0330 hours, Hufflepuff 7th year dormitory


A caracal cat, dark tipped ears and gleaming eyes, stole into the dark of the dorm room. Her tread was wary. Of the other Hufflepuff boys asleep tonight she didn't particularly trust any of them with her being here - but Raine Almasy had returned to Hogwarts on the tail of an adventure [1] that had left her feeling more than a little mistrustful.

The rust red of her fur caught the dying light of a candle someone had left to extinguish itself. She paused at the foot of a bed to listen to the breaths, counting them.

They seemed to sleep soundly.

Raine felt the muscles in her hind legs tense as she crouched a moment, then hopped lightly on to the edge of Zel's bed. Her tail swayed behind her to catch balance on the downy surface. A low purr resounded in her chest upon catching traces of familiar smells. Sandalwood. Amber. Like the heart of a forest, that was what Zel smelled like.

She found her way to his head, a shade of glaringly obvious parchment white even if there had been complete darkness. Raine slipped underneath the duvet and felt for the largest empty space between Zel's body and the ledge before she transformed into her human form once more.

There was a slight fwump! and the bed frame creaked softly at the sudden change in weight.

1.	Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done - Feb 17th

Zel had never been a heavy sleeper—and after all the shit he had been through in the last couple years, he erred more on the side of light sleeping. Oftentimes, he found himself laying in the dark, in the nice, peaceful, dozing space between states of consciousness. Some part of him was aware of the shift of weight at the foot of his bed. Did his cat gain weight? He scooted over slightly to give him some room. "Gus." He mumbled, knowing very well just how much space his cat commanded on his bed.

Then, the weight shifted again. The cat was suddenly... Not fluffy. He inhaled sharply.

The smell was familiar-- sweet peaches, mixed with... Something distinctly female.

Raine. His heart skipped a beat.

Zel's eyes shot open. For  a moment, he doubted that this was real. Raine wasn't back, not yet. She would've told him! Someone would've told him!

It was then that Zel remembered that Gracie had given him a look. He had ignored it, hoping it'd go away. Those looks usually made him shuffle awkwardly out of the room, because God knows what would come out of that mouth. In hindsight, she had been hinting that she knew something that Zel didn't. Maybe. Probably. Perhaps he was reading too much into this.

His stomach tightened. For a moment, he doubted it was her. Despite seeing her before him, despite the fact that she smelled like her, Zel couldn't banish the anxiety rising in him.

"Raine?"  He whispered, tone both questioning and apprehensive.



 

She slipped both her arms around Zel's long neck as he woke to her presence, and drew her knees up against his chest.

"Zel..." Raine purred tiredly before shifting her head on the pillow to press their foreheads together. He was lovely and warm and everything she had been wanting to hold herself against ever since leaving Ira's mansion late last night. Before that even. Why had she waited so long to come back?

Cramped and curled up in the narrow beds of Hogwarts, she was more comfortable than on sheets of silk and floors of marble.

The Hufflepuff did not sound all that sure of himself - or her, she didn't know which. Having seen what he had done to the muggle disguised as her, Raine could understand why reality might not be trustworthy in his eyes. Nothing was what it seemed to be. They knew this better now.

Raine kissed the side of his nose.

"I'm back," she whispered and met his gaze to assure him that it was really her. "Sorry. I wanted to see you first thing."

"You're back." He repeated, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close.  Zel craned his head up to see if his dormmates were still sleeping. It was difficult to tell, his vision was horrible without potions. He didn't hear any movement. One thing was for certain: Zel did not want Zsoldos to wake up. He'd totally ruin the moment, make some lewd jokes. Micah would silently pretend nothing was happening. And  Figaro? Zel hoped he'd have the common sense to feign unconsciousness.

A slow smile spread across his face. Mindless of how his facial hair would tickle her, he littered Raine's face with kisses. Suddenly, he wasn't so sleepy anymore. Zel was officially awake for the day.

"I missed you." He murmured, the words catching in his throat. "Are you staying?" Was she going to graduate with him? Were they going to resume their mornings at the lake?

And why was she back now? 

Raine wrinkled her nose, grinning without meaning to as she swallowed the giggles that his kisses brought about.

"I am," she replied with a contented little sigh - the notion of leaving Hogwarts was a silly, uncomfortable one. Not now that she could imagine being able to see this every day, to feel less like somebody's pet project and more like a real human being.

The thought reminded her briefly of why she had left London.

Why she couldn't go back for now. The night silence felt heavy all of a sudden and she kissed Zel straight on the lips, frowning to herself as she slid one hand down to rest against the side of his ribs.

She didn't want anything between them, not even the air.

But breathing was an unfortunate necessity. "I... I have something to tell you." Raine could feel her heart thumping uneasily in her breast as she pulled away from the kiss. Was it her fault Zel had been kidnapped? Would he... what would he do if he knew?

"It's serious," she bit her lower lip and tried to look him in the eye. "And you're going to be angry."

When she kissed him, Zel very nearly forgot the questions he asked. Inside, he melted as his heart pounded against his chest. Cheeks warm and ears bright red, he was left with a goofy smile when Raine pulled away.

His expression quickly sobered up.

Whatever it was she was going to tell him, it was serious.

"Let me be angry then." Zel said steadily, pale brows furrowed with concern. "Are you okay?"

Right. So... she could do this. House of the bold and the brave.

Raine shifted positions to reach back into her pyjama trouser pocket, feeling for the differences in hilts before she drew out the wand she had found in the dark cell. Zel's wand. She held it up between them and - even thought she knew he'd never do anything - readied herself to slide off the bed from behind.

"It was my Aunt Ira- " she murmured meaningfully, hoping he would understand without her having to literally say it. "- I found this. I found it in a... in a black room. With a mirror in it."

An image flashed through her mind. Almost beautiful, a white werewolf's fur against the dark granite. That was Zel. This, right here in the bed, this was Zel too.

He stared at his wand. Black laurel, dragon heartstring. Zel silently took it from Raine's hand. Smooth and lightweight, it felt right in his hand. Even after everything they both had been through, it was still loyal to him. The wand he had been using actively worked against him in comparison.

Before he could ask where she got it, she explained.

Zel closed his eyes. Suddenly, the room felt like there wasn't enough air. He took a slow breath through his nose, jaw clenched. His face felt hot. The blankets were stifling. Angry? Was he angry? Perhaps. It was easier than being hurt.

"In a black room." He forced the words through his teeth, sitting up and throwing the covers off. Zel's eyes met Raine's, hard as raw topaz. "What else did you see?"

Raine quickly drew her hands away from him as he threw off the duvet, tucking her feet in as the relatively cooler air hit them.

She did not have the enhanced vision of her animagus form but she could pick out the small changes in Zel's expression - the tight jaw, the hard look in his normally gentle eyes. This wasn't the place for what she wanted to say. They might wake one of the other Hufflepuff boys.

The relief she had felt on getting into bed dissipated entirely, and Raine slipped off the mattress as gracefully as she'd climbed on earlier. A pinch of disappointment tweaked at her insides; she remembered that she couldn't afford to be soft right now.

"Not here," she whispered and nodded towards the stairwell.

---


The sky was still dark. Zel had managed to grab a change of sweats without light, and Raine stole one of his sweaters to wear over her shirt as she'd left her coat in the Gryffindor common room.

They said little to one another until the pair were out on the grounds, managing the shallow incline of wintry grass down towards the lake.  It looked as ever it did but she knew from Gracie's messages that it had been as red as blood only two nights ago.

"The mirror." Raine broke the silence, considered reaching for Zel's hand and then thought better of it - she looked ahead instead and crossed her arms across her chest to keep warm. "I saw you in it. And me, or the girl who was supposed to be me."

An unsure glance at his face. "It's... she did it because of me. I think. I don't know why else she would have."

He had slipped on some sweats and found his glasses, as he didn't have time to go digging for potions. They had slipped out, waking only Micah in the process. At least it was Micah and not somebody else-- all he had done was greet Raine before promptly passing out. Zel would've laughed under different circumstances.

The cloudy sky foretold rain. The grass was frosty from the night's chill, their footprints crunching softly against the ground as they reached the lake.

It had been thick with blood less than a week ago. With the help of level 4, the creatures who lived in the lake survived. Red against the morning frost and the night sky-- not unlike the red against his pale skin in the black room.

And Raine had seen that.

"It wasn't me." Zel replied weakly, "I couldn't control it. It-- if I had my mind, I never would've--" It was no good explaining what Raine already knew. Zel wished that she hadn't seen it. It changed things. Not how he felt about her, of course-- but... She had seen a side of him that thrived on bloodshed. 

And so had most of the ministry.

The full moon was tonight, and he could feel the monster rattling against its cage.  He picked up a smooth stone and skipped it across the lake, the ripples in the water disturbing the lazy squid.  His next words came out harsher than he intended, jaw tight and muscles rigid. "It's not  your fault. She's a predator." What were they going to do? Raine had been close to Ira. Would they report her?

Auror Eleor had been on his case. He had provided comfort to Emeline when Zel had been... Gone.

"This is fucked up." Zel said in almost a growl. He wanted to throw things. Break things. Blow shit up. That urge was terrifying-- how much of it was human, and how much was wolf?

She didn't answer at first.

Had it been him? Were people still themselves when they were werewolves, or the worst part of their personalities? Raine was not of the disposition to try and answer those questions. But she knew that she liked Zel. It mattered that he tried hard to be good. Some people didn't try at all.

The Gryffindor watched him pick up a stone, turned her attention to the smooth surface of the lake to ponder the ripples he cut across it. "It's not  your fault. She's a predator."

Raine frowned unconsciously. Aunt Ira... predator. It wasn't that simple. "This is fucked up." Zel continued and she snorted lightly at the understatement.

"Absolutely fucked up," she agreed and followed suit by picking up a smaller pebble. "But I'm here. We both are, which isn't what I think she wants." Raine threw the stone up into the air, letting it fall with a little plop! into the water.

She could hear the anger in Zel's voice but couldn't find it in herself. This worried her, because her temper was generally easy to rouse. Tonight it slept easy and she only felt anxious at what had transpired. Her thoughts churned silently.

"What do you want to do?" Raine didn't look away from where the pebble had disappeared - the question was open to this moment, but also implied their course of action in days to come. "They might not believe us. I don't think these kidnappings and the mirror at the Ministry has anything to do with chance. And I don't know who we can trust."

"I don't know." He replied, holding back his exasperation. He wasn't mad at Raine, he was mad about the situation. He didn't know what to think about the fact that Raine's aunt did this. She'd always been... Off. But, she was the closest living relative to Raine. Anybody who knew Raine well understood that. Zel was certain that Ira had been aware of it. And took advantage of it. Why would she go after him? To get to her? Why wouldn't Ira want them to be here, together? 

He picked up another stone and furiously chucked it into the lake.

"Who else knows?" Zel asked, "And why doesn't she want us to be here?" He didn't mean to interrogate her, but he needed to know as much as he could to process this whole thing.

"Did she want you to see me--" He paused, inhaled through his nose and out his mouth. "Did she want you to see the mirror? Was it an accident?" Or, did she want to lead her here? The thought sent a chill down his spine. Raine had been gone, learning more magic, being trained for god-knows-what. Did Ira want to turn Raine on somebody she cared about? Was this some fucked up extension of her training?

His stomach lurched, Zel wasn't sure if it was hunger or nerves.

Zel's frustration fell on concerned but calm ears, as she recognised its tone and couldn't hold it against him.

Raine lowered herself to the cold ground as he spoke, crossing her legs and folding her arms up again - the sweater she borrowed was much too big for her and it was much more like wearing a shapely blanket. Its sleeves bunched up past her hands. She looked down, watching her heels anxiously dig grooves into the frosted dirt.

"I don't know," the Gryffindor answered: singular to each of the questions but two. Her thoughtful gaze dragged itself up to look at Zel; from below he seemed to tower like a white tree against the dark grounds.

Yet there was nothing frightening about him. And she couldn't remember the last time she felt really afraid anyway. "Layton knows - he's her assistant. More like an uncle," her voice was soft here because she liked Layton. "He saw me leave. And he let me... although I don't think he was supposed to."

An image in her head, the dirt haired wizard in the doorway of the Almasy manor holding a finger up to his lips. Hush. Or was he pretending?

"It doesn't matter what she wants at any rate." Raine swallowed, irritated by how little they knew. " I have things from the room. Wands, not just yours. I don't know whose they are but we can find out or we can use them somehow." Godric - she was too tired to think about it now. "Zel. I'm not like her. You know that, don't you?"

What bothered him the most about this situation was how much they didn't know. He didn't blame Raine for it, not one bit. She coudln't control that. The whole thing had been out of their control. It occurred to him though, that by leaving, that by taking her aunt Ira's trophies with her, she had claimed some for them.  They got to choose what happened next-- who to tell, what to do.

He wanted to tell Adon Eleor. But what would happen? What if it put his siblings in danger? The Donovans? No. He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen. Let it happen to him, but not to them.

"Zel. I'm not like her. You know that, don't you?"

Her words scraped him raw.

He sat next to Raine, pulling her into his lap and resting his chin on top of her head. "I know you aren't." Zel assured her, voice low and firm. She needed to hear it more than he needed to say it. "You never will be. Just because you're related by blood doesn't mean the blood makes you the same.  He kissed the top of her head and gave her a squeeze. The closeness helped relieve some of his tension. "You're more than where you came from."

She let herself be drawn on to Zel's lap, a combination of tiredness and her minute size giving Raine the impression of being a freckled ragdoll.

Body heat was extremely welcoming in the outdoor chill and she reached to rest her hands on his arms as they came around to encircle her waist. This was good. It felt right, that she found comfort here in his arms and in the shadow of the castle rather than halfway across the country with Ira.

"You're more than where you came from."

If this made Raine's eyes prickle with heat, she didn't let it show. But her shoulders slanted downwards and she leaned back, smiling softly at the kiss. "I am," she confirmed more to reassure herself than him. "I'm better."

Godric knew from where her inane, sluggish confidence came. She reasoned that she had to believe she was better than Ira Almasy or would be better. Raine took one of Zel's hands...her own fit easily across his palm. He was astounding.

"We'll figure this out together. I trust you," she craned her head about to catch a glimpse of his face. "And we might need to trust other people too, when you're ready."

It occurred to her that Zel might be hesitant to share information about what happened to him in December, and Raine didn't want to force his hand.