Chapter 3: Break-Ups, Mermaids, and Curses

A/N: Hey all. Sorry it took me so long to get this posted. I've been really busy. It's actually been written (but not typed) for over a week, but I didn't type it because I've been getting, on average, 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Anyways, READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how to get this through to you, but if I don't have more than ten reviews I won't post the next chapter! It's as simple as that.

The nightly meetings had been going on now for two months now and Severus and Kelly really were a cute couple, perfect for each other. But then they were no longer secret...

"Where were you last night? I woke up at 2:10 and you weren't in bed yet. What were you doing?" Lily asked. She was obviously concerned about Kelly.

"I was...um, studying. Professor Dumbledore gave me some stuff to look over. About being a Seer." Well, it was kind of the truth anyway. He did give her an old textbook from Divination so she could start to learn how to use her powers. But even with her Seeing abilities she couldn't figure out Severus' initial reaction to finding out that she was a Seer. It just didn't make sense.

"Earth to Kelly. It's time for Potions. With Slytherins. Ugh. That class never ends soon enough." Sirius was hovering over her. "Are you all right? You've been acting weird lately and you were out all night last night and--"

"Sirius. I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. C'mon, we're gonna be late for Potions." Sirius grabbed her arm and prevented her from leaving.

"Why're you so eager to get to Potions?" He asked suspiciously. Just then Lily walked by and started to talk to Kelly, who was thankful for the distraction.

"Hey Lily, how're you and James doing?"

"We're great. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just curious." They walked off together, leaving Sirius behind. Kelly was relieved. Her amateur Seeing ability had told her that something was wrong, but she'd figured that out on her own considering what had just happened. She knew she couldn't keep the relationship between her and Severus a secret forever, but she knew this wasn't the time. She didn't need her Seeing abilities to know that.

That morning at breakfast Kelly was early and was the only person in the whole dining hall. The owl post had started to arrive and Kelly got a letter from her parents, and there was a note from Dana included. It said:

Kelly - Hey girl, what's up? I'm mad at you because you haven't even written to me once since you left for England. How is it there? Are you learning any new basketball moves? You'd better be coming home for Christmas Break (you guys call it Christmas Holidays, don't you?) and show me what you've learned.

Dana

p.s. - make a ton of new friends? boyfriends perhaps?

Kelly smiled. Just two months had passed and she had grown up. Dana, on the other hand, was still an average eleven - year - old. She opened the letter from her parents.

Kelly,

We're sorry honey but we're not going to be able to bring you home for Christmas. We just can't afford it. We thought you should tell Dana. We love you.

Love, Mum and Dad

Kelly looked up, tears flooding her eyes, and saw someone standing over her. She blinked her eyes a few times and rubbed them so she could see who it was. It was Severus.

"What's wrong?" he asked, immediately caring. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her, letting her cry on his shoulder. He waited patiently for her to stop, and she sat up in a few minutes and wiped her eyes. "There we go. Now, what's wrong?" Severus asked.

"I...I won't be able to go home for Christmas. I've never had Christmas away from home. And now I can't see Dana or my parents or..." Her eyes filled with tears again but she angrily brushed them away.

"Calm down, Kelly. It'll be--"

"All right? Okay? Don't give me that bullshit. We're not living in a fairy tale, dammit! No one lives happily ever after anymore!"

"Fine then! How's this for unhappily ever after? I think we should break up!" Severus yelled back at her. She'd provoked his anger, strained his patience. "I guess this is what I get for going out with a mudblood Gryffindor!" His words stung her like knives and he turned around and walked away.

"Don't bother trying to talk to me," she screamed at him, "because I wouldn't even look at you for all the money in Gringotts!" She stalked to the Gryffindor common room. She bounded up the stairs three at a time so she could avoid questions from her fellow Gryffindors. She locked the door behind her and flopped down on the bed, completely worn out from the emotional strain of what had just happened. She was too sad to cry, too exhausted to expend the energy, her eyes too dry to cry.

Kelly knew that Severus' pride would keep him from even looking at her again. She knew this and thought she felt her heart breaking. There was a rattle of the doorknob and a quick curse, followed by "Alohamora!" The lock undid and Lily and Professor McGonagall walked into the room, and Lily was holding Kelly's letters.

"Care to talk, Kelly?" The professor asked.

"Not really."

"I see you're not going home for the holidays. That's good."

"Why's that good?" Now Kelly was just confused. She pushed the break-up out of her mind and listened to McGonagall.

"We haven't been keeping up our cover with you. See, everyone in your town thinks you're going to this prestigious boarding school on a basketball scholarship. As far as I know you haven't played the game since you got here. We're going to get you a coach and we'll set up a court in Hogsmeade for you to practice on twice a day. Your planning period before potions with Slytherin and after your last class of the day, Herbology." Kelly realized her mouth was hanging open and she promptly shut it.

"Are you serious? By Merlin's beard, that'd be great! I mean...oh never mind. When'll I start?"

"We've already found the tutor, we just have to finish setting up the court. We should be ready for you to start on Monday." Kelly's heart nearly skipped a beat.

"But today's Thursday!"

Suddenly, Kelly saw Hagrid walk into her room, looking for something. She started to say something, but stopped. All of a sudden he whirled around and ran through the wall. He didn't come back. She shook her head, knowing that she had just Seen something, but she didn't know what. Oh well, she thought, it didn't seem too important.

Lily and Professor McGonagall were staring at her oddly, and she dismissed all thoughts of her vision.

"Sorry, I just spaced out for a minute there. What were you saying?"

"We'll get a portkey to go to and from practice. It'll take less time."

"Okay. I'll see you later." Kelly said. Professor McGonagall walked out, and Lily sat down on her bed facing Kelly.

"Who are you going out with?" The question was so sudden that Kelly was speechless.

"I--I'm-"

"Then you two broke up?" Kelly forced back her tears.

"It doesn't matter. It's over, so don't worry. It's done."

"I guess I'll have to trust you, then. But I don't want to. You've been acting really weird lately, and I don't know why."

"I'm fine. Just a little stressed. I'm going to the common room to work on the potions essay." She half-staggered downstairs and worked, uninterrupted, for about half an hour before the boys came in from Quidditch practice, dripping wet and muddy. Kelly looked up, smiling slightly at their disheveled robes before getting up and getting them some towels to dry off with.

"Thanks, Kelly," Sirius nearly spat. He glared at her. James looked surprised at Sirius and raised his eyebrows questioningly at Kelly, who shrugged.

"You're welcome, Sirius," she said sweetly. "How was Quidditch practice?"

"Fine." He said curtly.

"Sirius, I need to talk to you," Kelly said, "privately." James walked up the stairs towards his room.

"Sirius, what's wrong with you? Why're you acting so weird?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Especially not now."

"Why?"

"Because I might do this." He strode forward purposefully and tilted her head to the side. He pressed his lips to hers, his tongue pushing slightly against her lips before he broke away. He stalked up the stairs to the boys' dorms.

Kelly was still standing there, dazed and confused, looking at where Sirius had gone when Lily came down.

"What happened?" Lily demanded. "Why're you acting so weird?"

"Sirius kissed me."

"He did what?! Oh my God! Are you two going out now?"

"No, I don't think so. No, we're not. That's definitely no."

Kelly was so busy now with her basketball practices that she barely even had time to look at Severus or Sirius. But she couldn't avoid Sirius forever. Until then, though, she'd stay away from him.

"Kelly?" Her head snapped up, and she saw that it was Sirius. She sighed and pushed her book aside.

"Yeah?"

"I haven't seen you like ever anymore."

"I have basketball practice twice a day," she reminded him.

"I know, but...still. I think you're avoiding me."

"A little. That kiss was really unexpected, and I'm not sure what I think about it." She admitted. It was the truth, but she saw how his face fell after hearing it. "I mean, I'm not sure if I think about you like that. No matter what happens, I still want to be friends." She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, waiting to see his reaction.

To her surprise, he seemed satisfied. He looked like he was going to sit down, but Kelly looked at the clock and sighed. Time for basketball.

"Can you put these in the common room?" She handed Sirius her books and dug in her robe to find her portkey, a small ball that looked rather like a Snitch. She started to walk down the hall to hide so no one would panic when she disappeared.

She'd been going to a place near the Slytherin dungeons lately because no one but the Slytherins even went down there, most people avoided it as much as they could. She hid behind a gargoyle statue just in case and waited to be transported. She cringed when she heard voices, and felt dread take over when she realized who it was: Lucius and Tom.

She huddled into a small ball and hoped they wouldn't notice her. She should be so lucky.

"I thought I told you to stay away." Lucius said in a low, menacing voice.

"You did." Kelly said meekly. Her eyes dropped to her watch. She still had a few minutes before the portkey would take her.

"Imperio!" This time it was Tom who cast the spell. Kelly's mind went blank, except for a vague happy feeling. The portkey dropped off of her lap as she stood up, following Tom's orders. She heard his voice in her head telling her to turn around. She followed his command, not even realizing that she had dropped her portkey.

"Walk forward." Tom guided her through the halls and out of the school. He and Lucius hid behind a shrub and gave her commands from the hidden spot. The had her keep walking forward into the lake. The cold water swirled around her ankles, then knees, then finally closed over her head. Her foot became entwined in a patch of seaweed, and Tom took off the Imperius spell. She panicked and tried to kick to the surface, but her foot only became more stuck. Her lungs screamed for oxygen, and she involuntarily took in a burning lungful of water and, thankfully, passed out.

A mermaid swam over to the young girl hanging limply in the water. She disentangled her foot and brought her to land. She laid her on the shore and covered her up with leaves to keep her warm. Tom and Lucius had long since left. The mermaid hovered over Kelly until she drew in a ragged breath and coughed up a lungful of water and fell asleep.

"Where's Miss Wick?" Professor Damioni asked abruptly. She was the Potions teacher and apt to be moody. "Mister Black? Any ideas on where you beloved is?"

"I'm not sure," Lily interrupted, angry at the professor. "I think she was at Hogsmeade for basketball."

"Professor - I need to speak with you for a moment." Damioni strode over to the Headmaster and they talked in undertones.

"Well, class, instead of learning about potions today, we're going to get the pleasure of searching the grounds for Miss Wick." She said cynically.

"What happened to her?" Sirius asked the Headmaster.

"We're not sure. But we need a group of students to look in the Slytherin rooms, a group to look in the Gryffindor rooms, a group to look upstairs, and a group to look on the grounds."

Sirius and Hagrid volunteered to search the grounds. Severus also stepped forward.

"I'd like to search the grounds, too," he said while looking down to avoid glares from the Gryffindors.

The class went off to search their respective areas. Hagrid was searching by the lake, and first he looked in it, but she wasn't there. He'd almost searched the entire shore and was giving up hope.

"She's--" He looked down and stopped mid-sentence. He thought at first that she was a wood-elf because she was covered in leaves head to toe and soil was smudged on her face but he soon recognized her.

"She's here!" The giant bellowed, and the sound bounced off of the castle walls. He knelt down and picked her up with surprising gentleness and started to walk towards the castle. Her eyes snapped open with his jolting walk and she smiled wryly."

"I wondered how long it would be until you found me," She said in a hoarse whisper. "It sure took you long enough."

Well, it wasn't that long. compared to the last chapter, anyways. This was barely 6.5 pages typed, so you should be happy. Remember: no more unless I have 10+ reviews from different people! I'm warning you.