"What are you doing?" Lacci asked, staring at the potions, the cauldron, the open book, and Lara's dead rat.
Dani looked frightened, surprised, worried and furious at the same time. "Lacci," he hissed, his eyes wide open and his mouth curled into a snarl, "What are you doing back so soon? Go away!"
But Lacci didn't go away. She walked sideways, inching to see behind Dani. "Dani-- you aren't doing what I think you are?"
Dani didn't need to ask what she thought he was doing. "No. No, of course not. You nkow I'm taking advanced Potions-- well, this is advanced."
Lacci folded her arms. "Nothing in our Potions class involves killing other people's rats, and I know it has nothing to do with tomes like that. Those are the kind you find in the Restricted Section. Not even Snape would give you permission to go back there."
Dani looked like a cornered snake. "Look, this is mine, it was passed down from my father, alright? I told Snape about it and he told me I could do this for extra homework. As for the rat-- there weren't any others I could find and Brunner doesn't like him much anyway."
Dani hated homework, Lacci knew this. And Lara loved her rat, it was one of the few things she held on to. "Dani, I don't like this. Tell me what you're doing. Let me see that book."
"No! Lacci, this is none of your business! Go away!" Dani quickly shut the book behind him.
Lacci pulled out her wand. She had learned to start carrying it, it could be useful at times. She twitched her left ear, her sullen face staring directly into Dani. "Dani. Give me the book. Now." When Dani refused, she lunged at him. He moved swiftly out of the way, but the table didn't. She knocked over a dark red potion, which hit her hand. The skin it touched turned red, and it spread up her arm. She stared in horror, and Dani hid his face in his hands. As all of her skin became red, down to the fingertips of her opposite hand, she turned to stare at Dani. Then she burst into flame.
Lacci screamed, but found it didn't hurt. Her skin wasn't burning-- she had become fire. Dani grabbed Lacci's wand, which had fallen to the floor, and backed away. "Stay back, demon," he snarled, holding the wand in a striking position.
Lacci looked at him hopelessly. Demon? That book! She looked back at it, and found that her head could turn all the way around without her moving her body. 'The Banishing and Summoning of the 6 Earthly Demons'. It seemed Dani had been preparing to summon a fire demon, and by the looks of it, he hadn't gotten farther than the starting potion. Lacci had seen it done before, she couldn't remember from where. Shouldn't she be dead?
"Avada Kedarva!" Dani yelled, still pointing Lacci's wand at her. Lacci knew that the Killing Curse took lots of practice and skill. She didn't have time to think about this, because she fell to the floor and blacked out, the carpet around her beginning to burn.
***
Lacci screamed and sat up. She looked at her hands. They were flesh. It was hard to see in the darkness of the room, but they weren't glowing flame. She was back in the Hospital Wing. Had she been dreaming the whole thing? Had Christmas even come yet?
All these questions were answered in the clapping of a pair of human hands. The room lit up. Standing a few feet away was Professor Severus Snape. Dani was beside him, looking very smug. He smiled at Lacci. Lacci didn't smile back, but looked around to room for Harry. He wasn't there.
"Miss Vrij," Snape said coldly, stepping forward.
Lacci looked up at him gratefully, not quite meeting his gaze. "Oh, Professor Snape! Dani's trying to summon a fire demon, I saw him when I went up to the common room-- he killed Lara's rat and everything-- he told me you said--"
Snape silenced her. "Mr. Dellin has already given me the details. Don't lie to me. You have been trying to summon demons for a while now, haven't you? Did you know that is illegal, Miss Vrij? It's certainly more advanced magic than you know. Do you have any idea what would have happened, if Mr. Dellin hadn't come downstairs and prevented you? Hmm?" He looked at her with a disliking glint in his eye. Lacci took a moment to let this all sink in.
"Wait! No! I'm not trying to summon demons, I don't like demons! Dani-- I came down to the common room-- he was reading from that book-- told me to go away--"
"Enough!" Snape shouted. "Are you or are you not willing to tell me the truth? If not, I shall have to inform Professor Dumbledore, perhaps he will get some straight answers out of you."
Lacci gaped. She turned to Dani. "Dani, you know what happened. Tell him the truth. Tell him what you told me. It's your book, it's been passed down by your father--"
Dani just smirked. "Tell him what truth? I've already told him everything I know. I was in my dorm, trying to sleep, when I heard you chanting in the common room. I came down there and saw you with all of these bottles, and a dead animal. I should have seen it coming, you've been acting weirdly for weeks. Probably getting the potions ready, huh? Getting ready to set a demon loose on us all."
Lacci didn't know what to do. She had turned three shades paler and looked as though the world was coming to an end and everyone was blaming her for it. "I didn't do it!" she cried. "I didn't!!"
Snape sighed. "Very well then. Come, Dellin. You will return to your dorm; I must inform the headmaster of our little demon-worshipper." Snape stalked out of the room, Dani close behind. He stopped for a moment to peek back in.
"Hey Lacci--" Dani whispered, so Madam Pomfrey couldn't hear, "too bad you didn't manage to bring up a demon, hey?" Lacci snarled and Dani ducked out of the room. Frightened and confused, Lacci pulled her covers over her head and started crying.
Lacci waited for another hour for Dumbldedore to appear, scolding her and suspending her. From what she had heard from Harry though, she should be allowed to give him her side of the story, unlike Snape. But Dumbledore didn't come. Eventually she fell asleep out of the simple weariness the day had brought.
***
The next morning, at about 10, Lacci was called to Dumbledore's office. "Come on, up with you," Madam Pomfrey said, helping Lacci out of bed. For the first time, Lacci looked at herself. She had a giant ugly scab on her wrist where the potion had landed. Lacci started talking while Madam Pomfrey dressed her.
"Why am I in so much trouble? I didn't do anything? Why aren't I dead? Am I dead??"
"No, no you aren't," Madam Pomfrey said, struggling to pull Lacci's shirt on while she wiggled around. "I don't know why you aren't dead, but be happy you aren't." When Madam Pomfrey had finished getting Lacci dressed, she told her she'd be walking Lacci to Dumbledore's office. Lacci nodded; there wasn't much else to do.
As Lacci was walked through the hallways (which seemed bigger than ever before), her throat seemed to tighten up and her stomach was rolling around in circles. She felt shameful to even look up, but did so when she was brought past a statue and up a huge staircase.
The door at the top of the stairs was opened, and Lacci was ushered into Dumbledore's office. Dani was sitting in a chair by Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore thanked Madam Pomfrey, and she left the room.
"Miss Vrij, would you please have a seat?"
Lacci walked over, still slightly baffled at this sudden turn of events, and sat across from Dani. "Professor Snape and Mr. Dellin her have just been to me with an interesting story, Miss Vrij," Dumbledore said patiently.
Lacci looked pleadingly at him. "I didn't do it, Dani did it, you can't believe him, he's lying--"
Dumbledore hushed her. "I have heard his side of the story, and now I'd like to hear your side. Slower, please."
Lacci realised Dumbledore wasn't going to give her an unfair trial. She cleared her throat.
"Well sir, you saw me down at the feast. I was there the entire time. Dani wasn't, and I was worried about him. I thought I had given him a flu. So when the feast was over I went down to the commons to look for him. He was standing in front of a table covered in potions and Trent was lying in a dish, covered in blood. And a book was lying open. Dani didn't want me to see it, he told me to go upstairs. I recognized what he was doing-- summoning a fire demon-- and tried to stop him. I knocked a red potion onto my hand and I became made of fire or something. Then I tried to turn around and Dani used a killing curse on me. Then I woke up in the hospital."
Lacci bit her lip hopefully. She knew it would be suspicious if she knew too much about what Dani was doing.
Dumbledore took this into consideration. "Tell me, how did you recognized what he was trying to do? That's extremely advanced magic, and not many first years would recognize it."
"Well," Lacci said, glad he had asked something she could answer, "I saw that book--" Lacci didn't want to get Lara in trouble, "somewhere, and I read the title when I found Dani in the commons. It's called 'The Summoning and Banishing of the 6 Earthly Demons'."
"Ah," Dumbledore said, and a smile twitched in the side of Dani's mouth. "You are, of course, aware that the words on the spine of that book are written in anceint greek? Even if you had read it, how did you know it was a fire demon he was summoning?"
Lacci nodded slowly. This was the question she didn't want to answer. "I know. I know... lots of languages... and I saw what page he was on when I became fire... page 251, which is all about fire demons, and their properties..."
Dumbledore nodded, and Lacci immediately knew she had let out too much. "Tell me Lacci, how do you know so much about this book? I was under the notion you've been elsewhere since you were six."
Lacci looked over at Dani, who, surprisingly, was now full of interest. "My father," she said quietly. "He was a Death Eater. Owned that book. Was a bad man. He's dead."
Dumbledore smiled. Lacci didn't know what she had expected him to do, possibly jump up and start screaming at her, but this was definitely not it. He looked over at Dani. "Mr. Dellin? Would you please remove yourself from the room for a moment? i would like to speak to Miss Vrij alone." Disappointed, Dani nodded and left the room. Dumbledore turned back to Lacci.
"Lacci, I know who your father was. I know he's dead. I know he owned this book. In fact, I probably know a few things about him that you don't know, and you'd be best off not knowing." There was a hint of apology in his voice. Lacci shook it off.
"I don't care about him. If you know so much about him, you know he killed my mam. Sir, you do believe me, don't you? Dani was trying to do something awful, I don't know what it was--"
Dumbledore raised his hand and she shushed. "Yes, I believe you. Even with your background, there was no way you could have concocted something so advanced. Daniel, on the other hand, is an extremely good wizard, probably best I've seen at his age, and he's been under influences. But there is something that concerns me more than his project."
Lacci looked at Dumbledore, confused. "But... but... he could have done something awful! Think of what could have happened!"
"Ah," Dumbledore said calmly, "But he failed. So none of that has happened. What interests me is you, Lacci. Twice last night you should have died. You know the potion you knocked over should have burned you alive. And Dani has had practice with the three Unforgivable Curses. He should have killed you. I imagine the potions cancelled out the curse, but what cancelled out the potion?"
Lacci didn't know. "I don't know."
"Lacci," Dumbledore asked seriously, "If you have any problems, if anything funny happens, please tell me. I will be alerting your friends as well. This is for your safety as well as everyone else's safety."
Lacci nodded carefully. "But... what about Dani? What will happen to him?"
Dumbledore sighed sadly. "I'm afraid he will be sent to Azkaban. His family has been undergoing some rather unacceptable activity." Noting Lacci's look, he added, "No, it has nothing to do with Voldemort or his followers. The Dellins aren't Death Eaters. In fact, I believe they are enemies."
Lacci flinched and looked down at the name of her father's master and the mention of her old home. "But-- sir-- please don't send him there-- he's not that bad-- cant you just send him to a detention of some sort?" Dani had been one of her best friends. She didn't care if he tried to kill people, or if he tried to kill her, she didn't like losing her friends, especially not to a place like Azkaban.
"I'm sorry, Miss Vrij, there in nothing else we can do." Dumbledore sat for a moment longer, and then stood up. "Come back in please, Mr. Dellin," He called to the person in the hall. "Miss Vrij, I suggest you go to the music room-- I have informed your friends to wait for you there." Lacci's face lit up. Harry and Ron? She smiled, thanked Dumbledore, and left the room, nearly bumping into Dani as she did so. Dani gave her an almost sorry glance, and Lacci felt a tear start to burn in the back of her eye. She didn't want Dani to go to Azkaban...
Down the steps, past the statue, through the corridors, down the steps, it seemed to take hardly more than two minutes to reach the music room. Lacci burst in and looked around for Harry and Ron.
***
Harry was sitting on the band stands, Ron lying down behind him. At the sight of Lacci, they both rushed up. Lacci hugged Harry hard.
"What happened?"
"Dumbledore told us what happened."
"Are you alright?"
"How is your hand?"
"What's going to happen to Dani?"
Lacci looked back and forth between Harry and Ron, and then walked past them and sat down. "I'm fine, I think. I can't really feel my hand. And Dani-- Dani's going to Az-- Azkaban--"
Harry sat down on Lacci's right, Ron on her left. Harry patted Lacci comfortingly on the shoulder. "But that's good news, isn't it?"
Lacci looked up at Harry, a look of utmost sadness on her face. Harry nodded.
"Ah. You don't want him to go. I understand." Harry didn't really understand; in fact, he didn't really care about much of the details. As long as Lacci was alive and breathing and safe, he didn't care. He had been so worried when Dumbledore had told them Lacci had come across Dani in mid-summoning. Harry was immensely curious as to why Lacci hadn't died, but he knew better than to ask her right now. He had been through near-death experiences before, and knew how to deal with them.
Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, which he handed to Lacci. "Here," he said softly, "You must be starving."
Lacci took it gratefully and pulled one of the back legs off so it couldn't hop away.
She leaned over on Harry's shoulder. Harry looked down at her, partly in sympathy, partly in fear, and partly in fascination. A few hours ago, she should have been killed by her trusted friend, but wasn't. A few weeks ago she had been hanging around all of her quickly made Slytherin friends, and Harry had felt almost jealous. A few months ago, she had been a complete maniac, and she didn't even speak Harry's language. A month before that she had been sitting in Azkaban, probably hitting her head in the wall and trying to break free of her straight jacket. About seven years ago she had done something so horrible that she had been sent to a heavily guarded wizard prison. Harry had had a rougher life than her, but couldn't help but feel sorry she had to live through all that.
Dani looked frightened, surprised, worried and furious at the same time. "Lacci," he hissed, his eyes wide open and his mouth curled into a snarl, "What are you doing back so soon? Go away!"
But Lacci didn't go away. She walked sideways, inching to see behind Dani. "Dani-- you aren't doing what I think you are?"
Dani didn't need to ask what she thought he was doing. "No. No, of course not. You nkow I'm taking advanced Potions-- well, this is advanced."
Lacci folded her arms. "Nothing in our Potions class involves killing other people's rats, and I know it has nothing to do with tomes like that. Those are the kind you find in the Restricted Section. Not even Snape would give you permission to go back there."
Dani looked like a cornered snake. "Look, this is mine, it was passed down from my father, alright? I told Snape about it and he told me I could do this for extra homework. As for the rat-- there weren't any others I could find and Brunner doesn't like him much anyway."
Dani hated homework, Lacci knew this. And Lara loved her rat, it was one of the few things she held on to. "Dani, I don't like this. Tell me what you're doing. Let me see that book."
"No! Lacci, this is none of your business! Go away!" Dani quickly shut the book behind him.
Lacci pulled out her wand. She had learned to start carrying it, it could be useful at times. She twitched her left ear, her sullen face staring directly into Dani. "Dani. Give me the book. Now." When Dani refused, she lunged at him. He moved swiftly out of the way, but the table didn't. She knocked over a dark red potion, which hit her hand. The skin it touched turned red, and it spread up her arm. She stared in horror, and Dani hid his face in his hands. As all of her skin became red, down to the fingertips of her opposite hand, she turned to stare at Dani. Then she burst into flame.
Lacci screamed, but found it didn't hurt. Her skin wasn't burning-- she had become fire. Dani grabbed Lacci's wand, which had fallen to the floor, and backed away. "Stay back, demon," he snarled, holding the wand in a striking position.
Lacci looked at him hopelessly. Demon? That book! She looked back at it, and found that her head could turn all the way around without her moving her body. 'The Banishing and Summoning of the 6 Earthly Demons'. It seemed Dani had been preparing to summon a fire demon, and by the looks of it, he hadn't gotten farther than the starting potion. Lacci had seen it done before, she couldn't remember from where. Shouldn't she be dead?
"Avada Kedarva!" Dani yelled, still pointing Lacci's wand at her. Lacci knew that the Killing Curse took lots of practice and skill. She didn't have time to think about this, because she fell to the floor and blacked out, the carpet around her beginning to burn.
***
Lacci screamed and sat up. She looked at her hands. They were flesh. It was hard to see in the darkness of the room, but they weren't glowing flame. She was back in the Hospital Wing. Had she been dreaming the whole thing? Had Christmas even come yet?
All these questions were answered in the clapping of a pair of human hands. The room lit up. Standing a few feet away was Professor Severus Snape. Dani was beside him, looking very smug. He smiled at Lacci. Lacci didn't smile back, but looked around to room for Harry. He wasn't there.
"Miss Vrij," Snape said coldly, stepping forward.
Lacci looked up at him gratefully, not quite meeting his gaze. "Oh, Professor Snape! Dani's trying to summon a fire demon, I saw him when I went up to the common room-- he killed Lara's rat and everything-- he told me you said--"
Snape silenced her. "Mr. Dellin has already given me the details. Don't lie to me. You have been trying to summon demons for a while now, haven't you? Did you know that is illegal, Miss Vrij? It's certainly more advanced magic than you know. Do you have any idea what would have happened, if Mr. Dellin hadn't come downstairs and prevented you? Hmm?" He looked at her with a disliking glint in his eye. Lacci took a moment to let this all sink in.
"Wait! No! I'm not trying to summon demons, I don't like demons! Dani-- I came down to the common room-- he was reading from that book-- told me to go away--"
"Enough!" Snape shouted. "Are you or are you not willing to tell me the truth? If not, I shall have to inform Professor Dumbledore, perhaps he will get some straight answers out of you."
Lacci gaped. She turned to Dani. "Dani, you know what happened. Tell him the truth. Tell him what you told me. It's your book, it's been passed down by your father--"
Dani just smirked. "Tell him what truth? I've already told him everything I know. I was in my dorm, trying to sleep, when I heard you chanting in the common room. I came down there and saw you with all of these bottles, and a dead animal. I should have seen it coming, you've been acting weirdly for weeks. Probably getting the potions ready, huh? Getting ready to set a demon loose on us all."
Lacci didn't know what to do. She had turned three shades paler and looked as though the world was coming to an end and everyone was blaming her for it. "I didn't do it!" she cried. "I didn't!!"
Snape sighed. "Very well then. Come, Dellin. You will return to your dorm; I must inform the headmaster of our little demon-worshipper." Snape stalked out of the room, Dani close behind. He stopped for a moment to peek back in.
"Hey Lacci--" Dani whispered, so Madam Pomfrey couldn't hear, "too bad you didn't manage to bring up a demon, hey?" Lacci snarled and Dani ducked out of the room. Frightened and confused, Lacci pulled her covers over her head and started crying.
Lacci waited for another hour for Dumbldedore to appear, scolding her and suspending her. From what she had heard from Harry though, she should be allowed to give him her side of the story, unlike Snape. But Dumbledore didn't come. Eventually she fell asleep out of the simple weariness the day had brought.
***
The next morning, at about 10, Lacci was called to Dumbledore's office. "Come on, up with you," Madam Pomfrey said, helping Lacci out of bed. For the first time, Lacci looked at herself. She had a giant ugly scab on her wrist where the potion had landed. Lacci started talking while Madam Pomfrey dressed her.
"Why am I in so much trouble? I didn't do anything? Why aren't I dead? Am I dead??"
"No, no you aren't," Madam Pomfrey said, struggling to pull Lacci's shirt on while she wiggled around. "I don't know why you aren't dead, but be happy you aren't." When Madam Pomfrey had finished getting Lacci dressed, she told her she'd be walking Lacci to Dumbledore's office. Lacci nodded; there wasn't much else to do.
As Lacci was walked through the hallways (which seemed bigger than ever before), her throat seemed to tighten up and her stomach was rolling around in circles. She felt shameful to even look up, but did so when she was brought past a statue and up a huge staircase.
The door at the top of the stairs was opened, and Lacci was ushered into Dumbledore's office. Dani was sitting in a chair by Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore thanked Madam Pomfrey, and she left the room.
"Miss Vrij, would you please have a seat?"
Lacci walked over, still slightly baffled at this sudden turn of events, and sat across from Dani. "Professor Snape and Mr. Dellin her have just been to me with an interesting story, Miss Vrij," Dumbledore said patiently.
Lacci looked pleadingly at him. "I didn't do it, Dani did it, you can't believe him, he's lying--"
Dumbledore hushed her. "I have heard his side of the story, and now I'd like to hear your side. Slower, please."
Lacci realised Dumbledore wasn't going to give her an unfair trial. She cleared her throat.
"Well sir, you saw me down at the feast. I was there the entire time. Dani wasn't, and I was worried about him. I thought I had given him a flu. So when the feast was over I went down to the commons to look for him. He was standing in front of a table covered in potions and Trent was lying in a dish, covered in blood. And a book was lying open. Dani didn't want me to see it, he told me to go upstairs. I recognized what he was doing-- summoning a fire demon-- and tried to stop him. I knocked a red potion onto my hand and I became made of fire or something. Then I tried to turn around and Dani used a killing curse on me. Then I woke up in the hospital."
Lacci bit her lip hopefully. She knew it would be suspicious if she knew too much about what Dani was doing.
Dumbledore took this into consideration. "Tell me, how did you recognized what he was trying to do? That's extremely advanced magic, and not many first years would recognize it."
"Well," Lacci said, glad he had asked something she could answer, "I saw that book--" Lacci didn't want to get Lara in trouble, "somewhere, and I read the title when I found Dani in the commons. It's called 'The Summoning and Banishing of the 6 Earthly Demons'."
"Ah," Dumbledore said, and a smile twitched in the side of Dani's mouth. "You are, of course, aware that the words on the spine of that book are written in anceint greek? Even if you had read it, how did you know it was a fire demon he was summoning?"
Lacci nodded slowly. This was the question she didn't want to answer. "I know. I know... lots of languages... and I saw what page he was on when I became fire... page 251, which is all about fire demons, and their properties..."
Dumbledore nodded, and Lacci immediately knew she had let out too much. "Tell me Lacci, how do you know so much about this book? I was under the notion you've been elsewhere since you were six."
Lacci looked over at Dani, who, surprisingly, was now full of interest. "My father," she said quietly. "He was a Death Eater. Owned that book. Was a bad man. He's dead."
Dumbledore smiled. Lacci didn't know what she had expected him to do, possibly jump up and start screaming at her, but this was definitely not it. He looked over at Dani. "Mr. Dellin? Would you please remove yourself from the room for a moment? i would like to speak to Miss Vrij alone." Disappointed, Dani nodded and left the room. Dumbledore turned back to Lacci.
"Lacci, I know who your father was. I know he's dead. I know he owned this book. In fact, I probably know a few things about him that you don't know, and you'd be best off not knowing." There was a hint of apology in his voice. Lacci shook it off.
"I don't care about him. If you know so much about him, you know he killed my mam. Sir, you do believe me, don't you? Dani was trying to do something awful, I don't know what it was--"
Dumbledore raised his hand and she shushed. "Yes, I believe you. Even with your background, there was no way you could have concocted something so advanced. Daniel, on the other hand, is an extremely good wizard, probably best I've seen at his age, and he's been under influences. But there is something that concerns me more than his project."
Lacci looked at Dumbledore, confused. "But... but... he could have done something awful! Think of what could have happened!"
"Ah," Dumbledore said calmly, "But he failed. So none of that has happened. What interests me is you, Lacci. Twice last night you should have died. You know the potion you knocked over should have burned you alive. And Dani has had practice with the three Unforgivable Curses. He should have killed you. I imagine the potions cancelled out the curse, but what cancelled out the potion?"
Lacci didn't know. "I don't know."
"Lacci," Dumbledore asked seriously, "If you have any problems, if anything funny happens, please tell me. I will be alerting your friends as well. This is for your safety as well as everyone else's safety."
Lacci nodded carefully. "But... what about Dani? What will happen to him?"
Dumbledore sighed sadly. "I'm afraid he will be sent to Azkaban. His family has been undergoing some rather unacceptable activity." Noting Lacci's look, he added, "No, it has nothing to do with Voldemort or his followers. The Dellins aren't Death Eaters. In fact, I believe they are enemies."
Lacci flinched and looked down at the name of her father's master and the mention of her old home. "But-- sir-- please don't send him there-- he's not that bad-- cant you just send him to a detention of some sort?" Dani had been one of her best friends. She didn't care if he tried to kill people, or if he tried to kill her, she didn't like losing her friends, especially not to a place like Azkaban.
"I'm sorry, Miss Vrij, there in nothing else we can do." Dumbledore sat for a moment longer, and then stood up. "Come back in please, Mr. Dellin," He called to the person in the hall. "Miss Vrij, I suggest you go to the music room-- I have informed your friends to wait for you there." Lacci's face lit up. Harry and Ron? She smiled, thanked Dumbledore, and left the room, nearly bumping into Dani as she did so. Dani gave her an almost sorry glance, and Lacci felt a tear start to burn in the back of her eye. She didn't want Dani to go to Azkaban...
Down the steps, past the statue, through the corridors, down the steps, it seemed to take hardly more than two minutes to reach the music room. Lacci burst in and looked around for Harry and Ron.
***
Harry was sitting on the band stands, Ron lying down behind him. At the sight of Lacci, they both rushed up. Lacci hugged Harry hard.
"What happened?"
"Dumbledore told us what happened."
"Are you alright?"
"How is your hand?"
"What's going to happen to Dani?"
Lacci looked back and forth between Harry and Ron, and then walked past them and sat down. "I'm fine, I think. I can't really feel my hand. And Dani-- Dani's going to Az-- Azkaban--"
Harry sat down on Lacci's right, Ron on her left. Harry patted Lacci comfortingly on the shoulder. "But that's good news, isn't it?"
Lacci looked up at Harry, a look of utmost sadness on her face. Harry nodded.
"Ah. You don't want him to go. I understand." Harry didn't really understand; in fact, he didn't really care about much of the details. As long as Lacci was alive and breathing and safe, he didn't care. He had been so worried when Dumbledore had told them Lacci had come across Dani in mid-summoning. Harry was immensely curious as to why Lacci hadn't died, but he knew better than to ask her right now. He had been through near-death experiences before, and knew how to deal with them.
Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, which he handed to Lacci. "Here," he said softly, "You must be starving."
Lacci took it gratefully and pulled one of the back legs off so it couldn't hop away.
She leaned over on Harry's shoulder. Harry looked down at her, partly in sympathy, partly in fear, and partly in fascination. A few hours ago, she should have been killed by her trusted friend, but wasn't. A few weeks ago she had been hanging around all of her quickly made Slytherin friends, and Harry had felt almost jealous. A few months ago, she had been a complete maniac, and she didn't even speak Harry's language. A month before that she had been sitting in Azkaban, probably hitting her head in the wall and trying to break free of her straight jacket. About seven years ago she had done something so horrible that she had been sent to a heavily guarded wizard prison. Harry had had a rougher life than her, but couldn't help but feel sorry she had to live through all that.