Eshu's Daughter

Ch. 11 - Fair-weather Friends

There was a flower waiting on Ellie's bed when she and Kit returned to the Hufflepuff dorms Sunday night. A tiger lily. It's orange and black petals stood out luridly against the yellow of the satin comforter. Kit's stomach lurched as her eyes traced the curled leaves. She was certain she knew why the flower barrette was there, but Ellie picked it up with a puzzled frown.

"How'd this get here?" Ellie asked. Her eyes focused on Puck's pouch and the frown cleared. "Puck must have gotten it. Good thing he didn't rip it up or Annemette would have thrown a fit."

"Puck was with me all day." Kit dropped onto her bed and waited. When Ellie didn't offer up another explanation fast enough however, Kit couldn't help nudging her in the right direction.

"Annemette's been quiet lately. She didn't even ask for a copy of this week's history notes."

Ellie smiled. "Yeah, she's been really distracted. I'll bet she dropped the barrette by accident this morning. I'll just go put it back on her dresser."

Kit watched her cynically. Some people just refused to face reality. But there was no use trying to reason with Ellie, their argument over Verity had proven that. No, it was better to let Ellie find out the truth on her own and, if Kit wasn't mistaken, it wouldn't be long in coming.

Annemette managed to avoid Kit and Ellie for the rest of the day and slipped into bed before they had a chance to talk to her. Ellie shrugged it off with a smile, but Kit's eyes lingered on the closed curtains of Annemette's bed. Coward.

The next morning when Ellie woke up the flower was waiting on her dresser. Ellie's eyes clouded and she turned to Annemette's bed, only to find it empty. Kit scowled but resisted the urge to say anything. It's better if she finds out on her own, she kept repeating in her mind, but the look on Ellie's face made it hard to remember that.

In a cunning move Kit never would have expected from her, Ellie cornered Annemette in Charms. Ellie traded seats with Jynx to be next to Annemette and Kit slid in beside her. Annemette couldn't bolt from the classroom and the noise of the class practicing masked their conversation.

"You dropped this by accident," Ellie said, taking the barrette from her pocket and holding it out to Annemette.

Annemette shoved her hands behind her back and edged as far back in her seat as she could. "I don't want it."

"But … why?" Ellie asked. "I thought you liked it."

"I don't." Annemette stared hard at the front of the classroom as though Professor Flitwick had suddenly become fascinating.

Kit spared the professor a glance to make sure he hadn't sprouted another head. Nope, everything was just as it had been before and there was nothing interesting in the fact that he was currently wringing his hands over the hole Jynx had blasted in his desk. Jynx managed to damage the classroom in some new way every class. Kit doubted if anyone would have blinked if Jynx had taken out the entire back wall this time. Annemette was definitely avoiding them.

"Oh. Well, do you need the history notes then?" Ellie asked, looking bewildered.

"I took my own."

"You were asleep, I saw you." Kit smirked.

"Look." Annemette finally turned to face them, her eyes so cold Ellie flinched. "I don't want your stupid hair-clip, and I don't need your help. Quit bothering me."

Kit allowed herself a smile, a feral baring of teeth that had nothing to do with friendliness. "Don't you like us anymore Annemette?"

Annemette looked hunted. She tried to slide backwards but there was nowhere to go, her spine was already trying to fuse with the chair-back she was pressed so hard against it. "Leave me alone!" she hissed.

Before Annemette could say any more, Kit swung her wand up and pointed it right between Annemette's eyes, enjoying the way Annemette paled.

"Kit, stop it!" Ellie slapped at Kit's hand.

Kit lowered her arm obediently but didn't back away. Instead, she used her wand to pull a frayed length of cord from where it had been tucked into the front of Annemette's robes. A tiny onion with an eye carved into it was suspended from the end.

"Scared of monsters?" Kit asked. "Is that why you're not talking to us anymore? Aren't your little talismans enough?"

Annemette snatched the cord away from Kit's wand and tucked it back into her robes. "I saw you buy two fire rocks and a protection crystal off William yesterday, so stuff it. Maybe I'm just tired of your freak ways. Maybe I don't like cozying up to knarls and other disgusting creatures."

Kit's face went white and she trembled with anger. That stuck up, prissy little snot. How dare she - Ellie shoved Kit's arm down again before Kit could impale Annemette with her wand.

"Fine," Ellie snarled at Annemette, "we won't bother you anymore. But I'd remember just how cozy Kit is with all those 'disgusting' creatures. Keep tossing out insults and you might wake up with a nice rat in your bed one of these mornings."

Kit froze and looked at Ellie in shock. With an angry little huff Ellie turned away from Annemette and proceeded to shred the blank parchment she was supposed to have been charming to curl up. With each new rip Ellie seemed to grow angrier and she was muttering under her breath.

"Doesn't anyone in this house know what loyalty is? Was that bloody hat sleeping when it sorted us? I just don't-"

Kit stopped listening, certain she didn't want to follow that particular rant. Ellie had stuck up for her though, and that made Kit smile. Maybe Ellie had something with that rat idea.

***

In the weeks since Colin had been attacked the first-year Muggle-borns had settled into their routine with few problems. By the time December arrived chasing on the heels of a small snowstorm, it was almost second nature for Kit and Ellie to meet up with their various fellows so they could walk to classes. Monday nights after dinner they walked with Mariam and Edith to the library for a few hours of study. Afterward, they headed for Ravenclaw tower to drop off Mariam and then over to Gryffindor tower with Edith. Finally Kit and Ellie made the brief jog up to the North tower for Astronomy, often meeting Hugh and Padrig along the way.

Kit saw an awful lot of stairs on Mondays, which was fine as long as she wasn't hauling a lot of books around like tonight. Thankfully Edith had come down with a cold and was currently recuperating in her dorm. At least that was one staircase they could skip. Weighed down by her pile of books, Kit was still shoving the last of them into her bag when the three girls left the library.

"Damn it! I've left my transfiguration book back at our study table." Kit slammed her bag clasp closed and ground to a halt in the middle of the hall.

Ellie stopped moving so suddenly that Mariam bumped into her back and dropped her books all over the floor. Ellie bent to help her pick them up, looking up at Kit briefly as she pressed various volumes into a stack. "We're going to be late for Astronomy, just leave it, we'll pick it up in the morning."

"I don't want Madam Pince to shelve it accidentally. Or worse," Kit muttered, "some stinking Slyth might decide to get creative and shred it for me."

Kit wheeled around and began stomping back toward the library. Ellie's voice stopped her before she'd gone two feet.

"Kit just wait, we'll go with you. You know we agreed not to wander the halls alone."

Kit swung back around, letting irritation color her words. "It's one eensy weensy little corridor. I think I can make it unscathed. And anyway this is stupid, having you two with me isn't going to stop anyone cursing me if they've a mind to."

"Well it might, and if you'd-" Ellie began, glaring at Kit.

Kit cut her off, "Look it's no big deal, just get Mariam back to her common room and I'll meet you in Astronomy, OK?"

Ellie's chin set stubbornly and Kit flung up her hands. "If you go to the library with me then we'll just have to turn right back around and escort Mariam to Ravenclaw tower, which will definitely make us late for Astronomy. Professor Sinistra said it'd be an instant detention if we were late again. Do you want to scrub frog brains out of cauldrons?"

Ellie's lips turned down pettishly, but Kit could see the full vileness of their last detention playing itself out in her mind. As if directing a play Kit could pin point the exact moment Ellie gave in by the way she drew her lip thoughtfully between her teeth, chewed, paused, chewed again. Cue sigh, nibble lip one last time and action-

"Fine. But if you're not waiting for me when I get to Astronomy, I'll shred that book for you myself," Ellie said, heaving herself to her feet and shoving Mariam's books back into her arms. Mariam teetered precariously and her eyes appeared from behind the stack of books.

"I-I c-could walk t-to Ravenclaw t-tower -" she said, sounding as though it had taken every ounce of willpower she possessed.

"Just go," Kit said impatiently. She motioned to Ellie, waving her off down the corridor. "We're wasting time."

Ellie nodded curtly and grabbed Mariam's arm to pull her down the hall. Kit took off for the library without a backwards glance, walking quickly so that her robes flapped out around her with every step.

She found her transfiguration book just where she had left it, on the chair next to hers at their study table. It was still in one piece and she gratefully snatched it up. Glancing at the clock over the librarian's desk, Kit grimaced. She was going to have to run the entire way to the Astronomy tower and that was more staircases than she wanted to think about just now.

She restrained herself to a walk until she cleared the library doors, feeling Madam Pince's eyes on her. But the moment her feet crossed the threshold it was if a starter pistol had gone off in her head. Kit tore through the castle at full speed, leaping the steps two at a time. She'd slowed by the time she reached the fifth floor corridor on her way to yet another staircase. She paused by the statue of Culbert the Craven, and leant a hand against the wall to catch her breath. Some invisible giant seemed to have hold of her and was gleefully squeezing her lungs. Kit felt sweat slide into her eyes, stinging them.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" said an amused voice. Kit's head swung up so fast it hurt. Four boys, fifth years at least by the size of them, were sidling toward her from down the corridor. Something about the way they moved, like foxes stalking a plump hen, made Kit nervous. She threw a glance at the stairs gauging how quickly she could reach them.

"Hello bat girl. Looking for more creepy crawlies to play with?" sneered one of the boys. Yep, she definitely didn't want to stick around for this conversation. Kit edged her foot backwards, preparing to sprint up the stairs. Puck shifted in his pouch.

"You weren't thinking of chivvying off, were you? Without even a hello. Tut, tut. Someone really should teach her some manners don't you think, Adam?"

Before Adam could answer Kit was racing across the floor. She had one foot on the stair when - "Petrificus Totalus," one of the boys cried. Something caught Kit in the back and sent her crashing painfully to the floor. All she could see now was the damp, gray stone pressing against her cheek. Kit tried to scream but the sound was locked behind her lips and all that came out was a terrified whimper. Puck was under no such restriction, however, and his snarls erupted like a volcano blast. Kit could feel the boys pause, uncertain, behind her.

"What the-?"

"Relax, what ever it is, it's locked in that pouch. No worries mates," one of them said. They laughed softly in the darkness.

Oh God. Oh God. How am I going to get out of this?

"Flip her over, Mac." Kit felt rough hands grab her and roll her onto her back. The boys loomed over her like gargoyles.

"Filthy little Mudblood you ought to show more respect. Anyone'd think you don't like us," one of them said.

Their faces were in shadow from the torchlight flickering overhead and to Kit they all looked alike, equally large, equally menacing. Even their voices seemed to carry the same tenor and tone. One, horrible sneering voice shared between them.

"Manners, they never teach rubbish like this manners. It's up to us to show her what's what mates."

One of the boys knelt beside Kit and pressed his thin face close to hers. Kit felt bile claw its way into her throat.

"Scum like you doesn't belong in this castle," the boy hissed in her ear. "You should go back to the wandless freaks that spawned you." He yanked her hair hard, bringing tears to her eyes.

"Now, now, don't be so rash. They do have their uses."

The boy beside Kit rolled lazily back on his heels, staring up at his friend and sending an offhand smack at Kit's rigid face. A heavy ring on his hand caught her cheek, stinging as it ripped across the skin and left a welt behind.

"And what uses would those be?"

"Entertainment, of course. Tonight is certainly looking up."

"Mmm yes," the boy murmured looking down and giving her hair another hard yank. "It's almost pretty, too bad…" his voice trailed away as he watched her with emotionless black eyes.

"This isn't the best place," one of the others said. "Someone might come along."

"We'll just take her with us then," he said. The boy bared his teeth in a smile and wrenched Kit up by her arm until she was standing stiff as a statue at his side. The muscles in her shoulder screamed in protest. It felt as if he'd pulled her arm right out of its socket.

"Unfreeze her legs Mac. I'm not dirtying my hands by carrying her." He pressed his face close to hers again. "If you try to run-"

Out of nowhere, a blast of light caught the boy in his chest and sent him crashing back into the wall. His friends stared at his crumpled, unconscious body for a second before wheeling around. Kit's eyes shot past them and focused on - Serena?

Serena stood at the head of the corridor with her wand raised threateningly. "Back away," she said calmly, shattering the tense silence.

"Blast her," one of the boys muttered to his friends.

Serena arched a brow contemptuously. Before any of the three could act she made a quick jabbing motion with her wand. "Silencio." They grasped their throats and their mouths flopped uselessly open and closed like puppets.

One of the boys whipped his wand up and pointed it at Serena. She shook her head at him, looking bemused. "Just don't give up, do you?"

"Expelliarmus." Their wands shot into the air and fell with a clatter farther down the corridor.

Apparently being wandless and mute was too much, and throwing Serena looks which promised retribution, the three grabbed the still unconscious boy and scurried away like the rats they were, scrabbling for their wands as they passed.

"Try to behave now," Serena called after them. Her eyes turned to Kit and the calm expression cracked for a moment. Kit read pity in those eyes and a kind of weariness that no 11-year-old should ever know. Serena's expression closed and Kit was left staring once more at the tranquil, emotionless girl she'd become use to seeing around the castle.

Without a word Serena moved next to Kit. Puck had fallen silent and didn't so much as twitch. Extending her wand so it pointed right between Kit's eyes Serena murmured, "Finite Incantatum."

Kit's bones melted, unlocking, and she slid to the floor shaking so badly she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to get back up. She had reckoned without Serena.

"Get up," Serena ordered, bending to grasp Kit's arm and hauling her upright. Kit cried out as pain licked at her shoulder and Serena released her quickly. Kit slumped back against the wall, panting.

"My arm," Kit pushed through clenched teeth. "They wrenched it."

Serena's hand came up again and Kit flinched as it touched her cheek. "You're bleeding," Serena said, tonelessly. "Don't you have more sense than to wander around dark halls?"

Kit's temper flared. "I was on my way to Astronomy."

"I thought," Serena said with a delicate wave of her hand, "that the Muggle-borns were traveling in packs these days. That was the whole point of your urgent meeting wasn't it?"

Kit flushed. She wasn't about to defend herself to the ice princess. She remained stubbornly silent, ready to outwait Serena if it killed her.

Serena arched a thin eyebrow, "I'd suggest in future you stick with that plan."

"You're on your own," Kit burst out.

"I'm not a Muggle-born."

"But, you were at the orientation," Kit said, wondering just how hard she'd hit her head.

"An orientation to the magical world. I don't believe being Muggle-born was a requirement."

"But if you're a pureblood you'd already-"

"Half," Serena said coldly. "And I don't feel like sharing my life story just now. You need to see Madam Pomfrey. I'd suggest we get moving sometime before dawn."

Kit pulled a face, stepping away from Serena so there was a good foot of space between them. "I can get there just fine on my own," she snapped.

"It's that kind of thinking that got you in this mess in the first place," Serena said, still with that maddening calm.

Kit hissed her breath out angrily, but didn't protest when Serena fell into step beside her. They walked stiffly to the hospital wing with their eyes never quite meeting. Kit moved ahead as they neared the infirmary door, reaching it first. She paused with her palm pressed to the rough wood.

"Thanks," Kit muttered. She turned just in time to see Serena's robes disappear around the corner, too fast for the other girl to have heard. Damn.

***

Kit never made it to Astronomy. Instead Madam Pomfrey insisted she spend the night in the hospital wing. Even worse, she demanded that Kit take a sleep restorative and stood over her until the last drop had been drained from the bottle. It tasted like rotten kippers and Kit's eyes stung and her nostrils burned after choking it down. Gagging, she fell back against her pillow and glared up at the ceiling. What a wonderful night. Terrorized by a bunch of bored halfwits and then tortured by the school nurse. Things just keep getting better.

Kit's eyes began to grow blurry and she struggled to keep them open. Tiny hands seemed to be pulling them down though and she lost the battle after only a few minutes. In the red tinged darkness just before she fell asleep Kit saw again the boys clustered around her laughing, felt the cold dread of helplessness steal over her. She flung out an arm but it fell limply at her side and she whimpered before finally surrendering to the encompassing shadows. The darkness cradled her, dreamless and at peace, and it seemed only a moment until her eyes opened again, squinting against the bright morning light.

"She is resting," Kit heard Madam Pomfrey saying in a harassed voice. "I will let you know as soon as she wakes up Miss Thomas. Please stop carrying on."

"I want to see Kit," Ellie's voice ripped through the quiet. "I'm not leaving till I see her. She's been petrified hasn't she? That's why you won't let me in!"

"For Circe's sake! Miss Ellsington has not been petrified. Now get back to your morning classes and cease disturbing my patients," Madam Pomfrey snapped.

"Not until I see Kit," Ellie insisted. Beyond the edge of her curtain Kit could just see Ellie's red face, determined and set. She was leaning forward with her feet planted hard against the ground and her fists balled. Her whole body screamed that she wasn't going anywhere. Relief, sweet and welcome rushed through Kit.

"Ellie," she croaked hoarsely. Her throat was scraped raw and her tongue felt like an old gym sock. It rather tasted like one too. Kit grimaced wishing she had some water to wash away the nasty flavor. She refused to take her eyes of Ellie however. Again she forced the word out, louder this time, "Ellie."

Ellie swung toward the curtain and caught sight of Kit. Her face crumpled and she barreled past Madam Pomfrey before the nurse could stop her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the time she reached the cot.

"Y-you're OK," Ellie gasped, snatching Kit into a tight hug that pressed the breath right out of her. "You didn't come to Astronomy and I-I couldn't find you in the library or the Sett. I looked everywhere and n-no one knew where you'd gone. We didn't find out you were here until Professor Sprout came and told us. She wouldn't say what happened, and we weren't allowed to leave the dorm until this morning. I've been so worried!"

"I'm sorry," Kit muttered into Ellie's shoulder. Her ribs were cracking, she was certain of it, but she didn't want to ask Ellie to let go. Kit began to shake as the previous night played through her mind. The words, the cold faces. The helplessness. She put her own arms around Ellie and squeezed, the crushing tightness reminded her that she was here, now, in the bright sunlight of morning and not some shadowed corridor.

Ellie pulled away and glared down at Kit. "You scared me to death," she bellowed. "And all the time you were safe in the hospital! Why didn't you send a note? You could have said you weren't feeling well when we left the library. Instead you just disappear. And I am never going to forgive you Kit. Never." She yanked Kit back into a hug with a little sob.

Kit frowned trying to follow what Ellie had said. "But I wasn't sick."

She pulled away from Ellie so she could see her face. It was still red and tear stained, but she looked as angry as a wet cat.

"Then what are you doing here?" Ellie said.

"I was attacked-" Kit began.

Ellie cut her off with a shriek that brought Madam Pomfrey charging over to the bed. "The monster attacked you!"

"What monster?" Madam Pomfrey demanded as she swooped down on them. "You told me you had been cursed by other students Miss Ellsington. And you will cease that shrieking right now Miss Thomas, this is the hospital wing not the Quidditch pitch."

"I was cursed," Kit said quickly. "And there wasn't any monster, Ellie misunderstood Ma'am."

"Who cursed you?" Ellie asked, looking shocked.

"I don't know," Kit said. "The corridor was dark and there were a bunch of them, I couldn't even say what house they were in."

Madam Pomfrey clucked and shook her head. "Shameful, just shameful. I can't understand the behavior of students lately. I've treated more curses in the last two weeks than I normally see in two years." She glanced at a drawn curtain on the other side of the room and shook her head. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Are you hurt, what did they do to you?" Ellie asked anxiously, ignoring Madam Pomfrey.

Kit flexed her arms and legs experimentally and then smiled at the school nurse, "Everything feels great. I don't think I even have any bruises," she added glancing down at her arms.

"Good, good. You'll be needing to get back to class then, no sense in lying about all day."

With the efficiency of long practice, Madam Pomfrey evicted Kit and Ellie from the hospital wing in short order. Not, however, before pressing another draught for that evening into Kit's hands, "For any lingering effects." Ellie managed to hold her questions until they'd reached the stairs down to the Hufflepuff common room. By the time Kit finished explaining, Ellie's hands were clenched so tight in anger, the sugar quill she'd plucked from the common room mantle was reduced to powdered sugar.

When Ellie regained her voice and dusted off her hands, she began a furious lecture that managed to stretch out across the entire day. She'd fall into a stormy reproachful silence and then, with no warning, erupt into another diatribe against Kit's attackers, Kit's actions or, with increasing frequency as the day went on, against herself for allowing Kit to leave the previous night.

By the time dinner was over that night Kit was exhausted and her patience had worn thin. So of course that was when Spencer cornered her in the library, where she'd retreated in hopes of finding some quiet. Even Ellie in a temper wouldn't dare upset Madam Pince by yelling in the library. She was contenting herself with throwing glares across the table at Kit, instead. It was a definite improvement.

"Ellie, shove off for a minute," Spencer said as he strode up to their table.

Ellie gave an affronted humph and snapped her book closed. She didn't protest, however, just disappeared down one of the rows, leaving her schoolbag as evidence that she'd be back.

Kit was already steeling herself against another lecture about her recklessness, when Spencer began in a voice so soft, its anger seemed wrapped in velvet. "How could you leave my sister to walk alone in the corridors at midnight! We agreed to watch each other's backs and at the first chance you run off and leave her alone. She could have been killed. You both could have. This is not a game, this is not a lark. There is a monster loose in this castle and you're jaunting about the halls. If you don't want to be part of this, fine, but next time you decide to run-off don't leave my sister unprotected while you do it."

Spencer swung around before Kit could respond and he stomped from the library, earning an irritated glare from Madam Pince. Tears pricked at Kit's eyes and she slumped down so that her head was resting on her arms. Damned if she was going to cry where just anyone could see. Puck mewled in his pouch and Kit pulled him out, letting him nuzzle her cheek with his wet nose.

"You know I didn't do it deliberately right?" Kit asked him mournfully. Puck mewled again and she gave him a watery smile. "Thanks. At least someone does."

Kit pressed her face to the cool wood of the table and let it soothe away the hurt and anger that had been building in her all day. It hadn't been her fault. She didn't ask for those boys to attack her. She didn't ask for the damn monster to force the first-years into traveling the halls in groups. But everyone was blaming her. With a tiny twinge, Kit admitted, if only to herself, that perhaps it had been reckless. And she'd never considered the fact that Ellie would have to reach the Astronomy tower on her own. She felt ashamed for that. As for the other, well it was her life to risk and it wasn't like she was going to be wandering the halls alone again any time soon. With a shudder Kit thought how like the cold stone floor the tabletop suddenly felt and she wrenched herself up, shoving away from the table.

Ellie returned a moment later and she helped Kit gather their books and Puck. Neither of them said a word about Spencer or the previous night. Ellie's anger, at least for the moment, seemed spent. Kit sincerely hoped the lectures were over.

***

Kit was being watched, she was certain of it. Even as she had the thought she knew she was being ridiculous. It was breakfast time in the Great Hall on Wednesday morning and she was surrounded by hundreds of other students. Of course a couple of them would be looking at her end of the Hufflepuff table. And yet she could feel only one set of eyes upon her, intent. How strange to know that it was only one set, to feel them like a finger prodding her back. But she did and wouldn't question it. All of her senses seemed heightened this morning. Her ears throbbed and ached from the pounding of so many voices against them and it was all she could do not to squint her eyes against the bright sunshine flooding the hall from the enchanted ceiling.

When the bell rang signaling their first class, Kit gathered her schoolbag with relief. The press of students around her was too much and she craved the relative peace of Transfiguration class. She wasn't running away from those eyes, she told herself. No, she was just eager to turn in her essay on 'The Effects of Variable Density.'

"Wait up, Kit," Ellie called behind her as Kit dashed toward the hall doors. Kit glanced back to find Ellie struggling with her bag, the strap of which had somehow become entangled with one of the table legs. The eyes touched Kit again, slid over her shoulder blades and Kit's heart kicked at her ribs. She shoved her way back through the stream of students moving to the doors until she was once again beside the Hufflepuff table.

"Hurry or we'll be late," Kit admonished. Ellie yanked hard on the strap but it seemed to be hugging the table leg more tightly than ivy wrapping a tree.

"Stupid, bloody thing won't give," Ellie panted, heaving at the strap with short jerks as her face became redder with each tug.

Kit glanced again at the strap and feeling edgy pulled out her wand. "Solvo," she said, sending a blast of violet light at the recalcitrant bag strap. The Releasing Spell worked instantly and Ellie stumbled back, almost knocking Kit over, as the strap freed itself.

"Thanks," Ellie said, reaching up to shove her hair out of her eyes. She straightened her robes before swinging the schoolbag over her shoulder and finally moving toward the hall doors. Hugh and Padrig were waiting there with twin scowls on their faces.

"Do you like keeping us waiting?" Padrig demanded.

Ellie sniffed and swished past him without comment. Kit, however, couldn't resist sending a taunting smile at the boys. "Yeah, I think she does."

Padrig muttered under his breath and Hugh rolled his eyes. They fell into step behind the girls however; Padrig continuing to serenade them with insults growled so low the words were just a rumble of noise.

Throughout the day Kit's nerves kept leaping suddenly as she was walking in the halls, passing through the courtyard, sitting down to lunch and then again at dinner. Someone was following her, watching her, always watching her when she wasn't in class. Was it one of the boys from the attack? Her stomach clenched into a tight ball and Kit shoved her dinner plate away, no longer hungry.

"What's the matter," Ellie asked around a mouthful of roast.

"Nothing," Kit said. "I'm still full from lunch." Her eyes moved around the hall, trying to find the watcher. At the same time her gaze lingered for a moment on each of the older boys her eyes touched on. Despite all her efforts, however, she could identify neither the boys that had attacked her or the person watching her now.

"You should try to eat a little," Ellie prodded. Grabbing a treacle tart Ellie waved it temptingly under Kit's nose. "Wouldn't you like some dessert? You normally eat at least three tarts, and that's on top of dinner."

Kit shook her head and stopped searching the room long enough to snatch the tart from Ellie and return it to the table.

Ellie frowned, her eyebrows coming together. "You're not still upset from the other night are you? Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?"

"I'm fine, I don't ne-" Kit stopped in mid-word. Verity. Verity had been the one watching her all day, stalking her through the halls and scaring the hell out of her for no damn reason. Her eyes locked with Verity's and she scowled at the other girl, longing to hex her. Verity merely looked back with troubled eyes.

"I think you should see the matron," Ellie said, catching Kit's arm and drawing her attention away from Verity.

"What?" Kit said, shooting another look at the Slytherin table. Verity was still watching them.

"Madam Pomfrey," Ellie said patiently, "let's go see her."

Kit's eyes snapped back to Ellie. "Why?"

Ellie sighed and shook her head at Kit. "You've been acting barmy all day. Jumping at every little thing. You could do with a Soothing Draught."

The hall wasn't as loud as it had been this morning, but the noise was still sharper and more overwhelming than it should have been. A headache had been throbbing at the base of Kit's skull for the past half hour and her tension was only making it worse. Had it been Verity watching her all day? Or had it been the boys, as she feared, waiting for another chance at her? As the questions swirled and twisted in her head, as she felt the weight of Verity's eyes upon her still, Kit decided that a Soothing Draught sounded like a wonderful idea. Anything to make the headache stop.

"Fine, we'll go," Kit said, rubbing the back of her neck absently.

Ellie rose from the table, apparently determined to get moving before Kit could change her mind. Kit tilted her head back to look up at Ellie. "We can't go right now, it's just the two of us. Spencer'd go mad."

"Two is enough," Ellie said. "We're not supposed to wander the halls alone, but that doesn't mean we have to have any army with us. Anyway, do you want to try to pull Hugh and Padrig from their dessert?"

Kit glanced down the table at the boys. Hugh was shoveling bites of pudding into his mouth so quickly he looked like a ravenous chipmunk. Padrig as well seemed pre-occupied with his food, he was attempting to ladle more golden syrup on his pudding and making quite a mess of it. That whole end of the table was sure to be sticky by the time he was done. Kit grimaced. She could just imagine the surly looks on the boys' faces if she Ellie insisted on an escort to the hospital wing.

"Good point," Kit said, getting to her feet without further argument. The moment they were outside in the entry hall her headache began to ease. A sigh edged past her lips at the welcome quite and the chill kiss of the air against her cheeks. That many bodies in one place always warmed the Great Hall right up, and while Kit normally felt the halls were a bit drafty, just now she was enjoying the cooler air.

The two girls had just reached the main staircase when Kit heard a step behind them. As before her heart kicked against her ribs and she spun around, wand already in hand. Verity stopped abruptly, eyeing Kit's wand, before taking a deep breath and continuing to move toward them. She stopped a few feet in front of them and out of the corner of her eye Kit caught Ellie smiling at Verity. Kit scowled.

"Hi," Ellie said hesitantly.

Relief flickered in Verity's eyes and she smiled tentatively back. "Hi," she returned. An awkward silence fell and Kit was aware that both girls were waiting for her to say something. She pressed her lips together and looked back at Verity defiantly. Whatever Verity wanted she could just forget it.

Verity shifted uncomfortably, smoothing her hands down the sides of her robes. "I - uh - well I wanted to make sure you were OK, Kit. I heard about what happened."

"She's just a little jumpy," Ellie offered, and Kit turned to glare at her. Ellie held back whatever else she might have been about to say.

"Oh. You weren't hurt, then?" Verity asked.

"Were you hoping I would be?" Kit said before Ellie could answer.

Verity looked hurt and her hands clenched tight for a moment. "Of course not! I was so worried about you. I've wanted to talk to you all day, but there was never a chance till now."

"Funny," Kit sneered. "You didn't want to talk to us before. Why ruin it now? We're so used to only seeing the back of your head."

"Kit!" Ellie said, looking upset. "Don't be horrible."

"What?" Kit demanded. "She comes to us now, after months of ignoring us and we're just supposed to pretend it never happened. Like everything's fine." Kit stamped her foot. "Well it's not."

Ellie moved closer, her cheeks reddening with anger. "You're not even giving her a chance to explain."

"What's to explain?" Kit asked, slashing the air with her wand. "I got it loud and clear. We're not good enough for Verity. She doesn't want to - how did her friend put it? - oh yes, play in the mud. Or am I mistaken? Did aliens snatch the real Verity and it was an evil clone ignoring us all this time? Or no, wait, let me guess, you were under an evil spell?"

"Shut up, Kit," Ellie said, now in full temper. "You're acting like a baby. Maybe you don't want to listen, but I do."

"Be my guest," Kit said, waving her hand at Verity mockingly. "Just remember she's a Slytherin. She'll probably only lie to you anyway."

Verity stepped closer and behind the hurt in her expression, Kit could detect anger as well. Satisfaction slithered through her. Maybe Verity would be stupid enough to pull out her wand so Kit would have an excuse to hex her.

"I'm sorry," Verity said. "I never should have stopped talking to you. I was scared to death when I heard you'd been attacked and it made me realize how much I've missed you. I tried to pretend that it didn't matter, that I didn't need you both," Verity choked as though holding back tears, "but I do. I know I have no right to ask, but please, can't we try again?"

"No we can't," Kit snarled. "You should have thought of all that before you walked out on us. It's too late. I wouldn't be friends with you now if-"

Ellie shoved Kit away from Verity, putting more space between the two. "Stop it! Why are you being so hateful? Verity apologized. That's enough for me and it should be for you also."

"Well it's not," Kit stormed. "Even if we do take her back as our friend she'll just turn on us some other time. She's done it once already. We can't trust her. The moment things get tough she'll be gone again."

Verity gave a tiny gasping laugh. "Tough? You don't think things are tough now? You have no idea what it's like for me!"

Verity was back to clenching her fists and she glared at Kit fiercely. "You don't have to go back to your dorm every night and listen to the other girls snicker. You don't have to wipe the words 'Muggle-lover' off your schoolbooks every morning. You've never had them hide your homework or set it on fire. You've never listened to them giggle as they hexed you from the across the room. You've never had to sit there and just take it when they slam your books on the floor between classes and pour ink in your hair."

Tears streaked down Verity's face as she talked and Kit's anger was slowly drowning under each one. Ellie had a hand pressed over her mouth and there were tears in her eyes as well.

Verity took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. "And it's all because we were friends. So don't tell me it hasn't been tough. Do you know what it's like to feel completely alone in a room full of people? When they aren't using me for target practice, I might as well be invisible. You've had to defend yourself once. I have to go back to that every day, because classes only last so long. So yeah, you've had it rough in the halls Kit, and I'm really sorry for that, but it's never let up for me since our flying lesson. I hear it in the halls, and first thing in the morning and last thing at night. You try living with that."

Kit felt ashamed, and so damn lost. It felt like Verity had snatched the floor out from under her and now she was tumbling, just trying to find something real to cling to. Verity hated them. Verity was an evil Slytherin. These were things that she'd accepted, and now she knew they were lies. What was next? Snape would begin passing out compliments and learn personal hygiene?

Verity squared her shoulders and pushed her chin up. "I was wrong to stop talking to you but it's not like it helped. They still hate me. And then I try to make sure you're all right, because I care about you and want to be friends again, even with everything they'll throw at me, and all you can do is yell. Well no thank you. If I wanted that I'd have stayed in my bloody common room."

Verity dashed at the tears on her face and swung away from Kit, moving rapidly toward the staircase that led down to the Slytherin rooms. Ellie stood stunned and silent, leaving Kit no choice but to run after Verity herself. She caught Verity's arm just as the other girl reached the stairs.

"I'm sorry," Kit said. "I didn't know. You just stopped talking to us one day and I thought you had to be like the rest of them. That you hated us too, just because our parents aren't magic. I haven't had many friends," Kit confessed as Ellie joined them. "And losing one of the few I did have really hurt. The worst wasn't listening to the other students insulting us in the halls, or even those boys attacking me. It was knowing that you didn't want anything to do with us."

Verity's rigid stance softened and she looked at Kit sadly. "I never hated you. You're the best friends I've ever had. I never should have tried to pretend otherwise. It was stupid, and it didn't work anyway."

Ellie beamed and grabbed the two of them into a tight hug so that soon they were just a pile of arms, with tear streaked faces and very wrinkled robes. When they drew apart again, all three of them were smiling and the tension seemed to have drained right out of Kit.

"I'm sorry I yelled," Kit said again. "And you know what, we'll fix those other Slytherins. We'll find a way to make them sorry they ever so much as blinked at you."

Verity smiled weakly. "I don't think that'd be easy. There are an awful lot of students in my house. And we're not all bad."

"Besides anything really good's bound to land you in detention," Ellie said, looking regretful. "I hear Filch is still begging to hang students in chains. With all this going on you never know what Dumbledore might let him do."

"Even if we can't hex Slytherin house," Kit said, "we can still make sure they leave Verity alone. Maybe it's time to see just what sort of trouble the three of us are capable of. Remember your rat idea, Ellie? Let's see if I can't persuade a couple of them to pay Vanessa's bed a little visit..."

Verity laughed, pulling Kit into another quick hug. "Do you think that's fair to the rats?"