Author Notes: Sorry for the big break.
I will try my best to make up for it through this chapter – which I strongly believe is quite good, though I am still looking forward to your opinion.
The next few days were uneventful for Demelza, to say the least. Yes, there were those daily sprints and dives in the air on her broom in the evenings, and occasional letters from Romilda – more often than not poking her nose into her private matters. Then, there were numerous times her mother made her sit by her side on the bed and poke out the tiniest bits of information she knew about Harry Potter.
No matter how often Demelza made it more than clear she didn't quite enjoy these sessions of interrogation, her persistent mother showed no glimpses of budging.
"Is he good at Quidditch?"
"What does he like to do in his free time?"
"How often does he visit you?"
It was only on one fateful evening that Demelza found herself sitting on a cosy brown-coloured wooden chair in their huge grassy backyard that something meaningful happened to her dull life since her return from Hogwarts.
The dark sky was clear, and was showing off the bright of the countless twinkling stars resting in its belly when a loud rowdy voice shrieked into her ear.
"DEMELZA!"
Demelza toppled down from her chair under the volume of her father's voice. Grabbing hold of one of its arms – the sturdier one, Demelza slowly lifted herself from the pointed grasses poking her all over the skin.
"What is it, Dad?" She asked indignantly, rubbing off a particularly big colony of grass taking refuge on top of her head. Her dad could be so annoying sometimes…
Her dad, for reasons best known to himself, did not look the least interested in the fact that he had just incurred his daughter's annoyance. "Do you know what it is?" He said excitedly, his face shining with anticipation of that of a four-year old kid.
Demelza shook her head. "No. That's why you came to tell me, didn't you?" She teased. Being with Harry had its benefits – not the least of which was learning how to give sharp, sarcastic replies to plain folks like her dad.
"Get ready in fifteen minutes. We're going out."
Demelza frowned. As hard as she tried, she couldn't remember her dad mentioning anything about going out. "Where?"
"We don't have time."
"Dad!" She snapped. "Where the hell are we going?"
"You'll see." He answered. Demelza was by no means satisfied by that response.
"But-" Her dad scampered back into the house like a naughty tiny mouse before Demelza could rebel against her father's regime of hiding information. She didn't move an inch but kept staring at the house with thoughtful eyes for what seemed like ages. Where were they going?
"Demelza!" This time, it was her mother's screeching that woke her to her senses. "Stop gaping around and get ready if you want to meet Harry!"
Demelza felt her heart refusing to beat anymore. What did her mother just say?!
"Mum! Mum!" Demelza cried like an oversized baby right in front of the floo. Her voice was clogged with excitement, and her feet were barely obeying her orders not to dance in exhilaration. "Is it true?"
"Yes dear." Her mother smiled warmly at her, though from her gaze, Demelza could tell what she was actually doing was checking out her face. Even though her dad had made it very clear that they were running short of time, Demelza had wriggled out the time to dress up fancily. A long silk blue gown was the thing that caught her eyes, and her feet – which were now on the verge of leaving the floor below in a huge jump of joy – were armed with elegant silver heels – the best footwear she possessed.
"I can't believe it!" She squeaked out into the air, hiding her gleeful face with her soft petite hands. "This can't be true. Please tell me it's a prank."
"No, it isn't." A voice behind her declared firmly. "And if you are done showing-off how excited and happy you are to see Harry, we can start on our way." Her father said with nothing more than a hint of a smirk on his lips – a sight which made a soft blush creep upto Demelza's cheeks.
"Let's go, then." She whispered, looking down at her feet – supposedly giving her heels one last look of consideration but in reality, trying to escape her father's smug look.
"You go first." Her mother offered, patting her on the shoulder. "We'll follow."
"Why?" Demelza frowned. Her parents never sent her before them no matter the place. "What is special this time?"
Something strange happened. Her mother looked to her dad for an answer. Demelza was just quick enough to turn around to see her father giving the slightest of nods to her. Her mother gulped before replying, "It's because we're going to Harry's place. I know how much you are dying to see him."
"Thanks." She said to her father a few seconds later, who had shown the generosity to pour some floo powder on her palm. "What should I say?"
"I'm surprised Harry hasn't given you his address." Her father taunted.
"Aren't we running late?" Demelza countered.
"Okay. Okay. It's 5 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey."
"Is it Harry's house?"
"Of course, not." Her father said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "His aunt and uncle are Muggles. For obvious reasons, there's no floo network at his house."
"Then where are we going?" She asked curiously. Seeing Harry's house with her own eyes was one of the many things she had been looking forward to in the last few minutes.
"It's a house near his house. Someone called Mrs. Squib, I guess." Her father said thoughtfully.
"I think I've heard the name somewhere."
"Yes. She was a witness to the trial Harry had to face for using underage magic. The Patronus Charm, to be exact."
"Is she a Witch?" Demelza asked, but those words sounded stupid in her own head. Of course she was.
"No, she isn't." Her father answered, earning a surprised gasp and then a prolonged look of disbelief from his daughter. "She's a squib. Dumbledore had her posted to keep an eye on young Harry."
"By the way…" Demelza began on her way to the interior of the dry rusty fireplace. "Why exactly are we going?"
The prospect of getting an answer to that one was doomed the very next instant when her father's gaze landed on the wall clock on the opposite wall. His face turned pale, and he stuttered for a while. "Go now!" He bellowed after discovering he could speak. "Go! Quick! We don't have time. The floo will close at any moment, now."
Acknowledging the urgency of the situation and her impatience to see Harry after so many days – which was just a few days, really – Demelza entered the fireplace, her fists armed with the floo powder.
"5, Privet Drive, Little Whinging!" She shouted, loud and clearly. A strange blackness, some dizziness and the familiar sensation of being pushed down a narrow rubber tube ensued.
"Hello girl!" A soft motherly voice spoke up from somewhere above her face. Slowly opening her eyes, Demelza found herself face to face with grizzled grey fly away hair. A heavily wrinkled face was smiling down upon her from behind that hair, and a look below confirmed Demelza's suspicion of lying down on the floor.
"Did I… did I?"
"Pass out?" The woman finished for her. "Yes, dear. Right after you stumbled out of the fire. Not to worry. Probably happened because the floo network snapped shut right then."
"What?" Demelza asked, mortified, her mouth hanging wide open. "My parents? They didn't… didn't…"
"No, they couldn't make it." The old woman confirmed sadly. "I am afraid you should have started on your way a bit earlier, just to make sure something like this doesn't happen at the last moment."
Perhaps because of her certainty that the little girl on the floor was alright after all, the woman's gaze shifted towards the right.
"Some tea?" She offered kindly.
It took Demelza a few seconds to realize she was being spoken to. "No, no. Thank you so much."
To her immense confusion, the woman's face broke down into a wide beam. "That's so sweet of you, dear. By the way, I am Mrs. Figg. And you're… you must be… what was the name?"
"Demelza." She replied. "Demelza Robins."
"Oh yes!" Mrs. Figg exclaimed with wide eyes. "Silly of me to forget that, I would say." Saying that, she strode out of the room, leaving Demelza all alone.
By now, Demelza was back to her feet. Even as her eyes glazed over the various things in the room – from the beautiful china dishes adorning the brown table at the corner of the room to the tall pink lamp-post near the brass-knobbed door, her mind was embroiled in an endless alternation between berating herself for delaying entering the floo and wondering when she would get to meet Harry.
"I've known Harry since he was a kid." Mrs. Figg's voice pulled her out of her reverie. The eldery woman stumbled along to the other end of the room and sat down on a chair with a painful grunt.
"Well…" Demelza began uncertainly.
Mrs. Figg raised an eyebrow. "Well what?"
"Where can I find Harry?" The words came tumbling out of her mouth. By the end of it, Demelza was reduced to shutting her mouth with her hands. That was rather rude of her.
Mrs. Figg, on the other hand, looked unabashed, if the smile growing on face amidst the countless wrinkles was any indication. "Any time you like."
A deadly silence followed, made worse by Mrs. Figg continuing to smile at her. For some reason, Demelza got the funny feeling Mrs. Figg's stare was dead.
"Er… mam?" She squeaked out. "What is the way to Harry's house?"
"Don't worry, my dear." Mrs. Figg's voice was now barely a whisper. There was a strange ghostly green twinkle in her eyes. Demelza couldn't remember seeing that anytime before. Something was really really wrong, Demelza could smell it.
"I am not worried." Demelza consoled her. "All I am asking is the way to Harry's house."
"I need not tell you." She whispered, more like a snake than a human. "The Imperius would do its job."
Demelza couldn't believe her terrified ears even as she stood there, her feet glued to the floor, even as her brain protested that something should be done. Every single one of her instincts was telling her something was fishy. This couldn't be a trap… this just couldn't…
"IMPERIO!" Mrs. Figg shouted, now supported on the floor by her thin frail legs, waving her wand with a swiftness Demelza couldn't have expected of the old woman a few minutes earlier. Only the timely response of her feet propelled Demelza to her right, missing the curse by mere inches.
"I see you won't give up so easily, will you?" Mrs. Figg sneered, her eyes now positively drenched in green, the smile playing on her face looking outright evil. "But then, I shouldn't be surprised. You are Harry's girlfriend, after all. STUPEFY!" She screeched without any warning, her wand pointed right at her heart.
Demelza jumped to her left just in time to miss the curse shot from Mrs. Figg's hands. Crouching down to catch her breath, Demelza lost some precious moments, as the very next thing she heard was another curse.
"IMPERIO!"
Demelza closed her eyes, waiting for the impact – the sensation of being thrown into a sea of absolute bliss, but that didn't come. Instead, the sound of breaking glass rang loud and clear in both her ears, threatening to tear open her poor little eardrums. What was going on?
Demelza opened an eye to scan her surroundings, expecting to see Mrs. Figg laughing like a maniac. When no sight of that sort greeted her eyes, Demelza became a little bolder – just bold enough to open her other eye.
Her sight fell on Mrs. Figg's figure, collapsed to the ground, the wand still clutched in her tiny hands. Her horrible green eyes were wide open, staring right at her. Placing a hand on the floor, Demelza gently pushed herself up to her feet.
"Demelza!" A familiar voice squeaked from behind her. Half expecting to be attacked again, Demelza spun around on her toes to encounter none but Harry's best friends.
It was Hermione who took the first step. Marching forward to her, she clutched both her shoulders and started shaking them frantically.
"Are you alright?" She asked numerous times in a worried tone.
"I'm alright, Hermione." She answered, tolerating Hermione's insanity only because she thought it would be rude to shake her off.
"Just in time, I should say." Ronald's voice spoke up from behind. Out of the side of Hermione's bushy brown hair, Demelza caught sight of him, dressed in baggy brown clothes, hands inside the pockets of his dirty blue jeans. He was staring at the two of them with a blank, freckled face.
"How did.. how did…" Demelza tried asking once Hermione had decided Demelza wasn't going to drop dead any moment.
"We saw you and Mrs. Figg through the window." Hermione answered for her soothingly before her face turned pale. "I still can't believe that of Mrs. Figg. If I remember correctly, Dumbledore himself posted Mrs. Figg to keep an eye out for Harry. Moreover, the most bizarre thing is that I distinctly remember Harry telling us she was a Squib!"
"I think she was under the Imperius herself." Ronald answered. There was a brief pause which Hermione used to mull things over while Demelza pierced together the information.
"That still doesn't explain how a Squib can perform Magic."
"May be she was hiding the fact she was a Witch all along?" Ronald offered helpfully.
"I think Ronald's right." Demelza finally declared, eliciting a small smile from the red-haired boy.
"Why did she do such a thing?" Hermione asked, her face still mortified.
"I don't know. We can only guess."
Demelza put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath. "I was so scared. I felt like she would kill me any second."
Hermione nodded understandingly.
"Welcome to our world, where we get the feeling we're about to be killed every few days." Ron said cheerfully.
Hermione looked scandalized by those words. "Ron!" She squealed. "Can't you see she's scared?"
"Anyways Demelza…" Ronald laughed after Hermione had finished slapping him on the head. "I guess you are itching to see Harry."
Demelza nodded in agreement. Yes, she was itching to see Harry – her Harry.
"Harry!" She screeched into the hallway of the house next door when a pair of beautiful green eyes greeted her immediately on opening the door.
Harry didn't say a word, the first thing Demelza could make out on his face was surprise. After a few seconds of relentless gaping, he seemed to finally realize what she wanted. Stretching both his arms wide open, he beamed, inviting her for a hug. Demelza most happily complied.
"I missed you." She whispered into his ear without forgoing her claim onto his waist.
Harry's laughter ringed inside her ears. She had missed that so much. "I missed you more."
Demelza broke free of the embrace to stare right into those jovial eyes. "Can't you not be funny for just one moment?"
"I can, if you stop loving me for one moment." Harry replied with a smile. But Demelza barely took any note of that smile, however beautiful that was; she was too mesmerized in what Harry just said.
"Nicely phrased, Harry!" A loud voice announced from behind. Looking round Harry's head, her gaze fell on two tall, stout red-haired boys marching forward towards them. They looked exactly alike. Of course Demelza knew who they were – Fred and Geogre Weasley, renowned pranksters during their time at Hogwarts.
"I must say you are quite an expert in flirting with ladies, mate!" The other twin – Fred of Geogre, whoever it was, cheered.
"Not anyone." Harry smiled, putting an arm lovingly around her shoulder. "Just her and only her."
A brief silence followed, the only notable thing in that being that practically everyone was cracking a smile.
"She was attacked." A serious-looking Hermione muttered.
Demelza felt Harry's body visibly tense up. "Who was it?" He shouted into the air, as if all of it had been Hermione's fault.
"Mrs. Figg." Ronald answered. Harry tried opening his mouth, but Ronald cut in again. "Before you ask, we don't know why."
Demelza turned back to regard Harry, who was now immersed in some careful thinking. She didn't like that serious look on his face at all: it suited Hermione's face more.
"Chit-chat over, folks!" Another grumpy voice declared from one of the rooms. "We better hurry up."
"Come on." Harry said, pulling Demelza by the arm. "Or else we'll be late."
Demelza just smiled at him before following him into one of the rooms from which quite some hubhub was coming.
As it turned out, the source of that hubhub was nothing less than a plethora of various people present in that room. From the bouquet of people standing on its floor, she recognized Mad-Eye Moody, their supposed Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor in her second year – the possessor of the reputation of being a weirdo. Then, there was Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbaton's Champion for the Triwizard Tournament held three years earlier at Hogwarts.
"She's engaged to Ron's eldest brother, Bill." Harry explained her presence, noticing Demelza staring at the golden-haired tall girl.
"Now… now… boys." Mad-Eye groaned, to everyone in general but hurling a dirty look towards the Weasley Twins in particular, perhaps because he noticed them creating quite a commotion teasing Ron at one corner of the giant room.
"The first thing I wish to say is actually a question. What are you doing here, Demelza Robins?" His eye turned to prey her.
Demelza looked down at her feet, finding her mouth not complying to her need to speak. All she knew was that her parents had planned a visit to Harry's. She had no idea what her purpose was, or if there was a purpose at all, for that matter.
Being armed with no sniff of an explanation for her presence, Demelza merely grabbed hold of one of Harry's hands. The next moment, she fervently thanked herself for doing so, as Harry took charge on her behalf.
"I think we can discuss that later."
Mad-Eye didn't seem satisfied by that response. But now that everyone in the room seemed to have nodded their general agreement, the Auror settled with a loud groan.
"Though I would say she was under the Imperius herself." A deep voice said. As Demelza's sight travelled to the owner of that voice, her eyes grew wide. That was… that was… Professor Lupin. Widely acknowledged as the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher they ever had, Lupin was kicked out of the school for being a Werewolf. Demelza had no problem with that, but she was ashamed to admit her parents were one of those stupid bigoted parents who had pressurized Dumbledore to fire Lupin.
The man was barely like the Professor Demelza remembered from her First Year. His light brown hair had started on their journey to turn grey, and there were strange wrinkles all over his face. He looked much older and, for some unidentified cause, somewhat exhausted.
"That was what we thought as well!" Hermione declared from the other end of the room.
"ENOUGH!" Mad-Eye Moody bellowed. "Back to work, guys."
Shouting that, Moody started blabbing out what seemed like a plan to escape from the house. Demelza could understand there were Death-Eaters patrolling the area, but what didn't make sense to her was how they were going to escape with their bodies not ripped apart.
The entire time, she stood beside Harry, tightly clutching his hand by her side. She felt him giving her hand a squeeze now and then, but, for the most part, Harry's eyes were anchored to the conversation, his eyeballs carefully hanging onto every word escaping Moody's mouth.
Although once, Harry did let go of her hand to cover his hair protectively. Demelza couldn't understand why he did that.
"Harry." She whispered to him when it was clear Moody was finished explaining the plan and the others were busy drinking some kind of potion. "What did Mad-Eye say?"
Harry didn't smile when he turned to face her. "It's a plan to get us out of here."
"But you don't seem to be happy with it."
Harry grimaced. "No, I am not at all happy. It involves risking the others' lives for my sake."
Demelza gripped his wrist tightly. "I am sure all of us will be fine."
Harry laughed weakly at that. "I hope so. Though if it happens, it will be something right out of a fairy tale."
"Harry, come on. We can't afford to be late." Hagrid, their Gamekeeper, announced after coming right next to Harry.
"Are all of them ready?" Harry started, twirling about to face the crowd. Following his sight, Demelza turned about to see the most bizarre thing she had ever laid her eyes upon in her life.
Six other Harrys were standing side by side in the room. And for some reason, many previous occupants of the room seemed to have gone missing.
"Are they… are they?"
"Yes, they are Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Fleur." Harry said, his finger drifting off from one person to another. "It's Polyjuice."
"Now, Robins…" Mad-Eye said striding forward right up to her. "You'll be going with me and Mundungus Fletcher. So say Harry goodbye. You may not live to see him again.
Demelza was horrified, to say the least.
"Alastor!" Lupin scolded, a soft smile playing on his lips. "I am sure both of you will be just fine."
But looking at the surroundings, Demelza couldn't imagine the entire thing going pleasantly.
At this point, she had no idea that she was on the verge of one of the roughest rides in her life, quite literally.
Before the next chapter, I would like you to consider the following:
Do you want Demelza to be involved in adventures or do you want her to be at Hogwarts from where she gets occasional letters from Harry?
Do you want Ginny to be uncivil to Demelza, Harry and others… or do you want to see a nice character in her? Either way, it doesn't change the fact that she would be a minor character in the fanfic.
And one more thing, can you suggest a better review for the story? I originally wrote it as a one-shot by the name "Miracles Do Happen." Now that it's a full-fledged fanfic, there is really no strong reason to keep the title same. No suitable ideas for a name strike my mind. If it strikes yours, do let me know.
Do let me know what you want through reviews.
I appreciate your feedback. Actually, I am dying to see your reviews. Please do it. It means the world to me.
Thank you for your time and take care!