An Eagle's Legacy

AN EAGLE'S LEGACY

CHAPTER FOUR: THE DREAM

"It was the time of the season" or so everyone had said. The brisk, autumn wind that had blown through the Hogwarts grounds and whistled through the ears of busy students had faded, and was replaced with a cold winter breeze that left the visible breath of students to suspend icily in the air. Feathery white snow floated sweetly down from the clouds above, and piled in pillows of white powder among the walkways and outside corridors. Tiny snowflakes dangled on the dark eyelashes of students passing by, adding a glistening sparkle in the hair and scarves of the Hogwarts inhabitants.

Along with the winter breeze and powdery snowflakes came the anxious anticipation of Christmas day, and to the older students -- more importantly, the Yule ball. A group of giggling fourth year girls eagerly awaited the attendance of their first Yule ball, while another group of sixth years sat in the great hall discussing their outfits for the occasion. Even weeks before the date of the Yule ball, students made preparations, and boys tried to get the 'best date' they could in the 'short' amount of time.

Dayna, Kes, and Christie walked together in the freezing corridors on a Saturday afternoon, their cheeks a rosy pink and their eyelashes sparkling with snowflakes, heading toward the Ravenclaw common room where they could shed the layers of thick wool and warm material and sit by the crackling fire.

But as the girls walked down the walkway toward their common room, like any girl at this time of year, was not on the weather -- the Yule ball was their main concern.

The ball was in almost a week, and not one of the girls had a date.

With the exception of Kes, none of them had been even asked yet. Kes had had numerous requests from Malcolm Bullthroise and his group of Slytherin friends, who had all held a bet over who could get the prettiest date.

"Why didn't you just say yes, Kes?" Dayna asked her while they continued walking, shoving her hands into the pockets of her thick Hogwarts cloak.

"To which one?" Kes laughed.

"Malcolm" Dayna said, beginning to laugh herself.

"Which one is that? They're all the same to me, nasty and greasy..."

"I don't blame her- the fact that they're in a bet and they each look like a variation of small rodents, from ferrets to weasels, I don't blame her at all..."

"Well at least someone asked you, Kes...." Dayna said.

"I don't think that Malcolm Bullthroise and his posse of weasels count" Kes remarked, laughing to herself.

"But Honestly Kes" Dayna argued "Three offers in a row, not to mention six in a day. I could never do that- even if it is Malcolm."

Suddenly, she looked up and a look of horror was cast upon her face. Dayna and Christie looked at each other puzzled, and then followed her gaze and saw Timothy Urnwell, the slimmest one, apart from Malcolm himself, of the group.

"Make that seven in a day" Christie said, laughing as Kes ran behind her back to hide.

Timothy Urnwell had greasy black hair that he slicked backward, and it curled upward where his head met his neck. He had beady black eyes and a short pointy nose, and a creepily white smile.

"Hello Allison, you are looking lovely this afternoon" Timothy said, lifting Kes' hand to his mouth and kissing it. A look of disgust was on Kes' face, and she looked at us like she was going through the worst of all torture.

At the beginning of the day, when the date requests first came about, Kes was very lovely and kind about it, saying "I'm sorry Malcolm, but I'm afraid that you could do much better than me for a date. Besides, I might not even consider going..." Later in the afternoon, she became less polite about it, and shook them off with a simple "no thank you" followed by a quick departure. At the end of the day, Kes looked like she was going to punch him right in his weasel-like face.

Knowing that if Kes tried to hurt Timothy, he could be seriously injured, Christie beat her to it and shoved Timothy out of the way, causing him to slip on the icy walkway and land in a pile of fluffy snow that had built up alongside the path.

"Sodd off, Urnwood" Christie said, scowling at Timothy. "And don't you or any of your little friends come close to Kes again, understand?"

Timothy apparently understood, as he spat at Christie, and then walked away.

Dayna and Kes burst into laughter, as did a group of fellow students who were in earshot of the situation.

"Did he just spit on you?!" Dayna laughed at Christie.

Christie took her laughs in return "I think he did." And they continued on toward the dormitories.

The three girls together greeted the Grey Lady, who was hovering in the hallway, conversing with one of the wall paintings, and then continued on through the common room to their dorm.

Kes sighed tiredly, and slipped off her thick wool cloak, and then peeled off the layers underneath until she stood in her sweater and pleated skirt. The others did the same while laughing about the previous incident when Katrina, carrying a handbag and filing her nails while she walked toward her bed, while Melissa carried loads of shopping bags and other things and walked at the heels of Katrina.

"Hey guys" Dayna said, attempting friendliness with the two girls who had been for months almost enemies.

"Hello." Katrina said flatly, trying to look cool. Melanie did the same.

"Erm..." Christie said questioningly while eyeing the mass number of shopping bags that lay on Katrina's bed.

"We went shopping" Katrina said. "Daddy made the school let us have permission to go into Hogsmeade for the day. We went to the shops and got some absolutely love things for the ball. They're to die for....much too fancy for you all though, I suppose."

"...to die for..." Melanie confirmed.

"Thanks for the clarification" Christie said sarcastically at Melanie, while straightening her things.

Katrina pulled an elegant dress robe from one of the bags, and held it in front of her shapeless body. It was an icy blue that matched her slate blue eyes. Much to the girls' despair, it looked beautiful on her, or at least in front of her, the silver trimmings bringing vibrancy to even her lifeless hair.

"It's beautiful" Kes gasped "gorgeous...."

"It's ok..." Christie admitted, a slight trace of envy flashing in her eyes.

"Oh I've got plenty more" Katrina said, pulling even more beautiful dresses from the bag.

Kes stepped forward and fingered the fabric of a dark green dress with gold trimmings that went beautifully with her green eyes and red hair. "These must have cost you a fortune, Katrina."

"Oh, nothing really expensive" Katrina said, while Christie sat at the opposite side of the room, drinking a wizard cola and pretending she wasn't engaged what was going on. "Only fifty galleons for each dress-"

At Katrina's last remark, Christie suddenly spat out all of her wizards cola and started coughing violently, causing Dayna and Kes to burst into laughter.

"You're luck you weren't over here" Kes said, crossing the room to pat Christie on the back (as an attempt to stop her from coughing). "I think she would have killed you if you ruined her dresses..."

"Fifty galleons? - a piece?!" Christie said, astonished.

"Well that's nothing compared to last year's dress." Katrina said, turning to Melissa "isn't that right Melissa?"

"Nothing" Melissa confirmed, smiling.

She was right. Dayna remembered last year at the Yule ball, she watched Katrina's elegant gown, a pale blue decorated with ornate patterns of swirling silver that caught the light whenever she moved, sway while she danced, while waiting lonely and alone for her date -- who never did show up -- to arrive.

The dresses that lie on Katrina's bed were heavenly. It seemed that there was a perfect dress for each girl in the room- even Melissa- on that bed.

Kes couldn't stand admiring any longer. She walked up to the bed and picked up the dark green dress with the gold trimming, and held it up to her perfect body. She spun around and let the dress sway around her legs as she closed her eyes, as if she were in a dream.

Katrina couldn't miss the opportunity to ruin a good moment, and snatched the dress from Kes, and then grinned evilly and shock her finger at her.

"Nah, ah, ah" she said. "These are Katrina's dresses...."

Christie, who seemed to be enjoying the dresses as much as Kes, stormed up to Katrina in a mad fury.

"Why you little b- " she muttered, but was then stopped by Kes, threw her arm outward blocking Christie's path to Katrina.

"What are you doi-?!" Christie said, but was interrupted by Kes once again. "How much?"

"What?" Katrina asked Kes, looking confused.

"How much for the dress." Kes said, dead serious.

"Kes have you gone mad?!" Dayna said looking dubiously at Kes, and she answered her own question. Kes' eyes were like two green embers, burning with desire for that dress. It had possessed her, and she was determined to get it.

"My lord..." Dayna sighed.

Katrina smiled at the idea of a proposition. "Well" she said slyly. "It's gonna cost you...."

"I don't give a damn, Katrina, just give me the dress."

Christie laughed "we've found a whole new side to you Kes -- I love it."

Kes's expression was dead serious, and extremely intense, almost frightening. "Hand over the dress" she said.

"What do you want to borrow it, or buy it off of me?" Katrina questioned, extremely excited by the whole matter.

"Buy it for good" Kes said. "How much for it."

"Well" Katrina said "because I'm feeling generous....I'll sell it to you for...15 galleons"

"Kes are you sure-" Dayna tried.

"It's a deal" Kes smiled, shaking hands with Katrina. "Lovely doing business with you..." and tried to grab the dress back.

"Nah, ah, I need my 15 galleons first" Katrina said, pulling the dress away from her and dangling it in the air as if it were a dog's play toy.

"Right" Kes said. She scurried to her trunk and was rummaging through her things.

"Kes, where are you going to get the money for that?!" Dayna exclaimed.

Kes' red head popped up from her trunk and flashed a brilliant smile as she held up a little sack full of galleons "Right here, of course."

"Yeah, Dayna. How dare you forget that Kes robbed Gringotts last week!" Christie said sarcastically at Kes.

"She what?!" Katrina squealed. Her father worked at Gringotts, and any negative mention of it was preposterous in her mind.

"It's called sarcasm Katrina" Christie said. "If its too big a word for you I'm sure daddy can buy you a dictionary or even a private servant to help you out with that...."

"Shut up, Thomas" Katrina snapped at Christie.

Kes counted the money and then dropped it in Katrina's open palm. "There you go, exactly fifteen galleons." She then snatched the dress from Katrina's grasp and swirled around in it once again, and then insisting on trying it on.

"Kes, where did you get that?" Dayna asked.

"Oh, mum and dad gave it to me for school supplies- I just stole old things of Penelope's- she was such a perfectionist, everything is still in perfect shape, plus the notes in the column tend to help on occasion..." she laughed. "Anyway, I was planning on spending it on our next Hogsmeade visit, but this seems like a much better way spent, doesn't it?"

The dress looked beautiful on her- looking like it was meant for her in the first place. The green matched beautifully with her eyes, and her red hair looked beautiful against the dark green velvet fabric. Seeing Kes swirl around in the gorgeous new dress, Christie was inspired to have one of her own. She spotted a dark red dress with golden lace lining the straps, and with a flowing silk texture.

"Now if you want one, it will be 16 galleons...." Katrina reasoned.

"What? Why?" Christie objected.

"For the alarm clock- and you have to promise never to do that again..."

"Alright, I'll owl Dean, he'll give it to me as a birthday present..."

Christie's older brother Dean made a fortune when investing in the Weasley Twins' joke shop years back, and was still fairly rich between that and his job as a storekeeper in Hogsmeade.

"But isn't your birthday in May?" Dayna asked.

"Yeah" Christie said, and tried on the dress. It looked beautiful on her as well, just as Kes' had looked on her.

Dayna looked longingly at the dark blue dress that lay on the bed. It was a dark blue gown with sleeves that came only barely to the shoulders, with laces of gold lining the rims of the dress. Below the waist, the dress flared outward to reveal an under layer of a lighter blue that contrasted beautifully against the royal blue.

"How about you Wood? Buying?" Katrina asked, "Because I'm putting them away..."

"No" Dayna said quietly. "I don't have the money, and mum and dad certainly won't go for the idea...."

"We could pitch in and buy you one" Kes said. "Honestly they're lovely, you cant miss this...."

"It's alright" Dayna smiled "I'm probably not going to the Yule ball anyway. Firstly after last year and secondly I don't have a date...."

"Oh get off it" Christie said "you're wasting your balls away moping around, you know that? Now not having a date is a stupid reason not to go. That means you get to go and dance with anyone you like."

"I need to research this vision thing more anyway" Dayna argued "don't worry about it...."

"What vision thing?" Katrina asked curiously.

"Nothing that concerns you in any way" Christie snapped at Katrina.

After things cooled off slightly in the dormitory, Christie, Kes, and Dayna headed down to the common room to sit and enjoy the remains of their Saturday.

Catherine walked alone down the empty narrow hallway at Hogwarts toward the Ravenclaw common room. The floor below her wasn't carpeted, and the walls were barren with the exception of a few lanterns and the sporadic Ravenclaw family portrait, making each step echo throughout the hallway.

She moved briskly along the marble floor, each step quicker than the previous. Her dark blue gown swayed below her as she stepped, the sapphire amulet glowing calmly at her neck. She was heading toward the room at the end of the hall, when a flash of light caught her eye. She stopped and turned, walking back to the room where the light had come from. Standing in the doorway, she saw an empty room, with only a large stained glass window and a tall mirror on the far side of the room. Slowly and cautiously, she stepped inside the room.

She mirror was ordinary: not of the magical sort, like the mirror of Erised. She stepped toward the mirror, staring at her reflection. She wore the gown she had worn to dinner, with shades of a royal dark blue blending into a light center, lined with a golden lace. Her wavy hair was halfway bound in a bun at the top of her head, fastened by a golden diadem, letting the rest fall loosely down. An amulet, hanging on a golden chain, contained a glowing blue sapphire, illuminating Catherine's face and neck.

Suddenly the pacifying blue glow disappeared, and the blazing of a red ember raged in its place.

The figure of a man, clothed in robes of black and a dark green appeared in the mirror behind Catherine. His eyes were cold and dark, his hair of black shone in the light of the mirror. Catherine saw him through the mirror, and tried to keep the expression of terror she felt inside show on her face. She remained in her position, facing the mirror, without lifting her eyes from the image of herself.

"What do you want from me, Armythius" she said coolly.

The man stepped out of the darkness and walked slowly toward Catherine. "Catherine" he said in a deep, low voice, "why must you torment me so...."

An icy chill ran down Catherine's back as Armythius brushed his hand against her face, her shoulder, then down her arm. He leaned over her, close enough to whisper something into her ear. Catherine kept her gaze with herself, and refused to let herself be afraid. Her eyes blazed green with a mixture of anger, disgust, and fear.

"What torment do you speak of Armythius? I do nothing of the sort" she said casually.

Angered, her grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around, so she was facing him. His fingernails dug into her skin, and she bit her lip, to prevent from crying out. His piercing dark eyes penetrated through her skin, her soul, her mind.

"You ripped my heart out Catherine." His tone was cool, but his body was blazing with fury, gripping her tightly as she tried to remain as brave as possible. "Just like my father, and his before him. Just like Rowena did, Catherine. He opened his heart to her, as I did to you. And you know what she did in return? She ripped it out, and she ran off with that Gryffindor. History repeats itself, does it not?" He said, grinning evilly.

"I suppose it does" Catherine said, maintaining a certain poise that gave her courage.

"Yes" he agreed, tightening his grip on her shoulders. "And like him, I shall get my revenge as well. You will belong to me Catherine, why not just do it the easy way?"

He pulled her to him, and kissed her violently, more intended as an infliction of pain than a show of affection. Somehow, she managed to pull away in disgust. She could not keep control of herself any longer. "I will never love you, Armythius." She hissed violently "Like Rowena could never have loved Salazar, I can never love you." She slowly backed away from where she was standing, away from Armythius.

"It's not about love anymore, Catherine. Don't you see? It's about power, and to have it, I need you. We were meant to be together-"

"No" she screamed "no we were not, and we are not, and we will never be." She turned, and began to leave. "Good bye, Armythius" she called to him, and walked toward the door.

He ran after her, grabbing her by the sleeve of her dress, ripping it off of her shoulder while throwing her to the ground. He pulled her limp body to his face, and bared his snakelike teeth. "You will love me, Catherine. And if it isn't you, it will be your precious heritage, your little legacy. It will be mine, you shall see, and soon will you." He hissed, throwing her back to the ground.

He then turned, and like a shadow, he disappeared silently through the doorway. As Catherine lay on the ground, her dress tattered, the embers within the amulet began to die, and were soon restored with the pacifying blue glow of the sapphire.

Catherine looked up from the floor, where she lay in tears, and saw her face. Her dress torn at the shoulder, her hair coming apart, her cheeks streaked with tears. Her eyes, left a soft, gentle brown, shone with the innocence of a child, glistening with the tears of a woman.

Dayna awoke, panting, covered in tears and sweat. She lifted the curtain to her bed and splashed cold water on her face in the bathroom. She returned to her bed, and went back to sleep.