Wot In The Harri Potter?

24 - The Worst Headteacher Ever

Fred is furious with Dumbledore and does not hide it.

"All of this happened because of you, and now you're telling me that Harri has to go back to a place where she isn't loved?!"

"Fred," Dumbledore says calmly. "I understand that you're a little upset-"

"I'm not a little upset, I'M FUCKING LIVID!" Fred screams in his face.

"Fred," I say hoarsely reaching out from where I am lying in my hospital bed to grab his hand. "It's okay, I'll have Dudley with me."

Dudley. I was upset to find out that Dumbledore had sent him back to his school before I could even say goodbye to him.

"He cannot protect you like I can!" Fred says, turning round to face me, desperation in his eyes. "I can use magic; I can keep you safe. I won't have you locked up and starved again. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."

"She'll be protected at the Dursleys." Dumbledore says still calmly. "You must trust me on this."

"Trust you?!" Fred spits, wheeling back round to glare at him. "Is that a joke? You literally hired a Death Eater to teach us - a Death Eater who has been plotting to set up Harri all fucking year-long whilst the real Moody has been locked away inside his trunk! You're the worst headteacher ever!"

Dumbledore flinches, but does not respond.

"Cedrics death is on you!" Fred continues, jabbing a finger in Dumbledore's chest. "I hope you think about that every night before you fall asleep."

"Believe me," Dumbledore says, his voice small and tired, "I already do. And I too want the best for young Harriet, and going back to her aunt's house is for the best. It does not have to be for the entire summer, but it must be enough for her to call the place home."

"Bollocks," Fred says, "she can come and live with me. I'm sure Mum won't mind."

Ha! Fred is seriously deluded if he thinks his mother is going to welcome me into the family home with open arms.

"It's okay," I say tiredly, too mentally and physically exhausted for any of this, "I'll go back to Privet Drive. I want to see Dudley anyway."

"This is um- a little awkward," Dumbledore says, giving a nervous chuckle, "but I had a reason for dropping in to see you today. It's to give you this."

He holds up a bag, which looks as though it is filled with lots of coins. "Your winnings, Harriet."

I look away, my chest feeling tight. "I don't want them. Give it to Cedric's family."

"I'm afraid his family has already refused Cedric's cut. It's all yours, every last galleon."

"Take it away." I say more forcefully, my heart racing. "Do you really expect me to go out spending it when Cedric is dead?"

"Harri-" Fred says, touching my shoulder. "Don't be too hasty-"

"You take them, then." I say dully, still refusing to look at the bag. "I don't want it. I don't need it. You and George can use it to make more of your products."

There is a silence. "I'm not taking your winnings, Harri."

"You're not taking them; I am giving them to you. It's my money, isn't it? Well, that's what I'll spend them on then. I'm investing in you and George."

"Sounds like a cracking idea!" Dumbledore says jovially. "I do love a good joke product."

Fred and I both glare at him so fiercely that he backs away, alarmed.

"Right," he says, smacking his lips together. "Now that that's all settled, I think I'll get moving. Need to work on my speech for the leaving feast. You will join us tonight, won't you, Miss Potter? Poppy informs me that you've been free to leave the hospital wing for quite some time now, but you refuse to leave."

Fred stands up and snaps the curtain shut around my bed, shutting Dumbledore out.

"Nosey twonk," Fred mutters angrily. "And is he really that stupid?"

I sigh, shrugging my shoulders. The truth is, I refuse to leave the hospital wing because I cannot face going back down to the dungeons.

Fred gets it. He understands that even though I do not blame my friends in any way for what happened that night in the graveyard, it is still too difficult for me to look them in the eye knowing what their parents did.

But they have been to visit. Fred tells me that Draco and Pansy were practically banging down the hospital wing door straight after I was brought up here. But Madam Pomfrey refused to let me have any visitors other than Fred as I was still in so much shock.

They came back everyday until Madam Pomfrey eventually relented and let them in.

Pansy was the first to reach me, hugging me so tight I wanted to cry. She told me repeatedly that she loved me and that she'd been so frightened.

Draco, however, hovered at a distance.

When Pansy eventually let me go, her face wet with tears, I looked at Draco and he instantly looked down at his feet, as though he found it difficult to meet my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Harri," he whispered. "I'm really sorry."

My heart twisted. He didn't say it, but I knew he knew his father had been there.

Before I could say anything, he turned and left. He never tried to visit me again.

And I was scared that I'd somehow lost my best friend, so rather than face it, I'd remained hidden in the hospital wing.

But now it is time to face the music. It is time to face the world.

"I'll be with you, Harri," Fred reassures me as he takes my hand and escorts me out of the hospital wing for the first time since that night.

*****

The Hall becomes quiet when I step inside. I nearly lose my nerve and run, but instead I take a deep shaky breath and continue, squeezing Fred's hand so hard, it must surely hurt him.

"Come and sit with me at the Gryffindor table," he insists. "George and I will look after you."

But I shake my head, looking determinedly at the Slytherin table. "No, I'm a Slytherin. It's where I belong."

At that moment, I am relieved when Pansy waves, her smile genuine and warm as she points to the empty seat beside her.

Fred quickly pulls me in for a hug. "I'll save a place for you on the train," he murmurs, kissing my hair.

And then I am walking towards the Slytherins, all eyes on me as I cross the Hall.

Pansy stands up to give me a hug for which I am grateful for. I am scared to look at anyone else, but when I take my seat, I glance up at the white-blond haired Slytherin who is sitting across from me. His grey eyes pierce mine as the Adam's Apple bobs in his throat.

And then he looks away again.

******