Dolores Umbridge appointed Headmistress of Hogwarts school of witchcraft
Albus Dumbledore on the run
« What on Earth is this nonsense ? » Charlotte exclaimed two seconds after laying eyes on the newspaper.
« I'm afraid it is very real, Charlotte. » Remus replied in a calm but tense tone. « Fudge's paranoia finally kicked Dumbledore out. Kingsley said it was because of building a secret army into the school. »
« Harry's army ? Oh god he must be feeling awful, they probably all are. I should write them. »
« I don't think it's the best idea to reach out to your friends right now. They don't need the spotlight, and neither do we. » Her godfather disapproved, glancing at Sirius.
« We'll call an Order meeting. » The latter declared in the most jaded tone.
« That's it ? Your plan is basically go on with whatever we did before as if Harry hadn't become ten times more vulnerable now Dumbledore is gone ?! And none of the Azkaban escapees caught back yet ! » Charlotte had patiently listened to the meeting but concluded it was a lot of bullshit.
« The boy is not alone, Severus is still at Hogwarts. And secrecy is still one of our best assets, we shouldn't lose the element of surprise. » Kingsley argued.
« We shouldn't lose Harry. » The young woman stubbornly replied. « Come on, he's done more than us lately with that Quibbler interview about the night of Voldemort's return... » Her lip started trembling. « And that's the only way I've heard from him for months. And who the hell trusts Snape a 100% here ? » That got her an agreeing eye roll from her father.
« We are doing what we can, sweetie. And what you can do is focusing on your training, and keep listening to what is said at the ministry. » Her adoptive father commented defensively.
« As if they were saying things that matter around us, we're only trainees as you well pointed. »
« Don't take it like that, we only want to protect you. » Her mother added.
The already frustrating conversation was taking a very personal turn and it simply struck a nerve.
« You don't need to. I'm not your kid anymore. » Realizing in an instant what she had said to her parents, Charlotte rose to her feet. « I mean...not a kid. » And she sighed, fleeing to the kitchen.
« I don't get to dictate how you feel but, maybe that was a bit too much anger towards the wrong people. » Sirius said as he entered the room moments later.
His daughter turned away from the counter to face him.
« I know that was mean, and they didn't deserve it. But there are definitely a few things I am mad about...Like how unfair it is that both Harry and me got ripped off our families so young and been feeling lost ever since. How frustrating it is to know that more families are going to go through that, and that we're doing virtually nothing even when we're the only ones giving even a try at fighting shadows. I am so sickened that the first victim of his return was the best man I ever met, who did absolutely nothing to deserve it. And crushed that you two will never get to meet, that you and I got robbed of so many years that you had to spend in freaking Azkaban. And I hate, I hate that all of this is the fault of one disgusting, cruel coward rat man ! » Charlotte had not only raised her voice with each sentence to the point of shouting, she had unconsciously taken her wand out and made the walls of the building shake, almost managing to finally rip Ms Black's portrait off.
Luckily, most members had already left after concluding the meeting and didn't witness the young woman letting it all out. Only her parents were sitting at the wood table.
« I told them to stay. » Sirius said to his girl before kissing her on the forehead and disappearing towards the staircase.
« I'm sorry. I hope you know I didn't mean it. You're my parents, always, and pretty greats ones... » She sat, quite embarrassed.
« Thank you. The past few months have been hard to handle for us all. »
« Yes, it did hurt a bit but it's okay darling. You've been dealing with a lot of emotions. »
The witch's mood soared back a few days later. She was a bit apprehensive of her birthday but when it came, she got up to an amazing breakfast made by Sirius - because Kreacher was still acting rebellious hiding in a dusty corner of the house - and a pile of mail.
« Your parents dropped these on their way to work earlier. You have quite a fanbase. »
« Oh no, it's just...well there is a lot actually, I don't know why. » Charlotte replied to her father.
The reason was that her friends had thought of a very endearing and smart way to let her know each of them was doing okay, by sending individual birthday cards instead of a common one. So there were six letters from Hogwarts, which added to some from Elise, Angelina, Katy and Oliver. That was well enough to give the young woman patience until the evening, the full celebration. It was taking place at her parent's apartment and not the quarters, because as much as Charlotte and Bill argued she was worthy of trust, Fleur was not a member of the Order. She and the second born Weasley were coming together as a couple, an apparently getting serious relationship. Remus, Tonks, Arthur and Molly were there too, as well as Alicia, who was still living close by in London. The only downside to this location was that it was too dangerous for Sirius to come.
It must have frustrated him, because ten days later he was making his daughter an offer.
« Charlie ? If you would allow me this transgression I would like us to go out, in my dog form of course...to the cemetery. » Charlotte raised her head and an eyebrow in interrogation. « I didn't go into details of our family history but erm, I guess there's no soft way to tell this, this is the date your mother died. »
« Oh. » The girl stayed open-mouthed.
« Forget it. It was a stupid idea and I shouldn't even had mentioned it. »
« No, no. I want to know these things. And I would like to visit her grave, if that's what you had in mind. »
Her father nodded, turned into his animagus and led the way to the door.
Once in front of the tomb, Charlotte stayed up a moment taking in the image of the engraved stone. After a few deep breaths she sat in the grass and, since Sirius couldn't speak, started to think out loud as if finally talking to her mother. What seemed most important to express was that, despite the lack of almost all memories, she remembered feeling truly loved, she reminisced their deep connexion like a perfectly harmonized melody that was still ringing inside her. She wanted to wait for her father to be in his human form again to thank him for what felt like a step closer to her own self.
« Thank you for sharing this with me Sirius. » She said as soon as the heavy door closed behind them. « I love you. »
« I love you too. » He replied in a sigh as he came to embrace her and deposit a kiss on her forehead.
YOU ARE READING
Chasing
FanfictionWhen Charlotte transfers from the girls only Beauxbâtons Academy of Magic to Hogwarts, it brings big changes to her life. Not only does she enter at the same time as the famous Harry Potter, but her path will cross those of many interesting characte...
