Chapter 41: All fights must come to an end
Zoey sighed as she sat on her usual table in the library. She was located in the far corner of the Legal section. She particularly liked staying in this section because it was rather unpopular with the students and no one liked visiting it because the books never caught their interest. Mostly you would be able to find law books in this section and well, students don't really spend their times reading about things they can and cannot do in the wizarding world
She brought out a piece of parchment and a muggle pencil from her robes' pocket and began to doodle. She leaned her head on her arm as she looked at her drawing sideways. Her mind wandered to the recent events as her hand began to glide over the paper. She thought about her encounter with the dog. She had told it most of her life story and had wondered about why it was so well trained for a stray. She had asked it a question that she was sure it wouldn't understand. But it was after the question that shocked her.
"Hey doggie," Zoey said in a quiet voice, "You know what an Animagus is?"
The dog sat up straight and seemed to go frigid. Zoey looked at him curiously. The dog then started to act rather nervous. This surprised Zoey. He seemed almost human. Zoey bit her lip as she reached out to the dog and was about to pat his head before he stood up.
"Doggie?" Zoey asked but then the dog ran away.
Zoey's eyebrows knitted in worry as she watched the dog disappear into the Forbidden Forest. She had half a mind to go after him but something told her she shouldn't.
Zoey blinked several times as she came back to reality. She looked down to her parchment and saw that she had drawn the dog. The dog that she had been thinking about. She sat up straight and bit her lip. She folded the drawing and kept it in her pocket together with the pencil. She brought her hand out with another object in her hands.
It was the fortune teller.
Zoey slipped her fingers in and began to play.
"Gryffindor…five…seven…one…," Zoey mumbled to herself and opened the flap. Her fortune came out.
All will be revealed in time
It read. Zoey frowned and watched the fortune disappear. She tried again.
"Ravenclaw…six…two…one…," Zoey bit her lip and read the fortune.
Those who left you will come back but those who never left will.
Zoey hastily pocketed the fortune teller. She swiftly stood up and walked out of the library. It was her free period and she still had thirty minutes left before Herbology. She gave a sigh. She used to spend her free period with Fred or both of the twins but now she'd see it happening. Fred and George were still mad at her, Echo was avoiding her, Harry and Ron steered clear of her and Bridgit hung out with Hermione because it seemed like she, Hermione, had a misunderstanding with her own friends. Even Cedric didn't hand out with her that much because he had his own friends. Zoey looked down at her hands as she placed down each digit for every person she eliminated from her list.
"I can't hang out with Uncle Moony because he has papers to check and lessons to plan," Zoey placed down her pointer finger, "And I haven't seen 'doggie' since Christmas," she placed down her thumb. Zoey sighed. She had run out of digits and friends. She walked further down the hall and caught sight of Ginny. Her face lit up. She had forgotten about Ginny. Zoey made her way towards the second year but slowed her pace when she saw Ginny enter a classroom. Ginny had a different schedule. A schedule that made it hard for them to hang out.
Zoey turned around. She felt pathetic. She walked down the hall and found the moving staircase. She climbed it. Zoey found a slight joy with the staircases. She enjoyed the shocking feeling when it moved and she loved to explore the level the staircase brings her to. Zoey smiled when she reached the seventh floor. She jumped of the staircase and walked. She looked at the different paintings hanging on the walls, occasionally having conversations with them.
On a particular painting, Zoey squinted. The painting held a mother caring for her child. The background was of their backyard and the scenery was grassy with one apple tree in the distance. It looked to be afternoon and the mother was lulling her child for a nap. The painting looked normal except for the background. Something caught Zoey's eye. Near the apple tree was a knight with a large sword and a fat pony at his side. Zoey raised her eyebrow. What was a knight doing in the painting? She wondered.
The knight turned towards her and Zoey stepped back when the knight brandished his sword and yelled "Ha!" before galloping away on his chubby horse. Zoey blinked in confusion. Was that Sir Cadogan ? Suddenly, Zoey heard the sounds of fast footsteps followed by and irritated yell. She turned to her left and saw the Weasley Twins running her way with suppressed laughter evident on their faces. It was obvious that they had just pulled a prank. Zoey watched as they passed her by and made a quick turn to hide behind a statue of a jolly fat man with a large vulture on his shoulder. It was an odd statue but it was useful to hide behind.
She gave the statue, or the twins, a bewildered expression before turning around to see the caretaker, Mr. Filch, looking very angry with purple and green gunk covering him from head to toe. Zoey held her breath and took a step back when Filch caught sight of her and marched towards her.
"Where are they?" he asked with a glare. Zoey had to breathe through her mouth for he had smelled ghastly.
"W- What?" Zoey asked as she tried to use as little air as possible. She did not want to taste the gunk. After all, whatever you smell is the taste of the object...or something like that. Zoey didn't know. She read it from a muggle book.
"Those bloody twins!" Filch said angrily. His cheeks blotched red. "I know you're hiding them!"
"Why would I?" Zoey found herself asking. Filch was always in a foul mood but now it seemed even more foul. Zoey did not like that.
"I always see you hanging out with them. For all I know you could have been in on the prank they pulled," Filch glared as he indicated the gunk he was covered in.
Zoey winced. It seemed as though Filch had not noticed that she hadn't been hanging out with the twins for the past month or so. She did not know how to feel about it. Instead she let her eyes dart to the statue the twins were hiding behind. She quickly looked back at Filch and noticed he had a sort of malicious smile. Zoey gulped.
"They're behind that aren't they?" Filch asked as he made his way towards the statue. Zoey's eyes widened and took a side step blocking Filch.
"No they aren't," she said hastily
"Yes they are," Filch said, "Because if they weren't you wouldn't be stopping me right now. Now move aside."
Zoey stumbled aside from Filch's force. She felt her panic rise when he was just a few feet away from Fred and George. At this moment Zoey spoke before thinking. "You're looking for the one who pulled the prank on you right?"
Filch turned around and squinted his eyes. "Yes, and I'm about to find them"
"But you already found them – err – me," Zoey felt her hands get clammy.
"What are you on about?"
"I was the one who pulled the prank," Zoey breathed.
"You're lying," Filch said with a glare, "I saw the those twins pull it"
"T-they made have pulled it but…but I told them too!" Zoey said with her eyebrows furrowed, "I told them to… to cover you with that purple and green gunk. Yup, it was all me"
Filch raised an eyebrow. It looked like he did not believe her for a second. In truth, Zoey didn't believe herself. She cursed herself for being a terrible liar. She bit her lip as she straightened up. Might as well distract him so that the twins could escape.
"So, since you've found me," Zoey said as she raised her wrists, "You can lock me up in detention or… yeah…"
"You're covering up for them aren't you?"
"Of course not! I – I can prove that I told them to do it. Here, watch," Zoey brought out her wand and gave a wave, "Gunkyfy!"
Her wand shook and yellow green liquid squirted out of it and onto Filch. Zoey felt her expression turn to horror when the gunk began to change color. Yellow green to green to blue green and so on a so forth. It was worse than the purple and green gunk Fred and George pulled on him. I can't believe that spell worked, Zoey thought to herself as the gunk turned a bright pink before changing to a deep red. She made a face when it turned back to yellow green except with orange blotches.
Filch seethed in anger. He grabbed hold of Zoey and dragged her away. "You're coming with me," he said angrily.
Zoey stumbled over her feet and sighed with relief. She looked behind her and saw the twins' heads peeking out from behind the statue giving her a confused expression. Zoey was about to smile but then changed her mind. They were still angry with her. She gave them one last look before turning back and following Filch to wherever he was going to take her for her detention.
Fred watched with confusion as Zoey tried to get Filch's attention back to her. He and his brother had just thrown balloons filled with the reject potion they made in Potions class at Filch not too long ago and were just about to escape him when Zoey caught their eye. They swerved behind a statue of a fat man with a vulture perched on his shoulders to get a look at her. She had returned to her messy hair and glasses look and looked thinner than ever. They never really got a good look at her after the fight but now that they have she looked worrisome. She looked like a walking skeleton.
Come of it mate, you're not suppose to care. She lied to you, Fred thought to himself as he shook his head and refocused his attention to the caretaker and the Hufflepuff.
"I was the one who pulled the prank," he heard Zoey breath out.
"What is she doing?" George whispered from beside him.
"I don't know," Fred whispered back, "but by the looks of it she's taking the blame for us."
"Why would she do that?"
"I don't know," Fred then directed his attention back at the Zoey.
"Of course not! I – I can prove that I told them to do it. Here, watch," He watched Zoey bring out her wand, "Gunkyfy!"
Fred tried with all his might to keep his laughter hidden. From the corner of his eye, he could see George doing the same. Filch was covered with gunk that seemed to change color every three seconds. It was hilarious to see it change from a dark color to a neon one. The look on Filch's face was priceless as well.
"Gunkyfy," George chuckled from beside him, "I didn't know that was a spell"
"It isn't… Zoey…made it all by herself," Fred found himself smiling and quickly frowned. He shouldn't be smiling. This was Zoey! The girl who kept her entire identity a secret from him/
"You mean like in second year?" George asked.
"Exactly," Fred answered as he watched Filch take Zoey away with him.
Fred peeked out from behind the statue and George followed suit. He watched as Zoey looked back at them and seemed to struggle before looking away. He raised an eyebrow. What was she going to do? What's Filch going to do with her?
"Zoey, have you seen either Fred or George?" Echo spoke with an apathetic voice.
Zoey stiffened at the sight of the Ravenclaw. She, Zoey, was just about to head towards her detention. She even had a wooden bucket and floor brush in her hands when Echo approached her. Zoey gulped as she nervously shuffled the bucket from one hand to the other.
"Err – yeah… just a while ago…. They were hiding behind the statue of a fat man with a vulture on his shoulder," Zoey replied softly.
Echo nodded her head before catching sight of the bucket. "Just tell me, why are you doing Filch's work?" Echo scoffed, "You're a student not a janitor"
Zoey winced at her tone. "I – I got detention," she replied as she looked down at the bucket.
"Aren't you supposed to write lines, then?"
"This is Filch we're talking about," Zoey furrowed her eyebrows, "He thinks lines are too easy and this is the closest to corporal punishment… I guess"
Zoey then knelt down on the floor and brought out the floor brush. She began to scrub. She just remembered that Filch was going to check up on her in an hour and if she didn't get at least more than half the floor done she would have more work to do. She had already spent most of her day doing the first and second floor she didn't want to do the rest of Hogwarts and skip more of her classes. She was having trouble catching up as it is.
"Meh. it's kinda true," Echo looked around for a moment not sure what to make out of Zoey's scrubbing but then she just knelt down beside her, "Have you started studying for your OWLs?"
Zoey stopped scrubbing. She then spoke without thinking. "Why do you care? You haven't spoken to me in weeks"
"It's true that I haven't spoken to you in the past month. After a while, I realized that my actions were so much of an immature git. So I stopped," Echo shrugged.
"Really now," Zoey raised an eyebrow before returning to scrubbing the floor. She felt like one of those misunderstood muggle princesses.
"Really," Echo stood up and pushed away her bangs of her face, "You want any help with that?"
Zoey didn't reply. She stared at Echo with wide-eyes.
"What?" Echo raised an eyebrow.
"Y – You're eyes," Zoey stuttered out as she dropped the floor brush into the bucket making it go 'plop!'
"They've always been like that…," Echo took a small step backwards, "Not used to it, I see. I'm sure all the others are"
Zoey furrowed her eyebrows. "I know I'm not one to talk but… are you hiding something from me?"
"Not actually hiding something from you since from the very start it was already quite obvious," Echo pointed at her right eye whilst her other hand covered the left eye.
"Uhuh… I know your eyes are gold, Echo," Zoey said, "But right now… it seems like there's more… brush your bangs back"
Echo did as she was told, and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh wow," Zoey's eyes widened, "Didn't know you were beautiful," she said teasingly.
Echo grimaced as she heaved a deep sigh, "Bree didn't tell you yet, did she?"
"Bree? You mean Bridgit? No… she didn't… tell me what exactly?" Zoey asked as she fell back to the floor and took out the brush. She began to scrub the floor again.
"Bree didn't tell you that I'm a Veela," Echo just stared at her down.
"Veela? What's that?" Zoey asked as she picked up a rag hanging from the side of the bucket and moved to wiping the painting, asking them to move so that she could clean them.
"Err – Veela's have the power over the storm and can almost always manipulate men…," Echo shuddered at the thought, "And they can shoot fire from their hands"
Zoey raised an eyebrow. "Never saw you control the storm. Are you pure or half?" she asked. Zoey found it very odd that she was very calm in taking all this information in.
"Half, actually. Mum said before that I can only shoot fire out from my hands, nothing else," Echo spoke casually now, as if the fight had never actually occurred.
Zoey nodded her head. "So you never told me this because….?"
"I thought it was quite obvious," Echo simply stated.
"And I thought it was quite obvious why I didn't tell you guys who my parents were and who I actually was – am," Zoey fully faced Echo and leaned against the wall. Zoey was tired of all the drama and wanted to take this casually. She was sick and tired of her weak state. She no longer wanted to seem like a fragile girl in front of Echo anymore.
"I guess we think of people similarly then," Echo huffed out a sigh.
"Uhuh," Zoey said before looking down. She couldn't help but ask, "Should I be mad?"
"If you want to," Echo spoke, "then feel free to throw a tantrum"
"That's the thing… I've read a lot of muggle and wizarding teen books and well most of them had this sort of scenario," Zoey made a hand gesture, "Secrets kept, fights and making up. Usually – err – the victim, if you will, of the story would either get all sappy and emotional or throw, as you say, a tantrum. I, for one, am completely calm right now because… well… I've never experienced this before so… what should I do? "
"Act level-headed, get mad at what's suppose to get mad about," Echo smiled, "Those kinds of things"
"Is this something to get mad about? The fact that you, Fred and George wouldn't let me explain?" Zoey asked
"Most likely," Echo responded, "Though each of us will be of fault"
Zoey slowly nodded her head before going back to the floor and picking up the brush. She didn't know how much time had passes and she would rather have Filch seeing her cleaning the floor rather than talking to a friend. Zoey smiled. Friend. She continued to scrub until she heard footsteps. She looked over her shoulder and saw the twins. Fred and George. She watched them looked at her then to the floor and lastly to Echo.
"Those gits are alive, I remember," Echo shook her head.
"And they're sort of the reason why I'm serving detention tonight," Zoey said as she watched the twins make their way towards her and Echo.
"Wow. If only I knew how to shoot fire from my hands," Echo looked downward, "But mum never taught me"
"And I would rather not have you murder them," Zoey said with a chuckle, "Oh chicken nuggets. I'm too nice"
"Too nice," Echo repeated.
"Is it a good thing though?" Zoey asked.
"Nope. Not always. At least," Echo smirked, "Oh and not a word to the twins about my humanity"
Zoey glanced over her shoulder and saw the twins drawing nearer. She found it odd that they haven't greeted Echo yet. She then looked back at Echo. "I thought they would have known about you being a Veela"
"Yeah, but they wouldn't let me live it down if they were reminded"
Zoey nodded her head and sat down with her legs folded beneath her. She watched as Echo stared at the twins. "Now," Echo began, "I need to abduct George for hiding all my hard-earned stashed chocolate," Echo swiftly left Zoey and headed towards George. Zoey watched as George opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it when his facial expression changed to shock after her was abruptly pulled by Echo. She watched curiously as Echo began to walk the other direction with George stumbling behind her.
"Echo!" George exclaimed, "Where are you taking me?"
Echo did not say anything. She continued to walk until she and George were out of Zoey's sight. Zoey's shoulders shook a bit as she tried to keep in her laughter. Echo and George were truly something. She turned her head back to the bucket and paled when she saw Fred's reflection. She looked up form under her lashed and saw him watching her. She gulped.
"Hi," he said.
And here's chapter 41~
I know I said in the last chapter I wasn't going to update for a few days but i really needed too!
I just finished my first day of tests and I died a little inside.
MATH WAS IMPOSSIBLE!
I tell you that subject's going to cause me my life!
Anyway, special thanks to HalyeyParadox for helping me with this chapter!
and to everyone who favorited, reviewed and the like!
Also, we see that Zoey and Echo has made up!
What about Zoey and Fred?
Oh~!
Stay tuned for the next chapter~!
Don't forget to review and the like!
I only own what I own!
