Too Much

I woke up hot. My forehead had a light sheen of sweat and my tank top was moist against my torso. How can early April be so fucking hot? I mean, honestly, it is like Scotland is trying to kill me the hard way. So, I kicked off my blanket and rolled over to try and cool off.

My plan did not work though. I ended up rolling around a few times, but I could not get my mind to be quiet. I sighed and rolled out of bed, determined to get a run around the Black Lake before classes this morning. This will be the first day I have run since the snow fell. I was thrumming with anticipation.

Of course, after a nice long run, a cool refreshing shower is detrimental. My legs ached deliciously and my lungs burned wonderfully. What was not so excellent about my morning was Neville groggily stumbling into the washroom with me only covered in a towel. I had been squeezing water out of my hair when the sudden opening of the door had me snapping my gaze to the mousy haired young man.

He obliviously wandered to the toilet and before I caught sight of something I did not want to see, I coughed lightly for attention. His head snapped around and back so fast, I feared he may have hurt himself.

"S-Sorry." he muttered awkwardly. My lips curled into a small, mischievous smile.

"That is quite alright, Neville." I drawled. I really wanted to make him feel uncomfortable, but poor Neville was under so much stress like the rest of us, I decided to play nice, "I'll just dress in the room. No need to worry." I soothed his embarrassment by trying to sweep it under the rug.

"Okay." he said softly, still not looking at me. How adorable. Trying to save my honor.

I gathered my chosen clothing and left without a fuss. Seamus was sitting up in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Upon seeing me in only a towel, he quickly diverted his gaze to the other side of the room. I rolled my eyes. Seriously, it is not like I knew that this would not happen one day.

"Don't fret your sandy haired head, Seamus. I'm going to dress behind closed curtains." I assured the blushing lion. A smirk was threatening to creep across my features.

"I'm sorry. It's just, you are normally dressed by the time we wake up." he mumbled. I sighed as I crossed over to my bed.

"Yes, well, I woke up earlier than normal and went out for a run." I pulled the heavy drapery for some privacy. Well, it is more like for the sake of the blushing virgins. I suppose that not everyone is used to dressing in front of other people like I have been accustomed to. Thank Heavens for best friends who cannot mind their own business.

"A run? Where?" Seamus' voice was somewhat muffled by the curtains. I tossed my body towel on my bed and grabbed my knickers.

"Yes, a run. I rather enjoy a vigorous trot around the Black Lake. Now, before you ask, I don't know how long I will be able to continue with that routine until the Horrible Twins disrupt it and order me to stop. Which, in case anyone has noticed, I don't listen to orders well." I clasped my bra closed and adjusted the straps to comfortably sit on my shoulders.

"I didn't mean to look. I really am sorry, Sownbinder." Neville's voice jumped into the conversation.

"Neville, it is fine. Did I look offended?" I pulled my shorts over my hips and snatched my tank top.

"Well, no. But it is improper of me." he really sounded miserable. I sighed.

"Well, don't forget, this was your idea. Having me bunk with a couple of boys is improper in itself." I replied as I pulled my tank top down over my stomach. After double checking that it covered my unmentionables, I pulled the drapes open.

A surprised exclamation had me snapping my head up. Neville was in the process of pulling a clean pair of undershorts on. His face flushed crimson red as he hastened his movements. A smirk finally broke through my mask and after making a show of checking him out; I leant over my trunk and extracted a clean uniform set and robes. I gave Neville another leering glance before I turned around.

"Nice equipment there, Longbottom." I said deviously. Neville groaned in embarrassment and I closed my curtains to give the prudish boy some privacy.

"Please, just don't say anything about it." he muttered. I giggled maniacally.

"Oh Neville, you poor, sweetheart. That's not how this works." I replied in a teasing tone.

"How what works?" Seamus' timber flowed through my drapes. I felt my face split into a wicked grin.

"Oh, Neville and I enjoyed a quick shag and now he doesn't want me to say anything about it." I responded before Neville could say anything.

"What?!" Seamus exclaimed loudly. I laughed out loud at that. I really needed this reprieve from all the serious plotting that has been happening lately.

I exited the safety of my confines and noticed Neville was not in the room. He must be in the bathroom getting dressed. Seamus' mouth was hanging open in shock. I sent him a wink before I twisted my hair into a tight bun on top of my head. I grabbed my bag and wand and gave him a look over. I might as well make everyone in the room uncomfortable.

"You're not so bad yourself there, Finnegan." I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively. Color flooded his cheeks.

"Get out, you pervert." he grumbled. I laughed again and made my escape.

The two Gryffindors entered the Great Hall ten minutes after I did. I waited for them to look over at me before I sent a knowing smirk and a suggestive wink. Their cheeks were painted pink as they sat down quietly. I laughed inwardly to myself and finished my meal. If this was how my morning went, then I could survive another day.

And then my happy thoughts came to a screeching halt.

No, I literally heard a screech.

After so many months of not getting any post, everyone looked up and saw a streak of ebony bee lining towards me. I choked on my pumpkin juice because I could recognize that screech anywhere. I can recognize that black color anywhere. I knew that bird from anywhere.

Before I could compose myself, Denali folded his wings and barreled into my chest. The two of us ended up in a pile on the hard stone floor. The force of both impacts knocked the errant juice from my lungs and I took a gasp of clean air. The feeling of obsidian feathers under my fingers had my fighting off tears. Oh sweet Circe! Denali!

"You silly bird, you shouldn't be here." I murmured into his soft feathers. A pleasant sounding hoot tickled my ears, "Denali, baby, why are you here?" I realized that I was hugging my owl on the floor of the Great Hall.

Without relinquishing my hold on the owl, I wiggled to a sitting position. From my sitting position, I smoothly stood to my feet. I chanced a glance to the professor's table and saw three sets of dark eyes staring us down. I felt uneasy and really wished I had not eaten any food. Worry about what Denali had just done twisted my gut uncomfortably.

"Denali, this is not a good time to act the way your owner acts." I whispered against the top of head. I snatched my bag up and made my way out of the hall with everyone's eyes on me, "Really, you shouldn't be here, love." I really did not want to be angry with him. But he was putting himself in danger.

I took one of his feet into a hand and stroked his leg in a soothing manner. More for myself in reassurance that he was really there. The bumpy skin was soft under the pad of my thumb. I felt something odd that I had not noticed before. It was parchment! Oh shit! This is not good.

"Denali!" I hissed under my breathe, "What the hell is going on?" I could not think.

He hooted urgently at me. I untied the missive and shoved it under my shirt into my tank top. I was still cradling the bird in my arms. Denali seemed content to let me do as I pleased. I took a quick glance at my surroundings and made up my mind. I swallowed my worry and quickly diverted my journey to the Entrance Hall. I was going to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to release him. It was the only good plan I could come up with on the spot. He could use the trees as cover until he got far enough away. I am going to send him home.

Yes, this plan was better than standing in the corridors waiting for someone to take him away from my arms.

Everyone can just imagine how that would go down.

I swiftly passed through the doors and sprinted for the closest edge I could see with a tree line. I got to the trees in ten minutes. I held my arm out and let Denali make a perch on my forearm. I tried to make the smile I felt he needed look convincing, but I could see in his ebony pools of love that I was not doing a good job.

"Denali, go home. Go to daddy and stay there. Only come back if he does. Keep Mark and Kadie company. Teach Dee evasive maneuvers. I just need you to go home." I kissed his beak, "Go home and stay home until I need you. Do you understand, love?" a soft hoot was my confirmation.

I placed a soft kiss on the top of his head and swallowed my tears. I felt him push off just as I heard faint shouts from the front of the castle. I looked back to gage just how far they were from our spot. I saw dark figures sprinting across the field of brown grass.

"THE TREES DENALI! FLY IN THE TREES!" I bellowed out the command. And then I saw the red light.

Time slowed down and I felt hopeless. I knew it would be a one in a million shot if they could reach Denali, but today was their lucky day. Denali must not have heard me soon enough because I saw the large black dot that was my bird drop suddenly from the sky. Then time stood still.

I forgot how to breathe. I forgot how to speak. I forgot how to use my legs. My quivering form fell boneless to my knees. I could not hear anything around me. There was a thunder in my ears. My eyes felt unnaturally dry. My mind was quiet on its own accord for once.

Denali fell out of the sky.

It felt like someone had punched me in the gut. I took a sputtering breathe. And then another. My chest hurt. It hurt so badly. My heart was on fire. My lungs were constricted. My brain was only thinking one thing; Denali fell out of the sky.

"NOOOOOO!" I remembered I had a voice. And I used that voice to scream out my anguish, "NOOOOOO!"

And then I felt the cracks. I felt my control slipping. My rock, my familiar was dead. My partner in crime, my baby. The thought became louder; Denali fell out of the sky. I clutched at the sides of my head as I started to hyperventilate. My chest was heaving and that just made it more painful.

Denali fell out of the sky.

"DENALI! DENALI!" I felt my throat being screamed raw, but did I care? No, "DEEENAALLIII!"

And then I felt it happen. I snapped. I felt my walls fall down in rubble. My body was humming with energy. My being was on fire. A scream tore from my lips and it was the only thing I could hear over the thunder of my rushing blood. My head was shaking side to side in denial. I felt the humming turn into shaking as I sensed an electrical field of magic surround my kneeling form.

I continued to scream.

Suddenly, my body was rocked and it felt like a bomb was set off from my stomach. And I could feel everything. I felt Draco trying to force himself on me. I felt my frustration at my living situation with the Malfoy heir. I felt the annoyance of being singled out by everyone at this school for being different. I felt the pain of my scalp as I was being dragged from the castle to some imaginary meeting. I felt the curses and the physical punishments accompanying questions I could not answer. I felt the fear and the sorrow. I felt the rage from information being withheld from me.

I felt the last year of my life coursing through my veins and it was my detonator.

Denali fell out of the sky.

Then I felt nothing.

A/N: *dodges the flamers*

:'(