Chapter 21: A New Year and Old Pains
**Book 2: Chamber of Secrets**
***I know that Neville doesn't play a big role in this book. So mostly it will be a very fast book, but I didn't want to leave it out completely. Sorry if that bothers you, but it's just how I feel I should write it. Thanks for reading and reviewing!***
I breathed deeply the smells of the shack, it was old and musty and damp…but it had become my home over the past year. I looked around, seeing dust gathering again, it always seemed to be around, as if I wasn't even here. Over the year, after I was brought here, I searched around, trying to see if anything was really here or if all of it was just kids and people being scared of nothing. At first it seemed like just a plain old shack, and then I found the secret tunnel. I hadn't had a chance to explore it yet, as the teachers who brought me kept a close eye on me, probably to make sure I wasn't going to attack anyone.
I walked down to the table where I was supposed to be meeting someone for a supply of my "special stuff" as they would say, taking my normal sit and staring at the spot I knew they were going to appear. I was surprised when it was Professor Snape who came, holding a huge bag filled with food and drink and other things. "Aethna." he greeted me and I nodded back, my throat feeling dry. "How are your classes going?" he asked me, knowing that some of the teachers thought enough of me to attempt to continue my training as a witch.
"As usual, I'm doing fine, just mostly reading and trying out spells that are my level and don't bring attention to the shack." I replied, allowing him to sit the bag on the table and take a seat across from me. "Just be careful, the most magic you use, the harder it is for us to continue the barriers around this place." "I understand." I droned to him, I was so tired of being here, stuck doing nothing but what they allowed me to. I needed some air, some freedom of some kind…any kind. "I must get back, the school year has already started and I need to get my lessons ready. We will be back to supply you again."
I nodded and waited until he was gone to open the bag and get a goblet and the dark liquid that I needed to survive…well at least to feel strong enough to stay here longer. Last year seemed so long ago, I didn't even get to finish my first year before I was sent away…before the attacks started and I became a danger to every person in that place. Yet I couldn't help but miss it…and the people I knew where there now, my friends…they made me feel so special and like I actually could belong.
I took the goblet in my hand and stood up, took a breath and started downstairs to where the tunnel was going to be waiting. I knew since Snape was the one who brought my stuff, that no one would be coming for a while, they all still seemed slightly worried around me, whereas Snape didn't care at all. He treated me like I was just another student who he had to deal with every day. I was thankful for that though, he made me seem as if it didn't matter what I was, I was still a person and felt emotions like everyone else. He just taught me that my emotions were dangerous, and I needed to always have them under my control.
I found the space and slipped inside with ease, I was skinnier than before, on a strict diet and there wasn't a lot to do here. It smelled odd, but I ignored it and began to crawl along the ground, careful not to spill my drink. I paused after what seemed like a while, sipping on the drink as I leaned against the cool wall. Once I begun to drink, my thirst overcame me and I down it so fast, even though I knew I had limited amounts and was supposed to make them last. I sighed and tied the cup to my hip with a string I carried around before beginning to crawl again.
When I came to the end, it seemed like a dead end, there didn't seem to be anything there except more darkness, but my eyes were already adjusted and I could see perfectly. Which is why I could see the tiny ray of light barely shining into the space and I knew it was a secret passage. I smiled to myself, thankful that I now had a place where I could be free, at least for short periods of time. I gave it a hard shove and finally it moved under my strength and I nearly fell out, blinded by the brightness that I had forgotten about over the year. I composed myself and peeked out, unaware of where I was.
I was surprised when I heard voices, laughing and talking merrily. I cocked my neck around the statue that hid the tunnel and saw I was now standing in the middle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I gulped, fear spiking through me, I wasn't supposed to be in the school, I wasn't supposed to be around students. They were breathing, pumping blood through their bodies and were easy prey for a nearly starving half-vampire like me. I licked my lips, instincts overcoming my thoughts and took a silent step out, blending into the shadows.
I closed my eyes and listened to their heartbeats, nice and slow, calm and unaware of what was about to happen to them. When I heard a racing heartbeat, someone clearly rushed and wouldn't be paying any attention…and even better, it was alone, no one was with that student and no one would be able to figure out the tunnel before I had them in my claws and it would be too late then. I opened my eyes, ready to strike out and grab one walking alone, I froze and everything else fell away. I swallowed the lump that had appeared in my throat as he was standing there, his ears bright red and chubby cheeks flushed as he was catching his breath leaning against the pillar in front of me.
My thirst was completely gone, it was as if my own heart had stopped beating, he hadn't changed much, his hair slightly different, but everything else was almost exactly the same. His eyes were tearing up, he had either been crying or was about to, I didn't know what to think or say, so I just stay very still. I was so scared he was going to look up and notice me, then what would I say, he would want to know about last year, I had told them all that I was dying and being taken away for that reason. I couldn't explain it to him, I couldn't tell him the truth and I couldn't just stay here forever, someone was bound to see me.
It seemed like time was stopped, yet I watched in awe as he sniffled and wiped his nose, looking around and making sure he wasn't being laughed at. I wanted to know why he was upset, I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn't. I almost reached out to him, but he heard something and quickly ran off, holding his shoulders to hide more tears that were coming. And then it was over, he was gone and I was just standing there in the dark. I was invisible, unnoticeable, unable to do anything except watch him stumble down the halls until he was gone.
I quickly crawled back into the tunnel and rushed back until I was back in the shack, where I raced upstairs to the bed I called my own for now. I climbed into the bed and stared at the ceiling which was still falling to pieces, small cracks in it allowed me to see the sky. It was cloudy, but I stared anyways, thinking of the past and thinking of Neville. I didn't realize that it was nighttime until I heard a wolf howl off in the distance. I blinked and saw the sky was now a bright starry night, I sighed and curled on my side, into a ball and let the tears fall, it was so good seeing him again…yet I wasn't a part of that world…I never was and never would be.