the prince - f.weasley

- c h a p t e r - n i n e t e e n -

 Gemma carried the conversation she had had with Dumbledore like a ball and chain.

And every time she thought about it–she wanted to cry.

But she couldn't.

She couldn't do anything about it.

So when Harry asked her for help to persuade Slughorn to get answers–a memory in this case–for Dumbledore, Gemma was struggling to keep it together.

So much so that the stress was causing her body to just shut itself down. She hadn't slept for more than a few hours over the last couple of days–not wanting to see what she saw again in fear that she would crack and tell her brother and best friends. And it was all finally catching up with her.

If her friends had noticed–of which only Luna seemed to really be able to tell even though she didn't outright say it–they didn't make an effort to ask her anything. Fred had tried to get answers out of her on their date, but she just simply told him to trust her and that what she wasn't telling him was important and monumental.

He seemed to take her word even though he expressed his worry for her multiple times–noting the dark circles under her eyes and the haggardness of her face. Gemma just assured him she was okay and that she was looking forward to the summer holidays.

Hermione was next to her on the couch that Sunday evening–Gemma's head resting on a pillow in Hermione's lap while she stared at the fireplace.

Harry was poring over the Half-Blood Prince's textbook again–hoping to find anything to help him and Gemma get something out of Slughorn.

Finally, Hermione said firmly, "You won't find anything in there."

"Don't start, Hermione," Harry snapped at her. "If it hadn't been for the Prince, Ron wouldn't be sitting here now."

"He would if you'd just listened to Snape in our first year," Hermione retorted dismissively.

Gemma watched as Harry found something and folded the corner of the page before continuing on his search. She was surprised that he was so worried about this when his Apparition test was coming up, but with the information he had learned from his lesson, Gemma knew he was on a warpath again.

Ron–though–was worried as hell, still not having managed to apparate once. And in his attempt to stop thinking about it, he was now struggling through an essay assigned by Snape that he would probably give him low marks for no matter what because Snape was the worst.

Harry was probably going to get even lower marks for disagreeing with him in the last class session about Dementors–but like it was said before, Harry did not give a care about anything except getting Slughorn to crack.

"I'm telling you, the stupid Prince isn't going to be able to help you with this, Harry!" Hermione said a little louder than before. "There's only one way to force someone to do what you want, and that's the Imperius Curse, which is illegal—"

"Yeah, I know that, thanks," Harry cut her off–not looking up from the book. "That's why I'm looking for something different. Dumbledore says Veritaserum won't do it, but there might be something else, a potion or a spell..."

"You're going about it the wrong way," Hermione interrupted him. "Only you can get the memory, Dumbledore says. That must mean you can persuade Slughorn where other people can't. It's not a question of slipping him a potion, anyone could do that—"

"How do you spell 'belligerent'?" Ron suddenly asked, his eyes slightly glazed. "It can't be B-U-M—"

"No, it isn't," Hermione gave Ron a look before holding her hand out for his essay. As she looked over it, she asked, "And 'augury' doesn't begin O–R–G either. What kind of quill are you using?"