Together
Victoria knocked on the door, giving herself a moment to catch her breath.
"Come in," Dumbledore's voice boomed.
"You're back," Victoria said, pushing open the door and walking into the office. The room smelt rather like a fire had just been extinguished, with a lingering scent of dampness and smoke. Many of the portraits were still awake, and some gone from their frames.
Belongings which Dumbledore had taken with him were piled together at the side of the room. Doubtless, upon his return he had bigger matters to deal with. Dumbledore himself was wearing a magnificent purple robe, with an ermine collar. His attire gave off a definite domineering impression.
Dumbledore peered at her though the silence, as she continued to catch her breath. It was only then that Victoria realized that she was covered in blood. Mostly from the Basilisk.
"What happened?"
"Voldemort," Victoria said, after a pause, "was using Ginny. She is in the hospital wing, with Harry, Ron, and Lockhart. And your phoenix, for that matter. Oh, and I think your phoenix took the sword of Gryffindor out of the Chamber, because all I grabbed was this."
Victoria handed the diary to Dumbledore.
"Voldemort used this diary to get into Ginny's mind, and eventually take over. Voldemort almost succeeded – but after Harry slayed the Basilisk – that was the monster – I made Harry stab the diary with one of the fangs, and that destroyed Voldemort," Victoria said, pausing again, "oh and I was invisible the entire time, so Harry didn't see me. Or Ginny. And Lockhart did a memory charm, but it backfired. I assume he lost all his memories. You won't expel Ginny right? It wasn't her fault. In fact, if you do expel her I'll-"
"I will not be expelling anyone," Dumbledore informed her.
"Good," Victoria said, pulling out her wand to clean up her clothes.
"Allow me," Dumbledore said, waving his own wand, and leaving her clothes fresh and clean.
Victoria scowled and put her wand away.
Dumbledore surveyed her over his half-moon spectacles. "How much do you know?"
"That's how it's going to be is it. You never tell anybody, anything! You just gather all this information, and keep it to yourself, even when it doesn't concern you!" Victoria took a deep breath, clenching her fists, before continuing. "You don't trust anybody but yourself. You think you're so intelligent that you think nobody else can understand! It's not always your secret to keep you know. It's not always your choice. You don't always know best."
When she finished, Victoria turned around and left, not glancing back even as Dumbledore called her name.
Victoria sat beside Ginny, with Luna, at the final feast. A Gryffindor win for house cup again, to Victoria's bitter disappointment, but at least the three friends were allowed to sit together. It was McGonagall's idea, because Ginny had been bombarded with questions after the 'incident' and Victoria and Luna had agreed to support her through the feast, because Ginny hadn't been willing to miss it. Hagrid had returned to the castle, just after the feast began, making a grand entrance amid applause. Despite all the cheer in the room, Victoria did not feel up to celebrating. She'd had a nightmare about 'Tom Riddle' last night, as well as about the Dark Lord using the fragment of his soul, kept in Harry. To add to that, Dumbledore kept attempting to corner her, because he 'wanted to talk.'
She'd talked to her father alone last night, while Lily was 'assisting' Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing. He was proud of her, and Victoria attempted a realistic smile as she accepted a buttered croissant from Luna. But her father was also concerned, that she had placed herself in danger. She hadn't mentioned opening her eyes, but she still felt guilty about that. He had said, he wouldn't know what to do if he had lost her
Victoria took in a deep breath, trying to hold back her tears. She could have died. She could have died and no one would have ever found her. She had been so foolish!
And Kylen. She had only talked to him this morning. "Where were you?" "With my mum." "Your brother didn't really defeat a Basilisk all by himself, did he?" "He had a little help—" "Right, from Dumbledore!" "Yeah, something like that." "You both have amazing magical abilities, although of course I find yours more impressive." "thank you." It was all a lie.
"Excuse me," Victoria said, getting up and walking out of the Great Hall. The large doors trembled slightly after closing behind her. She begun walking towards the windows, where she planned to take in the grounds.
"Victoria! Victoria!"
She turned, and spotted Harry running towards her. "Hey!" he said, "Look, I'm sorry okay?"
"You're sorry?" Victoria repeated, staring at her brother.
"Yeah… Tori, I know I haven't exactly… I mean after I found out Snape—"
"Professor Snape."
"Was your father, I was a little bit, er,"
"Distant? Annoying? Mean?"
"Er, all those things… but Sn… your father is mean to me too!"
"I thought it was mostly because I'm in Slytherin."
Harry frowned, "Well actually, I was almost put in Slytherin. So I thought maybe it was the same way with you. Until I found out about your father. I don't know. I guess it's no excuse. You're my sister."
"Glad you noticed?" Victoria said, staring at her brother. "What…"
"I just sort of realised, no matter what Snape did to get our mother pregnant, you're still family and I think we should spend more time together next year."
Tears were forming in Victoria's eyes again.
Harry paused, fidgeting for a moment, before moving forward and hugging his sibling. "Next year will be better," Harry said, "I promise."
Victoria sat with Lily, Severus, and Maxi on the first day of summer vacation. The sun shone upon the morning dew, and the scent of bacon overcame to dinning room.
"Breakfast is served," Quazy the house elf said, placing all the food around the table.
"Thank you Quazy," Lily said.
Quazy bowed and disappeared.
"What an eventful year," said Severus, as he poured a glass of apple juice for his daughter, "it's nice to have some peace and quiet."
"We'll see how long this lasts," Victoria said, showing her scepticism. The three family members laughed.
"Well," Severus said, ominously, "whatever comes, will come, and we will meet it when it does."
"Together," Victoria said, raising he glass of apple juice.
"Together," said Lily and Severus, raising their own glasses to meet Victoria's with a clink.
Thank you all so much for reading this story. I'm excited to write the second book, with the presence of Dementors, and Lupin! when I post the first chapter of book two, I will also post a short something rather here, to let you all know. To be honest, I'm more looking forward to writing the scene where Victoria and Voldemort meet. But that's almost two books away, so I'd better get writing! Thank you again. Because, without the reader, there would be no book. Also if you write fanfiction with a Severus pairing, let me know and I'd love to read it!
Side note: Congratulations to Dobby on becoming a free elf!