You’re my Candle

It was Pansy's scream that woke them up before the sun had risen—all Kayda knew in her half-awake state was that it was still dark outside and Pansy was getting it in the neck for the rest of the day.

She failed to see that there was a tiger yawning on Daphne's bed opposite her—that had seemingly been awoken too.

"KAYDA, WAKE UP!" Pansy yelled from the lower level of their dorm room. "BLACK, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!"

"Ugh," she groaned, rubbing her eyes before yawning herself, "stop shouting."

Freya had been woken up too—and immediately screamed with the other girl. "DAPH'S A TIGER!" She shouted from her own bed.

"M'kay, Frey," Kayda put her face back into her pillow, laughing to herself, "they're talking crazy, huh Daph?"

The tiger whined.

Kayda sprang upright.

"Oh shit," she gasped, "you weren't taking the piss." Her eyes strained trying to make out any shapes in the room.

Pansy didn't seem to be calming down anytime soon. "WHY WOULD I DO THAT?"

Kayda stood up from her bed slowly—just as the tiger stepped off its own bed and towards Kayda. It looked terrified.

"A tiger ate Daphne." Pansy began sobbing.

Kayda sighed, standing up a little straighter to look at the empty bed behind the creature, "the tiger is Daphne."

Freya lifted her wand and ignited the candles in their room with one, very quiet, word. With it, the girls could see the tiger beyond its outline—its golden stripes and mostly white fur and deep eyes the same as Daphne's.

Kayda hadn't taken her eyes off the tiger in front of her—but when Daphne wouldn't stop looking down at Pansy, it was like her eyes were forced to follow.

Pansy was stood by the door, fully dressed—while Kayda and Freya were barely covered by their creased pyjamas.

"Parkinson-?" Freya tilted her head, having looked at the girl beside her too.

"Tiger. Bigger issue—tiger." Pansy said quickly, pointing at Daphne.

Daphne didn't take her eyes off the girl below them until Kayda said her name.

"Daph," Kayda smiled, putting her hand out to the creature—Daphne walked forward and whined again, "I thought I was the only shapeshifter in this dorm."

"How are you so calm?!" Pansy whispered, clearly still afraid.

"'Cause it's just Daph," Kayda laughed, beckoning the other two girls to come up the steps.

"Also, Black can turn into a dragon—that probably helps her bravery." Freya spat at the black haired girl.

They walked up the stairs cautiously, but Freya very quickly became more confident the second she saw the tigers eyes.

"It really is her." She smiled, kneeling and tapping the tiger's nose—who flinched and twitched slightly.

"Is she...stuck?" Pansy whispered as if the tiger couldn't hear her—who whined again.

"No idea," Kayda sighed, leaning back and sitting down on her bed again, "we'll have to just wait and see."

For the next hour, Pansy refused to answer any of Kayda's questions about her clothes while Freya got very comfortable playing with the tiger version of Daphne, running around the dorm and bounding around as if she was just a house cat that'd wandered in through the back door—until the tiger vanished, and a girl landed on her elbows and knees with a groan.

"I've done so well hiding that from you guys," Daphne sighed, "stupid curse."

"Curse?" Kayda stood up, walking down to where Freya was holding the shaking girl tightly.

"It's called the blood maledictus curse," Daphne explained as Freya and Kayda helped her up onto the sofa, "my little sister has it too."

"Shit," Kayda muttered, "Daph, I'm so sorry."

Daphne shrugged, "not your fault, is it."

"Who cursed your bloodline?" Pansy sniffed, taking the girl's hand and squeezing it.

"Don't know," Daphne had never spoken so quietly, "I've tried to figure it out, a million times—I've also searched for some sort of cure."

"What is it exactly?" Freya asked, "I know I learnt about it, but I can't remember—"

"I can turn into the animal form on will—but also whenever my body feels like it. I don't have complete control, and whatever control I do have; I will eventually lose." Daphne muttered, staring at the floor in front of her and refusing to meet the girls' eyes.

There wasn't much for them to say, so the silence was all that surrounded them until they all got back into their beds and fell asleep—except Kayda, who laid there for hours.

No matter what she did, she could not fall asleep—after a long time, she decided that the Great Hall would have some kind of food out by now and made her way out of the room after quietly getting dressed.

─ « ⋅ » ─

It was silent—apart from the crashing storm outside. She hadn't been able to hear it down in the dungeons, but in the Great Hall, it thrashed against the windows and old stone as if it was attempting to knock it down.

The Hall was empty for the next twenty minutes, until the door creaked open loudly and Harry Potter wandered in looking extremely sleep deprived.

He was wearing his Quidditch kit and carrying his broom—Kayda was forced to stare at him until she was completely convinced that he wasn't James.

"Y'know, you're the spitting image of your father, Potter." She called to him, continuing to eat her breakfast slowly.

"Black...hi," he muttered, blinking a few times when he looked at her, "yeah, uhm, I've been told."

"Spitting fucking image." She said to herself.

"You alright?" He asked, coughing quietly and sitting on the Gryffindor table.

"I'm fine," she smiled up at him, "you're the one who has to go out in that storm on a broom."

He laughed, sitting down and nodding slowly, "yeah, bosses orders though."

"I'm afraid I can't get you out of that one." She chuckled, standing up and walking around the tables to sit beside him.

He was surprised she was talking to him, and seemed even more so that she sat beside him.

"How do you know I look like my dad?" He said after a moment of silence between the two of them.

Kayda clicked her tongue, "I've seen pictures," she didn't look at him, "he and—my Uncle, were friends when they were here."

"Professor Lupin?" He sat up a little straighter, his eyes locked on her.

She nodded, "they shared a dorm room and everything."

"Woah," Harry smiled, "do you—know what he was...like?" He shifted where he sat, seeming a little afraid to even ask.

Silence fell over them again while Kayda thought about what she could say—the storm raged above them.

"He—my Uncle said—he was the stupidest, smartest person he'd ever met." Kayda laughed. "He was stubborn and incredibly brave—and he lit up every room he walked into like he was sun."

Harry smiled for a moment, then sunk down into the bench a little more.

"I'm not like him at all."

"I think you're more like him than you realise," she whispered, nudging his arm gently, "Uncle says you act like your mother too."

"He knew my mum, as well?"

Kayda laughed, leaning against the table. "Nobody could know James without knowing Lily—that boy fell in love with her the second she sat next to him during the sorting ceremony."

"Do you—"

The door to the Great Hall swung open before he could finish—in walked the majority of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Kayda sat up straight again.

Oliver was talking to his team as they walked, telling them exactly how to play and what to do in certain situations when he saw Kayda sitting beside his seeker and forgot what he was saying altogether.

"Hiya darlin'," he stood behind her, pressing his body to her back as he placed his hand beneath her jaw and lifted her head up before leaning down and kissing her—it was gentle but held within it his longing for more, "whatchu doing on our table?"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, am I not allowed?" She clutched her chest jokingly as the team sat down around them.

Fred scoffed, smiling as he swung his legs over the bench beside her. "No, you ain't, snake!" He leant forward quickly and snapped his teeth together.

Kayda rolled her eyes and leant back into Oliver—who was stood behind her still and roughly pushed Fred's face away from hers.

While they descended into their food, the storm outside was all they could hear.

"It's gon' be a rough one," he sighed, his fingers running through Kayda's hair repeatedly without thinking.

"Shut up, Wood," the girl Kayda knew as Spinnet said, clearly having heard him say it several times that morning, "we're used to a bit of rain."

George quickly finished his mouthful, "Hey Black, if you fly above the pitch, it'll stop the rain from bugging us."

"Reckon Flint's already asked her to do that for them—she said no, so he just bailed." Johnson laughed, winking at Kayda across the table.

"Hit the nail perfectly on the head there." She laughed, squeezing Oliver's hand that rested on her shoulder.

She looked at Harry beside her, he'd been silent since the rest of the team arrived. Oliver noticed her looking at the boy and took his hand from Kayda's to hit Harry's shoulder gently.

"You ready for this, Potter?" He grinned down at the boy. Harry jumped slightly, but nodded hurriedly as he chewed. "Don't worry if you can't even see the snitch, we won't hold it against you—"

"Don't listen to him, Harry—he's a liar." Fred leant over the table to see Harry past Kayda, who shook her head at the older boy.

The hall gradually began filling up as more students awoke and came for breakfast—it was a while before Kayda's dorm mates arrived but the boys were already there and had noticed her sitting with Oliver's arms wrapped around her when they glowered at the Gryffindor team.

Draco grabbed Theo's sleeve and dragged the boy over to the table without really asking if he wanted.

"For fucks sake," Kayda groaned, starting to get off the bench and push past Oliver, "I'll see you later." She said to him, tilting her head back to look at him—but he was staring at Draco and Theodore over her head as they approached them.

"Goodluck today, Potter." Draco spat at the back of Harry's head.

"Don't, Malfoy." Kayda warned, turning away from Oliver and glaring at the blond boy. He ignored her and put his hand on the table next to Harry to try and get the boys attention when he ignored him.

Theodore took a deep breath and another careful step forward to Kayda.

"Frey'll wanna sit by you," he smiled weakly, "and you know won't shut the fuck up about this if you stay here."

Kayda nodded and turned to face Oliver again, he kissed her goodbye and she walked to the Slytherin table with Theo, Draco not far behind after he'd finished tormenting the Chosen One.

Freya and the others showed up eventually, all yawning and walking like zombies to get to the table.

"Black," Freya slumped down beside her, "you got up early?"

"I couldn't get back to sleep after last night," she smiled, putting her arm around the girl, "now, eat something, all of you." She pointed to Pansy and Daphne as well.

"What happened last night?" Blaise asked, leaning forward to see the girls who were sat on the opposite of Draco and Theo—closest space on the bench to the door.

"I—uhm," Daphne started, glancing at the others for help.

"Daph' wanted to get ahead of Granger on that stupid werewolf essay Snape set us yesterday and woke us all up at Merlin-knows what time." Freya complained before yawning again, her head almost hitting the table when she leant forward.

"We could all go to the library today and try get it done?" Theo suggested, leaning around Kayda to rub his girlfriends back.

"Sure, we'll go after the match." Pansy smiled.

─ « ⋅ » ─

"HAH!" Draco cackled as they watched from the stands. "Potter can't see—this is brilliant!"

Harry seemed to be having a very difficult time on his broom—they all did. There were two times when Harry was almost knocked to the ground by Bludgers and three times he almost flew into other players.

"This is terrible. I can't see shit!" Freya complained, throwing her hand out towards the pitch and glancing at Kayda—whose eyes were ignited. "Are you using your fyre to see through the rain?" She leant forward.

"Yes, Malfoy," she kept her eyes locked on the Quidditch players, but grabbed Freya's hand and allowed the heat to tear through the blonde girl until she could see through Kayda's eyes, "better?"

Freya bounced up and down, grinning from ear to ear and began screaming something about a foul.

Unfortunately for Freya, Kayda pretty much kept her eyes on Oliver—he was somehow managing to catch the Quaffle before it went through the hoops behind him.

After a near miss from a Bludger, he made a signal towards the ground. The whistle blew and what could be seen of both teams flew to the muddy earth and out of sight.

Hermione, who'd been muttering something to Ron a few rows above, suddenly grabbed Kayda's elbow and pulled her away from the front of the stands—Freya tried her best to keep ahold of her hand but was forced to watch the girls vanish in the crowd.

It wasn't until they were rushing towards where the Gryffindor Quidditch team were sheltering that Hermione said a word that Kayda could understand.

"Warm them up. I'll sort Harry's glasses." She ordered, going straight to Harry and putting her hand out for the glasses he was hurriedly wiping with his cloak. "Impervius." She said, pointing her wand at them and handing them back. "They'll repel water now."

Oliver's confidence in their chances visibly went up as he watched Harry put his glasses back on. Hermione squeezed the small boys arm before running back to the stands.

Kayda stepped forward and put her hands out to Oliver and Harry. Oliver grabbed ahold of her warm hand without any hesitation.

"Hold hands, everyone—c'mon," she glanced to all of them, who seemed unsure, "I don't bite."

"Fred might." George laughed, grabbing Harry's hand and nudging him to take Kayda's as his brother snapped his teeth together yet again.

After a moment, the rest of the team had all linked hands and Kayda took a deep breath before extending the fyre in her chest to her hands and through all of their shivering bodies.

They breathed deeper as the cold went away and the warmth settled in their skin.

"Nice one, Black." Fred nodded to her and the rest of them made some form of noise or gesture of a similar meaning before they grabbed their brooms again and made their way back out to the pitch.

Before Kayda could acknowledge what any of them had said, Oliver leant down to press his lips against hers quickly and took a few steps after his team.

He was basically on the pitch when he halted suddenly. Before Kayda realised, he'd turned around and run straight back to her, his broom dropped loudly on the floor as he grabbed her face and kissed her harder.

His face was still colder than hers was—she couldn't resist the urge to grab at the collar of his soaked jumper and pull him closer right before he backed away and ran on to the pitch, picking his broom up off the floor.

"You make me sick, Black," Freya groaned, sticking her finger in her mouth when Kayda got back to the stand and explained briefly where she'd gone and why, "that's actually a little cute." She whispered after a moment, glancing at where Theo stood on the other side of her brother.