Moonlight War
Chapter 15
Piecing Things Together
The next few days after the battle in the dungeon were hectic and tearful, as Hogwarts prepared to bury Professor Dumbledore. I mostly kept myself hidden in my dormitory except during classes, which were reduced to about two per day, mostly to keep up appearances rather than to teach anything, as no one was in the mood to do anything school-related.
But something seemed off. That attack Okairi performed was not very strong; I sensed very little power radiating from it. It shouldn't have had enough recoil to kill him. But I held my tongue; not even the other Senshi noticed anything (and, besides that, they weren't really in a position to do anything).
"Miss Tomoe, would you please pay attention?" That snapped me out of my reverie. I was in Professor Snape's class - the only teacher who wasn't in mourning for someone - Michiru-mama had actually canceled all her meetings to mourn for Haruka-papa, even though we knew she wasn't permanently dead because of her Star Seed.
"Sorry, Professor," I replied, much to the amusement of Malfoy and his cronies. "Stuff it, Malfoy!"
"Miss Tomoe, five points from Gryffindor!"
I spent the rest of class silently fuming, to the point where I didn't even finish the potion we were assigned. This resulted in still more points being taken from Gryffindor, earning me quite a few glares from unsympathetic Gryffindors.
"Hey, Hotaru, cheer up," Hermione said; she and I were walking to the library. Harry and Ron had gone to the common room after the disastrous Potions lesson, but I was falling behind.
"But why's Snape so pushy nowadays?" I asked.
"Probably just the way he is."
I nodded, sighing slightly. Something told me that the threat of Voldemort was not gone; not totally.
"So you Senshi only came to protect Harry?" Hermione whispered; the hallways were clear of people, but it didn't hurt to avoid shouting.
"Pretty much, though a fat load of helping we did," I replied. "We had to have an innocent sacrifice himself..."
"Are you staying, Hotaru?"
"Staying?"
"You know, at Hogwarts."
"Oh... Right... I don't know."
"You should. You are a witch, after all."
I nodded slightly, unsure of myself. While I belonged here, I wasn't sure about how the others would feel, especially Haruka-papa – when she returned, of course.
"I'd have to... think on it."
The next day, I got up, only to find that my cat, Saturn, was missing; only a letter sat where its box once was. Unsure, I read it, before starting to cry. I understood what had happened – Saturn was actually part of Hutchinson. I had let Hutchinson into Hogwarts. But that meant that the body was real – or was real. But, if the letter was there, than Voldemort might still be alive as well, though maybe without a physical body.
The other Senshi had to know about this. But how? I hadn't talked to them for a while, the Inner Senshi had gone to Hogsmeade – expect Rei-chan and Mako-chan, of course, but I felt that the best person to talk to was Setsuna-mama, who was once again missing – probably to talk to her superiors at the Time Gate.
No, I knew – I had to end this alone, without help from the others.
Silently, I let my Senshi uniform cover me – I wasn't worried about identity, as the dorm was empty.
Once it materialized, I let the transformation go further, into the form I'd taken during the battle. If I was right, I'd need to fly.
I opened a window, spread my wings, and flew out, flying somewhere that I did not even know, following a strange instinct that may well have been a simple misunderstanding on my part. But I had to check this hunch out. If I was right, the world was in big danger. If I was wrong, I'd just be wasting a few hours. There was little choice.
No. There was no choice at all.
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter and delay, but I haven't been in the mood for writing lately – too much had happened in the months since my last update.