No matter how many times I walked into the Great Hall, it was always impressive. Since I was 11 years old, I had never seen the ceiling the same, never failed to find a new carving in the wall or marvel at it's size. Coming here three times a day was usually enough for me, but tonight was special. Once I was old enough, I'd joined up with a duelling club. This was my fourth year doing it. This year, we were going to be doing pairing, and from what I gathered we'd be duelling with the same person all year long. Great. Looking around, everyone else already seemed to be pairing up or have partners already. Grumbling to myself, I looked around for any stragglers. In the corner, toward the back, I saw a guy by himself. Rolling my eyes, I approached him.

“Um, hi. I’m Bridget. There’s not really anyone else left to pick from, want to duel with me?” I asked cautiously, ready to edge backward and bolt for the door.

I sit in a chair in the great hall, waiting for this “thing” to start. I arrived early, I always do of course--but not for the reasons you might think. Being punctual, meh. I don’t really care; but it gives me the chance to read my spellbooks, to study. A great wizard is a learned wizard, and I really have little to do besides read and learn my magic. I see people start to pair up almost instantly, but to be honest this bores me. Not dueling itself, but the fact we have to be tethered to oneperson the entire year this time. Oh well, at least I might actually find a challenge here. Maybe. I don’t really feel the motivation to join the pack. It’s so easy to see how people are pairing anyway. They aren’t trying to learn; best friends pairing together, or people too shy to approach their crushes, using this as some twisted way of dating. Whatever. I’ll just let the last stragglers fight it out, and the last one will get to duel me. At least maybe THAT person will be interesting. I have to get to know them, to some degree, for the year right?

Ah and there she is now; another Ravenclaw at least. God forbid it was a Hufflepuff or a Slytherin, Merlin’s BEARD that would suck!

“Um, hi. I’m Bridget. There’s not really anyone else left to pick from, want to duel with me?”

I casually look up from my book, gazing into her eyes. I stare perhaps a bit too long, because though clearly a bit shy or jittery, there’s something else there. A fire. Despite my best efforts, a smile slowly spreads across my face as I swiftly close my book, letting it disappear into the folds of my robes. Perhaps I will have fun after all. Extending my hand, I meet her eyes once more.

“And my name is Alex White. Pleasure to meet you Bridgette.” I shrug, and nod towards everyone else. “Seems the vultures all had their picks, yes? But you...it seems you might actually be fun to duel with!”

I looked him up and down skeptically, he resembled a lost dog. The emptiness of his eyes, and a haggard edge to his face made me wonder what type of duelist he would be like. He extended his hand to me, and I was only half tempted to shake it. Just something about his humor. But my natural state was to sulk back and push it off. However, if we were going to be stuck together for the entire year, I may as well be civil.

“First of all, nice to meet you, second. It’s BRIDGET. I don’t like being addressed by the wrong name. I’d like to think I’m good at dueling. False modesty isn’t my strong suit, sorry,” I said, unabashed by the attitude I was throwing out. Reaching out, I did shake his hand, providing a stronger grip than most girls would give. It was both a challenge and an attempt at showing I wouldn’t be intimidated by him. “Shall we?” I gestured over toward the rest of the group with my hand, and without asking for his approval, walked over to stand at the end of the large line of pairs, waiting for him to stand opposite of me.

I arch an eyebrow at Bridget’s firm handshake. I must have put too much emphasis on the Ts in her name. I nod my head in response, and release her hand, turning as she gestures towards the dueling platform.

“I’ll make sure to get your name correct next time, I promise,” I say, a sparkle in my eyes. I raise my hand as Professor Flitwick looks on. “Excuse me Professor!!!” I shout, turning a sideways glance towards Bridget and winking. “We’d like to be first. Break the ice, if you will.”

“Oh wonderful, wonderful!” The vertically challenged professor exclaims, a wide smile on his face. “Very well, very well, why don’t you two come on up then. Show us what you’ve learned in your six years at our fantastic school”

I turn towards Bridget, jerking a thumb towards the dueling platform. “Guess we’re first up. Better make a lasting impression, yeah?” I wink once more at her, as I slowly make my way towards the platform. “You coming along? Let’s not keep everyone waiting…”

Next thing I knew, Alex was right by me in the queue of students, and of all things VOLUNTEERING us to start. What the hell? What really irritated me was the fact that he actually turned at winked at me. Who did he think he was? Just because my natural instinct was to throw the sass out didn’t give him the right to throw it back at me. But I wasn’t going to let him know what I was thinking. Instead, I stormed right past his slow gait up to the platform, defiantly throwing my chin up and pulling my wand out of my the pocket in my robes. You could barely see the tip of my wand peeking out from under the sleeves, but that was how I liked it. More of a way to hide.

Taking up a stance, I glanced over at Professor Flitwick while Alex’s back was turned, taking his position. I caught the dwarf’s eye and nodded toward Alex, asking for permission to attack before he was ready. The professor seemed a little hesitant, but he gave a small nod and gestured with his hand.

After a quick breath, I held up my wand and shot a quick, “Petrificus Totalus!” at his back, immediately putting up a shield after. See how the smartass liked that.

I notice the slight anger in Bridget’s eyes as I volunteer us to be first up. The way she briskly strode over to her end of the dueling platform said it all. I won’t deny feeling a slight pang of guilt; but at the same time, it would be fun to see how she dealt being under pressure. I slowly hop onto my portion of the field, back turned, ready to spin around, salute with my wand, and then begin. However, just as I turn, I hear the words “petrificus totalus!” and my eyes widen. Did she really just do that? Attacking a wizard with his back turned?! I gape at her, open mouthed, but at the same time reveal a talent I had not yet revealed to anyone. Concentrating with great effort, I think in my head “Protego!!” and a barrier shoots up around my body; the curse strikes the barrier, shattering it because I didn’t have ample time to concentrate and make the shield full strength; however it did succeed in protecting me. Only just.

I smile, arching an eyebrow. “I’d have expected that from Slytherin, not from a Ravenclaw such as yourself, Bridget. I see I’m going to have to watch my back with you.”

Then with the swiftness of a hungry wolf, my wand bounces in the air as I shout “Flipendo!” sending a jet of energy towards Bridget. Before the wave even hits, I wave my wand once more with a follow up spell, “Locomotor Mortis,” hoping she has difficulty dealing with a barrage of magic.

Closely watching my spell’s magic trail, I noticed the way Alex’s eyes and mouth opened when he realized what I’d done. I couldn’t help but allow a small smirk to set on my face at that. Then, he did something I wasn’t expecting, repelled it nonverbally. I heard several gasps from the students surrounding us, and an almost-squeal from Professor Flitwick. Great. Impress the professor right off the bat, that’s a sure fire way to be the pet. But instead of having time to be impressed myself, I was struck.

His first curse struck the shield I’d put up right after my initial spell, and I was ready with a, “Repello,” to ward off the second one. So THAT was how he wanted to play it. Fine then. I couldn’t help but feel an unspoken tension, almost a challenge issuing from him. Allowing a smile to escape my lips, I retaliated the same way he had. Giving my wand a quick flick upward, I shot a “Wingardium Leviosa!” at him nonverbally. If anything, it would make his head spin, knock him off his feet if I was lucky. Although being honest with myself, I wasn’t expecting it to happen. He had great reflexes.

The smallest piece of me was starting to think I’d enjoy this year.

I heard the words Repello, and was disappointed to see that my leg-locking curse was easily deflected. Then again, had it actually struck I would have been disappointed even more. She struck me an excellent mind, with fast reflexes and a faster wand. I was not let down, given the ease she was able to block my spell. I didn’t have time to give her a nod of appreciation before another spell issued from her wand.

“Finite Inca---” I began, but I was just a fraction of a second too slow. Her levitation spell hit me and I found myself flying through the air and falling. Eyes wide, but still focused I mumbled “Featherus Descendus!” and managed to stay my fall, instead of plastering to the ground. Landing lightly on my feet, I grinned. “Wingardium Leviosa as an offensive spell? My, my, I love the creativity! This will be a fun year!”

Without giving her time to react, I decided to test the boundaries of this little duel with something a little more dangerous. I don’t want to hurt her of course, but her talent--I love a good challenge and I want to push her to her limits, maybe even to overcome them. So I give a quick wink then shout “Electricus Minumus!” A jet of lightning (not very strong, but enough to knock a muggle completely out) shoots from the tip of my wand with a little sideways flick. I follow up with “Aguamentai!” attempting to shoot a stream of water upon my target, further increasing the intensity of the electric shock.

Watching him fly up into the air, I couldn’t help but feel a little shocked that it WORKED. My smile widened, turning more into a twisted smirk. But my victory was short lived, however. He didn’t crash to the floor, of course I hadn’t really been expecting him to. Allowing my expression to become serious again, I listened to his commentary of what I’d just done. I was half tempted to open my mouth and tell him that flattery wouldn’t get him a grace period, but it wouldn’t have worked. Besides, I didn’t have the time to do it anyway, right after it he shouted “Electricus Minumus!”

For the first time, I was actually taken aback. Did he want to go down this path? Out of the corner of my eye I could see widened eyes of other students and the Professor had taken a couple steps forward, like he wanted to stop it. I could understand why he hadn’t though, part of me wanted to see where this was going. Not having enough time to deflect it, I took a step out of the way but still felt a current run across my skin.

Shooting him a dirty look, I did have time to block the second spell. “Defensus Erecto!” I shouted, a wall appearing in front of me. The jet of water sprayed the wall, the droplets hitting students on either side of the platform. Hey, I have a wall, my mind thought. Smirking where he couldn’t see it, I shot off another nonverbal spell “Reducto!”. The wall shattered into pieces and I sent them spinning toward Alex at an inhuman speed. They weren’t small pieces, just bigger ones that might knock him backward.

Part of me was a bit disappointed when my electricity spell missed, and part of me amused as the poor observers got splashed by my water spell; but I didn’t have time to get a really good laugh, because without words, suddenly pieces of a magical wall are flying towards me with freakishly scary speed. Eyes wide, I wave my wand, a nonverbal “protego” sent a shimmering white barrier around me, deflecting the pieces into the crowd. Eyes wide, I flicked my wand, and the piece headed right for a student suddenly flew high into the air, crashing down inches from me. I nodded to the student with a grin, and turned my wand back to my opponent.

“Incend--” I begin with a flick of my wand, trying to make Bridget think I was about to set her robes ablaze, then I quickly concentrated, instead sending a nonverbal “Stupify” her way, hoping to stun her. Expecting retaliation, I also mutter under my breath, as I’ve yet to master the nonverbal version of this spell, “Reflectus Totalus” and an invisible reflective barrier surrounds me, ready to reflect magic back at the caster. I await her counter spell, loving the thought of her getting struck by her own hex or curse.

Smart. At least he was clever enough not to let the pieces of wall fall on any other students, that’s why I had aimed them specifically towards Alex. But I didn’t have time to react to it by nodding, he was going to set me on fire! What the hell kind of game was he playing? I put up a “protego” around myself, and not a moment too soon it seemed. The jerk was doing a feint, trying to cast something else at me instead. Thankfully, it bounced off my shield. I could see his mouth moving however, and quickly shot off a “sonorus,” magnifying his voice.

It worked. All the students in the room and Professor Flitwick heard him say “Reflectus Totalus.” I had to laugh out loud, the peals of laughter echoing on the ceiling.

“Cute,” I said. “Shouldn’t let me see your mouth moving if you don’t mean to cast.” I raised my wand intending to cast a jinx at him, but Professor Flitwick stepped up onto the platform between us, clearing his throat.

“Thank you for the demonstration, both of your skills are commendable. Especially the nonverbal spells. Let’s allow someone else to duel now, shall we?” the dwarf said, not making it sound like a choice.

I stomped down, not daring to catch Alex’s eye. In fact, I didn’t stay in the hall at all. I traipsed right through the halls, back to the common room, up the stairs, and opened the door into my dormitory. I didn’t intend to see him again tonight. Not if I could help it.

I was genuinely shocked when the Sonorus spell struck me, my voice carrying through the *entire* great hall. Listening to the laughter around me, and he”cute” remark, I had to chuckle a bit at myself too. “Well played, Bridget, very well played--just like a true Ravenclaw!” I was just about to cast a spell that would turn her entire body into a rubber, not removing her bones but making them almost liquid in nature--but the damn professor had to step in. I took his “thank you for the demonstration” as “You two have put more than a toe over the line today” and saluted with my wand, before it vanished beneath my billowing sleeves.

I was about to say “fantastic, the most fun I’ve had in awhile” but for some reason Bridget stormed out. I was slightly taken aback, thinking that she would have gotten absorbed in the sheer fun of the challenge to not be upset about the whole “voluntelling” thing. Apparently not. Frowning, I gave the professor a curt nod, then without a word vanished through the giant double doors leading towards the Ravenclaw tower.

The funny thing is, I couldn’t even say why I cared whether or not she was upset. I just did. Frowning even more, irritated at myself to some extent, I strode on, pushing my way into the common room, easily answering the door’s riddle of the day. Seriously, does anyone really expect these poor riddles to keep someone out? Shrugging, I moved on, noticing Bridget as she began to make her way to the female dormitories.

“Oi! Wait a second!!” I called to her, reaching out. “You um. Surprised me there. You know? I...um…” I cursed myself for sounding like a blubbering idiot right now. “I know I sorta kinda forced you to go first without your permission. Just a bit. I um. Well I don’t regret that per se, but I do wish you wouldn’t be so upset about it. It was FUN yeah? Besides, we ended in a draw. It’s more than I can say for most in our class. Wouldn’t you say? You’re a fantastic witch, and...with more of these coming up, maybe we should...you know. Study together or something. Hell I don’t know.”

I wanted to strangle myself. Again, I was sounding like a total idiot. What the holy hell is wrong with you Alex? What has gotten into you? I internally glared at myself--or would be, if I had internal eyeballs with which to do so. I sighed slowly, shrugging my shoulders, an apologetic look at Bridget.

Oh, just wonderful. I said to myself, hearing his voice behind me. Couldn’t a girl just rest in peace for the evening? I slowly turned around, still keeping one foot in the door as if intending to bolt at any moment. Reluctantly, I also met his gaze since he’d had the decency to chase me down all the way back to the Common Room.

I listened to him attempt to explain himself, it was sort of adorable and dorky at the same time. He almost wasn’t coherent, and I could see that I’d shocked him in a way. Truth be told, he had done the same. I wasn’t used to having a partner in magic that matched me in my own year, I’d always just turned to older students, pestering them until they agreed with me. Generally it worked, since it was obvious I wasn’t going to give up. They had quickly learned that I was serious about it, with more than a few visits to the Hospital Wing courtesy of myself.

When he was finished, I turned around as if to go back into my dormitory. “Sounds like a personal problem, and studying with other people distracts me.” I walked inside, shutting the door right in his face. At least tomorrow I’d have the chance to escape the school. Thank goodness. I got myself ready for bed and fell into a restless slumber. Just like any other night.

I blink then blink again at she says “sounds like a personal problem to me.” I open my mouth to speak but the girl slams the door right in my face! huh I think to myself, standing there staring at the door. Well, that went well didn’t it, mate? Glowering at myself, and again wondering why I even give a damn, I stride over towards the men’s dorm, giving one last glance towards her door, shaking my head. Oh well. Better get some rest if you plan on actually being coherent in Hogsmeade tomorrow I tell myself. Not that I was all that coherent right now, and that was well rested. Sighing again, I meandered over to my dorm, yanking the door open and slamming it shut behind me. I gazed at my corner of the room. So little there, I realized for the first time. No family photographs, no letters from mom and dad. Of course, that might be different had I *had* a mom and dad. Not that it mattered that much. I was here right? I had opportunities some wizards didn’t get.

And yet….No. My mind would not wander places tonight. I’d stupify myself if I had to. Instead I tossed my wand under my pillow, stripped my robes, and fell into a deep slumber filled with horrid screams and black death.

Oh God, really? Haven’t these people ever heard of sleeping in? I thought to myself. Well obviously I wasn’t going to get any more sleep. Throwing the covers off, I hopped out of bed and donned my bathrobe over my pajamas, grabbed my grooming kit I’d put together for convenience, and went in to shower. Hopefully a good blast of hot water would let the tension out of my body before setting out for the day.

About a half hour later, I was ready, remembering to put my usual encrusting of bracelets on my wrist to hide the many scars that layered there. Heading down to the lower levels of the Castle, I was going to go into breakfast in the Great Hall but decided against it, the reason being what happened the night before. Oh well. I could always eat a large lunch in Hogsmeade. Thankfully, there was already a line of Professors outside, checking the names of students to make sure they were allowed out.

A soft blanket of new snow covered the ground, and I spread my arms as I walked toward the village, welcoming the cold like an embrace. My boots crunched in the snow, I listened to myself trampling the ground for almost a half hour before arriving. The first place I headed was into the quill and book shop, thankfully the owner was a bit quirky and did have some Muggle books. Who said that I couldn’t read anything non-magical every once in a while? After deciding none of them were worth my attentions, I went to browse the magical books. I was looking for anything associated with magical objects. I knew I’d be in here for a while, so I took off my coat and held it over my arm, just standing there in my sweater so I didn’t get too warm.

Swirling flames surrounding all of us. It is hot. Oh so very hot. I can feel the waves of heat rushing against my skin like a brisk wind, threatening to melt the very fabric of our creation. I scream, looking towards my mother. “What is happening?!” I shriek. She gazes at me, eyes wide. I hear my father yelling for us to get out. To flee. I turn towards him, and aim my wand at the wall of fire behind him.
“Aguamentai” I shriek, and a jet of crystal blue water flies forward from my wand, striking the fire. But it simply evaporates upon impact, with no effect whatsoever. Both my parents turn their wands to the fire as well, but again, no effect even with their combined magic. My brother, my two sisters, my parents, myself--all trying to keep the flames at bay. But nothing works. It is a hopeless situation. I turn to my family, tears staining my cheeks before evaporating from the sheer heat. And then my eyes widen.
Is that what I think it is? A fiery skull with a serpent slithering from the open mouth, eye holes appearing to glare out at us before vanishing in a searing, seething wall of monstrous flames.

All goes red. I feel the heat melting flesh from bone, I hear my mother’s agonizing screams of pain, my sisters shrieking as if they were in the fires of Hell itself, my father crying out. Then white. Just white. When I open my eyes, there is nothing but ash surrounding me. Only ash and nothing more. I collapse to my kneese, picking up a fistfull of the white ash, and flinging it angrily to the ground, breaking down into sobs.

“Now now, little one. You have a much larger role to play in the Wizarding world” I hear a voice echo around me. I slowly lift my head, but see nobody. Just hear the sinister voice. “There is much to be done. You are the vessel to usher in a new age, a world where this needn’t happen to anyone else ever again, Alex. You just need to embrace it!”

Then, in front of me, I see an eerie green skull, a serpent’s head slithering out of the mouth, tail tucked between the eye sockets. It lets out a shriek, sending a wave of pure energy at me, and I feel my body disintegrate, a pain so intense that I scream so hard I rupture my vocal chords.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I leap out of bed, beads of sweat pouring down my face. The dream….so frequent. Several times a week. And yet that is *not* how things happened. Not exactly. I close my eyes trying to stop my trembling, my tears still running down my cheeks. I’m breathing hard, gasping for breath, trying to put myself together once more.

I look around the room, realizing I am the only one still here. Most everyone woke up at least an hour before. I bet they had better dreams too, I think to myself. It still haunts me, the questions. Another way my dream was inaccurate: my father knew nothing of magic. It was just a dream anyway, of course it wouldn’t be entirely correct. Still….

Shaking my head, I throw on a pair of thick winter robes, yank my wand from beneath my pillow and putting it up my sleeve, then heading downstairs. Hogsmeade. Maybe a butterbeer or two would help soothe my nerves. Lord knew sitting around in Ravenclaw tower sure as hell wouldn’t.

I consider bypassing one of my favorite shops, a little hole in the wall store that contained, among other things, quills.As well as magic books of great interest to me. I look towards the Three Broomsticks, contemplating. I would have chosen the Three Broomsticks but movement caught my eye in the window. There she was, Bridget, gazing at a shelf of books. Interested in what someone like her would actually be reading, imagining an interest in magic tomes like myself, I decide to open the door, and wander inside.

“Oi, hello there. Why am I not surprised to see you in a place like this?” I ask, trying to sound as cheerful and upbeat as I usually do--and somehow knowing I’m failing miserably. The shaking of my hands probably doesn’t help. Or the paleness of my skin. Or the slightly rapid breathing. Okay, so I can’t really hide something quite as disturbing as that dream, but I can always hope she is too distracted to notice. Right?

It had only been about ten minutes, but I already had a few books stacked in front of me to purchase and take back to school. Just and I had moved on to the next section, I heard a voice behind me. Oh no...not him. Anyone else, I grumbled internally. That voice of his sounded like it wasn’t sure whether to be friendly or retreat into solitude, and the result came out sounding somewhat monotonous. Could have been worse, he could have sounded nasally or had an undeveloped voice box.

Without turning around, and due to the fact I was holding two separate books, I told him, “Well, I could say the same thing. No one really comes in here, it’s a bit out of the way. For your information, I’m just browsing for anything of interest. I don’t have any qualms or prejudices when it comes to books, especially magical ones. I’m searching for my own purposes right now.” As rude as it might have been of me, I had been looking through these just as he came in, so I continued doing so while I replied. “Perhaps, if you really were interested, I might share my purposes with you, if for no other reason than I could care less what you think.”

Deciding to purchase both of them, I added them to the stack, picked the entire pile of seven up, and turned around to face Alex. One of the corners of my mouth was turned upward, signs of amusement on my face. Truth be told, I found him interesting. His determination to be the best at magic, and the fact that he liked odd places same as myself was almost...well, not comforting, but it was nice to know someone out there didn’t mainstream like the rest of the world. Not everyone needed to be well-liked, it seemed. That was nice, she had always hated when people pulled her into the limelight or forced her into groups.

The sound of his quick breathing made me pull myself out of though, and I gave him a quick once-over. It almost seemed like he had run here, the way he was shaking and the noticeable breathing. I would say it was to get out of the cold, but he was wearing winter robes (seriously?!? Who bypassed wearing muggle clothes to Hogsmeade?), and those were lined with wool. So, not likely. Hmm. Due to the fact that I had always been decent with healing spells and charms, I looked for signs of weakness in others. Physical ones. He had a slightly chalky pallor to his complexion this morning, and I knew it couldn’t be from the cold weather.

I couldn’t help but frown at his appearance, he hadn’t looked like this last night. I bypassed him and set my books on the counter with my bag of coins, then grabbed a peacock feather quill that I had noticed on the way in to add to the pile. The owner knew me well and I trusted him to take the appropriate amount of money out of my bag without cheating me. I was probably his best customer during the school year, anyone could guess by the amount of books I had shrunk and put in a chest over many years.

While he was ringing it up, I turned back around to look at Alex, donning my coat while I spoke. “Hey...are you all right? You look pale, and based on that fact I am not going to assume that your obviously shaking hands and breathing are attributed to you running here.” Hoping I hadn’t overstepped my boundaries, just blurting out my observations, I decided to do something I’d never done before.

“After I bought these I was going to head into the Three Broomsticks, I skipped breakfast this morning in favor of coming out here. I’m not particularly hungry, but I am thirsty. Do you - would you like to come? Maybe a butterbeer will help…” I trailed off, just watching his face carefully. I was a bit unsettled at my own offer, however genuine, hoping it didn’t show. Usually I was decent at hiding these things.

“Well, I could say the same thing. No one really comes in here, it’s a bit out of the way. For your information, I’m just browsing for anything of interest. I don’t have any qualms or prejudices when it comes to books, especially magical ones. I’m searching for my own purposes right now. Perhaps, if you really were interested, I might share my purposes with you, if for no other reason than I could care less what you think.”

Her response was somehow both kinda mean and kinda nice at the same time. I honestly wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. Luckily for me, Bridget seemed too distracted to really care if I responded right away. And, much to my surprise, I found that I was genuinely interested in just what she was studying. I watch as she turns around, and freeze slightly as she spends just a moment longer than one would normally look at someone. Or at least longer than most would care to look at me. I’m just about to say something, but then she interrupts; “Hey...are you all right? You look pale, and based on that fact I am not going to assume that your obviously shaking hands and breathing are attributed to you running here.”

I blink, honestly taken aback. Not that she noticed, but that she asked. I open my mouth to speak, but words fail me. How can I tell her about my horrific dream? How I still wonder what truly happened that night. I know what I saw that night. I do. I didn’t understand it then, but I do now. But can I really explain that to someone I don’t even really know? But how do I NOT without sounding like a jerk? It takes me a few moments, but I regain myself, and shrug my shoulders.

“I’m fine,” I say with about as much confidence as a puppy trying to chase a tiger. “It’s...I’m not sick, nor did I run here. Bad dreams is all.” I answer as honestly as I can bring myself, quickly turning my gaze away from her, suddenly finding the hardwood floor VERY interesting. “Very bad…” I mutter, almost to myself. I’m lost in thought when I hear her offer to go to the Three Broomsticks. That actually perks me up slightly, and I meet her gaze again. I study her a moment, because she always seemed to me to be on the shy side, sort of a loner like I’ve become since the second year. Our eyes meet for just a second, before I quickly turn away, feeling my face flush for reasons I can’t even explain.

“A butterbeer? I wouldn’t say no to that. You’re right, I could use one. Even if it doesn’t help, it’d--” I catch myself. I almost say It’d be fun to hang out with you, and I feel slightly alarmed. I’m a lone wolf. Why do I suddenly care now?

“--It’d be fun,” I finish.

“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s...I’m not sick, nor did I run here. Bad dreams is all,” he said to me. I felt a small pang of guilt for jumping to conclusions. I wasn’t exactly the best sleeper in the world either, often waking up from bad dreams or just not being able to sleep at all. One of the reasons I was grateful for cosmetic magic, so people wouldn’t notice the frequent bags under my eyes. I was about to stammer out a hesitant apology, but he muttered, “Very bad…,” under his breath and looked at the floor, which I knew from tripping and falling on it wasn’t very interesting.

His eyes popped up to meet mine for a second, and he seemed almost eager to go with me to the Broomsticks. Turning around, I found that my books were all bundled up for me and my coin purse resting on top. I didn’t bother glancing inside, it didn’t feel that much lighter than when I had put it on the counter to pay for the books initially. Wasn’t my money anyway, so I didn’t really give a crap. “Thank you,” I said to the shopkeeper. I had never bothered to learn his name, suddenly being very aware of this.

Gathering up the small bundle and tucking it under one arm, I motioned for Alex to follow me, being very aware of the fact that he was right behind me. He quite honestly didn’t look well, but I wasn’t going to press it since I didn’t sleep well either. I didn’t say anything else until we got inside, and that was just to ask for a table. Sauntering over, I carefully set my pile of books on the corner of the table, took my coat off, and sat down myself.

“Two butterbeers, please,” I said to the Barmistress, Rosmerta. Not sure what to say, but not having the excuse of raising the glass to my lips just yet, I set my hands on the table and idly played with the multitude of bracelets on my wrist. “So...what were you doing in the bookstore anyway?” I asked, looking up at Alex while still playing with my wrist. It was a bit of a nervous habit, and attempt to keep my scars hidden.

I watch the exchange between the shopkeeper and Bridget for a moment. For the slightest second she seems to want to say something, then simply tells me to follow her. I nod, and we step into the cold. Not that it bothers me, my wool robes keeps me plenty warm. Not to mention the Radiatus Fira spell, which keeps the wool robes nice and heated on the inside. Me being from the warmer regions of England I’m not terribly used to the cold weather that Hogwarts has been known to have.


Making our way to the Three Broomsticks, I welcomed the warm (and isolated) atmosphere, how easy it was to vanish at a table. There is a moment of silence between us, before she asks “So...what were you doing in the bookstore anyway?” I think a moment before answering. Do I really want to be honest? Truth was, I was researching the Dark Mark, Death Eaters, and He Who Must not be Named. In fact, there was a book I’d seen last time I was there, You Know Who and the Rise of the Death Eaters, by Edwin Irvistad. It was about the Dark Lord himself, Death Eater tactics, and some of the dark magic that they were known to have used in the past. I always suspected there was more to my parents death than a simple house fire. Fiend Fyre was there that day, I was sure of it. But I don’t know why. I suspect the Dark Lord’s minions, but again I don’t know why. With the pause between her question and my answer getting lengthier, I finally decide to answer as truthfully as possible.

“I’m researching dark wizards,” I finally reply, sighing bitterly. “And their tactics.” I let my voice trail off, gazing deep into my butterbeer. I take a large gulp of the stuff, and slam the glass down on the table. “I just know there is something to it though!!!” I exclaim, mostly to myself even if it was damn near a shout. I blink, then turn towards Bridget. “Sorry….hope I didn’t startle you…”