Disclaimer: I do not own or claim any part of the Harry Potter characters or universe as crafted by JK Rowling. Anything recognizable in this chapter is taken from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Chapter 20: Exams and Parlour Tricks
She ran. She'd held it together and walked most of the way back to the castle, not daring to look back to see if he was watching her go, she knew he wasn't. Eventually she'd given in to the overwhelming need to move, to get as far away as fast as possible, to outrun the echoes of what she'd just heard. Her breaths were coming in gasps from the effort of running through the abandoned back corridors of the castle. Her lungs ached and her heart was still pounding. She pushed harder, desperately wishing the pounding of her footsteps and ragged breathing would drown out those words. The corridors grew darker and more and more dust covered the floors and still she ran.
I'm tired of hearing about your pathetic sob story.
She wanted to scream.
I'm tired of this.
She wanted to hit something.
I'm tired of you.
She wanted to be swallowed up by darkness and awaken to find that it had all been a dream.
Her body jerked and before she could register the uneven floor that her foot had caught on, her knees and hands collided hard against the dusty cold stone. She bit back a curse at the pain that flared up in her palms and rolled sideways onto her back. For a moment she just laid there, staring up into the darkness, cradling her aching hands against her. Her breaths were a shuddering mixture of sobs and exertion, unnaturally loud in the otherwise silent corridor. But louder still than the echoing sounds of her own breathing, were Malfoy's words ripping through her mind.
A joke. That's all she was to him, all she'd ever been. A pathetic, idiotic, joke.
She pushed up to her elbows, hands still throbbing. Somewhere in the depths of her mind she realized that she had no idea where in the castle she had ended up. But it didn't really matter. She gritted her teeth against the fresh wave of stinging pain in her palms and fought back a fresh wave of tears. Lifting herself, she leaned back against the cold stone wall without really feeling it. Sobs wracked her body in the dark corridor, their echoes mocking her. She was alone, well and truly alone, with no one to run to. With no one to care.
A scream of frustration broke from her lips as she hit the wall with her fist. That was brilliant, at least the throbbing overpowered the stinging of her palms. A fool. She'd been a damned fool. She should have known better, she did know better. And yet here she was, gasping for breath as more tears welled up. She hated Malfoy for what he'd done, she hated Potter for being right, and she hated herself most of all.
She had no idea how long she sat there, her eyes staring unseeing at the opposite side of the corridor, but eventually she began to shiver. She rose slowly, her tight muscles and sore hands protesting movement after being cramped on the floor for so long. She wiped at the streaks of long dried tears on her cheeks and knew her eyes must still be rimmed with red. Her palm stung as she braced herself against the wall for balance. Surely she'd missed lunch by now, and likely dinner too.
Slowly she made her way back through the dimly lit corridors, finding it surprisingly easy to navigate her way out. Apart from the occasional sniffle, there were no more tears the whole of her way up to Gryffindor tower. She'd dried herself out. Nothing left to expel, even when Malfoy's cold words echoed through her mind again, over, and over, and over again. She prayed she wouldn't run into anyone along the way, her mind was completely blank of any kind of remotely good excuse as to why she'd been crying. Fortunately the corridors were empty.
When she finally made it to the seventh floor corridor, she mumbled the password and the portrait hole swung open. A tidal wave of noise swept over her; the Gryffindors were still carrying on in the common room, celebrating their victory. It wasn't just the noise though, a wall of heat slammed into her as well and she wavered slightly on her feet. The noise pounded in her ears and her eyes shut reflexively against the instant headache that ensued. She nearly doubled over from the throbbing at her temple. How were they all so loud? And, god it was warm.
Her limbs froze for a moment of indecision while she contemplated the idea of finding another abandoned corridor to hide out in until the rakus celebration concluded. But it was nearly curfew anyway and the thought of curling up in her bed was appealing enough to drive her through the hole. She skirted the edge of the room, hoping to make it to the girls' dorm unnoticed. The heat pressed on her more and she fought to hold it back. She didn't need any of it now, why was it building so forcefully?
"Williams?"
Someone said her name and it had a funny way of bouncing around the room to sound like it was behind her. The only thing behind her was the wall. She looked toward the center of the room where she somehow knew it had come from. Her brain registering whose voice it had been seconds before they locked eyes. Potter was standing near the center of the crowd, the whole of his focus on her while he was jostled by his surroundings. A sharp needle of heat jabbed her. His eyebrows knit together.
"Is she crying?" his voice echoed around her again.
Collecting herself up as much as she could, she managed to force a half smirk in his direction before crossing the remaining distance to the girls' staircase and disappearing up them. The door swung closed behind her with a sharp snap. She loosed a sigh at the instant relief that was the silence, or almost silence, of the dormitory. The wall of heat finally giving way as well, muffled similarly to the quiet thrum of voices from downstairs. She leaned back against the door and sank to the floor, her eyes travelling around the familiar room. Something in her gut twisted. Nothing was different, and yet everything had changed. Suddenly the silence of the room felt like a void of space.
His words filled her mind again. Echoing. Taunting. Mocking. A joke, that's what she was, nothing more than a punchline. A tear slid down her cheek, her breath shuddered. The image of Malfoy standing in front of her, dressed in his quidditch leathers, looking at her the way he had. A cold, empty gaze. He really didn't care. None of them did. That's when she saw it, a package delicately perched at the edge of her bedside table.
Her brow furrowed for a brief moment before she registered what it must be. She wasn't sure what compelled her at this point, but she rose to cross the room and open the package. Sure enough, it was the book from the rare dealer, History of the Wegenstehl - Including the Timeline of the Wegenstehl, just as she'd requested months ago. She examined the intricate but worn bindings with disinterest. The contents of the book seemed so meaningless now. Why did she care about Michael O'Connor and his inquires? Why did she care about how Alexandra Fuhrmann or any of the others had died? About anything the Inn Man had said?
Why did she care about any of it?
About the wands?
About this book?
This damn book.
With a frustrated scream she threw it on the ground and kicked it under her bedside table.
In the weeks following that final quidditch match, Kaelix managed to keep herself busy with classes. The homework load had increased yet again heading into the end of year exams, which kept her either holed up with her housemates in Gryffindor tower, sequestered at the back of the library, or spending a little extra time practicing with Remus. Mealtimes had been the trickiest part; it had been hard, those first few days, to not head straight for the Slytherin table out of habit. She'd considered hiding out and just skipping the Great Hall altogether, but after missing breakfast once her growling stomach wouldn't let her skip another meal.
Most meals she found herself with Neville, Seamus, and Dean, and occasionally Weasley's much more pleasant younger sister would join them. No one said anything of her abrupt return to the Gryffindor table at meal time. Instead they began leaving a seat for her and drawing her into their conversations. Potter hadn't even said anything about it, choosing instead to keep a respectable distance for once. It was almost comical how easy it was to slip into the role of the average Gryffindor, to walk with them to class, discuss homework, share gripes about the professors' unrealistic expectations. As if she'd always been there, in her new normal. As if what she'd had before never existed. Which is the exact message she silently sent Malfoy.
She never looked to see if he was watching her but whenever there was a chance he might, she pulled on that familiar mask of hers. The one that said "I'm just fine without you, in fact, I'm better off without you". Over and over she told herself that she didn't care, that it didn't matter, and that he didn't have any effect on her whatsoever. Let him writhe with the knowledge that his experiment, his elaborate joke hadn't gotten the best of her. She didn't need him, she wasn't devastated by his absence, she was reveling in it, thriving. He'd built his little game on the premise that she cared, but what he didn't realize was that if she meant nothing to him, then he meant nothing to her.
She was so good at pretending that she almost believed it herself. Until one afternoon, on her way back to the common room, she was intercepted.
"Williams," a familiar voice halted in front of her.
Anxiety shot up her spine and she immediately sidestepped to go around him, but he moved to block her path again. A hiss nearly escaped her lips, what on earth did he want.
"You're not avoiding me that easily."
"I've done it before," she said flatly, her eyes looking past him.
"Always playing hard to get, aren't you?" He teased.
She hiked her book bag higher up on her shoulder and made to move past him again.
He sidestepped faster than she could, "Come on, Williams, at least look at me."
She refused to meet his gaze and asked instead, "What do you want, Nott?"
He sighed and lowered his voice a bit, "I want to know what's going on. It's been weeks and you haven't so much as looked at each other. Don't you think it's time to call a truce? Give the old white flag a wave?"
"We're past calling a truce. I waved my flag and he set it on fire."
"I'm sure it wasn't all that bad, the smoke must have cleared away by now. Just come back around, talk to him," he insisted.
The fake sincerity in his tone ribbed against her spine and she snapped her gaze up to his, her own tone biting, "Why are you even pretending to care when the whole thing was just one big joke? Isn't that all I am to you, the punchline?"
Now he was playing her mock surprise, "Woah, woah, woah, wait- Where's this coming from? You were never a joke to anyone."
"Don't you get it, Nott? The joke's over. I know."
"Then do you mind letting me in on it? Because I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You have no idea?" She scoffed. "I fell for it once, I'm not falling for it again."
"Falling for what?" He asked.
Her eyes stung and she hated herself for it. "The meals, the games, the idea that we could be friends. It's been a joke all along. All of it. Ever since Hogsmeade."
His brows knit together briefly before realization dawned on his face, "That one comment Zabini made, is that what this is about? That was just a bit of fun, Williams. You're not a joke, not to any of us."
"Really? Because according to him I am- was. But not anymore, I'm not falling for it again, so just leave me alone," she hissed the last word and tried to step around him again.
"Please, Williams-" he moved to intercept her again. "Look, whatever he said, he didn't mean it. Just talk to him."
"Don't you understand?" She leaned into her words. "He doesn't want to talk to me. The joke. Is. Over."
"You're the only one he wants to talk to, he's just too stubborn to admit it," Nott said quietly.
She grit her teeth, determined not to let him win by telling her exactly what she wanted to hear. When she spoke her voice was deathly quiet and Nott had to lean in a bit just to catch her words. "Whatever this is-" she gestured between them, "that you're trying to do, I'm not falling for it. I shouldn't have fallen for it the first time. I should have listened to everyone when they told me to stay away from the Slytherins, I wanted to be right about you. But I wasn't. They were. And I get that now, I see it, I really do. So please, just leave me alone.
She saw his jaw clench and braced herself for the backlash, ready to fire back with as much force as he threw at her. But instead he spoke calmly, evenly, with a hint of sadness. "What did he say to you, Williams? Because I know you don't believe that. You don't believe them. What did he say to push you away?"
She could have handled anger, she could have handled shouting, but this? What was he playing at? The same tired game they'd been playing behind her back all year, why wouldn't he just let it go?
"Ask. Him." She ground out through clenched teeth.
"I have. And I nearly lost an eye because of it." He sighed. "He won't tell me. That's how I know he didn't mean it. If you'd both just sit down and talk about this-"
"You're wasting your breath, I'm done."
She moved to leave but his hand was on her arm in a second, "Please, Williams. I don't like to beg for things, but he misses you, we all do. So this is me, beggin you; please."
His expression seemed sincere, and how many times had she sat across from him in the Great Hall? How many times had they laughed together at Zabini or Malfoy's expense? How many class assignments had he finished because of her disapproving looks? How many times had he joked about dating her, with a grin and a wink, and then feigned heartbreak when she shot him down? She hesitated, they'd been friends, hadn't they? That had been real, hadn't it?
But Malfoy's words echoed through her mind again, you're the only one who didn't know, the only one stupid enough to have believed it this long… and suddenly every conversation seemed empty, every wink was secretly a slap in the face, and every laugh she'd thought was with her, had been at her.
Her gaze focused in on where his fingers were wrapped around her arm and the heat radiating from the contact. "Let go," she whispered.
"Williams, wait-"
"No. Let go."
"Please, just-"
"I said. Let. Go."
"Williams, plea-aargh!"
He dropped her arm like it was scorching, cradled his hands, and nearly doubled over. The heat receded from her and she immediately clamped down on the last few tendrils that remained connected to her. She forced her breaths to come evenly again, when had they even stopped coming evenly? Nott stumbled back and step and was looking at her with wide eyes. That all too familiar look he tried to hide from her was a knife in her ribs.
"I told you to let go," she said flatly.
He opened his mouth to respond but another voice interrupted.
"Williams, there you are. You left this in Charms this morning."
She looked past Nott and for once was glad to see that mop of jet black hair, glad for any excuse to finally exit this conversation. Potter approached with his arm outstretched, holding a copy of Unfogging the Future.
She reached for the book, "Thanks."
"Come on," He said with a gesture back in the direction he'd come from, "we'll be late for Defense class."
Without another look at Nott she set off down the corridor at a quick pace with Potter trailing behind her. Once they rounded the corner, Kaelix ducked into an alcove behind a suit of armor and leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes, tipped her head back against the cold wall and took a deep breath to even out her nerves. A moment later there was a bit of shuffling and she knew Potter had joined her in the small space, she could feel his presence across from her.
Resigning herself to his company, she pulled her head forward and opened her eyes to the dull light.
Holding out the divination book she said, "I assume this is yours since I know for a fact that my own book is in my bag."
He gave a small nod and tucked the book back into his own bag.
"And that you were just using Defense Against the Dark Arts as an excuse to leave since Professor Lupin cancelled our class this afternoon?"
He nodded again, "Sorry for butting in, I just- you looked like you were hoping someone would."
"That's probably because I was," she admitted.
"I don't believe it."
"What?"
"Are you telling me I've actually done something right for once?" He said with a hint of a grin.
"No. I specifically wished someone other than you would butt in, I can't risk inflating your head any more than it already is. Frankly, I'm amazed you fit past that suit of armor," she said, a small smirk crossing her lips.
"Well, I have Hermione deflate it for me each night so I don't tip over in the morning with the weight of it." Kaelix scoffed. Potter paused before continuing, "Look, I don't know what that was," she stiffened, "if you need someone to talk to I'm sure Hermione would be happy to listen."
She scoffed again, "What, didn't want to sign yourself up for the task?"
He shifted on his feet, "Actually yeah, but I figured you'd prefer Hermione."
"I do," she said flatly.
His expression fell for a split second before he recovered and nodded. "Suppose I deserve that."
"You do, and frankly I'm amazed that you'd admit it."
He gave half a scoff and his mouth twitched. "Well, it's a standing offer. If you ever need someone to talk to about anything, now or ever, I'll be here."
"Planning to take up residence behind this particular suit of armor are you?"
"Yeah," he nodded enthusiastically, "yeah, he seems a bit shinier than the rest. Just the kind of armor I want looking out for me."
She could almost hear the smirk in his voice and her own lips curled up as a smart reply formed on the tip of her tongue. But when her gaze met his green eyes her smirk faltered. A knot clenched in the pit of her stomach.
She turned to leave but paused with a jaw clenched against the wave. "Thank you," she drew a steadying breath, "for not saying I told you so." With that she ducked out from behind the armor and disappeared down the corridor.
When exam week began, an unnatural hush fell over the entire castle. Even in the weeks leading up to exams when they'd been pushed to the breaking point with homework, the castle hadn't been as quiet as it was now. The third years emerged from Transfiguration at lunchtime on Monday, limp and ashen-faced, comparing results and bemoaning the difficulty of the tasks they had been set, which had included turning a teapot into a tortoise. Hermione irritated the rest by fussing that her tortoise had looked more like a turtle, which was the least of everyone else's worries.
Kaelix was just thankful that Nott hadn't tried to corner her again, she wasn't sure what she would have done if he had tried again. But it seemed that he and all the other Slytherin's had left her to study and perform her exams in peace. Not a single Slytherin had spoken to her since Nott had that day in the corridor. Not Zabini, who she'd caught glancing at her more than once. Not Pansy, who she'd expected to brag about the elaborate joke of it all and revel in her misery. And not Malfoy, who didn't seem nearly as distraught by her absence as Nott made it seem.
He hadn't so much as looked at her, though she hadn't exactly been going out of her way to look at him either. She refused to admit that it bothered her, refused to acknowledge the small twist in her gut every time she walked past the Slytherin table on the way to Gryffindor's. Refused to even entertain the idea that the reason she couldn't look at Malfoy was because she was afraid to never find him looking back.
After a hasty lunch it was straight back upstairs for Charms exam. Hermione had been right; Professor Flitwick did indeed test them on Cheering Charms. But Kaelix had also been right; Hermione breezed through the exam without a problem. Potter was nervous though, and, despite being in class the day they had practiced them, he overdid his charm and sent Weasley into fits of hysterical laughter. He had to be led away to a quiet room for an hour before he had recovered enough to perform his own exam. After a subdued dinner, the students hurried back to their common rooms, not to relax but to start studying for Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, and Astronomy exams that were still upcoming.
Professor Hagrid presided over the Care of Magical Creatures exam the following morning but was obviously preoccupied. Kaelix had heard during one of her many meals with the Gryffindors that Buckbeak was set to have one last appeal at the end of the week. It was a last ditch attempt to clear his name, and had she been on better terms with Malfoy she might have told him to do something about it. But she wasn't. Hagrid didn't appear to have much hope, or much enthusiasm for their exam either. Though she couldn't blame him for that. Their "exam" was simply to select a flobberworm from a large tub and keep it alive for the duration of the allotted exam time. Flobberworms flourished best if left to their own devices, so it was the easiest exam they'd had so far. Professor Hagrid occasionally checked on the various flobberworms but kept mostly to where Potter, Weasley, and Hermione were sitting.
The rest of the class was similarly broken up into groups chatting amounts themselves to pass the time. Kaelix focused on her flobberworm and fought the urge to look up when she heard Nott's familiar laugh carry over the chatter. They'd be sitting over at the edge of the clearing, as far removed from the class as possible while still within the bounds. She imagined they were laughing at someone's smart as comment about anyone who failed to keep their flobberworm alive for the hour and she smirked.
"Could you imagine telling your mum and dad you failed over a worm who choked to death on lettuce?" Nott would say.
"They'd disown me," Zabini would reply, only half joking.
"I don't think they can even choke to death," Malfoy would muse, "you'd practically have to kill it yourself. I'm sure Longbottom could find a way."
"I can just picture him tripping and landing right on top of it, splat," Nott would say, slapping his hand on his leg for emphasis.
"I can picture them all committing suicide to get away from your ugly mugs," Kaelix would say.
Nott would look mortally offended, "Kaelix, you hurt me when you say things like that."
"And how would you keep yours alive, then? Your charming personality?" Malfoy would ask.
"I was thinking my charmingly stimulating banter," Kaelix would say. "It more than makes up for your blundering conversation skills and ghastly appearance."
Nott would laugh at Malloy's expense while he just gave her that half smirk that he used to fight off his own laughter.
And then he was standing in front of her again, telling her she was an idiot, telling her she was stupid, she was nothing but a joke, nothing more than a punchline. Her smirk faltered. They were probably still laughing at the whole thing and suddenly she imagined a very different conversation taking place without her.
"Could you imagine telling your mum and dad you were actually friends with a Gryffindor?" Nott would say.
"They'd disown me," Zabini would say, only half joking.
"I don't think they'd believe it, they're not as stupid as Williams is. They'd have a good long laugh about the one we pulled over on her," Malfoy would say.
"I can just picture them clapping you on the back and saying how proud they are that you put her in her place," Nott would say.
"I still can't believe it lasted so long, I can't believe it took her so bloody long to figure it out. She's even more dense than Longbottom," Malfoy would say.
That was more likely the source of Nott's laughter than the flobberworms. Or even worse, maybe she wasn't even significant enough to be their topic of conversation anymore. Good for a few laughs but practically an afterthought by now. Her stomach churned at the thought and she forced her mind elsewhere for the rest of the exam.
They had Potions that afternoon, which was an unqualified disaster for some. Kaelix had no trouble with the Confusion Concoction as she'd brewed an exorbitant number of higher level potions for Professor Snape throughout the year. Others weren't as successful. Potter couldn't seem to get his potion to thicken and Professor Snape scribbled down something in his notes that looked suspiciously like a zero. Hermione managed to thicken her Confusion Concoction well enough but Weasley's was worse off than Potter's. She wouldn't be surprised if Snape actually gave him a negative score. Neville's was wholly the wrong color as the end of the allotted time approached. Kaelix heard the Slytherin's sniggering at him from the back of the room and fought the urge to snap at them. A shiver went down her spine as she wished for the color and consistency of Neville's potion to be switched with that of those who were mocking him.
Neville emitted a small sort of frightened gasp and glanced about nervously. Professor Snape loomed up behind him, sneering down at the cauldron. However his sneer quickly turned to a disappointed scowl when he laid eyes on the potion. He scribbled something down on his parchment with a sour look and moved on. Kaelix rolled up on her tiptoes and caught a glimpse of Neville's potion, his correctly colored potion. She caught his gaze for a brief moment and gave him a thumbs up, he looked baffled but relieved. It wasn't as if Neville didn't know how to brew the potion, she'd helped him study for this very brew, he just didn't perform well under the pressure of Snape's critical gaze.
Snape was on the back row now, her old row. She tried to block them all out, pretend the room ended just behind her but then Snape said something that compelled her to risk a glance over her shoulder.
"I expected better from you," was all he said as he moved past their stunned faces.
Kaelix caught a quick glimpse of Zabini's cauldron and nearly did a double take. Instead of the thick but workable mint green that the potion was supposed to be, his cauldron was full to the brim with a substance that was black as night and appeared to have hardened like cooled lava. She didn't dare risk a glance at the others' cauldrons or their expressions but imagined their incredulity with pleasure. Served them right.
The next final exam was Astronomy, at midnight, up in the tallest tower where she'd had her one late night lesson; History of Magic took place Wednesday morning, followed by Herbology, in the greenhouses, that afternoon in the baking-hot sun; then back to the common room once more, with sunburnt necks, thinking longingly of the next day when it would all be over.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was their second to last exam, on Thursday morning. Professor Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam of any of the professors; a sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hunky punk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new boggart.
"Excellent, Harry," Kaelix heard Remus mutter to Potter as he climbed out of the trunk with a grin plastered across his face.
Her eyes rolled back and she wished she'd been a pit quicker about getting into the line at the beginning of the exam so as to avoid Potter's triumphant glow. They were getting along much better these days but sometimes he still got on her nerves. She still had to wait for both Weasley and Hermione to finish before it was her turn.
Weasley did well until he reached the hinkypunk, Kaelix rolled her eyes as it successfully confused him into sinking waist-high into the quagmire. Somehow of all of the things in the obstacle course, the misdirection was what Kaelix expected would get him. Hermione did everything perfectly until she reached the trunk with the boggart in it. Having missed her chance to practice in class, she wasn't entirely prepared for what she saw and after about a minute, she burst out again, gasping and screaming about Professor McGonagall failing her out of school.
After a few moments they managed to get Hermione to calm down and Potter and Weasley led her off back toward the castle, leaving only Kaelix behind. Remus turned to her with a smile.
"I'm sure you won't have a problem. Whenever you're ready," he nodded toward the first obstacle.
A small smirk crept onto her face at the sudden resemblance this had to their lessons. Just the two of them, practicing a bit of magic. She nodded to Remus and he stepped back to observe her. Wading through the pool was actually quite refreshing in the already warm morning sun. The grindylow was easily dispatched, as were the red caps and the hinkypunk. In no time at all she was approaching the trunk and steeling herself for the image that the boggart would take on. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Remus shift uneasily on his feet, subtly taking a step closer to the trunk.
"I can see you, you know," she called to him without looking over.
"Focus on the task at hand," he said shortly.
She rolled her eyes, flashed a wicked smile at him and said, "See you in a minute."
The trunk must have been enchanted because Kaelix descended far too many stairs to be physically possible before landing in a small poorly lit room. She raised her wand and waited, her eyes scouring the darkness for any sign of the boggart. She heard before she saw, a pop and a crackle, and then a glowing ember in the darkness. The room suddenly seemed much bigger, extending some unknown length into the impenetrable darkness.
"Why did you leave me?" The familiar voice echoed as his face materialized in the glow of the budding embers.
"I didn't leave you," Kaelix said quietly. "I tried to protect you."
The boy's face hardened in the dim flickering light and cocked to the side, "You left me."
"No," she breathed, moving forward with prowling steps, "no, you. left. me." She snapped her wand before the boggart could say anymore, "Riddikulus!"
A loud crack shook the entire space and the embers disappeared back into that impenetrable darkness. Nothing took their place. At least, not at first. She caught a whiff of fresh air and a breeze stirred around her. Kaelix tensed, this was different. Laughter rang out through the darkness and her stomach dropped.
"You're such a fool, Williams," his voice ripped through the darkness, striking her in waves.
She wasn't prepared for this, why had the boggart chosen this?
"I knew you were a fool from the moment I saw you. But I never imagined you'd be so oblivious for so long." He stepped into the dim light with a mocking smirk.
Her jaw clenched.
His cold emotionless grey eyes bored into her. He slunk forward in a movement that was so like the real him that Kaelix had to remind herself that it was only a boggart, that he wasn't really there with her, looking at her with that icy stare. "You're nothing more than a punchline. Nothing but a miserable, pathetic joke. Nothing at all"
Crack!
A blinding light flashed. Kaelix' should eyes readjusted to the dim light and there on the floor, flailing slightly, was a pale flobberworm.
"And you're nothing but a slimy, lying, bottom feeder that I'm better off without," she whispered to the darkness.
When she emerged from the trunk, Remus was waiting not five steps away, wringing his hands in anticipation.
"Kaelix, finally. How'd it go?" His voice was laced with both concern and excitement.
"Great," she forced a bit of cheeriness into her voice, "it went great."
"Is everything alright?"
"Hmm? Yeah," she said, just then realizing the stinging in her eyes. She blinked to clear them and covered, "it's just bright out here is all."
Kaelix stopped in for a quick lunch before her last exam and noticed the mood in the Great Hall was significantly improved from the beginning of the week despite the fact that there was still one exam looming over them. All around her students were chatting excitedly about their summer plans, happily anticipating the end of exams that afternoon. She sat somewhat removed from the rest of her house, from the rest of the school really. There wasn't much about summer that she was looking forward to, returning to The Fosters wasn't her idea of a vacation.
She picked at her food absentmindedly, wandering between musings of summer and that boggart. Why did it always insist on taking forms that angered her rather than scared her? Then her thoughts drifted back to summer and what it would bring. A long, magic-less, hot, boring summer that somehow seemed empty. Lonely. She blinked her eyes back into focus, would she really miss it here? She looked up at just the wrong moment and made eye contact with Malfoy.
She looked away before either of them had time to blink. Weeks, months even, had passed without them so much as making eye contact and just like that they had. It had been so accidental, so insignificant. She wanted to check and see if he was still looking at her but she couldn't bring herself to look up from her potatoes. She forced herself to eat a few more bites even though they were like sawdust in her mouth and then washed them down with pumpkin juice before grabbing her bag and exiting the Great Hall. All the while unaware of the gaze that lingered on her every move.
Halfway to the Divination final Kaelix came up behind Potter and Weasley, and as they made their way up toward the seventh floor they discovered many of their classmates were sitting on the spiral staircase to Professor Trelawney's classroom trying to cram in a bit of last minute studying.
"She's seeing us all separately," Neville informed them as they moved onto the crowded landing. He had a copy of Unfogging the Future open on his lap at the pages devoted to crystal gazing. "Have any of you ever seen anything in a crystal ball?" He asked.
"Nope," said Weasley in an offhand voice. He kept checking his watch and had yet to glower at Kaelix, something had him preoccupied.
Potter shook his head, though he looked equally as distracted as Weasley, and Kaelix did the same. Technically she had seen some foggy shape in the crystal ball that first day they'd worked with them and then the images she'd seen in her mind's eye too, but she wasn't too keen on explaining that to anyone.
The line of people outside the classroom shortened very slowly. As each person climbed back down the silver ladder the rest of the class hissed, "What did she ask? Was it okay?"
But they all refused to say.
"She says the crystal ball's told her that if I tell you, I'll have a horrible accident!" Neville squeaked as he clambered back down the ladder.
"That's convenient," snorted Kaelix and Weasley simultaneously. He glared at her before continuing to Potter, "You know, I'm starting to think Hermione was right about her" - he jabbed his thumb toward the trapdoor overhead - "she's a right old fraud."
"Yeah," Potter said absentmindedly checking his own watch and looking out the tower window. "Wish she'd hurry up…"
Parvati came back down the ladder glowing with pride.
"She says I've got all the makings of a true Seer," she informed the three of them. "I saw loads of stuff… Well, good luck!"
She hurried off down the spiral staircase toward Lavender.
"Ronald Weasley," said the familiar, misty voice from over their heads. Weasley grimaced at Potter and then climbed the silver ladder and disappeared through the trapdoor. Potter and Kaelix were now the only two left waiting. Earlier in the year he probably would have taken the opportunity to badger her with invasive questions that he had no right asking, she would have dismissed him with a scathing insult, and that would only seem to further motivate him. But now? Now it was a bit different.
He indicated the floor next to where she had sat down some time ago and she nodded her consent.
"Last one, right? Can you believe it? Feels like we heard about that Grim in my tea leaves just the other day," he said.
"That's because she mentioned it after seeing an 'ominous dark figure' in your crystal ball, which was only last week," said Kaelix.
Potter chuckled, "You know I never thanked you for that first day."
Her brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"
"You were the only one who didn't outright believe I was going to kick the bucket. Even Hermione was eyeing me with concern by the end of class. You're the only one who just didn't believe it and that was nice."
"It was nice?"
"Yeah," he chuckled. "And then that comment you made after? When you said she probably picked me because I was first up the ladder? Brilliant."
She scoffed, "You're easily impressed, aren't you?"
"Only when my life hangs in the balance," he said with a grin.
"Well, I hate to break it to you but I didn't object to her death prediction for your benefit. Someone had to question the insanity of her you're-going-to-die-eventually-at-some-point-in-the-future-probably-but-I-have-no-idea-when-or-how prediction. It was far too vague."
He laughed again, "Yeah, when you say it like that it does seem a bit nonspecific."
"And absurd."
"Well, not to someone who'd already seen a Grim looming over them late one summer evening. That makes it a bit harder to see the absurdity in an old woman's tea leaf prediction."
Kaelix shrugged, "Then I'd ask how you knew it was a Grim, was it wearing dog tag? Did it tell you it was an omen of death? Or did you just see a big black dog and then assume it was a Grim later on when Trelawney put the idea in your head?"
"You sound like Hermione, always with the logic."
"When you see black and white stripes you think zebra, right? Not striped horse. It's more likely that the dog was just a dog. Unless you're taking into consideration that you will probably die at some point in the future. You know, eventually. That's one of life's only guarantees, isn't it?"
He ran a hand through his hair, skewing it to the side. "Wow, that's a bit depressing, isn't it?"
"Only if you spend too much time thinking about it," she said.
"Have you?" He asked, his green eyes focused on her with an intensity she didn't like. "Spent too much time thinking about it?"
She shifted her back against the wall, hoping the movement didn't look as anxious as it was. She shook her head to disguise her discomfort, "There you go getting nosy again, Potter."
"Just going with the flow of the conversation over here. You're the one who went all philosophical," he added.
"Learn to steer your boat better," she joked.
He nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence. It had been some time since Weasley had disappeared up the ladder, but the exam lengths had been wildly different for each class member that there really was no telling how much longer they would be left waiting. She could tell Potter was going to say something before he did. He had a way of holding his breath to steel himself for it, which meant it was probably something he didn't think he should say, which was probably right.
"Look, I don't know what went down between you and the Slytherins, but for what it's worth, I really do think you're better off without them. Without him."
Her stomach clenched, she drew her arms across her chest and said, "You're right, you have no idea what happened and your thoughts on the matter are worth less than nothing considering your bias, and I don't want to hear another word about it."
Surprisingly, he clammed up about it, for once. But it was too late. She'd been doing better, she'd been able to go hours without thinking about what happened. But at the mention of the Slytherins she was back on that quidditch field, Malfoy's cold gaze cutting her to the bone, each of his words a punch to her gut. She clenched down on the tears that she felt well up and cursed herself for not being able to control them. Climbing to her feet, she crossed the small width of the tower and leaned against the wall to gaze out the window, hoping Potter would attribute it to her annoyance with him and leave her the hell alone.
Nearly twenty minutes of uncomfortable silence later, the trap door swung open with a thud and Weasley's large feet reappeared on the ladder.
"How'd it go?" Potter asked, jumping up from his seat.
"Rubbish," said Weasley. "Couldn't see a thing, so I made some stuff up. Don't think she was convinced though…"
"Meet you back in the common room," Potter muttered as Professor Trelawney's voice called his name.
Potter's feet disappeared through the trap door and Weasley disappeared down the stairs without a word in her direction. She sighed in relief, sometimes the castle was just a bit too crowded for her liking. And how she'd managed to be the last in line for both of her exams today, she'd never know. But she'd always been alone, hadn't she? She tucked herself into the windowsill, knees pulled tight to her chest, her unseeing gaze still out the window.
It felt like barely five minutes had passed when she heard the trap door opening again and Potter was descending. When he reached the bottom she uncurled from her perch in the window to his confused expression.
"Is your inner eye too cloudy today?" She asked to break the silence.
He shook his head, "She told me to wait five minutes before leaving, said it would be most helpful."
Kaelix scoffed, "Strange. Probably another one of her parlor tricks," she added in a whisper.
He nodded.
"Kaelix Williams!"
"Good luck," he said, leaning against the wall.
The tower room was hotter than ever before; the curtains were closed, the fire was alight, and the usual sickly sweet scent was somehow thicker than normal sending Kaelix into a coughing fit before she even sat down. The heat was overpowering and the thick perfumed smoke wafting through the room made her eyes water. She blinked frantically to clear her vision but combined with the dim half light of the fire she didn't see the folded rug until it was too late. She tripped and only half caught herself on the table, which buckled slightly with the impact, knocking the crystal ball off it's pedestal and sending it rolling across the floor.
A somewhat muffled clang indicated it had found its way through the trap door and fallen into the room below. "Sorry, I'll get that." Kaelix said, unsure if the red rising in her cheeks was from the heat or the embarrassment.
"Oh, no need dear. It will find it's own way back soon enough," said Professor Trelawney.
Kaelix' a brow furrowed but sure enough the sound of someone ascending the ladder unevenly met her ears and then that messy mop of hair appeared and it suddenly made sense.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, thank you very much for sticking around as I asked. Just place it there, on the table, that will do. Miss Williams had an unfortunate encounter with the floor rug. I'm afraid nerves may have tripped her up a bit. Too bad I couldn't have prevented it, the Inner Eye can be such a fickle thing sometimes."
"Well, fortunately I stuck around. At least your fickle eye saved you from a trip up and down that ladder." He was smirking, fighting not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it.
Kaelix rolled her eyes and shook her head as he set down the orb. He turned to leave but a loud, harsh voice stepped him in his tracks.
"BOTH WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT."
He wheeled around and Kaelix's gaze snapped to Professor Trelawney. She'd gone rigid in her armchair; her eyes were unfocused and her mouth sagging.
"What did you say?" Kaelix asked, leaning forward.
"THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS, AND THE ONE WHOSE POWER HE COVETS DRAWS NEAR. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT, BEFORE MIDNIGHT… THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER… SHE WILL TAKE HIS PLACE IN CHAINS, BUT THE CHAINS WILL NOT HOLD… SHE WILL BE EITHER SAVIOR, DESTROYER, OR SUCCESSOR. NO MATTER WHICH, THEIR FATES ARE INTERTWINED AND CANNOT BE UNWOVEN… THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS. TONIGHT… BEFORE MIDNIGHT… THE SERVANT… WILL SET OUT… TO REJOIN… HIS MASTER… AND SHE… WILL BE CHAINED… IN HIS PLACE…"
Professor Trelawney's head fell forward onto her chest. She made a grunting sort of noise. Kaelix turned a wide eyed gaze to Potter but he shook his head. Then, quite suddenly, Professor Trelawney's head snapped up again.
"I'm so sorry, dear," she said dreamily, "the heat of the day, you know… I drifted off for a moment…"
Neither Kaelix nor Potter moved, they both continued to stare at her.
"Is something the matter, my dears?"
"Yeah, what the hell was that?" Kaelix asked.
"I'm sorry, dear, I don't know what you mean. What was what?"
"You- you just said that the- the Dark Lord's going to rise again… that his servant is going to go back to him tonight…" said Potter.
Professor Trelawney looked thoroughly startled.
"The Dark Lord? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? My dear boy, that is hardly something to joke about… Rise again, indeed-"
"But you just said it!" Potter insisted. "You said the Dark Lord-"
"I think you must have dozed off too, dear!" Professor Trelawney cut him off.
"He's standing up," said Kaelix flatly. "Don't you remember what you just-"
"I would certainly not presume to predict anything quite as far-fetched as that! I suggest both of you run along and celebrate the end of your exams!"
"But Professor, I haven't even-" Potter cleared his throat and gave a barely perceptible shake of his head.
"Haven't what, dear?"
"Haven't… thanked you for such an interesting year. So thank you and enjoy your summer holiday," she said with a smile while she skirted around the table.
Trelawney returned her smile, "Fair fortune be with you, Miss Williams. You'll be needing it."
Kaelix rolled her eyes and followed Potter down the ladder. "What the hell was that?"
"I'm sorry, did you honestly want to fake your way through a crystal ball reading? Besides, she probably already knew what your grade was on the first day of class."
"First off, I wouldn't have been faking it. Second off, you know that's not what I meant."
"I have no idea. But I have a sinking suspicion that we may have just heard Professor Trelawney make her first real prediction all year," said Potter, though his expression betrayed him.
"Don't screw with me, Potter. I know you know more than that."
"Come on then, I've got to tell Ron and Hermione," He motioned for her to follow.
Kaelix dashed after him, back to Gryffindor tower. They passed several students who were laughing and joking on their way toward the grounds and a bit of long-awaited freedom. The idea of basking in the sun by the lake without a care about school work was somewhat appealing at the moment, but it would have to wait. Potter knew something about whatever had just happened and Kaelix wasn't relaxing until she heard it. By the time they reached the portrait hole and entered the common room, it was almost deserted. Over in the corner, however, sat Weasley and Hermione.
"Professor Trelawney," Potter panted, "just told me," he gasped, "that Voldemort," a deep breath, "would return tonight."
Weasley and Hermione's eyes both widened.
"She just up and told you that? How does she know?" Weasley asked incredulously.
"Returning here? To Hogwarts?" Hermione squeaked at the same time.
"Technically she said his servant would return to him tonight and that he would "rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was," she didn't say when or where he would rise again," said Kaelix.
"That's right, she also said something about someone with power that he covets-" Potter was interrupted by a guttural sound as Weasley cleared his throat. "What is it, Ron?"
"Are we just letting her in on everything now?" He demanded, arms crossed. "Just because she's stopped hanging out with Malfoy doesn't mean we can trust her."
"She was there when Professor Trelawney had the- whatever it was, prophecy or something. She's already in on this."
Weasley pursed his lips.
"Do you want to know what the old con artist said or not?" Asked Kaelix, arms drawn across her chest.
"Because your memory is so much better than Harry's, is it?" He asked doubtfully.
She shrugged, "I dunno, Potter can you remember exactly what Trelawney said?"
"Uhh… It was something about the Dark Lord being friendless and his servant has been chained… but he'll break free tonight and return but someone will take his place-" said Potter.
"I really hope you paraphrase research into your essays better than that," said Kaelix.
Potter gave her a look.
"I suppose you could do better?" Weasley snapped.
She recited almost every word in order the same as Professor Trelawney had said them.
"Bloody hell. Harry, is she right?" Weasley asked in disbelief.
"As far as I remember, yeah. How'd you do that?"
"Just repeated it to myself the whole time we were running back here," she said with a shrug.
"What does that even mean, his servant will return to him? What servant, who would go back to help You-Know-Who?" Weasley asked.
"I can think of at least one person," said Potter quietly.
"You think it's Black, you think he's the servant she mentioned?" Kaelix asked.
"He has been in Azkaban for the past twelve years, it matches what she said," Hermione offered.
"Except she said the servant would break free tonight. Technically speaking Black has been free for awhile now," countered Kaelix.
"Are we saying she's a real seer then? That this was a real prediction that will come true? Tonight?" Asked Hermione.
"Come off it, you're the one who called her a fraud and a fake, Hermione," said an exasperated Weasley.
"I believe it," Kaelix said. "I think most everything she predicted all year was just for show, it was reading people and guesswork. But this was different. You weren't there, Weasley, it wasn't her usual over dramatic showy flair, it was… She wasn't even aware she'd said anything. She lost time. When she came out of it she thought I'd already done my reading of the crystal ball."
"Wait, you got out of your exam over this?" Weasley demanded.
"She's right, Ron. It was like Trelawney was in a trance or something. It was her but it also wasn't," said Potter.
"So we are saying this is real?" Hermione asked again. "He's coming back? Tonight? With Black's help?"
"We have to find a way to stop him," said Potter with ice in his voice.
"And how do you propose doing that? Even if Black is the servant, we have no way of finding him," Kaelix pointed out.
"If you're not going to help us-" Weasley started.
"No, Ron, she's right. Black's dangerous and we have no idea where to start looking for him," said Potter.
"Are you just going to agree with her on everything now? Is that how it's going to be?" Weasley snapped.
"Ron-"
Before Hermione could chastise him further a snowy owl swooped in front he boys' staircase and landed on Potter's shoulder. Potter opened the small bit of parchment and his face fell.
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
"It's from Hagrid," said Potter, "Buckbeak lost. They're going to execute him at sunset," he explained, passing the note to Weasley. "We've got to go," he said at once. "He can't just sit there on his own, waiting for the executioner."
"Sunset, though," said Weasley, who was staring out the window with a glazed sort of expression, all hostility toward Kaelix temporarily forgotten. "We'd never be allowed… 'specially you, Harry…"
Potter's head fell into his hands.
"Don't you have an invisibility cloak? Asked Kaelix.
Three pairs of eyes snapped to her, "How do you know about that?" Asked Potter.
"So that's a yes, then?" She said smirking.
"Where is it?" Asked Hermione.
Potter told some story about leaving it in a secret passageway under a statue of a humpbacked witch with one eye while Weasley kept shifting his incredulous gaze between Kaelix and Potter as if he couldn't believe Potter was revealing these details in front of her.
"... if Snape sees me anywhere near there again, I'm in serious trouble," he finished. "And stop looking at me like that, Ron, she obviously already knows about the cloak, what does it matter if she knows about the passage?"
"She could go running to Snape," Weasley mumbled.
Hermione rose to her feet. "If he sees you… How do you open the witch's hump again?"
"You- you tap it and say, 'Dissendium,'" said Potter. "But-"
Hermione didn't wait for the rest of his sentence; she strode across the room, pushed open the Fat Lady's portrait and vanished from sight.
"She hasn't gone to get it?" Weasley said, staring after her.
"Of course she has," said Kaelix, "she's got more gall than the two of you put together."
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later she reappeared in the portrait hole with the silvery cloak folded carefully under her robes.
"Hermione, I don't know what's gotten into you lately!" Said Weasley, more astounded by her behavior than by Potter letting Kaelix in on all their secret dealings. "First you hit Malfoy, then you walk out on Professor Trelawney, and now this?"
Hermione's cheeks turned pink and she looked rather flattered.
Potter turned to Kaelix with a sudden look of concern on his face but she shook her head, "I'll leave you to it. If anyone asks, I saw you lot relaxing in the common room, all afternoon."
He grinned at her, "Thanks."
"But don't think that we're done talking about this whole Trelawney bit, I know you know more about what she was talking about than I do."
"Tomorrow," he promised.
"Tomorrow," she confirmed.
A/N: Hey! Long time, no update. I really feel like I'm always apologizing for disappearing for months at a time between updates and I really am terribly sorry about that and ecstatically thankful for those of you that keep coming back despite my erratic update schedule. Seriously, thank you. And a special shout out to those of you who take the time to leave me a comment/review, y'all are angels, golden hearted angels. I'd love to hear any theories developing following this chapter, what you liked, what you didn't, or anything else you feel like sharing! We're coming up on the end of the year, aka the end of the first segment of Kaelix's story so buckle up kids, you have some idea of what's coming but not all of it *evil laugh*. Ahem, anyway, I love you all and I hope you're doing well. Catch ya next time!