A/N: OK, I'm gonna try to be more responsible about updating, but what with all the work I get, I'm afraid I can't promise anything. But I promise I will try!
Disclaimer: I put 'the rights to Harry Potter' on my Christmas list, but it didn't come true. **Bursts into tears**
Dedication: All my reviewers for putting up with me!
Harry Potter and the Crystal of Dreams.
When Harry came round, it took him a while to realise where he was. He tried to sit up and found he was in a bed in the hospital wing. His body felt heavy and just wanted to sink back and go to sleep again, and he suspected that he'd been given some sort of potion to induce sleep.
Then, as everything began to get clearer to him, he realised that there were two very familiar voices talking outside the area sectioned off by the curtains around his bed.
"I'm sorry, but you can't." That was Madam Pomfrey. "Mr. Potter is asleep at the moment. He needs rest."
"Well, with whatever you've drugged him up with, I doubt I'll disturb him. Please! Just five minutes!"
Madam Pomfrey hesitated, then sighed irritably. "Oh, very well! But only five minutes!"
"Thanks!" There were footsteps approaching his bed, and then the curtains drew back. Chloe started when she saw him sitting up and watching her.
"I didn't think you'd...never mind." She moved over and took a seat next to his bed, clasping her hands in her lap. "How are you?"
He studied her face. It was pale and drawn in worry, blue eyes tired. "I...don't know. Tired."
Chloe nodded. "But you're not hurt? You're not in pain?"
"No." Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Where's Shannon?"
"Asleep, I think." Quickly, she put a hand on his shoulder to stop him as he tried to get up. "No, just leave it be. I should think she needs rest, after what's happened." She clutched her hands together again, this time leaning on the mattress. Voice lower, she added, "Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"How...how did you know what's happened?"
"Dumbledore owled me as soon as he found out. I was only in Hogsmeade, so it didn't take long at all. As for how he knew...well, it's pretty obvious that you've had a run-in with something. You-Know-Who being the most obvious choice."
There was a silence. Chloe lowered her eyes to her hands and gave a small, humourless laugh. "I'm sorry, Harry."
"Sorry?" Harry was surprised by this. "Why?"
She looked up, eyes oddly emotional. "Sorry I'm a useless godmother."
"You're not a-" Harry blinked when what she'd said hit him fully. "Godmother?"
She nodded and smiled in a slightly bitter way. "Yeah. I don't do a very good job, huh?"
"You do! I just...I didn't know I HAD a godmother."
"Oh yeah." She cast her gaze around before finally settling on Harry's eyes. "You see, your parents knew how dangerous the position that their work put them in was. Obviously, being an Auror is always dangerous, but they were two of the very best in a very dark time, so it was even worse.
"When you were born, they decided that Sirius and I should be your godparents. The idea was that we'd be the ones to look after you should anything happen to them.
"Well." She paused and snorted. "We both know what happened next." She swallowed hard. "W-when your parents d-died, Sirius was the second to arrive on the scene. He realised what had happened. How that...that..." Chloe's anger was growing just at the thought of Peter Pettigrew, and she used some words that Harry was sure he'd never heard before. "Had betrayed all of us and framed him. The next morning, he was taken to Azkaban." She choked slightly, trying not to cry. Instinctively, Harry reached out to squeeze her hand, which comforted her a bit. Enough to carry on.
"Harry, I tried to get custody of you, I swear I did. I knew what Petunia was like. I knew how she treated Lily- her own sister! But...they wouldn't let me. See, Sirius and I, we were going to get married. After he...well, people thought I was involved. Give the Boy Who Lived to the girlfriend of the man who betrayed the Boy's parents? You can see how it looked."
Harry squeezed her hand in again sympathetically. "But it's not your fault Chloe. You tried, but it's not your fault. There's only one person to blame here, and that's Wormtail."
Chloe sniffed and nodded gratefully. "Thank you Harry. That means a lot to hear you say that."
There was a pause before she continued. "I daresay that Dumbledore will want to talk to you in the morning. I'd better leave soon, let you get some rest. Hey, Harry?"
"Yeah?" He raised his eyebrows.
"This summer...you will write to me, won't you? If you want to, that is. I'll come say hi to Petunia again."
He grinned. "Of course I will. I'm sure she'd be glad to see you again."
Chloe smiled as well. "I'm not so sure." They both laughed.
Madam Pomfrey popped her head around the curtain at that moment, frowning in exasperation. "Miss Taylor, you've been here for much more than five minutes now! Mr. Potter needs rest! I must ask you to leave."
Chloe stood up with another nod. "OK." She glanced down at Harry. "If I don't see you before the holidays...stay safe, OK?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. See you later Chloe."
"Bye." With a small wave, she followed Madam Pomfrey through the curtains. As she disappeared, Harry sank back onto the pillow and into a deep sleep.
*****
Harry awoke again a few hours later, again to the sound of voices immersed in discussion. However, there were more of these and none of them were Madam Pomfrey or Chloe. Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes and lay there listening as Dumbledore's voice became clearer to him.
"...should be better in a few days. Madam Pomfrey is an excellent nurse and she has done a good job."
"But there's more issues at hand here." That was a man's voice, heavily Irish. Harry blinked. It sounded like Shannon's dad. "What I want to know is why this was allowed to happen at all."
"It doesn't hurt, Dad." Harry recognised Shannon immediately, although she sounded a bit meeker than usual.
"Poor Shanny." Those words sounded as though they came from a tired Hannah. "Poor Shanny."
"That's not the point, Shannon." Mr. Parks said. "The point is that this should not have been allowed to happen."
"This was not 'allowed', Joe," Dumbledore said. "Far from it. As we speak, the Forbidden Forest is being scoured by the few Ministry officials who will disobey Cornelius Fudge to agree that anything extraordinary is occurring, but I severely doubt that anything will be found. Voldemort will have disbanded his followers and vanished as quickly as possible to some other location."
"My daughter is lying there injured! Are you telling me that nothing can be done?"
"Dad!" Shannon cut in. "It's nobody's fault but mine that I went out alone! My foot doesn't even hurt, and Madam Pomfrey really helped and...Dad, if you're looking for someone to blame, it'd have to be me."
Dumbledore spoke. "This was nobody's fault."
"Look." Mr. Parks sounded slightly calmer, but also firmer. "If something like this can happen here, then I'm not sure I want Shannon continuing her education here."
Harry sat up sharply at this, feeling around for his glasses on the bedside table. It took him a few seconds to find them, put them on and to push back the covers of the bed. He swung himself up and found a crack in the curtains between the beds to watch through. Shannon was propped up on her bed, looking absolutely horrified, with Hannah curled up next to her, half-asleep. Dumbledore, Mr. Parks and Julianna were standing around the bedside.
"What?" Shannon yelled. "Dad!"
Mr. Parks looked at her. "Shannon, it'd only mean moving back to Italy. You could go back to Carnia Academy."
"You can't keep doing this!" Shannon snapped. "I've only just gotten settled in here! You can't keep moving me around!"
"Joe, I think you should listen to Shannon." Julianna said. "I think the choice should be up to her."
"If Hogwarts isn't safe, Julianna, then nowhere is." Mr. Parks said, in a tone that made it clear he thought the matter was pretty much closed.
Dumbledore looked graver than ever at these words. "If nowhere is safe, then what makes you think that Italy will be any safer? Once Lord Voldemort has gotten control of England, then what's to stop him expanding to Europe? America? That is why we stay here and fight, to make sure that he never has the chance."
Mr. Parks ran a hand through his hair, at that moment looking confused and tired at the same moment. "I don't mind staying here and continuing with my work against You-Know-Who- I WANT to. But I also want my wife and children to be safe. They could go back and-"
"I'm not going!" Shannon argued loudly. "I don't care what you do, but I'm not! And what about Hannah? Did you ever even think about her? She's loving it there at her school, she's made so many friends...and you want to take that away from her?"
"No! I just want what's best for you. Both of you..."
Dumbledore lay a hand on Mr. Parks's shoulder. "I think that it is time we left Shannon to get some sleep. The little one is nearly there anyway."
Shannon helped to bundle the dozing Hannah, who was now sucking her thumb, into Julianna's arms. Julianna followed Dumbledore out, leaving Mr. Parks to look once more at his daughter with a type of deep sadness in his eyes. Shannon narrowed her own to glare at him.
"I'm not leaving Hogwarts, Dad," she repeated. "No matter what you say."
He sighed heavily. "Good night Shannon. Please get better soon."
Harry moved back from the curtain, sitting back on his own bed, wondering if Shannon's father really meant what he had said.
*****
You like? That's great, really it is. Review please!
Disclaimer: I put 'the rights to Harry Potter' on my Christmas list, but it didn't come true. **Bursts into tears**
Dedication: All my reviewers for putting up with me!
Harry Potter and the Crystal of Dreams.
When Harry came round, it took him a while to realise where he was. He tried to sit up and found he was in a bed in the hospital wing. His body felt heavy and just wanted to sink back and go to sleep again, and he suspected that he'd been given some sort of potion to induce sleep.
Then, as everything began to get clearer to him, he realised that there were two very familiar voices talking outside the area sectioned off by the curtains around his bed.
"I'm sorry, but you can't." That was Madam Pomfrey. "Mr. Potter is asleep at the moment. He needs rest."
"Well, with whatever you've drugged him up with, I doubt I'll disturb him. Please! Just five minutes!"
Madam Pomfrey hesitated, then sighed irritably. "Oh, very well! But only five minutes!"
"Thanks!" There were footsteps approaching his bed, and then the curtains drew back. Chloe started when she saw him sitting up and watching her.
"I didn't think you'd...never mind." She moved over and took a seat next to his bed, clasping her hands in her lap. "How are you?"
He studied her face. It was pale and drawn in worry, blue eyes tired. "I...don't know. Tired."
Chloe nodded. "But you're not hurt? You're not in pain?"
"No." Suddenly, a thought struck him. "Where's Shannon?"
"Asleep, I think." Quickly, she put a hand on his shoulder to stop him as he tried to get up. "No, just leave it be. I should think she needs rest, after what's happened." She clutched her hands together again, this time leaning on the mattress. Voice lower, she added, "Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"How...how did you know what's happened?"
"Dumbledore owled me as soon as he found out. I was only in Hogsmeade, so it didn't take long at all. As for how he knew...well, it's pretty obvious that you've had a run-in with something. You-Know-Who being the most obvious choice."
There was a silence. Chloe lowered her eyes to her hands and gave a small, humourless laugh. "I'm sorry, Harry."
"Sorry?" Harry was surprised by this. "Why?"
She looked up, eyes oddly emotional. "Sorry I'm a useless godmother."
"You're not a-" Harry blinked when what she'd said hit him fully. "Godmother?"
She nodded and smiled in a slightly bitter way. "Yeah. I don't do a very good job, huh?"
"You do! I just...I didn't know I HAD a godmother."
"Oh yeah." She cast her gaze around before finally settling on Harry's eyes. "You see, your parents knew how dangerous the position that their work put them in was. Obviously, being an Auror is always dangerous, but they were two of the very best in a very dark time, so it was even worse.
"When you were born, they decided that Sirius and I should be your godparents. The idea was that we'd be the ones to look after you should anything happen to them.
"Well." She paused and snorted. "We both know what happened next." She swallowed hard. "W-when your parents d-died, Sirius was the second to arrive on the scene. He realised what had happened. How that...that..." Chloe's anger was growing just at the thought of Peter Pettigrew, and she used some words that Harry was sure he'd never heard before. "Had betrayed all of us and framed him. The next morning, he was taken to Azkaban." She choked slightly, trying not to cry. Instinctively, Harry reached out to squeeze her hand, which comforted her a bit. Enough to carry on.
"Harry, I tried to get custody of you, I swear I did. I knew what Petunia was like. I knew how she treated Lily- her own sister! But...they wouldn't let me. See, Sirius and I, we were going to get married. After he...well, people thought I was involved. Give the Boy Who Lived to the girlfriend of the man who betrayed the Boy's parents? You can see how it looked."
Harry squeezed her hand in again sympathetically. "But it's not your fault Chloe. You tried, but it's not your fault. There's only one person to blame here, and that's Wormtail."
Chloe sniffed and nodded gratefully. "Thank you Harry. That means a lot to hear you say that."
There was a pause before she continued. "I daresay that Dumbledore will want to talk to you in the morning. I'd better leave soon, let you get some rest. Hey, Harry?"
"Yeah?" He raised his eyebrows.
"This summer...you will write to me, won't you? If you want to, that is. I'll come say hi to Petunia again."
He grinned. "Of course I will. I'm sure she'd be glad to see you again."
Chloe smiled as well. "I'm not so sure." They both laughed.
Madam Pomfrey popped her head around the curtain at that moment, frowning in exasperation. "Miss Taylor, you've been here for much more than five minutes now! Mr. Potter needs rest! I must ask you to leave."
Chloe stood up with another nod. "OK." She glanced down at Harry. "If I don't see you before the holidays...stay safe, OK?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. See you later Chloe."
"Bye." With a small wave, she followed Madam Pomfrey through the curtains. As she disappeared, Harry sank back onto the pillow and into a deep sleep.
*****
Harry awoke again a few hours later, again to the sound of voices immersed in discussion. However, there were more of these and none of them were Madam Pomfrey or Chloe. Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes and lay there listening as Dumbledore's voice became clearer to him.
"...should be better in a few days. Madam Pomfrey is an excellent nurse and she has done a good job."
"But there's more issues at hand here." That was a man's voice, heavily Irish. Harry blinked. It sounded like Shannon's dad. "What I want to know is why this was allowed to happen at all."
"It doesn't hurt, Dad." Harry recognised Shannon immediately, although she sounded a bit meeker than usual.
"Poor Shanny." Those words sounded as though they came from a tired Hannah. "Poor Shanny."
"That's not the point, Shannon." Mr. Parks said. "The point is that this should not have been allowed to happen."
"This was not 'allowed', Joe," Dumbledore said. "Far from it. As we speak, the Forbidden Forest is being scoured by the few Ministry officials who will disobey Cornelius Fudge to agree that anything extraordinary is occurring, but I severely doubt that anything will be found. Voldemort will have disbanded his followers and vanished as quickly as possible to some other location."
"My daughter is lying there injured! Are you telling me that nothing can be done?"
"Dad!" Shannon cut in. "It's nobody's fault but mine that I went out alone! My foot doesn't even hurt, and Madam Pomfrey really helped and...Dad, if you're looking for someone to blame, it'd have to be me."
Dumbledore spoke. "This was nobody's fault."
"Look." Mr. Parks sounded slightly calmer, but also firmer. "If something like this can happen here, then I'm not sure I want Shannon continuing her education here."
Harry sat up sharply at this, feeling around for his glasses on the bedside table. It took him a few seconds to find them, put them on and to push back the covers of the bed. He swung himself up and found a crack in the curtains between the beds to watch through. Shannon was propped up on her bed, looking absolutely horrified, with Hannah curled up next to her, half-asleep. Dumbledore, Mr. Parks and Julianna were standing around the bedside.
"What?" Shannon yelled. "Dad!"
Mr. Parks looked at her. "Shannon, it'd only mean moving back to Italy. You could go back to Carnia Academy."
"You can't keep doing this!" Shannon snapped. "I've only just gotten settled in here! You can't keep moving me around!"
"Joe, I think you should listen to Shannon." Julianna said. "I think the choice should be up to her."
"If Hogwarts isn't safe, Julianna, then nowhere is." Mr. Parks said, in a tone that made it clear he thought the matter was pretty much closed.
Dumbledore looked graver than ever at these words. "If nowhere is safe, then what makes you think that Italy will be any safer? Once Lord Voldemort has gotten control of England, then what's to stop him expanding to Europe? America? That is why we stay here and fight, to make sure that he never has the chance."
Mr. Parks ran a hand through his hair, at that moment looking confused and tired at the same moment. "I don't mind staying here and continuing with my work against You-Know-Who- I WANT to. But I also want my wife and children to be safe. They could go back and-"
"I'm not going!" Shannon argued loudly. "I don't care what you do, but I'm not! And what about Hannah? Did you ever even think about her? She's loving it there at her school, she's made so many friends...and you want to take that away from her?"
"No! I just want what's best for you. Both of you..."
Dumbledore lay a hand on Mr. Parks's shoulder. "I think that it is time we left Shannon to get some sleep. The little one is nearly there anyway."
Shannon helped to bundle the dozing Hannah, who was now sucking her thumb, into Julianna's arms. Julianna followed Dumbledore out, leaving Mr. Parks to look once more at his daughter with a type of deep sadness in his eyes. Shannon narrowed her own to glare at him.
"I'm not leaving Hogwarts, Dad," she repeated. "No matter what you say."
He sighed heavily. "Good night Shannon. Please get better soon."
Harry moved back from the curtain, sitting back on his own bed, wondering if Shannon's father really meant what he had said.
*****
You like? That's great, really it is. Review please!