Chapter 19: The O.W.L.s
The next morning found Sairina tired and jumpy. The events of the previous night were still fresh on her mind as she walked into the Great Hall. Almost immediately, she was pounced upon by three Gryffindor males, the other three quarters of the Marauders to be precise. Sairina let out a tired groan as they grabbed her and pulled her out of the hall and in the direction of the nearest empty classroom.
"Can't I at least grab something to drink?" she asked with a yawn, but was met by a stony silence. "Guess not."
"Are you alright?" James was the first to speak up, and Sairina, still being in a half asleep stupor just stared at the boy before answering.
"Yes," she said slowly, "I am slightly hungry, however, so if you'll excuse me." She walked towards the door and opened it, only to watch as an arm shot over her shoulder to slam it shut. She turned and glared at a very upset-looking Sirius.
"How can you treat last night like it never happened?" he demanded as his blue eyes bored into hers, "Aren't you upset at all?" She pushed him away harshly.
"Are you kidding?" she demanded, "Of course I am upset! I am way, way beyond upset right now." She forced back the tears that were starting to form in her eyes.
"Sairina," James said softly before stepping forward and pulling Sirius away from her.
"He lied to me," she choked out, "He told me he was going to be in the Shrieking Shack all night. All I did was take a walk to calm my nerves. I was worried about him. What if he had gotten to me? What if it hadn't been me and it was another student? I thought he was more responsible than that." She fell to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably. The boys looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Peter eventually stepped forward and knelt beside Sairina and patted her on the back.
"It'll be alright," he said softly as her tears subsided, "I'm sure he didn't think that his lie would cause any harm. He didn't know you'd be out, just like you didn't know he'd be out." Sairina wiped her eyes and took several slow, ragged breaths. Suddenly a look of realization spread across her face.
"You knew," Sairina said looking at all of them, "You knew he was going to be loose. You were there, you had to be there! I haven't breathed a word to anyone about last night, but you, all of you, knew what had happened! But how . . ." Sairina's mind grasped for any connections between the three boys in front of her and what had happened last night.
Her memories were blurred and hazy because she had been so suddenly awoken. But there were a few things she knew for sure, but she couldn't connect them. The stag, the dog, and the wolf. Those were the only images that stood out from last night. She remembered fear and panic. She looked at the faces of the boys and saw the guilt there. Yes, they had been there last night, without a doubt.
"The dog and the stag," Sairina said bluntly, "they stopped Remus from attacking me. The stag woke me up while the dog held the wolf at bay," she was thinking out loud and the comments weren't directed at anyone in particular, "That is not normal behavior for a dog and a stag to work together, especially to defend and save a person. Their behavior was almost . . . human . . ." A look of shock spread across her face as she looked at the boys, "You . . ."
"Yes," James said hesitantly, "us. We were all out there. We stopped Remus from hurting you." Sairina slowly got to her feet.
"But how . . . why," Sairina ran a hand through her tangled locks. She was the perfect picture of confusion.
"We became Animagi," Sirius explained with a cocky air, "unregistered, but Animagi nonetheless."
"Do you have any idea how illegal that is?" Sairina gaped looking at the boys with a mixture of shock and anger.
"Funny, didn't Remus say the same thing when we told him," Sirius said nonchalantly looking at James. The three boys shared a chuckle.
"This is not funny," Sairina said, her anger finally taking over. She didn't care what her father said about anger not solving anything, she was furious, "Do the lot of you realize how incredibly dangerous and stupid it is to be running around a school as illegal Animagi with a werewolf! You could get hurt seriously, or someone else could get hurt! I can't believe you three! What are you thinking?" Sairina's voice had slowly escalated until she had shouted the last sentence at the boys. Sirius quickly clamped his hand over her mouth.
"You don't need to shout, princess," Sirius said in a very condescending way, "We don't need any students or teachers who happen to be walking by to know what we did and more importantly what Remus is. Just calm down." Sairina nodded mutely and Sirius pulled his hand away slowly and rejoined his friends.
"Sai, just listen to me for a moment," James said calmly, "We did it for Remus. None of us can even begin to imagine how painful it is for him to transform against his will, but we didn't always know what he was. First year, he would always come back from visiting his sick relatives beaten and bruised, weak and tired. It was killing us all to know that he was suffering and there wasn't a damn thing we could do about it."
"I know, James," Sairina said softly. Sirius suddenly lashed out and kicked a desk. Peter, able to sense what was coming from his friend, shot a silencing spell at the door.
"No, you don't," Sirius hollered, "He's been our friend for five years. We've seen him suffer for five years. Every one of those years was torture because, at first, we didn't know what the hell was going on with him, and it scared us. We were scared because we thought our friend was in trouble.
"Then we figured out what he is. You know what he told us to do when we told him, do you? He told us to leave him! He told us that we shouldn't be hanging out with a bloodthirsty monster. He thinks so lowly of himself because people have branded werewolves as evil, whether or not there is a full moon. Do you have any idea how painful it is to hear your friend, one of your best friends say that about himself? No! You don't!" Sirius was breathing heavily after his tirade and it unnerved the others to see Sairina staring at him so calmly.
"My great-grandmother was a powerful Seer –"
"What the bloody hell does that have to do with anything?" Sirius demanded angrily.
"SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" Sairina bellowed before becoming very calm again, "My great grandmother was a powerful Seer. She possessed the gift of foresight and that gift has come down through the generations from her, to my grandmother, to my mother, and to me. Since third year, Sirius, third year I have been there, in the Shrieking Shack transforming with Remus."
"What?" the three boys said at once.
"I have had visions since third year of someone transforming into a werewolf," Sairina repeated, "I didn't just watch it, oh no, I lived it. In these visions, I was the person transforming. I endured the pain of being forced to change against my will. I felt the most primal urges and emotions flood my body. I have felt the werewolf's need to tear, to rip, to kill, and to taste blood." The boys were now the ones staring in shock.
"Our first trip to Hogsmeade," Sairina coldly continued, "I figured out that the werewolf was in this school. The Shrieking Shack, the first time I saw it, I knew. I knew it was the place from my visions, and I knew it had to be a student. But for over a year, I had no clue who it was and I was forced to relive that damned transformation over, and over, and over again. It nearly drove me mad: not knowing who was suffering so much and not being able to comfort them or give them any support.
"Then," Sairina began to falter and tears slowly trailed down her cheeks, "then Remus told me that he was a werewolf. He was the werewolf. I thought my heart was going to break. It wasn't fair; it isn't fair. How could someone so sweet so caring, so gentle become something terrible? Fate be damned; it's not fair. IT'S NOT FAIR!" Sairina broke down into another fit of sobs. James, Sirius, and Peter just stared at her in shocked silence.
"I – we . . . Sairina, we had no idea," Sirius said with an apologetic tone.
"Of course you didn't," Sairina snapped coldly, "How could you? You were so wrapped up in yourselves that you didn't care to notice other people were worried about Remus too," Sairina, feeling another wave of sobs coming, abruptly turned and walked to the door. She left the room without a word and slammed the door behind her.
"Should we talk to Remus before she does?" Peter asked looking at his friends. James nodded grimly.
"We need to at least warn him," James said and made for the door beckoning the other to follow him, "Let's go."
"What about class?" Peter asked as the boys made their way to the Hospital Wing.
"I think this is a bit more important than class," Sirius said darkly.
/0/0/
Remus sighed as he stared at the ceiling of the Hospital Wing. He was tired, sore, but surprisingly not as beaten as usual, at least, not yet. Somewhere on the grounds, the large clock in the tower struck three and Remus grimaced. Sairina's free period started now, but he wasn't sure if she would come.
He had been furious and fearful when James, Sirius, and Peter had come to talk to him that morning. Ever since he had woken up from his transformation, he had a feeling that something had happened. When those three told him, his heart sank. He had told Sairina that he would be in the Shrieking Shack all night, but he hadn't thought that Sairina would be wandering the grounds after curfew.
Once again, he had betrayed her trust and lied to her.
He closed his eyes and heard the door to the infirmary open and close. Hoping against hope that it was a student who had been injured in a fight he shut his eyes even tighter and held his breath. His heart plummeted to his stomach when he heard the curtains around his bed pull back and forth.
Things can't get much worse, she won't yell at me because Madame Pomfrey is here, Remus thought hopefully.
"Silencio," a familiar voice said, and Remus knew things had suddenly gotten a lot worse.
"I know you are awake, Remus," Sairina said. Letting out the breath he had been holding he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Sairina. She stood next to her bed with her hands on her hips, looking extremely put off.
"Sai," he said weakly, "I didn't mean . . . I didn't know . . . I-I'm sorry." He looked at her for some sort of sign or reaction, but she just stood there with her hands on her hips radiating anger. Remus knew what this meant. "I understand. Go, I know you don't want to be with this monster any more." He closed his eyes and rolled over on the cot so that his back was to her.
He was genuinely surprised when she walked around the cot and sat down on the edge. He looked up at her, she was still radiating anger, but her eyes were filled with tears. She leaned down and hugged Remus tightly. Confused he awkwardly hugged her back. When she pulled away she looked him straight in the eyes.
"You and your friends are the biggest bunch of idiots I know," she said as she let out a half-sob half-laugh.
"I'm sorry, Sai," Remus said softly, "We'll never do it again." Sairina scoffed.
"That's a lie," Sairina said harshly, "I know you will do it again, because I'm sure it gives you some amount of comfort when you transform. Just promise me that you will be much more cautious next time. Just think: what if it had been another student and not me? Or what if you had actually attacked me? I just want you to be careful." Remus looked her in the eyes and promised that the four would be much more careful next time. With a soft kiss on the lips and a smile, Sairina left Remus to rest thinking that everything was settled between the two.
Sairina knew deep in her heart, that things could never be the same between them after what had happened. She just wasn't willing to admit it yet.
/0/0/
Time passed swiftly that year. Fall faded into a withering winter bringing not only cold winds to the castle grounds, but coldness between the students. The students of the house of green and silver had completely separated themselves from the rest of the school. They took on airs of smug superiority, and hexed anyone who thought otherwise.
There were attacks daily on the Muggle-born students. They had resorted to the old idiom of "strength in numbers" and did not go anywhere unless three of them were together. Dumbledore looked on sadly as he was almost powerless to stop his school from being ripped apart by the war that was raging outside the centuries-old walls.
Harsher punishments for offenders were passed out, but this only caused the animosity of the Slytherins to rise even further. They became more vindictive and cruel to those who weren't pureblooded, and even more so to the purebloods who stood to defend those of "weaker" bloodlines.
Winter succumbed to spring soon enough; the grounds of Hogwarts were awash with the color green as new life flourished and flowers bloomed. Unfortunately, for the fifth years springtime meant only one thing: the O.W.L.s were coming up very soon. The students weren't the only one to notice this either, the teachers were piling homework on the students at an impressive rate. Even James and Sirius, both notorious for never studying, were caught in the library from time to time. The stress was even causing the most level students to crack under the pressure.
"That's it," Sairina exclaimed slamming her Divination book shut, "I can't do this anymore. I refuse to study for another moment!" She then folded her arms and put her head down on the table she and Lily were studying at. Lily let out a tired sigh and looked around the massive library.
"Sai," Lily said tiredly, "you have to study. You don't want to fail all of your O.W.L.s . . ."
"They can't really be all that hard, can they?" Sairina asked muffled because she was not looking up from the table. Lily sighed again.
"But you want to be prepared, don't you?" Lily asked knowing that Sairina would give into her line of arguing. Grumbling about "stupid exams" and "betraying friends" Sairina reopened her Divination textbook and continued with her essay. From across the library they were being watched by four boys.
"You guys," Remus began again, "I am positive that Sairina won't mind if we asked her to help us study for the Divination O.W.L. It's obvious that if we don't do something we're all going to fail it."
"It's a useless class anyway," James huffed as he sat back in his chair, "Why did we take it again?"
"If you'll remember, I did not want to take it in the first place," Remus snapped. "It was you three who convinced me to give up Ancient Runes to take Divination."
"Why didn't you talk us out of it, Moony?" Sirius asked with a whine. Remus rolled his eyes.
"I did, or at least tried," Remus retorted, "but you three were so adamant about taking it. 'Come on, Remus. It'll be fun and easy.' Ha. Let's just go ask Sai for help." The other three nodded as they gathered up their books and parchment and trooped over to the table where Sairina and Lily were sitting.
Lily and Sairina were so wrapped up in their work that they were surprised when the four Marauders suddenly plopped down at their table. Sairina and Lily exchanged a look before Lily spoke.
"What do you four want?" she asked warily as the boys opened their books and pulled out their parchment.
"Just to be next to you, Lily dear," James said, batting his eyes. Lily made a retching sound as she turned back to her own work.
"Actually," Sirius cut in, "we have swallowed our pride and decided to ask Sairina for help with Divination." The girls' eyebrows both shot up.
"What?" they both asked in shock and amazement. The boys rolled their eyes.
"We're pretty much screwed in this subject," James elaborated, "We're just attempting to salvage decent grades."
"What don't you understand?" Sairina asked and the four boys all began talking about different things at once. Sairina sighed and hung her head.
"Have fun," Lily said vindictively as she patted her friend on the back.
Two short weeks later, it was time for the fifth year students to commence with the O.W.L. exams. Each student received a schedule that highlighted when their tests would be taken. There would only be one or two exams a day: in the morning (for the most part) would be the written portion of an exam and in the afternoon there would be a practical exam if the subject called for it. Sairina received her exam schedule card, along with all the other fifth years the Sunday before the exams were to start. She looked over it carefully.
Ordinary Wizarding Level Exams
Each of the following exams will start promptly at 8:00 am for the morning sessions. All afternoon sessions of the exams will commence after lunch at 1:30 pm. All fifth year students are to report to the Great Hall for testing. Your attendance is mandatory for each exam you are taking a class for.
Good Luck.
Astronomy – Monday morning (practical will be at 11 pm in the Astronomy Tower)
Divination – Monday afternoon
Charms – Tuesday
Arithmancy – Wednesday morning
Ancient Runes – Wednesday afternoon
Potions – Thursday
History – Friday morning
Herbology – Friday afternoon
Muggle Studies – Monday morning
Care of Magical Creatures – Monday afternoon
Defense against the Dark Arts – Tuesday
Transfiguration – Wednesday
Sairina looked over the schedule a second time before crossing out the subjects that she wouldn't be taking exams for. She was pleased to see that she would be getting a few mornings off, but other than that she had an exam every day. Lily joined her after breakfast.
"It shouldn't be too bad," she said to Sairina, "I get a Monday morning and afternoon off. How about you?"
"I get two mornings off," Sairina yawned, "Which means, I get to sleep in. Shall we go to the library?"
"Yes," Lily nodded, "I believe some last minute Astronomy studying is in order."
/0/0/
"Time," the Ministry proctor called, "Please put down your quills and roll up your parchment. This concludes the written portion of the Astronomy Exam." The wizard waved his wand and all the parchments flew towards him, "Please remember that the practical portion of this exam will be at eleven o' clock tonight in the Astronomy Tower. Once I have everyone's papers, you are dismissed. The next exam, Divination, will commence promptly at one-thirty." There was a rustle of paper and chairs as the fifth year students stood and made their way out of the hall.
"You have got to be kidding me," Sairina groaned as she met up with Lily, "that was more horrible than my training sessions with Legolas and Eldarion. Are all the tests going to be like this?" Lily nodded silently as she looked over some notes.
"I think I mixed up Venus and Jupiter," Lily said as she looked over her parchment, "Yes, I mixed up Venus and Jupiter. How could I do something so stupid? I'll have to go over my notes again before we take the practical part." Sairina just groaned.
"I have Divination this afternoon otherwise I'd join you," Sairina said as she looked through her bag, "I think Professor Rumer said that it would be practical only, no written portion."
"That figures," Lily shrugged, "I always figured that you could either do Divination or not."
At one thirty, Sairina found herself standing with Remus and the other Marauders in the Great Hall. Students were milling about and talking to one another waiting for the Divination exam to begin. There was a long table along one side of the great hall and ten proctors sat on one side of the table. Each proctor had a crystal ball, a tea pot, tea leaves, a cup, and a set of tarot cards. A wiry framed man with large glasses that made his eyes look huge stood in front of the group calling for silence.
"I am Mister Awena, and I am one of your proctors for the Divination exam today," he told the group in a silky, almost hypnotic voice, "There is obviously no written portion of this exam, but you do have several options when it comes to your exam.
"The first option is to use a crystal ball. The second is tea leaves. Your third option is palm reading. And your final option is the use of playing cards. You are allowed two attempts, each a different method. You either have the ability or not; it's as simple as that. Now let us begin." Mister Awena called out the first names in alphabetical order and Sirius trudged up to his proctor giving his friends and Sairina a pleading look. He was at the table for about five minutes before he came trudging back.
"I'm not going to be taking Divination next year," he said with a smug smile. The others rolled their eyes. One by one, each of the students were called up, in alphabetical order, so Sairina was forced to sit and enduring an annoyingly long wait.
"Telcontar, Sairina," Mister Awena called and motioned for her to come to his station. Sairina let out a sigh and walked over to the man, "How are you doing today?" Sairina could only shrug and the man smiled at her, "Which would you like to use first?"
"The crystal ball," she said instantly thinking back to when she had seen the images when she was working with Remus. He nodded and pulled it forward. Sairina took a deep breath and tried to relax, but all of her muscles were tense and taut. Stressed or relaxed, she through mirthlessly to herself, it's the only way I see anything.
She took another deep breath as she extended her hands toward the slightly glowing orb. She was about to place her hands on the glassy surface when her head exploded in pain. Pulling her hands back she grabbed the sides of her head and whimpered. Visions passed painfully in front of her eyes and her body began to tremble.
"Corsair, assassin," she choked out, "in the school. They're here to steal it. Can't let them take it. One will fall. So much blood. So much pain. He's getting away." Sairina held on tightly to her head as she whimpered willing the pain to go away. Her eyes were squeezed shut as the pain climaxed. She let out a startled cry for help, thinking that her head was going to burst when the pain suddenly vanished.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked around her. Everyone in the hall had their eyes on her; her cry had interrupted the other students' exams. When she looked back at him, Mister Awena was looking at her intently with some amount of amazement and concern in his eyes.
"Are you alright?" he asked placing a steady hand on her trembling one. Sairina shook her head. Looking at the bewildered and concerned faces of her fellow students and the proctors was too much for her to handle.
"No," she whispered, "I-I-I need some air." Without another word she stood and ran from the Great Hall. Instead of going outside she raced up the stairs to the seventh floor corridor and paced in front of the blank wall three times before the door appeared. She yanked the door open and ran in. There was nobody in the room, no corsair, no assassin. She pulled the sheet off the far table. She was relieved to find that the palantir was in its spot on the cushion. She replaced the sheet and ran from the room slamming the door shut behind her.
"Sai, Sairina, hey Sai!" she could hear familiar voices distantly calling, but she ignored them. She had more important things to worry about at the moment. She ran up another set of stairs vaguely aware that there were four sets of feet following her. She sprinted to the big mirror at the end of the hall and finally caught the reflection of the Marauders in it.
"Curuni," she said without a second thought and stepped through the portal with the Marauders right behind her.
"Bloody hell," Sirius said in awe at the room as the mirror sealed up behind them. Sairina ignored them and crossed the room to her door. She flung it open and was startled at seeing Denean and another guard standing at the door. They were equally startled to see Sairina suddenly burst from her room.
"My princess," Denean said as he and the other guard bowed slightly in her direction.
"Not to sound rude," Sairina addressed the guards as the Marauders came up behind her, "but why are you keeping guard outside my bedroom door?"
"Because your father has ordered it, princess," Denean explained, "After receiving the note of your vision of the corsair and assassin there have been guards keeping watch of your room at all times." Sairina nodded.
"Where is my father now?" Sairina asked.
"In his chambers, I would guess, my lady," the other guard spoke up, "If I'm not mistaken, he just finished drilling the tower guard with Prince Eldarion and Lord Legolas."
"Hannon le," Sairina said as she began to run down the hall, Remus followed behind her closely. The other Marauders looked at each other and shrugged before following their friend and his girlfriend down the hall.
"What do you think happened," Peter asked jogging and wheezing in an attempt to keep up with his more athletic friends. James shrugged.
"I don't know," he replied ruffling his hair, "but I have a sinking suspicion that it's not good." The Marauders finally caught up to Remus and Sairina who was pounding on a large wooden door.
"Ada," she said as she continued knocking, "are you in there?" The door was soon opened by an older man who Remus knew to be Sairina's father. Remus inclined his head respectfully and the king returned the gesture before looking back at his daughter. The other three Marauders looked dumbfounded.
"What is wrong, my daughter?" he asked with his voice and eyes filled with true concern. Sairina told him quickly what had happened during her Divination exam and the details of the vision that she could remember.
"Ada, they are going to succeed," Sairina said with her voice wavering with fear, "They are going to get the palantir." He shushed her and placed a soothing hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down, Sairina," her father said in a soothing tone and looked in her eyes, "I will take necessary steps to protect the portal and those who are mentioned in the prophecy. You have nothing to fear." Sairina nodded mutely and her father glanced over her shoulder at the other boys.
"I don't think I've met these three before," he said with a humorous air of curiosity hoping to get Sairina's mind off of her worries. Sairina looked at him confused before turning to see who he was talking about. She was relatively surprised to see the Marauders behind her. She finally realized that they had been following her since she races out of the Great Hall.
"Oh," she said regaining her composure, "Ada this is James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew," she motioned to each boy who nodded as she said their name, "they are Remus's friends. James, Sirius, Peter: this is my father, King Elessar." Her father inclined his head.
"Nice to finally meet you, your highness," James said with a slight hint of nervousness in his voice. The king smiled warmly.
"Likewise, James," he replied before addressing the group, "I do believe you should all be heading back to Hogwarts now. I'm sure Albus will be wondering where you wandered off to after running from your exam." All of the teens nodded as Sairina's father ushered them back to her room and the mirror before talking to Denean about new measures to guard the mirror.
After they had crossed back into Hogwarts, Remus pulled Sairina aside as the others went on ahead. He carefully wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Sairina nodded.
"Yes, I'm sure," Sairina said eventually, "It's just the stress is starting to get to me, you know. With what's going on with the Slytherins and Lord Voldemort, classes and exams, and my visions it . . . it's just getting to be a lot to deal with." Remus planted a gentle kiss on her temple. Sairina sighed and leaned into him, letting him hold her tight.
"Ugh, isn't that disgusting," a sneering voice rang through the halls causing both Remus and Sairina to start. They turned and quickly identified the source of the remark. A group of Slytherins was making their way through the halls. Remus instinctively pushed Sairina behind him and drew his wand with the other.
"What do you lot want?" he asked with a slight growl to his voice. A particularly horrendous sixth year girl spoke up first.
"Nothing," she said with false innocence, "Just studying the habits of filthy mudbloods and traitorous half-bloods is all."
"So tell me, Lupin," another boy sneered, "is she a better snog or shag? And do you think I could borrow her for a night?" Remus clenched his wand tighter; Sairina placed a hand on his shoulder.
"They're not worth your anger," she whispered softly into his ear, "Let's go." He took her hand and began leading her away from the disrespectful group. The group continued jeering.
"Hey Telcontar, is it true you freaked out during the Divination exam?" one of them shouted after her, "What's the matter? Are you afraid of tea leaves?" Sairina and Remus continued down the hall ignoring the group's newest insults. Once they had traveled a few floors away, Remus entered an empty classroom and pulled Sairina in after him. With an angry cry he kicked a desk . . . hard.
"Where the hell do they get off talking like that?" Remus demanded of no one in particular. Sairina just sighed and sat down in a chair.
"You know by getting angry, you're letting them win," Sairina chastised, "Just ignore them. I told you once: they aren't worth your anger. They aren't worth anything at all. Just let them live in their own twisted little world." Remus sighed angrily before calming himself down. Sairina smiled as she put her hand in his, "Come on, I need to study for the Astronomy practical and Charms."
/0/0/
The next few days of exams went off without a hitch. Sairina didn't have anymore visions and was able to focus a bit more on the many tests she had to take. While these absorbed most of her attention, she was still wary of the vision she had. She knew that the corsair and assassin would be trying soon to steal the palantir, and that they would somehow get past her father's guards. So she decided to be prepared.
She had retrieved from her trunk the small dagger Legolas had given her two years ago. She had gotten out of the habit of having with her all the time, but now she carried it everywhere. It was a comforting weight on the small of her back. She was also in the habit of checking on the palantir after every exam. She felt some sort of comfort seeing that the black orb was always on its cushion.
The exams were quickly winding down. Sairina and Lily entered the Great Hall on the second Tuesday of the O.W.L.s, the end almost in sight. Sairina was in her seat talking to Lily when Professor Flitwick, the proctor, came in on the final toll of the bell signaling the eight 'o' clock hour.
"We will now begin the written portion of the Defense against the Dark Arts exam," Professor Flitwick droned on as rolls of parchment were handed out along with the anti-cheating quills. He explained the same procedure the students had been hearing for the past week. The magically sealed rolls of parchment with the questions were then handed out and the man finally said, "Begin." The hall was filled with the scratching of quills and the steady breathing of students.
"Five more minutes," Professor Flitwick called. Sairina was shocked. Had time really gone that fast? She looked over her answers one last time making sure that she was pleased with her responses. She smiled slyly as she looked at question ten: 'Give five signs that identify the werewolf.' She looked at Remus from the corner of her eye. He was looking very tired and kind of peaky. Which made since, the full moon was in five days.
"Quills down please," he squeaked. "That means you, too, Stebbins!" Sairina tuned him out as he collected the parchments. It was another minute or so before he dismissed the group of fifth years. Lily immediately made her way towards Sairina.
"Hey, I'm going outside," she said looking at the Great Hall ceiling revealing a beautiful day. "Want to come with me?" Sairina was about to say yes when her stomach suddenly felt like it had dropped to her feet. Something wrong was happening.
"Um," Sairina hesitated, "I'll be out in a little bit. I just want to go check on something." Sairina turned on her heel and ran up the nearest set of stairs. She quckly wove her way thorough the halls until she came to the seventh floor corridor. Pacing three times, she opened the door and entered.
Nothing.
Sairina sighed as she sank down into a sheet covered chair. She didn't understand it. She knew something was going to happen, and soon. It was driving her nuts, and she just wanted to get this whole thing over with. Adjusting her body in the chair she got comfortable and let out a tired sigh.
I'm just going to rest my eyes for a few minutes. With that she closed her eyes and let her body relax completely.
The next time she opened her eyes, she could hear the school's clock tower ringing. She glanced at the watch Lily had let her barrow and groaned. It was one fifteen. She had slept through lunch, and now she needed to get to the Great Hall for the practical part of her Defense exam.
Sairina stood and stretched lazily before attempting to smooth some of the wrinkles out of her robes. She grabbed her bag and her wand and started to head toward the door. She was about ready to grab the doorknob to leave when it started to rattle and turn. She watched in horror as the door began to open slowly. Thinking fast she hid behind the door as it continued to open.
Two men stepped into the room. One was tall and lanky who moved gracefully. He was dressed completely in black and had a face mask covering up the lower portion of his face. The other was short and stocky. He wore ragged clothing and moved with much less finesse than his partner. Sairina knew instantly that it was the corsair and the assassin. They were here to take the palantir.
Sairina raised her wand ready to cast the stunning spell when the assassin tensed up. In one fluid movement, he pulled a throwing dagger from his belt, turned, and hurled the blade at Sairina. Sairina lunged to one side, but she wasn't fast enough. The throwing knife caught her in her right arm leaving a deep cut. With a cry she dropped her wand and clutched the wound.
"Take the palantir and go," the corsair growled, "I'll take care of the princess." The assassin nodded mutely as he swiftly moved towards the table and grabbed the black orb. Wrapping it tightly in an old cloth, he put it into a satchel and fled from the room. Sairina wanted to go after him, but the corsair made sure she did know such thing.
The stocky man drew his blade and lunged at Sairina. Using swiftness she didn't even know she had, she pulled her own dagger and blocked the attack. The corsair smiled coldly. The duel was on.
The man started thrusting and swinging his blade around. Sairina did her best to block his attacks, but he had the upper hand. He wasn't afraid to play dirty, and his longer sword gave him a distinct advantage over Sairina's smaller blade. He swung for her head, and Sairina ducked, what she wasn't prepared for was for the man to bring his hilt back forcefully. It slammed into her head just above left her eye and dangerously close to her temple.
Sairina was disoriented from the headshot, and her vision was quickly being impaired by the blood that was trickling down her face from the wound. It was sticky and hot as Sairina tried to wipe it from her face. The man swung again, but Sairina was able to dodge it at a cost. The man's sword had collided with her dagger and sent it clattering across the ground.
Sairina dove for her blade careful of the corsair's next attack that only sliced her robe. She managed to get her dagger and stagger to her feet just in time to see the man's next attack. He swung his blade, aiming for her midsection. Sairina jumped back, but to her horror she wasn't fast enough.
She cried out as she felt the sword's tip slice the tender flesh of her stomach. She held her left arm over the wound in hopes of slowing the bleeding. She could tell that the cut wasn't deep, but it caused enough pain to force her onto her hands and knees. The vile man stood above her chuckling darkly.
"What's the matter," he taunted, "can't defend yourself without your daddy or brother around?" Sairina bit back the tears and pain that were trying to force themselves out, "Time to finish you off." The man raised his sword above his head, ready to bring it crashing down. Things were moving in slow motion for Sairina, as one of the primal urges that exist in every person came to surface in the young princess.
The need for survival.
Sairina knew that it was either him or her, and she knew for a fact that she didn't want it to be her. Going on pure instinct and adrenaline, Sairina rolled out of the way as the corsair's blade came crashing to the floor where she had been a moment before and stuck in the wood. Spinning to her feet, the dagger clutched firmly in her hand, she closed in on her attacker.
In one swift movement, Sairina was on her feet, and the dagger was imbedded up to the hilt, in the corsair's neck.
The man let out a disgusting gurgle as he sank to the floor. His eyes were wide as he stared up at Sairina who looked on impassively. He continued to gargle and writhe about for a minute more before he became very still and his eyes began to fog over. He was dead, and Sairina had killed him.
As the adrenaline faded from her system, reality began to sink back in. Her head was throbbing in pain, she couldn't feel her right arm, and she nearly doubled over from the pain in her abdomen. She looked at the dead man on the floor, and the realness of her actions began to sink in. She had just killed a man, she had taken his life.
The world began to spin around her as the looked at the body in disbelief. No, there was no way that she could have killed him; she would never do a thing like that. Her mind went into denial as she stared at the body. She was reeling, looking for some sort of normality in the situation. Suddenly she remembered: her Defense practical. She had to go finish her exam. With her mind still in denial about her actions she grabbed her wand and fled from the room and the corpse.
Sairina sprinted to the Great Hall, never chancing to look behind her. The dead man's lifeless eyes still haunted her, and she was afraid he was chasing her. Her right hand held her wand tightly, her right arm was across the wound on her stomach, and her left hand was pressed against the wound on her right arm. Her hair was matted with sweat and blood and hung in her face. She was attempting to stop the loss of blood; she just needed to do her practical and then she would go to Madame Pomfrey.
She slinked into the Great Hall just as the clock tower signaled that it was one thirty. She hid towards the back of the mass of students as Professor Flitwick explained how the practical part of the exam worked. Sairina leaned back against a wall, not listening to a word the tiny Professor said. Her mind kept going back to the Room of Requirement to where that body lay getting cold.
The body that she had taken the life from.
Her mind was having difficulty processing the fact that she had, indeed, just killed a person. It was attempting to rationalize why she had done it. It was you or him. He was taking something that didn't belong to him and he was going to kill you. It was self-defense. At the same time her mind was attempting to bring her back to a normal routine. Focus, you need to focus. Do you remember how to do a disarming spell? What is the spell you use to ward off a doxy? Come on Sairina snap out of it. Come on Telcontar. Miss Telcontar . . . SAIRINA!
Sairina snapped back to reality to hear Professor Flitwick calling her name. The students around her had parted giving the diminutive a direct line of sight to one of his favorite students. He looked at her in confusion. She was bent over, one arm across her stomach her other hand holding the upper part of her arm. Her black hair was hanging in her face so he couldn't see the expression on her face.
"Miss Telcontar," the small professor asked taking a step forward, "are you alright?" She seemed to tremble as she removed her left hand from her right arm. Several students gasped as they noticed that her hand was coated in blood and her arm was bleeding freely. She used her blood stained hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. Even Professor Flitwick could not hold back a gasp as he saw that she had a large cut on her forehead that had bled so much it covered half of her featured in the crimson liquid.
"What happened?" Professor Flitwick asked rushing towards the girl. She opened her mouth and looked like she was about to say something, but the blood loss had caught up with her. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she slumped down onto the floor.