Phobos and Deimos Pay a Visit

The next morning, Ila was awoken by a scream.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Immediately sitting up, she grabbed her glasses from her table. She looked around her dormitory to find that she was the only one there. She quickly got changed before walking down the stairs into the common room to investigate where the scream had come from. She didn't need to walk more than a few steps into the common room to find out what had happened.

"What-what happened?" Ila asked, rushing over to Ron and Hermoine, near the twins comforting their fellow sixth-year girls. She saw Alicia Spinnet crying, blowing her nose into a tissue while Angelina and Katie comforted her as she got closer. The twins seemed rather uncomfortable and looked as if they wanted to leave. "Is everything alright?"

"No!" Alicia said through her snot ridden tissue.

"What happened?" she asked Hermione.

Just as she was about to explain, Alicia let out another wail. "I – I-"

"Breathe, Alicia," Angelina said calmly, patting her back gently. Alicia tried to take a breath a few times before managing actually to breathe and speak properly.

"I – Basically, Snape found me coming out of one of the entrances from Hogsmeade into Hogwarts and…and…now I have a detention tonight, and I can't go to the Halloween Party tonight!" The last part of her sentence was said rather quickly as she ended up bursting into tears after that once again.

"Is that it?" Ila said.

"Is that it?" Alicia repeated angrily, making Ila hide behind Ron. "And it's all your fault!" she said, pointing to the twins.

"Uh – what did we do?" Fred said, holding up his hands in surrender.

"If you kept watch properly, I could've spent my night shoving my tongue down that really cute Durmstrang guy's throat and not with fucking Snape!"

"If you're not that careful, Alicia, you could be doing something else entirely with Snape," George joked, only to drop his smile at the sight of Alicia's glares and hands twitching to get around his throat.

"It's not my fault that I got distracted," Fred said, smirking while glancing at Angelina, who rolled her eyes. "Plus, it's not like I can be there, standing guard in front of the secret entrance to Hogsmeade for the entire time. He'd catch me if I did that."

"So you just let her take the blame for it?" Katie said, pulling Alicia into a hug.

"He was so good looking," Alicia moaned.

She suddenly pulled away from Katie and lunged at Fred, trying to hit him. Her friends took a moment to react, letting her get a few punches in before they pulled her away.

"What the hell do you want me to do?" Fred said breathlessly as George pulled him up to his feet. "It's not like I have a…." The twins looked at each other before looking at Ila.

"It's not like we have a map that could let everyone know where everyone is at Hogwarts?"
Ila stared blankly at them.

"I said, it's not like we have a map that could let everyone know where everyone is at Hogwarts?"

"Huh?"

"IT'S NOT LIKE WE HAVE A MAP - "

"They're talking about the Maudaurder's Map, Ila," Hermione whispered.

"Ohh!" Ila said before looking at the twins waiting for her to give the map to them. She hesitated before slyly taking the map out of her pocket, making sure no one saw when she handed it over to them.

"You're a lifesaver," George said.

"You better give it back. It's not a good thing to take back gifts."

It was then when the three friends decided to leave the situation, getting their breakfast from the Great Hall.

"Hey, what was that thing that you wanted to tell us yesterday?" Hermione asked once they started eating their breakfast.

"What thing?"

"You know…it was during lunch, but you didn't say anything because you were late for your…reading, and then everything else happened, and we didn't have any time."

"Oh…that? Pfft! That was - that was nothing," Ila said, dismissing her.

"It didn't sound like anything," Hermione said. "It sounded pretty serious."

"Well…"

"C'mon, Ila. Tell us."

"Well, it's just about Malfoy," Ila said quietly.

"Did he do something you?"

"I swear to Merlin if he touched you-"

"No, no, no," Ila said quickly, pushing Ron's fist down. "He didn't do anything bad…which is the problem."

Her friends blinked at her.

"Huh?"

Ila sighed, not realising just how much she was going to have to explain. "Basically, haven't you guys noticed how weird Malfoy's acting these past couple of weeks?"

"This thing again?" Ron grumbled.

"It's serious," Ila said. "Something's telling me that it's important. I don't know…with" – Ila glanced both ways before leaning in and whispered – "You Know Who potentially back, all of a sudden Malfoy starts to act invisible. He doesn't go around making fun of anyone, only with his friends, and only then he doesn't actively do anything. He just stands there."

"That's still just as bad," Hermione said.

"Not if your Draco Malfoy, the guy who will do anything to be the centre of attention." Hermoine looked slightly convinced, but it seemed Ron wasn't having any of it.

"Is that it? He isn't making fun of anyone anymore?"

"No," Ila said. "There was the night in the forest during the Cup Final, where he warned us about where the Death Eaters were going."

"Yeah, and also called Hermione a mudblood," Ron countered.

"He could've let us go down any path, and yet there he was, directing us to the safest path, away from everyone…Fine," Ila said, thinking of another example since Ron wasn't satisfied. "Well…remember when I accidentally fell off my broom from the Quidditch game?"

"You mean the time you risked your life for a Quidditch game that didn't even count?" Hermione countered.

"Malfoy said the same thing," Ila said. "When I was up in the air, he started telling me that I should come down. He told me that I shouldn't be doing this all for a stupid Quidditch game. And then I told him that he's been acting weird all this time, but he kept on denying it, so I got annoyed, went to grab the snitch and then…well, that's when I fell."

"Is that it?" Ron said. "Are you sure that's how it happened? Because when I went up there, that's not how it looked."

"How did it look then?" Ila asked.

"I didn't see the conversation, but I saw Malfoy's wand out just when you fell off your broom. That's when I pushed him away and caught you and then brought you down."

"Well, yeah, maybe he had his wand out because I don't know, I fell off my broom. Maybe he was levitating me back."

Before an argument could ensue between Ron and Ila, Hermione jumped in and asked, "Is there anything else that might have happened between you that made you think it was a bit weird?"

Suddenly, she didn't want to tell her friends about how he fixed her glasses, or how he stopped his friends from being rude to her and her friends or about the Ravenclaw stuff.

She knew they wouldn't believe her.

She supposed that a part of her couldn't really believe it either. So instead, she told them about what happened during the Care of Magical Creatures.

"He said that the stunt that I pulled during the Quidditch match was stupid."

"That's supposed to be a compliment?"

"Sounds like for him. The guy can't be nice to anyone but him, Mione."

"No, and then he said that I could have gotten killed. Why the hell would he care if I had gotten killed? Not to mention that before that thing, I nearly - but not really - crushed his head with the bucket-"

"Why didn't you?"

" – and then he complained, telling me that I could have killed him, and I said that I would have if no one were there-"

"Isn't that a bit violent?"

"And he said, 'and you're the one who tells me that I'm the one who wants to hurt you' What the hell does that mean?"

"That he has a cr-"

"Finish that sentence and see what happens," Ila threatened, causing Ron to roll his eyes.

"What do You – Know – Who has anything to do with this?" Hermione asked.

"Because he could back."

Because he is back, Ila told herself.

"Yeah, so then why would Malfoy….change...his personality?" Hermione said, almost thinking her thoughts aloud. "Unless…he knows too."

"His father was one of those Death Eaters, wasn't he?" Ila said. "His followers would have to know too."

"Yeah…but…why?...you said he wanted to become invisible…so maybe he wanted to not get any attention on himself so that he can…."

"Work for him without anyone realising," Ila said darkly. The three stared at each other.

"But he's a kid," Ron said for the first time defending Malfoy. "He wouldn't do that, would he?"

"You Know Who took anyone who had even had the slightest interest in the Dark Arts," Hermione said. "Dumbledore took anyone that had the slightest interest in helping."

"So what help would he want from Malfoy?" Ila asked. The three remained silent as they tried to come up with the answer.

"Maybe that's why he's changing his personality," Ron said out of the blue.

"Why?"

"Well, he's nicer now, to everyone, including Ila. Even complimenting her," Ron said slowly, waiting for the two to catch up with his thoughts. "And we all know who You – Know – Who hates…so, why not make one her classmates be nice to her just to get closer to her and…."

"Kill her," Ila said solemnly. She turned around to the Slytherin table. Malfoy sat there, sipping his pumpkin juice with his friends. It would make sense. It was probably the most reasonable explanation out there. He was going to use her. And yet, the tremor shook again. Something didn't feel right.

"We have to tell Dumbledore," Hermione said.

"No," Ila said, swivelling back. She could feel a pair of eyes on her but remained calm. "We need proof if we're going to tell him this. His father'll probably end up knowing, and he's probably the reason how Malfoy started working for Him in the first place and so if his father knows-"

"He'll know," Ron said. "So what're we going to do then?"

Ila was quiet, trying to think of a plan, when she looked over at her schedule. Potions with Slytherins, first period.

"We're going to need to go the dungeons," she said slyly.

"This isn't the way to the dungeons," Hermione noted as they found themselves walking towards the familiar route to the Defence Classroom.

"Yeah, I realise I was thinking of the wrong day," Ila said. "We have potions in the afternoon, don't we?"

"Last period."

"We could always sneak in…and..er – OW!"

Ron was behind the two girls, who didn't know what was going on. But from the way he spoke, it didn't sound like Ron was in pain. Strange. The two girls shared a glance before turning on their heels to see the French Veela from last night and Ron on the floor, the two collecting her books. Well, it was mostly Ron, who looked so happy that the girl even gave him a minute of her day.

Merlin, are boys really that pathetic?

"S-sorry about that," Ron said, his voice sounding like it had been pushed down several octaves. He handed the books. Ila saw the Veela take the books from him, making sure their hands brushed upon each other. Ron looked like he could have died happy.

Hermione scoffed.

"It's not your fault; she bumped into you," she said scornfully.

Why couldn't Ila get guys to look like that whenever she was around them?

"Excusez Moi, little girl, but I don't remember you being a part of ze conversation? Did you?" she asked Ron.

He stared blankly at her before looking at Hermione, who lifted a brow at him, daring him to answer.

"Er - " he said dumbly. "Well - " he took glances at both girls before running in the direction of the classroom.

"I don't know who you're calling, little girl. There're only a few years between us."

"It does not matter 'ow old you are," the girl said, stepping forward. "You will always be beneath me. Zat is what matters."

Hermione looked the girl up and down. "I hardly think I'm below a grown woman perving and manipulating little boys."

She took Ila by the arm, and the two girls left the Veela to their defence classroom. Once they were a safe distance away, Hermione took a deep breath.

"Oh my god, I thought she was going to kill me," she said, exhaling.

"I never knew you had that in you," Ila said proudly.

"It's not my fault she's annoying. C'mon."

"Glad to see everyone had the time to make it to my lesson," Moody grumbled as they entered the classroom to see all of the class was already there, waiting. The tables and chairs had been pushed to the edges of the classroom, leaving the middle bare. Ila and Hermione put their bags away and joined the rest of the group.

" – While it is dangerous, this is something you all need to do and overcome - "

"Ron, do you know what we're doing?" Ila whispered. He shrugged.

"Oi! Seamus!" The sandy-haired boy turned around. "What're we doing?"

Seamus mouthed, "I don't know!" before turning to Dean, probably asking the same question. The way that Ila knew this was because, Dean too, had no idea what was going on. Dean then turned to Neville, who stood at the front of the group and whispered something in his ear. It seemed that just as Neville was about to answer, Moody beat him to it.

"Maybe I should let you all go instead of having this lesson…first, students are ten minutes late, wasting my precious time, and now they haven't even been listening to what I've been saying. What did I tell you? CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

The group remained silent.

"Are we actually send us away - "

"No!" Moody yelled. "Just get in line; you'll find out either way."

Hearing this, the class slowly formed a line, though no one really wanted to go first. Every time someone had managed to get to the front, they quickly ran to the back of the line when Moody turned around. The new person at the front did the same, and it went on until Ila reached the front and –

"Wonderful," Moody said as he turned around, and Ila groaned internally. She prayed that she wouldn't be another guinea pig for her professors. "First thing's first, I want you to clear your mind."

It felt like Ila was surrounded by red curtains, large pillows and a horrid smell of burning incense. But not wanting to annoy Moody any longer, she closed her eyes and…

Well, since her mind was clear, she wasn't really thinking of anything. She pictured that she was in a white room filled with doors. Every time a thought appeared, a door opened. Ila pictured herself running to the door and closing before the person the thought was related to stepped in. She found that it happened several times. She met with the faces of Moody, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Ron, Hermione, Fleur, Malfoy and…Ila was about to close the door when she saw that the door didn't have a person behind it. It lead to another place. A room. A cold, dusty room, with the light from the fireplace being the only thing that lit the room up. There was an old chair in the middle of it, the only piece of furniture that she could see. A rat-like man was kneeling at the foot of the chair, his arms clasped around another's, though she couldn't see who. A woman in red appeared from the darkness. Ila couldn't hear what they were saying. She took one step out of the door. She must have made a sound. The woman looked up. Ila couldn't see what she looked like properly. Her face looked blurred. She tried to place features on the woman, but none looked right. However, without any eyes, Ila could tell that the woman had seen her. The red cloak billowed in the wind as she walked closer and closer and closer to the until –

SLAM!

Ila shut the door, leaning against it just in case.

"Have you done it?" Moody's voice echoed in the room. Ila opened her eyes. She nodded.

"Look me in the eyes."

Ila did as she was told, staring into Moody's eyes. She felt slightly concerned, considering this was the first time both eyes were on her. It felt like it was double the intimidation. Just like how his glass eye could look through wood, it felt like it was looking through her. In her peripheral vision, Ila could see Moody take his wand and point it at her.

"Don't concentrate on the wand. Keep looking at me," Moody said, though it didn't bring her any comfort. But before she could back out, a light blue mist clouded Ila's vision. She wasn't sure if anyone else saw it, but she was smiling. Merlin, she's never felt this happy before. It felt like she was walking on clouds. Ila looked down at her feet. The ground had disappeared. She was literally walking with clouds! She started laughing. She was really walking on clouds. She couldn't wait to tell Ron and Hermione.

"Hello, Ila," a voice said. The best way she could describe the voice was as if mist could talk. It was like it was emerging from the clouds themselves.

"Who is this?"

"Why don't you do a backflip on the clouds for me?"

Ila laughed again. She felt her limbs move around. Her legs shifted beneath her while her arms were in front of her. She crouched halfway when -

Why was she doing this again? She straightened herself and moved her legs and arms back to normal. She didn't want to do a backflip. So why was she going to do one?

"You're not in the mood for a backflip, are you? Fine…how about jumping through the clouds? That sounds more fun."

Ila felt herself agree with the mist, and her legs and arms were moving in the starting position. She walked to the edge of the cloud. She peered below to see the ground a very long way down. She was elated. She was ready. She wanted to jump. Ila took a step closer. With the next, she put on foot out. She couldn't believe she was balancing on the cloud. She was ready to fall forward.

She stopped in her tracks. Why was she here? Why was she on the edge? She didn't want to jump off the clouds. She wanted to stay there. Why was she going to do that? She tried to put her foot back onto the cloud, but it wouldn't budge. It was stuck. Why was her foot stuck?

"Jump, Ila," the voice whispered in her ear. "You know you want to."

Does she? She pushed her leg back again. There was still resistance. "I don't want to," Ila said to the air. She pushed harder. Her leg finally moved an inch or two before it stopped once more.

"I know what's best for you, Ila. You need to jump!"

Her leg was beginning to rise again; this time, it was quicker than before. But with all her might, Ila stopped her leg. "No! I'm not jumping off!"

With one final push, Ila slammed her foot on the floor before she felt herself fall on the cloud. The clouds beneath her were vanishing. They turned from pure white to a muddy brown that looked very similar to the floorboards of the – oh.

The blue mist had vanished. Ila now knew where she truly was all this time. She wasn't up in the clouds. She was on the floor of the Defence Classroom with the entire Gryffindor class staring at her in amazement. Moody lent her a hand. She took it but found the grip was harder than what was needed. She was pulled to her feet within an instant.

"Well, that wasn't supposed to happen," Moody said, patting Ila hard on the back. "You were supposed to do what I told you to!" It was meant to sound like a joke, but no one laughed.

"What – er – what happened?" Ila asked Moody.

"You were supposed to jump, but you didn't for some reason," Moody muttered.

"You put her under the Imperius Curse," Hermione said, stunned. "On our first lesson, you told that anyone who uses the Unforgivable would go to Azkaban."

Moody snorted. "I'm not going to Azkaban, lassie. I had permission from Dumbledore to place the curses on you. You can't expect to understand what it's like if you've never been put under it before. How else are you going to know what's happened to you?"
Hermione wasn't convinced but seeing the excitement of other students waiting to be put under the curse; she said nothing.

"Now you see Potter here has managed to overcome two of the three Unforgivable," Moody said. "Let's see if third time's charm…" – Moody pushed Ila back into the group and began writing on the blackboard. "Now…."

Ila could still feel the remnants of Moody's voice in her mind as well as the feeling of walking on clouds by the time this lesson and the lesson after which was Transfiguration had finished. It was so bad that as they walked to Library, she kept bumping into many people, too focused on what was going on beneath her legs. It was strange. She felt like she was going to fly. She was so scared she would fly away like her auntie during her third year, she gripped Hermione's arm until they reached their table or at least they thought they did.

"What is he doing there?" Hermione asked, stopping so abruptly, she elbowed Ila.

Hermione, spending so much time in the library, always had a table that she would go to. It was next to the Magical Creatures section, a section where barely anyone uses. Everyone knew it was her table and knew not to sit at that table. However, being from a different school, Viktor Krum didn't understand the ins and outs of Hogwarts' library Politics and made the unfortunate mistake of sitting at Hermione's table.

"Leave him, Mione, let's just find a – and she's gone."

Ila and Ron quickly followed Hermione to her table, bracing for what was about to come.

"Hey!" Hermione said, making sure not to speak too loudly. Viktor looked up. A moment of surprise hit him before quickly going back to his nonchalant expression. "You're at my table."

Instantly, Viktor began packing up his things.

"No, don't worry, it's fine, you can sit back down," Ron quickly said before whispering to Hermione, "he isn't doing anything wrong. Let him sit there."

"Ron, this is my table. Everyone knows that."

"Well, he's not everyone is."

"Just because he's some mediocre Quidditch player - "

Ron gasped loudly, startling Krum, confused if he should pack his things and leave or stay. He was frozen.

"Some mediocre player? What is actually wrong with you, Hermione!"

Knowing where this was going to go and not wanting to spend the rest of her lunch listening to her friends argue, she quietly told them that she would start her work before leaving them. She walked a bit further down and searched through the bookshelves for a Latin translation book. Squatting down to the lowest bookshelf, it was only then did she find the book that she needed. Her friends were more than likely still arguing with one another as well as Krum, so she dropped her bag, sat on the floor and got to work deciphering what Trewlany told her that was so important it meant cutting her hand open and have her grandmother's ashes mixed in with the blood of Ila. She still shivered at the thought.

As she translated the paragraphs, she felt…well, her first thought was –

"Bullshit!"

"In what day soever I shall call upon thee, since the power of mine, is a place by me and to the help of the spirits of my grandmother, help me to look to the future of Ila Potter."

She really did use her grandmother, Ila thought.

She soon translated what Trelawney told her in that voice that she used last year.

"Ila Potter, your life has ever been disturbed, but it will be worse.

A splinter under your skin will be the first.

It will keep pinching and bending until it explodes.

A hate that brought much pain brews within the folds.

You will meet friends along the way, perhaps something like love.

But your time is limited. Your time is close.

You will have to face him again. They cannot overcome the Man Who Has No Name.

You will have to face him, Ila. Soon. Sooner than you think."

Ila felt that tremor shake in her core once more when she re-read the translation. The bookshelves seemed to elongate, towering over her. The feeling of being on clouds never truly left her. The ground didn't seem stable. It felt like any moment it would collapse onto her. She felt like she was going to be sick. She wondered if she threw up on her work, would that mean she wouldn't have any homework for Divination? Ila looked back down at her paper. While it has been a while since she saw that dream of Wormtail, the women and…she would always push those thoughts away because she knew that she would fall in the deep abyss and never come out of it. Reading that translation – however unreliable it was – felt like someone had pushed her off the edge. She was falling. There was nothing to stop her. There was nothing to grab onto. There was no net beneath her to protect her. She had to keep falling. Ila groaned at the pounding on her head, like someone was repeatedly hitting a glass of butterbeer against her head.

"Are you alright?" a voice beside her asked.

"I'm…" Losing my shit because I might have to face my fears when, to be honest, I'm not really in the mood for it? "…I'm alright."

Ila heard the person beside her crouch. A hand pulled her chin gently towards them. Ila finally opened her eyes.

"Look's like you've got a nasty cut on your head," Cedric Diggory said. His thumb ran alongside the cut, making sure there wasn't much pressure on it. "How did that get there?"

"There're a few possibilities," Ila said.

He smiled. "Why am I not surprised?"
She wasn't sure why she was feeling like this. Usually, being this close to Cedric Diggory made her insides squirm, and she felt like she would throw up a thousand butterflies, but right now…she felt nothing. Cedric got up, extending a hand to her. Ila didn't take it.

"I need to finish some things first," Ila said, looking at the floor. When she looked at her homework, there was a drop of blood staining the paper.

"You need to go to Madame Pomfrey," Cedric said.

"I'll go afterwards," Ila said. For some reason, she was starting to get annoyed with Cedric. He didn't do anything wrong. But he wasn't leaving her alone—something she really needed right now.

"Now's not the time to be stubborn, Ila - "

"I'm not stubborn," she said through gritted teeth.

"You need to get that checked out."

"And I said that I'd get it checked after I've finished my work," she said. She took a random book from the shelf and began reading it, hoping it would make him go away.

"I'm not letting you go without getting that checked out," Cedric said, crouching down once more.

"A small cut isn't my biggest problem now," Ila seethed. "Now, can you just leave alone?"
Cedric sighed. "It's not that hard; it'll be just - "

"For fuck's sake, can you not take a fucking hint? I don't want you here!" Ila cursed. Cedric's expression went blank. He didn't know what to say. He blinked a few times before he got up.

"Your wish," he muttered before leaving her.

"Shit!" Ila whispered. She felt her vision begin to blur even with her glasses on. Drops of her tears hit her glasses. She pulled them off and began wiping them away. But it didn't stop them. Ila's throat tightened like someone pulling a rope around her neck hard. She couldn't stop. But she can't cry here. Not in the library.

Ila grabbed her things, shoving everything in her bag, and a blur left the Library. She was sure that her friends were still arguing with Viktor when she walked past them. She didn't stop when she reached the Great Hall. She didn't stop when she reached her Charms classroom. She didn't stop when she reached the Transfiguration classroom. She quickly took her Map out. She knew there was a corridor somewhere – a shortcut to the Potion's classroom. She took two lefts and then a right, all the while keeping everything in.

It wasn't until she reached the empty hallway did she collapse onto the floor and let everything out. She tried to muffle her cries with her sleeves, but it wasn't working. It was too much. It seemed that as she was crying, every single fear that worried her bubbled up to the surface. She wished she didn't have to fight Voldemort. She wished it wasn't her. Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't Dumbledore just do it? She wished she still had her parents around. She wished they were there to comfort her. She wished she didn't feel so alone.