Alina
It was so quiet, tranquil, and beautiful out tonight. A night that many would call the perfect night. Sitting at her favorite spot on the shoreline of the lake, the flickering reflection of the silver moonlight across the ripples and waves of the water seemed to be the only thing stirring in the world around her. The birds in the trees had long ago returned to their nests and gone to sleep and only a few owls could be heard hooting to one another up in the owlery in the castle behind her.
The moon was full tonight. It looked even bigger than usual tonight as it stood out with its bright silvery glow set against the coal colored sky. A full moon. . . That meant uncle Remus would be out tonight somewhere in the world. Hopefully he was safe.
Monster. . . The voice responded to her thought. Hearing it speak brought back the tears to her eyes again. She was already losing count of how many times she had cried that night.
Six, seven, or was it eight times already? She wondered to herself. Small splashes and waves materialized in the water in the spots around where she had her feet dipped in. Each time one of her tears crashed into the lake's waters both the moon and her reflections danced in the water to the rhythm of the newly created waves. It was a sad, melancholy song to dance to.
Is that really my reflection? She thought to herself. She looked so different than how she remembered she used to look. Before Hogwarts. Before. . . Him.
She fixated her gaze on the reflection in the water again.
Who is this girl in the water looking at me? Her bright-blue eyes that normally were at a constant competition with the sky for the brightest blue had long since lost their sparkle, and now resembled more of a cloudy rainy sky. Not only did their color look like rain clouds recently they always seemed to have a high chance of raining. Her tan skin had paled and her hair had thinned. She looked so frail. She felt so weak. . . She was so weak.
Her eyes dried quickly again and the ache behind them returned. She would have killed to be able to rest them with a good night's sleep, but the fear of what she, or he, might do if she slept meant that sleep was not an option tonight. Not that it had really been an option for most of the year either though. He was always there in her dreams after all.
Kill… It's time to kill. . . The voice whispered again. She shuttered as an icy chill went down her spine.
"Stop it! Leave me alone!" she whispered angrily at her reflection in the water. The girl looking back at her from the water did not reply though, but instead stared back with blank eyes, powerless to actually do anything. Why couldn't the girl in the water be stronger.
The beast is hungry… The voice continued unrelentlessly.
She threw the diary into the water aiming at the head of the girl in the water. The water splashed with the impact and sent a number of small waves outwards, rushing away from the spot of impact. The diary disappeared under the waves and the reflection of the moon into the depths of the dark lake, but as it always did reemerged after a few moments back to the surface.
Just as it had done the countless times she had tried before the diary carried itself across the nonexistent currents of the lake towards her. No matter how much she willed herself not too her magic always forced her to pick it back up. More tears came as she picked the diary up from the surface of the water.
"How many more do I have left?" She whispered to herself as a few more cold tears ran down her cheek. Apparently not many as her eyes again ached in their attempt to force more tears out, but failed as they again dried quickly.
You are mine… They are all mine. . . The voice told her.
The ripples in the water from the diary had died down by then and the serenity of the peaceful lake's dark blue water returned. If only her life and mind could be as peaceful as this view was now.
Her spot out here by the water was truly the only place in the world right now where she still could find some peace. Her mind was a raging field of battle and everywhere in the world it seemed she was losing the war. Here though… Here she felt she could at least escape it. Even if it was just for a little while. Although, so far tonight she was losing the battle. Tonight even here it felt impossible to escape.
The giant squid was being quiet tonight unlike normally. It had not made an appearance even once in the few hours she had been out it seemed the whole world was sleeping. Everyone else was lost in dreams of magic and wonder, too busy dreaming in their deep sleep to ever have anything to worry about. Everyone but her it seemed. Well her, and him… He never slept though… Neither did she anymore.
A small gerridae was sliding across the lake. It appeared to be almost dancing as it glided across the water, moving from one spot to the next without a care in the world. She imagined the oval shape of the moon's reflection as an ice skating ring, and the gerridae was a performer putting on a private show just for her.
"A Perfect ten," she whispered to the bug trying to make a joke, and trying to make herself smile. It was no use though. No one laughed or smiled at the joke. The girl in the water had long forgotten how to smile and the gerridae ignored her. Even the movement of the waves emphasized her frown.
Go now… I am waiting… The voice ordered her. She did her best to ignore it, a feat that nine out of ten times always ended in failure.
The wind around her started to pick up. The trees from the forbidden forest struck up a chorus of a thousand leaves behind her as the wind pierced through the trees. The gerridae surfed the rippling waves of the water created by the wind away from her and towards the center of the lake. Away and out of her sight it disappeared in the darkness of the water and the night.
I guess the show is over. She thought sadly to herself, feeling even more alone now. The trees leaves from the forbidden forest were rustling even louder now in the wind. Their song seemed to get shallower and darker as it continued. The eerie black trees bent back and forth under the force of the wind, their rooftops resembling similar waves to that of the water. It was eerily beautiful in its own way.
I want blood… The voice commented.
The thought of blood made her body shake. She looked down to her wrists. The cuts had still not healed. She wondered if they ever would. Blood… There had been so much blood. Her blood… She switched her gaze from her wrists back to her reflection.
She had been the one to write the message in blood on the wall.
No… She had been the one. She thought to herself as she continued looking at the girl in the water. The cat… The rest… She did not know if she… no … the girl in the water was responsible for that or not. The Chamber of Secrets. Had she opened it?
She only half remembered writing the message, but she never remembered a Chamber, let alone opening one.
Did you open the Chamber?" she asked the girl in the water.
I am ready… The voice interrupted her thoughts. Part of her wanted to ask what he was ready for. The part of her she knew was her… or what was left of her knew better though.
To kill… To kill them all… The voice answered anyway.
"Shut up!" she whispered loudly to it to stop.
To kill you… The voice continued, ignoring her request. More and more shivers came as again she found herself crying. The water temperature she had grown use to was once again cold and her feet started to almost burn from the water's icy touch on her ankles.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked her. She looked at her reflection in the water. She had not thought that. It had sounded different then him too.
Did you say that? She asked herself as she stared at the girl in the water. It took a few more seconds for reality to come back, and when it did she rose and quickly turned around with her wand raised.
"Stupefy." She cast the spell at the source of the voice. The spell lit up the night sky around her before it vanished as it neared the figure that had spoke to her. The figure seemed to have whispered something in response to her spell. She readied herself to cast another spell.
"Stup…" She started the next spell but found it impossible to finish the incantation. Three black, shadowy, smoke-like arms had emerged out of seemingly the darkness around her. Two of them had grabbed a hold of her wrists making it impossible to move her arms. The third one covered her mouth.
She had seen this magic before… but where? She wondered to herself.
"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. I just heard you crying over here and wanted to make sure you weren't hurt," the figure said calmly and began to walk closer to her. She struggled in the dark arms grasps trying to break free as it did. It was no use though. The figure closed in on her and was now standing just a foot away from her.
Kill. . . The voice told her as the figure crept closer.
The figure was wearing a cloak that even the moonlight did not seem to reflect off of. The figure seemed to almost be part of the endless darkness of the night that surrounded it. A cold chill went up her spine at the sight. As the figure stepped closer its cloak billowed like smoke when it moved. She had seen that cloak before too. But where? Her questions were quickly answered as the figure removed its hood.
It was the Marik boy from the tournament in Paris. The one that her sister despised. Her cousin's best friend. The one that she… Her train of thought was interrupted as he spoke.
"If I release you will you calm down? Or am I going to get cursed if I do?" he asked her and the hand around her mouth released its grasp.
"I won't curse you," she answered him truthfully. Her voice sounded raspy and hollow as she spoke.
"Alright," the Marik boy said and slowly the hands around her made their way back down to her shadow where they had emerged from. "Sorry about that, it was just a reaction from your spell. Are you okay?" he asked her looking concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered shortly, turning back to look at the lake and avoid looking at him.
Had he come here to get her in trouble for being out after curfew? Or something else. She wondered. She tightened her grip on her wand.
It's been so long…The voice said again.
"Stop it!" she shouted accidently. Oops, she had meant to say that in her head.
"You sure you are fine? You don't look so good… I mean you do look good. . .you look great actually. . . I meant it's just you look… sick?" the Marik boy stuttered the words out, he looked embarrassed at what he had said. "I know you from somewhere…" he continued to say as he looked her over.
"I said I am fine!" she argued back, feeling a slight sting in her cheeks. "And I was at the dueling tournament this summer. I saw you duel and win the tournament," she replied.
"No that's not it. Oh yeah, you are the girl who beat the nose off of that kid in the hallway a few weeks ago! You're Daphne's sister!" he announced, looking like he was proud at remembering that.
"The nose off of that kid? What are you talking about? And yeah… I am," she asked him confused. She had no clue what he was talking about.
He must of had her confused with someone else. She guessed it was true he would not have remembered her from the tournament since they never actually met. She remembered him though. He had made her mad at his last comment. Of course the only way someone would know who she is or recognize her would be as Daphne's sister.
"It's Alina right?" he asked her.
"Mhmm," was all she answered with. She didn't trust him at all. Why was he out here? What did he want with her?
"Nice to meet you Alina. My name is Marik Ose. Sorry again for creeping up on you and scaring you," he said with a large friendly smile on his face and extended his hand out towards her. He looked friendly enough, but looks were deceiving. She looked like the girl in the water after all but that wasn't really her.Or was it. . . After resisting a few moments her body reacted on its own and shook his hand.
"I know who you are. What do you want?" she coldly asked him.
"Man you definitely are related to the ice-queen… I mean nevermind. Like I said I just heard crying from over here and wanted to see what was going on. I saw it was just you over here so I wanted to make sure you were okay," Marik told her. His words sounded truthful.
"Ice-queen?" she asked, confused at what he meant by the words.
"Uhhh. . . it's a name I came up with for your sister last year. It kind of took hold with the rest of the school and now everyone calls her that. Well at least they do when she can't hear them," Marik answered her, looking nervously.
After he finished answering her question she felt a strange feeling come over her. At first it frightened her but slowly she remembered the feeling. She was laughing. After a few moments she found her sides hurting from laughing and her chest was getting sore from going through something it was not used to.
Her eyes were again watering this time though the tears were warm instead of cold. She couldn't stop laughing and crying, her body was out of control. Eventually her sides were so sore she collapsed onto her knees on the ground where she had been sitting before he arrived. It took a few minutes but eventually she was able to regain composure and the laughing stopped.
"I'm sorry. . ." she said through a few more giggles, wiping the last few tears that had come out. "That was just really funny. Ice-queen? That fits her so perfectly!" she said to him.
"Yeah, I thought so to. Don't tell her I'm the one who came up with the name though please. She already makes my life hell enough as it is," Marik said.
"You and me both. And I promise I won't," she replied, the sting in her cheeks getting more present.
"Ahh so you are a member of the People Daphne Tortures Club then huh?" Marik playfully asked her.
"A member? No I founded the club!" she joked back through a few giggles. Where was all this laughter and joking coming from? She looked back at the lake, and at the girl in the water. The girl's eyes looked bluer, and the girl looked. . . different than she had before. Her cheeks were red and her lips looked. . . different.
"Haha well I'm glad to know this whole time I wasn't the only one suffering," Marik laughed as he talked. "Do you mind if I join you?" Marik asked her as he motioned to the spot in the ground next to where she was sitting.
"Yeah… I guess…" she responded nervously, still unsure of what was happening. He sat down in the spot next to her and started staring out into the lake.
"It's really beautiful out here, almost like a scene out of a movie. I've never been to this part of the grounds at night before," he commented as he continued to stare out over the water.
"Yeah it is…" She dipped her feet back in the water. The water felt warmer than it had before. "This is my favorite spot at Hogwarts."
She jumped a little and grabbed her wand again as he started moving next to her. She relaxed though as she saw that he was only taking his shoes off. He pulled the legs of his pants up and dipped both of his feet in the water to join hers. His feet starting swaying in the water only a few inches away from hers. With each back and forth they sent a small wave of warm water into her ankles.
"I can see why. It feels like a completely different world out here. No worries about homework, grades, or school just the relaxing waves of the water," he said calmly, his eyes never left the spot they were fixed on out on the water.
"Yeah… no worries," was all she said in response not knowing what to say back.
Half of her was in panic mode as the two of them sat there and stared out over the water. That half of her was the half holding the wand in her hand ready to send a spell out at any sudden movement. Five minutes ago she had been the only one it seemed alive in the world, if you could even call it alive. Now she was sitting inches next to a stranger who was being kind, funny, and had made her laugh. The other half of her felt something else, although she seemed to have forgotten what to call it.
Tired of looking at the girl in the water she turned her eyes to the new reflection in the water. Bright grey-silvery eyes were staring up from the water looking up towards the sky. His eyes seemed to glow and radiate out from his face as they set against his darker tan skin. They were as bright as the moon and even prettier.
Her skin used to be tan like his, and her eyes as bright. She thought to herself. His black hair was blowing slightly in the wind and its reflection seemed to be dancing on the water's waves like the gerridae had done earlier. His reflection looked peaceful, pretty, kind, and happy; unlike the girl in the water.
"So what are you doing out here?" She broke the silence and turned her gaze from his reflection to him as she asked.
"I'll tell you if you tell me," he proposed the offer.
"Deal," she agreed instinctively before she even realised what she had said.
"And no telling your sister! What happens at the lake stays at the lake!" he added with a smile.
"Okay, what happens at the lake stays at the lakes," she agreed again quickly.
"I was sneaking through the restricted section earlier and Peeves found me in there. He ended up giving me a good chase and I barely managed to get out of the castle and away from him before he woke up the entire school," Marik told her. Whenever he talked he always seemed to have the same smirk and grin on his face. It was a charming sort smirk that seemed to fit him and make his words feel warmer. "So I decided to just walk around the grounds for a little while until the coast was clear and I could sneak back in. Your turn!" He turned to look at her when he finished. She averted her eyes back to the water, feeling like it was wrong to look into his eyes, which looked so pure.
"I don't have a good story like you do. I just come out to this spot every so often when I need to get away from things or try and clear my head," she answered, somewhat truthfully.
"That's not a bad story. I have a spot near the cliff by the entrance road over there that I do the same with. You can see the Hogwarts Express Station and the small part of the lake where first year's get in the boats to take them up to the school. It's not as good a view as it is here but it brings back my favorite memories," Marik's bright grey eyes seem to pierce hers as he looked at her.
"What memories are those?" she asked curiously.
"The first time I found out about magic. The first time I went to Diagon Alley. The first time I met my friend Hermione. Seeing Hogwarts for the first time. Meeting your cousin. Memories like that. Just stuff that reminds you of the beginning of all this. Finding out about magic and learning that I was a wizard was the best day of my life, so it reminds me of then you know?" he answered her.
"I would like to see that spot. . . It sounds. . . magical," she replied honestly, it really did sound magical. She felt the same way. Her first night at Hogwarts had been one of the best nights of her life, she could completely understand what he was talking about.
"I will make sure to take you there another night then," he said with another smile and another cute smirk. She couldn't help the warm feeling that started in her cheeks as he proposed hanging out another night with her. It was another feeling she had forgotten.
"When did you did you find out you were a wizard?" she asked him another question after a few moments.
"When I was eleven the summer before my first year. Dumbledore was sitting in my living room when I got home from school and told me and my family. At first I thought it was all an elaborate prank but after a little while I started to believe him. It truly was the greatest day of my life." A large smile came to Marik's face as he answered her. His story seemed to warm her insides a little. She wondered looking at him if she could smile like he was now ever again.
"So your parents weren't wizards?" she asked him.
Filth… The voice said after she finished. She ignored it.
"I'm actually not entirely sure if they were or weren't. I was adopted so I don't know if my birth parents knew of magic or not. My adopted parents weren't wizards though. The tournament over the summer was actually their first time seeing me do my magic," he answered her again.
"I bet they were impressed with it. I know I and everyone else there was. Daphne did not stop researching stuff in our library all summer trying to figure out how you won. I did too to be honest, it was incredible how you beat everyone there."
She had certainly been one of the many people impressed with Marik's performance over the summer. Her sister truthfully had been right in Diagon alley when she had accused her of only wanting to research charms and dueling over the summer more because of what she had seen Marik do in his duels. His magic had been inspiring and amazing to watch. She had just wanted to be able to do the things he had done.
"Really? Haha. That makes me happy even though I know it shouldn't," Marik laughed. "So what did you need to clear your head from?" he asked her changing the topic.
"What do you mean?" she asked him nervously.
"You said you come here when you want to get away from things and clear your head. So what is it that is on your mind," he asked her, looking concerned.
More like who is in your mind she wanted to say. She tried to think of a way to avoid his question. As nice and open as he was being to her she could not answer him honestly. Nor did she really know how to.
"It's nothing. I was just having a bad day is all," she said, not entirely lying.
"What made it bad? Did that kid with the messed up nose pick on you again or something?" Marik's question confused her.
"What kid with messed up nose do you keep talking about? And again? I don't remember anyone picking on me," she asked him confused still.
"I was just joking. And I'm talking about the kid you dueled in the hallway like three weeks ago!" Marik answered.
"I never dueled anyone," she responded, still confused at what he was talking about.
"You need to work on your lying. That's where I remembered you from. My friend Harry, oh wait he is your cousin. Right, your cousin got injured so we were taking him up to the hospital wing when we stumbled across you dueling some Hufflepuff boy. You ran off pretty quick but his nose was pretty messed up. I just figured he had picked on you or something. You did a hell of a job with your spells though, they were powerful as hell for a first year," he explained.
She was in shock at what he said. She had dueled someone and hurt another student! The worst thing was she had no memory of even doing it… People had seen her do it. Marik had seen her do it. Tears returned to her eyes at what she had learned.
"Hey hey hey! I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you. I take it back! Please stop crying. I'm sorry," Marik tried to apologize to her. "Here I'll change the subject to something else uhhh…" She could make out him scrambling to think of something between her tears.
"It's okay. It's not your fault. I'm just a basket case right now," That was downplaying it majorly.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked her. He looked sincere with his question.
"You already are. I Promise," she answered truthfully. If she had remembered how to smile she would have tried to then. They both just sat there in silence for another few minutes. His eyes had returned to looking over the lake. She was tired of looking at the girl in the water so she shifted her eyes to the boy in the water. She liked looking at his reflection better than hers.
"Thank you for checking up on me. I'm sorry I tried to stun you," she apologized, feeling embarrassed.
"I should count myself lucky. I guess that you're nothing like your sister. If I had snuck up on her a stunner would have been the last thing she cast on me," he replied.
"You think I am different than Daphne?" she asked intrigued.
"Miles. Daphne is a smart witch and a hell of a student but she gives off. . . I don't know how to say it… a bad aura? Does that make sense?" he tried to explain. He sure did stutter with his words a lot. It was cute though, like he was trying extra hard to make sure he didn't say anything else to make her cry again.
"Not really." She found herself giggling again at his struggle with words.
"Haha, Let me try again. Like when I walk in a room that your sister is in, the room feels angry and cold. But when I'm sitting here next to you it feels calming, genuine, and I don't know… warm? Yeah I know I'm cheesy!" Marik said. For the first time in as long as she could remember she felt a tug on her lips. She turned her gaze to the girl in the water and almost did not recognize the reflection. The girl in the water was smiling. She was smiling.
"Thank you," she told him as sincerely as she could, still looking at the strange image of her smiling on the water in front of her. The girl's eyes in the water looked blue again. They seemed to be almost as bright in the water as the moon's reflection and the grey eyes looking at her were. The two people in the water looked happy. They both seemed to be in a different world where all was right as they just sat there with their feet dipped in the water and stared at each other smiling. If only that was real. If only they both could really be like that forever.
"So when are you going to give me some dirt on Daphne that I can use on her next time she gives me a hard time?" Marik asked playfully after a few moments of silence. She turned her gaze from his reflection to meet his eyes. Somehow they were even brighter and prettier than they were in his reflection.
"I can't here remember. What happens at the lake has to stay at the lake!" she playfully said back.
"Ahh of course, how could I forget the golden rule." Marik replied sarcastically.
"You better not forget the golden rule!" she added with another giggle.
"It won't happen again I promise," he said with the smirk she had already so quickly grown used to.
The two of them sat there for a while longer in silence, just staring over the water. The moon seemed brighter and the waves more quiet now. Marik had started moving his feet back and forth again in the water and each time his feet moved he sent a flurry of small waves towards her ankles. The water felt warm and good brushing against her legs. For the first time in a while she felt. . . happy. It was a feeling she had forgotten and had not felt in a long time. She wanted to hold onto that feeling for forever.
"Well much longer and my feet are going to be raisans. I think I am going to head back in. Can I walk you back to your common room? I would feel better and would be able to sleep easier if I knew you weren't still out here alone and upset," he asked her as he took his feet out of the water.
"Yeah. . . I would like that," she answered instinctively, again before she really knew what she was saying. He stretched out his hand again towards her and she took it. She took his hand and felt a sensation of warmness spread through her as he lifted her up from where they were sitting. It took biting her lip to keep the gasp of air inside her mouth as he lifted her.
"Do you think Peeves is gone now?" she asked him as they dried off their feet together in the grass.
"Who knows knowing Peeves. Hopefully he is just pulling a prank somewhere else in the castle out of the way," Marik answered as he rolled his pant's legs back down.
"Speaking of Peeves what were you in the restricted section for anyways? Isn't is supposed to be restricted?" she playfully asked.
"Says the girl who is out past curfew!" Marik playfully said back with a wink. "And my friend Hermione is really busy preparing for the dueling tournament tomorrow and didn't have time to go look for books on her own so she had me looking for a book that might help her out," Marik answered as he put his shoes back on.
"Help her look for books on what?" she asked curiously as they turned towards the school.
"Oh she has been going crazy trying to research the Chamber of Secrets ever since the teachers found that writing on the wall saying it had been opened. I was just looking for something that might he…" Marik started to finish his answer before she interrupted him.
"WHAT! WHY? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CHAMBER!" She was shouting at him.
"Shh! You will wake up the castle talking that loud. I don't know anything about the Chamber that's why I was trying to find a book… Are you okay? You look really pale all of the sudden?" he asked looking suspicious.
Did he know? Was that why he had come to her? Was he pretending to be nice just to use her for information?
Kill… The voice returned.
"Alina? Are you okay? Your eyes they. . ." Marik started to say.
"STUPEFY!" She. . . or the the voice cast the spell in a blink of an eye. Marik had long ago put away his wand and the spell from that distance collided with him within a half second. His body went flying towards the forest and landed with a loud thud. Part of her wanted to run towards him and apologize. That part of her disappeared quickly though. That part of her was gone now.
It's time… Come to me… It's time to begin… It's time to kill… The voice ordered her and the world around her and what for a few moments had become a much brighter place quickly faded to black.
**Please favorite, follow, or leave a quick review if you enjoyed the chapter!**
**Please go to the series forum and join a conversation or start a topic of your own! Link for forum can be found on profile page!**
**Please Check out the Open Polls on my Profile Page!**