Disclaimer; same as previous
Chapter 21; An impressed old hat.
Draco
The Mudblood Granger was in the hospital. He knew she would surely be one of the first to go. He wasn't exactly sorry to see this happen. After all, something had happened between the Potter club and Amy that had deeply upset her. But he did feel a sense of responsibility as he saw just how pale and wan Amy looked when they had been informed. At least the meddlesome goody-two-shoes weren't dead. He knew Amy would have a total breakdown if that happened. She may look tough to the rest of the world but to him she seemed stretched too thin. He saw it in the way she looked around nervously as they made their way to and from Quidditch practice and in the way she spent more and more time staring into the fire at night. He wondered sometimes what she was seeing as she daydreamed, but mostly, he just watched over her.
Amy
Her occlumency skills were improving bound by bound and the old principal had seemed more and more fascinated with her abilities. But he was gone now. Dumbledore had been shoved out by Draco's father. He had no substantial reasoning as to why she had such an affinity for it… or none he was letting her know. Still, as far as she cared, this brought her one step closer to getting revenge…
The visions were becoming more and more frequent. But they were also becoming more manageable and easier to hide. She mostly saw snippets now. She could manage the daytime visions, but she had no control whatsoever over the dreams…
A dark wood, the Forbidden Forest? Screams in the distance and terrified faces everywhere. She ran, almost tripping over something in the sparse grass, a wand… screams of terror
"The dark mark!"
She awoke to find that it was morning, identifiable only by the slight lightening of the murky lake water, visible through the round window.
Ron
He could only gape as he heard McGonagall say the name of the person taken by the monster. Ginny Weasley. Ginny… Ginny. His little sister, his only sister. He should have been there. He should have done something… Why her? She was a child, only eleven. His mother would never get over this; he was sure of it. All the years she had strived to have a baby girl… he had to do something!
Amy
She knew what she had to do. McGonagall was busy with the other teachers, so she took her chance to sneak into the headmaster's office.
She had watched Harry and Ron go down into the dark tunnel with Lockheart. She knew it would take more than what little skills the two boys had with magic to kill the Basilisk. And, then, there was the mysterious heir to deal with also. The big circular room seemed lonely without him. The pictures still peaked out at her, failing in their attempts to feign sleep. The phoenix watched her as she crossed to him. She told him what was happening…The large bird felt strangely weightless on her forearm as she crossed the office towards the door.
"Going somewhere?" came a voice she instantly recognized.
The hat was up on top of a bookshelf, looking down at her. It smiled at her and said,
"I had rather hoped we could have a little chat."
"I haven't got t-" she began, but then her vision split and she was no longer in the room, but in a totally different one.
A very old, very big chamber. The floor was slippy, but that didn't bother her as she knew her feet were placed firmly on the floor of Dumbledore's office. There were people there… one was lying on the wet floor, her hair spilling out around her head like a bloody halo. There were also two boys, both in Hogwarts uniforms; the taller of the two used a wand to scrawl fiery words in the air. She watched in horror as the letters rearranged themselves to form the name that haunted her.
She could only watch as the terrifying scene played itself out. When her vision cleared, she focused on the hat again and said,
"We're going for a walk."
Ron
It was bad enough to be stuck here trying to get through to where his sister and best friend were surely being eaten by a giant snake, but having to cope with all that and keep an eye on an imbecile, who hadn't the faintest clue who he was, didn't make the situation any easier.
Amy
The sorting hat urged her to wear it as she sneaked down the hallway to the girl's bathroom. She did so and immediately the deep voice of the hat was in her skull.
"Such developments! Even since last we spoke. My, my, Miss Potter… you are truly the most fascinating pupil I have ever had the pleasure of reading. So many skills in one so young. Why, your brother would have done well in Slytherin, but it seems that you would, indeed, flourish in any of the houses. I was right in my decision, though, I do stand by that. Slytherin is where you were meant to be… not by birth, but by association, you see..."
"Wait, what do you mean?" she asked, baffled by the hat's words and the effort of trying to concentrate on where she was going, as well as listening to what the hat had to say.
"I am referring, of course, to the night of your parent's demise. The rebound of such a strong curse onto both you and your twin brother was bound to leave a scar."
"But, wait, no, it was just Harry. Voldemort wanted to kill Harry, the curse never hit me. I can speak parseltongue because Harry and I share a soul. I don't have a scar."
"Not all scars are physical, Miss Potter."
"What do you mean?" Amy dreaded the answer, but knew she had to hear it, all the same.
"I mean only that on that night, the Dark Lord's curse hit your brother, entering through his forehead and passed into you through the connection of twin souls. It did not leave you with a physical scar, but with a mental one. A scar that allows you to speak parseltongue, a scar that connects your fate to Voldemort's as much as Harry… a scar that can mean the difference between life or death, brother or enemy… good or evil."
Amy pondered these last words as she made her way to the owlry. She wrote a letter and sent it with a school owl.
Professor,
Harry is in the Chamber of Secrets taking on the monster. I sent Fawkes to him with the Sorting Hat.
Your school needs you,
AP.
She hoped the use of her true initials would throw off the hunt if the letter were intercepted.
There was nothing left to do but worry…
Dumbledore
He thought the letter would be from Minerva at first seeing as it was a school owl. He was having tea with the last of the governors who had been bullied by Lucius into getting rid of him. Malfoys threats did not surprise him. Finally, the governor signed the parchment under the rest of the signatures. He apologised again and again but Albus assured him it was quite alright. He opened the letter and upon reading it apparated directly to Hogsmeade, where he proceeded to walk to his beloved school. At the door to his office, he was met by a panting Amy Potter.
Amy
She saw him walk up the drive and immediately ran to his office. It was a long run but she was fit from Quidditch. Still, she had to catch her breath before she could proceed with her story.
Draco
The hot shower had done him a world of good. He took his time getting dry and ready for bed so he assumed Amy must have been in bed when he found the common room empty. He sat by the fire for a while, just in case, and that's when pansy appeared.
"Hi Draco," she said and sat beside him, in Amy's spot.
"Pansy," he greeted her, not very warmly.
"So do you think the monster will kill off the blood traitors when it's finished with the mudbloods?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes. She had too much make-up on. Her hair was too perfect and her pyjamas didn't leave a lot to the imagination. He had always known that she had a thing for him, most of them did… except Amy. He shrugged in reply to the question. He didn't feel like being flirted with at the moment. Pansy leaned in closer to him and put her hand on his arm.
"You're really warm," she said, just as Amy walked into the room.
Amy
So relieved that Harry, Ginny and Ron were okay, she forgot to ask Dumbledore about what the hat had said. She snuck out of the office and made her way towards the Slytherin common room. That's when she bumped into Lucius Malfoy.
"Oh, I am so sorry, sir," she said, as she dusted herself off.
"Pardon me," he said absently, "I've been notified that Dumbledore has been reinstated, do you know anything of this?"
"No, sir," she said, trying to look as though this wasn't good news.
He looked very preoccupied and a little worried as he excused himself and moved quickly on towards the headmaster's office. She was puzzled by this turn of events but all thoughts of Draco's father were shot from her mind as she entered the common room.
Draco
He was surprised by the hurt look that crossed her face. He then realised what the scene must look like. The expression was fleeting but it had been there! He was sure he hadn't imagined it. He got up quickly yanking his arm away from Pansy. The girl's long manicured nails scratched him as he did so but he barely noticed. He tried to say something but the words wouldn't come out.
"I'm going to bed," she said in a falsely cheery voice. He wanted to tell her to wait. He wanted to reach out to her and pull her to him. But, instead, he stood there like an idiot while Pansy remained sitting there, looking shocked.
Amy
He didn't stop her as she left. He didn't come after her. He didn't try to explain what had happened. He obviously didn't care. Pansy was beautiful, popular, and rich after all.
Narcissa
As soon as Draco had mentioned this Amy girl, she had done her homework. He had told her that this girl was a mere friend, but Cissi knew that look. She had received it many, many times in her youth. The thought of a pureblood witch being raised in such a ghastly place as a muggle orphanage offended her principles. Narcissa had done some research on this Amy girl… odd name for a pureblood, she thought, but the poor girl was probably named by muggles. She had goose pimples at the thought.
Her private investigator told her that the girl had no remaining family, her father being the last male of that line. She was Heiress to a reasonably good fortune. All in all, Narcissa approved of her credentials. Her husband informed her that the girl was pretty. He had a look in his eyes when he said it that told her he thought she was more than pretty, though, and this, too, she approved of. She did not want ugly grandchildren; though Lucius told her it was far too early to be thinking these things. She knew this, but with the fast thinning out of the old pure families to take into consideration, she had to be organised about these things.