Kuro: Guess who's back! I can't believe I haven't updated in over a month. I'm so sorry.
Kaze: Yeah, both of us are sorry, but we'll make it up to you guys with this chapter, I hope...
Kuro: And just so you don't kill us, I've already started chpt 18.
Kaze: Well that's something to look forward to when you're done.
Kuro: Yep, and you have pep rallies to thank for it.
Kaze: Oh, great, what fun...Anywho, please remember we own nothing but ourselves and our pets and please review.
Kuro: Don't worry, I don't enjoy pep rallies. I was writing during the whole thing. But yes, please review. And before I forget, if you want to check up on the progress of the next chpt see the fic stats on my profile.
Kaze: Now on with the fic.
Truth Lies in the Shadows
Chapter 17
The cold weather was starting to break and the snow on the ground was almost completely gone. What few piles were left around Hogwarts castle disappeared under the stomping feet of students. It was nearing the end of February and winter was slowly retreating.
"I can't believe I still screwed up."
"Ron, we've only had a few lessons. Not many people can get apparition to work for them after just a couple attempts at it."
Harry and Ron were walking through the grounds, wrapped up tightly in scarves and gloves since it was still chilly. They had just come from an apparition lesson with the instructor who got on almost everyone's nerves. Hermione declined the invitation to go for a walk leaving the boys to stroll alone. Not long into their second lap around the lake, Ron caught sight of Reina, Kaze, and Kiku sitting by an old willow, which, luckily for the guys, wasn't the infamous Whomping Willow.
"Weren't you looking for Reina this morning?" asked Ron as they turned off the path and headed for the girls.
"Yeah, I need to ask her something." Harry replied. When they got closer to the tree, the two Gryffindors spotted Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle walking towards the same tree from a different direction. "What are they doing here?"
The two groups stopped in front of the girls and stood opposite each other. After a short moment of intense glaring, Malfoy spoke. "Well, if it isn't Potter and Weasel. Come to retrieve your girlfriends, have you?" Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind their leader.
"And I presume you're here to fetch yours, Malfoy." Ron snapped back, but didn't seem to have any affect on the Slytherin.
"Kiku, come with us." demanded Malfoy. He crossed his arms and stood with a smirk expecting Kiku to obey him. It soon became apparent to him that she wasn't. He glanced over to see her still sitting against the tree reading a book. Reina and Kaze sat against other sides of the tree also reading. It appeared that none of the three young women had even noticed the men's presence.
"Kiku!"
"Shut up, I'm trying to read."
Harry didn't bother hiding the chuckle that escaped. Malfoy heard it and gave him a dirty look. Ignoring his long time enemy, the Gryffindor addressed his cousin. "Reina, I need to talk to you." Once again there was no answer. "Rei,"
"Hold on, I'm almost done."
Now it was Malfoy's turn to find this amusing. There was no sense in trying to get Kaze's attention since she was just as distracted as the other two. So the guys were left standing there like fools. Since Malfoy was not of patient nature, of course, he didn't want to wait, especially near Potter. Apparently Harry was thinking the same thing because they both walked up behind Kiku and Reina. They looked down at the books in the girls' hands, and simultaneously scrunched up their faces in disgust.
"Are those two…"
"…Guys?"
Harry and Draco ignored the fact that one had finished the other's sentence. They were too distracted by what they'd just seen. All three girls were reading what looked to be comic books, but the ones Kiku and Reina had were totally different from any comic book Harry has seen. The pages showed a rather unnerving scene with two men kissing passionately. Both books had different characters, but they were still males.
Their housemates' reactions captured the demons' attention. Tilting their heads back, Reina and Kiku saw the looks on the boys' faces. It was impossible for them not to laugh.
"What's wrong, Draco?" Kiku asked sweetly, her head still leaned back looking up at the Slytherin boy.
Reina turned the page in her book. Harry's already scrunched up face got worse as he averted his gaze. "A little yaoi won't hurt you."
"Kiku, now!"
"All right!" The water demon grudgingly closed her manga and stood up. "What's up your ass today?" Draco frowned at her before spinning on his heel and walking off. Crabbe and Goyle raced after him. "Sayoonara!" Kiku called back.
"Ja ne!"
Reina and Kaze got up off the ground, dusted of their pants, and strolled over to Ron with Harry right behind them. After just a few steps taken, someone called out to the wind demon. Four heads turned to view who was yelling.
"Athena?" Kaze muttered. She walked back to meet the strange girl halfway.
From where the other three stood they could see that the stranger was much taller than Kaze, like most other people. She appeared to be a couple years older as well. Too curious to let it go, Harry and Ron secretly cast a spell to amplify their hearing while Reina strained to hear with her own sensitive ears.
"Nice timing. I just finished it." said Kaze. She held out the manga she'd been reading to the girl. "Let me know when you get the next volume of Hellsing."
"Will do." Athena chirped. She turned to leave, but then caught sight of the retreating Slytherins. "Hey, Kaze,"
"Hm?"
"Is that blonde boy the prick you told me about?"
Kaze glanced over her shoulder towards the direction Athena was pointing. With a frown she replied, "Yeah. He talks shit about everyone. Nothing but a waste of space if you ask me."
Athena eyed Draco suspiciously as he walked towards the castle with his friends. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Kaze's wand protruding from her back pocket. "Maybe this will teach him a lesson." Before the wind demon could stop her friend, Athena snatched the wand and aimed the tip at Malfoy. "Furnunculus!"
The Gryffindors hastily looked to their classmates. At first nothing appeared to happen, but then Kiku could be seen backing up clutching her stomach. Crabbe and Goyle also backed away but with looks of disgust. Redirecting their hearing, the boys and demons could tell that Kiku was laughing so hard that she fell backwards onto the ground. The two thugs were stuttering incoherently while Malfoy demanded them to tell him what was so funny. Eventually one of them blurted out that their friend was covered in boils, which didn't go over so well with Malfoy. His reaction could be heard without a spell of any kind.
"Excellent, Athena!" exclaimed the wind demon. She turned and barely saw the girl's blonde ponytail before completely disappearing into the Dark Forest. "Goodbye to you too." She muttered as she walked over to the others.
"Who was that?" Harry asked with a chuckle over Malfoy's predicament.
"An old friend."
"Is she a demon as well?" said Ron.
Kaze tightened her ponytail. "Nope. She's part vampire, part werewolf, and part human." she answered nonchalantly. Her friends stared at her as if her head had sprouted wings and flew off her shoulders. "Don't ask. It's complicated."
Still staring at their vertically challenged friend strangely, the others nodded slowly. Kaze just rolled her eyes at them. Reina smirked and looked back in the direction of the Slytherin group. Her smirk disappeared, replaced by a nervous smile.
"Uh, we better get going." she said nodding her head towards their house's enemy. When her friends looked over they saw Malfoy glaring daggers at them. Not wasting anymore time, the four Gryffindors rushed off in the opposite direction to the castle.
- - -
"Miss Krone,"
Class was over and everyone was eager to get out of the classroom so they could start enjoying their weekend. Because of the chatter Reina almost didn't hear Slughorn call for her. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she weaved through the tables to the front. She quickly glanced back to see if any stragglers remained; Harry was patiently waiting by one of the tables. The half-demon smiled at her cousin before looking back to Slughorn.
"Yes, sir?"
"Ah, Reina, my dear. Yes, I have something for you." Slughorn picked up a large jar from the counter behind his desk. The glass jar was filled to the rim with a green liquid, which swayed in its container from the movement. "Madame Pomfrey told me to give this to you. She tells me that you have taken an interest in medicine and are working with her in your spare time." he said smiling at the girl.
Reina only returned his gesture with a small smile of her own. "It would appear that I have." she said trying to sound sincere. Slughorn gave her the jar and then sat down. Saying nothing more, the half-demon turned and walked back to where Harry was standing, carefully holding the jar securely in her arms. "Telling these lies so much is beginning to make me partially believe them."
Harry chuckled at this, and the thought occurred to him that sometimes he found himself lost in the lies. He quickly shook that notion out of his head. "Are we still on for tonight?" he asked. Reina's cheerful expression changed into a nervous one.
"I guess, but are you sure it's a good idea?"
"Come on, Rei. You'll be fine." Harry told her encouragingly. Sighing in defeat, Reina reluctantly agreed to their plans. "Good. I have to talk to Slughorn, so I'll catch up with you later." With a curt nod, the half-demon tightened her hold on the jar and left the classroom.
As she was walking past the hall leading to the Slytherin common room, Reina heard a soft sound coming from somewhere near. She stopped walking and stood there in the middle of the empty hallway. After waiting for a minute or two she heard it again. This time it was coming from a suit of armor to her right.
"Who's there?" Reina asked calmly.
"A giant squid." came the whispered response. "Who do you think?"
"Kiku, what are you doing behind that armor?"
There was a squeak and then a groan as the water demon squirmed out of the tight space. She almost managed to escape the tight spot, but as she pulled her foot out her shoe caught around the suit's ankle. After stumbling forward, Kiku regained her balance and turned to face Reina. Unfortunately the same could not be said about the suit of armor. Neither girl could react quickly enough resulting in a loud crash as the heap of metal fell to the stone floor. The thundering noise drowned out the soft gasps of the demons.
Footsteps reverberated off the walls as their owner jogged through the hall. When the man came to a halt in front of the pile of armor, he stared at it quizzically for a moment and then looked around the halls. "That's strange." He muttered taking out his wand. With a short incantation and a wave of the wand the armor levitated into the air and began putting itself back together. Once the décor was complete, the man looked around again and then walked away.
While the sound of footsteps slowly dissipated, two long breaths sounded from a black hole that appeared in the wall next to the armor. Kiku stepped out of the portal in fascination. "That was so cool!" she exclaimed. Reina stepped out after her, barely on solid ground before Kiku stuck her head back in.
"Unless you want your head stuck in the wall I suggest backing up."
Kiku glanced from the half-demon to the dark matter, which was rapidly shrinking. She backed away from the wall, watching the hole until it silently disappeared all together. When there was nothing more to look at, Kiku turned back to the half-demon who was leaning against the opposite wall. "What was that?" asked the water demon eagerly.
"That was the Shadow Realm." Reina replied while rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.
"Wicked. Can we go in it again?"
"No," Kiku's reaction of pouting brought Reina to a frown. "I'm sorry, Kiku. I would love to take you to the Shadow Realm again, but I can't. It's one of the limitations I have for being a half-demon. Despite my increased power through magic I can barely take another person into the Shadow Realm."
"But you were able to just now."
"And it used up all of my energy."
"Oh," The water demon now felt guilty for knocking over the suit of armor. "Sorry."
Seeing the guilt in her friend's expression, Reina pushed off the wall smiling. "Don't worry about it. Classes are over except for Astronomy tonight. That gives me enough time to rest. Now, why were you hiding behind that damned thing in the first place?"
The question appeared to lighten Kiku's momentary guilty mood, but not by much. "I need to…" Kiku was cut off by the sound of voices echoing through the halls. "Damn," she muttered. "Okay, I can't tell you anything now. We'll talk during Astronomy." With that she took off down the hall, passing Harry on her way. She offered a quick greeting and kept walking.
"Where is she off to?" asked Harry when he reached the spot where his cousin stood.
Reina shook her head. "There's no telling."
- - -
After dinner in the Slytherin common room, Kiku slowly descended the stairs from the girls' dorms. Scanning the room with perceptive eyes, she found Crabbe and Goyle on the couch munching on food they stashed away during supper, but there was no Malfoy among them. The water demon looked around again when she reached the bottom. This time she caught sight of Pansy and a group of her friends sitting around one of the round tables. And yet still no sign of Malfoy.
'Dammit, where is that boy?'
Kiku didn't bother asking the two on the couch where their leader was. She had a feeling that they didn't know either. After leaving the common room she made her way upstairs to the third floor of the castle. As the demon came to a stop in front of the familiar tapestry the door behind it came into view. Without a second thought, Kiku opened the door and walked in.
The room she walked into wasn't at all what she was expecting. Differing greatly from the gymnasium-like atmosphere she usually encountered, Kiku now stood in a dimly lit room with all sorts of objects scattered around. 'What is this place?' She began to walk deeper into the crowded space, examining the many things she saw. Some objects were broken while others were intact, several contents were illegal by school rules, and a lot of stuff Kiku didn't even know what they were. The water demon picked up an old dust covered book and lifted the cover, but immediately let it close again when a disgruntled mumble floated to her ears.
Being extremely careful not to make any noise, Kiku inched her way closer to the source of the sound. From her place behind a column thick enough to conceal her body, the girl saw a dark figure standing in front of a large cabinet with his back to her. The person growled out a curse and kicked the unusual storage device, which didn't budge from the assault. "Damn portal! It's useless." scowled the man.
"Draco," Kiku breathed when she recognized the voice. Draco was too wrapped up in his anger to hear her.
"This is stupid. This whole fucking thing is stupid." The young man sat down in a chair nearby. He leaned forward on his knees with his head hung low, taking deep breathes in an attempt to calm down. "I can't fail." he whispered. "I can't afford to fail."
Kiku turned away from the scene before her. Draco was obviously up to something, and considering it was Draco there was a slim chance it was something good. The water demon knew she had to inform Snape about this. But then again Snape and Draco were acting suspicious before the holidays, so it might be safer to tell Dumbledore. Kiku peeked around the column again. On the other hand, there's no proof even with her eyes witness. What she has seen and heard it not conclusive.
'I guess I should wait to see if he does anything.' With that decided Kiku retraced her steps back to the door, avoiding getting close to anything that could make a noise if hit. She reached the exit and silently slipped out unnoticed.
- - -
"Are you ready?"
"Harry, maybe this isn't such a good idea."
"You're a demon. What are you afraid of?"
"Being a demon doesn't make me fearless."
Harry sighed and looked over his shoulder at his cousin. "Okay, Reina. I understand." The half-demon was relieved to hear him say that. She opened her mouth to thank the boy, but in place of words came a startled yelp as they went from hovering two feet above ground to soaring a hundred feet in the air. Reina wrapped her arms around Harry's waist as tight as she could and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Dammit, Harry! You said you wouldn't do this." she exclaimed.
All Harry could do was laugh at his cousin's reaction to riding a broomstick. "I said I understood, not that I wouldn't bring you up here." He told her with a smirk Reina couldn't see. "If I slow down will you loosen your grip? I can barely breathe."
"You don't deserve air after what you pulled."
Keeping his word, Harry slowed their pace on the broom. For the next ten minutes the two teens flew around the Quidditch pitch a few times and once around the castle before coming to land near the stands where Kaze was waiting.
"Did you have fun?" asked Kaze smirking when her friend approached.
"Shut up."
"Why were you so afraid of flying? You've never been scared of heights before." Kaze pointed out.
Reina unbraided her hair, brushed it out, and let it remain down. "It's not heights that bother me, it's the broomstick. I don't trust it. I'd much rather use my own abilities to fly."
"I'm sure I can change your opinion about broomsticks in time." stated Harry confidently. The half-demon rolled her eyes at him.
"I wish you luck in doing that."
The three kids began walking back to the castle as it was close to dinnertime. Once inside they met up with Ron and Lavender, and then made their way to the Great Hall. As the group of Gryffindors came upon the double doors, a familiar voice from behind stopped them from going in. They turned to see Professor McGonagall walking over.
"Miss Krone," McGonagall said when she stopped in front of her students. "Professor Dumbledore has something that he thinks you'd like to see."
Reina stared at the witch who was giving her a small smile. "Do I have to come now?" she asked really wanting to just enjoy a meal with her friends.
"I'm certain that you will want to see it as soon as possible." McGonagall turned back in the direction she came from. She took a step forward, but then stopped and looked back to the children. "Mr. Potter, you should come, too." Leaving it at that she walked away. Harry and Reina looked at one another before following their head of house.
They were led through the halls at a quick pace, the whole time wondering what it was they were going to see. It didn't take long for them to reach the familiar statue and staircase. When the adult and her charges came to the top outside the door, McGonagall told her students to wait there while she went in.
"Do you have any idea why we're here?" Harry said after a few minutes of silent waiting.
"No clue." was the short answer.
"Can you hear through the door?"
Reina put her ear close to the wood blocking the entrance. "I can't hear a thing. The spell around the room is too strong." she stated a minute or two later. She leaned against the wall next to Harry. "Looks like we just have to wait."
As if on cue the door opened and McGonagall stood in the doorway. "Come on in." She stepped away from the door to allow the teenagers entrance. Harry and Reina said nothing as they walked into the office. Sitting behind his desk was Dumbledore with Fawkes beside him on the perch. McGonagall closed the door behind them before standing off to the side, her hands tucked inside her robe.
"Good evening." greeted Dumbledore standing.
"Good evening, Professor." Harry said politely. He waited to see if Reina would say anything. When she didn't, Harry glanced over at his cousin. The half-demon was looking around the room suspiciously. "What did you call us here for?" he asked still watching his cousin. Before anyone could answer him, a hand came out of the wall behind them and grabbed Reina. Immediately she spun around prepared to face her attacker. But when the rest of the stranger emerged, she relaxed with a big smile on her face.
"Father!"