Anything that rings a bell belongs to JK Rowling
Chapter Twenty Eight: The Other Mr Thornton
Ky trudged down the stairs, tossing annoyed glances at her brothers. She couldn't believe they were doing this! They were such overprotective prats! They returned her glares with innocent smiles, descending into the dungeons. She spotted a green tie and called out to him,
"Hey. Slytherin"
The boy made a show of looking around him in confusion, "I'm sorry; the person you are looking for is long since dead."
She rewarded his act with a smirk. He was in her year, but he was more of a loner, spotting him in the library the few times Mi dragged her in there.
"Apologies, what I meant to say is, prat from Slytherin."
"That's better." He said with a lazy smile. He hadn't even glanced at Linus and Lenzo, "Now, how can I be of assistance, Miss Thornton?"
"I need you to get Malfoy for me…please."
He nodded with a sly smile and walked back down the corridor.
"Who was that?" She looked at Linus,
"I don't know."
"He knew you though."
"Yeah, he's in my potions class."
"And you don't know him?"
"I don't think it's nice to pry into other people's business."
"Knowing someone's name is not prying into their business."
Lenzo's voice cut through, "Lenzo Thornton, you can call me Mr Thornton. This is my brother Linus, you can call him the Other Mr Thornton, or the Less Handsome Mr Thornton."
Linus grumbled and stepped forward, regaining his composure as he spotted Malfoy standing there, with a bored look on his face. They both were sizing him up and he caught Ky's eye and she shrugged.
"So…you're escorting Ky to this Ball tonight."
"Yes."
"Yes Mr Thornton."
"I thought you were the Other Mr Thornton."
Linus glared at Len and then turned back to Malfoy, "How do you know Ky?"
"We served detention together."
They exchanged knowing looks, and then Len asked, "What were you in for?"
Did Malfoy just admit to being in detention or prison? "Was caught breaking curfew."
"Oh, so you think you're above the laws of time set in this school."
"Yes." Linus took this blasé admittance like a personal insult, so Malfoy elaborated, "Let me explain. I think I'm above most of everything in this school."
"Aren't you a cocky little bastard?"
"Yes."
Ky laughed at that, but was ignored. She knew Len was just as amused but invested his energy in hostility, "Well, you will walk her back to the common room at midnight and not a second later. Don't think we won't know if you're late."
"And you will keep those well-manicured little fingers to yourself. Is that clear?"
Malfoy glanced at her and then looked back at the two men, "Yes."
"I don't like you Malfoy. I honestly don't know what game Ky is playing at taking you to this thing, but you seem to at least be honest." Ky didn't think Malfoy had ever been accused of such a thing before. "Just remember what we said. And nobody has to get hurt."
Linus said this with a stern look on his face and Lenzo actually menacingly cracked his knuckles.
Malfoy looked at her, his expression querrying if they were being serious, but she was too busy biting her inner cheek to prevent laughter to respond.
-x-x-x-
Ky hugged herself and made her way back up to the castle; Nonno's whistling competing with that of the wind. She fiddled with the thin black band of metal on her wrist that her grandfather had given to her. He said that it was Dragonstone. She knew this was quite rare and people almost never see it, he said he had been collecting the metal for ages and thought it only prudent that it be put to good use. He had it melted down and forged into a bracelet for her. It was shaped like a Chinese dragon, the body wrapping around her wrist and the mouth clasping its tail. She adored it.
She frowned up at the very badly knitted scarf around Nonno's neck. It was an epic fail, and she didn't want to give it to him, but Minnie brought it up and then she was forced to. She could deny those gentle eyes nothing. Ky had also given him a photo album of her and her brothers, and she asked Fil to help with bottling a few childhood memories. It was incredibly hard getting Nonno a Christmas gift, what do you give a man that has everything?
She had given Minnie a Montrose Magpie jumper signed by Alasdair Maddock, the club's keeper, courtesy of Krum. Mi was a wreck of nerves asking him, she felt it was too soon for that sort of favour, and technically they didn't even have their first date yet, but two days after asking him Mi found this folded neatly on her bed.
Minnie and Mona, on top of the dress they had bought Ky, purchased jewellery and shoes to match. She guess she did need it, she didn't own heels and they insisted that her hi-tops wouldn't go with her dress.
She gave Mona proud yellow dragon hide gloves with a self-cleaning charm. Zio Fil had given her an enthralling book, 'Jinxes and Charms, and some that Harm', which was his own personal annotated copy, as well as a basket filled with sweets.
Not many people knew of Zio Fil's penchant for bow ties and Celestina Warbeck, it was something of an obsession, so Ky had ordered a bow tie from Madam Malkin's which Nonno helped her charm to knot itself, as well as to sing phrases from Celestina Warbeck songs. Quietly of course, nobody needed to hear that.
She grimaced at the yellow spots on the scarf, which was supposed to be 'sherbet lemons' and sighed dejectedly. Perhaps knitting wasn't her thing. Nonno saw her looking and smiled down at her, "Admiring my scarf?"
"You don't have to wear it."
"You couldn't take it off me. I do believe Miss Granger is trying to get your attention without using her voice…am I that intimidating?"
Ky followed his gaze and saw Mi staring at her. She was with all the Weasleys and Harry. She turned back to Nonno, nudging a bit of snow, not saying what she was thinking.
They had just bid goodbye to Linus and Lenzo at the gates. Nonno had given them both ancient tomes containing instructions to complex magic, the kind he wouldn't let her even touch. They hadn't got him anything, but she didn't expect them to. Christmas breakfast was pleasant though, and Linus actually conversed with Nonno, she supposd that was gift enough.
They stopped at Hagrid's hut, and she gave him a book on animals, 'Strangely beautiful and Beautifully strange: A guide to the Beasts mind.' And he had given her a box of chocolates and rock cakes that she shrunk and carried in her pocket.
Ky was grateful for so much today and felt loved beyond words…with a few exceptions. One not so far away, another probably making out with Miss StraightHair HoBag and the other…she didn't even know where Sev was. He didn't show for breakfast and she didn't go down for Lunch, choosing to spend it showing Linus and Lenzo around Hogwarts.
Nonno touched her forehead with the tips of his fingers, and she stopped frowning.
"Time is strange, isn't it? At times we feel like our problems are as wide as the horizon, growing and blocking all light but just like the sunrises, so too does it set. All things come to pass. It's just that some people are like an Alaskan Summer, and some are like an Alaskan Winter."
She looked up at him and smiled. Only Nonno would say something that weird.
She got what he was saying though; sometimes it takes the sun longer to set but set it must. Eventually they all will come around…. she still didn't feel convinced.
"Now I do believe I am depriving your friends of their target. Remember, swing hard and aim, people always forget the basics under siege. Toodles."
He kissed her on the forehead and walked off to the castle.
Ky barely moved an inch before she had to dodge her first snowball.
-x-x-x-
Mi chattered away as they walked into the Entrance Hall. They had left the fun early, or at least Mi had dragged Ky away from stuffing snow down Ron's shirt whilst Fred and George held him down. Harry and she were politely indifferent, just as they were all week.
"Ron only wants to know because he's curious, he doesn't care. It's almost as if he thinks I'm making this whole thing up. I mean really-"
"Bane."
Ky snapped around at the voice that floated up the stairs. She looked to the dungeons and there he was, his oily hair hanging on his face like a veil.
"A moment please."
Mi gave her a wary look, but told her that she'd meet her upstairs and took off. Ky reigned in her anxiety and schooled her face into one of nonchalance.
"Follow me."
She did so.
After their little argument she hadn't spoken to Sev. Going as far as asking Nonno to help her with the adjustments she made to Mi's Sleekeazy potion.
Ky was well aware that he was right. She was a student, and she shouldn't have spoken to him in that manner, especially about his precious Slytherins'. It was just difficult filtering herself because she felt so comfortable with him, sometimes she forgot that they were student and teacher and not…well father-figure and daughter-figure.
What hurt the most is that he didn't feel the same. Harry and Cedric, they were boys. Boys come and go right? Family though, family sticks together. Ky needed to learn boundaries, learn that even if she thought of Sev that way, it didn't automatically make the feelings mutual. She was right about one thing though; he didn't treat Mi fairly. She didn't care that he was biased in favour of his own students; however, she did care if he discriminated against Mi because of her blood status. She was never going to keep silent on that…even if it meant their relationship deteriorated.
"Well don't just stare at it, open it."
She snapped out of her inner monologue; she had been so preoccupied she hadn't realised they had walked quite a long way. She looked at the familiar door, glanced at Sev's blank face and pushed it open.
She walked into the room that Malfoy and her cleared out, but now it looked nothing like it used to. It was beautiful. It was a potions laboratory!
Ky ran to the cauldron that was silver, unlike their usual black.
"That's goblin made, and there are not many like it. They're not too fond of potion making so this one was probably lying here for centuries. It's too fancy for my liking and unnecessary; you on the other hand need all the help that you can get."
She ignored the quip and ran her hands across the long dark oak table, which had a matching bench. She looked at the pestle and mortar with the runes on it and the matching silver scales. There was a splash of colour in the corner in the form of a bright red armchair with eye catching green silk scatter cushions.
Was he saying what she thought he was saying?
On the wall behind her were two shelves ladened with books, with a drawer below it, all in matching dark oak. The opposite wall was decorated with frames.
She rushed over, finding a picture of herself with Linus and Lenzo, one of her with Mi, another of them with Harry and Ron at the World Cup. The wall was full of them, Minnie, Mona, Fil, Nonno, Hagrid and even one with Sev. He wasn't smiling in the picture, but who could blame him, it was the day he lost the competition to Mona.
There were two other doors except the one she entered. She headed for the nearest one, which was set into the same wall that had the frames, and pushed it open to find a set of stairs.
"You aren't allowed there. Remember the rule. You aren't allowed to occupy your personal quarters during school time."
"That leads to my room?"
"Yes, the other door opens to my personal lab." She opened it, and he was right. She hadn't realized that this room was situated adjacent to his office, the dungeons were a bit like a maze in that way.
"Whatever ingredients you may need can be found in my personal stores. You know the rules though, whenever-"
"Something is running low I must tell you so you can place an order and always put stuff back into its original place and never rearrange anything, not even the dust on the jars because you know where they go."
Ky spun around taking it all in. Her own potions lab! He must have done all this in a matter of hours, seeing as Malfoy and she only completed cleaning two days ago. She ran up to him and gave him a fierce hug.
This was incredible.
"Don't get too excited. It's not easy having your own lab. You will have to ensure that it is neat and tidy at all times, and I did this for you to use, not to leave it lying here gathering dust. I'll train you up in the stock potions I make for Pomfrey, and soon some of those can be your responsibility, it's the deal I negotiated to get this room for you. You will also need to ensure that the temperature and the pressure are right when brewing and you will-"
"I love it Sensei! I really do." She let go of him and looked him in the eyes, her own were shining with so many emotions, "I know I don't deserve it. I know I was disrespectful and horrid, and I am so sorry. I know that you are my Professor, and I didn't forget who you are."
"It seems I did though." He sat down on the bench so that they were eye level, "Bane. I am your teacher. And you are my student." He sighed heavily, "But you're also not just my student…you're also…more. I'm not a man to watch words and I forget sometimes that you are a child." He was quiet and it looked like he was searching for the right way to phrase his feelings.
"Sensei you don't have-"
"No, I do. Listen carefully because I won't say this twice. Bane, you are rude. And obnoxious and you grate on my nerves, and you don't listen when I speak, and you keep getting detention because you're too hot tempered and you think like a Gryffindor, and you are never on time! Ever…. but you're also not stupid. You are not ignorant. You understand the science of brewing like very few your age do, and you have a kind heart. Sometimes I worry too kind. You're…you're not just a student to me."
He stood and cleared his throat and turned his back to her, "Not that I owe you some form of explanation but one day you will learn that I do certain things, and I treat the students the way I do for a reason. I hope that day never comes Bane, but Slytherins' are different from Gryffindors', and it's more than just house rivalry I am talking about. It is necessary for the families belonging to my house to have faith in me, and if I must put aside…certain beliefs to do so, I shall. If I must favour students, I shall. That is not up for discussion, and I won't have it brought up again. Is that clear?"
"As clear as Veritaserum."
He turned around and smirked at her, "One should not talk about things that they cannot brew."
"Is that so? Well best we rectify that. I'll get the ingredients and you can start the fire. I know it takes twenty-eight days to brew so we best get started."
"Isn't there a Ball you have to get ready for?"
"It only starts at eight. We'll be done at seven with the mixing of ingredients and then we can just leave it to brew. You know it really shouldn't take a whole lunar phase, we should try and fix that."
"I think it has less to do with the moon and more to do the reactivity of Longhorn dust and Billirurun extract. Speaking of the Ball, Minerva says she and Sprout bought you a dress so that's nothing to worry about, but they don't seem to know who you're going with. A reason for such secrecy Bane?"
"Always. There." She pulled out the box and placed it in his palm quickly. They both had far surpassed their emotional quotients for the day, so best give him the gift and be done with it. "Now should I slice the Alderwood or mash it?"
He clicked the box open and let out a soft breath, looking down at her awkwardly. It was a pair of black snake cufflinks with emerald eyes. It was the gift that she spent the last three months saving for. She also asked Nonno for help with a spell to magic them onto the cuff without manually doing so. She knew Sev hated doing this, complaining that the holes were too small and not even an infant could painlessly button shirt cuffs.
He cleared his throat, nodding at her and turning to his store room, "Slice. Perfect lines. I'll just go get the Alihotsy."
A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed that their friends again. I think I realised in writing these last two chapters that Ky's love language is definitely gift giving - hopefully it wasn't boring to hear about all the gifts she bought, it felt important to write about because I imagined she spend time thinking on them.