"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
– Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Chapter 72: Privileges of a Death Eater Spy
It was night in the Wizarding world and everyone was asleep, even those in 12 Grimmauld Place. The night was calm and the moon was up. The air was filled with the soft snores and mutterings of those asleep. Everyone was dreaming, even Zoey. The Emeraude turned in her bed and hugged the pillow beside her. Zoey was the type of person who could not sleep with only one pillow. She was also the type to move around in her bed, especially when she was dreaming. Which she was doing right now.
Zoey was no longer in a dark room nor did she see a light at the end of a tunnel. No, she was not in that sort of dream. This was a different dream, one that she had not yet had. The Hufflepuff looked around. She was not in a dark room, no, the area she was in was fully lit and was outdoors. She didn't feel trap, she felt free. There was no tunnel in sight as well, just trees and flowers that went to the farthest of distances. The weather was fair and the breeze was soft, the ground was grassy and the air was fresh.
Zoey was in a meadow.
A big meadow.
A meadow that her subconscious created.
It was perfect.
Zoey bit her lip. This place, it was perfect and pure. Untouched by the horrors of reality, the dangerous of the outside world. It was just, there, left alone, innocent, and unaware of the nightmares that surround it. It just was.
It just was what Zoey hated.
She hated perfection and that was what the meadow was.
Why didn't she destroy it? She hated everything perfect? Destroying the meadow would be easy, pulling out flowers and chopping the trees would be no big deal for her, especially if she had her wand.
Zoey looked down. She didn't have her wand, nor did she have shoes.
The Emeraude was dressed in a white tube dress that went down to her knees; she had a black ribbon in the middle, the bow at the back. Her hair was down and curled slightly at the tips with small white flowers decorating the top of her head. Zoey plucked out one of them and stared at it oddly before letting it go and watching it fly away with the breeze. She turned her head; she had her wings out… only they were smaller than before, much smaller. Zoey was confused. Where was she? Why was she here? Why was she dressed like this? What happened to her wings?
Many questions circled her mind until she saw a figure in the distance. That caused her mind to shut up.
"W – Who's there?" Zoey managed to choke out. She hadn't spoken at all till that moment.
"I am," the figure responded, continuing to trudge towards her. Zoey raised a brow, like that made anything easier.
The figure was tall, that was all Zoey could tell until it got close enough for her to distinguish facial features. It was a boy and he was no older than she was. The boy was quite good – looking in Zoey's opinion, she wasn't going to lie, and he had chiseled features with light brown hair and gray eyes. Zoey gasped.
"Hey," the boy greeted.
Zoey liked her lips. "Hey," she managed to breath out; still shocked at the person in front of her, "Cedric?" she began, "Am I dead?"
Cedric gave a chuckle. "No, Why would you think that?"
"Well… first of all…. I have wings, making me look like an angel and second of all… this place kinda looks like the description of heaven; peaceful and all except we aren't on clouds or in the sky. Just here… in this meadow… Why are we in a meadow?" Zoey tug her feet into the grassy ground.
"No third of all?"
"What would be the third?" Zoey asked, "Aren't being in a heaven like place and looking like an angel implying that I am dead?"
"How about me being here?" Cedric raised a brow.
Zoey looked down. "Oh… that too"
Silence came. The wind blew and Zoey brought her hand to her hair, keeping it away from her face and at the same time messing it up. She made a face when the breeze ceased and her hair was a mess. So much for looking angelic. Cedric looked down at his fellow Hufflepuff and laughed at her expression, plucking out one of the white flowers in her hair and twirling it in his hand. Zoey looked up at him.
"Where is this place?" she asked, "I mean… you're here but it isn't heaven and I'm not dead and we can't be on earth because once again… you're here, no offense"
"None taken," Cedric threw the flower and it was, too, brought away by the wind, "And to answer your question…. We're in a meadow"
"I know that," Zoey rolled her eyes, laughing, "Where is this meadow?"
"Wherever you want it to be. You made it," Cedric shrugged.
Zoey furrowed her brows and looked around the meadow once more. It was still perfect and heavenly looking. "Can't imagine why I would make such a place and want to stay in it too, especially with you"
"Ouch," Cedric placed a hand over his heart in a joking manner.
"Not what I meant," Zoey laughed, "It's just that… I would rather talk to you by a fireplace you know. In the Hufflepuff Common Room like old times, where nothing's changed"
"Change is good," Cedric said
"But it isn't easy," Zoey smiled, "I liked things better before"
Cedric returned the smile. "As you wish," he then snapped his fingers and the scenery changed. Zoey watched as the trees and flowers disappeared slowly and where replaced by familiar wall and the sky was soon covered by a roof and the grass below her changed into a rug, a rug Zoey knew so well.
Zoey's feet were no longer bare for her school shoes and her legs; her yellow legwarmers now covered them. Zoey felt her wings disappear into her back, oddly without pain, and her Hogwarts Uniform, the Hufflepuff Crest on her chest, soon replaced the white dress. Zoey blinked her eyes several times when her circular glasses appeared at the bridge of her nose, she pushed them further up and the flowers in her hair slowly faded into nothing as her hair changed itself into her classic messy bun. Zoey then turned to Cedric. He, too, wore his Hogwarts Uniform.
"Is this how you remembered it? Is it like before?" Cedric asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking around with an almost far off look in his eyes. He would never get a chance to stay in this room again; it just wasn't possible.
"Yes, only… there's one thing missing," Zoey said, taking Cedric's hand as she saw the look in his eye, she brought him closer to the fireplace.
"Really?" Cedric looked at her, "What did I miss?"
Zoey pointed at the fireplace. "There should be something in there, do you know?"
"Of course," Cedric laughed and snapped his fingers once more, a fire burning on the logs soon after. He then watched as Zoey sighed happily, crossed her legs and sat down on the rug, in front of the fire and staring into it, watching the crackling flames. He soon followed after.
A comfortable silence then washed over them. The only sounds heard were the crackling of the fire and their breathing. Both lost in their own thoughts. Zoey brought her knees to her chest and placed her chin on them, thinking about everything that has happened these passed few months, Cedric's death, her latest torture, telling her secrets, her dream, Fred and now this. She really wondered why these certain things happened to her and vaguely asked herself if things like these happened to other people as well. Maybe.
Cedric was the one who broke the silence.
"Is there something troubling you?" he asked.
"Why are you quoting lines you've said before?" Zoey let out a laugh, "It's nothing. Just had a lot of thoughts in my head."
"I could ask you the same thing," Cedric laughed as well, "But sadly, the self – quotes comes to an end here. I don't think it's one o' clock in the morning right now"
"What time is it anyway?"
Cedric shrugged. "It could be anytime you want –"
"I made this place and I can make the time," Zoey ended.
"You catch on quick," Cedric grinned, "So, really, what's troubling you?"
Zoey shook her head and looked back into the fire, furrowing her brows. What was really troubling her? Was it the fact that she was once again conversing to her lost friend like nothing happened or was it the things that happened to her so far? Maybe a little bit of both and maybe there was more. She closed her eyes.
"So why didn't you say what you truly felt to Fred?" Cedric suddenly asked, calmly looking into the fire. Zoey's eyes instantly snapped open.
"H – how… how do you know about that?" she asked him, a little freaked out.
Cedric simply gave her a look. "The same way I know about your wings," he told her, "But we aren't talking about why you're part turkey just yet"
"Bridgit said I was part chicken"
"That could work too," Cedric laughed earning a swat from Zoey, "Alright, I'm sorry but seriously… why didn't you tell Fred you love him?"
"Are you my counselor now?" Zoey mumbled, looking back into the fire, she played with her sleeves.
"More or less, yes," Cedric said, "I'm not going to push you to answering something you don't want to but just so you know, it's just the two of us here. No one would be able to hear you or judge you except for me," he paused, "And never have I once judged you now have I?"
"You called me perfect once," Zoey looked at him.
"That's different. I meant it in a good way," Cedric told her, "But if you thought different, I'm sorry. I was just trying to help you"
Zoey slowly nodded her head. "You always help me"
"And I'm trying to help you now," Cedric smiled, "So, will you let me?"
"If you be a good girl and follow these instructions you'll be fine in no time. The kind of sickness you have is something that could affect your way of viewing things and interacting. We don't want that now do we? You may not see anything wrong with you now but in time, it will start to show," the healer told her, "So if you start taking those pills now, you don't have to worry about your future. You can have friends, a normal job, and children. Ah! Especially children. That kind of sickness could affect your child birth you know"
Zoey blinked several times before another memory came to her mind.
"I said 'if we ever' Zoe, besides I wouldn't think of having a kid with anyone else," Fred answered, still with a calm tone.
"I'm sick," she told Cedric.
"Sick of what?"
"Not that kind of sick," Zoey shook her head, "I'm sick as in there's something wrong with me and I should take some kind of medicine to make me better"
Cedric nodded. "What kind of sickness?"
"It doesn't have a name, it isn't that common… or it has a name and I don't know it. Both are probable," The Emeraude gave a sigh. "The nurse… I was sent to the hospital when I was ten but no one said if I got the sickness recently or not, could have had it all along and it just took a drastic effect then…Moving on, the nurse told me it would affect the way I view things and my interacting, but I think it goes deeper than that. I'm not sure but… I just feel like there's more to the sickness. She told me if I kept taking the medicine I would be fine." She explained.
"What's the medicine?"
"Auctor Sanitatis," Zoey looked back into the fire.
"So, do you take it?"
"No…" Zoey looked away.
"Zoey!" Cedric's eyes widened, "Why – What – How come you don't take it?"
The Emeraude looked back at Cedric but didn't look him in the eyes, though it appeared that way, she just focused her vision to his eyebrow. She took a deep breath, searching for the correct words to say. Her mind was chaotic, billions of things running around, the truth, the vague truth, the lies and much more. She knew that, from what Cedric had told her, she created this world and the only people in it were Cedric and herself, no one would hear her answer and no one would judge her, just like what Cedric had said. Then why was she still thinking about it? Why didn't she take it?
Zoey opened her mouth the respond but then closed it soon after. She repeated the action several more times till she decided against it and instead looked back into the fire to think. She really did love looking into the fire at the dead of night. It was fun, peaceful even. Just watching the crackling fire, dancing flames, Zoey felt relaxed. The shadows that was made, eerie yet calming. It was a strange kind of love, appreciation, but Zoey understood it. It was odd but it was her. That's how she liked it.
"I don't take it because…because…" Zoey didn't continue, instead she changed the topic, "So tell me, what have you been doing?"
"What?" Cedric spluttered out, shocked.
"Well, I finally get to see you again and in not some sad flashback," to this, Cedric's brows shot up in confusion as to which Zoey ignored, "So, I really want to know what's been happening on your side of the conversation. You know? All we've been talking about is me, Fred and me. It's getting boring and repetitive."
Cedric didn't say anything. He simply just stared at her, trying to read her. When he couldn't, he gave a sigh and gave in. Maybe next time, he thought before straightening up and smiling.
"Well, there was this one thing that happened to me and it really gave me a shock," he began.
Zoey blinked her eyes several times as she woke up to a new day. It was silent in the room and she guessed Echo had already gone down for breakfast, she wasn't sure though, all Zoey was looking at was the wall. She blinked her eyes once more before turning in her bed and looking over to Echo's, the blanket was now pushed away from the pillows, signifying that Echo had pushed them off before leaving the room. Zoey sighed. How long has she been asleep? The Emeraude groggily got up from bed and scratched her head, her bed – head hair flopping to her face. The girl blew her hair away only to have it come back, she brushed it away.
She was not a morning person.
Zoey then slowly got up from her bed and stretched before heading of to her closest and grabbing some of her clothes and walking out of the room, with her wand already in hand, and to the bathroom where she did her morning duties. Washing her face, dressing up and the like. No need for details. Zoey then threw her clothes into the hamper before looking into the mirror once more, studying her face. She really did admire her gray eyes. IN her opinion, it was the only thing worth looking at in her entire being seeing as her skin tone was normal and her hair was simply long and brown but her eyes, they were different. They were her father's.
I wonder, Zoey began to think as she brought the tip of her wand to the side of her eye and casted a simple spell, a spell that she read from a book she borrowed from a fellow Hufflepuff all those years ago, and glittery brown swirls shot out from her wand, going to her eyes. Zoey blinked several times and dropped her wand, going to the sink to wash her face. The girl squeezed her eyes shut for a couple of seconds before reopening them and looking back to the mirror.
Her eyes were brown.
Not just any kind of brown though.
It was the same kind of brown as her mothers.
Zoey then looked over to the hairbrush and hair ties sitting over near the sink and picked them up. They belonged to either Hermione of Ginny, most like the Weasley. What if? Zoey asked as she began to brush her hair, fixing it so that her bangs carefully fell right over her right eyebrow, away from her eyes, and took hold of the hair tie next, getting a portion of her hair and making a small braid. When the 'make over' process was finished, Zoey gave a nod at her reflection, and left the bathroom, turning off the lights as she went.
She wondered how everyone would react.
The moment Zoey left, the first person she encountered wasn't a person at all. In fact, she had never seen this creature before, but by the reaction it made, he had seen her before. Or what it thought was 'her'.
The creature that stood in front of Zoey was obviously smaller than she was, standing at about two to three feet high, and had large bat like ears and bloodshot eyes. It also looked very grumpy and from the movements of its lips, it was muttering things to itself. The words that Zoey was able to hear were.
"Kreacher is seeing things. The Noble House of my mistress is polluted with the presence of mudbloods and blood traitors that Kreacher is beginning to see who has passed," It, Kreacher muttered before walking away from Zoey.
"W – wait!" Zoey suddenly said, curious about the house elf she had just seen.
Kreacher turned around, scrutinizing Zoey. Zoey flinched.
"The friend of Master Regulus is talking to Kreacher. Oh, what would Master Regulus say when he found out Kreacher was conversing with his friend?" Kreacher paused, then glared at Zoey, "Wait, this is not Master Regulus' friend, Mistress Lucy. Mistress Lucy never wore horrid things to shield her eyes. What would Master Regulus say when he found out Kreacher mistook his friend with this blood traitor"
Zoey felt like she was just stabbed. The house elf was old, mumbled almost everything he had just said to himself, and seemed like a nutter but Zoey still took his words to heart. He had mentioned her mother and her deceased Uncle. Zoey wanted to find out more.
"Y – you mentioned my mother… and my Uncle, Regulus was it?" Zoey began awkwardly, "Could you tell me more about them?"
"You're the daughter of the blood traitor who broke my mistress' heart," Kreacher said nastily, "What would mistress say if she found out Kreacher was talking with you. Oh, mistress would have my head"
"But your mistress is no longer alive," Zoey bit her lip soon after the words left her mouth. Kreacher's glare hardened and with his bloodshot eyes, he looked even scarier.
"The blood traitor's brat has disrespected Kreacher's mistress, just like her father," he said nastily, "Kreacher always wondered why Master Regulus was so found of you"
And with that the house elf disapparated.
Zoey's face fell when she watched the house elf leave. She had offended him, more like she had offended his mistress, her grandmother, and she felt guilty. She was just about to go looking for him when soft thumps on the stairs interrupted her. It was Harry. He looked at her with the surprise before a smile grazed his lips, Zoey smiled in return.
"Mrs. Weasley sent me up her to wake you up, seeing as Echo is busy eating, Bridgit discussing things with Mr. Weasley, Hermione and Ginny cleaning the living room and all," Harry explained unnecessarily, "Lunch is ready… well, for you seeing as we all ate already"
"Lunch?" Zoey's eyes widened, "How long was I asleep?"
"Seeing as lunch for the rest of us is over, a very long time," Harry gave a soft laugh. Zoey raised her brow at him.
"You look different today, Harry," she began, "Like something had just happened." Before Harry could say anything, Zoey's eyes widened with realization and she slapped her forehead. "Your hearing was today and I slept right through it! What happened were you expelled?"
"Nope," Harry told her, "And please don't ask for details. I'm just glad it's all over"
"I wasn't going to," Zoey laughed, relieved that her god brother was still going to be studying at Hogwarts, "Besides, Bridgit would most likely tell me"
"Of course," Harry said and was caught by surprise when Zoey enveloped him into a hug. He returned it and patted her back when several minutes had already passed.
"I'm so glad you didn't get expelled," Zoey grinned at him before taking his hand and leading him downstairs to the kitchen before taking her seat and watching as Harry took a seat with Ron and Hermione, who had already finished cleaning the living room by then.
The occupants of the kitchen were just Zoey, the Golden Trio and Ginny, Mrs. Weasley had just came to give Zoey her lunch before retreating back to do the dishes and such. Zoey happily ate her meal while listening to the other's talk. She had guessed that Fred and George were up in their room inventing stuff, Echo in the library and Bridgit working somewhere that Zoey didn't know. The Emeraude drank her milk and swallowed it all just in time to see her godmother enter the room, much to her, Zoey's, relief that she had already finished her beverage.
Natalie greeted everyone, and even took a fruit from the fruit basket as she did so, with a smile but the smile soon washed away when her eyes landed on Zoey. Natalie's expression changed from happy, to shock, to worry and lastly to fear in a blink of an eye. Zoey raised her brow at her, wondering what she would do now seeing as she caused a lot of chaos involving her already but what she didn't expect was a frightened scream from Natalie which made everyone jump in their seats and Remus burst through the door.
"Nat, what's wrong?" Remus asked, seeing the terrified girl. Natalie raised her hand and pointed it to Zoey, who in turn was perfectly confused.
"Sh – She's back!" Natalie cried out, "I thought the visions had left but now their coming back!"
"Who's back?" Remus clearly had no idea what Natalie was talking about.
"Lucy! She's back! She's back! Why is she back? I thought…. She's dead! I'm seeing things!" Natalie cried, tears escaping her eyes, "She's coming back to haunt me!"
Remus had to hold Natalie up for she had collapsed into his arms in sobs. He looked back at the kids who were all confused and worried for Natalie. They had never seen her break down before; frankly they didn't think it was possible. "Make her go, Remus," Natalie said, "I don't want to suffer"
"What's happening to her?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice, looking over to Zoey, "I've never seen her like this"
"So have I," Zoey said worriedly, her attention focused at her godmother
"Lucy? Lucy isn't here, Natalie," Remus said before looking at the direction of which Natalie's shaky finger was pointing at. "That's Zoey"
Natalie shook her head, tears steaming down her face. "That's not her! It's Lucy! Look at her eyes! Her eyes!" she wailed.
Remus shook his head and supported Natalie, and looked over to the kids. He gave them an apologetic look before stopping at Zoey; he saw her eyes and his face read realization. He gave her a 'please – understand' look before leaving the kitchen with Natalie in his arms. He needed to get her away from all this.
Zoey watched as her godfather and hysterical godmother left the kitchen, she was worried. The Emeraude swallowed a bit and looked around awkwardly, no one spoke, all looked at her as if expecting that she knew what had just happened.
"Zoey… what just happened?" Hermione asked after several had minutes passed. The question that everybody was wondering.
"I – I don't know," Zoey admitted.
"She was… saying something about your eyes," Ron then said, still in shock.
Ginny then gasped. "Why are your eyes brown, Zoey?"
At that, everyone looked to her and nodded in agreement. It had taken them that long to notice yet Natalie had noticed it in a blink of an eye. Zoey didn't answer their question right away. She simply looked down at her hands in wonder. Kreacher had thought she was her mother until he took note of her glasses. Natalie had ignored her glasses and instantly claimed that Zoey was indeed her own mother. Zoey wondered if they really did look a like to the extent that a simple eye – color-changing spell would leave people confused.
"I… made them brown," Zoey said before bringing out her wand, "Bad idea I guess"
"Why did you change them?" Harry asked, watching as Zoey brought her wand to her eyes.
"I don't really now," and with that she changed them back to gray, "Can we get off that topic first?"
The Golden Trio and Ginny agreed. Natalie gave them such a fright that they didn't want to talk about what had just happened, not yet.
"I'm sorry, but I was just wondering about Natalie and Lupin's relationship," Ginny began, the pair were oddly close but never had she, or anyone else, seen them do anything relationship – y.
Zoey raised a brow and tilted her head a bit to the side, her eyes stung a bit from the spell. "They're friends," she told Ginny like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Just friends?" Hermione sounded interested as well. Zoey looked over to Harry and Ron and saw them roll their eyes, girl talk – not their thing.
"Well, from what've read… they used to be together but decided against it," Zoey said, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Read?" Hermione asked.
My mum had several diary entries about them. Zoey answered her in her mind before smiling in real life. "I like them better as friends," she said before standing up from her chair. "Do you happen to know where Bridgit is?"
"In her room," Ginny responded, still not satisfied with Zoey's answer but let her leave anyway. Zoey smiled again in thanks and ruffled Harry's hair before leaving the kitchen. She passed by the living room, watching Remus comfort Natalie before heading upstairs and looking for Bridgit's room.
When Zoey finally found it, she didn't visit her often and mostly saw her in the kitchen now a days, she pushed the door open to reveal Bridgit sitting on her bed, a book in her hands. Bridgit had looked over from her book and greeted Zoey.
"Hey there Zee, what brings you to my room?" Bridgit said, marking her page and closing her book.
"Hi, uhm… I was wondering," Zoey began awkwardly, shutting the door behind her, "Harry says he isn't expelled"
"Yup he isn't, told him he should have more faith in my persuasiveness." Bridgit said, smirking.
Zoey smiled before swaying a bit, her hands playing nervously behind her. "Speaking of which… what happened?"
"Specific with details?" Bridgit asked.
"Details please," Zoey said
"Alright" Bridgit now said, sitting up and getting more comfortable.
It all began when Harry, Mr. Weasley, and Bridgit were all walking towards the Ministry of Magic.
"Do you think I'll get expelled?" Harry asked, turning towards Bridgit.
"Nope, I don't think so," Bridgit answered, offering him a smile.
"How are you so sure?" He pushed, getting nervous.
"Just trust me Harry." Bridgit then said, ruffling his hair. Harry didn't seem to be comfortable though. Bridgit sighed and decided to try to help him out.
"So...tell me about Cho," Bridgit said, noticing Harry's reddening cheeks.
"What's there to tell?" Harry asked, making Bridgit laugh
"Seriously? We all know you like her you know," Bridgit answered, smirking as Harry grew just a tad bit redder. "Are you planning to make a move on her?"
"I don't know," Harry answered, sighing. "She seems so torn up about Cedric, that I don't think she's ready to start anything new," He continued.
"Between you and me, I actually didn't think she and Cedric would work out," Bridgit whispered, making Harry's eyes widen. "I mean, she's just too...I don't know, Cho?" Bridgit tried to explain.
"Huh?" Harry asked, confused.
"Okay, take it this way...Zoey was more torn up about Cedric than Cho, do you think that's normal?" Bridgit answered, while Harry shook his head.
"I guess not," Harry answered, and Bridgit was about to say more but they had already reached their destination.
"A payphone?" Harry asked, staring at the red payphone cubicle.
"Yes, fascinating aren't they." Mr. Weasley answered, opening the door and ushering the two younger kids inside.
"I guess you can say that." Bridgit said, Harry and her sharing a small laugh.
"Let me just take out my muggle money..." Mr. Weasley said, now digging into his pocket. When he took out a few coins from his pocket, he put them in the coin slot and picked up the phone. The booth suddenly began to move.
The booth began to sink down like an elevator. When they reached the ground, Mr. Weasley opened the door and the three of them got out. The booth then headed back up.
Harry looked around and saw people Apparating and using the floo network to get to the ministry.
"It's so crowded." He said, as he saw the crowd gathering up ahead.
"This isn't even a busy day yet." Mr. Weasley answered, leading them towards the elevator. When they got on, Harry and Bridgit noticed the flying notes that accompanied them.
"They used to be owls, but they had a problem with the smell." Bridgit whispered, making Harry smile.
"I could imagine the owls just doing that on another person's head." Harry said, as the door of the elevator closed.
"Good morning Kingsley." They heard Mr. Weasley say, making Bridgit and Harry turn to him and greet him as well. He waved at them before getting off.
"Where are we going exactly?" Harry asked, looking as people got off of the elevator.
"Department of Mysteries." Mr. Weasley answered, ad the elevator stopped on the designated floor.
The three of them continued to walk straight through the department, heading towards the trial room. As they were walking, they heard a familiar voice making them turn towards the man talking. It was Lucius Malfoy.
Lucius stared back at them, and Harry noticed his eyes lingering on Bridgit. He looked towards Bridgit, not making it obvious, and saw her nod her head. As Lucius began to talk to the person with him once again, they continued on.
"What was that about?" Harry asked, turning to Bridgit.
"I'll tell you later." Bridgit answered, for they now reached the trial room.
"By the way, I forgot to remind the two of you that the trial has been moved." Mr. Weasley said, catching the two younger's attention.
"To when?" Bridgit asked, looking at the clock. They had a good two hours before the trial.
"Now" He answered, making Bridgit's eyes go wide.
"Those sneaky bastards." Bridgit said, making Harry turn to her with a look of curiosity.
"They moved up the time so that Dumbledore won't be able to make it." She answered, and she noticed Harry get uneasy once again. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll still come." She said, reassuring the fifteen year old. It worked...a bit.
As they entered the trial room, Harry saw the members of the ministry, with the Minister of Magic, gathered wearing red and black robes.
They had on what seemed to be togas, which was pretty comical. They looked like a graduating batch of students in the muggle eye.
Old students of course.
"I'll be leaving you two here now." Mr. Weasley said, for he was not allowed to stay during the trial. Bridgit and Harry thanked him and took their seat in the place assigned. The minister's glare was plastered on them.
"I wonder what's got his knickers in a twist." Bridgit said, Harry letting out a soft smile.
"Maybe he's afraid I'll start shouting out 'claims' again." Harry answered, now making Bridgit laugh.
"Yes, well if you do plan to shout a 'claim' please do tell me so that I can run out and shout it with you." She retorted and the two of them shared a laugh once again.
"Mr. Potter" Fudge called, making Harry and Bridgit face them. All eyes were on them, Harry to be specific. "Do you know why you're here?" Fudge now asked.
"I was told that I'm here because I used under aged magic." Harry answered, trying to be respectful. He was nervous though.
"Yes, and do you know the consequences of your actions?" Fudge continued to ask, Bridgit just rolling her eyes.
"Expulsion apparently" Harry answered.
"Yes, you are right once again." Fudge said again. "So tell me Mr. Potter why must we not expel you from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Ministry?"
"Well I..." Harry was about to talk, when someone suddenly entered the room.
"Sorry I'm late, but there seemed to be a mix up in the notification." The person said, it was Dumbledore.'
"Well, we'll make sure that, uhm...that never happens again." Fudge said, his voice taking on an edge. He was nervous and intimidated by Dumbledore. Who wouldn't be?
"As for your former question Minister, we have someone here who can speak in behalf of Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said, and a woman appeared from the door.
"Who's that?" Bridgit asked, whispering to Harry.
"Mrs. Figg." Harry answered. "She was my baby sitter, and she was there when Dudley and I were attacked by the Dementors." He continued.
"Who may you be?" The minister asked, unprepared for any other witnesses.
"Arabella Doreen Figg" Dumbledore answered, as Mrs. Figg took her seat in the center of the room. All the members of the ministry now turned to her.
"So what did happen Mrs. Figg?" Fudge asked, as the lady began to explain.
"What else is there to explain? He was attacked by Dementors!" Bridgit suddenly called out, making the members turn to her.
"Excuse me, who are you?" A woman with sickeningly sweet voice asked. Bridgit cringed at the sound of it.
"My name is Bridgit Parker and I'm telling you that Harry was attacked by Dementors." She answered, the ministry members outraged,
"We all know that the Dementors are handled by the ministry." The woman, with the annoying voice, pink sweater, and irritating face, started. "So are you saying that the ministry had somehow something to do with this?" She finished, outrage in her voice.
"No, Ms. Parker is not suggesting that at all, but we must keep in mind that the Dementors are not only loyal to the ministry." Dumbledore now said, and the listeners began to get uneasy.
"Do you see the look on Fudge's face?" Bridgit asked, whispering to Harry. "He's so scared at the thought of Voldemort. He might have peed in his pants already." She continued, trying to loose the tense Harry.
"Let us just hear what your witness says." Fudge said, facing Mrs. Figg. "Please describe them." He finished.
"Well, there were two boys. One was big, and the other rather skinny..." She was saying, but Fudge had cut her off.
"Not the boys, the Dementors." He said, making Mrs. Figg.
"They were hooded figures." She began to explain. "They seemed to have sucked the happiness out of everything. And it suddenly had gotten very cold, as if everything died being near them." She finished, making Fudge nervous even more.
"This does not prove Mr. Potter's innocence however." The woman said again.
"Oh it's my turn." Bridgit said, as Harry watched her. She stood up and walked towards them. The members watched as she walked towards them. She flashed them all a smile that Harry found was mischievous rather than innocent.
"Yes, this does not prove Harry innocent." Bridgit said facing them directly. "But the fact the Mrs. Figg still was able to describe the Dementors, proving that they were indeed within the area." She continued.
"Now may you please explain why that is, if you have gotten them under control?" The members of the ministry immediately all got nervous at Bridgit's question. The reason was because they didn't know either.
"Ms. Parker, this is a subject for another matter." The Minister began, trying to avoid the topic. "Now please give me proof of Mr. Potter's innocence or he will be expelled."
"Forgive me, Minister, but as you wish." Bridgit said. Dumbledore walked up from behind Bridgit and took hold of her temples. Bridgit closed her eyes, and a cloud began to form around Bridgit's head. Something suddenly began to appear in the cloud that shocked Harry.
An image of a Dementor chasing Harry and Dudley appeared. Harry watched as the image played. It was exactly what happened that day. When the cloud began to fade away, Bridgit opened her eyes and smiled at the minister and the members.
"Proof enough?" She asked, shocking all of them.
"How did you obtain that memory?" The minister asked, and Harry would like to know the answer as well.
"It's because I was there when everything happened." Bridgit answered. "I'm a witness for a reason you know." She continued, flashing her mischievous smile once again.
As Bridgit made her way back to Harry, they didn't pay attention to the trial for a while because Harry wanted questions to be answered.
"Were you really there?" He asked, and Bridgit turned to him.
"Yeah," She answered. "I was"
"Why?" Harry asked her more.
"I was ordered to make sure that the Dementors were there to attack you and that they wouldn't stray from target." She then answered.
"But if your defending me, won't the Death Eaters and Voldemort know what your doing?" Harry asked, and Bridgit smirked.
"Don't worry I got that covered. I convinced Voldemort that if you were in Hogwarts it would be easier to attack you than from away from there," She began. "That's why I was allowed to show that memory and make sure to keep you from getting expelled."
"I can't believe you convinced him." Harry stated.
"I told you I was persuasive." Bridgit retorted, as they began to pay attention to the vote.
They watched as the people raised their hands, and smiled as they voted Harry to stay in Hogwarts. As Bridgit and Harry thanked Dumbledore and left the room, they met up with Mr. Weasley once again.
"Is that what you nodded about with Lucius Malfoy?" Harry asked, referring to the memory and Bridgit's supposed plan to get him killed.
"Yup" Bridgit answered.
"You have to teach me to persuade that way." Harry said. "Snape might actually give me a better grade."
"Well, it worked for me, but with your face I don't think it will for you." Bridgit answered, smirking.
"Yeah, you're probably right and… Wait! Did you just say you actually persuaded Snape into giving you a better grade?" Harry was shocked. That was the first time he heard of anyone doing that and succeeding.
"Yup, but don't tell Fred and George." Bridgit answered winking at him.
"Deal, but you seriously have to teach me how to do that." Harry answered as the two of them shook their hands in agreement
"Privileges of a Death Eater Spy," Zoey mumbled after Bridgit ended.
"Yes, well there are perks." Bridgit said, smirking.
"Persuasive skills," Zoey gave a small laugh, "At least it did some good" She then straightened her clothes. "Well, thanks for filling me in. I'm going to leave you to your book now"
"I am very persuasive!" Bridgit said laughing. "By the way, I'm giving you the heads up now, if Harry ever starts a favor with 'Do you mind me taking some of your time' he's trying to get you to do something he doesn't want to."
"Huh?" Zoey raised a brow
"I already taught him some of my persuasive skills, one of them being how to get others to do your homework for you." Bridgit answered. "So when he starts out anything with that line, that's what he wants you to do." She continued.
Zoey smiled and shook her head, of course she taught him some persuasive skills. She told Bridgit not to worry about, saying she wouldn't do his homework anyway and placed her hand on the doorknob, ready to leave when a thought passed her mind.
"Bridgit… don't be so hard on Cho," she began, "She… she's just… well you know"
"I know, but there's just something about her I don't like..." Bridgit said. "Maybe it was because she caused us that game against Gryffindor."
"But still," Zoey smiled, "Just try to be nicer and… if you didn't think they would work out then who will work out with Cedric?"
"Hmm...yeah I guess I should get to know her." She said, thinking about her suggestion. "Oh about Cedric? No one really, I thought they made a good couple, I was just trying to comfort Harry."
"Right," Zoey gave a laugh before swiftly leaving the room so that the Ravenclaw can return to her book.
Zoey gave a sigh as she shut the door behind her and her eyes widened when she saw Harry standing not to far away from her. Her heart leaped to her throat and she swallowed hard, actually thinking that her heart was truly in her throat and swallowing would return it to its rightful place. Zoey smiled at him.
"Hullo, Harry," she greeted him, stepping away from the door, "Anything you need?"
"Well, yeah actually, Ron was asking… wait, what were you doing in there?" Harry raised a brow.
"Oh nothing," Zoey waved it off with a laugh, "What was Ron asking?"
"If you could help him with his little… predicament," Harry laughed a bit in the end making Zoey raise her brow at him.
The Emeraude squinted at him suspiciously before walking away from Bridgit's door and Harry followed her, they then proceeded to head downstairs. The pace they took was slow and Zoey didn't know why. When they had reached the stairs, Harry was leading they way and she, Zoey, was really curios as to why he was not walking faster. Wasn't Ron in need of assistance? If so, shouldn't they have gotten to him as soon as possible?
"Harry –" Zoey began but was interrupted by the boy – who – lived.
"Do you ever have odd recurring dreams?" Harry asked, "Like… I don't know…events happening to your life… you just end up dreaming about them over and over?"
"At times, yes," Zoey said, remembering the traumatizing night. She then shook her head. "Are the dreams troubling you Harry?"
Harry shook his head; he didn't want to tell her just yet. Maybe it was just happening to him because he was worried about something. He didn't know what that something was though. He stopped in front of his and Ron's door, a grin on his face.
"Well, he's in here," Harry said.
Zoey looked at him suspiciously once more before placing her hand on the doorknob, before twisting it though she paused when she heard laughter and struggling from inside the room. She quickly opened the door when she heard a rather loud thump from inside.
"What the –" Zoey couldn't even get the words out. She was dumbfounded. In the room were Hermione Ginny, Fred and George and Ron only, Ginny and Hermione were laughing on the bed with Fred and George standing and clutching onto their stomachs from too much laughter and their wands in their hands, Harry, who was standing behind her, was laughing as well. Zoey focused her gaze to Ron who was on the floor, his mouth gaped open but unmoving it was almost like he had an invisible apple in his mouth. His arms and legs her stiffly stuck together and he was struggling against the invisible binds.
He looked like a fish out of water.
Jumping around.
A twitching worm
He just looked comical.
Zoey bit her lip from laughing when Ron's hair turned to what looked like pink robes and his freckled replaced by different colored stars. He looked really angry but Zoey couldn't help but laugh as well.
Ron made and angry muffled sound, glaring at Zoey. It almost as if he was sending her a telepathic message saying "Help me!" Zoey bit her lip once more, trying to be the helpful one in the room. She then brought out her wand and was about to wave it when Ron's skin turned a turquoise color and then changed into lovely lavender.
"I – I'm sorry, R – Ron," Zoey said in between laughs, "b – but… ahahaha!"
"He looks like a mood – ring!" Hermione said, clutching onto her sides, watching Ron turn a vibrant blue and then yellow.
Ron made another muffled yell.
"Alright… alright," Zoey finally composed herself when Ron began to look like a ladybug. She firmly held her hand, snorting a bit from muffled laughter, before waving it. First she removed the invisible object in Ron's mouth as to which he said a rather nasty word to Fred and George, not that it affected them, and next she removed the binds.
"Thanks, Zoey," Ron sent a glare to his elder twin brothers who wore smirks. Ron looked down at his hands and saw that they had an abstract sort of pattern; he touched his head and felt the rope like texture of his hair. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Hmm? Oh, right," Zoey quickly hid something behind her back and waved her wand once more, returning Ron back to normal. When he was satisfied with his appearance he took the liberty to push Fred and George out of the room, locking the door.
"You do know, they could just Apparate back in, right?" Ginny pointed out, brushing her hair back.
"Shut up," Ron said, he had forgotten. He went towards his bed to sulk. Harry patted his friend's shoulder bit there was still a smile grazing his lips.
Zoey gave a small laugh and shake of her head before squeezing her eyes shut and Apparating out of the room; she figured Ron wouldn't appreciate it if she unlocked the door. When she reached her destination, she opened her eyes and let out a surprised gasp when she was face to face with Fred. She stumbled back a bit.
"So, what did you think?" Fred asked, helping his girlfriend regain balance.
"I think that was mean of you… both of you," Zoey said, seeing George standing at his brother's side.
"Come on, Zoey, you laughed," George grinned.
"You even took a picture of him!" Fred laughed, "How did you do that anyway?"
"How did you know?" Zoey raised a brow.
"I saw your glasses give a flash," Fred stated, "And you hid the photo behind your back," he then reached over and took the photo; he looked at it and gave a laugh. It was Ron with his abstract skin turning to that of a sick dragon's skin.
George looked at the photo and laughed. "Seems like we're rubbing of on you"
"Poor me," Zoey rolled her eyes before snatching the photo back and walking away from the twins.
Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out
I had some serious case of writer's block
I hope you all understand the pain of having writer's block
I would really LOVE the thank ZoomSkater14 for your help.
I really appreciate it!
Also, I would want to thank everyone who reviewed and the like.
I truly feel happy when I read them all, please keep them up :)
Well, it's very late right now and I'm dying to sleep so I don't have much more to say... Except for
I hope you enjoyed the chapter
Please tell me what you thought
Excuse my typos and the like (I didn't beta this anymore. Too tired. Please forgive me)
Don't forget to review and the like
Stay tuned for the next chapter
And
I only own what I own
