Cleo Chestra and the wizards of America: Chapter 9
Home at last
"No one said that the holidays will be free, you just watch out child, you just watch out." Cleo shook herself awake from yet another nightmare with that figure. She rolled her eyes and fluffed up her pillow again.
"Screw you." She muttered and fell back asleep. The morning she was awakened rather rudely by Crookshanks pouncing on her stomach.
"Crookshanks, get of her!" Hermione hissed. Cleo rubbed Crookshanks down her back and sat up.
"Get your close on, we'll be off soon." Cleo put her hair in two simple braids, and put on a black dress.
"You look like your going to a funeral." Hermione said while she tried her best to push Crookshanks into her basket.
"And you look like a witch trying to push a cat into a basket." Cleo joked. Some banging on the door and yelling came.
"Stop getting yourself all made up and lets go!" Ron yelled.
"Ron!" Cleo yelled back indignantly. She and Hermione picked up their suite cases, and with some considerable pushing made their way down to the train station to take them home.
The four of them ended up being early (Cleo glared at Ron, who shrugged) and picked a compartment in the front.
"This is odd." Harry said with a bit of a twinge in his eye. "This is like going home for the summer." Cleo smiled sarcastically when she fell down on the seat beside him.
"Yes, so much to look forward to there!" Ron shook his head.
"I'm tellin' yea' Harry, just come over for the summer! Forget Dumbledoor!" Hermione glared.
"Ron I think there might be reasons Dumbledoor doesn't won't Harry coming to your house." She shrunk into her shoulder a little. "I mean, with the rise of you-know-who and all." Cleo had to agree with her.
"But you know," Cleo said thoughtfully for the second time. "Voldemort :shudder came from Ron: hasn't done anything yet! Don't you think he would come and…" Cleo looked over at Harry and decided not to finish her sentience. "But you would think… for whatever reason he's stalling it can't be good!" Hermione was looking intently at Harry, knowing just what Cleo was going to say. Cleo hatted the way the three of them were too scared to say anything so she excused herself to go to the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and looked in the merrier. HONESTLY, J.K. Rowling must have cut out the parts where they won't even TALK! Cleo shook her head and starred out the window.
Cleo shrieked. The clouds were doing something very strange, and highly disturbing. They were forming the dark figure's face. Ones it was completely detailed and realistic it stopped moving, except for the lips twitching into a smile. Cleo's hand clutched for the door knob and flung it open, stumbling outside and running to her compartment.
"Harry! Will you just tell us what's the matter?" Cleo heard Hermione's voice before she came in.
"I saw him again!" Cleo whispered. Harry looked underlay terrified in a way Cleo had never even imagined. Cleo forgot her fear instantly and sat down beside him.
"Harry, what's wrong?" he gulped. Ok, this is not good, not right; Harry is never this emotional.
"My scar hurt." He choked. Cleo didn't understand.
"But Harry, its hurt before…" Cleo began but Harry was shaking his head.
"Its been hurting a lot!" His head snapped suddenly and startled Cleo. "Every time you see the figure." Cleo was thinking then.
"Harry, I think I just had an epiphany, I think I know who the figure is." It was rather pointless to say it allowed, judging by the look on her friend's faces they already knew.
"I think that might be Voldemort." Ron practically fell of his seat with the shudder he had.
"But why is he attacking you?" Hermione cried. Cleo shrugged.
"Close to Harry I guess… It could be a trap! He might hold me hostage and Harry would come get me and he would kill him…"
"SHUT UP!" Ron ordered. Cleo sat bolt strait, silent. He swallowed and twitched.
"I'm sorry Cleo, but it just can't be true. It's not going to happen!" He swore. Cleo felt a cold tear run down her cheek that she hastily whipped away. Cleo jumped up from her seat and rapped her arms around him, rocking each other.
"We have to tell Dumbledore!" Hermione instead. Cleo completely agreed.
"Yes, yes, lets go now please!"
"Were about to leave soon." Ron pointed out. Cleo gave him a timid smile.
"If we miss it we can fly there in a turquoise car." He laughed, but then realizing she wasn't supposed to know that he looked at her strangely. Cleo took her cue to leave and go find Dumbledore. It didn't fell like Cleo's feet were even touching the ground, she was moving so fast.
Into the castle, up the stairs and to the gargoyle that was the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
"Start saying candy names!"
"Why?" Ron asked.
"It must be the password Ron." Cleo said obviously.
"Duh." Hermione added. Cleo nodded. Duh indeed! They started throwing out candy names randomly.
"Er…Fizzy Whizbees?" Harry started. Ron shook his head.
"No, maybe erm…levitating sherbet balls?"
"Doesn't seem to be." Hermione spat in frustration. "Toothflossing Stringmints?"
"Only your parents would use that Hermione, no offence." Ron said "Cleo, you try one." Cleo's mind had gone blank with fury. All she could think about was telling Dumbledore, what did she care was his favorite candy?
"Vomit flavored beans for all I know!" The gargoyle swung open.
"EWE! Why would he pick that?" said a discussed Hermione. Harry had a look on his face saying I know!
"Stop goggling at the stairs and let's go!" Ron said urgently. They dashed up them and into Dumbledore's office.
"Professor!" Harry announced. Dumbledore wasn't there. He was in fact replaced by Snape who stood up and glared at them. Ron's head leaned over to Cleo's neck.
"Crap."
"No wait, he might be useful." Cleo only said this because a quote from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire" came to her. "Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "You know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready…if you are prepared…" The second Cleo had read that, encoring the excitement in her stomach at the time, she had known what he had to do.
"He had been going undercover to Voldemort's meetings, 'cause he was a deatheater."
"How do you know?"
"I can fell it." Cleo said. Snape spoke like a gun shot.
"What is it."
"Professor, Something's come up." Hermione spoke clearly, yet timidly.
"What might that be?" There was a pose as Cleo thought of the wording.
"We think…that maybe Voldimort is the one that attacked me." Snape eyes were whipped of their usual coldness and substituted with fear and confusion.
"How can that be?" He said more to himself than them.
"I been having pain in my scar every time she sees this figure. We think it might be a trap to kill me Professor." Hermione clutched Cleo's arm.
"How can he say that so easily?" She whimpered.
"But that can't be!" Snape instead.
"And why not Professor?"
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore walked threw a door behind Snape.
"What is this all about Professor?" He asked calmly.
"They think that Voldemort is the one that attacked Chestra Albus." Dumbledore looked down at the four of them nicely.
"Don't worry yourselves. I don't believe Voldimort himself would attack you my dear."
"But Professor! Harry's scar hurts every time Cleo sees him!" Ron debated.
"Is that so." Dumbledore said, "Well, I suggest you don't worry about it. After all, it is Christmas! The train is about to leave so the four of you best be off." He said leading them out.
"Professor!" Ron whinnied.
"I assure you Mr. Weasley that we have the situation completely under control." And he closed the door, just after he plucked a hair from his head. Ron huffed down the stairs in front of them.
"Can you believe that? He didn't even seem to care!"
"Lay of it Ron, Dumbledore knows a lot more than you." Harry snapped back down at him. Cleo knew well of Harry's grate admiration for Dumbledore, one they both shared in.
"So it's not Voldimort." Cleo said when they had come out of the school.
"If it isn't you-know-who then, how is Harry's scar hurting?" Hermione wondered.
"Well, Dumbledore never said he wasn't involved."
"Yes, he must be involved," Harry agreed. "That's without a doubt. The real question is how is Cleo involved and who's the guy attacking her! Cleo, do you have any enemies?"
"No! I mean, there is Lindsey but she's not capable of this and besides the figures a man, I can tell by his voice." They were back inside by now and Harry had just slammed open the door.
"What is with all these dead ends!" he said angrily. Cleo did not know what to say.
"Dumbledore's right Harry." Hermione cooed "Its Christmas, lets stop being detectives for a week and relax." She almost begged. Yes relaxing would be good; this was a very stressful subject! And as Harry had pointed out there was always a dead end!
Ron brought out some exploding snap he had proudly swiped from his brothers and started playing with Cleo and Hermione. Harry was simply frustrated and refused to play. Instead, he starred out the window, encoring everything that would destruct him from his own effort to be a stubborn mule! (Or at least that was Cleo's opinion.) After two hours or so, they arrived at Kings cross. Cleo had made sure that they had gotten all the non-magical entertainment they could think of, 'cause it was going to be a while.
"Where do we go now?" Harry asked.
"Now we need to get a cab to take us to the airport. Mom gave me some money so lets get going." They were out on the street trying to get a car when Cleo saw the smoke of a car turn into the dark figures face. Harry winced.
"Is he there?" he asked threw his pain. Cleo snarled at the smiling cloud of smoke.
"Yeah he's there. You ok Harry?" Harry nodded.
"I'll be fine." A cab came up and they climbed in.
"When are we going to get food?" Ron asked over the growling of his stomach. Hermione looked around Cleo to him.
"Ron, I don't mean to be rude but, for a scrawny boy you sure can eat a lot!" Ron sneered at her. Cleo laughed, but quietly, for more of a safety measure really.
"There's going to be a meal on the plain?" Cleo bit her lip.
"…Er…Hermione what class are we?" Hermione checked the tickets.
"Coach, why?" Well, peanuts…that is sort of dinner, or not.
"No reason." Cleo muttered. The bill for the cab was highly over priced! Ron offered to put a memory charm on him but Cleo thought it might not be the greatest idea so she just paid him. The driver drove off muttering something like "Children and their stupid ideas, magic! Ha!" Now on to yet another way of traveling.
"Why is America so far away?" Ron whined.
"It's a completely different country Ron what do you expect?" Hermione snapped. Hermione herself was getting really edgy. Everyone was tired. Harry was silent and thinking, Ron was hungry and whining, Hermione was stern and Cleo was stuck in the middle. (Or something like that, three isn't an even number.)
They were going (and going and going) to their plain, passing by far to many food stains. Ron asked Cleo if they could stop but Cleo couldn't, even if she wonted to.
"That stupid cab driver took all of our money. We have about enough to buy a peace of a French fry hear."
"I could eat that!" Finally, they got to the plain just in time for boarding. They were going in when Crookshanks jumped out of her basket and ran on to coach.
"Crookshanks! No!" Hermione said with what seemed to be last bit of energy she had left. But Cleo was wrong in thinking because Hermione zoomed down the hall and past the attendant, leaving Ron, Cleo, and Harry to speed after her. (The attendant was pinned to the wall by the time Cleo passed.) Hermione scooped Crookshanks up and sat in her seat. They had seats side by side, two in one row and two in the other. Cleo smiled when she guessed that her father spent all day finding the perfect seats.
Cleo and Ron sat together while Harry and Hermione sat on the other side. Hermione grinned for the first time in a while when she saw that. Everything was going just fine for a long time. They had a lousy British sitcom on a television screen in front of them and loads of radio stations, but everything was only going fine until it was dinner time.
Ron perked up suddenly from zoning out on the seat in front of him. Cleo knottiest.
"What is it Ron?" He wasn't paying attention. His eyes were clear and attentive.
"Dinner." He said dramatically. He sat up even straighter. "My gosh! They're giving us spaghetti!" Cleo braised herself. She knew that they weren't going to get spaghetti, but instead get a bag of…
"Peanuts!" She heard Ron's disgruntled voice threw her worried thoughts. "What about the spaghetti! Whereas the spaghetti!" Cleo turned to look at him reluctantly.
"In first class." She muttered.
"No." Ron said insanely "I can't live on this! I'm going up there!" He pulled himself up from his seat. Both Hermione and Cleo yanked him back down.
"Are you crazy! We'll get in so much trouble!" Hermione hissed.
"I'm not crazy, I'm hungry! Are you with me or not?" Cleo had to admit it was rather tempting.
"How will we get away with it?" Cleo asked. Ron smiled.
"Theirs a bathroom between first class and coach." Harry said around Hermione. "All we do is 'go to the bathroom' and sit in a empty seat."
"Won't they recognize us from coach?" Cleo asked.
"No, Crookshanks ran away so the attendant never saw us!"
"What about the tickets? If they notice, we weren't in there before they'll ask!" Cleo warned. Ron began to take out his wand.
"Ron no! Do you wont to be expelled?" Cleo squeaked frantically.
"There isn't a restriction during the holidays, just as long as it isn't too bold." Hermione was stumped so they handed over their tickets, which Ron turned into first class. He raised his eyebrows and got up.
"Excuse me."
"Wait up for me!" Cleo said, trotting after him.
"Don't make me go!" Harry said playing along and following them.
"Honestly! Could we say this a bit more…sanitary!" Hermione went after them. Ron went into the bathroom for ten seconds and came out again.
"Look." He said nodding of to a row in the in the middle…with four empty seats! "Lets go." He said, put on a casual attitude.
"Oh, did they already bring dinner?" Ron asked, looking down on the dinner casually.
"Believe so, better ask the attendant to serve us." Cleo said sitting down. They all sat down.
"Oh my gosh! Their playing 'My fair lady!" Hermione said excitedly.
"Look! Theirs radio stations from all around the world!" Harry observed.
"And theirs food!" Ron whispered. "Attendant may I have some dinner please." A tall woman with brown hair nodded, but stopped.
"Were you here before?"
"We were in the bathroom." Hermione explained.
"All of you?" The attendant asked suspiciously.
"No!" Ron laughed. "First I went and they waited."
"But I should have gone first 'cause I had the worst stomach ache!" Harry debated.
"You weren't the one who ate six boxes of jelly beans!" Cleo snapped back convincingly.
"Yeah, you might wont to clean that out." Harry said the attendant and pointing back at the bathroom.
The Attendant looked sick to her stomach and put up her hand.
"I'll be right with you." She said and went into the kitchen. Cleo high-fived Harry.
"Grate improvisation Harry! Gorse out factor! Classic!"
"You weren't bad yourself!" Harry said with a big grin.
"Well I am a actress." Cleo said divinely. They laughed and watched the movie. The Attendant brought them all stemming plates of spaghetti and bowls of ice cream. It was the next day when they finally arrived in America. They were all drowsy and sore from the ride but when they were finally home they couldn't be happier.
Ron collapsed on Cleo's big green couch and stayed there, stagnate for a couple of minutest.
"Who's in there?" called a friendly voice from the kitchen. Three men walked in. The one in the middle was the tallest and fairest. He had blond hair speckled with brown and blue eyes. Although he was skinny, he was very muscular. Most of Cleo's friend that saw him said he was hot. He was her second oldest brother Robert, but everyone called him by his middle name Ben.
A little lower was Cleo's oldest brother Andrew. He had a naturally intimidating expiration on his face. Wearing all black with sunglasses and a one raised eyebrow. Many of Cleo's friends shrunk and walked away when meeting him, but Cleo knew that he really was a pussy cat just…different. The last was Cleo's father who walked over and shook Harry's hand.
"Hello, I'm Cleo's father, Mr. Chestra." He said, acting like the regular suspicious father of a teenage girl. Harry looked over at Cleo like He can't be serious But responded courteously.
"Very good to meet you Mr. Chestra. I'm Harry Potter, this is Hermione and Ron." He said pointing back at them; they waved only to be laughed at.
"Harry Potter, right! Cleo, how long did it take you guys to reuse this?" Andrew stepped forward and pulled her father aside. Cleo knew that Andrew had read the books, unlike her father. By the time Mr. Chestra had come back, he gave them a week smiled and offered to have them sit.
"That is Ben, and that is Andrew." Cleo said pointing to them. Ben nodded at them while Andrew smiled. Cleo didn't expect them to say mush more, they usually shunned her friends but Andrew took of his glasses (revealing the blue eyes belonging to all the Chestra children) and got into conversation with Harry.
Andrew was a very good actor although he had never seriously considered going into the profession as Cleo.
"What have you been doing at School?" He asked with a deep warm voice. (Even though, it had the tendency at first to make you shudder.) Harry looked at Cleo for reoccurrence, which she gave without hesitation.
"Mostly studying for O.W.A.L.S." He said darkly. Hermione gave him a McGonagall imitation.
"Harry, O.W.A.L.S are very important, I've been studying them…"
"Cents you were born." Ron broke in. Andrew looked at Ben and grinned. Yeah that's them. She could just hear the words flow threw his brain and out his ear. Andrew went on like that, eyes growing with interest with every answer. Dinner was called in a matter of minutest.
They sat down, the girls gossiping over the nauseating sounds of the boys eating. Her mother pointed out then that Cleo had a British ascent now, which made Cleo tingle.
They had dinner, watched a tear jerking Christmas Move and at her mothers request…
"Why don't you go to bed darlings?" Ron and Harry frowned, Cleo however leapt from her chair, kissed everyone goodnight and dashed upstairs, leaving her friends to drag behind her. Hermione was going to sleep in her bedroom and the boys with her brothers.
"Your brothers are nice." Hermione said when she had gotten to Cleo's room. Cleo laughed.
"Yeah, but when they find out I'm going with Ron there going to eat him alive! I'll just wait 'till they're all warmed up and I'll tell them while I run out the door." Hermione laughed and got her night gown on.
The quartet filled into the bathroom to brush their teeth and threw the frothy spit they conversed.
"I can't believe your Dad was suspicious about me!" Harry told them when a pea sized amount of toothpaste on his toothbrush. Ron looked at Cleo in the corner of his eye; Cleo bit the inside of her lip.
"Food was great!" He said quickly. Harry nodded and spit.
"I know! Your Mum and Ron's should get together! They would be so wicked!" Ron shrugged but was smiling.
"I think my Mom would like yours." Cleo said, thinking back to how Mom would say how much she admired her. They finished a broke up in pairs.
"Have fun with my brothers." Cleo said, trying not to crack up laughing. Ron looked at Harry and crept cautiously into the bedroom. Cleo and Hermione crawled into bed.
"Night Cleo."
"Night 'Mione."
The sun refused to shine that day, which suited their pain just fine. Susanna, now a striking 15 held her mothers freezing left hand; her 11 year old sister Emily held her right hand. Their mother was laying in her bed, straining for every last few breaths. She turned her sweaty face over to Susanna who smiled at her like there was nothing the matter. She looked like she wanted to say something to them, but it took such effort. Emily saw this and quickly calmed her.
"Shhhhhh mother, don't hurt yourself." Emily said, squeezing her mothers hand tighter. Mrs. Wakfeild turned her head to Emily and smiled.
"Sweet Emily, so strong," Strained breath "Stay strong Emily."
"I will Mamma." Emily said reassuringly. Mrs. Wakfeild slung her head towards Susanna.
"Take care of her Susanna," Breath "don't fear…anything." Susanna nodded and smiled a weakened smile sense her eyes started to fill up with tears. Her mother sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
"With my last breath…" Deep breath "must tell you now…"
"Easy Momma." Susanna warned her.
"You're…." Another strained breath "father…he was…" Penny coughed. This was her last breath, they all knew that. Mrs. Wakfeild breathed in.
"Wizard."