Mere Memory 4
Sailor V Returns
A couple of weeks have passed since Mina left Japan for holiday in England. It was great to see her grandfather Dedalus again after many years. Mina knew about her grandfather being a wizard. Mina's mother was a Squib and her father a Muggle. Mina knew the basics about the wizarding world. Her grandfather Dedalus told her about kneazles and dragons, different potions and even the tale of Voldemort and Harry Potter. Even though she wasn't a witch, she was still his grandchild and he wanted to keep her in the magical world. He knew there was always something special about her.
When Mina first met Artemis and became Sailor V, she was so excited to have some powers. After fighting crime in the Muggle world and saw how good she was at it, she excitedly told her Grandfather Dedalus her newfound power. He was surprised to hear that she was Sailor V and a little nervous. He never would've expected his granddaughter to be the young super heroine. Sailor V did come out of each situation safely and successfully so he knew she could handle herself.
Eventually Sailor V even became a celebrity among the wizarding society. Dedalus had never been so proud of her. His granddaughter—a super heroine! She had powers unique to being a witch. Though this gave him great pride in his granddaughter, Dedalus kept Mina's secret from their family and the rest of the wizarding society.
When Mina first came back, he told her nothing of Lord Voldemort's return, until she heard him talking to someone while she was in her room. Curious, she walked out of her room to see who the visitor was. It was a tall old man with long white hair and a beard to match.
"Hi grandfather," she said, brightly. "Hello, sir."
The old man smiled. "Is this granddaughter, Dedalus?"
"Yes," said Dedalus softly, turning to her. "Mina, this is Albus Dumbledore. He's the--,"
"Wait, you're the headmaster at Hogwarts!" Mina exclaimed, shaking the man's hand. "My grandfather told me all about it. I wish I could go, but I'm not a witch."
"Yes, I am," smiled Dumbledore. "Perhaps you might get your chance to see Hogwarts during a Hogsmeade Weekend."
"Brilliant!" Mina grinned.
Dumbldore nodded to Dedalus and then he left. Mina turned to her grandfather.
"Wow, I never thought I'd actually meet Professor Dumbledore!" she said excitedly. "Why was he here?"
Dedalus paused and gestured to the table. "Have a seat, Mina. There's something very important I need to tell you."
Confused, she obeyed. Dedalus summoned up some tea. He took a swig of his but Mina hers untouched. For the first time in years, her Grandfather looked tired and nervous. Something was wrong. She knew it. Her grandfather Dedalus was usually so upbeat, even for an old man.
"What's the matter, Grandfather?"
Dedalus sighed. "I knew I should've told you this sooner, when you came to stay with me. I suppose we were having so much fun, I forgot…I guess I just didn't want to believe it's happening again."
"What's happening again?"
"Mina, do you remember me telling you about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" he inquired.
"Yes," Mina replied. "The one no one likes to talk about."
"And the boy that stopped him?"
"Harry Potter?"
"Yes, that's right," Dedalus said with a smile. "Glad you remember. Well, Mina, I'm afraid…I'm afraid that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned and he's after Harry Potter again."
"No!" Mina shouted, covering her mouth.
Dedalus told her the whole story—how they were always wrong about Sirius Black and it was in fact Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed the Potters. He explained that Peter found his weak master and by smuggling Barty Crouch Jr. into Hogwarts as an Auror. He told them about the potion, Cedric Diggory's death, Voldemort's return and the Ministry of Magic refusing to believe Harry's testimony. Though Mina was furious that the Ministry didn't believe Harry, she was comforted to know that Dumbledore took action into his own hands by reforming the Order of Phoenix. Mina was close to tears by the end of the story.
"You mean—Sirius Black is dead?" she asked. "He didn't get to have his name cleared?"
Dedalus shook his head sadly. Mina frowned.
"What is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named doing now?" Mina asked."Back to his old deeds," Dedalus said gloomily. "He killed Amelia Bones earlier this morning. She was the Head of Magical Law Enforcement."
"The ministry's doing something about this, now, aren't they?" Mina demanded. "They've got to believe Harry after all this!"
"Yes, Cornelius Fudge saw He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the Ministry of Magic," Dedalus answered with a slight smile. "I suppose only seeing the wizard in the flesh would be enough to convince Cornelius. He was sacked and now Rufus Scrimgeour has replaced him. He'll do a good job. He was Head of the Auror department and he knows not to underestimate dark wizards."
"I want to help," said Mina suddenly.
"What?" Dedalus questioned.
"I want to help," Mina repeated, her voice more firm.
'There is nothing you can do," Dedalus told her.
"Granddad, there's got to be something!" she said. "If not me, then maybe Sailor V can help!"
"No, I can't put you in danger!" Dedalus cried.
"I've been in danger before," Mina groaned. "I've fought criminals, and I've been in many other battles against aliens and monsters. I think I can handle dark wizards!"
"Listen, Dumbledore is already taking care of everything," Dedalus said, trying to remain calm. "There is the order. There are Aurors."
"You'll be one step ahead of the Death Eaters if you've got a sailor scout or more in your corner!" Mina insisted, getting ot her feet. "Please Granddad, let me help. Let the others help!"
"I cannot ask them to join this fight," Dedalus said. "It isn't even theirs."
"But Grandfather, England is still my home!" she insisted. "I have people I care about that live here. I can't just let the Death Eaters destroy them!"
Dedalus shook his head. Mina frowned.
"You've got to let me help, Granddad," she said, "I mean, isn't that why you asked me to visit you anyway?"
Dedalus looked into her blue eyes. "No, it isn't. I asked you to come here because I knew that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was going to kill as much as the Order as he could. I wanted to spend sometime with you incase something happened to me."
"Don't talk like that," Mina said a frightened tone in her voice. "It sounds like you've already given up."
"I'm not as young as I used to, Mina dear."
"I'm not going to let them kill you," Mina promised. "All right, I won't call on my friends, but I'm already here so I've got to do something."
"I can't let you in the Order."
"I'm not asking you to put me in the Order!" Mina groaned. "I can keep an eye on the Death Eaters, watch over Harry Potter. The Wizarding world knows I'm not dangerous. I can help!"
"If the Death Eaters find you, you know what they'd do to you?"
"I'm not afraid of them!" Mina shouted. "Don't you understand? I've been in battles before. I've faced people probably worse than these guys—I mean—after Galaxia, they should be a piece of cake!"
Dedalus stood up and began pacing, thinking hard. Mina sat back down, watching her grandfather closely.
"Granddad?" she asked after some time.
"Just a moment, Mina," he calmly. "I have to think about this. There is already the Order keeping tabs on the Death Eaters. We even have one in the order."
"What?" Mina demanded. "A Death Eater in the Order?"
"He's spying for Dumbledore," Dedalus explained. "Now let me think..."
He left the living room and Mina remained seated at the table. She looked at her now cold tea. She hadn't bothered to drink it. She poured it out and got a glass of water to drink instead. She started pacing the room like Dedalus had done earlier. What if he still refused to let her help? She knew he was just looking out for her, but she was more than his granddaughter. She was a sailor scout. She could do things that witches couldn't. Even if he didn't tell her she could help, she'd do what she could on her own. She couldn't pretend everything was going to be all right.
Her grandfather finally emerged from his room. She looked up at him.
"Well?"
"Dumbledore is doing what he can here," he said, "the Ministry of Magic are doing what they can, but the Muggles have no idea about this, except maybe the Muggle Prime Minister."
Mina nodded.
"There will be some anti-muggles playing tricks on Muggles. Putting hexes on their cars, public toilets even."
"Ew."
"I think what you can do, Mina," said Dedalus, "is patrol Muggle Britain, while the Ministry and the Order patrol the Wizard side."
Mina nodded and grinned. "I think I can live with that."
"Just be careful, all right?" he inquired.
"I will, of course I will!" Mina hugged her grandfather. "Thank you, Grandfather."
"Now if there's a problem," he said, giving her a two-way mirror. "Contact me with this, understand?"
"Right."
"I'll bring the Order with me," he said, "I don't want you to take anything too dangerous."
Mina smiled. "Thank you, Granddad. I won't let you down. I promise...I'm going to go patrol now!"
Mina hurried to her room and searched her bag for her old crescent locket. She was so glad she decided to save it. She knew it would come in handy one day.
--
Sailor V's return certainly made a difference. She prevented Death Eaters from blowing up a bridge and killing dozens of Muggles. She caught a number of bad wizards, knocked them unconscious and left the ministry to deal with them. The news of her return spread like wildfire. Dudley about had a cow when he saw it on the news.
"No way!" shouted Dudley, pointing at the TV. "Did you hear that? Sailor V is back!"
"Why are you so excited, Dudley?" Harry demanded. "I thought you didn't like magic."
Dudley gasped. "You're not supposed to say that word!"
"Well, Sailor does use magic," Harry insisted, hands in his pockets as he left the living room. "How do you think she does all that stuff?"
"She's not a freak like you!" Dudley shouted after him.
The wizarding world also learned about Sailor V's return and there was something about her in nearly every issue of the Daily Prophet. Mina loved it. She was a celebrity again!
Her grandfather kept her updated with the news from the Order. Lucius Malfoy had escaped from Azkaban shortly after he was sent there. Severus Snape, the spy working for Dumbledore, told them that he did not know where Lucius was. All he told the order was that Lord Voldemort had released him and now Lucius was doing some special secret mission that Lord Voldemort did not tell the other Death Eaters. He explained that he died while on the mission but Mina had a feeling there was more to it than what Snape told the Order. Maybe he was lying or maybe he didn't know either.
Narcissa Malfoy did not tell the Ministry where her husband was. She didn't know much more than Snape did and if she did, she wouldn't tell them. The ministry searched her home but found no clue on his whereabouts.
Sailor V kept a lookout for Lucius Malfoy, though she knew that she was only supposed to patrol the Muggle side of Britain. Whatever Voldemort had planned for him to do, she knew it wasn't good. He could be anywhere, doing anything—perhaps seeking more death eaters to join Lord Voldemort—or looking for some way to make his master stronger. She only wished he was far away from her friends in Japan.
Sailor V forgot how good it felt to work solo. It was best for her to do this alone. The others could remain in Japan while she took care of things here in England. This was her fight.
On a quiet night, she sat on top of Big Ben to look over the city of London.
"A lot has changed since I left," she said quietly. "I'm going to do my best to keep everyone safe here. The Dark Lord will be stopped again, this time, permanently."
She sighed. "I wonder how the others are doing…"
It felt really strange to Tom to be walking out on the street in a new country and time. He didn't know what to make of it. He had been in that diary for so long, so, so long. He might have been hiding underneath all those years.
"Here, Tom," Serena said, pulling him into the mall, "let's get you some new clothes!"
"Right," he whispered.
He felt like a bit of an idiot following this girl around the mall, trying on clothes and having to model them to her. This wasn't what he planned to do when he got his freedom. Yet again, he was patient and did as she asked him. He pretended like he was actually enjoying himself and eventually, a part of him did. This was all part of the plan. He had to win Serena's trust and letting her sort of "baby" him would do the trick, then so be it. After trying on probably his twentieth outfit, he was starting to like all the attention Serena was giving him. It was good to be reminded that he was free.
"Wow, Tom!" Serena breathed, walking up to him and touching his new red button down shirt that he wore over a black T-shirt. "You look great."
"Thank you," said Tom, turning to look himself in the mirror.
"It must feel good to wear something different after fifty years, doesn't it?" she asked.
"Yes, it does," he admitted with a small smile. "The styles have changed since then. A lo tof things have."
Serena put her hand on his shoulder; smiling but she had a little sorrow in her eyes. "Oh Tom…I know it must be weird to be free from that book. You're in a different country and a whole different time, but don't worry, you'll get used to it."
Tom nodded and sighed. Yes, it was really strange. Though he hated beign bored half to death staying in that diary for fifty years, he grew used to it. Now that he was finally out he felt great but so…so strange. It was like he had to learn how to live all over again. He had another chance now. That's what mattered.
"Wait, is that Serena?" said a familiar boy's voice.
"It is. Hey, Serena!"
Serena turned and saw her best friend Molly with her boyfriend Melvin. "Hi Moll! Hi Melvin!"
Molly walked up arm in arm with Melvin.
"Serena, what are you doing here?' she asked.
"Getting some new clothes for my new friend here," Serena replied, gesturing to Tom. "Tom, this is my best friend Molly. Molly, Tom." Serena introduced then put her hand by her mouth. "And that guy's Melvin—he's a little weird."
"Oh, it's good to meet you, Tom!" Molly beamed, reaching for his hand.
"Charmed," said Tom, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it. Molly blushed and Melvin frowned. Tom nodded to Melvin for a greeting.
"What brings you here?" Molly inquired.
"I'm a forieng exchange student," Tom explained. "I'll be staying with Serena."
"You are?" Melvin demanded.
"Yes," Tom said in a sort of bragging way.
"That's right," Serena confirmed. "Tom's from England."
"Really?" Molly gasped. "Wow!"
"Hey, why don't we go have lunch together in a bit?" Serena asked.
"Sounds good," Molly said. "At the Golden Crown in a half hour?"
"We'll be there," said Serena.
Melvin and Molly walked off and Serena turned to Tom. "Oh, you don't mind having lunch together, do you?"
"Not at all," Tom said through a forced smile. His stomach turned. Muggles. He was going to have to break bread with common, worthless Muggles. He thought he'd never have to do that again ever. He just hoped Melvin and Molly weren't like the other brats he had to eat and live with.
Lunch wasn't too bad. Tom kept his mouth shut for the most time except for eating and when he was asked a question. Melvin eventually lightened up about Tom living with one of his crushes and they got in a conversation about science and mythology, which surprised the girl, including Tom. For a brainy, weird kid, Melvin had cool theories and even motioned magic a couple of times. But Melvin wouldn't say that if he knew who Tom really was.
"You know what a kappa is?" Melvin asked Tom and the other girls.
"Isn't that…some kinda dip?" Molly guessed and Tom smirked behind his napkin.
"No, Molly," Melvin told her, "they're water demons. They look like monkeys with fish scales and they've got holes on their heads to hold water."
"I hope they're not real," Molly said.
"Hey, it's possible to create one during an experiment with a monkey and a fish," Melvin insisted. "Maybe that's how they were created in the first place."
"Aren't they mythological creatures, Melvin?" Molly asked skeptically.
"Well, yes, but maybe they were made magically," Melvin insisted. "Tom, what do you think?"
Tom looked up from his cup of tea. "Oh I think with magic…anything's possible." He made an unusual grin before sipping his tea.
"See, Tom agrees with me," Melvin said pompously.
"Must be a guy thing," Molly said to Serena. "Guys and science…"
His body felt weak. He couldn't even feel it in some places. He didn't know where he was or who he was. He wanted to say something but no words could form in his throat. His itchy eyes opened and looked around the room. He could barely make out his surroundings. He was lying on some foreign bed. There was a bowl of water with a rag next to his bed. Someone was taking care of him, but who?
Where was he? How did he get here? He tried to think but that made his head hurt. How long has he been here? It felt like days.
A person entered the room. The person smiled.
"So you're awake? Good. I was wondering when you'd come around."
"W-who--?" he said tiredly.
"You don't recognize me?" the person said, putting his hands on his chest and looking shocked. "But I was one of you."
"W-what? H-how?"
The man came closer and sat at his bedside. The tired person could make out a face with a goatee. The man twisted his finger around his goatee, still grinning.
"Lucius Malfoy," he said "we meet again…"
TO BE CONTINUED
Yes, I left a cliffy! Wanted to do one for this story because I was a bit stuck. Thought the story might have been due for one. Did I use a cliffy for the other chapters? I know this chapter is a bit short, sorry. Some of you wanted to know what happened to Lucius, so here he is. Kinda wanted to kill him off but I didn't, yet. What should I do with him?
And who found him? Come on, guess it! It's someone who's supposed to be dead in book 6 but I decided to keep him alive…
