Chapter Two: Twice as Good as Chapter One (NOW with MORE HOGWARTS!)
Malfoy awaited the peculiar trio at a dilapidated shack hunkered forlornly on a patch of mud. "You're la-"
"We already DID that joke," Lylia interrupted, looking pale as she held a hand to her gut, the jacket wrapped around it quickly reddening.
"Well, uh, let's get going." The Slytherin nudged them all, one after another, into the tiny hut. Kayla looked around questioningly at their tightly-cramped quarters, critical eyes glancing over every mossy plank of wood and rusty nail securing it to the next:
"What is it Rita said? 'This is cozy'?"
"The woman," Draco twitched.
"The monster," Aidon shuddered.
"The ladybug," Lylia swayed.
Struggling for elbow room, Malfoy closed the door to the hut and drew his wand from a pants pocket. He shut his eyes for just a moment, and with a flick of his wrist the entire shack lurched up into the air and soared off in a dizzying whirlwind, drowning out the alarmed shrieks of those inside.
A few minutes later, the shack made a messy landing on even more mud, the only difference being that this mud was Scottish. Draco hastily exited the feeble hut and made way for a very green Kayla, who proceeded to dash over to a bush and empty her stomach of its most recent contents. Aidon didn't make it quite so far, instead dropping to his hands and knees a few yards from the hut.
Draco and Lylia went into Comfort Mode as the other two began to cease their unpleasant action.
"Are you quite alright?" asked Draco carefully as he rubbed Kayla's back.
"Are you quite done?" asked Lylia impatiently as she put a foot on Aidon's back.
After a few more seconds the four, along with Shadow in her crate, began to make their way up to a single carriage waiting on the outskirts of a forest.
"We're quite late," mumbled Aidon worriedly as he loaded Shadow onto the enchanted carriage's top. "They even put the Thestrals back in their stables…"
"Remember to keep breathing," Draco answered with a sigh, boarding the coach with Kayla and Lylia. Once inside, he sat across from them and gave a grin. "You'll have to forgive Hanes. Everyone in his family's paranoid."
"I myself just live with Elise Cambridge," Kayla smiled at him. "She's been my guardian since before I can remember. Lylia stays with me too."
"Better than an orphanage," Letum threw in.
Aidon decided to speak up from where he sat in the driver's seat as the carriage tumbled its wheels over stone and grass. "Well, actually MY family comes from-"
"A long line of lingerie manufacturers," Lylia answered with a smile. "It's okay, Haynes. We understand."
Any grumbling emerging from the man was drowned out by Kayla's gasp as she grabbed Letum's arm, pulling her over in her seat to look outside the window with her. "Lylia… It's Hogwarts!"
The blonde's jaw dropped as well as she gazed out into the night, seeing the tall, proud spires of a sprawling and regal castle known in part by essentially every nerd on the face of the planet. Its moonlit angles and star-reflecting glass cast an ethereal glow over its entire landscape.
"It's not quite like the books," Malfoy commented as he leaned against his side of the carriage, "But it's quite nice. A lot bigger, though. Older students require more space, apparently..."
Lylia was the first to be tugged out of the carriage by Aidon, her wounded hand still clenched tightly to her form in the soiled jacket's wrappings. "This is… a dream, isn't it?"
Aidon answered by giving a pinch at her hurt arm. After she yelped, he replied. "Did that FEEL like a dream?"
Malfoy helped Kayla gently out of the carriage and led the small team inside the castle via a pair of massive oaken doors, claimed by Malfoy to be a 'side entrance.' Lylia was not stopped by Aidon's hand at the scruff of her neck, looking all about at the ornate walls around them and the timeless tiles beneath their feet while they traversed the halls until they were striding right up the front steps to the Great Hall.
Kayla risked a grin as Malfoy and Aidon went ahead of them to push open the huge doors, her eyes flicking over at Lylia. "How late do you think we are?"
As the light from within the Hall spilled out over their forms, Lylia's eyes widened, staring straight ahead at the swarm of students that peered directly at them from four long tables.
"… Very late," she whispered.
"Well, go on," Haynes nudged them forward.
"We'll be watching from our tables," Draco simultaneously assured them as they headed forward. Lylia lifted her hurt hand a bit from her jacket as it began to pulse once more in agony, but she quickly shielded it again as the blood elicited a wave of murmurs from the crowd. She and Kayla made their way to the cluster of other first-years as McGonagall came to their rescue, providing the Sorting Hat at which the students to stare, instead of gawking at the awkward newcomers. The Transfiguration teacher decided to skip introductions and went straight into the list of names.
"Melinda Appleby," she demanded politely.
The notorious shusher from Kayla and Lylia's tests glanced at them before bouncing her brown curls over a shoulder, trotting up to sit below the Sorting Hat. The otherwise tense silence of the Hat's ponderings was broken by Kayla rolling her eyes with much aplomb.
"Slytherin!"
Melinda, as the shusher was so called, beamed knowingly and skipped over to the emerald-bannered table, sliding onto the bench by Malfoy. The Slytherin Prefect gave a barely-noticeable wince at his new company.
Eventually,-
"Kayla Hartland!"
Kayla took her seat under the Hat and awaited its reply. Instead of immediately placing her, it whispered inside her head.
"Hm hm hmm. Where do YOU think you should go?"
The brunette blinked, taken off-guard by the unusual question. "… I… always thought I belonged in Ravenclaw…" She looked to the azure-bannered table.
"No pressure, dear: I already know where I'm placing you. I just want your opinion first."
"… I also felt a certain attraction to Slytherin, however…" Her eyes flicked over at the green table.
"To put it simply, love, you DO possess his traits…"
"To put it bluntly, Hat: I'll go anywhere but Hufflepuff."
"Very well, then! Slytherin!"
Malfoy's expression turned uncharacteristically jovial as he stood and burst into joyous applause, much to the annoyance of Melinda beside him. Lylia laughed happily at the relief she saw on her best friend's face, her eyes doing all they could to not wander over at the Staff Table where a black-clothed man with a sallow face and dark eyes watched her from its end.
Soon enough,-
"Lylia Letum!"
The blonde slinked up to sit and be judged, jumping a little as the Hat whispered to her as well.
"That's a rather nasty cut there."
"Oh, uh… Yeah… I got into a toss with a kelpie."
"A kelpie? You don't say, you don't say… They're said to be the spirits of the dead, you know."
"Actually, I didn't…"
"Oh, look at me- talking when there's placement to do. Ravenclaw!"
Aidon stood from his post in the middle of the table, his Ravenclaw Prefect badge gleaming in contrast with the dull horror on his face. "NO!"
Elden let out a low hiss in displeasure, seated not far down from Haynes.
"Perfect," smirked Kayla cheerfully.
"Interesting," Snape commented into his drink.
Lylia flushed happily and walked shyly to the end of her new table, sitting at the end of a bench and giving a quiet glance over at her housemates, none of whom move to greet her.
With a clap of McGonagall's hands as she sat in the throne-like chair poised at the middle of the Staff Table, mounds of scrumptious food and goblets of rich drink sprang up along the tables. As the majority of the students dug in, aside from Melinda who ate an extremely small portion of food, the House Ghosts each soared in through the walls, floating along over their respective tables to greet the old and new. Try as Lylia did, she could not see Ravenclaw's ghost anywhere.
"She doesn't really show herself much," said the boy beside her, his unkempt chestnut hair half-hiding his face and giving him the friendly but demure appearance of a thin sheepdog. "You seem to be hurt…?"
"Oh," Lylia let a welcome smile shine through the taciturn shield of unfamiliarity that had divided them. "Yeah, I haven't quite seen how bad it is yet… So much commotion and-"
"Come with me," he stood with a smile that was wane in comparison but returned all the same, extending to her his hand.
"Draco," Kayla leaned over to Malfoy. "Who's the boy Lylia's leaving with?"
"Oh, that's Talem Kyker," Malfoy turned his head. "That's strange… He doesn't talk, really."
After finishing their dinner, they headed together to the Grand Staircase, where Draco guided Kayla through an ascending labyrinth of stairwells and portraits. Eventually they arrived at the level of the Hospital Wing, guessing at Lylia's location by her wound. As they stepped through the entrance, their target was immediately spotted, sitting on one of the beds in the dim light. A soft nighttime breeze rustled through the gossamer curtains that hid the open windows, casting caressing moonlight over the pair of Ravenclaws. Talem sat poised on the edge of the bed as he wrapped bandages around Lylia's wounded, treated hand. Her head turning to Draco and Kayla, Lylia smiled cheerfully and waved her free limb.
Kyker stood at seeing them near, just nodding politely and casting Letum one last glance of assurance before leaving quickly. The female Slytherin glanced after him before shrugging and going to Lylia's side to tug the other girl to her feet.
"Ready to head up to bed? We'll get in trouble if we're out too much later."
Lylia glanced over her shoulder at Talem's departure. "Yeah, okay. Good idea."
The group split at the Grand Stairwell again; as Draco led Kayla downward to the Slytherin Dormitories, Lylia found herself climbing stair after stair, up and up to the Ravenclaw Tower.
Malfoy slid onto one of the black leather couches adorning the green-tinged room, commenting, "It's not always so drafty down here. It's just late at night, since we're actually partway beneath the Black Lake." Kayla nodded in understanding, a delighted smile decorating her features as she drifted over to the shelves lining the area.
The newest Ravenclaw stepped hesitantly up to the eagle knocker blocking her way into the Dorm.
"What goes down the more it grows up?" it chirped inquisitively.
"Uhm…" she stated in answer.
"It's a riddle," the knocker explained. "You must answer it to enter, or wait for someone who CAN answer it. That way you learn."
"Crap."
"Well…?"
"Roots!" Lylia said quickly. "The older a tree is, the deeper its roots go!"
"Well justified," agreed the knocker as its lock unlatched to let her in.
Her eyes roved the room with open astonishment, not able to conceal her shock at the ceiling's height; the room's highly arched windows; the silver and blue silk curtains; and the deep, midnight-sky hue of the carpet. Her surprise drew her to one of the windows, where she gazed out wondrously over the Forbidden Forest and surrounding mountains.
A glint in the reflection, cast by the glass before her, made Lylia pause. She looked back over her shoulder, seeing Elden Lesperance seated against the opposing wall, on an elegant Victorian loveseat.
The elder student sipped blood-red wine from a transparent flute he held, his almost-purple eyes never leaving the fledgling witch. Crossing the room, he gave her barely enough time to turn and face him before he pressed one hand against the glass above her shoulder, leaning menacingly close.
"We may be in the same House," he murmured, making her shiver from the sweet scent of the wine on his breath. He threw the emptied wineglass over his shoulder, hearing it shatter with perfect accuracy in the fireplace as he continued, "But we are NOT comrades."
Lylia remained still for a good amount of time after he left, just staring at the fire.
The newest Ravenclaw awoke the next morning, in her dormitory bed, to the feel of a cold brush against her cheek. Opening her eyes, Letum saw the pale ghost of the Grey Lady floating over her, the midmorning sun filtering through her wraithlike hair.
"Jeeesus," escaped Lylia's lips as she bolted up and backed away, against her bed's headboard.
"I apologize," the spirit smiled softly. "I just felt drawn to you, and thought you might like company."
"Where's Lylia?" came Kayla's question as she sat by Draco at lunch. Talem was eating alone at the end of his table due to Lylia's absence, while Aidon looked relieved and Elden looked pleased.
"Probably resting. Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" Draco asked back in an abrupt change of conversation.
Melinda choked a little on her tiny portion of egg.
"Really…? Yes!" Kayla nodded enthusiastically.
Upon being approached on the matter, Lylia later revealed in one of the numerous green courtyards that Talem had asked her to go with him to the very same celebration. The best she could discern was that the annual party was simply a last chance to enjoy oneself before the beginning of classes the following week.
And so, the two Slytherins met with the two Ravenclaws at the latter's table that evening for dinner. Melinda was hardly distraught.
"We'll be needing to go to Diagon Alley anyway for school supplies," Talem gave the group a shy smile. "If we get permission from a teacher to go one evening instead of during the day, it'd make everything so much easier to accomplish…"
"I could see about that!" chimed Kayla in response.
That being decided, the Slytherin pair returned to Melinda at their respective table. Kayla's smile unwaveringly prevailed throughout her entire meal, chatting gaily with her new escort.
"Do you like it here so far?" Malfoy hesitantly asked amid a dessert tart.
"It's amazing," she said after a drink of pumpkin juice. "This is all like some sort of walking dream…"
Melinda gave a snort and earned herself a glare from Kayla.
"There a problem?" hazel eyes bore into Melinda.
"You sound like some sort of fairy-tale princess," the accused gave a wicked glint of her own eyes over the rim of her goblet, pushing aside her still-untouched plate.
Kayla lowered her gaze to the rejected food. "Anorexic twit…"
In a second's passing, Melinda was standing, her expression venomous. "What was that?"
"Nothing at all," Kayla met the enmity of the eyes with a firm standing of her ground, her countenance carrying all the calm in the world.
"No, I'm QUITE certain you said something," goaded Melinda louder as she drew her sequoia wand.
By now a dangerous silence had fallen over the Great Hall. Lylia was quite literally hiding behind Talem, who had no idea what was going on.
"I said," Kayla politely replied as she drew her own wand and stood, "That you're an anorexic twit."
McGonagall rose amid the emptiness of sound. "Detention, Ms. Appleby and Ms. Hartland. Tonight."
Both girls cast each other one last glance before Melinda turned, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder as she bolted from the hall with her long brown curls bouncing every step of the way.
Once dinner had ended, Kayla and Malfoy met with Lylia and Talem near the entrance to the school. The enormous pendulum overhead swung back and forth in marking time as the sun cast its last dying rays across the clouds.
"Well…" Kayla began to formulate an apology to the group.
"No worries," smiled Lylia almost as quietly as Talem. "I bet I can find someone who'll give us permission for tomorrow. Just don't die in Detention, okay? And don't let Melissa kill you, either."
"I'm pretty sure it's 'Melinda,'" Kayla laughed.
Lylia just shrugged after Talem had clasped her hand and gone to bed. "'Mel' works either way as her nickname..."
"I'll show you the way to the Detention Hall," Draco offered Kayla as he looped his arm through hers. With the other Slytherin's consent, Malfoy left with Kayla down the hall, both determined to find the kitchens before the detention rooms.
Once the two had gone, Lylia found herself alone in the hall. She debated for a while in her head about whether or not to go through with her idea, but in the end she gave in and headed down to the dungeons.
Letum walked to the door she most suspected to be Snape's office, knocking at it timidly and reluctantly awaiting an answer.
"What could you possibly want at THIS hour?" growled the Potions Master as he opened the door, his fiery displeasure freezing at seeing his visitor. "… Letum?"
"I-I'm really sorry it's so late, Professor," stammered the gold-haired girl as she avoided his gaze, looking instead around at the damp and depressing brickwork. "I just wanted your permission for going out at night to Diagon Alley with three friends."
"Come inside," he uttered and drew her in by the arm, shutting the door again behind her once they were both in the dimly-lit room. Lylia remained rooted by the door as the teacher strode to the back of his study and vanished into the next room with a simple command: "Don't touch anything."
Meanwhile, Kayla watched avidly as Draco tickled a picture's pear and used it as a knob to open the kitchens. Heavenly fumes overwhelmed the pair of students along with their steps, the vapors guiding them into the sacred basking of rich aromas. House Elves hurried here and there around the room, cleaning and cutting and cooking. Upon spotting the two teenagers they stopped, staring. Within a minute, jubilant celebration broke out over the arrivals.
Severus Snape emerged from his office, with his formal notice of permission, to find Lylia Letum doing exactly what he told her not to. She stood over a small burner she had placed on his desk, her gaze enraptured with a strip of Wolfsbane burning over it. Instead of catching flame, its heat-exposed end was shining a brilliant, dazzling white akin to a miniscule star.
Lylia turned her eyes to her hand as a cold, colourless one lay over it. "Professor…?"
"Just a little higher," he said quietly from where he stood right behind the girl, guiding her hand up just enough for the greater heat to send abdicant sparks steaming down harmlessly onto the desktop.
"It's amazing," Lylia breathed ecstatically.
Snape said nothing.