Only Half-Weasley
Chapter 13
A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! Although it has taken some time to build, I think it came out the way I wanted to. Thank you so much for the reviews; they were very encouraging and I am pleased to know so many of you are enjoying this as much as I am!
After leaving Professor Potter's office, Holly headed down to the Great Hall where she spotted Daniel, Michael, and Cynthia who appeared to be eating peacefully among the students at the Gryffindor table. She slipped in next to Cynthia, across from the twins, and grabbed a roll from one of the plates.
"Hello," she sang cheerfully.
Cynthia turned wide-eyed to her friend. "You!" she exclaimed.
"Yes, me."
"You're back!" she said again.
"So I am," Holly answered lightly. "What have I missed?"
Michael and Daniel exchanged mysterious looks that made Holly wish she hadn't asked. Yet, she did so that merited a reply. "Planning," Michael replied.
Holly lifted an eyebrow and studied each twin's face. "What are you planning?"
"Don't tell her," Cynthia warned the twins. "You've already gotten me in trouble; don't make her an accomplice, too!"
Holly turned towards her female friend. "You got in trouble? For what?"
Cynthia sighed, resting her head on her hand and looking at Holly sideways. "I had detention everyday last week," she confessed while sending the two boys a dark look. "And that is why you shouldn't know what they're up to."
"Aw c'mon, Cynthia," Daniel begged. "It wasn't really that bad. Besides, what is there not to know? Everyone else knows about it."
"Knows what?" Holly asked eagerly.
"Daniel! They do not know!" Cynthia responded indignantly. "Stop teasing her!"
The twins snickered in amusement which only increased Holly's curiosity. "Let them tell me!" Holly said eagerly.
Cynthia huffed and crossed her arms in a disapproving fashion. "Then I don't want to be a part of this conversation," she announced, standing up from the bench and grabbing her school bag. "I don't need to get into more trouble. I'll be in the library if you need me."
Holly bent closer towards the pair of mischievous grins and whispered, "So, what's going on?"
Michael eyed his red-headed brother for a moment before he turned back to her, his voice lower than Holly's. "Let's just say that some individuals are getting some well-deserved consequences."
"Who?" she asked eagerly.
"I'm sure you know already," Daniel said.
"Who at Hogwarts would want to make your life miserable?" Michael asked.
A smile played on Holly's lips. "Emma?" she mouthed.
"Jasmine and Maggie, too," Daniel added, "but you've got the gist. Want to help?"
Holly looked down the table where the three first year girls were sitting together, laughing at a joke that one of them had told. "Why do you guys want to prank them?" Holly whispered back.
Daniel and Michael looked at each other. "Look, we're from a respectable family," Daniel declared.
"One which shall not be marked by the name of blackmail," Michael added solemnly.
"They're blackmailing you?" Holly asked in surprise, looking from one twin to the other. "Why would they do that to you? I thought they liked you!"
Michael shrugged. "The ways of women are lost on me. Yet, I think it's about time they learned that you need more than your blood-type to be a good witch."
"But what are they blackmailing you with?"
Daniel looked at his brother and they exchanged dark looks. "Oh, we're not innocent," Daniel confessed warily. "We've done enough to be blackmailed."
"Yes," Michael agreed, "and after what they put you through, they need a good lesson."
"So are you in?" Daniel asked eagerly.
Holly looked back down at the girls. Oh, how they had plagued her these last couple months! It would be nice to wipe away the grins from those pompous faces. "I'm in. What's the plan?"
The sun had hardly begun to peek over the mountains when Holly woke up one morning three weeks after she had returned to school from her mother's. She grabbed her robes from her wardrobe and changed in the shadow of her four-poster bed. She tiptoed out of the portrait hole and through the castle, careful not to run into Filch, Mrs. Norris, or another teacher lest she wanted to get into more trouble than she could imagine.
Climbing up the last few frozen steps, she entered the large round tower, pleased to find only owls occupying it. Yaelim was sitting near the top of the tower, her head under her wing. However, in order for their plan to work without raising suspicions to Holly, she couldn't use Yaelim. Instead, she chose the snowy white owl resting near her that had delivered her Hogwarts letter last summer.
"Come here," she called to it. The owl looked at her, clucking her beak in an annoyed fashion, apparently offended that a first year would address her in that way. "Come on! I don't have a lot of time!" she added impatiently. Still, the owl did not move. It just looked at her with a critical look that told Holly that she didn't plan on giving in.
"I have owl treats," she said, pulling out a couple of treats from her pocket. The snowy owl perked up, eyeing the treats in the girl's hand while equally scrutinizing her motivation. "Please, I need you to help me! Oh fine, I guess I'll use another one."
However, before Holly could motion to another owl to meet her needs, the snowy owl landed on her shoulder, her foot held out ready to deliver whatever Holly needed. Holly dug into her pocket and pulled out three wands. "Drop these in the forest, will you?" she whispered eagerly.
The owl, still giving her a critical look, hooted in agreement and grabbed the three wands out of her hand. It flapped its wings and took off, but Holly did not watch to see whether the owl carried out her request. She was already hurrying out of the Owlry and running through the halls, making more noise than she realized until she ran into Professor McGonagall on the second floor.
"Ms. Miller? What are you doing out of bed?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.
Holly stopped dead still, suddenly at lost for words. "Owlry," she finally managed to say. "Yes, sending a letter…to my mother."
"Regardless of your reason, students are not to be out of their beds at this hour. Five points from Gryffindor. Do not let me catch you again or it will be detention. Do you understand?" McGonagall reprimanded.
Holly bit her lower lip. "Yes," she said quietly.
"Return to your common room," McGonagall dismissed Holly and continued to walk down the hall.
She watched the headmistress' retreating back disappear at the end of the corridor before she began walking again. Five points from Gryffindor! Was this worth it? She wondered bitterly. Luckily, she did not run into any teachers or the caretaker on her way back to the common room. Inside the portrait hole, she met Daniel and Michael, both waiting for her on a couch in front of the fireplace.
"So?" Michael asked eagerly.
"Did you send them?" Daniel added.
Holly let out a sigh of relief as she collapsed in an arm chair next to them. She gave them a thumbs up. "I ran into McGonagall, though," she told them. "She took away five points for me wandering through the halls.
Daniel laughed. "That's nothing. Five points won't hurt anyone."
"Yeah, she took away five points because I was loitering in the halls during lunch," Michael informed them.
Holly laughed. "Well, it's done. What next?"
"You put fake wands on their dressers?" Daniel asked.
"Yes."
"Then we're done!" he said happily.
"That's it?" Holly asked. "That's all we're doing? I thought we were doing something more…extreme."
Michael shook his head with a grin on his face. "You forget that we have an exam today in Transfiguration. Imagine the look on Professor Wyle's face when Emma tries to use her wand and a chicken pops out!" Michael laughed, his head flying hard into the back of the couch causing his twin to double with laughter at the loud bang.
"The exam! Merlin, I almost forgot!" Holly exclaimed worriedly.
"Ah, don't sweat it." Daniel told her. "Just transfiguring those blasted toothpicks into paper. That's the same thing we've been doing all month."
"But I haven't studied!" Holly cried, jumping up suddenly. "I can't fail! My mother will kill me if I fail an exam!"
"Don't sweat it—where are you going?" Daniel asked as Holly raced up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. He looked at his twin. "Mental that one is."
"I'd say," Michael answered. "You'd have thought she would have at least offered her notes to us."
Daniel punched Michael playfully on the arm before he, too, returned to his dormitory with Michael following behind.
Two hours after the morning excursion, the twins met Holly and Cynthia at breakfast, Holly studying furiously for their Transfiguration exam that morning and Cynthia casually reading Witch Weekly, occasionally laughing and pointing at different pictures. However, when the twins sat down across from the two girls, Cynthia stopped laughing and put down her magazine.
"How could you?" she hissed at them. "Using Holly for one of your pranks!"
"You told her?" Daniel said, looking at Holly.
"No, she didn't have to tell me," Cynthia retorted. "I saw her leave the dormitory this morning."
Michael raised his hands in the air in an innocent manner. "She did it willingly," he argued. "We didn't have to make her do anything."
"Well, it cost Gryffindor points. If we lose more points-"
"Don't worry about it, Cynth," Daniel interrupted her, waving a muffin in the air. "What are the chances that we'll get caught? They have nothing on us."
Cynthia narrowed her eyes. "Oh yes, and Holly was just wandering around the school randomly."
"No, I sent a letter to my mother," Holly replied, taking a bit out of some bacon while writing down more notes.
"See?" Daniel pointed out. "She sent a letter to her dear mum."
Crossing her arms and pursing her lips, Cynthia did not say a word for the rest of breakfast or even afterwards as they made their way to Transfiguration. The room was even quieter as many other students, like Holly, were cramming for their first exam. As the clock struck nine, Professor Wyles marched into the classroom and everyone's attention was directed at him.
"As you are all fully aware, today is our first exam. The first half is written and the second is practical. You have forty-five minutes to complete the first portion of the exam. When the time is done, everyone will step outside and I will be calling you one by one to do your practical exam." After handing out anti-cheating parchment and quills, Professor Wyles took out his wand and wrote on the board three questions. "Please begin."
Holly glanced at the twins who both gave her the thumbs up. The questions were not as difficult as Holly imagined and she managed to relay most of the information that she had studied that morning. After the first portion of the exam was over, the class filed outside into the corridor, some anticipating the next part of the exam and others awaiting their doom. The twins, Holly, and Cynthia all grouped a little ways from the rest.
"So tell me, what were you doing this morning?" Cynthia asked Holly.
Yet, before Holly could answer, Daniel answered for her. "I thought you didn't want any part in this."
"I don't, but-"
"Brighton, Cynthia!" Professor Wyles called out, interrupting Cynthia.
Cynthia jumped up, casting the three an angry look before disappearing through the door. Holly's eyes scanned the group and noticed her other roommates on the other side of the corridor. The three girls were muttering to each other, perhaps practicing wand movements or spells. It was apparent, however, that neither of the three had tried to do any magic with their wands since that morning as they all had the fake wands in their hands that Holly substituted.
Five minutes later, Cynthia came out with a satisfied look. "How did you do?" Holly asked.
"Pretty well, I think," she remarked. "There were still wood marks on the paper, but at least I got the wand movements correct and Professor Wyles complimented me on my pronunciation. I just need to concentrate more."
Holly made a mental note to do the same, but her attention was caught when Emma was called into the classroom. Daniel and Michael became suddenly quiet as they, too, noticed Holly's roommate being called in. It didn't take more than thirty seconds before they heard an ear-splitting shriek and Emma came out of the room sobbing.
"I don't know what happened, Professor!" she cried, holding a rubber fish in her hand. "This isn't my wand!"
"I can see that," Professor Wyles said dryly, writing a note on a piece of parchment. "Here is a note to see the Deputy Headmaster-"
"It's alright, Howard," a voice announced from the other side of the corridor. Professor Potter walked briskly towards the teacher, eyeing the sobbing first year quizzically. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Fake wand…must be some prank…childish," Professor Wyles muttered under his breath.
Professor Potter took the fish from Emma's hand and examined it carefully. "Where did you get this?" he asked Emma.
"I-I-I don't kn-know!" Emma cried.
"Does this happen to be your wand?" Professor Potter asked, holding out a wand for the girl to examine.
"Yes! That's my wand!" she exclaimed, suddenly elated.
Professor Wyles looked suddenly perplexed. "What-?"
"I got this in the post today. Three actually," Professor Potter said displaying two more wands. "I'm not sure where they came from, but I have a good guess at who's behind it." His eyes flickered towards the group of four at the other end of the corridor.
Instantly, Holly's stomach dropped making her feel suddenly nauseous. She glanced at Michael and Daniel who were both giving her astonished looks. "You used Hedwig?" Daniel mouthed unbelievably.
"I believe these belong to you," Professor Potter said, handing Maggie and Jasmine their wands. Both looked between the fake wand in their hands and the one that their teacher was handing them with astonishment. "And if you'll excuse me, Professor, I would like to have a word with some of your students."
"Yes, of course," Professor Wyles answered, watching Professor Potter walk away. "Alright, Emma, let's try this again."
As Emma re-entered the classroom to give her exam another try, Professor Potter stopped in front of Michael, Daniel, Holly, and Cynthia. "Come with me," he said coldly.
"But Professor, I didn't-" Cynthia pleaded.
"Come," he said again firmly.
The four trudged behind their teacher, both giving each other defeated looks. "I thought you said you wouldn't get caught," Cynthia whispered to Daniel.
"Yeah, well, we didn't think she'd use Hedwig," Daniel replied angrily.
"Hedwig?" Holly asked, but before anyone could reply, they were standing in front of Professor Potter's office.
The door opened as Professor Potter approached and the group entered. The Deputy Headmaster conjured three more seats to accompany the one that sat in his office and motioned for the four to sit while Professor Potter took a seat behind his desk.
For the first few minutes, Professor Potter did not speak but looked between the four of them. His green eyes pierced each of them, giving them the impression that he was reading their minds, but they couldn't figure out how. Finally, after he finished studying the last person, he spoke. "You don't need to tell me what is going on. I already know what happened and it disappoints me that you four would go that low to do such a thing. I expect better from our Gryffindor students."
Holly lowered her eyes, looking at her feet instead, feeling suddenly ashamed of herself. "It's not their fault, Professor," Holly whispered. "I did it."
"That's very brave of you, Ms. Miller, but you were not the master-mind of this," Professor Potter said, causing the four of them to look at their teacher in surprise. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention for all four of you."
The four gasped in shock. "But, Professor, I didn't have anything to do with this-" Cynthia cried.
"No, but you did not alert a teacher, either, and that enabled them to carry out what would have been a horrible prank," Professor Potter responded. "I will also be sending letters to each of your parents. You may go, now—except Holly."
Michael, Daniel, and Cynthia all stood up, but not before giving Holly a sympathetic look. Holly, however, turned back to staring at her shoes and did not watch her friends exit the office. There was a moment of silence which was not broken until the door clicked behind them.
"I can assume that Michael and Daniel put you up to this, didn't they?" he said in a calmer voice than before.
"No," Holly whispered. "I wanted to do it."
"Why?"
Holly looked up with frustration written on her face. "They have been tormenting me since I got here! I am so tired-"
"We all have enemies, Holly, but that does not mean that we have to go out of her way to make their lives miserable," Professor Potter pointed out.
The red-head nodded her head, not wanting to say anything.
"I expect you to be in my office Thursday night at eight," Professor Potter announced, straightening up in his chair.
"Professor?" Holly asked, confused.
"For your lessons," he answered.
"Oh, right," Holly said lamely. She waited for a moment for Professor Potter to speak but when it was evident that he would not say anything else, she stood up. Professor Potter stood up with her and with a final nod he excused her from his office.
"How did you do on your exam?" Cynthia asked after Herbology as they walked toward the Great Hall for lunch.
Holly shrugged. When she had returned to the Transfiguration class, she was the last student to do the practical exam but her preoccupation with her distress caused all of her notes and studying to elude her. "Alright, I guess," she muttered tiredly. "I'm not sure if I did the wand movements correctly."
"Did your toothpick transfigure?" she said.
"Yeah," Holly said, stifflying a yawn. "I guess I'm just tired."
"What did Professor Potter say to you after we left?" Cynthia continued.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Daniel said behind her, the twins having caught up with the two girls. "He must have said something!"
"Yeah," Michael added. "What did you do? Sit in silence?"
"Just about," Holly replied.
Daniel shook his head. "I can't believe what you did!" he exclaimed, hiding his face in his hand.
"What did I do?" Holly asked exasperatedly.
"You used that snowy owl!" Michael responded.
"So I did. What does it matter?"
Michael and Daniel exchanged horrified looks. "That's Professor Potter's owl! Hedwig! You used a teacher's owl to pull a prank!" Daniel said, mortified.
Holly felt her face turn red. That would explain everything. "Let's not talk about it," she mumbled, entering into the Great Hall and taking a seat at the Gryffindor table.
Sitting a few spots down the table from them were Emma, Jasmine, and Maggie, each looking quite irate. Michael and Daniel returned their looks with enthusiastic waves. This made Emma get up and approach them.
"What do you think you're playing at?" she demanded to know.
Michael looked seriously at her. "Well, that depends," he replied simply. "What are you playing at?"
"We're not playing at anything," she responded, now surrounded by Maggie and Jasmine. "You could have cost us our grade!"
"Oh yes and harassing a fellow classmate is so much better," Cynthia answered sarcastically, earning an astounded look from Holly who did not expect her to stand up to these three.
"Stay out of this, Cynthia," Jasmine barked.
"No," Cynthia replied firmly, standing up at the table. "I will not stay out of this. I've been watching you all year! You have been messing around with Holly's potions so that she would fail, bewitching her toothpick so that it would not change, and then humiliating her in Defense Against the Dark Arts so that she could not concentrate. What makes you think what we did was so much worse? You're lucky I did not tell Professor Potter what you've been up to. You would be expelled faster than you could say 'humiliated.'"
Holly looked in shock between Cynthia and the other three girls. "What?" she whispered. "Everything that's been going wrong…has been because of you?"
Emma, Jasmine, and Maggie shifted their stances uncomfortably. "Yeah, well," Maggie muttered, looking somewhat ashamed.
"It hasn't been entirely us," Emma said indignantly. "It's not like she was doing a great job in the first place."
"Only because you won't allow her to build confidence in herself," Cynthia countered. "Now, is this going to stop or do I need to talk to someone who can make it stop?"
The three girls were silently exchanging looks. "It will stop," Emma assured her. "But only if you stop."
"Only if-" Daniel began, but was cut off by Cynthia.
"We'll stop," she promised, giving the twins a sharp looking. With a defeated look, Michael and Daniel both nodded in agreement.
"Good," Jasmine said and marched away, Emma and Maggie following behind.
Holly shook her head as she watched them leave the Great Hall. "Attitude," she said disgustedly.
"Yes, well, some people find it difficult to be accepted any other way," Cynthia answered quietly, leaving Holly, Daniel, and Michael at the table to mull over her words.
If there was one thing Hermione Weasley was proud of, it was her Muggle heritage. Not only did it allow her to act as a mediator for two worlds, but when one world could not provide her with sufficient resources, she could also count on the other. In this case, it was the Muggle world. Three busy weeks after leaving Harry's office, Hermione managed to steal some time away from home and took a trip to London.
It had been ages since Hermione had visited the London Library. As a child, her parents would take here there to delve into the long rows of novels and encyclopedias, books that would normally seem inappropriate for her young age. By the age of ten, she knew the library inside and out and every worker by name. Now, twenty-five years later, she hardly recognized anyone in the building although the place did not seem to have aged a day. Yet, she did not come in to revisit her childhood; she headed straight to the back of the building where the newspaper archive was located.
Passing through the stacks of newspapers, Hermione sat down in front of one of the computers and began to browse through the articles in the last fifteen years. She filled in the date (December 25), selected the newspapers she wanted to search, and indicated which section she was looking for—obituaries. In a matter of minutes, the computer came up with several articles. However, none mentioned anyone, young or old, named Alex or Ginny.
Slightly disappointed, Hermione went back and changed date for the next day, December 26. Yet, the results were once again unsatisfactory. Had Jenny lied to her?
Seeing Hermione's frustrated look, a nearby librarian tapped Hermione on the shoulder. "Do you need help with something?" she asked kindly.
Hermione sat back in her chair, her hands folded as she stared at the screen. "I'm looking for someone who died," she explained. "He died on Christmas twelve years ago."
The librarian looked at the list of obituaries on the computer. "Hmm," she responded. "Have you searched any other days? Obituaries are usually published a few days after the person has died."
"Makes sense," Hermione murmured, half surprised she was about to give up so soon. Going back to the search page, Hermione entered the next three dates in the search bar. This time, the results did more than surprise her. At the bottom of the search page, she found more than she had expected to find. A picture of a man with dark hair and brown eyes smiled out at Hermione with the name "Alexander J. Miller" next to it. It was the man from the pictures in Jenny's house! The eyes were unmistakable!
Alexander J. Miller
At the age of twenty-nine, Alexander Miller died in a car accident on Christmas Day. Dr. Miller ran a clinic with mentor, Dr. Raymond Rogers, before he was hit by another car on his way to the hospital.
Dr. Miller met and married his wife, Ginevra Miller, and the two had a private ceremony in March of the next year. In August, the couple discovered that they were expecting their first child. On Christmas Eve, Mrs. Miller went into premature labor and was rushed to the hospital. Dr. Miller, who was working overtime that night, left the clinic immediately to meet his wife and mother at the hospital. However, Dr. Miller did not make it to meet his mother, wife, or new daughter. A few minutes after the arrival of his daughter, Dr. Miller was pronounced dead from internal injuries.
Alexander left his wife, his daughter , Holly Alexis Miller, parents, John and Pam Miller, and brother, Jacob Miller behind. He will be sorely missed.
Hermione read the obituary again and again. Ginevra Miller. "Ginny! She was still alive!" Hermione thought to herself. "And Holly Miller! She is Ginny's daughter!" Her mind went back to that morning when she had met Holly's mother. No wonder those pictures looked so familiar! And the blonde-haired woman was Ginny! Right under their noses! How could she not have figured it out before?
And as suddenly as she became excited, she was filled with anger. Ginny had lied to her to cover her identity. Why had she done that? Why was she trying to keep her identity a secret? And now that Hermione knew, she was intent on getting answers out of her sister-in-law. However, before she could carry out her plan on visiting Ginny, the librarian came back.
"Did you find what you were looking for—Oh," the woman said, her face turning white as she saw what Hermione was looking at.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, noticing the woman's pale face.
"You were looking for Alex Miller? He was my son," she said quietly.