The Meeting

"I completely forgot how much I hated Trewlany," Hermione said as they entered the Defence classroom. "And how much I hate Moody. Can I please tell Dumbledore to do something?"

"Put it into perspective, Hermione," Ila said, dropping her bag on the floor and walked towards the crowd of students in the middle of the room. "Either you have Moody who, might potentially be somewhat crazy" – Hermione snorted – "or you can have a teacher that will hate your guts."

"At least he won't put his students in danger by performing one out of the three Unforgivables on us – you know, the same spells that can land you in Azkaban if the Ministry finds out."

"He's not that bad, Mione," Ron said. "He's actually alright once you get to know him."

"You clearly biased, Ron."

"And you aren't?" he countered.

"You only like him because he – he didn't even compliment you; it was your father that he likes."

"Actually, Mione, it's something called Reputation," Ron said. "I don't blame you if you don't understand."

"Well, you can shove your Reputation right up your - "

"Nice to see everyone's here on time," Moody said gruffly, dropping a pile of books on his table. "You all know what we're going to do today but before….if you had it done last lesson go to the left and if you haven't yet go to the right…."

The students shuffled to their allocated places while Moody was busy writing instructions on the board for what would happen in this lesson. "I don't care if you and Ms Brown are friends, Ms Patel, go to the correct side." Parvati slowly moved to the opposite side, where Ila, Ron and Hermoine were, along with a few others previously under the Imperious. Moody turned around and faced the left. "While I'm busy with these lot, you guys are going through pages three hundred to three-fifty and make notes. You'll finish it for homework – and that goes for you lot as well," Moody said, pointing at his group. Ila, Ron and Hermione found a table to themselves and started working on their work.

Well, Hermione definitely was.

Ila, on the other hand…

If it wasn't obvious already, Ila had a lot of questions. Many of them were unanswered. Why was Malfoy changing? Are You Know Who is actually back, or is she just going insane? Is she actually going insane? Why does Malfoy think she has a crush on him? Does everyone else also think that? Why does Moody currently have one eye on her and the other on Lavender? How is that even possible? Why is he still staring? Is he ever going to stop staring? Why does she always feel that she's doing something wrong whenever she thinks about Malfoy working for You Know Who? Why does she think not telling her friends about what Malfoy said was a good idea?

She had a few possible suggestions for that last one.

She didn't want to worry them…but that hasn't stopped her from telling them about her scar hurting.

There's…actually, that was it. But after her conversation with Malfoy – she…she didn't…she was left confused. She didn't know what to think. And while she did say that she wouldn't say anything to her friends until she got more information, her head was really hurting. Malfoy was too confusing. She needed some second opinions.

This was why she interrupted Ron and Hermione's conversation about Krum and what he was truly like and told them everything that happened.

"So?" Ila asked the two. "What do you think that means?"

Her friends stared at her. Ila wondered if a frozen spell hit them.

"Well…that's certainly something," Hermione breathed, still trying to take everything in.

"Are you sure he said that?" Ron asked. "Like hundred per cent sure? Cos, knowing you Ila, you don't have the greatest of hearing - "

"He told me that You Know Who was a bastard Ron," Ila said. "I'm pretty sure I heard that correctly."

"Do you think he's telling you the truth? Do you think he hates You Know Who then?" Hermione said.

Ila shrugged. "That's the thing that I don't get. It wouldn't make sense for him to change" – Ila felt a jolt in her stomach that felt too familiar to certain nagging – "so maybe he realised that it was me."

"The polyjuice stopped working?" Ron asked.

"No, I mean – he said some weird things about how I was different. Like my hair was lighter, and my eyes were darker – I'm pretty sure that vial was going past its expiry date…."

"But out of all people in the school, how did he realise it was you?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Ila groaned, using her hands as a pillow to rest her head. "But somehow he did, and because of that, he must've – You Know Who probably told him to say all of that if I ever brought it up."

"So all of that was for nothing then," Ron sighed.

"No," Hermione said, sitting up straighter. "It doesn't have to be. If anything, surely that provides more evidence – albeit it isn't the most reliable, but it's still evidence, Ila. Isn't that enough to go to Dumbledore?"

"Hermione, I can't – if I go to Dumbeldore, he'll say something like 'That is a grave accusation you have told me, Ila. Due to Malfoy being a minor, I must alert his parents. It can't be his mother because she is incapable of handling a situation like this, so it must be his father,'" Ila said, in her best impression of Dumbledore that she could give.

"You know he won't say that, Ila," Hermione said. "You're acting as if he's on the same side as Malfoy's father."

"Aren't you the one that always says they're practically the same?" Ila said snarkily.

"Not in all ways," Hermione countered. "Dumbledore would know if he was going to put you in danger."

Ila huffed, digging her head deeper in her arms.

"Face it, Ila," Ron said. "You're going to have to tell someone about this eventually."

"What about Sirius?" Ila asked quickly.

"He'll take too long to reply," Ron said.

"Malfoy might have already done something by then," Hermione added. "Why don't you go and talk to Dumbledore Ila?

"Or I could - "

"Go and talk to Dumbledore," Hermione said in a tone that sounded like she won't budge on her decision.

"Fine," Ila sighed. "I'll – I'll go talk to Dumbledore before dinner. Before the whole ceremony thing. Is that better?"
Her two friends nodded.

"That also isn't the only thing he said that made me get confused," Ila said before, completely regretting saying anything because it meant that she would have to tell Ron.

"What is it?" Hermoine asked. Ila motioned to get closer to her. Hermione leaned in.

"Closer," she said. Hermione moved until they were barely a gap between them. Ila covered Hermione's ear just in case Ron developed the ability to lip read.

"Malfoy said that apparently, I have a crush on him."

Hermione moved away instantly as if Ila had spat venom into her. Her hands sprung to her mouth, her brows raised to the heavens. Way to be subtle, Hermione, Ila thought.

"What? What is it? What did you say? Why did you tell Hermione first? What happened"

"While I don't have both my eyes, that doesn't mean I don't have both my ears. Get back to work, you three!" Moody barked.

The three instantly bent their heads, pretending to write their notes from the book.

"What is it?" Ron hissed.

Ila looked at Hermione, who stared down at her paper, still speechless.

"Malfoy has a crush on Parkinson," Ila blurted.

Ron tutted. "No, he doesn't. Mione wouldn't go crazy about something like that," Ron said. "Why can't you tell me the truth?"

Ila sighed. "I am telling you the…." Ila's sentence finished lamely when she looked up at Ron. "You'll make fun of me, for that's why."

"Ila," Ron said gently. "You know I won't make fun of you if you don't deserve it…or if I don't feel like it."

"Thanks for being such a nice person," Ila said bitterly before realising that it would be better for Ron to hear it from her than Hermione. "Well - "

The moment the words came out of Ila's mouth, she had regretted it immediately. Why? Ron has not shut up about it. Throughout the forty minutes left of Defence, he wouldn't stop laughing. For the hour of lunch that they had, he would not stop teasing Ila. For the fifty minutes they had of Transfiguration, he started to get concerned and ask if Ila actually liked him. And for the final fifty minutes of their Charms lesson for that day, it seemed that he wasn't actually that concerned and went straight back to teasing Ila.

"I think I might meet Dumbledore now," Ila said to Hermione, completely ignoring Ron, who was in his own world where Ila and Draco where they were together.

"Oh, come back," Ron shouted after her as she walked away from the Great Hall. "You haven't heard my couple names for you. What about…DILA?"

"Shut up, Ron!" Ila hissed when she saw a few Ravenclaws pass Ron and Hermione, giving them funny looks.

"Or what – oh or maybe DRIOLA! Huh? That's interesting, isn't it? I think I like that one more. What do you think, Hermione?"

"For Merlin's sake," Ila whined before running away from the two friends and to Dumbledore's office. Though she knew Ron wouldn't follow her all the way to his office, shouting all the names he figured for her and Malfoy, that didn't stop her from running until she reached the gargoyle in front of his office.

"Peppermints," she said breathlessly. The Gargoyle hesitantly jumped to the side, and the door opened. Ila suppressed a groan when she remembered the spiral staircase but took two at a time.

"Ila," Dumbledore said, slightly surprised. He placed the papers he was reading onto his table and pushed his half cresent glasses up his nose. He motioned Ila to take a seat. I wasn't expecting you to come at a time like this. I thought you would want your lunch before the ceremony. Is something the matter?"

"Well…pro..profes…merlin – give me a second…." Ila wheezed as she collapsed onto the chair opposite Dumbledore's table.

"Might I add about how sorry I am about our last meeting. I know that it wasn't what you wanted to hear but - "

"Don't worry about it, professor," Ila said. "I got over it by the next day." She hadn't been upset in the first place. There was nothing to get over. She had a feeling that Dumbledore would do something like that. "But sir, can I be honest with you for a moment?"

"Of course, Ila," he said, slightly amused for what was about to come.

"Have you ever thought about zip lines?" Ila said. "There's a park near my house, and I saw loads of kids use it all the time, and it looks pretty fun. It's like this rope and attached is this seat, and you can - "

"I am quite familiar with the muggle appliance," Dumbledore said, stopping Ila from her tangent.

"Don't you think it's a good idea to have them around the school? That way, you don't have to climb up all those bloody stairs…."

"Is this what worried you so much that you would miss dinner?" he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. Not enough to make Ila think he was suspicious of her.

"Er – no," Ila said, and it was at that point, she didn't actually know what to say. Did anyone know how to start something like this? Or at least how to start. Suddenly, she wished she didn't listen to her friends. This was starting to sound like a stupid idea.

"Ila?"

"Right…yeah.. erm - "

"Perhaps it would be easier to start from the beginning," Dumbledore said Ila. With a deep breath, Ila once again told the content of her dream, though there was a lot more added information this time. She told him about Wormtail's mouth being sewn shut, Voldemort's plan to…A group of women wanting to help him. This then lead her to the Cup Final and seeing the Dark Mark and all those Death Eaters, which made Ila grudgingly tell Dumbledore about her second problem; about Malfoy. She started to list all the times he behaved weirdly, from the Forest to now – well, not the latest interaction with Malfoy. The one before.

Dumbledore hadn't reacted at all as Ila retold her story, so much so, she wondered if there was any point. He was probably too worried about the Champion Ceremony that was about to go in – Ila checked the clock – fifteen minutes.

"I'm sorry for my lack of interactiveness when you were telling your story, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to connect the dots up. Forgive me, but my brain lags at times. I supposed I'm asking is so what? Why would it matter if Malfoy was changing?"

"Because – well….I – I think that maybe the reason why he's changing is because of Voldemort's return. His father's a Death Eater, which would explain how Malfoy managed to be in contact with Voldemort and - "

"Ila, are you insinuating that Draco Malfoy is working with Voldemort?" Now that Dumbledore was saying it out loud, Ila had to admit that it did sound slightly silly. But what other reason is there? She nodded hesitantly. "Ila," he said. He didn't need to carry on. She knew what he was going to say. She predicted it during her Defence lesson. "That is a serious accusation to make; I hope you understand that when you tell me this."

"I understand, Professor."

"Does anyone else know about this? I don't care how confident you are about this theory, Ila, but you cannot tell everyone about this."

"I haven't been spreading rumours, sir," Ila said as calmly as possible. "The only people who know about this, sir, is Hermione and Ron. There are they only ones."

"Does Draco know how about you feel?"

"No." It would be a bit redundant to tell Malfoy that Ila knows his plan with Voldemort. "Are you going to tell him?"

Dumbledore stared at Ila. "Regarding your other situation, I have to say that I'm quite disappointed that you didn't tell me earlier. I first heard it from Sirius, who assumed that I already knew – rest assured Ila, I acted as if you have, " he quickly added when he saw Ila about to speak.

"Sorry about that, sir," she said sheepishly.

"While it shouldn't be a cause for concern, please come to me the moment it happens again."

"Will do, sir."

"Do you remember anything else about the dream Ila?"

"Only what I've told you, sir," Ila said, trying to see if anything suddenly pops up.

"I can acknowledge that it must be hard trying to remember a dream, let alone a dream that happened months ago now."

"There is this one thing that – I guess it's quite weird," Ila said. Dumbledore remained silent, waiting for her to continue. "It was like I was watching it from a third-person perspective, but I was outside the room so I couldn't see much, but even though I was outside, it felt like – I don't know, it felt like I could feel whatever He was feeling. I could feel his anger, his hatred. At the time, I thought it was a memory of some sort, but the more I thought about it, I was wondering if it could be the future instead."

"I believe it's neither," he said. "I think…rather than the future or the past; it was the present. Or at least it was at the point you had your dream. Whatever happened during the dream was actually going on as you were sleeping but in a different place. Do you know where it took place – this meeting?"

"Er – I think it was in an old house."

Dumbledore hummed in response. "As I said before, if this happens again, please do not hesitate. It may be important….But there is one other question I have for you, Ila? How are you feeling?"

Ila gulped. She sat on her hands to stop them from curling into fists. "I'm great." Dumbledore stayed silent and stared at her. It seemed that staring at his eyes made Ila want to tell him everything that was going on in her mind. How did he do that? "Ok, so maybe I'm not that great…I don't know I s'pose – the Dream felt real and with it potentially being in the present doesn't that mean that…."

"Voldemort is alive once more?"

"D-do you think it's true?" Ila asked, hoping he wouldn't hear her voice cracking. "Do you think he's alive again?"

Dumbledore sighed before getting out of his seat and walking over to Ila. He leant against the table. "I can't answer that, Ila. There have been many times where I have been wrong. I do not want to give you false hope, nor do I want to make you feel anxious. But what I can tell you is two things. If there is a possibility that he is back, you have my word that you will not be alone when facing him, Ila – I know about what was said during your reading with Trewlany, but there are several people – more than I can count on both hands that will be on your side and help you defeat Voldemort."

"Why do I have to do it?" Ila asked. "Why did he choose to kill my parents and me? Why can't you go up against him?"

"Like I said the last time I saw you, Ila, there are many things that I can't tell you right now. Partly because you will not understand and partly because I don't know."

"What was the second thing?"

"What makes you so certain that Draco is a Death Eater?" Dumbledore asked. "Why don't you believe that perhaps he has realised what he's done? Perhaps he's changing because he no longer wants to associate with his family's history."

"Because sir – he's…people like him…." Ila didn't know what to say.

"Anyone can change Ila," Dumbledore said. "Anyone can realise what they have done, how much harm they have caused to people…But I think you know that, Ila."

"W-what?"

"I think you know that deep down Draco isn't a Death Eater and that perhaps he's turning into a better person."

"I think that's a bit of stretch, sir," Ila said, chuckling nervously.

"The second thing I wanted to say was that maybe the reason why you cannot believe Draco is turning into a good person is that you don't want to. For the past three years, where things weren't always as it seemed, perhaps Draco was the only stable thing in your life. For the past three years, he was the one who was mean to you. You knew what role he played in your life, Ila. You knew what kind of person he was. You knew him. But with everything going on with Voldemort, your life is on the brink of change permanently. You don't know how to deal with it. You scared of it. You are scared that everything will change, including Draco. He won't be the boy you used to know anymore. You need at least one thing in your life to stay the same, Ila and he was that one thing before, and to you, he will be that one thing forever. He's the only aspect of your life that you can control…do you understand what I mean?"

Ila nodded hesitantly, wondering where this whole speech was coming from. She wasn't controlling Malfoy. In fact, she couldn't care less about him. She knew that he was working with Voldemort and telling Dumbledore this right after telling her that wouldn't be the smartest decision.

But she couldn't help but feel déjà vu. As if something, somewhere deep down in her body, had told her the same thing. Perhaps…

No. It wasn't.

"I must warn you, Ila," he carried on. "The sooner you realise that you cannot control your life and that it's ok that you can't, the sooner your worries will disappear. Is that alright?"

She nodded again. "Yeah, er – thank you, professor."

"Now come on," Dumbledore said, standing up, "we have to find out who our champion will be."