[on hold] 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓&𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍 → 𝑓. 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

xxxix . just another secret

chapter thirty nine
JUST ANOTHER SECRET

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   "I DON'T know", a shaking Ruby told the professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout and Moody. "I got this bruise at the World Cup and it wouldn't go away."

   "And you didn't notice it got a shape?", McGonagall asked, her eyebrows furrowed, as she stared down at the girl's arm. "This shape?"

   "And this is none of your jokes, Weasley?", Professor Sprout asked, an eyebrow raised.

   "Of course not!", Fred exclaimed angryly. "I wouldn't have brought her here, if it was, would I?"

   "Lines appeared", Ruby muttered, and Fred squeezed her trembling hand. It took him some minutes to persuade Ruby to go to Dumbledore's office. "But on the day of the Yule Ball I used this special make-up of my friend Leilani to cover it up, and as it was waterproof, I hid it underneath that make-up until now. I didn't see it myself. Something in the bath supplements in the prefects' bathroom must have washed it off."

   "What were you doing in the prefects' bathroom?", Snape snarled. "I can't remember any of the two of you is a prefect."

   "Really?", Fred snorted, his eyes narrowed at the potions master. "That is what's bothering you? Can we just ignore for a moment that we broke the holy rules and return to the point where my girlfriend has a bloody Dark Mark on her arm?"

   Ruby's head snapped up, facing Fred, and he blushed, realising that never until now they had used the boyfriend–girlfriend term.

   "I agree with Mr Weasley", Moody growled. "The fact that a seventeen year old girl has You-Know-Who's symbol on her arm is indeed uncommon."

   "Uncommon?", Ruby snapped in a high-pitched voice. "I'd call it macabre! How do I get rid of it?"

   "Cut your arm off", was Snape's dry reply, and Fred shot him a death glare. "There is no way to get it off your skin. The Dark Lord personally gave it to his servants. He used it to call them. Feeling the mark burning, you have to appear at his side immediately."

   Fred pursed his lips. Out of the corner of his eyes he watched Ruby's face lose all of its colour and Snape watched Ruby out of his inscrutable black eyes.

   "You're pretty informed about this, are you?", Fred hissed, anger boiling in the pit of his stomach.

   The greasy haired man stepped forward, for a second Fred actually thought Snape was about to attack him. Stretching out his arm, the teacher tugged back his sleeve, and Ruby flinched back, crushing against Fred's chest. There in the middle of Snape's lower arm, pitch black sat the same picture that also decorated Ruby's skin. But unlike in Ruby's case, Fred knew immediately why Snape was wearing this sign.

   "You —"

   "Stop", Dumbledore cut Fred off, raising his hand. "Yes, Professor Snape once was a Death Eater. But he switched sides long before Lord Voldemort's fall. He's as much as a Death Eater now as I am." The headmaster turned to Ruby. "The Dark Mark had vanished from its owners skin for thirteen years. We see its reappearance as a warning. Something is going on, obviously. The mark is growing clearer ever since the night it appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup."

   "That's all fine and dandy", Fred heard himself speaking, while his mind was racing. Ruby's fingers had tightly wrapped around his, her whole body seemed to have stiffened. "But maybe we could talk about Ruby having been three years old when You-Know-Who vanished? She for sure was no Death Eater at any point."

   "But maybe she was forseen to become one", Moody said in a ridiculous calm voice. "What when they knew about her immunity?" Ruby flinched by the sound of the last word, but of course Moody had informed Dumbledore about it. "Imagine the tears of joy You-Know-Who would have cried having a weapon like her. An as good as unbeatable Death Eater! That's like Christmas had come early!"

   "But — but what does that mean now?", Ruby stammered in a fainting voice. "What does it mean that the marks return? Is he — is he coming back?"

   "That we can only speculate about", Dumbledore replied. "Hints are given. Bertha Jorkins' disappearance in Albania, where Voldemort had allegedly been seen last. The death of an old muggle caretaker in Lord Voldemort's parental home. The Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup." He made a pause, sitting down behind his desk. "Miss Perks, I have to ask you to keep the mark covered. We don't want to scare other students. Keep it as secret as your immunity. But as soon as you feel anything strange going on with it, tell me."

   Fred looked at Dumbledore dazzled, as Ruby slowly nodded.

   "That's it?", he said, his voice carrying not as close as much of the disbelief he was actually feeling. "You won't do anything about this?"

   "There's nothing we can do, Mr. Weasley", Dumbledore said, and the calmness in his voice dragged Fred to the edge of madness. "Miss Perks is safe here at Hogwarts. I don't predict her to follow the mark's call if it would come to it to burn. And as long as all we have are guesses and speculations, we can't make a move."

   Fred didn't feel at least a bit satisfied when they left the headmaster's office. With a frown on his face, he started digging into the pocket of his robe, until he found what he'd been looking for. Ruby was about to step through the door that was protected by the gargoyle at the end of the winded staircase leading to Dumbledore, but Fred pulled her back.

   "Wait a second", he whispered, unraveling an incarnadine long string.

   "What is this?"

   "Expendable Ears", Fred mumbled. "George and I were working on this for a few weeks. I was already longing to have a test run with them for a while now. I think time's right." He handed Ruby one of the strings, before he flicked his wand. Hers and his Expandable Ear enrolled themselves up the stairs. "Put that in your ear."

   He did the same as he told her, a triumphant silent scream echoing through his head as he heard Moody's voice loud and clear speaking into his ear.

   "— and if our guesses are right, and she is Miss Perks' mother, then You-Know-Who will do anything to get her."

   "There's no doubt Ruby Perks is her daughter", Dumbledore spoke, his voice sounding tired. "It's the only known case of immunity for more than hundred years, and as far as we know it's only in this bloodline."

   "So what do we do with her now?", Snape said. "History clearly showed what it can turn out to be. If the girl will turn —"

   "Ruby won't turn", Professor Sprout chimed in.

   "If she'll realise about the full amount of the force given to her —"

   "What do you expect? Locking her away?", McGonagall snorted. "She's a girl. A young, innocent girl."

   "That doesn't mean she couldn't get drunk by all that power and turn —"

   "Enough", Dumbledore cut them off and the room fell silent. With a calm voice he went on talking. "Right now there is nothing we can do. We'll wait. Wait for what's coming."

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you are so down to earth
& I'm up in the stars ...