A/N: Thanks again to everybody who reviewed and to my sister for picking up on some huge grammar mistakes in this chapter.
Disclaimer: Except for Natalie and Kalissa, I own absolutely nothing of the Harry Potter wizarding world.
Chapter 9- Natalie's Helping Hand
"Where's Ron and Hermione?" asked Natalie, craning her head over the great masses of students streaming through the streets of Hogsmeade. Natalie had not expected for the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year to be so packed, especially with the rise in Death Eater attacks. She could barely shuffle her feet without bumping against someone's shoulders.
"Hermione went with those Ravenclaws to get a new quill. I think Ron went with her too. Don't know why- he doesn't need a quill," answered Harry who was standing right beside Natalie.
"Well, I'm sure he saw the looks Terry Boot was giving Hermione and er decided to accompany her," said Natalie jokingly.
Harry laughed. "Yeah, definitely. Knowing Ron, if Boot even tries to touch Hermione, Ron might just hex him."
Natalie grinned. "I suppose Hermione wouldn't like that much. So do you want to go find them or go the Three Broomsticks. I think we've walked around enough today."
"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks. It's quite cold outside. Ron and Hermione will know where to find us anyway. Come on." With those words, Harry grabbed Natalie's arm and dragged her through the crowd and into the Three Broomsticks. Harry's touch sent a tingling of excitement down Natalie's spine. Unsettled by Harry's touch, Natalie let Harry lead her while her face became increasingly red, especially with the quizzical glances that were being cast her way.
Once they had ordered their drinks, both sat down at a table at the corner of the room. Natalie rather enjoyed the boisterous, lively and coercive atmosphere.
"Is it always this busy?" asked Natalie, eager to start a conversation and ease the awkwardness that had temporarily overcome her.
"Yeah, usually, people are excited to get out of Hogwarts for the first weekend. But I did think this year, with Voldemort gaining strength, less people would be coming out," said Harry, glancing around at all the groups that were gathered around the tavern.
"People probably just want to forget about the Death Eaters. All these attacks can be quite depressing," countered Natalie reasonably.
Harry frowned. A slightly indignant expression crossed his face. "But you can't hide from the truth. It didn't work last year for them."
Natalie sighed. "It's hard to explain. People accept the truth, but they also want to be able to think that they can carry on their day to day lives."
"I suppose you're right. So did you come here often in the summer?" asked Harry. Natalie sensed that Voldemort was not his favourite topic of conversation.
"Mostly. Also went to the Hog's Head a few times. Bit of a dodgy place. Some really unusual characters."
Harry smiled. "I remember last year when we were organizing the D.A., we had our first meeting there. Hermione thought it would be the least suspicious place."
"With all the weirdos that go to that pub, it wouldn't have been that wise to hold an 'illegal defensive organization' meeting there," remarked Natalie slyly.
"Yeah. Especially when it's 'illegal'. Turns out that one of the Order had actually disguised himself and listened in on the meeting."
Natalie raised her eyebrows. "The Order really does look after you, don't they?" said Natalie mockingly.
"They do keep an annoying watch. Last year, they had an entire network just to keep track of me," muttered Harry darkly.
"And you still managed to put yourself in mortal peril. Tut-tut. Nothing keeps the Chosen One locked up," quipped Natalie.
Harry's lips twitched. "That's right, Miss Malkae. The Boy who Lived always finds some adventure."
"Here comes Ron and Hermione," commented Natalie, nodding at the doorway. To Natalie's amusement, both looked rather pink in the face and seemed to be making a concerted effort to avoid eye contact.
"Looks like something happened. Either had a fight or one of those awkward moments they've been having these days," remarked Harry dryly, turning around to wave at the two of them.
"I say the latter, judging by those blushes," said Natalie.
When Ron and Hermione had joined them, Natalie asked with a hint of sarcasm, "So what happened to you two?"
"Nothing. Ron just thought that he would shove Terry Boot for clapping my back after I had performed a heating charm on him," murmured Hermione irritably, shooting an annoyed glance at Ron.
Natalie had to purse her lips to prevent a smirk from forming.
"He didn't just clap your back, he smacked it. He could have broken it," muttered Ron, keeping his gaze locked on the surface of the table.
"Ronald, please explain to me as to why Terry Boot would want to break my back," said Hermione sharply. Despite the stern tone, her expression bore a combination of exasperation and amusement.
"Come on, you two. Can we just talk without either one of you biting each other's head off?" said Harry, catching Natalie's eye and grinning. Natalie mouthed "I told you".
Ron and Hermione remained silent until Hermione stated with forced curiosity, "What did you two do after we left?"
"Nothing much. Just came here. Harry was telling me about your D.A. meeting at the Hog's Head."
The subject seemed to bring Ron and Hermione out of their angry, brooding moods. Both went into avid descriptions of that meeting with Ron making sure to reiterate that Zacharias Smith was an ugly git.
Once they had left the Three Broomsticks in much better spirits and started to walk back to the castle, they came upon the Gryffindor chaser, Katie Bell, and her friend, Leanne. The two girls were having an argument about some package in Katie's hands. Leanne tried to take the package away from Katie who moved away, causing the package to fall to the ground. Immediately, Katie rose into the air, gracefully and serenely, her arms outstretched as though she were about to fly. Something was wrong, eerie. Her eyes were closed and her face was empty of any emotion. Leanne was screaming. Ron, Hermione, Natalie and Harry momentarily stared at Katie in numb shock.
At once, Natalie recognized what was wrong. The package must have been some dark object that had injected its curse into Katie, paralyzing her system. She knew what to do, but the situation seemed too absurd. Why on earth would such a dark object be in Hogsmeade of all places and in the hands of a Gryffindor? After a few seconds, Natalie managed to detach herself from the shock and raise her wand. Hermione had already ran to Leanne and pulled her away from the ascending Katie
"What are you doing?" cried Harry.
"I know what's wrong. Go get somebody," said Natalie, her voice quivering.
"What if you hurt her?" shouted Harry.
"I need to carry out this spell or she'll be in a lot worse state. Just go get Hagrid or somebody. Hurry. Please trust me," asserted Natalie, this time, her voice much firmer.
Harry looked from Natalie to Katie and sighed. "Come on, Ron!" he shouted.
Ron, who had been staring at Katie with a blank expression, was aroused from his shock. He nodded and they both ran to Hagrid's hut.
Natalie took a deep breath, focused on the spell at hand and with a swoosh of her wand, she screamed, "ALLEVIATESUM!"
A stream of blue light shot out of her wand and hit Katie straight in the chest with a deep, reverberating gong. Katie fell to the ground unconscious. Both Hermione and Leanne rushed to her.
"You know how to do a reversible spell for a dark curse like that?" exclaimed Hermione.
"One of the few advantages of going to Durmstrang I guess," muttered Natalie, placing a hand across her head. She felt slightly dizzy, an expected symptom after such a powerful spell. The fuzziness would dissipate after a few minutes.
Harry and Ron were running back, Hagrid alongside.
"What on earth happen'd here?" shouted Hagrid.
"What did you do to her? Is she still-" asked Ron.
Natalie glared at him. "Of course she's still alive. To answer your question Hagrid, that package over there infected Katie with some dark magic. I think I was able to er neutralize the Dark magic by hitting her with a spell that jerked her out of her paralyzed state; the Dark magic's still in her system but it won't be affecting her. Katie's unconscious – she'll probably be out for a day."
Harry nodded. "Let's get her to the castle. We'll need to talk to McGonagall."
With Hagrid's help, they brought Katie to McGonagall. Harry and Leanne gave McGonagall a brief summary of the incident. Leanne was taken to the hospital wing, still traumatized by the incident. Apparently, Katie had received the package within the Three Broomsticks.
McGonagall surveyed the four of them over her spectacles. "The Headmaster is out on business. I will of course alert him. Thank you to all four of you for being so astute and for saving Miss Bell's life. 50 points to Gryffindor and 20 extra points for the extremely powerful countercurse you managed to perform, Miss Malkae. It could have gone horribly wrong for Miss Bell, however, had you not carried out the spell properly."
Natalie glanced down at her shoes. It was an extremely reckless thing to do. She shuddered at Katie's state if her countercurse had not offset the Dark magic.
"Now, do any of you have any idea as to where Miss Bell would have received such a dark object?"
Natalie found herself speaking. "Well, Katie's friend says Katie got the package from the Three Broomsticks. It looked to be an exceptionally dangerous Dark object – even in Durmstrang, they warn us to keep away from such things. So that basically rules out students. Either someone in the village, possibly a dark wizard in disguise, tricked Katie into taking the object or used the Imperius curse to get somebody Katie knew to give her the package."
Hermione spoke as well. "I agree - that seems pretty much correct. I think someone gave Katie the object under the Imperius curse. Katie's pretty smart and she wouldn't have taken a package from a stranger. But of course, we don't know if the package was meant for Katie," stated Hermione matter of factly.
"You guys are forgetting about something," blurted Harry. He looked at Professor McGonagall nervously.
"What Potter?" asked McGonagall, sharply.
Natalie knew he was going to bring up his theory about Draco Malfoy. Apparently, Ron and Hermione sensed the change in subject as they both shook their heads at Harry. "Well, Professor, I think Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater and he might have given Katie the package."
McGonagall frowned at Harry. "What causes you to make such an accusation?"
"During the summer, we heard him talking in Borgin and Burkes about his Death Eater friends and on the train, I heard him say that he had been given the Dark Mark. Not to mention that his family has an entire storage of Dark objects. He could have just taken one from his house and given it to Katie."
McGonagall raised her eyes at Harry. "Though the Malfoys are associated with Death Eaters, Mr. Malfoy seems far too young to take on the Dark Mark. Anyway, he was serving detention with me this afternoon so there is no way that he could have given Miss Bell that package."
Harry gaped at her "But Professor…" mumbled Harry, searching for a reason to brand Malfoy as a Death Eater. "He could have told one of his friends to give someone in Hogsmeade the package."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come on, Harry. Why would Malfoy devise such a foolish plan? With so many people in Hogsmeade, and with Crabbe and Goyle delivering it, that package could easily end in the wrong hands. Anyway when we saw him in Knockturn Alley, remember I went into the store and Borgin said that he had not bought anything."
"Well you were being really obvious. So obviously he wouldn't tell you anything," interjected Ron.
"I never saw you offer to go in and talk to Borgin," retorted Hermione. Natalie sighed. She had never met two people who at any moment, could find themselves in an intense argument.
"No one asked you to. You just wanted to show off!"
McGonagall tapped her fingers on her desk. "Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. Please calm down. Mr. Potter, I see the merit behind your theory, but you simply cannot go around, making these absurd accusations against other students in the school. I will tell the Headmaster and he will have this entire business sorted out. Now go off, you four and please keep our discussion to yourselves. I urge all of you, especially you, Potter, to not become too involved in what happened today"
For the rest of the evening, the four continued their intense discussion about the day's events. Harry still maintained his conviction that Malfoy had someone bring the package to Hogsmeade. Ron and Hermione remained skeptical, arguing that Malfoy was too young to be a Death Eater. Natalie, however, felt the lingering effects of the shock. The incident had increased her feeling of vulnerability and exposure. It had also brought her thoughts back to her mother, reminding her of the danger she and Kalissa were in.
Harry, who had been frequently glancing at her, asked worriedly, "Why are you so quiet today, Natalie? Of all of us, you should be the most proud. That magic was bloody brilliant. Katie might have been dead."
Natalie blushed. "It's just that – well, you all seem so excited and unbothered. Someone almost died today and we're at school! Things like this don't happen everyday."
Ron laughed. "Welcome to our world, Natalie. This is the last five years for us."
Both Harry and Hermione glared at him. "Honestly, Ron, you cannot laugh about what happened to Katie today," scolded Hermione. She turned to Natalie, her face resolute and calm. "What Ron means is that things like this aren't really unexpected, especially with the rise of the Death Eaters. In Durmstrang, you probably don't hear much about Voldemort. But here, people are scared because attacks like that do happen."
"Natalie, what Ron meant was: Welcome to my life. When Voldemort's after you, things like this happen often," muttered Harry darkly.
Ron smiled tentatively this time while Hermione frowned.
Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't mean it that way Harry. I've just never been exposed to really evil wizards and Dark magic. At Durmstrang, they show us Dark Magic but not in any conniving, cruel context."
Ron gazed at her in surprise. "I don't see why you're so worried. After seeing what you did to Ginny and to Katie today, I wouldn't want to be a Dark wizard facing you." Hermione nodded along, looking at Natalie in admiration.
Natalie's face flushed. This had to be the first time both Ron and Hermione had complimented her. "Thanks, but that was mostly luck. If that curse had gone wrong, I might be looking at Az…khaban – that's the wizard prison here, right?"
Hermione yawned. "Stop demeaning yourself. I think I'm going to bed. It's been a long day."
Ron stretched his arms, briefly extending them to touch Hermione's shoulders, causing Hermione to blush a deep pink. "Yeah same. Need the sleep. Coming up, Harry?"
Harry looked at Natalie. "I think Natalie and I will finish our chess game. It will be only a couple minutes before I have her in check mate." He grinned at her.
Hermione gave them a significant look. "Well, then see you two tomorrow."
Ron said good night as well and followed her up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.
Turning her attention to Harry, Natalie noticed that a dark, agitated look had crept into his eyes. Natalie almost laughed. She couldn't believe that he had blamed himself for today's attack. To describe him as self-deprecating would be an understatement.
"Come on Harry. You had nothing to do with what happened to Katie," said Natalie soothingly.
"Haven't you been listening to what Hermione said? She couldn't have been the target. Who else would it be? And to think that Katie almost died because someone else had wanted me dead," said Harry in a slow, painful voice.
Natalie felt an instant urge to put her arms around him. His vulnerability and helplessness was very endearing. But she quickly quelled that urge. She knew that a firm, assertive tone would likely bring him back to his senses.
"Honestly, Harry, do you really think that everything today was a plot to kill you? Well then, your logic is quite flawed, even for the Chosen One. Let's see. First of all, we don't know if a Death Eater actually gave Katie the object. Ron and Hermione are just speculating. It could have easily been an accident. Even if it was a Death Eater, the attack may have been just an attempt to scare the school. Or maybe Dumbledore or McGonagall or even some teacher with enemies was the target. So Harry, don't assume that you're the center of attention until we have proof," stated Natalie flatly with her lips twitching on the last statement.
Harry grinned at her. To Natalie's relief, the agonizing pain in his eyes had evaporated. "You really know how to cheer a person, don't you?"
"Anything for the Chosen One," retorted Natalie.
"Definitely. Let's finish this chess game, shall we?"
"Why? You were going to lose anyway. I need to play Ron to arouse my concentration."
As they played, Harry said, "I just hope Dumbledore gets to the bottom of this mess."
"Well, you can ask him during your secret meetings, can't you?" asked Natalie curiously. She very much wanted to know the topics of discussion during these meetings. She presumed that he had confided in Ron and Hermione, not her. While his lack of openness with her bothered her, she knew that if these meetings were indeed very important, then he had ample reason to not disclose to her anything about the lessons. After all, they only knew each other for two months. Still, with the romantic feelings that were growing within her for him, his secrecy had been a deadly blow.
Harry sighed. "I suppose you want to know about our 'lessons'."
"I can't pretend that it wouldn't be nice. You and arguably the greatest wizard of all time have some sort of secret correspondence. Please don't tell me that that is not intriguing."
Harry's eyes twinkled. "Do I sense a bit of resentment there? I suppose you want to be the Chosen One as well."
Natalie snorted. She conceded that Dumbledore's contact with Harry had annoyed her slightly. "Of course. But seriously Harry, what do you two talk about?"
Harry considered her for a moment. Natalie rolled her eyes. If he did not tell her, she feared she would not be able to suppress her frustration. "You can't tell anyone about this, ok?"
"Who would I tell? Nobody else here talks to me," said Natalie scathingly. Nevertheless, she nodded.
A smug look crossed Harry's face. "After today, a lot more people will want to be your friend."
"So what instructions is the Boy who Lived receiving?"
Harry rolled his eyes at her. "Well, he's showing me Voldemort's past, you know as Tom Riddle. From his birth to his childhood to his adulthood. He's trying to show me Riddle's weakness. You know selfishness, greed, desire for power, no desire for love. It's fascinating, but it seems a bit excessive to me, though."
Natalie looked at him contemplatively. "It makes a lot of sense. Dumbledore obviously has figured out Voldemort and he thinks you can exploit the weakness he sees. Anyway, did you really expect that he'd teach you advanced dark magic? No offense Harry, but that would be kind of useless. There's no way you'd be able to defeat Voldemort, purely through magic."
Harry frowned at her. "Hermione said the same thing. Dumbledore's always going on about how I can love and Voldemort can't so I somehow have an advantage. I don't see why we're actually analyzing his entire life, though."
Natalie thought this was the moment to tell him about Kalissa. "Harry, you know my mother, Kalissa? Well, she went to school with Voldemort or Tom Riddle."
Harry gaped at her. "Really? They were in the same year. I never thought about how it would to be his classmate."
"Yeah, she was in the same year. Gryffindor though. McGonagall was there too. She and my mother were best friends – that's why McGonagall's so nice to me."
"That makes sense. McGonagall's around the same age as Voldemort. So what did your mum think about Voldemort?" asked Harry eagerly.
"Well, she said that he was one of the most popular kids at school – handsome, charming and extremely intelligent. But she never liked him that much – she thought there was always something odd about him."
"That's what Dumbledore thought too," said Harry approvingly.
"My mom said that after about their fourth year, a lot of nasty things went on at the school. Student attacks, portraits vandalized, corridors messed and of course, the Chamber of Secrets. At the same time, Riddle had assembled almost like a gang of all the snobbish, thuggish Slytherins around him. My mother and her friends suspected that he had something to do with all these events. But nothing ever got linked to him."
Harry shook his head in frustration. "You would think that some of the teachers would put two and two together."
Natalie nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. But he was like this icon of hard work, honesty and elegance in the school so all the teachers except Dumbledore did not consider that he may be a culprit. And of course, he was a half blood orphan so there was natural sympathy for him."
"Did your mother and her friends try to oppose him?"
Natalie was slightly taken aback at the change in direction. She continued though. "Sort of. When Hagrid was expelled for opening of Chamber of Secrets, my mom stood up for Hagrid and said Riddle was wrong. She actually confronted Riddle and told him that Dumbledore saw right through him."
"Wow. What did Riddle do to her?"
"Nothing. He avoided her. My mom says he didn't hurt her because Dumbledore would have known it was him, but I think he was afraid of her. Ever since then, she's been working against him," said Natalie, her voice filled with pride.
Harry looked positively awestruck. "Amazing. That's so brave. I can't imagine anybody who could scare Voldemort. You're lucky to have a mother like that."
Instantaneously, a wave of regret and bitterness overcame Natalie. She lowered her head, staring sullenly at the chess pieces. Natalie knew that Harry's last phrase did not apply to her at all. She felt guilty for lying about the identity of her mother. The familiar shame about her actual mother manifested itself, creating an agonizingly, sour heaviness at the bottom of her stomach. She was not at all lucky, even in the most twisted and distorted sense, to have the mother she had.
"What's wrong?" said Harry concernedly, leaning closer to her.
"Nothing. Just miss Kalissa," mumbled Natalie, in a half hearted attempt to cover her self pity.
Harry did not look convinced. Suddenly, he reached over, gently pushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. Electricity pulsed through Natalie's body. Her anger and self loathing had quickly disappeared. To her own shock and Harry's surprise, she gripped his hand tightly. Their eyes bore into one another, their faces a few inches apart.
Natalie's usual calculating and careful mindset had been replaced by an intense, almost maniacal desire to savour Harry's presence. She marveled at the depth and strength contained within his eyes. It was as if his entire life, all the pain, happiness, determination had been painted into an indelible image of dark green. He gave off a very fresh, earthly, but light odor that aligned perfectly with his ambiguous nature: an unique reputation and yet a shy, relaxed personality. The touch of his rough, warm hands soothed her, injecting her with a burst of excitement. She wondered what would happen if she moved in closer.
She lowered her elbow slightly, knocking off one of the chess pieces. Harry quickly pulled away, his face a deep red. Natalie inwardly scolded herself for being so clumsy. She realized that she had also blushed immensely.
"Sorry about that," mumbled Harry, looking away from her.
"No, it's fine. I liked it," said Natalie quietly. The comment had been completely against her own will. She hoped he did not interpret the "it" too narrowly.
Harry smiled at her. Natalie's spirits lifted considerably.
"Good night," mumbled Harry as he picked up his bag and walked up to his dormitories.
"You too," whispered Natalie after him.
Sitting on the coach, Natalie reflected on the interaction. She was still quite embarrassed. Before this moment, she had managed to control her feelings for him. When he complimented her or merely smiled at her, she was able to ignore the slight tingling he sent throughout her body and continue with the conversation. But now, he was likely aware of her attitude towards him. She hoped that the encounter would not create any tension or awkwardness between them. But then again, Natalie remembered that he had initiated the moment. He had touched her hair. The very thought filled her with pleasure and hope. Touching hair was not an action of a friend. It was slightly more sensual, more intimate. One of those actions that designates a crossing over, a transformation. Natalie shook her head. There was absolutely no reason for her to inflame her hopes. He had been very tired. Not to mention that he was worried about her. To her disappointment, she concluded that she would have to wait and assess his behavior with her after today.