Disclaimer: It aint mine.
Hiaaaa! How ARE you guys?
Good?
That's good!
Anyways! Thanks SmallLittleReader, WildRose22 and Poisonous mist for the travelling ideas! They helped alot! Also Thanks Poisinous mist, Hanna and SmallLittleReader for your reviews! (Sorry if I missed you out. I love you all.) As requested I will do Beauxbatons as a mixed school. The next question is Durmstrang... mixed or boys? I'll probably do mixed, but even in the book I don't think there were too many girls. So yeah! Review what you think! On to chapter 8!
Chapter 8: Rehearsals(Rose's POV)
Lessons continued as normal for the next two weeks, but noone could really concentrate. Talk of the Triwizard tournament was everywhere and the teachers gave up trying to teach the uncooperative students much. Most lessons even the teachers joined in on the tournament talk.
All the quidditch-lovers were nervous. They all wanted to be chosen from the Goblet of Fire. Which had been modified to suit the new tournaments needs. It now picked out the best quidditch players from each school. It chose the the keeper first. The beaters, then the chasers and lastly the seeker. The school would choose their team's captian by popular vote. And the captain would kind of take the role of the champion. Photo shoots, other things, etc. The money would be shared out between the winning team.
There were also bets going round, about who would get chosen as the Hogwarts team. They had been forbidden by Professor McGonagall but thanks to Fred, Roxy and James, she would never find out.
I had been very much in on the talk. Being keeper for the Gryffindors, I stood a highish chance at being chosen. But unluckily for me, the Ravenclaw and Slytherin keepers were extremely good too.
I was excited. But I couldn't stop myself from feeling guilty about being excited. I shouldn't be excited about something Hugo and Louis and Dean and Frank and all those pupils would miss out on just because of a cruel twist of fate. I couldn't help imagining Hugo's excited face, planning out a training programme so that by the time we left, he'd be the best in the school. Or how Frank and Lucy would sit together at meals, despite their different houses. And talk and talk about what the different schools would be like.
Or how Louis would drown everyone in his constant chatter about his plans to whoo the french girls with the impeccable French that his mother had taught him.
Or how Dean would just be excited to actually go to France. As it had been a priority of his ever since I introduced to him the muggle idea of a 'bucket-list'. A list that now, he might never complete.
Shut up Rose.
It was two weeks after the sorting feast on a Sunday morning. I was eating my cereal as Dom sat down opposite me. Her eyes shining and her excited smile dazzling.
"Well someone woke up on the right side of the bed." Announced James, earning an unusual beam from Dom."Well. I just found out about something called the 'Yule ball'." Dom grinned, and at our puzzled faces, explained."It's a tradition that goes with the Triwizard tournament. And couples go to the ball and dance together. My mother told me after I owled her about the tournament. She also said she was a champion in the last Triwizard tournament!"
"Coool!" Breathed Fred, his attention finally gained by the conversation.
"Did she win!?" Exclaimed Benny, listening as intently as always.
"No... Uncle Harry won." Said Dom slowly, frowning slightly. Lily and James dropped the spoons.
"What! Why wouldn't he tell us!" Cried James in dismay.
"Yeah. Plus in the olden days, winning these things earned eternal glory! I read about it. How come they never talk about 'Harry Potter, Triwizard champion.'?" Asked Lily.
"Because, Lil, they're too busy talking about 'Harry Potter, the boy who killed Voldemort.' or 'Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.'" Fred explained. Everyone gave their agreement with thoughtful silence.
"Well anyways. Hopefully me or Lil will be the captain then win this thing. Then we can carry on the Potter Legacy." James grinned.
"What about Al?" I asked round my cereal. Lily pulled a face.
"I miss Al..." She said, no-one answered my question.
"Good morning children!" Professor McGonagall called from the front of the hall, everyone fell silent. As you know, in just over a week we will be headed to Beauxbatons," - there was a cheer - "but first, there is the matter of how we are going to get there, and our entrance ceremony when we get there." Mumbling noises voiced the confusion of the pupils, but I stayed silent, waiting for the next bit of the sentence. "Now, I know you won't like it, but there will be rehearsals. We must do our best to repay Beauxbatons for there hospitality. Rehearsals will be on Monday. Then we will leave on the Wednesday. We will be getting there by the Hogwarts express, which will go over land AND sea to get there. It will be a long journey as we cant apparate with so many of you. And flooing would risk some off you going astray."/
Professor McGonagall fell silent, letting the information sink in. There were groans and complaints, that I assumed were aimed towards the 'rehearsals' mixed in with woops and cheers, coming from the reinstated excitement towards the trip.
"Oh, and also," Professor McGonagall began again, "no lessons this week." There was a loud cheer and Dom turned to us, grinning.
"This... is going to be so awesome."
Yes… it was. So why wasn't Dean there to see it?
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It was Monday morning, and you know what that meant? Because I certainly did.
Yeah, I have one word for you: rehearsals.
I hated that word. It just sounded so... performancey. I wasn't very good at performing. No way could I sing, my dancing looked more like a drunk caterpillar at a wedding and acting? I just burst out laughing whenever I tried to act.
Nope, seriously, that bad.
I hoped I would just have to walk around looking welcoming. You know, because anything else I tried would be disastrous. Unless I read about it and practised it... possibly. I could learn in a week, but I wouldn't have time...
Seriously Rose, you think too much.
I guess it was knowledge. To me, knowledge was the ultimate power. With knowledge, you could sway a whole country, no! A whole nation. Or even, the world. And if I didn't know about something, it was a weakness. And if I didn't know about something before it happened to me, then that was the scariest thing of all.
I wasn't a power crazy psychopath. I just, needed power so that people didn't squash me like a bug. Not power to rule, to own, to take away free will. But power to persuade. And you did need knowledge for that. Knowledge to me, was power. Power to get my voice heard.
I probably clung to it more than necassary, but I wanted knowledge and power. So that, when I did come to try persuade, people didn't listen and agree because of a famous name and a familiar face. They actually agreed with me.
And, maybe the name could help a bit.
"Oh I know that look! Rose! Stop thinking so hard." Dom's strong voice cut through my thoughts. She was standing in the middle of the room and pulling her school skirt on. U
"If Rose didn't think, then she wouldn't be Rose." Alice smiled from the bed next to me. "And we love Rose." There was the Alice that would back me up no matter what.
"Yes, well 'we' -we being my stomach and I- also love food, so hurry up and come with me to breakfast." Dom threw my school uniform at me. I dragged it off of my face and then clambered out of bed.
"Why do we even have to wear uniform. It's only rehearsals." I complained as I pulled my shirt on and did my tie up. Dom shrugs.
"Don't ask me! But I don't really mind." She twirled her hair around her finger and grinned. "It's but a small price to pay for the Yule Ball." And then she skipped off to breakfast, Alice and I exchanging looks but right behind her.
The hall was buzzing with chatter. Excitable, grumpy, I couldn't tell. But it was too early to be loud. I reached my spot on the Gryffindor table and sat down quickly. I piled a whole mountain of egg, bacon, sausage and beans onto my plate, but I couldn't bring myself to eat... which didn't usually happen.
"They better not make me dance." James muttered gloomily, slurping his cereal.
"I don't know James, I think you would suit a tutu." Roxy pondered, squinting as if imagining James doing ballet. Fred was doing the same until he seemed to reach a conclusion.
"He would definitely suit a tutu, maybe pink... gold. And a tiara." He said thoughtfully. Benny burst into laughter. Alice and Dom let on amused smiles whilst I sat staring at my full plate.
"Uh oh. This is bad." My head snapped up to James, to see what he was talking about, but he was looking directly at me. I frowned my confusion as Fred and Roxy clutched their hearts, Dom and Lily gasped. Alice just looked at me in sympathy.
"What? I don't understand?" Benny asked.
Well said Benny, well said.
"Rose isn't eating." Explained Fred.
"And we ALL know what that means." James continued.
"Rose had been possessed!" Roxy finished, her eyes widening for dramatic effect and her voice building volume for tension. Peole looked around as Roxy half-yelled the last word and I shrunk into my seat in embarrassment.
"Rose! You haven't been writing in a diary that writes back recently, have you?" Lily asks. "Because that's what my mum did and it made her do wweeeeiirrrdd things." She says, her eyes innocently wide. I knew they were trying to make me feel better. And it was working.
"Honestly. I'm fine guys." I laugh. "Just worried what McGonagall will make us do to "impress" the other schools.
"Whatever it is I'm sure clothes will be able to stay ON. So you're fine." Fred remarked at my worried face. Which quickly turned to a scowl as I threw baked beans at him.
He just laughed and shook beans and sauce out of his hair.
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"Equality, History and co-operation." Were the words McGonnagal had used to describe the entry we were practicing at the start if 'rehearsals'. So far we had been told what we were going to do. It was really simple, not very impressive in my eyes and... well... I don't know. I didn't like it, but I wasn't about to complain because it inlcuded two of the few things I was good at. Spells, and riding brooms. Apparently it was also a tradition. And I wasn't one to object to traditions.
Basically, it was planned that some people were going to walk into the Beauxbatons hall and some were going to run and some fly. I guess it meant 'not matter how different people are Hogwarts accepts all.' The equality part.
The choir were going in first. The older singers using a useful little spell to throw their voices, and the younger ones just singing. The song was the Hogwarts song. Next everyone else went in. And everyone would be using a spell that could form animal any colour the caster desired. They were translucent though, and more like mist than solid. A bit like a patronus. Anyways, everyone would cast one of these as the house animal in their house colours. Red and gold lions, green and silver snakes, blue and bronze eagles and yellow and black badgers. That was probably the history part. I don't know. And another equality part.
Then everyone would go to the front of the hall and stand there. Brooms would zoom off and the animals would meet up and create the Hogwarts emblem and blaze for a few seconds. Then we would make way for the Durmstrangs.
It wasn't beautiful and graceful and simple like the Beauxbatons. It wasn't intimidating and mysterious like the Durmstrangs. It was busy, and crowded, and wild, and different. Just like Hogwarts and it's students.
I was one of the people flying in. Along with James, Fred, Roxanne, Lily and Al. And.. Scorpius. I don't know why I noticed that.
Dom and Benny were walking in and Alice was running in. And Frank and Lucy were in the choir.
As I did summersault after summersault on my broom at the top of the great hall, watching people swarm around below me and my red and gold lion saumersault with me, I finally let myself get excited.
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I woke up Tuesday morning to the scratching sound of a quill on parchment. It was coming from Dom's four-poster and it sounded like she was hurrying.
I slid out of bed as silently as possibly, I didn't know why, but I felt like I shouldn't let her hear me. So I tiptoed over to her bed, and, holding my breath, tore back the marroon hangings.
Dom squeaked and hastily made to shove a peice of parchment under her pillow. I snatched at it, spilling her bottle of ink in the proccess. The black ink began spreading through the sheet but we didn't pay attention to it. Dom snatched the parchment and hugged it against her chest. But I saw the name. Bartolv.
Know I may of never heard the name before, but I was clever enough to work out that it was a boys name. And what's more, I was clever enough to work out that it was a boy she had never actually met before.
"Who's Bartolv?" I asked her, my tone disapproving. Like a mothers.
"None of your business." She replied with venom, but I had known she was going to say that. So instead of retaliating with more anger, I shrugged.
"That's fine, if you want me to go tell James and Fred that you're owling a boy you've never met before." And I started towards the door. Dom eeked quietly, grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
"Ok fine I'll tell you." She sighs and I plop down onto her bed. "A year or so ago, I got an owl out of nowhere, it was addressed to a girl. Dont know who, confusing name. But the owl had obviously gotten confused and come to me. It was a very old owl. Anyway, so I owled back, apologising and telling him how his owl must've gotten mixed up. He owled back, also apologising and asking me about myself. And... it continued from there. It turned out he's 14 like us! He goes to Durmstrang and we are practically dating!" She finishes with a beam on her face, obviously excited to finally be telling someone.
"What does he say he looks like?" I asked, hoping the doubt wasn't written all over my face. I didn't think Bartolv was the Bartolv he claimed to be.
"Oh! He has blonde hair and blue eyes and he sounds totally dreamy." She says, getting a mystified look in her eyes. My doubts were only growing.
"Welll... he's really good at quidditch and apparently people think he will be playing for world cup teams one day. And when I told him about Louis he told me he lost a younger brother to Pixie pox too." She smiled absent mindendly. I mmmed slightly, to seem interested. Which I was, just not in the way she probably hoped. Then I snatched up the peice of paper and ran as fast as I could fir the common room.
Our feet thumped on the wooden stairs as we ran down the stairs, I could hear her frustrated shrieks behind me as she demanded I stop, but I didn't. Not until I jumped past the armchairs and tossed the letter into the already-burning fireplace.
"Rose!" Dom screamed, I heard other footsteps that notified me of more people.
"You need to take of your rose-tinted glasses Dom. He's a Phony! He's probably some creep who sits in the darkest corner of Durmstrang writing to gullable girls like you." I told her, I didn't shout though. When she found out I was right she wouls be humiliated enough without everyone knowing about it.
"Rose-tinted glasses? My brother as good as died and you still think I think the world is perfect. Well Rose, you need to take of your Rose-tinted glasses. Not everything is the way you think it is. There is more to this world than what you think.
"I see the world how I think it is because what I think is right." I retaliate, she gasps in disbelief.
"Your hatred has made you far too suspicous. Not everyone is the next Voldemort Rose." And with that she stalked off, the small crowd that had gathered cleared the way without question. Then returned their gazes to me.
Then the onlookers parted once again and Fred and James pushed their way through.
"Rose? What happened?" James asked. I contemplated not telling them, but I was just so angry that I felt like Dom deserved it.
"Dom's been owling a random dude she doesn't know all year. And from what I've heard I'm pretty sure he's a fake." I tell them, before pushing past them and marching off. Glaring at any eyes that met mine.