Wizards of the Elements (ON HOLD)

The secret

Kai was happily playing wizard chess in the Slytherin common room when something strange happened. A searing pain shot through his hands, causing him to drop his drink. He watched as the glass shattered on the cold, stone floor. He winced. Not from the noise but from the pain. 

"Are you alright?" asked Draco, whom he was playing against.

"Yeah," said Kai, in an attempt to convince himself. Suddenly he felt a wave of nausea. "Actually," he mumbled. "I think I'll be back later." And with that he ran off to the bathrooms. He quickly slammed the door behind him and looked down at his shaky hands. It felt like his insides were being boiled, and his hands  were about to burst apart. It was then that he realised how long it had been since he used his elemental powers. That must be what's causing this, he thought. Holding in my fire for so long. I'm not supposed to use my elemental powers, but I'm locked in a bathroom. No one will know. So he took a deep breath and let it out. The resulting inferno was huge. In less than a second the whole bathroom was engulfed in flames. He tried to stop but couldn't. The fiery energy kept coming. He'd bottled it up for too long, and now he was suffering the consequences. Soon, the flames became too hot for even him to handle. Without thinking he burst out of the bathroom, coughing and wheezing. The flames continued to flow out of him, burning everything in its wake. Then he heard a voice cry out.

"Aguamenti!" it cried. Kai felt a wave of water splash over him. He spluttered, thick clouds of steam coming off of him. He looked up and saw Blaise holding up his wand. The whole common room was silent for what seemed like ages. The silence was broken by the sound of the common room door opening. It was Nya. She stared at the remnants of the flame and the steam coming off of him and gasped. 

"Kai?" she said. "I thought you said you could control it!" 

"I-" he started to say, but he stopped, not sure what to say. Then, in a burst of panic, he ran out of the door. He ran down stairs and through hallways until he reached the library. The only reason he was here was because of a person he had to see. He ran over to a corner of the room and was relieved when he saw her. "Hermione!" he called. She looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. 

"Hello, Kai," she said. Then she must have noticed his panicked expression because her smile quickly turned to a frown. "What's wrong?" 

"So I have this secret, y'know," he began. "And it's a really big secret that could ruin my life if anyone found out."

"And why exactly are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Because the whole of Slytherin just found out." Hermione was speechless. Eventually she managed to put her thoughts into words.

"A-and what's the secret?" she asked.

"So you know the elemental masters that Zane told you about?" he asked.

"Yes," she confirmed, still confused.

"Well..." he paused for a moment, wondering if he would regret this later. He pushed the thought away. That was a problem for future Kai. "I'm one of them." She gasped. 

"You're kidding," she said. Kai shook his head. Hermione wasn't sure what to say. "W-well, what element do you have?" Kai looked around, making sure that no one was watching. Then he held out his hand and lit it on fire. Hermione's eyes widened. "Fire? You can control fire?" There was silence. Shit, thought Kai. I screwed up didn't I. Before he could leave Hermione shot up out of her seat and hugged him. "That is so cool!" she whispered excitedly. Kai smiled, grateful for her supportive reaction. He hugged her back.

"Thanks for not panicking," he said. 

"Oh I am," she clarified. "I'm just very good at hiding it." Kai laughed softly but then frowned. "So what are you gonna do?" she asked him, stepping back from the hug. "Are you gonna continue to hide it?" He shook his head.

"No. Now that my whole house knows, the news is gonna spread pretty fast. I just wanted to make sure you heard it from me. Besides, it's pretty painful when I bottle it up for too long." This caught her off guard. 

"What do you mean it causes you pain? Why?" she asked. He shrugged. "You listen to me Kai," she said in a low voice. "You are going to show the world your fucking AWESOME power AND we are going to find out why it causes you pain." Kai's eyes widened and he nodded quickly. 

"Yes, Hermione," he said, terrified. Hermione smiled. 

"Good," she replied. "Now let's get to work." She ran off to look for books. Kai smiled and followed her happily.