"What do you think we can get in here except crap?" Draco said, kicking aside a broom snapped in half.
Thames didn't answer.
"You have been totally normal the whole day today until five minutes ago you suggest looking for a broom or a wand and then you stop talking or even turning around and just keep on walking ahead," Draco huffed, while Thames kept going forward, ignoring the mess on the floor and on the shelves, eyes fixed ahead.
"Are you actually looking for something other than a wand or broom? Hello? Can you hear me? ARE YOU DEAF?" Draco didn't mean to, but he ended up roaring.
"Keep silent, Draco, don't you feel there's something... unnatural going on?" She said in an absent-minded voice.
"No, because the most unnatural thing here is us. We're the only living things in here. Everything else is everything but human."
"Oh well, there's the head of a house-elf for some reason," said Thames, looking around for the first time since she acted like she was in a trance. "How can here be so messy?"
"Because of students like us running away from teachers, I guess."
Thames laughed. "We're not even students here. Oh right, when are you attending Hogwarts?" This would probably be the first actual conversation they had. What they had before was total confusion and running around.
"Next year. You?"
"Also next year."
"I do hope I won't be in Hufflepuff. Stupid house."
"What? Hufflepuffs are nice!"
"Well, then go join them."
"You're going to offend someone someday, if you haven't already." Thames said seriously.
"What house do you think you're going to be in, then?" Draco said, turning to examine a circular book. "This room sure does have every weird thing on the world," he muttered.
"I just don't want to be in Gryffindor. They're a bit too noisy and reckless, if you're asking me. I'd rather be in a cozy quiet room reading a book. Ravenclaw, I guess."
"With that Niffler, you'd pretty much fit in with them. Remember the once when Hogwarts was on the headlines because someone sneaked out of school and looked for a zebra or something? Just because they're curious what noise they make? That's a Ravenclaw. You can join them in learning about why do Nifflers sniff where jewelleries are at. Speaking of which, where has it gon- Hey!"
Thames turned around and saw Draco taking off after something. "You damn Niffler! Give me back my watch!" Thames heard Draco say, and, understand that the Niffler must have stolen Draco's watch when neither of them were noticing.
She tried her best to stifle a laugh, then hurried to follow the two of them.
With much effort they managed to wrestle the Niffler into a still position and Thames fished in its pouch for the watch. She found it pretty fast, and held it in front of her eyes to look at it closely. It was probably made of silver, glimmering in the sunlight from the window. The hands and numbers were blinding golden. The strap, though, was made of leather. But the leather was a beautiful brown, and surprisingly smooth. Turning the watch around, Thames could see the name "Malfoy" etched into the back perfectly in the Balqis font.
"Uh, can you give it back?" Draco huffed.
"Oh. Sure," Thames said hastily, handing it back. Then she took the squirming Niffler from Draco, stuffed it into her pocket and buttoned her pocket.
"Well, let's go, then," Thames turned and started walking deeper into the mess.
"Come on, it's, like, five minutes to eight now. We can surely get out of here safely. Who would still be here at this time?" Draco asked.
Thames stood for a second. "I guess you're right," she shrugged. "Let's go back. Oh look, an Oakshaft 79! That's vintage, Draco! Many collectors look for it for years! And few actually possess it, you know. Too bad its handle has been broken. We could have sold it for Galleons."
"Let's go," Draco said in a tired voice.
Thames's lingered on the broomstick for another moment, then she followed Draco, who was trying to trace their route.
"How could we have gone this deep?" Draco scowled at all the books and junk around. "And has this place ever been cleaned?"
As Thames jogged to keep up with Draco's marching, something glinting caught her eye. She stopped and turned to get a better look. It was a tiara of crystals, shaped like an eagle, with a large, oval sapphire in the middle of it.
"Draco," she whispered. "Look at this." Draco, who was a far way ahead now, obviously didn't heard her.
She turned to call him. "Draco!" she said excitedly, breathlessly. "Look at it! The diadem of Ravenclaw!"
She could hear Draco groaning. Then, unwillingly, he turned around. Even far away, he could see her hazel eyes glittering in excitement. "The diadem of Ravenclaw? That's lost centuries ago, Thames. You must have recognised something else as it."
"Well, if you don't believe me, come up and see it yourself," Thames said. "Come on, come here! Look at it! And tell me whether it is or not!"
And so Draco walked back to Thames reluctantly. He turned and stared at the diadem for a good moment, before opening his mouth to say something, yet closing it again. "So? Is it the diadem of Ravenclaw?" Thames asked smugly.
Draco did some quick thinking. "What if it's just a replica of the diadem? The person who made it realised it doesn't work, and abandoned it here?" He was not willing to lose any arguement or fight to anyone, even small ones, especially to this cheeky girl. Not without a struggle.
Thames thought for a moment. "Well, then we just have to test it out, don't we?" She suggested. Draco blinked.
He thought for a moment. "No, I don't think we should," he concluded his thoughts, thumb resting on his pointy chin. "It's left here among the mess for a reason. Maybe it's dangerous and affects brain function."
"Oh," Thames said softly. "Never thought of that."
"You're reckless," Draco said hopelessly. "Perhaps you're a fit for Gryffindor, too."
"No, I'm not, Draco. Come on, it's the diadem of Ravenclaw! A lost relic! How can anyone not be excited?" Draco glanced at her pocket. "And don't get me started on the Niffler. It's trembling in a dark, muddy tunnel when I found it," Thames huffed.
Draco was looking defeated when suddenly he remembered the trance Thames had been in earlier. "What about that 'unnatural something'? You said so earlier."
Thames blinked. Then she turned and looked at the diadem. "Thinking of it, the diadem looks like there's something trapped in it. Something alive is trapped in it..." she muttered, head tilting, expression thoughtful.
Draco thought for a moment. "What if it's one of those... Horks? Or what is it?" he thought.
"Horks?" Thames turned around, brows knitted together in confusion.
"I don't quite remember, but I think Father may have mentioned it once or twice... He once held what looked like a notebook and murmured to himself. I couldn't hear clearly, but he definitely said something like "Horks"... that "Horks", or whatever it is, contains a part of... soul? Something like that." Draco tried to recall what had his father said.
"'Horks'? Soul? How have I never heard or read of that?" Thames, too, looked back into her memories.
The two stayed silent for a while. "Well," Thames said, "what do you think? Weighing our chances, I think touch it or try it on for a second wouldn't hurt."
"I don't know," said Draco, "that sounds risky."
"How about this," Thames said, "I try it on. If anything weird happens, you run and grab it off my head. You have speed fast enough, you probably won't be hurt."
"How am I supposed to know if it's a pure headache when the 'wisdom' is transferred into your brain or is there something, like, really, really wrong?" Draco asked. "I've only known you for, like, three quarters of an hour, after all. I don't know what is weird behaviour by your standards."
""Three quarters of an hour'," Thames repeated, "that's... Wouldn't you just say 45 minutes?" Draco shot her a look. "Alright, alright, how about a code?" Thames stopped snickering and asked.
Draco shrugged. "Guess that can be of use."
"Like, after I wear the diadem, you say the code, and if I repeat it, that means I'm fine. If I don't, take it off. Now, what can the code be?" Thames said, looking around.
"I don't know," wondered Draco. "'Oakshaft'?"
"Oooh, that's a nice idea!" Thames agreed. "Let's use it as the code, then. I think you'd like to stand a few feet back."
And so Draco backed to a stack of old school books and magazines that were taller than him.
"Alright? Now, on three, and I will put it on my head," Thames called. She could see Draco nodding. "One, two, three-"
The moment she put the diadem onto her thick, dark red hair, Thames could only feel pain emitting from the spot where the diadem lay, and her skull aching like they were splitting in half. The pain snaked down her neck, and she felt a stab of pain in her chest. It probably only happened in one, single second, because she had not heard Draco asking "Oakshaft?" until the pain had buried itself in something deeper than her heart. Something so deep like her soul.
Thames felt like she had been rid of air. Her lungs felt like they had been squeezed. But the pain in her head was stronger than anything. She could hear Draco calling her name anxiously. She shook her head, hoping that Draco knew this was meaning she wasn't fine and she needed help.
Draco didn't know what to do. He stood there and watched Thames. She looked like she was in pain, and her face had gone horribly white. He hesitated, before darting forward and pulled the diadem of her head.
The moment his hand closed around the silver, he felt his palm burning. Without thinking, he threw the diadem onto the floor, and turned to look at Thames.
Thames, on the other hand, wanted to throw up. Although the diadem was taken off, the stinging still snaked around somewhere near her insides. She could feel her knees quivering, beads of sweat trickling down her temples. She stared at her hands, which were on her knees.
It was a long before Draco opened his mouth to say something, but Thames cut him off. "I don't know, but I don't think there's anything wrong with me. For now."
Thames raised her head from staring at the floor and looked at Draco. The second Draco's grey eyes met Thames's, he froze. Her irises were blood red, and her pupils had become slit-like. Looking oddly like something, someone he had seen somewhere a long time ago, something that he was scared of, though he could remember nothing more of who, or what was it.
Thames didn't know what happened. Draco simply stood before her, eyes wide, with something like... fear? Or was it confusion? "Draco?" she asked tentatively.
Draco tried to focus on Thames's eyes again. However, the red had gone, and the slit-like pupils had morphed back into the normal, round ones. Before him were a pair of normal hazel eyes.
"Draco? Is there something wrong?" Thames asked. "No, nothing," Draco answered, still staring at her eyes, though his creased eyebrows said otherwise.
"Do you still want to explore Hogwarts? You have forty minutes left," Thames asked, colour coming back on her face, a hint of her cheeky grin shown. "How about the Astronomy Tower? I really like it. A clear view of everything." "Oh, uh, sure."
Thames slowly straightened and Draco waited, still thinking. He had seen those eyes somewhere... Tales of Beedle? No... where could it be?
"Right. Let's go," Thames said. But as she stepped out, her knees buckled and she nearly fell. Thanks to one of the tall towers of books, she had something to hold onto and didn't hit the floor face first.
As Draco helped her to stand firmly on the ground, Thames reached up and wiped the sweat on her sleeve, pushing her fringe back. "Wait," Draco said, surprised, "You have a scar!"
"What? I've never had a scar on my forehead before. Who do you think I am, Harry Potter?"
"No, really, look into a mirror!"
And so when Thames looked into the nearest mirror, she saw, a thin scar zigzagging across her forehead, exactly where she had put the diadem on her head.
Thames swivelled around to look at the diadem. It laid on the floor, and the circle was glowing a dangerous orange-red, like it had just been out of the furnace.
"Let's go," Draco said softly, desperately, scared, and this time Thames obeyed.