Amelia Merlin

Part Nineteen: A Meeting With the Headmaster

"Make sure your notes are all up to date! We will be having a test soon!" Professor Flitwick squeaked as the class was dismissed. "Merlin! Could I see you for just a moment?"

Amelia automatically ran through a list of all the things she had done to get in trouble. Then she started making excuses for them. She packed her bag slowly to give herself more time as it was a very long list.

"Am I in trouble?" She said, speaking faster than usual.

Flitwick chuckled and shook his head, and Amelia relaxed "I just need to give you this," he handed her a small scroll. "It's from Professor Dumbledore,"

She tensed up again, running through her list once again. Her jaw clenched and she half ran out of the room. Amelia found a hidden passageway where she could read her note in private.

Amelia Merlin, would you do me the honour of paying a visit to my office, today at four o clock?

Much thanks,
Dumbledore

Ps, I love lemon drops!

Amelia read the note about a hundred times. What the hell is up with the lemon drops? Do I have to bring him some? Maybe I'm not even in trouble and he just wants candy.

So Amelia spent the rest of the day trying to find someone with lemon drops. She got lucky when she talked to Hannah Abbot, and got a huge handful of them.

Three came, and Amelia had sweaty palms and a racing pulse. She walked slowly to Dumbledore's office and found herself face to face with a statue of a Griffon.

"Okay! Let me in!" Nothing happened. "I'm here to see Dumbledore!" The statue didn't move. Amelia paced in front of it. "Look!" She brandished her note. "It says Amelia Merlin (that's me!) come to my office blah blah blah. I even brought the damn lemon drops!"

The statue moved aside to reveal a staircase. Amelia shrugged and walked up, she wondered what his office looked like. Was it all fancy? With books everywhere and fun little useless instruments? Probably a huge telescope. And she bet his desk chair looked more like a throne than anything. When she knocked on the door and was told to come in, Amelia saw the office.

Most of her predictions were correct, it was actually exactly how she had imagined it. But she did have to admit, she didn't see the pheonix coming. The bird was very young, at the beginning of a life cycle. Dumbledore was sitting in his throne-like chair and he smiled when he saw her.

"Miss Merlin! Please come, sit!" He gestured to the chair across from him. Amelia walked towards him, very careful not to knock anything over. She wove between tables until she sat in front of the headmaster.

"I brought your lemon drops," she pulled them out of her pocket and plopped them on the table. Dumbledore chuckled lightly.

"The password to get in is lemon drop," he said kindly and Amelia blushed a deep red. This is awkward, she though to herself as she reprimanded her earlier, dumber self. But Dumbledore happily put one in his mouth and looked at her for a moment. Before he could talk, Amelia interrupted him.

"Am I in trouble?" She asked again, her heart pounding.

"Of course not my dear! You haven't done anything worth getting in trouble for," his eyes twinkled and Amelia could see that he definitely knew about all the things she had done this year that was definitely worth getting in trouble.

"Right," her voice filled with caution, "so what can I do for you?"

"I'm afraid I have news for you," Dumbledore took off his half moon spectacles and sighed. He folded his hands on his desk and proceeded, "Your fathers trial is a week from now, and they've asked you to testify for the prosecution,"

No.

Amelia sat in stunned silence. She never wanted to see that man again, he already tormented her dreams and she couldn't see him. Never again, that's what they said when he went to Azkaban. They promised her she would never have to see him again. He would never hurt her again. She stared into Dumbledore's eyes, the ones that had lost all of their twinkle.

"Amelia?" He looked at her with such concern.

"If I say yes," she said slowly, her words came out cracked and broken. "Will he stay away forever?"

"Yes, I believe he would,"

"Then yes," Amelia would do whatever it took to make sure that bastard got what he deserved. Even if it meant she had to see him again.

"Your very brave Amelia," the headmaster complimented.

"I'm terrified," she admitted, she ran a hand through her hair, and twisted her fingers into intricate knots.

"Bravery is not being fearless, it's about facing our fears," Dumbledore spoke kindly, and Amelia forced a small smile onto her face. "I will escort you to the hearing and be by your side the entire time!"

"Thank you sir," he dismissed her and Amelia left. Walking felt weird, her limbs were all stiff and everything was awkward. She made her way back to the Gryffindor common room. She had lost all appetite so she skipped supper. When she arrived the room was in uproar as apparently a heated debate was going on. Amelia usually would have gotten right into the thick of it, but not today.

Luckily the dormitory was empty when she arrived and she didn't have to put up with Lavenders constant twittering and Parvati had been so moody lately . She had been convinced Terry Boot liked her but turns out he liked Susan. And Amelia really didn't care for all the stupid gossip. It was so juvenile.

Amelia was terrified at the thought of sleeping. The nightmares that had haunted her since Christmas were getting scarier than anything she could have thought. Her palms were scabbed and she couldn't wash the bloodstain from under her fingernails. So tonight, she vowed not to sleep a wink. That might keep her safe. So she started to draw, and she sketched all night long. There were picture of trees mostly, and a few dragons. They were quite spectacular really, but Amelia never showed them to anyone.

When morning came, Amelia's bed was littered with papers. And she was so exhausted, sore, and her eyes burned, but at least she hadn't had a nightmare. At least there was that.