animals. I also witnessed this in person.'
Harry read the Daily Prophet with shock at first for what Rita had come up with and then angry at what lies she still had the courage to write. Harry crushed the paper in his fist. He stood up and paced the kitchen fuming. He thought that Rita Skeeter stopped writing these awful lies. It was a replay of his years at Hogwarts, when she insisted that he was crying over his parents' death. But there was something about the article that made him believe that Rita didn't come up with all of this on her own. When Rita writes her articles, even though they are full of lies, they are always based on something true. Harry certainly didn't believe that Dumbledore was alive, but here was something about his friends these past few days that made him think that they were hiding something from him. He decided that he would ask his friends about it when they come back from…from…Harry didn't even know where they went. This fact added to his suspiciousness. Harry trailed away from his thoughts when there was a knock at the door. "Harry, it's Ginny. Open up." Ginny's voice said behind the door. Harry went to the door and let Ginny in the house. Ginny kissed him softly on the lips. She noticed that something was of with him. "What's wrong?" Ginny asked. Harry grabbed the squashed paper and handed it to Ginny. "Did you read this?" Ginny gave him a questioning look and then looked down at the paper. She whispered the words as she read the paper, "Dumbledore is…" She covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, Harry." He sat down on the couch on the living room. "Did you know anything about this?" Ginny didn't answer. Harry nodded and dropped his head in his hands. Then he murmured, "I never knew that you would lie to me like this." Ginny had tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Harry. We promised that we would tell you when we had something concrete. We just found out that Dumbledore was alive today." Harry looked up at her. "I'm confused. How is he alive and why were you hiding this from me?" "We don't know why he's alive but we promised that we'll help him find out why, but not tell you until we know something for certain. Because then…then…" "Then?" "And then you'll get your hopes up that everyone you care about is going to come back, too." Ginny said sadly. She didn't want to be the one to tell him that all of his loved ones would not (a hundred percent) come back. Harry nodded. Usually he would've understood, but he was too angry at Dumbledore for not telling Harry first that he was alive. "Dumbledore should have told me…" Ginny saw that he had conflicted feelings about this argument, so she started another one. "Harry, remember when you told me you wished everyone would come back to live?" "Yes." "Do you think that's why…?" "I don't know. That's a problem we'll have to think about when other dead people start to show up." Harry said evenly. He saw the fear in Ginny's eyes that he might be still angry with her. He forced a smile out of him to reassure her that everything was alright. But inside him, nothing was alright.
8 a.m., Headmasters office Hogwarts
Harry barged into Dumbledore's office red faced and fuming. The doors slammed powerfully on the wall and small spider-web-like cracks appeared on it. Dumbledore's lips parted in astonishment.
That morning… Harry got up from bed rapidly and threw some clothes on him carelessly. He skipped work and went straight to Hogwarts. Once he was there he pleaded Professor McGonagall to give him the password to the Headmasters office…
"Harry." Dumbledore breathed in amazement. "You should've told me!" Harry bellowed. "You were alive and you didn't tell me!" Dumbledore stood up from his chair and walked in front of the desk, keeping a hand on the desk to steady himself. "Harry—" "No, no! I don't want to hear your apologizes!" Harry stopped to feet away from him. "Please, Harry. Let me explain." Dumbledore tried. Harry sank in the chair opposite the desk, massaging his temples. Dumbledore took that advantage to speak. "I have no idea how this has happened, so I did not know who has might come back to life. After all that you have been through, I did not to give you hope that your parents would come back as well. But, my I ask, Harry, how you knew about my resurrection?" "Rita Skeeter. I thought that she was bluffing, as she always does." Harry said stiffly. A spark of wonder and confusion crossed Dumbledore's eyes. "Rita Skeeter? How? The meeting was absolutely secret." Harry stopped massaging his temples and looked up. "You didn't…?" "I did not tell her about this, of course I did not, Harry. Perhaps…" Dumbledore cocked his head in thought. "I wonder if Miss Skeeter transformed in her Animagus form." "Did you see a bug of any kind, Professor?" Harry's curiosity hid his anger. "Ah." Dumbledore whispered in realization. "I did see one. Flicked it away, but she must have survived the fall." Harry chuckled when he remembered the last line of Rita's article. "What are you laughing there about?" Dumbledore asked. "Nothing, Professor. It's just that Rita did mention you being abusive to little animals in her article." They stared at each other for a second and then Dumbledore laughed softly with Harry. Dumbledore became suddenly serious. "Harry, my boy. I cannot keep laughing with you before giving my most sincere and profound apologies. I left you in the hardest time of your life. I kept secrets that you had the right to know, I let you risk your and your friend's lives to find the Horcruxes, and I left you to defeat Voldemort on your own. I do not want you to forgive me, Harry, because what I have done does not deserve your good heart's forgiveness. You only have to know that I am sorry, eternally." Harry said with tears in his eyes, "I'm happy you're back, Professor. But next time something happens, please don't hide it from me." They ended their conversation with a hug.
Later, they walked near the lake, Dumbledore's robes flying behind him as he paced down on the grass. "Hey, that's Harry Potter!" A first year student shouted far away. It was break time. "The one who survived You-Know-Who." Harry and Dumbledore continued talking, ignoring the crowd of children walking behind them, whispering things like, "It's him. The Chosen One." "I TOUCHED HIM!" A kid screamed electrified, near Harry. "Me too! Me too!" "Look at his scar!" "I will never wash this hand!" Dumbledore laughed softly, looking at Harry. The bell rang and a big "AWWWWWW!" came from the kids. "I didn't touch him yet!" They slowly returned to the castle. A little boy was heard shouting to his younger sister, waving a hand in the air, "I TOUCHED HARRY POTTER!" Harry and Dumbledore continued walking quietly.
Villa Malfoy, Bexley Street, Jinx Town
"Not like that! It's the other way!" Draco scolded her. Draco and Astoria were in Draco's room, Astoria trying hard to create her Patronus. "Expecto Patronum!" Astoria bellowed. A tiny jet of light, almost non-visible, escaped her wand. "You have to think of something truly happy, it will not work otherwise." Draco said pacing his room. "My first Christmas gift isn't happy enough?" Astoria said exasperated. "No." Draco said emotionlessly. "It's too stupid. It has to be something true. It can be bittersweet, but it has to be real. A time when you were happier than any moment in your life." Astoria looked into space. "There might be something…" A memory came to her mind.
She was little, around seven, playing with her big sister Daphne, who was nine at the time. They chased each other in the backyard, screaming, "I'm coming! Gotcha!" They fell on top of each other and rolled in the grass laughing. Eight years later, Daphne left to America to become an Auror. She got married after some years and had kids. She never wrote to her family. Astoria lost her only friend.
Astoria thought of the little girls running around the backyard and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" This time, a larger jet of light came out of her wand and took the form of a white leopard, running around the room. Draco looked at the Patronus petrified. It was his own Patronus. "I did it! I did—" Astoria stopped, looking at his face. "What?" "Nothing. Well done." Draco said evenly. After some time, Draco taught her the spell Wingardium Leviosa. Astoria tried hastily and nervously to levitate a lamp. But it remained motionless. Astoria dropped her arm and sighed miserably, saying, "I can't do it. I'm worthless." Tears started to collect in her eyes. Draco approached her quietly from behind and took her hand with the wand, pointing it at the lamp. "Try this way." He said softly. She looked up at him, lips slightly parted. Her heart missed a beat. Draco noticed her staring at him and stepped away from her, muttering, "Keep practicing." Astoria blushed and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa." To her surprise the lamp levitated from the table and Astoria smiled at her work. Draco stood some meters away, crossed armed, a proud look on his face.
She's beautiful, isn't she? What!? No! I'm pretty sure you like her. I don't, she's just a little girl. Sure about that? You look quite pleased with her. I'm not. It's an easy spell. But you couldn't help but touch her before. That—that was just to teach her! Look at her eyes, so deep and innocent… I know… So you DO like her! NO! Stop it! Okay, just don't lie to yourself…
Oh, Draco… He's just a friend! Are you sure, Astoria? You look totally in love… No, I'm not! He doesn't like me, did you see how cold he is with me? Well, maybe he's so in love that he's shy. Boys are like that, you know. Okay, okay, he's very handsome but…he will never notice me. If you say so…
Later, they both sat opposite each other on the carpet for a break. Astoria's hair was even messier than before, and Draco couldn't suppress a laugh. He chuckled covering his mouth with his hand, quietly. He was wearing a white elegant shirt, the sleeves a little pulled up, reveling a small part of his Dark Mark. "Why are you laughing?" Astoria asked smiling, she had never seen the boy laugh before. Draco recomposed himself, his face set straight again. "Your hair." Astoria fixed her hair hastily. Then she caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his left arm. Unexpectedly, she pulled his wrist close to her to examine it, pulling his sleeve up to reveal it all. Draco realized what she was doing and pulled his arm back to himself against his chest. "It's none of your business, little girl." "Why did they do this to you? When did it happen?" Astoria asked quickly, her eyes concerned. Draco hesitated for a moment, considering telling her everything. To tell someone about all the pain in his heart. Draco stood up abruptly and walked to the door, and then said without looking at her, "I'm going to buy a drink. Stay here, little girl."
Astoria sat crossed-armed in Draco's room. She hated when he didn't open up to her and kept everything inside him. "That's it." She muttered and stood up, looking around. Draco's room was bare of pictures or posters. The room was white with black furniture. There was a massive canopy bed with white curtains hanging from it. The bathroom door was on one of the walls. There was a window with black curtains, from which the sunset illuminated the room in orange light. Astoria walked on the carpet beside the bed, and a dune on the carpet made her trip and fall to the floor. She flinched and started to stand up when she caught a glimpse of an old box under the bed. She reached out and took the box, puffing away the dust. Once she opened the box, she found a stack of papers, pictures and diplomas. She picked up a pile of photographs and shuffled trough them. She found a picture of Draco when he was about eleven years old, dressed in his school robes. The next was Draco and two other boys (around twelve) sneering at the camera. On the back of the picture there was a messy handwriting that said 'Draco, Grabbie and Goyle at their second year of Hogwarts.' Another picture was of Draco and other friends shooting a spell at a girl in a corridor. The inscription on the back said 'Me throwing a spell at Know-It-All Granger.' Astoria shook her head smiling. "Oh, Draco." There was a picture of Draco at the Yule Ball (that's what it said in the inscription) holding a girl's hand in the middle of a crowd of dancing students. Astoria felt something strange in her stomach at the sight of her, but she ignored it. There was one more picture of Draco in his sixth year at Hogwarts, sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. The students were laughing and eating excitedly, but Draco looked lost, staring down at his plate. Astoria heard a noise coming from down stairs, she wondered why Draco was back so soon. She stood up, leaving the pictures and papers on the floor and went out of the room. She tiptoed downstairs, looking around. A door was half open in one of the walls of the living room. Inside was dark, but there was a faint blue light coming from something that looked like a vase full of water. Astoria frowned and stepped quietly into the room. There was no furniture except the silver vase. She stepped closer and looked down at the murky water. And then, somehow, her face was inside the water.
Red eyes, slits instead of a nose, pale face, long and thin fingers. The Dark Lord rose, fingers on his skull, eyes rolled back…A fourteen year old Draco was talking to his father about the Twizard Tournament, Lucius Malfoy's Dark Mark burned, the ink becoming darker; the father flicked his wand and black robes appeared on him, together with a frightening mask over his face. The boy stumbled backwards startled…"He's back. Voldemort is back."…An explosion blasted away a fragment of the Azkaban prison, an evil laugh echoed in the ruins…Bellatrix Lestrange jumped out of her cell…"HE SHOULD BE PROUD OF BEING MARKED!" Draco's father screamed at his wife, who had tears in her eyes…Narcissa was in Snape's living room, looking at him she whispered, "He's just a boy."…Snape's and Narcissa's arms entwined, Bellatrix chanted the Unbreakable Vow…Draco was lying on a long wooden table, every Deatheater was sat around the table watching…Voldemort drew the Dark Mark on the boy's arm with his wand…Draco's screams bounced off the walls, echoed outside the house…his father watched the scene emotionlessly…Narcissa walked dizzily out of the room, the pain of hearing her son's screams killing her inside…Draco was at Hogwarts, in a bathroom, leaning over a sink, shaking with silent sobs, doubled over with pain…Draco was lying in the same bathroom, on the floor, the water was red around him, he tried to breathe with all his will…Snape came in to rescue him…Snape pinned him against a wall in a hallway, shouting…"I don't want your help! Don't you understand? I have to do this. I have to kill you. Or he's going to kill me." Draco said through gritted teeth, the hand that was holding the wand was shaking, the wand was pointing at Dumbledore… "Avada Kedavra." Snape said, and Dumbledore fell off the tower…Draco was hurrying behind Bellatrix and the other Deatheaters in the castle of Hogwarts…she laughed hysterically as she destroyed to shreds the Main Hall…Draco watched all of this traumatized…A Hogwarts teacher was levitating over the table at Malfoy Manor…Nagini lunged at the teacher with a hiss…the teacher dropped on the table motionless…tears streamed down Draco's eyes…Bellatrix was torturing Hermione Granger on the floor, her screams nerve-racking…"Begin." Voldemort called, and Hogwarts' protective shield broke as a million Deatheaters attacked it…"Harry Potter is dead!" Voldemort screamed laughing. Ginny Weasley cried running forwards, "No! NO!"…Draco walked to Voldemort reluctantly, his school mates staring at him disgusted…Draco and his family walked away from the war…
Once Astoria was out of the room, Draco entered the house with a bag in his hand. He said, "I bought something to drink if you're thirsty." Astoria turned to stare at him, shaking with tears. She whimpered, "Oh, Draco…" She ran up to him and jumped at his neck, her feet dangling away from the floor. Draco dropped the bag in surprise. He saw the Pensieve in the other room. "I never knew that you went through all of these bad things." Astoria said against his shoulder. "You shouldn't have seen those memories, little girl." Draco said, embracing her strongly. He dropped his forehead on her shoulder, closing his eyes and breathing her in. And then they were going up stairs, and entered the room. Draco froze, looking at the mess of papers on the floor. "What the hell happened to my room?"
September tenth, Hogwarts
Luna Lovegood started her seventh year at Hogwarts a few days later that the first of September because she had been busy helping her father with the new house. She was now jumping down a corridor with her strange glasses bouncing up and down her nose. She entered the library and walked to an aisle dedicated to books on fantastical insects. The library was empty except for a Ravenclaw boy reading a book with reading glasses. He had brown messy hair and dark eyes. Luna glanced at him and froze. "WRACKSPURTS!" Luna cried out, breaking the librarian silence. The boy started, the book fell from his hands. "Bloody hell!" "Your head! It's full of Wrackspurts! It's extremely dangerous!" Luna yelled, and then she was beside him. She grabbed the book from the floor and started beating him up on the shoulders and head. "Go away, stupid Wrackspurts! Shoo!" The boy, horrified, covered his head with his hands, shouting, "Stop it! STOP IT!" "Don't move! I'm saving your life!" Luna continued to smash the book on his head over and over. But then, in the process Luna stumbled and fell on the boy, and he swung backwards on his chair, and they both collapsed. Luna fell on top of him with a gasp. For a moment they stared at each other surprised. The boy looked at the girl lying on top of him. Her fair hair fell on his chest and her eyes (hidden behind the strange glasses) stared down at him as if she saw a ghost. "I'm Luna Lovegood. What's your name?" She asked casually. Then her eyes lit up. "You have a bump on your forehead. It must've been the Wrackspurts." He stared at her horrified for a moment. Then he whispered, "You're crazy." "I know!" She said excitedly. "Everyone says that!" He gaped at her and then said, "Okay, okay. My name is Rolf Scamander. Now, can you please get off me? Because I can't feel my stomach anymore." "Oh, yes!" Luna rolled off him and stood up. "I think you'll need Madame Pompfrey for that bump." Once Rolf was on his feet he said, "You're right. I'm going right now." "I'll come with you!" Luna exclaimed. Rolf paled. "NO! No. I'll—I'll manage alone. Thank you." Luna walked to the door of the library and Rolf sighed, relived. Luna stopped and turned around. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" "I—I don't…" Rolf said. Then he gave up and followed her. Luna talked about Wrackspurts and other strange things during the trip to Madame Pompfrey, while Rolf looked at her afflicted and confused. She was weird.
"Here. Put some ice on that bump." Madame Pompfrey said once in the infirmary. Rolf was sitting on a bed, Luna beside him. "By the way, how did you get that, dear?" Rolf opened his mouth to speak but Luna said, "It was the Wrackspurts on his head!" Madame Pompfrey looked at Rolf puzzled. He shook his head at her, saying, "She beat me up with a book." "Miss Lovegood!" The nurse exclaimed. "I saved his life! Wrackspurts are extremely dangerous." Luna protested. Madame Pompfrey stared at her for a second and then shook her head. "There's something I have to do. Mr. Scamander, you are in good hands." Rolf goggled the nurse as if he had seen a monster. Luna spent the next minutes putting ice on Rolf's forehead, and he looked at her as if for the first time. She was crazy, yes, but pretty. "Moon." Rolf murmured as if in a trance. "Moon?" Luna asked. "It means moon in Italian. Your name." Rolf explain. "My grandparents are Italian. They always used to say:
'Mi piace pensare che la luna è lì, anche se io non guardo. '
'It means 'I like to think that the moon is there, even if I'm not looking.'" "Oh, that's nice. I've always wanted to visit Italy." Luna said smiling. Then she accidentally pressed the ice too hard against the bump and he cried out. "Oh, sorry! It must be another Wrackspurt that's left. Wait, I'll get it off you…" Rolf, wide eyed, was about to object when Luna smacked his forehead. Meanwhile, the students walking outside in the corridor heard a loud scream of pain coming from the infirmary.