Harry P.O.V
It's the Christmas holiday and me, Ron and Hermione are just in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. I'm telling them what I heard when I followed Malfoy and Snape out of Slughorn party. I don't know what happened after Snape left, because I quickly rushed off before he could see me.
"So Snape made Unbreakable Vow?" Ron asks.
"Yes, why?"
"Well, it's just that you can't break an Unbreakable Vow."
"I managed to figure that out for myself, funnily enough" I look at them. "And Malfoy told Snape to leave him alone or he will tell Ava what side Snape is really on."
"Snape's a spy, Harry" Hermione says, "so of course Malfoy thinks that he's on his side."
"I don't think he is, Hermione. Snape kept telling Malfoy that he would help him with whatever he's doing."
"Do you think Ava knows something?" Ron asks, making me and Hermione look at him. "I just meant that she's with him more time than we are and I know she said that there was nothing on his arm, but what if she was lying to protect him?"
"You know, come to think of it, I haven't seen her wear any short sleeve tops all year" I say.
"Stop it, Harry!" Hermione says, shaking her head. "Ava isn't a Death Eater, plus, she wore a dress to Slughorn party, remember?"
"I remember, but do you also remember that she had a long sleeved cardigan on too?"
Hermione stared at me for a few second then shook her head. "Ava wouldn't become one. She wouldn't betray her mother like that."
"But she would do anything for her father" I point out.
"Not if it meant going against everything she believes in."
"What happens to you if you break an Unbreakable Vow anyway?" I ask.
"You die" Ron answered.
We all look at each other, but say nothing else on the matter.
Ava P.O.V
It's Christmas holidays and I'm spending my Christmas with the Weasley's. I did want to spend it with my dad but he said that he's busy and won't be home throughout the holidays and that it's safer for me to be at the Weasley's.
I'm having the best time with them though. Me and the twins have been coming up with new stuff for their shop, they kept trying to test some of their products on me, but I kept saying no.
They did end up putting a Love Potion in my drink and like a fool, I drank it and was in love with Fred for 12 hours. I wouldn't leave him alone, he enjoyed the attention, of course. I even slept in his bed which was so awkward when I woke up to find him grinning at me.
They have been having fun pranking me, Harry and Ron since we can't do magic to get them back. Ginny can't do magic either, but they are to scared of her to try and prank her. We got them back in the end though. We robbed Lupin and Sirius's wands when they were asleep and used a charm to glue the twins to their bed.
Ron robbed some of Ginny's makeup and you can probably guess what we did with it. They kept swearing at us to stop so Harry put a silencing charm on them, but it since it's was Fred and George, they were cool with it. Although, they did tell us that we better start sleeping with one eye open because they will get us back eventually.
Me and Ginny are becoming closer and love staying up at night just talking and laughing about anything we can think of. Hermione isn't here, she's gone on holiday with her mom and dad.
I'm just upstairs at the minute, I've got a banging headache which was my own fault. I read a book without my glasses and now I'm paying for it. I should have just gone upstairs and got them but I was being lazy and thought I would be alright, but I guess not.
I was about to get into bed when I heard screaming and shouting coming from downstairs. What's going on? I go to open the door only to stop in my tracks when I see smoke coming through the bottom on the door. "AVA!" Mr Weasley yells. "AVA! THERE'S FIRE! AVA! WAKE UP!"
"I'M AWAKE!" I yell back. "I'M COMING!" I go to open the door but stop myself. I should probably check that there's isn't a fire outside of the door first. I put the back of my hand on the door and move it down. It was cold until I got half way down the door.
Fuck! There's a fire right outside the door.
I rush over to the window and see everyone outside. I try opening the window but it won't open. I bang on the window and everyone looks up.
"IT WON'T OPEN!"
"BREAK IT!" Sirius yells. I nod and start looking around the room for anything I can use to break the window with. The only think I could find was a hair brush. A hair brush, but it's worth a shot. I throw it as hard as I could at the window but it doesn't break. I look around the room again only to see it filling up with smoke.
Ok, Ava, don't panic. You're going to be ok, I tell myself over and over again. I rush over to the drawer and grab a top and tie it around my mouth and nose. Wait, I have a flapping wand. I can just use magic to break the window, I mean, they can't exactly expel since this is literally a life or death situation.
I grab my bag off the bed, put it on my back then grab my wand. "Bombarda" I shout, making the window explode, giving me enough space to climb through. I look down and I've never realise how high up am I until now. There's no way I'm jumping out of the window from this height.
I close my eyes and turn into a phoenix and fly through the window and land on the floor in front of everyone. I turn back into myself and get tackled into a hug by Harry and Sirius. I hug them tight, happy to be out of that room. That was so scary. That's probably one of my worst fears, being stuck in a room when there's a fire and I can't get out.
I pull away from them and see Mr and Mrs Weasley, Fred, George and Ginny staring at me in shock.
I frown at them and remove the top from my face. "Why you just looking at me?"
"When the hell did you become a phoenix?" Fred asks.
"Oh, that's right, you didn't know, and in my 5th year."
"Do the Ministry know?" Mr Weasley asks.
"No, please don't tell them. It's the only way I can get around without them knowing."
"I won't say anything, and don't worry, you won't be in trouble with them for using magic, I will explain everything to them."
"Thank you" I say smiling, before looking at the house, which is still on fire. "What happened anyway? Where did the fire come from?"
"Death Eaters showed and I stupidly ran after Bellatrix" Harry says, before sighing. "I know it was a stupid idea, but I just saw red when I saw her and wanted to get her back for hurting you, but of course, it was a trick and they set the house on fire. It's cursed fire, we can't put it out. We've tried everything but nothing works."
"Oh, well at least no one got hurt. Although, I am sorry about your house."
"The house can be replaced, people can't" Mrs Weasley, giving me a hug. "I'm so glad you're ok, Ava. You really had us worried for a second there."
I don't say anything and hug her tighter. I need to feel close to a mother at the minute. Mrs Weasley must have understood because she hugged me for a good 5 minutes.
We spend the rest of the holiday in a tent. The fire went out after a few hours of burning, but the house was too destroyed to live in. It was fun living in the tent, we stayed up at night and told awful ghosts stories. We roasted marshmallows over a fire, and just had fun.
We are back at school and dad has asked to come to his office. He heard what happened at the Weasley's and he's pissed about it. I tried telling him in my letter that it wasn't the Weasley fault that I was stuck in the house, but that didn't stop him from complaining.
I knock on his door. "Enter" I open the door and see dad sitting behind his desk. Dad stands up and rushes over me to and hugs me tighter. "I'm sorry, Ava. I thought you would be safe with the Weasley's."
"It's not your fault. We didn't know that that was going to happen, but I'm fine. I got out ok."
"Only just. Arthur told me what happened, you were lucky that you go out of there."
"Mr Weasley told you what happened? Did he tell you how I got out?" I ask, worried that Mr Weasley might have told dad about me being an Animagus. I mean, I don't mind him knowing but I would rather skip the lecture on why I shouldn't have done it, or that I will get into trouble with the Ministry of Magic if they found out.
"He told me that you used magic to break the window, which you're not in trouble for, by the way, then he said that you flew out of the window. When were you planning on telling me that you were an Animagus?"
"Oh - erm - probably when I knew that you wouldn't lecture me about it."
"I'm not going to give you a lecture" I sigh in relief. "What animal do you turn into?"
"I can't tell you just in case he finds out, like I said to Draco, it's a disguise at the minute, and if he knew about it then it would become useless."
"I'm not going to say anything."
"I know that, but he could read your mind or something."
Dad just sighs and hugs me tighter. "I'm so glad you're ok, Ava. I was so worried when I got Arthur's letter."
I glance at the clock on the wall and see that it's half 4. Dumbledore wanted to see me and Harry in his office at 5. He's got another memory that he wants us to see.
"Anyway" I say, pulling away from dad, "I better go, Dumbledore said he wanted to see me and Harry at 5."
Dad looks at the clock and nods. I kiss his cheek and leave his office. "Love you, dad" I say before closing the door. I smile to myself when I hear dad shout 'Love you too, my Ava' I turn around and make my way to Dumbledore's office. The door is already open when I get there, so I knock on it and walk inside and see Dumbledore sat behind his desk and Harry stood in front of it.
"Ava, good, you're here. how are you, dear?"
"I'm fine, sir" I say, walking over to his desk.
"I heard about what happened at the Weasley's and I must, Ava, that impressed. Not many 15 year olds can become an Animagus on their first try."
"Y-you now about that?" he nods. "You're not going to tell the Ministry of Magic, are you?"
"Certainly not. What the Minister doesn't now, won't hurt him."
"Yes, my thought exactly."
"Anyway, enough chit chat" Dumbledore says, standing up and walking over to the cupboard. He pulls out a vail but doesn't tell us what memory it is. He hands it to Harry and we walk over to the Pensieve. Harry opens the vial and pours it into the liquid and it starts swirling black.
Me and Harry look at each other before putting our heads into the water. All I can see it black smoke, then it suddenly faded away.
"Look sharp Tom, don't' want to be caught out of bed after hours, is there something on your mind Tom?" Slughorn asks, as a young Tom Riddle stands in front of the fire that's in Slughorn's office.
"Yes sir, you see I couldn't think of anyone else to go to. The other Professors, well, they're not like you. They might misunderstand" he says, smiling slightly.
"Go on" Slughorn pushes.
"I was in the library the other night, in the restricted section and I read something rather odd about a rare bit of magic, and thought perhaps you could illuminate me, it's called as I understand it a -"
We couldn't hear though because the words were all muffled.
"I beg your pardon, I don't know anything about such things and if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Now get out of here at once and don't let me ever catch you mentioning it again" he shouted, waving his arm around which makes the memory swirl and go black.
We put our heads out and we are back in Dumbledore's office. "Confused?" Dumbledore asks. "I would be surprised if you weren't.
"We don't understands, sir, what happened?" Harry asks.
"This is probably the most important memory I have collected, it is also a lie. This memory has been tampered with by our old friends Professor Slughorn."
"But why would he do that for?" I ask.
"I suspect he's ashamed of it."
"Why?" we both ask.
"Why indeed. I need you to persuade him to divulge his true memory, anyway you can."
"We don't know him that well, sir."
"This memory is everything, without it, we are blind, without it, we leave the fate of our world to chance. You have no choice, you must not fail" Dumbledore says. We look at each other, then back at Dumbledore and nod.
It's the next day and me and Harry are waiting outside Slughorn's classroom. He's teaching at the minute, but his lesson is almost over so we have decided to ask him roughly the same thing Tom had asked him all those years ago. We are not convinced that it's going to work, but it's the only plan we have got at the minute.
We jump when the bell goes off, and a few seconds later, his first year students start leaving his classroom. "Come on" Harry says. I nod and we walk into his classroom. Harry clears his throat and Slughorn looks at us.
"Ahh! If it isn't the prince and princess of potions. To what do I own the pleasure?"
"There's something we want to ask you, sir."
"Ask away, my dear boy, ask away."
"Well, the other day when we were in the library's restricted section, we came across something rather odd about a very rare piece of magic."
"Yes, and what was this rare piece of magic?" Slughorn asks, looking rather nervous.
"We don't know exactly what it was and we can't remember the name, but it got us wondering, are there some kind of magic you're not allowed to teach us?" I ask.
"I'm the Potions Master, Ava. I think your question would be better posed to your father."
"Yes, but he and Harry don't get on and -" I stop when I realise that I have no idea what to say next. I look at Harry with a 'help me' look. Luckily, he knew what to say.
"What she means to say is that he's not like you, he might misunderstand."
"There can be no light without the dark, and so it is with magic. I always strive to live within the light, I suggest you two do the same."
"Is that what you told Tom Riddle when he came asking questions?" Harry asks. Slughorn looks at us, and for the first time since I've met him, he looks angry.
"Dumbledore put you to to this, didn't he? - didn't he?" he add in a shout, before storming out of the classroom.
I look at Harry. "Now what do we do?"
"I dunno, but we need that memory, and fast."
"Maybe we could try and say sorry. You never know, he might forgive us."
"Yeah, come on, let's do it now."
I nod and we rush out of the classroom and run all the way to Slughorn's office. Harry knocks on the door whilst I try to caught my breath. We hear Slughorn walking over to his door but he doesn't open it, instead he opens a little flap that's on the front of his door.
"Oh, it's you, Potter, Snape. Sorry, but I'm busy at the minute" he closes the flap before we could say anything, making us both sigh. We turn around and start walking down the corridor.
"I wonder what he could have told him?" Harry wonders out loud.
"I have no idea, but it's not going to be good, is it? I mean he changed his memory for a reason."
"I don't know what we can do next."
"Maybe we should ask Ron and Hermione, maybe they could come up with something."
"Good idea" he says smiling. I smile at him and we rush off to the Gryffindor common room. When we walk inside, we find it empty.
"You see if Hermione is upstairs and I'll check my room for Ron" Harry says.
"Just be carful checking your room, they might be in there together."
"Right, I'll knock first."
I nod and he walks off to the boys room and I walk off to the girls room. I open the door and see that only Lavender is in there.
"What you doing here, Snape?" she says, glaring at me.
"Do you know where Hermione is?"
"Why would I know where she is? I'm not her keeper."
"Right, ok - bye then" I say, before closing the door and heading back down stairs. I walk into the common room and see Harry dragging Ron down the stairs.
He looks at me and frowns. "You're not Romilda Vane."
"I know" I say, a little confused on what's happening. I look at Harry and he sighs.
"He's under a Love Potion" he whispers, as Ron starts looking around the common room. "It was hidden in some chocolates that Romilda left for me, but Ron ended up eating them instead."
"What do we do with him? We can't leave him with this?" I ask, watching him open a drawer.
"Romilda, my love, are you in there?" he asks. He sighs when he realise that she's not there. I couldn't help but help at that, even Harry sniggers a little.
"Maybe we could take him to Slughorn, he probably has antidote or something" Harry says. "Plus, that would gives us another chance to talk to him."
"Good idea" I say, nodding. Harry smiles at me then walks over to Ron, who's now looking under all the pillows.
"Come on, Ron, we are taking you to Romilda Vane" Harry says, grabbing his arms.
"Yes, thank you, Harry" Ron says, trying to kiss his cheek, which makes me laugh.
"It's not funny!" Harry hissed. "Help me!" he says, trying to push Ron off him. I walk over to them and pull Ron away.
"You're not the love of my life!" Ron growls, pushing me away from him.
"Let's go before he tries to snog you again" I say, grinning at Harry.
"Oh, shut up!" he looks around. "Wait, where did Ron go?"
Before I could answer, we hear a noise like someone is falling down the stairs. We look over at the girls stairs and see Ron standing up in a huff.
"Come on, let's get him out of here before he breaks a bone trying to get up the stairs" Harry says. I nod and we both grab an arm each other and drag him out of the common room. It was a nightmare going to get him to Slughorn's office, Ron kept getting out of our grip and trying to run away from us.
We finally make it and Harry knocks on the door. We wasn't waiting longer when the tiny flap opened and Slughorn frowned at us.
"We're sorry to bother you, sir, but we need you help."
"Where's Romilda?" Ron asks, pushing Harry out of the way and trying to look through the flap. "Is the love of my life in there with you? She's mine, you know!" he hissed, glaring at Slughorn.
"What's the matter with Wallenby?"
"Very powerful Love Potion" Harry whispers.
"Very well, bring him in" he says, before unlocking his door and opening it. Me and Harry drag Ron inside and sit him down on the chair.
"I would have though you could have whipped up a remedy for this in no time Harry, you too Ava" Slughorn says, as he walks over to the cupboard where his ingredients were.
"Well, we thought this called for a more practiced hand, sir" Harry says.
Slughorn goes to say something but stop's when Ron comes over to him and hugs him from behind. "Hello darling, fancy a dance?"
I try not to laugh as I pull Ron away from Slughorn and bring him back over the chair. "You wait here. Romilda will be here in a minute."
He sits there with smile big smile on his face. I walk back over to Harry and Slughorn and see that he's making up antidote. This is our chance to try and make things right.
"I'm sorry, by the way, Professor, about earlier today. You know, our little misunderstanding" I say.
"Oh, not at all. Water under the bridge."
"I expect you're tired of it after all these years. All the questions about Voldemort" Harry says, and I sigh because he said his name knowing Slughorn doesn't like it.
"Don't say his name!"
Just then we hear a bang and see that Ron isn't sitting on the chair. I walk over there and see him behind the chair, lying on the floor. I help him up and sit down next to him on the chair where he gave me a nasty look that he hasn't given me in a long time.
Harry and Slughorn talk over to us and Slughorn hands him a cup with the antidote in. Ron takes it and looks inside. "What is it?"
"Tonic, it's for the nerves."
Ron drinks it and his smile is replaced with a confused look. "What happened to me?"
"Well, you tired to kiss Harry on the cheek, then asked Professor Slughorn if he wanted a dance" I say grinning. Harry nudges me on the side of my head, probably to stop me from grinning, it didn't work.
"You were under a Love Potion" Harry says.
"And a bloody strong one at that" Slughorn adds.
"I feel really bad" Ron says, handing the cup back.
"You need a pick me up, my boy" Slughorn picks up a black bottle with a label on. I read it and see that it says oak-matured mead on the front. That's alcohol. A teacher shouldn't be giving us alcohol. He pours us all a cup and hands it to us.
I smell my cup and frown when it doesn't smell right, not that I know what wine smells like, but I know that smell. Where do I know that smell?
"To life" he says smiling. Ron and Harry hesitate before going to drink, then it hits me on why it doesn't smell right.
"Don't drink it!" I shout, making them jump. "It's poison" I say, knocking their cups out of the hands. I grab the bottle off Slughorn and smell it. "There's poison in this drink."
"How do you know that?" Harry frowns.
"I can smell it. My dad taught me all about poisons. I'm taking this bottle to Dumbledore."
"Yes, yes - we will come with you" Slughorn says, staring at his floor. I look down and see that it's all wet from the drink. I pull out my wand and clean it up. I think Slughorn is in shock that his drink had poison in it.
We leave his office and walk to Dumbledore's office. I don't even bother knocking and walk straight only to find Dumbledore and dad talking. They stop when they see us walk in.
"What is it? What's wrong?" dad panics.
"There's poison in this bottle" I say, handing it to him. He smells it and frown.
"She's right" he says, handing it to Dumbledore, who also smells it. He looks at the label. "This appears to be a gift, Horace. Do you remember who gave you this bottle?"
"No, but I actually intended to give it as a gift myself."
"To whom might I ask?"
"To you, Headmaster."
Me, Ron and Harry all look at each other, which makes Dumbledore look at us. "Thank you for bring this to me, Ava, but I think you three should head back to your common room's."
We nod and say our good byes, then leave his office.
"We were bloody lucky that you knew there was poison in the bottle, Ava, or it could have ended very badly if not" Ron says, as we walk to the Gryffindor common room. We want to see if Hermione is there so we can tell her what happened.
"I know, but I don't understand why someone would give it to Slughorn."
"Do you think he knew that there was poison in there?" Harry asks.
"No, didn't you see his face?" I ask. "He was as shocked as we were."
"He was going to give it to Dumbledore, and he did say that the Death Eaters were after him because Voldemort wants him to join" Harry says.
"Are you saying that Slughorn is a Death Eater?" Ron frowns.
"I don't know, but why else would he want to give Dumbledore that bottle. Voldemort would love to get rid of him, wouldn't he?"
We all stop talking and look at each other.
"Ok, let's not jump to any conclusions" I say, "for all we know is that Slughorn really didn't know that there was poison in that bottle. Beside, why would he open the bottle if he was going to give it to Dumbledore?"
"You-Know-Who would love to also get rid of Harry, you too, Ava" Ron says.
"But that's his job, isn't it?" Harry points out, whilst I nod in agreement. "He's not going to let anyone else kill us."
When we walk into the common room, we see Hermione sitting on the chairs with books and papers spread out everywhere. "There you are" she says, looking at Ron. "Now, I've checked your homework and -"
"Never mind that" Ron says, cutting her off, which makes her rise her eyebrow at me. "I just meant that we have something to tell you. Something a little bit more important than homework."
"Homework is important " she huffs, which makes Ron smile and shake his head.
We walk over to the chairs and tell her about what's just happened. She looks confused by the time we have finished. Harry also told her his theory about Slughorn being a Death Eater, but she shut that down immediately.
She said that not everyone is a Death Eater and he needs to stop accusing people without any proof. She glanced at me when she said which made me frown. I'm guessing Harry accused me of being a Death Eater, I mean, it would makes sense why he thought that for, but I'll happily prove him wrong if he starts asking.