Part 6: Preparations

I wish Sirius were here…he would know what to do.

            Harry sat deep in thought on the comfortable scarlet couch of the Gryffindor common room. Thoughts of Sirius’s death the previous year haunted his memory, along with Drea Vela’s enchanting silver eyes.

            “Harry? Why are you still up? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

            “Hi, Hermione.”

            He heard Hermione come over to him and sit down beside him.

            “Harry, please, look at me.” He felt her hands on his. “Please.”

            Harry’s hands were ice-cold compared to the fiery warmth of hers. He turned and glanced at her solemnly.

            “What’s wrong?”

            “Just thinking of Sirius.”

            “Harry, you know it wasn’t your fault. That horrible Bellatrix Lestrange was the cause, not you. Never blame yourself.”

            “Yeah, but, still…”

            “We all feel bad about what happened to him. Nothing can stop that. All we have to do is move on. You can’t go around skulking around like this forever, now can’t you? What really makes you happy?”

            More like whom. He instantly thought of Drea. So mysterious…so beautiful. Her laugh…her smile…that’s what made him happy. But, somehow, he felt somewhat guilty about his feelings for Drea and the death of his former godfather. Why should he be happy when Sirius never even got a single chance to live?

            As if reading his thoughts, Hermione spoke.

            “You have to move on. You can’t linger on his memory forever.”

            “I know, I know. It’s hard.”

            “All I can say, Harry, is that the pain will dull. I can’t say anymore than that.” Hermione stood up from the soft cushions. “Goodnight, Harry.”

            “’Night, Hermione.”

            Hermione’s receding footsteps were all that was left of her presence. It was silent with the exception of hooting owls in he distance and the wailing of the wind.

            Harry sighed and stared into the fire. It glowed brightly and licked at the wood around it. Harry remembered Fawkes, the phoenix that belonged to Professor Dumbledore. The feathers on Fawkes looked exactly alike to the fire in front of him.

            Somehow, even though his friends surrounded him, Harry felt lonely. I suppose it’s because of Sirius...I wish he hadn’t died. I wish he were still here.

            As he thought, time passed and the hour grew even more late. The fire died down into glowing embers, which crackled every so often. Harry stared into space, immersed in his own thoughts. The embers suddenly popped and he submerged from his mind. He rubbed his tired eyes with one hand and stretched his muscles. I guess I should go to bed. It seems really late right now. I’m going to be exhausted in the morning.

            Harry yawned and stretched again as he headed up to the boys’ dormitories. I think talking with Hermione helped a bit, but I still feel partly guilty about what happened to him. I feel like it’s my fault he died.

            He opened the door and heard faint snores from the beds around him. The whole room was dark except for the glass windows that poured in the moon’s silvery light from outside. He quietly slipped on his pajamas and climbed into bed.

            The last thing that he thought of was Sirius falling through the curtain in the Department of Mysteries.

 

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            I slept fitfully that night. What Dumbledore had said before had really bugged me. Has he really come back? And, am I in any real danger? I wonder…things are getting so dire. I stared into the black space. Thankfully there weren’t any other patients in the room because I could do with just the silence.

            I sighed. My mind wandered the long forgotten memories that were hidden deep in the recesses of my mind. How did he know how to find us? It was so…impossible, unless…unless the Death Eaters were tipped off somehow. I remembered faintly that my parents were once loyal to him in the old days, but once they found they discovered his purpose to take over the world, they had had enough. They decided to help fellow wizards instead of hurting them. Voldemort had held a grudge ever since. And his minions knew it.

            I had heard somehow that a subconscious Professor Trelawney confronted Harry in his third year. She had made a prediction that the Dark Lord would rise again. According to rumor around the castle, in Harry’s fourth year, Voldemort’s servant killed a boy in the Hufflepuff house during the Triwizard Tournament.

            I mulled over all of this. Somehow…someone had tipped his Death Eaters when I was thirteen about my family’s whereabouts. The same year Trelawney made the prediction.

            But who? My parents never knew anyone else besides…Luscious Malfoy. I wonder if he was the one who tipped them off. He might’ve…after all he is basically Voldemort’s pet.

            I had never met Luscious Malfoy, but from the impression I got from Draco, I took it he wasn’t very pleasant. It was just a meaningless name to me up until now.

            I seriously didn’t know what to do about this. I was so lost.

 

            The next morning, Madame Pomfrey allowed me to leave after she had checked me over at least a thousand times to make sure I was still healthy.

            “Madame Pomfrey, I’ll live,” I said as she looked me over one last time.

            “We’ll see. You had quite the trauma yesterday. Just making sure. Now off with you.”

            I left feeling really icky. I thought it was because I hadn’t bathed since the morning before. I approached the Ravenclaw painting.

            “Password?”

            “Hopscotch.”

            The portrait swung open to reveal a deserted common room. It was no wonder for it was still very early in the morning. I quietly tiptoed up the stairs, through the dormitory, and into the bathroom where I took a nice long bath. I turned the heat up to the maximum and dropped in tiny magical pellet that instantly took effect in the steaming hot water. I slipped in and exhaled a breath in a hiss. My muscles immediately relaxed from the stress of the previous day. The oil from the pellet softened my skin along with giving it a lovely rose and lavender scent.

            I’ve gone soft. I have to stop trusting everyone I meet so easily, but I have to say…the softening all started when I started to crush on Harry. God, who knows who’s who? I can’t ever trust anyone. Anyone could be one Voldemort’s minions…I have to be careful and raise my barriers. I know what I have to do.

            I shifted further down into the now warm water. Who knows how long I had been in the tub? It felt like hours, but I knew it probably had only been a few minutes. I submerged completely into the water. The pellet’s oil took affect on my hair. I felt it change from frail and broken to smooth, silky, and strong.

            It’s Sunday…Halloween is next week. I have to plan my attire soon. It’s a good thing I know exactly what I want to be.

            I arose from the water and grabbed my favorite towel that was decorated with the Ravenclaw colors and had the insignia on the bottom right-hand corner expertly sewn in. I wrapped it around myself and tied up my hair with a black ponytail. It dripped as I headed to my bed and picked out an outfit for the day. I decided on a short-sleeved shirt paired with a pair of baggy black pants and vinyl gloves. I tied my hair up into a high ponytail on each side. My ebony hair spilled down my shoulders as I applied some eyeliner to my eyes along with mascara.

            The sun rose some more and almost reflected off of my translucent ivory skin.  It glowed so beautifully, yet so eerily. I loved that effect.

            Just then, I heard some of the other girls stir in their sleep and yawn softly.

            “Drea! They finally let you out?”

            I turned to face an overexcited Cho.

            “Don’t I even get a ‘Good morning, Drea’?”

            “Good morning. So, what did she say?”

            “That I was in perfect health,” I lied. It was partly true because I was, but the part about my magic. Well…here’s the thing. I had burned off some of the energy of my soul, which makes a big impact because it shortens my longevity. I’ve almost used up all of it, which is something big because next time I could just die. I didn’t want that to happen. Not now.

            “Well. That’s good. I’m gonna get dressed. Meet me down at our usual spot in the Hall, would you? I’ll be quick.”

            “Okay.”

            Thankful to be out of that situation, I headed downstairs alone. I walked with my head down and thinking different thoughts than those of yesterday. What was going to happen in the near future? Was…he going to come back? These very questions nagged at my conscience. I barely watched where I was going and rammed suddenly into someone.

            “Ow,” I moaned as I hit my pride. It felt bruised. At this rate I would be heading to the infirmary sooner than you could say “Quidditch.”

            “Are you okay?” asked a voice.

            “Yeah…I just bruised my pride, that’s all.” I laughed. “I’ll live to see the light of day.”

            This time the person laughed along with me.

            “Here, let me help you up.”

            The person offered a hand as I eagerly took it. After I finished dusting myself off, I looked up into a pair of too familiar eyes.

            “You?”

 

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            “Harry? Why aren’t you eating? Harry?”

            Harry was stuck in his own thoughts, immersed in that day in which Sirius died. He looked down at his untouched food, poking and prodding at it like a science experiment.

            “Hey, Harry, you gonna eat that? Ow!”

            Harry had guessed that Hermione had just kicked Ron from underneath the table.

            “Harry, you have to eat something.”

            “No, it’s all right. You can have it, Ron.”

            “Harry look at me.”

            He turned his face upward to meet the kind face of Hermione Granger.

            “Harry, you have to stop blaming yourself for Fluffy’s death. Seriously, you can’t keep wallowing in your own self-pity forever, you know.”

            “I know, I know.”

            “Harry, are you even listening to me? Harry…? Harry…?”

            Harry drowned out her voice. He looked down, brow furrowed in thought. He couldn’t help it. He just couldn’t.

 

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            “Orin? I can’t believe it! Is that really you?”

            Orin’s warm hazel eyes changed to a shade of liquid gold. He smiled and ruffled Drea’s hair affectionately.

            “It’s been a long time, my dear cousin. Such a very, very long time. How are Auntie and Uncle?”

            “Oh…”

            Orin frowned as Drea bowed her head and sighed deeply.

            “What is it? What’s wrong? What have I said?”

            She looked up at him with her haunting silver eyes, which were now almost white except for the black specks.

            “Oh,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. He pulled her close and gave her a comforting hug. “I can’t believe it.” He pulled away from her. “How did it happen, Drea? How?”

            “They were both killed by Voldemort’s Death Eaters.”

            “Oh…my.”

            Some stared at them as they passed. No one even dared mentioned the Dark Lord’s name simply out of pure fear. Orin knew that Drea was brave enough to say it, though. Being headstrong and tough had always been one of her top qualities.

            “Yeah…I know.”

            “Well…it’s just so good to see you again. Last time I saw you, you were, of course, thirteen, and you were visiting us. How are you?”

            “Fine. Just fine. It’s been…really hard to cope with Mom and Dad’s death.”

            “I bet. Say, what ever happened to Astor? Is he still around?”

            “Yes. When I came here, Dumbledore gave him a job in the kitchen.”

            “Ah yes! I remember the day you came here. I barely recognized you! You’ve…gotten so beautiful. You look almost like Great-Great Grandmother Samara. I remember her well. She was lovely, especially in her old age. Remember how Grandma used to tell us how all the boys were always after her because she was a Veela?”

            Drea laughed; it was a delightful song, almost exactly like the melancholy song of a nightingale. “Yeah, I remember that part well!”

            Orin raised his eyebrows to her and motioned to the onlookers around them.

            “And it seems that you’ve inherited her Veela blood. Why else would every boy in school be staring at you like you’re some kind of food?”

            “Really? I never noticed.” She laughed that tinkling laugh again, but immediately pressed her mouth into a serious countenance.

            “How exactly did you come to be here?”

            “Grandpa started me here in my first year by paying for the tuition. I’m sixteen turning seventeen, one of the best in my class, and in Hufflepuff house.”

            “Kinda figures. You’ve always been somewhat of a powder-puff.”

            He grimaced at her. “I don’t insult your house. At least I’m not a…uh…”

            “Lost for words, my darling relative? Come on. I have to be meeting my best friend at the Ravenclaw table. She’s probably worried enough as is.”

            “Alright, alright, I’m coming.”

            As Drea headed into the Great Hall, he slowed his pace and looked down. “I can’t believe it. If I’d known hat she’d be hurt that much, I’d never have done it. I can’t believe he tricked me!” He slammed a fist against the brick wall. “I’m sorry, Drea. I never meant for it to happen this way. I never did,” he whispered sadly to himself.

            “I never did.”

 

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            I felt so happy at meeting someone familiar here in England. Half of my family originally came here to the States to settle. As Wiccans they used their powerful magic to heal and help Muggles.

            Orin and I walked through the great oak doors. The stares of so many boys were upon me like flies on honey. Orin was definitely right about the constant staring. I didn’t mind because I gradually learned to ignore. With my lips upturned in a smile, I sat down at Cho and mine’s usual spot.

            “Are you sure I’m allowed to sit here?” Orin asked uncertainly.

            “Only by invitation, of course. Sit.” I patted the seat to the left of me.

            Still very hesitant, he took his seat and began to eat as I did. I noticed that my cousin was only eating a light salad.

            “What? Have you suddenly decided to become an herbivore?”

            “No. I’m just not all that hungry right now.”

            “And who’s this dear fellow, Drea?”

            “Hello, Cho,” I said without looking up. Her lavender perfume floated lightly on the atmosphere, creating a pleasant scent.

            I stood and nudged Orin to also. I saw the nervous smile on Cho’s face. I don’t think she still hasn’t gotten over Cedric’s death. It must be hard for her to move on and like someone else. Yes, I could tell that, by the giddy gleam in her eyes, that she took to Orin almost immediately, as did he to her. I couldn’t blame her. I admit that Orin was very gorgeous with his honey-hazel eyes, almost the color of gold, and his shaggy honey-brown hair. I crossed my arms and gestured to each person.

            “Orin, Cho. Cho, Orin. Now that we’re all introduced, let’s eat.” I sat down, but the two just looked at each other. Orin clasped Cho’s hand in his own and leaned down to daintily kiss it. She then turned a bright shade of pink and seemed very flattered by his action. Did I mention that Orin’s just as rich as me? He was taught such manners such as kissing a lady’s hand. Too old-fashioned for my taste if you ask me.

            I rolled my eyes and scowled. “Sit down, you two!” I snapped impatiently. Still in a daze, they both said “Okay” and sat down on the both sides of me. They both reminded somewhat of Neville and I. Where is Neville anyway? I wonder if he’s avoiding me. I wonder. I hadn’t seen Neville since that day that we kissed in the Forbidden Forest. He was so sweet and innocent. Shy, too. That’s probably it. Or maybe he’s preparing for the masquerade. Still, I haven’t seen him around in quite a while.

            “Hey, hello! Drea! You awake?”

            “What?!”

            “Now you’re the one drifting off! Ha!”

            I hit Orin playfully as he laughed. “Very funny.”

            “Ow! What was that for?” He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his lower lip.

            “For being such a doofus, doofus!”

            “If I’m a doofus, that would make you, Drea, a dope!”

            “Then, we’re equal.”

            We shook hands and butted heads. By this time, people were staring at us and Cho was laughing her head off. Just then I toned out the laughing and playfulness for a while and felt a pair of eyes on my back.

            I turned around and saw glaring emerald eyes piercing straight into my own. Very jealous, hurt, and angry eyes. The eyes of the one and only Harry Potter.

 

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            Calm yourself, Harry, do not get jealous. Do not get…never mind, it’s not working. Harry glared over at the boy Drea was laughing with. She hit him playfully and butted heads with him. Don’t worry, there’s probably a very good explanation for this. There has to. There must be!

            All at once Drea became rigid and stiff and slowly turned her head to meet his own eyes. They were a glittering pale blue, filled with some sort of warmth he had only seen once before…when Drea had pulled away after kissing him on the cheek. Then she did the most unexpected thing. She smiled. The smile said, “Trust me, Harry.” She went back to the conversation that she had been having with the boy and Cho, laughing at something that seemed hysterical.

            Harry smiled a bit. “Don’t worry, Drea. I trust you,” he murmured to himself softly so that no one could hear him. He felt strangely at peace after Drea had smiled at him. Why did she effect him so? Even his godfather’s death didn’t bother him; for the moment, of course. His mind was at ease and his body totally relaxed. He knew that whatever Drea did, he would trust her.

Always.

 

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            “Well, I’ll see you later, Orin. I have to go plan my costume for the Masquerade.”

            “What are going to be?” he inquired, raising one eyebrow. “I know you usually in the past have made quite…outrageous costumes.”

            I smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

            “Knowing you, you’ll probably embarrass yourself!”

            He pounded his chest proudly. “You know I will!”

            “It was nice to see you again. See you later Cho. Orin.”

            The two practically ran off, talking all at once. It was pretty obvious that they both liked each other. A lot.

            I started off for the Ravenclaw Common Room to design my costume for the Masquerade. It was going to be lovely. I already knew what it was going to look like.

            “Drea.”

            I stopped in my tracks, listening for the person who had called my name.

            “Drea, over here.”

            I carefully followed the voice into a nearby classroom that was deserted. I pushed open the wooden door. There Neville was standing, looking very disheveled and nervous. He was wringing his hand together and it appeared he had been sweating.

            “Neville! Where have you been? I was so worried about you!”

            I threw myself into his open arms, snuggling up tightly.

            “Really? Y-you…were…w-worried about…me?”

            “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”

            “W-well…I wanted to ask you two things. First…uh…will you, uh…willyoubemygirlfriend?”

            “What?”

            “Will…you be…my girlfriend?”

            I was shocked. I had never been asked such a thing before. I felt my heart pounding so loudly in my ears.

            “Yes! I will! I will! Yes!”

            I hugged him even tighter, but loosened so that he could breathe. I pulled away.

            “What was the second thing, Neville?”

            “Uh…well…will you like to, uh…go to the b-ball with…m-me?”

            “Sure! I’d love to!”

            “Really?”

            “Really,” I said smiling up at him as he beamed down at me. This time it was him, not me, who made the first move and leaned down to kiss me sweetly.

            “I’m glad. Want…to hang out later?”

            “Later, but now I have to design my costume for the Masquerade. I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

            I pecked him on the cheek. He looked very stunned by that.

            “O-o-kay.”

            “Great. Bye!”

            I was filled with pure glee. I felt so giddy that I couldn’t help but giggle as I ran to the Common Room. I shouted the password out before the portrait could even ask for it.

            I at once got to work on my costume. The Masquerade was, after all, next Tuesday on Halloween, which was my favorite holiday. Even better than Christmas.

            It took a few tries to find the right style, sketching and sketching constantly at the table in the Common Room, throwing the extra litter into the fire. As I was stretching, the perfect design came to me and I went back to work drawing it until it completely matched the image in my mind. It was just too perfect. Cho was going to be so jealous!

            I quickly ran to the Owlery since I never had an owl of my own. I sent the design to one of the seamstresses in Hogsmeade, which was the nearest village to Hogwarts. I knew that in a few days that the true costume would come in. I couldn’t wait to my beautiful dress in person! And I absolutely couldn’t wait to attend the Masquerade. It was drawing nearer and nearer with each day. During that lapse of time, I acquired my dress in a brown paper package flown in by the same owl that I had sent to the seamstress.

            Then finally came the day of the Halloween Masquerade.