Chapter 35

What sounds like a Donkey?

It was straight after class when Téa arrived at the Quidditch field. Nimbus 2000 in hand, she looked around to see that nobody was there before mounting the broom and taking flight.
She loved the sensation of the wind in her hair and just took a moment to hover before slowly taking the feel of the broom once more. Flying circles around the pitch to start, she slowly pushed her speed until she felt comfortable again.
There was a difference between the Nimbus and the Firebolt. It would have been foolish not to feel it, but thankfully the last time she flew her Firebolt was a long time ago. She was glad she had gone with a Nimbus; the broom wasn't a complete racing broom like the Nimbus 2001 and the Firebolt. She wouldn't be going too fast for the position she was about to play.
Slowly moving through spins and dives, she felt herself relax until a shout had her twirling to a stop and turning to find Angelina and Alicia standing on the pitch smirks on their face.

"Having fun?!" Alicia shouted up making her blush before she slowly moved down.
"It's been a while," she mumbled making the older girl chuckle.
"Yet you look like you've not stopped flying. Natural talent damn it," Angelina grumbled good naturally before mounting her own broom. "Well, we better start, we need to mould our styles together, and we need to make sure you can catch a bloody quaffle. During team practice, we're also going to have Ginny practice with the snitch so that you don't get sidetracked. The last thing we need is passing a quaffle to you and you go oh snitch,"
"I'm not dog," Téa pouted earning snorts from the duo. "Yeah but you're a Seeker,"
"What's that supposed to mean?!" She exclaimed while laughter tumbled from both girls, sadly her willpower left her, and she followed suit.
"Alright, alright let's run you through our moves. We don't have much time to practice, and we need to get you as good as you'll get." Angelina declared after recovering.

And so it started, running drills as a Chaser wasn't the easiest thing Téa did, but it swiftly became rather fun, and she was enjoying herself. Learning to catch the quaffle at different angles was hard, but she was slowly getting the hang of things.
Finally, two hours into practice they chose to call it a night and head inside for some well-deserved dinner.

"What about we fly to the castle, get a last few moves in?" Alicia questioned.
"Sure, will take less time, formation 1!" Angelina ordered and with that, she took the lead.

Following behind the two, she swiftly kicked her broom into a faster gear, swooping down under, Angelina before zoom up and above as though performing a barrel roll yet catching the quaffle in one hand and tossing it to Alicia who tossed it back. Arriving at the castle, they had to come to a quick stop as they spotted Professor McGonagall standing there, arms crossed over her chest an eyebrow raised.

"Although I am happy to see that you three are having fun, I expect you all in the Great Hall for dinner. After which you may make your way to the Hospital wing, Miss Bell woke up only a few minutes ago." The Head of Gryffindor declared making the trio freeze.
"She's awake?" Alicia asked hopefully.
"Indeed,"
"Let's go see her!" Angelina exclaimed completely ignoring the woman's earlier statement of dinner in favour of jumping off her broom and racing off, Alicia not far behind.

Téa smiled as she dismounted her own broom shooting Professor McGonagall and apologetic look that had the aged witch shaking her head.

"Off you go Miss Potter; I'll have House elves send up some refreshments for the team considering I couldn't stop the others from going as well. Also, well done, you seem to be getting a hold of the Chaser position rather well." She complimented before stopping and looking away. "Much like your father, he could play both Chaser and Seeker."
"Thank you, professor, Wood once said I'd make a good Beater, but thankfully we have the Weasley Twins for that. Don't know what we'll do next year, but we'll make do." The smile that ghosted over Professor McGonagall's face morphed into a found look as the fifth year Gryffindor hurried off down the halls towards the Hospital wing. She couldn't be prouder of her team.

Being the last to arrive at the Hospital wing meant that the food had already arrived by the time she got there. Still, she didn't care, spotting the team gathered around Katie's bed, she hurried over, placing her broom down with the others as she went. The moment she spotted the older girl resting comfortably on the bed, George on one side and Angelina on the other and a smile on her lips she felt her shoulders relax.
The moment Katie spotted her, her smile seemed to grow, and she extended her hand to her allowing her to take it and gingerly lean forward to hug the girl.

"I'm glad you're better," she whispered into the Chaser's ear.
"Thanks to you I hear, Madam Pomfrey was quick to tell me about your quick reaction. You always seem to be saving people you know." Katie whispered back before placing a kiss on her cheek and allowing her to pull away. "I also hear that you're taking my place as Chaser since Madam Pomfrey won't let me play the final match."
"I was happy to help, especially since I was able to. As for the Chaser position, well I'm not as good as you three, but I think I can be good enough for the final match." She declared earning a warm smile from Katie.
"I'll cheer you on, what you're doing is amazing you know that? It is not your position, but you're taking it on for us. Plus I know you're super busy."
"Patronus Lessons are over, the last students were able to summon them, so we're finished with that, I'm almost done my personal project, The project in Potions is coming along nicely and my one on one with Theo for duelling only had one session but it was good. I'm still good." She remarked making the rest of the team look at her strangely.
"When do you have time to do your homework?" Alicia asked curiously.
"Oh, I do some in History — more of a self-study class that is. Divination is not something I'm planning on passing, so I've been doing homework in that class as well; everything is going well enough no need to worry." She answered before her stomach grumbled showing it was hungry.
"Wow, training got me hungry,"

Shooting her teammates a grin, she headed to the table with food and filled a plate. Just in time as Madam Pomfrey came out. She spotted her plate and gave a nod of approval before heading over to another patient's bed. Returning to Katie's side, she settled at the foot and took a bite of a chicken salad sandwich.
Conversation thankfully steered away from the topic of how busy she was, which she was grateful for. She knew she was busy, but she had things to do, and she thought she was doing rather well, considering everything.
The rest of the evening passed in relative calmness, the team was forced to leave as curfew began to arrive and as a group headed off to the Common Room. The next day shone brightly though as Téa woke.

"Must you wake so early Mistress?" Attor questioned as the serpent grudgingly woke up — mostly because its warmth was removed.

Chuckling at the snake's verbal pout, Téa tossed her blankets aside and stretched. Rising she did a few stretches to warm herself up before grabbing a fresh uniform from her trunk. She had taken her shower the night before because of practice and would take another tonight for the same reason. She just hated going to bed sweaty and covered in grime from the previous day.
Once dressed, she ran a brush through her hair before noticing the grimoire on her desk. She swore the damn thing had been in her trunk, and she didn't have a chance to look through it again so it had remained there.
Eyes narrowing she reached down and opened the cover. Instantly the pages began to flip on their own until they stopped and a new message was revealed.

We must always look to the horizon to see the future, the light — so bright and warm — snuffed by the darkness to come.
Remain, strong young dreamers, your time will come,
Be patient but stay strong

The passage made little sense and Téa felt more than a little confused. Shaking her head she shut the grimoire before returning it to her trunk. She hesitated a moment before looking down at the outfit inside. The gleaming armour shined up at her, even if she never polished it. With a final shake, she shut her trunk and grabbed her book bag. Scooping Attor into her arms, she left the room.
Although she tried to push the book's message from her mind, it didn't seem to work. With Divination being her first class, she settled in the furthest row and finished her Transfiguration homework. Thankfully, Professor Trelawney stayed away from her and Ron who was also working on final homework but for Charms.
After Divination, they had a break, which didn't help bring her mind back to the message even as she fingered her wand nervously. Both her wands were on her person. One strapped to her wrist the other to her thigh for easy access.
Finally, Transfiguration came, and she settled into a seat by Hermione who gave her an odd look.

"What has you so unsettled today?" The brown-haired person questioned curiously making her sigh.
"Something happened this morning that has my nerves on edge, it's probably nothing to worry about Hermione, and I'm just being paranoid." She grumbled.

Thankfully, Professor McGonagall entered the classroom not long after stopping Hermione from continuing her questioning. They handed in their homework before the aged witch began her lesson for the day.
Yet no matter the importance of the lesson, Téa still thought about the message Hades had sent her. Could it be a warning? A warning to an upcoming attack, if so why be so cryptic? It was as though he wanted her to be on guard, but at the same time not know what the hell was going to happen so that she couldn't stop it.
A hand moving into the line of sight broke her of her thoughts though, and she looked up to see Professor McGonagall walking away. Looking back down at the note, she hurried to open it only to sigh at the message inside.

Stay after class

Stupid Grimoire, why did Hades have to distract her like this she didn't know. Months without a single word and then BAM!, he writes some sentence that has her overthinking. Stuffing the note in her bag, she shook her head and concentrated on the lesson being given. She had little wish to fall behind in transfiguration especially as it was a very important class.

As the hour ticked by, most of the class was filled with theory until finally, the bell rang, and they were dismissed. With a tired sigh, Téa gathered her possession yet remained seated.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," she remarked as both Hermione and Ron gave her curious looks.
"You sure you don't want us to wait?" Hermione asked.
"No, go eat, I'll be there soon." She answered and although still hesitant, the duo left. Once the last student left the class, Téa rose to her feet and approached the front of the classroom.
"Miss Potter — Téa although you've been doing very well recently I can't help but notice your absence today." Professor McGonagall remarked after sitting behind her desk.
"I'm sorry professor, something happened this morning that took my attention and doesn't seem to want to let go. I'll do my best to concentrate though." She apologized earning a nod from her Head of House.
"I noticed, perhaps Miss Potter you should take time and just — breathe. I have noticed how busy you have been since your return to Hogwarts and I have to admit I find myself concerned with your welfare. I have checked on your current grades in your classes for the rest of the day and you are doing very well. This is why I am ordering you to go to lunch before going back to Gryffindor tower and having a good rest."

This caused Téa's head to shoot up her eyes widening in surprise. She moved to protest, but the Head of Gryffindor raised her hand to stop her.

"No, I do not want to see you in the library and I had better not hear about you working on your homework. Ask your friends to take notes for you during your next classes. This also extends to Astronomy. Professor Sinistra has also informed me that you have sufficiently caught up in her class, and she feels confident that you do not need to attend the extra classes you both agreed to. Get some rest Téa the last thing you need is to fall into exhaustion."
"I understand Professor, thank you." She whispered head bowed as she realized what the woman was doing for her.

Of course, it wasn't like she could just tell the woman that the message she received that morning was from Hades and that it involved a possible attack. She just needed to take the rest as it was given and perhaps get a few extra hours of sleep.

"Good now, make your way to lunch and then I expect to hear that you are in Gryffindor tower resting. I will personally inform Miss Johnson that there will not be a practice tonight." McGonagall declared before motioning her to leave.

Doing as told, Téa made her way to the Great Hall and found both Hermione and Ron nervously awaiting her arrival. The moment she sat down, she took out her homework for each class and handed it to Hermione.

"McGonagall ordered me to rest for the remainder of the day. Could you give those in for me and take notes?" She asked the brunette.
"Of course," Hermione quickly agreed, placing the assignments in her bag while Ron gave her concerned looks.
"You're overworking yourself." He remarked making her snort.
"No, just — something happened this morning that ruffled my feathers, I'll be fine." She sighed before grabbing some food.
"You can tell us you know that right?" Hermione remarked making her smile.
"I know, don't worry I'm fine,"
"Famous last words mate," Ron grunted making her snort.

Looking down at her food, she missed the raised eyebrow from Ron before he shot Hermione a look.

Lunch didn't last very long so after eating her fill, Téa left for Gryffindor Tower. Thankfully the tower was quiet, and she made her way up the stairs before slumping into the bed.

"At last, I told you that you should have stayed in bed today Mistress," Attor grunted making her lips twitch.
"Clearly, perhaps I should listen to you more often my friend, still it's not exhaustion getting me, it's that message from Hades. Do you think he's trying to warn me of an attack? I mean it's possible. Voldemort has always attacked Hogwarts at the end of the year and nobody is to say this one will be different." She mumbled before turning around and looking up at the bottom of her canopy.
"Mistress I believe that the correct words you are looking for are, be on guard, but do not let your guard exhaust you." The serpent remarked while curling onto her chest.
"Who said that?" She chuckled.
"A wise serpent called Attor, now listen to me and rest. You're more exhausted than you notice and you won't be on guard when you need to be." The snake grumbled before resting its head under her chin, its little tongue flicking out to tickle her making her laugh.
"Morgana, when this war is over I'm taking a long overdue holiday somewhere bloody warm for a year," she mumbled while a yawn left her lips.
"You must bring me and no-one else." the serpent agreed, making her smile before sleep fell once more upon her.

It was hours later that Hermione arrived in Gryffindor Tower. She was coming to get her friend for dinner but upon arriving in their dorm she spotted her slumber form curled on top of the blankets. Attor was curled against her, and both were sound asleep.

She hesitated before choosing against waking the silver-haired teen from her sleep. Walking over though she pulled a throw blanket over her friends figure before walking back out of the dorm, leaving her books behind and shutting the door as she went.

Author note:

If you can believe it, I completely forgot about this chapter and started writing a chapter entitled Chapter 35. It was highly amusing finding this chapter here and I'm quite happy as well. I have the beginnings of a Chapter 36 on the go!