"Lianna, we've got an exam in twenty minutes!" came Eloise Midgeon's squeaky voice. Lia felt her shoulders being shaken, and she woke with a start.
"Eloise...what is it?" said Lia, completely exhausted. Her eyes slowly came into focus, and she saw Eloise standing over her, looking frantically at the clock on the bedside table. Eloise was a chubby girl who was severely teased for her acne, but Lia had always been decent to her, a little out of pity, but also because Eloise was really rather nice.
"We're going to be late for Umbridge's exam!" cried Eloise.
Lia jumped out of bed and hurriedly got dressed. The other three beds, belonging to Hannah Abbott, Megan Jones, and Susan Bones, were all neatly made. She'd completely forgotten about the exam that Umbridge had announced last week. The previous night, Lia had been so tired that she'd fallen into bed as soon as she'd arrived, breathless, in her dormitory a little after nine.
She and Eloise ran down the stairs of the dormitory and into the grand common room, Lia pulling on her cloak haphazardly as they went.
Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons were held in an airy second-floor classroom, and with the Ravenclaws. During her first four years at Hogwarts, Defense had been one of Lia' favorite lessons, especially during third year. This year however, Lia and most of the rest of the school hated the class, owing to Professor Umbridge's strange insistence that no real Defensive magic be tought and the only assignments be achingly boring theory texts.
Lia hurried into the classroom behind Eloise, and sat at a desk at the back of the room. Luna was sitting there, gazing at a large painting on the wall at the far end of the room and playing with her radish-and-onion necklace. Umbridge hadn't arrived yet, and most of the students were either frantically flipping through the pages of the five-inch-thick text or angrily muttering about the sheer loathsomeness of the class.
"The scenery is stunning," Luna whispered to Lia. "I wish I had the gift, but it's so very rare..."
Lia stared at Luna. The large windows of the room were all covered by heavy, dark curtains, and Lia couldn't imagine what scenery Luna was whispering about.
"Erm, what?"
Luna sighed dreamily. "Look at his red hair...he looks just like Ronald."
"Who does?" Lia glanced around the room, not seeing anyone with red hair. "Luna, what are you talking about?"
Luna pointed, rather impatiently, to the painting at the far end of the room, just behind Umbridge's desk. In it, a ginger-haired wizard in his thirties was snoozing peacefully in front of a turbulently swirling gray ocean, his hair billowing in the gusty wind.
"That," she breathed. "Don't you think he looks like Ronald?"
Lia squinted at the inscription just below the painting. "Gaylord the Gallant, Arctic explorer," she said aloud.
"I wish I could make such beautiful scenery spring to life," said Luna.
"Oh, I'm sure you could if you really wanted to," said Lia distractedly. Umbridge had walked into the room and now was shuffling through a stack of papers, humming cheerily, her usual saccharine grin in place.
Luna shook her head. "Lianna, I couldn't possibly paint that even if I was the best artist in the world...it's a rare gift, there are only about twenty real Painters living in England..." she trailed off. Umbridge was clearing her throat and passing out the exams, which Lia saw, to her dismay, were around an inch in thickness.
Lia had Ancient Runes that afternoon, an elective class she greatly enjoyed, as she loved learning the art of deciphering ancient artifacts. Another reason she liked the class was that it was a mixed group of students and a repose from the usual cliques of fifth years. In total, there only twenty or so students, all of whom were extremely serious about the subject matter, and in this environment, Lia thrived-the other students' studiousness and motivation seemed to rub off on her.
Today, they were deciphering hieroglyphics on huge slabs of stone that were apparently from Ancient Egypt. Lia was working with Hermione Granger, Marietta Edgecombe, and Terry Boot, all of whom had their heads bent low over their notebooks, furiously scribbling down everything the Professor said.
When the lecture was over, the students were instructed to go to the back of the room and retrieve two of the huge stone slabs for their group to decipher. As the rest of the students got up and headed over to the shelves at the back of the room, Hermione and Terry were still bent over their notebooks, apparently in a heated argument about whether the hieroglyphics were from the first or second century.
Marietta glanced at Lia. "Lianna, could you go get the stones from the shelf? I've just been so tired lately..." She yawned hugely.
"Yeah...okay."
Lia got up and walked to the back of the room, waiting at the back of the crowd of students clamoring to get the best, most easily-readable stones. After about five minutes, the crowd had dispersed, and Lia surveyed the few remaining stones, shaking her head. There were only four left, two of which were the size of the Professor's huge maple desk and probably just as heavy; the other two were so faded that their ancient writing was almost entirely invisible.
"Hey!" Lia suddenly squeaked. She'd felt a slight tug on the edge of her long braid. She whirled around to see Theodore Nott, who surveying the shelf in front of them, his eyes narrowed in appraisal.
"Didn't know you were in this class, Moon," he muttered, reaching over her shoulder and picking up the two mammoth-sized stones.
"Oh-er, you're in this class, too?" Lia said, shocked. Wait a minute...he's been in this class all along, ever since last year, she thought. I remember now...
"Keep your voice down," he hissed, looking annoyed. "I don't want the whole school knowing I'm talking to a Mudb - to some Muggle-born Hufflepuff."
"Well - well if I'm so horrid, then why are you talking to me?" Lia whispered angrily.
Nott heaved the stones over his shoulder. "See you later, Moon," he said, walking off towards a table at the front of the classroom.
Flustered, Lia glanced at the two remaining stones. She'd have to use these.
"Lianna, hurry up!" snapped Marietta's voice from the center of the classroom. "We've waiting to start the assignment!"
Lia reached up and grabbed the surprisingly lightweight stones, and then hurried back to the table. She sat down, glancing over at Nott's table at the front of the room. Why hadn't she noticed him at the start of the class? And why had he said "See you later"? Was going to be at the greenhouse again? He and his partners were bent over their stones, but he glanced up and happened to meet Lia' eye. She turned away and set to work on deciphering the stones, trying to tune out Marietta's loud whining about their completely faded carvings.
At six-thirty that evening, Lia was in a most unpleasant quandary. As she sat at the edge of the Hufflepuff table at the end of dinner, she played with her fingernails, anxiously glancing around her, not knowing exactly why she was doing so. For the past half hour, contradictory thoughts had been running about inside her mind, bumping into each other and making her thoroughly and miserably confused.
I'm not going down to the greenhouse tonight. He might be there, and I don't want another uncomfortable three hours...but last time hadn't been all that bad, had it? We'd actually talked for a while...Wait a minute - he won't be there! Why would he want to see me, anyway? I'm not particularly interesting, and I'm a Muggle-born...he was only there last time because he'd wanted a place to draw that one time. He won't be back. But then that's a good thing, isn't it? WHY am I even obsessing about this?
Sighing exasperatedly, Lia looked around the Great Hall, which was slowly clearing out of chattering students. She slowly turned around to look at the Slytherin table, taking a deep breath. The table was practically empty of students, including Nott.
Lia got up and picked up her backpack. If all the other Slytherins had left for the common room or wherever else they were going, then it was likely that Nott was with them, wasn't it? Lia left the Great Hall and walked towards the huge doors of the Entrance Hall, silently willing herself to stop thinking about where Nott was. He's just some nasty, prejudiced Slytherin...I don't give a whit whether or not he's going to be in the greenhouse.
Five minutes later, Lia arrived at the greenhouse door, the sky completely dark and a blustery wind blowing. She shivered, took a deep breath and turned the doorknob.
"Illuminatus obscurus," she whispered.
As the golden glow appeared, Lia saw that the room was completely empty.
She breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to the bench, setting down her bag and flopping into her seat.
Of course he wouldn't be there. Why should he voluntarily come down to a greenhouse and spend time with her? Lia reasoned with herself as she took out her set of oil pastels and set to work. Humming to herself, she began to sketch Griselda the Green's glowering emerald visage.
The minutes ticked by, and Lia busily worked on her picture, blocking out any other thoughts from her mind.
An hour and a half later, there was still no sign of Nott, and Lia was upset, but not because of his absence, or anything ridiculous like that...she was upset because she couldn't decide whether she was relieved that he wasn't at the greenhouse or lonely because he wasn't there.
Lia laughed inwardly at her silliness.
A minute later, there was the sound of footsteps outside, and the door to the greenhouse quietly opened.
"It's bloody cold outside," Nott said as he walked into the greenhouse, his usually pale face bright red from the cold.
Lia looked down at her picture, determined not to make eye contact with the person over whose absence she'd been obsessing for the past two hours.
"Well hello to you too, Moon" he said. He strolled over to the bench, sat down across from Lia, and pulled off his Slytherin scarf, which was covered with snow. When did it start snowing? thought Lia, looking out of the corner of her eye first at Nott's scarf and then out the greenhouse windows.
Lia decided she should probably say something. "It - it wasn't snowing when I got here."
"Started about an hour ago," said Nott. He glanced shiftily around the room. "Er - sorry I'm late. Umbridge called a meeting of - well, Umbridge wanted to talk to a few of us."
Lia was astounded, but didn't dare show it. Theodore Nott was not only there at the greenhouse after she was convinced that he wouldn't show up, but now he was apologizing for being late, as if this was a long-standing appointment.
"Erm, it's ok," said Lia.
Nott reached into his backpack and took out a sketchbook filled with his fancy parchment, a set of paints, and an mixing palette. He then took out his wand and muttered an incantation; a small pewter pot appeared in front of him.
"Are you doing watercolors today?" asked Lia in an attempt to be conversational.
"Yeah."
"Cool...what's the subject of your painting?"
"The mountains behind this school."
Lia turned back to her sketch, slightly annoyed. Clearly, Nott didn't want to talk, and this perplexed her...why was he coming all the way down to the greenhouses if he wasn't planning to say anything, preferring to silently work on his art, and every so often tossing the piece he was working on into the fire?
Griselda the Green stared up at Lia, her barely-drawn eyes vacant and hollow. Shaking her head at her procrastination in coloring the mermaid, Lia reached across her parchment for her oil pastels, and brushed against Nott's hand.
"Oh-er-sorry," she said.
Nott scowled at her for a moment, then returned to his painting.
Lia quickly took the box of pastels and started on Griselda's eyes. The thought suddenly occurred to her that Nott was probably angry and disgusted at the oh-so-abominable fact that a Mudblood had dared touch him, albeit by mistake. Lia angrily pressed her pastel down harder than she meant to, causing Griselda's eye to be about four times its normal size. She remembered in horror that oil pastels were indelible.
"Just use a bit of this," said Nott's voice. He was holding out a paintbrush identical to his own and a tiny vat of white paint. "It won't erase it, but it'll cover it up."
Lia looked suspiciously at the paintbrush and the vat. Ever since she was four years old and could pick up a pencil, she'd been drawing, and when she'd come to Hogwarts, she'd vowed that she would never use magic in any way while creating art.
"No thank you...I - I don't want to use magic," she said.
Nott frowned. "It's not - it's just normal paint," he said, looking annoyed. "But fine, suit yourself. Typical of someone like you not to be able or willing to use magic."
"I can jolly well do magic," said Lia hotly. "I just have a rule that I don't use it while creating art...I don't think it's right."
"Neither do I, but - oh forget it," said Nott, making an impatient sound.
Lia stared at Nott, then at her drawing, and lastly at the vat and brush in front of her. Surely it couldn't hurt to use a dab of it...
She picked up the paintbrush, dipped it into the vat, and then dropped a bit of paint onto the huge blue blemish that was Griselda's left eye. At once, the spot was completely obscured.
"So you're in Hufflepuff, eh?" said Nott, carefully mixing shades of blue and grey on his palette.
"Yeah...and I'm guessing you're in Slytherin," said Lia.
"Of course. Evil, nasty, vengeful Slytherin," said Nott quietly, still working busily on his color palette.
Lia agreed wholeheartedly with this assessment of Slytherin House, but got the distinct feeling that Nott's words were marked with what sounded distinctly like bitterness.
"Er, I'm sure not everyone in the House isn't all that bad..." she said, immediately regretting it. Of course they were that bad! She'd had plenty of firsthand experience with their bullying, insults, and scare tactics to know this well enough. "Er, I mean, I don't know every Slytherin, so I couldn't really judge."
"Are you done with the paint?"
Lia pushed the vat of white paint towards him and started to blend together various shades of gold for Griselda's hair.
"Are you using high chiaroscuro in the background?" asked Nott, looking intently at her drawing.
"Er, yeah, I like how the dark background brings out her gold hair," said Lia nervously.
"That's a good idea," said Nott. "I like how you're making the light drift in from behind the tops of the trees - that's pretty brilliant."
"Thanks," said Lia, smiling in spite of herself. "How's your mountain picture coming along?"
"They're looking more vanilla-covered cupcakes as of now," said Nott, glaring at his painting and then pushing it towards Lia.
"Oh my gosh - this is gorgeous!" said Lia, staring at the painting. "How can you say it's bad? It looks like a photograph!"
Nott shrugged. "A photograph of vanilla cupcakes, maybe."
Lia laughed and pushed the painting back to him.
They worked in silence for a while, both accomplishing quite a bit in their respective pictures. The snow was now falling fiercely and pattering the glass sides of the greenhouse, the cold air causing Lia to be able to clearly see her breath in icy white puffs in front of her.
Nott got up and strode towards the hearth at the other end of the room, taking out his wand.
"Ignito," he muttered, tapping the empty hearth. Brilliant magenta flames blazed into life, immediately engulfing the room with a sweet, strawberry fragrance.
"Thanks," said Lia uncertainly as Nott sat back down.
After an hour or so, Griselda's hair was complete, and Lia had set to work on the mermaid's enormous silver-and-emerald fin. Suddenly, a particularly pungent whiff of the strawberry scent, combined with the cold she'd been suffering, caused Lia's nose to tingle a bit, and then-
"AH-CHOOOO!" she bellowed. When she opened her eyes, her oil pastels were scattered all over the table and floor.
Lia stared at Nott, mortified. "Oh gosh - er - excuse me..."
Nott was frowning at her and the mess all over the tabletop. And then Lia saw, with horror, that his vat of sky blue paint was now emptied all over the beautiful mountain landscape he'd been drawing for nearly three hours.
She held her breath, prepared for the worst.
Nott stared at his painting, and then across the table at her. "Bless you," he said.
They stared at each other for a moment, and then burst into laughter.
"I'm so, SO sorry," gasped Lia, in between giggles. "It was my cold, and-"
"That acrid strawberry smoke," said Nott, grinning. "Honestly, Moon, you could probably knock down Hogwarts with that sneeze of yours."
"Next time we're just going to have to endure the freezing air and forget about that fire," laughed Lia. Suddenly, she felt vaguely ill. Next time? Why did I say 'next time'?
Nott glanced at her for a moment, and then around the room. Lia doubted she'd ever felt this presumptuously foolish in her entire life. Surely he wouldn't want to meet her again in the greenhouse. She was, after all, a lowly Muggle-born Hufflepuff with no friends and nothing to recommend her. Lia glanced at her watch and quickly shoved her picture and box of pastels into her bag.
"It's almost curfew time," she mumbled, getting up from the bench and pulling her cloak over her shoulders. "I'd better go-"
"I was thinking," Nott cut in. "Next time, we should keep our cloaks and scarves on so we don't freeze to death." He wrinkled his nose. "Anything to avoid those horrible strawberry fumes."
Lia found herself grinning.
They left the greenhouse together after Nott had packed away his things and bundled up; although Lia felt strange about walking with a Slytherin all the way back up to the castle, neither she nor Nott said anything about it as they shut the greenhouse door behind them.
They tramped along in the snow, which by now was falling as hard as ever and had already dumped several inches on the ground. The pair of them didn't say much as they walked, their faces bundled up against the icy gusts of wind, but Lia found that this silence was more companionable in nature than uncomfortable. At five minutes till nine, they'd reached the stone steps leading into the castle.
"Well, see you around, Moon," said Nott, as they stood just inside the huge, carved wooden doors of the Entrance Hall.
"Er, yeah - 'bye," said Lia. "Oh, good luck on the Ancient Runes test tomorrow," she started to say, but stopped abruptly, hearing the faint sound of footsteps hurrying towards them from towards the Great Hall. She squinted towards the sound of the footsteps and made out the stout form of Professor Sprout hurrying towards them. "Oh no!"
"'Bye," said Nott, and he disappeared through a dark doorway at the left side of the Entrance Hall.
"Lianna! Oh, there you are, dear!" said Professor Sprout, gasping for breath as she reached Lia.
"Professor Sprout, what's wrong?"
"It's the Headmaster," she said, leaning against the huge wooden doors to catch her breath. "Professor Dumbledore wishes to see you in his office."
"Er - right now?" asked Lia, completely nonplussed. "But why?"
"I can't say why, Miss Moon, but we've been looking for you for two hours! Where have you been?"
Lia swallowed. "We - I - well, you see-"
"Oh, never mind, girl! Come with me!" With that, Professor Sprout grabbed Lia by the crook of her elbow and led her up the marble staircase all the way up to the seventh floor, not stopping once for breath. Finally, they reached a wide corridor in which stood a huge gargoyle that seemed to be guarding some sort of entryway.
"Fizzing Whizbee," said Professor Sprout clearly, still holding onto Lia.
The gargoyle sprang to life and leapt aside, revealing a slowly revolving spiral staircase. Lia and Professor Sprout climbed aboard it and were taken up, farther and farther, till they reached a dim landing, where two gleaming mahogany doors stood, their brass knocker in the shape of a Griffin.
"Professor Sprout! Why does the Headmaster want to see me?" Lia whispered urgently. What in the world was going on?
Professor Sprout said "Shh!" and, using the griffin, knocked twice on the door.
"Come in," came a deep voice from inside the room.
CHAPTER THREE
Professor Dumbledore's office was a huge, round room with very high ceilings covered with paintings of sleeping ex-Headmasters; on tables all around the room were strange, whimsical gadgets the likes of which Lia had never seen before. On a shelf near Professor Dumbledore's desk was the Sorting Hat that Sorted students at the beginning of each year into their Houses, and on a small spindly table also near his desk was a large, beautiful bird with red and gold plumage. Having read about them before, Lia realized at once that it was a phoenix, her eyes widening with respectful awe as she looked at the sleeping bird.
"Good evening, Miss Moon," said Albus Dumbledore, who was sitting in a high-backed, violet chair behind a massive mahogany desk. "Have a seat, please."
Lia sat down at a chair across from him, her throat dry and her hands cold. She couldn't be in trouble, she just couldn't! She never did anything illegal, or broke any rules-Oh no, she thought suddenly, they've found out about me sneaking into the greenhouses at night...
"Would you care for some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans?" asked Professor Dumbledore politely.
"No, thank you," said Lia in a tiny voice.
Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "Miss Moon, you surely do not need to be so nervous! You are not in any sort of trouble, nor have you ever been, at this school. Now, do you know of what I am going to speak to you?"
"No, Professor, I have n-no idea."
Professor Dumbledore pressed his fingertips together, surveying Lia. When he finally spoke, it was in a calm but serious voice.
"Miss Moon, I have summoned you to my office to ask of you a favor, something of urgent importance, that I would be very honored indeed if you agreed to grant me this favor." He paused, and then continued, his _expression very grave. "Do you know that Lord Voldemort is back, Miss Moon?"
Lia fidgeted in her seat. She, like most of the Wizarding world, did not like to hear the name of Voldemort uttered, and got very uncomfortable when she did hear it. But she still had to answer Dumbledore's question.
"Yes, Professor. I-I believe that You-know-who is back."
Dumbledore looked at her appraisingly. "Might I ask why you believe this to be so?"
"I-er, I believe Harry Potter, Professor, and I think that what happened to him last June was real, and that-" she swallowed, "-that it was really You-know-who that killed Cedric."
Dumbledore nodded gravely, the gaze in his blue eyes darkening for a moment, before they returned to normal. "It is indeed the truth, and alas, it is a pity that most of the wizarding world do not share this belief. What happened last June and what lies ahead are of such a serious nature that we must act at once, but nothing can be done until everyone believes."
Lia agreed with this, but didn't know what to say. Why was Dumbledore telling her this?
He continued before she had to ask. "Alas, I am going off on a tangent. Miss Moon, I have summoned you to my office because I had a feeling that you believed. I had a feeling that you know the dire nature of recent events and the state of our world, and I need you to remember this belief as you perform the task which I ask of you."
Lia blinked. "Er, okay..."
"Miss Moon, you have been at this school for nearly five years, and I have come to know that you are in possession of certain gifts that are rare and unique. Am I correct to say that you are talented in drawing and painting?"
Lia didn't know what to say. "Er, I do love art..."
Dumbledore smiled. "Ah, ever the modest one, Miss Moon. You are indeed very gifted in art, and for this I am glad, because Hogwarts students represent so many different talents and hobbies. However, Miss Moon, you are also in possession of another gift, a much rarer gift. Do you know of what I speak?"
Lia shook her head.
"You are a Painter."
Lia swallowed, not knowing what to say. Of course she was a painter, but Dumbledore had just said that earlier-what was this other gift she supposedly had?
"Miss Moon, since you came to Hogwarts five years ago, when you were eleven, did you notice the nature of the magical paintings you saw? You might have noted that their subjects are rather alive and move quite freely, as do their backgrounds, especially if they are of an outdoor persuasion. These paintings are always advanced works of art, requiring months, sometimes years, of hard work, and are revered in the halls and homes they grace. These paintings do not, however, merely come into existence spontaneously; on the contrary, they can only be created by a Painter, an individual who has the specific ability to make pictures 'come to life', so to speak."
Lia stared at Dumbledore, her mind running in a million directions.
"Being a Painter is an extremely rare gift. Today, there are only 'round twenty of them, scattered all over the world." He paused, smiling kindly. "Miss Moon, you were born with this talent. You are a Painter."
"Professor, I - I just love to draw and paint..."
Dumbledore smiled again. "Ah, but that is not the full case. You should be proud of your gift, Miss Moon - there are many who would love to possess it."
Lia stared at her hands, utterly dazed. Could it be that these very hands were able to create beautiful, magical, moving paintings, like the ones that lined these very walls?
"Now," Dumbledore continued. "There is a task at hand that has yet to be done. A painting of this wizard, Caradoc Dearborne, needs to be painted, and taken to a place that I am not at liberty to disclose, but rest assured that this painting will undoubtedly aid in the war against Lord Voldemort. Miss Moon, I would like you to create this painting."
Lia had never been so shocked in her life. She sat there, staring, and then finally attempted to speak.
"Professor - I don't know - I don't know if I have this gift or whatnot...what if I don't paint the wizard the right way?"
Dumbledore smiled. "I have full faith that you will do a superb job. And," he said, leaning slightly forward in his seat, "haven't you ever noticed that paintings you did when you were younger sometimes seemed to blink up at you, or make some other sort of movement?"
Lia had noticed that, but she'd always just thought she was imagining things.
Dumbledore sat back in his seat. "Miss Moon, you must always remember this - you can do anything that you set your mind to, if you would only just realize and appreciate your gifts."
Lia had no idea what to say.