Wonder

Chapter 7: The ugly truth

I had snuck back into my own dorm that evening before anybody could suspect anything and Jesse and I pretended the next morning that nothing happened. I felt particularly joyful, especially compared to last night, and walked to breakfast with a smile on my face. Jesse was already sitting at the Gryffindor table and I took a seat next to him, greeted him like I had ever since we had become friends. Cameron sat opposite of us, talking to Caleb. He looked up as he heard me talk and stared for a moment, falling silent. Then he stuttered: 'Uh... I still have to do... some homework... I'll see you in a bit!' he said to Caleb. He quickly stood up, almost falling over because his foot got caught underneath the bench. As he stumbled away, Caleb sighed and greeted me. 'Don't mind him. He will get past it soon.' I watched Cameron walk out of the Great Hall and shrugged. Today, I felt rather invincible. Cameron would come around and I knew he did not hate me; he was merely afraid, and probably confused too.
Jesse drank up his pumpkin juice and put his hands in his lap. I let my hand rest on the piece of bench between us and then carefully took his right hand, without looking at him. He squeezed my hand underneath the table and I saw a small smile creep up on his face out of the corner of my eye.
'Good morning guys!' Kaylee yelled as she walked up to us. She looked the most tired of us all, while she was the one who had slept the longest. 'Guess what day it is today?'
'Happy birthday!' we said collectively and she beamed as she sat down. Caleb said goodbye and went upstairs too. Kaylee took a sip of pumpkin juice and touched her plate. With a gasp, we watched the piece of birthday cake appear on her plate. 'Since when do we get birthday cake from the Kitchens?'
'Must be a new thing! I have never received any birthday cake before!' Kaylee exclaimed.
'Maybe a house-elf fancies you,' I suggested and she made a disgusted face.

The day went by as a normal Thursday would go. I started with a double hour of Potions, where I managed to produce a decent Fire Protection potion. I spent an hour of Transfiguration staring out of the window at the rain and then proceeded to poorly cast the Quietening Charm during the practical hour of Charms. After lunch, I had a free period in which I tutored Noah in History of Magic.
I stepped into the Library a couple of minutes after the bell had rung and saw Jesse sitting with Noah. I walked towards the two boys, smiled and said: 'Hey.'
'Hey,' smiled Noah.
Jesse jumped up when he saw me. 'Hi! Here, you can have my chair.'
'No, it's fine, I'll take another one.'
'No, no, take it, I was just leaving!'
I grinned awkwardly and sat down on the chair. It was still warm. Noah and I both watched as he walked away and I felt a little smile creep around the edges of my mouth. The way he walked was so typical for him and it perfectly described him. Smoothly and rather confidently, yet his shoulders were arched in a most modest way. He disappeared around the corner and I met Noah's eyes. He had a puzzled expression. 'What was that?'
'What was what?'
'That.' He nodded towards the entrance of the Library, where Jesse had just disappeared around the corner.
'What?'
'That look!'
'What look?'
Noah frowned. 'Are you banging my brother?'
'What?! No!' I exclaimed, shocked.
'No as in "not at all"...'
'Yes!' I cut him off.
He continued as if he hadn't been disturbed. '... or no as in "not banging"?' He raised a strict eyebrow.
Slowly, I said: 'It may or may not be no as in "not banging",' and closely eyed his reaction.
His face burst open in a wide grin. 'Finally!' he exclaimed. 'I already told him this summer that you would be the cutest couple. But to continue: is it not banging as in "not at all banging" or not banging as in "not yet banging"?'
'Okay, enough about my love life,' I said resolutely. 'What have you got for me today?'
He groaned. 'Ugh, something about goblins and money. It's so boring!' He opened his homework and we went through it. I explained the theory to him and tried to help him understand better why the goblins had done what they had done. Eventually, he sighed defeated and leaned back. All of a sudden, he asked: 'Have you kissed already?'
'Stop!'
'I'm just curious!' he exclaimed.
'Well, I have some great advice. Why don't you just get a love life yourself so you can answer all your questions on your own? It's about damn time that you experienced some romance.'
He scoffed. 'You're one to talk. It took you seven years to woo Jesse.'
'Six. The school year has only just begun.'
'Fine. That's still almost a third of your life!'
I looked at him sternly and demanded: 'I want to be paid double for this tutoring hour.' Noah snickered and finally stopped asking about it. Not much later, the bell rang and we went on to our last lessons of the day.

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!'
Kaylee yelped as we caught her by surprise. With a few taps of our wands, the radio started playing songs and disco lights filled the room. The table with the food got revealed and swarms of students went to congratulate Kaylee in order to have an excuse to steal the snacks. Grinning, I watched Kaylee party and enjoy the attention. After everyone had found their groups again and chatted loudly over the music, I made my way to Kaylee to congratulate her too.
On my way to her, I collided with a boy and quickly yelled an apology over the noise. As I looked up, I noticed I had bumped into Cameron and I saw his eyes widen as he realised it was me. He stuttered something and wanted get away, but I said: 'Hey, Cam. Can we talk?' He pretended not to hear and walked away, but I followed him. 'Cameron. Cameron!' I grabbed his arm. He pulled away with a disgusted look on his face and drew his wand. Shocked, I took a step backwards and raised my hands in the air as to show him that I meant no harm. The room fell silent within seconds and everyone watched us, while the radio played on in the background.
'Stay away from me!' Cameron said, pained. It was the first time in days that he looked me straight in the eyes.
'Cam, I'm not going to hurt you,' I said softly.
He shook his head bitterly. 'You brought this onto yourself and now we're all endangered! I would like to live a long and healthy life, so stay away from me!'
I lowered my hands and tried one more time. As I took a step forward, I said: 'Cameron, I...' Before I could continue my sentence, he had conjured up a Shield Charm. He teared up and muttered: 'Just stay away.' Then, he lowered his wand and ran through the crowd towards the entrance of the Common Room. As he disappeared, the whispering started. Kaylee, who had watched the scene silently, cleared her throat and said: 'Okay, nothing to worry about. Let's just party on, people! This Fire Whiskey had to be drunk before a teacher finds it!' Slowly, the party continued and the Common Room filled with loud chatting again, as the radio started a new song. Kaylee walked up to me and made a pitiful face. 'I'm so sorry about that.'
'I just don't understand him! I thought he'd come around.'
Kaylee bit her lip and said: 'You should see it from his viewpoint. You have been at Hogwarts for six years now, where you can openly practice magic. Yet apparently you have suppressed it.'
I frowned. 'Not "apparently". We don't know yet if that is actually what is wrong with me. It's just a rumour.'
'But it makes sense. And you can't blame Caleb for being afraid, really.'
'Are you taking his side?' I asked unbelievably.
She shrugged. 'We have all been wondering why you did it,' she admitted.
'Who's we?' I snapped.
'Cameron, Claire, me... many others, actually.'
'You are unbelievable,' I grumbled and pushed past her.
She tried to grab a hold of me. 'Lila!'
'No, get off!' I stormed off and almost made Jesse trip, who had been standing in the entrance. I walked past him without looking at him and kept ignoring him as I noticed he followed me. I breathed heavily; I was not sad or hurt, just angry. Very angry.
'Lila, you need to calm down,' Jesse said urgently.
'Why?' I snapped and only then turned around. He did not need to answer that question as I noticed what was happening. Above my head, a black substance was swirling viciously and it roared as I felt another flash of anger in me. 'Shit,' I muttered. I felt my hands starting to sweat and my breath fastening, as slowly, panic erupted in me.
'Lila.' I looked back at Jesse and he came closer, carefully. 'Don't try to supress it again. What makes you happy?'
'I don't want to be happy right now, I'm angry! Because Cameron is acting like a baby and Kaylee just betrayed me!' The swirling mess surrounded me and lashed out to the sides as I said those words. Jesse could just about dodge the force and he looked at me, his eyes widened.
I heard my heart pound loudly in my chest and my hands started to tremble. The swirling mass grew larger and its force blew wind in Jesse's face. He stood up slowly and surprised me by smiling warmly. 'Lila, it's okay. Just breathe.' I whimpered and tried my best to do so. Although my thoughts were swirling just as viciously as the black substance surrounding me, I tried to concentrate on my breathing and followed Jesse's voice. 'Relax. You'll be alright. Breathe.'
I was surprised that it worked. With a last, shaking breath, the substance disappeared and so did the wind. Jesse stepped forward and immediately wrapped me in his arms. I laced my hands around his waist insecurely, not knowing what to say. My head was spinning with what just happened. After a few moments, I whispered: 'Don't tell anyone.'
'I won't.'
'Promise.'
He stroked my hair softly. 'I promise I won't.'
And with that, I felt the secret weigh down on my chest, as I realised Rita Skeeter had been right. I was an Obscurial. And I was seriously dangerous.

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Short, but sweet. I think. It might not have been such a shocker, but here is your confirmation!

The story will become more interesting/exciting from now on (or so I'm planning to make it), as the truth has been discovered...

By the way, I might edit some things later on, but we'll see. For now, this is how it is :)