Chapter 40: Zoey's Holiday

Zoey sat in the Quidditch stands and looked over at the deserted field. It was the day before Christmas and as far as she knows, only a handful of students decided to stay for the holiday. She knew for a fact that the rest of the Weasleys went home for the Holiday together with Echo. Bridgit had been told to come back for a reason Zoey did not know. She had guessed to spend time with her uncle but it seemed unlikely for her seeing as Bridgit's uncle sent her a howler the year before. Cedric had gone home as well and that left Zoey alone for the Holiday. She sighed. This is what her aunt warned her about. For once in her life, she thought her aunt was right.

Zoey looked down on to her lap and saw water drops fall. She was crying again. She quickly brought the back of her hand to her face to wipe away the tears. She hated the fact that she was so sensitive. The fact that every single upsetting thing that happened to her brought her to tears. Zoey held in a sob as she remembered the fight she had a few days ago. She had lost another friend due to her cursed secret.

Zoey crept back into the castle after promising the black dog that she would be back to visit him again. She found the dog to be very friendly and energetic even for his slightly weak appearance. He looked like he had eaten for years. She felt sorry for him but was glad that he could still stand. She made a mental note to find him again with biscuits in her pockets.

Zoey found herself smiling as she trudged back inside. She had made a new friend. She wondered if she would be able to keep him, bring him home with her at the end of the year. After all, he didn't seem like he had an owner.

Zoey passed by a hunchbacked statue and caught sight of Harry. She raised her hand to wave but quickly lowered it when she saw Harry's expression. He didn't look the least bit happy. In fact, he looked betrayed and angry. Zoey felt her stomach churn. Something bad was going to happen.

"Harry –" she began bit he interrupted her.

"When… when were you going to tell me?" he asked his voice shaking.

Zoey licked her lips. "When was I going to tell you what?"

"That you were his daughter! The daughter of the man who betrayed my parents"

"How did you know?" Zoey asked, wincing at his tone. She decided that it won't do any good hiding anything.

"It doesn't matter how I know. What matters is that you didn't tell me!" Harry exclaimed.

"Andy why do you think I didn't tell you?"

"Did you know?" Harry didn't answer her, "Did you know that he was your father?"

"Of course I know," Zoey replied truthfully. She took a small step back.

"Did you know he was my godfather?"

"Yes, and that makes me your god sister," Zoey said with a nod.

"Did you know what he did to my parents?"

"Voldemort," Zoey said without fear, "Was the one who killed your parents"

"But your dad was the one who led him to them," Harry glared.

Zoey stayed quiet. She bit her lip and looked to the ground. She would see the ripped shreds of the picture. It was already ruined but then she could see the shreds being crumpled.

He's Innocent

Her mother's message replaced the crumpled shreds and Zoey could feel herself wondering. Should she believe her mother or what the public says? She didn't know. She looked back at Harry and saw him taking deep breaths.

"Your friendship. It was a trap." Harry said in a soft tone.

"No –"

"It is! You've been helping him enter. Telling him about me… I – I trusted you…"

"Harry –"

"No, don't… don't come near me… I – I hate you!"

Zoey froze. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped. It seemed that the crumpled shreds of the picture caught fire thus making it impossible to put back together. Impossible to see what it was before. Zoey watched as Harry turned around and left. She listened to his footsteps growing fainter and fainter till it was gone. Zoey sucked in a shaky breath and wiped her eyes. She turned around and saw Ron and Hermione looking at her shell shocked. They gave her a nervous, almost scared, look before following Harry. Zoey sighed and bit her lip. She dried her eyes and walked away.

Zoey stood up and left the Quidditch pitch. She didn't even know why she went there in the first place. Whenever she went there she would only remember things that would end up hurting her. The day she met Bridgit, her twenty questions game with Fred, the day she lost her diary. It was just too much. Though little memories they were still significant in her life. Zoey jumped onto the ground and trudged back to the castle.

She wandered around the empty halls of Hogwarts and looked at the different paintings. Sometimes the paintings would just ignore her but others they would smile at her and wish her a Merry Christmas. Zoey liked those paintings. They were nice and polite. She brushed her bangs away from her face and pushed up her glasses. Zoey felt rather peaceful with the quiet atmosphere until she felt something wet hit her shoulder.

Zoey let out a small scream as she felt the moistened contact. She looked at her shoulder and saw her yellow jacket turning a deep green with the blue ink seeping in. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw something rubbery handing on her shoulder. She picked it up. It was rubber. An ink balloon had fallen on her. She heard laughter. Zoey looked up and saw the annoying poltergeist named Peeves.

Peeves was laughing and floating about while dropping more and more ink balloons. Zoey was unlucky and had more dropped onto her as well as the floor around her. She huffed and ignored Peeves for she felt highly peeved with him at the moment. She briskly walked away from him as his laughter echoed through the halls.

"Ickle Emeraude creeping through Hogwarts' halls!" Peeves sang, "Ickle Emeraude alone and calls! Her friends are gone and she's lonely and sad. Ickle Emeraude is just that bad!"

Zoey ducked her head as she fastened her pace.

She made fast turns at corners and avoided running into statues and suits of armors. She just wanted to disappear. She did not know what happened but just at the sight of Peeves all the stress she's been bottling up had just dropped on her. She had been so focused on her fight with her friends that she had been neglecting her studies. She did not fail anything, no, but her scores were dropping and it was scaring her. What if she failed a class? What if she had to repeat? Zoey felt tears well up in her eyes once more. It was simply too much. She could not take it anymore. She wanted to be free.

Zoey felt a lump form in her throat as she broke into a run. She ran blindly through the halls until she made contact with a hard surface. The surprise force pushed her to the ground. Zoey let out a gasp.

"Zoey?" a voice asked and she felt someone helping her up. Zoey swallowed hard as she looked up. She felt relief flood her body when she saw the concerned look of her uncle. A familiar face. Zoey felt herself calm down a bit as she wiggled out of his grip and hugged him.

Remus let out a huff when Zoey hugged him tightly. She stepped back a bit but then relaxed. He petted her head. "Why not come in my office for some tea?"


Zoey felt a little lighter than before. She had just explained her entire situation to Remus and she felt better knowing that there was someone who could understand her predicament. After all, Remus did know her father and it felt calming to hear stories on what he, Remus, did during his school years. She particularly enjoyed hearing stories of "The Marauders". Zoey knew that Remus was not particularly good in comforting teenage girls and she didn't blame him. She herself was not good in comforting in general. Zoey also did not blame her uncle for being slightly uncomfortable talking about her dad but she enjoyed seeing the smile on his lips and his tired chuckle whenever he told her about the pranks her father and Harry's father did. But there was something Zoey loved to hear above all the stories her uncle had shared.

Zoey loved to hear about her mother.

Remus had said that her mother was exceptionally bright and was good friends with Harry's mother. He had told her tales about her mother's odd habits and how everyone learned to love them. Zoey loved to hear what a great woman her mother was. She felt the need to be more like her. Not exactly like her but more.

Zoey swung her legs off her bed and sighed. She ran a hand through her messy bed-head hair and blinked a couple of times. Her vision wasn't the most horrible; in fact she could see just fine that is if what she was reading was near her face. Zoey squinted at the calendar near the door. All she saw was a rectangular blob. She reached for her glasses and placed them on before letting out a large yawn. It was Christmas day and Zoey wanted to get back to sleep.

Zoey looked to the foot of her bed and raised her eyebrow curiously. She saw a handful of gifts, one from Bridgit, Cedric and her Uncle Moony. She didn't expect anymore but there was another box. It was long and was wrapped in bumblebee like paper. She knelt to the ground and picked up the long box. It wasn't heavy but it wasn't exactly light either. She curiously flipped it over several times until she found her name. It was no Christmas gift mix up. It was really hers.

Zoey licked her lips and placed the gift on her bed, she decided she would save it for last. She went on in opening her Uncle's gift. She carefully un-wrapped the paper and smiled when she saw it was assorted candies from Honeydukes. She placed it on her bed, beside the unopened gift. She went to open Bridgit's and a smile appeared on her face when she saw what it was, it was a new bracelet. She slipped it one and opened Cedric's. It was a headband with a note attached to it 'I think you look lovely with your hair down' It read. Zoey smiled softly before placing the headband on her head.

Suddenly, Zoey's smile disappeared when she caught sight of the unopened gift. She had hoped that it would take her a longer time until she needed to open it but sadly she didn't have much gifts to consume her time. It was now or never. Zoey grabbed for her wand before approaching the gift. She muttered a spell under her breath and watched the gift twitch a bit but after that, nothing happened. Zoey sighed. She was either being to paranoid or careless. She opened the gift.

"No way….," Zoey breathed out when she opened the lid of the box after unwrapping it. Inside was a broom, not any old broom but a flying broomstick, not any old flying broomstick but a Firebolt. A Firebolt. Zoey felt confused. She lifted the broom out of the box and simply stared at it. Why would anyone give her such a thing? She didn't play Quidditch and she never took flying as a regular hobby. "This has to be a mistake," she whispered and checked the box again. She found a small note inside.

To Zoey

The note read. Zoey flipped it over. Nothing else was written. This was no mistake. The Firebolt was actually hers. Zoey could not believe it. She had to be dreaming.


Zoey held the Firebolt firmly in her hands as she trudged towards the Quidditch pitch. She wore a turtleneck sweater under her winter robes and her Hufflepuff scarf around her neck. She wore the head band she got from Cedric on her head and placed a braid in her hair. She carefully mounted her broom and licked her lips. She must be mental. She was never good with a broom. Wings, yes. Broom, no.

"What am I suppose to do with this?" she mumbled quietly to herself and heard Bridgit's voice sarcastically say in her head "I don't know. Sweep the floor obviously" Zoey shook her head. She knew what to do; she just didn't know if she wanted to do it.

"Here goes everything I guess," Zoey said and then kicked off from the ground. Zoey closed her eyes as she felt the wind push downwards as she flew upwards. She took a cold breath in before opening her eyes. She looked around the Quidditch pitch and leaned a bit to the right. The Firebolt moved to the right. Zoey blinked several times. She tilted to the left. The Firebolt moved to the left.

Zoey grinned.

She could get used to this.

Zoey flew. She flew like she never did before on both broom and wings. She flew high so she could get a good look of Hogwarts and she flew low in hopes that she wouldn't fall to her doom if she slipped of her broom. She flew in circles just to get the cold air in her face and she even chases a bird once or twice. After about an hour or two in the air, Zoey got tired. She tilted downwards and flew back to the ground. She rolled of her broom and stayed put for a while staring up at the sky.

What would Fred do when he found out she had a Firebolt? Would he be jealous? Would he want to try it? Maybe he'd accept it as a peace offering and be friends with her again. Zoey shook her head. He wasn't that thick.

Out of nowhere, Zoey heard a bark.

She tilted her head a bit and saw a black dog, though upside down from her vision, walking towards her. He stopped at her broom and sniffed it.

"Hey boy," Zoey said tiredly, "Pretty cool huh? Firebolt. Fastest broom in the world"

The dog barked.

"No, I don't know who gave it to me," Zoey said pretending she knew what the dog was saying. She did not. She just felt like talking to it. "But I doubt it's dangerous. I mean, if it was it would have thrown me off when I was hundreds of feet from the ground. Could have killed me but no, it didn't. It was just like a regular broom only faster and smoother"

The dog barked again and panted.

"I almost fell to my doom you know. A few years back. I almost fell of the Astronomy Tower but I lived through. Obviously. There was a fight up there with my… friends… I didn't participate in it though but I was caught in crossfire… Pretty dumb of me," the dog growled, "Hey, no need to get mad. It's not their fault. It was just… an idea gone too far… they all apologized when I woke up. I was asleep for four days! Missed a lot. Like, a troll breaking into Hogwarts"

The dog made a curious whine. Zoey looked at it and laughed softly. It was tilting its head to her.

"I don't know how it got in. I was unconscious! But… yeah… you know, I miss my friends. Sorry, I'm rambling right now. I feel a bit scatter-minded. I got that from my mother you know? Always jumping from topic to topic. It gets quite confusing but I guess it keeps the conversation interesting. You know what I mean?" The dog didn't reply, "I'm talking to a dog… I think I've gone mad. Is this the result of loneliness? Maybe"

The dog approached her and pressed its wet nose to the crown of her head. Zoey blinked curiously at it. "My friends… they aren't talking to me anymore. We got into a fight. No, no wands involved just… a diary and an overheard conversation apparently. You know what happened? They found out who I truly am. You see here doggie. Before this year I was known as Zoey Anastasia Emeraude but now… to them at least… I'm known as Zoey Anastasia Emeraude-Black… that's why we got in a fight," the dog made a deep growl, "It's my fault here. I didn't tell them who I really am. I guess they felt betrayed that I kep stuff from them. You see here doggie, my father is a mass murderer apparently and he betrayed his friends. The parents of one of my friends, he isn't talking to me too by the way.

I guess, yeah. I don't really know how to explain it but… because of that little… or big fact about me that I kept hidden they don't want to talk to me anymore. I don't know what to do. Everyone says my dad's a criminal but my mum says he's innocent. I wish I could ask my mum for help but she's dead. Died a few years after my dad's capture…I guess…. I'm in deep pumpkin gunk right now… You know what a euphemism is doggie? A euphemism is something I use and most of the time it doesn't make sense…"

Zoey rolled over to her stomach and made a hand motion. The dog lay down and she could now look at it from an even angle. She was face to face with it. The god continued to pant with its tongue lolling out while Zoey stared at it. She brought her hand to its head and petted it. She studied his features. He was a very handsome looking dog but also looked bigger than normal ones. She looked into his eyes. They were gray. The same gray as hers.

Her eyes widened.

She a picture of a dog flashed before her eyes.

She remembered the chocolate frog card she got in her first year

The dog titled his head questioningly.

"I think I'm going mental," she whispered to herself.

The dog whined.

Zoey brought her hand back and propped herself up a bit. She studied the dog again. Her eyebrows furrowed as she racked her brains for any answer to her millions of questions. Memories of her toddler years flashed before her eyes. She remembered her mother showing her pictures and the like and she remembered playing. Playing with an animal. A dog.

Zoey felt her breath caught in her throat and sat up straight. The dog sat up too. She grabbed hold of her Firebolt and looked at it. The dog bent down and took it by its mouth and held it. Zoey looked at him and held out her hand. The dog dropped the broom. Zoey watched as the dog looked at Hogwarts and back at her.

Zoey looked at the dog's neck and saw no collar. Zoey wondered who this dog was. He was too well trained to be a stray and almost seemed too smart to be a regular dog. It seemed that the dog had some magical qualities but she remembered Bridgit saying that dogs had none. That's why dogs were banned from Hogwarts. Zoey's eyes widened.

"Hey doggie," Zoey said in a quiet voice, "You know what an Animagus is?"


Here's chapter 40! Sorry if it isn't that eventful. I just wanted a chapter that explained Harry's reaction and how Zoey got a firebolt because that firebolt would be needed in future chapters (A little spoiler for you guys :P)

I apologize if this chapter doesn't meet your likings. Sorry. My tests are coming in like one or two more days and I have to study hard. So I apologize that i'm not going to update for some time. Please forgive me.

Also, I had a little typo in my A/N in the last Chapter. It's suppose to be ZoomSkater14 NOT ZookSkater14.

Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, alerts and the like! They are all much appreciated!

Please be patient with me because I need to shape up before I can write more.

This is my graduating year and I need to pass so please be patient and wish me luck XD

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

Sorry for any errors or confusion!

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