The following
morning Iphis and Wren came to the Hufflepuff table with messy hair
and tired eyes.
Jocasta had not
been sitting at the same table – she’d been at the Slytherin
table, chatting up a few girls. But as soon as she spotted Wren and
Iphis, she disappeared from the Slytherins, shortly reappearing
sitting next to Iphis. "Well hello.
You two look like you had a lot of fun last night."
"We did," said Iphis, "and we didn’t. It was quite
the struggle."
Jocasta grin split her face, practically from ear to ear. "Do tell."
"The buttons and the knobs on the outside work the same as ever," said Wren, "but the magic inside actively resists being interfered with."
"Damned proprietary charms," grumbled Iphis.
"Wait," said Jocasta, her face falling. "What exactly
is this thing?"
"I think they’re talking about upgrading their Wireless," said
Sparrow."Extending its reception range, right?"
"Oh," said Jocasta, slouching in disappointment. "That’s
much less amusing."
Iphis grinned, tying back his hair. "Maybe. But it was loads of
fun to wind you up like that."
"What!" Jocasta looked indignant. "Why you –"
"Finally got you good," said Wren, as they smoothed their
own hair. "Turnabout is fair play, Jo."
Jocasta snorted,
and disappeared, leaving nothing but a little fly that buzzed out of
sight.
Which was when
Jill finally arrived at the table. "Correct me if I am wrong,"
she said as she sat down, "but I believe I just saw you two
driving my girlfriend away."
"Guilty,"
said Wren. "Sorry about that. Can you call her back?"
Jill closed her
eyes for a moment. Then she opened them, and said, "Miss Carrow
would like to inform you that it is more than a little frustrating to
be pranked by someone and be unable to return the favor, even if it
is because of her solemn vow. So, with all due respect, she does not
wish to return to your presence."
"That's
understandable," said Wren. "Tell her…she can do one
prank back at me."
Jill closed her
eyes. Then she grinned, nearly as widely as Jocasta had done, and
opened her eyes again. "Alright," she said. "Jocasta
says you better watch your sorry arse."
"I quiver
with fear," said Wren.
"Tell her
she can do me as well," said Iphis. "I deserve it as much
as Wren."
Jill huffed.
"Deserve! If you say so. Some of us are wary of that word."
She glanced at Sparrow. "If each of us were to receive as much
and only as much as we deserved, I would not have Sparrow in my
life."
Sparrow leaned against Jill, and said nothing.
"And maybe I wouldn’t have my steadfast study buddy here,"
said Wren, elbowing Iphis, who elbowed them back. "But, uh, maybe
we can get Jocasta back here? Or arrange to meet her later, there’s
stuff we gotta talk about all together." They put a hand on
Iphis’ shoulder and met his eyes. "Today right?"
Iphis nodded. "I’m not wasting any more time." He glanced at Sparrow. "Especially since someone doesn't want me to."
"We can do it this morning if we like," said Sparrow.
"Assuming we can get Miranda? Where is she? Wait, hang on."
Sparrow closed her eyes and concentrated on Miranda, bringing an
image to her mind of a tall ice-blue humanoid figure standing amid
swirls of white on a dark blue field . ⋄⋄ MIDSHIPMAN MCLIVERT, WHERE ARE YOU?⋄⋄
°°° DUNGEONS. BREWING. CAN'T LEAVE THIS. SORRY.
°°°
⋄⋄ WE NEED AN ALL-HANDS MEETING. HOW SOON CAN YOU LEAVE THAT THING? ⋄⋄
°°° IT'LL BE HALF THE DAY. °°°
⋄⋄ HOW MUCH WOULD MEETING WHERE YOU ARE DISTRACT YOU? ⋄⋄
°°° YOU'D BETTER NOT JOSTLE MY ELBOW. THAT'S ALL. °°°
⋄⋄ WE'LL BRING YOU SOME FOOD. ⋄⋄
…
"I would have suggested the Dorm Room of
Requirement," said Wren, tray of food in hand, as they made
their way down the stairs into into the dungeons.
"As
in our
bedroom?"
said Jill, arm linked with Sparrow.
"No
skin off my nose," said Sparrow. "You know I don’t like
being stingy. Speaking of which, oh, I seem to be missing the other
third of myself." She waved her free arm. There was a small
thump
of air as Jocasta immediately appeared beside Sparrow and linked arms
with her. "Ah, it’s like she’s always listening in."
"Only as a prank this time," mumbled
Jocasta.
"Yeah?" said Wren. "You were
flying behind us the whole time?"
"That’s exhausting," said Jocasta,
as they reached the bottom landing. "I’ve been hiding on the
back slope of your shoulder since breakfast."
"A dangerous location," said Jill,
giving Jocasta a stern glare.
Jocasta shrugged, and said nothing more, but
held Sparrow’s arm a bit more tightly, as if to emphasize that she
wasn’t going anywhere.
Presently they reached a door ajar near the end
of the long, dank hallway. Jill pushed it open. Therein stood
Miranda, before a large cauldron bubbling merrily over a concentrated
flame, under a strong beam of sunlight focused through a complicated
series of lenses between the cauldron and the single high window.
She was stirring the cauldron with a long
stick, ever so slowly clockwise, eyes only glancing up briefly from
her work. "Greetings my friends, ever good to see you,
and please do not disturb my efforts, nor indeed should you even
approach. This stuff is meant to have a permanent effect. The poor
beetles I will try it on will suffer enough." At this, she
glanced up at Iphis, a faint smile coming to her face.
"Permanent!" said Jill. "What on
earth are you making?"
"Possibly related to the initial subject
at hand," said Wren, eyeing Miranda, who nodded. "Part of
why we’re down here, it’s more secure." They set the tray of
food down on a bench, looking a bit puzzled to see one there already,
and produced their wand, waving it at the door, which swung shut and
locked.
Which was
when they
jumped, for there in a dark corner stood Professor Clearwater – her
long hair tied up in a complicated braid, wearing her flying
leathers, arms folded across her chest.
She looked askance at the
gathered children, but did not seem surprised.
Sparrow gave Iphis a wary look. "Do you
want her knowing?"
"Pretty
sure she already knows," sighed Iphis. "And I’m rather
outgrowing the goddamned closet anyhow, aren’t I?"
"What closet?" said Jocasta.
"It’s
an old Muggle expression," said Miranda. She had an eager gleam
in her eye. "Born from the survival response to rather
abominable behavior, long story, we’re all much more enlightened,
aren’t
we?"
"You seem to know a great deal of muggle history," said Wren. "I'm surprised that you managed to fit it in between potioncraft and herbology."
"I'm not," said Iphis. "Professor Clearwater, are you here on my behalf?"
"To a certain extent," said Clearwater. "I was given a seemingly disjointed set of visions, and your personal business was among them. But though I am guessing my interpretation of those visions was correct, I will let you tell your story. I am here to advise and to guide, not to barge in on your moment."
Iphis nodded. "Your caution is welcome as
ever, Professor."
"Now hang on," said Jocasta, "Do
you want to tell me what’s going on here Vi –"
"Up bup bup!" said Wren. "Getting
to that."
Sparrow gave a flourishing, bowing gesture to
Iphis. "One of our number has an introduction to make."
…
"And there you have it," said Iphis.
"Let us pretend that I have absolutely no clue who you’re
referring to when you refer to me as a flower."
The news had been met with nods of approval,
although on the part of Jill, she had looked a little squeamish at
the mention of burning. And though it
had left Miranda with a wide grin on her face, it left Jocasta
narrowing her eyes at the girl.
"You have some objection?" said
Miranda warily.
"I have the sneaking suspicion," said
Jocasta, "that that’s why you got so into potioncraft."
Miranda chuckled. "Why buy when you can
DIY?"
"And you!" Jocasta pointed at Iphis.
"I should have asked about that transfiguration trick! I should
have known!"
"I’m amazed you didn’t," said
Iphis with a smirk.
Jocasta huffed, and crossed her arms. "And
on top of that, you snootily rejected my expertise back in January
with the Dragon Tower –"
"Expertise schmexpertise," said
Iphis, "I told you transmutation was a step up from
transfiguration, none of us exactly knows what we’re doing with it
yet –"
"Fine!" Jocasta threw her hands in
the air. "Fine, we can learn together, just don’t leave me out
of it, I feel like McGonagall hearing about us trying to be animagi.
I am sorry that my areas of expertise in transfiguration and healing
magic have been insufficient for you, and that you two had had to
resort to the slow effects of potions. But honestly, has there been
no advancement in the field of transmutation to make it easier,
in the last fifty years? What on earth has McGonagall been doing to
push the subject forward? What has anyone been doing?"
"What has anyone been doing to advance any
field of magic at all?" said Iphis.
"Putting out fires," said Sparrow.
"Because we can’t do anything else, except react to disasters
discreetly, because of the Statute of Secrecy."
"It seems to be up to you dangerous
rebels," said Professor Clearwater, coming closer to the
cauldron, "to be the among the first in a long time to actually
push anything forward. Although, from what I foresaw of this meeting,
that does not seem to be the primary issue you mean to discuss? There
was something about a sign post at a T-intersection with arrows
pointing in two directions."
"Bloody crossroads again," said
Sparrow. "Yeah, that’s about right. And now that we’ve made
our updated introductions...the agenda I’m thinking of isn’t
necessarily about magical advancement." She drew herself up,
standing as straight and tall as she could. "The issue at hand
is that the people of London are in constant peril from two
directions. One, rare but not remote, is the lurking – the lurking
lethifolds." She let out a breath, and continued. "And the
other source of peril, far more likely, is the Ministry of Magic,
which will either present a completely ineffective response to the
threat, or they will resort to highly-visible Patronuses, and then
wipe everyone’s memory. Including anyone’s own family within the
city."
Iphis found Wren’s hand and held it tight,
but though Wren began to breathe more heavily, their eyes did not
begin to glow.
"And what then?" said Miranda. "You
would have us ride down there like the cavalry, charging into a fray
we know nothing of? You would, wouldn’t you."
Iphis shrugged. "It’d be a chance to get
into the Ministry and see what books they’re hoarding."
"I can’t say I’d be against it,"
said Wren, "if we could somehow get there and solve the problem
and get back in one night without our Headmistress noticing...which
she probably would, we’d probably have a hidden cat staring at us
the entire time. But if it works, I’m in favor of saving people
from memory charms."
"We have responsibilities and studies to
attend to here," said Miranda.
"I know," said Sparrow. "I know,
we also have to deal with Hogsmeade – without a clue of when
Budge will need us, it could be next week, it could be tomorrow...we
might be able to pop down to London, and at least warn
innocent people, or, or do something! And then get back
without getting in the way of the Hogsmeade plans...assuming nothing
goes wrong."
"I’m down for a challenge," said
Jill. "Spoiling for a fight, even. Tempting. It’d be against
the right people, this time, and I am here to be the sword to
Sparrow’s shield, am I not? Maybe we knock over enough things to
get the Ministry to listen to us."
"And get chucked into Azkaban when all the
aurors in Britain ride right down on us?" said Jocasta. "You
told me not to fling myself off a cliff, don’t you go doing it too!
And I know purebloods, things will get absolutely political if we’re
discovered in any way."
"It does seem to pose great danger,"
said Iphis, "for uncertain gain, and possible loss, if it
interferes with our clear responsibilities with Hogsmeade. The fact
of the matter is that the people of Hogsmeade are in certain
peril, whereas the people of London are in possible peril, and
I cannot be certain of the probability. It’s not an acute problem."
"But now that I know it’s even
possible," said Sparrow, "I can’t let it go in good
conscience, not with the oath I’ve sworn."
"Can you let it go if we vote against it?"
said Jill. "You value democracy so much, after all."
Sparrow let out a long breath. "May I
never act against a majority vote. Alright. In the matter of going
down to London, who votes aye?"
Jill, Wren, and Sparrow raised their hands.
"All those opposed?"
Jocasta, Iphis, and Miranda raised their hands.
"Shit," said Sparrow. "Uh,
little help?" She looked hopefully at Professor Clearwater.
"Which one do we wind up picking?"
Professor Clearwater looked annoyed. "I’m
not going to choose your future for you. All I can offer is
warnings, based on whatever path you choose."
"So if we vote against London," said
Jill, "What happens?"
Professor Clearwater closed her eyes. She
opened them, and looked puzzled. "Well, that one was just a
bunch of leafy branches right in front of my face, but I figure
that’s what you’re dealing with in Hogsmeade anyway. Not sure
what that meant."
"And if we vote for it?"
Clearwater closed her eyes once more. When she
opened them, she looked wary. "All I could see was swirling
fire."
All at once, Sparrow felt a pall of heat coming
from her right side where Jill stood, and a vision flashed into her
mind – a hand of deep dark skin, clutching at air as it slowly sank
into a roiling mass of molten metal. Jill drew a sharp, hissing breath in,
and drew back. ††††† NO, NO NO NO NO NO. NOT AGAIN. †††††
⋄⋄ JILL, WHAT - ⋄⋄
††††† I HAVE TO CHANGE MY VOTE. I CAN'T DO THIS. I CAN'T MEET THAT FATE. I HAVE TO VOTE NO. †††††
Sparrow let out a long breath. "So be it,"
she murmured, staring at the floor. "The nays have it."
Jill said nothing more, but shifted back a
little further.
"Good heavens," said Jocasta,
stepping between the two. "We can at least send Sparrow’s
parents a warning! They already know what’s been going on here –"
She paused as Sparrow sadly shook her head. "What do you mean
no? I thought you sent the letter."
"Between one thing and another I lost
track of that task," murmured Sparrow.
Jocasta scoffed. "Send them something,
then, and…" She looked around at the gathered Wizards. "And
we do whatever we can from here, without risking getting Ultra
Expelled. Right? We’re a pack of wackos with wands and wits. What
can’t we do?"
"Human transmutation," grumbled
Miranda.
"Yet", said Iphis.
Jocasta took Jill’s and Sparrow’s hands
in hers. "Are we good, then? Captain, first mate, are we agreed
on a more cautious course of action?"
Sparrow met Jocasta’s eyes, which were full
of stern concern. She nodded. Then she looked to Jill, whose gaze
remained downcast.
"Jill?" said Jocasta, more softly,
drawing closer. "Are we good?"
Jill at last looked up, first at Jocasta, then
at Sparrow. There was a tear running down her cheek. She nodded
slowly.
"On a lighter note," said Wren, "for
what it’s worth, there’s going to be hot chocolate in the
Hufflepuff common room tonight, and in the meantime, we’ve got our
regular work to do. Motion to adjourn to the library?"
"Seconded," said Sparrow.
…
The rest of that day’s effort was spent in
the library reviewing Ancient Runes, a subject which Iphis was
simultaneously very keen on and oddly nervous of – for a reason he
seemed to fully understand, for he gave Sparrow a knowing glare when
she asked after his worry. So, yet another secret to be gently
coaxed into the light, at some point.
And there was indeed hot chocolate in the
common room that evening, a curious delight that Sparrow had never
actually tasted before. It was a rich, aromatic flavor, the epitome
of how the color brown could be cozy instead of drab.
It was something that Sparrow had never tasted
before – but it was something she had seen before. She gave
Wren a perturbed look. In response, they just winked, and said, "It
goes better with sugar."
"Let’s not have two extravagances
in one evening," said Sparrow.
"Oh honestly," said Jocasta, sitting
at the hearth. "You can transfigure basic glucose crystals out
of the air from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Try it right now. Go
on."
Sparrow grumbled as she shook her wand out of
her sleeve. She pointed it at her mug and recited the incantation –
at which point a jet of sugar crystals shot out the end with enough
force to splash half of it into Sparrow’s face and onto the
backrest of her comfy chair.
Everyone had a good laugh at that, even
Sparrow, and as she took a sip from her mug, she could tell she’d
gotten the spell right. She sat down at the hearth beside Jocasta,
laying her head on the girl’s shoulder.
Jill sat down at the other side of Sparrow. An
arm’s length apart, again, but Sparrow’s arm length, not Jill’s.
Jill’s hand could find Sparrow’s, as Sparrow had her hand resting
on the hearth, and she could gently brush her fingers over Sparrow’s,
and Sparrow could entwine her fingers with Jill’s and draw her hand
closer.
Much later, Jill and Sparrow shared the same
sink as they brushed their teeth, as per usual, previous distance
forgotten.
And in the great bed they shared, distance
itself was closed, as Jill let Sparrow sit in her lap, and distance
was closed even further when she let Sparrow kiss her on the cheek –
and distance was closed even further when she wrapped her great arms
about Sparrow, holding her close. "My captain," she
murmured, "I am sorry for my mutiny."
"First mate Patil," murmured Sparrow,
"we’re a pirate crew, not the Navy. If we were a navy I
wouldn’t have allowed a vote, would I? Ten lashes for
insubordination, and all that."
"I might like that," said Jocasta,
appearing at the edge of the bed. "Mistress." She crawled
over to Sparrow and Jill and lay herself down wrapped
around the two. "Punish us, we deserve it."
"No deserving or undeserving in this
family," murmured Sparrow. "Nor will I blame Jill for
choosing a safer course. Nor anyone. You were all doing what you
thought was wise. And yet." She lay her head against Jill’s
chest. "Jill. I know how much you fear. But I didn’t really
know what you fear, until that vision. What I saw – what you
reacted to, are you now able to tell me what it is?"
"Not even here," murmured Jill, "not
even now, not even with my loved ones. I will let you know when."
"We can at least take comfort in each
other until then," said Sparrow. She leaned up to kiss Jill on
the lips – a kiss that Jill herself leaned into, holding Sparrow
tighter to her, and as the kiss deepened, a great heat flooded
Sparrow’s body.
The two at last parted, Jill and Sparrow alike
gasping for breath – for a little time, before Jocasta rose, and
gave Jill a gentle kiss on the lips, and Sparrow in turn. She guided
the two to lay back at last.
...
That night Sparrow dreamt of a great forest
fire. And the uneasy feeling that she had never seen such a thing
before.