Aha, this chapter ended up being a bit longer than the others. As in about three times longer. This is probably a one time thing, just to be clear, (sorry to disappoint, but I'll aim to update at least twice a week to make up for it) I just couldn't find a place to stop and start the next chapter...
Anyway - thanks to you wonderful reviewers, and those of you who followed/favourited!
Disclaimer: As always, I do not own any of these wonderful fictional worlds, no matter how much I wish I did...
*Thanks to SoraSoraNoMi for catching that little blip about Harry's nimbus XD! It's sorted now, don't worry!
After Fred and George's very loud celebration party in the common room last night, Harry and Ron only got a few hours sleep. So they weren't very happy when they were woken up at six by their new dorm mates arguing.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU STRIPPER?!" Natsu screamed, an cocoon of flames around him.
"YOU HEARD ME, FLAME BRAIN!" Gray replied, just as loudly, with an icy aura.
"DROOPY EYES!"
"SQUINTY EYES"
"ICE PRINCESS!"
"TABASCO BREATH!"
"PERVY POP-"
Their little contest was cut short by Harry and Ron stupefying both of them before falling back into bed, groaning.
An hour later, the two Hogwarts boys woke up properly, got dressed and went down to breakfast - completely forgetting about Natsu and Gray, who were somewhere on the floor in the dormitory. Fortunately for the visiting students, Hermione noticed that the loud pinkette and his friend were missing. She walked over to Harry and Ron who were busy stuffing their faces with food. "Morning boys, where are the newbies?" Harry and Ron looked at each other worriedly, then at Hermione.
"Aha, they must still be asleep! I'll go check on them," Harry said nervously.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at them - she could tell they were hiding something. "No, no. You two finish your breakfasts, I insist - I'll go check."
Needless to say, Harry and Ron had a stern telling off from their brunette friend, and had to apologise to Natsu and Gray.
The two visiting boys sat with Hermione, and the trio were soon joined by a busty blonde and beautiful red-head. The blonde smiled at Hermione, whilst the red-head hit Natsu over the head.
"Natsu! What have I told you about table manners?!" She hissed at him. He gulped.
"Sorry Erza, it won't happen again!" He cried, rubbing his throbbing head. The blonde grinned and turned to Hermione.
"Hi, my name's Lucy, and this is Erza! It's nice to meet you!" She said brightly. Hermione smiled back at her.
"It's nice to meet you too, Lucy and Erza. If you don't mind me asking, what are their names?" She gestured towards Natsu, who had resumed inhaling his food, and Gray who had somehow lost his shirt.
Erza's expression became scary, and she glared at the boys. "They didn't even tell you their names?! Bakas!" Erza started hititng them again as they yelped, and Lucy answered Hermione's question.
"The pinkette is Natsu, and the one Erza is currently hitting is Gray. Don't worry about his stripping habit - when he was younger he'd train in his underwear so it's a subconscious thing. He does it all the time." By this point, Gray had also misplaced his trousers, and was standing there in nothing but a pair of boxers. Erza lost interest in hitting the boys, now that they were unconscious, and she and Lucy sat down on either side of Hermione.
"So," Hermione said, "which houses are you two in?"
"Gryffindor," Lucy replied.
"Ravenclaw," said Erza.
"Cool! I'm a Gryffindor, but if I had to move houses I would go to Ravenclaw."
The conversation continued on the topic of houses - Lucy said she wouldn't mind being a Hufflepuff, and Erza would be happy in Gryffindor - before Lucy asked if Hermione knew which houses the boys were in. "Oh yes, they're both Gryffindors," she replied.
"Not to sound rude, but how do you know that - I wasn't paying much attention in the ceremony, and Erza was quite nervous," Lucy said.
Hermione grinned. "Neither did I, to be honest! I ended up showing Natsu and a few others - a couple of guys and a girl - to their dorms last night. They wanted to go early, I think it was too loud or something? Anyway, Natsu kept complaining about being in the same house as 'that stripper' who I'm guessing was Gray. Plus they're sharing a dorm with my best friends, Harry and Ron, who stupefied them this morning and forgot - I had to go up and unfreeze them!" Lucy and Erza grinned at her annoyed tone when talking about Harry and Ron. It seemed that the male Hogwarts students were just as irritating as the Mahoutokoro ones.
"Hermione, did the girl you were talking about have long blue hair, and one of the guys have loads of piercings?" Erza inquired, and Hermione nodded. "Aah, they were the dragon slayers then." At Hermione's confused look, Lucy elaborated.
"Their branch of magic is that which gives them some dragon aspects - Natsu is a fire dragon slayer, so he has dragon lungs to breathe fire, dragon scales to dissolve fire and dragon claws to attack with fire." Hermione looked quite pale and slightly ill at this. Is this some sort of wandless magic? She thought.
"What magic do you use?" The blonde asked cheerily.
"Pardon?" Hermione was confused. What magic? A wand, of course, she was thinking.
"I'm a celestial wizard, Erza uses requip magic and Gray is an ice wizard." Lucy took out Plue's key. "Open! Gate of Canis Minor! Nikola!" She yelled, and in a burst of golden light Plue appeared. "Pu-pu-puun!" He said cutely. Hermione thought the little creature was absolutely adorable, but had no idea what was going on.
"What kind of spell is that!" She exclaimed. Lucy was confused.
"What do you mean spell? The only spells I know are Urano Metria and Godfried." Now both Hermione and Lucy were confused.
Erza interrupted. "Allow me to clarify. Headmaster Makarov informed me that western mages use different magic to us, so Jellal and I researched it before we came. In this civilisation, Mages, or Wizards, use wooden sticks with magic cores known as 'wands' to conduct their magic. Their magic is more versatile than ours, as if there is a spell for something, they can perform it. There are spells for anything from levitating and healing to stunning and creating fire." This explanation satisfied Lucy, but Hermione was still confused about what Eastern magic was. "In Japan and other Eastern countries, our Wizards are either born with a magical affinity or learn magic from an outside source. I, as a requip mage, can magically change my armour and weapons, and Lucy can summon spirits from another realm to help her fight. Our magic is inherent, but then you have Natsu and Gray who learned magic; Gray from his mentor, Ur, and Natsu from his adoptive father Igneel." Hermione took a moment to absorb this new information - shocked was too little a word to describe how she felt in that moment.
Natsu and Gray had regained consciousness, and Natsu grinned when he heard Igneel's name. "Yeah, Igneel was the best! He taught me everything I know."
"Wait a minute, can humans teach one another dragon slaying magic?" She inquired, looking thoughtful.
Natsu shook his head. "I don't think so."
"Well then how did you learn it from Igneel?" She was confused again.
Suddenly a voice cried out from above her head. "Don't be silly - Igneel wasn't human, he was a dragon!"
Hermione turned white suddenly. "I...don't feel so good," she whispered, before passing out.
Probably a result of a mixture of the new information, and the fact that the deliverer of said information was a cat.
A blue, talking, flying cat.
It had wings for God's sake!
Hermione was still mentally freaking out as she came to, but managed to calm down.
She smiled wanly at the two girls looking concernedly at her.
"Are you okay, Hermione?" Lucy asked, eyes narrowed in concern.
"Oh, yeah, I just wasn't expecting...that!" She replied.
Natsu frowned. "Happy isn't a 'that'!" Prompting an enthusiastic reply from the...cat.
"Sorry...Happy," Hermione said, stumbling over the name. I'm talking to a blue cat that has wings and can talk back to me... she thought to herself. Not exactly how I imagined this term going. "Well, I don't suppose you guys want a tour before classes start tomorrow?" She asked, and they all nodded. Erza pulled Natsu away from his food, and they headed towards the library.
When they were heading upstairs, the staircase they were on began to move, and Hermione groaned. Now it would take almost twice as long. Her attention was caught by the other groaning person in their group. Natsu was hung halfway over the bannister, looking incredibly ill. "What's wrong with him?" She asked Lucy, genuinely concerned for the pinkette's health.
"Motion sickness," the blonde replied simply. "All dragon slayers have it really bad - I think Laxus is the best at hiding it, and Natsu's the worst, but Gajeel, Sting and Rogue aren't much better than him. Wendy's young so she doesn't have it as bad as the guys."
Hermione looked thoughtful for a second. "Y'know, I'm sure I could find a potion to help with it."
Lucy gaped at her. "That would be . . . amazing! No more train journeys being terrified of him throwing up all over my new shoes! Most of the time Erza has to knock him out." Lucy was still smiling when they got to the library.
When they went in, one of the boys that Hermione had shown to the Ravenclaw common room yesterday was sat at a table reading a book.
"Rogue!" Natsu said, completely recovered from his ordeal on the stairs. "Fight me!"
"Shut up, Natsu," he replied, eyes never leaving the page. "You'd burn this place to a crisp."
Hermione went as white as a sheet at thought of her sanctuary going up in flames, and tried to get Natsu closer to the door. Oblivious to her attempts, the pinkette just kept bugging Rogue until he sighed and put his book down.
"No, please, not in here!" Hermione begged, eyes pleading. Rogue snapped his fingers and the shadows lunged for Natsu, grabbing him and snuffing out his flames before throwing him out the window. Hermione gasped, and Rogue just rolled his eyes.
"He'll be fine - don't worry. He's gone through worse - at least the trees should break his fall," he said reassuringly.
"Yeah," Lucy interjected. "There was this one time he fell out of a twelfth storey window onto a concrete pavement and bounced. Bounced." She snorted at the memory, and Hermione smiled.
"I don't think I properly introduced myself last night, that was rude of me - I was simply trying to escape from the noise. My name is Rogue Cheney. And yours?" Rogue asked politely.
"Hermione Granger. So you're a Ravenclaw?" She replied, just as politely, and the two engaged in civil conversation.
Lucy had spied a blue haired friend of hers and they were giggling over a book in the corner, whilst Erza hit Gray over the head for something, and Happy had gone to search for Natsu. Suddenly the peace and quiet was disrupted by the very same fire breather flying through the window, assisted by his little blue friend.
"I'M BAAACK!" He yelled, flames actually shooting out of his mouth. Looking round he spied Rogue and his eyes narrowed. But before the fire wizard could get any closer, Hermione whipped her wand out.
"Aguamenti! Stupefy!" She said, and Natsu's flames were doused and he and Happy were frozen. Hermione turned to the others, who were all staring at her. "I think it's probably time to continue - don't you?" She said, and the others agreed. She turned to the bluenette and Rogue. "Do you two want to join us?" She asked, and they nodded their assent. The group continued, with two new members and Erza carrying the frozen Natsu under one arm and Happy under the other.
This time Hermione took them to the owlery. "I don't know if you have owls, but here in the Western Wizarding world we use them to deliver post and messages, as muggle devices - sorry, 'muggle' is the British term for non-magical beings - tend to go a bit haywire around magic," Hermione said, and whistled. A beautiful tawny owl with eyes the same hazel shade as her own ghosted through the air and landed on her outstretched arm.
At only 10 inches tall, Bramble was small for a magical owl, but she had the uncanny ability to find anyone, anywhere - it was like concealment wards didn't work against her. She was also an incredibly affectionate owl, and Hermione petted her in the same way she did with Crookshanks.
She glanced up at the visiting students, who looked quite awed at the beautiful creature, and Bramble cooed at them. She flew off Hermione's arm and landed on Rogue's shoulder. Hermione had to suppress a grin at the surprise on his face, but she was surprised herself - Bramble didn't normally like strangers. She told him as much, and apologised for her owl's forwardness, but Rogue told her not to worry, and smiled at the little owl he was petting.
After this, Hermione took the group to see all the main sights of Hogwarts: from the common room entrances and the kitchens to the Quidditch pitch and the Black Lake. They even visited Hagrid, although they didn't stay for long.
Finally, Hermione led a very tired group of students down a certain hallway. When they reached the end, she turned and looked at the others, before grinning like an idiot. "This is probably my favourite room in Hogwarts - even more so than the library!" She said excitedly, and started pacing backwards and forwards in front of a blank wall.
Much to the Mahoutokoro students' surprise, a door appeared. Now the seemingly dead end Hermione had led them to was no longer a dead end. They all went in through the door, and were awed by the room that awaited them. It was like someone took every single magical object they had ever encountered and piled it all up in one room - there were mountains of brooms alone! Having led the group to a small area with some beanbags, Hermione flopped down, and gestured to the others to do the same before explaining what exactly this room was.
"This is the Room of Requirement. It appears in whatever form the caster most needs at that point in time - hence its name. This is its default form, as I just wanted to show you an example rather than a specific area. I don't know exactly how the magic works, but as far as I can gather it can provide you with almost anything except food," she said, and Natsu raised his hand like a little kid.
"Can you change the room when you're inside?" He asked eagerly, and Hermione tilted her head thoughtfully.
"I've never actually tried it, but possibly. Wanna give it a shot?" Natsu nodded, and closed his eyes in concentration. Suddenly, the objects around them melted away, and Hermione found herself sat in a large rustic living area. There were tables and chairs scattered everywhere, and at either end of the room was a stage and a bar.
"What is this place?" Hermione asked, and Natsu grinned.
"This is the Fairy Tail guild hall!" He said, making no sense whatsoever to Hermione. Lucy rolled her eyes and took pity on the brunette.
"In the same way that you guys have houses, we have guilds. There's Fairy Tail - the guild that Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy, Levy and I belong to. Then there's Sabertooth - Rogue's guild - Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale. And I guess our guild halls would be like your common rooms." Hermione nodded, and Natsu dragged the blonde away to see if everything was the same as the real guild hall.
Levy found a door to the library and went to pick up some books she'd left back in Japan, and Erza, Gray and Happy went with Natsu and Lucy. Now only Hermione and Rogue were left.
"So," Hermione started. "What's Mahoutokoro like?"
Rogue gave a small smile. "Well, I'm not quite sure what happens in the younger years, as my older brother Sting and I joined when I was in my 2nd year and he in his 6th. Most students start at the preparatory school from the age of seven and begin boarding at eleven, so that's the main difference. Mahoutokoro also has their guild system like your sorting hat, except students choose which guild to join. They can also move guilds - with some difficulty - if the need arises. We have Headmaster Makarov Dreyer, whom most call 'Gramps' or 'Master' and Deputy Headmaster Mystogan Fernandes, who are in charge of the school. Then we have the guild masters - like your head of houses. Laxus Dreyer, the Master's grandson, is Fairy Tail's guildmaster, Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki is Blue Pegasus' guildmaster, Jura Neekis is Lamia Scale's guildmaster, and my adoptive brother Sting Eucliffe is Sabertooth's guildmaster. He was made a guildmaster pretty soon after he graduated - he's the youngest person to ever hold that position!" Rogue said, talking enthusiastically about his brother.
"That's so cool! I wonder what guild I'd be in..." Hermione started thinking.
Rogue tilted his head thoughtfully. "Lamia Scale are very cool and collected, the calm, quiet scholarly type. You're definitely smart enough, but I think you have too much of a tendency to act rashly - not that that's a bad thing. Blue Pegasus is for the players and beauty queens, and whilst you're certainly very pretty, you wouldn't quite fit there either. I guess that just leaves Sabertooth and Fairy Tail. They're pretty similar, except Fairy Tail is a lot more...rowdy. Personally, I think you'd do well in Sabertooth," Rogue decided, and Hermione was listening to his every word, desperate to learn all she could about the other school.
"It does sound wonderful!" She said excitedly, and Rogue smiled at her.
"You know, if you wanted to I'm sure Sting could make you an honorary member - you could even take the mark! If that was something you would like, I mean," he said, and Hermione grinned so widely that it seemed her face might split.
"Oh, that would be wonderful! If it's not too much trouble, that is. What's the mark?" She asked.
"When a new member joins the guild, the guildmaster stamps them with the guild mark, so that others know which guild they belong to. It can't be replicated in any way, shape or form, so we use them as a means of identification - like when entering a guild hall. The member decides where on their body they want the mark, and then they can either choose the colour, or let the stamp pick for them." Hermione and Rogue were so deep in conversation that they didn't notice that the others had returned, and were waiting for them.
Hermione looked up and jumped slightly. "Hey guys, the tour's over now, so I don't know what you want to do...have you got your schedules yet?" They all shook their heads. "Okay, we can head to Professor McGonagall's office and see if she has them. I mean, I'm sure they'll be handed out either at breakfast tomorrow or Monday, but if you wanted to see them beforehand...?" She trailed off, and everyone nodded.
Hermione grinned and stood up, and they left the Room of Requirement. Natsu gaped as the door they stepped out of vanished. "Wicked! Does it do that when we're inside as well?" Hermione chuckled and nodded. "So cool!" He muttered under his breath.
They walked through the corridors until they reached Professor McGonagall's office. Hermione knocked on the door, and the Professor told them to come in.
"Hello, Professor, these are some of the Mahoutokoro students, and they were wondering whether they could have their schedules?" She said respectfully. Professor McGonagall gave a warm smile and ushered them all into her office.
"Of course, dear. Now, if you tell me your names and houses I'll just find them," the Professor said.
The visiting students told her their names, and Professor McGonagall found the schedules. Afterwards, Rogue stepped forward and asked a question. "Excuse me, sensei, but will our teachers be participating in the classes? Also, my friend Frosch, will she have classes? I'm not sure, as she's...well, sort of like a cat."
"Well, I think most the teachers are, I have a list somewhere... aha! Here we go." She cleared her throat. "Professors Bickslow, Evergreen, Freed, Mira, Jellal and Ultear will be attending classes, as will Sting Eucliffe, who I understand is head of Sabertooth. And to answer your second question, Frosch may attend classes if she wants to, I am assuming she is one of your 'exceeds', whatever they are?" Rogue nodded. "Good, would you like to take her schedule to her, and then she can decide if she wants to take classes. If there are some she wants to take, but not all, she can do that as well."
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. Would you mind if we gave a few of our other friends their schedules as well?" The Professor shook her head. "Thank you, could we have Gajeel Redfox's from Ravenclaw, Sting Eucliffe's from Gryffindor, Wendy Marvell's from Hufflepuff, Carla's from Ravenclaw and Panther-Lily's from Gryffindor."
Professor McGonagall found the schedules and out them to Rogue. "Is that all?" She asked.
Erza piped up for the first time since entering the office. "Can we also have Jel - I mean, Professor Jellal's schedule as well?" She asked, her cheeks turning pink. Natsu started sniggering until Erza hit him over the head whilst the Professor looked for the schedule.
"Here you go, dear. It's nice to see a student having such respect for a professor." Now everyone bar Hermione and Erza was struggling with laughter, and Erza's face had turned as scarlet as her hair.
"Th-thank you, Professor McGonagall, we'll be going now." The students left the room and after a few seconds, the Mahoutokoro students collapsed in fits of giggles.
"Ummmm, what's so funny?" Hermione asked, as Lucy brushed tears of laughter from her eyes.
"It's just, Erza and Professor Jellal are dating!" The blonde said between giggles.
Hermione gasped. "Isn't that improper? A student and a teacher?" She said, and Lucy shook her head.
"They've known each other since they were little kids - like, as in five or six. Best friends until they started Mahoutokoro. Then they suddenly strted dating. Well, I say suddenly, it kind of just happened gradually, to the point where the two of them didn't even realise they were dating until Natsu pointed it out to them. Natsu! And that was when Erza was eleven and Jellal was thirteen. Plus they're both really responsible, so Gramps trusts them." The blonde explained.
Erza's face had cooled from bright red to dusky pink, and she cleared her throat. "W-well, I think we should be going now. Natsu, Gray get off the floor." When they didn't follow her instructions, the feisty red-head picked them up by their hair, making them yelp. "Hermione, could you show us where these classes will be?" Erza asked, having mostly recovered from her embarrassment.
"Sure, follow me." Hermione pointed out the transfiguration classroom, which was right next to Professor McGonagall's office before leading the to the charms classroom, DADA classroom and all the others. Their final stop was the potions classroom. Hermione cast quick disillusionment and silencing spells on everyone before heading into the dungeons.
"Right, I've cast a few spells, but just to be sure keep quiet. Slytherins can be...er, territorial, in a manner and Professor Snape is even meaner." She carefully led them down the steps, and pointed at the classroom. They took a peek through the open door, and Natsu almost fell in when he saw the Professor.
Snape was hunched over a cauldron, his greasy hair hanging in his face, stirring a potion. Hermione made a frantic gesture with her hands at the others, which they interpreted as 'get away while you can', and the group made their way back up the stairs as fast as they dared.
"Jesus, that was close!" Hermione said when they were a safe distance away.
"Hermione, why were we sneaking around like that? Earlier when you took us to see the common room entrance we didn't do that," Lucy asked
"Earlier, we went there during breakfast. Slytherin house is always on a schedule of sorts - they always arrive at the same time to breakfast every day, and they all travel together to meals - I don't think there's ever been a time when any of them turned up late or missed a meal. Plus, Professor Snape is their head of house, so he'll have been with them then," she explained.
"What do we do now, 'Mione?" Natsu asked energetically.
"I don't know," the brunette replied. "We've done basically everything. Library, Owlery, Room of Requirement, even the Quidditch stadium - Quidditch! That's perfect!" She said to herself. "Alright, how do you lot feel about learning to fly on a broom?" They all looked excited at this prospect - even Erza!
"Hell yeah!" Natsu screamed. "Let's go fly a broom!" He ran off.
"Ummmm, does he know where he's going?" Hermione asked.
"Don't worry - a dragon slayer's nose can find any object, place or person," Lucy said flippantly.
Hermione's face lit up at this, and she turned to Rogue. "Do you think you could find Ron and Harry? I'm not much good at flying, so they'll be better teachers. Plus they actually have brooms." Rogue nodded, and they followed him through the school until they reached the Fat Lady's portrait.
"Balderdash," Hermione said, and the portrait swung open. She led their little group inside, and spotted Harry and Ron immediately. "Boys! I need your help."
They looked at each other. Hermione Granger needing their help? That was new.
"Sure, 'Mione. What d'you need?" Ron asked.
"Could you get your brooms and meet us on the Quidditch pitch? And Ron, see if one of your brothers'll lend us an extra one." They looked confused but nodded, and headed up to the dorms.
"Alright, lets go and find Natsu," Hermione said, and the group headed outside to find the pinkette. When they reached the pitch, Natsu sitting in the stands looking bored.
"Thank god you're finally here! I've been waiting for ages!" He whined, and Erza hit him over the head. "Owwwwwww!" He groaned, as Gray snorted.
"If you weren't such a hotheaded idiot, you would know that Hermione had to go tell Harry and Ron to get their brooms and meet us out here," he said, and Natsu scowled.
"What did you call me, Ice Princess?"
"A hotheaded idiot, ya flame brain!"
"Why you-"
"Knock it OFF!" Erza shouted, and hit them both over the head. Natsu rubbed his new wound, still scowling.
"Hey, 'Mione, aren't Harry and Ron the idiots that froze me and Gray this morning?" He asked.
"Yeah," Hermione answered. "Don't worry, they won't do it again. They know what will happen if they do." Her expression darkened, and Natsu shivered at the similarity to Erza. "Speak of the devil..." Hermione said as two figures ran towards them.
"Sorry we took so long, 'Mione, we couldn't find Fred or George. Don't worry, though, Katie let us borrow hers." They boys lay their brooms (plus Katie's) on the ground. "Right you lot, we only have three brooms, so split into two groups and we'll take it in turns." Hermione walked over to join Harry and Ron, and the others seperated into grouls of three.
Gray, Rogue and Erza made one group whilst Natsu, Lucy and Levy made another.
Harry, Ron and Hermione each stood beside a broom. "Right, first thing's first, stand next to a broom and shout 'up'. The trick to this is to be confident - if you're nervous, the broom will sense that," Harry said, and the trio simultaneously shouted "up!" The brooms shot into their outstretched hands, and Ron demonstrated the correct way to mount a broom.
"Then, once you've got the right position, kick off the ground. Once you're in the air, the thing you need to remember is to try and keep your balance - but don't worry, if you fall, 'Mione here is amazing with the levitation charm." Ron seemed to be having a lot of fun teaching them Quidditch. Although, that makes a lot of sense, Hermione mused. It is his favourite hobby.
They handed their brooms to Natsu's group, who all succeeded in summoning their brooms, and got into the right positions with minimal correction. Then, the three of them kicked off. Lucy and Levy shrieked, but zoomed around, looking like they were having fun.
Natsu, on the other hand, was hovering in one place looking decidedly green.
He had forgotten about his motion sickness.
"Hermione...please get me down!" Hermione sighed, but used the levitation charm to bring both the boy and the broom back to the ground safely.
"Baka," Erza said, but without her usual edge. Even she felt sorry for the fire wizard sprawled on the ground.
Lucy and Levy both landed, and handed their brooms back to Harry and Ron. Lucy rushed over to Natsu, and comforted him until the sickness had passed, whilst the Golden Trio helped Gray's group get started.
Gray and Erza were already in the air, but Rogue was still on the ground taking deep breaths. Suddenly, Hermione remembered what Lucy had told her earlier on the moving staircase. "Motion sickness...all dragon slayers have it really bad...Natsu's the worst, but Gajeel, Sting and Rogue aren't much better than him." She frowned, and went to stand beside the dragon slayer. Quietly so that Harry and Ron wouldn't hear, she said something into his ear. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
Rogue shook his head. "I'll be fine, 'Mione. I dont have it as bad as Natsu. Although," he smiled wryly, "if I start to turn green, could you bring me back down?"
Hermione grinned at him. "Of course, don't worry." Rogue gave her a smile and mounted his broom before ascending into the air. But what happened next was completely unexpected.
Instead of getting sick like Natsu, Rogue was absolutely fine. The longer he was up there, the more confident he became, and soon he was zipping around, performing all sorts of tricks. Even Hermione, an avid hater of Quidditch and flying, could see the beauty in Rogue's smooth flips and loops.
When he landed, everyone started applauding him, with the exception of Natsu, who was pouting in the stands. "That was bloody brilliant, mate!" Ron cried whilst Harry nodded in agreement.
"Yes, it was actually pretty cool," Hermione said with a smile, causing the dragon-slayer to smile.
"It was fun," he said, sounding surprised. "I honestly thought I'd get sick, but I didn't feel a thing, why?" Hermione laughed.
"Actually, that would be me. Earlier, when we bumped into Wendy outside her common room, I asked about this 'troia' spell that Lucy had told me about. I got her to cast it on a small storage device, one we use for things like protection and healing charms, which I slipped into your pocket earlier," she said, and Rogue grinned.
"You," he said, "are absolutely amazing. But why didn't you give it to Natsu?"
"Oh, I did. It just didn't work. From what I can gather, either his stone was weaker, his sickness was stronger, or he was already immune to the spell's effects," Hermione replied. "Don't worry though one of the things about the stone is that you can't become immune if the spell or potion used is one you haven't been exposed to before. It was originally used for defensive magic, but because of its side effects became more of a healers tool."
"Interesting, and yeah, Natsu's immune to troia," Lucy said.
"It's more than interesting! This could completely change everything!" Rogue said enthusiastically, before turning to Lucy. "How many times have your team been restricted on a mission because of Natsu's motion sickness?"
"Ugh, more times than I can count!" The blonde replied.
"Seriously, Hermione, thank you so much!" Rogue said, turning back to the witch, who was blushing now.
"It was nothing, I'm just happy it can help you guys. I'll look into potions later to help Natsu's issue with troia," she replied.
"Later - right now we should head back to the library. Levy wanted to meet us there so she could talk to you about some book she found about the history of Hogwarts," Lucy said, and Hermione's face lit up.
"Really?! Let's go right now, the !
A/N - Ah, Hermione meets Rogue! Remember, reviews good, flames bad - we're not all immune to fire like Natsu •^_^•
