Chapter 34: Thunderstorm

"We're practising non-verbal spells."

"In general, or with specific spells?" Cressida questions. Elias continues smiling as he and the Prewett brothers rearrange the desks and chairs of a classroom with their wands. The furniture scraps across the ground, lining up neatly against each of the walls.

Fabian shrugs, answering her question. "We have a few we need to know for exams, but it can't hurt to practice with others as well."

Gideon nods to his brother, stretching his arms around. "Especially in duels."

"You're planning on becoming Aurors?" Cressida inquires further.

There's a short silence between them as they all glance at each other. Cressida narrows her eyes slightly, wondering what their small glances at each other are trying to say. "Sort of," Elias answers. "We don't know if we want to be officially Aurors, but with everything happening outside of Hogwarts, we want to help."

Her brows only furrow further. "Is it getting worse?" Admittedly, she hadn't been keeping up with the news out of plain distaste for the journalists. She has heard whispers of events, but she is blind to the extent of them. "I thought the Ministry would have done something by now."

"The Ministry," Gideon sighs, "is as useless as frog legs outside of France. The Aurors do what they can, but there are regulations that they have to follow and it's just preventing them from actually being able to stop these cult mask wearers."

Cressida sits on one of the tables pushed against the wall, folding her arms. "So you guys are going to fight the Death Eaters without becoming Aurors?" she puts together. "Won't you, like, run into trouble with that? The Ministry would try and stop you guys."

"Perhaps," Fabian says, striding along the room with his wand in hand. "But there's an organisation that's being put together formally, specifically to fight against the Dark Wizards and from what I hear, it's working with the Ministry."

"It's not working with the Ministry," Elias corrects, joining them in the middle of the floor. "The Ministry is tolerating it." He looks back to her with a soft, yet intense gaze. "This isn't general knowledge. Best to keep it to yourself."

Cressida nods firmly, keen to assure them of her secrecy. "And you want to join?" she asks all three of them. They all nod. As they prepare themselves to practice their spellwork, Cressida leans against the wall. An organisation to fight against the growing power of the Dark Wizards? How did these three find out about it while still being at Hogwarts?

Fabian and Elias duel first. They each take turns on the offensive, the other strictly sticking to protego and other shielding spells. Fabian appears to be quite a natural at it, almost all his spells working perfectly non-verbal. They soon switch and Cressida watches intently as Elias and Fabian swap. The darker-skinned boy is clearly more a quicker striker, but his spells are not as powerful, with more faltering with more complex spells.

"How'd your session with McGonagall go?" Gideon asks her, leaning against the desk she's perched on. "The careers interview?"

"Fine," she replies easily. "I put down Curse-Breaker as my first choice as McGonagall thinks I would be good at it." She almost speaks up about the more confidential side of her conversation with the Head of House, especially after their revealing of a secret organisation, but it does not yet feel right to discuss when she hasn't even mentioned it to her own friends first. "James and Sirius both put down Aurors," she continues. "Remus was talking about doing some further study in Potion making. Peter doesn't really know yet so he put down working in the Ministry for some branch."

"Curse-Breaker, eh?" Gideon ponders. Red sparks light through the room as a spell bounds off Fabian's protection charm. "You'd have to be good at Charms for that. From what I hear though, charms are your talent."

Cressida smiles with closed lips, cheeks pressing her eyes narrower. "I'd like to think so," she replies, careful not to toot her own horn too much. It's hard - when you've been constantly told your whole life that you have a natural talent in something to not show it off. It's what a person knows that brings them praise. It makes part of them.

"What about defensive spells? How are you tracking along in D.A.D.A?"

This time she shrugs before answering. "I was doing fine up until this year. I'm just behind on work."

A wolfish grin plants on Gideon's face. "Well, you are with a group that has excelled at the class," he drawls out. "So how about some practice? Oi!" Elias and Fabian put a momentary pause to their duelling and Cressida retracts her neck unsurely. "I think Cressida needs a little practice as well." The other two only shrug with nonchalant smiles, tucking their wands away. Fabian pats the table next to her leg. "So. What do you want to practice?"

"Oh, uh." Cressida looks between all three to see if they truly don't mind. "I really need some practice on the Everte Statum spell."

Almost simultaneously, Elias and Gideon step back, holding their hands up to volunteer themselves to sit out, leaving a reluctant Fabian. His shoulders slump at the realisation, only pulling his wand out with a sigh. Cressida tries to hide her smile but fails when both Gideon and Elias call out taunting cheers.

Finding the same spot they were on before, Cressida holds her wand at the ready while Fabian takes a similar stance. She isn't sure if he's going to use a defensive spell against it. "Ready?" she asks. His lips press tightly together, giving her a single nod. Swallowing, she adjusts her footing ever so slightly. "Everte Statum."

A spark of orange light protrudes from the tip of her wand. It collides with Fabian's chest, who has failed to take any defensive measure. He lets out a startled 'oomph' as his body flies backwards, landing a mere metre away from the stacked chairs.

From the sidelines, Elias and Gideon holler with laughter, clapping their hands with wild hoots between. Cressida smirks good-naturedly, curtseying to the crowd. Fabian pulls himself back up, already breathing hard. "Probably should have said that it's more the theory side that I'm struggling with. Sirius has a tendency to experiment with spells and I sort of catch on."

"Yeah," Fabian coughs. "I think I got that." He thumps his own chest with the side of his fist.

They practice a little more, all four of them taking turns with spells ranging from humorous results to more destructive ones. Fortunately Cressida is skilled enough to repair all the damages made in their afternoon study. By the time they decide to leave, each of them has at least three bruises and sore joints, whimpering as they collect their belongings.

They arrive back in the Common Room which is quieter than usual for a Thursday night. "Feel free to join us if you ever want some practice," Elias grins, squeezing her shoulder. He leans closer to her ear as the twins wander in front of them, shoving each other around. "It's fun to see them have their behinds kicked."

Cressida hums knowingly. "I'm sure if they were actually in a duel with me, it'd have been the other way around. I'm not terrible at it, but it's not my main skill set."

"Perhaps not," he notes lightly, continuing to walk forward as Cressida comes to a stop. "But you definitely are a worthy opponent. And you can use charms in battle."

She doesn't have the time to agree with him as Elias turns back around, barging between the twins as they dart up the boy's seventh-year stairs to their dormitories. "So that's where you've been," Remus observes.

Cressida widens her smile, spinning slightly as her small group of friends lounge around the couch as they are typically found. Remus and James have taken the lounge, leaving a small gap between them and Peter and Sirius have each taken one of the two cushioned chairs on either side of the lounge. Naturally she would have taken the spot on the lounge, being the only proper space left, but instead she lingers closer to Sirius' large chair, dropping her bag at its feet and perches on the arm. "They were doing some practice for their exams," she explains. "Thought I'd watch them to see what we've got in store." She grins down at Sirius, wrapping an arm behind his neck loosely. "You'll be happy to know I could kick their butts."

And over-dramatisation, of course, but they don't need to know that. Sirius grins like a dog straight back up at her, flashing his straight teeth. "You've learnt from the best."

"Are you going to go out with Elias again?" James questions, his arms stretched behind his head idly. Cressida exhales slowly, glancing down at Sirius before answering. He only raises an eyebrow, not influencing her response in any way.

"I don't think so," she answers smoothly.

James tilts his head slightly. "No?"

Cressida shakes her head. "No. He's a real decent guy and we get along easily but it's… platonic." And that's the whole truth. They had an incredible time – well up until their intrusion – but even today there is nothing she feels for him, and she can read the same in his own actions. "But I think we'll stay friends at least."

James crinkles his nose, turning his eyes back to the fire. "That's shit. The platonic thing," he adds. "I thought you two seemed cute together."

Cressida nods, pressing her lips together in a rather sluggish manner. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work," she breathes, leaning against the back of the chair more. "Besides, I have enough testosterone in my life already."

"Testosterone?" Peter repeats, looking quizzically between all of them. They all return his look in a manner of disbelief. James eventually just shakes his head, leaving Cressida and Sirius to quietly chuckle and Remus to take the responsibility of explaining.

Cressida looks down at Sirius, contemplating the length of his hair. "Can I braid it?"

Sirius peers up at her with an almost disturbed or disgusted expression. "Braid my hair?" he confirms. Cressida nods with a confident smile, running her fingers through it to which he pulls away from. "I'd rather you didn't," he mutters.

She almost submits to his request, letting her hand flop back on his shoulder. But she can't help herself and brings both to the top of his head, gathering a large strand and beginning to separate it.

Cressida hears his sharp sigh. "I don't know why you bothered asking."

"You didn't strictly say no," she argues back quietly. Anything to keep her mind occupied and away from James. Tactics like this won't work forever though, and all she can hope is that whatever funny feeling she has disappears long before forever. But soon enough she finds her angle of working too tedious anyway and lets his hair fall back to its natural state, taking a single piece instead to twirl around her finger.

Against all her wishes, her eyes slowly drag over to James. He's already looking at her with a funny expression that she knows all too well. Playing along, with a small huff of silent laughter, Cressida narrows her eyes, staring straight back at him.

After a few moments, she mouths the words. "What?"

He breaks whatever character he's been holding in place, his head falling forward in silent chuckles much like her own. He lifts his head again, smiling mostly from the right side of his mouth and his head tilts in the same direction. "Nothing," he mouths.

A loud crack of thunder echoes through the tower, the hard pounding of rain against the windows soon following. Her eyes dart to the glass, watching as the dark blue sky seems almost black with no stars or moonlight passing through the storm clouds.

Thunderstorm.

Every muscle in her form stiffens and tightens, and trying to remain as subtle as possible, she glances over all of her friends, wondering if they realise the same thing. They do. It takes James a moment, but she notices his sudden edginess, and the way he sits up straighter. Peter, ever so in-tuned with his leader's actions follows suit though she isn't sure he realises why. From under her arm, Sirius takes another moment and a small tap from her fingers to draw his attention away from his daydreams and soon he figures it out too.

Nobody knows what to do with Remus sitting right there.

Cressida opens her mouth, another few seconds of silence sitting before she can manage something. "Sirius and I are going to sneak down to the kitchens," she says loudly. "I'm craving a hot chocolate."

Remus only glances at them, nodding in acknowledgement. "Bring me some chocolate if you remember."

Cressida nods, sliding off the chair as Sirius follows closely behind her. "Of course," she smiles.

James also pushes himself off the lounge slowly. "Which reminds me," he trails off. "I have, a, uh, secret passageway that I wanted to check out. I'm going to get the cloak." He quickly darts off to his room before Remus can question him.

"I'm going with James," Peter adds meekly.

Remus looks funnily at all of them, chuckling hesitantly. "I guess I'll just…stay here then?" he says, posing it as more of a question. Cressida glances at Sirius, shifting her weight over each foot.

"Just chill out for a while, mate," Sirius says in a manner more casual than she would have managed at this time. "You're free to come with us if you want, you just look tired so we assumed you'd want an early night."

Cressida smiles with a meek nod in agreeance to Sirius. The perplexed look on Remus' face settles back into something more natural. "Yeah, actually. I might head to bed early." He almost looks relieved at the idea.

James trots back down the stairs, cloak in hand and the potions tucked inside it. To make it clear to him that he has no need to add an excuse, Sirius salutes Remus mockingly before heading towards the portrait, followed by Peter and Cressida and finally James.

They wander just out of sight of the Fat Lady when James unravels the cloak, spreading it over all four of them. "Let's go find out if we did this right."