Ch. 1
It was precisely 4:23 in the afternoon when I made the bet that would change my life. Not that I knew that at the time.
"Let's make a wager." Rea declared above the excited rumble of voices that filled the dining hall. "If Gryffindor wins, you'll get Veronica back for me. If they lose…I'll give you all of my pumpkin pasties."
She plucked a biscuit from the basket on the table in front of her and grinned at me slyly. She had a way of declaring challenges with just the twist of a smile. Her little "challenges" got me in detention with alarming frequency during my first year. Since then, I'd been a little more cautious about getting competitive with her.
"Veronica? Your cat? She's been hiding on the roof of the herbology greenhouse for days!" I shook my head, stirring my soup. "That's hardly worth it."
"Are you only disagreeing about the cat? You realize you'd be betting against me." Rebecca raised an eyebrow at me, brown eyes wide. "Thanks for the support before my first Quidditch game of the year."
"I know, Bex. I know." I rolled my eyes, "Take it up with cat-woman here." I pointed at Rea.
"Hey, it's just a friendly wager." She kept that sly gaze trained on me. "But if you don't wanna risk it…"
I thought for a moment, "Well, Slytherin does have an awesome chaser this year. They're team looks pretty good, actually."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rebecca asked, sounding slightly offended.
"Nothing, nothing!" I needed to start thinking before I spoke. "Everyone knows you're the best chaser Hogwarts has seen since Harry Potter!" I grinned and handed her a biscuit. "You'll probably have the Slytherins running scared. Er…flying."
She shot me a look, "Right. That's why you wanna bet against me."
"You know she can't say no to a challenge." Rea was laughing, elbowing me in the ribs. "It's a fatal flaw."
"Shut up," I grinned despite myself, my fingers reflexively wrapping themselves around the antique locket I wore around my neck. It was a family heirloom my grandmother had entrusted to me. I'd never been able to get it open, but I was quite proud of it anyway. The antique silver filigree details were beautiful, functional or not.
"My best friends are impulsive losers." Rebecca sighed.
"Only the best impulsive losers around." Rea laughed before turning to me, "So it's a bet?"
"Eh, why not?" I shrugged and shook hands with her. I probably wouldn't have to climb up after the cat or anything if I lost. I could probably use a spell or something. I imagined planting my feet in the grass in front of the greenhouse and calling out, accio Veronica! More ridiculous things had probably been done before.
"That's it. I'm playing extra hard tonight just to spite you. I'd be worth it to see you try to catch that cat." Rebecca said, "She is a fluffy grey ball of evil."
"She has discerning taste. Just because she doesn't like you doesn't mean she's evil. She's only hiding in the first place because you traumatized her." Rea frowned.
"Setting a Screeching Salamander after her was a joke!" I giggled. Screeching Salamanders were the newest toy from the newly re-opened Weasly's Wizard Wheezes. If you wound them up, they let out the most magnificent caterwauling and ran around the room in circles before exploding in a cloud of glowing confetti. They were great fun at parties. Not that Rea appreciated Rebecca and I setting them after Veronica.
"Ol' Yellow Eyes had it coming." Rebecca grinned. Yellow Eyes was her nickname for Veronica. Not exactly a term of endearment.
I took a big slurp of chilled cucumber soup, grinning at Rea as she scraped lemon curd from her biscuit with a disgusted look on her face. Her sandy blond hair hung dangerously close to her plate and Rebecca, who was sitting to my right giggled at her as her hair dragged through the yellow gunk.
"Aw, crap. That isn't funny, you guys!" Rea narrowed her blue eyes at Rebecca and wiped a lock of hair on her napkin.
"I thought it was pretty funny." Rebecca snickered.
It was a semi-chilly September afternoon and the ceiling of the dining hall reflected the low-hanging clouds that pressed down upon the school from outside. A group of rowdy Gryffindors began singing and shouting on the other end of the table and various kids joined in. I almost did too, even though I'm a Ravenclaw. Technically, Rea and I both shouldn't have been sitting with Rebecca, but we'd never been scolded for it. Rea was a Hufflepuff and I was a Ravenclaw, but we always seemed welcome to sit at the far back end of the Gryffindor table with Rebecca.
"Hey, remember that time when Brandi set her hair on fire in charms?" I asked.
Brandi was another good friend. She was like a sister to us even thought she was from Slytherin. The hair incident happened during our third year when we were learning a simple charm to make water appear in a chalice. Somehow hers backfired and lit the front layers of her hair on fire. No one was hurt, but it left the classroom smelling for the rest of the week.
"Wasn't that hilarious?" Regan asked, grinning.
While all three of us laughed, it ended with a hollow feeling. I glanced over to the Slytherin table. I could just see the back of her head in the crowd. Her green and pink highlights stood out amidst the sea of brunette. She was giggling at something, her short pigtails swishing with the movement. I knew I wasn't the only one looking at her. Rebecca and Rea were, too. Ever since the start of this year, our fifth year, she'd been acting strange. She never sat with us at meals anymore and she'd been communicating with us less and less. Rebecca even tried sending her an owl once, and didn't get a reply.
I tried not to think about it, but couldn't stop myself. What had changed? We hadn't gotten to see each other over the summer, but nothing in particular had happened between us to upset her… She seemed different. Tired. She wasn't her same giggly self this year. Not with us, at least. She looked at home at the Slytherin table, her dark robes drawn around her small frame. But she was awkward with us. Like she didn't even like to look at us anymore.
None of us wanted to talk about the change. So, none of us did.
"Well," Rebecca tore her gaze from Brandi and tried to smile. "The game starts in a little bit. I should get going."
"Right," I nodded.
"Good luck! I'll be rootin' for ya!" Rea smiled.
"Good to know at least one of you is." Rebecca shot a sarcastic glare at me, holding back a grin. She stood and waved good bye to us before joining a couple of her team mates and filing out the dining hall. They were all already decked out in their uniforms and everyone at the table cheered for them as they left, the atmosphere jubilant despite the chilly weather.
"Dang, Bex is lookin' good this year."
The voice was Flynn MacCormick's. He was a Gryffindor in the same year as us. He'd been on the outskirts of our lives since first-year potions class. He was known for his silver-blue eyes and biting sarcasm. But probably more infamously than that, he was known for being hopelessly in love with Rebecca.
"Shut up, Flynn. I'm the only one allowed to call her Bex." I flicked him in the nose like a misbehaving puppy. He'd been sitting on my other side, talking with a few of his other friends before he'd nosed in on Rea and me.
"Youch," He rubbed at his nose, "No need to get territorial, Sweetie."
"Bite me." I rolled my eyes.
He grinned, "I didn't know you felt that way, Abby."
"Shut up." I shook my head. Flynn and I usually went at it, but today I was extra grumpy after being reminded or Brandi. I tried to tune out Rea's snickering and finished off my soup, hoping we'd get to leave for the game soon.
A few hours later, I stood shivering in the night mist. Rea, Rebecca, and I had managed to slip away from the post-game buzz of the castle and out to the greenhouse.
That's right, I lost the fricken bet. Rebecca had made sure of it.
Despite the fact that bludgers took out two of Gryffindor's chasers and beaters and that a thick mist blinded the players, Rebecca managed to score a staggering fifty points for Gryffindor before their seeker caught the snitch at the last second. It had been a good game, Slytherin being close enough on Gryffindor's tail to make it suspenseful. Some speculated already that Slytherin and Gryffindor would end up being the final two teams of the season.
And now I found myself standing on the soggy grass in front of the herbology greenhouse. Rea and Rebecca stood behind me, waiting with their arms crossed. I turned to face them, feeling ridiculous.
"What're you waiting for? Climb." Rea gestured to the greenhouse.
"You're expecting me to climb?" I raised an eyebrow, "Are you mad?"
She just looked at me expectantly, Rebecca snickering at her side.
"Fine, fine. At least hold my wand." I handed Rea my wand before hesitantly approaching the greenhouse, just able to make out the shape of the wretched cat near the edge of the roof.
I took in a deep breath, knowing this was foolish. I touched my locket for a moment, as if it could give me extra courage. Cautiously, I set one foot on one of the many metal bars that wrapped around the glass casing of the greenhouse. It was very slippery and cold because of the weather, but a bet was a bet. I grabbed a bar further up and hoisted myself higher, slowly making my way up the side of the greenhouse. Veronica hissed at me as I approached, whiskers glowing white in the cloud-filtered moonlight. She took a slow step away from me.
"Shh, here, kitty kitty." I spoke, my voice escaping in little clouds in the chilled air.
"Do you see 'Ol Yellow Eyes?" Rebecca called up to me as I crested the top of the greenhouse.
"Unfortunately," I called back.
"Hey, I can hear you saying that about my cat." Rea exclaimed.
I carefully edged toward the cat, pulling myself onto the greenhouse room and wedging a foot on one of the metal bars for balance. "You're the sassiest Hufflepuff in existence, I swear." I grumbled, trying to reach the cat. It growled and backed further away from me. "Here, kitty!" I soothed. It moved further away, clawing out at me and narrowly missing my face. "C'mere, you dense punk." I hissed back, impatient.
Finally, the horrid creature let out an awful wail. Its hackles raised and it lashed out, claws slashing across my face. I recoiled in pain, both of my hands automatically covering my now-bleeding cheek protectively. In the process of moving, my foot slid across the metal bar with a squeak and I lost my balance, sliding until half of my body hung off the edge of the greenhouse. I'm fairly certain a curse word flew from my mouth, but no one could hear it above Veronica's howls. I gripped at the frigid glass surface as I blindly searched for a new foothold.
"Abby! Look out!" Rebecca shouted.
"Huh?" I turned to see Veronica lunge at me. "Oh my-"
And then I was sliding down the edge of the greenhouse. Everything happened so quickly. In a moment of panic, I reached out for something to catch myself, but found nothing. I hit my head on the way down, a resounding crack filling the quiet night air. Finally, the breath was forced from my lungs as I hit the ground, landing on my back. I closed my eyes, afraid to move as pain spread through my body.
"Crap! Abby?"
I could hear Rea and Rebecca rush to my side as I struggled for breath. My fingers curled until they gripped two healthy sized chunks of grass. I gasped, my eyes flying open. Rea and Rebecca stood over me, coming in and out of focus in my shaken vision.
"You're bleeding!" Rebecca exclaimed, gesturing to my forehead. I could feel my skin stinging in the freezing air, but nothing more. I decided to take her word for it.
Veronica padded to Rea's side and sat, tail swishing contentedly. Stupid fur ball had jumped down on its own after I fell. I scowled, my head throbbing.
"I'll…I'll be fine." I sat up slowly, my head swimming.
"Hey…what's going on with your necklace?" Rea crouched by my side and looked at my locket.
Rebecca carefully followed suit, "It's opened!"
I blinked slowly, trying to process what they said through my brain fog. "It has?" I looked down at it. Sure enough, the delicate silver oval had been pried open after the force of my fall.
"There's parchment inside! It says something!" Rea squinted at it.
"Wow, it does!" Rebecca examined it, leaning close to me.
She blurred in and out before me as my head throbbed painfully. One of my hands went up to my forehead and returned with blood on the fingertips. I cringed.
"I can just make it out," Rebecca continued, curiosity keeping her from noticing my shock, "Find me in the room that comes and goes."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rea asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Why…why don't I mull that one over…in a little bit." I lowered myself back to the soggy grass, black spots forming in my vision. "I'm…bleeding…a lot, guys."
"Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Rebecca asked, an appropriate level of concern finally coloring her voice.
I just closed my eyes and nodded slowly. I was becoming less and less aware of my surroundings until everything swirled away from me, leaving me suspended in darkness.