Credits: All the references to Harry Potter, the world
of Hogwarts and the magical community are J.K. Rowling's. All the rest
are mine.
Author's note: Ladeeda. : :wakes up: : Oh! Right! I'm supposed to be writing my Harry Potter fic! Oops! Er, just kidding. I'm so tired I can't think right now. Wait a sec, I can! Wow! So I'll just get moving along, shall I? *That would probably be a good idea*, whispers her shrink. And by the way, sorry about me, i know I haven't been that consistent in my writing, and I've been busy will all the stuff here... anyway, sorry, but READ AND REVIEW!!!
Chapter 7
"Cotton candy," Nirry whispered, and the stone
gargoyle that was the entrance to Dumbledore's room opened. Someone
brushed rudely past her, and she turned just in time to see that it was Snape.
"Excuse me," she said rather sarcastically,
but he didn't even turn around. Frowning slightly, she entered the
room where Dumbledore sat at his desk. When she came in, however, he
stood up, beaming.
"Sit down, my dear, sit down," he said
jovially. His piercing blue eyes seemed to see right through her head,
and she smiled back at him, pleased he'd asked her to come, since the common
room had been unusually empty, and not one of her friends was up, this time at
nine in the morning on a Saturday.
"Professor-" she'd asked him if it was okay to
call him that, and he'd said it was fine, "um, I just saw Snape- um,
Professor Snape, and, why was he in such a hurry? He was just outside,
and..." there she stopped because Dumbledore had just started pacing on
the floor in front of her. He suddenly turned to her, eyes aglow.
"Since I am your presumed father, I will proceed to
tell you something no one must hear." Nirry frowned. An uneasy
feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.
"I believe you are friends with Mr. Potter, am I not
right?" she nodded, and he continued. "The -man- who killed his
parents is the same one you have told me about, and, he is, of course,
Voldemort. Now, our admirable Professor Snape," and here he paused,
looking slightly amused at the sudden sneer of Nirry's mouth, "Snape, was
once a Death Eater. One of Voldemort's supporters, that is. Although
he came back to our side long ago and began acting as our spy. From the
things he's said recently concerning the renewal of Voldemort, we have reason
to believe he is going to start with an all-out attack on the magical public
places such as Diagon Alley and Hogwarts."
Nirry stared at him, wide-eyed. "What? But-
and what does Snape have to do with this?"
Dumbledore stopped pacing to answer her. "We must
find more information. We cannot do a thing until we know what he is up
to. Luckily, Ha-, that is, certain people are acting as spies and we hope
to catch him in the act before he does any more damage."
Nirry sank farther into her seat, head reeling.
Dumbledore resumed his pacing, deep in thought. He's going to attack
Diagon Alley? thought Nirry in desperation. No!
* * *
Snape hurried through he corridors, hastily
fastening his Death Eater robes. Voldemort had ordered this meeting
especially, and now Snape's mind turned over possible excuses in his mind.
He reached the road to Hogsmeade, and after making sure no
one noticed him, got out his wand and muttered something
incomprehensible. The next moment, there was a cloud of hazy fog where he
had been.
Seconds later, he brushed of the dust on his robes and
squinted through the mist in search of his "fellow" Death
Eaters. He could just make out shadowy figures huddled in a semicircle up
ahead, and he hurried to catch up, taking care to slip his mask over his head.
"And he arrives," said the high cold voice of Lord
Voldemort, the one who had killed so many, including that fifth year girl
Nirry's past life. The rush of anger welled up beneath Severus'
consciousness, but he forced it down rapidly, hoping Voldemort had not
remembered to renew his promise last meeting about the mind reading magical
abilities he had.
"I am sorry, my Lord," he murmured, falling on his
knees as to not look directly into his eyes. Slowly, he got up and walked
backward to fit in with the others, who's eyes watched him from beneath their
hoods.
Voldemort sounded amused. "Severus, Severus, what
was it this time?" Snape shivered uncontrollably.
"It- it was Dumbledore, Milord, I had to see him in his
office for a small chat on my teaching, it seems one of my students was mad at
me for giving her a detention."
Voldemort dismissed him with a wave of the hand.
"Then I will begin to tell you, my Death Eaters, how our plan will come
about. This year, I will defeat Harry Potter. We will begin
by the destruction of Hogsmeade, where nobody will ever find us. Lucius..
begin the plans."
Severus Snape listened and shivered. How will we
ever win?
* * *
Nirry sat, deep in thought. Harry watched
her intently. She barely touched her mashed potatoes and fried chicken,
one of her favorites. She was staring at some far-off point, and didn't
even look up when Fred and George laughed heartily when, over at the Slytherin
table, someone tried to eat a chicken leg and it started to walk on its
own off the table and out the doors.
"Nirry, Nirry, wake up! Are you all
right?" Harry had not been the only one noticing Nirry's odd
behavior. Ron and Hermione arrived together at the table and were staring
curiously at her. Nirry came out of her trance.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What class do we have
next?" she got up and brushed her hair out of her eyes
absently. Harry tried to sound lighthearted as he said,
"First Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then Care of
Magical Creatures."
Nirry suddenly lost her intense eye look. "Oh, good!"
she said, then glanced at her untouched food. "I'm done, let's
go." Harry looked at her sharply. She forced a smile at him,
clearly meaning, I'm fine, don't worry. Ron and Hermione walked
behind them, hand in hand. Whenever Harry or Nirry looked back at them,
they dropped their hands. Harry had a strong suspicion about what this
was about, but didn't want to embarrass them by saying it.
They entered the classroom without further discussion, and
chose seats near the back as usual. Gradually the classroom filled up,
and still Dumbledore, who had been teaching the Defense class for the last
three weeks, had not shown up. Instead, a tall, gray eyed witch came
zooming in, booming out, "Sorry, kids, sorry, know I'm late, but hey! Can't
do anything about it now, can I? Damn trains..." Leaving the
class speechless and openmouthed, she almost ran to the front of the room and
set her bag down. She smiled widely at them all. Harry, Ron,
Hermione and everyone else in the room were distinctly reminded of
Lockhart. Nirry, however, just looked questioningly at Harry, Hermione
and Ron for answers, but they too were bug eyed to answer.
"Now, as you people know already, this is Defense
Against the Dark Arts, and now, since these Dark Times falling upon us, we must
learn how to defend ourselves!" she would have continued longer, but
Nirry raised her hand and politely waved it around.
"Excuse me, but, Miss, what is your name?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at her in amazement, but the teacher just
laughed, long and loud, and replied,
"Yep, honey, the first thing you've gotta know here is
my name, huh? Anyway, I'm Miz Reídiata, all you gotta know, Miz
Reedíata."
Nirry looked distinctly surprised, and she raised her left
eyebrow so high that Harry nudged her. Miz Reedíata continued with a
speech that made several other eyebrows join Nirry's.
"Now, as we all know very well, some better than
others," here her eyes flashed in the direction of Harry's scar, and he
squirmed uncomfortably, "is that Voldemort, the great Lord Voldemort, has
risen once more. Do you realize that in the whole of history, no other
wizard has been as evilly powerful as he? You all remember the horrific
deaths of the people at his mercy, don't you? You must! Voldemort
has risen again and will soon come for each and every one of us!"
"Hmmm... like she's very sad 'bout that,"
whispered Seamus to Dean, across the aisle from the four friends.
Hermione and Nirry shared a look of pity toward Harry, who was slowly not
trying to think of his parents.
Miz Reedíata looked at them pointedly, then proceeded to
tell them to lug their books out and start reading from page 1. A lot of
groans issued from this.
* * *
"Oh, my lord, can you believe that Miz
Reedíata?" gasped Nirry as soon as she was out of earshot of the over
enthusiastic teacher. "She actually sounded happy about
Voldemort." Ron shivered at the mention of the name.
"And she said his name- I can't believe that! Say
You-Know-Who, please, Nirry."
"Why?" she asked, her eye on Hagrid's cabin
looming up in front of them. Ron looked a bit embarrassed.
"Well, because... er, never mind, here's Hagrid."
Harry looked curiously at his cabin. The curtains were
drawn and there was no sign of life, even though class started in five minutes,
and groups of Slytherins were already coming down.
"Hagrid! What were you doing in there? We've got
class in five minutes!" said Hermione. Hagrid's head emerged from a
window, saw them, and pulled it back in, then emerged from the cabin , shutting
the door securely behind him and padlocking it with a large lock that
disappeared as soon as he clicked the metal part. He quickly came toward
them and gave them a forced grin.
"Yer right, it's time fer class already.. come on, look
the rest of the class are waiting fer us." Harry and Ron looked at
each other, as did Hermione and Nirry. They were all thinking the same
thing, which was, is Hagrid okay? There was something definitely sneaky
in his movements. This lesson, Hagrid led them all toward a big arena
which contained several large, four-footed creatures. Nirry, however, had
eyes for only one thing, in the corner of the area in a secured section.
"CINAMONNE!" she cried, and before anyone could
stop her, she flew over the gate, and amid stares and open-mouthed amazement,
ran through the strange creatures in the middle to reach her beloved
horse. "Oh, my god, how did you come here? I thought I'd never
see you again! Oh, Cinamonne, I missed you so much! Yes, it's
me!" Nirry hugged her mare's neck and finally let go, doing a little
jig on the grass. Cinamonne, for her part, came closer and nudged Nirry's
shoulder hard in a show of complete affection for her mistress.
Nirry turned, beaming, to her companions, who were hurrying
toward her, puzzled looks on their faces. "This is my horse!"
she explained. Hagrid grinned at her, and Nirry wondered whether this was
what his secret movements were about.
"Yeah, well, Nirry, Dumbledore thought yer might like
yer horse back, after all, after what happened to yer and...well, he's told me
ter tell yer that she's yers fer keeps."
Nirry looked up at him, thanks shining from her eyes.
For the rest of the lesson, all she did was cast looks over at Cinamonne who
nickered at her to come closer, and did not hear a word Hagrid said about the
Permatinients, the huge soft bear-like creatures who attached themselves to
something once they liked it (or the person) and never let go. All she
could think of was that she was going to ride her after the lesson, and nothing
and no one would stop her.
* * *
"Wow," whispered Hermione for the tenth
time. She, Harry and Ron were sitting on the grounds, watching Nirry and
Cinamonne gallop to their hearts' content. "She's really good, isn't
she?"
Harry and Ron nodded agreement, eyes moving as if watching a
tennis match, following the horse's frolics from where they sat. Finally,
after about half an hour, Nirry came cantering to them, grinning widely.
"Wow! I can't believe she's back here! Isn't she
great?" and patted Cinamonne's neck. The horse was breathing
rather heavily, yet did not sweat. Harry nearly said something in
relation to, "well, you're great, too," but refrained from saying so.
It was not the right time and
besides, it would ruin the easy friendship between them.
"Any of you want to try?" she continued,
dismounting and walking over to them. Hermione and Ron looked a bit
apprehensive, and Harry couldn't blame them. Nirry turned to Harry
first. "Come on, Harry, just get on for a moment!" she coaxed.
Harry went and stood on the left-hand side, as Nirry
instructed him to do. With a little help from Ron and Hermione, they gave
him a boost and he perched on top of Cinamonne, gripping handfuls of
mane. Nirry started to walk him, and soon Harry began to enjoy it.
"How do I look?" he shouted to Hermione and Ron.
"I think Nirry looked better on her," said Ron,
and Harry gave him a look. Nirry noticed his good balance in the seat,
and commented on it, which Harry surmised it was probably from Quidditch.
Soon they came back and the process was repeated again first with Hermione and
then finally with Ron, who were both happy to see that they did not fall off.
They came in, talking loudly and fast about their riding experiences.
Draco Malfoy noticed them and sneered when they came in. Harry's teeth
were set on edge as soon as he sighted Malfoy, and they stood, face to face in
the hall.
"Stupid animal, really," muttered Draco, then
brushed past them, avoiding Nirry's eyes.
'Hey, Nirry, you know what? I bet old Draco's afraid
of you!" Harry said in surprise. Nirry scoffed him, but secretly
thinking he was right.
* * *
Wormtail shuffled his feet, suppressing yawns with terror
when he entered the room in which his master lay, sleeping. Voldemort
looked evil even in sleep, thought Peter, wincing. He crept to the table
to refill his master's glass of water.
"Wormtail, my loyal servant," said Voldemort,
rising with a start in his dark bed. Wormtail would have dropped the
glass in sudden surprise if it hadn't been for his new, silver-shining
hand. As it was, he nearly broke it and earned the cold stare of
Voldemort.
"I fear I had a rather- unusual dream.
Yes, unusual. Wormtail, from this point on, you will not wake me for
anything." At this, Wormtail protested feebly.
"But, my lord, you called for more water-"
"Silence! Do as I say and go."
Wormtail left quickly, knowing with past experience how his master would act
when angry. As soon as he left, Voldemort lay down in sleep once
more. Heavy fog clouded his vision, and he fell once again to sleep.
Yes, it was a girl, he was sure of it. Nine months
ago, that one night, so foolish he had been, to get drunk on Muggle vodka and
scotch in addition to Firewhisky. At the party, the party. Foolish
also to let that poor excuse of a girl to lead him to her room, to pour him
another whisky. Foolish to wake up the next morning in her bed, head
pounding and stomach reeling.
Nine months later, he was sure it was the girl. The
one girl who had made him sick for a week. The one who was in the
hospital at that very moment, maternity section. Oh, he had been so
foolish, that night at the party.
It made no difference, the happening of today. He
would kill her that night, and the child as well. That very night, that
night. He would creep into the room, see her gaze and frightened gasp and
leave her for the doctors. This very night.
* * *
Harry Potter woke up, head
pounding. His dream once again swirled round him. It was different
this time, as well, though his usual nightmare had faded to only once every
week or so. This was different. Voldemort was there, thinking, thinking?
About what? Something about a child, no, a woman, a party, a child...
something about the child was familiar. Harry quietly got out of bed and
made his way out of the rom toward the bathroom. It was three o'clock in
the morning.
His head was still turning over the dream he'd had. it
was fading quickly.
"Hey! What- Nirry! What are you doing up?"
Harry whispered fiercely, heart turning over at the sight of the tall figure in
a white, long shirt. Nirry made no answer. Her eyes were glazed,
and Harry began to be frightened.
"Nirry, Nirry! Are you okay?" he asked in a
whisper. Nirry held onto the wall, long, slim hands softly grasping
the smooth, worn canvas paintings. The subjects of the paintings were
thankfully asleep.
"I'm- I'm fine, yeah," she muttered, then banged
straight into Harry. Harry felt something close to panic.
"Nirry, are you sleepwalking?" he said, then
struggled to lift the now sleeping form of Nirry off himself and stood her
up. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, and Harry was so startled he nearly
dropped her.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Hey-
Harry? Wha- what am I doing here?" Nirry stood up on her own
and straightened her hair out. Harry looked deep into her eyes. He
almost lost himself in those deep, brown eyes that were now changing color-
"Hey! Your eyes are turning green!" Harry gasped,
momentarily distracted from the past few moments. Nirry shrugged.
"Yeah, so? They always do that. Harry, now, tell
me. What was I doing out here? It must be at least four in the
morning!" she said impatiently.
"You- Nirry, you were sleepwalking." said Harry,
having a hard time tearing his eyes away from hers. Nirry looked suddenly
back at him and smiled. Their eyes held the look for what seemed like an
eternity.
"Nirry-"
"Harry-"
MROWRLW!!!!! Crookshanks leapt upon them, breaking them
apart and going on through the hall on his way downstairs to the common
room. Harry looked embarrassed now.
"I'll, er- go back to my room, okay? See you in
the morning." He said rather guiltily, glancing around the
hall. Nirry turned a bright peach color.
"Right," she murmured. Each went to their
own rooms and fell into their beds, their minds full of what had just
happened. Harry was just falling asleep when he remembered the dream with
a start. Then he shrugged mentally, turned over, and went to sleep.
Nirry lay on her back, mind going over and over the look on
Harry's face. Taking a dreamy glance around the room, she saw her watch
and the luminous green letters that said, 6:07. She quickly turned
around and squashed the last bits of though out of her mind and soon fell into
a deep, dreamless sleep, only to be awoken in two hours.