Chapter 1
The day is the coldest it has been in months. The clouds outside are foretelling rain. Somewhere in the distance a cat is screeching. The hallways of Thankton School for Magically Able Youngsters were waxed, and the tiles were slippery. The lockers were clean and spotless. That is, until...
"GET BACK HERE, YOU BRATS!" came a scream from the down the blue stairs, followed by a shriek and three girls running up the flights. One, a tall brunet with long dangly earrings and golden eye shadow, had her hair covered in cottage cheese and was currently chasing the other two.
The shortest, who was only the shortest by a hair, had frizzy and curly brown hair, glasses and a tan complexion. The middle one who, like the other two, had brown hair, and pale skin that was marred by a few scars and freckles, was in the lead.
"Emma!" the curly haired girl shouted, as the tallest passed her and kept running after the middle one, who was Emma, "Look out! Ohh...I knew you shouldn't have done that."
The one called Emma turned, halfway up the stairs and grinned, "Natalya, cool of. It was just a joke."
"A joke," the tallest one screeched, yanking out her wand and aiming a hex at Emma, "You got this GUNK in my hair. MY HAIR!"
And, with that, she sent a jet of deep purple light at Emma, who dodged, and it hit the lockers behind them. She then slipped on the newly waxed floor and went sliding down the hallway...and right into yet another brunette figure.
"OUCH!" the figure cried, falling over and sliding a few feet with Emma, "What was that all about?"
"Hey...Becca..." the curly haired girl puffed, bent double after running after Natalya and Emma, "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Kylin," she said, politely, but still a little snippy at the fact she had just been used as an impromptu emergency break, then glared meaningfully at Emma, "For being crashed into by a raving lunatic."
"Stop using big words," came a voice from behind them. Emma, Natalya and Kylin giggled, while Becca, or Rebecca, rolled her eyes.
"Psycho, Walker, psycho," she deadpanned.
The blond haired boy smiled innocently at her, and made a deep bow. She hit him over the head with her book, and turned to face Emma and Natalya.
"So," she asked slowly, as if talking to three year olds, "Will you two mind telling me, a) Why Emma was using the hallway as a Slip-n-Slid, and b) why Natalya has cottage cheese in her hair?"
And so, the two of them launched into the story of the unlucky breakfast, that somehow ended up in the taller girl's hair. The chase up the stairs and the miss-hit spell that made Emma trip and slid down the hall. Walker and Rebecca listened, but Kylin, who had been there for the whole escapade, took to playing with Walker's long, blond hair.
"You know, Walker," Kylin said absent mindedly, 'I think you'd look really good with a perm."
The blond boy turned and spluttered at her indignantly, as the three brunettes behind him laughed, and Kylin smiled innocently.
Rebecca recovered from her fit of giggles first, and eyed the bright red clock on the wall, which currently read 8:54. She turned to the others and asked, "Shouldn't we be getting to—"
BOOM!! The walls shook and a thin layer of plaster crashed over their heads, causing all five of them to shriek.
"Class?" Becca finished on a slightly higher note than was normal for her.
"RUN!!" Kylin cried, spinning on her heel and flying down the hall, a good three feet ahead of her friends. They sprinted down the tiled hallway, down a flight of stairs and through the library. At this moment, Emma turned a sharp corner and ran headlong into a black cloaked figure.
Walker and Natalya screeched to a stop and turned to take off down another row of books, while Rebecca and Kylin grabbed Emma's arms and hauled her away from the stunned Death Eater before he could react. They turned left and practically flew down the thin gap between the books shelves. They heard the heavy footsteps behind them that meant the Death Eater was following them, and all three felt their stomachs fall to their feet.
But, they knew the layout better than he did.
"THIS WAY!" Kylin shouted, and turned the other two right, instead of left, which was the better option, as it lead to the exit.
There had always been a thin metal bar that could only be lifted by a teacher, that separated the Restricted Section from the books that were for the kindergarteners. Students had always been able to crawl over or under it, but it was never very easy.
Emma and Becca hot on her heels, and the Death Eater hot on theirs, Kylin turned one final corner and vaulted the bar. Behind her, she heard two grunts as her friends did the same and landed, and then a sickening crunch and thump as the black hooded figure ran headlong into the bar, and fell to the floor.
The door was twenty yards away, and the three girls could see Natalya and Walker running to the 'apparition point'. It was an emergency exit of some sort, which was only to be used in an emergency evacuation. This, only just qualified.
They were almost there, when a sharp intake of breath made Emma and Kylin turn around. Becca had been caught by the elbow by another Death Eater, and he was now trying to over power her.
"Who spit in your porridge?" Rebecca asked. She placed her hands on his shoulders and brought her knee up to meet his crotch, in one fluid movement.
Even twenty feet away, Emma and Kylin could hear Walker's groan of pity and sympathy pain.
Two Death Eaters now disarmed, the five children ran to the 'apparition point' and each grabbed a handful of Rebecca's robed. She was the only one of the five that could legally and safely Apparate.
"Okay," she directed them, "Now, all of you, hold on—WALKER! Watch where you're putting those hands if you want to keep them attached to your body!"
They all allowed themselves a chuckle before Rebecca turned on the spot and Disapperated.
