Chapter 4: Enemy
"Deli, seriously. What do you-"
"STOP. CALLING. ME. DELI. I am not your piece of meat to use as bait!" Delilah didn't know where this was coming from. Perhaps it was the years of being manipulated by her father finally reaching the surface. She shifted closer to Talbott, wand aimed at his chest.
"Deli... Er.. Delilah. I'm sorry. I never once thought of it like that. I would never use you as any sort of... bait. Nor do I have any use for such." Stealthily, he grabbed his wand in his pocket but didn't pull it out quite yet.
"Ha. Why else would you be calling me Deli?"
"It reminded me of the word 'delicate'." He blushed before finally raising his ebony wand.
"I said don't move!" Her hand was shaking. "Delicate? So you've been calling me weak?!"
"If I call a flower delicate, am I calling it weak?" Talbott replied sternly.
Blushing in return, she yelled, "Ebublio!" Giant cerulean bubbles shot out of her wand. Surrounding owls flew away from the chaos that threatened their space just in time.
"Bombarda!" he immediately responded. Talbott's spell caused heated sparks of fire to explode her bubbles of captivity. Loose pieces of feather filled the air, clouding their vision.
"Is that how it's going to be?... Diffindo!"
"Protego!" An invisible wall protected Talbott from being sliced into bits. "Seriously, Deli?! What do you WANT?"
"Your secret. " She grinned. Her beak-like mouth became more serpent- like.
Talbott froze. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and it wasn't from the chilly air. He knew exactly what she was talking about despite knowing almost nothing about her. Who was this girl?
"H-How much do you know?" His hand became jittery and his fingers tightened around his weapon.
"That SOMEBODY needs to register. " Delilah's robe flickered in the gust of wind.
"As what?" Was she a Death Eater? Was this the end already?
"That I do not know. Some sort of bird though," she snickered. "And I WILL find out."
"And do what? Turn me in?" His knees rattled together both in fear and fury. "
"Something like that. Or kill you. Whichever comes first. Now, FLY! Depulso!"
Talbott managed to leap out of the way of the force emanating from her wand. One missed step and he would have slipped off the edge and been forced to save himself. He raced down the steps as if his life depended on it. He could hear Delilah's wings flapping behind him after she transformed again. She was the only owl flying towards him and not away from the scene. Though he was fleeing for his life, some part of Talbott couldn't help but notice and admire how quickly Deli was able to change.
As they reached the bottom, a voice familiar to Talbott but unknown to Delilah called out.
"Wotcher, Talbott! Whatchu running away from the owls for?" The hot pink haired girl's smile practically reached ear to ear. Her hair was spikey and short. Slightly burnt Hufflepuff robes with unidentifiable stains wrapped around her. Talbott crashed into her as he tried to stop himself. Tonks was firm and unmoving as she stopped his momentum, though he thought he saw her musculature change to get bigger as she did.
Delilah, still in owl form, landed on Talbott's shoulder. The inside of her chest was pounding and she could feel Talbott shaking from his own adrenaline beneath her claws. Her feathery face was closer to his than it had ever been. Deep down, a strange part of her desired to nuzzle him and claim later it was just part of the act. However, she refrained.
"Ah, playing hide and seek with them again? Well, I won't prank them if you're busy playing with them. I know what it's like to have a game ruined. Catch ya later!" She punched his shoulder in an oddly friendly way, then ran off. Talbott never even had to say a word to her. This seemed normal to both of them, but Delilah was a bit taken aback.
Delilah's claws released his shoulder as she landed on the grassy ground in front of him. There was a small bit of dew left, which felt cold and wet under her feet. Her transforming made him twitch, hand back on his wand. When she morphed this time, she wasn't armed.
Delilah heard the breakfast chimes from the castle, and realized she'd be missed if she didn't show up for breakfast with Rowan. Glaring at her animagus prey who had escaped her this time, she said, "Well, that was fun, but I better go meet Rowan for breakfast." Delilah breathed quickly both out of nerves and exhaustion.
"Are you kidding me? After all that and you just go to breakfast?!" Talbott hissed.
"Talbott, I'm not done with you. Remember this. I'm going to find out the rest of your secret whether you want me to or not." She flipped her winded hair as she turned to leave.
"Psh. How could I forget? Who the hell are you anyway?" he stammered, hand still on his wand.
"Delilah Tytonidae. I wasn't lying about that part." A voice in her head that was equal parts spite and hope told her to say "your new girlfriend" instead, but thankfully that didn't slip out.
"So, if I look you up, I'll find everything about you?"
"You won't find much. And if you go to any of the professors or even Dumbledore, I have direct contact with the Ministry and I WILL turn you in without knowing your final form. However, the more proof for me, the better." She turned to leave, both impressed with herself but also deeply saddened.
"Deli?"
"Hm?" Delilah looked over her dainty shoulder.
"You are like a flower after all. A god damned thorny rose." He didn't move until Delilah left, knowing that having his back to her was dangerous.
She headed for the Great Hall and met Rowan just in time.
"Delilah! Where have you been? And why do you look like you just flew through a tornado?" Rowan was picking a couple of owl feathers out of Delilah's thick hair. "Were you in the owlry?"
"Yeah, I had to meet Talbott. Nothing special. "
"Oh! Oh my gosh... Delilah, why didn't you tell me you had a date!?"
"Rowan, stop. It wasn't like that at all. It was just... a meet up." Delilah's cheeks warmed back up. Her arm reached her back in a nervous fashion.
"I promise not to tell a soul." She winked and dragged her friend to the table for the story. As they quickly ate breakfast, Delilah had to make up a tale. Rowan wouldn't believe the real one anyway.
Every week felt like a backwards step for Delilah. Talbott was hiding from her at all costs. He wasn't even in the owlry anymore, or at least not that Delilah could see. The only time she could see him was when he was protected by crowds of people.
"Wave your wand like this, not that. The flick should be short and sweet," instructed Delilah's Charms partner.
"Thanks, Ben. Deletrius." The badly drawn smiley face on Ben's sheet of paper vanished under Delilah's wand.
"Good job! You're a really good witch, Delilah. Your previous schools taught you well." Ben Copper was a strawberry blond short-haired Gryffindor with dark eyes. He excelled at Charms, but was afraid of everything else. At least, he was afraid of everything else according to other people.
"Oh, stop it," she grinned. "So anyway, you hear about the ball that's coming up?"
"The Lacustrine Ball? Yeah, I'm not going, though." He picked up his own wand and made Delilah's owl drawing disappear.
"Why not? I'm sure it'll be fun. I still have to find a date." Her mind swam with dating ideas. She could ask that bulky kid from Care for Magical Creatures. He was always super sweet to her. The red headed Gryffindor is too obsessed with dragons to be worth trying for... Tonks from Herbology seemed nice but also seems too independent for that sort of thing. No, no, no Tulip. Rowan? Nah, she didn't want to make their friendship awkward. Penny was busy running the event. Talbott...
Ben's fingers snapped inches in front of her nose. She was startled back into reality.
"Sorry, was just thinking about different date options."
"I figured. Anyway, I was saying how I'm too scared to ask anyone out, and I'll look like a fool if I go alone." He let out a deep sigh.
"You'll find someone, I promise." Her mind began to fog again before Flitwick's voice broke the conversation.
The Ravenclaw common room started off busy with eager students that evening. They didn't mess around when it came studying for O. W. Ls, except maybe Tulip who was off doing her own thing. Every few minutes it became emptier and emptier, until finally Delilah got what she was waiting for.
Talbot was writing so much he didn't even notice only he and Delilah were left.
"Talbott?"
He was spooked at first, then irritation took over. "What do you want, Deli?"
She was so used to being called that by him now that it no longer made her flinch. "I-I heard there was a ball coming up... And I-"
"Not only am I not going, but I wouldn't go with you in a million years." His writing continued again. "Go away."
"Look, I just thought maybe we could forget for a night-"
"Go. Away."
"Talb-"
As quick as an eagle catches his prey, he was on his feet with Delilah's collar in his hands. His anger burned into her heart. Ironically, Delilah didn't expect this outcome.
Without a second thought, she scratched his hands to release herself from his tight grasp. He grunted in pain before his face met Delilah's hand. She smacked him so hard that it knocked him off his feet and back into the chair. His parchment and quill fell miserably onto the carpet.
As Delilah climbed onto Talbott to wrap her fair hands around his neck, Rowan interrupted from the girl's dormitory entrance.
"Delilah, are you coming to bed? Oh... Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your alone time!" Rowan let out the strangest giggle before disappearing back down the stairs. Delilah quickly got off of Talbott.
"Alone time?" He gasped for air, feeling his face for bruising.
"Yeah, well, Rowan thinks we're..."
"That we're what?" He raised an eyebrow, now massaging his knuckles that Delilah dug into.
"Look, it's nothing. I'm gonna go," Delilah's voice broke.
"About time." Talbott picked up his things off the ground and slipped past her to his dorm.
Delilah wanted more than anything to hit him one more time before he was no longer visible. "I really hate men."
Penny had been almost non-existent since the announcement of the Lacustrine Ball. This was her second year running it. Even when Delilah and Penny had class together, she was always preoccupied taking notes about various ideas she came up with rather than chat back. It felt lonely at times, considering Penny was her first friend at Hogwarts. A chance to have a real conversation presented itself after dinner.
"Finally, FINALLY done planning. This is going to be so much fun! Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is going to have a grand time! Even Bea will talk to me again." Penny stopped Rowan and Delilah outside the Great Hall. They deliberately made their way towards their dormitories slowly, considering their dormitories were on opposite floors.
"Who are you taking, Lilah?" Penny's grin could almost be her poker face. It was always hard to tell how she was actually feeling or thinking, and what answer she was expecting.
"Nobody. I haven't found anyone yet. I might go alone." She didn't want to be reminded of the tragic rejection she experienced.
"Delilah, really? You aren't taking... you know who?" Rowan elbowed Delilah in the side mid walk, which hurt much more than she intended.
"You Know Who? The dark wizard?!" Penny exaggerated a gasp.
"No no, Delilah has a boyfriend."
Delilah started coughing, both to interrupt them and because her ribs hurt.
"I am not dating anyone Rowan! I told you a million times."
"Okay, I know I've been out of the loop, but LILAH TELL ME! Who?"
"Bloody hell, you two. I already said it is NO ONE. And why am I the only one being interrogated? Who have you guys asked or been asked by?" Delilah stopped and turned to intimidate her friends.
"Sorry, Penny. I won't be going.. Dances... aren't my thing." Rowan looked at Penny with remorse.
Penny's smile finally broke, almost in a twitch. "N-No biggie... I am going with Talbott, so Delilah if you planned to ask him, I recommend finding another date."
Delilah was taken aback. This couldn't be real. Rowan raised her eyebrows in disbelief as well.
"You mean, you already asked him?" Please say no please say no...
"I did. He was grateful. He is coming early with me to help setup as well. Said he needed a distraction from something or whatever," replied Penny in the most serious tone she could muster.
This was real. Delilah and Rowan knew it.
"Lilah, are you okay? And Rowan, you don't look so good either."
"I-I'm fine. I just realized that I have a History essay to write. Rowan, let's go." Delilah pulled Rowan by the arm upstairs without another word to Penny. She knew this would make them look odd to Penny, but neither of them cared. Gladness came about her that Rowan thought they were dating. It gave Delilah a good excuse to feel upset without bottling up her heartbreak. Her father would have murdered her if he knew all of this was happening.
"Delilah," Rowan put her arm around her in the girl's dormitory. They were both sitting on Delilah's bed. "I am so sorry. Look, I'm not going either. There isn't a point. I have so much work to do as it is. You can study with me if you want."
Delilah hiccuped. "N-No. I have to go. I know who I am going to ask."
"Really? Who then? Please tell me."
A Ravenclaw girl with a starry hijab entered the dormitory. Delilah whispered to Rowan who she planned to take. She didn't want her business out in the open.
"Really? Why?" Rowan's eyes widened, making her glasses almost slip off her face. She adjusted them.
"I have a plan. Just trust me."
"It isn't to make him jealous is it? Because that's petty-"
"Sh. Rowan. Let's get some rest." Delilah gently pushed Rowan off her bed til she got on her feet.
"I swear Delilah, we really should be strategizing a little better. On second thought, I better come with you to make sure you don't make a fool of yourself."