She whispered

by Lucas Chesterton

  ‘Thank you for your time, Headmaster,’ he says politely before turning to leave.

  Her only response is a smile accompanied by a the smallest of winks. He spends the entirety of his walk back to the dorms trying to figure out what it means.

  JAMES

  The weather outside is starting to turn as October creeps along. Summer has come to its end and the chill in the air brings a distinct feeling of fall to Hogwarts.

  James fidgets with the ends of his scarf as he sits in the stands, watching as Hufflepuff takes the pitch for practice. Yellow and black robes dominate the sky and James scribbles furiously with his quill into the notebook on his lap as he notices new formations. It’s two days before the first match of the season and while most practices are closed, today the pitch is open for spectators and scrimmages.

  Slytherin’s house team are grounded, brooms stored away in their dorms as they work on speed drills and endurance instead. There is a light drizzle outside, more of a mist really, but it provides enough of a haze that James has to strain to see them on the other side of the pitch.

  Footsteps from above turn his attention back to the stands and he sees a flash of auburn hair tied back in a pony tail. She flashes him a large smile as she plops down next to him and he has to stop himself from ruffling her hair.

  ‘Lil,’ he greets. ‘I thought you had study period?’

  ‘Ended early,’ Lily explains. ‘Bas said you’d be out here. Don’t you think you’ve taken enough notes?’ James’ quill stalls. ‘It’s not like it’s us playing this weekend,’ she reminds him. ‘It’s good that Slytherin and Hufflepuff play first. We’ll be able to get an idea of where they’re truly at before we play one of them in the Spring.’

  ‘We’ll have to beat Ravenclaw first,’ he says and she snorts.

  ‘Come on, James. We’re good. Really good. And no amount of worrying is going to make us any better.’

  His sister is an optimist, a constant reminder of the glass half full mindset that James has never quite been able to master. He can’t help but worry. He wants them to be perfect. He wants them to win. But he doesn’t have the patience for faith. He wants to be sure.

  ‘Scorpius is better this year.’ Thinking of the Ravenclaw seeker who nearly took the House Cup the year prior.

  ‘And Roxy is just as good,’ Lily says from beside him. ‘She beat him before.’

  ‘In scrimmage.’

  ‘It still counts,’ she tells him and he nods. But it’s been a year since that scrimmage and he knows Scorpius isn’t one to let that go. James doesn’t say that, however, and let’s his sister think she’s right.

  ‘What’s going on with you?’ she asks, her eyebrows creased and he glances away from where Dom is swooping down to catch the Quaffle near the outermost ring.

  ‘Nothing,’ he says, distracted as his eyes dance back to the pitch and Lily replies with a frown as she crosses her arms over her chest. He can’t help but think she looks like their mum.

  ‘Are you still upset about this project thing you have to do for Muggle Studies?’ she asks and this time his attention isn’t divided as he rolls his eyes at her.

  ‘No,’ says James. ‘Why would I be upset about that?’

  ‘Because Mum said you were,’ she says and his casual grin fades until his lips are downturned slightly.

  ‘You talked to Mum?’

  ‘She wrote me and said you were anxious about having Scorpius over to meet Mum and Dad for the project. She said you were trying to get out of it.’

  ‘Wouldn’t you?’ he asks and she shrugs.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she admits. Her eyes travel over to where the Slytherins are now at full sprint as they race across the length of the pitch. Thea smiles as she and Alec compete for the front and she nudges him playfully to try and push him off balance but it fails. ‘I don’t think they’re all that bad,’ she says. ‘Scorpius is head of my Astronomy study group. He’s really nice, even though a little awkward. And Thea���’

  James scoffs.

  ‘There is nothing you could say to change my mind about her,’ he warns her and her smile, in contrast to his own, widens. She stands and steps forward so that she is leaning over the railing as she stares down at where the Slytherins have now collapsed, out of breath.

  ‘She can’t be so bad,’ she says. ‘Not if Albus is friends with her.’

  ‘Albus has always had a harder time making friends, Lil. He latched onto the first person who showed interest.’

  ‘That seems a bit harsh.’

  ‘Why else?’ he questions, standing as well as he leans over and watches Thea as the group rolls over to begin sets of push-ups. The misting rain is picking up slightly and he can see it dripping off of her skin. ‘She’s selfish and childish.’

  ‘Mum thinks you like her.’

  ‘What?!’ he nearly shouts as his head jerks around to see her and Lily laughs. ‘I do not like her.’

  ‘You’ve made that painfully clear. Almost too often, if you ask me.’

  ‘Lily,’ he warns and she laughs again.

  ‘I’m only teasing. Don’t get your wand in a knot,’ she says, bumping him slightly with her shoulder. ‘Though, if you wanted to convince Mum, you should probably quit talking about her so much. I know she drives you bonkers, but, I don’t know, maybe just lighten up a bit.’

  ‘You’re telling me to lighten up a bit?’ he says, and this time it comes out as a half laugh of his own.

  ‘You’re supposed to be the ‘fun’ one,’ she reminds him. ‘Might as well start acting like it again. Or soon, they’ll start calling you the ‘moody’ one.’

  At the mention of it, James looks to where his brother does his push ups and notices a smile on his face as Thea sits on his back, cross-legged and dramatically pretends to drink tea. Albus collapses, rolling over and he grabs Thea who retaliates with her fingers digging mirthfully into his ribs. Albus lets out a great cry of laughter and James sighs.

  ‘See,’ Lily says. ‘She makes him smile.’

  ‘Do you think there’s something there?’ he asks, something he would never ask Albus himself because he knows his brother wouldn’t appreciate the breach of privacy. He gets enough shit from the rest of the family so he figures he can give him that much. ‘People talk.’

  ‘Let them,’ Lily replies. ‘Whatever is going on between Albus and Thea is none of our business.’

  ‘Even if it meant���’ he starts and Lily smirks.

  ‘Even if,’ she replies. James puts his arm around her shoulder.

  ‘Since when did you become the ‘wise’ one, huh?’

  ‘I think I get it from Mum,’ she says, wiping the rain from her brow. She pulls away, her smile dropping at the corners and she places a hand across her forehead as she glances up at him to block her eyes from the rain. ‘This is your last year James. Don’t waste it hating Thea Malfoy.’

  He lets her words sink in as she walks away, the rain increasing, and he can feel himself start to shiver. The Hufflepuffs still practice with vigor and the Slytherins are begging Alec to end practice. Despite his scowl of disapproval, he does.

  Water drips down James’ nose and lips and finally pulls out his wand and conjures an umbrella just over his hair and he gets a momentary reprieve from the cold raindrops. The Slytherins are clearing the pitch and James attempts to focus once again on the formations of the chasers and the placement of the beaters high above in the screen of rain.

  The sky grumbles loudly.

  An shimmering umbrella appears at his side and he sees Albus sit down next to him, equally - if not more - soaked than James and he brings a water bottle to his lips as his breath steadies.

  ‘Was that Lily I saw up here earlier?’ he asks and James nods. ‘I figure Mum goaded her into it.’

  ‘You figure right,’ James says without taking his eyes off of Lysander Scamander, Hufflepuff’s seeker, who has just dipped low down towards the pitch on his broom as he chases after the elusive snitch.
>
  ‘She wrote me too,’ Albus says and James makes a mental note to send his mother a letter detailing his ‘fineness’ so she will stop pushing his siblings to report back to her. ‘Don’t worry. She’s concerned about me as well. She wanted to know if I’d made any new friends.’

  James and Albus share a chuckle.

  ‘I’d bet the entire family would be curious of the same,’ he teases and Albus lets out a half smile. He’s wringing out the edge of his robes as it fades. ‘Let them think what they’re gonna think, mate,’ he says, echoing his sister’s earlier words. ‘I may never understand what it is you see in that girl, but if she makes you happy…’

  ‘She does,’ he says quickly and James turns to look at him. Albus is staring up towards the Hufflepuffs practicing, his eyes following the snitch and the boy in the drenched yellow robes chasing it. ‘I���’ he starts and James waits because this feels like an authentic moment between him and his brother and he doesn’t want to ruin it. Albus sighs and his gaze drops to James’. ‘She’s my best mate. I know you two don’t get on. But she gets me. And I’m all she has.’

  James doesn’t laugh at this because there is something in Albus’ eyes he doesn’t quite recognize. He sees pain and worry swarming through his green orbs and James places his hand on his shoulder.

  ‘Then that’s all that matters,’ he says, his voice low and Albus nods, placing his hand over James’ for a brief moment before a voice interrupts them.

  ‘Hello Darling,’ the voice says.

  James knows it’s Thea before he sees her. She doesn’t bother with an umbrella as she stands in the rain, her dark hair clinging to her cheeks. She pushes several wet strands behind her ears and her smile widens when Albus glances back down at her. She laughs as she spins around, her eyes closed and her smile big.

  ‘I heard a rumor that upperclassmen were excused from classes for tomorrow for the big career event,’ she says when she stops and she wobbles just slightly as she tries to regain her balance. ‘Care to partake in some procrastination…or better yet, unplanned mischief?’

  He’s not sure if it’s due to Albus’ proximity and whatever stray observations are lingering in the air from the previous conversation, but he lets himself look at Thea how Albus might. She’s unique, constantly in her own world with no care for anyone else around her and James knows this is how Albus feels as well, though not quite as enthusiastically. Thea usually has a playfulness about her, something he usually perceives as childishness but maybe it’s simply indifference to what the world around her thinks.

  He realizes there is a long silence because he’s been staring at Thea so long that she gives him a strange look and clears her throat.

  ‘Al?’ she asks and Albus, too, seems to snap out of some similar haze at his side.

  ‘As…interesting as that sounds, I have study group.’

  ‘Shit,’ she curses. ‘Which one? Did I forget?’

  ‘No,’ Albus says quickly. ‘It’s for Care of Magical Creatures. Small group. I promised I’d go.’

  ‘Oh,’ she says, a momentary flash of something disappointed behind her eyes before she recovers with a smile. ‘Thank Dumbledore I dropped that one this year. I’ll meet you for dinner then?’

  ‘Yes. I’ll catch up.’

  She nods, starts to turn but stops herself and glances back up at James and makes a rectangle out of her fingers, framing him and he frowns.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he asks, annoyed and she places something imaginary in her robes and grins.

  ‘I just want to remember you like this,’ she says, innocently.

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Silent. Not making an arse out of yourself. Rare moment indeed. I can almost see why the girls rave about you, Jamie.’

  She doesn’t give him a chance to counter and Albus snorts from next to him as she walks off, arms outstretched as she takes in the rain.

  ‘You’re sure you want to be friends with her?’ James asks and he makes sure his tone is playful and Albus’ grin almost turns into a real smile.

  ‘You know, she kind of has a point.’

  ‘Oh fuck off.’

  It’s the first time in a long time he makes Albus laugh. A real laugh.

  He likes the sound of it, he decides.

  ROSE

  Theodora Malfoy’s dorm is not what Rose expected. In fact, she is ashamed that she expected something quite different. Instead of rich tapestries and extravagant accent pieces, she’s surprised when she finds Thea’s dorm is quite tidy and simple.

  There are no four post beds, no thick velvet curtains draped down around them like in her own dorms in the tower. There are two double-sized beds opposite one another, both with intricate wooden headboards. The wood is weathered like in the Gryffindor dorms but much less and it doesn’t rise into a canopy but instead lies flat against the wall with the ornate woodworking arching across it like a halo. Despite the snakes carved into the faint green wood, she can’t help but find it beautiful.

  In either corner is a small desk next to the armoire. On it is a lantern, a neat stack of clean parchment and a quill. There are exactly twelve books on ancient potions lined up in descending order by size. Rose has never heard of any of them.

  ‘From my gran’s library in Norfolk,’ Thea says as if she’s reading her mind and she wonders briefly if Thea has any skills in Legilimency. ‘My mother’s family has this extensive antique library, ancient texts that I’ve only ever heard rumors about. Before they closed Highwood Manor she let me take whatever I wanted for my collection at home.’

  Rose nods, pretending to understand what Highwood Manor is and glancing back down at her papers. The books bounce slightly as Thea shifts on the bed and Rose desperately holds onto the ink bottle as it threatens to spill.

  From atop the pillows Magnus the cat eyes her, his tale dancing merrily from side to side. He reminds her of her own cat who is probably waiting anxiously for her return.

  ‘He’s sweet,’ Rose says, an attempt at small talk and Thea’s eyes don’t move from the page.

  ‘He likes you,’ she says, her voice doesn’t waver as she concentrates, her fingers grazing over her handwritten notes in the parchment. Rose tries not to look at them, the neat looped letters in Thea’s hand. Writing in books has always pained her heart. ‘He doesn’t like most people.’

  ‘He’s an arse,’ Elara mutters adjusting her blouse as she crosses the room.

  ‘I’m fairly certain he feels the same way about you,’ Thea answers and doesn’t see her roommate’s hand gesture in response before the door closes, leaving Rose and Thea alone. Thea’s fingers pause over one particular paragraph and she taps in with a small grin. ‘Ah-ha! Here it is.’

  Rose peers over at the book as Thea scribbles something into her notes.

  ‘The potions properties are limited by weather and time of year. It’s why we haven’t been able to brew it to the proper qualifications. According to these charts we’d have to wait until December.’ Rose sighs.

  ‘I wish we would have known that before we’d selected it for our project. We’ll be cutting it far too close if we want to present it to Slughorn before exams,’ Rose says anxiously but Thea doesn’t seem quite as concerned.

  ‘Oh Rosie,’ she says, taking one of her bouncy curls in her fingertips and unravels it slowly, then lets it go so it springs back towards Rose’s shoulders. ‘We’ll just recreate the weather conditions. I’ve almost mastered a spell in charms that should do the trick.’

  Rose is momentarily taken aback at both Thea’s brilliance and her own inability to come up with that solution sooner. She writes ‘Milton’s Method’ in her notebook and a reminder to check open lab schedules for next week.

  Thea closes her book and swishes her wand absently so that it floats over towards her desk and disappears into the messenger bag slung over the back of her chair. Her notes piled gently on her desk next to an unfinished letter. She does this all with the ease that she might snap her fingers. Rose
doesn’t bother with the pageantry as she slides her books into her satchel and fumbles slightly with the buckle as she does.

  She suspects it’s Thea’s doing when it flies open and she only smirks when Rose looks up at her.

  ‘So,’ Thea says, glancing down at her black polished nails. ‘How’s the paper coming along?’

  Rose’s brow furrows as she answers, ‘Which one?’

  ‘You know,’ says Thea. ‘The one you’re writing about my family. Come up with any fascinating anecdotes yet?’

  ‘Oh..’ she starts to say but pauses when Thea shooks her a warning look from under her lashes. ‘I mean…I was going to talk to you about that actually.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound promising,’ Thea replies, frowning. ‘I thought we’d settled this.’

  ‘I said I’d think about it.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And I thought about it.’

  ‘Clearly, too much,’ says Thea, her legs crossed as she leans back into the pillows and toys with Magnus’ tale.

  ‘I can’t cheat, Thea. I’m sorry, I can’t do it. Mum wrote me talking about the project and she said she’d already spoken to your dad and they’re expecting us to arrange some sort of visit during the holidays. There is no way I’ll be able to get around it.’ Thea frowns but she doesn’t look all that surprised.

  ‘Well,’ Thea grumbles. ‘If the Minister for Magic says we must…then I guess we must.’

  She stands then, walks over to her desk and opens a drawer at the top and pulls out a black envelope and walks it back over to Rose, handing it to her with a shrug. There, in exquisite silver calligraphy is her name.

  Rose Granger-Weasley.

  ‘What’s this?’ she asks and Thea sighs impatiently as she motions for her to open it.

  She does as she is told and as she breaks the Malfoy seale pressed in black wax. As she opens it, the parchment dances in swirls of stars as if she’s looking deep into the universe through one of the Astronomy Tower’s telescopes.

  ‘What is Sandwith Hall?’ she asks, her eyes traveling over the words.