metanoia

Chapter Twenty-nine

"So, girls, how was your holiday?" Gideon asked his two best friends at breakfast on the first morning back since holiday, his voice soaked in betrayal.

"Yeah, how was it with the Marauders?" Fabian grumbled, frustrated that the pair spent the holiday with their new friends even though they've never accepted their invitation in the 6 years they've been friends.

Alex continued to eat, letting Letti answer for the both of them as she launched into an animated account of their trip, "Holiday was fine. We watched Christmas movies and ate cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve. The Potter's had this huge party on Alex's birthday with a bunch of their Pureblood "friends". It was basically a Ball, they made us wear dresses and everything. The Blacks were there and she punched Regulus Black in the nose. And-"

"Good morning cousin," James happily greeted as he sat beside Alex at the Gryffindor table.

The ginger twins stopped eating, dropping their forks on their ceramic plates in unison, shocked by how James just addressed their Muggleborn friend. Letti and the Marauders all laughed at their reaction, having quickly become accustomed to the familial relation they'd discovered only two weeks ago. Letti nodded, whispering, "I know right?! So apparently James' mum is Alex's mum's sister, but they disowned her when she married Alex's dad. So Alex's mum decided to raise them like she was a Muggle."

Alex chuckled at her friend's explanation of her family tree, meeting Dumbledore's eye across the Great Hall at the Teacher's Table as Letti asked how many sweaters Fabian and Molly knitted this Holiday. Professor Dumbledore nodded slowly, rising from his seat at the table. She chugged her pumpkin juice, harshly getting up from the Gryffindor table, "I've got to go. I... uh, have to talk to Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore about uh, my N.E.W.T.'s for next year. Apparently something needs to be discussed. I'll see you guys later."

Alex quickly left the Great Hall and sprinted all the way to Dumbledore's quarters and office. But when she arrived in the office, Dumbledore was nowhere to be found. Alex quietly marveled at the countless books and portraits that fill the room, never having actually taken time to observe the large room's contents, her eyes lingering on the idle Sorting Hat. She looked around the room, seeing that she was still alone, and carefully placed the weathered Sorting Hat on top of her blonde hair.

"Yes, Alexandra Worth?" The Sorting Hat asked quietly, not sure why he's speaking to her again. Alex knew what she wanted to ask but she couldn't formulate the sentence. But the Hat knew as well, not needing to be verbally asked as he heard the question in her mind, "You want to know if I put you in the right House, am I right?"

"Yes. I know that I asked for Gryffindor and don't get me wrong, I couldn't be happier but you said that night that I would have excelled in any of the Houses. So I guess what I'm trying to ask is, if I hadn't asked for Gryffindor would you have put me in a different House?" asked Alex quietly, looking up through her long eyelashes at the patchwork on the old Hat.

The Hat remembered how difficult it was to Sort her, it remembered every student it's ever sat upon. She had all the qualities and morals to be in any of the Houses; she was brave and daring, smart and inquisitive, cunning and ambitious, and kind and loyal. She valued all of them, something not many people did due to close mindedness. And He never admitted when he made a mistake, however he did make a mistake that year but with her, Gryffindor was no mistake.

"I meant what I said, you would have been perfect for any of the Houses. But no, I did not make a mistake in putting you in Gryffindor. You truly belong there and you've proven it since having been Sorted. Much like another girl that year, Marlene McKinnon, she chose Gryffindor in place of Slytherin. Now that you have your answer, please take me off," The Hat told her as Dumbledore came into the room.

As she returned the Sorting Hat back where he belonged, she noticed that Dumbledore was watching her. She felt like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar, guilty and fearing reprimand. Dumbledore chuckled, understanding why she was talking to the Hat, "Did you get the answer you were looking for?"

"I'm so sorry, Professor. I-I was just curious. Yes, I did get the answer I was looking for," Alex answered, quietly meeting him at the glowing Pensieve.

Dumbledore chuckled, he like her did the same thing when he was young and given the opportunity. "It's okay, my dear girl, you're not the only one who does it. I did the same when I was your age and I know how difficult you were to Sort so it's okay. Now let's get down to business, could you tell me what happened?"

Alex smiled at the old man and began reciting her last prophecy, having it engrained in her memory, "In the death of the tenth month, the deaths of two will result in three. Living amongst the dead, a splinter latched onto the unsuspecting victim. The faithful servant turned disloyal to his family."

"What does it mean, Professor? I mean all of it because it seems important," asked Alex, trying to decipher everything that's happened in the past few months. She's seen her best friends murdered, their son become an orphan, Sirius screaming about trusting someone and their betrayal, and now both of her prophecies have been about death and betrayal.

Dumbledore thought through everything, he had an idea of what it meant but there was no need to scare this seventeen year old girl more than she already is. The professor shrugged, taking the memory of this conversation and preserving it like he did with their last one, "I truly don't know but I wouldn't worry yet, my dear."

"Too late Professor, I watched my best friend cry over our best mates' bodies. I'm very worried. This is killing me, Professor. I can't handle this so-called "gift". Every night I see their deaths or hear those prophecies and there is nothing I can do to stop it. It's like my brain is trying to kill me from the inside out," Alex cried at the old man, finally feeling some relief in yelling at him.

Dumbledore watched her cry, feeling terribly for the gift she's been plagued with. Not knowing what else he could do to comfort her, he pulls her into a hug, "I know. I'm so sorry that you have to watch it every night, but I promise that what you're seeing and telling me will do the Wizarding World good. You don't know it yet but soon it will all make sense."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Professor. It's just, you're the only person that knows and I had to get it out," Alex apologizes, stepping out of his embrace as she cleaned her face.

Dumbledore chuckled, pushing his half-moon spectacles higher onto the bridge of his nose, "It's okay, dear. I understand, now off to class."

"Will they ever stop?" she blurts out as she stood in the doorframe, her back to her teacher.

He didn't know the answer, in all of his years he'd never met someone with the ability. He knew what he had read and he knew the basis of her talents but even the books couldn't fully comprehend all that a Seer is. Grateful to have her back to him, he lied in hopes to put her mind at ease, "I'm sure that as you get older they will become less frequent. Now off to class."