UPPITY
(n.) self-important; arrogant
SUMMER WAS FAST APPROACHING, AND TESSA WAS SPENDING HER DAYS EITHER WITH HERMIONE OR AT THE LIBRARY. At first, she would borrow a book and spend the time reading next to Hermione's petrified body, but then visitors eventually became barred from the hospital wing. So Tessa would borrow a book in the day then read at night in her dorm.
She was a lone ranger now, working as swift as she possibly can without bringing trouble to Ron and Harry. She felt slightly guilty for isolating herself from everyone else, but she found it to be effective and made her work better. She'd stopped procrastinating, doing all her school work on the spot as soon as it was assigned so that she could spend the rest of her time scavenging for books that would help her figure things out.
There was one person, however, that never failed to get on Tessa's nerves. Draco Malfoy, the ferret devil, was strutting around and everywhere in the school. He looked absolutely pleased with himself and how things have turned out, smirking and all. Every time he'd try to say something to her, she'd turn and run off. She didn't have time to deal with him, she was too busy taking care of more important things.
But despite it all, Tessa didn't know why she still defended him from being accused as the Heir of Slytherin who opened the Chamber of Secrets. It happened during Herbology class with Hufflepuff. She and Harry had gone to tip an armful of withered stalks into the compost heap, when Ernie Macmillan came up to them.
"I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I apologize for all the stuff I said. We're all in the same boat now, and, well —"
Ernie held a hand out for Harry to shake as his friend Hannah Abbott came over as well. Tessa shared a look with Ron before all five of them went to work.
"That Draco Malfoy character," Ernie said, making Tessa freeze, "he seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir."
"That's clever of you," Ron said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asked.
"No, he's not the heir," it was Tessa who answered, her voice so firm that the two Hufflepuffs coughed awkwardly.
Just then, Harry elbowed both Ron and Tessa, pointing at the ground where several large spiders were scrambling to move in a straight line.
"Oh, yeah," Ron mumbled, looking displeased at the spiders. "But we can't follow them now —"
"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest . . . " Harry told them, his eyes still trained on the spiders skittering away.
They had Defense Against the Dark Arts next, and the three of them lagged at the back of the students to devise their plan.
"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry told them.
Tessa nodded in agreement as she added, "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."
"Right," Ron said nervously. "Er — aren't there — aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the forest?"
"We'll be okay," Tessa said absentmindedly as they went over to sit in their usual desks in Lockhart's room.
Harry agreed, trying to appease Ron as he said, "There are good things in there, too. The centaurs are all right, and the unicorns . . ."
Gilderoy Lockhart entered the room in his usual bedazzling smile and exaggerated gestures. While every other person — student and professor alike — were antsy and stone-faced, there he was in his colorful robes and sunshine personality. "Come now," he cried, beaming around him. "Why all these long faces?"
Tessa shared an exasperated look with Ron and Harry.
"Don't you people realize, the danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away —"
"Says who?" Dean Thomas said loudly with a scoff.
"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred percent sure that he was guilty,"
"Oh, yes he would," Ron said from next to her, and Tessa swelled with pride.
"I flatter myself I know a touch more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr. Weasley," Lockhart said with a self-satisfied smile.
"As biased as we may be for being Hagrid's friends," Tessa started with a slight growl in her voice, "we know for a fact that we can prove you wrong on him being guilty." She leaned forward, her arms still crossed defiantly against her chest. "Wanna bet, Professor Lockhart?"
Lockhart coughed nervously as every single student in the class stared quietly at him. "That will do, Miss Valentine," he simply dismissed her before quickly starting on a new lecture to get everyone's attention somewhere else.
Blowing out a piece of hair away from her face with a puff of air, Tessa rested her chin on her palm when she saw Harry slide a piece of note over to her and Ron. It said: Let's do it tonight. Tessa firmly nodded back.
A little past midnight, Harry finally met up with Ron and Tessa at the common room. Earlier that evening, the three had played Exploding Snap with Fred and George. She had tried looking for Ginny, wanting to talk to her about something, but no one's seen her.
Finally, when the twins went to bed, Harry threw the cloak over them and went sneaking out of the castle again. They were striding across the black grass, doing their best to stealthily walk through the grounds, as Ron said, "'Course, we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but . . ."
He quietly trailed away as they reached Hagrid's house. Tessa pushed the door open to get Fang, the boarhound barking happily at the sight of them. She fed him treacle toffee, per Harry's instruction, to keep him quiet as they made their way once more outside and to the Forbidden Forest.
"C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," Tessa said as Fang went ahead and bounded towards the forest.
Harry took out his wand and murmured, "Lumos!" as a tiny light appeared at the end of it. Tessa took her own wand out and followed his actions.
"Good thinking," Ron said. "I'd light mine, too, but you know — it'd probably blow up or something . . . "
Tessa moved her wand to her other hand, lighting both hers and Ron's path. "That's okay, we can share."
"Over there," Harry said, pointing at the grass where two spiders were hurrying off into the shade of the trees.
A shudder went through Tessa's spine as Ron sighed deeply and said, "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."
The three followed a path of dozens of spiders scuttling along for nearly twenty minutes. Harry's and Tessa's wands were the only source of light shining in the darkness. Ron would let out a whimper every now and then, but Tessa would squeeze his arm in reassurance and comfort that they'll be okay.
They were so deep into the forest that Tessa could barely see anything except the very faint silhouette of trees in the dark. They were silent for a long time until Harry finally whispered, "What d'you reckon?"
"We've come this far," was all Ron said. Tessa just stayed quiet, her eyes darting to him every now and then to make sure he was still doing okay from having to face the thing he's frightened of the most.
They continued to trek deeper and deeper into the dark forest for nearly an hour. Their breaths fogged up the air before them, the temperature dropping as a chill crept up the back of Tessa's neck. Suddenly, a menacing bark ripped raw out of Fang's throat and she jumped in surprise.
"What?" Ron looked around wildly, gripping both Tessa's and Harry's elbows.
"There's something moving over there," Harry breathed out.
Tessa shushed them and held up a finger. "Listen . . . sounds like something . . . big . . ."
The boys quieted down and strained their ears. Somewhere to the right, branches were snapping right off the trees as a large creature in the darkness began to make its way to them.
"Oh, no," Ron moaned. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh —"
"Shut up," Tessa and Harry said in unison.
"It'll hear you," Harry said to the frightened redhead.
"Hear me?" Ron squeaked. "It's already
heard Fang!"
There was a deep, rumbling noise before everything went silent. Tessa narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to try and see better to no avail.
"What d'you think it's doing?" Harry asked breathlessly.
"Probably getting ready to pounce," Ron replied.
After a pause, Harry whispered again. "D'you think it's gone?"
Tessa opened her mouth to tell them to be quiet, when there was a sudden flare of light in the velvety dark and she threw a hand up to shield her eyes. Ron made some sort of strangled noise that strangely sounded like relief. "Harry, Tessa — it's our car!"
"What?" Tessa dropped her hand and whipped her head to see that it was indeed the headlights belonging to the Weasleys' flying car.
"Come on!"
Tessa grabbed Harry's hand and stumbled after Ron as they entered a clearing. Arthur Weasley's car was standing right in the middle, headlights blinding them. Ron walked toward it with his jaw dropped, the car inching forward to him as well.
"It's been here all the time!" Ron was so pleased to see it, he looked as though he may even cry. "Look at it. The forest's turned it wild . . . "
True enough, Tessa could see the scratches and the mud slapped to its sides. Fang didn't approach the vehicle, he stayed close to Tessa and Harry. Seeing as how there was more than enough light, the two of them returned their wands back in their pockets.
"And we thought it was going to attack us!" Ron leaned against the door, patting it. "I wondered where it had gone!"
"I don't know if I should be scared that it found us or extremely relieved to see it still running," Tessa hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps the latter, but we'll see for now."
"We've lost the trail," Harry suddenly said and she turned to see him looking for the spiders that had scattered away from the glare of the headlights. "C'mon, let's go and find them."
Tessa nodded and glanced up to try and find a path, when she froze. Her skin crawled and her blood seemed to flow faster to her thundering heart. Tessa had gone so still, she didn't think she was even breathing anymore. A silent scream left Tessa's mouth agape as the monstrosity of a spider reached a hairy leg to wrap around her middle and lift her up.
Her mind was in absolute chaos, despite the stillness of her body. Its friends had taken Harry and Ron too, before they all started to walk away from the clearing with light. They continued to roam the forest, the clicking of arachnid legs resonating in the quiet woods. Until finally, they went down a steep slope toward a misty, domed web in the very center of the hollow.
Tessa made an oomph sort of sound as the spider dropped her to the ground. She winced, rolling her wrists to relieve the pain as she glanced over at Harry, Ron, and Fang who were also sent to the ground. She crawled over to them, getting between the boys as she gathered a shaking Fang in her arms.
Harry and Ron were terrified as much as she was. She could tell from their dropped jaws and large eyes. Before she could ask either of them if they were okay, one of the spiders had called out, "Aragog! Aragog!"
From the middle of the web, a spider the size of an elephant emerged and Tessa felt Ron shudder from next to her. Amongst the dozens of spiders, Aragog was clearly the biggest and oldest one. There was gray in the black of his body and legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head was milky white. He's blind, Tessa realized.
"What is it?" Aragog clicked his pincers as he approached them.
"Men," replied the spider who carried Harry.
"And woman and dog," Tessa couldn't help but to cough out to herself despite her fear.
"Is it Hagrid?" Aragog moved closer to them.
"Strangers," the spider who had carried Tessa answered.
"Kill them," Aragog tutted. "I was sleeping . . . "
Tessa wanted to shout that she was sorry for waking him up, that she knew how terrible the feeling is when people to disturb your sleep, and that they were all gonna leave quietly if he let them leave.
Thank Merlin for Harry who yelled out loud, "We're friends of Hagrid's!"
There was a pause from the spiders who all watched them in anticipation. Aragog halted, his body faced towards them before he said very slowly, "Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before."
"Hagrid's in trouble," Tessa blurted out. "That's why we've come."
"In trouble?" Aragog repeated, clicking his pincers. "But why has he sent you?"
Harry spoke up, "They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a — a — " he trailed off, unsure of what exactly to call it. He slid his eyes over to Tessa.
She quickly jumped in, "They think he set something on the students. They've taken him to Azkaban."
Upon hearing the wizard prison, all the spiders around them including Aragog began to furiously click their pincers and Tessa gulped, feeling sick to her stomach.
"But that was years ago," Aragog countered. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."
Tessa sucked in a sharp breath as Harry asked carefully, "And you . . . you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?"
"I! I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness . . . "
Tessa asked to make sure, "So you never attacked anyone?"
"Never," the old spider confirmed. "It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet . . . "
Tessa paused. Hold on . . . he said the girl in the bathroom . . .
Perhaps he meant . . .
"But then," Harry spoke again. "Do you know what did kill that girl? Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again —"
There must've been something that he said because it set off a rustle amongst the spiders who clicked their pincers and moved their spindly legs at once.
"The thing that lives in the castle," Aragog explained, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."
"What is it?" Harry asked.
The spiders became even more distressed, seeming to close in on them.
"We do not speak of it!"
"What is it?" Tessa pressed.
"We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times."
Tessa clenched her jaw shut but stopped trying to ask more questions when she noticed the spiders coming closer to them as Aragog retreated back to his domed web.
"We'll just go, then," Tessa tried to say calmly, noting the horror in Ron's face.
"Go?" Aragog said slowly. "I think not . . . "
Tessa opened her mouth but the spider cut in.
"I smell the ancient blood in you, I know who you are. But it does not mean I am forbidden to do as I please." Tessa felt her blood turn cold at what the spider had just said. "My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friends of Hagrid."
Out from the darkness, a solid wall of towering spiders began to huddle closer to them. Tessa snatched her wand out of her pocket just as a loud, prolonged noise resonated in the forest. The three of them whipped their heads to the side and saw blaring headlights as Arthur Weasley's car came thundering through the spiders.
"I am so glad to see you," she said aloud as the car stopped in front of them, doors flying open. Harry and Ron dove to the front seats as Tessa carried the boarhound and jumped in the back. The doors slammed shut by themselves as the car sped out of the domed web by itself.
They crashed through the forest, branches whipping the windows as they blundered on and on. After ten rocky minutes, the trees thinned, and the darkness began to ease up on them. Tessa could see the light far ahead from the school castle. Suddenly, the car came to a lurching stop as the doors opened. Tessa clambered out as Fang flung himself out and shot off into Hagrid's house.
Harry got out too, and Ron climbed out with wobbly knees. Tessa went over to give the boy a comforting squeeze in his hand. "You okay?"
Ron nodded and let out a deep sigh. Harry gave the car a pat before it went back into the forest in a slow, steady speed.
"That went well," Tessa said sarcastically as the three made their way back to Hagrid's hut. Tessa stayed with Ron as he vomited in the pumpkin patch while Harry went to get his Invisibility Cloak. She rubbed his back soothingly as he emptied his stomach before Harry finally came back.
"Follow the spiders," Ron said weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."
"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," Harry said apologetically.
Tessa stayed quiet as they began to walk back to the castle. They were back under the cloak again, and Tessa was still mulling over what Aragog had said about her having ancient blood.
"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" Ron went on exasperatedly. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban! What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"
"He didn't open it," Tessa said firmly with a thoughtful frown. "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets."
"He was innocent," Harry added to that as Ron let out a snort.
The three finally made their way safely back into the Gryffindor common room and said their good nights to each other. Tessa searched her room for a mirror, cursing softly to herself when she couldn't find a small one. The only one they had in their dorm was the vanity mirror. Until her eyes fell on a Christmas ornament Rhea Huang kept on her study desk. It was large, silver, and shiny enough to see off of it like a mirror.
She snatched it from the table, curled her fingers tight around it before she grabbed the handle of her dorm room. She screwed her eyes shut and took a deep breath.
"The library," she said very calmly. "Take me to the library. I need to go to the library."
With her eyes still shut tight, she yanked open the door and stepped out. With the faint sound of wings beating, she exited her dorm room and opened her eyes to find herself entering the library.
"Right," she told herself before entering the restricted section on ancient bestiaries that were of the reptilian creatures. "Let's get to work."
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Tessa was nowhere to be seen in their first class the next day. Harry hadn't seen her in breakfast, which Ron pointed out was strange. They asked all her friends and people they knew, but no one has seen her anywhere. "She never skips breakfast," Ron told him as they settled in their seats in Transfiguration, "if you're known as The Boy Who Lived, I'd say Tessa's The Girl Who Lived To Eat."
Harry said nothing, the feeling in his gut twisting as he stared at her empty seat. He saw someone striding by in that arrogant strut of his and he swallowed his pride as he said calmly, "Malfoy."
The pale boy halted in his steps, glancing over to snarl at him. "What do you want, Potter?"
"Have you seen Tessa anywhere? No one's seen her all morning and — "
The pointed sneer in Malfoy's face slipped off as a frown settled in his features. His eyes slid over to linger at her empty desk as he spoke without emotion, "What do you mean no one's seen her?" His voice was a strange sort of calm as though he seemed to be leashing his temper.
It made Harry eye him with a confused expression.
Malfoy snapped his gray eyes back to Harry as he scowled. "Potter, what do you mean no one's seen her?" He repeated a little bit harsher than earlier, his cool facade slipping. "When was the last time you saw her?"
"Last night," Ron jumped in before the two boys could get into a fight. "But she shouldn't have gone anywhere, especially since she's not in the mood to read her books lately."
"No, but she's been doing a lot of research study." Malfoy crossed his arms in frustration, an unreadable expression on his face that Harry couldn't quite understand.
Harry swallowed roughly before he said, "Never mind, forget I even asked you anything."
"Fine," Malfoy simply said before he turned and stomped his way back to his seat.
Ron snorted and leaned over to Harry. "What's got him in a twist?"
Harry quietly watched Malfoy who sat a few seats in front of them and the way he tried to sneakily glance over at Tessa's seat with what looked like worry. "I don't know," Harry said truthfully.
Before any of them could get into another conversation, McGonagall had walked in. Ten minutes into the class, she told them that their exams would start on the first of June, one week from today.
"Exams?" Seamus asked loudly. "We're still getting exams?"
"The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education," McGonagall said sternly. "The exams will therefore take place as usual, and I trust you are all studying hard." There was a rumble of muttering students throughout the room as McGonagall scowled and said, "Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible. And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you have learned this year."
Harry let out a breath, staring at the white rabbits on his desk that he was supposed to transfigure into slippers.
"Can you imagine me taking exams with this?" Ron asked Harry, holding up his damaged wand.
A wry smile curved Harry's lips upward, but as he opened his mouth to respond, there was a loud bang of the door. Everyone turned to see the librarian Madam Pince with a wild look in her eyes as she crossed the room in a hurried pace. Suddenly, Harry's stomach dropped as he prayed that it was nothing related to Tessa.
McGonagall frowned as the librarian reached her. The whole class was silent and eagerly listening from their seats. The two women talked in hushed tones as Harry struggled to hear. Until McGonagall accidentally said out loud in shock, "Miss Valentine?"
Harry sucked in a sharp breath as Ron froze from next to him. First was Hermione, and now Tessa. What were they going to do now? A scatter of hushed whispers spread throughout the class as everyone nervously talked about Tessa.
"Please excuse me, I must see to something," McGonagall said, following after the librarian before her eyes fell on Harry and Ron. "Potter, Weasley — you two better come with me."
Harry shared a look with Ron before they silently got to their feet and went after McGonagall. Every step he took to the direction of the hospital wing, Harry struggled to breathe. He suddenly felt a wave of vertigo hit him and he found himself clenching his clammy hands into fists.
"She'll be okay," he said to himself. "She'll be okay."
The two boys entered the hospital wing right begin McGonagall and Madam Pince. Harry looked past them to see Hermione on one bed, and Tessa on the bed next to her. Madam Pomfrey was inspecting her, and Harry felt all the air rush out of his lungs. She was still wearing the same black shirt and jeans from yesterday when they'd gone to the Forbidden Forest. Her eyes were open and unblinking, her mouth agape as one hand was left balled to a fist.
"I did my daily walk through the library this morning," Madam Pince said to McGonagall and the boys. "I found her in the Restricted Section. The poor girl was Petrified, left lying on the floor. I found this in her hand." The librarian lifted a large, silver Christmas ornament as Ron silently took it from her.
"Do you think it means something?" McGonagall asked, hoping they know something.
Ron shook his head. "This is strange for Tessa to be bringing around. She always had a book with her, not some Christmas ornament."
The professor sighed deeply with melancholy as she turned to talk quietly with Madam Pince and Madam Pomfrey. Harry frowned as he stared at his clear reflection on the shiny orb before looking at Tessa's rigid body. With a heavy exhale, he laid the ball at the foot of her bed before he and Ron trudged out of the infirmary.
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Three days before their first exam, Professor McGonagall made an announcement during breakfast that instantly brightened everyone's moods. "I have good news," she started.
"Dumbledore's coming back!" several people yelled.
"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" a Ravenclaw girl exclaimed.
"Quidditch matches are back on!" Oliver shouted in excitement.
McGonagall cleared her throat and said, "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."
There was a pause before the Great Hall exploded in massive cheering. Ron beamed, hope filling him at the thought of having his two best friends back at his side. Harry grinned back at him before he glanced over at the Slytherin table. He wasn't surprised when he saw that they looked rather disappointed with the news, until his eyes fell on Draco Malfoy who, for some reason, looked insanely relieved as his shoulders sagged as though a huge weight had been lifted from them.
Harry opened his mouth to point it out to Ron, but the redhead was already talking. "It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then! Tessa and Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake them both up! Mind you, Hermione'll go crazy when she finds out we've got exams in three days' time. She hasn't studied. It might be kinder to leave her where she is till they're over."
Ron continued to talk about how Fred has been pestering him nonstop about how he's been secretly visiting Tessa almost every night just to check on her. Harry was barely listening, he was just staring at his bowl of porridge as a memory flashed across his mind on how Tessa would always refill his glass of pumpkin juice or pass him the jug of milk for his porridge even without him having to say it. She always looked out for him as though he were her brother.
"Tonight," he told himself. "Tonight, Tessa and Hermione will be okay."
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
It was the middle of the day and everyone was inside their classrooms, listening to their professors drone on about reviews for exams. All except for Draco Malfoy who sneaked out of his one o'clock class everyday since she was Petrified. He chose to skip class at this particular time because at precisely one in the afternoon, Madam Pomfrey left the hospital wing for a meeting.
Slipping inside the infirmary, Draco walked passed several Petrified students, not paying them any attention until he walked up to her bed. Reaching under for the chair he'd hidden under her bed, he pulled it out and sat on it.
"Hey," he spoke very softly and quietly to her unmoving body. "I have good news for you." He swallowed a lump in his throat, gray eyes darting around momentarily just to make sure no one could see him talking to his supposed enemy. He brought his eyes back to settle on her still-gorgeous face as a wry smile tugged on his lips. "The Mandrakes that Sprout has been growing is ready for use. They said they can bring back all those who've been Petrified later tonight. So just — just hang in there, all right? A few more hours and you can go back to snapping at me again and rolling your eyes with hatred."
Draco sighed wearily, cocking his head to the side as he continued to look at her. It was moments like this when she didn't know he was looking was when he could properly gaze at her as though he were watching the starry sky. The slope of her nose, the curve of her mouth — everything was so pretty about her that it never failed to amaze him how foul the words that slip out of her mouth can be. And the fact that the mere sight of him always seemed to trigger that fire in her.
"Where was I?" Draco mumbled to himself, opening the drawer of her bedside table and taking out A Tale of Two Cities. He flipped open to the page where he had stopped reading yesterday, cleared his throat and went on. " 'I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done, lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honoured and held sacred in the other's soul, than I was in the souls of both.' "
He stopped reading to glance up at her.
"Honestly, I don't know why you enjoy this book. I'm nearly through with this, and it's a tragedy for Sydney Carton who didn't get the girl at the end. Darnay doesn't deserve Lucie, but then again he's the good guy in her eyes." Draco averted his gaze to stare hard at the last pages of the book. "I suppose that's how it is in reality just as it is in novels — the good guy always gets the girl, right?"
He laughed dryly to himself before reading aloud the remaining pages of the book. Finishing, he shut it and gently slipped it under the covers where it laid next to her.
He looked at her face once more as he said, "Wake up soon, okay? I want to know your opinion on Sydney Carton as well." He chuckled lowly under his breath. "I favor him compared to Darnay, and I'm curious on what you think about him." Getting to his feet, Draco stuffed his hands back in his pockets. "I have to go to class now. I'll see you later," he paused, "Tessa."
With that said, Draco turned and slipped out of the hospital wing, unaware of the pair of eyes that had seen him and had been watching their entire encounter.
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Harry and Ron had just managed to pass McGonagall with an easy lie that got them permission to see Hermione and Tessa. Madam Pomfrey let them in as well but said, "There's just no point talking to a Petrified person." She finally left the boys to settle in their chairs between the beds of their best friends.
"Wonder if they did see the attacker, though?" Ron said glumly, looking at Hermione's rigid face. "Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one'll ever know . . . " Ron sighed and turned to glance over at Tessa as well.
Harry wasn't listening much. He was too busy paying attention to Hermione's hand and the odd way it was clenched as though she were holding something. Taking a closer look, he saw that there indeed was a thin piece of paper scrunched inside. His eyes lighting up, he slapped Ron's leg to catch his attention. "Look," he whispered, jutting his chin to the direction of it.
"Try and get it out," Ron whispered, turning to look over at Tessa as he said, "I'm gonna try and see if she has something too."
It wasn't very easy trying to take the paper out — Hermione's hand was absolutely rigid that it nearly ripped. Eventually, he managed to yank it out the same time that Ron was able to as well. Unlike Hermione's firm grip, Tessa's was a tad bit looser, as though she knew one of them would have to take it out.
Hermione's was a page torn from a very old library book. Harry smoothed it out as Ron leaned over his shoulder to read it.
Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.
Below the passage was a single word Hermione had written: PIPES.
"Ron," Harry breathed out. "This is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a basilisk — a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue . . . " Harry glanced around him as he said, "The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died — because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin . . . Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again . . . and Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror — and —"
Ron glanced over at Tessa. "What about Tessa?" He blinked eagerly, now understanding so many things at once.
Harry pursed his lips in thought before his eyes caught sight of the shiny orb at the foot of her bed. "The Christmas ornament. I'm sure Tessa knew about it. She's been doing lots of reading lately, and I bet she understood something from that night with the spiders."
Ron's jaw dropped. "And Mrs. Norris?"
"The water . . ." Harry said slowly. "The flood from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I bet you Mrs. Norris only saw the reflection . . ." He glanced down to read the paper again. ". . . The crowing of the rooster . . . is fatal to it! Hagrid's roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it! It all fits!"
"But how's the basilisk been getting around the place? A giant snake . . . Someone would've seen . . ."
Harry pointed at the word Hermione had scribbled at the foot of the page. "Pipes," he said. "Pipes . . . Ron, it's been using the plumbing. I've been hearing that voice inside the walls . . . "
Ron unraveled the paper from Tessa's hand and suddenly grabbed Harry's arm. "Look! Tessa's even got the same thing that Hermione does too! It's a page from the bestiary she'd been reading. And she write something at the bottom. Let me read it:
Harry, Ron — if you're reading this, that means I'm either dead or Petrified. I do hope it's the latter. By now, you two must've figured out the basilisk is the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. It's been using the pipes, that means the entrance has to be in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Talk to her about it. Oh, and one more thing — there's something going on with her, you need to talk to G—"
"Talk to who?" Harry asked, blinking in confusion.
Ron furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "I don't know, look she stopped writing here. The ink skidded across the paper, I think this is when she saw the reflection of the basilisk." The two were quiet for a while before Ron asked, "What're we going to do? Should we go straight to McGonagall?"
Harry nodded in agreement. "Let's go to the staffroom. She'll be there in ten minutes. It's nearly break."
They ran downstairs and went straight into the deserted staffroom. They paced around for a bit, but the signal break never came. Suddenly, there was McGonagall's voice echoing down the corridors: "All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staffroom. Immediately, please."
Harry swiveled to face Ron worriedly. "Not another attack? Not now?"
"What'll we do?" Ron asked. "Go back to the dormitory?"
"No," Harry glanced around and his eyes fell on a wardrobe full of teacher's cloaks. "In here. Let's hear what it's all about. Then we can tell them what we've found out."
Ron nodded before they pushed their way in and concealed themselves. "I wish they were here," Ron said softly.
Harry smiled sadly. "Me too, Ron. Me too."
ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ
Tessa woke up to find her limbs achingly stiff. With a groan, she shifted in bed and pushed herself up. There was a delighted gasp as Madam Pomfrey rushed over to her. Tessa was still grumbling and muttering under her breath as she twisted around to crack and pop the joints in her body.
"Tessa — you're awake!" The matron was beaming happily at the sight of her. "You're the first one to wake up. It's only natural when I gave you the Mandrake juice first, and because you were the most recent to be Petrified."
Tessa blinked sleep away from her eyes as she finally got to her senses. Remembering what had happened before everything faded to darkness, Tessa whipped her head to look at her hand. She found it empty and she smiled to herself, knowing that the boys had found a way to save the day. And she was more than proud of them.
With a few more observations from Madam Pomfrey, Tessa was finally allowed to leave the infirmary. Hermione was still in the midst of being unpetrified, so Tessa took the liberty to look for Harry and Ron. She stretched her legs, putting her sore muscles to use and trying to get some exercise.
Tessa made her way up the stairs, when she heard a familiar voice shout from up ahead: "You've lost me my servant, boy!"
She frowned and muttered, "I could've sworn that sounded like Lucius Malfoy."
Then there was another squeaky sort of yell, "You shall not harm Harry Potter!"
Her eyes widened. "That's Dobby — !"
Just then, there was a loud booming noise and someone came crashing down the stairs and landing in a crumpled heap near where Tessa stood. It was Lucius Malfoy, and he was livid. Tessa walked around to see that Dobby was up there on the corridor with Harry behind him. Lucius pointed his wand at them but Dobby raised a threatening finger. "You shall go now," he said. "You shall not touch Harry Potter. You shall go now."
With a growl under his breath, Lucius turned on his heel to walk away, until his eyes fell on Tessa. He paused, eyeing her for a moment before sneering, "And who are you?"
Tessa crossed her arms and raised her chin defiantly. "I'm — "
"No one important," a voice interrupted and Tessa swiveled around in surprise to see Draco Malfoy. There was an unreadable emotion in his eyes as he kept his gaze at her, climbing up the stairs to meet her and his father halfway. He tore his eyes away from her and gripped Lucius's jacket and tugged him away from Tessa. Walking away, the pale boy threw another glance at her behind his shoulder before they turned a corridor and disappeared.
She shook her head to herself. That was strange. The fact that Lucius Malfoy had no idea who she was. She would've thought that he might have an inkling of suspicion, especially with how his son kept blabbering about her best friends to him. Strange, indeed.
"TESSA!" she heard Harry shout ecstatically and she was greeted by a large hug from the boy.
"Harry, oh goodness — I am so happy to know you're safe! I could care less whether or not the basilisk was defeated, just as long as you're okay." Tessa gripped him back tighter before looping her arm through his and tugging him to the Great Hall. "Now, tell me everything that happened. Every single detail."
The feast that night was absolutely splendid. Everybody was in their pajamas, and Tessa remembered her unforgettable greeting as soon as she walked in. She had taken all but three steps inside when someone had engulfed her into an embrace, warming her instantly. A gasp of surprise left her as she jolted in their arms until she saw a tuft of red hair and a smile spread her lips.
"Tess," came the soft voice of Fred as he pulled her against him. She felt his breath tickle her ear as he let out a ragged sigh. "Don't scare me like that again."
"No promises," she said mischievously, but slipped her arms around his neck and got on her tiptoes and hugged him back.
Fred led her to the Gryffindor table where several people told her how glad they were to see her again. George was there piling treacle fudge onto her plate, making a literal mountain that was impossible for Tessa to finish.
But the best news of them all was Dumbledore announcing that Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needed to go away and get his memory back. Hermione looked genuinely upset about this, but Tessa had cheered extremely loud at that as she and Ron nudged and bumped shoulders consistently.
Too soon, it was time for the journey home on the Hogwarts Express. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny got a compartment to themselves. Tessa had gone down the end of the train to buy some Chocolate Frogs for Ron and stopped by to exchange hello's with Cedric Diggory, a friend she'd made who was the Hufflepuff Seeker.
Waving goodbye, Tessa fixed her trench coat and held onto Ron's chocolate treats before turning and hitting against someone. She scowled and rubbed her nose painfully before she glared at the person. Malfoy crossed his arms haughtily and snapped, "Do you like running into me, Valentine? I'm tired of this, try to stay away from my path."
"Shut up, Malfoy, you're the one who can't watch where you're going. Besides — " Tessa pointed at the space beside her. "There's a perfectly big space for you to pass without bumping into me." She smirked and leaned against a compartment door. "If I didn't know any better, Malfoy, I'd say you fancy me."
Malfoy scowled and sent her an icy look. "I would never fancy someone who looks like you."
Tessa snorted and rolled her eyes before slowly walking away from him and to her own compartment. "For someone with stupid, slicked back hair — you're definitely one to talk. Tell me again how ugly I am when you don't look like that, and maybe I'll believe you."
With that said, she turned around and slipped inside the compartment. They played Exploding Snap, set off the very last of Fred and George's Filibuster fireworks, and practiced disarming each other by magic. They were almost at King's Cross when Harry said, "Ginny — what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?"
"Oh, that," Ginny giggled. "Well — Percy's got a girlfriend."
Fred dropped a stack of books on George's head. "What?" the twins asked in unison.
"It's that Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater. That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was — you know — attacked. You won't tease him, will you?"
Tessa fought the urge to laugh as Fred beamed and said, "Wouldn't dream of it."
"Definitely not," George added, sniggering as he bumped fists with Tessa.
She turned to Hermione who was looking out at the scenery. "Mione, I was thinking — what if you spend the last month of summer with me?"
The girl snapped her head to face Tessa as a large grin began to make its way to her face. "Really?"
Tessa nodded fervently. "Yes, you can come over to the manor! We can have a girls-only month — oh, and you can meet Philip as well. He lives right next door." Her eyes light up. "Oh, we can go to the beach too!"
Hermione squealed as the two launched into a discussion on what to do the whole summer. Tessa had been so engaged in their conversation that she didn't notice the look of absolute fondness in Fred's brown eyes as he watched her with a gentle smile.
The Hogwarts Express slowed and finally stopped as Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Tessa, Ron, and Hermione. "This is called a telephone number," he told Ron and Tessa before saying to the redhead, "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer — he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys', okay? I can't stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to." He turned to Tessa. "Hermione can teach you about it when you two meet."
"Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" Hermione asked as they got off the train made their way to the barrier. "When they hear what you did this year?
"Proud?" Harry snorted. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious . . . "
The Golden Quartet shared a laugh before they walked back to the Muggle world and onto the summer before their next adventure took place on their third year.
A/N
FINALLY BOOK 2 COMES TO AN END AND I AM SO SO EXCITED FOR BOOK 3 YALL HAVE NO IDEA!
Any guesses on what will happen? Tell me all about your thoughts, I'd love to hear them! Oh oh — did anyone remember the unknown person who'd watched the entire scene between Draco and Tessa? Hmmm I wonder who it is~~