Chapter 9
The week that followed was equally as hot as that weekend had been, and the castle was extremely overheated.
Ayla was slouching on the couch in the common room next to Lily. Albus, James, Hugo, and Liam were in the armchairs on either side of the couch, and Brad was flopped down, spread out on the couch across from them with his shirt off.
"With all the things you can do with wizardry, wouldn't you think that there would be come kind of spell to cool down the place?" Brad demanded tiredly.
"I'm sure there is," Ayla replied, sitting up. There was a pillow placed over her lap to hide the scars on her legs that no one had noticed yet.
"They should really use it," Al muttered. "This is, like, unbearable. I couldn't even focus in class today." Everyone turned to stare at him and he rolled his eyes. "Okay, I never focus in class, but still."
"At least the dormitories should have air conditioning," Ayla said. "Even if the classrooms don't, I mean, we should at least be able to sleep."
Everyone mumbled in agreement, too exhausted from the heat to even speak.
"Do you think it's any cooler outside?" Albus asked. "I mean, it can't really be any hotter."
"Maybe…" Hugo agreed. "At least we'd get some fresh air."
"Let's go!" Brad said, hopping to his feet. They all left the common room.
The group ran into Professor Asbaum in the hallway. "Mr. Cade, would you kindly like to put on a shirt?" he asked coolly.
"Classes are over; you're off the clock," Brad dismissed, brushing past him. The others giggled as Professor Asbaum stuttered over his response, coming up with nothing to say back.
They walked down the steps and out the front door of the school, returning to the same spot near the lake that they had lain a few days before.
"Ugh, this is so not what the first week of October should feel like," Lily grumbled as she sat down.
"Hey, I've got an idea," Albus said, sitting up after a few minutes of lying in the sun. "We should go swimming in the lake."
"I'm in," Brad agreed immediately and James followed.
"Definitely," Ayla said, springing to her feet. Albus pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the ground, revealing his toned abs and biceps that weren't visible beneath his Hogwarts robes.
"Race you!" he said to Ayla, running to the lake. She chased after him, jumping into the shallow edge of the lake. "Tie!" Albus declared as James, Brad, Lily, Liam, and Hugo jumped in as well.
The seven of them swam in the lake until the sun went down and finally climbed out to dry off before dinner. Ayla pulled her wet hair to the side, draping it over her left shoulder, revealing the burn marks around her collarbone.
"Whoa, Ayla, you have another scar! How clumsy are you?" James laughed.
Ayla pulled her hair back over the scorch marks, still staying strong, still keeping her secret. But weeks later, after the heat had turned to rain and the rain turned to snow, Ayla would finally snap.
X
The snow fluttered down from the gray sky, leaving pretty patterns on the grass outside of Hogwarts. It was the first snowfall of the year, in late November, the first sign of what would be a long, cold winter.
Ayla was sitting in an armchair in the common room, studying. Albus barreled over, hopping onto the arm of her chair.
"Ayla! Oh, my god, guess what? Remember that time we went to the Forbidden Forest? How awesome it was, remember? Yeah, well you know what's even more awesome?" He paused dramatically. "Forbidden Forest in the snow!"
Ayla raised her eyebrows, looking up at him. "Sounds pretty fun," she agreed.
"Yeah!" he cheered. "Alright, ten o'clock tonight. Tomorrow's Saturday so we can stay out, maybe take that walk to Cambridgeshire, eh? Well, I'm going to go have a snowball fight with James, but I'll see you later!"
Ayla twisted in her seat to watch him leave, then pulled out her muggle phone, dialing a number that she had written on a piece of paper.
"Hi, um, I'm looking to find out whether cell 428 is still occupied or not," she requested quietly.
"Let me check for you," the woman on the other end of the line said kindly. "Yes, ma'am, that cell is occupied."
"Could I get the occupant's name please?"
"Richard Hayes."
"Thank you," Ayla said and slowly hung up the phone with her trembling hands.
X
That night at ten o'clock, Ayla left the common room with Albus, getting ready to head to the forbidden forest. This time, their friends knew where they were going and wished them luck on their way out. They were both dressed in hoodies, scarves, and hats for the cold weather. As they exited the secret trap door, the cold air bit at Ayla's cheeks, the chilly wind stinging her eyes. She shoved her icy hands into her sweatshirt pockets as they set off into the forest.
Instead of Albus's super-speed spell, they had brought their broomsticks for the journey through the forest, planning to use them if they decided to see where the forest ends. They started by walking slowly, leaving footprints in the snow, stopping every once in a while to make snow angels or have a brief snowball fight.
"We should make a snowman!" Albus exclaimed suddenly.
"Oh, my god, yes!" Ayla agreed, setting her broom aside and dropping to her knees to pack the snow into a ball. They molded the snow into a huge boulder-like shape for the bottom, then hoisted the next piece on top. Ayla placed the head on top and they stepped back to look at it.
"For my first snowman ever, it's not all that bad," Albus said, sounding impressed.
"Yeah, we did pretty well!" Ayla said, giving him a high-five.
"We make a pretty good team, Torres. Hey, what do you say we get on the brooms now and start flying?"
"I'm in," Ayla said, climbing onto her broom.
"It's dark, so fly close," he said. "We don't want to get lost."
"Yeah, that would be bad," she said, taking off. They soared over the tops of the trees, and after a while, they began to see the lights of the city ahead.
"I think that's the Muggle town!" Albus called and Ayla's smile faded, fear creeping up on her.
"Y-yeah, I think so too," she said quietly, angling her broom down to get ready to land.
Albus landed next to her, hopping of his broom and carrying it with him as they continued on foot.
"This place doesn't seem so bad," he mused. "It's got that pizza place over there, these hotels here…" he squinted into the distance. "Ah, a Category A prison," he continued. "Beautiful, huh?" he said sarcastically.
Ayla instinctively drifted towards him as her stomach twisted in fear and her throat tightened.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," she murmured, her eyes locked on the prison in front of them. Albus followed her gaze.
He laughed. "What, were you locked up in juvie there or something?"
She shook her head. "It's not a juvenile prison. That prison has some of the most dangerous criminals in the country."
"Oh, like who?" he said jokingly, then realized she was serious. "Who?" he asked again, softly this time, sounding almost afraid of what the answer might be.
"Like Richard Hayes," she replied in almost a whisper.
"Who is Richard Hayes?"
She took a deep breath, knowing she had to tell him, knowing she had to get this off her chest. "My father."
Okay, so I'm posting Chapter 10 tonight too, but please review before you read it! :) Thanks! Chapter 10 is really short just because it's basically a continuation of this scene, so that's why I posted two in one night. Thanks and I really hope you like it!
