Wings of the Death Flight
"Hogsmeade, are you excited?" Ginny asked.
"I dunno." I admitted. "I guess." I was thinking more about Harry's first teaching experience.
"I'm going with my boyfriend. We're going to Harry's thing."
"Yeah, me too."
"Have a boy to go with?"
"No." I grinned. I kept opening and closing the book I had taken from the library. Aviata. I wanted to know what I was. Finally I put it away and came back down to the common room.
"Are you going to Hogsmeade?" Dean Thomas asked, coming over to where I stood.
"Yes." I said. "McGonagall gave me permission."
"Um, do… do you wanna go with me?"
I was surprised. I mouthed wordlessly for a second before saying: "Yes."
He grinned. "Okay. Are you going to see Harry at the Hog's Head?"
"Yes."
He looked so ecstatic that I almost laughed.
"I, um, I guess I'll see you there."
"Right, it'll be fun." I was blushing so badly.
"You've got someone to go with now." Ginny said, sitting with me by the fire.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"I knew Dean wanted to go with you."
"Oh."
"He's a sexy lad." Ginny noted nonchalantly.
"Indeed."
"What was that book that you kept pulling out today?"
"Something I picked up from the library."
"Thank you for stating the obvious."
"It's called Strange and Dangerous Phenomena; I'm reading it for Transfiguration." I lied.
"Hm."
"I should probably finish that chapter." I stood before she could ask more. That night I wandered back outside, despite the bitter cold and read my book next to Jaeger who watched with interest.
"Well, would you like to hear what the Aviata is?"
Jaeger nodded.
"Okay. 'The Aviata is a witch who is muggle-born and from North America where the re'em wanders. Five years prior to her birth, the moon shall shine orange and gold.' That's weird. My parents said they got married at night and the moon was shining weird colors. They thought it was a sign that they were going to live happily ever after." I smiled sardonically. "Anyway. 'Also on this date, a sphinx, centaur and re'em shall conjoin into a wand to give the holder the power of flight. The Aviata is an exceptionally bright witch who will not consider herself beautiful and will only become so once she reaches the Motherland.' The Motherland? That must be Europe. 'One of her more dangerous powers is that…'" I stopped reading out loud and covered my mouth.
Jaeger touched my shoulder curiously.
"Oh, that's nice." I muttered, feeling slightly sick. "Well, I guess I should tell someone, so I'll tell you." I grimaced. "When I lose my virginity, the taker will have extreme power for an entire day, giving them sway over… whatever and everything. I don't think I'll ever have sex then."
Jaeger's shoulders shook with obvious laughter.
"What? You find that funny? Stupid, stone…." I joked. "Well, I'll have to really trust whoever the lucky lad is." Then I realized something. "Oh my God. Voldemort wanted me! For… that!" I felt as though my heart had stopped. "Jaeger, I'll see you later, okay?" I hugged the statue briefly and crawled back inside.
"Tom. Tom. I'm the Aviata."
"Yes. I know. You see why your wand is so special now?"
"It's… more than that. But…it's bad."
"Oh?" Tom asked gently. "How so?"
I explained what I had been so reluctant to read aloud. "Is it true? I'm terrified."
"I don't know if that's true. But be careful anyway."
"I wasn't planning on anything… like that for a few years at least."
"Good. So, anything exciting happening?"
"Tomorrow I'm going to Hogsmeade." I almost added "With Dean Thomas," but somehow felt that would be wrong.
"If I still were a schoolboy, I would take you there." He smiled.
"I would like that."
"Are you going with someone?"
I blushed. "Yes."
Tom's features didn't harden at all. "Do you love him?"
"No. I like him a lot but I'm not planning on marrying him or anything."
Tom laughed. "Of course not. But can I have a kiss?"
I smiled. "Sure."
He slipped his arms around my waist and kissed me gently. It was much better than anything that Montague had tried to molest me with. I closed my eyes and fell into him. I held onto the back of his neck and loved everything about him. He pulled me into him and rubbed my back.
He pulled his lips reluctantly from mine. "It's almost time for you to get up."
I nodded sadly. "When will you be back?"
"I don't know. Go have fun in Hogsmeade. I'll try to visit you tomorrow." I looked into his dark eyes and felt my heart melt knowing that he wasn't real, and if he was, he was probably years and years older and I would never find him….
"Do I look okay?" I asked Hermione. We dressed in muggle clothes. I was wearing my jeans and a nice orange shirt. I wore a white coat before going into the cold of outside.
"You look great, Favian." Hermione was preoccupied, scribbling some notes into her journal. "Right, so don't forget to meet us at the Hog's Head."
"How could I?"
"Dunno, just don't." Hermione put her journal back. "I'm going to go and get Harry and Ron."
"Okay. See you later."
Dean was waiting for me by the doors. Filch watched us leave.
"First time to Hogsmeade, right?"
"Yeah."
"You're going to love it." He said. "There's a lot to do."
I grinned. "That should be fun." We came to a shop-filled street that was crowded with both students and adults. "Ooh, it's like a mall."
"Yeah." Dean agreed. "When we go to the Hog's Head, you have to try a butterbeer. They're awesome."
"Okay." I nodded, looking around.
Dean looked at a loss for words with me, not knowing what to talk about.
"You're muggle-born too, right?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"What sort of school did you go to before Hogwarts?"
"Not a boarding school, if that's what you wonder. I was at an all boys academy."
"Did you play a lot of soccer?"
"I love soccer."
"It's a good sport." I agreed. At my old school, my friend Julie had a 95% rule about all guy soccer players: they were hot. The other 5% were not so up there. I'd say Dean definitely fit with the 95% rule. "Do you have any dances at Hogwarts?"
"We did last year, but I don't know what's going on this year. I don't think we will. That was just for the Triwizard Tournament."
"Ooh. Was that fun?"
"Yeah."
"I stopped going to dances in seventh grade. They always become soap operas."
"Haha. I guess they could." He looked down at my hand and I saw his fingers sort of twitch towards mine but he changed his mind partway through. I decided not to let him and drifted slowly towards him until our fingers touched at which point I took his hand and laced my fingers with his. He seemed surprised but he was smiling.
Somebody crashed into me. Then somebody else did too. It was Fred and George.
"Favian, it's time to go and watch Harry make a fool of himself to our benefit!" George said happily. "Now stop fooling around with young Dean and get your sexy ass to the Hog's Head."
I laughed. Dean and I followed Fred, George and Lee to the Hog's Head. I was surprised by the picture of a boar's head dripping blood. That was pleasant. Neville and Eloise were standing together awkwardly by the door.
Inside it was dingy and kind of creepy. We were followed by Parvati and her twin, Padma, Lavender, Cho, another girl from Ravenclaw was at her side, Luna (that weird girl,) Katie Bell, Alicia, Angelina, Colin and Dennis Creevy (two stalker-type boys,) Ernie, Justin, Hannah and Stacie, all Hufflepuffs; three Ravenclaw boys, Ginny and her lad were close behind.
Harry looked horrified from where he sat, loosely holding a bottle in his hand.
"Hi," said Fred, marching up to the bartender. "We'd like…" he turned and counted, "Twenty-seven butterbeers." I pulled out a few Knuts and handed them to the bartender and took my drink with a "thanks."
Dean and I took a seat over by Harry, Ron and Hermione. I muttered "hello" and opened by butterbeer, sniffing it carefully. It turned out to be quite good. The discussion started with a recap of everything Harry had done with the Dark Arts, and his denial that he was talented. It wound up with everyone asking him to teach them and in the end we all signed a sheet vowing to keep our silence and to join the group.
Dean and I left and he showed me the rest of Hogsmeade. Up by the Shrieking Shack, we ran into Malfoy and his apparent bodyguards.
"Let's leave." I muttered.
"A new man already, Fynn? My, you do move quickly. Montague will be heartbroken."
"I'm sure he will be. But if he tries to pull something again he will be nuts-broken." I said coolly, squeezing Dean's hand. Dean looked on the verge of pouncing on Malfoy.
"Like last time? Last time you seemed to like it a lot more. You barely even struggled."
Crabbe and Goyle guffawed. They had been the only boys present at my licking that hadn't licked because they were too thick to figure out what was going on. Stupid Crabbe and Goyle, never leaving Malfoy's side.
"I can't imagine why. It took a whole spell and four ropes to get that to work."
"Are you wearing the same lip gloss? I'm sure Thomas wants a lick."
"You see, Malfoy, if he wanted one he could have one without tying me up." I said calmly.
"Him and the rest of Gryffindor House."
"That's because Gryffindor boys actually have balls." I said as though that were the most obvious thing in the world.
Malfoy turned pink. "Oh Favian Fynn, I guess your last experience with my revenge wasn't enough."
I started pulling Dean away. "See you later, Malfoy."
"Sorry about that." I said embarrassedly.
"It's okay." Dean shrugged. "It's not your fault that they stalk you." He paused. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"What were you talking about with the ropes?"
I blushed. "For my detention I had to dust the Slytherin Common Room."
"They tied you up?"
"Yeah, but they didn't hurt me really." I shrugged. It was easier to talk about now. "Malfoy sat on top of me and licked my face, and so did most of the other boys. But I showered for a long, long time."
"That's sick." Dean grimaced.
"Hah, you're telling me."
That night I took Dean to my spot on the roof. I thought that he might like it. We sat there talking until sunrise then spent a good deal of Sunday sleeping. I awoke in time to do the rest of my homework and went right back to bed. On Monday morning I was in a chipper mood because of knowing that I was doing something that would annoy Umbridge even if she didn't know and that Dean was such a good friend. Maybe even a boyfriend.
Something on the notice-board dampened my mood.
"That old toad." I muttered.
"What?" Dean came up yawning beside me.
"Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four. We have to run our group by her. It will never happen. I say we stick to secrecy."
Harry informed me that we were still doing it. And damn, did that make me happy
*
All I know is that I've never seen Gryffindors in such a mood. The team wasn't allowed to play yet, but Slytherin was. Fred and George made the most of their free time by advertising their products. Harry, Ron and Hermione told me that Sirius would be coming that night. I considered asking him if he knew anything about the Aviata. I decided not to. I would wait until I saw him that summer. I didn't really want to discuss my findings with Ron, Harry and Hermione just yet. I told them that I was wiped out and to send my regards to Sirius.
I lay awake in bed for a very long time, unable to sleep. I wanted to go to my part of the roof but didn't want the others to see me. Finally, sleep consumed me.
"Favian, it's been awhile."
"Yeah. What have you been up to?"
"Loads." Tom smiled. "How was your first time in Hogsmeade?"
"Lovely. We're forming a Defense League. Harry's going to teach us."
"Ooh, that should be fun." Tom said indifferently.
"Yes." I paused. "Do you know Harry somehow?"
Tom smiled. "Why, yes I do."
I felt my stomach clench. "Is your name Tom Riddle?" Then I remembered something that Hermione had said over the summer. "Tom Marvolo Riddle?"
"No. It's Tom Harvey Riddle."
I sighed in relief.
"Why?"
"No reason."
"Okay. Can I have another kiss Favian?"
I felt my face grow hot. In truth, I had hoped he would want to. So we did.
"Favian." Hermione shook me awake. It was the dead of night. "Listen." She told me that Sirius had needed to leave because Umbridge knew he was there!
"Oh my God."
"And Sirius mentioned something funny about… I dunno. He said Voldemort was looking for something called the Aviata. I was wondering if you'd help me look that up."
"No need." I looked down.
"What do you mean?"
"I am the Aviata." I sighed. "I looked that up ages ago."
"What? How do you know?"
"If you look it up, you'll learn that my wand was indeed created five days before I was born and blah, blah, blah."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because, it's embarrassing."
"How so?"
I explained the embarrassing bit to her quietly.
"Oh." Hermione flushed in the dark. "How did you know to look that up?"
"Tom, from my dreams, told me that I was special and told me which books to look in."
"Tom Riddle?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"Yes, but his middle name is Harvey, not Marvolo."
"To Hell it is! Does he have dark hair and dark eyes?"
"Yes, but come on. There could be tons of Tom Riddles out there!"
"Only three; and two are dead. Voldemort's brother and father. Voldemort is still alive."
"I thought you said that Harry destroyed Tom Riddle."
"No, he only destroyed the diary-preserved Riddle."
I felt my face become ashen. I had just been kissing Voldemort. "Hermione! I've been seeing him almost every night in my dreams!"
"Come on; let's go to the Common Room." She said, looking around at the sleeping figures of Parvati, Lavender, and Eloise. We crept down the stairs and plopped onto the sofa. "What exactly has happened in your dreams with him?"
"I've told him almost everything that's been going on in my life. And," I looked down, "we've started kissing. That's only the third time. Tonight was."
"Favian, you've got to stop talking to him."
"How? And are you sure that it's Voldemort? Tom Harvey Riddle?"
"Come on, Favian. Don't be so dense. Do you think he'd want you to know that he was Voldemort since you're chums with Harry?"
I lie down on the couch and covered my face with my hands. "Why do I always kiss the LOSERS?"
Hermione couldn't help laughing for a moment. "Don't be down on yourself. Tom is quite charismatic, supposedly."
"What do I do now?"
"Stop talking to him."
"I have no control over when he comes. None! And what's worse is that I can feel everything he does. He could seriously injure me. I still feel him after I wake up. If he beats me or something, I'll have bruises in the morning."
"You don't know that." Hermione said without confidence.
"No, but I feel it." I shivered. "And I'm terrified."
I went through almost a week without Tom returning to my dreams. In that time Harry had managed to find a room for our Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons.
"Dobby found it." He explained to me as I walked in. "It's called the Room of Requirement." Dean and I buddied up with Seamus as well for practicing the disarming charm. We had taken the name Dumbledore's Army, even though it was originally the Defense Association. I liked Dumbledore's Army better. It made the group glow with pride.
Hermione was talking to Harry briefly and motioned to me. She had told him. I had said it was all right awhile ago, because he'd had so many experiences.
"What do you mean she was kissing Voldemort?" He muttered. The room went silent.
Classy, Harry.
"It's not like that. Harry, just wait…."
"Who was kissing You-Know-Who?" Ernie MacMillan asked.
"No one." Hermione, Harry and I chimed.
"I think we can be done for now. That was really good. But we've overrun. So we want to meet again next week? Same time, same place?"
"Sooner!" Dean called eagerly.
Angelina, however, said quickly, "The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practices too!"
"Let's say next Wednesday night then," said Harry, "and we can decide on additional meetings then…. Come on, we'd better get going." Slowly, Harry directed people out of the room based on his Marauder's Map. Finally, when only the four of us were left, Hermione spoke up.
"That was really, really good, Harry!"
"Yeah it was!" Ron cried.
"It was great." I agreed. "Best Defense lesson I've ever had."
"Well thank you." Harry paused. "What was Hermione talking about?"
"Um. Well, you know my dream-friend Tom? He's… Voldemort." I closed my eyes, not wanting to see Harry's horrified face as I said the next bit. "And, well, lately he's been kissing me. So, you know."
"And what's worse, Favian is the Aviata."
"You kissed Voldemort and he needs you? Great!" Ron said hysterically.
I opened my eyes. "Look, I'm not proud of it."
"What is the Aviata exactly?" Harry asked.
I explained quickly. Harry and Ron looked even more horrified.
"That's what Malfoy was talking about when he said Voldemort needed me or something." I muttered. "And I've been kissing Voldemort and every other Slytherin guy." I covered my face with my hands. "I really am a slut."
"Don't say that!" Hermione gasped. "You didn't know that Riddle was Voldemort and the rest of them… forced you."
"We should tell Dumbledore." Ron said.
"One of you can, I don't think I can explain the Aviata thing one more time."
"He probably knows what the Aviata is." Hermione said logically. "You wouldn't need to explain."
I groaned and fell onto a pillow.
"Look, we'd better go." Harry said. "We could get in serious trouble if we're out too late."
I nodded, rose reluctantly, and we left.
Quite a few weeks later, the first Quidditch match was approaching. Fred and George asked if I would give massages, and, in a fit of team spirit, I agreed. Each of the team members had a twenty minute back rub in the Common Room. Alicia Spinnet, who had been hexed, I gave an extra five minutes to because I felt so bad for her.
Word that I was an excellent masseuse got around and George said that I could make a few Galleons that way. I said I would consider if I ever needed money. Malfoy was giving Ron a rough time, and for that I ended up giving Ron even more massages than the rest. I told him to ignore Malfoy and just laugh at him because that would annoy him. Ron said that it wasn't that easy. I begged to differ.
During Potions class, one day, Draco Malfoy came over to me while we were gathering ingredients.
"I hear you're giving massages to your team, now." He smirked.
"Yes." I said calmly, picking up some pomegranate extract.
"Our team wants massages too."
"Too bad you're a bunch of assholes." I said turning around to walk back to my seat.
"Oh Favian, you know my team gets what it wants." Malfoy smirked.
"Everything except for the Quidditch Cup." I said smoothly.
He stood in front of my desk.
"You're not a much better view than that complex potion, Malfoy."
"But you are."
"Hey." Dean called out from behind me. "Get away from Favian."
Malfoy grinned and sat down, but only because Snape had come back.
"Thanks, Dean." I mumbled.
Dean and I went onto the roof again that night.
"Why do the Slytherins pick on you so much?" Dean finally asked.
"Eh, I'm not entirely sure." I lied.
"Oh." Dean leaned against the wall and looked up at the sky. His knees were bent and his arms rested atop them. "D'you think they'll get theirs in the end?"
"I don't think so." I said. "I know so."
Dean laughed. "I still can't believe you never had a boyfriend in the States."
I smirked. "I can. You didn't know me back there, and it's a whole different world over there."
"Do you like this world better?"
"Overall." I agreed. "But I wish I hadn't had to trade it for my parents."
Dean nodded. "You still miss them, don't you?"
"Always will." I scooted over closer to him and took his hand. "But I have some good friends here, so I won't be a Moaning Myrtle."
Dean watched my hand fixedly while he spoke. "I never thought you would be."
I leaned my head on his shoulder and gazed at the contrast between our skins. His was brown and mine vaguely tan. A cloud passed over the moon in little wisps.
"Can…." Dean stopped.
"What?"
"Never mind." Dean shook his head.
"Go on, you can ask." I lifted my head and faced him.
"Can I kiss you?"
I felt my stomach jolt. "Yeah. I'd like that." Now that I knew that Tom wasn't someone I would want to marry, I felt fine about actually dating Dean. He moved hesitantly forward and we kissed.
Dean headed up to his dorm but before I headed upstairs, I noticed Harry sitting quietly by the fire.
"Were you just kissing him?" Harry asked, voice cracking.
I jumped. "Yes."
"That's so weird."
"Why?" I asked, taking a seat.
"I just dreamed that I was watching you on the roof there. All I remember was feeling really angry and doing everything possible to restrain myself from…" he swallowed, "killing Dean."
I sat back.
"Don't tell anyone."
"I wouldn't."
"I don't know why I-." Harry trailed off.
"Me neither."
