09| TO THE PLACE THE GARGOYLE CONCEALS
Unblinking stormy grey eyes looked intently at the patterns on the dark ceiling, illuminated by the little light penetrating through the thick glass windows. The Slytherin girls' dormitory was enveloped in darkness and time ticked timelessly. The night enjoyed itself while it lasted, stars shone high up above in the velvet sky; far out of Gemini's reach.
Midnight seemed to be the longest phase of the night.
Gemini's watch lay beside her on her nightstand, its soft mechanical sounds echoing loudly in her ears. She had been lying on her bed for hours, hoping fruitlessly to drift into slumber.
Beside her lay Daphne Greengrass, sleeping peacefully, having not a care in the world. Gemini's bed was at the far end of the room, against a cold stone wall. An enormous window, starting a foot above the ground and stretching almost to the top of the low ceiling separated her and Daphne's bed, giving Gemini her own space.
Her mind wandered aimlessly, dallying from one topic to another. When her eyes had traced every single carving on the ceiling and studied the large chandelier intricately, thinking about everything and nothing all at once, she removed herself from her warm bed and soft sheets and meandered with soft footsteps to the common room.
The common room was lit more generously than her dorm, by green lanterns and the dull green tinge coming from the water of the Black lake beyond windows similar to the ones in her dorm. The common room had low-backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; armchairs that were no less beautiful than individual thrones; and wooden chairs, accompanied by tables, which were carved in serpentine motifs.
But Gemini neglected them all and ambled to one of the windows, seating herself at the base of it. Pulling her legs to her chest, she folded her arms around her stomach and leaned her head against the cool glass of the window, watching and waiting for the giant squid, which passed by often, or an occasional grindylow; and if they wished to present themselves — the selkies.
The pale glow of the water illuminated her features, dancing gently over her bare shoulders and naked feet. She was wearing but a pair of powder-blue shorts and a singlet, both made out of fine silk. The cold numbed her fingertips and toes, and she revelled in the sensation.
Gemini sat there frivolously for another few hours until a lone thought floated across her mind.
She rose to her feet and started walking, barefoot and still in her pyjamas, to the headmaster's office to pay him a requisite visit. The bleak night air ricocheted off her skin harshly, blowing back her undone hair. Not having her wand to irradiate her path, Gemini stared around in the darkness, catching a glimpse of some sort of ornament or object every now and then when the silver beam of moonlight reflected off them. She went through the winding corridors and halls, and barely discerned the stairwell gargoyle when she materialised at the base of the headmaster's tower.
"Sherbet lemon," she said in a dazed sort of state, forgetting temporarily why she was present there at this hour of the night.
The gargoyle stepped aside, revealing a spiral stone staircase, and Gemini stepped on it gratefully as it started moving up and stopped in front of a large oak door. She alighted from the stairs and turned the knob of the door, pushing it open marginally, without knocking. Poking her head in first, she checked whether anyone was present in there, and when she didn't spot any trace of anyone, she stepped in fully, shutting the door behind her with a soft click.
She immediately walked over to the desk in the middle of the circular room and found the constant bowl of sherbet lemons kept on it. Smiling to herself, she reached into the bowl and picked up a sherbet lemon, raising it to her lips.
"Stealing from my stores again, Miss Delmar?" said a silvery voice behind her.
Gemini swivelled around, the sherbet lemon still raised in front of her mouth. She looked blankly at Professor Dumbledore and dropped the sweet in her mouth.
He gave a fruity laugh and walked past her to his desk, patting her on the head on his way. Gemini frowned, not liking the belittling feeling. Sucking gently on the sweet, she took a seat on the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. He mimicked her, picking a sherbet lemon from his bowl, and popped it in his mouth.
They both sat just like that for a while, sucking on their sherbet lemons and staring off into space, until the sherbet lemon had completely dissolved in their mouths, leaving behind a sweet savour.
"What keeps you awake at this hour, Professor?" Gemini asked Dumbledore, though her eyes were fixed on Fawkes' beady black ones. Fawkes was Albus Dumbledore's very own magnificent phoenix, a tradition that ran in the Dumbledore family.
"Everything," replied Dumbledore, "and nothing," he added, observing Gemini beckon Fawkes with her eyes. At his words, Gemini broke her eye contact with Fawkes to look at him instead and the ghost of a smile flitted on her features.
Fawkes crowed loudly and flew over to Gemini as she extended her arm to him. Dumbledore watched their interaction closely, admiring the way Gemini caressed Fawkes' feathers as the phoenix nipped her fingers affectionately.
"He has missed you," Dumbledore told her, his bright blue eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.
"And I've missed him too," said Gemini with a friendly smile when Fawkes rubbed his neck against her arm, crowing happily, his eyes shut in delight. She played with him for about a minute before she decided to ask Dumbledore what she had really come there for.
"Have you gotten a response yet?"
Dumbledore noticed how she seemed to lose all her cordial composure as the words left her mouth, a question he had been expecting.
"Not initially," he said, observing her reaction carefully; her face remained impassive. "But... a few days thereupon, I received quite a flamboyant tropical bird with... this... tied to its leg." He handed Gemini an austere piece of parchment with elegant, but hasty letters scribbled onto it in ink.
Fawkes flew off to his perch as Gemini took the parchment from Dumbledore and read its contents thoroughly.
"As you can see," spoke Dumbledore, gesturing to the parchment when he followed her eyes reaching the end of it. "he refuses to believe the truth... quite a shock it must have been, I suppose..."
Gemini sighed, fidgeting with the corner of the parchment. "Of course..." she said, "of course, but — I believe it can't be that much of a shock... he stayed there for approximately a week, he must have gotten suspicious..."
"It might be more of a 'who' than 'what' that surprised him. And I believe the shock at the moment he got away itself must have been too much to enable rational thought." Dumbledore suggested. "It's a delicate matter," he continued as he stood up from his chair and started pacing in his study, his hands locked behind his back.
"It is..." agreed Gemini, slowly folding up the parchment. "So, you reckon we should give him more time?"
"Perhaps.... yes..." he stopped near the hearth, his back to hers.
Gemini rose from her own chair and joined him in front of the mantlepiece. With one last look at the parchment in her hands, she threw it in the flames, both of them watching it curl up and burn slowly to cinders.
"I had another query," said Gemini after the parchment was long gone. Dumbledore inclined his head towards her slightly as an indication for her to continue. She took a breath in, "Alastor Moody."
Dumbledore shook his head, his long beard swishing. "Oh, Alastor will not be a liability to you, Miss Delmar," he said sincerely. "but the one you must take heed of is Igor Karkaroff. I dare say you know of his history?"
"It's hard to not," Gemini said bitterly, tilting her head up to meet his eyes properly for the first time. The orange of the fire reflected in her eyes, making them look warmer than they really were.
Dumbledore looked back at her, giving her a bearded, indistinct smile before he turned to the fire again. "I would be surprised if he doesn't get curious. You will have to be prudent; keep out of his line of sight."
"Piece of cake." she nodded sarcastically, imitating his actions.
He chuckled deeply. "Hopefully the tournament will keep him occupied enough to let you slip from his mind."
"Hopefully," Gemini repeated.
Mutual silence followed.
"It is the early hours of the morning, Miss Delmar," Dumbledore spoke at last. "You must return to your dormitory and try to obtain some rest, you have your lessons in a few hours. And... if you might find your mind a wee bit stretched...." he gestured to his pensieve.
Gemini smiled an apathetic smile. "I'd really rather not." she denied politely.
"To each his own." he nodded.
Gemini nodded back at him absently and started walking towards the door, her skin warmer than it had been when she'd entered the office.
However, that warmth faded away the moment she stepped outside the door and travelled down the staircase behind the gargoyle. Gemini meandered back through the same corridors on her way to the dungeons but changed her mind halfway through the journey. Upon reaching the entrance hall, she directed her path down the staircase leading to the Hufflepuff basement through the door on the left-hand side of the marble staircase.
Descending the stairs, she followed through a broad corridor, lit brightly with torches, and passed several cheerful paintings depicting, mostly, food. She stopped at the painting of a gigantic silver fruit bowl and reached up to tickle the pear, which gave an adorable chuckle and turned into a large green door handle.
She pulled the painting open and stepped in, the painting closing on its own behind her. Before she could blink, almost a hundred house elves had swarmed around her, each with a pleasant smile on its face.
"Miss Gemini!" exclaimed a pair of delighted voices, and two elves came rushing through the crowd at her.
"Hello!" Gemini greeted Fizzy, crouching to the ground and scooping her into her arms along with Dobby, who was wearing a navy blue jumper with green shorts and his usual mismatched socks. "Hello Dobby!" she smiled at them both and the rest of the elves subsequently.
"Dobby loves your gift, Miss Gemini! Dobby likes pumpkins!" Dobby told Gemini as he pulled away from her, looking extremely pleased with his new sock.
"So do I, Dobby!" Gemini grinned at him. "Did you have a nice summer? You and Fizzy?" Gemini looked between Dobby and Fizzy as she spoke.
"Yes! Fizzy taught Dobby how to make hot and cold blueberry muffins!" said Dobby.
Fizzy, who was elder to Dobby by a few years, considered him as her overenthusiastic little brother and often taught him different things she had learnt herself. They made a cute little pair, free and colourful; even though they were sometimes shunned by the other elves for their so-called "disgraceful freedom". Gemini found their attachment endearing.
"Yes, and would you bake them for me sometime?" Gemini asked Dobby, who bobbed his head up and down rapidly in response. "Sweet," she grinned.
"With less sugar," Fizzy interrupted.
"Oh, come on, Fiz, it's his first time trying the recipe! Let him do what he wants!" Gemini complained.
Fizzy shook her head from side to side sternly. "I will teach him," she said. Dobby, silent for once, darted his wide green eyes between Gemini and Fizzy continuously. Gemini pursed her lips and folded her arms stubbornly across her chest. "That's a yes, Dobby," Fizzy told Dobby, who snickered.
"Fine, I'll just go back to my dorm then." Gemini huffed and walked out of the kitchens.
"She'll come around," Fizzy said when she saw Dobby's worried expression. "Miss Gemini doesn't like to stay away from her muffins and cupcakes. Come, Dobby, let's start preparing breakfast." Throwing a smile at Dobby, she directed him towards the tables.
Far away in the dungeons, Gemini arrived at the stretch of the bare, damp stone wall behind which the Slytherin common room was located. "Drink of Despair," she repeated the password the Slytherin prefects had told them.
Every Slytherin password lasted a fortnight, which made it hard for anyone to simply enter the Slytherin common room since no one could really guess the complicated password Professor Snape set. The Drink of Despair, which was the current password, was a mysterious emerald potion that induced fear, delirium and extreme thirst, according to a book Gemini had found once.
The stone wall slid aside as it deciphered the correct password, allowing Gemini into a passage leading straight to the Slytherin common room. She walked along it, along the cool stone walls and identical floors until she arrived in the common room, the distant sound of the stone wall closing ringing in her ears, making her crane her neck back to look at it on instinct.
"Morning," a silky male voice greeted her.
Gemini snapped her gaze back to the common room to find Blaise seated on a black leather sofa, fully dressed in his uniform, a cup of tea held elegantly in his fingers. He had one leg crossed over the other as his smug eyes slowly roamed over her.
"It's fairly early," she remarked, observing his eyes dip down to her exposed neck and shoulders.
He took a sip from his cup before speaking. "Isn't it?"
Gemini merely cocked an eyebrow at him and started unhurriedly in direction of the girls' dormitories.
He put his cup down on the table, stood up, and started walking towards her step by agonising step. The dull thumps of his shoes hitting the carpeted floor reached Gemini's ears. "Where have you been?" he asked her at last.
Gemini smiled to herself as she reached the bottom of a short flight of stairs which led to her dorm, knowing he would ask her that question. But as she spun around to answer him, she was surprised to find him closer than she had estimated. Taking a polite step back and onto the first stair, Gemini gave him a mocking smile.
"A morning walk," she answered.
Blaise stepped up to her level and Gemini automatically moved closer to the railing to put some space between them. He swept a curl of her hair back from her neck and grabbed the railing on both her sides, trapping her.
"Really?" he said.
Gemini leaned back casually against the railing. "Are you trying to intimidate me?" she asked him with a small hidden smile of amusement. "You know that won't work,"
"Not yet," he said seriously, moving away from her.
Gemini met his dark eyes once before she started to move up the stairs and Blaise followed. On the top step, she turned around abruptly.
"Why are you coming up?" she asked him suspiciously.
"To meet Pansy," he answered at once, though his eyes were still looking at her fervently, and Gemini noticed some of his gentlemanliness fade away.
"Pansy would be asleep," Gemini told him. "It's far too early for her to be awake right now."
"Then I'll wake her up," he countered.
"I don't think she will take kindly to you seeing her disarrayed appearance...." Gemini narrowed her eyes slightly.
"It's a pity I don't care." he shrugged.
"Well, alright then," Gemini mumbled and proceeded into the fourth-year girls' dorm, leaving the door open for Blaise to enter.
Pansy was sprawled out on her bed, tangled in her sheets and snuggling her pillow. Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis seemed to be in more or less the same condition and the only one awake was Daphne who was sitting up on her bed, combing her fingers through her hair.
"Oh hey, Blaise," she said sleepily to Blaise.
"Greengrass," he nodded at her.
"Out for a rendezvous with Delmar?" she teased him, yawning.
Gemini, who was about the enter the bathroom to shower and get ready for breakfast, turned to look at Daphne. "Excuse me, what?" she said.
Blaise smirked, leaning against Gemini's bed frame. "Yes," he said at the same time Gemini said "No."
Daphne giggled.
"Stop lying Blaise. She knows I'd never get involved in any such thing with you. And Daphne, stop laughing." said Gemini, directing the last part at an entertained Daphne.
Daphne Greengrass was not someone Gemini would call a friend, but she wasn't a foe like Pansy either, which made her a tolerable person most of the time. Though the cons occasionally weighed out the pros, since she happened to be a member of Pansy's gang.
"Sure," Daphne said, trying to stifle her giggles.
Gemini rolled her eyes at Daphne and Blaise, who were exchanging small grins. "Pardon me, I need to go get ready before going down to compliment Draco about what a stunning ferret he made," she said, sliding into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.