6. Chapter
Arrivals And Departures
A loud crash accompanied by a dull thud filled the room, effortlessly waking Draco up from his pleasant dream. With slow and sleepy movements he loked around, trying to find the source of the noise. Next to him lay Kiara, curled up into a ball, her back resting at his abdomen. Like he had predicted she had come to his bed in the middle of the night. Without saying a word she had crept under his sheets, snuggling nearer to the warmth of his body and finally sighed in relief. Draco had been awake all the time, never moving an inch until she had fallen asleep, all the while smiling knowingly to himself.
He looked around a little bit more and finally found the one culpable for his rude awakening. A small, black kitten was sitting on their couch table, playing with some of their school supplies there. She had been so engrossed in her game that the kitten hadn't watched what she was doing and had effortlessly knocked three of their huge tomes, which they would need today, over the table. Now she was sitting there, looking like the perfect little angel, smiling - yes, this damned kitten smiled! - devilishly at him.
Draco groaned and let himself fall back on his comfortable bed, waking up Kiara in the process.
"What's up?", Kiara's voice was muffled, her face still pressed firmly into her pillow.
"This monster of a cat which you got yourself is what's up! She just tried to demolish our new furniture!"
Draco managed to sound enraged even at this time in the morning.
Kiara had to smile and couldn't suppress a laugh.
"You know, she isn't called monster of a cat. Her name is Isphet. In Egyptian mythology Isphet is the Goddess of chaos, trouble and problems in the human world. And as the saying goes, in this case the name is program."
Draco straighted himself up to have a better look at her face and raised an eyebrow in an affronted manner.
"Why would you name your kitten after the Egyptian Goddess of chaos? Couldn't it have been the Goddess of peace or quietness?"
Kiara shrugged, but nevertheless chuckled at him. A look at the watch next to her head caused her to she sigh and decided to get up. She made her way to their bathroom, letting the door open for Draco to join her. While she went Draco's eyes never left her gorgeous body, enjoying the sight in front of him and the fact that she had overcome her fear and embarrassment and had bought some very interesting looking negligees.
Thankfully neither his parents nor his Godfather had found them. The thought of what they would have done and told him sent shivers down his spine.
"You know, we should prepare ourselves for this day. Yesterday was bad enough. It's not necessary to make my first impression even worse."
Her voice was shaking him free from his thoughts. Draco sighed gravely, stood up and went to join her in her doings.
"We could have had a better and more restful night, being more prepared and relaxed, if you had permitted me to sleep in this bed next to you. I don't understand why you prefer sleeping on a small and uncomfortable couch, when there is a perfectly fine, cozy and comfortable bed big enough for the two of us. Are you masochistic?"
Well, that would be interesting.
The shower turned off and Kiara stepped out of it, a huge green towel wrapped around her body. Her dark brown hair was wet and was falling down her body in strong waves and curls. She placed her hands on her hips and looked teasingly at him.
"If you want to sleep next to me in this bed, you will have to earn it."
She went to leave the room, shortly looking back at him to see his eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.
"You could start with planning something special for Saturday. It's going to be your turn for the day to surprise me. Make it special and I might allow you to sleep next to me on this wonderful dream of a bed."
She smiled teasingly at him, before she finally left to room in order to change.
Draco's eyes grew wide and a pained groan errupted from his mouth.
Damn, he had totally forgotten that it was his day to plan and entertain her. Damn the Gods! If he wanted to earn himself a place in their bed, he would have to do something extraordinary, spectacular, never seen before,...
Yup, this was going to be troublesome.
With a final sigh he returned to cleaning his teeth and prepared himself for the day that would come.
On their way to the Great Hall they met with the rest of Draco's Slytherin friends. Pansy and Daphne were still looking livid and took it upon themselves to help Kiara through her problems and to attack - verbally - every single person who was merely looking strangely at the girl. The boys were looking stoic, but if one was paying attention, he could see the wheels in their head working furiously. What happened yesterday, was not only a fight between the Headmaster and Kiara Balgakow; it got personal the moment he laid a hand on her. Now Slytherin house was going to show the rest of Hogwarts, why normally no one would dare to mess with them, and they would show them soon.
When they entered the Great Hall, a sudden silence erupted. Every single pair of eyes was starring at them. Gravely annoyed, the group of Slytherins made their way to their house table and tried to ignore the starring eyes on their backs. As they started to fill their plates and glasses, the noise they made seemed to bring the rest of the occupants back to reality. Slowly they started to eat again and after a while the hall was filled with chatting and laughters. The house teachers started to get up and walked to their tables to distribute their timetables to them.
While they were checking their subjects and the classes they would join with other houses, Pansy told Kiara that she heard some Gryffindors talking about the remainders of the former Golden Trio. She said that most of the Gryffindors were shunning them as they held both of them responsible for Harriet's "kidnapping". Many thought that if the two of them had paid more attention to the golden girl that she would not have been kidnapped. This brought a small smile and a happy glint to Kiara's eyes, which was thankfully not detected by the others.
Draco, who had watched her during her conversation with Pansy and who was sitting on the bench that could observe the head table, suddenly smirked and turned his head to look straight at her.
"Dumbledork isn't there."
Kiara raised an eyebrow and turned to watch over her shoulder. And truth be told, the big Headmaster chair in the middle of the head table was empty. On the right side of the chair was sitting a nervous and agitated McGonagall, who poking mindlessly in her food and from time to time was looking over her shoulder as if she expected someone. On the left side was sitting Severus Snape, who was enjoying his breakfast and looking rather smug.
Next to Draco Theodore leaned in and whispered to them:
"I have never seen Professor Snape looking so smug. It's really scary. Dumbledork seems to have some serious problems, if McGonagall is looking so nervous."
At that moment the morning post arrived. Kiara looked up at the ceiling and watched out for her former snow owl Hedwig, now disguised as a black forest owl with silver pattern over her wings and back. Her owl landed gracefully next to her plate and fluttered with her wings, before she extended her leg to present a big green envelope to Kiara. Kiara took it and gave some ham to her beloved owl.
"Thanks, Djehuti. Please wait here for my answer."
She carefully opened the envelope. When she recognized Lucius' handwriting, she started to read faster, eager to know what he would write her. A little smile appeared on her face, growing and growing with each line she read. Finally, when she had finished reading, she laid down the letter and smiled broadly at Draco.
"Your father wrote me. He says that they already know about the incident concerning the Headmaster and I. He also says that there will be some major changes and that Dumbledork will have some very big problems. We shall wait until lunch, then everything will be explained."
Draco, like his friends that sat besides them, were now grinning evilly.
"Father is taking care of everything. Dumbledork should pay a vast amount of money, never be able to be near you and be humiliated in public. These things would make his actions at least a little bit more equalled. I can't wait to see what's going to happen at lunch.", Draco finished, a far away, dreamy look on his face.
As Kiara moved to get up she attracted the attention of her friends.
"You know, I should probably answer your father and thank him for all his help. I'm going to take Djehuti and answer him right away."
Draco looked confused at her.
"Who the hell is Djehuti?"
Seeing her teasing smirk, he sighed.
"It's your owl, isn't it."
Kiara only nodded her answer.
"Can't you for once choose a normal name?"
Kiara just smirked.
"Djehuti is the name of the Egyptian messenger of the Gods' and Goddesses'.", she informed him.
"You really have a thing for Egyptian mythology, haven't you?"
His fiancée merely shrugged.
"One needs to have a hobby. Egyptian mythology is mine."
Kiara straighted herself up, before she extended her arm for Djehuti to hop on it. She raised her arm up and Djehuti followed her movement, finally sitting on her right shoulder. With a swift motion she gathered the envelope, the letter and a quill, before she turned around to Draco and smirked at him. Seeing her smirking like this, Draco started to get nervous.
"You know, I will have to hurry or I will be late for Transfiguration. You could make yourself very useful and earn yourself my deepest thanks by carrying my things to our Transfiguration classroom."
She saw him trying to protest, but silenced his words before they could leave his mouth.
"I will ask a house elf to show me the way. Don't worry, love, I wont be late."
And with a last smile over her shoulder and a wink, she turned around and left the Great Hall, leaving behind Draco and his friends. Draco just let his head sink down on the table and tried to ignore the starring gazes of his friends.
Blaise was looking confused and surprised, when she left. As he didn't know what was going on, he directed his gaze from Kiara' retreating form at his best friend Draco and urged him to answer his question.
"Isn't Kiara supposed to be submissive? I mean, you are the dominant part of your relationship. Shouldn't Kiara be the submissive part?"
Blaise had spoken with a hushed voice, as he didn't want to gain the girl's attention, fearing just a little for his health.
Draco only sighed heavily.
"You only know about submissive light veelas, Blaise. But Kiara is a submissive dark veela. They are more passionate, vivacious and sensual. They act before thinking about what their actions might cause. Furthermore, they are very spontaneous. But at the same time they have a strong mind and can be provoked more easily. And when they are provoked and truely angry, you've got a hell of a problem calming them down. So believe me, Kiara is submissive, but she only shows it when it is really deemed necessary."
Pansy had heard what he had said to Blaise and asked without further thinking:
"And when is it really needed for her to be submissive?"
Draco and Blaise stopped dead in their. Blaise understood pretty good what Draco had left out for him to imagine. Could Pansy really be this dumb or was she merely acting? An impassive look appeared on their faces. Blaise locked his gaze with his food, while Draco looked straight ahead of him. He carefully cleared his throat, before he turned around to look at Pansy and force a fake smile on his face.
"Well that would be every night when we are alone between nine p.m. and five o'clock in the morning to be precisely."
Pansy chocked on her black tea and spit the contents all over the table. Her cheeks and throat turned beet red and she was stuttering slightly. But before she could form a proper sentence, Draco interrupted her.
"Just leave it alone, Pansy. No harm done."
He sighed, then got up and collected his and Kiara's things.
"We should leave for class. Transfiguration is our first class and I don't want to be on the end of McGonagall's wand, when she is as pissed and nervous as she is at the moment. So hurry up, or we will be late."
With that the Slytherin group left their table and walked slowly to their class room.
When the bell rang to signal the beginning of the first class, Kiara slipped into the class room and inconspicuous made her way to her place next to Draco and Blaise. Just when Kiara had sat down, Professor McGonagall was entering. The incident yesterday and what it could mean for the school, the teachers and the Headmaster especially had worried her greatly. The lack of proper sleep and food were clearly written on her face. She had dark shadows around her eyes, her hair was not in her normal strict bun and her hands were trembling lightly. She often had to pause to remember what she wanted to tell them or wanted them to do.
She seemed to hold Kiara responsible for what had happened, as she was more than mean to her at the beginning of their class and asked questions which were really difficult to answer and let demonstrate some of the transfigurations they had done the last year.
But when Kiara could answer all of her unfair questions correctly, some better, some worse and even her transfigurations were all at least acceptable, Professor McGonagall's anger broke. Her shoulders slummed and her lips started to tremble. After some moments she finally awarded 20 points to Slytherin for her good display of work. It seemed to have broken her will to torment her further. She was known to be fair and she would always acknowledge skills and work, which was why she accepted Kiara as a new, competent student of hers.
After she had told them all about this year's curriculum and Kiara had shown them most of the transfigurations they did last year, Professor McGonagall started her real teaching. She gave to each of them a big, white stone and told them to concentrate on it. She showed them the right wand movement and the incarnation with which they should be able to transfigure the stone into a fine, metal blade.
It took most of them the whole two hours of class to finally be able to transfigure the stone. Most of the Slytherins, except for Crabbe and Goyle, and most of the Gryffindors, except for Neville, Ron and Seamus, were able to accomplish it. Still most of them had a great deal of problems accomplish their task, which lead them to no wonder when they had to practise this transfiguration for homework.
When they were finally allowed to leave the classroom, a little blond haired girl with a Ravenclaw uniform was waiting for them. She came nearer, fixed her eyes on Kiara and stopped right in front of her, making her stop in the process.
Her eyes trailed over Kiara's facial features, her hair, her body and finally came to rest on her forehead. A big frown appeared on the girl's face and she titled her head to the side, though she was still looking closely at Kiara. Draco and Daphne stood nearby and both got rather impatient, as they had to be in Ancient Runes in a few minutes. Just when Draco opened his mouth to scold the girl, she spoke.
"You really aren't Harriet Potter."
The girl's voice was filled with surprise, disappointment and insecurity. Her frown deepened and her head tilted even more to the side, which made her look as of she desperately wanted to solve this mystery. Kiara, who had finally had enough and didn't want to come too late to her first class of Ancient Runes, addressed the girl.
"You're right. I'm not Harriet Potter. My name is Kiara Balgakow. Thanks for showing some intelligence and accepting my identity. I am really sorry, but I have to go now or I will be late for class."
Kiara's voice was full of sarcasm and biting. She swiftly turned around and strated to walk in the direction of their next class room. Draco and Daphne were following her closely.
When the girl was out of hearing distance, Kiara sighed and started to let her frustration free reign.
"Argh! We are surrounded by idoticy! I told them yesterday that I wasn't Harriet Potter and yet there seem to be people who just can't seem to accept this fact. Why would they even think that I am Harriet Potter? We don't look that similar to be confunded with each other."
"You know, Kiara, that's human psychology." , Daphne stated unemotionally.
Draco and Kiara were just looking confused at her, until she finally started to explain her statement.
"Harriet Potter was their only symbol of hope, the only thing and the only one who gave them the thought that a victory against the Dark Lord could be possible. When she vanished, their hopes crashed. There was nothing and no one to give them any hope anymore. They are desperate, lonely and really affraid."
Daphne took another deep breath, while Draco's and Kiara's eyes were never leaving her face.
"When people loose the only thing or person to offer them hope, they tend to search for it everywhere. That was what happened after Potter disappeared. Ministry officials, Aurors, men, women and even kids were searching for her everywhere. They interrogated her family, her friends and every other person who knew her. But all this happened in vain. Over a month have passed and no one has seen her, not even heard anything from her. People are now really desperate, some nearly going crazy because of worry and fear. And when people are as desperate as they are now, stupid things happen."
They rounded a corner, still far away from their class room where they were needed to be in five minutes. They quickened their steps and tried to hurry up a little bit.
"When the students and teachers finally saw you at the welcoming feast, they all thought that their dreams and wishes had finally come true. In front of them there stood a girl with long dark brown hair and green eyes. For all of them it was clear that you had to be Harriet Potter, as there was only one girl at this schooled that combined brown hair and green eyes the way you did. It didn't matter that your facial features are different, that your hair is longer and darker, that your eyes are of an emerald green and that you are taller, better shaped, that you have a tan and that you don't have the lightning bolt shaped scar. No, when they saw you, their brains told them you had to be Harriet Potter. Otherwise they would go crazy."
Kiara was quiet for a few moments, her face was screwed up in thought and a frown had appeared on her forehead.
"You want to tell me that they all still think I am Harriet Potter, because of the unfortunate circumstance that I have the same hair colour and eye colour as their golden girl? Are they that desperate that they would accuse me of such a thing, because of these two little facts?"
Kiara's voice had grown a bit louder and now sounded unbelieving. But all Daphne could do was nod in affirmation.
"That's just crazy.", Kiara muttered under her breath.
Draco was thinking further. He knew that there was only one way that the wizarding community would ever accept the fact that Kiara Dorina Balgakow was not Harriet Potter. But he also knew for sure that what he had to tell Kiara would never be to her liking, heck, she would hate this idea. She would never do it without proper persuasion. But he had to do it, he had to protect her, his mate.
"There is only one thing that we can do. But let's not talk about it now."
Draco looked Kiara directly in her eyes.
"We will talk about it later, after lunch, when we are alone. Now we should only think about our classes."
With that the three of them entered the classroom, just when the bell began to ring and the class began.
When they arrived at the Great Hall for lunch, the whole hall was silent again. They were all starring at the head table. Draco, Daphne and Kiara didn't know what was going on and couldn't detect anything amiss. They slowly reached the table with their seats, set down and looked expectantly at the head table. Some silent minutes later Professor McGonagall finally stood up, cleared her throat and locked her gaze with those of the students.
"Dear students and dear Professors. I am speaking now in my function as reemplacement of Headmaster Dumbledore. Due to the shocking incident yesterday the School Governors are requesting to let someone from the Ministry of Magic have a look at the momentous situation at our esteemed school. We could not deny them this wish. That is why I want to introduce to you two very important people.
The first one is Mr. Jonathan Smitherson. He is Chief Inspector for investigation of inner school affairs. Next to him is the second person I want to introduce to you. Ms. Anastasia Petrushka is a trainee for inner school law. These two are going to stay at our school for some weeks. They will attend some of the classes, watch the interactions of teachers and students and finally will work out an appropriate punishment for the actions of Headmaster Dumbledore. Please, welcome them to our school and try to act as you would normally do."
After the speech Professor McGonagall sat down again and their lunch could begin. Chatter and laughter broke free and everybody was starting to serve themselves. Everybody except for Kiara Balgakow. She was starring with wide eyes at the young woman sitting at the head table.
Anastasia Petrushka was talking encouragedly with their Potions Master. Severus Snape was listening intendedly to her, a small sincere smile appearing on his face. This little fact shocked most of the students. Severus Snape, evil Potions Master and greasy git of the dungeons, was enjoying himself greatly, even flirting a little with the young woman next to him.
Kiara slowly started to serve herself and started to eat. She didn't know what she was eating, she didn't even notice that her friends were trying to talk to her, nor that Draco was looking at her worriedly. All she could think about was the young woman sitting next to her Godfather in spé.
After half an hour of mindlessly eating and starring had passed, the young woman thanked the Potions Master and then started to get up. Kiara saw this as her chance, apologised to her friends and got up, too, too engrossed in her doing to notice her friends getting up after her and following her out the Great Hall.
In the corridor leading from the Great Hall to the Headmaster's office Kiara finally could have a look at the young woman in front of her. She was a little bit taller than herself, had long, silky, straight, night black hair which reached to the middle of her back and seemed to be a year older than herself. She wore a black business robe with little silvery ornaments decorating it. Her body was sporty, as she neither was too thin nor was she too fat.
Before the woman could walk around the corner, Kiara took all her former Gryffindor braveness and called out to the woman.
"Ms. Petrushka, please wait!"
The woman stopped in her tracks and then slowly turned around. Silver grey eyes locked with emerald green ones. Anastasia's facial features weren't overly beautiful, yet at the same time her face was attractive. Her slightly oriental features were making her look special. Now her eyebrow was raised in question and her hands had found their way to her hips. Kiara was nervously starring at her, an uneasy smile appearing on her lips. When she started to speak, she decided to surprise Anastasia Petrushka by speaking in Russian.
"Dobry djen, Ms. Petrushka." (Good day, Ms. Petrushka.)
Kiara's voice was shaking a little bit. Carefully she approached the waiting woman, who now titled her head a little bit to look at her with a small smile on her lips. Curiosity was written clearly on her face.
"Dobry djen ... Kak was sawut paschalußta?" (Good day... What is your name, please?)
Anastasia's voice was like Kiara remembered it. It was strong, assured but yet at the same time strangely caring and calming. The taller woman was eyeing the girl in front of her with unhidden interest, searching in vain for something which she might recognize. Kiara thought it best to help her a little.
"Minja sawut Kiara Balgakow, maja bolsche ßißtra." (My name is Kiara Balgakow, my big sister.)
Anastasia stopped dead in her tracks, surprised by what Kiara had told her. As she didn't want Anastasia to escape or to become angry, Kiara approached her and came nearer carefully. Her friends and Draco were now clearly forgotten, who watched the display of the two girls with wonder. She would have to explain a lot to them later, that was for sure.
All thoughts ran wild in Anastasia's head. There was only one person who ever called her big sister. But how could this be? She had read in the newspapers that Harriet Potter had been kidnapped and that she probably was dead by now. When she had read this, tears had started to float and she had to take a vacation for a week to calm down enough to be able to work again. How could this girl that looked similar to Harriet, yet at the same time completely different, know her special pet name? She was called Kiara Balgakow and spoke perfectly Russian, but could it be that...
"Maja bolshe ßißtra? Tolka maja mjensche ßißtra... Harriet?" (My big sister? Only my little sister... Harriet?)
Tears started to appear in her eyes, her voice and hands were shaking. It couldn't be. Her little sister, her first real friend, was standing in front of her, alive, unharmed and kicking. It just couldn't be.
A small hand shook her free from her depressing thoughts. Kiara had come nearer and had taken her hands into her in an attempt to calm her down and to reassure her. An uneasy, shaky smile graced her lips and just like Anastasia's eyes, Kiara's started to fill with tears, too. She had to clear her throat, before she was able to speak again.
"Da. Tor mjensche ßißtra." (Yes. Your little sister.)
Before she could even properly finish her sentence, Anastasia had squealed. She jumped up and hugged the girl in front of her with all her might. Sobs broke free and she was shaking madly. Kiara enjoyed the hug and being near her sister again, but from the corner of her eyes she could see her class mates and students from other houses starring at them. She had already caused enough attention and adding this to it would only cause more problems.
Carefully but she firmly tried she to free herself from her sister's emotional hug. She rapidly looked over her shoulder, then grabbed her bag and took one of her pergament scrolls. With a swift wave of her wand a little piece of it was cut off. Kiara took it, wrote something on it and then gave it to Anastasia. The look in the girl's eyes made Anastasia take it and hide it without questioning further.
"I don't have classes this afternoon. We have a lot to talk about, but we shouldn't do it in public. Come to this portrait, knock three times and then wait for it to open. If there is a young, blond man opening it, don't be surprised. Just go in and wait for me. I should be there soon."
With that Kiara straighted up and ushered her to the end of the corridor.
"I know you have to meet the Headmaster and some of the Governors. Go, or you will be late. We will talk later, I promise."
Anastasia started to walk, but before she reached the end of the corridor, she turned back to look at Kiara.
"I will be there, don't worry. It's good to have you back."
And with one last smile she vanished.
Whatever her little sister was going to tell her, it better had to be good.