Lilith
I hurry away from where Fleur and Merida sit and head down a hallway towards the room of requirement. I start pacing, potions makings, potion makings. The thought runs through my mind. I turn and a door has appeared behind me. I smirk, perfect. I walk briskly through the door and enter a dark room with potion ingredients lining the walls and a small cauldron in the center. My eyes scan the room looking for a bookcase, there. I grab and open a book "Advanced Potion Making." Perfect. I grab the ingredients and begin brewing the potion.
A few hours later I walk silently through the abandoned halls. Everyone's gone to bed. How late is it? I slip into the Gryffindor Common room and see Merida asleep in one of the armchairs. What was she doing up? I point my wand at her and quietly mutter.
"Mobilicorpus." Her limp form floats gently, I walk up the stairs to the girls dormitory, put Merida in her bed and go to my own bed and fall asleep. The next morning I am woken up by Fleur and Merida leaning over me looking stern making me jump.
"What are you two doing!?" I ask, my heart still racing from the rude awakening. Fleur narrows her eyes.
"Where did you go last night?" She asks suspicion evident in her tone. I try to come up with a lie, I sigh and lean back in my bed trying to buy myself some time.
"I- I just needed to go cool off. Sorry if I worried you." Fleurs expression softens but I remain aware of Merida silently watching me coldly. Guilt ripped through me, I hate lying to them. I took a slow breath. They can't know, it's dangerous enough without more people knowing. We all got dressed and headed down to the great hall. I sit at the table silently and place a few sausage links on my plate. Merida and Fleur look at each other, nod slightly then both look at me.
"Why do I feel like I'm about to open a howler?" I ask narrowing my eyes slightly, Why would they care what I'm doing or- My thought is interrupted by Fleur clearing her throat.
"You're hiding something from us and we want you to tell us." Wow, she's definitely not one for subtlety. I scoff slightly shake my head.
"That's what's bothering you?" I ask in mock disbelief. "I wouldn't hide anything from you guys." I fake a smile, Merida watches silently. Fleur seems to try to be mad, her face scrunched like a child trying to understand a difficult concept. I'm a monster… I push away the thought, No, I'm doing what needs to be done. "There's a quidditch match today. We should head to the field soon to get good seats." I say quietly; Fleur nods slowly; Merida stands and nods solemnly, then begins walking out of the great hall. Fleur looks at me quizzically, but I shrug my shoulders and follow Merida out.
A little while later we find some seats overlooking the field nearby the goals.
"See, I told you if we left early we would find good seats." I say eagerly, attempting to alleviate the tension. Instead, Merida just stares silently ahead while Fleur tries to contain her excitement about the match by mimicking Merida's irritated demeanor. A huff of air leaves my mouth as I glare back out onto the field, annoyed with Merida's overall anger and Fleur's innocence in the matter. They shouldn't care so much about what I do! I don't pay much attention as the players score goals, with my mind in a haze as I filter through my thoughts, attempting to understand better the situation that has occurred and what I should do about it.
Fleur's excited screams suddenly force me back into reality just as Slytherin makes an impressive goal. I watch in silence, still paying very little attention to the events of the game, when a sudden chill rushes down my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck rise in unison. My eyes slowly turn downward, scanning the small group of students on the other side of the field. Within a few seconds my eyes make contact with the boy who claimed to be Joseph Remming, my body tensing in bewilderment and frustration. It only takes a few seconds of glaring at him before he backs down and his eyes turn back to the game, as the Hufflepuff seeker catches the Golden Snitch. The crowd begins to roar with applause; I leave the stand and walk quickly towards the library to meet "Joseph Remming", ignoring Merida's glares burning into my back, as she attempts to keep Fleur from falling out of her seat in excitement.
I enter the library and pull the small, clear vile out of my robe, grab two glasses of water, place them on the table, and empty the contents of the vial into one of the cups. Veritaserum… Try lying to me now snake. I sit, quietly sipping my water and watch as the boy enters cautiously and sits across from me. He looks nervous; his face is ashen, and his knuckles white as he grips his robes; I smile as warmly as I can.
"I'm so glad you could make it. I got some water for us, would you like some?" I ask, offering him the glass with the potion in it. He looks at it, forces a slight smile, picks up the glass, and drinks a few sips.
"S-so what did you want to t-t-talk about?" He stutters. I lean back slightly in my chair.
"Not much, I just wanted to know who Joseph Remming is." I ask, watching him closely. A confused look crosses his face.
"I already told you, I'm Joseph," he says before taking a few more sips of his water, avoiding my gaze; I smile slightly.
"Of course, how could I have forgotten." The smile stays, and he looks slightly more reassured as he sits up a bit straighter in his seat. "So, I hear you know a lot about magical creatures?" I take a sip of my drink, watching him closely over the rim of my glass as he loosens his shirt collar somewhat nervously.
"Yeah, my dad taught me all about them." He smiles and drinks some more water. "I can tell what almost any creature is just by its footprint. He smiles proudly before a look of confusion crosses his face. "Why did I tell you tha-" I cut him off quickly.
"So do you have any idea as to what scratched Silas?" My eyes narrow, but I continue to keep my smile in attempt to keep him happy.
Joseph coughs a tiny bit and tugs on his collar again. "Is it getting warm in here?" His eyes adjust to me again. "Oh, uh, no, I don't really know much about that. The night they appeared on him, he got an letter delivered to his room. He didn't say anything, just grabbed a few of his friends and left."
I nod, watching him take another drink of his water with sluggish movements. His face has become more slack and his nervousness seems to have worn off with the serum I gave him. My hands sit on the table in front of me as I ask, "Any idea what the note said?"
"No idea; everyone in Slytherin has been receiving notes with instructions on them." He states matter of factly.
This makes me narrow my eyes further. "What do the notes say?" I question, leaning forward a tiny bit.
He lacks any reaction as he replies: "Just simple things like, 'If anyone asks, say you're Joseph Remming." Well that explains all the lies… "Or they tell us to meet somewhere." I sit bolt upright.
"Really? Who sends the notes?" I ask roughly. Joseph stiffens at my reaction, worry slipping into his tone.
"I-I I don't kn-kn-know." He stutters, before standing, wiping his sweaty forehead and mumbling, "I have to g-g-go." He leaves the room quickly, leaving me standing alone, with a million thoughts swirling through my head.
