AN: I'm so grateful for the positive response I've already received for this fic! Thanks so much! :-)

Chapter 2

Of Questions and Mischief

The library always, without fail, smelt of drying ink and cleaning supplies. These scents only just masked the smell of rotting paper. Hogwarts was centuries old, after all. Kai highly doubted that they got new shipments of books for the library every month. It seemed they had nearly every single kind of textbook for nearly every single kind of subject.

Cinder was late. This was, Kai found, a little ironic, considering they had been joking about Kai's lateness to their last tutoring session when they had seen each other before lunch. Kai wasn't annoyed, though. Instead he was roaming through the different isles of books, looking for anything he found interesting for the sake of passing time. Soon he was preoccupied with a book about Historic Magical Families. He prepared himself to be bombarded with insane blood purist themes.

The first chapter was on one of the more famous families ever – the Blackburns. Kai hated the name with a passion. The Blackburn family was filled with evil Slytherins and blood thirsty Lunars. The only Blackburn living today was, of course, Levana. This meant she inherited thousands of precious and valuable items, as well as the rumored book entitled, The Darkest Curses and Enchantments. If Levana really did have access to the book, which had been in the Blackburn family for years apparently, then she was really unstoppable. There was a spell in there, Kai heard, that could allow the user to manipulate people, making them do or feel whatever they wanted. It terrified him.

And the only way to make sure Levana would never get the book would be to prove that there was a rightful heir to it. Levana's sister, Channary, left all Blackburn heirlooms to her daughter, Selene. Unfortunately, Levana killed Channary – possibly – and Selene was not killed too long afterward, leaving the book in the hands of the last living heir.

Suddenly sickened at Levana's powers, Kai put the book away, flustered and fuming. He made his way back to the table he and Cinder had sat at the day before, and removed his Transfiguration textbook from his bag. Despite his efforts to concentrate, his mind wandered back to the infamous Blackburn family. A daydream popped into his head – what if there was another heir to the Blackburn inheritance? Levana had a stepdaughter – named Winter, in Ravenclaw house – but she didn't have any actual Blackburn blood.

A jolt came along with a memory – Selene Blackburn had gone missing. It was only a year later when Levana had decided to pronounce her dead, assuming she had been kidnapped and murdered. They didn't have a body. It was possible Selene Blackburn was still alive, and therefore she was still the rightful heir to the Blackburn fortune. This could save the whole magical world from Levana and the Lunars' wrath. If she didn't have access to the book, she could no longer wreak havoc.

This dawned a new hope inside of Kai. Finding Selene could save them all. His biggest problem was, of course, where to start. A new sensation of thrill rushed throughout him. Mind racing with ideas, he almost didn't notice Cinder limp into the library and unceremoniously plop into the seat across from him. For a brief moment he was confused why she was there – though he wasn't complaining – and then he remembered their Transfiguration tutoring session.

"You're late," he teased, a grin tugging at his lips, already on an excited high from the prospect of a world free from the Lunars' grasp.

A small smile started on her lips, despite rolling her eyes. "We're even now." She removed some supplies from her bag, mostly being pencils and paperweights. "I was, um, owling a letter."

"Oh? To who?" Kai asked her, though he realized he didn't really have a right to know.

"Just my stepmother," she said tensely, reaching to fiddle with her tie. Cinder noisily cleared her throat and focused her gaze on the table. Kai felt a bit bad for prying, and would've said so if she didn't begin to speak again. "Anyways, uh, we should begin working on this spell."

Cinder started Kai off working on changing a pencil into a piece of cloth. Once he mastered that, they worked on turning the paperweights into goblets. Kai was brimming with happiness by the end of their session. The progress he'd made was stunning – from not being able to even transfigure half of an object to quick transformations he could do with little to no focus. He owed it all to Cinder – she really was a great tutor, and she was fantastic at Transfiguration.

They began to pack up their stuff. Kai's stomach growled with the prospect of dinner. It made him think about the bar in Hogsmeade he enjoyed going to. And that led him to another train of thought – Hogsmeade and the many girls who had asked him out that week. He told each and every one of them that he already had a date, despite not actually having one. If he didn't find a date soon, he would be harassed the whole time.

At once an idea popped into his head. There was only one person he would have really enjoyed taking on a date, even if they hadn't really known each other for too long. And she was sitting across from him. Figuring this was as good an opportunity as any to ask, he said, "Cinder?"

Looking up, she met her brown eyes with his. "Yeah, Kai?"

"Are you, by any chance, going to Hogsmeade this weekend?" This was a stupid question – who didn't go to Hogsmeade? It was one of their few freedoms at Hogwarts. No one would turn it down.

Cinder's smile fell unceremoniously from her face. "Why?"

A bit put off by the way she got so upset, Kai tried to keep his smile up. "Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"

As if afraid this was what he was going to ask her, Cinder deflated. "I can't," she said, crestfallen.

This time it was Kai whose smile faltered. "You can't?"

"No. I never got permission from my stepmother to go."

"Oh."

Cinder rushed out of her seat to be level with him. "It's not that I wouldn't if I could. Cause I really would. I just. Can't."

Forcing his smile, Kai nodded. "Well, that makes me feel a bit better," he lied. Suddenly, she stumbled from the effort it took to stand without her cane and collapsed onto his chest. Kai's arms automatically wrapped around her waist to steady her. It took a great deal of scrambling to make sure none of their bodies were in contact anymore.

Cinder was flaming red and Kai was sure from the way his ears burned that they were also a similar shade. He reached behind her and retrieved her cane so it would be easier for her to stand. She thanked him in what was possibly her smallest voice yet.

"So, um, I'm gonna go," she said awkwardly. "Bye, Kai…" She began to limp away. Kai watched as she uncomfortably adjusted the books in her hand walking through the door. He felt guilty. At the same time, he was hurt at the rejection, wishing he hadn't asked.

He consoled himself with the fact that it was because she wouldn't be going at all, not because she didn't want to go with him. Even so, there was a sinking feeling that he'd just lost a friend by his misguided romantic advance.

Kai sighed.

Cinder decided to skip dinner that night, opting to go to the Slytherin sixth year girls' dorms. No one else would be in there, luckily, otherwise she wouldn't have felt safe enough to venture into the room. Many of the other sixth year girls were very prejudiced against her for being Muggle-born. And poor. This was to be expected, of course, because sizeable amounts of Slytherins were affiliated with the Lunars.

Just as she'd thought, her dorm room was entirely empty.

Well, other than the owl sitting on her bed, a letter clutched in its beak. Cinder was surprised her stepmother had replied so quickly. She ran up to the owl and grabbed the letter from her. Typically, the bird bit her. Cinder and her owl had never really gotten along. The owl nearly always had a scowl on its face, despite not actually being capable of scowling. And it bit her every time. Without fail. This was why she had taken to calling the bird Adri Jr. in secret, in honor of her also sour stepmother.

Against her will, hope bubbled up in Cinder's stomach. Maybe Adri Senior would let her go to Hogsmeade for the first time, even though her peers had been allowed to go since their 3rd year. For the first time, however, she felt a certain irrepressible desire to go. The fact that Kai had asked her to go with him had itched at the back of her mind for the entire trek back to the Slytherin dungeons. It was harder to comprehend the more she thought about it – Gryffindor pureblooded Head Boy son-of-the-minister Kai Prince had asked her on a date. Her being a Slytherin Muggle-born disabled girl. Many times she questioned whether or not it had actually happened or if it had been some twisted trick her brain played on itself. She and Kai barely knew each other, after all, yet he was asking her on a date.

Cinder's fingers trembled as she opened the letter. She took a quick skim of it, heart sinking to the bottom of her body. The flimsy paper fluttered to the ground as she glanced up, abruptly catching her refection in the mirror. She stared at it, surprised at the sting of tears she felt. Blinking rapidly, she frowned. It wasn't like there would ever be anything between her and Kai. They were too different to function. Even if she could go to Hogsmeade and on the date, there was no way they would last. He was leaving school next year, anyways. And they had only known each other for two days. All signs pointed to it being a helpless cause.

And yet.

The soft touch of his fingers on her waist replayed in her mind.

Adri wouldn't let her go. And in three seconds, she promised herself she would be okay with that. She and Kai would never work out. Not in a million years. This was just saving her the heartbreak.

The day of the Hogsmeade trip arrived quickly. Cinder hadn't spoken to Kai since she had declined his invitation. This saddened her more than she would have liked to admit. Not only had she turned down her crush, but she also lost a friend. That loss stung the most for she had so few friends.

One of them was Iko, who she had opted to sit near at breakfast rather than sit secluded at the Slytherin table. Soon, though, Iko would have to go to Hogsmeade along with ninety nine percent of the student body. Together they walked to the doors of the school, where a cluster of other students waited to begin on their walk to Hogsmeade.

"I really wish you could go, Cinder. It just won't be the same without you," whined Iko. She would be going with some of her Ravenclaw friends, as she always did. Iko knew Cinder better than she knew them, though, and regularly complained about them. Cinder suspected she was just trying to make her feel better.

"You say that as if I've ever went," Cinder said, a bit of regretful laughter following her statement. The Professors began to call the attention of the students, signaling that they would begin walking down very soon. Iko hugged Cinder goodbye before wandering off to find her friends.

Cinder began to move away from the crowd, stepping backwards. Of their own accord, her eyes started to search the crowd for a pair of familiar copper colored eyes. She frowned when she failed to find him, confused. It was likely he'd be there – possibly with another date. The thought twisted her stomach with dread.

Feeling a hand reach out to stop her, she spun around quickly, wanting to see the offender. Already growing hot, she found herself face to face with precisely the person she had been looking for. For a moment she was caught off guard by his stare, and his hand on her waist again.

He too began to blush, ears turning pink. "Uh, sorry. You were about to trip over my foot," said Kai, his lips turning up in a reluctant smile.

"Oh. Thanks," she said, uncertain. She remembered the way he had avoided her for the past few days, and it served to quell the fluttering butterflies in her stomach.

"So, uh, what are you doing here?" Kai asked, eyes flashing with hurt and dejection. She suddenly realized that it probably looked like she was going to Hogsmeade and had just lied about not being able to, just so she wouldn't have to go with him. She shook her head, trying to save face.

"I was only here to say goodbye to Iko." He seemed to inflate a bit at that. Cinder was glad and shot him a half smile. He returned it. Once again, the Professors yelled for attention from all of the students. They shouted something about permission slips and lining up with the head of your house.

"That's my cue, I guess. I'll, um, see you around, Cinder." At least he called her Cinder. She considered that to be a victory of some kind. Waving goodbye, he walked away and over to the head of Gryffindor house. To his receding back, she waved in return before heading off on her own way. This day alone would be good for her, she thought. The Slytherin Common room would be empty and she could catch up on some homework. The library would be empty too. These attempts to cheer herself up were in vain – she had all of her homework finished and she had no desire to hunker over ancient texts in a dusty old room.

Resigned to a boring day alone in the Common Room, she limped her way back. For some reason, daydreams of sneaking out into Hogsmeade and going on a date with Kai took over her mind. She basically floated to the Slytherin dungeons. When she entered the Common Room, she didn't expect to see another student in there. She vaguely recognized him after years of living together. The most she could remember about him was that he was in his seventh year, and had a knack for mischief. Once he had found his way into the seventh year girls' dorm. There had been a lot of screaming that day.

The boy was rather handsome, if she had been attracted to the dark-hair-blue-eyes-bad-boy trope. He flashed her a cocky grin, obviously one that had taken years to perfect. Eying him suspiciously, she sat down on the couch across from him, and opened the book she had been carrying since breakfast that morning.

Her mind was still racing with plans to sneak off into Hogsmeade, though she doubted they would ever be realized. She needed a second person if she wanted to get anything done – and then it hit her. The only other person she knew who wasn't at Hogsmeade and who appeared to be entirely free – the boy sitting across from her.

Once again, she stared at hm. He caught her gaze and held it, a smirk tugging at his lips. Cinder got the distinct impression he thought she was attracted to him.

"I know you must want to cement this face into your memory, but staring is a bit rude, don't you think?" he said, smirk now more pronounced than ever.

Cinder rolled her eyes, but a thought occurred to her. If he could sneak into the girls' dorms, which were charmed to protect again boys just like him, then obviously he could sneak into Hogsmeade. With a jolt, she also remembered his name – Thorne. Carswell Thorne.

"So. Thorne. What do you say about helping me sneak into Hogsmeade?" she said, eyebrow rising in challenge. He seemed like the kind of person who was unable to turn down a challenge.

His smirk broke into a grin. "You're on."