Hogwarts Host Club

A week later, Sunday the eighth of November, the Host club was relaxing in their room, chatting and drinking tea as usual. Edward was sitting with Rachel and Annette, a pile of coloured ribbon on the table before them. They were making decorations for the special Open Day they were planning for the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. Edward had made a pile of fancy bows and pom-poms, he picked up a length of golden yellow ribbon, and carefully cut a v shape into the ends so that they looked like snake tongues. He laughed at the irony. Looking up, he noticed Rachel was looking through the ribbon, pulling out different ones and holding them against her hair. She didn’t look like she was having any luck with picking a colour.

Standing up, he took the golden ribbon and moved around behind her, and gently ties the golden ribbon around the little half-ponytail she now always wore on the right side of her head. He made sure it wasn’t going to fall out before standing back, seeing that the end of the ribbon were slightly longer than her hair. She looked at him in wonder, then at her reflection in the mirror.
“Thanks Edward, it’s perfect.” She said, smiling up at him. He smiled back, and then glanced behind him at Kristie, Brie and Jesse. The trio was staring at him with confused, amused and alarmed expressions. He shook his head with a sigh, and pulled a green and silver ribbon from the pile, and began working it into a complex bow.

***

Monday came, and the sky was a dark, cloudy grey, with a definite chance of rainfall. Rachel stood just inside the entrance hall, umbrella in hand. It hadn’t started raining yet, but there was a slight bit of drizzle about. She hurried to Herbology after escaping from History of Magic, Michael hot on her heels. She was wearing the golden ribbon in her hair again, it matched her uniform, and Edward had given it to her. She mainly wore it for the second reason.

As soon as they got into the greenhouse, the rain came down with hell-bent ferocity. Lindsay and Edward could be seen running towards them through the rain, their Care of Magical Creatures class cut rather short by the sudden downpour. The two boys as well as some other unfortunately sodden students splashed into the greenhouse, and tried to wring out their robes. Rachel jumped up and whipped out her wand, casting a strong Heating Charm on the wet students, their clothes and bags drying in seconds. Lindsay’s hair stuck up impossibly as it always did after getting wet, Edward sneezed and thanked Rachel when she handed him her handkerchief. They all then took their seats so that they could begin the lesson.

***

Edward continued to sneeze all through Herbology, and when he said goodbye to go to his Charms class, he didn’t sound too good. Rachel thought he had a cold, Lindsay and the others were fine though, so why was Edward sick? Rachel left with Michael to join Annette for Transfiguration, hoping he would be better by Potions class after Morning Break.

***

He wasn’t. Edward looked quite pale when Rachel saw him slumped at the Slytherin table an hour and a half later. He was half-heartedly eating an apple, and waved as she approached.
“You okay Edward? You don’t look very well.” Rachel asked, Annette standing just behind her. Sure enough, Edward’s eyes were bloodshot, and when he spoke he sounded like his nose was blocked.

“I’ll be okay; hey you're wearing the ribbon again. It looks nice...” he said, before sneezing into Rachel’s handkerchief again. Rachel sighed at sat down beside him, not caring that it was the Slytherin table in the slightest. She rubbed his back as he coughed slightly, and tucked the handkerchief away inside his robes. He attempted to smile.
“Sorry about that, I’ll buy you a new one next Hogsmeade trip, there’s one on the 20th of November... “He said, Rachel just looked at him with sad eyes, she hated it when people who are clearly sick try and tell others they’re fine. She decided to let this one pass, Professor Snape would probably tell him off in their Potions class anyway, and Edward did tend to listen to his Head of House.

***

Sure enough, seconds after Edward had taken his usual seat in Potions; Professor Snape crossed the space between their desks in mere seconds and gave Edward a cold glare.
“Tell me Von Rüch, why you seem to be so ill today and yet still turn up to class?” Snape said in a low, dangerous voice. Edward was slumped in his seat, his breathing fast and unusual. Rachel was holding onto his upper arm, and looking from Snape to Edward with an anxious expression. She put a hand to Edward’s forehead, but withdrew it quickly.

“He has a burning temperature, Professor.” She said in a small voice. Snape reached out with a single finger and touched it to Edward’s brow. He too pulled his hand away quickly. Summoning a stretcher from mid-air, he set it on the floor. Edward’s eyes were now closed, and he had broken out in a cold sweat. Rachel coaxed him to his feet, but as soon as he was upright, he fainted.
Snape caught him, and lay him down on the stretcher. Rachel was close to tears, Annette and Michael hugging her for support. Snape’s expression was unreadable; with a wave of his wand the stretcher rose into the air, and hovered at around waist-level.

“Miss Aster, would you be so kind as to escort Von Rüch to the Hospital Wing? And explain to Madam Pomfrey why he is so ill.”
A teary-eyed Rachel nodded, and she walked alongside Edward on the stretcher, everyone watched them go until Snape waved his wand to close the classroom door.
“Your Polyjuice Potions, remember?” he snarled, turning to write today’s instructions on the blackboard. Annette and Michael took their seats, pulling Rachel and Edward’s potion towards them so that they could do theirs as well as their own.

***

Rachel didn’t turn up for lunch, Charms or Care of Magical creatures. Annette and Michael had to write her a copy of their notes on Chimeras so she wouldn’t fall behind. After class they made their way up to the Hospital Wing, and asked if they could see Edward. Madam Pomfrey regarded them with interest, no doubt wondering why two Gryffindors had come to visit a sick Slytherin. She was probably going to watch them to make sure they didn’t try and curse him or something. Drawing back a curtain at the far end of the room, Annette and Michael saw Edward was sitting up in bed, but fast asleep. He looked better, but very tired. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he still looked a bit pale.
Rachel was in a chair on the far side of his bed, slumped over the mattress and sound asleep. Madam Pomfrey had draped a blanket over her, but otherwise had left her alone. Annette shook her shoulder gently, but she didn’t wake. Michael poked her in the ribs, quite sharply, and she still didn’t wake up.

At that moment, Lindsay crept into the room, and looked from Annette to Rachel to Michael to Edward. He smirked, and leaned down to whisper something in Rachel’s ear. She sat bolt upright, wide awake, her expression priceless. The Gryffindors all laughed as she glared at the three of them, and then turned back to Edward. Annette stopped laughing, and put a hand on Rachel's shoulder.
“Is he gonna be okay?” she asked, knowing full well he was already much better than he had been this morning. Rachel nodded, twisting her skirt in her hands.
“He had a severe cold, his immune system was really low already and being out in the rain all morning didn’t do him any good. Madam Pomfrey gave him some Pepper Up Potion, so he’ll be better in no time. Still...”
“He should have come here when you told him to.” Annette finished, Rachel laughed and agreed, pulling the blanket around her shoulders more securely. She said she wanted to stay a while longer, just until he woke up. Annette, Michael and Lindsay bade her farewell, and headed to the Great Hall for dinner.

***

The next morning, Rachel sat at the breakfast table, unusually quiet and playing with her food. Annette and Kristie sat either side of her, watching for any small hint of what might be wrong. She looked up when Edward entered the Great Hall with Jesse following him like a guide dog. She had sworn to keep a close eye on him for Rachel. Edward waved, and Rachel waved back, her cheeks flushing a mysterious shade of pink. Edward raised a single eyebrow, and sat down at the Slytherin table beside Jesse. Rachel could tell he was going to try and interrogate her in their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, after Charms.

***

After learning to perform perfect Sticking Charms, Rachel and Michael joined up with the rest of their friends for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Edward and Jesse were waiting at the door for them, Edward smiled as they approached, and walked inside with them. Taking their seats, the copied down some notes Professor Moody scribbled down on the blackboard about unpleasant hexes, curses and how best to avoid or reverse them.

Then the class stood and cleared a space at the back of the room so that they could resume practicing their duelling. Edward was forced to sit this one out, at Madam Pomfrey’s threat to use a Sticking Charm on him and keep him in bed for the next week. He was made to watch as Rachel had a rather nasty duel against both Michael and Annette, resulting in Michael’s robes glowing pink, Annette’s hair growing to twice its original length, and Rachel’s ears changing to resemble those of a cat.

Lindsay, Brie, Jesse and Kristie had a more serious duel, Jesse had a cut on her cheek, and Brie’s robes were singed and torn. Kristie was relatively unharmed, save for a few bruises and having the wind knocked out of her more than once. Lindsay was unconscious. Ashley had been duelling with some other students, and came out completely unscathed. Her opponents looked like they had been put into a tumble-dryer, on the fastest setting.

So Edward didn’t get to interrogate Rachel in class, he tried to talk to her at Morning Break, but she was deeply immersed in her Potions revision, Annette saying to him not to bother with her when she’s reading, she won’t hear a thing anyone says. Same went for writing, drawing and listening to music. Michael added that she sang sometimes too, and if that happened you had best leave the room altogether. He received an apple to the back of the head for that comment, but even though they all knew Rachel had thrown it, she had barely moved an inch from her ‘reading pose’.

***

In Transfiguration, Rachel was quietly and effectively transforming her kettle into a kitten, although it still had steam blowing out of its ears, and a porcelain handle for a tail. Michael’s kettle now had a picture of a kitten on it, whereas Annette was cuddling her fully transformed kitten, which had been examined by Professor McGonagall and been marked as a complete success. She and Michael didn’t press Rachel for answers as to her odd behaviour; they knew she would come out with it in due course.

***

That afternoon in History of Magic, Rachel actually fell asleep in class, only to be woken up by a rather vivid dream minutes later. Annette alone could take a guess at what was wrong with her; Michael was as clueless as ever. They walked down to dinner, Rachel lagging behind a bit.
So they didn’t notice when she was suddenly yanked aside and pulled into a spare classroom on the first floor. Rachel just looked blankly at Edward as he checked to make sure they hadn’t been spotted, then he turned to Rachel with evidently a few questions to ask.

“What happened to me yesterday, Rachel? I barely remember anything after first break.” He said, his expression anxious. Rachel sighed with understanding, and smiled.

“Sorry Edward, I thought... never mind. You fainted in Potions when Professor Snape was talking to you. He then sent me up to the Hospital Wing with you to make sure you got better. You had a serious over-developed cold.”
Edward pondered this for a moment, then sighed. Running a hand through his hair, he apologized for causing her so much worry. She replied telling him not to worry about it, and she was glad to be able to help him. He noticed she was still acting funny, and put a hand on the door as she tried to ‘escape’.
“What did I say, or do to you while I was... out of it?”

At first Rachel said nothing; her hair fell to shield her face from his. The golden ribbon he had given her was still there, glinting in the sunset that was fading through the windows. Edward gently ran the ribbon through his fingers, only just feeling as Rachel went very still, paying very close attention to his actions.
“Please tell me, or I’ll just think it was something really... lecherous.”
At this Rachel laughed, turning to face Edward properly, and with a smile. He could see her eyes were slightly glassy, like she had been going to cry. A single tear leaked out of one eye, and he brushed it aside with his thumb, then leaving his hand on her cheek, begged her with his eyes to tell him.

“You were mostly mumbling things, a lot of random things that didn’t make any sense. Then you started talking about your mother...”

Edward knew where this was going, but he kept his face blank.

“She’s... a Muggle. You love her very much, and so does your father, but because you are nobility you have to lie to everyone and say your real mother is dead. You even have to lie at school about being a Pure Blood. You hate people seeing you as someone who you're not; you wish you could tell people the truth.”
Edward was shaking now, everything Rachel had said was true. He was a Half Blood, a Mudblood. The other Slytherins would resent him if they knew. Yet, he wasn’t scared. He wanted her to know. He didn’t know why, but he felt safe having Rachel know his darkest secret. He smiled.

“That’s all you were avoiding me for? You were scared I would be angry that you know I’m not a Pure Blood?” he asked, his face falling when Rachel shook her head slowly.
“You were also saying... other things...” she whispered, twisting her skirt in her hands again. The fabric was severely creased now, it would need serious ironing. Edward’s heart dropped like a stone.

“What things?” he had many other secrets he would prefer people NOT to know, specifically HER, heaven forbid he had mumbled any of them in his moment of delirious-ness.

“You said... you liked me...”
“Of course I like you, you’re very friendly to everyone.”
“You said you really, really like me. In a way more than just friends.”
“Ah... that...”
“So it’s true then? You admit you... really like me?”

Edward went very quiet, glowering at the floor. He could feel Rachel’s eyes on him. He wanted to say yes, but the words were caught in his throat. He looked up at her, and swallowed hard. She looked confused, scared, and... hopeful? He wasn’t sure, but a low growling told him he should hurry and answer because she was getting seriously hungry. Another grumble said he was too.

“Yeah... it’s true...”

Now Rachel was silent, but only for a second. She jumped forward and tackled Edward to the floor. For a moment he was thoroughly confused, but then the door crashed open and a pile of students tumbled inside, falling into a mass of struggling bodies. The entire Host Club had been listening, plus Professor Kellie, and Edward was starting to freak out. What if they had heard the part where he was a Mudblood? Rachel leaned down, her mouth next to his ear.
“Don’t worry, they turned up after the blood part. Your secret is safe with me.” She whispered, getting to her feet and offering a hand to help Edward up. She then turned to her fellow Hosts, hand on her hips.

“There is a penalty for eavesdropping you know. I’m afraid you ALL are going to pay for this. And I will not be lifting this curse until the end of the week.” She said, whipping out her wand. All the faces of the Hosts went white, and there was a mass scramble as some of them tried to make a run for it. But with a wave of her wand and some softly spoken words, there was a cloud of pink smoke.
Once it had dissipated, Edward saw that each and every one of the Host Club members had their human ears replaced with cat ears. They stood out quite prominently, and would surely attract attention at dinner, not to mention during the next three days worth of classes. Rachel took Edward’s hand in hers, and dragged him from the room.
Once they were gone, the Hosts tried various Charms and counter-curses to rid themselves of the ears, but nothing worked. They knew the other teachers wouldn’t help, so they were just going to have to deal with it.
“She can be really scary at times. Brilliant, but scary.” Michael noted, looking at his ginger ears in a mirror. The others laughed nervously and agreed, deciding they may as well go and have dinner; their secret would be out before long anyway.

***

Once free of the gaze of the others, Rachel stopped, but didn’t let go of Edward’s hand. She turned to look into his crystal blue eyes, searching for any small sign of a lie or trick. All she saw was pure innocence, and something else she wasn’t too sure about yet.
“I’m happy to hear that, you like me so much. I know we haven’t known each other for very long and all, but... I kinda feel the same.” She said, squeezing his hand just a bit. He returned the gesture, smiling brightly.

“EDWARD LOVES RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACHEL!”

Kellie came running down the hall, her cat ears more than evident as she yelled at the top of her lungs. Rachel swore under her breath, and shot a alarmingly fast spell at Kellie. It both silenced her and caused her to sprout a cat’s tail out of the rear of her robes. Now more than alarmed, Kellie turned tail, literally, and fled to her quarters. Rachel grumbled under her breath, allowing Edward to put an arm around her shoulders and steer her in the direction of the Great Hall.

“Move along Von Rüch, you and your curse-happy girlfriend better move it or all the food will be gone.” came a voice from behind them. Edward glanced back to see Draco Malfoy and his minions coming up the stairs behind them. Edward rolled his eyes and kept walking. Malfoy pushed past them, and into the Great Hall. Edward was then passed by Professor Snape, who was wearing what could only be a shell-shocked expression. He paused, and addressed the pair.
“Miss Aster, are you responsible for the new ears on your club members, as well as the new look of my assistant?” he asked smoothly. Rachel nodded, her face going quite pale. Snape snorted, almost laughed, and with one last, rather unusual look at Edward and Rachel, he moved off to the staff table.
Edward watched him go with a single raised eyebrow, before letting Rachel go. She smiled up at him, and said she would meet him after dinner. She then moved down the Gryffindor table, and rather than sit with her cat-eared friends, she instead sat between Ginny Weasley and Angelina Johnson.