Candice Locke

Her job was simple enough. Hide inside Olivander’s and observe the street. Report everything to the Headquarters and when any known Truthbringers show up send green sparks and try to apprehend the fugitives. Because that’s what they were now; last week they had been her fellow students, her friends and in one case her love even and now they were outlaws, searched for by warrants of apprehension, pictures in the Daily Prophet and in some cases even with a bounty on their heads. It was surreal. Luckily it was pretty calm in those first few days and she had a lot of time to think while she was on her post. She was worried for her friends, Cecily mostly of course. And Candice. Kate hadn’t seen the younger girl since the first day of the naga attack and she just hoped that she had been smart enough to just leave the castle and go home, because in the Old Guard nobody knew where she was.

After running into Quincy who was also looking for his friend and was worried about her wellbeing she decided that she had to find her, and if she would find out she was safe home with her parents, secure in the muggle world she would be happy with it. So after her shift had ended for the day she sat down on her bed in the room she shared with Rae and took out the shirt Candice had given her for Christmas and started to empty her mind. The vision came fast and it was really clear. She saw Candice in a hidey hole beneath a bookstore in Knockturn Alley, saw her put wards on her hide-out and leave through a trap door that led upwards.

She forced herself out of the vision; she had seen everything she needed to know. Candice was not okay, she was hurt, she was scared and she was alone. Kate would have to go to her and bring her back to the Leaky Cauldron with her, where someone could take care of her wounds and where she would be, at least partially, safe. She told Rae where she would go; it was the one condition the leaders had put in place. They could leave the Leaky Cauldron as long as someone knew where they went and as long as they were back in time for duty.

Mounting her broom she flew to the shop where Candice was hiding, disarmed the wards she had seen the younger girl put in place and entered the basement. Her friend wasn’t there when she arrived and so she settled down to wait for her; she was certain that Candice would be back soon. And she was right. Not long after she heard someone enter and her friends voice sounded through the door casting spells. She got up and drew her wand, knowing Candice she would attack first and ask questions later when she found someone in her spot. And she was right again. As soon as the younger girl spotted her she tried to disarm her, but Kate had been prepared.

“Protego.” She cast and was able to render Candice’s try useless. “Candice. Stop it. It’s me. Kate.”

Candice looked over at her old friend, sizing her up. She looked okay, a little worn but she was still the same Kate. Same hair, same eyes, same face. The snake's eyes softened for a second. "Things are different now," she thought. The brunette glared, blue eyes flashing. "Did somebody send you?" Candice inquired, raised her wand. "Because I'm not going down without a fight, even if you were my friend."  She wanted to trust the other girl, to catch up and ask her if she was okay, how she was. But she couldn't let her guard down. 

Camille was running down the halls, hearing a few screams here and there and shouts from people discovering the monsters she’d just discovered as well, Cam was running, about to pass the entrance leading to the Dungeon when she’d heard screaming coming from below. Part of her said run, save yourself and run while something nagged at her, she knew that voice but she couldn’t place it. Cam was struggling for this internal debate for just a moment before she finally ran down to the dungeons and followed the echo of screams before she’d finally heard spells being cast. Camille ran in the direction and finally found the door, crashing into the room almost a mess of flailing limbs when she’d spotted the naga advancing on someone, she couldn’t see who due to the creatures large body but that didn’t matter. “Septum Sempra!" Camille shouted, slicing the creatures back much like the others chest she had sliced. The Naga let out a howl and whirled around, one of it’s arms slammed into Camille and pushed her into the table where Candice’s potion was brewing. Camille looked at the pot and back at the Naga before she grabbed it. “Hey!" she shouted, once again getting the attention back from the Naga and flung the pot at it, the potion splashing onto it. The naga let out another howl before it backed away from whoever it had cornered.

Candice gently lifted the other girl's arm, pointing her wand towards it. "Episkey," she said, her voice calm and even. The wounds seemed to heal a little, but not much. "It must be too deep to work," she muttered. "Here." The Slytherin took off her cardigan, wrapping it around her friend's arm. "Just keep applying pressure to it," she explained. "It'll help stop the bleeding." The brunette shook her head, listening to Cam. "I honestly have no idea. I tried to fight it off, but obviously I couldn't. Every spell I cast bounced off of it, I was so fucking helpless. How did you... Kill it? Seriously, I owe my life to you." She looked over at the older girl, still shaking slightly. The smell radiating off of the slain creature began to nauseate her, and she noticed Cam having the same reaction. "We should probably get out of here." Candice took one last glance at the snake-like creature, shivering as she exited the room. She walked through a few corridors, hoping to get out of the dungeon when she heard another blood-curdling his. "Fuck," she muttered. The snake looked around, and to her horror five more of the reptilians were crawling towards her from the other end of the hallway.

She had of course been unaware of Candice’s internal struggle during her meditation and sank into her arms, thankful that she wasn’t alone, that the younger girl was there to catch her. Hiding her face in Candice’s neck she tried to think of what to say, what to do. She was certain that her friend would be devastated and her worry for her even overshadowed the lingering feeling of terror and utter panic from the vision itself.

Eventually she calmed down and her thoughts became clearer in her head. She would just have to tell her the truth; she couldn’t hold something like that back from Candice. Even if this might hurt her, it would hurt much less than being killed by a supposed friend just because Kate didn’t have the guts to tell her. Taking a deep breath she lifted her head and sad up slowly, taking Candice’s hands into her own.

A subtle chill went up Candice's spine as Kate took her hand, butterflies rattling inside of her ribcage. She looked up at the other girl, wiping the remaining tears from Kate's eyes, letting her hands linger a bit too long. The snake met her friend's gaze, facing falling when the Ravenclaw broke it. "You've fucked it all up, haven't you?" She thought. "She knows." And then the older girl's words hit her; a devastating weight that ripped through her chest and shoved her insides out. She couldn't speak, couldn't breath. Couldn't even fathom the facts, the truth. Candice shook her head. "No. No, it can't... he wouldn't..." But she'd known it all along. Quincy had changed. The brunette had been clinging to a false hope, to the final sliver of faith she had left. Then, she lost it.

“Now see, that wasn’t so hard was it?” she smiled, putting a stray lock of Candice’s hair behind her ear before taking a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s try this,” she stated and sat down on the bed Indian style putting the cigarette butt on the bed in front of her. “This might take a while, you should sit down or something,” she warned Candice. She didn’t know how long it would take her to get to that trance state she needed; she had never tried with another person present. She also had no idea if Candice’s presence might influence her visions in any way. But there was only one way to find out. So after Candice had settled down she closed her eyes and started to breathe deep and evenly, trying to empty her mind of all thoughts, and picked the butt back up again.

It was strange at first, feeling Candice’s eyes on her as she tried to meditate, but after a while she was able to forget about the other person in the room and she felt herself go into that trance like state, even if it had taken her longer than usual.

The vision hit her hard and it was even more clear than before, but otherwise unchanged from the last time. Only when she saw the other people in the chamber could she make out a difference. Probably because her connection to Quincy was stronger now through his discarded cigarette, but even through the other girl’s tears could she make him out standing with the others, waiting for her to arrive. He wasn’t in any distress, he wasn’t bound or forced; he was there of his own free will.

Kate didn’t want to relive the girl’s death again, so she fought her way out of the vision as soon as she was sure Quincy was a part of this.

Candice felt a rush of disappointment course through her as Kate moved away, settling herself in a meditative pose. The brunette swallowed, feeling almost... Guilty for some reason. She listened to the other girl, lying herself down on the other side of the Ravenclaw's bed. Letting her eyes wander as Kate closed her own. The Ravenclaw looked peaceful, calm. The snake wanted to sit closer, to hold the other girl's hand. To lay her head on her shoulder, on her lap. But instead she simply sat, Kate barely out of reach. Candice blinked, her entire psyche filled with a sense of yearning, longing. Her eyes flashed as she realized what she'd been feeling all along. Terror coursed through her veins, knowing the other girl could never know. "It'll pass," she reassured herself. Candice shook her head, setting her gaze back onto the older girl. Kate looked so tranquil, her deep breaths calm and methodical. The snake smiled, not making a sound.

She took the cigarette butt gingerly from Candice’s hand and put it on her desk, Candice was more important for now. She let the younger girl rage and snare at her until she lost her steam, never letting go of her until she finally gave in and collapsed into her embrace. She soothingly rubbed her hand over the younger girl’s back. It must be so exhausting to be this guarded and on high alert all the time. “I won’t tell anyone that you’re a mere human too,” she teased. “I promise.”

Kate couldn’t make sense of the emotions she saw playing through Candice’s eyes, at least not all of them and she felt herself growing even more protective of the younger girl. She wanted so badly that Candice would find happiness for herself, to see all this pain melt away.

“I just know,” she grinned. “Didn’t anyone tell you that I’m a seer?” she said smiling at her friend. “And you will find someone like that too. There are some dark times coming, and we will both find out what we’re truly capable off. And who knows … maybe something good will come out of this, maybe someone is going to surprise you in all that chaos.”

She closed her eyes, basking in the other girl's warmth. Kate made her feel safe, less... alone. Candice felt her breathing slow, her body un-tense. She was terrified of losing this feeling, this haven. But she had it right now, and a sliver of doubt carved itself out of her mind. Falling, catching. Unbeknownst to her, Candice's frigid heart was thawing, the walls that held her captive weakening ever so slightly. But in that moment, the tiny change made all the difference in the world. She laughed genuinely, truthfully. The small sound fluttered through her ribcage, causing terror to retreat. "As long as you promise," the snake replied, smiling. She blinked her brilliant blue eyes, looking back at the other girl. 

She didn’t want to go through that alone again and she didn’t want to be alone after; maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if someone was there when she came back, someone she trusted.

Her eyes widened in surprise when Candice started ranting and pacing around the room. But she listened carefully to everything the younger girl had to say. It didn’t totally surprise her, she was aware that Candice was more open in her presence than with most people. And she knew how hard it was to be alone and separate yourself from others and yourself sometimes. She didn’t want to end up like Candice and she didn’t want Candice to end like that either. Kate knew the younger girl was suffering behind the wall she had erected herself but she also knew that tearing that wall down now wouldn’t help. It would only make things worse for both of them in the end. Candice had to tear that wall down herself. So when Candice thrust her arm towards her daring her to read her she took Candice’s arm and got up. But she only shook her head lightly her eyes warm and full of sympathy.

“No. I won’t read you. Not like this, not when you don’t really mean it.”

The pain in the younger girl’s voice and eyes almost made her cringe. Inside Candice was way more vulnerable than Kate had ever been and that wall was her only protection. She pulled the younger girl closer and hugged her tightly.

The Slythern shook her head, sneering. "Who are you to tell me what I mean? You don't know the first thing about me." Rage consumed her every pore, and the fifth year felt completely out of control. She wanted to leave, to be alone. But the snake had promised she'd stay. Her blue eyes met the older girl's, Kate's gaze soft and warm. Candice took a deep breath, trying to calm her recalcitrant mind. She felt her heartbeat slow, deliberately unclenching her fists. The snake's mind returned to its usual state, her buildup of emotions finally out of the way. Candice sat, tentatively inching her way towards the Kate. Her exhausted body collapsed into the other girl's embrace, drawing in Ravenclaw's kind warmth. Every fiber of her being screamed "danger, escape." But Candice stayed. She didn't know why, but something inside of her was drawn to the other girl. The snake couldn't cut off her emotional attachment, couldn't help being vulnerable. 

“You can’t imagine how much you just being here now helps. I feel so lost sometimes and I feel like I’m the worst person in the world because I’m willing to let the girl die for ‘the greater good’. When has that ever been a good reason? But I really don’t know how I could warn someone about it without risking to expose myself. I could maybe send her a message that she needs to be careful or something, but will she even take an anonymous message serious? And what if she dies and someone finds the letter later? I don’t know how to help her … I just don’t know. And Quincy … I can’t tell you what to do. If he’s in on it you will be in a lot of trouble when you try and talk to him and he’ll want to know how you even know about it. If he’s innocent you have to try to help him of course, he’s your friend after all. What do you want to do?” She lifted her head and looked at Candice questioningly. But then she took a deep breath and shook her head sadly, looking back down at the ground.

“This is insane, it doesn’t help at all to know these things, I feel like it’s only making things worse. God I hope I can at least help Amelia. I want to make a difference for once and actually do something useful with all this garbage in my head.”

She looked at Candice again half laughing but with tears still running silently down her cheeks. “And since I can’t be a mess like this all the time I need to … well push it all away, and look at it like a scientist. Cold, calculating the pros and cons, see the ‘greater good’. I know that’s not healthy, but’s the best I can do for now with all the horrible things that are going to happen.”

The snake gave her friend a sympathetic nod. "I can only imagine how hard it would be. I'll never truly understand what you're going through. I'm sure you'll be able to help Amelia, though. Just... Be there for her. And if you can't, make sure someone else is. We both know how hard it can be to deal on our own." Candice gave the Ravenclaw a short, mirthless laugh, eyes narrowing at Kate's latter comment. "You don't want to do that. You've survived long enough without becoming a heartless bitch. If you become cold, you'll never go back. You'll only fuck yourself up." The snake looked back up, her frigid eyes flickering wildly. "Eventually, it'll be hard to feel anything at all. You'll become scared of feeling, terrified every single second for the rest of your life," she snapped, voice harsh and bitter. Candice stood up, running her hands through her hair. She paced through the room, anger swelling over her. "Do you really want to end up like that?" Her voice was rising, but the Slytherin was too far gone to care. Her fists clenched, nails digging their way into her palms. "Like this? Like me?" She shook her head. "You don't get it, Kate. I don't want you to get it. Fucking read me and see what it's like." The snake stuck her arm out at the other girl. "Do it, I dare you." Her gaze was cold, threatening. "I fucking dare you." 

She sighed deeply looking at Candice again, this time open and without any walls erected around her emotions.

“I don’t want that girl to die Candice, you know that. She’ll be so very scared and alone; I feel so, so sorry for her. But … it’s a choice I have to make. And if the choice is between trying to safe her, and maybe failing anyway and keeping Cecily and you safe … it’s not even a hard one. She might be someone’s Cecily, but she’s not mine. The war is coming Candice. I’ve seen it. And I’ve seen the horrible things people are going to do to each other. I need to keep all that down or I’m going to lose my mind. There will be much harder choices we will have to make in the future.”

The snake frowned, struggling to keep her emotions in check. "It's just... I hate this. Knowing that we could possibly prevent a murder and simply sitting here doing nothing. When she dies It'll be partially my fault, and I don't want the burden of that knowledge looming over me for the rest of my life." She looked over at the Ravenclaw. "I understand your struggle, but I'm not obligated towards anyone. You have your friends to take care of you, Quincy can take care of himself. Oh Merlin, Quincy." Her eyes widened. "I have to... He could get hurt. He was there." Candice's body overflowed with unsolicited worry. She'd never had to look out for the boy before, but now she had to. "I know he wouldn't be involved with killing anybody. He couldn't. And so... They might hurt him too." She clenched her fists, subconsciously reaching for her wand. "If they lay a hand on him I'll fucking kill them all," the snake growled. Her frigid eyes were consumed by a dangerous fire, scorching everyone they made contact with. "The choice isn't hard for me."

“I’ve been told that a lot.” Cam replied, a small chuckle leaving her. “Not many Slytherins are running around outside, sitting in trees and drawing. Not many are as polite either. But that’s alright, I like Slytherin house. I wouldn’t change it.” Camille looked back into icy blue eyes, another one of her relaxed and slightly lazy smiles on her face. “I like being a bit of an odd ball in a house of snakes.” she shrugged her shoulders. She had a few Slytherin traits, but really she was an oddball and sometimes wondered if the Sorting hat just put her wherever without really thinking about it. Still she didn’t mind, she liked Slytherin house. Camille let out a laugh and nodded at Candice’s words about muggles writing about magic, “Oh sometimes the books or movies are so funny, I always laugh and my dads always get upset because they want to enjoy the movie not have me laughing at it.” she chuckled, it was just impossible for her to put on a straight face and watch some of the ridiculous movies or read books about magic.”There’s a bit and it’s actually my most favorite parts to read.” she answered, “Like they started out as eggs and everyone thought they were just fossils and they wouldn’t hatch but they did and now the dragons are growing and they protect this young teenager who is their ‘mother’ who was the one that had the eggs and took care of them.” she said excitedly. When Candice refused to spoil it, Cam pouted. “Oh that’s not fair but..alright alright as soon as I finish this one, I’ll find it and read that one too.” she stuck her tongue out at Candice.

“I know, the first game was the worst of them all I think. But I agree, we have a good team.” Cam winced at the memory of the first game and shook her head, “Oh man don’t speak about this horrible event it’s just as bad remembering as it was in the moment, ugh.” she laughed and was surprised when Candice said she had instead wanted to work with dragons, so that must have been why she was so excited about them. “You want to work with dragons? I was thinking of doing that too!” she said with excitement, “Honestly any work with Magical Creatures I’d be happy to do, but I’ve always been fascinated with the dragons.” she smiled. When Candice mentioned the ball, Cam shook her head, “Just a friend, I wasn’t actually planning on going anyway but he asked so I said yes. You?” When Candice asked if they were friends, Cam couldn’t help but smile and nod, “Yes, I think we are.” she laughed at the ruffling of her hair, “Oh man I’ve got Justin doing that all the time now you, my hair will always be a mess!” she chuckled.

Candice nodded, understanding the girl's situation. Cam really didn't have many Slytherin qualities, but the snake house definitely triumphed all the others. No other house could pave you a path to greatness. "You aren't the typical Slytherin," she admitted. "But then again, we tend to be a pretty diverse group. Slytherin attributes aren't as specific as those considered to place students in other houses. Basically, we're all ambitious in one way or another. If you're willing to do whatever it takes, the hat will put you in Slytherin. But we all want different things for ourselves, you know?" She looked over at the other girl, enjoying Cam's distinct laugh. It was effortless, carefree. Candice let it wash over her, smiling despite herself. "Muggles have pretty wild imaginations. I wonder what would happen if someone wrote about our world and published it as fiction. They'd probably get a kick out of that." The snake tilted her head to the side, wondering if any of her friends would sit through a book on the real wizarding world. She listened to the older girl, habitually biting her fingernails. "I might just have to read the series then," Candice said with a grin. Honestly the fifth year would read anything and everything that had to do with dragons. The snake noticed Cam stick her tongue out, retaliating by sticking her own tongue out at the girl. 

She listened with pleasure to Candice’s advice and finished her glass before pouring herself another. When she pulled out the aspirin, Willow smiled. “Oh aspirin, great! Of course that makes sense, but I didn’t think that anyone around here would have any.” She took two right away and then put two more in her pocket for later. “Thanks!” She barely even noticed Candice’s cold disposition. She was so unfamiliar with close human interaction that she wasn’t able to pick up her on subtle behaviour.

The snake nodded at the other girl's rambled response. "So basically all you do is duel, practice, and study," Candice said blandly, blinking her icy blue eyes. "That doesn't sound like much fun." Her ears perked up when she heard the other girl express her love of fighting. "Fighting eh?" Candice was quite good at fighting, combative spells coming naturally to to the brunette. She was even willing to practice them too, when she had the time. But she could always improve and maybe Willow could help her get even better. "Well, if that's what you like to do I don't suppose you'd like to show me a few of your moves," the snake suggested. "Not here, of course. We could head over to the Dueling Club room if you're up for it." Candice had a lot of things to do, but cutting an hour or two out of her day to practice combative spells definitely couldn't hurt. 

“You know,” she started taking a bite out of the apple. “I finally understand why the hat wanted to sort me into Slytherin. With the things I’ve seen the last days … a Hufflepuff would have lost their mind and a Gryffindor would have thrown themselves into the situation unprepared to prevent it. My Ravenclaw mind surely helps, but the only thing that keeps me sane right now is that I manage to separate my emotions from the things that are going to happen. Like turn them off and put a barrier up around them. I’d say that is a pretty Slytherin thing to do. If you get what I mean.”

She took another bit out of the apple and smiled at the younger girl again.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. I can imagine it’s weird seeing me like that, I’m still trying to find the right balance without scaring people shitless. Mostly my you and Cecily or course.”

She looked at Candice thoughtfully, wondering what she should tell the younger girl. She didn’t want to tell her everything she had seen right away, but she needed her to know at least something. She decided to start with the situation at hand.

“What I saw earlier was actually quite … harmless in the bigger scheme of things, but it concerned a friend. I could feel her pain and while I usually can block that out most of the time now… it’s different when it’s a friend, you know. It’s so much harder when you know and even like that person. But I’ll take care of that later. Otherwise, well the good news is, I have a huge amount of control now. If I had wanted to I could have found out everything about you when you hugged me earlier.”

The Slytherin sighed, looking warily up at the older girl. "I've seen much scarier things," she joked, in a pathetic attempt to lighten the despondent atmosphere. "I just... I care about you, whether I want to or not. When I see you like that... I don't get scared of you, I get scared for you. And for me. I get scared shitless that you're not okay, that something horrible has happened to you. And then I'm terrified because I feel something, and I know that if something happened to you I'd hurt. And I'm terrified of hurting." Candice took a deep breath. She didn't know what she was saying until she'd said it, her eyes widening when realized every word was true. She did care. The only other person she'd ever cared about was Quincy, but Quincy was different. He was strong, always. She didn't have to worry about him because she knew he could take care of himself. 

She herself had never been especially close to her parents but from the pain the felt in her vision it was clear that it was different for Amelia.

In this moment of weakness due to the agony she was receiving from the other girl through her vision she wished for Cecily to be here with her more than anything else, but at the same time she was glad that the older girl didn’t see her like this.

The pressure of the last days seemed to finally catch up to her and letting it all out for once felt good. She didn’t feel embarrassed to break down in front of Candice like that, the younger girl being the only one who knew everything that was going on with her, who was as close as possible to understanding the pressure she was experiencing in these last weeks. And she knew the snake wouldn’t judge her for it now, she could feel it.

It took her a few more minutes of just crying, letting all the built up emotions out of her system, but eventually she calmed down and got her breathing back under control. She took one deep breath to center herself, opened her eyes and looked at Candice.

“Thank you, that helped a lot,” she said giving the younger girl’s hand a little squeeze. She freed herself from the embrace and got up to clean her face. The minute or so it took to wipe the tears and blow her nose was enough to center herself again. She knew what to do. She wouldn’t be able to prevent that letter, but she would be able to see to it that Amelia wouldn’t need to deal with it alone.

When she turned back to Candice she was a different person; she had pushed her emotions back again and her eyes were distant, almost cold.

"I just came to see how you were doing," the snake admitted, meeting the other girl's gaze. The Ravenclaw's cold eyes sent a slight chill down Candice's spine, slightly unnerved her friend's sudden transformation. She'd had been worried about Kate, she knew the Ravenclaw was under a lot of pressure lately. The snake didn't think it was wise to leave her friend alone as she threw herself into her mental training. Seeing visions definitely seemed to take their toll on Kate's mental stability, and Candice didn't want the Ravenclaw to go back to the state she'd been in.