Return of the Unicorns, Chapter 28
Note: This chapter will be from the points of view of Hope Marshall, Cho Chang, and Tonks.
After she'd been rescued from the dementors by her father, Hope drifted in and out of consciousness.
One moment, her father was telling her not to die because that was rude, the next, Cho was coming looking for her, and the next, she was lying in her warm, cozy bed.
And now, she was dreaming… of Andrew.
God, of all the memories for the Dementors to conjure up, why did it have to be memories of Andrew?!
XXX
Cho Chang sat by Hope's bedside in Diggory Hollow. After she'd arrived and told Hope that she'd been looking for her, Hope had collapsed, unconscious, into her arms.
So, the other members of the Order had levitated Hope up to her bedroom and Cho had seen to tucking her in and getting some tea ready for when she woke up.
And now, she was sitting there, watching Hope sleep.
"Andrew. Andrew, please, I'm sorry I couldn't make it, I was dead, I'm sorry I died!" she cried aloud. "Andrew, I'm sorry I couldn't be there at your campaign fundraiser, I admit it was all my fault!"
Cho couldn't bear to watch Hope suffer like this. She grabbed Hope's shoulder and shook it – hard.
"What?" exclaimed Hope, suddenly opening her eyes and sitting bolt upright in bed.
"You were dreaming and talking in your sleep, Hope," reassured Cho.
"Oh. What was I saying?"
"You were talking to someone named Andrew. And in your memories, you were declaring your love for him. If you don't mind me asking… who's Andrew?"
Hope sighed, pushing her still-sopping black hair out of her eyes.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It was rude of me to ask."
"No, I should tell you," sighed Hope. "Andrew was… I should give you a little background on my life first. In my first life, I was the unicorn Rocinante. Then, I reincarnated as Cedric Diggory, as you know. And in this life… well, my powers only existed in one of my selves at a time. My unicorn powers existed in my unicorn self until he died, and then they transferred to me. My wizarding powers existed in Cedric Diggory until he died, and then they transferred to me. So, you see, I lived most of my life as a squib, in the Muggle world. I was born to Muggle parents who raised me and I received a Muggle education – albeit a top-of-the-line one."
"Yeah?" asked Cho. Unlike the last time she'd spoken to Hope, she didn't feel any judgment at all.
"Yeah. Muggles, after they come of age at eighteen, they can either finish up school and enter the vocational world or they can attend an institution of higher education – they call it uni or undergraduate or college, depending on where you are. So, from when I finished secondary school at the age of 17, I attended Wellesley College. It's an institution of higher education for women."
"I bet it's the most prestigious institution of higher education out there," said Cho, hoping to encourage Hope to tell her more.
"It's not necessarily the MOST prestigious, but it's pretty good. I learned a lot there. I studied statistics and advanced mathematics and I learned about law and policy, and I also learned to write really well – among other things. I was also captain of the Hockey team and vice president of the student body.
Well… the only time Cedric had listed his accomplishments like that had been when he was trying to impress her. Was Hope trying to impress her now? Cho hoped so. "That sounds really cool," she said encouragingly.
"Thanks," sighed Hope. "Anyway, you study for four years at college before you graduate and in my fourth and last year, I met a man named Andrew. He was from a very wealthy and politically influential family – basically picture the American Muggle equivalent of the Malfoys-"
Cho laughed uproariously at this. "You with a MALFOY?! Or the equivalent?! Merlin's beard, I can't picture it!"
Hope smiled weakly in reply. "Well, he said he found me attractive and asked me out and we started to date. After 6 months, we were planning to move in together and he was planning on asking me to marry him. He'd even picked out a very expensive ring."
"What then?"
"Well, shortly after I arrived to move in with him, the date of the Third Task happened. Although I was living a new life in a new body, my current self was sufficiently connected to my past selves where I felt the tension and pain of the Third Task, even as my reincarnated self. And then when I died under the Avada Kedavra curse, that killed my other self, but it stopped my current self's heart. I collapsed right in the middle of a Muggle crosswalk and got hit by a car."
Cho gasped. "You could've died!"
"I basically died… for a while. My heart stopped beating and the medical crew that picked me up had to use special devices to make my heart start beating again. It was brutal. I had to spend a week in a Muggle hospital."
"So, what happened when Andrew visited you?" asked Cho.
"He didn't."
"WHAT?!"
"I mean, he didn't visit me at all. He had his assistant order me a huge flower arrangement with a little card and a note on it, but he never checked in on me once, never asked my parents how I was doing, nothing."
"Oh, my…" Cho breathed.
"So that was the end of that relationship!" Hope said as nonchalantly as she possibly could – which was not actually very nonchalantly.
"So… he basically abandoned you when you'd almost died?! He should be… He is literally the worst, most disloyal scum of this Earth! Oh, Hope, you deserve so much better!" Cho threw her arms around Hope and hugged her close, hoping that the embrace would make her believe it.
And sure enough, Hope cautiously embraced her arms around Cho. "Thanks, Cho. I did break up with him over it. I just… I wonder if I'm actually worth all the fuss and bother, you know?"
"You ARE, Hope! You ARE!"
"Thanks," she said weakly.
Cho looked into Hope's familiar bright gray eyes and took a deep breath. "You don't actually believe me, do you? Intellectually, you think you should believe me, but emotionally, you struggle to."
Hope gave a little laugh. "You're so smart, Cho. I'm just sad and worried for how much pain I've caused everyone, that's all. I caused you – and my parents – distress when I died, and I also had parents in this lifetime. Whose memories had to be magically wiped because otherwise I would have posed a risk to them after I volunteered to join the Order of the Phoenix. Cho, I cause hurt wherever I go!" Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.
In the past, Cedric had been quiet and he'd often been reluctant to share his true feelings – Cho had sometimes needed to force the truth out of him. True, Cedric had been very open with his love, but when it came to his suffering, he was very reluctant to share.
The fact that Hope was sharing her feelings so openly right now therefore had to mean that the Dementors had brought distressing memories to the forefront of her mind. Those memories must be so overpowering right now that Hope HAD to share them.
"Hope, there's something I have to say to you. I love you. I was surprised and shocked when you came back to me because I wasn't expecting it – and that's why I reacted badly – but I really do love you. No matter what name you take, no matter what gender you are, no matter what you look like – I don't care. I just love YOU."
"I appreciate that, Cho, and I love you too. If Andrew hadn't betrayed me and it'd come to a choice between you or him, I hope you know I would've chosen you. I've felt more connected to you than I ever have to anyone else! But-"
"But WHAT?!" demanded Cho, sensing that some ridiculous reason was about to get in the way of kissing the person she loved so dearly.
"But you're underage and I'm not. And I'm too old for you now because I'm 22 and you're only 16. And most importantly… you need to think about what you really want."
"I want YOU!" Cho all but screamed.
"You need to think about this, Cho. I'm not sure if I can give you the normal life you want. I'm a sketchy nobody who barely managed to weasel her way into the Auror Office. Very few people know who I really am. And Auror trainees don't even make a lot of money. That's hardly long-term relationship material."
"I don't care," Cho repeated, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Well… I do care. I'm sorry," said Hope.
Not knowing what to do, Cho nodded. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she watched an all-too-exhausted Hope drift back to sleep.
XXX
After a few more fitful hours of sleep, Hope woke up and saw the clock on her bedside table read 5pm. Cho – bless her loyal soul – was still sitting in a chair by her bedside.
"Are you okay?" she asked patiently.
Hope knew she shouldn't be making comparisons between her past significant others, but Andrew never would've been so sweet to her if she'd just denied him what he wanted.
"I'm on the mend," replied Hope.
"Good."
"Cho, I think you should get back to Hogwarts. If you get back in time for dinner in the Great Hall, you'll have fewer excuses to give. If you're gone all night, it'll be worse."
Cho cautiously nodded.
"But Cho?" Hope knew she shouldn't say this, lest she encourage any too-high hopes in Cho, but so help her, she had to say it: "Thank you for coming to see me. And no matter what we are to each other, I'll always be there when you ask me to, you got me? Unicorns are resistant to apparition zone spells, so I can apparate right into Hogwarts whenever and wherever you want me to, okay?"
Cho nodded.
"And because I think Umbridge might be inspecting the post, I have something for you to contact me." She pulled something from out of her dresser drawer: two mirrors. "These are a pair of two-way mirrors. You just say my name into the mirror and you'll be able to talk to me through the mirror, face to face. Whatever you need, you got me?"
Cho nodded one last time and clasped Hope's hands tightly between her own. "I got you. And… is there anything else I can do for you?"
Hope sighed irrepressibly. "I hate to ask, but… I miss a lot of the students at Hogwarts. There were a lot of them who I checked in on. Could you please just make sure they're okay?"
"Of course," said Cho. Then she reached around Hope to pull her into an embrace, and then left before she was tempted to stay any longer.
XXX
The next day, Hope woke up to the smell of breakfast emanating from downstairs. Because she was feeling stronger after so much rest – and a big groggy from having been in bed so long – she walked downstairs in search of food and coffee.
"Hope!" exclaimed Amos. He ran out of the kitchen where he'd been magically flipping French toast and hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're all right!"
"Thanks for saving my life, Dad," she said weakly.
"You basically saved mine too, you know."
"How are things at Azkaban?" she asked when he released her.
"They haven't found a lot of answers about the break-in. No info on who actually caused it, anyway. But they did find some memories that featured Wormtail – AFTER the time he was supposed to have died at the hand of Sirius Black. So, maybe Sirius's innocence could eventually be proved."
"That's great!"
Amos flipped some more French toast in silence, then, deciding he'd made enough, waved his wand to usher the pots and pans into the sink so they could wash themselves. With another wave of his wand, the coffee pot and a mug jumped to pour Hope a cup of coffee with a dash of milk and sugar, just the way she liked it.
"Where's Mum?"
"Off to Gringotts already, but she was in your room three times last night to check on you. You had us both worried sick."
"I am sorry about that."
"Don't be. You were doing what you felt was right."
Hope took a couple fortifying sips of coffee before she found the words to say what was on her mind. "Speaking of doing what's right… you and mum still don't condone me being friends with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, do you?"
"Hope, we just want you to be safe. We don't want to have to lose you again."
"Well, if I hadn't made my way back to this war zone instead of going to Harvard Law School, I never would've FOUND either of you again!" protested Hope.
"Of course we're glad you found us, but we just can't let you die! Not again, please!"
Hope's eyes filled with tears for a moment. She should know how much pain she'd caused her poor parents by dying but the truth was, she honestly would never comprehend the full extent of it.
"I should go pack," she said abruptly. "I think it'd be better if I stayed with Tonks for now. If I stayed with you and Mum, people might get suspicious. If I'm roommates with another Auror, no one will suspect anything about that."
"You don't have to do that! Hope, you can't push us – you can't push ME – away!" Amos all but pleaded.
"It's a safety precaution, Dad," she said flatly.
"Please don't leave me," he breathed softly. "I just don't want you to be around werewolves at the full moon. I just don't want you to get caught trying to keep a convict from being arrested. Please, I just want what's best for you!"
"I should go. I'll see you, Dad," said Hope. Then, she apparated into her room, packed her luggage with a wave of her wand, and disapparated to Tonks's cottage.
She just couldn't be with people who questioned her every life decision. She simply couldn't. Not even if they were her very own parents.
XXX
"What climbed up your arse and died there?!" exclaimed Nymphadora Tonks after she and Hope apparated back to her tiny cottage.
"It's been a long day, okay?" said Hope. "Surely, you remember how exhausting Auror training was?"
"Aye, and it was a bit less exhausting than actually BEING an Auror. Now, tell me what's bothering you, or I'll think you've gotten as grouchy as old Mad-Eye Moody!"
"Isn't he your mentor?"
"Which is exactly why I'm free to sass him! Now, tell me what has you moving out of your parents' house and staying with me. Not that I mind having you around, of course."
Well, Hope recognized that she'd been cornered. "UGH, FINE! The morning of the Azkaban raid, they basically told me that I shouldn't be friends with Remus Lupin because he's a werewolf, that I shouldn't be friends with Sirius Black because – even though he's innocent – the whole Wizarding World thinks he's guilty of murder, and that I should be going to Harvard Law School in the Muggle world instead of starting Auror training here because it's safer. Like, excuse me for wanting to get in touch with y past life and fight Voldemort!"
"Whew, that's a lot to unpack! Should we talk about it?"
"No," groaned Hope, "I'm going to bed."
"Can we at least drink about it?"
"Okay…"
And so, over a couple glasses of fire whisky, Hope vented her frustrations.
"You want them to support you even though the choices you're making are dangerous," Tonks said, summing up Hope's woes.
"Don't you have the same problem? Didn't your mum NOT support your decision to become an Auror?"
"Oh, she came around eventually," sighed Tonks, "but yes, it did take a fair bit of time. She wanted to see me in a nice, safe, easy job that pays well and being an entry level Auror certainly isn't that."
"That's true."
"So, don't fault your parents for being worried about you! Jeez!"
Hope ran her fingers through her dark wavy hair, making it into even more of an adorable mess. "Tonks… it's not that I fault them for being worried about me, it's that I fault them – especially my dad – for having something out against perfectly nice werewolves and perfectly innocent wrongfully-imprisoned people!"
"He isn't a spiteful twat like that, he's just worried about you!" protested Tonks.
Hope downed the rest of her glass of fire whisky. "I should sleep. Big day tomorrow, as usual. You should get some rest, too." With that, she made her way to her bedroom.
Tonks sat in the middle of the kitchen nursing her glass of fire whisky. What to do, what to do…
After a few moments, she realized she'd always known exactly what to do, she just wasn't doing it. But she would do the best thing now. So, once Hope had been in her bedroom for a while, she quietly made her way outside and, once out of earshot of her own cottage, quietly disapparated to Diggory Hollow.