DISCLAIMER: Ummm I don't own anything K?
AN1: I know its late but there's a reason and very valid one at that...i have school and at this point in school i cannot afford to fail so i have been finding small free minutes to write on the story and finally the few minutes have paid up! So here's the chappy, i can't promise a sooner update, i'm sorry
AN2: so i planned up fixing the before chappy because it sounded REALLY rushed and i did...but now i can't find the document and so i lost motivation. It took a lot of my few minutes to fix it! Anyways, i'll try to fix it again and update, just looking at the chappy irritates me.
Chapter 20
Harry frowned when he realized he was now standing at the Liverpool Warf. His summer was officially over and though he had missed his friends, he would miss his time with Hermione even more.
A small pat to the head drew his attention and he looked up at Bellatrix. She had a black cloak covering her body so that no one could recognize her.
She stooped to his level "I'm sorry your father couldn't be here Harry but he's a bit busy with his raid," She gave him a small smile.
Harry almost chuckled as a thought flashed through his mind. What would the other Deatheaters think if they saw Bellatrix smiling? Since He and Hermione were stuck at Hermione's grandparents for the summer they hadn't been around to see what Draco described as 'the beginning of an apocalypse' apparently Bellatrix and Voldemort, though not all lovey-dovey were now an item; it had to be kept under lock and key of course...couldn't have others knowing. This of course came as a surprise to only Draco as Hermione and Harry had seen the signs long ago.
Bellatrix was smiling a lot more recently, which was most likely due to the development of the relationship. Despite this though Harry was not to be fooled, he knew Bellatrix was still a few screws loose.
"I'm fine Bella," Harry told her.
Bellatrix didn't look convinced but relented; this was Harry after all, if he didn't want something to be known then it definitely would not be known.
"Harry!"
The shout drew Bella and Harry's attention; they turned to see Angela run up she was already dressed in her robes and was being followed sedately by Victor, Lucia and Luka. Angela flung her arms around Harry which caused Bella to raise a brow; what would Hermione think if she saw this?
"Hey Angela," Harry said with a smile, stepping back from the hug to greet the others.
"Introduce me to your friends Harry" Bellatrix said, looking at the next generation of Deatheaters.
Harry shot her an annoyed glance, he really just wanted to go; he had lots to do. Angela caught his glance and seemed to have caught on as she took it upon herself to introduce them.
"I'm Angela," She said with a smile. "And that's Lucia, Luka and Victor, we're Harry's friends."
Bella fought to hide back a grin, ohhh she couldn't wait until Hermione met this one "Great to see Harry's keeping good company – well I have to go now, goodbye children." She gave a brief wave before disappearing with a twist.
They all turned to Harry "Who was that?" Luka asked.
"My soon to be mother." Harry said as they entered the ship.
Heads turned when they entered the single common room and whispers flittered about. COB had actually managed to win the school cup last year despite being headed by a first year and having little members; it was the talk of the day apparently.
"The Eagles are glaring." Angela whispered, making a point to grin smugly at the defeated group.
All of them – minus Harry – looked around to confirm Angela's fact before following their green-eyed leader. Harry didn't seem to care for the watchful eyes; he didn't even look to confirm Angela's words, instead he quickly found a room where they all set down there things and took to lying on their beds.
Harry hadn't taken part in the conversations that passed about summer; he had listened though, apparently Angela visited her relatives in the Caribbean and the twins had gone to Egypt. They all gave him souvenirs; a globe that flashed all the Caribbean flags from Angela and a mini pyramid that glowed gold in the night from the twins. Victor hadn't gone anywhere but he seemed to have acquired a rare text on Necromancy and since he didn't study the subject he gave Harry the book; it was the best gift out of them all.
"Victor," Harry called; the conversations−which really and truly were only Luka and Angela talking− ceased.
Victor looked up from his book, acknowledging that he was listening. "I need you and Luka to gather the members of C.O.B in a room and retrieve me once it's done."
Angela looked puzzled "What's the meeting about Harry?"
Luka chuckled, giving Angela an incredulous look, as if asking her 'how could she not know?' Angela scowled, "What's so funny!" she hissed, training her wand on the blonde. Of course she was smart enough to know that Luka, despite his playful and boisterous personality was not one to be taken lightly. She couldn't beat him, plain and simple. "If you already know then just tell me!"
Lucia placed a placating hand on Angela's shoulder "He's just going to have a meeting to formulate our plans on gathering new members and winning the school cup; if you think about it there's not much else he'd have to say."
Angela looked at Harry for confirmation but the boy had already gone back to lying down; with a sigh Angela mentally agreed on the twin's views, there really wasn't anything else Harry had to say.
%^%^%^%
"So you're telling us you spent your entire summer at your grandparents?!" Parvati asked, staring at Hermione like she had lost it.
Hermione took a bite from her buttered toast before nodding.
"Did you hear that Fred?" George asked as he and his twin took seats before the small group.
"I believe I did George, sounded like she had loads of fun."
George sighed, shaking his head as he juggled what looked to be a small yellow cube between his hands "Much more fun than we did Fred."
Neville cocked a brow truly surprised that the twins of all people were complaining on how little fun they had over the summer. They were usually the ones who had the most fun given they played a lot of pranks, "What did you guys do? I went to France with Gran so I didn't get to come over."
Before the twins could answer Ron and Joshua waltzed up to take the seats next to them. "What are you guys talking about?" Ron asked. Lavender and Parvati glowered when he started to inhale the food while Hermione simply ignored the redhead's existence.
"Nothing you need to worry your little brain over," Fred said. Everyone, save for Ron and Joshua saw George slip the small cube into Ron's cup.
Joshua decided to try and engage Hermione in a conversation. "How was summer Hermione?"
"Boring,"
"Oh. That's too bad, I went to Romania," Joshua started to blush a deep shade. "I brought you back a souvenir."
Hermione ceased in reaching for a scone and turned her attention to Joshua; her interest was piqued. "What is it?"
"It's not much," he scratched his head as he stared anywhere but at her."It's something I found."
Hermione immediately lost interest; she grabbed the scone and bit into it before reaching into her bag and removing a book to read. Joshua looked a bit miffed at her obvious dismissal.
"So Fred, George, I've been meaning to meet your little sister," Hermione said, turning her attention back to her friends. "Where is she? I know she was sorted into our house."
The others gave the twins questioning looks as well; they had all been meaning to talk to her so as to judge her personality. It would be good to have three spies in the Weasley household, it was Dumbledore's little fort after all.
Ron was the one who answered "She's been cooped up in her room since last night, she's a bit shy and her only friend was sorted into Ravenclaw."
Hermione nodded; Ron still had his uses after all.
Lavender looked worried "We should probably get her−grab something for her to eat Parvati; it's not good to go to your first class hungry."
Parvati nodded and began to pile bits of food into a plate; the twins would remove whatever they knew Ginny wouldn't eat every few seconds or so. "That should about do it" Parvati mumbled absentmindedly, staring at the plate to determine if it was enough.
Hermione stood, a glass of pumpkin juice in hand "Let's go then− see you later guys." She was referring to the twins and Neville but Joshua and Ron seemed to have thought she was talking to them as well and waved.
"So what's the plan?" Parvati asked
Hermione shrugged "There isn't much of a plan really, we just have to treat her well and become friends− everything else will come in due time."
Lavender nodded "We should hurry though; we have charms with the puffs first thing."
They quickened their pace and were soon walking up the steps leading to the Gryffindor female dorms. "Which room did they say she was in again?" Parvati mused, trailing her eyes along the rooms.
Lavender shrugged "They didn't say"
Hermione frowned, she was not about to search every room for the girl, that would take some time and she refused to be late for her first class. Hermione was about ready to leave when out of one of the rooms popped a pretty brunette – well pretty didn't really fit her as much as beautiful did− her face looked to have been chiselled by the gods, with her high cheekbones, lush plump lips and haunting eyes. Hermione smiled when she saw the girl, she would recognize those dark green eyes anywhere.
"Hey Hermione!" the girl greeted upon seeing her; the girl swung her bag of books over her shoulder before levelling Hermione with a curious gaze. "Aren't you guys supposed to be at breakfast?"
"What about you and Raven? Aren't you guys supposed to keep your boyfriends company?" Parvati asked brazenly, smirking when the girl's light skin turned red.
"J-J-Just because we're together d-d-doesn't mean I'll neglect m-m-my work!"
Hermione smiled "So basically what you're saying, is, you misplaced your potions essay – again − and you were busy copying from Raven – am I right?"
The girl's shade darkened "No!"
"Yes she is Robin," A voice travelled from out the room the brunette had just exited. "You did lose your essay and you did copy from me."
Robin looked ready to retort but fell short when the black-haired version of her stepped out the room. Hermione found it strangely ironic that the Weasley twins, bringers of mischief and all things awesome were with the Blackwood twins, bringers of things rule based and work oriented.
A light bulb went off in Hermione's head and without a second to waste she posed a question "You wouldn't know where to find Ginny would you?"
Robin shrugged before regarding her twin "What about you?"
"Ginny? Oh I think she's in the third room to the left, if not then it's the fourth," Raven grabbed her sister's arm and started down the stairs. "Well good luck with whatever your here for, we're off to grab a quick bite."
They waved and were gone.
It was silent for a few seconds before Parvati giggled "Don't you all find it Ironic that−"
"The twins are in love with twins?" Lavender asked. "Or the mischievous twin duo is in love with the 'no to rule breaking' duo?"
"I think she meant both," Hermione said, turning to make her way to the third room. "Now let's go, we've wasted enough time."
Lavender took the initiative to knock but got no reply so Parvati shrugged and barged in. The redhead wasn't inside so they checked the next one. Lavender once again knocked and once again did not get a reply, following this pattern Parvati barged in. This time though the redhead could be seen sitting at a table scribbling away in a book.
"Ginny Weasley correct?" Hermione asked.
Ginny jumped, startled by the question and whirled out of her seat to face them. "W-Who are you?" Ginny mumbled. "W-Why are you in here?"
Hermione smiled softly "We're friends of your brothers; I'm Hermione, she's Parvati and she's Lavender," recognition flashed through Ginny's eye and she visibly relaxed. "We've been wanting to meet you for a while now and when we heard you were nervous we thought to try and cheer you up – here's breakfast...it's probably a bit cold now but it's better than nothing."
"Thank you," Ginny whispered shyly.
Lavender waved away the thanks "It's no problem at all, we want to be friends with you after all"
A beaming smile washed over Ginny's face "Really?"
Parvati laughed "Yes really."
%^%^%^%
Emma sipped her tea calmly as she regarded the platinum blonde before her. It had been two weeks since she'd seen the blonde and that was when they dropped off Draco and Hermione; at that time he did not look in any way like this.
The blonde looked like the world was on his shoulders, his usually well kept hair was out of place and being further mused by his fingers and if his clothes were anything to go by he was not taking much care to his mode of dress either.
Narcissa sat beside him wringing her hands and staring at Emma pleadingly "Please Emma, you have to help him – Tom's your brother, you must have a way of placating him"
"Narcissa...Lucius lost Tom's horcrux and you know how important that thing is, he entrusted Lucius with it for protection," Narcissa's shoulders sagged after each word. "To think he lost it, and in a bookstore no less, where hundreds could have picked it up...doesn't really make it easy to figure out a way to tell him this while stopping him from murdering Lucius."
Emma gave Lucius a sympathetic glance "How did you lose it anyways?"
Lucius sighed "I had a small scuffle in Borgin and Burks when we went to collect the books"
"...With who?"
"...The Weasley's"
Emma blinked in confusion "So it fell or something?"
Lucius looked reluctant to speak so Narcissa took over "He placed it in Draco's cauldron to prevent just that and then Draco decided he wanted a different one without telling him."
Emma slapped a hand over lips as she fought to hold in her giggle; Lucius turned red in anger "This is not funny Emma! My life is on the line!"
"Oh but it is, Tom is going to be furious!"
"I know," Lucius groaned, running his hand through his already mused hair.
Emma stood "Worry not, he hasn't noticed as yet so we have enough time to find it. We'll contact Borgin and Burkes and have a list compiled of all the customers that day," She flashed a reassuring smile. "Then we'll just visit each household, I'll have Dan help – he won't tell Tom so don't worry about that."
Narcissa rose and gave Emma a tight hug "Thank you Emma, you're a great friend."
Emma smiled "I know"
%^%^%^%
Kakaroff grumbled as he paced the length of his office; this was ridiculous! How could the Darklord ask such a thing of him? It was bloody hell near impossible...and to get it finished before the end of the term was simply...Sweet Merlin the world was out to get him.
With a frustrated sigh he sat down in his seat. There was no way he could refuse and from what the Darklord said he would have to construct an event to play along. Already he could feel the grey hairs.
Finally after an additional half an hour of pondering he stood and went over to the fireplace. It was already a week into the term and if everything went as planned the plan would be in operation by October.
He threw in a bit of floo and stuck in his head. Immediately he spied the old coot seated around his desk. The man looked surprised.
"Ah Kakaroff, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
Kakaroff suppressed a frown "Dumbledore I have a proposal to make."
%^%^%^%
Hermione watched as Lily went around the room examining their potions; the woman ensured she congratulated Joshua profusely despite the fact that his was a total disaster. That woman was the reason Joshua was such an arrogant ass as well as the reason for the nightmares Harry tried to hide from her.
It was weird though because once and mind you only once, Lily had a slip up. She called Joshua Harry. Hermione would have only been mildly suspicious if that was all, but no, that hadn't been all. Right after the slipup Lily had looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. It all happened in a few seconds of course; right after Lily was back to normal.
That had happened the second day after returning for second year and Hermione had a hunch as to what it was.
"Okay class that's it for today," Lily announced, clapping her hands together. "Now off to lunch with the lot of you."
"Are you coming Hermione?" Parvati asked when she noticed Hermione had yet to move.
"Go on ahead and save something for me," Parvati tilted her head as if to ask 'Why?' "I have to speak with the professor."
Parvati nodded, accepting the answer "Okay, see you later then." Neville and Lavender waved as they left with Parvati.
Once the classroom was empty Hermione approached Lily who had taken a seat at her table. She looked up and gave Hermione a warm smile; the smile caused Hermione to slow in her approach. If her theory was wrong, then this gentle warm woman was in actuality a fake.
"Professor, could I have a moment of your time?"
"Of course sweetheart, take a seat," Lily levitated a chair behind Hermione. "What is it dear?"
Hermione suppressed a frown "I need help with a charms assignment," Lily looked surprised, most likely confused as to why Hermione didn't just ask Flitwick. "Joshua told me how great you were at it so I thought...maybe you could help."
At the mention of Joshua's name Lily smiled "Tell me the problem."
Hermione fished through her bag and presented the parchment containing the question and a quill. The next half an hour was spent going through the question.
"Thank you for your help professor," Hermione said with a wave as she left.
Later tonight she would find out whether or not she was right.
%^%^%^%
"It seems a treat is in order for our children," Tom said taking a sip from his glass.
Dan quirked a brow before looking at Carlito and Lucius who both shrugged as they knew not what Tom was speaking of. They had all been in the sun room going over a bit of finance when the Darklord entered. The man had immediately ordered champagne for all of them before speaking his confusing words.
"What do you speak of Tom?" Dan asked. He put down the papers he had been going over to grab a glass of champagne.
Tom flashed a letter "Why this of course"
Dan resisted the urge to roll his eyes "And that is?"
"A letter from Nicolas Black," Tom smirked when he saw the surprise on the faces of Lucius and Carlito; he hadn't expected Dan to look surprised so was not put off by his lack of it.
Carlito slowly put down his glass before eying the letter "The vampire king of Britain and France sent you a letter?"
"About what exactly?" Lucius probed; in all truth some part of him had not believed the kids when they mentioned the vampire king. Now though he had no choice to.
Carlito stood and plucked the letter from Tom's hand; Tom scowled at that but did nothing, if it had been anyone else they wouldn't have gotten off with just a scowl.
Carlito scanned it and raised a brow "Fascinating."
"Well?" Carlito looked over at Lucius. The blonde sneered, showing where his son got the habit from. "Are you going to read it or not?!"
Tom gave the blonde a calculative glance "Your temper seems to be a bit shorter than usual Lucius...is something the matter?"
Lucius schooled his face into a cool mask and quickly threw up his mental barriers.
"Problems with Cissy maybe?"
"Can we get back to the letter?" Dan asked with an exasperated sigh, knowingly saving Lucius. Emma had explained the situation to him a mere week before.
Tom quickly reverted back to looking proud and smug "Continue Carlito." He waved his hand to bid the man on.
"In accordance with a promise to the young Miss Hermione, I Nicolas Black will offer the services of the vampire society of Britain and France towards your goals. Also in accordance with the promise I will only follow the orders of Miss Hermione and will only attend meetings where she is present as it is to her I owe a great debt, sincerely Nicolas Black."
Tom glanced at Dan, wondering what he thought of his daughter attending the meetings. He didn't think it would bother the man as she used to attend at different intervals before school.
"Dan?" Tom slowly asked.
Dan waved his hand to wave off Tom's question; he already knew what he was wondering "Worry not, we will make arrangements with Severus."
Tom stood fluidly and grabbed back the letter "Well I'm off to reply, take care with your business." And just like that he was gone.
%^%^%^%
Padma scowled, glaring down at the piece of parchment on the bed before them. Lavender and Parvati had backed away with gasps but Hermione, the owner of the bed, looked the calmest of them all.
"We have to show Neville," Parvati whispered. "He's the closest to the family of us all – he can help I'm sure." Lavender nodded in agreement.
"What do you think he'll do? Tell James and Dumbledore?" Hermione hissed. "They're the ones who did this – yes we'll tell Neville, but I'll have my family save Lily."
They nodded and turned their attention back to the piece of parchment. The parchment that had before been a charms assignment had rearranged themselves to form a list of glowing red words. There were at least 20 curses on the list.
"H-How did you find this out?" Parvati asked; she had been too shocked to ask before.
Hermione lifted an ordinary quill "I got it from Knockturn alley long ago, it's suppose to reveal the curses inflicted on a person when written with. You have to say 'Revalio' to see the curses though."
"So what's the plan?" Lavender asked
"First things first I'll tell my mom tonight after dinner then she'll tell my Uncle," Hermione said holding up her locket. "After that they'll probably find a way to reverse the effects; if they need us to help then so be it...Harry's lived his whole life believing his mother genuinely hated him...I'll destroy that belief."
The girls rested their hands over Hermione's fisted fingers and gave her encouraging smiles "And we'll help you." Padma said.
%^%^%^%
Seated in the centre of the Riddle Manor library was the unlikeliest of two persons; Emma and Remus. Fenrir, who would have been sitting close to his lover, was nowhere to be found but that may have been due to Emma stunning him and binding him in a room upstairs. Remus didn't know this of course, he had been called by Emma for what she titled 'An urgent matter'.
Remus watched in Emma in circumspection, he was not calm being in a room with only her. She had already blatantly showed and voiced her dislike of him.
Emma sighed, deciding that she had to get this done quickly. Fenrir would not be unconscious for long and Tom's Deatheater meeting would soon end.
"I wasn't planning on telling you this," She started. "But it'll make it easier and even if you prove to be a spy I believe I am enough to handle you."
Remus was officially on high alert; what was she talking about?
"Are you aware that a portion of your memories have been blocked?" She scrutinized his reaction. He looked genuinely shocked...then again that could be faked.
Remus jumped to his feet "T-That's not possible," he started to pace in place, running his fingers through his hair.
Emma fingered her wand, holding it tightly in her hand as she continued "That time I used Legilimens on you I saw them, they were blocked by a very powerful spell...one that I think only one person who was close to you could have done."
Remus let out a ferocious snarl "I should have known! That bloody manipulative fool!" he whirled on Emma who without a thought trained her wand on him. Her aim was deadly but Remus didn't seem to mind. "Is there a way to remove it?"
Emma's aim did not change "I hate you, you know that yet you trust me so easily – why?"
Remus smiled "You didn't trust me Emma, that's a far cry from hate – I can tell you're serious as well," Emma rose a brow at that, she was sure her poker face was solid. "I can smell your lies." Remus added as an explanation.
Emma sighed and slowly lowered her wand; she levelled Remus with a stare "I hope my unsurprisingly small trust in you is not unfounded," She said rising to her feet. "I found a spell to undo the block but because Dumbledore used a strong dark spell –not so surprising− I have to use a strong dark counter spell..."
"And..."
"It's going to hurt," She paused to twirl her wand. "Profusely."
"I can handle it," Remus said, walking up to her a bit too closely, causing her to step back. "Do it."
Emma nodded "We have to do it quickly, I fear Fenrir is already up,"
Remus looked confused for a mere second before he put two and two together "You did something to Fenrir didn't you..."
Emma shrugged "How else was I to get you alone? I stunned, gagged and bound him so let's hurry," Remus chuckled. "I already drew the circle so just lay there on the ground – what? I was doing the spell whether or not you were a spy – now lie down, don't want you adding an injury to that body of yours, Fenrir would be more than furious then."
Remus rolled his eyes at Emma's choice of words but lay on the floor all the same. She adjusted his arms and legs before stepping back and swishing her wand about, chanting softly under her breathe as she did this. After a full 10 seconds each slash was followed by a red streak and Remus convulsed, three convulsions later and he was screaming bloody murder.
He clawed the ground, drawing blood and fought against invisible restraints. His eyes were wide open and flashing amber; sweat rolled down his skin.
Emma was so concentrated on the spell she didn't look up when the library door banged open; the growl of pure rage that followed however was what truly caught her attention. She glimpsed towards the sound and almost groaned when she saw the crouched form of one Fenrir Greyback. She shouted one last chant before dragging her wand down in a chopping manner, the red flash that followed connected with Remus's forehead, drawing one last cry from the man before he became unconscious
Pure instinct caused Emma to dodge the lunging form of Fenrir; she jumped back, training her wand on the man that seemed to be in partial transformation, he was occasionally sniffing at Remus but though he seemed thrilled the man was not dead he was still mad she had caused him pain.
"Fenrir, I need you to calm down," Emma said, trying to placate the beast. She was honestly more than a bit exhausted, this spell took a toll on her magical core; it was pure will and survival instinct keeping her awake and standing. "I was helping him." She tried to get through to Tom but he had his mental barriers up and those were hard to get by.
"You lie!" Fenrir snarled before once more lunging for her.
She twirled to the side, once more moving by instinct. She fired a quick succession of stunners all of which were dodged by the now complete wolf form of Fenrir. She ducked under a swipe and fired a powerful binding curse that had him flying distance away and struggling to get free; she immediately felt her knee's give out, that had taken a lot out her. She used her hands to keep her body from falling completely to the floor.
'Tom!'
Sweet Merlin why did her twin have such strong mental barriers?!
She could see Fenrir slowly breaking free and in one last desperate move she channelled as much of her remaining magic as she could to smash a small hole in Tom's mental barrier and push through her fear, anxiety and fatigue.
'Help me Tom!'
Fenrir broke free and lunged for her; Emma could do nothing, she could barely see the wolf, only blurred lines flashing in her vision.
A second before Fenrir could land and rip into her a dark purple curse slammed into his chest, sending him smashing into a bookshelf that toppled over his body.
Emma felt pure relief when she felt the familiar arms of her twin wrapping around her, "Emma?! Emma?!"
"It's not his fault, don't punish him," She managed to say before everything faded to black.
%^%^%^%
"What happened?" Dan asked as he stepped into the room kept specifically for Emma in the Riddle Manor. His eyes immediately zoned in on her sleeping form in the bed, his body tensed when he saw a magical cooling pad on her forehead.
Tom looked up from his seated position next to the bed, he had been holding Emma's hand but let it go to address Dan. "The healer says her core's depleted so she'll be unconscious for give or take 2 days with a high temperature but other than that she's okay." It was like a weight had been lifted off of Dan's shoulders, his tense body visibly calmed.
"I don't know what happened, I was in a meeting when she forcefully broke through by mental barriers...I felt her fear and heard her shout so I used our link to apparate to her," Tom said, his red eyes seeming to glow. "Only to see Fenrir in his wolf form lunging for her, if I hadn't been fast enough he would have torn her apart."
Dan's cool mask shattered, rage rolled off him in palpable waves. "Tell me he's dead." Fenrir was a friend, yes, but that wolf should know that hurting Emma was taboo.
Tom shook his head and at Dan's incredulous look quickly explained "Before she fell unconscious Emma basically forbade me from hurting him...Remus will wake soon, we'll ask for an explanation then."
Dan didn't look happy "Where is Fenrir?"
"In the dungeons," Tom said.
There was a pop and a female house elf appeared "Master, sir Remus is awake."
"Take us to him" Tom ordered.
%^%^%^%
Hermione sat with her knee's pulled close to her chest. She had been trying for the last few minutes to get through to her mother with no success. Since Emma kept the twin locket she couldn't try to contact her father.
Something had to be wrong, her mother always answered. She was tempted to go down to the dungeons and have Severus contact them but it was already way past curfew and the chances of her reaching without being caught were small.
Gripping her locket tightly she curled up under the sheets. Something was wrong she could feel it.
"Please be okay."
%^%^%^%
"Angela why do you insist on brushing Harry's hair?" Lucia asked her fellow roommate, watching as the dark skinned girl quickly pulled on her clothes and did her hair. "He can do it himself you know."
Angela paused in applying mascara to address Lucia "Because it's fun and it gives me something to do while I wait on you in the mornings."
Lucia's eyes narrowed "He has a soul bond Angela."
Angela scowled "This has nothing to do with what you're thinking!"
"Oh? Really now?" This was probably the longest conversation Lucia had ever spoken. But this had to do with Harry and was therefore deemed important enough to prolong her speech. "I can tell you like him – you believe that by doing this you'll get closer."
Angela sighed, her mood becoming oddly morose "I know...I know he'll never look at me like that but when I'm this close to him the pain I feel isn't so bad," She smiled sadly. "Please don't tell."
"I won't...but just a word of advice, it'll be better if you just move on," Lucia stood and took up her things before making her way to the bathroom.
Angela watched her go before finishing up her makeup and leaving to do Harry's hair; she was thinking a single braid today.
%^%^%^%
It was breakfast and as usual all the groups were chatting amicably over breakfast. The COB table no exception; Harry, Luka and Victor were talking about a game plan to win again this year, Angela was giving makeup tips to a group of girls and Lucia was quietly observing it all.
All conversations stilled when Kakaroff stood to address the school; it was a month into the term and no announcements had been said so they were all curious about what exactly Kakaroff had to say.
"I have an important announcement to make," He started.
"Well obviously," Luka muttered, drawing a few smile's from those around him.
"The board of directors and myself have come to the conclusion that we should increase our interactions with our fellow international magical schools," He wasn't lying, Voldemort was actually a board director, only under a different alias and a large portion of the board were in arms with him so whether or not he had wished it, Kakaroff had to do as he said. "A joint duelling competition will be held annually with Hogwarts where the top duellers of Dumstrang will be sent to Hogwarts to participate with their fellow Hogwarts competitors."
Whispers broke out at all tables. Harry was convinced his father was somehow involved; this needed his political influence to sway the British magical ministry.
"This competition will span the length of 2 months, starting in February – any questions."
Someone from the Aves raised her hand "How are the duellers chosen?"
"Sometime in January a duelling competition will be held, the top 20 will be going."
"What about classes?" Someone else asked.
"Two professors will be accompanying you; along with myself they will be teaching you whatever subject they are assigned. Notes and assignments will be sent via owl for your other subjects."
The excitement in the room was beyond palpable.
"Is the competition open to all year groups?"
"Yes."
Harry smirked, it seemed he had to thank his father; he hadn't had a chance to speak to him the past 2 weeks as Necromancy was draining him of what little energy he had but he would definitely find time later. His smirk morphed into a smile when he thought of Hermione...he would get to see Hermione, this was the best gift ever.
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Hermione gaped, her anxiety for her mother momentarily forgotten "Did Dumbledore just say joint duelling competition with Dumstrang?"
Neville nodded numbly "I believe he did."
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