TPS Part 17: Dunbar's Mark

Today was exam day. All of Slytherin was quiet and tense. The walk up to breakfast might have been the stalest affair Onyx had ever encountered. He decided to go sit at a different table in hope that the tension was slightly less there. He sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Granger and Dunbar.

They weren't exactly relaxed, especially Granger who seemed to be having a panic attack every few minutes, but at least they brought a smile to his face. Right before they left breakfast to go to their first exam, Dunbar stopped Onyx and asked if she could talk to him after all of the exams were done. He had no reason to say no and without a thought on it he went to Transfigurations.

Since he had two more exams than the rest, he got to be the first to take his practical DADA exam and the last to take his practical charms exam. That meant he only just had time to run over to Runes and Arithmancy in between. After all exams were done, he didn't have any doubts. He performed well and there was no doubt about it. Now there were very few things left to do at Hogwarts before they went home.

Walking through the hall towards his common room he heard a girl call out "Onyx!" and he turned around. A rather tall for her age, brown haired and currently slightly sweaty girl came running towards him. As she reached him, she started panting and tried desperately to fix her appearance so she didn't look like she just ran a marathon. Onyx found it amusing. It was clear that before her run, she had put a bit of effort into looking her best.

With an apologetic look he flicked his wand and provided a cool breeze to chill her down a little. "I'm so sorry Fay, I forgot we were going to have a chat. With all of the exams it just slipped my mind.." She felt the breeze and gave him a small smile and spoke through her panting "No..matter..just…let me catch my…breath!"

He was going to wait a little while but she took his hand and shoved him into a nearby empty classroom. After looking around to make sure nobody saw them, she shut the door. Onyx showed her to a seat and took the one opposite. She started talking.

"Okay. As you probably know, my family is one of the major distributors of your Umbras. This year we're opening a special kind of farm-like store in Germany and we wanted to have your Umbras as one of the main attractions."

Onyx was about to stop her to tell her this really was a conversation to have with his parents until he became an adult, but she put a finger on his lips "We've already come to an agreement with your parents about it as long as they came to inspect it during the summer and liked the prospect. What I'm asking You is.." Until now, Dunbar hadn't really met his eyes but she chose this moment to do so. "I wondered if you'd like to stay at our house in Germany during your stay."

Onyx couldn't really figure out why she'd want him there. Sure they had become rather good friends over the year but nothing compared to her and Granger or her and Perks. Oh well, he got a vacation in Germany and he got a place to stay with a friend. With a calm and warm smile Onyx replied "Yeah sure. It'll be fun! It'll be kind of strange meeting your parents but sure."

Her eyes lit up and she jumped over the table in between them to hug him "Thank you! I hate staying there on my own, and now I'll at least have company for a part of the trip." She kissed his cheek. "I won't forget this!" She almost squealed as she walked out of the room leaving a confused Onyx behind. "Huh. Well. Alright then." He stood up and went back to the common room.

As soon as he got into the common room he was met by Moon and Nott. Moon was looking kind of strangely at him and Nott barely hesitated before pulling his wand on him. As Onyx clearly wasn't ready, the spell hit him and…He didn't feel like anything happened. "Nott, why in merlin's name.." Nott only shook his head. He was going to answer to this once they got back into their dorm.

Moon had taken the time to sort her emotions out and smirked at him. "Well, nice to know you weren't lost down here in the dungeons. You were just busy." She turned around and walked down to her own dorm. Nott simply sighed and gestured for Onyx to come with him down to their room.

Once they got in there and shut the door Onyx started talking "What was that about?" Nott, the usually stale and quiet guy whose face barely ever left the neutral expression, was now clearly holding back a grin. "You had a mark on your cheek. Seems some girl wanted to claim you tonight. I'm not going to ask who, but I figured you didn't want the gossip going around."

He sighed and sat down on his bed "Well, thanks. I didn't even consider it, guess she must have put something on her lips. Next time, whisper what spell you want to use on me first, alright?" Onyx clearly heard a small exhale from Nott's nose, as if he actually wanted to chuckle. "Deal." And then the two went to bed. All of those exams really took it out on them and they could use the extra bit of sleep.

A week later, it was once again time to board the train. The same six as before shared a compartment, only this time Susan chose to sit next to Onyx and thereby ruining the system. Moon took the other seat next to him and Nott had to sit in the window seat opposite them. Neville and Hannah just shared a look and laughed when Onyx raised an eyebrow.

The six shared how the exams had felt. None of them really encountered any struggles as the hard working badgers and the ambitious snakes shouldn't. They were still a bit surprised that Onyx took two extra exams, then again Susan was studying law on the side and was planning on taking that OWL at the ministry during their third year. Abbott was planning on taking a course in magical art this summer apparently. Neville was in talks of getting an apprenticeship at a massive magical greenhouse. Nott would have taken extracurricular studies if his parents had let him. Moon was studying political studies on the side.

In this company, a few courses ahead of time wasn't all that special. Loads of purebloods actually take additional courses through the ministry. This was one of the reasons most of the ministerial jobs were given to purebloods. Onyx wondered if he could do something about this one day but figured it was a problem for the future. He was just 12, let that be someone else's problem.

They all talked about what they were doing during the summer. At Onyx's mention of Fay Dunbar, Susan released a surprised "What?!" which was echoed by Moon as well, though a bit more restrained. Onyx went on to explain it was just a business thing, and everyone seemed to accept that, but Susan sat closer to him for the rest of the ride.

When they reached the station, he was introduced to a couple of parents and an aunt of his friends before his own family even showed up. His sister was first and she ran right into his stomach, wrapping her arms around him. "Hiya Emma. Mind showing your face to my friends so that they remember what you look like next term?" Emma took a few seconds of just enjoying the hug with her face in his chest before she gave his friends a wide smile and let herself be chatted to. She didn't let go of him though.

Soon everyone was ready to go home. Onyx's parents made arrangements for most of the families to come over during the summer. Many were interested in their trees and Umbras, or maybe it was just a reason to come over. Nevertheless, Onyx would be seeing his friends during the summer as well. The only one who didn't agree was Nott's father, but he had dragged Nott away the instant he arrived. Nasty looking man, that.

As soon as Onyx got home he was still tired, even though he had sat down the entire day, but at the door he was met by Jimmy Kiddell. "No time to relax. Today we're starting on wand crafting the old fashioned way." And Onyx was side-apparated away, leaving his trunk behind.