Chapter 10 (1/2)

Waking up with a headache and a sore body was not at all pleasant. But, waking up knowing you've been pardoned for murder due to a bout of accidental magic in self defence against a wanted criminal was something to celebrate for, even if you did murder the said criminal out of vengeance.

Edmund had stayed in St. Mungo's spell damage ward for the past three days. His exposure to cruciaticus was quite a lot. And using gates had only increased the amount of damage to his body. Altair Vulpis was on the run as he was suspected to have provided safe haven to a criminal, even if the said criminal was his own father. Edmund laughed but then winced in pain. Altair had dug his own grave. He still had a hard time trying not to laugh when he read the prophet again.

'Vulpis Heir attacked in his own home, tortured by grandfather. Head of the family on the run.'

After being discharged, Edmund decided to stay at Leakey Cauldron for the rest of the summer. It was the last place Altair would ever decide to stay at due to the regular inflow of aurors and other wizards and witches.

Some time in the middle of August, word went out that Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban. The whole magical Britain was on alert. Even the muggle government was informed about him. Edmund just shrugged in indifference. He had other important stuff to focus on. Like looking at Iris' beautiful eyes widening in surprise upon seeing him outside her door as he was about to talk shit to his neighbor for causing noise when he was meditating. Apparently, the girl had opened her Care for Magical Creatures book without stroking it's spine.

”Potter, didn't stroke it nicely did ya?”

Oops, that did not sound right.

”Wh..what?”

Yeah.

”I meant your magical creatures book. You have to stroke it's spine and then open it. Didn't the person at the shop tell you?”

Iris fidgeted and looked down. Edmund wanted to reprimand the girl as it made her look weak. A girl brave enough to face Lord Moldy at eleven and a Basilisk at twelve was by no means weak.

”Um, I.. kinda blew up my.. aunt and ran away. The minister had already baught my books for me so I didn't know about it,” she said. Looking up, she noticed him smirking at her. She again looked down and closed her eyes, expecting something snarky and insulting.

”Hah! Blew up your aunt. Now that was some impressive piece of magic wasn't it?”

She hesitated and then nodded, still looking down.

”Come on Potter, look up,” he reprimanded. ”You just killed a Basilisk three months ago. Fidgeting like that and looking down at the ground makes you look weak. Are you a weak witch Potter?” Not getting any response he gently grabbed her chin and pulled her face up which was now completely flushed. Tilting his head, he looked into her wide innocent eyes and asked, ”Or are you afraid of me?”

Iris' breath hitched in her throat as she frantically shook her head.

”Shy then?”

She again looked down and nodded once.

”Hey! None of that. Look up. Don't hide your eyes from me.” Her head shot up and her eyes widened again. Edmund closed in, their faces only a few inches away from each other. His voice was soft as he said the next few words, ”Do you even realise how beautiful your eyes are?”

(ROTS)

Iris Potter's summer was going much better than the previous one. She was not starved, there were no bars on her window and no house elves to cause her trouble. She was behaving properly and in just a few days she would have gotten her guardian's signature on the consent form to visit Hogsmade. But it all went down the drain when Aunt Marge came for a visit.

The woman not only insulted her but she went as far as to calling her father a drunk and her mother a whore. Unable to take the insult, she lashed out and lost control of her magic, causing Aunt Marge to blow up. Afraid that she would be punished, she ran away.

The knights bus was a very new experience and she had been scared for her life. The driver was very reckless as he drove and she had to fight the momentum for balance. It was a miracle she wasn't hurt.

Arriving at the Cauldron, she was taken to the minister and was informed that no action was to be taken against her.

The next day she woke up and decided to read her new textbooks. Intrigued by the odd looking and animalistic magical creatures book, she opened it, which was a big mistake. The book snapped it's teeth at her and she had to try her best to subdue it without destroying it.

Then, someone knocked on her door, probably to scold her for causing too much noise. She opened the door any to find a very angry Edmund Vulpis, standing at the entrance of her room with a scowl on his face. But surprisingly, it all vanished when he looked at her.

”Potter, didn't stroke it nicely did ya?”

That sounded very wrong, and it completely surprised her. After that, he quickly corrected himself and she briefly gave him the reason of her presence at the Cauldron and why she didn't know about the book.

She was expecting to say something demeaning, as he usually would say to anyone else. But he just laughed it off. She still remembered the conversation they had last year at the lake and was feeling very embarrassed due to what happened at the end of it. Her emotions were erratic in the chamber so it didn't affect her much. But now, it was a tad bit overwhelming.

When she did not respond to him he had grabbed her chin, pulled her face up and looked into her eyes. The gesture was too much for her and her eyes widened in surprise. He then asked, ”Or are you afraid of me?”