XXXV

Blaise eased himself through the small gap in the doorway of the library and shut it quietly behind him. He looked around, lips pursed. The large room was empty, save for a few students nestled up in some corner with their faces buried deep in a book. He shook his head and walked into the first aisle. He didn't know what kind of nut a person was that they would go to the library after exams. But he knew that she would be here; in a place where one would not think of easily to look for her.

Chang wasn't someone who enjoyed reading, whether it was studying or not. So he knew it was only a matter so serious that could confine her willingly to the dank, dark library, long after hours. He walked with soft footsteps, checking aisle after the other carefully. As he found himself wandering through the wizarding sports section, he wondered what he was doing in the library in the first place.

So what, if Cho had decided to slink into the shadows and avoid everyone? It wasn't his business; he most certainly was not her boyfriend, so there was no need for him to be looking for her. He exhaled in annoyance and spun on his heels to go back and bumped into a shelf.

He cussed silently for being clumsy and raised his hand to fix his sweatshirt when he noticed that he was still stood in front of the shelf. Blaise rubbed his eyes and looked down in disdain. It wasn't a shelf; it was Cho.

"Can't you watch where you're going?" he spat. "This shirt wasn't cheap."

"Sorry." She squeaked and stepped out of his path. Blaise watched her scurry off deeper into the library and pursed his lips. What a weird girl, he thought, and began to walk away. Then he remembered why he had gone into the library in the first place and cussed again, this time aloud.

"Cho, wait!" He yelled, and was instantly shushed loudly by someone on the other side of the shelf. He rolled his eyes and went after her disappearing figure. She had sat herself on the floor in the divination section, wedged between two shelves and the wall.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, avoiding her eyes. "I didn't mean any of that."

When there was no answer, he looked down and was surprised to see that she had blatantly ignored him, focusing instead on the book in her hands. Blaise frowned and bent over so he could see the book. It looked fairly new and was thick with a plain cover; overall it seemed a rather uninteresting book.

"What's that?" he yanked it out of her hands and stood up straight, lifting the book far above her reach. The writing on the cream pages was tinier that he could bother to read, so he flipped the book over. The back of the book was equally as plain as the cover, but on the spine, words were engraved in golden lettering. "Legends of our time."

"Give it here." Cho rose from the floor and reached for the book, but Blaise held it higher. He watched her blush redder and redder as she struggled to grab the book in a vain effort. Blaise raised an eyebrow in amusement and turned his back to her, walking away so he could see what was in the book.

The small writing bored him, so he turned the pages until he could find pictures. The book did have pictures, but they weren't drawn, as they usually were in any book, but there were photographs; some in colour, some black-and-white, but none were sketched. The pictures had been printed on the very same paper as the writing, which he found puzzling.

Blaise peered closer at the pictures. They were of one person mostly; an extremely tall and slim man, draped in white clothing and a sword often in his left hand. Most of the pictures were taken in action, and were very blurry with bright flashes of light here and there which he figured were bursts of magic. The man himself was very fair, with long black hair that flowed to his waist, except for a patch at the edge of his forehead which was white. He looked determined and dangerous, as if he was on the path for blood.

At the bottom of the page, there was a less serious photograph of the man with two women. One was fair and tall, like him, and leant on his shoulder. The other one was dark, like Hether, and the man's arms were wrapped around her shoulders, his body bent forward to meet her smaller height. Their faces had been captured in bright, gay laughter, and their white teeth were flashed for all to see. Blaise scanned the page for any clue of who the person was, and he found it, just under that picture, written in the tiniest of lettering:

'yemisi, shizu and I, summer of '84.'

It wasn't the caption that surprised him the most, but the tiny toddler behind the grinning adults, half hidden by a big, tawny object. In fact, the child had been blurred, as if the author didn't want anyone to see the child but still see it at the same time, but Blaise could still make out the skin of the child; brown and pink, as if it had been dipped into a bowl of unmixed paint.

He turned to Cho and opened his mouth to speak. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but not one of them could make its way out of his mouth, so he thrust the book towards Cho instead.

Cho sighed and pulled him back into the aisle that she was in. "That's Veja's father." She pointed at the picture. "Kawa Shizukana? That's him. And that's Veja."

Blaise frowned. Her eyes were sunk heavy as if she had just discovered all the truth about the world, but was now burdened with the wisdom of it. "That doesn't mean anything. He's dead, and we all know that."

"No, look." She took the book from him and turned to the very first page, after the cover. She pointed to a portion of writing at the bottom of the page, which was, like in the rest of the book, also tiny. "Look at the date."

Blaise's eyes followed her finger until his gaze landed on a small date. "Two thousand and thirteen." He blinked, puzzled. "But that's in the future." He looked back up at Cho' who was watching his face for any expressions. "Where did you find this?"

"I didn't find it." Cho flipped the pages. "I found it in my trunk earlier last term. Someone put it there."

"But it hasn't been written yet. None of this makes sense." He scowled.

"Blaise," She rolled her eyes. "magic doesn't make any sense. Somehow, someone took that from the future and put that here, in this time."

"It could have been a practical joke." Blaise sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. "And even if it wasn't, those are pictures form the past. If that kid in the back is Veja, then those are probably images from when he was still alive. Don't be daft and give it to her."

"What about this picture?" she stopped at a page and raised it to his face. "Look at how different the pictures are. This one is much clearer," she pointed at a picture. She was right. It was different form the other picture she had shown him, and was much crispier and vivid. There were only two people in this one; Kawa and the fair woman, and they looked much older, and dressed differently. They were stood outside a white marble building, in front of a black car, the likes of which Blaise had never seen before. It was sleek, unlike the hunky cars he often saw his mother drive, and looked like something he'd very much like to drive himself.

Blaise blinked and brought his mind back to the matter at hand. "And so what?"

Cho scoffed. "Are you thick?"

He raised his head in annoyance, but Cho went on. "Veja's father is alive, you idiot! This photo was taken thirty years from now. Do you know what that means? He's somewhere, at this moment, alive, and she doesn't know! Haven't you seen how miserable she is? I think this will cheer her up and give her some hope."

Blaise's lip curled into a sneer at the word 'hope'. He didn't know why, but it just did. Hearing the word slammed so much anger in his face and riled up bitterness within him, such that he almost felt feral. He snatched the book from Cho's hand and slammed it on a nearby desk, startling her.

"What's gotten into you?" she frowned.

"You're the one that's thick." He took stepped forward, until he was towering over Cho, who was glaring at him defiantly. "You stop this, right now, and drop it for good. Her father is dead, and you've got no business meddling in her family affairs. Like you said, she's – "

"No." Cho whispered and closed her eyes. She could feel Blaise's blood pumping through his veins; she could almost hear it even, like a loud rushing in her ears. She curled her fingers into a fist, willing the blood to stop, and looked back up at him. His face had contorted into a twisted struggle, and his veins bulged through his skin as he tried to break free of Cho's hold over him. "You don't tell me what to do."

Blaise's body felt as if it would pop as he struggled to move and stop her, but he could do nothing but watch as she took the book and left, leaving him standing frozen and unable to move, like a flagpole. A girl he recognised from Slytherin gave him a curious stare as she turned into the aisle he was stuck in, and he gave her such a withering glare in return that she turned instantly and left. It wasn't until Cho had completely exited the library that his blood began to flow again, and he took off, hoping to stop her before she went and shattered Veja's world.