"Hi stranger." Julie says slowly.
"How are you here? You died." Seeing Julie was probably more of a shock for me then seeing Voldemort - even though I knew Julie wouldn't cause any harm.
She hangs her arms on the banister of the bridge, looking out at the valley below.
"I was shocked when I realized I was still here too - but I died on Hogwarts property, so I suppose that I'm trapped here now - as a ghost of course."
"You don't have to be!" I pull out the tiny vial again, and shove it in her face. "These can bring you back. I did it with the three boys, well technically I only did it to Alex but I'll get around to -"
"I don't want to." She interrupts me.
"What do you mean you don't want to? Why would you want to be dead?" I practically shout at her, but it wasn't because I was angry, I was only shocked.
"Because I've accepted my fate. Besides living at Hogwarts isnt all that bad - I like to be able to check on my friends when I need to. Your uncle actually showed me how to ghost when I first came back." She points toward Hogwarts - toward uncle George and Fred (as a ghost) talking to each other. "Besides, I think if I come back now, my parents won't exactly be happy about it, more trauma for them to deal with."
"But you'll miss out on so much?"
"Not if my best friend comes to visit me every so often." She gives me a smile.
"I will. I promise, and I'll tell you about everything that's happened, I'll even write you letter so I make sure I haven't missed anything."
"That's all I could ask for. I would say keep this between us, but I think I need to see Nick and Flynn again, I have a few questions I need to ask them."
"Like what?" I furrow my eyebrows, trying to figure out why she could mean.
"I've just seen him with someone a few times, just wanna know if he's finally moved on from me." I look at her with a smile.
"So you knew he liked you?" I giggle.
"Of course I did, he's not a very good liar, especially when it comes to me."
"Guess you're right." I smile at her before turning to look at the grassy meadows in the distance. The feeling of being with her again, while looking at something so peaceful, gave me hope that the future, though it will have many challenges, will be bright in the end.
"I think I should go, looks like someone else with a guilty Conscience wants to have a talk with you." I look to her, and she signals that I look the opposite way, and when I do, I see dad walking toward me, with his head hung low.
"Will I see you after today?" I turn toward Julie once again.
"Of course you will."
I watch as she slowly fades away, making herself unknown to all others at Hogwarts.
"Danielle?" Dad mumbles. I turn toward him, straighten my composure, and wait for his next move. "I don't know what to say to you, if I'm honest."
I look at him, not entirely understanding what he meant.
"I've treated you the exact way that i blamed your mother for treating you, when Julie passed away. I've been a hypocrite the last few months. I should've known that your mother and I raised you well enough to know you. We might've made a few hiccups here and there, but I know we've never raised you to do the evil that I assumed you had done."
We stand In silence, while looking out, almost as if we were so frightened of looking at each other - inevitably facing the truth and consequences of our actions.
"You have to admit, what you've done, was slightly worrying." He says lowly.
"The only reason I did it, was because my entire family believed that I had murdered someone. Maybe not at first, but after everything else that happened, you sure as hell didn't make an effort to help me - which only heightened the families assumptions. You all shut me out like I was some kind of monster. Even when Luke admitted that he drugged me and made me do those things, you still didn't do anything to help me. I was left with no choice other then to follow the other side, at least they believed in me." I shout.
Dad goes silent again, and I try and hide the tears that were about to start flowing.
"I deserved that." He sighs, turning to face me, yet I can't find it in myself I look at him. "I know that I can't take back how I've treated you, in fact nobody in the family can. But we can try now, we know how loyal you are, and we won't ever doubt you again. That's a promise. Even if you did what we thought you did, we would've helped you out of it - every dragon can to be redeemed, if she is guided in the right direction." I face him - shocked as to how he knew that quote - from uncle Charlie during Christmas time.
"You were listening to us?" Referring to myself and uncle Charlie.
"Yeah, I thought maybe he would be a good person to talk to - he's good with advice."
"Things can't be fixed that easily. It's gonna take time."
He looks down, trying to hide the brokenness behind his eyes, but he gives in and looks back at me - his eyes glossed over.
"You're worth the wait."
A tear runs down my cheek, as I leap forward and hug him, with all my might.
He clings onto me, trying to make up for all those months that he didn't even look at me, let alone hug me.
"I don't think that the rest of this school year will be very normal for you, but I can promise that when you come home, we will be back to normal, at least the adults will, I just know your cousins will be asking about what happened, especially Fred." He hooks his arm over my shoulder as we start walking back to the rest of the family.
"That boy can never mind his own business." I giggle, which causes dad to chuckle too. It might not have seemed like a huge thing, but sharing a laugh with him, was something that I hadn't experienced in a while, so hearing it again, confirmed that we were moving forward and healing from what had happened.