Wayward Girls

Chapter Eleven

Abi wanders around St. Mungo's with C, Jas, and the trio. She just saw her dad. He will be coming home Christmas Day. It was lucky Harry and Night knew about the attack. Any time longer, he may have died. She just don't want to think about that. A door opens and the Longbottom siblings are there. Night's eyes widen when she sees us.

"Um... hey," Harry smirks, rubbing the back of his neck. What happened between the two?  "What are you doing here?"

A woman steps out and hands a bubblegum wrapper to Night.

"Thanks, Mum," she attempts to smile.

"I can watch them if you want to talk to the group," Neville offers. His sister nods her head. She walks with the group.

"What happened?" Abi dares to ask.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," she snarls. The hatred in her eyes clear. "She tortured them for hours, driving my parents mad." She looks at the ground for a second. "If I show you guys something, please don't judge."

"Never," Jas informs her. 

"I found the hall Dumbledore mentioned."

She leads the group down a mainly abandoned hall. She opens the door to show a woman comatose. The nurse looks at the group, nodding her head. The woman looks just Abi, just older. Her cheeks are sunken in and looks like she is in a blissful sleep.

"This is my birth mum," she informs the group.

"So why would we judge?" Ron asks. "It would explain why she gave you up."

"Actually that's not it," Hermione states. She is reading the charts by the door. "This is Maria Crouch. You're a Crouch?"

"It explains why Barty Crouch was so protective of you," Harry concludes. 

"He helped torture my parents," she mutters. "And yet my actual name is Belle Crouch. How am I suppose to deal with that?"

"One day at a time," Jas says, wrapping an arm around her friend. C joins.

"We're not our parents. You and me know where they went wrong."

Night, or Belle, nods her head.

"She tried to run away with me," she informs them. "She found a couple who just had a child and was willing to take in another."

"And because if that, your father hated them," Harry concludes. 

"All three of them. He did this to his own wife because she thought my life was in danger."

Abi shakes her head. This is so much at once to process. She can't imagine how the Gryffindor might feel about all of this. 

''''

Jas starts mashing a huge thing of potatoes. Her, Abi, and C decided to help with Christmas dinner preparations. Lupin pops his head in the kitchen area.

"May I borrow C real quick?" He asks. Molly smirks.

"Is this not news that everyone should hear? Or at least these girls?"

Lupin walks in while C dries her hands. Jas watches as the older man hands the blonde an envelope. She opens it and her eyes scan over it. Her eyes widen and looks at the former teacher.

"Is this for real?" she asks. "Are you really adopting me?"

Abi claps while Jas gasps. This girl does need some good news.

"Yes," he promises. "You were basically my daughter. Might as well have made it official."

"How did you get it through with the fact-"