Hello hello! Thank God it's Friday. This week... *shakes head*. Anyway. As always, thanks to everyone who favorited/alerted/reviewed the last chapter!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own the concept of skiakyns (a creation of my best friend. But since our stories exist in the same universe, she gave me permission to include them in the latter portion of this chapter).

Chapter 5

"We're having a what?"

"A ball," Lily said simply, flopping into an armchair wearily. Her prefect's meeting had gone longer than usual. "We all thought it would be a good idea for a boost in morale. We've actually been talking about it for a couple weeks, but Professor Dumbledore only just approved it." She looked at me apologetically, as though I would be angry with her for not telling me sooner.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I think it's a good idea. So when will it be?"

Lily lowered her voice. "No one is actually supposed to know about it yet, but we're thinking a week or two before we leave for Christmas."

"But that doesn't leave us very much time for shopping, does it? It's almost November. Not to mention the younger ones who can't leave the castle on Hogsmeade weekends."

She shook her head. "No, it's only for fourth years and above. Also, we've got the Hogsmeade weekend coming up and then another before we leave. There will be plenty of time to be ready."

"Ready for what?" Brooke asked, sitting beside me.

"There's going to be a ball," I answered. She winced.

"Really?" she dragged out. "It's not… mandatory, is it?"

Lily frowned. "No, of course not. Do you really not want to go?"

Brooke shrugged. "It's just because… social gatherings are hard for me, you know?"

"It doesn't have to be any different from how it is now," I assured. "Just stay with us and those dreaded boys you call friends."

She made a face. "But this is a bring a date sort of thing, right?"

"It kind of is," Lily said regretfully.

Brooke blew out a huge breath, her bangs flying up as she did. "I think I'll pass then."

"No!" Lily and I cried at the same time. Brooke's eyes widened at our insistence.

"Please, Brooke, it will be so much fun!" Lily promised.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm not a big fan of fancy parties and dancing and all that," I added. "But we'll have a great time nonetheless. Don't sell yourself short; we'll find someone for you to go with." I winked at Lily, who smirked in return.

Brooke bit her lip. "I don't know…"

I grabbed her hand and widened my eyes. "Please? For me?"

She stared back, lips twitching. Finally, she relented. "I guess I can go…"

Lily and I cheered loudly, but quickly shut up when we drew the eyes of people around us.

"Great, so we'll go shopping this weekend in Hogsmeade!" Lily said, grinning.

Brooke and I stifled our groans.

"I don't like it either, but it has to be done," Lily said sternly.

"Yes, Mum," Brooke grumbled. I couldn't contain my snort. She was finally adapting.

o0o0o0o

With the official announcement of what was now called the Founders' Ball came an excited air that made it hard for any teacher to have a successful class the next day (all except Professor McGonagall, who ruled her classes with an iron fist).

For some reason, when the announcement came at breakfast, my first reaction was to seek out the Marauders. I was fully expecting them to start whispering to each other about who they would be taking, but instead they looked as unsurprised as Brooke and I were. Then I realized that Remus must have told them as well, and I wasn't so shocked. But what was shocking was the fact that James Potter wasn't leaping to his feet and rushing to ask Lily to be his date. Instead, he was watching Black, whose eyes were scanning the Hufflepuff table.

I bit my tongue to keep myself from making a comment to Lily and Brooke about it. It wasn't by business.

After a completely unproductive class in Ancient Runes, I heard my name being called.

"Hey, Alyssa, can I talk to you?"

"I'll catch up," I told Lily, who nodded. I slowed my pace and looked back to see Adam Smith striding towards me.

"Yeah?" I said. A happy flutter settled in the place of my normal heartbeat. Was he asking me to the ball?

Adam rubbed the back of his head, looking a little timid. "I was wondering… well, do you have any plans this weekend?"

I thought for a moment. This weekend… what's going on this w– Oh! Hogsmeade! Wait, he's asking me to Hogsmeade?

"I'm actually going shopping with my friends," I told him regretfully.

"Oh," he said with a twinge of disappointment in his voice.

"But," I said quickly, heart beating faster. "Maybe I can meet you after?"

His face lit up. "Absolutely! What do you say to meeting me at noon in the Thee Broomsticks? You think that will give you enough time to find what you need?"

I tried to keep my smile from splitting my face in half, but it only worked a little bit. "I think so. See you Saturday?"

Adam nodded, and we parted ways.

My face was hurting from smiling so widely when I made it to the Great Hall. I took my seat between Lily and Marlene, Brooke and Alice seated across from us.

"Did something happen?" Marlene asked.

I ducked my head, heat flooding my cheeks. "I have a date this weekend."

Three of the four girls gasped, Lily already having a suspicion of what had happened.

"With who?" Alice demanded, eyes aglow.

I almost answered, but my eyes were drawn to the doors of the Great Hall, where Adam was walking in with a few of his friends. The girls followed my gaze. I could almost hear their jaws drop.

"Oh. My. Merlin. How?" Marlene whispered.

I shrugged. "Beats me. We haven't really spoken that much. Maybe that's why he wanted to ask me to Hogsmeade, so we could get to know each other?"

A chorus of "Maybe" answered me.

Marlene gave me a look. "Darling. A guy like thatdoesn't ask a girl out unless he alreadyknows she's special." She pouted a little. "And I mean very special. Apparently I wasn't special enough for his conceited, snobby, ridiculously finea-"

"Marlene!" Alice gasped, slapping Marlene in the arm.

Marlene smirked. "Just saying." She looked back to me. "He must see something that he wants."

I rolled my eyes at her, but my mind was already racing. Marlene was one of the most gorgeous girls I knew. Her blonde curls and big, hazel eyes usually sent the boys swooning. I vaguely remember her trying to catch Adam's eye in fourth year, without any success. Now, I vaguely wandered why he hadn't paid her any attention. I mean, if Marlene wasn't good enough, why on earth would he turn to me?

I sighed. I decided that I didn't even care that I didn't know why Adam suddenly started paying attention to me; I was just glad that he did.

o0o0o0o

"Everyone, put away your books," said Professor Bishop, our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. "Today's topic is a bit… unconventional."

Everyone exchanged confused looks, as though someone else would know what Bishop was talking about. When all shuffling ceased, Bishop nodded his approval, turned to the chalkboard, and wrote in big letters, "Skiakyn."

"Skee–ack–in?" Peter muttered.

"No, Mr. Pettigrew, the proper pronunciation is sky-ah-kin," Bishop corrected kindly. "They were creatures created by Morgan le Fay as a weapon. Once human, but corrupted until they were no longer themselves."

"So, they're almost like inferi?" Lily asked.

"Almost, Miss Evans, but not quite. Skiakyns are much, much darker." Bishops eyes locked on someone in the back, and his eyebrows moved upwards. "Yes, Mr. Black?"

Black put his hand down, and I was shocked to see a look of genuine interest on his face. Since when did he care about class? "Professor, I've heard about dark creatures all my life–" I'm sure you have. Fitting, I thought viciously. "–and I've never heard about skiakyns. Are they real, or just a myth? And why haven't we heard about them before now?"

"Excellent question," Bishop remarked. "Due to the several detailed accounts on skiakyns that seem to be consistent with each other, we are led to believe that they did exist at one time. However, the last known skiakyn lived over fifteen hundred years ago. We believe they died out. But I believe in teaching you about all dark creatures, even if they aren't found in our usual text." His eyes twinkled as he said, "Plus, skiakyns are interesting.

"Skiakyns were originally the creation of Rowena Ravenclaw during the founder wars. They were meant to be a weapon, to know and feel what the enemy felt. They could form connections with others and know everything they experienced. But, recognizing how dangerous they were, Ravenclaw quickly did away with them. They cropped up again with Morgan le Fay, who wanted to use them in order to conquer her half-brother, King Arthur. She created them in mass amounts, and they became very difficult to defeat. Merlin was the only one capable of getting rid of them all."

Bishop paused in his pacing, smiling at the class. "And here is where it gets interesting.

"You see, skiakyns are similar to inferi, but they are not reanimated corpses. They are human, twisted by the dark magic until the human inside is nearly unreachable. Merlin saw the small parts of human left in them, took pity on them, and allowed a few to live. He didn't know that they could reproduce."

Nearly everyone in the room was enraptured by this point, a rare feat for any teacher to accomplish.

"One would think that human blood would dilute the power skiakyns possessed," Bishop continued, "but it had the opposite effect. Skiakyns became stronger as they kept reproducing, generation after generation yielding more and more powerful skiakyns. But with that power came certain disabilities in these creatures. Their connections to other people became more vivid. They received the wounds of the people they were connected to, some dying from blood loss, like some soldiers, and some dying from untreatable diseases, like those some Muggles suffer from."

I glanced over to Lily to see what she was thinking about the lecture, expecting to see that curious spark in her eye. But it wasn't there. Her brows were drawn together, and all I saw was worry. Worry for what?

"As the years passed, the skiakyn lifespan became shorter. Each generation died off sooner than the last. The burden of others' thoughts, memories, and emotions drove them mad to the point where they couldn't function normally, and they died slowly and painfully. The last skiakyn died at only seventeen years of age, never having reproduced and thus ending the line.

"Skiakyns were dark creatures indeed," Bishop concluded. "Dangerous to others, yes, but more dangerous to themselves than anything else."

The bell rang, and everyone rose from their seats.

"Read chapter eight in your books for the next class," Bishop called over the clamor.

Instead of filing out the door like everyone else, Lily made a beeline for Bishop's desk. I frowned and followed her out of curiosity.

"Professor?" she said.

Bishop looked up. "Yes, Miss Evans?"

"I was wondering if I could borrow that book about skiakyns," she asked with a winning smile, nodding her head to the surprisingly small book on Bishop's desk. "I thought they were really interesting and would like to read some more about them."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Didn't she have enough to study already?

Bishop gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Miss Evans, but I'm using it for my seventh years as well."

"Oh," Lily said dejectedly.

"Oh! Hold on," Bishop said suddenly. "I believe I remember there being another copy in the Restricted Section. I trust you two girls, so I'll sign for it."

"Thank you so much!" Lily said, her mood having turned around completely. I muttered my thanks as well, though I wasn't sure if I would be joining Lily in her endeavors.

A moment later, Lily had a slip of parchment in her hand and was dragging me to the library.

"Why do I have to come?" I whined. "I'm hungry!"

Lily didn't answer me as we nearly plowed through the doors and went straight to Madam Pince. She slid over the paper with Bishop's signature, and as soon as the librarian had walked away, she turned to me and said so lowly I strained to hear, "Because, Alyssa, this might be vital to understanding your… predicament."

"What are you talking about?"

She huffed. "Think about it. You go into these trance-like states, you get visions and entirely too vivid nightmares, and those are only the beginning of what skiakyns are. Who knows how long it takes for everything else to develop?" Her voice lowered even more, concern marring her brow. "I just want to know for sure that this– whatever it is– isn't something we need to worry even more about."

I suddenly wasn't very hungry anymore. Bishop had said that the last Skiakyn only lived to be seventeen, driven mad by everything he endured until he wasted away. Being a Skiakyn was a terrible thing to be, and if it turned out that I was one–

Madam Pince returned with the book and handed it over to Lily. She stuffed it in her bag and we left, but I only felt nauseous now.

If it did turn out that I was one of these dark creatures, I might not even live to see the next year. I could die from my own insanity.

I might not even have to worry about dying in the war, because I could be my own worst enemy.

Well well well. That is quite ominous, isn't it?

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Until next time!

~AMQ

EDIT 9/20/14: I posted this on my tumblr, but I highly doubt anyone actually reads it so it's going here too. I'm so sorry, guys, but an update this week is very unlikely. Chapter 6 is giving me a lot of grief. I just can't get it right. Normally, I would have extra chapters ready to go in case something like this happened... But this has been a problem going on for so long that I've run out of extra chapters. (Oops.) So yeah, the next chapter will be another week. And if I get done with this one in time I'll start on the next one too so that I can get my lead again, and hopefully we won't have this problem again any time soon. I'm sorry for the wait!