Ivory

[Chapter 7]

I woke up to Hermione shifting. My eyes shot open. Did we seriously fall asleep together? Did we sleep together? Wait, I slept! Thoughts hammered through my head when I heard someone say something.

"Is he up?"

"I dunno."

I sat up to find both Lewis and Alex staring at me. Or, I guess, staring at us. They both had dopey grins on their faces.

"So how'd it feel to sleep with a girl?" Lewis asked. I through a pillow at him. He just laughed. I heard Hermione get up. She wiped her eyes groggily.

"What? Kylan?" she seemed confused until she realized where she was. Her eyes widened and her face turned scarlet. The awkward silence lingered in the air. She immediately got up and sprinted out the room door without a word.

I snapped my fingers and my pajamas were replaced with my Ivory robes. I got up and the three of us left my room.

I saw a white square shimmer into existence. It scared me so bad I jumped at least three meters in the air. "Hello, Kylan Orval," I heard an old voice say. I recognized the voice as the famous Albus Dumbledore.

"What is it this time?" I asked him. He simply smiled at me.

"I was wondering if you'd monitor Professor Umbridge and Harry Potter's new club."

I sighed. "Do I have a choice?" My sigh turned into a groan when Albus said it was mandatory.

"Fine," I said. "I'll see you then, Professor." The connection severed as I shook my head in frustration.

 I  continued walking through the hallways by myself when I heard someone say, "Hey, Kylan, over here!" When I turned around, I expected to see Skeeter but I saw a familiar black haired boy with a certain lightning shaped scar.

I walked over to him. "What is it, Potter?" He ushered me into a less crowded corridor.

"So, I was wondering if you'd come to one of my club meetings as your the most powerful wizard I could find," he started. "Our club is called-"

"Dumbledore's Army," I finished for him. He looked at me surprised.

"How did you know about-"

"I know everything, Potter," I replied smiling. He looked down.

"Well...?" he asked. I sighed.

"Sure. I'll be there this weekend," I replied. He grinned. He brushed past me as he went to one one of his classes.

I shrugged it off and went to Muggle Studies. Luckily, Professor Laurel told us that we'd get to go on a field trip to Paris to "see how Muggles concur in their environment."

Apparently, Professor Laurel wanted us to observe Muggles up close. It was a little creepy how enthusiastic she was about observing them. I took my seat next to the one and only, Hermione Granger. It was a quite privilege to sit next to her. She was the best in the class. I was a close second, though. Sometimes she'd just mutter things and I could get some easy answers. Haha, just kidding. I would never cheat. Never.  

"Alright," Professor Laurel started, "you'll stay with a partner through out this entire trip. Your partner will be the person sitting next to you."

Hermione and I seemed to look at each other simultaneously.

"Now, before you get too carried away, I'm handing out papers on places you'll have to visit within Paris. I'll also be handing out a worksheet to fill out."

She came around, handing out the two papers. "Everyone ready?" Professor Laurel asked. We all nodded. She extended her hand and all of us took it. We instantly Apparated into a snowy field.

"Everyone has to be back here in two hours," Professor Laurel commanded. We all nodded once again. Everyone started to Apparate out again to somewhere in this city. I took out the paper and read the first location.

"The Eiffel Tower," I said. Hermione nodded. She shivered so violently I thought she was going to collapse. I snapped my fingers and her clothes changed into warm clothes with a heavy winter jacket, a warm hat, and at least two layers of sweaters. I extended my hand. She took it.

When I Apparated into public park, I saw Hermione shove her hands deeper into her pockets and shiver. I chuckled.

"Here," I said, summoning warm gloves out of thin air and tossing it to her. It was funny to see her in her winter bundle and me in my light Ivory uniform.

"Y-you're n-not c-cold?" her teeth chattered. I shrugged.

"I learned how to regulate my body temperature a while ago," I responded.

I looked up at the tall, strange looking tower. We simply stood there admiring it for a good five minutes before I couldn't stand the sound of her teeth chattering.

"Come on," I told her. "Let's go to a warm cafe or something." She nodded. I lead her to a coffee shop. I looked at the sign. It was in French, but since I was an Omnilinguist, I could interpret it. It read "Starbucks".

She leaned against me, which I assume it was an attempt to get extra warmth. We entered the shop but the temperature didn't seem to rise. I frowned.

I learned of this one drink called hot chocolate and decided that I'd get it for Hermione. Professor Laurel supplied us with some Muggle money so we could by lunch or something.

When we got to the front of the line, the woman at the desk looked at us with a smile.

"Can I help you?" she asked in English. I smiled.

"Yes," I said. "Could I get one hot chocolate, please." She nodded as we exited the line and waited. After five minutes, the same girl brought the hot chocolate to the counter.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem," she said. Then she lowered her voice. "You two are cute together, you know." I felt my face heat up.

"N-no, we aren't together or anything," I said quickly.

"Sure, you aren't," she said sarcastically, gesturing at Hermione. She had buried her face into my cloak and was clinging to me extra tightly. I just sighed and walked away to one of the tables. Hermione reluctantly pried herself off of me.

I handed her the warm drink. She took a sip of the hot chocolate as I tried to make small talk about school. Suddenly, I felt someone watching me.

I turned around and scanned the room. When I saw one man, my Veiled ring tightened around my finger. I winced. The man looked normal, with tannish skin and brown hair but the real thing that alarmed me was his bright gold eyes. They seemed to glow. He stood up and walked towards the door. I stood up immediately and followed him, aware of Hermione's confused presence behind me.

I followed the man in between alleyways, buildings, and shops until he finally stepped into a small, musty compartment. When I followed him into the one room building, he simply vanished. I looked around the tiny shed for evidence of escape but I found nothing.

All that lay in the shed was a singular silver crest. It was in the shape of the sign of the Deathly Hallows, just with a circle around it. I felt the sudden urge to pick it up. I did just that. I decided that it might be a cool item so I pinned the crest to my silver cloak.

"Kylan!" Hermione exclaimed, panting. "What's gotten into you?"

For some reason, I felt anger boil in my veins. "Nothing, Hermione," I snarled. When I turned to her her face was in shock of my sudden ferocity. I then realized my tone. "I'm s-sorry. I-I don't know why I said that."

She looked concerned. "Are you okay?" I nodded. As we left the musty warehouse I couldn't help but wonder what got into me. It felt like Hermione killed my pet or something.

Was I really okay?