Review Replies:
I forgot to do this last chapter;; Sorry! They're all here now.
Shades of Gray: That's okay, everybody gets busy. Thanks for being so frequent a reviewer! It's nice to see the same people coming back, haha. Most of all I'm glad that you approve of my character choices! I hope that you continue to enjoy them. And I'm glad you think it's overall good.
PokGirl on a ds: Lolol whoops. Sorry. I try to update as quickly as I can, but I also want to make sure the chapters are somewhat quality. Unfortunately with writing, quick never equals quality.
liz was here: I love Black Adventures, so yes, that was definitely a reference. Mary and Joseph will be back in later chapters OMG BUT WHYYYY. And you're very sweet! I'm glad that you enjoy my writing. C: I hope you continue to do so.
Alicericetarddomolovesyou: You'll see pretty quickly what a disaster Brock teaching is. AND N WILL NOT CHANGE. NOT REALLY. HE'LL JUST HAVE MOMENTS WHERE HE'S NOT ENTIRELY LIKE HIMSELF DUE TO FEELS.
Ashes: Yep, Steven's the Lupin. Though his character arc won't be the same as Lupin's. Bwahaha, yes, the isshushipping is definitely happening.
I love you all so much for taking the time to review! It really makes my day to read feedback.
—
This chapter is a monster.
In its thirty pages, you will find an abundance of sexual tension, strange teenage behaviour that seems completely illogical and a lot of Black and N fighting due to liking each other so much it's weird. Even those two aside, there's so much ship teasing that I'm not even sure if I could list it all if I carefully checked.
The hormones have emerged.
The shipping is here.
Be afraid.
The Patronus
When Red looked at his timetable the next morning, he realised that the universe hated him. First thing he had two hours of Potions with Volkner. Red wasn't particularly looking forward to two hours of being glared at with the occasional hissed remark about being just like his arrogant bitch of a mother.
"At least we've got new classes today," Gold said. "Divination should be interesting."
Black scoffed. "I can't believe that you're wasting time on Divination."
Red had honestly only signed up for it because the alternatives had all sounded more difficult or painfully dull. It helped that both Gold and N had also signed up for it.
"Look at the professor though," Gold said, nodding at the sandy-haired man wrapped in a purple scarf that looked to have been torn and bloodied. "Doesn't he look like a freak?"
"Yeah," Black agreed. "Cheren says he's not a real Seer, he just fakes it to get attention."
"Everybody says that about Seers," N said. "They just can't accept that some people are able to see what they can't see."
Black raised his eyebrows. "Right. Sure. I suppose you think you're one, then?"
"Not think," N retorted. "I know."
"Then why didn't you see it coming that you're a wizard?" Black asked. "Or that Bugsy was a Rocket? Or that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets wasn't Reshiram?"
Red expected N to punch Black, but amazingly he remained calm and replied, "It doesn't work like that. I can't pick what I see. Besides, if it really was the most ridiculous subject, then why would Red and Gold both have decided to study it as well?"
Black rolled his eyes. "I wonder."
"At least I'm trying it before forming an opinion," N sniffed.
Red pulled Aero's PokéBall from his belt and pointedly started to toy with it.
"Hey, I'm doing Muggle Studies," Black retorted. He scanned his own timetable. "Which is… wait, it's on at the same time as Divination."
"So it is," N said.
"Aren't you doing it too?" Black asked.
N nodded. "Along with Arthimancy and Ancient Runes."
Black snatched at N's timetable. N quickly scrunched it up and tossed it in his bag.
"How are you gonna do that?" Black asked. "You can't do two classes at once."
N sighed sadly. "Your mind is so narrow." He picked up his bag, stood up, smoothed out his skirt and walked off.
"He's just showing off," Black muttered. "There's no way he's allowed to do that…"
Red replaced Aero's PokéBall. Pika climbed up his arm and sat on his shoulder. "Let's just get Potions over with."
"At least Alder Fuery won't turn up there," Gold brightly said as they walked. "Even he'd be afraid of Volkner's bitching."
"Or Volkner's poetry," Red said.
"Which is a lot like being tortured, but far less kind," Black contributed. "I hope he's calmed down a bit this year."
Volkner hadn't. He walked into the room, sighed irritably at the sight of Red, told them to create 'that boring waste of a potion on page five' and sat behind his desk in a cloud of angst. Since N had apparently decided he was above consorting with the peasantry again, he was working with Wally, who had a habit of following N's orders perfectly. This had a particularly tragic side-effect in that Blue, of all people, had immediately grabbed Black and dragged him to her cauldron, cooing about how she'd always wanted to work with 'a strong brave Gryffindor'. Black looked particularly terrified whenever Blue batted her eyelashes at him.
It didn't help that N kept laughing.
When Volkner looked up and told them to get out already, N was already halfway out of the room.
"Nice legs on him, huh?" Blue remarked loudly to Black.
"I don't know!" Black indignantly cried.
Red had the decency to not laugh because he was such a good friend. Gold didn't and loudly called, "Have fun with that, Black! We're going to see how hot N'll be in the future!"
Red was glad that N wasn't around to hear that.
They caught up with N on the third-floor corridor, where he was toying with the gold chain of a necklace. Red knew N wore a lot of jewellery, but he didn't recall seeing a golden one before. N tucked it away under his shirt as they approached and said, "I think North Tower's up this way."
None of them had ever been to North Tower before, yet N led them there with no problems. Perhaps he really did have some kind of prophetic abilities.
The Divination classroom was almost pitch black. There was a row of candles on the mantle above the fireplace, which held only dying embers, and then a single candle on a large round table in the centre of the room. There was no sign of Morty.
"Creeeepy," Gold muttered.
They sat around the table in silence. Sound seemed to carry too far to be allowed.
The embers in the fireplace blazed to life, suddenly emerald. Out of the stepped Morty. Hovering by his side was a grinning and giggling gengar.
"Hello," Morty said. "Good of you to join me in the study of the future. It is not an easy thing to study. You will have to work hard to even begin to comprehend the art of how to read what could be, what may be, what will be."
Red was already confused.
"This is not an exact subject," Morty continued. "It is not like Transfiguration or Potions, where a book will tell you all you need to know. You will have to think. You will have to analyse. You will make mistakes. You will be called a fraud. But if you continue with your study, you will be rewarded."
Red really didn't know what to think. A look at Gold's face told him that Gold didn't either, but N was eating it all up.
Morty flicked his wand. A giant pot of tea appeared in the centre of the table. He flicked it again. A cup and saucer appeared before every student.
"We will start with the reading of tea leaves."
The room brightened. They were each poured a cup of tea and instructed to drink it quickly. It burned Red's throat but he still drained the cup as per Morty's instructions.
"Now pass your cup to your partner," Morty instructed.
Red traded cups with Gold. He studied the tealeaves. They looked like tealeaves. He turned the cup around, frowned, before consulting his copy of the textbook.
"See anything?" Gold asked.
"I'm gonna say that this cup means you'll hate leaf tea by the end of the semester," Red said, setting it down.
Gold grinned. "Oh, you must be a Seer." He tiled Red's cup. "I think I see a pokémon. Maybe you really will be a Master."
"Hmm," Red said. He didn't like the idea of having his future decided by a cup — not even his ideal one.
Morty swooped over. "Are you having trouble?" he kindly asked Gold.
"Bit," Gold said. "Guess I just don't have the Inner Eye."
"Don't give up so easily," Morty said. "It's hard work. Let me see if I can help you." He looked into the cup, gasped, and dropped it. The porcelain shattered, the soggy leaves oozing onto the floor in the same shape as before.
"…uh?"
"I'm sorry," Morty whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."
"What?" Red asked.
Morty shook his head. "Perhaps I shouldn't say… no, I must. I regret to inform you that your cup contained, the… the Grim."
Gasps rang around the table.
"The what?" Red sighed.
"The Grim," Morty continued. "The omen of death. Finding the Grim in your cup… it does not bode well for your life, for your future of what life you have left, I'm afraid."
Red raised his eyebrows. "Okay."
"I'm glad you can be so calm," Morty said. "Tell me, have you seen one? A Grim?"
"I don't know what they look like," Red said.
"An absol," Morty said.
Red's eyes widened. "Oh. Yeah, I have."
Morty gasped. Behind him, the gengar was cackling. "Oh, I'm so, so sorry. I'm so sorry."
Red shrugged.
"You don't seem to…" Morty shook his head. "Oh, you brave boy."
The lesson continued with a much darker tone. Red didn't know what to think. Absol were the symbol of death? But Red wasn't sure that he would die just because a cup said so. He was called the Boy Who Lived for a reason.
As soon as Morty dismissed them, N grabbed his bag and rushed to the ladder. He was waiting for them at lunch, but as was their usual, Red and Gold decided not to comment on N's strange behaviour until it became concerning rather than just weird. N's rushing around probably had to do with his extra classes, like gathering books or meeting teachers to get lesson notes. Red wasn't particularly keen to think about it — not after having so casually been informed that he was going to die young.
Transfiguration was after class, and Clair immediately launched into a difficult explanation of how witches and wizards could learn to transform into animals. She demonstrated by turning into a dragonair, but Red wasn't particularly interested in a dragonair he couldn't catch.
"You guys should be applauding," Clair scowled after she changed back. "I'm a friggin' pokémagus, show a suitable level of awe."
Half-hearted applause broke out.
Clair sighed heavily. "Oh, what happened? Red, this is something you did, isn't it?"
"…kind of…?"
"Professor Morty says Red's gonna die young, and probably soon," Gold explained.
Black groaned loudly. To everybody's surprise, Clair did too.
"Ignore Morty," Clair said. "He's an idiot." Seeing their sceptical looks, she insisted, "Really, he is. He vouched for Eusine and encouraged Oak to hire him."
"Ohhh," rang out around the room.
Clair nodded with satisfaction. "Now then, pay attention. There have been only seven registered pokémagi in the past century, and I'm one of them, so I know all you'd need to know about this branch of self-transfiguration. It's a particularly tricky brand, and…"
Part of Red was relieved that Morty was apparently a moron, but another part of him couldn't forget the absol he'd seen back in Pallet. The image of the glowing eyes stayed in his mind even as they crossed the grounds to their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson.
It turned out Red had been right to fear Brock substituting for the Care of Magical Creatures professor. All the Third-Year Gryffindors and Slytherins spent their approach muttering in fear. The Gryffindors, however, arrived on time. Brock was grinning at them from in front of his hut and waving.
"How can he see us?" Wally whimpered.
Red shrugged.
"Hello there," Brock called when they were halfway there. "I've got the best lesson ever planned."
"If it's anything to do with breeding…" Black muttered.
"We'll be studying the result of a breeding experiment of mine!"
Black groaned. Wally whimpered. N growled.
The Sytherins finally joined them. Green sneered at Red.
"This way!" Brock cheerfully called.
He was leading them into the Forbidden Forest. Red knew from first-hand experience that the forest was forbidden for good reasons; the pokémon in the forest were very large, definitely not happy and very much liked to bite.
This was definitely not good.
Brock stopped at a clearing that thankfully wasn't too far into the forest. What Red wasn't so thankful about was the giant orange creature standing there. It looked unlike anything Red had ever seen; it had the thick body and thin legs of a horse, a very long neck and a large reptilian head. It was covered in smooth skin rather than scales or fur, it had fangs that hung down past its jaw, and a long tail swishing around ended in a brightly burning flame. Stretched around it were two scaly wings like a charizard's.
Red's face met his palm. This couldn't be happening.
Brock smiled at the strange lizard-horse creature. For a split second, Red swore his eye-slits became love-hearts as Brock purred, "Isn't she beautiful?"
"What did you do?" N demanded.
"Oh, it took a while, but I bred a charizard with a rapidash until they combined to this! I'm thinking of calling it a charidash, or a rapizard…"
"Did the charizard and rapidash like it?" N asked.
"Of course. Everybody likes breeeeeding."
N looked sceptical.
"It's not finished yet," Brock continued. "I'd like to take this one, she's a girl and she's gorgeous and her name is Lizzie, and cross-breed her with a golem so her skin's covered in rocks."
Red tried to lift his face from his palm, but the weight of his exasperation was too great.
"What Type of pokémon would that make it?" Brock asked.
Silence.
"…why would you do that?" Green asked.
Brock ignored him. "Well, Red? What do you think?"
Red sighed. "Rock/Fire."
"Yeah! Exactly! Unless it's Ground/Fire."
That didn't answer the 'why' question.
"So, Red, wanna ride it?" Brock asked.
Red shook his head.
"C'mon, it'd be better than flying with Aero," Brock said, still grinning.
"I don't fly with Aero," Red muttered.
"Why not? He's big enough."
Red shrugged. It was mostly to do with the fact that Aero still couldn't talk to Red like Pika could.
"C'mon, give it a try," Brock brightly said.
"Yeah, save Alder Fuery the bother of killing you," Green deadpanned.
Red glared at Green and climbed onto Lizzie's back. She growled slightly and stomped her clawed feet, muttering, "Too far."
Red shifted further up on her back. She stopped fussing.
"Better?" Red asked her.
"Better," she grunted.
Then she took to the air.
Red wrapped his arms tightly around her neck. Her skin was too smooth; there was nothing else to grab. Lizzie chortled. The wind was bashing at them, but the cold didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as it bothered Red. They soared around the castle, through the clouds and over the lake. Lizzie's feet dragged through the water, sending poliwag scuffling, and she laughed again. This time, Red laughed with her. She kept on descending until she smoothly landed on the ground, now running, before finally coming to a halt at Brock's side.
As he slid off Lizzie's back, Red decided that that had been pretty awesome. Maybe Brock did have some idea of what he was doing. Maybe this lesson wouldn't end horrible.
The lesson ended with Brock swearing and dragging a blood-covered Green up to the castle.
"He insulted the new pokémon," N matter-of-factly said. "I heard him. He deserved to be bitten."
"Didn't you say the pokémon was an abomination created by the worst of Trainer scum?" Black asked, frowning.
N shrugged. "I changed my mind."
"That was like, two minutes ago."
"I changed my mind."
Black didn't ask any more questions, but Gold still felt it necessary to loudly ask, "Trouble in paradise?"
"Paradise?" N scoffed. "What paradise would there be with him?"
Black stopped walking altogether. N started walking faster.
"This isn't good," Red muttered.
As their first week back went on, Black and N started saying less and less to each other until they simply stopped talking. It was pretty annoying to always have to work with N, who would rant very quickly about everything Red was doing wrong in words that Red didn't even understand, but every time Black's name came up N feigned deafness.
Similarly, Brock was in utter disgrace. Letting loose an illegal creation on school children was one thing, but letting it bite through the headmaster's grandson's arm was another. Green claimed Lizzie's fangs had punctured his tendons and that he was in the worst pain anybody had ever been in, but Red was sceptical. He'd regrown all of the bones in an entire arm the year before; Nurse Joy could fix anything.
Red snuck down to visit Brock that evening. He found Brock sobbing into a cup of gourmet tea.
"I just want to be cooool," Brock sobbed. "And the best breeder in the woooorld."
"You are," Red said. "Most people can't cross-bred pokémon like that, can they?"
Brock gurgled.
After an awkward half-hour of comforting, Red dashed back into the castle. Unfortunately, on the way back to the common room, he ran into Cheren.
"Red…" Cheren slowly groaned, face falling into a stern scowl. "Nobody can make you take this Alder Fuery thing seriously, but he will kill you. Don't you understand that?"
"I'm not scared to die," Red replied. "And I'm not scared of Alder."
Cheren pushed his glasses up his nose. "Aren't you scared of hurting or upsetting people?"
Red frowned. "So?"
"You dying would hurt a lot of people."
Red stared at Cheren for a long silent moment as the words sunk in. He wanted to apologise, but the words wouldn't leave his mouth. Instead, he turned and ran up to Gryffindor Tower.
Black and N were sitting on opposite ends of the common room not talking to each other. Gold was compromising by ignoring them and talking to Sapphire.
Sighing, Red walked up to their room. He pulled Pika down from his head and wrapped his arms tightly around him, flopping down on his bed. Pika kicked against Red, deliberately hitting Aero's PokéBall. Aero burst out, crouched awkwardly on Red's bed, and wrapped his wings around Red's shoulders.
Red found that sharing a bed with an electric rodent and a pokémon taller than he was wasn't so bad. It made him feel safe enough to close his eyes…
He was in a room with white walls. The window was open, the sheer curtains gently wafting in the pleasantly cool breeze. Red looked out the window to find a beach with white sands and flat, deep waters. It was a very relaxing place to be. Red just wanted to stay by the window, enjoying the breeze and the soft sounds of the waves — so of course he was interrupted by a scream.
The sunlight started fading. Red ran from the room, down the stairs, to what he assumed was a living room, it was so dark that he could hardly see, but he could just make out a tall woman due to her long pale blonde hair. She was the one screaming. She was bent over, covering something, but the fog was closing in and Red could see no more. He could still hear, though.
"No, not Red!" the woman screamed.
"You could always have another one," a bored but very smooth male voice replied. "Give me that one and you can live to have the chance."
"No! Never!"
The man sighed, but his voice didn't sound upset at all. "Well, I tried."
There was a flash of green light. Red sat up. Pika was sleeping peacefully by his side. Aero had fallen off the bed and lay on the ground, growl-snoring. The curtains were glowing a faint purple.
Carefully, Red climbed over Aero. His legs were shaking. He went to the curtains and opened them.
Hovering outside was a long, humanoid creature – but it was too long, too thin and Red couldn't see its face, only its skeletal hands, which were outstretched and dripping wax. Red quickly closed the curtains again. He sat down on the ground. So that was a dementor.
And that was what his mother sounded like. That had been Cynthia's screaming.
Red pulled his knees to his chest and sat there until daybreak, trying to get his mother's screams out of his head — and fighting the strange desire to find more dementors so he could hear more.
Red had never been more miserable at Hogwarts. His best friends weren't speaking to each other, he couldn't go anywhere without turning around to find a teacher nearby watching him, even Brock was a constant emotional wreck due to regular threatening letters from Archer Oak, and most of all, Red couldn't fall asleep without dreaming of his mother's last moments. Red had gotten over his initial morbid curiosity and reached a level of great self-disgust. So his mother had a deeper voice than he'd imagined. So he knew what she sounded like, what she looked like and some of the things she'd liked at Hogwarts. It didn't matter. Red still didn't know her, and he never would, and there was no point getting upset about that. Yet the dreams kept coming. All Red could think to do to stop them was trying not to sleep at all, but sleep always crept up and caught him.
On the first Wednesday of term, the Third-Years had their first class with Steven Stone. Red was both eager to get to class and dreading it. he was certain that he'd offended Steven on the train, but surely Steven would forgive him?
Red trailed back with Wally on the way to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Wally was worried and whispering, "What if we have to do something scary, like practice hexes? Or like duelling club? I don't think, I mean, what if it aggravates my asthma?"
"Take deep breaths from a paper bag?" Red suggested.
Wally frowned. "That doesn't work."
Red shrugged.
Steven wasn't in the classroom. Disappointed, Red sat in the seat beside Gold that Gold had been enthusiastically pointing out.
"Black says N's zorua tried to eat his stupid rat-thing again," Gold muttered to him. "I don't know why Black cares so much about it all of a sudden, it's beat up and old. It's even missing part of its paw."
"That's pretty cold," Red murmured. "I'd be pissed if Zöllner was trying to eat Pika."
"Hope so," Pika said.
Gold sighed. "Rats."
Red's retort was cut short when Steven entering the room. He surveyed the class, all either prepared with their textbooks out or quickly reaching to grab them and said, "No need for that. Today, we'll be having a practical lesson in the staffroom."
Red immediately decided that Steven was the coolest teacher ever.
They were led to the ground floor, then down the corridor to the staffroom. Steven didn't give them any more information about what exactly they'd be doing, but implied that it involved a magical creature.
When Steven opened the door, Red quickly glanced around the staffroom. It was very bare, except for an assortment of chairs. None of them matched. There was one very large wardrobe near the door, which was probably for the teachers to store cloaks or something more sinister if they were so inclined. The windows were particularly long; the room was extremely well lit. Red would have been more enthralled if not for realising that one of the chairs near the fireplace was occupied by Volkner.
"Sorry to disturb you," Steven said in a strangely strained voice. "You're welcome to stay if you'd like."
"I wouldn't like to stay," Volkner replied in a similarly strained voice. Red was pretty sure the words left unsaid were 'not with you in here'. Volkner stood up and quickly swept from the room.
Red looked up at Steven curiously, but Steven didn't look back at him.
"Well then," Steven loudly said, "Come in, it's this wardrobe here."
They formed a semi-circle around the wardrobe. The wardrobe immediately started to shake.
"Don't look so scared," Steven chuckled. "It's only a boggart."
Wally wheezed.
"Who can tell me what a boggart is?" Steven asked.
N didn't even bother raising his hand, just said, "A boggart is a magical creature that uses illusion to take the form of what its target fears most."
Steven looked surprised. "Somebody actually read the textbook? I'm awed. You'd better have thirty points, then."
N preened.
"So, as you may have correctly deduced, today I'll be teaching you how to combat a boggart," Steven continued. "If left undisturbed, a boggart is mostly harmless, but it can be shocking if you encounter one and don't know what to do. Imagine, opening a closet and out bursts your greatest fear."
There was a faint whimper. Red looked over at N, but N's face was set like stone.
"Of course, we're already at an advantage," Steven continued. "Has anybody spotted it — no, N, give somebody else a chance."
Crys raised her hand. "There's too many of us, and we've all different fears. It won't know what to turn into."
"Exactly, Crystal," Steven beamed. Red wondered when he'd learnt their names. "Ten points to Ravenclaw."
Crystal sent N a smug look.
Steven continued. "So here's what we'll do…"
They were to line up and take it in turns to face the boggart. Steven explained that half the trick to defeating a boggart was to picture something that would make what they feared less frightening.
"There's a spell to force the boggart to take this form, and that spell is riddikulus. It alone won't defeat a boggart; what finishes a boggart off is laughter."
There was something very profound in that.
"I'll give you all a moment to think of what the boggart would turn into when facing you and how you will make it more amusing," Steven said, stepping towards the wardrobe. "Think carefully. I'll be right here if you're in any trouble, but do try to be prepared."
Red wasn't sure. Contrary to Gold's beliefs, Red had been afraid. He's been afraid when going to get the Philosopher's Stone, when Black had been petrified, when he'd found Yellow half-dead on the floor of the Chamber… But how could he make any of those things funnier?
"Everybody ready?" Steven asked.
Red panicked. He wasn't ready. What was he most afraid of? Probably Giovanni coming back to power. But Red had defeated Giovanni three times already. Would it really be that difficult to do so again?
"I don't want to do it," N suddenly said.
"Sorry?" Steven said.
N stomped his foot. "I don't want to and you can't make me! I don't want to see that, I don't!" He then latched onto Red's arm and started to cry.
"…uh, I can deal with this," Red quickly said. He wrapped an arm awkwardly around N's shoulders as he sobbed.
"Yes, that'd be best," Steven said. "There's no pressure to complete this task if you feel uncomfortable. Sorry that I gave you the idea that there was, N."
Red carefully led N to a pair of seats at the back of the room. N sat down and buried his face in his hands.
"Uh, is it that bad?" Red asked.
"Bad enough to not want other people to see it," N replied in a surprisingly calm voice.
"…you're faking," Red realised.
"I'm heightening my reaction," N murmured.
Red suddenly had a very different view of the times N had burst into tears in front of him. Were any of them real? How would he be able to tell?
Steven spared them the occasional worried glance, but was otherwise occupied with their laughing classmates. Red was somewhat disappointed to not get to see what his classmates were scared of, but he was relieved to not have to face whatever it was that scared him. Shockingly, it was Wally who finished the boggart off; Red could tell from Steven's announcement of "Excellent, Wally! Thirty points!"
It was with that that N lifted his head from his hands. His eyes were red, so tears had clearly really fallen, but he smiled in triumph before quickly leaving the room.
Red was still having trouble processing how messed up N was when Steven dismissed the rest of the class. He waved off Gold and Black with a mutter of, "I need to talk to Steven about something."
After Eusine, it was good to have a teacher who knew what he was doing. A teacher who knew how to remedy the problems with dementors. Perhaps he'd know how to make Cynthia's screams leave Red's mind.
When everybody else had left, Red walked up to Steven. Steven looked up at Red and smiled weakly.
"Afternoon," he said.
"Hi," Red replied.
"You look tired," Steven observed.
Red shrugged.
"Is your friend okay?" Steven asked.
"Yeah."
"Glad to hear it," Steven said. "But are you okay? You look dead on your feet."
Red shrugged again. Suddenly this didn't seem like such a good idea. He wasn't sure what to say, or how to get out all he was feeling so that Steven knew and understood it. Red doubted that he even knew what he wanted.
"Dementors," Red finally muttered.
"Sorry?"
"Dementors," Red repeated. "There, there was one outside my room, so now I can't sleep because… can't. How do I get rid of them?"
Steven frowned. "The dementors?"
"That too," Red agreed. "Before, on the train, you stopped the… the…"
"Side-effects?"
"Yeah. So can you just, stop it for good?"
Steven's frown deepened. "No," he said. "You can't stop what dementors make you feel, think or remember. You can fight it, though."
"How?" Red asked.
"It's very advanced magic," Steven warned. "It took me a very long time to learn it, and many wizards never learn it at all."
"I'm not like most wizards," Red loudly said. "I hear it all the time. What good is it not being like most wizards if it doesn't mean I can do things they can't?"
Steven studied Red's face carefully. "Okay," he relented. "I'll teach you. Later, though," he quickly added. "Have you spoken to anybody else about this?"
Red shook his head.
"What about your friends?"
Red shook his head faster.
"Maybe you should," Steven sighed.
Red shook his head yet again. "No, they'll, they'll ask what it is, and then, they'll think that it's Alder. They'll think that I'm weak and afraid."
"Why would you think that?" Steven asked.
Red hesitated before replying, "They make me hear things. Like, my mother being killed."
Steven paled. He was staring at Red's face, expression alarmed. "You shouldn't remember that," he finally said. "You were only a year old."
"It's what I hear," Red mumbled.
Steven placed a hand on Red's shoulder. "I'll teach you the charm to ward dementors off — the Patronus Charm. I have no doubt that you'll be able to master it. In the meantime, make sure that you eat chocolate — it really does help with the side-effects."
Red slept that night. It was only for about four hours, but improvements were improvements.
Steven decided that their first anti-dementor lesson would take place that Friday night. Red was glad; the less time spent with either Black or N muttering at him about what a moron the other was and how clearly he was up to something, the better. Gold would be at the first quidditch practice of the season and Red didn't really have any other friends to hide behind. N, for that matter, didn't either, but Black had been spending more and more time with Cheren. Red hadn't realised that Black and Cheren were close, but it made some sort of sense. They both liked books.
Red arrived at Steven's office five minutes early. Steven wasn't irritated; he smiled and greeted Red. "Remember boggarts?"
Red nodded. "That was only two days ago."
Steven smiled. "We'll be practicing with one I found in Charon's broom closet. Can't have you attacking a real dementor, can we?"
"Can't we?" Red murmured.
Steven chuckled. "Unfortunately, because you fear it, the boggart will mimic the effects of a dementor. You will feel them all the same."
"Okay," Red said. "I guess I can deal with that." He pulled out his wand. "So, what's the spell?"
Steven stared at Red strangely for a moment before quickly shaking his head. "It's Expecto Patronum."
"Expecto Patronum," Red repeated.
"Exactly," Steven said. "But there's more to it than that. For the spell to work, you have to be picturing a happy memory."
"…seriously?"
Steven smiled and nodded. "It helps you fight the feeling the dementors create. Happiness destroys sadness. It brings hope. That's why."
Red stared vacantly. A happy memory? How could he think of one when his friends all hated each other, his cousin loathed him, some guy he'd never met was trying to kill him for something he didn't even remember doing and he was so closely watched as a result that he couldn't even go do pokémon Training?
"Is there any other way?" Red asked.
Steven frowned. "Red, I…" He shook his head. "There is no other way."
Sighing, Red looked over at Pika. He was hovering near the door, listening for Charon's purugly. Pika seemed determined to make Mrs Purr pay for last night, when she scratched Aero for flying in the hallways.
Red blinked. Of course. Aero. The moment Brock had given him Aero, Red had been so happy that he couldn't even think straight. It had been the moment his old dream of becoming a Pokémon Master had combined with his being a wizard — the moment he decided that he could and would do both.
"I got it," Red said.
Steven looked relieved. "Good. Try out the spell without a boggart first."
On the fifth attempt, Red's wand produced a cloud of silvery mist. It was pathetic. Red looked over at Steven, expecting disappointment and to be told that he wouldn't be able to fight off a dementor ever.
Steven was looking at Red strangely again. He was smiling widely, but there was something unusual in his eyes. They seemed to be gleaming.
"Good job," Steven said. "Fantastic. I've never seen somebody produce an incorporeal patronus so soon, or so young."
Red was certain that Steven was exaggerating.
"Keep trying a few more times," Steven said. "I'd like to give you more time to get used to the spell before we bring out the boggart dementor."
An hour later, Red could produce some quite large wisps of silver that almost seemed to be shaped like lightning bolts.
"Fantastic," Steven gushed. "You really are your mother's son."
Red looked up at him. "So, so you were my mum's friend? Not my dad's?"
Steven's grin became a small smile. "I was friends with both," he said. "But I didn't become your father's friend — or, close friend — until around fifth year."
Red hadn't know that was an option. "How come?"
Steven gave a small shrug. "That was when our interests became more compatible, I suppose."
Red hadn't known that that was an option, either.
"It's getting late," Steven said. "You should leave now, so you can avoid Charon and his cat. Your pikachu seems to have it in for them."
"He does," Red said. He put his wand away and picked Pika up. "See you later, Professor."
That strange look was back. "Just Steven is fine, Red."
Halfway to the dorm, Red realised what the look had been. It had been pride.
Red continued to have lessons with Steven every Friday night. Though his improvements were slow, he did learn a lot. Most of it was in regards to his parents. His father had been a prefect and then Head Boy. His mother had been Head Girl, but never a prefect. Despite being muggle-born, his mother had very quickly adapted to Hogwarts and many had believed her to be pureblood due to her prowess. The more Red heard about them, the less he thought he was like them; he wasn't particularly great at school or magic and he doubted he'd ever be prefect or Head Boy. He doubted that he even wanted to be. Still, it was interesting to hear about them.
Divination hardly improved. Morty continued to be vague and confusing. N continued to be enthralled, but expressed polite scepticism whenever Morty suggested that Red would be dying sometime soon. It was strange to see N being polite about anything.
Oak himself had taken over Care of Magical Creatures. As a result, the entire class was very careful to do exactly as he said and not ask too many questions. Oak knew the subject even better than Red had expected. He almost forgot that Oak was a substitute until mid-October when they walked down to find an auburn haired man in what was clearly a lab coat waiting for them.
"…oh, great," Green loudly sighed.
Red stared at him before looking back at the teacher.
"Hi Green," he said with a grin. "Good to see you, too."
Green huffed loudly.
He smiled around at the class. "Nice to meet you all, and apologies for my delay. I was on honeymoon with my lovely new wife, Daisy Oak."
Green huffed even louder.
"My name's Bill Sonezaki," he said, "and I'll be your Care of Magical Creatures teacher for good. Promise."
Red swore he'd heard that name before, but he wasn't sure where. Bill turned out to be a very good teacher; he gave them appropriate warnings of how dangerous the creatures they were studying (strange golduck-like green creatures called kappas) were, he put himself in danger before any of the students and he made sure to stress how to avoid being pulled into a swamp by a kappa.
Red continued to be amazed that there were magical creatures, but typically found them far less interesting than pokémon.
The weekend of the first Hogsmeade trip happened to be the same weekend as Halloween. On the Saturday, Gold pretended not to be interested and stayed in the common room with Red. Black soon joined them with their Care of Magical Creatures book and a series of hand-written notes he'd found in a notebook about legendary pokémon. The handwriting was small and very curly, difficult to read, but the drawings of the pokémon were amazing. As it was already getting colder, far colder than the last week of October normally was, it wasn't a chore at all to sit by the fire.
It was just difficult to get used to N not being there making condescending remarks implying his superior knowledge of all things pokémon while Pika tried to tie his shoelaces together. Red had been surprised to find that he wasn't the only one looking up hopefully when N walked past them. Black, of course, ignored N and Zöllner completely, but Gold had looked after N with a very loud longing sigh.
"Can't you be friends with N again?" Gold whined.
"No," Black muttered.
That was that.
Red had always had the impression that Gold, not being able to relate to N on the same muggle-raised level that Red could, hadn't particularly enjoyed N's company. Now that he thought about it, Gold hadn't been in Black or N's company very much since they started fighting, and whenever Black whined about Zöllner trying to eat his patrat had pointed out, "That's what pokémon do."
Generally, Red had avoided the whole thing by spending as much time working on his patronus as he could. It still didn't have a form, but he was improving. It was much more difficult to keep happy memories in his mind with the boggart dementor lurking over him and his mother's screams ringing in his ears. The nightmares had largely vanished, but Red doubted he'd be able to fight off a real dementor.
By Sunday, curiosity had gotten the best of Black and he went to Hogsmeade. Gold had whined about the cold, about being sick of Black's bitching, and finally shouted something about not wanting to leave his 'one true bro', but ended up going along too when he noticed Silver being dragged along, one hand in Crys' and the other in Blue's.
"That slut," Gold muttered before sneaking after them.
By the time Red returned to the common room, he found N lying by the fire reading a book. He was reminded of that time in first year before they became friends, when he found N holding his eyes open to force himself to keep reading.
Red sat down beside N and waited. Pika slid down Red's arm and climbed over N to get closer to the fire. N kept reading.
Ten minutes passed.
"I have a lot to read, Red," N finally muttered.
"I know," Red said. "That's why I'm not talking. You don't have to."
N eyed Red suspiciously, nodded, and turned back to his book. His eyes were no longer moving across the page and a minute later, he sat up and hissed, "It's not my fault that Zöllner is a carnivore and that stupid patrat is old and weak. That's survival of the fittest."
"I guess," Red replied. "Though, wouldn't you be upset if Aero tried to eat Zöllner?"
N huffed. "Not with you. Try as you might, you can't control a pokémon." He cast Red a very superior look, which quickly dissolved into worry.
"What?" Red asked.
N shook his head. "Black's stupid. He thinks pokémon aren't as smart as humans. He doesn't think they matter as much. He sees the world, like it's all grey, but, it's not. It, it shouldn't be grey at all. It should be black and white, it should be separate."
N looked at Red like he was afraid again.
"Uh, I dunno," Red muttered. "I don't think everything should be separate."
N stared down at the book and in a tiny voice admitted, "Sometimes, neither do I." He winced, like he was anticipating something, or was afraid.
Red was just confused. "Why should you?"
N looked up. His eyes were extremely wide, his eyebrows drawing together and his lip quivering. For all the times Red had seen N cry, he'd never seen N afraid before. "Does Black really hate me?" he whimpered.
Red had no idea, but he found himself shaking his head anyway.
N nodded slowly. He stared back at his book for a long moment. "I should keep reading," he said. "I've got so much reading to do."
"How are you doing all these subjects?" Red asked. "It can't be possible."
"It's possible," N murmured. "I just have to manage my time."
Red reached out and touched under N's eyes. The skin was puffier than it looked. N quickly shoved Red's hand away, looking alarmed. "Don't — I, you shouldn't touch me."
"You should sleep more," Red said. "You don't even need to take Muggle Studies, why would you?"
N shrugged uncertainly.
"Is your dad making you?" Red asked.
N closed the book and clutched it to his chest. "How long has it been since you let Aero out of that horrible device?"
"Last night," Red said.
N looked slightly surprised. "No matter. You should still let him out for a bit. We can walk around."
Though N didn't talk much, Red could tell that he was enjoying watching Aero, now taller than Red but still not taller than N, flying around and Pika and Zöllner racing to keep up with him.
"There is something strange about Black's patrat," N said as they walked past Brock's pumpkin patch. "Don't you think it's unlike any other pokémon?"
"I dunno," Red said. "I haven't talked to it."
"Exactly," N said. "It give me a very strange feeling. It's up to something."
Red was pretty sure N was just projecting his own troubles with Black onto the poor pokémon, but didn't say so. Especially not since, as they turned towards the forest, he saw red eyes glowing in through the dark.
N walked into Red. "Why did you stop?" he demanded.
Red pointed towards the eyes, only to find they were gone. "I… I saw…"
N sighed irritably. "You don't need more pokémon, Trainer Scum."
Red swallowed heavily. "Yeah. Sure."
As the sun started to sink, they turned back to the castle. They halted at a shout of, "RED-BRO! N-STER!"
N sighed irritably as Gold dashed over, but it was a poor cover for his smile. "Must you call me that?"
Gold bowed. "Sorry, Your Highness."
"Lord," N muttered under his breath. Gold didn't seem to hear.
"How was Hogsmeade?" Red asked.
In reply, Gold gave him a brightly coloured paper bag declaring 'HONEYDUKE'S FINEST CONFECTIONARY'. "It'd've made you both sick, if you'd seen the things I've seen, you wouldn't believe…"
Gold stopped talking when he realised N wasn't paying attention. N was staring across towards the lake, stiff as a board and suddenly pale. Red wondered if the absol with its glowing red eyes had come back, but when he followed N's gaze he only saw Black and Cheren. It took him a moment to realise that they were holding hands.
"Forget him," Gold stressed. "He doesn't know what he's missing. His loss."
When Gold threw an arm around N's shoulders and N didn't yell at him to not touch, Red was really worried. He watched helplessly as N quietly reached up and grabbed Gold's hand. What had Black done that was so bad? Sure, Red wouldn't want to hang out with Cheren, but Black had grown up with Cheren and they both liked books.
Maybe it was something to do with Black's patrat again.
Gold continued with his story as though nothing had happened, voice once again light-hearted. His arm remained around N (and N kept a firm grip on Gold's hand) as he said, "So, anyway, Red, this'll piss you off so much. I went up to check out the Shrieking Shack, cos Whitney was up there and she gets scared easily and I'm sure she could use someone to hold her, and there I saw —"
"Potter!"
Red glanced over his shoulder. Green was walking rapidly over. It was strange seeing Green outside of a classroom, and even stranger to see him with something brown and furry wrapped around his neck. For a moment, Red thought it was a scarf. Then as Green got closer, Red realised it was a pokémon.
"— that," Gold muttered.
"What're you doing outside?" Green demanded.
Red pointed at Aero, who was on the castle roof roaring dramatically.
"So what, you still think you're too good to be murdered?" Green asked. "Typical. Your ego is amazing."
"He's not the one telling other people what to do," Gold retorted. "The hell, Oak? Just cos your grandpa's Headmaster doesn't mean you actually own the place."
Green cast Gold a withering look, much like N's, before turning his angry gaze back to Red. "Don't you realise that Alder Fuery was spotted about five miles away in the mountain?"
Red couldn't take his eyes off the pokémon. It stirred, raising its head and yawning. "Where did you get the eevee?"
Green looked at it for a moment. "Gramps," he simply said.
Red met the eevee's eyes for a moment before looking up to the castle. He noticed Volkner staring out a window on the third floor right at him and the pieces connected. "Professor Oak is bribing you to spy on me."
Green scratched the eevee's ear. "Yeah, and?"
Red frowned. "So you don't actually care if I live or die. You just want him to give you stuff."
"No," Green snorted. "The bribes are just a bonus."
Red turned and stormed off to the castle. He wanted to run straight to Professor Oak, to demand to know why he'd send such an arrogant bastard to keep an eye on him, to demand to know why Oak himself could be so cool and Green so not, but Gold and N quickly caught up.
"Just forget him," N said, an eerie echo of what he'd been told just minutes ago. But Red and Green had never been friends, not really. There had just been those times Green had quite frantically told Red not to die, and all of those had been for an eevee… Red's chest hurt.
Gold was looking at Red strangely, like just noticing him for the first time.
For Red, it was tough to stay too angry, what with the Halloween feast that night. Food always made him more cheerful. N, on the other hand, flat out refused to go. He said that he was too tired, then that he was just not hungry, and finally that if he had to look at Black for five more minutes he'd vomit for sure.
"We could blind-fold you," Gold suggested. "Don't sit up here alone."
"I really do think I'm going to be sick," N muttered.
Red pointed out how much greener than usual N looked and Gold finally relented. But when they started to leave N alone in the dorm, N sat up with a gasp and insisted that he had to come.
"Whaaat?" Gold groaned.
"I don't know," N said. "I just have to."
Red was certain that N's recent lack of sleep was responsible for his increased weirdness.
To sit as far away from Black as possible, they ended up having to sit with Joey. Joey stared at Red and Gold, mouth hanging open to reveal half-masticated potatoes, before dropping everything to stand up and bow deeply as they sat.
"Hi!" Joey shouted as he sat down. "I missed you guys!" He looked at N. "And I don't know what your name is, but you must be cool if Red and Gold like you!"
N glared up the table as Black peered down at them. Black quickly looked away.
Pika climbed onto the table and started gathering up tomatoes. Joey gasped loudly and held out a PokéBall.
"Red, Red, we should have a battle!" Joey cried. "Rattata mightn't be as well-trained as Pika, but he's in the top per centage of rattata so I'm sure he stands a chance."
"Sure," Red murmured.
Throughout the dinner, Joey kept ranting and talking with his mouth full. Red didn't really pretend to listen, but all that did was make Joey start loudly whispering to Gold about how 'cool' and 'tough' Red was. N kept staring at the floating jack-o-lanterns, barely touching his food.
It was the worst feast Red had ever experienced. He kept glancing up the table to find Black peering down at N. Gold kept hissing whenever he noticed this, and N was off in his own strange world again. Whenever N came back from his strange world, his head was full of the strangest ideas. Red was glad when the feast was over. He stood up quickly, sent Joey a cold look and walked off with N. Gold humoured Joey for a moment longer before running, but he didn't stop at Red's side. He kept going until he caught up with White and started whispering in her ear. White's eyes grew wide and then narrowed as she started whispering back.
Red had a very bad feeling.
It took a while to snap N out of it and drag him towards the Gryffindor Tower. Joey followed closely, ranting loudly and tossing his rattata's PokéBall around. They all came to a halt on the stairway.
"What's happening?" Joey asked. He stood on the tips of his toes. "HEY, HEY! LET US THROUGH!"
"We can't get through!" somebody shouted back.
"What's going on?" N asked, pushing through the crowd with one hand. The other was locked around Red's wrist, dragging him to the front.
The portrait of the Fat Lady covering the entrance was still in place, but barely; the canvas had been slashed right through the middle. The Fat Lady herself was nowhere in sight. Despite being rumoured to be Gryffindor's daughter, she didn't seem particularly brave.
"Somebody go get Clair," Cheren called to the crowd.
Chili sped off.
"Stupid humans," a voice chuckled.
Red glanced up to find Morty's gengar hovering above them, smirking in amusement.
"What happened?" Red asked her.
Gengar chuckled again. "Ooh, you would want to know, wouldn't you, Scarface?"
"What happened?" Red repeated, more forcefully.
Gengar floated down until she was face-to-face with Red, large sharp teeth millimetres from his nose. Pika swatted at her. It just made her laugh louder. "They wouldn't let him in, Scarface, so he got angry."
"Who got angry?"
Gengar somersaulted before replying, "Alder Fuery."
Red took a step back before he could help himself. He realised that every eye was on him and carefully schooled his expression. "Are you sure?"
Gengar cackled. "Don't hide the fear, don't hide the fear!"
Pika shocked her.
Chili ran back up to them, shouting, "Clair's coming! Oak's coming too! Move outta the way or I'll make you move!"
Everybody moved except for Red. It took Red until Oak and Clair were there, staring from the slashed portrait to him and Gengar, to realise that he hadn't moved.
"Red," Oak firmly said.
"Gengar saw it," Red said. "She saw Alder Fuery trying to break in."
Oak nodded and turned to Clair. "Alert the other teachers."
Clair nodded and walked quickly away.
To Cheren, Oak said, "Find the other prefects and lead the rest of your house down to the Great Hall."
"Right," Cheren said, breaking his stupor. "Come on, everybody!" he called.
Red stared at Oak for a moment as the others left. "Sir…"
"You go too," Oak commanded.
"But, if I'm with them —"
"It won't mean you're putting them in danger," Oak insisted. "You will be if you hide elsewhere and the rest of your house notices your absence, as they will. They'll come to find you."
Red stared down at his feet and nodded.
"Sorry about him, Headmaster," Gold declared, grabbing Red by the shoulder. "He's an idiot."
Gold dragged Red down to the Great Hall. Red was glad; he wasn't sure he could pay that much attention to where he was going, not knowing that the man who had essentially murdered his parents was so close. Red didn't want to run or hide from Alder. He wanted to face him. He wanted to make him pay, he wanted to make Alder hear something like Red's mother screams whenever the fog closed in.
The dining tables had disappeared. In their place were rows and rows of sleeping bags, all alternating in colour. Red followed Gold over to the already gathered group of Weasleys and sat down beside N. N, strangely enough, rested his head on Red's shoulder in what would've been a comforting gesture if it wasn't so damn weird to be touched by N.
"I'm fine," Red murmured.
"That's what people always say when they're not," N replied.
Red swallowed heavily.
The Weasleys seemed to pick up that Red didn't want to talk about it, so he was allowed to climb into a sleeping bag (he avoided a green on and grabbed a navy blue one instead) and stare up at the ceiling, unable to sleep due to the pounding of his heart and the echoes of screams in his mind.
At around three am, Oak and Volkner returned to the Hall to talk to the Head Girl, a Ravenclaw named Gardenia. Red held his breath to listen closely.
"Did you find anything, sir?" Gardenia asked.
"No," Oak said. "He disappeared without a trace."
"He must have had inside help," Volkner added.
Oak sighed loudly. "You assume without evidence."
Volkner stood up straighter. "He's vanished without a trace, Samuel. What else would you suggest?"
Oak didn't reply. "Gardenia, we will increase the guard at every entrance to the Hall."
"Not dementors?" Gardenia nervously asked.
"No, it will be the teachers," Oak replied. "No dementor will enter this castle with my permission."
Oak swept from the Hall. Volkner muttered something to Gardenia before following.
Red returned his gaze to the ceiling. He watched as the enchanted clouds rolled across it, revealing the full moon.
Classes were as normal the next day, but the teachers kept a closer watch on all of them. They weren't being walked to classes like when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, but Red could tell Clair wished they were being.
The painting covering Gryffindor Tower's entrance had been replaced by a landscape of three brothers by a raging river. The brothers would often argue and rarely pay any attention to anybody passing them by, so the password often had to be screamed before they'd notice and permit entry. It wasn't a great solution, but it was a solution for the short-term.
That evening, a skarmory stuck its head into the Gryffindor dorm and roared until Cilan removed the note attached to its neck.
"Red," Cilan called. "It's for you."
Red walked over, stroked the skarmory's head before unfolding the note.
Dear Red,
I hope you aren't too shaken by last night's events.
Unfortunately, I have been ill the past few days and won't be well enough for our lesson tonight. I'm very sorry. I'd suggest that you take this time to practice on your own, but you can of course do as you please.
Best regards,
Steven Stone
Disappointed, Red folded the note up. He patted skarmory on the head once more before it flew away. Red looked up to find Black standing in front of him.
"Steven," Red explained. "He's sick, so he can't tutor me tonight."
"Oh," Black said. "What's he been teaching you?"
"Patronus charm."
Black looked surprised. "You can do it?"
Red shrugged. "Almost."
Black's eyes drifted across to N, before drifting back to Red. "Well, that's —"
"N thinks you hate him," Red interrupted.
Black looked surprised. "Oh… um… sometimes, I do."
That hadn't been what Red was hoping to hear.
"Is he okay, though?" Black asked.
Red shook his head. "I know pokémon are —"
"It's not about that," Black sighed. "I mean, that doesn't help, but he's just so… he can't ever think he's wrong, it… kind of pisses me off."
"It kind of pisses me off too," Red said. "But he's cool when you get past that. When he stops acting like a king."
"Which is never," Black muttered. His eyes narrowed. "Though I guess it's different when he starts cuddling up to you. Literally."
Red frowned. "Are — are you jealous?"
Black shook his head very quickly. "No. I've got Cheren."
"I wouldn't think Cheren was a very good friend," Red replied.
"We're not just friends," Black said.
"Um…" Red looked over at Cheren. "Uh… wait, are you…?"
Black nodded.
Suddenly it made much more sense why N had been so miserable. "Erm, I thought… you and N…"
Black shook his head. "No. That won't happen. N and me, we don't, he's too controlling, I'm too…" He shook his head again. "Doesn't matter if I like him. Or if he likes me."
"You can't like two people at once," Red said.
"Yes you can," Black replied. "You can like lots of people. There aren't limits."
Red hadn't heard that before.
"You really can't still be friends?" Red asked. He tried to think of what Gold would say. "It's just, N likes having you around. I think that scares him. There's something really odd about his family and how they raised him."
"He's muggle-born, of course he has trouble," Black said.
Red shook his head. "It's more than that. I would know."
Black crossed his arms over his chest. "I still like Cheren."
"Fine," Red said. "But don't hate N cos he can't control his pokémon, or because he was raised by some freaks who made him hate people."
Black frowned. "You really think that's it?"
Red thought about it. "Yeah," he said. "I do."
Black ran his fingers through his hair. "I… I guess I can try," he said. "It's just, difficult. To see N being so intentionally jerkish, when he could be so… ah, never mind."
They both fell silent. Red was just pleased to have a conversation that didn't end up being about Alder.
Over the next few weeks, Black remained detached from conversations with N but didn't blatantly avoid or insult him. N seemed to pick up and returned the favour. It was very relieving for Red; what with the quidditch match against Ravenclaw approaching, Gold didn't have the time to be a mediator. Red struggled with the position, especially since Black's latest development meant Cheren was hanging around more. The more Cheren hung around, the more N read. The more N read, the more Red was left awkwardly facing the fact that apparently thirteen was old enough to have relationships and that kissing was really, really gross.
Gryffindor thrashed Hufflepuff the week before Christmas break. As was becoming something of a tradition, the Weasleys stayed at Hogwarts. Though Red received a letter inviting him home again, he recalled the look in Ash's eyes and the sting of Ash's fist and promptly declined.
Surprisingly, N signed up to stay behind too.
"Doesn't your daddy want you to go home?" Gold asked.
N scowled. "I don't care what Ghetsis wants."
N didn't say anything else about the matter.
Something about Christmas washed away the months of adversity. Though Black and N still had moments of great tension, with Cheren out of the picture, N seemed to find it easier to be civil. Black, as always, followed the example presented to him. N's surprising glee at the majesty of Christmas at Hogwarts only made things better; whenever N was running around through the snow, gushing at the enormous pine trees lit up by lights or carefully examining decorations, Red would sneak a look over at Black to see his smile.
On Christmas Day, Red woke up to Pika licking his cheek.
"Want that one," Pika said, pointing at a large and lumpy package that was obviously filled with mince pies.
"Take it," Red replied. "You can unwrap it, right?"
Pika gnawed through the colourful paper instead.
Red examined the pile of presents at his feet and then the pile on the floor almost as tall as his bed.
"The Boy Who Lived To Have Fan-girls wins again," Gold joked.
"Take what you want," Red sighed. "I won't eat it all."
"If it's food," Gold said.
N sat up and stared at the small pile at the foot of his own bed. "Where did these come from?"
Red shrugged like he didn't know.
"Your parents?" Black suggested.
"No, we don't celebrate Christmas," N replied. "Nor birthdays."
"Delibird, then," Gold suggested.
N didn't pick up the facetious tone. Instead, he shook Zöllner awake and murmured, "They're probably for you. I'm not a pokémon."
Red wasn't sure what N imagined Zöllner would do with three books about advanced magic, a very humanoid jumper with his N's name on it and boxes of chocolates. N muttered something, but Red could tell from the flush to his cheeks that he was pleased.
Red was mildly surprised to find that his fans had decided to go for more practical gifts this year. He received strange things that Black and Gold had to explain, such as three Foe Glasses (a mirror that did not show anybody but one's enemies as they approached), ten Sneakoscopes (which looked like a glass spinning top and lit up and started whistling when somebody was being sneaky) and an abundance of amulets symbolising various kinds of protective charms.
"Not as good as last year's haul," Gold sighed. "We feasted for months…"
"Hm," Red said. He still found receiving gifts from strangers weird.
"You missed one," Gold said, picking up a clumsily wrapped sphere. "Probably a crystal ball so you can see if Alder's planning on sneaking up on you within the next five to ten minutes." He flashed a pleasant grin. "Here, catch."
Red snatched it from the air. It felt very familiar. Red pulled the wrapping off. It was an UltraBall.
"Whoa," Red said.
"Who's that from?" Gold asked.
Red checked the wrapping and shrugged. "No card." He turned the Ball over in his hand. "There's a pokémon inside."
"How can you tell?"
Red ignored him and turned the Ball over again. He moved his finger towards the button.
"STOP!"
A shoe hit Red in the temple. He dropped the Ball. N quickly picked it up.
"You idiot!" N cried. "Don't you know there's PokéBalls rigged to hurt stupid idiotic barbaric Trainers?!"
Stunned, Red shook his head.
"Idiot," N repeated. "Idiot, idiot, idiot."
"Trainers keep items in PokéBalls too," Black pointed out. "Remember, Professor —"
"Why wouldn't they sign it?" N retorted. "Because it's a trap. A trap to assassinate Red, and it's definitely from Alder Fuery!"
Red stared in disbelief. "But, why would he know about PokéBalls?"
N glared. "He used to be the Champion of Unova."
"…oh."
N turned his glare to the UltraBall. "I'm taking this to Clair."
"Fine," Red sighed.
N ran from the room in tears.
"Does that really happen?" Black sceptically asked.
Red shrugged just as White walked into the room.
"What was N running off crying for?" White demanded. She was looking right at Black. "What did you do now?"
"Nothing!" Black cried. "He thinks Red got a gift from Alder Fuery."
White turned to Red. "Is that true?"
"Yeah."
White glared at Black once again. "Okay then."
"Stop treating me like shit cos you don't think I should date Cheren," Black growled. It was unusual to see him arguing so fiercely.
"It's creepy," White said. "He's like family. It's pseudo-incest."
"He's our neighbour," Black groaned. "That's not pseudo-incest. That'd be what's happening with Silver and Blue."
Gold leapt to his feet. "Silver's dating Blue?"
"Duuuh," Black and White said together.
Gold flopped back on his bed, muttering about sluts.
Red felt very much like he didn't belong.
"Look, Dia's already in the dorm, Crys and Ruby'll be up soon, let's just have a family Christmas," White said. She looked at Red. "Well, family and you."
"Red's more family than Cheren," Black muttered. "Go pick on Yellow."
White punched Black.
Red didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to think about any of this… stuff. He went out and greeted the others all the same, but found he couldn't look Yellow in the eye for more than a few seconds without his face growing warm. It was very relieving when Red was dragged aside by Chili.
"I've got a super-special present for you," Chili whispered. Red hadn't known that Chili could whisper. "Make sure you don't spread word around, okay?"
"Okay," Red said. He was feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
Chili looked around before, with great relish, handing Red an extremely old PokéNav. It looked like it hadn't worked in years.
"…uh, thanks."
Chili laughed. "You're not looking properly." He tapped his wand to the screen and said, "I want to be the very best like no one ever was."
The screen came to life. Words appeared.
THE CHAMPIONS' MAP IS LOADING…
"Champions' Map?" Red repeated in disbelief.
"Shh."
The screen showed a flawless black and white representation of the Gryffindor common room. There was a flashing dot in the centre of the screen labelled 'YOU ARE HERE, RED POTTER'. There were several other dots, each showing the name of the person in that position.
"Whoa," Red gasped.
"It's a map," Chili said. "I stole it from Charon's office in First Year. It shows you all about Hogwarts, where everybody is, and best of all, how to sneak to Hogsmeade."
Red looked up. "I can't…"
Chili shook his head in disappointment. "I never knew Alder Fuery would keep you from living, Red." He tapped the PokéNav again and said, "Mastered." The screen was wiped. "Just do what you want with it. I haven't used it in years."
Red slipped it into his pocket.
There were so few students saying for Christmas that they all simply ate at the Head Table. Red was disappointed to find Steven absent, but was soon distracted when Clair came over to talk to him about the UltraBall.
"It shouldn't take long to check it," she said. "Professors Oak and Stone are examining it. Few know more about PokéBalls than those two."
"Really?" Red asked. "Professor Stone knows about them too?"
Clair looked surprised. "He is muggle-born, and his father does run the Devon Cooperation."
"Ohh…"
"You should get it back soon," Clair assured him once more.
It was a very pleasant meal. The food was great, Morty only alluded to Red's impending doom once, and everybody was getting along.
Red should've known that it wouldn't last.
After finishing their Christmas cake, Red, Gold, Black and N headed back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Sooo, are you gonna drag us off to the snow right away or wait until tomorrow?" Gold asked Red as they entered the common room.
"Tomorrow," Red replied.
"Does it not snow in Pallet?" N asked.
"It does," Red said.
"Red's just got a snow fetish," Gold replied. "Haven't you noticed?"
"I suppose I didn't think it worthy of remembering," N dryly said.
Black headed up to their dorm with a murmur Red didn't catch. A moment later, he gave a shout.
"Couldn't be," Gold muttered. He ran up the stairs all the same.
Red and N quickly followed. Black was bent over his bed, holding something.
"What is it now?" N asked.
Black threw a blanket on the floor. It was stained with a large patch of blood.
"That's Patty's blanket," he hissed.
N took a step back.
"No, look at it!" Black shouted. "It's covered in your stupid zorua's hair!"
"Black, I —"
"Shut up!" Black shouted. "I'm sick of you lying about everything. I'm sick of you." He stormed past them towards the doorway. "Don't bother talking to me again."
Black slammed the door behind him.
…I never said it would be happy isshushipping. Or that other pairings wouldn't be involved too.
You can stop wishing harm on me now. I forgot to mention it last chapter, but there's a pairing poll on my profile for this story. It's mostly just for my curiosity, though. And you can find my concept art for Lizzie the evil abomination on deviantART and/or tumblr. Not that it's particularly quality, mind.
Feel free to yell at me in a review! I'd be thrilled to see what people think of this monster chapter, even if it's entirely 'DAINO YOU ARE A CRUEL BITCH'. And as always, question away.
This chapter was edited on the 7th of December, 2012.