Chapter One: Know That Your Enemy Is Really You
It's really a silly time to learn to swim, when you start to drown
-My Number, Tegan & Sara
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Four years has passed since the first time the Trio had first stepped foot in the medieval styled castle, and here they still stood, still in awe of the magic around them.
Hermione Granger saw the flash of a smirk-like grin from a certain blonde Slytherin as she blended gracefully in with the crowds of black and emerald, as the crowd of males (plus some females) seemed to drool, a scowl always found it's way on her face whenever she saw what she considered to be the most annoying, elitist ever.
"Give it a rest 'Mione" Harry breathed, and Ron nodded in agreement, per usual. The redhead always seemed to agree to whatever Harry said. He wouldn't believe that the sky was blue even if you dragged him kicking and screaming outside unless Harry told him otherwise.
"He is right ya know, you're the only one who seems to have somethin' against her, you don't even have a valid reason for it"
"I do have a reason!" she shot back, "I just...haven't thought of it yet" she muttered the truth at last. She had no reason to hate the girl, heck; she's never even spoken to her before, not properly of course. All she felt was the sudden need to despise this person, this person with silvery blonde hair and hue blue eyes which seemed to scream perfection at its best. She supposed she was most annoyed at the fact that her smarts seemed to rival with her own. Being both pretty and smart was something she deemed impossible, but there stood that girl with the Slytherin trademark smirk across her beautiful face, Fleur Delacour.
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"Alright, which lovesick fool smashed into a wall this time?" A dark gray haired boy asked, snapping his book shut as he noticed the small smile of amusement that Fleur wore adorned on her face whenever someone does something reasonably retarded in her presence.
The part-Veela raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Pardon?" Over the years spent in England and Hogwarts in particular, Fleur began to "eemprove 'er eenglish" as her sister teased the blonde's heavy French accent. And now successfully only hints of her accent can be heard.
Putting his book down, he made his way towards and pointed an accusing finger at the girl's face. "You hardly smile, like that at all, hell all you do is smirk and sneer" he paused for a moment and folded his arms while taping the marble floor impatiently. "So which poor bloke got affected by your thrall this time?"
"Quite the opposite Rad, they weren't affected at all, actually my thrall seemed to do the exact opposite" the smile of utter amusement returned.
"What? you mean they hate you?, I thought I'd never see the day" Rad chuckled.
"Neither did I" the Veela whispered. The scarred boy eyed her curiously, "So, who is it?"
Fleur looked at the boy, snapping out of her reverie, she smirked. "Hermione Granger"
"Oh? Well isn't that interesting, and are you for sure she is the one?"
"You worry too much Rad" Fleur waved him away and his question.
"That is because you and your sister don't worry enough" Rad smiled at the yawning blonde. Rad had known the Delacour sisters for quite awhile now, working with them and befriending them had made him realize despite their appearances, they share the same strange thoughts and loved to tease, and maybe abit too carefree.
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"Alright, you are NOT going to be wearing that!" the teacher frowned at his roommate and his slightly...homeless attire. The man frowned at his companion.
"Why the hell not?" he asked rudely.
"Because! if you haven't noticed you look like you just broke out of Azkaban, AGAIN" The Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher argued, "You'll scare the students"
"Fine, I'll change into something else then" the ex-prisoner muttered as he headed back into the bathroom. Even though sometimes he seemed to always find his way to irritate his roommate, he continued to smile fondly at the man's retreating back. It felt good to be near him even if James wasn't here anymore; everything seemed to be working for the moment. But none of this will ever last.
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"We have, Defense against the Dark Arts with Slytherin, Charms with Slytherin and Potions with Slytherin. Bloody 'ell could this day ge' any worse" the youngest Weasley boy let out a sigh, unfortunately a certain Gryffindor heard.
"What do you have against the Slytherins?" Natsuki snapped.
"Why are you against me bein' against them?" Ron fired back.
"Because!..." but before she could state her argument another flash of green appeared out of nowhere and attached itself to the unprepared Gryffindor's back.
"Nat-su-ki!" the Slytherin buried her head into Natsuki's neck while others watched in awe of her face begin to turn an unhealthy shade of red.
"Shizuru!" the Gryffindor complained as Ron smiled amusingly at the two. "Oh gee Nat if you continue like that your lone-wolf status will be down the drain in no time" the boy teased grinning at the pair. Shizuru regarded the boy in a confused manner as she frowned slightly out of concentration, "Natsuki-chan is a lone-wolf?". Ron turned his attention to the girl noticing how she was wearing a uniform which did not resemble any of the other students. "'You're apart of the Slytherin Studen' Council!" the boy pointed accusingly at the white robes(1) and emerald green underneath with the 'Chi' star strapped nicely on her belt. And not to forget the shiny prefect badge which completed the entire uniform wonderfully.
Fujino gave a slight pout and still clung to the poor pup's neck fiercely giving no intention of letting go anytime soon. Without complaint Natsuki carried the brunette to her morning classes and Ron, well he's still amused by the general display of affection, but shocked that it was a Slytherin that would do so, to him and his experience with the more cold-blooded wizard and witch type this completely shattered his entire opinion of them. Then again being the youngest Weasley boy, he's stubborn.
"So, what were you saying about my Natsuki-chan being a lone-wolf?" crimson eyes inquired. A very Slytherin smile graced the Kyoto native's features, while Natsuki payed no heed and Ron began to feel quite uncomfortable.
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Classes with Slytherin passed like always with Gryffindor and Slytherin tearing each others heads off, and as usual Fleur, Shizuru or Natsuki participated in their arguments or constant attempts at trying to outdo the other. By lunchtime everyone was whispering about the latest news, the Triwizard Tournament and the schools that would be arriving just about....right now. Dumbledore stood from his seat and without the use of any equipment or magic his voice was heard throughout the hall, welcoming the guests, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Beauxbatons sat with the Ravenclaws while Durmstrang sat with Slytherins. Cancellations of Quiditch were explained, rules and regulations of the upcoming tournament were instructed as a warning to those who were underage.
Quite a few weren't paying much attention, one of these was Fleur. Her silvery blue eyes emitted the sense of boredom beyond belief, as she toyed with her knife. "Oi", Rad nudged Fleur, who didn't seem to notice and still seemed to daydream. Rad sighed and tried again, "Oi Blondie" this time using a very annoying nickname and poked her with his fork. "What is it?" Fleur asked, annoyed. "Sorry to disturb your majesty's devious plotting about world domination but you need to eat" with a roll of his eyes he began loading Fleurs plate with a generous amount of food, while Fleur, just stayed abit grumpy.
On the other side of the room Hermione being the smart girl she is managed to make her iPod run on magic instead of electricity and had been listening to music the whole time, while Harry and Ron and practically the rest of the table bickered about who would be the the schools representative in the tournament. The tournament didn't just test ones magical skills, it also tested their physical combat skills which is compulsory for students here to learn at least one form of martial arts/self defense incase of inconveniences in the muggle world.
"Excuse-moi but are you having that?" a very emotionless French accent somehow found it's way to Hermione's plugged ears causing her to look up, what she saw was two startling silver blue eyes which seemed all too familiar. A Beauxbatons student, not surprising, pointed to a French dish which Ron earlier had a hard time pronouncing, Hermione didn't say a word but handed her the dish, the foreign student grinned and turned to leave. The brunette frowned slightly, "She looks awfully familiar...almost like...." Nah that couldn't be, Hermione shook the thought from her mind and returned to eating and ignoring the still ongoing bickering and the sound of Ginny sighing.
Kruger sat uncomfortably among the Slytherins, being a student in Durmstrang had caused her to act more.....paranoid than any normal human would. Also the intimidating size of the castle seemed to bother her as well as the heat; she was practically dying in her uniform. Seven years living a lie just doesn't cut it. "Ugh I can't take this" , standing up to leave for fresh air, it didn't take her 5 seconds until she bumped into a complete stranger knocking both of them onto the floor
"Oh my god I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going" Kruger rambled in her native language, not realizing, she wasn't in Kansas anymore.
"Plu-chan! Plu-chan where are you going?!" a small rabbit-sized girl with bright pink hair appeared from nowhere and ran after what seemed like a floating cat's head.
Kruger sweat-dropped at the sight, "Wow people are strange here" We're definitely not in Bulgaria anymore, Duran". Remembering the person she knocked over she returned her attention to the matter at hand, only to come face to face with the most interesting, not to mention, enchanting pair of eyes. "They're blood-red" she noted in amazement. "I'm sorry, I don't speak your native tongue, but I'll make sure to have time to learn if everyone there is as cute as you are" the stranger winked, Kruger flushed red. "Oh...Oh, okay" the navy haired girl could only say and bowed furiously and rushed away awkwardly almost tripping multiple times.
"Ara", Kruger never noticed the coy smile that spread across the stranger's features.
