<CW: Blood, nightmares,>
—— ϟ ——
On August 12th it was the ministry hearing. Noel could see that Harry was very nervous. After his birthday he had spent a lot of time with Sirius and when he wasn't with Sirius he was using the pensieve, probably committing the images to memory.
The morning of, Noel was awake with her dad, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Tonks as well as Sirius. Hades had woken her up at the crack ass of dawn to use the bathroom and with a lot of groaning and stumbling Noel had taken him out before he had an accident. Again.
Tonks wouldn't stop yawning having been on duty all night. She looked like she was seconds away from passing out cold.
Noel was besides Sirius who was grumbling, apparently Dumbledore had told him that he couldn't go with Harry. She was trying to read but his muttering was getting increasingly annoying.
Mrs Weasley leapt to her feet the moment Harry walked into the kitchen.
"Breakfast," she said as she pulled out her wand and hurried over to the fire.
"M-m-morning, Harry," yawned Tonks. Her hair was blonde and curly this morning. "Sleep all right?"
"Yeah," said Harry.
"I've b-b-been up all night," she said, with another shuddering yawn. "Come and sit down..." She drew out a chair, knocking over the one beside it in the process.
"What do you want, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley called. "Porridge? Muffins? Kippers? Bacon and eggs? Toast?"
"Just — just toast, thanks," said Harry.
Mrs. Weasley placed a couple of pieces of toast and marmalade in front of him; he tried to eat, but it was like chewing carpet. Mrs. Weasley sat down on his other side and started fussing with his T-shirt, tucking in the label and smoothing out creases across the shoulders. He wished she wouldn't.
". . . and I'll have to tell Dumbledore I can't do night duty tomorrow, I'm just t-t-too tired," Tonks finished, yawning hugely again.
"I'll cover for you," said Mr. Weasley. Mr. Weasley was not wearing wizard's robes but a pair of pinstriped trousers and an old bomber jacket. He turned from Tonks to Harry. "How are you feeling?"
Harry shrugged.
"It'll all be over soon," Mr. Weasley said bracingly. "In a few hours' time you'll be cleared."
Harry said nothing. "The hearing's on my floor, in Amelia Bones's office. She's Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and she's the one who'll be questioning you."
"Amelia Bones is okay, Harry," said Tonks earnestly. "She's fair, she'll hear you out." Harry nodded, still unable to think of anything to say.
"Don't lose your temper," said Sirius abruptly. "Be polite and stick to the facts." Harry nodded again.
"The law's on your side," said Remus quietly. "Even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations."
Noel watched amusedly as Mrs Weasley tried to flatten his hair. She dragged this comb that was wet. All it did was wet his hair, it was still sticking up in every direction.
"Doesn't it ever lie flat?" She said desperately. Harry shook his head.
Mr. Weasley checked his watch and looked up at Harry. "I think we'll go now," he said. "We're a bit early, but I think you'll be better off there than hanging around here."
"Okay," said Harry automatically, dropping his toast and getting to his feet.
"You'll be alright, Harry," said Tonks, patting him on the arm.
"Good luck," said Remus. "I'm sure it will be fine."
"And if it's not," said Sirius grimly, "I'll see to Amelia Bones for you..." Harry smiled weakly. Mrs. Weasley hugged him.
"Good luck, Harry." Noel told him. Harry took a sharp breath in and followed Mr Weasley out.
"He's gonna shit himself." Noel muttered, turning back to her book. She grinned when Sirius laughed loudly, gaining weird looks from the others who hadn't heard her.
Noel, Hades and Padfoot were out on their daily walk. Noel was only allowed to go out because Padfoot was with her and Remus had made it very clear that Hades needs to go out and he won't be responsible for it.
Sitting at the bench that was in the park across the street Noel read her book occasionally looking up to watch Padfot and Hades playing. Hades wasn't that small baby that she found, he was getting bigger, he looked like an actual dog not even a puppy anymore. One would only assume he was a baby by his big puppy dog eyes.
Noel loved him very much. He was very sweet and calm, he listened to her and he was overall a very good boy. He also got fairly well with Crookshankes.
Noel was annotating her book quietly when she felt someone sit beside her. Looking up slightly she noticed it was a boy around her age, maybe a little older. Noel scooted over so they would have more room between each other.
A couple of minutes passed but Noel couldn't concentrate anymore. Lifting her head up she noticed that the boy was looking at her. She quickly averted her eyes to look at the dogs that were lazily bathing in the sun.
"Hello."
Noel quickly looked over. The guy had turned to face her, addressing her apparently.
"Hi?"
The guy cocked his head to the side. "I've never seen you around, are you new here?" He asked, turning his head indicating the neighborhood.
"I'm staying with a relative for the summer." She answered easily.
He nodded, "Cool. Are they both yours?" He asked, pointing his chin towards the dogs. Padfoot was now looking over, tilting his head but didn't move from his spot.
"Yeah. The big one is Snuffles and the smaller one is Hades."
"Cool." He said again.
Noel was getting bored. She sighed and stood up to call them both when the boy stood up as well. He extended his hand for her to shake, "I'm Danny."
"Noel." She hesitated but shook his hand, highly confused. Padfoot had run over and was bearing his teeth at Danny, who took a step back now that he could see that dog's full size. Hades was hot on tail, barking loudly.
"I'll see you around?" Danny asked, a hopeful gleam in his eyes that made Noel avert her eyes and Padfoot start to bark loudly.
Noel looked at the dog, trying to tell him to shut up.
"Uh–"
"Noel?" Came a voice from the street.
Theo was standing there in his usual attire which consisted of dress pants and a button down. Noel gave him a look which made him cross the street and was at her side in an instant.
"What's going on, you could hear their barks from inside." Theo said, glaring at the two dogs.
Theo looked at Danny with a strange look and Noel felt incredibly awkward because this stranger was still standing there waiting for her response to seeing him again.
"Uh–"
"Danny." He introduced himself again, cutting off Noel. He extended his hand for Theo to shake but he ignored it and opted to stand closer to Noel.
"What do you want?" Theo asked bluntly.
Danny stammered and looked between the two and the two dogs which were getting ready to pounce.
"Are you the relative she's visiting?"
"I'm her boyfriend," Theo said, wrapping an arm around Noel and pulling her flushed against him. Theo glared at the boy, who looked between the two again, his face flushing as he stammered.
"Boyfriend?" He scoffed, "You let her go out like that?" Danny said rudely, jutting his chin to Noel's dress which met the middle of her thigh. Noel scrunched up her face in disgust.
"Yeah because she can wear whatever the fuck she wants. Now leave before I let Snuffles here to bite your dick off."
Danny's eyes raked over Noel's body once more before he turned sharply and left. Noel frowned and looked down at what she was wearing.
"Is it really that bad?" She asked Theo, pulling down at the dress so it could cover her legs more, now very insecure.
"It's fine Noel. He's just a creep. Let's go." He steered her away from the park and into the house. Padfoot and Hades in front of them as Padfoot led the way.
Once securely inside, Sirius looked out the window in outrage, and started muttering to himself. "I would've bite his fucking hands off if he touched you."
"I'm okay. It's just a random guy."
"Yes and random guys are the worst! What if I wasn't there, what if Theodore hadn't come out?"
"I can take care of myself just fine!" Noel said, putting on a jacket to cover up her chest.
"I'm not saying you can't, but you are a girl, Noel. You have to realize that being friendly won't get you far in life, especially with men like that."
Now frowned, not knowing what to say. She didn't even know what she would do if he had touched her.
"I'm going to talk to Moony. He probably won't let you out anymore."
"But that that fair–"
"Noel–"
"He won't let me leave anymore! I can't stand being stuck in here all day! Sirius, please!"
"Noel I have to." Sirius said calmly.
"You don't have to do shit!" Noel stormed up the stairs and slammed her door, not caring that it would cause a ruckus downstairs. Especially with Mrs Blacks portrait that takes any opportunity given to her to start yelling.
Noel huffed and threw the jacket off. She looked in the mirror and looked away in detest.
She loved the way she looked but looking at herself now she felt dirty, she dove into the mind of a creepy man and hated it. She hated that she made herself an easy target just because of what she wore on a hot summer day.
Noel groaned. She hated everything. Throwing herself onto the bed Noel stared at the ceiling, letting her eyes droop and eventually fall into a restless sleep.
Noel looked around the dark room, not recognizing the high ceiling and brass doors that aligned the dark and narrow hallway.
She looked for a way out, but there didn't seem to be any widows. The only light source was from the grand doors, and the old gaslite lights that aligned the walls. Taking a few tentative steps she listened carefully for anything that would help her identify where she was.
All that she could hear was the creaking of the floor when she put her weight down.
Trying to open the doors that aligned the hallway was deemed unsuccessful when Noel couldn't open any. She was getting closer to the biggest doors at the end of the hall where the light was spilling from and apprehensively she approached it straining her hearing, trying to catch a glimpse of what was being said.
She couldn't hear anything. Noel took a shaky breath in and opened the doors.
There was an enormous dining table in the middle of what looked like a ballroom. There was an elegant chandelier above it. Those who were sitting at the table turned and looked at her, Noel froze in place.
"Ah, Daniel." A cold voice came from the furthest side of the room.
Noel looked down at herself and realized that she wasn't herself, she was wearing different clothes and her feet were a different size.
"Come." The voice demanded. Noel instinctively walked over, the members following her every move.
"Have you found the girl?"
Noel's eyes widened, this man had pale skin, and beady red eyes with slits as his pupils, he looked like a snake the way that his face was shaped, he was missing his nose.
"Daniel." The cold voice said again, more forcefully. Noel, or rather Daniel replied, weakly, scared.
"Yes, my lord." Noel's head bent down, she (he?) whimpered pathetically when the man stood up and towered over them.
"Where is she?"
"She... she was taken back into her house my lord, a boy, a boy called for her claiming he was her boyfriend. Her dogs- her dogs knew something was wrong."
The man laughed a mirthless laugh, "You let her go because of a boy and a few dogs?"
The members murmured between each other.
"SILENCE." The man bellowed, the room became quiet once more, a pin could drop and it would sound like you had dropped millions of bowling balls.
Noel hadn't even noticed when the man had raised his wand, he skillfully pointed his wand. Noel's eyes widened when she heard the spell,
"Crucio."
A blood curdling scream ripped through Noel as she felt the pain explode into her. She was still asleep. Sirius, who was on his way to speak to her, heard the scream and quickly ran towards her bedroom. The screaming wouldn't stop.
Running into her room Sirius was stunned into silence when he saw her. She had blood coming out of her ears, eyes and nose. The screaming wouldn't stop. It sounded so painful that the others came rushing in as well to see what the commotion was about.
Sirius quickly jumped into action although he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He ignored the kids who were looking from the door frame, they all covered their ears and watched in horror as their friend screamed in pain.
"Sirius, wake her up!"
"I'm trying!" He growled out. He sat Noel up and shook her, yelling her name. He did everything he could think of and what seemed to be ages she finally stopped. Noel woke up with a sob, looked at Sirius before she threw up on the floor.
Sirius swallowed his gasp, looking at the throw up in disgust. He patted her back, gently. Noel gasped and coughed, not being able to catch her breath.
She clung onto Sirius with a tight grip. She felt light headed, her stomach clenched wanting to throw up more but she couldn't.
"Shh, it's okay, you're okay." Sirius murmured, soothing down her hair. He turned back to the kids who were watching warily, "Tell Molly that she needs to send Dumbledore an urgent message."
The kids scattered and left was Theo who didn't know whether to go or stay. "Send an owl to Remus would you?" Sirius addressed him, noticing his conflict. Theo nodded stiffly and too disappeared.
Sirius moved to get up so he could get something to clean the blood up from her face when Noel's scrambled to hold him in place.
"You– can't, please don't leave me. Please." She whispered and Sirius's heart broke at her tone. She sounded so scared and confused.
"Okay, okay. I'm not going anywhere." Sirius stayed at the edge of the bed while Noel's head was in his lap, one of her hands was gripping his and the other was holding onto his arm. They stared blankly at the window, his attention was only taken away when Mrs Weasly walked in, she cleaned everything up and crouched down in front of Noel who seemed to be anywhere but there.
She brought a wet rag to her eyes and cleaned them gently, then her nose and lips where the blood had dripped down. When she was done with that she moved Noel's head and cleaned her ears and neck.
Noel barely moved, blinking lazily, Sirius and Mrs Weasley shared a concerned look.
"I've never seen anything like it before, she was bleeding everywhere. This wasn't a normal nightmare." Sirius said, breaking the silence.
"I've sent an owl to Dumbledore. Hopefully he gets here quickly."
"I don't want to talk to Dumbledore." Noel piped up, making the two adults jump.
Mrs Weasley gave her an odd look, "C'mon Noel. You can trust him."
Noel said nothing, only tightening her grip on Sirius' arm. He took the que, "Alright, kid. We'll talk about it more when your dad gets here."
Mrs Weasley nodded curtly and walked out of the room, leaving the door open. Sirius had forgotten all about Harry's court hearing. He had only remembered with a jolt when he heard one of the Weasley's cheering downstairs.
Noel picked her head up and whistled for Hades who came running in, leaping into the bed. "Go, he's probably excited to tell you all about it."
"He can wait." Sirius protested, helping her into her covers, Hades now laying with her. Noel laid her head down on his soft fur.
"I'll be okay, I'll holler for you if I need anything. Go be with Harry."
Sirius patted her leg and stood up, he looked back at her but she gave him a pointed look.
"It's alright. I'll stay." Theo said from behind him.
Sirius gave a relieved sigh and left feeling less guilty. "I'll see you later."
Noel and Theo nodded their heads in unison.
"I knew it!" yelled Ron, punching the air. "You always get away with stuff!"
"They were bound to clear you," said Hermione, who had looked positively faint with anxiety when Harry had entered the kitchen and was now holding a shaking hand over her eyes. "There was no case against you, none at all. . . ."
"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering they all knew I'd get off," said Harry, smiling.
Mrs. Weasley was wiping her face on her apron, and Fred, George, and Ginny were doing a kind of war dance to a chant that went "He got off, he got off, he got off —"
"That's enough, settle down!" shouted Mr. Weasley, though he too was smiling. "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry —"
"What?" said Sirius sharply.
"He got off, he got off, he got off —"
"He got off, he got off, he got off —"
"Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on level nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore ought to know."
"Absolutely," said Sirius. "He'll be here later hopefully, we'll tell him then."
"He wasn't supposed to come today, has something come up?" He asked curiously.
Sirius gave him a look and moved his eyes towards all the children. Mr Weasly understood and would ask him about it later.
"Harry dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast..."
" 'Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you," said Ron happily, now dishing great mounds of mashed potatoes onto everyone's plates.
"Yeah, he swung it for me," said Harry.
Ron said happily, "I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening to celebrate with us, you know."
"Ron, have you forgotten what happened not a few minutes ago?" Hermione said irritably.
Ron gave her a sheepish look. Harry looked between the two confused.
"What happened?"
"Well—" Ron started but was immediately cut off by Sirius. "Nothing. Harry, eat." His godfather told him.
"What happened?" Harry demanded. Looking around the room, everyone had suddenly gotten quiet. Looking between themselves nervously. Harry felt like the butt of a bad joke.
"Nothing happened Harry. Congratulations by the way." Noel said from the doorway. Theo was behind her. Noel was holding his hand so tightly that you could see her knuckles getting white. If it was hurting Theo he made no note of it.
Sirius stood up so fast that he almost knocked his chair over. "How are you feeling? Are you hungry?"
"No," Noel shook her head taking her usual seat, "I was just feeling lonely in my room. Theo wouldn't entertain me."
Theo rolled his eyes, "Yeah well you're hard to entertain."
Noel smirked, "Not when you know what you're doing."
Fred and George snickered while Hermione choked on her drink. Noel gave her a cheeky wink.
Harry looked between the two and aggressively poked his potatoes with his fork.
"Where's my dad, will he be here when Dumbledore comes?" Noel asked Sirius anxiously.
"I'm sure he's just out on a lead or something. He should be back by dinner, yes."
"Okay, good. Good..."
Noel felt suddenly very uncomfortable and jittery now that she was in front of Dumbledore. His blue eyes intently on her.
Moody was there too, Noel hadn't seen him all summer. Noel shifted uncomfortably. Remus was next to her looking at her anxiously because the letter he had received was vague but it had a tone of urgency that made his heart skip a beat when he realized something had happened to Noel while he was gone.
"Could you tell us what happened?" Dumbledore said, breaking the tense silence.
"I was at the park with Padfoot and Hades. This guy came over and he tried to start a conversation with me but I ignored him. He kept trying and told me his name was Danny." Noel began, ignoring the confused look on Dumbledore's face.
"I came home after Theo got me and I went up to take a nap. It wasn't like I was awake, here. I was awake in my dream, but it didn't feel like a dream." Noel said, giving a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to explain."
"That's okay, just tell us what you saw." Remus suggested gently.
"It was a dark and narrow hallway. There weren't any windows, there were just doors, a lot of doors..." Noel stared off to space and continued, "I walked into the ballroom, it was the only room with light. It was huge. There was a large table, there were people sitting there, I didn't see who they were," Noel disclosed before they could even ask.
"I walked in and I realized that I wasn't myself, I was Danny, Daniel, whatever his name is, I don't really care. I wasn't Noel. It was so strange... there was this man, not really a man, more like a snake, his eyes were red and his pupils were slits. Daniel addressed him as 'My Lord.'"
Dumbledore's face fell for a split second but quickly recovered. "What happened next?"
"He asked about a girl, said girl is me because he told him that I had been called away before he could talk to me properly. Their Lord was angry, he was so angry. He casted Crucio and all I knew was the excruciating pain.
He's so powerful, it's unbelievable. Whatever it feels like when an average wizard casts that spell, it felt like it was multiplied by a hundred. It felt like my conscience was giving out. I felt nothing but the pain."
"Okay, okay. That's enough now." Remus cut in, noticing her anxiety ticks.
Dumbledore and Moody shared a look, "Yes, I believe you are quite right, Remus. Noel you are free to go."
"Hmm?" Noel said, a bit dazed.
"Bed, Jellybean."
Noel walked out of the kitchen and came face to face with Harry who was looking at her worriedly. "What was that about?"
"Nothing to worry about, that pretty little head of yours."
"Noel, you can talk to me. I'm right here." Harry said desperately.
Noel worried her lip, she doesn't know why but suddenly talking to him is getting harder and harder and she hates it.
"Noel please."
Noel stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his middle. Harry quickly pulled her closer. He missed this.
"I'm scared." She whispered.
"I want to help you."
"I'll come to you when I'm ready. I promise."
"Okay." Harry laid his head on hers and kissed her crown. It felt so natural that he didn't even notice that she had gone a bit rigged.
"We should go before they come out." Noel whispered dramatically.
Harry let her go and followed as she led the way upstairs.
"Good night." She said, stepping into her room, leaving her door wide open.
"Good night."