Week 4: 1391/1000
Something inside her mind urged her to run to Jenny and shake her awake, although another part of her had already registered the unspeakable truth. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. People didn’t just fall down and ... die.
Her second thought was the telephone. She needed to call an ambulance. What if it was all a mistake and they could still save Jenny? She was no doctor, so how could she know if…
The police! She had to call the police.
Her fingers were trembling as she dialled the number; her hands were shaking, and the phone slipped from her grasp, falling to the floor with a loud bang. The display went dark.
No, no, no, no! She picked it up and shook it. She took out the batteries and put them back in. She swore at it. She pleaded with it.
Nothing happened.
Of course they had a landline phone as well; in fact it was only a few meters away from her. She could easily reach it. All she had to do was…
… step over Jenny.
She made one careful step and felt her legs give way beneath her. That thing on the floor couldn’t be Jenny. Not with that mask-like face. Not with those eyes.
What if Jenny was a zombie like the ones in the paper? What if she jumped up any moment and tried to grab her?
Shut up, Bridget! Shut the hell up! How dare you think such mean and nasty thoughts about your Jenny? Your best friend is dead. She’s dead! Gone forever.
Her eyes were staring at the dead girl; she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t reach for the phone. Something horrible had happened here, something beyond words and reason and sense, something that human logic could find no explanation for. She didn’t understand how, but suddenly she realized that not even the police would be able to do anything. They would be as helpless as she was.
Jenny did not move; she did not jump up and didn’t make a sound. But something else did. It ripped through the silence, scaring the living daylights out of her, and this time she did scream, although it wasn’t much more than a yelp. The vice-like fear had come back with full force, and it had taken her breath away.
Why she had to go, I don’t know, she wouldn’t say…
It was her mobile ringing.
I said something wrong, now I long for…
Oh my God!
… yesterday…
“Bridget? Bridget, are you there? Come on, talk to me, honey-bunny. I just want to know if you got home safely. Is everything all right?”
“No, it’s not all right, it’s not!” Sobbing, she sank to the floor, her hand clutching the phone like a drowning man would cling to a life-buoy. When tears broke from her eyes, hot and wet like blood, she finally felt words break from her mouth, crushing the trance that held her in its grasp. “Jenny … an accident … it’s horrible … I’m so scared. I’m so scared!”
“What happened? Bridget, for Merlin’s sake, tell me. What’s going on? Tell me!”
“I don’t know,” she sobbed. “I really don’t. Jenny - she’s on the floor. They killed her. Her eyes, her eyes … like she has seen a ghost.”
His next words were beyond all comprehension; something she had never heard before, something that didn’t even sound like words. She could not associate any meaning with them; they were nothing more than an inscrutable horror, a haunting, a child’s nightmare. As if they named and summoned something from outside the boundaries of reality.
“Avada Kedavra....”
“What … what are you talking about?”
“Bridget, you need to listen to me now. That accident that happened to your friend wasn’t an accident at all, and you’re in great danger. I know it sounds strange, but you need to trust me on this and do as I say. You can’t stay there. Come to Kensington Gardens, and we’ll meet up by the statue of Peter Pan. I’ll explain everything then. You need to hurry!”
“I’ll come.” Still shaking, Bridget pulled herself up from the floor.
“I love you, honey-bunny. Everything will be all right, I promise.”
“I love you, too, Marcus,” she whispered as his voice faded. She lowered her eyes, staring at the dark silent phone display.
Before she could do anything else, a hand was placed on her mouth from behind.
* * *
Amicus Draconis - 1st Cycle: Cycle of the Badger - Part 5: Owl SMS
“I wonder, I wonder, do you know what I wonder?”
“You wonder how the game works, right? It’s real easy; all you have to do is copy the movements. Ready?”
“Actually, I was wondering if the weather…”
“Here it goes.”
“But…”
“Up! Down! Up! Down! Choo! Choo! Choo! Up! Down! Up! Down! Choo! Choo! Choo!”
“What?”
“Right! Hey! Left! Hey! Choo! Choo! Choo! Come on, hurry up already. You’ll never get any points until you copy the movements, and you’ll never get a boyfriend either.”
“This game is stupid.”
“You need the right-right-right clothes. Or you’ll be left-left-left out! You need fancy make-up-up-up! Always bow down-down-down to your superior! And never smo-choo-choo-choo any Muggles! Or you’ll be hey-hey-hey-hated.”
“You don’t know who’re talking too, scum! I’m Captain Headgirl Know-it-all, mighty and invincible. I’m way-hey-hey-hey better than you are, and I’m way-hey-hey-hey too smart for these games. And I don’t need a boyfriend either.”
“But everyone needs a boyfriend. This is a fanfiction. Everyone needs boyfriends in a fanfiction.”
“Well, I don’t. I happen to have a wonderful girlfriend. And you better shut up-up-up before the mods start complaining about all your netspeak and your one word sentences.”
“Spoilsport. I H8 U4 this.”
“H8 U2 ” *sticks tongue out.”
“O RLY?”
“YA RLY!”
“OMG STHU b4 we get b& plz.”
Amicus Draconis - 1. Zyklus: Zyklus des Dachses - Teil 5: Eulen SMS
* * *
Author’s Note: Sorry about that mean cliff-hanger :-(
I was always very curious about the relationship between Hermione and her fellow Gryffindor ladies. From the little we get to see through Harry’s eyes, it’s obvious that Lavender and Parvati have trouble getting along with Hermione. In GoF when Harry asks Lavender if she can think of a Yule Ball partner for Ron, she wonders: “What about Hermione Granger?” The way she speaks about Hermione, mentioning her last name shows that even after four years in the same dormitory, the girls still aren’t especially close. Lavender and Parvati are best friends, and Hermione is the one left out.
I wanted to explore that conflict a bit further and look at it from different sides. Fanfiction is often quick to point a finger at Lavender and Parvati, holding them responsible for everything. It’s true; the two seem flippant and superficial, while Hermione is more earnest and doesn’t waste so much time on trivial things. But she can also be stubborn, bossy and arrogant, so the situation is a bit more complicated than simply choosing a culprit and bashing them. As a fanfiction author I feel that I should treat such conflicts with care. That’s why I hope the quick POV changes between Hermione and Lavender during the corridor scene make sense to you. It’s not my intention to bash the characters; I’m only trying to express the way they think and feel about each other.
I already explained to you about the Two Unidentified Gryffindor Girls Theory before this chapter. The theory might be a bit outdated, because we never hear about those girls in books five and six. Anyhow, I liked it very much when I read about it, so I decided to follow it and include two more female Gryffindors in Harry’s year. Eloise Midgeon (also spelled Midgen) is mentioned in the books once or twice, and the name Moon is called at the Sorting ceremony in PS, hence Tara Moon. The two characters are another best-friends pair like Lavender and Parvati, and they will play a small part in future chapters.
Talking about future chapters; in the B-part of episode five we’ll find out who the mysterious Death Eater is and why he wants to kill Bridget. In the Post Fic Author’s Note I’ll talk about the crest rings, another mystery that’s not solved yet.