A/N: 06/11/12. Here's the other half of the chapter I promised. Enjoy!
Blaise had gone back to Karessa's dorm room as promised to get some rest after his first class, and he had stayed there and took a short nap on the couch during break, but after waking up and staring at a wall clock he'd realized their Potions class would have only been on for about 20 minutes. He was hoping to have slept through the whole class and then possibly get up with enough time to maybe grab a quick snack before lunch ended, then hit his last two classes for the afternoon, but now he was up and about and felt restless just staying in the room with nothing to do. The young Italian didn't feel like going to Potions, but besides his reluctance Blaise had felt a little dizzy in his first class like Daniels had predicted he would, so the fumes would only add to irritate his already muddling mind.
He sighed to himself. Oh, bugger it all, I should have brought something to occupy my time. What should I do?
He wasn't too keen in spending some time in the Hospital wing – which he was sure Daniels would persist on should he begin feeling faint again, he thought rolling his eyes – but he also didn't want to stay where he was; staring up at the ceiling unable to fall back to sleep. Sitting up slowly to test how he felt, Blaise went about gathering only what he needed for his last classes and packed them away in his side bag, he'd come back later for his other things at the end of the day.
Now what class was she supposed to be in this period again? He thought to himself. Oh that's right, Care of Magical Creatures. But she's only assisting in that class…guess I could try the giant's hut first, they're bound to be there or a little ways in the forest right now. And so he began his trek down to the gamekeeper's hut.
Upon reaching his first destination, he wasn't too surprised to see that no one was there, so he figured his best bet was to enter the forest. Looking down at the ground Blaise could easily tell which way the students had entered the forest with the fresh tracks left in the dirt. With the sun on his side, at least he wouldn't have to worry about most of the dangerous creatures that dwelled in the forest attacking him when his head was down, but he still kept a wary eye out in case something were to take him by surprise.
He was just a little ways in the forest when he first felt like he wasn't alone, and seconds later he heard a branch snap somewhere behind him to the left. Blaise didn't hesitate, gripping hold of his wand he continued further into the woods as if he hadn't heard a thing and waited patiently as the silence of the woods was deafening, besides his own light footsteps. Whoever or whatever was watching him began following him again, but now that Blaise was paying attention to his surroundings he could better predict the distance of his pursuer. He knew he had to deal with this now because the last thing he wanted was some creature tracking him all the way to the class of third years, and that wouldn't bode well should there be a sudden panic and the students ran off without any sense of direction.
They'd strip him of his Head badge should such a catastrophe happen.
Pretending to stop and tie his shoe, it was just barely noticeable to hear the slight falter in step as his stalker paused behind him, but soon after it could be heard the slight pickup in speed as whatever was behind him decided to make a move and rush him from while he was convincingly distracted. Pulling his wand out quick Blaise dodged the lung to his person and stood facing his opponent – only to be struck dumb as he looked upon the shocked face of Theodore Nott.
Nott had his hands raised in defense as Blaise's wand was nearly stabbed in his jugular; the boy had been standing that close, and looking farther behind him Blaise could see Goyle and that 6th year kid, Harper pulling up the rear from some overgrowth by the path.
"Hey, take it easy there, Blaisey boy." Theo said with an uneasy laugh. "You'd raise arms to an old friend?"
"Depends on that friend's reason for following me." Blaise stated simply, his wand at the ready.
"I never was able to sneak up on you, and I reckon no one else has either." The boy grinned. "Come on now, put that away. I assume you're out here in the woods looking for your girl Daniels."
Theo stepped back as the other two boys came up behind and flanked him. Nott shoved his hands in his pockets, unfazed by Blaise's refusal to put his wand down.
Theo smirked. "What happen, she got tired of you and ran off did she?" he teased and the other boys laughed. Blaise felt his lip twitch up unintentionally and dropped his arm to his side after putting his wand away.
He rolled his eyes. "She's not my girl." He said as he turned away from the other boys and continued on his way to finding the third year class within the thick vegetation of the woods, Theo, Gregory, and Harper close behind him. "And she isn't lost; she's assisting a class with Professor Hagrid out in the woods today, I was just going to check in on her."
A wide grin spread across Theo's face. "Wonderful, then you won't mind if we join you then." Blaise blocked his path as he gave him a dumfounded expression.
"Whatever for?" Blaise asked.
"For the same noble reasons you are." Theo proclaimed, Blaise snorted at the noble part. "That, and the fact that no one seemed keen in attending Potions today, especially with our real prof making his way back to Hogwarts even as we speak."
Blaise eyed the other two boys.
"We don't really care what we do so long as we don't get reprimanded for it." Harper shrugged and Greg nodded his head animatedly.
Blaise sighed. "Whatever, but as your Head boy I'll only let you do this once." He said sternly.
"So says the boy who's abusing his power even as we speak." Theo said pertly as they continued walking.
"Oh, shove off. I'm at least at liberty to be pardoned from class." Blaise said lethargically.
Theo shrugged. "Just saying, power is tempting; makes a guy wonder, with the way you walk in and out of the new girl's dorm –"
"You been stalking me Theo?" Blaise narrowed his eyes with an amused smirk, but Theo continued as if he hadn't heard him.
"– like you own it…" Theo paused and then smirked. "Must be quite opportune, eh, Blaise?" Blaise let the implication slide as he ignored the question.
They stopped short as they heard distant voices up ahead of them.
"Keep quiet already, would you." Blaise muttered. "Looks like we've caught up with the group, they're about 5 meters ahead of us."
"Brilliant." Harper inputted. "Now what do we do?" he asked.
Theo walked ahead of them and Blaise walked shortly behind him. Theo turned and winked cockily. "We walk on over, and act like we belong there." The other two looked at each other, but quickly followed soon after. They were out this far already, might as well make the most of it before trouble arose.
At first the boys stood far off to the back just as soon as they caught sight of the third years standing or sitting in various spots in a semicircle upon large rock clusters. All heads were turned towards the giant speaking animatedly to the students as he stood in the center, gesturing wildly with large sweeping motions of his hands.
"Alright then, now that we've covered all the basics for your assignments due in two weeks, I've got a great treat for yeh today!" Hagrid said excitedly. He turned to look behind him and called out as he gestured for someone who was out of the class's immediate sight.
"Bring em down now, Miss Daniels!" all the third years stood to try and get a better look at who, or what, was coming towards them as heavy hoof stomps were permitting through the silence of the trees.
"Uh-oh." Blaise said forebodingly, and his three uninvited companions looked at him questioningly… well, two of them; Goyle was still stretching his neck out in anticipation of what was to come out of the woods.
"What do you mean by 'uh oh'?" Theo asked as he glanced back nervously to the surrounding trees ahead, which still hid the object of the class's attention within the tall brushes of vegetation.
The hoof falls were getting closer.
"Yeah." Harper added his two cents. "Do you know what's coming to us?"
"Yes." Blaise said and glanced at his cohorts. "As you should as well; after all, we were all shown these in our third year. Take a wild guess as to what can make those hoof noises?"
Nott and Harper's faces dropped a little. Goyle finally turned to look at his friends, confusion written on his face.
"Those half-horse, half-people creatures?" he asked.
"Well you got the half-horse part right." Theo said as he rolled his eyes sarcastically and Harper gave the clueless teen an incredulous look. "Those are called centaurs by the way, but try and guess again."
Goyle actually took Theo's words to heart and thought about it for a second, then as if a light bulb had been fixed in that thick head of his, his expression changed to one of realization.
"Oh! You mean th –" the big guy didn't get to finish his sentence before the excitement from the teacher reached the students, for upon seeing the creatures in question incessant chatter picked up, and the students backed away in awe and slight fear.
The Hogwarts herd of Hippogriffs had made their entrance into the clearing with thick leather collars around each of their necks and a long chain, but seeing as the four 7th year boys were expecting this they weren't surprised to see them.
What did amaze them was to see the muggle girl of their year bringing in the rear of the herd.
She was encouraging the flock to make their way into the clearing and had each of their chains wrapped thoroughly around one of her forearms, while she held a tight grip on the ends so as not to have the beasts' strength throw her off balance with their tugging.
She had also changed her clothes, which didn't go unnoticed to the older boys, where now instead of her altered uniform she was wearing what only one could assume were her 'active' clothes. A light leather fabric hugged her midsection, designed much like a corset that bound under her chest in a tanned rusty brown color with straps that crisscrossed on her back by the shoulder blades and across her ample bottom stopping down to about mid-thigh. Under her bindings she wore another stretchy fabric that had a high collar up to her neck that zipped up at the front, much like a one piece halter suit that covered her from her neck to her ankles.
The fabric disappeared beneath leather ankle boots the same color as her bodice, and the leather fingerless gloves adorning her hands, while the suit was a grayish- ashen green tone that fit in well with the forest theme. The gloves went from her elbow to point down in a triangle over the topside of her hands and palms as the point circled around the middle fingers. There was also a brown belt with multiple pouches and pockets circling her hips while she had her hair swooped up in a high ponytail at the back of her head. The only notable jewelry they could see were two small gold loops in both her ears, and the unusual ensemble of dead ferrets circled over her right shoulder to her left hip.
The whole thing completed the look of a young trainer the way she presented herself.
Blaise wasn't alone in being stunned into silence, especially upon seeing the slip of a young woman such as Karessa honing the strength to keep a steady control on twelve Hippogriffs – and with one hand no less – but apparently her other arm was too busy holding something else. It was surrounded in cloth so neither Blaise nor any of the other students could see what it was she had, but one of the creatures, the one with the gleaming chestnut coat, was hovering close to that side of her where the bundle lay safely tucked in the crook of her arm. The Hippogriff would nuzzle her arm every so often and Karessa would just whisper softly to it as she stopped the herd right in the center of the awestruck students and stood next to Hagrid.
"Alrighty then, children, who can tell me what these creatures here, are?" Hagrid asked the class.
Six hands shot up instantly. The class was a mix of Slytherins and Ravenclaws luckily, so the four older boys wouldn't be as noticeable when Hagrid scanned the crowd for someone to answer his question.
"You there, John! What do we have here?" Hagrid said pointing to a very skinny 3rd year Ravenclaw with a mess of brown curls and blue eyes.
"That there are Hippogriffs, ain't they, Professor?" John said.
"Correct you are, John!" Hagrid exclaimed.
"But, sir, he's only half right, he is." Theo bravely stated from the back of the class.
The class all turned to look behind them to see Theo grinning as he was swatted by Harper on the arm while the other two boys just stood stock still. Blaise gave Nott a look which he ignored so he turned his attention to Daniels, who had been staring at the boys like the rest of the class, was. She raised an eyebrow with an amused look on her face and he responded with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Oh? What else did Mr. Mavers miss?" Hagrid asked confused if not a bit suspicious now that he'd noticed the four boys.
Theo's grin grew wider. "Why, I see what looks to be about a dozen hippogriffs there, but it seems there is another lovely creature before us as well." He looked directly at Karessa. "I don't suppose the class knows what species she is, now do they?" A look of comprehension dawned upon Hagrid's face as the class laughed. Harper snorted as he and Blaise rolled their eyes and Goyle scratched his head in confusion while Daniels had laughed along with the class. She had put down her bundle of cloth on a nearby nest of rocks as the chestnut Hippogriff kept close.
"Right, forgive me class!" the friendly giant said. "I've forgotten to introduce you all to my assistant for our class; she'll be joining us every once and a while." He gestured an arm to her. "This here, class, is Miss Daniels, for those of you who have forgotten, she was our new student. Well, our half-student, I guess." He chuckled.
Karessa nodded her head to the class and smiled as she adjusted her hold on the chains she was holding.
"Right then," Hagrid clapped his big hands once together. "Now what is the one thing yeh need to remember when dealing with a hippogriff?" Hagrid pointed to a petite redhead from Slytherin.
"Be careful of their flight feathers?" she asked.
"True, but not quite a danger as something else. Another guess, anyone?" he looked through the crowd of hands. "Wha' 'bout you, Mark?" he pointed to a boy with brown eyes and freckles from Slytherin again.
"To be wary of their claws?" the boy said warily eyeing one of the animals cleaning its talons with its beak.
"Talons, and yes, you need to be careful with those as well, but no. Anyone else wanna give it a guess?" Hagrid asked. "No one? Alright then, Mr. Zabini, would you happen to remember the answer from your third year?"
Blaise looked to his friends for help, but didn't find any there so he turned his head back to the awaiting class as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "The most important thing to remember when dealing with a hippogriff is proper etiquette, Professor." He said embarrassedly.
"Very good, Blaise." Hagrid smiled. "Proper etiquette is the first most important thing yeh have to remember 'cause you see, hippogriffs are very proud creatures; easily offended, they are." He looked back at Karessa as she had walked to a thick trunk of a nearby tree and wrapped the multiple chains around it, keeping only one chain wrapped loosely around her forearm as she walked back to his side.
She had chosen to keep with her the chestnut brown one.
"Now, Miss Daniels, if you please. Would you demonstrate to the class the proper way to approach a Hippogriff?" Hagrid said to her.
She nodded and smiled. "Sure thing, Professor."
She loosened the chain further and opened a side pouch on the belt at her hip. Taking out a dead bat she tossed it over the creature's head so it landed a small ways behind and the brown animal distanced itself from the girl as it went to retrieve the snack. She then slowly made her way closer to it while it ate.
"Now watch closely here, class." Hagrid said to the students in a hushed tone as he signaled them to step closer. "You see how she moves cautiously? Well it's 'cause yeh must first wait for the Hippogriff to notice yeh; you don't want them startling by your presence and they are ter always be the one ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see?"
The students watched as the brown bird finished its snack and lifted its head to notice Daniels standing about ten feet away looking back at it. It looked at her curiously.
"Now you see how she doesn't blink, it is best to keep total eye contact with them while yeh got their attention." Hagrid continued. "Next is to bow to them, an' yeh wait, and should they bow back, you can go up and touch em."
Karessa gave an exaggerative but graceful bow that made the class let out a few giggles before quieting down again to watch what would happen next. The Hippogriff fluttered its wings a bit and the class gasped as a whole as they backed up, but Daniels held her position, then moments later the large bird nodded its head and bowed gracefully back. The crowd of students let out an awed cheer and clapped.
"Ah, that'll do just fine there, good work." Hagrid smiled. Daniels stood back up to position and unlatched a ferret from the string loop around her shoulder and tossed it to the brown bird. It caught the treat in midair with its beak and happily swallowed it whole.
"She's been given permission to approach now, and remember, not all Hippogriffs will respond the same way to other people." He said as they watched Daniels walk steadily up to the animal and stroke the side of its neck while it cooed at her. "Sometimes it may take longer for them to respond to yeh, and other times, should a hippogriff not bow back, well then step away real quick-like, them talons will hurt."
Karessa stepped away from the large beast and moved closer to Hagrid and the class.
She smiled as she looked upon them. "Now who's brave enough to try it themselves?" she asked and the students went quiet. She looked to the back of the students and produced a sly look. "Since you boys are obviously not supposed to be in this class currently, why don't one of you give it a go?"
The four 7th years froze on the spot.
"What a wonderful idea!" Hagrid exclaimed. He turned to the four boys. "Now which one of yeh is daring enough to do it?"
Before anything could be said, Karessa nominated Blaise to be their representative. The class clapped for him as Daniels took his arm and brought him closer to the Hippogriff, stopping ten feet in front of it again.
She stood slightly behind the tall Italian. "Now just relax and be sure to give direct eye contact." She said to him calmly.
"Okay." He said agitatedly. "But did you have to call me up, I'm still a little edgy from this morning, and I think it's rather obvious to him too." He said quietly as they both bowed to the chestnut hippogriff, its feathers looking a bit ruffled and fluffier than before as it eyed Blaise cautiously.
"Her." she said offhandedly.
"What?" he said, almost forgetting not to take his eyes off the large bird so he could look at Daniels.
She looked at him. "Her; this particular hippogriff is a female."
"Oh, forgive me; it's hard to tell the difference." He said sarcastically.
"Focus, please." Hagrid said to the two. Daniels nodded back at him.
She gripped Blaise by the shoulder. "Just relax, and your aura will settle along with it. Think of this as a small step of your training." She felt his muscles loosen under her grip and the air around them became calm once again. The Hippogriff began to respond to the calmer atmosphere and flapped its wings twice.
"Hold. Easy does it…" Hagrid encouraged.
Moments later the Hippogriff bowed back and the crowd clapped again. Karessa and Blaise stood back up and she threw another ferret to the creature.
Blaise smiled down at her. "So you picked me on purpose for this reason, did you?"
She smiled back. "Yup."
"So then what step was that of my training?" he asked gently.
Her look became sly. "Step zero." His smile dropped instantly as he pouted at her as she giggled at the look he gave her.
"Alright then, now go up and touch the features." Hagrid said.
Blaise and Karessa moved slowly up to the chestnut bird, Blaise's hand stretched out with hers holding him by the wrist. They moved a lot slower than when she went to pet the creature herself, but it didn't stir to their approach and allowed Blaise's fingers to stroke through the feathers of its neck gently.
"Well done there, Blaise." Hagrid commended as he walked up to the two teens. "Now, how's about seeing you ride her?"
"What?" Blaise said wide eyed. He watched Daniels hop onto the beast effortlessly as she straddled its back and grabbed hold of the chain. Hagrid came up behind him and lifted him easily up behind her, and Blaise steadied himself as he slapped his palms down to keep him balanced.
"Now go easy on him, flying a hippogriff ain't quite the same as flying a broom now."Hagrid said to Karessa and she smiled. He slapped the Hippogriff's hindquarters and it reared up, nearly throwing Blaise off its back before he grabbed a tight hold of his saddle partner's waist.
They galloped for a short few seconds as the beast spread its wings, then took off into the sky at a fast pace. At first Blaise was a little too anxious to really enjoy the view as he gripped tighter onto Daniels, but upon hearing her laugh on the wind he looked up at her smiling face as her hair blew around her.
"Come on Blaise, just relax. Look around you right now." She yelled over the wind for him to hear her. He looked out before him and saw the bright sun shining overhead of them.
They were flying between the clouds for the moment, but soon the Hippogriff ducked under them at a fast rate to drift closer to the Black Lake. He dared crane over to look deeper into the water and could just make out a few figures of some of the aquatic life that dwelled there. He instantly began to relax again as he released his tight grip on Karessa and outstretched a hand to scrape the water with his knuckles.
He took in a huge breath and released a sigh.
"Feeling better now?" she looked back at him.
He smiled as he lifted back up. "Very much so."
"Good, 'cause the fresh air will do you some wonders to break the stress you're currently facing." She said as she turned back ahead of them. "So have you been getting any dizzy spells?"
"Once; I almost had one, but I went back to your dorm and took a quick rest like I promised." He stressed teasingly. She laughed.
"Good."
"But I was hoping to sleep through Potions; didn't work out so well, so I came to check up on you." He said.
She nodded. "Well, I'm alright with that, it lets me keep a better eye on you, and I've explained our situation to the Headmaster so you're technically excused from classes when need be." She directed the Hippogriff back towards the forest. "You and the boys can stay for the rest of the class until lunch; I'll settle it all with Hagrid later."
"Thanks." They had almost made it back when the clearing where the class waited below them became visible.
"By the way, Pansy and Daphne approached me again today." She could feel his body turn rigid behind her.
"What'd they do this time?" he asked only because he knew about the incident outside of the Hospital wing when she told him. He saw this coming and was incredibly frustrated with himself for being too weak at the time to go and protect her, but he was just as mad at Potter for leaving her unattended.
He had a nice chat with him about that the following day over the weekend.
"It's nothing to worry about. Like I told you the other night, I can handle myself, and I handled it then as I did now." She said rolling her eyes at him.
He smirked. "You kicked their ass?"
She bit the inside her cheek to stop from smiling. "I told you I subdued them, not 'kicked their ass', and no, this time they really did just want to talk with me."
"So what did they want?"
She looked back at him before they were preparing to land. "They offered a truce; a step towards friendship."
Blaise's brows shot up in surprise before narrowing in suspicion. They had landed flawlessly and the students cheered them on as they jumped down from the animal. Blaise came around to her side as she guided the Hippogriff back to the rest of the herd where Hagrid was standing, and whispered low in her ear.
"Don't trust them, I don't think the offer will stand for long so I'll check into it a little more when I can." She nodded as she handed the animal's chain to the big man.
"Very well done, you two! 30 points for Slytherin." The third year Slytherin cheered, as did the 7th years present.
"Now before I wrap up the class, is anybody else interested in taking a flying lesson?" Hagrid asked. A few students raised their hand hesitantly and Hagrid smiled jovially. "Well we'll save that for another class then, any other questions?"
"Professor, do the hippogriffs belong to the school?" John asked.
"Why yes they do, John, and all twelve of them stay under my watchful care." Hagrid said proudly.
"Actually, Professor, there are thirteen." Karessa interjected.
"Thirteen? I'm pretty sure after taking care of them for so long I'd remember an extra joining the herd, are you sure Miss Daniels?" he asked.
Karessa nodded as she walked on over by the flock. "Yes, sir, yesterday you may have been correct, but between then and now, a new member has made their presence known." She pat the chestnut colored Hippogriff on the beak as it tried to follow her back to the bundle in the rock nest earlier created.
She walked back as she unwrapped the bundle and the chestnut bird sniffed the blankets as Karessa removed layer by layer until the students could see the cloth begin to stir, which surprised everyone. Removing the last bit of cloth from view, the students could then see a small body nestled in the girl's arms; it was a fluff of beautiful light golden-brown feathers and a hide to match.
"Merlin's beard, that's a baby hippogriff!" Harper exclaimed, and the people moved slightly closer to get a better look without aggravating the mother standing guard of her baby in Daniels arms.
"Gingerwing, here, had laid her first egg sometime in the late morning yesterday," she said gesturing to the brown Hippogriff that stood close beside her, nuzzling the little one that was beginning to awaken to the world. "Then little Brown-sugar made her appearance maybe 2 hours ago." She smiled down at the little thing in her arms.
Brown-sugar yawned wide before chirping slightly to get her mother's attention, and Gingerwing began grooming her baby while the students and Hagrid watched the exchange, Hagrid blubbering about the beauty of a mother and a child bonding. The baby looked just like its mother, only with a lighter and sandier tone of brown to its feathers, with big orange eyes, small wings curled up to its body, and a darker brown hide for the horse part of the body, almost the same shade as Gingerwing.
Off in the distance the school's bell chimed.
"Alright, children, time to head back! We'll pick up again in tomorrow's class, now hurry along!" Hagrid said to the class after he pulled himself together. Karessa handed the baby off to Hagrid after stroking the little one's head to hear her coo, then went about untying the rest of the herd. A grey one with black flecks in its wing alerted her of someone behind her, and upon looking back she saw Blaise staring at her curiously.
"You go on ahead; I'll meet up with you later." She told him.
He frowned lightly at her. "You're not coming to lunch?" he asked.
"I've got some things to discuss with professor Hagrid after we bring the herd back to their pens. Then I'll need to change, but I'll see what I can make before our last classes begin."
He hesitated for a moment before he heard one of his three friends call out his name. He gave her one last glance and she shooed him away saying that she'd be fine, but he told her to stay by Hagrid's side until she was going to come and meet him.
"Yes, yes, I'll meet you outside of the Great Hall, now go." She laughed, playfully shoving him away in the direction of the retreating class. "Remember I can handle myself. I'll see you later."
He nodded smiling down at her before walking off to meet his friends. As she watched him walk away she caught eyes with Theo, and upon realizing he had her attention he smirked at her and winked before walking off with the rest of the students.
Karessa laughed to herself as she shook her head.
"Alright then, Miss Daniels, I think it's about time we take the herd an' the little one back to their holding pens." Hagrid said making his way to stand beside the girl, all the while stroking fondly at the hippogriff hatchling.
"Please Hagrid, call me Karessa, and you're quite right," she agreed. "But also, I'd like to discuss something with you before I head off as well."
"Oh, and what would that be, Karessa?" he laughed, but his voice held a note of curiosity.
She paused a moment as she contemplated her request.
"I assume Dumbledore had given all the teachers a small debriefing about me upon my arrival, correct?"
"Yes," Was his puzzled reply, "But even then your presence and his reasoning was abridged; nothing digging too deep – strictly on a 'need-to-know', if you catch my drift." He said.
She nodded. "Yes, I had thought as much. I need to keep as much of a low key as possible, since no doubt I could attract a panic in the Wizarding community; more so with the pureblood families still taking to their old ways."
"Quite right you are." Hagrid said dejectedly. "So what can I do you for, Miss Karessa?" he asked as they both went about releasing the hippogriffs into their designated area.
"Well you see, I'm getting quite a large package delivered to the school in a few days time," she began as she locked the gated area. "It would be sometime during class so I was wondering if you could look after it for me." she bit her lip in anticipation of his answer.
"Well of course I could, but will you be picking it up after one of your classes then?" he asked cheerfully.
"Actually, therein lies the problem…you see it isn't exactly something I can keep in the school." She said sheepishly. "I don't think it would be wise, but, is there a possibility of you finding an appropriate place for my delivery to be dropped?" she said hopefully as she handed her letter to the kind giant.
He looked it over curiously before a smile broke out on his face and he laughed jovially. He smiled down upon the young teen. "I think I may have just the place for your, er, delivery." He winked at her.
She gave him a relieved smile. "Thank you so much. I should be on my way now, did you need any more help with anything?" she asked. The large wizard patted Karessa on the head in a friendly manner as he laughed.
"No, Miss Karessa, I believe that's it for today, but thanks for the consideration. It's best you head back now, we can talk more another time." Hagrid said as Karessa handed back the string belt of dead ferrets to him. "Better next time if we talked to old Dumbledore also so that we may discuss you entering the Forbidden Forest past the day hours…or unaccompanied for that matter."
Karessa nodded her head as she started back towards the school while removing her gloves as well. She waved back at Hagrid. "Alright, I'll see you again tomorrow for class then remember we skip to week after!" she called back, and soon after he lost sight of her through the trees.
"Where have you been all this time?" The voice startled me out of my reverie as I felt the grip of someone's hand on my arm. Looking to my left I relaxed some once I saw the worried and slightly annoyed expression on Blaise's face before me. "We were supposed to meet after lunch but I couldn't find you."
"Sorry, I got a little caught up when I went to talk to Dumbledore in his office. By the time we had to close our discussion my next class was about to start, so I wasn't able to meet up with you like I would have." I said sincerely.
He seemed intrigued now. "Oh? What was it you needed to talk with him about?" he asked discreetly as we made our way to our table in the Great Hall. Dinner was in the midst of being served for the evening.
"Nothing you need to be worrying about right now, but we'll talk more of it later." I smiled back. I couldn't help but be honest with him, but I also couldn't tell Blaise everything that was going through my mind right now.
After leaving Hagrid's hut all changed back into my school outfit I grabbed my bag and had every intention of meeting Blaise for the afternoon after dropping some of my things back at my dorm, but then moments before I opened the entrance into my temporary home, I felt eyes on me again. I don't know what it was, but it was the same ghostly chill I felt earlier on in the day, and at this point it was sending cold shots into my blood. With a sudden feeling of dread I had rushed into my dorm and shut the portrait hole as quick as I could, but not quick enough to notice that the hall I had been standing in showed me that no one else had been standing there with me. It boggled my mind how something like this could make me feel so powerless, so fearful, and so lost for words.
I knew I was better than this irrational fear that took hold of me, especially if there was yet to be any proof of this person or thing that had me losing my calm over it, but for some reason I couldn't shake the feeling of danger whenever I felt it. It was merely a hunch at the moment but with a split decision I quickly gathered what I needed for my next classes and went straight to the Headmaster's office; I needed to speak to Dumbledore about this.
If someone was watching me – if they knew I was in the Wizarding district, then there was bound to be someone that was part of this community looking for me…
Someone in the school was looking for me.
I had informed Grandfather Dumble about this likelihood and we discussed multiple ideas in how to wheedle out our options in finding this person…but there were so many possibilities that it would be hard to illuminate subjects on the list
…I can't even rule out some of the friends I've made so far. I thought sadly to myself. I felt Blaise touch my shoulder gently and I looked up to see the worry lines on his strong features once more. I had almost forgotten where I was right then, so I shook those unpleasant thoughts from my head.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked. I smiled gently at him to try and lessen the worry I knew he felt for me.
"I'm just thinking to myself is all, and I promise I will fill you in on it later." I said as I pulled him down beside me at our table, away from the other occupants. "I'll tell you right before we leave once you've picked me up to go to Slughorn's candidates' tea, so eat light." I said as I nibbled on a small chicken tender from a platter in front of us.
He sighed dejectedly, whether it was for my lack of response to his question or to the upcoming events we were due to take part of later in the evening I couldn't tell, but he poured himself a glass of cranberry juice before grabbing a roll from the table and splattering some butter on it. I watched him curiously for a few moments and as such he caught me staring at him while he ate. He gave me a puzzled look.
"What is it?"
I smiled. "I'm just impressed is all. You're doing a lot better with controlling your emotions at the moment; it's almost unrecognizable between all the others in the room now."
"Well I remembered what you said from before and so when I started feeling a little stressed I did what you taught me, and eventually I started realizing less and less people were staring at me then." He said proudly.
"Good." I said. "Now let's try and keep our egos at bay too." I nearly let loose a giggle at the new affronted expression on his face.
"I am not the egotistic type." He smirked. "At least not like a certain grey-eyed blonde we both know."
I laughed shortly; circling a finger around the rim of my drink as an image of those eyes entered my mind. Draco Malfoy was definitely an interesting character to me and I could only hope he would take my offer in kind, as of knowing he was interested in me as well. I thought it was a fair trade of secrets, should we ever get that deep, but my main objective was to help him through whatever tough time he was going through while at school.
Under all those cold stares and blatant smirks he just seemed so miserable.
I noticed Blaise tense his posture from beside me abruptly. He was seated towards the entrance of the Hall while I had my back facing the teachers table at the end of the room, but Blaise was looking at something from over my head with a small frown creasing his forehead. I was going to asking him what had his attention when my answer came in the form of a light hand gripping my shoulder, and seconds later a smiling face accompanied it in my view as I recognized the blonde hair and brown eyes.
"Hey there, Dans!" Daphne said using a variation to my surname – I guess they were working on trying to be my friend. "We saved you a spot, come join the rest of us." She said tugging me up from my current seat.
"Well, I'm kind of already here with Blaise." I looked to Blaise and he shrugged his shoulders stiffly, though he smiled reassuringly. Daphne noticed my hesitation.
"He can come along too, it's not like he doesn't have friends on our part of the table too." She laughed airily. She got me to stand up and the three of us made it down the table length to where she, Pansy, Millicent, and some of the boys were seated eating and chatting boisterously. I saw that Draco wasn't among them as I took a seat between Blaise and Pansy while Daphne sat across from me next to her sister, Astoria, and that Harper kid I met earlier. Some of the conversation died away upon me sitting with them, but most of other people were still eating their food, uncaring about my presence.
Daphne's kid sister was the first to say anything as she glared heavily at me. "What is that doing here?" she sneered. This allotted the attention of some of the others who hadn't noticed me yet.
"You're on the wrong end of the table, muggle." Millicent supplied laughing mockingly from Pansy's other side. "Only real students of Hogwarts eat in this section."
I could see Blaise readying to defend me, but Pansy beat him to the punch as, what I would assume, she kicked her from under the table which caused Millicent to yelp out. She glared at Pansy.
"Blimey, what'd you do that for, Pans?" Pansy glared back at her.
"That was for being incredibly rude to the school's new guest. Especially when what you should have been doing was acting like a good fellow housemate and showing Daniels a little more hospitality." She said firmly. Millicent gave her a confused look and Astoria looked offended.
"Are you off your rocker, Pansy?"
"Yeah what gives," Millicent proclaimed. "Just the other day you were talking bad about –"
"About how dreadful our behavior was towards her from the beginning had been." Daphne butt-in, as she gave both her sister and Millicent a waning glare.
"But not to forget, Daphne, we're also making up for that behavior." Pansy interjected staring Millicent down beside her. "We also know that chances of her accepting our friendship was monetary to none, and that all bets were off." She gave her a meaningful look.
I glanced at Blaise and it seemed he understood immediately what was trying to be said. I had a sudden feeling that I was missing something important in the way that Millicent's face lit up in comprehension and in so directed a rather forced, if not embarrassed, smile my way. Now I knew I had missed something in this exchange.
"Pansy's right, that was incredibly rude of me, um, Karessa. I'm sorry for what I said, so you'll have to forgive me for my hypocritical outbursts from occasion; old habits die hard, I'm afraid." She said uneasily.
I was hesitating again in forgiving her, not because I would harbor a grudge based on what she said, but because I didn't think she was being heartfelt about it; and that was something I'm sure the other girls could see. As I sorted out my thoughts they all waited with baited breath for my answer, so I eventually let whatever just happened go and accepted her apology.
I'll have to store this occasion away for another day to think about it later. I thought as I watched the three friends exhale in relief.
I looked over to see Astoria still sneering at me, but Daphne quickly gave her a hard nudge when she noticed the look on her face. The younger Greengrass scoffed as she rolled her eyes and turned her head away muttering something about losing her appetite, and then she got up and left the premises. Daphne gave me an apologetic smile and I shook my head to alleviate any of her worries about this affecting the friendship we were just starting.
At least someone is being honest with their feelings towards me. I smirked.
Dinner was uneventful afterwards, and Blaise and Karessa had left shortly after Astoria did to ready themselves for Professor Slughorn's dinner gathering. For the first time in about three days, Blaise had went back to his own dorm instead of hers to get ready, while Karessa made her way to her own as per usual, but something caught her attention this time. She was one hall away from turning onto the one where her room would be when she thought she saw the tail ends of a person's robes turning down the corner. Curious as to what she saw, Karessa hastened her pace to hopefully catch up with her target, and upon turning onto the same corridor she was a little taken aback.
"Bem?" the one word question had the Gryffindor in question freezing in his steps at entering another portrait hole five spaces down from her dorm entrance.
He looked startled to see her walking towards him. "Karessa?" he gave an uneasy laugh as he shifted from one foot to the other. "I didn't see you there, what are you up to?" he asked politely.
She stood in front of him and gave him a confused smiled. "Well, my dorm is on this floor." She said gesturing around them. "This is where the guest housing is after all, so what about you?"
"Oh, well right, that makes sense." He said shaking his head. "You see I live in a guest dorm house too." He said swinging his portrait hole door for emphasis.
Daniels gave him a puzzled look. "Really? I was told you've been attending Hogwarts for the last six years, I thought you'd have a room within Gryffindor tower then."
"I have, I just don't share a common room with the other boys."
"Oh, okay then." For a split second she wondered why that was, but put a clamp on her curiosity; if he felt like elaborating then he would have done so on his own. "Well, then I guess I'll see you in class tomorrow?" she asked walking backwards to her door.
"Uh, yeah, but you know, as neighbors and all I could see you down to breakfast every few mornings if you'd like." Bem offered.
"Oh that's sweet of you Bem, but I'm often an early riser so I'm usually long gone from my room before breakfast would even be served." She gave him an apologetic look, he waved his hand dismissively.
"Hey, I'll try my luck sometime anyway; I may catch you on an off day." He smiled. "So see you tomorrow in class."
"Right, tomorrow in class, see you there." She smiled back and watched him retreat into his room, then quickly made her way to her own to change out of her modified uniform for Slughorn's dinner meeting.
She had just left her room dressed and ready when Blaise stepped into her dorm through the door. He inspected her subtly as she stood in front of the new mirror she placed by the mantelpiece brushing out her hair. She looked both classy and casual in a dark blue, sleeveless blouse with pearl buttons and ruffles down the front, and with black muggle dress pants that flattered the soft curves of her legs. He had dressed casually as well with a black dress shirt and comfortable slacks to match, and he'd foregone his usual footwear to something a bit fancier and polished. He would have complimented her appearance but there were more important things on his mind at the moment, so he went right in with questioning her about what she'd been discussing with Dumbledore earlier in the day.
She dove in with her explanation while she clipped in some pearl studs earrings and a matching bracelet for her left wrist, as her usual silver chain with the ring dangled around her neck, while the only form of jewelry he had was a silver chain his mother gave him for his birthday a year ago.
He gave her a puzzled look. "So you mean to tell me there's a spy within Hogwarts, and they're after you?"
"That's right." She said calmly.
"So why didn't you tell me this earlier when we had that conversation over the weekend?" he said walking up to her and leaning against the wall where she looked herself over in the mirror, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her for a reaction.
"To be honest, I couldn't be sure whether there'd be anyone purposely looking for me in the Wizarding world, since my problem are muggle-based." She gave him a look with a side glance. "Besides, I knew once I told you you'd get worked up over nothing."
"This isn't nothing, Karessa." He said pushing himself up and off the wall. "You're not just being watched or observed, you're being hunted by these people who want you for their own reasons of power." He exclaimed.
"This isn't the first time this has happened to me, Blaise." She said firmly. Looking into the reflective surface to see her face clearly, he looked into her eyes and there, he saw the truth.
She let out a dejected sigh as she turned away from his searching eyes.
"I take it this is one of those reasons you told me about for why you never stay in one place for long then?" he said.
She shrugged. "One of them, yes." She felt his hand on her shoulder and she looked up into the mirror to catch his eye. "But like I told you, it's nothing, I've handled this before and I can do it again."
He chuckled slightly as he shook his head. "Why do I get the feeling this is the argument we'll be going over repetitively?" she laughed shortly.
"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it alone for years now."
"Well now you've got me, and you know I'm not letting you do this alone anymore." He said seriously.
She responded with a small smile barely grazing her lips as she held the hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, but I'm afraid you won't be much use to me until we get some of your training in." she said lightly.
Then just like that the slow tension in the room disappeared between them. He chuckled.
"Yes, we can't forget that, now can we?" he asked rhetorically. Next he frowned again. "So what do we do about this?"
She sighed again as she grabbed a clip to swoop her hair up and pin it at the back of her head with long bangs pulled out to frame her face. "For the time-being we can't do anything. We have too many potentials right now to shorten our list of names, unfortunately, so until this person slips up and reveal more about themselves, we can't wheedle out anyone." She moved past him to the portrait hole to grab on a pair of nice flats.
Blaise sighed heavily as he stroked a hand through his short locks, an old habit when he really felt his emotions under stress. "So all we can do is wait. This is sure going to fun."
They were both startled to hear the shattering of porcelain as they turned their heads sharply to see a vase explode into small pieces about the room. Karessa gave him a look as she straightened her posture.
"Not as fun as it's going to be waiting on your body to adjust to the new magic." She smirked and opened the entrance to the empty corridor.
Holding the door open for her Blaise rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, we'll be kept entertained with the target practice my magic will be performing." He said dryly as she walked out the door and he followed close behind. Walking down the hall in silence Karessa gave one last fleeting glance towards Bem's door as they passed it, but when Blaise caught her eye he gave her a questioning stare. She shook her head dismissively; he understood it was nothing for him to worry about, so he let it go.
But he didn't elaborate on noticing as she had that the door was slightly cracked open when they left her room.
A/N: Well there you have it, I think I'm getting better with updating now, but then that also may have something to do with getting into the parts where I already know how I want this story to progress *shrugs :S* All the same REVIEW! THEY KEEP ME MOTIVATED!