Chapter 18 – Slipping Away
Lydia had an easier time after Harry's visit. Of course, there are always people who feel the need to bully others because of things which have happened, or are happening, in their lives. There are others who bully because of how they have learned to regard themselves or how they regard others. Then there are those who seem to enjoy being evil, it is not always easy to understand why. There were rare attempts to trip her up. Jinxed items were left lying around for anyone to find. These were the kinds of pranks which were usually attributed to Peeves the Poltergeist. They were not a problem to Lydia. She did have one, though.
When Harry had visited, Teddy Lupin had seemed happy to hang out with Lydia and Freddie. Afterwards, he would sit with the two of them in the common room, but only if there were other people with them. In practice this usually meant Shona, who was keen on Teddy, and Tina, who liked to be with anyone who would include her, as Shona always did. When moving around the castle, it became rarer that Teddy would join them if it was just Lydia and Freddie. He was fine with them in big groups, but Lydia felt he was trying to keep his distance, not to be associated with them – with her.
As the short days lengthened and spring approached, Lydia began to notice other students pointing or staring again. As the Easter break drew near some of the third- and fourth-year students began to casually call her "freak". There were whispers as she passed in the corridors, to start with. The same term was used for Freddie. Within a week some were calling them "freaks" openly and laughing to their friends about it. But worst of all, Teddy was no longer with them. He no longer sat with Freddie at mealtimes. He no longer walked with them around the castle. He no longer went to the Joint Common Room at all. By the end of term, he was no longer sharing desks and benches with them in the classes they had together.
The evening before the last day of term, Lydia was meeting with Draco. They were discussing her wand and how she felt using it, whether its presence made any difference.
After a lull in the conversation Draco said, "Professor Verdi, tells me that Teddy Lupin is no longer sitting at the same bench as you and Freddie. Have you fallen out over anything?"
She looked at him for a few moments. It was odd that his hair was so nearly white yet the stubble on his chin was much darker.
"No. He's just… moved away a bit," she ventured.
Draco sighed and put his hand on her arm for a second or two.
"You heard that Teddy was mentioned in the Daily Prophet a while ago? About his father being a werewolf and so he shouldn't be allowed to go to Hogwarts?"
Lydia nodded.
"Harry, and others," he continued, "made sure they retracted it and published the findings from St. Mungo's Hospital that he was clear of any trace of it."
Lydia nodded.
Draco leaned closer. "We have noticed that a few people are starting to pick on you again, Lydia."
"It's not a problem. They're just idiots," she assured him.
"Well… Yes," he conceded. "My point is that Teddy seems sensitive about his father's… condition. It gets mentioned in books about the war. Minerva has asked Professor Hughes not to mention it in Modern Magical History lessons anymore. But many older students know about it and others could read about it. Teddy has started Hogwarts as a very popular young man – more popular, it seems, than he expected. He is afraid of losing that."
"What a shame for him," Lydia snapped.
Draco shook his head. "I understand how it must feel for you, believe me. I really do. But Teddy is a good person. One day, I believe, he will be ashamed of himself for how he has behaved. I hope when that happens you will be able to forgive him and build a new friendship. People do worse things than try to protect themselves."
Lydia sat and thought for a while.
"You lost friends, didn't you?" she whispered. "I mean, not just the ones who died in the war. Afterwards you, kind of, changed sides."
It was Draco's turn to nod. He swallowed, too.
Lydia carried on. "If it wasn't for Harry – and Astoria…?"
Draco nodded again. "Astoria – I don't know how – saw some good in me. She gave me the strength to apologise to Harry. Then Harry forgave me. He got me this job. He fought to get me this job. And the rest is history or, rather, the rest is Defence Against the Dark Arts, I suppose."
Lydia sighed. "If the day comes when Teddy apologises, I'll try to forgive him."
Draco chuckled. "Ambrose is right about you, Lydia. You have amazing emotional intelligence for your age. Actually for any age. Some people will see that as a weakness. Let it be your strength."
As they stood for Lydia to leave she hugged Draco. "Thank you, Draco. You're like a proper uncle."
Draco laughed. "Thank you. I'll tell Ambrose that next time he annoys me."
"You won't have to wait long, then."
The Easter holiday was to be a little over two weeks long. On the morning that most of the students would be leaving by the Hogwarts Express, Lydia was on her way to breakfast. Professor McGonagall called her to one side. She held a small package tied with a bright green ribbon.
"Miss Ward," she announced. "I have a parcel for you from the Head Auror. Please step this way."
They walked to one side of the Entrance Hall and into a staff room.
"I actually do have a package from Harry Potter," she smiled. "Inside are two other packages. Inside each of those is a portkey. The one marked 'Home" will take you directly to your mother's house. The other, marked 'School' will bring you back to my office. You have only to touch whatever is inside one of these smaller packages and the portkey will operate and transport you to your destination. The one marked 'School' will only work between 7pm and 8pm on the last full day of the holidays, the Tuesday. It will place you in front of my desk. I shall be waiting for you. You will be back before any of your classmates, other than Mr Anderson and Mr Oluwale, both of whom are staying at school for the holidays."
"Oh, thanks," Lydia replied, bewildered.
"You may ignore them and take the Express, if you wish. We wanted to give you the option of avoiding any unwanted attention."
Lydia stared at the package.
McGonagall spoke gently "Under the circumstances, I think it would be a good idea, Lydia. I don't doubt that you can look after yourself but it would be better if you didn't need to. If you want to take the train, I can arrange for your uncle to meet you at the station."
"No, you're right. It would be best," Lydia agreed.
"Then go have your breakfast, say goodbye to your friends, then go somewhere you will not be seen to use your portkey."
Lydia did as Professor McGonagall suggested. After breakfast she met up with Freddie and told him the plan.
"Ohmygod, you're so lucky," he complained. "I'll be stuck on the train on my own."
"You won't be on your own," Lydia pointed out. "You'll have Teddy and the rest of your dorm."
Freddie gave her a sceptical look.
"Teddy won't mind you, if you're not with me," Lydia soothed.
"Er, no!" Freddie contradicted. "He ignores me in the dorm every night!"
Lydia looked at him horrified.
"He doesn't want to be seen with anyone who isn't popular," Freddie continued. "He blanks Oddy, and Tina, if she's not with Shona."
"I didn't know," Lydia said.
"Anyway, I'm glad you'll be out of harm's way," he added. "Hope you have a good holiday… and I hope all the idiots here forget they don't like us!"
Lydia looked at the package she was carrying, then grinned. "I know! Why don't you come home with me? Mum won't mind. I'll ring Uncle Ambrose and he can send an owl to your parents."
Freddie pulled a face. "Where's your muggle uncle going to get an owl?!"
"Oh, he's got them all the time now. Professors and aurors and all sorts of magical people are in touch with him. I honestly don't know how he does it. Him and Flitwick are like best mates, now. And I don't want to think about him and McGonagall!"
Freddie laughed. "If you're sure it'd be OK? I don't want to be a problem."
"Mum'll love you. How could she not?"
Freddie went down to his dorm to get his trunk. Lydia went up to the tower for hers. They met back on the ground floor, as Lydia's trunk was much more manageable than Freddie's. Xander sashayed along behind Lydia. They slipped away from the gathering crowd of students waiting for the carriages to the station. They found an empty classroom and stepped inside, looking around to make sure they weren't being watched.
"Ooh, it's like going on an adventure to Muggleland," Freddie twittered. "You'll be able to show me tellies and computers and things."
"Have you used a portkey before?" Lydia asked, opening the package and taking out the two smaller packages.
"Yeah," Freddie told her. "We were allowed one to go up to Northumberland for my great-grandpa's funeral. It was the only good thing about that day."
Lydia put the 'School' portkey parcel in her luggage and opened the 'Home' one. Inside was the stub of a pencil. Lydia looked around at their luggage and her cat.
"How are we going to hold our trunks and Xander and have a hand free each to touch the portkey?" she mused.
"Well, if I… No. If Xander sits on my head and we…" Freddie mumbled.
Xander sprang on top of Lydia's trunk, sat down, and stared at them, his head tilted.
Lydia grinned. "Clever old cat. We sit on our trunks. You have Xander on your knee. Here. Put your arm around him. Good. We hold hands and with my other hand I reach in and touch the pencil!"
They arranged themselves as she had described and she reached into the box. In a swirl of lights, a whoosh of sound, and a giddying whirl of motion they shot through the intervening miles, tumbling to the carpet in Lydia's bedroom. Xander stepped away from the students and leaped up on the bed, where he proceeded to smooth out his ruffled fur.
The door opened and a face appeared around it.
"Ah, I thought I heard the unmistakable sound of people, cats and luggage being scattered about the room and reasoned that it might be you, Lydia dear," said Uncle Ambrose by way of a greeting.
"Uncle! What are you doing here?" Lydia asked.
Ambrose addressed Freddie. "If I may introduce myself, as Lydia seems disinclined, I am Ambrose Ward – Lydia's uncle."
"Hello, sir," Freddie said, rising to shake Ambrose's hand. "I'm Freddie, Freddie Fortescue. Pleased to meet you."
Ambrose shook his hand. "You are Ferdinand's son, if I am not mistaken. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. How refreshing to meet a young person with good manners. I have spent too much time with Lydia and was of the impression that manners had been consigned to the wastebasket of history. I am cock-a-hoop to find this is not the case."
Freddie grinned at Lydia.
"As to why I am here," Ambrose continued. "Harry informed me he had sent you a portkey. I came to take Xander away from your mother's tender sinuses and to see my favourite niece. Well, I say 'favourite', top ten at least."
"I'm your only niece," Lydia pointed out.
"You were lucky to make the top ten," Ambrose insisted. "I have met many splendid nieces. None of them my own, admittedly."
Freddie laughed. "I see where you get it from, now, Lydia."
She shot him a furious look.
Ambrose stayed until the late afternoon, then departed with Xander. He had arranged a lift with a friend who was a painter and decorator. This friend lived near Ambrose but had been working in Lydia's town that day. To Lydia's annoyance, Ambrose and Freddie got along together well. She realised she should not have been surprised. Freddie got on with everybody and the things she found irritating about her uncle, most people seemed to find amusing in small doses. Though Draco, McGonagall, and Flitwick, all appeared to like him. Perhaps he goaded Lydia and her mum because they were family. She decided this must be the case.
On the Friday morning an owl arrived and tapped on the kitchen window with its beak until Freddie let it in. It had brought an envelope from Freddie's mum, Penny. It had a short note to Freddie saying they had received the owl from Ambrose, reminding Freddie to be helpful, and telling him to do his homework. There was a longer letter to Lydia's mum apologising for the imposition and thanking her for her generosity. Catherine wrote a reply while the owl was still there. It waited patiently on the windowsill and had a drink and some owl treats which Ambrose had left with Freddie. She assured Penny that it was no imposition and that Freddie was a lovely boy who was no trouble at all. Lydia wondered whether the owl would be back and forth all holiday with letters of apology and assurance between the two mothers. Freddie sent the owl, whose name was Iris, back home with the reply.
Lydia made Freddie do his homework over the first couple of days to "get it out of the way". Freddie complained but Lydia did hers and helped him with his, most of which was the same. He was glad when it was over.
"I suppose it's better than being shouted at all holidays and then screamed at for the last few days," he mused.
"I wouldn't know," Lydia countered righteously.
Freddie experienced watching the television. Unfortunately, the first programme he saw was The News. The talk of wars, terrorists, murders, and car crashes saddened him so much he vowed never to watch television again. Lydia could not blame him. Instead, they talked a lot. Freddie told Lydia and Catherine the stories he knew about the Wizarding War. He described how his uncle had opposed Voldemort and been killed by the Dark Lord. Catherine opened up about Lydia's father, "my Jimmy", and how he had gone missing around the same time. Lydia was surprised. It was unusual for her mum to talk about her dad. She felt grateful to Freddie when he asked what Jim was like and Lydia's mum told them, including a few things Lydia had never heard before. Jim possesses the same affinity with animals that her uncle has. He likes to play tennis in the summer and rugby in the winter. He swims like a fish – which is where Lydia got her talent for swimming. She always spoke of him in the present tense, as though she were reassuring herself that he was still alive, but missing. She seemed happy to talk about him, something Lydia had seldom known.
At bedtimes, Lydia and Freddie told each other the folk stories they had been brought up on. Each night they took it in turns to sit on each other's bed while the listener snuggled down under the covers. The storyteller would tell their story and then leave to go to their own room. The first time Lydia finished telling a story she thought about giving Freddie a goodnight kiss before she left. She decided against doing so as it might embarrass him. So, she wished him goodnight and left, wondering why her cheeks were burning.
Freddie turned out to be a wonderful storyteller. He put in lots of detail and made up funny voices for each different character. One night, Catherine put her head round the door and stood enthralled, unseen by Freddie as he told his tale. She winked at Lydia as the story was nearing its conclusion and slipped away before Freddie could see her.
Catherine took them on days out to the beach or to walk in the hills and woods. These were good times for Lydia. It was not until the night before they were due to return to school that she remembered the troubles she had been having there. She particularly remembered the distance growing between them and Teddy.
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