Thank you guys so much for your support on this fic! Nano has been kicking my ass so this chapter took a little longer to put out, but many thanks to Maddie Rose and RandomFandoming for enabling me and motivating me to get it done! Please go check out their fics! They're amazing!
Disclaimer: I am American not English. Also, I finished this hella late, so please forgive any typos or weird sentences. I didn't have the patience to edit it.
Eight of Wands
upright: rapid action, movement, quick decisions
reversed: panic, waiting, slowdown
Cressida greeted the skeletal horses as she climbed into the carriage, well-aware that Emmeline and Dorcas always thought she was crazy for thinking there was something there. "Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they're not there" She had said to them in third year. Both of them just rolled their eyes and collapsed on the nice seats in the carriage. It was raining out, like it so often did but Cressida didn't let the weather get her down. Emmeline and Dorcas were already cozying up next to each other so she took the other side like she usually did, watching her friends with a wry smile on her face.
"Did you read the Daily Prophet this week?" Emmeline immediately asked, her face lighting up as she began to discuss the articles, "Apparently the whole 'Voldemort' thing is real."
Cressida shook her head, "Is that really what they're calling him?"
"More like what he calls himself," Dorcas chimed in, her mood improving a bit since their last conversation on the train, "My mum was telling me about it. Apparently, this guy's got a ton of old families on his side, says he's one of them." She stuffed another jellybean in her mouth from her pocket, "I know Rodolphous Lestrange was bragging about being on his side at the Ministry."
Irritation sprung up in her chest. She wasn't stupid enough to believe that some of the families wouldn't buy that rhetoric. In fact, most probably would, knowing how they felt about blood status. She couldn't give less of a shit."Well, I'm not surprised considering how awfully he treated Ted while he was here." Cressida piped up, recalling how many times Ted had gotten in trouble for hexing the older boy, "This guy's just another tosser who's preying on their worst fears. He won't get far."
Not with Dumbledore around.
Emmeline gave her a strained look, "I don't know," She looked over her shoulder before leaning in, like she held some big secret, "I overheard Snape and Mucliber on the platform before we left, apparently he's been recruiting giants and werewolves to his cause. Says he can offer them a better life."
Cressida rolled her eyes, "What a load of shit, besides, are giants even real?"
Emmeline and Dorcas shared a look before turning back toward Cressida. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, a tense knot beginning to form in her gut at their silence, deciding to change the subject, "So what? Are Snape and Mulciber part of Voldemort's little club now?"
"Probably," Dorcas whispered through gritted teeth, "the two gits would be blood purists wouldn't they?"
She'd meant it as a joke but something in Dorcas' gaze told Cressida it was anything but. She immediately knew that there needed to be a change of subject, although Emmeline would be disappointed she didn't get to talk more about it, "Come on, I'm tired of wizard politics," She jolted forward as the carriages began to move, theirs lacking an extra person, "Besides, we're perfectly safe with Dumbledore."
Dorcas looked unsure, like somehow it wasn't enough anymore. Emmeline opened her mouth to say something else but Cress cut her off with a look, knowing that was the last thing Dorcas wanted. The taller girl rolled her eyes and stared out at the passing scenery, not wishing to say anything more.
"Can we please talk about something else?" Cressida begged, trying to get the fun atmosphere back. The girls shared a look before Dorcas's smirk returned, "Alright then, how about we talk about you and Long Legs?"
She rolled her eyes, a hint of a smile on the edge of her lips "I told you to call him Remus," Cressida reminded the wild-haired girl, secretly enjoying the nickname, "And there's nothing to talk about."
"Really?" Emmeline jumped in with a wide smirk, glad to finally be back on this topic, "Cause that's not what I saw after the meeting."
Cressida scoffed, "Oh please, you didn't see anything except what I told you."
Dorcas leaned forward, looking between the two of them while her face lit up like a baby finding candy for the first time, "Wait, Remus was the one who asked you to read his cards?" She burst into giggles at the new information, "Oh merlin Cress, of course there's something going on there."
Her cheeks flushed at her friend's comments while her chest leapt at the thought of Remus' invitation holding something more. Unfortunately, she had to shatter her friend's expectations with her next sentence, "He only asked because James and Sirius put him up to it," She reminded them, not wanting to have this conversation again.
They either ignored her or couldn't hear her over their laughter and Cressida turned her gaze toward the dark sky, examining the bright stars that were staring down at her, a few poking through the clouds as the rain continued to fall softly on the carriage windows.
Their laughter slowly faded until all that was left was quiet.
Silence hung over the three of them until Dorcas spoke up again. "He called me a Mudblood," Emmeline and Cressida stood up, chest jumping into her throat as the brunette leaned forward, ready to engulf the dark-skinned girl in her arms at any moment. "Snape did?"
Dorcas bit her lip and nodded, looking ready to combust. Her brown eyes darkened at the memory and her tone was low and dangerous, like she was getting ready to strike. "I told him to sod off and he called me…"
She couldn't even say the word, not that Cressida could blame her. It was bad enough that is existed in the first place, but the fact that Snape and Mulicber were tossing it around like the weather made Cress's blood boil.
"It doesn't even make sense," Emmeline chimed in, shaking her head, "You're a half-blood, not a muggleborn."
Dorcas' gaze never left the carriage floor and her hands balled themselves up to fists. Cressida could see her shaking with anger, and the silence was enough of an invitation to let her speak. "He said I was as good as before Mulciber called me something worse and Potter chased them away."
She pulled her friend in for a deeper hug, silently thanking James Potter for being unable to resist arguing with Snape. The three girls moved closer together, arms wrapped around each other as Dorcas's silent tears dripped onto their arms, the girl shaking the rest of the carriage ride down.
"First years this way!" Cress heard Emmeline call, quickly following suit. She stuffed a pumpkin pasty in the pockets of her robes before fumbling with the book she'd been carrying since the train.
"First years follow me!" Cress called, ignoring Trelawney's withering look as she helped escort the students through the halls and winding corridors, trying to remember the timing of the staircases so they wouldn't have to take a detour on their way to the Ravenclaw tower.
Several of them huddled together, sharing apprehensive and awe-filled glances as they passed the large suits of armor and moving staircases as she and Lovegood took the lead, some sixth-year prefects bringing up the rear to make sure that none of the kids got lost or strayed. Cressida smiled as she remembered her first day at Hogwarts, the high walls and cavernous halls intimidating her into stunned silence before the hat burst into song.
She'd been horribly alone, unable to even make friends on the train, just sitting there while Ted conversed with his friends and cuddled with Andromeda. Cressida remembers locking eyes with him for the entire ceremony, blushing brightly when the hat called out 'Ravenclaw' without so much as touching her head. She'd been in the same boat as these first years were, and she shared smiles with them as they followed her up the shifting staircases, finally reaching the tower without any incident.
"Hey, Tonks!" Edgar Corner, Ravenclaw's resident ladies man (his words not hers) called to her, a twinkle in his eye as the sixth years began the regular spiel about the riddle and the eagle door knocker, "Ten sickles it's the circle riddle again." He'd appeared out of nowhere, but she had the sinking feeling that he'd been lurking outside the room waiting for her to show up so he could try one of his lines on her again. It had been innocent fun when she'd asked to hear some at the opening feast, she didn't expect him to keep it up. Not to mention waiting for her to appear with the first years.
Cressida sighed and dropped her arm, cocking her hip as she raised an eyebrow at the prefect, "No thanks Corner, the riddle does the same one every year and I don't feel like losing money to you."
The knocker never wanted to confuse students on the first day, so it offered a relatively simple riddle. Cress could recite it in her sleep, and had many times after an all-nighter at the library. Rowena Ravenclaw may have been overly pretentious when it came to setting up the common room for her students, but at least she was somewhat gracious. Still, it never failed to piss Cress and her friends off when they'd realized that the other houses had a much easier system of getting into their common rooms.
She heard the eagle's voice ask the students the same riddle every year when first years came in, although it would only let the ones who'd answered it immediately through.
"Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"
A soft murmur fell over the large group of first years, and the sixth year prefect immediately put on an air of confusion, scrunching their eyebrows and turning toward the group of students before declaring that they had no idea.
The farce had been Flitwick's idea and it had been a part of the Ravenclaw initiation process since her second year. There had always been a competitive air among the House, so Flitwick ordered the prefects to pretend not to know the answer to the riddles in order to facilitate teamwork.
Cressida rolled her eyes at the overexaggerated expression of the prefect and checked her watch, wondering if she had enough time to ask Madame Pince if she'd gotten anything new in her catalog. Abandoning Corner and the first years at the door, her footsteps took her down the corridor and waiting for another staircase.
She had the way to the library memorized, and was inconspicuous enough to go unnoticed by most of the student body. Her footsteps stopped at the large double doors, heart sinking into her stomach and shoulders deflating as she saw the sign Pince had placed on the door.
Library Closed for Renovation
Will Be Open After Halloween Holidays
Please See Head of House for Further Information
"You've got to be kidding me," Cressida's mouth popped open, unable to believe what she was seeing. The library was never closed. It had always been open, even over the winter and Easter holidays. It was her safety net, the one place she could go when things got too loud.
"Guess we gotta find somewhere else to study then?"
Cressida jumped slightly at Remus' humorous tone, unused to it. She stammered a bit before letting out a sigh and trying to regain her footing. "Looks like it."
She bounced on the balls of her feet, trying to keep her bundled nerves from breaking free and ruining this conversation.
Remus brought his hand to the back of his neck again, face slightly red as he refused to hold her gaze for more than a few seconds. She didn't know whether to be offended or not.
"It's even worse because this is an OWL year and I was really looking forward to getting a head start," Cressida continued to complain, hoping that the subject would ease some of the awkwardness between them.
Remus chuckled slightly, "I think you're the only student I know who wants to spend her first day back in the library."
Cressida felt the blood rush to her cheeks and moved her gaze toward the floor, trying not to think too hard about the implications of Remus' words. Did he think she was weird for wanting to do that? Would he want to be friends with her anymore?
"I mean, it's admirable," He quickly moved to reassure her, as if he could see the wheels in her head turn, "I know most fifth years probably won't begin studying until after the holidays, so good for you."
Pride swelled in Cress's chest as those words left his mouth, unable to keep the smile off her face as her teeth scraped her bottom lip. "Thanks," she replied, her face growing hot, "And I was really just hoping to see if Madame Pince had gotten any new books, not like I wasn't gonna sleep there or anything,"
"Like last year?" Remus teased slightly, shoving his hands in his pockets as red flooded his face again. Cressida chuckled nervously, still embarrassed that Remus had found her as the sun was coming up one day, curled up in one of the armchairs near the restricted section. His laughter filled her ears, a musical sound that caused her heart to skip a beat.
Bloody hell, she was in deep, wasn't she?
Remus cleared his throat, running a hand through his sandy locks before stuffing it back in his pockets. "So, uh, our study sessions…."
Cressida's eyes widened in realization, "Oh yes! Um, I guess we could meet in the common room, although Emmeline and Dorcas would never let me hear the end of it," She mumbled, unsure if she wanted to come clean about the sessions after five years of secrecy. Besides, she liked having Remus all to herself. It was selfish, but she liked his company. It felt nice to have something no one else knew about. From the look on Remus' face, he didn't seem that comfortable to be studying in the common room either, and Cressida suppressed a giggle at the expression. "Alright, so not that then."
Remus stammered over his next words before sighing. A moment passed and suddenly his eyes lit up, a soft smile tugging on his lips. "I know a place! Meet me in the Gryffindor Common Room at six, it's when James is holding Quidditch tryouts. The password is Ad Astra"
Cressida chuckled at the phrase, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow, "To the stars? That's the key to the Gryffindor dorms this year?"
Remus shrugged, his smile still plastered on his face, "No one ever said the Fat Lady was creative."
Her shoulders shook slightly as laughter escaped her lips. "Alright, the Gryffindor Common Room it is then."
"I promise, I have a reason for it." He tried to explain, running a hand through his hair again. A nervous tick, she was realizing. Cressida nodded, trying to keep her smile contained.
"Oh, I believe you," She teased, a glint of mischief in her eyes. His smile became less strained. Although, like her, Remus was on edge, nervous for some reason as his hands went from his pockets to the back of his neck to running through his hair. Something was bothering him, or someone. Cressida continued to bounce on the balls of her feet, glancing at her watch so her stares weren't obvious. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she realized what time it was.
"Oh shit," She muttered, "I have to go, Trelawney's gonna kill me." She met Remus' wide gaze, his stare reminding her of a puppy dog as an apology fell from her lips, "I'm so sorry I lost track of the time and I forgot that I had to explain stuff to the first years and-"
He waved her apology away, "Don't worry about it. You go, we both know how Trelawney gets"
Cress smiled gratefully and dashed down the hallway, her feet taking her down the corridor and toward the stairs, barely reaching the top before it shifted again, her feet almost meeting empty air. She ran down the hallway and up the spiral staircase, out of breath and doubling over as she knocked on the door, no one else around except a tiny first year, who Cressida suspected accidentally stepped out.
"Under pressure is the only way I work. By myself is the only way I'm hurt. What am I?" The knocker asked and Cressida took a deep breath in before exhaling out.
"Me- Merlin- the answer's- me." She spoke through heavy breaths, the knocker growing silent. Don't you dare, she willed the knocker to accept her answer. She'd defend it if she had to. Thankfully, the door popped open and she slid into the airy room, a sliver of moonlight shining through the arched windows and the blue and bronze silks. Emmeline and Dorcas had already snagged a table near the reading alcove, playing what looked like a heated game of wizard's chess. Cressida sighed and collapsed in the chair next to them, dropping her head in her arms and letting out an exhaustive sigh.
"There she is!" Dorcas teased, a wide smile on her face, "Oh Trelawney's pissed at you now, Tonks."
Cressida flipped her head up, ready to defend herself, but coming up short. "I just went to the library," She tried to explain. Dorcas and Emmeline shot her a confused look.
"The library's closed-"
"For renovation," Cressida finished Emmeline's sentence with a frustrated sigh, "I know that now. How did you guys find out?"
Emmeline shrugged, pushing her reading glasses up her nose a little bit further, her knight taking a swipe at Dorcas' pawn, "Dumbledore mentioned it at the feast, don't you remember?"
Cressida shook her head, trying to recall when Dumbledore had brought it up. To be honest, she was struggling to remember anything about the feast at all, it always passed in a blur to her.
"She never pays attention," Dorcas smirked, moving her queen into position. Emmeline smirked and moved her bishop down the board until it slammed into the Queen, leaving the King wide open.
"And neither do you. I believe that's checkmate," The dark-haired girl bragged. Dorcas let out a sigh and scraped the pieces of the set back into the box.
"You know I'm shit at strategy," The dark-skinned girl sighed and pushed the box away from her, Emmeline relishing in her victory, "That's why I play Quidditch."
"Hey!" Cressida piped up, ready to defend the sport, "Quidditch requires some strategy."
"Not really," Dorcas shook her head, laughter leaving her lips, "I mean, catching the snitch is half the battle, as long as you get that you've won."
Cressida smirked, "So you finally admit that the seeker is the most valuable position on the team?"
"I did not say that-"
"Yes you did, you said-"
"I was talking about-"
"Oh please-"
"TONKS!"
Cress felt her blood run cold as Sybil Trelawney's voice rang through the circular common room, her piercing blue eyes meeting Cress's big brown ones.
"Uh oh," Dorcas mumbled under her breath, the entire common room on edge as Trelawney descended the staircase leading to the dormitories.
"Where the bloody hell have you been?"
Cress racked her brain, trying to come up with an excuse Sybil would actually believe but drawing a blank. "I uh, I went looking for some stray first years,"
Dorcas sighed and Cress found herself agreeing with her. Even she was disappointed in that lie. It didn't placate Trelawney either, hands on her hips and a cocked eyebrow, eyes blazing.
It was made worse with her glasses, almost giving off the impression of an owl scanning for its prey. Except now she was the prey and Trelawney was about to rip her apart with her talons.
"Prefects are supposed to set an example," The seventh year began, trying to seem authoritative but failing, "You failed to do that when you went wandering off on your own doing god knows what and almost costing us House points."
"But I didn't, did I?" Cress offered, hoping it would be enough to get her off the hook.
It wasn't.
Trelawney pulled out a tiny notepad from the large beaded bag that was slung over her shoulder, a quill at the ready. Her hand scratched across the paper before slamming the notepad shut with a passive-aggressive hum. Cressida's stomach jumped into her throat at the gesture, the knot worsening as she waited for Trelawney to hand out her punishment.
When neither woman said anything, Cress opened her mouth to speak, "What did you just do?"
Trelawney relished in the fear for a moment with a proud smirk on her face, "I changed your rounds. Now you'll be patrolling with Lovegood from midnight to two."
"AM?!" Cressida asked incredulously, mouth dropping open at the blatant misuse of power, "That's reserved for-"
"For whoever the Head Boy and Girl deem fit," Trelawney rubbed the victory in her face, "Perhaps you might learn something along the way, us Ravenclaw's are supposed to be smart after all."
The anger bubbled up inside of her, hands pressing themselves into a fist every time Cress caught the smug look on Trelawney's face, "Really? Then how'd you get sorted in here?"
The look on Trelawney's face was almost worth the stinging slap the girl had given her before huffing and turning around. Cress's cheek was red from impact and the pain bloomed across her face, certain to at least leave a bruise by the morning. The entire common room was staring her down and Cressida could only sigh as she collapsed on one of the couches near the fire, draping her entire body across it as her arm flopped across her face.
"I bloody hate her. Making me patrol that late of all times."
The sound of footsteps was heard next to her and Cress felt her legs lifted up and plopped back down. She removed her arm long enough to see Emmeline on the edge of the couch, Dorcas spread out across the other one.
Emmeline sighed, "She is right though. You shouldn't have wandered off."
"I was at the library! It's not like I was sneaking out to meet someone," Cressida protested, ignoring the pounding headache that had started up again. She rubbed her temples with the heel of her hand, and Dorcas sighed.
"I'll get the tea, you get the blankets."
"No." Cressida stopped her friends in their tracks, shaking it away, "It's nothing. I'll talk to Madame Pomfrey tomorrow during my free hour, maybe she'll have some kind of magical remedy."
"Or…" Emmeline chimed in, a chastising look on her face as Cressida adjusted her position on the couch, "Here's a funny idea, you could actually take your sleeping meds."
"I have-"
Emmeline silenced her with a look and Cressida withdrew into herself.
"The House Elves were unloading your belongings and I noticed how full the bottle was," The girl explained, patting Cress's leg in comfort. It wasn't that the medication didn't work, it was that she had no time for sleep when there was so much to be done. Nighttime was when she did her best work, and now with her late patrol schedule, there was no need for them anymore. They'd just cause her to fall asleep during class or she'd oversleep and miss something important. Neither option was good. She didn't need the medication anymore. And if Madame Pomfrey had the answers to her problem then all the better! Muggle remedies didn't work as well as they used to. Not after she'd discovered what she was.
"Fine, I haven't been taking them, but only because-"
"No excuses," Emmeline reminded her, almost sounding like her mother, "I know this past summer has been hard, but you still need to take them."
Cress shook her head and bit the inside of her cheek. Merlin, she hated when Emmeline was right.
"I'm still seeing Pomfrey tomorrow," Cressida switched subjects and Emmeline let out a sigh, disappointed at the subject change but not pressing any further.
Thankfully, Dorcas chimed in with her usual charm. "You said you were at the library right?"
Cress nodded.
The girl squinted her direction, "So what were you doing that caused you to lose track of time so quickly?"
Shit, she knew this question was going to get asked eventually. It didn't make admitting to it any easier.
"I ran into Remus and we started talking."
She could feel the atmosphere shift instantly, wide smiles, and open mouths replacing the previously disappointed and sympathetic gazes she was used to.
"No way," Dorcas laughed, leaning back against the couch, "Of course it was Long Legs, only you would have that bad of luck."
Cressida picked up one of the pillows and threw it at the other girl, the decoration smacking Dorcas in the face. The girl retaliated by throwing it back at Cressida, She blinked and blew a raspberry as it sailed directly into her face, mussing up her hair and eliciting giggles from the trio. The giggles evolved into full-blown laughter and soon Cressida was clenching her stomach as the sound rose up and echoed off the walls of the circular room, no doubt confusing the new students and earning the trio sighs from the returning ones.
"What did he say?" Emmeline asked through breaths, hand pressed to her chest.
Cress was still laughing when she answered her friend's question, "He just wanted to talk that's all."
"Yeah but about what?"
Cressida shrugged, trying to keep the secret study sessions out of her mouth, "Nothing, we just talked about the library and our OWLs."
The two girls shared a skeptical look before staring at her. Cress sighed and sat up straight, bringing her legs to the floor, "I mean it. That's all we talked about."
"Sure it is," Dorcas continued to tease, tossing another pillow her way, both of them not believing a word she said when it came to her conversations with the Gryffindor. Cress shook her head and leaned back against the couch, finally relaxed until someone else called her name.
"Tonks!"
Cressida turned to find Bertram Aubrey, Ravenclaw's Quidditch captain and resident beater, staring her down. "What do you want Aubrey?"
Aubrey was a sixth year who tried too hard to be intimidating in order to impress the younger students. If it wasn't for Quidditch, Cressida didn't think she'd actually associate with the pale-haired kid.
"I wanted to talk to you about tryouts," He announced, looking around the room to see if any other years had noticed how loud he was speaking, "You're still our seeker right?"
Cressida let out a frustrated sigh, irritation swirling in her chest as she recalled last year's events that had landed her in the hospital and Aubrey searching for a reserve seeker after he'd called her 'weak' and claimed 'it was a mistake to make you seeker'.
But now, here he was. Crawling back on his knees because Barty Crouch had been abysmal. The fourth-year was a fantastic keeper, the team almost never scored when he was guarding the poles. But he'd absolutely failed as a seeker and both Cress and Aubrey knew it.
"That depends," She relished in his pleading, recognizing the desperate look on his face, "Are you going to call me a bitch this time?"
Bertram's face fell and he shook his head, gulping as he waited for her answer.
Oh, how she loved to make him wait. It was his punishment for treating her so poorly last year. She's brought up the whole situation to Flitwick and McGonagall too, who'd no doubt given Aubrey a stern talking to and a slap on the wrist.
She loved Quidditch. It gave her a chance to not overthink everything for once. Instead, it was just her and the golden snitch while the game raged on and the audience cheered around her. But that didn't mean she didn't like watching Aubrey squirm.
"Great!" Cressida smiled, her demeanor completely changing, "Then I'll see you Friday for tryouts!"
When she turned back around, Bertram took that as his cue to leave and victory danced in Cressida's chest, her friends' smirks validating her even more.
"You're good," Dorcas teased. Cressida simply shrugged innocently, like she didn't know what she was talking about.
They continued their conversations as the fire continued to burn, warmth filling the common room as rain sprinkled the windows of the tall tower until more and more students retreated upstairs, leaving the three of them alone. Soon the only sound in the common room other than the chiming of the clock was the crackling of the fire and the hushed voices of her friends.
She was awoken by Sara Crouch a few hours later.
"Hey," The blonde whispered, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, sleep tinging her voice, "Isn't it almost midnight?"
Her yawn made Cressida yawn and she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Yeah," Cress sighed, peeling her head off Emmeline's shoulder, trying not to wake the girl, "Thanks, Sara."
The girl yawned again before heading over to the reading alcove. Cressida smiled at the girl she shared a dorm with. Sara always had trouble falling asleep the first night, so she'd usually grab a book and read until she fell asleep. Cressida felt bad for not checking in on the girl, but she hadn't even seen her at the feast, and they ran in almost completely different social circles.
But she'd always been nice to her, and Cress made a silent promise to check on the girl if she was still awake when she got back from her patrol. She heard footsteps come from the other side of the common room, Lovegood descending the staircase in a similar state to herself, wiping the sleep from his eyes. His pale blonde hair looked almost ethereal in the dim light, the stick-straight locks falling past his shoulders.
"You ready Tonks?" He yawned, stretching out his arms, an audible crack heard as he leaned back.
She nodded, tucking a curl behind her ear as they stepped out the door, the drafty winds and cold air creating goosebumps across her skin as it swung shut behind them.
