No second chances| Book Two

Another Ally

I gently knocked on the door, pressing my ear to it but hearing nothing.

The door opened suddenly and I saw Harry and Dumbledore talking to each other, Harry looking pale. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and went to say something.

"You're dismissed, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said, stopping me before I could speak. Harry simply nodded and walked past me, sending me a smile.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked, waiting for the door to close before going closer to his desk.

"How is your demiguise doing? Hopper, is it?" I opened my mouth to speak, confused by his demenor. The usually calm man was pacing back and forth in thought.

"I'm sorry, sir? What's wrong?" I asked gently, fearful the man was near a breaking point.

"Do you know what 'The Mark' is, Miss Rowen?" My throat tightened at the words. I hadn't been entirely too familiar with it, only hearing it in my dreams when it came to my mother and Harry's.

"I don't think so.." I replied, taking to step forward and making my way towards the chair.

"It's when two people are binded together physically and magically to create a bond of even greater power." He educated. I simply remained silent, watching as he finally made his way over to the desk and in front of me.

"How did you two do it? Did you find the book in the restricted section?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and looked between his eyes. Dumbledore didn't seem mad, or fearful, he simply seemed eager to know. Maybe a little too much so.

"I- Sorry, sir. I don't think I know what you mean...I haven't done any spells." I said truthfully. Dumbledore came around again, sitting on the edge of the desk.

"That's what I feared...It seems that your mother and Lily Potter put a binding spell on you and Harry before they died. The only reason it worked on the two of you was because of the love that Lily and Maggie had for each other...but I'm not sure they realized the mistake they made.."

"Why, professor? Harry and I share dreams...that's it." Dumbledore shook his head and looked at me sadly.

"No, child, it's much worse than that. I suggest you do a deeper dig into your memories to try and come up with a solution to unbind you and Harry. I'm afraid this kind of magic is too great, even for me."

"In the meantime. It's about time you had this." Just as Dumbledore pulled out the book, that same white cat jumped onto his desk and sat on the book.

"Excuse me." He sighed, gently pushing the cat off before sending it a look, giving it to me.

On the title it read: "The Change."

Something inside my stomach sent me a warning, something about what Dumbledore said and how he said it caused right for concern.

I simply nodded and stood up, holding my head down as I slowly left the office. My head raced with questions. Why would Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards in the world not know what is going on with me?

"Oh, Marley! I was just looking for you." A voice said softly. I hummed in response and looked up to see Cedric smiling brightly at me, jogging the rest of the way to catch up.

"How are you?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and looked him over. His hands were held together as he harshly rubbed his fingers and adjusted from one foot to another.

"Cedric?"

"Look, I just- I really like you, okay? I just feel like we're drifting apart and I- I don't want that to happen." I frowned and finally realized just how much i had been discluding Cedric from my life. In the hopes to keep him unharmed physically, I was hurting him mentally.