Dumbledore



What was this place?

Her mind felt..empty. not empty in the sense that she had no recollection of who she was, but she had absolutely no idea how she had gotten to this unfamiliar street. The already dim lights coming from the streetlights flickered. She suddenly started to feel nervous. The cobbled street was dark, the neighborhood looked particularly unsafe, and she was suddenly engulfed with a strong repugnant smell. She walked forward a bit, hoping to catch sight of a sign of map of some sort but instead she heard footsteps. She stopped breathing.

Far ahead there was a dirty river, strewn with rubbish, which she had assumed to have been the cause of the foul smell earlier. Beyond the bank there was a dense area of trees and bark. The woods would sure enough conceal her from anyone coming her way. But that would firstly mean getting over to the other side, by means of the filthy body of water separating the two.

She decided it was worth a try, it was certainly better than standing there for the mere adventure of it. But it appeared that she had taken far too long in her decision making process. For no sooner had she decided to travel across the muck, there was a figure standing beside her in the dark.

"Ah, Ms. Potter – fancy running into you here."

Silver felt alleviated, it was just Dumbledore.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore." She said quietly.

He smiled brightly down at her, catching a glimpse of her through his spectacles. She examined him closely, how he had aged in just the summer. He seemed so frail, so weak. He looked healthier in June, she was certain he did. His beard was longer, and so white it shone in the light of the full moon.

"And what, I ask, brings you to Spinners end?" He questioned airily.

Silver thought for a moment, trying to string a comprehensible response in her mind. But there was nothing to string. "Oh, so that would explain why I don't recognize this place."

Dumbledore stared at her, but not in shock as she thought he would. He seemed to know something she didn't, and she hated feeling like there was something she was too dense to catch on to.

"You see Professor, I'm not exactly sure where I am." She clattered, pretending as if she weren't positively dying of shame.

He only smiled at her, focusing his attention on an alien muggle object. "I would be more than delighted to answer your questions, just as soon as I am diluted of what I have come to tell you. As I am unsure of whether you know of Lupin's condition.."

Silver shook her head no, suddenly anxious, "What condition?"

"We will get to that shortly. But due to this condition, I'm afraid you have to spend these upcoming weeks at another venue."

Her heart sank. "What's the matter with Remus?" She demanded crossly, awaiting for him to address the issue instead of keeping her in the dark.

He led her off closer to the bank, further away from the redundancy of brick red houses of the neighborhood when a screech erupted and a brawl between two stray cats that seemed to have begun in an alleyway, ventured off into the main streets.

"Would've been quite unpleasant to be a cat presently, wouldn't you say?" Dumbledore laughed shortly.

Silver only stared at him, not at all affected by his humor for it was over shadowed by her concern for her god father.

"Ms. Potter, years ago, there was an…accident, and unfortunate for us – Remus was involved. I presume you've heard of a man named Fenrir Greyback?"

Silver nodded, he had once been mentioned, she was unsure what was said but she knew it wasn't at all good.

"Well, Greyback is infected with lycanthropy. It is quite an unbearable condition." Dumbledore peered up the perfectly round moon in the cloudy sky, "He was a notoriously savage man. He preys on children, infecting as many as possible with the intentions of creating an army composed solely of werewolves. Werewolves that would be raised and mature with unfathomable hatred towards wizards. You may wonder why I have decided to enlighten you with a history of this man, but it is this man that has placed Remus in the said condition he is currently found."

"Remus….i-is a w-werewolf?" her voice trembled as she spoke.

"Indeed he is my dear, but worry not. He is keen on taking care of himself and has been doing a successful job so far. What has set him back today is that he has emptied his stock of wolfsbane."

"And so that is why I have to come find you Silver, you don't mind if I ignore formalities for tonight? For I do grow tired of using titles before names so often."

"Not at all." Silver said simply, a bit too overwhelmed to say anything else.

"Don't be frightened with this bit of information, for fear is only in your mind. It is but a mere figment of imagination you can simply choose to wave off. That is how the brave are differentiated from the weak, only those who can ignore fear, are truly courageous. And if you've inherited anything from your parents, as I'm sure you have, courage is embedded into your very veins. " He smiled wisely and continued, "If you don't mind, I've arranged for you to stay with Harry who will be spending the rest of his summer with the Weasley's. You are familiar with them I believe."

"Familiar, but that's all. I couldn't possibly impose on them for so long. I've never even met Ginny's parents." She said, a bit put off.

"It's quite alright dear, the Weasley's, Mrs. Weasley especially, is quite taken by having children to nurture in the house and with Fred and George gone off, she's already told me she is quite eager to have them replaced."

Silver stared at him stupidly, what could she possibly say? It was Dumbledores orders, she couldn't possibly argue.

"As soon as we've got your things packed, we'll head to the Burrow straight away. We are living in far too dangerous times to be travelling the streets at this hour. You should take particular care of yourself. Now, please grab my arm as tightly as you can."

And as soon as she did, the two figures disappeared, leaving the street as barren and quiet as it had been before they found it.

Apparition wasn't kind to her stomach. It was a rather nauseating experience for her. Not even the second round, upon landing in the Weasley's garden, did she get used to it. As soon as she had been able to gain control of her stomach, Dumbledore pointed off to the side. The sight was so terrible, she found her insides acting up again. His hand was black, almost as if it had suffered strenuous burns, eating away at his skin. He noticed and jerked his hand away in an instant.

"Just a small accident, nothing to concern yourself over." He said, and then continued to trail off about the Weasleys.

The Burrow as he called it was a quaint little house. It sort of reminded her of the house Remus lived in. it stretched up about three floors she reckoned, and it was very narrow. Before she knew it she was trudging alongside Dumbledore, making their way up to the house. Silver suddenly felt anxious, and more than that quite uncomfortable. Who was she to just stroll up to a stranger's home and dare make it her own? She hoped Harry was there, that way she would at least feel a tinge better about being so rude.

Dumbledore reached up to knock, careful not to use his injured hand, when a voice greeted them on the other side.

"Who is it?" said a woman's boisterous voice, "reveal yourself!"

"It is I, Dumbledore. I have young Ms. Potter with me."

And without another second, the voice swung open, revealing the lights and activity inside. Silver saw a stout, round woman with bright red hair and a friendly smile.

"Oh do come in dear. How do you do? I'm Molly Weasley. You must be Harry's sister! Oh! He's told us so much about you, what an honor to finally meet you!" She said eagerly, "Ron, Ginny, Hermione! Look who's arrived. So nice to have you here dear. Please come in, you too Albus."

Silver grinned brightly at her, feeling a bit warm inside from how lovely she had treated her.

"Silver!"

Ginny slid down the cedar railings of the staircase and landed in front of her, throwing her arms around her neck. "I'm so glad you've come."

"Yeah, I'm glad you've finally decided to accept our invitation to stay with us." Ron's voice came from behind her.

"Ron, you know she really had no choice..but regardless, I'm still glad you're here." Hermione cut in, with a bit of relief in her voice.

"Can't wait to tell Fred and George about this, they'd probably apparate straight back over here I'd imagine." Ron said, laughing.

"The twins are quite taken by you Silver, dear." Mrs. Weasley added as she walked past them, "Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes everyone." She gave Silver a quick look, "Poor thing, Remus must be starving you. You're so thin! No worries, I'll have an extra helping ready for you."

Silver laughed heartily, "Your family's really exciting Ron."

Ron flounced his shoulders and smiled. "They're different, I can tell you that."

"So when are you going to write to them Ron? I'd love to see what they respond." Ginny said playfully.

Silver looked at them, puzzled.

"Would you stop blighting her, Silver probably wants to get up to her room and get settled." Hermione stated, concerned as always.

"Actually, that'd be great Hermione." Silver let her hand fall, demonstrating the weight of her traveling bag, "This is all quite heavy. Ron be a dear.."

"Why me?"

"Because you're supposed to be a man." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron's voice cracked.

Hermione laughed, "C'mon girls, Ron we'll be upstairs showing Silver her bedroom."

And with that, the three girls ran up the staircase, leaving a dumbfounded Ron watching after them with Silver's trunk and owl, Hermes, beside him.


A/N: You guys are amazing! I really couldn't ask for better reviewers/readers!
Enjoy the update & I hope all of your holidays are going by swimmingly (:
Review this chapter and you get a preview of the next one!