March brought with it a gloomy day. On the day of Ron's seventeenth birthday, he had been drugged with a love potion meant for Harry, freed from said potion and then ended up in the Hospital Wing after attempted poisoning.
Which is why Harry, Hermione and I were gathered around his bed joined by Ginny and the twins. Hermione hadn't spoken since we sat down and I kept trying to comfort her, running my hand up and down her back as she stared at Ron's sleeping face.
"Do mum and dad know?" Fred questioned Ginny on our left, resting his chin on my shoulder. George and Harry were sat on the other side of Ron's bed while Fred, Hermione and Ginny sat in the three chairs on his other side, me on Fred's lap.
They had showed up to surprise Ron for his birthday in Hogsmeade, only to receive word that he had been poisoned.
"They've already seen him. They arrived an hour ago. They're in Dumbledore's office now, but they'll be back soon..." she mumbled.
The others went over the events of the poisoning again, but I stayed quiet, mulling everything over in my head.
Someone had cursed Katie and told her to bring the necklace to the castle. A necklace Draco had admired, according to Harry. No one knew who that necklace was meant for, but I could guess right about now.
Ron had been poisoned, but the poison was meant for someone else. Dumbledore.
Draco had been given a task that was more important than hunting down the blood-traitor Malfoy. Or even the blood-traitor Sirius Black.
Draco had been given a job to do for Voldemort while still in school. What could Draco do here that Voldemort couldn't...? This was all leading to a very frightening conclusion.
"Er-my-nee," Ron groaned in his sleep, causing me to snap out of my thoughts. Did he just...
I turned to look at Hermione and she was studying his face intently.
The others went back to their conversation, starting a new theory of offing the Quidditch Team.
"Well, I don't think it's Quidditch, but I think there's a connection between the attacks," Hermione chimed in quietly, her first time speaking since we sat down.
"How'd you work that out?" Fred asked her behind my head.
"Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren't, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison nor the necklace seemed to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course, that makes the person behind this even more dangerous in a way, because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim."
A shudder went through me at that. I really hope I'm wrong. I met Harry's eye across the bed, both apparently having similar thoughts on the subject.
Just then Mr and Mrs Weasley returned. Mrs Weasley quickly grabbed Harry and pulled him into a tight hug, thanking him for saving Ron's life. I smirked as I saw his ears turn red.
"Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Harry." Harry flushed furiously at Mr Weasley's words, and I grinned at him.
"Aw, look at him. He's blushing," I teased, earning a glare from the famous boy. The doors opened once again, and Dumbledore strode in and came over to our group.
"Harry, very well done today. I must thank your potions master for teaching you this. I am glad that Mr Weasley is recovering, but I'm afraid an old man's work is never done. Allison, might I have a word?"
At that Fred's grip tightened hastily around my waist and I froze a little myself. Last time he had asked me that, I had watched the man I loved die.
My family, my sister, all of them. Dead.
I released Fred's hold and stood, following Dumbledore silently out of the Wing, my knees shaking slightly. Out in the hallway stood Snape, waiting for us.
"Allison, I need you to confirm something to Severus for me, please."
I looked to Snape, and he already looked all levels of angry. "Professor?" I asked, turning back to Dumbledore. He smiled gently at me.
"In your Vision, of the battle and the war, did you happen to see me anywhere?" he asked, his voice level. I looked to and from both Professors before shaking my head slowly. Snape sighed at the notion and Dumbledore turned a sharp eye to him.
"See? It doesn't matter, Severus. This is how it needs to be," Dumbledore told him sternly. "Thank you, Miss White. Have a good night." And with that he walked off. Snape turned to leave as well but I grabbed his sleeve, stopping him.
He glared at the hand that was holding him in place and I quickly let him go, rubbing my hands up and down the front of my skirt. I looked around. The hallway was empty, but you could never be too sure. "Muffliato," I muttered, so anyone close by couldn't overhear the conversation.
"What's the job he's given him? Please... Please tell me that it has nothing to do with that" I whispered gesturing after Dumbledore, hoping it wasn't true. Snape's eyes went wide, looking at me in alarm. "I overheard you. Fox hearing, you know," I chuckled, trying to make the matter a little lighter. "It's because of me, isn't it?"
Snape stayed quiet for a while before he let out a heavy breath. "I believe - it's a mix of both. Also, let's call it an initiation task." I looked at him in horror, hoping he had told me that I had completely missed my mark.
"I need to see him," I croaked, my voice thick as tears were building up. Snape grabbed my elbow and pulled me to the side.
"You will do no such thing. You will continue on as if you know nothing, but still offering him the emotional support he needs. You will suck it up and not show him that you are scared, because that will cause him to fail. He cannot fail because you know what will happen. This last year, you have made many friends that are considered your weaknesses. And he is your biggest one. Do not let them see that you are his as well."
I was taken aback by his words. He had started of very harsh, but his voice softened at the end. I straightened my spine and gave a curt nod. Snape seemed satisfied that I was indeed deciding to 'suck it up' and then walked away, after giving me the inkling of a smile.
I had never hidden my hate for the man, so to see him offering me sane advice was startling. And suspicious.
I went back into the Hospital Wing and saw a familiar House Elf standing at the foot of Ron's bed.
At my entrance they all turned to look at me, including Dobby. His large eyes went even wider and then filled with tears as he watched me walk towards him. He then broke into a full-blown sob, falling to his knees on the mattress.
"Oh, Mistress Cassiopeia!" he wailed. I ran forwards and placed a hand over his mouth. "SSSH!" I shushed him, inclining my head to look for Madam Pomfrey in her office. She made no move to come out.
I moved my hand off him and grinned down at my oldest friend.
"Hello Dobby," I greeted him, making him break into new sobs as he hugged me around the waist. I petted his head lovingly as he wept, feeling a few tears threaten to come from my eyes as well. He was wearing a brilliant, red knitted jumper that looked like it had been shrunk. It even held an R on the front, telling me it was one of Ron's old Weasley jumpers. I hated the rags House Elves usually wore. Dobby looked much more comfortable now than he had back at Malfoy Manor.
"Oh, Dobby had heard but to see his young Mistress so grown up now! Oh, how Dobby misses having Mistress and Master Draco running around playing with him," he sobbed, wiping his large nose on my skirt.
I curled my lip in slight disgust as he blew his nose and gently released myself from him, holding him by the shoulders. "I missed you too. I didn't know you worked at Hogwarts now," I asked, sitting down on the bed beside him. But then stopped myself, taking in what he had said.
"Wait - what do you mean you heard? Someone told you I was here? That I was alive?"
"Oh yes. Master Draco told Dobby after Cassie had told him she was here, you see," he explained, sitting down beside me.
"You speak to Draco?" I questioned, utterly surprised by this.
"Oh yes. Every Sunday since Dobby arrived at Hogwarts, Master Draco shows up at the kitchens and then we have breakfast. Master was most pleased when his beloved sister came back from the dead. And Dobby wanted to see her too," he started to look like was going to cry again.
"But Draco warned Dobby, that only a few people knew. So I couldn't come to see you because no one was supposed to know you were here. But Dobby wanted to see his little Princess Cassie all grown up." He wiped at his eyes, catching the giant tears.
"I've wanted to see you too, Dobby. I didn't even know you were here. But Draco was right. No one else than the people in this room or Dumbledore can know, alright?" I confirmed with him. He nodded quickly before hugging me again. I returned it gladly, my eyes landing on Fred over Dobby's head.
He had a dopey smile on his face, watching our exchange. I rolled my eyes at him. Don't look at me like I'm all soft.
It's Dobby. How could someone not be soft for this little guy?
★
Draco was proving difficult to get a hold of. It was like he wasn't even here most of the time. There were just too many unknowns at the moment, and I didn't like it. Dumbledore and Snape had practically proven my thoughts correct, and I didn't like where they were leading me.
So, following Dobby's hint about Sunday breakfast in the kitchen's I got up early, again spending my night in Gryffindor Tower with Ginny because the Dreamless sleep potion was proving effective. I couldn't use it every day though, McGonagall warned me. Because they didn't have an unlimited amount.
But this Sunday, I had taken it and I wandered down to the kitchen when Ginny headed to the Great Hall with a few seventh-year girls. As I reached the Portrait with the bowl of fruit, I checked the corridors. They were deserted.
I changed form and proceeded to tickle the pear.
The portrait swung open, and I climbed through. I spotted Dobby at once. He was the only elf wearing clothes. He looked towards the entrance and smiled when he saw me.
"Oh, Princess Cassie! How lovely to see you! Dobby is most pleased. Has Young Draco sent you instead of himself today?" he asked hopefully. I furrowed my brows at that, slightly disappointed.
"Draco's not here?" I questioned, not being able to keep the disappointment out of my tone. Dobby looked down sorrowfully at that. "Young Draco has not been to see Dobby since before Christmas. Told Dobby he would not be able to visit as much this year."
I saw tears gather in his big eyes and I wanted it to stop. "Well, no matter," I said cheerfully, not matching my mood at all. "I'm still here. And I'm starving."
At my words the other house elves gathered around waiting for me to order a meal from them. So, I got to spend breakfast with Dobby, but I still needed to find Draco and talk to him. He had looked rather ill the last time I had seen him.
But I had no luck. And my mood was sinking continuously. I was worried about too many things at once.
I missed Fred. They had only just been here, but that hadn't been merely enough. I needed to see him, spend time with him. He always seemed to calm the nightmares and horrors.
And then the Vision wasn't helping my concentration on the task at hand. Seems I wasn't the only one struggling to focus on what they were needed to right now.
Because Harry had been asked by Dumbledore to acquire a memory from Slughorn, something he had failed to do because he was so obsessed with Draco at the moment.
Seriously, his obsession was getting ridiculous. He spoke the words 'I wouldn't have cared if we won or lost as long as I'd seen what he was up to', and by that Ginny stormed off, outraged that he let his Malfoy obsession get the better of him, and put Quidditch second when he had finally become Captain. She was very angry and disappointed with him.
I was sat with the three sixth years at dinner when they were discussing a plan of action on how to get the memory from Slughorn, while I continuously stole pieces of carrots and sausages off Ron's plate.
"Luck! That's all you need; you just need to be lucky!" Ron exclaimed a lot louder than their hushed conversation had been up until this point.
I looked at the three of them as they all called Ron brilliant and thought this was an excellent idea. But I looked at them as if they were all mad.
Yeah, sure. Luck would help. If you have a bottle of luck lying around that is.
Of course, him being Harry freaking Potter, he happened to have a bottle of luck lying around. I wish my life turned out just the way I needed once in a while.
Most of their plans were always either just over or exactly on top of the barrier between brilliant and insane. They keep us on our toes like that.
So, curious about how the Liquid Luck would work, the four of us headed up to the boy's dorm, prepping Harry for when he would take the Potion. I changed back to human form and sat down on the edge of Neville's bed, facing the two boys.
Harry took one sip and then pulled the bottle away. We all watched for some kind of change in him. "What does it feel like?" Hermione practically whispered.
He didn't answer for a while, but then just as quick, he stood up and grinned at the rest of us, holding himself higher with a type of confidence he never had before,
"Excellent," he said, grin still in place. "Really excellent. Right... I'm going down to Hagrid's."
"What?" we all exclaimed, looking at him as if he were mad. That was not the perfect plan they had come up with at dinner.
"No, Harry. You've got to go see Slughorn, remember?" Hermione explained slowly, as if she were telling a toddler it was wrong to bite others. "No," Harry said, still that air of confidence around him. It was like it was holding him up.
"I'm going to Hagrid's. I've got a really good feeling about going to Hagrid's." He turned to his trunk and pulled out his Invisibility Cloak. "I feel like it's the place to be tonight, you know what I mean?" he looked to us for confirmation.
"No," Ron and Hermione said together, looking at him as if he had grown and extra head, but I just leaned back on my hands and smiled at him. I'm glad I decided to join them on this mission. Highly amusing.
His voice was funny too. Like he was tipsy, without the familiar drunken slur. Tipsy and confident. I liked Liquid Luck Harry very much. He was more carefree than regular Harry.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing - or at least - Felix does." his strode to the door confidently. Hermione and Ron looked to me for help.
I rolled my eyes but got up nevertheless, following just as Harry opened the door. "Fine. I'll babysit him so he doesn't accidently walk off a cliff, or with his luck, win ten thousand galleons."
I changed into my fox form and walked out the door and saw Harry disappear under his Invisibility Cloak. He headed down the stairs, me right on his heels.
★
We were walking along the greenhouses when I spotted Slughorn.
Harry must've too because he quickly pulled his cloak off. He had his back to us, his head through the window as he tried to cut off some of the moving tentacula leaves. He seemed like he was up to no good, judging from his body language.
Harry went up to him and stood beside him, fairly confidently for a student who was out past curfew. He didn't say anything though, just stood there. Slughorn turned towards him, as if sensing eyes on himself and let out a yelp when he saw Harry right next to him.
I wanted to snigger at the scene. Usually, it's the teachers that startle us when we walk around after we're supposed to.
"Merlin's beard, Harry," he exclaimed, clutching his chest. I sat down, looking up at the two.
"I'm sorry sir, I should've announced myself. Cleared my throat, coughed. You probably feared I was Professor Sprout." I had never heard Harry speak in this sort of manner before. It was very entertaining to watch.
"What makes you think that?" he asked, going back to cutting leaves.
"Oh, just the general behaviour, sir," he told him matter-of-factly, grinning at him. "The sneaking around, jumping when you saw me - are those tentacula leaves, sir? They're very valuable, aren't they?"
"10 Galleons a leaf to the right buyer. Not that I'm familiar with those type of back-alley transactions, of course. But one does hear rumours. My interests are purely academic, of course." Slughorn looked around warily, probably scared that Sprout would turn up.
"Personally, these plants always kinda freaked me out," Harry mused, eyeing the moving arms of the plant. And then he started to walk away.
I wanted to yell at him. Slughorn was right there! What the hell was he doing?!
Slughorn stepped away from the Greenhouse window and hurried after Harry. "Exactly how did you get out of the castle?"
"Through the front door, sir." I had to restrain myself from facepalming with my paw, instead closing my eyes briefly and groaning internally. "I'm off to Hagrid's, you see. He's a very dear friend and I just fancy paying him a visit. So, if you don't mind, I will be going now."
My eyes went wide. He's a professor! You can't just tell him you fancy a visit to a friend after curfew! And the person you need to see is standing right in front of you!
Harry didn't hear these thoughts of course, but I made sure to make a note of them so I could tell him when I changed back. His behaviour reminded me a lot of how Lee had been this summer when we went to the beach and Lucy had given him weed.
No cares, no worries, and overly confident. I was pretty sure the Liquid Luck had gone bad and Harry was high on fumes.
"Harry!" Slughorn whisper-yelled after him, his tone shocked and outraged.
Harry turned around. "Sir!" he said back in the same volume, his tone very sassy. If I could, I would've snorted right about now. "Surely you must realize I can't let you go roaming the grounds by yourself!" I looked back at Harry, excited to see what his response would be.
"Well, then by all means, come along sir." And he turned away again, heading for Hagrid's. I shook my head. Was this kid being serious? Surely, he knew that wouldn't work.
And then, to my utmost surprise, Slughorn headed after him.
"I must insist you accompany me back to the castle Harry!" Slughorn called after him, one the last hill before we would reach Hagrid's.
"That - would be counterproductive sir!" Harry called back, not slowing down. I walked by Slughorn. "What makes you say that?" he questioned him, slowing down a bit. Yeah, what does make you say that?
"No idea," was his only response as his head dipped past the hill.
I stopped in my tracks as I saw Fang standing by Hagrid, and in front of them, the biggest spider I hoped to ever lay my eyes on. Because if I ever saw a bigger one, my heart would probably give out. And thank Godric this one was dead.
The ones Lucy and I had seen in the Forbidden Forest last year weren't even close to this size.
I reached the group just to hear Harry say, "- a dead one a think, sir," as he pointed to the spider. I looked up at him. Yeah. I need to get me some Liquid Luck. If it made you act both the funniest ways of high and drunk, I want in.
"Seri'sly misunderstood creature's, spiders are. Is the eyes I reckon," Hagrid said with a large sniffle at the end.
Harry changed his weight from one foot to the other and back as he looked at the spider in front of him.
"Not to mention the pincers," Harry chimed in. He then proceeded to mime two spider pincers at the side of his face, making the clicking sound they usually made. I let out a noise at that, not being able to keep my laugh in. Of course, foxes didn't laugh so it was more of a cry.
Fang turned to look at me, slobber coming down from his mouth.
And that's my cue.
I turned around and headed back to the castle. I think Harry's got this under control. He was with Slughorn now and nothing could go for him it seemed.
I headed along an empty corridor on my way back to McGonagall's living quarters when I saw a particular blonde heading up to the Astronomy Tower. I beelined for the stairs, following him with silent steps.
I came up, to see him sitting in the middle of the floor his head in his hands, silent sobs coming past his lips as his body convulsed.
I approached him carefully, not wanting to startle him. I nudged my head against his propped-up leg. He currently had his elbows against his propped-up knees, his hands covering most of his face.
He looked down in shock at the touch, his eyes relaxing when they landed on me, the fox me that is. He reached out and patted my head and back, the distraction seeming to calm him down slightly.
He sobbed silently, his hand still on my back. I went and sat down beside him, before changing back and wrapping my arms around him. He leaned over, crying into my shoulder.
"Talk to me," I whispered, feeling helpless here. Just holding this broken boy in my arms.
Silently he rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm to me, showing me the Dark Mark sticking out against his pale, almost see-through skin.
I had already assumed that this had happened, but seeing it marked on his skin forever brought tears to my eyes.
Branded. By Voldemort.
"But you don't want this," I whispered, my hand wrapping around his forearm, covering the mark in a light grip. He winced at the touched and I quickly moved my hand and intertwined my fingers with his, gripping his hand tightly as it shook in my own.
He huffed. "Of course, I don't want this! I have never wanted this. But what was I supposed to do? At Christmas, they worked out that you had been at Hogwarts with me last year – and didn't really believe me when I told them that you must've been wearing a Concealment Charm from me because I never saw you.
"Then he came and spoke to me and mum alone. Said if I were to fail the task I had been given, he'd be sure to make the hunt for you his top priority - and make me watch while he... while..." He broke into a new round of sobs, but I got the jist of it.
He was using me against him.
He'd found a weakness.
★
A/N:
Liquid Luck Harry is a mood. I love him.
Because some things were funnier and better in the movie than the book from these scenes (don't hate me on that), I decided to mix the two together.
GIF: Daniel being ICONIC
– ACE
♥