Little Snake - A Black Legacy

Chapter Sixteen - a few daily favors

The first days of school after that weekend were hard for Hazel. Even with her Mental wall, behind which she closed her feelings during the day to be able to follow the lessons unhindered, and even with all the breaks she took, the curse did not leave her alone. In the first days, she had an attack in every lesson, but when it happened in the middle of the lesson, she only stiffened in her seat and forced the pain into the background.

Ominis had insisted on sitting next to her during the lessons. And as the direct heir of one of the school's founders, the teachers did not deny him this wish. Especially not after they knew what had happened to the poor girl and that she had not yet made it through. She often got regretful looks from the teachers, as well as from some of the students. She was tired of it. She kept hearing whispers about the poor girl whose family had tried to kill her, who had been hurt so many times and was now cursed. No one had ever said she was weak, but she interpreted the whispering that way and it didn't please her.

However, Ominis was the only one who always noticed immediately when something was wrong with her. He felt when she stiffened. He heard her heartbeat and breathing change. Noticed the subtle change in her scent next to him as she strained inwardly to keep the curse at bay. Sometimes he would simply ask the teacher to let him take her out for a short 5 minutes and then wordlessly drag her by the hand out into the hallway where, as soon as her breathing calmed, he would hold a potion right under her nose.

Each time Hazel laughed a low and embarrassed laugh as she reached for the potion. He knew she didn't like the attention when he pulled her out. That's why he only did it when these seizures lasted longer than a few minutes.

Sometimes Professor Black, her uncle, would show up in the classroom. Yes, even in the earlier years he had dropped by the classrooms randomly, but since Hazel was hit by the curse, they saw him more often. He was in one of the corners before class started and walked around the class for a few minutes during the lesson, as he usually did, but he kept glancing at Hazel. Ominis had a feeling Professor Black was trying to make sure his niece was getting along, even if he wouldn't have thought of him as a family man.

Ominis also heard whispers this week. Things that were said behind people's backs. Things that made him angry. Hazel was having a tutoring session of sorts with Professor Hecat, so he had sat down on a bench in the courtyard by the bell tower with a book - which he was reading with the help of his wand. He heard a group of students walk past him. Judging by the volume, they were Gryffindor. They were never particularly quiet or discreet. However, he had guessed them smart enough to talk more quietly about his girlfriend. But Leander Prewett was just simply Stupid.

Ominis knew that there were people who spoke well about Hazel and people who spoke badly about her, but he didn't expect that.

"You don't seriously believe all that bullshit? That she was attacked by a dragon and was injured, even survived and was put under the torture curse? And that with the troll?" Leander said in bewilderment.

Ominis didn't know how they came up with the topic, but he listened intently. They weren't standing particularly far away from him, after all, or being particularly quiet. "I say to you that Sallow clearly let her win in her first duel. She's the principal's niece!" he said snidely. "It's all being spread around to make the Blacks look good! You can see how she's being favored. Extra lessons, extra attention, I hear she even has a single room! Plus, she's allowed to leave classrooms - with the Heir of Slytherin, of all people - whenever she wants. She's arrogant, like all Blacks. You don't really believe that she threw herself in front of an Old Stranger and caught the Torture Curse. No Slytherin is capable of such a thing. And you don't seriously believe that someone who has only been doing magic for a year is capable of defeating a warrior troll! Ridiculous. And the Malfoys were even suspended for telling tall tales," he blurted out.

The group of students snickered.

As he closed the book, loudly and audibly, however, another Gryffindor called out between them. Natty. "Leander, shut your mouth right now! I saw with my own eyes how she defeated the troll together with Ominis. You might as well ask Officer Singer and the villagers. She even made sure that the villagers were evacuated! Hazel did not deserve these bad words. She was always polite and friendly. Even to the Malfoy twins she was friendly first. "Natty said angrily.

"I was with them when they took her to the hospital wing, when she was writhing and screaming in agony. I don't know what exactly happened, but there is no question that she was under the torture curse. Even a nurse from St. Mungo's was there that night," she continued, stopping when she noticed the evil smiling Ominis.

"Leander?" he asked kindly as he joined the group. Leander made a sound so that Ominis could direct his blind gaze in his direction. The eyes staring into space were full of anger.

"I know you're not the most observant person around, but even you will have noticed some things about Hazel that aren't quite normal. Haven't you ever wondered why she resents the friendly back pats of her classmates and doesn't like being touched on the back? It's because the dragon she and Professor Fig narrowly escaped slashed her back, down the spine. She barely survived the rest of the induction ceremony and collapsed in the common room, bleeding. Ask Nurse Blainey, Hazel had to suffer terribly that night because Nurse Blainey had to reopen the wound and she woke up from unconsciousness in the middle of it. I was there because I was the one who brought her to the hospital wing," Ominis began, his voice getting angrier and angrier. Yes, there was a small lie, it wasn't the dragon, but a knight statue, but he left out the part about these strange exams, or whatever it was.

"Or do you also think that Professor Fig is lying? Shall I tell you something about Hazel? She grew up with Muggles because her own family wanted to kill her and she was taken out of there. She had nothing to do with magic until a year ago, and yet she is more talented than any of you! She has spent a whole year studying and practicing with Fig, especially dueling. Why? Because they feared that she might need her dueling skills sooner than you would think, because of her family! After all, her own flesh and blood wanted to kill her before her uncle, Professor Black, could get her out. And since she's been here, she's been nearly killed by a dragon, bullied by the Malfoys, sexually harassed by Samael, nearly killed by the Twins in front of all of you, and put under the torture curse by Aschwinders. You wonder why I leave the classroom with her from time to time? She doesn't want you to think badly of her and pulls herself together when she has an outburst of the torture curse, which, by the way, still hits her several times a day, which - just to mention it - is unimaginable pain. She sits in class and suffers silently from this pain. I didn't ask to sit next to her for nothing. She is my girlfriend and when I notice that these seizures last longer, I take her out of the classroom so that she doesn't start screaming in front of you and takes her medicine. Why does she have a single room? Because the fifth grade girls' rooms are already full. Do you want her to sleep on the floor? And to your >no Slytherin is capable of that<. She was barely able to walk straight herself - thanks to the Malfoys' attempt to kill her - And still ran to the older woman when she realized she needed help. She stood in front of her when she was disarmed. And in the end she took this curse. So don't you dare speak of her that way, or God help me, I will rethink my relationship with the Dark Arts and show you how she just FEELS. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!" He snapped at Leander, stepping dangerously close to him. The other Gryffindors had gone quiet as well. Natty had put a hand on Ominis' arm to hold him back.

"It's true" they heard a soft voice behind them. Hazel.

She stood there, proud as ever. Her hair, as always, tied into a high Ponytail, with the ever-present snake clip, her eyes no longer cold. She was showing these 6 students exactly how she was feeling at that moment. She was a little pale, her pale lips twisted into a sad smile, her eyes tired and with dark shadows under them.

"My life is not quite as easy as you make it out to be, Prewett. I'm not a well-protected princess who had everything dropped in her lap. I'm not favored, I just have Four damn years in one to catch up on in order to pass the exams at the end of the year. In the last few weeks I've almost died several times, almost been raped, even been cursed. I mean, a fucking dragon slashed my back. You don't believe me?" Hazel put her bag down, threw her cloak on the floor, turned around and pulled her blouse and vest and even the lightweight Corset up in the back a little so that the clearly visible red scar could be seen a bit. "Hazel, don't..." Ominis said in dismay when he heard the rustling of clothes. Ominis walked over to her, picked up her robe and put it around her as she turned back around and Glared at Leander.

"I'm tired and traumatized, so I stay away from everyone because I don't want people to know how I'm really feeling. What happened to me. It's easy to just be the principal's arrogant niece, an Arrogant Black, because then no one wants to know anything about you or gives you pitying looks all the time. I wanted to keep it just like that, but Samael couldn't handle the fact that another pureblood wasn't interested in him and he went too far. Since that thing, and the one with the curse, you see my uncle more often in our classes. I'm sorry about that, but I don't have enough contact with him to change that. I think he just wants to make sure that something like that doesn't happen again in his school and that I can handle it. I don't think he is a person of kind words and it is his way of telling me that he cares. But I'm not a bad person just because I'm a Slytherin, because a house doesn't say anything about good or bad, but only about the characteristics that unite the students. We Slytherins are Loyal, sometimes mischievous, but most of all very ambitious. Ravenclaw are Diligent in learning and especially smart in academics. Hufflepuff are Loyal, Friendly, Hardworking, Smart, Brave. A little bit of everything, but above all warm-hearted, I have been told. I don't know any of them personally. And Gryffindor are athletic and brave, tactical and loyal to those who have earned their trust. None of this says who is good or evil. So can't we put such prejudices aside and just try to get along? We can all be friends, help each other and have a good time in this school, or we can fight each other and get caught up in prejudice. It's up to you, but it's not my job to put up with your nonsense and have you treat me like shit. So, if you have any decency, stop spreading such rumors and let me have what little peace I have right now, because in five minutes it can look completely different again," she said.

Now they all looked guilty and looked down at the ground. She turned to Natty. "Thank you, Natty," she thanked her and gave her a short hug before pressing a kiss to Ominis' cheek and taking his hand.

"Thank you, too. Will you accompany me to the library?" she then asked him shyly. Now that she had gotten rid of that, she was completely different again. The tired shadow had lifted from her face and she had that all-familiar mask on again. "Of course, darling," Ominis answered her and accompanied her wordlessly.

Little by little, there was now other babbling. Some was pitiful, some good and some few bad. Of course, these Gryffindor could not keep their mouths shut and had gradually spread everything. But this had also led to the fact that more classmates spoke friendly with her and were no longer scared off by her cold gaze. Everything also had a good side.

"Tell me, my blind serpent..." Hazel started laughing one day. In the meantime, she had these attacks only once a day, unless she strained herself very much. She felt much better and fitter and also looked much healthier the more the intervals had actually lengthened.

She had started to change his pet name for her - little snake. He was now her blind serpent. Ominis knew that it was meant jokingly and affectionately.

"I thought the area near Lower Hogsfield was so beautiful, do you think... we could take a walk through the village sometime? Maybe the merchant there has something interesting?" she asked him. They had just finished the third week, mostly quiet. Hazel was tired of being at school every day. With the curse and all the extra lessons, they had had no time to go out or even take a real walk.

Ominis grinned. His Hazel was a free spirit. A tomboy, as they said, and hated to stay inside too long. He nodded. "Sure. If you want, we can go tomorrow, after the last classes. We could ask Seb, too, if you want. I feel like we shut him out too much sometimes. He's just hanging over his books again trying to find a cure" Ominis sighed.

"a cure? For what? He never tells me what he's reading. Always dismisses it as learning when I ask him!" Hazel said, somewhat offended. "Late last year his twin sister was put under an unknown permanent curse. Seb believes by a goblin. Definitely one of Rookwood's and Ranrok's followers. Anne hasn't been able to go to school since. Much like you with the after-effects of the curse, Anne also has attacks of pain. Only hers are completely unpredictable and will not go away. The curse weakens Anne, but she often has weeks when she is quite well," Ominis explained quietly to his girlfriend.

She saw the sad expression on his face and sighed. " Couldn't this strengthening potion from St. Mungo's help her then? To recover a little more in between? Until someone finds a way? Maybe it could at least make it easier for her..." Hazel also thought quietly. They sat outside, in the transformation courtyard, enjoying the sun. No one should hear what they were talking about.

"The idea is not bad at all. If I understood this Bea correctly, the potion is still quite new. I doubt that it has ever been tried. We should talk about it with nurse Blainey" he replied happily and squeezed her hand. He hadn't thought of that at all, and neither had Sebastian. His little snake really had a great spirit.

"Then let's do this right away!" she jumped up excitedly and quickly pulled Ominis to his feet, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't see without his wand. "Oh sorry!" she exclaimed as she stopped him from tripping and he laughed. "I love you!" he just laughed and pulled his wand out of his pocket. "I love you too!" she replied happily, continuing to pull him excitedly along with her. However, he had to stop her after a few stairs and force her to rest.

"I told you already, my blind serpent! I'm fine!" Hazel laughed as Ominis forced her to sit on the floor and lean against the wall. He sighed, almost a little frustrated. "Yeah, that may be. But I know how easily you underestimate it and strain yourself. That's why you've got me on your side now. I'll make sure that doesn't happen and that you have as few seizures as possible. I know you have an incredible amount of energy again that has to go somewhere. But you still have to take care of yourself more than usual, right? And if you don't, darling, I'll do it for you. I love you, little snake," he said as he lowered himself beside her and pressed a kiss to her hair. Hazel sighed happily. What had she done to deserve such a wonderful man? She almost couldn't believe he was real. Sometimes she even woke up in the middle of the night and cried because she had dreamed that everything was just wishfull thinking and only realized that it was just a dream when he was there and calmed her down.

"I love you too. You have no idea how much!" she sighed, leaning against his shoulder as he played around with her ponytail. She knew he loved her curls. She herself liked them too, however they were always in her way because they were so incredibly wild when she didn't tame them.

"Hey!" she exclaimed laughing as he tickled her neck with her own curls and playfully punched his arm. He let go of her hair and put his fingers to her chin instead, making her look at him and smile. "Somehow I have to distract you from the forced break" he murmured as he leaned down to kiss her. "Succeeded" she whispered against his lips as he gently separated from her and went back at a distance, pleased with himself. After a few minutes, which he waited while her breathing calmed down again, he took her hand again and helped her up. Hand in hand, they walked up the last steps to the hospital wing.

"Oh, what brings you here? Is the curse still causing problems?" Nurse Blainey asked worriedly when she recognized Hazel. As often as they had been with her now, the three of them had begun to be more friendly with each other. "Hello Noreen, good to see you too" Hazel laughed as she hugged the nurse warmly. She had helped her so much, being too formal felt wrong to both of them.

"I'm afraid I'm not quite rid of it yet. But once a day I can stand it" Hazel then answered her question. "Do you need any more potions? I have a few left. I'll ask Sharp to make some more later" Noreen said with a smile and Hazel nodded. Her supply was indeed running low. "Give me your bag, I'll fill it up" Nurse Blainey said, reaching out for the shoulder bag that had become Hazel's constant companion.

After Hazel got the full bag back, Hazel opened up to Noreen Blainey about the real reason for her visit. "Actually, though, we're here for something else. You remember Sebastian's sister, Anne Sallow?" Hazel asked with a knowing and sad smile on her lips. Noreen nodded, sadly, and sighed, "I wasn't able to help her, I'm afraid," she replied.

"But maybe now! Ominis told me about her. Of course our curses are different, but both drain power and energy from the cursed. The torture curse does it very quickly, her curse sounds like one that does it slowly, over the course of a lifetime. But the effect is the same in the long term. We wanted to ask you if this potion might be able to help Anne?" Hazel asked excitedly, fidgeting back and forth on Ominis hand. He laughed softly and put his arm around her shoulders.

Nurse Blainey had a thoughtful expression on her face as she thought it over. "Basically, you could be right. Her curse is, unfortunately, completely unknown, which suggests that someone developed it who is absolutely cruel. There's no way to tell how the curse will react to the potion. The potion itself is still completely new. But the idea is brilliant, Hazel! I'll write to my friend at St. Mungo's. She's doing research there, maybe she has some new findings or can take on research on this. Maybe we'll be able to develop something that will actually help her!" Noreen replied, now just as excited as Hazel. "If Bea gives the go, we'll bring her some potions. Let us know right away then, will you?" Hazel said happily and Noreen nodded. When they had said their goodbyes, Noreen immediately ran to the back room where her owl lived and Hazel and Ominis made their way down.

"Seb?" Hazel asked innocently as the three of them headed for Lower Hogsfield the next day. It was a beautiful and warm late summer afternoon. The sun was shining brightly, while the green was already slowly turning to yellow, red and brown. The sun conjured a stronger red glow in Hazel's curls and made her eyes shine like emeralds. She wore nothing special, just the same flowery dress and the same elegant dark cloak as the day she confessed to Ominis how she felt.

He had confessed to her a few days later that he liked the ruffles on the sleeves. Since he couldn't really see, he was a rather sensual person. And ruffles just felt great to him, as he had sheepishly confessed that day when they were talking about what they liked and didn't like. She sometimes caught him playing with the ruffles, lost in thought, when they stood somewhere longer because she was looking around. She took it upon herself to buy more blouses, skirts and dresses like that. Maybe he couldn't always compliment her on her looks, even though he always did. He could at least guess what she looked like, thanks to the wand. So it was a bit pointless to try to "make herself pretty" for him. But she could at least make her clothes feel good to him when they were close.

"Yes flower?" he asked. Sebastian had started calling her "Flower" at some point. He found it quite fitting. Sometimes she bloomed, sometimes she wilted a bit, and she wasn't averse to herbalism either. Ominis had gritted his teeth at the reasoning, but Hazel had taken it with a laugh. She expected to "wilt" a little more often.

"Noreen, Ominis and I have given a new task to the researchers of St. Mungo's" she said cheerfully, without any context. "T-task?" he asked, confused, as a result. Hazel nodded. "Ominis told me why you read so grimly when we exclude you-" she began, but Sebastian interrupted her. "You don't exclude me. It's good that you enjoy your time together and I'm glad you do from time to time. Please don't feel bad for being happy" he said. Hazel just nodded and continued.

"He told me about your twin sister. That you are trying to find a clue about the curse or the counterpart to it in the books. He described to me what this curse does. The torture curse has a similar effect, so we talked to Noreen about the new strengthening potion, whether it might also help Anne. She thinks it's the right approach, but just trying it is risky because the curse is unknown. It could help her, but it could also make it worse if it reacts badly. That's why she wrote to that nurse Bea, who helped me. She is in research from time to time and is going to take a closer look and do some research on this. I also want to look more closely at potions when I have time. Maybe I can find something, no matter how small, that could help Bea. I'll definitely talk to Professor Sharp about it, after all, he's a potion master," Hazel finished, and Sebastian had stopped, perplexed, in the meantime.

"You...This...I..." Sebastian didn't even know what to say. But then he just Suddenly hugged Hazel, yanked her up and spun her around in a circle. "You don't know what this means to me! It's the first time there's been any hope of any kind of help that's actually provable in any way!" He exclaimed. Hazel laughed, but stumbled a little when he let go of her.

Ominis caught her and looked disapprovingly but then smiling at Sebastian. "I'll always help if I can, Seb." Hazel smiled as her world stopped spinning. If Sebastian had seemed rather depressed before, he now seemed changed. He chatted excitedly with them, marveling here and there at a plant he recognized as a potion ingredient and plucking it for Hazel, until finally, laughing lightly, he took her bag, in which she carried the plants and her strengthening potions, to gather more for her when he saw any. This made Hazel laugh a lot and Ominis happily joined in. He hadn't seen his best friend so happy in a long time.

As they strolled through the small village, they laughed a lot and chatted with the locals. It was a harmonious community.

Hazel leaned against Ominis as she walked and sighed happily. "Someday I'd like to live in a village like that, too. It's so much more... peaceful than London and its suburbs." she said, smiling. Ominis had put an arm around her shoulders, hugged her a little and kissed her on the hair.

"Maybe even together," he agreed. She made a sound that he couldn't quite place at first, until he heard her heartbeat quicken. Had his statement made her... happy? He smiled.

Suddenly she motioned for him to stop. "Good evening, mister," Hazel greeted someone. Through his wand he perceived a trade stall, but the goods on it were for him only a jumble of shapes that his wand did not like to represent properly.

"Good evening miss, sir. Did any of my exquisite jewelry catch your eye Miss? What can I do to help you?" the elderly gentleman asked kindly. Hazel's eyes sparkled. Out of the corner of her eye she had seen something sparkling in the sun, so she had stopped with ominis. It was a silver chain that perfectly matched her clip. "May I take a closer look at this necklace? I promise I have clean hands" she asked him laughing and raising her hands jokingly. "Of course miss. I'm sure your delicate hands can't harm the jewelry" the merchant replied charmingly. She felt Omini's grip around her waist tighten, then loosen again as she laughingly leaned down to pick up the necklace.

A delicate chain, silver, with a snake as a pendant, which had two emeralds as eyes. She grabbed her bow and with one hand removed her clip to hold it next to the pendant. They were almost the same shape. As if they were made for each other.

"What are you looking at?" her boyfriend asked her with a smile. He had heard how excited she was. Her breathing had hitched and her heart had beaten a beat faster, plus she had made enthusiastic sounds. "That necklace. The pendant looks almost exactly like my clip. Here, give me your hand" she demanded with a smile. He did as he was told and held out his hand to her. Hazel took it lovingly in hers and showed him first the shape of her clip, then the pendant. She let him trace the shape and feel the texture while he held his wand closer to get some sort of "visual" impression.

"Do you like it?" he asked lovingly. She rolled her eyes with a laugh. "You're still asking that?" she said, but when she heard someone fall down behind her, she quickly put the necklace back on the table and put the clip in Ominis' hand as she looked around. She had to laugh. Sebastian had fallen, head first, into a bright yellowish bush, lacewings all around him. "I'll be right back! Sebastian, I'll help you!" she called as she quickly ran to him. And as she helped him, Ominis turned to the merchant with a gentle smile. "You are very lucky, sir," the merchant said good-naturedly, looking after Hazel with a smile. She seemed like a good girl. "Yes, I am," he replied.

"How did you manage that?" Hazel asked, laughing softly as she tried to free Sebastian's robe from the bush he had fallen into. He laughed sheepishly and held up a small jar he had bought earlier from the merchant. He had caught lacewings for her.

"If you keep this up, my ingredient bag will soon be fuller than our potion master's ingredient chamber!" she laughed. She thought it was sweet that he wanted to help her. In fact, students were encouraged to grow their own ingredients in herbology or pick or trap them instead of just bluntly buying them. So far, she had had almost no opportunities to do so.

Ominis and Sebastian knew that four subjects interested her a lot. Herbology, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Beasts. Unfortunately, the lessons for beasts had been canceled for unknown reasons.

"You've got to be careful when you do things like that!" she jokingly reprimanded him when he was bush-free and lacewing-free again, grinning widely at him as he laughed sheepishly and stowed the jar in the bag.

"How are you doing? We've been traveling for so long," Sebastian asked. He was glad that she could be with them so carefree again. Without pain. "I'm a little tired. Not used to it anymore, I guess. But I'm fine, thanks Seb" she said. She brushed some more leaves and dust and grass off his cloak and talked to Sebastian.

"I don't want to be indiscreet, mister, but is something wrong with your lady? She seems a bit exhausted and your friend back there seems worried. I also sell medicine, should she need any," the merchant offered after Ominis handed him a few Galleons. He shook his head and accepted the small casket. "She was very restricted for a long time now. Some poachers cursed her a week ago. The curse has already worn off a lot and will soon pass. She's been tied to the castle for a long time and she's just not used to being out a lot anymore. I will take care of her as if she were my most precious treasure, you can be sure of that. But thank you for your concern," he replied with a smile.

He said goodbye to the friendly merchant and, pleased with himself, went to his girlfriend and best friend. "Ominis! Can you believe it? He actually stumbled into a bush and got his robe hopelessly tangled to catch lacewings for me!" Hazel laughed when she realized that Ominis was standing behind her. Ominis let out a laugh and fiddled with something before bringing the necklace over her head in front of her face. Her breath hitched as she realized Ominis was gifting it to her. "O-Ominis! That... you know that wasn't necessary!" she was amazed.

He smirked and put it on her, stroking her hair from her neck to close it. He then reached into his cape pocket for the clip and reattached it to her hair bow. Hazel turned around, smiling. He heard that she must be close to tears as she put her hands around his neck. "Thank you so much, darling," she said chokingly, and kissed him briefly on the mouth as he put his hands on her waist. Kisses in public were quite frowned upon in their time, especially among the underage, so they kept the intimate moment short, but it was just as precious as any other.

"So, lovebirds," Sebastian finally began as Hazel admired her necklace and leaned against Ominis in love. She smiled so happily and dreamily. "Shall we go back to the castle then?" he asked. Ominis put his arm around Hazel's waist again and nodded, and Hazel also agreed, even though she looked a little sad that it was already so late.

But just as they were about to leave the village for Hogwarts, Hazel noticed someone. A girl, about her age, in school uniform, who was looking out at the lake.

"Maybe she needs help" Hazel pointed at the girl and they directed their steps to her. "Hi. Sorry if we're disturbing you, but you look like you could use some help?" Hazel said questioningly as she smiled kindly at the girl. The brunette witch turned around in surprise and breathed a sigh of relief when she at least recognized the two boys.

"Oh, you must be Hazel! Lucky me. Yes I can actually use some help. My name is Grace Pinch-Smedley. The Pinch-Smedleys of Bath? I was hoping someone would come soon. I was about to disobey my father's wishes and I would never have forgiven myself. You know, I need to get something from the bottom of the lake. Could you please help me?" she asked.

Hazel did not like the tone of the girl's voice, even though she was friendly. She sounded arrogant. Hazel looked at Ominis and then at Sebastian, but both shook their heads. "I can't-" they both said simultaneously.

"You can't swim? Really?!" Hazel wondered, but again they both shook their heads. Ominis she could understand somewhat, but Sebastian? "W-well, I'm a good swimmer. I could help you" Hazel offered with a smile, only being a bit at a loss because of her clothes. To go swimming in a dress wasn't exactly one of her chosen adventures. But then she thought of a little spell that could help her and change her clothes into something else for a short time. Pants, shirt and vest, for example. "But Hazel, your dress..." Ominis frowned.

"Oh, Professor Fig showed me a spell. It temporarily transforms your clothes into the clothes you imagine. You have to concentrate and it only lasts two hours if you don't solve it first, but it would serve its purpose" she said thoughtfully.

"Do you think you can handle it? You know you shouldn't exhaust yourself and we've been on this trail for a long time," Sebastian said this time, looking at her with concern in his eyes. Hazel smiled.

"Trust me. I think I can still manage a little magic and swimming, guys!" she laughed and raised her wand without further ado and simply imagined the boys' uniform. Shirt, vest, knee breeches, shoes. She felt her fabric rustle and change. Within seconds she was wearing a green plaid boys uniform and laughed again.

"How does it look on me, Seb?" she asked him. The pants fit a little tighter than she had expected and the vest emphasized her bust a tiny bit too much, but otherwise it was perfect. He blushed a little, but pointed his thumbs up. She frowned and turned to Grace, who had been watching her with wide eyes.

"Tell me more" Hazel demanded with a smile. "Great! Just the answer I was hoping for" Grace replied. "What do you want me to find for you?" Hazel inquired more specifically, her hands clasped in front.

"Years ago my grandfather, who fancied himself an Astronomer, sailed from Hogsmeade station to do just a little stargazing with my grandmother. Unfortunately, they never returned," Grace told her. Hazel frowned. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. W-what happened to them?" she asked. Grace shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "We don't know. All we know is that neither they nor their boat returned to shore. They probably drowned" she said wistfully. Hazel made a sad sound and the boys also expressed their sympathy.

"Thank you. Anyway, Father was so distraught that he forbade our family to ever set foot on or in the Great Lake again. One of the family's precious astrolabes disappeared with them that night. If you could find it, I'm sure my father would be pleased," Grace said hopefully, looking Hazel in the eyes.

"That sounds dangerous for something that has merely sentimental interest" Hazel pointed out. " Yeah, I understand, but I would be eternally grateful to you. Of course, you may find much more than the astrolabe. Who knows? I hear all the time that people lose things while swimming, through winds, or on boat trips, so maybe there's something valuable you can keep. I cross referenced the last known location of the boat, with the topography of the lake, the depth maps and the tide schedule. I'm guessing it's over there" She pointed in a direction. "About half a mile. It would be really wonderful to have my grandfather's astrolabe back in the family," Grace said to Hazel, and she sighed.

She took off the necklace and her clip and pressed both into Ominis' hands. "Take care of this for me, will you?" she said, giving him a gentle kiss before turning back to Grace. "That way, you said?" Hazel asked, pointing in the imaginary direction. "Minimal further to the left, yes," she said gleefully. Hazel took off her shoes and walked to the edge of the pier they were standing on.

"Hey, Hazel. If you feel uncomfortable, come back right away, will you? And watch out!" Ominis called after her, frowning. He knew he couldn't stop her in her helper instinct, and as long as it was just a little swimming, he wouldn't try. He didn't want to argue with her as long as what she was doing was acceptable.

"Of course, my love. Trust me. I love you, so I won't be so careless and drown. Don't worry so much," she replied, giving him one last amorous look before taking a breath and jumping into the lake.

When she resurfaced, she was already a good distance from the pier. She took a deep breath and shivered. The water was icy. She swam on quickly, she couldn't stay in the cold water long without getting sick, so she swam as fast as she could. When she felt she had swum far enough, she glanced at the dock and saw Grace nodding excitedly and pointing her thumbs up.

Hazel took a deep breath and made her first dive. The lake here was fortunately not that deep, but the water was a bit muddy and made it hard for her to see anything. This astrolabe could have drifted anywhere. Should she look for the remains of a boat? Or had it been too long? What did such an astrolabe even look like? She wanted to help so much that she forgot to ask. On her first dive, which seemed much too long to Ominis - Sebastian told him exactly when she was coming down and coming up, after all he was not in a position to watch his love to ease his worry - Hazel unfortunately did not find anything. The ground was full of sand, mud and debris.

But on her second dive she was a little more successful, found a golden chain, a pair of gloves. When she surfaced, she also saw rotten wood. She coughed as she broke the surface for the second time to catch her breath. She had foolishly inhaled a little too soon and choked. However, she pointed her thumb upward to show Sebastian that she was okay. She saw him reassuring Ominis, who seemed quite worried, and smiled fondly. She was so lucky to have him.

One - hopefully - last time she took a deep breath and dove down to the bottom. She followed the wooden boards and on the way found a casket, which was closed. It was small and decorated with gold. Hazel quickly put it in her pocket and searched further. In a cluster of rotten wood she finally found something that looked like it might have something to do with stars. It looked almost like some kind of clock, with a loop through which a chain could be threaded.

She was starting to feel dizzy, so she grabbed the piece of metal and quickly resurfaced. Again she had to cough, this time harder, and struggled to stay afloat until she recovered and swam back. By now she was freezing cold, but she was smiling. It was always a good feeling to be able to help.

As she struggled to climb onto the dock, Ominis helped her and, feeling how cold the water was, wrapped his cloak around her and wrapped the panting and shivering Hazel in his arms. "Are you okay? I could just hear you coughing?" he asked.

Hazel wanted to separate from him, trembling. She didn't want him to get so wet, too. "I'm fine, really! Now let go of me before you get soaked too!" she said softly. Ominis laughed, but let go of her and helped her stand up. " That's just about too painful to watch. Ominis, step aside, I'm going to dry her off" Sebastian said, a bit annoyed. Ominis always worried so much that he forgot that there were always possibilities in everyday life.

"Siccitas" Sebastian said the spell to dry hair and clothes. In a few seconds Hazel was dry, but she was still cold. She put her shoes back on, took the findings out of her pockets and ended the spell on her clothes, so she was wearing her dress again, only this time with two robes - her travel cloak and Ominis school robe. She shivered, but then walked down from the pier to the others and showed Grace the little clock-like metal thing. It looked a little rusty, but didn't seem to have suffered as much as Grace may have feared.

She sucked in a surprised breath and fell around Hazel's neck for a short moment. "Thank you so much!" she said happily as she let go of Hazel. "I hope it makes your father happy" Hazel said smiling and shivered again. Grace looked at her worriedly for a short while, but Hazel merely pulled the cloaks tighter around her and smiled back happily too, while Ominis hugged her from behind to give her some warmth and gently directed her backwards a few steps out of the shadows she was standing in and into the setting sun. When the warm rays hit her face, she shivered again.

"It will. I'm really looking forward to seeing his face when he sees it. Thank you for doing this for me - and for my family" Grace said gratefully. Now her voice no longer sounded arrogant.

"I'm always happy to help. Just... next time I'll think twice if it's warm enough" Hazel laughed with trembling in her voice. "Then let's go back to the castle now Hazel, you're still shivering" Ominis said worriedly, gently rubbing her arms. Hazel nodded with a smile and waved a short goodbye to Grace as they turned towards the castle.

"That water has been so damn COLD!" she grumbled on the way back, grateful for the sun at her back and Ominis' warm arm against her neck and shoulders. "You shouldn't have done that" Ominis said worriedly. Hazel shook her head and smiled in his direction.

"You heard how happy she was. Oh wait!" Hazel replied, stopping abruptly as she remembered what else she had found. She rummaged in her cloak pockets and finally pulled out the necklace, gloves and casket. "I found some things. A gold necklace" she held up the necklace to the boys and handed it to Ominis when he reached out for it. She then tossed Sebastian the pair of gloves, which made him laugh. "These gloves and this casket. It doesn't open easily. I guess the mechanism is rusted. But there's something in it" she finished the list.

"The gloves are made of sturdy and high quality dragon leather. If we dry them before the fire, carefully and for a long time, you could use them in herbology class. And the necklace looks pretty good too, considering it was under water," Sebastian said.

Ominis nodded. "It feels heavy and cool. Not like that cheap fake gold. We could take it to a trader someday, if you like" Ominis suggested in his turn. They continued on their way after stowing everything in Hazel's shoulder bag, which Sebastian carried for her. "Not until we know what's in that casket. We might even want to take it to a trader, who knows. But right now I'd like to just go to the common room in front of the fireplace! Or whatever fireplace, as long as it's a warm place!" Hazel moaned as she realized she wouldn't have time to relax in the common room. The boys laughed softly.

Back at the castle, Hazel refused to sit at the table. She stood by the fireplace behind the Slytherin table and warmed herself shivering. She wasn't really very hungry either. Her appetite had been somewhat lost after being cursed. But Ominis wouldn't be himself if he didn't know exactly what she would eat despite her lack of appetite. He held a small bowl of some red cabbage and mashed potatoes in front of her - far too little, for a girl her age, but since he wanted to get her to eat anything at all, he preferred little to nothing - and then rustled a bag behind his back.

He heard her hair twirl as she looked at him with interest. That bag... Ominis had learned in the last week to always have her favorite candy with him when he wanted her to eat. Little croaking chocolate frogs.

"First business, then reward" he said with a mischievous smile and Hazel groaned, but took the bowl with the spoon in it from him. "That's my girl" he smiled. The events of the three weeks now had contributed significantly, to his displeasure, to her eating less and less. It wasn't that he didn't understand her. One lost one's appetite when wading through a sea of pain over and over again. But she had already lost several pounds while fighting this curse and had been quite thin before. He was happy to help her get back into a healthy weight. Even if that meant offering her sweets.

Ominis woke up far too early - around four in the morning, still in the middle of the night for a weekend - in an otherwise empty bed. He rubbed his sightless eyes and patted his other hand sleepily and yawningly for Hazel's warmth, but he was alone in bed. He heard no heartbeat, no breathing, no rustling. He couldn't hear Star either, who usually slept in a little cat house that stood next to the dresser.

Groaning, he struggled to his feet and fumbled on the nightstand for his wand, immediately lighting the little red light that gave him his wand sight. The room was indeed empty.

He pulled on his thick socks and slipped into his robe before walking out of the bedroom in his pajamas and looking around the common room. By the fireplace, he finally heard a rapidly beating heart and frantic breathing. He quickly went to the couch that stood in front of the fireplace and found Hazel. She was sitting, huddled under a wool blanket, on the couch, a book in her trembling hands. Ominis sighed, hoping that this attack would not happen today. But it was only delayed.

He sat down next to her and carefully took the book from her clasping hands. She startled and groaned painfully, torn from her concentration. "Sorry, little snake," Ominis said as he pulled her into his arms, moving them both into a more relaxed, semi-recumbent position. "Why didn't you wake me?" he whispered into her wild curly hair as he gently brushed it from her face. "I didn't want you to worry and get too little sleep. I... I was cold when I woke up and I was kind of unwell, so I thought I'd just sit by the fire for a bit and read to warm up, but-" she finished with a whimper, turning slightly on her side and burying her face in his robe.

He understood, even if he didn't like it. He didn't need to be protected by her - or from her. He wanted to protect her from everything. As she slowly relaxed and the pain subsided, he kissed her on the hair. "Are you all right?" he asked softly. She nodded.

"Are you still cold?" he asked afterwards. "No, just a bit" she murmured against his chest, tired. He nodded, lifted her and stood up with her in his arms, only to settle down with her on the rug in front of the fire. Closer to the fireplace to warm her up even more. All the while, he held her gently and lovingly against his chest, and she let out a blissful sigh as the warmth slowly moved through her entire body. As her head slumped against his shoulder and her breathing became deep and even, he stood up with some difficulty to slip back into bed with her, the covers wrapped tightly around her.

Tired, she opened her eyes a few hours later as his hand gently stroked her cheek. She looked directly into Ominis worried face. His forehead furrowed, he gently stroked her cheek. She sighed comfortably under that gentle touch and placed her hand on top of his, leaning against it.

"Why do you look so worried, my blind serpent?" she asked, then reached out to touch his cheek. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to see if you were okay. How are you?" he asked instead. She smiled and moved closer to him, gently pulling his head to her chest, onto her heart, which was beating calmly and quickening as he laughed sheepishly at her gesture. "Listen to my heart, my love. I'm fine" she whispered, ruffling through his hair with pleasure. She loved running her hands through his hair. There was something intimate about it for her, which she was only too happy to share with him.

He sighed against her chest and straightened up again, his arm around her. "I know. But it doesn't tell me how you feel" he said. "I'm a little tired, but I have been since I got here" she assured him, that otherwise she lacked for nothing.

He stroked meaningfully along her waist, which had become so narrow that he could already feel her ribs.

"You don't eat enough, little snake. It's no wonder you're always so tired," he muttered, his brow furrowed again. She sighed, "I'm already forcing myself, love. Maybe you just need to feast me on chocolate frogs" she said jokingly, pulling him down for a heartfelt kiss before finally sitting up as well.

He laughed softly, but it didn't dispel his worry. "Maybe we should talk to Noreen about this. I know the weeks haven't been easy for you, and it's only understandable that all this is affecting your appetite. But we don't know what's ahead of you, ahead of us. And you will feel better in general when you start eating normally again," he said.

Hazel sighed and nodded in dismay. She knew herself that she had started to eat less since the thing with Samael. After the curse, however, it had only gotten really serious. "I know you can't force yourself to eat too much. Maybe Noreen has an idea that will at least make it easier for you?" he said, kissing her on the forehead before getting out of bed and starting to change. Hazel laughed sheepishly and averted her eyes, blushing.

After a small breakfast, Hazel and Ominis were back in the hospital wing, sitting on one of the beds - arm in arm - waiting for Noreen Blainey. When the nurse recognized her pale friend coming out of the back room, she groaned indignantly and quickened her pace.

"Hazel, I like to see you, but not when you look at me like that" she said, giving them both a short hug before taking a closer look at Hazel. She looked tired and was a little pale, but except for the fact that she had lost weight - which Noreen had blamed on the curse - nothing seemed to be wrong with her.

"She hardly eats anything, Noreen," Ominis explained to her. Hazel buried her face in his robe, not wanting to look Noreen in the face. She noticed that Hazel was trying hard to hide something. Noreen had already noticed that Hazel liked to seal off her feelings from herself and everyone else when she couldn't handle it. Something was bothering her.

"Hey," she began, brushing her tangled curls to the side. It was the first time, other than when she had spent several days in the hospital bed, that she had not tied her hair up. The clip held only the foremost hair out of her face, no made-up hairstyle at all, Noreen noted in surprise.

"Whatever it is, you have to talk about it. There's no way around it and you know you can tell me anything" she said. Hazel shook her head at Ominis shoulder. He looked at her worriedly, kissed her tangled hair and pressed her to him.

"You are not alone, darling. I'll be there to hold you all the time, if that's what you want" he assured her. He himself already knew all this, but he felt she needed to talk to a complete outsider about... at least some of it. Even with him and Sebastian, she avoided any past topics as much as she could.

When Hazel shook her head at his shoulder again, he abruptly pulled her onto his lap. She startled and looked up to see his smile. "Please," he whispered begging. She sighed and sank against him.

"I don't know...how much I'm allowed to say..." Hazel said slowly. Noreen sighed, fumbled the paper and quill out of her apron, and looked at her sharply. "Then who knows how much you're allowed to say?" she asked a little harshly. Noreen had a feeling someone had forbidden her to talk, so she would get permission.

"Eleazar Fig," Hazel muttered, and Noreen gave a short laugh. Hazel gave her a questioning sideways glance. "Oh, Professor Fig came to see me a short time after you got here. He said you were doing well again, but he wasn't sure how you were taking it all. He asked me to talk to you to find out. Unfortunately, so much happened that I forgot all about it. I don't think he will mind, but I will write to him. So you can be sure and you can tell freely" she said.

She wrote only a few lines, mostly about the fact that the professor should perhaps have a look at his student himself, after all he was responsible for her. She asked him to see her as soon as possible in the hospital wing, he was responsible for Hazel and she had something urgent to discuss with him, since she was once again in the hospital wing and he should keep an eye on her. Since Professor Fig was in the house, her owl would find him quickly.

"Is there anything you know you can talk about?" Noreen asked when her owl had flew out the window. Noreen had pulled a chair up to the bed and was looking thoughtfully at Hazel. She had her head resting on Ominis shoulder, her eyes lowered to her hands.

She thought. "I-I...part of the...d-dragon attack maybe," she mumbled, her hands struggling to keep busy with something. Ominis hugged her tighter as she began to fidget on his lap. She sighed.

"Professor Fig took us to our carriage in London from my parents' house. I still remember that I was terribly dizzy and nauseous when we had solid ground under our feet again. So I had leaned against the carriage, waiting, checking once again that Star and Lilly were safely contained, while I waited for Eleazar to give the go-ahead. While we were talking, he explained to me that a friend from the ministry needed to speak to him urgently and that we were therefore waiting. A short time later, a somewhat corpulent man appeared next to us. He introduced himself to me as George Osric and short after that we got on and flew off. The conversation was... well Mr. Osric was really friendly. Inquired about me and everything before talking to Eleazar. It was about his deceased wife Miriam and her research on another kind of magic and about Ranrok, who had probably killed her, I can't repeat the conversation completely, it was about things I can't tell anyone. But while they were talking, I looked out the window and saw a gigantic but formless shadow in the clouds. I-I... I wished so much I had said something but... This was all so new to me. I knew that there were various wild creatures of all sizes, even though I hardly knew of any, and I dismissed it as unimportant. I-if I hadn't done that... maybe..." towards the end her words became a whisper.

She took a moment to collect herself before continuing in a quivering voice. No one noticed Fig, who was standing in the doorway listening. "A short time later, the dragon emerged from the clouds and tore the carriage in half. I heard Mr. Osric scream and saw him fighting before the dragon...bit the carriage and devoured what was in its mouth before blowing fire at us. We and the driver jumped off the carriage to protect ourselves from it...I just feel like I should have said something. Like I could have stopped it" Hazel concluded at the point where she was not allowed to continue talking. She realized herself only now how much this was weighing on her.

"There was nothing you could have done, Hazel," Fig said from the doorway and joined them at the bedside. He was a little startled to find his student so thin and pale. He had rarely seen her in the last two weeks, as her uncle often sent him to the Ministry. He knew of course about the curse and everything that had happened, that she had to testify in the Ministry because of the Malfoys and that she had been close to death more often than such a young person should experience. But he had not known that it affected his student so much.

"Nurse Blainey, would you enlighten me, please?" Fig asked her urgently. "The last three weeks have been very chaotic for Hazel, as you know. So much seems to have happened that she hasn't dealt with it. And since the thing with the torture curse, she eats almost nothing and has lost a lot of weight, even if she always tried to hide it. Ominis convinced her to come here, but she says she can't talk about a lot of things that are bothering her, and only you can tell her what she can talk to me about," Nurse Blainey explained to the professor, who was watching the tired-looking Hazel closely.

She was uncomfortable being paraded like this. She had managed so well to hide it from everyone until today. Fig sighed. "You must swear to me that nothing she tells you will be passed on to anyone else. Not to the Ministry, not to Headmaster Black. Only you, me, Hazel, Mr. Gaunt and Mr. Sallow are exempt from this. No one else shall know of this for the time being, do you understand?" Fig said very firmly. "I swear it to you. I won't discuss it with anyone else," Noreen said seriously.

It had to be really hard stuff when the otherwise so friendly Eleazar Fig became so determined. Then he turned to Hazel again and knelt in front of her so that she was looking at him. Her eyes were no longer empty or hard. Her blames for herself were reflected in them as clear as winter air.

"Hazel, there was nothing you could have done. We wouldn't have escaped the dragon with the carriage" he said calmly, speaking to her very familiarly to reassure her and taking one of her nervously fumbling hands in his and squeezing it. "But we could have aparated... or fought, or something" she muttered shaking her head.

"Maybe. But it's very likely that this would have happened just the same anyway. It was fate, not your fault!" he assured her fatherly, patting her head briefly to reassure her that no one blamed her. She nodded slowly. "Listen to me. The year still has a lot planned for us. I want you to talk about anything that's on your mind with Nurse Blainey, Mr. Gaunt, Mr. Sallow or me will you? There's a lot you'll only be able to do on your own, but you're not alone and you don't have to go through this alone. We may not always be able to follow you, but no matter what you have to do, before and after and sometimes in the middle of it, there are always people who care about you, you hear?" the older wizard said lovingly.

After the death of his friend and his wife, he almost considered Hazel as family. All he had left besides a few friends. "I don't want you to destroy yourself," he said then and stood up.

Ominis furrowed his brows as he felt a drop on his hand that had been holding her other hand. Then Hazel nodded again and he heard her crying softly and pressed her against him again, her head against his shoulder.

"Thank you Professor. I'm sure we can help her process everything," Noreen said before getting Hazel a potion. Confused and with still wet eyes, she looked at the potion and then at Noreen. She laughed softly. "It will stimulate your appetite a bit. Take it about half an hour before your next meal. Five drops should be enough for now. And don't forget the tonic after your seizures. I'm glad that at least those are within limits by now."

Noreen still updated Professor Fig on the recovery from the torture curse, they also told him about the research they had inspired at St. Mungo's, for Anne.

Hazel now regularly went to talk to Noreen about what had happened after or before class. Sometimes she was alone, sometimes she was accompanied by Sebastian, Ominis, or both. The potion was also having a subtle effect. After her fourth week, she had gained some weight and looked much healthier, and the curse issue was progressing as well. For four days she had not had any seizure.

"I told you that your nutrition plays a role too, darling," Ominis teased her as they broached the subject, heading for the library. Hazel wanted to go to the greenhouse and Sebastian and Ominis had to finish writing an essay they had to turn in tomorrow, so they parted ways at the library. Hazel gave Ominis a very short gentle kiss goodbye and waved to Sebastian with a laugh as she turned off.

She saw them enter the library. Ominis had a slight blush on his cheeks. He was not used to kissing her so publicly at school. Hazel was about to go down the stairs when she noticed some students looking around for help. On a ledge above her sat a Gryffindor with wild brown curls, while at the other end of the hall a brown-haired Hufflepuff walked around brooding. Hazel sighed, cursing this urge inside her to help. She decided to seek out the Hufflepuff first.

"'Pardon me? Can I help you? You look like something is bothering you" Hazel asked the girl. She tried to sound friendly, but felt like it wasn't quite working, even though she was smiling. It was hard for her to keep her mental Walls down without her boys by her side. She instinctively built them up as soon as Ominis was no longer near her, even if the gates remained open with Sebastian.

"I don't think we've met. My name is Hazel" she added a bit more friendly. "Oh. Hi. I'm Lenora. Forgive me if I seem a bit distracted right now" Lenora said a bit distractedly. She looked irritated and thoughtful. "Everyone thinks I'm crazy. Samantha thinks I'm crazy, but it's because of this picture." she said annoyed and pointed to a frame behind them. There was no picture in it, just blackness. The frame, however, was very artfully decorated with moving butterflies... or was it moths?...

"I've never noticed it before, and I've been here for four years. Knowing Hogwarts, an empty frame doesn't show up for no reason. Hogwarts is an ancient magical building. And these buildings do this sort of thing when they decide it's time to reveal a secret." she continued talking. Hazel was a bit taken aback. She hadn't had any real acquaintance with Hufflepuffs, but doubted that all of them would confide in a stranger like that.

"Have you been able to figure out anything?" Hazel asked, her eyes drawn uncertainly to the frame. Moths... "Yes. I think the light plays a big role. But how should I proceed? I'm clueless" Lenora sighed. "do you know if there are any more of these frames?" Hazel then asked. Lenora nodded. "I found three so far, but I couldn't solve the mystery of them. Maybe you'll have more luck" Lenora said unhappily and walked past Hazel, sitting down with her classmates at the fountain in the middle.

It couldn't be that difficult. Light? Moths? "Lumos," she murmured as she moved closer to the frame. Her eyes grew wide as the blackness fled the light, revealing a picture which she knew. It was down one of the two staircases and then to the left. Hazel smiled and went down the stairs next to her first, but that was the wrong side, so she walked once down the hall to the other side and found the statue that was pictured.

She was a little startled to find an enchanted moth figure flapping its wings. Again she lit the light with her wand and the moth sat on top. Carefully, she led this moth to the frame and extinguished the light. She sat down in the recess - laid out for her. Three galleons fell out of the frame. Hazel gathered them up and walked quickly to Lenora and pressed two of them into her hand. "Here you go. Mystery solved" she said contentedly.

"How?! I've been standing there for hours, you've only been there for 10 minutes!" she exclaimed in disbelief and Hazel smiled apologetically. "You said light had an effect. I took a closer look at the frame. Their wings are too asymmetrical for butterflies, so I concluded they were moths. I cast the light spell and the painting showed me the stature of this Fat Man here in the hall, by the stairs. I went there, found the missing moth and inserted it. It flies after you with Lumos or sits on your wand and when you put out the light at the recess, it sits in and opens a small compartment. The galleons fell out," she explained.

"Th-thank you Hazel. I'm glad this mystery is finally solved!" Lenora said, smiling and also relieved. " You see! I'm not crazy!" she hissed to her classmates and Hazel shook her head as she put the galleon in her bag. Lenora stood up. "Thanks again Hazel. You helped me a lot" she said and said goodbye. Hazel smiled after her and looked around for the other girl. Maybe she could help someone else too.

"Well, what a mess I've made," she heard the Gryffindor mutter. Hazel looked up and remembered seeing her in the gallery. Hazel turned and ran up the short flight of stairs to see the girl sitting bent over in a chair with her elbows on her knees. "Are you all right?" Hazel asked quietly, trying not to startle her. She startled anyway and stood up jerkily.

"Oh. Hello." Hazel had deja vu. Popular greeting today. "Thanks for asking. I'm Cressida, by the way," the girl introduced herself. She looked a little uncomfortable and unsure to Hazel. Hazel felt like she was scaring her somehow. "Hazel," she therefore only said with a smile. Cressida tried to smile, but then shook her head.

"I'm afraid nothing is all right. I'm having a little trouble with the librarian..." she then began to tell. Heavens, Hazel thought, was everyone here so upfront about their problems? Not that it bothered her. If she helped them, it could only improve her reputation, right?

"I like to create my own spells. I thought my >Featherlight< spell would be perfect for my library books. It's so hard to carry them around all day. I must have confused the Latin word for feather, with the one for bird, when I did the incantation. When I opened my bag at the library, they just flew away" she explained her problems with Scribner.

"The idea behind it is genius, Cressida," Hazel said. No more lugging heavy books? Please! Hazel thought to herself with a grin. That seemed to calm Cressida down a bit, she relaxed a bit while talking. "Thank you" she said with a smile, pushing her glasses back on her nose. "But I'm afraid the librarian sees it a little differently. I would collect the books myself and remove the spell, but it's not the first time one of my spells has disturbed the library peace. Amit told Madame Scribner that these are my books. And she said that if I cause any more trouble, she will write to my parents," she said gloomily.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. But why did Amit betray you?" Hazel asked. Cressida's eyes grew wide. "Oh, he probably didn't mean it that way! We're friends and he probably just wanted to show me off. He spends most of his time staring at the stars and doesn't have many friends!" she explained, hands raised defensively, and Hazel laughed softly.

"Well...could you maybe get the books for me? There are only five of them. You're still new here, she won't be distrustful" she asked then pleadingly. Hazel sighed. Capturing a few books that had gone wild? Easier than fighting a troll. "Yes, of course. I'll see how hard they are to capture in a minute. I still have to check on my plants in the greenhouse, so I don't have forever. Maybe I'll manage to capture them before then" Hazel replied. "I would be so grateful! One of the books is my diary. It shouldn't fall into the wrong hands... preferably no hands at all" she said shaking her head and sat back down. That must have been the end of the conversation, because she nervously put her head in her hands. Hazel rolled her eyes and then made her way to the library. Apparently she just couldn't get away from Ominis, she thought with a grin.

She entered the library and her eyes found Ominis directly. He was sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the hall, letting his fingers wander over the pages. There were books in Braille here, too? That surprised Hazel a little, to be honest. She didn't get the impression that there were many blind witches or wizards.

When Sebastian looked up, he was sitting at the table next to Ominis, she put a finger to her lips to tell him not to betray her as she slowly walked first through the library so he wouldn't notice her and then approached the shelves behind him.

Along the way, she looked around for the flying books. When she reached the shelf behind Ominis, she turned and walked quietly to him. She let her hands move forward from his shoulders and clasped her hands in front of his chest, hugging him from behind.

He tensed in panic at first, but when he finally recognized her scent and heard her laugh, he relaxed again. "Heavens, Hazel," he muttered, out of breath with surprise. She pressed closer to him for a short moment and kissed him on the cheek from behind before letting him go again and standing up. She chuckled softly.

"Sorry. I just couldn't resist when something forced me into the library. I just can't get away from you, my blind serpent" she murmured as she placed a kiss on his head. He took one of her hands in his that had rested on his shoulder. "I should hope so, for I feel much the same. I can't really relax until I know you're with me" he replied lovingly. She laughed softly.

"I'll leave you to your assignments now, boys. I have to find and capture cursed books" Hazel sighed. Ominis turned to her and squeezed her hand. "Sounds more like something I'll have to do when I get detention in the library" Sebastian said quietly. Hazel shook her head.

"Oh, no. I'm just helping out a classmate. Cressida likes to invent new spells and has confused the Latin word for feather with the one for bird. Now the five of them are flying around here somewhere and if the librarian catches on that it was her, she'll write her parents. Thought if I helped a few people there would be less negative talk about me. But I kind of have the feeling that I intimidate people when I'm out on my own," she muttered thoughtfully at the end.

"Because of the wall, your Mask" was all Sebastian said. The... her mental wall? She looked at Sebastian questioningly. "I've been watching you a bit, you know. When you're out on your own, you put on that mask. Proud, arrogant but polite, with hard eyes and fake smile. I don't think you even realize it yourself. But when you're with us, it's gone. As if it never existed," he explained, frowning.

Yes, yes. Hazel had noticed it. Ominis squeezed her hand, which had begun to tremble, barely noticeably. "It... it's not that easy. With you by my side I feel safe, but alone.... I'm still afraid Sebastian. Afraid that something happens again like before with Samael. I have seen and experienced it often enough with the muggles to know that it can happen anywhere. I try not to raise the wall quite so high, but it still stands out. I can't change it, as much as I want to. But it's getting better since I started talking to Noreen," she explained.

Sebastian nodded. "I'm proud of you, darling," Ominis replied to her statement and kissed her hand. With that same hand, she gently grabbed Ominis' chin and leaned down for a short kiss. "Thank you," she smiled against his lips before straightening up. "I'm off to hunt for books then. I'll see you later" she then said and separated from the two to go hunting.

"Darn book! Come here!" she cursed softly as she secretly tried to catch one of Cressida's books with Accio. Those books were tricky, she had to admit. She had been carefully hopping around the library for fifteen minutes now, quietly trying to catch the books without disturbing the other students. A few had to giggle when they saw her jumping around and cursing like that. she also heard Sebastian laughing softly and saw how he seemed to describe what he saw to Ominis.

She already had three of the books together when she had to go upstairs. There was another book flying around on each side. When Hazel got nowhere with spells, she jumped up to catch the book that was flying just above her. She caught it, but it fluttered so much that her bow separated and her curls flowed down unhindered. "Damn!" she cursed softly.

As she stuffed the book into her bag and closed it, she heard a throat clearing behind her and wheeled around, startled. Agnes Scribner was standing behind her, her hands on her hips. "You've been hopping and running through my library for at least ten minutes now, Miss Black!" Madame Scribner said angrily. She could clearly see the disappointment in the librarian's eyes.

Hazel had spent a lot of time in the library during the four weeks, catching up on material and studying. She had come to have a respectful relationship with the librarian. "I can explain that Madame Scribner! I went to visit my boyfriend studying for a short while and saw all these books fluttering around and disrupting the students. You know that I place great value on knowledge in books, just as I take learning seriously. The students didn't care and I had time. I wanted to catch them and see if I could end this spell, whatever it is," Hazel lied without blushing.

Scribner's expression changed abruptly. "Please accept my apologies, Miss Black. I should have known you wouldn't want to cause me any trouble. Did you catch them all?" she asked immediately. Hazel screwed up her face and shook her head. "There's still one missing, so I'll have to interrupt again. I'll try to be quiet and then bring these books out and see if I can end the spell. It would just disturb the peace if I kept muttering spells to myself in here somewhere." she said. Scribner nodded and thanked her before making her usual rounds.

When the old librarian was gone, Hazel sighed with relief and then faltered when she saw where she was. When she couldn't repress the memories, her heart started beating like crazy, as if it was in a hurry to use up its beats and take away her breath.

Ominis knew something was wrong when he could hear her heartbeat. Maybe because he was concentrating on the directions she was in all the time anyway. Maybe they had some kind of connection to each other when they were near each other. He didn't know. He had noticed Scribner's grumbling tone before, which had quickly changed to a friendly tone after Hazel had said anything. He had picked up that Hazel had to walk once around the library to catch the last book, but when Scribner had left, Hazel didn't seem to move. He heard no other footsteps coming from that direction. Then he heard her heartbeat.

"I'll be right back," he muttered to Sebastian, reaching for his wand. The ever familiar red pulsing immediately sparked as he hurriedly made his way up the stairs to the Second Floor of the library, to the History of Magic section, where he finally found her. She stood there frozen, staring into the hallway. Her breathing was quiet but rapid and her heart was beating a marathon. Her hands had clenched into fists and he smelled the faint hint of blood in the air as her fingernails dug into her palms.

"Darling?" he whispered carefully. He walked slowly over to her and when he noticed her trembling, he quickly turned her to face him and hugged her to his chest, causing her to lower her eyes and lean against him. "Don't look. I'm right here. Don't be afraid" he murmured into her hair, struggling to stop her panic attack.

Hazel broke away from her stiffness and buried her face against his chest, deeply inhaling his soothing scent. The forest after a summer rain. Warm and fresh and soothing. Her breathing quieted and with it, slowly, her heartbeat too.

"Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly. She didn't want to worry him after all! He separated from her a bit and looked at her seriously as he put his hands on her cheeks. "What are you apologizing for? You didn't do anything wrong, my little snake. You'll be fine" he said confidently, kissing her gently on the forehead. "I-I... I don't want to worry you. If I can't even make it to the library by myself-" "Stop it!" he interrupted her firmly.

He felt her wince and his expression softened. "Stop it, sweetheart. You're the most important thing in my life, Hazel. I'll worry about you even if nothing happens. You're the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing when I fall asleep. Believe me, I don't like being away from you any more than you do. And with what happened, it's not surprising that you still need time. So please stop blaming yourself for making me worry. That's sort of the side effect of love. You care about each other. Always" he said to her lovingly. She sighed and put her hands on his and nodded. "I feel the same way" she murmured. She hugged him tightly before separating from him and taking his hands in hers.

"Thanks. Really" Hazel mumbled a little embarrassed as she squeezed his hands. He just smiled and nodded. "I'll go catch the last book for Cressida then and take them to her. When you're done, will you pick me up at the greenhouse?" she asked with a smile. That had originally been her plan anyway. "Of course, darling. I love you!" he said, and she stretched up to him - he wasn't much taller than her, but tall enough that she had to stretch a bit - and kissed him softly before saying goodbye with a >I love you too, my blind serpent<. With quick steps, Hazel walked past the History of Magic Department, around the hall to the other side, to take care of the last book.

"Here. Five books. Diary included!" Hazel gasped as she brought Cressida, who was still sitting in the same spot, the books fidgeting wildly in her bag. She looked up in amazement, her face a bit disbelieving. "Oh, I'm so glad! Thank you!" she then said happily as she took the books from Hazel and put them in her own bag. "Well, lesson learned, I'd say. I certainly won't be practicing any more spells in the library any time soon." "I would advise you not to. Madame Scribner was pretty upset because I didn't quite manage to collect them quietly. Told her how much I appreciated books and couldn't stand to see them like that. That I wanted to take care of it to save her trouble" Hazel said laughing softly. Cressida laughed as well. "Well done. Thank you! Good luck in the greenhouse" Cressida said goodbye to Hazel, shouldered her bag and walked away with the fidgeting books. Hazel sighed with relief and now went back to her task in the greenhouse, taking care of the plants she had there.

Since Lower Hogsfield was much closer than Hogsmeade, Ominis and Hazel often strolled through the scenic village after school to enjoy nature and the sun. Since they started taking these walks regularly, the curse faded more and more into the background.

The 4 days without a seizure turned into a week. For Hazel it became a habit to help her classmates with all kinds of little problems. She helped Garreth Weasley, a Gryffindor and best friend of Leander, to get ingredients for his experimental potions, helped Cressida to practice her invented spells, played with Natty a game that Professor Ronan had invented. They just called it the "Accio" duel. The days passed, October was nearing the end of the second week and the weather was getting gradually rainier.

"Now that the curse is gone, at least I hope so very much, we can explore other villages" Hazel said happily to Ominis when they were in Lower Hogsfield in the evening, as they often were. "Noreen said that with two weeks curse-free we can hope and celebrate after a month" Ominis laughed. "Well then, we're already near hoping," Hazel laughed back.

Hazel didn't know the other villages in the valley that surrounded Hogwarts, but she was sure they were just as beautiful and harmonious. "Oh, wait my dear. There's a goblin up ahead. He looks like he could use some help. Shall we go and ask?" Hazel asked, as she saw a goblin on the shore of the lake, standing next to overturned barrels and broken objects. He was muttering to himself and looked quite unhappy.

"Hazel..." Ominis said hesitantly. He had never thought badly of goblins in general himself, but these days you had to be careful. "Come on, Ominis. Where's change supposed to start peacefully if we're going to be reluctant to help them in their time of need!" she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Never thought Ranrok and his followers would go this far!" the goblin muttered as Hazel pulled Ominis closer, not really waiting for his response. He laughed softly. Hazel was so concerned with how others around her were doing. She always wanted to help. She had such a big heart.

"Excuse me, is everything all right?" Hazel asked the goblin when they arrived at his side. He looked up in surprise and shook his head. "Hardly. I've lost my business and almost my life. Look around somewhere else. I have nothing left to sell. I never thought this would happen. Watch yourself. Ranrok and his followers spare no one!" the goblin said.

Hazel hesitated. Why would they attack a goblin? "They... attacked?!" Ominis asked in surprise, and the goblin nodded. "Ranrok has no patience for goblins who do not follow him. While I would also like to see the goblins treated equally, violence is never the answer. When I told them that, they turned on me. Beat me almost unconscious. Took my carts, my belongings. Even the most valuable things - my paintings," he explained, stunned, and that's exactly how they felt. Stunned that Ranrok attacked and robbed his own people. His fight was not only about equality...

"Have Ranrok's people attacked before?" Hazel asked puzzled, squeezing Ominis hand worriedly as she realized this. "They have been taunting and threatening me for quite some time. But they've always believed they could only achieve their goals through violence. Lately, it's been getting more and more uncomfortable. Ranrok is becoming more and more powerful and his followers know it. They feel invincible. Ranrok thought all the goblins would willingly follow him. But he was wrong. Many of us would like to settle our disputes with the wizards diplomatically," the goblin replied. Hazel nodded.

"Starting diplomatically is always the best way, if it remains. You said they stole paintings from you. Are you a collector Or a painter?" Hazel then asked. "Painter, yes. That's my profession, although it seems a poor fit for a goblin. Most of my family works with metal or for Gringotts. I bet my best paintbrush that Ranrok's people have no appreciation for my works and burn them at the first opportunity! Who knows when I'll be able to paint again without my cart and my livelihood?" the goblin muttered unhappily at the end, leaving his head hanging.

Ominis squeezed Hazel's hand meaningfully. He knew what she would say. He knew exactly that she would say yes, and he didn't like it. Hazel gave him an apologetic look, he could feel it as she answered the goblin. "I am very sorry for what happened to you. I will ask around and keep my eyes open" she replied. The goblin got a warmer expression, but shook his head.

"That's very nice of you. But you are a student and your boyfriend seems very concerned about you, which tells me that you are struggling with your own baggage. Besides, I think they've taken my carts to their camp, southwest behind the ruins. It's too dangerous there" the goblin replied and Ominis desperately hoped that she would listen to him, but he knew her better...