I woke up only faintly at first. I'd sort of forgotten where I was, but then I realized was holding something in my hand, and then the events from last night flashed before me.
James was still sleeping soundly, and I gently squeezed his hand in mine. We had somehow managed to keep our hands tangled together all night long.
"James," I whispered.
There was a lot of light seeping out from the cracks of the drawn curtain. It was definitely time to get up, though I didn't know what time it was. I usually relied on my housemates' alarm clocks and didn't think to bring my own.
"James," I whispered again, squeezing his hand once again.
His beautiful dark eyes fluttered open. Then, he blinked a couple times, adjusting himself to having just woken up. When he seemed to have fully woken up, he smiled at me and squeezed back my hand.
"Good morning," I whispered.
"Morning," he whispered back.
"Did you sleep well?" I said lowly.
He nodded. "Yeah. How'd you sleep?"
"Good, too," I told him. The others were still sleeping very deeply, and our whispering voices didn't seem to be waking them up either.
Bzzzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Apparently, someone did think of bringing an alarm clock, although they brought a buzzing one rather than an ear-splitting one. It was rumbling the entire bed. I didn't even know that kind of alarm clock existed.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzz.
The buzzing kept going.
The other boys shifted in their blankets, and I even heard Elijah mumbling something about not wanting to wake up.
And then the buzzing stop, and Isaiah sat up straight on the bed.
"Rise and shine," he sang through a yawn.
I didn't want to stop holding hands with James, but it was time to get up, so I reluctantly hoisted my body up, letting go of James' hand to do so. He promptly followed suit.
I looked over at the others. Elijah was rubbing his eyes, laying on his elbow. Wyatt was still fast asleep, his face distorted as its side was pressed against the pillow, a bit of saliva dripping out of his open mouth.
"Should we try to wake him?" I asked, eyebrows raised at our unconscious friend.
"No. I like him better like this," Elijah said. Isaiah, James, and I snickered. Wyatt was rather peaceful, sleeping in such a funny position.
Despite what Elijah said, James still went on and tried to wake Wyatt up. He shook Wyatt's shoulder gently, but when the sleeping giant wouldn't budge, his shaking went from gentle to turbulent.
Wyatt gasped awake. He immediately sat up on the bed, looking around in bewilderment and breathing heavily.
"Always so dramatic," Elijah said with an eyeroll.
"Where am I?" Wyatt panted, still looking confused.
"Our hidden room," James said patiently.
"Oh, yeah... Wait, I fell asleep before Elijah could finish his scary story," Wyatt said in sheer disappointment.
"No, you didn't, you dimwit. I stopped telling my story because you kept interrupting me," Elijah said with another dramatic eyeroll. Furiously, he started getting up from the abnormally large bed.
"Why's he so upset?" Wyatt said, dumbfounded.
"Why d'you think?" Elijah responded with an annoyed huff.
"Well, I dunno..." Wyatt said, genuinely perplexed.
"You're really irksome, you know?" Elijah groaned. He was rummaging through his bag and pulling out his day clothes.
"Merlin, Eli," Isaiah said. "What's got your knickers in such a twist?"
Elijah scoffed a laugh. "This nutter." He gestured almost theatrically at Wyatt who just sat there looking rather innocent.
Elijah then began changing out of his clothes so I immediately shut my eyes and hid my face in my pillow.
"Hey, Maeve's here," James said, regarding Elijah changing.
"I don't care. She can just look away. Or not. I don't care," Elijah said rather exasperatedly. "You know, unlike this knobhead, I don't care about every little thing. I don't make a fuss over everything." I couldn't see Elijah, but I knew that he was still talking about Wyatt and not me.
"Seems like you are doing that right now," James pointed out.
"Piss off, Lancaster," Elijah said.
"Elijah, calm down," Isaiah said.
"I am calm," Elijah said, not sounding very calm. "Whatever. I'm leaving."
I took this as my cue that it was safe to look again. Elijah was fully dressed, though his clothes weren't tucked in properly. He had his bag over his shoulder and was climbing over the bed rather awkwardly trying to get to the door.
We all just stared quietly at him as he reached the door and shut it behind him.
"I still don't understand what I did wrong," Wyatt said, mouth hanging open in utter surprise.
"Did Elijah really get upset with Wyatt over that story?" I asked, frankly befuddled.
"No. Elijah doesn't usually get upset over things like this. It was probably just what made him spill over the edge," James said thoughtfully.
"You're saying I did something else?" Wyatt queried, seemingly lamenting his fate.
"Maybe. Or maybe there's just something else going on that we don't know about," James went on wisely.
"Well, whatever it is, I hope it won't get between us for much longer," Isaiah said, crestfallen.
"He'll work out his feelings eventually," James said reassuringly.
Elijah did not work out his feelings. At least, not yet.
That evening, at the Slytherin table, I sat with James, Isaiah, and Wyatt. I wondered where Elijah was, but then he came by, looking rather irritated. He seemed to be headed over to the seat next to Wyatt, but then, as if remembering he was angry with him, he strided over to Isaiah and sat next to him instead.
"Still got your knickers in a twist, Elijah?" Isaiah asked playfully.
"I'm not in the mood for talking today," was all that Elijah said.
"I'll take that as a yes, then," Isaiah said, but mostly to himself. Elijah rolled his eyes but didn't comment.
When I looked over at Wyatt, I realized that he looked utterly pretrified. His eyes were wide, and his lips were sealed shut, as if afraid that a squeak from him would be enough to trigger a tsunami of wrath from Elijah.
He wasn't wrong. Elijah's demeanor did scream exasperation and aggravation. At least, Elijah also had the good sense not to speak a word.
And the rest of dinner went on exactly like this. Elijah silent. Wyatt mute. And the rest of us, speaking as if nothing were wrong.
When we were done eating, I hoisted my bag over my shoulder and announced that I was going to the library. I didn't expect anyone to care, but James insisted on coming with me.
"I will have to warn you, it might be dull. I'm just looking for another book on potion transfiguration," I said as we marched out of the Great Hall together.
James grabbed my hand, and said, "Well, then. I'll be there to make it less dull for you."
Ignoring the heat rising in my cheeks, I said, "Why, thank you, James."
He chuckled lightly, swinging our hands ever so gently as we ambled over to another corridor.
"It feels quite nice not to have a curfew, doesn't it?" James said, smiling around at our surroundings as if he hadn't seen a dingy corridor in so long and had missed it.
"Yeah, it is quite nice. I now get to spend more time in the library when it's evening," I said. "D'you reckon Slytherins will just get smarter now that the curfew is removed?"
"Mmm," James said, as if genuinely considering my words, "No."
I snorted a laugh. James smiled with his eyes.
"Well," James finally said, as if suddenly remembering some crucial information. "They did get smarter in the sense that now they use silencing charms."
"To be fair, the only reason we got caught that time with Snape was not because of the loudness, but rather because he had an urgent announcement to make and entered the common room at the wrong time," I pointed out.
"Let's hope Sirius Black doesn't infiltrate the castle again, then," James said.
"I dunno. Another Great Hall sleepover sounds fun," I remarked airily.
"Not if you're on prefect duty," James pointed out. We arrived at the library and brought our voices down to a hushed tone.
"Speaking of which... Has Snape given you much trouble lately?" I asked.
"Why do you ask?" James queried as we traipsed down the library aisles.
"Well, the last time, you said someone was stealing from his storage," I reminded him.
"Oh, yeah. Still a problem, apparently," James said with a shrug. When we reached the "P" section, I pulled James into the library row.
"I wonder who's responsible. I mean, I know it's not me, and anyway, I've never stolen from his storage before," I said as I mindlessly looked around at the shelves.
"Except that you have. With that elf last year," James interjected. I returned my eyes from the bookshelves to James. Our hands were still linked, and he stood in front of me.
"True," I admitted. "But that was only one time. And anyway, I didn't ask the elf to steal from Snape. He did that with his own free will."
"I wonder if that elf is the reason why the ingredients are going missing," James hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe some other students have been asking him to collect some ingredients too. That would explain why we haven't caught any students out at night. Elfs can apparate at will within the castle walls."
"Hang on, you're not going to tell Snape about..." I trailed off, unsure of how to say this.
"No, of course not. That could only lead you in trouble. Only I can get you in trouble."
I chuckled at that.
"Very funny, James," I said only semi-sarcastically. I turned my face back to the tall bookshelves. "Right. Potion books..."
James helped me look around the library for books on transfigurative potions. We split up. He went looking in the "T" section while I went through the "P" section.
I had no luck. I even pulled out some random potion books just in case they had something, but nothing came up.
Just when I had given up, James appeared with a large book in hand.
"Found this in the B" section," he said. "Couldn't find anything in "T"."
I gingerly grabbed the book and noted its title. Beautification Potions.
"Huh," I said. "How'd you know my aim was for beautifying?"
"Well, the other day you mentioned wanting to make potions to alter people's appearances," he said simply.
"I did?" I asked, surprised. "Honestly, I forget what I say most of the time."
"Well, good thing I listen, then," James noted with a chuckle.
I rummaged through the book James had carefully selected and found that I could make use of it. It focused a bit more on "beautifying" (hence the name of the book), but it would do. So, I borrowed the book from the library and promptly made my way back to the Slytherin dormitories with James by my side.
It was a bit too late for me to pull out my cauldron and start bothering my dormmates, so I stayed with James in the common room where we joined both Isaiah and Wyatt, but not Elijah as the latter was nowhere to be seen.
"Elijah's still sulking?" James asked when we settled ourselves with them at the black couches nearest to the talls windows that exhibited the deep abyss of the Black Lake.
"He is. He saw us sitting here and went straight to the dorms," Isaiah informed us, looking like he found the whole thing rather ridiculous.
"Merlin," I breathed. Just then, a white fluffy cat pounced on my lap and curled onto herself. "Penny!"
James immediately started stroking her neck, giving her the scratchy-scratchies that she so dearly loved. She purred in his hand and meowed quietly. I pet her back all the way to her tail, feeling her soft white fur in between my fingers with every glide of the hand.
"Haven't seen you in quite a bit," James crooned, his voice an octave higher as he spoke to Penny.
"I think she goes out exploring or hunting during the day," I said. "I don't know why else she's often gone all day."
"How's Hogwarts' mice, Penny?" James asked her. She meowed as a response. I giggled at that.
"Since when do you have a cat?" Wyatt queried, gesturing at the white ball of fur on my lap.
"Haven't you met her before?" Isaiah asked, an amused smile etching on his lips.
"Oh, have I? I dunno," Wyatt said with an unbothered shrug. "In any case. I've been thinking of getting a pet of my own, you know."
"Really? And you trust that you could feed it everyday?" James asked teasingly.
"Don't they just feed themselves? Or wait — don't the house elves take care of feeding them?" Wyatt said, slightly baffled.
"Er... well, even if that were true, you aren't always at Hogwarts, Wyatt. You'd be taking your pet home for the holidays and in the summer," I pointed out kindly.
"Well, that's too much trouble," Wyatt said, almost disappointed.
"Oh, Wyatt. Of course having a pet means taking care of it," Isaiah said throwing a disapproving look at his friend.
Wyatt shrugged and just lounged further back on the couch, suddenly unbothered by it all. "I suppose I'll just use your cat, Maeve, for love and affection."
At that, Penny spun her head towards Wyatt curiously, as if having understood his words, but she made no indication of wanting to give him love and affection. She remained in a ball on my lap, James and I continuously petting her. Wyatt shrugged at her, and she nictated and buried her head back into her paws.
The next day after class, I found myself in my own company on my way to the Great Hall after class. It was a bit strange because I usually had Daphne and Tracey by my side but I had told them to go ahead without me because I had a few questions for our Herbology professor regarding certain plants I had come across in those beautifying potion recipes.
"Oi, Blackwood!" a ginger-haired boy called my name behind me.
His twin, Fred, said, "Been a while, hasn't it?"
"I suppose it has... Where's your little assistant?" I asked, noticing the absence of the blonde Gryffindor girl.
"Ivy? Erm..." George hesitated, glancing over at Fred every second or two.
"What happened? Are you not friends with her anymore?" I queried, slightly not surprised. Ivy was not exactly someone I wanted to be friends with, myself.
"Oh, no. Not that. We just don't know where she is. Kind of looking for her, actually," Fred remedied before I could spiral into a vortex of assumptions about what could have possibly happened. Not a fan of the girl. So, it would have been easy for me to assume she did some kind of cruel prank again. Because poisoning more than half of Slytherin house was her idea of fun.
"Well, have fun with that," I said, uninterested in the idea of looking for her with them. Frankly, I preferred avoiding her.
I was about to walk away from them by quickening my pace, but George gently hoisted my arm back, saying, "Not so fast, Blackwood."
"We need a formidable Slytherin such as yourself to help us test out our prototypes," Fred elaborated when I gave them both a puzzled look.
"Well, good luck finding one," I said, not particularly interested in volunteering. George chuckled but Fred shook his head, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Blackwood, you won't have to be the one trying out those prototypes," George clarified.
"You could just slip them into the hands of some oblivious Slytherins and see what happens," Fred went on innocently.
"Do give us a heads up, though, so we can get a glimpse of the effect, of course," George added.
"I don't know... Why can't you just pay someone to test out your stuff?" I asked.
"Lack of funds," George said awkwardly. "We've been testing everything on ourselves so far."
"But you have to admit, Maeve. Pranking the Slytherins sounds like loads of fun," Fred said, wiggling his eyebrows tauntingly at me.
"Not really. I think you guys forget that I'm in Slytherin too, sometimes," I said. Before they could respond, I added, "but I think I have a solution to your problem."
They simply looked at me curiously.
"Do you guys know who Wyatt Nye is?"
Mischief gleamed in their eyes as I elaborated.
"He would probably be interested in testing out your prototypes for free. Apparently he has a thing for ingesting terrible things just to get out of class."
"Well, that is certainly interesting," Fred hummed as he pressed his finger over his lips. "What do you say, George?"
"I say, it's time to make friends with another Slytherin," George said, his lips curving upwards.
A few days passed by, and I hadn't heard any news about Wyatt getting involved with the Weasley twins. Not that it mattered, of course. But I was rather curious about how that situation would develop.
A few days passed, and I had almost forgotten that Elijah was still cross with Wyatt. I thought the thing had blown over by now, but when I entered the Great Hall that day, Elijah wasn't even seated with the guys. Actually, I couldn't find him anywhere, just that he wasn't with the other S4.
"Where's Elijah?" I asked the boys when I slipped into the seat next to James.
James mutely pointed at the very end of the Slytherin table.
Elijah was sitting there with two girls I had never met before, and they all seemed to be getting along very well. One of the girls had thick wavy black hair and a snub nose. She laughed and giggled whenever Elijah said anything. The other girl was noticeably skinny and had thin châtain hair which she had tied up into a very tight and small bun. Her eyes seemed to bulge out of her deep eye sockets.
"Who's that?" I asked.
"Which one?" Isaiah said.
"Both."
"No idea," Isaiah responded.
I raised my eyebrows at him and laughed. "Very helpful, Ainsley, thanks," I said.
"It's probably just some girls he's shagging," Wyatt said off-handedly.
James nearly spit out his drink, Isaiah covered his mouth as he laughed, and I giggled while shaking my head at Wyatt.
"What? It's true," Wyatt reasoned. "Hey, you know, speaking of shagging—"
"And we're done here," James interrupted, about ready to get up from his seat. "Maeve, let's go."
"Wait, I want to know what Wyatt's going to say," I said, landing my gaze back at Wyatt with interest.
"Oh, er," Wyatt blinked, as if he had forgotten what he wanted to say.
James gingerly sat down, as if Wyatt forgetting his train of thought was all he needed to convince him to stay.
"So, guys," Isaiah said suddenly. "How are we feeling about Durmstrang and Beauxbatons arriving tomorrow?"
"Oh, yeah, I hope we get to share dorms with them so we could shag," Wyatt said, grinning cheekily at James as he said that. James nictated and shook his head. Wyatt wiggled his eyebrows at him.
"Get your head out of the gutter, Nye," James said sternly, though his smile betrayed his tone. Wyatt lifted his hands up in surrender.
"I do wonder where they'll sleep. Does Hogwarts have extra rooms somewhere?" I wondered aloud.
"Well, there's the room of requirement," Isaiah offered.
"The what, now?" I queried, cocking my head to the side with curiosity.
"The room of requirement. You know, the room of hidden things — you guys know about it, right?" Isaiah said to the others, but both James and Wyatt shrugged. "It's that room that appears whenever you need something at Hogwarts. Really neat stuff."
"How does it work?" I asked, frankly amazed.
"I dunno. You just think about something you need and the room will appear and give it to you," Isaiah said. "I've never summoned it myself."
"So, if you need a somewhere to shag, a bedroom is going to appear," Wyatt said, his eyes darting at James as if hoping to get a reaction out of him. But James barely even rolled his eyes.
"Er... yeah, something like that," Isaiah responded with an awkward laugh.
"What's up with you and shagging, today? You're like, obsessed," I asked Wyatt, but he just grinned proudly.
"I'm just a man," he then said innocently.
"Ah. Gross," was all I could think to say.
"You're making all of us men look bad" James said to Wyatt.
Laughter exploded further down the table. Apparently Elijah had said something so hilarious to the girls that they just couldn't stop themselves from cackling very loudly. And Elijah looked pretty smug and proud about it.
"So, when are you and Elijah making up?" I asked my blonde-haired friend.
"Hmm?" Wyatt said absent-mindedly. "Oh. Well, it's sort of up to him, isn't it?"
"It takes two to tango," Isaiah said.
"What?" all three of us said in unison to Isaiah. Our red-haired friend frowned slightly.
"It's a muggle thing Amirah says — it takes two to tango... you know, to fight? It takes two people to fight over something," Isaiah insisted, but none of us gave any indication of understanding him.
"Right," Wyatt said, clearly uncertain. "Well, sure."
After supper, I went to bed feeling quite tired, but when I finally lay in bed after having gotten ready, my eyes refused to close and I lay wide awake. Maybe it was the upcoming events of tomorrow keeping me up. I was quite keen on seeing my cousin and showing her around Hogwarts. I also was so curious about this Tri-Wizard Tournament and what it all entailed.
Maybe I could play in the tournament. I heard it was dangerous, though, so... Maybe not. But the idea of winning something this big did sound sort of appealing. Maybe, if I participated, I could brew potions so strong I could pass every trial.
Maybe, once I was done brewing it, I could sell my Felix Felicis to the selected champions for a very high price. Although, would drinking Felix Felicis be illegal when participating in this tournament?
That night I had strange dreams about becoming the personal brewer for the Tri-Wizard Champions. My cousin was the champion from Beauxbatons, Ivy Law was the champion for Durmstrang for some reason, and James was the champion for Hogwarts. I was torn between supporting my cousin or my boyfriend, so I made a Felix Felicis potions for both of them, and then, they both won, somehow.