Soul of Ice

17. Fifth Year

It was the last day of the holidays, and Abbie had almost finished packing her trunk when she heard a shriek that sounded like Hermione. She panicked for a moment, then remembered - their Hogwarts letters had arrived earlier that day. Hermione had no doubt just found a prefect badge accompanying her letter. Abbie hadn't paid much attention to hers, since it was always the same - another Goshawk book, a new book set by the new Defence professor, and a reminder that term started on the 1st of September. An advantage of having a parent on staff was that Snape already knew what her set books were going to be, and he'd already bought them for her a few days earlier.

Figuring she should probably congratulate Hermione, Abbie made her way down to the first floor of the house, where she saw Hermione had already run into the room Ron and Harry had been sharing. Just as she arrived, she heard Harry saying, "Ron's prefect, not me."

"Dumbledore probably feels sorry for you, Ron," Abbie said after Hermione had recovered from the shock. "Always living in Harry's shadow. I bet he gave it to you so you didn't have another strop like last year."

"Shut up," Ron grumbled. Even after being stuck cleaning a grimy old house together all summer, the two of them still hadn't warmed to each other.

Just then, Molly entered the already packed room, carrying a pile of clean robes. "Ginny said the booklists had come at last," she said. "If you give them to me I'll take them over to Diagon Alley this afternoon while you're packing. Abbie -"

"Abbie doesn't need hers," Ron interjected; he was still looking at her with a grumpy look on his face. "Daddy already got them for her."

"Ron, hush," Molly said with a disapproving look at him. "Abbie, Professor Dumbledore's here to see you."

Abbie froze, and it took a moment for her to process what she'd just heard.

"...Dumbledore?"

"Yes, he's just downstairs. Quickly, you don't want to keep the Headmaster waiting."

Abbie caught Harry's eye, who was looking at her with a questioning look. She shrugged, then left. Why would Dumbledore want to talk to her? She wondered if it was to do with Snape's plan to keep her safe from You-Know-Who, but he'd had all summer to talk to her after an Order meeting, why would he be coming now, right at the end of summer? Unless... something had happened?

Abbie entered the dining room, where Dumbledore was sat at the table, his brightly coloured robes oddly contrasting with the dull surroundings. He was drinking a cup of tea, no doubt hastily made by Molly when he'd arrived.

"Ah, Miss Payne," Dumbledore said in a friendly manner. He waved his wand, and Abbie heard the door lock behind her. He must have noticed the worried look on her face, because he said, "Don't worry, you're not in trouble, and nobody's in any danger. Professor Snape has asked me to discuss something important with you."

"Okay..." Abbie said as she sat down, her nerves by no means eased - why couldn't Snape talk to her himself?

"Now, I understand from Professor Snape that you're fully aware of his relationship with your mother, including the way in which they - ah - originally got to know one another."

"I know they were spying on each other, if that's what you mean."

"Precisely. Professor Snape has reason to believe Lord Voldemort would target your mother and use him to do so again if he knew their relationship had been rekindled."

"Sorry, sir, I - I already know this. He told me they broke up to keep her safe from You-Know-Who. What does he want me to know that I don't already know, and why can't he tell me himself?"