*~* Chapter Ten: Serpents and Suspects *~*
"Somebody? Anybody! You!" a First Year said, grabbing KayKay by the wrist, "You're a Sixth Year, right? Gryffindor? Right? Who cares, follow me!"
KayKay was mentally yanked away from dreamy thoughts and physically yanked down a hallway by a girl with raven hair and violet eyes.
"Ummm . . . may I ask what you're doing ah . . . Miss . . . ah . . ."
"Jaymi" the girl answered, not turning around. "And it's just . . . I saw . . . oh nevermind, you just have to see!"
"See what?" KayKay asked the uncommonly assertive First Year.
"I . . . it's bad." She answered awkwardly.
The girl stumbled to a halt near the intersection of two corridors and pointed for KayKay to see.
"I was coming from the library." She said a bit uncertainly. "I was coming . . . and then I saw them . . ."
KayKay walked slowly into the clearing, looking in shock at the sprawled forms on the floor.
"I . . . I'm not sure if they're alive."
Jaymi began to babble. "I just saw them right there, and I didn't hear anything before so I'm not sure if . . . And I couldn't find anyone anywhere, you're the first person I found, by the way, what's your name?"
"Ah . . . KayKay," she answered distractedly, while desperately trying to get a thought out to Cocoa.
Cocoa? Cocoa, where are you, I need to talk to you right away! Now! Cocoa, I'm serious, you have to—
"You called?" Cocoa asked, popping up by KayKay's feet.
"Yes. Now. Cocoa." She squatted down near the Caranax, "You have to get Dumbledore, straight away. Tell him we need him immediately in the East wing of the second floor, near the tapestry of Merlin the Third. Can you do that?"
"Of course. I, after all, am no—"
"Just GO!"
"Gone, baby," Cocoa said with a pop. KayKay sighed, and then stood back up, giving Jaymi a reassuring smile before turning and looking closer at the bodies.
"Do you know who they are?" she asked as she looked down at the face of a Chinese boy.
"The girl's name is Lynn Rolands, she's in lots of my classes, and I think the boy's name is Kitsune Nomiko . . ."
KayKay looked briefly at the girl, then did a double-take. From the angle she was at, she could see something on her right temple. She stepped over the boy and knelt down by his side, turning his head gently so she could see his temple, and she almost dropped his head back as her stomach clenched. Tattooed there were snakes, twisted to form the word "ONE'S"
Shooting to her feet, KayKay looked around quickly, having the oddest of sensations that she was being watched. Shivering despite herself, KayKay tried to stop her qualms as she looked at the girl's face where there was also a tattoo of serpents spelling "I'M"
"Whoever did this is sick," she muttered, stepping back unconsciously, "really, really sick."
"What is wrong, KayKay? I heard you needed me."
KayKay turned with relief to Dumbledore, who was coming quickly with Cocoa at his heels.
"Professor, we . . . they . . ." she gestured helplessly at the victims.
Dumbledore's mien turned, if possible, even more serious, and he ordered, "Miss Krysallis, please get Madame Pomfrey now."
The girl turned to obey, but KayKay stopped her, saying, "I'll go. You'll need to tell Dumbledore what you know. Besides, I can get there faster."
Without giving Jaymi time to argue, she slipped behind a tapestry and quickly headed off to the Hospital Wing by way of secret shortcut.
* * * * *
"This is worse than when we were Second Years," Hermione shuddered after KayKay had finished telling companions what had taken place after she'd left the Astronomy tower.
"But the case is so similar . . . people were attacked by someone or something else in this school, and an ominous message was left."
"Except," Ron said, " 'One's I'm' or 'I'm one's' doesn't tell us much. Do you think that maybe Voldemort was hiding another monster down in the Chamber of Secrets?"
"I'd like to see Voldemort try to get close enough to this school to do that." KayKay froze for a moment then and began waving her hands in front of her as if warding someone away, "No, I take that back!"
Hermione shook her head slowly. "I'm not so sure. Didn't Madame Pomfrey say that it appeared to be a spell or curse?"
"She . . . did say that, yes." KayKay nodded. "Which is just great. That means that there's another spell to kill people out there." She slumped.
Ron nodded slowly, "And obviously, an animal can't do—" he stopped, then jumped up.
"Animal!" he exclaimed in a whisper, "Hermione, the potion!"
"Oh!" she said in sudden realization. "You're right! We need to do that tonight!"
She hurried up the stairs to her dormitory, and KayKay looked at the boys quizzically.
" 'Potion' . . .?"
"An Animagus Potion," Harry explained in a hushed voice. "We've been working on it for more than a month now."
"Harry, that's illegal, you know that." KayKay jokingly admonished with a fiendish grin.
"So? We'll register when we're of age . . . probably . . . maybe . . . not." He grinned.
"Here, come up to the Girl's Dormitory, we don't want other people noticing." Hermione said.
"Yes, because nobody will notice us then . . ." Ron said sarcastically.
"We could get the Invisibility Cloak . . ." Harry started.
"Don't bother Harry, I have an idea," KayKay said. Then, loudly she screeched, "There's a stray rat loose in our dormitory?! Oh, someone get rid of it, quick! Harry, Ron, do something!
Harry and Ron, smiling at KayKay's quick thinking, stood up and went quickly to the dormitory.
"Well?" Hermione asked when KayKay stayed at the table, "What are you waiting for? There's enough for all of us!"
Hermione tugged at KayKay's arm and the two girls ran, laughing despite the impending danger presented that evening, up the stairs to join their friends.
* * * * *
"Well?" Hermione asked as they all studied their enchanted parchments. Something close to an hour had passed, and after dividing the potion equally, adding some of their blood, and dripping some onto their papers, they were looking quizzically from the patterns to the book and back.
"Well, from what I gather, I'm a fox," Ron said, placing his paper down for the rest of the group to see. "Red must really suit me, because I won't escape it even as an Animagus"
"Really, will it have magenta, violet and green too?" Hermione replied, setting down her own paper. "Okay, so I'm an owl, I see. Probably a barn owl though, not a snowy owl, judging by the colors here," she traced part of the paper with a fingernail.
"Not surprising," Harry said, "Wise girl, wise owl. I'm a timber wolf."
"Brave, loyal, and strong," Megan commented from her place sprawled on the bed, "I appear to be a fluffy pink bunny. Okay, okay, actually," she said after everyone had stopped laughing, "I'm a black cat."
"Ah, we need to avoid Megan now. Bad luck, bad luck!" KayKay laughed. "Okay," she continued, changing her position on the floor a bit, "I can't figure out what this means for the life of me. Hermione, you wise owl, will you please pretty please help me?" she requested, giving Hermione a gaze akin to Bambi.
"Okay, okay, pass it here." She said. KayKay handed her the paper ecstatically and sat back awaiting the verdict. They all looked on as Hermione's expression turned to one of confusion, calculation, and then of satisfaction as she apparently found what she was looking for.
"You, my friend, are a black wolf." She said, handing the paper back.
"A black wolf?" KayKay repeated blankly. "I didn't know there was such a thing."
"Jet-black with bright blue eyes, I'd assume by your paper. And there is such a thing, but they're strictly magical. The animals themselves normally have some sort of . . . um . . . posthumous powers, if not for themselves then regarding others. That's the way most black animals are. Rare black animals," she added upon seeing Megan open her mouth to say something, "not anything like cats, rats, ravens, grims or the like."
"Well, wolves run together, huh?" Harry asked her with a grin, giving her a high-five. KayKay replied by tilting her head back and howling.
"Uh, not that I'm trying to disturb your . . . ummm . . . animal instincts, but what are they doing in here?"
KayKay opened her eyes and got an upside-down view of Lavender standing in the doorway. She quickly put her head down again and turned around, getting a normal glimpse of her fellow Gryffindor.
"Calm down, they're just visiting," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Bye guys."
"Yep, see you tomorrow!" KayKay added, inconspicuously nudging all the leftover Animagus items under Megan's bed with her foot so no one else would see them.
"Bye Hermione, Megan." Harry nodded, standing up, "Bye KayKay." He said a bit more softly with a gentle touch on her shoulder that expressed more than a sappy goodnight could. "Sweet dreams."
He followed Ron out of the room and downstairs. Remembering that, despite feeling in all aspects like a Friday, it was still only Tuesday, the girls went to sleep. The next day yielded black tapestries in the Great Hall instead of the Hogwarts coat of arms, painfully reminding the posse of friends that there again was danger lurking about the school, giving them reason to be on their toes. Friday they began to undertake the difficult task of becoming Animagi and Saturday heralded Gryffindor's Quidditch Match against Ravenclaw.
They won, of course.
And so, a week passed without incident, and then two. But the calm that had settled over the group was disrupted, as a calm pond is disrupted when penetrated by a stone, one day when KayKay was in Divination.
* * * * *
It was beyond KayKay why she still took the class. She'd only passed the OWLS for it because she was a good guesser. So for now, she was stuck with the nutcase Trelawney. Well, at least Megan was there.
Many dull details of the varying degrees of torture endured by KayKay in this class could be related, but that would simply be a waste of time, considering that since Harry had left KayKay was the target of all of Trelawney's prophecies.
It would be both unnecessary and superfluous to relate how KayKay dozed off during one of the Professor's tedious lectures; the point is that on this occasion she was caught.
"Miss Determan, I can sense that you are troubled with the unfortunate events a few weeks ago." She said to KayKay after class, "I See that it has troubled your sleep, and that under the clairvoyant calm of this classroom you've been able to get the rest you seek. But I do believe that this is not the place for you to take your respite, and in my mind's eye I can See that you would succeed so much more as a Seer were you not missing these vital lessons. May I then, suggest, that we get Madame Pomfrey for a conference?"
"No, thank you." KayKay said, not bothering to clarify that she was sleeping quite fine indeed and that it was simply the class that put her to sleep.
"Are you certain? Poor girl, after the trauma of the Summer and events that occurred shortly after you thought yourself in a safe place . . . I can See the effect it's had on you . . ."
"I'm fine, thank you." KayKay repeated, becoming slightly annoyed at her persistence.
"Your mind is troubled my dear, I would greatly appreciate if you'd let me help—"
"I'm fine!" KayKay exclaimed, standing up. "Now I'd like to stop being interrogated, thank you very much!"
Professor Trelawney appeared taken aback indeed, but her shocked mien melted away and her face suddenly appeared blank as her body stiffened in the upholstered chair behind her desk. Her eyes, magnified tenfold by her glasses, rolled back, and the woman's arms shot out, reflexively grabbing KayKay's wrist and pulling her closer.
KayKay was uncomfortably frightened by this point, and she tried to pull her arm away. But the grip Professor Trelawney had on her tightened, and she began to speak.
"The time draws near. The Heir of he, the Dark Lord, the Master, is no longer dormant. No, not even the Heir knew their destiny, but it has already begun. Indeed, in these times the danger is greater than ever before. The Heir shall not die, no matter what attempts are made.
"In these times, more than ever before, the wolves of the pack must run together. They must help one another through the mountains and valleys, the obstacles and impediments that block their way and the way of the wizarding world. Only through each other will they succeed, and only through they shall our world succeed. Should one fall, the battle shall be lost and not regained."
KayKay's blanched and the room felt like it was beginning to spin. Wolves . . .
"Indeed, on the very day that they pledge love eternal, the wolves of the pack shall face the Dark Lord again in a battle of dark against light. On this fateful evening, the wolf with the Knowledge will fall . . ."
The room seemed to spin faster and KayKay felt her legs start to shake. The Knowledge . . .
" . . . Will fall and succumb to the eternal sleep. The world depends on the pack. The Heir has come. The world depends . . . the wolves . . . the one with the Knowledge . . ."
The Professor's head fell forward and just as quickly snapped back up.
"I'm sorry, what was that? Dear, I must insist, you are not well!" the teacher exclaimed upon hearing KayKay's quick and ragged breaths. Seeing KayKay's knees buckle Trelawney jumped up, only a few moments too late to catch her as she crumpled to the floor in a faint.
* * * * *
"Ugh . . . my head . . ." KayKay sat up with a hand on her forehead as she looked around groggily.
"Oh no," she groaned falling back to the pillow. "Not again."
"Yes again." Madame Pomfrey said, walking to KayKay's bedside and pouring the contents of a flask into a cup. "I'm amazed you weren't here the first day back. At any rate, you'll need to drink this, and perhaps rest for the duration of the day. A good thing you don't have classes Friday afternoons."
Friday! Animagus conditioning! She couldn't stay here!
Like she'd wanted to anyhow.
"No Madame Pomfrey, I'm fine, really. That Divination room is just really . . . hot. And all the incense doesn't help either . . . I'll just go now."
She stood up, but Madame Pomfrey stopped her and made her sit down again.
"Drink this." She said sternly, handing her the cup. "Be it from the heat or not, you need a potion after fainting."
"I prefer the term 'passing out'. Fainting makes me seem like such a pansy." KayKay said dryly, taking it nonetheless.
"Just drink it."
Wincing, KayKay lifted the cup to her lips and drained it quickly. The taste was good . . . rather fruity, in fact . . . but it was slimy going down, and it made her want to drink a large quantity of water afterwards.
Still, it made her head stop ringing, and she was able to stand without becoming dizzy.
"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey." KayKay said, "I can go now, right?"
"Yes, but don't run or over-exert yourself—"
Too late. KayKay had already dashed from the Hospital Wing and was halfway up the stairs.
"Sorry I'm late!" she said, dropping her bag as she skidded to a halt just inside a hidden passageway they'd chosen as their spot for working on the Animagus project.
"Where were you?" Megan asked.
"Oh, I had to go to the Library," KayKay lied quickly, feeling the need to keep Professor Trelawney's prophecy secret. She didn't know why . . . if her guess was right, it concerned Harry as well . . . but she didn't feel like it was something she should have worried Harry with.
"Okay then," Hermione said, getting right down to business, "does everyone have their animal hair?"
"I got this off of Dawn Megowyn's cat," Megan said, holding up a vial with a black cat hair inside. "I'm sure it'll do."
"I nicked this from your Potions Supplies, Hermione," Ron grinned, holding up a similar glass tube containing a red hair.
"Same here. Except from my supplies." Harry added.
"Ummm . . . since I really don't have access to a black wolf, will a black hair from a regular wolf work?" KayKay asked, holding up hers with a wary face.
"Let me see . . ." Hermione flipped through the book quickly, "Yeah, that's fine. And Hedwig very kindly allowed me to have a feather of her own, so we're ready to go."
"All right then. Now what?" Harry asked, looking around.
I reply, Hermione pulled a hair from her own head and began to wind it around the feather.
"Hey wait, you said nothing about yanking out our own hair!" Ron protested.
"Well Ron, if you prefer to mix some fox blood with a flask of your own, you're very welcome to do so," KayKay said, sticking her tongue out in concentration as she twisted the piece of fur and her hair together.
Ron very wisely decided to stick to hair.
"All right then. Now what?" Harry repeated once they'd all finished.
"Now," Megan picked up, "we fuse them together. Like so . . ." she pulled out her wand and cleared her throat.
"Inuctum bestiac veneficus!"
She gently touched the very tip of her wand to the hairs and they glowed white as they merged into one.
"Rock!" KayKay exclaimed. Everyone stared at her oddly.
"Sorry, that's a new sort of saying I've picked up . . . uh . . . okay, my turn! Inuctum bestiac veneficus!"
"Here," Hermione said after everyone had repeated the ritual, "you all need to put the hairs back into the vials and add a bit of this to them."
She passed around a flask of clear liquid, which everyone added to their small vials before closing them and shaking them.
"Hermione? I know that this is how it's always worked, but . . ." KayKay checked the cover of her vial again to make certain it was tight, "isn't this a lot of odd little steps to become an animal?"
"I agree," Hermione said. "But it's much better than killing ourselves by doing it the wrong way."
"True." KayKay had to nod. "Has it been long enough yet? Harry?"
"Let me see . . . yes." He answered checking his watch. They all followed Hermione as she took her hair from the small glass tube and corked it again.
"Phasmatis!" she ordered, pointing her wand at it. It turned a nearly clear hue and seemed almost to be throbbing slightly. Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and slowly sliding the hair through her skin of her arm. She inserted it from the wrist towards the elbow in a manner similar to one that would be used when getting an injection. She was biting her bottom lip, and once it was finally in and her arm stopped glowing, she exhaled loudly and looked thoroughly relieved.
KayKay swallowed in an involuntary show of nervousness and bravely volunteered, "I'll go next. Phasmatis!"
It was horrible. It made a nauseated churning start in her stomach and bile rose to the back of her throat. The few seconds that it took seemed to last forever, and KayKay had to bite her lip like Hermione to keep from crying out. She shut her eyes tightly and put it in the rest of the way quickly. When it ended, the room was spinning again and her breath was shaky.
"KayKay? Or you all right?" Harry asked softly, putting an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," KayKay insisted unconvincingly, waving him away. "I will be."
The boys must have been made of tougher stuff, because they only winced a bit at the sick sensation that swept their bodies when they slid their hairs in. Megan had a reaction similar the KayKay and Hermione's, except she drew blood when she bit her lip.
"So, is that it? Are we Animagi yet?" Ron asked after they'd sat in silent reflection for a few minutes.
Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Nearly. We can start transforming after we drink a sip of this . . . a sip only!" she stressed, holding up the potion still left in her glass tube. "We can try to change then . . . I haven't a clue how, James and Sirius just wrote that it was like concentrating and slipping into the other instinct . . . but if we have any mistakes, we need this to fix it."
"Well, can we just make extras?" KayKay asked, preferring to err on the side of too careful.
"But we've already fused our DNA and put it into our blood."
"Yeah, but can't we use a duplicator charm?"
"Maybe. We can try, at any rate. Duplicio!"
Ron was the one to try changing first. His tail was quite nice . . . or would have been, had the rest of him changed along with it. Megan faired slightly better . . . at least her mistake was less discernable. Green eyes didn't become her, however.
Harry and KayKay both succeeded in growing wolf ears, and KayKay's hair went black, but besides that, they didn't get far either.
Hermione did the best . . . well, not so much the best as she got closest to becoming an Animagus. Instead of arms, she had two long, feathery wings.
Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and they were able to fix it without trouble.
That wasn't to say that they enjoyed it.
"Ugh! This potion tastes like tuna!" Megan exclaimed in absolute disgust.
"Not mine, mine tastes like chicken or something," Ron said.
"Mine's like venison," KayKay and Harry said simultaneously.
"A little help?" Hermione cried despairingly, trying to juggle her vial of potion with her wings.
"Oh, here!" Ron took it quickly and opened it. Hermione's wings brushed him lightly as she took a sip from it and near immediately, her arms returned to normal.
"Oh thank goodness!" She said, rolling her shoulders a bit and bending her arms a few times. "Double-jointed arms . . . well, wings . . . will take a bit of getting used to."
"Yeah, well, that's enough for me for one day!" Megan said, getting up and grabbing her things.
"I agree, I don't really want more birdseed-flavored antidote today." Hermione said, gathering the books and the journal.
"I could have been worse Hermione," KayKay said, Harry nodding in agreement. They looked at each other.
"I mean, imagine if it tasted like a rat."
* * * * *
Life continued, routine and normal for another week and a half. It was a Tuesday, and light snowflakes were to be seen falling outside of the cozy Common Room. A fire crackled merrily, and everyone chattered lightly. Harry and Ron were to be found in a corner playing Wizards Chess. Harry's face was screwed up in concentration, his hand rubbing over his chin as if he had a beard there, and his eyebrows were furrowed as he searched for means of escape for the black knight ready to spring attack on his bishop. Ron was laid back in his chair and he sported a confident and vaguely triumphant ghost of a smile.
Hermione and Megan sat at a different table, scribbling away at Arithmacy homework. Hermione's quill strokes came quick and smoothly, giving the sense that she was at her leisure and needn't even open a book to know the answers. Megan's quill strokes were fast, scratchy, and interspersed with silence as she'd look up a fact in a book. The staccato swipes seemed to be shouting, "I'm on a mission!"
At the table that'd been normally occupied by the Weasley twins sat a group of Third Years playing Exploding Snap, and at another table some other students were trying out some of Fred and George's professional pranks.
All these blended into a typical day with typical sounds and typical activities. KayKay sat on the long couch with her back against the armrest and her legs sprawled out along the cushions, leisurely reading a book. It was her hope that reading about wolves would assist her in controlling Animagus transformations. Another week had passed with little progress, and the gang was starting to feel discouraged.
So nice was the evening and so engrossed was KayKay that she didn't notice a young First Year she was only somewhat acquainted with sit down on the other end of the couch Indian-style and stare at her intently. She did, however, feel the girl's gaze, and when she raised her eyes over the top of her book to look at her, the girl scrambled closer as if the eye-contact was an embossed invitation to start talking.
"Hi, I'm Sabrina! You're KayKay, aren't you?" It was more a statement than a question, and Sabrina seemed to almost trip over the words in her rush to say them.
"M-hmmm" KayKay replied lazily, listening with only one ear as she continued reading her book.
"Isn't Harry Potter your boyfriend?"
"M-hmmm."
"Wow! I wish I had a boyfriend. My older sister says I'm crazy for wanting one so young, but there you go! Wow! I hope that when I do] get a boyfriend he's really cute. Aaron Michael is pretty cute, but he's in Hufflepuff."
"M-hmmm"
"You think Harry's cute, don't you? Boy, I sure think he's cute. He's really cute. You're lucky. Do you think he's cute?"
"M-hmmm" KayKay turned a page and kept reading.
"Boy, if I had a boyfriend that cute, I'd never be sad. You're not sad, are you? You're real happy, aren't you?"
"M-hmmm"
"I know I'd be," Sabrina continued her chatter as KayKay continued her not listening. "Do you think you'll end up marrying him?"
"M-hmmm"
"Wow! That is so romantic! Are you gonna have a lot of kids? Like, thirteen or fourteen or something?"
"M-hmmm—" what Sabrina Dawson had been rambling on about finally penetrated through the sound barrier KayKay had mentally put up. "HEY!"
The young girl jumped up with a yelp as KayKay lunged across the couch at her, tossing the book over her shoulder carelessly.
"I knew it . . . I knew it!" Sabrina whooped, "Oy! Jaymi! You owe me a galleon!" she shouted at her raven-haired friend, who scowled back.
"She does NOT, because I'M not going to have fourteen kids! If my future husband is lucky, he might get one!" KayKay chased Sabrina around the couch, playing the all-too-common "She goes left, then so do I, we'll-always-be-on-opposite-sides" game. They'd now attracted everyone's attention, including that of Harry, who failed to notice the jeopardy he was putting his rook into.
KayKay finally got exasperated and grabbed a pillow from the couch, throwing it at Sabrina. Aided by the distraction, KayKay caught Sabrina in a headlock. Oh no, she wasn't doing it hard . . . Sabrina wasn't very strong, so it didn't take any great amount of effort to hold her.
However, Sabrina was small, and she slipped out of KayKay's grip, darting around a table. KayKay cursed herself and grabbed a pillow before chasing her newfound adversary, who sought safety by running behind Harry and Ron's game table, (which was abandoned in any case, since Ron had ended it cleanly as Harry's attention was divided.)
"Oy Harry, you're gonna sure have your hands full some day!" Sabrina said gleefully, while not taking her eyes off of KayKay, who was advancing like a panther upon prey. "My mum goes crazy with just three of us. Imagine thirteen!"
"Thirteen?" Harry echoed, thoroughly confused as he looked from one girl to the other. "What—"
KayKay lunged across the game table, upsetting all of Ron's black pieces and setting the board askew as she caught Sabrina by the collar before she could make a quick escape.
Unable to walk around the table and still keep a hold of Sabrina, KayKay crawled over it.
"Ummm . . . KayKay?" Harry asked oddly, "your foot is pretty near attacking my robes."
"Sorry Harry," she said, sliding off the table on the other side and letting her muddy tennis shoes "attack" something else.
Seeing she was beaten, Sabrina blurted out quickly, "Boy Harry, KayKay will make a lovely bride when the two of you get married, huh? She said she wanted to marry you when she got older and have thirteen ch—chhhkkk!" Sabrina gagged a bit as KayKay, more than a little red in the face, yanked on her collar and pulled her away from the table as fast as she could. Sabrina struggled to keep up as KayKay pulled her up the staircase to the Girl's Dormitory. Once they'd gotten around the first curve, KayKay let go of Sabrina's robes and pushed her a bit so she'd sit down on the steps.
"Now, you may think that was funny," KayKay growled, "but I didn't, and I'm sure Harry didn't either—"
"Then why did he have that grin on his face?"
"I'll ask the questions! And what grin?"
"The one that was kinda like this." Sabrina swayed back and forth a bit and plastered a dreamy expression onto her face.
"He wasn't smiling like that—Harry doesn't know how to smile like that!" KayKay protested, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks again. "But the point is that now, if the wrong people heard that, or the wrong people hear people talking about it, stories will start to go around the school, and I'm sure you know what kind of stories I mean," KayKay said pointedly. "The kind you don't want people to talk about."
"Oh . . . you mean like ones about your bad grades? Like that?"
"NO! You know . . . about guys . . . and girls . . . and . . ."
"I know, I know, I'm kidding—"
Sabrina's chuckles were cut off as KayKay shoved her own face close to Sabrina's. "Don't—ever—do it—again." She warned, before turning on her heel and marching back down to the Common Room.
"Jaymi," KayKay whispered, "what were the exact terms of your bet with Sabrina?"
"That . . . that you would say you wanted to marry Harry Potter and have a lot of kids." She frowned, "And I lost. Now I have to give her a Galleon."
"No, not necessarily, "KayKay said slowly. " I never said it. I just said 'M-hmmm'. I didn't actually say it."
She grinned wickedly and winked a Jaymi before wandering away towards the couch where she flopped down next to Harry.
Harry shifted and sat up a bit straighter, draping an arm over KayKay's shoulders and nudging her so that she would look up at him.
"So, care to share what that was all about?" Harry asked with his signature crooked grin that always lifted her spirits and melted her heart.
"Oh, just a little pest control problem, but I got it taken care of," she smiled, looking down at her hands twisting in her lap.
"A prophetic pest, or a storytelling pest?" Harry pressed, genuinely interested. KayKay could hear this in his voice and she looked up into his eyes quite quickly.
"I . . . don't know. I mean, we wouldn't, would we? Whether she was prophetic or not? We wouldn't know yet." KayKay stammered, searching his eyes for a familiar emotion. She could read his eyes easily in most cases, but what they held now was new and unfamiliar.
"Well . . . do you hope she is?" Harry asked hesitantly. Now his eyes changed again. They were curious, with a dash of hope, a sprinkle of love, a pinch of apprehension, and still that one she couldn't place.
KayKay thought briefly, knowing that she had to answer, and she did so.
"I—"
"Attention students! Attention! I have," McGonagall paused, "some bad news."
Harry, the interrupted KayKay, and the rest of the Gryffindor populace looked at their head of house with confusion.
"There has been another attack upon a student, just within the past hour." She stopped as the student body took a unanimous gasp. Murmurs swept the room like breeze sweeping a field of grain, and it took many throat-clearings and one firm "a-hem" before McGonagall could continue.
"Quite a few of you are aware of the happenings four years ago concerning student attacks, and I'm sure you know that the school nearly closed at that time. We have contacted the Ministry for Auror assistance, but we've received no indication that they care. So you are all to stay here, in the tower, until we specify otherwise. This means that you shall have a respite from all of your classes except for mine, of course, and your meals will be brought here. Should a student be found out of their Common Room or Dormitory, the consequences will be severe." She emphasized. "Is everything clear? Are there any questions?"
Silence.
"Very well then. Ghosts, you are to patrol hallways with teachers. Prefects, change passwords often. I want no chances to be taken."
McGonagall turned crisply and began to walk out, but KayKay vaulted over the back of the couch and caught up with her quickly.
"Professor? Who was it?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"The student, Professor." KayKay repeated more slowly. "Who—who was it?"
Professor McGonagall looked at KayKay gravely for a moment before answering, "A Hufflepuff named Paul Zinwar. He was found near the Great Hall, with a tattoo on his face, just like the others had."
She placed a hand on KayKay's shoulder in a maternal gesture that both parties were very unaccustomed to.
"KayKay, I'm not sure what the motive is behind these attacks, but of all the students at Hogwarts, you and Harry are most at danger. I'm not sure Harry knows of how lucky he has been these past years to have brushed up to and escaped death so many times, but I do hope that you both realize how lucky you are to have found each other. Professor Dumbledore is going to start helping you discover your . . . abilities tomorrow afternoon. He expects you to be here in the Common Room to meet him at three o'clock. KayKay . . . be careful. Your group of friends has a knack for placing themselves in danger, and we can't afford it. Not now, of all times."
The teacher then turned to leave, but KayKay called out again.
"Professor?" McGonagall turned and studied her with mild interest, "What did the tattoo . . . say?
McGonagall seemed to be considering whether or not to tell KayKay for quite a while, but then gave an almost inaudible sigh.
" 'Heir' "
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
"Okay, so we've decided that there isn't another beast being unleashed in the school. But then, who is the Heir of Slytherin acting through? I don't know about you guys, but I haven't confided in any magical diaries lately. So then who?" Ron asked as the entire group talked the next morning.
"Maybe the next heir is doing this. Maybe it's an actual sane . . . well, not sane . . . but an actual person doing this, not someone who is controlled. Maybe they know exactly what they're doing." Megan suggested.
"Maybe . . . you see all these tattoos on the people, it's like the culprit wants us to figure something out . . ." Hermione added slowly.
"Just like the messages painted on the wall when the Chamber was opened! Like a warning!" Harry exclaimed, snapping his fingers as it clicked in his head.
"So it's the Heir of Slytherin . . . the—"
"No." KayKay said so suddenly, so sharply, that everyone jumped at the first thing spoken by KayKay for over ten minutes of debate.
"What? What do you mean?" Megan said quickly, looking at KayKay in bewilderment.
"I . . . I don't think it's the Heir of Slytherin," she answered, seeming uncomfortable.
He couldn't be . . . even Voldemort couldn't work through KayKay, could he? Harry thought in disbelief.
"Who else could it be? The last tattoo said 'Heir" . . ."
"But why of Slytherin? Couldn't it be the Heir of . . ." KayKay hesitated, then licked her lips nervously and finished, "Voldemort?"
The circle of friends stirred; Ron flinched, Hermione's brow furrowed in thought, Megan looked taken aback, Harry nodded slowly, thinking it plausible, and KayKay looked like she wasn't certain whether or not she'd been right to suggest that Lord Voldemort had an heir.
"But wouldn't that make the person Heir of Slytherin anyhow? I mean, if Voldemort is . . ."
"No, Hermione answered Megan slowly, "It is logical. Until Voldemort dies, he's the Heir of Slytherin. Right now, whoever is behind all of this, assuming that KayKay's idea is correct, is still just the Heir of Voldemort."
" 'Just' the Heir of Voldemort?" Megan said.
"You know what I mean." Hermione said. "It's pretty plausible that—"
"Harry? KayKay? Are you ready?"
Harry looked up in surprise at McGonagall, who had chanced upon their meeting.
"Ready?" he echoed blankly, "What for?"
"I'll explain on the way, Harry," KayKay supplied, standing up immediately, "come on."
* * * * *
"I can't believe you didn't tell me that Dumbledore was giving us lessons!" Harry hissed as he and KayKay followed Professor McGonagall down the abandoned hallways. KayKay's head turned sharply.
"I can't believe you're getting mad at me about something like this! I just forgot, okay? Honestly Harry, you're being an absolute child!"
"I'm a child? Look who resorts to juvenile schematics when a girl gets on her nerves!" Harry countered, still annoyed at the fact that KayKay hadn't told him her opinion on Sabrina's story.
"I'm in the juvenile age category, you dolt, so if my act was juvenile then it was to be expected." KayKay retorted. "And even if it was childish . . . which it wasn't," she added, making Harry's smirk of victory falter, "you're not the only one who missed out on a lot of childhood! You're not the only one who had to grow up and get serious far before anybody else you knew! I had catching up to do."
"Yeah, well you don't see me crawling over tables and grabbing little kids by the collar!" Harry said, his anger mounting.
"Oh forgive me, that's right. You're Harry Potter, the only victim in this world of a coldhearted murder, your way is the only way to deal with seeing your family die. You're Harry Potter, that angel of a boy who has such a tragic story, such a sweet story, such heartwarming bravery that all witches say to their kids, 'I hope you grow up to be as fine a character as that Harry Potter!' "
KayKay gave him a glare that could freeze fire before turning her head away and walking faster to catch up with McGonagall.
"Well, wonderful to see that you've caught up with the rest of the world!" Harry called after her, not caring if the Professor heard.
And so, it was with scowls of annoyance that Harry and KayKay arrived at their meeting with Dumbledore.
* * * * *
"Wait . . . so if you know less about this magic than we do then why are we here?" KayKay asked Dumbledore.
"I told you already, KayKay, I may not know how you go about using your powers, but I can help you learn. So, let us get down to business. I believe we should start the way you two started. If you would please hold hands . . ."
Harry and KayKay threw quick glares at each other before KayKay grudgingly gave Harry her hands. He gripped them less gently then he probably would on a different occasion, but he felt a difference in her grip too. It was normally warm and smooth, her hands resting easily in his, but now it was cold, stiff, and tight.
"I would like the two of you to try raising a shield, and I will throw a curse at you. Ready? I'll cast on three, but you can raise your shield at any time. One . . . two . . ."
He was counting plenty slow enough for them to raise a shield in time . . . honestly, they'd set one is a fraction of a second last Spring! But every time Harry tried to concentrate, he got angry again.
". . . Three! Gelidus!"
They didn't have one up. The curse hit them both at the same time, knocking them to the ground, and Harry shuddered violently. He was surely colder than he'd been in his whole life, and that included the time Dudley locked him out of the house one winter. It felt like every part of him was slowly shutting down, and even though he knew he wouldn't die, it still frightened it some.
"Confuto!"
Harry sighed in relief as warmth flooded back to him after Dumbledore had cast the counter curse. The calm was to be short-lived.
"What is your problem, Harry?! Why didn't you try to set the shield?!" KayKay demanded angrily.
"If you haven't noticed, this is a two-person effort! It's not all my fault!" Harry retorted.
"If you haven't noticed, I did my part!"
"Oh, I'm sure."
"Just because you seem to have issues with a relatively easy thing doesn't mean everyone else—"
"KayKay! Harry! Stop!" Dumbledore commanded, silencing KayKay. She threw one last glower at Harry before standing up and brushing herself off.
"And Harry," he continued, "I must concur that KayKay did her part. The attack . . . or more appropriately, retaliation part of the shield was up. Her part is represented by a shimmering orb that surrounds the both of you, and it was up."
KayKay smiled smugly at Harry, who mouthed, "Show off" at her. She stepped forward and opened her mouth to give a snappy comeback, but the headmaster interjected.
"Still," Dumbledore continued, "I can see that today isn't the best of days to be starting this. Harry, KayKay, perhaps you should go back to your Common Room and take some time for yourselves until you can calm down. We'll try again in a few days."
Okay. So it was pretty creepy when Dumbledore always knew what was going on.
Still, Harry hoped he'd be as intimidating someday.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
KayKay was positively fuming as she stomped down the staircase from the headmaster's office. He was blaming her for his idiocy?! Sure, an easy thing to do when your defensive powers kick in after a curse hits you! They'd keep it from being to painful for him, but all she had were powers of retaliation!
Too bad she couldn't direct that tiny zap of payback at Harry instead of Dumbledore.
She banged through the door at the foot of the stairs and headed towards the entrance hall.
"Where the heck are you going?!" Harry yelled after her.
"I don't really think it's necessary for you to know, Potter." She shouted over her shoulder before pushing open the heavy oak door and going quickly outside into the snow.
Finally free, KayKay inhaled deeply of the crisp air, crossing her arms over her chest. She tilted her face up to the sky, letting the fluffy snowflakes caress her face like soft kisses. When she released her breath in a sigh, it clouded the air in front of her.
This utter peace was broken as the front door slammed again, followed swiftly by the sound of quite a bit of snow falling from the roof. KayKay turned quickly and almost laughed. As it was, she had to suppress a smile.
Harry had followed her out, but when he slammed the door behind him, snow from the roof slipped down and covered him.
"Oh, you think it's funny, do you?" Harry wiped his glasses off as best he could. "Well maybe . . ." he stooped down and grabbed some snow, "you'll get a little chuckle out of this . . ."
He launched the snowball at KayKay, hitting her shoulder. Precariously balanced, she tumbled back in the snow, getting a cold mouthful. She jumped up, spitting it out and packing another snowball.
"You're a dead man, Potter!" she screamed, throwing it at him before racing over and pushing him into the snow. Laughing wildly, she ran as Harry chased after her, both of them scooping up snow and throwing it at each other as fast as they could manage.
KayKay suddenly tripped over . . . well, something. She wasn't sure what, but she stumbled and fell into the snow. Harry, who hadn't had time to react, tripped over her legs and went sprawling down next to her.
"Get your arm off of my chest! KayKay said through clenched teeth, pushing it away. "Jeez, knock the breath right out of me, Potter!" she threw a handful of snow at his face.
"Yeah? Make me fall in the snow, Determan!" he retorted, throwing snow at her as well.
"Clumsy oaf!"
"Bratty female!"
"Jerk!"
"Immature child!"
"Idiot!"
"God you're cute when you argue." Harry breathed.
KayKay was ready to slap him. Or better, slug him. Honestly, what girl wants to be cute when she's mad, rather than intimidating?
"Oh yeah? Well you—" KayKay stopped as Harry put his hand on her cheek and placed his lips over hers.
Ah, I get it now! Harry is suicidal! she thought, ready to push him away. Oh! Too late!
KayKay resisted only a moment longer before succumbing to Harry's sweet gesture and kissing him back as her arms slowly wrapped around him in a warm embrace. She leaned further into Harry, all of her frustrations ebbing away to be replaced by amusement, amusement at their silly argument and even sillier reconciliation.
Harry pulled her closer in an almost instinctive manner, deepening the sweet kiss and holding her thin frame gently. KayKay felt her shivers of cold get smaller and smaller before going away altogether at the warmth welling inside of her. They were soon, however, replaced by shivers of pleasure running up and down her spine.
In that single lingering kiss, all the mean words and feelings of anger were apologized for, forgiven, and forgotten. By the time the pair drew apart, the only reminder of their dispute was Harry's statement.
"Let's not fight anymore."
And although everyone on Earth knows that even the happiest couples fight, KayKay nodded in wholehearted agreement. She kissed Harry once more, briefly, and then stood up with him. Hand in hand they set off to take a brief walk around the lake, neither noticing the knowing grin Dumbledore was sporting from where he watched at the window of his office.
