•Memories• ||D.M.||

15. Change Hits like a Semitruck

Christina, Jay and Jeremy all exchanges scared looks as they read the message written in blood on the wall.
"My cat! You killed my cat!" The groundskeeper screamed in horror, but the three didn't stay long enough to hear what happened. They walked towards the infirmary, talking in a hush.
"Enemies of the heir beware..." Christina repeated as she struggled to keep up with the taller boys. "You think-?"
"If it is her, then she needs to know." Jay said with determination.
"Wait, she said not to tell her if... you know." Christina argued.
"It could be about something else, Jay." Jeremy defended. "And we don't even know if it's her."
"And if it is? She's our friend, and something wrote that on the wall possibly for her to see." Jay tried to argue back.
"But if it gets out that she's the daughter of Maple and Veronica Dean-Gray, then Jeremy's secret gets out too."
"How?" Jay asked his sister.
"Because his bloody surname is Gray!"
"Well, just say it's a coincidence."
"Veronica and Charlie Gray were the most famous sibling duo to attend Hogwarts!" She kicked him.
"She's right." Jeremy shrugged. "I should tell Dad first at least, then he can see if that's his sister's family crest."
"Right." Christina agreed.
"Fine..." Jay huffed in defeat.
Little did they know, another pair of ears were listening in, and they had a lot of explaining to do the next day.
---
I kept wondering if my head was accidentally put on backwards as I went to my table.
Eyes stared at me from all directions, and I shrunk into myself as I sat next to Donna.
"Is it true?!" Blaise blurted from across the table.
I furrowed my eyebrows.
"The rumors?" Theodore clarified.
My heart dropped. "Rumors?!"
"Elizabeth, may I speak with you?" My sister's voice startled me, and my house was all glaring at the girl behind me.
I turned.
She had been crying.
"Um, sure." I stood and we walked into the hall.
"Is it true?" She sounded hurt.
"Is what true?? Are you asking if I did that to the cat last night?" I asked, frustrated.
She hadn't talked to me for an entire summer and then half the school year, but now she came to me with teary eyes.
"No, you know what I'm talking about!"
"I don't!" I yelled back.
"Are you my sister?!"
"Of course I am, what kind of-"
I thought back to the mirror.
I was silent.
"So you are some great witch couple's kid? Was our childhood just a spell, or did you sneak in early?" She asked coldly.
"Mionie, what are you talking about?!"
She laughed bitterly. "You can't call me that. You've convinced yourself that I'm your enemy, but I've always done things for you!"
"I don't know what you're even talking about!"
"Don't play dumb! You're really wicked, you know that?"
"Mionie, please just-"
"No! You are not my sister so don't call me that!"
"Ms. Granger, Ms... Dean-Gray. May I talk with you?" McGonagall asked.
---
"Professor, I have no idea what's going on.." I began to tear up. She gave me a kind smile.
"I'm sure, but I'm here to elaborate." She nodded.
"The same night your classmate Harry was brought to his aunt and uncle, I was responsible for another child. This child was my niece, and both her mothers had been killed during the war. I was prepared to raise her myself, but I understood the terms of my sister's will, and if I had obeyed, then my niece would've ended up in the wrong hands."
Hermione and I listened.
"Not far from there, I felt the energy of a strong witch child of the same age, and put her with that muggle family, so she couldn't have been raised the wrong way. I altered their memories a bit to fit the child, and it hurt to leave her there." She looked down.
"The child is you, Elizabeth. My sister Maple, she named you (Y/n)."
I was breathing heavily. "They're both...?" I tried to ask.
She nodded sadly.
"Hermione, I want you to know that the bond you two formed was not fake, and that no matter your blood, you're sisters."
Hermione stood, her chair falling back. "I need to leave.." she mumbled as she left, the professor looking at her sadly.
"Is there anything you would like to know?" She asked me.
"I-I don't know where to start..."
She sighed. "Well, Jeremy Gray is your cousin..." my eyes went wide.
"Your mother, Veronica, was the older sister of Charles Gray, and Charles had Jeremy."
"Oh.." I nodded. "Does Charlie know that I'm his niece?" I asked.
"No, and I intend to keep it that way. That man is involved in some horrible things, and for you to get sucked into that..." she shook her head.
"Right. Why were my parents so important?" I asked.
"Veronica came from a wealthy pureblood family, and was the best of her year at Hogwarts, while my sister was known as the 'fake Slytherin' for being so kind, and she ended up high in the ministry once they graduated." She explained.
"That's all?" I asked, getting the feeling that she was holding back.
"For now, yes."
Suddenly, I heard footsteps and the door swung open.
I stood in confusion as the man stood at the door.
Charlie Gray was a sort of let go man, with a scruffy beard and long, unkept hair, a few grays sticking out.
But he stood here in a suit, hair slicked into a tight bun and a serious look on his face.
"She's to be with her closest living relative until the executor of the Will can meet."
"I'm just as much her aunt as you are her uncle, Charles." She tried to defend.
"Is that right? Step-sister in law?" He emphasized 'step' and she clenched her fists.
"You have no right over (Y/n), now, if you'll excuse us..."
(Y/n)... sounded weird to my ears.