Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 117: Sangre pura

On their way to the dining hall after Council, Harry heard Mei's wheels gliding on the stone floor behind him. He was tempted to pick up his pace and try to avoid them, but they were too quick and there were people in front of him—it would have been obvious that he'd been trying to run away.

Come on. Be a Gryffindor!

"Oi, Harry. Gotta moment?" Mei asked. "It's okay, Gemma—I just want to talk to Harry for a sec."

Harry stopped and turned toward them, saying "sure," as he felt his face heat up again.

Gah!

The group of people headed toward the dining hall flowed around them and Harry listened to their diminishing voices and clatter.

Mei slipped their hand into Harry's and pulled him down to their level. He crouched by their chair.

"Harry, you seem upset. Was it what I said about when you fell on me?" Mei asked.

"That obvious, huh?" Harry said.

"Well, your face is pretty much an open book."

"I didn't know... about where I landed. I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"I know—it just happened and I reacted before I really thought about it. Well, and that's all water under the bridge. Here, look," Mei said and pulled Harry's hand over to their wrist.

On their wrist was something cool and gelatinous—he instantly recoiled, "What's that?! A slug? Do you have a slug wrapped around your wrist?"

"No! That'd be gross! No. This is beautiful. And it was your idea—a way to help me not have accidental magic—by having some seawater in contact with my skin at all times. It also means I don't have to go hydrate all the time. I can stay longer on land. It's a bracelet of seawater. Here, feel it again. I have one on both wrists."

He pressed his fingers against it, trying to find the form—but it moved from his touch and then his fingers went through it and it was like placing his hand in a stream of water, and when he pulled his fingers out, they were wet.

"Oh, that's brilliant! So does this mean you'll be able to control your magic now? No more blasting us off benches?"

"Hey!" Mei shoved him playfully so that he almost fell over. "And yes. We tested it and it really does work. Now, if something makes me angry, I just get angry like everyone else—I'm not some kind of exploding cauldron."

"I bet that's a relief."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about hurting you. You know that, right?"

"Yeah. I know. Your song... on the ocean. It was... well, I've never heard anything like it. I couldn't understand the words, but I could feel ... I could feel how you felt. And it helped me kinda understand."

"Um, thanks. It was hard to do that—be so open... "

"That Council was way better than any of the other ones. I wish we could do them all like that or flying on brooms."

"Yeah, me, too."

"Let's go get dinner. I'm starving."

"What's for dinner tonight?"

"Smells like roast beef and potatoes to me."

"Ugh. Why can't they cook something decent for once... like Dim Sum? I'd love some Dim Sum."

"What's that?"

"Oh, come on. You don't know what Dim Sum is? How can you not know what Dim Sum is? Everyone knows!"