I am SO SO SORRY! It's been 6 months! SIX FLIPPIN MONTHS! I don't reallyhave much of an excuse, other than the fact that I have been crazy busy. So here it is, I've been kinda struggling with this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
Big Thanks to my beta, Matisse Gacioppo
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter, but sadly, the day has yet to come.
His dark gaze stayed in my head for the rest of the day.
Kiara POV
I dropped my bag onto the floor of my room and threw myself onto the bed. I was done with classes for the day. I rolled over with a groan, and Clara laughed at me as she came in the door.
"I agree." she said, also lying back on her bed. "But it's good to be back."
"That's for sure," I said. "I've missed this old castle." I really had. The tall, elegant ceilings, the smiling portraits; it was like a second home. I sat up and grinned. "And we've got the games tonight."
Clara sat up as well, a mischievous grin on her face. "Have you found a partner yet?"
I nodded. "I asked Andreas earlier today." Her eyebrows shot up, and her face turned smug.
"You chose the initiate?" she asked. I nodded. "On opening night?" I nodded. She grinned. "Oh, you are so done for." she folded her arms across her chest.
"Oi! I can still win this!" I said indignantly. "Who have you got, then?"
Clara smirked. "Joseph." she said lifting her chin. "And since you're stuck with an inexperienced newbie, we're definitely going to win. Your brother is one of the best players!"
I laughed. "We'll see about that."
"Okay, everyone quiet! Let's get this started!" James stood on a chair at the front of the old abandoned room on the seventh floor. It was burnt pretty badly, the paint was peeling off of the walls, and it smelled like smoke, but it opened when we asked and sometimes even gave us what we needed, so we didn't complain.
"I want the initiates up here, front of the room." Andreas went up to stand by James, where Lily and a short, lanky boy with curly straw colored-hair in Slytherin robes joined him. It was an amusing sight, seeing him towering over the shorter underclassmen.
"State your name, house, year, and why you want to be here." James looked pointedly at Lily.
She stepped forward.
"Lily Potter, Ravenclaw, fourth year. I'm here to beat my brothers' records." She announced with a grin as she stepped back. Albus snorted, and James just rolled his eyes, smiling.
The short boy stepped forward.
"I'm Matthew Finnagan, Slytherin, fourth year." He stated in a confident Irish accent. "I'm here because Lily convinced me that it would be fun, and it sounded like my kind of thing." he cast a sidelong glance at Lily, and she shoved his shoulder back, smiling.
Everyone turned to Andreas expectantly. He rubbed the back of his neck as he stepped forward.
"Eh, my name is Andreas Nota. I'm a sixth year Ravenclaw from Italy." he glanced at me, and I smiled encouragingly. "I'm really not sure why I'm here," his hand moved to rub his arm nervously. "I guess I just want to try to get the most out of my time here, and I was curious as to what everyone was so excited about." He looked back at James, who nodded, and then he stepped back, his shoulders relaxing.
"Alright everyone, partner up!" James jumped down off of the chair, moving to stand next to Roxanne.
Andreas walked—rather quickly; I might add—over to me, avoiding the twenty or so people moving around.
"Good job." I mumbled to him.
"That was terrifying," he whispered back. "They were all staring at me."
"No, that was good." I tried to hold in my smile, but failed.
"Oh, shut up."
James, meanwhile, had moved around to a door that had appeared. "Okay guys, here's the layout. We've got prefects on patrol on seven, four, three, one, and the dungeons. Seven, four, and one know about us and will send you back here. Three and the dungeons, however, do not and will, at the very least, dock points for being out after hours, so don't get caught there."
I looked at Andreas. "Getting all this?"
"Nope."
"All the more exciting."
"Each floor has a beacon," Roxanne continued for James. "A simple 'Point me' on each floor will lead you to it. Touch it with your wand, and a mark will appear on your arm. First team with all seven marks to make it to the kitchens wins," she put her hand on the door handle. "One team through this door at a time. I've set it so that it will let you out at a random point in the castle. As soon as the door closes, the next team goes, and you will be out at a new point. Each time you are caught and sent back here, you will go through again and start at a new point. All clear?" The majority of the group nodded, but Lily, Matthew, and Andreas continued to look puzzled. Roxanne smiled. "Great. Now initiates: Matthew, with me. Lily, you'll be with James. Who has the Italian?"
I stepped forward. "I've got him, Roxanne." I heard a few snickers behind me, and someone mumbled 'Bad luck, Italy', but I held my head high. We were going to beat them all. Roxanne raised her eyebrows.
"The initiate, Kiara? It's only your second year with us." she smiled at me. "You never were one to turn down a challenge." She opened the door to reveal a dark passageway. James and Lily started to step through, but James paused.
"One more thing," he said, turning. "You can stop someone from getting to the beacon, but no harmful spells. It may be a competition, but we are all a group. I want a fair, clean game. No one in the hospital wing." he stepped into the passageway and closed the door behind him. There was a 'whoosh', and Roxanne opened the door to reveal a new, empty tunnel. "Who's next?"
I watched Joseph step up and through the door, holding out a hand to Clara, who shot a finger gun at me before Joseph reached around her and closed the door. I turned to Andreas.
"Let's go next." I said.
"What? Why?"
"Because the more time we have, the better," I said, pulling him toward the door. "Plus, we may as well get it over with."
"Losing, you mean?" said a familiar voice behind me. I turned to see Albus smiling at me.
"At least not to you, Al." I countered. "We'll come in ahead, just you wait."
He laughed, then stepped closer to me, cutting me off from the door. "I'll see you at the end," he whispered, looking into my eyes. He was close enough that I could see the different flecks of green in his eyes. Then he laughed and stepped backwards into the doorway, pulling Devin with him.
"Good luck guys!" Devin whispered as she pulled the door closed.
I stood there for a second trying to get my breath back. "Dammit Albus!" I cursed at the closed door. He got in first! He tricked me!
"Eh, Kiara?" Andreas asked. "Weren't we going to go next?"
I yanked open the door. "Yes, Andreas."
"But you just let them go ahead of us." he said, stepping into the doorway.
"Doesn't matter. We're going to beat them anyway." I pulled the door shut, but I didn't miss the laughing face of Madilyne as she and Fred lined up to go next.
As soon as the door closed, it went dark. "Lumos." I whispered. The tunnel continued on in front of us. I turned around; the door was gone. Andreas whistled.
"That's beautiful magic," he whispered. We hurried forward through the passage, wands lit in front of us.
"Roxanne is pretty good." I nodded. The tunnel was slowly angling down.
"So how often do you guys do this?" Andreas asked.
"About three times a year." I said. "Once in the beginning of the year to take initiates -only fourth years and up, and another before Christmas, and then again before the end of term."
"Have you won before?"
"Er, no." I said. "Joseph usually does." The path was evening out now. "Then comes James, who usually teams with Roxanne." I sighed. "I normally finish closer to the end."
"Oh."
We stopped at the top of a set of dusty stone stairs. Andreas held his wand out in front of him, squinting into the darkness.
"There's a door at the bottom." he said. We quickly descended the steps. There were fewer than it seemed. We came to the bottom, where we stopped behind what looked like the back of a portrait. I placed my hand on the back.
"Ready?" I asked. He nodded. This is it. This is my year to win. I took a deep breath and pushed the passageway open.
"Quick! In here!" Andreas grabbed my arm and pulled me into a broom closet. He knelt down and looked through the keyhole out into the corridor, trying to find the prefect we were avoiding.
We were now on the fourth floor. The tunnel had taken us to the fifth floor, where we had easily found the first beacon without a problem. We continued up to the sixth floor, where, once again, the beacon was found with little trouble. It was on the seventh floor where we encountered another team, Roxanne and Matthew. Roxanne had her back turned, her wand touching the beacon, while little Matthew stood guard. It was easy enough to stun him, but by then Roxanne had turned around. I cast a shield charm, which blocked her blast of purple light, but wasn't enough to stop the tickling charm that hit me. Luckily, Andreas used that time to petrify Roxanne, dragging me to the beacon to get our marks.
We rushed down three flights of stairs, where we reached the beacon, but narrowly avoided getting caught by Christine Creevy, a pretty 6th year Slytherin; hence the reason why we were now hiding in a 4th floor broom closet, and a small one at that.
"Do you see her?" I asked Andreas.
"No," He shook his head, "Here, look." He stood up to switch me spots.
I tried to move around him, but the close walls just wouldn't allow it. Andreas moved his hands around my waist, pulling me against his chest. He turned around, squeezing us between the walls and switching us spots. He let me go, leaning against the back wall while I knelt to look through the keyhole.
"Someone's coming." I froze, trying to control my breathing. I pointed my wand at the door. "Muffilatio," I muttered. Andreas gave me a strange look. "She can't hear us in here now," I explained. He nodded and I turned back to the keyhole.
"There are two pairs of footsteps; it's not Christine." I said. I heard a voice, one that I could always recognize. "It's Albus and Devin."
I held my breath, listening to the footsteps lightly echoing through the corridor. I turned to Andreas, pressing my finger to my lips, completely forgetting about the Muffilatio charm. He nodded silently.
I turned back to the keyhole. Albus was in full view, all six feet of him. He was wearing dark clothes under his robes, a prefect badge pinned to his chest. As I watched, he ran a hand nervously through his hair, making it stick up in the front. I could see the green of his vibrant eyes from here. Devin stood beside him, her hair pulled back out of her face, brown eyes intent on her wand.
"Point Me!" she hissed at it, but it just simply spun in a circle. She looked at Albus. "Why isn't it working?"
He shrugged. "Let me try." he held his wand in his palm and whispered the charm. The wand spun and pointed in the direction we had just come from. "Perfect," Albus muttered. Devin sighed, and they started to walk away. I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding, only to draw it in again. Albus had frozen, hand on Devin's shoulder.
"Someone's coming." I heard Devin whisper, and Albus pulled her back towards the closet we were in.
"Quick, in here!" Albus put his hand on the doorknob, and I scrambled away from the door, squishing into Andreas. The door opened-
"Gotcha!" I opened my eyes. The door was halfway open, just enough for me to see Christine, wand illuminated in Albus's face. They didn't seem to have even noticed us.
"Back on up to the seventh floor, mates," Christine said, gray eyes glittering in amusement.
I moved to get up, thinking that we were discovered, but I felt a hand on my arm. Andreas shook his head, eyes wide. I looked back at Christine, who had marked both Albus and Devin with a white mark, indicating that they had been caught. She pat them on the back, smiling.
"Best be hurrying, you two. You're not the first team I've seen. You might be able to make it there and back in time." She winked at Albus, then turned and walked away, robes billowing behind her.
Albus's eyes followed her until she turned the corner, then he shook his head. I felt a surge of jealousy nearly overwhelm me, but I shoved it back down, watching as Albus pulled Devin with him around the corner. I waited until I couldn't hear their footprints any longer before I released my breath.
"That was close." Andreas laughed, relieved. He looked at me. "Are you okay?" he asked. I looked at him, forcing a smile.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" I grinned again, pushing away the look on Albus's face as he watched Christine leave.
Andreas looked at me and I held his gaze as he searched my face. He shrugged, then stood up, offering me a hand. "Come on," he said. "We've got a game to win."
We ran down the corridor to the stairs, skipping steps as we rushed to the third floor. Only a few more floors to go; we might actually make it.
We turned the corner, but Andreas immediately pulled me back, a finger on his lips. He rapped his wand on my head. I felt a cold spread down my body, like he had cracked an egg on my head. He cast the Disillusionment charm on himself as well. I watched as he slowly melted into the wall behind him. I could still see him, but only if I focused.
"Keep to the wall," he said. We edged back around the corner, expecting a prefect. Instead, I saw a sight that surprised me even more.
Kirstie Zabini was standing in a dark corner, talking in hushed whispers with someone who was too far into the shadows to see. I inched closer, trying to get within earshot, Andreas right behind me.
"…afford to mess this one up, Kirstie." said a deep, male voice. I recognized it, but I couldn't remember where. "He's not going to be happy if we can't get the guy to cooperate."
"I know, Sean, I know." Kirstie said. Sean, I thought, Sean, as in Michelle's boyfriend Sean? "Just try to get closer to him. It'll be much smoother if he is on our side." she stepped out of the shadows, her dressing robe parting to reveal thin pajamas beneath.
"It would be so much easier if our, ah," Sean glanced around uncomfortably. I pressed further against the wall. "…friend, didn't want them unharmed."
Kirstie smirked. "It'll be no problem. We'll just have to keep an eye out." She grabbed his shirt collar. "Broom closet? It's not like your stupid Ravenclaw girlfriend will know. She's too trusting. Must be that ugly little Rambeau's Hufflepuff qualities wearing off on her." Sean only laughed, and they disappeared around the corner, lips locked.
"Urgh!" Andreas gagged. "Let's go another way." He pulled me away, down the hall and through doorways until I was sure he was lost, but as we turned a corner, he pushed open a door into an empty classroom, and there it was. The beacon glowed faintly, and I grinned, touching my wand to the light. Andreas did the same, then rapped me on the head again to take make me visible again. I pulled him out of the room.
"We might just win this." I told Andreas, who beamed.
"We will—"
"Students out of bed?" came a voice. I whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice, only to find a suit of armor. It shook, and Peeves the Poltergeist flew up into the air, a bottle of a green liquid in his hand. "I should call Mr. Ackerly, I should. You aren't supposed to be here." He had flipped himself upside down, pointing at us between his legs. I cringed, thinking of the amount of trouble we would be in if the grumpy caretaker caught us.
"If you do, Peeves, I'll tell Bellona you've been stealing potions." I looked pointedly at the vial in his hands. He hesitated, and then grinned.
"What potion?" he lifted his hand, and before I could get my wand out of my pocket, he had pulled the stopper on the vial and thrown the liquid at me. I screamed and ducked my head, but the potion had still gotten all over my arms, neck, and face. It was burning.
Peeves zoomed away, cackling. Andreas was immediately kneeling in front of me -I didn't realize I had sunk to the ground. He held out my arms, examining the burns that were quickly becoming bulbous boils. I quickly felt my face and groaned. The boils were on my face too.
"What the-" a voice from behind me rang out. I turned and groaned again. Kirstie had picked the perfect time to come out of her broom closet, Sean just behind her.
He was straightening his tie and smoothing his hair, which was standing in all directions. Kirstie was making no effort to calm her appearance, as she was doubled over with laughter.
"Shove off, Zabini," Andreas said, helping me to my feet.
Sean looked incredibly uncomfortable. "Kirstie, c'mon, let's just go." Kirstie had stood up straight and had calmed down to a few hiccups. Andreas was helping me to me feet, jaw locked. "Kirstie," Sean glanced at me uncomfortably, "look at her face." Kirstie sobered and looked at me, and for a second I thought she might leave, but she smirked.
"I don't see a difference."
I choked back a sob. She would never see me cry. Andreas ignored her and pulled my arm over his shoulder and started to carry me away quickly.
"Good thing you'll always have someone to look out for you, little Hufflepuff!" Kirstie called after us.
Andreas ran, practically carrying me away from them. Every step jarred me, and the burns on my face were starting to make my vision blurry. When we were a few turns away, he paused. "I don't know where…"
"Gotcha!" Christine Creevy had her illuminated wand in our faces, but her smug smile quickly faded to concern. "What happened?"
"Peeves." I heard Andreas say, but it sounded muffled. I groaned and leaned harder on him.
"Let's get her to the hospital wing." Christine tried to take my other arm, but she was so much smaller that it only made it harder to walk. I was starting to get dizzy, and my head was pounding. I may not be the best at potions, but I knew that a burning potion shouldn't have this effect.
I closed my eyes, trying to numb the pain in my head. I felt my knees give out under me, and as I fell I could only think one thing:
I had lost. Again.
Did you like it? Did you hate it? Seriously, review and let me know! Constructive criticism is very welcome! Also, I'm going to be reposting some of the earlier chapters (There are some plot holes that I would like to fill in that I hadnt noticed earlier), so sorry if it goes crazy for those of you who have this story on alert. I just want to say thank you to you guys who have stuck with me, it really means a lot c: I'll try to be more consistent!
Big thanks to my single reviewer for the last chapter:
WhatsTheTimeMrWolf
