~*~ Hiya! Eeek! It's been a while since I've added a chapter… Oiy… Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter! ^_^ Oh! And everyone, GO SEE HERRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS!! IT'S BRILLIANT!! ^_^ ~*~
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Hailey was sitting in the far corner of the Library, taking notes for an essay she had to write. She had been there most of the afternoon, and was just starting to pack up her things. She decided she wanted some fresh air, and made her down to the front doors. She was almost out on the grounds, when a hand grabbed her shoulder, stopping her from going any further out the doors. She spun around and was face to face with, Harry. Hailey pulled her shoulder from his loose grip, and turned to continue outside. "Hailey, wait!" Harry called out. She stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned back around to face her brother. "What?" she asked him, not wanting to talk with very much, unless, of course, he intended on saying sorry. He did just that. "I'm sorry Hailey…" he muttered quietly. "I'm sorry I yelled like that… I-I just get sick of dealing with things sometimes…" He watched her as she looked away. "It's alright. Just don't do it again! You've got our fathers temper and our mothers attitude… not a very good mix…" She laughed softly, and looked up at Harry. He was smiling, but looked slightly puzzled. "How do you know if I've got dads temper and mums attitude?" he asked, with a lopsided grin. "I was told a lot about mum and dad, and apparently, they made quite the pair!" Harry went down the steps to stand with his sister. "So… you forgive me?" he asked her. "Yeah… I guess so…" she said, as she punched him playfully in the arm. They walked over to a large oak tree and sat down. "You know… If I've got those traits from mum and dad, then you've to have them too…" Harry told her matter-of-factly. "Yes, that's true… but you see, the difference between you and I is; I got the brains!" She laughed at Harry and stuck out her tongue. "Oh! Well then! I got the good looks!" Harry returned her teasing gesture and laughed along with her…
Things were much better now that Harry and Hailey weren't fighting anymore. In fact, Harry even agreed to go talk with Sirius about what he knew. Hailey hadn't gone, even though she said she'd deal with the crest on her own. "Well, should get going then?" Hailey asked Harry, while he marked his place and put away Quidditch Through the Ages. "Alright. I'll go tell Ron and Hermione that we'll be back in… an hour?" he wondered. "Yeah, that should be enough time." Hailey agreed. They left together to go down to Sirius' Room. They knocked on his door and awaited a response. The door opened, and their Godfather smiled at them. "There you are! I've been expecting you guys!" He said with a cheery attitude. They went in and took seats at the table that Sirius had been sitting at. It was a small round table that was similar to the one Hagrid own, but of course, much smaller. "So. About that crest… I think I know something…" Harry listened intently, as did Hailey. "If my memory serves me right, I seem to remember your Great grandmother on you dads side, had a crest. Actually, it was more of ruby. She used to have it with her, wherever she went… she wore it around her neck, on a gold chain…." He told them thoughtfully. Hailey contemplated what he had said, and thought that it was, in a way, funny. She giggled softly to herself, and Harry and Sirius turned to her. "What?" they asked her. "Oh, well, it's just the fact that a ruby is quite a large stone! I mean, it would be quite a sight to see an old woman with a huge rock hanging around her neck…" she trailed off. "Well, she was a strange woman… always wearing bizarre things… but that's besides the point. The fact is, I remember her constantly wearing that crest or ruby, or whatever. And, a couple of times, your father and I caught her in the family room throwing something into the fire and saying odd things…" Harry was perplexed. "So, what I've gathered so far, is that I had a strange old bat for a Great grandmother, and that she had a crest she would always wear while she threw stuff into the fire and chanted a bunch of mumbo-jumbo…" Harry said bluntly. Hailey and Sirius gave him a stern look. They sat in silence for a while, trying to think of anything that would help.
"How much time do you have left?" Hailey whispered, as they left Sirius' room. "Umm… About two and a half weeks. Why?" he told her. "I was just wondering. That way I know how much time we've got to figure this out…" she said, worry in her voice. "Don't worry… If Fobert's serious about this, then we'll just have to work a bit faster. Otherwise, we shouldn't panic… let alone rise to her bait…" It was true. It did seem that Professor Fobert was threatening them, and trying to lure them into doing something. But, the question was what? And why?…
With only a week left, Harry was racking his brains to find something. He had tried all the books that Hailey had, and even dared to try the library. He, of course, found nothing. It was a cold, frosty Monday and Professor Fobert was watching his every move. Hailey was aware of this, and told him that they should really get cracking. "It's strange, you know. I swear I know something… but I just don't know what!" she stomped her foot with frustration. "Well, we do know that the thing is still in existence… but where is it!" he flailed his arms, matching Hailey's level of aggravation. The four of them were sitting in the Library, absolutely exhausted from searching for so long. Ron and Hermione had started to help Harry and Hailey the week before. It was five minutes to midnight, when Madame Pince bustled over in her nightgown and cap, ordering them to leave. "Up so early, on a school night!" she muttered darkly, as she followed them to the door. They were met with a strange sight at the end of the corridor, leading to the entrance of Gryffindor Tower. The portrait was hanging open, and the Fat Lady was cussing aloud. "What's wrong?!" Hermione asked. The Fat Lady stopped yelling, and looked at the four Gryffindors. "Oh! My dears! There's been a break in! I didn't see anyone, but someone managed to get in, and they left me open!" she shrieked. Harry looked at his friends. "Should we go get Dumbledore?" Ron asked. "Of course!" the Fat Lady interjected. "Alright. Hailey, Hermione, can you go down to the Headmasters office? Check the staff room first. He might be in there." Harry told them this before leading Ron into the Tower…
Hailey and Hermione were just coming down the Marble Staircase, when a shrill voice met their ears. It was Professor McGonagall. "What an earth are you two doing out of bed!" she demanded. "Hailey spoke first. "Someone's broken into Gryffindor Tower! The Fat Lady didn't see anyone, but someone opened the portrait and left her open!" McGonagall stared down at the slightly panic stricken students. "Someone broke into Gryffindor Tower?! Well, who in the name…" She trailed off as she stormed towards Dumbledore's office. "Cockroach Clusters" she murmured. The Gargoyle sprang into life and stepped aside. They stepped on to the moving staircase, and came to a stop at a landing where the door to Dumbledore's office was. "Come in!" called the old mans voice. He stood from behind his desk, when he saw who it was. "Is there a problem, Professor?" he asked kindly. "Yes. These two have informed that there has been a break-in, in Gryffindor Tower." She said in her usually strict tone. Dumbledore didn't bother asking questions. He led the way out of his office and straight to the tower, to investigate…
As the two girls followed closely behind Professor McGonagall, who was in a deep conversation with the Headmaster, they whispered quietly to each other. "Who do you think it could be?" Hermione asked. "I've got no idea… maybe some student is pulling some kind of prank…" Hailey suggested. Hermione shook her head, "No… How could a student not be seen? I doubt anyone has an invisibility cloak, besides Harry…" Hailey nodded her agreement, and the rest of their journey to Gryffindor Tower was silent. Eventually, they turned left, which brought them to the Gryffindor corridor. The Fat Lady was now closed, but she was still quite miffed about being left open. "Oh! Headmaster, sir! I'm so glad you've come! Someone's broken in, but I don't know how! They did something, and I just- opened! I-" she was cut off by Dumbledore. "Yes, yes… Please, calm down. We will take care of it." He told her reassuringly. The Fat Lady swung forward to let Dumbledore and the others in.
They stepped into the cosy, round common room, only to see that it looked exactly the same. It appeared that no one, that shouldn't be there, had set foot in it. "Perhaps the culprit has left?" Professor McGonagall said, looking around closely at their surroundings. "Or maybe they've gone upstairs?" Hermione recommended. Dumbledore walked towards the staircase, and before he had even set foot on the first step, Ron and Harry came bounding down. "Professors!" they said, slightly alarmed. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley." They greeted them. "I assume that the upstairs has been searched?" asked Dumbledore, smiling slightly at the boys. They nodded, "Well, yes and no… We did go up to our Dorms. It's just, we can't exactly search the others…" Ron told them. "And? Did you find anything?" asked Professor McGonagall. "Well, nothing's wrong with our dorm, but the door to the Fifth Year Girls was open…" Harry informed her. They stepped aside as the headmaster walked upstairs. Harry and Ron told Hailey and Hermione that they hadn't actually gone inside to check anything out, because they, of course, weren't allowed. They did however peek in through the open door, to see if anyone was there. But there was no one.
Hailey and Hermione followed Professor McGonagall inside their dorm and glanced around. "Do you see anything out of place, girls?" she asked quietly, so as not to disturb the other sleeping students. They looked around the room and headed towards their own beds. "Nothing seems to be missing here…" Hermione informed McGonagall. "And what about you, Miss Potter?" she asked. "Everything's fi-" she was about to say fine, when she notice something under her bed. A box that she kept important things in, was open and looked as if it had been dumped out and carelessly thrown back. Hailey bent down and picked it up. She put it on her bed and began taking everything out. "Miss Potter? Is there a problem?" McGonagall asked. "Yeah… This box has a lot of things in it that are important to me and I think someone's gone through it… For one thing it wasn't where it's supposed to be. For another, this sides been damaged…" She pointed to the side of the box, where a large gash was. "Is anything missing?" Professor McGonagall asked, taking a step towards Hailey. Hailey searched through her things, and found that nothing was missing. "I don't understand…" she muttered, in just more than a whisper. "Don't understand what?" asked Hermione. "Well, nothings missing… Why would someone break in to Gryffindor Tower, clearly wanting to take something, and then not take anything at all? I mean, I've got things here that are ancient and are worth a lot of money." She flopped down on her bed and began to everything back. There was silence for a moment, when there was a knock on the door. Dumbledore poked his head in. "Is everything alright?" he asked Professor McGonagall. She explained what happened with Hailey's belongings, and after a few questions, they left. Before they had, however, they had told the four of them to keep their eyes open and take caution, just in case. They were also told to tell either one of them immediately, if anything else should happen. "Well… that was interesting…" Hailey said sarcastically. They said their goodnights and went to bed, wanting very much to sleep well into the day, even though they knew they couldn't…
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