Chapter thirty six! As always, I cannot thank you guys enough for your continued support, it honestly means more than you could imagine to me. I especially love hearing from you guys, so PLEASE don't be afraid to leave a review! Please leave me some reviews, guys!
Also, a question: I know I've recently posted some other HP fics on here that haven't gone anywhere, but I'd like to post another HP fic. It's one I actually started way back when in junior high, but I like the premise - it'd be the story of Cedric's little sister. I'd love to post it, of course, but would you guys read? I like Cedric, so I tend to write a lot about his friends and whatnot...would it be to repetitive for you guys considering this fic? Also, if I did post, what ship would you like? In the original, I shipped her with Malfoy, who I don't exactly like anymore. So, options would be Fred/OC, George/OC (which again...to repetitive?), Neville/OC, Malfoy/OC (if y'all wanted...) or whatever other suggestions.
^ Leave me some feedback or send me a message about this, please :)
I'll shut up and let you enjoy now.
The rest of summer came and went, with a few significant events. Hermione and Ron were made Gryffindor Prefects and Amelia learned that the Alastor Moody she had as a professor the previous year was not Alastor Moody at all, but instead Barty Crouch Jr., a Death Eater taking Polyjuice. The real Mad-Eye, who she got to meet, she liked much better than the fake one. She also learned that Tonks was a Metamorphmagus, something that proved to be awfully entertaining during dull moments, especially at the dinner table. At least it was a distraction from the awkwardness of having to sit at meals with Fred, who ignored her the rest of the time, with the occasional rude comment or glance when they passed each other in the halls.
The morning of September the first came, and Amelia found herself stuffing the rest of her possessions - along with Cedric's - back into her trunk. Lucy batted at her shoelaces, making the task much harder than it really needed to be. Lucy had grow as well, but not much. Zinnia told Amelia that Lucy would just be a small cat, and Amelia was fine with having a pocket-sized cat. It was kind of cute, to be honest. She dressed at lightning speed, into jeans, her Chucks and Cedric's old jersey, just because it was at the top of her clothing pile and did her best to pull her short hair into a ponytail at the back of her head.
Ready as she was going to be, she dragged her trunk out of her room to find that Fred and George had bewitched their trunks to fly downstairs to save the bother of carrying them, with the result that they had hurtled straight into Ginny and knocked her down two flights of stairs into the hall. Mrs. Black and Mrs. Weasley were both screaming at the top of their voices.
"— COULD HAVE DONE HER A SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS —"
"— FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS —"
Amelia only shook her head, and dragged her trunk downstairs, Lucy in her shoulder bag, to find Harry struggling to get ready in time. He was stuffing his feet into his trainers hurriedly, but so hurriedly that he couldn't quite get the hang of getting them on the right way.
"Morning, Harry," Amelia greeted.
"Morning," Harry replied, grumbling at his shoes.
"Anxious to get back into the swing of things?" Amelia inquired kindly, making conversation.
Harry shrugged a bit, before responding, "I guess. I'm just glad they didn't expel me."
Hermione came hurrying into the room looking flustered just as Harry; Hedwig was swaying on her shoulder, and she was carrying a squirming Crookshanks in her arms.
"Mum and Dad just sent Hedwig back" — the owl fluttered obligingly over and perched on top of her cage — "are you ready yet?"
"Nearly — Ginny all right?" Harry asked.
"Mrs. Weasley's patched her up," said Hermione. "But now Mad-Eye's complaining that we can't leave unless Sturgis Podmore's here, otherwise the guard will be one short."
"Guard?" said Harry. "We have to go to King's Cross with a guard?"
"You have to go to King's Cross with a guard," Hermione corrected him.
"Why?" said Harry irritably. "I thought Voldemort was supposed to be lying low, or are you telling me he's going to jump out from behind a dustbin to try and do me in?"
"I don't know, it's just what Mad-Eye says," said Hermione distractedly, looking at her watch. "But if we don't leave soon we're definitely going to miss the train. . . ."
"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW, PLEASE!" Mrs. Weasley bellowed and Hermione jumped as though scalded and hurried out of the room. Harry seized Hedwig, stuffed her unceremoniously into her cage, and set off downstairs after Hermione, dragging his trunk like Amelia.
Mrs. Black's portrait was howling with rage but nobody was bothering to close the curtains over her; all the noise in the hall was bound to rouse her again anyway.
"Harry, you're to come with me and Tonks," shouted Mrs. Weasley over the repeated screeches of "MUDBLOODS! SCUM! CREATURES OF DIRT !" "Leave your trunk and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage. . . . Oh, for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said no!"
A bearlike black dog had appeared at Harry's side as Harry clambered over the various trunks cluttering the hall to get to Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh honestly . . ." said Mrs. Weasley despairingly, "well, on your own head be it!"
"Why the….?" Amelia mumbled to Hermione, gesturing to the dog.
Slightly under her breath, Hermione said, "It's Sirius. He's an Animagus."
"Oh," Amelia nodded. Like her grandmother.
"Alright, Ron, Hermione, Phoebe, you'll be coming with me," Mr. Weasley instructed, adjusting his cap. "Fred, George, Ginny and Amelia, you'll be going with Remus. All of you lot, leave your luggage where it is."
"Here," Lupin said, bringing the twins, Ginny and Amelia together to prepare them. "We're going to use Side-Along Apparition to Apparate across town, and walk from there."
"Why can't we just Apparate ourselves?" Fred asked, almost protesting.
"Well, do you know where we're going to Apparate exactly?" Lupin countered.
"No," Fred said.
"That's why," Lupin finished. Extending his arms, he cleared his throat, and said, "Grab on, everyone. Amelia and Ginny, prepare yourselves, some people don't react well to their first time Apparating, especially with Side-Along."
Fred and George grabbed one arm of his ratty, patched jacket, and Ginny and Amelia the other. Lupin gave them a countdown, and just as Amelia began to feel the absolutely bizarre sensation of Apparating, she realized she'd been in such a rush that she hadn't even said goodbye to her grandmother.
They landed in the shadows of an alleyway between two Muggle buildings, where they dusted themselves off.
"Professor," Amelia panted, trying not to vomit. "I didn't say goodbye to my gran."
"You haven't left yet, dear," came Zinnia's voice. Turning over her shoulder, Amelia saw her. "I'm going to the station with you. I'll have to go disguised as Maggie Mae, though - I'm still a wanted woman, after all."
Amelia smiled just a tad. Zinnia had explained it to her before - she'd joined the Order back in the early days, in secret, so that her husband wouldn't find out, and so that she could pass on whatever information she could get from the Death Eaters to the Order. Though, because she did so in secret, she went to her supposed grave as a Death Eater in the public eye. If she appeared alive and well, it surely wasn't going to go over well. The press would be all over it, and even with Dumbledore's support, she'd most likely end up in Azkaban, especially since people's trust in Dumbledore was quickly waning.
"Zinnia, you'd better disguise yourself," Lupin advised. "We've got to get going."
"Oh, right, thank you, Remus," she replied absentmindedly, morphing into a fluffy black and white cat before her eyes.
"Here, gran," Amelia chuckled, picking her up and placing her in the satchel with Lucy. "There."
The five of them, along with Zinnia and Amelia's bag, then made their way through the Muggle neighborhoods on foot. Ginny, George and Lupin talked to Amelia, but of course Fred didn't. Fred had things to say, sure, but not to Amelia.
It seemed like an eternity before they arrived at King's Cross, where they met up with Harry, Mrs. Weasley, Sirius as the dog, and Tonks disguised as an old woman, along with Mad-Eye and the luggage. Mr. Weasley arrived with the rest not too long after that. Hermione and Ron appeared to be getting along for once, but Amelia assumed it was because of Phoebe. She had a way of defusing tension with her kind of strange comedy, even if she didn't intend to be funny.
"Well, look after yourselves," said Lupin, shaking hands all round. He reached Harry last and gave him a clap on the shoulder. "You too, Harry. Be careful."
"Yeah, keep your head down and your eyes peeled," said Moody, shaking Harry's hand too. "And don't forget, all of you — careful what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't put it in a letter at all."
"It's been great meeting all of you," said Tonks, hugging Hermione, Ginny, Phoebe and Amelia. "We'll see you soon, I expect."
A warning whistle sounded; the students still on the platform started hurrying onto the train.
"Bye gran, love you," Amelia mumbled, feeling rather silly as she kissed her grandmother, who was currently a cat.
Zinnia meowed and licked Amelia's cheek, as she was whisked away by Tonks, who apologized with a goofy sort of grin and nearly tripped over herself.
"Quick, quick," said Mrs. Weasley distractedly, hugging them at random - except Amelia -and catching Harry twice. "Write. . . . Be good. . . . If you've forgotten anything we'll send it on. . . . Onto the train, now, hurry. . . ."
For one brief moment, the great black dog reared onto its hind legs and placed its front paws on Harry's shoulders, but Mrs. Weasley shoved Harry away toward the train door hissing, "For heaven's sake act more like a dog, Sirius!"
"See you!" Harry called out of the open window as the train began to move, while Ron, Hermione, and Ginny waved beside him. The figures of Tonks, Lupin, Moody, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shrank rapidly but the black dog was bounding alongside the window, wagging its tail; blurred people on the platform were laughing to see it chasing the train, and then they turned the corner, and Sirius was gone.
"He shouldn't have come with us," said Hermione in a worried voice.
"Oh lighten up," said Ron, "he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke."
"Well," said Fred, clapping his hands together, "can't stand around chatting all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later," and he and George disappeared down the corridor to the right.
The train was gathering still more speed, so that the houses outside the window flashed past and they swayed where they stood.
"Shall we go and find a compartment, then?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. "Er," said Ron.
"We're — well — Ron and I are supposed to go into the Prefect carriage," Hermione said awkwardly.
Ron wasn't looking at Harry; he seemed to have become intensely interested in the fingernails on his left hand.
"Oh," said Harry. "Right. Fine."
"I don't think we'll have to stay there all journey," said Hermione quickly. "Our letters said we just get instructions from the Head Boy and Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time."
"Fine," said Harry again. "Well, I-I might see you later, then."
"Yeah, definitely," said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious look at Harry. "It's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather — but we have to — I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy," he finished defiantly.
"I know you're not," said Harry and he grinned. But as Hermione and Ron dragged their trunks, Crookshanks, and a caged Pigwidgeon off toward the engine end of the train.
"Come on," Ginny told him, "if we get a move on we'll be able to save them places."
Harry agreed, and he and Ginny disappeared, as did Phoebe, after promising to save a seat for Amelia, who also had to attend the Prefect meeting.
As it was the year before, the Prefect meeting was pretty boring. Hermione seemed exceedingly interested, as she would. Amelia also found Herb in there, who had been given Cedric's position as Hufflepuff Prefect for their year.
"So," Herb drawled, as they left the compartment together. "You're….still wearing his shirt, huh?"
"Yeah," Amelia nodded, tucking some loose wisps of hair behind her ears. "Phoebe told me it's not healthy."
"For once, I think I agree with her," Herbert replied. "I get it, we all miss him, 'Melia, but wearing his clothes? I don't know."
"'Melia? Is that you?" came Leanne's voice, as she stuck her head out of one of the compartments.
Before Amelia could reply, Leanne burst out, nearly crushing her with a hug.
"Thank god you two are here," Leanne commented, letting them inside the compartment. Under her breath, she added, "Phoebe's already driving me a bit mad."
"Everything drives you mad," Herb replied with a wink. "Except me."
She rolled her eyes, and to apologize, he kissed her forehead, before they settled together on one side, holding hands. Amelia averted her eyes, feeling that it was a bit awkward to watch as they got to doing all the touchy-feely stuff teens in love did. She took the seat next to Phoebe.
Today, Phoebe was in full Phoebe Hibbert form, something Amelia failed to see earlier. She wore a long, flowing indigo and violet skirt that was made out of fabric almost as airy as she was and a floral print blouse that completely clashed with the skirt, but somehow, worked on Phoebe. Her feet were bare, as they almost always were, and her toenails were painted black and yellow, alternating. She'd tied hippogriff feathers in her hair, along with what Amelia believed were a few fragments of dragon scales, and four leaf clovers. Around her neck was the chord, which her heart compass dangled off of, along with soda tabs, what looked like two wedding rings, an actual bronze pocket watch, another dragon scale and a piece of rolled parchment in a tiny glass and cork bottle. Fortuna the owl was on her shoulder, fast asleep, rats in her lap, Chocolate Frog dangling from her mouth, and magazine in hand, which she read.
Next to Phoebe, Amelia felt exceedingly plain. Sure, Phoebe was an oddball, but you could never forget her. Amelia, in her jeans, Cedric's Quidditch jersey and Chuck Taylors, with her boring blonde hair, however, felt like she was very forgettable.
"Er, I think I've got to go to the loo," Leanne announced, playfully pushing Herb off of her while he relentlessly tried to snog her.
"Me too," Herb breathed, jumping to his feet after her and out of the compartment.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that neither of them actually had to use the loo.
Sighing, Amelia looked to her eccentric friend, and asked, "What're you reading?"
Instead of answering, Phoebe continued reading, holding up the cover for Amelia to see.
"The Quibbler?" Amelia read. "Never heard of it."
"It's brilliant," Phoebe stated through a mouthful of Chocolate Frog. It was a wonder she didn't weigh a thousand pounds, with all the chocolate she ate. "Take a look."
After Phoebe shoved the magazine into her hands, Amelia did just that. She took a look.
SIRIUS - Black As He's Painted?
Notorious Mass Murderer OR Innocent Singing Sensation?
For fourteen years Sirius Black has been believed guilty of the mass murder of twelve innocent Muggles and one wizard. Black's audacious escape from Azkaban two years ago has led to the widest manhunt ever conducted by the Ministry of Magic. None of us has ever questioned that he deserves to be recaptured and handed back to the dementors.
BUT DOES HE?
Startling new evidence has recently come to light that Sirius Black may not have committed the crimes for which he was sent to Azkaban. In fact, says Doris Purkiss, of 18 Acanthia Way, Little Norton, Black may not even have been present at the killings.
"What people don't realize is that Sirius Black is a false name," says Mrs. Purkiss. "The man people believe to be Sirius Black is actually Stubby Boardman, lead singer of the popular singing group The Hobgoblins, who retired from public life after being struck in the ear by a turnip at a concert in Little Norton Church Hall nearly fifteen years ago. I recognized him the moment I saw his picture in the paper. Now, Stubby couldn't possibly have committed those crimes, because on the day in question he happened to be enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with me. I have written to the Minister of Magic and am expecting him to give Stubby, alias Sirius, a full pardon any day now."
Amelia only shook her head, and flipped to the next page.
Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, denied that he had any plans to take over the running of the Wizarding Bank, Gringotts, when he was elected Minister of Magic five years ago. Fudge has always insisted that he wants nothing more than to "cooperate peacefully" with the guardians of our gold.
BUT DOES HE?
Sources close to the Minister have recently disclosed that Fudge's dearest ambition is to seize control of the goblin gold supplies and that he will not hesitate to use force if need be.
"It wouldn't be the first time, either," said a Ministry insider. "Cornelius 'Goblin-Crusher' Fudge, that's what his friends call him, if you could hear him when he thinks no one's listening, oh, he's always talking about the goblins he's had done in; he's had them drowned, he's had them dropped off buildings, he's had them poisoned, he's had them cooked in pies. . . ."
"I can picture it," Phoebe commented, looking at a Babayaga Chocolate Frog card before giving it to her rats to gnaw on.
"What, Fudge eating goblins for dinner?" Amelia chuckled.
"Well, yes," Phoebe nodded, quite seriously. "But I meant I could picture Sirius being a rock star and all. He has the looks for it, and all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Amelia inquired, amused.
"I don't know," Phoebe shrugged. "I just say things. You're supposed to interpret them, I can't do that for you."