* * *
Camila lay on her bed, eyes wide open despite it being two a.m. on a school night. Lately, Lauren had been a constant thought in head. But she doesn't necessarily lose sleep because of her. Its more like she dreams about her more than anything.
And these dreams, they're not exactly the innocent kind of dream most times . . .
Tonight however, that isn't exactly the case. She still think about Lauren a lot. But right now, staring up on her cold ceiling, Camila had been thinking about the things the Ravenclaw girl had told her. She had been thinking of the things the headmistress had chastised the two of them about earlier.
Reluctantly, headmistress Normani Hamilton confirmed that Sanctum Cove wasn't just a fairytale meant to amuse people. That it was a real place somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. That it has been there for a very long time, untouched by any human until the recent history when good old Charlie Weasley found it by accident whilst taking flight with his dragon.
As it turns out, the cove was home to many different magical beings. Including dragons. It was Lauren's home before she ended up in Hogwarts. It would have been still Lauren's home if it wasn't destroyed by an unknown dark entity.
A powerful unknown dark entity.
Camila can't stop thinking about it since that late afternoon.
Twisted as it may, she feels somewhat grateful about it. If it wasn't for that tragedy, she and Lauren would probably have never crossed paths. She didn't have that inclination towards care of magical beasts, and it had been evident that the Ravenclaw girl would never make that active choice to leave the island.
But it also hurts to see Lauren heartbroken about her loss. It scares her, more than ever, that the girl might be in danger, just as much as the other surviving but displaced residents of the cove. And above all things, the possibility that her mother might have something to do about it all despite her being dead for more than a decade now is something that's truly mind-bothering.
Because if anyone other than Tom Riddle can come back from the dead, it is more than likely to be her mother . . .
Her train of thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of chains clanking and a very distinguishable groaning sound. She looks over, suddenly hit by the fact that she's alone. Being her mother's daughter, majority of her fellow Slytherins opted not to room with her. It was as if she'd kill them too in their sleep. It never bothered her before. But listening to that clanking of chains and somebody's groaning, Camila felt somewhat desolate rather than spooked by it.
She gets up from her bed and steps out of her room.
Subtle green light illuminated the hallway in that part of the dungeon. Months earlier, she had no idea that just on the other side of the Slytherin dormitory, was another part of the dungeons where a dragon quietly sits. No other students knew about it but Lauren. That only a thick stone wall separates them from a young temperamental magical beast.
She wonders what Pickle's up to; if he's sleeping okay or if his side of the dungeon felt much colder than her side. She may not outright say it, but she already has grown fond of the young dragon.
Camila wanders to the common room. She takes a seat in a corner beside the clear window, having a clear view of the lake's dark underwater currents. She'd like to spot that old giant squid; see if its as awake as her, wonder if Lauren knows how to speak squid too like she does with Pickle. But all she can see are the swaying kelp forests and random bug-eyed rainbow trouts.
She hears the clanking chains again and it's closer to her this time around. She looks over and finds Bloody Baron groaning on the couch, his eyes still as dark as it always was, silver blood forever stains his robes.
"Aren't you supposed to be making that sound in the astronomy tower?"
The ghost of the Slytherin house stares out the window, eyes blank as always, "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"
"With all the noise you make?"
"The others seemed to be unbothered,"
"I'm not like the others,"
The ghost looks at her dead in the eyes. For the first time ever since meeting the famed ghost of the Slytherin house when she was eleven years old, she felt chills crawling down her spine. For one brief moment, his eyes doesn't seem so vacant anymore.
"No, Camila Cabello. You are not like the others,"
Despite the goosebumps, she doesn't shy away from his gaze. She searches his eyes to find what exactly it is. What changed the atmosphere so suddenly.
The Bloody Baron kept staring until he gradually fades. Camila wanted to stop him from disappearing from her sight, ask him something. Anything. But she doesn't even know what to ask.
Maybe it's nothing, maybe it's just her troubled mind. But she can't help but feel that there is something the Bloody Baron was trying to say without saying anything at all . . .
* * *
Lauren sat by the arched stained glass window, her chin was resting on her knees, while she hugged her legs in her slender arms. She had been there since late afternoon, watching the moon rise and the stars glitter the darkened sky. She skipped dinner even as all the other Ravenclaws were coming and going past her. She had received both curious and judging looks, some even went to the extent of asking if she was okay.
She only ever nods with a polite smile on her face.
Ally Brooke did offer to stay with her but Lauren insisted that she's fine. Just needs a little time to be by herself.
She had been sitting there for hours and now it's close to three a.m. on a school night. She should be asleep but she's still there overthinking.
Lauren had been thinking about Camila and how beautiful she is when she smiles and how the sound of her laugh seems to be the most precious thing she ever found so far in all of her fifteen years in this world.
She had been thinking of all the things the headmistress keeps warning her about; all the things her mother taught her and the things she never had the chance to teach her. She had been thinking about Camila and the things her own mother did. Thinking of how could such a promising and brilliant witch do something so heinous to all those people in the past.
The things that are awfully similar to what happened to the creatures living in the Sanctum Cove.
She wonders how does Camila cope, growing up all these years having someone so dark like that in her life.
Lauren's musings were interrupted when felt a cold presence behind her. She already knows who it is without looking over. She turns anyway and smiles a little knowing that she's indeed correct.
She finds the Grey Lady hovering by one of the bookshelves, already staring at her. The ghost always do that, it's almost creepy but being creeped out or spooked was the last thing she'd ever feel towards the ghost.
She always tried to talk to her, but the ghost only ever looks at her. It truly feels nothing weird, except that the way the Grey Lady looks at her is somewhat similar to how her own mother used to look at her.
The ghost doesn't say anything, even as Lauren would start a conversation. A conversation that always becomes one sided. The ghost only stares at her with fond eyes. For a ghost, those gray eyes seemed alive whenever it meets Lauren's bright green ones.
"Hello,"
She politely greets the ghost of Ravenclaw tower.
The Grey Lady doesn't react, but only kept staring. Her eyes almost watery. It's starting to confuse Lauren.
"Did you know that eagles mate for life too?"
She doesn't know why she blurted that one out. That fact is a common knowledge. Especially when you're a Ravenclaw. Maybe it's the fact that this particular bird of prey represents the house's virtues, or maybe Lauren's starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable that she needs to speak of something just to make things less awkward.
But really, she just wanted to start a conversation with the ghost.
"Yes . . . They do,"
Lauren was surprised. It was only a quiet whisper, barely audible, but it didn't escape her ears. The Grey Lady finally replies to one of her random comments.
"They are magnificent. Eagles. I found a harpy eagle's nest once when I was flying with my friend, Wacky, he's a thestral. But I didn't get too close because the mama harpy warned me off. They can be very territorial, I'd tell you that,"
She continued. Seeing the faintest hint of smile from the ghost, Lauren simply continued. She kinda missed doing this. Spewing random facts and thoughts to a welcoming ear. Camila is a good listener, she truly is, but the Slytherin girl has the tendency to start a debate whenever she finds something Lauren said to be quite unbelievable or unheard of.
Right now though, it is quite therapeutic for her to speak up about random things without starting a harmless bicker.
Especially when she just want to put a stop to some of her worries.
"—then this harpy eagle, who calls herself Diana, agreed to let the poor young mister snake go if I offered her another alternative for her meal. I was really—"
"You sound like your father when you speak,"
It's not the fact that she can speak to animals, or that she's able to see thestrals because she has seen someone die before, although she can't remember it in detail. She was very young. Or the fact that she's a parselmouth as well, an incredibly rare ability that has always been associated with being Salazar Slytherin's progeny.
No, none of it was a thing of curiosity worth noticing to the ghost.
The Grey Lady only noticed a similarity to her father.
A father she never knew.
Of course, every once in a while she wondered. Every now and then, she asked her mom about who her father is. But her mom has always been able to stall and avoid the entire topic. So much that Lauren eventually figured she doesn't want to talk about him. For whatever reason, her mother doesn't want talk about her father.
It was okay though. She was okay not knowing her other parent because her mom has done a great deal to be more than enough for her. She only often wondered, because that's just how she is. One inquisitive girl who's open to all the knowledge the world can offer.
But the Grey Lady of Ravenclaw tower knows her father.
Something she doesn't know about but has every right to. Lauren sits up, her attention full on the ghost's almost teary grey eyes.
"You know my father?"
The faintest of smiles remain on the Gray Lady's face. But she doesn't say anything. It's like her mom all over again, stalling and avoiding the topic of her father.
It almost snaps something inside of Lauren. But being the level-headed person that she naturally is, despite all her worries and restlessness, she stays calm. She keeps her cool and politely asks the ghost.
"Please tell me about my father. Who is he? What is his name? Why doesn't anyone wants to talk about him? Please miss Grey Lady, don't leave just yet. Tell me about my—"
The Grey Lady fades on Lauren. Leaving her all alone there, under the bluish glow of the nightlight by the bookshelves and embers by the fireplace, under the arched stained glass window of the Ravenclaw tower's common room.
Very much confused and extremely curious about the father she never knew about . . .
* * *
🙂