A big thank you to the followers, and for any new readers that were intrigued and clicked on this story. I want to say a big thank you to Bambiisavenging in particular: im so glad you enjoyed the first chapter enough to share your thoughts!

Without any further ado:

Chapter 2:

Shadows

Dessie Gray didn't exactly understand why she was in Gryffindor. There was nothing wrong with the house, not by any means, but it had never struck her as the personification of her. She didn't feel particularly brave, nor was she typically outspoken or brash. In fact, she was a fairly nervous person. If anything, she would have expected to comfortably settle into Ravenclaw, or perhaps Slytherin, as the rest of her family were. She would have vastly preferred that, to be totally honest.

Truthfully, she didn't get on with her housemates. Sure, she spent a lot of time with the other girls in her dorm, that's to be expected after having lived with them for six years, but she didn't go out of her way to make friends with them. She should have, she would have been a lot less lonely if she did- but they didn't talk much to her either. At this point, it would be just weird to try to get closer to them. Which isn't very Gryffindor behaviour.

They had never given her reason to be embittered towards them, but she was jealous of her Slytherin brother and cousin. They were in a house that supported their ambitions and passions, and were surrounded by strong, like minded people. Dessie was desperate for a camaraderie such as that. Thus, in the absence of such affections- she had turned to books.

Shakespeare was her favourite. While not always relatable, the dramas and comedies had scratched a before unknown itch deep in her soul. She had been gifted an illustrated copy of A Midsummer's Night's Dream when she turned ten which, looking back, was probably deeply inappropriate. Yet, it had struck up a spark deep within her core, and had left her starry eyed for weeks. She had skipped all about the house, learning off Puck's monologues by heart and performing them in front of her amused parents and stuffed teddy bears with vigour. Shakespeare was her passion, but Midsummers was her comfort.

A comfort that she now indulged in, ignoring the stares she had garnered from her table. Word of that disastrous Divinations class had spread quickly and she was the topic of the latest Hogwarts gossip. Gently, she carded her hand through her hair, pulling it forward slightly to shield the inflamed skin from view. She could still feel eyes boring into the side of her head, anxiety building as a product of the increased amounts of unwanted attention.

She had just about had it when a gangly form dropped into the bench beside her, slinging a pale freckled arm about her shoulder.

Monty Gray grinned down at his sister and, in typical sibling fashion, she found her irritation rising despite him saying and doing nothing at all.

With a sniff, he silently prodded her brow. A moment of contemplation passed. He nodded.

"That's lookin' rough, Des."

She blanched, not wholly unsurprised. Monty was a man of few words- she felt he was a bit embarrassed of their family's thick Irish brogue, an accent that she herself had softened purposefully during her first year in Hogwarts. she had already felt like an outsider among the Brits, she thought it would help her to seem more relatable to the other Gryffindors. However, with time around her siblings and parents, it returned full force, as if it never left.

"Ye' look like ye' got in a wee fight with a werewolf."

"Cheers, Monty, you're makin' me feel like a princess."

"All in a day's work. Have ye' told Ma' yet?"

She cringed at the thought, and Monty nodded in understanding.

"Fair enough. See ye' in Defence."

He swung his gangly legs over the bench, patted her shoulder in a goodbye and shuffled off out of the Great Hall with his back bowed in that way "cool" teenagers do, as if his head were too heavy for his body.

"Well that was one of the weirdest encounters I've ever seen."

Instantaneously, her jaw locked, her blood began boiling and her eyes narrowed into slits. She turned the stony gaze to the boys little ways down the table.

"That was perfectly normal, thank ye'."

"Gray that was the farthest thing from normal I've ever seen- and considering my family that's saying something." Black said, leaning his head on his propped up fist. The usual suspects surrounded him, their previous conversation fizzling out as they listened in.

"I don't need nor want your opinion on my family." It seemed her entire body had seized up, and she practically snarled the words. Black's brows shot towards his hairline and he held out his hands in a mock placating manner. He opened his mouth to respond, but James cut in before he had the chance.

"Will you be at practice tonight? First match of the year is a week away and we really need all hands on deck."

"Not tonight, I have a Defence essay to finish," she shook her head "But I will be there tomorrow morning."

"If you keep skipping practice, the team will have to find a new Beater." Black said cooly, and Dessie narrowed her eyes.

"I'm missing one practice," She shrugged, sipping from her mug as she stared cooly at the boy. "You missed this year's try-outs yet you're still on the team."

"I'm a far better player than most, Gray."

Dessie scoffed. "You're hardly Roddie Plumpton."

"And you're completely expendable."

"Do you have some sort of quarrel with me, Black?" Dessie sniped, taken aback by his retort. There was so much malice behind those words, an ache formed behind her eyes, and she hoped to Merlin she didn't give him the satisfaction of crying.

"Not really, but I do have a problem with you inviting snakes to the table- 'specially in this growing political climate." He drawled. Dessie's jaw clenched shut, her ears burning red as he shucked a newspaper atop her plate. She pushed it away with a frown, not interested in the least in his everyone Vs. Slytherin fear mongering.

"Mind your own business then."

She swung off the bench, marching off. She didn't even get to finish her coffee. Fuckin' knob. Who does he think he is? She hiked her satchel up further on her shoulder with an upset huff. There had been talk of an extremist anti-muggle group growing rapidly through Britain, with whispers of the upper class Slytherins being recruited into their ranks. But to insinuate that Monty would join such despicable company… it was an insult to the entire Gray line.

Rage bubbled deep in her gut. Five damned years in this school, and she was able to totally avoid spending time with Potter and his cronies- the marauders as they were endearingly dubbed by McGonagall. There was nothing endearing about them. They were a bunch of vile bullies with a superiority complex, thinking they were so much cleverer than everyone else around them. Always strutting about, harassing her roommates, antagonising the Slytherins, looking down on anyone that doesn't run in their limited group like a piece of dogshit. Morgana bless anyone that ends up procreating with them.

Halting outside the Potions classroom, she took a deep breath. Her head was running too fast, so fast a headache was starting to sprout above her ears, reaching to the fresh scar on her brow, now throbbing in pain. Whimpering, she massaged the area for a moment, shaking her head.

"Are you alright?" Stifling a groan, she turned her head, meeting Lily's eyes. Slughorn was at the redheads' side, cautiously looking between his students.

Dessie nodded, forcing a smile and pushing the classroom door open, holding it as the two walked past her, Lily Evans peering worriedly at the girl. She loped behind them, making her way quickly to her station. Lily came to a stop beside her, and she stifled another groan.

She didn't have ill will for the other redhead, not at all, in fact Lily was quite lovely- she just wasn't Dessie's kind of person. She was outgoing, confident and well-liked by everyone, something that Dessie couldn't relate to no matter how she tried, and at this point it felt too awkward to attempt to incorporate herself into Lily's group.

"Have you started that essay for Defense yet?" With a start, Dessie realised that the question was directed at her, Lily's green eyes glittering as she awaited an answer. Dessie cleared her throat.

"Er, yeah I have, I haven't made much progress with it, the regulations around the curses always trip me up, especially because they differ a wee bit back home. What about you?"

"I haven't even touched that section! I've been mainly focusing on the origin of the language used and how it was…"

A haze formed, Lily's voice fading as an explosion of stars flashed across Dessie's eyes. She forced herself to nod politely, processing that her housemate was still talking, her mouth moving, but the words seemed to fizzle and evaporate before it could reach her ears. An opaque silhouette of a figure formed as of from smoke, blowing right past the students now taking their places at the workstations. This smokey form paced the floor, Dessie following its travels with a slackened jaw. This apparition was unlike anything she had witnessed, it wasn't a ghost like the ones that roamed the halls of Hogwarts. It bore no similarities to the spirits from her mother's stories, it was simply a mass with the general height and stature of a man. It's features changed and shifted, as if undecided on how it presented.

"- Gray? Ms. Gray?"

With a jolt, Dessie's attention snapped to Slughorn, now gazing at her over his reading glasses with bewilderment.

"Oh, sorry, here."

The man nodded with a harrumph, continuing on down the list of students. Lily reached, touching the back of her hand gently, her brows knotted in concern.

"Are you alright? You were a million miles away."

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry…" Dessie shook her head, laughing lightly in an attempt to dissuade her concern. "Did you see that?"

Lily's brows furrowed further."See… what?"

"It must have been a trick of the light." Dessie responded, forcing her own confusion from her face, training it into a lighthearted expression despite her heart racing. "I have a bit of a headache from the accident. My minds just playing tricks on me, I think."


"You would not believe the day I've had Oz." Dessie groaned, collapsing into the yellow grass. The beaming son shone high above them, and some students had made their way to the shorefront of the lake to lap up the final warm rays before the weather took its inevitable turn. Osman Moritz hummed, eyes never leaving the sky as he sucked on a sugar quill lazily. "That one there looks like a Grim." He said, gesturing loftily to a cloud formation, ignoring the dirty look directed towards him.

"Black was giving me grief about my family, and then I got a letter from Mam this morning telling me that she was coming to the Quidditch game next week, and I haven't even told her about all this yet." She flopped backwards, arms spread above her head. She turned her face, now in line with Oz's own. "She's gonna kill me, Oz. Will you sing me a beautiful song at my funeral?"

The Hufflepuff cracked a smile. "That does sound like a bit of a debacle. Would you prefer Bowie or some Whitney?"

"Neither! The crowd would be too busy dancing along to grieve me," Dessie whined, thoroughly offended at the thought as Oz barked a laugh. "Is that your plan? Disrespecting my memory with happiness before I'm even placed in the ground? Awful friend, you are."

"You're lucky you have me and not someone like that," He jerked his chin to the right, and Dessie strained her eyes against the sun. A distance away sat Lily Evans and Severus Snape, chattering away softly while lapping up the surprisingly warm mid-October sun. "I overheard one of the Lestrange's say that he's been creating his own spells. Scary stuff."

Dessie scoffed, eyes shuttering closed. "I highly doubt that. He hasn't even shown up to Runes nor Arithmancy all week. Even if he did manage to create a spell, it would hardly be functioning."

"Ah there's the runner up-Prefect, I was wondering where she had gone," Oz laughed, then turned his gaze to squint at the pair "Oh, here comes trouble." He sang.

The trouble in question came in the form of James Potter and Sirius Black, with Remus and Pete lagging behind, chattering while gesturing wildly. The troublemakers surveyed the area, before honing in on the Gryffindor-Slytherin pair. Grins grew on their faces as they swaggered towards the pair shouting greetings, much to Lily and her Slytherin friends' aggravation. Dessie rolled her eyes and scoffed, before wincing in pain.

Water lapped at her thighs. Rough, heavy fabric scraped her forearms. Losing her footing as she yanks the mass of fabric, she stumbles into the cool water, shreiking in panic.

She blinked, the haze that suddenly formed now dispersed. The sunlight hurt, and she found herself blinking away tears in response to newly sensitive eyes.

"-If Severus is making up spells like the Lestrange girl says, he should probably have focused on one to de-grease that mop he calls hair." Oz mused, clicking his tongue as they watched the Gryffindor boys approach the pair, Lily's mood turning immediately sour. Dessie, puzzled, shot him a bemused look. "Don't be mean, Oz."

He shrugged his slender shoulders. "I have to break the Hufflepuff stereotypes somehow."

The two fell into silence as a familiar shriek tore across the shore front , Severus being sent spiralling through the air. The mass of lanky legs and long hair landed in a heap in front of them, half submerged in the Lake, cringing as the reeds poked through his now soaking clothes.

"Merlin's sake. At least I'm not that mean." Oz shook his head with a frown.

"We're doing him a favour, Lily-pad!" Sirius crooned as the girl rounded on the snickering boys.

"He needed a bath anyways!" James chimed in with a laugh.

"Merlin, aren't they awfully kind." Dessie's lip curled in a sneer, turning away from them before she caught their attention. "Do ye' have any spare sugar quills… Oz?"

The usually pale boy was now sitting ramrod straight. His fingers white as he clenched onto the long grass. He was ashen, all the blood draining from his face as he chewed on the air, unable to form words. He sucked in deep shuddering breaths, wide eyes glued to the shorefront. "Des… he's not moving…"His chest heaved violently, eyes shuttering rapidly as tears formed in his dark eyes, alarmed, she jumped to her feet, grasping his shoulder in worry.

"Des, he hasn't gotten up." His chest heaved violently, lids shuttering rapidly as tears formed in his dark eyes

The girl whipped around, eyes widening with a gasp. Severus lay twitching in the shallow lake-side, sand sticking to his slick neck and hair. Sure enough, he hadn't moved, he hadn't gotten up. Instead he was convulsing violently. "Holy shit."

Her heart stopped beating, the world slowed to a standstill, the teenagers shouting turning into a low buzzing, not dissimilar to flies hitting against an electric insect trap. Her heart restarted. She broke into a sprint without a second thought, hitting the sand and leaping through the green water to get to the boy. Severus was much taller than she was, all knees and limbs but she did her best to turn him onto his back. His head lolled, eyes white in its sockets as he choked on seemingly nothing. The still water where he had landed was deeper than it initially seemed. She attempted to hook her arms beneath his shoulders and drag him, rough fabric scratching against her skin.

"Ohhhhh is someone having a loser pool party Gray!?" A sniggering voice called out. As she whipped her head about searching for help in panic, she lost her footing on an edge of the shore, falling deeper into the lake. It now reached her waist, soaking completely through her skirt, but she desperately maintained her grasp on the boy. She managed to lug him from the water, finally hearing splashing grow closer to her as someone came to help.

"SOMEONE GET MADAM POMPHREY!"


"I'm proud of you Ms. Gray, what you did to help Mr Snape was very brave." McGonagall lay a gentle hand on her shoulder. Dessie nodded absently, mesmerised by the flickering fire before her, replaying the limp sight of Severus in the hospital bed in her mind. He's alright. Pomphrey helped him, he's recovering.

Dessie thanked the house-elf that appeared at her shoulder to hand her a hot chocolate. The steaming mug seared her palms. She barely noticed, relishing the heat. She felt cold to her bones, an iciness had spread throughout her body, inching its way through every bit of her vascular system until it reached her heart where she was sure it would freeze the organ, stopping it beating in its tracks.

A knock sounded at the door, and McGonagall muttered an apology, squeezing her shoulder. "I'll be just a moment." The comforting hand disappeared, leaving Dessie alone to track the path of the flame eating along the wood. Her jaw clenched, heat building behind her eyes, her mind in a flurry.

Those boys could have killed him-

Lily didn't even stop to notice her best friend was drowning-

They're such bullies-

Oz had such an extreme reaction, I hope he's alright-

Morgana, they're such bullies-

That was so traumatic, I hope everyone is alright-

But what caused that iciness to finally grip her heart wasn't the image of Severus choking on his own vomit, eyes rolling into the back of his head as some spilled from his gaping mouth onto her cardigan. It wasn't the sound of Lily screaming as the gravity of the situation finally settled in. Hell, it wasn't even the strange absence of Oz- who, when she had finally looked up with sweat and tears stinging her eyes, had disappeared entirely.

What truly caused that icicle of fear to impale her heart was the fact that she had sensed it happen moments before it did. She had felt the water lapping at her legs. She had felt her legs loose purchase on the sand beneath her feet, staggering deeper into the water.

Her lip quivered, pain searing across her newly scarred brow. McGonagall shuffled back into the room just in time to see the young girl let out a pitiful mewl. A dam had broken, and now tears streamed freely down Dessie's face as she wailed.

The Head of House cooed comfortingly as she rubbed circles into the girls back, nodding in response as the girl gasped between sobs.

"I.. I just… I just really need.. need to… talk to my mam."