A/N: Y'all ready for this? Here's where it starts to get fun! Hahaha… luv ya all!- Nymphean
Chapter 13: May Eve
April
seemed to pass by almost too quickly. The last week of the month rolled around,
bringing with it the anticipation of the week before the Quidditch house cup.
After the tie game between Gryffindor and Slytherin, the teams played each
other twice more, each team winning once. It became clear to the whole school
that the real competition was between these two houses.
With
Gryffindor's first game five days away, Harry and Ron were beginning to
get rather anxious, much to Ginny and Hermione's chagrin. Still, the
girls were just as excited about the cup as their boyfriends, and continued to
watch them in practice.
April
30th dawned rainy and miserable. Harry woke to the sound of thunder
outside his window and a familiar dull aching feeling in his forehead. His
scar. His scar was hurting again.
Damn
damn damn…
He rolled out of bed. Ron was already sitting up in
his bunk. "Reckon it'll stay like this till the first game?"
Harry
shrugged his shoulders dismissively and touched his scar worriedly. Ron was
suddenly alert.
"Harry,
what is it? It's not hurting again, is it?"
Harry
nodded pensively. "I wonder what he's up to this time," he
said quietly. Ron squeezed his eyes shut.
"Please
let it be nothing…"
Harry
shook his head. "I wish I knew if this really meant anything or not.
It's such a bloody nuisance."
Ron
nodded heartily. "I'll say! And I don't even HAVE a
scar!"
*****
Draco
rolled out of bed and looked out the window. Gray and gloomy. Perfect. The sky
was so dark it almost seemed as though it was still night.
One
more day left… just one more day left of this charade and then
it'll all be over…
He shivered and pulled his robe around his shoulders.
Just
one more day…
*****
Laelyn
stood uneasily at the window, staring out into the dark sky. The clouds
swirled, darkening and lightening in unpredictable patterns. Laelyn felt a
surge of fright as she watched those clouds move, as if her heart were just as
tumultuous as the skies. Gawaine stirred in her arms. She looked down into the
tiny face, shocked once again by the large, perceptive eyes. He knows I'm
afraid, She thought.
He's
afraid too.
She examined the small, round face of her child and
thought, not for the first time, that this was no ordinary baby. True, every
mother thinks of her child as special, but Laelyn saw something other than that
in this tiny being. He was not quite human, nor was he nymph. Try as she might,
Laelyn could think of no other word to describe her child but
'supernatural'. This was definitely not the first time she though
of her baby as more of a phenomenon than a human being, and it would certainly
not be the last. She knew for a fact that her Gawaine had been conceived at
Midsummer, the pagan holiday centered around the motherhood and fatherhood of
the Goddess and God. It is often said quite casually that the union between man
and woman is a magical thing. Perhaps there truly was some magic in his
conception, magic that neither mother nor father knew about until afterwards.
She looked out the window again at the rainy sky.
"Rain
on Beltane eve is never a good sign, Gawaine," she whispered.
"Beltane is a time for rejoicing… no solemnity is permitted."
She sighed. "It is hard to rejoice when the sky insists on shedding her
tears."
She
heard Bill roll over in bed. "Laelyn?" He said sleepily. "Is
everything all right?"
She
looked over her shoulder. "Yes dear. Go back to sleep." Bill rolled
back over and fell into a deep slumber almost immediately. Laelyn turned her
gaze back to her child.
"Something's
coming," she whispered to him. "You know that already, don't
you?" The baby didn't respond, but Laelyn knew he heard her.
*****
The
day was spent like any rainy Saturday afternoon. The students mostly stayed in
the common rooms or in their own bedrooms, and most of the teachers kept to
themselves. Harry went to see Sirius.
When
he entered his godfather's chambers, Harry was surprised to see that
Sirius already had a visitor. Laelyn was sitting across from Sirius in on of
the big armchairs. One of them had built a fire. The room had a cozy,
protective atmosphere, and Harry hurried inside. He needed to tell Sirius about
his scar. He greeted Laelyn and Sirius. Laelyn was holding Gawaine in her arms.
Not that this was surprising at all; the baby had become a permanent fixture to
Laelyn's presence.
"Hi guys," Harry said,
sounding worried. Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Something bothering you, Harry?" The
boy nodded and sat in the left over armchair. When Harry sat down beside
Laelyn, Gawaine stirred and reached out towards Harry, making a soft noise.
Laelyn looked down at the child.
"Would
you like to see Harry?" She whispered. It was not baby talk; Laelyn
addressed her child as if he were on her own level of intellect. The baby
continued to reach for Harry, who held out his arms to take him. Laelyn
carefully handed him to Harry. The baby was immediately still, then, as they
all watched, he reached up and touched Harry's scar, the little fingers
running fleetingly over the faint shape of the lightening bolt. Harry felt a
surge of shock run through his body. How does he know? He looked down at Gawaine and noticed that the baby
had tears welling up in his eyes. The baby did not scream or yell, in fact he
was completely silent, but there were still tears in the big gray eyes. Harry
handed the baby back to Laelyn.
"I
don't know what's going on… How does he know?"
Sirius breathed
deeply. "It's hurting again, isn't it?" Harry nodded,
and his godfather shook his head. "That is no ordinary child," he
said quietly. Laelyn nodded solemnly.
"I
know."
"What do
you make of it, Harry? The scar, I mean. Do you think it means that…
well, you know."
Harry shook his
head. "I wish I did know. I don't know what to think. But
we'll have to keep our guard up. I'd say it's probably a
warning."
"Goddess,"
Laelyn whispered. "Today of all days…" Sirius touched her
hand.
"We'll
work it out. I promise."
Laelyn sighed.
"I'm with you on this one. We have to stop this. It ends
now."
*****
Hours
later…
Draco walked
towards Gryffindor tower, knowing full well that he wasn't welcome there,
but not really caring. He was just about to try and bribe the fat lady to let
him in when the portrait swung open from the other direction and Harry and
Hermione came out, nearly bowling him over.
"Hey,
take it easy!" He said, brushing the dirt off his robe. Harry and Hermione
both mumbled apologies. Draco could tell from the looks on their faces that
there was something going on that they didn't want him to know about, so
he stepped in front of them. "I need to talk to you guys…"