It hadn't been easy to get the ghosts of Hogwarts together; it took me nearly a week. For one, a lot of them didn't like me purely for the reason that Peeves liked me. For another, they had their own squabbles among each other. In the end, I just cornered the Bloody Baron – no easy feat, cornering a ghost, they had a bad habit of drifting through walls – and asked him if he could get the ghosts together for me at a specific date, hoping that his fearsome reputation would be enough to get them to listen.
It apparently was, as I was the only living person in a crowd of about fifteen, all of us crammed inside the apprentice's lab. I could think of no better place to meet where we wouldn't be disturbed. I spotted all the house ghosts. Peeves was blessedly absent, as was Moaning Myrtle. There were a few random ghosts I'd seen over the years – the Cavalier, the knight with an arrow in his forehead, the ghost of a Keeper who hung out by the Quidditch pitch and occasionally helped teams practice.
The apprentice's lab was a little too small for a gathering this size. I was seated at the counter, and every now and then I'd feel the cold brush of a stray bit of ghostly cloth or a limb. A couple of the ghosts were half in the wall and the Cavalier was hovering with his feet in one of the cauldrons. The Bloody Baron and the ragged man in chains were in a corner clanking around together.
I took a deep breath and began.
"So you're all probably wondering why I wanted to talk to you," I said. The few ghosts who'd been having quiet conversations stopped and looked at me.
"Well, live ones don't usually stop to talk to the local specters," sniffed the Cavalier. I blinked. I'd never actually heard him talk before. He sounded as snooty as Malfoy.
"Er, right." I shifted on my stool. "Well, it's like this… I need your help with something."
The Cavalier sniffed. "Typical."
"Oh, hush up Lord Draben, or I'm telling the Wailing Widow what you said about her rear next time she visits!" snapped a young, pretty witch lingering in the back of the room. Her hair was tucked under a kerchief and the apron she wore was covered in a disturbing amount of silvery bloodstains.
The Cavalier scowled at her. "Shouldn't you be haunting the Hospital Wing, peasant?"
"Oi, lay off Krea you old wind bag!" protested the highwayman. I'd seen him riding down the halls on his horse sometimes. I knew he had a bad habit of snatching heads away from the Headless Hunt and leading them on a chase through the corridors. Thankfully, he'd left the horse behind today.
The bloodstained witch smiled. "Thank you, Turpin."
The highwayman flashed her a dashing smile. "Not at all, milady."
"Right," I said, looking between Krea and Lord Draben uncertainly. I didn't know much about them or their temperaments, so I had no way of knowing if this would be just the first of many interruptions I'd have to deal with from the two of them.
"Wait, did she call you Turpin?" I demanded of the highwayman. "As in Dick Turpin?"
He swept off his hat and bowed deeply, grinning. "At your service, milady!"
I gaped. "But… But you're famous!"
"Yeah, and old Lord High Hat over there is jealous," he whispered, nodding in the direction of Draben and his towering top hat. I snickered, still a bit dizzied by the fact that a famous thief was running around Hogwarts as a ghost.
"You called us here for a reason?"
Everyone fell dead silent as the Bloody Baron spoke in his deep, mournful voice. His chains gave a rattle as he drifted forward slightly. I flushed and cursed myself for getting distracted.
"Yeah, I did," I said apologetically. "Sorry. As you know, the Triwizard Tournament is happening here this year, and I've got to compete."
"Old news," sniffed Sir Nick. As the ghost of Gryffindor house, I was a bit surprised he'd even turned up.
"Now Nick," scolded the Fat Friar. "It won't hurt to hear the poor girl out, will it? After all, she's much too young for this competition!"
I beamed at the Hufflepuff ghost. "Thanks Friar. What I wanted to ask you all is what you know about fighting dragons?"
Silence reigned. "I beg your pardon?" said the ghost of the Quidditch player. "Why would you want to do that?"
"That's the first task," I explained. "I've got to fight a dragon, and I've got no idea how. That's not really a thing that happens nowadays, but maybe when some of you were alive?" I asked them hopefully.
Lord Draben scowled at me. "Just how old do you think I am, young lady?" he demanded irritably. I winced. There was no good way to answer that. Some of them liked to be thought of as older, some of them liked to be thought of as younger. Some of them were so attached to their own specific period of history they wouldn't hear of anything else. Thankfully, his nickname gave him away.
"Uh… three and a half centuries, give or take half a century?" I offered. The Cavalier seemed a bit mollified.
"Well, you're not wrong," he allowed. "But that sort of nonsense was dead and gone by the time I was alive. If you don't mind, I have better things to do with my time." He huffed and vanished through the wall. I scowled at the place on the wall where he'd vanished, and, unable to help myself, I flipped that bit of stone off.
Turpin moved to my side. "I agree wholeheartedly. But unfortunately, I can't help. That was before my time as well. Before most of our times, actually," he admitted. "I should go check on my horse," he said by way of a goodbye before heading out as well."
"Sorry, I play Quidditch, I don't fight dragons," shrugged the Quidditch player before fading out of sight.
"I would help," said a ghost with a long beard, speaking for the first time. "But that wasn't exactly my area of expertise."
I recognized him from one of the portraits in Dumbledore's office. I'd seen him drifting around the castle, but I'd never gotten a very good look at him before. "You're Ambrose Swott, you used to be headmaster here."
Headmaster Swott smiled, seeming pleased to be recognized. "Ah yes, so good to be remembered. I'm sure those of us who can, will help," he said, shooting some of the ghosts pointed looks. "But like Lord Draben said, not a lot of us are that old, contrary to what you might expect."
I slumped, disappointed. "I see."
"Come along Marley, stop clanking in the corner," Swott said, beckoning to the other man in chains who stood near the Bloody Baron. He drifted out of the corner with a groan and floated out of the room after the headmaster's ghost.
"Was that Jacob Marley?" I wondered aloud. "Like… Like Dickens?"
"Yes, unfortunately," said Krea, wrinkling her nose. "Rather unpleasant fellow, just drifts around and moans, occasionally spouts off random bits of advice."
I shook my head. Hermione will die when I tell her. "Right," I said, clearing my throat and looking at the remaining ghosts hopefully.
The Fat Friar held up his hands apologetically. "I'm a pacifist, sorry." With that he drifted out of the room, the Grey Lady following silently behind him, the Bloody Baron trailing after him.
"Ironically, the Gryffindor ghost is the only house ghost I'm left with," I mumbled to myself. I looked up at Sire Nick hopefully. "What do you say, Nick?"
He sniffed and followed the other house ghosts. I made a face at his back.
"Same to you, pal," I grumbled under my breath, thoroughly disheartened. I was down to two ghosts, Krea and the silent knight with the arrow in his face. I looked at the pair of them, not expecting much. "Can either of you give me anything?"
Krea drifted forward, smiling at me kindly. "As it happens, I can. I used to be a healer and a brewer. And the Black Knight knows a bit about dragons as well," she said, nodding to the knight who was still hovering quietly in a corner. He remained silent. Krea drifted closer. "Oh come on, knight, don't be that way."
"Can he speak?" I asked curiously. "I don't think I've ever heard you talk before."
"I can talk," the knight replied. His voice had a metallic echo from inside his helmet. I wondered briefly why he didn't raise the visor, then it clicked – he couldn't. The arrow prevented it. I winced. That must be a horrible afterlife, seeing everything through a slit in a helmet. "What you need is Sine Fraxinus."
"That's just what I was thinking!" Krea smiled.
I stared at them blankly. "I'm sorry, what? Is that a spell?"
"A potion," the Black Knight corrected. "Dragon hunters used to carry vials of it with them when they went out."
"Vials?" I repeated. "Why vials? Why not just down it beforehand. And what does it do exactly?"
"It's a one-use potion," Krea explained. "In more than one way. It will only protect you against dragon fire, so it's no use for anything else. Also, it only works for one blast. After that, you'd need to down another vial or the next time you got roasted you'd be well done!"
"Wonderful description," the Black Knight muttered darkly, and I guessed that he was scowling behind his helmet. "But unfortunately, Sine Fraxinus is very rare."
"Why's that?" I asked curiously.
"The ingredients are hard to come by," Krea scowled, and going by the look on her face this was a problem she'd faced personally when she was alive. "I myself only made about three or four batches of it in my entire life."
"But you know how to make it?" I pressed eagerly. Krea nodded cheerfully.
"Oh yes! I have a photographic memory, I just need to see a potions recipe once and I can remember it forever!" she bragged.
Immediately I dug in my bag and dragged out a parchment, quill, and ink. "Tell me?" I begged, dipping my quill in the ink and scrawling Sine Fraxinus across the top.
Krea's memory was infallible, even several centuries after she'd died. She easily listed off the ingredients and instructions, explaining clearly and precisely what I needed to do. It wasn't an easy potion, but if I started within the next few days I'd be fine. It wasn't tricky in that it took a long time to make, but in the ingredients and the complicated stirring it required. Some of the things that were needed were still hard to come across even now.
"Carry more than one vial," the Black Knight cautioned as Krea scanned the parchment to make sure I'd copied everything down correctly. With that last warning, he faded out backwards through the wall. I made a quick note about that on the paper and Krea approved it.
"That's all!" she chirped. "Good luck on the first task!" She waved to me cheerily and drifted towards the door.
"Hang on, I have a question!" I called after her. Krea paused.
"Hmm? What's that?"
"Well, the Cavalier said that you haunt the Hospital Wing," I recalled. "I've never seen you there though, and I spend a lot of time there."
"I don't show myself often," Krea admitted. "It puts people off, me drifting around like this." She gestured to her bloodstained apron. I wondered if, in life, she'd been a battlefield mediwitch. I suspected she had been, seeing as there was blood splashed around her hem like she'd run through it. I also wondered morbidly how she'd died, if any of the blood down her front was her own.
"Oh," I said blandly, not sure how else to reply to that. "Alright."
Krea gave me one last smile and drifted through the door. I turned back to the parchment and ran over the list of ingredients. Lacewing flies I could get from my own potions supplies and Snape would let me borrow some of the more expensive ingredients, of that I had no doubt. The only hard bit was the phoenix tears.
Two days later I got my wish. It took letting off a synchronized barrage of Dungbombs down a populated corridor to make a teacher mad enough to ship me off to Dumbledore. In fact, Sinistra was left gaping after me as I rushed off to his office. She'd barely gotten the word 'headmaster' out before I was off like a shot, yelling over my shoulder, "Dumbledore, right, gotcha!"
"Gumdrops," I said to the griffin statue that guarded his office. It gave me an unimpressed look, used to seeing me, and then leaped aside to reveal the staircase slowly grinding upwards. I hopped on, tapping my feet impatiently as I rose higher and higher. It took a full minute to get to the landing – I knew, I'd ridden the stairs often enough that I had timed it more than once.
I pushed open the door and stepped into the headmaster's office. He was sitting behind his desk, his weird little machines puffing and whirring away as usual. I half-wondered if any of them did anything or if they were just there to add to Dumbledore's somewhat dotty persona.
"Miss Potter," Dumbledore greeted me, blue eyes staring at me over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "I must say it's taken you longer than normal to come to visit me."
"Well, I've had other things on my mind lately," I said pointedly. Dumbledore nodded sympathetically.
"I can imagine." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. I sank down onto it and dropped my bag next to me. "Can I ask how you're doing?"
"You can," I allowed, smirking slightly. Dumbledore's eyes glinted.
"How are you doing?" he rephrased, and my smirk widened.
"Pretty well, actually sir," I admitted. "That's why I came to see you. I found a potion that I think can help me with the first task, but one of the ingredients is rather hard to come by."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "And this is why you let off Dungbombs in the Charms corridor?"
I stared. It had barely been five minutes since it had happened and he already knew? I was convinced Dumbledore had some kind of magical monitoring set up around the castle, there was no other explanation for his creepy way of knowing everything almost before it happened.
I shook my head and relaxed in the chair lazily. "Well, I figured it would be faster than making an appointment."
"Do you need assistance retrieving this mystery ingredient?" Dumbledore guessed. "I suppose a special allowance could be made to allow you a trip to Diagon Alley, if the apothecary in Hogsmeade can't meet your needs."
"Actually it's a little easier than that, sir," I explained. I nodded to Fawkes, where he rested in all his scarlet and gold plumed glory on the stand next to Dumbledore's desk. My eyes wandered jealously over his gleaming feathers – I wondered if mine would ever shine like that. Fawkes warbled a greeting.
"Phoenix tears," I said. "I was wondering if I could get some?"
Dumbledore held up his hands. "That's not up to me. You'll have to take the matter up with Fawkes." He gestured to the bird. I stood up, pulling the large vial I'd brought with me out of my pocket. I moved to the phoenix's stand and crouched slightly, holding up the vial in front of the bird's eyes.
"What do you say, Fawkes?" I asked, reaching out and stroking my hand down his back. "Can you help me out here?"
Fawkes lowered his head, and for a moment I thought that was his way of saying no, but then I saw the water start to drip down the hook of his beak. Hastily, I unstoppered the vial and held it under the tip of the gleaming gold beak. Tear and after tear rolled into the vial. I felt a bit bad, actually. The potion only called for four phoenix tears, but this might be the only chance I had to get my hands on some phoenix tears, so I'd take as much as I could get.
When the vial was almost full I pulled it away and Fawkes lifted his head to look at me, warbling again. The sound made my heart swell and I smiled at the bird, stroking his long tail feathers.
"Thank you Fawkes," I said softly.
"Hagrid is correct," Dumbledore spoke up. "You do have a way with animals, Miss Potter."
"Thank you sir," I said, stoppering the bottle and tucking it into my pocket. "Well if that's all…"
Dumbledore looked at me knowingly. "No, it's not all. You did still let off those Dungbombs, which are banned inside the castle."
I winced. "Ah yes. That. It was for a good cause?" I tried. Dumbledore shook his head.
"Nice try, but you will be serving detention with Professor Snape tonight after dinner."
I stared at him. That was no punishment and he knew it. In fact, it was almost a blessing, because it meant that hopefully I could go ahead and get started on the Sine Fraxinus tonight instead of waiting until the next day. This was good, as it would already take nearly all of the time I had remaining before the first task to get the potion finished.
"Take some lemon drops with you when you go, I just bought some the other day," Dumbledore said, nodding to a bowl of lemon drops and a pile of small drawstring bags sitting next to it. Shaking my head – our headmaster really was losing his marbles – I shoved some lemon drops into a bag, tucked it into my pocket with the phoenix tears, and headed out of the office.
I didn't return to class. I wasn't too fussed, to be honest, considering it was Divination. I could get any notes from Lily later and if Trelawney asked I could just make up something about being too distraught by the leaves in my morning tea to come to class. So long as I put in lots of bad omens, she'd eat it up easily.
Instead of going to class, I headed to the dorms, digging through my potions kit until I found the ingredients I'd need for brewing Sine Fraxinus. Cradling the bottles and jars in my arms, I headed for the apprentice's lab, giving the password to the snake before awkwardly shuffling the load around until I could open the door. I staggered inside and carefully deposited my load of ingredients on the counter. I pulled out the phoenix tears and tossed the lemon drops onto the counter as well for good measure.
Then I settled myself down with the recipe and began measuring out the amounts of ingredients I would need into individual vials so I didn't need to keep carting my stock around between potions class and the lab. I tripled the amount – I planned to make a batch in each cauldron. I'd never brewed the potion before and if I messed up I'd need backup and I didn't have time to start from scratch at this point.
I set the measured ingredients in three rows on the racks over the counter top, ready to be used, and pushed my stock aside. I grabbed another fresh vial and the one with the remaining phoenix tears. I poured a few tears into the new vial and tucked it into the pocket of my robes, in case of an accident with the basilisk fangs.
I grabbed a piece of parchment from the small stack I'd left in the lab after interviewing the ghost and grabbed a quill and bottle of ink out of my bag and started writing.
Professor Snape,
I found a potion that will do what I need. Sine Fraxinus, have you heard of it? I got the ingredients and directions from the ghost of a healer that haunts the Hospital Wing – didn't even know she existed. Anyway, most of the ingredients are in my kit and I got phoenix tears from Fawkes... you may have heard a little bit about some Dungbombs? That's why – I needed to talk to Dumbledore. That's also why I have detention with you tonight. I was hoping that my detention could be served in the apprentice's lab? Please sir? Out of the kindness of your heart?
Like I said, I have most of the ingredients, but I do need a couple from you if you don't mind…
I followed that up with a list of what I needed from him, added that I still needed that bezoar from him, and signed with the letter with my usual LP. I rolled the parchment up into a scroll, gathered up my supplies, and left the room with the letter shoved into my bag.
I dropped off my bag and ingredients back in my dorm. Classes would be letting out in about ten minutes, I noted as I left the dorms again. This time, I was headed to the kitchens. I tickled the pear and opened the door, stepping inside.
"Tippy?" I called into the bustle. The kitchen was busier than usual with dinner preparations. House elves bustled here and there and a cloud of steam hung over the ovens from various bubbling pots of soups and sauces. The whole place smelled wonderful, like baking bread and cooking meat. I took a deep breath as Tippy appeared from the crowd and scurried over her.
"Lorena!" Tippy greeted happily. "You is coming to see Tippy a lot!"
I smiled, but it was a little forced. I was visiting the kitchens a lot, but not to see Tippy. To ask her for favors. While I knew she didn't mind – house elves were wired to be people pleasers, they couldn't help it – I did feel a bit bad about it. I made a mental note to make Tippy an extra helping of whatever my Christmas baking this year was. That had become a tradition since first year, and my sweets were always a hit.
"Tippy, I was wondering if you could help me with something," I said, crouching down so that I was on Tippy's eye level.
"Anything Lorena!" Tippy said eagerly.
"I was wondering if you could give me the pattern for some robes?" I asked her. I knew the house elves did the mending for the castle. I'd had robes that had small holes or popped stitches on them and if left out overnight they'd be repaired by the morning, waiting folded and pressed on your trunk.
"Does Lorena need new robes?" Tippy asked in confusion. I nodded.
"Yes, I need to make a very special set of robes for the tournament," I explained.
That was what I'd learned in all of my reading. Things like potions and enchanted artifacts were allowed, but they had to be made by the competitor during the time frame of the tournament and there had to be at least one witness to say confirm that the competitor had done everything on their own.
"For the tournament!" Tippy's big eyes widened. "Yes, Tippy wants to help Lorena with the tournament!" Tippy snagged the arm of a passing house elf – I recognized it as Hilly, and told her my request. Hilly vanished with a pop to go and get what I needed.
I looked at Tippy curiously, tilting my head. It was a silly, sentimental question, but it was nagging at me. I opened my mouth, closed it, made up my mind and asked, "Tippy, why are you so eager to help me with the tournament?"
Tippy looked up at me and smiled sweetly. "Tippy knows Lorena is a good girl. Lorena is good to us elfses. Tippy doesn't want Lorena to die. Lorena is house elfses friend!"
It got to me, it really did. I knew the house elves liked me, but the way Tippy said it made it sound like being a friend to them was something rare and wonderful. I got the feeling that it really was, and that crushed my heart a little bit. I knew what it was like to be treated like a servant, and it had made me bitter, I knew that. But the house elves didn't have a bitter part of them; they served happily.
They were much better than me.
"Thank you, Tippy," I said thickly. Tippy's smile widened.
"Lorena is welcome!" she chimed as Hilly reappeared. There was a packet in her hands with a stylish set of robes being modeled by a pretty witch on the front. Also, there was tracing paper, which I guessed was to help me outline the robes, a tape measure, a needle, and two spools of thread. Slytherin green and silver, I noticed in amusement. I took the pile from Hilly's hands.
"Thank you Hilly, Tippy, this is a big help," I told them earnestly. Hilly smiled at me.
"Hilly is glad to help Miss Potter! Hilly would also like to know how is Miss Potter's snake?"
"Silas?" I asked, surprised. "He's fine, Hilly, completely recovered," I assured her. After the incident in the kitchen, he'd slithered off into the walls to digest his egg. I hadn't seen him much since but I was certain he could take care of himself. If he needed anything, he'd come find me, and the kitchens were safe for him now that the house elves knew he wasn't going to bite them.
"Does Lorena want some food to take with her?" Tippy asked hopefully. I saw a couple of nearby house elves perk up at the mention of giving me food. I considered requesting a sandwich or something, then recalled where I was going after this. I was heading down to the Chamber of Secrets to skin a basilisk corpse.
It had taken some time to find a spell that would turn snakeskin from regular skin into hide that could be sewn into clothing, but after combing several books about specialty magical fabrics I found my answer. Dragon hide was my particular focus, seeing as it was the closest match and I doubted there were any spells specifically for basilisk skin, the snakes themselves being extremely illegal.
The idea of heading into the Chamber and facing down whatever was left of the basilisk with much food in my stomach didn't seem like a good plan, so I declined the offer and left with just the sewing supplies.
I was capable of mending small holes and torn seams myself from years of fixing Harry and I's clothing, but real sewing? That was beyond me. I'd learned a handy spell that would do the sewing for me if cast on the threaded needle. All I had to do was lay out the fabric the way I needed it sewn and trace the path it needed to follow with my wand and the needle would do the rest. It was perfect.
I dropped the pile of sewing supplies in the apprentice's lab. It was a convenient place to store anything related to my tournament projects without people getting into it or figuring out what I was up to. I set it all on one shelf of the bookcase after flicking my wand to get rid of the coating of dust and then remembered the letter in my pocket.
Classes were over for the day, so I blended seamlessly into the flow of students as I made my way to the owlery. I gave the letter to Artemisia and told her to deliver it to Snape. She took off and I left the owlery, headed back to my dorm for the third time in an hour. I sighed as I entered. All of the running around the castle was starting to wear me out.
I wasn't done yet though. I stripped off my school robes and replaced them with grungy Muggle clothes I kept in reserve for lounging around the Common Room on weekends. A pair of jeans with holes in the knees, old trainers, and a sweatshirt that was about two sizes too big were tugged on and I pulled my hair up, covering it with a green bandanna. I dumped out my bag onto my bed. I'd need it to carry the hide and the fangs out of the Chamber. I pulled it over my shoulder and shoved my wand and the vial of phoenix tears inside. I dug into my potion's kit and pulled out the silver knife to use to cut out the fangs and slice away the skin and tucked it into the bag.
I was about to head out when I glanced back at my trunk thoughtfully. Basilisks were highly venomous, some more precautions wouldn't be out of place. I snagged my heavy dragon-hide gloves and pulled them on.
Feeling as ready as ever to face the Chamber of Secrets, I left the dormitory. I got some funny looks as I moved through the Common Room. I couldn't blame them, I looked like a homeless woman in my ratty, over-sized, mismatched clothes.
"Potter? What in Salazar's name are you doing?"
Nott, Malfoy, and Zabini were all sitting in a table in the corner. Zabini and Malfoy were playing chess and Nott seemed to be alternating between watching and reading the book open on the table in front of them. They were all staring at me incredulously now though.
I sighed and walked over, placing my hand on my hip. "Why do you ask?" I asked innocently, but my sass was nowhere near what it usually was. I was too tired, and it was starting to hit me hard.
Long nights in the library and skipping meals were usually no problem for me, but I'd been doing it consistently. Normally by this point in the year I'd be a healthy weight but I was still a couple of pounds under what I should be. Not only that, but I had some monstrous dark circles under my eyes and I was paler than usual.
"You look a fright," Zabini said bluntly. "Not nearly as attractive as you usually do."
I rolled my eyes. "I bet you say that to all the girls."
"Not if I want to see them again I don't," Zabini snorted. I shook my head at him.
"Please, everyone knows you go through girlfriends like a Ravenclaw goes through books," I challenged. "You'll have gone through the whole population before we graduate."
Zabini pouted. "You make me sound so heartless."
I snorted. "Some would argue that you are."
"Really Potter?" Nott asked, looking me up and down from my bandanna to my dirty trainers. "Where are you going?" His eyes narrowed. "Are you sneaking into the Forbidden Forest?"
"Dressed like this? No, I'm going to a ball," I said smartly, gesturing to myself smugly.
"Potter," Nott said warningly, "if you lose us points…"
"Relax," I soothed. "It's nothing that will get the house in trouble. I'm not even leaving the castle," I said with a mysterious smile.
"Uh huh, then why do you look like you're headed off to war?" Zabini demanded. He snatched at my bag and lifted the flap. I tugged it away from him with an indignant cry and held it protectively against his side. Zabini looked me over carefully.
"Potter, why are you carrying your wand and your potions knife?" he asked slowly, suspiciously. I sighed.
"Nowhere that will get us in trouble," I reiterated.
"Potter, you look like hippogriff shit."
I could have cheerfully backhanded the blonde. And he'd been so nice and silent up until then too. Instead I scowled and turned on him. I opened my mouth to make a scathing comment, but something made me pause. He was looking up at me with those stormy eyes of his, but instead of being mocking or disdainful like they normally were, he looked almost…. Was that concern on Malfoy's face? For me?
Either someone had replaced Malfoy or I looked worse than I thought I did.
As fast as I thought I saw it, the whatever it was was gone and replaced with his usual sneer.
"I know you're no catch, Potter, but really, you've just given up, haven't you?" he smirked. I lifted the flap of my bag and stuck my hand inside.
"Do I need to remind you of what's in here?" I said shortly. Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"You're not fast enough to get me with a wand or the knife," he said confidently. "I'd hex you before you could blink. Besides, you might just topple over. When was the last time you actually slept?" he asked pointedly.
I sniffed and again, I started to make a snappy comment. But just the mention of sleep had me letting out a jaw-aching yawn. I hastily covered my mouth with my hands.
"I have things to do, I don't have time for you Malfoy," I snapped, lowering my hands and turning away. I left the Common Room and headed up towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I kept mostly to lesser-used passages and the secret passageways that peppered the school. I didn't need to be held up by more people having a go at my clothes.
All of the ghosts are either in the story or are popular fan theories on the identity of unnamed ghosts in the books and movies. Krea, however, is my own invention. I hope she and the other ghosts make up for the lack of Silas in this chapter.
Kudos to anyone who caught the Princess Diaries reference. Also since this is kind of a short chapter I'll be doing a double update today. And I've also updated my story Only Forever. Go give it a look see, please? *bats eyes*
