Kuro: (sucks on a jolly rancher sucker)
Kaze: (grabs the sucker out of the bat's mouth) Hey, we have an A/N to do.
Kuro: (kanoshii kao(sad face)) Oh, alright.
Kaze: Ok guys, here's the next chapter that was promised.
Kuro: Hope you enjoy. And don't forget to review.
Kaze: Yes, please review.
Kuro: Onto the chapter!
-Review Responses-
Thank you to all of you who reviewed. And in regards to the challenge at the end of chapter 8, Nightmare Rose and Cherie were the winners. If you are one of these two people, please put in a review what chpt you would like a sneak peek of. As of now I only have up to chpt 11 written, but I do plan on having chpt 12 done at the end of this week.
Truth Lies in the Shadows
Chapter 10
The rest of the first week went by smooth enough. Although just in that one week, the sixth years realized it was going to be a rough year. However, Harry was beginning to like Potions more with the help of the Half-Blood Prince.
"What are these things again?" asked Kaze as she looked at the strange horse-like animal in front of her.
The two demons and Kiku were working together in Care of Magical Creatures. There weren't many people taking the class, ten at the most. The agenda for today was to split up into groups and study the creatures assigned to them.
"They're kelpies." Reina said. She was taking notes as Kiku called out the characteristics of the creatures.
The class was down by the lake where the kelpies' habitat was. There were four groups and a kelpie for each. Reina's notes included the obvious such as their abilities to change form, the cattails, and the reed manes. She also wrote down things she could remember from Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them.
Kaze walked behind Reina who was sitting on the grass. Looking over the other girl's shoulder, she read what was written down. "I see you've learned to write bigger."
The half-demon frowned. "I had no choice after Snape made me rewrite my essay on nonverbal spells. It's not my fault his age is taking a toll on his vision."
"Don't let Snape hear you say that." Kiku walked over to them once she was done examining the kelpie. She watched her two new friends with a curious eye. After a few minutes she spoke up again. "So, what kind of demons are you?" she said with a smirk. The girl's reactions to the questions were quite amusing to Kiku. Reina grabbed a lock of her hair and frantically looked at the strands that were still brown. Kaze's hand instinctively shot up to her ear, which was rounded at the tip.
"Don't worry. No one else can see through the spell." Kiku assured them.
Reina dropped her notebook on the ground and stood up. "How?" From the angle at which she was standing, the half-demon could see the tattoo on Kiku's neck more clearly than before. Vertically in Japanese kanji were the words "Water Demon". "You're a water demon?" Kiku nodded still wearing that smirk. "That must have been what the Sorting Hat was talking about!"
"The Sorting Hat? What the hell is going on?" exclaimed Kaze. Her small outburst caused the next group over to glance wearily at them.
" 'More immortal blood to judge' is what it said. That means there was another demon sorted before us." Reina explained softly. She turned her attention to Kiku. "How can you see through the spell and we can't?"
"I'm not using a spell, I use illusions. That's how I am bale to hide my demonic traits, and see through the concealing spell." Said Kiku. "So, are you going to answer my question or not?"
Both Reina and Kaze looked skeptical. This was not what they were expecting. On the one hand they were relieved to know they weren't the only ones. Kiku had been at Hogwarts for five years so she could be a big help. But could they trust her? They had only known her for a week.
"I can't find anything that implies harm to us." Kaze stated after reading Kiku's thoughts.
"You're a telepath? Cool." said Kiku. "And I would guess that you are also a wind demon by the mark on your chest."
"Yes."
"What about you, Reina? I can't seem to figure out what race of demon you are. Other than your raven tattoos, which I doubt are demonic, you have no other markings."
Reina was silent. The alleged water demon must have been very observant. Not wanting people to pay extra attention to her, Reina had taken precautions to hide her tattoos. 'I guess I can stop doing that.' she thought. She looked hard at Kiku who had ditched the smirk for a friendly smile.
"I guess we can trust you," she said at long last.
"Good. Now, you are a…"
"Shadow demon."
"Really?" Kiku said slowly. "Then where is the symbol that's suppose to be on your forehead?" She pushed Reina on the forehead with her index finger. This made it a bit difficult for the shadow demon to keep a straight face.
"Hey, let me try that!"
Kaze hopped in front of Reina and looked up at her. She poked the girl's forehead like Kiku had done. This time Reina wasn't amused, and it showed. "Nice work, Kiku. I think you have just found a new way to entertain ourselves and annoy Rei at the same time."
"Enough!" Reina pushed the wind demon's hand away. Her face became serious again. "It's not there because I'm…I'm a half-demon." There was an awkward silence for a moment. Reina's eyes were downcast as she awaited the usual snide remarks that came along with the knowledge of her identity.
Kiku's reaction was unexpected. "Cool." It took a few seconds for the remark to register. When it did, Reina stared at the water demon dumbfounded. Even Kaze was a bit surprised at the lack of disapproval.
"That's it?"
"Nani?" Kiku said from the water's edge.
"No insults?" asked the half-demon.
Kiku looked over her shoulder at the girl. "No insults." she said sternly. "I wasn't brought up to hate half-demons, Reina. You're the first hybrid I've ever seen."
"Your parents must be very understanding," said Kaze crossing her arms and sitting next to Kiku.
"Yes. I wish we had more of those in our village." Reina sighed. She didn't sit down, but she did walk to the edge of the lake.
The water was calm, gleaming under the beating sun. Its serenity was disturbed when Kiku held her hand over the surface. A strip of water lifted itself from the lake and began dancing in mid air. While the solid-like form wiggled around, it was sliced in half by a sharp force of wind. The two halves kept dancing for a minute. When nothing else happened to it, the wind and water demon glanced to their left.
Reina was staring at her reflection in the clear water, her eyes looking beyond the surface. The face that looked back at her was a stranger's. This form was not her own, no matter how much she wished it were. Suddenly, the person in the water faded and was replaced by the Reina who was known in her village. If Kiku hadn't informed them of the illusions this would have scared her. But Reina knew the change in her reflection was the water demon's doing.
"This probably won't help the mood, but my parents aren't demons." Kiku said. "I'll explain later." she added after seeing the curious looks.
The three girls turned to the giant approaching them. Hagrid stopped next to each group to check their progress, and was pleased with them all. "How are things o'er 'ere?" he asked when he reached the last group.
"Fine, Hagrid…I mean Professor Hagrid." replied Reina smiling. Hagrid chuckled.
"Tha's nice. If you're finished then…" He ushered their kelpie back into the water. "You can leave." The girls collected their things and started walking back to the castle. "Reina,"
The half-demon stopped to look back at Hagrid. He motioned for her to come to his side. "Go on without me. I'll meet you in the Great Hall." she told Kaze and Kiku. They nodded and went on to lunch. Reina took the few steps back to the half-giant. "Yes, Hagrid?"
"I don't mean to hold ye up, but would you mind comin' by the hut tomorrow nigh'? Fang knocked over a cage of fairies this mornin' and they flew into the forest. I though tha' since you're a…uh…" Hagrid looked around at the few students still by the lake. "Well, you know."
"You want me to help you find them?" asked Reina smiling. "I'd be happy to help. I'll stop by after dinner." They agreed and then the half-demon left for lunch.
Later that day in Transfiguration, McGonagall and the class were entertained by a small contest between wind and water. Kaze and Kiku had somehow gotten into a challenge to see who could do the most difficult animal transfigurations. McGonagall stopped the childish game so there was no winner. However, Reina was convinced it would have been Kiku. Illusions swirled with Transfiguration makes a remarkable result. When the show was over, everyone went back to his or her work, changing one animal into another.
Towards the end of class most people understood the material and had either succeeded or came very close to it. Those who didn't ended up with extra practice for homework. During the last attempt for this class, McGonagall got a big surprise.
"Mr.Finnigan! What happened?" exclaimed McGonagall at the sight of the boy's animal.
"I don't know. I said the spell right." Seamus said with uncertainty. "But I was thinking about a nice juicy steak."
The whole class was now laughing at the black and white cow that stood where Seamus's bird had been. The farm animal mooed at them. McGonagall walked over to it and pulled out her wand. The cow sounded one last moo before becoming a robin again.
"That's enough excitement. Class dismissed." announced McGonagall. She returned to her desk then glanced at the retreating students. "Miss Krone, please stay."
Reina stopped in the doorway and sighed. "Again?" she mumbled. Once again she told the others to go without her. She approached McGonagall's desk quickly. "Yes, Professor?"
The witch picked up a folded piece of parchment and handed it to Reina. "This is from Professor Dumbledore."
"Thank you, ma'am." Reina took the paper and waited for a moment. When McGonagall remained silent she asked, "Is that all?"
"Yes. You may go."
Reina left the classroom in a rush. Once she was in an empty corridor, she opened the letter from Dumbledore and read it as she walked.
Reina,
I wish to speak with you about your first week of classes. Please come to my office tomorrow night after dinner.
Albus Dumbledore
"Tomorrow night?" groaned the half-demon.
"Excuse me." said the fat lady in the portrait.
"Oh, sorry. Petrificus totalus." The door swung open and Reina climbed through thinking of how she could use that spell on the boys in her village. Before taking two steps into the common room, the half-demon was nearly tackled by an aggravated Hermione. Without saying a word, she grabbed Reina's wrist and dragged her to the table in the corner.
Dark eyes darted to the closest person, which happened to be Harry. "She's having homework troubles." he explained. The boy laughed as Hermione begged Reina to help her with their Ancient Runes homework. Once the bushy-haired girl understood, Reina took up more comfortable position on the vacant end of the sofa. She looked to the other end where Harry sat.
"Harry," Reina said. The boy gave her his attention. "What was the password to Dumbledore's office?"
"Acid pops." replied Harry. "Why do you need it?"
Moving her hair out of her eyes, Reina said, "I have to meet with him tomorrow."
Tomorrow came slowly since the shadow demon was up all night, but the day went by quickly because she slept through it. By the time she got up it was past two in the afternoon. Grateful that Kaze had let her sleep, Reina got dressed and headed downstairs. The common room was empty besides a few fifth years playing poker. They worriedly looked up from their game when they heard someone coming up from behind. When the boys realized who it was, they smiled and went back to their game.
Reina walked over to the boys' little circle and bent over to view one of their hands. After a moment of contemplation, she whispered something into the boy's ear. A grin crept onto his face.
"Hold." he said. His friends' winning smiles faltered. They grudgingly threw their cards to the floor after seeing the first boy's hand. The winner laughed and turned to his helper. "Thanks. You want to play the next round…uh?"
"Reina, and maybe later."
She met up with Kiku and Kaze in the grounds. The demon trio joined the famous trio not long after that. They hung out until dinner when Kiku split to sit with her own house.
"So, when did you get to bed?" Kaze asked sounding uninterested.
"Dawn."
Ron stared at Reina in disbelief. "You're mental."
"I know." replied the half-demon smiling sweetly. The group got a small laugh out of that.
"What is that?" Hermione said interrupting the conversation. She gestured to something black that had just flown into the Great Hall. "The mail ran this morning."
"That would be the night owl's night owl." said Kaze as they watched the raven fly in. It swooped down to the Gryffindor table and landed in front of the half-demon.
Reina stroked the bird gently. As the raven looked up at her, she could see in its eyes what he wanted. She took the envelope from his leg. "Thank you, Mayoke. You may go eat after you give this to Hagrid." Reina pulled a small paper from her jeans' pocket and let Mayoke take it in his mouth. Spreading his wings, the raven took off again.
"That's your bird?"
"Yes, his name's Mayoke." replied Reina as she ripped the envelope open. After reading through the letter she sighed in relief then frowned as she kept reading. "This sucks. He still won't tell me what this trip's about." she groaned.
"Who?" asked Harry.
"My father. He's traveling but refuses to tell me where or why."
When the half-demon looked up from the letter, she noticed that most of the people were leaving or had left the Great Hall. A quick glance at the staff table showed that some of the teachers were gone as well, including Dumbledore.
"I've got to go. See you guys later."
Kiku watched as Reina rushed out of the hall with her cloak in tow. 'Must be going to see Dumbledore.' she thought. Thinking no more of it, she finished up her dinner and left.
"Sukue!"
The water demon turned to see who had called her. Walking at a quick pace towards her down the hall was Draco Malfoy.
"I'm not in the mood to talk, Draco." Kiku began walking again. She didn't get very far before Draco caught up with her. He stood in her way so she had no choice but to stop.
Crossing his arms he said, "Where were you today?"
"Around."
"You were with the new kids and Potter, weren't you?"
Kiku crossed her arms as well, the many charms clinking when she moved. "So what if I was? I can hang out with whomever I want to."
"You'll stay away from them if you know what's good for you." said Draco in a nasty tone. His intimidation tactics may work on his other housemates, but they were useless against the water demon.
As the Slytherin buy turned to leave, Kiku stuck her tongue out at his back. "Prick." she muttered then walked away.
Reina had reached the phoenix statue and now stood in front of it in a deserted hallway. She said the password and, while waiting for the stairs to unravel, quickly shrunk her cloak so it wouldn't be a nuisance. Once the stairwell was still, she went up and knocked on the door. "Come in!" With a quick glance behind her, Reina entered the office.
"Welcome, Miss Krone." Dumbledore greeted. "I'm glad you were able to come."
"It wasn't a problem, sir." replied the half-demon.
Dumbledore gently smiled at her. The two of them sat down on opposite sides of the desk. "I'll try not to keep you long since you have an appointment to help Hagrid and Mr. Potter will be here later." The old wizard leaned back in his chair, looking over the rim of his spectacles. "So, how was the first week of classes?"
"Quite interesting. Not that Professor McGonagall isn't a good teacher, but it is nice to have a different teacher for each subject."
"I know what you mean." said the wizard smiling. "And Professor Mikers tells me that you show great promise in future with ancient runes."
The half-demon blushed a light pink. "Thank you, sir. I do enjoy the subject a lot." They grew quiet after this. Eventually Reina broke the silence. "Sir, would you mind if I removed the concealment spell while I'm here?" Her answer was Dumbledore's wand being pointed at her. The Headmaster spoke the counter spell and Reina's demonic traits returned. "Thank you." she said with a small sigh.
Dumbledore studied the girl's face for a moment as though there was something wrong. "Are you feeling ill?" he asked at last. The half-demon appeared to be a bit off to Dumbledore.
"No, sir." Reina replied. Then she thought it over. It wouldn't be wise to keep things from him, especially if he could help. "But I do feel worn out."
"Do you feel like this every time you remove the spell?"
"Only recently."
"Does Miss Soran feel the same?"
"I don't think so." said Reina, confused at why her weariness was so important. "But I think I know why I'm so tired. I haven't been meditating like I used to. I'm sure that's it."
The wizard put his fingertips together in thought. "It could be. Try to find some time every day to relax." Reina nodded. "And I'm going to ere on the side of caution. I'll inform Madam Pomfrey of your situation."
'Being a half-breed sucks.' Reina thought to herself. Getting over her momentary self-hatred, she looked back to Dumbledore. "I'll tell Kaze about it later."
"Could you do me a favor and tell Miss Sukue as well? She has done fine over the past five years, but better safe than sorry."
Reina nodded, the statement not quite registering. When it did, she stared wide-eyed at the Headmaster. "You know?" The wizard' head tilted forward a bit and then back. With a sigh the girl said, "And here I thought we all had good disguises. Guess not. So, can you see through Kiku's illusions?" Reina sat up straight in her chair.
"With a little concentration I can see through the illusions." replied Dumbledore. "I had my suspicions that there was something different about her when she first came here. After I saw Miss Sukue's true appearance, I spoke with her parents. They did admit that Kiku was a demon."
"Kiku told us that her parents aren't demons." stated Reina, curiosity swimming in her lavender eyes.
"Yes, they are humans, a wizarding family. They found Kiku when she was just a baby and took her in, raising her as their own." Dumbledore explained. He waited for a reply from Reina, but instead he saw the confliction in her face. "Is there something you wish to ask me?"
This caught the half-demon's attention. She searched in her jeans pocket and pulled out the letter she had received from Darikk. "I asked my father about this journey before he left and in the letter I sent him. He refused to tell me during summer and still won't say anything about it now. All it says in his letter is that he won't be back for a while." Reina looked up from the letter to Dumbledore. "I wanted to know if eh told you about it."
The wizard's eyes traveled to the top drawer of his desk. Inside was the letter he received from Darikk that morning, and it contained the answer that Reina was searching for. But there was also a plea not to tell the young woman. Dumbledore intended to honor that request. He looked back to the anxious girl before him.
"I'm sorry, but he didn't give me any specifics about his destination." he said.
At those words, Reina let out the breath she'd been holding. The only thing Dumbledore's supposed lack of knowledge did for her was make her worry more. Darikk was the only thing she had left in the world. But what about Harry? If Reina could build up enough courage to confess she would have him, too. However, that would only happen if Harry accepted her for what she was. There was the possibility that he'd hate her for it.
'I'll never know until I try. But not now.' she thought. "I see. Thank you anyways, sir."
Guilt rose up in the man's throat. Dumbledore was an honest man, and lying to Reina was worse than lying to a fellow Headmaster. He could see the sadness in her eyes, but couldn't do much to help.
"Reina," he said. "I may not be able to tell you where you father it, but I can assure you that he is in not direct danger." Just his simple assurance helped the half-demon sort out her fears. Reina was about to thank him when there was a knock at the door. "That must be Harry." Dumbledore stood along with Reina. "Now, if you have any questions feel free to talk to me or Professor McGonagall." Reina nodded. She turned to leave and made it to the door before Dumbledore stopped her.
"Wait," He walked over to her. "Take this. It's a pass allowing you to roam the school after curfew, incase you have difficulty sleeping. As you can see, I've done my homework as well."
"Thank you, sir." Reina took the pass and did the spell to hide her looks. She opened the door to find Harry standing outside. Before she could walk out of the office, Dumbledore gently grabbed her shoulder and leaned closer to her ear.
"I suggest you two get to know each other better." he whispered then let go of the girl. Reina smiled and left Harry and Dumbledore to their work.