1Chapter 14: The Shadow of the Past

A/N: Yes, yes, I know I'm jacking a chapter title from Sir Tolkein, but it seemed to fit well. hides behind awesome fanfic as LoTR fans pummel with large stones

The Girls Dormitory was silent except for Selphie's light snoring, which Rinoa had gotten used to during the fight against Ultimecia. Rinoa knew the other girls must be asleep by now, but she couldn't help but be awake after what Seifer had told her. Hermione had gone behind her back and tried to get it with him? Something in Rinoa almost told her not to believe it, but why shouldn't she trust Seifer? She knew lots of other people regarded him as arrogant and dishonest, but she saw a different side of him than everyone else.

She remembered back to the summer when she was sixteen, a mere six months before joining the Forest Owls. Her father was on special assignment from President Deling to the small seaside town of Balamb, and because her mother had died only a few weeks earlier, Rinoa went with him to escape all the painful memories she was experiencing. She could picture it all clearly now...

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Rinoa sat at the edge of one of the docks in Balamb, her bare toes skimming the crystalline water. It was a warm day, but not too hot. The salty sea breeze felt relaxing on her face. I'm glad Dad wasn't assigned to the Shumi Village like General Tarragon.

Suddenly the peacefulness of the docks was broken with a loud crash.

"IDIOT," a monotonous female voice said loudly.

"Help me clean all this up, will ya, Fujin?" someone else, a boy, replied. Rinoa didn't want to be rude and stare, but she couldn't resist taking a glance at the disrupters of her afternoon.

There were three other kids her age, one girl and two guys. The girl wore a blue suit and an eye patch (Strange, Rinoa thought), and her short hair was a shiny silver. In front of her was the guy who must have spoken, because he was kneeling on the cement picking up buckets and fishing poles. Behind both of them, leaning against a flag pole, was a tall boy in a white trench coat. Rinoa held her gaze on him for longer then she had expected to. She made herself turn back to her feet.

"NO. ASK SEIFER."

"Pick it up yourself," the second guy said coolly. "You're the one who wanted to go fishing on our day off."

There was some rummaging, and then Rinoa heard their approaching footsteps. They walked right by her as they went to the very end of the dock. After a few minutes of setting up, Rinoa heard the first boy speak again.

"Yeah! First cast-off of the summer!"

SWISH.

Suddenly Rinoa felt herself being pulled up by the back collar of her blue jumper, and she was flung upwards by the hook. She screamed wildly with surprise and horror as she landed in the water.

The force of her landing sent her down several feet. It was dark down here, and she was shocked by what had just happened. So shocked that she actually didn't try surfacing for a few seconds. All of a sudden she realized what was happening and she scrambled through the water towards the surface, but each time she flung her arms and legs about she seemed to be getting nowhere. She kept trying and struggling. After a little while, she couldn't say how long, her body couldn't stand it any longer and her limbs floated limply at her sides. Must breathe... ... ... ... ... ...

As she floated out of consciousness, Rinoa vaguely felt herself being lifted upwards.

She awoke with someone's mouth on hers. She coughed and the person lifted their head up. After her vision became clear again, she was looking into the face of the guy in the white trench coat, Seifer. The other two kids were on either side of him, the boy who had cast the line staring at her with fear and extreme apology. "Hey," Seifer said. "Are you alright?"

Rinoa gave him a weak smile. "I am now."

"I'm so sorry, lady. So sorry, ya know? I didn't even realize youse were back there. I didn't know I was that strong," the other guy sputtered quickly.

"It's alright. I'm fine now," Rinoa smiled at him, trying to sit up. But Seifer wouldn't let her.

"Rest a little bit," he said, holding her shoulder down. Suddenly she realized he must have been the one to pull her up, as he was dripping wet.

"Thank you... Seifer," Rinoa told him, closing her eyes. She felt his hand linger on her shoulder.

"Anytime."

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Rinoa smiled at her memories. She had almost died, and Seifer saved her. He had given Raijin a good beating after that.

Her mind soon loafed back to the present. He wouldn't lie to her about something like that. It was that simple. Rinoa didn't know how she was to face Hermione the next morning.

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Squall sat at the Gryffindor table between Irvine and Hermione the next morning at breakfast when suddenly owls began swooping into the Great Hall. He had already witnessed this over the last few days and knew it was just the mail delivery, but he hadn't sat next to Hermione yet. So this was the first time he saw what wizards actually got in the mail. A light brown owl dropped a newspaper right on top of Hermione's pancakes, and then perched itself on the edge of the orange juice carafe, staring pointedly at her. She dropped a little copper piece (which she had told Squall was called a "knut") into a sack fastened to its leg. It gave a hoot of thanks and flew away.

Hermione picked up the newspaper and unrolled it. So this is what The Daily Prophet is, Squall thought, answering his own question from yesterday. Her eyes widened when she read the front page.

"Muggles Permitted for the First Time at Hogwarts!" she read aloud, and Ron slammed his glass on the table and Harry dropped his toast. Squall, Irvine, and Selphie, who were all close enough to hear her, perked up too. They knew this had to do with them.

"What? How did they find out?" Harry asked mainly to himself as Hermione laid the paper flat so they could all see. There was the blaring headline, with a moving picture underneath it of Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, Irvine, and Zell smiling broadly in front of the castle. In the picture, the three girls stood front and center with their arms around each other, giving the camera wide smiles and looking at each other every now and then and giggling. Irvine and Zell stood behind them, Zell grinning broadly and giving the camera a thumbs up and Irvine looking from the side, to the camera, to down Selphie's dress. Selphie laughed in real life.

"That was us on the tour last week! When that Colin kid saw us outside and wanted a picture."

But no one else was laughing. "I can't believe this," Harry spat. "These bastards will do anything for a story. I'm sure Malfoy had something to do with this."

"Let me read it," Hermione said.

HOGSMEADE (FRIDAY)- Despite several Ministry-imposed codes, the Administration of Hogwarts is up to it again with defying the Minister, writes Percy Weasley, Special Ministry Correspondent. Apparently, several "Muggles" are currently residing among the students of Hogwarts, refuting the centuries-old "myth" that Hogwarts is completely invisible to Muggles. "That's not the only problem," a ministry insider told The Daily Prophet. "The fact that these Muggles can see Hogwarts means they must be under an advanced spell, which tells us that whoever at Hogwarts is responsible for this is also defying the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy."

The Daily Prophet was unable to reach Professor Minerva McGonagall, who is currently serving as Headmistress until a proper one is appointed, for comment, but the Minister of Magic had several words for her.

"By Merlin, something will be done about this. The school cannot continue to run the the way it has been the past few years. A similar system that was put into place two years ago, when Ms. Dolores Umbridge replaced then Headmaster Dumbledore for a short time, is being looked into. We must keep our community safe from outsiders of any kind."

Previous Headmaster Albus Dumbledore died last June after allegedly being hexed by resident Potions Master Severus Snape. Professor Snape continues to instruct students at Hogwarts.

Picture provided by Mr. Colin Creevey of Hogwarts.

Related Articles: "Is Diagon Alley Next?" "Squibs: Should they be allowed the same rights as you and me?" "Mixing with the wrong crowd... again: Harry Potter and the Outsiders"

"Argh!" Ron exclaimed, pounding the table. "That prat!"

"Percy Weasley? Is he related to you?" Selphie asked him. Ron rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, but now he's a Ministry bitch, so he doesn't talk to my family anymore," he answered with disgust. "I can't believe they're getting involved in this."

"Yeah, and having the Daily Prophet spread lies again. One, there is no spell that can make Muggles be able to see magically protected places, and two, we know you're not Muggles," Hermione said, putting the paper down and looking at the three "outsiders". "I wonder what the Minister means by 'a similar system' like two years ago?"

"I doubt they'll bring Umbridge back," said Harry. "I think the Forbidden Forest scarred her for life."

He and Hermione laughed at that. Ron stared hard down at his breakfast. Selphie turned to Squall and Irvine and looked at them with big frightened eyes. "You don't think they'll try taking us away from here, do you, Squall?"

Squall wasn't sure at first how to answer. After all, he had no idea what kind of powers these Ministry people held, and he knew from personal experience that fighting strength wasn't always enough to ward someone off. There's always the portal back to Garden, he thought, but a pang of guilt swept over him as he glanced at Hermione. He'd only known her for a few days, and he wanted to know her for more.

"Squall?" Selphie waved in front of his face. He snapped back to reality.

"If we need to, we could always take the portal back home," he said almost instantly. Her expression saddened even more at that.

"I guess."

The bell rang signaling the end of breakfast. Hermione turned to them sullenly and said, "You guys better go the Front Gates now. They're probably already waiting for you."

"Okay," Selphie replied, clearly bummed out. As they walked out of the Great Hall, Squall saw Irvine motion Selphie off to the side. He left them alone and looked at Hermione. She seemed to be avoiding him.

"What class are you going to?" he asked her.

"Ancient Runes."

"Oh."

They walked together until they were in front of the Grand Staircase, where he and Hermione seemed to halt abruptly. "Good luck today," she said, looking a little nervous about something. "Be sure not to talk to anyone you don't know, unless McGonagall introduces them, alright?"

Squall gave her a nod. "I guess I'll see you later."

Hermione's expression soured somewhat. "Yeah. I guess."

And with that she practically ran up the stairs. Squall turned around abruptly, knowing what this had to be about and wondering why girls had to be so sensitive about everything.

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Hermione had barely made it to the second floor when out of nowhere Rinoa appeared in front of her. Hermione, still upset with Squall as she had just talked to him two seconds ago, greeted with a quick, "Oh, hello, Rinoa."

"Hi," she replied, her arms crossed. She formed a sort of road block with her body which Hermione couldn't seem to pass. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Umm... I need to get to class," Hermione attempted. "And I think they're waiting for you by-"

"What's this about you trying to get with Seifer?" Rinoa interrupted. Hermione's mouth dropped.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Rinoa snapped. "What makes you think you could fuck around with my boyfriend!"

By this time, thanks to the unraveling scene and The Daily Prophet article, people stared at the two as they walked by.

Hermione tried to remain calm. She couldn't believe what Seifer must have told Rinoa. "Rinoa," she said, holding back all the swelling anger she could, "You can trust me when I tell you I swear I would never want to be with Seifer. Please-"

"So you're saying I can't trust him, is that it? That I should listen to some snotty know-it-all over my boyfriend of a year and a half!"

Rinoa was gone, and Hermione knew it. Something else had caught her attention in that last statement, though.

But... wait a second... a year and a half? Wasn't there was that break in there? ... He told me about it last night... when Rinoa was together with him after their fight against the Sorceress...

Hermione's mind swung back to the here and now. Rinoa was glaring, her face a bright red, waiting for an answer. Better not say anything.

She took a deep breath, and said, "I'm not asking you to prove loyalty to anyone, Rinoa. But I don't think you should assume everything you're told to be the truth."

Rinoa seemed to be at a loss for words. Hermione took the opportunity to walk away.