Anything that rings a bell belongs to JK Rowling

Italian to English Translation

"Bellina" - "Beautiful (but specifically for a young/small person)"

Chapter Twenty Seven: An Empty Seat

"Enter."

Ky peeked her head in, "Whatever Bobby and Parvati say was a lie. I never touched their under garments and I am absolutely horrified that they would insinuate that I would partake in such depraved acts. I cried myself to sleep last night just thinking of it…I'm afraid I might need counselling Zia Minnie."

She said all this very dramatically and with speed, dropping herself into the chair in front of Minnie's desk. She gave her a stern look over her glasses and adjusted herself into a more decent sitting position.

"Thank you for the tip, Bane, I will be sure to owl Miss Patil and Miss Brown once we are done to find just what you were babbling on about. I actually haven't called you here for punishment. Well-"she said with a devious smile, "not my version of punishment."

Ky looked at her curiously; she looked like she was trying not to thoroughly enjoy something. There was a knock on the door and then it opened.

Mona came bustling in, bursting at the seams with a huge smile on her face and a package in her hand. She smiled wider when she saw Ky and planted a kiss on her cheek and took a seat next to her.

Ky looked between the two suspiciously.

"Why do I feel ambushed?"

"Oh Ky, it seems Severus' paranoia is rubbing off on you. Why can't two people who care deeply about you call you over for a spot of tea at the end of term?" Mona said this all with a manic smile on her face.

"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean nobodies watching me. What's in the box?"

They looked at each other and they smiled. Mona practically pushed it in her arms with enthusiasm and Ky looked at her, eye gleaming with crazy.

She suddenly caught on and tore the packaging open with gusto…and slumped when she saw what was inside. Ky picked up the material with the tips of her fingers, as if afraid to get too much of her body contaminated by it.

"It's…a dress."

Mona's face fell a bit at the lack of excitement and Minnie cut in, "Of course it is. What did you think it was?"

"A puppy."

"You thought we'd keep a puppy in a box with no breathing holes?"

"You thought we'd endanger a puppy by giving it to you?"

Ky glared at Minnie and then looked at Mona, "Well I thought maybe there was some magic way of getting the air into the box. Anyway, what's the dress for?"

They looked at each other in exasperation and then Minnie spoke, "It's for you to wear to play in the snow. What else would the dress be for Bane?"

"Ohhh the Ball. Oh, you guys bought it for me for that."

Mona looked at her in excitement again, "Well we weren't sure what you were wearing for the event, so Minnie and I decided to-"

"Mona decided-"

Mona glared at Minnie, "Minnie and I decided to get you a dress. We know we probably should have asked first, but we thought it should be a surprise."

"What she means by that is we had no time to usher you kicking and screaming into boutiques and we decided that it's more efficient for us to choose an appropriate dress for you. And by we, I mean me." She smiled icily; Ky knew she was thinking of the welcoming feast skirt scandal.

She closed the box and beamed at Mona and Minnie. It really was kind of them, they had busy schedules and to sacrifice their time to shop for her.

She hugged and kissed both of them, deciding to settle on Minnie's lap for a bit hugging her and enjoy how uncomfortable this made her stern guardian.

Ky got off her and went back to her place as Mona laughed at Minnie adjusting her robes, muttering embarrasingly at the affectionate display.

She then moved to the drawer that held the biscuits and tea, and hot chocolate for Ky. Minnie always did this manually,

"Why don't you just summon them?"

She turned and stared at Ky as she started with the tea, "Bane, magic is not an excuse for laziness. We should not abuse it when we are perfectly capable of performing certain tasks on our own. It keeps us active and there is a personality one adds when manually carrying out a procedure."

"Plus, she finds making tea therapeutic." Mona added and Ky giggled.

"I wouldn't need stress management if it wasn't for you students…. Potter. The most anxious few minutes of my life that was watching him tackle that dragon. I doused poor Fil with water the way I was squeezing that wand of mine."

Mona nodded thoughtfully, "I must admit I was worried. Even though he did steal the spotlight from Cedric, and I do feel Cedric should have been awarded more points seeing as he used a more complicated spell rather than a simple summoning charm-"

"Oh, not this again Mona. For the thousandth time, Harry did not put his name in the goblet. And even though I do admit Mr Diggory's transfiguration skills are admirable, Harry displayed such ingenuity in the face of danger."

Oh joy; let's talk about her two favourite people right now.

"Well, whether he entered willingly or not, he's in the running. Fil was so sure it would be a Ravenclaw as champion, did you see his face when Cedric's name was called out. Speaking of Cedric and Ravenclaw, he's going with Cho Chang!"

Yay, more of her favourite people. Minnie handed Ky her cup of cocoa and sat back down with a contemplative expression, "Fifth year. She's a fair hand at transfiguration, pretty lass."

"Beautiful. She and Cedric would be THE item. Let's see Potter try to upstage him then."

"Actually, I heard that Harry is going with Parvati Patil. She may not be…. educationally inclined, but she is par with Chang looks wise."

Were these two really fighting over which of their champions had a better date.

"Speaking of which… Ky," Mona drew her attention to her, "Who's the lucky young man that will be gracing your side."

They both looked at her carefully…so this was real question. Well-played you two.

Ky drained the rest of her cup and stood, "It's a surprise. One clue, it's not who you think it is."

She kissed them both on the cheek and walked away with her package, ignoring the memory of tiny basement rooms that the dregs of little marshmallows in her cup was dredging up.

-x-x-x-

She tried walking but her legs wouldn't move. She tried talking but no sound came out. Just bubbles…bubbles? She looked to her left and right… water. She was swimming. Swimming in dark and murky water. She heard somebody, a familiar voice calling out her name, so she followed the voice, deeper and deeper. She suddenly touched down on the seabed and looked for the person. She looked to her left and right, stones. Stones everywhere. She swam between them and finally saw who she was looking for, his green eyes captivating her own, his black hair floating glamorously around him. She swam forward and was about to reach him when somebody grabbed her foot, pale thin fingers from beneath. She looked behind her to see red glowing eyes. It must be a gryndilow. They pulled her deeper and deeper, the sand of the seabed engulfing her from all directions, sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness….

Ky sprung up and drank in each breath, tasting the air like it was a delicacy. She heard Mi stir next to her; they had spoken so late into the night that she was too warm and tired to leave Ky's bed and just slept here.

"Ky? What's the matter?"

"Nothing Mi, go back to sleep. Just had a weird dream."

"Talk about it?"

"Nope."

She heard a light pecking at the window near her bed and she pulled back the hangings and walked over. It wasn't night-time like she thought it was, the first weak rays of dawn shining in. Must be around five in the morning. She opened the window and let Fawkes in.

"Hey Fawksey, why didn't you just apparate straight in. Didn't want to disturb anybody did you? Well don't ever worry about that, I love it when you scare Parvati and Bobby."

She thought back to the first and last time Fawkes apparated into their dorm and Bobby ran out in her towel screaming that there was a fire in their room. She took the letter from him and allowed him to nestle in her hair.

Kyrianna

Happy Christmas bellina.

I was going to greet you with a red suit and black boots and bring your presents in a sack and floo to your dorm, but Severus destroyed my outfit and threatened to chop off my beard if I used it for such evil. Unfortunately, you won't get to meet Father Christmas, but I hope you don't mind settling for little old me. I would be tremendously spoiled if you grace me with your presence this Yuletide morning for a spot of breakfast in my office.

Heart bursting with love

Your Nonno

Ky stuffed the parchment into her pocket and turned to the bed as Fawkes flew off. She pulled the hangings apart and jumped in.

"Wake up Mi! It's Christmas! Mi!"

"Mi isn't here right now, please leave your name and number and she will get back to you."

Ky pulled the pillow from under her head and hit her in the face with it, "My name is pillow and I'm going to hit your face!"

"Fine fine I'm up." She sat up and tied back her hair and adjusted herself to her previous neat state.

Ky of course couldn't have that and pulled her into a bear hug. "Merry Christmas Mi."

"Happy Christmas Ky. If you let go, I'll give you your present!"

Ky let go quickly and watched as Mi grabbed her pillow back from her. She had spent the last week hunting down her gift but couldn't find it anywhere. She stuffed her hand into the pillow and pulled out something. She muttered engorgio and suddenly a big parcel lay on the bed.

"I was sleeping on it this whole time!"

She laughed and replied, "I thought you would appreciate the irony."

Ky tore the gift wrap and popped the box open to find…a book. She looked at her with furrowed eyebrows and her friend laughed, "Pick it up!"

She did as asked and hoped that it wasn't her own copy of Hogwarts a History. Instead, she was confronted with her name in huge fancy gold print on the black leather cover.

'Ky Thornton's Potions Diary.'

She flipped through it; it was empty and reached the back. There was a picture of her smiling down into her cauldron; She didn't even know when Mi had taken the snap. Written below the picture was,

'She outjigs Jigger, surpasses Starky and reigns victorious over Veridian. Ky Thornton, a potioneer above all others, a genius mind paired with a radiant heart. She is a masterpiece.'-Hermione Granger

'Ky puts the otion in potion with her waves of wonder and sea of skills. She is so good she should teach at Hogwarts. Really, she should. It would be an improvement. A big improvement.'- Ronald Weasley

'There are a few things more fascinating than the look on her face when she is hovering above her cauldron. Mesmerising.'- Harry Potter

'I don't hate teaching her.'-Severus Snape

"It writes out dictation. I know you don't document the changes you make because you're too lazy to write it out but with this book you can just say it out loud as you work, and it inscribes it. I think it uses charms paired with runes, it's quite inter-"

She stopped as Ky wrapped her arms around her. For once she had no snarky comment; this one present encompassed so many things. Mi thought this through so thoroughly, she absolutely loved it… she even got quotes from people…she stared in befuddlement at Harry's, did he say this before or after the Ginny confrontation? Should that matter?

She distracted herself by pulling out the packages from under the bed and handing it to Mi. There were three.

"Ky that's too much."

"I hate having to choose so I got whatever I thought you would like. And believe me; it is far inferior to your gift."

She rolled her eyes at that but grabbed the first package. Ky knew she would because it was shaped like a book. She carefully undid the wrapping whilst Ky fake yawned; finally, she took out the book.

"Ky…"

"Don't worry I actually read through this one and we won't be getting any unexpected surprises. And I didn't buy it, I asked Nonno for it and he said it was his pleasure to pass it down to a great mind. There's quite a few of his earlier spells there."

"The original works of Falco Aesalon! Ky, he is the first known Animagus. Oh Ky, this is amazing, I love it. It's in Greek!" To any other person this would be a disappointment. But Ky knew Mi, and the smile she expected was planted on her face. "I always wanted to learn Greek; this would be the perfect excuse."

"Yeah, me too. I was thinking we can learn it together."

She smiled radiantly at her, "That would be great Ky."

She grabbed the next book shaped gift and undid the wrapping with less decorum due to her excitement. She looked down and flipped the first few pages and lunged herself at her.

"It's just a few pictures!"

"Just a few pictures! How did you get these of my parents! And they're moving! I don't have magical photos of them. And here are all the ones you took at the World cup! Oh, this is amazing Ky!"

"Well, I wrote to your parents and asked them for a few pictures and then asked Zio Fil to help me make them magical. We couldn't do much except tamper with a few movements because it wasn't taken out with a magical camera. I wouldn't be too excited; about half of your baby pictures, I make you pick your nose on repeat."

"That's probably what I was originally doing anyway!"

They laughed and then she grabbed the last box. She undid the ribbon and the box fell open, and she took out the bottle. It was a clear, unlabelled bottle with a white substance inside.

"This looks like Sleekeazy-"

"It is. I managed to increase its lasting powers and decrease the dosage. I suspect they don't do this because it's financially a terrible business decision. So, it shouldn't be such a hard job to apply whenever you want to, not that I agree with your need to tame that mane of yours. I like it."

"You like my big ugly hair."

"Your hair isn't ugly. It's very Gryffindor. Loud, proud, untamed. Just like a lion. Don't worry I consulted with people that know better and tried it out myself, it's perfectly safe. I guess I have the first potion to enter in my diary."

Ky smiled up at her and hugged the book to her chest. Speaking of people that she consulted with reminded her of Nonno's letter. She jumped off the bed and ran out, shouting where she was off to behind her.

-x-x-x-

Ky knocked once and opened the door. She smiled at her grandfather who was seated at his desk, and he returned it in kind. She skipped over to him but was interrupted when she was thrown up into the air.

"How many times must I have this discussion with you Len, she is not a rag doll! You could hurt her like that."

Ky landed softly, bridal style in big arms, which cradled her gently and looked up into warm hazel eyes. She wrapped her arms around Len tightly as she felt his chest move with laughter, "You're just jealous that I got to her first."

Ky looked over to Linus who hovered around them, and she hopped to the floor. She was barely on the ground when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. She hugged him just as fiercely. Ky missed them so much; she didn't mind standing like this forever. Or until her legs went numb. Linus let go and held her at arm's length assessing the damage that four months without him did.

"Your hairs gone longer, and you've gotten taller."

"How disrespectful of her to grow in your absence Linus, we should punish her!"

Ky laughed at Lenzo and Linus gave him an exasperated look. She looked at him expectantly and he smiled down at her.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold chocolate bar. She unwrapped it and dug in. Christmas, her birthday, and palindrome dates were days that she was allowed to have chocolate for breakfast. And not just any chocolate, Midsummer's bars. It wasn't expensive or foreign, it was actually quite cheap, but she liked it, and it became tradition ever since her third birthday.

Ky walked over to Nonno who was quietly observing them and gave him a chocolatey kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for the surprise."

"Thank you, Kyrianna."

"For?"

"Everything."

He kissed her on the forehead as he stood. There was a knock on the door and moments later she was seated in a small round table in between Len and Linus with Nonno across from them. He was in the middle of Mona and Minnie. In between Len and Mona sat Fil. There was a noticeably empty place in between Minnie and Linus. Ky tried to ignore that.

She started making her Coco Pops. She poured it into the bowl and heaped sugar on to it. Minnie magicked half of it out and Nonno handed her the pre-warmed milk. Back home she would heat the milk for one minute in the microwave, but Nonno always knew how to get the temperature just right. She poured it over and then mixed and heated it for a few moments.

Ky caught Linus' eye, who was observing her. He forced a smile when he caught her gaze. She guessed he was still getting used to not doing everything for her.

"So how goes business Linus?" Minnie asked politely.

"I can't complain. Lenzo and I have been keeping ourselves busy with a few investments, and managing some of our younger acquisitions, but I hear the fun is at Hogwarts this year. You must not be too pleased with the addition of a certain Mr Potter to the tournament."

Len laughed, "I think Harry's a genius. I wouldn't let a little rule stop me from entering. A dragon! That was amazing! My money would be on him."

Mona dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, "Oh well, you don't know our Cedric, he is a stellar student. Top of his year in transfiguration and charms and he is captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and he is a prefect and he's absolutely charming."

"He sounds like a true champion." Linus replied, "Don't get me wrong, I like Harry. I just think he looks for trouble too often. I think you should get him out of this tournament; it's obviously not for children. I mean a dragon!"

He said it with the complete opposite expression and tone than Len, staring at Nonno.

Nonno put his spoon down and smiled, "Believe me Linus, if I had it in my power to do so it would be done, but the magic dictating the rules of the tournament are far more complicated to undo and dire to ignore. Harry, who might be quite disadvantaged in age, more than makes up for it in experience. He has come out victorious in his fair share of unfortunate circumstances."

"Still, he's only fourteen-"

"Oh Linus, calm yourself. He's only flipping out because he thinks that if Harry snuck his name in, Ky could have too. He's like one of those helicopter parents on the PTA that try to ban every kid they deem as a bad influence from school, 'My Tiffany was nothing like this, and then Claire came around and forced her to party and smoke and take drugs!'"

Ky laughed with Len at his impression of Linus clutching imaginary pearls.

That was probably what Linus was thinking, and he stared coldly at them both, sipping his coffee.

"It's only natural for a brother to worry about his sister's well-being." Nonno smiled genially at Linus, and he nodded stiffly back.

Minnie looked down at Ky, "Stop guffawing, you sound like a hyena."

Len laughed at her for being chastised, "You too Mr Thornton."

Linus' chest puffed out in pride at being the only one of them that didn't get scolded by the stern deputy headmistress. Ky pouted at him, and he smiled, "It's strange, you haven't sniffed around for your present yet."

"I thought you coming here for the morning was my present."

The three stayed silent for a few seconds and then burst out into laughter at the ridiculous statement. Len went to the fireplace and brought back a thin long package. "It's from both of us."

That was strange; they almost never gave her joint gifts, getting her a gift was something of a competition between them. Ky grabbed the package and ripped it open. She let out a gasp. It was magnificent; she swapped it between her hands, feeling the weight.

"It's based on a classic but don't worry, it isn't slow. Fil hooked me up with a good guy for the adjustment charms. It can go as fast as a Firebolt but it's better to just float using cruise control, that's an option."

Len's words floated through the air but failed to enter her ears as she was mesmerized by the broom's beauty. It had a shiny black handle with twigs of a lighter shade. It wasn't as big as Harry's firebolt, more slender, almost feminine. Across the base of the handle were words that spelt out, 'Kyrianna's Thunder'.

She ran her hand up and down the handle; it was as if the broom was made just for her. Was it made just for her? She looked questioningly up at Linus, and he smiled, "There was only one way I was going to let you fly and that was if I ensured that the broom was perfectly trustworthy. I dare you to try and fall with that thing…on second thoughts I don't. I'm sure only you could find a loophole in the amount of protective spells the Old Man and I put on that thing."

Ky gave them both a hug and they patted her back. She absolutely loved the gift, it was brilliant. She pulled out a small sack from her pocket and dug into it a bit, finding what she was looking for. She enlarged it and handed it to Len and Linus.

"Mine's bigger than yours," Len teased, opening the light green wrapping in haste. "OH KY! It's awesome!"

He shoved it on his head, and she laughed at his superhero pose. It was a motorcycle helmet like Iron Man's head, their favourite superhero. She put a lot of protective spells on it, something she was meaning to do for a long time. Len was quite the daredevil and even though it was one of his qualities she adored it was also the one she worried most about.

"It would have been better if it was Batman," Ky rolled her eyes at Linus. It was a constant DC Comics versus Marvel Comics debate with these two. Before Lenzo could retaliate, Linus opened his bright blue wrapped gift. He opened the box and took out the envelope. He looked at her curiously and then flipped the envelope open,

"Ky…. I don't know what to say…. how….?"

He was absolutely gobsmacked, and she shared a smile with Nonno. It was reservations to one of the most romantic and exclusive restaurants in the world, Ambrosia in Greece. They had a three-year waiting list and Ky heard Nessie going on about it before. Luckily the owner of the restaurant, Abeiron Santorini, was an old student of Nonno's and he managed to squeeze them in next month.

"Thank you, Ky."

Linus looked down at her in shocked sincerity. She knew it would mean a lot to him. He didn't want to go to this fancy shmancy restaurant, Nessie did. And the fact that she was giving him a gift for her was a gift to him.

Well, it's about time that she started accepting her fate; she would have a monster as a sister-in-law.

She should learn how to tame her.

A/N: Thank you for reading!