Chapter Rating: PG-13

Chapter Completion Date: 080103

Let Me Bear It All
(Chapter 5)

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Fay sank into the love seat. It was the first time she sat down that long since she left Dumbledore's office in the morning. "This morning?", she questioned herself, "That felt like that was so long ago. Why is that surprising? I only came here just yesterday, and so many things have happened since then..I can't belive I've only been here for just ONE day.." She looked at the living once again. That's when she noticed a shelf next to the piano. It was completely filled with books. When Fay went to take a closer look, she noticed that most (if not all) of them were books about teaching. She saw titles such as "Classroom Discipline: Keeping the Mighty Lion Tamed", "Teaching Made Easy!", and "Tips & Tricks for Grading Papers".

"Fay!" called Aunt Trish from the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm coming!" Fay shouted.

The kitchen and living room were separated by a hallway. At one end there was a staircase that led to the 2nd floor (Fay had no idea what was up there, yet.) and on the other end there was the front door. She walked into the kitchen. It was small and bare. Everything was in a cupboard or cabinet somewhere because the only that was on the counters or table was bowl of fruit.

The walls, oh the other hand were far from bare. They were were painted with grape vines and a huge apple tree was painted in the corner. Some of the leaves and apples were painted on the ceiling as well so if you were to look up you'd feel as if you were actually standing underneath an actual apple tree. The painting of the tree was very convincing since the leaves and branches actually swayed at times as if there was a gentle breeze blowing them.

In the middle of the room there was a circular dining table with two place mats and two chairs. The bowl of fruit was centered at the middle on top of an olive green table cloth that partially covered the table. The corners hung on the side making the table look larger than it really was.

"You didn't have to come here, but since you are-- I'm making smoked sausage, mash potatoes, and biscuits. Are those okay with you?"

"Yes, of course.Would you like me to help you with anything?"

"No, I can do this. You can do whatever you like until dinner is ready. Maybe you'd like to unpack. Your room is the second door to the left. Oh, and the bag is in the hallway table near the front door. Just leave the books, tools, and herbs in there."

"Oh okay." Before Fay left the kitchen, Aunt Trish waved her wand and things began to move on their own. Pans and pots were banging, dishes were clanging, and Aunt Trish was reading a cooking book. She went towards exited out of the kitchen and a little bit off to her right stood the table near the front door. She looked inside to bag to take out the robes, but there were so many things inside that she decided to bring everything to her room. She'd put the bag back when she was done.

She was about to head upstairs when she saw her broom propped up against the love seat. She quickly grabbed it and headed upstairs. The stairs curved towards the left, and at the top Fay found herself facing another hall. It was definitely smaller than the one downstairs with two doors on each side.

Fay forgot what Aunt Trish said. "Did she say second door to the left or right?" She shrugged and headed for the second door to the right. When she opened it, it was just a closet. "Um..does she want me to sleep in a closet?" She shook her head in denial and opened the second door on the left. There she found a fluffy looking bed next to the window, a closet facing the window, a study table, and an oval area rug in the center of the room. It was a bit small, but at least it was better than the closet.

She leaned the Nimbus Two Thousand against the wall and opened the bag. She had to take out the cauldron so she could see things better. After she removed it, she found out that everything else was very easy to find. She put everything away except her wand. "Where do I put this? Do I just hold onto it? No Aunt Trish put hers in her pocket, but I don't have any pockets right now. What if I change? Yeah. My new robes have pockets, but why do I need to carry my wand? Dumbledore didn't tell me if the Ministry approved of this document..uh thing, yet. What do you call it? It's not a bill or a law..Nevermind. I guess it's not important." She held her wand for a few moments longer. She enthusiastically whispered, "Wow. I can't believe I have wand!" Then, she head towards the study table and placed the wand in one of the drawers.

She picked up the bag and was about to go down stairs when she caught a glimpse of her Nimbus Two Thousand in the corner. She smiled. She couldn't wait to try it out. Now that she had a broom, she wondered what flying would be like, and it was a very painful torture for her to only look at the broom. "What's the point in having one if I don't use it? Oh well, I'm sure Aunt Trish will give me lessons. Wait! She's 71! She can't possibly give me lessons!! Will I have to learn it all on my own?" With this on her mind, she put the bag back on the table near the front door, and went into the kitchen.

"Right on time!" exclaimed Aunt Trish, "I'm just waiting for the biscuits to cool, and then we can eat. Why don't you have a seat, and we'll talk until then."

They sat down. The table was so small that if Fay were to just reach out far enough, she could touch Aunt Trish's face.

"So how did you like the room? I'm sorry it's so plain."

"It's fine. In fact, I like it. I can't find anything wrong with it."

"That's nice."

The silence that followed that sentence was really nerve racking for Fay. So she decided to break it with, "So..um..I saw your books in the living room."

Fay was getting mad at herself inside her head. "That's such a stupid thing to say! Did it even makes sense?!? You might as well have said, 'oh i saw your floor in the living room. yeah. it was pretty hard.' Think of something better next time!"

"Oh you did? Yes, I guess you've already figured out that I've had a secret passion for teaching, but I've always liked what I did in the Ministry."

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what did you do in the Ministry?" Fay remembered how Dumbledore thought that Aunt Trish should be the one to tell "the story".

A smirk appeared on Aunt Trish's lips, and Fay noticed the wrinkles at the ends of Aunt Trish's eyes. "She must have gotten those wrinkled from smiling so much," thought Fay.

"Okay..well you do you remember was Quidditch is?"

Fay thought about it for a while before saying, "Three types of balls and three hoops? Six players?"

"Yes, exactly. Okay, well I work for the Department of Magical Games and Sports. I make sure all equipment that the national quidditch teams are good to use. As in, I test things out and make sure that there's no malfunctions. At first, I tested all the equipment, brooms, snitches, bulgers, bats, quaffles, and safety pads, but then the Ministry decided I should limit it down because of my age.

"I refused. I like hitting a speeding bulger and racing on a broom at top speed. They're one of the best feelings in the world. They accepted this for a while, but after I fell of a broom they forced to me to just inspect the safety pads, quaffles, and snitches. I was upset at first, but then I found new ways to do things. I'd wear all the safety pads and run into walls and such." They both laughed. "Sometimes when I inspect a snitch I purposely take a broom and fly after it, but they caught on to me and made a little room so if i did let the snitch go for a long time, it couldn't go far.

"Of course, there was a lot of paperwork, but since it was about quidditch supplies it didn't really bother me. It just kept me from being at home and having a social life." Fay started to look sad. "Oh, no, don't feel sorry for me. I had lot of friends at the Ministry, but I just never went out to parties or dates because I had to turn in my reports. Reports that I started on around 7 o'clock at night. Seems silly to worry about quidditch supplies so much, but I really liked it. Hmmm..Well, that's basically it. Oh, dear, I was rammbling. I hope I wasn't a bore."

"No, no! I liked the story very much, but I was wondering....if you could give me flying lessons as well."

"Well, of course, I'll teach you! I wouldn't buy you a broom and expect you to learn how to fly it all on your own. Don't be so silly."

"Oh..I was just curious because of your..um.."

"..Age?"

Fay nodded her head.

"I've had enough of that from the Ministry. It's mostly the reason why I quit. They kept trying to control me. I didn't like it. Also, I'm glad I left when I did. There were so many conspiracies going on, and I didn't want to be part of it," Aunt Trish sighed.

Fay stared down at the apple in the fruit bowl. She didn't know that to say.

Aunt Trish was the first to say something, "Listen here. I may be giving you flying lessons, but that doesn't mean we're not going to work very hard on your other lessons. Right?"

"Right. I swear, I'll try my best."

"That a girl. I do believe the biscuits are beyond cool by now. Maybe we should try this out the old fashion way. I'll get the food and you set up the dishes. You'll find them in the cupboard." So they put everything on the table, ate (and had a contest to see who could balance their spoon on their nose longer), and got ready for bed.

Fay shook the blanket just in case there was any dust left, and laid down in her bed. She looked out her window, and she once again saw the moon. This time all she could see was it's beauty ("I wonder if I can touch it if I fly high enough", she thought.), and she fell asleep with a smile.

***********

Aunt Trish took off her glasses, and put them on the table beside her bed. She laid down in her bed, and shifted around a bit to snuggle in. She slept in a Queen sized bed. She didn't even know what drove her to buy it. After all, she wasn't fat. How could she occupy a bed of that size all to herself? She sighed. A couple stars that she painted on her ceiling were moving. "Two shooting stars for tonight," she said aloud and turned to her side.

She took another pillow and hugged it. She was getting warm from all the soft things that were around her. Her eyelids were getting heavy. The warmth was so soothing. She took one quick look outside of her window and saw the moon. "It must be very cold up there," she thought, and closed her eyes.

***********

Meanwhile, in a manor not too far away from The Aery, there lay a boy with a pale face and silver eyes who could not sleep. Draco Malfoy stared at his ceiling. The shadows from the trees outside his huge windows were dancing. "Who was that girl?" he wondered, "She must've been someone from a foreign country. I would've noticed her if she went to Hogwarts. Too bad, I didn't get to talk to her. I bet I could've shagged her tonight. What was it about her?"

He began to replay the day at Diagon Alley. He was standing across the street from Madam Malkin's shop, waiting for this Aunt to come out. She wanted to buy a new robe. "I still don't understand why the bloody hell she cares so much about that stupid thing. It's almost as bad as Hagrid's Blast- Ended Skrewts. Almost." Then, she came out of the store. Laughing with her grandmother. Her smile was just so radiant. Her hair seemed so soft and silky, and the curls seemed to bounce while..

"Ugh!" He threw off his blanket and head toward one of his windows. The moon was shining brightly. Pansy hated the moon. It reminded her too much of Professor Trelawney. "The woman's absurd!" she would say, "No one believes in her. That's why I've decided to take Arithmancy with you, Draco!"

It's was always like that. Everyone seemed so empty. They snickered at his insults towards the Gryffindors. They followed him where ever he went. They also agreed with everything he said, which was good. He was doing what he was raised to do. Gain power. It was all that mattered. He was a Malfoy, strong, powerful, pure-blooded, and rich.

He was so consumed with what he was expected of that he completely forgot what he was thinking about before he got out of bed. No matter, he went back and fell asleep.

....To Be Continued....

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A/N: I know that it doesn't have any significance, but when Fay looks at the apple I was thinking about my best friend, Natali. She has a thing for apples. So um.. I dedicated that scene to her? (lol) Not much of a scene.

Also, the bag ( I know I should've mentioned this before ) was from Mary Poppins. When I first watched that movie was so amazed with her. I thought it was cooler because she had my name..I laughed at the part where she measures herself and says, "Five feet two..Mary Poppins, perfect in every way.." lol I made up the number, but you get what I mean.

Now you may be wondering, "Why couldn't Fay put the broom into the bag instead of carry it around?" That's how much she liked her broom. She liked it more than her wand, which she put in the bag. She wanted to hold it as much as she could. (Please no nasty, perverted thoughts about her wand and broom. Thank you.)

Oh and thank you for the "mucho"s reviews! I swear, it's so flattering!