Chapter 28 – The Prophecy
Argus' fingers travelled along Adele's wrist and along her arm. She smiled and moved away.
"It's funny how desperate you can get when you see a black mini dress," said Adele as she lit a candle and caressed it in a seductive way before she put it on a table.
Argus grunted and shook his head. "I should get used to your games, but you see – I still didn't. I'm an old fool, Adele."
He looked at the attractive woman in the flattering dress, which only just made him more frustrated. Adele loved to be just beyond his grasp.
"Just give me a chance," he said, although he knew it sounded pathetic. He hung his head but Adele was quick to put her hand under his chin, and she forced Argus to look at her.
"You always have a chance, but it's up to you if you give it a try."
Argus sighed, looked at the fireplace, and then at Adele. His expression showed resign and tiredness when he furrowed eyebrows a little and slumped his arms down.
Adele looked at the door. "Seems that someone is coming to cheer you up, sunshine."
Argus got up by pushing onto the armrests of the chair. He didn't even question why he believed Adele, because she always seemed to know. Mrs. Norris used the opportunity to jump up onto the unoccupied armchair.
Somebody indeed knocked at the door and when Argus opened it, he barely managed to move away as Katia Ivanov waltzed inside.
She looked horrible, with a tear-streaked face and her feet bare, as she held her high heeled shoes in one hand and an almost empty bottle of Firewhiskey in the other.
"Whoa wait!" said Filch, as he held her to shield Adele from view. Or the other way around.
"Should I go back?" asked Katia; she tried and failed to focus her gaze.
"Get in before someone notices you." Argus shut the door, but not without a glance around the corridor, to make sure that she hadn't been seen. "What in seven hells made you think that it was a good idea to come to me drunk as a pig?"
Katia shrugged and marched towards the bed. "I think I will vomit," she said in a thick, Russian accent before she slumped boneless onto the bed.
Filch scratched the back of his head and raised his eyebrows in disbelief . "Any brilliant ideas in the pretty head of yours?" he asked, as he looked at Adele, who was petting Mrs. Norris. Adele looked like she was having good fun and she probably was.
Adele just shrugged her arms indifferently.
Katia Ivanov started to snore, and she was still holding onto her shoes with one hand. She'd fallen on the bottle on top of the covers, and she occupied the only bed available.
Argus took the bottle and shoes away and moved Katia a bit to make room for himself. He heard Adele's high heels against the stone floor and she was at the bed in few long strides. She used a spare blanket to pull over Katia. It was puzzling for Adele to care for others, especially females.
"You're not thinking seriously about going to sleep with her," said Adele while she caressed his cheek.
Argus leaned into her touch and closed his eyes. He had the upper hand now.
"I don't find anything wrong in sleeping next to someone, especially a young girl that is a friend of mine."
Anger flashed through Adele's beautiful features and then she smiled as she pushed Argus towards the armchair. "I think you will be too busy to care who is sleeping in your bed."
Adele's jealousy was really funny, but Argus didn't dare show how funny he thought it was. Instead he forced himself to make a hurt expression and poured himself a drink as if he was angry that Adele had forbade him to sleep with Katia.
Adele sat in his lap and pushed the table with the drinking glasses beyond his reach. She leaned in so close that her mouth touched Argus's ear.
"Are you happy sunshine?" whispered Adele, and Argus felt shivers of excitement as he felt her warm breath, soft lips, and heard the seductive voice he loved so much.
"Whatever," he replied in bored tone.
"I don't think so," said Adele, and she traced his jaw line with soft, warm kisses. She moved his hands to encircle her waist, and then she kissed Argus on the lips. With one swift motion, her black dress –which was very similar to Katia's– landed on the floor, and that pleased the caretaker like nothing else in his miserable life.
Harry Potter left the dormitory very early today. It was the last day of exams, and while all the hard subjects were behind him now, it still left the dreaded Trelawney and her crazy theories about Harry's death.
Harry walked towards the Clock Tower; he wanted to clear his head and time to think alone. He felt that he needed to do something for Buckbeak, but he didn't figure out what yet.
He reached the Tower far more quickly than usual, being so lost in his thoughts. The early sun illuminated the dark silhouettes of the Dementors, who continued to guard Hogwarts. Harry looked behind him, as he had the feeling that he wasn't alone.
His impression was right, as a terrible-looking Katia Ivanov emerged from a dark corner. She had an old, moth eaten cardigan on, and it hung loosely and revealed a form-fitting, black mini dress. Her hair looked greasy, and she had dark smudges of old make-up under her eyes.
"Seems that I won't be alone with my musings, right Potter?" she asked with a smirk.
There was something in her attitude that made him instantly angry. "I don't have to be in your presence any longer, Ivanov. What's your problem?"
Ivanov shook her head, a mocking smile spread over her features. "Potter, Potter, Potter. You say that as if I don't have any other problems than your presence around me."
Harry stayed silent, because he wasn't in the mood for her provocative, Slytherin games. Ivanov leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, while he shoved hands into his pockets and glared at her.
"I can say that at least one of your problems is not as serious as it seems and it's not me."
"What do you mean?" he asked, with interest and irritation in his voice.
"Not everyone is as hostile towards you as they seem. Including me. As a matter of fact, I find it funny how easily infuriated you are. Rasputin forbid, I sound like Pansy. But I'm not your enemy."
Ivanov started to walk away, but then she paused and looked back at Harry. "I don't envy you Potter, and I'm not going to stand in your way."
With that, she left rather quickly, not even waiting for his reply. She would just added to his bad mood. Bloody excellent.
Parvati Patil beamed. She had received an outstanding on her Divination exam and was spreading the news to everybody, wither they wanted to listen to her or not.
Katia thought about the upcoming exams that awaited her in Bulgaria. Her thoughts wandered and she paid no mind to mindless chatter around her until a misty voice called her name.
She climbed up the ladder, sat on the comfy armchair, and waited for Professor Trelawney to show up.
"I knew you would come," said a trembling voice from behind a thick, red curtain. Katia just rolled her eyes. The melodramatics were unnecessary because Katia couldn't care less.
The Professor showed herself and towered over Katia, before she pointed at the crystal ball on the table.
"You will be trying to unfog the future using the crystal ball," said Trelawney before she wrapped her shawl more tightly around herself.
"All right," replied Katia, and she tried to focus on the things that the Dementors had shown her, and on what she had been told by Sirius Black. However, the crystal ball stayed just a transparent sphere and there was nothing visible in it. Katia decided to make up something just to have the exam be over and to leave the stuffy room. "I can see that I will meet new friends and I-"
"You inner eye hasn't fully developed."
Professor Trelawney coughed and for Katia, she looked like she enjoyed the uncertainty that hung in the air.
"But you gained an acceptable mark anyway," finished Trelawney.
Katia left the suffocating room with great relief, but she couldn't get over the fact that she got such a miserable grade in subject where she didn't even use magic. She knew the books, she really tried to focus on predicting future, but even if she couldn't 'unfog it,' her classmates didn't as well.
Katia was just outside the Trelawney fan club. She just wanted to hold her ground and decided to visit her professor again, to try to fight for a better grade.
"Professor," she said. She focused her gaze on the woman, who seemed disturbed with something. Professor Trelawney poured her tea nervously and her hands shook a bit.
"I think that you could give me chance, and I will-"
She was interrupted when Trelawney spoke with a deep voice. "You will bring death and misery upon the ones you love and the ones you hate. You are meant to die Callysta, and your death will fill the void that has lasted for ages. Something ends and something begins as it always was and will always be."
Trelawney lost her balance a bit and her face turned to normal as well as her voice. She cleared her throat.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" She didn't notice that Katia was shaking badly and was barely holding onto her composure. "I think that you were already examined."
But Katia wasn't listening anymore. She grabbed her bag and opened the trap door to be as far away as possible from the crazy woman. Katia didn't even noticed the questioning looks as she ran to the Slytherin dorm. She threw herself at her bed and put pillows over her head as if it could prevent the weird, deep, multiplied voice in her head from telling her that she's meant to die.
She eventually fell asleep and dreamed about dead people who tried to rip her apart. She woke up terrified, and had to gather her courage to take the covers off.
One of the bad sides of living alone was the fact that there was no one to speak to after nightmares and no one to wake her up for dinner.
Katia realized that she had missed the meal when she looked at the clock. She changed her clothes to combat trousers and a tank top, and then she grabbed her sports bag. As she left the dormitory, which was unusually empty, Katia decided that she needed to talk with Professor Snape about Swan and Bullstrode.
Snape's office door was open, so she ewent inside, only to find a mug with some steaming liquid inside of it. There was no sign of Professor Snape, though.
"Good afternoon," she said in case her professor was behind a cabinet or something, but there was no reply. Katia put her bag on the floor and examined the contents of the mug.
Wolfsbane potion. Probably left for professor Lupin.And that would explain why the door was left open.
Katia took her bag and decided to circle the castle. The full moon illuminated everything clearly with its silver light, but even without it, Katia knew her route by heart. When she reached the tree with her training sack, a Dementor descended towards her.
Katia saw Sirius Black, in his Animagus form, who was dragging Ron Weasley into a tunnel under the Whomping Willow. Then she saw a glimpse Harry Potter, Hermione and Professor Lupin.
There was a way to stop the tree from hitting with its branches. Professor Snape also knew how to do it.
There couldn't be anything good going on there.
"Where does the passage lead to?" asked Katia, and Decay showed her an image of the Shrieking Shack and the narrow corridor that connected to it with the tree.
Katia looked up and saw that there was a mass of Dementors coming over to her, eager to exchange information.
Decay joined them, and Katia left the bag in the bushes. She used a branch to stop the tree from moving and entered the passage. It was slightly different from what Decay had shown her, and some of it had collapsed, so she stepped carefully.
Katia heard some voices and unfortunately they moved closer, so she had to retreat.
She hid outside and watched as people emerged from the passage.
Run.
She'd seen a clear message from a Dementor who touched her back. She moved away a bit and watched Professor Lupin's transformation from a safe distance.
I need to inform Professor Dumbledore, she thought. But first my bag! They cannot see it!
Katia waited and when Black struggled with the werewolf, she grabbed her bag and turned, only to find herself face to jaw with the werewolf.
"Kurva!" she swore, and hit the werewolf with the bag as hard as she could. The werewolf lost its balance for a moment and Katia used the opportunity to run.
The werewolf chased her for some time, but suddenly it stopped and changed direction.
Katia climbed up a tree and sat on the highest branch she could. Her bag was dripping wet, because the two bottles of water she had had in the bag had shattered. She would gladly use the water now as her throat was dry from ragged breaths.
Katia saw the Dementors form a huge, black cloud over something and a second later, watched as a blinding, silver light which scared them off.
A Patronus Charm. The same one that had been used on Marcus Flint when he had had dressed as a Dementor.
The Leper Affinity, one of the Dementors, found her because he sought comfort and showed her that Sirius Black was being kept in the tower of Hogwarts. The Werewolf was contained, so Katia left her tree and marched towards the Hogwarts grounds. There was nothing for her to do.
As she reached the border of the forest, a large shape descended. It was a Hippogriff and Sirius Black was on its back.
"What a surprise!" exclaimed Sirius as he hopped off the Hippogriff's back.
Katia laced fingers behind her back and pressed them tightly together to hide her nervousness.
"What do you want Black?" she asked, but it sounded more like a statement.
Sirius shook his head. "You try to fight everything around you to prove to yourself that you're worthy. But everything will be more simple if you just surrender, Katia."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm just referring to my dreams and a prophecy concerning you."
"What prophecy are you referring to?" she asked, and tried to sound ridiculed.
Sirius looked at her intently and laughed. "The one that tells that you're meant to die. And don't look at me like that. I believe that professor Trelawney would miss a certain black dog and I will be satisfied by not having dog food every day anymore. I was under the table, but you just didn't notice me, being so much more concerned about yourself."
Katia licked her lips nervously. "So you heard everything. Why are you bothering me now, then? You take pleasure in tormenting me, right?"
Sirius made a hurt expression. "You deny everything which cannot be proved right here, right now, everything that you can't touch or examine. I believe that you have such an interesting fate, and I can't restrain myself from being fascinated by it."
"That I will die? I don't need a prophecy to know that one day I will be six feet under. Everything dies in the end, Black, and I'm not an exception. There is nothing interesting in the fact that we're mortal."
Sirius sighed heavily. "There are deaths that are just simple leaving this world and deaths that bring change. Deaths that mean something. I hope that one day you will understand that you hold that force which will bring about the change, Callysta. By the way, that is a lovely name."
Seeing how Katia's fingers curled to fists, Sirius should have retreated, but he didn't. Instead he closed the gap between himself and Katia, and looked at her intently.
"You are the wind which carries a small leaf of a great change. I didn't come here to torment you, but to say goodbye. It will be a long time before we will meet again. I hope you will be alright."
This sudden change in conversation seemed to have an effect on Katia. She didn't retreat from Sirius' close proximity and when he raised his hand, she followed his motion.
Sirius pressed his open palm against hers and looked her in the eyes.
"Farewell," he said before he turned back to the Hippogriff. Katia slowly lowered her hand and swallowed.
"Good bye Sirius," she said quietly. She wondered if he heard her, but Sirius turned to her and winked.
When the Hippogriff reached the night sky, Katia sighed and shook her head. "What the fuck was that really?" she whispered and headed to the castle.
Severus Snape was fuming. His head throbbed where it had hit the wall in the Shrieking Shack; the Werewolf had almost killed him, and Black had somehow managed to escape.
He headed to his office to bottle the Wolfsbane Potion. If stupid Lupin had drunk it like he was supposed to, there wouldn't have been any mess like this. Dumbledore had ordered him to bring the potion, despite Severus' protests.
It should be only fair if Lupin was punished for his stupidity. Severus spotted Ivanov, who sat cross-legged near the door to his office and rolled his eyes. Dealing with her stupid, childish problems was all that he needed right now. Maybe she would take advantage of him being injured and mock him using subtle Slytherin techniques, before she would walk off with a smirk plastered over her face? Bloody excellent. She wouldn't dare to do or say anything openly, but Slytherins could sense weakness like sharks could smell blood in the water.
Severus braced himself, but the girl took him by surprise.
After she scanned him thoroughly, she got to her feet and bowed her head slightly.
"I'm sorry to see that you're hurt, sir," she said with no hint of satisfaction in her voice. Severus forced himself to not snap at her. It wasn't often when students were nice to him without wanting something. She wasn't in position to want anything as she had passed her Potion exam with an "O" and had managed to tutor his worst students so that they passed.
"I believe you're the one of few who wouldn't think otherwise."
"I'm sure I'm not, Professor. I can bet that most of my housemates would not want any change in staff because they would fear the change. However, I must agree that there would be few able to feel genuine compassion like myself."
"And why would you label yourself as a noble exception, Miss Ivanov?"
Ivanov looked over his left arm and then back to his face. She was obviously preparing a lie and Severus felt it with every fiber of his being.
"I dare to say that I'm able to put myself in your situation, Professor. I hope that you will be fine soon."
"Thank you Miss Ivanov."
Severus should have feel relieved that there were no questions, no mockery, no mindless babbling, but it took a lot of self control to stop himself from prying into her memories to find out how she got herself to be so compassionate. Severus was more than sure that Ivanov hadn't been in the castle this evening as she should have been.
The train was getting full quickly, and finding an empty compartment was like a small miracle for Anastasia. She pulled Marcus in with her, but he resisted.
"I thought that you'll be happy that we have a compartment just for us," she said, hurt.
"I am happy Amy, just give me a couple of minutes and I'll be back."
Marcus left her and soon he disappeared in the crowd. Anastasia shut the curtains and kicked her trunk angrily.
xxxx
After she hugged Mr. Filch goodbye, Katia felt that her two years at Hogwarts had passed too quickly.
She headed to the train station, lost in her thoughts. Montague, who was on her left, discreetly ogled Katie Bell.
Katia just went with the tide and when she was about to enter a compartment, someone pulled her back. She turned to find herself face to face with Marcus Flint, who stared at her with determination. His tough grip on her arm loosened and Katia pressed her lips together as she anticipated the unpleasant conversation.
Marcus had avoided her since the kiss during the dare. Katia knew that she had been too drunk to kiss him briefly and dismiss his hopes for something more. However, she thought that Marcus was over it, as he and Morrigan were together every time that she'd seen him.
"I want a word with you," said Marcus; he forced his tone to sound neutral.
"It depends if I want a word with you," replied Katia, and freed herself from his grip.
"Yes, because in your head, I'm just someone you can push around when you're up to it," retorted Marcus, and it sounded more accusing than he wished.
"Right," said Katia and she crossed her arms.
"And you're someone who just likes to toy with people and your word is nothing." Marcus advanced towards her, but Katia held her ground and didn't move back.
"If you say so," she said mockingly. Katia uncrossed her arms. "I'll tell you something for a change. I've made my point before, but it seems that it was pointless. Seems even more pointless to explain anything to you now."
Marcus grabbed Katia's wrist and moved her hand so the silver ring was in front of her eyes. He also showed her his ring. "You know what? I thought it was real, I thought it mattered somehow. And maybe it still does, but you're too much of a coward to overcome whatever happened in your life."
Katia yanked her hand free and shoved Marcus in the chest.
"You're still crying over it? My gods Marcus I never knew you're such a crybaby," she said with a smirk.
"Maybe I just wasted my feelings over you, you're right. Just go to fuckin' hell, Ivanov," he spat.
In a flash, Katia punched him in the face and Marcus fell a little backwards. He punched her back, but used much less force than she did. It was enough for Katia to sway and bend over, while she held her face with both hands. Marcus turned around and marched to his and Amy's compartment, which was no longer as deserted as it was before. People stared and whispered behind his back, but he couldn't care less.
He heard Ivanov mutter something in Russian that sounded like she was probably telling him to do something anatomically impossible.
Let me know if you like it or not. Thanks for reading! Many thanks to my beta reader, Artemis!
This story will be rated M from the next chapter!