Harry didn't know quite what to think.
It had been such a lovely day. All the students staying over Christmas had been invited to Dumbledore's speech, and since they were few in number, they all accepted. In fact, McGonagall even granted shopping privleges, provided they stayed with the group of Hufflepuffs that were also going along. The Hufflepuffs were merry company, eagerly shaking Harry's hand, and dishing out compliments to Ron and Hermione in turn. Their shopping was done quite quickly, and the other students soon became co-conspirators to a few surprise presents.
All were happy as they trundled back to pick out seats for the speech, and Harry was quite enjoying what Dumbledore was saying and then...
and then...
That happened.
Now Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting speechless aboard a car of the Hogwarts Express. It was far too risky to even think of apparating two injured people, and even riskier to use floo powder. They sat in numb silence, and occasionally a doctor would come rushing from one end of the train to the other, but other than that, there was no noise save for the rain outside. It had turned bitter cold, and the rain was freezing into small hail, hitting the train with tinny beats.
Harry gulped. He tried not to think of Cei - because that was the man's name, he had wheedled that out of McGonagall as she rushed through. He tried not to think of Cei, so close to death - perhaps even now dead. Hermione had grimly explained a few moments earlier that wizards had ways of keeping a person alive for long periods of time, much like muggle life support, but it took work - and a skilled wizard. Harry had no doubt that Dumbledore would take such drastic measures for his son. Harry gulped again, with a little shudder. His son...
As another doctor stormed past, Harry heard the thin sobbing coming from just one car up. Snape - Harry had nearly forgotten about him. Indeed, Harry thought wryly that his remorse over the potions master's injuries was a little much, but it wasn't true concern for the teacher, but for whoever was sobbing in the next car. Harry was sure that he caught the name Snape once or twice in conversation around her, and he wondered...
The doctor tromped by where they were sitting, and Harry raised his head and voice. "Excuse me, sir?"
The medic turned, looking frazzled. "Yes?" he said wearily, reaching up to comb his fingers through his hair.
"Uhm - who - who's the woman in the next car up?" Harry queried, a bit meekly.
The doctor sighed, and shook his head. "She... she's, ah, Koda Snape, I believe. Some relation to your Potions teacher, I think... daughter, if I'm remembering correctly."
"Oh," Harry muttered, "Thank you." The doctor gave a swift nod before striding hurriedly on his way. Harry turned back, biting his lip as he pondered. The fierce, hail-ridden gale caught the door from car-to-car, blowing it open with a noisy shriek of the wind. Harry jerked his head up again, halfway up from his seat, hearing the sobs from the other side of the door come to a wreched stop. As he turned, getting up to close it, he saw another figure - a woman, with very short black hair, staggering up miserably. As he rushed over, and she did the same, they stopped for a split second -
Face to face, they looked at each other. Harry noted that the woman didn't look all that bad, quite nice, in fact; but she wasn't gorgeous, more beautiful in a plainer, more honest sense of the word. She stared at him in mild shock for a few moments, her eyes red from her weeping, before she reached for the door.
It was something he did on impulse - Harry reached out to her through the door, catching her hand, getting a bit wet in the weather between the cars. "Come on, you look lonely. Sit with us?"
She looked even more surprised, but nodded with a weak smile and stepped in after him. Together they wrestled the door closed, and Harry glanced her over, finally getting a better look at her face. Feeling more than a little pity for her as she hurriedly tried to wipe away a few stray tears with her wet coat sleeve, Harry guided her over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting, and made the proper introductions. "I'm Harry Potter - although you probably already knew that - and these are my friends -"
"Ron Weasley," Ron said as brightly as circumstances allowed, holding out a hand for a shake.
"...And I'm Hermione Granger." The woman nodded with a small smile, shaking their hands in turn. "And you?" Ron said gravely.
"Oh!" She muttered. "Well - yes - sorry. I'm Koda - Koda Snape. Pleased to meet you all." Her voice was very soft, and very hoarse. Ron and Hermione's eyes widened in mild surprise when she introduced herself, but Harry looked at her impassively, having a sneaking suspicion of such from the start.
She sat slowly next to them, at the other edge of the seat, and began to nervously wring her hands once more. She looked very close to tears once more, and begain to speak again after clearing her throat. "I, ah, I should probably apologize... I'm assuming you've had to deal with father, and -"
The screech of the train halting interrupted her meek confession, nearly throwing them out of their seat. Flustered, she got up, as did Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The doors opened, and before anyone could say anything more, she had gone, dissapearing into the worried crowd as the two injured victims were carefully lifted out and carried to the safety of Hogwarts.
For a moment Harry paused at the door. The three friends silently milled over what had happened in their minds. Hermione drew a deep breath through her teeth, and said gloomily:
"Well. Today was interesting...."
----
Koda had called it the fortune-cookie curse.
"May you live in interesting times." It certaintly seemed to apply to her now. Too interesting...
The crowd pushed her back, away from where she wanted to be - by her father's side, by Cei's, too. It was a conflict of intrest, but she felt so numb inside that it didn't seem real - this didn't seem real. She'd wake up and Cei would be by her side perfectly fine and Father would still be at Hogwarts scaring the hell out of any students he teached and everything would be normal. Yes. Normal.
Wake up, Koda. Wake up!
But she didn't wake up, and now, and now - Koda had a problem. But at least she had gotten away from his gaze. Him. The Boy who Lived. Potter. He had that all-knowing look in his eyes, as if he knew exactly what was going on, and that scared her, because she didn't like for anyone besides her to know all of her life. It was a conspiracy of one. No room for him.
Koda knew that someone was talking to her, and Koda knew that she was being ushered along like a child, but she couldn't bring herself out of her thoughts to really listen or do anything. She mm-hmmmed in the right places, and looked up just enough to see that she was in Hogwarts, up one of the many lofty towers, into the lavish guestrooms. It was McGonagall who lead her, that much she knew, but little else.
Finally the door closed. The world became small again, manageable. She was alone. Alone in her conspiracy of one.
Then she finally sunk onto the bed, her body shaking with heavy sobs. The world became blacker and blacker as she sobbed herself into an uneasy sleep.
----
A/N: Not much to say... Cei isn't dead. YET. Whether he lives or dies will keep you tuned in until next time, yess? Same bat time, same bat channel.
Hayley: I hope this makes you happy. LOL ^_^
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