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Fighting Fate | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-Hogwarts Characters:None Genres: Comedy Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 59 Summary: Sequel to Fighting Harry. Fourteen years have passed since Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, and his life is perfect in almost every way. He went on to marry the witch of his dream, become the youngest-ever Head of International Auror affairs, and even have a son who loves flying as much as he does. There's just one problem. And her name is Meridy. Hitcount: Story Total: 42394; Chapter Total: 2957 |
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Running into Mrs. Norris had given Meridy some doubts about her plans to explore after curfew. Just how much trouble would she be in if she were caught? Her dad would murder her come the summer holidays, she was certain. And the Disillusionment charm would only disguise her in a dimly-lit corridor; it couldn’t make her disappear entirely, as Jack recognizing her so quickly in the Common Room had proved. Then again, Jack was accustomed to her face, almost as much as he was to his little sister’s. And the Common Room was much brighter, with its warm crackling fire and many torches, than the corridors were. In the end, it was another attack which decided the issue. Lindsay Peterson, a second-year Hufflepuff, broke down in tears one day and demanded to be allowed to transfer to Beauxbatons. Her subsequent conversation with her Head of House set rumors flying. There were bruises all over her body, her year-mates whispered. They had got to her, the other night when she was walking back from the loo. Her mum was a muggle, and Lindsay herself had a preference for wearing Muggle clothes whenever they didn’t have to be in uniform. That did it. Meridy decided that it was worth a little trouble to snoop around and see if she couldn’t dig up some information on the older students who were making muggleborns’ lives a misery. And she still had a stack of Decoy Detonators that Uncles Fred and George had given her, if she ran into trouble. When she knew something definite, she’d tell Uncle Remus. The first person she tried snooping with was Gary, when next they met to practice the Disillusionment Charm. He had heard about her successful go of it from Allison, but still demanded that she show him. “Good job,” he told her, when she Disillusioned herself. “Now, can you undo it?” Meridy’s shoulders slumped. “Uh, it wears off by itself after a couple of hours,” she said. Gary smirked. “Oh ho, but sometimes you don’t have that long to wait. Come on, let’s practice the counter charm motion.” They practiced until he was satisfied that she could Un-Disillusion herself. “Good job,” he said, patting her shoulder. “You’re a natural at Charms. Should have been in Ravenclaw.” “I asked to be put in Slytherin,” Meridy said, before she could stop herself. Gary looked at her, surprised. “Did you? That’s ambitious. And the hat didn’t oblige you?” “Said I was too brave and–and passionate,” she replied, flushing. “Stubborn idiocy is more like it, from what Allison says,” he told her. “You want to be careful wandering around at night.” This was the opening she’d been looking for. “Because of the attacks?” “There’s that,” he said. “It’s easy to make mistakes in the dark. But it would be a bad idea even without that factored in. There’re all kinds of crazy things about Hogwarts, and a lot of it is more than a first-year can handle–even a first-year who can Disillusion herself.” “You sent Allison out to carry a note,” Meridy pointed out, trying to keep her bottom lip from sticking out. She was far too dignified to pout. Gary laughed. “Allison can handle herself. She’s already a good hand with curses. She’d better be–I taught her myself. And,” he added, looking down at her sternly “she knows better than to go wandering off from the main corridors looking for trouble.” Now Meridy did pout. “I’m not a complete idiot. I was just going down to the kitchens for some ice cream.” “And there’s nothing wrong with that every once in a while,” he told her. “Just keep your head down, and a friend close. A pure-blooded friend,” he added. “Not Jack Weasley. His mum’s a mudblood, and there are people around here who would love to catch him out in a dark corridor.” Meridy had known that Gary probably felt the same way most Slytherins did about blood purity, but it still hurt, hearing him speak about her beloved Aunt Mione that way. She wished she had the courage to ask him if he felt like part-bloods weren’t worthy of magic. “Do you know who’s causing the attacks?” she asked him instead. Gary laughed. “Mel, I’m only a fourth year,” he reminded her. “To you, that seems ancient–well, you’re barely five feet tall,” he considered jokingly. “No, those people are older, and above talking to the likes of me about…whatever it is they do.” Meridy nodded. That made sense. Later, when he had gone, she sat alone in the library, thinking. Had she put Jack in danger by asking him to come with her that night? Did those older Slytherins really want to hurt him? But who would want to hurt Jack? He was smart and good-natured and fair. It bothered her that Allison and Gary thought of Aunt Mione as a mudblood. She wrinkled her nose. That was a terrible word, built by ignorant people who were blinded by pride and hateful feelings. And her friends had probably grown up hearing it. Meridy remembered the first time she had come across the name. She’d been reading an old book from Uncle Remus’ library, where it was mentioned in a passage talking about an old muggle couple who had a magical child. When she asked him what it meant, he very firmly explained that it was a very rude, impolite word, worse than a swear word, used by people who were ignorant and insecure to describe a muggleborn witch or wizard. At seven, Meridy had been horrified, and had promised him never to say such a word. Uncle Remus had smiled, patted her on the head, and nudged her to pick up a book of fairy tales instead. At seven, she’d let herself be nudged, and promptly forgotten about the mean word in the old book. However, at eleven, hearing it come from the mouth of a friend was much harder to dismiss. She was shocked and felt as if she’d been Disillusioned all over again. It was one thing to hear it from Allison, who said the word as if she were just repeating what someone had told her. But Gary… Gary sounded like he meant it. Meridy didn’t know what to think about that. Miserable, she laid her head down on the table. It was some time before she finally left the library and headed up to Gryffindor Tower for bed. * * * * Well, Gary hadn’t told her much, Meridy eventually decided, but he’d essentially admitted that it was Slytherins who were behind the attack, and that they were older. That meant that the chances of her being able to stop them herself were small. But still…there was no reason not to wander around searching for people up to bad things at night, was there? Meridy knew she was a lot quieter than Filch, and she could Disillusion herself. Maybe if she saw who it was, she could tell someone. Gary’s dismissal of her ability to take care of herself clinched it. She had to do something. * * * * “You look tired, Mel,” Jacquie said a few mornings later, at breakfast. Meridy bit back a yawn. She’d been out the past three nights, without anything to show for it but a nasty bruise she’d picked up when she’d run into a wall while fleeing from Filch. “Just studying too much,” was what she said. “Exams coming up, you know.” Alyssa shuddered. “Eargh, don’t remind me. I still can’t Transfigure a quill into just a feather.” “You’ll get it,” Nellie consoled her. “We only started working on it last week.” Krista cut off Alyssa’s returning grumble. “Speaking of Transfiguration,” she said, “Did you end up changing number eight on the homework, Mel? I couldn’t decide.” Meridy began digging around in her bag, hunting for her homework. I should really be more organized, she thought to herself, as she unearthed the parchment. “Yes, I found something in the book about it.” “Of course,” Alyssa muttered. Meridy ignored her, and went to get her book so she could show Krista. Then she realized it wasn’t in her bag. “Oh, I don’t have my Transfiguration book,” she said. “I must have left it in the Tower.” “There’s still time to go get it,” Jacquie said, looking at her watch. “I’ll run with you, if you want.” “Thanks,” Meridy said, happily. Though Jacquie had initially seemed a bit unhappy about Meridy making the Quidditch team, it had passed quickly, and now her friend came to the practices sometimes with Alyssa and cheered whenever she caught the Snitch. Meridy knew she still intended to try out herself, next year or the year after. “I’ll show you where I found the answer in Charms,” she told Krista, as they stood up. Krista nodded. “I heard Alan Sarena talking to Jonathon Troy yesterday,” Jacquie said, once they had left the Great Hall and were trudging up the staircases. “They were talking about all the attacks that have been happening. Lindsay Peterson left last week, did you hear?” Suddenly, Meridy felt even more tired. “Yes,” she said. “That’s really sad. And it doesn’t look like the professors are going to do anything.” “Leda Pearson told me that Lindsay’s Head of House couldn’t get her to admit that anything had happened,” Jacquie said. “So Professor Sprout just dropped it, and signed the transfer papers.” “Professor Lupin never would have given in like that,” Meridy said firmly. “He’d have gotten to the bottom of it.” “Most likely,” Jacquie agreed. “But then, we’re Gryffindors. We’re brave.” Meridy smiled. “Yes,” she said. “We are.” * * * * They were chattering about Quidditch teams on the way back down from the Tower, when something strange caught Meridy’s eye. A trio of tall figures, with long cloaks and their hoods up, had just disappeared down a narrow corridor. What was that about? No one ever cloaks to class. Meridy stopped, her curiosity piqued. “You go on,” she said. “I’m going to go to the loo. I’ll be along in a minute.” Jacquie gave her a strange look–Meridy had cut her off mid-sentence. “All right,” she said. “But hurry. Professor Flitwick will take points off if you’re late.” Meridy pretended to walk in the opposite direction. But when Jacquie had rounded the corner, she whipped out her wand. “Disillusio! ” she hissed. Satisfied that she was Disillusioned, she hurried to the entrance of the narrow corridor, and cautiously peeked around the corner. Nothing. She walked briskly but silently, listening hard. Behind the second doorway she heard the murmur of voices. Meridy stopped and knelt, and started tearing through her back as loudly as she dared. Finally, she found a pair of Extendable Ears. She thanked her lucky stars she’d begun carrying WWW products around, just in case, and retreated back behind a suit of armor to listen as the ear extended. “…if you know what’s best for you. Your kind isn’t natural here, you know.” That was a boy’s voice, older and harsh. “Yes, and really, we’re doing you a favor,” a second voice said. This one was female and syrupy, and made Meridy think of a tree oozing poisonous sap. She distrusted it immediately. “After all, we’re taking the time to explain to you how you can help yourself.” “So it’s settled, then.” The third voice was the worst of all. Cold and dark, there was no ounce of emotion in his tones. “Tonight, at midnight. Come alone. Tell no one. Bring no one. If you do…we’ll know.” Then his voice continued, so soft that Meridy had to stain to hear it. “But if you do as we say, then you won’t be harmed. We’re just going to talk. Tell one living soul, however, and we’ll curse you until you don’t remember your own name, and no one will ever know who it was or how it happened. We’ll make it look…like an accident. Do you understand?” A quavery voice said that she did. “Good,” said the emotionless boy, and Meridy flattened herself against the wall just as the door swung open. The three of them came out into the hallway, hoods up and faces cast into shadow. They said nothing to each other. Meridy guessed that the shortest one was the girl. Her heart pounded in her chest. This hallway was dim, and she was partially hidden by a suit of armor, but would they notice her? Keep perfectly still, a voice in her head. Don’t even blink. “Hold back a bit,” the tallest boy, the one with the cold voice said, and Meridy felt her heart stop beating. “Travers, you hide in the next hallway, and tail her when she comes out. Make sure she doesn’t say anything to anyone.” The other boy–Travers?–nodded, and they continued on. Meridy felt the breath whoosh back into her lungs. She didn’t move for a long moment after they were gone. A young girl–Meridy judged her to be a first year, like herself–peeked out of the room, her breath drawing in a ragged sigh of relief when she saw that the three older kids were gone. The bordering on her robe was blue. Ravenclaw, then. “Pst!” Meridy said, when the girl began to pass her. Startled, the girl looked around. Her hair was long and blonde, braided back tightly from a tear-streaked face. She spotted Meridy, and opened her mouth. Meridy had jumped forward and covered her mouth with her hand before the girl had a chance to scream. “Shh!” she whispered. “It’s okay, I’m just Disillusioned, so they wouldn’t see me. We can’t make much noise. One of them is waiting in the next hall to follow you, make sure you don’t talk to anyone.” The girl nodded, and Meridy uncovered her mouth, sheepishly. “Sorry about that,” she said. “It’s okay,” the blonde-haired girl said. She looked downright alarmed, though. “You were listening?” “Just to the end of it,” Meridy said truthfully. “I saw them passing, and was curious. Then I had to hide. But you can’t talk to anyone today anywhere there might be Slytherins, understand? They’ll know.” The girl nodded again. Fresh tears brimmed in her eyes. “I can’t talk to anyone anyway. I have to go alone. They–they said they’d have lookouts posted, in case it looks like anyone else is coming with me.” Meridy hadn’t thought of that. “Uh-oh,” she said. “Are you going to go? It might be a trap.” “You heard them!” the girl sounded slightly hysterical, and Meridy put a finger to her lips to remind her to be quiet. “They’ll curse me thirty ways from Saturday if I don’t go,” she said, more softly. “I have to go. They said they just wanted to talk.” “I don’t know if I believe that,” Meridy said. “Where do they want you to meet them? And what’s your name, by the way?” she added as an afterthought. “Sara,” the girl said. “Sara Lawson. They want me to meet them in the West Tower. I’m not even sure I know the way.” Meridy felt her mouth tighten. That wasn’t good. The West Tower was far out of the way of any of the main corridors; chances were that even Filch didn’t patrol up there at night. Sara would be all alone. “I could come with you, Disillusioned,” she said at last. “No! What if they saw you?” Sara said. Meridy chewed a fingernail. “What if–?” She caught off as she heard footsteps approaching. Quickly, she jumped back and flattened herself against the wall. “Act like you’re alone,” she hissed to Sara. “Don’t tell anyone,” Sara breathed. Her dark eyes met and held Meridy’s. “Promise.” Meridy hesitated, her voice caught in her throat. “I promise,” she said at last, her voice scarcely loud enough for a whisper.”Now go! Don’t act like there’s anyone here, or you know that someone’s following you.” Sara nodded, and set off down the hall, trembling, just as an older boy rounded the corner. His hair was dark, and his robes showed Slytherin green bordering. Meridy held herself as still as it was possible to be for the second time, grateful that the large suit of armor partially obscured her, and that the lighting was dim. He walked past her without a second glance. When he too had gone, Meridy breathed a sigh of relief. Travers. One of their names was Travers, and he had dark hair, and was an upper-year Slytherin. That was something to go on. |
| Reviews 59 |
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