It's Hard to be Perky when You're a Malfoy

Aftermath

Anya turned around and was sick in the corner and Laura went to see if she was okay. I found myself taking a step forward to get a clearer view of Moody. He had obviously put up a huge fight. The side of his head which had previously held his magical eye was so battered it looked like his skull had collapsed. There was blood everywhere. Behind me Lione fainted heavily and that's when everyone arrived. I turned to check on Lione and was quickly joined by McGonagall. It wasn't like in the movies where a person collapses gently and wakes up a short while later going 'Where am I?'. Lione opened her eyes almost immediately and for a millisecond gave McGonagall and I a bemused look before it was replaced with a look of horror and her hands flew to her mouth. McGonagall helped her into a sitting position as she (Lione) rubbed her elbow which she had bruised when she hit the ground. I had a proper look around at who had joined us. Dumbledore, Delacour and Snape were around the body while Frank tried to hurry away any arriving students. I couldn't help wondering how quickly McGonagall could act, to take in the whole situation and come to the aid of one of her students in what could only have been a matter of seconds. I also couldn't help thinking about how we - Laura, Anya, Lione and I - were acting. Lione appeared ashamed of herself for fainting but I didn't see why she should. To me it seemed just as normal a reaction as Anya's and she was crouched in the corner shaking with Laura's arm around her. Laura always stayed cool as a cucumber and had probably taken her mind off it as best as possible by seeing to Anya but I didn't seem to be doing anything. What was wrong with me? I looked at my hands; they were covered in blood. I felt my eyes widen as I wondered how that had got there. I looked up at the mangled body, turned, put my hands against the wall and threw up violently.

***

"I can't believe this happened!" Gregory cried.

He might as well have added 'on my watch'. He seemed to be taking it so personally that was almost implied. Perhaps it was because of the four of us he was the only one who seemed to like Mad Eye Moody and the only one Moody had appeared to like during the short interview we had been given.

Gregory, Joseph, Lione and I were alone in the Gryffindor Common room. We had stuck around after everyone had gone to bed muttering to each other. Lione was curled up on the armchair with her knees tucked under her chin and her arms around her legs, Gregory was pacing up and down, Joseph was lying back on the sofa and I was perched on the arm rest.

"How can he be dead? Who would want to kill him? That's a stupid question. He was an ex-auror; a good one. Who wouldn't want to kill him? But no one knew he was here! No one but... us..."

He trailed off and turned to look at Joseph. I followed his gaze. Lione glanced up at Gregory then flicked her confused expression between Asher and Starsy. Joseph finally noticed he was the attention of such focus and looked annoyed.

"Oh great, everyone looks at me. Nice to know you all think me capable of murder."

Lione shot Gregory a dirty look then stared back down at her knees again.

"Sorry," Asher mumbled.

"Anyway," said Starsy, that weird expression coming over his face whenever the connections in his brain are coming together. "We weren't the only ones to know he was here."

"Yes we were," I corrected him, frowning. "I didn't tell anyone he was here. Did you? Did any of us?"

"But you did," his voice rose accusingly. "For months now every time we've gone for a midnight stroll and you've bumped into someone in an invisibility cloak you've called out 'Hello Mad Eye Moody!'"

"But that was him-"

"How do you know? He's not the only one with an invisibility cloak. We've got some. Frank's got one."

"Are you saying Frank-"

"No I'm not saying Frank. Frank probably already knew Moody was here and as much as I don't trust him I don't think he had any reason to kill Moody. I'm suggesting that someone didn't know Moody was here until they bumped into us. I'm suggesting Moody is dead because of us."

You have no idea how grateful I was that he said 'us' instead of 'you'.

Lione suddenly looked up and stared at us all defiantly. "We need to get Anya a new pet."

***

"Are you sure?" Robert asked. "I mean... after everything that's happened?"

"It'll help her move on. Make her feel better. And I'm not talking today. But we should definitely start thinking about it."

"Someone's died," Samuel hissed.

"Yes, Cat."

Samuel looked at Gregory pleadingly.

"Don't look at me," Gregory replied. "I think she's completely mental."

We were at Breakfast the next day chatting with the other Gryffindor third years - minus Anya of course.

Laura looked thoughtful. "It shouldn't be a mouse. That would remind her too much of Cat."

"But perhaps something along the mouse line," Lione continued. "Since we know she likes that sort of animal."

"Plus it needs to be small so she can keep it in the orphanage."

"And maybe something wild. Obviously not a wild animal but something you might find in the wild and tame. To fit with the orphan 'uniform'. Anya's very keen on that - not sure why."

"Well a dog would be good for that."

"But she can't take a dog home."

"Or keep one here for that matter."

"Good point. She needs something she can bring back to Hogwarts every year."

Both of them looked at the rest of us. I realised my mouth was open. The two of them had been bouncing ideas off each other as if they could read each others minds.

"Er..." Robert looked uncertain. "How about a Guinea Pig?"

"How's she supposed to tame a Guinea Pig?" Joseph pointed out. "How about a rat?"

"A rat's a bit similar to a mouse, don't you think?" I said. "If you're trying to take her mind off Cat I don't think a rat would do."

Gregory was looking around at us as we were mad.

"Er... a rabbit?" he suggested.

"Too demanding."

"Since when were rabbits demanding?" Samuel burst out, almost hysterically.

"A hamster," I stated definitely.

"They only live two years," said Joseph. "We don't want to have to go through this all over again in just two more years."

"Well that rules out Gerbils as well then."

"How about Chinchillas? They're cute."

"They're nocturnal."

"You guys are mad," said Samuel. "Completely off your heads. How can you be having this conversation? How can you after... after everything."

Lione paused. "I'm thinking Hedgehog."

"Oh for crying out loud!"

"Samuel," said Lione sensibly. "Name one thing we can do about what happened. We're not junior investigators, we're not Scooby-Doo and gang and no matter what Gregory thinks we're not Harry Potter and co. We can sort out Anya."

"You can't sort out Anya! I mean she comes back from the- the funeral of her.... Mouse only to find a dead body in the middle of the corridor! She's likely to be traumatised."

"Why weren't we invited to the funeral?" Gregory asked.

"You weren't around," Lione told him dismissively.

"It took you all day to organise it. We must have been around at some point."

"You didn't even know Cat," I pointed out.

"She was a mouse. What's there to know?"

"Exactly."

"What?"

"You guys have this weird skill of being able to take your minds off anything by just being silly, don't you?" Samuel interrupted.

"I like it," Robert put in.

I found myself smiling with pride.

Samuel sat back, shaking his head. "Mental," he muttered to himself. "And what's so demanding about a rabbit anyway?" he burst out again. "I have a rabbit. They're cute and floppy and chew wires and give your homework a nice wavy border." Everyone looked at him. "What? Now everyone's acting as if I'm the mad one." Everyone looked at each other. "What?"

"Hi Lucy."

"WHAT?"

Robin, who had come over to say hello (as is obvious from the fact that I noted he said hi, really...) backed away from the table in shock.

"Don't mind him," Gregory said to him. "He's just having a mental breakdown."

"I'm-"

Gregory very quickly slapped his hand over Samuel's mouth and smiled encouragingly at Robin.

"Er..." said Robin. "What are you guys talking about?"

My classmates all suddenly looked as though they were incredibly interested in the table, ceiling or windows.

"Our friend Anya," I explained. "Her mouse died and we're trying to think of another pet for her. We don't want to get her another mouse but we're thinking of a rodent type thing that's interested and won't die in only a couple of years' time."

"How about a squirrel?" he suggested.

Everyone suddenly discovered that he was more interesting than the furniture.

"A squirrel?" I checked.

"Yes, my uncle breeds them. Red squirrels. Magical red squirrels of course. They're ever so obedient - in the right hands of course. They can do all sorts of tricks and they're incredibly intelligent and friendly. A few of his squirrels are in the Charlie and the Chocolate factory musical."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah, he often exports them to the mainland. I'll have a word with him, shall I?"

My face lit up. "That would be brilliant, perfect."

"Great," he said. He looked around nervously at my friends who were all grinning at him with the utmost delight on their faces. "Er... I'll... go write to him shall I?"

"Thank you so much," I interjected.

He flashed me a stunning smile. "No problem," he said, and left.

The others, including Samuel, grinned at me.

"Isn't he nice," I couldn't help spurting out.

"Very nice," Lione and Laura chorused

Gregory looked thoughtful. "I approve. Feel free to marry him."

"You approve!" Lione and I chorused.

"Marry him?" I spluttered.

"She doesn't need your approval," Lione pointed out.

"She's not marrying him," Joseph stated. "She's fourteen."

"Gees," said Gregory. "No one can take a joke around here."

***

It was hard to believe that life went on after everything that happened but it did. It couldn't be said that everything went back to normal because that wasn't possible. Mr Creevey was trying to get the bloodstain off the floor, teachers were prowling everywhere and Joseph started having nightmares again. Gregory told us he woke up every morning screaming. Joseph always has odd dreams when he gets stressed and usually told us about them the next day. The oddest one was when he was riding a giraffe through Africa and they bumped into an elephant. Joseph cried out,

"Mad Eye Moody!"

But Browen, who was standing by holding a baby, said, "That's not Moody, that's the Ace of Elephants."

Then the baby looked up at him and called, "Rummy!"

The creepiest one was where he saw a shelf of bottles. There were all sorts, a really tiny one and a huge one with Moody's eye floating in it. Then a gloved hand appeared and swept all the bottles into a bag. The thief turned around and Joseph nearly saw his face but he woke up shouting, "NO!" first.

Joseph's dreams never meant anything; they were just his way of dealing with things. Not like mine. I wasn't even sure what mine were about... Not that they were dreams really, I'd only ever had one of them at night. So then they'd have to be daydreams but they didn't feel like daydreams, they were too in depth. I can't describe them. I had another one shortly after Moody's death.

BOOM!

Two identical red headed boys stood in a tunnel giggling to each other as explosions went on around them. Every time they heard another bang they nearly folded up with suppressed laughter. The door next to them opened and a boy with black hair and glasses nearly collided with them.

"Impressive," he said quietly, grinning. "Very impressive... you'll put Dr Filibuster out of business, no problem..."

"Cheers," said one of the boys, wiping tears of laughter from his face. "Oh I hope she tries vanishing them next... they multiply by ten every time you try."

I hadn't told the others about any of the other dreams and I certainly wasn't going to tell them about this one. I didn't want Gregory to know I was daydreaming about Harry Potter.

Not a word of the murder got into the papers. The daily prophet did have a long (three pages!) obituary for him detailing his work and all the Death Eaters he'd brought down but they didn't mention how he died. We were convinced Dumbledore had hushed it up until the school newspaper, created and run practically single-handedly by a really annoying Ravenclaw called Adrasteia Vini published a huge exposé on the whole incident demanding to know why Moody's presence in the school was kept hushed up, claiming that Dumbledore was trying to keep the presses quiet and detailing exactly how his body had been found. And there were pictures. No one knew how she got them. Rumour had it that Dumbledore had a long talk to her and threatened to close the school paper - not because she criticised him but because she didn't appear to give herself any limits on where reporters could go. The pictures, he said (or so goes the rumour) were disgraceful and Adrasteia should have known better than to publish something so horrifying and potentially disturbing. If she so chose she could publish such a story but he was ashamed that she appeared to have no propriety. No matter what Dumbledore said on the subject (if he said anything at all) by the afternoon Adrasteia went around the whole school collected all the newspapers, even going so far as to snatch them out of people's hands. Luckily very few people actually got the school paper, although there were stories of one or two people fainting when they saw the photos.

It was hard to believe that Easter was approaching so rapidly. It didn't seem much of a holiday since we all had revision to do and everyone was staying anyway. Well... almost everyone.

I sat in the dormitory watching Lione pack. "I wish you didn't have to go," I confessed.

"So do I," she replied, rolling her eyes. "But lucky me, I get to see my grandparents and learn to sew and be a lady again. Yay."

Lione hated her easterly visits to her Lazaro grandparents. This Easter was particularly harsh since she was going to be away for her birthday and would have to wait until she got back to get her presents (she knew us too well to suggest we sent them to Lazaro Manor - she didn't think her Grandparents would approve).

In her packing Lione dislodged the family tree tapestry she'd got for Christmas. I picked it up and slowly unfolded it.

"I don't see why I bother taking anything," she said, more to herself than to me. "All my decent clothes mysteriously vanish when I go there only to show up nice and neat for me to bring back. Funny that." She looked up and saw me examining the tapestry. "What are you doing?"

"There's no Malfoys," I explained.

"Oh for crying out loud!"

I laughed. In first year I'd said something very similar about the prankster chart. Lione had frowned as if she didn't understand me said. "Yes there is, right there," and pointed to my name.

"I'm just saying it seems odd that what with your family being mega pure blood and my family being mega pure blood they haven't intermarried yet," I explained.

A dreamy smile covered Lione's lips for a second then she shrugged. "We're probably related really distantly," she said dismissively, turning back to her packing.

"It would be cool if we were related," I said, watching her carefully.

She giggled girlishly.

Just then Melanie rushed in. "Lione you have you help me before you go. I'm picking my subjects for next year and I need your advice." She spotted me. "Lucy thank goodness you're here too. I'm desperate for your advice. What do you think of Euphonology? Is it fun? Would I enjoy it?"

I was taken aback for a moment by this verbal onslaught.

"Why don't you ask Jack?" Lione suggested.

Melanie rolled her eyes. "I already did. Our classes are totally different to the ones they have at Durmstrung so he's a bit useless at advice. Besides he's vanished off somewhere. I think he's still sulking about the last task. Did you know that at Durmstrung they do more Dark Arts stuff? Not just defence but proper learning of the spells. That would be so apocalyptic if we learnt that." Lione and I looked at her. "What? It would."

"Apocalyptic?" I checked.

Lione shrugged.

"Well Euphonology is fun but the teacher's a bit odd. Very melodramatic," I put in. "You should try Muggle studies. That's so interesting and really fun, did you know that in the middle ages Muggles used to be convinced that they were kidnapped by witches and taking for rides and wizards were convinced that there must be some really cheeky teenagers pulling pranks on innocent Muggles except that it was an actual Muggle who solved it and found out about sleep paralysis and if it malfunctions that's when they start thinking they've been abducted by aliens or something like there was this one person who had a really detailed experience of being abducted by aliens but they knew it wasn't true because they'd been lying on the sofa surrounded by their family the whole time-"

"If I wanted to know about Muggles," Melanie put in when I paused for breath. "I'd go home for the weekend. I'm going to ask Katrina what's she's picked."

She flounced out. Lione picked up her now full bag.

"Right," she said. "See you in two weeks then."