A/N: Hello, children. Surprised to see me back so soon? So am I. Buuut, I decided to be nice and update again. I'm reading Tempted. I'm almost all the way finished, and, in all, honesty, I'm not overly pleased. Oh, well, when you read it I'm sure some of you will discover why. No fears, though, I have a plan. *grins evilly* Oh, and since both K-Chan and I are extremely busy, would anyone care to Beta this for me? Be aware that, if you reply to the request, I will check out your Beta profile. I've seen some of the bad grammar out there, and it makes awesome stories truly suck! Anyhoo, enough of my rant, and on with the chapter! Oh, and I was listening to my iPod (on shuffle, like always) and the song I'm Blue by Eiffel 65 came on, and I started laughing. I thought it was funny because now there are red AND blue fledglings/vamps at the HON. I'm sure I disturbed people with my laughter, but I just couldn't get the image of Lenobia (cause she's all sarcastic and stuff, and very unlikely to burst into song like that) singing that song and pointing at her Mark. Now, if you don't know that song, go listen to it, and then listen to it again, this time imaging any Blue fledgling/Vamp singing it. I don't own the HON, Harry Potter or LoTR in any way, shape or form. I am now depressed. Oh, and anything in Elvish will be in Italics. And yes, I used an online translator, so I know it's not how the Elves in LoTR talk!
I almost didn't look to where the Twins were facing, I almost didn't ask them why they were acting like idiots, and I almost cursed out a professor. Almost. But, instead, I decided, to look where the Twins were eating someone up with their eyes, only to see Professor Pim-I mean Drake standing there, looking around, then I glanced at the Twins, only to see them practically drooling, and I had to fight back an urge to scream at this perv in Elvish. Yes, I'm weird. However, the human part of me (only a quarter, though, even without being a Vampyre fledgling) wanted to go and get someone who would handle the situation so much better. The Elven part of me (three-quarters) wanted to curse this guy out in Elfish and then beat him up. Fortunately (for him), the human side won this argument.
Then, my attention was broken by soft gasps and a chuckle. "You know, when Simone hinted you would be special, I had no idea what she meant. Now I see that you truly are special." Professor Drake was standing there, smiling at me, while I resisted the urge to hit him with Elise's bag. Or Sheryl's, depending on who had what with them today. "But, I'm not here for idle chit-chat with the strange new fledgling. You're Clara's roommate, Anastasia, and I just now watched you come down. Is she still up there?"
I sighed. "I'm assuming, since I haven't seen her pass by yet, and I haven't actually left to see someone yet."
His eyes narrowed a bit, as if he were weighing what to say next carefully. Then he drew himself closer to me and I had to fight the urge to grow nails and put a mark on the face Clara "loved". "Be careful, little girl, or you may end up getting hurt. Just know that even with your talent, if I want you, I will have you. Have a nice evening."
The Twins were scowling at him now, and Derrick looked ready to kill. I swallowed, suddenly nervous. "Did you hear what he said?" There were three very stiff nods from three very pissed off friends of mine, and before I had time to react, Derrick had grabbed my arm and was dragging me to the main building, where most of the professors' offices were held.
Suddenly spotting her, as if she had appeared out of nowhere (and she probably had), Derrick nodded at Simone, clearly asking if she could come and walk with us. "Simone, you and all of us need to go and see Dragon, because one of the Professors just threatened Anastasia."
Suddenly, she wasn't a nice Vampyre taking a stroll around the campus with a group of fledglings. Now she suddenly became a fierce Vampyre High Priestess, and was quite honestly scary. She grabbed my other arm and, together with Derrick, lifted me off of my feet and carried me, the Twins scurrying on behind. "Who was it, Anastasia?"
I pursed my lips for a moment, unsure. "I think I'd rather wait until we're inside, somewhere safe." She gave a stiff nod, leading me, along with Derrick and the Twins through the corridors.
Finally, she stopped us at a solid wood door, not unlike the others. She raised her free hand and knocked on the door, then stepped back for a moment. "Come in, Simone, Derrick, Anastasia, Clara, Elise." A gruff voice I was going to assume belonged to Dragon answered.
Simone, in all of her powerful fury, flung open his office door, still half carrying me, as well as dragging Derrick along behind me. The Twins strolled in behind him, Sheryl closing the door as she looked around.
I'd personally never seen anyone move so quickly, not even when in a duel or while watching one. Dragon stood up, walked over to Simone and myself (Derrick had decided it was probably a good idea to let go) and scrutinized my panicked expression before I could do more than register that the man needed an interior decorator. "What's happened?" He had spoken just two words, but I had never heard anyone sound so furious over my wellbeing. No, never, except maybe Lord Elindia, my Elf mentor/ lord/grandfather. "And what's going on with her features? They weren't like that yesterday."
I frowned at him, ready to tell him that nothing was wrong with my features, thank you very much, except Simone guided me (gently this time) to a chair. She disappeared for a moment, only to come back moments later with Lenobia; they had a rather large mirror balanced between them as they walked into the room. "Look, Anastasia, and tell me what is different about you."
I frowned at Dragon, ready to tell him nothing was different about me, except maybe my eyes were darker than before. That was all before I caught sight of myself in the mirror; my hair (normally the color of dry wheat) had lightened slightly to look like, well, wheat still on the stalk and lengthened, my eyes, while still a violet color, had darkened to near black, signifying anger, my facial features were more pointed, and I had a fluid look about me, as if I were made out of air and water. I had almost completely forgotten I had enough Elf blood in me to do things like make myself Elven in appearance. Well, this would certainly amuse some, and frighten others. I turned toward the group, all of whom looked extremely stunned and awed. "What do you want to know, exactly?"
Simone took a deep breath, clearly trying to figure out how to phrase this question right. "How exactly did you, um, do the thing with your hair, eyes and stuff?"
I closed my eyes, trying to remember my mother's face, her voice. It didn't work; I couldn't recall either, not at all. But I could recall what she had told me, perfectly, because she had written it down for me, so I could look back on it later. "I'm three-quarters elf. One half is on my mother's side; she was a full-blooded elf, from the north. She seemed to know something was different about me from the start. She had given up her immortality to be with my father, who loved her same as she loved him. But it wasn't enough, I guess, to protect me. She contacted her old clan and asked her father to bless me, so that I would be strong enough to face the coming challenges. I remember his face quite clearly, even from the one time I saw him until a few weeks before I was Marked. He was in the field by Hogsmeade, walking around, almost as if he were waiting for me. I shouldn't have recognized him; the only other time I had seen him was as a newborn baby, when he blessed me with one quarter Elven magic. He told me of a pause, for lack of a better word, in terrible times. He said the second time would be worse, but there would be a third, and I would only help a tad. Then he told me not to worry, I'd be back.
"And, of course, there's this. Well, most of the time, glamours can hide it, but in cases of severe emotion, they come undone. I don't think my hair or features will ever be hidden again, but I think my eyes should return to normal as soon as I calm down some."
I opened my eyes again, ready for the panic attack, or the telling me I needed help, there was no way I was part Elf, they didn't even exist. But instead, Dragon spoke, grinning the entire time. "First, I want to tell you how incredibly kick-arse this is, to be able to say I know an Elf. Second, do you speak Elvish?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Or, Ai, pai." (Yes, I do)
Dragon's grin spread even wider, causing him to look somewhat deranged. Everyone else looked simply confused.
I smiled at the others. "Ai mael Aelor baesia shaer, thyr." (I speak Elvish very well, fools.)
Dragon decided to take pity on them and translated. "All she said was 'Yes, I do.' And then, when you all didn't realize, she insulted you. And I quote, 'I speak Elvish very well, fools.' Do you deny it, olo?" (Youngling)
I narrowed my eyes, deciding to test his skills as an Elvin translator. "Si ter ser o sai shaer, thys Ai shyr baelaes ailer thol. Or tal." (They must trust you too well, for I would never insult friends. Old man)
He took a step closer to me. "Be more wary of whom you decide to insult, olo, because most Elvin courts would have you killed, descendant of royalty or not."(Youngling)
I breathed out softly. "O cyrn tia kalaraes, Pandryl!" (You know my grandfather, Dragon!)
He chuckled slightly, grabbing me in a fierce hug. "Ci mael cor jhyli eil cor shor thys os sia cadolaer, paes olo." (He sends his love and his wish for your true happiness, dear youngling)
Simone cleared her throat. "I hate to interrupt, but none of us have a clue what either of you are saying. Not to mention we need to get this threatening Anastasia business dealt with." She looked into my eyes. "Your eyes are very light now. What does that mean?"
I smiled brightly, trying to distract everyone from the new language. Derrick would most likely want to learn, and I wouldn't be able to teach him, since I didn't know how I knew how to speak it. "It just means I'm happy. Or, more accurately, very happy; I'm usually in a good mood, so they stay regular violet most of the time."
Derrick, as suspected, spoke up. "Can you teach me how to speak Elvish?! Please oh, please, oh, please?!"
I sighed, not wanting to see the look on his face when I told him I wouldn't be able to. "I'm sorry Derrick, but I don't think that I'll be able to teach you how to speak Elvish; I don't even know how I know how, no one taught me."
He nodded, clearly considering any other options. He turned to face Dragon abruptly. "Can you teach me how to speak Elvish? You're clearly very eloquent with the language." The Twins made identical sounds of annoyance and cluelessness, and Sheryl began to reach for her purse.
"Eloquent;extremely fluent in speech or writing. Honestly, I thought everyone used that word, since, you know, it's very smooth flowing and soft on the tongue."
Derrick looked like he might cry. "Oh thank you Nyx for sending me a friend who shall be a grammar and vocabulary Nazi with me for the rest of our days!" He cried out as he hugged me tightly, pretending to sob into my shoulder. "You know something; you have the soul of a poet, Anastasia, you really do."
Simone sighed. "Alright, we're not getting anywhere we need to. Anastasia, who threatened you and why?"
I sighed and sat back down, preparing to be scolded for lying. "I think Clara and Professor Drake might be sleeping together. I don't have any standing evidence yet, but she made some subtle innuendos about, um, 'study sessions' or something like that. She said that he saw me and thought I was cute, and that he'd like to get to know me. When I said I doubted I would ever need his help, she shrugged it off and told me she didn't want a roommate anyhow, it just interfered with her plans.
"Then, when the four of us, as in Derrick, Sheryl, Elise and I were coming to visit Dragon due to the lack of coffee here, Professor Drake showed up. He asked me if Clara had left yet. I got a little smart-alec-y, as is my nature and he said 'Be careful, little girl, or you may end up getting hurt. Just know that even with your talent, if I want you, I will have you. Have a nice evening.' Then he walked up the dorm room stairs, presumably to see Clara. They didn't know about the first part until just now, though," I added, jerking my thumb at my three stunned friends.
Simone let out a sound that resembled a growl and started pacing. "I'm sorry, Lenobia, I should have heeded your advice when you said not to hire him three years ago. Now we have a case of threatened assault and a forbidden relationship between a student and a teacher. This is going to cause trouble, but without evidence, we cannot fire Drake."
I trembled for a moment, realizing what that meant; I would still be in danger, he could still get to me. And the realization was made even worse when I suddenly acknowledged that we were just blatantly using his name. "Pas! He can find out we're discussing him quite easily, we need a code name or something." (Damn!)
Elise suddenly smiled evilly. "How about we call him Professor Pimp?" (K-Chan and I started calling Loren Blake that, simply because we cannot agree on how to pronounce his name)
I started giggling, and suddenly couldn't stop, causing everyone else to join in with me. Suddenly, a knock at the door silenced us. "Helloooo? Everyone is looking for you guys and I thought I heard the new one say something about visiting you, Dragon."
Then, without bothering to wait for an answer, Professor Drake stepped in, a rather flushed Clara at his side. "Tal Ai caes cos, Pandryl?" (Can I hex him, Dragon?"
He struggled with a smile for a moment, finally succeeding before he answered back, in Elvish. "Bai, ialyselaraelia, o talyr, olo; Ai eidylyndroji." (No, unfortunately, you cannot, youngling; I apologize.)
I sighed, deciding to go for the dramatic affect of getting something in return. Or maybe that was just the Slytherin Affect. "Pai Ai kaer tyri?" (Do I get coffee?)
He groaned, because he had apparently realized what he had just walked into; let me hex him or give me coffee: both were no-no's, but the second was less likely to get me transferred somewhere else. "Or, o kaer tyri." (Yes, you get coffee.)
Just then, everything went black and I collapsed amid screams of pain and shouts of laughter.
