The Staff of Dreams

Malicia and Lia were surprised to see so many people gathered within one small place, all looking rather puzzled and amazed to see so many people from their past gathered together. For many it would be the first reunion of students from their time at Hogwarts and for others it would be their only.

To say the usually tidy office was cramped was an understatement at the very least. Harry and Ron on the other hand, didn’t seem at all surprised by the amount of people who had arrived at Minerva’s request. Considering the happenings that had been going on for the last few weeks, a gathering of people willing to risk their neck to defend the wizarding world if need be was bound to happen sooner or later. The last time such a threat had risen, the alarm had been sounded too late. Harry’s guess was that they were trying to avoid a similar situation.

Besides, it was good to know who had your back in a sticky situation. At least that was what Harry Potter had realized after having fought Voldemort so many years ago on numerous occasions. If there was one lesson he’d learned through years of stubbornness it was that there was strength in numbers and to know who your allies were.

“Now that our guests of honor have arrived we can get started.” The powerful voice of Minerva McGonagall cut through the mindless chatter that had filled the crowded room. Amongst the crowd was Luna Lovegood who was perhaps the only one who didn’t look confused or alarmed, George Weasley, one of Ron’s older brothers, the professors of Hogwarts, Seamus Finnigan, Dennis Creevey, Padma and Parvati Patil, as well as many other alumni of Wizarding School. It was peculiar, but also thrilling, to see so many people from their past gathered in one place.

“We’re the guests of honor.” Lia whispered comically before taking a seat near the far end of the room with Malicia. Despite the intense situation that had transpired, she hadn’t lost her sense of humor. Chairs had been summoned by the Headmistress to accommodate the many people who were gathered inside the now overly crowded office. Minerva shot Lia a glance that clearly told her to be quiet. It was like being in fourth year Transfiguration all over again.

“As you are all aware, and some of you have already heard the story thanks to our staff that preferred to remain extremely well informed ahead of schedule, there were intruders within our school today and they were not apprehended.” Minerva stood before her desk, hands behind her back and her lips tight across her face. “I’m sure you’re wondering what this has to do with any of you other than most of you have students starting term.”

“I suspect we all have a small idea as to what it has to do with us.” Luna raised her hand and spoke, much like she would have done in an old classroom setting. Everyone in the room turned their eyes to the blond woman who always looked out of place, but comfortable to be so. “The dreams we had a few weeks ago. They all involved the school founders of our old houses. You suspect that this is somehow connected to the break in, or am I wrong?” Luna smiled pleasantly, cocking her head to the side knowingly.

“You are not wrong.” Minerva’s eyes sparkled, pleased by the deduction Luna had made without being given more information concerning the events at hand. “Every one of you reported to me that you’ve suffered nightmares involving your old house’s founder and since then strange things have been transpiring throughout Europe. I figured it was about time we made everyone aware of all the facts that have been uncovered so everyone can be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”

“But if they’re just dreams then why do we have to be on our guard?” Seamus spoke up, walking forward with his arms crossed. While no one was saying what was on their mind, not a person in the room was pleased to be called to arms. The last time any of them had to be on their guard outside of personal matters was when Voldemort had held the entire world in his terrifying grasp. None of the people in the room were hoping to experience something quite like that again within their lifetime. Unfortunately, dark dealings had no time constraints and waited for no one.

“Dreams are far more dangerous than you may think.” Malicia spoke up. A few people in the room groaned to hear her objections. She was as notorious for her wild ideas as Luna Lovegood had been for her beliefs. “Oh, you can roll your eyes all you like, but dreams are a product of our subconscious and for someone to be manipulating that? That’s absolutely terrifying! Think about the gravity of that for a minute. If someone can control the subconscious minds of everyone in this room plus those who may not have been summoned or didn’t come forward then think of what else they may be capable of.” The room fell silent as everyone contemplated the idea of someone getting into their heads and fiddling around with their dreams. It seemed as though no one was keen on the idea.

“Miss Maena is correct. It is powerful magic that’s used to get inside one person’s mind and manipulate it nonetheless a number of people at the same moment. It’s unlike any magic we’ve ever seen. The closest we can compare it to is that of the Imperius curse.” McGonagall paced in front of her desk then turned to address the rapt crowd. “While this may be the reason I gathered you here it is not what I have to tell you. Mr. Potter? Mr. Weasley? I do believe you have some things to share with us.”

“We do?” Ron leaned to whisper to Harry, looking particularly puzzled.

“This morning there was a break in at Wenlock’s Wizarding Menagerie.” There was an audible gasp from Hermione at the other end of the room. “I was assigned to the case and hoped I could catch up with the culprit since we’d been notified pretty quickly. When we arrived on the scene the building was on fire and the wizard running the place had well… been lost.” Harry hung his head in respect for the curator of the library. Hermione had her hands over her mouth, the color drained from her face and Ron was visibly wincing, since he knew just how much his wife loved the library.

“What does this have to do with the dreams we’re having? I mean it’s terribly sad but what exactly does that mean for us?” Padma chimed in, with her hand raised as well. It was hard not to feel like they were back in class after being reunited with their old classmates and their former professor.

“I don’t know.” Harry shook his head. “I have a feeling that it’s connected in some way and I can’t shake it. We’re still working on recovering any clues that might not have been destroyed in the flames but whoever broke into the library knew what they were doing. In my experience you go with your gut.”

“Kind of peculiar that someone broke in there this morning looking for something and then someone was ballsy enough to break into Hogwarts on the same day, don’t you think?” Ron added in his two cents. “I may not have a feeling about this sort of thing but I don’t think it’s coincidence either.”

“If we can figure out what they were looking for then perhaps we’ll be able to find out who the intruders were by searching for who would require such an item.” Lia contemplated, her fingers tapping nervously against her leg. Deep in her heart she already knew what the man who had ransacked her room had been looking for. While she wasn’t sure what the second man had been after or what had been stolen at the library, Lia couldn’t help but feel that the key around her neck had more to do with what was going on than she could possibly speculate.

“That’s what we’re guessing. The problem is that we don’t really have a clue what they were looking for in that library.” Harry rubbed his messy hair nervously.

“Well, obviously they had to be looking for a book of some kind.” Hermione suddenly stood up from her seat at the other end of the room and rushed over to her husband who slipped his arm around her comfortingly.

“That’s not fair, books are her answer for everything.” Seamus interjected. Some things didn’t change with time.

“He has a point.” Ron winced as Hermione swatted at him and gave him a disapproving glance.

“Well on this occasion, I do believe that Miss Granger is correct.” Minerva cleared her throat and spoke louder than those arguing in front of her. “It was a theft at a library. One can only guess that what they were looking for was a book. It would be the perfect way for things to go unnoticed wouldn’t it? To set a building filled with paper on fire.”

“If you can pinpoint what was rifled around and in what area I might be able to tell you what was taken or at least let you know what section it was in. There are records at the Ministry of Magic that would tell us what books were owned, at least the important ones. Perhaps we’ll be able to get an idea of what he was after if nothing else!” Hermione, though she sounded excited, looked glum. It was hard to hear that one of her favorite places, and people, had been lost to whatever darkness was building around the corner.

“Excuse me.” A voice interrupted from the doorway. A man with mischievous honey brown eyes, speckled with green poked into the conversation. There was light scarring on his arms and neck, but other than that he looked bright and chipper if not somewhat disheveled.

“Nice of you to finally join us, Cassian.” Minerva pursed her lips and looked at him disapprovingly but he didn’t seem nearly as threatened by her as the others in the room did.

“I was caught up with some work at St. Mungo’s. I couldn’t very well leave it unfinished. That would’ve been plain irresponsible, mum.” The man looked apologetic and bowed his head respectfully. Clearly he was more comfortable around the headmistress by the way he spoke.

Malicia had jumped nearly a mile when she heard his name and peered through the crowd of people to try and get a look to make sure that this man was the same one she’d been friends with in school. Cassian had been the last person she’d expected to show up! It wasn’t like it had been a very common name, so she doubted she was getting him confused with someone else. Lia nudged her friend to get her to stop fidgeting around.

“Did you have something to add or did you simply want to make your presence knows Mr. Russell?” Minerva continued and waved her hand, conjuring an empty seat for him to take on the opposite end of the room closer to the Pensieve that she’d inherited from the prior headmasters.

“Actually, I was wondering why you think any of these things are connected at all. Yes, yes I get that Potter has a hunch and you have a bad feeling, Minerva, but what if these are all simply random acts of violence? You’re drawing conclusions too quickly if you ask me. I think we need to deal with these things as they are and if we find a common thread then we can start to look at the bigger picture they might make.”

“I agree.” Malicia chimed in, sounding slightly upset that she wasn’t aware that Cassian was even on the same continent nonetheless going to be in attendance that night. No one else had seemed surprised to see him or that he was late, except for her of course. What was she missing? Who was going to fill her in and when? Lia averted her eyes, refusing to look at her friend and was clearly the guilty party.

Malicia glared at her out of the corner of her eye before continuing, “But I think that it’s still too much of a coincidence that this nastiness has gone down in such a close proximity in a short amount of time. I propose that we investigate the different accounts as they are, without considering the coincidences and report back in a week or when we have more information. If we can find a common thread then we’ll start acting like something more sinister is going on beneath the surface. I think jumping to conclusions right now isn’t the smartest idea.” Cassian seemed just as startled by her voice as she had been by his.

“Of course, you’re both right. I was getting to that.” Minerva nodded her head to agree. The rest of the room seemed to have come to the same conclusion. “There’s no reason that we shouldn’t remain well informed on the matters even if they aren’t related to the dreams. For now, we’ll act as though they have little in common but we’ll keep our eyes and ears open just in case. If there’s another threat to our world we need to be prepared for it. We were complacent when Voldemort returned and unwilling to believe that wicked things could still happen in our world. That will not happen again.” Minerva then glanced at Malicia and Lia who felt suddenly singled out. “Miss Black’s room was ransacked during the attack. Was anything taken?”

“No, not a thing. They just messed up all my stuff.” Lia nodded truthfully. She was a dreadful liar when she was under pressure, particularly when it came to the headmistress. There was something about Minerva McGonagall that was threatening and formidable.

“They were certainly looking for something though.” Theodore chimed in and everyone was surprised to hear him talk. He shrugged his shoulders and continued on. “Whatever it was, they weren’t finding it there. It’s possible we got to them before he managed to get what they were looking for.”

“They sure did a number on my things to walk away empty handed.”

“What about the painting that was destroyed in the hallway?” Everyone turned to look at Malicia again. “Well, think about it. It wasn’t destroyed beforehand and now it’s a huge mess. Perhaps there’s something in there that they didn’t want us to find. Even if it doesn’t hold any significance to what they were trying to take, perhaps there’s some sort of clue within the frame or the picture itself if it can be restored.”

“I’ve already thought of that, Miss Maena.” McGonagall smiled proudly at her staff.

From the back of the room, the door opened again and an old, decrepit Mr. Filch nudged his way through the mass of chairs and bodies to the center of the room, mumbling to himself as he pulled the painting behind him. “Apologies headmistress,” he wheezed, “it took me a while to find them. They were hiding in the divination tower.” He pushed some of the staff aside and laid the painting on the wall so that everyone could see it.

The painting had been slashed nearly to shreds; it was clear whoever had done it had wanted it to be noticed. Filch had crudely sewn the pieces of canvas together and convinced the occupants to return to their frame. A man and woman in emerald and sapphire colored Victorian style clothes were hunched together in a corner, the largest part of the painting that was in one piece. McGonagall looked at it with a raised brow and Filch’s chest expanded defensively, “It’s the best I could do on short notice.” He barked. Minerva turned her fiery eyes to his and after a few seconds he bowed his head and mumbled an apology, “I’ll do it proper as soon as I can o’course.” Minerva nodded and Filch turned and worked his way back to the door and out of the office.

Once everyone had readjusted to see the ruined canvas, Minerva looked at the occupants, “Ah, I was afraid it was your painting.” She said sympathetically.

The woman smiled, though her husband still had his arm protectively around her shoulders, “Yes, it was quite an ordeal.” She said, pain evident in her voice.

“Move over, I can’t see.” Lia hissed to Malicia, who sat frozen in her seat. Her mouth hung agape as she stared in disbelief at the painting before her. “C’mon Mal, I can’t get around you with Teddy sitting there!”

Minerva turned once more to the two girls, a look of exasperation evident in her eyes, “What is the problem ladies?”

“How did they get here?” Malicia demanded, suddenly standing from her seat and climbing over her friends to get to the front of the room. With so many people crowded around, it was a much more difficult feat than it had seemed.

Lia muttered “Finally” and moved. As soon as she saw the painting, understanding dawned on her face, “Oh, this isn’t good. You guys are in trouble.”

“When did this painting arrive at the school? How did it get here?” Malicia demanded to McGonagall, anger and pain in her shimmering eyes.

The others in the office muttered to each other in confusion as Lia pushed her way forward and put a comforting hand on Malicia’s shaking shoulder. “It’s okay, Mal.” She whispered.

“Hello Malicia.” The man in the painting said, his eyes brighter than they had been a moment before.

Minerva cleared her throat, calling everyone’s attention back to the subject on hand. “Lione, Seishana, did you see anything that happened before you were attacked?”

“We heard the sound of people running through the halls,” Lione said. “When they came within view of our frame we saw a man, probably in his forties. He stopped to catch his breath and looked around. When he saw our painting he pulled a knife from his cloak and cut the canvas to shreds; we just barely escaped intact.”

McGonagall nodded, “Did he say anything? Did you recognize him at all?” she asked.

The two looked at each other and then at Malicia before answering, “He…he said, ‘I’m sorry’.” Seishana spoke, pulling her thick, curly, black hair behind her ear.

“‘I’m sorry’?” Minerva asked, clearly not expecting such a simple, polite statement to come from someone who destroyed a fifty year old painting.

Lione hugged his wife closer, “Minerva, it was Samael.”

Minerva’s eyebrows nearly disappeared in her hair, “Are you sure?” she asked. “It’s been a long time since you’ve seen him and, well, he…died!”

Seishana shook her head, “I know that’s what we thought, Minerva, but I know my son. It was him.”

“Well, that would certainly explain the apology.” She muttered, shuffling papers around on her desk. Turning to the rest of the people in the room she cleared her throat and said, “Obviously, we need to do a bit more digging on this. Until we have things sorted, I want to start having patrols through the halls. I will not have our students endangered while we try to figure out what’s going on. Does anyone else have any questions?” Nearly every hand went into the air. Minerva rolled her eyes, “About the break-in or the subsequent patrols?” The hands disappeared. “Good. I’ll send you all a schedule of watches. Harry, I suppose I can count on you and some of the aurors to help?”

“Of course,” He said, eyeing Malicia’s pale face curiously.

“Wait, just one second.” Ron raised his hand in objection.

“What is it, Mr. Weasley?”

“So one of the guys who broke into the castle is the dead son of the dead people in this portrait?” Ron gestured toward Malicia who looked dumbstruck and overwhelmed.

“Yes, that’s what Lione and Seishana have shared with us.” Minerva’s eyes were sparkling again, reminding each of the prior headmaster. “It could be a case of mistaken identity but for now we can assume that Samael Maena broke into Hogwarts searching for something more than his parents’ painting.”

“Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going mental.” Ron muttered and sighed, still not quite understanding what had transpired. But he wasn’t alone; most of the people in the room, including the headmistress, were completely lost. While they’d uncovered a number of clues, there was no way to tell yet if they’d be useful or just cause for further confusion.

“Very well, off you go.” It took a second for everyone to realize that they had been dismissed, but slowly the group of former classmates rose to their feet and made their way either down the stairs or to the fire, disappearing in a burst of green smoke. Soon, only Lia and Malicia remained near the painting.

Malicia was looking at the painting, barely noticing the rest of the now-empty room. Nothing else had seemed very important once she’d realized it was there. “I take it you never noticed your parents’ painting before.” Minerva said, her voice oddly gentle in an attempt to offer comfort.

“How long has it been here?” she asked, her voice barely audible.

“Since their death.” She explained. “They had it commissioned so that they could watch their children grow up.”

“But…how? It’s not like just anyone could have a painting hung here at Hogwarts.” Lia quietly asked.

“They were always large supporters of the school, and favorites of Dumbledore’s.” Minerva smiled fondly at the two subjects in the painting. “Everyone loved them and the painting was hung graciously as arranged in their will.”

“I’m sorry, I just…I didn’t expect to see them here. I haven’t seen them since I was very little. If my mom didn’t look just like me I wouldn’t have realized it was them.” Malicia said, tearing her eyes from the canvas and clearing her throat. “We should get out of your office, Minerva. I don’t know why you keep letting us disrupt this place. There are better rooms to hold large gatherings in.” Without waiting for a response she turned and opened the door to the stairs. “Coming Lia?” she called as she walked down the staircase.

Lia looked apologetically at Minerva, “Sorry.” She shrugged before following her friend.

When the two girls reached the bottom of the stairs, Malicia turned and glared at Lia, “You knew about Cass being here, didn’t you?”

Lia nervously bit her lip and fiddled her fingers. “Maybe… That depends on how mad you are that I didn’t tell you,” she averted her eyes, trying to look at anything but Malicia’s fuming gaze.

Malicia punched her in the shoulder playfully, “Why didn’t you tell me? He was one of my best friends!”

“Well, I didn’t know how you’d handle it!” she said defensively, rubbing her shoulder.

“So springing it on me in the middle of the first term was a better idea in front of all of our old classmates and our boss?”

“It’s not my fault Cass has no sense of timing! He was supposed to start at the beginning of the term, just like us! You would have found out in the Great Hall just like the rest of the students!”

Malicia looked like she was about to throw a retort at her friend, but sighed instead. “This has been one hell of a night. How am I supposed to sleep now?”

Lia looked apologetically at Malicia, “I’m sorry Mal. I guess I should have told you. Cass and I have stayed in contact over the years and, I don’t know,” she shrugged, “I suppose I wimped out on telling you by convincing myself it’d be more fun to surprise you.”

Malicia looked at the guilt-ridden face of her friend and shook her head, “I guess we didn’t talk much before the semester started and I don’t see that it would have come up in conversation naturally so, maybe I’ll let you off the hook.”

“Really?” Lia sounded shocked.

“But you’ll owe me!” Malicia grinned mischievously.

“Dang it!” Lia sighed, “But I suppose you’re right. What’ll it be?”

“Oh, you’ll know when you hear it.” Malicia smirked before heading up the stairs towards the offices. [a name="_GoBack"][/a]“But I’m going to bide my time with it. It’s a rare occasion that you owe me one.”

“Fine, fine… Though you have to admit if we hadn’t had that surprise visit by your parents there, then Cassian just showing up like that would’ve been hilarious.”

“I admit nothing.” Malicia offered a weak smile as they walked toward the offices. “Are you okay to sleep tonight? You can hang out it my living quarters if you’re scared.”

“Oh, I think I can handle it.” The two stopped in front of the door that led to Lia’s office. When she didn’t make a move to head inside immediately she cleared her throat. “Though I guess it couldn’t hurt to you know, take a look around it. I mean, just in case.”

“Right.” Malicia laughed before tugging open the door to her friend’s office. Walking inside the once ransacked room felt just as it ever did. It was like nothing had happened at all, but both girls new better. Lia closed the door behind her and glanced around.

“Eerie, isn’t it?” Lia leaned against the door, remembering the grim sight that had met her and Theodore when they’re gone to retrieve her rosette earlier that day.

“Very.” Malicia peeked around the room, hand on her wand just in case. It was unlikely that the intruder would return to the scene of the crime anyway. Perhaps they’d even gone to the wrong office in search of something Lia didn’t actually have. Malicia considered they were looking for her office but what could they try to take? There was nothing tangible from her journey.

“Hey Mal,” Lia started, sounding wary. If she told her friend what was on her mind and what had happened that day in the Forbidden Forest when she’d mysteriously lost her eyesight, what would she think? The key seemed a little heavier around Lia’s neck suddenly.

“What is it?” Malicia could tell that something was weighing heavily on her friend, but could guess it was nothing further than the events of the day. Though, Malicia could take a guess as to what her friend would reveal if she continued on.

“Nothing,” Lia cleared her throat and reconsidered. If someone was after the key then it could be dangerous. She wouldn’t tell anyone until she could find out more about it, but so far she’d been able to uncover nothing about a key made of wood. If it was putting her in danger simply because she had found it, she didn’t want to endanger her friend by sharing the information with her. Until Lia knew what she was up against, she’d keep the information to herself. “Are you alright, with… all this stuff with your parents and your brother?” Lia warily changed the subject. Malicia stayed silent for a moment and then shrugged.

“To be honest I’m probably less bothered by it than I should be.” Lia stayed silent after the long raven haired woman responded. “It’s hard to explain but I never knew them very well at all and seeing them moving for the first in years it was, well, it didn’t feel real. How am I supposed to connect to people I never really knew outside of photos and stories?”

“I get that.” Lia nodded her head. “Still, this is pretty big you know? So if you need to talk…”

“Thanks Lia, but I’m not much for the touchy feely conversations you know that.” Malicia laughed and then wiped the side of her face, glancing purposely away from her friend.

“Aw, you don’t want me to go all Dr. Phil on you?” Lia teased. Malicia looked at her in confusion.

“Who’s Dr. Phil?”

“Oh just… never mind.” Lia laughed and patted her friend on the door. The two walked toward the door to her office again and then stopped to look at something rather peculiar. They sat and stared at the wooden door in awe. There were silver markings scribbled into the door. It didn’t look like they’d been there on purpose, but rather like someone had marked the door with their fingers while in a rush to leave. Instinctively they both checked their hands to make sure they hadn’t been the ones to leave the marks.

“What is that?” Malicia crept closer and narrowed her eyes at the peculiar substance.

“It looks almost like some sort of paint.”

“Phosphorous paint maybe.”

“Do you think whoever broke in here left it behind on accident?” Lia mused.

“Who knows? We’ve had the door open most of the day haven’t we? It’s no wonder we didn’t see it. For all we know it could be on your Teddy’s hands.”

“He hates that you call him that.”

“If he didn’t I wouldn’t do it.” Malicia stuck her tongue out at her friend. They were finding bizarre clues faster than they were finding what they led to and it was starting to confuse her. What did these things all mean? There had to be some way to fit the puzzles pieces together other than by guesses and conjecture.

“I told him that too.”

“Well that’s his fault then. I think we should take a sample before you show McGonagall.”

“I think you’re right. Why don’t you take it?” Lia nodded toward the door. Snapping her fingers she walked across the room and dug through a drawer behind her desk. After a moment of digging she found a small vial and brought it over to Malicia who used her wand to scrap away some of the silvery glowing material that was found on the door and into the vial. Capping it she slipped it into the pocket inside of her cloak for safekeeping.

“Perfect. Show McGonagall and tell her we’ve already gotten a sample.” Malicia had her hand on the door, ready to leave.

“I will do that.” Lia nodded then hesitated to usher Malicia out the door. “Are you sure everything’s okay Mal?”

“I’m fine.” Malicia laughed and waved her hand at her friend to dismiss her worry. “Really, I’m okay. It’s a lot to take in but I’m dealing with it. Honestly I was more surprised to see Cass than I was to see my family.” It was true, her friends had always been more of a family to her than the people she’d been told she was related to. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family and her heritage, but she had never felt the strong connective bond of blood relation. She had attributed it to part of why she’d been placed into Slytherin house. She’d inadvertently become a loner thanks to her upbringing.

“Get some rest then.”

“You too. And don’t forget, I’m just down the hall if you need me to check your closet for nargles.”

“I’m not twelve, I know how to protect myself.” Lia laughed.

“I’m just saying you know, in case you’ve forgotten how to be a witch and all that… You did just make some muggle joke.”

“How did you know it was a muggle joke?”

“I’m just that good.” Malicia crept out the door. “Night Lia.”

“Get out!” The door closed behind her and Malicia couldn’t help but chuckle. She was grateful for her friend in these trying times. It was true that she’d gotten used to being alone and dealing with her problems without a partner but the events of the last month had forced her to rely on others in ways she had never thought she’d be capable of.

Deciding she had too much going on in her mind, Malicia walked away from her office and headed through the halls. Under the guise of patrolling the corridors, she took a walk, thinking over the events that had taken place in Minerva’s office.

The painting of her parents had come as a surprise, but what she found even more peculiar was that she had never noticed it was in the school before. How many times had she walked down that corridor and not noticed a painting of her own flesh and blood hanging on the wall? She’d always loved the library and to have not noticed the painting that close to one of her most frequented places within the castle grounds upset her more than the existence of the painting at all. If Minerva would allow her to, Malicia wanted to learn more about the painting itself and speak to those inside of it.

What upset her the most was probably knowing that her parents had been there to speak to within the school all these years and no one had made an effort to mention its existence. Even the other paintings had never mentioned it to her! Had her parents avoided her on purpose?

“Great, it’s like being a moody teenager all over again.” Muttering as she hung her head low and walked through the corridors, Malicia considered the reasons why no one had told her about the painting. Had they been afraid of how she would react? Of course she’d be surprised to see them! McGonagall talked a good game about wanting to be open and up front about what was going on in the wizarding world, but Malicia could tell that she was just as filled with secrecy and deception as Dumbledore had been.

Then again, it wasn’t like she was laying all her cards flat on the table for everyone to see either. She’d told no one about the path to the Staff of Dreams that she’d started upon even though it could affect a large number of people. She hadn’t even told Lia and it was likely the poor woman was starting to question her sanity thanks to the things that it would put her through. But that was different.

Was it though?

Shaking that thought from her mind, she considered the second bombshell that been revealed by the first. The handsome and familiar looking man who had led her in pursuit throughout the castle had been her brother, at least according to her parents. He’d died long ago, or at least that was what she’d been told. It was turning out that there were many things she’d been told for years that were simply untrue. Perhaps she’d start an investigation of her own to find out the truth behind the story of her heritage. If for no other reason, she’d do it so she wouldn’t have to feel as dumbstruck as she’d felt when there was a painting slashed of her parents.

Even if Samael hadn’t died with her parents so long ago, then what would he be doing sneaking around the castle? If he was as curious as she had been her whole life it was possible that he would be thinking about the Staff of Dreams too. But then again, he hadn’t grown up the same way she had, so it was impossible to know what was going through his mind.

Before her parents had revealed that they thought the intruder was their son, Malicia had the sneaking suspicion that she’d known the man she was chasing. If it was her brother, and she was acting under the assumption that he was still dead, then it was likely he knew a thing or two about folklore. She’d known before she started the path to the Staff of Dreams that it was likely that someone else was in pursuit of it but she had never considered that she’d be related to them. The next time she spoke to Harry or Ron she would see if one of them could make an inquiry into the events surrounding the death of her brother and her parents.

Before she knew it, Malicia had returned to the row of offices in the hallway. Wand in front of her, lit up to illuminate the corridor in front of her and to ward off Peeves who had far too much fun tricking her since the beginning of the year, Malicia caught a silhouette in her wand light at the end of the hallway near the door to her office.

Cautiously approaching the door she held the wand in front of her to make her presence known.

“Whose there?”

“Oh hey,” The familiar and yet all too distant voice of Cassian Russell met Malicia and he looked as awkward as he sounded. He was leaning against her door, a piece of parchment and a quill in his hand. It was obvious that he’d wanted to leave her a note. “I thought you were sleeping when you didn’t answer so I was going to leave you a note.”

“I was taking a walk. I’m not really tired after that meeting.” Malicia nodded, feeling just as out of place as Cassian looked.

“That explains you’re not answering.” Shoving the piece of parchment back into his best black cloak, he then wiped his hands over his scruffy jaw and through his hair, only succeeding in messing it up further. He’d never quite been able to keep himself as tidy as he would’ve liked to.

“That it would.” Malicia smiled knowingly. Cassian seemed to be struggling with what he’d like to say. Malicia had always been hard to read, at least for him and he’d never been very good at expressing himself the way everyone else seemed to be able to. He was rather quirky to say the very least.

“You looked either really surprised or really frustrated to see me tonight. I can’t tell which.” Cassian finally spoke what was on his mind. “I know we didn’t keep in touch, Malicia, but it doesn’t mean I stopped thinking of you. And to be fair I didn’t know you were going to be here either. I’m guessing I have Lia to blame for that.”

“She thought it’d be funny for us to just run into each other.” Malicia smiled and then wrapped her arms around her old friend in a hug. He was rather surprised, but pleasantly so, and returned the affection.

“I suppose it might have been under different circumstances. That was a lot for everyone to take in tonight, especially for you.”

“It’s weird seeing so many old faces, but it’s good to see yours Cass. I always missed you but I’m terrible about keeping in touch.”

“That’s a relief.” Cassian leaned against the frame of the door. “I was afraid that by the way you looked at me you wouldn’t want anything to do with me.”

“Still as paranoid as always, are you?” He’d been very possessive as a kid, a Gryffindor but a peculiar one at that. He’d always been busy experimenting and getting into trouble but had been, by far, one of the smartest students of his year. Two years younger than Malicia, he looked a few years older than he was and she wondered what had happened in his life to make him age faster. He was still as handsome as ever, despite it all.

“Some things never change. I was uh, doing some work for Lia and some of the muggles she used to help out before she switched careers for the hundredth time. We got to talking and realized how good it was to see each other. I thought about finding you but I wouldn’t know where to begin outside of reading your books which… I have. You’ve made quite the career for yourself.”

“I think there’s a compliment in there somewhere.” Malicia laughed and nodded toward her office. “Want to come in and have a glass of pumpkin juice? I know it’s juvenile but I hadn’t had a glass in years and I happened to have one the first day back at Hogwarts and haven’t been able to stop myself since.”

“I’m not going to even try to pretend that I ever stopped drinking it.” Cassian walked through the door that Malicia was now holding open for him. Once they sat down and got to talking and catching up about what had transpired over their years apart, it was like they’d never stopped talking at all. Malicia was once again astounded by how the passage of time could change so much and also nothing at all.

Malicia shared her business ventures and partnership with Luna Lovegood and how she disconnected with her former classmates over the years. She told him about her shop and new home, and how she came to be a teacher at Hogwarts thanks to McGonagall.

Cassian explained that a year after graduating from the school he’d been attacked by a werewolf while on holiday and had been afflicted with the curse, which had resulted in the haggard look he had about him. Since then he’d taken up studies of how to combine muggle science and medicine with magic, since he considered that the muggles were far cleverer than most people gave them credit for.

“You know they’ve managed to eradicate quite a few illnesses that we still struggle with as a wizarding community.” Cassian sat in his chair and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and through his shaggy hair. “They’ve got these medicines and while they’re not as impressive as what most alchemists can come up with, they’ve got some pretty ingenious devices and ideas to help with their ailments. I’ve been keeping in touch with a muggle doctor who is aware of our world. His brother went to a wizarding school in Brazil so he’s got magical blood in his family. We’ve been working to try and cure my affliction. There’s nothing wrong with being a werewolf. It’s the uncontrolled destruction that comes of it which is the problem. I honestly don’t mind the curse other than the pain.”

“I’ve seen it in action.” Malicia nodded her head. “Most werewolves lock themselves up during the peak of the lunar cycle so they won’t get out and hurt anyone but the violence is so intense sometimes that they mostly end up maiming themselves.”

“It’s true. If I wasn’t a doctor of sorts I’d probably be worse off than I am. That being said, if I hadn’t been afflicted with the curse then I probably wouldn’t have pursued medicine and I’ve found I’m pretty good at it.”

“I was surprised when you mentioned St. Mungo’s.” Malicia smiled, but was impressed with the way his life had turned out. She always knew he’d end up helping people one way or another. Cassian had always been selfless, caring, and kind despite his awkward and sometimes upfront demeanor. It was part of his genius unfortunately, to say things without entirely thinking out the repercussions of his words.

“Why? Didn’t think I’d be a good doctor, hmm?”

“Not exactly.” Malicia laughed. “Oh, you’re into the science thing now so I guess I should ask you instead of McGonagall who is probably just going to send me to you anyway.” Reaching into her cloak, Malicia pulled out the vial of the mystery substance she’d scraped off of Lia’s door. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Holding up the vial to the light she frowned. “It was silver on Lia’s door but now it looks almost like it’s turned purple.”

Cassian got up from his spot on the chair and hunched over, leaning close to the vial. From his pocket he pulled a pair of glasses and placed them on the tip of his nose so he could take a better look.

“May I?” Cassian pointed at the vial, flashing a cheeky grin as he did. “Sorry about getting into your personal space, I’m used to working alone.”

“Fine by me.” Malicia shrugged and handed Cassian the vial she held. Glancing at it in the light and moving it about so he could get a better look at it, he seemed puzzled and enthralled. Clearly he was thinking very hard about what he was seeing but was saying little to nothing out loud. When he continued in silence for five more minutes, Malicia joined him where he stood and tapped his shoulder. He nearly jumped a mile out of his skin.

“Oh, sorry… I do that sometimes. Space out… get lost in my thoughts. I used to do it out loud but people tend to get annoyed.”

“You used to do that in school too. You know sometimes it’s okay to say what’s in your head even if it annoys people.”

“And sometimes that gets me punched by your boyfriend.” Cassian smirked and rubbed his jaw in remembrance.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that Nico isn’t going to punch you from wherever he is right now.”

“I tend to offend people when I ramble on so I started doing it in my head and so I just space out and irritate people because I seem like I’m ignoring them. I’m aware of my flaws.” Cassian shrugged. “I don’t know what this is just looking at it. I’ll have to run a few tests. If you can get any more of it off of Lia’s door I’d do that and send it to me by owl. Or you can come down to my lab at St. Mungo’s and I can give you the tour of what people call… The Cave.”

“The Cave?” Malicia couldn’t help but laugh.

“I like to work in the dark.” Cassian pocketed the vial. “I’ll bring this back to my lab and let you know what I find. I’m going to be teaching once a week classes here about the medicine from both worlds. McGonagall thought it’d be a brilliant idea.”

“I think it is too actually.” Malicia nodded her head. “You would be surprised how many students don’t know how to properly clean up a scraped knee.”

“Well, it’s gone over real well with the parents having a werewolf at the school teaching about muggle medicine.”

“Well the parents aren’t the ones who have to go here.” Malicia looked toward the door and sighed. Then she glanced at the clock on her wall and widened her eyes.

“What is it?” Cassian peered over his shoulder curiously.

“It’s four in the morning.”

“Wow, didn’t expect that…” Cassian cleared his throat but was secretly pleased that time had slipped by. “I suppose I should probably go considering I have a shift in the morning at St. Mungo’s. They let me do my work there but in order to really get paid and to fund my research I have to work with the regular staff too.”

“Well then I shouldn’t keep you any longer. When will you be back? You’ll have an office here right?”

“Actually I’ll be back tomorrow night to set it up. I’m at the other end of the hall, closer to the ever predictable Theodore the potions master.”

“You saw that coming too?” Malicia laughed.

“I think everyone but Lia saw it coming.” Cassian rolled his eyes. “But I should go. It was great to catch up with you Malicia…”

“Likewise Cass.” Malicia walked to the door and held it open for him. The exhaustion was finally hitting her now that she was aware of just how long she’d been awake.

“Just one more thing, I meant to ask earlier.”

“What is it?” Malicia leaned against the door as she held it open for him.

“No more Nico, huh?” Cassian looked surprised by this.

“I haven’t talked to him since we broke up after graduation. From what I’ve heard he got married. His son goes to school here, I ran into him the first week. He’d apparently heard stories about me.”

“Wow.” Cassian looked surprised but impressed. “I thought for sure you two were going to be together for the long haul.” He tried not to look too happy about the fact that he’d been right about Nico, even if he hadn’t known the whole story of why they had split up. He’d never liked the man, had always called him snaky and made snarky comments about him behind his back.

“You and me both but life has a funny way of changing things in ways you’d least expect.” Malicia nodded her head. “And don’t pretend you’re all upset for me or anything, you couldn’t stand him and you made that perfectly clear to everyone who would listen.”

“Guilty.” Cassian held both his hands up in front of him. “You were too good for him.”

“Oh, get out!” Malicia swatted at his shoulder and then nodded. “Really, you’re going to be exhausted tomorrow.”

“I expect you to help me unpack.”

“We’ll see how generous I’m feeling.” Malicia waved goodbye to her friend and watched him walk down the hall. What had started out as startling and unpleasant had turned into yet another blessing. Despite the evil things transpiring throughout the world, the reunion with her friends had made it worthwhile for Malicia. At the other end of the hall she could see Filch sweeping the corridor and looking at her disapprovingly. Rolling her eyes she closed the door behind her and walked through her office toward her living quarters. She was glad the next day was Sunday, so she could sleep in a bit before she would have to help Cassian get situated in his office.