SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - The Coven of Sk'Natherra

Krysta · 07-21-2008, 11:45 AM

Hello, everyone Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Here's some Coven to chase away those Monday blu:

Chapter 17: The Twelve Days of Halloween

October passed in a flash. Before they knew it the Great Hall was decorated all around with talking pumpkins the size of elephants, bats, billions of candles, streamers and of course Peeves who found it hilariously funny to pour candy corn on every person who walked through the doors as some kind of sticky confetti.
Girls everywhere moaned as they spent hours trying to pick the stuff from their hair and Professor Snape almost (almost) lost his temper when the poltergeist took advantage of the Professor's new character, pouring an entire cauldron of candy over the man's head, most of its contents ending up inside the teacher's robes and knotted into his still clean hair.

Harry woke on the morning of the 31st of October with a curious feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was the first awake in his dorm and as the gentle sounds of Neville's snores drifted in and out of the four poster curtains, Harry slowly and a little unsteadily clambered out of bed and crossed to the little window.
Yawning and rubbing sleep from his eyes he groggily placed his glasses on his nose, almost falling over backwards in fright when he saw the creature on the windowsill. He steadied himself with a mild sense of relief as the silver kestrel twitched its wings and shuffled slightly on the stone surface. Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he saw a roll of parchment on the window-sill next to the bird. He cautiously moved forward, reaching out his arm, never taking his eyes off the bird of prey.

The kestrel may have been small, but its talons looked lethal all the same. Very slowly and carefully he took the small scroll from the windowsill, watching the bird for sudden movements every second. The kestrel watched him with interest but remained rather docile as Harry examined the parchment, seeing with little surprise that it had his name on it. What did surprise him however was the way in which the bird waited on the windowsill, leisurely preening its primary feathers with its yellow hooked beak.
Harry watched the creature for a moment. It truly was a beautiful bird. In accordance with its name, the grey feathers truly shimmered, giving the effect of silver when the bird moved. The eyes though, were not like any he'd seen in a bird. They were full of intelligence and cunning. But there was something else. A consciousness shone in it eyes, a gleam that Harry had only ever seen in the eyes of a human. The bird watched him keenly as Harry begun to unravel the scroll as though waiting for some response. Harry froze as he heard stirring from Neville's bed. A chubby, face appeared and Harry waited for the inevitable scream when Neville saw the bird of prey. He was shocked when none came. Instead Neville grinned in delight.

"Good morning girl how are you?" he cried happily. The bird let out a little screech and suddenly took wing landing on Neville's out stretched arm. Harry nearly dropped the scroll in surprise. As Neville's little friend gently nibbled his finger Harry's glasses slipped down his nose as his eyebrows raised higher on his forehead. He didn't even notice that he was gripping the scroll so tightly it had begun to crease up in his hands. It was a strange noise from Ron's bed that broke the silence.

"That bloody bird! What the bloody hell is it bloody doing here?" Ron murmured half sleepily half bewildered, which was a strange combination, even for Ron.
"Kattera? How do you know her?" asked Neville looking genuinely surprised and even a little excited. Ron and Harry exchanged a confused expression.
"Neville that bird has been delivering letters to me all summer." Harry told him, thinking as hard and as fast as he could. He wasn't getting very far. He'd given the silver kestrel little thought over the last few weeks. Since his conversation with Krysta, he'd had other things on his mind: most of it work and Quidditch. But now he thought about it, the bird had to be linked to Krysta herself.
"Oh? Why was Krysta writing to you?" this time Ron's jaw dropped right onto his chest in shock and Harry's glasses succeeded in falling right off his nose. He caught them clumsily, pushing them back into place.
"Neville, I think we need to have a talk."

Their little 'talk' didn't reveal as much as Harry had hoped. Krysta it seemed was a friend of Neville's family, which Neville pointed out, was how she knew about his 'way' with plants. Kattera had been with Krysta for as long as Neville could remember. He knew nothing of what had happened over the summer, and so all that Harry was able to learn was that the kestrel was indeed Krysta's pet, and a very intelligent one at that.
Neville told the boys that she even played cards with him sometimes, and when she was in the mood (for silver kestrels are such moody creatures) was known to play a mean game of chess.

Ron and Harry went down to Halloween breakfast a little nonplussed and a little disappointed. Once inside the hall Kattera left Neville's shoulder and flew to the head table where she landed neatly on Krysta's shoulder. The bird gently took a large piece of sausage from her mistress and fluttered gracefully to perch on the head of a disgruntled talking stone statue, which shooed at the bird irritably. Krysta winked over at the boys and Neville waved cheerfully. Ron and Harry exchanged another of their 'looks' and Ron shrugged in his usual fashion.

"Post isn't here yet is it???" cried a mildly worried voice from behind them. The turned with a welcome smile as Hermione arrived beside them.
"Good morning, m'lady. May I h'escort you to thee dining table." Asked Ron in a faked butler-like voice offering his arm to her. Harry grinned as Hermione curtsied and took his arm. Harry walked slowly behind them as they walked, heads held high as a king and queen at a ball to their places at the table. At this point the charade was broken as Ron immediately began stuffing his face."
Actually this arrived by kestrel post this morning." Harry told the girl who was looking curiously at the scroll in Harry's hands in between disgusted looks in Ron's direction. Ron grinned through a mouthful of bacon and swallowed it down with orange juice. Luckily before he tried to speak.

"That silver kestrel is Professor Hedwig's." Ron announced, going back to his breakfast. Hermione looked back towards Harry, then over to the head table where Kattera was retrieving seconds from Krysta's breakfast plate.
"Well, I suppose that makes a lot of sense." She announced, curling her hair around her little finger.
"You gonna eat that?" asked Ron, his mouth half-full as he filched a sausage from Hermione's plate.
"No, go ahead. Help yourself." She said sarcastically after he'd already swallowed it whole.
"You better leave room for tonight you know. It's Halloween after all." She suggested and he shrugged. They all knew Ron never needed to leave room for anything.

"I wonder what they have in store for us this year." Hermione murmured looking over at the twins and Lee Jordan who were all huddled in a tight discussion.
"Well considering how secretive they've been, it better be something big." Ron burbled back through his orange juice which spattled a little. Harry couldn't help but smile a little as Hermione wiped Ron's face with a serviette, the two of them grinning from ear to ear. His heart was still a little heavy however. Ginny had barely spoken to him in a month, even about Quidditch matches. It hadn't been just him that had been receiving the silent treatment though. In general she barely strung two words together to anyone who tried to speak to her, and in all honesty, Harry wondered how they'd managed to win their first game with so little communication.

Ron was busy telling Hermione about their conversation with Neville and Neville blushed slightly as Hermione beamed at him.
"Neville, why didn't you tell us you knew Professor Hedwig?" she cried, scalding him slightly. Neville rubbed the back of his neck nervously. It was plain to everyone except Hermione that the boy still had a crush on her.
"Well I'm not the only one!" he cried then went back to his breakfast. Hermione Ron and Harry exchanged the look only the three of them understood.
"Er, Neville…er…what?"
"Well I’m not the only one who knows her." He said, casually, not noticing the confused expressions straight away. He looked up again at the questioning glances
"Sharon." He said, and stopped dead when the shock replaced the confusion. The trio looked from one to the other in bewilderment.
"Sharon?" asked Harry weakly. Neville looked at them a little nervously.
"Well yeah. Krysta's her Aunt."
There was a loud clatter as Ron's knife dropped from his hand, smashing into his plate.

"Why didn't you tell us?!"
"Good morning to you too!"
"You could have told us Sharon, it would have saved a whole load of trouble."
"Yeah. I practically accused her of trying to kill me!"
"All the things you could tell us about her, and you never said a word!"
"Ok, ok, what are you on about?"

Ron, Hermione and Harry dropped their folded arms and relaxed their stance whilst looking at each other for a cue to speak. Meanwhile, the tiny blonde girl ignored the sniggers from the bemused students around her and fixed her friends with a slightly annoyed expression.
"Well…"
"You see." Stammered Ron and Harry suddenly aware of the many staring and laughing faces around them.
"About Krysta, Sharon. Why didn't you tell us she was your aunt?" asked Hermione calmly, seemingly unaware or uncaring of the attention they had drawn. The expression on Sharon's face immediately changed from annoyance to recognition to amusement.
"Well…you never asked."

The library was practically deserted. Not only was it Saturday morning, but it was Halloween and no one ever spent Halloween doing more work than they had to…except maybe Hermione. Halloween at the weekend was always a bonus. The level of general excitement amongst the students was never a good combination with lessons, especially for a pair of red headed twins. The students of Hogwarts were enjoying the freedom of being able to gossip about the upcoming feast, and those who knew them were placing bets on what horrific spectacle Fred and George may come up with this year.

The continued cold weather meant the common rooms and stuffy halls were packed to the brim. And so they found themselves in the only place where they could talk in private. Sharon seemed very much to be enjoying the attention, as did Neville who had joined them when he'd heard that his new study friend shared an acquaintance with him.
"Seriously she's the most fascinating person you could ever meet."
"And the best friend anyone could ever have."
Ron, Hermione and Harry exchanged a mildly pessimistic expression. Maybe she was on their side, but they'd heard and seen enough to know there was more to her past than playing the family friend and perfect aunt.

"Seriously, guys." Neville looked so determinedly at them they couldn't help but smile. Relaxing back into the less than comfy wooden chairs they listened to the stories the two newly found friends were weaving before them.

They must have talked for hours. As time passed invisibly amongst them Harry felt himself slip into what could only be described as a trance. He was awake and aware of everything. He heard every word his friends said. And yet somehow a veil surrounded him. He felt detached from the room, the people even the air around him, as though watching from outside the very plane they existed in. It was like watching a movie. It was a strange feeling, though not unpleasant. Maybe he was over-tired. It happened sometimes when he got tired as with anyone else. But as he sat there, slumped as comfortably as he could, listening to his friends chatter away he felt an almost unnoticeable buzz pass through him and in a split second it was over. The world rushed back to clarity and the veil was gone.

It was almost as though nothing had happened. Almost. Shrugging it off as momentary lapse of concentration Harry rejoined to conversation eagerly, not giving the strange feeling another thought. By two o'clock Ron's stomach was making almost as much noise as Sharon and Neville were and with a lot of moaning and scowling he finally managed to drag them all to the great Hall. Lunch was almost over though Ron still managed to stuff as much pork pie, ham and fresh bread into himself as he could.
"How do you expect to eat anything tonight?" asked Hermione shaking her head patronizingly. Ron grinned through a mouthful of mayonnaise and lettuce.
"Oh don't worry about that." Harry noticed the snigger and the winks coming from the twin's direction and the returned wink from Ron. His suspicions were immediately raised. He hadn't even noticed the twins had been there until just then. Harry smiled to himself as he wondered once more what Fred and George could possibly have in store for them that evening. As he watched them their huddle with Lee Jordan broke up and the three seventh years got up from the table and made their way out of the Hall throwing a knowing look in Ron's direction as they went. Harry noticed the slight grin on Ron's face and Harry's eyes narrowed a little. What were they up to? And what did Ron know that he didn't. As he watched, Ron's grin suddenly left his face to be immediately replaced with a scowl. The reason became quickly apparent as a tall black girl took a place beside Hermione.

"Hi! Have you got your costume sorted?"
"Heather! Oh no, I'm not going to bother." Hermione answered. Heather's face was a picture of horror and shock.
"Not going to bother? It's Halloween!"
"I'm aware of that…the bats give it away slightly." Hermione smarted back as a particularly boisterous flying mammal collided with a candelabra. The bemused smile on Heather's pretty face made Harry smile to himself, despite his attempts not to. Her dark eyes danced when she smiled. Were Ron's suspicions about her justified? Or was he just jealous of her quidditch skills? Maybe it was both. Harry was torn. He liked Heather, but had to admit the evidence against her, although circumstantial, was undeniable. But surely she wouldn't stoop so low. He glanced behind him at the Slytherins. They were responsible, he was sure of it. In his opinion they had the motive, the opportunity and the malice to commit such a pathetic act.

"C'mon please. I'll help. You'd make a great Nymph." Harry's attention returned to the conversation between Hermione and Heather. Despite himself he sniggered a little as Heather began playing with Hermione's hair, trying it in different styles as though she were a fashion designer of some kind. The nature of Hermione's hair however was getting the better of the situation and it all tumbled back down into waves down her back. Both girls giggled in slight frustration as Heather gave up, throwing the strands in her hand back over Hermione's shoulder.

"Well…I guess you could go as a troll." she suggested trying to look serious as Hermione threw a fake punch in her direction. Harry really couldn't help but join in the laughter, which proved to be a mistake. With a huff and a disgusted snort Ron angrily rose from the table.
"She's perfect the way she is. Why don't you leave her alone." Before anyone could respond he was gone, the three of them staring after him. Harry noticed the nudge Heather gave Hermione.
"See…" she said in a quiet voice and Harry noticed the slight blush and vexed look on Hermione's face as she watched Ron disappear through the Hall door.

"Where's Ron?"
Harry looked up from his trunk to see a nervous looking Ginny standing at the dormitory doorway. For a moment he didn't speak. The surprise of seeing her, let alone her speaking to him had him silent.
"I'm not sure." He finally answered. Silence. She looked uncomfortable and a little flustered.
"Can you give him this when you see him?" Harry eyed the envelope she held out as though it may bite. Almost cautiously he took it from her.
"Sure." He added to the motion and she nodded. Before he could say anything else she was gone.

Harry had never found the ceiling so boring. However he continued to stare up at it, his arms folded behind his head, almost hoping a little black dog or panther would suddenly appear as they had done that night back in August. But to his mild disappointment the cracks and stains on the ancient stone remained exactly as they had been for hundreds of years. He looked over to Ron's empty bed seeing the note Ginny had left glistening in a pool of sunlight. Where was he anyway?

Ron never turned up that afternoon. And when the Halloween feast was served up to 1,000 hungry and excited young witches and wizards, Harry was beginning to panic. Hermione was constantly scanning the huge, over-packed Hall every five seconds whilst an apparently unconcerned Heather laughed and joked next to her in between mouthfuls of pumpkin pie and carrot cake. The twins were unusually quiet, especially for Halloween night. To Harry this could only mean one thing…they were up to something. But even as he watched them they both looked up and then at each other nervously. Leaning close enough to whisper, Fred spoke.

"Harry have you seen Ron?" Harry's eyes widened in surprise.
"No! I hoped you'd seen him. I've been looking for him all afternoon." The twins exchanged another nervous and almost guilty look. "What is it? What's happened?" he asked suspiciously.
"Ron was with us this afternoon." George whispered back, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening.
"Well then where is he?"
"We er, got kind of separated."
"Separated? What are you talking about." Harry's eyes narrowed as the guilt in their faces became quite evident.
"He came with us…to Hogsmeade." Harry rolled his eyes and hit his forehead on the table.
"Hey it's Halloween!" protested Fred in their defence.
"C'mon Harry, we always go to Hogsmeade for Halloween, you know that." Added George and Harry sighed and nodded.
"But why did Ron go with you? And how on earth did you get separated?"
"Ron was kinda down, since this morning. He needed cheering up so we talked him into going with us…besides we can carry more Butterbeer back if there are three of us." Fred concluded and though that should be the end of it. Harry managed a half smile.
"Ok, so you have a point. But what happened to him?"
"We nearly got nabbed by Snape. He was snooping around the shrieking shack. He nearly caught us as well. We all just legged it. If he saw us that would have been it."
"We didn't see where Ron went. We were already at Honeydukes before we realised he wasn't behind us."
"What?! What if Snape caught him?"

The three of them turned towards the teacher's table and sought out Snape. He was sitting in his usual place fingertips touching at his upper lip in a pyramid. He wasn't talking or listening to anyone and seemed to be simply staring into space, deep in thought.
"Well he doesn't look overly satisfied with himself or anything…he can't have caught Ron." Said George cheerfully trying to look confident. Harry hoped he was right.
It didn't make sense. If Ron hadn't been caught he should have been back by now, and George was right, Snape didn't look as though he'd just had the satisfaction of depriving a Gryffindor of his Halloween feast. But then Snape hadn't been his usual self recently anyway. Who knew, or wanted to know what was going on in the man's head.
Before another thought could enter his head the original mystery was solved in an instant as Ron burst into the Hall falling over his feet and stumbling down the isle towards Harry met with hoots and cheers from various students around him.
"Ron what the…"
"It's Ginny. She's gone."

For what must have seemed a whole minute no one spoke. Hermione appeared out of nowhere, stood and gently took the piece of paper Ron held in a shaky hand. A gasp escaped her lips and her hand shot to her mouth. Her eyes wide with horror she handed the note to George who was reaching for it.
"Oh God." He whispered as his twin read over his shoulder. The paper dropped to the table where Harry finally picked it up.

My Family,

I'm sorry. That's why I'm leaving because none of you could ever forgive me. I never meant to hurt anyone. But I did. I swear I only intended to help. I so desperately wanted us to win. Everyone seemed so down and I was worried for the team. I'm so sorry.
It was me that poisoned you all. I made the cheer potion. I replaced the water in all the coolers. I caused all the pain and hate and anger. I swear I never meant to. I don't know what happened. I don't understand what went wrong. It was meant to make everyone happy, and instead it turned us all against each other.

I wasn't going to tell you but when I heard that some Slytherins had been accused I couldn't let them suffer for my mistakes. But I can't stay here. You can't possibly hate me as much as I hate myself. But I have to leave. Don't worry about me, please. I'll be ok. By the time you read this I'll be long gone, so there is no point looking for me. Tell Mum and Dad I love them. I'm truly sorry to everyone I hurt with my foolishness.

Ginny.

No one spoke. Expression within the group varied from shock to anger to panic.
"Poor Ginny." All eyes fell on the speaker. It was Heather who gently placed the letter back on the table from where she had picked it up. At first no one responded.
"'Poor Ginny.'? What are you talking about? I swear to god, when she gets back she's off the team for good."
"George!" protested Hermione but was cut off.
"No Hermione, he's right." Fred hissed backing his brother up. "Stupid little girl. I knew we shouldn’t have let her on the team."
"That's a bit harsh, you two. She must have been going through hell knowing what she did."
"Good. I hope she is. She could have completely destroyed the team with her antics. I can't believe her."
"Universally stupid." Agreed Fred.
"Ron, come on, you can't possibly agree with them." Hermione pleaded, though he never got to answer.
"Don't think you can batter your lashes and win him over this time, Hermione. Ron's with us aren't you?" Ron stared around at them a completely blank expression on his face.
"Guys come on. She didn't mean it. She was trying to help. It went wrong. Everyone makes mistakes." Reasoned Heather standing at Hermione's shoulder, flicking her braids behind her.
"Exactly. And she can't have known the repercussions. She hasn't taken those classes yet. It's easy to mess up the potion, especially if she was unhappy when she made it. If she'd have known what the consequences could have been, I truly believe she wouldn't have attempted it." Hermione pleaded once more. Harry realised she was deeply upset and even Heather looked worried.
"Well she should have researched the spell better. Never attempt a potion you haven't researched properly. You should find all the risks before brewing a potion like that. Ginny knows that."
"Maybe she does, but…"
"But nothing, Hermione. She messed up big-time and as far as I'm concerned…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Fred was cut off dead. They turned to look at the owner of the raised voice with a little shock in their manner. Ron was fuming, glaring at his brothers with little short of vehemence. The twins looked like they wanted to say something but couldn't make the words reach their mouths.
"I don't care right now what Ginevra has done." He spoke slowly in a low, composed voice. They couldn't help but hang on every word. Harry had never heard Ron use her full name before. Everyone was silent waiting for him to continue.
He paused and took a deep, slow breath. Harry knew he was trying to control anger, panic and fear all at the same time.

"…all I know or care about right now is that our little sister is scared and afraid and probably in danger of her life. I for one am not going to hang around here waiting to get the news of her death. I'm going to find her and if any of you care at all about her you'll come with me." He glared around at them and their blank, almost guilty faces. Harry didn't need telling twice. He moved to stand directly behind Ron.
"I'm with you." He announced firmly. Ron nodded in acknowledgement as Hermione and Heather joined him. He glared at his older brothers who exchanged a guilty nod.
"Ok." They finally agreed.

To be continued...

PS - this chapter will be in 4 parts, as it's very long.

07-21-2008, 11:45 AM	#123 (permalink)
Krysta Jarvey Join Date: May 2008 Location: Leicester, UK Posts: 567 Hogwarts RPG Name: Krysta Hedwig Sixth Year	Hello, everyone Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Here's some Coven to chase away those Monday blu: Chapter 17: The Twelve Days of Halloween October passed in a flash. Before they knew it the Great Hall was decorated all around with talking pumpkins the size of elephants, bats, billions of candles, streamers and of course Peeves who found it hilariously funny to pour candy corn on every person who walked through the doors as some kind of sticky confetti. Girls everywhere moaned as they spent hours trying to pick the stuff from their hair and Professor Snape almost (almost) lost his temper when the poltergeist took advantage of the Professor's new character, pouring an entire cauldron of candy over the man's head, most of its contents ending up inside the teacher's robes and knotted into his still clean hair. Harry woke on the morning of the 31st of October with a curious feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was the first awake in his dorm and as the gentle sounds of Neville's snores drifted in and out of the four poster curtains, Harry slowly and a little unsteadily clambered out of bed and crossed to the little window. Yawning and rubbing sleep from his eyes he groggily placed his glasses on his nose, almost falling over backwards in fright when he saw the creature on the windowsill. He steadied himself with a mild sense of relief as the silver kestrel twitched its wings and shuffled slightly on the stone surface. Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he saw a roll of parchment on the window-sill next to the bird. He cautiously moved forward, reaching out his arm, never taking his eyes off the bird of prey. The kestrel may have been small, but its talons looked lethal all the same. Very slowly and carefully he took the small scroll from the windowsill, watching the bird for sudden movements every second. The kestrel watched him with interest but remained rather docile as Harry examined the parchment, seeing with little surprise that it had his name on it. What did surprise him however was the way in which the bird waited on the windowsill, leisurely preening its primary feathers with its yellow hooked beak. Harry watched the creature for a moment. It truly was a beautiful bird. In accordance with its name, the grey feathers truly shimmered, giving the effect of silver when the bird moved. The eyes though, were not like any he'd seen in a bird. They were full of intelligence and cunning. But there was something else. A consciousness shone in it eyes, a gleam that Harry had only ever seen in the eyes of a human. The bird watched him keenly as Harry begun to unravel the scroll as though waiting for some response. Harry froze as he heard stirring from Neville's bed. A chubby, face appeared and Harry waited for the inevitable scream when Neville saw the bird of prey. He was shocked when none came. Instead Neville grinned in delight. "Good morning girl how are you?" he cried happily. The bird let out a little screech and suddenly took wing landing on Neville's out stretched arm. Harry nearly dropped the scroll in surprise. As Neville's little friend gently nibbled his finger Harry's glasses slipped down his nose as his eyebrows raised higher on his forehead. He didn't even notice that he was gripping the scroll so tightly it had begun to crease up in his hands. It was a strange noise from Ron's bed that broke the silence. "That bloody bird! What the bloody hell is it bloody doing here?" Ron murmured half sleepily half bewildered, which was a strange combination, even for Ron. "Kattera? How do you know her?" asked Neville looking genuinely surprised and even a little excited. Ron and Harry exchanged a confused expression. "Neville that bird has been delivering letters to me all summer." Harry told him, thinking as hard and as fast as he could. He wasn't getting very far. He'd given the silver kestrel little thought over the last few weeks. Since his conversation with Krysta, he'd had other things on his mind: most of it work and Quidditch. But now he thought about it, the bird had to be linked to Krysta herself. "Oh? Why was Krysta writing to you?" this time Ron's jaw dropped right onto his chest in shock and Harry's glasses succeeded in falling right off his nose. He caught them clumsily, pushing them back into place. "Neville, I think we need to have a talk." Their little 'talk' didn't reveal as much as Harry had hoped. Krysta it seemed was a friend of Neville's family, which Neville pointed out, was how she knew about his 'way' with plants. Kattera had been with Krysta for as long as Neville could remember. He knew nothing of what had happened over the summer, and so all that Harry was able to learn was that the kestrel was indeed Krysta's pet, and a very intelligent one at that. Neville told the boys that she even played cards with him sometimes, and when she was in the mood (for silver kestrels are such moody creatures) was known to play a mean game of chess. Ron and Harry went down to Halloween breakfast a little nonplussed and a little disappointed. Once inside the hall Kattera left Neville's shoulder and flew to the head table where she landed neatly on Krysta's shoulder. The bird gently took a large piece of sausage from her mistress and fluttered gracefully to perch on the head of a disgruntled talking stone statue, which shooed at the bird irritably. Krysta winked over at the boys and Neville waved cheerfully. Ron and Harry exchanged another of their 'looks' and Ron shrugged in his usual fashion. "Post isn't here yet is it???" cried a mildly worried voice from behind them. The turned with a welcome smile as Hermione arrived beside them. "Good morning, m'lady. May I h'escort you to thee dining table." Asked Ron in a faked butler-like voice offering his arm to her. Harry grinned as Hermione curtsied and took his arm. Harry walked slowly behind them as they walked, heads held high as a king and queen at a ball to their places at the table. At this point the charade was broken as Ron immediately began stuffing his face." Actually this arrived by kestrel post this morning." Harry told the girl who was looking curiously at the scroll in Harry's hands in between disgusted looks in Ron's direction. Ron grinned through a mouthful of bacon and swallowed it down with orange juice. Luckily before he tried to speak. "That silver kestrel is Professor Hedwig's." Ron announced, going back to his breakfast. Hermione looked back towards Harry, then over to the head table where Kattera was retrieving seconds from Krysta's breakfast plate. "Well, I suppose that makes a lot of sense." She announced, curling her hair around her little finger. "You gonna eat that?" asked Ron, his mouth half-full as he filched a sausage from Hermione's plate. "No, go ahead. Help yourself." She said sarcastically after he'd already swallowed it whole. "You better leave room for tonight you know. It's Halloween after all." She suggested and he shrugged. They all knew Ron never needed to leave room for anything. "I wonder what they have in store for us this year." Hermione murmured looking over at the twins and Lee Jordan who were all huddled in a tight discussion. "Well considering how secretive they've been, it better be something big." Ron burbled back through his orange juice which spattled a little. Harry couldn't help but smile a little as Hermione wiped Ron's face with a serviette, the two of them grinning from ear to ear. His heart was still a little heavy however. Ginny had barely spoken to him in a month, even about Quidditch matches. It hadn't been just him that had been receiving the silent treatment though. In general she barely strung two words together to anyone who tried to speak to her, and in all honesty, Harry wondered how they'd managed to win their first game with so little communication. Ron was busy telling Hermione about their conversation with Neville and Neville blushed slightly as Hermione beamed at him. "Neville, why didn't you tell us you knew Professor Hedwig?" she cried, scalding him slightly. Neville rubbed the back of his neck nervously. It was plain to everyone except Hermione that the boy still had a crush on her. "Well I'm not the only one!" he cried then went back to his breakfast. Hermione Ron and Harry exchanged the look only the three of them understood. "Er, Neville…er…what?" "Well I’m not the only one who knows her." He said, casually, not noticing the confused expressions straight away. He looked up again at the questioning glances "Sharon." He said, and stopped dead when the shock replaced the confusion. The trio looked from one to the other in bewilderment. "Sharon?" asked Harry weakly. Neville looked at them a little nervously. "Well yeah. Krysta's her Aunt." There was a loud clatter as Ron's knife dropped from his hand, smashing into his plate. "Why didn't you tell us?!" "Good morning to you too!" "You could have told us Sharon, it would have saved a whole load of trouble." "Yeah. I practically accused her of trying to kill me!" "All the things you could tell us about her, and you never said a word!" "Ok, ok, what are you on about?" Ron, Hermione and Harry dropped their folded arms and relaxed their stance whilst looking at each other for a cue to speak. Meanwhile, the tiny blonde girl ignored the sniggers from the bemused students around her and fixed her friends with a slightly annoyed expression. "Well…" "You see." Stammered Ron and Harry suddenly aware of the many staring and laughing faces around them. "About Krysta, Sharon. Why didn't you tell us she was your aunt?" asked Hermione calmly, seemingly unaware or uncaring of the attention they had drawn. The expression on Sharon's face immediately changed from annoyance to recognition to amusement. "Well…you never asked." The library was practically deserted. Not only was it Saturday morning, but it was Halloween and no one ever spent Halloween doing more work than they had to…except maybe Hermione. Halloween at the weekend was always a bonus. The level of general excitement amongst the students was never a good combination with lessons, especially for a pair of red headed twins. The students of Hogwarts were enjoying the freedom of being able to gossip about the upcoming feast, and those who knew them were placing bets on what horrific spectacle Fred and George may come up with this year. The continued cold weather meant the common rooms and stuffy halls were packed to the brim. And so they found themselves in the only place where they could talk in private. Sharon seemed very much to be enjoying the attention, as did Neville who had joined them when he'd heard that his new study friend shared an acquaintance with him. "Seriously she's the most fascinating person you could ever meet." "And the best friend anyone could ever have." Ron, Hermione and Harry exchanged a mildly pessimistic expression. Maybe she was on their side, but they'd heard and seen enough to know there was more to her past than playing the family friend and perfect aunt. "Seriously, guys." Neville looked so determinedly at them they couldn't help but smile. Relaxing back into the less than comfy wooden chairs they listened to the stories the two newly found friends were weaving before them. They must have talked for hours. As time passed invisibly amongst them Harry felt himself slip into what could only be described as a trance. He was awake and aware of everything. He heard every word his friends said. And yet somehow a veil surrounded him. He felt detached from the room, the people even the air around him, as though watching from outside the very plane they existed in. It was like watching a movie. It was a strange feeling, though not unpleasant. Maybe he was over-tired. It happened sometimes when he got tired as with anyone else. But as he sat there, slumped as comfortably as he could, listening to his friends chatter away he felt an almost unnoticeable buzz pass through him and in a split second it was over. The world rushed back to clarity and the veil was gone. It was almost as though nothing had happened. Almost. Shrugging it off as momentary lapse of concentration Harry rejoined to conversation eagerly, not giving the strange feeling another thought. By two o'clock Ron's stomach was making almost as much noise as Sharon and Neville were and with a lot of moaning and scowling he finally managed to drag them all to the great Hall. Lunch was almost over though Ron still managed to stuff as much pork pie, ham and fresh bread into himself as he could. "How do you expect to eat anything tonight?" asked Hermione shaking her head patronizingly. Ron grinned through a mouthful of mayonnaise and lettuce. "Oh don't worry about that." Harry noticed the snigger and the winks coming from the twin's direction and the returned wink from Ron. His suspicions were immediately raised. He hadn't even noticed the twins had been there until just then. Harry smiled to himself as he wondered once more what Fred and George could possibly have in store for them that evening. As he watched them their huddle with Lee Jordan broke up and the three seventh years got up from the table and made their way out of the Hall throwing a knowing look in Ron's direction as they went. Harry noticed the slight grin on Ron's face and Harry's eyes narrowed a little. What were they up to? And what did Ron know that he didn't. As he watched, Ron's grin suddenly left his face to be immediately replaced with a scowl. The reason became quickly apparent as a tall black girl took a place beside Hermione. "Hi! Have you got your costume sorted?" "Heather! Oh no, I'm not going to bother." Hermione answered. Heather's face was a picture of horror and shock. "Not going to bother? It's Halloween!" "I'm aware of that…the bats give it away slightly." Hermione smarted back as a particularly boisterous flying mammal collided with a candelabra. The bemused smile on Heather's pretty face made Harry smile to himself, despite his attempts not to. Her dark eyes danced when she smiled. Were Ron's suspicions about her justified? Or was he just jealous of her quidditch skills? Maybe it was both. Harry was torn. He liked Heather, but had to admit the evidence against her, although circumstantial, was undeniable. But surely she wouldn't stoop so low. He glanced behind him at the Slytherins. They were responsible, he was sure of it. In his opinion they had the motive, the opportunity and the malice to commit such a pathetic act. "C'mon please. I'll help. You'd make a great Nymph." Harry's attention returned to the conversation between Hermione and Heather. Despite himself he sniggered a little as Heather began playing with Hermione's hair, trying it in different styles as though she were a fashion designer of some kind. The nature of Hermione's hair however was getting the better of the situation and it all tumbled back down into waves down her back. Both girls giggled in slight frustration as Heather gave up, throwing the strands in her hand back over Hermione's shoulder. "Well…I guess you could go as a troll." she suggested trying to look serious as Hermione threw a fake punch in her direction. Harry really couldn't help but join in the laughter, which proved to be a mistake. With a huff and a disgusted snort Ron angrily rose from the table. "She's perfect the way she is. Why don't you leave her alone." Before anyone could respond he was gone, the three of them staring after him. Harry noticed the nudge Heather gave Hermione. "See…" she said in a quiet voice and Harry noticed the slight blush and vexed look on Hermione's face as she watched Ron disappear through the Hall door. "Where's Ron?" Harry looked up from his trunk to see a nervous looking Ginny standing at the dormitory doorway. For a moment he didn't speak. The surprise of seeing her, let alone her speaking to him had him silent. "I'm not sure." He finally answered. Silence. She looked uncomfortable and a little flustered. "Can you give him this when you see him?" Harry eyed the envelope she held out as though it may bite. Almost cautiously he took it from her. "Sure." He added to the motion and she nodded. Before he could say anything else she was gone. Harry had never found the ceiling so boring. However he continued to stare up at it, his arms folded behind his head, almost hoping a little black dog or panther would suddenly appear as they had done that night back in August. But to his mild disappointment the cracks and stains on the ancient stone remained exactly as they had been for hundreds of years. He looked over to Ron's empty bed seeing the note Ginny had left glistening in a pool of sunlight. Where was he anyway? Ron never turned up that afternoon. And when the Halloween feast was served up to 1,000 hungry and excited young witches and wizards, Harry was beginning to panic. Hermione was constantly scanning the huge, over-packed Hall every five seconds whilst an apparently unconcerned Heather laughed and joked next to her in between mouthfuls of pumpkin pie and carrot cake. The twins were unusually quiet, especially for Halloween night. To Harry this could only mean one thing…they were up to something. But even as he watched them they both looked up and then at each other nervously. Leaning close enough to whisper, Fred spoke. "Harry have you seen Ron?" Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "No! I hoped you'd seen him. I've been looking for him all afternoon." The twins exchanged another nervous and almost guilty look. "What is it? What's happened?" he asked suspiciously. "Ron was with us this afternoon." George whispered back, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. "Well then where is he?" "We er, got kind of separated." "Separated? What are you talking about." Harry's eyes narrowed as the guilt in their faces became quite evident. "He came with us…to Hogsmeade." Harry rolled his eyes and hit his forehead on the table. "Hey it's Halloween!" protested Fred in their defence. "C'mon Harry, we always go to Hogsmeade for Halloween, you know that." Added George and Harry sighed and nodded. "But why did Ron go with you? And how on earth did you get separated?" "Ron was kinda down, since this morning. He needed cheering up so we talked him into going with us…besides we can carry more Butterbeer back if there are three of us." Fred concluded and though that should be the end of it. Harry managed a half smile. "Ok, so you have a point. But what happened to him?" "We nearly got nabbed by Snape. He was snooping around the shrieking shack. He nearly caught us as well. We all just legged it. If he saw us that would have been it." "We didn't see where Ron went. We were already at Honeydukes before we realised he wasn't behind us." "What?! What if Snape caught him?" The three of them turned towards the teacher's table and sought out Snape. He was sitting in his usual place fingertips touching at his upper lip in a pyramid. He wasn't talking or listening to anyone and seemed to be simply staring into space, deep in thought. "Well he doesn't look overly satisfied with himself or anything…he can't have caught Ron." Said George cheerfully trying to look confident. Harry hoped he was right. It didn't make sense. If Ron hadn't been caught he should have been back by now, and George was right, Snape didn't look as though he'd just had the satisfaction of depriving a Gryffindor of his Halloween feast. But then Snape hadn't been his usual self recently anyway. Who knew, or wanted to know what was going on in the man's head. Before another thought could enter his head the original mystery was solved in an instant as Ron burst into the Hall falling over his feet and stumbling down the isle towards Harry met with hoots and cheers from various students around him. "Ron what the…" "It's Ginny. She's gone." For what must have seemed a whole minute no one spoke. Hermione appeared out of nowhere, stood and gently took the piece of paper Ron held in a shaky hand. A gasp escaped her lips and her hand shot to her mouth. Her eyes wide with horror she handed the note to George who was reaching for it. "Oh God." He whispered as his twin read over his shoulder. The paper dropped to the table where Harry finally picked it up. My Family, I'm sorry. That's why I'm leaving because none of you could ever forgive me. I never meant to hurt anyone. But I did. I swear I only intended to help. I so desperately wanted us to win. Everyone seemed so down and I was worried for the team. I'm so sorry. It was me that poisoned you all. I made the cheer potion. I replaced the water in all the coolers. I caused all the pain and hate and anger. I swear I never meant to. I don't know what happened. I don't understand what went wrong. It was meant to make everyone happy, and instead it turned us all against each other. I wasn't going to tell you but when I heard that some Slytherins had been accused I couldn't let them suffer for my mistakes. But I can't stay here. You can't possibly hate me as much as I hate myself. But I have to leave. Don't worry about me, please. I'll be ok. By the time you read this I'll be long gone, so there is no point looking for me. Tell Mum and Dad I love them. I'm truly sorry to everyone I hurt with my foolishness. Ginny. No one spoke. Expression within the group varied from shock to anger to panic. "Poor Ginny." All eyes fell on the speaker. It was Heather who gently placed the letter back on the table from where she had picked it up. At first no one responded. "'Poor Ginny.'? What are you talking about? I swear to god, when she gets back she's off the team for good." "George!" protested Hermione but was cut off. "No Hermione, he's right." Fred hissed backing his brother up. "Stupid little girl. I knew we shouldn’t have let her on the team." "That's a bit harsh, you two. She must have been going through hell knowing what she did." "Good. I hope she is. She could have completely destroyed the team with her antics. I can't believe her." "Universally stupid." Agreed Fred. "Ron, come on, you can't possibly agree with them." Hermione pleaded, though he never got to answer. "Don't think you can batter your lashes and win him over this time, Hermione. Ron's with us aren't you?" Ron stared around at them a completely blank expression on his face. "Guys come on. She didn't mean it. She was trying to help. It went wrong. Everyone makes mistakes." Reasoned Heather standing at Hermione's shoulder, flicking her braids behind her. "Exactly. And she can't have known the repercussions. She hasn't taken those classes yet. It's easy to mess up the potion, especially if she was unhappy when she made it. If she'd have known what the consequences could have been, I truly believe she wouldn't have attempted it." Hermione pleaded once more. Harry realised she was deeply upset and even Heather looked worried. "Well she should have researched the spell better. Never attempt a potion you haven't researched properly. You should find all the risks before brewing a potion like that. Ginny knows that." "Maybe she does, but…" "But nothing, Hermione. She messed up big-time and as far as I'm concerned…" "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Fred was cut off dead. They turned to look at the owner of the raised voice with a little shock in their manner. Ron was fuming, glaring at his brothers with little short of vehemence. The twins looked like they wanted to say something but couldn't make the words reach their mouths. "I don't care right now what Ginevra has done." He spoke slowly in a low, composed voice. They couldn't help but hang on every word. Harry had never heard Ron use her full name before. Everyone was silent waiting for him to continue. He paused and took a deep, slow breath. Harry knew he was trying to control anger, panic and fear all at the same time. "…all I know or care about right now is that our little sister is scared and afraid and probably in danger of her life. I for one am not going to hang around here waiting to get the news of her death. I'm going to find her and if any of you care at all about her you'll come with me." He glared around at them and their blank, almost guilty faces. Harry didn't need telling twice. He moved to stand directly behind Ron. "I'm with you." He announced firmly. Ron nodded in acknowledgement as Hermione and Heather joined him. He glared at his older brothers who exchanged a guilty nod. "Ok." They finally agreed. To be continued... PS - this chapter will be in 4 parts, as it's very long. __________________ Last edited by Krysta; 07-21-2008 at 12:11 PM.