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When Cho's eyes opened, she wasn't in Hogwarts anymore. Everything had crumbled away; everything had become white and bare. As far as she could see, the whiteness stretched on and on. Perhaps it stopped a thousand miles from her. Perhaps it stopped two feet from her. She couldn't tell.

She looked down. Her clothes too had lost their colour and had become white; her Ravenclaw hoodie and jeans had become as white as snow. She looked around. She was the only one in this strange, white place. There was not even a creature of any form. Just her in the strange, white, silence.

Cho shuddered and sat on the ground, crossing her legs. What now, she thought. She dropped her head into her hands and stared as far as the whiteness would let her. It was then and there that as she sat, her mind began to work on its own for the first time. Not because someone was telling her what to do; but because it was doing what it felt was right. It was working of its own will, whispering commands that stemmed from the bottom of her soul. Cho stood up and began to walk, following the voice that guided her in her mind.

As she walked, she realised that it was not so much of white. She could see other colours seeping through tiny gaps; slipping tiny tendrils through the thick white. There was blue and there was red. There was green and there was purple. There was yellow and there was brown. There was black and there was orange. They swirled around one another, entangling themselves in a steady, pulsating dance, trying to overpower the other but at the same time succumbing to it.

It fascinated Cho and puzzled her, but she walked on. The white began to dwindle until it was nothing but a giggling path that trailed behind her like a wedding veil. She thought it rather strange that one would wear a wedding veil on jeans and a hoodie.

Cho looked up. The colours had converged and meshed, even though each stream maintained its uniqueness; and at the point where they all touched, stood Hether. Unlike her, she wasn't dressed in white, or any colour for that matter. She wasn't dressed at all, but yet she was. Where her clothes would have been, was liquid power. Or at least that was what Cho could best describe it as. It flowed from her, slithering over her skin like milk, and dripped away as colour. Whatever it was, wrapped her like a second skin, clinging unto every part of her body it could find.

Except her eyes. They glowed, changing colour so fast that Cho couldn't tell if they were changing colour or not. They stared her down; unmoving, unflinching, unforgiving. She felt suddenly compelled to fall to her knees and plead for her miserable life.

"Come," Hether spoke and held out a hand. Her voice was calm and soothing, but spoke with the deepest urgency. The power moved with her, and the tendrils waved at Cho, inviting her to come just a little closer.

Her mind told her to go forward, and she did so, placing her hand carefully in Hether's. Red, her mind sang, red. It rushed about her head like a steady stream, whispering the word over and over again until it had become a gentle song. "Red," she said, and felt the greatest comfort at the word.

"Use it as you see fit." Hether said and closed her hand over Cho's.

The red colour rushed at her and filled her vision. Everything became red and warm, as if she had broken out and risen up from an iceberg. The warmth overshadowed her, stuffing itself into every vein in her body as if it was thirsty. She became as light as a feather, and all the worries in the world lifted themselves from her shoulders and flew away into the nothing.

Cho sighed. It was a strange feeling that now crept up her spine. It was warm and embracing, and enveloped her in the feeling of wholeness. When her eyes opened, she saw everything more clearly. She didn't know why, but she understood all that lay before her.

Draco's eyes flitted from Cho to Hether in bewilderment. They had come back just as simply as they had left; there was no flashing light or otherworldly glow. There was just Hether and Cho. The only difference was that the latter had seemingly found the time for a closet change, and was decked from head to toe in the purest white. He lifted his gaze to look at her. Her eyes were barely opened, but he could see the faintest bit of blood red peeking through the narrow slit, rather than warm brown. Her lips were parted slightly, as if she had just gone through the biggest revelation of her life.

He turned to Hether. "Is she okay?"

Cho raised her head and opened her eyes. Perhaps the red had been an illusion, because all that was there was brown. Not warm, but a stoic, determined brown. "I've never been better." She wasn't lying.

"Ah." Draco gave her a tight-lipped smile. He sensed that the eager and gullible Cho had succumbed to whoever this one was. "Why don't we see what you can do?"

Cho frowned. "I don't really think I'm that different."

"Well, you just said it yourself. Plus, you look like you've had some life-changing experience. Something's had to change."

"Perhaps we should take this outside." Hether held out her palm.

"What are you doing?" Cho shook her head.

"Take it, then." Draco smirked and took Hether's hand. "Clock's ticking."

"Where're we going?" Cho placed her hand atop Draco's skeptically. "And what about Grega? Aren't we supposed to be in prep?" She had barely finished talking when there was a violent sucking sensation, and she felt herself being morphed and twisted and stretched and folded as if she were a piece of dough. It racked her brain and gave her a stinging headache.

When she came to, it was dark all around. A cold breeze washed over her and she wrapped her arms around her chest. Cho looked around. The walls of the dormitory had disappeared, and they were standing on a grassy slope, somewhere on the school grounds. She blinked in disbelief and terror.

"Bloody hell! Did we- did you just apparate?" she whipped around, looking for Hether. "We could've been seen! And probably be expelled!"

"Feel free to tattle if you want." Hether said and began to walk up the slope. Draco rolled his eyes before following her.

Cho rubbed her temple and shook her head. The voice of reason was screaming at her to go back inside the school and remain in her oblivious cocoon, where she was always safe from trouble, but there was another voice; not it was more like a feeling, and it gently pulled her in the direction of the mysterious duo. This is your only chance to find out who they really are, the voice whispered, so go. You're free now. Free. The word echoed in her head, and that was all it took. She sighed and took off after their disappearing backs.