Chapter six – Magic's all around us

'You sound like your grandmother,' Rob said accusingly.

'I know I do,' Simone said exasperated. 'And I truly wish I didn't. I guess she got the better of me after all.' She felt like she was about to have an anxiety attack or something. If they found out… she'd just die of shame. For whatever strange reason. There was nothing to be ashamed about, it was just that she somehow was.

'We understand how you feel, we all go through it sooner or later,' Lauren said. 'But you can't expect us to hide who we are, because you are not ready yet. And perhaps it is time for you to be more open about it. You always complain most about it whenever the subject comes up. Weren't you campaigning for…'

Lauren suddenly fell quiet, the door to the kitchen was ajar, while she was very certain she had just locked it so they couldn't be bothered.

'What?' Simone asked nervously, turning around. When she saw what Lauren had just seen, she felt the colour leave her face. She jumped of her chair and raced to the door, just in time to see Rita Skeeter trying to hide behind the couch.

'What do you think you're doing!' Simone demanded. She yanked Rita Skeeter upwards, trying to regain control of her temper.

'I was thirsty,' Rita Skeeter said, as if she had not just been eavesdropping and trying to take cover behind a slouchy couch. She straightened her robes, tucked her wand away and smiled serenely. Or tried too, more like it. 'I could not help but overhear your conversation with your… friends.'

'You couldn't help it, huh?' Simone said, frowning. 'Don't think you can fool me, Miss Skeeter. I've read the books. I know all about you.'

'What luck,' Rita said, something changing in her tone, and Simone didn't like it at all. 'Because I know all about you as well.'

Rob and Lauren were now standing behind their friend, and they swiftly exchanged glances. All for the better, if anyone asked them. Simone took a few moments to gather herself. OK. OK. Try to breathe. Try to breathe.

'Come now,' Rob said, pulling her close. 'It's alright. It's alright. Nothing bad has happened, nothing at all.'

Can't breathe! No air! She grabbed the side of the couch and closed her eyes. Don't be stupid Simone. Don't be an idiot. After a while she felt herself relax calmly and stared at Rita Skeeter with venom. She now very much regretted that Dumbledore had brought her along, even though she had been very excited about the prospect when he had told her he would.

'What is this whole fuss about?' Rita asked, raising her eyebrows. 'What is she so worried about? If you ask me, I thought that something really serious was going on instead of this.'

'In our world, this is very serious,' Simone growled. 'And I would appreciate it if you did not share this information with the professor or Harry, Ron and Hermione.'

'Why not?'

'Because,' she said, 'otherwise I have more than enough things to tell about you that they'd be bloody interested in. Do we have an understanding?'

Rita didn't seem to find this an understanding at all, especially considering she did not know what Simone knew about her and if this even equalled with the discovery she had made about her. Eventually she decided that there was no other choice. There were a number of things she'd done that she did not want the professor or those three annoying children to know about, and the risk of Simone knowing was too high.

She shook her hand. 'Fine.' She said. 'I still don't understand what this fuss is about.'

Parson was online. Simone turned around and nodded towards Dumbledore. Ron was sitting next to her, looking at the whole process with interest, especially when Parson started talking to her.

'Wow! This is absolutely amazing! My dad would die of a heart attack!'

Hermione was less impressed, she knew of the concept of 'chatting', she'd heard of it back home, though here it was in a far advanced state than it was back home. She still couldn't believe that here it was already the year of 2009! They were fourteen years ahead of her own time.

-Hey Simone, haven't spoken to you in ages

Simone hesitated before she replied: Yes, I've been busy. Got a new job. How are you doing?

-I don't know… A lot of strange things have been happening

'Strange things?' Ron blurted out. 'What kind of strange things?' Simone was ahead of him, she'd already replied.

-Well… you remember I told you about stealing the books an' all.

Yes

-Ever since then… Look, I know this is going to sound really stupid, but trust me on this one, ever since then I've felt like… I don't know how to explain!

Try

-The possible buyers. A lot of them wear wizard's robes, Simone, wizard's robes. First I thought they were just extremely geeky fans, but lately I've been getting the feeling that they wear those robes for a reason.

I don't understand

-They seem to pop up and disappear out of nowhere, as if they're apparating. They have strange names, some of them I've seen using wands. Sometimes names appear on my possible list of buyers out of nowhere, like they are written by themselves. Once I was sitting down , updating the list, and a name wrote itself. It literally wrote itself! I didn't do anything. This is just not right.

Simone looked around, told Dumbledore, Harry and Hermione everything Parson had written so far. Dumbledore frowned slightly at hearing this.

'It may just be witches and wizards from this realm,' Rita proposed. 'There is no need to assume that they are Death Eaters.'

'Portals are hard to create,' Dumbledore admitted. 'Plus, creating portals does not even guarantee that they will end up here, in this time.'

'But Simone already said that there are no wizards and witches here,' Hermione reminded them.

'Well, she won't know, will she?' Harry said, 'She's a Muggle. No Muggle, save a few, know about our existence. Why would this world be any different?'

'Yes, and I believe to have seen a couple,' Rita said calmly.

'Whichever the case, I think we can all agree that this is not good news and that we should not take any chances.'

Simone was typing away on the computer, asking more questions, but that was about all Parson said. Everything else was: You do believe me don't you? You don't think I'm mad, right? What would you do? Do you think what I'm doing is wrong?

To that last question she had simply answered yes, she did thing that what he was doing was wrong and she hoped for his sake that he'd change his mind.

After that he logged off.

'Very smooth,' Rita sneered. 'You obviously don't know how to interview anyone.'

'Better than transforming into a bug and trick stories out of people, to change them drastically later on,' Simone shot back, turning off the computer. 'Besides, we know all we need to know. Witches and wizards are involved in this theft. Meaning that either I'm proved wrong and they do exist in my realm, or there are more portals.'

'Or,' Hermione said, with raised eyebrows. 'You allow more people through your portal.'

There was a silence. Simone tried to understand the implication of this. Was Hermione insane! 'What are you trying to suggest here?'

'You most likely do it without even knowing,' Hermione said swiftly, when others served her with a look that clearly had what-the-fuck written all over it. (perhaps in a more civilized manner) 'But when we arrived you remained soundly asleep.'

'No, that's not possible,' Simone said. 'Portals are created when two people are willing. I'll need to know about it before anything can happen. That's why Dumbledore told me about your coming beforehand. You could not have come here otherwise. You would've been stuck between two worlds until I approved of your crossing.'

Rob and Lauren walked in, carrying trays filled with food and drinks. They were briefly filled in by Simone of her conversation with Parson. Everyone looked at this with surprise, why did Lauren and Rob have to know about all of this?

'Oh,' Lauren said, while grabbing a slice of cake for herself. 'Well, there are definitely witches and wizards in this realm, but I don't think many of them will be capable of apparating or disapparating. However, them buying the books is a likely option. Especially by the elderly wizards and witches. They don't like them much.'

'They like their privacy even more than wizards and witches do in your realm,' Rob explained. 'So… anyone fancy anything to eat?'

They all sat down around the kitchen table, and for a while everyone was silent and preoccupied with filling their stomachs. Hermione was the first to break the silence: 'How come the two of you know all of this?'

'We know a lot of things,' Lauren said with a smile. 'Though they like their privacy, they don't have a law that states that secrecy should be kept. It's not uncommon for any Muggle in this realm to come across a wizard or witch and eventually learn about their identity. They won't say anything anyhow, no one will believe them.'

'That's not much different, then,' Ron stated.

'What do we do now?' Simone asked.

'We will find out who these wizards are, and in order to do so, you must get your hands on that list, Simone,' Dumbledore said. 'In the meanwhile, Ron, Hermione, Harry and I will try to locate some of those portals and who they are linked to. I am not sure if I will be able to find them, but it is worth a shot. I will send word back home to find out if anyone is missing and to some others who might know more about this.'

'Professor Snape,' Simone enquired.

Professor Dumbledore smiled, 'Perhaps.'

TBC and leave a review if you're willing ;)