I've had this idea going on for a while now... and I just had to put it onto paper. XD If you like it, tell me what you think. If you don't like it, mind telling me why? Any kind of review would be welcome – even if all you've got to say is that you hate it. :) It's good sometimes to have someone tell you that truthfully so that you don't get too full of yourself, ya know?
This will probably be gory... hence the rating of T. After all, this is me, Yume-ka, writing this, right?
Anyways, enjoy!
- Yume-ka
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. That would be J.K. Rowling, and you can tell because if it was me, then I would have put a lot more gore in there... A LOT.
A New Kind of Threat -
Chapter One
Albus Severus Potter listened to his Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, drone on about how to properly cast the Lumos spell.
This is so boring, he thought. Yawning, he looked around the classroom.
Lyla Velrock was the only student that had mastered the Lumos spell in their year so far (at least as far as any of the rest of them knew – Albus had gotten bored one day, and had mastered it before they had even begun learning it. He had pretended not to know, however, since he didn't want the teacher's to begin expecting too much out of him). Currently, the girl was sitting quietly at her desk, listening, or rather, pretending to listen, to what Flitwick was saying. Albus knew a fake listener when he saw one, and Lyla was definitely faking it. He noticed that she glanced at him every so often, but gave no sign of it.
Currently, all of the girls in his year thought he was the hottest boy there, and all of the boys – except for Albus – thought that Lyla was the most awesome girl ever. Most of his year thought that he and Lyla were perfect for each other, but Albus wasn't really interested in romance like his other classmates were. To him, Lyla was just a friend. He was more interested in adventure, the kind of adventure that his dad, the famous wizard known as Harry Potter, had had back when he had gone here to Hogwarts.
While he was thinking of all of this, for no particular reason, Flitwick finished talking, and told them that their homework was to practice the spell until they could do it right. The bell rang, and as Albus walked out the classroom door, Lyla and his other friend, David Weasley, came up and walked beside him.
"That was so boring," Lyla muttered, yawning. She brushed a stray strand of her soft brown hair out of her eyes, but the effort was in vain. That piece of her hair would never obey Lyla's command.
"No joke," David agreed, nodding. He glanced at Albus for a response.
"Funny, I wasn't listening, so I don't know whether or not it was boring." Albus shrugged his shoulders, as if to say it's no big deal, and continued walking.
"What were you drawing this time, Al?" That was Lyla's nickname for him – Al. And ever since she started calling him that, most of the other girls had as well. Albus was thankful that the boys had refrained from doing so, however.
"Lyla, you know me too well – here, I was drawing this." Albus held up his notebook, on which a beautifully rendered drawing of Lyla herself was drawn. Lyla's eyes widened, and she blinked in surprise.
"Want it?" Albus carefully tore the page out of his notebook, and handed it to her. She took it gently, and stared at it for a moment.
"Thanks, Al – it's beautiful!" She said happily.
"Don't mention it – anyways, in our class, you're the only thing worth drawing, so I mind as well draw you to the best of my ability, right?" Lyla gave an uncertain smile at this, and carefully tucked the picture into her bag.
"What class do we have next?" Albus asked in a bored tone. "No, wait, let me guess – it's Potions, isn't it?"
"Yep," Lyla and David said in harmony.
"Professor Slughorn, here I come," Albus said, and hung his head in dejection.
"You really should give one of Slughorn's parties a chance, Al – they're not all that bad, you know," Lyla said tentatively. Albus glanced at her.
"It's not that I think that they're horrible or anything – after all, how bad could a party be? But I just don't particularly like the fact that he tries to get me to join his little "Slug Club", so to speak. I don't mind going to his parties, I just don't want to be a member." Allen shrugged his shoulders, sighing a bit.
"I see," Lyla said. She seemed a little disappointed, but Albus didn't really notice. He was too busy trying to maneuver through the crowd of students congregating in the halls.
"Hey, Albus!" came a feminine voice from somewhere in the crowd. A raven-haired girl with blue eyes hurried over to him. When she reached him, she suddenly bowed, and held out what looked like a letter. "Please accept this!" the girl said breathlessly.
Albus showed no sign of surprise, nor did he feel any – this kind of thing was always happening. He reached out and took the letter. The girl looked up hopefully, and Albus gave her a kind smile, and she smiled back.
"Thanks. I'll look at it during my next class – if I don't hurry though, I'll be late. You will be too, you know." Albus grinned at her, and turned away. He walked towards the dungeons, with Lyla and David in tow. When he reached Slughorn's classroom, he stopped, took a deep breath, and leaned against the door; he put his index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose, and slowly exhaled.
"Something up, Al?" Lyla looked at him with mild concern. He glanced up at her, gave a deep sigh, and held up the letter he still held in his hand.
"This is the third love letter I've gotten today alone – the girls are going insane, giggling hysterically when I walk past and following me around in little groups of about seven or eight, or so. If this continues, I think I'm going to go insane as well." Albus turned his face up towards the ceiling. Closing his eyes, he heaved a deep sigh once again.
"I guess it isn't easy being so popular with females, is it? The boys tend to avoid me, and I rarely ever get a love letter – they're much too shy, or at least most of them are," Lyla said, trying to be sympathetic.
"I'm just glad you haven't started doing anything like that, Lyla – as long as you continue to be normal, I can deal with all of it." Albus looked at Lyla with a straight-face. There wasn't any sign of embarrassment or nervousness to indicate that he was implying he liked her. That wasn't how he meant the statement to come across at all. He was just thanking her for being normal and level-headed in his life where most people weren't. Lyla knew this already. She had known Albus many years, even before they had both gone to Hogwarts. But still, she couldn't help the slight coloring of her cheeks. It was both the result of liking Albus, and appreciating the obvious compliment he had given her.
David looked at the both of them, and cocked his head. Deciding that now would be a good time to break the silence before it became too awkward, he looked around for something to comment on. He couldn't find anything, but luckily, he ended up not having to; the other students had begun filing in, and several seconds later, Slughorn opened the door dramatically.
Albus would have fallen at that point, but somehow he managed to stand up at the precise moment before the door was flung open. He glanced with mild surprise at Slughorn standing where he had just been, as if he hadn't known that Slughorn was about to open it. Which he hadn't, but nobody other than Lyla, David, or his family would have believed that he had just happened to stand up at exactly the right moment.
Albus was known for his extraordinary luck – of course, he was only known for it among his friends and family, since he didn't feel like bragging about something as stupid as good luck. As far as he was concerned, there really was no such thing – when asked what it was, he would just shrug, and say, "Coincidence" and turn away.
But, his luck apparently didn't work when it came to avoiding one of Slughorn's massive hugs – he had learned that the hard way. And he had quickly learned to out-maneuver the man. He used his born Quidditch skills to duck under Slughorn's massive embrace, and come out the other side. It was a miracle, at least to Albus, that Slughorn was apparently too stupid to predict him doing so. Which he did every time Slughorn tried to hug him, and that was pretty much all the time.
Albus had learned a long time ago that when it came to avoiding teachers, the middle space was the best spot to be. For some reason, they just didn't seem to notice people there as much as they did from the back or front row. Walking into the classroom, he sat down at a random desk towards the center, in the hopes of avoiding his teacher. He saved the two spots on either side of him for Lyla and David (much to the disappointment of the other girls).
"Well, here we go again," Lyla said as she sat down. They all began taking out their things and getting ready for class.
Yume-ka: And the first chapter is complete!
Yume: Um, do you think that you could allow me to update my story, then?
Yume-ka: No. I think I'm onto something here.
Yume: *sighs* Well, I know better than to argue with you verbally.
Yume-ka: ...
Yume: Which means we'll have to settle this with a thumb-war, won't we?
Yume-ka: You'll never win. I won't let you.
Yume: Say that after you beat me, ya twit.
Yume-ka & Yume: *in unison* Beginning: Round One
*Five or so minutes later...*
Yume-ka: Yay! I win!
Yume: Dammit... *looks hopefully at Yume-ka* Best two out of three?
Yume-ka: No way in hell! I ain't riskin' my hard won prize!
Yume: What are you? A chicken?
Yume-ka: ... Cluck, cluck, cluck *flaps arms like they're wings*
Yume: *bangs head against wall and knocks herself out*
Yume-ka: There you have it folks – while I tie up my buddy here, and lock her up to boot, you guys can wait patiently for my next update. Cheers! *leaves room, dragging Yume behind her*
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