A Dreadful Encounter [Fay]

[HANNAH ABBOTT]

With the beginning of the school year came the prospect of Hogsmeade weekends again. Hannah loved these, since it allowed for a stress-free time to talk to her friends. Sure, she could hang around with her friends in the castle, but there was always that looming threat of homework that they had to complete for their classes. Considering that she was now in her OWL year, the work would pile up fast. So, it was especially convenient to have these trips to Hogsmeade village. Besides, it gave her perfect opportunities for her to buy things without her parents immediately finding out.

Leaving the castle in her Hufflepuff uniform, Hannah couldn't help but to have a skip in her step. She probably shouldn't be that happy, considering how Voldemort returned just a few months ago. After learning that Cedric died, she mourned for a while. Hufflepuffs were usually very close to each other, and so she knew Cedric pretty well. Just last year, he had been Hogwarts' champion for the Triwizard Tournament. Despite the occasional animosity that she displayed at Harry being chosen as well, she knew that she had to immediately believe Harry that Cedric died at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Sadly, most of the Wizarding World didn't seem to believe Harry like she did. Despite these misgivings, she was still going to go around in her happy life. Besides, she was unaware of any other killings by Voldemort. So, maybe he went into hiding?

Heading into Hogsmeade village, Hannah smiled as she looked around. The village always looked busy and bustling with people, and now was no exception. She started to head off towards the Three Broomsticks. Just as she was about to pass an alleyway, a pale-white hand reached out and grabbed her. She started screaming, and another hand clamped over her mouth. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled into the alleyway. Turning to face her captor, her eyes widened and her face paled. It was a figure dressed in black robes and a hood over its head. She could spot the dark mark on one of the person's arms.

Struggling in the clutches of the Death Eater, Hannah tried to break free from its clutched. Quickly rummaging in her pocket, she was able to slide her wand out. At a quick utterance by the Death Eater, she was already disarmed, having her wand fall to the ground. She struggled even harder to get out of the Death Eater's clutches, but the figure merely laughed at her expense.

[adacabot]

Fay had not expected to see a vision early in the morning but that was exactly what she had seen. It had been 5am this morning when she had seen someone, a younger girl get attacked by death eaters, now she understood that visions if figured out correctly, could stop something bad from happening like an attack from the death eaters. So she had called off people would be crawling around Hogsmead after all so she would not quite be alone. It was very simple what the vision told her to do, stop whatever was happening from happening or from being completed.

The strawberry blond haired witch walked briskly up and down. She tried to avoid Hogsmead but she could not help it, she tried to forget the memories but that wasn't possible either. She closed her eyes trying to figure out where the girl had been attacked it was an alleyway and as she found it she realized the crime was in progress so to speak. The death eater hadn't seen Fay come out of nowhere. She disarmed the person and threw them back with a tickling charm. While the person fell giggling and laughing and wandless, she swiftly went over to the girl's fallen wand, picked it up and she took the girl by her arm. "Don't panic just relax" she said "and hold on tightly" she ended up at the back of the three broomsticks, there was no way for anyone to come and attack this place it was too crowded. Looking over at the girl she asked. "A-Are you all right?"

[HANNAH ABBOTT]

Hannah continued to struggle as she tried to break free from the Death Eater. She certainly never expected anything like that to happen to her, let alone happen so close to Hogwarts. It just went to show that relatively safe havens would no longer stay safe now that Voldemort was back. But, why did the attack happen to her, of all people? She was usually very friendly and helpful to the people around her. The attack certainly wasn't planned ... or was it?

Nevertheless, Hannah was still being strangled by the Death Eater. Slowly, she started to feel light-headed as she tried to struggle. After a few more moments, her body fell limp and she fainted. Her mind went completely blank. The overall shock of being attacked, and the loss of air to breath, contributed to her fainting spell. While fainting certainly took her abruptly out of her current predicament, it definitely didn't save her from the danger that she was caught up in.

Thankfully Hannah didn't have to try to save herself. While she was out cold, some women came over to help her. She faintly heard the women speak to her, but she couldn't make out the words. After a few moments, her hazel eyes open abruptly. She stared at the woman that apparently helped her, along with her current surroundings. It was certainly different than the alleyway that she was in before. "Wh-where am I? Who are you?" she asked, realizing that she was able to breath correctly again.

[adacabot]

"Don't worry you're safe, you're at the three broomsticks, at the back of it, everyone's too busy getting drunk on butterbeer to have noticed anything" she said her NewYork/English accent showing. She wanted to tell this girl that she had seen her in a vision earlier in the day but that was not going to go so well so instead she replied to the second question that was asked of her. "I'm Fay Lewis, I was a former Hufflepuff and now work in the ministry temporarily, I heard something so I came to see what was up" now that was not the real truth but it was as close as she could get.

She pulled her own hair into a ponytail and she conjured a butterbeer for the young girl. She looked at her kindly and asked. "Can you hold this?" she handed her the glass and said. "careful it's near full" she explained. As she looked at the girl something about her made her think of a younger version of herself. Shaking her head she said "Lets thank the Goddess that you were found by me and not by another Death Eater" she said quietly as she watched the girl carefully. She was so glad that her sister had not been around to see this, in her eviled state of mind her sister was quite cruel and vindictive, she had witnessed it first hand right before she had fled to New York and she never wanted to see it again if she could help it.

[HANNAH ABBOTT]

Hannah looked up at the woman that had saved her from the attack. She never saw this woman arrive, since she had fainted by that point. Nevertheless, she was grateful for the woman saving her. It was not everyday that a total stranger would do that, let alone even bother to see what was going on. Just as she heard the woman start to speak to her, she started to feel a slight throbbing coming from her arm. Apparently her struggling had caused her arm to bruise while being restrained. She even felt a slight throb near her mouth as well. At the very least, she was alive, and now apparently safe.

"Thanks for helping me," she stated. She tried to smile, but found that her pain would only get worse near her mouth. "Nice to meet you Fay, I'm Hannah Abbott, a current Hufflepuff myself," she introduced herself to the woman. Since Fay was a Hufflepuff herself before, maybe that was why Fay came over to save her. That was a pleasing thought to have.

Accepting the glass from Fay with her hand connected to the sore arm, Hannah quickly gripped it with her other hand so the glass didn't spill over. "Thank you," she responded, nodding to Fay's caution about the glass. Quite frankly, the attack freaked her out more than the possibility on spilling butterbeer on her uniform. Taking a sip, she quickly realized that trying to gulp down the delicious beverage would only make her sore even worse. Instead, she opted to take smaller sips from the glass.

[adacabot]

Healing magic was not one of the things she specialized in, but bruises were easily healable enough. She put her wand to the girl's bruises and all and just said a couple words. Her spell was slow in coming but it started to take affect. "By the time you get back up to the castle you'll be fine, healing magic had never been my specialty no how but, i knew it would come in handy soon and it has..." she said easily. Maybe it was the fact that the younger girl was in her house but she found herself relaxing. "How is Hogwarts these days?" she wanted to know about everyone. Dumbledore had told her some but not much. "I might go back myself one of these days" she told her gently.

She smiled. "Hannah, that's a pretty name, I remember writing about a girl who had a name Hannah, I used to love to spend my days with my girlfriend in the library" she explained. She was always doing that when she had not been with her friends eating or in class or sleeping. For that she excelled in class and had fun at the same time. She looked at the girl up and down and said in a lower voice. "All I heard about was someone named Umbridge, she's apparently in the ministry and at Hogwarts but I had the fortune of not running into her yet" she said. Her eyes twinkled as she gave the girl a small smile. "and forgive me I talk too much" she added with a laugh.

[HANNAH ABBOTT]

When Fay placed her wand over Hannah's bruises, she was surprised by that sudden movement and she couldn't help but jump a little. Perhaps it was a reaction from the attack that she just survived, but she was not expecting that. For that matter, she had been unaware that she could have been healed by magic. Certainly, she had been healed at the Hospital Wing before, but her mind wasn't in its right spot at the moment. She made a mental note to look at healing as maybe a possible idea for a career after Hogwarts. After all, she already liked Herbology and Potions.

"Thank you, again. I'm sure you did a good job," Hannah replied with a smile, now that she could fully move her mouth again. Even the shake in her bruised arm was gone now. Indeed, those were good signs that the effects of the spells were already starting. "Oh? That's fantastic. I'm sure you'll be welcomed with open arms," she responded with a nod. Indeed, having Fay around Hogwarts would probably be a good thing. After all, Fay had saved her life.

Before she could begin to talk about Hogwarts, Fay started to talk about writing about a girl named Hannah. Hannah nodded in understanding at what Fay told her. "Did you know her, or someone that you never met?" she asked gently, after taking a small sip from the glass. She couldn't help but let out a slight giggle at what Fay said. "Oh, Umbridge? The very first day to the castle, she wore the most horrid looking pink outfit that I ever saw. Her policies in class aren't that much better, and I've heard that her detentions are incredibly painful," she commented. She shrugged at Fay's comment about talking too much, "Oh, it's fine. I do it myself sometimes."

[adacabot]

"Actually scratch, my mother wrote about the girl I helped, she was a writer you see" she added with a smile. "Healing magic is rare I heard but i lived amongst muggles for so long I had to learn somehow to protect myself by wizarding means should that need ever arose" At this point she seemed to pull her hair out of her eyes, again. She took a breath and said. "Why aren't you with your friends, it's not safe to be alone like that" she said pointing out the obvious.She wasn't sure if it was just the fact that she had just saved her but she felt an instant sort of bond, and a sense of duty to the girl. That was good because there was talk of going to Hogwarts and working in the library, Dumbledore suggested and she did not disagree with the wise headmaster that she would be safer at Hogwarts both physically and otherwise.

She than waved her wand conjuring up a chocolate frog she gave it to the girl. "There you go sweetheart" she said tenderly. "Eat this for later, in case my spell didn't quite do its job, I'm sure it has but I always like to be prepared for when my stuff don't work" At this point she leaned her head against the wall and rearranged herself so that she was on her knees, it was more comfortable that way. As she looked at Hannah she said. "So, what would you like to do now, if you would like me to leave, I can...if you want me to stay, I can do that...I'd rather stay to make sure of your safety at least until you hit school grounds in fact, I might escort you back there if you allow it"

[HANNAH ABBOTT]

Hannah listened intently as Fay mentioned about her mother being a writer, nodding to what she said after taking another sip from the glass. She could easily see how Fay was a Hufflepuff back when she was in school, with the different prompts of helping and using healing magic. While she didn't like to use the regular stereotypes of any of the houses, helpfulness seemed to be embodied in most, if not all, Hufflepuffs. Of course, that had to be a good trait, or at the very least a relatively positive one.

"I-I ... um ... I actually came alone," she responded shyly, as her cheeks flushed red. She knew that traveling alone was probably not the best thing to do, especially now that Voldemort was back. However, she never knew that she was actually going to be attacked. It was always a safe to remain cautious. But, she had figured that it would cause no harm to go alone. Apparently, she was wrong. What was even stranger, and what had actually prompted her blush, was that she was getting a sort of motherly feeling from Fay. Certainly, Fay was not her own mother. Yet, it almost felt like a motherly bond. Sure, Fay did just save her life and everything. But, it was a strange feeling that she never felt before.

Feeling that her mouth was getting better, Hannah drank the rest of the glass in a gulp. Looking at the chocolate frog that Fay just conjured for her, she nodded to the given instructions. "Will do, but I have a feeling that your spell is working," she responded. Accepting the chocolate frog, she put it in her pocket for the time being. She was slightly taken aback by Fay now kneeling in front of her. Indeed, Fay was acting very mother-like. But, she was willing to go with it, as long as she wasn't treated like she was a child. After all, she was fifteen. "Feel free to stay. Since I was attacked, it would probably be best to go back to Hogwarts ... so it doesn't reoccur," she responded with a nod.

[adacabot]

That was indeed what Fay thought best. She nodded and reached out to help Hannah up. "I think I was meant to be there, I never actually heard of counicidences, no everything happens or at least I believe for a reason" she sighed did she really believe? she was not sure. As she led Hannah out of the three broomsticks the older witch kept her wand at the ready. She looked up as she took a path that would lead her to Hogwarts Castle. Looking at the shops and everything else she could not help but remember herself as a teenager. "I remember when I was your age, my girlfriend, sister and her er...sort of boyfriend who also happened to be my other best friend would come here to have snowball fights, we didn't do it in the school yard my aim was too bad, we'd often hit teachers" she sniggered thinking about her stupidity.

"Than we had an accident here in our fifth year actually my sister and my fifth year and...we never came back here again well, I actually never came back I don't know so much about my sister...we never gotten together after that day, it was all my fault of course but I won't bore you with that story, it's too long and too sad anyway and the last thing I need is to tell a sad story although I tell stories by nature...you might know my mother Cassandra Lewis or at least that was what her pen name was...she wrote for both witches and muggles alike" she explained.

[HANNAH ABBOTT]

Accepting Fay's help, Hannah was able to stand up. Feeling her legs wobble a little, she stood still for a moment to make sure that she was actually capable of walking. When she was sure that she was able to walk, she let Fay lead her away. "I don't know. It's a hard thing to imagine," she commented to Fay's reasoning. Surely, there were some things that seemed coincidental, but there just had to be a reason for it all happening. Sadly, she couldn't really think of a reason yet for why she would be suddenly attacked. It was a rather strange phenomena.

As the two of them left the Three Broomsticks, Hannah glanced in the direction of the Hogwarts castle. That attack occurred too close for comfort. She couldn't help but giggle at the start of Fay's story. Indeed, she had participated in a few snowball fights herself so far at Hogwarts. Thankfully, she had yet to hit a teacher, which was probably a good thing anyway. "Well, it was at least just a snowball, so you shouldn't have gotten in too much trouble," she commented.

Fay then began to talk vaguely about an incident involving both herself and her sister. Tilting her head slightly, Hannah looked over at Fay. Whether or not it was a sad story was irrelevant, what mattered was that Fay thought that it at least deserved a mention. "No worries, I won't ask about it. I certainly hope that you didn't get into too much trouble from that. I remember that name. Yes, my mum has a few of her books," she responded with a nod.

[adacabot]

"I would have gotten in trouble, Professor Dumbledore and Madam Hooch I think that was her had to chase me down, she had to or rather they had to stop me from turning myself into the ministry of magic" Fay sighed as she kept walking. The memory was still fresh in her mind, she had taken one of the school brooms and had meant to turn herself in after the whole incident; "I was flying to the ministry to turn myself into the Department of magical law enforcements, incidents happened not long before that and...it's a long..." she took a breath trying not to freak the girl out. "it's a LONG story" she told her. Pulling her strawberry blond hair out of her face she tied her hair in a ponytail.

"I had an accident when I led my sister and friends out here when we were sixteen..." she was not trying to tell the story but she was telling it all the same. "We weren't looking, it was December, well, we went out to the muggle streets alone, we bumped into three death eaters, my girlfriend froze and had gotten killed first, my sister's then boyfriend and my best friend, I and my sister fought, he told me to go, my sister told me she'd kill me if I left...I stayed not out of fear but out of duty...they were family, I couldn't leave them, when I managed to knock the death eaters out, two of them the third one disappeared....but not before knocking out my sister, I carried her back to Hogwarts, but there was nothing we could do for the others, she immediately blamed me, I blamed me...shortly after is when I tried to turn myself in...I was responsible...I got them both killed"

Now Fay blinked trying hard not to cry her vision became blurry and she fell. "I'm so sorry" she finally did cry from pain and memory. "This is depressing, I didn't mean to..."

[HANNAH ABBOTT]

Hannah nodded understandably to what Fay said. It must have been a terrifying, and filled with tension, experience. Thankfully, it wasn't one that she took part in herself. Yet, she knew that it was probably a situation where she never wanted herself in. She already got stressed out by exams, and her OWL exams at the end of the year certainly made her stressful. She could only imagine how much worse it was to be potentially be in trouble with the Ministry of Magic. With regards to the whole Wizarding governing body, she highly doubted that they would be too lenient to the students.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that. The Ministry of Magic probably wouldn't be too light on a student breaking any of their laws," Hannah noted to her. She noticed that Fay began telling her story, despite proclaiming how long it was. She was careful not to ask for the story, considering how emotional it seemed to make Fay. All the same, she stayed quiet as Fay told her memory of the incident. While a first hand account to what happened was always helpful, it was not always the most accurate to what happened unless you were actually there.

"Fay...", she started, immediately putting her hand to her mouth after the older woman told her story. Yet, she was not expecting what happened next. Fay fell, probably from the memory of the incident. Squatting down near Fay, she embraced the older woman, hugging her. "You don't need to blame yourself for it. What happened was an unfortunate side-effect of the situation, one that you couldn't control. There was nothing that you could have done that would have saved them," she said to Fay, trying to comfort her.

[adacabot]

"According to my sister there was something I could have done, I could've stepped in front of her boyfriend to save him, she called me coward after that I really didn't know what made me freeze just seeing my girlfriend's body I guess it was...weird, I couldn't comprehend it at first, what was worse was that I was in so much shock that I didn't take care of the bodies like I should have, I left them there...they were found later on by the ministry all the same, I never saw them after that Some days I wish I would've gone to the other side with them" A tremor passed through her body as she tried to refocus.

Fay got up, she didn't have her cane so she looked to Hannah for guide. Now that her vision was blurry due to the tears she really couldn't walk. She tried to force herself to blink the tears and the confusion away. She was so sad every time she mentioned this incident especially it kept on coming back to her these days. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually this unstable well actually scratch, I am a little unstable but that's not the point you should not have to deal with it"

Shaking her head they finally reached the school and one of its many entrances. She so wished for Hannah to stay with her she did not think she should be left alone, she knew what her mind was capable of and if she was left alone that was precisely what she'd resort back to and being an adult, and around kids she needed to set a good example. "D-Do you want to have lunch with me, seeing as you only had butterbeer to go on...a-are you still hurting?" she asked trying to see how Hannah was.

[HANNAH ABBOTT]

As Fay explained the situation to Hannah, she listened carefully to the older women. "Even if you stepped in front of him, that wouldn't have changed much. Doing so probably would have caused additional casualties. It's understandable to be in shock over the situation. But, you do not need to think that it would have been better for you to die. It's a natural instinct to protect yourself. Besides, second guessing the situation would not help what happened," she tried to explain to Fay, as she fidgeted with a piece of her blond hair. While she was used to helping out her classmates at Hogwarts, she never really had to help someone that a person's death had so much impact on.

After helping Fay up, Hannah pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and offered it Fay to cry into. It was always a complicated situation when tears were involved. Sometimes, she had trouble understanding how to help someone when they just broke down and cry. The normally happy Hufflepuff never really thought that much about the negative points of life, or the dangerous situations that could exist, which she was just in. "It's fine. Letting it out may help," she responded to her.

The two witches eventually arrived at Hogwarts. Given the day's events, she was already starting to feel a little tired. Fay's healing spell seemed to work alright to her, since she felt almost no pain now. "I'm fine, there's no need to worry about me. Sure, I'll have lunch with you. Was there any certain place that you wanted to go to?" she asked Fay as she looked at the older woman.