C069 - Nice

AN: Chapters were slower than usual this week, sorry about that. For one, it's my birthday today and while I never really celebrate it, I'll still be out of the house by the time this chapter is posted most likely. But the true reason for me being out of the house and not having released many chapters is that I came home from work to a flooded apartment this week.

Disgusting greasy kitchen waste water from all the neighbors above me pooled in my kitchen and living room amounting to roughly 25 liters I had to mop up and dump in the shower drain after dark.

My apartment smells fucking disgusting and I hate being home at the moment. Thoughts and prayers go out to my cat who spends most of the day sleeping outside instead of under my bed or behind my desk at the moment because she, too, hates that smell. I'm feeding her on the balcony instead of in the kitchen at the moment because I don't want to eat with that smell in my nose either.

Other than that, I had an AI create some pictures for my characters as I envisioned them - for the ones that weren't really in the movies, anyway. So Talion Macnair, Penelope Clearwater, Mandy Brocklehurst, Isobel MacDougal and a bonus Lara Croft. I'll see about posting them either to buy me a coffee or next chapter or something.

Also, hooray, we'll finally learn what happened at that birthday party because you guys kept asking. Chapter 69 felt appropriate. I can't stop eyerolling about those angry commenters bashing someone for having a harem in my story that isn't my MC... when he doesn't even have a fucking harem. Neither Harry nor Talion. Some of you are really hyper-sexualized while reading fanfics, man. These are just people interacting and blushing because of hormones. You know. Like teenagers in a boarding school. Just because they look at him when he swims or flirt with him doesn't mean they'll suddenly share Talion to become his 13 wives...

So weird.

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With the potion set to simmer for a day, I made my way down to the Black Lake in the afternoon since I didn't have another lesson until Astronomy an hour before midnight.

I made myself more enemies at the lake by teaching Natalie and Luna how to swim. Being close to Luna in a swimsuit didn't earn me any envy because she had a slender, unassuming build - but Natalie was... well. She was hiding some serious assets, and I was glad I was up to my waist in water as I taught her the required movements with the swimming aides I conjured. The fact that it was actually a little cold did not help whenever she stood up to get a breather.

But other than fighting with my puberty, teaching the two girls to swim went without a hitch. Luna was quite fast in learning to stay above water, though whenever I wasn't looking, she purposefully treaded water like a dog. Natalie, on the other hand, got quite handsy as she pretended she needed to hold onto something and did not grab for my hands but my bizeps, shoulders, and chest instead.

I didn't mind, but the same wasn't true for all the other witches sitting on the beach.

Fear of the kraken was slowly losing against the need to thirst over me... but then I got an assist when a giant tentacle broke through the surface a distance away from us as Hagrid tossed another whole pig into the water for the aquatic monster to eat.

It was also the moment Natalie ended the swimming lesson and dragged Luna with her.

Drinking a tomato cream soup I requested for dinner that day so as not to move the Mandrake leaf in my mouth around too much, I went back up to the Room of Requirement to check on the potion. Lara was already there with a wand pointed to her heart as she sat on the couch in the room. She had apparently asked for the same room I prepared for us before.

Wordlessly, I joined her and took out my own wand. With a cleared mind, I did as the book instructed to begin my journey as an animagus.

I chanted the words 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus' in my mind over and over to connect to my inner animal. It didn't take long, or maybe forever, because I found myself in a trance at some point. Eventually, the state I was in ended when I heard a small gasp beside me. But just before it ended, black, pupiless eyes stared directly at me in total darkness.

Opening my eyes, I heard Lara next to me breathe deeply. Concerned for my friend, I turned to her immediately only to give me an embarrassed look.

"Sorry, Talion. I broke your concentration, didn't I?"

I waved my hand to show I didn't mind.

"No matter what, I wouldn't have become an animagus today. What happened?"

Looking to the ground as a small blush crept up her ears, Lara admitted, "I saw my inner animal... it was... intimidating, and I'm not quite sure how to feel about it..."

"Oh? Care to talk about it?"

Lara looked around the room, and as I joined, I saw Hermione tending to the three cauldrons dilligently. She hadn't been here before my trance started. The brunette witch gave us a sheepish smile and said, "Don't mind me. Uh, actually, Talion, I went to your room to get your telescope. We only have an hour left. Penelope was here earlier, too, but she has prefect duty today."

"Promise me you won't laugh," Lara said to the younger girl in a stern voice, and that got my curiosity.

What was intimidating yet at the same time something Hermione would laugh about?

"Is it something goofy? Like a platypus? I heard they can be quite deadly," I joked with a small chuckle. "You know, egg laying, venom sting having, beak sporting goof balls that couldn't decide whether to be a mammal, a bird, a fish..."

"It's not a platypus! It's a cat, okay!"

"Oh? Like McGonagall? No, that wouldn't explain you getting scared by it... I saw you kill an acromantula in the Forbidden Forest last year. You didn't even flinch," I pondered out loud before asking, "Like, a jaguar? A panther? You're too agile to be a tiger or a lion. Those aren't as graceful as you."

"Smaller," Lara denied with a small blush but not because of the compliment.

"You know, we'll find out no matter what if you succeed, just out with it," I said with a playful scoff. "Though a cat is still surprising. I would have pegged you more for a wolf or a bird of prey if I'm honest. Maybe a fox?"

"A lynx or a cheetah, maybe?" Hermione asked as she thought about all the wild cats she knew.

"Smaller," Lara muttered.

"What's smaller than a cheetah and still able to scare you? Uh, an ocelot? Sorry, orphan here. Never been to the zoo."

"Cheetahs are actually quite big. They are just very slender. But ocelots are indeed a little smaller," Hermione helpfully chimed in. "Maybe one of those desert cat species? Like a sand cat or a serval?"

"I think we're going in the wrong direction. Maybe her inner animal is smaller than a maine coon. Like those fishing cats with the smaller ears from Southeast Asia? I saw a book about those in our muggle school's library once..."

"I think I've read about black-footed cats in a National Geographic issue from my mom. They are smaller than a house cat but super deadly because their hunting instincts are through the roof," Hermione thought out loud.

"That does sound like Lara," I confirmed and finally looked back at Lara.

Oh? It looked like we hit the nail on its head?

"I wasn't human-sized when I met the animal, okay? I was prey and they are scary if you're just as big as a mouse, okay!?" Lara defended herself as she brought the end of her braid in front of her face to hide it.

"Wow, you already met your inner animal? That's terrific!" I congratulated as my eyes widened in surprise.

"Please, as if you didn't!" Lara scoffed in an effort to change the subject.

"Nope, only saw total darkness until some huge black eyes opened up to stare at me just before I woke up from the trance."

Biting her lips a little, Lara tried to apologize but I held up my hand once more.

"Like I said. I wasn't going to become an animagus today."

"Hmm, black eyes, nothing else?" Hermione asked with curiosity on her face.

"Definitely not cat or dog eyes, that's for sure. Nothing lizardy either. And I don't think it was insect eyes either... like I said, pitch black surroundings and dark eyes. If I had to guess from the shape alone, it was a bird. But I didn't see enough," I could only admit with a shrug.

"Cats hunt birds," Lara declared with a smug look to once more deflect her embarrassment about her outburst. It made sense. She wasn't usually in a situation like this and much more composed.

"Birds can fly," I scoffed in an effort to have a childish word spar with the beautiful witch.

"Cats have soft fur," Lara spat as she caught on what I wanted to do.

"Birds can fly."

Lara's smile faltered for a moment as she shot me a small annoyed glare and she said through gritted teeth, "Cats are cute."

"Birds," I said and gave it a dramatic pause, "can fly."

Lara closed her eyes for a moment, put her wand away and then proceeded to flick my forehead before she stood up.

"I should go. Curfew started almost two hours ago," Lara declared with a small sigh.

"Could sleep here. Just wish for a bedroom. It's where I stayed in the first night here when I didn't want to see Harry," I proposed as I rubbed my head and pretended the flick hurt.

"No that's fine. Don't need you sneaking inside after Astronomy and jump into bed with me you little perv," Lara declared and I could only gasp and ask, "Perv?"

"Just joking. You're actually quite the respectful boy. Good on you," Lara fake-praised and walked out. I've seen her use a disillusionment charm just before the door closed - something we both learned with Flitwick in Survival Club.

"So, Hermione," I said in a small drawl once the two of us were alone.

I walked over to get my telescope from the witch.

"Yes?"

"I've been wondering about this since Harry told me about it... just what happened at Longbottom's birthday party?"

Hermione hadn't been flustered about being alone with me before I asked the question as she just meticulously compared the state of the potions to the copious notes we had on the recipe.

"I wish he hadn't told you... or anyone," Hermione muttered under her breath, especially the last part.

"Well, he didn't say much. I still can't wrap my head around the whole thing - not that I'm trying to shame anyone," I described, though trying to reassure Hermione that I didn't think less of her.

In all honesty, I guessed that it was one of the first birthday parties she had ever joined and there was some peer pressure involved when it concerned the brunette in front of me.

"I think it was Lord Black... he sneaked a few alcoholic drinks into the party. Not enough for us to get poisoned, but to get a taste? Sue... she asked Lisa all these embarrassing questions about having a boyfriend after a while, and, uh, I think it was Cho who proposed that we should all try it out once and make Harry's birthday special?"

"You sound remorseful?"

Hermione looked annoyed for a short moment before shaking her head.

"I am... Sue and Cho both have heavy crushes on Harry. I think Susan does, too... Sooo all four girls at the party except for Hannah, Neville's girlfriend, just formed a line at midnight and Lisa led him over to us. I was second to last and I didn't know what to do. That wasn't how I imagined my first kiss to go," the witch explained with great difficulty.

By then, I had no longer been interested in hearing more from her side of the story and had been preparing to leave for the Astronomy tower.

"My first kiss hadn't been as I thought it would go either. You could pretend it never happened or focus on the next first kiss with a person you truly like," I offered after putting away both of our telescopes into my extended pouch.

"Well, I think at least Lisa regrets it. I haven't talked with her much this school year but she's been very easily irritable. You might not know because you're not really talking with Harry yet... but I think the two might break up soon. I heard Lisa vent the other day about how Harry is more withdrawn from her about something she did, uh, to the two of you?"

By the looks Lisa gave me in the common room and during classes, I long figured she held me responsible for something and it would make sense if it was Lisa who put ideas about my apparent betrayal of Harry in the boy savior's mind. And now that Harry realised that he didn't really have a leg to stand on and that alienating me was a stupid choice. If he did that after she got into his head about it, it made sense that he would be cross with her.

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The next morning, I sat at the breakfast table away from my usual group. Because I noticed something... well, not concerning. But weird.

Since falling out with Longbottom and Potter, the only men I talked to were the Weasley twins for business matters. The rest of them were all women.

"Inglebee, Samuels," I greeted before turning to sixth year prefect Robert Hilliard. "Rob, I might no longer need your services for supervision during potion lessons. Apparently, I'll be doing it with a tutor arranged by our headmaster."

I sat with Prefect Robert Hilliard, younger brother of my previous quidditch team captain, to my left and two of my teammates from the team on the other side of the table.

"Okay," the young wizard said in confirmation and leaned back down to eat his oatmeal while distractedly watching the table for any potential trouble from time to time.

I was used to his silent streaks, so I merely sighed and turned to my own breakfast.

"You know, I think the elves might like you better than the rest of us," Inglebee, one of the beaters on my quidditch team, idly commented as he looked at his own food and mine.

"Is this the first time you've seen his dishes?" asked Samuels, his fellow beater on the team and, I was pretty sure, his secret boyfriend. "He's been eating like a king since the first month he got here."

"Yeah, I always eat like this," I confirmed with a wide smile and dug into the delicious, fluffy waffles with thin apple slices the elves have prepared for me. Seeing the two of them look at me in exasperation, I offered, "I could take you to the kitchens and use my grand influence to get you better food from the elves?"

"Rather tell us what you're drinking. That doesn't smell like pumpkin juice or coffee," Hilliard sitting next to me asked, and I looked at him in astonishment. That might have been the longest two sentences I have ever heard him utter.

"Nitwit, could we get another three goblets of my drink?" I asked in a low voice so not everyone could hear, and in a snap, three more goblets appeared next to mine. Handing them to the boys while shooting them conspiratorial smirks, I leaned back to enjoy their reactions.

Samuels took a tentative sip while the other two were still smelling it and immediately placed down the goblet and shot me a deadpan look.

"That's just apple juice. I thought for sure there'd be some outlandish concoction in your goblet judging by Hilliard's expression and your smirk," he accused in a dry voice.

"Yeah, okay, but they are apples from Professor Sprout's own little apple orchard, sooo.... you tell me if this is really 'just' apple juice," I countered, my smirk still on my face.

Inglebee lifted an eyebrow and took a big gulp after hearing that and enjoyed the drink slowly despite the big mouthfuls he drank.

"How come Sprout likes you more than even the other Hufflepuffs? I saw you lurking in the greenhouses during our lessons and the professor's eyes always light up seeing you," Inglebee asked after drinking more than half of the goblet.

"He's been supplying her with many rare ingredients all throughout last year and this one," Hilliard explained in my stead and I wondered how or why he talked. It wasn't in his nature, usually. Maybe he warmed up to me a little after we sat together for my potion classes and he just never bothered saying something because I kept quiet.

"Yeah, what he said," I confirmed with a smile. "I got something like a... sixth sense, I guess you could call it, for finding rare herbs and stuff. Plus, it helps that I greatly enjoy the outdoors and have a knack for it. After finding enough rare specimen, Sprout started treating me like an honorary badger and I greatly enjoy her wisdom and company. She has a very motherly, soothing aura."

"Mhm, guess she does," Samuels confirmed while looking at the portly witch sitting at the head table, though his thoughts were his own.

"Have you given any thoughts to what you will do with the water lily? Blind Love's Delight, right?" The prefect asked and I remembered now - he had been in the class I crashed when I brought over the aquatic plant.

His genuine interest in conversation was still weirding me out a little, but I answered, "I'll keep it and raise it in a lake I'm living close to. The professor gets to study it until then, however."

Hilliard nodded in acknowledgement at that and I heard Samuels ask, "Lake? You mean like from the orphanage? Isn't that a waste to bring such an expensive plant there?"

And he was immediately slapped in the back of the head by Inglebee, who chided, "Honestly, you gotta read the news every once in a while. They said he's emancipated. There's no way he still lives there!"

I only now remembered that knowledge about this particular plant was quite well known now in the castle because it was a big deal and I wasn't exactly clandestine when I brought it to Professor Sprout.

"Nope. I don't. Made some money so I live in a remote little house now," I provided to get Samuels off the hook.

"Oh? Ah, you mean the prize money? How was that, anyway? Winning that dueling tournament?"

Ah, yes. The prize money. 100 measley galleons because nobody really cared for the under 18 bracket, usually. It was more of a pity sum because first place in the adults bracket paid a ridiculous fifty thousand galleons. In all honesty, though, it was only ridiculous because there were seven such international cups held for adult duellers each year. Lord Kousei, the Japanese student Flitwick had taught for a year, had been making bank for the past few decades, and he invested it all in his clan and his country, according to Flitwick.

"Flitwick and I had a blast," I commented while trying to leave the sour tone out of my voice and trying to forget the little money I was given for my performance.