HEATHENS - Harry Potter ✔

CHAPTER TWELVE

Pain.

That's all she knew.

An immense, intense pain.

It was as if her very soul was being ripped apart and murdered. Kiera shot up from her bed, black spots covering her vision. She'd never felt anything like it. It rendered her unable to move, unable to make a sound, unable to think. She thought that she was surely dying.

She sat there in her bed, in the dark dormitory, crippled by her agony for what must have been hours. She just wished for it to end. She didn't care what she had promised Neville, she couldn't take it, not this pain, it was too consuming.

But then it ended.

It was gone and her soul was still intact as it relaxed inside her once more. Quietly, Kiera stood up from her bed and walked down the corridor to the empty common room. She paused by the window to the green, undisturbed waters of the Black Lake. The seagrass swung back and forth by the waves casting shadows that resembled the monsters under her bed she had been scared of as a kid. A few schools of fish swam by as she stared out into the oddly relaxing waters.

"Kiera?" It was Astoria. She must have noticed that the girl was gone and followed her.

"What do you want?" Kiera sighed impatiently. She really wasn't in the mood for this right now.

"I was just wondering if you're okay..." the girl said.

Kiera only scoffed. "Yeah right." And she walked past the brunette girl, back into her dormitory.

*

Christmas was soon over, and New Year came and passed. Neville and Kiera were mostly just happy to have their friends return to the castle. Ginny, however, never returned to Hogwarts from Christmas break. Neville and Kiera had both been waiting for their friends, both slightly injured from detentions, only to be greeted by Luna alone. They had together come to the conclusion that Mr and Mrs Weasley had managed to find a place to hide the family, and had taken the girl to safety.

"I can't say I'm surprised," said Kiera solemnly. "Mrs Weasley will do anything to keep her children safe."

"Yeah," said Neville, eating his soup. "I'm going to miss her, though."

"Me too," said Luna, nodding her blonde head. "But the important thing is she's safe."

"Well, on a happier note," Kiera said, lowering her voice, "we painted another message. On the second floor: Hogwarts is our home. You cannot take it from us."

"But isn't that dangerous?" Luna whispered. "I mean, with so many people going home for Christmas, it narrows down the suspects..."

Kiera merely shrugged. "I think the Carrow know Neville and I are a part of it anyway. It's quite obvious, but they still haven't got any proof."

Luna still looked slightly uneasy, but the appearance of dessert seemed to wipe any thoughts of danger from her mind. She hummed happily as she shovelled pudding into her mouth. Kiera and Neville shared a look, both thinking how wonderful it must be to be Luna.

*

"You'll be duelling till one of you can't. You are limited to the three Unforgivable, though if you murder someone, punishment will be given accordingly," Amycus told the class. "You will be partnered with the person you are sitting next to."