Krys ran towards the headmaster's office and skidded to a halt in front of the gargoyles that guarded the entrance.
"Crap!" she said angrily as she realized she didn't know the password. She threw her bag down on the ground in frustration.
"Temper, temper." She whipped around to see a smirking Malfoy shaking his finger at her.
"Malfoy," she spat, "Leave me alone."
"Now, why would I want to do that? It's not often I get you all to myself, Ms. Meadows." He said, silkily, walking towards her.
"First and last time, Malfoy," she said, pulling out her wand.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that." He said, smiling evilly. Before she could respond or retaliate, the gargoyles slid open and Professor Dumbledore walked out.
"I thought I heard voices." He said calming surveying the scene. Malfoy had moved even closer to Krys, and she held her wand out in front to ward him off. At Dumbledore's appearance, Krys had turned to greet the tall headmaster. Malfoy had taken advantage of her moment of inattention to grab her hand and quickly kiss it.
"Until next time, Ms. Meadows." He said in that slimy, creepy way of his.
"You little rat!" she said, raising her wand, only to have Dumbledore lay a hand gently on her arm, lowering it.
"Mr. Malfoy is quite the gentleman, isn't he?" Dumbledore said, watching Malfoy's retreating back. She was about to retort hotly when she saw that he was making fun of her.
"Now, if you'll kindly follow me, we'll go up to my office for our meeting." She followed him quietly, still seething from her most recent encounter with Malfoy. She was debating whether or not to tell Sirius. She doubted that he would react positively, so it was probably best if she just didn't mention it. Then it would be more like it didn't happen. Dumbledore kindly held the door open for her as they stepped into his office.
"Professor, I'm so sorry for being late! I was studying in the library, and I lost track of time. I've just been so busy. And, then, I didn't know the password. And, Malfoy…" she said, tripping over her words in her rush to explain herself.
"Krysthalia," Dumbledore said, interrupting her excuses, "it's quite alright. Please, sit down. Now, how have you been?" He sat down across from her and looked at her closely.
"Good. Just a little busy. But, I've been feeling fine. I mean, no offense, sir, but, I'm not even sure why we still have these meetings." She replied.
"Oh?" he said, an eyebrow slightly arched.
"Well, yeah. I mean, I haven't had an…episode in about two years. Not that I don't enjoy our time together, though. I definitely do." She didn't mean to offend the older wizard, just point out the obvious.
"As do I." he said smiling, " Well, though you may no longer require our meetings, I look forward to our time together. I would really like it if we continued having our chats." She smiled at him, knowing that he was just humoring her.
"I suppose that would be alright."
"So, you'll be coming of age soon." He began, conversationally.
"My birthday is right in the middle of winter holidays! I hope Mum and Dad will be back by then." She said, she hadn't even thought of that.
"Oh, I'm sure they will be. It's not likely that they'll miss their only daughter's most important birthday." Dumbledore said, quite confidently. He knew the Meadows well. He had taught the couple when they were students at Hogwarts. He had also been involved in Krysthalia's adoption and was the reason she was the youngest in her year. Krys hadn't received the traditional letter of acceptance on her eleventh birthday. She started at Hogwarts when she was ten years old. Dumbledore had brought her to the school a week into the school year. It had been decided that it would be easier for him to keep an eye on her if she was at Hogwarts. She remembered sitting in the same office a little over six years ago, extremely nervous, as Dumbledore explained that she would be in Gryffindor and all of her belongings were already in the tower.
Their time together passed quickly, as it always did. Professor Dumbledore was a fascinating wizard and had much to teach her. They ended the session with their traditional deep breathing exercise, and she stood to leave. She spotted the Sorting Hat on her way out, it had been moved from its usual position. Dumbledore followed her gaze.
"Ah, yes. I should probably put that back where it belongs." he said, picking up the Hat. In answer to her questioning look, he continued.
"I was playing with it earlier." She paused before opening the door.
"Professor? How do you know that I'm in the right House? I mean, what would the Hat have said to me?" she asked, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer. She had asked herself that question a lot, but was always too afraid to voice it out loud. She had never been properly sorted. Dumbledore had decided what House she was to be in himself. He smiled at her kindly.
"Krysthalia, I'm positive that you're exactly where you belong." Though it didn't answer her questions completely, Krys was still reassured by his answer. She opened the door and paused again.
"Professor? What would you like for Christmas?"
"Oh, you certainly don't have to get me anything." He said, chuckling.
"I know. But, you know Mum will send something for sure. It might as well be something you would like." He thought a second before answering.
"Socks," he said, "I never get enough socks." She laughed.
"Alright. Socks it is. Goodnight, Professor." With that she left his office and went straight to her Common Room.
She didn't see anyone there that she wanted to talk to, well, except for Peter. With a quick wave to him, she continued up the stairs to her room. She collapsed, exhausted, on her bed. Her sessions with Dumbledore always left her feeling drained. She planned to just close her eyes for a second. When Lily entered the room hours later, she found Krys in a deep sleep, still in her school robes. She smiled at her friend and covered her with a blanket. That girl really needs to take it easy with the studying. She's going to wear herself out, she thought to herself before slipping into her own bed and falling quickly asleep.
The next day was chaotic. It was the day of the Gryffindor and Slytherin match, and everyone was excited. Taunts and jeers rang through the hallways as both sides exchanged unpleasantries. It was tradition for teams to try and psych each other out before a big game, but this year seemed even more intense. Krys and Lily had to stop Sirius from hexing a Slytherin more than once before lunch time. Peter made sure to stick close to one of the other boys. The Slytherins had figured out that he was the weakest one and always picked on him first. James and Sirius tried to make him stand up for himself, but to no avail. Remus, on the other hand, simply protected the less competent boy. Luckily, they only had a half day of classes.
After lunch, everyone made their way to the Quidditch field. The group said Good Luck to their oddly quiet friend James as he broke off to join the rest of the Gryffindor team. Krys had little doubt that he was ready to win. He had been practicing non stop. The game was actually supposed to have been the weekend before, but it had been rescheduled because of an injury. One of the Slytherin beaters had been in the hospital wing, though Krys had no idea why. James had welcomed the extra time to practice, but one look at the determination on his face showed that he was ready to get down to business. Krys spotted Frank and Alice in the bleachers saving the rest of them seats, and she led everyone over to them. As they made themselves comfortable on the freezing cold seats, Cheryl made her way to them.
"Hey guys!" she said as everyone greeted her enthusiastically. She sat down at the end next to Remus. With Samantha on one side and Cheryl on the other, Remus looked faintly uncomfortable, though Krys had no idea why. She had thought for a while that Remus might be interested in Cheryl, but, after he told her of his feelings for Samantha, she had dismissed the idea. On the pitch, Madame Hooch blew her whistle indicating the start of the match. All eyes turned to the players soaring through the air. It started out routinely enough, but the match quickly turned dirty. Slytherin Beaters were aiming for anything that was moving, specifically the heads of the opposing teams Chasers. Luckily, the Gryffindor Beaters were doing their best to retaliate, aiming Bludger after Bludger at the cheating players. Krys kept her eyes on James, whenever she could see him. He was too fast to get hit by a Beater, but she still worried about what other underhand tactics the Slytherin team might have up its sleeve. Sirius didn't seem worried about his best friend, at all. Of course, it wasn't often that Sirius seemed worried. The sky darkened, never a good sign during a Quidditch game. As icy snow began to fall, Madame Hooch blew her whistle for a time out. The teams reconvened on the ground. Krys looked at the Slytherin huddle to see Malfoy talking and staring at James with malice. Before she could point out the evil grin on his face to Sirius, the teams were back into the air. More than anything else the players had done so far, the way Malfoy had stared at James scared her the most. She just grabbed Lily's hand and squeezed tightly, hoping that the game would be over soon. And, as though he had heard her thoughts, James turned into a sharp dive, obviously spotting the Golden Snitch. Malfoy saw the sudden movement and started to follow James, but, he was clearly too far behind. James pulled out of his nosedive inches from the ground, Golden Snitch in hand. He landed and held it up for the audience to see. There was a huge swell of noise as Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs applauded the victory.
While everyone was staring at the incredibly happy James, Krys looked at Malfoy who was still mid dive. She squinted against the snow to see him more clearly. She saw him reach inside his robes and pull out his wand, pointing it at James. Oh no, you don't! she thought angrily. That little piece of slime! Anger clouded her vision, she heard herself scream James's name, felt a surge of energy that left her feeling drained. She stumbled a bit, only to have Sirius immediately steady her. He looked at her concerned, but, instead of a response, she simply turned and pointed to the pitch. Hurtling towards the celebrating Gryffidor team, and the hard, cold ground, was Malfoy. His wand was still in his hand, but he had clearly lost control of his broom. There was no other explanation for the look of terror on his face and the breakneck speed at which he was going. Shit, Krys thought, looking at the result of her anger. She looked away, not wanting to see the accident that would surely occur. But, instead of the bone crunching noise she expected, she heard a collective sigh as everyone around her stopped holding their breath. She turned to see Dumbledore standing on the pitch, wand aimed carefully at Malfoy, lowering him slowly to the ground. Shit, shit, shit, she thought again. She was going to be in so much trouble for this. She made her way down to James with the rest of her friends, though what she really wanted to do was run and hide. She half heartedly congratulated James, though he was too elated to notice, and before she could leave, she felt a hand on her shoulders.
"Ms. Meadows, can I have a minute?" Dumbledore looked down at her seriously. She nodded nervously. As soon as they had walked out of earshot of the other students, she started trying to explain herself for the second time in two days.
"He was pointing his wand at James! He was going to hurt him, I know it! And, I was just so angry at him about last night, and last week, and I just don't know what happened! I didn't mean to do it! Honest!" she said, sincerely hoping that he believed her. "I guess this means that I definitely still need our meetings," she finished lamely.
"I'll say," he said, but there was no amusement in his voice, "Krysthalia, maybe we need to increase our sessions back to once a week."
"Yes, Professor." She said, hanging her head, feeling that she had let him down.
"We'll talk about it when you get back from holidays." He said, more kindly. He knew that she hadn't meant for that to happen.
"Now, go have fun with your friends. I'm sure they'll be looking for you to start the party." She smiled weakly at him.
"See you after the holidays, Professor." She made her solitary way back to the Gryffindor tower. Even before she entered the Fat Lady's hallway, she could hear the party that was surely occurring in the Gryffindor common room. She turned the corner to see Lily kissing a Ravenclaw on the cheek. Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that, Krys thought, really confused as to what was going on. She wasn't the only one. Right then, James turned the corner at the other end of the hallway.
"What the hell is going on?!" He said, very loudly. Both Lily and the boy jumped at the sound of his voice. They turned and tried to explain at the same time, but James wasn't in any mood to listen.
"Get out!" he yelled at the poor boy, who after an apologetic look at Lily, turned and fled. Krys flattened against the wall to let him pass, trying not to draw attention to herself.
"What the hell?" James repeated, a little bit softer, "Who is that? What do you think you're playing at?"
"Well, first of all, I don't really know that it's any of your business." Lily said, embarrassed that he had caught her but way too proud to admit it.
"None of my business? What do you mean 'None of my business'?" James yelled.
"That's exactly what I mean!" Lily yelled back, "What? It's not like we're dating! If you can kiss other girls, why can't I kiss other boys?"
"Other girls? What are you talking about, crazy woman! And, the only reason we're not dating is because you're too goddamn stubborn!" he shouted, clearly not aware that he wasn't helping his case.
"Too stubborn, am I?? Well, the only reason I was in this hallway was because I was looking for you! So, you're the reason I was in this mess!" She said, getting pretty worked up.
"You were looking for me?" James said, too incredulous to be angry any more.
"Yeah," Lily answered, a little quieter to match James's lowered voice, "I was."
"But, then why were you kissing that guy?" James demanded, a valid question in Krys's view. Why had she been kissing some random guy if she was looking for James?
"What are you accusing me of? What? You think I'm some kind of slut?" Lily said, clearly overreacting to the question.
"What?? I never said that! That's not what I meant!" James said, trying to recover.
"Whatever, just forget it. I don't even know why I bothered looking for you in the first place." Lily said, turning to climb into the portrait hole.
"Fine! Leave! What do I care what you do! You can kiss anyone you want! It's fine by me!" James said angrily as she disappeared into the Common Room. He paced around the hallway for a few minutes, trying to cool off before joining the celebration. Then, with a deep breath, he climbed into the Common Room, too, to shouts of congratulations. Krys waited a few minutes before following him. She was still confused about what had just happened. It was obvious that Lily cared for James, so what was she doing? And, why was James yelling at her instead of trying to find out what was going on? She looked around the room and saw Lily at the edge of a circle of girls, clearly preoccupied. Krys started to make her way towards her when she felt someone grab her arm. She turned to see Sirius grinning at her.
"Where have you been?" He asked, kissing her on the cheek.
"Oh, um, nowhere," she answered. She tried to smile at him, but it looked more like a grimace.
"What is up with you two?" He asked, looking from her to someone on his other side. Krys looked around him to see James. She quickly looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with him. She felt bad for eavesdropping on his "conversation" with Lily.
"Nothing." James said, clearly upset about something.
"Well, great then." Sirius said, sarcastically, "Come on, let's try and have some fun." He dragged the two over to the group of girls in the middle, and beckoned for Remus to join them. Naturally, Peter followed. Lily looked up as they approached, then quickly looked away, pretending to enjoy herself, but not very well. Lily had never been very good at lying to friends. Sirius looked from her to Krys, who was still shaken by earlier, to James, who was glowering, to Remus who, for some reason, looked very preoccupied.
"What the hell is going on with you guys?" he asked, very confused.
"Nothing," all of them mumbled at the same time, proving his point.
"Nothing's wrong with me, Sirius." Peter squeaked.
"Yeah, well, it looks like we're the only ones, Peter," Sirius said, still surveying the group, "Come on. Let's go join the real party. We'll leave these kids to wallow by themselves. I think the sadness is infectious." Krys gave him a faint smile, and kissed him on the cheek as he led Peter away. This was going to be a long night.
A/N: First, I wanted to say thank you to my very first reviewer ever!
Thanks Ainulin! I'm glad you like it so far!
Oh, and I know that James is supposed to be a Chaser. I didn't figure that out until after I finished this chapter! Sorry about that! It just works better this way!
Please review, and tell me what you guys think!