~ Chapter 6 ~
Jaden awoke at a tap at her shoulder. They had been on the flight for a few hours and she had slept the whole way through the time. It had been her aunt who had tapped on her shoulder, reaching over the sleeping girl.
"How's the flight been so far?" Sierra asked. Jaden rubbed her eyes and smiled at her.
"Not bad," Jaden replied, "I think I've slept most of the whole time, though." Sierra smiled and winked at her. She then turned on her heel to get back to her two-step-away seat. Jaden sighed. It hadn't been that bad of a trip. Suddenly, she felt a small tremor as they hit an air pocket. The plane shook a bit but returned to normal in no time.
Jaden then heard a yawn beside her. She turned in her seat to see the girl in the aisle chair next to her waking. She yawned again and stretched out her arms. Noticing that Jaden was up, the girl seemed to try to be nice again. She smiled at her, but was again turned down. Then the girl began to frown, and she suddenly started to speak in a rather hurried tone.
"Look, I'm sorry about the whole seat thing. I thought I was going to be sitting here by myself. You can let your guardian at this seat and I'll move to hers. I didn't mean to break you two up. I'm sorry that I ever lived to do this and…" the girl said but was interrupted.
"Apology accepted," Jaden said casually and held a finger to the girl's mouth. The girl smiled and Jaden smiled back. She never thought that the girl would be such a nice person, even if she pushed her aunt out of a seat that was hers and all. The girl held out her hand to shake.
"Meg Johnson," she said.
"Jaden Maxwell," Jaden replied and took the hand to make a hearty handshake. They both giggled when they did. Suddenly, the plane hit another air pocket. When that happened, an envelope fell out of Meg's pocket. She gasped to see it fall out and grabbed for it, but Jaden got to it faster. Meg cowered in fear as Jaden turned the envelope over. Jaden made an unseen half-smile when she saw the emblem on the back.
"Well…um…er…that's," Meg stammered, evidently trying to explain it. Jaden yet again put a finger to Meg's mouth. She used her other hand to pull an identical letter out of her pocket. She turned it over to show Meg the same emblem on the back. They both giggled when they saw this. Meg's going to Hogwarts, Jaden thought, Not too bad, not too bad at all.
*****
Ron sat at the table eating his eleventh sandwich while Hermione and Harry were eating their seconds. Ron kept rattling his fingers on the table in nervousness, which was starting to bug Harry. He had started doing his Transfiguration essay and Ron hadn't stopped fidgeting about. Ron hadn't even really thought about that factor. All he could think about was what he was going to do when Andrea got here. After a few more seconds, Harry exploded.
"Ron!" Harry shouted in a blast of fury. "Why the hell are you still fidgeting? Can you ever stay still?" Harry huffed for a moment, then stopped when he saw everyone in the room staring at him. He took a deep breath and returned to his essay. Hermione sighed and turned to Ron.
"You know, Harry may be eccentric about it, but he's right," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "You've been jumpy ever since we got here. And we think we've figured out why. We know." Ron frowned at this and sighed. Fred and George then came straddling in the room from out side. They had been practicing their beating skills for half an hour. Hermione waved at Fred and George, while Harry just nodded. Hermione glared at Harry obviously for being so rude. That was the perfect Hermione going to work again. And they weren't even back in school yet. Fred and George nodded back their hellos.
"Now you and Harry know," Ron replied with a groan. "That just makes it worse. Wonder who else is in my secret life?"
"I wonder what number I am," Ginny said, with a sigh. Ron's jaw dropped.
"You're not saying that…" Ron started with a pause.
"Yes. I know," Ginny said. She gave a small smile to Ron, who just wished he could die. He put his head in his hands to wonder who else knew. A thought then shot across his mind.
"Wait a minute. How did you find out, Ginny?" Ron asked.
"Well," Ginny started, "Fred and George told me." Once they heard their names, they snickered their way out of the room. Ron immediately turned his attention to the retreating duo. He glared at them with all his might. Ginny seemed to think she caused something so she said, "If it makes you feel better, I think it's sweet." Fred and George then burst out in laughter and ran up the stairs. Ron saw this and turned back around in his chair, his eyes narrowed.
"I don't think it made him feel better," Hermione said in a concerned voice. Ron's narrow eyes softened and he put his head in his arms on the table.
"Why don't I just tell the whole world that I love…" but Ron was interrupted. There had been a casual knock at the door. His sadness turned into happiness so quickly that you could only see a blur when his eyes lit up. He got up and ran to the door, with Harry, Hermione and Ginny right behind him. He stopped at the door and took a deep breath before he put his hand on the doorknob. He turned it and opened the door to find…
"Andrea!" Ron said and hugged her hard.
"Ron!" Andrea said, hugging just as hard. "I can't believe it's you."
"It's the same here, Ron replied. After a moment of staring at each other, Harry cleared his throat. Andrea broke the stare and blinked her eyes bit before she turned away from Ron.
"Harry, Hermione, Ginny, it's great to see you all again," Andrea said and hugged them all. Harry seemed to be satisfied when she did so. Ron then thought of something that would really cheer her up even more.
"Hey, Andrea. You wouldn't believe what we're doing this summer."
*****
Jaden again laughed at what Meg had said. Meg was talking about her crazy adventures with her friends Jack and Karen, and each one was a riot.
"…So, we pulled the lever to our science project, and it blew up. Pieces of Cheetos and clay went everywhere. Our volcano had been totaled," Meg said. Jaden took another laugh. "We got a week of detention for it, and a C for our grade. And that was only our 5th grade project."
"Wow," Jaden said enthusiastically. "You and your friends must have been pretty popular."
"We were," Meg replied, "But I bet you and your friends were even more popular." Jaden's smile faded. Her and her friends were really outcasts and not that popular.
"Umm…we liked our own group by ourselves," Jaden said. She felt even more embarrassed when she saw Meg's smile fade. She couldn't believe that she couldn't lie about her friends, yet she lied to her aunt all the time. "Well, that's OK."
A moment later, Sierra came down the aisle to them. She had three sandwiches in her hands and a smile on her face, as always.
" Here you go, girls. The stewardess gave me these to me for you," Sierra said. She handed them the sandwiches, which they promptly opened and bit into. "I see that you two have hit it off well." They both nodded with bulging cheeks. Jaden gulped down her food in her mouth and sighed.
"Meg is a very nice person. I like that in her," Jaden said. Meg halfway blushed at this comment. Jaden smiled at her newfound friend. Sierra smiled at the both of them.
"Well, that's good to hear," Sierra replied and returned to her seat to eat her own sandwich. Jaden turned in her seat to speak with Meg.
"So, what will you do when we get off the plane?" Jaden asked.
"Oh, I will meet my uncle there," Meg replied, gulping down another bite. "He will drive me to this summer home down in southern England, where I will be staying."
"Oh my God," Jaden eccentrically replied.
"What?"
"That's where we're going. We are staying there till school starts."
"No way!
"Yes, way!"
"That will be so cool. You will be like a neighbor."
"Yea," Jaden said, and smiled widely. "Will your uncle be staying with you."
"No, he has a job to work at, but he will check on me from time to time." They then stopped as they heard a small bell ring. They looked up to see that the "buckle up" light had gone on. Jaden and Meg strapped on their seatbelts and listened to the pilot.
"Good afternoon, passengers," the pilot said through the intercom, "We are entering London airport. The time of touch down in five minutes, so buckle up your seatbelts as we are going down to land. Thank you." Jaden smiled as she saw the city of London getting bigger and bigger out the window. So many surprises, so little time, she thought and started to feel queasy.
*****
"Come on now, Sibyll. You know that I won fair and square. It was hard enough you getting me to bet against you, but being a sore loser," Albus said, and started to polish his spectacles.
"It was cheating, I say, pure cheating," Sibyll said, still standing by his desk. She huffed as she stared at him. Minerva then came in the room from the spiral staircase. She had a confused look about her face and stopped at the front of Albus's desk.
"What's is all the yelling about?" Minerva asked.
"I'm not yelling," Sibyll huffed loudly. Minerva closed her ears with her fingers.
"That's yelling," Minerva replied softly. Once she saw the mad expression on her face, she made a half-smile. "What's wrong with you, Sibyll? Did you lose a tea leaf?" Sibyll glared at her, and Minerva did the same.
"Not quite, Minerva," Albus said, trying to break the stare of them. "We went to a Quidditch match today, and Sibyll persuaded, and I mean persuaded, me to bet on the winning team. Now, she predicted the Ballycastle Bats would win, while I thought the Wimbourne Wasps would win. We bet 30 galleons on it and she lost. Now she's being, as you might say, 'on the end of her rope' and trying to get out of the bet." Dumbledore then finished polishing his spectacles and placed them on his nose. Sibyll glared at Albus, and turned up her nose.
"So, I guess you had a false prediction, eh, Sibyll?" Minerva said with a chuckle. Sibyll just sat there.
"I'm not speaking to you. I can't hear you," she said. After a moment of silence, Sibyll slumped in her chair.
"Oh, come now, Sibyll. You can't try to act dead. We know you're faking," Minerva said, and rolled her eyes. Albus didn't think the same.
"Minerva, I don't think it's fake," Albus said. He got out of his chair and picked up her hand for a pulse. Minerva came over just as Albus had, but with disbelieving eyes. Suddenly, Sibyll propped up in her chair, making Albus and Minerva jump back. Sibyll opened her eyes, only to reveal them rolled up in her head. She sat still for a moment and then spoke.
"An evil has surpassed it boundary and come to hurt those in its path. Its target is the chosen one, and Hogwarts is where they shall meet. The test of wills and the test of heart shall be put before them both. Passing shall be the only freedom from ultimate darkness. Do not be fooled because prey could be predator and vipers can be victims.
Gni keht foh tar weh ter aweb."
Sibyll then slumped back into her chair. Minerva had her mouth open, while Albus was stroking his beard. Sibyll awoke with a start and stared at the two people hovering over her. She quickly sprang up and brushed herself off.
"I must have fallen asleep. Just as I predicted," Sibyll said. "It was very unprofessional, though. About the bet, Albus…"
"Don't think about it," Albus said, still stroking his beard.
"But…"
"Here's 15 galleons if you can please leave promptly." Albus held out 15 galleons in his other hand. Sibyll looked at him, then at the money. She then took the 15 galleons, nodded her head and left down the spiral steps. Minerva stood there, staring at Albus, who was still stroking his beard. His mind was thinking rapidly, which made him even more confused.
"Gni keht foh tar weh ter aweb," Albus repeated.
"What do you think it means?" Minerva asked.
"I don't know yet, but we have little time before the new school year starts, so we had better work fast. And if Harry has any part in this, we had better work faster," Albus replied. Minerva nodded her head and exited Dumbledore's office.