Guardians Of The Watchtowers

Part Three: Prelude To The Storm

Chapter Ten

"Mica said what?" Aubrey whispered nervously to Salinas during the first Potions class of the new term. The rest of the holidays had passed by subdued and uneventful.

Personally, Salinas was glad that nothing else had happened to her or anyone else. The issue with Mica and her dark predictions irritated Salinas to no end, and when classes started again, she was relieved to have schoolwork to distract her conscience from dwelling on whatever awaited them whenever Mica's prediction came to pass.

"I guess they've finally figured out what they're gonna do," Salinas said out of the corner of her mouth while she sprinkled beetle eyes into her cauldron and reached in front of Aubrey to use her brass scales. "I've just, oh I dunno, got real sick right quick of the whole issue ever since. . ." She tucked her long hair behind her ear and picked up a quill. Loading it with ink, she scribbled her observations onto some parchment. She turned to Aubrey again and said, "I'm not gonna worry. Whatever happens, we'll handle it."

She peered into her cauldron over the premise of checking her work, when in fact she just didn't want to press the matter further. She hadn't told anyone of her growing fear for her life and that of her grandfather's, and her absolute horror at the sheer thought of whatever the Death Eaters were coming to do. Perhaps it was her idealistic Newfoundland personality that made her display this façade of indifference and optimism when all she felt inside was fear and futility.

She snapped out of her self-pitying reverie when her cauldron boiled over. Her Second Sight Serum flooded the floor, and she sighed impatiently, jumping up away from the desk. "Damn," she said.

Aubrey looked sideways at Salinas. "Are you alright?"

Salinas took out her wand and pointed it at the floor, and her mess was cleared up. "Yeah," she said dismissively. "I guess I'll have to start over, that's all." She sat back down and rummaged through her ingredients to recreate her failed potion.

"I'm surprised at you, Miss Dumbledore," Snape said as he walked over to their desk. "That was a fairly simple potion."

Tell me about it, Salinas thought. "Yes, I knows, sir. I can do it again, though. No need to worry 'bout it." She leaned over and began preparing the potion once more. She managed to pull through, fixing her embarrassing blunder in the last twenty minutes of class, and receiving full marks for it.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the day, Salinas walked out of the dungeons in a complete daze. That had never happened before. She was used to making many irrelevant mistakes in all her other classes: an uncanny tendency to forget to carry the one in Arithmancy calculations that often resulted in her near-failure of assignments had followed her around since the beginning of her magical education. And she'd lost count of the times she'd killed some random important plant of Professor Sprout's in Herbology. But this was Potions. Just one of two subjects she had any sort of talent in, and the one she took the most pride in being proficient at. Both Professors Snape and Muise had told her on a few occasions that students like her were a rarity. Being absolute garbage in a lot of other facets of schoolwork made her take this compliment very highly. And then she had the gall to simply forget to watch a cauldron. It said a lot when she got sidetracked in her own thoughts enough to foul up an assignment. She didn't want to admit it, but it looked as though the business with Mica was starting to take an emotional toll on her.

Salinas moved to Gryffindor Tower almost automatically, gave the password, and put her books away in her dorm. Sighing, she trudged down the stairs to the common room. Jeimu was there, grinning as usual, the silver ring through her lower lip reflecting the light. "Come on, Sal," she motioned. "Dinner's ready!"

A warm feeling passed over Salinas suddenly. Maybe it was just plain hunger, but she felt that at the moment a dinner could do anything. She grinned back at Jeimu. "Dinner sounds great right 'bout now."

They headed to the Great Hall, which, as usual, was an excited centre of socialization. Salinas edged through the crowds with Jeimu and took her seat at the Gryffindor table. She surveyed the platters of lamb chops with a disgusted expression. "Great," she muttered to herself.

"What's the matter? You don't like lamb chops?" Jeimu said with a grin.

Salinas stuck her tongue out at her friend. "It just goes against me personal convictions to eat anythin' that goes baa. I was raised on poultry and fish, not sheep!" She giggled. "I thinks I'll just stick to potatoes an' gravy."

Jeimu helped herself to a large lamb chop. She cut a piece off and waved it in front of Salinas' nose. "Baa!" she said, smirking. "Okay," she said after seeing the look on Salinas' face. "What's wrong, Sal?"

"Everything." Salinas said bitterly. "I screwed up in Potions today 'cause I had Mica on me brain."

Jeimu raised an eyebrow. "The words 'you', 'screw up', and 'Potions' in the same sentence. Now I'm scared."

"Thanks, Jay," Salinas said, sounding a bit irate. "Where Mica's concerned, I don't even know what they did wit' her."

"I wouldn't worry. I'd just eat my potatoes if I were you. Besides, you're like Snape's star student. I think he'll let you get away with one failure. It happens to the best of us. Look at me in Herbology, I'm worse than you, in the bloody hospital wing every other day. "

Salinas finally laughed. "Touché," she said. "You're right. I'm just bein' a sook."

"That's the spirit," Jeimu smiled. "What's a sook, anyway?"

Salinas rolled her eyes. "A whiner. " She took a bite of potato. "So anyway, are we doin' anything tonight?"

"Well, I was planning to go to sleep. Y'know, that Mandrake we were fixing up in Herbology gave me a nasty headache."

Salinas shuddered. "Don't remind me," she said. "I don't think I'll have much time for sleep. I have to go to the library sometime this week so's I can start me independent study in Potions. Snape's given us a few classes off to do it. I've resigned meself to racking me brain tonight for a decent topic. Lucky old Professor Benoit taught me how to conjure up caffeinated beverages." She drained her glass of pumpkin juice and stood up. "And you're going to help me."

The two girls exited the Great Hall together and trundled up the main staircase. It was cold, and they hugged themselves against the icy draughts that plagued the corridors. Salinas made a mad grab for Jeimu's cloak several times as she slipped on a random patch of ice. Eventually, and with their toes rather frozen, they made their way to Gryffindor Tower.

It was more or less deserted, a few students here and there slumped on couches and the like. They made no commotion as they went upstairs to their dorm.

"Finally, I can sleep!" Jeimu fell backward with a flourish on her four-poster bed. Salinas looked at her sullenly and pulled out her wand, conjuring two steaming cups of coffee out of thin air. She handed one to Jeimu.

"Drink. We'll need to stay up."

"But Sal," Jeimu whined, rolling over to look out the window. "It's so --" She stopped short and stared, agape.

"Jay, what the hell -- " Salinas looked too and stopped short.

She didn't know whose room window they were looking into, but she knew one of those silhouettes that was moving provocatively across the window.

"That's me sister," she whispered.

"Okay," Jeimu said, "but who's the other one? And just what the hell are they doing?" She laughed.

"I thinks it's pretty obvious!" Salinas said, sipping her coffee. "They're uh . . . Well, at least now I knows Shas ain't single."

They looked again at the window, grinning evilly. Jeimu was counting under her breath. "Sal!" she said suddenly. "D'you know whose room that is?"

"Do I want to know who me sister's sleepin' with?" she wondered out loud.

"Well, this may not mean anything, but that's Snape's room." Jeimu said before collapsing into giggles.

Salinas made a face. "That's just nasty, b'y. Although it kinda makes sense."

Jeimu looked at Salinas. "Those lovey-eyes at Christmas?"

Salinas nodded. "Exactly." She closed the curtains and opened up a book. "And as disturbin' as that was, no doubt, I needs to work on this. I doubt a little action'll make the Snaper any less anal if I don't have a topic t' study."

The next day, Salinas prodded Jeimu in the ribs. "We're late. Fifteen minutes till classes!"

Jeimu sprang out of bed. "Bloody hell," she muttered. "It's bad enough that I'm flunking Transfiguration -- I don't need to be late!"

They dressed quickly and shot out of the common room as quickly as possible. Salinas quickly conjured fat donuts for the two of them to eat as they sprinted up the stairs to Professor McGonagall's classroom. They entered the room and sat down at the exact instant the bell to start rang.

Salinas found Transfiguration a very interesting subject. It was challenging, but she managed to succeed in it through hard work. She liked Professor McGonagall as well; her structured manner made for a very comfortable environment, and the fact that she remembered the teacher as a kind, smiling lady when she lived at Hogwarts was an enjoyable perk.

"Today," McGonagall said, "we will be beginning our unit on Animagi. You have studied this briefly in previous years. However, this year's study will be much more in-depth, in preparation for your NEWT exams. Some of you may acquire enough information and knowledge to even attempt the Animagus transformation yourself."

An excited murmur rose through the class. Salinas raised her eyebrows in interest.

"We'll be studying the process used to achieve the transformation," McGonagall continued, "and as a start, today we will look at what factors are involved in becoming an Animagus." She approached the blackboard and tapped it with her wand. It automatically took notes while she spoke.

"Most people make the decision to be Animagi after they have had extensive experience in the field of Transfiguration. In fact, three-quarters of registered Animagi have studied for doctorates in the subject. But anyone who is willing to undertake the work required, and is willing to face the risks, can do it.

"The Ministry of Magic classifies Animagi into two categories. Those who consciously make the decision to become Animagi, and those who acquire the talent as a byproduct of powerful magical ancestry. There have only been four cases of someone being what we refer to as a predisposed Animagus since the Ministry began its registry in 1304.

"There is still much mystery surrounding the exact cause of predisposition, as it is such a rare thing. Whereas someone who is not predisposed can have some control over which animal they would change into, and when to first attempt the change, a predisposed individual's first transformation will occur unconsciously. They will change without having any control over what they become. "

Salinas raised her hand. "Does that mean that they can't transform at will, at all?"

"No, Miss Dumbledore. Once the first transformation is complete, the individual has instantly acquired the skill and knowledge of an Animagus who has studied for years. They can now change back and forth at will."

Jeimu raised her hand as well. "You mentioned 'powerful magical ancestry'. What d'you mean by that?"

"It means that if your ancestors on both sides were powerful wizards or witches, you would have a chance of displaying some unique magical talent without effort. Being able to be an Animagus is just one of many ways this ancestry exhibits itself. Most of the time, the individual does not even know that they are predisposed to anything. It just - shows up."

Someone else raised their hand. "Which category do you fall under, Professor?"

McGonagall smiled. "I am not predisposed. It took me nearly five years to figure it out; I was registered when I was nineteen. "

The discussion ended there; McGonagall set them homework ( 'Compare the requirements for becoming an Animagus between predisposed and non-predisposed individuals'), and they got to work doing it. Salinas found it incredibly interesting. She'd only touched on the subject of Animagi at Burgeo, mostly because Canada hadn't seen a registered one in over three hundred years. Almost forty-five minutes had passed, and she was almost done. She flipped through her book looking for some examples to answer her essay question. Jeimu poked Salinas in the shoulder.

"There's a Quidditch match this afternoon, after lunch. Why don't you watch it for a change? You've got Friday afternoons off like the rest of us. Besides, I want some company while I commentate." Jeimu grinned.

"Yeah, sure." Salinas scribbled the last of her answer in her book, and closed it. "Who's playing?"

"Your boyfr -- I mean, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw."

"You were going to say 'my boyfriend and your sister', weren't you?" Salinas laughed.

"Yeah, Harry and his ex-'crush'." Jeimu made little quotations with her fingers. "It should be good; they're both excellent Seekers. But not as good as you, and that pisses me off because you could have played for Gryffindor but didn't try out!" She spoke rather fast, and as she finished, the closing bell rang.

After a not-so-productive spare, Salinas headed out with the rest of the school to the Quidditch pitch. She met up with Jeimu and the two of them headed up into the stands. Jeimu took her magical megaphone from Professor McGonagall and settled herself down. Salinas sat beside her, craning her neck over the pitch.

It was a good day for Quidditch, Salinas mused. A gorgeous, sunny January day. The grounds around the pitch were sprinkled with snow but the green turf of the pitch itself shone in the sunlight.

"So are you ready to see them play?" Jeimu said, poking her in the ribs. "It's gonna be great. Just watch."

Salinas watched amusedly as the teams came out onto the pitch; the red-robed players for Gryffindor, and the blue-clad Ravenclaw team. She folded her arms and scanned the skies; her game instincts were still sharp after all this time. She noticed Harry over toward one end of the pitch, looking immensely concentrated; then she saw Cho, Jeimu's twin sister, doing the same. She smiled, trying to remember how it felt to be out there.

"OK, Hogwarts!" Jeimu was saying, "it's the first game of the new year. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw."

Salinas looked down into the middle of the pitch and saw Madam Hooch, whom she remembered vaguely as the coach, stepping out onto the pitch with the crate of balls. She released the two Bludgers, then the Snitch, and finally the Quaffle.

"And they're off! Ravenclaw in possession now, a nice pass there, intercepted by Gryffindor. . ."

Jeimu's commentary babbled itself into background noise as Salinas watched the game. Perhaps it had something to do with not having been exposed to the game for such a long time -- but every move these players made read like poetry to her mind's eye. The way they darted around, feinting one another, seemed like something so mythical that she longed to be out there again.

She didn't know how much time had passed -- Ravenclaw were leading by ten points -- but there was an utter uproar when Cho suddenly went vertical and shot up through the play into the sky above the pitch. Salinas looked up and saw it immediately. A little gold ball, hovering in the air as though to spite them all, glinted in the light. Cho was reeling toward it rapidly, her hand outstretched . . .

Salinas gasped as a red blur whirled by, out of nowhere. It was Harry; he was banking in toward the Snitch, going so fast that it was nearly impossible to see anything. But she could see, and she was amazed. He had caught it. She wondered fleetingly how she managed not to notice his ability while she beat him during the previous year, and she smiled. He was good. There was beauty in his flying, and she had been utterly stupid to not see it. Suddenly she felt honoured to have actually -- if only for a short moment -- beaten him at his own sport.

The roar of applause from the spectators snapped Salinas out of her musings. She cheered along with the rest of them, waving the seven players on as they did a victory lap of the pitch.

"How'd you like that, Sal?" Jeimu asked from beside her. "Kind of makes you want to try out and see if you can't get on, doesn't it?"

Salinas smiled. "Yes b'y," she said as she looked out into the field. "It do."

Chapter Eleven

The remainder of January passed without a hitch; Salinas and Aubrey managed to get their independent studies into Professor Snape on time, and the more ambitious seventh years (Salinas, Aubrey, Eve and Jeimu among them) were fully in preparation for NEWT exams. And Salinas made a point to watch every single Quidditch game. Somehow, Jeimu's insistence that she watch had re-ignited her passion for the game she had, until then, all but forgotten.

One crisp day near the middle of the month, Gryffindor had just closely beaten Slytherin in a late afternoon match. Salinas had watched, still in awe of Harry's talent, and that of the other six players on the team. She was heading back upstairs to Gryffindor Tower when a thought struck her. She grinned awkwardly to herself and raced up to her dormitory. She climbed the spiral staircase and pushed open the oak door. Jeimu was facing the corner, oblivious to Salinas being in the room. She was mouthing some Japanese pop tune; no doubt she'd charmed her radio to play only for her. Salinas didn't stop to say anything. She reached down below her bed and pulled out a long trunk bearing the Burgeo coat of arms carved ornately in a plaque of maple wood. She flipped open the lid, and there it was. Her grin broadened.

Encased in burgundy velour was her most prized possession. Her custom-built Na Creige broomstick. She'd never flown it; the broom-maker of Port Aux Basques had given it to her before she left.

But tonight, she was going to test the thing out. As quietly as she could, she picked the broomstick up, took her cloak off the heater and exited the room.

She crept out of the Tower, and down into the castle grounds. The sun had long since set, and the moon hung high and full in the sky. Millions of stars dotted the sky, illuminating the path to the Quidditch pitch.

It was cold; she adjusted her scarf around her neck as she walked onto the turf of the circular field. Without any hesitation, Salinas mounted her broomstick and sped off.

This new broom of hers was amazingly responsive. She had only to slightly turn or lean and it would perform whatever sort of manoeuvre she wanted. Flying like this, the thrill it caused within her, were all things she'd long forgotten. She pulled up and rose into the night at a dizzying speed. She was extremely high up -- she could see over the castle -- when she dove suddenly, speeding toward the ground only to level out at the last minute and bank slowly around the curve of the pitch.

She landed as gracefully as she could in the centre of the pitch and sat down, catching her breath.

"So Sal," someone said, "is that how you beat me? With that dive?"

Salinas turned around. "No," she said, standing up. "The reason I beat ye, Harry, is because I am better than you." She grinned.

Harry pulled a face. "That too, I guess," he said sarcastically, before returning her smile. "So why on earth are you out here? It's bloody cold."

She laughed. "Well, I thought I'd resurrect me flying abilities."

"And they're very good ones at that."

Salinas brushed aside the comment. "I still can't figure out, really, how I beat ye. I saw ye today, and holy shit, ye're amazing. When it comes down to it, I guess I was just lucky."

Harry smiled awkwardly. "Maybe," he said. "Or maybe you're just damn good, like I told you." He gave her a playful hug.

"So," Salinas said, still in his arms, "what brought ye out here?"

"Jeimu said you'd left with a broomstick when I asked her where you were. I just put two and two together and assumed you'd be out here. Even though it's freezing."

"It's not that cold," she said, stepping back from him and picking up the broomstick. "But if ye wants, we can go back inside. Come up to our dorm if ye wants, I think Jay's got some hot chocolate goin'."

"Sounds good to me," Harry said, and they left the pitch together.

They walked up the sloped lawn of the castle, talking about flying and tactics the whole way. (Salinas still vehemently defended her constant feinting strategy and suggested Harry tried it sometime.) The exchange continued until they reached the Tower, gave the password, and came into the deserted common room. The only noise came from the merrily crackling fire.

"Wow," Salinas said. "I guess dinner was really good."

"Yeah," Harry replied, looking around.

Salinas lay her cloak on a chair and headed over to the couch opposite the fire. She sat down on it and curled up. "Harry," she said, "can I ask ye something?"

He came around and sat beside her. "Sure," he nodded.

"What made you want to play Quidditch?"

"I dunno," he said. "They offered me the position after they saw me fly. I've always been a natural at flying, so it seemed the right thing to do. And yourself?" He sidled over, closer to her.

"I worked me arse off to get that position," she mused. "I got to Burgeo when I was seven, and after my first time watching a game, I knew I had to play that game. I wasn't a natural at anything," she said, leaning on his shoulder. "I just watched, and learned, and worked. Me first two years there, I must've flown like two hours a day, just to get that right. And eventually it stuck, and they let me be the Seeker when I was thirteen."

"Really?" Harry asked. "You've only been playing four years?"

"Creepy, isn't it?" Salinas said. "After a while, it became second nature. It all became easy, and I've only ever lost three games."

"I lost twice," Harry said. "Once to you. And one time three years ago, there were Dementors at school --"

"Don't you hate those goddamn things?" Salinas said loudly. "They screw ye right up, make ye pass out if ye're especially depressed."

"Which is why I lost," he said, grinning sheepishly. "And how do you know about Dementors?"

Salinas laughed. "Shasta," she said simply. "She's some sort o' sadist sometimes, and she thought it'd be funny if I came with her to Azkaban. This was two summers ago. We go in there, I see one of them, and -- bam -- I passes out like someone knocked me over th' head."

"Your sister," he said, "are you close to her?"

Salinas nodded. "Very. When she told me she was going off to be an Auror, it nearly killed me. That's what me parents did, and they was never around. Which is why their death didn't bother me as much as it should've. But, anyway, she went off to Ontario to get trained wit' our Ministry when I was younger, and I thinks I cried for like two days. I loves my sister," she said. "What about yer family?" she asked. "I means, the ones you live with now."

"They're evil," he said with a laugh. "They have this sort of medieval attitude toward magic, so until I was eleven, my room was the cupboard underneath the staircase. And it was full of spiders, too."

Salinas cringed. "That's some harsh, b'y," she said.

"No matter," he said simply, as though he no longer wished to discuss it. "Soon enough, I'll be able to leave them behind." He put his arm around her and they sat snuggled together in front of the fire.

They sat talking for hours about everything that crossed their minds, and by the time they were done, each knew the other's life story. They were completely unaware of the people who surrounded them for awhile after supper, who lagged around in the evening, and who finally went upstairs to bed.

It was only after the common room was quiet again that Salinas looked around. "Well," she said. "It's late."

Harry nodded, and they left their spot on the couch and headed up the staircase to the tower in silence.

When they reached the landing where they had to part ways, Salinas paused for a moment. "We should do that more often," she whispered.

He smiled. "We should," he said, before kissing her gently on the lips. "Good night," he called to her as he headed one way.

"'Night," she replied, stunned. Giggling, she climbed the four extra flights of stairs to her dorm.

Jeimu was there, bouncing on her bed, this time actually singing her Japanese pop tune.

"Sagasu hodo no chikara . . . And what are you so giggly about?" she asked.

Salinas smiled slyly, but didn't say anything.

Jeimu turned down her music. "You did NOT," she asked.

Salinas blinked. "NO!" she exclaimed. "We snuggled in front o' the fire! That so bad?"

Jeimu laughed. "No, I guess not," she said as she turned the volume back up. "Bokutachi wa --I hope you realize how much he fancies you," she said wisely, speaking through her song.

"I does. And rest assured, he's a great kisser."

Jeimu grimaced. "Tachisukumu koe mo naku -- I did NOT want to know that, Sal. As far as I'm concerned, he appreciates the fact that you didn't know him personally the past few years. You don't treat him like a fragile nutter. Too many people tried that, and it fell apart for them." Jeimu made a face and continued to bounce.

"Like who?" Salinas asked, slightly disturbed by this news.

Jeimu was still singing. " . . . ichido toberu darou -- My sister, in fact. They're friends, but it just didn't work for them on that level. Let me tell you, he got over her in a hurry. Too many people -- and Cho was one of them -- treated Harry like he's some tortured soul. She was such a bloody drama queen about it to boot, crying every two minutes, trying to dredge up the past every goddamn time they were together. . . You like him as a person, not as the icon he is. I don't usually offer an opinion on these things, but he deserves someone like you."

Salinas looked at Jeimu. "I never realized that it was like that," she said.

"It is," Jeimu replied. "And when Cho came crying to me the day they broke up, I didn't sympathize with her one bit. I never told her, but Harry complained to me a fair few times, and I realized what was going on. She was a stupid baka for treating him that way. The kid's been through a lot, and you damn well trust me when I say a lot, but he's damn strong and he's got through it. He's got quite the bloody temper on him, but he's not fragile, he doesn't need anything in particular from anyone else. He cares for you, but I don't think he expects you to be more than a girlfriend."

What Jeimu was saying made sense to Salinas. She got onto the bed and bounced with Jeimu, and they finished the song, the two of them harmonizing in fluent Japanese, which Salinas had only learned through being Jeimu's room-mate for nearly six months.

"What does that song mean, anyway?" Salinas asked as the song finished. "I've known the words for months, but their meanin'. . ."

Jeimu smiled. "It was fitting for what we were talking about. It's more or less about being lost, and not being able to express what you feel."

Salinas grinned, suddenly not in the mood for seriousness. "You're a good singer, you know that? Start a band, b'y."

The other girl threw a pillow in Salinas' face. "Shut up, Sal."

"I means it," Salinas said, throwing another pillow back. Jeimu screamed and ran around the room, with her roommate close behind, armed with a blue fluffy pillow. Their pillow fight lasted a while, and it was close to four in the morning until the lights went out in their room.

-Chapter Twelve

The sunlight streamed in through the window, hitting Salinas full in the face. Her eyes shot open and she groaned.

"It's too early, b'y," she muttered.

From the other side of the room she noticed Jeimu sit straight up and look around. "It's Sunday," she said sleepily, smacking her lips. "We're allowed to have a lie-in." She fell back down on her pillow with a soft fwump, and seemingly drifted off to sleep.

But Salinas was fully awake. Reaching across to her nightstand, she put on her glasses and crept down the stairs, still in her ratty pyjamas. The common room was deserted, and she moved to sit down on her usual couch spot.

A hiss and yowl kept her from doing so.

"Orroko?" Salinas squinted. It was indeed Aubrey's cat, curled up, her bright yellow eyes glaring at the bewildered girl, who slowly and fearfully reached out to stroke Orroko's calico fur. "And how did you get in here?" The cat leapt into her lap, and she stiffened, feeling the cat's claws pick into her skin. "Aubrey must want somethin', eh?" Aubrey had trained Orroko to fetch people back at Burgeo. Many a secret plot there had been unravelled thanks to the cat's talent. Salinas wasn't exactly a cat person; she gingerly lifted Orroko off her lap and looked down at her. "Then take me to her," she sighed.

Orroko's tail swished, she looked at Salinas briefly, and leapt off the couch toward the passage out of the common room. Salinas sighed and followed.

She didn't walk far; perhaps a few corridors, when she saw Aubrey waiting, sitting cross-legged at the base of a giant statue of a wizard holding a castle in his hand. Orroko padded across the gilded floor and sprang into her owner's arms.

"Hey!" Salinas said, waving to her friend. "What's going on?"

Aubrey looked incredibly downcast. "I don't know what else I was supposed to do, Sal," she whispered. "But the others in my House . . . in Slytherin . . . they're giving me a hard time about being your friend, 'cause you're in Gryffindor, after all . . . And I know the point of us coming here is to keep you off the radar of the Death Eaters, so . . ."

Salinas smiled. "You're tellin' me that you're not going to associate with me outside o' class."

Aubrey nodded. "I'm really sorry, Sal, you're my best friend. But I don't want to draw attention to you."

"It's fine. We're in Potions every damn day, and there's letters, don't forget. It's not a hopeless situation, b'y." She was irked, but they hadn't seen that much of one another very much anyway. "'S not that much of an adjustment. There'll be lots o' time for t'ings once we're done here."

Aubrey grinned. "I guess so," she said, stroking Orroko's back.

"Now let's get some breakfast, and be friends for as long as we can before everyone else wakes up." She motioned toward the Great Hall.

They entered the massive room, the ceiling above them a dazzling orange-and-violet splendour, and sat down at the end of a table. Salinas picked up a piece of toast. "So," she said, "how's life in Slytherin?"

Aubrey grinned. "Not too bad," she said, "but the people in there are so . . . elitist, that it's scary. And they're all stupid. I just keep to myself mostly. Until they all noticed that I'm hanging out with you," she added bitterly. "Then they noticed who I was. That really burns my ass," she said, "but I don't want a huge episode all over the school."

"It burns me ass, too," Salinas said, "and nothing would give me more pleasure right now than t' murder the whole lot of them right this second - but you're right, we should keep it cool. Only four more months to go, anyway," she said. "We can vent our anger in letters."

"Sounds like a pl - Oh, shit," Aubrey said, looking over her shoulder. "Here they come, the stupid idiots." She got up from the table and headed in the opposite direction. Salinas watched her as she was approached by a gang of sixth-and-seventh year students, seemingly led by a young man with slick blond hair. He wore a sneer on his face, and spoke to Aubrey, trying his hardest to come across as intimidating. She caught a snippet of a conversation: ". . . fraternizing with the enemy! After we specifically told you. . . They put our fathers in Azkaban, you know, and you're consorting with HER? She's Dumbledore's granddaughter, for Christ's sake! And you know very well what we - "

Slam. Salinas pounded her fist on the table and got up. She wasn't going to stand for it anymore. They were antagonizing her best friend, even after she'd agreed to what they wanted her to do. Her frustration from the Mica situation, to the separation from her friends, it all welled up inside her until, almost out of control, she raced toward the Slytherins. She went for the blond one, and as he was almost a full head taller than she was, she seized him by his collar, and wrenched his face down to her level. "By the lard t'undrin' Jesus," she said in a voice of deadly calm and repressed accent, "you'd better stay the hell away from her if you know what's good for you. I don't give two shits about your father or anyone else's, but it was not her fault and it was not mine, and the fact that we are friends should be of little consequence to you, you little f-"

He squirmed to get out of her grip, and reached for his wand. Still holding him by his collar, Salinas seized it first. "I don't want a goddamn fight," she said. "But if you want to start one, you can fucking well go ahead and we'll see what happens."

He laughed derisively, "All I'd have to do, Dumbledore, is tell Professor Snape - "

"Snape can't do jack all to me," Salinas said, still holding the young man. "I'm not afraid of him. You leave her," she pointed to Aubrey, "the hell alone." She dropped his wand at his feet, let go of his collar, and turned to leave.

A scuffle ensued, and she heard the beginning of a spell. "Pet -"

"MALFOY!"

Salinas turned. The voice was icy, cold, and severe. It was Snape.

"What on earth do you think you're doing? Cursing another student. . ." He seized Malfoy by the arm and hauled him away. The gang followed, muttering sullenly and looking darkly at both Aubrey, who stood rigid from shock, and Salinas, who was panting, still red in the face. For some reason, she was confused. Snape hardly ever punished Slytherin students.

Aubrey's eyes were filled with tears; she turned around and grabbed Salinas in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered, "oh, God, thank you so much, Sal."

"What - what's wrong?"

"T-they know something about me, Sal. Something that you don't even know. They expect me to be all for this let's-side-with-Voldemort shit. And do you want to know why they think I should support him? Do you?"

Salinas was shaking with fright. Aubrey never lost her temper. "No, I don't," she said calmly.

"It's because he's my goddamned father, Sal," she said, burying her face in her hands and sinking to the floor. "Voldemort - Tom Riddle - he's my father. H-he got ahold of my mother, and. . . well, she didn't even know him, he thought she was just some half-blood he could . . . you know. And I was born out of it. I've never seen the man, I just know his name."

Salinas just gaped. Aubrey. . . was related to that thing? She didn't know what to say. As if this intentional separation from her best friend wasn't bad enough, she was now faced with something that could potentially ruin everything. "You're sure?" she said shakily. "Aubrey, I . . . I don't know what t' say to ye," Salinas sat down beside her now sobbing friend. "Don't let those arseholes get t'ye, honey," she said quietly. "Just take what they say with a grain o' salt. Now c'mon, b'y. Git up."

She took Aubrey's hand and raised her friend up. "You should get back to your common room," Salinas said, "and if those fuckwits give you a hard time, just tell Snape. Tell him that I told you to talk to him. He can't disagree with a potential sister in law."

Aubrey chuckled. "What? You mean to tell me that Shasta. . .and Snape. . .?"

Salinas nodded. "It certainly looks that way, and lemme tell ye, that's worse than Volde-thing."

Through her tears, Aubrey smiled. "I suppose it isn't as bad as Snape-in-law," she said pensively. Brushing dust off her shirt, she straightened up and wiped her eyes, though they were still slightly red from the exertion of crying, and walked down the corridor, away from Salinas.

"See you in class tomorrow, I guess," Aubrey said with a wave.

"Yeah," Salinas said, "Bye." She turned and went back to the Great Hall to where her cooling breakfast still lay untouched. She sat down, picked up her fork, and ate slowly. So Aubrey was Voldemort's daughter. She sighed. So much for staying incognito, she thought bitterly, then chided herself. Despite the situation coming across as a horrible representation of Murphy's Law, it wasn't Aubrey's fault who her father was. She was not him. To blame her for anything that could happen was a juvenile thing, something that those Slytherin idiots who had been tailing Aubrey would do. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Jeimu, Hermione, and Harry walking to the table. Jeimu placed her hand on Salinas' head and squeezed.

Salinas jumped out of her seat and brandished her fork at her attacker. "Wha-?" She blinked at her friends. "Oh, I'se sorry." She sat back down and speared a bit of scrambled egg.

"Um, that's OK," Jeimu said warily as the three settled themselves at the table around Salinas and began their breakfast.

"So what are you doing still in your pyjamas?" Harry asked Salinas, who glared at him over her toast.

"It's not even seven in the mornin' yet," she said, pointing to the almost entirely deserted Great Hall. "I figured I could get away wit' it."

"We should try the whole eating-in-pyjamas thing more often," Jeimu said. "Although the prospect of Harry in pyjamas just might make me lose my appetite." She grinned cheekily, despite Harry's look of deep momentary hatred. "But anyway, we got up because we couldn't find you. I thought you'd gone missing from the dorm, and screamed bloody murder for all to hear until these two woke up. And then we found you."

Salinas raised an eyebrow. Jeimu was uncharacteristically giddy this morning. "Uh huh. And?"

"I think that's her story," Hermione said.

"What can I say," Jeimu said, "I'm a freak."

"You said it, not us," Harry said mildly.

Salinas looked at them, smiling. She wasn't going to tell them about Aubrey. It was Aubrey's decision to tell people, not hers. Breaking her best friend's confidence on the issue would only make things worse. "Jeimu, yes, me dear, you are a freak. Stop botherin' Harry. And Harry, stop walkin' into her insults. For your information, Jeimu wears cartoon-character pyjamas, b'y."

"I most certainly do NOT!" Jeimu said, laughing, as Harry looked at Jeimu with a mixture of fear and sympathy. "OK, fine, but only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and alternate Fridays."

"Monday. . ." Salinas had a sudden brainwave. "Tomorrow's Monday. . ."

She fell onto the table with a huge thud and landed face-down. "There is a test in Potions tomorrow."

Jeimu and Harry snorted with laughter as Salinas lay still for a moment. "Uh, Sal?" Harry asked timidly.

Salinas groaned into the table. "It's not funny," she whined. "It's our first of three NEWT 'dummy runs'." She made air quotes above her head.

"Don't you love school, Sal?" Jeimu said. "You're seventeen and already you're cracking up."

"There, there," Harry said in mock sympathy. "It'll all be OK." He patted her head gently.

"I think I'm going to suffocate myself in these eggs," Salinas said, sitting up and eyeing her plate. "And dammit, I can't believe I forgot we had the test. . .tomorrow! Like I wants t' spend Sunday studyin' fer it."

"If we've said it once, Sal, we'll say it again. . . " Jeimu grinned at the others.

"'You're like Snape's star student; he'll never fail you.'" Harry and Hermione chorused.

Salinas smiled. "You're right," she said resignedly. "Well," she said with a sigh, "I think I just might be able to pass it off if I gets down to business right this minute and starts studyin'."

"You're worse than Hermione," Harry said, wincing under a reproving glare from the bushy-haired girl.

"There's nothing like being prepared, Harry dear," Salinas said mockingly, finishing her eggs and standing up. She grinned at them as she left the Great Hall and headed back up toward the common room. She walked in contemplative silence for awhile. So Aubrey was getting antagonized by the Slytherins because of her relation to Voldemort; and they expected her to jump on the Death Eater bandwagon and cease her friendship with Salinas. Salinas herself groaned. That had been the first time in a long while that she'd seen her friend outside of class, and Eve . . . she hadn't seen her quirky Quebecois comrade since Christmas. The entire prospect of Hogwarts being a safe refuge for Salinas and her friends, like her grandfather had intended, was quickly turning out to be just the opposite, as their presence and division amongst the houses had only made them stand out even more, when in fact, they were supposed to be avoiding attention, as Aubrey had said.

Salinas was so lost in thought that she almost walked headfirst into the Fat Lady's portrait. "Watch out!" the painting cried.

"Sorry," Salinas mumbled. "Whoopty doo," she said further, giving the recently-changed password. The painting swung forward and she climbed through the hole into the concealed door. Now completely confused by her situation, she wandered aimlessly up to her dormitory and sat on her bed.

A painful poking sensation made her stand up. "What the hell's up wit' this stuff, now?" she said irately, scanning her bed for whatever it was she had sat on. Salinas saw it; a letter. She picked it up and read the address on it: Nakuru Summers, Hogwarts School.

"Who in God's name is. . ." Sighing resignedly, she walked back down the staircase and into the common room again, where several students sat yawning and scratching their heads as they obviously decided whether or not to go to breakfast.

"Hey!" she said loudly, getting their attention. "Is Nakuru Summers in this house, b'y?"

A few blank looks, then one student yelled back, "She's in Ravenclaw."

Salinas raised an eyebrow and looked back down at the letter she held. Whoever had sent it had bad aim. I guess I'll have to give it to her, she thought. Turning on her heel, she catapulted back up the stairs, went into her room, and dressed at lightning speed. She had to be quick about this; after all, she had her work to do.

She left the common room and headed for Professor McGonagall's office. Salinas reasoned that McGonagall would be able to assist her in locating this Nakuru person, and she walked up the corridor, counting doors as she went. Salinas had never had a reason to conference with her Head of House, and she only knew of where McGonagall could be found.

The fourth door on her right was the one; it was labelled. Salinas knocked on it tentatively, and it swung open of its own accord. Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk marking papers. She looked sternly over her square-shaped glasses at Salinas. "Can I help you, Miss Dumbledore?"

"Yes, ma'am," Salinas said politely. "I just got back from breakfast this mornin' and there was a letter on me bed. 'S not addressed to me, and I don't know who the person is. I was wonderin' if you could help me find her. Someone in me house said she's in Ravenclaw." She held out the parchment letter.

McGonagall smiled slightly. "I'm sure I could do that for you," she said, standing up and coming around to stand in front of Salinas. "I'll tell Nakuru's Head of House to arrange for you to give the letter to her sometime today."

"Then I just holds onto this?" Salinas asked. "And you'll be in contact with me?"

"Exactly. I shall owl you later."

Salinas grinned. "Well thanks, Professor. I needs to get back to me Potions work, so . . . "

"Very well, you can go. I daresay you were going to go anyway. You are, after all, Albus' granddaughter, and you two are very much alike in doing as you please. . . to a certain degree, anyway." McGonagall smiled again.

"I begs to differ," Salinas said, "but you're not the first to tell me that." She nodded herself out of the office and headed back to the Gryffindor common room with the mysterious letter still in hand. It looked as though she was going to meet this Nakuru person today, but not before studying for her Potions test. With a scowl, she finally plunked down onto her bed with her notes and a practice exam in hand and set to work.

She was vaguely aware of time passing; after awhile the noon sun shone directly overhead, dimming the light coming in through the windows, and Jeimu came in to tell Salinas that it was time for lunch. "And there's an owl here for you," the Oriental girl said, tossing Salinas a parchment scroll.

"I'll be down in a sec," Salinas said. Jeimu nodded to indicate that she would wait, and left. Salinas tore open the letter.

Please meet with me in the Entrance Hall at one o'clock today with my letter.

-Nakuru Summers

Looking at the clock, Salinas realized that it was close to a quarter to one; she would be hard-pressed to eat a decent helping of lunch. Sighing resignedly and with a distinct impression that hardly anything would go right from this point forward, Salinas pocketed Nakuru's letter and headed back to the Great Hall with Jeimu.

"Studying done?" Harry asked innocently when Salinas sat at the Gryffindor table beside him. He looked slightly relieved to see that Salinas was not glaring at him.

"Yup," Salinas said nonchalantly, "just about all ready for the dummy run." She grabbed a bowl of salad and a few chicken sandwiches and ate quickly, keeping an eye on her watch. When one o'clock approached she stood up, apologized for eating and running, and headed out into the vast and slightly drafty Entrance Hall to meet up with the enigmatic Nakuru.

Chapter Thirteen

She could see whom she assumed to be Nakuru standing in the corner of the hall, and she was slightly surprised to realize that she'd seen her before; Nakuru turned out to be the unknown Ravenclaw who'd gone to the Christmas dance with Salinas and her friends.

Nakuru was tall, bordering on six feet, Salinas assumed, and had long blonde hair that was in loose twin braids that hung over her shoulders. She had wide blue eyes and extremely thin lips, which were pursed in an impatient sneer.

One look at her and Salinas knew that if Nakuru was always looking the way she did now, getting along with her would be a challenge; one that Salinas herself certainly was not in the mood today to undertake. In an attempt to work past Nakuru's haughty sneer, Salinas smiled widely as she walked up to the girl. "You're Nakuru?" she asked.

"Yeah," came her cutting reply. "And you're Salinas, right?"

"That's me." Salinas raised an eyebrow. This girl didn't speak with a British accent like the rest of the school. It piqued her interest; she was going to inquire about it, but Nakuru evidently had other things on her mind.

"Got my letter?" Nakuru continued.

"It's here somewhere," Salinas said coolly, "and don't worry, I never read it." She fished it out of her schoolbag. It had a distinct fold along one edge but was otherwise in good condition, and she handed it to Nakuru, who snatched it from Salinas' grasp.

"Thanks," she said brusquely, tearing it open on the spot. She read the letter quickly and made to walk away, but Salinas stopped her.

"So why did that letter end up in my bedroom?" she asked Nakuru, trying her best not to sound annoyed.

"I dunno," Nakuru said, her façade of superiority seeming to soften. "He must have not known where I was in the school."

"Oh," Salinas said. "It'd be good to tell him next time; the letters might not come to me, and not everyone here's so courteous as t' not read someone else's mail, b'y." She grinned at the girl. "I gots t' get back to me lunch, so I guess I'll see you around, then," she said.

"Uh, yeah," Nakuru nodded vigourously with a smile. "Later. Sounds good." The sneer returned to her face as she walked away toward a corridor.

Salinas watched the other girl go in a complete sense of confusion as to Nakuru's shifting emotions. She stood alone in the Entrance Hall for a moment; thinking about what could have caused this girl to act like that, and could come to no possible conclusion. After a few moments of thinking, she resigned herself to the fact that old habits probably die hard, and went back into the Great Hall to meet Jeimu, Hermione, and Harry.

"So what's she like?" Jeimu inquired nosily. Salinas was surprised; she hadn't told Jeimu about the meeting with the blond Ravenclaw girl.

"Who?" Salinas said.

"That Nakuru Summers. She's Cho's roommate, and she was Mica's, too." Jeimu scratched her nose, avoiding Salinas' eyes when she mentioned the Death Eater's name. "According to Cho, Nakuru's quite the right old snob, always has been, she lives in Canada when she's on holiday or something. Don't take my word for it or anything, after all, anyone who's not permanently perky or constantly in tears is a snob in Cho's eyes."

To Jeimu's left, Harry laughed, perhaps a little too derisively. Salinas shot him a look before sitting down. "She's alright," she said quietly. "But I wonders if she ever smiles to herself at all. We were talkin' for a good two minutes or so and she only smiled once."

"Why in God's name do girls just love to walk around like that, as though they've smelled a load of dung?" Harry asked. "It'd drive me mad if I had to watch someone do that to me."

"Drives me up the wall too, b'y," Salinas said, "but I learns to deal with it. Listen," she said to Jeimu, "you mentioned she - and Cho - roomed with Mica. Has your sister . . . you know, b'y . . . said anything 'bout Mica?"

"Sorry, mate," Jeimu said, "wouldn't know a thing about it. Cho never really liked either Mica or Nakuru. That's all I can tell you."

Salinas poured herself a glass of juice and got to thinking. Why, after nearly two months, had her interest in Mica's past and its relation to her own suddenly been piqued again? Something was happening, she knew it. . . after all, hadn't her grandfather told her that the Death Eaters are coming? It gave her goosebumps.

Oh, God, stop it, said a voice in Salinas' head, and she listened to it.

"Who gives a shit," she said coolly. "Anyway. . . "

"Wait," Hermione said. Salinas looked around at her. "I know Nakuru - not very well, mind you - but I know that she was scared to death of Mica."

"How?" Salinas asked. "I mean, how do you know?"

"The prefects from Ravenclaw were asked to intervene once," the bushy-haired girl said quietly, albeit matter-of-factly. "Nobody's supposed to know, but word just got out amongst the rest of us as to what happened. . . but according to the Ravenclaws, Mica was very defensive about her post, and she'd never received an owl in the morning. Mica was out of the dormitory on several occasions , and Nakuru would take her letters, intending of course to give them to Mica unharmed. Apparently, Mica had a habit of coming into the dorm as Nakuru was taking the letters, and she would threaten Nakuru. This happened a few times, but the prefects didn't do much." She scowled; apparently thinking that their inaction was a heinous breach of duty. "And then Mica made the worst threat of all."

"What kind of threat?" Salinas was sure she knew, but she wasn't willing to jump to that conclusion.

"Mica threatened to kill her, with wand out and everything. Nakuru ran one way, and Mica ran another. This was Christmas night, when Mica tried to . . . to . . ." Hermione looked extremely harassed.

"Murder me," Salinas said dully. "Yes, b'y."

"OK," Jeimu cut in, "but why would Cho, who laps up drama like a cat in cream, not say a word, or not notice something was happening?"

"Think, Jay," Hermione said. "When has Cho ever been observant to others?"

"Never," Harry and Jeimu said at the same time.

"She must've found it pretty convenient," Salinas muttered. "T' be able to intimidate one dorm mate and realize that th'other one was a dunce. . ."

"That was harsh, Sal," Jeimu laughed.

Salinas just stuck her tongue out. "Whatever," she said. "I think that's enough talkin' 'bout Mica fer the day."

"Hear, hear," said Harry. "So, Sal, have you heard the latest from the Daily Prophet?"

"Depends on what 'the latest' is."

He turned the paper he was holding, and Salinas was allowed a look at the headline.

SUSPECTED D.E. TERRORISM RETURNS TO CANADIAN SHORES

INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF WIZARDS ON FULL ALERT

Her blood went cold. "No way in hell," she breathed.