Chapter 13: There's No Reason to Hide...
Harry couldn't believe it. Malfoy was captain of the Slytherin team...it just didn't make sense. He was only on the team in the first place because his father had bought all of those fancy brooms for them. His father was disgraced, though, so he couldn't have bribed his way into the position of captain.
"That's right, Potter. My team."
"Oh, well in that case, I'm not worried," said Naomi. She turned to Hermione and said, "Come on, let's get a start on that homework." Naomi stood up and started to leave, Hermione following her. Malfoy scowled and pointed his wand at her, but he made sure it was barely noticeable. "Stupefy," he hissed. Harry jumped up and was about to shout a warning to Naomi, but she didn't need it. She hardly even turned around, just raised her wand and cried,
"Protego!"
The spell was absorbed in the Shield Charm, and Naomi had hardly even blinked. Now she turned and glared at Malfoy, then tossed her hair behind her and stormed out of the Hall. He stared after her like an angry Hippogriff, then spun around and seated himself back at the table. Harry grinned as Professor McGonagall stomped over to him and began telling him off for that cowardly attack. She gave him two week's detention for it.
Harry and Ron stood up to go back to the common room, but Harry suddenly remembered something.
"You go ahead," he muttered. "I've got to do something..."
Ron watched him curiously, but left the Hall as Harry had told him to. Harry waited until the Hall was empty, then approached Dumbledore as he stood up from the table.
"Er-Professor? I need to talk to you..."
"Of course, Harry," said Dumbledore quickly. "Shall we go up to my office?"
"Yeah, okay..." said Harry. He followed him through the school, thinking all the while how he should say it. He had to tell Dumbledore about his dreams, and about how the first one had come almost completely true.
They reached the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office, and Dumbledore said clearly, "Pepper Imps."
The gargoyle sprang to life and moved aside to reveal the moving spiral staircase. They stepped onto the staircase and moved upwards until they reached the door to Dumbledore's office. They entered, Dumbledore sat at his desk, and then he motioned for Harry to sit opposite him.
"Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?"
"Well, I've been having these dreams, and..."
When Harry was finished telling about his dreams and the events of Thursday night, Dumbledore looked like he was angry and concerned.
"So, in esscence, this dream has come true?"
"Sort of. Not all of it, though."
"Yes. Well, I must say I am appalled at Mr. Malfoy's behavior. Perhaps he was acting on his father's orders. But we do not have enough evidence of this, so we cannot have him expelled. I'm sorry," he added as Harry began to protest. "But I can do nothing on the matter. You must understand."
Harry sighed, feeling disappointed. "Yes, Professor."
"It is up to Professor Snape to hand out Malfoy's punishment. I shall ensure that it is sufficient enough to pay for the crime, do not worry."
Feeling a little better at this, Harry thanked Dumbledore for his time and stood to leave.
"Harry," said Dumbledore as Harry reached for the doorknob, "Please tell me if anything such as this happens again, or anything else related to such dreams."
Harry nodded and left the office. He was really hoping that Malfoy would be kicked off the team, but he doubted that would ever happen.
He headed to Gryffindor Tower, where he found Naomi sitting alone in the common room. It seemed everyone else had gone outside. She looked up as he entered.
"Hi," she said. Harry sat next to her.
"Hey. Why aren't you outside?"
She shrugged. "It's too loud out there. I'd usually like to be outside, but we can't go into the forest so there's no way to have some peace out there."
Harry nodded, but then asked, "Do you want me to leave you alone?"
Naomi laughed. "No, I didn't mean that. You can stay. I want you to stay."
They sat and talked for a very long time. All the while Harry was trying to get up the courage to ask her the one question that he had been thinking about ever since Tuesday night when she had dashed off to detention. When they reached a silence, he took a chance.
"Do you...have any parents?" He couldn't believe his stupid big fat mouth. Why did he have to say it? But now there was no way to take it back.
Naomi was quiet for a while before finally answering, "I don't know."
Harry didn't know what on earth he was supposed to say. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked such a stupid question..."
"No, it's all right. It's natural for someone to be curious." she sighed. "Well, I expect you want me to tell you everything?"
"Well...sort of-No, wait! I didn't say that! You don't have to tell me anything-"
"Shut up, Harry. I'll tell you if you want me to, just not...all of it. Well, you know I can see the Threstals. I saw my mother murdered by Death Eaters. My father..." She looked away from him, down at the carpet, and was silent.
"You don't have to talk about it, I'm not making you," Harry said quickly. Now look what you did, you idiot. Why can't you control your stupid mouth? He thought furiously. He really didn't want to upset Naomi.
He was saved from the awkwardness of that moment when Ron and Hermione came inside to join them. Harry didn't pay much attention to the conversation. He was thinking about the little bit of her past that Naomi had just revealed to him. She hates Malfoy and his father...and her mother was murdered by Death Eaters...
××××××
When the date of the first Hogsmeade weekend arrived, Harry was intensely relieved at the thought that he would be spending the day in the village with his friends. Naomi had asked McGonagall if she could go, but it was Dumbledore who granted her permission.
As they walked out of the gates together, talking about Quidditch. Practices had been going very well, and Harry was extremely pleased with his team. He had only cut Colin, and Hermione still seemed not able to believe that she made the team. Ron and Hermione fell behind a little bit after a while, and Harry and Naomi walked along together. Harry felt a surge of rage when he heard Malfoy's taunt from behind, "Aw, look, the Weasel King and the Muggle!" It was Naomi who spun around and said,
"Hermione's a witch, and you know it!"
"Yeah, and you're a freak and you know it, right?"
"You're just jealous because I'm a real freak and you have to wear that hideous mask!"**
She spun around and continued towards the village, leaving a dumbstruck Malfoy behind.
Ron and Hermione caught up with them, laughing very hard.
"That was great!" cried Ron. They all continued on, still laughing at the scene that had just occurred.
The trip to the village was a lot of fun. Hermione, Ron, and Harry showed Naomi all of the sights, and she even tried Butterbeer for the first time.
While they were shopping at Honeydukes, the sweet shop, Cho approached Harry again.
"Harry," she whispered, "I'm sorry. I had no idea your godfather died."
"It's okay," he said shortly, wishing Cho would just leave him alone.
"Well...bye, then" and she left. Harry was quite surprised that she hadn't stayed longer, and he rather regretted being so short with her when all she wanted to do was tell him she was sorry about Sirius. But he was soon distracted from this thought when Naomi informed them that they didn't have chocolate where she came from.
"WHAT?" said Ron loudly. No one in the packed store paid him any attention, though. "No chocolate? That's craziness!"
"Well, we do use chocolate in baking and stuff at the castle, but we haven't got it in blocks like this..."
By the time they all came back to the school, they were very tired and a bit cold, but happy nonetheless. They dropped off their stuff that they had bought in their dorms, but didn't feel like eating dinner, for they were still full of sweets. They thought they might as well go down there to get some pumpkin juice or something, so they headed off anyway.
On the way down, Harry informed them that they had their first Quidditch match the following Saturday. Naomi was very excited about this. "Oh, good!" she said happily. "Who's it against?"
"Ravenclaw."
"Are they any good this year?"
"I think we'll have some competition, but nobody's about to beat my team!"
××××××
They ended up winning their game on Saturday. Hermione, Ginny, and Naomi were the best Chaser team Harry had seen since the World Cup two years ago, and Dean and Seamus were almost as good as Fred and George were. Ron made some spectacular saves, he was much better than last year, the Chasers put through some spectacular goals, and Harry caught the Snitch about 45 minutes into the game. It was a tough match for Harry, however, because Luna Lovegood was a very good Seeker for the Ravenclaw team.
Harry felt wonderful as he stood in the changing room, listening to the rumble of cheers from the Gryffindors outside. The stadium was emptying, and Harry just wanted to wait until everyone was gone. After the voiced died away, he started out. He stopped, though, when he heard a dry sob. He looked around and saw Naomi sitting in the corner, her face buried in her hands.
Harry walked slowly up to her, and noticed a letter sitting beside her on the bench.
"What's wrong? We just won!" Harry said, sitting next to her. She didn't say anything, just grabbed the letter and indicated that it was what she was upset about. Harry took it from her and found that it was in the same strange language as before.
"Er...are you going to tell me what this says?"
"M-m-my grandfather is sick, and he's g-g-going to die..." She turned her tearstained face to him, and he felt terribly sorry for her.
"Oh, Naomi...I don't know what to say-"
"Don't worry," she said, wiping the tears from her face. "Some things just don't need to be said."
They walked up to the castle together, silent tears still streaming down Naomi's face. When they reached the entrance hall, Harry turned to her and gently wiped them away with his sleeve.
"It's okay. He'll be in a better place. Dumbledore once asked me: Do you think the ones we love ever leave us, even after death?"
"I know...but that doesn't mean I can't be sad about it. And anyway, there's more to it than that..."
They had reached an empty corridor. Everyone else was at dinner.
"There's more?" asked Harry.
She nodded and pulled him into an empty classroom.
"Harry, when he dies, I have to take over my people."
"You have to...what? Naomi, you're not telling me something. We're friends. There's no reason to hide it...unless it's really personal or something"
"I'm-"
Just then Peeves the Poltergeist burst into the room. He cackled at the sight of them and swooped towards Naomi. He grabbed her bag and began floating around the room with it, throwing its contents in every direction, chanting, "Potty's got a girlfriend, Potty's got a girlfriend!"
"Give it back, Peeves!" she shouted, jumping up and reaching for the bag. As her right hand shot up to grab it, her sleeve slid down, and Harry froze. Naomi grabbed the bag and began shouting furiously at Peeves, but Harry wasn't listening. He grabbed her right arm and pushed her sleeve up.
On her forearm, there was what was clearly a picture of a skull, with a snake protruding from the mouth like a tongue.
Harry couldn't believe it. Malfoy was captain of the Slytherin team...it just didn't make sense. He was only on the team in the first place because his father had bought all of those fancy brooms for them. His father was disgraced, though, so he couldn't have bribed his way into the position of captain.
"That's right, Potter. My team."
"Oh, well in that case, I'm not worried," said Naomi. She turned to Hermione and said, "Come on, let's get a start on that homework." Naomi stood up and started to leave, Hermione following her. Malfoy scowled and pointed his wand at her, but he made sure it was barely noticeable. "Stupefy," he hissed. Harry jumped up and was about to shout a warning to Naomi, but she didn't need it. She hardly even turned around, just raised her wand and cried,
"Protego!"
The spell was absorbed in the Shield Charm, and Naomi had hardly even blinked. Now she turned and glared at Malfoy, then tossed her hair behind her and stormed out of the Hall. He stared after her like an angry Hippogriff, then spun around and seated himself back at the table. Harry grinned as Professor McGonagall stomped over to him and began telling him off for that cowardly attack. She gave him two week's detention for it.
Harry and Ron stood up to go back to the common room, but Harry suddenly remembered something.
"You go ahead," he muttered. "I've got to do something..."
Ron watched him curiously, but left the Hall as Harry had told him to. Harry waited until the Hall was empty, then approached Dumbledore as he stood up from the table.
"Er-Professor? I need to talk to you..."
"Of course, Harry," said Dumbledore quickly. "Shall we go up to my office?"
"Yeah, okay..." said Harry. He followed him through the school, thinking all the while how he should say it. He had to tell Dumbledore about his dreams, and about how the first one had come almost completely true.
They reached the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office, and Dumbledore said clearly, "Pepper Imps."
The gargoyle sprang to life and moved aside to reveal the moving spiral staircase. They stepped onto the staircase and moved upwards until they reached the door to Dumbledore's office. They entered, Dumbledore sat at his desk, and then he motioned for Harry to sit opposite him.
"Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?"
"Well, I've been having these dreams, and..."
When Harry was finished telling about his dreams and the events of Thursday night, Dumbledore looked like he was angry and concerned.
"So, in esscence, this dream has come true?"
"Sort of. Not all of it, though."
"Yes. Well, I must say I am appalled at Mr. Malfoy's behavior. Perhaps he was acting on his father's orders. But we do not have enough evidence of this, so we cannot have him expelled. I'm sorry," he added as Harry began to protest. "But I can do nothing on the matter. You must understand."
Harry sighed, feeling disappointed. "Yes, Professor."
"It is up to Professor Snape to hand out Malfoy's punishment. I shall ensure that it is sufficient enough to pay for the crime, do not worry."
Feeling a little better at this, Harry thanked Dumbledore for his time and stood to leave.
"Harry," said Dumbledore as Harry reached for the doorknob, "Please tell me if anything such as this happens again, or anything else related to such dreams."
Harry nodded and left the office. He was really hoping that Malfoy would be kicked off the team, but he doubted that would ever happen.
He headed to Gryffindor Tower, where he found Naomi sitting alone in the common room. It seemed everyone else had gone outside. She looked up as he entered.
"Hi," she said. Harry sat next to her.
"Hey. Why aren't you outside?"
She shrugged. "It's too loud out there. I'd usually like to be outside, but we can't go into the forest so there's no way to have some peace out there."
Harry nodded, but then asked, "Do you want me to leave you alone?"
Naomi laughed. "No, I didn't mean that. You can stay. I want you to stay."
They sat and talked for a very long time. All the while Harry was trying to get up the courage to ask her the one question that he had been thinking about ever since Tuesday night when she had dashed off to detention. When they reached a silence, he took a chance.
"Do you...have any parents?" He couldn't believe his stupid big fat mouth. Why did he have to say it? But now there was no way to take it back.
Naomi was quiet for a while before finally answering, "I don't know."
Harry didn't know what on earth he was supposed to say. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked such a stupid question..."
"No, it's all right. It's natural for someone to be curious." she sighed. "Well, I expect you want me to tell you everything?"
"Well...sort of-No, wait! I didn't say that! You don't have to tell me anything-"
"Shut up, Harry. I'll tell you if you want me to, just not...all of it. Well, you know I can see the Threstals. I saw my mother murdered by Death Eaters. My father..." She looked away from him, down at the carpet, and was silent.
"You don't have to talk about it, I'm not making you," Harry said quickly. Now look what you did, you idiot. Why can't you control your stupid mouth? He thought furiously. He really didn't want to upset Naomi.
He was saved from the awkwardness of that moment when Ron and Hermione came inside to join them. Harry didn't pay much attention to the conversation. He was thinking about the little bit of her past that Naomi had just revealed to him. She hates Malfoy and his father...and her mother was murdered by Death Eaters...
××××××
When the date of the first Hogsmeade weekend arrived, Harry was intensely relieved at the thought that he would be spending the day in the village with his friends. Naomi had asked McGonagall if she could go, but it was Dumbledore who granted her permission.
As they walked out of the gates together, talking about Quidditch. Practices had been going very well, and Harry was extremely pleased with his team. He had only cut Colin, and Hermione still seemed not able to believe that she made the team. Ron and Hermione fell behind a little bit after a while, and Harry and Naomi walked along together. Harry felt a surge of rage when he heard Malfoy's taunt from behind, "Aw, look, the Weasel King and the Muggle!" It was Naomi who spun around and said,
"Hermione's a witch, and you know it!"
"Yeah, and you're a freak and you know it, right?"
"You're just jealous because I'm a real freak and you have to wear that hideous mask!"**
She spun around and continued towards the village, leaving a dumbstruck Malfoy behind.
Ron and Hermione caught up with them, laughing very hard.
"That was great!" cried Ron. They all continued on, still laughing at the scene that had just occurred.
The trip to the village was a lot of fun. Hermione, Ron, and Harry showed Naomi all of the sights, and she even tried Butterbeer for the first time.
While they were shopping at Honeydukes, the sweet shop, Cho approached Harry again.
"Harry," she whispered, "I'm sorry. I had no idea your godfather died."
"It's okay," he said shortly, wishing Cho would just leave him alone.
"Well...bye, then" and she left. Harry was quite surprised that she hadn't stayed longer, and he rather regretted being so short with her when all she wanted to do was tell him she was sorry about Sirius. But he was soon distracted from this thought when Naomi informed them that they didn't have chocolate where she came from.
"WHAT?" said Ron loudly. No one in the packed store paid him any attention, though. "No chocolate? That's craziness!"
"Well, we do use chocolate in baking and stuff at the castle, but we haven't got it in blocks like this..."
By the time they all came back to the school, they were very tired and a bit cold, but happy nonetheless. They dropped off their stuff that they had bought in their dorms, but didn't feel like eating dinner, for they were still full of sweets. They thought they might as well go down there to get some pumpkin juice or something, so they headed off anyway.
On the way down, Harry informed them that they had their first Quidditch match the following Saturday. Naomi was very excited about this. "Oh, good!" she said happily. "Who's it against?"
"Ravenclaw."
"Are they any good this year?"
"I think we'll have some competition, but nobody's about to beat my team!"
××××××
They ended up winning their game on Saturday. Hermione, Ginny, and Naomi were the best Chaser team Harry had seen since the World Cup two years ago, and Dean and Seamus were almost as good as Fred and George were. Ron made some spectacular saves, he was much better than last year, the Chasers put through some spectacular goals, and Harry caught the Snitch about 45 minutes into the game. It was a tough match for Harry, however, because Luna Lovegood was a very good Seeker for the Ravenclaw team.
Harry felt wonderful as he stood in the changing room, listening to the rumble of cheers from the Gryffindors outside. The stadium was emptying, and Harry just wanted to wait until everyone was gone. After the voiced died away, he started out. He stopped, though, when he heard a dry sob. He looked around and saw Naomi sitting in the corner, her face buried in her hands.
Harry walked slowly up to her, and noticed a letter sitting beside her on the bench.
"What's wrong? We just won!" Harry said, sitting next to her. She didn't say anything, just grabbed the letter and indicated that it was what she was upset about. Harry took it from her and found that it was in the same strange language as before.
"Er...are you going to tell me what this says?"
"M-m-my grandfather is sick, and he's g-g-going to die..." She turned her tearstained face to him, and he felt terribly sorry for her.
"Oh, Naomi...I don't know what to say-"
"Don't worry," she said, wiping the tears from her face. "Some things just don't need to be said."
They walked up to the castle together, silent tears still streaming down Naomi's face. When they reached the entrance hall, Harry turned to her and gently wiped them away with his sleeve.
"It's okay. He'll be in a better place. Dumbledore once asked me: Do you think the ones we love ever leave us, even after death?"
"I know...but that doesn't mean I can't be sad about it. And anyway, there's more to it than that..."
They had reached an empty corridor. Everyone else was at dinner.
"There's more?" asked Harry.
She nodded and pulled him into an empty classroom.
"Harry, when he dies, I have to take over my people."
"You have to...what? Naomi, you're not telling me something. We're friends. There's no reason to hide it...unless it's really personal or something"
"I'm-"
Just then Peeves the Poltergeist burst into the room. He cackled at the sight of them and swooped towards Naomi. He grabbed her bag and began floating around the room with it, throwing its contents in every direction, chanting, "Potty's got a girlfriend, Potty's got a girlfriend!"
"Give it back, Peeves!" she shouted, jumping up and reaching for the bag. As her right hand shot up to grab it, her sleeve slid down, and Harry froze. Naomi grabbed the bag and began shouting furiously at Peeves, but Harry wasn't listening. He grabbed her right arm and pushed her sleeve up.
On her forearm, there was what was clearly a picture of a skull, with a snake protruding from the mouth like a tongue.
