VIII - Acquainted with the Night

VIII –Acquainted with the Night

Hu Li stole carefully up the back staircase to the hospital wing. It was very dark and even the glow from her wand only illuminated the first two feet in front of her. Everywhere else was complete blackness.

She managed the stairs, though, by using her keen perception of shadows and her sharp, light-sensitive eyes. She slipped back into the hospital wing without making a sound and pulled on her nightdress in the dark.

Hu Li sank gratefully into her bed, and laid her head on the pillow. The last thing she saw before falling asleep were Luis Perone's mad mocha eyes, dancing cruelly before the darkness under her eyelids.

And Hu Li dreamed.

Once again she was alone. She was in a dark room and she had a feeling it was somewhere in the castle. She was wearing her nice red silk embroidered bathrobe.

She glanced around herself uneasily, her stomach in knots. There was tension and malice in this air. The atmosphere virtually crackled. The strange thing was that she could neither see nor feel anyone or anything. She was literally and figuratively in the dark. Normally even if she couldn't see in such darkness, she would at least be able to perceive her surroundings with her senses. There was nothing – and that was the scary thing.

Suddenly and ominously the lights flicked on and Hu Li found she was in a girl's toilet at Hogwarts. She realized with a start that she was standing across from a mirror. She looked frightened and wide-eyed and pale.

Hu Li walked up to the mirror, fearing that she would see Sou Mei in it again but needing to know. But it was nothing – well, it was merely her scared reflection.

Hu Li stared at herself, hating what stared back. She wished she did not bear the eerie resemblance to Sou Mei. Because Sou Mei had become a vampire when she was only eighteen, she could be Hu Li's twin - in looks. To look like anything would be better than this, she thought. Sou Mei wore a mask like she did – but hers hid far worse secrets than Hu Li's. What had Draco called it? Death walking, with a beautiful mask to cover your evil – she thought it fit Sou Mei more than it fit her.

Tentatively, still watching her scared black eyes, she reached out one of her hands to touch her sad reflection. Hu Li felt sorry for it and its horrid similarity to Sou Mei.

When her finger touched the glass, something happened. The reflection began to shimmer violently and change.

Hu Li stumbled back, fearing another Sou Mei in the mirror. But the reflection stayed where it was. It did not need to step out of the mirror in order to frighten Hu Li beyond speech.

As the reflection flickered and melted into a new form, Hu Li gasped in horror. The smooth skin melted and rotted. The nose completely decayed off her face, leaving two gaping holes in its absence. The black eyes became a sick yellow with pupils like two slashes of a knife. Red sunbursts of veins cracked the cornea into sections. The teeth turned yellow and cracked and became long fangs. The hair grew draggled and turned gray and dull. Her clothes became ripped rags and her body became hunched and emaciated.

She stared at what her reflection had become – for her physical body was the same as it had always been. It was only the mirror image that changed.

The thing in the mirror let out a wheezing laugh and showed another row of fangs as well as a long purple forked tongue. "Hu Li," it rasped.

Hu Li found she could not speak. She gulped.

The thing laughed harder than ever. "Look closely, Hu Li," it hissed, the long tongue flicking in the air. "Look carefully. See what I am – see what you are."

She backed away. "No," she moaned. "I am not you."

It smirked broadly, and it was one of the most horrible things Hu Li had ever seen. "I am your demon. I am the evil inside you that lurks just under the surface. I am the fiend that is awake in your spirit. I am Sou Mei's legacy."

Hu Li put her hands to her face but found she could not look away from the thing. "It is not true," she moaned.

"Oh, yesssss," it hissed. "Look at me, Hu Li. I am your soul."

Hu Li stared at the mirror, cold terror gripping every inch of her body. It screamed with laughter. "Feast your eyes, Hu Li," it crooned harshly. "I am the essence that is present behind your every action – your every thought – every sense of your being. It takes nothing to release me – for I am already there! Look carefully, for you look at your soul!" It laughed maniacally.

Hu Li dropped to her knees, the room spinning before her. She could not open her mouth to speak, but her mind was screaming, what am I?

Hu Li jerked awake. She was trembling uncontrollably. Her head pounded with the drums of demons. She realized no one else was awake; at least she had not woken anyone up this time.

Hu Li lay in bed with her eyes closed, feeling dizzy and weak. She prayed, let Sou Mei just kill me right now – I can't tolerate these nightmares any longer. She had a splitting headache and suspected that she was becoming ill. This has to stop, she thought. I'll have to tell Dumbledore.

She coughed and decided that she would go to Dumbledore at lunch and tell him everything – about her dreams and seeing Luis Perone and how Sou Mei had sent her a letter and a dagger – and she would ask about his reasoning for giving her the medallion. Tomorrow, she decided. She slid out of bed and over to her trunk. Opening a small hidden compartment on the side, she took out a little glass vial. This was all of her Dreamless Sleep potion that she had allowed herself to take to Britain with her to use in an especially desperate situation.

It was never handier than it was that night.

***

That morning Madam Pomfrey said cheerfully, "Sleep well, Hu Li?"

Hu Li sniffled and went rummaging in her pockets for a handkerchief. She had a roaring head cold – a true rarity with her; it was a mark of how distressed she was these days that she actually became ill. Madam Pomfrey's Good Health Head Cold potion that Hu Li had requested had not yet taken effect. "Yes," she lied hoarsely, wincing at the sound of her voice. "Quite well."

Madam Pomfrey smiled at her. "Wonderful! You're adjusting to Hogwarts very nicely."

Hu Li cracked a weak smile and coughed. She was drinking a steaming cup of British black tea. It was actually good tea, she admitted reluctantly – nothing like China Green, but not terribly bad.

An owl came swooping in the window as Hu Li pressed a hand to her temple. A letter came close to splashing into her tea, and she was in the process of glaring at the mail owl when it struck her that the letter was for her.

Hu Li stared down at it, her headache becoming suddenly worse. She did not want to open it – she had a feeling she knew who had sent it, and it was not her father. He had sent her one letter a long time ago by way of Professor Dumbledore and probably did not see the need to send any others - after all, he didn't know what was going on.

Hu Li took a deep breath and picked up the envelope. Her throat closed involuntarily when she read the postmark and she choked on her tea. Toulouse, France.

Sou Mei was across the sea. She was nearer than Hu Li had believed – right in France. Hu Li felt sick. This was not good.

She was sorely tempted to just throw it away and not read it, but she didn't think she could bear not knowing. It was another example of the two sides of knowledge – the desire to know, and the desire to never know.

Hu Li slowly tore open the letter. It was short – one line. It read simply in English, Closer and closer, all the time. Then there was a Chinese character at the bottom – the symbol for destiny.

Quickly Hu Li folded it up and stuffed it in her pocket. She slumped and sniffled, feeling immensely gloomy. Could my life be any worse, she wondered briefly. Yes, she answered herself nearly right away – how about if Hermione and Ron and Harry found out about you?

Good point, she replied.

She then dragged herself out of bed – the Potion was just starting to work – and began to dress. As she wound her long hair into a messy plait, she thought about her imprisonment. Madam Pomfrey had pursed her lips and shook her head when Hu Li begged to go back to school. She had, however, allowed her to go down to breakfast, if only to talk to her friends, who had been instructed not to visit her. Hu Li was to return to the hospital wing immediately after breakfast was over.

Hu Li had to shuffle down about a hundred flights of stairs to the Great Hall. In the end, Hu Li broke the school rules just a bit and performed a Floating Charm so that she could simply drift down to breakfast.

It was rather pleasant, just gliding about the halls, although the sick feeling did not dissipate – she was not blessed with a short memory, most unfortunately. She broke the charm and trudged into breakfast.

From the high table, Snape gave her a tight little smile and a sympathetic nod as she walked to the Gryffindor table. Snape understood her, she thought, just like Draco. They were two very misunderstood people – Draco was nasty and sarcastic because that was all he had ever learned, and Snape was unpleasant because of fear.

It was Voldemort, she thought sadly. Everything came back to Voldemort. And Sou Mei had taken part in the bloodbath, had done her share – perhaps more than her share – of killing and torturing. The only reason she had left the Dark Lord's service was because she disliked someone else being in supreme power. Sou Mei liked to be the boss.

When Hermione spotted Hu Li trudging across the Great Hall, she leapt up and ran over to her. "Hu Li!" she said happily. "Madam Pomfrey let you out?"

Hu Li nodded. "Just for breakfast," she said throatily – this potion evidently didn't improve the acoustic quality of her voice. "No Quidditch for another few days, though." She followed Hermione back to the table.

Fred Weasley looked up from his bacon and said in delight, "Hu Li! Fabulous seeing you

alive!"

Hermione aimed one of her most ferocious glares at him and he winced. "Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean it like that."

"No offense taken," she told him.

Ron grinned and said, "Hey HL, did you get my card?"

Hermione said through gritted teeth, "It's Hu Li, not HL, Ronald. Would you like me calling you RW?"

Ron shrugged. Hu Li said anxiously, "No really, it's okay. I don't mind." She took a seat and poured herself another cup of tea.

Harry said happily, "So when are you going to start Quidditch? Practices start next week."

Hermione said stiffly, "Harry, I think you're being very insensitive," but Hu Li said, "Ooh, I don't know, but I can't wait!"

Hermione looked at Hu Li very sternly and Hu Li patted her on the shoulder. "Herm," she said, "it's all right. I'm fine now – the only reason I'm still stuck in the hospital wing is to get some (I think) well-deserved rest. And hey, Madam Pomfrey said," and here she affected a very stiff British accent, "that I may now have visitors as of this afternoon, but only if they are very quiet and do not bring food or games or joke shop merchandise into the hospital wing, as we have ill students and such paraphernalia may inhibit their health even more."

George Weasley grinned. "Magnificent, we'll bring you some real food from the kitchens and some stuff from Zonko's then. Oh and Hu Li, I don't think you have to worry about Marcus Flint blitzing you on your broom anymore – Professor Dumbledore suspended him and owled his parents about it, but there's no way he can definitely prove he was trying to kill you. Good old Dumbledore says if he so much as breathes on you - in air, land, or water - he's out of the school."

Harry said in disgust, "He should have been out a long time ago – all the times he's cheated at Quidditch before, it's revolting."

Ron reminded him, "You can't have everything."

"Unfortunately," said Harry. "'Cos, you know, I'd love a solid gold toilet seat in our dorm."

Hu Li said sharply, "Oh, you wouldn't want that, those things are so cold in the winter."

Everyone stared at her. She laughed, feeling almost normal. Hermione shook her head, wearing a stern look that would have made Madam Pomfrey jealous, but she smiled as well.

Just then the bell rang, indicating the tables would be cleared in five minutes. Hu Li's good feeling from being with her friends began to dissolve. George and Fred dashed out of the Great Hall, muttering something to Harry about a map and visiting Hu Li.

As Hu Li went to stand, she heard someone approach her from behind. "How nice," said a bored and only slightly sneering voice. "Hu Li Zhang is out of recovery and back with all her fellow Gryffs."

Hu Li shut her eyes. "God help us all, it's the Malfoy Heir," she said without turning and without any particular malice.

"You peeked," he said mildly, and ambled over to Ron's plate, from which he plucked a piece of toast and munched on it for a moment.

Ron was looking sorely irritated. "Get the hell away from me, Malfoy, before I catch whatever nasty disease made you so horrid."

"Surely you refer only to my prickly personality and not my smashing good looks and polished wit," said Draco amiably. "How's the sickly?"

"Not as sickly as I was this morning," said Hu Li croakily.

Draco frowned. "What did Poppy do to you, remove your tonsils? You sound like you swallowed a troll."

"Damn near," said Hu Li, watching Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

All three of them were looking very astonished at Draco. Here he was with about hundred Gryffindors to make fun of and yet he was being what could almost be termed civil. Harry said incredulously, "Hey, Malfoy? Is this the real one, or were you replaced by an alien clone last night?"

"Nah, nothing so exciting," replied Draco easily. "It's just that I was thinking -"

"There's a change," muttered Hermione.

He stopped. "I'll let that slide. Well, I was thinking last night when Hu Li and I were playing strip poker with Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall-"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione drew back with identical horrified looks on their faces. Hu Li laughed. "Get on with it, Draco," she said, wondering, wow, is this what fun feels like?

"Yes, anyway, so I was just watching Snape take off his pretty pink undies when I thought -"

"Draco, that's enough," said Hu Li sternly. "You're taking me to scary mental places."

"All right, lead an unfulfilled life then," he said agreeably. "I just decided that I have been mean enough to you three lately, and that I can't guarantee that I won't make fun of you, because I sure as hell am going to, but I suppose I just will be more choosy about what I mock you for. No more 'Weasley's so poor' jokes, no more 'Granger's just a Muggle with magic,' no more 'Potter is a stupid prat who's got his head stuck up his ass most of the time and thinks that he is supreme ruler of the wizarding world and that he is Houdini reincarnate on a broomstick- "

Harry said irritably, "Do you think you'll get to the point sometime today, Malfoy?"

Draco said, yawning, "Sarcasm suits you even less than that attractive scar on your forehead, Potter. In conclusion, I have decided to be, for want of a better word, nicer to you three. But don't excite yourselves unnecessarily, because I will still be rude and obnoxious and bitchy, just not quite mean." He glared round the table. "Got that?" His eyes caught Hu Li's for a mere moment, but she understood. He really was a good friend, she thought, he just needed a little polishing-up every now and then.

Draco drew himself up. "All right then. I have better things to do than giggle and gossip with the Gryffindor ladies." He grinned only slightly nastily at Ron and Harry, who both looked faintly murderous. "Well, my boys await. Ta-ta, girls!" He strutted off to where Crabbe and Goyle were standing and looking confused.

Hu Li snorted with laughter and had to pretend to be having a coughing fit when Harry and Ron glared at her. Hermione said passionately, "And if that isn't the weirdest guy I've ever met, may lightning strike me dead right here."

"He is weird," said Hu Li. "But he's nice, sometimes, and he's willing to turn over a new leaf. He just has strange ways of showing it – all that stuff about Snape and pink underwear, I thought I was about to die laughing -"

"I was just going to die, period," said Harry darkly. "I think that took about ten years off my life – that and him making fun of us while he was telling us that he wasn't going to make fun of us."

Hu Li stood up. "Well, he did say he was still going to ridicule you, just not in a cruel way. Now I've got to get upstairs before Madam Pomfrey has my head."

Ron gave one last shudder, muttering something about "scarred for life", and then added, "We'll come to visit you tonight, HL."

Hu Li waved and headed up the stairs. As she mounted the stairs, her laughter died inside her. She wondered, would it ever return? It seemed the higher she got, the worse she began to feel. What had happened to her amusement of only moments ago? At the breakfast table she had almost – almost – forgotten about Sou Mei. Now her feeling of cold dread was coming back to her. It would be soon that Sou Mei came for her. As she walked, she could feel the dagger against her thigh – but it wasn't enough reassurance that she would at least live.

She was so contradictory! She didn't want Sou Mei to kill her, but she still wanted to die! That's because, she told herself in despair, you do not want to die at the hands of Sou Mei – you just want to die a nonviolent death. She groaned inwardly. Draco wasn't the weirdest person she knew – she was.

She turned the corner to go into the hospital wing and paused, thinking about something. Then she turned back resolutely and walked into the girl's toilet that was right next to the hospital wing.

Hu Li scuffled to the mirror at the other end and went right up to it. She stared at herself. It was absolutely frightening – minus the dark circles under her eyes and the pink nose and the disheveled hair, and she was the exact replica of Sou Mei – apart from the eye color, of course.

Suddenly Hu Li was filled with rage. She vowed fiercely that she would not be mistaken for her mother! She wrenched her hair out of the plait it was in. She bent down swiftly and yanked her knife out of its holder. Hu Li held her hair in one hand and her knife in her left and then – just like that – hacked her hair violently off.

As the knife sliced through the air with a whistling noise, a pile of black hair dropped to the tiled floor with a whisper. Hu Li stared at her new reflection –her hair no longer hung down her back, but was about level with her larynx. The edges were jagged and uneven, but Hu Li decided she liked it that way.

She stood, breathing hard, staring at the mirror for several minutes. Her hair was not long like Sou Mei's anymore. No more was she Sou Mei's mirror image. No more would she be haunted by nightmares of a murdering doppelganger. No more would she be mistaken for a monster.