His Mark
[Knowledge is Power]

3rd October 2016
Monday

Cordelia

Before we reached the Astronomy Tower, I found myself explaining and repeating recounts of my misadventures to the attentive Juliet and Rosaline, who at various intervals exchanged glances with the words 'I knew it' written on their faces.

"I told you not to freak." Juliet told me with a sense of all knowing radiating off every pore.
"Ok, fine. You were right." I replied with a sense of defeat.
"Does Julius know? I distinctly recall him saying something about staying away from him," added Rosaline as they reached a staircase.
"Oh damn, I haven't thought about it," I replied, running my fingers through my hair in distress.
"I honestly have no idea."

Julius would probably spaz at me, and then somehow keep me on twenty four surveillance...but I can't lie to him, I'm incapable of lying, as Aileen pointed out numerous times.

"Maybe you two should hang out secretly? I mean, you only have to do it for a year until he leaves. It's technically not lying," Juliet reassured at my frown of disapproval of deceivement.

"I dunno. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," I said as I swung the heavy doors open and allowed my friends to trope into the virtually empty classroom.
***
I sighed in relief at the large red ninety-eight percent on my test paper, though feeling slightly irritated at myself for misspelling Charon, Plutos moon, with Chiron.

I could of gotten hundred percent if I wasn't careless and rushing at the time, I seethed, and glanced over at Juliet's buried head in her arms.

"Oi, class hasn't started yet and you're sleeping?" I demanded and tugged at a strand of blond hair.
"Mmm should be sleeping now," she muttered and removed her askew glasses to make herself comfortable.
I shook my head and started on some leftover homework while Rosaline beside her again and again tried not to fall prey to tiredness by reading a manga that Juliet had given her-though her eyes fluttering more slowly as she read.

"You got hundred percent?!" I heard a blond Ravenclaw exclaim in surprise, to his read haired desk neighbour.
"You didn't even study for this te-" The blond was cut off by a playful punch to the arm.

Sometimes life is so fair, I thought as I berated myself even more for the misspelling.
"You look so mad now," Rosaline commented.
"What did you get, a sixty percent?"
"Ninety-eight," I replied.
"Why are you so mad about that? I got a eight-five and I'm pleased!" Rosaline exclaimed.
"I misspelled Charon with Chiron! Which is a completely different thing! I was this close," I pinched my index and thumb together in frustration,"this damn close to perfection! And all because some Greek twit decided to call two very different figures similar names!" As I finished my ravings, I felt two familiar mismatched eyes on me,watching with amusement.

I rolled my eyes at him, scribbled on a piece of parchment, and held it up to him to see.

Shut up. I only mucked up the 'I' and the 'A'.

I suddenly felt with dread something climbing up me , which almost sent me flying backwards if it weren't for Juliet holding my chair upright.

"What's wrong with you?" Asked Rosaline, a confused expression on her face.
"Something was climbing up my-" I broke off as I looked down at my lap to find a- very live looking parchment made cat.
As I reached out to touch it, the paper kitten unfolded, and a neatly written message could be read:
I didn't even learn for the test.
Was all it said.
I knew that this kind of advanced magic could only come from one person, but how he was able to do that was beyond me.

I wrote something under his message and watched it refold itself up into a cat and padd its way to Aileen.
He unfolded it and read:

I knew everything that was in the damn test!
It was just a spelling mistake! And you didn't study for it? Tut,tut,tut...what happened to the model student I know?

The little parchment kitten padded back to me, this time not even waiting to be unfolded.

The word: Tired
Had been scribbled on to the parchment.

I didn't even have time to think of a response as Professor Kestrel, a tiny, pixie like woman called the class to attention, which prompted me to kick my friends awake, only to be used as a pillow as the lessons went on.
****
I noticed a small commotion around Aileen at the end of class.
Two of his roommates were fervently trying to drag him off to Merlin knows where, but Aileen seemed annoyed- almost angry at whatever they were discussing.

"Come on! This is a once a year event, we have to celebrate it!" I heard the dark haired boy's excited voice as him and the blonde- who I had learned was called Aberforth, tried to convince Aileen to celebrate some sort of event.

"I'd drop it before he gets mad..." Aberforth whispered to the raven haired boy, and tried to pull him away from an now- energetical book in his backpack throwing Aileen.
"What? No, he's not even annoyed yet," the raven boy complained, as he shook of Aberforth's iron grip on his arm and walked closer to Aileen.
"Come on Lee," the boy started, making me raise an eyebrow at the nickname the boy had given Aileen, which made the later stop dead in his movements- clutching a defenseless black leather book in his hand.

The raven haired boy however seemed to either not have noticed the- almost agonised expression on Aileen's face, or he simply did not care for Aberforth's now not so subtle attempts of dragging him away.

"You can't expect us to just not want to celebrate today man! We're your friends!" The raven haired continued in an exasperated voice, looking back at the blond for some sort of support.
The blond however shook his head and mouthed something that seemed suspiciously like: You're on your own mate.

"Urgh, fine! So I'm your friend!" He exclaimed, running his hands through his- already in every direction sticking raven hair.
"Lets go celebrate! Stop being so upright and proper! Live a little for Merlin's sake!"

Aileen's response however obviously wasn't what the boy had expected, the death glare that he received was so powerful, that I could have sworn a Dementor had just swooped into the room and sucked all of the happiness from them.

The- to my otherwise happy, no... not happy, but at least somewhat content Aileen was looking at his- self proclaimed friend with such coldness, that I couldn't help being relieved that his glare wasn't directed towards me.

Maybe I should rescue the poor sod. Just in case he terrifies the sanity out of his friends.

"Hey, Aileen," I began with Rosaline and Juliet, now widely awake, trailing after me.
"We need to discuss how you screwed up step twenty six in the Polyjuice potion."

Hey, it was the first thing in my mind...even if it'll send him more into a rage.

Aileen's eyebrow twitched dangerously at the interruption, and he directed his still cold gaze towards me.

"You shouldn't have said that, he's already at the verge of blowing something up..." Said a- suddenly next to me standing, paler than ever looking Aberforth.

"I'm sure it's something that can be remedied easily. What did you guys suggest to him? Skinny dipping in the lake?" I asked while drawing closer to the group.
"That might actually have gotten a better reaction than this..." The raven haired muttered and swallowed drily.
"It's..." Aberforth started whilst looking back and forth between his two friends.
"Aileen here, has officially turned twelve five minutes ago- he's been avoiding us ever since we found out."

"Oh." I replied,
Damn...why has nobody told me this earlier? What am I supposed to get him in the next twenty four hours?

"Well, happy birthday to you Aileen but we really need to sort out this problem now...." I wavered, eager to put Aileen out of his misery.
However, contrary to my expectations Aileen's expression became one of annoyance, and he simply took his school bag and left the classroom- his robes billowing behind him like in those old time Muggle Vampire movies that Juliet had told me about.
"Talk about a dramatic entrance..." the raven haired muttered, seemingly coming out of his trance.
"He just left Simon, that wasn't an entrance..." Retorted Aberforth, he then gave us three a quick nod and went after Aileen.
"Well he just entered the corridors!" Simon called after him, frantically packing his belongings together.

"Wait! Idiots..." I muttered under my breath.
"You guys already aggravated him...and also you are boys,which means you're tactless idiots," I muttered this under my breath,"so leave this to me. I'll deal with him."

"I wouldn't go after him if I were you," said a now suddenly serious Simon.
"Even Momo has been avoiding him, and that cat is like his shadow."
"Don't worry! I know how to handle him. He wouldn't dare harm a girl," I replied with false confidence. I turned to Juliet and Rosaline.
"Don't follow me. Please. No offence, but you know he sorta..."
"We got it." Juliet replied with understanding.
"Thanks." I broke off in a sprint, heading towards the Ravenclaw tower

"Oi! Aileen! Wait, wait up! There's no need to freak, I was making something up so your friends don't die of fright!" I yelled after a figure twenty metres in front of me.

"Oh...its you Aberforth. Whoops."
I muttered.
"The enthusiasm in your voice is refreshing." The blond replied with an almost identical expressionless face to Aileen's, if it weren't for the obvious arrogance in his eyes.

Aileen is a bad influence, I thought, tilting my chin up defiantly in response to the boy's arrogance.
Typical Ravenclaws! I've beaten him in every single damn test we had, so don't you dare turn your nose up at me!

"Is it? Never mind...Aileen's probably gone wandering again. Goodnight Mayel," I retorted stiffly,trying to stop my voice from going frigid.

"You might want to go after him..." Aberforth muttered almost inaudibly, looking off to where Aileen had probably run off to.
"Merlin only knows what's going on in his head- I'd try the seventh floor, there's a room there that only appears if you're really looking for it, walk past the bare wall three times and think of what you want to find behind it. Good luck."
Aberforth took one last glance at me and then made his way back to where they came from.

"Oh, thank you." I called after him, and took off to the nearest staircase

Maybe Mayel isn't too bad after all.
***
I slumped against the wall, exhausted after my run around the castle.

Good grief. Thank god I have a pass...I thought and raised my head to the wall.
Ok.
So walk past three times and think about what I want to find, which is Aileen.
Ugh! I don't wanna move...

I lifted my protesting legs and started pacing past the wall, thinking determinedly
I need to find Aileen,at the place where he is.

This is stupid, what room would-

My thoughts were cut off by a door suddenly appearing, as if it had been there the whole time. I stared, stunned that this whimsical room actually existed.

But of course, I thought as I advanced to the door and slowly opened it.
This was where the Hogwarts refugees fled to during the Death Eaters regime in nineteen ninety eight.

I found myself in a dimly lit room filled with books-many I noted weren't bounded parchment books like the norm, but the more older ones looked like flattened pieces of bamboo tied together with string, written in Chinese characters. The walls and floors were of a deep green colour, that gave me the feeling of being in the Slytherin dorms.
A colourless potion was steaming away, shooting bring that sparks in the air from the cauldron.

Aileen half forgotten, I picked up a piece of parchment with the human body drawn out with labels like dian tian, chi, Ching, medians and flow of life force.

"Is this why you never sleep?"
I murmured as I scanned the parchment.

I felt an all too familiar warm and furry being gently pressing itself against my legs- almost as if it wanted to distract me.
"Momo..." I muttered and picked the meowing cat up.
"Sorry for this morning...but you know I was being yelled at,right?" I told him as he lay content on my lap.
"Now, what is this all about?" I asked as I picked up one of the heavy books on the table next to the-with clear liquid filled cauldron, and suddenly felt like being sucked into darkness.