Fate's Chosen (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 11: Rendezvous

At last, Friday finally arrived. The trip to Gringotts was eagerly awaited. Questions were to be answered, plans were to unfold. Dressed in school robes since it was still technically a school day, Ashley sat eating breakfast with her not-so-small circle of friends at the Hufflepuff table, as per usual. She was wedged in-between Mitchelle and Alyssa, the two girls both in their own worlds. Mitchelle was currently busy ogling Cedric who, unfortunately for her, sat a few ways down the table while Alyssa was having a glaring contest with one Draco Malfoy. Ashley assumed that was their way of romantically staring into each other's eyes. They would make an odd yet very interesting couple; that was for sure.

They weren't the only lovebirds surrounding Ashley. There were Dominic and Ai, seated parallel to Ashley, who would never admit to colluding with the others to make sure the two sat side by side. Having just officially met the day before during dinner, they already seemed like they'd known each other for far longer than they actually had. They were quite a pair. Balanced was the word Ashley would use to describe them. Dominic's calm and down-to-earth nature evened out Ai's typical hyperactivity and constant anxiety. Simply speaking, Dominic was yin to her yang. They were good for each other. If Ashley were to be honest, their budding relationship actually reminded her of Remus and Sirius.

Her thoughts suddenly drifted towards the strange happenings of the guys' eyes flashing purple. Alyssa and Mitchelle professed to having had a weird feeling almost immediately after witnessing the strange phenomenon. Thinking it all over, the compatibility between those who experienced it, the frankly obvious attraction, was it some sort of specific bond? Maybe it was a bond that connected the people through their magic, even perhaps their souls? Like...

A soul bond, that's it!

Ashley, herself, was soul bonded to Sirius and Remus, it had been written on her blood inheritance test. What exactly did that imply? Why was she bonded to two people? And only the girls seemed to be aware of the bond, so why was that? Ashley couldn't say, because she didn't know. Hopefully, Griphook would be able to enlighten her. He had mentioned that he carried information about soul bonds and was willing to share it. That made the trip to Gringotts all the while more worth the risk of getting caught sneaking out. Ashley now just had to wait for the portkey. Suffice to say, she didn't have to wait for long.

After breakfast, she headed back to her dorm and was pleasantly surprised by a Gringotts owl delivering a weighted envelope. She gave the owl a treat before it left and tore the envelope open, finding a silver key smaller than the size of her palm. Feeling the magic surrounding the tiny object, she was sure that it was the portkey, a literal key in this case, that she had been waiting for. She placed the envelope on the bed and hurriedly changed out of her school robes. Now clad in casual clothing, she coupled it with a black cloak for when she went out to Diagon Alley after the meeting. She put the hood down and let Moko wrap his body around her neck while stuffing her wand in her pocket. Picking up the charmed box imprisoning the traitor of a rat named Pettigrew from her bed, she was ready to go.

She had already informed her friends that she had a little rendezvous scheduled for the day. Surprisingly, none of them were against it and had agreed to cover for her if anyone were to ask where she was. Dumbledore hadn't bothered her the past few days so she figured that he wouldn't bother looking for her but if he were to, her friends had been tasked to tell him that her scar was hurting and she decided to stay in bed. That was bound to get him off her back at least. He'd think that she was already on the trail of finding the Philosopher's Stone, just like he wanted her to be. Maybe that'd even give him enough incentive to hand over the cloak back.

Preparing herself for what was sure to be an uncomfortable ride, Ashley took the key from the envelope. The feeling of using a portkey, of a hook latching on from somewhere behind her navel and abruptly pulling, was most definitely dizzying. She found herself sprawled on the floor of the Head Goblin's office in Gringotts, head spinning and, thankfully, only slightly nauseated. Griphook stood from where he was seated behind his desk and approached her, extending a helping hand which she gladly took. Brushing down the front of her clothes, she seized the squeaking box from the floor and calmed the grumbling snake around her neck. In her defense, she had warned Moko that their way of traveling wouldn't be a pleasant experience. He chose to come along with anyway.