Chapter 4: Jetpack Blues

Did you ever love her? Do you know? Or did you never want to be alone?
Who in their right mind would schedule Defense Against the Dark Arts so early in the morning? As
interesting as Professor Allaways classes are, Laura wasn't particularly fond of dueling and what-not
when she can barely open her eyes.
Joseph Allaway was a former student of Hogwarts and the current Slytherin Head of House. He was a
bald, olive-skinned, stocky man with a dark Van Dyke beard. He and Professor Cochrane,
the Divination professor, were the co-facilitators of The Voice of Hogwarts. He was interesting as a
person but Laura wasn't comfortable with the way he would throw shade at some students, even if they
deserved it. However, he was one of the handful of people who seemed to be good friends with the
Headmistress.
"I assume you all have read up on the principles of casting non-verbal spells?" asked Professor
Allaway. A lot of students mumbled their consent but Professor Allaway just scoffed. "Sure you did.
Anyway, I numbered some dueling areas throughout the room. Take a number from my desk and proceed
to the number indicated. You're only allowed to use non-verbal spells. I'll be walking around to make sure
you're all doing it properly."
Laura gulped as she approached Professor Allaway's table and took a number.
(3. Okay so that's somewhere... Aha! Oh no.)
Laura all but dropped her wand. William Eisen. Her dueling partner is William freaking Eisen. She was so
screwed. The boy had his back turned from her. His robe was draped over a chair close by and the sleeves
of his white button-down was rolled up to his elbows. He was twirling a brown wand rather carelessly.
(Of all people. Of all freaking people I could've gotten paired up with, I have to get paired up with the
king of douche-canoes.)
As if he could hear her thoughts, Will turned and smirked at her. "Hollis, right?"
Laura nodded and shifted uncomfortably. She removed her robe and folded it before placing it on a
nearby chair. She brought out her wand and Will immediately zeroed in on it.
"What are your wand specs?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Laura looked down at her wand. "Um... Twelve inches, maple, and unicorn hair core. Why?"
Will chuckled and dropped his arms to his side. "Nothing. It's just... knowing your wand specs makes it
much easier to, let's say..." He twirled his wand again. "Figure you out?"
Laura frowned. "What do you-"
Before she could finish, Will flicked his wand and an orange light burst from its tip before hitting Laura
square on the chest. She stumbled and fell backwards. Laura winced in pain before slowly pushing herself
back up.

Professor Allaway walked over to them. "Everte Statum. Very impressive Mr. Eisen but perhaps next
time, make sure your opponent is ready for the duel," he said. "Three points from Slytherin for that but
five for properly executing the spell." He walked away again.
Laura groaned. This was going to be a long class.
==++==
Carmilla frowned when she saw Will cast a spell against Laura who was obviously not ready. She nearly
ran over to them when Laura fell backwards but her duel partner, some dark-haired Ravenclaw
boy successfully cast a non-verbal spell which Carmilla recognized as stupefy. She promptly deflected
and countered.
This went on for several minutes. After a while, Professor Allaway approached them and gave them five
points each.
"You two can take a break," he said and walked away.
Carmilla went back to observing Will and Laura. She shook her head. The little fool gave Will her wand
specs. Will may be a knuckle-head at times but even he knew how to figure out someone's spell-casting
style based on their wand.
Laura seemed to have difficulty casting non-verbal spells. Carmilla noticed her discretely mumbling the
words. Will smirked at that and launched a flurry of spells at Laura who deflected most of them. She got
hit by the last three and she found herself being launched back once again.
Carmilla stiffened and her grip on her wand tightened.
"You're Karnstein, right? Carmilla?" her dueling partner suddenly asked.
Carmilla's attention was drawn away from Laura (and Will). She tried not to scowl at her partner too
much. "Yeah. Why?"
His lips quirked. "My dad's friends with your mother and aunt," he said. "We go to your place every year
on your mother's birthday."
(Mother's birthday. Party. Ball. Right. Lots of people show up.)
Unfortunately, Carmilla still didn't recognize the boy. "Um... okay?" she said uncertainly.
"My name's Killian. My dad's Kristoffer Morgenstern." Upon seeing the confusion on Carmilla's face,
Killian sighed and continued. "We bought Morgan & Duke."
Carmilla raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh. Right. Okay. That's nice. Good for you, Cajun."
"Killian."
"Whatever."

Her attention was drawn away from Killian when she heard someone yelp somewhere to her right. She
turned and saw Laura clutching her right hand close to her chest. Her wand was on the floor a few feet
away from her. Carmilla was tempted to jinx Will to wipe the smirk on his face when Killian cleared his
throat.
This time, Carmilla couldn't stop the snarl that escaped her mouth. Killian tilted his head. "You still care
about her, don't you?"
Carmilla shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Hey, I know we're not close or anything but our parents are friends so that has to count for something
right?"
(Wow. This guy's persistent.)
Carmilla laughed. "Wow. Honestly, I don't think mother really has friends. To her, friends and business
partners mean the same thing."
The boy shrugged. "What I'm trying to say is that if you need to talk or anything-"
"Yeah, I don't really do that. My cousin Lex has got me covered."
Killian chuckled. "My dad's right. You're just like your father."
Before Carmilla could ask him what he meant, Killian raised his wand. "Ready to go again?"
Carmilla scoffed. "Are you?"
==++==
Five Years Ago...
Carmilla watched as Laura struggled to take notes. In her defense, Professor Allaway talked really
quickly.
"I have coordinated with your Potions professor," Professor Allaway suddenly said. Carmilla frowned.
"Since Professor Blackwood is the Gryffindor Head of House and I'm the Slytherin Head of House, I
should join him in his cause to, well, try to end our houses' rivalries. That is why you will retain your
partners in Potions. Hopefully, you'll get to know each other better."
Will groaned next to Carmilla. "No. No no no no. I don't like the dumb blonde."
Carmilla rolled her eyes. Laura stiffened up and she subtly (not really) glanced around the room to look
for Carmilla. As soon as her eyes locked with the raven-haired girl's, she immediately whipped her head
back down. Carmilla smirked.
"I'm still stuck with the Gryffindor idiot," Will continued to grumble.
"Doesn't matter, Will," Carmilla said. "You're both idiots. You'll fail, regardless."

Whatever Will was going to answer back was interrupted by Professor Allaway announcing their
assignment.
"Your first pair assignment is to read up on Bowtruckles. I want you to submit a two-page report
containing the following information..."
Carmilla didn't bother writing those down. She's pretty sure Little Miss Tightly Wound did so already.
"Class dismissed," Professor Allaway said. Everyone immediately got up and started walking out the
door.
"Carmilla!" The said girl kept walking. "Carmilla! Hey! Wait up!" She finally stopped when Laura
grabbed her arm.
Carmilla whirled and glared at Laura whose grip faltered.
"What do you want?" Carmilla asked.
Laura swallowed before speaking. "I was just wondering when and where you want to meet up for the
assignment?"
Carmilla's lips quirked. "I'm free at three later. How does the library sound?"
Laura nodded eagerly. "Yeah! That, erm, that sounds great. I'll see you later?"
Carmilla tilted her head and shrugged. "Sure," she said before walking away.
==++==
Present...
Danny sighed as she finished writing her essay. She didn't need to continue onto seventh year seeing as to
how she was already being scouted by various Quiditch teams like Puddlemere United and the Holyhead
Harpies. If she were to be honest, one of the reasons why she stayed is, well, Laura.
Danny started packing up her things. Admittedly, she did used to have feelings for Laura. How could she
not? Laura was sweet, funny, smart...
Danny shook her head. Nope. That time was long gone. She and Laura were just friends now. She stayed
because she knows that Laura needed as much emotional support as she can get. Laura may pretend to be
unaffected by her break-up with Carmilla but Danny knew she was hurting if her reaction to The Voice of
Hogwarts' article was anything to go by. As much as Danny hated to admit it, she didn't really understand
why they broke up. Laura wouldn't talk, Lex said something about it "not being [her] story to tell," and,
well, she wasn't exactly on first-name basis with Carmilla. Not even last name, either. Danny didn't
believe all that crap about how the cause of the break-up was the stupid Quidditch game. Morticia may be
immature sometimes but she's not that shallow. At this point Danny's pretty much given up trying to
figure out the real reason. She figured that it'll come out when it does, one way or another.

As Danny stood up to start packing her things, somebody pulled the chair next to her and sat down on it.
Danny didn't even have to look to know who it was. She could smell the excessive amounts of
some muggle product.
"Kirsch, I thought you were allergic to libraries," she said. Kirsch grumbled. His arms were crossed in
front of his chest and his hair was fluffier than normal. His eyes were red and he was staring adamantly at
the ground.
(Okay. Something's wrong.)
Danny sat back down and poked Kirsch's shoulder. "Hey, what happened?"
Kirsch looked up at her. "Yeah, so SJ and I broke up."
Danny frowned. It was hard not to just straight up tell Kirsch 'I saw that coming'. But seeing the hurt
puppy-dog look on his face, she just sighed and patted his back.
"Hey, it's going to be okay, Kirsch," she said.
Kirsch sniffed and suddenly turned to give her a hug. Danny tried to stifle her sound of surprise. She
coughed and patted his back again.
"Thanks, D-bear," Kirsch mumbled. "It's at times like these that I'm so glad you're now one of my bros."
Danny frowned before lightly pushing Kirsch away. "D-bear?"
Kirsch wiped his eyes and shrugged. "I don't know. I was trying it out. No?"
Danny shook her head. "No."
"How about D-dog?"
"No."
"D-lion?"
"No."
"D-cow?"
"Cow?!"
"No?"
"Kirsch, stop."
"Sorry."
A grin spread across Kirsch's face and Danny couldn't help but feel satisfied. The kind of satisfied you
feel after a puppy wags its tail when it sees you. Not that Kirsch was a puppy. Okay, he's kind of like an
oversized Golden Retriever but there's no way she's admitting that out loud.

==++==
It was the sixth years' turn to patrol tonight. Laura was finishing her dinner when Perry approached her.
She looked nervous, wringing her hands once in a while.
"Um... Laura. So I requested a copy of all the patrol schedules from Adam and, well..." Perry hesitated.
"Perry, what is it?" Laura asked. Perry looked at the spot next to Laura who scooted to let the older girl sit
beside her.
"I asked Lex if she could change it or something but she seems to think communication will do you some
good and, um, after listening to her whole reasoning, I have to agree but-"
"Perry, wait." Laura raised her right hand. "Slow down. What are you trying to say?"
Perry took a deep breath and exhaled heavily but before she could reply, a ruckus came up at the Slytherin
table drawing their attention to it.
"What the creeping hell, Lex?!" Carmilla yelled. She stood up, banging her goblet on the table. She
started to march away. Lex immediately got up and followed.
"No wait, Carm. Listen." Lex stammered out.
"Listen to what?" Carmilla growled, whirling around to face her cousin. Her lip was curled in a snarl.
"You have no right to meddle in my life."
"Look," Lex tried again but Carmilla pressed her palms to her face and shook her head. She dropped her
arms to her side. Laura noticed that Carmilla's hands were balled into fists.
"No. Just no, Lex. Please just-" Carmilla let out a sound of frustration and stormed out of the Great Hall.
Lex closed her eyes. She pressed her right hand to her forehead and sighed.
"Alessandra," Headmistress Belmonde called out. Lex dropped her hand and turned around. "I trust that
whatever the issue is, it can be resolved quickly?"
Lex clenched her jaw and raised her chin as if the Headmistress challenged her. "Don't worry. Im sure
Carmilla and I can work it out, Mattie." She said the Headmistress' name with such disdain and
familiarity that Laura was scared that Lex would be blasted to smithereens or something. To Laura's
surprise, Headmistress Belmonde just smiled as if Lex was a cute puppy that tried to act tough. She said
nothing when Lex ran out the Great Hall.
"Oh don't let that stop you from enjoying your meal," Headmistress Belmonde said when she noticed
everyone staring at her. "Continue."
"Well," Perry started. She swallowed and shook her head. "I should, um, I should go back to my table."
"Bye, Perry," Laura said, a little absent-mindedly.
Danny nudged Laura and leaned in. "What was that about?" she asked.

Laura shrugged. "I'm not sure, but something tells me that whatever Perry wanted to tell me had
something to do with what Carmilla was raving about."
==++==
Laura's patrol area was around the Astronomy Tower. She had a feeling that Carmilla would be her patrol
partner, judging by Perry and Carmilla's reactions earlier. And seeing as to how it's most likely Carmilla,
she would be 15 minutes late. Minimum.
Laura sighed. She still kind of hoped that Carmilla would show up a little earlier. After
all, Carmilla mentioned once that the Astronomy Tower is her favorite spot in the entire school. If she
were honest, after the things they did in the tower (innocent things, goodness) Laura had difficulty being
in it without the memories playing over and over again in her head.
After 10 minutes of waiting, Laura gave up and decided to start the patrol. Carmilla can just catch up if
she wants. Laura entered the Astronomy Tower. She figured that she should start from the very top and
work her way down. When she reached the top, she saw someone sitting down with her back towards
her.
"Excuse me!" Laura called out. "It's past curfew."
The girl turned around and smirked at Laura.
"Took you long enough, cupcake." Of course. The girl was none other than one Carmilla Karnstein.
Laura's mouth opened in surprise. "What- When did- How- Since when- Huh?"
Carmilla rolled her eyes. "And you're still so inarticulate." She stood and Laura glared at her. "So shall we
start the patrol?"
Laura simply nodded and they walked in silence.
==++==
Five Years Ago...
Carmilla adjusted her telescope before peering into it. She and Will were partners for Astronomy. Since
her oh-so-reliable cousin couldn't operate a telescope even if his life depended on it, he was relegated to
simply writing down the answers.
"You may leave when you're done finishing your datasheet!" Professor Buchanan, a short woman with
medium-length brown hair, called out.
"Kitty, would you hurry up?" Will said, impatiently.
"Oh I'd like to see you do this, Will," Carmilla scowled.
Her cousin rolled his eyes. "Whatever. We have, like, two more items to go and I'm sleepy."
"You're so whiny," Carmilla muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Carmilla said, feigning innocence. Will glared at her but said nothing.
Eventually, they finished and submitted their paper. Will all but ran out the tower but Carmilla asked if
she could stay behind until everyone else leaves. Why not? She loved the tower ever since Mattie
described it to her. It's the tallest tower in Hogwarts and it has the best view of the stars. The Slytherin
common room was under the lake. She couldn't exactly see anything besides water. Sure, the tower was
out-of-bounds for first years 90% of the time but when has that ever stopped Carmilla before? Lex's room
in their manor was supposedly out-of-bounds but she still manages to sneak in.
(Okay so maybe Lex just turns a blind eye to that but still.)
Carmilla enjoyed stargazing. She vaguely recalled that it was one of the things she and her father used to
do. Somehow, it made her feel closer to him. She couldn't really explain why.
Carmilla looked around and spotted Laura with some Hufflepuff. She was laughing and smiling with her
friend. She was telling stories about her father.
Carmilla felt a pang in her chest. A lot of things at her home changed after her father died. Maman was
more strict and she started piling expectation after expectation on her. It was suffocating.
She sighed and looked up.
At least she still had the stars.
==++==
Present...
That patrol admittedly went better than expected. Carmilla and Laura didn't argue as much as she
expected but the tension in the air was palpable. She had to admit, distancing herself emotionally from
Laura was pretty difficult but if she wanted Laura to stay safe, she had to. After what happened to Ell...
Carmilla rubbed her neck as she walked down to the dungeon. She stopped in front of the dark stone wall
and said the password. Thankfully it wasn't anything bigoted or else she would've found Lex camped
outside and adamantly refusing to enter. The last time she did that, Carmilla had to enlist Mathias Avery
and Sofia Suarez to help to drag her in.
("Alessandra Quinn Ivers, I swear on whatever higher being exists that I will jinx you."
"I don't care. You can't make me say that stupid password. I refuse. It sets Slytherin back by
centuries. Who the hell thinks of these passwords, anyway?"
"LOL. Your second name's Quinn?"
"Shut up, Sofia.")
The wall parted to reveal the Slytherin common room and she walked in. Carmilla sighed and started to
head up to her room when someone spoke up.

"Mattie wants to see you in her office."

Carmilla turned around and she saw Will lounging on one of the plush couches. He was already dressed
for sleep, in a white tank top and dark green pajama pants.
"What for?" Carmilla asked.
Will shrugged and sat up. "Didn't say. Here." He handed her a slip of paper. "Just in case Filch stops you
in the hallway. You know how he is. Just like his father."
Carmilla took it and huffed.
"Don't wait up, Willy-boy," she called over her shoulder.
"Wasn't planning to," Will shot back.