The Eagle and the Badger

Chapter Nineteen: Valentines With a Twist

Pucey sniggered at Hugo and Lucia's obvious discomfiture. "Just what were you two doing in there? And out past curfew, too." He drew his wand tip lightly across his throat. "Naughty, naughty."

Even in the dim torchlight, Hugo could see that Lucia's face had gone pale, and he had to struggle to recover his own wits. Hoping that Scorpius Malfoy and his other two mates weren't lurking in the shadows, he forced himself to keep his eyes fixed on the stocky Slytherin.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, striving for a casual tone. He didn't care for the way Pucey was balancing on the balls of his feet, as though prepared to duel. How long, Hugo wondered, had the nosy git been hanging about outside the first floor classroom? Had he been spying on him and Lucia for weeks? Had he been there when the meeting broke up . . . ?

He was tempted to ask but quickly dismissed the idea. First, Pucey would probably just lie, and second, Hugo couldn't think of a way to frame his questions without giving away exactly what he and Lucia were trying to conceal. Then he saw that the Slytherin's attention had turned to Lucia.

"I have a message from your brother," the boy said curtly. "It's very simple: Stay away from Weasley here."

His tone was gruff, not loud, but Hugo had no doubt that Malfoy's henchman was prepared to act as enforcer. The idea raised his hackles. Before he could respond, Pucey went on.

"You might not have made Slytherin," he said, mud-brown eyes boring into Lucia's, "but this dolt's not worthy to polish your boots."

He sneered at Hugo as he spoke the last few words. Hugo, who'd managed to slip his hand into his pocket, grasped his wand a bit more tightly.

"Now," Pucey said, moving closer to Lucia and placing his hand on her arm, "I'll escort you back to your House."

Lucia jerked her arm away. "You'll do no such thing!" she nearly spat. Hugo's own temper flared. Before he could decide what hex to use on Pucey, however, a square black-clad figure appeared around the corner, stopping short when he spotted the three students facing off in the corridor.

"And what, exactly, do you lot think you're doing out after curfew?" the Hogwarts caretaker inquired. Braker hadn't raised his voice, but Hugo wasn't fooled: They were in trouble. The only consolation was that Gordon Pucey would be serving detention along with him and Lucia - though hopefully not in the same place.

After laying out the terms of their punishment, Braker shooed them to their respective common rooms with a stern warning not to linger. It wasn't until Hugo lay in bed, replaying the evening's events, that two things occurred to him.

First, he should have told Pucey that if Scorpius Malfoy wanted to deliver a message, he could do it in person. Second, loathsome as Pucey was, he hadn't hexed him in Dungeon Nineteen; neither his height nor his voice matched the scale-faced boy's.

ooOoo

Lucia and Hugo said very little as they polished trophies in the trophy room the next evening after dinner. Braker had a way of leaving them alone, only to pop back in unexpectedly on the pretext of rearranging items on their shelves. He moved so quietly that Lucia wondered if he'd cast a Muffliato on his boots.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Braker materialized right behind her. Startled, Lucia dropped the huge silver cup she was polishing, which hit the floor with a clang.

"I'm sorry," she stammered, stooping to retrieve the trophy. What would the caretaker do to her if it was damaged?

Braker got to the cup (Gryffindor, 1836) first, inspected it carefully, then replaced it on its shelf.

"That'll be all for tonight," he said calmly. "Now, get along with you before you miss another curfew."

Hugo and Lucia wasted no time in complying.

"That wasn't so bad," Hugo said as they hurried toward the stairs.

"No," Lucia agreed, "though I do wish we could use magic on those enormous things. It takes forever to do just one. Er, Hugo -"

Hugo was two strides ahead before he realized that Lucia had stopped short.

"I'm sorry about, you know, what Pucey said," Lucia said in a very small voice. "He had no right."

When Hugo turned to look at her, he thought he detected a tinge of color in her cheeks.

"If Scorpius wants to discuss my friendships, he should talk to me himself," she continued, echoing Hugo's own sentiments. "I don't know what he thought he was doing, sending that -"

"Prat?" Hugo supplied. "Look, Luce, I don't care about being insulted by Pucey or anybody else. I just hope he wasn't spying on our meeting. I've been thinking, we should probably find another place to meet next time. Somewhere safer."

They had resumed walking but paused at the head of the stairs. A couple of older students - evidently also in detention - were just removing the last vestiges of pink coloring from a bust in a stairway niche. As Valentine's Day drew near, decorations were proliferating like lacewing flies, including some that violated school rules.

"You're probably right," Lucia agreed. "Whether he's been spying on the two of us or not, though, I don't think he saw anyone else, or he would have said something. Still, we can't take the chance. Where else could we meet, do you think? A group is going to attract attention wherever we go."

"I'll think of something," Hugo promised, not feeling quite as confident as he sounded.

He looked back over his shoulder. "We'd better go now, though, or Braker'll have us spending the night in the trophy room. G'night, Luce."

Lucia said goodnight and began the long climb back to her common room, trying not to dwell on their encounter with Gordon Pucey. She didn't care about him; the person she was planning to have words with was her brother.

ooOoo

Valentine's Day might be all about love, but in the week leading up to the holiday, loving feelings seemed in short supply at Hogwarts. Perhaps fueled by romantic rivalries - or envy of paired-off classmates - the hexes and jinxes and even physical fights kept emotions running high and Madam Pomfrey bustling. The Hogwarts matron was heard to declare that she couldn't wait for Valentine's Day to be over.

Hugo and Lucia tended to share Madam Pomfrey's jaundiced view. The daily chaos was disturbing in its own right, but it also made a perfect cover for attacks based upon blood status. Who'd know the difference? During the lead-up to the holiday, the two first years found themselves on constant alert, tensing at the slightest sign of conflict.

Like most of the other first year boys, Hugo watched the approach of the holiday with some trepidation. Who - aside from his closest relatives - would be expecting a valentine from him? He didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings; if only he could ignore the holiday altogether . . .

His dilemma was solved for him by the girls, who decided that the only fair thing was to have every first year exchange valentines with every other one. While this took care of one issue, it left the formidable task of creating all those greetings. Hugo groaned inwardly at the very thought.

The only bright side to this daunting challenge was that it took his mind off other, more worrisome matters.

As for Lucia, Valentine's Day had always been a bit fraught. For a few years after her father's disappearance, she'd tried to cheer her mother by taking special pains to make pretty cards, often with a little poem inside. There was so much sadness in the smile with which Astoria Malfoy accepted these tokens that Lucia was afraid her efforts were doing more harm than good. Still, she and her mother continued to exchange valentines. It would have been sadder not to.

As for Scorpius, she was still too angry with him to want to give him anything but a piece of her mind.

Even with a shadow over the holiday, Lucia couldn't help being entranced by the decorations that graced the Ravenclaw common room. Paper hearts, folded to resemble butterflies, fluttered softly near the windows, where light shone through their translucent "wings". Someone had conjured little golden cupids, which flew about overhead with their miniature bows and arrows.

The Saturday before Valentine's Day, the entrance hall was filled with students heading for Hogsmeade. Through the crowd, Lucia spotted Scorpius standing with his three best friends. She'd had no chance to confront him about his so-called "message" and this was definitely not the time or place.

Before the unfortunate encounter with Gordon Pucey, she'd thought of asking her brother to bring her some things from the wizarding village; she really needed supplies if she was going to make really nice valentines. A Color-Changing Quill and some Honeydukes chocolate were high on her list. However, she certainly didn't feel like approaching Scorpius with the smirking Pucey looking on.

She watched the older students file through the oak doors with a twinge of envy, not of the couple holding hands and making eyes at each other (ugh!) but of their freedom to get out of the castle for an afternoon, to wander the streets of Hogsmeade and explore the exciting-sounding shops.

Then again, if the ceiling in the Great Hall was accurate - and it always was - the weather was frightful, a slow, depressing drizzle that threatened to last the entire day.

Lucia returned to her common room, determined to get through some of her homework.

Stephen Mullen was in his usual chair; Claudia had joined him as she often did. She wasn't sitting down, however, and the two of them seemed to be arguing about something, judging from their expressions. Not a word of their quarrel - if it was a quarrel - reached Lucia's ears. That was puzzling, because the common room was no noisier than usual. Then it struck her; the sixth year must have cast a Muffliato spell around them.

She looked away quickly; whatever their problem might be, it was none of her business. She should be focusing on her own relationships, especially with Mike and her brother.

There was nothing she could do about those now, however, as Scorpius was on his way to Hogsmeade and Mike hadn't returned to the common room. Lucia settled into a chair and opened her Charms book to the assigned chapter. Twenty minutes later, she gave up trying to resist flipping through the book to find the chapters that might help her with her valentine-making: Color Charms, Severing Spells, Basic Animation.

As practicing under the noses of intended recipients was out of the question, Lucia retreated to her dormitory. Before pulling out parchment and quill - just an ordinary one - Lucia considered the problem of Claudia Vector. Valentines were for friends and loved ones, weren't they? Placing Claudia on the same footing as Ruth, Amanda and Mike seemed somehow - wrong. And yet, to exclude her would be like a slap in the face.

In the end, she decided in favor of inclusion. It couldn't be that hard to design four different valentines, each with a message suited to the recipient - could it? Besides, a friendly gesture might help to break the ice between her and her aloof dorm mate.

Relying only on magic - with no help from her mother - made her task even harder than she thought it would be. Her initial efforts at Severing parchment into heart shapes produced literally uneven results (along with several slits in her coverlet).

By lunchtime, she was reasonably satisfied with the cards themselves, though she had yet to make the paper hearts throb, even a little. Animation of any sort was clearly beyond her powers at this point.

.

By the time she finally emerged from the dormitory, Mike was back, curled up in an armchair with her Potions book. She looked up when Lucia took the chair opposite hers.

"I don't get all this about the Anti-Clockwise Exception, do you?" Mike asked without preamble.

Lucia didn't blame her for sounding rather cross. While she had more patience for theory than Mike did, she'd struggled over Gudrun's Rule herself.

"I've read that section over and over," Lucia confessed, "but I'm still not sure I understand it."

As it was still a bit early for lunch, the two girls chatted about their Potions assignment for a few minutes more. Neither noticed when one of the golden cupids drifted towards them, hovered over their heads for a moment, then aimed its tiny bow . . .

"Ouch!" Lucia yelped as the miniature arrow point hit her cheek. Wondering how a bee could have found its way into the common room, she tried to rub away the sting. Calypso, who'd been dozing on Lucia's lap, woke with a start. She growled softly, green eyes fixed on the lazily circling cupid.

"It's all right, Callie. Go back to sleep," Lucia murmured, stroking her familiar soothingly. Unmollified, the cat climbed to her mistress' left shoulder and reached a paw up in an attempt to bat the offending object away.

For her troubles, Calypso received an arrow to the nose, which caused her to yowl in earnest and redouble her efforts to capture the horrid, arrow-spiting thing.

"Callie! Stop clawing me!" Lucia cried as she struggled to lift the cat from her shoulder.

"Stupefy!" The spell hit Calypso, causing her to let go at once and fall to Lucia's lap, where she lay unmoving.

The shock took Lucia's breath away; she sat frozen for a moment, until her brain began to work again and she looked around to see who'd could have Stunned her cat.

It was clearly not Mike, who sat with her mouth agape, staring back and forth from the prostrate cat to the golden cupid, which was now floating off at a leisurely pace.

"Who did that?" Lucia demanded, her eyes falling on the boys gathered around their game table. However, it was obvious that they were far too deeply engrossed in Merlin's Cave even to notice Calypso's plight, much less cause it.

"It wasn't them," Mike said, following Lucia's glance. "It was her."

She pointed an accusing finger at Claudia, who now sat with her book in her lap and her wand out. The girl made no attempt to hide the wand as she said, "Would you rather I'd let her scratch you to death?"

Was that a smirk on Claudia's usually expressionless face? Lucia's temper flared.

"Yes! Calypso was only trying to protect me! How could you?" She gathered her familiar into her arms, holding her so close that the cat would have meowed in protest had she been conscious.

Claudia shrugged, her face once more a mask. "I should have let the nasty thing claw you," she said evenly, then returned to her reading.

It was Mike, not Lucia, who leapt from her chair and charged over to Claudia.

"You stupid little twit!" she hissed. "Going after a defenseless animal - "

Claudia lifted her eyes slowly to fix them on her indignant dorm mate.

"I'd hardly call that feline defenseless," Claudia responded, unfazed, "but I really don't have time to chat at present."

She resumed her reading. Mike refused to take the hint, however, looming over the owlish girl with a fearful scowl on her face and her hands balled into fists.

Lucia would have gone to back her up, but she was afraid to leave Calypso, who showed no signs of recovering from the Stunning spell. Besides, Mike seemed to be doing just fine on her own.

And she wasn't finished.

"What's so fascinating in that bloody book, anyway?" she demanded, attempting to grab at the thick tome so that she could read the title.

Claudia shifted it quickly out of reach. "Nothing you would understand," she replied smoothly. "Now, if you don't mind . . . "

Though Mike clearly did mind, she turned and retreated, her back straight and her lips pressed together.

"That - that - witch!" she muttered, which made Lucia laugh in spite of her distress.

"Never mind," she said, rising to her feet, the still-unconscious Calypso cradled in her arms. "I'm going to see Madam Pomfrey."

"D'you think she treats animals?" Mike asked with another glare at Claudia, who was making notes and didn't seem to notice.

Lucia shook her head. "I don't know, but I have to try." Her voice was tight with anxiety. Though she could feel her cat's heart beating beneath the silky fur, she was sure Calypso should be waking up by now.

She was surprised when Mike insisted on coming along. The support gave her a warm feeling, though it was tempered slightly by regret that friend's loyalty didn't extend to helping with the effort to catch the person who'd already attacked her once and could very well try again.

ooOoo

Hugo had promised to find the newly constituted D.A. a suitable place to meet, but so far he'd thought of and rejected at least a dozen.

Dungeon Nineteen was out of the way but uncomfortably close to Slytherin territory. Another empty classroom might do, but it would have to be very large and located in some deserted corner of the castle.

He was grateful when Sarah Soloway volunteered to help, and the two of them took to roaming the halls together, keeping a wary eye out for Braker or anyone else whose curiosity might be aroused by their prowling. After days of searching, they'd found nothing that would do. Most rooms they tried were locked, while the rest were either too small for dueling practice or located in heavily trafficked corridors.

"We could ask Professor Chang to let us use the Defense classroom," Sarah suggested after yet another fruitless evening. She gave Hugo a grin that let him know she wasn't serious. They'd already discussed asking their teacher's help and decided she would probably tell them to let their elders deal with the stalker.

She might even point out, Hugo reflected uncomfortably, that as there hadn't been any new threats in ages - none that Hugo knew about, at any rate - they should simply relax and forget the whole thing. While Professor Chang had been a member of the original D.A., its purpose was to fight definite, tangible evil. Hugo had to admit to himself that he wasn't sure what the new D.A. would accomplish.

Something was tickling at the back of Hugo's mind - something he'd heard from his mum and dad, or was it Aunt Ginny? There was a room in the castle that could change itself to fit your needs, as long as you asked it to in just the right way.

Rose or one of his cousins might know, but since Hugo owed his parents a letter anyway, he could ask them to tell him if this room was real and if so, where it was located. If he saw Rose or a cousin first, well and good.

Hugo enclosed a note in a valentine card which, though rather clumsily fashioned, was the best he could manage on his own. (In the past, he'd tended to rely on his mum's Muggle scissors, colored paper, and paste.) On the morning of Valentine's Day, he woke very early and climbed up to the Owlery to post it.

He expected to see other students sending off last-minute Valentines, but the Owlery appeared to be empty. Then again, the sun hadn't yet risen, and the huge space was still so dark, he could barely make out the forms of the owls on their perches.

Without having to be called, Loki flew down to land on Hugo's shoulder. Hugo felt a bit guilty as he stroked the bird's soft feathers. In spite of his promises, he'd been neglecting both his correspondence and his familiar.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, letting the owl pick treats from the palm of his hand. "I really will try to visit more often."

He fastened his valentine to the owl's leg and watched as Loki flew out of sight. A rustling from somewhere behind him made him whirl around, but he saw nothing unusual.

"Is anybody here?" he called out. There was no answer except for the soft stirring of sleepy birds. Hugo consulted his watch; seeing that it wasn't quite time for breakfast, he took the opportunity to wander a few more corridors in search of a meeting place for the D.A.

For some reason, he was feeling a bit unnerved. Impervious to daylight, the windowless corridors stretched before him, empty and dark, his footsteps echoing on the stone floors. He tried a few doorknobs, rather relieved to find all the doors locked. He wouldn't dare tell the fearless Warrior Girl, but he couldn't help remembering a certain all-too-welcoming classroom he'd once stumbled into.

Only that time, he hadn't been alone . . .

The rumbling of his stomach soon gave him an excuse to give up and go to breakfast.

ooOoo

The sky had lightened considerably by the time Hugo joined the other Hufflepuffs at their table. The promise of a fair day lifted everyone's spirits, and there was a buzz of anticipation in the Great Hall as students looked forward to the morning post.

Some of the older girls had their heads together, giggling over the gifts and cards they'd already received. Hugo and the other first year boys, having no interest in romance, concentrated on their breakfasts. he girls would tells them when it was time to exchange valentines.

Hugo wished he'd sent the valentine to his parents sooner, so that he could have an answer to his question along with the usual mushy valentine he was sure his mum would send.

Just as he finished his waffle and reached for the pitcher of pumpkin juice, owls began flying into the Great Hall bearing scrolls and parcels.

"Blimey," Trevor muttered, "I hope they don't all try to land at once."

"Yeah," Hugo agreed, as an image of smashed pitchers and ruined platters of food flashed through his mind.

Since the meeting, Trevor - perhaps out of guilt for not being there - had made an effort to mend fences. Hugo couldn't see any point in holding a grudge, though he still wished his best friend could support what he was trying to do.

More owls appeared, and the volume of talk and laughter mounted as students opened their valentines. An unfamiliar owl landed in front of Trevor, who looked surprised and then horrified when he opened a red-wrapped parcel, hastily shielding its contents from view.

"What is it?" Hugo asked with a grin, noting Trevor's embarrassment. "Didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"It's from my mum, you git, and never mind what it is," Trevor growled.

Hugo's grin widened. "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours." Hermione Granger's owl had just landed, and Hugo removed a fat pouch from Hecate' leg. He gave her a scrap of bacon and watched her fly away before investigating the contents of the pouch.

The first thing his fingers encountered was a large scroll, which he read quickly before stuffing it back in.

"What was that tweeting?" Trevor asked with a grin of his own, making Hgo blush.

"Nothing," he growled, wishing his mum's cleverness hadn't extended to animated pictures of lovebirds capable of bursting into song.

But the mushy valentine wasn't the only thing Hugo's mum had sent - not by a long way.

"Wow!" he breathed. "Have a look at this."

Trevor peered into the pouch, whistled, then looked up, obviously puzzled.

"How can that little bag hold all that candy? Not to mention the - "

Hugo hastily stuffed the handkerchief dotted with red hearts down to the bottom of the pouch.

"To answer your question, you don't know my mum," Hugo chuckled after regaining his composure. "She could carry around the entire contents of our house in this pouch if she wanted to. Jelly slug?"

He held a greenish, slimy-looking candy out to his friend, who shook his head. suppressing a shudder.

"Not right now, thanks."

Just when the the holiday stir was beginning to die down and a few students were rising to leave, a shadow darkened the sunny enchanted ceiling. Hugo looked up to see another great influx of owls swooping around the Great Hall, then landing on house tables. The sight was so unexpected that a hush fell as everyone stopped what they were doing to watch.

They looked like school owls to Hugo; evidently, an awful lot of students had chosen this method of delivering their valentines to schoolmates instead of handing them out in person.

But in that case, why was it only Sukie and Gabe, of the first year Hufflepuffs, to be untying scrolls from the legs of these owls? Of course, the two of them were good friends; perhaps . . .

Then he heard a very familiar voice yelling, "David! Don't touch that!"

ooOoo

The warning came too late, as Lucia saw David Pinkerton chewing something that seemed rather sticky - a caramel, perhaps? Whatever it was, he finally swallowed it, then demanded, "What is your problem? Going to tell me candy will ruin my teeth?" He glowered at Mike, whose hand was still clutching David's sleeve as she watched her friend, her cheeks unnaturally pink.

Lucia felt as confused as David. What could have caused Mike to grab at her friend's arm and shout at him like that? Lucia was scarcely aware of the increasing commotion all around them, as all her attention was focused on the two Ravenclaws.

"It was only a piece of candy," David grumbled, glaring at Mike. "Valentine candy. What's wrong with that?"

Mike's face was flushed with emotion. "Just possibly everything. Do you know who sent that candy to you?"

David looked confused. "I thought it was from my mum . . . "

He trailed off as Mike shook her head, whipping her plait from side to side.

"Look around you, David. I think a lot of people have got pieces of that candy and that every single one of us is Muggle-born!."

Only then did Lucia notice the crumpled piece of parchment in her friend's hand. Mike's tirade seemed to have caused David's face to go pale, and a fine sheen of sweat stood out on his forehead.

Lucia looked around and saw that Mike might well be right. Some students had risen to their feet; other sat with stunned looks on their faces, while still others seemed to be replaying the scenario that Lucia had just witnessed. From somewhere across the hall came the sound of retching.

Lucia wasn't sure what was going on, but she had a hollow feeling in the pit of her own stomach.

"Let me see that," she urged, holding out her hand for the crumpled parchment. Mike was still staring at David, but after a moment she turned back and handed it to Lucia.

"I'm sure David has one just like it," she said flatly.

The Dictaquill script was familiar and the message brief: On Valentine's Day, may you get all you deserve. Within the folds of parchment lay a pretty, clear-red heart about the size of a Galleon and the consistency of a Jelly Slug.

There were shouts and screams; footsteps sounded as some students fled the hall.

Lucia glanced up at the head table. Heads of House had abandoned their seats to rush to house tables. The faces of those staff members who remained reflected various degrees of shock, puzzlement, and concern. Professor Sinistra was in urgent conference with Professor Fuller, who soon rushed from the hall - to fetch Madam Pomfrey, Lucia guessed.

Someone at the end of the Ravenclaw table retched and swiveled quickly to vomit onto the floor. Lucia felt ill even though she hadn't touched the wretched candy; it had to be the candy that was making people ill, she was sure. Someone must have poisoned it, poisoned it to sicken Muggle-born students, or worse . . . Lucia couldn't bear even to form the thought. Never had she felt angrier - or more helpless, glued to the spot, unable to think of what to do next. Even Calypso, who'd recovered fully from being Stunned, was clearly disturbed by the commotion in the hall and was hiding under the table at Lucia's feet, hissing and growling.

Andy Banion, who was sitting right across from David, was asking him, "Are you feeling all right? Should we - ?" He broke off as David, who'd gone decidedly greenish, shook his head and then fainted dead away.

Lucia jumped up to join the first years surrounding David, though she had no idea what they could do except to loosen his collar, cushion him from the stone floor, and wait for Madam Pomfrey to arrive. Then it occurred to her that there was something she could do. Without stopping to explain, she rose and hurried over to the head table, hoping to intercept Professor Kindle, who was just about to step down.

"Professor Kindle!" she cried breathlessly as she came to a halt in front of him. He stopped and looked down at her as she held out Mike's candy heart, along with the note.

"I think this is what's making people ill," she said, her voice high with anxiety. "Can you test this to find out what sort of poison is in it?"

The Potions master's eyebrows rose. "You believe this was poisoned?" Then he looked around the hall as light slowly dawned.

"What are you saying, Miss Malfoy?"

Why was her professor being so slow to catch on? But that wasn't fair; perhaps no one had told him about the anonymous threats to Muggle-borns.

Taking a breath, Lucia kept her explanation succinct, but Professor Kindle started to turn before she was finished.

"Yes, Miss Malfoy, if there's poison in this candy, I will certainly find out. From the looks of things, an antidote is clearly in order."

Still clutching the note along with the candy heart, he disappeared from the hall.

By the time Lucia returned to the Ravenclaw table, Madam Pomfrey had arrived to marshall staff and students to help convey ailing students to the hospital wing. Pamela Davis had Levitated David and was steering his prostrate form out of the hall.

Only then did it occur to Lucia to wonder what had happened to Sukie Lawrence and Gabe Link. She spotted them, looking distressed but otherwise all right, surrounded by their fellow first years, including Hugo.

There was nothing to do now but trail after her housemates as they went to stand vigil outside the hospital wing, waiting for news. The only consoling thought was that an analysis of the candy might offer some clue to the identity of the poisoner.