"Jesus." I sat there, scratching my head at the end of Harry's story. "So you have some dark wizard and his gang just running around out there, plotting to kill you?" Harry nodded his head solemnly, fidgeting nervously with his fingers. I understood the severity of the situation entirely and I understood that from Harry's point of view it was life-altering and all-consuming. However, something inside myself just couldn't process the absolute ridiculousness of it all. I began to laugh.
Harry immediately tensed up and straightened his back up against the wall in a defensive position. I reassured him by putting my hand on his shoulder and making direct eye contact.
"Don't get me wrong, Harry. That sounds terrifying, but the fact that this powerful wizard was thwarted by an infant makes him kind of pathetic, don't you think?" I chuckled. "I mean, he kind of sounds like a pussy." For a moment, Harry sat still with his mouth agape. The second his mind registered what I said Harry began to laugh in a cathartic sort of of way. His shoulders bounced up and down, relieving the tension they held. I joined him happily, tears running down our faces.
"I guess when you say it out loud like that, he does sound like a right git, doesn't he?" Harry smiled to himself before his laughter slowly died away. With a curious glance at me he said, "Thank you for that. I haven't really laughed like that in a while."
"Well, a laugh is pretty much all I'm good for. So, I guess you're in luck." Harry watched as my face fell and a profound sadness took over. "Sometimes I think that I'm wasting my time. After all these years...she's probably dead. Or worse, she's alive and thriving without the burden of being a mother to me." The tear that escaped was loud and burning, sizzling down my cheek. Without hesitation, Harry placed a hand over mine, intently gazing into my eyes.
"You're not wasting your time...and I wish I could give you the answers. But I'm looking at you now and can't see any reason why anyone would ever leave you."
My breath hitched in my throat as my brain scrambled to search for the vocabulary needed to respond. I searched for them in the warmth of his hand, in the green of his eyes; but my mind drew a blank. It seemed as if ages passed as we sat like that, all courage gone in an instant. When I finally drew myself back from the shock of such sudden, overwhelming sweetness, I opened my mouth to speak. And was instantly interrupted by Harry's door slamming open.
"We interrupting something?" A gruff man with a creepy, wandering fake eye barged into the room. Alongside him stood a young woman with lavender hair and a large man with beautifully ornate robes. Harry and I sprang apart, staring abashedly away from each other. "Never mind. We need to go. Now." We quickly followed behind as the adults filtered out of the house.
"Where are we going? The letter said I've been expelled from Hogwarts." Harry questioned as he rushed to keep pace with the man he called Professor Moody.
"Well you haven't been. Not yet. Kingsley, you take point."
"The letter said-"
"Dumbledore has persuaded the Minister to suspend your expulsion, pending a formal hearing," Kingsley stated from behind.
"A hearing? Is that hardly necessary?" I nudged Harry slightly with a smirk. "You conveniently left out the part where you're a bad boy rebel, huh?" A bright flush hit Harry's cheeks as I stood to stand between him and Kingsley.
"Don't worry, Harry we'll explain everything when we get to Headquarters."
"SHHH! Not here, Nymphadora." Moody hushed her through clenched teeth. She turned to him and did something quite peculiar.
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" Her lavender hair turned a bright, fiery orange. With raised brows, I leaned over to make eye contact with her, shooting her a playful look. She briefly returned it, before turning her attention to the brooms that floated towards us.
"We weren't expecting you, but you can ride with Harry." I looked down confused, wondering how in the hell the broom could carry us both. Moody patted me hard on the back, encouraging me to step forward. I straddled the end of the broom behind Harry, lightly wrapping my arms around his middle.
"Oh you're going to want to hold tighter than that." Nymphadora winked over at us. I would be surprised if Harry didn't feel the harsh pulse of my heart against his back as we waited to leave.
"Stay in formation everyone. Don't break ranks if one of us is killed." My eyes grew as I stared at Moody wildly.
"What?!"
Without even a glance in my direction, Moody soared up into the night. The initial force of Harry kicking off the ground nearly broke my grip on him, but he quickly secured my arm to him until we reached a cruising altitude. The air was cool and furious as it whipped through my hair. We flew past city buildings and weaved around massive boats on the river. I couldn't help but scream with glee as the rush of adrenaline hit me. Harry laughed and intentionally flew in a vertical loop, earning a hard glare from Moody in disapproval.
In no time, we touched back down in front of a row of flats, as unassuming as ever. Moody stood in front, tapping the concrete thrice with his staff. And just like that, a building appeared as if it were always there. Harry and I shot a look at each other before stepping toward the gate.
"In you go, you two." We walked warily into the building and through a long, dark hallway covered in webs and chipped paint. Moody and the other adults brushed past us and into the room at the end of the hallway. Rushed voices filtered out as the door opened to reveal an attractive older man with long hair stare directly at Harry. The latter smiled brightly and took a step forward, only to be blocked by a short, red haired woman with a yellow patterned dress. She flashed a large grin at Harry whilst quickly shutting the door behind her.
"Mrs. Weasley." At the mention of her name, I promptly straightened my posture and smoothed out my dark, curly hair as I stood behind him.
"Heaven's you're alright." Mrs. Weasley brought him into a tight hug, peering over his shoulder at me. As Harry pulled away she froze, her eyes welling up with emotion. "Merlin's beard." Harry stepped aside to glance between the both of us. A single tear rolled down Mrs. Weasley's cheek as she slowly stepped forward. "You're the spitting image of your mother. Look how much you've grown."
Mrs. Weasley cupped my cheek softly, her face running through hundreds of expressions before she finally settled on relief. She gently squeezed my arms and gave me a thorough once-over.
"Are you Molly?" My voice broke before I realized I was falling apart in front of her. She was the key – the one real clue to finding my mother. And now, here she was. Molly emanated an aura of warmth, like nutmeg and cinnamon in your morning coffee. I'm not sure who moved first, but suddenly my face was buried in her hair, sobbing desperately.
"Oh sweetheart! I knew I shouldn't have let her take you away. Look at you, you're all skin and bones." Molly sniffled quietly before brushing my tousled hair out of my eyes. "We'll talk later. I promise. Dinner will be ready after the meeting and you can finally get a proper meal, alright? Harry take her upstairs, first door on the left. I'm so glad you're safe, dear."
Once Molly had retreated back through the door, Harry turned to me and nodded up the stairs. "There's someone else you should meet." Before we could even step through the door, Harry was attacked with a bear hug by a beautiful blonde girl. A look of concern was strewn across her face as she examined him and complained about his upcoming trial. She stepped back to allow Harry some space to enter and warily looked over at me as I entered just after him.
"Harry, who's this?"
"This is Deianira. A friend."
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione reached back to pull the tall, red-headed boy behind her forward. He tilted his head in confusion for a moment before scrunching up his brows.
"Do I know you from somewhere?"
"Sure you do."
"Don't you remember?"
"Ron's Dani." Two identical twin boys appeared out of thin air, teasing the younger brother in front of them.
"Ron? You're Ron?"
"I guess you wouldn't remember," one of the twins piped up.
"Fred, the last time we saw Dani, her and Ron were what? Four? Five?"
"That sounds accurate, George. Ron, I'm surprised it took you so long to recognize the love of your life." Ron blushed furiously and averted his eyes to the floor.
"Shut up."
"Mum was sure you two were going to get married."
"Although seeing you now that you're all grown up Dani, I wouldn't mind if you married me instead," Fred winked at me.
"Why would she marry you, when clearly I'm the better looking twin," George nudged Fred's side.
"Dani.." Memories flooded my mind as I repeated that name quietly to myself. I began to remember being here before. "You called me Dani, because you couldn't pronounce my name."
"Oh...yeah! You're right. I can't believe I forgot all about that. It's only been – what? Ten years?" Ron laughed, still unable to really look me in the eyes. I looked at him intensely, circling him, trying to recall a memory that was floating around at the back of my skull.
"What?" Ron asked, anxiously scratching his head. Something urged me to quickly grab his left hand. The scar that ran up the side of it caught my attention and caused a fluttering in the pit of my stomach. With a rush of cold air to my lungs, I suddenly found myself in a meadow. Daisies, violets, marigold, and roses sprawled across the lush green fields as I walked alongside a young Ronald Weasley.
I picked a daisy and tucked it into my wild, curly hair whilst Ron held close to my side, anxious about the bees that were flying about.
"Dani, can we go now? I really don't want to get stung and I'm huuungryy."
"But I haven't gotten one of those yet!" I pointed at the thorny rose bushes and sprinted happily over toward them.
"Wait for me!" Once he reached my side he grimaced at the rose bushes in front of us. "Dani, those are too prickly. You'll hurt yourself."
"But I like them. They're red like your hair." I ruffled the top of his head and smiled widely at my best friend. Best friend? Without a second thought, Ron reached over to pick a rose for me. However, he fell to the floor, startled by a bee that was whizzing past.
"Are you okay?" I asked, helping him stand up. A tear fell from his eye as he examined the blood running down his wrist. "Oh no!" I placed my tiny hands on top of his wound, squeezing my eyes tight as I tried to concentrate.
"Woah. How'd you do that, Dani?"
"I don't know. I didn't want you to cry anymore." I wiped my bloody hands on my white dress so that I could take Ron's hand as we walked back to The Burrow. Once we got into the kitchen, the conversation between Molly and my mother immediately halted.
"Oh dear, what happened?" Molly threw a concerned glance over her shoulder at my mother, who stared very sternly at me. I hung my head in shame and she rushed over toward us.
"I'm sorry I ruined the dress you bought me, mommy. But Ron cut himself! See?" Molly examined the scar on her son's hand and smiled softly at me.
"My dear, you healed him didn't you." I beamed up at her and nodded proudly. "What a sweet girl." Molly stared pointedly at my mother, before turning back to me and patting my cheek. "Let's get the birthday girl in some clean clothes, shall we?"
"No." My mother stood up quickly, ripping my hand away from Molly's. "I think the birthday girl needs to go home. Now."
"But mum! What about my presents?"
"And the cake?" Ron added. Mum's face faltered a bit as she looked at the both of us. She took a long, deep breath in as a frown planted itself on her face. The tears flooded out of her golden brown eyes just before she collapsed onto the floor.
"Catherine!" Molly ran to her side, quickly wrapping her arms around her and shushing the whimpering that escaped her mouth.
"...Mum? Mum, what's wrong?"
"No matter, dear. Go upstairs. I believe Fred and George have finished working on the gift they made for you."
Ron pulled anxiously on my hand, desperate to leave the uncomfortable scene. I allowed him to bring me to the staircase, before stopping abruptly in my tracks to peak around the corner and listen in on the conversation in the other room.
"I don't know what to do anymore, Molly. She's so much like him. I look at her and all I see are his eyes staring back at me."
"Catherine. I need you to look at me and listen well. That is your daughter. She adores you. She may have his eyes, she may have his power, but she has your heart. If you continue to think of her as someone to fear, you will lose her forever. Do you understand? I will not have you make her feel as if her existence is her fault." Molly's eyes softened for a moment. "I can take her. I can keep her safe, here."
"You don't understand, do you? I love my daughter, but her power is out of control. I am not equipped to handle this alone."
"You don't have to. That's what I've been trying to say; what Dumbledore's been trying to say."
"Every second that we stay here, every person that knows about her puts us in danger. If he doesn't know about her already –"
"Catherine. He's gone." Mother laughed darkly, swatting Molly's hands away from her face.
"Honestly, Molly. You can't possibly believe that."
"He is gone. The death eaters are in prison. Catherine, she's just a girl."
"No. She's not. You and I both know, she is anything but just a girl. And I'll be damned if I ever let him find her." Mother stood up tall and defiant, her resolve clear. "We're leaving. I think it's time I take some responsibility for what I've done."