"How was your meeting with your fiancée?"
"It... went poorly, I think. He was not happy to see me."
Neil couldn't help but feel bad for the ghost. This night, it was him and Septimus, a stern man of few words who most certainly wouldn't like to entertain conversations with ghosts. However, he was patrolling the Veil this time round and thus Neil was mostly left to his own devices. The Veil always creeped him out— it seemed to beckon mortal beings towards their death.
"I'm sorry about that."
"No, don't be. He's a conflicted and complicated man."
"Oh."
"He may have started using anti-ghost wards."
"Damn. I'm sorry."
She smiled sadly. "I don't think he appreciated me seeing him undressing either," she jested, trying to lighten the tone, but all that did was make Neil feel uncomfortable.
"Well, so what did you guys speak about, if at all— I mean, apart from being mad at each other."
"I wasn't mad at him but we spoke... about the past. Sort of."
"Do you think you will speak again?"
"It seems we probably will."
~X~
This time, he dreamed about Scorpius. Those soft grey eyes, ice-blond hair and that infinitely cheery smile. There was a simpler time when they had been mere schoolboys and the most difficult obstacle was staying awake during Professor Binn's History of Magic classes. Scorpius would, at his urging, hide a whole of box of Chocolate Frogs and then spend the rest of class chiding him for not paying attention. Sheepishly, he would argue that at the very least, he was still awake, unlike the vast majority of their class. Besides, Scorpius was always generous enough to let him copy any notes.
They would joke about him being a bad friend but then he would point out that he unflinchingly shared his Prefect privileges - including late-hour access to certain parts of Hogwarts and that luxurious Prefect bathroom - with Scorpius, plus he was very good at pestering everyone else into letting him confiscate their illegally held sweets and objects and then distributing those amongst his friends, chief among them being Scorpius. Scorpius would then scoff that this was technically just bribery and intimidation. One of their friends, Lawrence simply stated the obvious thing that the only reason Al was made Prefect was because Scorpius was far too nice to enforce any rules and Al was more intimidating, to which Al would complain that he was actually very nice as well.
"You made Brianna cry the other day," Scorpius chided once. "Also, Pandora complained that you stopped her from making out with her boyfriend in the Forbidden Section."
"Brianna was placing stinkbombs in everyone's beds, an inconvenience to all and something that a First-Year needs to learn. Peace and calm. And it was the week of Winter Exams when Pandora did that. Besides, the Forbidden Section is not for... It's for, well…"
"Forbidden stuff, which includes Pandora making out with Duke."
"What they were doing went beyond making out."
Scorpius blanched and Al found himself laughing. "Now you understand why I had to deduct 10 points each from them. I had to prevent the shelves from collapsing and who knows what kind of weird man-eating books could fall out of there." He threw his arms in the air. "Claire was very upset, of course, but what I can say, rules are rules. But don't worry, I'll turn a blind eye to whatever achievements you can score with Rose. Ha. Get it? Score with Rose?" Ah, he remembered that jape. It felt like a whole lifetime ago.
"Puns aren't your specialty. You really should stop." Scorpius was giggling though.
Al plopped another Chocolate Frog into his mouth and passed the box to his friend again.
"You know, I think being intense and aggressive is a Prefect thing," Scorpius said. "Rose is intense and aggressive - she hit me the other day, again! Plus, have you seen her in Quidditch? Wow. You're also like her, in a way."
"That's absurd. We literally have nothing in common except for our families."
"Well, she's funny and you're funny. First-Years are scared of her, First-Years are scared of you—"
"They're not!" Al protested.
"— She yells a lot and you yell a lot—"
"I don't!"
"— She's great at knocking people around with spells, you're great at knocking people around with spells—"
"Scorpius, for the love of Merlin, please stop."
"— She's—"
Al braced for another embarrassing comment but suddenly Scorpius wasn't speaking anymore. He was coughing, coughing, coughing… His breath was getting shallower by the minute. The scene around them faded into darkness but his friend was still there, on the verge of perishing from suffocation.
And all he could do was stand there, helplessly, as life once again left the body of his friend. He did not know what to do. He tried waving his wand, a few healing incantations, but nothing worked. Frantically, Al tried reaching for his pockets. He scoured his mind for something, anything, that could alleviate the scene before him. "Scorpius! Scorpius!" He shouted.
But it was too late.
"No! Scorpius! No!" He yelled, panicking, as blood started sputtering out of his friend's mouth.
He shook his friend, aware that this was probably not the wisest course of action, yet overcome by fear of inertia. Blood was trickling, trickling from Scorpius to him. Still, he did not flinch from his friend. Not this time. They would not leave each other this time. For the sake of old times, for old ties, he would keep trying.
Everything flashed green.
He woke up sweating from head to toe. He ripped off his shirt and ran to the shower of his simple motel, which he had fortified with an array of spells and, this time, wards that repelled ghosts. He pushed the memory of Delphi aside. [She had been there…] Now is not the time. There was a certain panic as ice cold water washed over his body and he reached for the soap. No matter how hard he scrubbed, he still felt filthy.
~X~
Runes was a fascinating course. The best part of their curriculum, or so many of his fellow Ravenclaws would say, was their end of year trip to Greece, which occurred for all Third Years the week after final exams and after all the celebrations, award ceremonies and Quidditch finals. It did cut into summer holidays and Dad made some joke about his son's studious nature and all, but his parents ultimately opted for the pragmatic route of vacationing in the nearby region as well. Mother was quite excited to be in Crete and for a respite away from the young kids, who would be staying with Grandma Ginny instead. She had recently quit her job due to the sheer enormity of looking after her 5 children and the fact that dad had gotten a massive raise meant that they could afford such things. But the life of a homemaker was making her restless, so Dad had written. And thus he had decided they ought to do things that allow them to enjoy themselves, hence a vacation on Crete.
The academic excursion to Greece would last two-weeks and took place every other year such that both Third and Fourth-Years were combined into one group. This time, there were roughly 20 people drawn from all four houses across two years. From Ravenclaw, there was him, Karen, Conrad, Yiannis, Suyin and Dacey. Charlotte was also there, the Gryffindor Chaser from his year who was, at this point, his greatest obstacle on the pitch. Much to dad's delight, Gryffindor had clinched the Quidditch Cup this year in a close final and that was mainly because their Chasers kept racking up ridiculous margins and Ravenclaw had lost their experienced keeper, or so Serena would complain. Yiannis had felt terrible about not catching the Snitch in time but no one else had blamed the boy. Second-place sucked but there was always next year.
Dora was there too, though without her usual flock of friends, being the only girl from her house. She stuck with Nigel instead, telling him that she found Cassius and Luke from her house and year rather annoying and creepy, in typical fashion. Karen had rolled her eyes while Conrad not-so-subtly hinted that all of this was happening because Dora was developing a crush on him. Which was obviously nonsense because all she could talk about was how she actually liked Parrish, this Hufflepuff Fourth-Year guy who was also on the same trip as them and who was, admittedly, quite an attractive dude.
Professor Yandel had years of experience in managing this trip but rowdy 13 and 14 year olds were still rowdy 13/14 year olds. He had some help, however. The other Professor they had with them was their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Celina Warbeck, who, though still seemingly suspicious of Nigel, had nevertheless treated him with professionality and respect. Nigel was a good student and obtained good grades in her class and so even with her doubts about his communications with his uncle, she never really publicly inconvenienced him. Still, there was a certain uneasiness Nigel would feel when they were alone. He tried to avoid such instances, which were a higher risk when they were abroad on a school trip. Warbeck was great help to Yandel and did not shy away from breaking up midnight card games and shepherding everyone to bed.
They were sitting in a flying school bus all while listening to lectures about Herpo the Foul, the recorded Parselmouth and progenitor of much of the Dark Arts still practiced today. He had once been a respectable Wizard who taught alongside Septimus the Sage and Socrates himself. Regardless of her frowns and doubtful gazes, Warbeck was still an engaging lecturer.
"Okay, wait for real, why on earth would anyone who isn't a parselmouth breed a Basilisk though?" Conrad mused. "I mean, it just seems stupid that the Aurors would uncover illegal Basilisk breeding rings all the time when basically no one can control them and their gaze may kill you."
"Maybe their venom is valuable?" Nigel suggested, not entirely paying attention to the other aspects of Conrad's philosophical quizzing.
"It's useful for some potions, certainly, but not worth the risk. Plus, there are a ton of ingredients that are substitutable," Conrad countered. "Anyways, all I'm saying is that this is dumb. Don't breed Basilisks at home, kids."
"Wow, so insightful," Karen snorted.
"Mister Boot, is there something you want to share with us?" Professor Warbeck's scornful voice ran from the front of their bus.
"Uh... Nothing, I was just wondering why so many Basilisk breeding rings get busted all the time considering how dangerous and uncontrollable these creatures are compared to the rewards of doing so—"
"Well, your... intellectual curiosity cannot be understated," Yandel interjected kindly, unfazed by Conrad's querulousness, "Though we have since moved onto the origins of the Sleeping Charm. Can anyone answer, what are the etymological roots to it?"
Yiannis, predictably, being part-Greek himself, put up his hand. "It comes from the name of the God of Sleep, Hypnos, Professor."
"Very good, 5 points to Ravenclaw!"
Charlotte groaned. "But he's Greek, he has an unfair advantage."
"It's called leveraging your strengths," rebutted Nigel.
"Which you did so well in that Quidditch Final," she huffed.
"We'll win it next year." Nigel pretended to at nonchalantly but he was getting a little irritated by her, in all honesty.
Behind him, Dora rolled her eyes and whispered, "I think I figured out the Runes puzzle. Took me a while but let's hand it in together and get the prizes."
"Nice! I'll let Karen and the res—"
"Oh no, this is just between us," she interjected frantically.
"Come on—"
"No. Tickets to the Acropolis, there are limited spots—"
"Fine."
He felt pretty bad not telling the rest of his friends but Dora was insistent. There was a sliver of guilt when they corroborated their answers and a beaming Professor Yandel awarded them free tickets to the Acropolis, while Warbeck shook her head and grinned ever so slightly. They each earned 5 points for their Houses respectively, which, as with all the House points accumulated, went towards the total for their next year.
~X~
Yiannis had been agitated tonight and yet refrained from disclosing just what exactly had been bothering him. He was being deliberately vague about it towards Nigel and neither Conrad nor Karen picked up any eccentricities in his recent behavior.
When he confided this to Dora she simply shrugged. "People are allowed to keep their secrets from time to time. He'll let you know once he's comfortable."
"But I told him my secrets — there has to be some reciprocity!"
Dora frowned, folding her arms, as if contemplating something. "Maybe ... it wasn't really his secret to tell?"
"Maybe. I'm just..."
"I don't know if this is it, Nigel, but... well... we're not some spy ring or secret society so we don't exactly trade secrets..."
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
She quietened. "Can I share a secret with you?"
Nigel nodded. Of course she could. They were very good friends. Their parents got along pretty well too, despite hers being all muggle and all the cultural differences it could have entailed.
"I... I think I can talk to snakes." She was on the verge of bursting into tears.
Nigel gawked. He was short of ideas on how to respond. Deciding to comfort her, he simply said, "That's super cool. It's nothing to be upset about."
"But you heard Professor Yandel the day before... most Parseltongues were Dark Wizards!"
"Correlation doesn't equal causation!" Nigel protested. "What's going to happen? Do you think some snake is going to convince to commit mass murder? At the end of the day, it's just an ability! A pretty cool one too. We can get you a pet snake!"
"But—"
"Look, uh... wasn't there this healer Witch... Demira? Demra? She was a Parseltongue too and she wasn't evil."
"One person!"
"Well, make that two!"
Dora sighed. "But— but why would I be able to do this? I— Remember that day at the zoo when we bumped into your uncle...? The Boa Constrictor told me he was there and — well— I remembered before my Hogwarts letter came... I talked to a Cobra at another zoo too. But why? Why me?"
"Look, I would say it's hereditary and extremely rare, but obviously your parents are muggles and all so maybe sometimes magical traits do manifest out of nowhere."
"Hmmm... maybe!" It seemed to make her feel better.
"I'm totally getting you a pet snake some day though. It'll be hilarious."
"Nigel, no! I don't want people to know!"
"I mean, you don't have to speak to it in front of people... just set it on Charlotte right before a Quidditch match and oops!"
They both laughed.
"Yeah, I don't owe Ravenclaw any debts on Quidditch. Not my game, not my problem. Besides, knowing Charlotte, she'll probably just laugh it off. I like her. She's pretty chill as a roommate."
"Oh please, I've seen you cheer on us."
"I cheer on you cuz we're friends."
"So, it's set? I'll get you a pet snake and you're going to set it off on Charlotte or Tammy or whatshisname?"
"Marvin. And no. Really, are you still salty about losing the Final?"
"Nope. I am perfectly content. I have made peace with— ah, screw it. Nope. Not yet."
She grinned, her eyes sparkling with mischief. The woes it held before were no longer present.
~X~
The past few days had gone by smoothly and the sight-seeing of the runes of the Acropolis, the Labyrinth and the Oracle of Delphi were a most splendid experience. The presence of bygone runes were embedded in Greece, in every nook and cranny where muggle eyes could not detect or discern, the past seeping into the present— it sprung to life from time to time, vivid fragments...
Nigel found himself keeping Dora's secret, but it also made him think about other things. The serpent was a creature of poison and deception in some tomes of mythology, but in others, it was also associated with healing and resusitation. Contradiction was rife and inherent in its symbology. From fair to foul to both. He wondered how — indeed— she came to possess the ability to speak to snakes. He had promised to not tell anyone about it so there was no use consulting his Ravenclaw friends, who were all pretty well-read and would probably come closer to figuring things out. His mom might know too, now that he thought about it. Alternatively, so would Uncle Albus, who could probably read minds and hence he would never really have to spill Dora's secret — or perhaps Uncle Albus already figured it out.
"Hey Nigel! Wanna join on Exploding Snap?" Cletus, a Fourth-Year interrupted his thought. He had been reading a book next to a larger group around a circle.
It was already late that night and they were all back in their hotel. A muggle hotel. Professor Yandel had insisted they be discreet about use of magic, which obviously, everyone was struggling to follow, especially those without a muggle background. It was pretty funny when Conrad asked everyone how to use a toaster. And when Cletus asked the hotel lobby staff whether there was a "Portal" to the Acropolis. Yandel followed-up profusely and attempted to diffuse the situation to no avail. Eventually, he opted to simply Obliviate the staff.
"I'm clearly winning," said Conrad as Karen rolled her eyes.
"I'm tired," yawned Yiannis, clearly on the verge of falling asleep.
Slowly, the students filtered back to their bedrooms and Nigel followed Yiannis back.
On their way, they came across a distressed Charlotte, "Hey guys! Have you guys seen Dora?"
"No. She wasn't with us for Exploding Snap."
"Shouldn't she be with you?" asked Nigel.
"Well, she did come back with me earlier — was having a long a rough day and all. But then she just disappeared. I thought she had left or something!" There was agitation in her voice that made Nigel worry too.
"Should we tell Yandel?" Nigel offered.
"Well, yes, but I'm thinking that we should go look for her now."
"I'll tell Yandel first," Nigel said, countering her. "The adults—"
"Okay. You can go tell Yandel. I'm going to look for her first."
"No, you should wait."
"But—"
"We'll tell Yandel. Then, we'll go look for her."
"Fine." Charlotte folded her arms, not entirely happy with the compromise but Nigel knew that both of them were really just worried about Dora.
~X~
So there was a grain of truth that Gryffindors are fundamentally brave and headstrong people who charged into danger. He had thought that mother was exaggerating but upon telling Yandel that Dora was missing and Yandel insisting that they stay put before he could figure out what to do, Charlotte immediately headed off with her wand and shrinkable broom, which Nigel was pretty sure was not actually not allowed in this trip nor for minors in general.
"Stop being such a sucker for the rules," Charlotte had stuck her tongue out before asking him if he was willing to join in or not.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Yiannis and him spoke up concurrently.
"Well, I'm going. I think I might have an idea of where she is..."
"Hey! — Hey! Wait up, you can't just—" Nigel called after her as she rushed out of the hotel. Yiannis was panting, frantically trying to figure out the best course of action as well,
"If you guys aren't coming I'm leaving alone—"
"Tell the rest of them— I'll go with her, Yiannis — tell Yandel, Conrad, Karen and the rest—"
"Are you—"
"Send a raven to my parents — they're vacationing in Crete— Charlotte, wait up, I'm coming —"
"Nigel, you can't be serious—"
"Look, if I don't go with her, she'll go alone and she'll really be screwed. Oh Merlins pants, which reminds me," Nigel said as he took out a notebook and scribbled a note, "Mail this to my uncle. Just tell my owl— she'll know where to find him— he'll be able to figure out where we are.:
"Nigel…"
"Please, Yiannis…"
"Okay."
"Charlote? Charlotte! I'm coming!"
~X~
Before Yiannis could recover from shock, they were both gone. Nigel and Charlotte, sharing the same broom and flying off into the distance. He wanted to scream and panic but now was not the time. He rushed to his bedroom, where his friend Nigel's owl was located and immediately handed it his friend's note. "Deliver this to Nigel's uncle, the one called Albus Potter," he instructed, barely giving himself any respite for breath. He scribbled another note about Nigel heading off to rescue his friend Dora who went missing and attached that to his owl and told it to go to Nigel's parents in Crete.
Scarcely waiting for the owls to fly off, Yiannis headed down the corridor to inform his friends, panting. He could feel the sweat cascading down his face. Just a couple more steps… Almost there…
"Yiannis, where do you think you're going?" He was interrupted by the sharp voice of Professor Warbeck.
Whelp.
~X~
The days and nights meld into one as she loitered amongst the shelves of the Department of Mysteries. There were times when she would find interesting passerby's that provided decent conversation. Now that Albus had tightened his wards against her, seeking him out wasn't an option anymore.
"Delphi," a familiar voice called, steely and commanding. Just when she had last expected him. His eyes bore into her's. Emerald, forlorn, penetrating… Something was amiss.
"You finally came." Her form spun around to meet him. Her voice was warm; she could not help it.
His brows furrowed but his head hung. It seems he was ashamed it had come to this. "Delphi. I… I need your help."
"You only had to ask…" It hurt her to see him like this, but if he saw the pity in her gaze he did not respond to it.