Hogwarts: Era of Darkness

It was a sunny morning as Quincy, and I walked out from the estate, following the road towards the nearby town, listening to the snow being crunched up under our boots. None of us said anything, as there was a kind of weird shyness between us… I don't know why. It wasn't my first time being alone with her, nor will it be the last. But… I think it has to do with what Father told me yesterday. It was simply too important and shocking to process in only one night, and I guess my weirdness was too easily detectable, spreading onto Quincy too.

"Did… something happen?" She asked finally as we walked a far distance away from the mansion.

"Well… kinda. Yes." I nodded, not wanting to lie to her. "A lot… in fact."

"Is it bad? That is why you look like you ate a lemon for breakfast? With its shell and everything?"

"Errr…" I grimaced, making her frown, "No, it is not bad per se… but weird, okay?"

"Aaaaand…" She stopped, putting her hands on her waist, watching me with a raised eyebrow. Her hot breath produced a steamy cloud between us, and just when it dissolved, another appeared as she continued breathing like some dragon mistress, eyeing me as some kind of prey, "Are you going to tell me or what?"

“Okay, okay… I will… but only if-”

"If?" She wrinkled her nose, which was… cute. I mean… "If it starts with an 'if,' that means it is about me?"

"Sharp." I don't know if I ever spoke that out, but I guess I did because her eyebrows started to furrow close together, waiting for me to continue. "Let's start with the unimportant part, then!" I cleared my throat, deciding to try and… get myself a bit more time before facing her highly plausible wrath.

"Go on." She nodded, with one leg tapping the snow-covered sidewalk like a beaver making a dam out of branches and mud.

"Well, Father will collect everything I need for the ritual. Then we need a magical snake that I can use as a sacrifice."

"I see…" She stopped her feet from moving, considering it, but I saw it in her eyes; she was partially disgusted by the idea.

"The second thing is, you are going to be engaged to me."

"I see…" She said it in the exact same tone.

"Um…"

"Hm?" She looked at me, tilting her head, her arms crossed before her chest.

Now it was my turn to be bewildered. This… was not what I was expecting. Did she not hear me? What was going on? I guess my face was betraying me, and I saw her lips curl and then burst into a laugh.

"Now I have seen everything!" She added amidst her laughter, pointing at me, "Your face looks really stupid right now! Do you know that?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, finally remembering to move my eyelids up and down.

"I was expecting it the moment my grandmother sent me here for the vacation!" She said, without any anger in her tone, trying to reign in her laughs. "I was mostly worried your Father would refuse it!"

"Only if I had said no…."

"So you said yes?" She questioned me as a slight redness crept up her face.

"..." I could not answer that just like that… the word 'yes' was stuck in my throat, making my face redder and redder by the second.

"Good…" She murmured, making me breathe through my nose, masking myself with a small cloud. "I will be at much more ease like this, knowing I won't be sent off to some creep or something!"

"Y-yeah…"

"Don't worry, I won't be like your mom; we can discuss it if you find a girl! As friends do!"

“Y-yes… as… friends…”

Why was I so flustered? What was going on? And why did I feel annoyed that she was talking about it like this?! Damn it! This was not making any sense!

"Well!" She fixed her clothes and started walking again, not looking at me, probably for the same reason I was avoiding her eyes too. "Let's go; I am curious about the town you mentioned! Is it far?"

"N-no!" I shook my head, catching up, "We will be there soon!"

What was going on… why… why couldn't I settle down? Damn it, Dad… did you… Did you cast some hex on me yesterday? Since I woke up this morning, my stomach has been… acting funny, now spreading that weird, contracting feeling to my chest even!

…
….
……

Arriving in town, it was like stepping into a different reality from the silent and peaceful scenery we were walking through. Now, instead of watching snow-covered trees, the landscape was dotted with hundreds of cottages made out of red brick or gray stone, and atop their thatched roofs, their chimneys were letting out thick, white smoke as a fire blazed inside of them all, warming their interiors. Because it was a nice day, with the sun out, shining down from between two patches of clouds, many of the residents were walking on and about, greeting one another, shoveling snow, or heading to a small market square that was always open on the weekends.

"Why don't they use magic?" Quincy asked me as we walked down the main street, past a middle-aged man, wiping the sweat from his forehead, just finishing clearing the walkway to his home of the thick snow.

"Rules," I answered with a lowered voice. "And not the Ministry ones, but my Father's! Even if the muggles here know about magic, those who are capable of using it are made to swear that they only do so when amongst themselves!"

"Worried about… spies?" She asked with an even lower whisper, looking around to make sure nobody was hearing us talk.

"Kinda… yes. Although this is our territory, people can come and go… especially from the Ministry or from HIS Inquisitionary Squad! So best to not pull on the tiger's whisker!"

"Hehe… I did not hear that one yet."

"I picked it up here." I shrugged but with a smile, "Come! It is Sunday, and the market should be open! Neville should be out; I'll introduce you to him!"

"Who?" She asked, and before I knew it, I was holding her hand, dragging her along. By the time I realized what I had done, it was too late to let go, but… she wasn't complaining at all and just held onto me firmly.

"Neville… He is a… mudblood. Father said he took him in and hid him because he has great talents!"

"Your family is playing with fire!" She murmured, but it was not in a tone that made it into a complaint. No. I distinctly felt she was saying as if she started admiring my Father.

"Well, without risk, no real reward comes!"

"Another saying?" She asked, and I nodded.

"From Squeaky."

"No way!"

"Yep!" I giggled, "Anyway, come!"

It didn't take long to arrive at the main square where small, wooden booths had been erected, and in one of them, a young boy the same age as us was handing out hot wine punch and tea along with sweet-smelling cakes.

"Yo, Neville!" I laughed, arriving.

"Oh… Hi Conrad!" He greeted me, a bit surprised that I was not alone. "H-Hello." He nodded at Quincy, looking at me questioningly.

"She is Quincy Black!" I introduced her leisurely, knowing full well that Neville would get nervous when meeting new people. He always was… but he also was one of the few kids my age here who had the gift of magic, and we could play together when I visited the town. "Quincy, he is Neville Levingston."

"Good to meet you!" Quincy bowed courteously, greeting him with a friendly smile, just as I heard something clank loudly nearby.

Looking at the source, I saw a man with graying, greasy hair fumbling with pots and cauldrons not far from here as he dropped a whole box of them. He was trying to not look at us, but I was sure he ogled at Quincy, making my brows furrow. I knew who he was… Jack Rubio is one of the families taking care of Neville. Somehow, besides being an orphan, Neville was being taken care of by not one but four muggle families at once. He was living with them randomly, depending on who had time to care for him. I always found it most peculiar, but… muggles were always weird. Even if they knew about magic. Watching the bizarre look Jack gave Quincy, like a hungry wolf seeing prey for the first time, I felt like flicking out my wand and casting a curse at him. I did not like that look… it made me… uneasy.

"Oh, it is just Jack…." Neville said, leaning out of his booth, looking around, searching for the source of the commotion, "He injured himself a few days ago but refuses to stay put! Now look at him… making a mess! Uncle Erius won't be happy!" He smiled, and sure enough, a loud roar came from the closest house, and another, a shoddy-looking man rushed out in a wooly coat, shouting at him… it was his elder brother, Erius Rubio. He also glanced at us… no, at Quincy once, but his eyes were much more collected, less wild, returning to shout at his brother before dragging him away. "Those two are always at each other's throats!" Neville sighed, turning back towards us.

"I can see that," Quincy said, her voice a bit distant, just like her eyes.

"What is it?" I asked, concerned a little.

"Nothing… I just had… a weird feeling looking at him."

"He was weird…." I murmured through gritted teeth.

"Yeah… yeah, he was." She agreed with me, shaking her head and turning back to Neville and his booth. "Which one is your suggestion for a first-timer?" She asked him with a friendly smile.

"Oh… um, this one!" Neville thought momentarily, getting a big, brown muffin out and placing it before her. "It is filled with vanilla pudding, but I added a very little Tanomer leaf into it while whipping it up!"

"A what?" Both of us asked, but Quincy already bit into it, her eyes lighting up and shivering with ecstasy. "This is so good!" She moaned, and now, for some reason… I was not so sure I should have introduced the two to each other. Luckily, that thought flew out of my head the next moment as she shoved it directly into my mouth so I should take a bite too… and I could see that my face went just as red as Neville's, who was looking at us.

"Damn…" I moaned, still munching on a piece, "Neville, this is bloody awesome!"

"T-thanks!" He stammered, but from his eyes, he was clearly delighted to hear the praise. "Tanome leaf has the effect of relieving any type of exhaustion, be it the mind or the body! I made sure to add very, very little, keeping the dosage at a tolerable level! In too many quantities, it could be… addicting."

"Neville…" I gasped, and Quincy barely stopped herself from taking a third bite, still nibbling on the second. "This sounds very… dangerous."

"It is not! I… I tested it; it is safe!" He panicked.

"You would fit well into our House if you were allowed to go to Hogwarts…." I grinned, watching him becoming even more flustered. "Cooking up things like this, you plant maniac!"

"I am not a maniac!"

"Ahahaha, are you sure? What do you say, Quincy?"

"Well…" She wiped her mouth, putting down the last piece of the muffin. "He is still not as bad as you."

"Ugh… right at the throat!" I moaned with a laugh and grabbed the last piece, and threw it into my mouth. "But true!"

With that, all three of us laughed, breaking the ice between Neville and Quincy entirely, as he became even more chatty, the kind of Neville that I knew well… but I also noticed something else. Many eyes were watching us, especially from the Rubio family's cottage. I couldn't see them directly… but I felt them. I knew they were watching us from behind the curtains… I just didn't know why. It surely was not me, as I walked amongst them all the years I lived here, and they never looked at me like this. So that only left us with… Quincy.

"But why?" I asked myself, but I knew full well the answer to that question was not something that I could have pried from their mouths. Not now, anyway.