TRUST, harry potter¹

ch. 7 - gift

'She wore her troubled past like scars-

She had been through battle.

And though no one could see her demons,

They could see the face that conquered them'

-Atticus

||||

"Am I in trouble, sir?" Adeline questioned the wise Headmaster, fiddling with her hands as she stood before his old figure sitting on a throne-like leather chair. His face turned to one of surprise.

"No, no, dear Adeline. Why would you ask that?" Dumbledore questioned politely, eyebrows furrowed slightly.

a few hours earlier ~

"Now, let me make this quite plain. You have been told... that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie." The pink lady spoke, bubbling Adeline's blood as she tried to keep her mouth shut, unlike a certain Harry Potter.

"It's not a lie! We saw him, we fought him!" Said boy yelled back, voice escalating in volume by the word.

"Detention, Mr Potter."

"So according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead on his own accord?"

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident."

"It was MURDER! You must know that!"

"ENOUGH!"

The ongoing feud only increased the tingling cursing through her veins. Not being able to take anymore, Ad stood, drawing all eyes to her.

"I never asked to be his daughter." Her voice held strength, laced with power. She swore Umbridge flinched.

"...We never asked to be caught up in this mess. Harry didn't ask to be the 'chosen one', and neither does he want to be. I don't want to be Voldemort's daughter, but here we are. IF YOU FINALLY ESCAPED FROM YOUR LARGE EGO AND THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS, MAYBE YOU'D FIGURE OUT THAT THERE'S ACTUALLY A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORIES AND REALITY!"

Adeline's eyes flared scarlet dangerously. Swallowing down her resentment, Umbridge responded with a sickly smile, words slightly shaken under offence; anger.

"See me later, Potter, Riddle. My office."

~

"No reason." Addie replied innocently, and considering the man held a soft spot for her, he believed it, taking the leather seat opposite of Dumbledore, his wooden desk between them.

It was almost seven O'clock in the evening, the light from outside having vanished from when she last checked, the flickering candles and glowing lamps warming up the office. Adeline and Harry were meant to be at Umbridge's office at exactly seven, but when she received an owl right before dinner requesting she meet with Dumbledore at that same time, Ad couldn't turn it down.

"The reason I requested you being here," He flicked his wand, summoning a nearby rose in a transparent vase to float in the air between them. "Is because I have a gift for you."

Adeline stared at the rose in awe, its petals looking soft as velvet, colour vibrant and form perfect. She could already smell its perfume. The vase was more of a holder, as it contained no water—and didn't need to.

"It's beautiful." Her eyes sparkled with delight at the simple flower as it floated toward her, extending her hands to hold it closer.

"A charming form of magic." The Headmaster nodded with agreement. "As long as you live, the rose will too. Its perfume will never fade; petals will never wilt, hence the lack of water. It's also a good way for us all to keep a check on you. As you can see, I have one myself. An exact replica of yours; it lives when you live."

This brought her sight to a copy of the rose in her hands on his desk, a label tied loosely on the stem, reading 'Adeline' in fancy calligraphy: Dumbledore's handwriting.

Her slight confusion was overpowered by joy, a big grin overtaking her lips, easily reaching her striking grey eyes. It was the first gift she'd ever truly received.

Averting her eyes to the golden, old grandfather clock behind Dumbledore, she saw it was already past seven-pm. Harry would definitely be worrying by now, as they had planned to meet outside Umbridge's office earlier.

"In a rush?" His Periwinkle eyes twinkled.

"Yes, a bit actually..."

"I bid you goodnight, then. Please give Dolores this note as an explanation for your lateness. Be careful, Adeline." The Headmaster spoke kindly yet with stern, handing her an enclosed envelope, Addie shrugging off his little caution reminder as she shared one more smile before racing from his office, dashing down the steps, rose and vase in hand.

||||

"I thought your detention was at seven?" Ron questioned, checking his watch from the seat opposite of Hermione and Ginny in the Gryffindor common room, Ad running into her bedroom and gently placing down the vase on one of her bedside tables.

"It was." She breathed, sprinting out of her bedroom and back out into the hallway.

With her shoes smacking the floor, most likely echoing through the castle, Adeline skidded as she turned corners and corners, one foot in front of the other as she speedily rushed down staircases, hand sliding on the rail.

Turning what she thought was the last corner, it really wasn't, and was merely a dead end. Groaning with frustration, she wandered thoughtlessly back and forth before the bare stone wall, trying her best to recall where Harry said Umbridge's office was. Coming to terms with her pacing, she halted to a stop, looking to the wall in thought, foot tapping and hands fidgeting.

Her eyes widened as the outlines of an archway appeared on the wall, stepping back slightly. Shaking her head in disbelief, her hair swayed carelessly as she looked back, a large wooden door having suddenly appeared. Shrugging, she looked behind her, and seeing that no one was in sight, Adeline went through.

Expecting it to be a large, extravagant ballroom with chandeliers and beautifully patterned wallpaper, it was rather disappointing to her imagination when it was merely a room the size of a broom cupboard.

Though, this didn't lower her curiosity, for only a short distance before her was another wooden door, though a lot smaller, looking sleek and new. Taking barely any strides to reach it, Ad pushed it open.

Somehow, it revealed another hall of the castle, a lot different from the one she was previously in. An office was at the end of it, a small kitten acting as artwork on a white plate hung on the wall beside the door. This was definitely Umbridge's office. It meowed as it saw her, toddling out of sight.

Looking behind her for the door, it had already vanished, questions beginning to pop in Adeline's head, yet they stopped as a sickly sweet voice sounded from behind her.

"Ah, Miss Riddle. So nice of you to finally join us."

a/n:

This chapter was a lil' late again, but updates will soon be back on track as the holidays are super close!

And thank you guys so much because we recently hit 4.2k!

I'm trying to be a lot more original with my ideas in this series rather than following the typical Harry Potter fanfiction format with all its clichés, so for so many of you to be reading means a ton.

Thank you again, and until next time,

-G