Against the dark Hearts

Falling for you

When I emerged from the glass box, Deek was standing in the middle of the room with a basket, having collected some feathers and fur from our magical creatures. Deek was more like a roommate to me than a servant or even a slave, which was how many other families viewed their house-elves.

I was Muggle-born, I mean, until a year ago, I didn't even know I had anything to do with magic, which was perhaps one reason why I was afraid that I couldn't control my powers. It was difficult.

"Deek brought you some things," the little house-elf said, holding out the basket to me, which I immediately took. I thanked him and went to sort the things into one of my closets. Here I had peace, here I knew it was safe, and even though my friends didn't pose a danger, it felt like a risk to go to them at the moment.

That had been the case for the past year; sometimes, I would just disappear for a while, and it seemed like time hardly passed here. Sometimes, I just sat on one of the sofas and read the books I had brought here or those that were already here.

I had never brought any of my friends here either. I had told Poppy that she would see Cloudwing again, but the opportunity had not yet arisen. I also wondered if the Room of Requirement was capable of preparing a racetrack for Imelda and me so we could race, which she would probably win anyway.

Natty wouldn't have much fun in here, there was no real danger, and somehow, she seemed to love fighting real dark wizards, especially those she wanted revenge on. I didn't know how the two boys from Feldcroft would find this room. Ominis wouldn't be able to see it, but he would probably have fun riding on Highwind.

I had no idea if I would bring Sebastian here. Probably before last night, but now I wasn't sure if I could be alone with him. He had forgotten, what if there had been a kiss and he had also forgotten it?

It would have been my first, and I didn't know if it meant as much to him or if he had already kissed many girls. He was handsome and charming, probably many girls at Hogwarts liked him.

They didn't know what he had done, but I did, and I had still stayed with him, or maybe because of it. Maybe it was because I knew he would protect me no matter what the cost, or maybe I was just blind because he meant so much to me.

But I couldn't stay here forever, eventually, I had to go back and live with the situation. Maybe it didn't matter, he didn't remember, so I could pretend nothing had happened. Should that be my plan? Just pretend nothing had happened?

When I left the Room of Requirement, the corridors were dark and already empty. A glance at one of the clocks told me it was already past eight, which meant I should have been in the common room already.

I quickly made my way there, luckily the Ravenclaw common room was not far away, and so I was there within minutes. The riddle was as simple as ever. Not that I wanted to boast about how intelligent I was, Merlin knew I was impulsive and often did reckless things, but the riddles somehow suited me.

I stumbled into the common room where I could see some of my classmates playing chess. I knew if I went to the dormitory too quickly, I would receive puzzled looks, so I sat down with Amit who seemed to be losing a game of chess. "The knight," I said, and Amit moved his piece. I earned a malicious look from Abigail Popplewell, a fourth-grader who usually beats everyone at chess. I looked at her with a shrug, Amit would still lose, she had him cornered and her queen would probably only need two more moves to take the king that Amit was trying to protect with a rook.

"Have fun!" I said and stood up again, her look was reason enough to let the two play in peace. In the dormitory, I climbed onto my bed and pulled out a sketchbook and some pencils from my trunk. I started sketching from memory, drawing gentle lines on the thick paper and deliberately smudging where shadows needed to be.

What emerged was a picture of me flying on Highwind. Behind me, a figure, a tall figure with disheveled hair and a cloak, on which the Slytherin crest could be seen. A long look at the picture made my anger rise. I crumpled it up and stuffed it in my small suede bag. How could I be so stupid? I pressed my face against my pillow and let out a silent scream. Damn Sebastian Sallow.