Chapter 20. Encounter In The Library

Waiting inside the Willow Tree, I glanced around to see there was nobody around to see my strange behavior. I took a deep breath of the cool air, and let the whips of my breath float upwards towards the sky. It was still relatively early, and many students would be sleeping in on a weekend, so I was confident there was a low chance of being seen. Knowing that I finally pushed the knot in the tree, and left towards my house.

“Pureblood.” I muttered before the door opened to the lounge. There were only a few of the older years reading books in silence, too enamored with their own progress to even notice my presence. I quietly went to my room, but when inside, I found Pansy sleeping atop my bed. She was still fully clothed in her robes, and even above my sheets. “You’re back! Finally!!” Val yelled while slithering from his tank. “I’m starving!!”

I scoffed at him while getting a few pieces of food for him, which also reminded me to make some more. He scarfed down the food while I asked some questions, and got out my magical burner. “Why is Pansy here?” Val finished the last piece in record time, and answered while going back in his tank to soak. “After classes, we ate dinner, and then she took me here. She read some books until she fell asleep.” I glanced at her, and sure enough spotted a potions book, open on the cure for boils chapter.

I felt a twinge of guilt for making her wait for me. I let out a sigh, and got out my cauldron instead. The loud noises of moving my things, caused a stir from behind. I looked back to see Pansy slowly waking up. She groaned while sitting up, looking towards me in a half asleep state. I saw her eyes become less cloudy, and the moment clarity came into view, her face turned a deep crimson. “Wh- What took you so long!? I almost dozed off waiting!” She yelled, trying to avoid talking about her sleeping in my room.

I smirked while filling the cauldron with water to start. “Sorry, I ended up too busy. If I teach you about potion making, can you forgive me?” I asked, slyly avoiding her asking where I slept last night. “F-Fine! But you’re doing all the work!” I nodded at her while getting my mortar and pestle. “Deal.” She then got up from my bed, and gave me my book to look at while working. Even though she said I would do everything, Pansy instantly wanted to take over on the first step of crunching up snake fangs.

With both of us working together, we managed to complete the potion perfectly on our first try. “Well, it was a beginner potion.” Pansy said while taking a vial of the potion we had made. The good thing about these potions was how much could be made at once. Our instructions gave us a large enough amount to be used for weeks straight.

“Cheers.” I smirked while holding my own vial with the cork uncapped. Pansy scoffed at my idea, but clinked her vial against mine, before we both drank our medicine. I felt the same sensation I had felt before, meaning this was the same type of potion I had drank before school. It tasted a little bitter, but that was to be expected of snake fangs. I looked at Pansy, and noticed her skin was completely clear, like porcelain. Any small blemishes she had were now completely non-existent.

Pansy gawked at me, before feeling her own face. She darted to my bedroom mirror, and looked at herself in silence. “Saving this recipe…” She muttered before turning back to me with a large smile. “I guess I’ll let you off for this.” She grinned while taking her share of our bounty. “Thank you.” I responded back with a grin, getting my own smooth skin in this process. “Well, I’ll freshen up in my room. Will you be free at..” Pansy paused while looking at the clock. “9:00?” I nodded at her. “Sure, see you then.”

Once 9 rolled around, I met up with Pansy in the lobby. “Breakfast?” I asked, feeling a wave of hunger from my release. ‘Normally I would eat as soon as I woke up, but I didn’t feel so hungry until now…’ Pansy nodded, and we both headed off to the great hall together. We both ate in silence, apart from the small conversations over magic and potion making, and of course the Slytherin girls obsessing over Pansy’s new skin. “Oh my god! You look amazing!” “Really!” “How did you get skin like that!?”

I ignored them, focusing on eating as much as I could to satiate my hunger. My stomach felt almost bottomless after releasing my energy like that, but today was not as bad as it was before. ‘Strange, there must be something about this place…’ I thought while glancing upwards at the magically enchanted ceiling, and hovering candles.

After breakfast, and peeling the girls away from Pansy with their insistent requests of cure for boils potions, we managed to get to the library. I took a deep breath of the smell of parchment, and the subtle tickle of glue that came with these places. A smile grew on my face as I looked around at the myriad of books stacked atop their shelves. “Anything you have in mind?” Pansy asked, wanting to join me after I told her about coming here.

I shrugged while glancing around at the sections, until one caught my eye. At first, I wanted to come here in search of anything related to magical beasts, or perhaps even potions. However, my eyes locked onto something else entirely. In the Divination portion of the library, I watched a silver haired girl studying the labels of the books she playfully tapped the spines of. Her hair was short, barely reaching her shoulders, but it sparkled in the sunlight shining through the windows.

Looking at her, I felt something I couldn’t explain. A sort of closeness I had never felt with anyone before. Somehow I felt a sort of kindred with this total stranger, whom I had never even said a word to. I didn’t know her, I had just seen her, yet despite all that, I knew we were alike. Stunned from this strange feeling, I just gawked at her silently in confusion. She then happened to catch my gaze, looking up to meet my eyes, her book lowering below her chest, now showcasing the front of her robe, a proud Badger surrounded by a golden yellow shield adorned on her chest. A Hufflepuff.

Once she noticed me, she froze as well. Her eyes darted towards my chest, and visible confusion showed on her face. She looked back at me in disbelief, and if I was correct, slight horror. “How…? How are you… Slytherin?” She mumbled, letting me hardly be able to hear her. “Have we met?” I asked her while moving closer, so I wouldn’t have to talk so loud. She just kept studying me in silence. After she shook her head in confusion, she finally responded. “No, we haven’t… When is your birthday?”

I glanced at the Astrology section, and understood she was going to try a reading on me. Given her strange aura about her, and my innate curiosity of the subject, I answered without much pause. “September 18th.” Her frozen expression didn't budge. 'Was it a knee-jerk reaction to ask?' I pondered in confusion for her not listening to my answer. However my thoughts were broken from the girl as she lost strength in her legs, and almost stumbled to the ground. I grabbed her arm to keep her on her feet. “Do you need to go to the hospital wing?” I asked, causing her to raise her downtrodden head back up at me.

She shook her head, and regained strength in her legs, allowing me to let go. “No… No, I… I have to go. I’m so sorry.” She apologized before quickly running off towards the front desk to check out her books. She glanced back at me a few times while waiting, but then left without looking back once she could. “What was that about?” Pansy asked me, causing me to shake my head in confusion. “I don’t know. That girl is certainly strange to say the least.”

Hermione watched the poor girl scurry off, outside of the library she was studying in earlier. Hermione had gotten up early to enjoy reading to her fullest at this library, but was caught off guard from the sudden appearance of the person she was cautious of. Luckily she wasn’t noticed by them, but a silver haired girl with one look, seemed terrified of Peterson. Hermione sneakily went out after her, once Peterson and his friend were talking to each other.

Hermione remembered that the Hufflepuff room was towards the right, so she immediately went that way. There were few students walking around, so the one quickly walking away stood out easily to her. “Excuse me!” She called out to the fleeing girl, causing her to look back with some fear. Seeing it wasn’t either Peterson or his girl, she eased up a bit, but was still tense. “Y-Yes?” She said while clutching her books.