To apologize for my absence I have posted two chapters today to get the ball rolling again!
Kore felt the sweltering heat of the sun as she sat in the airy library in her mansion, the high arched windows allowing sunlight to defuse through the musty smell of books and dust in the air around her. She knew it was beautiful outside from brief glances at the window but she could not quite stir herself from her last minute tweaks on the eyesight spell, having found 'Temporis Augere Oculos' in one of the books in Hogwarts library and had begun modifying it to fit her needs. She had created a list of at least two dozen spells, all thrown out due to foreseeable errors to the spell, such as 'Virium Oculos' which could cause an over strengthening. She ran a hand through her short hair and settled it behind her ear uselessly as it flopped back in front of her eyes.
She sighed and inked over her last word again, trying with some effort to remember her epiphany from earlier that day, then jotted down a few more words and continued to stare at the page. She was so absorbed in her work she failed to recognize the sound of footsteps quietly approaching her from behind until her father's hand settled down on the dry page, breaking her reverie.
"Kore, must you sit inside all day? It's a beautiful day for a flight around the manor grounds and your mother and brother are having tea in the parlor."
"Father, I've only a little more to do, I'll go outside when I'm done…" Kore trailed off, almost sucked back into the land of idle thoughts.
"Isn't there anything I can bribe you with?" Lucius smirked at the rhetorical question. "Well, I guess I'll have to fly on my own." He stood strait and turned away, the smirk slipping into a grin as he heard his daughter seal her ink pot and push out her chair to follow him out of the library, leaving her work behind. "Oh, decided to join me, have you?"
"Yes Father," Kore said, sensing she had been effectively manipulated and continued speaking with a weary sigh. "We don't fly together as much as we once did, I have missed it." The two walked side by side on their way out the door, taking off and maneuvering into death defying feats for a laugh as they flew, avoiding the front lawns where the grounds were visible to the parlor windows.
As the father and daughter flew together, laughing as they did only when alone, a dark cloaked figure approached the manor at a steady walk, eyes squinted slightly against the sun. He spotted the duo idling together high in the air before one dropped and the other flew off, both twirling in the air. Snape knew the two figures without getting any closer and shook his head at Lucius' free spirit when it came to his daughter. A house elf opened the door and waved him to the library informing him Master Malfoy had already told the elves to stay out of his way. Snape's gait never wavered as her seems to float up the stairs to the library on the third floor. He was referencing a potion that had been created in the 1600's and a similar potion from the 1200's to see if there was a way to reform either brew and to do so needed the original 1200's recipe.
It was midway between the potions aisle and the transfiguration section that he found a book sitting open beside an ink pot and quill. Snape, never one to condone the writing in of rare books stopped to look over the page, which turned into reading bits and pieces if the work therein. It was Kore's handwriting but he had had no idea she was into the creation of proper spells and potions, her thoughts scattered through the pages for reference in certain brews and spells, though spells of sight seemed most prevalent, and none seemed to be any he had found before, errors in phrasing listed beside each until the last, still half finished spell that, if worded correctly, would be the prodigious equivalent for her hard work. He recognized the notebook to be the one he had gifted her over the summer and was strangely glad to see it put to good use. After a moment he closed the book and tuned to find his reference before sweeping from the manor, as silently as he had come.
Kore and Lucius spent most of the afternoon flying, Kore showing her father some new tricks she had picked up over the school year and talking about the Slytherin Quidditch Team. They had both walked into the manor in great need of baths, their hair damp enough with sweat it nearly dripped. Kore's father ordered a house elf to get their baths ready quickly and they both walked up stairs. Kore swung up to the third floor to grab her notebook before her bath so she could put it away and found it closed. She tried to remember if that was how she had left it, but for the life of her she couldn't remember. After thumbing through it and being assured that it was all in order she let it go and walked back to her room where her bath waited.
Kore found Aldred that evening after dinner lying on her pillow, stretched diagonally corner to corner. He'd grown quite a bit since she had taken him from Borgin and Burkes only a year ago, now able to circle her neck twice comfortably. Kore slid him onto his half of the pillow and slipped between the covers, tomorrow it was off to school.
Kore had been correct in the assumption that the first of September would be a tiresome day; she just hadn't known how tiring it would be so early in the day. Not yet having even boarded the train she was already exhausted with emotional ups and downs of her mother's goodbye to Draco, with loving hugs for him and a glare that shouted 'good riddance' to Kore. Lucius allowed his hand to rest on Kore's shoulder as he too was disgusted by such a public display. Kore stuck her hand in her pocket to check on Aldred, who barely fit inside anymore… she would have to apply an extension charm for him. Her glasses sat heavy on the bridge of her nose and were sliding slowly down. She quickly pushed them up, tracing the frame as she dropped her hand.
At the train's whistled warning of the approaching departure time goodbyes were finished, the Malfoy parents each slipping their favorite child a sack of galleons for the trolley, Lucius slipping Kore quite a bit more for use of a forger later in the year and they were waved onto the train. It was again a crush on the inside with new first years and returning students. Kore used Aldred to scare a first year girl out of an empty compartment and slammed the door behind her, locking the door so no one else could enter. Aldred sliped from her pocket and up to her neck as she pulled out the journal that contained her spell and waited until the train began to move to open the book and take out her wand. It was nearly an hour from the station when she decided that it was safe enough to work her spell, and concentrated on the effect she wanted before carefully folding her glasses and setting them off to the side. It was a dangerous thing to point a wand at oneself when you couldn't see, but she did it anyway, knowing that the effects, if the spell was created properly, would be well worth it.
"Augere Apto Oculos," Kore's voice sounded more confident than she felt, knowing the slightest stutter could blind her for life. Then suddenly it was as if someone had paced her glasses back on her nose, the world all sharp lines and contrast, so different from the blur that was her own sight. Kore chuckled at the difference, knowing her father would be proud of her ingenuity, and her mother far less so. The rest of the train ride Kore sat looking out the window at thing that once would have been a nearly invisible blur even with her glasses. The darkness that fell across the sky in no way kept her from seeing quite so well as it once had and she relished in the clarity. At the platform Aldred wrapped himself around her arm where she had attached her wand with a mild 'Stick' spell and held tight so as not to be shaken loose.
The horseless carriages that the returning students rode were lined up along the road that led to Hogwarts from the station and Kore managed to catch one with a couple Slytherin upperclassmen, who spent the entire ride chattering about this year's most eligible bachelor. Kore didn't listen, but stared out the window listlessly, and jumped out first the moment they reached the castle. Her spot at the back of the hall was untouched and the spaces around it empty for fools to take, Kore pushed her hair back behind her ear, huffing when it fell back before her eyes and pondered cutting it, then shook the idea off, not truly caring enough to do anything about it. Her eyes glazed over as she looked up at the head table, noticing some bouncing blonde that must be the new DADA professor due to Quirell's disappearance last year, though she hadn't cared about the disappearance enough to listen to the gossip surrounding it.
Kore glanced up to her Head of House to find him watching her with mild interest. She nodded her head and smirked as she pretended to give a damn about the sorting. From her seat she had a great view of the windows that looked into the Great Hall and spotted two familiar faces peering inside. She inclined her head towards them as she kept her eyes locked with Snape's and watched as he slipped unnoticeably from the hall, appearing moments later behind the two fools in the window. Kore turned back towards the sorting and failed to care about what happened next, only wishing for food for herself and Aldred.
I'm not against reviews… Chocolate Cupcakes for all that do!