Chapter 25: Ali Wakes

*****

            Images of shadowy figures, seemingly threatening, followed her where ever she tried to hide.  A deep seated fear that, where ever she went, she was too late to stop whatever it was that she needed to do; and that she would be forever blamed for it.  Tired.  So very, very tired…

            Then came the flames and the sound of trickling water.  They caught her attention- drew it away from her fears and finally allowed her to relax- to help her rest and recoup her strength.  To help her forgive herself for any imagined deficiencies, for feeling that she might have been too late…

            And then, finally, came the song, and there was nothing left but the three- the flame, the water and the music.  She slept.

*****

            "…is about to do something drastic.  Madam Pomfrey won't let many people come visit you until you wake up, mainly just the seventh years, but Ginny's been allowed to come too, which bothered him.  So Ginny's taken to borrowing Harry's Invisibility Cloak so we can sneak her in and out of the tower so Colin doesn't feel hurt…"

            Alinora heard the voice coming from somewhere nearby, but wasn't quite awake enough yet to place who it was and what they were talking about.  She tried to open her eyes, or get her sleep fuzzy mind to concentrate, and slowly things started coming into focus.

            "'orge?  S'at you?" she mumbled, trying to turn her head to the side to see.  Nothing seemed to be working correctly though- she was really, really stiff.  "Why can't I move?" she asked plaintively.

            "Ali!  You're awake!"  The joy was evident in George's voice as he quickly got up from the chair he was sitting in to help Ali struggle into a more upright position.  "Take it easy, you've been… asleep for quite a while."

            Alinora leaned back against the pillows George had arranged behind her and looked around the room, finally noticing where she was.  "How did I…" she began and then she sighed.  "I got hit by another bloody rock!  Now I remember…" she continued with a trace of disgust.  "Really need to learn to dodge a bit better, huh?  So, how is everyone else?  Were you hurt?  Is everyone else okay?  Were you saying something had happened to Colin?"  Alinora asked anxiously, staring up at George.

            "We're all fine; nothing's wrong with Colin.  The most people got were some minor cuts or hits from random hexes.  That was all taken care of pretty quickly.  It seems that you were the only real casualty of the fight." he teased gently.  "Murcus explained to Dumbledore what happened down there and how you were hurt, but other than that we've heard no details.  We've been waiting for you to wake up."

            Ali's expression went still.  "So… did Dumbledore explain my involvement in all this?"

            Looking into her eyes, George knew she wasn't referring to what might have gone on during her defense of the ward.  She was asking what he'd been told about her… and how he felt about it.  George paused for a moment before answering.  He'd given a lot of thought to what Ginny had said the previous day- and what she'd said to him later as well.  Once the four had returned to the common room, Ginny had dragged him off to a secluded corner to continue the conversation…

*****

            "So, how are you feeling now?  Things clearer, or even worse?"

            "I'm still reeling, but I think you're right- I'm upset over Ali being hurt and it's coming out as anger at her, though it's more that whole feeling of not being able to do anything to help.  And I really wish I could've known about all this sooner, but I guess I can see why that would be bad…"

            Ginny grinned, "No you can't, I can tell by the look on your face.  You forget, I'm your sister and I can read all of you guys like books- which you really ought to start doing so you don't get in similar situations in the future!"  She laughed.  "Stop and think for a moment.  Had you or anyone else around here known her background- being raised by a family that included both a selkie and a mermaid, wouldn't you imagine that there's probably more to her than to the rest of us 'normal' students.  And she's a wiz in most of her classes, though she's down played that pretty successfully for most of the time she's been here.  In fact, until she went after Snape the other day, I bet most of your class had no idea that she knew all that and was that far ahead of the rest of you.  Luckily, the attack was right after that so the information didn't have a chance to filter down to someone who might have made good use of it.  Her actions Friday didn't fit the student persona she's encouraged.  She doesn't hide it as much around here, and us, but she has to, to an extent, because any one of us could say something to the wrong person, which could've made Saturday's attack many times worse than it was.  We might have lost people.  We might have lost Ali if someone knew to be prepared for a true water defense."

            George considered her words for a while, and then nodded.  "I can see that.  But doesn't that just show that she's been lying to us the whole time she's been here?"

            "Are you trying to convince yourself that she's in the wrong here?!?" Ginny asked him in slight disbelief.  "Do you admit to everyone everything you can do, everything you're capable of?  No.  I doubt that anyone does.  Had you ever asked her if she already knew this stuff, she would've told you.  She was always helping those of us who asked- like with the wandless magic.  If you noticed the discrepancy and called her on it, she was always very upfront about what was going on.  And in offering to teach you how to do it too.

            "I'll admit that she wasn't upfront about being able to transfigure herself into a mermaid and the whole mother being a selkie thing, but I guess I can't really blame her.  Remember that whole mess with Hagrid last year and his being half giant?  Ali got here right before that hit.  She was just meeting all of us and then the whole scandal about half bloods broke.  And there she was, with a mother considered to be a magical creature.  I'd be a bit wary telling people too- you never know how people will react.  And by the time she felt comfortable with letting us know, here's Dumbledore telling her that she shouldn't, that it could cause problems."

            "I really do understand about that… and you're making a lot of sense with the rest of it too.  I guess I don't know why I reacted so badly to all this.  She's still Ali; I can't see how that should change based on what I now know…  I guess… I guess I'm mainly upset that she had to do this all alone.  That she couldn't tell me and that I didn't guess!  You knew, you had guessed, why didn't I??  And don't tell me I need to start reading more- I happily leave that to you and Hermione.  I feel guilty though.  I feel like I should've done more, said something- not sure what, but something that showed that her background doesn't matter.  Or that it does matter, but that it doesn't change things.  Am I making any sense at all?" he finally asked, running his hands through his hair until it began sticking up on top of his head.

            "Yes, I think so," Ginny said, smiling up at him, "and that's exactly what you're going to need to tell her.  You know she's going to be worried.  I have a feeling she's been dreading us finding out, not because she's ashamed of it or doesn't want us to know, but because she cares about our friendship and is worried that we might not be able to accept her after knowing all the details."

            "We wouldn't do that!  I couldn't do that!  She's amazing- one of the nicest people here, it doesn't matter who her family is!"  George was sputtering by this point which sent Ginny into giggles.

            "She'll be very happy to hear that." she finally was able to say, before giving him a quick hug and heading off to find Harry.

*****

            "George?" Alinora was looking at him curiously as he remembered that she had asked him a question.

"Yes, Dumbledore did explain your involvement, or at least he explained a little.  Then Ginny explained the rest…" George started laughing.  Shaking his head he reached out and took Alinora's hand.  "You would've been proud of her; she got so irritated at all of us for being surprised and not having figured the whole thing out months ago.  I think she's started channeling Hermione with the whole reading thing and how it solves all your problems." Glancing back at Ali, George could still see that her eyes were worried.

            "Look, I'll admit I was a bit upset when I first heard.  I didn't completely understand what was going on, you were still unconscious and couldn't be woken up.  I was afraid that one way or the other I'd be losing you because of all this.  That scared me, which made me mad, which means I was reacting badly.  Ginny pretty much beat some sense into me until I was thinking clearly, but I'm fine with things now.  Unless you really are planning on make the transfiguration permanent and going to live off in the ocean somewhere, in which case you need to wait until I figure out that whole breathing under water charm!"

            Alinora had started smiling during the middle of his explanation and was laughing by the end.  "I don't think you have to worry about that.  And you're going to have to try a whole lot harder than that to get rid of me now!" she exclaimed, grinning mischievously up at him.

             "Ali, I…"  George was cut off by the sound of the door opening and Katie's excited yell.

            "Ali!  You're awake!"  She came running across the room towards them, followed closely by Ginny, and a bit more reservedly by Fred.  Alinora caught the look of rather resigned amusement on George's face before she was enveloped in a hug from Katie and then from Ginny.  Fred simply gave her a grin and tousled her hair, which, considering how long she'd been asleep, was already rather mussed.

            "Miss me, huh?" Alinora said rather cheekily as she attempted to smooth her hair, before finally giving up and re-braiding it.  "You guys doing okay?  George said that no one was hurt?"  She peered intently at them all as they assured her that they were all fine.  They'd been worried about her.

            "Me?  Why would you be worried about me?  I just got hit by a rock.  Again!" she said disgustedly, shaking her head.  "I had a concussion, right?"

            "Ali, you were out for almost three days!  It was a bit more than a concussion!"  Ginny responded.  "You were so drained that Katie and I had to channel power to you just to get your reserves up enough for you to recover.   What in the world were you doing under there?!?"

            "Excellent question Miss Weasley.  Just what we were coming to ask as well."  None of them had heard Professor Dumbledore enter, let alone Professors McGonagall and Snape who were close behind him.  "Perhaps Alinora can satisfy all of our curiosities at once, humm?" he continued, peering down at Ali.  Summoning chairs for all, he carefully settled himself in one and folded his hands into his lap to wait.

            "I take it that this means you fully explained matters to the Professors?" Ali asked him, gesturing to the other two.

            "Under the circumstances, I felt that the secrecy could be lessened slightly.  Not to worry, not all your secrets have been revealed."  His eyes twinkled merrily as she tried to glare at him, before giving in and smiling.

            "Humph!  I should certainly hope not!" she laughed.  Growing more serious, she pulled herself further upright in the bed, brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.  "Where should I begin?  What do you want to know that Murcus hasn't already told you?"

            "We know where everything took place and Murcus says that there appeared to be three attackers- is that correct?  Do you have any idea who they were?"

            "I only saw the three, so I assume that there were no more.  I don't know who any of them were, but the one, a blonde man, looked vaguely familiar…"  Alinora noticed that Snape had startled at that, shooting a quick glance at Dumbledore.

            "Could it have been Lucius?  He is blonde and a known Death Eater- this is certainly his style…"

            "Lucius Malfoy?!?  I wouldn't put anything past him!"  Fred said angrily, "After what he's done in the past…"

            "You mean Draco's father?  That would explain why he looked vaguely familiar, especially if there's a strong family resemblance…" Alinora said consideringly.  "Well, if it was, Draco's now without a father.  There's no way any of them made it out of there alive."

            "They could've Apparated…"

            "No they couldn't- still too close to the school.  If Apparating was possible there I wouldn't have been lying here for the past 3 days!"  Ali stopped speaking abruptly, looking at Dumbledore contritely, "Or was I not suppose to say anything about that yet either?  Oh bother!"  She shrugged apologetically.

            "Ali dear, care to explain that one, while we're on the topic?" Fred asked sweetly.  The rest looked rather interested too.

            "Quick answer is… if the Ministry doesn't know you have magic, they don't look for under-aged infractions of the law.  Therefore, my father felt it was a good idea to teach me how to Apparate since it could get me out of harm's way if necessary.  Once I came to Hogwart's though, I was suddenly on the list of those to watch over- thus using that horrible portkey to get home after the train ride last year.  When I had to come back to the school over the summer due to separation anxiety over being away from the ward, Dumbledore felt I needed to officially get licensed so I wouldn't be bored all summer and could quickly get where I needed to be.  He had Uncle Remi come take me and it's all legal now, though I can't do much with it while I'm here- obviously!  Okay for now?"  No one said anything, so she turned back to Dumbledore.

            "To get back to the real topic at hand- I don't know who the other two men were with Lucius; I can try to give you a description later though.  I was doing fine fending off their attempts to destroy the ward, but I could tell they were just getting more and more angry.  I had a feeling they were about to start casting… more serious spells, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to defend against them- I was already fairly tired.  About that time, I guess the Merpeople and the giant squid decided to take matters into their own hands- or tentacles, as the case may be- and collapse the passage behind them and then the cavern itself."

            "How did they get into the cavern anyway?  I thought we had blocked off any passages in from the outside?" McGonagall asked.

            "It was blocked!  I checked every single passage this past summer.  I went as far up each of them as I could and reported back to Dumbledore about any that needed to be guarded against.  That particular one was blocked by a rock fall about a hundred yards up the passage from where the cavern was.  I guess they found their way in from above somewhere and cleared it out."  Considering how much effort she'd put into checking everything over the summer, Alinora was rather irritated that they'd still managed to find a way through.

            "Well, no use worrying over it now." Dumbledore said soothingly, smiling at Alinora.  "We'll have to check the others again at some point, but there's no hurry right at the moment.  They lost quite a few of their numbers during that attack Saturday- they won't be quick to return.  Though we will have to be careful that your involvement doesn't become known as I'm sure they would be rather likely to attempt retribution for your part in the whole thing."

            "I've been trying to make sure I covered as much up as possible, but those last couple days… it was pretty obvious something was going on that involved me.  I completely lost it on a couple occasions, though luckily I think only the Gryffindors were around for Saturday's fiasco." Alinora shrugged and pointedly didn't look at Professor Snape.

            Alinora was hit by a sudden thought.  "Wait a minute!  You said I've been out for three days?!?  Argh!"  She groaned in frustration.

            "What's the matter Ali?" Katie asked concernedly, "Is your head hurting again?"

            "No!  I just realized that I completely missed my birthday!  It was Sunday, the 21st.  Bloody hell!  How many holidays of mine are these people going to mess up for me!"  She ignored the look of shock on McGonagall's face, feeling incredibly put out.

            "Which reminds me, Murcus sent this along for you.  I believe it's from your mother."  Reaching a hand into a pocket, Dumbledore pulled out a well wrapped bundle and handed it to her.  Smiling happily, she took it and started untying the cords holding it together.  Inside was a box containing a pretty conch shell and a small photo album.

            Holding the shell up to her ear, Ali listened to the voice recorded within:

            "Ali, my dear, happy eighteenth birthday!  I look forward to celebrating it with you, belatedly of course, when you come to visit after term is over.  I hope you will enjoy the enclosed pictures I have put together of your extended family.  Your Grandmother sends her love too… I won't bother to send along the rest of her message as you are only too familiar with it by now! (there was the sound of laughter)  Once again, I hope you have a very happy birthday!  All my love."

            Grinning happily, eyes glowing a brilliant green, Ali turned to hand the shell to George before she turned to open up the album.  George held the shell up to his ear with a slightly puzzled look on his face, which quickly changed to startled and finally amusement as he heard the message within.

            Glancing through the pictures, Alinora suddenly looked up at Dumbledore.  "I've been wondering something… my father never spoke much about Hogwarts.  He talked about you and some of his classes, but not about much else.  He never mentioned what house he'd been placed in while he was here, which seems a bit odd considering the importance everyone places on it, but I've been thinking…  There are some pretty stereotypical personality traits that that bloody hat seems to make its decisions based on and I'm pretty convinced that Father had been in Slytherin.  Am I right?"

            Snape looked absolutely shocked, but Dumbledore simply laughed.  "I was wondering if you'd ever ask about that.  You seemed completely unconcerned with the whole topic, but yes, he was in Slytherin.  A bit before your time Severus, I think you came in the year after he left.  A very interesting person, your father.  Very determined to do things his own way and determined to a fault to do what he felt had to be done, no matter what the cost."

            "No, it was only 'no matter what the cost' until he met my mom and then had me.  Then he had a line he would not cross- something he was not willing to sacrifice.  It is amusing though.  I have wondered if he'd care that I wasn't put in his old house."

            "I think that as long as you're happy and doing what you want to do, he would be very pleased." Dumbledore said rising to his feet.  "Now I think it's time to leave you be and let you have a bit more of a look at your gift.  We'll talk again later."  Returning his chair to its original location, he walked out of the room, followed closely by McGonagall who was whispering something to him as they walked out.  Snape quickly followed, though not before giving Alinora a rather odd look that she couldn't interpret.

            Shrugging it off, she turned back to the others, smiling broadly.  "Want to see some pictures?  You saw the locket sized ones at Christmas, but these are much better."  At their nods of agreement, she opened up the album, putting it down in front of her on the bed.  "Okay, here are my parents in front of our home."  The picture showed a tall man with close cropped, curly, sandy blonde hair and a fine boned woman with very long brown hair that appeared to be blowing in the wind.  "And here's Grandmother…"  Turning to yet another picture in the book, Ali pointed out a very typical blonde mermaid, perched upon a boulder off a rocky coastline.  Her expression was vaguely haughty and they could begin to get an idea of why Alinora always spoke of her in a loving, but resigned tone of voice- she looked a little hard to deal with.  "And here I am, with Mom, a couple years ago."  Here the family resemblance was most apparent, as the two stood close together, arms around each other's waists.  Both had their hair flying loose in the breeze and were smiling happily at the camera.

            "Okay you four; it's time for you to go for a while.  It's lunch time and Miss Roane needs to eat and relax for a while.  You can all come back later on- and so can the others, if they would like.  Now that she's awake I'm less concerned with who comes to visit."  Madam Pomfrey was back, carrying a tray of food, which she sat down on a near by table to better be able to shoo them out of them room.  The others got up slowly, grumbling about having to leave when they had so much to talk about, but she was firm.

            Before he left, George leaned over to hand Ali back her mother's shell and whisper in her ear.  "By the way, in reference to something you said on Saturday…  I love you too."  Smiling at her happily amazed look, he gently kissed her on the forehead and turned to follow the others out, under Madam Pomfrey's watchful glance.

            Settling back to eat her lunch, Alinora couldn't stop smiling.  He loves me too…