Amelia Merlin

Part Eighty One: The game is afoot.

For the next few weeks Amelia watched over her friends like a mother best protecting her cubs. Akkedis was changing the game and she wasn't about to let her favourite people become collateral damage in his sick fantasy.

Lavender and Parvati were easiest to keep tabs on since the three of them hardly ever left each other's side anyways. But the boys were a much bigger issue. Dean, Seamus and Neville were always doing things with just 'the boys'. It was a stupid saying they had adopted, going out with 'the boys' or studying with just 'the boys' or eating lunch with 'the boys'. It drove Amelia mad but there wasn't much she could do.

The twins were an uncontrollable force as always and when Amelia suggested they focus maybe on their studies rather than girls and pranks, they laughed in her face.

"Oh good one Amy, this is why we keep you around," Fred said, wiping a year from his eye. "You're hilarious."

But worst of all were Oliver and Cedric. She didn't get to see them much anyways since they weren't in the same house and Cedric was busy studying for O.W.L's. Amelia's strong fondness for the boys put them in quite a bit of danger.

She had looked through every spell book she could to find an easy protective spell but all the ones that seemed applicable were beyond her powers with a wand. There were hardly any books on Druid magic or ancient spells so Amelia couldn't even fall back on that. She felt a pressure constantly pushing her down towards the earth. An innate sense of foreboding that she was being confined and forced into something completely uncomfortable.

One night, Amelia was rummaging through her drawer and she stumbled upon the silver, amethyst ring Jeremy had given her. It was one of those curious items that sparks a question the moment you cast a glance at it. To put the ring on would mean endangering herself and going through hell. That night she wore it was one of the scariest nights of her life. A nightmare had never felt so real and so close to her very soul. But to leave the ring in the drawer and pretend like she didn't have a way to keep her friends out of danger was disgustingly selfish.

So with a heavy heart she slid the ring on and fell back against the pillow. It took nearly an hour for her to fall asleep because she was so nervous of what would come.

Things are different in dreams.

That was the thought that kept going through Amelia's mind as she walked through a forest. In dreams, your feet didn't hurt from twigs pushing up at them. In dreams, your dress always billowed perfectly in a faint breeze, but you never got cold. She wished there was something waiting here for her that she could just fight and get it over with. But that's not how dreams work. In dreams you have to look for things.

So Amelia wandered a densely forested area in search of something, anything really. She got her wish when she stumbled upon a small clearing with a boy sitting in the middle, cross legged. He had dark hair that was long enough to fall in his eyes but not on his shoulders. He looked about seven years old maybe. His eyes were stunningly black and when he looked at her, Amelia knew exactly who is was.

"Akkedis?" her voice came out weaker than she wanted and she felt like smacking herself and her fists balled up.

"Shhh!" he whispered at her, putting a finger to his lips. Amelia opened her mouth to protest but the boy broke out into a laugh. It was an almost magical sound, like every note was designed to put you at ease and give you the sort of confidence you wish you had in yourself. "Nah, I'm just fucking with you. Can you imagine how annoying that would get?"

She was taken aback by his cavalier attitude. Amelia had come into this forest for a fight, not a jovial conversation. "No, I really can't." she replied sarcastically, remembering full well the dream she had last time with the amethyst ring.

"Well I can, and I wouldn't want to put you through that my dear." he smiled. "It was so nice of you to come today!" His voice was more of a murmur and it forced Amelia to lean in to hear him, as though he were doing it on purpose to be more intimate with her

"I thought it was about time we met." she said slowly, not wanting to be pulled in by his effortless charm, but finding it hard.

"Yes, I agree! I've been watching you for some time now, as you probably know," he winked at her like they shared some intimate secret. "And I have to say, you're fascinating."

"Thank you." She said. "I don't really know anything about you, not even your name."

"But you must have guessed it by now! Please guess! I won't tell you, you must guess!" he cried with joy and the sound rang through the silent forest like a bell.

"Tim?" she said dryly.

The blow came hard and quick. It was a short slap across the face and it stung like a whip.

"You are not allowed to play games with me." The boy said, suddenly extremely serious and she realized just how volatile he was.

"Aren't I? Why else are we here? To talk about the weather?" she laughed almost derisively. It was her turn to do the talking now. "No, I don't think so. You love games, and you love to play. So don't you dare pretend with me. That's not how this is going to work anymore."

Blood rushed to his face as though he were embarrassed but he quickly brushed it off with a laugh. "I like you Amelia. You're fun. Alright, I promise you, I will never lie to you. And you are allowed to play just as much as I am. But I'm afraid you won't enjoy it as much as me." he winked again.

"Then you obviously don't know me as well as you think." she catapulted the words at him.

"No. You don't know you as well as you think you do." the dark haired boy's face went hard and cold. Amelia was finding it difficult to keep up with his mood changes.  "You're going to hate this. You're going to hate the person you become and the things you are forced to do. You do not want to play with me Amelia Merlin because even if you defeat me, you will never win."

She opened her mouth to talk but was so assaulted from the words that he spoke, she was unable to make any of her own. This was not something she was used to.

"I wish I could tell you what's going to happen but I've been sworn to secrecy." he smiled again and giggle. And the smile was so innocent and so child-like that Amelia forgot all about his malevolence moments before.

The statement also reminded her of something Lord Voldemort had said to her in the Chamber of Secrets, last year, he told her he couldn't hurt her because he had made a promise to someone.

"Ahh yes, I see you remember my friend from last year!" the boy cried in glee, reading her mind somehow. "How wonderful. How wonderfully, magically brilliant. It's all starting to come together. Don't you see, Amelia, my sweet one? Don't you see how the game is now entirely afoot? Aren't you desperately excited to play and find out what happens?" he laughed and laughed until the noise was all consuming. It had lost it's innate loveliness that it had possessed before, it was now consumed with a  terrifying child-like evil.

Without realizing it, Amelia nodded.

"Good, then we can finally get started." He blew her a kiss and she woke up.

She breathed like she'd just finished a marathon. Amelia put her hand to her face and felt the red mark from when the boy had slapped her. The sun was rising over the forest and through her window. It cast everything in a strangely peaceful light, there was still hours until the girls would wake up.

But Amelia couldn't sleep for one reason, the boy had never said if he was Akkedis or not.