Jessica approached the door slowly. She was trying to remember
something…anything about the last book. It seemed so long ago that she sat
in her room late at night reading the fourth book. Important details about
the books were slipping away from her, the longer she went without reading
them. The one thing that stood out in her mind, however, was that Voldemort
was back. Voldemort was risen again, and there was nothing that she could
do to change that. But there had to be a reason someone brought her here…
Sighing, she knocked on the door that had a bronze plaque saying; Fifth year girls, hanging on it.
"Come in," came Hermione's muffled voice.
Jessica pushed the door open slowly. "It's just me, Hermione," she said quietly. Hermione was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. She had her one elbow resting in the palm of her other hand and was biting her index finger in a scared sort of way.
Looking around, she noticed that no one else was in the room. It was pretty close to the way the book described the boy's dormitory. Circular room, beds with red hangings, except for the fact that this room had six beds, while the boy's room only had five. As Jessica shut the door, Hermione lifted her head to look at her. Her eyes were red and there were tears running down her cheeks.
Jessica sat down on the end of the bed opposite of Hermione's.
"Ooooh," she said as she sat down, "Who's bed is this?" Jessica knew that this was hardly the time to be discussing bedroom furniture, but she felt that anything to calm Hermione down was worth saying.
"Parvati's," Hermione said in a small voice.
"I think you got gypped on the bed selection," she said, bouncing up and down slightly, "This is so comfortable!"
Hermione laughed and shook her head.
"Well, if you say so," Jessica said smiling, "But what happened down there is a lot more important than a comfortable bed…Do you want to tell me what that was all about?" Jessica lowered her voice so that it took on the soft, concerned tone that her mother had used all the time. She felt a sudden agonized pang. Her mother. She hadn't seen her in so long…
Hermione dropped her hands to her lap, shaking her head.
"I think Ron likes Amanda," Hermione said in a choked voice.
Jessica shrugged. "I don't know…but what makes you think that?"
"When he made that comment about me kissing Harry at the end of last year…he knew…" She suddenly turned her head to stare out the window. "He knew I liked Harry at the time. I don't anymore, of course. But, last year, when Rita Skeeter made that report about him and me being a couple, it got me thinking. I told Ron about it when I was at his house for the Quidditch Cup…he swore he wouldn't mention it to Harry. So when he said it downstairs, it caught me off guard. I didn't mean to get so angry, I've just been working so hard on this and I didn't want to believe that it was all ruined."
"We've all been working really hard," Jessica said, leaning forward, "And this won't ruin it. I won't let it. This is just one of those obstacles that come up at the last second. We'll deal with it. But Hermione…what was that about 'some promises not mattering any more' that Ron said?"
Hermione looked confused. "I'm actually not sure what he meant by that," she said, but Jessica didn't really trust the way she was looking slightly to the left instead of straight at her, "I guess it was just something that came to the top of his mind in the heat of the fight."
Jessica nodded. There was no use trying to get something out of Hermione when she didn't want to say it.
"Hey, Jess," Hermione said suddenly, "I think I know what we can do about Amanda…"
* * *
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jessica sat in the empty Common Room the following night, talking and waiting for Amanda to show up.
"I wonder what could be keeping her?" Harry wondered aloud. Jessica didn't have time to answer, because at that moment, Amanda came through the portrait hole.
"Hi guys," she said, beaming at them all, "Sorry I took so long. I was just in the library working on our plan," she said lowering her voice so no one overheard her.
Jessica smiled at her. "That's nice, Amanda. What did you find?"
"Oh, just you know, some stuff," she said evasively and she took a seat next to Ron. "Hi Ron," she said smiling.
Ron worked hard to hide his disgusted look. "Hi, er…Amanda."
Hermione smiled at Amanda, and kicked Ron hard on the ankle when she wasn't looking.
"Ow!" he said, glaring at Hermione.
"What's that?" Amanda said, looking up.
"Nothing, nothing," Ron said, putting on a huge, scary smile.
"Well, anyway," Jessica said, before Hermione could kick Ron again, "We were just talking, and there are a couple of questions we need answered."
"Ok, shoot," Amanda said, still smiling.
Jessica looked down at the pile of papers in her lap. "Well, first off," she said, running her finger down the first one, "We were trying to trace your family history back to determine if you really are related to Mr. Elithab, but we need to know your mother's first name. What is it?"
Jessica was sure that Amanda's smile had faltered slightly. "Oh well, you know my mother's name, Jessica!"
"Right," Jessica said, snapping her fingers, "It's Joanne, isn't it?"
"Sure," Amanda said, "You bet it is."
Jessica smiled at her and passed the stack of papers to Harry.
"Alright, Amanda", he said, looking down at the paper, "Dumbledore wanted to verify that you're really fifteen, so you should be in the fifth year…so when's your birthday?"
"Well…it's…January 15th of course," she said, her smile now gone completely. Jessica took a kind of savage joy in the fact that she was starting to get visibly nervous.
Harry nodded and passed the stack of papers to Hermione.
"Ok," she said, not troubling to keep her voice friendly, "We were wondering if you could tell us again what you were doing when you were brought here. We need to reconsider some details before we can decide what to do next."
"What's with the questions all of a sudden?" Amanda asked, sounding somewhat scared.
"Can you just answer the question, Amanda?" Hermione asked, her tone icy. "We need to get on with our work."
"Well, as you know," Amanda said, looking in every direction but at Hermione, "I was just reading my, er, book, and then I was here," she finished shakily.
"Funny," Jessica said thoughtfully, "That sounds like exactly what happened to me."
Amanda didn't say anything.
Hermione passed the papers to Ron, who shuffled them.
"Well," he said matter-of-factly, "According to this, you failed every single one of those questions." He lifted his head to glare at her. "So…do you want to tell us where Amanda is, Faith?"
Amanda's jaw dropped.
"Don't know…what you're talking about," she said, sweating.
Jessica had gotten to her feet.
"I think you know perfectly well what we mean," she said venomously.
"And just to make sure we haven't falsely accused you," Hermione said scathingly, reaching inside her robes, "I've swiped this from Professor Snape's office."
She pulled a small clear bottle out of the pocket in her robes.
Amanda watched it, her eyes widening with fear.
"That's right," Hermione hissed, "Veritaserum."
"You see, Faith," Ron said, becoming angrier by the second, "We realized who you were yesterday. But how to catch you in the act…Then it came to us. Veritaserum. The most powerful kind this school has in store. Hermione here slipped a small amount in your pumpkin juice this morning at breakfast. Enough to have you spilling all your secrets to us," he finished quietly.
Amanda shook her head, her eyes still wide.
Jessica looked down at her watch. "You should be feeling the effects of it pretty soon."
As soon as the words had left her mouth, Amanda began to change. Her face was becoming wider, her eyes becoming more narrow. She was shrinking a good three inches also. When it was all over, a scowling Faith stood before them, her arms folded across her chest.
"So," she said quietly, "You've discovered my little secret."
Sighing, she knocked on the door that had a bronze plaque saying; Fifth year girls, hanging on it.
"Come in," came Hermione's muffled voice.
Jessica pushed the door open slowly. "It's just me, Hermione," she said quietly. Hermione was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. She had her one elbow resting in the palm of her other hand and was biting her index finger in a scared sort of way.
Looking around, she noticed that no one else was in the room. It was pretty close to the way the book described the boy's dormitory. Circular room, beds with red hangings, except for the fact that this room had six beds, while the boy's room only had five. As Jessica shut the door, Hermione lifted her head to look at her. Her eyes were red and there were tears running down her cheeks.
Jessica sat down on the end of the bed opposite of Hermione's.
"Ooooh," she said as she sat down, "Who's bed is this?" Jessica knew that this was hardly the time to be discussing bedroom furniture, but she felt that anything to calm Hermione down was worth saying.
"Parvati's," Hermione said in a small voice.
"I think you got gypped on the bed selection," she said, bouncing up and down slightly, "This is so comfortable!"
Hermione laughed and shook her head.
"Well, if you say so," Jessica said smiling, "But what happened down there is a lot more important than a comfortable bed…Do you want to tell me what that was all about?" Jessica lowered her voice so that it took on the soft, concerned tone that her mother had used all the time. She felt a sudden agonized pang. Her mother. She hadn't seen her in so long…
Hermione dropped her hands to her lap, shaking her head.
"I think Ron likes Amanda," Hermione said in a choked voice.
Jessica shrugged. "I don't know…but what makes you think that?"
"When he made that comment about me kissing Harry at the end of last year…he knew…" She suddenly turned her head to stare out the window. "He knew I liked Harry at the time. I don't anymore, of course. But, last year, when Rita Skeeter made that report about him and me being a couple, it got me thinking. I told Ron about it when I was at his house for the Quidditch Cup…he swore he wouldn't mention it to Harry. So when he said it downstairs, it caught me off guard. I didn't mean to get so angry, I've just been working so hard on this and I didn't want to believe that it was all ruined."
"We've all been working really hard," Jessica said, leaning forward, "And this won't ruin it. I won't let it. This is just one of those obstacles that come up at the last second. We'll deal with it. But Hermione…what was that about 'some promises not mattering any more' that Ron said?"
Hermione looked confused. "I'm actually not sure what he meant by that," she said, but Jessica didn't really trust the way she was looking slightly to the left instead of straight at her, "I guess it was just something that came to the top of his mind in the heat of the fight."
Jessica nodded. There was no use trying to get something out of Hermione when she didn't want to say it.
"Hey, Jess," Hermione said suddenly, "I think I know what we can do about Amanda…"
* * *
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jessica sat in the empty Common Room the following night, talking and waiting for Amanda to show up.
"I wonder what could be keeping her?" Harry wondered aloud. Jessica didn't have time to answer, because at that moment, Amanda came through the portrait hole.
"Hi guys," she said, beaming at them all, "Sorry I took so long. I was just in the library working on our plan," she said lowering her voice so no one overheard her.
Jessica smiled at her. "That's nice, Amanda. What did you find?"
"Oh, just you know, some stuff," she said evasively and she took a seat next to Ron. "Hi Ron," she said smiling.
Ron worked hard to hide his disgusted look. "Hi, er…Amanda."
Hermione smiled at Amanda, and kicked Ron hard on the ankle when she wasn't looking.
"Ow!" he said, glaring at Hermione.
"What's that?" Amanda said, looking up.
"Nothing, nothing," Ron said, putting on a huge, scary smile.
"Well, anyway," Jessica said, before Hermione could kick Ron again, "We were just talking, and there are a couple of questions we need answered."
"Ok, shoot," Amanda said, still smiling.
Jessica looked down at the pile of papers in her lap. "Well, first off," she said, running her finger down the first one, "We were trying to trace your family history back to determine if you really are related to Mr. Elithab, but we need to know your mother's first name. What is it?"
Jessica was sure that Amanda's smile had faltered slightly. "Oh well, you know my mother's name, Jessica!"
"Right," Jessica said, snapping her fingers, "It's Joanne, isn't it?"
"Sure," Amanda said, "You bet it is."
Jessica smiled at her and passed the stack of papers to Harry.
"Alright, Amanda", he said, looking down at the paper, "Dumbledore wanted to verify that you're really fifteen, so you should be in the fifth year…so when's your birthday?"
"Well…it's…January 15th of course," she said, her smile now gone completely. Jessica took a kind of savage joy in the fact that she was starting to get visibly nervous.
Harry nodded and passed the stack of papers to Hermione.
"Ok," she said, not troubling to keep her voice friendly, "We were wondering if you could tell us again what you were doing when you were brought here. We need to reconsider some details before we can decide what to do next."
"What's with the questions all of a sudden?" Amanda asked, sounding somewhat scared.
"Can you just answer the question, Amanda?" Hermione asked, her tone icy. "We need to get on with our work."
"Well, as you know," Amanda said, looking in every direction but at Hermione, "I was just reading my, er, book, and then I was here," she finished shakily.
"Funny," Jessica said thoughtfully, "That sounds like exactly what happened to me."
Amanda didn't say anything.
Hermione passed the papers to Ron, who shuffled them.
"Well," he said matter-of-factly, "According to this, you failed every single one of those questions." He lifted his head to glare at her. "So…do you want to tell us where Amanda is, Faith?"
Amanda's jaw dropped.
"Don't know…what you're talking about," she said, sweating.
Jessica had gotten to her feet.
"I think you know perfectly well what we mean," she said venomously.
"And just to make sure we haven't falsely accused you," Hermione said scathingly, reaching inside her robes, "I've swiped this from Professor Snape's office."
She pulled a small clear bottle out of the pocket in her robes.
Amanda watched it, her eyes widening with fear.
"That's right," Hermione hissed, "Veritaserum."
"You see, Faith," Ron said, becoming angrier by the second, "We realized who you were yesterday. But how to catch you in the act…Then it came to us. Veritaserum. The most powerful kind this school has in store. Hermione here slipped a small amount in your pumpkin juice this morning at breakfast. Enough to have you spilling all your secrets to us," he finished quietly.
Amanda shook her head, her eyes still wide.
Jessica looked down at her watch. "You should be feeling the effects of it pretty soon."
As soon as the words had left her mouth, Amanda began to change. Her face was becoming wider, her eyes becoming more narrow. She was shrinking a good three inches also. When it was all over, a scowling Faith stood before them, her arms folded across her chest.
"So," she said quietly, "You've discovered my little secret."