Secrets

Chapter 12 - Everybody Hurts

The secret lovebirds had fun inventing reasons for them to be alone together, but after a month they were starting to wear thin. Justin decided then that it was a good time to start giving Kyra Occlumency lessons. It was a vital skill that she needed to be well practiced in if she were going to become an Auror. Harry Potter was getting lessons from Snape, who Justin had been assured was the best teacher of Occlumency at Hogwarts. However, as an Auror, Justin had been well trained in it to the point that he felt comfortable teaching it to others. He began with Kyra not only as an excuse to be alone with her, but to see just how well he could teach it. Assuming he succeeded, he'd begin working with the other students later in the term.

Toward the end of March, Kyra was spending an extra three hours a week in one-on-one study with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Hermione was jealous of the extra lessons she was getting, but thankfully Lisa was spending much more time with Terry and was too involved with him to be either jealous or suspicious of her friend's extracurricular activities. The three hours were necessary because they spent half of that time talking, laughing, and making out. They would have liked to have spent more time together, but Kyra was spread to her limits between homework, Quidditch practice, and regular M.A.P.s meetings.

The Quidditch season was going well for the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, but poorly for the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs. Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin in the first match of the season - not surprising since Harry Potter was twice the Seeker that Draco Malfoy was. Ravenclaw had then beaten Hufflepuff in the second match. Cho had beaten Malfoy to the Snitch in their game against Slytherin in January, and then Gryffindor had creamed the poor Hufflepuffs in their match the week after Valentine's Day.

That left two matches - Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin in early May, and Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw two weeks before final exams began. Even if Slytherin beat Hufflepuff, their two painful defeats by Gryffindor and Ravenclaw practically ensured that they would not win the House Cup this year, and definitely not the Quidditch Cup. That meant it came down to the final match of the season, and Roger was working the Ravenclaw team harder than ever before. As far as he was concerned, both Cups had their names on them and he wasn't going to let any of them screw it up by slacking off.

Team Bale and Team Davies had also continued to square off once every couple of months, much to Justin's delight. He enjoyed any chance he got to play, and doubly enjoyed getting to spend the extra time with Kyra in a public, yet non-professional setting. The attendance at the games lessoned as the year went on, however, so by their last game in April the stands were as sparsely populated as the Ravenclaws had originally expected at their first match.

Then, one Monday in late April, something terrible happened.

The Ravenclaw and Gryffindor sixth-years sat in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, talking amongst themselves. Class should have started five minutes ago, and it wasn't like Professor Bale to be late. Just then, Professor McGonagall swept briskly into the classroom. She went directly to the front, then turned around and addressed the students.

"I'm afraid I have some terrible news," she told them, and Kyra felt her heart catch in her chest at the grim expression on the Professor's face.

"I regret to inform you," the stern-faced witch continued, "that Professor Bale will not be teaching this class any longer."

A chorus of excited and confused chattering filled the room. McGonagall quickly hushed them.

Kyra's blood ran cold. Suddenly she knew - they'd found out about her and Justin, and he'd gotten sacked because of it.

Hermione Granger raised her hand, and the Professor nodded in her direction. "What happened, Professor?" she asked, vocalizing the question on the rest of their minds.

"This past weekend, Professor Bale became the target of an unknown group of Death Eaters," she told them grimly. "By the time anyone came to his rescue, it was too late," she added softly.

This time Kyra's heart skipped a series of beats. Professor McGonagall hadn't said what she thought she'd just said. He couldn't be...

"Professor Bale is... dead?" Neville whimpered.

Professor McGonagall nodded, her lips pursed.

Kyra's eyes welled up with tears and there was a sudden loud ringing in her ears as the blood rushed painfully through her head. It couldn't be... It was impossible... She'd just been with him on Friday evening, and he hadn't been worried about any Death Eaters. She knew he'd had something important he'd had to do over the weekend, but that wasn't unusual. She knew that being an Auror was dangerous, but he'd always returned safe and sound, in time for class on Monday.

She was aware of someone hugging her shoulders, and then Lisa whispered tearfully, "Come on Kyra. Let's go back to the dorm."

Looking around, Kyra saw that the classroom was empty. The Gryffindors had all left, and her fellow Ravenclaws looked almost as upset as Kyra felt.

Kyra felt as though her heart had been ripped from her chest and stomped on repeatedly. Her legs were leaden as her friends steered her and themselves through the throngs of confused and chattering students and up the staircases to their tower.

Her classmates couldn't convince her to leave the dorm for the rest of the day. Professor Flitwick had arranged for the house elves to serve lunch in the common room, but after lunch they still had Potions class. Kyra refused to budge from the sofa in the common room, much to Garfield's delight, who was curled up in her lap. Lisa and Noel stayed with her until they had to leave for Arithmancy. If they noticed that she was crying more than any of the rest of them, they were polite enough not to comment on it.

Lisa brought food up to Kyra after the other students hadn't seen her at dinner. They returned to Ravenclaw Tower to see that she was working on forming a permanent dent in the sofa cushions. Garfield had wandered off, but she'd managed to find a blanket somewhere and was curled up underneath it, fast asleep.

At dinner they'd managed to find out most of the rumors that were flying around the school concerning Professor Bale's untimely death. They were discussing this in hushed tones when Kyra awoke. Lisa tried to get her to eat something, and Kyra grudgingly obeyed. She had no appetite for food, but her growling stomach was loudly vying for attention.

The common room was packed with students discussing the day's events and rumors, and Kyra wanted to know what they knew. She'd managed to stop crying, but only because she had gone completely numb with shock. She'd passed beyond the realm of tears, pain, and anger, into that great, vast realm of nothingness.

Lisa, Terry, Noel and the others slowly began to tell her what they'd heard, in between sniffles. The story they'd heard was that Professor Bale had been doing some undercover work for the Ministry of Magic when he'd uncovered a diabolical plot concerning some Death Eaters. No one knew exactly what that plot was, but he'd gone to investigate, and the Death Eaters had discovered him. He apparently managed to flee, but not before one of them identified him. They'd chased him down, and before he could find backup they'd attacked.

They hit him with dozens of curses, and though he'd apparently fought bravely, six against one was hardly a fair fight. Two of his fellow Aurors had found his battered, broken body just as the Death Eaters were finishing him off. Unfortunately, rumor had it that all of the murderers had managed to get away, and no one knew who they were.

By the time they finished telling what they knew of the story, all of the students were swiping at the tears on their faces, except for Kyra, who just let them fall unabashedly.

Most of the students turned in early that evening, homework forgotten.

~*~