Metanoia • Harry Potter • Book I

Chapter 15

Keziah was ready for the holidays to be over. Christmas had heralded far too much doom and gloom for the girl's liking. She wasn't surprised when Ron told her that Harry had gone to see the mirror again, but was stopped by Dumbledore. When she'd brought up Nicholas Flamel, they agreed to review it when Hermione returned to the school. Even Keziah would admit that the muggle-born girl carried the group's brain cells.

*

"KEZEEEEEE!"

Keziah had barely a moment to react before she was knocked into the snow by a flurry of blonde hair and colourful clothes.

"Did you miss me that much?" Keziah giggled, brushing her hair out of the way so she could get a better look at Daphne. "It was just for three weeks."

"Still..." Daphne grinned, sitting up slightly.

"Should we leave you two alone for a bit?" came a drawling voice, prickled with laughter.

"Bugger off, Zabini," Keziah smiled, trying to untangle herself from Daphne, who was bright pink from joy and embarrassment.

"How were your holidays? Cooped up in the castle?" Blaise asked, settling down in the snow beside the girls. He was sporting a new pair of silver ear piercings.

"I like your earrings," Keziah snorted. The comment earned her a snowball to the face, which she quickly dodged. The downside was that it hit Daphne instead, who'd settled in Keziah's lap.

"Hey, where's Theo?" Daphne asked suddenly, dusting off snow from some heather.

"I think he's coming to school a bit later," Blaise said, sprinkling some snow on Daphne's face. She sat up, scowling.

"Why do you keep throwing snow at me?" she whined, chucking a snowball back at him.

"Technically, I only did it once,"

"Once is still too much!"

Keziah sat comfortably as they started bickering, occasionally smashing snow against the other's cheek. It was nice to have them back, she thought happily.

Eventually, they all got too cold to continue sitting out in the snow so they began to trudge inside.

"Seriously, though," Blaise said, tugging off his scarf, which looked far too expensive to be covered in snow. "Was it boring? Staying here and all."

"Why do you want to know?" Keziah asked. Blaise shrugged noncommittally and she softened, remembering how annoyed he had been about going home.

"It was alright," she sighed. "A bit lonely stuck here by myself but it was fine."

Blaise hummed, but Keziah could already see how his expression had brightened. He doesn't want to go home, she realised with biting sympathy. But why?

Brushing asides her worry about Blaise's home life for the moment, she stared at the onslaught of students drifting in from the station. Amidst the crowds, she saw Hermione, bundled in a cloak and several scarves, her dark skin barely visible under all the layers.

"HERMIONE!" she yelled, scrambling away from her friends to get the Gryffindor's attention. "HERMIONE!"

The muggle-born girl startled, looking up in the crowd wondering who was screaming her name like a bloody lunatic.

"Keziah!" Hermione huffed, adjusting her clothes so she could speak clearly. "What's the matter?"

"I found Nicholas Flamel," she said in a hushed tone, so only Hermione could hear.

"You what?" the other girl nearly shrieked.

Shhhh," Keziah hissed, frantically covering Hermione's mouth with her hands. "Not so loudly."