Peace, Be Gone!
Reading while walking is a dangerous habit.
"Mark my words, Erin, my love," my dad always used to tell me, "One of these days, walking with your nose stuck in a different world is going to bring you trouble galore!"
I expect the trouble my dad imagined was more physical- falling down the stairs, or walking into the Black Lake and ruining my favorite trainers (this happened in Fifth Year). He was wrong about that big, but as a whole, he hit the nail bang on the head; so sharp that he could have been mistaken for a Seer.
My name is Erin Hart, and when I was a teenager, I attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I don't find myself with the need to explain my beautiful, magical, castle of a home to you; if you're here, you must already know of it- these pages are filled with notes, letters, and stories of loves, wars, and friendships gone by. Indeed, Hogwarts is the place where life begins for witches and wizards.
My time at Hogwarts was very peaceful- we were the class in-between the wars. We started school the year that Lily and James Potter lost their lives, when Voldemort was defeated the first time, and graduated with our N.E.W.T.s in hand well before the little Harry scrap returned to his world of magic.
I won't deny it- my time at Hogwarts would have been peaceful to the point of boring had I not found a way around it. Even so, I didn't find my passion for pranks until my seventh and final year in those hallowed halls, when reading while walking brought me trouble galore.
Chapter One
My Hogwarts days were spent in the House of Gryffindor. As a seventh year, my friends and I had grown so close that we were nearly inseparable- Nymphadora Tonks, who went by her surname due to the outlandishness of her first was just as wild as the name she despised. A Metamorphmagus on the fast track to a life as an Auror, Tonks had been my best friend since we stepped onto the Hogwarts Express in First Year. My other best friend lived in the dorm next door, but still managed to be with us all the time- Charlie Weasley had won our affections after cussing out a seventh-year Slytherin two weeks into school. In fact, Charlie hung around Tonks and I so often that many Gryffindors speculated that he might be gay, but he quashed those rumors almost instantly by sneaking off for midnight snogs with his latest bimbo.
"Merlin!" Charlie yawned as the three of us stepped out of Transfiguration, "First day back and Minnie's already given us an entire bloody essay!"
"Shut up, Weasley," I nudged the ginger on his shoulder, "Don't start us off with negative House points."
Charlie grumbled a bit more, but mercifully shut up before taking off after his girl of the week, a pretty Hufflepuff named Sylvia Something-Or-Other.
"So, Erin," Tonks grinned, "We never really got into detail about your summer vacation, then. Any cute guys in America?"
I groaned, "Tonks, it's not like we went to Hollywood. I spent the summer in Iowa, for cripessake."
"Farm boys can be cute," Tonks waggled her eyebrows, her formerly neon-green hair flickering to a deep purple.
"Sorry. No summer romances from Erin," I shrugged, "You know I would have owled you straight away."
"Whatever," Tonks mumbled, shouldering her bag, "I'm heading back to the Common Room- Charlie mentioned an Exploding Snap tournament tonight. You game?"
"Yeah, that'd be great," I grinned in anticipation of watching Charlie try to regrow his eyebrows before a tryst with his Hufflepuff, "I've just got to drop by the library first and grab a book or two for this essay."
"Fine," Tonks groaned, "I'll walk back to the tower by myself, you nerd."
I waved goodbye, laughing, and took off for the library. I wasn't there very long- finding books goes rather quickly when Madame Pince is breathing down your neck. On my way up to the checkout desk, I spotted a Muggle book- a novelization of my favorite telly show, Doctor Who. I snatched it up, adding it to my pile. Madame Pince checked out the books, her evil little glare never once leaving my face. When she was done, I hastily shoved the books into my back, leaving the Doctor Who one out as I scurried out the door.
Once I was out of sight, I opened the Doctor Who book, trusting my feet to take me back to the Tower. After a few minutes, I was thoroughly engrossed, almost unaware that I was still walking through the deserted Hogwartsian corridors.
"The Doctor seemed to almost dance as he swung around the controls on the TARDIS console, gracefully pulling levers and smashing buttons as the phone box whirred to life with the familiar wheezing-"
My reading was cut off when I ran into somebody. I fell backwards onto the floor, my bag split, and books went everywhere.
"Dammit," I swore, scrambling to pick my stuff up. I quickly collected all my books before standing and looking to the person I'd run into, "I'm really sorry, I wasn't paying attention, and-"
He was holding out a book to me- the Doctor Who book I'd been reading when we'd collided. Also, he was a him. A tall him, with sandy brown hair and a mischievous smile, "Oh. Um, thanks, that's really nice of you," I looked around for my bag, well aware that I would have to repair it, but the boy I'd crashed into held it out to me, completely mended, "Merlin! You're quick- I didn't even hear you cast the spell."
I took the bag, dumping my books into it and slinging it over my shoulder. I stuck out my hand, "Hi, I'm Erin Hart." He looked at my hand, but didn't shake it or even reply. I awkwardly stuffed it into the pocket of my robes, mumbling, "Right. Not a hand shaker, then. Anyways, lucky I ran into you, then. Not very often you crash into good people in empty corridors, right? I mean, knowing my luck, I probably would have run into some rotten Slytherin."
He quirked an eyebrow. I couldn't help noticing that he had very nice eyes- dark brown and melty. Over all, he was actually really hot- I could see Quidditch-toned muscles under his standard-Hogwarts sweater vest.
"Nothing?" I grimaced. I had hoped that would have gotten a laugh at least, "Say, what House are you in? You look like a seventh year, but I don't think I've met you before- what's your name?"
He grinned at me, another mischievous smirk, before walking past me, calling behind him in an amused voice, "Nice meeting you, Erin Hart," and then he was gone.
I watched him disappear around the corner and frowned, "That was weird," I muttered to myself, "I wonder who he was."
By the time I got back to Gryffindor Tower, I'd completely forgotten the mysterious, good-looking boy. I hadn't forgotten him willingly- no, Peeves had fought him for my mind's attention, eventually winning out by dropping water balloons on me every five seconds until I escaped into the Portrait Hole, leaving a trail of curses behind me.
"Erin!" Tonks looked at me, eyes wide, "What happened to you?"
I had no doubt that I was soaked to the bone and looked terrible, but the smile Tonks was trying to hide told me there was something more. I was about to question her when I caught sight of my skin.
"I'm green!" I shrieked, "Bloody Hell, Peeves!" I knew I was yelling at thin air- there was no way the Poltergeist could hear me, "You better watch yourself, demon! Next time I find you, I'm going to bring you back from the dead just so I can kill you myself!"
"Cripes, Erin," Tonks snickered, "You look like a plant."
I glared at her, noticing her hair was mimicking my skin's exact hue of green. She at least had the decency to look sheepish before changing her hair to a Gryffindor scarlet. I jammed my hand in my pocket, fumbling around for my wand, but instead drew out a piece of paper.
"What's this?" I mumbled to myself, unfolding it.
Dearest Erin,
It has recently come to my attention that you are needlessly prejudiced against the great House of Salazar Slytherin. We had never done anything to you- until now. Enjoy wearing our colors- they're Slytherin's gift to you.
Sincerely,
A Rotten Slytherin
"Is this somebody's idea of a joke?" I groaned.
"What?" Tonks snatched the note out of my hands, scanning it quickly and laughing, "Damn, those snakes got you good."
"Tonks, I'm green!" I cried, "I can't go to dinner like this!"
"Says here you have to," Tonks informed me.
"What?" I asked, "Where?"
Tonks had flipped the note over, revealing a backside that I hadn't noticed.
The green will only come off after you attend a meal in the Great Hall- I'll find you afterwards and give you the antidote.
"Great," I muttered, "Just. Great."
"Aw, come on, Erin," Tonks nudged my shoulder, "It's just a prank. And a rather good one, too."
"Tonks, they turned me green!" I rolled my eyes, "That's not clever in the slightest."
"Then get 'em back," Tonks shrugged.
"What?" I blinked.
"Well, whoever it is, they're planning on giving you the antidote after dinner," Tonks pointed out, "Once you find out who they are, you can prank them back."
"What, like a prank war?" I frowned. Rule breaking wasn't really my thing, and pranks usually involved breaking school codes.
"Yeah!" Tonks's eyes shone with excitement, "Oooh, this'll be brilliant! You'll be excellent at pranking, Erin, you're dead clever."
"I suppose I have a little ingenuity," I started to grin, realizing that pranks could be a hilarious stress reliever, what with the upcoming N.E.W.T.s, "Yeah, you're right- a prank could be fun. Just enough to get this Slytherin creep to back off."
"What Slytherin creep?" Charlie appeared from the portrait hole, "Did Anton Montague finally ask you out? I heard that nutter's had a thing for you since third year, Erin."
"What? No!" I shook my head, "Wait, Anton Montague? Really?" Charlie nodded, "Gross. Tonks, you explain. I'm going to wash up for dinner."
I scaled the stairs to my dorm, but not before hearing Charlie ask Tonks, "Does this have anything to do with why her skin is neon freaking green? Because I want to know that, too."
Author's Note:
Hey, guys! This is my first Fanfic- I've mostly spent my time on this site reading other stories, and noticed that the Harry Potter fandom really lacked OCxOC stories- and then an idea came to me. So, here it is- the first chapter of Peace, Be Gone! I plan to get more into the characters in the future, but you can expect humor, pranks, Quidditch games, House rivalries, and a bit of romance sprinkled here and there.
Thanks for tuning in, and I would love to hear your thoughts in a review.