Crazy Stupid Love

Chapter Twenty-Nine : First Encounters


Tyler didn't know what she was meant to expect when she finally saw everyone. She hadn't put much thought into it. She ignored the loud whispers that echoed across the room as she sauntered into the grand hall. Head down, eyes low, and posture stiff. Before, she would have loved to have been the center of attention. Before... she would have lived for it. Now all Tyler wanted was for the floor to open up and swallow her hole. It was before the new first years had been sorted, and as she walked down the center of their aisle the young ones parted like the seas as she approached the end of the Gryffindor table and sat down by herself, leaving a few empty spaces between her plate and the next person's. "Along with our annual sorting ceremony, we are also pleased to welcome back Miss Tyler O'Malley to house Gryffindor, as a reminder that the doors of Hogwarts are always open to those with a desire to learn."

Tyler scoffed at the welcome as she looked up to meet Dumbledore's stare to find something in the old wizard had shifted since she'd last seen him. Tyler didn't read into it, she didn't want too... but there was something different, something else weighing on his soul as he looked back at her. Tyler just wanted to do her time until she was free to leave, or at least old enough too. There were a few students that had opted not to return to Hogwarts, not many, but she knew of some missing faces, even after being away for over a year. After Harry Potter's declaration of Voldemort's return some wizards and witches were scared. And they had every right to be. The Daily Prophet and Minister of Magic were doing everything they possibly could to bottle neck the rumors but the fear was still there. Tyler could see it. They'd even gone as far as to send in a ministry official to stand in as the new Defense Against professor. A plump little tart with a voice Tyler found irritatingly resembled nails on a chalkboard. She remembered Umbridge from her hearings with Micheal when they'd gone to the ministry about the attacks, it wasn't something she would soon forget.

Nasty little bitch that one was.

Tyler picked around the food on her plate in silence before finally deciding she'd had enough. Standing from her placement she stepped over the bench and walked from the hall. She felt the eyes on her, and a small part of her wondered why no one had stopped her, not her old friends, not her old team... not Fred... but she could only imagine the rumors flying around, and a large part of her really didn't care. Stepping out into the corridor Tyler was stopped as she turned to see Dumbledore standing before her. She hadn't even noticed him leave the Grand Hall let alone get to the corridor, but he was headmaster, Tyler figured he could do whatever the fuck his old heart desired around Hogwarts. "Miss O'Malley... it's been some time."

She wasn't entirely sure what to say. Even before Dumbledore had never sought her out such as this. She imagined it had something to do with her excursions over the last year and a half. It was a well known rumor in the wizarding world that Albus Dumbledore was after Fudge's Minister position. They thought that he was spreading rumors about the return of the Dark Lord so as to scare the wizarding community into following Dumbledore. Tyler didn't know how to help him though, the ministry hadn't listened to her or Micheal... so there was nothing she could do to help him. That, and she didn't care much for politics, in her opinion Dumbledore would have been ten times the Minister Fudge was, but it wasn't up to her. No one cared what she thought. "Not long enough Professor, if I may be so blunt." she found herself replying in an even tone as the older wizard stared at her for a moment before sighing and taking a deep breath. Over the year Tyler had lost what little patience she'd possessed before, not that there was much, and her sharp and quick retorts were usually just about as nasty as the hexes that often followed.

"I understand it's been a difficult travel." Dumbledore offered as she simply stared back at him with an unchanging expression. Tyler found she did that a lot. Before she was volatile, and outspoken... most times she just let her emotions run her expressions and actions, now though things were different. Tyler didn't allow emotions to cloud much of anything.

"Not according to the Ministry Professor. According to them, Micheal and I just have an exciting habit of 'disappearing' on scrupulous adventures... a common coping technique of those who are going through hard loses when the mind can play tricks on the eyes." she replied resentfully as Dumbledore simply nodded. The disappearances were all over the news, but the Ministry had decided to push the blame onto the infamous Sirius Black when they couldn't find a better explanation. Tyler had also found over the months she'd lost the ability to hold her tongue at times, not that she ever had much of a knack for that.

"I fear all is not as it seems at the Ministry Miss O'Malley." he sighed as Tyler nodded before reminding herself she needed to step back. She didn't want to be involved.

"I'm sorry Professor but I hope you can understand I won't be here long. I still have work I have to do outside of these halls and classrooms. Hogwarts can't offer me anything else." Tyler admitted as Dumbledore nodded much to her surprise.

"I cannot tell you what to do Miss O'Malley, nor can I advise you against a decision when you've already made your mind up. It's my understanding that no one has ever been able too," he started as Tyler stared at the old wizard in scrutiny before deciding that for his sake she would hear him out. It had been Dumbledore that had allowed her to leave to pursue her parents' deaths before, if anything... she owed him. "perhaps what you still have left to learn are not the spells or charms you can be taught in a classroom. There are always lessons to be learned at Hogwarts... even in the most strange of ways."

After a moment, Tyler nodded once before speaking. "I'll take that under advisement Professor..." she stated before turning to leave.

"Tyler..." he called out to her again as she stopped and turned her full attention towards him. "The world has changed. Hogwarts has changed, and it will need your help." he stated as Tyler refused to change her expression. She didn't want to be pulled in to the rest of the world's problems. There were others that were willing to help, to fight and to follow Harry Potter and Dumbledore until the ends of the earth. And while any other time she would offer her help, she had her own mission that she was still trying to work on. "If you would, I ask only one favor..."

Tyler stared back at him as he met her gaze. Old soulful eyes peering into her damaged broken ones. Tyler had seen much of the world on her hunt, but there was something about the way he'd asked her that suggested it wasn't an optional favor, that much she knew for sure. "When the time comes they'll need your help Tyler, and it will be important for you to remember that you are not the only student to lose someone to the Dark Lord." he stated as Tyler looked up from the stone floor to meet his gaze and find that Dumbledore was no longer there.

She shook off the feeling that whatever had happened, whatever Dumbledore had really stopped her for meant more than he was letting on. With a sigh Tyler shook her head and continued on down the corridor. She still had time before they were required to be in their dorms, and Tyler didn't feel like facing everyone just yet. She decided that she wanted to see the grounds, the Black Lake, and the pitch.

Tyler walked down the path towards the lake and tried to ignore the memories of her walks with Fred, she didn't want to relive the past. She didn't want to remember any of it, it would have been easier just to forget it all, but she knew she wouldn't. The air was brisk in the September evening, and the sun setting over the mountains that surrounded Hogwarts made the hole thing seem like something from a dream. But Tyler wasn't living in a dream, her life had been a nightmare over the past year and she knew it. She still had the scars from them burning and carving 'mudblood' into her skin. Still had the marks on her wrists from the chains that had held her down, still bore the mental scars from the cruciatus curse. She knew what she was getting herself into when Tyler agreed to leave Hogwarts. She knew what she was leaving behind, what she was giving up, and what she would have to face.

Tyler had first returned home to see what was left of the place she'd grown up in. They'd been tortured in the living room, but Micheal had told her with deep regret it had been the kitchen they'd died in. Their family kitchen, the place they'd gathered around the island as children and built gingerbread houses in at Christmas. Where her mom had attempted countless muggle ways to cook their food just for a new experience, and where her father spent nights laughing as he turned up their radio and danced around his wife just to bring a smile to her face. The kitchen where they'd laughed, and built a life in, where the heart of their home had been. There were marks and blast holes in the walls, the windows were broken, and the tiling cracked where stray hexes had missed their intended targets. At least by that indication she knew they'd put up a good fight. Blood splattered across the sides and doors of the white kitchen cabinets made Tyler sick the first time she saw it, but now... she didn't imagine there was much she hadn't seen.

From the house, Micheal had taken her to London where they'd spent weeks tracking down old Death Eater files, figuring out which leads they would follow first and how they would plan their hunt out. Micheal had taught her to pack light, and travel quick. That the more they moved the harder they were to find. Tyler had her first experience with a death eater on the coast of Whales. They'd been hunting down the same lead for days, trekking across the coast and searching high and low. She thought they would be harder to find, but she didn't have to look very hard before the cabin they were scoping out suddenly puked out what seemed like a storm of darkness. Micheal had taught her a lot in the weeks they'd been traveling together. Potions to reverse hex and curse side effects, and heal injuries. He'd had her practicing defensive and offensive spells... things they wouldn't learn in school until her final year.

Darkness seemed to settle over the hills quickly as Tyler took a deep breath of fresh air before deciding to head back to the castle. It would be dark out soon, and she didn't need the added attention of having a detention her first day back. She didn't much care for having to face the other Gryffindors, or her dorm-mates... but she figured it was better to do it now then put it off more and struggle with it later.

Walking through the corridors Tyler figured everyone would be resting up for the start of classes the following day and catching up with friends in their dorms. Walking into the common room past the Fat Lady, she realized that everyone wasn't in fact in their dorms... but rather the common room.

Stepping into the large packed room of students, Tyler sighed as the area went silent. What she wasn't expecting as she walked through, was Fred Weasley to stop her in her tracks.

An unreadable expression on his sinfully handsome face.


so finally they meet, and a little cryptic insert there from Dumbledore.

but i refuse to write Fred and Tyler's reunion without 5 reviews!

MissLuxe - i'm glad you liked it, and he will soon! thanks for the review hopefully you liked this chapter as well!

calhounariel97 - haha glad you liked it, thanks for the review and they'll be reuniting soon don't worry ;)

TheAwesomenessShortest - thanks for the review! and she definitely has, hopefully you liked this chapter as well!

PetraAmia - haha thank you! I'm glad you like it so far, and I try and update every few days, i HATE waiting for updates when I get into a story haha. thanks again for the review hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint!