Everywhere, Everything

x. Kerberos & The Seeker

    Tigerlily woke up the next morning and shuddered at the memory of the creature they'd encountered the night before. She looked at Hermione, who appeared to be deep in thought as she brushed her hair, her eyes fixed on the floor ahead of her as she unintentionally poofed it further.

    Then, Tigerlily remembered her dream. Her unconscious had brought her the image of her mother for the first time in years, and she thought it was strange it should be in a dream (nightmare?) about a three-headed dog. It wasn't until breakfast when it all began to click.

    Upon entering the Great Hall, she spotted Oliver, looking more cheerful than usual as he sat with his friends from the Quidditch team.

    "You look happy," Tigerlily observed as she stopped by him on the way to her seat.

    Oliver turned around, meeting her smile with one of his own. "Haven't you heard? Gryffindor's got itself a new seeker!"

    "I didn't," Tigerlily admitted, looking between him and his friends, slightly confused. "I take it tryouts went good?"

    "No," Oliver said, his smile morphing into a grin. "We've got Potter on the team."

    Oliver's accent was thicker than ever, like it was every time he got excited. But Tigerlily didn't have time to notice how absurdly adorable that was.

    "Wait, what?" Her eyebrows creased. "I thought...I thought first-years weren't allowed on the House teams."

    "No, they're not," Oliver was too excited to pick up on the disappointment in Tigerlily's voice. "But McGonagall's made an exception because Potter's just that good! Can you believe it?"

    "Not really..." Tigerlily muttered, her gaze falling on Harry, who was having breakfast with Ron, looking pretty happy despite their run-in with the three-headed dog the night before. Hell, if McGonagall bent the rules for her, she'd be real joyful, too. "Hey, I'll see you around, alright?"

    Without waiting for a response, she hurried down the Hall until she found Hermione again, eating her eggs with that same distant expression on her face. Tigerlily could almost see the gears turning in her head.

    After sitting down and eating in silence for a while, Tigerlily got tired of her oatmeal and asked Hermione, "Did you know Harry was on the Quidditch team?"

    Hermione snapped out of her trance, blinking. Then she caught on to what Tigerlily was saying. She rolled her eyes.

    "Yes," she told her. "After you and Neville left, he and Malfoy got in a row over Neville's Remembrall. Malfoy took it and flew away with it, taunting Harry, and there he goes, flying after him — completely ignoring Madam Hooch's rules, by the way. But neither of them got in trouble. McGonagall saw Harry catch the Remembrall from her office and was so impressed with him she got him the spot on the team."

    "That's not fair." Tigerlily blurted as soon as Hermione was done.

    Hermione sighed, "It's not. But he's Harry Potter. Youngest seeker in a century."

    Tigerlily didn't like to hear that. She sighed and filled her mouth with oatmeal to avoid saying anything mean, because the truth was, she liked Harry. He was a nice boy and really brave — he'd kept them safe the night before (though she had to admit that it was all a bit reckless). It wasn't fair of her to think of him poorly for a decision he did not make. Besides, Hermione was right.

    He's Harry Potter. Tigerlily's...Tigerlily. Tigerlily Creevey, whose last name didn't get recognized by children from wizard families (or anyone else aside from her own family, for that matter). She knew had it been her retrieving that Remembrall, she'd be serving detention for at least a week instead of being admitted into the Gryffindor team. So she decided to just drop the subject altogether, knowing she'd only get bitter if she thought about it too much.

    "Hey," she said, finally putting down her spoon. She lowered her voice and leaned closer to Hermione. "I've been thinking a bit about...that, in the corridor."

    Hermione nodded in agreement.

    "There's more to that dog than we think." 

    "I dreamt it ate us..." Tigerlily trailed off, frowning. "But...if it'd wanted to, it would've done it right then and there."

    "You're right. Tigerlily, I'm certain it's guarding something."

   Guarding. Of course! Annalise told Tigerlily myths from all around the world. Some of them Roman or Norse. But this one, this one was Greek. So after another dreadful double class of Potions, Tigerlily used her free period to check out the library.

    The place was magnificent. There were hundreds upon hundreds of books, neatly lined up on the tall shelves. Tables, chairs, and benches were scattered throughout the library, where a few students were gathered, all reading their books and completing assignments in peaceful silence. Hermione would love this place.

    After browsing through the Reference Section, Tigerlily found the book 'Mythology in Muggle Culture', as well as 'Circe, Chimaeras & Manticores: A Guide To Greek Magic', and after flipping through the pages for a while, she found exactly what she'd been looking for.

    The three-headed dog they'd encountered at the third floor corridor, was a Cerberus. According to Greek myths, this creature was a guardian of the Underworld, which ensured only the dead entered the place. Just as she was flipping the page, engrossed in the details of the creature, her bushy-haired friend appeared from behind a bookcase.

    "Tiger?" she said quietly, not wanting to get caught and scolded by Madam Pince, the school librarian. She approached the bench Tigerlily was reading at and sat across from her. She put down a book on Defense Against the Dark Arts.

    "Hi," Tigerlily said, smiling as she closed her book. She liked when they used nicknames. "What're you up to, 'Mione?"

    Hermione held up her own book, "Reviewing the last few topics. Between you and me...I'm not too impressed with Quirrell's teaching. There's a really good passage about Imps on here," she tapped the cover.

    "I'll be sure to check it out," Tigerlily promised, nodding.

    "What are you reading?"

    "Mythology stuff," Tigerlily said, shrugging. She didn't feel like telling Hermione she was trying to do research only to then reveal she had not found anything useful yet. "My mum liked this sort of thing."

    "Liked?"

    "Yeah," Tigerlily shifted awkwardly in her seat. "She, uhm...she passed when I was little."

    "Oh," Hermione said, "I'm so sorry, Tiger, I didn't mean to..."

    "S'alright," Tigerlily shrugged. "It was a long time ago. She'd been ill for a while by then."

    Hermione nodded slowly in understanding. She didn't know how to comfort Tigerlily — she didn't know if she was supposed to. So she just smiled at her friend softly and asked for her favorite myth.

     And as Tigerlily told her all about Pandora's box and the Aztec god Ometéotl, the girls found their little sanctuary inside the library, as well as in each other.