Chapter Seventeen

I was glad to return to school early the next morning. My father was still horrified about what happen last night and kept reminding me of the danger that if anyone saw...I would be in trouble. Little did he know how Selina was dangling it over my head for her own protection. I politely said goodbye to the Beckinghams and truly said goodbye to Sofia, wishing her the best of luck back in Scotland. Selina came down and muttered in a dreamy tone, "Goodbye family. Have a lovely day." She continued walking straight out the door. Her family seemed surprised, but I just simply rolled my eyes at her. She had no idea how much trouble she got herself into. When was she going to stop this? It was only going to get worse.

We caught the very first ferry. I watched as Selina stood on the very tip of the boat as we took off with a large smile on her face until the wizard controlling the boat told her to sit down. She was being careless, one of the major effects. As we arrived, other ferries were coming in at the same time. I spotted Idella and Colin not far behind with Emmie, Annabelle, and Wiley. Idella spotted me and waved as the rest took off in different directions. She passionately kissed Colin before he joined his friends who all began teasing him, but the smile on Colin's face said he didn't care what they thought. "You survived!" she said once she reached me and I laughed. "Is that snow?" she then said looking up at the white sky as snow began to fall. It was in fact freezing out.

"I managed," I joked hugging her.

"This isn't what I wanted to come back too," someone said with a bitter laugh and we turned to see a even tanner Charlie standing behind us as he hugged us both. Charlie was not a fan of snow. He seemed to be in a good mood otherwise.

"I have so much to tell you," Idella then said to the two of us.

"Me too," Charlie and I said at the same time. We all looked at one another with grins.

"Let's go inside though," I added motioning up to the falling snow. "Charlie you first." I knew what he was going to say already and I was right. Charlie quickly told us as we walked into the castle that yesterday a different owl came for him. The letter was from the school board saying he is allowed to participate on the Quidditch team under probation. I guess Selina pulled through. "You next," I said to Idella.

"So you know how I never met any other relatives than my immediate family?" she said as we nodded. "Well, even though my parents are only children and all, they still have cousins right? Over break I overheard my mother talking about her second cousin, Arthur Weasley, contacting her over break."

"Weasley...why does that sound so familiar?" I wondered aloud.

"Ron Weasley!" Idella then exclaimed. "Harry Potter's best friend at Hogwarts." The Weasley family was always in the UK Daily Prophet when we had access to it, especially Ron. I remember seeing that name all the time. "They're my second cousins!"

"No way," Charlie said. "Why was he trying to contact your mom?"

"I don't know," Idella replied disappointed. "If one of the Weasley's were trying to contact her, I'm assuming it has something to do with what's going on. I researched a bit and found out that Arthur Weasley was part of an organization that fought against You-Know-Who in the first war. He must be looking for more help."

"Wow," I said. "Well things are getting really bad, especially with that Azkaban breakout. You-Know-Who's side is growing, so that would make complete sense." They both agreed with me.

"I doubt my parents will help. If anything they'll just go into hiding," Idella said rolling her eyes.   "But I want to help. So if Arthur Weasley does come looking I want to help." Once again Charlie and I agreed with her. If there was ever a time where they did need outside help, I would do it without a doubt.

"What did you want to tell us Bradley?" Charlie said as we walked.

"Let's go somewhere quiet," I then said. We went to a more isolated part of the castle near the owlery. Charlie wasn't too happy with my choice of location, but I couldn't risk anyone overhearing me. I told them everything Great Grandmother Lucille told me and pulled the 'borrowed' Daily Prophet out of my pocket. That's when I explained the conversation I heard between Cal and Lucius. Unlike my father, they agreed with everything I told them. Cal most definitely was working with the Death Eaters. After I covered everything about the war, I told them about Selina and Icorany. I could trust them not to tell anyone.

"Tell on her!" Idella yelled. "She'll get expelled or arrested." Charlie seemed to shocked for words. His mouth fell open.

"I can't," I replied with a groan. "It's not even that I want to get her in trouble, I just don't want her to get hurt because of this. She overheard me telling my Great Grandmother about my...situation." They both stared wide eyed. "She said a secret for a secret."

"That bitch," muttered Idella lowly.

"Selina," Charlie muttered horrified while shaking his head and ignoring Idella. "We have to help her."

"Good luck," I replied. "She is pretty much the definition of a lost cause."

Classes were resuming tomorrow morning so I got right back into studying. Not only did I have to keep up with my classes, but I had to keep up with my N.E.W.T.s and apparition exam as well. Sixth year was by far the hardest one yet. The library was my best option for a nice silent area to study considering everyone would be returning to their dorms today. Once I pushed through the library doors I came to a stop. Kent was sitting in one of the chairs staring out one of the windows. I have always thought of him as being good looking, but seeing him now after finding out he likes me, he was perfect. Smiling to myself, I watched as he turned at the sound of the door closing and smiled himself. "Thought I would find you hear," he said standing up and walking over to me. "Did you get my letter?" He got closer as I nodded. "I hope-" Before he could even finish that sentence I stood on the very tips of my toes and leaned in, kissing him hard on the lips. At first he seemed taken by surprise but quickly kissed me back while placing his arms around my waist. Slowly I stepped back. "Well I assume you did get my letter then," he said as a bright smile appeared on my face.

"Yes," I answered.

"Bradley I'm truly sorry. I wasn't thinking," he said shaking his head.

"It's fine. I completely understand," I replied brushing it off. He was caught between two friends. It was a difficult position. Slowly he laced his fingers with mine. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out exactly. Were we going to remain a secret? Or were we going to finally let people know? In this moment I didn't care, I was happy.

The next morning classes went back to being difficult. The teachers didn't hold back on us, especially Professor Halliwell who went back to forcing us to work on our patronuses. Excitingly, I managed to conjure a strange shape. It wasn't a full patronus as I couldn't identify the creature but it was much more than an orb. Professor Halliwell for once seemed to be impressed with me. Selina never showed up to Care of Magical Creatures and I can only imagine why. Immediately after classes we had a meeting on apparition lessons. We would begin practicing after winter break, but there was a lot to study if we wanted to be ready. Jumping right into apparating usually resulted in splinching...and no one wanted that.

As I was walking down the halls, Kent appeared from the corner. I smiled hoping he would be waiting for me. "I'm glad I caught you," he said looking at me with those bright blue eyes. "Would you like to walk?" I nodded as I took his hand. We stepped outside the castle and it was just in time to catch the sun setting over the ocean horizon. We took a seat near a large leafless willow tree.

"How beautiful," I said thinking out loud and Kent smiled. "I never asked how your break was," I then said to him.

"It was alright," he answered. "Boring really. I found out about Nephele and Thomas." He shook his head angrily. I figured he would catch on eventually. "Almost put Thomas through a wall yesterday in the dorm room. Other than that, it was uneventful. My Grandfather didn't want us leaving the house very much."

"Kent," I began saying and paused not knowing how he was going to react. "I never really heard much about your family, other than Nephele, what are they like?" He nodded, knowing the answer I was looking for.

"I know I don't talk about it very much," he answered quietly. "No one really knows much about our family, except Grant of course. Nephele hasn't told any of our friends the real truth." I wondered why. "Our parents are from England. My mother Lana, I barely remember her, disappeared right after Nephele was born. Right around the time the first war was at its peak. We never found out what happened to her, but after years of searching they declared her dead." How horrible. "My father...well..." Kent hesitated. "He's in Azkaban." My eyes widened for a split second before I kept my face at neutral look, not wanting to think I was horrified or anything. We can't choose our families. "He was a Death Eater...or is a Death Eater I suppose." It hit me, that Azkaban breakout. No wonder his grandfather didn't want him leaving the house.

"Are you safe?" I asked him worried and he nodded. It was hard for me to imagine Kent's father being a Death Eater. Kent was far from what they stood for.

"I'm more than sure my father could careless about us and has no desire to go after us," Kent answered shrugging. "But one can never be too cautious. Anyways, my mothers side of the family were all killed in the war. My father was raised by his father, my grandfather, who knew what he was doing was wrong. Right after my mother disappeared, my grandfather came for Nephele and I. He brought us here to the US to keep us hidden. Not long after our father was imprisoned but we never went back."

"Wow. I had no idea," I replied not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry."

"We're safe here, it's all for the better I suppose." He paused once more. "What's your family like?" he asked me. I realized I never told him much about my family either. If anything I would mention my father. Grant and I never really talked about our family lives, so no wonder he had no idea.

"My mother and brother were killed in a muggle car accident before I came to Salem," I answered. He seemed completely surprised.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

"It was horrible," I said. "I think about them every day though. It's just my father and I."

Quickly we moved to a much lighter subject. I felt horrible for him having such a rough half and couldn't get over the fact that his father was a Death Eater. I wonder how terrifying it was for him to find out about the Azkaban breakout. We switched to talking about our favorite books and muggle inventions just before he kissed me again. A second into the kiss I spotted movement from behind me and slowly pulled back. "What's wrong?" Kent asked with a laugh. I stared behind him as Kent slowly turned his head. Thomas and Grant stood in the distance staring at us. Thomas looking surprised while Grant looked beyond raged.