DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own many of the background characters. Some of the characters (Taseia, Faellen, Kairn, and Seth in particular) I am the creator and owner of. So hands off please. The rest are copyright to J. K. Rowling.

Author's Note: Bwuah! Back to reality land, no more past travelling for a while, I promise... The plot is finally kicking off! YAY! Sorry that you're left hanging a bit in regards to Mirillen's 'info' but it'll all be explained later. Patience, patience...

Mystixnight

Chapter 8 Complications

Kairn sat, mouth agape in both confusion and wonder as Professor Mirillen relayed hurried instructions and half explanations to him in the safe haven of her office. Taseia paced worriedly in the Great Hall, frantically worrying over what the hell had happened to Kairn (and feeling a mite guilty at being the cause as well). Oblivious to all of this Seth and Faellen made their way out to the lake, sharpened ice skates in hand. Seth had had to lend Fael a pair, which had made her irritable for awhile, but Seth was unobtrusive and easy-going enough to keep quiet until her sour mood passed.

"Come ON, Fael! I didn't think anythin' could walk tha' slow!" Seth cajoled Faellen as they walked in the crisp afternoon air; the sunlight casting it's slanted rays over them both. She sent him a withering glare, but he could already see the ghost of a smile flickering over her maw and only grinned. He was loping easily in his playful enthusiasm ahead of, then back to Faellen. He jogged in circles around her every once in awhile just to jibe her into speeding after him for a moment.

"Shut up, already! I'll walk my own speed, thanks..." She replied coldly, but laughed despite herself.

A few of the Hogwarts professors were setting a time aside after the classes at which point they would freeze the lake for an hour or two and let the students enjoy... Winter was teetering on the brink as of now, making it colder than usual, but not quite coming just yet.

Seth opened his mouth to reply, tossing his unruly locks out of his eyes, but stopped, as they were already there. "Thank god," he murmured. "I was worried we might no'get here 'fore it was unfrozen..." Out of the corner of his eye he perceived a quick grin from Faellen, though it was quickly swallowed in an effort to resume a 'disgusted' expression...

Just as he finished lacing his skates the amassed students started racing off onto the newly frozen pond. Professor Flitwick was puffing along the ice after them. "It's not fully frozen yet! Off with you, off with you!" But his words were drowned out by the laughter of the children and in the end he could only chuckle and shrug, skidding back to the edge of the pond.

Professor Sprout frowned and opened her mouth to order the kids off the ice, but Flitwick murmured a few words to her with a chuckle and she shook her head and continued the freezing of the ice, with a smile upon her guile. Somewhere in the background Professor Trelawney skittered around the edges muttering something in an airy, dramatic tone about there being death nearby... As usual she was completely and utterly ignored, which only produced a huffy scowl from the wispy instructor before she stalked off to the School.

Seth was already on the ice by the time Faellen teetered undecidedly to the edge... She eyed the cold surface mistrustfully. "Maybe I'll just run back inside, Seth... I don't think ice is my 'thing'."

Seth would hear nothing of it though, wrapping an arm around her side and steering her out on the ice before letting go and skating in front of her. She wobbled uncertainly, obviously not well practiced. "Seth! Don't leave me out here! A little help?" Her hair smoked precariously as he crowed his laughter, though good-naturedly and skated back to her, grasping one of her arms in his own.

"Jus' like this, Faellen, jus' like this!" He directed her gaze to his feet and after a time she grinned despite herself.

"I think I'm getting it!" She unlatched herself from Seth, taking a few careful strides by herself, pleased by the result.

He grinned and clapped. "Good show! Bravo!" Faellen sent him another acidic gaze, but was enjoying herself nonetheless. "Just stay near by, okay, Seth?"

Even as he opened his mouth to affirm that he would indeed stay nearby, which he intended to do, he found himself caught in a group of other skaters, laughing and talking. One of the girls latched onto his arm as she started to fall and he skidded to a stop in order to keep both their balances. The next thing he knew she was laughing and thanking him, pulling him back in the direction of the throng from which she had come.

In a sudden panic he peered over the heads of those behind him, trying to spot Faellen's distinctive red hair. He thought he spotted it once but it turned out to be a young lad he recognized from the sorting. All the while he was being pushed and tugged around by a group of people who he had been entangled in.

* * *

"Seth!" Faellen called after her elusive companion, despairing. Suddenly, her courage was gone. There was no one here to help her... She swallowed her pride and set a shaky course back to the shores of the lake. Her travels took her through the center of the lake, and before she could react the world became a disorienting mess around her.

She couldn't breath! She was swallowing water, arms flailing at the surface of the water only to find a solid sheet of ice. Her feline orbs opened, despite the sting of her oculars to the frigid cold. She tried to scream, tried to pound against the ice, but the water simply poured down her throat, clogging her airway, and her arms were going numb and refusing to work properly.

I'm going to die...

It was all that she could think of, all that kept shrieking in her mind. Had she not been submerged in a liquid already she would have been crying. Body convulsing in the icy temperatures and the lack of air, her lungs burning, she thrust out her hands with the last shred of sanity she had before panic set in.

And she felt a hand grab her own. And as quickly as she had fallen through that one thin piece of ice, where the magic had yet to finish it's task, she had her head above water, coughing and gasping for breath, sucking in great, greedy gulps of air. She wasn't free of the water yet though. In front of her she could see through the haze of water in her eyes a dark haired lad, his own green eyes, almost hidden behind comically large spectacles, locked onto hers. He was stretched flat out on the ice, and he now clutched her hand with both his own.

And so Harry Potter pulled her from the water.

* * *

Seth was wild with panic as the shrill scream rendered the laughter of the other children asunder. He found himself shouting at the group of girls that the femme he had helped had ensnared him in. He could feel his jaw grinding in his aggravation as they squealed, afraid now. They clutched with surprising strength to his sweater, trying to leech some sort of comfort.

Later he would suffer a few glances from others that were more confused than afraid, though not by much. He didn't think about it though, he just snapped a few times at his 'captors' hands, though never actually touching them. The screams grew in decibel level, but he was oblivious to them, skating at break-neck speed to the origin of the scream.

"Faellen!" His voice was hoarse in his throat, trying to fight fear and guilt at the same time. He shoved his way roughly through the circle of students that had massed around the center of the lake. He wasn't a bright lad, as has been mentioned before, but he didn't have to pause to realize what was going on. There was someone, he didn't take the time to notice who, sprawled flat on the ice and in his hand was a pale, slender one. Faellen's hand...

Then in the time it takes to blink he too was spread out on the frozen surface of the lake, hands wrapped firmly around the ankles of the other lad. If that lad went in, Faellen didn't have a glimmer of a chance. By that time, of course, the teachers were spilling onto the ice, shouting spells and latching onto hands.

Seth released a strangled cry of relief and joy as Faellen's head broke the surface, coughing and spluttering for breath. He stumbled to his feet, racing forward as the teacher's helped the dark haired boy who had grabbed hold of her pull Fael fully out of the freezing waters.

* * *

She was still so disoriented... It had happened so fast. First she was wobbling back to shore, then she was in the water, and then someone was pulling her out. It hadn't helped her get a better grasp of what was going on, but when Seth had come charging over, and grabbed hold of her so tightly she couldn't really breath she hadn't minded that much... She was out and Seth was here and she was going to be okay. And now she was wrapped in a few magically heated blankets at the side of the lake, Seth on one side and surprisingly enough, Harry Potter on the other.

Today certainly had taken an interesting turn...

Seth hadn't stopped spouting apologies and inquiries as to her health until she had firmly told him in her most acidic of voices that if he didn't shut up she would shove him into the lake herself. He had only smiled then and wrapped her in another bone crushing embrace, quite assured everything was back to normal.

Harry Potter hadn't said much. He'd murmured 'your welcome's' to her thanks, and said a few thank you's to Seth for helping keep him steady, but that was it. He appeared to be rather the shy type. She couldn't tell whether that was just the way he was or if he was a bit afraid of her. She didn't really care at the moment though... She was breathing and she was warm and nothing else mattered just then.

Faellen wasn't one to let these things slip long, though, and it was only a matter of moments before she voiced her nagging thoughts. "You're quiet... Why?" Blunt, yes, but it got the point across.

His head snapped up, brows arched upwards, green occuls flashing with question and a mild dose of surprise.

"You mean he didn't tell you?"

Faellen's brow scrunched downwards in her obvious confusion. "Who? Who didn't tell me what?"

Harry returned the quizzical expression. "But he would have, wouldn't he? I mean, you guys are close and it's not secret what happened, is it? Oh..." A light of sudden comprehension dawned in his emerald orbs and Faellen had the sudden urge to smack him and tell him that he wasn't exactly helping HER understand anything. "He's probably still... Cause I didn't get in trouble... God, I hadn't meant for things to go that way... It just happened! Will you apologize for me? I think he'd sock me if I tried... Not that I'd blame him, I mean I said some things I shouldn't have. But I don't want to fight with him like this and you seem nice enough and if you hang around with him he can't be that bad because otherwise why would you bother hanging aro-"

It wasn't a smack but the violent shaking of Harry's shoulders managed to grab his attention.

"Who?! What happened? What trouble? Why would he sock you? Where did all this happen? What happened? WHO?!"

Harry must have gotten a little scared, because Faellen had that odd disheveled look about her that made him think she WOULD slap him around a bit if he didn't start making sense. So he actually went mute for a second, but that only increased the disarrayed look of Faellen so he quickly started stuttering out an explanation. Or he would have if they hadn't been interrupted.

"FAEL? What are you doing?! Dammit..."

. . .

"Tainted?"

"Tainted."

"Tainted!"

"Yes, tainted! That's what I said isn't it?" Mirillen shook her head in exasperation.

Kairn had managed to take most of the long and complex story with relative ease but even now that she had finished he kept coming back to this same point. He was totally stuck on it, and she could understand why, but she wasn't the most patient person and it was starting to get underneath her skin...

With difficulty she managed to adopt a gentle smile, rising from her seat and walking over to Kairn, where he sat stock still, his expression completely flabbergasted. She draped an arm over his shoulders in a manner of motherly affection.

"You need some time to take all this in, Kairn... Go you your dorm, lie back and just mull it over... I don't need you to say anything right now; it can all wait until you've gotten used to the idea. Just relax and think it through... Take your time."

As she spoke she led him to the doorway, giving him a gentle push out of the door. When he was ready he'd come back. And she had no doubt that he WOULD be coming back. She almost didn't have time to bite down that smile before Kairn turned around to say good bye... There were no worries; he would be coming back.

. . .

Kairn stumbled out into the hallway, turning around again, mouth open to voice a question. But the door was already closed. "Wow..." It was murmured with partial awe and partial disbelief. He was sorting it all out in his head with ample amounts of difficulty. It had made sense, of course. She had explained it and given the reasons and it seemed right enough.

No, he told himself. It didn't SEEM right, it WAS right. He had to do this... It was his obligation, if not for himself and Mirillen then for his father. His father never got to finish. Kairn will for him... Or so he planned...

Feeling slightly reassured, but still chalk full of inquiries he meandered out into the main Hallway. He didn't even see her coming, but the next thing he knew he was being squeezed between her two pale, silver-sheen limbs.

"Taseia! What's the big idea?"

"Oh, thank god you're alright! I know they wouldn't have done anything to you, but I felt so guilty! It was all my fault and I didn't want you mixed up in that, and then things got out of control and McGonagall was dragging you off! I'm so sorry."

Taseia finally let him go, much to his relief. He met her gaze feeling all the better though. It helped, as much as he refused to admit it, to have someone just to worry about you. A small sentiment, but meaningful enough.

"I'm fine, really... And I was already a bit 'mixed up' with Harry Potter, so it's not like you dragged me in THAT much. I had to sort a few things out..."

Taseia scowled, noting how he slid so easily back into that steady drawl, collected and calm. The part about him and Harry confused her more than she let on, but she didn't pry. Prying never helped with Kairn... "Come on, then... Seth said he and Fael were going to skate on the lake. Let's go out and meet them..."

Kairn nodded his consent and they made their way companionably over the rolling green of Hogwarts grounds. He spotted Faellen's red hair before anything else. It took him only a half a second longer to recognize the black haired boy beside her...

"FAEL? What are you doing?! Dammit..."

He didn't even notice when Taseia balked in surprise and another bout of curiosity, he was already charging up the lawns at an impossibly fast walk. Had it been possible there would have been smoke pouring from his ears.