A/N: this is a story about a girl named… NOT LUCKY! Damn this (censored word) Britney Spears! Well, fine. This is a story of Tehhie Pondohva who nobody knows! YAY! All right, I'll stop fooling around. Tehhie Pondohva went to Hogwarts the same time Snape and Black and all these "past" guys did. (she did' cause I said so!). Now this is her story about seven years of Hogwarts, it's a bit boring, but it's better in the second part!
Disclaimer: ANYBODY who's mentioned here and is from Harry Potter books (most of the setting) belong to… J. K. ROWLING! Tehhie Pondohva belongs to Max Frei (damn him, he will never read this, and I have to write his name anyway). SOME of the events belong to Severus Snape Club on Yahoo!, but most of the fiction is mine! For example, Tarvilenne Garment and Julie Ransom and all these nice little people you never heard about belong to ME, ME, and ONLY ME!
NOW, START!
Everybody, who's been sleeping all the time before that:
Did ya say something?Tehhie: Her story: Part 1 – Hogwarts
"Oh, will you hurry up, you, silly girl!" – Heather tossed a scarf right into my face –" Can't wait till you go into that school – at least you won't be around, sneaking, as always"
That was not true. And Heather, my older sister, knew that. My name is Tehhie, Tehhie Pondohva, and my name won't tell you anything – our family is least famous, not very old, not very powerful, and not very rich, like Malfoy family, for example. But, mind you, I'll say that our family is not as mean either! At least I wouldn't say that about my dad and me. My mom and Heather, my older sister, as I already said, is another side of the coin. My mom is very strict, even stern sometimes and seems to be more preoccupied with her job at the Ministry of Magic than in raising me. It was different when Heather was at school though. As long as I remember her, Heather was always with mom, all-shining like just polished table silver. Heather was mom and dad's idea of "Perfect Daughter" – mind you, prefect – then Head Girl, no troubles, 12 O.W.L.s… Mind you, Heather was perfect. But I wasn't.
And it wasn't my fault that somehow I was breaking all the rules possible. And it was not my fault that instead of having shiny-blonde hair and green eyes like Heather I had silvery hair and dark-blue eyes. And it was not my fault that my mother always liked Heather so much more… It was just not my fault.
Our family lived in a big country-house, with a huge garden and three pets – mom's owl – Lucas, Heather's owl – Antares and my cat – Melyfaro. Lucas was big, noisy and brown, Antares was small and snowy, and Melyfaro was… volcanically active… It was a slender, flaming-red, two-year old cat, with huge green eyes and plenty of energy. He was my best friend since dad's dog, Minna, died two years before, and I got the permission to get a kitten – my dad was too stressed to get another dog. And, of course, Melyfaro was going to Hogwarts with me.
He was another reason I was disliked by Heather and mom – a less organized, less-perfect cat was hard to imagine… But still, a girl less perfect than me was hard to imagine, so I guess we were on equal basis.
And today I was going away… I was going away into new world, full of excitement and adventures… the world of Hogwarts…
Hello, I am writing this in the Common Room of the house I was sorted in (wait till you hear!) and am quiet stressed out. I managed to get into trouble on my first day here- and guess what? I just wrote a letter to my family and sent it. Tomorrow they will answer… Awww… I am scared to think of it.
But this is how all this happened. I arrived to Hogwarts without any adventures, if you don't count Melyfaro breaking out of the basket about million times, and me almost drowning in the lake, 'cause some idiots nearly flooded all the boats.
When I arrived in the Sorting Room, I was quiet sure I will be in Gryffindor, just like the rest of my family – my great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents and Heather. But guess what – Tehhie had to be different.
As they called out:
"Pondohva, Tehhie" I got up and headed towards the ugly-looking Sorting Hat, and pulled it onto my head. It immediately began to whisper ten million words into my head
"Wow, wow, wow… Tough choice we got here… Brave you are but not exactly the Gryffindor mind… Smart… Smart enough for others, but Ravenclaw… hmm… Ah! Ambitious, aren't you? Sneaky? Let it be
SLYTHERIN!"
"Damn you!" – I whispered, heading to the Slytherin table, which erupted with applause as they saw me coming towards them.
"Congratulations, Tehhie!" – I heard some third-year say. Well, may be Slytherin was not as bad as I thought it might be…
But I somehow changed my mind – two idiots who were trying to drown the boats were also in Slytherin. And my sister… Fright… Fright… Fright… She'll blow me up into millions of pieces – she hates ALL Slytherins, doesn't matter if it's the nicest person in the entire damn world!
Finally, tha last person "Zizi, Hannah" was sorted into Ravenclaw, and we all proceeded to the Great Hall.
Dumbledore made his usual announcements, and I, taking a seat besides absent-looking girl, began to chew slowly – I was not really hungry.
In the middle of the feast I decided to talk to my neighbor – she seemed like a nice girl after all.
"What is your name?" – I asked
"Julie" – she said, turning to me, and smiled – "Julie Ransom"
Julie had short black hair, brown eyes and two rows of perfectly white teeth behind her lips.
"And I'm Tehhie, Tehhie Pondohva"
"Never heard of that name"
"No wonder – we're so… uncommon" – I smiled – my mom and Heather were TOO common.
Julie laughted
"And you're … Oh, I heard about your family - I said, remembering the funny story of Ransom's Ransom"
"Yeah – Julie now burst out laughting- that happened to my uncle, and he… he's just really a trouble-maker… But that was so funny, I mean, all these Ransom notes and all"
"It's been in Daily Prophet for about a week, telling you!"
"Yes, and Uncle Henry still tried to pull this Ransom once more… It was something hilarious" – we were both now almost under the tables.
"Wow, something funny is going on? Anything ladies would like to share? – We suddenly heard a voice from behind"
Julie and I turned around. There were these two guys who were Lake Troublemakers.
Julie glared at one of them
"No, Severus Snape, I don't think that you can laugh properly – last time you were snorting like a horse" - she said coldly
"Oh, yeah, Miss Ransom? Would then I please remind you what YOU did on last year's Halloween party at my dad's house!"
Julie blushed, but then laughed right into Snape's face
"Yes, it was a special joke – just for your father, who had to have a perfect party… We made it a perfectly ruined party! – She turned to the other boy – And you, Lucius Malfoy would be better off in Hufflepuff- at least that's where your legendary girlfriend Narcissa went!"
Malfoy's face twisted in anger
"You'd know better than to speak of me like that, Ransom"
"Oh, really, Lucy is hurt!" – Julie said in "I –am-so-deadly-worried kind of voice
"Oh, really, somebody wants a punch in the face" – Snape answered her in tone and almost made his promise come true, but I certainly didn't want a fight on my first day at school
"Hey, don't you start fighting now" – I said
" Oh, and who we have here? McGonagall Jr.?" – Snape asked me sarcastically
"My name is Tehhie Pondohva, for your future reference, Mr. Oh-we-are-so-sarcastic" – I replied
"Dear me, Lucius, this looks like a rather interesting company of Gryffindors! Are you at the right table, girls?" – He asked in an innocent voice
"I think you're not – Julie answered – as I already said Lucy belongs to Hufflepuff, where they're "just and loyal" or may be 'stupid and retarded", and you, Mr. Snape obviously do not belong anywhere, except for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!" – Julie turned away from two guys.
I saw Snape and Lucius taking out their wands, and only had a second to take out mine.
BANG
BANG
BANG
Julie turned around again, her face the color of royal blue, and her left ear expanding rapidly. Lucius also was something my sister called "funny-looking", I used Magenta curse on him, and went a bit too far – his very hair turned magenta, when it had to affect only the skin.
Only Snape and me seemed to be intact.
Julie, overlooking the fact that she was the color of the midday sky, and her left ear almost grew to the size of an elephant's laughted with tears.
"Real… Lucy… you're now… Go Tehhie…" – she managed to sob out.
Suddenly a teacher popped out of nowhere
"What is going on?"
Julie became serious at once
"They – she pointed at two guys – attacked Tehhie and me, and Tehhie was defending herself, so that's why Lucy… I mean this boy looks like a Valentine Heart"
" Okay – you – go to the hospital wing – you – she pointed at Malfoy -a simple spell will do it, you – she glanced at all three of us- Snape, Malfoy and me – Detentions, and ten points from Slytherin! Go to Filch's office tonight at 6:00 – he'll assign you detentions. And no more magic!"
"Damn her!" – I heard Snape whispering, I felt like saying the same thing, too.
"Happy now? – I asked, when the teacher left – now we're getting the detentions"
"Well, not entirely my fault, Ms. I'm-so-innocent!" – Snape answered
"Oh, don't start it again!" – said Malfoy, who was now back to his own ugly looks – "Let's go, Severus"
He and Snape left, and I was left alone in the Great Hall.
The Feast soon ended, Dumbledore made a couple announcements, and then we were all led out to the Common Rooms. Our prefect, Lillie Cuts, told us the password – creepy marble. We all ran into the common room, seeing Julie already sitting there
"I decided to come here, for the Feast was almost over anyway" – she beamed at me, and threw a dirty look at Snape – "What did McGonagall say?"
"Who?" – I asked
"The teacher- her name is McGonagall"
"Oh, her. She said that Snape, Malfoy and me are getting detentions… Damn her!"
"She wouldn't give detentions to Gryffindors"
"What'd you mean?"
"I mean that she's the Head of Gryffindor, and don't ever come up on her way – she hates Slytherins!"
"Just like my sister!" – I murmured
Then Julie and me went up the stairs, meeting two other girls, who were in our year- Arielle Smith and Tarvilenne Garment.
Arielle was very pretty, with red hair, pale skin and green-blue eyes, when Tarvilenne was short, thin and I would say "gray" – she had shoulder-length ashen hair and gray eyes.
"Julie and Tehhie" – we said shaking hands with them.
After a short dialogue we exchanged news – Tarvilenne seemed to be in the same situation as me – only she had two perfect older sisters – twins, Kim and Septienna.
Arielle was the only child, and Julie had one younger brother – Robert.
About me – you know already. Suddenly my gaze fell on the clock 5:45
"I gotta get to the Filch's office!" – I said and got up from the bed we were all sitting in.
"I'll keep you company!" – Julie said, and we waved at Arielle and Tarvilenne.
We jumped out of the portrait hole and headed to the Filch's office. Julie promised to wait for me by the corner, and if I'll get a bad detention to swear with last words – in company with me.
I was the first one to arrive – Snape and Malfoy came in about a minute later.
Filch was narrowing his eyes on us – hoping he will give us an order to clean up the entire school before morning.
"You – he pointed at me – will go help Madam Pomfrey – she asked for you, somehow! – He looked as if Christmas had been canceled – he obviously hoped I'd get some horrific detention. – And you – he continued, looking at Snape and Malfoy – Will go and fix the bathrooms on the second floor! There're PLENTY of things to do there – he smiled nastily"
Snape and Lucius exchanged miserable glances – I hurried out, before Filch could change his mind and give her something else to do.
Julie was waiting for her by the corner.
"Madam Pomfrey?" – she asked, smiling widely
"How'd you know?" – I asked
"Well, according to the fact that I heard that you were getting detentions I hinted that Madam Pomfrey's bottles and plates were not cleaned up completely and there's a neat and clever girl who's getting a detention today…"
"Julie! You're brilliant!" – I hugged her
"Thanks, thanks" – she said, bowing formally to right and to left – "And now – DETENTION, PONDOHVA" – she said in Filch's kind of voice.
I pretended to run away in fear and headed to the hospital wing – I heard Madam Pomfrey was much nicer than others were… and of course, Madam Pomfrey was better than bathrooms.
At 8:00 I returned to the Common Room. Arielle and Tarvilenne were talking to Julie, who, as she noticed me, jumped up, crying happily "Tehhie is here!"
"Thanks again for saving me from Filch!"
"Always welcome!" – Julie beamed
"Hey, who wants a game of chess" – Arielle said suddenly
"Me!" – Julie said, and they hurried away to the table
Tarvilenne smiled shyly and asked me, going slightly red in cheeks
"Tehhie, will you…er… help me write a letter to my mother and father?"
"Er.. Why? I have to do the same thing, by the way!"
"Well, I don't know… All of my family was in Gryffindor and I…"
"How similar we are! – I said, amazed – same with me!"
"So I guess we can write the same thing!" – she smiled
After about ten minutes we composed a slightly irritating letter, but that was the best we can come up with – we had to write the house – that's what my sister and her mother asked us to write, but I, of course, didn't write them about the trouble I got in – my sister would've killed me.
This was what our letter looked like:
"Hello, everybody!
I am very fine here – I met friends – Arielle, Julie and Tarvilenne (Tehhie – in her case). I know you would be slightly embarrassed with me, but the Sorting Hat sorted me into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. I hope that you all are fine there.
Love,
Tehhie (or Tarvilenne)"
"Done, I guess" – I said, putting the quill down – let's go to the Owlery – it's late, but we can still send the letters"
"Okay!" – and me and Tarvilenne ran up to the Owlery.
When the letters were sent we went back, where Arielle already beat Julie in chess and Julie was cursing in the dark corner of the room – she thought very high about herself.
"Sending love-letters?" – Arielle winked at us
We glanced at each other and burst out laughting – love letters, is it? Oh, my sister will LOVE to reply to that love letter. Will love, I say.
"What's so funny?" – Arielle asked, surprised
"We were sending letters to our families. Our loving, caring, darling families!" – I added sarcastically
"Oh, so no love-letters" – Arielle said "disappointedly"
"No love-letters" – I nodded
Arielle and Tarvilenne went up to the dormitory, saying, "we'll get Tarvilenne's pet". I wondered what it was.
I came up to Julie.
"Lost?"
"Yup! – She said, and smiled at me – want a game?"
"Okay" – I agreed and lost, of course.
Julie was so brilliant in chess! When we finished we heard Arielle's
"Oh, how sweet!" – from the girl's dormitory
We ran up the stairs and saw: perfectly beautiful gray-silver cat lying next to Melyfaro.
"This is Melody" – Tarvilenne said and pointed at the cat
"They look perfectly happy" – Julie said, and yawned – "I'm a bit tired, am I not?" – she asked herself and jumped on the bed – "see you tomorrow, guys" – she murmured sleepily
Arielle and Tarvilenne also went to sleep, and I didn't feel like it. So I went down and now I am writing this entry, but my hands aches a bit, and soon I will fall asleep. I've got to get to bed – tomorrow the classes start. I promise I will write more tomorrow.
This week was very interesting.
On September 3 I woke up early in the morning, and saw Arielle brush her red hair before a talking mirror. She as almost done, and as soon as she fixed her hair into the tight pony-tail and looked herself over, the mirror gasped 'Adorable!" Arielle smiled and sat on her bed. I got up, and headed to the bathroom, which was now unoccupied. Tarvilenne and Julie were already in the common room after breakfast when we went down.
Julie beamed at me, and showed us the schedule.
"Look – double Herbology with Gryffindor's first! Finally we'll get to know these, who Snape and Malfoy hate so much"
"Yeah…"
"Are you going to breakfast"
"No, I'm not hungry" – I really wasn't
"Tehhie, you shall eat, growing girls need nourishment"- she said in a "mama" kind of voice.
We laughted, but I took her advice, and went down to breakfast, with both Julie and Tarvilenne keeping us company.
The letters were delivered already, but we saw two owls soaring down – one was snowy Antares and the other one was brown owl – probably Tarvilenne's.
"Here comes Venus" – she said and looked at the red envelope it was carrying
Same thing was for me.
"Oh, not a Howler! Not a Howler!" - We both gasped, and ran for it. Howler exploded about a dozen steps away from the Great Hall. I heard Tarvilenne's Howler explode few steps before me, and loud screams echoed in the hallways.
"SHAME OF THE FAMILY! YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN THE WEIRD ONE! YOU SHOULD'VE DONE ANYTHING, GUESS WHAT THEY WILL BE TALKING ABOUT – YOU IN SLYTHERIN! WAIT TILL MOM HEARS! WAIT TILL MOM SEES! WAIT TILL YOU COME BACK HOME! WAIT TILL YOU COME BACK HOME! OH, YOU – THE SHAME OF THE FAMILY!"
Two Howlers were yelling in the hallway.
Suddenly a teacher popped out of nothingness
"What's going on?" – he asked
"Nothing – Howlers" – we answered in the same time
"Ah, I see…" – he said, and then added – "Proceed to your classes, now!"
We went down to the greenhouse, together, still bewildered of the Howlers.
Shining like two stars Arielle and Julie were waiting for us.
"Howlers! That was horrible! Everybody went deaf!" – Julie coughed out, laughting
"Yeah, and the first ones were us" – I said
"Really, I think that we should get in"
We went into the greenhouse and saw Professor Sprout talking to some dangerous-looking plant.
She then separated us into groups of three, and, to my misery, I was parted from Arielle, Tarvilenne and Julie and sent to Snape and Malfoy's group. Probably our faces showed a very high degree of misery, because Professor Sprout glanced at us with pity, but did not change her decision.
Feeding worms to a flesh-eating plant I was throwing looks at Snape and Malfoy. Suddenly our plant seemed to go berserk – it grew to the gigantic sizes and almost bit off my arm. Luckily, Snape was paying attention, and managed to shrink it.
"Are you hurt?" – he asked, looking worried
"Yeah, I guess" – I said, scowling – "You're not so bad, after all!"
"Don't tell anybody!" – he smiled, while Professor Sprout sent me away to the hospital wing, looking quiet scared. She told us that somebody might dislike me or Malfoy or Snape.
I thought that nobody really cared about me, so it must've been Malfoy or Snape.
In the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey had my hand "repaired" in a minute, murmuring something like "plants all over the ground-what're they thinking of?"
After I, bandaged, went down for Transfiguration, which was next. Professor McGonagall ordered us to change buttons into needles, and all of it kind of worked, but only "kind of". Julie's needle kept curving, mine – refused to be metal, Tarvilenne, who we were calling "Tarvi" now, wasn't able to turn the button into anything at all, and only Arielle and Severus, as I saw from out table were perfectly successful. Professor McGonagall skeptically observed Julie's needle, which didn't miss an opportunity to curve into a perfect circle, mine, which was still plastic and neon-orange, and Tarvilenne's button, which was lying merrily on the desk, refusing to turn into anything.
She almost said something to Tarvi, but the bell rang, and she had to hurry off to give us homework. It was an extremely hard assignment, an essay about the methods Transfiguration is used today, and how the old methods of transfiguration were forgotten with the industrialization of the world.
Tarvi forced a smile and said "no problem", but it was obvious that Transfiguration was not her subject.
"Hey, Arielle – I said, noticing Tarvi's smile – Let's do the homework together today – I don't understand a bit in this Transfiguration!"
"And me, too!" – Tarvi said, relieved
"And me three!" – Julie grinned
"Fine, but NO COPYING!" – Arielle sighed
Julie gave Tarvi and me a high-five behind Arielle's back.
The rest of the day went by really quickly and pleasantly. Our Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Oobleck, was a short, fat woman in her mid-forties. She didn't give us any homework, we just sat around, and talked about the basic methods of the Defense against the Dark Arts. Potions master, Kimley, was quiet mean, but not nearly as strict as McGonagall. We all felt that Transfiguration was not our subject, all except for Arielle, who seemed to be great in any subject but Potions.
"All this just totally freaks me out" – she said, almost crying, after she got extra homework, and we were going to the library to do all of our homework together.
"Kind of true!" – Said Julie, who didn't have a slightest problem with the potions, but just wanted to make Arielle feel better, I guess.
Our Transfiguration homework turned out to be a nightmare, and we sat in the library almost till it closed.
Then we returned to the dormitory and the night passed without troubles.
Next morning Professor McGonagall made an announcement about the Ball that the school will hold on September 22. She said that everybody was allowed to come, and everybody had to have partners. I sighed. Girls were giggling and talking excitedly everywhere, throwing looks at guys. I saw Arielle glance in the very direction of Roderick Lestrange, a quiet attractive guy from Slytherin. Tarvi, however, was not interested in the ball, and I wasn't either. I wanted to talk to Julie, but found her staring dreamily at some guy at Gryffindors table.
"Don't you think he's just so beautiful! – She said, rolling her eyes to the ceiling
"Well, I wouldn't say so" – we heard a voice from behind
Julie and me turned around. It was Severus.
"Mind your own business, Snape!" – Julie snapped at him, red of anger and embarrassment
"He's a Gryffindor, mind you, - Severus continued, as if not hearing what Julie just said – Black is certainly a pair for a fool like you, however, Ransom" – he finished, grinning
Julie looked at him, and if the stare could've killed Severus would've disappeared right into thin air.
"Never mind, Snape, I don't think YOU will pair up with anyone, except for a Moaning Myrtle, as I already said earlier" – she spat and added, grinning – "I mean, you have so much grease on your hair that I can hardly believe you ever washed it!"
Severus was halfway through taking out his wand, when I saw McGonagall glaring at us suspiciously.
"Cut it out, if you don't want more trouble" – I said, nodding at McGonagall
Severus glanced at her also, and murmuring something thorough closed teeth, went off with Malfoy.
Julie continued to stare at the guy at Gryffindor's table, Black or whatever his name was. Tarvi was busy reading a letter her parents sent her, as she later said – an apology for the Howler. My mom would never do that. Arielle was not where I remembered her to be, and a moment after I saw her talking with Lestrange – blimey, that's what easy-going is! As for me, I didn't see anybody at all who would attract my attention.
Finally the breakfast ended. We all went to Potions, where the teacher, probably to the help as the ball, as he said, but may be so there will not be any talking, separated us into groups girl-boy.
I got into a group with some Gryffindor, who looked quiet, unnoticeable, but was smart, as, at least, I could judge by the remarks he sometimes threw. Julie was perfectly happy – she was in the group with that Black person or whatever – oh, this was luck! I saw Severus curving his mouth in disgust as he sat next some Gryffindor girl. She didn't seem too happy either. Lucius was of more luck – he landed next to Tarvilenne, who was too shy to be annoying.
Second period (we had double Potions today) was theoretical – first one was practical, and required theory we went over yesterday. We were forced to sit with out partners for the second period also. Kimley was telling us about something I didn't really pay attention to – and neither did my partner. I decided to ask him what's his name – I had a nasty feeling that Kimley will ask us to keep the partners we got.
"What's your name, if you don't mind?" – I asked the boy
He looked quiet relieved to have somebody to talk to, and answered almost immediately
"Remus, Remus Lupin. And you?"
"I'm Tehhie Pondohva. You can call me Tehhie" – I grinned
"Sure. You know about Language Charms?" – he asked
"Yes! – I said happily – I was a huge fond of Language Charms, which were one of the funniest things I ever knew.
"You know, I just found a really useful ones – want to hear, which?"
"Yeah?"
"Lovrenzia. And Bella. And Repetoria." – he said
I knew two of them – Lovrenzia and Bella, but I never heard of Repetoria.
'What is Repetoria?"
"It's a charm to make a person repeat certain word, like you know – "direful people in a direful house, which stood on direful street?" – he asked
"Wow! Any word?"
"Any one you please! Want to try?" – I saw a dangerous light flicker in his eyes – Remus Lupin, the shyest guy I ever met!
"Not now – I don't think Kimley would love it if we will make him say "freaky" after every word! And he's the only one talking… except for us, of course"
That was true. The rest of the class seemed to be sleeping.
"Yeah, I reckon we try it later." – he nodded, and then the bell rang – "See you tomorrow, Tehhie. He just said we need to keep our assigned partners until the ball- you could've been worse, however"
"Take it in a theory that not all of the Slytherins are mean idiots!" – I smiled
"Take it in a theory that not all of the Gryffindors are egotistical brats!" – he smiled back
"I will! Let's try the charm today, let's say at dinner?"
"Works for me! Come to Gryffindor's table – I want for you to see the full effect!"
"Great!" – I said, and hurried off to Arielle and Tarvilenne, who both looked bored to death. Julie was nowhere around.
"She went off with that Gryffindor star" – Tarvi said gloomily
"Yeah, and I got extra homework AGAIN!" – Arielle said – "AND I have to work with this idiot Petegrew for two weeks, I mean – man, can't I ever get some luck! Julie was shining when Kimley said we got to keep partners – she hopes that Gryffindor dude will ask her out to the ball"
"Well, my partner wasn't all that bad!" – I said – "At least he's smart and pretty nice!"
"Who'd you get?"
"Remus, Remus Lupin – he's from Gryffindor also"
"Poor Tarvi, she got Snape"
"He's not all that bad, At least yesterday on Herbology he showed his good side by asking if I was hurt by that flesh-eating plant"
"You scared the wits out of him – imagine, you just had a fight and then a plant attacking you – somebody might think that HE made it grow large and bite your head off"
I shook my head quietly, knowing that it's no use to argue with Arielle. Tarvi also seemed to think that Severus was not so bad at all.
We went down to lunch just in time to see Julie waving "good-bye" to that Black person.
She approached us, wide and dreamy grin spreading on her face.
"One more day – and he'll ask me to the ball – I cross my heart and hope to die!" – she threw herself unto the food – "Am uh gar gu gung wi?" – she said, while chewing beef
"Was that English?" – Arielle asked, helping herself with some beef, too.
"That was: And who are you going to the ball with?" – Tarvi said
"I didn't know you can understand troll" – came a voice from behind
"Quit stalking us, Snape!" – Julie said, flashing looks at Severus
"Yeah, mind your own business!" – Arielle joined in
"I don't care. Actually it IS my business here" – he turned to Tarvi – "will you go to the ball with me?" – he asked
Arielle's mouth dropped open. She was making "no" signs from behind Severus's back. Tarvi however, sized Severus up, as if looking if he was kidding or not and said
"Sure, Severus"
"Okay then!" – he said, and went off with Malfoy.
Arielle finally got her tongue back, and began to talk rapidly to Tarvi
"Are you out of your mind to go with that greasy old moron?"
"Well, the consequences are that McGonagall said that everybody who DO NOT have partners to the ball will loose ten points to their house, and nobody else would've asked me, so I decided to go with him and save twenty points – nobody would've asked him either"
"Oh… I didn't hear that!" – Arielle said, bewildered
"Yeah, of course, you were looking at Lestrange all the time…"
"Good point. If the subject is on that – I better ask him about…" – and Arielle went off to Lestrange, who was now talking to Avery, another guy from Slytherin
"Great Galaxies!" – I thought – "If everybody else, even Tarvi have a date, then I will loose ten points for sure…" – and then I remembered Remus. He's been nice, and I didn't see a line of girls coming to their table, asking him out like they did to a guy that was sitting next to him – an over popular James Potter. Lupin was just reading some book, almost spilling a goblet onto it. Perhaps, if I ask him out at dinner…"
"Who're you going with, Tehhie?" – Julie's voice cut into my thoughts
"Er… no one so far."
"Want to try luck with Malfoy?" – she asked, mischievous grin spreading on her face
"You! I'd better go with… Peeves, than with that magenta Valentine heart!"
"Yeah, plus – Lucy obviously already got someone" – she pointed to Gryffindor table. Lucius Malfoy was standing there, talking to some blonde.
"Narcissa" – Julie commented – "The Less Brains Award – won three times in a row"
I grinned at her, but then hurried off to the dormitory, to get my books for the next lesson – Transfiguration.
The time until dinner passed by unnoticeably. When we went down, I remembered my promise to Remus, so I ate quickly and apologizing to Arielle, Tarvi and Julie (Arielle was already going with Lestrange, and Julie was still working Black out), went to Gryffindors table.
"Oh, not another one!" – I heard James Potter groan and sent him a short reply
"If you think all the girls are walking around just to ask you to the ball, you better get a life, sir!" – and turned to talk to Remus.
"So, who?" – asked
"Over there is a perfect target – she's obviously going to ask James to the ball. Another one, as he says" – Grinned Remus and nodded at some Ravenclaw girl, who was approaching Gryffindor table with a worried look.
"Watch the master!" – he whispered and said "Repetorio "retarded"!"
The girl approached the table and turned to James.
"Dear retarded James, will you please go to the retarded ball with me" – he face showed utter disbelief, and so did James'
Remus and me broke into fits of laughter
"She…wanted…to ask you… to the ball" – Remus managed to choke out
"Thanks, retarded boy"- the girl went red
"Don't say anything…" – Remus sobbed and pointed his wand at her
"Canceleta Repetoria" – he whispered and then said – "now say something"
"Er.. James, will you go to the ball with me?" – bewildered girl said
"No, I'm already going with someone else!" – he answered quickly, and as girl went away, still looking confused snapped at Remus and me
"You two – was that your idea of a good joke?"
Remus and me, still sobbing from laughter nodded
"Be grateful we didn't make YOU say "retarded" after every word!" – Remus replied
"Oh, thank you!" – James replied sarcastically and asked me – "What's your name?" – he then asked me
"Tehhie, Tehhie Pondohva!" – I replied, and then turned to Remus, because some girl distracted James again – "By the way – did you hear McGonagall saying all that mess about losing ten points if we don't have dance partners?"
"Yes, and I wanted to ask you the same thing. By the way,
"Will you go to the ball with me?" – we then asked in a same time
"I'll count that as "yes!" – I replied, laughting
"I'll, too! See you tomorrow at potions, I guess – I have one more spell to tell you about"
"Great!" – I said, taking off.
As I sat on my spot, between Tarvi and Julie, I was questioned severely.
"Why'd laugh like a maniac there?"
"What'd you leave us for?"
"Did you ask him to the ball or something?"
"Is he cute?"
I answered the question quickly, and then sighed with relief – I thought that this ball is not worth the fuss they make of it.
Tarvi and me went up to the library, to do our homework, while Arielle and Julie stayed behind to talk to second-year Slytherins, Tasha and Kate about the ball.
While writing our potions essay, I asked Tarvi what will she be wearing to the ball – I, myself had a beautiful dark-blue dress with silver sparkles, which matched perfectly my hair and eyes.
"Well, I guess I can't really explain the clothes – Tarvi said, after a minute trying to remember what her dress looked like – Anyhow, the library will be closing soon, so I suggest we go to the dormitory – I bet Arielle and Julie are already all over their dresses.
I agreed, and indeed, when we entered the dormitory Arielle was standing before the mirror in adorable apple-green dress.
"Do I look okay, Julie? – She asked, and, turning around, saw us – Oh, hi, Tarvi, hi, Tehhie! Come on – we are dying to see what you'll be wearing!"
Tarvi and me dressed up quickly. Tarvi's dress was very pretty, gassy blue-gray dress, with sparkles like silver dew. She looked awesome. My, velvety-dark-blue dress was also of great success – Arielle and Julie and Tarvi said that I look perfect. Julie wore black dress with golden stars all over it – she looked like The Queen of the Night.
We only wondered what would our partners dress robes be, when the door to the dormitory suddenly opened.
Entered McGonagall, and, behind her, some girl. The girl had blonde hair and brown eyes, along with creamy skin and perfect figure, at least, that's what it seemed to be.
"Ms. Pondohva, Ms. Smith, Ms. Garment and Ms. Ransom – she said, pointing at us in order – and this is Ms. Nadia Crimson, she's a new student in your dormitory"
"Hello…" – the girl said, and then smiled – "What are your names, anyway, I can't refer to you by last names… And why are you all dressed up like this – I thought that everyday robes are kind of different…"
"Okay – I said – I am Tehhie Pondohva, this – I pointed at girls next to me – Arielle Smith, Tarvilenne Garment and Julie Ransom. And these are dress robes, of course – we are having a ball in days, so we just thought we will show each other what we will be wearing"
"All of you got partners already?"
"Almost" – Julie said
"Yes" – the rest of us said
"Well, I don't. Is it okay if you don't have a partner?"
"No, I mean, yes, but you loose ten points for the house. So you better not – I already know some people, who WILL loose points" – Arielle said
"Like who?"
"Like Malfoy. Yesterday he looked like a ghost – his girlfriend broke up with him"
"What'd you mean?"
"I mean that Narcissa is off with Thomas Keen. She said that yesterday"
"How come you always know everything before us?" – I smiled at her
"Well, not everything, but if you will keep spending all the evenings in the library…"
"Ah, come on, Arielle – Julie said – Kate told us"
"Okay – Nadia said – If I have any idea…"
'We'll explain" – Arielle said – "Malfoy, I mean, Lucius Malfoy is a best friend of Severus Snape, who's a pathetic idiot…"
"Oh, no he's not!" – Tarvi snapped at Arielle
"Okay – your version of the events – Arielle gave in
"Fine. Lucius Malfoy, whom you will see at breakfast tomorrow had a girlfriend in Hufflepuff, Narcissa, and yesterday she broke up with him, or whatever these two say"
"Now it's better off. I guess I have to show you my dress robes also…" – she said, and disappeared behind the curtains, only to reappear five minutes later in red dress, which was so great on her we gasped.
"You look hilarious!" – I said
"I know that!" – she said, and disappeared to change back to her usual, everyday robes.
"Hey, it's getting late – Tarvi said, throwing a look at the clock – It was ten o'clock"
"Late? Are you crazy? – Nadia laughed from behind the curtains– I'll go down to the common room, kids, and you can go to bed this early!" – she laughed again and jumped downstairs.
"Oh, man, she's trouble!" – Arielle said, as Nadia's footsteps died in the Common Room.
"Yeah. "go to this early" – Julie imitated – and why this house?"
"She's a classical Slytherin, Julie! Mean, show-off, evil…" – Arielle grinned – "But if she'll show off real bad, I reckon we teach her a lesson"
"You wish!"
We went into the beds, because we really didn't want to fall asleep on Transfiguration tomorrow. Plus – after that we had Potions, Practical, and I just remembered about a really interesting charm we could try on somebody.
Next morning I woke up early. Everybody but Nadia were still sleeping, and Nadia seemed to be long gone already.
I went down to breakfast, and, of course, there she was – surrounded by guys. Malfoy, Avery and Lestrange were looking at her as if she was a girl of their dreams.
Severus, however, looked at the whole seen with utter disgust, what I noticed with happiness- at least Tarvi's boyfriend was not gazing like a fool at the new girl. I waved at her, and she waved back, inviting me to sit with her. I approached, but didn't sit down – I hoped that either Julie or Tarvi will arrive soon – Arielle rarely ate breakfast.
"Hi, Nadia!" – I said
"Hi, Tehhie" – she replied- "Very nice to see you! Now I've got a tough choice here – these three guys want to ask me to the Ball, and, because I can't go with three at a time I have to choose one. Any suggestions?"
"Yeah, Avery!" – I heard a voice from behind. It was Julie
"You think so, Julie?" – Nadia asked her, raising an eyebrow – "But I think I'll go with you, Lucius" – she turned to Malfoy
"Damn it!" – I heard Julie murmur
"What, I never knew you liked Malfoy!" – I said as we went to the opposite corner of the table
"Hell, no! But I thought that if the stupidest guy in the entire school goes with her… Ah, it might've been a good joke!"
"By the way, what about Sirius Black?"
"What about him?"
"Did he ask you to the ball yet?"
"I think he will now " – she smiled and nodded at Sirius Black, who was approaching us
"Hey, Julie! – He said – Would you go to the ball with me?"
" No problem!" – she answered
"Great! Hello, do I know you?" – he then asked me
"No, I don't think so!"
"Are you the one who Remus is been talking about all evening yesterday? – He asked and then imitated Remus's voice – "She's so smart, Si, and she's at least not talking about the ball all the time"
"I guess… - I felt myself blushing – I'm Tehhie, if you want to know"
"Oh, I do! Well, okay, Julie, see you later then! Bye, Tehhie!" – And he went off to the Gryffindor table, where Remus, James and some other people were waiting for him.
"That was easy!" – Julie said, swallowing her toast
"How come everything is so damn easy for you!" – Arielle said, settling down next to Julie – "Roderick is completely obsessed with this… don't want to call her that, but you know what I mean!"
"Roderick? Oh, Lestrange! – Julie said – No big loss here, Arielle, come on, he's just a guy!"
"I like him!"
"So?"
"And she's already going with Malfoy!"
"Yeah, and?"
"And she's coming on Roderick in the common room!"
"Is she?"
"Yeah."
"And where's Tarvi?"
"Talking to Severus about something" – Arielle said, and took off, looking dead scared
"Let's go. We have Transfiguration next, and McGonagall's yell is certainly not what I need now."
Transfiguration was good, and so was Potions, and so was the rest of the day. Nadia turned out to be pretty good in all of the subjects, and was asked out by at least three guys from other houses at dinner. To Julie's happiness, Sirius looked at Nadia with a sick grin.
"Show-off" – he told Julie on Potions
"Agree completely" – Remus said to me afterwards. I nodded. And we will have to share dormitory with her for seven years? Damn her!
The rest of the time before the ball slipped by unnoticeably. The Ball was closer and closer when a letter from my sister arrived.
"Hello, Tehhie.
I became an Auror now! Mom is dead angry with me, but I don't care! I'm so dead happy! How are you? I hope you're fine, AND DON'T get into trouble, my career might suffer…
See you later,
Heather"
"An Auror?" – Arielle asked
"Yeah, she's going to hunt down all these evil guys who steal apples from the gardens" – and Julie made a "scary face".
"Shut up, you! – I laughed – My sister is after the supporters of that "rising wizard" as they call him. He's dead evil, I heard"
"As evil as me!" – Julie made another face
"This is nothing to joke about" – we heard suddenly
We turned around. It was Tarvi. Her face was pale, and her eyes seemed to be staring into some other space, so empty and colorless they were.
"What's wrong?" – we asked her, worried
"She's in shock" – Severus approached us and put an arm around Tarvi – "her parents were killed yesterday by Voldemort's supporters"
We stared at him, while Tarvi just stood there, glaring into nothingness. Severus said nothing else, and gently dragged Tarvi away. She obeyed, and disappeared out of sight. One more minute we stood there, thunderstruck. Finally Julie sank on the chair.
"Oh, Tarvi…" – she murmured
In silence we went into the Common Room. It was almost empty – but we saw Tarvi sitting there, like a statue, Severus trying to talk to her.
"I'll get her to Madam Pomfrey – he finally said, his lips as white as her face"
"Okay" – we replied and followed.
On the middle of the way my mind awoke from the deep shock.
"This can't be happening! Not to one of us!" – I thought miserably, watching Tarvi go automatically next to Severus.
In the Hospital Wing we were informed that Tarvi has a deep shock and the only thing she needs are rest in silence.
We left. Severus looked as shocked as Tarvi.
"Here" – he coughed out when we appeared in the Common Room, and stuffed a piece of parchment into my hand.
Lucius approached us,
"What's going on, Severus? One girl is not…" – and he stopped, seeing the look of our faces.
We silently went into girls' dormitory and read the piece of parchment aloud. It was the letter, outlined in black.
"We're sorry to inform you, but your parents, Mr. and Mrs. Garment had been murdered on September 18, this year. You're to come and stay with your aunt, Lisa Green and her husband, Arnold Green. Your sisters, Kim and Septienna, are in the hospital, in critical condition"
"Oh, my!" – Arielle whispered
And then Nadia entered the room, singing some song. It was as if you were singing "Happy Birthday" on the funeral, at least, that's the impact it had on us.
"Oh, what'd you have there, dears? Love-letter?" – she winked, and ripped the paper out of my hands before I can do anything.
She read the message and her face darkened
"Ah, too bad for her aunt and uncle. Three more children to take care of. If they live, of course" – she smirked
After that we were able to kill her
"You filthy little excuse for a human being" – Julie hissed through clinched teeth
"- Don't you dare insult Tarvi"
"-I'd like to see YOU when your family's dead!"
"- Oh, better off with YOU dead, and if you will continue your remarks you WILL be!" – Arielle finished, flashing anger in every direction.
"Angry you are? Worried about your friend, you are?" – Nadia narrowed her eyes – 'So know, my dear loyal friends – her parents were of great VOLDEMORT'S supporters and they were killed by OUR AURORS, mark my words!" – she stormed out of the dormitory
"Rubbish" – Julie said
"Pile of dirt" – Arielle added
"Wonder who're HER parents" – I asked
"Oh, not a good sort, Tehhie, I know it!" – Julie smirked gloomily at her reflection – "Damn this life!"
Four days after this was the Ball. Tarvi in the hospital wing, us – still stressed out we made all of the preparations for the dance. After that we gave an oath to be extremely happy today, and not to look like vampires or ghosts.
Nadia was the only one who was singing the "Ball Day" song and floating around like a butterfly. I saw that sometimes Julie was trying hard not to punch Nadia right in the face.
Finally there was the evening of the ball.
I met Remus by the Great Hall, and he looked hilarious! I felt as elegant as never, standing by him, smiling to everybody, who passed by. There was Arielle, beaming, walking with Lestrange, with guys staring at her from all over the place. There was Julie, as happy, as never, walking with awesomely-dressed Sirius Black. There was James Potter, walking with Lily Evans, a stunningly pretty girl from Gryffindor.
There was just no Tarvi, and no Severus, as I saw – he's been sitting in the hospital for like forever now – I guess he really did like Tarvi.
We were led into the Hall by our partners, with a strict instruction from McGonagall to dance the first melody with our partners.
"As if I'm gonna cheat" – I heard Julie murmur
Remus was okay in dancing, I was brilliant and I knew it. I attended the Dance Academy in London for five years and to the time I went to Hogwarts, and, obviously, had to quit, I was an excellent dancer.
After the first song ended we sat down by the table and picked some juice to drink. Suddenly somebody "flew" at Remus from behind me, what made him spill the juice all over his robes.
I was surprised – it was Sirius Black.
"Where'd you loose Julie?" – I asked him, when Remus went to the bathroom to clean his robes up.
"Ah, she's dancing with James- and I'm here to ask YOU to dance, by the way" – he bowed gallantly.
"Spilling juice all over me wasn't necessary for that" – Remus said, patting Sirius on the shoulder – "I don't mind you dancing with Tehhie for a while, but don't steal her away, would you?"
"No problem, pal!" – Sirius beamed at Remus and him and me jumped into the circle. Julie was circling the hall with James, me- with Sirius, Arielle – with… what? Arielle was dancing with Malfoy! I saw Nadia glare at her angrily as she slipped by in her red dress, dancing with Lestrange.
"One-one!" – I thought
Sirius was nice and cute – I certainly saw what Julie liked about him, but he was not my type, however. SO after the dance I said "thank you" and went to talk to Remus. But he wasn't there. I didn't see him ANYWHERE, in fact, but then noticed his shadow by the wall.
"What's wrong with waiting for me by the table?"
"Shush! – he snapped at me, and I understood why – the voices were coming from the wall, teacher's voices.
A/N: AND, because I am so evil, I am going to make you stop here. And even scroll down until the end of the world! Enjoy the "Scroll Down"
NOT THERE YET – LONG JOURNEY AHEAD!
Not there yet, not even near.
Did I say not even near? Wait, the floor is OUCH!
No, I guess that was hallucination. Not there yet.
Having problems? I am. DIZZINESS… NOT THERE YET
NOW We are here. REVIEW, my nasty little friends!