A Good Time For Change

Chapter 7

Family Tree, Oh My, Oh Me

In the Hogwarts Library...The Day Before the Start of Term Feast...

"This doesn't make sense," Kelli muttered, staring at the family tree in the book.

"What doesn't?" Harry asked, sitting down next to her.

"Nothing," Kelli said, trying to cover the book.

"Let me see, Cousin." Harry grabbed the book. However, Kelli had enchanted it to be Mermish as soon as he'd touched it. He glared at her. "That wasn't nice."

"I know. But I don't want you to see it." Kelli stared at her wand, which she held in her long, white fingers. She twiddled with it, twirling it like a cheerleading baton. The girl gave a sigh, and said, "I've been researching our family tree, and since I found out about... you know."

Harry sounded interested. "Well, what's so bad you didn't want me to hear?"

"Well..." Kelli was still hesitant. Harry may've been a brave guy, but she wasn't sure he could handle the news. "It's going to be a real shocker. I'm not sure if you could handle it." She wouldn't look at Harry. However, he grabbed her from under the chin, and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Does this look like the face of someone who can't take some news about my lineage? Come on, spill, Kelli!" He released her chin.

Kelli mumbled something that sounded like, "Wergotcuzmer."

"Try again in English, girlie."

"I said we've got another cousin. And an aunt."

"Well, that is a surprise. Who's the aunt?" Kelli bit her lip, and nervously drummed her fingers on the table.

"I really don't know if you can handle this..."

"Tell me!"

"Okay, okay, keep your panties on, for all our sakes!" Kelli glanced pointedly at Madame Pince, who was re-shelving about fifty books that Hermione and Kelli had checked out. "Our dads had an adopted little sister...she was a Ravenclaw..."

"And?" Harry was starting to lose his temper. "Go on!"

"Everybody called her Cissie."

"But her name was...?"

"Is. Her name is. Narcissa."

"Narcissa..." Harry repeated the name, and then it struck him like a blow to the stomach. "Hold up. Narcissa, as in, Narcissa Malfoy?"

"How many Narcissa's do you know?" Kelli asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So...that means...DRACO, BLOODY, MALFOY IS MY COUSIN!" Harry shouted. Kelli smacked a hand over his mouth, and dragged him out of the library.

Kelli dragged him into a broom closet, and released him. "Bloody git! What do you think you're doing, shouting like that? Do you want everybody to know?" Harry shook his head. "Then shut up and listen for a moment. I figured out why you were sent to live with the Dursley's, who're Muggles, instead of the Malfoy's, who're wizards."

Harry nodded, urging her on. "Well, don't you think you would've been a little big-headed if you'd known about...well...you, since before you could walk and talk?" He nodded, slowly. It embarrassed him to find it was true. "Do you still think you'd be on the light side if you were living with the Malfoy's?" The boy shook his head, emphatically. "Do you think you'd even be alive living with the Malfoy's?" He shook his head again, black hair flapping about. "Do you see my point, now?"

Harry nodded. "I still can't believe we're related to Malfoy."

"Well, at least the part we're related to wasn't a Slytherin. Besides, Narcissa was adopted. We're not blood, or anything..."

"I have to agree with you there."

"You'd better," Kelli said with a smile. "Look, Harry," she said, getting serious, "there's something I've got to tell you."

However, at that moment, Shawn picked to look in the closet. "What're you guys doing in here?" she asked. "Are you clandestine, cousin lovers or something?" She was answered by a whack on the back of the head. "Hey! I was just joshing you!"

Kelli grumbled as she climbed out of the cramped closet, followed by Harry. "We were trying to make sure you wouldn't listen in on our conversation, you little punk," she said, pleasantly, ruffling the girl's raven locks. "Can't you tell when you're not wanted?" she asked, cheerfully, hugging the tiny witch, and then proceeding to give her a noogie.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Shawn said, pushing away while rolling her eyes. She unsuccessfully tried to smooth her waist-length hair. "ARGH!" she shouted. "This stuff is such a pain!"

"Why don't you just chop it off?" Harry asked, puzzled.

Kelli rolled her eyes. "You're talking to a hair egomaniac, here, Harry. She complains all she wants, but she wouldn't know what to do without your lovely locks." With a happy sigh, she twirled the raven strands about her snow-white fingers. "How 'bout I French braid it so it's out of your way?"

Shawn beamed. "That'd be great! Meet you at the Tower in half an hour?" Kelli nodded. "TTFN, ta-ta for now!" With a final giggle, she dashed off down the corridor.

Kelli sighed, leaned against the wall, and then slid to the floor. Harry joined her, momentarily. "I don't know what I'll ever do with her. I'm dreadfully worried she won't be in Gryffindor. I mean, it wouldn't be so bad if she were in Ravenclaw, or even Hufflepuff, if it came to that, but what if she ended up in Slytherin? They'd torture her to death! Bloody hell, they'd probably even blackmail her into telling them where the common room is!"

"Kelli," Harry said, grabbing her firmly by the shoulders, "look at me!" She did, rather sullenly. "Shawn-won't-be-a-Slyth-er-in. Un-der-stand?" His cousin raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought Tarzan-speak would be the easiest way to reach you in your obvious state of distress. However, I must've been mistaken. Don't worry about Shawn. She definitely doesn't seem like the Slytherin type, alright?"

Kelli mumbled something incoherently.

"What?"

"Yeah, well, does Anthony Thwait seem like the Gryffindor type?" Harry cringed. Anthony Thwait was a Gryffindor Prefect--now Head Boy--with an extremely snobby attitude and a hooked nose that rivaled Professor Snape's. Thwait was mean, cruel, and definitely a power-hungry, out-of-control individual. Kelli'd heard all about him from Hermione, and even she thought he was a power-hungry git.

"No," Harry admitted. "But he's a rare case." Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. He looked about ready to say something, but Kelli cut him off.

Kelli raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Really? Are you sure pompous airheads are that rare of a type in Gryffindor?" Not bothering to let him answer, she continued, "Of course not! I mean no disrespect to the Weasley's and Percy in particular, but...he was an extremely pompous Head Boy, if I may say so myself. Gred and Feorge definitely had a write to make his pin say Bighead Boy!"

Harry suppressed a snort, remembering the incident. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kelli was already halfway down the corridor.

"Sorry, Harry!" she shouted back at the confused boy. "I forgot I was going to braid Shawn's hair! I'd better get there lickety-split!" Kelli bit down hard on her lip as she tore off down the hallway.

"Wait!" Harry called. "Wasn't there something important you needed to tell me?" However, Harry was shouting at thin air, because Kelli had very effectively vanished into thin air. "I hate it when she does that," he muttered with a sigh.

In an Undisclosed Location in Northern Scotland...

Kelli dashed into the dark room. A woman with raven-black tresses, cruel black eyes, and lips and nails of blood red was seated on a plush, velvet-covered chair. The woman allowed a cold, cruel smile to sneak upon her face. "You're late," the woman said.

"I came as fast as I could," Kelli said. She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. Kelli looked furious.

"Don't give me that look," the woman barked. "You're not working fast enough," she said, calming down. "We need them. It's imperative to--"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. 'It's imperative to the bloody plan.' I comprehend. I'm not as bloody stupid as I look." Kelli's eyes became twin daggers, piercing wholes through the woman. That look would've scared anyone--but her.

A cold, mirthless laugh escaped the blood-red lips. "My, but aren't we the fiery one?" The woman traced a line down the side of Kelli's cheek with her fingernail. Kelli flinched, and the woman chuckled, icily. "You know what to do. Just hurry it up a little. Or there will be consequences." Rubbing her large broach, she waved a hand, gesturing that the girl could go.

"What sort of consequences?" Kelli snapped. "Will you set your poodle on me?" The women's wand was out in a second.

"Crucio," she whispered, and Kelli's body was filled with agony. Kelli screamed, pitifully, spider-sparks seeming to writhe within her. Death would've been an angel of mercy. No pain could ever compare to it. After nearly two minutes, the woman whispered, "Finite Incantatem."

Kelli fell gasping to the floor. On all fours, she glared up at the woman with malice, sucking in giant gulps of air. "Go, child," she said. "Before I truly become angry with you." Clenching her teeth, the young witch nodded. She spun around, letting her cloak swish, and it was the last thing to vanish.

In the Gryffindor Common Room...

"I'm here!" Kelli said, trying to sound cheerful as she appeared out of thin air in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Good Lord in Heaven, what happened?" Matt asked, rushing to her side.

"Wha--? Nothing! I'm fine! Where's Shawn? I--I need to braid her hair. I promised." Kelli's eyes darted back and forth, like an animal in a trap.

"Kelli, calm down, you're going to give yourself a heart attack," Gwen said, standing up and going to Kelli's other side. The twins helped her onto the couch. "Now, the truth. We could always torture it out of you, but we prefer to be humane." She flashed a sarcastic smile.

"I--I'm just a little dizzy is all. Could I have a glass of water?" Kelli asked. She was shaking from head to toe.

"Not until you tell us what happened," Matt said firmly.

Kelli scowled, and summoned herself a glass of water. She sipped it silently, and when she finished, she stood, steady, no longer shaking. "I'm fine. I just got dizzy for a moment. Where's Shawn?" The twins didn't say anything. "Fine. Be that way." Then, she stomped her way up to the girls' dormitory.

"There's something definitely wrong going on here," Gwen said, turning to her twin.

"I agree," Matt said. "However, I don't think we're going to find out what it is any time soon. We'll just keep an eye on her."

"Agreed."

McGonagall's Office...

"Professor?" came a small, timid voice from the door. Looking up from a large stack of parchment, Professor McGonagall smiled, involuntarily. A small witch was standing at the door.

"Come in, Miss Potter," she said with a warm smile. "Take a seat." Shawn sat. "What's on your mind?"

Shawn bit down hard on her lip. "I--I--I think Kelli's a Death Eater."

Professor McGonagall's inkbottle fell to the floor and crashed into a million pieces, ink flying everywhere like an explosion. Her glasses slipped to the end of her nose. The look on her face was pure astonishment and amazement.

"Excuse me, Miss Potter? I think I heard you wrong. What did you say?"

More confidently this time, Shawn said, "I think Kelli's a Death Eater."

Minerva pushed her spectacles up to the top of her nose. "That's a very serious accusation." Shawn nodded. "What made you come to that conclusion?"

"She's been sneaking around. Disappearing for hours, and then coming back shaken. I think she's a Death Eater." Shawn gave a confident nod. "I'm dead sure of it. I mean, she doesn't have a Dark Mark on her arm or anything, but...I'm fairly sure she's still a Death Eater."

"Miss Potter, have you voluntarily taken leave of your senses?"

Shawn was shocked.

"Did you really believe your sister was a Death Eater?"

"But, Professor, I--"

"Oh, don't 'but, Professor' me." McGonagall's mouth was forming a thin, tight line. She looked as if she'd been sucking on a lemon. "If you're sister's a Death Eater, then I'm the President of the United States."

"Uh, hail to the chief?"

"Not humorous, Shawn."

"Didn't think so, Professor."

"Yes, you did."

"Didn't."

"Did."

"Didn't."

"Did."

"Did."

"Didn't."

"I told you, Professor."

McGonagall was fuming. "I won't be spoken to in this manner. Fifty points from Gryffindor."

"I'm not in Gryffindor, Professor."

"Hufflepuff."

"Nope."

"Ravenclaw?"

"Uh-uh."

"Slytherin?"

"Nada, zip, zilch, zero, BIIIG goose-egg."

"Well, then if you haven't even been sorted yet, you're not allowed to annoy me."

"That's hardly fair, Professor. But okay. See you, tomorrow."

Shawn stood up and walked to the door. "You're leaving?"

Shawn turned and looked at the professor, her eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline. "Yes, Professor. That's generally what one does when one's not allowed to annoy someone who they deeply love to annoy. That's why I'm going to wait 'til tomorrow. That way, you can take points off of whatever lucky house I get sorted into. Ta-ta, Professor." And she was gone.

"Nuts." McGonagall shook her head. "Absolutely nuts. The whole lot of them. I don't know how I'm going to stay out of Mungo's after this term." Rubbing her temples, she went back to her paperwork.

In the Slytherin Common Room

"That's it," Kelli said, slowly motioning forward with her hands, "just a little more, a little more, stop!" Her palms flew open. Ron, Harry, and Matt slid to the floor, panting hard. "It's fabulous! They'll never know what hit 'em!"

"Now that we helped you move this tremendously heavy couch," Harry said, flipping his sweaty hair out of his forehead, "are you going to tell us what exactly we're moving this Slytherin couch for?"

Kelli looked annoyed. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet? It's not that complicated."

Ron's eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. "Oh, really? Then explain to us why we can't figure it out."

"I'd think that would be obvious..." Kelli muttered.

"Oh, pass the walnuts," Harry said. Everyone looked at him. "Erm...never mind, long story." He smiled.

[A/N: That was a shameless plug for the fic: Harry Potter and the Time Potion. It's by Lily Granger, and is conveniently located at Schnoogle. Check it out! It's fab-u-lous! Anyway, back to the story.]

"Do you really want to know?" The boys nodded. "Now, are you sure?" They nodded again. "Is that your final answer?"

"That's it!" Ron shouted. He stood up and advanced upon Kelli. She raised an eyebrow. He grabbed her behind the knees of her jeans, and flipped her over. Ron slung her over his back, so that her knees were bent at his shoulder, the bottoms of her legs falling onto his chest, and the rest of her flopping daintily--if that's even at all possible, which it seemed to bee--onto his back, staring at the other two boys. "Now where'd she go?" he asked.

Harry and Matt barely suppressed snorts as Kelli shot them 'The Death Glare,' which was a lovely, little present from Hermione. "Shut up, guys," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm not in the mood." Her hair swung wildly as Ron began to tramp around the Slytherin common room.

"Where the hell did she go?" Ron asked. Kelli rolled her eyes. Ron turned to Harry, almost knocking Kelli into a large, green, stone-like armchair. "Did you see where she went, Harry?"

"You'd better put her down, Ron," Matt said, quietly. Ron looked at him. His expression was bemused.

"And why's that, Matt?" He scratched his red-haired head. Kelli was dangling, held only by one of his arms.

"Because, her face is turning red." Matt paused. "However, I'm not sure if it's from anger, or from all of the blood rushing to her brain. In either case, I suggest you put her down if you ever want to get out of these damn dungeons alive."

However, Ron didn't have a chance to set Kelli down, because she'd pulled out her wand. "You have two seconds," she said. The startled Ron was caught off-guard, and he had no idea what to do.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Kelli shouted, and was soon levitating in the air, out of Ron's reach. She smiled down at the three boys. Her face was returning to its usual shade of snow white. "That was interesting. I didn't think this spell worked on people. Oh, well." Crossing her legs, Indian-style, she settled in midair. "Do you want to know or not?"

"Of course!" Matt said. He was smiling. Only Kelli...

"Cool. However, I've decided not to tell you." The boys groaned. "Yet. Meet at the Quidditch pitch in twenty minutes, I've got something to show you!" Then, she flew out of the room.

"Well, we'd best get going," Ron started with a sigh.

"I'll go change into my Quidditch robes and grab my Firebolt," Harry said, before dashing off.

The Quidditch Pitch...Twenty Minutes Later...

"Well, where the hell is she?" Matt asked, scanning the pitch from the stands.

"I don't know, but here comes the rest of the girls." Harry was pointing towards the opposite side of the stands. Ginny, Gwen, and Hermione were chatting quietly as they walked towards the locker room. "I guess she told them to come, too."

"Guess so," Ron muttered. "Do you guys know what this is about?" he shouted towards the girls.

Gwen cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted back. "Nope! Just sit back and relax! Kelli said it'd take a minute!" Then, the girls settled into their seats in the Ravenclaw section.

As if on cue, Kelli walked onto the Pitch, holding a bunch of brooms under one arm, and one in her right hand. There was something attached to it. Using a magnifying charm, she made her voice sound out around the pitch. "Since there isn't any surf here in Scotland," Ron snorted, "I've come up with my own method."

Kelli snapped her shoes into a harness on the broom, picked up the others, and then lifted off. It was like surfing, but better. "I made some extra harnesses, and altered the brooms to make them a bit faster, and added an aerodynamic charm," she said, wind whistling past her ears, while she did a loop-de-loop. "If you guys want to try!" She soared around the pitch at nearly the speed of sound, and stopped quickly by the girls' seats. After tossing them each a broom, she zoomed to the boys.

"Care to give it a go?" she asked. Eyebrows raised ever so slightly, she tossed each of them a broom. "It's even better then normal flying. This way, you don't get slivers stuck up your arse! Come to think of it, it's even better than surfing! And that's saying a lot, coming from somebody who's spent every summer since she was five surfing on the coast of California!" Then, she was off.

Harry looked at Ron, Ron looked at Matt, and Matt looked at Harry. "Think it's safe?" Matt asked.

They looked at Kelli, who was showing the girls how to do loop-de-loops. They were laughing it up and having a great time. It did a heart good just to hear someone laughing these days. "Probably not," Harry said, "but it looks like a hell of a lot of fun!" Snapping himself into the harness, he zoomed over the edge of the stands, and joined the others in no time flat.

"Well, it's like they always say..."

"What's that?"

"You can sink or swim, but with a bloody broomstick the only thing you can do is fall several hundred feet out of the air. Have fun!" and Matt was gone.

After taking a deep breath, Ron hooked on his harness. Just as he was about to take off, a certain, ginger-haired cat decided it was the perfect moment to use his leg as a scratching pole.

"YOUCH!"