When the Star Blinks Out…
Chapter 1
By: Stick'ums
Stick'ums: Ah. A select few of you may actually remember this story, as it's one I'm redoing. It was called 'Harry Potter and the Kidnapping', but I couldn't finish it and keep it in the same writing style so I have decided to redo it. Reviews are love!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. That honor belongs to the lovely J. K. Rowling. But lucky me, I do happen to own Taka Shippou, Raven, (who won't come in until later) and Professor Enigma. Mew Ashleigh owns Kuroichigo Idenshi.
n.n - This is a line break. Have fun with it.
"Can you even believe how fast summer sped by?" Harry, a thin-looking, black haired boy with glasses asked wonderingly. He was perched on top of his bed in the Gryffindor boys' dormitories, having just arrived at Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The large trunk at the end of his bed hadn't even been opened yet.
"Yeah, and why's that? That's because you spent most of it at the Burrow, not at boring ole' Privet Drive." His red-headed friend Ron laughed, sitting on his own bed nearby. The Burrow was what the Weasley's called their run-down home.
Harry's POV
I shrugged. "When do we have to be at the Great Hall?" I asked.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Same time every year. Think you'd know that by now, it being what, our fifth year now?"
Oh yeah. "Well, then we better get moving, we don't want Hermione to leave without us." I said, standing up and rolling my shoulders back to stretch them out. Ron shrugged and got up as well.
We almost fell over ourselves in our mad dash down the dormitory steps. And as we expected, Hermione Granger, with her bushy brown hair, was waiting impatiently by the Common Room entrance. But, and here's the unexpected part, standing next to her was another girl that we had never seen before. Her hair was long and black; it went almost to her waist. She looked to be about the same age as we were.
Ron and I ran over to them, getting a few glares from a few older students who like us, were running a little late. "Hey Hermione! Sorry we're late!" I gasped, out of breath.
"Hi!" Ron put in.
Hermione waved. "Hi." She motioned towards the new girl. "You guys, this is Kuroichigo Idenshi. She came here from Kyoto, Japan. She'll be in our year, so I though it would be alright for her to hang out with us.." Kuroichigo gave a smile wave, her mouth curved into a shy smile. I may have been inmaging it, but the look she gave us was just so… analytical. "Kuroichigo, this is Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." Hermione introduced us.
"Hi Ron. Hi Harry." I was surprised that she wasn't surprised at my name, but then, she did just come from Japan after all. Maybe I wasn't so famous there?
Hermione grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the door. "Come now, we're going to miss dinner if we stand here all night." Ron and I laughed, and followed after the pair.
"Oh wow, this room is huge! Our school wasn't nearly this big, and the magic that must have been put into creating the ceiling, wonderful!" Kuroichigo said, surprised as we entered the Great Hall. Hermione had to carefully direct her so that she wouldn't run into anyone, the girl was looking that far upward. We pulled her over to the Gryffindor table, but before we sat down she caught the eye of a pale, white haired girl sitting at the Slytherin table and waved enthusiastically. The girl glanced around, and gave a small wave back.
We sat down, Ron and I on one side, Kuroichigo and Hermione on the other. Ron and I gave Hagrid a quick wave, which returned with a wink. Luckily, we had time to talk before dinner was served and Headmaster Dumbledore began his yearly greetings. "So, Kuroichigo," Ron began. "Who was that Slytherin git you were waving at?"
Kuroichigo glared darkly at him, a single eyebrow raised. "She isn't a git. Her name is Taka Shippou, and she came here with me from Japan. She's my best friend, and if you say anything about her again, I shall have to hurt you." She said, as if that explained everything.
I frowned, slightly puzzled. "You can't be 'best friends' with a Slytherin. We're enemy houses, you know."
Kuroichigo turned her glare to me. "If Taka is with them, then they aren't all evil. Now I don't want to talk about it anymore. Bakas." The last word was muttered under her breath, although neither I nor Ron had any idea what it meant.
"Ron! Harry! Cut it out!" Hermione scolded us. Ron shrugged carelessly. I was about to respond, but didn't have the time because Dumbledore had entered the hall and was now calling for attention.
"I'd like to welcome you all again to another wonderful year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" He went on with his yearly speech. And on.
At the end, he introduced our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. There seemed to be some kind of curse attached to that job, because no teacher had ever lasted more than one year. The students placed bets on it now, even. "I'd like to introduce you all to your new teacher, Professor Enigma." To the left of him, a tall, white haired woman stood up and quietly bowed before sitting back down again and watching the Hall with a strange amused expression.
Dumbledore continued. "Also, it seems that we have two new older students joining us this year. I'd like Taka Shippou and Kuroichigo Idenshi to stand please." They did so, waving again to each other across the hall before sitting down again. "They have come all the way from Japan, so please treat them well. We shall do the same for you, and enjoy your dinner!" He sat smiling, and only then did the numerous meals appear on our plates.
After dinner, we got up and headed out of the hall. After turning the first corner, we were stopped as the white haired Slytherin (Taka was her name?) hurried over to our group. Kuroichigo gave her a huge hug, which the blonde returned, albeit tensely. "Taka! Oh, I've missed you. How has your day been so far? Make any new friends?" She asked.
Taka smiled thinly. "Yeah, I missed you too, Kuro-chan." She certainly didn't have quite the energy as her friend. For the first time, I gave her a close look over. Her hair was a pure white, which made me wonder if she was related to the new professor. And her eyes were creepy; they were a reddish/pink color. Also, her skin was really pale! It seemed like she fit the Slytherin description perfectly. Ignoring me, Taka continued her conversation with Kuroichigo. "I haven't really made any friends yet…they're all, how should I say? Snobs? Or close to it." Well, she couldn't be that bad if she thought Slytherins were spoiled. "And there's this one guy, says his name is Draco, and-" She was cut off.
By Malfoy. "Taka!" The blond haired Slytherin stalked over to our group.
Taka winced while he couldn't see her and turned to face him. "Yes, Draco?"
"You shouldn't let people see you hanging out with people like them." He gestured towards our little group with one hand and a look of disgust. "It could really hurt your reputation." He said, as if that were all important.
Taka rolled her eyes but didn't let him see. "Alright, Draco…Bye Kuro-chan." She sighed silently and turned around. Malfoy gave a smug smile and started off towards the dungeons, where the Slytherin Common Room was located. Taka, obviously with no other choice, lifted her hand in a small wave for us and followed.
After they left, Kuroichigo turned back to us and shook her head slowly. "I feel sorry for her. She doesn't know how to say no to anyone." She paused, considering. "But then, I guess she would accept any friend she could get, being albino and all…"
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Albino? I wondered about her eyes."
"What's albino?" Ron asked, oblivious. So was I, but I was smart enough not to mention it.
Hermione smirked kindly and opened her mouth to explain, but Kuroichigo skipped the annoyed sigh and started in first. "Albino is when you have no pigment, no color." Hermione gave her a funny look, but said nothing.
I glanced around the hall. It was almost empty. "You guys, we better head up, or the Lady will get mad." I started down the hall towards the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Hai!" Kuroichigo grinned, and the rest of the group followed.