Apprentice Potter
Evasion
By Draco664
Evasion
I left Madam Bones' office immediately after the interview had concluded. I certainly didn't want to spend any more time in Dumbledore's company than I absolutely had to. Mr. Weasley had been sympathetic to my request to visit Gringotts; though Tonks had been more vocal in her disagreement, but finally had consented to escort me. It was either that or watch me walk out without her.
It probably wouldn't look too good on her next appraisal if I was attacked on her watch.
Diagon Alley was just as busy as I remembered, though I hadn't been there in years. A great press of colourfully robed bodies were all busily scurrying around doing whatever they felt they needed to do. I've never really looked at it from any other point of view, but it does remind me remarkably of an ant nest. Hundreds of mindless zombies hurrying around performing what is to them some massively important task, yet individually has very little effect on society as a whole. While a part of me was glad that these people are still living their lives and not letting Voldemort dictate their actions, another part was silently screaming at them to wake up. To take notice of what is going on in the world.
I watched a pair of young brothers standing outside Quality Quidditch Supplies argue over which broomstick to get, as if it was a decision of such importance that the fate of all mankind depended upon the outcome. I shook my head, silently wagering that they would probably come to blows within a few minutes.
Tonks casually leaned away from me, pulling on my arm, silently telling me to keep moving. We were walking down Diagon Alley arm in arm, as if we were two lovers out for a casual stroll. Given the fact that she had dressed me in a robe that widened my shoulders, a wide brimmed pointed hat that rivaled McGonagall's and a pair of sunglasses so large they went out of fashion in Italy in the sixties, I had actually managed to walk half the length of the Alley without being recognised. I had received plenty of odd looks though.
I guess everyone thinks that Harry Potter goes around with his famous scar on display for all, basking in his fame. Or infamy of course, depending on whether or not you allowed the media to do all your tedious and tiring jobs for you. Like thinking.
Still, I had assumed that there were people in the wizarding world who were actually more observant than this. Not that I was complaining. Not for the first time, I really envied Tonks' ability to change her appearance at will. I had thought for a while last year that I may have been able to do so too, that I may have had the same latent ability, but the only thing about myself I've ever managed to change was the length of my hair. And that was only when I didn't know I was a wizard.
"Keep going, Pup. Stopping to gawk at something just draws attention to yourself."
I ground my teeth at the irritating nickname. "Like wearing a pair of sunglasses large enough to use as plates to feed that fat cow Umbridge twice over wasn't enough in the first place?"
Tonks gave a small hiss of frustration. "Listen, you are the one who wanted to come here. You are also the one who prefers to remain anonymous. Believe me, this is not an assignment I'm enjoying. Acting like a spoilt brat in public is the quickest way I can think of to ruin your day." she said softly.
"And here I was thinking that nothing could top being expelled."
Tonks dug her nails into my arm and drew me across to Madam Malkin's where she could pretend to examine the clothes on display. "Enough. Grow up. You can act like a child when you are not exposed, but right now, you need to pretend you do this every day." she hissed out of the corner of her mouth.
She was right, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let her know that. "Moody would be so proud. You've finally managed to reach the required level of waspishness to be a truly great auror. No more jokes? Did you get promoted from bumbling sidekick to dour goon?"
She closed her eyes, lowered and shook her head. Taking a deep breath, she looked up and turned towards me, studying my expression intently. "Is getting the last word in worth being discovered? Then mobbed at best, attacked at worst?"
I snarled, and took a breath to berate her, but she jabbed her fingers into my solar plexus, forcing the air painfully from my lungs.
"Shut up, someone is coming over."
I stiffened, unconsciously fingering the tip of my wand in my sleeve. With the ugliest pair of sunglasses in existence on my face, I couldn't wear my normal glasses. I turned to see a tall, hauntingly familiar figure approach us uncertainly. I felt my will slowly fade, and even though I couldn't quite make her out, I just knew exactly who approached.
"'Arry? Is that you?" she said uncertainly.
I took a deep breath, forcing some air into my aching lungs. I blinked behind the glasses, trying to focus. "Hello Fleur. How are you?"
Fleur's expression softened, and became a lot more relaxed. "'Arry, I almost didn't, ah, recognise you." she said, enunciating the unfamiliar words clearly. She took my free arm to turn me around, before kissing me on both cheeks. "These glasses, they do not suit you." she said, her voice tinged with laughter.
Tonks' fingernails were on the verge of drawing blood. Clenching my jaw against the pain, I turned back to her. "I know. Fleur, this is-"
"Rachel. Rachel Airey." said Tonks, not letting go of my arm. My eyes were beginning to water. "Harry has told me all about you." she simpered.
Oh please no. You absolute bitch.
"'Arry? You 'ave a girlfriend?" asked Fleur, a pleased smile on her face.
Tonks nodded, while I shook my head. Whoa, that was a mistake. Tonks ground her nails into my forearm, and it took everything I had not to cry out. Even so, my head swam and I felt a warm liquid trickle down the sensitive flesh on the underside of my arm. I prayed to any god that happened to be listening that it was perspiration.
Between the pain in my arm and Fleur's veela charms, I was feeling decidedly woozy. Fleur looked from Tonks to me, a faint frown marring her perfect features. I closed my eyes behind the dark glasses and erected my mental shields, just trying to block out the pain of having Tonks' ever lengthening fingernails gouge their way through my arm and out the other side. The pain slowly faded to a faint sensation, while my libido calmed down to merely raging adolescent levels.
I opened my eyes to discover something rather remarkable. Fleur, though pretty, wasn't anywhere near as beautiful as she was before I closed my eyes. I remembered seeing the veelas at the World Cup look ugly when they forgot to exhibit their glamour. But Fleur was part human. Her part-veela heritage enhanced her beauty to those looking, but she was probably no prettier than Cho. She was dressed in what appeared to be the latest fashion, with her hair done up in a rather elaborate knot on the top of her head.
"T- Rachel is a friend, who happens to be a girl." I said, my voice clear and strong, but low. "How is Gabrielle?"
Fleur blinked and smiled, a faint blush on her cheeks. "She is 'ere, in London, visiting. William is showing 'er the carts down to the vaults. She does so love to ride quickly. She'd also love to see you again, 'Arry."
I nodded and smiled. "It would be nice to see her too. Though I'm not sure I'd recognise her without seaweed in her hair."
Fleur giggled, daintily covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, 'Arry. You are so funny."
I just kept smiling. "Thanks. We were heading to Gringotts anyway. Do you want to come with us or were you on an errand?"
"Sorry, a what?" asked Fleur.
"An errand. A, uh, job, a task, um-"
"Oh! Oui, I was getting a gift for my parents. It is their um, ann-, anniver-, anniversary. I shall meet you at Gringotts soon, yes?"
I nodded. "I'll see you there. Um, would you mind not telling anyone you saw me?"
"Oui. I never saw you." winked Fleur before taking her leave, giving us one last wave. I turned back to Tonks, only to notice her smile looked a little too forced.
"Harry, that wasn't Fleur Delacour." she hissed.
Huh? "What do you mean?"
"Harry, I think it was someone who had taken polyjuice. you know that Fleur is part-veela. Men lose control of their drool reflex around them and need to wear a bib to avoid ruining expensive robes. You didn't even skip a beat."
Nice to see you have a healthy respect for the males of our species. "I know. She started to affect me like that, but because of your efforts to put me in the hospital wing,-" I wiggled my arm in her grasp. "I put up my Occlumency shields. After that, she was just another pretty girl."
Tonks' mouth opened and she blinked, shock evident on her unfamiliar features. "You're an Occlumens?"
I nodded. "Trying to be one anyway. What was up with the jealous girlfriend act?" I asked nonchalantly, dreading the answer.
She shrugged. "Who'd think a woman acting jealous around a half-veela was in any way out of the ordinary?"
I grunted in acknowledgement and breathed a quiet sigh of relief, silently thankful it wasn't anything more than that. While I'm pretty sure that having a metamorphmagus as a girlfriend would be rather interesting, at least from the point of view that you'd never get bored in bed, I'd sure as hell not feel comfortable letting any particularly sensitive parts of my anatomy anywhere near someone as clumsy as Tonks. Not while she had fingernails like that at any rate.
Tonks seemed to read my mind. "Don't worry, Pup. I'm not one of your groupies. You're nice and all," she gave a little snort. "usually at any rate, but I prefer my men blond and well built. Not to mention out of their teens."
I gently extracted my arm from her grip, and rubbed it surreptitiously. "And how do your men like you?"
She gave me a superior expression. "Wouldn't you like to know." Her face turned wistful. "You know, there was this one guy who I went out with for a while who cheated on me." Her face twisted into a perfectly self-satisfied grin. "After I found out, I lured him into bed and morphed into his mother just before he-" Tonks coughed delicately. "-finished." she smirked.
I smiled despite myself. "Is that a warning for me to stop pissing you off? Or a threat?"
Tonks tilted her head to one side. "Oh, I never threaten, Pup. It lets people know when you've reached your limit. If you just keep making jokes, then extract your revenge, the subject of your ire can never be sure exactly what it was that caused you to retaliate. Afterwards, they are always much better behaved."
"I bet." I nodded, since I wasn't stupid. At least, I hadn't thought I was stupid, but that was before I managed to talk myself into a situation where I need to risk going to prison just to continue my education.
Tonks went to take hold of my arm again, but I judiciously maneuvered her so she grabbed my un-perforated arm. Humming quietly to herself, she led me in vague direction of Gringotts.
"So, why are you so insistent that we visit the bank?" Tonks asked.
"I need to know exactly how much is left in my vault. If I'm going to hire someone to defend me, I probably shouldn't agree to spend more than I have."
"Fair enough, but Bones hasn't even brought charges against you. The Ministry are not charging anyone for using an unforgivable in self defense. You probably won't even have to shop around for a landshark."
I blinked. "A what?"
Tonks smiled at me, a large genuine smile. "Something one of my ex-boyfriends called lawyers. He picked it up from growing up in the muggle world. I thought it was quite apt."
I chuckled to myself. "I suppose. Anyway, Dumbledore said that the governors can only take into consideration what is recorded. Since I rather stupidly admitted to casting the spell, unless I'm exonerated they have to expel me."
"If the Ministry don't charge you, you're stuck?"
I nodded glumly. "Pretty much."
"Man, sucks to be you." she said happily.
"I'm underwhelmed with the sympathy you're showing." I replied sourly.
Tonks snorted. "Maybe you can get the media on your side?"
"What do you mean?"
Tonks suddenly swung me around and planted a kiss firmly on my lips. It happened so quickly that I was shocked into stillness. She released my arm and put her own arms around my neck, her cheek against mine. "Sorry Pup, but there are two people following us. We need to get somewhere safe until they leave." she whispered in my ear.
I nodded, my mind still telling me that kissing someone who didn't have tears running down her face was really very pleasant. I rolled my eyes around, taking in our surroundings, and noticed a new shop that hadn't been there the last time I was in Diagon Alley.
"I know just the place." I said with a smile, looking at number ninety-three.
~~~
Killing your customers has never really been a successful business strategy, though making your clients feel appreciated can truly enable you to make a killing.
The twins' store seemed to have both qualities in abundance. In just the time it took us to make our way from the front door to the main counter, Tonks managed to knock over enough merchandise to have two near-death experiences, ending the trip with feathers, three arms and (rather amusingly) her legs on backwards. The last did nothing at all to assist her lack of dexterity, or her moving around the room. By the time we made it to a relatively safe place, she wore a furious expression on her face. The only consolation was that she was not alone, there were at least a dozen potential shoppers in the store, all of whom were suffering from some form of magical malady or another.
I casually picked up a piece of merchandise or two, as though deciding on what I wanted to purchase. Tonks had apparently forgotten her own advice on what not to do when you want to blend in.
"Wait till I get my hands on them." she steamed, absently clutching at my shoulder with her third arm to maintain her balance.
I smirked to myself. "They'd probably appreciate a visit from their mother..."
Tonks shook her head. "I can't morph in this state." she moaned.
My reply was interrupted by a rather boisterous red-head. "Welcome to the greatest prank shop in the known universe! Here you can fulfil- Harry?"
I shook my head while giving him our Quidditch hand gesture for a feint. "Where is your back room?" I whispered.
Fred smiled. "George is back there, going over some figures. Just step over there and give the password to the statue to your left. I'll join you when I get rid of these guys." Fred said, waving towards the other shoppers. Another tinkle announced the arrival of another pair of shoppers. From the way Tonks began giving me matching wounds on my other forearm, I guessed they were our unwelcome shadows.
"Password?" hissed Tonks, eyeing Fred with obvious dislike.
I nodded. "They owled me about it this summer. They told me that if I ever stopped by in Diagon Alley, I could escape from any unwanted attention in their back room." I turned to the statue of what could only be described as the most unfortunate object in the universe. Less than half the maladies afflicting the statue were on show around the room as various shoppers ate the wrong thing. Even Tonks gave it a sympathetic look. "Voldemort's a wanker." I whispered.
The statue ground to one side allowing us access into the inner sanctum of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
A surprisingly sparse, moderately lit room greeted us. A pair of old, but comfortable looking couches were lined against one wall, facing an old oak desk. The desk was rather peculiarly shaped as a triangle with rounded corners, with identical chairs (presumably for the twins) along two of the sides, and a pair of armchairs along the third side with their backs facing the entrance.
George sat at one of the chairs, pouring over some paperwork. He looked up as we entered, a brief curious expression on his face, but that quickly turned into a smile. "Harry! Tonks! Come in, please sit down." he said, gesturing to the armchairs. He looked Tonks up and down, a satisfied look on his face. He probably noticed her expression though, because he opened a drawer and drew out a single wrapped sweet, which he tossed to her. "Swallow that." he finished simply.
Tonks juggled the sweet, surprisingly managing to keep from dropping it. "What is it?" she demanded.
George chuckled. "A Universal Reversal." he said. "It will negate all of our pranks."
Tonks eagerly tore off the wrapping and swallowed the thing, wincing as her hips reversed themselves, putting her legs back on the correct way. Her third arm dropped off and evaporated, while the feathers molted. "Thanks. Why don't you sell them?"
"Are you kidding? They are just for making business deals. Lets our potential partners know we are professional."
I plonked down, tugging off the hat and sunglasses with relief. I pulled out my own glasses and put them on, watching the world finally swim into focus. "You're seriously taking on partners?"
George nodded. "The quickest and easiest way of spreading a brand is to sell franchises. People sign up with us and agree to follow the procedures we set down. They put their own money into their store and run it, selling our products. We get a large, up front deposit, a cut of the new store's profits and the brand gets spread far and wide."
"Have you had many people show an interest yet?" I asked.
George nodded. "After our escape from Hogwarts last year, the tale grew a little beyond what we expected. Dozens of kids went home at the end of the year insisting on visiting us as soon as possible. Quite a few parents came to the conclusion that there was some money to be made from that sort of advertising. We've had no end of offers. Some are just looking for a quick galleon, but two in particular are serious and professional enough to convince Fred and I to agree to bring them on board."
Tonks butted in. "George, we need two owls. We were being followed, and I want to inform Kingsley."
"You didn't just stop in for a chat? I'm crushed."
"Shut up and get me those owls OK, or I will crush you."
George grinned at her. "Ok. Keep your hair on." he said, but didn't move.
Tonks frowned at him. "Well?"
I looked over at her and burst out laughing. Her hair had fallen out.
~~~
"What is the second owl for?" I asked Tonks as she sent off the first to Kingsley.
"For you." she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She turned to George, who had finally managed to get over his shock after Tonks morphed into Mrs. Weasley and yelled at him for a good fifteen minutes. "Are they still in the shop?" she snapped.
George made his way along the back wall, opening and glancing through several different peepholes, before stopping and nodding. "I'll go and swap with Fred." he said, eyeing the fuming auror with not a little nervousness.
The other twin appeared moments after George left the back room, and came over to greet us. It only took Tonks half a minute to brief him on being followed and what we were doing there.
"Well, those two are not looking at anything." Fred confirmed. "They haven't moved around the shop much, staying in one corner. Come to think of it, that corner has line of sight both to the front door and to Butt."
"Butt?" asked Tonks, a puzzled frown on her face.
"Our statue." replied Fred with a grin. "The butt of our jokes."
Tonks and I both let out a groan.
Fred clutched at his heart. "How could you be so cruel? Not laughing at Butt?"
I rolled my eyes. For someone who was quite willing to join the Order last year, who was also ready to risk their life by having me in their store, Fred could still be remarkably childish. I felt a rush of gratitude to him. Hell, to the whole Weasley family. I felt a genuine smile form at the edges of my mouth before I noticed Tonks looking at me.
I coughed and walked over to the wall where the peepholes lay in wait. I stared through them for a few seconds, committing my two stalkers to memory. "How are we going to get past them without them seeing?" Tonks came over to look through another spy hole herself.
Fred's ever-present smile grew wider. "I have a few suggestions."
"How many of them don't involve the use of your inventory?"
"Our inventory." Fred corrected, giving me a serious stare. "You are our partner, Harry."
I rolled my eyes. "And I told you not to be ridiculous."
Fred's irrepressible smile returned. "Too late."
"What do you mean?" I demanded.
"Exactly that." came the cheeky response.
Tonks must have noticed my rapidly darkening face, because she drew herself away from the spy hole to surreptitiously wave at Fred and make warning faces from behind my shoulder. I could make out her jerky movements in my peripheral vision, even though I was glaring at Fred.
"You can keep out of this, Tonks." I snapped, not taking my eyes from Fred. "Exactly what do you mean, 'too late'?"
Fred's eyes flickered from Tonks to me. "George and I decided to make you an equal partner. You own a third of the company, and once you are out of Hogwarts, there will be a job waiting for you."
For some reason, the thought of working with the twins filled me with equal parts dread and longing. Dread at the thought of long periods of being in close proximity to a pair of compulsive practical jokers and the largest collection of magical prank items in the country. Longing at the realisation that even though being near me decreases your life expectancy by about an order of magnitude, these people actually valued my company enough to offer me such a role.
"Thanks." I said finally, my voice a little rough.
Fred gave me an understanding smile. "You're welcome. Now, how are we going to get you past these rather unwelcome annoyances?"
Tonks snorted. "And once he's past you and your brother, how is he going to get past the shadows?"
Fred clutched his heart again. "Oh, Nymphodora, how could you?"
Growling deeply, Tonks whipped out her wand and sent a quick hex at Fred. I was rather gratified to see him deflect it easily and send his own harmless laughing jinx back at her.
Tonks collapsed with laughter, but managed to get out the counter-jinx to the spell through her chuckles. "How the hell did you get so fast?" she asked, surprised at the speed in which Fred had reacted.
Fred grinned at me. "I always thought that aurors were taught to not underestimate opponents."
Maybe." I replied cheekily. "But our experience with aurors is limited to a freakishly paranoid octogenarian, a guy who was given the task of capturing my godfather, but ended up working with him, and a clumsy good-for-nothing-"
Tonks had her wand pointed rather accurately at my groin. "It is so important for the existence of your future children, that you do not finish that sentence."
Fred just laughed at her. "One of his students took you down quickly. What makes you think you'd be any more successful against him?"
Tonks frowned at him, but finally stood. "What do you mean?"
Fred looked surprised. "Didn't Dumbledore tell you about the DA?"
"Just that it was a study group."
As Fred launched into a slightly embellished version of how the DA started, I turned and looked out the spy hole again. The pair of wizards following me were obviously quite annoyed at the continued attention George was lavishing on them. Mind you, a saint would be driven into a homicidal rage at what the annoyance consisted of. George was obviously enjoying himself immensely.
After a few moments, at the edge of my attention, I heard Fred describe my teaching several dozen people to produce a corporeal patronus. I figured he was about to tell Tonks about the events after we were ratted out.
"Maybe I should try to become an animagus." I said vaguely, more in the hope of shutting Fred up than any real determination.
Tonks snapped her head around at me. "I wouldn't."
I looked over my shoulder at her. "Why not?" I asked, a hint of anger in my voice. "It would be far easier to evade these bastards if I could turn into an animal."
"Because someone told Fudge that Sirius was an animagus, we think it was probably Malfoy senior. Fudge changed the laws governing them so that now, anyone who wants to become an animagus needs to obtain specific permission from the Ministry before attempting it. Previously, they just needed to register on completion of the training. Any unregistered animagus will be charged if they are discovered."
I gave a small scowl before a thought hit me. My change in attitude must have shown in my eyes, because both Tonks and Fred looked at me curiously.
"No amnesty period?" I asked carefully.
Tonks shook her head."
I graced her with a feral grin. "You know Tonks, I think I will be needing that owl after all. I think it is time I had a chat with a certain journalist."
Tonks tilted her head to one side. "You have one in particular in mind?"
I just nodded.
~~~
It was probably no more than fifteen minutes later when Butt moved aside again, allowing entrance to the twins inner sanctum. I turned, expecting to see either Fred or George, then froze. Bile rose in my throat as I focused on the particularly unwelcome figure of Albus Dumbledore serenely enter the back room.
The old man ignored me to start with, joking easily with Fred, bantering with George.
That suited me just fine. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to him at that point.
I studiously looked everywhere but in his direction, an expression of belligerent nonchalance on my face. At least I hoped it was nonchalance, though the old man was probably stupid enough to confuse it for constipation.
After a few minutes, a gentle hand gripped my shoulder lightly. "Harry? I think we need to talk."
I swung my arm around, knocking his hand away from my shoulder. "There is nothing I want to say to you."
Dumbledore didn't take the hint. That distant voice in my mind wondered exactly how much more explicit I needed to be before he actually left me alone. I really needed to get myself a firearm of some sort.
"There are, however, some things I need to tell you."
I sprang to my feet and spun around to face him in one quick movement. Leaning forward, I screamed straight into his face. "I don't want to hear it. I've had enough of your platitudes. Of your sanctimonious crap. I've had enough of you trying to control my life. If you don't understand that, then try this." I took a deep breath. "Fuck off!" I shouted into his face. "Can you understand that?"
Before he could respond, I turned and almost ran to the washroom, slamming the door behind me.
~~~
I leaned against the back wall of the tiled room, wincing as I felt the bile in my stomach climb into my throat. My rage had not yet run its course, and I looked down at my hands, noting wryly that they were trembling.
After a few seconds, I pushed off the wall and moved over to a hand basin. I wrenched the tap, turning the cold water on unnecessarily hard. Cupping my hands beneath the too powerful stream, I splashed water everywhere to get about half a cup in my hands. I sipped the water, rolling it around in my mouth.
The cool sensation on my tongue calmed my stomach, and rolling anger settled. I tilted my head back and gargled, desperate to get the filthy taste from my mouth. I gripped the sides of the basin and lowered my head to spit in the basin. With a sigh I looked up at myself in the mirror.
My hair was just as messy as ever, though my fringe was stuck to my damp forehead, easily covering my bloody scar. My pale skin looked almost sallow, giving my eyes a haunted look.
I had to go out there and face Dumbledore sooner or later. As much as I'd kept my anger at him from overflowing while we were in Bones' office, the sight of his condescending smile just filled me with rage.
I wanted nothing to do with him. He had done enough messing around in my life already. I was not going to let him have another chance.
Maybe it would be better for me not to go back to Hogwarts. I'd need to work out things like safety. Keeping my location secret from both Voldemort and Dumbledore would be difficult, but possible. After all, Sirius managed to stay on the run from the Ministry, the dementors and the Order for almost a full year.
I could feel the pain of guilt flood through my veins, thrumming in my arms. I clenched the sides of the basin while squeezing my eyes shut. Unbidden, I felt my magical strength leak out. Through the haze of tears, a loud crack and a flash of hot pain broke me out of my trance. I looked down to find that I'd gripped the edge of the basin so hard that a piece had broken off in my left hand. I slowly released the porcelain shard, letting it fall unheeded to the ground, and felt the blood rush back into my hand.
And out of it too, through at least two separate cuts.
I just stared with a curious detachment as the blood dripping from my injured palm splashed gently into the ruined basin. Tiny red tears fell, landing on the pristine white porcelain, shattering on impact from one drop into several tiny red liquid shards. The beads of blood then slowly ran together, forming streaks of crimson on the previously unspoilt white background. More blood drops landed, adding to the colour that simply mesmerised me.
I wasn't sure how long I stood there, staring at my blood slowly drip into the basin. I was in no danger, only one drop of blood fell every few seconds, but all I could think about was how Sirius would never spill his blood again. That he would never get another chance to do good. To clear his name.
I finally clenched my fist to put pressure on the cuts, stopping the slow bleeding completely. The remaining blood in the basin trickled away, leaving only a red smear.
I tore off a strip of cloth from the base of Dudley's old tee-shirt, binding my hand quickly. I fumbled a bit, it's not easy to tie a knot with only one hand, then gripped one end of the cloth in my teeth and the other with my right fingers. I pulled the knot tight, wincing slightly as the fresh cuts protested.
The washroom door looked quite intimidating, though that was probably because I knew what was on the other side. I had to face Dumbledore at least once more, if only to get a promise from him to leave me alone for the rest of my life.
I could make out a soft murmuring of voices, though no actual words. With a soft snort, I wondered what I'd give to be a fly on the wall in the conversation that was going on.
I leaned back against the wall and thrust my hands in my pockets, more to stop them shaking than to keep them warm. My undamaged hand wrapped itself around one of the items I picked up on my way in. A slow smile lazily spread over my face, as I pulled my prize out of my pocket.
An Extendable Ear.
--
A/N