Kuro: (praying it doesn't take the movers long to get our stuff in)
Kaze: Oh calm down, will you batty?
Kuro: All right.
Kaze: Besides we have other things to worry about. (has sign in hand that says "exams suck")
Kuro: (groans) My life bites at the moment...Ok, enough self-pity. Here's the last chapter I'll be posting for a few weeks.
Kaze: Yeah, but the writing will continue. And remember we own nothing but ourselves and pets.
Kuro: Review plez! It'll make me feel better.
Kaze: Yes, now onto the chapter.
Review Responses:
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. And please excuse any typos. I'll start reading over the chapter before I post.
Truth Lies in the Shadows
Chapter 12
Harry was unsuccessful in convincing Ron that Malfoy had something to do with the necklace, but he was able to get his friend to cover for him. Staying quiet so their sleeping roommates would remain sleeping, Harry retrieved the invisibility cloak from the bottom of his trunk. Luckily, the common room was deserted except for a few stragglers. It was past curfew so Harry encountered no one in the hallways.
His footsteps echoed off the stone around him as he ran down the last corridor. He stopped just in front of the tapestry hiding the Room of Requirement and took out the Marauder's map. The three dots were in the same place as they were five minutes ago, only now Kaze's flag was still and the other two moving about. Harry put the map away and removed the invisibility cloak. He began repeating, "I need to find Reina, Kaze, and Kiku," over and over in his head. After a few tries the door phased into existence, and Harry wasted no time in opening it.
"That's cheating! We said no powers." Reina tried to sound pissed but it wasn't working. A smile found its way out despite just being punched in the jaw.
"It was an accident." Kiku retorted with false innocence.
The half-demon launched at the water demon, her fist poised to strike. Kiku planned on countering the attack, but instead of catching Reina's arm she caught a cloud of darkness, blinding her momentarily. Because of this handicap she was unable to escape the roundhouse kick to her side. However, she did come back with an attack of her own.
Both girls stumbled back, Kiku breathing hard and Reina coughing from water being thrust in her face. "So that's what you brought the water bottle for." said Kaze from the sidelines.
"Yes," Kiku answered once her breathing was back to normal. "I can't create water from nothing just yet. I'm close though." She held out her hand, palm down, to demonstrate. Little drops of water fell from her hand to the floor.
"Wicked counter, Kiku. But next time watch where you're shooting." A sneeze from Reina had her friends laughing at her expense. She ignored them and wrung out her now wet hair. After quickly pulling the blue locks into a ponytail, Reina looked over to Kiku. "Ready for round two?"
"You bet."
The two demons faced off once again in the center of the room. This place that Reina had found was perfect for sparring. It had everything they needed; a variety of weapons mounted on one wall, holes in another wall to store their things, and strange bottles full of what Kiku identified as healing potions. The room also gave the girls the privacy needed to be themselves. While they were here, the demons abandoned their disguises.
"Ready," Kaze bellowed acting as referee. She watched the others take up fighting stances. "Set," Lavender orbs met swirled purple ones. "Fight!" Just then the door swung open and the fighters ceased their attacks.
"Harry!" Reina exclaimed in surprise. Before the boy could address them, the door behind him slammed shut. Harry turned to see who had shut the door. Kiku used the few seconds Kaze's distraction gave them to quickly use illusions to hide all of their appearances. When the boy looked back he saw the three in human form.
Remaining by the door, Harry glanced at each of them in turn. "What are you three doing in here?"
Kaze and Kiku went to the cubbies, grabbed their stuff, and headed towards the door. "We did our part in keeping the secret, now it's your turn." the wind demon said to Reina telepathically.
"Good luck!" Kiku called back from the hallway.
"See ya, Harry." Kaze dashed past him to join the water demon in the hall. The door closed and Reina was left alone to explain the situation to Harry.
'I'm gonna kill them!' Reina frowned and walked over to retrieve her things. "What are you doing up, Harry? It's past curfew." she said calmly.
Harry followed her over to the corner, glancing at the components of the room as he did. "I asked you first." He watched Reina closely as she examined some cuts on her arms and a split lip.
"You asked first, you answer first."
"Reina," he said a bit sternly.
"We were training." The half-demon decided not to waste a potion on something so minor. "And not magically if that's what you were going to ask next."
Indeed it was what Harry was going to verbalize. This made him think about the DA meetings held in the Room of Requirement last year. It also occurred to him that physical fighting was something good to know if magic failed. "Do you do that often? Combat training I mean."
Reina answered without looking at him, seemingly more concentrated on collecting her belongings. "Kaze and I usually do it once a week. But we haven't been able to since we came to Hogwarts. This was the first time we used this place to train."
"Yeah, the Room of Requirement lives up to its name." Harry sat down on the bench when he realized that Reina had no intention to leave just yet. She had already packed up her things and cleaned her injuries, and now she was putting away equipment that they had dragged out. Harry's expression suddenly became stiff. This was probably the only time he and Reina would be alone for some time. He wasn't going to let the opportunity slip out of his grasp.
"Reina, do you mind if I ask you something?" he said. The girl looked over to him for the first time in five minutes. A look of worry crossed her face as if something inevitable was happening. She threw that look away, replacing it with a kind and gentle one, and came over to sit next to Harry.
"You just did. But go ahead."
When the half-demon sat down, Harry saw that the worry and nervousness had not disappeared, but merely moved to dwell in dark eyes, like game hiding from a hunter, the hunter cannot see it but he knows it's there.
"At the beginning of term, you told Hermione that you helped the house elves over the summer. How long have you been at Hogwarts?"
Reina shifted on the bench and leaned back against the wall. "Since late July. My father had to leave so Dumbledore allowed us to come early." Harry let out a soft "oh". "Is there anything else you wish to ask me?"
"Yes."
"In that case, would you care to ask up in the common room? This bench isn't too comfortable."
Harry agreed and the two of them snuck out of the room, through the halls, and to their house tower without being caught. Once they got there, Reina kept her promise, allowing Harry to continue his interrogation.
"First of all, what's with you and nighttime? You're forever staying up late. And I've been hearing the portrait hole close in the middle of the night and something on the stairs."
"That would be me." Reina openly admitted. She lied down on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling. "I have a sleeping disorder causing me to have trouble getting to sleep at night. There's a pass in the outside pocket of my bag giving me permission to be out after hours." she explained, and gave Harry the okay to remove the pass from her bag.
Sure enough there was a piece of parchment in the pocket. In Dumbledore's neat handwriting was a statement of permission and a short explanation of why. Harry placed the pass back into the outside pocket and zipped it up. When he put the bag on the table, Harry noticed the letters 'MP' embroidered into the material.
"Okay. How do you know Hagrid so well?" Harry asked.
"My father is a friend of Hagrid's."
Harry returned his attention to Reina's bag. If he didn't ask about it now it would bother him to no end. He grabbed the thing off the table and turned it to face the girl. "Whose initials are these?"
The half-demon rolled her head to the side to see Harry. She sighed and looked back up to the ceiling, placing the back of her hand over her eyes. "My mother's, Marina Po…" Reina abruptly cut herself off, mentally swearing for almost letting her mother's maiden name be known. "Parker, Marina Parker. It was her old schoolbag from her years at Hogwarts."
There was nothing suspicious about that, not until the gears in Harry's head began working faster. 'If her mother attended Hogwarts, then why had Reina gone to some other school?' he thought. But then again, if her other school wished to remain anonymous than there is probably a good reason for it. Harry switched questions and instead asked, "Is she traveling with your father?"
The question resulted in a long silence. Harry was patient though as Reina still lie motionless on the sofa. He didn't know how long it had been until his answer came.
"No, she's dead."
"How?" he said hesitantly.
"During childbirth, my birth."
"I'm sorry."
"Me too." Reina whispered the last part to herself, although she didn't care if Harry heard. Finally she sat up and looked at the boy. "Harry, could we do this later?"
"Sure."
The two said goodnight and went their separate way on the stairs. Reina quietly opened the door to her room, grateful when it didn't creak. When she got to the bed, she realized that she had gotten away from Harry just in time. Kiku's illusion faded as she sat down. After pulling the curtains closed around herbed, Reina lied down feeling unusually tired. It wasn't long before the half-demon fell into an unsettling sleep.
"Ginny, couldn't you be a bit more encouraging?"
"It's Ron! At this rate nothing, including encouragement, is going to help him play better." Ginny said and stormed out of the changing room.
As of now, things weren't looking good for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Their Chaser was in St. Mungo's so Harry was forded to find a replacement. That replacement happened to be Dean Thomas who was ecstatic when Harry told him. That was one problem down, but Ron's sudden drop in skill was another.
"Hey! Wait up!"
Harry and Ron turned to see Kiku running down the steps of the stands toward them. "What do you want?" Ron sneered.
"It doesn't bother me in the least that you don't like me, Weasley." said Kiku when she reached the boys.
"You know, that sounded a lot like something Malfoy would say." Harry commented.
Kiku immediately stuck her tongue out and gagged. "I gotta spend less time with him." Harry chuckled, and even Ron cracked a smile despite his bad mood. "Anyways, have either of you seen Kaze or Reina?"
"Not since last night."
"Can I follow you up to the tower to see if they are there?"
Two Gryffindors and a Slytherin walked into the castle and went up the stairs. When they came to the boys' shortcut, Ron pulled back the tapestry and got a big surprise, Ginny and Dean kissing in the small space. Harry and Ron both looked stunned and angry. As Kiku saw the scene, she used her next step to turn around so her back was to the group.
"Ginny!"
The couple broke apart and looked a their new audience. "What?" A fight of sibling rivalry kicked in after that. Ginny and Ron were yelling pretty loudly, chasing anyone in the hallway out. Harry stood off to the side trying to find a good time to interfere, and Kiku started rocking back and forward on her heels. Eventually the younger sister had the last word and walked away. Ron's mood was worse now, but they continued to the tower.
They met Hermione coming out of the dormitory when they got to the top of the stairs. "I was just coming to look for you." she said to Kiku. "Kaze is pacing the floor saying any swear word she can think of. She's been doing it for the better part of an hour."
Kiku crossed her arms with an amused smirk. "Any idea what caused it?"
"Form what I could understand of her rambling, I think it has something to do with Reina missing."
The water demon frowned. "Reina is missing? Again?" She pushed past Hermione and climbed through the still open door into the Gryffindor common room. Just like Hermione had said, Kaze was walking the floor, looking like she could burn a hole through it if she moved fast enough. Some little first years scooted away from the angry girl. At any other time Kiku would have found this entertaining. She crossed the space between her and the other demon before anyone could stop her.
"Can't we just tie her to a post so she won't run away?" the water demon said catching the girl's attention.
Kaze stopped pacing and swearing long enough to acknowledge Kiku's presence. "I'm afraid not. People would consider that cruel and unusual punishment."
"What's a Slytherin doing here?" someone called out.
"Shut up." Harry said as he and the others went over to the two demons.
"Reina could be walking around the castle. Why make such a big deal out of it?" said Hermione.
"Half the time she goes out alone something bad happens." Kaze sighed and crossed her arms. "Damn half-breed."
"She said she was going for a walk. I'm sure she's fine."
Kaze and Kiku turned on Hermione after she said this. "When?" they said in unison.
"This morning around four. She had a bad dream and was going to walk it off." Hermione told them. "I didn't think anything of it."
"Maybe we should just leave her alone. She needs some time to relax." Kiku said after thinking it over. Kaze was reluctant to agree, but eventually did.
Their patience paid off in the end. Reina returned to the common room two hours after dinner. When Kaze and Kiku, who had gone to wait with the Gryffindors, asked her about her whereabouts, Reina only said she went for a walk. The half-demon didn't look like she was in the mood for talking so the others left her alone.
Another week passed by with no significant events occurring. Over the days Reina gradually became her old self again, which her friends were thankful for, and just in time to enjoy the first Quidditch game of the season. However, Ron had not recovered as quickly as Reina had.
"Don't drink that!" Hermione warned. Ron stopped his attempt to drink once again. The bushy haired girl insisted that she had seen Harry spike Ron's drink, but Harry denied it.
"Don't tell me what to do, Hermione." The redhead downed his juice in one swig.
After breakfast everyone headed down to the pitch. The stands filled up quickly as the game was about to start. Hermione, Reina, and Kaze had gotten there early to hang with the team beforehand. While talking with Harry and the others, Kaze saw Ron sitting alone in the corner. "Is he still sulking over this whole thing?" she asked.
"Yeah. He's even saying he is quitting the team after today."
Kaze had a glint in her eye. "Maybe I can help." She stalked over to Ron and leaned against a post near him. "What do you think you're doing over here by yourself?" Ron ignored her. "You're more pathetic than I thought."
The boy's head jerked up and he glared at Kaze. "Whom are you calling pathetic?" he said standing up.
"You of course. Quitting just because of a little stage fright." The wind demon calmly examined her nails while Ron was heating up even more.
"I'm not scared!" Ron said dangerously close to losing it.
On the other side of the tent, half of the team was watching the argument. "What is she doing, trying to make the situation worse?" asked Harry. He moved to keep Kaze from taunting his friend, but he was stopped by Reina's outstretched arm.
"Let them be." she said. "Kaze knows what she's doing. She does the same thing to me when I am upset."
"And what would that be?"
"Making him mad. The angrier he is the more he'll want to prove himself. In order to do that Ron must believe in his own abilities."
"Which in turn will make him play better. I get it." said Harry. Hermione gave him a dirty look, still believing Harry had put Felix Felicis in Ron's pumpkin juice. Harry ignored her and glanced back to the scene of helping-in-disguise.
"The prove me wrong. Show us that you can actually play."
Ron stared down at the person mocking him. His anger made room for confusion when Kaze gave him a cocky smile. He wasn't sure what she was trying t do, but he was going to prove her wrong. And indeed he did. He played well and Gryffindor won the game.
In accords to Gryffindor's victory, there was a party in the common room. Everyone was having a good time except for one missing person. "Hey, Harry!" called Reina from the crowd. Harry heard his name and looked around. He spotted the half-demon pushing her way over to him. "Have you seen Kaze?"
"No." Harry said.
"Okay. Thanks." The girl started off for the door, but Harry stopped her.
"Where are you going?" It was sort of a stupid question since Reina was wearing the loose fitting pants and tank she'd been wearing when she did combat training. "Are you not going to stay?"
"Too many people for my liking." Reina answered with a smile before disappearing in the crowd.
Harry glanced around for any sign of his friends. A few moments later he saw Ron in a corner with one Lavender Brown and practically eating each other's faces off. It appeared that he wasn't the only one who saw them. There were some disgruntled mumbles as someone pushed through the crowd. Harry turned around just in time to see a head of bushy hair escape the portrait hole.
Kiku strolled through the halls with no definite destination. She just wanted to get away from Draco. He wasn't that bad for the majority of the day, but he recently got on the subject of the Dark Lord. That was something Kiku didn't want to stick around and listen to. She walked out of the dormitory twenty minutes ago and now found herself outside the Gryffindor tower. She was debating on whether to get Reina or Kaze when she heard a classroom door slam up ahead.
The water demon knocked on the classroom door and got no answer. She opened the door after knocking a second time. Hermione was sitting on the teacher's desk, yellow canaries flying around her head. "Hermione," Kiku said softly. She heard the girl sniff before looking over her shoulder.
"Hi, Kiku." said Hermione weakly. Kiku went to the front and sat on the desk next to her.
"What's wrong?"
Hermione wiped her eyes dry with the sleeve of her robe. "Nothing."
"Nothing, eh? Well, crying usually means something."
The young witch was quiet for a moment. She sighed heavily and said, "It's Ron."
"Oh, want me to help you beat him to a bloody pulp?" Kiku said. Hermione smiled at this and looked at Kiku who gave her a friendly smile back.
"No thanks. I'll be okay."
The door opened again and Harry came in. Both girls glanced at him from the front. "I guess I should go." Kiku hopped off the desk. "Are you sure you're okay?" Hermione nodded. "I'm always up for talking if you need someone."
As Kiku reached for the doorknob, the door opened and she jumped back. Ron and Lavender were laughing until they saw everyone else in the room.
"Uh, hi." Lavender said sweetly.
Kiku stepped forward with a scowl. Ron's arm ornament looked at her curiously. The temptation was too great for the water demon to resist. Her expression changed to glinting eyes and a malicious grin, and she used an illusion to make it seem like she had fangs. "Hi." she said. Lavender visibly tensed bringing satisfaction to the water sprite. With that done, Kiku left the four humans alone.