Yay! It's summer and now you have lots of time to read my fics!
When I did wake up the next morning, a very big shock awaited me in the mirror. And I mean big.
My predictable little Mary Sue, Ara, had beautiful, long golden hair. I mean, what color would your expect it to be? She had glittering blue eyes and a button nose. Coral lips, long blond eyelashes, you name it. She had the entire package of perfect Mary Sue-ness. It made me sick to think I had created her.
When I looked in the mirror, I almost jumped back. My hair was a little longer than shoulder-length. It was a shiny blue-black and it was very wavy, so wavy it was almost curly. I mean, you could tell they were waves, they were just really tight waves.
I had boring brown eyes, but they were still different from my old hazel ones. My skin was pale like a lot of the Slytherins' was. My nose was a long ski slope. My eyelashes were dark and short. My cheeks were tinged with a very pale rose color. My lips were dark. Something in this story was different. Something was wrong.
I could do nothing about it anyway, though, so I just got dressed and found my way (I should say lost my way) to the Great Hall.
Almost everyone else was already there. I took the same seat I had taken the previous night, next to Draco. He smiled, and I guessed he had forgiven me for my tirade.
The table was chock-full of delicious looking breakfast food. It reminded me of the buffets I had eaten at in Las Vegas. I really like Las Vegas. I recommend it for a vacation, especially if you like roller coasters. There was this one huge one there andok, I'm getting off topic again, right?
The glittering plates held eggs in every style imaginable: scrambled, fried, sunny-side up, omelets, hard-boiled, in a cup, eggs benedict and even more. There were foot-long strips of tender bacon and fat, juicy sausages. There was toast with the butter melted in just right. There were pancakes, porridge, oatmeal, waffles, muffins, English muffins, bagels, doughnuts, cereal, and every single type of butter, jelly, syrup, and spread there was.
I dug in. Unlike last night, I liked everything on the table and I took a bit of it all.
"Eat much?" sneered Pansy Parkinson from Draco's right.
"No," I answered snappily. "But it certainly looks like you do."
Where did that come from? I didn't usually just insult people like that. And Pansy wasn't even fat. It was so weird. I mean, the thing had just popped out of my mouth!
Pansy had just given me another nasty sneer and turned away.
"Don't mind her," said Draco. "She gets jealous very easily."
"Are you twoI mean, are you an item?" I asked him cautiously. I was curious because of the little hints in the book that Draco and Pansy were going out.
"We were a little, last year," he answered uncomfortably. "But I figured out that she's an arrogant, jealous, high-maintenance loser."
I smiled.
Breakfast went pretty well. I chatted idly with Draco and found him to be a fairly nice person. I mean, he was nice around me, anyway.
About half way through my huge plate of food, I felt someone tap my back. I turned around to find Hermione standing timidly behind me.
"Could I, er, talk to you for a sec?" She asked quietly, glancing nervously at the other Slytherins. She had a very nice, clear voice. I didn't think it sounded bossy at all, but that's just me.
Draco scowled and raised his eyebrows in question. I shrugged and followed Hermione to a corner.
Here, I got a good look at her. Her hair wasn't that bushy, after all. It was just a little frizzy. It was a light brown color with pretty fawn highlights. She had medium skin dotted with tiny freckles. Her nose was round. Her eyes were deep brown and very big.
"Look," she spoke, a bit more confidently now that she was away from the Slytherins. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday. For sticking up for me."
I felt myself turn red. "Hey, it was nothing. I mean, what'd you expect me to do, laugh?"
"That's what most of the other Slytherins do. But you're different. You don't seem like them."
There was a long pause. "Well," said Hermione with a deep breath. "If there'sanything you needanything you want, I'll do it."
I was about to shake my head no, but I had an idea. "There is one thing. Could you introduce me to Ron Weasley and Harry Potter?"
Hermione looked surprised, confused, and pleased at the same time.
The Gryffindor fifth years seemed to have claimed one of the ends of the table for themselves. I could recognize Harry, Ron, sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who was black and extremely tall. I figured he would make a good basketball player, but then remembered he was the soccer fan.
Harry and Ron sat at the very end and there was an empty spot across from them where I assumed Hermione sat.
"Harry, Ron," she said. They looked up.
What a geek. Harry was one sad loser. Ok, ok. He wasn't that bad. But his hair was really messy. I mean, it looked like he had just tumbled out of bed and not bothered to brush it. His glasses were big and round and they reminded me of my dad. He has really big glasses and my mom and I have dubbed him, "Owl Man".
But the most startling thing about Harry were his eyes. I didn't think anything could be so bright. Maybe it's a wizard thing, but people seemed to have really weird eyes. Harry's, like Draco's and Dumbledore's, were an indescribable color, a glistening emerald, so deep and shiny and light and dark and everything all at the same time. I imagined his mother must have been beautiful, with her lengths of auburn hair and the same wonderful eyes.
"This," continued Hermione, "Is Ara Stellen. Ara, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."
Ron was gazing at me as if I was the coolest thing on earth. "Great speech yesterday, Ara, absolutely magnificent!" he said reaching out a hand, which I shook. He's kind of cute, I thought absentmindedly.
"Well I'm glad you liked it," I said, grinning ear-to-ear. Harry stood up to shake my hand as well but I just ignored him.
"So," Harry said uncomfortably, obviously not used to being overlooked. "I guess we have first period together."
"Ooohh, that reminds me!" squealed Hermione. "I was going to invite you to walk down with us. We usually go down early to see Hagrid, he's the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and well, if you wanted to meet him, you can come down with uswe've got that class first"
I nodded enthusiastically. We arranged to meet in the entrance hall in 15 minutes, so I bid just Ron and Hermione goodbye and scurried to my dormitory. I mean, I didn't want Harry to think I liked him or anything.
After brushing my teeth, washing my face, and doing up my brand-new hair in a cool little jeweled headband/headpiece sort of thing I had found in my trunk, I skipped back up to the entrance hall. I found the Potter trio standing by the door, waiting for me.
"Ready?" said Hermione.
"Yeah," I answered as Harry and Ron pushed open the huge, heavy wooden doors.
The grounds were immense. Soft, neatly trimmed grass surrounded the entire castle. To the left, I could see the clear, sparkling lake where the giant squid lived. To my right, I could see Hagrid's tiny hut and a bit behind that, the Forbidden Forest, which was an immeasurable expanse of tall, dark trees. The sun overhead shone happily as we talked and laughed on the way to Hargrid's, Harry trailing behind us and keeping unusually silent.
Finally, we reached the small cabin, which was much taller than it was wide. Harry knocked on Hagrid's door, but there was no answer. He knocked again.
"Oh great," said Ron angrily. "He's probably off with Madam Maxime or something and forgot all about his class."
"Oh Ron, don't be ridiculous!" Hermione said, but her voice sounded worried. Meanwhile, Harry had wandered to the back.
I didn't even notice he's left until I heard him yell, "It's okay! He's back here!"
We ran to the back of the cabin where there was a large square paddock and a vegetable patch to the right of it. And in the paddock were the most beautiful animals I had ever seen.
Hagrid, a pudgy man about twice the size of my dad, had a huge tangled mass of dark brown or black hair all over his face. The only part of his head you could see was his nose and a bit of his eyes, but from what I could see, I could tell he was beaming.
"Winged horses!" he said in a gruff but strangely kind and young voice.
At least a dozen of the gorgeous creatures stood in the paddock, pawing the ground anxiously. They were all different colors, shapes, and sizes, each with a large pair of feathery wings.
"Oh Hagrid!" said Hermione excitedly. She went off on a tangent of how much she had read about winged horses and I just kind of blocked her out. I mean, I liked her and all. I just didn't feel like listening. Instead, I stood up on the fence to get a closer look. There were two colossal palominos that I assumed had come from Madam Maxime, several glossy bays, three prancing gray ones that tossed their pretty heads, a paint, a couple of chestnuts, and even more, each one more beautiful than the next.
I am a total horse fanatic. I take two or three lessons a week, help out at my stable in my few precious minutes of free time, and my dream is to have my own horse. I guess that's why I was always drawn to unicorns. But I loved the Pegasus more than any other mythical creature.
Before I knew it, I had climbed into the paddock and was stroking a pretty blue roan.
"Hey!" I heard Hagrid yell, suddenly realizing I was there. "Who's that?" he asked Harry.
I didn't hear Harry's reply, but I did hear Hagrid roar, "SLYTHERIN! What're yeh doin', hanging around with that crowd?"
Hermione explained something to him and his expression softened, but he still barked, "Yeh better get outta there. They can be dangerous, if yeh don't know how ter handle em."
"Don't worry, erProfessor Hagrid! I know how to handle horses." I accented the Professor, knowing Hagrid was easily flattered. I could see a tinge of red beneath the hair.
"Aw, just be careful, then, Ara," he said, then went back to chatting with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
I moved down the line to pat each of the horses, stopping for a while at a glistening, spirited back one. But when I reached the end of the line, I found that the last horse was a dull, dusty brown color, and very frail.
"Ah, don' bother with him. He won' let anyone touch him," said Hagrid.
"Why?" I called to him.
But Hagrid didn't answer; he was watching the rest of the class walking down the lawn.
"I don't know why you won't let anyone touch you," I whispered quietly to the winged animal. "I mean, you're so beautiful!" This was an overstatement, but the horse didn't seem to care.
I ran to the edge of the paddock as the rest of the class approached and I swung my leg over and jumped down. There were many "oooohs" and "aaaahhhs" from the girls, but most of the boys (or Pansy Parkinson) didn't seem to care at all.
"Oh, great! Another large thing to savagely attack me! Thank you so much, Hagrid!" Draco drawled in a bored sort of voice when he saw the winged horses.
"Maybe if yeh paid any attention yeh wouldn't have that problem," said Hagrid gruffly. Then, to the rest of the class, he called, "Now, these are winged horses, as yeh can all see. They're very powerful, beautiful animals, but yeh gotta be gentle with em. If yeh'll all get inter partners, I'll give yeh one to work with. Firs', I'll have yeh gain their trust by just strokin' em. Then yeh'll feed em, and maybe even yeh'll get ter ride one, if they're in a good mood."
There was some excited whispering. My stomach fluttered. I mean, how many times in your life do you get to ride a flying horse?
Hermione agreed to be my partner and Hagrid led us to the large, gleaming black gelding. His abysmally huge wings (you wouldn't believe how big they were) were folded to his back, but he occasionally spread them out to tell us he was getting bored, at which time we'd scratch him in a different spot.
The lesson was loads of fun. After everyone had gotten their horse to trust them by petting them, Hagrid brought out several bales of hay and a big bunch of carrots from his garden. Hermione and I took turns snapping off pieces of carrots and offering them to Ebony, as Hagrid called our horse. I showed Hermione how to feed a horse, with your hand flat, and I was proud I knew something she didn't. I mean, Hermione's supposed to be a genius! We figured out that Ebony was very smart, as most horses are, and we taught him to play a game. We would take one piece of carrot and put it in one of our hands, then line up all four hands. Ebony would guess which hand the carrot was in by nudging it with his velvety nose.
Harry and Ron had been assigned to one of the gigantic palominos, and Ron kept scampering away in fear that he would be stepped on by one of the monstrous hooves. I laughed, but I think I would've done the same thing if I were him. I've been stepped on by normal horses, and let me tell you, it is painful. I mean, think about it. There's this huge one-ton animal putting a quarter of its weight on your foot!
I think Hagrid was about to announce that some of us could ride our horses when Neville's suddenly reared up. He turned as white a sheet and ran all the way to the other side of the paddock.
"There now, it's all right," Hagrid cooed, half to the horse, half to Neville. Meanwhile, Crabbe or Goyle, I'm not sure which, trudged by to get more hay for his and Draco's horse. He was either very fat or very muscular, but not very tall. And he had one of the ugliest faces I'd ever seen. I though he and Pansy Parkinson might make a good couple.
After grabbing the hay, he was making his way back, but he clumsily tripped over a water bucket on the ground. He made the stupidest noise I'd ever heard. It was really high-pitched, but it was the kind of noise someone makes when they're imitating the school dufus. I mean, he sounded like a wounded elephant or something.
"What're you doing over there, Crabbe?" I heard Malfoy call from the other side of the paddock. Crabbe made another stupid noise and groped around for something to try and pull himself up. He found the frail, dirty horse that was tethered at the end of the line. He pulled at its mane roughly and it whinnied and tried to rear up.
"Hey, let go of him, you stupid moron!" I yelled.
But Crabbe just yanked harder. The horse was becoming frantic. And something very strange was happening. Wherever Crabbe's hand touched, a dirty handprint appeared on the horse's already disgusting hair. I didn't think Crabbe's hands could possibly be that gross.
And he still would not let go. The poor horse was rearing, shaking its head, bucking, and swinging itself into a crazy delirium. By then, the other horses had become excited as well. Others began to rear up and strain against their bonds. Hagrid was busy trying to control them all, so I ran over to Crabbe and tried to pry him off. A crowd was gathering.
"Let go, you idiot!" I screamed into his ear, so he grunted and held on tighter! I mean, how stupid can you get?! But now, I had noticed something else. The horse's rope was stretching tighter and tighter. And he was raising his immense wings, preparing to take flight. I knew immediately what I had to do.
"Hermione, Harry, Ron, Draco! Goyle, too!" I shouted over the horse's frenzied whinnies. "Grab onto Crabbe's ankles and don't let go, no matter what!"
"Why? How's that going to help anything?" asked Harry loudly, being an annoying nuisance.
"Just shut up and do it!" I said through gritted teeth. The rope was about to snap...
"Ok, on the count of three!" I yelled. "Onethree!"
The five of them dug their heels into the ground and pulled; I grabbed a fistful of mane and heaved myself on the mad horse's back. It happened just in time. The horse took flight, leaving Crabbe back down on Earth and taking me with it.
It all happened so fast. I threw myself onto his frail neck and closed my eyes so tightly they started to water, gripping the sparse mane in clenched hands. My stomach was doing loop-the-loops, just like when you go upside down on a roller coaster. A harsh wind whipped my hair into my face and I think if I did have my eyes open, I wouldn't have been able to see because my eyeballs would have fallen out. The wings beat rhythmically on either side of me. And I could feel the lanky legs moving below me. All of the muscles beneath me contracted and released with each thrust of the hindquarters. Muscles? I opened my eyes wide enough to squint.
I wasn't riding the small, starved-looking dirty horse. The mane wasn't scarce and coarse. I was riding the most magnificent creature I'd ever seen. He was a bright, gleaming white and he shone with a beautiful, sunny aura. The mane and tail had streaks of what appeared to be real silver and he had a wingspan of twenty feet, at the least! I looked around me. We were a hundred feet from the ground and he soared easily through the cloudy air. He was breathing hard from the excitement on the ground, but I could tell he was starting to calm down. After about three circles through the air, I wrapped my legs around his middle and pushed forward on his neck. The horse responded by flying downward.
The descent was thrilling. The wind blew my hair back and my ear popped. We went faster and faster, the wings continued to beat more quickly, but finally, we reached the ground. The horse alighted softly and noiselessly; I hardly even shifted my seat!
The rest of the class stood open-mouthed and awed. I mean, it had been an awe-inspiring performance, if I do say so myself! I dismounted and hit the ground with a thud and stumbled slightly. I looked up. He had to be at least 17 hands now!
"Yeh all righ' there?" Hagrid called, pushing through the students.
"Yeah," I breathed. "But what happened?"
Hagrid smiled. "That ain't no regular flyin' horse! That's a real Pegasus, they're really rare. And it seems that he's chosen you!"
Chosen me?
"
Hagrid's grin just spread wider across his face and I understood.
"You mean, he's mine?" My mouth hung open too.
Hagrid nodded.