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Here's chapter 27 (already ?!). I hope you like it.
We are fast approaching the end of volume 1 - only 3 chapters left after this one !
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wildest dreams
VOLUME I

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"I knew it !"

I looked up at Lee, who had just shouted from the couch on the other side of the Common Room. Fortunately, it was only me, him and a couple of third years – everyone else was outside, enjoying the lovely weather. I had homework to catch up on, and Lee had had an extra parchment to write to Snape because he had blown up his cauldron during our last Potions lesson – but obviously, he hadn't been working at all.

"You all right ?" I asked, frowning.

He sprung up from the couch and nearly ran to the table where I was sitting – waving a piece of parchment in his hand.

"I knew I had heard that name before !" he said as he sat down in front of me.

"What name ?"

Lee had always been hard to follow – his mind always wandered from one thing to another, which never had any connection to each other whatsoever.

"Ludo Bagman !" he said.

"Well, doesn't your dad work with him ?"

Lee's dad worked at Ministry, in the Department of Magical Games and Sport. Therefore, Bagman was his superior – no doubt Lee had heard about him before.

"No, that's not it !"

I frowned, putting down my quill.

"What are you trying to say ?"

"I had a hunch, so I wrote to my dad, asking about him. Look at what he answered !"

He handed me the piece of parchment – it was a letter from his dad. I started reading.

"Your dad had issues with him as well ?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, a few years back" nodded Lee. "He lent Bagman some money – the bloke said he had been robbed or something. So my dad helped him – but as you can see, Bagman never gave him his money back."

I nodded, and kept on reading. My eyes widened as I finished the letter.

"Bloody hell" I muttered.

"I know – awful, innit ? Now there's no hope Fred and George ever will –"

"We have to tell them !"

I started gathering my things, shoving them in my bag.

"What, right now ?" said Lee.

"Yes, right now !"

"But I have to do my –"

"Oh, you won't get anything done before it's a matter of life and death, and you know that ! Come on !"

Lee cracked a smile before he stood up and followed me out of the Common Room. We found Fred and George in the park, trying to sell some of their products to the students enjoying the warm sun.

"Look who's here" laughed Fred.

I ignored him and shoved the letter in his face.

"Read it" I said, grinning.

"What is it ?" asked George suspiciously.

"Just read it !"

I glared at both of them – and they unfolded the letter and started to read it. When they were done, they looked up at me and Lee, eyes wide.

"Goblins !" said Fred.

"No wonder he doesn't want to pay us back" sighed George.

"Yeah, because he actually can't do it" nodded Lee.

"I'm sorry" I said faintly.

The twins exchanged a look.

"Well, at least we know why, now" said George.

"Sure, there's at least that. Still hate the bloke, though" shrugged Fred.

"Yeah. He got himself into that mess" nodded George.

"What d'you reckon he'll do to get out of it ?" asked Lee.

I shrugged.

"Something stupid, probably."

Fred, George and Lee nodded.

"Are you guys staying with us, or are you going back in your cave ?" asked Fred.

I exchanged a look with Lee. I really didn't want to go back inside after feeling the sun on my back now. I knew I had work to do – but that could wait. Sunny days in England were too rare, I had to enjoy them. So we both decided to stay, and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, and selling Canary Creams.

The castle was extremely busy the morning of the Final Task, a few days after – everyone was excited and anxious. Of course, everyone had noticed the huge maze that had been built on the Quidditch Pitch, so the task wasn't a mystery this time – but we didn't know what was in the maze, and if the two first tasks were easier than this one… well, let's just say I was really worried for Harry. When the post came, I got a letter from my uncle, and another one who only had my name written on it. There was no indication of from who it was. Frowning, I put it my pocket, telling myself I would open it later.

Exams had not been easy so far. I had thought my brain would explode during my Runes exam the day before, and it certainly didn't help that we had a History of Magic exam the next day. I was therefore very relieved when I got back to the Common Room that day after the exam – my next exam would only be in three days, and it was Charms.

"Hey, how did it go ?" asked George as I sat down beside him.

"Terribly" I sighed. "Couldn't remember half the things I memorized."

"You did look pretty desperate when I left the class" he chuckled.

"I just don't see the use of that bloody class – anyway, let's not talk about it. Lunch ?"

"Fred and Angelina are already down there."

I nodded, and, grabbing his head, we made our way to the Great Hall, where we found – much to our surprise – Molly and Bill sitting at the Gryffindor Table.

"Mom ? Bill ?"

"Hello, dears ! We've come to watch Harry in the last task !" said Molly.

I hugged her tightly – it was really nice to see her again. We sat down with the rest of the family, and Harry and Hermione, discussing the task and everything that had happened at Hogwarts this year. We had been talking for over an hour when Molly suddenly stared at me and George with wide eyes.

"You're – you're holding hands !"

Oh – right. I glanced at George, smiling shyly.

"We are" said George, smirking.

"But – but – does that mean you two are –"

"Yeah, Mom, that's exactly what it means" said Fred. "Addy and George decided to start making our lives miserable by snogging in our faces all the time."

"Fred !" I snapped.

"Congratulations, you two" said Bill, smiling.

"Thanks, Bill."

"Oh – that is wonderful !" said Molly, grinning. "When did it happen ?"

"December" said George. "After the Yule Ball."

"And you didn't think to tell me in a letter, did you ?"

"Thought it would be a nice surprise" said George, shrugging.

"Oh, you !"

Molly leaned forward to kiss us both on the cheek. I never really thought Molly wouldn't agree to me dating George – but it was still nice to see that she was genuinely happy about it. After we all finished eating, Molly, Bill and Harry set off for a walk in the park, Hermione and Ron for the library – the latter didn't seem really enchanted at the idea – and Ginny had a Potions exam, so I set off for the Common Room with Fred and George, where we met with Angelina to play some Exploding Snap. It was nice to do something else with my time than study.

We had just finished a game when I remembered the letter I had gotten that morning from my uncle. I asked Alicia to take my place and went to sit next to the fireplace. There were two things in the enveloppe – a piece of parchment with my uncle's handwriting on it, and a piece of Muggle paper.

Addy,

Hope your exams are going well.

I got this letter in the mail this morning. Your parents asked me to send it to you.

You don't have to read it if you don't want to. You also don't have to accept their proposition. It's your choice. Know that I will always support you, no matter what you do.

Take care,

Myron

I stared at the other piece of paper. That was from my parents, then. I felt my heart beat fast – what did they want with me ? And what did Myron mean by 'proposition' ? Too curious to resist, I opened the letter. I didn't recognize the handwriting, of course, and looked at the signature at the bottom – it was signed 'your mother and father'. I took a deep breath.

Dear Adelaide,

We realize how odd it must be for you to hear from us after all these years. You must be asking yourself why we decided to write to you now. The truth is, we have been in denial for a very long time. We always thought we had made the right decision by leaving you with your uncle – the right decision for you, but also the right decision for us. We have been horribly selfish, and we can never forgive ourselves for that.

Your uncle has perhaps told you that he saw me (your father) a few months ago. Ever since this moment, I have not been able to think about anything else – about how you were, about who you have become. We both have. That is why we are asking you now if you would like to meet us.

We are not asking for forgiveness. You have every right to say no and to shred this letter. We have not been good parents to you, and we will understand if you prefer not to hear from us again. But if there is even the smallest part of you that will let us see you, and meet the wonderful young woman we know you are – please, give us that. It would be an honor to get to know you.

We will be in England this summer. You can contact us anytime. I think your world does not use phones or email – so I joined the address of the house we have rented in Dorset.

Lots of love,

Your mother and father

I couldn't stop staring at the words. They sounded so strange – 'meet us', 'not asking for forgiveness', 'the wonderful young woman we know you are'. Even the ones I didn't understand, like 'shred', or 'email', echoed in my head.

After I finished reading the letter for what seemed to be the hundredth time, I carefully folded it again and wiped the tears from the corner of my eyes. It felt like a dream, and like a nightmare at the same time. I honestly didn't know what to think about it. A part of me wanted to throw the letter in the fire, and chase it away from my mind forever – but the other part wanted to go to that address in Dorset, and meet my parents. How odd it sounded. 'Meet my parents'.

"Addy ?"

I hadn't even noticed George coming to sit beside me. He quickly grabbed my hand, squeezing it against his own. I glanced at him through the tears that just wouldn't stop falling.

"What happened, Addy ?"

I took a deep breath. I couldn't even find the words to properly explain it to him – so I handed him the letter, so that he could see for himself. He read it slowly, still holding my hand tight, frowning. When he was done, he put it back on the couch, looking shocked.

"I – I don't know what to say" he mumbled.

"Me neither" I said, shaking my head.

"Did you – do you – I mean, I guess the question is… Do you want to go ?"

I stared back at him.

"I don't know" I answered honestly. "What do you think ?"

"Me ? Well, I dunno… I mean, they sound nice, and it looks like they have good intentions…"

"Yeah, I bet they had good intentions when they abandoned me, too" I said.

"That's not what I meant. Sorry."

I sighed, shaking my head.

"No – I'm sorry. I should've said that. I'm just… I'm confused."

"I'd think you mad if you weren't."

That made me smile. George pulled me to him, hugging me tightly.

"Take some time to think about it. You don't have to decide now" he whispered in my ear.

I nodded, closing my eyes for a few seconds, holding on tightly to him. He was right. I had all summer to decide. I tried to imagine myself going to Dorset to meet them – stand in front of them, and say, 'Hi, I'm your daughter'. It was very, very odd. But I was also very curious to see what they looked like, who they were. I had a vague memory of them in my head, but more than ten years had passed since then, so I was probably very far from the truth. Sighing, I decided to put those thoughts aside and try to enjoy myself a little for the rest of the day.