Disclaimer: You know which characters I made and which JK Rowling owns…
Chapter 6- Muggle London
Colin decided to go along with Dennis's idea and told Julia that he had to study that evening. "I'll study with you," she said.
"No, I, uh, have to write an essay tonight for, uh, extra credit," he lied. Julia believed him and it left Colin free to do what ever with Dennis and DJ.
Colin was very interested in finding out more about this girl. She seemed odd to him, different then anyone else he had met before, but Colin also didn't know whether to trust it or not. You never knew who you could trust these days, and he didn't want Dennis to get into anything bad. It was nearly eight before DJ and Dennis came in from dinner and into the common room. "Colin," Dennis said in shock.
"Is it all right if I do something with you two tonight?"
Dennis looked at DJ, who shrugged, and said, "sure."
They played a game of clue and then jacks, mostly with no talking. Colin finally started asking questions as they put away the game pieces. "What kind of photography do you like to do?"
"Anything, really," she answered, replacing one of the jacks.
"Do you have a portfolio?" Colin pushed. It was the one thing they had in common, and he wanted to get his foot in the door somehow.
"It's up in my common room," she said.
"I'd like to see it sometime," Colin said.
DJ looked up at him and gave him a quizzical look. "Sure, I can get it now if you'd like," she said, getting up and making her way quickly and quietly out of the common room.
"Still think she's a Death Eater?" Dennis asked sarcastically.
"No, I think she's interesting though," Colin said, still looking at where she just exited, "pretty too."
"Snap out of it Romeo, you have a girlfriend," Dennis reminded him, making his way to his dormitory, games piled in his hand.
Colin did just that, snapping his gaze up to his brother, "I know that, I was just saying-"
"You need to be careful what you 'just say'," Dennis retorted back down the stairs.
A few minutes later DJ returned with an album in hand. The three of them sat at a table empty of all other people and flipped through the pages of photos. "This must cost you a lot to develop," Colin pointed out.
"I make it back," DJ informed him, once again thinking of the bit of money in her small jewelry box.
"This one looks familiar," Colin said, stopping on a picture of a lake, but it was unique in the style of focus.
"My, uh, mum took that one," DJ said, cautiously.
"Really? Neat," Dennis said, getting into it, even if he didn't understand photography as much as Colin did.
Colin turned the page. "Who's this?" he asked at the next one of a man with light brown hair and a large smile.
"No one," DJ said, abruptly taking the photo album back and flipping to a page further back. "I didn't take any of those ones, but these are some that I've had published." The topic was changed smoothly and Colin started complimenting her on this set of work.
It was almost ten thirty when she left to go to bed, though the Creevey brothers stayed and talked for a bit. Nothing important, but it was Julia free and Colin had lost a bit of the uptight attitude that he had formed before getting to know DJ. "I want a guitar," Dennis said when Colin asked him what he wanted for Christmas, "but Dad can't afford that."
"Mum used to play the guitar," Colin said.
"I know, that's why I want to learn," Dennis pointed out.
"What about her old one?"
"Dad got rid of it years ago."
"Oh," Colin said.
"What about you? What do you want for Christmas?"
"I'd like a new zoom lens, but I don't really need it. You know I always like anything from Honeydukes."
"Cockroach Clusters it is then," Dennis said.
"Okay, anything but that," Colin said with a look of disgust on his face.
They joked for a bit longer, and even played a game of exploding snaps before heading up to bed. Colin thought about how much fun that had been, and wondered why they didn't do that sort of stuff like they used to. Julia, a voice nagged at the back of his head, and as hard as he tried to make it go away, it only seemed to get stronger. As Colin started to drift off to sleep he thought of that familiar black and white picture that was in DJ's album.
"Dennis, I found it," Colin said the next afternoon, just as Dennis was about to go meet DJ in the kitchens for lunch.
"Found what?" Dennis asked.
"That picture, the one of the lake," Colin said, opening a newspaper and showing Dennis an identical picture of the one he had seen the night before. "See? Picture by Diana Cristova-Prewett."
"So?"
"So, she said it was taken by her mum right? I looked up this name and she died six years ago, some sort of car accident; left behind two kids and a husband apparently."
Dennis took the picture out of Colin's hands, as if it said all of this in there. "You're sure?"
"Yeah, and you're not going to believe this, Diana was a Veela. Diana's parents came here from a real Veela community." Now that made sense, even though to would still be annoying when Colin gawked, but at least there could be an explanation. "I don't know if you want to talk about it to DJ, but I talked to one of the Prefects from Hufflepuff and she didn't know any of it."
"Thanks," Dennis said, handing the newspaper containing an article on Lake Trestema, a Wizarding resort with a large luxurious ad, enhanced by the now informative picture. Colin nodded and went toward the Great Hall while Dennis made his way to the kitchen.
"Hey," DJ said casually, already seated and with a cup of tea.
"Hey," Dennis forced a lop-sided grin. He sat down and they ate in silence, as they generally did. He struggled with himself all through lunch whether to ask her about her mother, but decided to wait. They were strolling outside, DJ stopping every so often to take a snapshot they were nearly to the edge of the forbidden forest when he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Why didn't you tell my about your mum?"
DJ, who had been lifting her camera up to her eye, turned and locked eyes with him. There was a fear in there that Dennis saw, but then they unfroze. "I don't know what you meant," she tried to say.
"Come on, DJ, don't lie to me like that. Colin found a picture she had taken that's in the Prophet, one you said your mum took."
"Look, I don't want to talk about it."
"Sometimes it's easier," Dennis pushed.
"Sometimes it's not!" DJ said, while turning back on him, furry flashing in her eyes.
"My mum died too you know," he attempted.
"But it wasn't your-" DJ started, but stopped herself, turning back to her camera.
"It wasn't my what?"
"Nothing," DJ said, eye still behind the view finder. "Can we just not talk about it?"
"As long as you promise you will, should the need arise."
"Fine," DJ said, convincing herself that it never would.
Dennis came behind her, putting his arms around her, keeping her from taking another picture. "You have to promise," he said.
"I promise," DJ said, half frustrated half ready to start a snowball fight.
"Okay," Dennis said, releasing her to continue her work with the camera.
It was five minutes or so before anyone spoke. "I'm, uh, meeting someone in Muggle London this Friday after school's out," she informed him, though she didn't make eye contact. "Just thought I'd let you know."
"You'll be back before Christmas, right?"
"Yeah," DJ said.
"Then we can celebrate," Dennis said excited, knocking some snow off of the branch near him. He had been trying to convince DJ to have some kind of Christmas morning gift opening with him and Colin that day, and she had finally agreed a few days before.
"Yeah," DJ said, a real smile coming to her lips.
That Friday after classes were finished, DJ went to her jewelry box, pushed aside the golden locket with a unicorn adorning the face of it, and took out her money. This should be enough, she though and wondered how difficult it would be to exchange it. She also took two flasks and put them into her backpack. Ready to go, she snuck out to mix herself in with the crowd of students making their way to Hogsmeade. Once on the train and in her own locked compartment, she took out the first flask and drank it to the last drop. She felt herself slowly change and when it seemed complete, DJ took out a hand mirror to see the effects. It had worked wonderfully.
DJ touched her face, which now showed that of a woman in her twenties, instead of a girl of only twelve. She had become a few inches taller, but her waist size had stayed nearly the same. She had brought other clothes to change into anyway. She did so quickly and stayed put, reading a book she had gotten from the Hogwarts library on the subject of spells gone wrong. Not even the trolley lady bothered her, as the door had been shut. When they arrived at London station, DJ left in her Muggle clothing, making her way to Diagon Alley.
It didn't take her long to exchange money and get what she had needed, and DJ still had three hours before the next train came. If I get the Knight Bus maybe I won't have to use the second bottle, DJ thought as she counted the Wizarding money left in her pocket. A Muggle bus passed just before she looked up to see across the street. There, in the café was a small family, but there was only one member DJ concentrated on: the young blonde-haired boy sitting between his parents, obviously telling them some sort of joke. DJ dropped the flask of liquid that she had just extracted from her bag, and looked before making her way across the street. She looked at her reflection in the window, knowing she looked too old and instead went into the café and took a seat.
DJ ordered a cup of tea, and tried to listen to what they were saying though it was too loud to know for certain. It was half an hour before the father of the family paid the bill. DJ got her things ready, just as she felt herself changing back. She stayed put, and waited until the family had left the café before following. Unfortunately her waitress had seen her before. "You're that little girl," the waitress said wide- eyed. "Hey, Kyle, call the police, it's the little Prewett girl!"
DJ got up and tried to make a run for it, but the waitress caught her arm, and another man came to help. "Let me go! I have to find him!" she shouted, kicking the waitress, but the man who was helping had her arms tightly. "Let me go!" DJ said, tears forming in her eyes.
"Come on, luv," the waitress said in attempt to calm her. "It'll be all right."
"No, I have to," DJ kept saying different versions of this incoherently through sobs, soon giving up the fight in her. It wasn't long after that that the police came, and then it was to St. Peter's for her.
A/N: Okay, so just when you thought you had found something out I threw more confusion… allow me a sinister laugh muahahaha muahaha, cough cough. Anyway, hope this isn't too frustrating for you all, but I'm trying to drag a bit and let you take it in. You'll find out all the facts in the next chapter, I promise, but it'll be a bit longer before you know how DJ feels about it all =)
Please, please, please review!
Thank you:
Leoking: What have I said about guessing! Granted part of your guess was off, but now you can guess to me on messenger, how about that? Little Secrets? I don't know what that is, but I found something on IMDB with it, and if I found the right movie….you're a dork. Just Joking! Just remember that she was waken from the dream. Thank you for your reviews, it's good to know my hints are being picked up somewhere along the line. Let's see what you make of the ones in this chapter. Oh yeah, and no DJ/Dennis pairing, sorry. I'm trying to keep this one somewhat romance free. I might write a sequel if enough people respond… I don't know yet.
Josephine Sawyer: I think I've gotten over the offensiveness of DJ being considered a Mary Sue, especially since you'll probably think so after this chapter. Dennis is pretty patient to put up with DJ, but I also think he was patient with his brother at first. I think he also realized that DJ didn't mean to almost hit him with the bludger, since she didn't know he was there, and he's looked past the beauty, which is why he doesn't gawk anymore. Just remember that they're more behind actions than I explain, like whatever made the girls go get a prefect, or what other people think of DJ, which I think I'll be including.
JamieBell: I think that friends is all DJ needs and can handle right now, but who knows? Someday she might find deeper feelings for someone, but that is not in this story, nope. I think I've had Colin stare because he's more of the typical boy out of the two brothers, and I think Dennis has probably spent enough time with her to get over it.