Disclaimer: I don't own 'Harry Potter' and I'm not making any profit out of this story.
-Gravity-
Summary: When you fall you can't blame gravity. You can't fight it either. The first time we fell, we were 11 and didn't realize it. Carefree and proud. We never imagined that a catastrophe would happen in our time. But it did. In reality you can't get angry when you keep on falling, because some things are meant to be that way, you just have to do the best of the worst. Gravity don't mean too much to me, I 'm who I've got to be. Follow the story of the other side of Harry Potter and Wizard War II and you'll se that we all hurt, laugh, live, died and love.
Rating: T for language, may become M for gore, use of alcohol and/or sexual content.
Gender: Drama – Romance – Hurt/Comfort – Adventure – Family – Friendship
Pairings: includes DMHG, HPGW, RLNT and more.
Warning: Warning: OC's and non-canon. Use of French, Spanish, English, Italian, German and Welsh. May contain homosexual couples or insinuations.
Note: Do people even read author notes? I sometimes don't. Still, I'm sorry it's been so long. The fact is that so far, 2015 sucks almost completely but I'm trying.
Second year: Chapter XI. Ice cold as stone
"Y esperamos conectados
la explosión definitiva,
la que apague las pantallas,
la que apague nuestras vidas."
Vetustra Morla – Iglús Sin Primavera
It was now nearly four months since Justin Fin-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick had been Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Peeves had finally got bored of his "Oh, Potter, you rotter" song to Draco's disappointment, and in March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three.
By Easter the school moral was scaling to healthy levels once more and the second years were given something new to think about. The time had come to choose their subjects for the third year, a matter that Hermione, at least, took very seriously. "It could affect our whole future!" She said that day in the courtyard to the Slytherins, and not taking nobody's advice she signed up for everything.
Victoria sat cross-legged in her bed. The empty bedroom quiet and dark. The list of elective classes in her nightstand already marked. A veil of perfumed smoke floated from an incense stick. She looked dimly at the withering clovers in her nightstand and paused to caress the crumbling petals. Death and resurrection of life. Victoria sighed and stood up, closing the curtains of her bed, picking the piece of parchment and walking outside of her bedroom.
In the common room Theo and Blaise were looking at their own classes. Victoria sat beside Theo and looked at his list. She laughed.
"I'm also taking Ancient Runes." Then pointed at Blaise and demanded his list. She read it carefully and passed it back to the Italian. "We have Divination together."
"What else are you taking?" Blaise asked her.
"Just Ancient Runes and Divination. And you two?"
"Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures" Theo said.
"Divination, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures." Blaise said with a shrug. Victoria laughed. Draco sauntered towards them. Showing and comparing his own list.
Days latter Victoria was sitting on the Slytherin table trying to eat her breakfast without constant bickering and predictions about the upcoming quidditch match, so far unsuccessfully. She huffed and bit grabbed her plate of strawberries before marching towards the Ravenclaw table and sitting next to Hermione. The brunette looked at her and Victoria scowled darkly.
"You are a Slytherine." A dreamy voice stated to the right. Victoria whipped her head and glanced at the girl who had talked. She had big, blue, bright eyes and messy dirty-blond hair. Victoria nodded before taking a strawberry and biting on it viciously. Hermione laughed and the blond girl looked at her with interest. "And why you are in our table?" She asked again, curiously. Victoria munched slowly and looked at the girl with interest.
"And why not? Maybe I wanted to have wings today." The Spanish girl said after some seconds of silence. "Can you imagine a snake with eagles wings?" Victoria asked in return and took another strawberry. The blond girl blinked softly and nodded. "And boys are stupid when mixed with Quidditch." The Spanish girl added almost casually, before biting harshly on the second fruit. Hermione laughed and the blond girl blinked. "I'm Victoria Acebedo de Cordoba, and you?"
"I'm Luna Lovegood." The girl said before taking her spoon again and returning to her cereal.
"I like you name Luna." She said in return, stressing the Spanish word. The blond looked at her surprised and smiled.
"Have you ever seen a cuélebre (1)?" Luna asked suddenly. Hermione next to Victoria groaned.
"Dicen que el cuélebre tiene la escama de un pez, que vive dentro del río, que nadie lo ve. La última vez que lo vieron anduvo en el pueblo en disfraz de gaitero. (2)" Victoria hummed in a fast melody. Luna looked at her expectantly and Victoria laughed again. "Of course I have, once when I was little just around the river bend." Luna looked at her with awe and Hermione snorted. Blue and violet eyes were fixed on the brunette.
"Everyone knows that the cuélebres don't exist." She said with distaste. Victoria shook her head.
"Like the world revolved around this country. There are cuélebres in Spain." Victoria sneered at the brunette. Hermione huffed and glared at her.
"Just because you can't see them, it doesn't mean that they don't exist Hermione." Luna said with finality and returned to her breakfast. Victoria laughed.
"Take us for example," Victoria began, taking another strawberry. "muggles can't see us but that doesn't mean that we don't exist." Hermione opened her mouth and closed it again. She blushed bright red and picked her pumpkin juice. Victoria laughed and glanced at Luna, who smiled back at her.
"Are you going to the Quiditch match Luna?" The Spanish girl asked. The blond nodded.
"It's a wonderful day to be outside." She said dreamily. Victoria nodded and smiled. And then, the strawberry slipped from her fingers.
"Kill this time… let me rip… tear…" Victoria shuddered and grabbed the border of the table. Knuckles white.
"The voice." She mumbled. Luna and Hermione looked at her alarmed.
"What voice?" Hermione asked preoccupied.
"A cold, venomous voice that I'm sure to be making up because no one seem to hear." Victoria said sarcastically before glaring holes at the wood in front of her.
"How long…?" Hermione asked faintly. Victoria shook her head.
"Some time around Halloween." The Spanish girl said with distaste. Hermione mouth formed an 'o'.
"Oh… I think I've just understood something! I've got to go to the library!" She said before bolting up and running outside the Hall. Victoria looked at her, still tense.
"Library?" She asked out loud. Luna looked at her before shrugging.
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." The blond quoted simply. Victoria huffed and relaxed slightly. "You should hurry, the match is going to start soon." She said. Victoria nodded.
"Are you coming?" She asked to the blond girl.
"In a few minutes, I'll like to finish my cereal." Victoria nodded and munched on another strawberry before standing up and joining the crowd walking outside the castle. She struggled and squirmed her way towards the Slytherin stands. Glaring darkly at a group of Hufflepuffs covered with a big canary yellow flag before pushing past them and setting on the stands between Theo and Blaise. Victoria huffed and pulled her handkerchief over her mouth, ignoring the stares of her friends.
"You could have waited." She spat at them after a few seconds. Theo and Blaise exchanged an amused look over her head.
"Got run over piccola?" Blaise said with a smirk on his lips. Victoria glared at him.
"No, but Hufflepuffs are ridiculously lame." She said sharply before hiding her mouth between the fold of the black fabric. Theo and Blaise laughed and pulled her into a hug. Theo's arm around her waist and Blaise's over her shoulders. Victoria huffed again, secretly smiling behind her handkerchief. The boys kept on laughing. The crowd erupted in cheers (and boos) as the two teams walked into the pitch. Some Gryffindors in scarlet robes flew around the stadium. The Hufflepuffs were standing in a huddle, having a last-minute discussion of tactics.
And then Professor McGonagall came half marching, half running across the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone.
"This match has been cancelled," Professor McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and shouts. Theo, Victoria and Blaise straightened up and looked at each other confused. "All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!" They quickly stood up, pushing their way towards the stairs. People were grumbling about the match being cancelled. Shouting and talking. Victoria was knocked down by a Ravenclaw and pulled quickly up by Blaise. Around them, people were growing restless. A sense of dread was filling the crowd. Preoccupation replacing annoyance.
Draco pushed his way towards them, oddly alone.
Professor McGonagall was walking towards them and stopped dead in her tracks before pushing towards them. Potter and Weasley trailed behind, looking confused.
"Mr. Nott, Mr. Zabinni, Mrs. Acebedo, Mr. Malfoy I think... yes, you outgo to see this too." She said grimly before going back towards the castle and up the marble stair. The witch stopped before the doors of the infirmary.
"This will be a bit of a shock," said Professor McGonagall in a surprisingly gentle voice as they approached the infirmary. "There has been another attack ... a triple attack this time." The voice of the witch quivered and she pushed the door open. Potter and Weasley jumped inside quickly. The Slytherins poked their heads to see the room.
Madam Pomfrey was bending over a fifth-year girl with long, curly hair. A Ravenclaw perfect noticed Victoria. There was a girl from the same house, pale and with short brown hair, hovering anxiously behind the nurse. Lying motionless in the white sheets of the infirmary were two other girls.
"Lisa." Weasley groaned. Potter went pale and made a strange sound, as if the words would not come out of his throat.
"Hermione!" Victoria whispered at the same time, eyes fixed on the brunette. The girl was lying utterly still, her eyes open and glassy. Theo cursed and Blaise shook his head, brushing his hand over Victoria's.
"They were found near the library," said Professor McGonagall. Victoria inhaled sharply. "I don't suppose any of you can explain this? It was on the floor next to them…" She was holding up a small, circular mirror.
The all shook their heads, staring at the petrified girls.
"I will escort you two back to the Gryffindor Tower," said Professor McGonagall heavily to Potter and Weasley. "I need to address the students in any case." She then turned towards the Slytherins. "Professor Snape will come to fetch you in a while, please wait for him here." The Gryffindors left immediately. Madam Pompfrey sighed and looked at the girls, before pulling a handkerchief and drying her eyes. Victoria walked towards Hermione's bed and sat down. She sighed and lifter her fingers to the cheek of the brunette, cold and porcelain like.
A soft murmuring in Spanish left her mouth and washed over the boys, still standing on the door.
"Blaise," Theo whispered softly. The Italian looked at him slowly, tiling his head to let the Welsh boy know that he was listening. "What is Victoria saying?" Blaise closed his eyes, pausing for a few seconds.
"She's prying." He mumbled.
1. Cuélebre: A fantastic beast common in Spanish folklore. It's often described as a thin snake with bat wings, enormous length and hard scales. It's the protector of Xanas (another mythological creature of Spain, river spirits if you will depicted as beautiful woman ) and river bend treasures. A beast that sleeps only on San Juan's night (June 24) and it's the only date where you can kill it. It grows with the centuries and when it's too big for rivers it moves to the sea.
I see it as a distant cousin of the Basilisk, no?
2. "Dicen que el cuélebre tiene la escama de un pez (…)": Lyrics to a Spanish song named "Cuélebre" by Victor Manuel.
Personally I dislike the song, it like… fast, ridiculous and noisy. To quote a writer I know: "Good ideas are often lost between too much words."
As a side note, those it bothers someone else that in the book only Hermione's friends were fetched? I mean, didn't Penelope had friend or people worried about her being petrified (aside from Percy because nobody knew that they were dating)? So, enter a unnamed Ravenclaw friend of Penelope.