Disclaimer: Let's see..not mine though I wish they were. However,
everything that seems new and bizarre to you are creations of my own little
mind and I take all credit for them.
~*~
The walk from the Great Hall to Gryffindor tower was unlike the past walks the last four years. The mood had taken a sour nosedive after Malfoy had ushered the Slytherin first-years away from Senna and Ginny into the dungeons. The high energy giggling that had filled Senna at the banquet had stopped, Senna was now sullen and mute, not talking with anyone. Even Ginny's several attempts were cut short as they left the safety of her lips. So now the pair walked slowly up the many flights of stairs, ignoring the paintings and fellow students that passed them by.
At the second floor, Ginny spotted a Gryffindor prefect and asked for the password.
"Mellon," the girl answered, smiling briefly before rushing past to the open Charms door, there must have been a prefect meeting occurring. Ginny went back to Senna, who had perched her arms on the rails and stared gloomily down below.
Personally, Ginny didn't see the major problem with Kirisa being in Slytherin. Even though the house had a bad reputation, she knew a few decent Slytherins and she couldn't get why it came as a traumatic shock to Senna. She wisely kept her thoughts to herself as they continued upward, for not long after Senna broke into a long winded rant and fussed about everything from Muggle hatred of Wizard-kind to the nasty pranks her sister was going to be subjected to.
"We're a proud wizarding family and we've never had anyone placed into Slytherin. She's a disgrace to our name.I can't believe she'd do that!"
"It wasn't her fault, the hat places us where it sees fit." Ginny reasoned. "She's not a disgrace-"
"Easy for you to say, your sibling did not just ruin your family name! For the past sixteen generations my family has been in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, the two finest houses that Hogwarts has to offer and now Kirisa goes and does this!" Senna spat, pushing past Ginny and stomping upstairs. "I need to tell Mother."
Ginny was left standing there, her arms at her side, and her face tilted upwards in the well known 'why me' expression. She stood like that for a good two minutes, not moving for anyone until she decided that it was time to get to the common room and to bed. "It's only a house."
Upstairs, she smiled in passing at the Fat Lady before speaking the password. Stepping inside the Gryffindor common room, she felt as if she was returning to a second home, the fireplace with the half dozen bodies squished around it in the few armchairs, and the three or four people hanging in the lounge couches by the window gave her a sudden sense of serenity and happiness, causing her to momentarily forget Senna's outburst on the Grand Staircase a few minutes back.
"Ginny!" a heart-stopping voice called from behind her and she did a sudden primping of her hair, flattening and smoothing out the strands to make sure they were just perfect when she turned around, a small blush hinting at her cheeks. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure Harry, um, how was summer?"
Harry Potter slowed as he neared her and shook his head with a wry smile. "The same as every summer since I came back from Hogwarts. The Dursleys' hate me and I hate them, nothing else has changed..well, Dudley did lose some weight," he trailed off with a laugh, and then sobered. "What I wanted to ask you was if Senna was all right?"
Oh, that figures, Senna gets the male attention. I had forgotten about that, Ginny hissed mentally, trying not to show any outward signs of displeasure. "I think she's upset about her sister's house placement."
"Oh, Kirisa being put into Slytherin? Yeah, that would kill her. I remember last year she went on and on about her family's legacy here." folding his arms and shifting his weight to one foot, he drifted back into a memory that Ginny was not privy too before shaking it off and throwing her another dazzling smile. "Well, if she needs anything, just tell her I'm here, okay?"
"Sure Harry," Ginny mumbled, watching him leave to join up with Hermione and Ron who had just got inside the portrait hole. "By the way, my summer wasn't all too bad. I got my first broomstick as an early birthday present, a Nimbus 2000, Dad got it for me after getting his promotion. Let's see, what else? I dreamt about you half the time, I wrote you a couple letters as well, did you get them I--"
"What on Earth are you rambling about?" a hand fell onto her shoulder as weight shifted from the last stair step and onto the floor beside Ginny. She didn't turn as Senna wrapped the arm around her and led her over to fall onto a couch, scooting over to still let Neville Longbottom read his magazine. "Hey Neville,"
"Hello Senna, hello Ginny," the friendliness of his smile drew Ginny out of the anger well she had fallen into and she turned to Senna calmly, her eyes carefully concealed by a curtain of burnished hair, lit from the side by the crackling fire, giving golden highlights to hair that was already the shade of the sunset. Inside, her mind twisted and churned over the idea that Senna had done one of the most unspeakable acts that a best friend could ever do: she might have stolen the guy of Ginny's dreams right out from under her nose!
"What?" Senna asked, her words just as calm as Ginny knew she seemed. "Is there something on my face?" "No, Senna, it's just--"
"Senna! There you are, I was worried when you stormed in here earlier." Harry beamed and leaned over the back of the couch, curling an arm around Senna's shoulder and tilting her head back to land a kiss on her nose. "Everything all right?"
"Everything's fine, I was just, uh, flustered at my sis's house."
"Slytherin right? That's too bad, she seemed like a Ravenclaw when I came over in August."
Ginny's eyes had widened when Harry came over but now her jaw dropped and the defenses that shielded her feelings crashed down alongside it. "He stayed over?!"
Senna nodded, looking at Harry and then turned to her, "Well, yeah, the week after you.left." the look in Ginny's eyes had just clicked as she shook off Harry's arm and reached to grab Ginny's hand. "Ginny."
"What?" she snapped, tearing her hand away and standing up, knocking into Neville. "sorry Neville."
"It's okay."
"Ginny, wait, okay?"
"No," she backed up around the couch and then shuffled to the staircase, reaching out to the arch frame for support as she sent one last glare at Senna and Harry before running up the circular stairs and slamming the door of her dorm.
Harry slowly tore his gaze away from the now empty staircase and to Senna, who was chewing her bottom lip nervously, her face whiter than normal. "What did I do?"
"It's not what you did, excuse me. Ginny!" she cried, leaping up and on the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Harry then turned to Neville, who was glaring at him the exact same way Ginny had and he threw up his arms in exasperation and shot the glare back. "What did I do?!"
Neville sniffed highly and marked his book, standing up and tossing the novel onto the side table. "For having the reputation of being such a nice guy Harry, you can be such a jackass at times." he then spun on his heel and marched up the stairs. Harry followed his leaving with his eyes and then turned around himself, face to face with Ron and Hermione. Thankfully neither were glaring, Ron had a look of bewilderment that most likely matched Harry's own and the judgmental look Hermione was giving him sent him back to the day when Professor McGonagall had stared him and Ron down as they tried to explain why a car had crashed into the Whomping Willow.
"What did he mean?"
"Boys!" Hermione scoffed, walking up and pushing a finger into Harry's chest. "Ginny Weasley has been in love with you *ever since* you saved her life her first year. You just shattered all her dreams and ripped apart her heart by watching you kiss her, let's see, 'best friend' right in front of her," she paused and then sighed sadly. "Could you be any more blunt?" she stepped back and then walked past, following Senna and Ginny.
Harry then looked back to Ron. "Did you know?"
"Well, I knew she had a crush on you, sure, but that she loved you?" Ron shrugged, "Nah. Besides, I kind of always tune her out when she launches into one of her speeches about you and your virtues." he stopped and then gestured to the stairs, "e need to get ready for bed, come on Harry. You can worry about her tomorrow, it's no big deal."
"Yeah, you're right." but as Harry passed the fifth year girl's dorms, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
~*~
"You didn't have to walk me, I do know the way to the Staff Commons, Mother."
"Yes, well, having not spoken to or seen you in over twenty years, I'm enjoying this time." McGonagall retorted primly, her arm tucked in Aithra's arm. She rounded the corner and smiled pleasantly at Flitwick, who was making his patrols for the night.
"Hello Minerva, hello Aithra."
"Good Evening Filius,"
"Hello Professor." Aithra nodded politely.
"Filius, please, you're one of us now!"
"May the Gods have mercy on us," McGonagall chuckled and patted her daughters arm.
"Um, sure Professor. I'll think of that."
"Still the innocent Head Girl I remember, I see. Very well, take care ladies!" he waved and then scurried off, humming a tune. Aithra watched him go, a quirk of amusement passing over her lips.
McGonagall also saw off his leaving, a raised eyebrow was her expression in lieu of amusement. "Innocent? I wonder who he's talking about."
"And I love you too Mother," Aithra tugged and the two continue walking, falling into chatter about old times and memories.
Reaching the staff common room, McGonagall showed the younger Professor her second balcony room and as Aithra checked out the back two rooms, she slid into a red armchair and waited for her daughter to return. The room was like all the other Professor's, a large sitting room with a well-sized fireplace and a message mirror hanging on the far wall, near the balcony leading off the South Tower where she knew a pair of sitting chairs and hanging ivy awaited the owner. To her right was a small storage space and where Aithra had wandered off to was the hallway leading to the bathroom and bedroom.
She didn't see Aithra return so the hand falling onto her shoulder came as a small shock before Aithra dipped her head down into view over the chair. "Reminds me of your room, just smaller."
"Well, I am the Deputy Headmistress."
"And Dumbledore is the headmaster and the Gods knows he lavishes on the women in his life."
"Aithra.your father isn't--"
"I know. I'm sorry, it's just that." she trailed off, kneeling by the armchair and rolling her neck side to side, relieving tension that had built up. "I'm sorry."
"As you should be. And speaking of your father," McGonagall's gaze flew from her daughters downcast face to the rising full moon, wincing as she pictured Remus Lupin, not far into the Dark Forest howling in pain as the curse of the Werewolf overtook him. She could even imagine the expression that would blossom onto his features as the transformation commenced. She quickly drew her mind away from that trail and mentally composed herself. "There must be another reason why Albus sent you here. There were at least four other candidates applying for your position and you held a board seat and a well paying job down in Greece."
"Can't I move closer back to my family?"
"Aithra, I'm going to bring up that I did not even know you were *married* until a few months after the wedding, and that was by reading a foreign newspaper." her point made, she folded her arms and stared down at her child like she would at a misbehaving third year.
"We eloped. It's hard to send out owls when he's asking you to marry him one minute and two hours later you're standing before Aphrodite and Eros and being blessed with happiness and eternal love!" she stood up again and turned the glare back on McGonagall. "I didn't even have time to realize that I was engaged!"
"Don't get scrappy with me young lady."
"I am not getting 'scrappy', I'm just tired of you questioning every single thing I do and I'm sick of it. So what if Daddy wanted me back here? At least he wrote to me, unlike my darling mother. How can you expect me to even think of writing when I believe you haven't gotten off your High Horse about me not complying with everything you want me to do. For the Gods sake, I am not that little eight year old girl anymore, Mother! You do not control my life."
McGonagall's eyes flashed from their normal stormy gray to a dark black and back again as she quietly moved out of the armchair and towards the door, opening it with a flick of her wand. "When you.and I have calmed down, we'll take another try at this conversation, all right?" without waiting for an answer, she left, closing the door softly but firmly enough to knock a stab of hurt into Aithra.
"Sure, run away like every single time," she grumbled resentfully, stalking over to the mirror and peering into its depths. "Daddy, please."
The shades of gray and white swirled around, gaining color and life until it was a face that stared back at her, a face with twinkling blue eyes and long silver hair. Behind him, his office blurred and came into focus with her just being able to see Fawkes pecking at the Sorting Hat who made rude comments in return.
"Aithra, what can I do for you?"
"She wants to know why I'm here. What should I say?"
Albus Dumbledore smiled parentally at his only daughter and shrugged his shoulders slowly. "I can't tell you what you can and cannot say, I haven't been able to have that ability since the time you said your first word "Quidditch""
"Yes, but do I tell you *why* I'm here. You and the Officials at my board said that the fewer the people who know, the better the assuredness of the Runes' location are. All we need is for something to slip to Voldemort and we're all dead."
"Your mother will not let anything you say get to Voldemort."
"I know that, but still." she took a breath and a step away from the mirror, trying to find ways to word her chaotic thoughts. "Do I? Those runes corrupted Merlin, bringing on the downfall of Wizard Kind, they corrupted the Chameleon Lord of 956 a.d, they destroyed Salazar Slytherin and--"
"They will be found and properly contained for their powers," a knock on a door suddenly echoed through Dumbledore's office and he turned, giving the person a affectionate smile before turning back to Aithra. "Will we be able to continue this conversation some other time? Your Mother's here and by the looks of it, she's about as cheerful as you feel."
"Oh, well, I'll talk with you later. Good night, Daddy."
~*~*~
~*~
The walk from the Great Hall to Gryffindor tower was unlike the past walks the last four years. The mood had taken a sour nosedive after Malfoy had ushered the Slytherin first-years away from Senna and Ginny into the dungeons. The high energy giggling that had filled Senna at the banquet had stopped, Senna was now sullen and mute, not talking with anyone. Even Ginny's several attempts were cut short as they left the safety of her lips. So now the pair walked slowly up the many flights of stairs, ignoring the paintings and fellow students that passed them by.
At the second floor, Ginny spotted a Gryffindor prefect and asked for the password.
"Mellon," the girl answered, smiling briefly before rushing past to the open Charms door, there must have been a prefect meeting occurring. Ginny went back to Senna, who had perched her arms on the rails and stared gloomily down below.
Personally, Ginny didn't see the major problem with Kirisa being in Slytherin. Even though the house had a bad reputation, she knew a few decent Slytherins and she couldn't get why it came as a traumatic shock to Senna. She wisely kept her thoughts to herself as they continued upward, for not long after Senna broke into a long winded rant and fussed about everything from Muggle hatred of Wizard-kind to the nasty pranks her sister was going to be subjected to.
"We're a proud wizarding family and we've never had anyone placed into Slytherin. She's a disgrace to our name.I can't believe she'd do that!"
"It wasn't her fault, the hat places us where it sees fit." Ginny reasoned. "She's not a disgrace-"
"Easy for you to say, your sibling did not just ruin your family name! For the past sixteen generations my family has been in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, the two finest houses that Hogwarts has to offer and now Kirisa goes and does this!" Senna spat, pushing past Ginny and stomping upstairs. "I need to tell Mother."
Ginny was left standing there, her arms at her side, and her face tilted upwards in the well known 'why me' expression. She stood like that for a good two minutes, not moving for anyone until she decided that it was time to get to the common room and to bed. "It's only a house."
Upstairs, she smiled in passing at the Fat Lady before speaking the password. Stepping inside the Gryffindor common room, she felt as if she was returning to a second home, the fireplace with the half dozen bodies squished around it in the few armchairs, and the three or four people hanging in the lounge couches by the window gave her a sudden sense of serenity and happiness, causing her to momentarily forget Senna's outburst on the Grand Staircase a few minutes back.
"Ginny!" a heart-stopping voice called from behind her and she did a sudden primping of her hair, flattening and smoothing out the strands to make sure they were just perfect when she turned around, a small blush hinting at her cheeks. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure Harry, um, how was summer?"
Harry Potter slowed as he neared her and shook his head with a wry smile. "The same as every summer since I came back from Hogwarts. The Dursleys' hate me and I hate them, nothing else has changed..well, Dudley did lose some weight," he trailed off with a laugh, and then sobered. "What I wanted to ask you was if Senna was all right?"
Oh, that figures, Senna gets the male attention. I had forgotten about that, Ginny hissed mentally, trying not to show any outward signs of displeasure. "I think she's upset about her sister's house placement."
"Oh, Kirisa being put into Slytherin? Yeah, that would kill her. I remember last year she went on and on about her family's legacy here." folding his arms and shifting his weight to one foot, he drifted back into a memory that Ginny was not privy too before shaking it off and throwing her another dazzling smile. "Well, if she needs anything, just tell her I'm here, okay?"
"Sure Harry," Ginny mumbled, watching him leave to join up with Hermione and Ron who had just got inside the portrait hole. "By the way, my summer wasn't all too bad. I got my first broomstick as an early birthday present, a Nimbus 2000, Dad got it for me after getting his promotion. Let's see, what else? I dreamt about you half the time, I wrote you a couple letters as well, did you get them I--"
"What on Earth are you rambling about?" a hand fell onto her shoulder as weight shifted from the last stair step and onto the floor beside Ginny. She didn't turn as Senna wrapped the arm around her and led her over to fall onto a couch, scooting over to still let Neville Longbottom read his magazine. "Hey Neville,"
"Hello Senna, hello Ginny," the friendliness of his smile drew Ginny out of the anger well she had fallen into and she turned to Senna calmly, her eyes carefully concealed by a curtain of burnished hair, lit from the side by the crackling fire, giving golden highlights to hair that was already the shade of the sunset. Inside, her mind twisted and churned over the idea that Senna had done one of the most unspeakable acts that a best friend could ever do: she might have stolen the guy of Ginny's dreams right out from under her nose!
"What?" Senna asked, her words just as calm as Ginny knew she seemed. "Is there something on my face?" "No, Senna, it's just--"
"Senna! There you are, I was worried when you stormed in here earlier." Harry beamed and leaned over the back of the couch, curling an arm around Senna's shoulder and tilting her head back to land a kiss on her nose. "Everything all right?"
"Everything's fine, I was just, uh, flustered at my sis's house."
"Slytherin right? That's too bad, she seemed like a Ravenclaw when I came over in August."
Ginny's eyes had widened when Harry came over but now her jaw dropped and the defenses that shielded her feelings crashed down alongside it. "He stayed over?!"
Senna nodded, looking at Harry and then turned to her, "Well, yeah, the week after you.left." the look in Ginny's eyes had just clicked as she shook off Harry's arm and reached to grab Ginny's hand. "Ginny."
"What?" she snapped, tearing her hand away and standing up, knocking into Neville. "sorry Neville."
"It's okay."
"Ginny, wait, okay?"
"No," she backed up around the couch and then shuffled to the staircase, reaching out to the arch frame for support as she sent one last glare at Senna and Harry before running up the circular stairs and slamming the door of her dorm.
Harry slowly tore his gaze away from the now empty staircase and to Senna, who was chewing her bottom lip nervously, her face whiter than normal. "What did I do?"
"It's not what you did, excuse me. Ginny!" she cried, leaping up and on the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Harry then turned to Neville, who was glaring at him the exact same way Ginny had and he threw up his arms in exasperation and shot the glare back. "What did I do?!"
Neville sniffed highly and marked his book, standing up and tossing the novel onto the side table. "For having the reputation of being such a nice guy Harry, you can be such a jackass at times." he then spun on his heel and marched up the stairs. Harry followed his leaving with his eyes and then turned around himself, face to face with Ron and Hermione. Thankfully neither were glaring, Ron had a look of bewilderment that most likely matched Harry's own and the judgmental look Hermione was giving him sent him back to the day when Professor McGonagall had stared him and Ron down as they tried to explain why a car had crashed into the Whomping Willow.
"What did he mean?"
"Boys!" Hermione scoffed, walking up and pushing a finger into Harry's chest. "Ginny Weasley has been in love with you *ever since* you saved her life her first year. You just shattered all her dreams and ripped apart her heart by watching you kiss her, let's see, 'best friend' right in front of her," she paused and then sighed sadly. "Could you be any more blunt?" she stepped back and then walked past, following Senna and Ginny.
Harry then looked back to Ron. "Did you know?"
"Well, I knew she had a crush on you, sure, but that she loved you?" Ron shrugged, "Nah. Besides, I kind of always tune her out when she launches into one of her speeches about you and your virtues." he stopped and then gestured to the stairs, "e need to get ready for bed, come on Harry. You can worry about her tomorrow, it's no big deal."
"Yeah, you're right." but as Harry passed the fifth year girl's dorms, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
~*~
"You didn't have to walk me, I do know the way to the Staff Commons, Mother."
"Yes, well, having not spoken to or seen you in over twenty years, I'm enjoying this time." McGonagall retorted primly, her arm tucked in Aithra's arm. She rounded the corner and smiled pleasantly at Flitwick, who was making his patrols for the night.
"Hello Minerva, hello Aithra."
"Good Evening Filius,"
"Hello Professor." Aithra nodded politely.
"Filius, please, you're one of us now!"
"May the Gods have mercy on us," McGonagall chuckled and patted her daughters arm.
"Um, sure Professor. I'll think of that."
"Still the innocent Head Girl I remember, I see. Very well, take care ladies!" he waved and then scurried off, humming a tune. Aithra watched him go, a quirk of amusement passing over her lips.
McGonagall also saw off his leaving, a raised eyebrow was her expression in lieu of amusement. "Innocent? I wonder who he's talking about."
"And I love you too Mother," Aithra tugged and the two continue walking, falling into chatter about old times and memories.
Reaching the staff common room, McGonagall showed the younger Professor her second balcony room and as Aithra checked out the back two rooms, she slid into a red armchair and waited for her daughter to return. The room was like all the other Professor's, a large sitting room with a well-sized fireplace and a message mirror hanging on the far wall, near the balcony leading off the South Tower where she knew a pair of sitting chairs and hanging ivy awaited the owner. To her right was a small storage space and where Aithra had wandered off to was the hallway leading to the bathroom and bedroom.
She didn't see Aithra return so the hand falling onto her shoulder came as a small shock before Aithra dipped her head down into view over the chair. "Reminds me of your room, just smaller."
"Well, I am the Deputy Headmistress."
"And Dumbledore is the headmaster and the Gods knows he lavishes on the women in his life."
"Aithra.your father isn't--"
"I know. I'm sorry, it's just that." she trailed off, kneeling by the armchair and rolling her neck side to side, relieving tension that had built up. "I'm sorry."
"As you should be. And speaking of your father," McGonagall's gaze flew from her daughters downcast face to the rising full moon, wincing as she pictured Remus Lupin, not far into the Dark Forest howling in pain as the curse of the Werewolf overtook him. She could even imagine the expression that would blossom onto his features as the transformation commenced. She quickly drew her mind away from that trail and mentally composed herself. "There must be another reason why Albus sent you here. There were at least four other candidates applying for your position and you held a board seat and a well paying job down in Greece."
"Can't I move closer back to my family?"
"Aithra, I'm going to bring up that I did not even know you were *married* until a few months after the wedding, and that was by reading a foreign newspaper." her point made, she folded her arms and stared down at her child like she would at a misbehaving third year.
"We eloped. It's hard to send out owls when he's asking you to marry him one minute and two hours later you're standing before Aphrodite and Eros and being blessed with happiness and eternal love!" she stood up again and turned the glare back on McGonagall. "I didn't even have time to realize that I was engaged!"
"Don't get scrappy with me young lady."
"I am not getting 'scrappy', I'm just tired of you questioning every single thing I do and I'm sick of it. So what if Daddy wanted me back here? At least he wrote to me, unlike my darling mother. How can you expect me to even think of writing when I believe you haven't gotten off your High Horse about me not complying with everything you want me to do. For the Gods sake, I am not that little eight year old girl anymore, Mother! You do not control my life."
McGonagall's eyes flashed from their normal stormy gray to a dark black and back again as she quietly moved out of the armchair and towards the door, opening it with a flick of her wand. "When you.and I have calmed down, we'll take another try at this conversation, all right?" without waiting for an answer, she left, closing the door softly but firmly enough to knock a stab of hurt into Aithra.
"Sure, run away like every single time," she grumbled resentfully, stalking over to the mirror and peering into its depths. "Daddy, please."
The shades of gray and white swirled around, gaining color and life until it was a face that stared back at her, a face with twinkling blue eyes and long silver hair. Behind him, his office blurred and came into focus with her just being able to see Fawkes pecking at the Sorting Hat who made rude comments in return.
"Aithra, what can I do for you?"
"She wants to know why I'm here. What should I say?"
Albus Dumbledore smiled parentally at his only daughter and shrugged his shoulders slowly. "I can't tell you what you can and cannot say, I haven't been able to have that ability since the time you said your first word "Quidditch""
"Yes, but do I tell you *why* I'm here. You and the Officials at my board said that the fewer the people who know, the better the assuredness of the Runes' location are. All we need is for something to slip to Voldemort and we're all dead."
"Your mother will not let anything you say get to Voldemort."
"I know that, but still." she took a breath and a step away from the mirror, trying to find ways to word her chaotic thoughts. "Do I? Those runes corrupted Merlin, bringing on the downfall of Wizard Kind, they corrupted the Chameleon Lord of 956 a.d, they destroyed Salazar Slytherin and--"
"They will be found and properly contained for their powers," a knock on a door suddenly echoed through Dumbledore's office and he turned, giving the person a affectionate smile before turning back to Aithra. "Will we be able to continue this conversation some other time? Your Mother's here and by the looks of it, she's about as cheerful as you feel."
"Oh, well, I'll talk with you later. Good night, Daddy."
~*~*~