Nicole Stevens: Blood and Daggers

Chapter Ten: Juice and Dreams

Not again, I cursed as a large black owl landed on the table at dinner. It was Artemis, Draco's owl. I told him. No more presents! Why won't he get that into his head? I mean--

You're an idiot. Look at that owl. It doesn't have a package attached. It's a note. Open it or Harry'll see it when he comes in.

Good plan.

I cooed softly to Artemis, who had never seemed to like me much. Stretching out my hand, I clucked again to the small bird. It hooted, hopping over the table, knocking over my pumpkin juice. Well, I certainly would not drink that now. Artemis soared over, perching on my shoulder and digging his juice-soaked claws into my shoulder. I flinched, and pretended to be pleased with the owl. I untied the letter from his foot, and Artemis took off, flying out the window.

I turned back to the letter, slitting it open absentmindedly. Then I turned the envelope over, dumping out a letter and an opal-coloured talon. What in the world...I fingered it, inspecting it closely. It was pretty, and I wondered where Draco had gotten it. Oh no. I knew now where he had gotten it. The Feoxi.

"He is so dead," I growled, standing up from the table and stalking across the hall. A few heads turned to watch as I stomped angrily over to the Slytherin table.

"What's this?!" I shouted, thrusting the talon under Draco's nose. He looked at the claw in my open palm.

"Why, it looks like a dragon claw," he said innocently, smiling benignly up into my face.

"No, really?" I replied angrily. "You stole this from the Feoxi, didn't you? You little--! How dare you take it from her? She's a living creature! You know what, Draco. You can have your little present back, as well as a gift from me," I took his goblet in my hand, and stared into the orangey substance. I held the glass in my hand, and dropped the Feoxi's talon in. Draco watched in mild amusement as I put on the show, which served to entertain the five hundred students in the hall, as I had hoped.

"Draco," I yelled so the whole hall could hear, "I love you so much that my gift will be one to remember!" The whole hall rippled with whispers. Draco raised one elegant eyebrow and rested his chin on his palm.

"Oh?"

"Yep!" I answered loudly. "Here you go!" And I poured the pumpkin juice all over his lap and his head. For a second Draco was frozen, but then he stood angrily, orange liquid dripping off his face, and his pants stained.

"You--! My clothes, everything!"

"Yes, love, your clothes, your hair, everything! Don't you just love my gift? It was made special. I just wanted you to remember how I felt about you, in case you forgot," I said sarcastically.

Draco clenched his hands at his side, furious. His granite-grey eyes burned with intense loathing. I clapped him on the back, saying,

"Lovely gift, Draco. Hope you liked mine!"

Draco gave me a murderous look, extracting his wand and directing it at me. I stopped laughing, as did the other students in the hall. The teachers were all on their feet, but none of them dared move, for fear Draco might cause me harm. If looks could kill, I would have died on the spot.

Draco paused for only a moment, before tossing his wand on the table and looking back at me. I hadn't moved. He grabbed my arm, dragging me out of the dining chamber, into the entrance hall. He shoved me against a wall, and we were concealed in shadow. Draco bent his head down to look me in the eye. He searched my face, looking for the all-too-clear signs of panic. I could taste adrenaline in my mouth. He pressed me full-body into the wall, and I felt trapped. I was trapped.

"How dare you humiliate me in front of the entire school?" he breathed.

"Well, you needed it," I answered meekly. "I couldn't help myself."

"You need to learn how to control your urges." We weren't speaking about pumpkin juice anymore, were we? "You see," he leaned closer, our cheeks brushing, "I rarely go through with my impulses." He pressed his body harder on mine, and I felt an intoxicating rush flow through me. "If I had, then things would have happened long ago that have yet to occur."

I stayed silent, waiting for his next move.

"You don't understand," he continued, "and you never will. You don't understand how I feel, because you don't try to and you don't care. No," he amended his previous comment, "that was a lie. You care. I know how you feel. You love me, and I know it. I can feel your heart beating. It's quick. You're frightened. Not of me, but of what I could do--can do."

He paused again, kissing my cheek. Then he leant his head back, and I was confronted with his calculating gaze.

"I know what you want. I know your every desire. And each one of them includes me, in their own special way." His fingers trailed down my arm, and he put a firm hand on my waist. "Maybe--" he kissed me softly on the lips, "--I could--" another, firmer kiss, "--give you what--" tongue in my mouth, "--you want," a full-out breathtaking French kiss, throughout which my body was crying for more and my mind was screaming no. I uttered a slight moan as Draco pressed himself even harder against me, and he let his tongue travel throughout my mouth.

"Mm..." I sighed. Draco pulled away from me, and my lips felt the loss. A soft noise escaped my lips, causing Draco to grin sadistically.

"So, I was right then, was I?"

"Mm," was all I could say.

"I thought so."

Draco stepped away from me, taking his comforting warmth with him. He still held me by the waist, and he made no move to release me from his grip. Draco caressed my cheek, softly drawing his fingertip down to my chin. He cupped my face in his hand, pulling me to him in a brief but enticing kiss.

"Whoever says you love Potter must be daft," Draco whispered.

"Who cares about him?" I muttered absurdly. My brain was startled by my reply, and it seemed that my hormones had taken over control. There goes cool.

"Good question. I knew you wanted me as much as I wanted you. It was like a sugar craving."

"Uh-huh," I answered blankly, not hearing anything he said.

"You want me?"

"Completely."

"Really?" he asked slyly.

"Yes, definitely."

Suddenly, the front door banged open, and Harry strode in, Seamus Finnigan and Lizzie Rymon trailing after. Harry saw Draco and me, and went into defence mode immediately. Harry ran over to us, pulling Draco roughly away from me. Seamus was in a fury as well.

"You--Slytherin! Take your hands off her!" yelled Seamus, pulling Draco further away from me. Draco smirked at him.

"I wasn't doing anything to her that she didn't like," he said. "In fact, you can just ask her."

Oh dear.

"Nicole, what is Malfoy talking about?" Seamus asked me.

"He's a liar," Lizzie answered for me. She walked over to me, and looked at Harry, who was standing at my side. He shook his head barely, and she nodded in slightly disappointed agreement.

"Let him go back to wherever he came from," Harry ordered quietly. "Oh, and Malfoy, if you touch Nicole again, I swear your death will be my doing."

"I'll bear that in mind, Potter," Draco snarled, yanking himself out of Seamus's grip and stalking down to the Slytherin dungeons.

"So what was he talking about, Nicky?" Lizzie asked concernedly.

"No, Lizzie. Go have dinner, I'll find out," Harry said, not looking at me. He seemed to have grown more powerful in the few seconds he had been here. Harry radiated a sense of extreme control, and intense command. I watched Lizzie and Seamus chatting as they walked into the dining hall.

"Come on, Nicole. We need to talk about what's been happening," said Harry, gripping my upper arm in a gentle, yet serious way.

"Yeah."

Harry took me upstairs to the Founders' entrance. The Feoxi in the portrait seemed to sense that this was deadly important, and didn't even hassle us by blowing a smoke ring before opening. Harry did not snap his fingers to light the gloomy passageway, but just led me down the hall. I followed after him, trying not to cry.

Why can't I be a normal person with morals? I asked myself dispiritedly.

Because, then you wouldn't be so interesting, and no one would want to know about you.

They don't want to know about me now.

True.

"Sit," Harry commanded as we stepped into the common chamber. I did so, sighing heavily. More explaining to do.

"So...Malfoy again. I didn't think you would--But, no. Never mind that. Let's get straight to the point. What were you doing?"

"I was being told off by Draco for pouring his pumpkin juice all over him," I said miserably.

"And why did you do that? Well, I could see why you'd do that, but I want your story."

"Well, he sent me one of the Feoxi's talons."

"Go on."

"And I got really angry."

"And--?"

"So I went over to him, made a scene, dropped the claw into his juice, and poured the juice over his head and into his lap," I explained, giving him the overview of events.

"All right. That fits. Still, I know there has to be more," Harry said, "Is there?"

"No, not really--"

"Stop lying."

"Okay. Draco dragged me outside and began saying...stuff. And, I sort of got carried away in listening, and we sort of...fell on each others' lips," I said in a high-pitched voice.

"Excuse me?"

"We--we kissed."

"There's more, isn't there?" he asked.

"A bit. See, I said some stupid stuff because--well, I don't know why, but I did. And Draco just..." I faded off, looking at the floor. "I am such a screw up," I added.

"You didn't. Nicole, please--please tell me you didn't actually--that didn't really happen...right?"

"Look. It happens--" Harry gave me a sceptical look, "--okay, it happened a lot. But...oh god, just--break up with me now."

"What?" Harry asked amazedly, but then he understood and became quiet.

"I, you know, would understand if you wanted to break up with me. After all the crap I've done, if I were you, I'd break up with me too," I offered.

Harry remained silent, and I got up, making to leave, but Harry's voice stopped me.

"Did you have sex with him?"

"W--?"

"It's one question, and the answer is either yes or no."

"No."

"Thank you."

*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*

"You must be kidding me," Draco said.

"I am not," replied Lucius.

"You are telling me to--no way. I couldn't do it," Draco informed him.

"You could, and you will. Son, there is no alternative. Either you kill her, or you both die. I would hate to see you come to such an end, but...The Dark Lord commands it. If you choose not to, which you may NOT DO, then he will see to it that your death is the most excruciating, torturous murder there has ever been. Do you want that for yourself? Would you like to be slaughtered in the same manner as those Mudblood slimes? I shall not see a Malfoy such as you dishonoured because of something as trivial as love."

"I don't love that Gryffindor. She--she knows it, I know it. I refuse to murder a harmless girl because you tell me to do it. She is worthless to the cause, I can promise you that."

"She is deadly. The girl's seeing ability is poison for the wizarding world. She belongs to the Order of the Phoenix. If the girl got hold of inside information, it would result in the ruin of us all. Do you want that? Draco, I will not have you disgrace this family. The name Malfoy still commands respect, but if you happen to succumb to that girl--and the lightness she represents--then we would all be dead. It would not matter the power of the Dark Lord, we would all be slain by the Sword of Light."

"Yes, yes. A child's fairytale. The Sword doesn't exist."

"Ah, naïve boy. It exists. Inside that girl, the power is. Dumbledore carries the Sword currently, but when his death comes, she will be the inheritor of it. Once that bumbling fool dies, then the girl will come to wield it. The Council--the Order--would vote. Each would see her as its rightful heir."

"I still do not believe it."

"Let me explain further, then. The Order is ruled by a committee of three. The current three are Albus Dumbledore, Ari Concadia, and Sirius Black. Dumbledore heads the other two. Concadia and Black are equals. Dumbledore is the wielder of the Sword of Light, currently. He could use it to destroy anyone, and anything, but he will not use it. When Dumbledore dies, the Sword will be passed to the other two committee members. They will, in turn, choose a first in command, which will be either of them. Then, the new head will choose another second in command. The second in command will not be an adult though. The soothsayer the Dark Lord spoke to seventeen years ago warned him of that. The other second in command would be a child, a girl. When the head chooses, she will be his choice. And, then, the whole Order would conduct a vote. They would decide who should inherit the Sword. This, also, would be the girl. The wielder does not always have to be the head of the Order, and this is one of the rare times that the case will be so. The girl will inherit the sword. When she does, they will give her full rights to it. She would be able to destroy the Dark Empire in one sweep, one blow. Do you understand now?"

"I suppose so. But is there no other way?"

"No."

*--*

We were spinning. Spinning in such a fast circle, our feet moving but barely touching the ground. How could we go so fast? I saw the candles flicker as we spun, and then I looked at the faces around me. But, we were going so fast that I could not see who they were. The dim lights swirled around us, and as I looked at my feet, I saw that I was not touching the ground at all.

Now I was not running across the ground, but revolving in the air in the centre of the circle. I slowly rotated, and barely saw the upturned faces below me; they looked like dark spinning things.

"Isbach drecon le barden mure. Cou delat mene mira. Celectia noiru ari Dagda. Morrigan cuu decepid. Pallas Athena greyle letha leda. Re cretie drem deriu Hermes," one of them called.

"Be it that the burden can be held. The power of Light is bestowed upon you. The Dagda selects you to bear this. The Morrigan wills that you not be deceived. Pallas Athena guides you through these times. Hermes, messenger, brings you information of the world of Light," the other returned.

"The fortune of all lies within yourself. Your burden is your gift. Your perseverance is your strength. Your intelligence is your defence," the first said.

"It is with hope that I pass you this Sword." A soft glow began to emanate from my skin.

"It is with trust that I pass you this Sword." I began to shine more radiantly now.

"It is with love that I pass you this Sword." My body began to be consumed in blinding light. I could see only the light, and nothing else. I spun more quickly now, rotating in the air. I was whirling at an incredible rate; the speed of a spinning top. And then--

I woke with a start, sweat dripping off my face. I threw back the covers and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet met the soft carpet, and I sat up.

That dream. It had been so vivid. The colours! Wow, that had really been an interesting precognition, if it was a precognition at all.

I stood, brushing my wet hair away from my face. The sardonic red numbers on my clock read 3:00. I looked out the window, seeing stars shining down. My roommates slept soundly, unknowing of my strange precognition. Again I looked at my clock; 3:02. Deciding that sleep was a miracle bound to be impossible, I grabbed my cloak and wrapped it around my shoulders.

Stepping quietly, I tiptoed out of the dorm and into the dim common room. The firelight flickered, casting everything in a dark shadow. Students' homework was spread out over the tables in the corner still, and the empty cups still lie on the table. I shrugged off my feeling of foreboding, continuing to creep through the common room. There were muffled voices coming from the direction of the boys' dormitories, and I paused to listen.

"...as if! He'll never find out what we've done. And if he does, we can always blame it on her. She's the scapegoat for everything. Just try it, Ro..."

"But, it doesn't feel right. No, don't make me. It contradicts my feelings on the matter. Just..."

I leaned farther from the door, listening for the voices again, but they faded and I was left wondering if I had actually heard them. I shook my head to clear the fog that had suddenly entered my mind, but I became dizzy. I stumbled over to the portrait hole, yanking it open in my haste. I clambered out of the common room; feeling like my whole body was engulfed in flames. There was a clatter, and I realized with a start that the portrait had swung shut behind me.

I stumbled blindly forward, unable to see in the darkness. My body was drenched with sweat, and I was not able to see where I was going. I tripped and fell, sinking wearily to the ground in a heap. My skin prickled as I felt a firm hand lock around my wrist and pull me into a standing position.

"Oh god, no. This can't be happening. Not yet, not so soon." I faintly recognized the warm voice, now pained with worry. I felt myself being lifted in someone's arms, and I floated off into a dazed unconsciousness.

*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*

"She needs a good rest, the poor dear," a woman's kindly voice was saying.

"No--well, she does need rest, but that is not all. There is a darkness in her, I fear. We need to reclaim the goodness in her soul before she can continue life. I can't believe it has happened so soon. The first day of school, and it has all ready begun." A gentle hand brushed away a strand of hair from my face.

"Pour this down her throat. She needs it."

"A daemon is what she needs," the other voice argued, "though I cannot be the judge of that. We must wait for Professor Du--"

"No, you mustn't wait for me."

That must be Dumbledore, I thought.

"What happened to...me?" I fumbled over the words. My throat seemed to have closed up.

"Professor Lupin found you stumbling through one of the halls. You fainted, I'm afraid, and he brought you here to the Hospital wing."

"All right."

"Drink up," said the woman. She handed me a goblet of some sweet-smelling liquid. Its scent was one of comfort; lemonade and some tropical fruit. I gulped it down. It stung my throat, but tasted good nonetheless. The woman, Madam Pomfrey, scurried around the room, hustling to get me a blanket and a cup of water. Lupin and Dumbledore spoke in quiet whispers, and occasionally Remus would shoot a worried glance at me. Dumbledore finally nodded, giving consent to something I did not understand.

Lupin strode quickly over to my bed.

"Nicole, how do you feel? All right? Good. Well, tonight, we must--wait; let me explain all of this. Now, you are aware of your gift, are you not?"

"Well, yeah."

"Okay, then. You are not aware that for the past year, there have been numerous gatherings of adults here at Hogwarts. We have a committee, the Order of the Phoenix. Our Order was installed when Voldemort regained his power, and we have been slowly adding new members. Each member, you see, has a spirit animal. Actually, every human does, but only when a certain spell is performed can their spirit animal, or daemon, be seen. We would like you to join our Order. Professor Dumbledore is the head and--"

"Join? But--" I stuttered, "but I'm only fifteen! What help could I be to the Order?" I told him nothing of the odd dream, but it worried me that if I united with the Order, then I would be in even graver danger. Able to seal my mouth for once, I sat and listened to Lupin speak.

"You do have a choice of course. Though, if you would consider the benefits--"

"What would I get out of it?"

I heard a metal tray ping as it hit the floor, and I looked over to see Madam Pomfrey staring wide-eyed at me. Obviously, I was being ignorant.

"You would help save the fate of the wizarding world," Remus told me, "and you would be working with the most talented witches and wizards in Britain."

"I guess, but, wouldn't it be better if I stayed inconspicuous? My meaning being that if I help the Order, won't I be a better target for Voldemort?"

"Possibly, though we keep to ourselves. None of the students know about the Order, save yourself now, and very few adults know of it."

"Might I have a bit of time to decide?"

"Of course, Nicole," answered Lupin, "You do not have to decide now."

"All right. I'm tired. I need sleep."

"Indeed you do," and he stood and walked out of the Hospital wing.

I laid my head back on the pillow, thinking of the days ahead. Whatever was in store for me, I would be ready.

Hopefully.