Tears of Fire

Flick, flick, flick. Parvati watched with amusement at the movement of Lavender's wand every time Professor Binns's back was turned Parvati watched the movement of Lavender's wand every time Professor Binns's back was turned, the long scarlet hand of the clock in the back of the classroom jumping forward another minute with every flick of Lavender's wand. Parvati couldn't say that she blamed her. Actually, she was inwardly cheering her on, purposefully knocking her parchment or History of Magic book off the table to cause a distraction when she thought Lavender might get caught.

They had a good reason for wanting to hurry and leave this class, besides the usual boring atmosphere of Professor Binns's classes. And oh what a reason it was. All the teachers had noticed a change in the girls at Hogwarts this year. They had all started working tirelessly on their appearance for one thing, wrapping the ends of their hair around their wands, curling the ends under, during spare moments in class. Applying lip- reddening charms when they thought the teachers weren't looking. They had also become much more giggly, and had taken a sudden and extreme interest in Defense Against the Dark Arts. All the teachers had noticed these differences that is, except one. That was the one who had not been there last year, and also happened to be the reason for the sudden change in the female population at Hogwarts--Professor Belanger.

He was in his early twenties, a fairly recent graduate himself from Beauxbatons. And he was gorgeous, he was handsome, and he was dark. Like Harry's, his hair was black, and like Harry's it was slightly untidy. It hung in shiny, slightly shaggy, locks around the top of his face, and fell (to the female student's delight) in his eyes. Unlike Harry, however, his eyes were dark as well, so dark you could hardly tell the difference between the pupils and iris's, they blended together, forming dark pools, standing out brilliantly against the white. They gave you the impression that you were looking into large dark tunnels, straining your eyes to see what was inside, but whatever secrets they might hide lay just out of your view. But you knew they were there, and you knew that if you looked just around the corner, just a little bit farther, you would find the answer to all of your wildest dreams. This is what Parvati had written in her diary anyway.

*******

Riiiiing, Hermione jumped, making an ink smear on her parchment, and looked up in confusion. She had been sure they had at least fifteen minutes of class left. Then she felt a smile creep to the corners of her mouth as she remembered what class she had next. She was not nearly as smitten with Professor Belanger as most other girls were, she had learned her lesson from Lockhart. But, well, something about him reminded her of Harry, or what Harry might be like when he was older, and she enjoyed just sitting and watching him, and having him in class gave her the perfect opportunity, she quickened her pace.

Hermione, still engrossed in thought, walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, she was exasperated, and slightly disappointed to see that the first two rows were already filled with nervous, giggling girls. She took a seat in the third row, sitting down next to a disgruntled looking Ravenclaw boy, who seemed to have just noticed that he was the only person in the room who was not a member of the Belanger fan club, and was suddenly making an effort to look very masculine and uninterested.

Soon the other students began to file into the room. When everyone was seated, and just after the final bell had rung, Professor Belanger walked in, his hands in his pockets, his face turned downward. His glossy black hair hid his face as he walked in, so black that it looked like it should leave soot marks on his skin. Then he reached the front of the classroom, and looked up at the class for the first time, a smile lit up his dark features. Hermione felt her stomach clench. He was so perfect it hardly seemed allowed, with his clear olive skin, and straight nose leading down to a soft mouth. He had sharp cheekbones, and such dark eyes that seemed to hold so many secrets. And the most attractive thing about him was that he did not seem to realize how gorgeous he was. His walk held no trace of a swagger, in fact he almost seemed as if he did not completely like himself.

He must know something the rest of us don't, Hermione thought. She certainly could see nothing wrong with him. A thin black string hung around his neck, disappearing beneath the top of his white shirt, so that she couldn't see what hung on the end of it. She could faintly see the color of his skin through the thin fabric of his shirt.... His voice suddenly broke through her thoughts, and she realized with horror that she had not been listening to a single thing he had been saying.

"Okay, we've been studying elemental magic this week, and if you all read the section you were supposed to last night you should all be able to tell me what this is."

In one quick movement he pulled the burgundy cloth off a small cage that Hermione had not even noticed. She lurched involuntarily backwards when she saw what lay underneath it. She could see that as Professor Belanger's eyes took a slow calculating look around the room he could tell who had read the section and who had not, just by their reactions. Others in the room, like Hermione, who had read the chapter made some kind of sudden movement, or had begun to edge backwards. While others (the majority of the girls in the front two rows, Hermione noticed with slight pleasure) only spared the small creature a half interested glance, before looking back at other more interesting things... like Professor Belanger, for instance.

"Can anyone tell me what this is?" Belanger asked in his deep voice with a hint of a French accent. A tentative hand in the front row rose halfway into the air. Then, as Belanger's dark eyes turned to look at her, she seemed to lose her nerve and brought it down quickly, collapsing into silent giggles instead.

Exasperated, Hermione raised her hand. "It's an Earth Demon, Sir."

Belanger's eyes were only on her and he nodded when she answered, smiling at her. She felt a surge of pleasure and suddenly felt the insane urge to giggle herself. She quickly forced the feeling down, busying herself instead with tucking one of her dark curls behind her ear, so she would not have to look at him any longer and possibly erupt into giggles.

"And can any one tell me why it really seems kind of insane to bring one into a classroom?"

The boy next to Hermione spoke up, "They are very powerful, and very dangerous. They use the power of the earth, one of the four great elements, and without proper restraint could bring down this whole castle." He paused then went on. "But I can see there is a crystal collar on this one, it keeps their power under control, and they are practically harmless until it is removed."

Belanger favored him with a pleased look. "That is exactly right Terry."

The boy Terry's cheeks reddened slightly, and he seemed to be having a hard time keeping the corners of his mouth down. Hermione looked at him suspiciously. Perhaps she should not have been so quick to assume that he was not a member of the fan club.

"Now, I'm going to give you all a chance with it. I want you to develop dominance over it, control. You must do it purely by will, and behavior. It can feel your thoughts. Give it no room to disobey. Show no fear."

One by one he began to call students up to the front of the room. Each student tried, closing their eyes, concentrating, but the small, thin, yellowish creature continued to get away from them, scuttling across the table, the way it moved bringing a spider to mind. A few students who still looked slightly afraid it tried to attack, leaping at them, gnashing its small pointy teeth, causing them to have to leap backwards, out of the way. The demon's collar prevented it from following them. No one had yet been able to control it. Belanger watched this all leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest, occasionally jotting down a note on his parchment.

Finally, it was Hermione's turn. She walked up to the table where the small thing sat watching her. It was shaped somewhat like a human, but it ran on all fours. It did not run as Hermione approached, nor did it leap at her. It just sat hunched over where it was, it's small beady eyes watching her, its yellowish papery skin pealing back to bear pointy grayish teeth at her. Hermione concentrated, smoothing any kind of fear or self-doubt from her mind. She fixed her eyes steadily on the creature, and willed it to obey her. At first it did nothing, then she suddenly felt a gathering of power at her fingertips. It was unexpected; she wasn't even holding her wand. Then she felt it run up her arms, through her veins, filling her with power. At that moment she felt like she could do anything, she could break the land open with her will, she could bring the stars down to earth.

She felt power surging through her. But she concentrated on the creature, and it responded, it's hunched, ugly back straightened up. Then it sunk into a bow. Hermione distantly heard a gasp in the room. She willed the creature to come to her, and it did, stopping directly in front of her. Belanger walked over and, with a manner of confidence, reached down and took off the crystal collar. Gasps, and a few shrieks, echoed through the room, which now seemed to be humming with power. She could taste it in the air. It was kind of a brilliant earthy smell, slightly metallic, and somehow brilliant, powerful feeling.

The creature's manner did not change. Hermione told it to put its collar back down. Without any resistance, the creature did as it was told. Then, just as quickly as it had come, the power left her, seeming to drain out of her, back to wherever it had come from, leaving her with a tingly feeling all throughout her body. The rash confidence and power that had filled her was gone. Now she was just Hermione, feeling terribly awkward at the front of a room filled with astonished people. Hermione's eyes darted to the students; many of who's astonished and frightened looks were now beginning to fade to somewhat exasperated ones.

One of the no longer giggling girls in the front row whispered jealously to her friend, "Well I don't see why we were surprised, she's such a bloody know-at-all. She's always showing off."

Hermione's glance flicked to Professor Belanger, whose dark eyes seemed to burn with some inner fire, his mouth turned up in a satisfied smile.

"Very good Hermione, I see you have read your lesson, and perhaps studied some other material as well." Belanger walked across the room placing his hand on her shoulder, a few little sighs of envy escaped the class at the contact. "I'm very impressed."

Hermione suddenly felt very self-conscious and couldn't bring herself to look out at the classroom or into the dark eyes of Belanger. Instead she looked down at the parchment he had been taking notes on. It was blank, with a few little doodles of broomsticks and Quidditch players. He had not been recording their progress, he was not grading them. No, he had been looking for something, for someone, for her, she suddenly realized. Hermione felt trapped and panicky. At that moment the bell rang and she hurtled out of the classroom, not even remembering to grab her bag. She could feel Belanger's eyes on her back until she had rounded the corner at the end of the hall. That power had not been any learned thing from studying. It had not been any magic from inside of her. That was not in any way natural, and it was definitely not a matter of "will." She knew that, and Belanger knew that. She had seen it when he calmly took off the collar, no hesitation at all, though he clearly knew what destruction that creature could have caused.

Her fingers still felt tingly where the alien power had been. Belanger had been right, she had studied earth demons before. She had found them and everything to do with them fascinating, she knew what that power must have been, but no, it couldn't have been. People were all around her, students traveling from class to class, their faces seemed to blur, swirling around her, colors of skin, hair, robes blending together. Their happy chattering voices echoing in her head, peals of laughter beating in her ears, her eyes rolled back in her head. She hit the cold stone floor with a crash.

*******

Ron bumped into Ginny as he hurried past her, knocking her books out of her hands. She knelt to pick them up, about to say something jokingly rude when she saw he was already halfway down the corridor, not even sparing a glance at his glaring sister. She let out a sigh and stood up. She stood on her tiptoes peering over the suddenly gathered crowd to see what the commotion was. Well of course, how could she have expected anything else? Hermione was on the ground with a rather dazed expression, being helped up by a very concerned Harry and many others already at her side. Ginny would have been concerned as well if it wasn't for the thick crowd already gathered around her, and more specifically the worried, concerned, and caring look that shone behind the round glasses. It looked like Hermione had all the help she needed.

Ginny tried to suppress the horrible jealousy that writhed in her stomach like snakes. She knew Harry did not like her that way. And she really did like Hermione, but she couldn't seem to get past the fact that Harry loved her, whether he knew it or not, Ginny knew. It tormented her constantly, and it made her dislike herself for resenting Hermione so much, she had never been anything but kind to Ginny. Ginny let out an exasperated sigh as she felt tears start to well up in her eyes. She stopped abruptly and changed directions in the corridor that led to the great hall, she suddenly was not very hungry. She turned to go outside instead.

Ginny walked out of the castle onto the balcony that overlooked the lake. It always calmed her down, and somehow made her feel better, and she needed that now. It was windy outside today, and she tugged her cloak closer around her. The wind caught at her hair, swirling it around her, making tangles she knew would take forever to comb out.

Suddenly, Ginny felt someone's eyes upon her. She looked down. Standing by the lake now staring up at her was a tall boy, dressed all in black, which made startling contrast to his silver hair, which was blowing back from his face, revealing fine, handsome features. In one hand he was holding a piece of parchment, she couldn't tell what was in the other because, whether on purpose or by chance, he was angled so that it was hidden behind his leg.

It was Draco Malfoy, the cold, sarcastic Slytherin. His silver eyes met hers. She did not look away, she could not look away. Her eyes seemed to be locked in that unreadable silver, a shiver ran down her spine that had nothing to do with the chilly wind. His eyelashes cast long shadows down his sharp cheekbones and light cheeks. He smiled, well not a smile, but there was no other name for it. It was an expression of pleasure, but it held no warmth, in fact it made her shiver again. She turned and walked back inside, Harry and Hermione momentarily forgotten.

*******

Draco stood by the lake, staring into it, watching the water glint across its surface. Searching it for inspiration. He heard a noise above him and looked up. For a split second he thought he was seeing fire, a swirling mass of deep red that seemed to spark as the sun hit it. But then he saw there was a face beneath it, one that now stared unhappily out at the lake. It was a pretty face, with a full red mouth, and blue eyes, glistening as if they were filled with tears. She had a small delicate nose, and cheeks splashed with color from the chilly wind.

She seemed to sense his gaze and looked down, her eyes meeting his. He recognized her then, she was a Weasley, and a Gryffindor. A wave of dislike washed through him. But she met his eyes squarely and did not look away, it was a gaze very unlike the faltering, nervous look that girls usually gave him. He respected that, though it made him feel no more warmly towards her. Their eyes locked, then she turned and walked out of his view.

*******

But the cold silver eyes were not the only ones that looked at Ginny as she stood out on the windy balcony. Further back on the castle on a higher balcony, a pair of dark eyes looked down at her, black hair blew back from a face with olive skin and a straight nose. His hands were shoved into his pockets, and he was looking down at the red haired girl thoughtfully, as if a sudden idea had come to him. Then he smiled, as if he had come to a conclusion, his lips turned up in satisfaction. He looked down at Draco then, and slowly turned around, the wind now blowing his hair into his face, covering whatever expression might now be on it. He walked back into the castle.