A Cruce Salus:
Chapter 3
Sometimes / I forget I'm still awake / I fuck up and say these things out loud / My old friend / I swear I never meant for this / I never meant
Don't look at me that way / It was an honest mistake / Don't look at me that way / It was an honest mistake
An honest mistake.
(( An Honest Mistake by The Bravery ))
"Ah," said a familiar voice, "I see that you are finally awake. Long enough to hold a coherent conversation, that is. I'd much rather have just used Legilimency while you were sleeping, but you have a staggering set of Occlumency wards. Would you like to tell me your name?"
Panic coursed through Ginevra Molly Weasley's veins as she bolted upright on an uncomfortable spring mattress. She knew exactly where she was.. or where they wanted her to think she was.
"You're deranged," she said to the imposter sitting in front of her.
The man who had charmed himself to look so uncannily like the late Albus Dumbledore cocked his head to the side.
"Really, now," he said as though amused, "and why would that be?"
Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Don't you dare try and play mind games with me, you filthy bastard. I know how to beat you; I always have, I always will, and if you don't stop whatever sick game this is that you're playing, I swear to Merlin I will kill you."
The look-alike traded in his amused face for a stoic one. "I'll have you know that while I don't respond to threats well, I also believe in second chances. Now, I'll ask you again. What is your name?"
Ginny threw her head back and laughed. This was beyond absurd. What were the Death Eaters trying to accomplish here? She didn't feel like shit, so she knew she must have been healed. Why would they do that? It was obvious that they much preferred leaving her in pain, and if they were going to throw people that she knew were dead in her face, wouldn't they be a bit more cruel about it? Not that it wasn't already, but whoever this was was putting up a good show of not wanting to harm her. Unless that was a trick, too.
"Look," she ended up saying, "you seem genuinely curious, so you must be new at all this. I don't know which one of your kind put you up to this, but you're a right fool for listening to them. Didn't they tell you anything? About me, I mean. You're doing a rather good impression of him. Why don't you offer me a lemon drop, while you're at it? That is, if dead men eat candy."
"And who would 'my kind' be?"
"Dont play dumb. It doesn't suit him; you should know that. Then again, there's a lot of things you don't seem to know."
"I'm afraid I don't understand anything that you're saying. If you don't start cooperating, I will be forced to use Veritaserum, Miss.."
The Dumbledore waited for her to finish his sentence. When she didn't, he took a vial out of his robes and poured some in her open mouth. He looked surprised when she swallowed it without any trace of resistance. Dunderhead.
"Let's get down to business, shall we? What is your name?"
"Watch it, because you're testing my patience. I should have slit your throat by now, but first I'll have you know that I don't respond well to having a truth serum shoved down my throat."
"Impressive. Immune to Veritaserum? Am I right in saying that it takes a strong mind block coupled with high level Occulemency wards? Not many wizards can achieve that. I wonder where and why you learned it."
He said the last thing as though it was an accusation.
"I'm not stupid enough to tell you where, but I'll have you know that I learned it to protect myself from pathetic wizards such as yourself."
"Very well, then. You don't need to protect yourself from me, unless you decide to attack me. The only thing I need to know besides your name and how you got here is whether or not you'll be a danger to the students."
Ginny snorted. "Right," she said, "well, I was under the impression that even if there were more than a few students left per year, you and your people made sure that there was nowhere for them to learn how to save themselves."
The imposter allowed his face to display emotion again, but it was a burning anger that showed. "Let's get one thing straight, miss. You have insulted and threatened me and my life, not the other way around. You-"
"And to think you could have avoided that by not being heartless."
"Why do you continue to act as though I've done you some unforgivable wrong? The only people I have harmed intentionally have all been Death Eaters. Are you one?"
Ginny smiled at her victory. She finally knew who this was.
"Parker, right? You can finish with the act now. It has to be you; you're the only one clever enough to be able to keep this up for so long.What was that last spell you threw at me in the Astronomy Tower? I'd like to know how you finally beat me. Congratulations on that, by the way, but if you plan on using it again, I promise you I'll be ready."
It looked like Parker wasn't going to give up, although she really had no idea what the point of all this was. It's not like she had been exceptionally close to Dumbledore, and he hadn't even attempted to hurt her yet.
"The only Parker that I am aware of would be a Slytherin seventh year by the name of Adonis Parker. My name, however, is Albus Dumbledore. I suppose I shouldn't have assumed you knew that. I'll come back when more of the potions have worn off--perhaps then you will be slightly less delusional."
Her eyes widened. Seventh year? Was he lying? That had to mean--no, that was impossible! There was no way.. unless.. Oh my god, she thought after looking at the calender on the wall as though she was seeing it for the first time.
"Miss?" said the man she was no longer sure was an imposter, "Are you alright?"
She snapped back to attention, realizing she had stopped paying attention to him in favor of the millions of complicated thoughts running around her head.
"Fuck," was her answer.
Ginny sighed and prepared herself for the blow she was about to give. "Alright. First of all, sorry for all the.. death threats and such. Second, what I am about to tell you you must not tell anyone. Well, excluding the Order, of course--"
"You know about the Order?" asked Dumbledore, slight panic in his eyes.
"Yes, and no. I know there is an Order here, but my Order won't exist foralmost two decades from now."
For a few seconds, Albus looked confused. After he realized what she was implying, his mouth dropped and he said, "I think you'd better explain."
"Hey, look on the brightside, Prongs!" said Sirius as the Marauders walked down to the Great Hall for dinner.
"Brightside?" asked James. "Since when?"
Out of the four of them, James's curiosity was probably the biggest--too big for his own good. With all the questions surrounding the enigma that was.. whatever her name was, the last days of break had been torture. He'd had nothing to distract him, as most everyone was at home (leaving no one but his friends to prank--something he'd long ago learned was not a smart move. Except for Peter).
"The Express pulled in a coupla' hours ago."
"Ahem. For the mildy retarded today, this means that our dear Lily-flower will be at the feast."
Jame's eyes lit up at the thought of seeing his girlfriend for the first time in almost a fortnight. After all, they had only had about a week together as a couple before break.
After what seemed like a lifetime, they finally reached the Great Hall, where James--quite predicatably--rushed to Lily's side. Sirius looked happy to see it full again (except for the Slytherin table).
A few hopeful underclassmen tried to vy for Sirius and Remus's attention and invite them to sit, but they took their usual seats in the middle as always.
"--we ran out of there as fast as we could and Sirius looked like an ass in his hex, but that's not important because after that--" James was saying to Lily in hushed tones.
Remus raised his eyebrows and Sirius cleared his throat. James gave them a look that clearly told them they could trust his girl. Remus glanced at the rest of the eagerly watching table, indicating that couldn't trust the rest of them. James put on a don't-worry-about-them-I've-got-it-covered face, to which Sirius responded with a warning glare. Finally, James sighed defeatedly while Remus nodded and Sirius smiled in victory. Peter, along with the rest of the table, stared at them in confusion, wondering what had just happened.
Being late, the feast had already started. After their wordless conversation, they promptly began devouring the table. ("I'll tell you later," whispered James to a suspicious Evans). It wasn't until after his second helping of Shepherd's Pie did Remus look up at the staff table.
"Guys," he said, "where's Dumbledore?"
Sirius finished flirting with a sixth year brunette and turned to his friend. "What was that?"
"I said, where's Dumbledore?"
"I dunno.. maybe he has some Headmaster stuff to deal with. You know, besides giving poor souls like us detention and shit."
"He could be with her," he answered conspiratorially, lowering his voice and looking around him to make sure bystanders were sufficiently distracted, "I mean, it's been almost a week since Boxing Day. Think she might've woken up?"
As if on cue, the double doors opened and Dumbledore walked in. He was trailing behind some woman they didn't know. Sirius flashed her a grin--she had to be one of the most attractive people he'd ever seen that didn't go to Hogwarts (which really wasn't very much). Even so, he watched as her side bangs feel into her eyes as the rest of her midnight hairfell down to her sculpted chest silkily. She walked with an air of confidence that was hard to place. The hall had too many people in it for it to go completely silent, but most people stopped what they were doing to get a good look at the stranger or whisper about her to their friends. She didn't pay it any mind, but kept walking as though used to the limelight. Catching Sirius's smile, she turned to look at the Marauders and nodded slowly in their direction as though trying to convey some message.
James gasped. "It's her!" he whispered excitedly, "Look!"
Once this was said, it became increasingly clear that it was indeed the girl they'd had so much experience with yet to whom they'd never said a word. By looking in their direction, she revealed that jagged scar on the side of her face. If anything, that scar made her all the more interesting to them. She had the same hair, although it looked much better without the blood clots. With all of her injuries, they hadn't been able to get a clear idea of what she looked like. Now, however, it was apparent that the woman who Dumbledore seemed to be following was the same one they had found that night.
When the couple reached the staff table, the headmaster turned to his apprehensive audience.
"As all of you are aware, our Defense professor has been called away to care for his sick sister and I've been filling his position for the time being. Fortunately for all of us, I have found a suitable candidate to take over the job for the remainder of the year. Kindly welcome your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Professor Samara Davidson."
All four jaws at the Gryffindor table dropped simultaneously.
(( Author's Note: Just in case any of you are lawyers looking to prosecute a poor Fanfiction author for forgetting her disclaimer: Not Mine. Next chapter: First class with the new DADA teacher. Constructive critcism, anyone? ))