Wizards of the Elements (ON HOLD)

Frozen Steps

 Zane sat in the library with Hermione and Neville. They had been going through every book they could find that had anything to do about ghosts. Zane crawled over to the paper and began to write. Have you guys found anything yet? Both his friends shook their heads. He frowned, knowing full well that they couldn't see that. Then a thought struck him. Do either of you know sign language? Neville smiled and nodded excitedly.

"I know a bit," he replied. "My Gran's starting to go deaf so I've been practicing." Then he seemed to realize what Zane was implying. "Do you know some?"

"Yes," Zane signed. Hermione looked between the two of them. 

"I've been meaning to learn BSL but I never got the time," she explained. We can teach you. Hermione smiled. "I'm sure there are some books on it somewhere around here." Zane grabbed his paper and quill and they began to look around. But before they could make much progress, the ground rumbled. What? Zane ran over to his friends, who looked as confused as he was. 

"Julien, what's happening?" asked Neville. 

"I don't know," he signed back. The tremors began to increase and books began to fall from the shelves. Neville squeaked and stumbled over, but Zane grabbed his hand before he hit the floor. 

"Thanks, Julien," he sighed. 

"Wait," said Hermione. "How are you able to touch him with the gloves on?" Zane looked at Neville who shrugged. The tremors continued to get worse. Zane yelped as a book hit him on the head. "Did that hit you on the head?" Zane gave her a thumbs up. "Damn bitch, you're taller than I thought." 

"We should get out of here," suggested Neville. "Because I, for one, do not want books to fall on my head." Hermione and Zane nodded and they began to make their way out of the library. By the time they made it out, the earthquake had stopped. They looked at each other, panting. 

"Well, that was quite the experience," Zane signed. Neville laughed. 

"What did he say?" asked Hermione. 

"He said that was quite the experience." Hermione smiled.

"I really need to learn sign language." Then he saw a blonde girl run by holding a boy with auburn hair in her arms. "Wait Luna! What happened?" The blonde girl, Luna, paused and looked at them. 

"This idiot was doing parkour on the staircases and hit his head," she explained. 

"Isn't that Jay?" asked Neville. Luna nodded but then continued on her way. Jay... Why does that name seem familiar? Did he know him before he died? Who is he? Zane tapped Neville on the shoulder. 

"I think I knew him before I died," he signed. Neville's eyes widened. 

"Really? How can you tell?" he signed back excitedly.

"I'm not sure. He and his name just seem very familiar."

"Maybe if we can find out who you were, we can find out how to get you back!" During all this Hermione was staring at them in confusion. 

"Did we perhaps forget that I don't speak sign language?" she asked in annoyance. Neville turned to her sheepishly. 

"Julien says that he thinks he knew Jay while he was alive," Neville explained. "So now we're wondering that if we can find out who he was, we can find out how to get him back." Hermione's eyes lit up at the idea. She nodded excitedly. "Maybe we could go around the school to see if there's other people that you remember." Neville suggested, but Hermione had a different idea. 

"Or we could try and figure out how he knew him and then narrow down who else he knew." 

"Yes," signed Zane. 

"I take it that means yes?" Neville gave her two thumbs up and smiled. "Fabulous. I'm learning. Now let's go back to the common room to get some quills and parchment." The three of them headed up the stairs but before long, they found a problem. A large chunk of a staircase had crumbled and fallen, making it nearly impossible to traverse. However, Zane didn't mind. He simply leapt across the gap and landed elegantly on the next flight of stairs. 

"How did you do that?" asked Neville. "Did you fly or something?"

"No," signed Zane. "I just jumped. It was easy." Neville looked at Hermione and then looked back at him. 

"Normal people can't do that, Julien."

"We clearly I'm not normal, because normal people don't come back from the dead as spirits who remember nothing of their lives," he countered. Neville stared at him for a moment. 

"That's a fair point," he admitted after a moment. "Can you help us get across?"

"Yeah," agreed Hermione. "Is there any other fancy ass ninja shit you can do?" This sparked something in his mind. Pictures, memories, moments flashed before his eyes. One of those words must be important, and I highly doubt it is fancy, shit, or ass. Then he remembered something else. Slowly he removed one of his gloves. "Julien? What are you doing?" Zane held out his ungloved hand in front of him. He sent himself into the depths of his mind and closed his eyes. 

"Son of a bitch!" screamed Neville. Zane opened his eyes. Ice had formed, conjoining the two staircases and forming steps for his friends. "How did you do that?" Zane pulled his glove back on and began signing. 

"I don't know." Hermione looked from him to Neville. 

"That's 'I don't know', right?" Neville smiled at her. 

"It is! Good job, Hermione!" Hermione smiled at him and then began to cautiously ascend the stairs. Noticing their hesitation, Zane easily made his way down the slippery steps. He held out a gloved hand for each of them, and they gratefully took it. Step by step, he helped them climb the stairs. Once they had reached the top, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Well that was terrifying," she said breathily. Neville laughed, but he too was clearly grateful to be off the ice. "But either way, this is fantastic. It's like the move we go around, the more you remember." Zane gave her a thumbs up. 

"We should keep going," agreed Neville. "I'm really beginning to think that this plan to bring you back, might actually work."

Well there you go. Sorry this chapter came late, I have no excuses, other than that I was tired. Plus, for some reason this one was more difficult to write. Anyways, thank you so much for continuing to read my story! Remember, if you have any suggestions for future chapters, make sure to comment them on the story. If I end up using it, you'll get a shoutout!

-Orcaweirdo774