Harry Potter fanfiction
THE DARK SECRET


Dedicated to BrutieBoots, because she's been waiting long for the continuation of this story (even though this is the rewrite). (:


CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
LINKETH

Linketh walked into Potions late, but at least he had turned up. He thought that he'd be able to spend some quality time with his permanent potions partner, Aislinn, but when he'd entered the room, he realized she wasn't at their desk. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion and ignored Slughorn's look of disapproving. Curious, Linketh sat at his desk, taking the chair next to Aislinn's vacant one, and set his satchel on the ground at his feet.

He combed his pale white spidery fingers through his pale blonde curls, combing them out of his face, but sighing with defeat when they bounced back in place. He tapped his combat boot-clad toe and consistently looked back at the door, as if Aislinn was going to suddenly appear and walk towards their table, however no luck was found.

Linketh began wondering where on earth she could be. He was completely ignoring Slughorn's lesson while the other students sat with their textbooks and parchment in front of them, but Linketh's desk remained empty. He was actually getting a little concerned about her not being here, and the idea that she might have skipped class to snog with her boyfriend, the insolent Gryffindor prat Remus Lupin, made his blood boil, even if the thought was highly unlikely. Aislinn just wasn't the type of girl to skip class to be with her boyfriend, but the idea still made his fists clench together tightly underneath the table.

His eyes began to wander, skimming the room, before landing on Cain Roman, his insides churning. He was sitting with his potions partner and girlfriend of one month, Azazel Zeela Yein. Normally, Cain was all grins, especially when he was with Azazel or his Ravenclaw friends, but at that moment, he was sporting a very neutral and deadpan expression, his lips pressed into a straight line. It made Linketh somewhat happy that Cain wasn't sporting his stupid charming smile, but the idea that Aislinn was not in class still disturbed him.

The remainder of the class was much the same. Linketh didn't exactly participate in the assignments Slughorn had given the class, but most of the hour was focused on partner-work with brewing potions, and given Linketh didn't have a partner to work with, he thought it okay to pull out his wand and burn marks on the edges of the desk. When the bell rang, Linketh quickly gathered his things and escaped the classroom before Slughorn could bother him with more lectures.

Images of Aislinn and Remus being enwrapped in each other's arms haunted his mind unwelcomingly as Linketh stalked the corridors. He took the back way near the grinning gargoyle to escape to the Slytherin common room. He didn't feel like going to McGonagall's Transfiguration class. Remus and Aislinn were too busy infiltrating his thoughts and poisoning him. He was cringing, his blood curdling, and his breath was growing heavy. Not only had his hatred for Remus Lupin grown, but he was thinking bad thoughts of Aislinn as well.

"Stop it, Dr. Alexander," he hissed to no one. "Don't make me do that. Not thoughts like that."

They were disturbing thoughts, thoughts quite gruesome and macabre. How could he think such things about sweet and angelic Aislinn Blair?

It was because he was mad—mad that Aislinn could do such a thing. How could she skip class to snog her boyfriend? What was Remus Lupin turning her into?

But it wasn't just his anger—he was learning that Aislinn being with Remus was actually breaking his heart, and he hated thinking about it. He hated that he actually had feelings to worry about now.

However, today wasn't the last day Aislinn was not in class. A week had gone by and her seat in Potions had remained vacant. He was beginning to consider an illness, rather than skipping class to snog Remus, especially because the latter still did not fit her personality. Linketh tried to overhear Slughorn and Cain's conversation about Aislinn, but Cain had given Linketh a wary eye, an eye that clearly told him this conversation was not for his ear, and Linketh decided to give up on the idea. At least she wasn't sneaking around with her boyfriend.

On the Friday of that week, Linketh left the Slytherin common room to attend his Astrology class for the first time in several days. He would be far behind, but since he was a genius student, he would catch on fast. Linketh was not vain about his intelligence, but he did take advantage of it. He was lucky that he was so smart that he could skip class and catch up on all of the work within several days and still finish that day's lesson.

He fixed his black leather satchel over his shoulder and sulked down the darkened hall, heading towards the Astronomy Tower. Professor Sinistra would definitely be surprised to see him. Usually during this time of night, Linketh would be in his dorm room, secluded on his bed with his wand pressed against his palm, muttering Severus Snape's invented spell, Sectumsempra, a curse that acted much like an invisible sword, slicing the skin affected, and watching the dark red blood ooze from his wounds.

However, today he felt the need to go to Astronomy. He didn't share it with the Ravenclaw students, so he wouldn't be seeing Aislinn by any chance—not that he'd see her anyway, as she did not turn up for Potions yet again—but there was an urge that was telling him to go to class. He figured it was probably Dr. Alexander taking control of his mind again and telling him what to do, which Linketh highly detested.

He walked past the Great Hall, which was practically empty save for the very few students working on homework and eating a late night snack, and approached the revolving staircases. He climbed a couple of staircases before arriving at the corridor that would lead him towards the spiral staircase, which would then lead him to the Astronomy Tower, when he caught the sound of soft sniffling. Linketh furrowed his eyebrows and proceeded towards his designated corridor, searching for the source of the sound. He normally wouldn't have cared, but many things were spiking his interest, perhaps it being Aislinn's absence in class.

He soon came to learn that the sniffling had been someone crying—a girl. Could it have been Aislinn?

Linketh approached a closed room and pressed his ear against its wooden door. It was definitely a girl sobbing, and though he'd never heard her cry before, he knew it was Aislinn. His heart pounded in his chest. Aislinn was crying? But … why? Was this the real reason why she hadn't been coming to class? Not because she was snogging Remus or sick, but because she'd been crying?

His fingers wrapped around the rusted knob of the old door and, though he didn't know why, turned it. Immediately, the crying ceased with a slight gasp. Linketh pushed through the door, the sheer light from the corridor pouring into the dark room.

It was a tiny room, like a broom cupboard almost, but not quite so small. Aislinn was curled up in a ball, her knees brought to her chin, in a corner, her platinum blonde hair sticking to her face because of her tears. Linketh's heart wrenched in agony seeing her like this. The feeling was foreign to him. Linketh had never been the one to feel agony, only to cause it.

Aislinn's bloodshot sapphire eyes darted to his in shock, wide as dinner plates. Embarrassment took hold of her face as she blushed feverishly.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped, looking away. Linketh's eyebrows knitted together.

"I could ask you the same question. Shouldn't you be in your common room?" he asked.

"What's it to you?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "What's it to anyone? They all want to keep me in the dark. Well, here I am."

"What are you talking about?" Linketh asked, walking inside and shutting the door behind him. As he did so, Aislinn's eyes widened again and returned to his face, bewildered about what he was doing. Linketh didn't take another step towards her until he took out his wand and lit it, and suddenly the complete darkness was gone. Linketh's bright wand lit the entire room, just dimly enough to see in front of their faces.

"What are you doing here?" Aislinn asked again. "Why aren't you in your dorm room?"

"If you don't answer my questions, then I won't answer yours," Linketh demanded. Aislinn pursed her lips and glared briefly before rolling her eyes.

"I want to be alone," she pouted.

"You're not that kind of person to want to be alone," Linketh said, studying her face. "You don't long for attention, but you like having a friend around. Where's your friend, Blair? Where's your disgustingly perfect bloke of a friend Roman? Since when do you like being alone?"

Aislinn stared at him for a long while before tearing her gaze away from him.

"He's keeping me in the dark," she whispered, mostly to herself, but she was loud enough for Linketh to hear. He cocked his head, dropped his satchel, and then sat on the ground a few feet from her, leaning against a wall.

"Who is?" he asked. His pallid mismatching green and blue eyes studied her again. Since when had Linketh been so interested in other people's problems, especially people like Aislinn Blair?

Aislinn scoffed again. She clearly wasn't being herself. The angelic, gentle girl Linketh knew and (though he refused to admit) loved was not so full of attitude. He didn't like this new behavior.

"Why do you care, Kelgasus? You of all people, especially. You hate everybody. You don't care about anybody. Why are you getting yourself involved in my personal affairs?"

"Calm down, Blair," Linketh snarled. "I was only curious. I see you'd really rather not have my company. I understand; I'm no twit. I'd much rather be heading towards Astronomy than engage in other people's affairs. You're right—why do I care?" He stood and snatched his satchel, ruthlessly slinging it over his shoulder as his combat boots stomped towards the door. It was when he heard her voice call out to him that he stopped. Of course he stopped.

"Wait, Linketh," she said. He paused in his step, waiting for her to continue. Also because the way she said his name was so smooth and perfect, like it just rolled off with ease. "I'm sorry. That was incredibly rude of me. I don't know what came over me that made me say such things."

Linketh turned around and saw her bloodshot eyes filling with tears and sincerity. She was back, the normal Aislinn. What really was going on that was making her change egos, he wondered?

"So, does this mean you're going to tell me why the hell you're crying your bloody guts out?" he snapped.

"He broke up with me," Aislinn whispered, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "He didn't even give me a good reason why. He just said he was dangerous, but even that didn't make sense. I just don't understand. Everything was fine … How could this have happened?"

All of her words slurred together as her tears strolled down faster and her sniffles turned into sobs. Linketh widened his eyes. Remus Lupin had broken up with her? He couldn't help but wonder the same thing: why? Why had he done it? Because he's an imbecile and didn't realize that he had the most beautiful and perfect girl all to himself?

He walked back towards her and fell to the ground again, returning to his spot against the wall. He looked at her, trying to sympathize, but part of his heart was so excited, the feeling was actually annoying him. Aislinn was single. He didn't have to see her with any man, watch as she pressed her lips against anyone else's, see her wrapped in another man's arms. She was free.

But the other part of him hated seeing her so sad. It didn't even look right. Aislinn was shy, sweet, and angelic. She was never sad. She wasn't overexcited or too bubbly, but he'd seen her bouncy and giggly at times. Sad, however? Never.

"I don't understand," Aislinn continued to sob, shaking her head, covering her face with her hands. "I don't understand why he did it? He said nothing was wrong with me, but I know he's lying. He's keeping something from me. I just don't understand."

"He's a prat," Linketh spat, and Aislinn immediately lifted her head from her hands. "He doesn't know what he's just given up. Any fool could see how priceless a girl like you is. If there's one thing that he's right about, it's that this break should have nothing to do with your faults. You haven't got any faults, Aislinn, so don't think this has anything to do with something you've done."

Aislinn stared at Linketh, wide-eyed. He could see the surprise in her face. Linketh had never stuck up for anyone but himself, until now. Slowly, Linketh was revealing a new side to him, and it was new even to himself.

She wrapped her arms around her legs, squeezing them closer to her body as she slowly smiled at him, tears still strolling down her rosy cheeks, but at least she'd stopped sobbing.

"I've never known such a side to you, Linketh," she said softly. "I like it. Thank you for your words."