This is going to be an extra long chapter because I did not have a lot of time today to plan the next few chapters so this one is just in place of the two I was going to write today.

This is going to be a good one!

Chapter Twenty: Year Two

Emotions and Birthdays

My first lesson with Dumbledore came towards the end of February. I was escorted by Percy out of the Common Room and through the corridors to Dumbledore's office. To be honest, I was completely terrified to have this lesson. What if Dumbledore saw what I could do, was disgusted, and kicked me out of his office or even worse the school? No, no that's ridiculous, he would never do that.

"The first thing I would like you to do it sit down. You must relax and ease the tension your body has built up." Dumbledore said as soon as Percy left. I sat in a chair near me and took deep breaths. "Very good. Very good. Please do that for a few more minutes. Clear your mind of all things that could scare you or make you angry."

I did as he said and continued taking deep breaths while he watched me with a smile on his face. I had to admit, it was really relaxing, sitting there and just breathing. I didn't have to worry about assignments or anything else.

"Excellent. Now, I want you to think of a memory, any memory at all that made you angry. Angrier than you had ever been before. Choose that moment and focus only on that moment. Think of nothing else. I want you to think about that moment, but do not act on your emotions yet. You will let out your anger when I say." Dumbledore said calmly.

I thought for a moment. I considered the moment when I found Justin, but I wasn't really angry at that moment, I was hurt. Instead I thought about a moment right before I came to Hogwarts for the first time. Seamus had snuck into my room and was planning on pranking me. He had pulled the prank and while he ran out, he knocked my Quaffle into the fireplace in my room. And yes, it burnt to a crisp. I had been really really mad then, and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to forgive him.

"Very good, Darcy!" Dumbledore cried. "Now I want you to release that anger and aim at this bed sheet. Go on!"

I trembled as I let it out, my eyes were open wide, but the anger inside me overcame every thing else and shot out. This ice was different from the type I had seen before. Instead of it being flakey and soft, this was firm and solid. It rocketed out of my hands and sliced through the bed sheet like it was nothing.

"Excellent! Very very good! Now we know you emotion, anger produces ice rockets. Now every time you feel the need to use this particular power, I want you to think about that same memory. It will make it easier for you to produce. Now we only have sadness, happiness, serenity, and fear to find. This shall be fun!"

It was sort of fun. I got to choose memories from my past that had made me feel those particular emotions. Producing the powers gradually became harder and harder. Dumbledore said something about how sometimes when I can't remember a certain memory perfectly, the power will not come as fast. He said that the more I remember, the better the product.

For happiness, I first chose when I got my Hogwarts letter last year. I tried to make the power go, but it wouldn't come out.

"Choose a different memory." Dumbledore said. I nodded and thought for a moment. I don't think I had ever been more happy than that moment...

I shook my head, "I can't."

"That's perfectly fine. I didn't expect you to have all your powers today. Try fear."

That one was easy. I only had to think about my dream to come up with this one. I knew it was going to be a strong one. I should feel my body shaking again.

"Good. Release." Dumbledore said. I did and this time snow left my hands. It fell to the floor in a defeated flop.

"that was a bit pitiful." I said.

Dumbledore smiled, "Just wait." We waited for a few more seconds and then I saw what he meant. The snow was sinking into the stone floor of his office. But...no, it wasn't sinking. It was burning holes into the stone floor. Dumbledore chuckled, "Acid snow. How quaint. What will they come up with next. Try serenity."

I bit my lip and searched for any memory at all that I could have been serene or peaceful in. A smile came to my lips when I thought of it. The stars. All I had to do was think about looking up at the stars and I would be serene. I released without waiting for Dumbledore's signal, but nothing happened anyway.

"Try again." He said. I thought some more. The stars were the only thing that made me the most serene. "What is your memory?"

"When I look up at the stars. I feel peaceful and calm. It's the only thing that gets me totally calm."

"The only thing?" Dumbledore asked. I considered this. Recently I hadn't looked at the stars. When I had my panic attacks I didn't look at the stars... George calmed me down.

"No, George, George Weasley calms me down too." I said.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Excellent. Now come up with the most peaceful moment you have." I did. I remembered the first night I was at the Burrow. I had been looking at the stars and hanging out with George. I smiled as it filled me up. "Release."

I let it out and snowflakes came out of my hands. But these snowflakes, were deadly. They had razorblade-like ends that were super pointy and dangerous looking. They shot across the room and got stuck in Dumbledore's walls.

He laughed in delight. "Wonderful. I believe that is it for today. Come back in three weeks and I would like to see those three powers perfectly controlled. Ask your brother to help you train. Next time we'll work on being able to think of those emotions quickly so you can use them in a battle."

"A battle sir? Why would I need them for a battle?" I asked, packing up my things.

He shook his head, "No matter. Have a nice day, Miss Finnigan."

"Sir?" I said turning around.

"Yes Darcy?" Dumbledore said, sitting in his armchair behind his desk.

"Do-do you believe it was Harry who opened the Chamber of Secrets? Do you think he petrified all those kids?" I asked. If anyone would know it would be him right?

He pursed his lips and stared at me for a moment. "No, Darcy. I do not think Harry opened the Chamber of Secrets."

I felt a flare of anger rise within me. "How do you know? He was found at all the scenes!"

"Except your dear friend, Fay's crime scene. Correct?" I nodded solemnly. He chuckled softly. "Sometimes, one does not need proof or evidence to know. Harry may have been at all the crime scenes, but sometimes that is the way fate works. I believe he was just there at the wrong time. People will do good to forgive him."

I was silent for a little while. the I said with a smile, "Thank you Professor."

"I believe Percy Weasley is waiting out in the hall to escort you back to your Common Room. Have a nice day, Darcy." Dumbledore said. I turned around and walked out of the office, thinking about what he had just told me.

March 17 was soon upon us. I had decided to sleep in, considering it was a Saturday and I didn't have to be anywhere in particular. I was planning on going to visit Fay and Justin later but for now I would just sleep. It was my birthday after all.

Unfortunately Fred and George were not going to let me sleep in. I heard the door open with a squeak and a giggle. Must be Lavender. There were footsteps and I was about to sit up when two bodies start to jump on my bed.

I let out a groan and said, "Why is it necessary for you to do that right now?" I asked. I knew it was Fred and George because they were the only two people I knew that would do something like this.

"Because it's not everyday our Blackbird and her brother turn thirteen!" Fred said.

"You're practically an adult now, Darcy!" said George.

"How did you even get in here?" I asked sitting up. "Boys aren't allowed in the girls dorms."

"Lavender let them in." Seamus said from the doorway. "They did the same thing to me, Darcy. Ron nearly pooed his pants when he heard to ruckus."

I laughed, "Alright, well I'm up now so leave so I can get dressed." I said, pushing them out.

"George wants to stay-" Fred began but was cut off by George punching him in the gut.

"We'll leave." George said quickly, pushing Seamus and Fred out of the room. I shrugged and pulled on my favorite outfit which consisted of a warm cream-colored sweater, skinny jeans, and brown rainboots since it was raining pretty hard out. There was no way that I was going outside with my hair down, it would get too frizzy so I did the unthinkable.

"Hey Lavender?" I asked. She was sitting in front of her desk which she used as a vanity table instead.

"Yeah, Darcy?" She asked, setting down her hair brush.

I smiled and sat down next to her. "I want you to do my hair."

She squealed in excitement and told me to sit in her chair. I did and she stood behind me. "Your hair is so pretty, you know. You're lucky." She said, as she brushed through my locks.

I scoffed, "It's a mess, Fay has always been the one to fix it for me. I'm not very good at it."

"Well you're doing a good job anyway. So how would you like me to fix it? Oh, never mind. I have it!" She started working. There were a few times when my anger spiked because she tugged too hard on a strand of hair, but other than that it was completely fine.

After a few minutes there was a rapping of fists on the door. "Blackbird, hurry up! We want to go exploring!" Fred cried.

I laughed, "Just a second, Freddie." He groaned and I looked at Lavender. She was biting her lip as she finished up at last strand of hair.

"There you go! Have fun! And happy birthday, Darcy!" She called as I ripped open the door. Seamus, Fred, and George we wall sitting outside the door and we waiting expectantly.

"What are you wearing?" Seamus asked, standing up. "It seems a little grown up for you, maybe you should go change."

"Maybe you should shut up, Sea. It's fine. Right Fred?"

"Yeah! Blackbird looks like a little woman now!" He said throwing his arm over my shoulder and walking down the stairs with me. "Right Georgie?"

George hadn't said anything and was busy trying to hide a blush that had crept to his face. "Y-yeah. Right."

Fred started laughing and nudged George in the side. George shoved him back with an even bigger blush. "Shut up, Fred."

I rolled my eyes at the two and pulled Seamus over to me. "What would you like to do today, brother?"

Seamus shrugged, "We definitely have to play Quidditch later, but it's raining now so..."

"Pranks?" I suggested.

"Did someone say pranks?" George asked, breaking away from his argument with his twin.

"I did. That's how we're going to spend the morning." I said. Seamus nodded with a smile.

Fred grinned at George who grinned back at him. "We have the perfect stock of prank items. We'll be back. Don't move!" Fred said. They ran up to the boys dorms and left Seamus and I alone.

I suddenly hugged him tightly and said into his shoulder, "Happy Birthday, Sea."

He chuckled and hugged me back, "Happy Birthday, Bean." I rolled my eyes at the stupid but sweet nickname.

"Aw, brother sister love. That's wonderful, but let's focus!" Fred said, marching back down the stairs. I pulled away from Seamus and we looked at what the boys had in their hands. "We've been trying to get these going for a while. George came up with them." He was holding something that looked like a chocolate.

"What does it do?" I asked.

Fred smiled, "Well why don't we show you? Shall we test it out on...Malfoy?"

I grinned, "Let's go!"

"And we have more in case you want to do more!" George said, holding up a bag of the chocolates. "Which ew are fairly certain that you will want to."

The four of us ran out of the Common Room to the Great Hall where breakfast was still going on. We looked around for a moment and eventually we found Draco sitting at the Slytherin table.

"Alright, Darcy, you go over there and talk to Malfoy then you'll 'accidentally' leave this." George said, holding out the chocolate. Then leave and hurry back over here."

I smirked, "Got it, give me the sweet." George handed it over. I walked over to the Slytherin table. I bit my lip as a few of the Slytherins glared at me. I hadn't really thought about the fact that I would have to do this in front of all these people.

"What are you doing here, Finnigan?" a sly voice said. I turned and saw it was Draco staring at me like I was a disgusting rodent.

"I was just here to...ask...you...if you knew it was my birthday." I said, thinking of something off the top of my head.

I crunched his nose and said, "And you think I care, because?"

"Because...uh, bananas!" I shouted and dropped the chocolate on his plate and ran away.

I got back to the others and glared at Fred and George. "You must promise me you will never make me do that again. I had no idea what I was supposed to say."

George laughed, "Well whatever you said, it worked. Malfoy's picking it up." We looked and Malfoy was indeed picking up the chocolate. He smelled it and licked the edge of it. Fred let out a chuckle. Then Malfoy stuffed the whole thing in his mouth and chewed it. He smiled for a moment, but it was immediately replaced with a panicked look.

"What's going to happen?" I asked. George shushed me and pointed at Malfoy again. I watched and was insanely surprised when I saw Malfoy's nose start to bleed. At first it was slow and a very small amount, but then it began gushing out of his nose.

Seamus, George, Fred, and I burst out laughing.

"Blimey, where'd you two get that?" Seamus asked through his laughter.

"We didn't." Fred said.

"We invented it." George continued.

"Something we cooked up this summer."

"We're going to sell them at school."

"Brilliant!" I cried, "Absolutely brilliant!"

"Want to try some more?" George asked, holding them out.

I bit my lip and grabbed them from his hand.

Later that day I went into the Common Room alone to get my broom to play Quidditch with the boys when I saw Harry sitting by himself. I considered walking right past and giving him my nastiest look. But then I remembered what Dumbledore said.

I walked over to him and sat next to him on the couch. "Hey Harry."

"Are you going to yell at me again? Because if you are, I'd rather not hear it." Harry said.

I smiled, "No, I'm not going to yell at you again. I'm...I'm going to apologize. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I...I don't think you petrified Justin or Fay."

"It's alright. You're actually only the second person to apologize for thinking I opened the Chamber of Secrets. Everyone else still thinks its me." I instantly felt guilty. I must have made Harry feel really bad after I'd yelled at him.

"You know, I would never intentionally hurt Fay. She's your best friend. And I would probably be killed by you if I hurt Justin in any way." Harry said.

I blushed, "Uh...how did you..."

"Hermione let it slip one day. Don't blame her, she does that sometimes. Spills secrets, I mean. Don't worry he likes you back."

"But-"

"He stared at you in Herbology. It's a bit scary really. He would stare at you for a good five minutes before he realized what he was doing." Harry said. I wasn't really sure what to say to that so I just sat there.

"You know," I said, "I thought Ron had a thing for me. At least, that's what Fred...or was it George...either way, that's what they told me."

Harry chuckled, "Yeah. He liked you ever since the sorting ceremony last year. He thought you were pretty and was obsessed with you for a while... Eventually he realized you were never going to fall for him so he's moved on to-"

"Harry? What are you talking about?" Ron asked, walking into the Common Room. "Oh, hello Darcy. What are you doing here? George is looking for you. Something about Quidditch."

Harry and I started laughing. Ron looked confused but ignored us and went up to the dorms.

"Well I better be off, nice talking to you Harry." I gave him a wink before going to get my broom.

With April brought the return of Quidditch. This game was a match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. George told me this wouldn't be an easy win, but it was definitely possible.

Seamus and I were walking down to the pitch. Dean had decided not to join us since he was terrified to leave his dorm room now. And for good reason.

We were just about to go to our seats when Professor McGonagall came round and announced that the game was cancelled and that we were all supposed to return to our dormitories immediately.

Seamus gave me a look which I returned but we sighed and walked back any way.

"Lavender!" I called as we walked into the Common Room. She turned around and smiled at me sadly. "What's going on? Why'd they cancel the match?"

"Another Muggle-born has been petrified. They don't want any of us wandering around." Lavender said. "I overheard McGonagall talking to Snape."

"Attention!" Professor McGonagall said, walking into the Common Room. "There are going to be new rules set for the remainder of the school year. Students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. No exceptions."

We listened in silence to the new set of rules in place for us. They seemed a little unfair, but I knew that their only goal was to protect us. Although it was going to be tough for the Weasley twins to not sneak out and play their silly pranks.

"I should tell you," said McGonagall. "That unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught, it is likely the school will be closed."

A few people gasped in surprise. Even I was a taken back. Close Hogwarts? Could they really do that? McGonagall swept out of the room leaving us all behind in silence.

"That's two Gryffindors, one Ravenclaw, and one Hufflepuff..." George whispered.

"Where'd the extra Gryffindor and Ravenclaw come in?" I asked him.

He looked at me and sighed. "Penelope Clearwater from Ravenclaw was petrified. Percy's a bit distraught ono that one. He never thought the monster could attack a prefect..." I smiled and looked at Percy who for once was not talking. "The other was...please don't get angry or anything, but it was Hermione. She and Penelope were found near the library."

I bit my lip. Poor Hermione. But of course she was found near the library, that was her favorite place to go. "So much for our study sessions." George had started tutoring me in Charms again because I had started to fall behind...as he predicted last year.

"Yeah...unless you want to have them in here." George suggested. I nodded but was sort of zoning out. What if I had been with Hermione? Would I have been able to stop the beast with my ice powers, which were under much control? Maybe I would have caught the monster and Hogwarts wouldn't be threatening to close.

"Hey, Darcy. It's going to be fine." George said. "They wouldn't really close the school down. And if they did, you have your Mum who could teach you. You could visit your cousins all the time and you wouldn't be in danger of any other Chambers of Secrets."

I rolled my eyes. "If you're trying to put a positive spin on Hogwarts closing for good, it's not working. I'm still feeling down."

George sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know what will calm you down?"

"What?"

"Star-gazin'"

I smirked and gave him an impressed look. "How'd you figure that out?" I asked.

George grinned and bumped my shoulder with his, "A good magician never reveals his secrets, Miss Finnigan."

There will be another chapter coming very soon. I have yet to decide whether to sleep and then work on it, or work on it and then sleep. Probably the former. Either way please look forward to a finished year at Hogwarts by 3:30 tomorrow. Then I'll start the summer and begin third year on Sunday night.

Review!

xxx

rosslynchandbeyond