Chapter 20: The Kensingtons

The air whipped past Nim's bangs while he raced. It took everything he had not to get knocked off his broomstick when a bludger, zoomed inches from his shoulder.

"Nice one!" Gisele called out, throwing a thumbs up.

Nim grinned and the pair left to rejoin Sineus, who bravely was fending off the three Ravenclaw Chasers while holding the Quaffle.

The crowd was more receptive to the Inter-House than any of the players anticipated…though they gathered this was from anti-other house support than anything else. Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins cheered loudly, drowning out the Ravenclaw section as Sineus weaved in and out of vicious attacks.

Gisele signaled to Nim to go up and he followed her lead. She dove down as he rose. In practice, the two had gone over several maneuvers to prepare with. This was the "pincer attack." In this maneuver, they'd go opposite directions and dive straight in.

He rose and then whooshed downwards at one of the Ravenclaw Chasers who bolted at the last second to avoid the collision. Gisele had explained being firm in your resolve would determine who gave first. Nim passed Gisele on his way down, giving her a high five and pulling upwards on his boom, swerving to avoid colliding with the ground. He looked up to see that the distraction allowed Sineus to swoop in, breaking through the defense, and opened him up to score, which he did with relative ease.

Cheers and Jeers erupted and the excited announcer commented on the skill of "Mr. Knott."

Sineus' nose crinkled at this. Nim wasn't sure if anyone else noticed. He seldom ever heard the Slytherin called by his last name…apparently there might be a reason for that. Whatever it was, Nim couldn't dwell as Ravenclaw now controlled the Quaffle. The score was in their favor, they were up 40 points even with the brilliant score by Sineus.

Nim pegged the rightmost chaser, in accordance with Ward's instructions and followed him with hawklike persistence.

Once close enough, Nim would distract and fly in ways that kept the Chaser's mind off of it's task. Disrupting the flow of their strategy was key. It had immediate effects. Whatever pattern their team followed, Nim's target was not on par.

"Go Gisele!" One of the Gryffindors cheered. Nim looked to see Gisele easily block a pass probably intended for the chaser he was on.

Immediately, Nim regretted his decision to look. A bludger hit him square in the jaw.

"Ha ha!" A familiar jeer rose nearby from a giant brown haired Ravenclaw.

Moreau.

Nim rubbed his aching jaw, which now hurt to keep closed. He looked like a gaping idiot. The bullies, Moreau and Sorbo, were the beaters for Ravenclaw…both carrying their reputations onto the field.

Nim couldn't stop. He raised his wand.

"Episkey."

He cringed as a crack made his entire face erupt in firey pain. Soon it washed away as his jaw relocated itself. However, the bludger tactic, however dirty, proved effective.

"Tess scores again for Ravenclaw! Score, 90-40!" The announcer shouted again.

The red haired Ravenclaw gave a signature "one fingered salute" after her goal which made the Ravenclaw spectators "oooh" and "aaah."

Nim shook his head. At some point, he figured he should probably take after her and get a signature move of some point. But not now. The Quaffle was thrown to him from Ward.

Time to get serious.

He sped off in the opposite direction, knowing any minute he'd be pursued.

It didn't take long.

"Watch it!"

Nim swooped to the side, as per his command from Gisele. As he did, a bludger collided with the Ravenclaw chaser who'd been about to ram him. He dove downwards, avoiding another.

Gisele and Sineus both had to work to make Arla Tess, the red-haired chaser, distracted in order for Nim to pass through.

He flew sideways a brief moment, almost losing the Quaffle in the process, and zoomed in and out of the base of the stands to avoid a bludger battle between Sorbo and Moira. It was like watching an old game of pong, the bludger being hit back and forth between the two, neither backing down.

It made Nim's life difficult though as he kept seeming to get in between the pair and having to stray off course.

Once he was finally free of the intense battle, he gave the broom everything he had and dashed towards the goal.

The Keeper seemed ready, matching Nim's every movement. If Nim veered left, the Keeper would veer left. Nim's time to plan was rapidly approaching his end.

Then it hit him like the bludger had hit him before.

He rose straight up, the Keeper's eyebrows raising. After a minute, Nim, in a deft movement of speed and luck, flipped the broom under him falling backwards. Gisele had run the routine with him a few times, but he'd only successfully avoided injury once.

He prayed this worked.

As he plummeted towards the ground, backwards on his broom, he looked in the direction of the posts.

He'd only get one shot.

He took a deep breath and counted. As soon as he hit seven, he lunged the Quaffle with a hard curve.

It worked.

The red ball sailed passed the Keeper's hands and right into the hoop.

Now for the hard part.

Getting into this position was easy, getting out not so much. He reached behind him, pulling on the broom as hard as he could. It slowly inched it's way level to the ground, enough so that his feet could brush. He used the force of the ground to whip his body around in a semi circular motion to face forward on the broom.

It worked, but not without Nim whacking himself in the face with the handle. He swore as he felt the bruise form on his cheek. He'd have to practice more with Gisele later to work out the kinks in the routine.

"And the 1st year scores! Blimey that was impressive. Oh and now the whistle is being blown! William Kensington has caught the snitch! Game over. Good show by the Inter House team!"

The crowd roared, deafening.

"It's Bill."

Nim heard the scowl as the Slythern touched down holding the golden ball in his left fist.

"Never gets old does it?" Nim rolled his eyes.

"Never." Bill huffed. "Fancy moves out there. Gisele teach you how to hit yourself in the face all by yourself?" He smirked.

Nim's fist balled.

"We don't talk for almost two days and that's all you have to say to me?" He felt anger rise in his voice.

"Wave to the happy spectators Nim. It's not becoming of our team to squabble now is it?" Bill winked and waved.

Nim held back his anger in that moment. Bill wasn't wrong. He grit his teeth, gave a half smile, and waved. The rest of the team joining them moments later.

"We did it!" Ward clapped both Bill and Nim on their shoulders. "Great work all of you. This will surely put us on the path towards the House cup! Just think, largest upset in Hogwarts history as none of the individual Houses take it home?"

Nim stopped paying attention as Ward continued boasting. He'd done what he said he was going to do, and now he was going to go ponder what he'd learned in the hospital.

"Gonna come to the hall to celebrate with us?" Ward called.

Nim didn't need to. He'd proven his worth today and there was no need to let that smug redhead have any more of his time.

"Enjoy." Nim dismissed and walked off. He didn't feel much like partying. Gisele looked like she wanted to protest, but didn't and continued to celebrate with the rest of the team. Bill didn't even bother acknowledging him.

He changed in the locker, making sure to put ointment on the bruise on his cheek, and left in his robes. There were no classes for the remainder of the day and he wanted to go to the library to do more research on the newspapers.

"Nim!"

Nim sighed. He could hear Rowena in her tall platform high heels racing towards him. He didn't want to acknowledge her, still being upset from the other day. But there was no avoiding this time.

"What?" He said with a hint of annoyance.

"You can't be alone in the halls! Did you forget what Headmaster Potter said?"

In truth, he had. For one moment, he wanted to be alone to ponder everything.

"I know." He said, looking around for anyone else, but only seeing Rowena in her stunning blue and black striped blouse topped by a sequin shirt. Her green hair was flowing loose today, coming down to her elbows. She'd trimmed her bangs very straight.

"Right then, what are you up to?" Rowena walked up to him.

"Going to the library."

"About?"

Nim shot her a glare. "I'm still not okay with how things went yesterday."

"I know. I'm sorry okay?" Rowena said. "I just, worry about you. I don't have…"

She paused and Nim looked back. He was shocked to see tears forming.

"I don't have a lot of friends okay? A lot of people don't get me." She rubbed her arms. "I just-" She sighed. "I just worry one day I'm going to wake up and you are going to be dead somehow, you know?"

"What?" Nim shook his head.

"I just don't want to see you end up dead." She snapped wiping her tears away. "Someone's after you and I won't rest until you are safe. That means I might do things or might hold back information if I think it's going to keep you safe."

"How was keeping the stone information from me keeping me safe?" Nim shot back. "I almost got expelled over it. You should have told me as soon as you knew. You and Bill."

"I'm not sure Bill has your best interests in mind." Rowena said, taking a deep breath at the end. Her tears were gone now, either wiped away or being pushed back.

"Huh?"

"Not here." Rowena looked around. "To the library? I-I promise to tell you what I know."

"Alright." Nim said. There was something in her voice that told him it was important. The pair of them walked off to the library.

Given most students were still discussing and celebrating the match, there wasn't many people present. Devoid of most students, only the truly devout studiers remained. Well, and the librarian. The name tag, Mr. Umbridge, glowed in the dim light from the check out desk. His balding head leaned into whatever it was he was writing.

Nim and Rowena took a very secluded spot as far from him as possible. Technically neither could talk above a whisper here.

"So what's going on?" Nim asked once they'd settled.

"Things Bill has said…don't really add up. There are bits and pieces that I haven't been able to fit to the story."

"What do you mean?" Nim asked.

"Have you…caught him lying ever?" Rowena asked.

Nim was about to say no, but then the incident in the basement resurfaced. In fact, Bill had lied to him that day, saying he'd known Gisele had a cat. At least, he hadn't confirmed it was a lie anyways. In any case, he nodded to Rowena.

"I thought so." She sighed. "I know you didn't want me to badmouth him in front of you, you made that perfectly clear-"

"He's an ass." Nim said. A loud "shh" sounded from the front desk. Nim waved to the aging librarian. He resumed speaking in a much lower tone. "So what does this mean?"

"It means, it's entirely possible Bill is conspiring against you."

Nim couldn't speak for a minute. They had their differences, sure, but would he really go as far as to want to kill him? He tried to ponder the implications.

"We shouldn't jump to that conclusion yet. How has he lied?" Nim asked. No matter how much of an ass Bill was, they were friends. He would go down any avenue to defend his friend until proven guilty.

"Well, for starters. His last name isn't really Kensington…" Rowen said.

"What?" Nim blinked.

"Yeah. I mean, it is legally. But it's not his birth name." Rowena pulled out a copy. She put it forward and gave it. "I wasn't going to pursue this, because I know he's your friend and all. However, when he talked about visiting his mother, he mentioned her name on the train when we went home for break. So, on the off chance his other lies had merit, I checked into it. Victoria Kensington had her name legally changed about five years ago. Before that, she had a very…known name in the wizarding community."

She held out the papers.

"I, Victoria Fawley, do request to change my last name to Kensington."

It was one of the opening lines. It went on to mention all of the steps she had to do in order to change it.

"So, his mother had a name change, so what?" Nim asked.

"This is where…it gets interesting. See Fawley is one of the oldest pureblood lines in the wizarding community. That makes Bill heir to a famous bloodline."

"So?" Nim still didn't see where she was going with this.

"So…why hide this from us?" She folded her arms. "At any point, if we were his friends, you don't think he'd mention this to us?"

"Okay so he didn't mention his last name. It's not like he's really lied to us. You know?" Nim said.

"You are right. In and of itself, it's just a tip of the iceberg. But, it's not the only thing. I mean what do you really know about him?" She asked.

"Well, he has a mom." Nim folded his arms.

"Okay, if you are just going to shoot me down, I can leave." She stood up.

"No that's not." Nim sighed, unfolding his arms. "Sorry I just have a lot on my mind and I'd hate to have my friend being someone behind it."

"But you have no choice." Rowena put her hand on her hip. "Someone wants…well I assume wants you dead, has somehow contacted your dead brother, and has people warping into this supposedly impenetrable school. You have to assume anyone could be after you. Including Bill."

"I know he's lied okay?" Nim said. "Bill's had plenty of chances to kill me, one on one, you know? Why not take it?"

"I know, but please hear me out. Wasn't one of the attacks on you carried out after he left you alone in the Room of Requirement?" Rowena sat down again looking seriously at him.

In fact it had. If Starm hadn't intervened. Nim put his hand on his chin thinking.

"Also, didn't Bill conveniently find you after your attack in the basement?" She asked.

This was the one piece of the puzzle Nim couldn't wrap his brain around. It did seem oddly convenient.

"But he saved me." Nim said.

"It…appeared like he saved you." Rowena corrected. "I'm just posing this as a hypothetical because we have to consider the facts. He 'saved' you from your brother who was choking you to death. What if it's not about killing you though?" She said. "What if it's simply about kidnapping you? Or, if we believe what you've told us about the elf and your blood and what not. What if it's about getting your blood? Maybe he does have some…friendship towards you. Getting your blood would be as easy as killing you, as it sounds like your brother was trying to do. Maybe Bill saved you, not out of trying to defend you, but maybe out of some feeling of friendship?"

"Isn't that good?"

"Well normally, sure." Rowena said. "But if it's just about getting your blood for…whatever obsessive reason someone has, he wouldn't need…or maybe even want you dead."

"So you think, he stopped my brother from killing me not because he's doing it out of the goodness of his heart, but that he's playing two sides?" Nim asked, starting to see where Rowena was going with this.

"Exactly. Why else would he be throwing us lies and half-truths here and there?" Rowena asked.

She had a point. It was plausible that Bill was against him.

"Well if he wants my blood, why hasn't he taken it? He's had so many chances to do it." Nim said after thinking about it.

"I don't know. Actually," Rowena paused tilting her head up. "Maybe he doesn't want to be directly involved."

"What purpose would that serve?" Nim asked.

"I have a couple theories. The first is he's being blackmailed. The second is that he's worried about being expelled. I mean, if he really is against you and has some plan to harm you, that's grounds for expulsion."

Nim blinked. "I still don't know if I buy it."

"That's fine. But don't forget it. Just, be careful around him. It's one of the reasons I haven't been able to speak freely with you about my suspicions and why…" She sighed. "It's why I didn't mention anything about the cabinet in the basement not having the stone. Bill did tell me that he figured it out on the way back to Hogwarts, but the way he said it…" She said. "He lied about how he came upon the information."

"How's that?"

"His mother…" She said. "Never attended Hogwarts."

"So? What if she'd heard about it from-"

"I'm going to stop you there." Rowena said. "Professors are sworn to secrecy about that cabinet. It's something that only someone with strong connections to Hogwarts would know about it."

"How did you figure it out then?" Nim folded his arms.

"I…I can't say." Rowena bit her lip. "All I can say…is that I have a strong connection to…someone who knew about it."

"Come on Rowena. I can handle it. You said you were going to tell me what you knew."

"I know, it's not about you this time. It's about…something I swore I'd take to the grave. I just I can't say how I know…"

"Fine." Nim said. "But that makes you a possible suspect as well then. If it's so secret, you sent me down there to get caught for all I know."

"No!"

"If I have to tell you to be quiet one more time you two." Mr. Umbridge looked up with a scowl.

"Sorry, sorry." Rowena's cheeks flushed. She turned back to Nim. "I'd never do that. I promise."

Nim wanted to believe her. He really did. In that moment, she looked honest. Her eyes had nothing but friendship shining back.

"Okay." He said. "I believe you. You probably wouldn't bother sharing any of this with me if you had it in for me."

Rowena smiled. "Exactly."

"Okay, my turn." Nim took time to explain everything, from the Valentine, to what he and Gisele had learned up in the hospital wing. When he was done, she sat there.

"I knew they died." She said. "But I had no idea it could be connected to you. I think you're right about everything." She said. "Let me do some research on the pair of them now that I have reason to. I'll get possible connections and we can meet again. Sound okay?"

Nim nodded. The pair of them stood up and left after that. All that needed to be said, had been. They walked in silence through the halls, looking at everyone who passed with suspicion. Somewhere, someone in this school had it in for him. Nim couldn't help but suspect everyone.

"There you are!"

Nim turned back to see Gisele run up to them.

"So glad to see you two speaking again." She smiled.

"Gisele." Rowena nodded.

"Rowena." Gisele replied.

Nim felt tension as the two girls plastered on fake smiles. He honestly couldn't figure out why they didn't get along.

"So…Gisele, nice playing." Nim said after a couple moments of awkward silence.

"Thanks, you as well." She said.

"I'll catch up with you later, I have some studying to do." Rowena smiled and waved, walking off.

"Where'd you go?" She asked.

"Just to do some research with Rowena, you know about Yance and Granger." He said.

"Right, probably smart. That girl can figure out anything."

There was a tone to the word anything that Nim could have squeezed the sarcasm out like water from a sponge.

"In any case. Gisele I did have a random question for you if you could humor me."

"Yeah?" She asked. "Lay it on me."

"Have you ever told Bill you had a cat?" He made sure to check that Bill wasn't around as he asked.

"Come to think of it…" Gisele paused.

"Yeah?" Nim asked.

"No, I don't think I have." Gisele said. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason, was just curious thanks." Nim said and smiled. He felt his heart sink.

He had every reason in the world to ask. And now he knew for sure without a doubt in his mind.

Bill is a suspect.

A/N: I know I've been teasing it for awhile, but after looking at my notes, looking at what I have left to do in this story, and taking a hard look at the progression, I can finally announce there will be three more chapters and an epilogue. I wasn't entirely sure, but I know exactly where I want to go with this to get to the end (for the first time all story haha). Thank you everyone for having joined me on this journey that I was taking alongside you. I want to say that my last update had the most views in total so far! Almost 400 views! I was taken aback. I'm humbled and honored so many people have taken time out of their day to read and follow my story. Thank you so much to everyone. Please leave reviews, feedback, comments, or reach out to me privately if you want to chat. I'm so happy people like this. Love my fans and readers!