The only characters that I own in here are Quelcya Rhiannon (Cy) and any other characters that I mention that are not found in the HP books. Those chars belong to the HP Lady, Miss Rowling, whom we all have heard of, I'm sure. Unless of course, you are a seriously deprived child or human and haven't a clue about anything because you haven't left ffnet for the past few years (or the house, for that matter!) ^_^ No insult meant to ppl, natch. Okay, this is set in Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts, and Cy is in the same year and house as he. Read on, my loyal minions!
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Cy looked at the Owl Emporium, about to head in. She had dropped her packages off at the Leaky Cauldron, and was killing time until her mother, Gwyn, was done with her shopping. Idly shaking her money-pouch, she smiled at the chink of coins and reached for the door.
"Cy! Cy Rhiannon!" came a very familiar voice. Cy turned around, and waved to the advancing figure. She almost didn't recognize Harry Potter, he had grown quite a bit over the summer and could probably easily compete with Ron Weasley in regards to who was taller.
"Hey, Harry," she greeted him as he got closer. "Done with your shopping?" she asked, eyeing the few packages he held in his arms.
"Yeah. The rest of it is at the Leaky Cauldron, along with all of the Weasley's stuff. I'm staying with them until school starts." He looked much happier than he had at the end of the last school year, and much more at home in Diagon Alley than ever before.
"Wow, one whole day!" Cy said sarcastically, grinning the whole time. "Hard to believe that school starts tomorrow."
"Yeah... Hey, have you seen Hermione or Cari?" Cy shrugged at his question.
"I ran across Cari on the Muggle Underground, but we got separated. I think that she had arranged to meet with What's-His-Face or something." Caridwen, or Cari, was Cy's closest friend, but often spent more time with a Ravenclaw boy than with the main group.
"Ah, then we can safely assume that she's okay. Ron was going with Fred and George to look at some stuff at the edge of Knockturn Alley, and I decided to just wander. Haven't seen Hermione since the last day of school."
Cy shrugged again. "She's probably with Viktor or something." She turned back to face the door, opening it. "Stay or come, Harry? I need an owl."
"I'll stay here and guard my packages. We can chat more later, okay?"
"Definitely." Cy headed in, looking from perch to perch in the darkened room. She made her way to the very back of the shop, finally spying an owl with large amber eyes and a tawny body. She smiled, motioning to an attendant and pointing out the owl that she wanted. The attendant came forward, looking from Cy to the owl and back again, eyes lingering on Cy.
"Pretty choice, but not half as pretty as you, miss." He grinned somewhat rudely, and Cy motioned to the owl again.
"Before I grow old, if you please," she reminded him. He nodded, but still did not don the gloves that were needed for owl handling. Instead, he had been inching closer to her without her noticing. Cy immediately tried to back up, but the attendant grabbed her on the waist and had his lips on hers before she realized what was going on. She struggled, but he held her with one hand, the other travelling up and down her body. Cy realized with horror that he was going to try to rape her, and her body immediately began to contort into the shape that it thought was best for fight/flight - her Animagus form. Struggling to remain human, Cy yelled telepathically as best as she could.
'Harry, Hermione, Cari, Ron, HELP! Dear God, someone help me!' Her mental voice diminished to a whisper as she fought against the attendant. The group of five had learned that they all had telepathic abilities, and Cy was one of the best in the group, having a further range than most. There were also two Animagi in the group, and they had also learned that the telepathic abilities were retained no matter what form someone took. The attendant didn't notice anything strange; he was intent on getting what he wanted from Cy. Suddenly, the attendant was pulled away from her, and she dropped to all fours and scrambled into the shadows, scaring several of the closer owls half to death, tears running down her muzzle.
'Cy! Cy! Quelcya! Get a hold on yourself, they'll notice!' The familiar voice cut across her thoughts, bringing her back to a semblance of reality. She turned and looked up through the shadows at her saviour. Harry was holding the attendant in a headlock, berating him and kneeing him in the stomach to reinforce what he said.
'Harry?' Cy asked, confused.
'You called for me, and I came. Told the others that I could handle it. Look, I'll get this guy to get your owl, then we can leave.' He released the attendant, telling him to fetch the owl immediately, which he ran off to do. Then Harry knelt down and reached a hand out into the shadows, eyes straining to find Cy.
"I'm here." Harry half-turned, startled, and rose.
"Cy, you okay?" he asked bluntly, watching the tears slide down her cheeks.
"No, Harry, I'm not." She sighed. "I can't keep calling for you guys to help me, but that's the first thing that I do!" She almost dissolved into complete tears again, but Harry pulled her in for a friendly hug.
"It'll be okay, Cy. We can't all be great wizards or warriors. We have our strengths and our weaknesses, and we adjust to live with them. We being telepathic is very lucky, so we may yet survive longer than others believe. I'll always be here for you, I promise." When her tears stopped, he slowly released her, and they went to collect Cy's new owl.
"What happened to your girlfriend?" the clerk asked, leaning nonchalantly against the desk and motioning to Cy's tearstained face.
"She's fine," Harry said curtly. He paid for the owl, since Cy was still not thinking clearly, and they left the Emporium, blinking in the bright sunlight. "Ice cream?" Harry asked her. "My treat, of course."
They headed for the ice cream place, and sat down at one of the tables outside. Harry placed the orders for them, and they just sat for a little bit, each thinking their own thoughts. Harry glanced across the table, startled, as several horrible images flashed across the inside of his mind. They grew more and more frantic, and Harry sent back different images; of a cool dark forest, having the entire night to run through, and true freedom for several hours. Gradually, Cy's images became less and less frantic, and they began to eat their ice cream in silence, letting the nearby conversations waft over them.
"She's so annoying! Always yelling for us, and I hardly get a moment's peace. Geez, if she had better control over herself, the rest of us wouldn't constantly be in these stupid predicaments! Honestly, it's always 'Cy Cy Cy Cy', never anybody else, unless it's Harry. And that's all we ever hear!" Cy turned at the sound of her name, searching through the tables until she found the owner of the voice. Caridwen was sitting with Draco Malfoy, chatting eagerly with him. As Malfoy felt Cy's eyes on him, he glanced up and grinned slowly, tapping Cari on the arm and motioning in their direction.
'Ah, so you decided to speak about me behind my back, Caridwen Ddraig Goch, and with Draco Malfoy of all people. Honestly, have you no honour whatsoever? Maybe _you_ are the one that belongs in Durmstrang, not Krum,' Cy shot across the gap, lacing her words with all of her anger.
'Draco is more interesting than you are, and he at least pays attention to me. Maybe you'd best keep your eye on Harry Potter, he certainly watches you enough.' Cari sounded bored.
'He does not!' Cy's pale golden eyes had widened in shock. She almost turned back to Harry, but didn't, in case that was what Cari wanted her to do. 'Cari, how could you be so malicious?'
'I'm not malicious, Quelcya Rhiannon. It's the truth, plain and simple. No way around it. Turn and face him, I know that's what you'd rather do than bicker with me. Our friendship is _over_, Quelcya. Link or no link, we are friends no more. I'm sick of you.' She turned back to Draco, repeating the conversation. Cy was struck with a sudden thought: What if she told Draco about the two Animagi in the group? Dumbledore didn't know about them, as far as they knew, and getting in trouble wasn't a good idea...
"Harry?" she asked, turning back quickly. Harry turned bright red and quickly glanced away, but Cy realized that he had been staring at her. "Harry, Cari's friends with Malfoy now. She won't hang out with us and she refuses to acknowledge me as a friend." Silently, she also told him her fear about the Animagi secret, and winced as the colour promptly drained from his face.
"What do we do?" he asked in a whisper.
"I don't know. Watch, wait, and be very bloody careful, I guess."
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End of Chapter One. You like? Giid, then review or read on (I dun' really care which, but reviews are _always_ nice, as most of you know). Let's continue on, shall we? *points finger* Click either below on the chapter button, or scroll up (masses of fun!) and click on the chapter button at the top of the wonderful screen. Okay? Lovely! Enjoy your reading of my fanfic!
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Cy looked at the Owl Emporium, about to head in. She had dropped her packages off at the Leaky Cauldron, and was killing time until her mother, Gwyn, was done with her shopping. Idly shaking her money-pouch, she smiled at the chink of coins and reached for the door.
"Cy! Cy Rhiannon!" came a very familiar voice. Cy turned around, and waved to the advancing figure. She almost didn't recognize Harry Potter, he had grown quite a bit over the summer and could probably easily compete with Ron Weasley in regards to who was taller.
"Hey, Harry," she greeted him as he got closer. "Done with your shopping?" she asked, eyeing the few packages he held in his arms.
"Yeah. The rest of it is at the Leaky Cauldron, along with all of the Weasley's stuff. I'm staying with them until school starts." He looked much happier than he had at the end of the last school year, and much more at home in Diagon Alley than ever before.
"Wow, one whole day!" Cy said sarcastically, grinning the whole time. "Hard to believe that school starts tomorrow."
"Yeah... Hey, have you seen Hermione or Cari?" Cy shrugged at his question.
"I ran across Cari on the Muggle Underground, but we got separated. I think that she had arranged to meet with What's-His-Face or something." Caridwen, or Cari, was Cy's closest friend, but often spent more time with a Ravenclaw boy than with the main group.
"Ah, then we can safely assume that she's okay. Ron was going with Fred and George to look at some stuff at the edge of Knockturn Alley, and I decided to just wander. Haven't seen Hermione since the last day of school."
Cy shrugged again. "She's probably with Viktor or something." She turned back to face the door, opening it. "Stay or come, Harry? I need an owl."
"I'll stay here and guard my packages. We can chat more later, okay?"
"Definitely." Cy headed in, looking from perch to perch in the darkened room. She made her way to the very back of the shop, finally spying an owl with large amber eyes and a tawny body. She smiled, motioning to an attendant and pointing out the owl that she wanted. The attendant came forward, looking from Cy to the owl and back again, eyes lingering on Cy.
"Pretty choice, but not half as pretty as you, miss." He grinned somewhat rudely, and Cy motioned to the owl again.
"Before I grow old, if you please," she reminded him. He nodded, but still did not don the gloves that were needed for owl handling. Instead, he had been inching closer to her without her noticing. Cy immediately tried to back up, but the attendant grabbed her on the waist and had his lips on hers before she realized what was going on. She struggled, but he held her with one hand, the other travelling up and down her body. Cy realized with horror that he was going to try to rape her, and her body immediately began to contort into the shape that it thought was best for fight/flight - her Animagus form. Struggling to remain human, Cy yelled telepathically as best as she could.
'Harry, Hermione, Cari, Ron, HELP! Dear God, someone help me!' Her mental voice diminished to a whisper as she fought against the attendant. The group of five had learned that they all had telepathic abilities, and Cy was one of the best in the group, having a further range than most. There were also two Animagi in the group, and they had also learned that the telepathic abilities were retained no matter what form someone took. The attendant didn't notice anything strange; he was intent on getting what he wanted from Cy. Suddenly, the attendant was pulled away from her, and she dropped to all fours and scrambled into the shadows, scaring several of the closer owls half to death, tears running down her muzzle.
'Cy! Cy! Quelcya! Get a hold on yourself, they'll notice!' The familiar voice cut across her thoughts, bringing her back to a semblance of reality. She turned and looked up through the shadows at her saviour. Harry was holding the attendant in a headlock, berating him and kneeing him in the stomach to reinforce what he said.
'Harry?' Cy asked, confused.
'You called for me, and I came. Told the others that I could handle it. Look, I'll get this guy to get your owl, then we can leave.' He released the attendant, telling him to fetch the owl immediately, which he ran off to do. Then Harry knelt down and reached a hand out into the shadows, eyes straining to find Cy.
"I'm here." Harry half-turned, startled, and rose.
"Cy, you okay?" he asked bluntly, watching the tears slide down her cheeks.
"No, Harry, I'm not." She sighed. "I can't keep calling for you guys to help me, but that's the first thing that I do!" She almost dissolved into complete tears again, but Harry pulled her in for a friendly hug.
"It'll be okay, Cy. We can't all be great wizards or warriors. We have our strengths and our weaknesses, and we adjust to live with them. We being telepathic is very lucky, so we may yet survive longer than others believe. I'll always be here for you, I promise." When her tears stopped, he slowly released her, and they went to collect Cy's new owl.
"What happened to your girlfriend?" the clerk asked, leaning nonchalantly against the desk and motioning to Cy's tearstained face.
"She's fine," Harry said curtly. He paid for the owl, since Cy was still not thinking clearly, and they left the Emporium, blinking in the bright sunlight. "Ice cream?" Harry asked her. "My treat, of course."
They headed for the ice cream place, and sat down at one of the tables outside. Harry placed the orders for them, and they just sat for a little bit, each thinking their own thoughts. Harry glanced across the table, startled, as several horrible images flashed across the inside of his mind. They grew more and more frantic, and Harry sent back different images; of a cool dark forest, having the entire night to run through, and true freedom for several hours. Gradually, Cy's images became less and less frantic, and they began to eat their ice cream in silence, letting the nearby conversations waft over them.
"She's so annoying! Always yelling for us, and I hardly get a moment's peace. Geez, if she had better control over herself, the rest of us wouldn't constantly be in these stupid predicaments! Honestly, it's always 'Cy Cy Cy Cy', never anybody else, unless it's Harry. And that's all we ever hear!" Cy turned at the sound of her name, searching through the tables until she found the owner of the voice. Caridwen was sitting with Draco Malfoy, chatting eagerly with him. As Malfoy felt Cy's eyes on him, he glanced up and grinned slowly, tapping Cari on the arm and motioning in their direction.
'Ah, so you decided to speak about me behind my back, Caridwen Ddraig Goch, and with Draco Malfoy of all people. Honestly, have you no honour whatsoever? Maybe _you_ are the one that belongs in Durmstrang, not Krum,' Cy shot across the gap, lacing her words with all of her anger.
'Draco is more interesting than you are, and he at least pays attention to me. Maybe you'd best keep your eye on Harry Potter, he certainly watches you enough.' Cari sounded bored.
'He does not!' Cy's pale golden eyes had widened in shock. She almost turned back to Harry, but didn't, in case that was what Cari wanted her to do. 'Cari, how could you be so malicious?'
'I'm not malicious, Quelcya Rhiannon. It's the truth, plain and simple. No way around it. Turn and face him, I know that's what you'd rather do than bicker with me. Our friendship is _over_, Quelcya. Link or no link, we are friends no more. I'm sick of you.' She turned back to Draco, repeating the conversation. Cy was struck with a sudden thought: What if she told Draco about the two Animagi in the group? Dumbledore didn't know about them, as far as they knew, and getting in trouble wasn't a good idea...
"Harry?" she asked, turning back quickly. Harry turned bright red and quickly glanced away, but Cy realized that he had been staring at her. "Harry, Cari's friends with Malfoy now. She won't hang out with us and she refuses to acknowledge me as a friend." Silently, she also told him her fear about the Animagi secret, and winced as the colour promptly drained from his face.
"What do we do?" he asked in a whisper.
"I don't know. Watch, wait, and be very bloody careful, I guess."
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End of Chapter One. You like? Giid, then review or read on (I dun' really care which, but reviews are _always_ nice, as most of you know). Let's continue on, shall we? *points finger* Click either below on the chapter button, or scroll up (masses of fun!) and click on the chapter button at the top of the wonderful screen. Okay? Lovely! Enjoy your reading of my fanfic!