Dreams

The sun beat down on the rocky shore of the Great Lake as Lelyin ran the length of it. Breathing heavily, he stopped for a quick breather, then set off again.

"Run, Lelyin."

His mother's final words compounded in his ears as he wheezed on wobbly legs. He had woken up in a sweat that morning, his bedsheets soaked through. It was the dream again. He hadn't had it in a while, though it was a regular occurrence when he was younger. It was his first time having it after arriving at Hogwarts.

Lelyin was planning to spend his off-day studying with Tracy and Daphne like he'd promised, but bailed last minute. He didn't want to be in that suffocating dungeon. That suffocating school. It felt like he was walking a tight rope at times, on the edge of bursting. He was sure that if he heard another one of Theodore's snide remarks, he would've beaten the kid.

It wasn't until midday, when Lelyin was too tired to run anymore, that he called it quits and reluctantly made his way back. He went to his dorm room–lunch already being finished–to take a shower, wiping the sweat and grime from his body as his thoughts kept traveling back to that night 4 years ago.

When done, he entered the common area. The high-ceilinged room was filled with students. Some sitting in little alcoves silently reading, some sitting in front of the roaring fire and chatting, some sat at tables and desks playing Wizard's Chest.

Leylin spotted Tracy and Daphne sitting below the looming glass paned window that looked out into the depths of the Great Lake. He could see fish swimming by and even the occasional tentacle of the giant squid that lurked the abyss.

He took a seat in a recliner opposite of them. Daphne's face in a book and Tracy with a set of green and black nail polish out, carefully applying the colors. He slumped in the chair with a sigh, his legs sore.

Leaning back, he closed his eyes. His mother's pleading face appeared. The same one in the dream. He immediately opened them.

"....eepy, right?"

A few moments of silence passed until Lelyin realized he was being spoken to, Tracy looking at him.

"What? What did you say?"

"Quirrel," she said, eyebrows drawn together. "I was saying how creepy he is. I saw him going into the forbidden forest the other day.....are you okay?"

"Huh? I'm fine." Leylin replied, waving her off.

"You don't look fine." Daphne said.

"Seriously." Tracy drew up close, peering down at him. "You're really pale."

Lelyin sighed. "I said I'm fine. I just got done working out. Just kinda tired."

"Working out." Tracy said, curling her lip and sitting back down. "Why do you even do that? Why not just zap yourself into shape? I mean, you're a wizard!"

Leylin gave her a blank stare. "First off, that's not how magic works. And second," He paused. "Well, I guess I don't really do it to stay in shape exactly. I do it because.... I guess I just have to." He parroted the words he had said to Gary all those weeks ago. It felt longer.

"Well, that sounds ominous." Daphne said, blue eyes looking at him above her open book.

Lelyin grinned, the smile not quite reaching his eyes. "I guess I'm just mysterious like that."

Daphne snorted and went back to her reading. Tracy smiled, dimples big on her rosy cheeks. Suddenly she started, eyes going wide.

"I almost forgot!" She blurted, bending over to dig in her bag and brought out a stack of papers. She started shuffling through them.

"So you see," she began. "You were supposed to help us study the other day, so maybe, just a little, I might've been able to complete this on my own. But you left us hanging Lelyin! What was I supposed to do? Do the homework without knowing the answers? I could never do that. I'm too responsible." She nodded at her words. "So what happened was I ended up never completing it, and now that potions class is tomorrow, I'm all out of options. I can't fail Lelyin! Snape will yell at me, and he's really scary you know-"

Leylin let out a deep breath and snatched the papers from her hands, cutting her rant off. Looking them over, he frowned. "You really did do nothing."

She pouted. "I told you, Lelyin! I'm too responsible to fill in answers I don't know."

"Then why not just study by yourself?" Daphne said. "Really, we only need Leylin's help in the practical applications of potions. For homework, you just need to study. Which you can do by yourself."

Tracy opened her mouth then closed it, frowning. "Well, I never thought of that."

Daphne rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you didn't."

"I didn't Daph! Don't make me out to be some kind of...some kind of..."

"Loafing around buffoon?" Daphne offered.

Tracy sharply inhaled, then slumped her shoulders, sniffling. "That's really mean."

Daphne looked at her, heaved a sigh then quieter said, "Sorry. That was mean."

Tracy smirked. "At least I'm not a stuck up-"

She never finished the sentence. The book in Daphne's hand was gone, slipping to the floor.

"Ow!" Tracy screamed, holding her forehead where the book had hit. "Now that really was mean, Daph!"

Daphne cackled, picking her book off the floor.

Lelyin just sat and watched the two's exchange, bemused. Shaking his head, he cut off whatever Tracy was going to say. "I need a quill and ink."

She reared on him. Her sullen look gone, replaced by an ear to ear smile. "Really? You'll do it for me?"

Lelyin shrugged. "I already did mine the day it was assigned. I've memorized the answers."

He even went ahead of the lesson plan. He was almost done with the material in the 1st year book and was planning on checking out some books with more advanced stuff from the library.

Tracy quickly produced a glass container with ink inside and a feathered quill. Lelyin began to quickly scribble the answers to the questions. Most were multiple choice, but a few scattered in were 'short answer' ones where you had to actually write the answer out. For those, Lelyin tried to copy Tracy's penmanship to the best of his ability. If it was too different, he was sure Snape would notice.

Tracy was looking over his shoulder the entire time, and when he finished she grabbed the papers, quickly scanning them.

She beamed. "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!"

Daphne shook her head, eyes lingering on the sheets of paper. "She'll never learn anything like that."

Tracy glowered at the blonde. "I don't need to know," She squinted at the homework. "What the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane is. I'll just follow the steps and put the stuff in the cauldron and stir!"

"Reasoning like that is why you burned a hole through your cauldron."

"You were my partner when that happened!"

Daphne turned away. "Yes, but you were leading."

"Snape called us both dunderheads."

"But he glared at you the most."

"It's not my fault he hates me." Tracy cried. "It's probably because I'm a muggleborn."

"Not true. He loves Lelyin."

Lelyin scrunched his eyebrows together at that. "He does?"

Both Tracy and Daphne turned to him and at the same time said, "He does."

"That's news to me." Lelyin muttered. Ever since that first potions class, the man seemed to always single him out. He'd send him out to get ingredients from the greenhouse, he'd ask questions directly at him, he'd hover over him when everyone was brewing and murmur things from behind. It was quite annoying, actually.

Shaking his head, Lelyin leaned back in his chair, feeling a headache come on. Between the lack of sleep and the running, he was exhausted.

He was about to call it a day, when a head of scruffy blonde hair and dull grey eyes came into view, standing above him.

"Theodore." He muttered.

The boy snarled. "Addams."

Sitting up, Lelyin looked at the constant annoyance in his life. "What do you want?"

"You should speak formally to your betters."

Lelyin raised a brow but didn't respond, already done with this conversation.

"Anyway," Theodore cleared his throat. "I've come to challenge you."

"Challenge me?"

"Indeed. To a potion's competition"

Lelyin pinched the bridge of his nose, the headache coming on stronger. "And why would I want that?"

"It's not about what you want. It's about honor. For me. I won't let some muggleborn defeat me in my best subject."

"Okay..." Lelyin said slowly. "But what's in it for me? You get your 'pride' or whatever back. What do I get?"

"To be able to say you bested me." He said it like it was obvious.

"I've already bested you."

"No-"

"Look, Theodore," Lelyin cut him off. "You're giving me no good reason to accept this. For me, it's I either win and nothing changes, or lose and be made a fool of. So again. What. Do. I. Get."

The boy seethed, eyes bulging and nostrils flaring. He opened his mouth to say something, scream maybe, then thought better of it and shut it.

He closed his eyes, and breathed slowly. "Okay Addams. What do you want?"

Lelyin dawned a crooked grin, an idea already coming to mind. "I want everybody to see. The whole school. Even your family. I want to embarrass you in front of everyone."

Theodore jerked, mouth open. He heard a gasp behind him.

"I don't know if I can arrange that." He said deliberately.

Lelyin shrugged, then waved his hand. "Then buzz off."

Theodore clenched his fists. "Fine. I'll try. But it won't be until after winter break. My father is a busy man and I have to talk with him about it."

"I'm sure he'll make the time." Lelyin grinned.

"Fine then Addams. I'll humiliate you in front of the whole school then if that's what you want." He turned and stormed off, muttering to himself.

Lelyin watched him as he went. I guess I'll finally be seeing my father after all these years.

"Are sure that was a good idea?" He heard Daphne say.

Lelyin turned to the girl, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Theodore's father," She said. "He's quite...influential in the Wizarding World. He can make your life very difficult.

He already made my life difficult when he murdered the only person to ever love me.

"I'll be fine." Leylin said, smiling. This time it did reach his eyes.