A/N: There are a lot of changes in this chapter, as set up by the last chapter. Please make sure to read the changes in both this and chapter 9 before continuing, as not doing so will most likely cause you to be confused with the story line. Thank you and enjoy.
UPDATED 11/16/12: I know a lot of you were confused as to why the Moon Island Foursome were at the same and common room based on my last round of updates. The explanation for this was that I had uploaded all the new chapters up to 9, and chapter 10 had yet to be updated and so did not reflect the changes from the revised chapter 9. I apologize for the confusion this may have caused, especially since it's been left that way for so long. You can now see that chapter 10 will include the changes made from previous chapters. Also, in case you're ever wondering again, I post the date in which a chapter was uploaded/updated at the end of it, so you'll know in future whether a chapter has been updated with the rest or not. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Ten: Acquaintances
Harry and his friends were the first to get up from their tables when dessert was over. They headed for the doors to exit the Great Hall, but were stopped midway by a girl with bushy brown hair and a shiny gold badge pinned to her robes.
"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger." The girl introduced herself to the quartet. The four looked surprised at the unexpected introduction and just stood there.
"I already know who you are of course," Hermione continued. "I'm Head Girl and also a member of Gryffindor house. If any of you have any questions concerning the school then you're welcome to ask me.
"Celena, Blake, and Mizuki is it?" Hermione questioned the two girls and Blake, but didn't give them time to confirm.
"If you follow your prefects—those are the people wearing the gold badges with your individual house insignias—they will lead you to your proper common rooms. I hope you will enjoy your stay here at Hogwarts." Hermione then turned away from them and towards Harry.
"Since you are in Gryffindor, you can follow me to our common room. It's right this way."
The girl then turned and started walking away obviously expecting Harry to follow her and the other three to do as she said. Harry turned to his friends with a quirked eyebrow, shaking his head at the odd girl. Blake shrugged at the girl's antics with a smile on his face.
"Guess we'll talk later?" Mizuki said, giggling a little.
"Yeah." Harry replied.
Harry waved goodbye, then turned and followed the bushy haired girl, leaving his friends to meet their own housemates.
Hermione led him up many twisting stairways and through a few corridors before arriving at a dead end. On the wall before them was a portrait of a large woman. The portrait, like all of those at Hogwarts, was a moving one and as the two approached the woman talked to them.
"Password dearies?" The woman in the painting asked.
Hermione walked up to the portrait then turned back to Harry. "This is the Fat Lady," she said. "She guards the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. You'll need the password to enter and the password this week is 'Phoenix fire'."
"Correct." Responded the Fat Lady as her portrait swung forward, revealing the Gryffindor common room.
Hermione led Harry through the portrait hole. They entered the common room and Harry looked around for the first time. There were plush sofas sitting in front of a fire, study tables at different intervals around the room, large windows showing a view of the school grounds below, and two sets of staircases on either side of the room. Everything was decked out in either red or gold, and there were a few banners spread about the walls of the room.
"Welcome to Gryffindor Tower." Hermione said to Harry with a large smile. "This is the common room, where you can do your homework and study, come to sit by the fire and read a book, or just lounge about with friends while you talk about classes or upcoming exams."
Harry could tell that Hermione was very into her studies. The only thing she sounded like she used the common room for was studying and homework.
"The stairs on either side lead to the dormitories." Hermione continued. "The girls are on the right, boys on the left. The sign on the door will indicate which year each dorm is. You, of course, will be in the seventh year dorms.
"There is no wandering the castle after hours, the Forbidden Forest, as I'm sure you can guess by the name, is forbidden, and classes start tomorrow. If you have any questions or need help with anything, you can ask me anytime. If that's all for now, I'll leave you to get settled in." Hermione finished with another smile.
"Thank you for your time and courtesy. I'm sure I'll be fine from here." Harry gave Hermione a grin, making the girl blush a little before she replied that it was no problem and made her way up the staircase to the girl's dormitories.
A few people were starting to trickle into the common room, finally making their way from the Great Hall. It wasn't very late, but many were heading up to their dorms in preparation for the first day of classes in the morning
Harry climbed the steps to the boy's dormitories until he reached the top, where there were seven doors that had signs indicating which year was sleeping there on them. He walked to the end of the hall, reaching the seventh year dorm and entered.
It seemed that his short tour with Hermione had allowed time for more people than he'd thought to return to the tower, since his dorm mates were already present.
"And then she sa…" Josh Potter was just discussing something with five of the other inhabitants of the seventh year boy's dormitory. He stopped mid-sentence as Harry entered. He looked around the room quickly, observing the six four-poster beds spread about with a trunk at the foot of each, the several posters on the walls, and the five boys standing before him. The boy that Harry least wanted to speak with was the first to introduce himself.
Josh Potter walked forward, extending his hand in greeting, a polite smile on his face. "Hi, I'm Josh Potter, nice to meet you."
Harry looked at the boy in front of him. He was the same as he remembered, just with height and a few years added to him. He had straight, neatly trimmed, fire-red hair, chestnut eyes, a smile that mirrored his fathers, and of course, a slightly 'J' shaped scar on his forehead. Harry could tell Josh was starting to feel a bit nervous from Harry's lack of response. Harry decided to play it cool and not give away how he truly felt for the boy he once called 'brother'.
"Donovan Andrew, and the pleasure is all mine." Harry responded with a flawless, yet forced smile. He was then introduced to Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Ron Weasley. Harry paused for the slightest second when he came to Ron. He quickly sized up the brother of his girlfriend. The boy had shaggy Weasley red hair, crystal blue eyes, and a smile that Harry recognized— one he had seen practically everyday for the past eleven years.
After the introductions were over Neville pointed Harry to his bed. Harry walked over and pretended to get ready for bed. He had to talk to his friends later and wanted his dorm mates to think he would be in bed sleeping. He occupied himself with unpacking his things, ignoring the others in the room. This didn't stop them from talking to him though.
"So Donovan, where did you say you came from again?" Ron asked him.
Harry suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He of course had never mentioned where he came from, and didn't like that Ron was nosing into his business, but he knew that his dorm mates would be curious about why he and his friends had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in their seventh year, and so decided to humor the bunch.
"I was actually born here in Europe, Scotland to be exact," Harry decided to tell a partial truth, "But my parents decided to move when I was a small child. I lived in a small village just outside of Europe for most of my life, but there was pressing business here that demanded that my family and I return."
"Well if that's the case, then why did those other three come too? You don't have the same last names and you don't look alike, so I'm assuming you aren't related, unless you were adopted?" Neville asked him.
Harry grinned inwardly. Neville just didn't know how right he was as far as that adoption bit went. "Actually, we all moved together. Celena, Blake, Mizuki, and I all grew up together. Our parents are in the same profession you see, so we've known each other practically our whole lives."
"Oh." was all Neville said in reply.
"Well as fascinating as this has been, I'm going to have to say goodnight. I'm a bit tired from the trip you see, so I will see you all tomorrow." Harry said this as he pulled back the curtains of his four-poster.
The other five boys bid him goodnight in echoes of 'Night Donovan', before continuing the conversation that Harry had first walked in on quietly.
Harry sat on his bed quietly, feigning sleep. He waited until the other occupants of the room finally settled down and departed to their individual beds. When he heard light breathing and snores surrounding him, indicating that the other boys were asleep, Harry quietly removed himself from his bed and exited the dorm room.
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After bidding goodbye to her boyfriend and her best friends, Ginny made her way down the winding pathways to the dungeons, following a group of Slytherins in front of her. A lot of the girls in the house continued their glaring campaign from earlier. The boys were gawking at her as she walked past them.
After a few minutes, the line of Slytherins finally stopped. They were standing in front of a wall with two lanterns spaced a few feet apart from each other. This wall looked the same as the others except for a section where the stone was lighter than in other places and a small snake was carved. The prefect at the front of the line gave the password to the small snake: "Dragons Blood"
The section of wall slid back revealing a walkway into what was obviously the Slytherin common room. As Ginny stepped into the room she looked at her surroundings in obvious distaste. She was in a low-ceilinged room with greenish lights glowing from a few corners and a fire that seemed to exude very little heat burning in the fireplace. There were a few dark green sofas scattered about, and chairs with skull patterns next to low tables with similar patterns. There were two openings on either side of the room that obviously led to the dormitories.
'No wonder the Slytherins have such a bad reputation.' Ginny thought to herself as she took in her dreary surroundings. 'Anyone would start to develop a less than pleasant demeanor if they had to live in here all the time.'
As Ginny was taking in her surroundings she felt someone coming up close behind her. She turned around just as a boy with a pointed face and platinum blonde hair was reaching to grab her bum. The boy stopped, surprised that Ginny had turned around and caught him.
"Can I help you?" Ginny stated sarcastically, glaring at the blonde and the two hulking boys who were standing behind him like body guards.
"Yes, as a matter of fact you can." The boy answered smirking. "And I intend to help you. Seeing as you're new here, I've decided to take it upon myself to show you around. You know, get you acquainted with the castle."
"Oh really?" Ginny replied, arching an eyebrow in disbelief (a habit she had picked up from her boyfriend).
"Yes, really." The boy and his goons walked a bit closer now. "The first stop on our tour will be the many wonderful broom closets and empty classrooms that Hogwarts has to offer. And if you're lucky, we may make a special visit to my bed." The boy and his guard were all smirking evilly now…well the blonde one was—the other two looked as though they were trying to swallow lemons.
Ginny stopped herself from punching the obnoxious blonde. She decided to play with him a little first. She moved closer and ran her hand along his arm. This obviously had the desired effect, as the boy and his cronies got big, arrogant smiles on their faces and Ginny could see the lust building in the blonde's eyes.
"And by what name do I call my guide?" Ginny asked, her voice a bit more husky and seductive. The boy audibly gulped at her tone.
"M-Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." The boy answered with a slight frown, as though Ginny should already know who he was, though the lust he was obviously feeling didn't allow him to get indignant.
"Well Malfoy," She said with forceful inflection on his name, using the hand that had previously been running along his arm to grip his wrist painfully tight. "I think it's you who will be learning something here tonight."
"YOW!" Malfoy let out a small cry of pain as Ginny held his wrist in a vice tight grip. Crabbe and Goyle bumbled forward to try to help their leader as Malfoy tried using his other hand to release the girl's hold on him.
"Ah ah ah" Ginny said teasingly, revealing her other hand with her wand pointed right at Malfoys crotch. "I wouldn't try anything if you value the continuance of your family line." She warned.
"STOP!" Malfoy half shouted to his cronies, all the while holding his other hand up in complacence. He held a look of both fear and loathing on his face as he stood, helpless, under the red-head's control.
"The first lesson is: Being a sleaze gets you nowhere." Ginny said, making a pointed gesture with her wand, which was still aimed at Malfoy's lower half.
"The second is: Never underestimate your intended prey." Here, she tightened her grip on him a bit more, to which the boy let out a slight whimper.
"Lastly—and I'm sure you'll remember this for days to come: Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk." She let go of his wrist, pushing him back into Crabbe and Goyle who both just stood there oafishly as the blonde boy stumbled.
By now, a small crowd of Slytherins had gathered around, at first wondering what the commotion in their common room was, and now observing to see how their self-appointed leader would handle the situation with the new girl. They didn't interfere of course—that would be very un-Slytherin of them.
Malfoy looked incensed as he stood there, red-faced and delicately holding onto his rapidly bruising wrist.
"You filthy little whore!" Malfoy spat vehemently. "You have no idea what you've just done! You obviously need to learn a little Slytherin etiquette and realize who's in charge around here. In future, you'll learn to take care of who you decide to anger." Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles menacingly at the blonde's words.
Ginny met Draco's eyes and, to his dismay, let out a laugh.
"No Malfoy, I think you will find that things will be very different this year." She said, smirking. "And I'd be careful of who I went around name-calling if I were you. You never know what kind of repercussions your words could have."
With that said, Ginny turned around and made her way through the parting crowd, headed to her dorm room. All the while Draco Malfoy glared at her retreating form. A girl who had facial features rather like a pug ran up to him, taking hold of his wrist in what she thought was a tender way.
"Ouch!" Draco yelped a bit, as his attention was pulled to the girl next to him. "Pansy!, what.."
"Shh! My poor Drakey. Now now, don't you worry dear. We'll take care of that stupid little wench." The girl—Pansy—glared hatefully in the direction that Ginny had left. "She'll soon know the price of messing with us."
Draco rolled his eyes at the girl's antics and use of the word "us". But he allowed himself to smirk a little. After all, Pansy was the new girl's dorm mate, and when it came to revenge, Pansy was dedicated to getting her way. He supposed he could take more of her annoying—and somewhat painful—doting, so long as his goal of getting back at the new girl was achieved.
Meanwhile, Ginny had made her way to the 7th year girls dormitory and found her trunk at the foot of the bed closest to the wall on the right-hand side of the room. As she was unpacking some of her things a female voice interrupted her.
"You're either really brave, or really stupid. Neither are traits of a Slytherin."
Turning around Ginny saw a girl with shoulder length blonde hair and icy blue eyes, leaning against the entrance to the dorm. Although her statement seemed to imply some arrogance, the girl had a carefully blank look upon her face.
"I don't know," Ginny replied, crossing her arms, "Those two thugs hanging around like body guards behind that Malfoy bloke seemed less than brilliant in my opinion. As a matter of fact, that whole lot seemed rather dim witted. Your standards for Slytherin may be a bit misjudged. "
If the blond was offended by Ginny's comment, she didn't show it.
"It's true, some…unlikely individuals have somehow made their way into this house. But still, I'd be careful around Malfoy if I were you. Not only does he have powerful Daddy Lucius to run to when his ego's been deflated, but Draco has a very twisted mind of his own and he, unlike the buffoons he hangs around, is actually intelligent enough to use it to his advantage."
"Thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to watch my back here."
"Good." The blonde nodded offhandedly. "I must admit though, it was quite entertaining to watch Malfoy and his goons get shone up for once. Seems the only ones who ever stand up to them are Potter and his group. Maybe this will stop Draco from prancing around like the Prince of Slytherin for at least a few days." A small smirk graced the blonde's face. She walked over to the bed next to Ginny's, pulled out some night clothes from the trunk at the end of the bed and opened her bed hangings. Before shutting them she looked over her shoulder at Ginny.
"I'm Daphne by the way. Daphne Greengrass." The girl then turned back and shut her hangings without another word.
Ginny stood there for a moment more, shaking her head slightly at the blonde girl's antics, before continuing with her unpacking. She had quite a story to tell the others later.
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As his friends departed, Blake looked around to see if he could locate one of the Ravenclaw prefects that that Hermione girl had mentioned, to help lead him to his new home. As he was looking, he suddenly felt someone tap him on the shoulder from behind. Turning around, he saw a short, platinum blonde haired girl standing there. He was sure that she was not there a moment ago, and was somewhat surprised at the girl's ability to sneak up on him.
"Hello there." The small girl greeted him airily. Her expression seemed mildly dazed and far-away, her eyes wide and her smile soft and subtle.
"Erm, hi there." Blake replied rather inelegantly. He smiled awkwardly back at the small girl.
The girl tilted her head to the side as she studied Blake. Blake stood there confused as the blond assessed him.
"Erm…" He began.
"I never knew wargs had such pretty eyes" the girl cut him off rather offhandedly.
"W-what?" The girl still had the dazed look on her face and her smile didn't falter. Blake wondered if the girl was on some kind of potions. What she said did concern him, however. 'Warg' was another name for—
"I said you have very beautiful eyes." She cut into his thought process. "Those three others do as well. I always expected wargs would have a more menacing look about them. But you all seem very docile, as magical creatures go." The girl said all this quite simply, in her airy tone, as if discussing the weather or some other such mundane topic.
"I-I…What?..How?.." Blake trailed off, speechless. His eyes were bugged out in disbelief at the girl before him, and he couldn't think of any rational response to her statements. Altogether, the small blond girl had completely stunned and disarmed him with just a few sentences, and she didn't even need magic to do so.
"Luna, what are you doing to the new guy?" A brown haired boy of average height was walking over. He had a golden badge pinned to his chest, so Blake assumed that the boy must be a prefect.
Thank the Godess, Blake thought to himself. 'I don't know how this could have gotten any more awkward, but I'm sure this girl could have found a way.'
"I'm simply informing him that I think his eyes are quite beautiful. And he's much nicer than I would have thought. Most creatures are nicer than we think when we get to know them though."
The brunette boy had reached them and he glanced at the dazed girl with a somewhat fretful expression, though he didn't seem much surprised by her behavior.
"Right. Well we should all be heading to the common room now and I have to show Blake here how to get there, so let's get going." The boy took a moment to stretch out his hand for Blake to shake, while introducing himself.
"My name is Terry Boot. I'm one of your fellow Ravenclaw housemates, and also Head Boy this year." Blake shook the boy's hand and offered him a smile.
"Blake Conan, though I suppose you already knew that." The other boy nodded and gestured toward the blond beside them, who was now staring dreamily off into the distance. Blake now noticed that she seemed to be wearing radishes as earrings.
"You've already met Luna Lovegood, another member of our house." Terry frowned slightly as he glanced briefly at the girl. "I can introduce you to the others up in the common room." That said, he started heading out the doorway, Blake following close behind, and Luna trailing dreamily afterward.
As they made their way through halls and up the shifting staircases, Terry informed Blake of many of the things he would encounter at Hogwarts, as far as classes, teachers, and fellow students went. He noted a few interesting objects such as portraits of importance or known shortcuts as they passed by them. Blake paid rapt attention as the older boy talked. Although he already knew many of these things from his reading of Hogwarts: A History, he felt it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some firsthand information from someone who had already been attending the school for six years.
Terry led the trio up to the fifth floor, and then further up a tightly winding spiral staircase that led to a single door with a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle.
"This is the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room" Terry explained to Blake. "Unlike the other house common rooms, which require passwords to open, our house requires the use of our wits." At this point, the Head Boy reached out and lightly thumped the knocker.
"Good evening students, fine time for a riddle." A voice spoke to them. Looking closely, Blake could see the eagle's beak moving as it spoke.
"My life can be measured in hours. I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick. Fat, I am slow. Wind is my foe." Its riddle done, the knocker sat silent, waiting for an answer.
Smiling, Terry turned to Blake. "Want to take a crack at it?"
"Sure." Blake nodded, smiling back. He loved riddles. He took a moment to review what the knocker had said, before smiling wider. "Got it! You're a candle."
"Quite right. What an intelligent young lad." The knocker complimented before the door swung open, revealing the Ravenclaw common room.
"Good job." Terry said, leading the other two into the room. "As you can tell, we Ravenclaws put a high value on intelligence, and we like to sharpen our minds at any opportunity. Our founder, Rowena, wanted to make sure only those with the brightest minds would make a home in her tower."
As they entered, Blake's grey eyes scanned the room in quiet delight. Ravenclaw Tower was wide and circular; it's common room decorated in the blue and bronze colors Ravenclaw was known for. The carpet was midnight blue, and decorated with stars, much like the ones painted onto the big, domed ceiling above them. There were large, arched windows that provided a spectacular view of the mountains beyond the castle's walls.
Bookcases lined the walls of the room, and there were tables and chairs spread about where the students could study and chat together in small groups. Directly opposite the entrance, Blake could see another door, of which he knew from his readings led to the dormitories. Beside the door was a plinth upon which stood the life-sized white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw wearing her famous diadem.
Terry briefly showed him places of note in the common room, like where the message board was located, before leading him to the door to the dormitories. Luna had wandered off trough the passage as soon as they'd entered the passage. She'd left them with a wave and a few words: "Goodnight, I hope the gloomikins don't bite!" before running off to her dorm room.
Terry had shaken his head at her exit. "Luna is…eccentric. Don't mind her."
Now, the two boys walked up the small set of stairs found on the right after entering through the door—the way which Terry said led to the boys' dormitories. At the top was a short hall with several doors along it. Terry left Blake at the one that said '7th Years', explaining that his own Head Boy dorm was a few doors over. Wishing Blake a goodnight, Terry had then departed, leaving the black haired boy to meet his new year-mates on his own.
On the other side Blake found a modest room of the same coloring as the rest of the house, with six beds arranged along the walls, trunks at the end of them. There were a couple a bookshelves as well as a wide bay window, giving a brilliant view of the night sky.
There were five boys sitting around chatting, while getting prepared for bed as Blake entered. Making quick introductions Blake found that his dorm mates were Michael Corner, Stephen Cornfoot, Kevin Entwhistle, Anthony Goldstein, and Morag MacDougal. After answering the expected questions of where he had come from and so forth, Blake bid goodnight the others as they all entered their individual beds and pulled their hangings.
He took the time to reflect over the people he had met thus far, and smiled with the anticipation of learning more about this foreign world. When he was sure his dorm mates were all sound asleep, he slipped out of the room, eager to share his first night's experience with his friends.
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"Welcome to Hogwarts, and to Hufflepuff House." A girl with blond pigtails smiled warmly at Mizuki as she held out her hand. "My name is Hannah Abbott and I am one of the prefects for our house."
"Hi, I'm Mizuki Haward" Mizuki replied brightly, shaking the other girls' hand. The blond seemed friendly, and the Moon-islander was happy to start getting acquainted with the occupants of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Nice to meet you."
"It's rather interesting to have exchange students coming in. Especially four at a time. That's something that we haven't seen here at Hogwarts yet." The prefect seemed as though she wanted to ask more, but was either too polite or too shy to pry.
"Yeah, our parents work in the same field and we all grew up together." Mizuki replied with a smile. She knew she would get questioners about her and her friends' odd arrival, but they had all already decided what they would tell anyone who asked. It was the same story that Headmaster Dumbledore had received: Their parents were involved in a secret research and defense program and had been abroad so many years working on several different breakthroughs in wizarding development. Now, with the dark lord back and a new war started, their parents had been called back to Europe, and their children had to be enrolled in Hogwarts to complete their education while the parents worked with the ministry to help the war effort.
"We just hope we'll be able to quickly adjust and find our way around here."
"Well I hope that your transition goes well and that I can help with any questions you or your other friends may have." Hannah replied kindly. "If you'd like to follow me and my friends here, we can lead you to our common room."
"Sure thing." Mizuki was then introduced to Hannah's best friend and fellow prefect, Ernie Macmillan—a blond boy who seemed nice but kind of full of himself—and Susan Bones, a girl with a firm handshake and red hair plaited down her back.
As the group exited the Great Hall, they went to the right of the main staircase in the Entrance Hall and descended down a different stairwell. As they walked, Mizuki asked the other students about their interests and what fun there was to have at Hogwarts. Hannah and Ernie gushed about their chocolate frog card collections, and Susan informed her of the various clubs there were around, as well as quidditch.
Mizuki had always been the most forward of her friends, thus she had no problem keeping up conversation and blending in with the Hogwarts bunch. Two others—Justin Finch-Fletchley and Megan Jones—joined them as they made their way down the staircase. Megan was a part of the Hufflepuff quidditch team, and Mizuki struck up a conversation with the girl about what she thought their chances for the season were. At the end of the staircase was a single still life painting on a wall.
"This is the entrance to our common rooms," Ernie told her. "The painting opens up when we give it the right password. Our current password is 'humble wumble'."
As Ernie said the words, the painting slid across the wall to reveal the entrance to the Hufflepuff common rooms. Mizuki was shocked by the amount of yellow she saw all around. It made sense, as yellow and black were their house colors, but it was still a lot to take in.
'No wonder everyone here has such a cheery disposition.' She thought to herself. 'Hard to be angry with such bright surroundings all the time.'
There were plush looking armchairs placed all around the room, along with plenty of tables and a fireplace. Hannah and Ernie gave Mizuki a brief tour and introduced her to some other Hufflepuffs while the others went to say hello to some other friends before heading to their own dormitories to get ready for bed.
After saying goodnight to Ernie, Hannah led Mizuki to a small staircase on the left side of the common room that led downwards. They came to a room with several tunnels leading down into what Mizuki presumed were the girls dormitories. Each tunnel had round tops, like a barrel and had a number by them, indicating which year belonged to which tunnel. She followed Hannah through the one labeled '7', and soon entered a cozy circular room with four beds.
At the foot of each bed were the girls' individual trunks, and the bedding and walls kept with the theme of yellow and black—the walls and linens being a butter yellow, while the hangings were black. There were no windows, as they were down beneath the school at this location, but there were portraits of beautiful valleys and rolling hills dotted with wild flowers and brilliantly blue skies lining the walls.
Mizuki stayed up for a while longer chatting and laughing with her new dorm mates, and as they all finally decided to retire to their individual beds, she had a bright smile on her face.
'I think I'll have some fun here.'
She waited until she heard the other three girls asleep before she left to meet up with her friends.
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Blake was the first arrive within the shadows of the Entrance Hall. There were a few prefects and professors on patrol in the halls but they were easy enough to sneak pass using his senses and stealth training. He waited in the darkness for his friends to join him.
Harry was there within a few minutes, greeting the younger boy with a nod.
"Looks like we're left waiting for the girls once again." Harry joked, rolling his eyes. Blake chuckled and shook his head.
"No surprises there." The two boys waited in silence, until Mizuki joined them minutes later, slipping through the shadows without a sound.
"Hey guys." The girl said brightly. Harry arched an eyebrow in wonder at her apparent excitement.
"Having a good time there Zu?" He asked the older girl. She shrugged , still smiling.
"What can I say? These folks are kind of nice."
"Nice enough to hex." Came the response from Ginny out of nowhere. She joined the trio in the darkness, an unreadable look upon her face.
"There you are." Harry said. "What's wrong?" He took hold of the red-head's hand, trying to read the problem in his girlfriend's expression. She shook her head slightly.
"Nothing I can't handle. Though I will say I may not make it through this term without putting most of that house in the hospital wing." Harry frowned, but Mizuki just laughed.
"That bad huh?" Ginny rolled her eyes and blew out a puff of air.
"What do you say we head out for some fresh air to discuss things?" Blake suggested while gesturing towards the doorway leading outside. The others nodded their agreement and headed out to walk under the stars.
The stars shone brightly in the night sky, reflecting off the great lake, making shine with an ethereal glow in the darkness. The quartet headed towards a stand of trees near the entrance to the Forbidden Forest.
"Nice forest they have here" Mizuki commented lightly.
Harry nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this will definitely make things easier."
"So" He continued after a few moments, "How're things looking?" The group stopped, leaning against the trees so they could report their individual findings.
"Well, like I said, I think these folks are rather nice. The Hufflepuffs at least" Mizuki responded first, with a smile. "I fit in pretty smoothly with my house-mates, and seemed to accept me without a problem."
Harry nodded, looking to Blake for his own assessment of the Ravenclaw house.
"The Ravenclaw house as a whole seem an intelligent bunch, no surprises there. They were helpful, but overall maybe a bit stuck up. There is this one concern…"The boy trailed off, unsure of how to bring up his odd encounter earlier.
"What is it?" Ginny asked? Harry was looking at him in rapt attention.
"Well. There was this girl." Blake started.
Mizuki let out a giggle. "Ooo, Blakies got a crush!" She exclaimed, poking the subject of her outburst in the shoulder.
Swatting the older girl's hand away, Blake replied with consternation "It's nothing like that!" He glared daggers at Mizuki for a moment before continuing. "It's just this girl, she was very odd. And she said something. She said I have very pretty eyes,"—here Mizuki cut in with another laugh—"for a warg." Blake continued forcefully. Mizuki stopped laughing abruptly. Harry had a deep frown on his face and Ginny looked equally concerned.
"How could she even know that name?" Ginny inquired.
"I don't know. Her whole demeanor caught me off guard. She said she hoped the Grumpikins didn't bite as she waved good night…not to mention the radishes…" The last part was mumbled.
Harry's frown was now spotted with confusion. "What in the world is a Grumpikin?" He asked.
"You're asking the wrong guy." Blake replied. "Apparently, Luna is known to be eccentric. I just don't know how she could have come up with the name warg like she did."
"Luna, huh?" Mizuki commented. "Interesting name." The others nodded their agreement.
"I say we keep an eye on her. It's unlikely she's any real threat, but better safe than sorry, yeah?" Harry was in Commander mode. It was obvious the information about the Ravenclaw girl unsettled him a bit.
"Right." Blake responded. "I'll keep her in my radar, and maybe try to dig deeper and see if she actually knows anything." Harry nodded, before looking to Ginny.
The unreadable look appeared on the girls face again. "Well, I can say that Slytherin definitely keeps to its reputation."
The other three were staring at her, waiting for her to continue. "What does that mean?" Mizuki finally asked her.
"It's filled with stuck up jerks who think they own the place, is what."
"What happened?" Harry's voice carried a bit of an edge in it.
Ginny squeezed her boyfriend's hand gently, giving him a small smile to ease the tension. "Like I said, nothing I couldn't handle. Some git named Malfoy thought he would assert his dominance. I taught him otherwise." Harry was still frowning slightly, but the corners of his mouth were turned in as if wanting to smile. He knew all too well what his girlfriend was capable of, and if she had taught this Malfoy bloke a lesson like she said she did, he imagined there would be bruises involved for the other boy.
Ginny shrugged as she continued. "Nothing too surprising though. For the most part the house is full of entitled snobs. There was one girl though, Daphne Greengrass, who seemed to not fall into the status quo." The others nodded, making note of the name as someone to look out for as a potential ally here at Hogwarts. "I may have potentially knocked over the hornet's nest though. Seems Malfoy and his thugs have a following and don't take embarrassment well. I may have some fires to put out, we'll see." The red-head seemed unconcerned with the possibility of Malfoy trying to retaliate.
"If he gives you any kind of trouble we'll take care of him, Troublesome Foursome style." Mizuki said, grinning. The others grinned wolfishly along with her. It had been some time since they had played a good prank.
Harry sighed before giving his own report. "Not much to tell about the Gryffindors. The Head Girl seems a bit of a control freak, but nice enough. My year mates were understandably guarded with a new guy in their midst, but equally inquisitive…and nosy." Harry rolled his eyes at what the others assumed was some memory from earlier.
Ginny looked at her boyfriend intensely for a moment, trying to gauge his thoughts through his facial expression, but he wasn't letting anything show. He hadn't mentioned anything specifically about his brother, and she worried how he might really be feeling about the reality of living with the boy again for the first time in eleven years. She also secretly wondered what kind of reception her own brother had given. She was interested to know what kind of person he had grown into.
Not elaborating any further about the Gryffindors, Harry continued. "I think it's pretty easy to tell that the houses are really divided. Maybe the first night isn't enough to get a really good idea of the extent, but I say we take notes over the next week and try to see what we can find out.
"Mizuki and Blake, it seems you too have already made some good impressions in your houses, so just keep talking to people and building those relationships." The younger boy and older girl nodded their understanding.
"Ginny, see if you can find out more about this Malfoy and his group, and try to see if the Greengrass girl will be a helpful ally after all." The red head agreed. " I'll make my way in with the Gryffindors and try to find out the situation around here from their perspective.
"And let's not forget that we need to find out more about the war itself as well. I know several of the students have family members and contacts on both sides of this thing. We need to find out who supports who, and what Dumbledore is up to. I know the Potters will be involved in this in some way, so we'll need intel on them as well."
It was the first time Harry had mentioned the Potters directly, and the others could see his expression sour as the name crossed his lips. None of them was particularly looking forward to this part of the mission. With Josh being the believed Boy who Lived, he and his parents were integral parts in the war effort for the side of light. In order to gain more vital insight into the war, the group would have to find out more about the Potters, which undoubtedly meant talking to them more at some point. Ginny gave Harry's hand another squeeze, to which he responded with a short nod to let her know he was alright.
"If that's everything for tonight, let's head back." The quartet made their way back up to the castle and back to the shadows of the entrance hall. "I'll see you guys in the morning." Blake and Mizuki waved their goodbyes before slipping through the shadows back to their individual common rooms, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.
Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry's waist, laying her head on his shoulder. He responded in kind, wrapping his arms around her and leaning back against the castle wall.
"Are you alright?" She asked after a few moments. Harry sighed deeply, which Ginny could hear pass through him as she felt his chest rise and fall.
"Yeah. I suppose it hasn't really hit me yet. It's nothing like I thought it would be, coming back." He twisted a piece of her long hair between his fingers idly.
"What did you expect?" She looked up at him with questioning eyes.
He shrugged. "I don't really know. I guess I didn't expect thing to be so…normal. The people just seem to be living their normal daily lives, and that just seems so weird. Josh…he seems like some normal teenager. Not at all what I expected from the Boy Who Lived." Harry chuckled darkly.
"Yeah, I suppose normal is kind of weird." She hadn't gotten to see much of her own older brother, though she knew he was in Harry's year and house.
"What about you?" Harry asked her then. "You have your own past here as well."
"I don't know. I haven't really gotten to even seen Ron tonight, much less talk to him, so I don't know what to think yet." She relayed what she had just been thinking.
"I met him briefly earlier. He seemed pretty normal too…bit nosy though." Ginny giggled at that last part.
"This whole thing is so surreal, isn't it?" She asked him, looking into his beautiful eyes. "Being back here, so many years later. Everything is different for us, but for them it's just all status quo."
"Yeah it's definitely going to take some adjusting to." He sighed. "We'll worry about our mission first and try to deal with the other things as they come along, alright?"
"Sounds like a plan." Ginny responded, grinning up at him. Harry bent down and placed a light kiss on her lips, smiling at the contact before unwrapping his arms from around her.
"We should call it a night. We have some exploring to do in the morning before training."
Ginny rolled her eyes at her boyfriend playfully. "You're such a slave driver" she teased. Harry chuckled before kissing her one more time. The two went their separate ways to get some sleep before their first day back in the wizarding world.
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POSTED: 11/16/12