Chaos Magic

by Pineapple Sherbert

Chapter 2: Origins and Variations

The events and conversations of the previous night still clung to Harry as he set out early to Evocations class ahead of Ron and Hermione. He had not told either of them of his 3 Am conversation in the hallway with the girl who was the same colors as the moonlight.

"Does it hurt..?" Harry froze, hearing the voice of Professor Mordred from inside the Evocations class room.

"I'm fine." came the quiet response of her voice and he forced himself to inch closer to the door way, realizing that anyone who saw him would think he was either ridiculous or up to something.

"Look at me ... I never meant to hurt you, I just ... you know I can't control myself when I'm angry. You know by now not make me angry like that."

"I know..." she said even more quietly, adding "I'm sorry Orpheus, I am ... I ... I wasn't thinking, it was my fault." Harry took a deep breath and managed to come within a few steps of the classroom door. It was open only the smallest crack, but if he pressed his face against it he could see inside.

The silver haired girl was seated on the desk at the front of the classroom, and Professor Mordred was leaning over her with his hand on her cheek and a look that could only be described as affectionate. Harry felt his stomach lurch unpleasantly as Mordred began to lean closer into the girl.

"Orpheus wait I-"

"Hush."

"Your door is open... someone will see..." she whispered.

"You're actually EARLY?!" Hermione's voice caused Harry to jump, and Mordred to pull sharply away from the girl like she had burned him. Harry turned to face Hermione who was flanked closely by Ron, who looked bullied and slightly emasculated, as per usual. Strange Couple.

" ... I didn't want to have to sit in the back." he said, realizing just how lame and false the words sounded even as they left his mouth. Hermione eyed him skeptically.

"I see..." she said tersely after a moment. "And I suppose this has nothing to do with Miss Rathlin Academy, does it?"

"... no..." he said miserably, he didn't even believe the way he sounded. Hermione shook her head disdainfully and brushed past him into the classroom with Ron to the seats they had occupied the previous day.

She was already in seated in the desk next to his that she had occupied yesterday. She smiled at Harry as he lowered into the seat next to her. What had been the violent red mark on her cheek early that morning was now a slightly softer, deep eggplant and grey colored bruise. While the cut on her lower lip had begun to heal over.

"You know ... you could go see Madame Pomfrey in the infirmary .. I'm sure she could probably do something about that." Harry told her, trying not to stare at the things marring her otherwise attractive features.
"Oh..." she said quietly looking at him with interest "... but I don't know where that is."

"I can take you after class if you would like ..." She smiled and he had the distinct feeling of free falling in his abdomen.

"Would you..?" he found himself losing his train of thought in the wake of her smile and the soft scent of her hair again until he was brought back to reality by the sound of chalk snapping on the black board, and when he looked up for a split second he could have sworn that Professor Mordred was giving him the most evil glare he had ever seen before returning to the lesson.


The stairs had changed positions again. The sudden movement had caused her to fall into Harry, and her fingers clutched his arms almost painfully.

"... why... did it do that?" Her already large eyes slightly wider with fear and surprise.

She smelled like flowers ... citrus... vanilla. Harry's ears were burning, and she was still clinging to him with that look of panic on her face.

"It just does that sometimes" he told her, trying his best to sound reassuring as he helped her upright on her own, before the amount of physical contact could send him into a nervous attack. She looked unconvinced and still slightly uneasy, looking up to the top of the staircase, which now led to an entirely different destination then where they had already been headed.

"But ... aren't we now lost?" she asked him.

"Of course not, I can find my way around this place like the back of my hand!"he assured her as he headed up the stairway.


It took them nearly two hours to find the hospital wing, despite Harry's confidence, and as a result of which they were nearly late to Care of Magical Creatures.

"You all right there Harry?" Hagrid asked, skeptically viewing the two of them, who were both breathing quite heavily. Especially the girl, who was leaning against Harry for support with a hand pressed against her side.

"Yeah we're fi- oy, are you okay?" Harry looked to his right where was leaning against him and wheezing slightly.

"Just give me a minute." she whispered. Hagrid shook his head and turned back to his students as the girl continued to try and recover from what looked like a borderline asthmatic attack.

"Today I have a special treat for you children!" Hagrid announced, and Harry silently pleaded with God or whoever was listening that it wouldn't be something like Blast-ended Skrewts or Flobberworms again. Hagrid made a whistling noise and there was several small "ooohs" from the girls in the group at what emerged from out of the Dark Forest. "That's right kids! Unicorns!! Most of you kids should be able to touch them, however, they're usually more partial to girls, but if you are an innocent they will sense that and allow you close to them.. right then, don't be shy."

The majority of the girls in the class swarmed towards the unicorns, trailed, much less enthusiastically by the boys. The pale girl, alone, made no attempt to near the beasts. Harry turned back and looked at her hugging her arms close to her chest.

"What's the matter?"

"It's nothing... I just... I... it's nothing" she looked down. Harry frowned.

"Look, it-"

"What's the problem here?" Hagrid's booming voice came from behind Harry. She looked up at him and forced a small smile.

"I... I just don't feel comfortable-"

"NONSENSE!!!" Hagrid bellowed, cutting her off. "For Goodness sake Girl! It's not going to BITE you or anything!!!" Hagrid's large hand seemed practically to swallow her small one as he literally dragged her, despite her her digging her heels into the dirt, up to the beasts. "Now just walk up to 'im and tell 'im 'ello!" Hagrid instructed, giving her a small shove. Any color she had in her face completely drained from it as she stood in front of the unicorn. The beast and her regarded each other, and it was hard to say who looked more nervous. "GO ON THEN!!!" She winced and extended her hand toward the unicorn and took a tentative step forward. The unicorn lowered his head and gave her fingertips a light sniff.

What happened next occurred so quickly that hardly anyone had any time to react. The Unicorn whinnied fiercely and reared up on his hind legs, one of his hooves striking her hard in the left shoulder. She let out a small whimper as she crumpled to her knees clutching her shoulder, which had rather obviously slid out of the socket, and Hagrid hurried forward to calm to the unicorn.

"I'm really sorry, I don't know what's gotten into 'im, he wouldn't hurt a fly!!!"

"This is why I didn't want to get close to it" Harry heard her whisper as he helped her to her feet. But the look with which she was staring at the unicorn was the most depressing one he had ever seen. It was a look of regret.

"Madame Pomfrey is going to wonder how any one person can be so accident prone" Harry joke lamely as he lead her back towards the school to the hospital wing, trying not to notice her fiercely wiping the tears from her eyes that he knew had nothing to do with the pain in her shoulder.


"How CAN any one person be so accident prone?!?!?!" Madam Pomfrey boomed as the entered the Hospital Wing for the second time that day.

"Sorry Ma'am" she mumbled. Madame Pomfrey gave a heavy sigh and looked at the injured arm.

"Well... I'm going to have to set that back in ... oh goodness... and it looks like whatever did it completely shattered your clavicle ... child what WERE you doing? Anyway... let me go get my things, you have a seat on the bed there... Potter, you can stay here if you like... but so help me don't touch that arm! It looks like it's had enough damage done to it!!!" She shouted over her shoulder as she bustled away.

"You don't have to stay with me you know." she said quietly as she gingerly touched the area where her arm would join into her torso.

"It's all right, I don't mind"

"But won't your friends worry If you-"

"I said it was all right." he said sitting next to her on the bed. She tilted her head at him quiziclly.

"Why are you being so nice to me? Harry ... do you have a CRUSH on me?" she asked her already large eyes getting slightly larger.

"a WHAT?!?!?!" Harry sputtered "How could... I mean... For GOD'S SAKE I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOUR NAME IS!!!!!" she laughed, a small musical sound and he got that peculiar dropping feeling in his stomach again.

"Alice" He looked at her startled.

"I'm sorry ... what?" she was looking at him with the same serious expression she had had the night before.

"My name. It's Alice, Alice Moore."

"Alice..."

"Hmm?"

"How... how did you know that the Unicorn was going to do that?"

"Oh... that.." she stared fixedly down at the floor. "Someone like me... I can never get close to something as innocent as that."

"But... why?" She smiled a little, but this smile was full of sadness and regret.

"We all have secrets Harry ... and we all have scars, just... not all of mine are visible, like this one" she said touching the lightening bolt scar on his forehead lightly. Harry felt a shiver run up his spine at her touch and he was reminded again of just how close she was to him, he could feel the heat of her skin filling the inch of space between their arms.

"Alice .. this morning with Professor Mordred ..." Alice's eyes grew wide at the mention of the professor's name.

"All right Potter! Back to your dormitory or whatever else you have to do! Miss Moore is going to be spending the next in here fusing that fractured clavicle back together." Madame Pomfrey boomed, interrupting their conversation, and Harry could help but notice the look of pure relief on Alice's face as Madame Pomfrey shoed him out of the infirmary.

"Well... I'll see you tomorrow then!" he called back over his shoulder as Madame Pomfrey gave him one final shove through the door and slammed it shut behind her.


"Oh Harry!!! Is Alice all right?" Hermione asked him first thing as he stepped into the Gryfindor common room.

"Madame Pomfrey says she'll be all right, but she has to stay over in the hospital wing tonight to fuse the bones back together ... wait, why did YOU know here name??" he said irritably.

"You mean YOU didn't" Hermione asked, looking completely dumbfounded. "With as interested as you appear to be in her I would have thought you would have at least asked her what her name was! Honestly Harry!"

"I did ... she ... she didn't tell me" he mumbled. Hermione arched an eyebrow at him "But that's besides the point! Why do YOU know it??"

"Oh." Hermione looked surprised "She sits next to me in arithmancy." She said as though it were the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"Blimey Harry, you're going after a brainy girl?" Ron asked skeptically from the arm chair he had flopped in.

"Who cares if she's smart!!" Harry snapped and then looked at the expressions on his friends faces "And who said I was going for her anyway??" he practically shouted, feeling like he was brimming with annoyance.

"Calm down mate..." Ron said startled.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed." he snapped and headed up the stairway.

"Oh Harry come back!!! I wasn't trying to make fun of you girlfriend!!!" Ron called after him, and winced as he heard the door to their room slam at the top of the stairs.

end ch.2