Waking Up

Chapter Two: Waking Up

Vivian McGonagall woke up alone, cold, and frightened in a small room that badly needed painting. The comforter that covered her was gray and very care-worn. Looking around, she saw that there were no windows and only one door, the only way out. She ran a hand through her mussed hair and tried to think. Where am I, and how the hell am I supposed to get out? She flinched as the door to the room opened slowly. A girl with very bushy hair peeked in and then smiled at her.

“Oh, I see you’ve awoken. Are you okay?”

Vivian studied the girl closely. She did have a wand hidden in her robe but looked completely harmless to her.

“I’m fine. Could you tell me where I am?” Hopefully courtesy will get her to talk to me...

“Of course. You’re presently staying at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Your aunt should be up here soon. She’ll explain everything.”

The girl looked at her as if she were looking at some weird specimen on display. Vivian noticed and became quickly unnerved.

“Do you find something interesting?” she snapped.

The girl’s eyes widened, and she stepped back involuntarily.

“No! I–I just have never seen any of the professor’s relatives before. I would have never guessed.”

“Good. Now scram unless you have something else to say.”

The girl puffed up for a moment with righteous indignation but did not say anything else. She turned from the door and walked away. Stupid girl left it open! Vivian got up quickly and ran to the door. She was stopped dead by her aunt.

“Going somewhere, are you?”

The stern looking witch glared down at her niece. She wore her usual green robes and black hat which were slightly rumbled.

“No,” lied Vivian unconvincingly.

“You haven’t changed at bit. You are still as stubborn as your mother, but at least she was kind to people when they helped her.”

“I didn’t need help...”

“You didn’t need help! The Death Eaters nearly got you! Voldemort was even there! You slept through the whole thing! If it wasn’t for—.”

She stopped abruptly and looked away.

“For who, Aunt? One of your precious Order members? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of them, these days. And now you’re recruiting from the student body...”

Smack!

Vivian’s head jerked back as her aunt’s hand made contact with her face. Wide-eyed and a little disoriented, Vivian stepped back and brought a hand to her face. A red welt started to appear on her cheek.

“You watch your tongue around me, girl,” she whispered dangerously. “For your information, it wasn’t one of ours. It was one of his who seemed to take pity on you...”

“Who was it?” Vivian said quietly.

“The Half-Blood Prince.”

“The Half-Blood Prince? What he doesn’t have a real name? And since when do we have a monarchy?”

“His mother’s name was Prince. He does have a real name, but... I don’t know this person anymore...”

“Whatever, Aunt.”

Vivian stood up straight, her arms crossed. Professor McGonagall wasn’t nearly as angry at her niece as she was afraid for her. Vivian was a stubborn thick-skinned woman of twenty-seven. Her mother and father had both died in the first war of “unknown causes.” That just meant they were poisoned with an unidentifiable potion. Minerva McGonagall sighed and tried one last attempt to make her niece see sense.

“He left you on the doorstep of number 11. That’s the house next door. You were unconscious. He also left a letter explaining why they were after you and then what they had done to your house. There’s nothing left there; just a pile of ashes. He didn’t sign the letter, but we know it is him because he left his cloak covering you.”

A large black cloak hung on the door.

Vivian sat down and sighed.

“So what else did you find out?”