"Weasley is our King! He always let's the Quaffle in! He cannot save a thing!" Rang throughout the stadium as Ron let in yet another Quaffle. Harry and Malfoy raced for the tiny golden ball called a Snitch. I willed Harry to grab it and "accidentally" whop Malfoy right in his weasel-y face.
He caught it at least.
WHAM!
Crabbe hit a Bludger at Harry. Madam Hooch took Crabbe off to the side to yell at him.
"Talk about a bit of poor sportsmanship." I muttered to Ginny.
"That was horrible." She agreed. "What's going on down there?" Fred and George had tried to jump on top of Malfoy but were being restrained by their teammates. But Harry let go and joined George to pummel Malfoy.
"Uh oh."
"NO! HARRY! GEORGE!" Ginny screamed. Madam Hooch shot a spell at them and sent them up to the castle.
Ginny and I were walking back from dinner together, pissed as hell that George, Fred and Harry had been banned. We had heard Montague laughing about it. All Crabbe had to do was lines.
"Wait, I need to get something from the library." Ginny said.
"Oh, okay." I followed her.
"I'll be right out." She ran into the library. I leaned against the wall, fuming inwardly at Gryffindor's sour luck.
"Pouting, Fynn?" Before I could even turn around, I had been grabbed by the arms and pinned to the wall. Montague, Warrington and Pucey were all grinning, even as I tried to kick them in unmentionable places.
"Ass wipes." I muttered.
"Malfoy said you promised us massages."
"I did no such thing."
"Malfoy said you did." They all grinned stupidly.
"He also said that you promised to dance around in ballerina outfits, but I didn't see you do that. I guess Malfoy has a tendency for false words."
"We want to be kissed." Montague puckered his lips.
"GINNY!" I screeched. "HELP ME!" Montague was so surprised that I took the chance to kick him where I had been aiming for all along. He doubled over wheezing just as Ginny ran out of the library. "Never mind." I said smiling. But Pucey and Warrington charged me. Ginny and I both jinxed them at once and they collapsed on the ground.
"To the Common Room!" Ginny cried. We ran more quickly than I had ever run in my life.
We collapsed, gasping in a crowd of unhappy Gryffindors. All of them had been bemoaning their foul luck, not for the first time that term either.
"This might brighten your spirits," Ginny said hopefully. The entire room turned to face her, but she was unperturbed. "Favian and I just kicked Warrington, Pucey, and Montague's butts. Actually, Favian kicked Montague's nuts quite literally. The other two got a whiff of hexes."
The room laughed and cheered, but the mood resettled shortly after, resulting in everyone going to bed. I said goodnight to Harry and Hermione, giving them both brief hugs. When I asked where Ron was they said that they were unsure and were waiting for him. I told them to apologize for him that I couldn't wait up.
They said that they understood, but maybe it was because I had bags under my eyes and I slurring more than usual. Yet I was terrified of sleep.
"Don't let me fall…." I was in the usual white room with nothing in it. It was where I usually met Tom. "Oh no." I whispered.
"Why 'oh no?'" Tom asked from behind me. He slipped his arms possessively around my waist. I flinched and drew slowly away, hoping to make it look like I just wanted to see his face. I barely even looked at his face. I focused more on a non-existent point above his left shoulder.
"I… I didn't want to fall asleep. I have homework that I haven't finished."
"But it's only the weekend."
"Yeah, there's a lot of it though."
"What's wrong?" Tom asked sharply.
"Nothing."
"Don't lie to me. I can see through that. I've known you for five years."
"Your middle name isn't Harvey, is it?"
"What are you talking about? Of course it is." Tom frowned.
"No. You're Vo- Voldemort." I started shaking and drawing slowly back.
Tom blanched. "Me? Vol- Voldemort?"
I nodded, but less sure than I had been before. I had never seen Tom so irresolute.
"Why would you think that? Why?"
"Because…Harry, Ron and Hermione said that you looked and acted just like Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"Tom Riddle isn't an unusual name."
"But how many went to Hogwarts?"
"Only two, but keep in mind that I went years after Voldemort attended."
"Why do you say his name? Most people are afraid to."
"I figured that if you weren't afraid, than I shouldn't be." Tom shrugged. "Do you still think that I am capable of murder?"
I didn't know about that one. "No." But I still felt better. "No, no. Of course not." I ran forward to hug him. He embraced me and kissed the top of my head. It felt like he was afraid that I was going to disappear forever.
"Hagrid, I want you to meet Favian." Hermione had told me that Hagrid was big, but this man was positively enormous.
"Hi." I said meekly, staring up into a bruised eye and a veritable bush-beard.
"'Ello, Favian." His eyes crinkled in a smile. "Enjoyin' yer first year at Hogwarts?"
"Yes." I smiled. "It's a nice school." Except for those bastardly Slytherins. I thought.
"Are yeh considerin' takin' Care o' Magical Creatures?" He asked.
"I really would like to. Professor McGonagall says that if I do well enough this year that I can take two extra classes in sixth. I've heard nothing but good things about you." I said truthfully. "Well, except for the Slytherins, but anything they don't like, I like even more."
Hagrid let out a deep, booming laugh. "Come ter visit more, Favian," he said at the end of our meeting, "I like yeh."
"Will you try out for Quidditch? Please?" Angelina begged me.
"Angelina, I'm not very athletically inclined." I admitted.
"Please! I know that I can stand you and would be willing to spend extra time teaching."
"Okay, all right." She, Katie, and Alicia took me out to the Quidditch Pitch. On the way, we passed all of the Prefects on decoration duty. Ron looked positively pissed as Peeves flew around him blowing raspberries at him. Hermione was chatting amiably with a Ravenclaw prefect.
"Do you have a broom?"
"Of course not." I sighed.
"I wish you could use Harry's." Katie said.
About thirty Gryffindors were out in the Quidditch Pitch, all fairly confident in their skills. I felt like a pathetic loser, having seen only one match in my entire life.
"You're trying out too?" Ginny ran over to me. "What are you going for?"
I shrugged. "You?"
"Seeker."
"Ooh, then I'll go for Beater."
Ginny laughed. "You don't need to."
"I was forced to try out. They threatened to kill me."
"All right everyone, listen up! We need three new players because… well, ours got kicked off. So. Beaters and Seekers only." Angelina shouted. "Beaters come this way and Seekers, go with Alicia."
I followed Angelina and Katie. Katie hung behind to talk to me.
"Seriously? You? A Beater?"
"Look, I can hit things really hard if I want to. And if I imagine the head of any given Slytherin, it will fly."
"All right. Have it your way."
"No, my way wouldn't involve me trying out at all."
Katie grinned. "In that, my friend, you don't have a choice."
"I know."
"Come here! Make two lines! You'll take turns swinging at these muggle balls, called baseballs or something."
"Good sport." I muttered. The rest of the people trying out for Beater were boys. I felt oddly out of place. I stepped behind three others.
"You're trying out for Beater, Favian?" A boy stood next to me. I think his name was Andrew Kirke or something.
"It would appear so." I said coolly.
"Awesome." Grinned the sixth-year boy. "I've never seen a girl Beater."
"Me neither. Unless you count that girl I see in the mirror every morning."
The boys receiving the balls swung clumsily at the baseballs and didn't make them go very far. They had a fair few tries before retreating to the sidelines.
"Good luck, Fynn." Andrew called to me.
"And yourself, Mr. Kirke." I took the stumpy wooden bat. It was heavy but I enjoyed its murderous potential. "Muah hahaha." I laughed evilly as I stepped up to bat. "Bring it on, Spinnet."
Alicia grinned and tossed me the ball.
Having played softball when I was younger, I knew how to slam a ball around. I watched the ball and imagined every Slytherin I had ever met and slugged it so hard that the ball whizzed about a hundred feet and exactly where I wanted it to go. It hit the goal and made a satisfying ringing noise.
"Score." I shouted.
Angelina and Alicia stared momentarily. "Well, you're in."
Ginny made Seeker, Andrew Kirke and I were made Beaters. I fought not to show my enthusiasm as I entered the D.A. meeting, not wanting to rub it in to Harry, George and Fred. They were visibly put out as Angelina announced that we were on the team.
"All right," Harry said quickly, "I think we'll just review since we're all about to leave for the holidays."
"We're not learning anything new?" A grumpy boy asked. "If I had known I wouldn't have come."
"Then we're sorry that Potter didn't tell you." Fred shot out.
That lesson was a lot of fun. Dean and I took turns blasting Seamus. We pretty much ganged up on him with random hexes. Seamus took it light-heartedly and kept trying to get us off guard. He hit me twice with the disarming charm and Dean would then blast him off of his feet. I said goodbye to everyone and left with Dean, Seamus, Ginny and her boyfriend. They spoke merrily of the holidays to come. I didn't say anything, suspecting that I would be alone in the castle.
It felt like a balloon from somewhere deep inside of me had released air. Dean and Seamus were going to Seamus' house; Ginny was going back to… her home. Her boyfriend was going home. It would be the first Christmas I spent without my parents.
Hermione and Ron sat with me in the Common Room and we worked on homework. I finished mine a few moments after Hermione, who took the opportunity to write a rather long letter to a friend of hers in Bulgaria.
"Wonder what Harry's doing?" Ron blurted for the thousandth time that evening.
"Snogging." I said.
"Seriously? Who? Cho?"
"Ron, who else?" Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I dunno…." Ron muttered distractedly.
"Dobby." I supplemented.
Ron's eyes widened and I burst into laughter, just as Harry tottered in through the door.
"What's up?" Ron asked immediately.
Harry didn't say anything.
"Is it Cho?" Hermione said curtly. "Did she corner you after the meeting?"
Harry was obviously shocked, but he nodded. Ron sniggered, breaking off when I slapped his foot.
"So- er- what did she want?" Ron asked in a mock casual voice.
"She- she- er…."
"Kissed you." I finished for him
Ron jerked up, knocking his ink bottle all over the carpet.
"Well?"
Harry looked around at us and then nodded.
"HA!" Ron pumped his fist into the air and laughed manically. Hermione went back to writing her letter.
"Well? How was it?"
"Wet." Harry said, rubbing his mouth on his sleeve.
"The first time?" I was shocked. Ron was grinning.
"Because she was crying." Harry said heavily.
"Are you that bad?"
"Dunno. Maybe I am."
"Of course you're not." Hermione said absently, still scribbling away at her letter.
"How do you know?" Ron asked in a sharp voice.
I laughed. Hermione explained that Cho spent a lot of time crying and it was all because of Cedric, who had died the previous year. I rolled my eyes at Harry as Ron and Hermione argued tartly for a few minutes before turning the subject back to Harry.
"Who're you writing the novel to anyway?" Ron asked Hermione, trying to read the bit of parchment now trailing on the floor. Hermione hitched it up out of sight.
"Viktor."
"Krum?" Ron demanded.
"How many other Viktors do we know?"
Ron said nothing, but looked disgruntled.
"One of these days, Ron, you'll just come out and say how you're feeling." I muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing. I'm going to bed. 'Night."
"Favian," Hermione called after me, "how… how have you dreams been?"
I blushed. "Fine."
"Tom hasn't been showing up lately, has he?"
"No." I lied. "I'm really tired. 'Night." I said hurriedly and I rushed up the stairs.
I realized that I wanted to see Tom again and I felt bad that I didn't feel the same attraction towards Dean. As I lie in bed, I wondered how it would sound to say "I'm in love with a guy from my dreams, I can't date you anymore."
But I really liked Dean too. I remembered our first and second kisses. I loved talking to him and being with him. I fell asleep with those thoughts and drifted into the arms of sleep.
"Wait for me. I must work."
"What?"
Tom disappeared. I stood alone in the bizarre white room. I lie down slowly and saw strange images dancing through my head. A green snake slithered with two inside of it. One with no power and the other with pure power. It bit a man that I recognized slightly.
Suddenly there were two snakes and they were different colors. One was gold and the other was silver. They both came at me, hissing words, telling me to come to them. I was so confused. I tried to fly away, a dove, but couldn't move. They came so quickly that I barely had time to choose. I didn't choose because I jolted upright in the white.
"What were you doing?" I asked Tom.
"I had to square some business away. There was a spell gone… awry." He smiled.
"Oh." I mumbled.
"Favian, tell me of your day." He walked over next to me and sat down, conjuring a sofa. I sat down next to him, surprised at the invisible furniture. I leaned against the arm-rest and brought my knees up to my chest.
"Tom, is it wrong for me to like both you and Dean Thomas?" I asked quietly.
Tom's face was grim. "No. You're still young. You should see who you like."
His answer made me feel worse because of how he said it. I began to cry quietly and I looked away. My heart ached ferociously.
"Favian, don't cry." He cupped my face in his hands. "You don't see me often enough to be able to deny other boys. Don't feel badly. When the time comes, you will have an easier time with your emotions."
I nodded slightly. It was so hard for me to fathom Tom actually existing sometimes. He took the back of my head in one hand and held the small of my back in the other. He lay me down slowly and kissed me tenderly on the mouth. It felt like he was restraining himself from kissing harder. I was torn between terror and an equal want.
He moved his lips over to my cheek and went slowly down my chin to my neck. My heart pounded very hard as he moved his hands over my body. I took his hands in my own, mostly to keep them from wandering. I didn't know if my dreams counted for anything, but if I could feel this, I didn't know what else would happen.
"Tom, no." I sat up slowly. "I know this probably doesn't count, but it feels somehow wrong."
Tom nodded. "I understand. What if I promised to never go too far?"
"I'm not so worried about you going to far as to my ability to say no." Popped out the singularly most stupid thing to say.
Tom grinned. "Don't worry, I wouldn't take advantage." Before I could argue again, I was back down on the strange cloud furniture, his mouth clamped firmly to mine.
"Favian!" Hermione shook me awake.
"What?" I jolted up, wiping my mouth on my pajama sleeve. It was still moist, as was my neck. I couldn't have drooled on my neck. And I couldn't have given myself a hickey.
"I thought you said that Tom wasn't in your dreams anymore."
"D'you think that meant he would never come again?" I asked.
"Well, no, but…."
"How did you know, anyway?"
"You asked him to stop something. I couldn't figure it all out."
"Was I really loud?"
"No. I was waiting for you to wake up. What's that on your neck?"
"I'm… I'm not sure." I blushed.
"Is it a…." Her eyes widened. "When did you have time?"
"Tom." I said miserably. "Look, he's not Voldemort." I said when she began to protest.
"How do you know?"
"When I accused him of it, he turned all white and was insulted and stuff. If you had seen it…."
"Favian!" Hermione cried. "Do you think he'd admit it?! He knows that you're friends with Harry! That would be the dumbest thing he could ever admit! And he knows!"
"Well, now you have physical proof that he could leave behind injuries if he so desired." I pointed to the love-bite.
Hermione bit her lip. "Well, that is a little worrisome."
"A little?"
"Okay, a lot. Did you two…?"
"No." I cut in.
She looked somewhat relieved, but tensed up again immediately. "We should tell Dumbledore."
"Yeah," I said sarcastically, getting out of bed, "that'd sound great. 'Hey, Professor Dumbledore, this hot boy has been coming into my dreams lately and we've been smooching. By the way, Hermione, Harry and Ron say he's Voldemort.'"
"Harry and Ron aren't here anymore." Hermione said quietly.
"What?" I jumped, worried that I had done something. "Why? What happened?"
"Harry had a dream. A vision. He saw a snake attack Ron's dad at the Ministry last night."
I felt a wave of nausea hit me. My legs buckled and I sat down quickly on the bed.
"What?" Hermione asked. "What is it?"
"Before… well, after, actually… Tom came, I had a dream about snakes. I saw a huge one attack Mr. Weasley."
"There were other snakes?" Hermione gaped.
"The other two weren't as realistic. I mean, they were silver and gold and I was a dove."
"A dove." Hermione echoed, as though starting a new thought. "That's the symbol of the Aviata. A dove being attacked by two snakes, symbolizing good and evil shows the prediction."
"Really? How d'you know that?"
"I found it in a book written about seers and their prophecies." Hermione explained but waved as though it were inconsequential. "I went to look up more on the Aviata after you told me because I didn't believe that Voldemort would want you to know everything." Hermione twiddled her fingers. "But I have to go soon." I noticed that she was dressed in muggle clothes. "My parents are taking me on holiday."
"Skiing?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Fun." I actually didn't care for the sport. I found it disconcerting to be surrounded by crazy people zooming at about twenty miles per hour on snowboards and skis.
"I hope so."
"Hold on, I'll walk you to the entrance." I noticed that the beds around me were empty. Parvati and Lavender were going to Parvati's house for Christmas and Eloise was going to France to visit her grandmother. I dressed quickly to see Hermione off. As she left to board the train, I hugged her and told her to write.
It was going to be a dreadfully lonely Christmas.