"So this is possible?" asked Harry, raising his eyebrows. Hermione was seated opposite him, a large dusty volume open on her lap. There was a faint smell of rotted vegetation emanating from the book, Moste Potente Potions. The cover of the book was rudimentary but riddled with cracks as thin as veins. The pages were decaying and the corners were shadowed with yellow from years of handling. They were hidden deep within the stacks of the library, the dim light from Harry's wand was all that could be seen in the darkness.
"Well it is possible, but…" Hermione dropped her gaze to the withered pages. "The ingredients are extraordinarily difficult to acquire. Especially when you're a student in the confines of a school. There is one in particular that we'd have a big problem getting our hands on." She pointed to a line in the list of ingredients. "Shredded skin of Boomslang," she read.
"Can't we steal that from Snape? He must have it in his private stores," a tired and weary Ron offered. Hermione gave him a look of exasperation. "I doubt it. This is outlawed in some countries. He wouldn't have the authorisation to hold something like that in a school."
Harry thought for a moment. "Well what about if we ordered it? We'll give a fake name and I'll just send Hedwig. Surely somewhere in Britain sells it." Again Hermione shook her head in frustration. "No, don't you see. This is highly dangerous and the snakes are imported illegally. No one would send something like that in the post. There is always a risk of interception. If anyone is going to sell something it will be over the counter…." She faltered slightly in her speech and Harry knew she was withholding something. "Hermione, what is it? Do you know something else?" he asked suspiciously.
A defeated look entered Hermione eyes and she averted her eyes to a shelf of books. "Well, there is this one shop. It's situated on the edge of Hogsmeade. The owner is quite dodgy in his dealings and apparently he's known for doing some extra business with silent customers, during the night," she sighed deeply and looked up into Harry's eager face before continuing. "He sells illegal goods for almost triple their original value. Hagrid mentioned him to me once. He told me that he used to ask this dubious character about all the latest shipments. You know Hagrid, wants to know all about the forbidden creatures smuggled into the country. Anyway, I think that if you really want to get this Boomslang, then he is the one to go to."
A tense silence followed and then Harry finally spoke. "I'll go." Hermione immediately protested but Harry cut her off. "No listen Hermione. You said it yourself, he is the only person that we know of that can get this stuff. We cannot brew this potion without it and therefore we'll never be sure about Malfoy. Even if Malfoy isn't Slytherin' heir, he must know something. The whole ordeal doesn't seem to be affecting him as much as the rest of the school and as Ron said, he'd say anything to Crabbe and Goyle."
"But how are you going to get out of the castle, and cross the grounds, not to mention over the gates, without anybody noticing?" Ron asked perplexed. Hermione gave Harry a perceptive look, she knew exactly how he was going to do that.
"With great difficulty," answered Harry simply. Suddenly they heard the sound of footsteps and each of them froze. "Excuse me. Is anybody there?" they heard Mr. Davis' nervous but polite voice echo through the shelves. Hermione gasped and Harry immediately bent forward and covered her mouth with the palm of his hand. Ron shut the primordial book carefully so as not to make a sound and picked it up, placing it under his robes. Harry extinguished the light of his wand and they retreated to the very back of the library. Here the shadows were rampant and they were almost invisible to the eye. Harry was standing very close behind Hermione, his hand still pressed to her mouth. Ron had pulled his robe over his own mouth so Davis wouldn't catch his heavy breathing.
They remained still, Harry thinking furiously of what his options were. Davis muttered something and a ray of light knifed through the darkness. Harry signalled for Ron to press himself close to the shelf and sneak to the end of the row. They did this in procession and when Harry reached the end he just saw the tip of Davis' rigid wand searching through the shadows they had just left. They scurried out of the stacks and crept silently across the cold marble floor, leaving a mystified Davis seeking in the back of the library.
"That was close," admonished Ron, collapsing into an armchair. There were beads of sweat drifting on his forehead and he was panting heavily. Harry did not like deceiving Davis, the main reason being he was still greatly indebted to him. But his instinct told him that his actions were right, even if frowned upon by others. Outside the castle there were blustery winds which howled and moaned, often awaking the best of sleepers. It was November now and the downpours of rain which had weighed heavily on their minds had now ceased. The students had to now focus on bracing themselves before exposing themselves to the harsh winds and the expectation of snow kept their heads looking skywards.
"So when do you think we can start brewing the potion?" Harry stood in front of the fire warming his hands, the library was a chilly place at night and the castle was no better. Hermione, hearing his question, strode over and took the volume from Ron. She scanned its pages and then answered. "We can start almost straight away. Some of the ingredients come with unique methods of application such as the fluxweed but I doubt that would be a problem. I could probably estimate that the potion will be ready by Christmas."
Ron mouth fell open in shock. "But half the school could be gone by then!" Harry sighed and ran his hand through his hair, causing it to point in all directions. "We don't have any other options. This gives us a while to plan the excursion to Hogsmeade. It will have to be at night, the guy probably won't deal during the day. I should have enough money to cover the expenses and I suppose I'll use my dad's invisibility cloak to get out of the castle." Harry retreated into his thoughts again, something which he seemed to being doing more often. His emerald eyes glazed over and his whole body relaxed.
"And how do you plan to actually get out of the castle," Ron asked sceptically interrupting the warm silence. Harry returned to life and spun around. He jumped the couch and within moments was at the staircase to the boys dormitories. He paused, his foot on the first step and twisted to see Ron's lost expression. "Through the front door," he said simply.
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Back at the library, Ethan Davis was still scanning the shelves which ran from floor to ceiling. The shaft of orange light splayed into each corner, illuminating nothing but the dusty spines of innumerable books. His darkened chiselled face remains in a state of annoyance as his eyes rove relentlessly for some sign of an intruder. He was almost positive he had heard noises, and not the noises books make. He heaved a sigh of frustration and feeling defeated made his way back to his empty office.
The newly fitted shelves in his office were lined with countless books. They contained information on sociology, physiology, psychology and of course magic. He stumbled through the mess on the floor and reached the intended shelf and carefully removed a book on magic. When he turned back around he started and dropped the book. Professor Sinistra was standing idly in the doorway, sporting an amused look. Davis managed a weak smile before speaking. "You startled me," he explained lamely.
"Yes, I do tend to have that affect on you," she mocked. Her eyes lingered on the books and papers strewn across the floor and the empty mugs that were gathering new species within them.
"Do you want to go for a stroll?" she offered, raising her eyebrows in an asking manner.
He gave a false laugh but faltered when he realised she wasn't joking. "It's past midnight. There isn't…I mean…it's dangerous. Surely you know that."
"Well I guess we can just talk here then," she said seriously. Her mascara and the dim light gave her eyes an enigmatic beauty. She was an assertive woman, she stood for what was right. He wondered whether she had indeed changed in the years that time had drawn between them. That he had drawn between them.
"Oh..." he managed. "Did you want to talk about something in particular?" He placed the book on his overwhelmed desk and averted his eyes. He didn't want this conversation to happen. Not yet. He had been dreading it since the day of his return. Her brow knitted together in confusion then in anger as realisation dawned and she felt the old stab of the past. He hadn't changed.
`Don't you dare feign interest in that book! That is all you ever did, wasn't it Ethan? Escape into your books. You can't ignore me or the rest of your past," she said irately. She couldn't believe he was still this naïve. After all those years that had passed he was still in the same frame of mind.
"I am not ignoring you," he retorted indignantly.
"Then why have you not been able to speak about your past since you got here. Our past, Ethan. Through your eyes, what happened to it? Where did our futures go? The plans that we made…together," she took a step forward into the dimly lit office. The shadows on her face deepened.
"The past was a long time ago. It was a different time. I didn't think that we needed reminding of it," he responded dismally. She glared at him, hurt and shocked at his words. She knew what she wanted to say, what she needed to say. Taking a deep breath she plunged into their past.
"You left," she said simply. Her voice was quiet but he knew she wanted to scream. "There was no notice, no prior warning. At first we thought you were dead, that after all your training, your work had finally taken a step before you. You wanted to be an Auror so badly and then one day you disappeared and became a silhouette in our pasts. Your friends, your family. Me. I didn't think I would ever recover from you," she uttered quietly. There were traces of tears in her eyes but she felt it unnecessary to cry.
"And then…one day you sent this." She laughed ironically while she removed a yellow envelope from her pocket and from it took a small piece of parchment. The shock was evident on Davis' face that she had kept it this long. "You couldn't wait for life anymore. You were growing…impatient…with time as it slowly ticked by you," she emphasised the word impatient as if it was a ridiculous curse. "I don't understand Ethan! I never did."
"Well that is not my problem!" he roared, stunning her into silence. "I wrote you the letter and that is all I could do. It's not my fault you couldn't comprehend it. Nobody knew or cared what I wanted. I was just another face that would finally pass into a memory. I spent so long investigating history and you stand there and tell me I don't care about the past. Fine, maybe I don't care about my past because there isn't anything worth remembering. But my life was history. You knew I was on the edge of discovering something and that is why I left. I couldn't wait any longer to start researching. For years I put my life on hold. I only trained as an Auror because I needed access into the Ministry archives to continue my studies."
"So you didn't care about the people you would save. You're incredible, Ethan!" she spat. "You even lie about your righteousness and hide your goodness. What happened to the research, may I ask?" She inquired loudly. "Nothing, that's what. You gave up so much for nothing. You went in search of something that was never yours and in doing so gave up everything you had?!"
"Yes and I would do it all again. What did I have, Sara?" Davis was almost shaking with rage. He had bottled this up for so long ago. Everything was just pouring out now. But still it wasn't the complete truth. He didn't think he could ever tell her because he had no belief in a future for them anymore.
Sinistra was fuming because deep down she knew how he felt. "You had us," she said slowly and quietly. "I loved you and I know you loved me."
A cold silence fell in the office. Davis swallowed and returned to removing books from the shelf and placing on them on the table. He tried to ignore her, wanting her to leave. He couldn't do this to himself anymore. All he was left with was one last lie. "We were just kids. We thought we loved each other."
There was a sharp smack as the palm of her hand connected with his cheek. It took him completely by surprise and he stumbled backwards. The tears were evident now, she couldn't suppress them any longer. She felt like the earth was slipping away beneath her feet. She took a shaky breath. "You know the worst part of this whole thing is that…no matter what you do…I will always love you." She turned and left before she completely broke down. The words that she had held within her for so long were not released with joy but with pain. She just kept on walking trying to find somewhere she could call a destination. The castle was shrouded in darkness, the black vault was pierced by no moon or stars. In those few moments she felt utterly alone.
When she finally caught her bearings she decided to head towards her sleeping quarters. They were located near the Astronomy Tower for convenience, something which she was grateful for. She arrived at the circular door, pushed it open and when on the other side she rested her back against it. Her emotions were wearing her out. She felt drained but she didn't think she could sleep. Actually it had been awhile since she had had a full nights rest. Her mind ignored the comfort of her king-sized bed, tormenting her fatigued body. Her quarters were very similar to an apartment. The main room, which the entrance led to, was a sitting room. A small iron black fireplace faced the door, while a velvet lurid purple couch sat in the centre of the room. A round door to the left led to her bedroom which was adorned in a rich burgundy décor.
She strode across to a black cabinet and searched through it until she found a bottle of crimson wine. Pouring out a crystal glassful she dropped miserably onto her luxurious couch. In one swallow, half of the decorated glass was empty. She could not believe his behaviour, his downright lying. She knew he loved her, didn't she? She had always prided herself in being able to decipher peoples true feelings. Even though she was enraged at him, she still wished that he would knock on the door. Just as she was about to submit to a lonely existence, she heard it.
The sound of knuckles on wood. Her eyes shot to the door. Her heart rate tripled and her mind raced through all the consequences of opening the barrier between them. She was positive it was him. What did he want to say? Had he changed his mind? Could she really try again without the nagging doubt that he wouldn't just disappear again?
"Sara, please open the door," he pleaded quietly. "You're right…we do need to talk." He paused waiting for her answer. When he received none he continued. "Let me in, please." There was a long silence, in which neither moved. A soft whisper ran through the dark corridor but he took no notice. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "I never dreamt of causing you pain. I hate seeing you hurt and to know I was the cause…I am so sorry. I need to tell you something…oh what am I saying?!" he cried in frustration. "I love you. And I have loved you since the day we met. And I will always love you and I suppose that…that…when I was younger that frightened me. To know that much emotion. I was terrified of losing you so instead I lost myself." His forehead was pressed against the door, his eyes closed as he tried to articulate his feelings.
"I never forgot you. You kept me alive, you kept me sane. Just the thought of you helped me survive. I'm sorry I didn't return earlier. I thought…I thought you had moved on. And when I did come back I was both terrified and overjoyed at hearing that you were at Hogwarts. I believed that we could just go back to friends, but I can't, I don't want to. I'm not going anywhere, Sara,' he said as if reading her feelings through their wooden barrier. "Now please, just open the door so I can show you that."
He waited in tense silence for a minute and then he heard the rattling of a lock and the door creaked open. A genuine smile appeared on his lips and she thought she saw the glimmer of tears in his eyes. Neither seemed capable of movement as they searched each other for some sign of what to do next. Then Davis stepped over the threshold and with a gentle hand wiped her running mascara which had trickled slightly down her face. His hand hovered for a moment until he moved fully forward, wrapping his arms around her. She melted into his embrace instantly. His affection had not changed, his arms around her felt right. The barrier between them seemed to fall as she buried her face in his shoulder. Years of loneliness had not disappeared but would continually be an experience from which he could learn.
When he awoke the next morning he briefly wondered where he was. He felt the soft sheets against his body, they were definitely not his own. Blinking lazily, he rolled on his side and paused when he saw her naked back facing him. His breath hitched when he truly realised her beauty. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to wake up beside her. To feel her delicate skin against his. He wrapped his arm around her and his heart doubled when he heard her satisfied moan as she rolled onto her back and into his tender hold. She lifted her eyelids and her lips broke into a gentle smile. "Morning," he whispered, before lowering his head and capturing her lips. When he pulled back she seemed more alert than before the kiss. "No classes today," she said grinning. He placed his head on the pillow beside her and she turned again, throwing an arm across his bare chest. Together they drifted off to sleep again, their legs tangled together and his arms wrapped securely around her.
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Hope you liked it. Just some romance while you wait for the real romance of the story! Sorry for slight delay. Finished school for the year and now I'm working for the summer! Please tell me what you thought of it. I would really love to know. Thank you for reading.
Take care,
Radagast.
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