Disclaimer: JKR owns.
Lost Daughter
Chapter 9: An Unmistakable Face
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[AN] Thanks for the reviews.
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It was amazing how Rose, with only the slightest determination, could block out the background noise in the common room and zone in on the book perched in her lap. And it wasn't just her fascination with An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms, either. Rose had always had a knack for blocking other people and things out when it came to reading- which was a justifiable reason why a heavy tome dropped down on the table before her.
Rose jumped in her seat, but had enough sense to mark her page as she did. She looked up from her mid-noon Saturday enjoyment and glared at her brother.
"Rude much?"
"I need to talk to you," Hugo said, ignoring her crisp tone. He was holding a rolled up scroll of parchment and had a pinched look about his face. Rose narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she noticed her brother's ears a slight shade of red.
"What is it?" she asked sceptically.
Hugo took a deep breath, as if he was about to start an explanation, "Rose, I have a lot of homework."
"Okay…"
"James and Al and Carson and Trevor invited me to go play quidditch with them today…"
She raised her eyebrow, finally seeing what her brother was getting at. She attempted to divert him, "I'm sure they'll understand that you have homework to do."
"But Rosie… the homework's really hard," Hugo said, starting to whine, "and I have to show the guys that I have skills now if I'm going to be considered for the house team."
"Hugo I am not doing your homework for you," Rose said flatly. She sat back in her chair, preparing herself to go back to her reading.
Hugo, however, would have none of this. He threw down his scroll on top of the book and then proceeded to cross his arms. "Mum said you were supposed to help me if I ever needed help!"
Rose glared up at him, "Yeah, help you- not do your bloody homework while you go fly around on your stupid broom."
Unbeknownst to the squabbling siblings, the portrait door had just opened. Amia came through the portrait hole with a somewhat uneasy look about her. However, when she saw Rose and Hugo at the desks in the corner of the room, an amused grin appeared at her lips. She could tell immediately that the hassling she had taken from Lindsey that morning was nothing compared to the treatment Rose was getting right now from her little brother. She looked like she was about to tear her hair out…
Quietly, she started over to the two redheads as they continued their argument.
"Why are you such a shrew?" Hugo asked sourly.
"Why are you such an idiot?" Rose said back.
"I'm not an idiot!"
"Then do your own homework!"
"Quidditch is more important!"
Amia figured now was a good time to break them up, so she slipped up in between them, and nudged Hugo playfully on the shoulder, "Come on Hugo, I'm sure your skills aren't going to disappear over a few hours. If you do your homework today, then everyone will be much more shocked by your talent at try outs."
Hugo immediately blushed at Mia's sudden presence. The remnants of the fight he had just been having with his sister vaporized in his mind as he looked into the eyes of the oh-so-persuasive new girl. He still hadn't understood how his sister could make friends with such a- a cool and interesting girl like Mia…
A couple of moments passed, but eventually Hugo nodded, "I guess your right. It probably won't even take me that long to finish… it doesn't look that hard."
Mia grinned and Rose's face literally fell in shock. "Exactly," she agreed.
Hugo tugged once on the end of his shirt- a nervous habit of his- before bending down to scoop up his book and scroll. "See you later," he muttered to the two girls before turning and hurrying back to the boy's staircase.
"How did you do that?" Rose asked, still baffled by her brother's quick change of heart.
Mia shrugged as she sat down next to Rose, "I'm very persuasive. What are you doing?"
"Reading."
"But it's the weekend," Mia said, her tone almost sounding confused.
Rose gave her a pointed look, "I thought you just convinced my brother that doing homework on the weekend was cool?"
"You're not your brother," Mia argued back confidently, "And plus, I'm figuring that you're reading for luxury."
A couple seconds passed before Amia sighed in amusement at Rose's affirming shrug. "Just studying for O.W.L.s," she tried to say casually.
Amia frowned, this time genuinely curious, "What's O.W.L.s?"
"These major exams at the end of the year that determine which N.E.W.T. classes
you can take," Rose recited, now surprisingly keen.
"Sounds riveting," Mia replied dryly.
"Yeah, it's really exciting when you think… that was sarcasm, wasn't it?"
"Yep."
"I've never been to good at picking that up…"
"So these tests are towards the end of the year?" Mia cut her off with a condoning smile. She thought Rose was cool just the way she was, but that didn't mean she didn't think the girl needed some time outside the confines of control. Amia definitely thought Rose needed to let loose a bit.
"Yes, but it's never too late to start studying," Rose replied ardently, "Plus, I don't have anything else to do. My patrols aren't until nine."
"Where is everyone?" Amia asked next, looking around the empty common room.
"Down at the pitch to watch the match."
She peaked up, "Why don't we go?"
"Watching people flying makes me sick," Rose admitted, her lips twisted into an unfavourable frown.
Mia sighed, but didn't lose hope, "Alright, what else is there to do?"
A couple of seconds passed, and then Mia was happy to see Rose close her book. She looked to Mia with an offer in mind.
"We could go see Hagrid."
"Who?" Mia asked.
"Hagrid- he's the care of magical creatures professor."
The new girl's shoulders fell and she gave Rose a reproving look, "I think we're backtracking-"
"No, Hagrid's really cool," Rose said in her and the old gamekeeper's defence, "He's not like the other professors. My parents and aunt and uncle used to visit with him all the time."
Mia bit her lip as she mulled it over. After a second, she shrugged and stoop up, "Well, if it gets us out of this common room, then I'm down. Let's go."
Rose glanced down to her book, taking one last longing look at it before nodding along with Mia. She set it down, and then stood up to head out of the common room with her new friend.
…
Rose laughed as Amia finished explaining to her an encounter she'd had with Slughorn earlier in the week. Like Rose had guessed, the potion's professor had tried to induct her into the slug club. The excuse Amia gave him was something that she'd said was a typical American excuse. Though apparently, Professor Slughorn was a bit miffed when she told him that she couldn't attend the dinner because she told her friend back home that she'd discuss tackling drunk gazelles with him.
Even Rose was a little confused with the expression, but she laughed all the same. She didn't know what had changed in Amia, but she could tell that she was starting to loosen up. Maybe Mia was becoming more comfortable with Hogwarts. But whatever it was, Rose was happy to see her revealing more of herself.
"Alright, so I might be taking a little advantage of the culture gap…"
Rose laughed, "A little?"
The two friends were interrupted talking as they rounded the corner of the hall.
"Ah, Miss Weasley! And Miss Cooper! What a surprise."
Mia and Rose looked up to see Professor Gustafson, the DADA teacher, smiling jubilantly and waving vigorously at them. Gustafson looked much like a seal as he did so, but Amia wasn't about to voice her opinion. She was too caught up with the man standing next to the defence professor.
Rose didn't seem as curious. She smiled at Gustafson, "Hello Professor."
"On the topic of intelligent students, Hayden," now both of the girls had their eyes trained on the man their professor was talking to. This bloke- Hayden- didn't relax his stiff expression as Gustafson spoke. His bright amber eyes were instead staring intensely at Amia. Normally, she would've looked away, a bit embarrassed by the bizarre eye contact. But there was something about the way he was staring at her that made her unwilling to break the gaze.
"Let me introduce you to some of my favourites. This is Rose Weasley, and this is Hogwarts newest transfer, Amia Cooper."
Amia didn't miss the way his eyes flickered. His eyes seemed to refocus, and suddenly he looked much less stern.
"It's nice to meet you," Rose said for them. However, the man didn't acknowledge her back.
"Hayden was one of my more brilliant students at my old school. Lucky for me, he's been apt to keep in touch with his old professor," Gustafson chuckled, patting the bloke on the shoulder.
Hayden's eyes glanced down to the professor in disdain, "It hasn't been a chore Arnold."
Gustafson chuckled again, "Right, right. Well, now he's a high-up at the Ministry. Just goes to show what a specialization in Defensive Magic can do for you, girls."
Amia kept quiet in the background as Rose carried on the conversation, "What department are you in?"
"The Department of Mysteries," Hayden said in a silky tone. The accent was unmistakably English, but it gave hints of being around a different language.
"Wow. Is it hard work? I have an uncle in the Auror department and he said-"
"Well if Harry Potter says so…"
Rose instantly fell silent. Mia narrowed her eyes at the bloke's rude interruption. What was that all about? Who was Harry Potter? Rose obviously understood Hayden's implication, or else she would've been confused too. Mia was still working over the exchange while Gustafson let out an overly-happy laugh.
"I tell you Hayden, these two are some of the brightest students in the school. And Miss Weasley here is a shoe in for Head Girl."
Rose tried to hide her blush as Hayden gave her a look, "Your mother must be very proud of you."
Rose suddenly looked up to him, "She is."
Rose stared questioningly at the man as a slight, mysterious smile appeared at the corner of his lips. She didn't take her eyes off him as he went back to stare appraisingly at Mia.
Amia had been preoccupied taking in the stranger's unusually sharp appearance. His perfectly styled hair brought out the contrast between his high cheekbones and his unnaturally bright eyes. Even his robes, a pearly onyx colour seemed to play a part in his piercing demeanour.
It took a few minutes, but eventually she was able to pull her eyes away from him, "Um, we actually had a meeting with Professor Hagrid. We should get going."
"Right," Rose nodded.
"Ah, unfortunate, girls. Well I look forward to seeing you on Monday," their Professor answered, sending them both cordial smiles.
Amia grabbed the back of Rose's robes to start pulling the girl along with her around the two men, "You too, Professor. Have a nice weekend."
"Of course girls."
They had made it about five steps past them. Their backs were already turned, and both girls were trying not to make it seem like they were trying to escape as fast as possible. Their attempts weren't taken with acceptance though. Just as Mia thought they were in the clear, a voice, as silky as before, called out to her.
"Miss Cooper?"
Begrudgingly, she stopped and turned, "Yeah?" To her surprise, the man seemed closer to her than when she had started walking.
"I hope to see you again," he spoke coolly, his surprisingly full lips giving way to his shining white teeth.
Amia's eyes slowly glanced down to Hayden's outstretched hand. She was just about to reach out to touch it, when an inevitable force in her body quickly locked down. Her hands curled into fists.
She took a deep breath before looking up into his eyes again. "Bye," was all she could muster, before turning and swiftly walking around the corner past Rose. The redhead lingered for only a moment, before turning and following the older girl.
The thin smile was back, playing at the corner of Hayden's mouth. As his hand slowly lowered back to his side, Gustafson patted him on the back.
"Americans…" he chuckled merrily, "Anyway, let me show you my knew…"
Hayden tuned him out as spoke, his thoughts still focused on the unmistakable face of Amia Cooper.
…
"What a creep," Amia muttered as soon as a branch of the staircase had led them away from the DADA professor's corridor. She couldn't get Hayden's piercing eyes out of her mind; he seemed unnatural enough as it was, but the way he stared at her was simply eerie.
Rose nodded, "Yeah, that bloke was weird wasn't he?"
"What's he have against your uncle?" Mia asked, remembering how the man had turned cynical at the mention of Rose's auror uncle.
Rose sighed. Normally she didn't like to tell stories about her Uncle Harry, because people would twist everything she said to make him sound like either a complete nutter or some mystical everlasting hero. But Amia wasn't a random person. She was her friend, and she probably didn't know about Harry anyway since she was American.
After a few seconds, she shrugged, "My uncle's kind of famous for what he does. Some people just have a problem with that."
Amia could tell that Rose had been determining what to reveal about her family member, so instead of questioning her on it, she just shook her head. "Jackass," she muttered, her mind thinking back to Hayden.
"Yeah. Let's just go see Hagrid," Rose said as the staircase connected the ground floor. Mia nodded in agreement. Together, they started heading out through the entrance hall and stepped out past the oak doors into the bright sunlight of the autumn afternoon.
The air was crisp, causing the girls to walk a bit faster in the direction of Hagrid's hut. Rose lead the way, and Amia followed. As she did, she couldn't help but continue to marvel at the vastness of Hogwarts' grounds. The place was truly beautiful. Mia could see now how the castle held such an element of homeliness for all of the students living there. It definitely wasn't the cold prison she'd thought of it when she first arrived.
With their pace, it didn't take long at all to walk across the grounds and reach Hagrid's hut. Mia thought Rose would walk straight up to the old wooden door, but instead she leered off to the left of the house, back towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Mia was just about to question where she was going when she noticed a large mass standing in the middle of a premature pumpkin patch.
Oh. So this was Hagrid.
Amia's eyes went wide like they always did when she took in the enormity of the old man who was standing with his back to the girls.
"Hey Hagrid," Rose greeted from the edge of the garden.
The huge man turned around with a curious look on his face, that instantly turned into a boomerang sized smile when he caught site of Rose. The gamekeeper's hair had turned a wiry white over the years, and his pupils had long since been spotted with milky cataracts. However, these impairments didn't stop him from coming forward with the same childlike enthusiasm he always possessed.
"Oh, hello there Rosie!" he replied, pulling her forward into a tight hug. "And Hermione too!" Mia was too busy cringing from the force as he pulled her in with his other mitt of a hand to be confused over what he had called her.
Rose laughed as he let them go, "What? No, this is my friend Amia Cooper. She's a transfer."
Hagrid frowned, "Amia Cooper ye' say…" he muttered. One of his pan sized hands reached up and tucked in to his moleskin jacket pocket. He pulled out a thick pair of seeing glasses and placed then gently on his nose. His eyes blinked a few times before he stared down at Mia.
"Oh! Sorry about the mistake. Me eyes weren't what they use to be…"
"No worries," Mia said, sticking out her hand, "It's nice to meet you."
Mia's entire body shook as Hagrid pumped her fist up and down, "You too, you too. You look an awful lot like Hermione though…" he muttered, still staring observantly at her.
Mia's eyebrows raised. This man was comparing her to Rose's mum? Weird. "Oh. Thanks?"
Hagrid didn't say anything; instead, he leaned forward, trying to get a glimpse of something else. Amia was just about to take a step back from the giant when Rose interrupted him.
"You wouldn't happen to have any tea and particular grimy stories about some mystical beasts, would you Hagrid?"
Hagrid jerked out of his gaze and turned to look at Rosie. His flustered, concentrated face turned into a humble smile, "You know me Rosie. Come on in girls."
…
"Hagrid's pretty chill. He has a lot of stories about your parents and uncle," Mia commented as they walked into the 7th floor corridor leading to the Fat Lady. They had spent the rest of the afternoon talking with Hagrid, and Amia was surprised to find that she'd had a really good time. A few minutes into tea with the half-giant, Hagrid had given up on giving Mia weird looks, much to her gratitude. The more he talked, Mia concluded that he was harmless. She could see why Rose liked to keep in touch with him.
"Yeah. He's practically family," Rose answered.
"That's really cool. I wish I knew someone who remembered fond memories of my parents."
Rose turned to look at her questioningly, "Your grandparents?"
She shook her head, "Don't know them really. My dad's dad doesn't keep in touch, and my mom doesn't talk to hers. Probably 'cause she knows they wouldn't remember such fond memories of her," Amia finished with a casual smirk.
"You don't like your mum much, do you?" Rose guessed. Amia didn't talk about her family much to begin with, but whenever a topic came up about her mom, she didn't seem to have anything good to say. Rose didn't judge her for it; she was simply curious.
At her question though, Mia's face twisted up into a frown. She turned to look at Rose with a somewhat belligerent expression.
Instantly the redhead flustered, "Sorry. That was out of line…"
Mia held her intense look for a few more seconds before relaxing. She shrugged, "No, it's fine. It's just, I've never really had much of a relationship with her. It's not like you and your mom. My mom never really liked me."
Rose remained quiet. She couldn't imagine not having a mum she could talk to and confide in. Her mum was everything to her. She immediately felt bad that Amia didn't have anything like that in her life.
"So what are you doing tonight?" Amia asked, clearly trying to change the topic.
"I have patrols at nine. You?"
Mia bit her lip, "I have a big homework assignment. I should probably get started on it when I get back…"
"I like big assignments," Rose said with a joking grin.
She let out a laugh, "If it wasn't important that I learn it, then I'd let you have at it."
Rose grinned, "Thanks for keeping me in mind."
Mia couldn't help but smile as they stopped in front of the Fat Lady and Rose gave her the password.
"Weasley, I have to say," Mia started as they stepped up into the portrait hole, "I've never met anyone quite like you. Scratch the quite."
Rose sighed, "I get that a lot."
"It's cool that you like to read and learn," Mia told her when she noticed the look on the girl's face.
"Really?" she asked, clearly unsure, "I'm not a shrew?"
Amia shook her head, "No. You're unique. At least your not some conforming fembot like a lot of the other girls in this school."
A genuine smile spread over Rose's face, "Thanks."
"No worries. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
"You won't be at dinner?" Rose asked as Amia started for the girls dorms.
She paused for a second before turning around and shaking her head, "I'll probably still be doing homework."
Rose wasn't sure if there was more to what Mia was saying, but she didn't want to confront her about it. Instead, she nodded, "Oh, okay. Yeah then, see you tomorrow."
Amia grinned and waved one last time before starting up the stairs. After she had gone, Rose sighed and made her way back over to the book she had started earlier.
…
Amia prayed that no one would be in the 7th year's dorm yet. She didn't want to have to make an excuse to anyone else trying to talk to her. She needed to stick to her plan tonight, and that meant no distractions from Hogwarts.
With that thought in mind, she reached for the door handle to her room. She needed to hurry up and get ready so that she could floo out before Tony got back to his room.
…
The peaceful ocean sparkled with the dazzling sunlight overhead. The harbour was quiet except for a few boats loading and unloading at the docks. For all intents and purposes, it was shaping up to be a perfectly normal Saturday afternoon in paradise.
The only thing out of the ordinary was the image of a skinny, tan blonde girl, pacing back in forth on the dock in front of a mid-sized boat. Every now and then she'd let out an impatient groan before stopping to check her watch, and then scanning the surrounding neighbourhood for any sign of her best friend. After no Coop in sight she went back to pacing.
Out of nowhere, a light pop sounded behind her. It would've been barely noticeable and meaningless to any normal person that would've heard it. However, Lindsey Kelly wasn't normal. She knew what that sound meant.
Excitement rushing through her, she spun on her heel to find her best friend standing in the middle of her dad's boat.
"MIA!" Lindsey screamed.
Amia laughed as she watched her friend hop over the railing and run at her, "Linds-"
Her air supply was cut off as Lindsey crushed her up in a tight hug. Despite her size, Lindsey could give some fierce bear hugs.
"I've missed you so fucking much!"
Mia coughed, "Dude, I've missed you too, but calm down…"
"I can't calm down," Lindsey said as she let go of her, still speaking two tones higher than she needed to, "We don't have that much time together!"
Mia sighed, "I'm sorry. This is all I can get away for."
"You have to go back tonight?" Lindsey asked.
Mia bit her lip. They had been over it this morning. The plan they had agreed to was that Mia would sneak over, hang out with Lindsey during the day, and then at night they would go out and meet up with some of their other friends. Amia was probably pushing the limits as it was. She didn't know how knowledgeable Hogwarts was with their floo system. Her hope was that they wouldn't find out for at least a couple hours, giving her enough time to slip back in through Tony's floo. Lindsey had already guilted her enough into coming. Hopefully she wouldn't be pressured into breaking any more rules.
Though, if she was being honest, being back in Newport felt good. Despite the issues she'd had over the years here, this place had always been her home. Maybe Lindsey was in the right getting her to stay longer…
"We'll see how it goes," Mia said, not promising her anything yet.
"Yeah," Lindsey nodded thoughtfully, "Look, you're judgment will definitely be off in a few hours, so I'll just ask you when you're drunk."
Amia laughed and shoved her playfully, "Shut the hell up!"
"Acknowledging the problem is the first step to recovery," Lindsey joked as she climbed over to the captain's seat.
Amia smirked, "But that means we'd have to acknowledge that drinking is a problem and that we want to be recovered."
Lindsey turned to her with a soured expression, "You're right. See, I'm not as intelligent without my smart cookie around. You should just move back."
Amia grinned. She had missed her best friend more than she realized. She climbed up on the steering deck right when Lindsey started the engine.
"So where are we going?" Amia asked after putting on the aviators she and Lindsey always kept on the boat.
A mischievous smile spread over Lindsey's face, "Laguna. There's a couple surfer boys down there that have been dying to meet us."
The girls shared a laugh as the boat started to back over the blue waters of the harbour. With all thoughts of Hogwarts, that mysterious Hayden guy, and Professor Granger behind her, Amia focused her attention on the night ahead with her best friend.
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Next chapter, Amia gets caught.
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