Florina's POV:

The potions master zoomed away from us. We took that as the cue for all of us to get up and follow behind. David, who was surprisingly calm this whole time, gave me a weak smile as he too got up and offered me his hand. I nodded taking it.

He started softly, "How are you feeling now Woods?"

"I am much better," I grinned "Thanks for asking."

Our feet kept repeatedly sinking in the thick layer of snow with every step we took. There were many incidents where I would almost fall on my face as my feet kept getting trapped in the snow. I looked over to my right and it seemed David was facing the same problem but tried to hide it every time I glance at him. I chuckled softly.

"You know" he started again, tenderly filling the gap between us "You had me very worried back there. I thought I had almost lost you."

At first, David introduced himself as mysterious, calm and collected. Maybe cold too just like our beloved Potions master. So having him speak to me tenderly and closing the space between us struck me as peculiar and extremely out of character. 

In the few days that I have known him, I felt like he was pretending to be cold and detached unlike Severus, who never breaks character. Almost as if he was putting on an act. But he seemed to always fail whenever I am around him for a reason I will never begin to comprehend.

Maybe it was just me? But I did quickly pick up on that act. He simply wasn't that great of an actor. That thought spiked my curiosity to know him more. It couldn't have been because of his brother, he hates him! Or was that just an act as well.

I stole a sideways glance and saw my Fairy and the Elf glaring up at him, running to keep up. Rose flew faster and was glued to my side eyeing him like a prey. To my other side, Bubbles held my hand and was also staring at him without blinking. He however, didn't notice the elf's sudden unusual behavior and kept his intense gaze on me.

I glanced up at him to find his emerald orbs still giving me the peculiar gaze, "I am sorry for all the trouble that this whole thing has caused you both" I sighed pointing at Severus "I had no idea the invisibility shield would drain that amount of energy from me. It didn't happen in the past so why would it happen now?"

My rhetorical question wasn't directed to David but rather to Rose who was still clueless of the reason. He nodded, "Well, maybe because you used it on us three. The more people you use it on, the faster your energy would drain, don't you think?"

I looked over to see both Rose and Bubbles nodding in agreement but still eyeing him. Rose whispered apologetically, "Florina, he is absolutely right. How did that not cross my mind?"

I nodded subtly and turned to David to see him holding that peculiar gaze once more. 

"For your information Woods, the number of people you use magic on can determine not only the strength of the magic divided, it can also drain their magic for some time. Take him for example" he pointed at Severus who was ahead of us by a large gap "apparating all three of us to a distance as far as the Antarctic forest must have taken a toll on him. No wonder he was slow and disoriented from the moment we got here."

"What happened when we got here?" I asked.

"Well," he sighed as we began to get closer to Severus "as soon as we apparated here, you fainted. Actually... you seemed to be slowly dying. If it wasn't for the elf's strange demand, you might have been a goner for sure."

"What are you talking about?" I turned to him puzzled "What demand?" I dropped my gaze to the elf who was still clutching my hands and she simply shrugged.

"She asked mister sunshine over there to..." he glared ahead at Severus and at the elf who was walking merrily beside me "to hug you."

"What?!" I exclaimed my cheeks turning red. We were very close to the potion's master at this point and he whirled around baffled.

"Must you always interrupt my thoughts with your incisive yelling," he said coldly giving me a sharp sideways glance.

"Sorry Sir," I mumbled.

He avoided eye contact and continued to move ahead.

'Rose, how did Bubbles know about the hugging mechanism?' I said quickly in my mind.

She paused for a few moments then sighed 'Because I told her all about it. Florina please try to understand, I was losing you. I had no choice but to let her tell them of it.'

I groaned quietly, 'So you are telling me, she went to a person that hates me mind you and told him to hug me so that I don't die.'

Bubbles gave Rose an angry look and huffed. Why was she angry with Rose about that? Was Bubbles forced to tell them by her? I was looking from Rose to Bubbles demanding answers.

Rose paused again and whispered, 'Well, not exactly. Florina, how about we gather all those questions for later. I mean a few minutes ago you couldn't utter a word and now you are being told all those things at once. I really don't know—'

'What might happen to me?' I finished crossly 'I really don't understand what is the big deal? Why do you insist to leave me in the dark? You know very well I am going to find out eventually so why the wastage of time?'

'Florina please calm down,' she said softly 'your body is still healing.'

I glared at her, 'You know what Rose. You are right, I am very tired. So please leave me alone for now.'

She flew closer to me trying to hold my hand put I softly pulled my hand away from hers, 'Oh my Florina please don't —'

I turned to her to see her on the verge of breaking into tears, 'Just leave me for now, alright?'

David noticed the change of mood from both Bubbles and me and asked softly, "Everything alright Woods?"

I didn't turn to him out of fear of breaking into tears myself so I curtly nodded. To avoid any further questions from him, I sped ahead to the lonely wizard.

"Sir, where are we going now?" I asked.

He sighed looking straight ahead, "See those mountains over there Woods," he pointed north to a gigantic series of mountains. They were massive almost covering the entire northern area reaching beyond anyone's sight. Glancing at them for the first time, one might not notice their presence due to the thick fog and clouds that's covering them. But upon further inspection, there massiveness and height becomes gradually visible. Their height reached beyond the colossal trees that's how gigantic they were.

"Supposedly, there is a cave inside one of those colossal mountains," he went on "We will attempt to locate it and hopefully find the easiest access to the cave."

"So sir, you haven't told us of the plan yet?" I said softly reminding him "You said that once we come here, you will explain the mission to us."

He nodded and stopped in his tracks immediately.

He turned to us all and began, "I need you all to pay attention. I will attempt to explain to your mediocre brains," David rolled his eyes "what our mission is here and what each of our roles will be. So if any of you have any questions or snide remarks as I speak, better keep them until the end." He gave a sharp glare to David who just shrugged.

Once all attention was fully on the Potions master, he began, "You haven't got the chance to understand what is supposed to happen because of the earlier minor mishap" he nodded at me "However, you first need to be aware of the scope of our mission as a whole. If you were banking on the assumption that our mission is a simple one, you should think again. If you were hoping it's all about simply finding and extracting the book, then it's just wishful thinking."

He began to walk back and forth as if we were in class. He was speaking purely in his teaching voice, "So far, what I was able to decode from this book right here," he raised the book in hand "is that the gentleman we are looking for was last known to have lived here in this very place. However, the exact whereabouts of the wizard is unknown."

We all gawked at him in confusion, he let out a frustrated sigh "Meaning. He could be anywhere in this forest. Some say that he was last seen inside the cave of mountain Vinson Massif which is the one visible right over there," he pointed at the huge erect series of mountains that he earlier pointed to me,

"Others say he was living in seclusion somewhere deep in this forest. We have only three days to locate the book and return. So, unfortunately, I have to keep reminding you that we cannot afford any distractions."

When we all nodded once again, he continued "While you were getting ready for our journey, I have formulated a well-proof plan that will ensure the minimum wastage of time. Of course Florina's conundrum earlier did enough wastage," He glared at me "But we can still get back on track."

"Sir what's the plan?" I asked in a low voice. 

"I cannot enclose that fully as I was instructed by Dumbledore not to." Both me and David gave him an are-you-serious look. 

He didn't trust us with that mind-blowing information? 

Severus wasn't fazed by our stares and went on "Once we get deeper to the forest, we will split into two teams. Woods and myself will head for those mountains while you two," he pointed at the wizard and elf "will go further into the forest –" 

David interrupted hotly "So in other words, you are giving us the hard work while you get the simpler one."

Severus ignored him and went on "Once any of us locate the book, they will send red sparks with their wands. If you," he pointed at David "happen to find it before we do, do not attempt to touch the book or read it. The headmaster's orders were crystal clear, it has to be woods who retrieves it. Am I making myself clear?"

The onyx eyes met the emerald ones sharply and the handsome wizard gave a curt nod.

Satisfied, the potion's master started hiking again towards the mountains with us all trailing behind him. I sped up to him.

"Sir, how did you know all that?" I probed looking at the gigantic mountains.

He rolled his eyes, "What kind of question is that Woods? It's satisfying to know that seven years of wizarding education weren't wasted on you."

"Sorry sir," I mumbled ashamed.

He gave me a sideways glance that lingered for a while and he let out a heavy breath "It's all written in the book Woods. Section ten, page 651 to 960."

I quickly turned to him astounded, "Sir, you memorized the entire book!" I exclaimed.

"Don't be a fool," he spat at once "who can memorize a thousand pages?! I only memorized the pages that would benefit us in this journey. Now if you will excuse me your highness, may I be left in peace while I decide what should be done next?"

I looked over at him and expected him to give me a poker face like he always did but surprisingly, he was smirking at me. Was he attempting to lighten the mood or was he just being sarcastic and enjoying my humiliation? Either way, I decided it didn't matter as the potions master clearly wanted his peace and quiet.

The hike to the gigantic mountains was very exhausting and with every step forward, we felt our bodies burning almost quarter it's gained calories. That hike however wasn't only exhausting but for some odd reason, extremely quiet. As if the air around us was denser than usual, much denser than the snow falling above us. 

My mind wandered to Rose and Bubbles, trying to remember anything that would help me uncover their mysterious relationship.

The deeper I probed for answers in my mind, the deeper I found clues and hints that Bubbles indeed knew of the existence of Rose. 

My mind went to the first time I saw Bubbles, she would occasionally gaze in the direction of Rose whenever the fairy flew by my side. I remembered the many times the sweet little elf gazes upon Rose with fascination but would always avert her gaze whenever I look at her. it was a very subtle gesture, something that I wouldn't have noticed at all.

My mind was brainstorming further and went to a particular instant to further proof of their relationship. It was also during the first time I was introduced to Bubbles. They were both acting peculiar.

Bubbles suddenly came closer to me until we were practically glued face to face. She took a very quick glance in the direction of my fairy and brought her head even closer to my ear. She whispered, "Do you remember me?"

Before I could respond to her very unusual question, a few memories flashed in mind all at once rendering me silent. They weren't clear or vivid but rather very quick and not in sync at all. 

Suddenly, Rose coughed loudly. Very loudly which took me out of my moment of trance. I slowly turned to her not remembering that very peculiar feeling that just grabbed my attention. 

At that moment, my fairy's cough kept getting worse and into a very mysterious coughing fits, as if she was almost choking. 

I immediately ran by my fairy's side "Rose, are you alright?!" I exclaimed. 

Her face was extremely red from the coughing and it took her a few moments to recover. 'I never knew fairies could cough,' I wondered silently. As a matter of fact, I never witnessed Rose coughing before so it was very unusual to see her do.

Deciding to ignore that, I gently rubbed her back doing circular motions while I kept staring at her. After a few moments, her coughing fits were fading away and I sighed in relief. I smiled up at her only to see her glaring. 

Taken aback by her behavior, I stepped inches away from her and turned to the elf who was momentarily trembling with fear. 

When her eyes laid on mine however, she held my gaze for a while and flashed me an adorable smile.

Author's note:

Hey guys! I hope you are enjoying the story so far.

So question of the day is, What do you think of Bubbles? Is she sweet and cunning or innocent and devilish? Comment below and I will be respond to each one.

If you are enjoying the story, please click that lil VOTE STAR down below. Tune in for the next chapter for more excitement!

See you all in the next one. Love ya!