A/N: Here comes another chapter! Thank you all so much for the love and support, means the world to me. Especially your reviews, which make my day. So glad to see so many people following this story; I strive to bring you all a story that you can all enjoy. Anyway, in this chapter Fay reveals a secret, and Lola appears in Court. Stay tuned for next chapter, when... well, can't give you spoilers. Wait and see. ;-)
"Fay?" the young woman called softly, eyeing the girl sitting in front of her with great concern.
Fay Dunbar continued to stare, transfixed, at the empty fireplace set in the middle of the wall to her right. It was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen, with a glimmering marble surround, patterned with long, golden ivies and roses. She could tell it had been a long time since a fire had been lit in it, which saddened her deeply, knowing that such a mesmerising piece was only being used as a part of the Floo Network. She wanted to see the flashing red reflections it could produce and feel the warmth of its flames.
"Would you mind lighting the fireplace, please?" Fay asked politely, without looking up at the young woman.
The woman produced a magnificent wood-fire with her wand in seconds, which now blazed cheerily, sending ruby hues around the room which warmed Fay's heart instantly.
The young woman, pleased to see Fay finally smiling, began to speak.
"My name is Healer Marie Dunkirk –"
"I know," said Fay bitterly without letting the woman finish her sentence. "Madam Pomfrey told me already…"
Fay had strongly opposed being referred to a Healer for counselling. She knew she didn't need it. But neither Professor McGonagall, nor Madam Pomfrey, had let her hear the end of it. Now there she was, sitting in front of a young girl who looked like she had just graduated from Hogwarts, staring at her with pity in her eyes, feeling sorry for her. She hated it.
"Right," Mary said a few seconds after she recovered. "So… Um…" she tried to form her next sentence but realised she didn't know what to say.
She was finding it difficult to approach Fay and wasn't sure if it was because Fay was an unapproachable girl, or the fact that she was still highly inexperienced in the field. She had only completed her internship at St. Mungo's a week ago, and this was her first session without any supervision. One thing she had learnt well enough, though, was that she was never supposed to make her nervousness visible to her patients.
Marie cleared her throat to gain Fay's attention. "Nice to meet you then, Fay. Could you tell me a bit about what happened at school?"
Fay would rather not. She never wanted to speak of it again, nor think about Lola. She would be much happier pretending that nothing had ever happened. It had been hell recounting the events to Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey already, and she felt physically and mentally exhausted. But it seemed as if she had no choice.
"I woke up in the middle of the night and saw that one of my roommates… Lola… wasn't in the room. But I was too sleepy to do anything about it so I went back to bed. She was there when I woke up the next day, but she was acting a bit weird –"
"How so?" pressed Marie curiously as she continued to take notes on her pad.
"I don't know…" said Fay uncomfortably. To answer that question, she would have to visualise the events, and she really didn't want to do that. "It just felt off. So I turned to ask her what she had been doing last night and she replied with raising her wand and… well, you know the rest."
Marie felt a wave of sorrow wash over her. Her emotional empathy had allowed her to tune into what Fay must have felt that morning, not just because of the Cruciatus Curse, but because of her friend's shocking betrayal.
"Were you close to Lola?" Marie asked.
Fay closed her eyes, looking hurt. Her voice was shaking as she spoke. "It hadn't been that long since we had met, but I felt… close to her. She.. she had reminded me of my friend… best friend… who passed away two years ago."
Tears appeared in Fay's eyes, and Marie kindly pushed the box of tissues towards her. She didn't know what to say, how to react, to a little girl grieving right before her eyes. This was nothing like her training sessions, where her Professors would find actors to pretend to be patients with fake problems. This was a real child, suffering real pain, and it made Marie feel helpless.
She decided to do the only thing that felt natural to her. She rose from her chair, went over to Fay, and embraced her in a huge, tight hug. As Fay cried in her arms, her little body shaking with each sob, Marie stroked the back of her head compassionately.
They didn't say a word until Fay calmed down and they both sat back in their chairs. Fay resumed staring back at the crackling fireplace.
"Sounds like she meant a lot to you," Marie said, not knowing whether she was referring to her late best friend or Lola.
"Yeah…" Fay breathed as she reached for the box of tissues. She wiped her tears and gently blew her nose before tossing the tissue into the bin. "Can I go now? I don't want to miss any of my classes…"
Marie nodded, trying not to seem bothered by the fact that they hadn't resolved much at all.
It was a good start, though. Fay had opened up to her more than Marie had thought she would at first, and she felt like with a few more sessions they could make some good progress.
Fay straightened her robes and picked up her school bag, ready to leave.
"I'm always here, Fay," Marie said softly. "Whenever you need me. No matter how silly or small you may think your issue to be, you can always knock on my door."
Fay nodded silently, avoiding Marie's gaze. She turned on her heels and opened the door to leave, before pausing.
"She wasn't my friend," she said, looking down.
"What?" was the only thing Marie was able to respond with. Fay had just said moments ago that her and Lola were getting along really well prior to the incident, and that they were developing a close friendship. Oh no, thought Marie nervously. Is she in denial?
"The girl that died – she wasn't my friend," Fay clarified. "She was my twin sister."
And with that, Fay left the room, leaving Marie feeling shocked and heartbroken.
Lola watched, in absolute awe, as about fifty witches and wizards in plum-coloured robes sat on the empty benches rising on both sides of her. She had been sat on a dark wooden chair with chains in the middle of the room, binding her arms and legs tightly so she couldn't move. She blinked as a woman who looked like a pale toad with large, bulging eyes approached her, holding a small goblet filled to the brim with a clear liquid.
The woman was dressed in such a nauseating tone of pink and chuckled so sweetly that Lola knew exactly who she was. The woman placed a straw in the drink and pushed it towards Lola's mouth.
"Drink it up, sweetie," she said innocently, but her eyes said otherwise.
Lola knew exactly what was in that cup, but knowing she had Professor Snape's antidote flowing through her veins made her feel safe enough to lock her lips around the metal straw at once and drain the whole cup. Even if she hadn't been able to get her hands on an antidote, she knew that with the blazing thirst she felt at the back of her throat, she would have drunk the whole liquid either way.
Dolores Umbridge chuckled at the desperate sight of Lola and left with the empty cup in her hand.
A few moments passed before everyone settled down, right before she heard Fudge's booming voice –
"Disciplinary hearing of the fifteenth of October into offences committed under the Decree for the Absolute Prohibition of Unforgivable Curses by Delores Lucy Allen –"
Lola cringed at the sound of her full name. Unlike what her parents had always said, her first name had never grown on her. She had thought about it for months before finally deciding to shorten it to Lola. To her, Lola Lucy sounded better, not that she ever used her middle name anyway. Not only that, but the only other Delores (or anything close) she had come to know over the years was her least favourite book character of all time, who was ironically staring down at her with disdain as she thought about this.
"- resident at number three, Warwick Road, Romney Marsh, Kent." Fudge continued. "Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of Auror Office; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Head of Improper Use of Magic Office; Pius Thicknesse, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister; Court Scribe, Mafalda Hopkirk; Witness for the defense…" Fudge ruffled the papers on his mahogany desk. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."
Lola turned around to find the Hogwarts Headmaster sitting on a bench behind her, accompanied by Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape and… Quirrell?
Lola's heart stopped beating. What was he doing here?
"Now…" Fudge said, causing Lola to turn her head back around. "The charges against the accused are as follows: That she did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of her actions, cast the Cruciatus Curse against a minor on October the thirteenth at forty-two minutes past seven, which constitutes an offense under paragraph A of the Decree for the Absolute Prohibition of Unforgivable Curses, 1778. Due to the severe nature of this crime, the defendant will be tried as an adult."
With each word, Lola felt more and more out of breath. Knowing that she had done nothing wrong, knowing that the man who had done this to her, Voldemort himself, was sitting a few meters behind her, devastated her deeply.
"You are Delores Lucy Allen, of number three, Warwick Road, Romney Marsh, Kent?" Fudge asked, addressing Lola over the top of his parchment.
Lola almost wanted to say no, to beg him to let her go, to say that they had the wrong person, but she answered "Yes," through gritted teeth.
"How do you plead to the charges?" Fudge asked sternly.
"Not guilty," Lola said at once.
"What were you doing on the morning of October the thirteenth?"
"I don't remember," said Lola, trying to sound sincere, ready to recount everything that they had rehearsed with Snape the day he found her. "I woke up in a room all by myself with the door locked. I don't know how I got there, or what happened at all."
The members of the Wizengamot started muttering to each other before Fudge raised his hand to quiet them.
"Are you stating, without any reasonable doubt, that you are not responsible for the events which occurred on the morning of October the thirteenth?"
"Yes, sir," said Lola with a quivering voice.
Fudge stared down at Lola for a moment. Lola could see the conviction in his eyes for a second before he signalled one of the men standing in front of the courtroom door.
Suddenly, a huge screen appeared in the middle of the room, right before Lola's eyes. She could see Fay, Parvati, Lavender and… herself. They were in their dorm, and everyone except for Lola was dressed in their pyjamas. The image turned to Hermione's closet, where a hand reached in to grab some socks. This was obviously a memory from Hermione's point of view.
Suddenly, Lola heard Fay ask "Where were you last night?".
The scene turned back to Lola, just in time for everyone to see her point her wand at Fay and scream "Crucio!" at the top of her lungs. The whole courtroom gasped in unison.
A high-pitched scream ripped through the air, crushing Lola's heart into a million pieces. But the Lola in the scene laughed like a maniac as Fay fell on the floor, wiggling in agony.
"Thank you, Pius," said Fudge to the man across the room and the scene disappeared.
"That wasn't me!" Lola exclaimed shakily. "I don't even know how to use my wand yet! That wasn't me!"
"How do you explain what we just witnessed?" asked Fudge icily.
"I don't know!" said Lola, feeling her eyes water. "I swear on my life!"
At that moment, Dumbledore stood up calmly behind Lola.
"Considering the delicate nature of was just presented to the Court, I suggest a five-minute recess to reach a verdict," he said commandingly.
For a split second, a silent communication occurred between Fudge and Dumbledore, before he looked back at Lola and said, "Request granted."
A loud collective of murmurs erupted in the courtroom, as everyone began discussing their thoughts and opinions about the case. Dumbledore quickly hurried to Fudge's desk, who leaned over to listen, followed by Umbridge, Madam Bones and a few other people Lola couldn't recognise.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Lola had to actually remind herself to do these. It's going to be okay.
That moment would become the longest five minutes of her entire life.
When it was finally over, everyone settled in their seats once again. Lola realised Fudge's face had blanched a little, and his left eye kept twitching. But his gaze was still serious.
As all air left Lola's lungs, Fudge cleared his throat, ready to deliver his verdict.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I connected very deeply with Fay in this chapter, as some of you might notice. The chapter was supposed to start with the Court scene, but something just came over me out of nowhere. My sister passed away 6 years ago when I was 13, and writing about Fay's awkward therapy session was in itself very therapeutic for me for some reason. Again, thank you so much for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you next time (hopefully).