Prophesied

~Chapter 3~

Off To Hogwarts

I saw him again at King's Cross. He wore a black silk button down shirt with black baggy pants that had chains hanging from them. I laughed slightly as I hauled my own trunk onto the train.

I found an empty compartment near the back and looked out the window. A stout witch who looked alarmingly like Harry's redheaded friend was pulling Harry and his friends into a seemingly tight embrace.

I missed my father even more now.

I settled into the seat by the window and pulled one of my new books out of my trunk. I had just opened it when the door opened. It was the redheaded kid.

"Anyone sitting there?" he asked pointing to an empty seat. "Everywhere else is full."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Saw you talking to Harry at Flourish and Blotts. You should know that we haven't seen him smile like that in a while. Thank you."

"Are you two best friends or something?"

"Yup. I met him seven years ago, right here actually. We've been best mates ever since. Though sometimes...never mind."

"What's he like?"

"He's the bravest person I know. But don't you dare call him a hero. He hates that. Gets mad every time someone calls him one. He says he's no hero, but he is. You don't save people or go somewhere to save someone and not be a hero."

"Like at the Triwizard Tournament?"

"You heard about that?"

"Oh, yeah! That Skeeter chick is a reporter for some American papers and magazines. She made sure everyone knew that Harry Potter was the Hogwarts Champion. Wasn't there two?"

"Cedric Diggory. Don't mention him either. Harry goes all quiet and wont talk. We don't really talk about the past. Too many horrors, too many nightmares, and too many nights were we all wake up screaming."

Merlin, what have these people been through?

He seemed to be in some sort of a trance, remembering.

The door opened and someone I never expected to see again appeared at the doorway.

"Oh, my gods," I whispered.

There, in the doorway, stood Jeff Barnett. He was my long time friend and ex-boyfriend. He still had short dark brown hair, tigereye gold eyes, that tan I loved. He'd gotten taller, I'd say about he's about six foot now. And he was still so hot.

Merlin, no, not him, please not him. I can't handle this right now.

"Lita," he whispered.

"Jeff," I whispered trying not to cry. Go away, Jeff.

It's been two years since I've seen him last. I was a Peer-Judge and he was competing against all odds. He was good, deserved first place, but I never gave anyone first place. I gave him second, and he still asked me to the Christmas Ball. If only I'd said no...

Harry's friend looked back and fourth between us, probably thinking something along the lines of how do they know eachother?

Jeff looked at him. "Name's Jeff," he introduced. "What's yours?"

"Ron Weasley," he answered somewhat shortly.

He walked in and sat down. I hid my anger. He couldn't even ask? I wanted to tell him to get out, but I couldn't seem to find my voice.

Five minuets later, as we were leaving cities behind, Harry Potter found us and walked in. "Good," he said looking between Jeff and me. "We need to talk to the both of you."

He was wearing his Hogwarts robes now and had a badge pinned just below the Hogwarts crest with the letters HB on it.

Hermione Granger walked in after him. She too had a badge, hers with the letters HG on it. The badges must stand for Head Boy and Girl. Cool.

"You two will be sharing our dormitory," Hermione said. "Dumbledore feels that to put you into one of the House dorms would probably not be the best idea. Some of them don't take too kindly to strangers."

"You're going to be sorted into one of the Houses though," Harry continued. "You'll eat your meals with that House and attend classes with them."

Hermione looked at me. "How do you say your name?"

"Lita. Call me Lita."

"That is unless, of course, you want to be cursed," Jeff, the smartass, added.

"You two know eachother?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I was a Peer-Judge at NAWT at Stoneridge."

"She gave me second place."

"You deserve last," I nearly shouted standing.

"Fuck you!"

"WHAT? Don't you fucking talk--"

"HEY!" Harry yelled interrupting me. "Nock it off!"

I sat back down, fuming. Forget my broken heart, now all I want to do is tear him limb from fucking limb. Harry and Hermione then sat down, sure that we wouldn't fight any longer. I'll stop for now, but only for now.

I went back to staring out the window and tried to calm down.

"What's naught?"

"N. A. W. T," Jeff explained. "North. American. Wizards. Tournament."

"Oh. And you have people your own age judging you?"

"As well as teachers and on occasion government officials," I corrected. "I've been to so many, they were starting to get boring. Not much of a change in the contests. And they happen every year rotating from one participating school to another."

"And you've been to each one?"

"The first one was in my first year, taking place at Catseye. After that, I went with those who wanted to compete. Up until last year. I stayed at Catseye, not really wanting to go back to Mexico. Too hot, too boring, and I missed my father."

"Father?" Jeff asked. "I thought--"

"My mother is dead, Jeff," I said shortly. "And if you ask about my life again, I'm going to deck you."

"Okay, how this for asking about your life? How are the elves treating you?"

"YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" I shouted lunging for him.

Harry grabbed me around the waist and kept me out of range. I fought him, trying to get to Jeff. He knew how much those words stung. He knew what the elves meant to me, and he knew what they'd done to me.

"Let me go," I demanded trying to shove him away from me.

"You going to calm down now?"

"Yes."

He let me go and I stormed out of the compartment and into the nearest empty one.
~*~*~*~

"What the bloody hell was that about?" Ron muttered.

"She fucking hates me, didn't you see that?"

"What happened between you two?"

"You really want to know why she quit going to the tournaments?" he asked. "They were begging for her to judge the next one. She didn't stay because it was in Mexico; she stayed because I was going to judge. She wasn't about to stick out another year with me. Not after what I did."

He walked out, slamming the door so hard, the glass broke. Hermione repaired it fuming.

"Americans," she muttered.

"You think they dated?" Ron asked.

Hermione snorted. "Of course."

I tuned them out, wondering what it would be like to tour Europe like Lita did. To go to all those schools, meet all those people, do all those things....

But there was something she wasn't saying, something about the elves. What had they done to her? Why was it she reacted so strongly when Jeff asked about them?

"Harry," Hermione was saying, shocking me out of my revere. "Harry," she repeated agitated.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"That clicking is annoying," she said through gritted teeth.

"As I recall, you used to love my tongue ring," I answered coolly.

"I used to love a lot of things, that doesn't mean I still do."

"Why are you on his case now?" Ron demanded.

"Why are you on mine?"

Bickering again. Would they never stop?

"Stop it!" I yelled standing. They stared. "Hermione, if you think my habits are annoying, try listening to one of your goddamn arguments!"

I left, slamming the door on the way, breaking the glass. I turned to repair it, and Draco walked out of a nearby compartment.

For the first time in months, we were face-to-face.

"Harry," he said with tears in his eyes.

My heart skipped a beat and then started to race. I heard it thunder in my ears. I felt tears burn at my eyes. My breathing became quick and shallow. Why this? Why now?

"What?" I asked, my voice cracking. Damnit!

"I--" he cut himself off.

My anger rose instantly. "You what?" I demanded. "You love me? You're sorry? You didn't know what was going to happen? I've heard it Malfoy." I spat the word as I did years ago. It sounded foreign coming out of my mouth that way again.

He took a step back, stunned. I continued. "I don't want to hear it anymore. I did what you asked me to--more even! I fell in love with you. Leave. Me. Alone. Please?"

"Is that all it was to you?" he demanded. "Some bloody favor I asked of you?"

"It never was and never will be that, Malfoy. Because of you, we almost lost everything! Why didn't you date Pansy? She gave her life for you and never thought twice. She loved you more than I do. You had to have me, though, didn't you? Because you always get what you want. Why?"

"Because I love you," he shouted. "Because a year ago today I came to you for help, knowing Pansy loved me, but loving you already. And I don't always get what I want."

~*~*~*~

I heard arguing out in the hall. One voice sounded like Harry, the other vaguely familiar.

I picked myself up off of the floor and walked out of the compartment.

"What don't you get?" Harry asked the blonde man in front of him. "You said yourself you always get what you want."

"Do I have you?"

"No, you had me."

Now there's something you don't see everyday. There was a crowd gathered but neither seemed to notice.

"Leave me alone, Malfoy."

Malfoy? The name rang a bell.... Oh! Fungi Face!

Malfoy grabbed Harry and kissed him. Not just any kiss, but a passionate movie-type kiss.

When Malfoy pulled away, Harry decked him.

"You bastard," he whispered as Malfoy righted himself, holding his jaw. "How dare you. After what you did to me," he continued disgusted.

I was standing right behind the blonde, so when he raised a fist to take a swing at Harry, I grabbed it. I pulled his hand back, twisting his arm. He cried out in pain--it hurts, I know--and turned to face me. I saw fear in his eyes.

"Don't even think about it," I warned.

"Or?"

"Or that little jinx someone put on you in Diagon Alley will look like child's play."

"Child's play?" he asked doubtfully.

"Try it."

"Lita, stop," Harry said putting a hand on my shoulder. "Back up, let go of him."

Reluctantly, I let go of his arm. He straightened his clothes and stood fully, making him about two inches taller than Harry, and about five taller than me. Damn elf blood. Why do they have to be so short?

"You wouldn't get the chance," he threatened.

"Malfoy," Harry yelled.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Leave her alone."

"You yell at me and not her?" he demanded.

Harry didn't answer him, he just stared, hand on my shoulder and looked as though he were about to cry. I felt like I had a thousand new nerves in my shoulder and I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but I knew that it wasn't the first time I'd felt it.

"What's wrong with you?" Malfoy asked. "What happened to the Harry I knew?"

"You killed him," Harry answered. "You killed him last year." A tear fell onto his cheek and I felt my heart break. "He can't come back," Harry continued. "Too much has happened to him."

I was crying now, watching this. I wasn't the only one in tears either. Harry was the hero of so many gathered here. Seeing him cry, it made all of them cry. But there was more than that going on for me. Something else was playing a role here. What were the elven powers my father had told me about? The first was Healing Emotional Wounds of Others; the second was...Empathy. I was feeling...Harry's broken heart. I felt my knees go weak and I reached out with my left hand to the wall that was right there.

I missed the wall and started to fall. The arms of someone I knew inside and out caught me. Someone I hated now for what he'd done to me. Why him? Why did he have to catch me?

"Lita," he asked worried.

"I'm fine," I replied bitterly.

"No, no you're not. What's going on?" he asked in Elvish. I taught it to him while we dated. Made it easier to have a private conversation when people were listening in.

"Empathy," I answered, forgetting my hate. "Elvish Empathy."

"You're an Empath?" he asked.

"I am now."

"Then you should know how I feel."

I knew. I could feel the emotion coming off of him in waves. Christ, the man still loved me.

"It is over between us," I replied trying to stand, but his arms held me where I was.

~*~*~*~

I listened without understanding a word. Someone gasped and I noticed, for the first time, the crowd that had gathered. Merlin, how long have they been here?

"My gods," I heard the same person whisper.

I looked behind me. Seamus. "You understood that?" I asked him.

"Bits and pieces," he answered. "Sounds like a form of Ancient Gaelic. She's upset; he's talking about love and the past. Are they the foreign exchange students?"

"Yes."

"She an elf?"

"Half, why?"

"Ears."

She stopped talking in, I think, the middle of a word and looked directly at me. Our gazes met and locked until she turned back to Jeff, who was holding her like a prized possession, and said one word loud and clear: "Yes."

He let go of her and stepped back. "Go to him, then," he told her. "He's right there."

She looked around at the crowd, and, in groups of twos and threes, they left. Soon, just the four of us stood in the hall.

"What was that about?" Draco demanded.

"I'm and empath," she answered. Draco and I looked at her confused. What's an empath? "It means I can feel what you're feeling," she explained. "I can feel your pain, your joy," she looked at Jeff, "your love. What happened between you two?" she asked softly. "Why is there so much pain?"

Without waiting for an answer, she walked into the compartment Ron and Hermione were in. I turned to follow her, but Draco had other things in mind.

He put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. "Please," he whispered.

One whispered word. He would be the death of me. I wanted to take him into my arms, kiss away both our pain, but I stopped myself. I will not give in.

"If you love someone," I quoted, "let them go." I willed my legs to cooperate and walked into the compartment.

Once inside, I shut the door and leaned against it. I was already crying, I realized. Why stop it now? I slid down to the floor and pulled my knees up to my chest and cried.