Kuro: We're back!
Kaze: Yes, we are.
Kuro: Only six more days of school. Hehehe.
Kaze: Yup, but we're afraid updates will be a bit slow after chpt 12 next week.
Kuro: Sadly yes. Along with the end of school comes my last days here. I'll be in the process of moving. So for at least 3 weeks (only an estimate) I won't be able to update.
Kaze: Yeah, but Kuronue will be writing the next few chapters until she has access to a computer.
Kuro: That is correct. So plez bear with me. Now, onto the next chpt!
Kaze: Remeber we own nothing but outselves and our pets and review.
Kuro: Doomo!
Review Response:
Nightmare Rose- To answer your question...Hell yes! Kiku will definitely kick Draco's ass. She wouldn't be the bad kid if she didn't.
Truth Lies in the Shadows
Chapter 11
"Reina, get your ass down here this instant!" Kaze yelled from their bedroom window. She had attempted to wake the half-demon before breakfast, but to no avail. The morning meal was over and Kaze had come back to find Reina's bed empty. After some cursing at the missing demon, she went to the window and opened it. Now she stood waiting for a reply to her call.
Ever since Dumbledore had given her the pass to stay out after hours, Reina had been taking full advantage of it. Through the week she'd be out until about midnight. And on the weekend she didn't get to bed until right before dawn. However, she did manage to find time to catch some Z's during class. This extra time allowed Reina to examine the castle in more detail. And from that came new hiding places, her most recent one being the roof.
Kaze leaned over the windowsill again only to jump back when an upside down Reina swung down from the railing above. "What?" she asked.
"Get down from there. We have to meet everyone at the Quidditch pitch."
"Oh, yeah. Harry is holding tryouts today." Reina said after she climbed back into the room. After a quick glance in the mirror, she bolted out the door.
"Reina!" The wind demon ran after her, barely catching her before she reached the stairs. "The spell! Use the spell!" Coming to a halt, Reina pulled out her wand and quickly muttered the spell. Once her appearance was human she continued to run across the common room. "Baka," Kaze mumbled before taking off after her friend.
By the time the girls arrived at the pitch, every hopeful applicant was gathered around Harry in front of the stands. There were also some spectators sitting in the stands. Reina and Kaze spotted Hermione towards the front. They greeted the girl then sat on the bench behind her.
"Under these stands is a good place to hide form people. It's also nice and cool under there." Reina randomly commented.
Kaze stared at her curiously and then with a sly grin, "I thought that pass of your only allowed you to wander the school at night, not the Quidditch stadium."
"The grounds are technically part of the school. So, I have done nothing wrong, you see." Reina said sweetly, acting like an innocent little angel.
The wind demon burst out laughing at the false innocent in Reina's expression. This made the half-demon lose her composure and start laughing, too. Hermione looked over her shoulder at the two. She noticed that she wasn't the only one. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil we're staring from farther back. When she returned her attention back to the tryouts, Hermione saw that Harry was sparing them a wondering glance. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and the boy nodded before looking back to the field.
Once they had settles down, Reina went back to watching the strange game. But Kaze's ears picked up on something more interesting in her opinion. With them not being too far away, she could her the conversation going on between Lavender and Parvati.
"There goes your man." Parvati giggled.
"Shush, Parvati." protested Lavender who was also giggling.
Kaze switched her gaze from her knees to the person walking onto the field. It was Ron. She held back the urge to laugh, but a snicker still managed to escape. Even though it was soft, the half-demon heard it. She glanced at Kaze out of the corner of her eye. The wind demon's focus was set on her shoes, and Reina knew her well enough to know what she was doing.
"What do you think you're doing, shorty?"
"Oi!" That seemed to extract Kaze from her concentration. "Don't call me that!"
"I won't call you that if you'd quit eavesdropping." Reina scolded. When Kaze didn't protest, she added in a whisper, "And no telepathy either." This time the wind demon did frown. She crossed her arms and did nothing but watch until the tryouts were over.
"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" asked Harry when they were all together outside the changing rooms.
"I've got a paper to work on, so I'll see you guys later." Kaze sighed. Before she left she walked over to Reina who was looking at a book Ron was showing her.
"Rei?"
"What?" The half-demon's head raised up a bit to look at the other girl. Kaze quickly jabbed a finger at Reina's forehead then ran back to the castle as though Hell's fire was under her feet. "You're dead, Soran!" Reina yelled after the wind demon. "That shrimp has a death wish."
"Other than killing Kaze, what are your plans?" asked Ron as he took his Quidditch Through the Ages back from Reina.
"Nothing much. I'm meeting Kiku later and then I have a poker game scheduled for after dinner with a few fifth years." Reina replied. She then added an assurance that they weren't playing for money when she saw Hermione's expression. "What are you guys up to?"
The four Gryffindors walked off the Quidditch pitch. 'We're going to visit Hagrid. I think he's mad at us for not taking his class this year." said Harry.
"He did mention something about you three. But I don't think he's mad at you, just a bit disappointed. Plus, a close friend of his isn't doing so well. He's upset about that as well."
Harry listened to the girl's explanation and realized that she must be close to Hagrid in order to know all of this. He started to ask about Reina's relationship to the gamekeeper, but decided against it. There were a few other things Harry wanted to discuss with his new friend later.
Over the next few weeks, Harry tried many times to catch Reina alone but never could. Half of the time he was busy or surrounded by his friends, and the other half was when Reina was in that position. Sometimes Harry would stay up late for a chance to catch his target, but she was nowhere to be found. Before he could talk with the half-demon, their first trip to Hogsmeade had crept up on them. Harry decided to give up and hope the opportunity would show itself soon.
The morning of the trip, the trio and Kaze were in the Great Hall eating breakfast when Reina came running in. She quickly reached them at the Gryffindor table and was barely able to stop before crashing into Neville. After apologizing to the startled boy, Reina fell into her spot on the bench. Her usual morning tea appeared when she knocked on the table and the half-demon grabbed it before the cup hit the table.
"Oh, no you don't!" Kaze swiped the tea out of the taller girl's hands before she could take a sip. "How much sugar have you had?"
Reina frowned. "First of all, that is green tea not sweet tea, so give it back." She took her cup back and drank some of its contents before finishing. "Secondly, my hyperactivity and/or cheeriness is only partially due to sugar thanks to Harry."
The wind demon glared at the boy across the table. Harry and Ron were both laughing at the fidgety half-demon, ignoring the dirty looks from Kaze. "How much sugar did you give her?" she asked.
"Just one chocolate frog." replied Harry. He, Ron, and even Hermione started laughing again when Reina gave the unsuspecting Kaze bunny ears, long and fuzzy white rabbit ears. The laughter got louder after one of them moved on its own.
"Reina, get these damn thing off me." Kaze hissed.
"Oh, alright." Reina said the spell and the ears vanished. "It was just payback for the poking."
Kaze sighed exasperated. "You see this is the reason we don't give her sugar." She sent a warning look at the two boys who she was sure would give Reina tons of sugar just for kicks.
"Don't treat me like a zoo animal. They can feed me if they want." the half-demon retorted. She finished her tea and then looked over to the Slytherin table. "I'll be right back." With that she got up to switch to another bench, which just so happened to be located at the Slytherin table.
"Ohayoo, Kiku-chan!"
"Ohayoo." the water demon replied in greeting. Reina and Kaze had been happy to find out that Kiku also knew Japanese. This made for good secret conversations, which also earned them a few stares.
Before Reina could say anything more, a certain blond head turned her way and spoke. "You are not welcome to sit here, Krone." Draco's unnecessarily loud announcement of the Gryffindor's arrival draw a few more unwanted pairs of ears.
"I have no intention to sit." Reina said leaning on the table with her arms. At first the half-demon had given Draco a chance, but it was soon clear t her that he was exactly like the boys back in her village. "Anyways, I found something last night that you might like."
"Cool. What is it?" Kiku said putting her copy of the Daily Prophet down.
Reina was about to answer, but she noticed that Draco was still watching them. She changed what she was going to say and turned to the boy. "May I help you?"
"You don't belong here." he sneered.
Kiku started to speak, but Reina cut her off. "And I don't believe dogs eat at the table, so you don't belong here either." There was a round of laughter from behind the half-demon, undoubtedly from the Gryffindor table. It appeared that the boys had used a spell to amplify their hearing. Draco's eyes went cold and he said nothing more. "What? No witty comeback?" Reina said before finishing the conversation with Kiku in Japanese.
After breakfast was over, the students with permission and time gathered outside the castle. The walk to Hogsmeade was uneventful except for Ron occasionally trying to slip some kind of candy to Reina. Unfortunately Kaze caught all of his attempts. However, Reina was able to secretly inform the redhead about her stash of poker winnings, which was mostly candy.
"Harry, it is dangerous. You can't just go around using spells that you don't know what they do," said Hermione exasperated.
"C'mon, Hermione. It was harmless. All Harry did was give me an unusual wakeup call." Ron retaliated in his friend's defense.
"It was careless! For all he knows the Half-Blood Prince could be a dark wizard."
"Hello? I'm right here. Don't talk about me like I'm not." Harry butted in.
"Sorry, Harry. But it's true. Don't you think so, Reina?"
The half-demon was deliberately walking a few feet away from the group for this exact reason. But her efforts didn't keep her name out of the discussion.
"Keep me out of it." she said putting her hands in the pockets of her jacket.
Kiku, who was walking between Reina and Kaze, spoke up. "Getting pulled in, are you?" she smirked.
"Really." the half-demon mumbled.
The argument over Harry's actions that morning with the levitation spell had dissipated by the time they reached Hogsmeade. By then new problems had arisen when Harry spotted someone in the street. Ron and Hermione followed the boy over, and soon had to hold him back when Harry lashed out at the man.
"Harry!" Reina ran over to them when the man scurried away. "What's wrong with you?" she asked helping Ron keep him from going after the coward.
"Mundungus swiped Sirius's stuff." Harry replied angrily. Reina wasn't sure if that was an answer to her question or the boy just venting his anger. Either way she assisted in calming him down.
"Come on. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks. It'll be warm in there." Hermione suggested.
The trio and Reina rejoined the two waiting demons before going to the Three Broomsticks. There they ordered drinks and took tow booths in the back. To Harry's disappointment, Reina sat on the other side of his chair with Kaze and Kiku. 'I guess I can talk to her later.' he thought as he took a sip of his butter beer.
"Harry, are you okay? You looked troubled." Hermione stated.
Ron looked at his friend and nodded his head. "Don't worry about Mundungus. That prick will get what's coming to him."
"It's not that, Ron," said Harry with a sigh. "Well, not all of it."
"Then what's wrong, mate?"
Harry turned his head to the side for a second, and then looked back to his friends. "I haven't been able to talk to Reina alone lately." he whispered so the girls behind him couldn't hear. Ron's eyes lit up and a devilish grin appeared on his lips.
"You like her, don't you, Harry?" he said in a low voice. "When did this happen? Well, she is cute so you didn't go wrong there. Plus she's got an attitude similar to yours."
"No, Ron! That's not what I meant!"
"Oh, then you're going to talk to her about Kaze? I don't suggest getting into that one."
"You're only saying that because you like her." said Hermione, just to see what the redhead would do.
Ron nearly choked on his butter beer. After a short coughing fit, he said, "I do not!"
"Oh, that's right. It's Kiku you have the hots for."
"Shut up! Both of you." Harry cut in. He now regretted saying anything about it. "I'm not crushing on anyone. My intentions are completely different."
"Sorry. What's going on then?"
The Boy-Who-Lived propped his head up with his hand. With a sigh he said, "Have you noticed how much Reina knows about Hagrid?" His friends nodded. "How could she know that much in just two months?"
"There's probably a simple explanation for that." Hermione said.
"Maybe. But how do you explain her sleeping schedule?"
"Kaze told us she is one for staying awake through the night." She decided not to tell Harry that Reina had been missing from bed several nights. "And there's a possibility that she has a sleeping disorder."
The probability of that had already had its run through Harry's mind and he didn't believe it. There was something strange about that girl, he could tell by the way she acted around others. When someone wanted her help, Reina gladly helped no matter who it was or what the job was. If an insult was thrown her way, usually by a Slytherin, she always came back with a clever retaliation of her own as though she had practice. But whenever a personal question was asked of her, Reina appeared reluctant to answer and would find someway to change the subject.
"Harry, please don't persecute Reina like you've been doing to Malfoy. You know what Kaze said about her life. Don't make her hate Hogwarts for the same reason." Hermione pleaded.
After Harry agreed not to bother the girl, the trio finished their drinks. The trio of girls behind them were done as well so they all left the building together. As the next two hours passed, Harry and Ron quickly became bored with the girls' shopping. Once Hermione and the three demons were satisfied with their purchases, the group started making their way back to Hogwarts.
About halfway through the walk, Kaze stopped unexpectantly. Because she was in the back no one noticed she was missing until she called out to the others. Five heads turned, but only one was hit dead on with a snowball. Ron staggered back and wiped the snow off his face when he regained his balance.
"Bloody hell! Wha…" The redhead was cut off by another snowball, one that barely missed his shoulder. Not saying anything else, Ron grabbed up a handful of snow and packed it into a ball. As he prepared to throw it at Kaze he felt the cold of the snow on his back. Less than five seconds later, snowballs were flying through the air at laughing teens.
"Hey! Watch it!"
"You started it!"
Reina dashed behind a tree off to the side of the path to escape the snow fury. She peeked out to see where everyone was, a snowball soaring right by her face. Quickly concealing herself again, Reina saw something move next to her. She pulled out her wand and cast a banishing charm. The snowball stopped in mid air and then flew back to break against Harry's chest.
"No magic allowed in a snowball fight." Harry said smiling.
The half-demon smiled back. "Sorry." She took a step forward, but immediately feel back against the tree, the palm of her free hand pressed to her temple.
"Reina!" Harry rushed forward to help. "Are you okay?"
"What happened?" asked Hermione as she and the others hurried over.
"I don't know. He used a banishing charm and the fell back." Harry explained helping Reina remain standing.
Kaze and Kiku looked to the half-demon then to each other. They knew this couldn't be good.
"I-I'm fine." Reina said. She bit her bottom lip as the pain slowly dissipated. She stood up straight and let go of Harry's arm, which she had used for support. "I'm fine now, just a migraine." It took a minute or two more of convincing before thy believed the girl was all right. Once that was established, they continued on their way to the castle.
When they arrived back to the school there were even bigger problems than a simple headache. Katie had been cursed by a pendant she was to deliver to Dumbledore. That had taken everyone's attention off of Reina's earlier misfortune, which she was grateful for, although it didn't last.
"You need to go to the Hospital Wing." Kaze said frustrated. She had been trying to get her friend to seek help since dinner, but to now avail.
"I'm not going to the hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey has enough to deal with."
"If you're referring to Katie, she's been transferred to a real hospital." Kiku said.
Reina cut Kiku a dirty look. "You're a big help, water sprite." Kiku only smiled. "Come on. It's right up here."
"If you won't see Madam Pomfrey will you at least tell Dumbledore what happened?"
"He's just as busy with finding out who cursed that pendant. Now would you two drop it?"
"No." the wind and water demons said simultaneously.
"Oh, well. We're here." The half-demon walked in front of the tapestry hanging on the wall. She stood a few feet from the stone and waited until a door appeared out of nowhere.
Harry and Ron were up in their room sitting on Harry's bed. The Marauder's map was spread out on top of the sheets, names and footprints moving over the parchment.
"I'm telling you Malfoy gave that necklace to Katie." Harry insisted.
"You can't prove that, Harry. Besides, McGonagall said that Malfoy didn't even go to Hogsmeade."
"I don't…care." Harry leaned closer to look at the map. There were three dots grouped together in one of the corridors moving around rather frantically. Harry recognized the room they were in, the Room of Requirement. "Look at this." He pointed at the section of the map.
Ron also leaned forward to get a closer look. "I can understand her being out," He pointed to the still dot. "But these two don't have an excuse."
"Now do you believe me?" Harry sat back after taking one more look at the titled flags of Reina Krone, Emi Soran, and Kiku Sukue.