Summer Part 1
oOo
Veronica didn't know what to do with herself now that she was back home. Dumbledore had written to her parents to give them a vague understanding of her dreams and warning them that there may be occasions where they need to give their daughter a powerful sleeping draught.
She was now under the constant watchful eye of her parents, which was probably made worse after she refused to give them details on her dreams and what had happened at the end of the school year that made her so paranoid.
On the bright side, however, in the second week of the summer, Veronica had started receiving letters from Harry Potter and the girl was now is regular correspondence with the Gryffindor. They spoke about anything and everything - avoiding serious topics most days and conversing like regular teenagers, as even if it wasn't the case, it made them feel normal for once.
They learned a lot about each other through these letters and it would've been easy for Veronica to fall envious of Harry's social life as all shes ever wanted is friends that were willing to sacrifice everything for her and welcome her into their home.
Apart from Harry, Veronica had exchanged letters with Ernie a few times as well, and she'd come to realise that the boy was in full support of everything Harry had to say about He Who Must Not Be Named. Cedric's death had hit Ernie quite hard as he was always someone the boy had looked up to and so Ernie believed it was respectful to trust what Harry said had happened that night.
He was overjoyed to hear Veronica believed Harry and so she decided once they were back at Hogwarts she would let him know about what had happened to her the night of the Third Task. The Hufflepuff boy then went on to offer Veronica to sit with him and Hannah on the Hogwarts Express once term time started up again.
Veronica finally felt like everything was heading in the right direction, and she had multiple more friends than she did last year. She found herself eagerly waiting to go back to school, unlike all the previous years where she'd dread it for months.
oOo
One night at the beginning of August, Veronica was laying in bed tossing and turning unable to get to sleep. This was one of the first times since summer's begun that shes had trouble sleeping, all the restless nights during her fourth year had tired her out.
There was a slight hum of pain that seemed to follow her thoughts around in her head, feeling like something was trying to push through but her conscious mind stopping it from doing so. Veronica leaned over her bed and reached for the tonic tucked in her nightstand drawer. The familiar taste of sleeping draught took over her senses and she leant back with her eyes drooping, as she was pulled under into a blissful sleep.
Throughout the night, her dreams were constantly interrupted by flashes of hooded creatures speeding down an empty tunnel, but as soon as she'd face them the image would abruptly end leaving her in a confused but dreamless sleep.
She was ultimately woken up from her sleep by the front door slamming shut. She could hear her dad slowly making his way up the stairs and opened her door to peek out at him. His tired eyes connected with her as she took him in, shoulders slouched and his hair messed up as if he'd run his hands through it for a while.
"You're only just getting home?" she questioned after seeing him dressed in the same dress shirt and trousers he was in yesterday. She didn't actually know what her dad did for a living, all she knew was that he worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries. Veronica and her mother weren't even allowed to know his job title.
"Yeah sorry if I woke you, meetings overran," he simply said, stumbling into his bedroom and shutting the door.
Johnathan Green was stressed. Anyone could see that. His hair has grown longer as he hasn't had time to cut it and the shadow of stubble around his face suggests that his life recently has been taking a toll on him. Veronica noticed the small things - the fact she'd never seen a grey hair on her dad until this summer, and how even on days when he's not working, he'll disappear for a little while - claiming that there was a work emergency.
She was curious, of course, she wanted to know what it was that's making her father so run down and distressed. Little did she know she was going to get her answer very soon.
oOo
Despite the horrible ways the Daily Prophet have been discrediting Dumbledore, and the standing joke that was her new friend Harry Potter, Veronica still read the wizarding newspaper. During the summer she finds herself distanced from the Wizarding World in a way, as her parents rarely talk about things such as work, headlines or breaking news. Sometimes, if she'd read a particularly nasty fictitious article, she would think to herself that the subscription was a waste of time but she didn't cancel her subscription just in case.
Veronica refused to believe that Harry was as dangerous as they made him out to be, she didn't think he would ever purposely hurt a fly. Also considering she'd hypothetically watched He Who Must Not Be Named rise from the dead, it would be foolish of her to then deny the inevitable like the Ministry wanted people to believe.
One morning, Veronica got a letter in the post from Harry, but it wasn't his usual long-winded report on how his week had been and him asking her about hers, oh no. It was a crumpled piece of parchment with hastily written scrawl on it stating that the boy had just received news that he was to be expelled from Hogwarts!
She was shell-shocked, definitely not expecting this to occur. Obviously, Veronica wrote back to him in distress, demanding he tells her everything that had happened and why he'd been expelled. Thinking back to the dream she'd had, Veronica thought it was too much of a coincidence for these events to have occurred without being related, which scared her because those cloaked figures didn't look too friendly.
She never received a reply.
Her family owl came back a day later, without the original letter, meaning he received her call for answers and decided not to respond. She felt a pang in her heart as she realised the boy was purposely ignoring her letter and thought that perhaps she'd been too forward. Maybe she and Harry were not as close as she'd begun to think they were and he thought it was none of her business. That image upset her because for once, Veronica thought she'd made a friend who trusted her as much as she trusted him.
While she was moping in her room a couple of days later, her father walked in, and he appeared to be in quite a rush.
"As your mother is not here this weekend, I've been put in charge of looking after you. Come with me, I have a meeting to attend but I'm sure you'll be happy to see a few familiar faces" He explained whilst putting on his jacket and picking up his belongings.
Veronica didn't ask many questions as she prepared to leave as well even though she had many running through her mind, trusting her dad wouldn't leave her in an unsafe environment if he were to take her anywhere.
They apparated onto a dark empty street with tall looming houses that looked like they once cost a fortune. Her dad stopped her from gazing round in astonishment by handing her a slip of paper.
The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at 12 Grimmauld Place.
She read over it a few times, confused by what it was saying. As she looked up to ask her father about the information written on the paper, she noticed the houses in front of them were parting. The brickwork separating from each other as what appeared to be another house identical to the ones around it came out of the gap. No one else seemed to notice what was going on, except Veronica who was staring in bewilderment.
Johnathan rushed his daughter inside the magical house, and quickly directed her up the stairs and told her to go into one of the rooms on the right, before telling her he'd be back soon. With a stern look on his face, he swiftly walked into a room on the ground floor and purposely shut the door behind him.
oOo
YOU ARE READING
Undistinguished (H.P.)
Fanfiction[adjective] lacking distinction; unexceptional. Veronica Green is a simple and average half-blood. Hidden in plain sight and blending into the background are what she does best. Until her fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, wh...
