Forever Riddle (Willow style) DISCONTINUED || Harry Potter ||

13 - Back to school

Luckily for me, I get Saturday and Sunday to practise using the crutches, and take the Skele-Gro. By Monday, I can walk unassisted, but not up stairs. I've coloured my crutches white and the rubber bits are now black. Also, they are silenced, so I don't make noise.

I enter the Great hall on Monday morning with a small parade of Gryffindors and FlaManders. People stare at me, and I hear whispers.

"You-Know-Who's daughter? Really?" I stop dead.

How did they find out?

Fred puts his arm around me and glares at the Hufflepuff who said that. "Come on Eva."

And we sit at the Gryffindor table.

I am right next to Fred, practically on his lap, and eat with gusto - I guess being asleep for two months gives you quite an appetite! - trying to ignore the stares and glares.

"Does he know?"

"Why's she sitting with them?"

"Okay, okay." I give up. "Fred." He looks at me. "How do they know?"

He looks away, not speaking."For fucks sake Fred!"

Harry leans over and pulls out a crumpled newspaper article. "Here. He didn't want you to know."

The headline blares at me. GIRL CLAIMS ADOPTED BY DARK LORD

It's dated September 19th. Two weeks after I became comatose. Just great.

Why didn't anyone warn me?

*****•••••*****•••••*****

The next few days I am so busy, working one-to-one with teachers, that I don't get the chance to think about the article. It's the last week of term, and I'm going to have to stay over Christmas to catch up. This annoys me, as hardly anyone is staying over Christmas because of Umbridge.

On the plus side, Harry's formed a club that I can't tell anyone about, and I'm invited!

It's called Dumbledore's Army, and I have to sign a contract before I join.

Basically if I tell anyone about the DA, then I'll have pimples all over my face forming the word SNEAK. Hermione didn't spare me the details.

So on the second last day of term, I enter the room. No crutches, nothing. "I'm discharged officially!" I crow to Fred. Then my face falls. "But no exerting sports for a few weeks, and I can't walk down stairs unasisted."

"I guess I'll just have to escort you then." he grins, and we sit down on a cushion to wait for the rest to show up.

A house elf apparates in, and, without noticing us, starts hanging up decorations. Tinsel and baubles mostly. Once the elf is gone we stand up and look around properly.

"Wait..." Fred grabs a bauble. "Harry won't be happy." He laughs. I take it.

HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS!

The ornament screams, with a picture of Harry wearing a santa hat.

"We'd better get these down." I reach for my wand, and use it to start taking them down.

Harry enters soon after and helps us.

We've only just managed to get the last of them down when the door creaks open and Luna Love good enters, looking as dreamy as always.

"Hello," she says vaguely, looking around at what remains of the decorations. "These are nice, did you put them up?"

"No," says Harry, "it was Dobby the house-elf."