Disclaimer: Don't own.
NOTE: Sorry I've taken quite a while to update, hopefully I'll be getting back into the swing of things now. Thanks for bearing with me.
Summary of 16 – They went to Diagon Alley for school supplies and then Izzy 'went home to see her parents', but she actually went to Grimmauld Place and convinced Kreacher to let her stay. And then they had an electrical storm (Animagus forms: Izzy = Border collie, Fred = magpie, George = owl).
Enjoy x
Chapter 17
The next week passed quickly. Kreacher was very worried when I started clutching at my chest, scratching at the increasingly uncomfortable double heartbeat. I didn't even know which my original heartbeat was at this point, they were both slightly painful. It didn't help that my veins were being stretched as the pressure flowing around my body increased. It had crossed my mind that this could be more dangerous than I first thought, so I would keep an eye on it, and if at any point I felt ill, I would go into full panic mode and search out Fred or George.
Despite not knowing what was going on with me, Kreather was quite supportive. He brought me coffee whenever I asked and made me fabulous dinners. I awoke every morning with a headache and the scent of frying bacon wafting in from the kitchen.
My decision to sleep on the sofa was accepted by the elf as one of my oddities. I didn't want to take a random room, and didn't have the desire to go wandering around a house full of dark artefacts when only Kreacher knew I was here and probably couldn't do much to help me if something bad happened.
I spent most of the days reading over my old textbooks and grudgingly picking up the Lockhart books. We would be having a quiz during his lesson so I may as well learn a bit about him so I didn't fail spectacularly.
"Girl" Kreacher stood bowed in the doorway. I hadn't told him my name in case Sirius found out someone had stayed here and asked him who it was – all he would be able to say was that it was a girl with platinum hair. It wouldn't take him long to track it down to me, but at least Kreacher couldn't tell Bellatrix Lestrange or someone that 'Izzy' new the secret to the fidelis charm protecting the house. "The train leaves in six minutes"
"What?" I shrieked, leaping up from the sofa. "Why didn't you wake me earlier? No never mind, I should have gotten up by myself. Kreacher will you pack my trunk for me"
"Certainly, girl" He snapped his fingers and all my belongings flooded into the open trunk at the foot of the sofa. I grabbed my school robes and hurried to the bathroom.
When I returned, Kreacher was shoving rodent food through the bars of Pettigrew's cage. On request, the house elf had charmed the cage unbreakable and put a couple of other wards on it to stop the rat from escaping. The rat in question had recognised the elf immediately and had been silently terrified since.
"Cheers, Kreacher" I yelled, "See you next summer, probably" I grinned behind me as I raced to the fireplace, shoved in a handful of Floo Powder, and shouted, "Platform Nine and Three Quarters" As soon as I was out the other side, I raced towards the train, bolting through the nearest door just as the train started moving.
It wasn't necessary to rush. If I had missed it, I could just have flown in the car with Harry and Ron, even if it meant being attacked by the Whomping Willow. It was a decision I had made weeks ago whether I would interfere with Dobby's plans or not. It would be simple just to get the Weasleys to come in by Floo, or convince Harry and Ron to go before Mr and Mrs Weasley into the station (they'd just write it off as my psychic being random), or at least I could have told them to use the Knight Bus to get to school, or Floo to Hogsmeade, or at least wait for Ron's parents to return.
As it turned out, the already poor Weasleys being fined a sum of galleons was a lesser consequence than the death of Ron and Harry. The flying car saved their lives when there was a swarm of hungry spiders coming towards them, so I decided a better use for the soon-to-be sentient car was at Hogwarts where it could look after the duo and come to their rescue when needed.
Once I had caught my breath, I strolled down the middle of the train, checking each compartment until I came across one with Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione and Lee.
"Snake-fox" George greeted affectionately. I rolled my eyes.
"Where were you?" Fred asked, "We didn't see you on the platform"
"I was running late. Almost missed the train"
Fred leaned in and whispered, "How's your heartbeats?"
"Pounding" I replied, "I ran all the way here. But I think I'm getting used to it. I've been trying to practise the transformation, but I haven't gotten anywhere, like anywhere at all"
"I know, right" George said, joining the hushed conversation, "The marauder book said we have to picture our animal and change our body, but how do you picture wings when you've never had wings before"
"How do you get a tail?" I argued right back, "Currently I'm just trying to change my nails into claws"
"Hey, Izzy" Hermione interrupted our conversation with raised eyebrows, "Did you see Harry and Ron on the platform? I don't know where they've gone"
"Don't worry about them" I smiled somewhat awkwardly, "They're flying to school instead"
Fred and George gaped at me. "Wicked"
"They'll miss the welcoming feast and get told off by Snape and McGonagall, but they won't be expelled" Hermione still had her eyebrows raised so I added, "My psychic abilities must be developing"
"How's your Mum?" Ginny asked.
"Uh, good. Yeah, she's recovering quite well" I replied before lapsing into an uncomfortable silence.
"Wait, what's wrong with your mother?" Lee asked.
"She's sick" Most of the occupants of the carriage murmured along with me.
"Anyway" I started on a more upbeat note, "I saw you in Gambol and Japes, did you get anything exciting?"
"Just the usual" Lee shrugged, "Dungbombs to throw into the Slyth…I mean the staff room" Lee winced as the twins who started laughing. I rolled my eyes, expecting the common room to smell at some point during the term.
"You know, I had a great idea for a prank" I said with a grin, "What if we turned all the walls of the castle into mirrors" Then there will be like no chance of anyone dying, because the basilisk will be seen by reflection only and everyone will just be petrified.
Looking a basilisk in the eye kills you, looking at the reflection of a basilisk's eye petrifies you, but what does the reflection of a reflection of a basilisk's eye do?
"Into mirrors…? Why?" Lee asked, chuckling.
"Have you ever seen the movie, Monsters Loose?" I really hoped no one looked that up, because I had made up a random name. It could be an actual movie for all I knew.
"No" Hermione shook her head, while the people who grew up in wizarding society started asking what a movie was.
"Anyway" I interrupted loudly, "It's a horror movie set in a haunted house where all the walls are mirrors, and it's super scary because you see a monster and you back away from it into the monster because you were looking at the reflection"
"…Moving on" George said and I laughed, "Hermione are you going to try out for the Quidditch team?"
"Absolutely not" Hermione replied. I laughed again.
"Harry is though, and he's convinced Ron to try out at some year. Ron's currently refusing" He turned to me, "because the team's already full, there are no places going free and he doesn't want to kick someone else off the team"
"Yet Harry's fine to kick Webster off" Lee snorted.
"Yeah, well, Scott sucks as seeker. He doesn't have the right build for it. We could use Harry. Lee, you didn't see him playing, he's awesome" Fred bragged, "We're going to thrash the Slytherin team this year!"
"Not if I can help" I retorted.
"What are you going to do?" Fred teased, "Smash the snitch right out of Harry's hand?"
Ginny gasped, "Izzy, did you hear, there's a fourth year in Ravenclaw – Thomas Curry – whose mother plays Quidditch in the Appleby Arrows, and in their last match they performed the Deverill Smash with success, and it's been officially named the Deverill Smash!"
I gaped, "What?"
"A move you made up is now an official Quidditch move named after you" Ginny laughed.
"Our little snake-fox is famous" George wiped away pretend tears.
"Not exactly" I drawled, unamused.
"Oh come on, snake-fox" Fred baited, "Lighten up a little"
"Why is she snake-fox all of a sudden?" Ginny asked, "I get snake because she's a Slytherin" Fred and George both ducked down.
It was up to me to come up with something, "They decided I'm sly and cunning like a fox" I shrugged, "They think it's my 'spirit animal' or something"
About now, I could picture Harry and Ron hearing the train, turning around slowly, dreading what they would see, and then screaming because they were about to be run over by a train. It made me chuckle and my friends look at me strangely.
"Anything from the trolley dears?" The lady asked, sliding open the compartment door.
"Yes" I jumped up, "Please can I have some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?" She handed me a box and in turn I gave her the sickles. Lee also bought a liquorice wand and a couple of pumpkin pasties, which he handed round.
"Iz" Fred asked, frowning down at my box, "What is with your obsession with those?"
"What?" I replied, after swallowing a coffee flavoured bean, "They're nice. I worship Bertie Bott, whoever he is"
Fred rolled his eyes.
"Want one?" I offered the cabin as a whole. Ginny grinned and took a green one which turned out to be grass. George got a lemon flavoured one and Lee got dirt. Fred declined. "You're not scared of getting a vomit flavoured one, are you?" I asked innocently, looking up at him under my lashes which I hadn't painted white today due to lack of time.
As I thought, that tactic worked a treat and Fred grabbed a brown one and proceeded to grab a pumpkin pasty to wash down the taste. Apparently he despised cinnamon, just like his sister did.
Dusk was falling as we alighted the train. Fred and George grinned at me and I knew they were also glad to not have to recite the ritual words twice a day. Hagrid was calling the first years over to him and Ginny said goodbye. We wished her luck in the sorting as she hurried over to the half-giant. Hagrid smiled brightly at Ginny and then received a shock when a camera flashed in his face. I pinpointed Colin Creevey in the crowd and smiled.
The smile ended when we reached the carriages and Hermione asked who I had seen die. Fred and George just looked at her in confusion so she continued. "I did some reading about Thestrals, and you can only see them if you've seen someone who died" Hermione explain while I was having a flashback to the worst day of my life.
I just ignored her and the thestral and got on the carriage.
"Nice going" Fred hissed at Hermione.
"I didn't mean to be insensitive"
"Didn't she say she was there when her sister died?" George answered. Fred shrugged and got on the carriage.
The hat had just finished its sorting song and was being picked up by its point as McGonagall read the first name. "Atkinson, Silvia"
When Colin Creevey was sorted into Gryffindor, I cheered earning some dirty looks from the rest of my table. The looks were even worse when I cheered for Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley, but I ignored them. I would cheer for the people I didn't know.
Once the sorting had finished, Dumbledore stood up as normal and declared a couple of nonsense words, finishing with "Enjoy the feast" And the food appeared again. The novelty of such fine dining had worn off since I had the delicious food freshly cooked by Mrs Weasley, and Kreacher cooking for me.
"So, Nott" I said, calmly cutting a slice of chicken, "How was your summer?"
"It was alright" Nott replied awkwardly.
I smirked as a lone owl flew through the open window at the top of the sky and flew straight for Professor Snape, depositing the newspaper in front of him. He took a look at the front page and stood up instantly. As he marched down the aisle, I outright burst into laughter and he glared at me before sweeping out the doors.
A few minutes later a second owl flapped over to Dumbledore, who seemed to read the heading twice before getting up with McGonagall and leaving the hall. I had a spare bit of parchment in my robe pocket, and I carefully folded it into a paper aeroplanes, scribbling Harry and Ron XD onto each of them before charming it to fly over to Hermione.
Eyes followed them as they passed over the Ravenclaw table to their receiver. Hermione whipped out her own quill and wrote a response before sending it back to me with the words 'What did they do?' written in her neat handwriting.
'They were seen by muggles flying the car and then they crashed onto the Whomping Willow on school property. Ron broke his wand'
I sent it back to her, she then scrunched it up and threw it up the table to be caught be Lee Jordan who laughed out loud before lobbing it down the end of the table where it landed it Ginny's soup and she had to open the soggy note. She stared at it disbelievingly for a moment, before scribbling back her own reply. The boy sitting next to her scrunched it up tightly for her and then lobbed it over to me. Unfortunately it hit Parkinson in the back of the head.
"Who did that?" She shrieked, spinning around. I ducked under the table and fetched it from under her bench before slipping back up casually and reading it.
'That's why they missed my sorting!'
Malfoy snatched the note from my hands and read all the replies while I struggled to grab it back.
"I bet they get expelled!" He howled with glee, causing everyone to look at him.
"They certainly won't" I giggled, shoving another chunk of chicken into my mouth and chewing while smiling.
Harry and Ron didn't return to the feast though, and by the time Dumbledore had returned, finished his speech and sent everyone to their dorms, the entire school was gossiping about whether they had been expelled or not.
As soon as Draco had read that note, the news had spread around the hall like a wildfire. Potter and Weasley had broken the statue of secrecy and crashed a flying car into a tree.
Snape stormed into the common room and a first year in front of me shrunk back in fright. He was scowling more than normal and it sounded like he was stamping. If he could have slammed the door like a four-year-old in a tantrum, he would have.
"Quidditch trials will be held on the first Sunday. The forest is forbidden, as the headmaster said. You will be back in the common room by 10pm, if you are out after curfew there will be consequences. Any questions?" His eyes made it clear he didn't want any questions, but someone still asked anyway.
"Did Potter get expelled?"
"No" Snape replied angrily and there was a hushed uproar while I giggled again.
"Deverill" He snapped and I stopped and stared straight at him.
"Yes, sir" I tried when he stayed silent. Slytherin house was watching me.
"The headmaster would like to see you in his office"
"Now, sir?"
"Yes" He snarled.
"Fine" I huffed, immensely enjoying this. "What will be the consequence for missing curfew?"
"You'd better hurry then, before I give you detention for your cheek!"
"Yes, sir" I chuckled, heading past him and through the wall.
It was only once I was on the seventh floor, standing in front of the gargoyle that I remembered Snape hadn't given me the password to get in. I was too tired to guess the password and my chest was starting to ache again.
"Dumbledore wished to see me" I told the gargoyle which ignored. I tried to push my way past it but it beat its wings so forcefully I was thrown backwards against the wall. "Fine" I yelled, still sitting propped up by the wall "Lemon drop. Sherbet Lemon. Toffee Treacle. Liquorice Wand. Acid Pops. Blood Pops. Chocolate Frog. Drooble's Best Blowing Bubble Gum. Pumpkin Pasty" I gave up and just sat there as the seconds ticked by.
My eyelids were starting to droop when I heard footsteps approaching.
"Well, well, well" Filch sneered, "What do we have here?"
"Oh, cheers, sir" I said, jumping to my feet, and quickly waking up, "I need to see Dumbledore"
"You're out of bed past curfew" said Filch.
"So, then I've broken the school rules and you should take me to Dumbledore, who is expecting me by the way"
"We'll see about that. Jelly slugs"
Jelly slugs! Why didn't I try that?
He frogmarched me to the top of the steps and rammed on the door. The Headmaster answered after a minute wearing purple pyjamas and slippers.
"I found her sleeping downstairs. She said she's here to see you" Filch growled.
"Thank you, Argus. Come in, Miss Deverill" I smirked at Filch as Dumbledore let me in, closing the door behind him. He walked over to his desk and sat behind it, clasping his hands in front of him. "I was beginning to think you were too tired for a meeting and you would come tomorrow" He explained.
"No, Snape didn't give me the password and I gave up guessing it so I just waited down there" I shrugged, "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"How is your mission going?" He asked, though it sounded like small-talk.
"Good. Haven't messed anything up so far" I smiled.
"Tell me, was tonight's events with Harry and Ron required?"
"Yes. It's all in the little things. The car will save their lives later this year and Ron's wand had to break" That information wasn't potentially dangerous after all. Didn't Dumbledore get arrested before then?
"Is there any way I can be useful to you?"
"N-well yeah actually" I'd started it now and I would need some help from him to finish it. "Sirius Black" Dumbledore leant back in his chair, "is innocent" I finished. He peered at me over his half-moon spectacles.
"I'm sorry"
"Sirius Black is innocent, he wasn't the Potter's secret keeper. Peter Pettigrew was, and no, he's not dead, I actually have him in my trunk. It's a long story, and he's not in the trunk like in fourth year – you'll know what I mean. Anyway, getting off topic. Sirius never had a trial, he was sentenced straight away. And I think it's fair to let him come out now. Oh, he has to be out by the end of the school year, but preferably not straight away. I know that's cruel, but he'll mess up events if he comes rushing into Hogwarts to see his Godson…"
"You say you have Pettigrew in your trunk?"
"Yes, oh, I should have explained. Pettigrew is a rat Animagus who has the persona as Scabbers, the Weasley's rat. He belonged to Percy and now belongs to Ron, except I kidnapped him when I was staying at the Burrow and he's in an unbreakable cage. You'll have to get a house elf to undo the wards I put on it. Get Sirius and Pettigrew to be questioned under Veritaserum in front of a court and it should go great!" I took a deep breath to finish, "Was that all you wanted to ask me?"
"Yes, I think that will do for now. It's quite late. You should get back to your dormitory"
NOTE: I'm sorry I didn't write a sorting hat song or a Dumbledore speech. It was too much effort to do, at I suck at poems and songs. Please review!