Okayy, well I am definitely incredibly sorry. It's taken me forever to publish this, I think that last time I actually published a chapter was in August. Which is very extremely not good. I only got a chance to finish it because my school had off for two weeks. Mainly because of hurricane Sandy, which was not fun. We lost power for 11 days and then we didn't get wifi until Friday afternoon. I am really sorry that I didn't post this then but to be honest it completely slipped my mind until a few minutes ago.
Anyway, everytime that I turn on the news it's all stuff about hurricane Sandy. I really can't feel bad for myself when I keep seeing all these pictures of people's houses just being washed away. I know everyone has their own problems, but please try to help with this disaster if you can. Some of my friends have been told that they're not going to get electricity back until December. Which mean for most people, no heat, no hot water. In December! There's a boy in my dad's office who has been coming to work with his mom because their house got washed away and she has no idea what to do with him. There are people who don't have anywhere to go, or anything to use to provide for themselves. So please, anything that you can do will help. Thanks.
Okay, now that that has been said, please enjoy the chapter, and please review! I really want to hear what you guys think!
They suddenly found themselves in an unfamiliar kitchen, where little Joey was sitting at the table. She looked slightly older than before and was wearing new clothes. She also looked slightly happier than she had in Dumbledore's office. Like it had been a while since Halloween and she was starting to move past it, while still mourning the separation of her entire family.
"Well at least now we know who memories we're watching." Ginny said quietly.
"Good thing it's Joey's." Hermione said. "Now we can find out why she always keeps a knife on her."
"How do you know that?" George asked her, shocked.
"Harry told me." Hermione said, looking at the faces of the shocked people around her. "He said that she keeps it strapped to her leg."
While everyone looked like they had more questions about this, a woman had stepped through the door that apparently led to the kitchen with two sandwiches and a pitcher of lemonade on a tray.
"So Joey, I just called Mrs. Maracolli and she says that her and Hannah are going to be at the park in a half hour, so if you wanted to we could go and play with them for a while." The kind looking woman said quietly.
"I don't want to play with Hannah, ever since I had that vision in front of her she keeps making fun of me." Joey said quietly. She took her sandwich and bit into it quickly, so she wouldn't have to talk more.
"Alrighty then!" The woman said positively, trying to keep the girl happy. "How about we go, and you don't have to play with Hannah? You can find someone else to play with."
Joey thought about this for a minute before agreeing. And the memory dissipated before solidifying. Now they found themselves in the middle of a rather busy looking park. Sitting near them was the kind woman talking to her friend on a park bench.
"-rather tragic, she's been with me for a few months now but she's just getting over the deaths of her parents."
"Oh my, Abigail that's awful!" Abigail said with acted horror while curiosity shone on her face. "Do you know how it happened?"
"Lorraine that's awful!" Abigail said in genuine horror to her friend. "Do you expect me to ask the poor child what happened to her parents so soon after their deaths? No, the man that left her with me said she needed to be taken care of, and she just looked so unhappy, how could I not?"
The onlookers felt a great surge of pride for the woman who obviously knew more but was not about to divulge just to keep a captive audience.
"What man? Have you met him before?" Lorraine asked, keen for more details.
"No, I'd never met him before." Abigail said, "But you remember my little sister?"
"Dorcas?" Lorraine said quietly. Her face took on a somber look. Hermione and the Weasleys immediately realized that this was fake sadness. But, they also realized that Abigail's face had changed as well, she now had tears in her eyes and her voice had become a little thicker than before.
"Yes well," She took a deep breath through her nose. "She always talked about how amazing her headmaster was and after she left school, she stayed in contact with him. They were in a...organization together for a while and she helped him. When she died, he asked me if I would ever be open to helping in her place."
"What do you mean, in her place?" Lorraine asked.
"Nothing, I just told him that while I couldn't completely take her place I would be open to helping out if given the opportunity." Abigail said sadly. "So he showed up with Joey one night and asked if I would be able to look after her for a while. She just looked so sad and broken, I couldn't help it. I told him that she would be able to stay with me as long as she wanted."
"You're a saint Abby!" Lorraine said sarcastically while giving her a sappy look.
"Oh shut up you!" Abigail said, pushing her friend on the shoulder. Seeing as they then started talking about Lorraine's obnoxious boss, the group watching them decided they had time to talk.
"Do you remember that picture that Mad-Eye showed all of us?" Hermione said quietly.
"There was a woman named Dorcas Meadows." Fred said. "I remember Mad-Eye saying she got hunted down by Voldemort himself."
"This must be her sister. Which mean Dorcas Meadows was a muggle born." Ron said. "And this must be a few years after she died."
"Oi!" Ginny said loudly. "Look at Joey!"
Everybody looked over at the little girl who had seated herself on the grass next to a bed of flowers. One of which she was holding in her hand. When they got closer, they noticed that she was watching the flower bud open and close in her hand…and so was someone else. A tall man was standing nearby looking at her with wide eyes.
"Oh no." Fred and George both said quietly. The man walked over to her and kneeled down to her level. Joey's eyes widened and she immediately moved slightly backwards and crushed the bright purple flower in her small hands.
"Hi." The man said with a bright smile that faltered when she looked back at him warily. "I'm Mark. What's your name?"
"Joey." She said after a few moments hesitation. Her look still stayed guarded.
"Hi Joey!" He said, happy to hear her respond. "Can you show me what you were doing with that flower?" Her face morphed into horror when she realized that he had seen what she had been doing and she moved away from him quickly. He looked frustrated when he realized this had been the wrong thing to say. "No! I'm sorry! You're not supposed to show anyone are you? But I can keep a secret."
The smile that came over his face as he said this was in no way trustworthy. But it didn't matter whether or not Joey chose to trust him, for Abigail had noticed the man that was talking to Joey and quickly stepped over to them.
"Hello!" She said with false positivity, her eyes flicking down to the bulky ring on his finger. "Joey, why don't you go get your backpack, we're leaving."
Paul straightened up quickly, he was slightly taller than Abigail, but the women did not back down in the slightest. "Is that your daughter?" Paul asked with fake geniality.
"No, and I'm sorry but we really must be going." Abigail said with hard eyes, turning on her heel and walking to Joey. She placed her hand on the young girl's shoulders and guided her towards her car in the parking lot. Abigail never looked back, not even when she was in the driver's seat leaving the parking lot. Joey however, watched the man the entire time. She watched as he walked over and picked his son up off the swings and carried him to his own car, looking over at Joey covertly at every opportunity. Her heart beat so loud she could feel it shaking her stomach.
The memory dissolved into black smoke once again and the group found themselves inside of Abigail Meadows house. "Abby?" Joey asked quietly. She was sitting on the couch next to Abigail with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand. The rest of the room was dark except for the TV light, which shone on Joeys face. Her eyes never left the screen as she continued talking, though Abigail turned her head to look at her. "Who was that man? Today in the park, he saw me playing with the flowers."
Abigail seemed hesitant to answer, but the calm voice Joey used seemed to assure her that Joey would be able to understand what she would have to explain. "Honey, I have never met him before today. I have no idea what sort of man he is, for all I know, he could be the nicest man on this planet. But, the ring that was on his finger makes me uneasy."
"Why?" Joey asked in the same calm voice, this time turning her head to face Abigail.
Abigail looked as if she didn't know what to or to not say for a moment before answering Joey's question. "I saw a ring like that at work." This confused the group watching them for a moment, before she explained further. "Last week, a man was killed two towns over. Then person who did it was doing it in self-defense though. So, the people that I work with said they have seen that ring before and that it seems to be on the fingers of many men and women in the same situation as the man that was killed. By which I mean, killed in self-defense." Joey was still looking at her with a questioning face so she continued. "We think that the rings may symbolize some sort of membership in a gang."
When she heard this, Joey's eyes got slightly wider. Seeming to realized the reason behind the concern that Abigail had shown for her in the park. Even so, the man had not seemed too honest to her even before Abigail had come over. She had always been able to read people very well, and she had learned to trust her own instincts when it came to trusting other people. Especially since Halloween.
"Wait," Abigail said slowly her eyes flashing with fear. She quickly moved up from her seat and knelt in front of Joey. "What do you mean he saw you playing with the flowers? Joey, did he see you use magic?"
Joeys tear filled eyes were not noticed by Abigail, because in that moment a loud knock sounded on the door. Abigail turned towards the door, pulling Joey to a standing position and putting herself between her and the door. The Weasleys and Hermione all greatly admired her courage, but they were also reminded with horror situation scarily similar to this, which in this time had happened only a few months ago. Joey it seemed, was also reminded of this, as she started shaking like a caged animal and clutched onto the hand that Abigail extended behind her.
"Who is it?" Abigail asked loudly. Her she breathed in a short gasp when she heard the lock on the door turning quickly from the outside. When the door opened, she clutched Joey behind her with both hands. Joey had her head peeking out from behind Abigail with tears racing down her face and soaking Abigail's shirt.
A man in a suit stepped into the room. He was average height, but looked a tiny bit overweight. His face held the strangest mixture of expressions any of them had ever seen. His eyes scanned over the room quickly before holding gazes with Joey. Who did her best to glare with tears in her eye's. He smiled with a demented form of excitement in his eyes when he saw her.
"Is this her then Stellings?" The man asked of the man who walked in behind him. The same man who had seen Joey with the flower in the park.
"What are you doing in my house?" Abigail asked loudly, moving her feet backwards inch by inch.
"I'm sorry my dear, we're intruding aren't we?" The man in the suit said. He didn't seem very sorry at all. "I'm Jackson. Call me Jack."
"I had a dog named Jackson." Abigail said quietly. "He got hit by a truck."
Jackson seemed to be slightly irritated by this comment, but that seemed to make Abigail happier. "Well, I am not here to talk to you. May I speak to your charge?"
"She was actually about to go to bed." Abigail said quickly. "Joey, why don't you go upstairs. I'll be up in a minute."
As she was saying this, she had been walking Joey towards the stairs that were next to Jackson. Seemingly not willing to let her walk past the men on her own. Jackson, however, stuck out his arm to prevent her from moving any further forward.
"Miss Meadows I'm afraid we might be at a stalemate. I can already see that you are unwilling to conform to the requests that I have for you." Jackson said with a sad shake of his head and a regretful look on his face. "And I am not willing to leave without what I have come for."
Abigail Meadows tilted her head up and stood straighter. "And what is it that you have come for. Because if it is what I think it is, then you might be right about that stalemate."
Jackson frowned and looked into Abigails face, assessing her level of determination. "And if I were to tell you," he started slowly, "that your life depends on whether or not I get what I want…what would happen then?"
"I would tell you to get out of my house, never think of me or Joey again, and go to hell." Abigail said. "Not in any particular order, I would rather like to witness your hell."
This set off a lot of cheering from the group of watchers, but they were quickly silenced when Jackson looked around to one of the men behind him and nodded. The man quickly pulled a gun from the inside of his jacket and pointed it straight at Abigail, who tried to back away with Joey behind her.
"Then I am very sorry my dear." He said quietly as Abigail turned and pushed Joey towards the back door. One of the men behind him pulled a gun out of the front of his belt and fired twice at Abigail's back. There was no sound, a silencer had been placed on the gun. The only sound was Abigail's body dropping. Then Joey screaming as she tried to pull her foot out from underneath the body.
The group of people watched in silent horror as Jackson gestured to the other man at his side to get Joey up from the floor. Joey immediately heard this and started running for the door, but the tears that had cluttered her eyes blinded her and she tripped over one of the kitchen chairs. The man came closer to her, pulling a syringe out of a medical kit he had been carrying and stuck it into her arm. She continued screaming for no more than a few seconds, then went silent. Her eyes drooped closed slowly and they could only watch as she was scooped up and brought to a car, before Joey's eyes closed completely and they were carried into another memory.
Pleasseeeee review!