Of Shadow, Shine, and Shades

Ch.23 Whispers in Magic

The library would have been quiet to everyone else but to Zahra's sensitive ears it was not so. Sometimes she imagined she could hear the dust particles in the air brushing against each other, creating a buzzing hum thatreverberated through her head. She would imagine her not too noticeably pointed ears twitching under the volumes of black hair but that was just her imagination too. She would feel the magic of the castle brush against her, lick her bare ankles and caress her cheeks.

That wasn't her imagination.

She had never imagined there could be so much magic concentrated in one place but Hogwarts had proved her wrong. But, she supposed, when hundreds of spells are cast daily in the same area for a thousand years, the concentration of magic builds very high.

So, no place in Hogwarts really was quiet to her ears. The magic hummed, travelled the corridors and surrounded the residents of the castle daily. Having been here for three days, she was not even close to getting used to the atmosphere. And she was alone again, in a manner of speaking.

Draco Malfoy had taken to following her and the obnoxious child got on her last nerve. If not for the promises she had given to Caelum, the child would have already borne the consequences of his actions but so far Zahra had simply flicked her hair and glared - not that it had made much difference. The only place she seemed to find respite was the library because the strict librarian did not allow conversations in the vicinity of her desk.

"May I sit here?"

She opened her mouth to spit out a harsh retort but just before the biting words could leave her lips, the tone, sound and quality of the voice registered and she curiously peered over her shoulder to see Harry standing behind her.

Dark circles still hung low beneath his eyes but at least the green was more prominent than it had been a few days ago and he seemed to hold himself with more confidence. Zahra mentally heaved a relieved sigh but on the outside nonchalantly turned back to the Astronomy book open before her.

"If you must."

She and Harry had lived together for long enough to understand the underlying messages in tones and what Zahra had really told the boy was something along the lines of "finally, I've been waiting".

Harry walked around the table and climbed on the chair opposite of her. He did pull out some homework but instead of opening a book or starting any of his essays, he kept on staring at her until Zahra could no longer keep up the nonchalance and looked up with a sneer on her face.

In truth, her purple eyes were shining with the same merriment Harry's were.

"You're Professor Black's daughter, right?"

Harry managed to honestly sound curious and Zahra cast a look around them. Pince was away, hunting for students or something but she did notice a couple of older students staring in their direction.

"And you're Harry Potter. So?"

Harry couldn't manage a blush on command but he did manage to look bashful. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I have Potions tomorrow and I was just wondering if you could give me any pointers or something for his class?"

It was almost word for word like one of their rehearsals for and Zahra knew immediately what she was meant to say. So she put on a calculating look and lifted a brow. "And if I could, what would you give me?"

Harry looked pensive and Zahra had to smother a smile. Of all the mortals, she was glad she could share her existence with two of the most powerful and interesting men that would doubtlessly shape the world in their wake. And both of them adored her just as much as she did them.