Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 17 - Dumbledore's Secrets

Lucky you guys - another chapter! Thanks for reading :)

 After the feast Al lingered behind a little, "Wait for me in the common room," she told Draco, "I want to speak to Dumbledore."

 "That old coot? Why?" Al just raised her eyebrows. "Oh." Slowly the students dissipated out the hall. When only a few students remained by the door, she approached Dumbledore, who was happily chatting to Lupin.

 "Professor Dumbledore?" she said, and he turned to face her with a smile.

 "Miss Dursley, how can I help?" he asked.

 "I was wondering if I could talk to you about what happened on the train? With the dementors," she said.

 "Ah yes, I was just updating the headmaster on that incident," Lupin said casually.

 "In that case, why don't we take a seat?" Dumbledore suggested, waving his hand to clear some mess from the nearby Hufflepuff table. The wandless magic was impressive but unnecessary, so took some of the wow-factor away. "And your head of house might join us," he said, without really suggesting it, "Severus, a word please," he called across the hall. Al sighed; she'd wanted to just talk to Dumbledore and now it was an extravagant four way conversation. "So, Miss Dursley?"

 "Well, when the dementor....uh...kissed me," she began, looking to Lupin for confirmation, who nodded, "I had a dream. I think it might have been a memory." No one responded, so she continued, "I was sat in a crib, I think, and there was another baby next to me. And this woman was pleading with a man that was in the room too. She said, 'Not Harry, not Al.' And then there was a flash of green light and a spell and she fell to the floor. And then the man - well, he had slits for nostrils and red eyes - he turned to Harry and did the same spell and there was a flash of green light and a flash of white light and then I woke up."

 Al looked up from the table for the first time and was surprised at the Professors' reactions. Lupin looked a bit sick but very pitiful. Dumbledore looked calm, but there was something else - fear perhaps? Suspicion? But Snape was the one that shocked her. He'd gone even paler than usual and had broken out into a sweat - Al thought he might vomit at any second. His eyes held a haunted look - as if he was the one that witnessed it.

 Finally, Dumbledore spoke up, "Well thank you for bringing this to my attention Al. Perhaps you should head to your common room?"

 Al shook her head, "Actually, Professor, I had a question." He didn't respond so she continued, "Halloween, 1981, was I with the Potters?" Dumbledore continued to look at her, but Lupin looked away, as if he couldn't bear to watch.

 "Yes, you were," Dumbledore replied stiffly.

 "Why?"

 He paused for a moment, as though thinking about what to say, "You were in hiding with them. Your Aunt Lily worried that Voldemort might target her sister - your mother - so she offered to take you all into hiding. Your father refused, but your mother sent you to live with them."

 "Right," Al responded, thinking, "And, do you know what the white light was?"

 He shook his head, "Alas, I do not. I'm sorry."

 "One more thing," Al said, feeling ready to go to bed, "Why were the Potters in hiding? Why did Voldemort want to kill them?" Dumbledore's eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Snape fell to the floor, the haunted look spreading across his face, rigid with fear.

 McGonagall and Flitwick hurried over and conjured a stretcher, "Straight to the hospital wing," Dumbledore ordered. They nodded and rushed out the Great Hall. He then turned to Al, "Not a word of this to anyone please, Miss Dursley."

 He turned to leave, but Al spoke up, "Not even Harry?"

 A grave look crossed Dumbledore's face. By now the only people left were Lupin and Sprout who were talking in the corner and pretending not to hear. "Especially not Harry."

 "Why not?"

 Dumbledore sighed and stepped closer to Al, "I think it's best we leave him out. He - like you - will have questions. Questions that I can't answer."

 "Can't or won't?" Al asked stubbornly. The chatter from Lupin and Sprout stopped abruptly and they looked over.

 "Miss Dursley-"

 "I'm sorry but I just can't see why I shouldn't tell Harry that I was there too! That the dementors have the same effect on me, and that he's not alone!"

 Lupin stepped forward now, "Miss Dursley, you shouldn't talk to your headmaster like that. I suggest an apology." He wasn't telling her off - he was advising her. But she didn't want advice, she wanted answers.

 "Over a year ago I asked you to move Harry out my parent's house and you didn't, and this summer he ran away, with the man who helped to murder his parents on the loose! If you're playing a game with him..." she took a deep breath to slow her rant, "If you're playing a game with him, you're going to get us all killed."

 Three puzzled faces looked her way, waiting for her to expand. "Voldemort, at least some part of him, was in the castle last year and the year before. Once in a book, and once in a person. From what I've been told, that book's been around for fifty years, so it wasn't the same part twice. And now his most loyal servant has escaped from Azkaban, and you still won't explain anything to anyone."

 There was silence in the castle, until Lupin spoke up, "Miss Dursley, I'll walk you back to your common room now." She nodded and the two of them left, followed by a silent Professor Sprout. When she left them, Lupin spoke again, "Don't make an enemy out of Professor Dumbledore."

 "What?"

 "If what you said is true, there's a war coming, and you're going to want to be on his side. So don't make an enemy out of him," they reached the Slytherin common room.

 "Thank you Professor. But I'll make an enemy out of anyone who tries to hurt my family." And with that she turned and met Draco.

 Had Draco Malfoy looked up as soon as Al had entered the common room, he would've seen a new glint in her eye; a glint of determination. But he didn't, so no one saw it. And Al had decided on something. This is the day I stop trusting Albus Dumbledore.