Seeing the Invisible 4
Disclaimer: as I have told you before, any places, characters, etc. that you recognize do not belong to me, and whatever is leftover is mine. Do not sue me please, my wallet is quite light.
On Christmas morning, Farrell woke with the rising sun. On her bed was a small heap of wrapped gifts. She was completely dumbfounded, since she only usually got one gift- from Mrs. Fairfax, but this morning she found five. The first gift she opened was a pretty brown sweater ( HOW UNUSUAL! Not.) from Mrs. Fairfax, but for the first time ever her initials had been embroidered in curly writing on the front over the pocket. She had received a box wrapped in purple paper from Hermione- on the front it said " TWO CHARMS" which confused Farrell until she opened it. Inside were a book called, " Charms Made Easy!" and a bracelet with a little silver Pegasus on it. From Ron, who seemed to have tied into the charm bracelet idea with Hermione, gave her a charm shaped like a table with a tiny glass marble on top, so as to be a crystal ball. Harry gave her two things. One was a charm to go on her bracelet that he seemed to have made himself. It was a tiny pink rose that he'd shrunk to minute size, incased in glass, and set on a piece of silver wire. The second thing was a little golden ball. In the dimly lit room, Farrell squinted to see what it was for. It was a gold ball about the size of a muggle baseball, and for a moment Farrell thought that perhaps he'd stolen the snitch from the Gryffindor quidditch team. But when she picked up the ball and cupped it in her hands, it erupted with bright light and lit her dormitory as though all the shades were open and it was high noon. She found it amazing, but the people sharing her room did not.
" What in the world…?"
" goodness! Did we oversleep?"
"Shut off that dratted light!"
" COR- what's that?!"
Farrell immediately dropped the ball on her bed and the light went out. She could hear her roommates going back to bed. Then Hermione came and sat beside her on the bed, rubbing her eyes groggily.
" Farrell, what did you just do?" she whispered, yawning.
"look," said Farrell, handing her the ball. Hermione took it, but as soon as she saw the light start to gain in intensity, she dropped it on the bed.
"what is that?" she asked, staring at the ball.
Farrell just shrugged in response. " Sorry, Hermione. You can go back to sleep now, if you like."
"Nah, I'll open my gifts. You know, Farrell, that ball could be GREAT for waking people up, and amazing for practical jokes geared toward making people think they'd overslept."
Farrell just nodded and went back to her bed. She still had a present there. It was a large black box, at least the size of a small table. It had a thick satin ribbon tied around it and on the front, in a little space for writing it just said, " Ms. Farrell Branwen". Curious, Farrell opened the box. Inside, under a layer of tissue paper, was a massive book. Farrell assumed, just by looking at it, that it must have been at least 4000 pages. It was titled, " Advanced Transfiguration: for those who are looking for the more challenging,". Beside the Transfiguration book was a leather bound journal, stamped with a lion on the front. A piece of parchment that lay above it read, " a log for your achievements in Transfiguration,". Farrell was shocked that anyone would buy her such nice transfiguration supplies, and especially shocked that they would support her fooling around in uncharted areas of magic. She searched for a card, but could find nothing. Then when she opened to the first page of " Advanced Transfiguration" a small note fell into her lap. She picked it up and read it. It said:
Don't worry, I know you can handle it. If you doubt yourself, just ask for help.
~M.M
Farrell looked at the letter for a second before almost yelling, " HERMIONE!"
~
That night before the ball, while Hermione and Farrell were in their dorm room, Farrell was sitting on her bed. She'd taken an afternoon nap, and what she'd dreamed of had been horrific. She couldn't remember it all, it seemed so vague, but she remembered crashing surf and lightning, but not where they should have been. Usually crashing surf and lightning would be in an ocean during a storm, but in her dream, the waves and lightning were inside. She remembered a certain image of a huge wave of water rolling through a hallway, knocking portraits off the walls and picking up people in its wake. So now, sitting on her bed in her dress robes, and watching the thick clouds solidify into a blanket of smoky gray in the sky, did not raise her spirits. Though excited about going to a ball, fear and anxiety troubled her mind. When it was time to go, she tried her best to push the dream to the back of her mind.
~
Down in the common room before the ball, Harry and Ron sat , playing their usual game ( re-named "massacre" by Harry) of chess until suddenly, not even saying "checkmate" Ron stood. Hermione had come down the girl's staircase. Upon turning around, Harry understood why Ron had stood up. Probably because fainting while standing is much more impressive than fainting while sitting down. Hermione had long robes of flowing purple satin, and she had tamed her usually frizzy hair into perfect ringlets. If Harry hadn't given Ron a nudge and pushed him toward his date, Ron most likely would have stood there gawking at her all night long. Ron walked off and joined Hermione, and as they walked through the portrait hole Harry heard Hermione saying, " Farrell will be down in a minute, and we'll meet you in the Great Hall," over her shoulder.
Harry chuckled and looked down, putting the wizard chess pieces back into their box. Suddenly, he felt two small, slender hands slip off his glasses and cover his eyes.
"Guess who?" said a voice somewhere above him.
" hm…Ron?" Harry replied jokingly before slipping between the arms of the person hiding his eyes, and grabbing his glasses back.
When he put on his glasses and looked back up, what he saw before him made him want to take off his glasses to make sure he wasn't going insane. Farrell had to be the only person in all of Hogwarts to be wearing patterned dress robes. She had white dress robes with thick tan Celtic knots on them, and between the thick lines of tan, were very fine outlines of the knots in gold thread. Her long black hair hung down to the small of her back, and was held back from her face with gold barrettes.
When Harry stopped smiling like an idiot he looked right at her and said," well, Ron, I think that brown is definitely your color," laughing even before he could finish. Farrell rolled her eyes and laughed while she took his hand and walked to the door.
As they passed the windows to the outside on the way to the Great Hall, Farrell could feel dread tugging down on her heart as she saw the rain pouring down in heavy sheets. Even though she sensed disaster, she tried to put on a smile for Harry. When they reached the hall, they saw that dinner was nearly over. They sat with Ron and Hermione and ate, talking about the usual things and laughing about trivial matters. Farrell did not join in during the fun, and tried her best to give a chuckle when they laughed, but could do no better than a dry giggle and a bit of grimace that replaced her usually bright smile.
When they began the dancing, Farrell's head pounded with dismay as the trepidation reached a climax. Resting her head on Harry's shoulder, she squeezed her eyes shut. Harry saw her face out of the corner of his eye and was startled. He gently touched the side of her face with his hand.
" Come on now, " he said softly, " am I really that bad of a dancer?"
Farrell just bit her lip and shook her head.
"What's wrong? You've been odd like this all night," said Harry, concerned.
Farrell sighed and shook her head again, " I-I don't feel well..," then she broke apart from Harry and gave him a kiss on the cheek, " I'll be back, I'm going to the bathroom."
When Farrell arrived in the bathroom, she was surprised to see that the only other person in there was Professor McGonagall, who was unpinning her bun so that her long hair hung to her waist. The odd thing was that it wasn't black as usual. It was neon pink.
" those boys are really going to get it this time…pranking another student is bad enough, but a teacher!" she muttered upper her breath as she waved her wand around and around, slowly turning the ends of her hair black.
Farrell couldn't help but laugh, the only true laugh that had emerged from her mouth all night. Professor McGonagall spun around.
"oh! Miss Branwen, I didn't see you."
"Hello Professor. Do you want some help?"
Professor McGonagall just gave her a grateful look as Farrell slowly circled around her, turning her pink hair to black again. Just as they were about to leave the bathroom, screaming could be heard outside the door. Professor McGonagall flung it open and looked outside. For the split second it was open, Farrell and professor McGonagall could see a massive wave barreling its way down the corridor, throwing students and staff under water in its wake. Professor McGonagall immediately threw the door shut and magically sealed it into the wall. For a few minutes Farrell just stood there, staring at the closed door, a frightened expression on her face. She'd dreamed this would happen…she'd actually been dreading it and now…here it was.
Suddenly, Farrell looked up, " I have an idea, but you'll need to give me a hand, " she said, walking into one of the toilet stalls.
"What kind of an idea?"
Farrell kicked down the stall door, knocking it from its hinges. "We're going to fly out of here. Help me put some wings on this, " she said, indicating towards the door.
Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow, " You mean to say we'll be flying through the window?"
"Yep," replied Farrell, watching an enormous white wing begin to sprout from her side of the door.
Within another minute, two huge white wings were attached to the door and flapping against the tiled floor of the ladies room. Professor McGonagall and Farrell climbed onto the door and Professor McGonagall steered it from the rear while Farrell shot a spell towards the large glass window, shattering it. They sailed through and out into the pounding gale on their flying door.
When they arrived outside they saw several people on broomsticks, diving down to rescue drowning students and staff and return them to the roof. Those closest were Madame Hooch, Professor Dumbledore, and the Weasley Twins. Below, their heads incased in bubbles, were Professors Lupin and Sprout, diving down and pulling people to the surface. Up on the roof, Madame Pomfrey, Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick were strolling about, giving out blankets and medication, and taking roll. Far off in the distance, Farrell could see the lake. It was completely drained. Someone had emptied the lake into the castle. That was the origin of the flood.
Upon seeing Professor McGonagall and Farrell on the flying door, Professor Dumbledore flew over, being blown sideways by the strong wind. His long white hair whipped into his face, wet from the rain, and he looked grave and pale under his soaked hood.
"Come here," he shouted over the storm, " Follow us and look for the swimming people. We'll dive and get them!"
McGonagall nodded to him show that she understood and steered the door to where they were headed.
Until after morning broke, and the rain subsided and the flood was drained (as was the castle, followed by a very difficult drying spell), Farrell and McGonagall searched for the drowning people. Just as the first rays of sunlight danced on the wet grounds of Hogwarts, Farrell dropped off to sleep right there on the flying door. Professor McGonagall, thinking it cruel to just drop her in her empty dorm after all the work she'd done, took Farrell back to her quarters and wrapped her in quilts on the sofa.
~
Hours later, when the sun was high in the clear sky, Farrell's hazel eyes snapped open. She sat straight up. To her immense surprise, sitting opposite her in a large blue armchair, dressed in jeans and a sweater, was Professor Lupin. When he saw her staring at him, he looked up from the test papers he was grading, gave her a smile and said, " Good morning, Farrell. How are you?"
Farrell looked at him, bewildered, " er…alright, sir. If you don't mind my asking…where am I?"
A voice above her answered, " This is where we live, Branwen, " Farrell looked up to see Professor McGonagall, handing her a cup of tea. Farrell didn't even move for a minute, trying to process what she saw and heard. Above her was a completely different Professor McGonagall than she'd ever imagined. If she hadn't called her Branwen, Farrell would have thought she was someone else. The woman in front of her looked as if she could be a mother, she seemed so laid back. She was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a plaid shirt, her long black hair hanging down her back, held out of her face with a red headband.
When Farrell finally got her voice back, she took the tea with a grateful smile and raised an eyebrow. "We?"
Lupin and McGonagall exchanged a surprised glance.
"Well, that's odd …thought this would have gotten around by now…" said Professor Lupin.
"what?"
"Branwen, we're married. That's why we live together."
Farrell looked down at her cup, embarrassed, "whoops, " she said softly.
At that time, Professor Lupin looked at his watch, " oh! Min, I've got to go. Dumbledore needs to see me," he said, pulling on his robes and smiling at Professor McGonagall before he walked out the door.
After Professor Lupin left, McGonagall left the room and came back with a blue wooden box. Then she pulled the blue armchair closer to the couch on which Farrell sat and plopped down in it, the box on her lap.
" Branwen…er…Farrell, there's something I need to talk to you about."
"Professor if this has to do with turning that Slytherin's books into-
"shh…no it's not about misbehavior. Its something er…personal, " at this Farrell raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, listening. " Farrell…how well did you know your mother?"
Farrell scrunched up her nose in concentration. " not too well at all, really. She passed away when I was about two or so. I haven't got any pictures of her, but I remember she looked like I do now, and she was very thin and quite beautiful. But I don't know barely anything about her life. "
" Well, its very hard for me to explain this to you Farrell… but…"
"what- are you my mum or something?"
" no, of course not. Here, " said professor McGonagall, opening the wooden box and taking out the picture she'd looked at before and handing it to Farrell.
Farrell looked at the snapshot in her hands, at the tall black haired girl with ice blue eyes. Her eyes skimmed over the small redheaded woman with hazel eyes, and over the tiny girl with long black hair and hazel eyes, just like her.
Professor McGonagall leaned over and pointed to the tall girl with amazing blue eyes, " That's my mother. Stella Branwen," and then she pointed to the little toddle in the grass with the huge hazel eyes, " and that," she said looking into Farrell's eyes, " is your mother." Then professor McGonagall flipped over the photo and read the back.
Farrell stared at the photo, amazed. She absentmindedly dropped it on the floor, her eyes wide in shock.
Professor McGonagall smiled when Farrell looked up at her, " Hallo Farrell," She said, holding out her hand, " I'm Minerva, your cousin."
Farrell looked at the hand that was being offered to her. Just as Professor McGonagall thought she'd run away, frightened, Farrell jumped up and, completely contrary to Minerva's prediction, gave her a huge hug.