What If? Year 1

Chapter 52

I am sucked out of the memory and Regulus is staring at me. I start to cough and put my hands up to my mouth. When I pull them away, a small splatter of blood is running down the palm.
"To much," I whimper, staring at the blood, "I can't do it so long." Regulus reaches out to me, his face kind of grim.
"You're pale, hey, hey, Goldie!" I lay down of the floor, my head feeling really light.
"Merlin's beard, Regulus," I say, "You knew my aunt?" I put my hands to my forehead and take a few deep breaths.
"Yeah, we were really good friends... you're just like her and Lily." I smile and laugh shakily. My head is banging and Regulus squeezes my hand.
"You looks like you're about to be sick," he says.
"I think I watched to long," I say, "I've never watched a memory that long." Regulus grimaces.
"Sorry, I should have taken it slower.. but did you understand all that happened?"
"Yeah, you befriended by aunt, even though it went against your parents wishes," I reply, "so is there a reason that you showed me that?"
"Yeah, but I was going to show more.. so it will have to wait until later," he says, "it won't mean as much unless you see what happens." I nod.
"We'll try again later, maybe next week?"
"Let's not make me feel like this though." He chuckles and pats my forearm. I sit up and Regulus offers his hand. I take it and stand up.
"We should get you back," he offers, "I'll see you next week."
"Thank you, Regulus."

"Goldie, you need to get up." I groan and roll onto my back. Ara is standing on my bed and she she shakes me.
"You have to get ready for you date with Cedric."
"Is it a date or a whole day with him?" I ask, teasing her with a smile.
"Oh, whatever.. I think you should wear your skirt that I got you for Christmas and your cute sea-foam green shirt."
"The one Evie likes to steal?"
"Yeah.. hopefully you have it." I laugh and find it folded at the bottom of my trunk.
"Do you know what Cedric had planned, Ara?"
"No, why would he tell me?"
"I don't know," I reply, "maybe he needed help with planning?" Ara giggles.
"Just have fun, don't think about much else," she continues, as I brush through my hair, "I do know you're eating breakfast together at the lake." I smile at her and tie up my shoes. I stand up and she slips her arm through mine and pulls me down to the Great Hall. Cedric is waiting by the Gryffindor table for me. 
"Good morning, Golds," he greets, "how are you this morning?" I smile and shrug me shoulders. Ara waves to me and goes over to sit with Ginny and Heather.  
"Good," I reply, "so, what are we doing today?" He smiles and he puts his arm around me. 
"Just follow me," he says, "I'm got the whole day planned out... but McGonagall told me to keep you around the castle so.. it should still be a fun day." I follow him out to the Black Lake and there is a blanket besides it. 
"I thought we could eat breakfast outside first and then after that we could either take a swim or fly around on a broom." I nod and sit down on the blanket. Cedric sits down besides me and pulls out a bowl of fruit. 
"I've got waffles and bacon as well." He hands me a plate of waffles and bacon. I take a bite out of a waffle and Cedric chuckles.  
"Do you have butter?" 
"Of course." He pulls out a stick of butter and hands it to me. I stare at the butter in my hand and giggle. I cut the butter and put the butter in each hole of the waffle. Cedric just stares at me and laughs. I eat my waffle and he starts on his. 

"Swim or fly?" 
"Fly, I don't have a swimsuit." Cedric smiles and stands up. 
"I'll go get my broom." He runs off and I start to clean up the picnic. I set all of the plates back into the basket and the leftovers into more containers. 
"Good morning, Miss Potter." The calm voice startles me and I turn to face them.  Dumbledore is smiling at me and I smile back. 
"Good morning, Professor." 
"I need to talk to you in my office," he continues, "but we can wait for your Hufflepuff friends to get back." I look back down to the blanket before getting up. Cedric runs back to us with his broom. 
"Hello, Professor Dumbledore!" he calls, "You need Goldie?" 
"Yes, Mr. Diggory," Dumbledore answers, "I'll bring her back later, no need to worry." Cedric reaches out and squeezes my hand. 
"I'll see you later," he says. I smile and nod. I follow after Dumbledore to his office. My hands start to get sweaty and I wipe them down on my skirt. 
"I promise you that this is good news, Marigold," Dumbledore says as he holds the door open for me. McGonagall is waiting on the other side of the door, simply smiling at me. 
"Good morning, Professor McGonagall," I say, as Dumbledore closes the door behind us. Dumbledore goes and sits in his chair and motions for me to take a seat in front of him. 
"We have your exam results back," he says, pulling out a piece of parchment. I sets it on the desk in front of me and I read through it. 

Marigold Potter's Exam Results
Astronomy : O
Charms : O
Defense Against the Dark Arts : O
Flying : O
Herbology : O
History of Magic : O
Potions : O
Transfiguration : O  

"Merlin's beard!" I shout, "I got O's on everything?" Dumbledore nods. 
"Yes," he says, "I've got second year notes for you to study with. I presume that you can use your brother's books and your parents can help you they need." I sit in shock and just stare at the results. 
"Do you have any questions?" McGonagall asks, staring at me. I think and suddenly remember something. 
"What about the underage magic rule?" Dumbledore smiles. 
"I'm happy you asked," he says, "I got permission from the Minister of Magic for you to do magic with supervision from your parents." I smile and look at my hands. Excitement fills my body and I have to contain a scream. Dumbledore hands me a stack of parchment that is all tied up. 
"This is not all of it," he says, "I'll send the rest of it to you over the summer, but I thought you might want to look through it some." I nod and just keep looking at it.