Chapter 6

Harry didn't think he'd ever run this fast in his fifteen years of life, not even the times he had to escape a beating from Dudley and his gang. He figured that Ron and Hermione would be heading for the Transfiguration classroom by now, so he started there.

There were students in the halls that he sped past, some he bumped into in his rush to get by. He knew he looked rather insane looking right then, what with him being covered in dirt and grime, but he couldn't bring himself to care that much. It wasn't like people here weren't already gossiping about him. What was one more thing to mock him for?

"Ron! Hermione!" He called as he came down the hall towards the classroom. All the eyes populating the corridor outside of McGonagall's classroom snapped to his person as Harry skidded to a stop in front of his two friends.

He could hear the beginning whispers, but he ignored them, leaning forward to rest his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"What the bloody hell, mate?" Ron said, placing two strong, freckled hands on Harry's shoulders. "What happened?"

"M'fine," Harry gasped, straightening up and gripping Ron's wrists. "But Mosuk--" another breath "collapsed. Help."

"She's collap--"

"Mr. Potter, what is the meaning of this?"

Harry's whole body stiffened, cursing under his breath at the oh-so-familiar voice behind him. Oh, why did she have to be here right then and now? He reluctantly turned, and sure enough, there was Umbridge in her hideously pink outfit and fake smile. Though it looked anything but. McGonagall stood beside her, which brought slight relief, not looking any happier, though there was concern heavily mixed in there.

Harry clenched his jaw in annoyance and turned back to his friends with pleading eyes. He would regret that.

"Ignoring a direct question from your professor? And out of dress code? That won't do...perhaps another week's detention will teach you some much-needed respect."

Harry whipped his head around at Umbridge, and she smirked at the apparent horror falling on the boy's face. He opened his mouth to argue, but McGonagall came to his defense.

"Now, now, Dolores," She forced out in a reasonable tone. "I'm sure there's a good reason as to why Mr. Potter looks like this." McGonagall shot an expectant look at him. "Don't you, Potter?"

"I...um...well…" he stammered before swallowing thickly. Come on, Potter! Think!

"Clearly, he doesn't--" Umbridge started.

"Care of Magical Creatures," Harry finally said in a rush. "We were handling some...dirt..creatures. I don't remember what they're called exactly, but…" he trailed off lamely. Not even he would believe the bad excuse he was saying. The students around seemed to think the same if their laughter had anything to say about it.

"Then why not make yourself presentable before your next lesson?" Umbridge shot back. She smiled, one that very much resembled a shark that had gotten a taste of its prey. "I think I'll have to have a talk with...Professor Hagrid. In the meantime, you will be attending detention for the next two weeks as I am growing tired of your lies and excuses--"

Harry groaned aloud, cutting the Toad off abruptly. "I do not have time for this!" He turned away once again from his professors' stunned faces and grabbed Ron and Hermione's wrists, pulling them with him down the corridor.

"Mosukuwa. Chamber. Now!"

They finally seemed to understand as he was no longer pulling them along; they ran alongside him, ignoring the two professors' calls. The trio passed Malfoy and his group as they went, and Harry missed Malfoy's stare on his back until they disappeared out of sight.

"Draco?" Pansy said, noticing the blonde pausing.

Draco was still staring at the end of the corridor that the Golden trip had disappeared down, hearing McGonagall and Umbridge picking a fight behind him. His pale eyebrows furrowed.

Had Potter just mentioned Mosukuwa? What would Potter have to do with the 7th year Slytherin?

Draco's name was called again, shaking him out of his thoughts. He looked at Pansy that had a slight look of concern on her face.

"It's nothing," he told her with a shake of his head, turning to continue to the classroom. In his head, he filed Potter's weird behavior that apparently involved Mosukuwa to ask Terence Higgs about later.

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"Hermione, please," Harry begged, gripping the girl's wrist to keep her from entering the chamber office.

"Oh, get off, will you!" The bookworm snapped, snatching her arm from Harry's hold in annoyance.

He hadn't picked up this much of a fight when Ronald stepped into the room. Why was he like this with her?

Ron was standing, looking rather uncomfortable, by the door, just inside the room. He didn't know whether to help his two mates or to go check on the still unconscious Slytherin girl. "Really, Harry, I made it through alright," he tried to reason. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Suka didn't," Harry snapped back, placing himself between Hermione and the door. "It might have something to do with blood purity...or..or--"

"If that was the case, you wouldn't have made it through either," Hermione said, cutting off his mumbling. "I'm quite sure that Salazar Slytherin would be no more lenient towards half-bloods either. Whether you're from a noble house or not."

She then asked, "Do you even know Mosukuwa's blood status?"

"...No," Harry answered slowly. "But still."

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Ron for possible backup. This, however, gave Hermione the chance to brush past him and into the room.

Hermione paused like they all had, and Harry watched with alarming anxiety. Her pause was longer than both Harry and Suka's had been. Ron had been over quickly, which kind of solidified Harry's belief that it had something to do with blood. Harry inched forward in preparation to catch Hermione should she go down like Suka did.

Why would this be the only wave of protection for the office? Just because someone was a pureblood did not mean they were an ally. Salazar Slytherin, of all people, would know that. Trusting blindly would be a death wish.

Thankfully, Hermione took another step into the room out of her pause. She turned to Harry with an annoyed expression.

"Don't look at him like that, Hermione," Ron piped up in his defense. "I can understand his worry."

Hermione turned her attention to Ron, then sighed, walking up to Harry. He looked like he was recovering from an almost heart attack.

"Sorry, Harry. But you came to us for help, so we needed to be here regardless," she tried to reason.

"We could have brought her out into the hall or something," Harry said weakly.

"And risk causing more harm? Oh, no." Hermione went over to Suka on the couch, crouching down beside it.

She was still breathing steadily, and Hermione hummed in thought. "Maybe we should wake her up. Unless one of you wants to carry her to the Infirmary?"

"Will that hurt her?" Ron asked, standing beside her and looking over her head. "Forcing her awake, I mean."

Hermione shrugged, then nodded. "You're right. I'd rather have an adult handle her. Especially if she actually had creature blood in her line like I think she does. She might get special treatment."

She fell silent for a second. "Maybe that's why she was attacked by the security of the room…"

"You were actually serious about that?" Harry asked with a short laugh.

"Of course.," Hermione said immediately. "It's at least a possibility, considering what you told us about the whole healing saliva. It's not the first time that Dumbledore has allowed students that weren't completely human to attend the school. I doubt Remus was the only one. I just haven't researched anything yet."

Harry looked down at Suka's sleep relaxed face. He knew Hermione was most likely right. Clearly, it was a similar situation that Remus' had been. Her status wasn't well known amongst the school. There certainly would have been talking about it. Though werewolf was definitely not on the list. She was seen on full moon nights around the school; plus, just having her saliva touch an open wound would have turned him. Harry thought back briefly to her, spitting directly on his detention lines on his hand and then rubbing it in.

What was she?

"Let's take her to Madam Pomfrey," Harry agreed after a moment. He looked at Ron. "You think you can carry her? I would myself, but you'd have an easier time."

Ron visibly grimaced but nodded anyway. Harry was relieved that Ron could put aside his dislike for Slytherins right then.

"Do you have the Marauders' Map on you?" Hermione asked as she got to her feet.

"Oh, yeah." Harry dug through his school bag on his hip, pulling out the magic parchment. It had completely slipped his mind. They could use this to avoid anyone in the halls.

They would need to have some sort of explanation to Madam Pomfrey. Still, Harry could deal with the medi witch fairly easily. He'd told enough lies concerning his injuries in the past to be confident in that. Running into Snape or McGonagall was another story.

"Let's get this over with then," Ron sighed, stepping around Hermione, who stepped out of the way and wandered off.

Ron bent and slipped his arms under Suka's legs and around her shoulders before lifting her up to rest against his chest, bridal style.

Hermione was at the bookshelf now, crouched down beside the pile of books Harry had thrown off the shelves earlier. The two boys, when seeing this, mentally braced themselves as they knew what was coming.

"A lot of these are first editions!" Hermione exclaimed as she picked up books from the mess. Narrowed brown eyes shot up to look at Harry accusingly.

Harry had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He understood the concept that books can be precious, but Hermione could sometimes go overboard. It was like she had straight tunnel vision when it came to it.

"I was a bit more concerned about Suka than the books, 'Mione," he said with a sigh.

"Oh, so you two are on a nickname basis now," Ron mocked. When Harry pointedly ignored him, he smirked and continued in a higher-pitched voice. "Oooooh, Suuuukaaa~."

Ron turned to Hermione as Harry started sputtering. "

And yeah, this is a place a Hogwarts founder set up. I'm not surprised there are first editions here."

"I can bring you back down to check out the books later," Harry said, rubbing at his slightly reddened face. "But we have other priorities right now."

Hermione groaned. "Fine." She went to stand but then quickly grabbed two of the books off the pile and shoved them into her bag. Only then did she come back over to the two boys. She blinked at the looks they were giving her.

"Shut up, and let's go."

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Suka felt like she was swaying, rocking, as she slowly came back into consciousness. The left side of her body felt warm, and against her ear, she could hear a steady thudding. It almost blended in with the banging in her head. She deduced that she was being carried.

That thudding heartbeat, footsteps against the floor, and quiet muttering were the only sounds surrounding her—a girl's voice and a male voice that she easily recognized as Potter's. Suka could feel herself relax a little bit at the boy's voice. At least someone familiar was nearby.

The chest she was resting against rumbled as the person spoke. It was a mocking male's voice; something about using first names. Potter snapped something at the male.

Suka sighed quietly, letting her head fall further into the comforting heat, and inhaled. That's when a stabbing pain ripped through her body, from her abdomen, and a familiar rumble. She inhaled again, truly just on instinct, and the scent made her mouth water.

During this, in the back of her mind, Suka tried to piece together the events from before. She remembered being in pain, so much pain that went way beyond her tolerance level. And then nothing.

Whatever had been inflicted on her had drained her substantially. So much that it spiked her hunger due to the lack of energy; her body demanded the nutrients to replace what she lost. And that pushed itself to the forefront of her mind.

Suka shifted herself a bit. Only a little so it could be passed as her moving in her sleep should the guy notice. Her face was further up now. She cracked her eyes open a bit. Her head was tucked between his shoulder and neck, nose against the starting point of his collarbone.

She glanced up, her gaze traveling up his neck, along a sharp chin and jaw, and finally a very freckled face and ginger red hair. This was Potter's best friend. She couldn't remember his name. Weas-- something.

Another spike of pain rocked her body, and she couldn't stop herself from wincing. Her arm twitched from where it was draped across her torso. Her other arm was kind of just dangling at her side.

Shutting her eyes again, Suka gritted her teeth together. Her eyes had shifted, she knew, and she didn't want the redhead to see should he glance down at her. She turned her head to the other side, facing away from his body now, and began breathing through her slightly parted lips. But his scent was already surrounding her, and it was difficult to ignore.

You can't expose yourself, Suka. Not here, not now. Not ever, if she could help it. And especially not by attacking an innocent student who was clearly trying to help her.

What would Hide say? He's put so much faith in you. Don't ruin that!

The redhead stopped walking for a moment, and Suka felt something hard press into her bottom. His knee, she realized as he pushed up from below to be thrown up slightly into him. And then he was walking again.

Potter said something from in front of them, but Suka couldn't focus still as she was right back in the position she'd moved away from.

Spike after spike ran through her stomach, and she could hear her own teeth rubbing together. Her face was practically buried in his neck now.

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There was a surprised yell that rang out in the corridor and the sound of two bodies hitting the floor right after.

"Ron!"

Suka was on top of Ron on the floor. Harry shook his head and handed the map to Hermione to keep a lookout, assuming Ron had just tripped. As he approached, he saw Ron begin to sit up, but smaller hands wrapped around the redhead's wrists and pinned them somewhat roughly back to the floor.

"The hell? Oi, Harry! Get your girl--" His words abruptly trailed off as he stared upwards at Suka's face that Harry couldn't see. The room's air kind of shifted; Harry couldn't see what was different, but it was.

As Harry got closer, Suka's back visibly stiffened, and suddenly her head rushed around to stare him down. And Merlin did those eyes pin him to the floor, in both surprise and fear.

They were glowing; the irises were a bright red with the rest of her eye the deepest of blacks. Harry heard Hermione walk up behind him.

"What--Oh my God…"

Harry couldn't pull his gaze away because Suka's eyes like this were...oddly beautiful. And at the same time, utterly terrifying. Terrifyingly beautiful?

"Suka…?" Harry said cautiously. He inched forward, even more, slipping his wand into his right hand and holding up his left at Hermione, signaling her to stay where she was.

Ron moved to try to get up again, and it brought Suka's eyes back to him, causing him to freeze up again.

"Ron, stay where you are," Harry told him. They didn't know what they were dealing with here. And as much as Harry wanted to believe that Suka wouldn't hurt his friend, Harry didn't want something to tip her off. She must have pounced Ron, making them both fall, and Suka clearly had a physical strength advantage here.

A light caught Harry's eyes, and they were drawn down to Suka's lower back. Her uniform shirt was untucked, probably due to the events of the day, and the fabric hung over the waistline of her skirt.

A faint glow was peeking its way through the white fabric, black mixed with a hint of red, much like her eyes. The color was pulsating and growing in size as if something was threatening to burst out of her back.

The tenseness in the air, and the fact that he had a potentially dangerous person pinning him to the ground, was getting to Ron. He forgot Harry's warning in that instant.

"What the bloody hell are you too just standing there for?! Do something!"

Harry opened his mouth to tell him to shut up, but Hermione sprung into action before he could.

"Stupify!" She yelled, the spell whizzing forward from the tip of her wand. It hit the floor where the two had been. Ron had been thrown to the side, and Suka moved the other way to avoid the stunner. She was almost too fast for the two Gryffindors to see.

She was by the opposite wall than Ron now, but as she took a step towards the redhead, Harry sent his own stunning spell at her.

Ron took the opportunity to get his own wand that had fallen out of his robes during the fall, and his eyes shifted nervously, trying to keep his eyes on the constantly moving girl.

She was doing Harry and Hermione's spells with ease. She made no move to draw her own wand despite it being two versus one.

Then she was in the middle of the trio, all three wands pointed at her now, and no clear way for her to move out of the way enough to avoid being hit.

The three glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes as they watched the girl crouch down into a crouching position and stilled. Only her black and red eyes moved, shifting from face to face repeatedly.

"I told you she couldn't be trusted," Ron was ranting. "I told you! But noooo, no one wants to listen to me! 'You're dramatic, Ronald.' Dramatic my arse--"

"This is not the time, Ron," Hermione hissed furiously at him.

Harry remained silent, tuning out his two friends bickered and keeping his eyes on Suka.

A vampire, perhaps? It might explain the eyes...though he had never heard of this specific feature involving the creatures of the night. Then again, he'd never met a vampire personally, nor really cared enough to do any research on them unless it was mandatory for a class.

Suka's eyes finally stopped on Hermione, and thank Merlin, that Harry was paying attention.

"Move!" He exclaimed, sprinting towards her and shoving her roughly to the side in time before Suka's had her grip on him instead and had him against the hard wall.

Her face was close to his, and those piercing eyes would have held him there themselves; no grip needed! She had a hand around his throat, and she leaned into where her hand was.

He caught her wrist to get her to let go, but that only had her tightening her grip, and his breath hitched. Her nails cut a bit into his skin.

Harry heard Suka inhale sharply, and a low growling sound rumbled from her. His eyes widened at the noise, not expecting something like that to come from her. But really, should he really be disbelieving of anything at this point.

Hermione had gotten back to her feet, and Harry quickly held out his free hand towards his friends.

"W-Wait," he managed to grit out as they were about to come to help him.

Harry, of course, was ignored and stunners came rushing towards them. He pointed his wand out, and the spells hit the protection shield he cast; it was the easiest thing he knew how to throw without much concentration.

Harry noticed that Suka, despite her having a hand around his throat, was tense. Her body was completely rigid, almost frozen against him. She practically oozed superior strength, and it was being held back. Her jawline was more defined with the clenching of her teeth, and heavy pants escaped her lips. He gave up on trying to remove her hand, so he released her wrist and cautiously raised it to place it over her mouth. Like she had to him just a few hours earlier in the tunnels.

Harry didn't know what she was or what was going through her head right then, but maybe this could help. It wouldn't be the riskiest thing he'd ever done, and hopefully not the last.

Suka surprisingly leaned her head back, and their eyes met again. Harry murmured the similar phrases that she had, instructions to breath through her nose only. And it seemed to work a bit.

At least, he assumed so. The red and black looked to retreat a little bit, enough for him to see her original warm brown still surrounded by black.

She breathed through her nose, feeling the cool air running over the top of his hand, and Harry felt her grip slacken.

He blinked. Wetness touched his skin, and out of the corners of Suka's eyes, tears were beginning to fall. Droplet chased each other down her cheeks when he pulled his hand away in astonishment. He didn't know what to say.

Thankfully he didn't need to.

"Get Sna--"

Suka was cut off as a spell hit her square in the back and launched her fully into Harry's arms.

"Guys!" He cried, looking at Ron and Hermione.

"Wasn't us," Ron immediately said.

"Quite right, Weasley." came a drawled voice. "How did I guess that you three would be the source of all this ruckus?"

In his billowing black robes, Snape strode down the hall towards them, tucking his wand back into his robes. Well, that confirmed who the stunner had come from. The bat-like man stopped in front of Harry.

He almost looked concerned? Was that possible?

"What put her in this state exactly?" Snape demanded, pulling the girl from Harry's arms. Harry had to stop himself from yanking her away, like a toy that he didn't want to share. Though, in this case, it was more due to his mistrust of his greasy professor.

Harry caught his friends' eyes over the man's shoulder. He did not want to tell Snape about his Chamber of Secrets adventure.

"Um Professor," Hermione tried, "Harry came and got us to help bring Mosukuwa to the hospital wing…" She tried to implement a bit of confidence in her voice, though it faltered a little. It wasn't a lie, though.

"I was not aware that you four would be acquainted with a Slytherin at that." Snape sneered.

"I wasn't aware that who students choose to associate with was any business of a professor," Harry snapped instantly in response, settling a burning glare on Snape.

Snape leaned forward close to Harry. "I highly suggest you watch your tongue, Potter," he hissed.

Leaning back, he said, "It would appear that you are taking the long way to the Infirmary, rather than the main stairs. Care to enlighten me as to why?"

"We didn't want to cause a scene," Harry said. Again, not a lie.

"Hm, too good to be seen with a Slytherin?"

"That is not it! And that's not the issue here, either."

"And why not get a teacher? Madam Pomfrey? I know your head is mostly filled with your overinflated ego and little brains. Still, I thought even a dunderhead such as yourself would know that getting an adult in this situation would be better."

Behind Snape, Ron's face was getting redder and redder with each passing word from Snape's mouth, hands clenched in tight fists like Harry's were.

Snape shifted Suka to free one hand to pull out his wand again, and he conjured a long stretcher which he then laid her down on. Then turned back to Harry.

"I'm going to heal these cuts," he said. It wasn't a question, more a warning as Snape pointed the tip of his wand against his neck.

Good move on his part, Harry had to admit. His first instinct would be to hit Snape first, especially if he just pointed his wand at him out of nowhere.

"Professor?" Hermione spoke, taking a hesitant step up as the minor cuts stitched themselves back together. "What exactly is she?"

"Yeah, she attacked me, then all three of us, out of nowhere. We were only trying to help," huffed Ron.

Snape was blatantly ignoring them, going over to the stretcher. "Get back to whatever classes you're supposed to be in right now before I change my mind about giving you three detentions for skipping."

He turned to start down the hallway.

"But Professor, her eyes were glowing; red and black and--"

"Her back was glowing too," Harry said, coming to stand by Hermione.

"Silence!" Snape snapped. The greasy git glared icily at the Gryffindors. "I highly suggest, Ms. Granger," he spat out slowly, "that you and your two imbeciles mind your business and stay in your places. Believe it or not, not everyone's lives need to be known by you."

"Don't go spreading this around either," Snape said. "The Headmaster will speak with you about it when he is informed."

He was then gone with Suka on the stretcher, leaving the three students alone in the corridor.

They were silent for a moment before Harry turned to Hermione, looking expectantly. "Library?"

Hermione, and surprisingly Ron as well, nodded. "Library."

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"I told Albus something like this would happen," Severus growled. "I said this was a Bad Idea, now look what's happened! She attacked three students. And it just had to be Potter and his group too."

He pinched the bridge of his hooked nose in frustration.

"Calm down, Severus," Poppy scolded the man. "I'm sure she didn't mean for this to happen. And based on the fact that Mr. Potter and his friends are, well, not dead, she was clearly holding herself back as much as she could in that state."

The hospital wing's backroom was empty and quiet aside from Snape, Madam Pomfrey, and the unconscious Mosukuwa. Severus had fire called Albus once he'd arrived there, and the Headmaster was on his way. Or so he said. You could never really tell with that old man.

The backroom was typically for long-staying patients or quarantined patients. It gave Severus flashes of his 6th year when he was forced to stay here, under watch for any signs of Lycanthropy he could have gotten from Lupin.

It had been after Black's "prank" on him. Severus sneered at the image of his younger self in one of those hospital beds. Potter may have saved his life that night, but he hadn't walked away with some cuts and bruises, a sprained ankle, and a fractured wrist.

Poppy finished her diagnosis spells and looked over the parchment that appeared before her. She clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"Looks like she's magically drained. From what, I don't know, but that might be the cause of her outburst."

She sent the parchment off somewhere in her office, probably to be put in the student files. "We'll see how she feels when she wakes. I'd rather not force it in case she goes right back into the same frenzy. Severus, be a dear, and get her food from storage."

Severus grimaced at the term used but did as she asked nonetheless, returning with the refrigerated package. Poppy took it from him and placed it on the small table next to the bed. Spells were cast to keep it in a fresh state.

He guessed it was for if Poppy wasn't nearby when the girl woke.

"Severus. Poppy."

The Potions master turned at the sound of his name to see Albus entering the backroom in the eye-sores he called robes.

"What happened?" Albus asked, coming to a stop by the bed.

"You want to know what happened, Albus?" Severus spat.

"Severus," Poppy sighed. But he ignored her.

"She attacked three students, that's what. Potter and his group."

Poppy shook her head at Severus' short fuse and quickly informed the Headmaster what they knew of the situation and Mosukuwa's diagnosis.

Albus stroked his beard softly. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Severus said that Mr. Potter had a few minor cuts on his neck from her nails. Severus healed them. But besides that, no."

"I told them you would be speaking with them soon and not talk about the incident to anyone else," Severus said. "You know Potter has no control over his mouth."

Albus looked like he wanted to curse out loud, then his face relaxed with a sigh. "I suppose that can't be helped...Please inform me when Miss Mosukuwa wakes, and we will see how we proceed from there."

Severus made a noise of exasperation while Poppy nodded in agreement.

"That's it?" Severus demanded. "That's it?! This girl attacked the students. As much as I detest Potter and his two little followers, she could have killed them! Are you really about to let the aggressor off the hook and just sweep the situation under the rug just because no one was majorly hurt? Again?!."

The room fell silent, Severus glaring Albus down.

Poppy gave a quick and quiet "excuse me" and closed the curtains around Mosukuwa's bed and moved to put her supplies away in her office. Severus barely noticed her departure.

Blue eyes stared into glaring black. The usual twinkling wasn't there. Instead, something else filled those pools of blue that Severus couldn't confidently place his finger on. Sadness? Guilt? If that was the case, it was a bit too late for Albus to start feeling that way now. Almost two decades too late.

Albus finally broke their eye contact, starting towards the door. "Please, inform me when Miss Mosukuwa wakes, and we will proceed from there."

And without another word, he was gone, presumably back to his office. Severus felt the overwhelming need to throw something at a wall out of frustration. He stared at the now-closed curtains that hid Mosukuwa from sight.

He should have just used a binding charm instead of just knocking her out. But what's done is done, and he'd just have to wait.