Chapter 10: Hope's Scar

As the months went by, Hope, Lexy, Allison and Dominic found their homework load getting heavier and their amount of free time less and less. They were kept busy studying and completing assignments, often staying up late to visit with each other after a long day of classes and working away at their homework.

Hope also found that she and Allison had grown much closer since having learned her secret. Because she and Allison shared a dormitory, they spent the most time together. Hope was fascinated by Allison's brand of magic, though she was curious about a lot of rare magic, more so than anyone else she knew. When Hope had confided to Allison her story and the scar on her arm which would appear pending danger to her father or strong emotions he was feeling at the time, Allison had suggested maybe she was curious about rare magic since it had such a strong impact on her own life. This made sense to Hope, who still had no control over the connection with her father. Her parents had told her that a specialist had once explained to them that this was something she could control with practice.

Today was Saturday, and it was ten minutes into dinner when Allison noticed that Lexy was missing. Usually, Lexy ate them at the Gryffindor table, but she didn't seem to be in the Great Hall at all.

"Do you think she fell asleep?" Dominic asked, bemused. "She did say she was going to work on our history essay."

With dinner over, and still no sign of Lexy, they decided to remain in the Great Hall to study together, in case Lexy showed up. They pulled out their books, and had been working for a little over an hour when they all heard an argument in the Entrance Hall. It was Dominic who saw the streak of long blonde hair pass the doors of the Great Hall and the faint sound of someone crying.

"Lexy!" He called out, startling Allison and Hope. The three quickly threw their things haphazardly into their bags and chased after Lexy. They found her slumped against a wall outside the Great Hall, her head on her knees and her body shaking with sobs.

"Lexy!" Hope exclaimed worriedly.

"What's happened?" Allison asked gently, bending down to kneel beside her on the floor.

Lexy lifted her face and hastily wiped at her tears. "I- I met my father." Her friends stood stock-still with shock at this announcement. It was Dominic who spoke first, his voice quiet but determined.

"Lexy, you're nothing like him. With all the stories I've grown up about the Malfoys, with you it all means nothing. You can talk to us..."

Lexy stared at Dominic in shock, tears still falling down her face. She sniffled and then nodded, taking a deep breath. "Can we go somewhere else to talk?" She asked shakily, watching a pair of Hufflepuff girls who were staring at her curiously.

"Let's go find an empty classroom," Allison suggested, reaching out a hand to help her up. "Then you can tell us what happened."

Five minutes later, they were sitting on top of desks in an empty classroom on the second floor. Lexy launched into her story of how Professor Snape had found her in the common room and escorted her to his office on Draco's request. He had introduced them and Draco had announced he would take her back to his house for lunch and return her later in the day.

Lexy wasn't sure if she wanted to go, considering all the terrible things that people said about him, but she had wanted to know her father. She had always wanted that. At his house, he had acted friendly, but in a way that seemed fake.

"He was more interested in who I was hanging out with," Lexy bit out, her eyes moving to Hope. "He was upset that I was friends with you. He lectured me for a bit, but then gave up after a few minutes and told me that since I'd started, I couldn't very well stop." Lexy shook her head in confusion. "He said I signed my fate." She made a noise of aggravation and continued on her rant.

"Then he asked me about school, about my marks, about my mother, my childhood... but he didn't really care for anything else. Just that I was friends with you, and that it really bugged him."

"What did he do with you for all that time?" Allison asked worriedly. "You guys just talked from breakfast until now?"

Lexy frowned at her. "It's not that late."

The three friends glanced at each other. It was Hope who voiced what they all were thinking. "Lexy, it's after dinner. You were there all day..."

Lexy shrugged wearily. "I guess I lost track of time. It was a terrible day."

"What did he do to make you cry?" Dominic persisted, his voice hard.

"I told you," Lexy replied irritably.

"You were upset with all the questions?" Dominic asked slowly. "Seems a bit of an overreaction..."

Hope shot him a dark look. "Leave her alone, Dom. She's never met her father... it was very stressful."

Lexy nodded, a little dazed. "Yeah... that was it."

...

When Hope got back to her dorm, she found a letter on her bed and Hedwig perched on the windowsill. She clicked her beak and Hope moved over to her, happy to see the beautiful bird. She stroked her feathers before going to her trunk where she kept a bag of owl treats and fed a few treats to Hedwig before opening the letter.

Dear Hope,

We're so excited that we'll be seeing you in a few weeks! Five weeks and it'll be Christmas! Ben is doing well, but we've recently learned that your little brother is fairly intuitive. He's been assessed by a professional and an old friend of your father's and apparently he's able to see certain events of the future. It must sound strange to read this in a letter, but I figured you'd be upset that we waited until Christmas to tell you.

I hope your studies are going well. Looks like Charms is your strongest subject! We're very proud of you, Hope! Your father wants me to add that he's especially proud of how you've been showing all the other first years how to fly. Should I tell your father that you got your flying skills from me, not him? It'd be really funny if I did.

I wanted to know if you were interested in having your friends over during the holidays? We'd love to meet your new friends, and I'm sure you'd love to spend some time with them during the few weeks that you'll be at home.

We miss you terribly here at home. Ben gets lonely without his big sister here! Can't wait to see you, sweetheart!

All our love,

Mum and Dad

Hope folded the letter up and slid it in the side of her trunk along with all the others that she'd collected over the term. She picked up her potions books and decided to head to the library before it closed. She needed a little information before she could start Snape's essay. She quickly exchanged her textbooks for the potions one and tugged her bag to her shoulders before hurrying out of the dormitory.

Allison sat curled up in front of the fire, deep in a book and Dominic was nowhere to be seen. Hope left, glancing at her watch to make sure she had enough time before curfew. She did not want to lose Gryffindor any more points than the fifty she'd lost in one Potions class last week just for knocking ink all over the desk.

The library was relatively full of upper year students studiously working away and it took Hope a few minutes to find a spare table to sit at. She quietly pulled out her work things to save her spot and set out among the shelves. She'd only been browsing for a few minutes when she noticed Professor Mellot watching her from a small table at the end of the shelves.

Hope smiled shyly and continued on her search, feeling slightly uncomfortable with being watched by a Professor. She wasn't even in the restricted section!

"Looking for something?" Professor Mellot finally asked sweetly, her robes swishing as she moved toward her.

Resisting the urge to wrinkle her nose at the potent over-use of her perfume, Hope paused from looking through a book she'd selected and snapped it shut. "Yeah, just something for Professor Snape's essay."

"Perhaps I could help?" The Professor asked. "Marking gets very dull after a while."

Hope laughed politely, praying that she would just go. "Now," Professor Mellot said softly. "What kind of book were you looking for?"

Hope described the assignment and what kind of information she was looking for. Professor Mellot nodded thoughtfully and then guided her farther down the row to a small section of books. "These ones may be more helpful."

"Thanks!" Hope said, scanning the titles for anything helpful. Her eyes moved along the upper rows, at last spotting something that might be useful to her. She reached up on her tippy toes and tugged at a promising-looking book.

"Watch it!" Professor Mellot whispered in a warning, grabbing at her arm to stop before several books tumbled heavily from the stack.

It wasn't the dull thud of the book landing on Hope's arm that startled her, it was the searing burning feeling she had when the Professor touched her. Hope gasped and grabbed her arm, wincing in pain. Professor Mellot was staring at her, shocked.

"What is it? Did it land very hard? Here let me see!"

Before Hope could get the words out to tell her not to, she pulled back her sleeve to reveal the lightning-shaped scar on her arm. The Professor's eyes were very wide at the sight of it, and Hope hurriedly yanked her arm from her grip, her face reddening as her sleeve fell back over it.

"How is it possible?" She breathed dazedly.

Hope swallowed hard, her arm still burnt but she ignored the pain. "Some strange magic, I'm not sure," she mumbled lamely. "Thanks for the help, Professor!" She grabbed the book she'd wanted off the floor and hurried away from her. When she reached her table, she tossed everything back in her bag and hurried over to Madame Pince to check out the book. As she thanked the librarian, she could feel a pair of eyes on her as she hurried out of the library and back toward the Common Room.

Hope paused outside of the portrait hole and let her bag slide off her shoulder to the floor as she yanked her sleeve back, staring at the fiery red scar that marred her skin. Nothing like that had ever happened before! Or had it just been coincidence that her scar had hurt at the same time her Professor had touched her?

She let her sleeve wall and picked up her bag and went back into the Common room, deciding that if it hurt her again, she'd write home. She didn't want to worry her family over nothing... and Professor Mellot made her naturally uneasy; it was probably just a bad mood and anxiety that caused her scar to act up.

Just a coincidence, she told herself firmly.