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As I said, a new chapter is already there.
It's one of my favorites and it's pretty important for the rest of the story, so I hope you'll enjoy it.
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On Saturday evening, I head to the HQ, as planned, to meet Ewald who should give me the books I need to learn Occlumency. I've been thinking about what to tell him with the reasons why I want to learn it, in case he'd ask again. I think I'll simply say that I heard it could help compartmentalize thoughts, and that it could help me deal with the trauma I suffered from killing the pedophile. What is more legit than a poor, traumatized kid? He won't be able to refuse helping me. It's a good lie.
Loud voices alert me as I'm about to turn the corner of the corridor leading to the HQ. There shouldn't be anyone there, apart from Ewald. Rather than rushing headlong, I prefer making myself discreet, and pass the corner with my head to see what's going on. There's a group of rather old Gryffindors, probably in sixth or seventh Year, surrounding Ewald. The red and gold are five, and Ewald is disarmed. I notice his wand in the hand of the blond-haired boy facing him. Ewald is disheveled, which never happens to him, and is trying to catch his breath. I feel concern rising in me, but I still remain hidden, preferring to listen and observe.
Ewald is the first to talk. His voice is still calm, but I can see from his posture that he's still ready for a fight.
"I really didn't expect gratuitous violence from you, Bludfire. I knew you were impulsive, but I thought some sense remained in you."
"I don't see any error in judgment in riposting when a Death Eater insults my friends."
"You know as well as I do that I didn't provoke you, and I only defended myself. And I'm not a Death Eater."
Before the blond-haired guy, Bludfire, has the opportunity to answer a small, brown-haired boy that stood back until now starts speaking in a snarling tone.
"Did you see that? He isn't even brave enough to assume what he is, fucking Death Eater! You think you're smart with your smooth lines, patronizing us. But you're still an asshole!"
The insult is still echoing when Ewald jumps into action, with an impressive vivacity. He has the time to snatch his wand from the blond's hands and to cast a Stinging Hex on the snarling brown-haired before getting hit by Bludfire in the guts. One of the Gryffindors casts a Petrificus Totalus on him to make sure he won't move anymore.
The blond then casts a counter spell on the brown-haired boy who proceeds to kick Ewald, still petrified, spitting "Well deserved, you coward!". That's the moment I choose to intervene, wand in my hand. I cast an Expeliarmus on the brown while shouting:
"The only cowards here are you!"
My scream echoes a bit in the corridor, not as loudly as the theatrics would require, but my spell works, to my great pleasure. Even if the wand doesn't fly very far. All the Gryffindors turn to face me, and I recognize two of them as the guys that tried to "warn" me about Ewald at the beginning of the year. Seeing my juvenile appearance, they don't cast any spell on me. The brown goes fetch his wand while the blond, Bludfire, walks towards me with a closed face. I guess he's in command.
"You're calling us cowards? Who are you, kid?"
"A friend of the dude you bravely fought five versus one."
"I know her, Al', she's the one always hanging out with Slide and his Hufflepuff pet" one of the guys I've already seen cuts in
"Yeah, we already told her Slide is a Death Eater but she didn't listen to us. She must be a pure blood too anyway, maybe her family belongs to the Death Eaters as well" the other guy I know adds
"Maybe, but she belongs to our House, and it's a kid, so leave her alone" the blond retorts, "You", he says turning to me, taking a more conciliatory tone "We let you go for this time, but don't insult us anymore. You don't know shit about what happened here, so you'd better shut up rather than blatter your bullshit."
"I know enough of what happened to know that you're cowards."
"You…"
The blond starts off with an offended tone, but I don't let him time to finish because an idea crosses my mind. I don't really take the time to think, I follow my impulse. He doesn't like being called a coward, so he might work. I observe when cutting him in that his friends raised their wands in my direction. Looks like the indulgence towards the pooooor first Year is over.
"Listen, if you're no cowards, prove it." I say, in a quiet and vaguely provocative tone.
"How do you see this?" comes the answer, quick as a flash
"I challenge you. If you can prove me you're ballsier than me, then I'll allow you to make his life miserable, and mine as well if you have nothing better to do. But if I prove that I have more guts than you, then get out of his hair.
The Gryffindors remain silent for an instant, surprised. I don't exactly know where I'm going with this, but I know I don't stand a chance against them if it had to come to a fight… Well, maybe if I took them by surprise, with my knife, but it would look bad killing kids. Anyway, if needed I have a little idea of a thing I could make them do, but it's a stupid idea, in all honesty. Anyway, I challenged them, their honor is at stake, and my age takes a back seat. The brown stares at me contemptuously, but I ignore him. It's Bludfire who interests me, he's the leader. After a second of thinking, he nods with an almost predatory smile.
"All right, we have a deal. Follow me, I know what we'll do. But don't come crying to me afterwards."
"Same goes for you."
"Oh, but it would almost bite, the kitten!" says the brown in a sarcastic tone.
I ignore him, and ask them:
"Set Ewald free, then I'll follow you."
The blond shrugs and casts a finite on Ewald, who doesn't really lower his wand, still ready to fight. Before he can tell anything, I speak.
"I guess we'll meet tomorrow for the books then!"
Ewald shrugs, then asks in a low voice.
"Are you sure? I can still get out at least one or two of them, you know?"
One of the guys behind him shouts at him
"Sure, you wanna fight?"
I ignore him to answer
"Of course. It's a Gryffindor's matter now, stay out of it. We'll talk tomorrow."
The snake nods, with an unreadable expression, and I join the Gryffindor group without saying anything else.
xxx
They take me outside, following Bludfire's lead. During the walk I feel the anger burning inside me, and I realize with a touch of surprise that I've really started caring about Ewald. They touched one of my friends. They'll regret it. I restrain myself from hitting them. I'll impress them, and if I'm not satisfied tonight I'll find another way of taking revenge on them.
Time has passed since the end of the meal, and it's already dark when we exit the castle. We come to a stop near the lake, on top of a small promontory that overlooks the water by about one meter. The blond looks at me with a challenging look.
"Jump."
Without showing any sign of hesitation, and quickly, I put my class bag (books are more valuable to me than honor) and my cloak on the ground. Then I make sure my pockets are empty, and jump from the promontory. The icy water takes my breath away, and the lake is deeper than I thought, but I still make my way back to the surface quickly. The Gryffindors are still on the shore, and I call them over while trying desperately to prevent my teeth from shaking too much.
"What are you waiting for? The water's fine!"
Bludfire is the first to join me, executing a nice dive, followed closely by his friends jumping loudly in the water, screaming and jostling. So much for discretion… The brown even attempts a front flip, and I feel a touch of jealousy seeing him succeed at first attempt. Plus he would have deserved a belly flop. But well, I guess it's not their first time.
Despite the cold we swim towards the center of the lake, and I'm fascinated for an instant by the pallor of my skin inside the dark water. Diving would almost be scary, as soon as I put my head under water I can't see anything anymore. Suddenly, Bludfire splashes me, and I retaliate. It starts a water battle and I burst out laughing despite the cold, forgetting for a second the reason why I'm here and how annoyed I am by those dumbasses.
The others start laughing as well, but our hilarity doesn't last: a gigantic tentacle wraps around my body, and before I can react I find myself launched at the lake's shore. A cry of surprise escapes me, and I fly for a short instant before crashing into the grass, about ten meters away from my bag. Out of reflex, I instantly turn towards the lake, blindly seeking the dagger to my ankle. All I can see is the Gryffindors raining around me, thrown away by the giant squid. I forgot there was such a creature inside the lake. The screams of the red and gold split the air an instant, followed by a short silence, cut by some grumbling (not everyone landed on grass, but at least no one seems injured). I come back to my senses, giving up trying to catch my weapon. I can't help it. I burst out laughing again, a frank, freeing laugh that becomes unstoppable when I see the lost face of one of the Gryffindor. Bludfire starts laughing as well, and for some minutes there's nothing else to see here than a bunch of fools in red and gold uniform, laughing so hard they're losing their breath, in front of a lake still moved by some tentacles.
When we finally calm down, we slowly retrieve our stuff, and there's a moment of hesitation. I notice the Gryffindor spontaneously reformed their group, and now I'm facing them again. The only difference is that they now stare at me with way less aggressivity. Bludfire extends his hand towards me with a smile, breaking the spell.
"Well, I guess we're even." he says
The others come closer as well, willy-nilly, to shake my hand as well. Unsurprisingly, the brown is the one looking the least motivated. Once the ritual is complete, Bludfire takes out a miniaturized broom from his pocket and turns it back to its normal size.
"I think it's time to go back to the castle, thanks for this evening… Sorry, what's your name..?"
"Vivian. And no, we're not even. Maybe I proved to you I had guts, but you didn't prove anything to me."
The brown lets out an annoyed sigh, and retorts:
"Fine, we'll leave your boyfriend alone. Happy?"
His mates grumble in agreement, and put out their brooms from their pockets as well before giving them their normal size back. Are you kidding me? Is it the Quidditch team or what?... Thinking about it, it wouldn't even come as a surprise. Anyway, I keep the idea at the back of my mind, it could be cool to always have my broom with me. Bludfire offers to bring me back to the Gryffindor tower while his mates already take off. I stare at him and repeat, to his sole benefit:
"You still haven't proved anything to me."
He makes a gesture of spike, and shouts to his mates
"See you tomorrow!"
They disappear instantly, in a hurry to join their dorm probably, and I face the boy. Sixth Year, seventh Year? The cold makes me shake, I'm still soaking wet from the swim in the lake. The others got dry with a spell, but I don't know it and no one thought about casting it on me. It doesn't matter, that's not enough to make me go to bed. I'm in a crazy mood, the adrenaline keeps on running through my veins, and I'm bursting with energy. I wanna play with my life. Plus I want more. This dude, Bludfire, I want to see who he is, challenge him. To toy with him, in a way. He interests me. I have a feeling that he's more than some random bully. He stayed even if the others left. He interrupts the course of my thoughts impatiently but not nastily.
"So, what now?"
I don't need to think for long, I know what we'll do.
"Can we take your broom?
"Uh, sure?... Where are we heading'?"
"Astronomy tower, please!"
He raises an eyebrow, surprised by the destination, I assume, but climbs on his broom and I sit behind him without a word. He recommends that I hold on tight. I let out a laugh, without tightening the loose grip of my right hand on the broom. He shrugs, as if to say "You asked for it.", and suddenly accelerates. I'm a bit surprised, but I don't fall, and we're soon flying over Hogwarts. I'm not able to estimate our velocity, but we're closer to Ginny Weasley than to my bursts of speed during the Flying class. Bludfire does some turns, he's having fun, and I'm enjoying myself as well, instinctively following his moves to make the turning easier. He knows how to fly, and he flies well. So is it really a Quidditch player..? We reach our goal quickly, smoothly, and I'm still smiling as we're landing. He smiles as well, I can see it in the starlight.
xxx
We sit on the parapet, our legs hanging in the air. He's still holding his broom. Almost immediately, he breaks the silence.
"And now?"
"Now, miniaturize my bag please."
"What for?"
"So that I can put it inside my pocket."
He lets out a sigh between frustration and annoyment, but he does what I ask. As soon as he's done I stand, facing the void. He follows my movement, a bit unsure, his broom still in his hand. There's little wind, the night is quiet, and the abyss in front of me is dark. Once again, I can feel the call of the void. I wonder if I'm right with my guessings about this tower. I guess I'll know the answer very soon.
"And now..?"
His voice is less steady now, but I retort instantly
"We jump."
Then, without letting him any time to react, I lean forward, letting out a brief scream of both fright and excitement.I can hear him scream, too, but the wind of my fall whistles loudly in my ear, cutting me from any other sound. I fall for a few seconds, and see the ground violently jumping towards me. Then, as I start thinking I'm really about to crash, my fall comes to an abrupt stop. All the muscles of my body stretch, my backbone arches, as if I had fallen in a net belly first. I remain still for an instant, twenty centimeters above the ground, and in the next fraction of a second my chin roughly hits the paved floor, instantly followed by the rest of my body. It hurts, but I'm alive. During the time I need to realize that, I hear noise next to me. I turn my head to see Bludfire, who just landed next to me. He jumps from his broom and rushes to me as I'm slowly getting up. My muscles will be sore tomorrow.
"You're a fucking freak, for fuck sake! I saw you jumping, I tried catching you up, but I didn't stand a chance. I freaked out! How did you know there was this spell? I've been here for years and I had no idea!" he stops for a second, and asks "You did know there was a spell, right..?"
"Why would I have jumped if I didn't know?" I answer
My veins are in fusion, the adrenaline whirlwinds through my veins like never before. I didn't know there was a spell. It was a reasonable assumption, but nothing certain. Well, now it is. But I was thinking, given the number of teenagers feeling bad about themselves who must attempt suicide in Hogwarts, the least thing to do would be to protect the towers from the falls. At least this tower, since that's where Dumbledore died of falling, and it's the easiest to access. Anyway, I put these considerations to side and refocus on my interlocutor.
"So you did jump." I say, with a smile
"I didn't have a choice, that was the challenge, right? Except that I didn't know for the spell, so I climbed on my broom during the fall. Maybe I'm a Gryffindor, but it doesn't mean I have a death wish!"
"And did you enjoy it?"
"Absolutely!" he answers, with a bright smile
"I'll have to try that, I feel like the Broom Jumping will soon be one of my favorite sports! It'll make up for the fact that I've never tried skydiving…"
"You know what skydiving is?" Bludfire asks, surprised
"Duh, yes, I'm a muggle-born, contrary to what your dumbass friends think."
My voice sounds colder, now that I'm reminded of my anger.
"I'm sorry, you know, it's just that your name sounds…"
"Snob?" I ask, understanding what the issue is. That's true that with such a name people might have gotten confused.
"...Yeah. But I still accept you, okay?" tease the blond, relieved to see that I seem more quiet.
I smile softly then extend my hand towards him.
"We're even, Bludfire. You proved to me that you're not a coward."
"You can call me Al'. And thanks, but I think you won. I would have never jumped the way you did."
"Al' like in Albert? I'm Vivian, nice to meet you. Or Éris, it's more styleful. If you ever say my full name, I'll end you. Do we have a deal?"
The blond raises an disbelieving eyebrow (that I can distinguish in the night thanks to the moon) and lets out a giggle. He then explains to me that his nickname actually comes from Alphonse. The adrenaline slowly fades, and I notice that I'm shaking again in my wet clothes. Without consulting one another, we go back on his broom and fly to Gryffindor's tower before parting ways in the Common Room upon a last (manly) hand shake. I think he would have liked to talk more, but for now sleep is number one priority.
I silently slip to the showers to wash myself and warm up a little, and once I'm done I go to the dorm. I'm too exhausted to have the strength of going through all the castle to get back to my tower. Just imagining miniaturizing my mattress is a hassle. So be it, I should be able to survive the night. I slip into my bed, drawing the curtains close, after putting my items loosely inside my trunk (I'm not willing to let them get stolen). I need some time to fall asleep, a side effect of adrenaline fading, but going through the events of the evenings in my mind gives me a slight smile. It was funny. It started with a bunch of assholes, but I had fun. Also, Alphonse seems nice. I try not thinking too much about what I felt, and on the revelation I've had about the depth of my attachment to Ewald. If I start thinking about it, I'll never sleep. Finally, I let go.
xxx
« Quand je parle de mes rêves, les gens me disent que j'ai des problèmes. Quelques-uns que j'ai beaucoup d'imagination. Pourtant, je ne peux pas être la seule à faire des rêves comme les miens ! Mes rêves ne sont pas toujours comme ça, hein, bien sûr. Des fois je ne me souviens de rien, ou que de vagues images. Mais des fois, je fais des rêves passionnants, des histoires entières de luttes ou de fuites, j'ai des pouvoirs, je peux voler, j'ai des amis… Je revois ceux qui me manquent, je les serre dans mes bras. Ou bien je tue parfois, et je ressens ce que ça fait. D'autres fois, je meurs, ou bien je défie des armées pour protéger les miens. J'explore des ruines couvertes de lianes, je respire sous l'eau ou je saute dans le vide pour m'arrêter à quelques centimètres du sol… ça m'inspire des histoires que je n'achève jamais. Mais un jour, peut-être... »*
x
*"When I talk about my dreams, people tell me I must have serious problems. Some say that I'm very imaginative. Yet, I can't be the only one having such dreams! My dreams are not always like that, of course. Sometimes I can't remember anything, or only have vague reminiscences. But some other times, I have fascinating dreams, full stories of fights or flights, I have super powers, I can fly, I have friends… I see again those I'm missing, I hug them. Or I kill, sometimes, and I know how it feels. Some other times, I die, or I challenge entire armies to defend my people. I explore ruins covered in vines, I breathe underwater or I jump into the void to stop a few centimeters away from the ground… It inspires me to write stories that I never finish writing. But one day, maybe…"
-Extract from Aurore Berger's notebook, kept by Quentin Lemage after her death-
So, what do you think of this chapter? Do you like Alphonse? What do you think of Vivian amazing ideas?
Send me an MP or leave me a review to let me know! I need fame to fuel my motivation!
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