Family Ties

As Ginny had predicted, the match against Hufflepuff was painful to watch. Ron's nerves were so bad he missed easy saves - either that or he was a really awful Keeper. One of the Gryffindor Beaters even managed to hit Angelina in the mouth with his bat. At least the match only lasted twenty minutes; twenty long, painful minutes that passed like hours. Ginny was brilliant, she caught the Snitch from under the nose of the Hufflepuff Seeker, and so Gryffindor suffered only a narrow loss.

The atmosphere in the Common Room was so bad that Dean decided to pay another visit to the Room of Requirement, to see if he could see some memories that might cheer him up. Ginny caught him before he could get to the portrait hole. There was a bite of bitterness in her voice. "Still think you wouldn't have missed the match for the world?"

Dean smiled falteringly. "Why not? You were great."

Ginny's frown lessened slightly. "We were awful. The team is useless without Fred, George and Harry." She looked at Ron who was huddled in a corner in his muddy robes, clutching a Butterbeer. Ginny sighed hugely. "We've got Beaters who hit team mates instead of the Bludgers, a Keeper who's apparently blind and a Seeker who can only catch the Snitch first when the other Seeker sneezes. The damn thing wasn't even that fast."

Dean didn't know what to say, so he just stood there, feeling terribly aware of his awkward posture. As the silence stretched past a minute he scrambled frantically for something to say. "It's not that bad, Ginny, it was only your first game as a team."

Ginny snorted. "Yeah, let's just see how the next one goes shall we?"

Dean patted her awkwardly on the shoulder and climbed out the portrait hole.

He entered the cosy room, and this time went straight to the section of wall that Ginny had speared with the crossbow bolt. He grabbed the bolt and pulled to get the hidden door to open.

The misty glass was slightly dusty, so Dean wiped it with a tissue, noticing how the swirls in the mist followed the path of his hand. He stood back and wondered what he wanted to see. He decided in seconds. How he met my Mum.

The smoke in the mirror converged in the centre for a moment, then dispersed to show a busy street in London. Dean started to receive the feelings of the memory - Gary had been tense. Makes sense, I'm sure this was after Webster started killing.

Gary was in a park area. The picture moved as he looked behind him, when he looked back he walked straight into a woman, who dropped her bags. "Oh I'm so sorry." he said to her, and bent down to pick up the bags.

The woman looked stressed and cold, Dean noticed the frost glittering on the ground around them. His mother looked so young, bundled up in a long white coat that glimmered with the frost, it had a fake fur collar and she was wearing a baby blue woollen scarf. The white coat set off her chocolate skin and made her look very beautiful. Dean felt a rush of attraction and was very unnerved by it, after all, he was looking at his mother!

She took the bags back out of his hands. "Thank you."

Dean felt a quick touch of fear and apprehension, and wondered why before he heard Gary's voice say, "Would you like to get a coffee?"

Allison stared at him a moment, then smiled. The smile lit up her whole face, and her eyes sparkled. Dean felt as if his blood had been warmed several degrees. "All right then."

Dean watched as they had coffee in a nearby shop, talking and laughing for a long time. They liked the same kinds of books and films, they also both loved to walk and ice skate. Gary asked her to go ice skating with him the next night and she agreed. She gave him her number and kissed him on the cheek before she left. Dean suddenly realised he hadn't felt tension in Gary since he had first met Allison.

Dean sat down in the armchair. The memories were intense. He felt everything Gary felt, which made memories that involved his mother awkward. I am definitely not going to ask how I was conceived!

Instead, he apprehensively asked to see the night he was born. Thankfully, he did not see the finer details - just felt the love spread into the very tips of his fingers as a tiny baby was placed in the arms of his mother, who looked exhausted but happier than he had ever seen her. Gary kissed her on the forehead and held out a finger to the baby. That's me... at two minutes old... The baby grasped the finger and Dean felt a surge of fierce, protective love that almost rocked him off his feet.

Dean left the Room very happy. He knew now that Gary would never have left him, and his mum, without a very good reason. Of course, he had known that already, but to feel what he had felt was very different.