AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another double update tonight - be sure to read chapter 16 before this one! Also, two readers have asked what happened to Amelia, Freddie's friend/student from Whisper. Suffice to say she should be making an appearance eventually. ;)
~RPP
Freddie made her way into the castle and up the stairs to the 7th floor as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself. When she finally reached the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office she realized she didn't know the password. Dumbledore hadn't used one last night when they brought Snape upstairs. Freddie glanced at her watch. It was now 7:32 and she was officially late for her meeting with the headmaster.
All of a sudden the gargoyle sprang aside and Minerva McGonagall stepped down the stone staircase that led up to Dumbledore's office. The Transfiguration teacher stopped short and looked Freddie over, her lips slightly pursed in a somewhat disapproving look.
"Hello Professor McGonagall," Freddie greeted nervously, feeling like a student who'd just been caught out of bounds.
"Miss Gray," she acknowledged.
"Er, Professor Dumbledore is expecting me, ma'am. He sent a letter asking me to meet him here after dinner, but he didn't give me the password."
"Wait here please," McGonagall said and went back up the staircase. Freddie scowled slightly at her retreating form.
I'm not a student anymore and I haven't done anything wrong, there's no reason for her to look at me like that, she thought to herself. ...Maybe she knows about Severus and I. No doubt she disapproves. I don't know if he's told her though. They've always had a sort of weird competition/friendship between them.
"Go ahead in, Miss Gray," McGonagall said as she reappeared on the stairs. "The headmaster is waiting for you."
"Thank you, professor," she said, quickly shutting down any emotions that might be registering on her face. McGonagall pursed her lips again but said nothing as she walked on down the hall.
Freddie found the headmaster sitting at his desk with a quill in his hand, writing on a piece of parchment.
"I'll be with you in just a moment, Miss Gray," Dumbledore said without looking up. "I need to finish this letter quickly."
"Yes sir," Freddie said, looking around the headmaster's office curiously. There were large paintings of all the former headmasters and headmistresses along one wall. Most of them were ignoring her or pretending to be asleep in their frames. A few were empty, gone to their portraits that hung in another location.
She looked at the books and curios Dumbledore had on his shelves, not touching anything. Then her eyes fell on the magnificent scarlet bird that sat perched on a stand. He'd been so still when she'd entered that she hadn't noticed him at all, but he raised his head now and blinked at her.
"Hello gorgeous," she said softly, approaching the stand. She knew that Dumbledore had a phoenix, but she'd never seen him before. She didn't think he'd been there last night. She approached the bird slowly, wondering if it was possible to pet him. She eyed his razor sharp talons that gripped the perch and she knew they could be lethal. She decided not to try and touch him, but as if he had read her mind the bird let out a soft musical note and lowered his head towards Freddie. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath as she gently stroked the birds red and gold plumage. She hadn't realized how beautiful phoenixes really were. She'd never seen one before, though she'd used phoenix tears in potions on three different occasions. They were an almost impossible ingredient to come by and prohibitively expensive. Now she wondered if any of the tears she'd used had belonged to this bird.
Dumbledore got up from his desk, having finished his letter, and went over to the window where an owl was waiting. He tied the parchment to the owl's leg, then turned to Freddie.
"I am sorry for being so rude, that letter was rather urgent," he said with an apologetic smile.
"Oh don't worry about it. I understand," Freddie said absently. She still couldn't take her eyes off the phoenix.
"I see you've become acquainted with Fawkes," the headmaster said pleasantly.
"Fawkes," she repeated, still stroking the bird. "Nice to meet you Fawkes. I'm Freddie."
She knew she should probably feel foolish for introducing herself to a bird, but Dumbledore didn't seem to be judging her. He was smiling pleasantly as he waited for her to finish petting him. Fawkes let out another pleasant sound, then straightened up. He shook his feathers out slightly then began to preen.
"He's absolutely marvelous," Freddie said, finally turning to face the headmaster.
"He is indeed," he said, going to sit back at his desk. He gestured for Freddie to take a seat. "Fawkes has been my companion for many years now – not unlike your kneazle is to you, though Fawkes and I have been together quite a bit longer."
Ziggy had followed Freddie back to the castle, but he hadn't come up to the headmaster's office with her. She didn't know if he'd gone to play with Mrs Norris or if he was still sleeping off his shrimp feast from the Three Broomsticks.
"I'm sorry I was late, Professor Dumbledore. I know I said I'd be here at 7:30, but I got a little sidetracked and then I didn't know the password to get in."
"You're right on time, Miss Gray," he assured her. "Besides, it looks as though you've had a bit of a rough day."
Freddie was confused for a moment, then realized that her clothes were dirty and wrinkled from the few hits she'd taken in the Shrieking Shack and from crawling through the tunnel. She hadn't even considered changing her clothes. She felt a blush threaten her cheeks but quickly shut it down with her Occlumency.
"I'm sorry sir," she said, quickly smoothing her hair down with one hand. "I was practicing my dueling and I didn't realize I'd gotten so messy. No wonder Professor McGonagall looked at me funny."
"It's quite alright. One can never practice too much," he said cheerily. "Was Severus helping you?"
"No, sir, I haven't seen him since early this morning. It was my friend Ada."
"Ah, Miss Leroux."
"Yes, sir, she wanted the practice. She...well, ever since last night she's been talking about wanting to fight back. To do something to stop the Dark Lord. She's young, and I worry, but she's very passionate about it. I didn't tell her anything about the Order," she added quickly. "But I thought I would talk to you about it. Maybe she could be of some use somehow...like I hope to be."
"Adalene Leroux," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, folding his hands on his desk. "She's Muggleborn, isn't she?"
"Yes sir," she said, surprised that the headmaster would know that.
"I did extensive research on all the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students who came to put their name into the Goblet of Fire," he explained. "I know Madame Maxime discourages her students from discussing their blood status. She isn't prejudiced herself, you see, but there is still a lot of discrimination against Muggleborns in that region. There are a lot of people who think they shouldn't be allowed at Beauxbatons at all. Madame Maxime has dealt with a lot of dissension in that area during her tenure as Headmistress."
"That's unfortunate. I'm glad Ada was able to get in there," Freddie said. "Though I think she would have done much better at Hogwarts."
Dumbledore chuckled, his blue eyes twinkling as he smiled at her.
"As I recall Miss Leroux's academic record is particularly impressive. She had a bit of a rough start her first few years, then she began to excel beyond most of her classmates – not unlike yourself, Miss Gray."
"Oh no," Freddie said with a laugh. "She's way smarter than I am. She has a photographic memory – she can remember anything in any book she's ever read."
"I've heard about people with such abilities," he said with a nod.
"She's brilliant. I never would've had the skills to enter the Triwizard Tournament at her age. I know she didn't get chosen to participate in the actual event, but for her to have made it this far is really something. When I first met her she was a scrawny, scared little kid who still had trouble with her magic – and she still came in second in the International Potions Championship. And sir she doesn't even like potions. She's just that good."
"How did she perform in your duel?" he asked curiously.
"Oh quite well I thought. Her nonverbal spells need some work and her Occlumency isn't that great, but she's going to work on perfecting both skills. I'm going to help her."
"She graduates this year, right?"
"Yes sir. I'm going to try and work with her as much as I can the next few weeks, whenever I have the time. She has a job interview at the Ministry of Magic here in August and originally she planned to stay in London over the summer so we could spend time together. But after last night she said she wants to go home to France first to see her parents, to let them know what happened."
"If they subscribe to a wizarding newspaper the Lerouxs may already know before she returns. Fortunately Minister Allard is more open-minded than our own Mr Fudge," he said with a brief frown. "What department is Miss Leroux going to be working in?"
"Uh, I'm not sure. She didn't say and I didn't think to ask. Sorry."
"That's quite alright. I'll speak with Madame Maxime about her one day soon and, if she is willing, I'll arrange a meeting with Miss Leroux to determine if she'd be interested in joining the Order."
"That'd be great, thank you sir," Freddie said with a smile, but it was a bit forced. Deep down she was still worried about Ada. She really didn't want her to get hurt... Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled knowingly, though Freddie knew there was no way he could have read her mind. Not with Legilimency anyway.
"Severus was here earlier, imploring that I not allow you to join the Order of the Phoenix."
"He what?" she snorted in disbelief. "You didn't- don't listen to him, sir. Please. I'm 23 years old now, I speak for myself. I've made my decision."
"I told him as much," he said with a sad smile. "He begged me to place you in protective custody. To send you into hiding and not tell anyone where you were, even him."
"Yeah cuz that worked so well for Lily," Freddie said bitterly before she could stop herself. She quickly looked away but not before catching the look of deep sorrow on the old man's face.
"Lily and James put their trust in the wrong person, Miss Gray," he said remorsefully. "Had I known that they'd chosen Peter Pettigrew as their Secret Keeper, I would have advised them against it. The three of us had agreed that Sirius Black would be the Secret Keeper for their location. He was their best friend. Sirius and James were like brothers, he would never had betrayed them." Dumbledore shook his head slightly and sighed. "I should never have believed otherwise. I am embarrassed that I ever suspected Sirius. It wasn't until last year that I discovered the truth. Lily and James trusted the wrong person."
Freddie nodded but said nothing. She knew Snape didn't blame Dumbledore for not keeping Lily safe, but a part of her did. Why hadn't Dumbledore made himself the Secret Keeper? Maybe then Lily would still be alive...but then the Dark Lord wouldn't have been vanquished 13 years ago.
"If you are ever find yourself in a situation like that, be sure you choose someone who you trust with your whole heart," the headmaster continued. Freddie could only think of one person she trusted that much.
"Does he know I'm here?" she asked curiously.
"No, I did not tell Severus I was meeting with you tonight. You may tell him later if you wish."
"Okay," she said with a nod and glanced around the room. "So who was it you wanted me to meet?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Cliffhanger! Haha. Don't worry, the next chapter should be coming soon. In the meantime I'd like to ask for your thoughts on what Ada could do to help the Order? And Freddie as well? I have some ideas but they're all sort of half-baked at the moment. I need to go back and read the Order of the Phoenix again so I can try to figure out what the Order was doing between the end of the 4th book and when Harry joins them in OOTP. That's gonna take some time tho.
Any ideas in the meantime? I'd love to hear from y'all!
~RPP