Magique l'Element

Chapter Ten-Right Kind of Wrong

Rain thought that she'd have a good night's sleep. After all, she had Devon's letter to think about until sleep caught up with her. For the first time in weeks, she was welcoming slumber...and yet, she was horribly mistaken.

The Gryffindor Prefect tossed and turned, her dark red hair tangling as she thrashed. She was drenched with sweat, breathing labored as though she'd been running.

"Get away from me," she hissed.

"Oh, no. I don't think so. Not this time. You've been away from me for so long, my sweet. I've missed you," he whispered back.

Rain turned her head away from him, trying to get herself as far away as possible. She had little luck, considering the bonds that tied her to the post of a bed.

He laughed-a quiet, amused little laugh that sent shivers up and down her spine.

"Do not try and get away from me, my sweet. Haven't you realized that it's futile by now? You are completely under my spell."

"I am not under your spell!" Rain protested, seeking a way to enrage him in any way she could, if just to release her pent-up frustration.

"Oh, but you are. You submitted yourself. Don't you recall? Yes, you willingly gave yourself up to this dream, to this fantasy...and now, you will be mine."

"Yours? Hardly."

"Do not deny it."

He put a forefinger under her chin, lifting it forcefully so he could look into her eyes. When their gazes locked, Rain gave an involuntary shudder. His eyes...his blue eyes were so icy and cold...his eyes were so cruel...

"What is to deny? You said so yourself, this is nothing but a dream."

She watched as his face transformed. From the gentle yet cruel features, his upper lip curled in a fashion that made Rain's hair stand on end. He pulled his hand back-and slapped her resoundingly.

Rain winced, pride keeping her from crying out. She knew that she'd be giving him what he wanted if she cried out. He wanted her scream-he wanted to hear her scream in pain that he inflicted.

"Does that feel like a dream to you? Does this?" he said, emphasizing his last word with another blow-to her arm, this time.

"It doesn't feel like a dream, does it, Rain? I wonder, will it still feel like it was just a dream when you wake up?"

Rain didn't answer. Instead, she glared at him, willing her gaze to say all that her tongue wouldn't.

"Silent now, are we? Let's see how silent you'll be when you find out what I've got in store for you tonight, my sweet..."

~*~

"You look like hell" was the first statement Rain heard from Skye the next morning.

Oh, gee, thanks. Like I needed to know that.

Rain was being discharged from the hospital wing on the condition that she would not attend the Quidditch practice the Gryffindor team had scheduled for that afternoon. Madam Pomfrey had made her promise she would take it easy, though it really wasn't necessary. Rain still felt a little fragile.

"Not much sleep again, huh?" asked Skye.

She just shook her head.

"Okay, that's it. I'm writing straight to Mum as soon as I get ahold of a quill and parchment."

She chose not to reply as Skye held the door of the hospital wing open for her. Rain stepped out into the hallway, smiling slightly when she was met by bright sunlight. Yep, it felt good to be up and about again.

"Skye, do you mind if we make a quick stop?"

"Nope. Where?"

"The bathroom-only for a second, so you needn't look at me like that."

Skye had narrowed his eyes at her.

"You don't have to fix anything. You look fine, no large, bloody bruises or scary pimples to be seen anywhere." he said simply.

Rain froze momentarily at the mention of bruises. Had Skye seen them? But...no, he couldn't have. She'd done a few quick healing spells and concealing charms on them this morning before Skye came. She realized he was kidding, though, and recovered herself quickly.

"Well, that's a comforting thought."

"I'm serious. You look pretty this morning, so don't fret about your appearance." Skye said, now turning away from her and looking straight ahead, as he usually did when doing something that other people would call 'mushy'.

Rain shot a side glance at her cousin, a smile growing.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

****

Skye shoved his hands into his pockets and kept walking.

"Skye,how's everything?"

"Eh?"

"I'm talking about the little predicament you have in your love life. How is it?"

"Er-what love life?"

"What?! I get knocked out for two days and suddenly you're acting like a sodding coward? We can't have any of that now..." Rain said, her eyes brightening with a little glow Skye knew too well.

"Hey...Rain...oh, no. What in heaven's name are you planning to do?"

"Oh, nothing---yet. Don't worry, dear."

Skye didn't reply anymore. There was obviously something wrong with Rain, though she was trying to conceal it by being cheerful and teasing him. Discreetly, he studied her, taking in every slight detail of the change that had happened to her in the course of a few days in the hospital wing.

"Don't look at me like that, Skye," Rain said.

"There's something about you that's changed, Rain. I can't put my finger on it...but it's there."

The grey eyes narrowed again as he watched his cousin bow her head and sigh slightly.

"I need to go to the library as soon as possible-" she started saying, but he cut her off.

"Not today. No, don't argue with me, Airen. You are not going anywhere near the bloody library today. You are going to spend the day catching up with the rest of your classmates and impressing the teachers at how fast you've learned your missed lessons, but will most definitely not go and work yourself to death in the library. Is that understood?"

Rain looked at him for a moment before nodding. Nobody disobeyed him when he used that tone of voice.

"Yes, Chosen," she whispered.

Skye stopped walking. He turned to face Rain fully.

"Excuse me?"

"You sound more like the Chosen of Elementalis than you do Skye Weasley when you use that voice. Have I ever told you that? Strong, determined...powerful."

"No, you never told me that before," Skye said slowly.

"Well, I never knew I was your protector before."

~*~

Skye ran a hand through his hair, frowning at his trunk. Where was it? He knew he'd placed it in his trunk last week...

"Looking for something, are you?" came Jon's voice.

"Yeah, actually. How'd you know?"

"Judging from the clothes, books, parchment and quills that are all over the dormitory at this moment, anyone would've known, mate."

Skye turned and cast a glance about the room before smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. I'll clean it up later."

"What are you apologizing to me for, Skye? Anyway, what is it you're looking for?"

"My copy of La Histoire. Seen it anywhere?"

Jon frowned a bit, as though thinking deeply. Skye watched as his best friend paced around a bit, walking in circles with his chin on his fist. Finally, Jon stopped.

"Well?" Skye asked expectantly.

"It's under your bed, you hugely blind pillock," Jon said, laughing.

Skye dove under his bed, hands groping for the thick volume.

"Aha!" he exclaimed triumphantly, standing up.

Skye quickly blew the dust off his book and leafed through it, searching for a page. His copy, like Rain's, was dog-eared and old. His mother had given this to him when he was little, and he hadn't parted with it since then.

"Jon," he asked absent-mindedly. "Any homework we have to do for tonight?"

"Er-Divination."

Looking up from the book, Skye groaned.

"You're not serious."

"Oh, but I am. That's why I came up here to look for you. Why? Anything you're going to do in particular?"

For a moment, Skye debated with himself whether he should tell Jon everything.

No. Now's not the time.

"No, nothing...c'mon. The sooner we'll get started, the sooner this torture will be over."

Why didn't I listen to Uncle Ron when he said Divination was a complete bore?

Skye grabbed some parchment, a quill and waved his hand. At once, all his things flew into his trunk, where they arranged themselves. Jon whistled.

"Wish I could do that. It would save me so much trouble when Mum hollers at me to fix my room back at home."

Both boys laughed and made their way to the common room.

****

As Skye entered the common room, she looked up. She didn't know why she always took notice when he entered a room, she just did.

"...and she yells something unintelligible, waving her arms like mad..." came Jon Wycheck's voice.

She watched as Skye chuckled appreciatively. A familiar clenching sensation was now in her stomach.

"Snap out of it, Celestia," said an amused voice.

Celestia turned to her right, facing Airen Weasley, who was sharing the table with her. Rain was reading a thick book on Transfiguration, but was grinning teasingly.

"Excuse me?"

"Stop staring at Skye like that. You're going to start drooling soon," said Rain, eyes still on the Transfiguration text.

Cel was silent. She looked at the Herbology notes in front of her, frowning thoughtfully.

"Why are you frowning?"

"Nothing."

Nothing? Oh, damn right it's nothing. It's your bloody cousin, that's what!

"Cel, how many classes do you and Skye have together?"

Celestia was taken aback by this sudden question, but answered the younger girl nonetheless.

"All, except for Divination. Why d'you ask, Rain?" she said, still frowning.

"Do you know how many girls in your year alone have a crush on my cousin?"

"Er-all except for all those with Weasley blood?"

Rain rolled her eyes. The younger girl blew a stray wisp of hair off her face.

"Too right. Only, he doesn't flirt, you know. It doesn't seem like it, I know, but Skye doesn't do that. And he doesn't use people for his own purposes either," Rain said.

Celestia raised her eyebrows.

"Why are you telling me all this, Rain?"

"Because I don't want you to get the wrong ideas about Skye. Besides, it's about time somebody set his reputation straight."

Celestia bit her lower lip.

"You're confusing me," she said.

Rain checked her watch and stood.

"Oops. I'd love to stay and chat some more, Cel, but I have a boyfriend waiting for me," Rain whispered with a conspiratorial wink.

And with that, the Gryffindor Keeper piled her books, tucked them into her bag, and exited the common room, leaving Celestia with her thoughts.

~*~

Fred watched his twin pace around. Then, he sent a questioning look at his wife, who was looking just as worried as George was.

"Alright, both of you, calm down," he said, shaking his head. "This is not getting us anywhere."

"How am I supposed to calm down, Fred? My only child is a thousand miles away, has just discovered that her destiny is to protect a legendary being for the rest of her life and is supposedly experiencing something bad right at this very instant! Tell me, how do I calm down?!" George fired.

Okay. Where along the road did George turn into a male version of Mum?

"Well, for starters, you can sit down. You're going to wear a hole in the floor," Fred managed to say without laughing at how funny George looked.

The three had been at George's house for an hour. George had summoned his brother and sister-in-law.

George sat in a chair in front of the fire. He stared at it darkly.

"Lets go through it again, George. What did you see?" Calla said, rubbing her forehead tiredly.

"In my dream, I saw Shi-am. I was in Elementalis-the temple, actually. She was talking to someone I couldn't see...she was saying that Rain had to be put to the test to prove if she was worthy."

Fred frowned too. He and George had only met the spirit called Shi-am once, and the impression she made on him was something...not good. While Calla and Skye often interacted with Shi-am, Fred and George had found her to be very bad company.

"Has Rain ever been to Elementalis?" Fred asked suddenly.

George sighed.

"No. Not after what happened before...I never want my daughter to set foot on that island until she really has to," spoke the widower softly, never taking his eyes off the fire. "Remember that night, Fred?"

Fred did, all too well....

The night was stormy as Fred and George forced their way forward. Heavy raindrops beat upon them while lightning streaked in the sky. The howling wind that seemed to be as strong as a gale wasn't helping them either.

"Where the bloody hell arewe?" Fred hollered in his twin's ear as they ran for the only building in sight, a small cottage on the edge of a steep cliff.

George didn't answer just then; they'd reached the cottage, and George was too busy wrenching the door open.

"Whew!" Fred let out a breath as he shut the door behind him. He shook his head, sending water flying everywhere.

George was still silent. He walked towards the empty fireplace, as though contemplating deeply.

"George, start a fire, willyou? We may as well get warm so we can think."

Fred frowned. George did not move, nor did he give any indication that he had heard his brother speak. George merely stood there, still as a statue, with water dripping from his wet form onto the floor.

"Honestly, has all that rain clogged up your ears? Oh, well."

Fred took out his wand and pointed it at the fireplace.

"Incendio," he said.

Nothing happened. Undaunted, Fred tried again...without success.

"Let me," said George softly, startling Fred out of his wits.

He waved a hand in front of the fireplace...and flames instantly appeared, spreading warmth throughout the whole room as though there had been a fire for hours.

Fred looked at his brother.

"Do you know where we are, George?" he asked slowly.

"Elementalis. The island of the Xandravia family."

Calla heaved a heavy sigh.

"This is hopeless. George, you know Rain will owl if there's something wrong. Don't worry about it just now, alright?" she said.

"She won't. She's too much like Alex to know when to ask for help..."

"No, George, she knows when it's time to shove her pride aside. You raised her to be like that, remember? Have a little faith in your daughter," Fred spoke.

George did not move for a while. Calla looked up at her husband with a confused expression in the beautiful grey eyes Skye had inherited, as though asking him for an answer. Fred merely shrugged.

"You two should go home," George finally whispered.

~*~

The blue eyes opened.

Ow.

Devon rubbed his neck where a nasty crick was starting to bother him. His eyes roved about the strangely familiar room, trying to make out where he was.

"What the hell-" he started to say until his eyes fell on something-or, rather, someone asleep on his shoulder.

Dark red hair spilled onto his sleeve. Smiling a bit, he stroked it gently.

This is wrong. Damn it, this is wrong...

The first rays of the sun were peeking in through the window. Devon took in every detail of the face that was turned to him, drinking in the odd sensation of having someone sleep in his arms. It was a feeling unfamiliar to him...yet, strangely, he found that he was enjoying it.

If anybody finds out about this-

A soft sound from Rain made Devon focus his attention on her again. She was starting to stir. She opened her eyes sleepily and gave a smile.

"Hi," she whispered, snuggling closer to him, putting her arms around his waist.

Devon allowed himself another smile.

"Good morning. Sleep well?" he whispered back.

"Better than I have in weeks, darling."

Rain shifted and planted a kiss on his cheek. He merely smiled and watched as the sunlight landed on her hair, giving it a sort of ethereal appearance.

"You're beautiful when the sunlight hits your hair at this angle. Did you know that?" Devon said, nuzzling her forehead.

Rain made a noise.

"Yeah, I was already aware that I look like my head's on fire."

"I never said that. I said that you are beautiful. And, for your information, I love your hair."

He watched as a slow blush crept onto Rain's cheeks. She ducked her head down as she bit a smile back...

...almost as though she was shy. How cute.

Sometimes, Airen Weasley looked breathtakingly beautiful. Most of the time, she was pretty. Of course, there were those moments when she resembled a saber toothed tiger. However, it was extremely rare that she simply looked...cute.

Shifting a bit, Devon checked his watch.

Damn it. Just when things were going so well, too.

"Rain," he whispered.

"Yeah?"

"We'll be late for breakfast."

Rain muffled a groan by burying her face in his chest. She held him tighter for a few seconds as though she didn't want to let go.

"I don't want to," she complained, looking up into his eyes with a pleading expression on her face that looked like it was calculated into wheedling him into agreeing.

"Neither do I, but unless we want to be found out, I think it would be wise to go into the Great Hall for meals on time," Devon forced out.

He didn't want to leave, in all honesty. But what was he to do? They didn't have much choice. Already, tongues were starting to wag in the Slytherin dungeons regarding his whereabouts during those times when he 'went off to think' or 'needed to do some extra research'.

Pouting adorably, Rain let go of Devon and moved away a bit, tilting her head from side to side.

"Ow, I think I am going to have a nasty cramp somewhere..."

"It was probably from your position all night. By the way, did you have a good sleep?" he asked, some secret part of him hoping that she would say yes.

"The best I've had in weeks," Rain replied, shooting him a smile over her shoulder.

****

Skye ran a hand through his already tousled hair. His grey eyes ran up and down the Gryffindor table as he worriedly poked at his bacon.

Where is she? It's not like her to sleep in, even though it's a Saturday.

"G'morning, mate," said Jon as he slid next to Skye.

"Yeah."

"A bit incoherent today, are we?"

"Just worried about Rain. Haven't seen her yet today," Skye mumbled.

"Actually, there she is."

Skye's head snapped up. He looked in the direction Jon was pointing. Sure enough, Rain was just entering the Great Hall, carrying herself as she usually did...even though there was a slight difference. Today, she had the slightest of odd-looking smiles on her face.

"Oi," he said when she slid into a seat near him.

Rain merely smiled sunnily, and pulled the bacon to her without a word.

Skye bit his lower lip. There was nothing visibly wrong with Rain, although he did have this distinct feeling that there was yet another thing that she was hiding from him.

To say that Skye and Rain never kept secrets from each other was a bit of an exaggeration. They told each other a lot, no doubt about that, but there really were things that Skye never felt comfortable having Rain know about, because, knowing his cousin, it would have meant a few days' worth of lectures and disgusted looks for him.

Yet, despite all this, Skye absolutely hated it when Rain was keeping something from him. She was extremely talkative, that girl, and when she wasn't saying anything about something she so obviously felt so strongly about...well, it bugged him.

He watched as Rain talked to their housemates, laughing as though she didn't have a care in the world. He waited patiently for her to finish her breakfast before dragging her up to the empty Gryffindor common room.

"Where in Merlin's name were you?" he hissed.

"Out, obviously."

"Rain, Jen told me you didn't sleep in your bed last night. I want to know where you were."

Rain let out a breath and sat down.

"Don't tell me. After you found out, you ripped the whole of Gryffindor Tower apart, searching for me, thus getting the whole of the Weasley clan currently residing within the confines of the castle properly upset-probably upset enough to notify their parents, who, in turn, would worry enough to have several Aurorsstart looking for me?"

Skye managed a little chuckle, weak as it was.

"No-o, actually. After I entered your dormitory and found that you really weren't there, I went down to the Great Hall and had some breakfast. I knew you'd be hungry soon enough," he replied. "So, how about telling me exactly where you spent the night?"

Rain pursed her lips. Her brown eyes seemed to glaze over just then, as though recalling some memory that she wanted to relive.

"The room in the West Wing," she said quietly.

"Mm-hm."

"What, you don't believe me?"

"It's not that, though I wouldn't put it past you to sleep in the Forbidden Forest if the thought entered your head. No, what's bothering me is...well...were you alone?" Skye managed to choke out.

To this, his cousin widened her eyes innocently, even though a mischievous little twinkle in them gave her away.

"Now, what makes you think that? Anyway, Skye, you shouldn't ask questions you don't want to be answered," Rain said carefully, most probably knowing what effect that would have upon Skye.

Skye frowned, the full meaning of this statement not hitting him until a second later, when he felt his jaw drop.

"What the---don't tell me you---dearest Lord---" he sputtered.

But Rain just laughed at him and rose from her seat to give him a gentle pat on the cheek.

"Well, well, well. I always knew you had quite a dirty mind, Skye, but, no, I did not. I did however, spend my evening with someone who is perfectly trustworthy enough to leave my virginity alone. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and get showered."

Skye could only shake his head in disbelief as he watched Rain run up to her dormitory, still giggling.

I sure don't want to be around when Rain plucks up the courage to tell Uncle George about this.

~*~