Disclaimer
: The Harry Potter Universe and all characters and ideas associated with it are property of J.K. Rowling. Characters and ideas that are not found in either the Harry Potter books or the movie were invented by me, therefore I own them. There are quotes and references to other books, movies, series, etc. throughout this story, disclaimers for these will follow each chapter.Sins of the Father
Chapter 10: The Letter
After the Quidditch game Harry went back to being friendly with his fellow students, for the most part. Now that he wasn't constantly being smothered with their thoughts he was able to stay close to them-but his relationship with Ron and Hermione was still painfully shaken. He refused to apologize when he knew that he was in the right, and neither of them made any move to fix things either. Likewise, he had broken his ties with Hagrid. Although he wasn't secluding himself from everyone any longer, these breaks of friendship on top of his growing closeness with Talia still had many people concerned.
Christmas was quickly coming, and like every year the heads of the houses went about to make a list of the students staying at the school over the holidays. As always Harry was the first to sign up for Gryffindor, but for the first time Ron did not sign up-in the past the main reason he'd ever stayed before was to keep Harry company, and since they were at odds with each other, he didn't bother this year. There were a few other Gryffindors staying behind-but the absence of Ron and Hermione seemed almost like a part of him was going to be missing.
There was another first taking place that Christmas as well. For the first time in some 30 years-with the exception of the 1994 Yule Ball-a Slytherin was also staying behind. Talia had no intention of returning to the United States for Christmas.
Harry was simply delighted.
Harry stretched in bed and took a deep breath. It was the last day of classes before blessed vacation. He pulled the hangings away from his four-poster and stumbled off to the bathroom before anyone else got up. Why am I always up an hour before everyone else? He asked himself before he stepped into the shower.
Afterwards he went down to the common room and reviewed vampires, cockatrices and manticores for Professor Mazanec's semester exam before going down to breakfast. Around 7:00 he heard everyone else start to move around in the dormitories. He sat for another 30 minutes trying to imprint the physical differences between a regular Asian vampire and a Dhampire into his mind before giving up and going down to the Great Hall in a group of late-rising third and fourth years.
Harry sat down at his now customary seat at the end of the table and watched as the rest of the school meandered down. Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and sausage appeared on the table and Harry scooped up his helping as the Slytherins took their spots at their table. They all seemed ten times grumpier than normal, and he also noticed that they all had bags under their eyes.
Then he saw Talia enter the room-and the looks she received from her fellow house members were like acid. Harry could almost feel the burning in their eyes. He studied Talia; she too had bags under her eyes, and seemed very nervous and jerky. The look on her face-it made something twang in Harry's chest. She looked as though something horrible had, or was going to happen. She wouldn't look up at him-she was staring blindly at the floor in front of the table.
He thought about what the voice had said to him during the Quidditch match-he could read her thoughts if he opened his mind only to her-like tunnel vision.
He tried his best-to open whatever had closed those several weeks earlier. He heard the humming in his head as the thoughts of the rest of the room started to weasel in. Oh no you don't, he thought firmly to himself and closed off again, concentrating only on Talia.
Suddenly the image of a brick wall popped up in the back of his mind. He closed up again. Damn it! Why won't it work on her? He turned his attention to Lavender Brown, who held one of the more venomous stares at Talia. Maybe I can find out from her thoughts...
Harry repeated the same process that he had when he tried to break into Talia's thoughts. Harry opened the vault of his mind just a hair as he concentrated on the snooty Seventh year.
"...damn girl keeps us awake all night and then doesn't have the decency to apologize! Christ, you would have thought someone was torturing her the way she was screaming-and who the hell is Kiy!?! Screaming that damn name over and over-heh, maybe she's cheating on Potter! Now that would be a laugh! Goddamn bitch! Don't know how that sorry excuse for a witch ever got into Slytherin..."
Harry had heard enough. He locked his mind back up and watched Talia. She must have had a horrible night. I'll have to talk to her after breakfast... she probably won't tell me anything... but maybe I can help her... He turned his attention back to his plate, although he suddenly didn't feel much like eating anymore.
The mail came and the owls filled the room. Harry was greatly surprised to see Errol nearly collapse in his eggs. He looked bewilderedly from the old owl down to Ron, who hadn't noticed the arrival of his parents' owl. He looked back at Errol and noticed the owl had two letters, one for him and one for Ron. He quickly took his letter from the bird, handed him a piece of bacon and watched as the ancient thing clumsily flew down to Ron.
He opened the envelope and realized that there were two separate letters in it. He took up the first one.
|
Dear Harry, I've never written you before, but I heard that you and Ron were having problems. In any case, I thought you might like to know that I've had a sighting of a new breed of dragon-at least I think it was a dragon. I was transferred from Romania over to the USA for two weeks last month. There have been repeated sightings of a large winged animal around Montana. I was sent there with a team to see if we could find anything. Well, I'm pretty sure that we saw two of them, but only for an instant. Didn't look like any breed of dragon I've ever seen before, that's for sure. You've seen a Norwegian Ridgeback a Hungarian Horntail-and if I'm not mistaken, a Common Welsh Green, a Swedish Short Snout and a Chinese Fireball, correct? You see, all dragons for the most part look like big versions of snakes, lizards or crocodiles, and they all have scales or plate armor. Their limbs are commonly short and bowed out to the sides, and they are very slow moving on the ground. What I saw was nothing like any breed of dragon I've ever studied. We had been up in the mountains in Montana, USA seeing if we could find where the creatures might be nesting for about two weeks. We were camped out in a large clearing ready to pack up and go back to Romania the next day because we'd found absolutely nothing, and I'll be damned if two of the things didn't suddenly drop right out of the sky and land in the clearing. This of course shows the stupidity of our group-as soon as they'd landed everyone jumped up with their wands and went to stun one of them-long story short, it didn't work and the two took off again and we never saw hide nor hair of them for the rest of the time we were there. What was the strangest thing about the whole experience was how un-dragon-like these dragons were. I've already said that all dragons are scaly, slow and lizard or snake-like-well these most definitely weren't! They were at least 60 feet long, 12 feet at the shoulder. For the short amount of time that I saw them I didn't see a single scale on them-leathery skin-no scales, just a few spikes here and there on their elbows and heels. Their legs were long and they stood high off of the ground-not flat-bellied like most dragons-their bone structures were like a cat's--the long legs and the slim bodies-I couldn't believe my eyes! The strangest thing was their head and neck-they had manes-like horses-trailing down their necks, and if I hadn't seen the size of their mouths and the fangs inside I would have thought their heads were like a horse's. There were also these-I want to say antlers-on their head that shot from a spike on their snout back across their face and at least five feet behind their heads. They could bend-probably cartilage-definitely not horns. All in all, I have never seen anything like them, and I only saw them for about 30 seconds. When the other guys went to stun them, it was as if they realized what was happening. They didn't attack like normal dragons would-they turned and ran-fast-fastest damn things I've ever seen. At least 60 km/h-most dragons can run about 35 km/h. And then they were in the air again and disappeared as fast as they had appeared in the first place. I've sent a report into the Ministry to see if we can continue the research there. Just thought you'd find that interesting, and since you're at odds with Ron I didn't think he'd tell you. Later, |
Wow
, Harry thought to himself, that is interesting... Harry folded up the papers and turned to the second letter. I'll have to show this to Talia-bet she'd find that interesting too... Harry picked up the second letter and read.|
Dear Harry, I've heard about the trouble you and Ron have been having, and I want you to know that everything will clear up and that you are still welcomed by all of us. I haven't met this girl, Talia, but I'm sure you can judge people for yourself. Since you're like one of my own sons, I feel it is my duty to tell you not to rush into anything. People your age can be blinded by emotions sometimes, so I want you to keep your head on strait! Sincerely, P.S. I'm sure you, Ron and Hermione will all make up soon, I have no doubt of it. You've all been through too much together to loose that friendship. |
Harry sighed as he folded the letter up. No one can make you feel guilty like Mrs. Weasley, he thought to himself. He glanced down at Ron. It looked like he had gotten a similar letter. Harry decided that he would have to try to talk to him and Hermione before they left the next day, even if he was right.
Harry looked back up at Talia. She seemed to be more jittery now that the mail had arrived. What on earth is wrong with her!?! Harry went back to picking at his eggs.
Suddenly, a screech filled the air, and everyone in the Great Hall jumped in their seats as a falcon entered from one of the highest windows of the hall. Gasps filled the room as it circled in the air.
"What the hell?" Harry muttered to himself as the bird let out another screech as it curved about the ceiling. It dived, and his eyes followed it to its destination.
Talia had extended her arm at her seat and the raptor landed gracefully on the willing perch. The entire room was watching her, but Harry was sure that he was the only person truly observing her. Her face was contorted in absolute dread, as if this was what she had been waiting for all morning.
Her hand idly stroked the bird from head to tail, and Harry noticed that a letter was tied to one of its legs-just the same way it was with owl post. Something hit him-Why isn't it afraid of her!?! And why is a falcon delivering her mail instead of an owl!?!
Talia continued to stroke the bird, ignoring the fact that the entire hall was watching her. She seemed to be preparing herself for something. Finally, after a good five minutes she relieved the bird of the letter. It flew up, letting out another shrill scream before it exited through the window once more.
All eyes were still fixed on Talia as she looked at the letter. Her hands were trembling as she moved to open it. She closed her eyes as the folds straitened and took a deep breath before she gazed down at the writing on the page.
Harry stood up from his chair in worry. All of the color vanished from Talia's already pale face. Her hands shook uncontrollably and he could see from where he was that her breathing became erratic. She slowly rose from her chair, one hand crushing the letter in her fist as the other hand covering her mouth. Her eyes screwed shut, and he could see pearly tears escaped over her cheeks as he approached her. She made a very audible gasp that quickly became a sob as she fell against the table.
Harry rushed toward her, but before he could reach her she gasped again and sprinted from the hall. He ran after her into the corridors, ignoring everyone who watched them and the flood of whispers that erupted as soon as they were gone.
She was running toward the dungeons-probably back to her common room. She continued to gasp-to sob-becoming louder and louder the further she was from the other students. At the same time she ran slower-her legs wanting to give way weakly under her weight. Harry ran after her, calling her name in an attempt to stop her, but she wouldn't stop. In her growing clumsiness she turned her ankle over and slammed into the wall of the corridor. She gave a mournful scream that melted into sobs that were so violent she couldn't find her breath. She tried to go forward, but only fell to her knees. Her hands covered her face and she rocked back and forth as Harry reached her.
"Talia..." he whispered, hitting his knees next to her, "Talia what happened!?!" He pulled her against him.
"Harry..." she cried, her face pressing into his neck. That was all she said. Her arms closed tightly around him as her sobs shook her entire form. Her hands clawed at his robes and she tried to bury her face completely against him. He held her tightly and stroked her hair and back in a futile attempt to comfort her.
His eyes fell to the ground. The letter lay at her feet crumpled and forgotten. He reached down and picked it up trying not to let her realize he was doing so. He gingerly opened the thick creased parchment. There were only three words scratched on the paper in writing that seemed crossed between English letters and some other language. Three simple words were stated in an unfeeling sentence:
Kiy is dead.
Harry dropped the letter and tried to calm Talia, speaking useless words of encouragement, "Shhh, it will be all right, Talia. It will be all right." He held her tighter and rocked her in his arms, his hands rubbing across her back and shoulders. "It will be all right."
"It will never be all right," he heard her whisper between sobs, "It will never be all right... Kiy wasn't the first... and he won't be the last..."
"What do you mean Talia?" he whispered in confusion. He tried to comfort her for another five minutes before Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape found them. The Three professors tried desperately to learn what had happened to no avail. Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed deeply concerned, but, not surprisingly, Snape only seemed suspicious, eyeing Harry the way he always did. They pulled the two apart and tried to coax answers out of the shaken girl. She had taken the letter back up and was clutching it tightly against her chest.
Classes were going to start in a few minutes. With some effort they managed to get Talia on her feet and went to Dumbledore's office, Harry on one side of her and McGonagall on the other.
Once they were in the office Talia slumped down in the chair before Dumbledore's desk. She put her face in her hands and leaned down onto her knees and continued to cry. By this time she had actually stopped several times, but every time she had, after a few seconds her eyes would glaze over again and sobs racked her body once more.
Dumbledore pulled his chair out so that he could sit directly across from Talia. He put his aged hand on her shoulder and whispered comforts to her before looking back up again, "Minerva, Severus, thank you for you help. You have classes to attend to. I will speak with you later."
"What about Potter?" Snape snarled, narrowing his eyes at Harry who stood stubbornly at Talia's side and met the Potion Master's gaze head on.
"Harry, it would probably be best if you went to your first class as well."
"But Professor!" Harry started, but was cut off by Dumbledore's unusually stern stare. Harry saw Snape sneer at him before he left the room. "Yes sir," he answered before dropping to his knee. He put his lips against Talia's ear. "I promise, you'll be OK, Talia. I will help you through this any way I can," he whispered softly.
She turned toward him and captured him in a tight hug. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered before letting him go. He took her hand as he stood up and gave a reassuring squeeze before he left the little room.
Any hope Harry had of doing well on Mazanec's exam died after Talia's horrible display at breakfast. All he could think about was Talia and the blunt statement in the letter, "Kiy is dead." Apparently Talia had known something had happened to whoever it was before she'd gotten the letter. Parkinson had said that she'd been screaming the name Kiy in her sleep-Did she dream about what happened? Harry wished that Dumbledore had let him stay so much-maybe he would finally understand what was happening.
"List the differences between the Asian vampire and the Indian-African vampire," Harry read the question in his head for the tenth time. He had been staring at the same question for twenty minutes. He knew the answers, but his mind was too preoccupied with Talia to answer. He scraped his quill along the side of his test, not even realizing that he had scraped all the way through the paper and was marking on the desk.
"It will never be all right... It will never be all right... Kiy wasn't the first... and he won't be the last..."
Harry replayed Talia's words in his head. "...wasn't the first... won't be the last..." "Kiy is dead." Harry ran his hand through his messy hair. He wasn't the first to die, and he won't be the last... She was so upset by the letter... did she know him? Or... was she the one who... Harry shook his head. He wouldn't believe that. He wouldn't even think it. Talia couldn't have killed the person herself. No. I won't believe that. She must have known him... maybe it was Voldemort... or Death Eaters... However he died, more are going to follow him... "...won't be the last..." Harry put his head on the desk in deep thought.
"Mr. Potter, your test please?"
"Huh?" Harry looked up to see Professor Mazanec standing with her claw-like hand waiting for his test. Harry looked around-the entire class had disbursed, "Oh my God!"
"Hmm...my thoughts exactly," she answered looking over his test, and the deep groove he had put into the table where he was sitting, "Is there something bothering you Mr. Potter? You didn't answer a single question in two hours, and you have managed to mangle my desk-surely you studied better than this."
"Um-" Harry stammered. He had studied! He was worried about Talia. He couldn't think straight. "I-uh-Has it really been two hours!?!" he asked her.
She quirked an eyebrow and nodded.
"I'm sorry ma'am... I'm worried about Talia Carter... she was really upset this morning and I wasn't able to find out what... and..."
"It's all right Mr. Potter. I understand." Harry looked at the woman in disbelief, the normally shrewd professor actually seemed to be compassionate. "Listen, I understand that you were unable to take this test. Since you are staying over the holidays you can make it up during that time." She glanced at his test again, "You didn't even spell your name right."
"What!?!" he snapped.
She handed him the paper. Sure enough, he had spelled his name "Hary Pottter." He felt his entire face grow red.
"It's OK. I understand. We'll discuss when you can make up the test later. You had better get to your next class."
"Yes, Professor. Thank you."
Harry moved out to Hagrid's class, watching carefully to see if he could see Talia in the halls anywhere, though he knew she was probably excused from classes. He walked out to Hagrid's hut where the giant winged horses were already waiting to be groomed and shod by the students. He was met by Hagrid half way to the hut. He glared up at the half-giant still angry about his accusations of Talia as a dark witch.
"Harry," Hagrid said calmly, "Dumbledore wants ter see yeh now."
Harry nodded, "Thanks Hagrid." He turned on his heel and walked back to the castle. I hope she's OK, he thought to himself. I hope Dumbledore will tell me what he found out-probably won't, but it sure would be nice... I hope she's OK... Harry repeated the same statement over and over in his head as he wound about the corridors on his way to Dumbledore's office. He passed the gargoyle that stood at ease because Dumbledore was inside his office, and knocked on the door.
"Come in," the headmaster said from inside.
Harry opened the door, "You wanted to see me sir?"
"Yes, Harry, please come and sit down."
Harry did as asked and watched the old man carefully as he did so. "Sir..." Harry began, "is Talia OK? Did she show you the letter?"
"Yes, she did," he started, folding his hands across his long desk.
"Did she tell you who Kiy was? What happened to him?"
"How did-"
"I saw what the letter said before you got there. It said 'Kiy is dead.' Did she tell you anything?" Harry asked, almost pleading for an answer.
Dumbledore pressed his lips together and looked at his hands, "Before I say too much, how much of her past do you know?"
"Well-she's told me that she lives in an orphanage in Ohio. She never knew her father and her mother died giving birth-she lived with a friend of her mother's until she was five and then went into the orphanage... and... she hasn't actually told me this... but... I think something happened to her-something someone named 'Yasha' did to her... but again, she hasn't told me that..."
Dumbledore took a breath and nodded, "Well, from what she's told me you're more or less correct," Dumbledore paused again, as if at odds whether he should tell Harry anything or not. "Talia received news today that her step-brother Kiy had died. He was the son of her caretaker before she was sent to the orphanage. She hadn't seen him for several years."
"Is she OK? Did she know how he died? How old was he?"
"He was in his mid-twenties, according to her. She was still very shaken when I took her back to Slytherin wing. She said that she didn't know how he died-the letter didn't say-but she knows more than she's telling anyone." Dumbledore stared very hard at Harry, "Harry, if you can give me any information on her, I would greatly appreciate it. I believe it is very obvious that we do not participate in exchange programs very often, and when I received the request at the end of term last year I was very surprised. Of course, I did research, and all of her records checked out, but I was concerned about her social behavior. Her teachers from Whistendale said that she was a brilliant, hard-working student, but was very antisocial. I almost did not accept her for that very reason, but then I received a letter from her begging me to allow her to come, and I caved."
Harry watched Dumbledore worriedly. He did not like the direction Dumbledore was heading in.
"Harry, you've spent more time with Talia than the student body and the faculty combined. Have you noticed anything particularly odd about her?"
She has luminescent eyes, elongated facial and body features, she seems to emit a scent that makes my head spin, she has a funny accent, she's a Parsletongue, animals panic in her presence, she can strike fear into harpies, she is in no way prejudice like the other Slytherins, she is afraid of Snape, she is sympathetic to werewolves, she runs fast, she can fly like a national champion her first time on a broom, she can do gymnastics on a safety rail, she can kick a Buldger without breaking her leg, she receives mail by falcon instead of owl, she seeks comfort from the stars, she wanders the halls at night-and-she has secrets...
"No."
"Are you sure?"
Harry looked Dumbledore in the eye, "Are you trying to peg her as a dark witch too, Professor?"
Dumbledore took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "I'm not sure, Harry. I have my worries, yes. There are things about her that are obvious traits of a good witch-but there are other things about her... she has a darkness about her, Harry. A shroud that seems to linger around her-very much the way it did about Tom Riddle..."
Harry's eyes became huge and his breath caught in his chest.
"I am not accusing her of anything. I told you several months ago to be careful around her, but I encouraged you to remain friends with her-obviously you have taken that further than I meant. I know that you have severed your relationships with Ron, Hermione and Hagrid over their disagreement about Talia. I'm not sure that they are wrong..."
"Are you trying to tell me that she's a Death Eater? That she's going to try to kill me? If she was going to kill me she could have done it by now!"
Dumbledore sighed, "Harry, I've already said that I am not accusing her of anything. I want you to be careful. When she first arrived I was suspicious of her, and the behavior that worried me has increased more than it has decreased, and I have noticed that your behavior has changed as well."
Harry was taken aback at first.
"Several weeks ago, when you first became involved with Talia, I noticed that you stopped talking to everyone else if at all possible. You became very reclusive, and I noticed that you seemed confused quite often. It was at its absolute worst during your Quidditch game. You seemed to actually be in pain, and I noticed you held your temples at least twice every five minutes. Several times you were flying so slow that you actually stopped in midair, and I also noticed that you nearly lost control of the broom several times-and then all of a sudden you came out of whatever it was and caught the Snitch. Everyone was under the impression that you were feinting sickness to the other team to give them a false sense of assurance, but something tells me it was more than that. Would you mind explaining this to me?"
Harry knew that his eyes had become gigantic. He knew that he wouldn't be able to make up a truthful lie to Dumbledore, not with that horribly guilty look on his face.
"Um... I had a really bad migraine, and it cleared up at the middle of the game..." Harry spat out before he could stop himself.
Dumbledore raised an ancient brow, "Harry, do you really expect me to believe that? Migraines don't evaporate in split seconds."
"Um..." Harry's eyes were still huge, he just couldn't get them to return to their normal size-Dumbledore continued to stare at Harry, the old blue eyes holding no twinkle, and actually seeming to bore into Harry-and Harry finally cracked. His face shot down, "OK, I was hearing people's thoughts-the way you said my father did. I could hear everyone's thoughts and I didn't know how to shut them off. It was so bad at the Quidditch game that I couldn't hear a single word anyone actually said to me because the voices were so loud-when I regained my control over my flying I had finally blocked them out by closing my mind to them..."
"Oh," Dumbledore said, sitting back in his chair.
"Sir, you're not going to try to blame Talia for that, are you? After all, you said that my father had the same thing."
"But didn't these powers show up right around the time you started spending time with Ms. Carter?"
Harry was speechless. They had shown up about that time. No, I won't believe that she did it to me-why would she? It's hereditary. My father had it too!
"Harry," Dumbledore began again, "I am not accusing her of anything, but I want you to be extremely careful around her. I have no proof of anything besides a feeling. Please, if you feel that you are in danger in any way, come and tell me. Please. With Voldemort gaining power I cannot be too careful. That is one of the things that worry me, Harry. Talia was very insistent on coming to Hogwarts this year, and there are a lot of rumors that Voldemort is going to try to attack the school. He has been quiet for quite some time, so I wouldn't be surprised if he did. I am doing my best to strengthen the school's protections, but if there are traitors inside the walls-"
"Traitors!?! If you want to keep an eye on traitors, then keep your eye on Malfoy, Crabb, and Goyle!!! Not Talia!!! She's done nothing wrong!!!"
"Harry," Dumbledore put a hand out to calm him, "I am not calling Talia a traitor, and I am keeping an eye on those said families-but her insisting on coming here-I can't help but feel that it was strategic placement. She is a very powerful witch, Harry. If she turned-it would be very bad. Her scores in transfiguration, charms, and potions are through the roof-I haven't seen scores this high since Tom Riddle. I'm sorry to say it Harry-and no matter what you want to think-she does have a dark side to her-exactly what that side is, I don't know-but in my experience I have never been wrong when I place someone like this. There is something very dangerous about her-a distinct power. Professor Trewlawny-although she has a reputation for being a fraud-has seen it as well. She has never seen the power of divination so strong in any single person... I want you to be careful, Harry."
Harry threw his glasses onto Dumbledore's desk and watched the blur, which was now the headmaster, for several seconds before he put his head in his hands. "I thought you said that she needed allies? I thought you wanted me to get closer to her-and now you're turning on her like everyone else! Does she have a single friend in the entire school besides me? Does she!?!"
"Harry-"
"No! I won't listen to anymore of this Professor! I will not turn my back on her! Not when she needs me the most. I will not be blinded by rumors. I will not be blinded by other peoples' prejudice to her! I won't!"
"Harry, have you thought for a minute that perhaps your emotions and your own stubbornness is blinding you instead of the other way around?"
"Please, Dumbledore... no more... you're not going to change my mind-not without proof. Please, can I go?"
"Yes."
Harry picked up his glasses and moved towards the door but stopped as his hand came to the doorknob, "Do you think she's going to be OK Dumbledore? I mean with her step-brother's death?"
"In any case, she just needs time. Time heals all wounds."
But some wounds don't heal that well
."Be careful, Harry."
He shut the door behind him.
The rest of his classes went about the same as Mazanec's. He was too preoccupied to think clearly and managed to blow up his station in Potions, loosing Gryffindor 20 points for stupidity because he was watching Talia's empty space more than the ingredients he was adding to the concoction brewing in his cauldron. He spent all of History of Magic scratching idly on his scrolls not listening to a single word Professor Binns was saying and ended the day in such a daze in Divination that Trelawny had thought he'd gone into a trance.
At dinner he picked at the roast beef and mashed potatoes, only about three bites ever making it to his mouth. He watched Talia's empty chair from his seat. Without her looking back at him he felt as if a part of himself was actually missing. He glanced around the room. No one else seemed to care-in fact many people seemed relieved or glad that she was not there. He looked at his plate. He had no idea how she was doing-and he hated the thought that she was alone in Slytherin wing in the state that he'd left her in. He took a deep breath and looked up to the faculty table.
Harry stood up and walked toward the high table. What am I doing!?! Have I lost my mind!?!
"Professor Snape?" Harry asked hesitantly. The shallow face turned from a short argument with Professor Flitwick and the cold eyes immediately narrowed.
"What do you want, Potter?"
Harry gulped against his will. Approaching Snape of his own free will. This is insanity-but he's head of Slytherin... "I was hoping that you could tell me how Talia is doing," he asked quietly.
Snape flinched unknowingly-ever since her reaction to him on the first day of classes he was always hesitant around her. Even the mention of her name threw him off guard. "Go back to your table, Potter."
"Please sir-I've been worried about her all day-her brother died-please... I just want to know how she's doing-if she's OK..."
Snape's jaw tightened momentarily and if Harry wasn't mistaken he could have sworn the coldness in the man's eyes warmed slightly. "She's doing as well as can be expected. She's been in the girl's dorm ever since Dumbledore took her there-laid down on her bed and hasn't moved since. Go back to your table now, Potter."
Harry nodded, "Thank you Professor."
"Hedwig, please, take this note to Talia." The owl hooted angrily at Harry, and, if she would have been able to, Harry was sure that she would have snarled at him. "Please. She's really upset. I need to know that she's OK. Please girl..." The bird gave another angry squawk before she flew out the window. He had asked Talia to write him back-to tell him everything that was on her mind-to let it all out. Hopefully she would respond.
Harry grimly walked back to Gryffindor Tower from the Owlery. He went through the portrait hole and straight up to the boy's dorm, ignoring everyone who tried to speak to him. He sat down at the window inside the dorm and waited. That would be where Hedwig would show first if Talia responded, and he wanted to be there waiting for her reply.
Harry sat inside the shelter of the window and leaned against the glass watching for the arrival of the snowy owl. He'd sent the note with Hedwig at 7:00-it was 8:00. Surely Hedwig had gotten the note to Talia by then.
Around nine everyone came up to check that their trunks were in order for their trips home the next day. Harry watched them absent-mindedly-particularly Ron. He wanted to talk to him, but couldn't bring himself to leave the window. Harry turned his attention back to the outdoors. It had started to snow lightly. He noticed that the sky was completely covered as it always was in the winter. She can't see the stars, he thought to himself. I wonder if that bothers her much...
"Harry?"
He gave a slight jump at the sound of his name. He turned to see Ron.
"Listen, I... is she all right?"
Harry watched him silently for several seconds before speaking. "I don't know."
"What happened?" Ron asked, uncomfortable by the tension that was still present between them.
"A family member died," Harry looked out the window again. "Ron... I'm not changing my opinion about Talia at all... but... I don't like the fact that she's tearing us apart... do you think that you and Hermione can give her a second chance?"
"Harry... I can't help the fact that I think she's dangerous. She's just too... strange... Harry, you've been acting weird ever since you've been involved with her. She's changing you-and not for the better..."
Harry shook his head and closed his eyes. "You know... I am the only friend that she has in this school." He opened his eyes but still wouldn't look at Ron. "All of the students hate her-accept for a handful of guys-especially Malfoy. They want her-and none of the professors trust her... I've heard their thoughts. She doesn't have a single friend besides me. She is completely alone here..."
"Wait a minute... You've heard thoughts? Like with Hermione?"
"Yes. I can do it at will now... but before I couldn't turn it off... that's why I was avoiding everyone... the further I was from them the less I heard..."
"Harry... wow... listen... I'm sorry... I'm sorry about this whole mess. But I just can't help that I think she's putting you in danger... I just know she is. Something bad's going to happen to you if you continue on with her..."
She thinks that too...
"Why can't you see that?"
Harry gave no answer.
"Are you in love with her?"
Harry's breath caught in his throat at the suggestion. He glanced passed Ron for a brief second. It was almost ten o'clock... he'd been sitting at the window for three hours waiting for a letter from Talia... three hours for a letter... He looked back at the window, his lips parting as he thought... how lost he'd been all day-distraught at the thought of her being in pain-in pain himself from knowing that she was hurting and he couldn't help her-lost because he was unable to contact her...
He looked down and gave a slight nod, "I think so..."
"Harry-you're going to get hurt in more ways than one in that case..." Ron turned away from him and went back down to the common room, leaving Harry alone in the dorm room again.
Harry looked at his hands, almost in disbelief of what he'd just told Ron. Am I in love with her? I can't even think about what life would be like if she was suddenly gone...
He heard a tap on the window. He looked up.
Hedwig was clinging to the ledge outside of the window as the snow settled on her back as she impatiently waited for Harry to let her in. He quickly undid the latch and swung the window open. Hedwig flew in and shook her feathers off.
"What took you so long girl?" he asked as he took the note from her claw. She gave a very disgruntled hoot and angrily nipped at his hand. He let her outside again before he quickly unfolded the note. It was written on the back of his.
|
Thank you Harry. Thank you for trying to understand... but I can't tell you anything. Do you remember what I said on the first day of classes? I cannot tell you anything more about my past. It will put you in too much jeopardy. I should probably stop seeing you altogether... you're getting dangerously close to me... but I don't want to... I don't want to let go of you... you're all I have here... I've nearly forgotten why I ever wanted to come in the first place... I'm sorry... Thank you for trying to help me... Talia |
Harry folded the note back up and continued to sit by the window starting blankly forward. Dangerously close... knowing about her past will put me in danger... Even Talia is trying to get me to turn on her... He lost track of time thinking about the note and the horrifying thought of Talia ending their relationship. But she said she didn't want to... but she's putting me in danger... she said it herself... she can't be allied to Voldemort, I won't believe it... but what else could possibly be putting me in danger? Was her mother a Death Eater? But her mother is dead, how would that affect me?
Harry sighed and looked out the window. He hadn't even realized that everyone had gone to bed-he had never even noticed anyone coming back up. It was after midnight. He hadn't moved at all since he got the note. Harry wasn't sure why, but he suddenly had the urge to go up to the tower where he had first truly talked to Talia. He moved to his trunk and pulled out both his winter cloak and his invisibility cloak before moving out of the dorm room. He made sure that no one could see him as he swung both cloaks over him and disappeared, both invisible and warm.
Harry reread the note as he wound about the passages of the castle. It suddenly hit him that Talia's handwriting seemed to reflect the same kind of letters that were in the note-that cross between English and something else... he'd never really noticed before. He still wasn't sure why he was going up to the tower-he just had the feeling that he needed to-as if something was calling him. He folded the note and put it into his pocket.
As he began to ascend the last winding staircase to the tower he could hear music of some sort. It gradually became louder as he climbed the staircase. It was a very slow mournful song. The notes were long and drawn out, every so often going in a long run down the scale from very high to very low. The music pulled strings in Harry's chest that almost brought tears to his eyes.
It was someone singing-but whatever the song was, it most certainly was not in English. Harry had no idea hat language it was. It didn't sound like anything he'd ever heard before. It was heavy with throaty sounds-growling R's and hissing S's.
Harry stepped onto the terrace of the tower, not at all surprised by what he found.
Talia knelt in the falling snow, the soft flakes floating all about her as the sad song poured from her lips. She held a brightly burning candle in her hands as she knelt inside a circle of dimmer candles, her face and eyes lifted to the sky.
She was praying.
Harry let the invisibility cloak fall to the cold ground. There was no reason for him to hide behind it.
Harry didn't know how long she'd been singing the song, but her voice began to waver with the higher notes. She had to pause several times before taking up the long trill of descending notes once again.
Harry quietly walked forward during the graceful notes, not saying a word. There were several extra candles lying behind her. He picked one up, setting the wick against one of the smaller flames until it lit up as well. He stepped into the circle careful not to knock over any of the candles and knelt down beside her. She finished the alien song on a fairly low note, her vibrato rumbling with the effort to keep her voice even.
She silently looked at him, and he returned her gaze. Neither said a word. Talia looked down at her candle, so Harry did the same. She began speaking in the same language that the song had been in. Harry thought of the rumors he'd heard those many months ago-about Talia speaking in tongues. Perhaps they had been referring to this strange language. She murmured the words quietly with closed eyes. Harry marveled at how fluently the words floated from her lips and couldn't help but wonder what she was saying.
She stopped again, but only for a moment before she began again. After several minutes she paused a third time before droning on with the language yet another time.
Harry finally realized what she was doing. She held a string of beads in her hands along with the candle. Every time she pauses she moved to a new bead--it was similar to a rosery.
He wasn't sure why, but he inclined his head and silently said as a few of the prayers he could remember. The Dersleys, although they were Anglican, had not done the best job of passing the religion on to Harry. He believed in God, and knew a handful of prayers, but if anyone ever questioned him about his faith in general he had a bad tendency to draw a blank. He knew right from wrong, and as far as he was concerned, that was the most important thing.
They were there for at least an hour on their knees, and Harry had lost all of the feeling in his feet, but he wanted to be there with Talia-just so that she knew he was there to help her. Finally, Talia uttered the last of the odd language while making several hand gestures and blew out her candle. Harry followed her lead. They knelt for several more minutes before Talia finally spoke.
"Thank you, for coming up here. I didn't want to be alone...how did you know to come?"
"I didn't... something just told me to..."
"What language was that you were speaking?"
She was silent for several seconds before she answered, "Latin."
She was lying. He knew full well what Latin sounded like-almost all of their spells had Latin roots-and he had sat through several Latin Christmas masses with the Dursleys-that was not Latin. But Harry didn't press her for the real answer.
"How are you doing?"
"I'm all right... I guess..."
"Were you close to him? To Kiy?"
"Not really... but he was the only family I ever knew... other than his mother-she's the one I stayed with before I had to go away..."
"Why did you have to leave? How could they abandon you like that?"
"It wasn't their fault... it was out of their power. They didn't want me to leave..."
"That doesn't make sense Talia..." her fingers touched his lips to keep him from going on any further.
"Harry-I told you in that note that I couldn't tell you about my past. It's getting dangerous for me to do so... I'm afraid of what will happen to you... if I let you get too close to me..."
"Why Talia? You've been telling me that all along. Can you tell me why? Does it have to do with You-Know-Who?"
She looked him strait in the eyes. "It has nothing to do with Voldemort." Harry gasped at the fact that she said his name. "I don't-I don't want you to end up like Kiy..."
"What happened to him Talia? How did he die? Do you know?"
Her arms encircled his neck and her fingers ran briefly through his hair, which was rather snow-covered, the same as hers. "I can't tell you," she whispered, and he saw tears return to her eyes again, "I can't tell you..."
"Then you do know?"
She gave a grim nod as the tears welled in her eyes again. Harry quickly wiped them away as they streaked down her cheeks, afraid that they would freeze on her skin. His hands gently held her head and his thumbs brushed across her high cheekbones. She was so cold... He pulled her to him and enclosed her in his arms. She curled into his chest and buried her face into his cloak.
"Talia, I can't help you... if you don't tell me what's wrong," he whispered as he massaged her neck.
"And I can't keep you safe if I do..." he heard her muffled voice come from the thick cloth around his neck.
"Talia..." he began again, but her icy fingers found his lips again.
"Harry please... please, don't speak... just... just hold me for a little while..." she murmured. Harry did as she asked, drawing his arms tighter around her and pressed his cheek to her temple as the snow continued to fall silently around them.
Secondary Disclaimers:
"Dhampire" A human-vampire hybrid. Comes from Vampire Hunter D, pronounced "Dampeel" in the movie. © Urban Vision Entertainment. "Suddenly the image of a brick wall popped up in the back of his mind," The scene idea here came from the movie The Villiage of the Damned, © not me.. "She's changing you--and not for the better..." I think the original line was "You've changed--and not for the better," and I don't remember where I heard it before. It might have been Akira--but I don't think that's right...but I'm pretty sure it was from some anime...or Disney film...maybe Gargoyles...who knows.... "I can do it at will now." This has been in several places, but I think specifically of Goku speaking of becoming Super Saiyan during the Trunks Saga when he first returns to Earth. © Akira Toriyama and Funimation. "I don't want you to end up like Kiy." Line adaptation from Vampire Hunter D, "I don't want you to end up like my father," said by Doris Lang. © Urban Vision Entertainment. "Harry please...please, don't speak...just...just hold me for a little while..." Line adaptation from Vampire Hunter D, said by Doris Lang, "D...please...please...just let me hold you for a little while..." © Urban Vision Entertainment.