A New Definition of Family
Chapter 19: Hexed, Vexed and Perplexed
Disclaimer: I do not own any of JK Rowling’s characters or any portion of the Harry Potter universe. This depresses me. Any characters, places, Quidditch stuff, situations, or spells that you don’t find in her fabulous books, well now, they belong to me!
Even though the Triwizard Tournament had begun, and the weather was turning colder, not one of the Hogwarts staff in his or her right mind had even considered ending the highly successful intramural Quidditch program. There were just too many students bouncing off the walls of the castle. In fact, Professor Dunlevy and Madam Hooch had kindly extended an invitation to Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime if any of their students were interested in participating. Rinna was not surprised to see more than the usual amount of spectators in the Quidditch stadium on the first Saturday morning of November; apparently the school’s foreign guests were investigating.
Rinna was circling and looping on her broom high above the stadium as the players cleared off for lunch. She frowned when she realized that two figures were still in the stands. They had caused much consternation when they had sat down; Krum is here! Viktor Krum is watching us play! As a result, there were several near-mishaps and Rinna had had to come down hard on the players who were craning their necks and looking at the Bulgarian Seeker in the stands rather than the players in front of them. By the end of the morning, Rinna had felt like throttling the lot of them, including Krum and his Headmaster, so she had shot off into the sky at the end of the session to fly off her frustration and thus ensure her continued employment.
As she landed on the grass, she saw Karkaroff and Krum were leaving the stands and making their way to the pitch. Rinna heaved a sigh and strode to meet them. “Gentlemen,” she greeted in a pleasantly neutral voice, masking her irritation, “how may I be of assistance?”
“I am hoping you could be, Professor,” said Igor Karkaroff unctuously. “Viktor here needs to maintain his Quidditch skills, and I want to set up a time for him to practice. Without an audience.”
Rinna snorted. “Are you not aware, Professor Karkaroff, that in the past seven days Mr. Krum has been unable to go anywhere without a small army of admirers following him? How do you propose we prevent them from filling the stands… repelling charms?”
Karkaroff brightened at that. “I had not thought of that… it just might work,” he said thoughtfully.
“Oh for Merlin’s sake!” Rinna threw up her hands. “I was being facetious, Professor!”
Karkaroff scowled. “I insist that you accommodate my, er, that is, Mr. Krum’s wishes!”
“Certainly!” Rinna snapped. “As soon as I find out what they are.” Rinna turned to Viktor. “Mr. Krum,” her tone was kinder, “what, exactly, would you prefer for your practice sessions?” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Karkaroff fuming at her audacity in usurping his authority over Krum. Hah! Serves you right, pompous, self-important git, for riding on the coat-tails of your student’s fame!
“Vell, Professor,” Viktor said carefully, bowing politely to her, “I must keep up my skills… I vill haff to perform vell for my team this spring in order to maintain my contract.” Rinna nodded in understanding. “But, I am afraid it is not very good to practice by myself…”
Karkaroff interrupted, “Now Viktor, you know you don’t want to be giving a free show to all these, these children here…”
“Professor,” Viktor cut in with another bow, this time to his Headmaster, “vith all respect, I do not care vether or not any of the students vatch. I only care about practicing and staying in shape.” He turned to Rinna, his face creased in thought. “In fact, Professor Dunlevy, I do not see how I can do that vithout other players.”
Rinna nodded, ignoring Karkaroff’s splutters, impressed that Krum had done his homework and learned her name. She suspected that Karkaroff hadn’t yet. “Agreed, Mr. Krum. But this creates a dilemma, I’m afraid.” She gestured for him to walk with her to the bench at the edge of the pitch. She glanced up from her seat when she realized a glowering Karkaroff had followed. “Professor Karkaroff,” she said evenly, “you have my word that I understand the situation perfectly, as well as the need for discretion. I am confident that Mr. Krum and I can find a workable solution.” He looked like he was about to protest. “And I will run it past you before we implement it, for your final approval,” she finished firmly.
Karkaroff looked at Viktor, who was nodding in agreement, before turning his glare back to Rinna. “Splendid. I am very pleased and gratified that you can help us in this way, Professor,” he gritted out in a tone that indicated he was anything but pleased and gratified with how the situation had turned out. He turned abruptly on his heel and slunk out of the stadium.
Rinna returned her attention to Viktor, who prompted, “You said there vas a dilemma?”
“You see, Hogwarts has four house teams, and each team also has three or four reserve players, alternate players, that is,” she explained. “So there are about forty excellent players here.” She grinned. “Somehow, I don’t think even you would be able to play against that many…”
Viktor was surprised to realize she was teasing him. Usually people were very serious with him, almost as if they were afraid to offend him. And yet, this teacher was treating him as if he were a normal person, not some Quidditch super-star. He appreciated it, very much. “Vell, it vould be a challenge,” he grinned back. “So I think, perhaps,” he added with a shrug, “just enough people to make skeleton teams?”
Rinna knew what he meant from her days playing Quidditch; skeleton teams referred to the practice of a team of seven regular players and three alternates forming two teams for practice and drills. “Well, that’s my dilemma, you see. If I choose just a few players to practice with you, we’re likely to have a riot on our hands…”
“Ah,” Viktor said before thinking for a moment. “Vat about rotating the players then? It is more interesting and challenging for me to play against different styles, vouldn’t you think?”
Rinna was pleased. She had hoped that Krum would suggest this solution. She’d thought he’d seemed a decent fellow, and she was glad to see that fame had not yet gone to his head. “I think that is a brilliant resolution. Thank you for suggesting it.” Viktor gave her a polite bow. “Just two more details to attend to before we can make this happen, though. First, I must check with Professor Dumbledore; he may not be exactly keen on his two Champions risking life and limb on the Quidditch pitch.” At Krum’s puzzled look she explained, “Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter are Seekers for their respective house teams. And second, I will have to bring this proposal to our flying instructor for her approval before it can officially happen.”
“You are not the flying instructor, Professor Dunlevy?” Krum was very confused now. “But ven I saw you flying… you vere officiating… you fly very vell…”
“I’m sorry you got the wrong impression, Mr. Krum. I have been assisting with our rather new intramural Quidditch program because of my interest in the sport, but Madam Hooch, who has this weekend off, is the person who is really in charge of all things Quidditch around Hogwarts.”
Viktor Krum once again smiled widely. Smiling did wonders for his usually dour expression, Rinna thought. It was too bad he was one of those people whose facial muscles fell into a somewhat surly arrangement at rest. “Vould you be talking about Rolanda Hooch, Professor?” he asked.
“Why, yes,” Rinna replied, a bit taken aback. “Do you know her?”
His smile turned rather impish. “Yes. She and my grandfather played for the same team, you see.”
Rinna looked at him curiously. “Really?” Krum nodded. “Huh.”
“Professor, begging your pardon, but I think you are forgetting a third detail.” Krum was still grinning. He really looked like a cheeky teenager now; it was hard to imagine this was the same man who was the serious Bulgarian Seeker.
“Oh I am, am I?” Rinna asked, one eyebrow raised in challenge. “And what might that be?”
“Vell, you did tell Professor Karkaroff you vould run vatever plan ve came up vith past him for his approval.”
A sour expression crossed Rinna’s face. “Blast. I did, didn’t I?” Viktor laughed at her scowl. She eyed him speculatively. “All right, Mr. Impudence. If you hurry, you’ll still get lunch. I’ll take care of my three tasks and we’ll have this all worked out in a matter of days.”
Viktor stood up, bowed to her, and left the pitch, turning once to wave cheerily in her direction.
The following Friday afternoon, Rinna moved quickly through the halls of the old castle, a small bundle of journals tucked in the crook of her elbow. It had taken every ounce of diplomacy and wit she possessed to wheedle the periodicals out of the library and, therefore, out of Madam Pince’s tight control. She considered herself fortunate that she did not have any children of her own, or she would have likely had to pledge her firstborn to the woman as collateral against the journals’ safe return.
As it was, she’d used up valuable time during this, her only afternoon free period, and was now hurrying to the dungeons and her latest brewing of her “private commission” as she had started to call her renewed potions experiment. She’d commandeered one of the smaller unused classrooms and had implemented an impressive array of wards and lock-spells to keep her work safe, all which took precious time to do and undo. She huffed out an exasperated sigh; if she didn’t get any work done today, she’d have to use her free Saturday afternoon, after the morning’s first official “Viktor Krum Quidditch Melee” as Madam Hooch was calling it. She sighed again; usually Friday the Thirteenth was a “lucky” day for her.
It became obvious she had not learned her lesson about taking corners at breakneck speed (although she wasn’t truly even running; more of a barely restrained jog, really) when she collided with a wild-haired sobbing student. Periodicals went flying and Rinna staggered backward, recognizing the girl who was crying uncontrollably and covering her mouth even as she reeled from the collision. Unfortunately, her hands reflexively flew out to her sides in an attempt to maintain her balance, revealing the cause of her tears.
“Hermione! Oh Merlin, what happened?” Rinna gasped. The girl’s front teeth had grown and were now past her chin and almost to the point where they were pressing into her breast bone. “Finite Incantatum!” Rinna pulled her closer to the wall, so her back was to the corridor. Hermione’s hands were once again covering her disfigurement, and her sobbing continued.
“Come on, Hermione, let me see,” Rinna coaxed gently, carefully prying the distraught girl’s hands from her mouth. “All right,” she said calmly, placing her hand on Hermione’s shoulder. “We are going to get this taken care of. You are going to be just fine, okay?” The poor thing’s shoulders heaved miserably. “I’m taking you to the infirmary. I could probably take care of this right here, but I’m not the expert in healing that Madam Pomfrey is.” She smiled encouragingly. “Your parents are dentists, I believe?” Hermione nodded slightly. “They would agree that we don’t want an amateur mucking about with something as important as teeth. So, here you go,” and Rinna produced a clean handkerchief from her inside robe pocket and opened it. “Use this to cover your face.” She placed the hanky in the girl’s hand and held it up to her nose. “Like so, as if you have a nosebleed. That’s it.” The teeth had been effectively disguised.
Rinna turned, extended a hand, and with a quiet “accio” the journals returned to her. She wrapped her free arm around Hermione’s shoulders and kindly led her toward the Hospital Wing. “Madam Pomfrey,” she called as they entered the infirmary, and was surprised to see the Healer poke her head out from behind the curtains where she was tending another patient.
“This is our other dueler?” Poppy Pomfrey asked incredulously, surprised that Hermione would break such a serious school rule. Hermione vigorously shook her head.
“Well,” Rinna said carefully, “she’s been hit with densaugeo, but I don’t think Miss Granger was dueling in the halls…” She turned to Hermione. “You weren’t, were you?” Hermione again shook her head.
Madam Pomfrey sniffed. “Well, Mr. Goyle here claims he wasn’t dueling, either.” Hermione shook her head a third time. “He wasn’t? All right, then. I will leave it to the teachers to sort this out. Let’s get her to a bed, over there, Professor. Yes, right there. I’ll be with you shortly, Miss Granger. We’ll soon have you put to rights.”
Rinna guided Hermione to the edge of the bed. “Well, you obviously can’t tell me what happened right now, but I could probably hazard a guess; you were hit by a hex gone astray?” Hermione gave a sad little nod. Something seemed to click in Rinna’s mind. “Oh no. Please don’t tell me that Harry was dueling…” Hermione looked away. Rinna sighed. “One guess as to whom with: Draco Malfoy.” Hermione still refused to look at her.
Rinna pushed aside the privacy curtain rather forcefully and stalked to Pomfrey’s office. “I’m nicking a piece of parchment, Poppy,” she called as she opened the desk drawer. She returned to Hermione’s alcove and set the parchment on the bedside table.
“You’re supposed to be in Potions right now, if I’m not mistaken,” Rinna said, recalling Harry’s schedule. Hermione nodded. “I’m writing you a note excusing you from class. You’ll need this, or Professor Snape will likely give you detention.” She handed it to Hermione, and held her gaze. “When you’ve been set to rights and you can talk again, if you want to tell me what happened I’m more than willing to listen. And I’ll do my best to help sort things out, all right?”
Hermione didn’t know if she’d take Rinna up on her offer. She wanted to tell her how cruel Snape had been after he’d looked at her rapidly lengthening teeth and stated he couldn’t see any difference in her appearance. But somehow, Hermione didn’t think it would do any good. It’s not as if Rinna could make Snape change his attitude or anything.
Rinna must have seen the conflict play out in Hermione’s eyes. “And even if I can’t do anything about it, Hermione, I want you to know that you can always come and talk to me.” She put her hand on Hermione’s shoulder and gave a light squeeze.
Draco Malfoy was sitting in the stands of the Quidditch stadium nursing a slight resentment that he had not been drawn to play Seeker against Viktor Krum. Madam Hooch had placed every Hogwarts player’s name (and to Draco’s disgust, every alternate player’s as well) in the lottery to be drawn for skeleton teams to help Krum keep up his training. Of course, it was Draco’s luck that the four Seekers had fewer chances of being drawn than the rest of the players, because, of course, Krum was playing the other Seeker.
The only thing that kept the situation from being completely unacceptable was the fact that neither Potter nor Diggory had been drawn either. If he was going to be forced to watch someone else play Seeker when he should have been, at least Cho Chang was easy on the eyes.
He presumed that all the players who hadn’t been chosen were supposed to feel grateful that they were at least invited to stay and watch Krum play. If he was honest with himself, he was rather pleased that he’d be able to brag about watching Krum, but it would have been far better to say he’d actually played with Krum. He was unable to maintain his sulk, however, once the players took off; he was too busy watching the match. He would never pass up a chance to watch Quidditch played, even, he admitted sourly to himself, if the only team available to watch was Gryffindor’s.
A flash of red caught his eye and he turned his head. It was the referee, Professor Dunlevy. He didn’t find carrot-tops all that attractive; they reminded him of the Weasleys (he shuddered), but the Professor… well, her hair was a dark, rich red. It reminded him of the polished mahogany furniture his mother favored. That color was definitely appealing. He found his mind inexplicably wandering to thoughts of the enigmatic teacher.
Everyone went on and on about how impartial she was, and each student was convinced that the Professor had hailed from whatever House that particular student was from. Draco had heard from the sixth and seventh year Slytherins that her class was ace; and that she really was fair to everyone. Draco studied Dunlevy as she swooped around the players, whistle in her mouth. He thought about his own experiences with her.
One thing he knew; she was very cunning. Just look at how she had handled the Snake Incident. She had taken ten points from everyone, ten points, and had made them all think she was going easy on them! And she had duped them into being grateful they had received only one detention! Draco smirked and nodded in grudging admiration. She had handled the entire incident in a brilliant, calculating and-- Draco’s eyebrow shot up in realization-- as a matter of fact, very Slytherin manner.
And the Snake Incident, Draco suddenly remembered, was where it was revealed that Dunlevy was a Parselmouth. His eyes narrowed. How was it that he’d almost forgotten that little tidbit of information? When St. Potter was discovered to speak Parseltongue, back in second year, the uproar was such that the walls of Hogwarts had practically fallen down around them. But when Dunlevy’s skill was discovered, it had caused very little comment. It was as if everyone seemed to have forgotten that interesting fact about her… how curious. Draco had no doubt it had been intentional on Dunlevy’s part, but how she had managed to divert everyone’s attention from the fact she speaks Parseltongue, he had no idea. But it was a maneuver worthy of a Slytherin.
And besides, Parselmouths were rather a Slytherin phenomenon. Well, except Potter, of course, but he was a freak anyway.
Draco noticed that Scarhead was paying close attention to the Professor as well. He seemed rather intent on her, and Draco smirked to think that perhaps Potter was a little bit infatuated with her. As if! Draco paused to indulge in a new awareness that while Dunlevy seemed impartial, she had clearly shown her preference for Draco over Potter and the Weasel. He had been gratified to note that she had attended or refereed every intramural Quidditch game Slytherin had had, but a few weekends ago, when Gryffindor had played several matches, she had been conspicuously absent.
But the piece de resistance, the biggest slap in the face of the annoying Scarhead and his sidekick, was when Dunlevy had let Draco hold her broom. She hadn’t even deigned to let Potter or Weasley touch it! Draco practically crowed out loud. It had been so sweet!
Draco’s eyes followed the Professor as she turned tail suddenly and zoomed over to the Hoops before zipping back to call a foul, whistle blowing. She was a damned good flyer, for a girl. In fact, she flew like someone who had played Quidditch seriously… played for a school team, perhaps. If I was the captain, and I saw her flying, I’d want her on my team.
Draco scowled. There were no girls on the Slytherin team. She couldn’t have played for Slytherin.
Unless…
Had there ever been a time when girls had played for Slytherin? He'd have to do a little research on that... it would explain why she owned a decidedly Slytherin-looking broom! A broom model that later became the Slytherin team broom for a number of years...
He eyed her speculatively as she rode on her silvery broom, dressed in a green sweater and certainly looking the part… and found that he wanted to know very badly just what Hogwarts House Professor Dunlevy had been in.
Much to his surprise, five shrill whistles sounded, indicating the match was over. As he wove his way out of the stands, he made sure to linger so he could intercept Dunlevy. She was putting away the last of the Quaffles when he sauntered up to her and said, “You are really good. Your flying, I mean. Good enough to have played for a team in school.”
Dunlevy stood up and gave him a searching look, one eyebrow quirked, before she smiled and, reaching out to ruffle his hair, said, “Why Draco, you’re full of compliments this morning.” She turned away and completely missed the horrified expression on the boy’s face as he brought his hand to his hair in disbelief.
It was a very stunned Draco Malfoy that watched her walk toward the equipment shed. Who did she think she was? A Malfoy’s hair does NOT get ruffled! As if he was a common schoolboy! He hastily finger-combed his hair into place, and slouched out of the stadium. He was almost to the exit when he realized that he’d spent so much of the match watching that brazen woman, he’d completely missed seeing Krum play! Draco was in a dark, dark mood for the rest of the day.
----- -----
Rinna smiled as she stowed the trunk in the equipment room. She had felt the indignation flowing off of Draco in waves. The kid was not used to any kind of affectionate touching, that much was obvious. He took himself much too seriously, that one. Rinna sighed, feeling a soft spot for the Slytherin. He reminded her of the schoolmates she had watched slowly warp under their parents’ ideologies or through the influence of their peers: Narcissa, Severus, Regulus…
She had had to sit and watch, unable to do anything, unable to make a difference back then. But not now, she decided. She was in a position of influence now. And maybe this time things could be different…
“Grrrraaaahhh!” Rinna slapped down her notes in utter frustration, causing the table in the center of her dungeon workroom to shake. It was completely hopeless. There was no way she would be productive, not with her concentration in tatters and her mind on the miserable week that had just passed. She sighed, marked another Friday afternoon as a loss, and determined that it was probably not realistic to expect any progress on her potions work until after the first Triwizard task was finished. She stalked out of her dungeon, re-set the spells and made her way to her office with her thoughts chasing around in her head.
Rinna was finding it more and more difficult to keep the Godmother and the Professor separate, especially when a rather ridiculous article came out in the Daily Prophet last Sunday; a story by an obvious hack journalist by the name of Rita Skeeter who fancied herself a writer. Rinna was well aware of the taunts and jibes being tossed Harry’s way, especially regarding a made-up quote that had Harry stating he cried over his dead parents.
Rinna fumed at the insensitivity of the article and Harry’s schoolmates. After all, no one wanted painful family tragedy displayed for all to see, nor the reminder that one was different from one’s peers. She remembered returning to school for her final year, whispers following her everywhere, and the word “orphaned” in particular ripping at her battered heart. Being an orphan made one atypicall from the other students and the subject of often cruel remarks (intentional or not). Certainly most of the students at Hogwarts had known about Harry’s circumstances, but had never given it much thought until the article came out. Now Harry was being singled out once again; he was out of the ordinary, weird, unusual. Her heart had ached for him as she watched him struggle under it all during the week.
The Godmother desperately wanted to do something, but Rinna suspected that it would mostly entail the boxing of many students’ ears, so she kept that part of her tightly tamped down. The Professor, meanwhile, was very concerned that the whole Fourth Champion debacle was eroding the inter-House unity that Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw usually had. And then there was the fact that last Friday Harry and Draco had been dueling in the halls again. Rinna ran her hands through her hair in worry. She wasn’t quite sure what she could, or should, do for Harry.
She had written him a note, asking if he would stop by her office today after his Potions class. She sat at her big oak desk and wondered what she would say to him if he did accept her invitation. She sure hoped some of that maternal instinct would kick in and give her something brilliant to say. She sighed, pulled a stack of essays that were waiting to be graded toward her, and waited for inspiration to hit.
Harry knocked on Rinna’s office door, which stood open in the back of her classroom. She looked up from the essay she’d been unable to concentrate on and smiled. “Come in, Harry,” she invited as she got up and pulled two chairs forward. “Any change in circumstances between you and Ron?”
“No,” said Harry rather dully as the two of them sat down.
Rinna leaned forward and put a hand on Harry’s knee. “Listen, Harry. I remember a time when your mother and I had a rather large falling out. It was awful. I felt… oh, I felt all kinds of things. Anger, frustration, loneliness, hurt--”
“You and my mum had a fight?” Harry interrupted.
Rinna smiled a little sadly. “A rather devastating row, I’m afraid. At least, it was devastating at the time--”
“What happened?” Harry was willing to bet it wasn’t because one of them didn’t believe the other. “What was it about?”
“Well,” Rinna’s mouth turned up rather ruefully, “it was over the Marauders, actually.” Harry’s mouth opened slightly in surprise. “Would you like to hear about it? It might not make you feel any better.”
Even if it made him feel worse, Harry wouldn’t pass up a chance to hear about his parents. “Tell me,” he said eagerly before remembering his manners and adding, “Please?”
“Well, to understand the story, I will need to give you a bit of background. Sometime in my fourth year I realized that your dad and his mates were sneaking out at regular intervals and spending the night away from Hogwarts. I decided that I would find out what they were up to. Lily called it my ‘Marauder obsession.’ It wasn’t that I wanted to get them in trouble, or anything like that…” She huffed out a small laugh. “I liked them all, actually, and I was friends with Remus by that point. But your mum realized that I was a bit infatuated with Sirius Black. An allegation I vehemently denied at the time.” Harry laughed. “Your mother did NOT approve… of Sirius, or my fascination with the Marauders.
“At the beginning of my fifth year, your mum’s and dad’s sixth year, I took advantage of my new privileges as a prefect and decided to follow them one night. I had figured out the pattern of their excursions, but I hadn’t connected them with the moon until…” Her voice grew very soft. “I watched through the window of the Shrieking Shack as the lads transformed, wondering why Remus didn’t as well… until the moon rose over the hills…” Her voice trailed off as she lost herself in the memory.
“What did you do?” Harry whispered, snapping her back to her story.
She raised an eyebrow. “I ran like hell! I ran and jumped back on my broom and flew back to Hogwarts. Not long afterward, I confronted them and told them what I knew. I made a promise to Remus, and to all of them, that I would not reveal their secrets.” She remembered that evening clearly; the confrontation had not come without a price. I had to reveal so much to them, but the lads vowed to keep my secrets as well…
“So how did you and my Mum get into a row?” Harry prompted impatiently.
She shot him a quelling look. “I’m getting there. There’s just a bit more to tell. A month later, I was patrolling the castle on the evening of the full moon, when the four of them came skidding down the halls, intent on getting to a secret passageway they knew of to the Shrieking Shack.” Rinna suddenly looked dismayed, realizing that she wasn’t being very circumspect.
Harry grinned. “It’s all right. I know there are secret passageways from the school.”
Rinna looked at him curiously. I’ll have to find out the source of his knowledge later; no doubt it’s the twins. “Well, they didn’t have much time before the moon rose, and they were being followed by the other prefect who was patrolling that night and nearly were caught. They only made it to the entrance to the passage because I created a diversion.” She saw the question in Harry’s eyes. “I had only intended to fake the injury, but I actually sprained my ankle, so the other prefect had to help me to the infirmary. It was my just punishment, I suppose.” She rolled her eyes at the memory.
“So the Marauders took it upon themselves to send me a box of chocolates as a thank you for my noble sacrifice. And do you remember me telling you that Sirius would send me anonymous roses by owl?” Harry nodded. “That was the first time he sent one to me.” She smiled at the memory, before her expression grew thoughtful. “And that’s what started the trouble with your mum and me.” Rinna sighed, then continued to tell the story to her godson.
----- -----
Lily was not pleased. Rinna had been obsessing over the Marauders for some time now, following them at night trying to figure out where they went off to, engaging in verbal warfare, commenting on their looks and personalities. Not to mention having a crush on Lupin for a while last year (Lily was fairly certain that Rinna was past that now), and currently a fascination with Sirius Black.
Lily’s eyes narrowed as she studied Black from across the room. He was much too full of himself, that one. Sirius “Legend in His Own Mind” Black: Self-styled Ladies’ Man of Hogwarts… What was he playing at? Lily had no doubt it was he who sent the candy and the rose, but why?
It wasn’t until after classes were over that Lily was able to catch Rinna privately. “Hey, Rinna, I need to talk with you.”
“I know. I know what you are going to say, Lily, but the candy wasn’t from Black. It was from all the Marauders,” Rinna began to explain.
“But what about the rose?” Lily crossed her arms and looked disapprovingly at Rinna. “He sure was interested in your reaction to it; that makes me think he sent it.”
Rinna crossed her arms defensively, “It could have come from all of them, too. The gifts came together after all, and there was no card with the flower.” Even to her own ears, Rinna didn’t sound as if she believed herself.
Lily certainly wasn’t convinced. “Just what is going on with you and Black? Is there something you’re not telling me? You’ve been awfully quiet lately.” Lily was struck with a thought. “Hang on! Why would the Marauders, of all people, be sending you gifts anyway?” she asked suspiciously.
“Oh, Lil, it was just a thank you gift, for helping them out with…OH!” Rinna clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes growing wide at her near-slip.
Lily’s voice dripped censure, “Helping them with what?”
She knew she should make something up, anything, but Rinna had promised Lily she would always be honest with her. She wasn’t going to start telling her best friend lies now. “I’m sorry, Lily. I can’t tell you.”
Lily felt a jab of pain. So Rinna was keeping secrets from her. She’d noticed that her friend had seemed distracted and a little distant, and had hoped it was merely Rinna adjusting to the demands of being a prefect. Lily began to notice some strange feelings slipping around her heart and squeezing: jealousy, betrayal, irrational anger.
“You found out what they were up to, didn’t you?” she shouted.
Rinna looked miserable. “I can’t tell you. I’m sorry, but I promised.”
“Are they holding something against you? Blackmailing you, perhaps?”
Rinna shook her head and looked at Lily sadly, feeling absolutely awful that Lily was upset. But there was nothing she could do about it; she wouldn’t break her word to the boys.
Lily looked at her friend and felt a weird combination of fear infused with anger; fear that her dearest friend was pulling away from her, anger that it was those particular boys who were the catalyst. It ignited the temper she was known for.
“Fine, then!” Lily snapped. “Go ahead and keep your secrets. I see that the promise you made me that we’d always be totally honest with each other doesn’t mean much, does it?”
Rinna felt like she might cry. “Don’t say that, Lily. Would you have me break my word to them?”
Lily had two splotches of red high in her cheeks, but she looked like she might burst into tears as well. “I would expect you to behave like the best friend you claim to be,” she said coldly, and turned to walk quickly away before the tears started to spill.
Rinna stood stock still for an eternity, it seemed, tears trickling down her cheeks, reeling from the row and feeling very, very wretched. She’d never fought like this with Lily in all the time they’d been friends. Never having really been on the receiving end of Lily’s temper before, Rinna had a new-found appreciation of why others feared her sharp tongue. With a heavy heart, she turned and made her miserable way to the library.
----- -----
“How long did your fight last?” Harry wanted to know.
Rinna sighed. “We didn’t speak to each other for a week.”
Harry nodded. “So how did you make up?”
The wistfulness in his tone tugged at Rinna’s heart. She knew he had to be missing Ron terribly. “The Marauders intervened.” She smiled at the memory. “They kidnapped Lily and me, took us to an abandoned classroom, and then,” she paused for dramatic effect, “they revealed all the secrets I was keeping for them to Lily.”
“Even Professor Lupin’s?”
She gazed at him steadily. “Even Lupin’s,” she said somberly. “As a result, I was freed from my obligation to not tell Lily, and she could no longer say I was keeping secrets from her.” Her voice dropped low. “It was a huge sacrifice on their part, to salvage our friendship. And the happy side-effect was it helped to soften your mum’s opinion of them.” She smiled at him, and put her hand on his shoulder. “Have a little faith, Harry. You and Ron will work this out eventually, I’m sure of it.”
“I dunno… it’s been three weeks now…” Harry sighed gloomily.
“Oh, Harry,” Rinna exhaled unhappily. “I wish there was something I could do. I wish I could just… just make it all better somehow.”
“S’okay,” he assured her with a wan smile. “I know you’re not a fairy godmother.”
“Fairy godmother?”
He started to explain, “Oh, it’s from a Muggle story. The fairy godmoth--”
“I recognize the reference,” she interrupted him, “It’s just that… I haven’t heard it since your mother…” She trailed off sadly. “The fairy godmother changed the girl’s rags to a beautiful gown, if I recall, so she could dance with the prince? And made the glass slippers that she left behind at midnight?” Harry nodded. “Hmmm…” Rinna mused. “Sounds like an awful lot of fancy transfiguration work and not much in the way of problem solving to me…”
Harry gave a little snort of laughter. “No, you see, the fairy godmother waves her magic wand and makes everything all right.”
Rinna pulled out her wand and brandished it above her head, showering gold and silver sparks around the office. “Anything?” Harry smiled and shook his head. “Blast. It looks like you’re stuck with just a plain ordinary godmother, then.”
Harry looked at her affectionately. “I’m just glad I have a godmother,” he told her sincerely.
Rinna stood up. “C’mere,” she said gruffly, and pulled him into a hug.
Harry felt strangely better, although he wasn’t used to motherly hugs. He hugged her back and told her, “I’m talking to Sirius tomorrow night, well, early Sunday morning, actually.”
“I know. He told me.” She gave him one last squeeze and let him go. “Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?” she asked him. Harry shrugged. “It might help take your mind off of everything.”
“Maybe,” he said doubtfully. Harry’s stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, and Rinna laughed as she ruffled his hair.
“Let’s get to dinner, shall we?”
Harry nodded, and followed her out the door. “Thanks, Rinna,” he said quietly.
She directed a warm smile at him. “My door is always open, Harry. Remember that.”
Sunday morning found Rinna entering the Great Hall to nick a bite of toast and some juice before she went for a run. The students were starting to get used to the sight of one of their professors in a track suit and trainers, so she was usually able to slip in and out of breakfast with very little notice. Today, however, she was waylaid by an owl, which brought attention to her, since there usually wasn’t Owl Post on Sundays.
She opened the note, expecting it to be from Sirius with a recap of his conversation with Harry last night. It wasn’t.
Hi Rinna,
I’m in the neighborhood, on business! Dumbledore said it would be fine if I wrote you and invited you to visit me. We are camped on the other side of the Forbidden Forest; just follow the north edge around, and you can’t miss it. No one is supposed to know we are here yet, though.
Will you stop by today?
Yours,
Charlie Weasley
Rinna frowned. Charlie. Here on business. Charlie’s business was dragon keeping, and if he was here on business, that meant there were dragons here… and that meant”
Rinna turned abruptly and dashed out of the Great Hall, through the entrance hall and down the castle’s front steps, leaving a few surprised students in her wake. She found the path that skirted the Forbidden Forest with ease, and fell into a comfortable running pace.
Dragons. The first task involved dragons. What in the hell were they thinking?
It didn’t take long for her to round the corner of the edge of the forest as the castle and lake slipped from sight and the enormous enclosure soon loomed into view. Four magnificent dragon specimens were lounging in the morning sunlight, deceptively docile and most likely under the influence of Stunning Spells, and the sight took Rinna’s breath away. She stopped and stared, spellbound by the sheer beauty and obvious power of the beasts. Her mouth went dry. Harry’s going to have to face one of those?
She was on the verge of executing an about-face, running back to the castle, seizing Harry, and taking him to a far-away place (Hong Kong? Australia? Arizona? Where can we go?), but she was hailed by a shout.
“What are you doing here?” a burly, grizzled wizard demanded from the entrance to the compound.
She jogged forward. “I’m looking for my friend, Charlie Weasley.”
“WEASLEY!” the man turned and roared into the camp, “Some bird is here to see ya!”
Charlie came sauntering up, a wide smile on his good-natured, freckled face. “Rinna!” He pulled her into a hug. “I’m glad you came.” He took her arm and led her into the camp to show her around. He bent his head and said in a much lower voice, “I wanted you to be forewarned about the first task.”
Rinna didn’t bother to hide her dismay. “By the moons of Jupiter, Charlie, they are going to set dragons on schoolchildren? No offense to your father, but the Ministry has gone effing barmy!”
They had stopped outside the spell-reinforced enclosure that held the impressive beasts, which looked even larger and more intimidating now that Rinna was closer. Charlie turned to her, speaking earnestly, “Look, Rinna, all of the dragon keepers will be on hand to keep the dragons under control and handle any unexpected situations. The safety of the Tournament Champions is the top priority.”
Rinna’s face was pinched with worry. “What do they each have to do?”
“Well, uh, each Champion has to remove a special egg from a clutch the dragon is guarding.”
“WHAT?” Rinna shrieked. Charlie shushed her and looked around. “Charlie Weasley!” Rinna hissed more quietly but with no less intensity, “Are you telling me that those,” she waved her hand dramatically at the slumbering dragons, “are broody females? This is insane!”
“It’s going to be a very controlled situation. Everything will be fine,” he soothed.
Rinna shot him an exasperated glare. “You’ll excuse me, I hope, if I start pointing out the hundreds of ways in which things could quickly go to less-than-fine--”
Charlie took her by the shoulders. “Listen to me, Rinna. I know you are worried about Harry--”
“I swear, Charlie, that if anything goes wrong, I will take on a dragon myself--”
“But I promise you,” Charlie went on as if she hadn’t interrupted, flexing his fingers and shaking her just a little, “that I will NOT let anything happen to Harry. I swear it, Rinna.” He locked his eyes with hers, and she could see the intensity and sincerity there.
Rinna took a deep breath and nodded. She turned to look at the four dragons. “So beautiful,” she whispered. “So beautiful, and so terrifying.”
Charlie turned to look at them, too. “Yeah,” he agreed in an almost dreamy voice. He looked back at her. “Do you remember, the summer after you graduated from Hogwarts, how you would take Bill and me out into the woods and we’d go catch snakes?”
Rinna snorted. “I tried to keep you out of your poor mum’s hair. She had her hands full with Percy and the twins.”
“Each time we found one, you would start whispering to it, and we would all pretend that you were telling it to behave.” Rinna glanced at him sharply. “Then we would pick it up in our hands and pet it.” Charlie chuckled. “For years, I really believed that you could talk to snakes!”
“Charlie--” Rinna began uncomfortably.
“My point is: it is because of you that, at the tender age of five, I began to appreciate and even fall in love with animals.” Charlie looked at her again. “I love what I do, Rinna. I wanted you to know the part you played in that occurred long before you pulled strings and got me that internship at the Slovakian Colony.”
Rinna took a deep breath. So he knew about her role in that, then. “Thanks, Charlie,” she said softly. Then she grinned. “But if your mother ever knew that I had--”
“That you had influenced my choice of profession? She’d probably skin you alive. That’s why I never told her what I just told you.”
“That’s rather decent of you,” Rinna gave him an ironic smile. “And thank you, for saying you’ll watch out for Harry. At least that gives me a little peace of mind during all this.”
He bowed gallantly, then offered her his arm. “Shall I walk you back to Hogwarts?”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll finish my run.”
He walked her back to the camp entrance. “I’ll see you when this is all over. And don’t worry. Everything will turn out fine.”
“I hope some of your optimism has rubbed off on me.” Rinna gave him a hug before looking slyly at him. “And for the record, Charlie, I really was telling the snakes to behave.”
Charlie threw back his head and laughed. “I know.” He smirked. “I finally put it together my first year at Hogwarts. It was about the same time that I realized that maybe you didn’t have cooties after all.”
She cuffed him lightly on the shoulder. “Goodbye, you dragon-taming git!” she grinned and began jogging back to the castle.
“Thanks to you!” his reply came from behind her.
“There, that’s the last of ‘em,” Sirius pronounced as he pulled the final book from a box and carefully set it next to the others sitting on the coffee table. “The Black family wasn’t really very avid about dragons, I’m afraid. I grabbed anything I thought may have a reference.”
Remus picked it up and flipped through it interestedly. “This one may hold some promise, but I’m not sure about the others.”
The whoosh of someone flooing in could only have been one of two people. Sirius looked up in time to see Rinna emerging from the fireplace. Rinna’s eyes were dark green pools of worry when she locked onto his. “Sirius, the first task is--”
Sirius stated at the exact same moment, “Rinna, it’s going to be--”
“Dragons,” they finished together.
Rinna stared at him, mouth open slightly. “How did you know?”
“Harry told me,” Sirius explained. “Apparently he saw them last night.”
“Oh thank Merlin he knows.” Rinna sank into the armchair in relief and proceeded to tell them about her meeting with Charlie. “He promised me he wouldn’t let anything happen to Harry,” she finished.
“I don’t know,” said Sirius dubiously. “Charlie is still just a kid. How much training has he had with dragons, anyway?”
“He’s almost twenty-two,” Rinna said, a bit defensively, “and he started training right out of Hogwarts with one of the best new dragon keepers in years!” She caught the rather significant look that Remus tossed her way, and frowned slightly at him before her eyes widened. “Of course,” she said softly to herself as she snapped her fingers. “I’ll be right back, gentlemen.”
Sirius watched her quizzically as she pulled up the trapdoor and disappeared down the cellar steps. Several moments later, she came back into the living room, a box levitated before her. She set it on the coffee table, removed the lid and began rifling through the contents. Sirius noticed that her cheeks were slightly pink.
Remus beat him to the question; “What do you think you’ll find in there, Rinna?”
Rinna spoke without looking up, “I know I have some articles he wrote, and a textbook he authored a chapter of somewhere in here.”
“Who? What?” Sirius felt like he’d missed something.
When Rinna still did not look up, but continued doggedly searching the box, Remus explained, “The dragon keeper Charlie trained with; Rinna, ah, convinced him to take Charlie as an intern at his dragon colony in Czechoslovakia.”
“Here we go!” Rinna said brightly, still a little flushed, as she pulled out a small bundle of journals and a book.
Sirius thought that maybe she was avoiding his eyes. “Hang on,” he said, “Let me get this straight. You know this upstart Czechoslovakian dragon tamer?”
Rinna looked at him carefully. “You do know that they’ve separated into the Czech and Slovak Republics now, don’t you?”
“Don’t try to dodge the question, Rinna.”
She sighed. “His name is Jindrich Svorad, and the last I heard, he had been promoted to manager of the dragon colony in the Tatra Mountains in north-central Slovakia.” She gestured to the journals. “Right now we are looking for any information on the handling of broody she-dragons; specifically on how to safely remove an egg from one’s clutch.” She picked up the book, and began skimming the chapters.
Sirius watched her for a moment, a strange disquieting thought that there was more to this dragon keeper thing than met the eye scratching away in the back of his mind. But his worry for Harry’s well-being shoved the thought away for later pondering. He began to peruse the first periodical. Remus, who had been strangely quiet, was doing the same.
Eventually, Rinna snapped the book shut in frustration and tossed it back into the box. “Nothing! Plenty of information on dealing with a clutching dragon, but none on removing an egg. Apparently, it is not a recommended practice.” She grimaced as the clock struck the half-hour.
“I need to be getting back to Hogwarts.” She looked despairingly at her two companions. “What do I tell Harry?”
Sirius and Remus looked worriedly at each other. Sirius said, “I tried to tell Harry that their eyes were the weakest spot, but our conversation was interrupted, and I didn’t even get a chance to suggest the Conjunctivitis Curse.” He was troubled.
Rinna’s brows rose in interest. “I wouldn’t have thought of that! I guess you were paying attention in Kettleburn’s Care of Magical Creatures classes!” She huffed a small laugh when he stuck his tongue out at her.
“I don’t think students learn the Conjunctivitis Curse until Fifth Year,” Remus remarked quietly.
Rinna swore. Sirius pulled her into his arms. “Moony and I will keep looking for an idea. Don’t worry, Ruby.” He kissed the top of her head.
She snorted. “Right. You might as well tell a vampire to stop craving blood.” She placed her cheek on Sirius’ chest and heaved a big sigh. “I suppose I’ll be pulling an all-nighter in the Hogwarts library tonight…”
Sirius chuckled. “Wish I could join you, relive old memories and all that.”
She pulled away and wrinkled her nose at him. “You never pulled an all-nighter in all your years at Hogwarts, you git!”
“Oh, you were referring to studying!” He grinned roguishly at her before offering his arm and walking her to the fireplace. He pulled her into another kiss, this time fully on her mouth, and was gratified to feel her arms slip around his neck as she parted her lips and kissed him back. Finally, he cupped her face in his hand. “Everything will be all right, Rinna,” he whispered, with more reassurance than he felt.
Rinna looked doubtful. “I hope you are right, Blackie. I hope to Merlin that you are right.”
A/N: My lovely beta, Lorett, deserves all the glory for the fabulous title of this chapter!
The Tatra Mountains really are in the Slovak Republic along the border with Poland, and they are amazing! Apparently the skiing there is one of the best kept secrets of central Europe. I wouldn’t know as I’ve only been there in the summer. I thought they’d be the perfect place to keep dragons. Jindrich (pronounced Yin-drick) is the Slovak equivalent for Henry, and the name of one of my cousins’ husband. How’s THAT for useless trivia?
OK, enough idle chit-chat; let’s get down to business. You know that review button down below? I have the utmost confidence in you, dear reader, that you know what to do. Thanks.
A New Definition of Family by RahNee
Chapter Notes: The chapter that features Viktor Krum, Hermione's overgrown teeth, an infatuated Draco, a flashback of Lily... and what is it with Rinna and dragon keepers?