The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

30. Premature Jubilation

When Amara returned to the Common Room, she was greeted by a sudden explosion of sound. Cheers rose up from every side as Hufflepuffs clapped her on the back, congratulating her on such a great win. Soon, cries of "Queen Amara" rang through the room, but Amara escaped from them as soon as possible, discovering Eliana alone in their dorm.

"What took you so long?" Eliana asked in concern.

"Nothing," Amara lied, sitting down on her bed and hoping her cheeks had lost their flush.

"Liar," Eliana accused, grinning at her curiously. "You're blushing."

"I am not!" Amara retorted, turning away from her with a wide smile as she began digging around for shorts and a tank top.

Coming around the end of Amara's four-poster, Eliana exclaimed teasingly, "You so are! Out with it! Who's making you blush?"

"No one," Amara insisted, finally finding her sleeping clothes and beginning to change.

"Amara," Eliana deadpanned, giving her an incredulous look. "Are you seriously not going to tell me?"

"It was nothing, Eliana," Amara said firmly, climbing into bed. "There was just...a moment."

"A moment," Eliana repeated, raising an eyebrow at her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, I was just apologizing for something and he got all...flirty," Amara admitted, fidgeting with a silver ring on her finger absentmindedly. "He called me bewitching. What does that even mean?"

Eliana, despite her efforts to restrain it, let out a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried to stop.

"Oh, shut it!" Amara cried, chucking her pillow at her as forcefully as she could, knocking Eliana's glasses from her face. Her jaw-dropping, Amara sat up, looking between the glasses to Eliana's stunned face. "I'm so sorry," Amara said quickly. "Eliana- Eliana!"

Eliana, grabbing both Amara's pillow and her own, lunged forward, attacking her with both. Letting out a shrill laugh, Amara blocked her face, making a lunge for one of the pillows before counterattacking.

.

A rhythmic dripping reached Amara's ears. Drip. Drip. Drip. On and on it went, never growing in volume or growing in intensity. She focused on the sound, curious as to where it could possibly be coming from.  The more she focused, the more she heard. What began as a simple drip of water soon melded into a light drizzle. Then, came the downpour. Rain pounded around her in a relentless downfall of drops that hit as hard and as fast as bullets.

.

Amara woke with a gasp, instantly shooting into a sitting position, her hands flying to her arms and shoulders where she could still feel phantom stings from the force of the raindrops. Shaking, she drew back, curling her knees to her chest as she leaned against the headboard, her head pounding as she began to wonder for the first time whether this dream was more than it seemed.

.

November 1993

Sunday afternoon, Ron and Hermione were forced to depart early, leaving Harry with Althea, who was quietly reading, her back against the foot of Harry's bed and her knees curled to her chest. As she turned the page, however, she caught sight of Harry's face. A slightly haunted, confused look had been crossing it whenever he thought no one was looking.

She was just debating asking him about it when Harry, quickly looking around, asked, "Thea, can I ask you something?"

Setting aside her book, Althea replied, "Sure. What's up?"

Frowning, Harry admitted, "During the match, right before the dementors appeared...I saw...I saw a large, black dog again. I know it sounds silly, but...what if it's real?"

Althea frowned, thinking hard. Finally, she said, "It could be, but Harry, after both incidences you almost died. You didn't actually. If the Grim even is real, it clearly couldn't have been that dog otherwise you'd never have made it to Hogwarts. I agree it's really strange, seeing it more than once and both times before a near-fatal incident, but...there has to be some other explanation, Harry. It doesn't make sense for it to be the Grim."

"Yeah, I guess," Harry replied, feeling only partially relieved as he tried to come up with other explanations. After thinking quietly for a few moments he suddenly looked up, struck with a sudden idea. "Thea, that day on the train. Ron and Hermione said you almost drove off the dementor."

"Oh, please," Althea said with a small laugh. "I knocked it back a foot, if even."

"But that means there is a spell," Harry said urgently. "Could you teach me?"

"Well..." Althea said hesitantly. "It's not that I don't want to, Harry, but even I can hardly perform it. I don't think I'd do you much good. Professor Lupin can, though. He cast a full Patronus. You could ask him after class this week."

"If he's even there," Harry muttered bitterly. "What happened with your detention, by the way?"

"Never happened," Althea admitted grimly. "Mum went berzerk when she heard what happened and took the whole thing to Dumbledore. He made Snape cancel the detention and apologize to me."

"Did he?" Harry asked curiously.

"Not really," Althea admitted, glancing quickly toward the door to ensure her mother wasn't within hearing. "There was just a scribbled word on his note cancelling the detention that might have been sorry. It was too jumbled to really make out. But I'm not going to say anything about it. It'll just make everything worse in Potions this week."

"As if it's not already bad enough," Harry muttered.

"There's an end in sight, Harry, even if it's far off," Althea said with a small smile. "We graduate in four and a half years."

"Don't remind me," Harry groaned. "What are we even going to do when we leave?"

"Assuming nothing major happens? Probably go about our lives and, hopefully, still talk and hang out," Althea said with a shrug. "I'd like to be a Healer or something."

"You'd be good at that," Harry said.

"Thank you," Althea said as Madam Pomfrey's office door opened.

Catching sight of her, she quickly said, "What are you doing? It's almost nine. Out!"

"Bye, Harry," Althea said, sending Madam Pomfrey an apologetic look. "See you tomorrow."