Chapter Five
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Hermione was running her fingers through her hair, making it stick up in random places. "So, you're telling me Harry has been connected to You-Know-Who twice in one day and he hit you with an Unforgivable whilst in his sleep, without a wand?"
"Well, that's what the guy said Hermione." Ron said in an exuberated voice. Hermione shot him a look of disgust but decided against following it up with anything else. "So, Dumbledore's put some sort of charm on Harry so no one can get into his head?"
"Something like that," Lupin said shortly. Ron nodded and Hermione took a deep breath, giving Harry a lingering, deeply worried look. She placed a hand on Harry's own, and recoiled instantly. Lupin looked at her, "What's wrong?"
"He – he's freezing cold. His skin feels like ice," she stammered, looking at Lupin with big, worried eyes.
"But, he's acting like he's burning up," Ron exclaimed thickly.
"Don't worry, keep an eye on him while I go and get Dumbledore okay?" he stood up and strode out of the room. Ron looked at Hermione and, with a nod stood up and walked around the bed until he was standing behind her. He lent down and circled his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about it too much, 'kay?" he asked gently grazing her left cheek with his lips. She nodded as tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
"You, don't think it could be anything to do with, well… Sirius, do you?" she murmured in his ear.
"Honestly? I don't know," he took a deep breath as he charmed his chair so it was next to Hermione's and sat down in it taking her hand in his own. "Do you think he's, well, erm, found out about that girl that was staying here last summer before he showed up?"
"For once Ron, I actually don't know anything…" His eyes grew wide yet he did not do or say anything to Hermione's statement. They sat in silence for a good five minutes, not making a sound, Hermione clinging desperately onto the hands of the two boys in the room. The door clicked slightly as it began to open, Ron and Hermione dropped each others hands instantly.
Dumbledore walked in with Lupin and Snape at his heals. "Remus told me that Harry is now experiencing fever?" They both nodded and, as Lupin gave them a lasting glance and what looked like a tiny smile, Dumbledore walked over to Harry's side and placed his frail hand on his forehead.
"Yes, Remus, it is as you expected, Magically Inflicted Fever."
"Perhaps, Albus, I may be of some use to the boy?" Snape's cold voice said, travelling nastily around the room. "I have a draught in my bag, in case I should need it on my missions."
"Naturally you would Severus. Would you, kindly fetch it for me?" Snape bowed at the headmaster and slid out of the room, lightly closing the door behind him.
She made to run from the room, but a hand fell on her shoulder and once she was sure she was unable to shrug them off, she stopped in her tracks, took a deep breath and turned back around, giving the room and its few inhabitants a falsely happy smile.
"Dannie – are – you – 'kay?" Laura spoke hoarsely through a stifled yawn.
The fake smile dropped slightly but she nodded and whispered half-heartedly, "Yeah, I'm fine…" she turned to face the witch with their hand on her shoulder and continued, "So, Tonks, what brings you here? I thought you were at the Or…"
"Business… Dumbledore-style business," she said pulling a crumpled, parchment envelope out of her robe pocket and thrusting it into Danielle's unaware hands. "Here, this is for you."
She gave the piece of parchment a furtive glance that lingered on the Hogwarts emblem and slid her thumb under the seal, breaking it instantly and silently praying that the letter wasn't what she thought it was.
Dear Danielle,
I know this will not please you, yet I feel that, in recent events, it has become too dangerous for you to stay out of my sights for much longer.
Instead of travelling to Flaxtran's on the 10:30 am train from Platform 4 and 1/3 on September 1st, you will be leaving, on the same day, for Hogwarts, on Platform 9 and ¾ at 11am. I hate to tear you away from your friends but as your legal Guardian, I feel your safety does come first and that these precautions are now necessary.
You will be Sorted at the start of term to determine your House for your 6th and, in the likely events of Voldemort's continuing threat, then I feel that your 7th year should reside here too.
I have informed Flaxtran's of the change and have gained the knowledge of your classes and the books you will need (there is a books list enclosed).
As I said, I hate to do this, but I do not wish for you to be hurt and I know, if your parents were alive, you would already be attending Hogwarts anyway.
I will be looking forward to seeing you next month.
Much love,
Albus
x x
The creamy parchment shook in her hands before her eyes filled with tears and the letter fluttered to the floor.
Laura looked from Danielle, to Tonks and then down to the parchment. She shot a strained and slightly confused look to Rachel before crouching down and picking up the note. Her eyes skimmed over the words quickly and then looked at her emotional friend. "You're on first-name terms with Albus Dumbledore?" She said insensitively. Danielle only cried harder.
Rachel pushed past Tonks and Laura and wrapped her arms around Danielle, whispering into her hair and telling her, in a soothing fashion that things would turn out alright. But instead of having the desired effect, Danielle suddenly pushed her away. "How do you know what's in the note?" she said. Rachel looked away and Tonks rolled her eyes. "How did you know and not tell me!" She said, beginning to scream in an odd way.
"Danielle…"
"Don't Danielle me…!" She screeched. Tonks looked at the girl dreamily, realising where she'd heard that tone before… she is so like her father it was uncanny… "How the fuck could you? My dad has died… I need to be with my friends and here you all are, carting me off to Albus Dumbledore's Loony Asylum…" Tonks grinned, where have I heard that before? "And don't you go and grin at me like I'm a total moron you stuck up bitch…" Such a foul mouth, just like… "Would you stop it… please?" Danielle said tears teaming down her cheeks. "It's not funny, you try having regained and loosing the only family member you've ever had in the space of a year and see how you like it." She managed through her tears as Tonks grabbed hold of her and refused to let go.
"Please Dannie, please, you look so much like your mother and yet you act so much like your dad… that is meant as a compliment by the way." Danielle's wet face grew into a grin.
"Okay, could someone please explain why suddenly Albus Dumbledore's her – what, dad?" Laura asked thickly opening a cupboard door and pulling down a few mugs.
"He always has been, he's paid for her education up until now, and he's her godfather, not her dad. Danielle's dad died in July, as you would've probably already been told." Rachel began. "I guess, now that You-Know-Who's return is now common knowledge, Dumbledore just feels it would be better that Danielle be with him."
"Rightyo then, just your usually, most-powerful-sorcerer-on-planet-as-an-Uncle thing…?" She asked looking around the room as she bent down and pulled out a box of PG Tips, "Anyone for tea?"
"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, who was the letter to?" Ron asked, looking away from his best friend to look in to the powerful face of Dumbledore.
"Do you remember, Mr Weasley, a young lady who stayed with Sirius a lot last summer?" he questioned. Ron nodded eagerly. "Well, the letter was to her. She is my goddaughter, I do not wish for her to be away from my protection for too long."
"Danielle was your goddaughter?" Hermione asked, her gaze shooting away from Harry to look boldly in to Dumbledore's eyes.
"Yes," he said simply.
The room fell silent, Hermione went back to looking at Harry worriedly and Ron went back to holding his head in his hands. The door slowly opened to reveal Snape in his long black cloak and with a stone flask gripped loosely in his left hand, his right gripping around something in his pocket.
"Here you go Professor," he said, holding the flask out towards Dumbledore, "the Draught for the Reversal of Magically Inflicted Fever." Dumbledore took the potion and walked over to where Harry's body laid limp, gripped hold of Harry's head and lifted it until his mouth fell open. He poured a smoking orange liquid down Harry's throat and then, once he was sure Harry had swallowed it, he placed his head down gently on the pillow.
"He should be alright in about an hour, but I can't stress enough that if anything goes wrong, you call for someone immediately, do you understand?" Ron and Hermione nodded to their headmaster and allowed him, Snape and Lupin to leave.
Hermione gripped hold of Ron's hand and leant into his shoulder, "You do think he'll be okay don't you?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.
He brought his hand up and stroked her hair. "Yeah," and, seeing the look of utmost annoyance on her face, decided he had to go on. "Come on, this is Harry we're talking about! He's been through a lot more than Magical Fever Infliction or whatever it is! He's battled Voldemort three times, he had to watch his godfather die beyond a veil of whatever and he battled that stupidly big snake! Harry will be perfectly fine, just you wait and see."
She smiled a little, "You said his name."
"Huh?" Ron asked raising an eyebrow towards Hermione. "I've always said Harry's name."
"Not Harry you dolt," she said, hitting his head lightly, "Voldemort, you said Voldemort's name."
"Oh," said Ron, a look of terror spreading over his face, until he clapped his hand to his mouth. Hermione giggled slightly, "shit!"
"Ron, Hermione!" A voice screamed as the door was thrown open and Ginny came bounding in to the room, Dean at her heels. They dropped their hands almost instantly, but Dean, who'd been staring at the two had noticed, he made to grin uncontrollably at them, but Hermione shot him a look that could kill, and on her further inspection, she would realise that Ron, had done the same. Blissfully unaware Ginny began to speak in an apprehensive and hushed voice. "The Dementors, they've suddenly upped and left Azkaban, I bet you they've gone to join You-Know-Who!"
Hermione's hand shot to her mouth and Ron's just fell open, "well, that can't be too good," a voice spoke, making Hermione to give a little shriek and Ginny and Dean to jump out of their skins.
She walked up the stairs and pushed open the bedroom door. It was a tip, everything was everywhere. School books lay haphazardly here and there along with broken quills and half used bottles of ink. Parchment littered the table, some with homework, and others with random scribbles and doodles. Inside two beds were placed into the rather spacious, yet cluttered room, one with a quilt of black and green, that matched one half of the room, the other had a phoenix bursting from the ashes, its red and gold mimicking the other half of the room.
She stumbled over the spell books and clothes that were littering the floor until she was sitting down on the phoenix bed. The door opened again and Laura entered. "It's a bummer, ain't it?" she said making her way slowly towards her own half of the bedroom.
"Hm," Danielle replied as though she didn't care about the question.
"Look, so, it feels like shit that ya ain't goin' Flaxes this year, so what? I'm sure you'll get ova it won't ya?"
"It ain't that," Laura raised an eyebrow until Danielle continued; "It's Harry ain't it?"
"Yeah, whatever mate," Laura said, throwing one of her numerous pillows towards Danielle's open arms.
"You don't get it," Danielle said, making Laura fully aware what she was about to do.
"Okay then, just go an' underestimate your best mate, yeah man, like I don't get it! Who's the only one you've told everything to, huh? Who's the one that's told you everything back in return, huh? Who even took you along to somewhere you were definitely not meant to go? Who could get killed because of that?"
"Look, I know I've told you it all but –"
"Don't you fucking shit me okay? I've had to put up with your whining for the past – what? – ten years of our lives? Who the hell knows you the best?"
"You," Danielle whispered
"Yes… me! And that is why you have to trust me. Look, if anything bad happens, anything at all tell me and I will help you. But if Dumbledore wants you to go, you will have to go…"
She nodded bleakly and stared at the wooden floor boards, "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."
Laura giggled, "You already know some of them though, don't you?"
"Well, yeah," she looked up at Laura, "I met some of them last summer, but what I don't understand is that everyone made such a big fuss last year that I was to come here before Harry arrived, but now, they are forcing me to, well live under the same roof as him for a whole year! I don't know what Albus is playing at."
"You know, it is just way too weird that you call him Albus!"
Draco was standing in the doorway, apparently it had been left open as Ginny and Dean had entered. "Nice happy family reunion I suppose," he muttered under his breath.
"Oh, you're still here?" Ginny breathed shooting Draco a look of disgust.
"Nice to know there's no animosity between the five of us," he said, his permanent smirk back in place.
Ginny snorted, "There's six."
His eyes slowly trailed around the room, looking first to Ron and Hermione who seemed to be glued together discreetly at the hand (jeez, that's disgusting), Harry laying on the bed asleep (well, Potter does have a remarkable talent at falling asleep at the best of times) and Ginny (well, from all the Weasley's that I've met and dear LORD that's a lot, she is definitely the prettiest), his gaze deliberately missing Dean very elaborately.
"Nope," he said calmly, "I haven't missed anyone."
"You're filth Malfoy, want some more bat boogies?" Ginny asked swiftly, taking her wand out of her pocket and pointing her wand tip between his eyes. If she didn't know any better she would've said she'd seen him gulp.
"Put you're wand away Weasley, there's no need to hex me because you think it'll stop you liking me –"
"Quadrifariam circino!" Dean cried his cut and bruised face radiating anger. Suddenly four circles that were of blue, red, green and yellow in colour, were surrounding Draco, trapping him and encircling him and sending what looked like waves of Dean's fury through him. A scream burst from Draco's lips, yet he did not move.
"Dean, NO!" Hermione was screaming, looking at the curse that had issued from Dean's wand and then surveying the damage it was doing to Draco. "I don't care if he is the biggest git in the world, he's part of the Order, you are part of the Order, what part of, 'don't use dark magic' do you not understand!" she was shrieking loudly until she pulled out her own wand, pointed it at Draco and yelled the counter curse.
She rounded on a shaking Dean instantly, "What the hell do you think you were doing?" she bellowed, sounding rather like Mrs. Weasley. "The Dark Arts in the middle of the Order of the Phoenix… on another member! Well Dean, I am waiting!" She had shot up in an instant and, along with her shrieking, soon every member of the Order were crammed into Ron and Harry's suddenly too small bedroom.
"What is going on here Granger? Why were you screaming?" Snape's cool voice spoke as he entered the room in a billow of long, black robes. His eyes fell on Draco and in an instant his eyes were wide and shining uncontrollably with what looked like tears. His eyes shot straight to where Harry lay. "He did it, didn't he?"
"No, Sir, I did it myself…" Draco gasped. Hermione's eyes too grew wide and Ron's mouth fell even further open.
"What's this?"
"I – I was showing off Sir and the curse backfired on me," Draco told the Potions Master, grasping his stomach.
"But –"
Narcissa Malfoy strode in to the room, her long, pale green, silk robe flowing behind her like rippling waves and she kneeled down next to Draco, a look of deepest loathing boring in to her sons face. She slapped him full pelt across his cheek, causing a pink hand shaped mark to appear. "You disgust me!"
"Mum…"
"Don't you dare, I thought you'd be too much like him but I had convinced myself that you were different, that you were more of a Black, but I guess that I was wrong." She was spitting venom. Suddenly, she got to her feet and with pearly tears streaming down her face; she stormed out of the room, turning her back on her only son.