Autumn sighed as she glanced at the clock for the twentieth time. 2:14. It was as thought the clock began getting slower every time she looked its way.

"Come on," she murmured, her amber eyes watching the second hand tick by sluggishly.

Three…two…one… Brrrriiiinnngggg.

There was a loud rustling as all the fifth years packed their things and headed to the door. Autumn was the first one out. She quickly rushed to the seventh floor, unaware of the pairs of indigo and brown eyes following her.

"Dick, this year is going to be one heck of a competition. The world's best, coming together for the final showdown of the figure skating season."

"You're right, Tom, this year is certainly going to be interesting. We now have the rising sixteen year olds from around the world competing for the ultimate Senior title. It's safe to say that they'll do very well, the question is, who will eventually come out on top?"

"That's a good question, Dick. You've got Kim Heung, who's beautifully lyrically style is breath of fresh air on the ice. Then you've got Miko Taharo, who's strength and elegance on the ice is a sight to see. And then there's also Autumn Harrow, who's is just this burst of graceful energy. It's hard to say, it really is."

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see…"

Autumn strode up to the stereo system against the wall and pushed in a CD of Debussy.

Letting the classical music fill the room that had magically turned into an ice-skating rink, she began stretching. She sank easily into a split and thought about the competition that awaited her in two weeks. Her Junior season had flown by as she eagerly awaited the opportunity to skate in the Senior Worlds, something she and her friends Miko and Kim had become dead-set on since earning their rank at the age of twelve.

Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to go to Senior World's until now. And we're going to take the place by storm.

She had been nervous at first about how to tell Professor Dumbledore would react to her long absence that was bound to come in her first year. Surprisingly, he stared at her with twinkling eyes and told her to do what she had to.

"Let's roll," she murmured, pulling on her skates and wondering vaguely to herself who she was talking to.

….since Jeanette Altwegg in 1951. She's forging her own path.

The cool air rushed past her face as she gasped for air, and drank deeply from her water bottle. She had double-run her long program, and was thoroughly exhausted… and annoyed as well. She had fallen both times on her salchow. It's the easiest jump! How am I missing it? she thought, worried that she would have to tweek her program for the fifth time that season.

First the toe-loop and now the salchow. Next I'll find that the waltz jump is wrong as well, she thought wryly, taking another long drought of her water bottle. She reached down to stretch her tense muscles and skated back to the middle of the rink, and waited for the music to start up again.

(Peter Miko Kim Autumn)

Now, you three girls have been competing against each other for years now, and all of you have a pretty even record. How does that affect your relationship off the ice?

We agreed… that we stay friends… off ice but… we are …rivals in… competition.

And how does that rivalry affect your performances?

I guess it just makes us work that extra mile. We've been defending titles since we were twelve, and we've been switching spots for the passed four years, so it's actually been really good for us.

We love to skate and try to … make our performances… perfect, and after we skate… we just get back up and work for next year.

The sad melody of Joshua Bell washed over the room as Autumn's brow furrowed in concentration, her footwork flowing out of her naturally. She could already hear the cheers that would come for it, just as they had at nationals.

She slid easily into a camel spin and went through the combination, grimacing slightly as the muscles in her thighs pulled at her final catch foot. As the last drone of the percussion blared, she gratefully dropped her foot into a scratch spin, and quickly slid into her ending pose.

She stood for a moment, her breath coming out in quick gasps as she let the performance sink in, then relaxed and skated to the edge of the rink, her hands on her hips. Something felt off.

Well, as long as I'm not flutzing, I should be fine, she thought with a sigh, pulling off her skates.

It was seven O'clock.

Dear Autumn,

You'll never guess what I just found out! You know how Devyn Richards placed seventh at the US nationals? Well, since the gold, silver and pewter medalists couldn't go to worlds (but they'll kick ass at Juniors!), the heads all had some get together to get a team together. They put DEVYN on the team! Can they do that? I mean, Katrina placed ahead of her, why isn't she going to worlds! Do you have ANY idea how smug she looks right now? So how goes everything with you? Hope you're training hard!

Love,

Megan

Autumn banged her head into the table. She was a SLYTHERIN for goodness sakes! Shouldn't potions be coming to her a little bit easier?

Apparently not, she thought darkly, glaring at the piece of parchment in front of her. Oh, how she wanted to go back to the Room of Requirement (a room she never would have known about had it not been for her getting lost the first NIGHT of her tutelage at Hogwarts.) and skate.

Scowling at her textbook she began her essay, but was interrupted as she heard scuffling behind her. She turned to see Draco Malfoy, one of her fellow housemates, teasing a small Hufflepuff girl by holding a book tauntingly out of her reach.

She pulled out her ebony wand and muttered, "accio book."

"Will you grow up, Malfoy?" hissed Autumn, pulling the girl away before Malfoy could open his mouth and handing her the book.

"There you go," said Autumn kindly. "If he bugs you again, feel free to hex him or find me. Bye."

The girl stared after her with wide eyes, and Autumn almost groaned at the small amount of writing on her supposed-to-be three foot essay.

"That was very Gryfindor of you," said a girl's voice from behind her. Autumn whipped around, her hand flying to her wand.

"Granger," sighed Autumn, putting a hand to her pounding heart. "Please refrain from doing that! I know our house is rivals, but a heart attack is going too far."

The bushy-haired Gryfindor raised an eyebrow at her as she took a seat across from Autumn.

"I wonder how you can be scared of me," she murmured, leaning across the table, "when you can easily do all those dangerous jumps."

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Autumn casually, flipping through her book boredly.

"I mean, I saw you skating in the Room of Requirement," said Hermione.

"You mean you followed me there. How very Slytherin of you," drawled Autumn, smirking at the flush that appeared on Hermione's face.

"I knew that skater I saw on TV was you. Gold medal… very impressive," said Hermione. "You really are very good."

"Thank you," said Autumn, smiling sincerely at the girl. "It's really hard defending a title, especially since I've held it for the passed four years."

"That's right. You've been competing since you were seven. Junior, right?" said Hermione, looking interested.

"Since I was eight. I got my rank when I was seven," said Autumn boredly, vaguely wondering why she was still talking to the Gryfindor. If she got caught…

Malfoy was easily dealt with, but the other girls…

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry, I've just always loved figure skating," said Hermione.

Autumn nodded and snorted as she came by a note written in the margins of her textbook. Idiots. The school is filled with them, thought Autumn irritably, flipping to the next page. Her eyes narrowed.

GHOST BOY was written, along with a badly drawn cartoon. Hermione looked over and groaned.

"Ronald," she sighed irritably. Autumn turned her head to face Hermione.

"Your friend did this?" said Autumn sharply.

"Yes," said Hermione guiltily. "He really is quite crude. I'm sorry about him."

"Don't be. You're not the one who's doing this," said Autumn quietly.

They both sat quietly, Autumn scratching away with her quill and Hermione watching her, looking as though she wanted to say something.

"What's up, Hermione?" asked Autumn, her first name slipping out before she could stop it. Instead of feeling horrified, she felt somewhat relieved. She was starting to like the girl, and last names were used as formal addresses and in contempt.

Looking taken aback, Hermione said, "I was just wondering if I could watch you some time."

"Um… sure, I guess," said Autumn with a raised eyebrow. Usually people just barged in and flashed their cameras.

Hermione smiled at her glanced at her essay. She raised an eyebrow and said, "I think you might need help…"

Autumn chuckled and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

Autumn walked into the dungeons, her essay completed and a warm feeling content flooding through her.

Finally, a friend within 500 miles of my person, she thought, staring at the floor. She hardly noticed the tall boy in front of her until she had almost collided with him.

"Sorry," she murmured, sidestepping him and continuing on her way.

"Harrow," said a deep voice from behind her. She turned to find the tall form of Blaise Zabini standing very close to her back. She inhaled sharply and took a step back. "Granger's right. You are very good. Maybe I'll stop by and watch again…"

With that said, he stepped around her and walked on, leaving a stunned Autumn behind.

Another one, she thought, appalled. "Hey, wait!" she finally called, running up to catch Blaise as he turned around the corner. She came around the bend and stared at the corridor in shock.

He wasn't there.

(Speaking in Japanese)

"Good evening, I'm Nirai Takashi along side Taharo Miko-san. Miko –san, the world championships are in two weeks. What kind of preparations are you taking?"

"Well, at this point, it's just running the program over and over again to make sure it's perfect. Then my coach and I fix any glitch we can find."

"You're going to be competing against Harrow Autumn-san and Heung Kim-san, who also happen to be very close friends of yours. How does that work?"

"We know that one of us is going to do better than the others, so we just give the best performance we can and hope we're the one that comes out on top. We're rivals, but that just makes us work harder and makes the competition a lot more fun."

A/N: How was it? Good? Bad? So-So?

Review and let me know! I've never tried something like this before, and I really want to get it right!

Glossary of Terms:

Waltz jump: a one-half rotation jump

Salchow: an edge jump. It takes off from a back inside edge and lands on the back outside edge of the opposite foot.

Toe: a toe jump that takes off from the back outside edge and lands on the same back outside edge (in other words, a toe-pick assisted loop jump, although the mechanics of the two jumps are very different).

Loop: another edge jump, launched from the back outside edge and landing on the same back outside edge.

Flip: a toe jump that takes off from a back inside edge and lands on the back outside edge of the opposite foot.

Lutz: a toe jump that takes off from a back outside edge and lands on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. The lutz is a counter-rotated jump.

Axel:an edge jump launched on the forward outside edge and landed on the back outside edge of the opposite foot.

Layback: an upright spin, usually performed by women, in which the back is arched and head dropped back, the free leg in an attitude position, and the arms often stretched to the ceiling.

Biellmann spin: a variation of the layback spin and performed by pulling the free leg from behind up and over the head. The blade of the skate may be held with either one or both hands. This requires extreme flexibility in the shoulders, back, hips, and legs.

camel spin (also known as a parallel or arabesque spin): an arabesque position (or spiral position) with the free leg extended behind at hip level, parallel to the ice surface.

(If visuals are required for slow antelopes, visit youtube and search the terms. VERY easy to find nowadays.)