Chapter 44: Accidentally

Zoey gulped as she stood in front of Dumbledore's office. She had been given the password by Professor Sprout after she had eaten her breakfast and was told to come here as soon as possible. Zoey did not know what she did. She wondered if she did anything against the rules. Her heart hammered against her chest. It couldn't have been that. Fred, George and Bridgit did a lot of things that were against the rules and yet they never had to go to Dumbledore's office. Zoey racked her brains. Did she ever do something so bad that she needed to be sent here? Heck, did she do anything bad? Zoey scrunched up her eyebrows as she thought harder. Did someone catch her in the kitchens with Bridgit? No, then Bridgit would be with her too. What about skipping class? No, the twins skipped class as well.

Zoey pushed her glasses up her head and wiped her eyes. She was tired and stressed. She had not slept that well last night. She was sitting on her bed the whole night enduring that painful feeling in her chest. She did not know what caused the pain it just felt uncomfortable and it kept her awake. Zoey let out a yawn.

"Might as well," she whispered to herself and knocked on the door. There was a soft "Come in" at the other end and Zoey pushed the door open.

"Whoa," Zoey breathed out as she entered the room. The Headmaster's office was large and took a circular shape. It had many windows and portraits that Zoey guessed were the past headmaster's and headmistresses'. Zoey eyes glazed a bit when she caught sight of Phineas Nigelllus Black, her great-great-great grandfather. She shook her head and continued to look around the room. She saw that the room had a number of spindly tables that held delicate looking silver instruments that whirred and emitted small puffs of smoke.

Zoey jumped back when one of them coughed out a small cloud.

She bit her lip and looked towards the incredible collection of books Dumbledore had. Zoey did not realize it but she then began to walk towards one of the silver objects. She brought her face close to one of them and coughed when it puffed smoke in her face. Zoey coughed as she brought her hand to her face.

"Are you alright, Miss Black?" a voice said from behind Zoey.

Zoey gasped and whirled around in great speed. She let out a small squeak when she accidentally hit the table behind her. She turned around to stabilize it before looking back at Dumbledore. She offered a small uneasy smile. Dumbledore returned it and took a seat on his desk. He gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. Zoey made a small nod before sitting down on it.

Once Zoey was seated she looked towards the portrait of her great-great-great grandfather. Zoey noted that he looked like a very clever wizard and had a pointed beard. He wore silver and green robes and this did not come to a surprise to Zoey. After all he was a Slytherin.

"I see you've caught sight of Phineas," Dumbledore's voice broke Zoey's gaze. She looked towards the current headmaster. "If I'm correct he's your great-great-great grandfather?"

"Yes, he is, Sir," Zoey said softly almost as if she did not want anyone to hear her.

"There's nothing to be scared of, Miss Black," Dumbledore said with slight amusement.

Zoey looked at her headmaster in the eye. "Really? Then, please excuse me sir but, why am I here?" she asked with wide eyes.

"You are here for the mere reason that I wanted to talk to you," Dumbledore said, "You have not visited me yet, Miss Black."

"Ah, I'm sorry sir… I was just… busy," Zoey blushed.

"Hmmm," Dumbledore hummed as he raised an eyebrow at the girl. He then nodded his head when Zoey did not say anything else. "Did you hear what happened last night in the Gryffindor Tower, Miss Black?" Dumbledore asked after a few minutes had passed.

"I don't think I have, sir," Zoey paused, "What did happen?"

Dumbledore smiled a bit before turning slightly serious. "Young Mister Ronald Weasley had been attacked," he said.

Zoey eyes widened and she felt her heart skip a beat. "H-he has? Is he alright? W-what happened?" she asked in panic. She rose a bit from her seat seeming as though she were to bolt out of the room to go to Ron's aid.

"Relax, Miss Black, relax. Mr. Weasley's fine. Everyone on Gryffindor is fine," Dumbledore said as he raised his wand causing Zoe's chair to bump her from behind the knees and making her fall back on it.

"Gryffindor?" Zoey breathed out as her heart continued to hammer, "What happened in Gryffindor Tower? What happened to Ron?"

"Mr. Weasley had said that he saw Sirius Black standing over him with a knife," Dumbledore said as he stroked his long beard.

Zoey froze. Her eyes remained wide and her face paled. The only thing to be moving in her entire body was her heart which was still rapidly beating though at the news it seemed to have skipped a beat. She swallowed hard and gripped the armrest so hard that it caused her knuckles to turn white.

"Did… did… did he," Zoey struggled with her word.

"Did your father harm Mr. Weasley? No, he didn't. He gave him quite a scare though. Slashed his curtains as well," Dumbledore said with a wave of his wand. Cups and a teapot floated towards them. Dumbledore flicked his wand and the teapot tilted pouring tea in both cups. Dumbledore waved his wand again and one of the cups floated towards Zoey. Zoey held out a shaky hand and caught the cup. She took a sip and tried to calm her beating heart.

"How did he… dad get in?" Zoey whispered as she lowered her cup to place on top of her legs and looked back at Dumbledore.

"Sir Cadogan let him enter," Dumbledore said as he took a sip of his own tea.

"Sir Cadogan?" Zoey asked in disbelief as she remembered the knight with the fat pony, "But – But he shouldn't let people in without the password!"

"That's right. He knows that," Dumbledore said.

"Then why –"

"Because your father did have the password."

Zoey gulped. Her father had once again broken into Hogwarts and this time he was just a bed closer to Harry. What if he broke in for a third time? What would he do then? Zoey wanted to ask how her father had broken into Hogwarts into in the first place but she kept her mouth shut. She had an idea. He was after all a Marauder. She would be lying if she said he didn't memorize the secret passages like the back of his hand.

She brought the cup back to her lips but she did not drink. She just let the liquid brush on her lips to moisten them a bit before bringing the cup back to her lap. She looked back to Dumbledore and saw him wave his wand one last time and a small table appeared in front of Zoey. Zoey placed her teacup on the table and rubbed her hands together nervously.

"Sir…?" Zoey began without thinking.

"Yes, Miss Black?" Dumbledore replied.

Zoey bit her lip. Dozens of questions filled her mind but the one that was on the tip of her tongue was the one question she did not want to ask. "Is it normal for people to sprout out wings?" Sure, Zoey knew the answer was a definite "No". But what she truly wanted to know was if Dumbledore knew anything about the Emeraudes, anything about the Emeraude powers or what Zoey's power was. Zoey mentally shook her head and brought the teacup back to her mouth and gulped down the rest.

"I was wondering if I could head back to class," Zoey said slowly trying to carefully place her words together so it wouldn't sound like a lie, "I think the bell has rung and I don't want to be late for Divination"

Dumbledore took another sip of his tea and nodded once he brought his cup back down. "I suppose you are right, Miss Black. I wouldn't be a good headmaster if I make you late for your class, now would I?"

Zoey stayed quiet but smiled.

"It was pleasant having you here, Miss Black. I hope you would come around more often. It gets rather lonely at time," Dumbledore laughed.

"I will, Sir," Zoey smiled again before getting up from her seat and walking towards the door. She placed her hand on the doorknob, gave one last look towards her headmaster and left.


Zoey made a small skip when she jumped back to the ground. She looked behind her and once again the gargoyle was in place, blocking the stairway towards the headmaster's office. Zoey studied it a bit. Could it talk? She wondered. She squinted her eyes and looked at the face and the other interesting featured of it. She was so immersed with the gargoyle that she did not hear the sounds of running footsteps. What brought her back to reality was the impact she felt when something hit her in the side and pushed her to the ground.

Zoey let out a shock gasp as she fell down and hit her head on the hard ground. She saw stars and groaned. She moved her head to the side and tried to blink away the stars. When she finally got to see properly she moved her head again and her face was caught in what felt like hair. She scrunched up her face and moved again. It was red-hair. It was a Weasley.

"Err – to whomever Weasley I may concern… can you please get off of me?" Zoey breathed out.

The Weasley groaned and lifted himself up with his arms. He looked down at Zoey and blushed a bit before grinning sheepishly. "Sorry about that Zoey," he said.

"No problem, George," Zoey laughed a bit. She didn't feel awkward with him. If it were his brother though, that would be another story. George chuckled before getting back to his feat and helping Zoey back up. Zoey thanked him and straightened out her robes. She ran a hand through her hair and winced a bit when she touched her head.

"You okay?" George asked once he noticed Zoey's wince.

"I'll be fine," Zoey smiled reassuringly, "I've been through worse"

"Really?" George asked.

Zoey's eyes widened a bit before stuttering out, "Why have you been running? Are you late for class?"

"Fred and I are skipping," George said with a scratch of his head.

"What class exactly?" Zoey raised an eyebrow.

"Transfiguration"

Zoey groaned, "Aren't you failing that?"

"How did you know?" George playfully asked as he began to walk towards the direction he was previously running towards. Zoey followed him.

"Shouldn't you be attending it?" Zoey asked him as he continued to walk to who-knows-where.

"But you said it yourself, I'm failing it," George said with a shrug.

"The more reason you should be in class," Zoey said with a sigh. She stopped walking and George faced her.

"What?" he asked, "Fred's good in Transfiguration so it's fine"

"Then what are you good in that Fred isn't?"

"Herbology," George then began to walk again.

Zoey nodded her head and walked after him. She did not want to continue the conversations. She knew it was hopeless. George was like Fred and at time like Bridgit and Echo. Some subjects just didn't matter to him. Zoey thought about Divination. She was skipping it just to lecture George on his skipping of Transfiguration. She began to feel like a hypocrite. She was about to open her mouth to speak but George interrupted her.

"I never got to apologize to you," George said without looking at Zoey, "You know for the fight and all"

Zoey blushed a bit. She had completely forgotten about that. Ever since Fred and Echo apologized the fight was more or less forgotten. Zoey vaguely thought that George had already apologized. It seemed like he had. "George you don' ha –"

"No I want to," George then looked at her. "Zoey, I'm sorry"

"I forgive you," Zoey smiled.

"Really?"

"Yep"

"Phew! That was easier than I thought," George laughed. Zoey laughed as well. She was half expecting the apology to be somewhat serious but no, George made it light hearted yet at the same time he got his apology done. "I thought that I would have to get down on my knees and beg!"

"Ah dear Merlin don't!" Zoey laughed, "That would be too awkward!"

George raised an eyebrow and a playful smirk danced on his lips. Before Zoey knew it George got down on his knees and took her hand in his. Zoey blushed and continued to laugh as George began to flip his hair and made unnecessary hand gesture.

"Zoey, my dear Zoey," he said in a supposedly suave voice, "Would you please accept my apology?"

"Geor –" Zoey then laughed.

"What's that my love? You don't? But please understand! I never meant to cheat on you!"

Zoey laughed again. "Wha –"

"I understand," George then got to his feet and turned his head to the side making his hair flip again. Though in reality he was just messing it up. "You don't. I'll do you a favor and disappear!"

George then took a leap away. Zoey gasped out his name and George looked back at her with a grin. "What's that my love? You forgive me? You want me back in your arms?"

Zoey blinked as an amused grin formed on her lips. She honestly did not know where George was going with his little act. Truth be told, he was being completely random and hardly made sense. Nevertheless, Zoey decided to play along. She opened up her arms and George swopped towards her and brought her into a back breaking hug. He noisily sniffed her hair and pretended to cry.

"Let's run away my love!" He exclaimed as he brought her out of the hug and held her hand. He looked towards a random direction and pointed at it. "To a new world!" He then ran.

Zoey let go of his hand just in time for him to stumble on his own feet. George took a couple steps forward to regain his balance before looking back at Zoey with a grin on his face. Zoey just shook his head at him as the amused expression was kept on her face. He was truly something.

"Well, I'm hungry," George then stretched, "All this drama sure worked me up an appetite"

"Uhuh," Zoey said with a raised eyebrow.

George stuck his tongue out at the gray eyed girl and swiftly turned around. "You coming?" he asked over his shoulder. Zoey shook her head. "You go on," she said and watched George shrug and walk towards the kitchens. She shook her head again and breathed out a soft laugh. The Weasley's were really something.

Zoey smiled and turned around. No use in going to Divination. She was far away from her class and it would be ending in about twenty or so minutes anyway. She placed her hands in her pockets and walked down the corridor. She turned to walk by a corner but stumbled back when she saw someone hiding behind it. It was Fred.

"So you and George are an item now?" he asked with an amused smirk.

"What?" Zoey asked, confused.

"'My love'? 'Run away'?" Fred asked. His smirk changed to a grin and his eyes sparkled. Zoey couldn't help but get lost in them for a moment. She shook her head and looked down.

Zoey blushed, "He was just joking"

Fred looked at the Hufflepuff. He shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to look up at him. He noted that her cheeks were a little pink. He didn't know why though.

"Why don't we run away?" he asked

Zoey's blush deepened, "Wh – what?"

"Y'know, let's go to the Quidditch Pitch," Fred said with a shrug of his shoulder, "I haven't been able to spend time with you since you had to scrub the floor."

Zoey's eyebrows knitted together as she felt her blush deepen with embarrassment she made her hand into a fist and thumbed Fred on the shoulder (though it made no effect to him). Fred stumbled a bit, to humor her, and acted hurt. "What was that for?" he pouted.

"For making me think different!" Zoey said as she stomped her foot.

"Think different?" Fred laughed, "What did you exactly think when I said that we should run away?"

"Never you mind!" Zoey said with a huff and held her head high. She began to walk towards the Quidditch Pitch. She heard Fred give another laugh before following her.


Zoey sat down on the green grass of the Quidditch pitch. It was such a nice day out and she did not want to sit on the hard chairs in the stands. She closed her eyes and lay on her back as she heard Fred take a seat as well. She let out a content sigh. For once, everything seemed alright. A knowing voice at the back of Zoey's head said differently. Her father was still a wanted man, the golden trio was still avoiding her and OWLs were coming up. Zoey chose to ignore the voice.

"Hey Fred?" Zoey asked as she opened one eye to see Fred looking down at her.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever tried my fortune teller?" Zoey asked as she brought her hand to her pocket and pulled out the piece of charmed origami. Fred took it from her hand and looked it over.

"This is the one that landed you in detention back in third year," Fred said as he opened the flaps. Underneath the numbers was nothing. "How do you even get your fortune?"

Zoey opened both her eyes and sat up. She took the fortune teller and closed her eyes. Her head pounded. Without thinking, she leaned her head on Fred's shoulder as she held the fortune teller in front of her. She furrowed her eyebrows as her blush crept back on her cheeks. She wanted it to go away but she couldn't control it. She knew it would go away if she just lifted her head but she couldn't. It hurt too much to move it right now. Zoey felt Fred shift a bit but he didn't push her away.

"It's like this," Zoey began as she readjusted herself and held the fortune teller firmly in her hands showing Fred the four houses. "Choose a house"

"Gryffindor," Fred said and watched as Zoey moved the fortune teller in an open-close motion. She stopped after ten counts.

"A number," Zoey said

"Any number?" Fred asked

"Any number," Zoey repeated

"Alright… seven then," Fred said and watched as Zoey repeated the open-close motion. Zoey then stopped after seven counts. Out of instinct Fred said another number. Zoey moved it again with five counts. Fred said his last number and Zoey opened the flap.

Fred watched with wide eyes as a light emitted from the fortune teller and his fortune spelled out in cursive writing.

Tell her.

The fortune read. Zoey looked at it curiously. It was the shortest fortune to have ever been said by her fortune teller. She wasn't even so sure if it was a fortune. She watched as it went back inside the fortune teller. She readjusted her position. She wanted to see Fred's face but it hurt to lift her head.

Fred, on the other hand, was glad that Zoey could not see his face. His face felt rather warm and he was sure that there was a red color decorating his cheeks. When he saw the fortune he felt his heart skip a beat. He tilted his head downwards to look at Zoey but instead he ended up touching the of her head. He breathed in. He smelled coconut milk.

Zoey sighed softly and closed her eyes. She brought her fortune teller back into her pocket and stayed still to enjoy the soft breeze. It was the perfect weather outside. The sun was covered by the clouds but it was still light out. There was a nice breeze and the day was quiet. Then again, Zoey thought, it was only quiet because everyone was in class while she and Fred, and still possibly George, were skipping classes. Zoey reopened her eyes when she felt her headache lighten up and caught sight of something black move by. Her eyes widened and slightly tilted her head back to tell Fred what she saw but the moment she tilted her head her eyes widened.

Her lips brushed Fred's.

Fred's eyes widened and so did Zoey's. Both their cheeks reddened and Zoey pulled away quickly. She looked down and bit her lip, the lip that had brushed against the boy who she had been crushing on since she was in second year. Her heart beat rapidly against her chest when the realization dawned on her. That was her first kiss. Zoey gulped as she looked at Fred from under her lashed. He was looking at a distance with furrowed eyebrows and his lips were in a tight line. Zoey took note that his cheeks were red and hid his freckles.

Zoey opened her mouth to speak but realized she couldn't say anything. Things had gotten a whole lot awkward. She blinked her eyes several times trying to think of something to say but came up with nothing. She looked back to where she saw the black figure and her eyes widened when she saw a dog. Not any dog but 'doggie'. She wondered if the dog saw what had just happened. She took note that the dog was sitting up straight and seemed to look from her to Fred.

Zoey raised her eyebrow at the dog. Why would it be looking at the both of them? Seriously, that dog seemed more human than animal. Zoey continued to watch the dog until it focused its gaze on her. When the dog saw that it caught her eye with barked and walked back in to the forest. Zoey gave it a bemused look as it disappeared.

"Was that a dog?" she heard Fred say. Zoey looked back at him and noticed that he did not look at her. Instead, he looked at the place where the dog was previously sitting on.

"Err – yes," Zoey replied with a slight stutter, "He's been staying here for the past few…. Months?"

"You seem unsure," Fred smiled a bit but he still did not look at her.

"I don't keep track of time," Zoey said as she bit her lip once more.

"Really now," Fred laughed a bit before standing up and offering Zoey a hand, though he looked everywhere but her face, "We should go. You have Potions next"

"So who memorized whose schedule now?" Zoey asked with a crooked smile.

Fred laughed.


HEY GUYS!

I'm back!

Tests are OVER!

but I still have Graduation practice and such...

Oh! I was told that I am the most outstanding in Art for the Gifted (my club!)

How cool is that? I don't know about you guys but it's pretty cool to me XD

Okay, in here we have some GOEY (George/Zoey) moments and a major (it's really up to your opinion) ZED moment!

Clap clap clap

Anywho, I would love to thank you all for reviewing, favoriting, alerting and the like!

LOVE you guys for it!

WOHOO! reached over 200!

I'm happy!

Are you?

Oh! And thanks for all your nice reviews, really I truly appreciate them :)

SO AWESOME YOU PEOPLE OUT THERE!

Well, I gotta go now!

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