H P Boy who livesYear 7- Summer
Chapter 38
Folly, Calamity, Despair and Redemption
--
Have any of you ever seen a movie called Every which way but loose? Well for those of you that have then you will recall that Clint Eastwood had a clever Orangutan named Clyde. He was clever as they come and was never full. Well I thought about that and could picture Ron's first Animagi as sort of like Clyde and in the last chapter Hermione did call him a primate. Tragedy strikes, but our hero's prevail...a romance blossoms...a new one begins...
--
Draco paced the floor of the Family wing's study/library and tried to keep his Malfoy side in check. This nevertheless wasn't easy. He'd been coaching Ron for four hours straight and the bloke wasn't grasping the whole idea yet. He kept insisting there was some incantation or spell that he needed to recite.
"Okay for the last bloomin time there is no spell or enchantment!! You just go into a meditative state of mind, focus on your inner animal spirit with everything that you have, and if in fact you are able to become that animal it just happens! There is no wand usage! No potion! No charm! You just are or you bloody well aren't!" He raked his fingers through his silver blonde hair for the thousandth time.
Ron stared blankly at him, not believing that powerful magic like that, was all in the mind and spirit, and not in the wand or chant. "Just close my eyes and bloomin meditate?" He echoed Draco's words.
"For the love of magic, Weasley! Just close your eyes and try!" Draco snarled at him.
"It's just that the books..." Ron started to protest, but Draco pulled out his wand, and pointed at him.
"You will bloody well try this now or I'll turn you into a Flobberworm!" He bared his teeth. He was beyond tempted to revert to Dragon and bite him in the ass. "It has been four frickin hours and all you've done is whine!"
"Okay...Okay I'll try to do as you said!" Ron sat down on the floor, closed his eyes, and tried to concentrate.
Sirius poked his head into the study. "So how goes it in here?"
Draco fingered his wand in his hands. "Oh, it's going smashingly well, Uncle Sirius." His voice oozed with frustration and sarcasm.
Sirius whistled under his breath, "Reminds me of when the rat traitor was trying to become an animagus. He kept on and on about you needed a spell no matter how many times that James and I told him he didn't. The plus side here is that Ron is smarter than the rat traitor. It might take him hours, but he'll get it eventually. The minus might be that..." Before Sirius could finish his sentence, it happened.
Ron was now an orangey colored Orangutan, blowing raspberries at them.
"I owe James 100 galleons. He bloomin is a primate at heart."
"Unreal... Hermione called him a primate this afternoon, but I had no clue how on the mark she was." He watched as Ron sauntered up to the shelving, climbed up to the top, where he went to throw books at the two of them, while happily jumping, grunting, and hooting at them. "Ron, get down here so I can explain to you how to change back!" He dodged books as he growled up at him.
Sirius stared at him in alarm. "What do ya mean ya didn't bloomin tell the lad how to change back!?" He dodged the books being hurled at him. "Knock it off Ron and get your furry ass down here!"
"He wasn't grasping the first part yet!" Draco watched in dread, as Ron maneuvered himself across the shelves, until he had a chance at going out the open door, then jumped down, and escaped. "Damn it Weasley get your ass back here!" He gave chase.
James, who was setting up the party in the family Common Room with Lily, Ginny, Luna, and Jenna, watched in amusement as the big orange furry ape lumbered out of the study and went to blow them a raspberry. "I win that bet with Sirius!" He grinned at Lily. That grin however turned into a frown when Ron went to throw party favors all over the Common Room. "Funs over Ronald it's time to go back to normal now!"
"James, something is off with this..." Lily watched Ron with careful eyes. "It's more Ape than Ron and that isn't the way Animagi work." She used her wand to move the party favors out of Ron's reach.
Draco, who was trying to corner Ron, tried to use an apple as bait to persuade him back into the study. "Yeah Ron, that's right it's a bright red juicy apple just for you if you come back into the study, so I can tell you how to change back to normal."
Ron thumbed his nose at Draco, placed his long fingers up to his head, formed an L shape with his thumb and forefinger, and blew him a raspberry.
"He sure told you where to go Dragon." Ginny giggled.
Sirius was trying a different approach, he was going to sneak up on him from behind, and grab him up with a blanket. "Sorry about this Ronnie, but it's for your own good." He made a grab for him, but Ron was a step ahead of him, and all that Sirius got was air.
Ron dodged all of them, as they tried to corral him back into the study.
Luna received a slobber kiss on the cheek before he easily escaped their next try. "I know that he has to change back, but he's like an adorable plushy." She giggled.
Stephen and Anna walked in.
Ron used that opportunity to escape the Family wing.
"By Merlin's beard! Was that an ape?!" Stephen exclaimed in surprise.
"Darling, that was an Orangutan, which isn't native to Scotland, so it must be one of the boys." Anna was not fazed in the least by this new situation.
"RONALD BILIUS ARTHUR WEASLEY! GET BACK HERE!" Draco, James, and Sirius raced passed them and out into the seventh floor corridor.
"By Jove, that would have to be the youngest Weasley son wouldn't it." Stephen sighed in frustration.
"Oh, don't be a bear, because I refused to take tea with Elizabeth." Anna rolled her eyes at him. "Now that I've had the chance to be around Diana, I just don't see her in the same light that you do."
"I am not being a bear. It was a bad influence on Harry, not having his grandmother there to show him that she followed protocol when it came to official duties." Stephen grumbled under his breath.
"Harry was in the middle of his date and should never have been there regardless to if she sent for them or not! She is not his to call on at her whim!" Anna growled back.
"She is the Queen of England in the Muggle World!" Stephen reminded her.
"Queen in the Muggle World that may be, but not in this world!" Anna joined Lily and the girls with the party preparations. "I am Queen here and she had better not forget that if she tries to step foot in the Wizarding World!"
"Anastasia, you have to get along with Elizabeth, because her grandsons are going the end up marrying our granddaughters!" Stephen was surprised by her attitude.
Anna glared daggers at him. "The woman let her son use Andrew's genetic make to create the boys and lied about it! Then let her son murder his ex-wife by ignoring what her husband and son were doing! I could careless if she has plausible deniability!! The fact is that she had to have some idea of what was going on!! I don't buy the whole I had no idea pocky!" She made her stand on this clear. "Until she takes Veritaserum and we find out the truth I will not give her the time-of-day!"
"Mum has a point, Dad. It's a little convenient that she knows nothing. It makes no sense since the Queen seems to be an intelligent and well-informed woman." Lily opened a box of self-inflating balloons and streamers that scattered all about the room.
"I would think that catching Ron would be more important than arguing over the Queen of England. He could really cause a disaster in the castle now that it's finally ready for everyone to come back and start school on Wednesday." Ginny had Tut cuddled in her arms.
"I think he's adorable." Luna was cuddling Minx, a silvery white kitten.
"Where are Harry and Hermione? If anyone can get Ron under control it's his best friends." Anna suggested.
"They're upstairs reading up on the rules including the newly added ones." Lily glared at Stephen.
"Newly added ones?" Anna took out her wand and used Tarantallegra on Stephens's legs, causing him to dance uncontrollably. "Well, husband, start spilling, I had better like what I hear, or this is going to get tenfold worse."
"Anna, it was necessary to add some things, because the two of them are, well, they're married!! There I said it!" Stephen danced around her. "I just added that they couldn't, uh, display improper affection during class time, in the castle corridors, grounds, and so forth."
"I hope that Harry and Hermione stalk down here and kick your sorry old ass! You've really gotten daft and stuffy in the sixteen years that we've been apart! Improper affection!? What the bloody hell do you mean by that?! Can they hold hands or is that banned as well? No wait let me guess this is just for the two of them!" Anna added Rictusempra to the mix.
"Anna!!" Stephen was having a hard enough time dealing with his dancing legs. Now she added laughing to the mix and he could barely catch his breath to speak. "It applies to all students! It's focused on kissing in particular!! I didn't point out holding hands!"
"He can't kiss his wife in his own castle!?" Anna ended it all by adding Stupefy to the mix and Stephen was out cold on the floor.
"Mum, are you trying to kill dad?" Lily smirked.
"No, you see I love the idiot, but putting him in bed for a month wouldn't hurt anything." Anna grumbled.
Finite Incantatum. Lily ended the spells, but Stephen was down for the count for awhile.
"Oh my, goodness!" Ginny and Luna was staring bug-eyed at something on the stairs. "Um…Aunt Lily…Harry and Hermione have a new animagus..."
A sleek black panther was padding down the stairs with the rulebook in his mouth. He was followed by a lioness that didn't look any happier.
Jenna's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Shall we let them eat daddy?"
Anna pondered that for a second. "As tempting as that sounds he would give the two of them indigestion." She pointed her wand at Stephen's still form. Ennervate!
Stephen awoke just in time to find himself eye to eye with two very big cats. "It's only during school hours and it applies to all students. The other about leaving school grounds without parental permission unless eighteen years old was James idea!" He scooted away from the snarling cats.
"James did what!?" Anna and Lily were not pleased.
"Added that rule," Stephen had only seen fury like this in Harry's eyes on the day of that final battle. "I know that you're peeved at me right now, but Ron is in need of your help."
Prince looked up at his mother.
"Ron achieved his Animagi form; only he can't control it nor does he have a clue how to change back to normal. James, Draco, and Sirius are all chasing after a big furry rude orange orangutan." Lily filled him in.
Princess padded over to Ginny and growled.
"It's true." She eyed the new version of Princess warily.
"He's so adorable." Luna sighed.
Prince spat the rule book at Stephen.
"Ok! We can talk about the rules!" Stephen was actually afraid for his life.
Prince swiped at his leg, shredding his tailored pant leg, but leaving his skin untouched, as he bared very sharp and vicious teeth at him.
Sirius rushed into the room on a mission to get Harry and Hermione. The man looked like he'd been through a war. He skidded to a halt when he spotted the two big cats. "You know what I said about cats earlier... Well, I didn't mean it...uh; cats are, uh, great..." He gulped as the two cats padded up to him.
"That's Prince and Princess. They read the new rules." Jenna smiled sweetly at her husband.
Sirius turned white as a sheet. "I had nothin to do with that no snoggin or eighteen only rule. It was all his and Prongs idea!" He pointed at Stephen.
"Why you yellow coward!" Stephen glared at Sirius.
"Hey! When faced down by two wildcats then it's every bloke for himself!" Sirius was staring eye to eye with Prince, who had leaped up, and set his huge paws on his shoulders. "I swear on the life of my kid! I was against it!" He was very close to, doing what he often teased others about, that being wetting himself.
Prince turned his focus of Stephen, but Anna and Lily were standing in his way.
"You have more than made your point young man!" Lily grabbed him by the ears and glared down into his eyes. "Now go help with Ronald!"
Prince knew when not to press his luck and let his grudge go against his grandfather; at least until he saw what Ron had gotten himself into this time.
Hermione turned back into herself. "Honestly! It's bad enough that we have to deal with insane rules! Now we have to deal with Primate Ronald!?" She glared at Stephen.
"He's a cheeky little bastard is what he is." Sirius grumbled. "He's inventing rude hand gestures like once a minute! He climbed up the Whomping Willow, waited until we were almost to him, climbed down hit the knot, and then bolted into the forest!"
"Oh, you grown-ups are pathetic!" Hermione stalked towards the main doors that led out into the seventh floor corridor. "Let's go Prince maybe your father will wet himself like the two of them did." She called to the Panther.
"Oi, I haven't soiled my drawers!" Sirius glared at her.
Prince swiped at his leg shredding what was left of the material on his pant leg. That done he padded over to Hermione.
"Are you sure of that?" Hermione smirked then they walked out of the room slamming the door behind them.
Ginny, Luna, Jenna, Anna, and Lily all burst out laughing at the men as they sulked upstairs to change.
--
James was at his whit's end and at the end of his patience. "Where the bloody hell is Junior and Hermione?"
Draco began climbing the nearest tree.
There was a lioness and a panther running towards the forest.
"Dad, did you, uh, piss off Harry and Hermione?"
James had never seen anyone climb so fast in his life. "Not that I'm aware of. So what brought on the..." He turned to look at where Draco was pointing and raced up another tree. "Holly hell! I didn't think that he would be that toasted at me about the new rules!"
Ron sat high up in the tree that James had climbed up in throwing acorns down at him and flashing him the bird.
"Ronald Weasley, if you don't get down here I'm going to send an owl to your parents!" James snarled.
Ron blew him a raspberry and flashed him the loser sign, before jumping to another tree.
Prince was sitting at the foot of James tree licking his chops.
Princess was doing the same to Draco's.
"I only did what you wanted! I have no control over what he becomes!" Draco climbed even higher.
Princess turned into her kneazle form and started up the tree.
James eyed his son with wary eyes. "I know that you're upset about the new rules, but they were for your own good."
Prince growled in response to that statement and clawed at the trunk of the tree.
"Oh, that was smart!" Draco was climbing to get away from Princess. "Hey! I had no clue about any new rules!"
Princess leaped past him and headed up the tree.
Prince spotted Ron in another tree and chose that tree to climb instead.
Since the trees were so close together, Princess was able to leap onto another tree, and then another tree, until she was also in the tree that was harboring a now not so smart-ass ape.
James climbed down the tree, so he could follow the action above. Then decided that maybe he could try another form besides his stag animagus form. He had always been too lazy to try different animals, besides Prongs was all that he ever needed. In seconds, he was a jaguar climbing up the tree on the other side of Ron to cut off any escape.
Draco had also climbed down and reverted to an animagus form, a bear so Ron couldn't climb down and escape.
The very thought of being eaten by three big cats or a bear was enough to scare Ron back to normal, unfortunately it was up in the middle of a fifty foot tree.
"This ain't bloody funny you four!" He was sitting in the v of the tree glaring at Harry. Who was sitting on a large branch below him, at Hermione, sitting in the tree on the other side of him, and at the jaguar, who looked like he wanted to eat him. "How am I gonna get back down!?"
"Next time stay in control of your animagus and you won't have to end up caught in a fix up in a tree." Hermione lectured him.
"Hermione, it's in his nature to want to come out here and climb trees." Harry commented dryly. "I'm just glad that we took care of the giant spiders in this area or he would have made a nice snack."
"Spiders!!" Ron absolutely hated and was terrified of spiders.
"Relax you big wuss that factor doesn't exist in this forest anymore." James was now perched in the tree beside him.
"Now for the obvious question can you or can't you climb down that tree without breaking your neck?"
A red-magenta and golden feathered phoenix landed on the branches above Ron.
"Red, I can handle this there is no need for you to..." James watched as the phoenix swooped down, grabbed hold of Ron's shirt with her talons, and easily gave him a lift.
--
The three of them reverted to their feline forms and made their way down to the forest floor.
"All you need is a little practice and you'll have it." Draco was giving Ron some praise and encouragement. "Or maybe concentrate on something else like say a raccoon."
"All right boys discuss this back at the castle. James and I need to have a talk with Hermione and Harry." Lily told the boys.
Draco and Ron could tell by the look on her face that something was up.
"What's happened Mum?" Draco liked calling her that it felt good inside.
"Yeah, I've been around enough grief to know that something big is up." Ron frowned.
"I just got an owl from Mattie..." Lily stopped what she was saying, because James, Hermione, and Harry were now standing there looking at her.
Hermione could also read the signs on Lily's face. "Mattie sent you an owl? What happened with the twins this time? Are they going to attend a Muggle school instead?"
:Lily, what happened?: James used their link instead of formal speech. "Let's head back to the castle."
:Oh goddess, James...Alex and Katherine were on their way back home... Their car was struck head on by a drunk driver...: She couldn't finish telling him the rest.
:How bad is it, Lily?: James felt his blood run cold.
"So are you going to tell us what was in the letter or not?" Harry arched a brow at his parents, it was obvious that they were silently talking, but he couldn't eavesdrop on their conversation, which meant that they were blocking him out. He stopped on the lawn in front of the castle.
:Alex and Catherine were killed on impact. They weren't driving the Land Rover this time... They were driving his Aston Martin. The other driver was driving an SUV. Mattie is bringing the twins tonight...by the gods James how are we going to break this to Hermione?: Lily blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks. "The twins are fine..." Lily's voice broke as she tried to speak.
Hermione could see that Lily was visibly upset and knew that it if she hadn't written about the twins then it had to have something to do with her parents. "What is it then? Did something happen to my parents?" She had an icy cold feeling deep down inside and knew that something was terribly wrong.
Harry could also see that sorrowful look in his parent's eyes; Lupin had given him a similar look when Sirius had died. He instinctively pulled Hermione into his arms and held her, because he knew what was to come. "Easy angel, mum is going to tell us what's up. Aren't you mum?" He locked eyes with his mother and his heart sank, he could read the utter devastation in her eyes, it was bad all right.
"They were ten miles from home when a drunk driver hit them head on..." Lily didn't get a chance to continue for Hermione screamed in anguish.
"PLEASE TELL ME THAT THEY WERE DRIVING THE ROVER!" Hermione struggled against the hold the Harry had around her waist. "PLEASE TELL ME THEY WEREN'T DRIVING DADDY'S PRIDE AND JOY!"
"They were in the Aston Martin and the other driver was driving an SUV..." Lily's voice broke as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"I'm so sorry baby, but they died instantly on impact." James, who also had tears in his eyes, finished what Lily had been trying to say.
"NO!! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!! LET ME SEE THAT LETTER!! YOU MUST HAVE READ IT WRONG!! THEY ARE IN HOSPITAL NOT DEAD!! IT HAS TO BE WRONG!!" Hermione screamed in agony struggling with all her might to get free of the hold that Harry had on her, but he wasn't about to let her go. "LET GO OF ME!! I HAVE TO CALL MY PARENTS!! THIS HAS TO BE A HORRIBLE MISTAKE!!" She clawed at Harry's arm.
"I'm so sorry angel..." Harry's heart ached with loss as well, but he was being strong for Hermione.
She turned in his arms to beat on his chest, so he would let her go. "THEY CAN'T BE GONE!! IT'S A MISTAKE I TELL YOU A HORRIBLE MISTAKE!! THE TWINS NEED THEM DESPERATELY!! I NEED THEM DESPERATELY." She gave up hitting him bursting into tears against his chest.
Draco and Ron walked over and the two of them and put their arms around them in support.
James and Lily gave into their grief and held each other.
"I NEED TO SEE THAT LETTER..." Hermione sobbed. "I HAVE TO READ THE LETTER MYSELF!"
Lily reluctantly pulled out the letter from her pocket. "Honey, let's get you inside the castle..."
"I COULD GIVE A SHIT ABOUT GOING INSIDE!! GIVE ME THE GODDAMNED LETTER!" Hermione was angry at the world and the storm that was brewing in the skies above was proof of her fury. "I HAVE TO READ IT!! NOW PLEASE GIVE ME THE BLASTED LETTER! ACCIO, MATTIE'S LETTER!" She screamed as lightning slashed across the sky and the wind began to howl.
The letter flew out of Lily's hand and into her own.
"Lily you and the boys get out of the storm. We'll be along shortly." James looked over at Ron and Draco.
"A little rain isn't going to hurt me and neither is the storm. I want to stay with Hermione."
The two boys looked over at Harry.
"Dad's right. We'll be inside in a bit." Harry growled hoarsely. "Mum, you need to think of the twins."
The three of them reluctantly ran into the castle just as it began to rain.
Hermione read the letter until the ink, wet from the now pouring rain, ran off the parchment. She dropped to her knees in the grass, buried her face in her hands, and broke down into uncontrollable sobs.
"It's not fair that this happened to them!! What am I going to do without them?! The twins are eleven they need their parents! What's the point of taking them from us!? They died a Muggle death and I know that it means!! It means that they can't come back like the others, but why did you do this!?" She glared up at the angry sky.
"I know what you're going through. It's hurting like a hot knife has just stabbed you clean through your heart, but you have all of us here that are going to take care of you and the twins." Tears streamed down his cheeks and his voice broke as he talked to her. Harry placed a hand on her shoulder that she angrily brushed away. "We are going to help you through all of this."
"I want my parents back damn it! It's not fair that this is happening!! Not now when I finally have everything that I could ever want in my life! I don't blame you or anyone for this!! This happened because some Muggle lush got sloshed, and then tried to drive home!! That blue-blooded bastard got a bump on the head, but my parents...my parents...died! It makes me sick that a cousin or some distant relative of mine got sloshed or worse and killed my parents!!" She glared up at him.
James had gone inside to get them two mackintoshes. "The last thing that either of you need is to get sick." He set one coat on Harry's shoulders and the other on Hermione.
Hermione shrugged off the coat.
"Two weeks!! They couldn't free up two weeks of time before we came here, because they've always been so busy! It's been this way for as long as I can remember! Mattie raised me, because they had thriving social lives and careers! The twins were luckier!! They got more mum and dad time than I ever did! But, that was okay, because I knew that I could make up for that after seventh year was over. They were going to be next door to us, so we'd have to spend more time together..."
She wasn't all there anymore; it floored her that she was furious at her parents, because they didn't force her to spend time with them. "This isn't happening!! I mean the last thing that Rory and Dromi need on their birthday is someone's tragic death...Wills and Henry are going to go mental when they hear this!" She was shaking now, chilled to the bone, and soaked to the skin by the relentless rain that continued to pelt down on the three of them.
Harry reached down and scooped her trembling form up into his arms. "It's time to go inside, angel."
Hermione too emotionally spent buried her face against his chest and continued to sob. "It's the day before the seventh anniversary of their mother's death...Wills saw them as his safe haven… It's going to crush him that of all things they died, because of some blue-blooded relative of ours carelessness!!"
--
Wills and Henry were sitting in the limo eyeing the new friends of the twins, two two-month-old collie pups that they had gotten from the groundskeepers at the palace.
"Girls, what if this isn't a good idea?" Wills asked.
"They have official papers, all of their shots, are from two different litters, and everyone is going to love the pups" Rory cuddled a golden-white puppy on her lap.
"I realize that, but the rules at Hogwarts have always stated no dogs." Wills countered her response to his question.
"Rules are meant to change." Dromi was holding a puppy whose fur was blue-gray in color on her lap.
"We aren't students so the rules don't apply, these two are now ours."
"It isn't gonna do any good, big brother. Their minds are made up and those pups are getting a good home. So really just give in..." He stopped talking when his mobile rang. "Intriguing that it works in a Wizarding World limo of all places…"
He looked to see who was calling it was his father. "Hi Uncle...I mean dad, we're on our way back to the castle...Bloody hell when did it happen? Who was driving the other car...son of a bitch was he high as well as sloshed...now I feel like killing uncle's mistresses' oldest child! He should have had his driver come get him! I hope they throw him in prison and lose the key! We'll take care of Hermione and the twins. You just handle the other details. The media are gonna have a field day with this one! I hope that Uncle and his mistress drown after what that git of a son of hers has done! Yeah, I'll talk to you later, bye." Henry ended the call. The shock of what he had learned was just starting to overtake him, his hands were shaking, and he had tears shining in his eyes.
Wills had rarely seen his little brother cry, it wasn't something that he ever allowed himself to do. He usually chose to get angry instead of ever showing anyone his tears, so he knew that what their father had just told him was bad.
Then his mobile rang it was his uncle. "This isn't a good time for me, Uncle...Sorry Uncle, but DNA tests don't lie...No, I haven't seen the news this evening...terrible accident. Aunt Kath and Uncle Alex were killed when her son did what? He was drunk, high, and they still let him behind the wheel?! Who pulled enough strings to get his license renewed!? I hope that they fry him for this! My god Hermione and the twins are still kids and he took both of their parents from them! Do not spin this into a terrible accident scenario, because so help me I will make it so you and your mistress pay dearly for it. I will leak to the press the truth about my parentage... I would be more than happy to spend the rest of my life free of all the shit that goes with my title! You will do nothing to help him! He is going to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law or else I will bring down the monarchy!" He ended the call so he could bury his face in his hands and break down as the reality of the loss hit him like running into a brick wall.
Rory set the puppy down next to her, so she could focus on Wills, visibly sobbing into his hands. "Hermione's parents were killed in a car accident this evening?" She was trying to piece together what had just been said.
Henry didn't care that tears were flowing freely down his face. "They were on their way home when someone hit them head on with their SUV...They died instantly, but the git who was driving the other car only suffered a bump on the head. The other driver was both drunk and high on drugs at the time and should never have been allowed behind the wheel of the car. What makes it worse is that we know who killed our cousins, it was the son of our Uncle's mistress." His voice crackled with pent up anger and remorse.
"Aunt Kath and Uncle Alex were like a second family to us and always gave us a safe haven to hide out from the world. Hermione and the twins are like younger siblings to us, so this is like losing mum again...The day before the anniversary of her death." Wills was barely holding it together. "It makes me sick to think that I used to think that it was cool to hang out with him and his sister, when he just took away two very important people in my life! Three kids no longer have either parent, because he was too wasted to call for a driver to come collect him! Three lives are forever changed because of some gits bad judgment!"
Rory got up and went to sit beside Wills. "I'm so sorry...I wish that I could make everything all better for all of you, but I can't. What I can do is be there for you with all the love and support that I can give you." She placed her hand against his cheek and he pulled her into his arms and held her. While he let himself cry for the loss of ones that he held dear.
"Dad is taking care of all the arrangements, is going to handle the press for us, so we can focus on Hermione and the twins." Henry managed to force his mind to think passed the pain of losing yet more family to tragedy. He was holding Dromi in his arms, while allowing himself to grieve.
"I wish there was a way that I could bring them back, but it isn't possible. All of us were allowed to return, because dark magical means were used in our deaths. I am so sorry about your loss, but I am here for you." She just held him and let him cry.
--
Severus was down in the dungeons in his private laboratory, creating a sedative for Hermione, when someone knocked on the heavy wooden door. "Go away! I'm in the middle of something!" He growled.
A striking blonde woman dressed in flowing burgundy robes, that didn't look a day over thirty, dared to not heed his warning. "I brought you tea and some dinner." She set the tray on one of the tables.
Severus knew the voice, but the woman in front of him didn't come close to looking like the owner of it. Gone was the frizzy out of control mane of unruly hair, huge specs had been replaced by contact lenses that highlighted the blue in her eyes, she looked radiant instead of frumpy.
"Sibyll? Is that really you?" He cleared his throat finally managing to find his voice. He tamped down the urge running through his veins to pull her into his arms and kiss her till they were both mindless.
"Franc, Beau, and Regina gave me what they called a total makeover this afternoon and this is the result." She loved the fact that he seemed much effected by her new look. "It's tragic that Muggles are so destructive in their actions. To think that bad judgment caused the deaths of Hermione's parents this evening."
"Their bad judgment is what separates them from us. Yes, we make bad decisions, but nothing like what the Muggles are prone to. This is the last thing that Hermione needed. Although, that ancient law about when one is bestowed so much joy in ones life that tragedy is never too far away comes to mind." He poured the potion into a vial and capped it with a cork.
"Balance is the key to what makes the world go round." Sibyll agreed.
"Look Sibyll. I have to get this up to Hermione, but after that I'll let you tell me all about your day. That is if you wish to talk about it." He added hastily.
Sibyll smiled serenely at him. "I would like that."
"It's settled then." He escorted her out of his lab.
"I'll go with you and then the two of us can chat over dinner." Sibyll threaded her arm through his and to her delight he let her do it.
"Yes, well..." He cleared his throat again. "The two of us have to eat, may as well discuss your day while we do that." He wasn't the greatest at courting a potential soul mate, but then he surmised she wasn't either.
"My thoughts exactly, Severus." Sibyll smiled.
--
George burst through the front entrance soaked to the bone from the fierce storm raging outside. "Hold on a minute what's a beautiful dish like you out carting around trunks in the nastiest storm on record?" He caught sight of a beautifully packaged brunette trying to Locomotor Mortis two massive trunks up the castle entrance staircase.
Trista bristled at being called a dish, by a voice that had plagued her for almost seven years during her schooling at Hogwarts. "If you must know, not that it is any of your business; I am creating a studio for Dromi and Rory. Now run along and tinker with some foolish invention of yours." Her voice was cold as ice and laced with venom.
"Tinker with my silly inventions!" George sputtered in indignation, stalking over to confront her, only to gape at her in utter shock with a slacked jawed expression. "Who are you...Trisket?! No way, it ain't bloomin possible that you can be her!" He sat down on the stairs and continued to stare up at her.
Trista saw red at the very nerve of this jester, calling her by that dreaded nickname. The three jesters of Hogwarts otherwise known as Fred, George, and Lee, had bestowed on her their first year at Hogwarts. She bent down and slapped him hard across his face. "You will NEVER call me that again, George Lionel Arthur Weasley!" She was beyond furious and had been waiting five years to let him have what for.
"I'm not a cat that you can kick around or dump at the Yule Ball, because of some cheeky bet that you had with Lee and Fred! I was a shy little fool who thought there was a heart inside that pirate shell of yours! I was obviously sorely mistaken!!" She took another breath before continuing to let him have it by slapping him again. "I can't believe that I ever helped your sorry ass pass your O.W.L.'S or any of your classes! I suppose that I didn't wish to stoop to your level, so I took the high road, and didn't leave you hanging out to dry! And unlike your worthless corpse, I actually graduated with all O's on my N.E.W.T'S, while you and your half-brained brother are nothing but Hogwarts dropouts!" She slapped him yet a third time again.
George was seeing stars from the force of the blows that Trista had afflicted to his face. She had dug up a moment in his life that he sorely wished he could have a do-over on. She'd been the square of his class, a meek little kitten of a girl. But, under all of that was a girl with a heart as pure as gold. She had taken it on herself to secretly tutor him in many of his classes. He had asked her to the Yule Ball, because he'd fancied her more than he'd wanted to ever admit, and it was an event that he hadn't felt she should miss. Fred and Lee had found out days before, which had caused him to lose his nerve to go on with their date. So as soon as the dancing began he'd ditched her. Now the miracle of it all was that despite all of that she still looked over his assignments, leaving him nasty little sketches of him, often after any commentary about his school assignment. She was a genius at drawing and all that. Deep down he had know that one day she would be a famous artist, so he had secretly treasured every doodle that she had given him, and kept them in a box at home in his closet.
"That was ages ago! I was a prat kid then! I've become a respectable executive now! Hell! I'm even more famous than Zonko's!" George stood up to his full height that had him towering over her five foot five inch frame.
Trista planted her hands on her hips and glared defiantly up at him. "You've only made a success out of exploiting your family and friends relationships! This proves that you're the same pirate that you've always been! You get a sick thrill out of exploiting other people's feelings and its all in the name of a quick sell! You George Weasley will forever be lost in your childish pranks and worthless inventions!" She nearly jumped out of her skin when her trunks levitated and made their way up the stairs to where Severus, Dobby, and her Aunt Sibyll were standing.
"Is this young man bothering you, Trista dear?" Sibyll shot George a scathing glare.
Severus finished giving Dobby instructions to where the trunks belonged and in an instant both the elf and the trunks vanished. Now he was focusing on George and Trista. "Yes Miss Monet, did Mr. Weasley try to cause you any trouble?" He glared menacingly down at George. "If so I will personally throw him down the hole at the foot of the Whomping Willow. He can crawl back to that pathetic shack of his!"
Even though, the thought of that was highly amusing, let alone tempting, she had no wish to let George face the wrath of Severus Snape. "We were just looking back on old times. We haven't seen or talked to each other in three years. There was no harm done. Now would you kindly tell me where Dobby was taking my trunks?" She was now calm and serene.
"To the family wing on the seventh floor, I assumed the trunks contained some of your finished portraits." Severus didn't believe her for a second. It was clear the two of them had been in the middle of a heated discussion, after all they had heard them yelling at each other from inside the Grand Staircase. "Your Aunt Sibyll and I were about to have some dinner would you care to join us?"
George was floored by the new Professor Trelawney; she seemed to have undergone the same metamorphoses as Trista had. He was dumbfounded and speechless.
"That's kind of you to offer, but I don't wish to intrude on your evening. I shall set up the studio for Rory and Dromi and then catch a bite to eat afterwards." Trista sent George a final seething look. "Mr. Weasley it was an experience seeing you again." She marched up the stairs as proud as she pleased as if George didn't exist in her world.
This left George to mull over who had just reentered his life. He still fancied Trista now more than ever, not because of her new look, but because his meek little kitten had grown claws, and was a little firebrand. The storm was easing up outside. He did an about-face and headed towards the front doors of the castle, but not before snapping a picture for the morning paper. Sybil and Severus, as an item to him was beyond rational thought and a perfect foil for the paper. "Have a nice date you two and don't get all crazy." That said he exited through the castle doors.
--
Chapter 39
Bending the rules
--
I do not claim any of JKR's characters only that I love being able to create my own kind of mischief with her beloved characters. I do not claim any other things that are owned by other companies that I may mention once and a while in the stories...Although the original characters and ideas are mine and I loved creating them. So please review if you wish but try not to flame me too badly.
--
Cindra 2004-2008