Chapter 26: Come with me

It was the crack of dawn and Zoey had been up and about earlier than that. Zoey didn't know what caused her to get up so early, usually she was the last one to get up when the temperature outside was still cold. She hugged her robes tighter to herself as she sat on a bench that was placed out on the field. She had her school bag on her side together with an open ink bottle. In her hand was a quill and on her lap was a battered notebook with blank pages.

The notebook happened to be Ginny's special diary. Zoey had it with her today because Ginny suggested that they should take turns in consoling in it.

"Why'd you give me this?" Zoey asked Ginny as she held up the diary.

"I figured we should take turns in, you know, writing in it," Ginny said as she swayed back and forth.

"Why?"

"Because sometimes when I look at you, you seem to have a lot on your mind and sometimes it seems that there are some things you want to say but can't seem to say out loud… I figured if you wrote down your thoughts it would help you a bit…y'know?" Ginny said with a blush

Zoey felt her heart skip a bit. Was it that obvious? She licked her lips and smiled. "That's sweet of you Ginny but I told you, I have a diary of my own."

"Does that diary reply to you or give you advice?"

"No –"

"Then write in this one then, he really knows how to make you feel better," Ginny said with a smile.

"He?"

"Yeah… he introduced himself as Tom," Ginny said with a blush, "Anyway, just try it okay? And no one would be able to read what you wrote so yeah… Just try it okay?"

Zoey sighed as she dipped her quill in the ink bottle and brought it to the paper. She bit her lip as she thought about what she should say. What do you say to a talking diary? Not exactly talking but something with a mind of its own. Zoey looked up at the sky and noted that the sun was still barely up, she looked around the grounds and saw no students walking, and she looked back at the page and noted no words were written.

Hey, it's Zoey again. Sorry, I left without a proper good-bye.

She wrote thinking the diary would remember her, after all he remembered Ginny.

Zoey watched as the words disappeared only to have new ones appear.

Hello, Zoey. Don't worry, no harm done. I would have done the same thing. It's great to hear from you again but it's a little early to be writing don't you think?

Zoey raised an eyebrow. How did the diary know that?

Err – yeah, I guess… I sort off woke up earlier than planned.

I see. Well, I don't want to be rude or anything but where's Ginny?

Probably sleeping in the Gryffindor Tower, but that's not the answer you're looking for is it?

No, it's not.

She told me that I should try to console in you. She said you'll be able to help me.

I would try my best to help you. I have helped Ginny with her problems. What do you need help in though?

Zoey licked her lips. Should she tell him? Ginny's words echoed in her head 'No one would be able to read what you wrote'

I don't really know how I should put it. I'm sorry but I don't know you as well as Ginny does.

I understand. Why don't we start over? Hello, my name is Tom.

Zoey smiled slightly and let out a small chuckle.

Hello, Tom. My name is Zoey Emeraude.

Emeraude? Not the second greatest pure-blood family Emeraude?

Second? Greatest? I didn't know anything about that…

Really? From what Ginny has written in me according to her History of Magic lesson the greatest pure-blood family is the Black Family and the second is the Emeraude.

The Blacks are extinct now, aren't they?

Not exactly. They're still extant – through the female line though

Zoey bit her lips as she read the line and watched it slowly disappear.

But they don't carry the Black family name…

That's what I meant, Zoey.

Zoey was about to reply but then she heard voices from a distance causing her to stop with her quill just centimeters away from the page. She looked up from the diary and saw the Gryffindor Quidditch team walking towards the Quidditch pitch. Zoey caught sight of the twins and her heart skipped a beat. Zoey panicked and scribbled a fast "Be right back" to Tom and she hastily stuffed the diary back into her bag. She closed her ink bottle and stuffed it in her bag together with her quill. She stood up and clutched her bag to her side, her head slightly throbbed. Zoey closed her eyes as she brought her hand to her head.

"I got to get this diary back to Ginny," Zoey muttered to herself as she made a run for it. She ran back into the castle and headed towards the Great Hall hoping she'll catch sight of the Weasley girl.


"Good Morning, Zoey!" Ginny greeted when Zoey skidded to a halt at the Gryffindor table. Zoey quickly took a seat beside the red-head and brought out the diary. She slid it back to Ginny.

"I said you could write in it today," Ginny said as she looked at Zoey with confusion.

"I – I have," Zoey breathed out.

Ginny raised an eyebrow, "Really? Did you share your feelings with it?"

"N-not really," Zoey confessed, she was never the greatest liar, "I introduced myself and then he – Tom said that my family was the grea – second greatest wizarding family out there"

"That's great and all but… I was hoping you would share your Fred dilemma," Ginny said with a smile.

Zoey felt her cheeks warm up at the eleven-year-olds words, "What do you mean?" Zoey asked as she removed her glasses and whipped them clean

"Don't act like nothing happens between you guys," Ginny said, "I saw you guys in the garden the other day, that and I notice that on some days you're all good friends and all but on other days there's like a tension between you guys, like something happened"

Zoey bit her lip.

"I know you don't want to talk about it. I heard Fred muttering that you won't tell him anything. That's why I told you to write in this diary here," She held up the diary and gave it back to Zoey.

"Just give it back to me tomorrow," Ginny then smiled, stood up and left the Great Hall.

Zoey watched as Ginny walked away. She held the diary close to her chest and felt her head throb. For a moment it seemed that her vision became foggy. Zoey shook her head and removed her glasses. She held it to the light to see no smudges or the like. She placed them back on and squinted her eyes. The fog disappeared.

"Just my imaginat-ah!" Zoey screamed as someone gripped onto her shoulder. She whirled around to see Fred trying his best not to burst out in laughter, while George was gripping hard onto the table trying to stop his laughing.

"Blimey Zoey!" George gasped in laughter, "I didn't know you could scream so loud!"

Zoey blushed and looked around the Great Hall. Most of the students were laughing as well. She looked back at Fred and saw his eyes watering from suppressed laughter. "Just go ahead and laugh," Zoey said laughing a bit herself.

"N-No," Fred said though laughter was evident in his voice, "W-w c-ca-"

Fred couldn't take it anymore he just clutched his side and began to laugh himself.

After a second or two everyone began to calm down. Zoey shook her head and smiled at the twins. "So why did you guys come and give me a heart attack? I thought you had Quidditch practice?"

"How did you know we had practice?" George asked

"Saw you guys heading to the Quidditch pitch," Zoey said as she placed the diary within her robes when the twins weren't looking.

"Oh really?" Fred asked as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Zoey laughed, "So did you guys have to tell me something?"

"Oh right, right," Fred said, "You have Defense Against the Dark Arts next right?"

Zoey gave a shiver, "Yeah, I do."

"And from what we hear, you aren't very fond of the way Lockhart decorates the room," George said as he stood beside his brother.

"Who is?" Zoey asked as if it was obvious that the entire school despised the décor.

"Half of the female population?" Fred guessed, "But we can see where you're coming from"

"So what about the way Lockhart decorates?" Zoey asked as the bell rang.

"We just think-" Fred began

"-That you would enjoy the classroom's-" George continued

"Latest design," the ended together as the bell rang

Zoey raised her eyebrow. "Wha-"

"Oh now you don't want to be late do you?" Fred asked as he and George began to push Zoey out of the Great Hall. Zoey tried her best to put friction onto the floor so she would be able to interrogate the twins on what they meant but no such luck, they were too strong for her and she just ended up gliding through the floor spluttering about.

When they reach the third floor and stopped in front of Classroom 3C the twins patted Zoey's back before disappearing to their first class being Transfiguration.

"Hey, Zee!" a voice called from beside her making Zoey jump, "Why are you here so early?"

"The bell just rang," Zoey said looking at Bridgit quizzically, "The twins pushed me here… saying something about Professor Lockhart's new design"

"New design eh? This I gotta see!" Bridgit said excitedly as she opened the classroom door

Zoey gasped at the sight. All the pictures of her professor that decorated the walls now had either mustaches, broken teeth or a black eye, sometimes a mixture of the three. The girls who were already in the classroom either glared at the pictures or were near tears when they saw their broken professor. Zoey couldn't help but feel proud of one of the twins' pranks.

"Those twins are geniuses! I applaud their decorating skills!" Bridgit said, causing the female population to glare at Zoey and her once again

"It was you, wasn't it?" A Hufflepuff girl, who Bridgit and Zoey didn't know, asked; anger evident in her voice.

Zoey eyes widened and shook her head. She then got a good look at the Hufflepuff girl and realized she was one of her dorm mates, sadly she didn't know her name.

"Sorry, but no matter how I hate that egotistical and narcissistic excuse of a professor… I didn't do this," Bridgit answered, admiring the new wall pictures with a smirk

Zoey then jumped in shock when she heard a rather girlish scream. She whirled around to see her professor near collapsing at the sight of this classroom. He stared at each and every picture with a horrified expression.

"W-who…. Who did this?" his voice was hoarse as he scanned the classroom.

"It was her, professor!" The Hufflepuff said as she pointed an accusing finger at Brigit.

When Lockhart's eyes landed on Bridgit's smiling face, he immediately called her name. "Miss Parker! How dare you do this!" he shouted, walking towards Bridgit and Zoey.

"What on earth would give you the idea that I did this?" Bridgit asked the sweetness in her voice obvious.

"She didn't do this, Sir!" Zoey defended.

"What do you mean she didn't? That obvious wide smile on her face is proof enough!" the lame excuse for a professor snapped at Zoey. Zoey shrank in fear.

"Just because I'm happy with the new design doesn't mean I did it… though how I wish I did," Bridgit answered, her wand in her hand ready to defend Zoey and herself if needed.

The professor backed away as he noticed the anger in Bridgit's voice but he did not stand down.

"Miss Parker, I thought that detention would be enough, but it seems as if you'll need worse punishment," Lockhart said, annoying Bridgit even more.

"Yeah, detention, that was great, we just wrote back to your fans!" Bridgit shouted, causing the female students to glare at her and the males to snicker.

"Bridgit stop it," Zoey said, tugging at Bridgit's arm

The girls continued to glare while the boys took a seat to have a more comfortable view of the show.

"You should listen to your friends, Miss Parker. You wouldn't want me to cast a spell on you," Lockhart said as he brought out his own wand. Zoey's eyes widened, he wouldn't go as far as to harm a student would he?

Sadly, before Lockhart could do anything Bridgit had shot a jinx at the teacher. Zoey's eyes, along with the rest of the class, widened in shock as Lockhart was blasted backwards and landed, very roughly, on the teachers desk making it skid across the floor. A shout was heard from the door.

"You attacked a teacher!"

Zoey and Bridgit turned around only to see Hermione standing by the door, books in her hands and a look of shock and disbelief on her face.

"H-Hermione, what are you doing here?" Zoey stuttered out, she still couldn't believe what Bridgit had done.

"I was walking to my class, when I heard a ruckus," Hermione answered as she stared at Lockhart who was groaning in pain.

"He deserved it," Bridgit said, looking at Hermione apologetically, "I'm sorry you had to see that, you can report me if it makes you feel any better"

Zoey looked at Bridgit with wide eyes, "I know you're comfortable with detention and all but for doing this you might be expelled!"

"It's fine, Zoey. I did attack a teacher. Go ahead Hermione," Bridgit said with a smile on her face.

Hermione shook her head, "Why'd you do it?"

"She either did it because she was accused or because Professor Lockhart snapped at me," Zoey said as she watched her professor stir. Some of the students approached him to see if he was alright.

"A little bit of both actually, but Hermione do you believe that this teacher is for real?" Bridgit asked, bending down so she was face to face with Hermione.

Hermione blushed, "Ron asked me the same thing the other day when Professor Lockhart released pixies in the classroom but couldn't stop them. He left Ron, Harry and I to deal with them."

"And you still believe he's for real?" Bridgit asked in disbelief.

Hermione ignored her as she looked back at Lockhart.

"How did you stop the pixies then?" Zoey asked.

"Immobulus," Hermione answered, making Bridgit give her a thumbs-up.

"Good choice, but you should have used it on Lockhart, he's more annoying than pixies," Bridgit said earning a laugh from Zoey but a look from Hermione.

The female students then helped Lockhart up and escorted him to the Hospital Wing while the boys took this opportunity to skip class seeing as their teacher won't be back in time to do any lessons. This left the three girls alone in Classroom 3C. Hermione had insisted that she needed to see if Lockhart was alright but Bridgit persuaded her to stay.

"So Hermione, how's Hogwarts been treating you? I haven't been able to get a chance to know you better," Bridgit said as Zoey nodded in agreement.

"Everything's been fine. I just haven't made a lot of friends yet. I usually hang out with Ron and Harry or in the library," Hermione said

"Don't worry, you'll make a lot of friends soon enough," Zoey said comfortingly, "In my opinion it's a whole lot easier to have a small group of friends than a big one. Easier on the Christmas shopping too"

"That's Echo's opinion," Bridgit laughed, "But I have to agree. Besides the library is amazing anyway… especially the Restricted Section"

Zoey looked at Bridgit in shock. True, Zoey never really visited the library as often as her friend but she knew for a fact that the Restricted Section was, of course, restricted. "You've been to the Restricted Section?" Zoey and Hermione asked

"Once, twice… fifteen times," Bridgit answered with a shrug

"Why?" Zoey asked as she looked at Bridgit with questioning eyes.

"Uhm…," Bridgit said nervously, "Reading?" It sounded more of a question than an answer.

"But why there?" Zoey pressed on the matter

"Speaking of reading," Bridgit avoided the question, "Have you told Zoey my message?"

Zoey bit her lip and looked guiltily to the floor. She heard Hermione ask: "What message?"

"It was a message about an important matter," Bridgit said as she stared intently at Zoey. Hermione didn't look satisfied with the answer but dropped the subject.

"I – err.. I'm sorry Bridgit…it slipped my mind," Zoey apologized as she felt the diary pressed tightly to her side.

"It's fine, Zee… just don't forget next time, okay? It's very important. I have a feeling that she won't be able to dig herself out of the pit when she gets in too deep," Bridgit said, confusing Zoey and Hermione.

Zoey opened her mouth to ask further questions but the bell rang. Bridgit quickly jumped to her feet and grabbed hold of Hermione saying that she'll escort her to her next class. Zoey stayed rooted to her spot as the two girls left. Questions started swirling in her head as she pulled out the diary from her robes. She opened the battered notebook and once again saw blank pages. Whatever Tom had said when Zoey made her haste good-bye Zoey could no longer see. Zoey contemplated if she should write an apology to Tom or she should wait until she left the classroom.

Zoey brought out her quill and ink bottle but then moment she pressed her inked quill on the page a voice startled her making her scratch the quill on the parchment, drawing a long black line on the page. The line disappeared. Zoey quickly shut the notebook and stuffed it in her bag before jumping to her feet and whirling around to see Fred standing by the door.

"Gee, Zoe, in a hurry much?" Fred asked with a grin in his face and a piece of parchment in his hands.

Zoey breathed out a sigh, "Fred. You scared me."

"Sorry, about that love," Fred said as he approached Zoey, "How do you like me and George's decorating skills? I, for one, think this is all beautiful"

Zoey didn't respond. She looked at the piece of parchment in his hands and realized it was a map. She watched as Fred's name on the map was slowly walking towards her name. She raised an eyebrow. Why were their names on the map? Why were they moving?

Fred saw Zoey's interest at the map and held it up to her face. Zoey's eyes widened when she saw more moving names. She realized it was the map of Hogwarts.

"I'll tell you what this interesting thing is if you come with me to the Quidditch Pitch," Fred said with a grin.

"Now?" Zoey asked in surprise.

"Yeah, now"

"But we have classes," Zoey said.

"According to my sources it's your free period right now," Fred said as he grabbed hold of Zoey's hand and began to drag her towards the door.

"I may not have classes right now but you do," Zoey said as she tried to create friction with the floor and her shoes, "You have Herbology next!"

"Now, actually and this wouldn't be the first time I've skipped a class," Fred said as he dragged Zoey down the hall.

"Are you saying you skipped classes before?" Zoey asked already knowing the answer.

Fred stopped walking and looked at her pleadingly. "Come one Zoe! Just this once, come with me, break a rule."

"It's you who is breaking a rule," Zoey said with a smile, "But alright."

Fred grinned at her, "Brilliant!"


First of all I would like to apologize for my typos in the previous chapter. I don't know if any of you noticed them but I did and I died a little inside when I saw them. Hopefully, this chapter doesn't have any.

Just a little spoiler for you guys the next chapter (27) will be dedicated to Fred and Zoey while the one after that (28) will hopefully have Echo in it. Echo hasn't appeared a lot, only mentioned. Sorry about that.

Anyway, thank you "ZoomSkater14" for once again helping me with this chapter. You are totally awesome! XD I couldn't have done it without you.

Thank you all also for all your reviews, questions, favorites and alerts. They are all much appreciated. :)

Now for some Q and A (mind you I might be vague as so I won't give to much out :D):

"wHaT's In A pEn-NaMe" asks: "Are you gonna kill Fred? Again? If you are, could u...u know... think it over again? I'll cry if you kill him"

- Well, let's just say I died inside when he died so let's leave it at that but let's also just say that if I had my way I would have let him live

"ZoomSkater14" asks: "When is Fred and George's next big prank and what will it be?"

- In truth, I was wondering the same thing that's why I placed the Lockhart prank her. Not exactly "big" but it's still a prank. Hopefully we'll see bigger and prankier ones in the near future!

"YukiKyoMomiji" asks: "Is Zoey gonna be the one that Riddle possess?"

- Let's just wait and see. Let's just wait and see :)

and lastly

"yvonna" asks: "So is Ginny gonna tell Zoey about the chat thing when it happens?"

- And once again: Let's just wait and see :)

Well, now we're done with that stay tuned for the next chapter!

Don't forget to review and ask questions!

I only own what I own!

PS: Good Luck to Chiharu-chan I hope you will do well in Compre! :D