13
Ok, well first of all, I'd like to say that I updated my chapters 6-8. I'd also like to apologize for my lack of updating...two weeks is a really long time! I unfortunately, just moved into my college dorm and have been bogged down with the whole moving out and in. Not to mention all the mandatory crap they're makin us do so that we could "get to know each other" but you know how It goes....
Special thanks to all my nice readers, especially: Harmen, Sentinel-witch, lyss33, harryptaxd204, aalikane, LupinLover99, and ron-hater XXVII...thanks for your reviews, I really appreciate them. More special thanks go to my betas: icycoolhermione and Dreamermarie. They are so amazing....
Harmen has left me such large responses that I feel I should respond to some of them, so here it goes: Of course what happens to Fiona is similar to Harry- this story is based closely on the books. However you should notice that I changed some sections. I am forever rereading and reediting chapters. I actually forgot to post my edits on here, hence the note above. It's good you recognize Professor u Skont, she wasn't supposed to be a big 'secret'. Hermione has already figured her out. Ron and Harry however, are a little slow on the upbringing. Sorry about the vampires but there will be more informative lessons later that actually have to do with the plot, so don't worry. Thanks for your input and I like that fact that Fiona can't fly either. ;)
To all those who are wondering. Fiona is in no way related to Harry. This is NOT one of those long lost twin sister or cousin or whatever fics. So, you can stop thinking that.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, obviously....
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center Chapter 10: Meetings /center
Early Monday morning, Harry walked down to Madam Hooch's office to post the new Gryffindor Quidditch team. Harry, being the captain, was obviously still Seeker and he had kept Ron as Keeper. For Beater, Harry assigned Fiona and Andrew Kirke. For Chaser Harry had Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas, and Jack Sloper. He decided to put Colin Creevey as Reserve. Ginny was Reserve Seeker, just in case. He didn't want to admit it to Ron, but next in line for Captain was Ginny. Ron might have been on the team much longer, but Ginny was a really good flyer.
He quickly posted the team roster before heading to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was barely six thirty and breakfast wasn't served yet but Harry didn't feel like going back to the common room that morning and so, he sat at the Gryffindor table alone.
"Mr. Potter, I've been looking everywhere for you," Professor McGonagall said, in a hushed tone.
"Sorry, Professor McGonagall, I was just posting the Quidditch Team roster."
"Really? Fiona's broom just came in, now that you mention it. Nimbus Two Thousand and One; very nice broom," Professor McGonagall said, side tracking herself. "But, Potter, I am to inform you that you have a meeting in Professor Dumbledore's office tonight at eight o'clock. The new password is Whiz-bangs."
"Thank you, Professor."
"You'd better be on time for this meeting, Potter," she warned him.
"Yes, Professor," Harry said, remembering how he had been late to his meeting with McGonagall the year before.
After the professor left, it wasn't much time before Hermione sat down next to him.
"Ron and Fiona are at Hooch's office. I don't see why all of you are so obsessed with Quidditch. Since Dumbledore is spending all this time with these Halloween Balls to promote inter-house unity, he might as well cancel Quidditch. It creates the biggest divide out of everything," Hermione started. Harry groaned.
"Hermione, I know you don't understand anything about Quidditch, so why don't you give it a rest," he grumbled.
"What do you mean i Balls /i ? As in plural, meaning there will be more than one?" Ron practically shouted, his voice cracking loudly. Hermione tried not to smirk.
"Didn't you see the signs? They're posted everywhere, Ron, really. For the first part of the day, we have to charm our hair different colors and completely disguise ourselves and then for the real ball at night, we all just come as ourselves. We have to wear the same robes though- you know, that way people can recognize you."
"Having a scar across my forehead pretty much labels me," Harry replied angrily.
"Oh come on, Harry! It'll be fun!" Hermione tried persuading him.
"Yea, watch us start talking to Malfoy. Mind you, I'd know who he was right away, stupid git," Ron said.
"Ron, that's exactly the whole point. You won't be able to tell who Malfoy is because he'll be looking so different. Maybe you'll learn to be friendly to people you otherwise wouldn't talk to. I mean Malfoy is stretching it a bit far, but you never know. You are definitely going and don't even think of taking one of those abominable skiving snackboxes and I know you have one, too. I saw it in your bag this morning," Hermione rambled. Ron glared at her. She was so obnoxious sometimes.
"Yes, mum," he spat at her before picking up his books and leaving.
"Could you two sit together for more than five minutes without getting into an argument?" Harry glared at her before picking up his own books and leaving.
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The rest of the day, Harry ignored Ron and Hermione the best that he could. He was simply too tired of their constant arguing. During class, he sat next to Fiona and only briefly responded to them. That night, he walked out of the dormitories to find them screaming at each other, again. He rolled his eyes and kept walking; he didn't want to be late for Dumbledore's appointment. As he walked out of the portrait hole he distinctly heard Hermione say the reason that Harry was angry was because Ron was the stupidest prat she had ever seen and was totally ignorant of other people's feelings. Ron said he was angry because Hermione thought she was better than everyone else and didn't care about other people's opinions. Obviously they were just screaming about their own problems with each other and they were only using Harry as a scapegoat.
"Whiz-bangs," Harry muttered, angrily. He was not in a very good mood, which wasn't going to help if Dumbledore decided to practice Occlumency.
"Good evening, Harry. How is everything in the Gryffindor common room?" Professor Dumbledore greeted him. He was smiling knowingly at Harry.
"All right, I guess," Harry responded irritably.
"And what's troubling you?" Dumbledore asked him. Harry could not think of why Dumbledore even cared that he was upset. Ron and Hermione's squabble would surely be insignificant to him.
"Er- nothing, Professor. It's just that Ron and Hermione are arguing again," Harry said truthfully.
"Yes, so I hear. But if you notice, when it's really important, they always work together. Hermione and Ron just grew up differently. In time, they'll learn to get along, or maybe they won't. Some of the best relationships are based on arguments and debates."
Harry looked at him skeptically. He had no idea what Dumbledore was talking about and didn't see how it would help him from keeping Ron and Hermione from ripping each other's heads off during breakfast.
"Now Harry, Professor Safia told me that you are progressing in your Occlumency lessons. I must say that I am astounded by your achievements in this area. I know it will be hard for you, but I was wondering if you would also begin learning Legilimency while you are practicing Occlumency. I feel it would be to your advantage if you become proficient at Legilimency. Of course, you will need a partner for this and although you immediately will think of Ron, I caution you on this. You will have to look into this person's mind and you will see some of their secrets, wishes, and fears. A great amount of trust has to be placed on your Legilimency partner. I recommend that you think about using Fiona. You could both learn from this experience, you know," Dumbledore studied him closely. Harry was frowning and he appeared to be deep in thought.
"Professor, why was Fiona the only one taken from Diso?" Harry asked him.
"Harry, you have asked me about her already and again I will tell you the same thing. Fiona will tell you when she is ready."
"But Professor, you are not the only one that is interested in her," Harry said, choosing his words carefully. Dumbledore looked taken aback; he did not think that Harry would want to talk about Fiona.
"That is true, I'm guessing that you've already deduced the reason Diso was attacked Harry and I will tell you it is perfectly true. The deatheaters attacked Diso looking to kill Fiona. Yet another way for Voldemort to get to me, but again he has failed. At Diso, there was reckless killing and reckless fighting. This is very unlike his true followers, who are very stealthy and operate in secret. It has caused us to believe that Voldemort has once again begun recruiting newer and younger members."
"Like Draco Malfoy," Harry spat out, immediately regretting what he said. He fixed his eyes on a spot on the floor.
"Pardon?" Dumbledore asked him, intrigued. Harry looked at him briefly.
"Well, I mean it's common knowledge about his dad now, I was just assuming," Harry said hastily. Even as he said this, Harry knew that Dumbledore could see right through him.
"You know Harry, new protections have been added to Hogwarts this year. It has allowed me to know of different things that are going on," Dumbledore said, looking at him intently.
"Would it know, say, if a certain person did an Unforgivable Curse and who that person was?" Harry asked. He was not going to completely betray Fiona, but one look at Dumbledore's face and Harry had a feeling it was going to be very hard. Dumbledore was again looking at him, speechless. He appeared to be getting angry.
"If someone were caught doing an Unforgivable Curse, Harry, they would be immediately expelled," Dumbledore informed him.
"It wasn't me, Professor, it's just that Malfoy-"
"Yes, Harry, why do you keep mentioning Draco Malfoy? You know, maybe you should try giving him a chance."
That was all Harry needed. All of his pent up frustration seemed to flow right out of him.
"Give him a chance? Give i him /i a i chance /i ? Are you kidding? Do you even understand what you are i saying /i ?" A loud thud could be heard as Harry stood up quickly, knocking his chair over. He banged on the table loudly. "I will never, ever give i Draco Malfoy /i a chance! i Ever /i ! He used an Unforgivable Curse on Fiona! I would i never /i trust him! I will never i forgive /i him! And he is not under the Imperius Curse, so no one better believe i that /i story when he makes it up!" By then, Harry was in such a rage that sparks were flying out of the wand in his pocket. He pulled his wand out and slammed it on the table. Dumbledore sat quietly, taking in Harry's ranting and ravings and trying to make some sense out of them. When he heard that Draco had indeed been doing an Unforgivable Curse, a look of anger flashed across his face.
"Alright, Harry that is enough for tonight, I think it's time you went to bed. And do not worry about Draco. I will see to this matter. Just one thing, how are lessons with Professor Skont? Have you been meeting with the DA regularly?"
"Yes, they're fine," Harry said, lamely picking up the chair he knocked over. He wished he wasn't so moody and he absentmindedly rubbed his scar.
"Very well, good night, Harry and please, practice your Occlumency before you go to bed."
"Night, Professor," Harry mumbled as he left Dumbledore's office.
Harry had a lot to think about that night. All along he had known that it was because of Fiona that Diso had been attacked, but to hear Dumbledore say it was quite different. And the fact that Voldemort was recruiting new members was definitely not a good sign. Harry drifted off to sleep wondering exactly what Dumbledore was expecting him to learn from Fiona if he chose her to be his Legilimency partner.
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The rest of the week went by rather quickly and Thursday night seemed to creep up on Fiona.
"Don't worry," Ron said, looking up from his Charms book. "Fred and George have gotten detention from Snape i loads /i of times and they're still ok."
"Detention with Snape isn't so bad," Harry added, totally ignoring his own Charms book. "Come on, I'll walk you to the dungeons."
"Don't forget your bag!" Hermione interrupted, shoving Fiona's bag filled with potions supplies in her lap.
"Harry, I know where the dungeons are, you don't have to walk me."
"Let's go," Harry said. He didn't want to tell her that ever since her bout with Malfoy, he and Ron took turns keeping tabs on her.
"If you must," Fiona said, walking out the portrait hole. She was trying to look brave, but really, she was nervous about her first detention.
Harry and Fiona walked all the way to the dungeons in silence. After his talk with Dumbledore, Harry wasn't sure of what he should say to her. Did she know what Dumbledore told him? Dumbledore kept saying that she would tell Harry, but Harry was beginning to think that Fiona didn't know anything at all.
"All right, here's the classroom. Really, Harry, please say you aren't going to sit outside and wait for me."
"Of course not, I'll uh, see you tomorrow, Fiona."
"Night, Harry."
Fiona walked into the classroom. Snape was waiting for her. He did not look very pleased to see her, but then, Fiona reasoned, he never really looked pleased.
"Now, you will be sorting out these different potions ingredients and putting them in the correctly labeled bottles. Don't forget to count how much of each item; I need a clear answer for each substance."
"But, Professor Snape, sir, where are the bottles?" Fiona asked, looking around. All she could see was a pile of what appeared to be various plants and dried beetles.
"You'll get the bottles after you've finished counting and sorting, now get to work and I hope you've brought a pair of gloves with you," he said to her before walking over to his desk.
Fiona quickly set about her extremely boring task. Luckily, she had listened, and by listened she took the bag that was shoved at her before she left, to Hermione and brought along some of her potions supplies. Her gloves just happened to be in her bag. She separated all the plants and put them in different piles. She was instantly grateful for the gloves because most of the plants were prickly and she definitely did i not /i want to touch the dried beetles, some of which were not so dried and were crawling across the table. She also thought she saw something that resembled boresnap, which if she remembered her Herbology lesson from that morning, it would create large boils and stings on her hands and arms.
After what felt like ages to Fiona, but was really only about an hour, Professor McGonagall opened the door and walked briskly into the room. She eyed Fiona before turning to Snape. Neither said a word to each other, they simply walked out the door, leaving Fiona to continue her work alone. She sighed, it was extremely boring work.
Fiona looked over at Snape's desk. On top of it was a round, shallow bowl that appeared to have runes across the top. It was filled with a calm, silvery liquid. It was completely mesmerizing. She tried to continue with her work, knowing that if she was caught idly staring into space for one second Snape would make her come back the next day to finish, but she couldn't help herself.
Fiona glanced around the room. Snape still wasn't back yet and she didn't think he was coming back anytime soon as he'd dashed out of the room as soon as McGonagall had stepped in. She cautiously stood up and walked to his desk. Upon looking at the bowl again, she noticed that the silvery liquid had gone clear and she peered in. What she saw astonished her and she let out a gasp. There were i people /i in the little bowl! She moved her face closer to the bowl so that she was directly on top of it, her nose practically touching the surface.
Dumbledore was there with a little girl about a year or so old and he was holding her hand. She had curly white-blonde hair and big green eyes. She was crying and didn't seem to want to let go of his hand and he was talking to a woman.
Fiona tried to push her face even closer, but in doing so she lost her balance and tumbled forward, falling right into the scene below her.
"Professor, I would be happy to take her back with me," the woman said. Fiona looked over. The woman speaking was none other than Marya, her housemother at the orphanage. Fiona felt tears begin to form in her eyes as she looked into the young Marya's beautiful face, remembering that she was now dead.
Fiona watched as the little girl grasped onto Dumbledore's leg for dear life, but Marya managed to pry her loose and was now holding her close to her chest. Fiona looked at Dumbledore's face and saw a tear twinkling in his eye.
"Please, take special care of her," he said to Marya, before turning to go. "Good bye, little Fia, I will see you again one day." Then he was gone.
Fiona cried out. i SHE /i was that little Fia! But why had Dumbledore sent her away?
Suddenly, Fiona felt two arms around her shoulders begin to lift her up. She was pulled out of the large bowl and back into Snape's classroom. She looked into the eyes of a very annoyed Snape and suddenly wished herself to be back in the bowl.
" i What /i did you think you were doing?" Snape demanded from her, not really expecting her to respond.
"What, what is that?" Fiona asked him, timidly. Snape stared at her menacingly, then walked over to the bowl and looked inside. He frowned at what he saw.
"How much of this did you see?" he snarled at her.
"Only- only a little. Just Professor Dumbledore giving her, well, giving i me /i away."
"Yes, well. You seem cause much more problems than you're worth," he spat at her. "That is a Pensieve. i Professor Dumbledore's /i pensieve, to be exact." He glanced at the work she had done earlier. "I see you've done enough damage for now, you may go."
"But, Professor-"Fiona started.
"I SAID LEAVE," he shouted at her.
"Yes, Professor," Fiona mumbled as she backed her way out the door. As soon as the classroom door closed behind her, she started running and didn't stop until she got to the Gryffindor common room.
"You're back early," Hermione said as Fiona walked into the Gryffindor common room.
"Detention didn't go so well," Fiona admitted.
"Well, I'm just finishing this Transfigurations. Need any help with yours?" Hermione asked her.
"Not tonight," Fiona said. "I'm tired; I'm going to go to bed. Night, Hermione."
"Night, Fiona."
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The next day in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry sat quietly next to Hermione. He had decided to simply ignore all of Hermione and Ron's bickering and so things were fine in their friendship once again.
"Where is Professor Safia?" Hermione whispered to him.
"How should I know?" he whispered back.
"Well, did she mention something during your last Occlumency lesson?"
"No, but she's usually late to class," Harry said. That was very true. Professor Safia was usually around five or ten minutes late to all of her classes. It was common knowledge that you could usually be a few seconds late to her class. That didn't work all the time, though, as Harry and Ron had found out last Tuesday. They had a detention with her the same night. Nothing bad of course, just writing lines.
"Good afternoon class," Professor Safia said as she breezed into the room. Hermione had a sour look on her face. She clearly was against Professor Safia's lax behavior.
"Is something wrong, Hermione?" the professor asked her as she took attendance.
"Oh no, Professor," Hermione answered quickly.
"Good. Well, I must say I was very happy with all of your exams. Everyone passed by a substantial amount. And so, it is time for a new unit! Today we will begin with dueling. I understand that you had a brief dueling club several years ago; ours will be a bit different. Today we will go over rules and I will split you into pairs," Professor Safia said. Hermione's mouth dropped open. That was i NOT /i what the next unit in the book said. How could she not follow the book? Her hand shot up in the air.
"Yes, Hermione?"
"Um, what happened to Chapter Five: Dealing with Common Curses?" Hermione blurted.
"Hermione, we will certainly be covering that chapter in our dueling," Professor Safia said, raising an eyebrow in Hermione's direction. "Now, the dueling we do in this class will be very important. I suggest you take notes on this lecture, Mr. Longbottom, instead of just staring into space. Contrary to popular belief, the idea of dueling is not just to hurt your opponent worse than yourself. Instead, you should try to protect yourself the best you can before you try hexing your opponent back. Also, in this class we will use simple curses, no need to hex your partner into oblivion."
Harry sat back and pretended to listen. Dueling was probably one of the things he was best at and he already decided that he didn't feel like paying attention in class today. Instead he found himself thinking about Sirius.
i 'If only he hadn't fallen through that veil- if it weren't for me he wouldn't have even been there. No, NO. Stop thinking this-' /i
"Harry, Harry Potter! Are you paying attention?" Professor Safia asked, looking at him warily.
"Er- yes, Professor." Harry hadn't even noticed that he was resting his head on his desk with his eyes closed.
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Then what was I just saying."
"How careful we have to be while dueling and um, stuff," Harry said lamely.
"Stay after class, Harry."
"Yes, Professor." Hermione was looking at him, concern clearly etched across her face. Hermione wasn't the only one; the whole class had turned around to gawk at him. Everyone except Fiona; it seemed the more people turned around to notice him, the straighter ahead she looked.
"What's gotten into you?" Ron asked him. "You've never fallen asleep in a Defense Against the Dark Arts class before, even with Umbridge!"
"Nothing, just tired I guess," Harry mumbled. Ron looked at him skeptically, but turned his attention back to Professor Safia- he didn't want to have to stay after class with Harry.
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"Harry, please try to stay awake in my class."
"Professor Safia, I was not sleeping, I was just-"
"Daydreaming? Thinking off into space? Come on, Harry. You need to try harder."
"Yes, Professor," Harry said, automatically. His brain had shut down halfway through class and his scar was prickling.
"Do you need to see Madame Pomfrey?" she asked him, studying his suddenly pale, clammy skin.
"Fine, just tired," Harry managed. He walked quickly out of the room. Something was not right. i 'Probably just getting sick is all,' /i he thought to himself, ignoring the fact that most wizards do not get common sicknesses or diseases. He hurried to his common room and didn't even bother drawing his curtains before he stumbled onto his bed.
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Harry was back at the first DA meeting in the Hog's Head. He could see Dung sitting off in a corner, dressed as a witch so that he wouldn't be thrown out. He looked around. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were sitting around him. No one else was there.
"We have to get rid of her," Hermione was saying.
"Yeah, she's weird," Ron admitted.
"Who?" Harry asked ignorantly, suddenly focusing on their conversation.
"Fiona, that's who. She doesn't trust us and I don't trust her," Hermione said.
"Me either," Ron said, echoing Hermione once again.
"I guess you're right," Harry found himself agreeing with them, although he was unsure why.
"She's going to become a Death Eater. All this time she's really been in league with Draco and she's spying on us," Hermione said, bitterly. "You know if you go past the bar, there's a door that leads to the rest this place. Read about it in our old History of Magic book."
"Really," Harry said, looking at the back door. He suddenly had the urge to go through there.
"But back to Fiona," Hermione said. "We should get rid of her- no, we NEED to get rid of her." Harry looked over at Hermione in surprise only to notice that he WAS Hermione and quickly he was becoming someone else. He looked down at his hands and gasped at the long, spindly fingers. Then, he let out a terrifying laugh. His voice was pure evil.
"Enough," he spat, looking at a line of his cloaked followers. "You have not been doing your duties. Where is the information on Fiona Clarec that I have demanded?"
"My Lord," a cloaked figure stepped forward and bowed low. Harry could not recognize his voice. "Fiona is constantly being watched by the despicable Potter. We cannot seem to get her alone."
Harry looked at him briefly before simply muttering, "Crucio". Several seconds later he lifted the curse and the cloaked figure stood back in his spot quickly. He looked at them menacingly. There was a lot of work to be done with them, but soon, soon they would be more acceptable.
"Your duty is to make sure that you get her alone. Now listen all of you. I have no need for irresponsible and unreliable children. When you go back to that school, you all better hope that you are the one to bring her to me," he snarled at them. Harry could feel the fear that seemed to emanate from their bodies. He savored the power he held over them and a crooked, wicked smile crept across his face. They would know not to disappoint two times in a row.
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Harry woke up with a start. It was his first full dream that he was able to remember in a long time. i 'No, not a dream,' /i he thought to himself. Once again, he sat chilled in his room as he remembered how it felt to i be /i Voldemort. And he couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy that he had put the Cruciatus curse on.
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Well, that's all for now. I'll update when I get more time! I hope you liked it! And sorry about the long author's note in the beginning. I just thought it necessary since I haven't updated in a while.