Chapter 31: Question of Sanity
Zoey watched as Fred and George marched ahead of Harry shouting things like:
"Make way for the Heir of Slytherin! Seriously, evil wizard coming through…"
Or
"He's off to the Chamber of Secrets to have tea with his fanged servants!"
Percy did not find this funny and Zoey had to agree. She was getting worried. There was another attack, this time on someone from her own house, and she could not recall where she had been during that time. She had once again had some sort of memory gap. She stood beside Ginny, who had the diary, and watched as Fred and George continued to make fun of the idea that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin.
The thought sickened Zoey further. She didn't feel all too well when she woke up and all the talk about the attack and Harry being the Heir of Slytherin did not set her stomach right at all. She once again felt like she wanted to throw up.
"Oh, don't," she heard Ginny wail when Fred asked Harry who he was to attack next.
Zoey watched as Ginny ran away from her brothers.
Zoey sent a glare their way and walked off to the outside of the castle.
She was still angry at the twins for what they've done and so far she hasn't spoken to either of them since the incident. Often times they would pass by each other in the corridor and Zoey had to remind herself that she was mad at them for if she didn't she would have sent them a smile or a wave.
Zoey took a breath of fresh air as she walked towards the Quidditch pitch. No one was practicing and she took the opportunity to inhabit the deserted place. She sat on the stands and closed her eyes in relaxation. She had been stressing over a lot of things lately: School, the fight, the attacks, he memory loss and her… personal problems at home. It was really too much for a fourteen year old to handle.
She took the deserted area as an opportunity to be at peace, to sort out her thoughts and to figure out how she would tell Fred and her friends everything about her. Zoey knew for a fact that they were all in a fight but she had faith that it would work out in the end. It had to right?
Zoey's peace was interrupted when she heard footsteps heading her way. She opened her eyes and saw Fred marching up to her. She felt panic. She did not think that Fred, and or George though it was only one Weasley twin, would come right out and speak to her. She imagined if the twins were to apologize, that is if that was Fred's intentions right now, they would have approached her when she was with Echo and Bridgit. Zoey felt like she wanted to get up and run away.
She began to push herself of her seat.
"Don't do what I think you're doing," she heard Fred say as he pulled out his wand.
Her eyes widened. He wasn't going to curse her was he?
Fred noted her shocked look. "I'm not going to jinx you," he said as he slipped the wand back into his pocket though leaving the handle slightly sticking out just in case he needed it.
Zoey furrowed her eyebrows and didn't say anything. She refused to say anything until he started to conversation. She held her mouth in a firm line as she looked the other direction. To most she would have looked incredibly childish but to her she felt like she was doing something right. Fred thought the former.
"Would you please look at me?" he asked as he sat beside her.
Zoey inched away and huffed as she continued to look the other direction.
"Zoey," he tried again, "Zoe… come one. Zoe – don't be stubborn!"
Fred sighed in frustration as Zoey continued to "ignore" him. Every time he moved closer to her she inched away. When he tried to speak she would make a huffing noise and shake her head. When he tried to reach to her she would stand up and walk away from him.
"Why won't you at least let me talk?" Fred asked exasperatedly.
Zoey thought it over. He was trying to say something to her. She sighed in defeat. She was truly a pushover. She turned to look at him and saw that he had a pleading expression. She fought to hold down her blush as she tried to tell him "Go on then," with her eyes. Fred rubbed the back of his neck.
"Listen, I hate not talking to you," Fred began. Zoey blushed and tried to hide it by moving her head to a different angle.
"so… so I came here to a- apo- apol"
"Apologize?" Zoey offered but then instantly shut her mouth back up.
"There we go. You finally spoke," Fred grinned, "But yeah… I came here to apologize"
Zoey bit her lip, "Apologize for what?"
"For the things I've said all those days ago. I understand that they were insensitive and - "
"Idiotic, Immature, stupid?" Zoey offered again.
"Yeah, that one," Fred winced, he was not used to Zoey using such words, "And a bunch of other things George said that I don't feel comfortable repeating in front of you"
"Alright"
"So you forgive me then?"
"No"
"What!" Fred exclaimed as he stood up. He did not expect Zoey to reply in such a way. He thought she would have outright forgiven him the moment he mentioned he came to apologize.
"You didn't really apologize," Zoey said in a soft tone as she looked at Fred in the eye.
"Oh then I'm Sorry," Fred said. Zoey didn't say anything. "What? Fine!" he groaned, "I'm sorry for being immature and making insensitive comments. I'm sorry for being a git"
"Okay… but why are you saying this to me?"
"You –" But Zoey cut him off.
"You should be apologizing to Bridgit. Not me. She was the one you insulted," Zoey explained.
"Then why are you mad at me?"
"Fred, I love you but you're a git," Zoey said in a mutter.
"What?" Fred asked in shock
Zoey blushed and stammered, "B-Bridgit. You should apologize to her. I'm mad at you right now because you have insulted my friend and hurt her feelings. Even though nothing was directed at me I will stand up for what I believe in and I believe that what you said was hurtful and you should really reflect on what you did."
Zoey then walked away from the stands. She heard Fred running after her.
"Look for Bridgit, Fred. Apologize to her," Zoey said over her shoulder.
"I would if I knew where she is!" Fred said
"Where's your Marauder's Map?" Zoey asked.
"Echo has it!" Fred said, "When George and I asked for it back she just ignored us and continued on her way."
Zoey looked back at Fred and saw that he was huffing. She licked her lips.
"The Astronomy Tower," she whispered.
"What?" Fred asked as he approached her. He decided to take a gentler tone. He reached over to move a strand of hair away from her eyes but Zoey inched away.
"The Astronomy Tower," she repeated, "she and Echo like to hang out up there"
And with that she turned away and walked back to the castle
Zoey still felt troubled after her encounter with Fred. Her cheeks still felt hot and her heart still hammered in her chest. She truly didn't know what to do. She's never been in a fight before and she never really thought that her first fight would be with a friend. She tried to keep up a strong front for Bridgit to see that Zoey was a faithful friend but inside she was breaking. She could not handle it. Zoey was a faithful person and never wanted to choose sides but this fight didn't give her much of a choice because she knew that the twins were wrong to laugh and she was to be with Bridgit through and through. She had promised herself that she was not to talk to the twins until they asked for forgiveness.
Zoey was breaking.
She could not handle it. Usually, when she was feeling like this she would vent out her problems in the diary but now she just stared at it. She did not want to open the diary and write in it. She was now afraid of it. Bridgit's message echoed in her mind.
"Tell her…some reading materials are not to be read, written on or followed,"
Zoey licked her lips. She had not relayed the message at all. Days, weeks, months passed and she has not spoken a word about Bridgit's message to Ginny. She didn't know why. Honestly, it did not skip her mind. Every time she wrote in the diary Bridgit's words repeated endlessly in her mind. Whenever Ginny gave the diary to her or she returned it the message clouded her mind. It was like, she did not want to tell the message to Ginny at all.
Zoey was feeling her mistake.
She wondered if she had told Ginny in the first place would she still be looking at the diary. Would the diary know all her feelings and troubles? Would she still be having her memory loss?
This was the source of why she had ceased to write in the diary.
Her memory loss.
It had all started after she began to vent into the diary.
It sounded foolish but she had the guess of suspecting that the diary was behind all the gaps in her mind. After all, it was a suspicious little book.
Zoey gulped.
She reached over to the diary and left her room. She ran down the halls and swerved passed the corners. Often she had to avoid bumping into students as she dashed towards the library. When she finally reached her destination she held onto the doorknob and caught her breath. She pushed open the door and entered. She quietly walked through the different aisles until she reached the table she and Ginny would sit on to write in the diary.
To her luck, Ginny was there.
Zoey placed the diary in front of Ginny and noticed that Ginny stopped what she was doing when she saw it. She noted that Ginny turned a pale white color as she stared at the diary.
She looked nervous.
"Y-you can write in it today, Zoey," Ginny stuttered out, "I ha-haven't got anything to write in it today"
"You're afraid of it," Zoey said
Ginny froze as she looked at the diary, to Zoey and back at the diary. She gulped. "I'm scared. Ever since we got Tom bed things have been happening; the attacks, the memory loss, the blood and the feathers on our robes. It's all suspicious," Ginny whispered.
"I know," Zoey said, "I'm pretty suspicious of it too… I – I think we should get rid of it"
Ginny looked at her wide-eyed. It was obvious that she didn't think it had to go so far.
"Face it Ginny. This is bad news. It's a notebook that can reply to our entries. Have you ever seen anything like it? It's like you said, ever since we got this bad things have been happening…. I'm scared that maybe –"
Ginny cut her off, "Maybe… we've been the ones attacking the students all along"
Zoey felt herself shake from fright as Ginny paled even further, "I – it could be a possibility. I mean… where were we during the attacks? And… the blood, feathers, fur… it all seems to fit…"
"But how do we get rid of it," Ginny asked, "We can't just drop it on the floor! Someone could find it and the same thing would happen to them!"
Zoey felt herself panic. Her heart beat rapidly against her chest and she felt like she wanted to cry, these mixed emotions doubled with the stress was going to be the end of her.
"Brigit told me to tell you that there are some reading materials that are not to be read, written on or followed," Zoey said hoarsely.
"When did she tell you that?"
Zoey sucked in a breath, "A little while before you showed me the diary…"
"And you're telling me this now?"
"I'm sorry! I didn't think it meant anything… it confused me… then… then… the diary… Tom… he gave me advice… comforted me… helped me….I – I should have told it to you sooner! We could have avoided all this!" Zoey cried.
Ginny stayed silent. She focused her gaze onto the diary as she listened to Zoey's ragged breaths. Something had to be done.
"I would have not listened to you back then," Ginny said.
Zoey looked at her with a confused expression. Ginny continued:
"If you had told me when you were suppose to I might have not listened to you…," Ginny said, "But we can't dwell on that matter now… we need to get rid of it… Today"
Zoey looked at the diary and wiped her eyes dry. She needed to be strong. She grabbed hold of the diary and stood up.
"Let's go."
Zoey and Ginny ran down the halls of Hogwarts thinking of places to put the diary in hopes that no one else would find them. Unknowingly to them they ended up getting rid of the diary in the worst place possible. Zoey and Ginny had come across a bathroom that nobody used. It was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Zoey pried the door opened and beckoned Ginny to follow.
The bathroom looked like any other girls bathroom in Hogwarts, only this one was deserted while the others had girls chatting with each other often coming in groups for a reason that Zoey didn't know. Zoey held the diary firmly in her hands as she pushed open one of the cubicles. Ginny ran into it and held the toilet seat up. Zoey dumped the diary in it and Ginny flushed the toilet.
Round and round the diary went. Almost it went down the toilet but it just bubbled back up to the surface to continue swirling around. Ginny flushed the toilet again. The diary repeated what it had done. It did not want to go down. Out of stress and panic Ginny continued to flush and flush the toilet until it broke. Zoey watched as the diary floated back to the surface and went higher and higher. The toilet water seemed to rise. Zoey and Ginny gulped as the toilet bowl over flowed.
"W-what happened? " Ginny asked in fright.
Zoey did not answer. She grabbed hold of Ginny's hand and dashed away from the gurgling toilet.
Zoey sat in the bathroom in her dorm as she hugged herself. She and Ginny had finally got rid of the diary. Forever? She didn't know but she was glad that for now she wouldn't be doing anything for it. She was glad that she would no longer encounter the memory loss or the mysterious stains and animal fragments on her robes. She reached a shaky hand in her pocket and pulled out the box. She played with it in her hand. She was using it to distract herself.
It was working.
She felt like all her problems were not as troubling as before. Almost as if the box was calming her.
Zoey felt at peace until something went wrong. She dropped the box on the ground when it happened.
Zoey gasped as she felt a sharp pain in her back. Suddenly she remembered something. The Emeraude's were not normal wizards and witches. They had something extra, a power that no one in the wizarding world could imagine, could have, something that was for the family only and could not be stolen. This power however could be manipulated if it's in the hands of the wrong person.
Zoey screamed as the pain started to spread. She ripped of her robes and scratched at her back trying to get the pain away. She started to cry. She slumped down to the grown and withered at the pain. She took deep breaths as she waited for the pain to disappear.
Seconds. Minutes. Hours passed before the pain subsided.
Zoey shakily stood back to her feat and walked towards the mirror. She looked at her reflection and saw that she was as pale as a ghost and her eyes were rimmed with red and were watery. She turned her back to the mirror and looked over her shoulder the sight shocked her.
On her back were feathers.
She brought a shaky hand to her back and brushed against the feathers. They were soft and seemed to form the shape of wings. She plucked a feather out with a hiss.
She felt something crawl in her back and when she looked back at her reflection the feather, or rather the wings turned into mist and disappeared. Her eyes widened. Maybe she was going mad.
Zoey looked back at her hand and saw the feather.
She wasn't going mad. Something was happening.
It's Early Morning right now and I'm waiting for my breakfast! Gah! Hungry!
Sorry about the Professor Snape/Snap thing in the last chapter. I seriously don't know with my typing anymore DX
Anyway, here's the new chapter and things are starting to happen to Zoey?
What's going to happen to her? :O
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
Only two more chapters, I think, to go before their 4th years ends!
I thank you all for your reviews, alerts, favorites and questions!
Oh look! Food~! Yey! Breakfast! :D
Now, I hope there's no typos in this one! Guuurglleee
Don't forget to review and ask questions!
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