Silent Secrets

Chapter XVIII

GUYS PLEASE LISTEN~

I know not all of you read my ANs, BUT DON'T SKIP OVER THIS ONE PLEASE

At the bottom, if you're interested, are some headcanons? (I guess that's what you'd call them) about why Jaz wasn't in a different house. If you're interested, feel free to read them :)

Okay you can continue about your reading now.

"Righ’, everyone in. No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

James and Sirius instantly scrambled into a boat, and Remus followed after them. Everyone else did the same, quickly stepping into one of the many canoe lining the shore. I sighed and got in after Remus, wishing I were in any other vessel. It wasn't that I didn't like Remus, or that I wasn't glad to see him here--far from it! I simply wished he hadn't seen the image my father had carved me into, instead of meeting me as someone free and different. I didn't want him to view me through a lens of pity. I wanted him to see me as someone strong, rather than weak.

 What are you talking about? A nasty voice rose unbidden in the back of my mind. Do you really think you can change? Become more than what he made you? You're nothing! You're a silly little girl who hasn't learned to stop wishing on the stars. The stars have never been there for you, and they never will be.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then -- FORWARD!"

 I glared at the dark waters as we glided over them, silently screaming at the voice to shut up. My eyes flicked around the scene, desperate anything to distract me from the voice's haunting truth. Twenty-six boats, each holding four students, sailed across a dark sea, illuminated by the near-full moon's light. My gaze drifted, and settled on Remus, his light brown hair illuminated by the moon's soft glow. He was focused on the silver orb's reflection in the water, and his face seemed to be arranged into an expression of nervous horror. I blinked, my brow crinkled with confusion. What was there to be apprehensive about? I shifted slightly, trying to get a better angle on his face, but then a loud noise shattered the hushed piece, and Remus jerked around, his face arranged into a neutral expression.

 “Sorry, sorry, my bad!” Sirius yelled, as brilliant, sparkling colors erupted over our heads in wild bangs.

“And jest what do you think you’re doing, Mr…” Hagrid bellowed from the head of our little fleet.

“Black, sir. Sirius Black. And I didn’t realize I had the fireworks in my robes, sir,” Sirius shouted back.

“Hmph. I’ll be talkin’ to yer Head o’ House about this,” Hagrid focused ahead again, his face briefly illuminated by a dazzling shower of gold sparks. I could have sworn the corner of his mouth was lifted in a smile.

Shortly thereafter, Hagrid yelled out again. "Heads down!" he cried, as the first boats reached the cliff; we all bent our heads and the little boats carried us through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. We were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking us right underneath the castle, until we reached a kind of underground harbor, where we clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. Then we clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

 "Everyone here? No more fireworks about ter go off? Right then."

 Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

 The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and my first thought was that this was not someone to cross. My second thought was that her face seemed very familiar.