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Chapter 11

October 1st 1981 (Part 2)

'May I ask you how long you've been away, Lily?, Dumbledore asked immediately after we'd sat down on four plush chairs he'd conjured in front of his desk.

'Roughly two months, sir,' she answered, 'We've been tutoring Jemma in Defence, Trasfiguration, Charms and Theory of Potions as she hadn't been aware of her magical abilities before we arrived.'

I nodded slowly in confirmation.

'I was aware of that from the letter,' Dumbledore stated looking at me, 'Your country of origin has - pardon me - a questionable taste in matter of blood purity. Severus Snape will assess what you have learnt until now and will devise a study plan accordingly.'

'I haven't got a wand yet, though,' I said.

'A trip to Diagon Alley is necessary, then. I shall ask someone - not currently under threat - to accompany you there tomorrow,' he continued calmly. Sirius and I shared a defeated look.

'Yes, sir,' I replied then, not looking overjoyed at all. Albus Dumbledore seemed to understand my reluctance, yet went on with his questions nevertheless.

'What are Lord Voldemort's plans, Miss De Angelis?' he asked me.

'He intends to kill Harry, sir,' I sighed dejectedly, 'In the books, Pettigrew was made Secret Keeper and told him James and Lily's whereabouts and...'

'Oh, dear...' the Headmaster murmured, bracing for the worst.

'Harry didn't die, though,' I added heavily.

'How come?' he questioned me surprised, but not quite. Trelawney's Prophecy had to be worth the fuss, after all.

I began to recount the story as I'd known it since I was twelve, James, Lily and Sirius only helping me when I'd been forgetting to mention small detail linked to more important events. The old man patiently listened to us, asking very few questions here and there. His expression seemed to darken as the story progressed.

When I got to Slughorn's memory in Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore halted me with a raised hand.

'How many Horcruxes has he made by now?' he asked me, having caught up with the rest of the story already. Genius.

'There should be five of them,' I stated. 'Slytherin's locket, the Gaunts' Ring, Hufflepuff's Cup, the Diary and Ravenclaw's Diadem,' I counted on my fingers, 'The least difficult to get, in my opinion, are the Diadem, which is safely hidden here at Hogwarts, the locket in Grimmauld Place -' Sirius half groaned at that, '-and the Ring in Little Hangleton, which, a part from the curse it carries, can be dealt with well enough.'

'What about the Cup and the Diary, then?' Dumbledore asked us.

'The Cup is inside the Lestranges' vault at Gringotts and the Diary is in Lucius Malfoy's possession, as far as we know,' Lily promptly answered.

'These are dire news, indeed,' the old Headmaster sighed in a low voice. He seemed to be pondering what to say next.

We remained silent, waiting for him to process all the things we'd told him.

'Alas, we cannot despair now, that is sure,' he continued after awhile, 'Lily, James, Sirius, I have arranged a safe house for you and little Harry to stay, until I will be able to move you back unharmed to Godric's Hollow. I will set a Portkey for you in just a moment.'

I eyed him surprised. Was I going to stay at Hogwarts alone?

'Miss De Angelis,' he then added to me, 'The house-elves have already prepared nice comfortable quarters for you here in the castle -'

'Can't Jemma stay with us, sir?' Sirius interrupted him, sounding upset.

'It is not the case, I am afraid,' Dumbledore said calmly, 'Miss De Angelis will stay here and attend private lessons with Severus Snape.'

'I - we - won't see Jemma at all, will we?' he asked broken-heartedly.

'I am really sorry. I understand you may have all become very good friends, however, Miss De Angelis has a tough month ahead of her. It is going to be much safer for all of you, if you will keep her story a secret, as well,' he concluded firmly.

'But she needs us!' Sirius exclaimed frustratedly, 'We're the only people she knows! You can't ask us to leave her here alone!'

'Miss De Angelis won't be alone, Sirius,' the Headmaster reassured him, 'Severus and Minerva will keep her company.'

Sirius threw a dark look at him and kept his mouth shut. I knew the idea of me spending time with Snape, above all people, wasn't reassuring to him, at all.

Dumbledore opened one of the top drawers behind his desk and took a small brass paper-holder out.

'Portus', he said pointing the Elder Wand at it. And once again, I'd seen a Portkey being created.

'It will leave in five minutes,' he said, passing it to Lily. She took it in her hands, then turned to face me with watery eyes. She hugged me tightly, little Harry squeezed between the two of us.

'I'll miss you, Jemma, be strong, ok?' she said to me half-sobbingly.

'Bye bye, Jay,' Harry told me waving his little hand. I ruffled his dark hair, my throat too tight to utter a single word.

James hugged me next with a sad smile. 'Thank you for everything, Jemma.,' he said, 'We'll see you soon, I promise! And don't let old Snivelly wind you up, ok?' Both of us let out a chuckle at that, then he smirked and hinted me to look at Sirius.

He was staring blankly at me, not knowing what to say or do. He didn't want to leave me there, that was clear, yet he knew he had just a few minutes left to say goodbye.

I turned to him and hugged him fiercely. Tears now flowing freely down my cheeks.

'I love you,' I whispered in his right ear.

His breathing stopped for a moment, then his mouth was on mine, kissing me as if we were going to not see each other ever again. With the corner of my eye, I could see James and Lily beaming at us while Albus Dumbledore was looking...surprised.

I didn't want to say goodbye, not now that I'd finally managed to say those three words to him.

'I love you, too, Jem,' he whispered back emotionally while unwillingly letting go of my lips. He then glanced embarrassedly at his ex-Headmaster and gave me a last fleeting hug.

I stood still while watching him and the Potters - my family - getting hold of the Portkey and vanishing into a blur of nothingness.

I sat down on my chair once again, hands hiding my face.

'You will see them again very soon, Miss De Angelis,' Dumbledore commented after a few minutes, breaking the heavy silence that had set inside the room.

I nodded slowly, lowering my hands. I'd never felt so alone in my life before. The Confunded letter I had left for my parents on the kitchen table, swam guiltily in front of my eyes, making me wonder how many more people I was going to leave behind.

'You must be special Miss De -'

'Call me Jemma, please, sir,' I said, my voice still sounding broken.

'As you prefer, then, Jemma,' he smiled at me, 'As I was saying, you must be a very special person. I would never have imagined Sirius Black caring for someone so strongly as it seems he does for you.'

I didn't comment on that. It was getting tiring to hear everyone saying it. Sirius and I had been extremely lucky to have found each other, that's all.

'I shall confess,' he pressed on, 'I had feared for him to be the spy, as I thought him incapable of true love. I was mistaken it seems.'

'How could anyone think of him like that?' I asked annoyed and irritated. Sirius was a good person, with or without me in the picture.

'He tends to mask his feelings rather well,' he explained patiently, 'And acts rashly.'

I couldn't disagree with that. However, Lily had said I was the same.

'I need to ask you a favour, Jemma,' Dumbledore said slowly.

'What kind of favour, sir?' I asked.

'Try keeping your relationship with Sirius Black a secret for now. Him being related to the Lestranges and Malfoys will not help you pass unobserved. Moreover, the least Voldemort will know about you, the best.' he explained quietly, eyeing me pensively.

'I understand,' I said.

I wasn't going to endanger Sirius's life just because we happened to be in love with each other.

'If you are ready, Jemma, I will take you to your quarters, now' Dumbledore said.

N/A: So...the next part of 'The Circle' now begins!

Thank you joanvindiesel, bananafreak97, Sirius Luffer (hope you liked the scene between Sirius and Jem by the way), Disney-Princess-In-Disguise, Sara253xxx and Analie209 for reviewing once again, it's really nice knowing you're all enjoying this story!

I'm trying to keep the characters as real as possible. Perfect relationships don't exist and perfect guys don't exist on Earth, either, unfortunately. I've been through that and I guarantee you: the first month is reasonably the best, lovey-dovey and all that, then the problems start. About Snape then...it's difficult for James and Sirius to forgive and forget all the enmity between them and Snape for now. And, he hasn't saved Harry yet. But Snape is definitely going to be important to the story and you'll read more about him.

Oh well, said that, what are your guesses on what's going to happen next?

JemmadA