A/N: I own nothing
Hermione silently mulled over everything Clio had told her since the school year began as she steadily made her way through double Charms and double Transfiguration on the second day of school. Some of it didn't make much sense. Like why the patriarch of the Family of Noah would offer Lily and James Potter a powerful conception potion. Sure the Noble House of Potter was one of the richer wizarding families but why them? Unless the patriarch knew something that no one else did. And then there was this soul mate business. She had read that soul mates were rare in the magical world and practically unheard of in the mundane world, so if a magical claimed to have a soul mate, the claims were thoroughly investigated because soul mates were considered sacred in the wizarding community. Hermione had yet to hear anything about the claim being confirmed or not. She was worried about her friend but Clio seemed happier and healthier than Hermione had ever seen before. So, she was going to reserve judgement on Clio's fiancé until she actually met him.
"Something on your mind, Mione?" asked Clio from across the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall "You've been awfully quiet this morning."
"I have?" asked Hermione as she blinked owlishly.
"Mm-hmm." said Clio as she casually picked at the food on her plate, which was ladened with fresh fruit salad "You should eat some lunch. We don't know what sort of creature Professor Grubby-plank will throw at us this afternoon." Hermione nodded and quickly piled food on her plate before starting to eat. As soon as Hermione had finished, the two of them made their way out of the Great Hall and down to Hagrid's cabin. The day had become cool and breezy and ominous clouds hung overhead but it didn't deter the students as they came to a stop about ten yards from Hagrid's cabin. Professor Grubby-Plank was standing there with a twig laden trestle table before her and Clio's eyes lit up in recognition at the sight of the twigs. Today's class was going to be simple.
"Everyone here?" barked Professor Grubby-Plank, once all the Slytherins and Gryffindors had arrived "Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?" She motioned to the heap of twigs in front of her. Hermione's hand shot into the air. Behind her back, Malfoy did a buck-toothed imitation of her jumping up and down in eagerness to answer a question which made Clio's eye twitch in irritation. Malfoy was a git, plain and simple, and she was glad that she hadn't befriended him. Pansy Parkinson gave a shriek of laughter that turned almost at once into a scream, as the twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixie-like creatures made of wood, each with knobby brown arms and legs, two twig-like fingers at the end of each hand and a funny flat, bark-like face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.
"Ooh!" said Parvati and Lavender, thoroughly irritating Clio. Anyone would have thought Hagrid had never shown them impressive creatures; admittedly, the Flobberworms had been a bit dull but the Salamanders and Hippogriffs had been interesting enough and the Blast-Ended Skrewts perhaps too much so.
"Kindly keep your voices down, girls!" said Professor Grubby-Plank sharply, scattering a handful of what looked like brown rice among the stick-creatures, who immediately fell upon the food "So...anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?"
"Bowtruckles," said Hermione "They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."
"Five points for Gryffindor," said Professor Grubby-Plank "Yes, these are Bowtruckles, and as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?" Clio was called upon this time.
"Wood lice." said Clio "But fairy eggs if they can get them." All sorts of creatures inhabited the woods on the Kamelot estate including Bowtruckles and she had the opportunity to observe many of the creatures over the summer.
"Good girl, five more points for Gryffindor." said Professor Grubby-Plank "So, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a Bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of wood lice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous but if angered they will try to gouge at human eyes with their fingers which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So, if you'd like to gather closer, take a few wood lice and a Bowtruckle, I have enough here for one between three, you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body-parts labelled by the end of the lesson." Hermione moved forward and retrieve a bowtruckle and a small container of wood lice while Clio grabbed Neville since Clio was sure that she'd end up sending Ron to the Hospital Wing if they were partnered together. Hermione held the bowtruckle first, allowing Clio and Neville to examine and draw it. Clio finished first and managed to coax the bowtruckle over to her so that Hermione could draw it. The bowtruckle seemed to take to Clio instantly as it was chittering in its own language while climbing all over her and 'investigating' her, delicately prodding her with its spindly fingers before looking up at her and motioning with its hands. The motions it was making with its hands indicated that it could sense what she was and it wanted her to demonstrate her powers. Pulling out the rose she had received yesterday in the mail, Clio placed the tip of the stem on the ground and with little direction or effort on her part, the rose had taken root and grew into a small rose bush filled with lavender colored roses. The bowtruckle chittered happily as it clapped its hands before a gasp caught Clio's attention. Turning, she saw the whole class staring at her. Ah, damn. They must've seen. Sighing, Clio touched the bush and it returned to a single rose, which she tucked away before standing. She turned in her drawing and returned the bowtruckle before she promptly left class, Hermione quickly following her lead. Of course, Clio only had one thought racing through her mind.
'I am so dead when Lulubell finds out.'
-later-
"I don't understand." said Hermione as she looked between Clio and Lulubell "Why is it a bad thing if people know that Clio is an elemental?" She had been told that Lulubell was a relative of Clio's fiancé and was at Hogwarts to keep Clio out of trouble (which was true but there was quite a bit omitted from the explanation and Hermione wouldn't be told the whole truth unless the Earl decided that she could be trusted).
"Elementals." said Lulubell "True elementals like Clio are virtually non-existent, most having died out from inbreeding. Those elementals that exist are descend from children without elemental talent who were born to these families and later abandoned. The power surviving within their bloodlines in a dormant state."
"Most elementals that exist can only wield existing elements," said Clio "While true elementals can create and change the elements themselves. Almost every wizarding community sees us as sacred beings and believe us to be blessed by lady Magic herself. Several Wizarding governments, including England, have laws that force elementals to wed genetically 'pure' witches or wizards to keep our 'sacred' ability from being 'tainted' by genetically 'impure' witches and wizards. Now, because people know that I'm an elemental, I won't get a moment's peace around here and my fiancé and I will be forced to make our engagement public to keep the government hounds off of my back which is what we wanted to avoid. My fiancé has alot of enemies and I'll be seen as an easy target because I'm still learning to control my magic."
"You do realize that I'll have to inform Lord Millennium of your slip up, Clio?" said Lulubell.
"I know." said Clio as she rubbed the back of her head "And I only have myself to blame but I couldn't help it. We were studying bowtruckles in class today and I just couldn't resist the call. Most of the time I can but with the bowtruckle all but begging me to make something grow, I couldn't resist."
"That can be addressed at a later date." said Lulubell "For now, I want you to remain close to Hermione and stay out of sight as much as possible until I have orders from Lord Millennium."
"Yes Ma'am." said Clio before Lulubell ushered her and Hermione out of the room.
"What did she mean by that?" asked Hermione "Stay out of sight?"
"To keep my dignity intact," said Clio "We'll be going by Invisibility Cloak and Marauders' Map until she gets word from Lord Millennium, which will probably take a week or so considering he often travels all over the world to keep the clan from causing mischief and chaos." Hermione nodded and the two of them were quick to disappear from the hallways.
-(random-line)-
For the next week and a half, Clio and Hermione spent all of their free time hidden away in the Chamber of Secrets (after Clio and Lulubell had shipped off the Basilisk corpse off to the goblins for processing), appearing only for classes and meals with Lulubell occasionally joining them when she didn't have classes to teach. Clio had loaned Hermione a book on wind manipulation to read while Lulubell had put her through arduous control exercises so that she wouldn't have another slip up. Hermione had also gotten involved in the physical training, Lulubell starting her off 'light' since she was new to the regime and Hermione claimed that Lulubell was a devil incarnate after her first lesson with the shapeshifter. Finally, ten days after Lulubell sent out the letter to Lord Millennium, both Clio and Lulubell got letters from him during lunch. Lulubell's was delivered by a eurasian eagle owl while Hedwig delivered Clio's letter. Taking a calming breath, Clio opened the envelope and pulled out the letter before reading it. Dear Clio, it read...
I was most disappointed when Lulubell informed me of the incident that occurred on your second day of class. Hopefully, she has increased your control exercises as we do not want a repeat of this incident. I shall be coming to Hogwarts for a visit on September the twenty-third as is my right and I shall also be announcing our engagement to Wizarding Britain during my visit. We will discuss this incident further upon my arrival. Until then, stay safe and lay low.
Your Fiancé
"He's upset with me." said Clio as she cradled her head in her hands.
"How can you tell?" asked Hermione as she looked the letter over.
"He kept it formal." said Clio as she looked the letter over again "He only does that when he's upset. My fiancé tends to be overly affectionate with his family and me. So you know that he's upset when he gets overly formal or professional. Hopefully, he isn't still terribly upset when he get here."
"So, what should I expect?" asked Hermione.
"He'll probably come off as cold and distant if he's still upset." said Clio "But normally, even when he has his professional mask on, he gives off an aura of cheerful playfulness. He seems to be easily read but the truth is that he's a very complex individual, so don't try to figure him out all at once. Everything he says or does is genuine unless your his enemy, he might not give you the whole truth but he won't lie to you either."
"I still reserve my judgement on him until I actually meet him." said Hermione.
"Don't worry." said Clio "I'm sure that you'll like him, Mione."
"Hey, Potter!"
"And here comes trouble." said Clio in exasperation as Ron came up "What do you want, Ron?"
"I want you to be my girl." said Ron as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "You should ditch the loser you seemed to have deluded yourself into believing is your fiancé and go out with me, who is your real fiancé."
"Really?" said Clio as she stood.
"Really." said Ron arrogantly "After all, there isn't anyone better for you than me. I am from an old pureblood Light family after all."
"So, I should go out with you," said Clio as she crossed her arms "Solely because you're from a pureblood Light family?"
"Of course!" said Ron "Only the best for someone of your stature." Clio's eyes narrowed and her irises seemed to glow before Ron suddenly found himself flat on his back with a broken and bloody nose.
"You're a bloody prick!" snapped Clio, her anger practically palatable as her magic began to flicker across her skin "You've got a lot of nerve to come up to me and practically tell me how I should live my life! Especially after you've done nothing but leech off of fame that I didn't want and steal money from my family vaults! You're nothing more than a bully, a thief, and an all around bastard! I don't even know why we were even friends! Just stay the hell away from me because we're through!" Clio stepped around Ron and ran out of the Great Hall as thunder rattled the windows suddenly while dark cloud gathered in the ceiling overhead. Hermione grabbed both hers and Clio's bags before running after her friend.
"Clio!" called Hermione as she caught up with Clio "Clio! Slow down!"
"Sorry." said Clio "I just needed to get out of there before I did something I would regret but I don't regret punching him."
"I wouldn't either." said Hermione as she handed Clio her bag.
"Thanks." said Clio before sighing "Lulubell is going to skin me for that stunt."
"Yes she is." said Hermione before adding dryly "I'd start running if I were you." A grin slowly spread across Clio's face before the two of them cracked up laughing as they rounded the corner, the incident with Ron forgotten as quickly as it had started.