I just realized that I've been working on this story for a little over a year now, so here's to one year of Bree! I drew some stuff in celebration. Go to my profile for the link.
Also, I've recently come to terms with the fact that my hair has changed from blond to light brown. I'm told that the same thing happened to my dad, stupid genetics.
One more thing before we get started, I'M GOING TO MY FIRST CON THIS MONTH! Yes I'm a geek, but my friends say it's fun.
Bree sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. Blue eyes, pale skin from spending nine months in a castle when in the past she would have gotten a tan from spending her days in the sunny California weather, but today, instead of bemoaning the fact that her skin was almost as white as the paper her father's lecture notes were printed on, she was upset about her hair. The uneven blond locks that had gotten slightly darker since her move to England now that they weren't neat constantly exposed to the sun were usually kept at chin length were now hanging halfway down her neck. That only meant one thing. Bree needed a haircut.
Bree wasn't found of haircuts, no matter how careful you were or what precautions you took, little snippets of hair always slid down your shirt and made you itch and the only way to get rid of it was to shower and change your clothes. Bree did just that as soon as her mother was done trimming her hair, now that her hair was at an acceptable length, she was ready for the summer.
The first destination for the summer was Australia. Bree's paternal Grandfather had the bright idea of camping in the outback for two weeks. Bree and her father would meet him at the beginning of the trip and camp with him for five days, then they would head to America for a family reunion and meet Bree's mother there, who could not get time off for the camping trip. They would get back to England a day or two before Harry's birthday, for which Sirius was throwing a lavish party, and then things would settle down for a while before it was time to go another family reunion, this one for Mr. Smith's half of the family, in mid-August, then it was back to school in September.
The plane ride to Australia was long and boring and gave Bree time to reflect on the offer that Uncle Vince had given Percy. It was nothing like what Bree had demanded from Skeeter, for one thing Percy hadn't done anything to anger the Smiths and he was a… friend? of Bree's.
The discussion had gone on for awhile. They talked about aliens and the Doctor. They talked about the failings of the Ministry and Dumbledore. Most importantly they talked about what had happened at the graveyard and how Voldemort was back. They talked about how the Ministry was denying what had happen in order to save face, after all, no one wanted the dark times to return. They talked and talked and finally got Percy to agree. Percy was now the first recruit for the Third Option and their spy within the Ministry.
Before Percy left Bree confided in him and told him about the nightmares she was having. Percy told her that he had been having them too.
The plane landed and Bree walked out into thee hot Australian summer.
Australia was awesome. Even though Bree wasn't fond of camping the Australian landscape and wildlife more than made up for it. On the second day of the trip Bree got up early and left tent that was set up about forty feet from a river. She soon found herself in the company of a ghost, though she didn't realize it at first. At Hogwarts the ghosts had all been pale and transparent, the one in front of her looked like he could be among the living, at least until she tripped and fell through him.
The ghost was a middle aged man with the darkest skin Bree had ever seen. He told her that his name was Marron and then explained how he had died.
"I was fishin' in de river wen de croc come up, but I don't see de croc, not 'till E pulls me inta de river. I fight to come up, but wen I come up I leave my body behind."
Marron could tell that Bree was a witch, mostly because she wouldn't be able to see him if she wasn't, and since she was the first person he was able to interact with in a long time he decided to teach her bush magic.
Bush magic seemed fairly simple in comparison to what Bree had been learning at Hogwarts. It focused on the bare necessities in life: Food, water, shelter, defending yourself, and first aid. Everything you need to keep yourself and your family alive. The magic taught at Hogwarts could be useful (as in defensive spells) but some of it was utterly pointless (as in making a pineapple tap dance or turning a rabbit into a hat, seriously, who came up with those? It's ridiculous. Who's going to use that? No one. It is never used again. Ever. End of story.)
But, oddly enough, most European wizards were unable to learn bush magic. This is because European wizards were taught that magic came from inside of them, that they had a magical core within them that muggles lacked and that if that core was strong then they would be strong. A lot of them thought that the strength of your magical core had everything to do with purity of blood. They were wrong. Everything has "magic" as wizard call it, though it also goes by many other names, depending on where you are. All it really is, is the natural energy of the earth that flows though everything and is tied to the ecosystem. Some beings are more sensitive to this energy then others and act as a conduit for it. Some are capable of storing inside of their bodies and building up a large reserve of energy that they can use when they want to, however most modern wizards didn't have that reserve and so the energy for their spells was pulled from their surroundings. This is why modern wizards are so much weaker than their ancient ancestors. Merlin and the four Hogwarts founders had massive energy reserves. Why do modern wizards lack this you might ask. Two words, Pureblood Ideology. The Pureblood agenda and teachings corrupted the system, not to mention all the inbreeding.
Bree didn't have the inbreeding problem, but the teaching of a Pureblood dominated society needed to be forgotten. This is why Bree was now spending a lot of time getting to know the earth. Using magic to "feel" her surroundings. To do this Bree had to be in a state of semi-meditation. Bree laid down on her back facing the sky. At first all she could feel was the sand digging into her skin. After awhile Bree was finally able to feel the life around her. Grass and trees, nest birds, bugs and lizards, a bug being eaten by a lizard. Bree meditated like this for several hours a day. When she wasn't meditating Marron was teaching her how to find water in the desert.
Before Bree left Marron suggested the she find a living teacher if she wanted to continue learning. A flesh would be able to demonstrate better than a ghost.
Jet lag sucked, especially with small children running around and making noise. Bree couldn't get a moments rest. The home where the reunion was taking place was huge but with all the people there it was impossible to find a place to be alone. The worst part was that Bree as in charge of watching child. For a long time Bree had been the youngest on either side of her family, that changed a few years ago. The currents youngest was three months and was being passed around like a football among the adults, thank god, Bree didn't have to deal with that diaper changing business as her charges were all potty trained. She was responsible for twin four year olds, a three year old, and a hyperactive thirteen year old who was related to the wife of one of Bree's cousins and was not related to Bree at all who kept insisting that he didn't need a babysitter.
It should be noted that the only regular contact Bree had with children was with the first year students at Hogwarts, and considering that she tended to traumatize them… well let's just say that the way she normally dealt with children would not be accepted here. Between the jet lag and the constant noise made by the children it was really only a matter of time before Bree blew up.
"Fine Wally! You don't need a babysitter, you can BE the babysitter!" Bree shouted and the thirteen year old hyperactive red head (thank god he wasn't actually related to her) as she handed him the three year old who had just wet himself (so much for that potty training) before storming off to find a place in the huge backyard where no one would find her.
She curled up under a willow tree with branches so long that it hid her from view and fell asleep, meanwhile Wally was proving to be a semi-competent caregiver.
Hours later Bree wandered towards the house, it would be quiet there now that the rest of the family had moved to the yard in order to play the tradition family "games" where cheap medals and prizes would be handed out. Bree was on the porch when the door opened and a man Bree didn't recognize came out of the house. He went past Bree, walked to a black Chevy Impala, got in, and drove off. Bree turned back to the house and a weathered looking man with dark blond hair with scar over one of his brown eyes, the right one, leaning on the doorframe.
"Wes? Who was that?" Bree asked. Wes sighed. "That was John." he answered as he went back into the house. Bree followed him.
"John?" she inquired.
"He's from a distant branch of the family. He hasn't come to one of these things since his wife died, but that was before you were born, so it's not surprising that you didn't know him." Wes explained as he walked into the living room. Bree hesitated before following him, she had never liked that room, there wasn't really anything wrong with the room, it was just… a pale old man in a tweed suit, sitting on one end of the couch and watching static on an old time TV set while smoking a cigar that gave off thick smoke that made it hard to breathe. Bree had seen the man in a few of the old black and white photos that hung in the house. The man never smiled, and Bree never asked about him.
Wes sat down at the other end of the couch. He didn't notice the man, or the smoke, or even the TV that sat in front of a flat screen, but then, no one ever did. Bree had learned a long time ago that she was the only one who could see any of it.
"Why was he here today?" Bree asked as the smoke began to sting her eyes.
"He needed information about a job." Wes answered, he looked worriedly at Bree when she started having difficultly breathing. "Are you okay? You're not having some kind of allergic reaction, are you?" he asked.
"No. It's just, this room." Bree wheezed out before descending into a coughing fit. She left the room, Wes followed.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Wes asked as Bree inhaled the Clean air of the dining room.
"I hate that room." Bree muttered. Wes frowned.
"What's wrong with it?" he inquired.
"Nothing really… it's just… never mind, no one ever believes me." Bree responded.
"Come on, why don't you tell me? I've seen a lot of strange stuff in my lifetime so I'm open for anything." Wes said.
Bree sighed at sat down at the table. Wes sat never to her.
"No one ever believes me, they said I had an overactive imagination. But, I'm not imagining things, I know he's real." Bree mumbled.
"Who's real?" Wes pressed.
"The man sitting at the end of the couch." Bree answered.
"What's the man look like?" Wes inquired.
"Like that." Bree stated, pointing to a picture on the wall.
"Has he ever tried to hurt you?" Wes asked.
Bree shook her head. "Mostly he just sits and watches his television while smoking a cigar." she said.
"He has his own TV?" Wes questioned. Bree nodded.
"It's really old and only plays static." she stated.
"And the cigar smoke was affecting earlier?" Wes asked. Bree nodded again.
"You believe me?" Bree inquired.
"Yeah, but I wonder why you're the only one effected, unless it's targeting you, but that doesn't make sense… unless… Have you seen other ghosts before?" Wes said.
"Yes." Bree replied.
"In this house or other places?" Wes asked.
"Other places." Bree mumbled.
"And you were the only one who could see them?" Wes inquired thoughtfully.
"Everyone can see the ones at my school." Bree stated. Wes looked up sharply.
"Everyone?"
Bree nodded. "Everyone."
"And you go to…?"
"Hogwarts School for the Gifted."
"Why didn't I see it before?" Wes muttered. "You're a Magi aren't you?"
Bree blinked. "A what?" she asked incredulously.
"Right, you wouldn't use that term in England. Someone born with the ability to use magic, here we call them Magi." Wes explained.
"Why not witches or wizards?" Bree asked.
"Because that would get you killed. You see here in the states we've got a big problem with people getting power from demon deals. We call those people witches." Wes stated.
"Okay… then I guess I'm a… Magi." Bree said, the word unfamiliar on her tongue. "How do you know so much?"
"I'm a hunter." Wes replied, and Bree ended up getting a crash course on supernatural baddies and explained that the reason ghosts were stronger in America was because of the ancient wards they had back in Europe to prevent spirits from growing too strong. In turn Bree told Wes everything she knew about Voldemort.
Bree was back at home the day before Harry's birthday. She spent most of her time sleeping off the jet lag. The next day she went to Harry's party at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place with had been mostly de-darkified, and the parts that weren't were off limits. There were parts of the wall that were lighter than the rest where portraits had been removed. There house had been decorated brightly and there was every kind of food imaginable available via an expensive wizarding catering service.
Harry received a small mountain of gifts, most of them were from Sirius who was apparently trying to make up for all the birthdays he'd missed in one go. All of Harry's friends and acquaintances were there (which pretty much meant all of Gryffindor) so it was a lot like one of the parties at Gryffindor tower except with better food and the Weird Sisters playing live. Fred and George had passed their Apparation tests so every once and awhile you'd here a loud crack or two as they showed off.
Bree gave Harry a horseshoe, a four-leaf clover, and a jade frog as gifts.
"More good luck charms?" Harry asked.
"You need it. Desperately." Bree replied.
That evening when the party was winding down and everyone except for the Weasleys, Hermione, and Bree had gone home they all got to talking about what Bree had missed while she'd been traveling.
Grimmauld Place was the new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The Fidelus Charm that protected the building had temporarily been taken down for the party, much to the displeasure of Mad-Eye Moody, but it would soon be restored. Only the adults were allowed into meetings but Fred and George had invented extendable ears in order to listen in. Some of the Order were following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them. Others were working on recruiting more people to the Order.
Bill had applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order. He was apparently dating Fleur Delacour who had gotten a job at Gringotts to "eempwve 'er Eeenglish."
Charlie was in the Order but he was still working in Romania. Dumbledore
wanted as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie was trying to make contacts on his days off.
"What about Percy?" Bree asked. At Bree's words, all the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry exchanged darkly significant looks.
"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad," Ron told Bree in a tense voice.
"Why not?"
"Because every time Percy's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying," Fred said.
"It's been awful," said Ginny sadly.
"I think we're well shut of him," said George, with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face.
"What happened?" Bree inquired.
"Percy and Dad had a row," said Fred. "I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts."
"It was the first week back after term ended," said Ron. "We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."
"Really?" Bree asked, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, we were all surprised," said George, "because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have realized Crouch was off his rocker and informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain."
"So why'd they promoted him?"
"That's exactly what we wondered," said Ron. "He came home really pleased with himself - even more pleased than usual, if you can imagine that - and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts: Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think."
"Only Dad wasn't," said Fred grimly.
"Why not?" Bree asked.
"Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore," said George.
"Dumbledore's name is mud with the Ministry these days, see," said Fred. "They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back."
"Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks," said George.
"Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession."
"But what's that got to do with Percy?" asked Harry, confused.
"I'm coming to that. Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family - and Dumbledore."
"Bet Percy loved that." Bree muttered.
Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way.
"He went completely berserk. He said - well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been - you know - not had a lot of money, I mean -"
"What?" Bree said it shock.
"I know," said Ron in a low voice. "And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he - Percy - knew where his loyalty lay. He didn't say anything else after that and he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now."
Bree pinched the bridge of her nose. Percy was so going to get it.
"Mum's been in a right state," said Ron dully. "You know - crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and talk to Percy but he said that Dumbledore is just using us."
"Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously," said Hermione tartly, and the others all nodded.
"What are you talking about?" Bree asked,
"Haven't - haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?" Hermione questioned.
"I've been overseas." Bree stated flatly.
"The nerve of that Rita Skeeter." Hermione growled. Bree rolled her eyes.
"What's she done now?" she asked.
"Hold on, I'll show you." Hermione went and retrieved some newspapers and gave them to Bree. All of Rita's most recent articles were exactly within the parameters that Bree had set. The articles about Harry's life with the Dursley's and Dumbledore's mishandling of the situation were all factual, Rita had even conducted interviews with neighbors and former teachers. Articles about how the Ministry was sure that Voldemort wasn't back and that anyone who said he was were lying also mentioned the Ministry had been just as sure of Sirius Black's guilt.
"Well?" Hermione asked as soon as Bree was done reading.
"Well what?" Bree replied dryly.
"Aren't you going to make her life hell? Get her to print a retraction?" Hermione demanded.
"There isn't a single thing in here that isn't factual." Bree stated coolly.
"But-but there's no way the Harry's relatives had him sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs, right Harry?" Hermione said. Harry ducked his head down and didn't respond.
"Harry it's not true it?" Hermione asked desperately just as the adults walked. "They weren't that cruel, they couldn't have been, they're your family."
"Stop trying to think the best of them, Hermione. Humans can be some of the worst kinds of monsters imaginable if they have enough hate." Bree muttered.
"Harry, it's not true is it?" Hermione pleaded.
"Yeah, it's true." Harry mumbled. He suddenly found himself being engulf in hugs from Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Sirius. Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were apologizing for not realizing how bad Harry had had it, Sirius was alternating between apologizing for being in Azkaban and swearing vengeance on the Dursley's, everyone else were in various stages of shock and Bree was holding up a newspaper to hide her grin.
Line line line
It was almost time for Bree to go home so Bree said her goodbyes and wished Harry a happy birthday again. Unfortunately, that got Harry thinking.
"You know, I don't think you've ever told us when your birthday is." he said.
"The third." Bree replied.
"Great that's in a few days. We'll have another party!" Sirius exclaimed, thinking of all the ways he could waste money.
"Sirius, that's not-" Bree was cut off.
"It's the least I could do, you helped catch Pettigrew-" Now Bree cut Sirius off.
"My birthday is the third of July not August." she said.
"Oh." said Sirius. " So how did you celebrate."
"I didn't. I haven't really celebrated by birthday since the time my they had my uncles funeral on my birthday when I turned nine." Bree stated blandly.
"That's horrible!" Sirius exclaimed. "Name anything you want and I'll get it for you! Money is not a problem."
"I want to be an animagus." Bree stated. Sirius got her several books and began teaching her when she came to visit. The first step was meditation in order to find your form. Bree accomplished this quite easily. Bree found out that her animagus form was a long haired silvery blond cat with grey stripes that looked slightly purple and blue eyes. It seemed like a rather normal cat, right up until it grinned.
Bree arranged a meeting with Percy at Uncle Vince's office, after all she couldn't be seen going to his apartment. Bree arrived a little early and was immediately accosted by Alice. By accosted I of course mean "Flying-tackle-hugged."
"Uncle Vince and Aunt Lisa adopted me!" Alice exclaimed.
"That's great." Bree said. "Now please let me go so I can yell at Percy. We'll hang out later." Alice let Bree go and Bree went to Vince's office. As soon as Percy walked in Bree slapped him.
"What the hell is wrong with you! You could of spied on the Ministry and the Order but no, you had to go fight with your parents!" Bree shouted.
"I don't want my family to end up hurt like Harry was but they wouldn't listen." Percy responded.
"And now they think you're loyal to the Ministry, although now I finally understand why you were in Gryffindor. You have the ability to not think things through, just like the rest of them. You said a lot of hurtful things to your family, so how are we going to fix this." Bree said.
"We aren't." Said a new voice. Bree and Percy both looked at the door where Vince had just walked in.
"Why not?" Bree asked.
"The Ministry will think that he is loyal to them since he has proven that he is not loyal to Dumbledore. This puts him in a better position for gathering information." Vince explained.
Bree sighed. "I suppose that makes sense. If he were to turn around and make up with his family he would lose that." she mumbled.
"I wish there was a way to get them to see how Dumbledore is using them. I've done some research and it turns out that the Order of the Phoenix didn't really do much to counter you-know-who's forces, but the loyalty the Dumbledore got from it's members helped him after you-know-who disappeared." Percy explained.
"Really? I thought the Order managed to capture and kill a lot of Death eaters." Bree stated.
"No that was just Dumbledore taking credit for what we were doing, and our group wanted to remain hidden so it's not like anyone contested his claims." Vince said.
"Are you done yelling at Percy yet? I have something to tell you." Alice said from the doorway.
"More important than being adopted?" Bree asked.
"Way more." Alice answered.
"Yeah I guess were done." Bree replied.
"I found an infinite money glitch!" Alice exclaimed.
"Wha…?" Bree said confused.
"Galleons are solid gold, so they're worth more if you sell them then if you exchange them. Then you exchange the money you got selling the Galleons for more Galleons then sell those you make even more money." Alice explained.
"So it's like buying something cheap, then selling it for a lot more then you paid for it." Bree stated.
Alice nodded. "It's illegal in England because someone else figured it out and made billions all at once, but in America they don't have that law, so if we do it slowly, without anyone noticing, we could make more than that guy who ruined it for the rest of us in England did." she said.
Bree grinned. "I love the way our mind works."
Bree and Alice were playing Halo with Ben.
"God dammit Alice! Stop sniping the guys I'm trying to shoot!" Bree shouted.
"Maybe you should stop shooting the guys I'm trying to snipe!" Alice yelled back.
"Why do I keep dieing as soon as I spawn in!" Ben complained.
"Probably because Alice keeps shooting you with the rocket launcher." Bree replied.
"I was aiming for the Phantom!" Alice shouted.
"Your aim sucks!" Bree yelled back. This continued for about an hour and then Bree and Alice had an amine marathon, which led to Bree proposing a new idea.
"So you know how you can make rooms and trunks bigger on the inside?" Bree asked,
"Yeah." Alice said.
"So what about making space bigger on the inside?" Bree said.
"What?" Ben exclaimed.
"I mean the girls in anime pull mallets out of nowhere right? So what if there is a space inside space where they keep them until they need them?" Bree said.
"Like a pocket dimension." Alice interjected.
"Right." Bree agreed.
"Hm, an undetectable storage space would come in handy." said Vince. "We should get someone on that."
Bree was really bored. Seriously bored. Suddenly inspiration struck.
"I completely forgot about tormenting the Dursley's!" she exclaimed. She put on and loose fitting black T-shirt with a red skull on crossbones on the front, ripped up jean shorts, knees high converse sneakers, fingerless leather gloves, sliver skull and crossbones earrings, and a chain bracelet and headed out.
"I'm going for a walk Mom!" she shouted as she walked to the door. Roman wouldn't let Bree leave without him so she put a leash on him and took him with her.
Bree walked all the way to the Dursley's house. Number four Privet Drive stood out from every other house on the street. This was odd because usually every house on Privet Drive looked exactly the same with perfectly manicured yards, but Number four was looking unkempt.
"Huh, that's different." Bree muttered.
"Yes it's disgraceful." one the Dursley's nosey neighbors sniffed. "The Dursley's used to have the best yard on the block, everyone would praise Mrs. Dursley and ask for gardening tips. Well it turned out that was their nephew that was doing all the work. I always knew something was fishy, you never saw Petunia in the yard. As soon the nephew was taken by child services the whole yard went to hell."
"Child services?" Bree questioned.
"Yes! Apparently they had the poor boy sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs! Two men came and took the boy about a year ago. The Dursley's told everyone that the nephew was a delinquent and went to St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys, turns out that he actually goes to a school for the gifted and the real delinquent is the Dursley's son!" the neighbor explained.
After speaking to the neighbor, Bree left Privet Drive and headed home, satisfied in the knowledge the Dursley's were suffering. As she approached Magnolia Road she spotted Dudley and his gang.
"… squealed like a pig, didn't he?" one was saying, to guffaws from the others.
"Nice right hook, Big D," said another.
"Same time tomorrow?" said Dudley.
"Round at my place, my parents will be out," said a third.
"See you then," said Dudley.
"Bye, Dud!"
"See ya, Big D!"
"Hey, Big D!" Bree called once Dudley's friends were gone, trying hard not to laugh.
Dudley turned.
"Oh," he grunted. "It's you."
"How long have you been 'Big D' then?" Bree asked with a grin.
"Shut it," snarled Dudley, turning away.
"Wonder what you're friends would do if they found out about the names your mother calls you, what do you think "Diddykins"?" Bree taunted.
"Leave my mother out of it!" Dudley growled.
"Ooo. Did I hit a nerve?" Bree grinned even wider. "I'm surprised, Petunia has a face not even a mother could love, but I guess it's different with sons."
"I said, SHUT IT!" Dudley yelled, his hands had curling into fists. Roman growled and he backed off.
"Wouldn't be so tough without that dog." Dudley muttered.
"That's why I brought him with me." Bree informed him. "I wanted to savor your family's misery, but I wanted to make sure I was safe doing so.""IT'S YOU WHO"S BEHIND THOSE LETTERS!" Dudley shouted.
"What letters?" Bree asked, honestly confused.
"Like you don't know. You freaks keep sending my parents letters telling them that they're horrible people! They sent copies of your freaky newspaper with articles about us!" Dudley exclaimed
"Really? You've been getting letters? I really had no idea that was happening. Really happy that it is though, your family deserves it." Bree's grin got wider.
"We didn't do anything wrong!" Dudley protested. Bree got a crazed gleam in her eye.
"Really Dudley? Nothing at all? Not even locking your cousin in a closet for eleven years? That's not wrong?" Bree was close to yelling.
"He's a freak, he deserved it!" Dudley shouted.
"So if the situation was reversed, if it was your parents who died and you were sent to Harry's parents, a place where you would be the "freak" you're saying that you would deserve to be treated the same way as Harry was treated by your parents?" Bree questioned.
"I… I" Dudley was struggling for words. "I'm not a freak." he finally said.
"You would be at Hogwarts. And really Dudley, if you think about it everybody in the world is a freak. What's normal in on culture is strange and unsettling in another, even between England and America there is strangeness. A lift is an elevator, a row is a fight, and what the heck is a lorry anyway? And the world get's so much stranger then that. There's weirdness that you wouldn't believe." Bree had become a bit unhinged, and while she was talking she was walking forward while Dudley was backing up until he hit a wall. Bree leaned forward and began whispering.
"Have you ever wondered Dudley, what if those people on the fringe of society, the ones that believe that aliens exist and have visited earth, have you ever wondered, what if they're right?"
Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he had been doused in icy water. Something had happened to the night. The star-strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch black and lightless - the stars, the moon, the misty streetlamps at either end of the alley had vanished. The distant rumble of cars and the whisper of trees had gone. The balmy evening was suddenly piercingly, bitingly cold. They were surrounded by total, impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand had dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire street, blinding them. Roman began growling.
Dudley's terrified voice broke in Bree's ear.
"W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!"
"I'm nowhere near strong enough to do something like this. This is something else entirely." Bree murmured.
The cold was so intense she was shivering all over; goose bumps had erupted up her arms and the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up - she opened her eyes to their fullest extent, staring blankly around, unseeing.
This felt familiar, but it couldn't be, what would they be doing here? Of all the days to leave her wand at home.
"What is it? W-what's going on?" Dudley whimpered.
"Shut up so that I can listen!" Bree hissed.
There was something in the street apart from themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. Bree felt a horrible jolt of dread as she stood trembling in the freezing air.
"Dudley, do you have a flashlight or something?" Bree asked.
"Don't you have one of those freaky sticks?" Dudley questioned.
"I'm not allowed to use magic in the summer so I left it at home and brought Roman with me." Bree growled back.
"I have a lighter." Dudley answered.
"Hand it over." Bree ordered. After a bit of fumbling Bree felt the cheap plastic of a gas station lighter slip into her hand. It sparked a couple of times before it light. The dim flame was enough for Bree to see what she knew was already there.
A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly towards him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it came.
"Dementor." Bree hissed, backing up.
"W-what is it? I d-don't see anything." Dudley said.
"Of course you don't. Only people that can use magic can see it. It's a monster. It feeds on happy memories and souls." Bree explained hurriedly. Roman growling louder.
"Souls?" Dudley questioned weakly.
Bree glanced down at Roman, his fur was standing up and he was baring his teeth and looking right where the dementor was. Then Bree remembered something important, something Sirius had told her. Dementors couldn't see, they sought out prey by sensing emotion. They couldn't sense animals very well and animals weren't as effected by them, that was how Sirius had retained his sanity by spending a loot of time in animagus form.
Bree didn't take her eyes off the dementor as she reached down and unhooked the leash.
"Roman" Bree said firmly, pointing at the dementor "bosc."
Roman sprang forward in a flurry of fangs, fur, and claws. The dementor let out a horrible shriek as it was attack by a hundred and twenty seven pounds of German Sheppard. The dementors limbs came off fairly easily, which made sense considering that it appearing to be decomposing.
Moon, stars and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breeze swept the street. Trees rustled in neighboring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars in Magnolia Crescent filled the air again. The dementor was dead.
"Is it gone?" Dudley asked.
"Yeah, yeah it de- Roman put that arm down you don't know where it's been!" Bree went from answering Dudley to scolding Roman. "Drop it. Drop it. God boy, now leave it." Bree put the leash back on Roman, then turned to Dudley.
"I'm going home now." She told him, handing him his lighter before walking home.
"Dementors?" Vince asked at the family reunion. He and Bree were sitting apart from the rest of the picnic.
"Just one." Bree replied.
"But still, their supposed to be under ministry control." Vince responded.
"Well either they're aren't anymore or tit was ordered there." Bree stated.
"But why?" Vince said.
"Ministry's not happy with me, you know, the whole Voldemort thing." Bree said.
"We should contact Harry and Cedric, see if they've had the same problem." Vince suggested.
"I was just thinking the same thing." Bree responded. Later it turned out that Cedric and Harry had been subject to similar attacks.
Immortal Bubblewrap sent me a very long review and I will now address the questions asked in that review.
Q: Did you come up with the thing where 'if you save a wizards life they owe you' thing or is it a cannon thing?
A: The life debt concept comes from both canon and fanon. It's mentioned in canon and expanded on in various stories I've read on .
Huh, well that's the only big question in that review, the rest of it is mostly praise, support for the Bree x George pairing that seems to have developed without my noticing it, and a guess that Bree's animagus form is a Cheshire cat.
To everyone who guess that Bree's animagus form is a Cheshire cat, you were absolutely right. It was going to a normal cat, but that didn't fit Bree's insanity well enough, plus I love the Cheshire cat. I briefly entertained the idea of having her turn into a mermaid just cause I think it would be fun to mess with people that way "Is that a mermaid, no wait it's just a girl in a wetsuit." Also sunken treasure, but I scrapped that idea, and really a Cheshire cat fits Bree's personality better. But I still think it would be totally awesome to transform into a mermaid. (I love swimming.)
What else do I have to say… oh um, the word Bree uses to get Roman to attack the Dementor "bosc" is the word that we used for training the real life Roman to attack bad people (he was professionally trained, we got him after someone tried to break into her house). Well actually I just spelled "bosc" how I remember it sounding so I'm not sure if it's right, but I do remember that it was picked so that strangers wouldn't be able to guess it.
REVIEW PLEASE!
