Recap: Orphne Ephydria Avery came to Hogwarts under mysterious circumstances that required her to change her name to Ionia Rivers and get protective spells etched into her skin. Ever since a dubious visit to the Hog's Head and a subsequent prank gone horribly wrong she's been having a hard time remembering things. On the bright side she has managed to strike up a tentative friendship with Remus, bonding over their shared fascination for arcane artefacts.

Chapter 7

It was just before dawn. The deep blue of the lake lay flat before her, the brightest stars had not faded yet. Io shivered in the early morning chill. She looked down and realized her feet were bare and she was only wearing a thin night gown. But Io didn't care. This was her happy place.

"Ori!"

Io froze. She was sure someone had called her, although she couldn't make sense of the word. She turned around and saw a man standing right outside a little stone hut. He was angry. Before she knew what she was doing, Io hurried towards him.

"What have I told you about wandering off like that?" At a second glance, she realized he was worried. He was a handsome man in his forties who had the distinct look of someone whose life had brought him down. His face bore a stern expression, but his eyes told another story.

"Sorry, Dad." Was that her voice? She sounded so young.

The inside of the hut was blurry. She closed her eyes and opened them again, but her sight wouldn't clear. She turned towards him.

"Your -o-h-er -rried-ss- -ick," she couldn't make out his words and stared up at him in confusion. Somehow he expected her to make sense of that. "-ve -t-ld you a dozen times to stay away from the water."

She couldn't reply. All of a sudden Io was certain there was someone else in the room. She had to see them, desperately. But when she turned around, the room turned with her, always landing her back with the man with the stern face. She had to see what- But the blur got worse until the room started to turn on its own. She panicked. Heat started rising from her chest and she cried out in pain.

"Mom!"

Her own yell woke her. Io jolted up in her bed with a feeling of utter dread shaking her to the bone. She tried to catch her breath and suddenly realized she was drenched in sweat.

What the- Night terrors? Merlin, she wasn't a little kid! Io groaned in embarrassment and suddenly it hit her: she shared that room.

Oh sweet Circe, please don't let anyone have heard!

Io peeked through the curtains of her bed and found the other girls still sound asleep. Relief washed over her. What had just…? She tried to remember the images from her dream, but they slowly faded away. A hut. A lake. A man. And then... nothing.

Io looked out the window. It was still early, but she was now wide awake, so she got up. Her chest ached and she rubbed at it, which only made it worse. She would have to see Madam Pomfrey today. Maybe if she went now, she could squeeze in a study session at noon. All of a sudden her stomach growled angrily.

Io sighed. Early breakfast it was.

Breakfast wasn't as bad as she had feared. Hardly anyone paid attention to her, recent history of puss-filled blisters or not. That kind of thing did happen a lot, she wagered, remembering the day Abby had threatened Black's life and no one had bat an eye.

Io had expected Black and Potter to gloat over their accomplishment at the least, but they didn't look her way once. She eyed them suspiciously; they were obviously up to something. Remus was nowhere to be seen.

When she arrived at their Transfiguration class, she noticed that Remus' seat was empty and Black, Potter and Pettigrew were huddled together, whispering. She warily sat down and Sirius straightened up immediately, turning toward the front of the class, where McGonagall was still preparing their lesson. Apparently they were still not done with the cups.

She wondered whether Remus would still turn up. Maybe he had just overslept. Cadi had told her he was sick a lot though, hadn't she?

"Where's Remus?" she finally asked Sirius.

He just shrugged dismissively. She rolled her eyes. Prick.

"Is he sick again?"

He turned towards her with a bored expression, as if they'd had the same discussion a million times.

"What's it to you?"

"He's still got my book."

Obviously Sirius couldn't care less. He turned away and got out his quill.

"Like that's gonna help you."

Io put as much of her undying loathing for him as she could muster into the look she cast him, but Sirius didn't even look up. She turned away, annoyed.

That's what you get for talking to idiots.

The day crept onward sluggishly. Transfiguration was terrible as always. Arithmancy wasn't half bad. Defence was the same old useless routine.

Instead of lunch, Io hurried up the stairs to the hospital wing. The bandages around her torso were itching like hell and she'd rather starve than take one more minute of it.

When she entered she saw Remus on a bed at the far end surrounded by his friends. Sirius had sat down next to him and Potter was telling them what sounded like a 'hilarious' story. Pettigrew looked up to him adoringly as if he had just come up with Gamp's Law or something. Probably just went and poisoned someone new, Io thought gloomily as Madam Pomfrey steered her toward an empty stretcher and drew the curtains around it.

She could hear the laughter erupt from the other end of the room. Io only half listened while Madam Pomfrey chided her for scratching her scabs. She suddenly felt very stupid. Of course. Remus wasn't her friend; he'd paid her sympathy visits out of a guilt for something his stupid pals had done. How very noble of him.

Wrapped up tightly in a new set of bandages and armed with a jar of ointment, Madam Pomfrey let her get up. Io hesitated, then took a few steps toward Remus and his visitors. She cleared her voice. They looked at her, as if she was about to spoil their fun. Maybe she was. She zoomed in on Remus. He looked tired and very pale.

"I want my book!" Io demanded with an icier voice than she had meant to.

"Oh," Remus wavered, "It's in the dorm. I'll... get it to you once I get out of here."

Io nodded curtly and turned around. When she was almost out of the door, she heard the laughter.

"Figures you'd have a Slythertit moon over you..." Sirius crooned.

Io flinched and quickly darted away, before she'd turn around and do something very, very regrettable.

As craptacular as that day had already been, Io should have known by experience that more was to come. The sense of gloom had not left her during Herbology, although they at least had that class with the Hufflepuffs so she was safe from her own violent impulses toward a certain gang of four.

Io walked silently beside Cadi down to the edge of the forbidden forest, where Professor Kettleburn expected them. She was grateful that Cadi was someone who didn't need constant chatter to be happy, since Io didn't feel like talking at all.

From a distance she noticed the big ugly beasts at the far end of an enclosed area behind the Professor. He was standing next to the huge bearded gamekeeper, who put down a wooden barrel between them.

As they drew nearer Io found the beasts looked somewhat like winged horses. That is, if horses had mated with reptiles and given birth to a big black four-legged bat without an ounce of fat on its body.

No one else appeared to be disturbed by the monstrous creatures in front of them. Io glanced around, irritated, only skimming over Potter and Black who stood nearby and found something very amusing. Probably something to do with Severus, Io figured. Then she noticed that Serena Rowle, one of the Gryffindor girls had stuck behind and stared at the bat-horses with wide eyes from afar.

"What's wrong?" a girl with fiery red hair asked Serena. Lily, Io remembered. She was one of those annoyingly perfect students, almost Ravenclawish. Serena just shook her head for an answer and stared on.

"Professor Kettleburn?" Lily turned toward the Professor, who was taking big lumps of raw meat out of the barrel the gigantic gamekeeper had just supplied him with.

"Thank you, Hagrid." The Professor said to the bearded man and turned to the class, exclaiming merrily, "Gather round now!". Then all of a sudden he let out an inhuman shriek and more than one student flinched in surprise. Hagrid chuckled.

Kettleburn slung a few lumps of meat toward the beasts that were drawing nearer to taste it. Io examined their faces. There was something distinctly dragon-like about them that she couldn't simply dismiss as ugly. Their blank white eyes were terrifying though.

There was an impatient buzz all around her, people were getting on their toes to peer over the heads of their classmates. Professor Kettleburn reached out towards one of the beasts and patted its nose.

"That's a good boy..."

Not the expression that I would use, Io thought. The bat-horses appeared to be tame though, so that was a relief. Io still remembered the sharp little teeth of the Porlocks vividly.

"Now, who here can see them?" He looked around the class expectantly and was confronted with a myriad of confused faces. Serena nervously put a hand up and so did Io. "Alright, then come up to the front you two."

Serena looked about as excited as Io felt, but they still walked up to him. A few more members of the herd were approaching the class now and chugging down bloody batches of meat in the process. Someone yelped in fear. Others were pointing at the spots were the meat was devoured. Kettleburn was oblivious.

"What we have here is my pride and joy! We have the only tame herd in Britain, you know," he beamed at them, as if that made any sense to anyone. "Thestrals."

Most of the students' faces still looked rather nonplussed, but a few gasped in recognition.

"Sweet," Potter commented.

"Who here knows what Thestrals are?"

Io didn't listen to the reply someone gave him, probably Lily, because one of those Thestrals had just started to playfully nip at the sleeve of Io's good robe. Well, not-as-bad robe.

"Stop that!" Io grumbled, but the Thestral appeared to be enjoying himself.

"Tenebrus likes yeh, I can tell." Hagrid the gamekeeper suddenly sounded next to her. She looked up and once again realized how scarily huge he was. But his eyes were kind, she had to admit.

She looked back at Tenebrus the Thestral who was now snuggling up to her shoulder.

"Great," Io muttered sullenly. Since she couldn't get Tenebrus to stop, she gave up all resistance to his cuddling and listened to the Professor instead.

"...is why only those who have seen death can see them. Of course, this has given them a rather dire reputation. Totally unfounded, I tell you."

"Yeah, now that's what I call a death omen," Sirius whispered to his friends. Pettigrew giggled. Not even close to funny, Io noted mentally.

But she was too distracted to really get annoyed by them. What had the Professor said? Only those who have seen death? Images of last night's dream appeared before her mind, but they were all muddled together. She knew the man had been her father. Of course he was, she knew that. She also knew that he had passed away. But she couldn't for the life of her remember how it had happened.

Tenebrus gave Io a nudge with his nose and jolted her out of her thoughts. The Thestral rose his head until they were at about the same height and their eyes locked. Io still found Tenebrus' shiny white orbs a bit scary, but now that she was really looking there was a depth to them, maybe even emotion.

"Are yeh a'rright?" Hagrid asked while he patted Tenebrus' bony neck with his big hand.

"Huh?" Io responded eloquently. Why wouldn't she be? Then she noticed her nose was bleeding. "Oh."

She wiped at her nose with her sleeve. So much for her good robe.

"Yeah, I get those all the time." That was a lie. She couldn't remember ever having had a nosebleed. But that was exactly the problem, wasn't it? She couldn't remember.

Hagrid peered down at her doubtfully. Some of the other students were starting to notice her bloody face, the bloodstream just wouldn't let up. She wiped at it angrily.

"Are you alright?" someone whispered next to her. Io groaned in frustration and zoomed in on the girl who had asked. Lily. Of course.

"Stop asking me that," she hissed. Lily's eyes narrowed but she didn't respond otherwise. Very much uneager to give her classmates any more reasons to pester her, she spent the rest of the class petting her new best friend, the skeleton bat-horse Tenebrus.

Io went straight to her dorm, dinner be damned. The quiet of the lonely room was soothing. It's nothing, she tried to reassure herself. You haven't been sleeping well, that's all.

She did feel really tired. If only she had Wenlock's book here, that would take her mind off of things. But she didn't even have the strength to get upset about the fact that Remus still had it. As she kicked off her boots and socks, she tried to recall her favourite chapters instead.

If she had to choose which magical artefact she desired the most it would probably be Nion's Compass, she pondered, although she wasn't sure if it ever existed. To possess something that would always lead you where you longed to go, instead of where you wanted to go? Most people would find that useless. But to Io it sounded like a guarantee for a life full of extraordinary adventure.

She sat down on the edge of her bed and looked out her window. For some reason the strangely luminescent water of the lake blew away all of her dreams of adventure and fame. Io reached out and touched the glass on impulse. Suddenly an irresistible urge to smash her hand through the shiny surface into the water beyond overcame her. She felt a deep pulse in the palm of her hand and let go immediately.

She looked down at her hand in shock. It was still tingling.

"Io?"

She almost jumped, when she heard Cadi's voice behind her.

"What are you doing?" A bemused Cadi was standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

"Err- going to bed?"

Cadi snorted. "It's not even 6 pm."

"Yeah. You got me there." Io felt way too tired to come up with some witty response, instead she pumped her tingly hand into a fist in the hopes of getting rid of the irksome sensation.

Cadi edged closer and slumped down next to Io. They sat in silence for a moment.

"Is it the Thestral thing?"

Io froze for a second, then she released the breath she had held. Cadi surely thought that she was upset about whoever she had - apparently - seen die. That didn't even begin to cover it, but Io found herself nodding nevertheless. It was just easier that way.

A movement next to her made Io look up. Cadi had gotten up and now tugged at Io's arm.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

Sensing Io's hesitation she added, "Look, I'm not good with that whole heart-to-heart thing, but moping in the dark sure isn't going to help."

Io's mouth fell open in indignation, "I'm not moping."

She got up anyway. An easy grin stretched upon Cadi's face, "Of course not."

Hastily putting on her socks she followed Cadi out of the room, the afternoon gloom slowly lifting from her mind. Moping around, Io huffed. As if.

Notes: hello there :) As always an enormous 'Thank You!' to MissMooToYou for betaing and to you all for following, commenting and cheerleading. I had to split this chapter in two, so the next one should be along in a few days.