A/N: Essentially, what you recognize belongs to the goddess that is J.K. Rowling, and what you don't belongs to insignificant little me.
Sorry I haven't updated in a bit. Life has been frantic and, frankly, slightly disheartening. Enjoy.
•~0~•
"Malfoy!" Genevieve called as the boy made to slink out of the classroom. She could practically hear his eyes roll as he turned around.
"Yes?"
"You have now failed to complete your homework twice this year."
"Fine, I'll get to it."
He once again tried to leave.
"No, that's not all, I'm afraid. Because of your actions, you will spend tomorrow's Hogsmeade visit with Professor McGonagall and I. In detention."
"All right!" he snapped.
Genevieve looked sharply at him.
"I'll be there." And with that, he stalked out of the classroom.
Genevieve sighed and packed up. Before she knew it, lunch had come. It was easy to go unnoticed at the staff table, what with Slughorn bragging unceasingly about his former students, and, more recently, Harry's potion-making abilities to anyone who bothered to listen, though Genevieve doubted Snape was one of them.
She knew where this sudden talent had come from, and it wasn't from his mother, as Slughorn believed. Hermione had, rather bossily, pulled her aside during a Transfiguration class and demanded her opinion on this "Half-Blood Prince", who had scrawled alternate instructions in the margins of a Potions textbook Harry had borrowed.
"It's not his work, so why should he get the credit for it?" Hermione had huffed.
"Hermione," Genevieve had said patiently, "unless Professor Slughorn's teachings are unlike any Potions master of which I have ever heard, you follow a set of instructions as well. These discoveries weren't your work, but you receive credit for how well you follow them. Harry's simply doing the same with different instructions. I see nothing wrong with it, except perhaps he might share this 'Prince's' work, as it seems to be more accurate than the original author's."
Harry had given her a grateful grin while Hermione had glowered.
It was true that Genevieve felt slightly out of place with the staff, whom had all worked together for several years and were much older than her, but Professor McGonagall was very sympathetic to her situation and tried to include her as much as possible, while Genevieve had taken to spending a bit more time with Myrtle, who was delighted by the attention, though more distracted than usual. Genevieve simply chalked it up to the fact that existing in endless time must lead to being somewhat unfocused.
Hagrid, on the other hand, was much returned to his normal self, now that the trio had made up with him, though Aragog was still worrying him.
Dumbledore was often gone on long trips, which Genevieve hadn't remembered happening in any other year, but, she supposed, now that Voldemort was out in the open, there was quite a lot to do.
Genevieve had been looking forward to the Hogsmeade trip, as it, for one, was an opportunity away from the castle grounds, and also was a chance for Genevieve to Apparate to Diagon Alley and visit the twins. However, thanks to Malfoy, she would now miss it.
"Genevieve," Professor McGonagall said suddenly. "What are you planning to do tomorrow, during the Hogsmeade trip?"
"Er," Genevieve said, confused, "I'll be supervising detention with you, Minerva."
Professor McGonagall's eyebrows arched. "I do believe I can handle Mr. Malfoy. Go, take a break from the castle for a bit."
"Thank you," Genevieve said, smiling.
Professor McGonagall nodded. "And what are your plans?"
"I was hoping to Apparate to Diagon Alley to visit the Weasley twins."
McGonagall smiled gently. "Yes, I quite think that will be good use of your free time, more so if you would be ever so kind as to ask them not to sell their Spell-Checking Quills to our less attentive students. Once the charm wears off, I often have to endure exponentially more severe spelling errors."
The other teachers nodded vigorously.
Genevieve grinned. "I will."
•~0~•
She entered Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to find the two in the backroom, covering stock. Fred looked over first.
"Hey, Georgie! It's the young Minnie!"
"Would you look at that?" George walked over and gave her a hug. "She even looks like McGonagall!"
Genevieve laughed. She reached a hand back and undid her bun. Her hair fell down just past her shoulders in loose waves.
"Hm — well, not so much anymore," noted Fred. He waved his hand across the shop. "It's not so full now that term's started, but the Owl Order Service is going crazy. Everybody wants a Love Potion."
"You do realize that your products are banned from Hogwarts, and you're talking to a member of its staff?" Genevieve asked, amused.
"And how are you going to stop us?" Fred sniggered.
Genevieve shrugged. "Simple. I'm not. It'll be fun seeing Filch try and figure out where all of this is coming from. Just be careful about who you're selling to. McGonagall's getting a headache from all the misspelled words created by these."
She picked up a Spell-Checking Quill.
"Charm wears off fairly quickly," she explained.
"And we're working on that," George promised.
"Also," Genevieve sat on a nearby desk. Fred feigned offense. "Who do you think all these girls are trying to use the Love Potions on?"
"Harry," George slapped a hand to his forehead.
"Exactly," Genevieve nodded.
"Ah well," said Fred, "it's a large bit of our income. The bloke will just have to be careful."
"And the only reason you have a store at all is because of him," Genevieve pointed out.
"All right, all right," George assured her. "We'll be careful."
"Help with inventory?" Fred asked pleadingly.
Genevieve shook her head. "Sure."
Genevieve worked for a while before checking the nearest window. "The weather's really getting worse. I ought to go."
After saying goodbye — and pulling her hair back into a bun — she Apparated to the High Street.
"Hi, Genevieve," Harry, Ron, and Hermione waved.
But her attention wasn't on them. It was on the two bickering girls in the front of them.
"Is that Katie and Leanne?"
"Yeah," Ron said, "and they're getting so loud, I've got a headache."
"That's odd," Genevieve said, furrowing her brow. "It's not like Katie at all to argue."
"It's about that package Katie has," Hermione said, pointing to it.
"It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!" Katie yelled.
It was getting hard to see, with the heavy snow. They turned a corner. Suddenly, Leanne tried to take the package from Katie, who yanked it back.
The result was immediate. The package dropped to the ground, while Katie did exactly the opposite, rising into the air, arms outstretched, eyes shut, and face devoid of emotion. Genevieve started running, while everyone else stood frozen. Something was very wrong.
Just before Genevieve reached her, Katie let out a scream so terrible Genevieve stopped dead. She kept screaming, and Leanne screamed as well. The others were pulling her to the ground, but Genevieve could only look into Katie's face, screaming and screaming without any awareness of the world around her.
She fell back to the ground, kicking and still, ever more terribly, screaming. The others struggled to hold her in place, while Genevieve tried to smooth back her hair.
"Stay there!" Harry told them. "I'm going for help!"
Soon, he returned with Hagrid, who scooped her up and carried her off. Genevieve sat on the snow, numb. She put her head in her hands. She heard Hermione asking Leanne about the package, but how could she focus when one of her greatest friends was in danger?
No. No, she had to. She had to focus. This was Katie. If Katie died . . . No, she couldn't think about that, she had to help her. She had to find a way to help her.
Genevieve rejoined the group. Harry was examining the torn package, which contained a necklace.
"I've seen that before. It was on display in Borgin and Burkes ages ago. The label said it was cursed. Katie must have touched it." He looked at the sobbing Leanne. "How did Katie get hold of this?"
"Well," she said shakily, "that's why we were arguing. She came back from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks holding it, said it was a surprise for somebody at Hogwarts and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when she said it . . . Oh no, oh no, I bet she'd been Imperiused and I didn't realize!"
She dissolved once more into tears.
"Do you know who gave it to her?" Genevieve asked urgently.
"No . . . she wouldn't tell me . . . and I said she was being stupid and not to take it up to school, but she just wouldn't listen and . . . and then I tried to grab it from her and — and — "
"Hey, hey," Genevieve said, "look at me."
Leanne's eyes bore into her.
"I know it's hard, okay? And I know you're scared, and you don't know what's going to happen to Katie, but you need to stay strong for her, okay?"
Leanne gave a shaky nod.
"We'd better get up to school," Hermione said, wrapping an arm around Leanne. "We'll be able to find out how she is. Come on . . ."
Harry wrapped the necklace in his scarf.
"We'll need to show this to Madam Pomfrey," he explained.
As they walked up to the castle, Harry began spewing theories. One look from Hermione and Ron told Genevieve that this was a common topic.
"Malfoy knows about this necklace. It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad. This is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and he went back for it!"
"I — I dunno, Harry," Ron said tentatively. "Loads of people go to Borgin and Burkes . . . and didn't that girl say Katie got it in the girls' bathroom?"
"She said she came back from the bathroom with it," Harry argued, "she didn't necessarily get it from the bathroom itself — "
"McGonagall!" Ron said suddenly.
"Genevieve, I trust you'll want to be with Katie?"
"Yes," said Genevieve at once.
"She's in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey is tending to her."
Genevieve simply nodded before hurrying away.
In the hospital wing, she smoothed back Katie's hair while Madam Pomfrey fretted over her. Whatever she has given Katie seemed to have calmed her, though she still seemed oblivious to the world and moved jerkily.
"She's lucky, that one," Madam Pomfrey said grimly. "If she had touched any more of it, she'd be dead."
Genevieve simply gulped in reply.
"She's going to St. Mungo's tomorrow. There's not much more I can do for her here."
Genevieve hadn't known what to say.
