Evil's Kiss

Evil's Kiss

Chapter One

"Mr. Potter, will you please pay attention!?" Professor Flitwick snapped.

"Oh, sorry professor," James said lightly, not thinking much of it.

"I will not ask you again. This is your third warning, next time it will be a detention. Do I make myself clear?" Flitwick warned.

"Yes sir, I understand," James said soberly.

"Good. Now as I was saying, Time's Shadow Chaser, also known as the Purity Charm, is one of the most complex charms a witch or wizard could perform. It combines most of the elements of magic that you study here at Hogwarts: Potions, Charms, History of Magic, and so on. This charm usually does not work unless you have a willing sacrifice of flesh and spirit. Though this does not necessarily result in death, the effects may be dramatic on the person once the ritual is completely over."

"But professor, why would the 'victim' be willing to give up his or her flesh and spirit, even if it doesn't result in death?"

"Well, you all are older students so in simple terms the 'flesh and spirit' part is a willing gift of his or her virginity. That is why it is hard to get the charm perfectly right. For he or she must be a virgin and must be willing. Their ultimate gift of purity cannot be forced or tampered with in any way. The essence of that gift is captured in one perfect moment, and if everything else had been completed correctly the charm would be complete."

"But professor, how does the charm work? What does it do?" Marie Cunningham asked.

"As I have said before, this is one of the most complex charms you will learn. Naturally, you will have quite intricate results. The way it works is actually quite simple if you think about it. Once the person has made his or her potion, he or she plans a night three months from then to do the second half of the charm."

"The sex part?" Sirius said loudly. Everyone snickered just a bit.

"Yes Mr. Black, the sex part, as you put it so well. It takes three months for the potion to fully integrate itself into the participant's bodily fluids, therefore effectively infiltrating every cell in his or her body. Then, once the three months is up, the woman and man, or man and woman commence the second part of the charm. A male's sperm is a body fluid, so the potion will have infected it. In a woman's case, losing her virginity usually results in a little bleeding so her blood will be infected. When the fluids mix, the blood and sperm created a powerful mixture that triggers a chemical reaction. After both parties have climaxed, the brewer soaks up some of the mixed fluid and places it inside a clear crystal cube. The cube is so small that only a tiny amount would fit. Once placed inside, it is magically sealed with the brewer's own non-infected blood that was drawn before consumption of the potion. This way the only way the charm could be accessed is through the original brewer." Flitwick paused a moment to regain his breath.

"So what happens next, sir?" Damian Woods asked.

"Well that tiny little cube acts as what we know as the essence charm. If the charm is broken or harmed in anyway, chances are the person's essence inside would die. It is rare even for the keeper of the charm to survive this destruction because the charm holds both his or her essence in addition to their partner's."

"I understand why it's called the Purity Charm. Why is it called the Time's Shadow Chaser?" a student in the back of the class asked.

"Well that's the beauty of it, Cheyenne, since the giving of virginity is a once in a life time thing, it enables the person to travel backwards certain amounts of time without a time-turner. The only catch is that, because time travel is made possible, there is a price to pay. Mother Nature does not give her secrets away for free. The price is so heavy only two occurrences of this charm have ever been recorded," Flitwick stopped and waited.

"Well, what's the price, Professor?" Julie Hollingsworth asked.

"The price is the life of the conceived child."

An audible gasp went through the female percentage of the class.

"What, How can that be? The life of a child is so precious! How could people do that," Julie gasped.

"Yes, the price is very steep, especially for the female. Whether she is the brewer or sacrifice, she has to carry the baby for nine months, and inevitably, they form a bond. There is not a precise ritual for killing the baby, but all we know is that the offspring must die. Now there is a whole chapter devoted to the Purity charm. I want you all to read the chapter and prepare an essay 9 inches long due next Friday."

~

"Are you going to lunch, Lily?" Octavia asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec, Tavia," Lily replied.

"I'll wait for you, hurry up."

"Alright, I'm.... done," Lily said throwing down her quill. "Let's go."

The girls left their quills and parchment on a corner table in the Gryffindor common room, straightened up their wrinkled robes, and headed for the Great Hall.

As they were walking down the infamous Hogwarts staircases, the girls started talking about their favorite topic. Boys.

"Hey, guess what! You know James Potter, right? Well...I heard that yesterday he made several second years all go totally crazy just by talking to one of their friends. Of course, not to the girls themselves, face to face, but to a friend of theirs. I can't believe he's that good," Tavia announced, emphasizing the fact that James hadn't even talked to the girls.

"I know. I've heard a lot more rumors concerning him and a certain Mr. Black. You know that since the start of the Quidditch season, Gryffindor hasn't lost one game. Thanks to James and the snitch of course. I think we might actually have a chance at the cup," Lily replied.

"Oh, please, you know I don't give a rip about Quidditch. But I do have one more juicy piece of gossip that you might want to pay attention to. Okay, I heard from Ginger, who heard for Sapphire, who heard George talking to Luke - who are both in Slytherin - that a certain person, ... oh, let's say his name is Tom Riddle, has his eye on you for his date for the Halloween ball!" Octavia said smiling.

"What? No way!" Lily screamed, embarrassed. "First of all, he's two years older than me. Second, he's in Slytherin and I'm in Gryffindor."

Secretly, Lily was a little surprised that Octavia would actually believe gossip like that, especially gossip concerning her. She had never even talked very much to Tom anyway. Once he asked me for a quill, she thought. Also he... Before she could finish that thought, however, her books were knocked out of her arms and her breath knocked out of her chest. The girls had rounded the corner, and walked straight into James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.

"Oh, sorry girls, we weren't watching where we were going," James said with an easy smile, as he locked eyes with Lily.

"We weren't watching, but I think you ran into Lily on purpose, James," Sirius muttered, a devilish gleam in his eye. With that remark, the two broke eye contact and Remus and Peter snickered loudly. Shooting his friends a dirty look, James picked up his books and muttered something about having to use the loo.

"Here, let me help you with those," Lily offered as she bent down to help.

"Thanks, Lily," James curtly replied and hurried to the bathroom.

"Is he okay?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, he'll get over it."

"Umm... okay... Would anyone care to join me and Octavia in the Great Hall for lunch?"

"Sure," the guys chorused. All five headed toward the stairs.

The Great Hall was beautiful at this time of day. Sunshine was pouring through the enchanted ceiling and it cast a golden glow throughout the room. The golden goblets and plates glistened like diamonds while the rays of the sun streamed through the tall windows. Several students from each house were already eating. All the others were copying notes, doing last minute exam reviewing or just talking, their food ignored. The five sat down in the middle of the Gryffindor table and began to fill their plates and talk. A little while later, James joined them and settled himself on the left of Octavia, across the table from Lily. About a half-hour later, Lily saw a mischievous grin crossing James's face and she prepared herself for some mischief. She didn't have and older sister for nothing. She recognized that grin of revenge. While she watched him spoon a small amount of pudding aiming to hit Sirius, to get him back for the hallway 'incident', she started to smile and watched in eager anticipation of what James was about to do. It was a perfect plan but Sirius saw just as James let go. Sirius ducked and the pudding sailed over his, head hitting a kid at the Slytherin table. The kid that was hit had greasy hair and a slightly hooked nose. No one seemed to notice except for the greasy haired child at the Slytherin table and those around him. As the six suppressed giggles and watched, the boy slowly turned in his seat, venom dripping in his look.

"Who threw that?" he yelled. Startled by the loud voice, everyone fell into silence. When no one confessed, he seemed content with the show he [had] put on, so he began to turn back around, before hearing the snickers behind him. Sirius, Remus, Peter, James, Lily, and Octavia had buried their heads in their hands; their bodies shaking from a new round of laughter.

"What is so funny?" the boy asked.

"Oh, nothing," Lily answered in an I-know-something-you-don't-know tone.

Snape turned sharply toward Lily, eyes pooling with disgust. "No one asked you, Mudblood." As soon as the word was uttered, a collective gasp echoed throughout the hall. Lily's eyes immediately lost their sparkle, and instead, filled with small, unshed tears. All smiles were lost to the snarls and sneers that replaced them. "I was addressing Sirius Black." He spit the name out as if it was something vile.

"Watch your disgusting little mouth, Snape. We didn't do anything. It was Morgan Jonson from Ravenclaw," Sirius said, covering for James, because he knew Snape was a major prat and would do anything he could to get them in trouble

"I did..." Morgan began, but before she could protest, Snape had grabbed a piece of cherry pie for retribution and flung it at her. Morgan was quick and ducked. Since there wasn't anything solid to stop the pie's flight, it soared through the air and hit the first thing it came to. A brawny boy at the Hufflepuff table. Without even thinking, he whipped around, grabbed some pumpkin slices, and chucked them at the direction from where he was hit. The people in the pathway of the food didn't even see it coming, weren't quick enough, and soon they were covered in edible delights that only belonged on plates, not on robes.

"Food fight!" someone yelled. It was as if someone lit a fire under every student's seat. They were up in a flash. Food was flying everywhere. The robes of many students were covered from head to toe in numerous food and delicacies.

Everyone had been so busy throwing and ducking plates piled high with food, that no one had noticed the headmaster emerge from a corner door near the head table. He had been at a meeting that forced him to be late, and when he came into the Great Hall expecting the students to be behaving normally; he got a nasty shock.

"What is going on here?" the headmaster's voice boomed off the walls.

Everyone stopped dead. The headmaster's thunderous voice sounded, but someone had thrown a handful of mashed potatoes toward James. He was struck on the head just as the headmaster was surveying the hall, coming upon the Gryffindor table. Everyone heard the splat and turned toward James. Slightly flushed, he just sat down and waited, potato dripping from the back of his head. He tried to put on an innocent look, but failed miserably because all he could do was alternate between smirking and grinning mischievously. Trying to follow James's lead, the students closest to him sat down and waited for their fate, just as James had done. Soon after, the rest of the room silently took their seats and waited just as attentively.

"Who started this?" said the headmaster, looking around the hall once more. All he saw was a sea of black robes that were covered in food.

One lone child stood. "Sir, I know who started this mess," Snape commented.

Unmoved, the headmaster rebuked the accusation against one of his favorite pupils. "Mr. Snape, I don't have time for your silly games, please if you know who really did it tell me, but if you don't, sit down."

"It was Morgan Johnson, sir." Snape said again in a chilled voice.

Morgan stood in protest. "Sir, it wasn't me. I saw who did it. James Potter and Sirius Black were fooling around. James put a little pudding on his spoon and flung it in response to something Black said. Black ducked and it hit Snape. Please sir, I had nothing to do with it."

"Okay, I want to see James Potter, Sirius Black, Severus Snape, and Morgan Johnson in my office now!" The headmaster ordered. Slowly the three boys and one lone girl got up and followed the headmaster out the doors of the Great Hall. The doors slammed shut behind them with a resounding thud, into the stunned silence of the school.