Uncharted

Lilly really wasn’t much help. I didn’t expect her to know much about it all, but still, a surprise would have been nice. Instead, she told me, “You know, some Gryffindors found two old boats.”

I raised my right brow, “What?”

She shrugged, “I didn’t ask for the details. They fixed them up and they want to take it out on the Black Lake today.”

I nodded, “When?”

Lilly shrugged again, “I don’t know. I think in about an hour.”

I stayed silent.

She smirked, “You’re chill with Gryffindors now, right? Maybe you can get us on.”

I laughed, “Do you really want to go boating that badly?”

She grinned and leaned forward.

I laughed again and stood up. I walked over to my wardrobe and searched for a few minutes for my swimsuit. Lilly got the hint and started to look for hers, too. She found her silver bikini and put it on quickly with a thin, Slytherin Green short beach dress. I carefully slipped into my deep, metallic orange, almost a gold, one piece; the sides are cut out, the back of the suit is basically a magically durable, one inch wide lace string that connects the back of the butt all the way up the back of the tube top. The front of the tube top part holds up my breasts like a secure push-up bra with a gathered look between the two cups, but the back of it gradually turns into thin arrow shaped pieces that are connected by the lace. A four-inch wide strip that’s shaped like numerous, falling yet connected swirls, covers the middle of the front of my torso.

Lilly looked at me and whistled jokingly.

I blushed lightly and laughed.

“Why don’t you think you’re gorgeous?”

I shrugged, “I’m just average.”

She rolled her eyes.

I looked at her seriously. “You’re beautiful, Lilly.”

She smiled.

“You have fair skin and lovely black hair and just stunning blue eyes. We’ve been working out together since Second Year. Have you ever just looked at yourself? You’re fine.”

She laughed and blushed.

I smiled and found a light, white, and short beach dress. I slipped it on, found my black flip-flops, and walked out of our dormitory with Lilly. We chatted about whether or not I should still run the every-other-day group workouts for the Slytherin Quidditch team, but when we got to the common room I stopped dead in my tracks. She turned to look at me and said, “What?”

I cocked my head to the left and placed my hands on my hips. “With the exception of you, I don’t give a flyin’ fuck for the Slytherin team. They can kiss my brown ass.”

She laughed.

The blonde one was with his two friends and peeped up, “Where are you from?”

Lilly smirked; she would mock me for his conversation starter once we left the common room.

I drew in a deep breath, “Several places.”

He raised his right brow as if I’m retarded. “Like?”

I rolled my eyes and started to walk away. “I’m Egyptian, African—”

Lilly used a seductive tone and added, “Persian.”

I nodded.

He smirked, “Egypt’s in Africa—”

I sighed loudly to convey my annoyance. “Thank you Marco Polo. Your geographic knowledge is life changing. If only you understood ethnic and physical differences for regions.”

Lilly and I walked out of the common room before he could respond. She immediately exploded with laughter; I suppressed an amused smile and ignored her snickers. She mocked me all the way to the shoals of the Black Lake; we walked in to our mid calves before we saw the Gryffindors and their two boats, one red, one gold. Lilly waved at them while we started to walk toward each other. Oliver was helping pushing the red boat into the lake, so I asked him, “Do you guys have room for two more?”

Oliver looked at his friends and shrugged, “Can you swim well on your own?”

Lilly and I nodded.

Oliver turned to talk to Stewart, Anthony, Andrew, and Owen, but then Angelina said, “Just jump on board with us. Katie and I would love the extra female company.”

I laughed and said, “Ok, thanks.” Lilly followed me lead and climbed up into the wooden, painted red, boat. We sat across from Angelina and Katie and started conversation with them while the boys continued to push the boats into the lake. They jumped into the boats once they got into deep enough water; they went back and forth from paddling us and using a decent propeller they made in Transfiguration and Charms. I preferred the use of the paddles, but that’s just because it forced the boys to flex beautifully and not realize how much I was checking them out. Angelina saw me check them out and laughed at me; I laughed at her when I caught her.

After a while of gossip and girl talk, Angelina sighed and asked me, “Why did they make Marcus captain instead of you? You’re much better than him.”

I shrugged, “Maybe because I’m muggle born, maybe because I’m brown. Maybe the think he’s better than me.”

Angelina laughed. “Probably because you’re muggle born.”

I nodded and stared out at the beautiful coves and the sparkling waves.

Angelina smiled, “I’ve found that muggle society is a lot harsher to people like us than wizarding society is.”

“That’s true,” I nodded, “I’ve definitely encountered more skin color oriented racism in the muggle world, but I’m a muggle born, so I’m still hassled.”

Angelina nodded, “I don’t understand the Slytherin house. It’s supposed to be filled with people who aren’t cruel, just more interested in enlightened self-interest. And yet some of the biggest jerks come from it.”

“Hey there,” Lilly piped up, “Some serious a-holes come from Ravenclaw, too!”

Katie smirked, “That’s true, but Ravenclaw and Slytherin are pretty similar.”

I smirked too, “And so are Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.”

Oliver groaned and said, “I have yet to meet someone from Hufflepuff that isn’t indecisive and ultimately useless in—”

“Hey!” Angelina cut him off, “Cedric is a nice and productive guy.”

“Mmmmmhmm.” I added, “And he’s so fine.”

Lilly and Katie agreed and Angelina smiled with me.

We floated around for a good twenty minutes before Oliver and Stewart finally admitted defeat. They plopped down next to us and sighed. Oliver said, “I’m too tired to paddle anymore, and our propellers are awful.”

Lilly looked at me.

I didn’t move or say anything.

Lilly then volunteered me, “Amena can like… bend elements—”

“It’s not bending,” I squeaked, “It’s just a focused magic.”

She nodded and continued, “Amena can move us.”

They all looked at me.

I sighed and stood up. I took off my dress so that it won’t get too wet; I need it for going back into the castle. Oliver and I accidentally checked one another out at the same time; it was embarrassing and hilarious at the same time.

Angelina walked to the back of the boat to keep me company. She took off her beach dress, too, which exposed her beautiful, white bikini with small red cherries sporadically placed; regardless of the cherries, the white of her bikini really brought out her golden undertones from her smooth, dark skin. She quickly put her long, straight, black hair into a sloppy bun while I calmed myself with a few breathing exercises. I positioned myself into a slight lunge once I felt centered and focused; I started manipulating the water around our boat slowly and gently to make sure I was forcing it in the right direction. It didn’t take me long to get comfortable with it all and start sending us fast enough to feel like a joy ride at a park. I swirled us around and took us all over the lake; it was a beautiful, warm day. The sunlight kept us warm and happy while shining onto the trees and lighting the coves, reflecting like diamonds off the water. We would have continued our fun if we didn’t notice McGonagall scolding the golden boat back at the shoals. It’s early evening now, meaning that we’ve spent many hours out here, so we were bound to be noticed.

She stared at us after she told the others to put the boat back where they originally stored it so that she and Dumbledore may move it later. I sighed and looked at Oliver – good God he’s gorgeous.

He groaned and said, “I guess we have to go in. It was fun while it lasted.”

We all chuckled until I started pushing the boat back to the original shoal we came in on. Stewart, Anthony, Owen and Oliver jumped out and guided the boat back onto the shoal. McGonagall lectured us about safety and school rules along with our irresponsibility. She sighed at the end and told us to do the same with the boat as the golden boat. Lilly grabbed all the towels and jumped out of the boat while Katie gathered the rest of the stuff; there wasn’t a lot left, so they walked back to the castle while the rest of us levitated the boat and walked back to the ever-so-secret storage area near Hagrid’s Hut. I popped back into the boat to search for my dress since I was dry by the time we got to Hagrid’s, but I realized that Lilly mistook it for another towel since they were both white.

Angelina walked in just her swimsuit with me back to the castle so I could feel less awkward and exposed, but we had to part ways once we got inside since I have to go down to the dungeons and she has to go up to the towers.

I’ve never felt more vulnerable in my life. Ever. I started to run back to the common room, but I ended up running smack dab into someone’s chest and falling back on my butt. I flipped my hair out of my face and looked up at a smirking Flint. I sneered at him and got up, but he pushed me back down.

He glared at me and said, “The boys and I have been talking,”

I gulped and looked around; three guys from the team stood near him. I glared up at him again and said, “I didn’t know you could communicate.”

He sneered and rolled his eyes, “We’ve decided that no one person should have so much power.”

I looked at him inquisitively and with confusion, “What are you talking about?”

He smirked, “Especially someone so unworthy.”

I sprung up and went to grab my wand, but then realized that I left it on my nightstand. I repositioned myself into a slight lunge so I could defend myself by concentrating spells into my fingertips. Flint laughed and started to physically fight me; it quickly got rough, so I blew him back the only way my body could, with the breezes in the corridor. He fell back and the other three oafs were blown several feel away. Flint glared at me and went for me. He wouldn’t stopped while I used air, so I blew myself back a few feet and cried out, “I don’t want to hurt you again!”

He rolled his eyes and continued walking toward me.

I gulped, focused severely, and started to hold fire within my palms. I looked up at him, nervously gulped and stuttered out, “I—I don’t want to! Just leave me alone!”

He shouted at me, “You shouldn’t be able to do this!” He came charging at me, so I threw fire at his feet.

“Marcus!” I desperately cried out, “Marcus, stop!”

I hoped the use of his first name would sooth him a bit, but it had no affect. I blasted some fire at him; he dodged it and grabbed something, but I couldn’t see quite see it, so I went to throw more fire. He aimed his wand at me, but his spell was silent, so I drew my right palm out and up, but instead of defending myself against a curse, I situated myself perfectly for him. He blasted ice-cold water on me. Not my stream of fire. Me. My palm. I fell to my knees from the pain and screamed. All my magic was still flowing in my body, but I lost focus; my knees hit the floor and sent shock waves into the ground like an earthquake blasted through the castle. His friends rushed away, but Marcus didn’t. He almost sprayed my other hand, but I locked gazes with him and focused my sporadic magic between us. I don’t even know how, or even what I was doing, but we were suddenly connected. Our chests heaved and our bodies started to thrash while lights that looked like mist bursted out of us and floated around, his absorbing into me, and mine into him. Marcus collapsed and fell down next to me. He wasn’t in any physical pain as much as I could tell, but his eyes were wide and very dilated while he struggled to breath regularly.

Our screams of absolute pain filled the whole floor. Snape found us; he looked as feverish and panicked as the blood in my veins felt. He saw Marcus panting and found me clutching my right hand in my left, on the floor, practically choking on my tears. He didn’t ask any questions or say anything. He scooped me up, barked at Marcus to follow him, and ran as fast as he could to the hospital wing. He sent George Weasley – he hurt his shoulder by paddling too vigorously – to get Dumbledore. I don’t know how long it took. My pain was too intense and no one but Dumbledore could help me. I’m sure he just apparated over, but the extent of my pain blurred time and smashed it all into one never-ending moment. Dumbledore stood next to me and forced my right hand out of my left hand. He gently examined it, but I wouldn’t have been able to feel anything he did to it anyway. He told something to the school nurse, but I couldn’t focus on any sounds.

Dumbledore held my crippled hand in his left while blue light came out of the fingertips out of his right hand. They wrapped around my hand, tightened, and then absorbed into them. The same thing happened three times; the blue lights dulled my pain until it no longer existed, the golden-brown lights healed the inside of my hand, and the white light healed the outside of my hand. I stared up at him; it took me a good ten minutes to be able to breathe and think at the same time, but when I could, I croaked out, “Thank you.”

Dumbledore nodded and whispered, “What happened?”

I swallowed the little bit of spit in my mouth and used my left hand to wipe the sweat off my brows and lids. I gulped and drew in a deep breath. My voice worked, but it was scratchy, so I quietly replied. “I was walking back to the Slytherin house…” I drew in another deep breath, “We were boating. Miss McGonagall told us to stop, to back.”

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkled with a hint of youthful memories, “I saw you.”

I smiled weakly.

“I’m proud of how far you’ve come. You’ve really focused your abilities.”

I smiled a little wider.

Dumbledore then nodded to tell me to continue the story.

I focused on calming myself for a few minutes before saying, “I ran into Marcus. I fell down, he kept me down,” I started to rush out the rest, “We started to fight. I told him to stop. He wouldn’t stop. I started to use fire. He blasted water onto my hand—”

Snape suddenly snapped and started to yell at Marcus about the dangers of what he did. How he almost killed me, how that kind of blow wouldn’t have just injured my hands, but made them unable to work. And since I was still channeling a lot of magic, it could have made me literally explode.

Dumbledore quieted Snape and then asked me, “How did you stop him from going further.”

My brain felt like a tornado. I shrugged and rushed out, “I looked at him. In his eyes. We, we—”

Dumbledore quietly gasped with slight excitement.

I looked up at Dumbledore. “What? Sir, what—”

He sat down in the chair next to my bed and said, “I never taught you how to control everything, Amena. I didn’t think you were this powerful.”

I tried to sit up, but my body was unbelievably sore, so I just turned my head to the right to look at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore continued, “You first only could channel the magic, Amena. The literal magic in your body. Your magic didn’t need a wand; you just needed to master basic skills. But then you erupted with potential.”

I smiled weakly.

“I taught you how to focus your magic, then I showed you how to control the elements around you. You already could do that, but you couldn’t do it safely.”

I nodded.

Dumbledore leaned forward, rested his folded arms on his lap, and whispered, “I always wondered if you could do the same with spirit. I never knew if you could or couldn’t, how you would blossom, but—”

“Sprit?” I squeaked and smiled with desperation.

Dumbledore nodded. “You needed him to stop.”

I nodded.

“He wouldn’t.”

I nodded again.

“Your mind couldn’t help anymore, so your body kicked into a stage of survival.”

I nodded to show that I understand.

He smiled again and whispered so softly I almost missed it, “You’re not a murderer. You don’t want to hurt people. So instead of killing him, ripping out his essence, you just mixed it.”

I could feel a panic attack coming. My mind was too flustered. I squeaked, “Wha—What?”

Dumbledore gently pushed my slowly falling bangs out of my eyes. “The only way to keep you alive was to make sure he felt the need for survival, too.”

I stayed silent.

Dumbledore swallowed his excess spit. “Half of you lives in him, and half of him lives in you.”

“What?” I half screamed, half squeaked.

“You didn’t know what was happening. You couldn’t stop it.”

Complete silence and gaping jaws.

The corners of Dumbledore’s lips twitched. “You’re literal soul mates now.”

I rolled my head back into neutral spine. I couldn’t handle this. I won’t. I sprung up; Snape grabbed my right bicep, so I slapped my left hand onto his and blasted cold air onto it so he’d automatically let go. I jumped onto Marcus’ bed and straddled him. I was about to punch him, and he me, but then we made eye contact and everything stopped. I felt my heart jolt outward, as if it’s natural place was to intertwine my arteries with his. We both started to convulse; Dumbledore pulled me off and placed me back in my bed. Dumbledore instructed Snape on how to calm Marcus while Dumbledore calmed my body.