Xenith
A/N: Okay, so I know it took forever for me to get this chapter out, but school just started, I'm in a play, I have a job, and the boyfriend is quite demanding on my time. Sorry! Well, here, enjoy.
Chapter Forty-four
"As you all should know, your O.W.L.s are beginning tomorrow," Professor McGonagall told her fifth years from the front of the Transfiguration room.
//What?!// Harry's head snapped up from his Transfiguration notes, which, in actuality, was just an hour and a half's worth of doodles. Harry had managed to completely forget about the coming exams.
"I am now passing out your timetables for the exams, once you have your timetable you may go. Good luck." Professor McGonagall finished as the students gathered their things and filed out of the classroom. "Mister Potter, may I have a moment?" She called to him; Harry shrugged and made his way to the front of the classroom.
"Mister Potter, I know that this year has been quite, shall we say, tough for you---"
"Really?" Harry snapped snidely.
"I'll ignore that comment," McGonagall said sharply. "But I still expect you to perform up to par on your O.W.L.s. You've been studying, I presume?"
//No, I managed to forget completely.// "Yes, Professor," Harry answered.
"Very well, I will see you at your exam then."
Harry nodded and left the room headed for his last Defense class.
"There you are, Harry," Hermione said when he finally slid into his seat at the back of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Harry nodded and pulled out his sheet of doodles. "What took you so long?"
"McGonagall wanted to make sure I had studied for the O.W.L.s," he answered.
"And did you?" Hermione pressed.
"Yes," Harry lied.
"Today," Professor Figg said, striding out of her office at the side of the classroom to the front of her students. "You will be taking a practice exam to help you prepare for your O.W.L.s. You should all be happy to know that there will be no written portion for your exam." There were very few smiles around the room at this news. Then again, there were never many smiles around any more. "All right, now, I'd like everyone to stand up and take your books," she waited while the class complied. "Good, now stand back," she waved her wand and every desk in the room disappeared. "Put your things in the corner, please. Good, now, can anyone tell me everything we have covered over the course of this year?
The room was quiet.
"As I thought, line up," Figg paced in front of her students, something was bothering her. "Finnigan, step forward," she snapped, coming to a halt in front of him. Seamus stepped forward slowly. Before he could even get his wand up Figg hit him with the Jelly Legs curse. First year Defense, Seamus should have been able to block it easily. He didn't. "Very disappointing, Finnigan," Figg chastise removing the curse. "Boot!"
Terry Boot scurried forward, wand ready, hand shaking.
"Expelliarmus!"
Boot threw up a shaky shield and ducked out of the way as the disarming spell blasted through the shield.
"Stupefy!" Figg shouted again, sending another curse at Boot without waiting for him to regain his footing. This time the curse caught Boot's wand hand, missing it by inches as Figg summoned the fallen wand.
Professor Figg released Terry Boot from the curses and shoved his wand back into his hand with a short, "Back in line, Boot." Boot scurried back in line, eyes down.
"Parkinson!" Pug-nosed Pansy Parkinson moved out of the line with only the slightest trepidation. "Who is your father, Parkinson?"
"What?" Pansy, who had obviously been expecting a fight, demanded.
"Answer me."
"Palleton Parkinson."
"Explain what it is his name means."
"Fighter."
"And what have you learned from him?"
Pansy stayed quiet.
"I suppose you will have to show me then, hmmm? Engorgio!" Figg brandished her wand at Pansy, an explosion of yellow light shooting from its tip.
Pansy dropped immediately into attack position at the first sign of Figg's attack, countering with the splitting spell. "Diffindo!" The two spells collided in the air between them, rocketing off one another and shooting into the walls, skimming over the heads of several of the fifth years.
"Densaugeo!" Figg shot at Pansy, moving faster then she had with any of the other students.
"Impedimenta!" The Impediment Jinx caught Figg full in the chest, slowing the professor down considerable, giving Pansy time to let an almost casual, "Incendio," roll off her tongue. The hems of Figgs robes ignited.
Hermione sent a stream of water from her wand, extinguishing the flames, before she lifted the Impediment Jinx.
The class, all except the Slytherins, eyed Pansy suspiciously. Any doubt thet may have remained in any of their minds that several of their peers were in league with the Dark Lord was now gone.
"Back in line, Parkinson," Figg nearly panted.
---
Charlie handed his clear identification tag, his signature scribbled along the bottom, to the taller of the two wizards standing guard over the entrance to the underground caverns. The wizard held the card in front of his eye, the badge flashed green and Charlie passed into the shadows of the dwarf tunnels beyond, Chris, Mat, and Katie close behind. Charlie slowed down, letting Mat and Chris pass ahead of him. He caught hold of Katie's arm as she knocked past him, pulling her back to his side.
"What's wrong, Katie?" He demanded, his voice quiet to avoid being overheard by Chris and Mat.
"Nothing's wrong, Charlie," she hissed back, ripping her arm from his grasp.
"Then why---"
"Charlie, Katie," Chris called from the end of the passage. "Do you want us to wait for you?"
"No," Charlie answered, never tearing his attention from the witch before him. "Give us a minute, we'll catch you up."
Chris nodded, taking Mat's hand and turning into the area they used as a sort of community/living cave.
"Why---" Charlie started again, but Katie was already pulling away from him again. "Damn it, Katie, I want to know why you're so bloody cranky all of the time!" Charlie said, grabbing hold of Katie's forearm again and turning her about. She winced as her shoulders crashed against the packed dirt wall. "What did I do?"
"Everything." Katie breathed.
"What? Tell me what happened!"
"I did."
"Why are you so bloody mad at me? What did I do?"
"This Charlie!" She snatched his hand and pressed it to the air in front of her stomach. He could feel something---a bulge. "What---" He started but cut himself off as the bulge . . . kicked. "Are you---?"
"Yes and it's all you're fault!" She tore his hand away, knocking him into the opposite wall.
"When did . . . when did . . ."
"Did this happen?" She finished for him.
"Yes."
"November."
"It's May! You're seven months along? Why'd you hide it, why the hell didn't you tell me?" He bellowed across the three feet separating them. "How were you---ARE you---hiding it!"
"Charoillison," she muttered under her breath.
"WHAT!"
"The Charm of Illusion---a bloody ILLUSION charm!" She cried.
"That's dangerous! Take it off! NOW!" Charlie demanded. She touched the tip of her wand to the air in front of her stomach and muttered the counter spell. In the dim, flickering, candlelight Charlie could see the air before her go fuzzy as her shirt seemed to expand, accommodating her girth.
"Is that better Charlie? Is that what you want?" She scowled.
"Why'd you hide it?"
"Why do think, Charlie?" She wept, knocking his hands away and covering her face with her own. "Your brothers have been taken, we're fighting a war, and . . . and, God, Charlie! I know you don't love me, but I couldn't give it up, I just couldn't."
"What---? I mean . . ." What could he say? Charlie knew he didn't love her, not enough to start a family with her anyway. But a baby? He couldn't just leave her on her own with a child. _His_ child. Weasley's didn't do things like that, they were better then it. "I won't make you do this on your own, Katie. I'm not that kind of guy."
"Don't you think I know that, Charlie?" Katie cried. "But I don't want this child to grow up in a place where it knows it wasn't wanted! That's why . . . why I'm putting it up for adoption," she said, sliding to the ground and not looking at him.
"No," Charlie said darkly. "I won't let you do this to me or our baby. No."
"So, what do you want? We can't get married, not like this, I won't do it."
"Well, what do you want us to do? It's my child too and if _you_ won't keep it then I will."
---
tbc
A/N: Okay, so I know it took forever for me to get this chapter out, but school just started, I'm in a play, I have a job, and the boyfriend is quite demanding on my time. Sorry! Well, here, enjoy.
Chapter Forty-four
"As you all should know, your O.W.L.s are beginning tomorrow," Professor McGonagall told her fifth years from the front of the Transfiguration room.
//What?!// Harry's head snapped up from his Transfiguration notes, which, in actuality, was just an hour and a half's worth of doodles. Harry had managed to completely forget about the coming exams.
"I am now passing out your timetables for the exams, once you have your timetable you may go. Good luck." Professor McGonagall finished as the students gathered their things and filed out of the classroom. "Mister Potter, may I have a moment?" She called to him; Harry shrugged and made his way to the front of the classroom.
"Mister Potter, I know that this year has been quite, shall we say, tough for you---"
"Really?" Harry snapped snidely.
"I'll ignore that comment," McGonagall said sharply. "But I still expect you to perform up to par on your O.W.L.s. You've been studying, I presume?"
//No, I managed to forget completely.// "Yes, Professor," Harry answered.
"Very well, I will see you at your exam then."
Harry nodded and left the room headed for his last Defense class.
"There you are, Harry," Hermione said when he finally slid into his seat at the back of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Harry nodded and pulled out his sheet of doodles. "What took you so long?"
"McGonagall wanted to make sure I had studied for the O.W.L.s," he answered.
"And did you?" Hermione pressed.
"Yes," Harry lied.
"Today," Professor Figg said, striding out of her office at the side of the classroom to the front of her students. "You will be taking a practice exam to help you prepare for your O.W.L.s. You should all be happy to know that there will be no written portion for your exam." There were very few smiles around the room at this news. Then again, there were never many smiles around any more. "All right, now, I'd like everyone to stand up and take your books," she waited while the class complied. "Good, now stand back," she waved her wand and every desk in the room disappeared. "Put your things in the corner, please. Good, now, can anyone tell me everything we have covered over the course of this year?
The room was quiet.
"As I thought, line up," Figg paced in front of her students, something was bothering her. "Finnigan, step forward," she snapped, coming to a halt in front of him. Seamus stepped forward slowly. Before he could even get his wand up Figg hit him with the Jelly Legs curse. First year Defense, Seamus should have been able to block it easily. He didn't. "Very disappointing, Finnigan," Figg chastise removing the curse. "Boot!"
Terry Boot scurried forward, wand ready, hand shaking.
"Expelliarmus!"
Boot threw up a shaky shield and ducked out of the way as the disarming spell blasted through the shield.
"Stupefy!" Figg shouted again, sending another curse at Boot without waiting for him to regain his footing. This time the curse caught Boot's wand hand, missing it by inches as Figg summoned the fallen wand.
Professor Figg released Terry Boot from the curses and shoved his wand back into his hand with a short, "Back in line, Boot." Boot scurried back in line, eyes down.
"Parkinson!" Pug-nosed Pansy Parkinson moved out of the line with only the slightest trepidation. "Who is your father, Parkinson?"
"What?" Pansy, who had obviously been expecting a fight, demanded.
"Answer me."
"Palleton Parkinson."
"Explain what it is his name means."
"Fighter."
"And what have you learned from him?"
Pansy stayed quiet.
"I suppose you will have to show me then, hmmm? Engorgio!" Figg brandished her wand at Pansy, an explosion of yellow light shooting from its tip.
Pansy dropped immediately into attack position at the first sign of Figg's attack, countering with the splitting spell. "Diffindo!" The two spells collided in the air between them, rocketing off one another and shooting into the walls, skimming over the heads of several of the fifth years.
"Densaugeo!" Figg shot at Pansy, moving faster then she had with any of the other students.
"Impedimenta!" The Impediment Jinx caught Figg full in the chest, slowing the professor down considerable, giving Pansy time to let an almost casual, "Incendio," roll off her tongue. The hems of Figgs robes ignited.
Hermione sent a stream of water from her wand, extinguishing the flames, before she lifted the Impediment Jinx.
The class, all except the Slytherins, eyed Pansy suspiciously. Any doubt thet may have remained in any of their minds that several of their peers were in league with the Dark Lord was now gone.
"Back in line, Parkinson," Figg nearly panted.
---
Charlie handed his clear identification tag, his signature scribbled along the bottom, to the taller of the two wizards standing guard over the entrance to the underground caverns. The wizard held the card in front of his eye, the badge flashed green and Charlie passed into the shadows of the dwarf tunnels beyond, Chris, Mat, and Katie close behind. Charlie slowed down, letting Mat and Chris pass ahead of him. He caught hold of Katie's arm as she knocked past him, pulling her back to his side.
"What's wrong, Katie?" He demanded, his voice quiet to avoid being overheard by Chris and Mat.
"Nothing's wrong, Charlie," she hissed back, ripping her arm from his grasp.
"Then why---"
"Charlie, Katie," Chris called from the end of the passage. "Do you want us to wait for you?"
"No," Charlie answered, never tearing his attention from the witch before him. "Give us a minute, we'll catch you up."
Chris nodded, taking Mat's hand and turning into the area they used as a sort of community/living cave.
"Why---" Charlie started again, but Katie was already pulling away from him again. "Damn it, Katie, I want to know why you're so bloody cranky all of the time!" Charlie said, grabbing hold of Katie's forearm again and turning her about. She winced as her shoulders crashed against the packed dirt wall. "What did I do?"
"Everything." Katie breathed.
"What? Tell me what happened!"
"I did."
"Why are you so bloody mad at me? What did I do?"
"This Charlie!" She snatched his hand and pressed it to the air in front of her stomach. He could feel something---a bulge. "What---" He started but cut himself off as the bulge . . . kicked. "Are you---?"
"Yes and it's all you're fault!" She tore his hand away, knocking him into the opposite wall.
"When did . . . when did . . ."
"Did this happen?" She finished for him.
"Yes."
"November."
"It's May! You're seven months along? Why'd you hide it, why the hell didn't you tell me?" He bellowed across the three feet separating them. "How were you---ARE you---hiding it!"
"Charoillison," she muttered under her breath.
"WHAT!"
"The Charm of Illusion---a bloody ILLUSION charm!" She cried.
"That's dangerous! Take it off! NOW!" Charlie demanded. She touched the tip of her wand to the air in front of her stomach and muttered the counter spell. In the dim, flickering, candlelight Charlie could see the air before her go fuzzy as her shirt seemed to expand, accommodating her girth.
"Is that better Charlie? Is that what you want?" She scowled.
"Why'd you hide it?"
"Why do think, Charlie?" She wept, knocking his hands away and covering her face with her own. "Your brothers have been taken, we're fighting a war, and . . . and, God, Charlie! I know you don't love me, but I couldn't give it up, I just couldn't."
"What---? I mean . . ." What could he say? Charlie knew he didn't love her, not enough to start a family with her anyway. But a baby? He couldn't just leave her on her own with a child. _His_ child. Weasley's didn't do things like that, they were better then it. "I won't make you do this on your own, Katie. I'm not that kind of guy."
"Don't you think I know that, Charlie?" Katie cried. "But I don't want this child to grow up in a place where it knows it wasn't wanted! That's why . . . why I'm putting it up for adoption," she said, sliding to the ground and not looking at him.
"No," Charlie said darkly. "I won't let you do this to me or our baby. No."
"So, what do you want? We can't get married, not like this, I won't do it."
"Well, what do you want us to do? It's my child too and if _you_ won't keep it then I will."
---
tbc