Author's note: Ever had one of those days where everything just seems amazing? I've got the feeling it might just be me, but I've been feeling like I was going to burst with happiness all day, and I have absolutely no idea why.
HattieTheGreat: I'll admit it's nice to type in a username rather than just guest! I like writing guest, for some strange reason it makes me laugh, but writing a username makes me feel like I'm writing to a real person, like there's a genuine-flesh-and-blood human being reading this... I like to imagine you all on your various screens, reading as I type, from across the country/continent/world. Crazy, if you think about it. Or maybe I'm just a special child... Anyways, I am in love with your ship names! And I am so, so happy you're enjoying the story/chapter. Love, love, love the profile! I could spend all day discussing Disney movies with you, but I won't, because I have to finish editing this chapter and then tackle my mountain of History homework. If you have a time, tell me your favourite? I might be able to do a chapter where Ada and Fred watch Disney. That would be cool ;) So yeah, thank you very much, and you know what? I might just give myself that pat on the back. I have a tendency to look peculiar 3
Illuminatus101: Haha I hope so! And I'm going to get back into good habits with the updating thing. Thanks for your review ;)
Isabel: Yeah, sorry. I'm so glad you like the chapter. I've tried to do another faster paced chapter, so I hope it's okay! And, yeah, I'm so glad you said that! That's exactly the kind of picture I was trying to create of him... He's a wonderful character to write. As to the whole bringing Sirius in, I actually came to the same conclusion you did, in that it might mess up the whole plot a little too much. But there's definitely going to be some kind of interaction between the two of them before he flies away on Buckbeak. And some more chapters with Ada-Lupin interactions, too.
That theory is perfect. Maybe I shouldn't spend so long working out who sees the truth and who sees just what they want to see, and enjoy what I do see, if you know what I mean? Yeah, my way of saying YOLO... ;) So, a fact about me: Writing does the same thing for me as acting does for some people, or make up, or drinking. Random examples, I know, but I have a point. When I read or write, I feel as if I can be whoever I want to be, be anywhere I want, live a thousand lifetimes in the space of an hour. (Cliché-dramatic much? Sorry, just saying what I think!) But the fact of the matter is, I'm not Adele Lestrange, or Harry Potter, or Ginny Weasley or Madge Undersee or Percy Jackson or Annabeth Chase or Lena Duchannes or Ethan Wate or (this could go on a while. Let's just say to name but a few.) I'm Hannah. Just Hannah as Harry would say. I might feel like them for a while, but I'm me. I live a charmed existence. I'm so incredibly sheltered. And your review really drove that home. So, sometimes words are just words. This is one of those times. I'm not going to say 'I am so incredibly sorry about your mum', because I can't even begin to understand from your perspective. But I would like to say that I don't think your a drama queen, I think if you want to talk about it you should, and if you don't you just shouldn't. I'm sending you a thousand hugs, enough for every day of the year. I think we all need that sometimes. Feel free to decline them if you want too, I won't be offended ;)
the394thdauntlesscake: Haha thank you so much! And unfortunately, we must keep him alive for future chapters... Yeah, I can't make my mind up. I don't love Draco or hate him at the moment... Haha I guess we'll just have to see what kind of character he is at the end of the story ;)
I don't own Harry Potter.
True friendships never questions what it cost you~ Stephen Richards
I arrived back from Hogsmede and headed to the Halloween feast in high spirits, still holding hands with Fred long after we had met up with the others... Angelina and George were flirting back and forth, Alicia and Lee stood awkwardly as if they would rather be anywhere but there at that moment in time... It made me giddy with happiness as I watched it all unfold.
That was when I arrived at the portrait hole...
Everyone was talking anxiously amongst themselves, but all I seemed to be able to catch was something about the fat lady, and a murmur about the portrait hole.
"What's going on?" Alicia asked. A crease in my brow, I shook my head and felt my brow crease.
A rustling behind me made me turn my head, and I caught sight of Dumbledore. Paying none of us any attention, he swept through the crowd as if it were made of nothing more substantial than smoke, and found an empty portrait, ripped to shreds as if violently slashed with a knife.
My mouth fell open, and I turned to Fred with a frown, but he was just as bewildered as I was. This clearly wasn't another prank from the Weasley Twins... But if not, then who?
Peeves cackled from overhead, and all attention turned towards him. Professor Dumbledore stopped giving instructions to McGonagall, Lupin and Snape and turned his attention instead to the poltergiest, who was grinning. This couldn't be good.
Suddenly, it was as if I knew it before Peeves even opened his mouth.
"Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black." The words hung in the air a moment, before chaos began to reign. I barely even noticed.
My world began to spin, and I staggered. Fred caught me, gripping my arm tight, but the motion was not missed by Professor Dumbledore. He looked at me, and momentarily, a frown crossed his brow.
"You okay?" Fred whispered.
"Yeah. Fine." I replied. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
That night, as other students lay sleeping, or else discussing wild theories about how the azkaban escapee more famous than Harry Potter himself had gotten in, my thoughts were following a completely different direction.
My mind was on a four year old girl, laughing with her arms around a big black dog, as my eyes combed through the constellations visable in the night sky above me... My mind was on loyalties, and where my own lay.
By morning, my mind was made up...
A couple of weeks later, it was, of course, time for Quiddich. The rain was hammering down so hard that you could barely walk a metre without getting smashed aside by a raindrop the size of your fist, but everyone was still turning up. Quiddich was too good to miss, and this was the first match of the season.
Now I'll admit, if not for Fred, I might have been tempted to stay indoors and pretend I'd overslept again. Draco had made some excuse about his arm to avoid having to play, so I didn't even have the usual I-want-to-see-you-get-good-and-beaten family motivation... But all of my friends were playing, Lee was commentating, and apparently my role as Fred's girlfriend involved 'supporting all his endeavours'. I.e. going out and getting soaked so he could inflate his ego a bit more.
After half an hour of stood in the cold, my fingertips numb and everything from my nose to the tips of my toes feeling as if it had frostbite (seriously, even my hair was cold!) I was starting to think I'd better go inside, good girlfriend be damned. Then I spotted a flash of gold at the end of the pitch.
Harry shot forward so fast you would've thought he had rockets attached to his broom, but it didn't seem to be fast enough. He was gaining on Diggory, sure, but the Hufflepuff was still quite a bit ahead of him. I stood on my tiptoes, gripping Hermione's hand as we jumped about on the balls of our feet in anticipation, my other hand crossing my fingers in my mouth. I felt a surge of something like nerves as I watched.
That was when a chill of quite another kind stole over me. My hand slipped through Hermione's, and all the energy seemed to drain from me. I felt a wave of misery such as I had never known, a cold that could never be induced by the weather, a terror only one person on this earth could ever inspire...
I was sat in a narrow room, her eyes cold and unforgiving as they bored into mine, the spark in her eyes that of complete and utter lunacy. A mad cackling- No! I wasn't in that room, I would never be in that room again. I was- She smiled, and pain coursed through my veins. Suddenly, I couldn't stand the pain anymore- It was just the dementors. Just the dementors messing with my mind-
The girl screamed. I blacked out.
I woke up in a hospital. Everything was shiny and white, and someone held my hand. A groan escaped my lips as the memories came flooding back.
"I swear, it's like I'm engineered to faint like a little girl whenever the opportunity arises. What the hell is wrong with me?"
Fred tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it.
"Nothing. You're perfect."
A little laugh escaped me, and instantly I felt a thousand times better. "Alright, rewind. Did you just attempt a cheesy chat up line on me?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Adeline Selene Lestrange. I forgot that a lady of your class and standards wouldn't accept a compliment from a lowly mortal such as myself."
"Oh, haha." I replied dryly, grinning at him as he rubbed circles on the inside of my wrist. I closed my eyes a moment, before I noticed Harry staring at me, as if he too was uncertain whether to laugh or cry.
"Hey there. So, we're like, the school fainters or something? We could be team mascots! Ooh, we could start a new form of karate, involving fainting. I'm like, elite fainter black belt. Every time a dementor comes within a mile of me-" I shook my head, feeling curls brush along my back as I did so.
Harry shrugged, as if he couldn't find the energy to care very much. But I could see in his eyes that he did. "Yeah, well. I lost my broomstick. Next time there's a dementor anywhere near me-"
"We'll punch it in the face." I agreed. Even in this mood, Harry had to grin at the thought.
"Honestly, I can't see anyone daring to cross you." he replied. Fred chuckled, as if that was one sentiment he could totally share. I punched him playfully.
"Yeah, I'm so hardcore I faint every time a dementor comes near me. Proper rebel, me."
Fred opened his mouth to reply, maybe to protest that I was putting myself down or something, when the doors swung open.
Professor Dumbledore stood, framed in the doorway by a halo of light, and it suddenly stuck me what an impressive sight he made...
"Madam Pomfrey, if I may, I wish to speak to Miss Lestrange."
"Professor, I really don't think that's advisable, she's recovering from a serious shock, and-"
"Now, if you please, Poppy. I am extremely sorry to say that this simply cannot wait."
Sharing a bewildered look with Fred, I swung my legs down off the bed and climbed to my feet. Immediantly, the world began to spin.
"Woah." I whispered as Fred made to grab my arm. Brushing him off, I shoved the bar of chocolate Madam Pomfrey thrust into my hand in my mouth in one go and followed Dumbledore calmly out of the door.
It wasn't until I was seated in his office that Dumbledore finally spoke...
"Ada, I hope you will forgive me for pulling you out of the hospital wing when you have had so little time to recover. I assure you I wouldn't have done so if I could have avoided it."
"That's alright, Professor." I replied, somewhat nervously. The last time I had been alone with Dumbledore, it had been because I was about to leave the school, potentially for good. I couldn't help thinking, maybe I was about to endure a similar experience.
"There's something I want to discuss with you as a matter of urgency." He locked his fingers together and leaned forwards. "Do you ever feel like you've blanked out part of your memory, Ada? Suffer from mild headaches, hit a brick wall in your mind, feel like there's something you're missing?"
"Oh. Err-" I was taken aback. Whatever I had expected, and I'll admit that I wasn't sure, it wasn't this. "Sometimes, Professor."
"You do?" He added, his eyes flashing intensely.
"Um, yes? Sometimes I feel like there's something I should remember, but don't. Like someone's come in with a giant jigsaw puzzle and stolen a piece, but the jigsaw puzzle is my life, and the missing piece is just out of my grasp. Like it's on a rope, dangled just above my forehead, but I can't reach it. But, sir, why does it matter? I mean, the ammount of times Fred or George have forgotten a homework because they don't want to do it, it's just-"
Professor Dumbledore leaned forward, his eyes twinkling in triumph, as if I'd said exactly what he expected or maybe even wanted to hear. "Like selective memory? You can't remember because a subconscious part of yourself is suppressing the memory, because you don't want to know. Is that what you mean?"
"Err-" Really, it wasn't what I'd meant at all. The words had come out in a jumble of communication. I hadn't really planned on saying any of it- I just sort of had. "Well, yeah, I suppose sir."
"Excellent, excellent." His eyes twinkled, and he smiled.
"Is there anything else?" I asked after a moments interval. I didn't want to sit there in an awkward silence all day whilst he examined his nails. Much as I respected and admired Professor Dumbledore, there didn't seem to be anything that amazing about the tips of his fingers, and this avenue of discussion was making me uncomfortable.
"Yes." He said suddenly, leaning forward once more. "I wanted to ask you about Sirius Black."
