A/N:
Six months at home during quarantine: writing? Never heard of it.
First week back at school: hey look it's chapter time! :)
Enjoy!
~Celia
Renee POV
We followed Harry, Ron, and Neville up to the Gryffindor tower. Harry and Ron had decided to get started on their Divination homework, and I didn't think it would be a bad idea if we did the same with them, so we could commiserate about Professor Trelawney and her ludicrous predictions.
Clara seemed to support the professor more than other students did, and it made me wonder about the way Trelawney examined our cups together in the first lesson.
Harry and Ron were laughing over joke predictions that got more drastic by the minute, and Clara was recording them with one of Tony's recorder pens, which she had cast a charm on to mask the battery and allow it to run on magic. I was surprised at how serious she was about studying the history and theory of Divination, including copying down other people's nonsense predictions. I guess it made sense, considering her father and her powers, but she was focused with an intensity I'd rarely seen from her before.
I was watching Fred and George intently. Although I'd only been in the Gryffindor common room a few times, I knew the Weasley twins well enough to be surprised that they were whispering in a corner instead of being the center of attention.
I looked away before they caught me staring, but not before I noticed Harry was also watching them. He shook his head silently to signal to me that he didn't expect that either, and turned back to his work.
Around 9:30, Hermione burst excitedly through the portrait hole. "I've just finished!" she said brightly. "Oh good, you two are here as well." She nodded to me and Clara.
"I'm finished as well," Ron said proudly, showing her his completed star chart.
Hermione glanced at it. "Won't it be a little obvious that you're making this all up?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "And besides, you have yourself drowning twice."
I held back a laugh, but Clara was looking intently at Ron's paper, which Hermione had just passed her. She made a few notes in a notebook and handed it back to him.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Clara, I'm surprised at you," she said. "I didn't think you'd buy into Divination. You're a sensible girl."
"I don't know yet whether I buy Trelawney," Clara whispered, looking around to make sure nobody was listening. "But I kind of, you know. My instincts." She hastily changed the subject. "Anyway, what have you been up to?"
Hermione gave a long explanation about her new "pet project," as Ron had called it, S.P.E.W. or the Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare. Her goals seemed interesting, but I didn't know if she had the right ideas about elf liberation. Still, I could definitely agree with fair wages and getting a House Elf on the council.
I tuned out until I noticed a soft tapping sound.
"Is that Hedwig?"
Harry's face lit up. "She'll have Sirius's answer! I was getting worried."
"What did you write to him about?" Hermione whispered, sounding concerned.
I had a feeling I knew what was up. My thoughts were confirmed when Harry said, "could we maybe talk about this somewhere more private?"
We all glanced at Clara. She looked around, alarmed. "I'm sure I could get the Hufflepuff hidden room for a while," she said. "I feel like I'm practically the only one who uses it anyway."
She walked to the portrait hole. "I'll IM you in ten."
I nodded, knowing what she meant. Ron looked confused, and Hermione whispered, "but technology doesn't work at Hogwarts, the magic interferes too much." Harry, on the other hand, seemed to understand.
A few minutes later, we made our way down to the Hufflepuff common room. Though I'd never been in Ravenclaw's common room, and had only visited Gryffindor's a few times, I was fairly certain Hufflepuff's was my favorite out of all of them. Sandra had commented on how cozy and welcoming it was when we'd had to spend the night here at the beginning of last year. Though the Slytherin common room had a calming, aquarium effect, the Hufflepuff one was the most comfortable and enjoyable for people from any house.
I loved the hidden room as well. My kind of issues, especially the fights with Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana, had led me to seek sanctuary here more than enough times. I loved the sleeping bags and reclining chairs, and the puffy, pastel-colored cushions around the room.
I flopped down onto a fluffy sky blue body pillow the minute I arrived. It was good to be back.
"Okay," Hermione said seriously. "Why were you so anxious for this reply in particular? Renee and Clara saw him over the summer, and there was nothing to worry about."
"It's…" Harry started, but I cut him off.
"Clara, can you tell us what it's like when you share dreams with Percy? I just want to make sure-"
"Wait, Clara shares dreams with my brother?" Ron interjected.
"No, Ron," I said, rolling my eyes. "Percy Jackson from Camp Half Blood. Remember, you met him over Iris Message last year, when I was taken over winter break."
Ron shrugged. "If you say so."
Clara looked hurt. "Wait," she said. "You shared a dream with Harry? And you didn't tell me?"
"We were waiting until the right time," Harry said quickly. "We didn't want to startle you before the World Cup, and afterwards, well…"
He didn't need to finish his sentence. We were all too shaken up by the events of the World Cup, even now.
"We were going to tell you on the train, too," I said quickly. "But then there was the incident with Natalie, and afterwards, we couldn't say anything with her and Hazel there. And besides, Ron and Hermione were at the front of the train, so it would have been pointless to talk to just Clara."
I was grateful that nobody bothered to point out that Draco and Nico had been there too. Somehow, I felt like we should include Nico on this knowledge. As for Draco, my feelings about him were becoming more conflicted by the minute.
I focused back on my friends in the moment as Clara started talking about the dreams she shared over the summer with Percy. "I don't get it, though," she said, eyebrows raised. "Harry's not a demigod. Why…?" she sighed. "Well, tell us, Harry, Renee."
"I woke up with my scar hurting a few days ago," Harry said. "It was the day I got Ron's letter, actually, before you came and picked me up for the World Cup." He looked around nervously before continuing. "Well, the last time my scar hurt… that was before you guys came to the school, I guess, in our first year… it was because Volde-"
"Don't say it!" Ron hissed.
I rolled my eyes.
"It was because you-know-who was at the school."
"But you don't think…?" I started. "I mean, we were in different places, and-"
"Wren," Clara cautioned, cutting me off. "This isn't good. You should have told someone immediately, me or Sprout or Dumbledore…" she turned to Harry, who was reading over Sirius's letter. "I assume that's why you wrote to him?"
Harry's face had gone very white. "He's flying north!"
"What!" I reached for the letter. "After we talked in July, I thought he left!" I thought fondly about our conversation, but then my face fell as I remembered some parts.
"Harry," Hermione said in a stern voice, "Renee, what actually happened?"
Harry and I glanced at each other. "Voldemort," Harry said finally. "He was with Pettigrew, and they were planning to kill…"
I cut him off with a glance before he said, "us." "He was planning to kill someone else. He had already killed someone, recently, too."
I glanced at Harry. There was something I was missing, an important person in the dream, whose name I'd heard before… I stared ahead, missing Ron questioning Harry about the dream and his scar burning, at least until I happened to glance down at my neck.
"Hey," I said, remembering. "Do you guys see this S-shaped mark on my neck? That hurt after the dream too!"
Everyone gasped.
"It has to be a coincidence," Ron said, his voice shaking slightly. "I mean, You-Know-Who never touched you, not like he did to Harry. You'd know!"
Clara looked very worried. "You just mentioned that," she said quietly. "How did you… that scar or birthmark or whatever, I've never noticed it before. I mean, maybe you should check with Chiron or Sprout or someone from, you know, our world…" She glanced at Ron. "It probably is just a coincidence, but I don't know, Wren, I really don't."
Strangely, my mind shifted to the dementors, and the skeletal hands that dragged my father to his death. Could the birthmark have something to do with that night? And was I only noticing it now because I'd learned more about my family from Sirius? Was the birthmark really an "S," or was that just a figment of my imagination? And if so, did it maybe stand for Sirius, or for Sanderson? So many questions ran through my mind.
"What did Sirius talk to you about over the summer?" Harry asked hopefully.
"He told me about Regulus." I glossed over the details about him, but then I glanced at Clara. She nodded, as if knowing what I was going to say.
"He told me Eros - you probably know him as Cupid, he's my, uh, my mother's son… my brother, I guess, although that feels weird to me - had kept me in the Lotus Casino as a baby, nobody really knew how long. Sirius thinks it was two months, but the way he described it it sounded more like two years. Apparently I was raised by Bianca, Nico's sister who died last year, but she was only twelve when she died. I think she and Nico spent a lot of time there up until recently. You don't age in the Lotus, it's like time stops-"
I glanced around at my friends at a sharp intake of breath from Ron. Hermione seemed to be the only one of the trio taking in what I was saying.
"Repeat all that in English?" Ron asked. "It's all Greek to me."
Everyone laughed, even though the joke was dumb. "Sorry," Clara said. "Let's start at the beginning."
"Wow," Hermione said when Clara and I, breathless, had explained everything that happened over the past three years. "But what I don't get is, why isn't this written in our history books? I mean, it all takes place in the magical world, right? How come we didn't know about this stuff? I know Greek mythology, of course, but you would think-"
I cut her off. "It's not all that surprising. Draco told me he found out about all these other magical worlds while he was researching what we were-"
Clara looked startled. "When did he tell you this, Wren? When, exactly did he find out about us?"
Ron, on the other hand was outraged. "You'd listen to him? How is he the expert on anything?" he burst out.
I ignored Clara's question, deciding that Ron's clear hatred of Draco was a reason to keep those days before the World Cup from our friends, at least for now. "He found out exactly the way a Slytherin would," I said appreciatively, although apprehensive of Ron's disgusted glower. "He researched behind our backs, and behind Narcissa's, even. He didn't tell me the full story, just that there are some communities that house other magic. I haven't the faintest idea where he even found half of that stuff. I have a feeling, except in cases like ours, the worlds are supposed to be separate."
"How do you know he was telling the truth, then?" Ron snapped.
Clara looked at him sadly. "He's my brother," she said quietly. "Why wouldn't he tell the truth, after everything?"
The others gave her a quizzical look, and she smiled sheepishly and quickly tried to cover up her mistake. "I mean, just after finding out he was my brother, and the way he helped us on the train, you know?"
I squeezed her hand. She blinked, then nodded.
"Besides," I continued before the tension could escalate, "we've been to a third magical realm, completely by accident." I turned back to Clara before the others questioned me. "Remember Storybrooke, on our first quest? The man with glowing eyes and the port that just seemed wrong somehow?"
"How do you know that was one? I thought it was just some god or monster."
"Draco mentioned it at the World Cup too."
"Yes, but when? When… oh! You didn't get in using Charmspeak? I knew something was up. What did you do, Wren?"
"Nothing, I swear. He used a Ministry pass to get me in, said his family could because they were the Minister's personal guests. I swear on the Styx this was not in my plans!"
It took a second for thunder to rumble, as if the gods were considering my sincerity. They seemed to decide I was telling the truth, and I let out a sigh of relief.
The Gryffindors left a few minutes later, but Clara asked if I wanted to stay over, and I couldn't refuse, not when I was already snuggled up in the hidden room beanbag. Clara ran upstairs and grabbed two Camp Half Blood shirts for us, and I was surprised that one fit me perfectly, as Clara was both shorter and a little heavier than I was.
"Is this mine?" I whispered.
Clara shrugged. "Honestly? Most likely."
We fell asleep giggling and talking, just like at home. Just as I was dozing off, a thought struck me.
"What did you plan to do about Dede?"
Clara smiled. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten. Her songs have become almost a part of life now, easy enough to ignore. Kat and Rebecca feel the same way. But we should probably go to Dumbledore this weekend.
I agreed readily.
"You should have checked it with me first," I whispered furiously on our way to Care of Magical Creatures. "He's my uncle."
"Yes, but he's flying back because I sent the letter, not you, Renee," Harry argued.
"We both know you didn't make that up about your scar," I argued. "We both had the dream."
"I didn't tell him about you. He doesn't know."
"That just makes it worse."
Hermione and Clara seemed to agree with me, but Ron was urging us not to push it.
"Seriously," I continued. "We offered him protection at Camp Half Blood, but he declined. I'm starting to think that might be the only way-"
"Not now," Clara hissed. "We offered him protection there before we saw Luke's new form. The camp is having enough trouble protecting themselves, let alone a foreign fugitive!"
"Styx," I muttered under my breath. "I forgot. So if he's flying north, then at least he'll be closer, right? And he avoided the Dementors for a year, what's another one? He's a Marauder, Harry! He's Padfoot!"
"Well," Harry said, sounding unsure, "the letter's already been sent. And with the Triwizard Tournament, wouldn't security be heightened?"
Hermione shushed us loudly as we approached Hagrid's hut. We all winced a bit at the skrewts.
Lily Moon made her way over to us. "I don't think I can do it anymore," she gagged. "And if you think I'm bad, you should see Theo. He's going on and on about those things, retching and freaking out."
I rolled my eyes. "I'll see what I can do," I said. "I can be pretty persuasive."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "Even about things you don't believe in?" she whispered, glancing over at her friends. I followed her gaze to Daphne, Tracey, Theo, and Blaise. Draco was sitting apart from them, but also apart from Crabbe and Goyle. I let myself feel a twinge of pride before focusing on the matter at hand.
"Yeah, I guess. At least I'll try to convince him that he wants a good grade in this class."
"If you're sure. Come on then."
She started to walk away. Harry, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads, as if they suspected that there wasn't much I could do to convince Theo to give the skrewts a chance. Only Clara smiled encouragingly, and I wondered if she was thinking about how Dumbledore and Chiron wanted me to practice the Charmspeak in tricky situations. I gave her a thumbs up and followed Lily.
Clara POV
The skrewts were about as much excitement as we had for a while. Renee and I studied our separate history projects, sometimes sharing interesting tidbits with each other.
"Are you serious?" Renee burst out one night in the Hufflepuff hidden room. "They used to do this every five years, but it hasn't been done since the 1700s? And now we're dealing with both Voldemort and Kronos and they think it's safe?"
She had a point there. "The wizarding world isn't very effected by the latter," I said, hoping it was true. "And as for the former, we don't know where he is or if he's even alive. I trust Dumbledore and the Ministry on this."
Renee sighed. "I don't," she muttered as she gathered up her things. She was meeting Gill for a walk around the grounds. They'd been doing that a lot since the school year started, which Renee had explained was to show Gill she still loved him, and there was nothing going on between her and Draco, Harry, or anyone else.
I thought he was being too hard on her, and according to a whispered conversation with Sandra the next day during divination, she and Tomasz agreed.
"If he feels this way, he should just confront her himself," she muttered with a note of finality and a glance at Renee, who was attempting to read Luna's tea leaves.
"Why won't he?" I didn't actually know Gill that well.
"Tomasz says Gill thinks if Renee really loves him she'll make every effort to show him. A load of bull if you ask me." She glanced warily at the next table over, but Renee didn't seem to have heard us.
I bent down over Sandra's cup and tried to concentrate, but found I couldn't. That was ridiculous, considering my father controlled this realm. But I had a lot on my mind as well. This afternoon, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Moody would be testing the Imperius curse on all of us.
At lunch, Renee was a mess. For once, we were sitting at our own house tables, but halfway through my meal, Sandra motioned me over.
"Can you shut her up? She's, well-" Sandra glanced at my best friend, who Gill was unsuccessfully attempting to calm down. Renee was near hysterics with her worrying, and only I knew the full reason.
I slid into Sandra's vacant seat and reached for Renee's hand. "Wren," I said firmly. "Come on."
I led her away to start walking toward the classroom, making sure I grabbed a few finger sandwiches from the table before we left.
Renee was oddly silent as we made our way to the classroom, and even as seats filled up around us, she stared straight ahead, as if in a trance.
Moody announced we would be going in alphabetical order by last name, and I felt Renee grow more tense beside me. I was worried as well; I would be second in the class, directly after Philippa Blake.
Philippa was utterly unable to resist as Moody directed her to tap dance back to her seat, but she gave a nervous laugh when he lifted the curse. I sucked in a breath.
Moody raised his wand. "Imperio."
It was nothing like the feeling I got when Renee used charmspeak on me. I felt light and free, only vaguely aware of my classmates.
Moody conjured a boa constrictor. "Put it around your neck."
Renee cried out as I reached out my hand to take it. Any other day, I would have been paralyzed with fear, and Renee was right to speak up, but I waved her off in my excitement. I draped the snake around me, and it started to squeeze. Moody then vanished it with a quick swish of his wand, and Renee stood up.
"No! You could have killed her!"
"He wouldn't have, though," said Lavender, but even her voice shook a little.
Neville and Renee exchanged a glance I doubt I was supposed to see. Moody waved past her concerns as he called Lavender up.
Renee POV
I had already been shaking before Moody had thrown yet another snake in Clara's path, but afterwords I was a wreck. I squeezed her hand under the desk the entire time as most of my classmates failed to resist the ridiculous feats Moody asked them to perform. Even Hermione, with all her resolve and book smarts, failed to avoid doing a backflip.
Then it was Harry's turn, and I gulped. I was nervous for my friend, of course, but I was also terrified because I was to go right after him.
Moody placed the curse on him and told him to jump on the desk. Harry crouched, looking like he were going to do it, but his face contorted. He shook his head, then prepared again to spring. In a move that looked like he was trying both to do it, and not to, he smashed himself headlong into the desk.
A few people laughed, but were cut short at Moody's sharp glare. The professor congratulated Harry, and the class realized what had happened.
"Sanderson, you next," Moody said after calming everyone down.
Clara squeezed my hand one last time, and I steadied myself and walked to the front of the room."
"Imperio," Moody growled.
I felt a faint buzzing feeling, but shrugged it off. Oddly, the charm didn't seem to be affecting me like it had with the others.
"Go do pull ups on that window sill."
I walked over to the window sill, then shook my head. Moody repeated himself a few more times, but I felt nothing.
"Go hang on that window sill," Moody tried again.
Then, an odd thing started to happen. I felt an energy tingling inside me as Moody repeated himself, as if the curse had latched on to me, was inside of me somehow. I stared with intensity at the class as I fought the curse, which was affecting me only slightly compared to what I'd seen of my classmates.
Moody stood up as if in a trance, walked to stand next to me, and placed his hands on the window. Then, without a word, he started doing pull ups on the windowsill.
There were gasps around the classroom, and Clara shot me a warning glance, but I had no idea what was going on.
"Professor?" I said sharply. "Professor Moody?"
He continued doing pull-ups as if he didn't hear me.
"Professor Moody, please stop. STOP."
He blinked a few times, then removed himself from the wall. "But…" he stammered. "But… you're the youngest in the class by far. How…?
He looked faint. "Class dismissed," he said quickly. "Thomas, Weasley, you will test next week. Good day."
And with that he gathered up his things and clunked out of the room.
I skipped Transfiguration, opting instead to take a long nap in the Hufflepuff hidden room. I didn't know what I had done, but it didn't feel good. I still felt that buzz of energy, as if the curse had never been lifted. Which, I guess, it hadn't, since it didn't affect me the same way. I instructed Clara to find Professor Sprout after our Transfiguration class and bring her here, because I didn't want to think about what had happened with anyone but Clara and Sprout at the moment. Although our Gryffindor friends had been impressed, I didn't even feel like Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville would understand what I was going through at this moment.
I must have fallen asleep and slept deeply, because Clara was shaking my shoulders to wake me up.
"Hey. McGonagall wants you to come in over the weekend, because the lesson we covered today is tricky for me or anyone to explain. I mean, Tomasz probably could, but he's not in the class anymore."
I smiled warily. "Where's Pomona?" I said groggily. "I mean, uh, Professor Sprout, since we're here and not, you know...?"
Clara's face fell. "She had to meet with Moody and Snape because Moody wanted to work on a certain plant he wants to use with his NEWT students. She said to go to dinner, and she'll come to the Slytherin common room tonight, unless you plan on sleeping over."
I groaned inwardly. "Moody's the one keeping us apart? That doesn't seem suspicious to you?"
Clara frowned. "You don't trust him, do you?"
"I don't know. Something just seems off. Like he's not who he says he is, you know."
Clara nodded thoughtfully. "I agree," she said after a minute. "I mean, all that stuff with Draco, and Neville, and you. Also, Nico says he senses something about him that reminds him of Daedalus or something. Someone who's cheated death, though not exactly in the same way."
"What? When did he tell you this?"
"I don't know, a few weeks ago? You were with Gill, I think."
I was a little hurt that she and Nico were talking about important demigod and wizard things without me, but Gill had been taking up a lot of my time lately. It seemed he felt he needed to apologize for his jealous behavior at Diagon Alley, or maybe make up for his assumptions Nolan had told me about. We took lots of walks around the castle grounds during breaks, and I eagerly awaited our first Hogsmeade visit, where Gill had already promised to shower me in gifts. I don't consider myself vain, but I looked forward to spending the day with him and exploring the shops. I knew Clara and Sandra considered his behavior a little clingy, and it was odd at times, but I appreciated his actions.
Thinking about Gill and Sandra made me more excited for dinner. "Do you mind if I sit at the Slytherin table tonight? Alone, I mean? I kind of want to put this behind me, and surround myself with people who didn't see what happened."
Clara nodded. "I kind of expected you'd say that. I wanted to hang out with Kat and Rebecca anyway. But I'll be there if you need anything.
I gave her my first real smile since class. Having a friend like her, who always had my back, was the best gift I could ask for.
"There she is, the woman of the hour!" Gill beamed as he pulled out the chair next to him. "A most powerful thirteen year old witch!"
He, Sandra, Tomasz, Daphne, Tracey, Lily, Astoria, Blaise, and Theo were grinning expectantly at me. A bit further away, Draco looked amused, and Pansy was scowling darkly. Next to her, Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana were watching me like hawks, sizing me up.
My stomach lurched. "What's going on?" I muttered.
"I mean, even perfect Harry Potter couldn't do what you did," Gill continued excitedly. "Amazing."
Sandra caught sight of my expression. "Renee, are you okay?"
"I just…" I couldn't reveal anything, not to this group. "How did you find out so quickly?"
My friends stared at me for a minute. "Draco told me," Daphne said finally. "Apparently, Pansy overheard Lavender Brown and Philippa Blake from Gryffindor complaining about you being better than them, and she complained to Draco about it, of course, as well as anyone who would listen-"
"But Moody made her perform the chicken dance in front of the whole class yesterday, and it was hilarious, so of course she'd be a little upset," Tracey interrupted, and the fourth years all chuckled, except for Theo, who snorted into his cup.
"Draco wouldn't tell Pansy this, of course," Daphne continued, "but you could see he was kind of proud and I think that's why he told me. He wanted you to know your friends here are proud of you. I hope that got you at least a few house points for it."
"So tell us everything," Gill said. "We want to hear it from you, baby."
"Oh, I, uh… er…"
"Do you mind if I borrow Renee for a sec?"
Everyone looked up, startled. Draco hardly ever came to our side of the table, and if he did, it was to say something nasty. We may have been friends, and it seemed like he was at least getting to know Daphne and maybe Blaise better, but most of the people in my year refused to accept him.
Gill stood up as if he had been shocked, knocking his glass all over Astoria across from him. "You most certainly cannot 'borrow' Renee, what do you think she is, some kind of object? A commodity? Besides, she's mine."
Sandra and Tomasz exchanged a glance, and then Sandra stood up as well, much more gracefully than Gill had. "Actually, Gill, I believe that's Renee's choice. You can't really defend women against objectification and then claim them as 'yours' in the same sentence."
Draco looked uncomfortable. "I didn't mean-"
I rose to my feet, not wanting my friends to argue about me as if I wasn't even there. "Yeah. Where to?"
"You're just going to let him lead you away?"
"Gill, my man, chill, okay?" Tomasz said, rolling his eyes. "Can't you see your girl is uncomfortable with all this?"
"Just go," Lily mouthed from across the table, and Sandra nodded. I started walking away.
"What's up?" I asked once we reached a quiet area.
"Is your boyfriend always like that? You know what, never mind. It's none of my business."
"No, it really isn't. I assume that's not what you wanted to talk about, though."
"No. Sorry, it wasn't. I just, well, you didn't seem that comfortable back there. Did you… were you not trying to resist the Imperius curse?"
I stared at the floor.
"Was it your you-know what?" Draco pressed. "Did it help you resist?"
"I have no idea," I snapped. "Listen, Draco, I didn't resist at all. My body acted like I was going to do it, and then I just repelled it back on him. One minute I was sort of trying to resist, but I didn't feel anything, you know? And then the next thing I know, Moody is doing exactly what he asked me to do, and I've got all this energy inside me, like the curse latched on to me… oh gods, Draco, only Clara knows about this, the others have only guessed… please don't tell anyone, Draco, please."
Draco put his hand on my shoulder. "Renee, please. Calm down. You know I won't tell anyone. But isn't this a good thing? I mean, it basically means you're immune, doesn't it? Immune to one of the worst curses in the world, and not even something you had to build up to? I mean, that's amazing. And you're already better than pretty-boy Potter and the mudblood at something in that class, without even trying."
"Don't refer to Hermione that way!" I snapped. "And yes, that is good, but if enemies were to find that out… Styx!"
"What?"
"If Pansy knows, than Kaylee, Ariana, and Morgana likely know as well. And they're smart enough to figure that out, even if Pansy isn't. I need to go warn Clara and Sprout!"
"But-"
"Not a word, Draco," I hissed.
I moved away from our isolated corner, making my way toward the Hufflepuff table. Clara was mid-bite on a piece of chicken.
"We have to go, now," I insisted.
"What?"
"She's right," said a voice behind me. "We need to make a plan, because things are about to get ugly. All four of us are going to find Professor Sprout."
Clara and I turned to stare as Draco and Nico appeared behind us.
A/N: Well, that's a chapter. I didn't really know where I was going with this, and originally expected this to be the Durmstrand and Beauxbatons chapter, but clearly that didn't happen.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with "Moody." Clearly the girls don't trust him, but I don't want to put anything forth too permanently from the beginning, otherwise it unfolds too easily.
As always, please review. Thanks for reading (Ana I'm talking to you because you're the only one I actually expect is reading this. Ily.)
~Celia
