Spellbind

15. Waldosia

A/N:

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Niyla POV:

I sat watching the yellow-honey-colored drinks slosh out of the rims of people's steins, as the servers walked hurriedly to each table. I drifted in and out of conversations, leaving Draco to talk to Crabbe and Goyle and with a few other Slytherin who tolerated my existence, but rarely spoke to me. Krum chatted to me when his attention wasn't stolen by his many admirers. I hardly had the ability to hold a conversation with people from my own House, so how was I going to do that with a crowd of Gryffindors? I wondered if my father struggled with such social loneliness too, if he still does; do both of them?

After a while Krum was ushered away and everyone else's conversations began to bore me, I drifted away from our table and out of the pub. For a second I remembered George was supposed to meet me there, but decided I'd been there long enough and I had never made up my mind to wait for him. Wasn't it time I stopped, waiting for him?

I shook my head at the thought of him, pushing down the hint of resentment that I hadn't realized I held for him before. For wanting him, when he so clearly didn't have the same desire. I shoved my hands deep in my coat, clearing my throat with the determination to be as intrepid as I could when we finally found a chance to talk about our feelings. I won't cower anymore, and I will accept the outcome.

The wind started to pick up as the sky began to shift its color, the early sunset inviting strips of lilac and coral. We'd have to head back to the castle in an hour or two. One thing I liked about the cold season was the early nights and fast-approaching sunrises. I stopped for a moment to absorb the colors and bathed in the sharp icy winds. I coiled the ring Draco had given me, around my finger with my thumb, my hand still buried in the depths of my satin pockets. The letter from Sirius crinkling around inside, as my hand pressed up against it.

The strong current flitted the tendrils of hair that had fallen forward, I brushed my hair behind my ears, pulled my hood over my head, and started walking again. I quickly made the decision to ditch my plan of visiting the old woman at the dress shop, and headed toward the Station to catch a ride to the castle. Some students were already boarding the horseless carriages, by the time I arrived. The deep onyx of the Black Lake reflected the sunset so evenly, that if I wasn't sober I wouldn't be able to tell which was the real one.

Over the sound of the wheels of the carriage rolling over the rocky road, I could almost hear the two-beat noise of a horse trotting. I dismissed it, reminding myself the carriages had always been pulled by magic. I attempted to clear my thoughts and pay attention to the smell of pine that was laced in the strong breeze, and the view of the Lake from the road that extended around it to the castle.

Once at Hogwarts, I walked gingerly through the Forest until I heard voices coming from the direction of the Lake. I followed it, and through the treeline, I saw a flicker of flames failing to burn the wet wood. I was slinking about the trees, their voices a low chorus beneath the winds. I was holding onto a tree, hidden completely, shifting my eyes to see their faces a bit better.

It took great concentration for me to be able to change a part of myself to my direwolf form. Even after a few years of testing the ability, I could only enhance one sense at a time. I moved my eyes rapidly to note every face, instinctively searching for one in particular.

"We won't bite."

My hand shot up to my lips, abruptly stopping my scream. I flinched and spun with my back on the trunk of the tree, the fast moment making my head swirl a fraction.