The last months of the school year passed quickly. Pepper spent half of the time running in and out of the hospital wing; her and Grape both receiving treatments to remove the taint of dark magic that still clung to the two of them. A combination of Madam Pomphrey's healing spells and Professor Quinlin's most complex potions seemed to be doing the trick, though there were still moments where Pepper would suddenly catch herself feeling winded, like those choking tendrils of blackness had seized around her throat again and were suffocating the life out of her. She would lurch to a standstill, whatever she was doing, her hands unconsciously clutching at her throat... Albus never let her alone, anywhere. He sat with her in every class, at every meal, and every event. Places where he couldn't follow her, like the girl's dormitory or the lavatory, he sent Rose. It was a little annoying. And entirely sweet.
Grape, in addition to her at least weekly sessions in the hospital wing, had been spending a lot of her spare time up in the Divination tower with Professor Trelawney. So much time, in fact, that Club Awesome rarely saw her anymore, with the exception of classes and mealtimes. She was learning everything that she could; about her gift, about her ancestry... even about her birth parents. She finally had a tangible family connection to the wizarding world, and though it took up a lot of her friend's time, Pepper was glad that Grape had found Trelawney.
Quidditch season came to a close, with Gryffindor finishing second to Hufflepuff in the match for the Cup. Sacha still refused to let that go, and he continually taunted a red faced Albus about how he had slipped sideways of off his broom in his excitement to catch the Snitch to win the game, allowing it to fall into the hands of the Hufflepuff Seeker. Exams came and went, and Pepper was not surprised that she breezed through them easily. Even with the little time she had spent studying, it was hard not to ace the Herbology exam with firsthand experience on how to counteract the effects of Devil's Snare. Course selections for the third year passed, though not without much sweating for Pepper. Twelve years old and already having to plan her path for the future... That was, assuming she survived whatever the prophecies held in store...
The dreams still haunted her, though not as bad as they had been before. Now, instead of an empty figure in the shapeless woods, the dreams that plagued her had a name, and a face. The Dark Lady. Labelling the fear with an identity didn't make her any less terrifying, but at least she was more tangible now. Real. An enemy that Pepper could someday face, and one that she would eventually have to fight. Fegan still sang her to sleep, his crooning reaching through to her even in the dreams, and the smoky wisps of the Forest that surrounded her would dissipate into darkness, taking the feared Lady away with them.
Grape still had the dreams too – Pepper could see it in her face. The two of them never spoke of it, and by an unspoken agreement within the group the events of that night had never been brought up again, but Pepper knew. She could tell whenever Grape came down to breakfast with shadowed eyes that were a little too wide and alert for the morning, The two would share a glance; just a fleeting meet of their eyes, purple and gold, over toast, and one or the other would smile in sympathy. They never spoke about it; they didn't have to. They understood.
Standing in the near empty dorm room the morning of departure, Pepper was struck by how enormous the room seemed without 6 or 7 girls crammed into it. It was lonely, cold, and empty... They were only just leaving and already the magic of the room was gone. Hogwarts without its students was equivalent to Pepper's life without magic now – she just couldn't see it. The school in her mind was full of life, the way it was intended to be. Now, as the school year drew to an anticlimactic close, the weight of that ending seemed to bear down upon her shoulders.
Pepper sat down heavily on her trunk, resting at the foot of what had been her bed. Only a few months ago, it seemed, she had clambered beneath those crimson sheets with anticipation of her second year... She had changed so much in that time. She wasn't the same girl anymore. That girl – the one with the naive heart full of fantasies and delusions of power was gone, replaced with someone... wiser? More mature? Someone different; that was for sure. Pepper turned over the package that she held in her hands – the one she had received at Christmas, the one from her father. She had grown. She was mature, and responsible. She could handle whatever her father had sent her...
Her fingernails slid under the scotch tape holding the brown packaging closed around the soft package . She tugged and the tape broke, sending a silken mass of fabric spilling into her lap. The scarf was long enough to wrap around Pepper's neck at least 6 times, and was made of a soft, shiny fabric that shifted colours and lustre as it caught the light. Wrapping the scarf carefully around her neck, Pepper opened and beheld the letter that her father had written her, months ago.
Philippa,
This scarf belonged to your mother. She wore it the first time I ever met her, one day at King's Cross station. I don't suppose I ever told about that day, did I? It seems so long ago now, almost as if we were in another lifetime. Your mother was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. You are remarkably like her, in that way. She appeared almost as if out of nowhere, laughing in the most angelic voice I had ever heard. I was young, just beginning my term as a junior lawyer in the firm, but even I knew that she was a woman I had to get to know.
I did love your mother, truly. But until I learned her secret, I never really knew her. We were too different, the two of us, and when we parted ways after your birth, it was neither gracious nor amiable. Still, I fear that I took out my hurt at the lies and rejection of our marriage out on you, and I apologize for that. You have always been the most precious thing in my life, and I fear I should have realized that much sooner.
I don't expect you to return to live with me. I don't even know if I should expect to ever see you again. I'll be honest; I'm afraid of what you are. To me, it is not natural. It is strange. It is abnormal. But you are my daughter, and I love you even so. I always have. I always will.
Your father.
Pepper didn't bother to hold back the tears that spilled over her face as she read and reread the letter. A part of her was angry, so angry at her father, for kicking her out of the house, and her mother before; abandoning them both because of his prejudice. She should hate him, and yet... Pepper couldn't bring herself to hate the man who had raised her. She couldn't bring herself to face him, either, or even to write him back, but she wouldn't hate him, either. She folded the letter up small and placed it inside the strange mother-of-pearl and emerald inlaid box that she had received mysteriously for Christmas as well, sliding the lid shut on the only memento she held of her father. She then slipped the box into the satchel resting on her shoulder and rose, heading out of the dorm.
The Entrance Hall was filled with students as they slowly filed their way out of the school, either towards the boats or to the horseless carriages. They hugged their friends and spoke goodbyes to their teachers before slipping out into the warm afternoon sunshine. Pepper leaned against the staircase railing, watching the tide of students flow out the door, waiting for an opening to slip out and find her friends by the main gate.
"That is a beautiful scarf. A gift?"
Pepper started as Professor Quinlin's voice spoke suddenly from her elbow. She glanced down to see the Professor in question standing next to the staircase at ground level, looking up at her with intense dark eyes. His long brown hair was not swept back into a pony tail today; rather it fell in front of his eyes so that Pepper could barely read the slight creasing of his brow. "Yes. From my father."
"I see. So, it would have belonged to your mother, then?" An eyebrow rose, as far as Pepper could tell, and for a brief instant, she thought she saw something... pain? Regret?... flash across the Professor's eyes before his stoic expression replaced it.
"I – yeah. How did you know that?" Professor Quinlin just smiled, and Pepper sighed. "One day, you'll have to tell me how you and my mom knew each other."
"I look forward to it." At the edge of his voice, barely noticeable but still present, was a hint of longing that did not go missed by Pepper's ears. She glanced at him quizzically, but Professor Quinlin was already clearly his throat and turning his gaze away shiftily. "Have a good summer, Miss Zaniel."
"You too, Professor..." Pepper shrugged, stepping down from the stairs as a path opened in the mob of students. She made her way towards the door, feeling Professor Quinlin's eyes following her carefully on the way out.
Albus, Rose, Sacha, Cameron and Grape waited in a tight knit group at the edge of the school grounds near the gate. A few paces away, Mikaela lounged against one of the stone gargoyle topped pillars, Scorpius beside her. Pepper couldn't help but notice the way that every so often he would shift his gaze towards the group and how, on those occasions, Roe would lift her head to meet his stare. They would both flush and quickly turn away. Pepper smiled slightly to herself. Perhaps she would try and convince them to be study partners more often, if only to ease the tension between them.
"Pepper!" Sacha whined loudly, pacing forward. "Tell Cameron that I'm right!"
"Right about what?" Pepper shied away from the question. Sacha and Cameron sometimes got into really heated debates over nothing, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be involved.
"That's not important! Just know that I'm right, and he's wrong, and he won't admit it!" Sacha sighed in exasperation. "Tell him he's wrong. He'll listen to you!" Pepper eyed Cameron quizzically, who was trying very hard not to grin.
"We're debating the possibility of life on Mars. I don't think it's gonna happen, not with today's technology-"
"Forget technology!" Sacha cried. "We'll use magic! We can use a rocket ship to get there, and build a magical school just like Hogwarts and students could go there, and-"
"Why build a school on Mars?" Pepper cut him off. "What's the point?" Sacha gasped, and opened his mouth to rant, but Cameron clapped a hand over Sacha's face.
"Please don't get him started," Albus begged. "He went on for 30 minutes the last time, when Grape asked that question." Grape sighed in agreement, a sigh that choked off into a laugh. Cameron removed his hand from Sacha's face suddenly, as if he had been burned.
"Did you just lick me?"
Sacha was saved from answering when one of the horseless carriages rode up alongside them. Albus hopped up into the carriage right away, reaching down with a hand to help Pepper up. She eyed the front of the carriage, where the supposedly invisible Thestrals were supposed to be harnessed, with apprehension. Albus laughed. "I promise, they are trained."
"Being trained has nothing to do with it," Pepper frowned, taking his hand. "It's the whole Death pony thing that creeps me out a little." Pepper placed her foot on the edge of the carriage and Albus pulled her up. He held on to her hand for a moment longer than he needed to before blushing and pulling away to give Rose a hand up.
"I don't know," Rose disagreed. "I think that maybe they're just..."
"Misunderstood."
Pepper hadn't even noticed Scorpius clambering into the carriage with Mikaela on the other side, but as he spoke he settled into one of the bench seats near the outside. His neck looked a little flushed as he realized that the attention of everyone in the carriage was now on him, and the flush only deepened when Rose chose to seat next to him. "Exactly," she smiled.
Pepper pursed her lips, attempting to hide her quick grin, but neither one of them spoke to each other for the rest of the carriage ride. They even avoided eye contact as the carriage moved down the path that led them away from the school, towards Hogsmeade station. The entire ride passed in silence; with the exceptions of Sacha and Cameron, the latter attempting futilely to wipe the saliva on his hand off onto the robes of the former. The carriage lurched to a stop in front of the train, where the air was so thick with steam from the whirring engine that Pepper could hardly see as she stepped down into the throng of people. She felt a small hand cling suddenly to hers, and he clutched on to Grape just as tightly as they weaved through the crowd.
They were directed to a compartment in the fourth car, where their luggage already stood waiting for them. Pepper's trunk rested across one of the bench seats, the ornate golden cage sitting atop of it. "Where's Fegan?" Grape asked, pointing at the cage.
"Flying," Pepper answered. "He hates being cooped up, so we decided to let him find his own way home. He can keep up, no problem." Grape frowned, but said nothing. Pepper hoisted her trunk up into the overhead compartment so that she could take a seat against the window. Her satchel rested across her legs, and Pepper slid one hand inside the bag to run her fingers over the delicate surface of the inlaid keepsake box. Albus and Rose came in after them, moving their trunks as well and placing their owls in cages on the seats beside them. After a few moments, Sacha, Cameron, Mikaela and Scorpius came from storing their luggage in another compartment, and they all took seats, squishing together as best they could. Sacha opted to sit on the floor, his head resting on Cameron's knees.
"We're going to be too big to all fit into one compartment like this soon," Rose commented as she shifted sideways slightly so that Grape was no longer sitting practically in her lap. Sacha frowned.
"Was that a fat joke?"
"What?" Rose protested, and everyone else laughed; even Scorpius managing a weak chuckle. "No! I only meant that... you know, we're all getting older-"
"So now we're old, and fat?" Sacha grimaced teasingly. "What are you trying to say here, Rose?"
"Shut up," the redhead grumbled, and this time even Scorpius managed a full laugh. Even as she giggled, Pepper knew what Rose meant. They were all getting older. They were all growing up. It had been two years... The time had passed so quickly, but two years had come and gone since they had first met, sitting together in a compartment very similar to the one they were now in with Grape and Sacha. Two years since her life had changed so drastically, both for the better and the worse. She imagined that her smile must have been a little sad, because suddenly Grape was leaning forward as much as the space allowed and placing a comforting hand on Pepper's knee.
"It's not a bad thing," Grape's smile was reassuring. "Everything changes. The future is always changing. You have us, and we'll stick with you no matter what the future holds."
Of all her friends, tiny Grape had grown up the most, it seemed. Probably she had matured even more than Pepper herself. "I thought you were supposed to be able to see the future now." Pepper smiled, passing a hand over her eyes.
"Only sometimes," Grape countered. "The future isn't set in stone. We can always change things. But I repeat: one thing that will never change is that we will always be here, right beside you." Pepper placed her hand over Grape's on her own knee and squeezed.
"I second that statement!" Sacha declared loudly from the floor. "We of Club Awesome will never abandon one of our own! Because we are..." Sacha frowned as he thought. A slow smile dawned on his face. "Because we are just too awesome to!"
If the future was always going to be inconstant, at least Pepper could rely on Sacha's sense of humor to get her through whatever was to come. "Eloquent as ever," Mikaela drawled from her seat. Sacha beamed, not immediately recognizing the sarcasm. Then he did, and the frown returned.
"Mikaela?" Sacha questioned sadly. "Why do you wound me so?" Mikaela snorted, her lips turning up into a smile. Pride flashed across Sacha's face before he remembered that he was supposed to look like he was upset.
"Poor Sacha," Cameron laughed, patting his best friend on the head from his position behind him. "Always getting picked on, aren't you?"
"You guys are all so jealous." Sacha frowned. "Whoa... déjà vu!"
The countryside blew passed them in a haze of smoke emitted from the train's engine that hummed constantly beneath their feet. Trees and fields and bushes all blended into a continuous streak of brown and green. The others talked and laughed and reminisced about the year – "And remember that toilet seat the Pepper blew up? Well, I've got it in my trunk, I was thinking we could all sign it and I would put it on my wall or something..." – and Pepper leaned her head against the window and dozed off into a half-sleep. She wasn't fully conscious, but every so often she would open her eyes to contribute something to the conversation; like reminding Sacha that his mom might not take too kindly to having plumbing stuck to her walls by a Permanent Sticking Charm. But for the most part, she kept her eyes closed and let her thought wander.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Pepper frowned, crinkling her brow. That sounds was familiar. Tap. Tap. Tap. Pepper opened her eyes to see a large snowy owl rapping its beak furiously off of the glass of the compartment window. "Guys," she called to the others, effectively cutting of Sacha in the middle of his 'magic school on Mars' ramble. Pepper stood and opened the window, the wind rushing past blasting her in the face and forcing her hair back and the owl fluttered its way inside. The bird circled once in the tiny space before settling on Albus' knee. It spat letter onto his lap before rising into the air again and soaring out of the window. Pepper closed it quickly cutting off the cool wind, before sitting down.
"What is it?" Grape asked, leaning around Rose to see Albus' face. His eyes had creased into a frown as he stared down at the letter.
"That was my Dad's owl..." Albus opened the letter with nimble fingers. Two squares of parchment fell out, one inscribed on in a messy scrawl with green ink, the other a newspaper clipping. Albus read the letter first. The compartment waited with bated breath as Albus' eyes scanned over the words. His face paled, and the parchment dropped from his fingers. Sacha reached out and snagged it.
"What?" Pepper demanded. "What is it."
Sacha drew in a sharp breath. His hands trembled as he reached back to hand the letter to Pepper. She seized it eagerly, her eyes moving as she silently followed the words with fear in her heart. Was someone dead? Had something happened. She read, and her brow began to furrow. She glanced up at Albus with shock and confusion. "Al..."
"Would someone please tell us what's going on?" Mikaela demanded. By way of answer, Albus held up the newspaper clipping.
It was cut from the Daily Prophet, obviously, and clearly the evening edition. The black and white picture moved, showing a large triangular building crumbling apart, chunks of rock and metal falling into the wild and plunging depths of a fierce and stormy sea that surrounded it. The picture shifted, and a group of masked figures laughed, their faces encased in skulls, their hoods pointed as they reached with treacherous hands towards the unseen camera. The headline above screamed in block printed black letters:
Deatheaters of Azkaban Escape.
END OF BOOK TWO
MWAHAHA! The end! Gods, I loved writing this one. Oodles of fun! The next Book should pick up right where this one left off. I don't know yet when I'll post it - I have the first two chapters written, but I want to hammer out a few more before I put it up here. I'll let you all know here when I do. Until next time,
SKYELAH OUT!