Moonshine Griffith - Chapter Seven

Instructions

"What?" Moonshine took a step back from the window, muttering to herself. The figure stayed where it was, still staring at her intently. Then she moved closer forwards again, to check what she thought was true. As quietly as possible, she cranked the window open. A sharp breeze flew inside, blowing her short hair backwards. Desperately, she wafted the gale back outside, hoping it hadn't woken any of the other girls. "Asher?" she bit her lip. "Is it actually you?" the figure removed his hood, and the young man beneath it grinned. "It's me, little sis," Moonshine tried to embrace him through the window, but they ended up awkwardly, an elbow jutting out here or there, not really able to fit their chests through the window. Her brother had definitely grown, and perhaps thinned. She could see his collarbone jutting out against a thin sheet of pale skin, and his cheekbones were even more pronounced than they used to be. She could see the beginnings of a youthful stubble lining his jaw. "What the h3ll are you doing here?" she hissed, once she had broken away. "I... i came to warn you," Asher swallowed, the bones in his throat contracting. "There are dark forces at work against this school, and I have a feeling that they will get increasingly worse, especially after the young Harry Potter joins the school." "Who's Harry Potter?" Moonshine asked. The name was familiar, as if she had heard it before, but she couldn't put her finger on who it was. "A famous wizard," Asher said. "The boy who lived. When he was only a baby, he defeated /Voldemort/." He spoke the last name in a whisper, but Moonshine knew who that was. He was the dark wizard who had murd3r3d her mother. Asher glanced behind him, suddenly worried. "I have to leave now, tell no one you saw me." Reaching through the window, he cupped Moonshine's cheek in his hand. "I love you, Moonshine, and I've missed you." "Don't..." Moonshine started, but Asher had already gone, as though he had disappeared into thin air. The next day, she sat at the breakfast table next to Maggie. Looking across the Great Hall, she spotted Flick. He was sitting next to Alexandra, his chin in the palm of his hand. He seemed to be flirting with her. Moonshine was pleased to see Alexandra didn't look at all interested, and ate her toast quickly, before standing up and leaving the hall. Moonshine bit her lip, thinking about the night before. Why had Asher just come to warn her about Voldemort? What was she supposed to do? "Moonshine, are you ok?" Maggie asked. Moonshine snapped from her daze. "Yes," she said. "Fine." Then the bell trilled, and the two girls rushed off to charms. This was the first time Moonshine had ever had Charms. She had heard Fred in Muggle Studies the day before talking about the tiny Professor Flitwick, but she hadn't expected him to be this small. Of course, she was quite tall, but a man who only scraped her knee in height was a very small man indeed. She assumed her seat next to Alex, who was repeatedly throwing glares at Flick, and listened to the Professor. The next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake. She opened her eyes, and saw Fred's green eyes staring into her own. "You alright there, Griffith?" he grinned broadly, and Moonshine blushed, sitting up. "What happened?" "You fell asleep," Fred said. "Yeah, thanks, Sherlock," Moonshine replied, rubbing her eyes hastily. "Well, what else did you want me to say?" Fred raised his almost invisible red eyebrows. "Don't worry, Flitwick hasn't noticed, but we're trying to do the levitating spell." Fred tried to show Moonshine. Glancing at Alex, she noticed she was also having trouble, although after a few goes, she had mastered the charm. Flick was nudging the feather they were supposed to levitate angrily with his wand, but nothing was happening. "See? Swish and flick," Fred moved his wand through the air. "/Wingardium Leviosa/." and his feather floated upwards. Moonshine jokingly applauded him, then tried to follow suit. "Swish and flick," she muttered. "Swish and flick." "No, no," Fred stopped her. "You're doing it to forcefully. Here, like this." He closed his slender fingers around Moonshine's own hand, and attempted to move her wand. Moonshine's cheeks went hot, and she knew they had gone red. "Now say the words," Fred's voice was startlingly close to her ear. "/Wingardium Leviosa/." Fred helped her with her hand, and the feather floated up from the table for about three seconds, before coming back down again. "Thanks," she whispered. "Hey, teamwork makes the dreamwork," Fred smiled, though not his usual grin, somehow softer. Then, as if just realising he was still holding Moonshine's hand, he dropped it, and looked away, apparently interested in what was outside the window. "Blushing, are we, Weasley?" Flick gave him a sly smirk. "Are you ok?" Alexandra asked Moonshine. "I mean, you did just fall asleep, what were you doing last night? You must've stayed up pretty late."