A Memorable Tale

57 | Just Talking

I stood in front of the mirror in our dorm, adjusting the tie of my uniform. It was still far too early for any of my friends to be awake so I sat on my bed and began flipping through my notebook again.

After a few more hours, Mandy began to stir. She was the one who had to wake up earliest for that curly hair of hers.

"Hi Y/N," she yawned. "You're up early."

"Mhm." I closed my notebook and placed it in my bag. "I'll wait for you in the Great Hall."

She nodded absently as she changed the colour of her hair from brown to blonde then back to brown using a magic hair cream from her mom."Alright."

I slung my bag over my shoulder and left, but not for the Great Hall.

I got to the hospital wing and slowly opened the door and poked my head inside. I spotted Harry asleep with Ron, Hermione, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley seated around him.

"Everything alright?" I asked quietly. "Where's... Snuffles?"

"He went with Dumbledore," Hermione replied. "How was your sleep?"

"Spiffy." I put my hand in my bag and pulled out the notebook containing everything I had found to prove Sirius innocent. "Here. It's for Harry."

Ron looked over Hermione's shoulder as she flipped through the notebook, her eyes getting wider and wider at every page. "Y/N, this... Oh, you've got newspaper clippings as well! This is amazing."

I nodded. At the very least, I'd like that to come in at the right time. Before anything awful were to happen that could have been prevented by that.

And I thought I owed it to Harry. He brought Cedric's body back.

I left the hospital wing without another word and went off to the Room of Requirement to return all the books and newspapers I had.

An apparently blank wall began morphing into a large door and I entered to find the large library that had been introduced to me by Helena Ravenclaw.

However, I didn't find Helena in there. Rather, I found my dad, seated on one of the velvet chairs around the fireplace, his fingers rubbing his eyes.

"Dad?"

He flinched and turned to the door. "Y/N... You're up early."

"Mhm." I sat down on the chair across from him. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" He moved his hand from his face and placed both on the arms of his chair. "Investigate."

I looked him up and down.

Puffy eyes, trembling hands, tired eyes...

My brow raised. "Grief?"

"Yes... Over what?"

It couldn't be Cedric. My dad likely wouldn't tremble from it, because my father does not tremble. Not until now, anyway.

"I said investigate, not stare," my dad said, not moving from his position.

With that, I slowly stood and walked towards him, lifting his hand. There was nothing under his hand, but on his hand, his skin was ice cold.

All these negative emotions, the cold, it was adding up to something I didn't like.

"Dementor?"

"Dementor." My dad slammed his hand down on the arm of his chair again. "That bloody fool sent a Dementor to Hogwarts to kill..." His voice broke and his fingers pressed into his eyes again.