Chapter 46: She got that from her
Zoey couldn't believe it. What was once a dog had transformed into her father, or maybe the other way around. Be it as it may, Zoey did not know what to do, what to feel. She was scared yet at the same time she did not want to scream or run away. She was frozen to the spot. She felt her wings spread open before folding behind her and going back into her. She did not wince at the pain she continued to stare at her father. Her father, Sirius Black, did not look like the man in the photos. He's casual elegance seemed to have disappeared as did his handsome face. The man in front of her had a gaunt, sunken face and waxy skin. His teeth were yellow and his hair was long and matted. Zoey knew for a fact that this was the effect of being in Azkaban for twelve long years.
Zoey watched as her father made an awkward scratch to the back of his head. She figured he did not know what to do next as well. Zoey bit her lip as she looked around. There were no Dementors in sight so her father did not need to revert back to a dog and Zoey had no use for them in the first place. She was not going to report her father. Zoey blinked several times as she stared at a random tree. Her father was a wanted man, it had been said he killed numerous muggles together with his friend, Peter after he had betrayed James and Lily. Was he going to do the same with her? Was he going to kill her too? Or was he going to hold her captive. Zoey gulped and looked back at her father. He was looked up at the sky.
Zoey placed a hand over her chest as she felt her heart beating fast and faster. What was she suppose to say to a man she hasn't spoken with since she was about two-years old? What was she suppose to do with a man who had killed people and worked with the Dark Lord? What was she suppose to say to her own father?
"H – Have you always been able to change into a dog?" Zoey awkwardly asked as she tried to bring her dad's attention away from the clouds.
Sirius looked down at his daughter and raised a brow curiously. Zoey was playing with her hands as her eyes darted from him to the sky and back to him. She was nervous and scared. It looked to him that fidgeting was something she would do when she did not know what to do at the current situation. It was a habit she developed all on her own. He did not do it as a child and neither did her mother. It was all her. Sirius did not know why he decided to show himself to her. He was glad watching her from the sidelines and hearing her talk to him when he was in his animagus form. It was nice to hear that she was doing great even with all the crap that has been going on in her life. In truth, Sirius half expected her to scream or call for help.
"H – Hello?" Zoey asked nervously. Her father had not moved for some time, all he did was stare at her. What was he thinking?
"Fifteen," Sirius said, "I was fifteen when I became an animagus"
Zoey knitted her eyebrows together. She did not really expect him to answer. "Why?"
"Why what?" Sirius asked. He decided to be casual with Zoey. He decided to talk to her like he would talk to her mother. How did he talk with Lucy? It was so long ago since they had a conversation.
"Why did you become one?" asked Zoey. Things were going great so far. Her father had done nothing dangerous. There was nothing to fear… yet.
"You don't know?"
"Obviously I don't," Zoey paused, "S - Sorry"
Sirius gave a bark of laughter. It was rather hoarse for he did not do it often as of late but it was laughter none the less. Zoey gave a small jump, not expecting him to laugh. She inched away a bit.
"You don't have to be so nervous," Sirius said with a grin on his face showing his yellow teeth, "I won't bite"
Zoey kept her nervous look as she bit her lip. Sirius saw this and his grin went away. He felt stupid for what he said. Why wouldn't she be nervous? Heck, he was glad that was it. It would have killed him to know that she was afraid of him.
Zoey looked down at the ground and didn't say anything, neither did her dad. She thought about what her mother's letter had said. He's innocent. Was he really? Zoey did not know. People say he's a mass murderer and some say that he shows not mercy but yet, here Zoey stays helpless and unprotected but she had not been attacked. Her father did not lay one finger on her. Zoey thought back to when she had spoken to him while he was a dog. He had done nothing wrong to her. He only kept her company and listened to her as she spoke. He did not harm her at all. If that was all, Zoey would have believed her mother but there was the case of her father breaking into Hogwarts. He had scratched the Fat Lady's painting and almost killed Ron in the dead of night. Those two facts were keeping Zoey on the line. On one hand he could be an innocent man yet on the other he could be a mass murdered waiting for Zoey to let her guard done and attack.
Zoey was leaning towards the innocent hand.
Why?
Zoey's guard was already down yet she was still in one piece. Still breathing, still alive.
"Hey da – err – Why are you here? In Hogwarts I mean…," Zoey said timidly as she looked towards Sirius. Sirius had gotten tired of standing up and lazily sat on the grassy ground. He was picking at the grass before Zoey spoke.
"I have something to do," Sirius said simply
"And that something is…?"
"I have to dispose of something that should have been taken care of all those years ago," Sirius said with a rather dark expression.
Zoey gulped and looked away. Could he be talking about Harry? "R – Really now… and that thing is in Hogwarts?" Zoey asked as she played with her hands. Intertwining them together and letting go.
"Of course it is," Sirius said with a raised brow.
"Right," Zoey paused as she began to wrestle her own thumbs, "Dumb question… sorry"
Sirius didn't say anything. He just stared at Zoey, scrutinizing her. The first time he caught sight of her he almost tackled her to the ground for he thought that she was her mother. Zoey, she looked like her mother in every way possible. Sure there were differences here and there but they were easily over looked. Their hair was the same brown and fell to the same length. Her skin was just as pale as hers and he could have sworn that they had the same freckles but that was absurd. Zoey was just as frail looking as her mother and he guessed it was because of the Emeraude family. Lucy refused to eat with her family so she was always malnourished while Zoey was forbidden to eat with them.
The list could go on and on and Sirius could only find one thing he had in common with his own daughter. It was her eyes. They were the same gray as his, the same shape as his, they were his. They even had the same haunting look but hers was more hidden than his. She did not want anyone to see her fears and the terrible things she felt inside yet Sirius had no choice. She would be the same if she spent all those years locked up being framed for a crime you never did and having people you once trusted turn their back on you. She would never feel those. He would not let her.
Sirius was then brought back to reality when Zoey waved a shaky hand before his eyes. How long was he unresponsive? How long has she been waving her hand, trying to get his attention? Sirius shook his head and decided to ask the question that's been bugging him ever since he showed his human form to Zoey. The question that had been bothering him since he had spoken to his own daughter.
"Why do you trust me?"
"W – What?" Zoey asked in shock. She had not expected the question.
"Why do you trust me?" Sirius repeated, "You did not run away or call for help when I revealed myself to you. You did not whip out your wand and cast every spell you know at me. You didn't summon the Dementors or beg for mercy. You just stayed there… why? I'm a dangerous man."
Zoey's eyes widened with every word that he said. He was right. Why did she trust him? Zoey breathed in and breathed out slowly as to calm her beating heart. She decided to say whatever came to mind.
"A – Are you really a dangerous man?" she asked and bit her lip as she waited for the answer.
"I killed twelve muggles together with Peter Pettigrew," Sirius said with distaste at the mention of his old friend, "I also betrayed James and Lily Potter"
"Is that true?" Zoey asked as she recalled her mother's letter.
"That's what people say"
"But am I suppose to believe them?"
"Would you believe me if I said I was an innocent man? That I was framed? That I would rather die for my friends than give information to Voldemort so I could live?" Sirius tested.
Zoey bit her lip as she remembered what her mother wrote in her letter. She had read it so many times that she nearly got everything memorized by heart. Zoey took another breath.
" Da – uhm… I did not run away or call for help earlier because, to be honest, I was frozen in fear. I did not 'whip out my wand' and cast every spell I know at you because well… I completely forgot I had it with me even if I did I doubt it would have much effect even in your – err – weakened state. I'm terrible at Defense Against the Dark Arts" Zoey took another breath, "I didn't summon the Dementors because I'm terrified of them. I don't know what the ministry was thinking, sending Dementors to Hogwarts to protect us or something. Frankly, they're doing more harm than good"
Sirius stayed silent and gestured Zoey to continue. He felt like he was listening to Lucy speak again. Lucy was always the type to speak honestly and often rambled and went of topic. Zoey was just like her and Sirius felt the same degree of love towards her, the love of a father to his daughter. He also felt a sense of pride.
Zoey, not knowing what her father was thinking, took another breath. "I didn't beg for mercy either because… well… I'm not really the type. I've read books where the character begs and well… it's kind of – err – how should I say this? Embarrassing. Especially if the person their begging was not going to do them any harm in the first place…"
"You didn't answer my first and last question," Sirius pointed out when Zoey ceased talking.
Zoey licked her lips as she looked towards the direction of the Quidditch Pitch. The game should have ended ages ago. She wondered who won, who had gotten the House Cup. She gulped and looked back at her father. "And, my lovely child, please believe me when I tell you that your father was the most loyal man I know and that he would never betray his friends. He's innocent," Zoey recited as she watched her father's eyes widen, "That's what mum wrote to me in her letter."
Sirius opened his mouth to speak but Zoey interrupted him.
"Mum trusts you so I trust you. I know I haven't known the both of you for that long and I know I would might never do on a count on mum's… well gone but I want to get a chance to know my own father… I stayed here because, though foolish as it is, deep inside I wanted to know if you, dad, are really what the public says you are," Zoey took another breath and hopefully in was the last scared breath she took, "I trust easily and I forgive without thought…. I know I shouldn't but there's nothing I could do about and… why are you smiling?"
"You're rambling," Sirius said with a chuckle, "Just like your mum. She hoped you didn't get that quality from her"
Zoey blushed, "She said it in the letter. She says that it gave you a hard time"
"It did but that's what I love about her," Sirius then wore a bitter smile, "She's really gone now, huh?"
"Yeah…"
Zoey sat in the library bent over a large book while several other books surrounded her, caging her and separating her from the rest of the library. When she had left her father back in the Forbidden Forest and returned to Hogwarts she was instantly greeted with cheerful Weasley Twins. They ran up to her and enveloped her in a hug and jumped up and down while cheering before releasing her and joining the rest of the Gryffindors. Zoey, with utter confusion, went to Bridgit and Echo for an explanation and it turns out the Gryffindors had won the match.
It was now June and OWLs were coming up. No doubt Echo was only making last minute reviews for she had been studying since their fourth year. Bridgit was already smart to begin with and would ace the test no matter what. Fred and George…well according to them they don't need any OWLs for what they would be doing for their future career but they still decided to study so they won't flunk out of Hogwarts. Zoey on the other hand was completely stumped. She always refused to go study with Echo but now she was regretting her decision. She had no idea what to study. Charms was easy since she had a natural gift at it and Transfiguration and Herbology only required a quick review and she did not particularly care about Divination but her problems were in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Zoey knew she was a hopeless case in both subjects and the book that were currently surrounding her were all on those two subjects but alas no matter how many books she read or how many notes she took, she was still at lose.
Zoey sighed as she closed her book and pulled out her OWLs schedule. Monday was the first day of tests and the subject for that day was Charms. At least she was confident about that. Zoey rubbed her eyes and looked out the window; she could see the Forbidden Forest from where she was seated. Maybe dad can help me, She thought to herself but quickly dismissed the thought. Bringing a whole lot of books to the Forbidden Forest was highly suspicious and she did not need to be interrogated for her plans. That would not be good for anyone.
"I'm doomed," Zoey moaned hopelessly as she banged her head on the library table making a few books topple over.
"Whoa, don't want to harm your brain cells before a test"
Zoey looked up from the table and a blush crept on her cheeks. It was Fred. Fred gave a smile and waved at her, in his other hand was a book. "Fred," Zoey breathed, "What are you doing here?"
"Going to look at the menu for lunch," Fred said with a role of his eyes, "I'm here to study of course. I got a book and everything"
"Sorry, did I hear you right? You came here to study?" Zoey asked with wide eyes. The fact that Fred wanted to take the OWLs seriously pushed all feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment away.
"Haha, very funny," Fred took a seat and wore a grin, "Surprised that I actually want to do well?"
Zoey blushed and pushed her bangs away from her face and pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "Yeah… well, You and George said that you won't need to know what we're learning here for your future career or something like that…"
"Something like that… Well, for your information we need to learn Charms," Fred said as he cracked open his book.
"Now what do we need to know?" he asked as he looked at the page before looking back at Zoey.
Zoey raised an eyebrow at Fred, "You don't know what you're supposed to study?"
"Yep, that's why you're here. You're a master at Charms," Fred said with a scratch of his head, "You know… what's the word? Ah! Charms Master"
Zoey laughed into her head and shook her head. "Very original," she said and pulled Fred's book towards her. She then took out her wand and tapped it on her quill. She took the quill and opened Fred's book. She highlighted the first sentence.
"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Fred asked as he stared wide eyed at both the highlighted sentence and at the quill.
"I – err – Charmed it?" Zoey replied but it came out as a question, "You know… I made it into a highlighter"
Fred sent her a confused look.
"It's a muggle product. You highlight important information like what I just highlighted in your book," Zoey then pointed to the sentence, "That is one of the things you must know and learn how to cast. Also," she flipped the pages until she found what she needed and highlighted the first paragraph, "That's important information and would most likely come out in the test as well….what else am I missing?"
Zoey bit her lip in concentration as she continued to flip over the pages not noticing that Fred was not even looking at the book. He was busy gazing at Zoey admiring her silently. He only stopped when she looked up at him and smiled softly. Fred felt his cheeks warm up in embarrassment. Had she caught him staring at her?
"Do you know the Color Changing Charm?" she asked. She had not noticed him staring.
"The what?"
"Color Changing Charm," Zoey repeated and looked back at the book, "Well, it's not all that hard to do but you would need to really concentrate so I'm going to highlight the important wand movements then I'll explain it to you later…"
"Right"
"Oh, and Fred?" Zoey asked as she looked up from his book, "You owe me"
"How much?" Fred asked as he pretended to reach for his wallet. Zoey laughed and swatted his hand. Fred grinned.
"I don't want money… I just – err – but if you don't want to…," Zoey trailed off.
"No, what is it?" Fred asked as he leaned closer. Zoey blushed and leaned farther away from him but Fred didn't take notice.
"Well, I was hoping if you'd tutor me in Transfiguration," Zoey said as she ducked her head, "I'm not failing it… it's just well –"
Fred touched Zoey chin and tilted it so she was looking at him. "I'll tutor you," Fred said.
Zoey felt her blush deepen and struggled to find the right words to say at the moment. Should she mention the kiss? No, she couldn't. It would become all awkward between them and no studying will get done. Studying? Was that really what Zoey wanted to do at the moment? Not really, no, it wasn't. What she was trying to avoid was Fred telling her that the kiss was an accident, it was never suppose to happen, and it was meaningless. Zoey did not want to hear those words so she didn't want to mention what had happened a few months ago.
She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a voice. She felt Fred's hand drop and she looked to her side to see Cedric standing there with his charming smile on his face. Zoey greeted him.
"What brings you here?" Zoey asked starting a friendly conversation, "I thought you were the type to study in advance?"
Cedric laughed. "Is that what you really think of me?" he joked as Zoey gave a shrug of her shoulders, "But, yes. I studied in advance. All I have to do now is a quick review"
"Don't have to rub it in," Zoey grinned and heard Fred stifle a laugh. She sent him a quick smile before looking back at Cedric, "So you're here to review then? You can sit with us if you want but we're studying Charms, but I'm guessing you know everything"
"I don't know everything," Cedric emphasized
"But you know most," Zoey quickly said with a raised eyebrow.
"Changing the subject from my intellect. I was sent here to deliver a message from Madam Pomfrey," Cedric said as he ruffled his hair and looked towards the window before looking back at Zoey.
Zoey's eyes widen, "Madam Pomfrey? What does she want with me?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Cedric said, "But from what Professor Sprout said, Madam Pomfrey is asking for you in hopes that she could explain the 'Healer's job' to you so you'd have an advantage"
"Professor Sprout? You've spoken to her about my career choice?" Zoey asked in bewilderment.
"She is the head of our house and yes, we did. She brought it up with me the other day. Don't know why though," Cedric then took a look at his watch and sent Zoey and apologetic look, "Sorry, but I have to get going now. Good Bye Zoey," he then looked at Fred. Zoey took note that Cedric was debating which twin was sitting next to her, "Weasley," he gave a nod.
"Diggory," Fred returned the nod and Cedric turned around and walked away.
Zoey moved a bit in her chair to watch Cedric as he left. He was just a few feet away from the door when Bridgit was coming the opposite way. Bridgit raised her hand to wave at them but caught sight of Fred's expression. He didn't look to happy and his eyes were forming a glare. Bridgit turned around to watch Cedric's back before looking at Fred, then to Zoey and then back to Cedric who was about ten or so feet away from her. Bridgit swiftly turned around and yelled:
"Hey Cedric! Wait up! I wanted to ask you for some flying tips!" she ran after him.
Zoey raised her eyebrow and watched Bridgit's retreating figure before she disappeared from sight. Why would Bridgit be asking Cedric for flying tips? Didn't she say she didn't even like the way Cedric flew on the broom? Zoey's eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Something was up. Did she want to know what it was? She looked down at the highlighter quill in her hand. Not really. She thought it would be safer for her if she did not know.
She looked towards Fred. "So you and Cedric are on last name basis huh?"
"What?" Fred asked with a slight jump.
"What is the incantation used to make objects fly?"
"Zoe, I'm not that thick," Fred said as he looked at her with a smirk on his face, "It's Wingardium Leviosa"
"Are you sure?" Zoey asked with a shake of her head and a small 'tsk' sound. She held his book up and away from his sight.
"You mean it isn't?" Fred asked with slight panic.
Zoey gave a small laugh and placed his book back down on the table. "I know you're smart Fred and yes, it's Wingardium Leviosa. And remember 'swish and flick'!"
"...a) Give the incantation and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly."
Were the first two questions on Zoey's test on the Monday of her Charms exam. Zoey wore a proud smile as she dabbed her quill in the ink bottle and quickly wrote her answer. It was the same question she asked Fred the day before. Her eyes went over to the place where he was seated, if he got the answer wrong she would smack him with a heavy book. Zoey's attention went back to her test paper and she looked at the next question and answered more quickly than the last. By the time she finished her test she looked around and saw that everyone else was still hunched over their test papers scratching their heads and writing their answers. Zoey bit her lip to conceal her smile before looking back at her paper and quickly reviewing her answers.
After about half an hour Zoey and the rest of the class submitted their papers and it was now time for the practical exam. Zoey waited patiently for her turn and when it finally arrived she held her wand confidently in her hand as she looked down at her rat. She quickly took a glance towards her examiners and they each gave her an encouraging smile. Zoey returned it and, with ease, changed her rat orange within a second and back.
"Very good, Miss Emeraude, very good," one of the examiners said as he checked something on his clip board, "Professor Flitwick does not lie when he said you're one of this best students"
Zoey blushed, "Thanks you," she said softly.
The examiner merely gave her a smile and dismissed her. Zoey swiftly turned around and exited the room.
Her first day had gone by without any problems. She wondered if tomorrow or the days that would come after would be the same.
Hey! I'm alive and I'm sorry I was gone for some time.
Busy days lie ahead!
Well, here's chapter 46
I struggled a bit with this but now all is good :)
We're are nearing the end of their 5th year!
Wonder what happens next?
~ mystery ~
Anyway, thank you all for your reviews and the like they are all very much appreciated!
Sorry for any typos because I don't have the time to read this over. Sorry D:
This chapter's a little bit shorter than the last... sorry about that also.
Wow, I'm very apologetic today... tonight... depends on the time zone...
Well, stay tuned for the next chapter which will hopefully be coming soon! :D
Don't forget to review and the like!
I only own what I own!
