Iniquity Rises Book 1 of Iniquity Series~Now Complete~

Ch. 20

Arriving back to Hogwarts, felt like arriving home after a long time of being away.

I could feel almost all of the tension I felt earlier on the train, dissolve and blow away along with the crisp air blowing through my hair and face.

I began to feel a sense of dread form in the pit of my stomach, as we hopped out of the carriage and slowly made our way into and through the castle in the direction of Great Hall.

I could feel tears begin to form as I sat down next to Tom in the Slytherin table. It felt like it would be one of the last few times that I would sit here with my friends. I could feel as Tom clasped his hand around mine under the table, in comfort and understanding along with pain radiating within the small gesture. I let the barrier securing the privacy of my mind slam back, leaving it open.

'You do know that no matter what happens, you'll always be my Sophie?' He asked, as we kept our eyes on the food before us.

'Yes, I do. Just like I'm sure you know that you'll always be my Tommy.' I replied, smirking when he turned to roll his eyes at me.

'Ugh, why I ever agreed to letting you call me that annoying name is beyond me. There are far better names than that one.' He replied, smirking back.

"Because you loooove me." I sang, causing him to spit out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over the table and his food.

I smirked at his scowling expression as he turned to look at me expectantly. His annoyed expression changing into an expectant one. Causing me to raise my eyebrow at him, confused.

'What?' I thought.

'Would you mind cleaning the mess and replacing my now-soggy food with eatable food?' He wondered, his expression still expectant.

I rolled my eyes at him, before letting out an over exaggerated sigh before putting my elbow on the table, and cupping my chin. Pretending to think hard about it before he gently elbowed me, letting out a grumble.

'Please?' He thought, mock pouting at the table

"Ugh. Fine, wait a moment." I said, rolling my eyes before I wiggled the fingers on the hand that was still cupped under my chin.

We all watched as the mess on the table before us, Tom's food fading for a moment before it was replaced with a new steak and kidney pie.

I cleared my throat loudly as I began eating my newly-replaced steamed veggies, steak, and roll slowly.

"Thank you, Sophie." He said curtly.

"You're welcome, Tommy." I cooed, batting my eyelashes at him.

I could hear as one of our friends snorted in response to our banter, and mumbled 'Tommy?' before Tom and I turned to glare at him.

"Ugh, I knew I was going to regret it." He mumbled, letting out a groan as he continued to eat.

"You love it and you know it." I teased, lightly elbowing him on the ribs.

Bellatrix let out a snort as our group began laughing at our exchange. Andromeda looked at us, her eyes looking at us, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she watched us. Narcissa rubbing her shoulder, silently in comfort.

"You two do realize that you aren't alone, and that half the people in this room have been watching you. Including those in the Gryffindor table. Right?" Dolohov said, inclining his head once.

"That's strange. Why would everyone be looking at us? Are we being too obnoxious?" I whispered to Tom, who shook his head in return and shrugged his shoulders a moment later.

It was five minutes before the mealtime was finished Headmaster Dippet stood up and walked around the long rectangular table in front of the room. Pausing to scan all of the room, a gloomy aura radiating from the elderly man, as his eyes landed on our table, particularly on Tom and I, watching us for a brief moment before he turned his head to face the rest of the room.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home. Of course, before doing so I'd like to make an announcement. As you all know, need I remind you, the Forbidden Forest is as usual like the name forbidden, and out of bound for everyone here unless with proper personnel. Trips to Hogsmeade are forbidden until further notice. That is all." He said, looking around the room, expressionless.

As soon as he said those words I felt as the present and everyone around me disappeared. The setting looked familiar, when the movement around me settled.

I was in the small township a few miles from here. The roads were empty but a few hoots here and there, I wondered why I was seeing this as I began to slowly wonder through the passages. As I began walking deeper and deeper into what looked like that main street I saw shops began to appear, a few pubs, a candy shop and a bookstore.

My train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the howling of a wolf as I headed towards a secluded road, heading towards an abandoned house. As I grew closer I felt the hairs on the nape of my neck begin to stand.

Within the next moment the image disappeared, and I felt Tom had his arm around my waist while my arm was wrapped around his shoulders as he practically dragged me in the direction of the Slytherin common room. I blinked twice, taking in my surroundings as we reached the portal to the common room.

"What happened?" I whispered, drowsily.

"I don't know, we were all directed to head to our dormitories, when your eyes glazed over. I can, however, tell you that all of the teachers seemed panicked about something when the prefects began to lead us here. Narcissa and a couple of our friends created a distraction, so we could slip by without anyone noticing that you were out of it." He whispered back as we walked into the common room.

He helped me plop down onto the leather chesterfield, before standing up, and turning to look me in the eye. I haven't the slightest clue what he saw, but he pressed together in a tight line before uttering a single word, dread filling them.

"Are you going to inform me of what you saw earlier, or do I have to force it out of you?" He asked, pursing his lips.

"I know when it'll happen now." I whispered, looking towards the emerald flames that never failed to captivate me.

"Well?" He pressed, plopping down on the seat next to me.

"In two weeks the Headmaster shall lift the cancelation of the trips to Hogsmeade, that same weekend we will have our memories wiped, and everything I possess shall be blocked until our fifth year here. On a different note stay away from the evil pixy in our house." I said, looking at him.

"Is there anything we can do to stop this?" He asked, pained.

I was shaking my head at him before he even finished the question. "No, I don't think there is." I said, trying to keep my face expressionless but failed when my eyes began to tear up.

I could feel as he sat closer to me and pulled in to hug me, as we began to hear the approaching footfalls of the rest of the Slytherin house. I could feel my heart begin to crack as I heard him sniffle too, burying his face in my hair.

"This isn't goodbye, not really. I'll be back here in no time. Two years is nothing." I whispered, patting his back.

"I-I need you to promise me one more thing." I said, pulling back from his embrace.

"I can tell I'm going to regret this, but fine, alright let's have it. What do you want?" He asked, rolling his eyes at me

"Promise me you'll be nice, or at least, try to be nice to people, mainly our friends, while I'm gone." I said, smiling.

He rolled his eyes at me but nodded in agreement nonetheless. I smiled at him in response, and threw myself at him, wrapping my arms tightly around him in a tight embrace.