"Hey. Where's Artimus?"
O'Bannon's eyes fluttered open in response to Jared's question. He pushed himself up on his elbows and stared across the room at Artimus' bed.
"Doesn't look like he slept here at all." Jared stared at the neatly made bed.
Maybe he shacked up with his Slytherin girlfriend. O'Bannon clenched his teeth before he could speak the words aloud. He sighed in frustration and stared at his blankets, thinking back to last night's argument with Artimus. A mixture of anger and shock swept through him. He couldn't believe the accusations Art hurled at him. That he only helped him to feel good about himself. That he had never been Artimus' friend.
Talk about an ungrateful . . .
O'Bannon clenched his blankets. It wasn't Artimus' fault. It was these "bad vibes" making him say those things.
C'mon, Tonks. He wished the British auror would find out what was making Artimus and everyone else at school act like world class a-holes.
"You okay there, Jimmy?" asked Jared.
He snapped his head toward his roommate, then glanced at the blankets clenched tightly in his hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine." O'Bannon threw the blankets off himself and padded to the bathroom.
A half-hour later they met up with Rosa at the top of the staircase. O'Bannon told her about his argument with Artimus.
"So a minute after you made up with him you pissed him off again?" Rosa rolled her eyes. "Nice job, Jimmy."
Yeah, blame it all on me. His head quivered as he, by some miracle, held in his words. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"C'mon," he grumbled, fighting the nearly overwhelming urge to snap at his friend.
I can fight this. I can fight this.
When they got downstairs, Rosa glanced into the parlor . . . and halted.
"Artimus?"
Both O'Bannon and Jared turned. They spotted Artimus stirring on one of the couches.
Rosa strode into the parlor. "Were you sleeping here all night?"
Artimus lifted his head, a contemptuous look on his face. "What do you care?"
He got to his feet and stomped past Rosa. Again Artimus' words from last night echoed in O'Bannon's head.
Like a volcanic eruption, rage burst inside him. His brain screamed at him to punch Artimus. How dare he say all that crap after he'd looked out for him since First Year?
O'Bannon turned away as Artimus stormed past. While Artimus pounded up the stairs, O'Bannon reared back his fist and thumped the wall. A couple of the moving portraits chastised him for the noise.
"Shut up," he growled at them, and rested his forehead on the wall. God, this was driving him crazy. How could he tell what were his real thoughts and how much of it he could blame on these "bad vibes?"
I gotta fight it.
He wondered if that was even possible.
"Jimmy?"
He turned to see Rosa looking worriedly at him.
"I'm fine. Let's go to breakfast."
O'Bannon stepped toward the door, then halted. Was that such a good idea? If the food was tainted, should he even be eating it? Would his anger get completely out of control the more he ate?
It's only making you angry. It's not killing you. Besides, you've been eating it since this whole thing started anyway, and you can't let yourself starve.
Hopefully Tonks would find out what was in the food soon, come up with an antidote and drag Cecilia and Serinta off to Azkaban. Then everything at Salem could return to normal.
He clutched the brass handle of the front door, flung it open . . .
And walked into the middle of an argument.
" . . . just doing it to suck up to O'Bannon so you'll get more playing time," Marcel Dubuque, his back to O'Bannon, bellowed in a thicker-than-usual French-Canadian accent.
Glaring back at him was Dante Marshall. "I don't suck up to anyone. I think Jimmy was just having a bad day."
"The whole team had a bad day." Dubuque cut him off. "That wouldn't have happened if I was captain."
"Oh Merlin's Beard, will you get over that."
"I will not!" Dubuque clenched his fists and stepped toward Marshall.
"Problem, guys?"
The two turned, startled when they saw O'Bannon.
"I'm cool, Jimmy." Marshall raised his hands, non-threateningly.
Dubuque's face turned so red O'Bannon expected the guy's head to explode. Instead the alternate captain spun on his heel and stormed off, muttering something in French that did not sound pleasant.
O'Bannon shook his head and started down the path to the Communal Hall, followed by Rosa, Jared and Marshall.
"You're gonna need to do something about Marcel." Rosa swiveled her head back and forth, still on the lookout for Feetish. "You know how many times he's bitched to me about not being named captain while we're doing our History of Magic project? A couple times I threatened to hex him if he didn't shut up."
"Rosa's right, man." Marshall nodded. "A couple times I overheard him talking to some of the new players about how the team would be better off with him in charge. He's gonna drive a wedge between everyone."
"Yeah." O'Bannon's face tightened. He'd seen it several times, where one or two players let their egos get out of hand and destroyed team chemistry. No way he'd let that happen to the Blazenrowe hockey team on his watch.
But what if it's these bad vibes making him act this way? True, Marcel Dubuque had always been a prick, but not to the extent where he deliberately tried to undermine the team. Still, would it be fair to discipline him or kick him off the team because of some outside influence?
He wished Tonks would find out what the hell was going on around here already.
As they approached the Communal Hall they walked past another pair of arguing students, Eli Witting and Abigail Aguirre from the Jingosocke Hall Quidditch team.
"Four years we've known each other, Ab." Eli's arms shot out to his side. "How could you choose Merak Mather over me?"
"Eli, I don't think of you that way. I like you, but we're just friends."
"Friends. Yeah, right."
Seething, Eli stomped away from Abigail and toward the door to the Communal Hall.
"Have fun at the Halloween Dance with your snob of a boyfriend."
Eli pushed the door open.
A rather distressed Abigail looked at the Communal Hall, then caught sight of O'Bannon, Rosa, Jared and Marshall. All four looked off in different directions.
"Abigail Aguirre's going to the dance with Merak Mather?" Jared's face contorted in astonishment. "I thought she had better taste than that."
O'Bannon thought the same as Jared, but remained quiet as they entered the Communal Hall. The veins in his neck tightened for a moment. The tension surrounding the hall hit him like a physical force.
The conversations were more subdued than usual. Many students, instead of talking, just glared at one another. He spotted the recently returned Isaac Pinder staring daggers at the very promising Second Year hockey player Jerome Dionne. Ursa Oberlin and her suitemate Cindy Walker also glowered at one another.
O'Bannon glanced to the ceiling and found the ghost of Priscilla Primrose listlessly floating around, her transparent face sagging.
"Looks like another day of happiness and joy at the Salem Witches Institute," Jared scoffed.
O'Bannon grunted and searched for a place to sit. He found a table with some empty spaces to his right. The frustration melted from his face when he noticed Rana Rollingsworth at the table. With a bit more bounce in his step he headed over.
"Hey Ra -"
He stopped when he saw Rana's friend, Beatrice Hill, spring out of her seat.
"We've known one another since before we started at Salem," the girl barked at Rana. "Doesn't my opinion mean anything to you?"
Beatrice scowled and stomped off.
Rana just stared at her friend through narrow eyes and shook her head. That's when she noticed O'Bannon.
"Jimmy. Hi." She managed a slight smile.
"Everything okay?" He sat next to her.
"Yeah . . . I mean, no." Rana sighed. "I know Beatrice means well, but . . . she doesn't like the fact we're going to the Halloween Dance. I mean, with everything you're saying about Harry Potter and You-Know-Who."
"Sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your fault. Bea just needs to accept it. And if she can't, too bad."
O'Bannon's smile grew wider. His heart pumped faster. This was another reason he liked Rana. The girl was strong-willed and didn't take crap from anyone. He preferred that type over bland, vapid doormats.
Rosa, Jared and Marshall sat around them. Beatrice's little tirade was soon forgotten as conversation turned to the Halloween Dance.
"Well I'm almost done with my costume." Rosa poured herself some Pumpkin Juice. "I'll be going as Princess Poffinpheffer."
"Wait a minute." O'Bannon did a double-take. "Miss 'I'm-Gonna-Be-An-Ass-Kicking-Auror' is gonna dress up as a princess from a Wizarding fairy tale?"
"Why not? She did find the way to cross the River of Despair without succumbing to its power. At least I put a lot more thought into my costume than you ever do."
"What do you mean?"
Rosa rolled her eyes. "Oh please. The last three dances you've come dressed as a hockey player."
"No, no, no." O'Bannon wagged his finger. "I've been different hockey players. One year I was Ray Bourque, another year I was Joe Thornton, and then for another I was Bobby Orr."
"Yeah, just run down the list of Boston Bruin superstars. Very original." Rana turned to him with a quirky smile. "Do me a favor, Jimmy. This Halloween Dance, surprise me. Come as something different."
"Ooooh, talk about a challenge." Rosa spoke in a mock official tone. "Can Jimmy O'Bannon actually dress up for Halloween as something other than a Boston Bruin?"
Jared and Marshall hooted. So did Rana. O'Bannon shook his head, then joined the laughter.
He took a cleansing breath. How long had it been since he'd felt this way? Just like a normal teenager. Blathering on about nonsensical stuff. Laughing as though Voldemort and Death Eaters and wars and conspiracies didn't exist.
His laughter subsided when he realized one thing was missing from this frivolity.
His friend Artimus Rand.
"Stop rubbing it in my face!"
The feminine shriek silenced O'Bannon and his friends. They all looked to a table on the other side of the Communal Hall. A short girl with her dark hair in a pixie cut stood on her seat, stabbing her finger at a girl with a trim figure and shoulder-length black hair.
"You always get whatever boy you want!" Kellie Hale screamed at her older sister, Penelope. "Why don't you ever help me find a boyfriend?"
"Sit the hell down, Kellie." Penelope rose. "You're embarrassing yourself."
"Don't tell me what to do! Ever since you became this great hockey player for Ardenturo you haven't had any time for me, and I'm sick of it!"
"Well maybe I would help you try to find a boyfriend if you weren't such a brat!"
Kellie Hale shook with anger. She reached down and grabbed a pastry.
"Go to hell, you stuck-up bitch!" Kellie reared back her arm.
"Miss Hale!" Headmistress Esmeralda's voice boomed from the faculty table at the front of the hall. "The Communal Hall is no place to hold family squabbles . . . and the food in here is for eating, not throwing. I want the both of you in my office, now!"
Penelope whipped her head toward her younger sister. "Nice going, you little harpy."
"Not another word!" the Headmistress bellowed. "Either of you. My office, now!"
O'Bannon and his friends watched the Hale sisters follow Headmistress Esmeralda out of the Communal Hall. Both girls pouted severely.
"Merlin's Beard, is there something in the water making everyone act like that?"
Rana probably meant it tongue-in-cheek. But for O'Bannon, the comment belied something very serious.
Hurry up, Tonks, before the whole school explodes.
XXXXX
O'Bannon found it hard to concentrate in any of his classes, his thoughts, his prayers really, turning toward Tonks discovering the source of the bad vibes. Anxiousness welled up inside as he expected to be called out of class because Katerina Ponce wanted a word with him. He constantly stared at his watch. Any minute Tonks would give him the good news. Any minute now.
The minutes stretched into hours. Anxiousness turned to worry. His school work suffered. Mr. Korvette reamed his ass when his Aging Reversal Potion erupted and burned a hole through the ceiling. In Transfiguration, when he tried a spell to blend into the background of the classroom, he wound up turning into a puke yellow and brown plaid humanoid figure.
Hurry the hell up, Tonks. Before I turn myself into a human-sized slug.
Day turned into night. Still no word from Tonks. When he went to bed he lay awake as long as he could, hoping she would come by with news about the bad vibes.
O'Bannon finally gave in to sleep well after midnight.
The next morning he awoke in a foul mood.
Tomorrow my ass. He started to wonder about Tonks' abilities. How could a klutz like her become an auror? Family connections, maybe?
O'Bannon ate breakfast and sat through History of Magic and Charms without hearing from her. He headed back to Blazenrowe to put his books away and go to lunch when he heard a familiar, fake Southern accent behind him.
"Excuse me, Mister O'Bannon?"
He halted, electricity shooting through his body.
Oh my God. Oh my God, finally.
He whirled around and saw Tonks, in her Katerina Ponce disguise, approaching.
"Hi, again. I was wondering if I could trouble y'all for a moment," she said for the benefit of other students walking around them. "I've got some questions about your Charms class. Could you come to my office for a bit?"
"You bet."
O'Bannon found himself walking so fast he nearly overtook Tonks. She led him to the large red and white colonial-style Administration Building. They went downstairs to a small office in the basement that had a scratched up desk and a rickety wooden chair.
"Wow. They went all out for you," O'Bannon gazed around the cramped office.
"It's not much, but at least it's in an out of the way spot," Tonks replied, still retaining her Southern accent.
O'Bannon shook his head. "Jeez, who decided you should have a Southern accent with that disguise?"
"Arthur Weasley showed me some Muggle videos." Tonks began to change back to her real form. "I rather fancied the accents in Steel Magnolias. It was better than those awful New York accents from NYPD Blue. Anyway, you should talk. Has anyone in New England ever heard of the letter "R"?"
"Ha, ha. Very funny. Anyway, please tell me you have good news."
Tonks frowned. "I'm sorry, Jimmy. I checked every bit of food you gave me, even snuck back into the kitchen and examined it for any trace of dark magic. Nothing. The food hasn't been tainted."
O'Bannon's body froze. He stared blankly at Tonks for several seconds. "I . . . but . . . but this was the only way they could affect everyone at Salem. You said so yourself."
"I know. But there's nothing wrong with the food. I also checked the school's water supply. That's fine, too."
O'Bannon sighed and leaned against the faded brick wall. "Then what the hell could it be?"
"I don't know." Tonks shook her head.
"Friggin' great!" O'Bannon pushed himself off the wall. "Now we're back to square one."
"Look, I'll talk to your headmistress. Maybe she'll have some idea of what could be affecting your classmates, and how it's being done." Tonks' mouth twisted. "Dammit. I thought for sure it would have been the food."
"Yeah. Me too."
Tonks ran a hand over the back of her head. "We'll just have to press on. Meantime, I'm going to have to make a recommendation to Headmistress Esmeralda."
"What?"
"I heard about some of the rows that went on yesterday around the Communal Hall. There were also two classes where students almost got into fistfights. Whatever's affecting everyone around here seems to be getting worse. If we don't get to the bottom of this and soon, I'm afraid we might see a full-scale riot."
"I won't argue with you there."
"So," Tonks continued. "I'm thinking it might be a good idea to cancel all large-scale gatherings like sporting events and dances."
O'Bannon blinked. "What? Why?"
"Because those sorts of events can be very emotionally charged. The last thing we need are hundreds of teenagers, whose emotions are usually wonky to begin with, in a place where those emotions can easily get out of control."
O'Bannon swallowed. He stepped toward Tonks' desk. "Okay. I can see about sporting events, but dances? C'mon, they're supposed to be fun."
"Unless you don't have a date, or maybe the boy or girl you think you should be dancing with is dancing with someone else. Or you and your date wind up arguing. If that happens with a few dozen people, or a hundred, we could be looking at a very dangerous, very violent situation."
O'Bannon barely paid any attention to Tonks. All he could think about was Rana, and how much both of them looked forward to going to the Halloween Dance . . . together.
"Tonks, wait. Just reconsider, please."
"I'm sorry, Jimmy. I have to think about the safety of the students here."
"Okay, yeah. I understand. But understand where we're coming from. The teachers have been working our asses off since we got back to Salem. We've hardly had any breaks, especially us Seventh Years. Look, we need some kind of distraction. Some place to blow off steam."
"The last thing I want is you lot blowing off steam."
"No, no." O'Bannon waved his hands in front of him. "That's not what I meant. I mean, we gotta have some kind of fun. Something to take our mind off school and everything. And so many kids are looking forward to this. Tonks, if you cancel this dance, you could wind up with a riot anyway."
Tonks bobbed her head from side-to-side.
"Look," O'Bannon continued. "The whole faculty is gonna be at this dance. Any trouble pops up, they can take care of it before it gets out of hand. C'mon, please."
Tonks took a couple deep breaths. "Well, you are right. The faculty will be there. And I do remember what it's like to have your professors pile so much homework on you, you feel like you're drowning. For all we know, maybe having some fun is the best way to counter whatever is happening around here."
O'Bannon grinned and bounced on the balls of his feet.
"All right. I won't recommend to Headmistress Esmeralda that she cancel your Halloween Dance."
"Yes! Thank you!" He almost leaped on Tonks and hugged her, but restrained himself.
O'Bannon strode away from the Administration Building wearing a huge grin. True, they still had no clue what was behind these bad vibes. But Tonks should be able to find out soon enough.
At least she decided not to advise Headmistress Esmeralda to cancel Halloween Dance, and in turn cancel his big date with Rana. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for convincing Tonks to change her mind.
No way in hell would he let anyone or anything come between him, Rana and the Halloween Dance.
TO BE CONTINUED: I know I promised an explosion in this chapter. My apologies. But rest assured that will happen in the next chapter.