AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yup, I'm back! I am not going to apologise for the update rate (since you've probably forgotten me already). I'll try to squeeze in two more chapters these holidays, and I'll spend more time on editing. I didn't bother editing much before since I get little time on the computer, but yeah, it's been brought to my attention that my grammatical errors are quite frequent.
Oh and in reply to that review about my 'lingo'. Yes, my use of vocabulary is strange and I do call people by their last names sometimes. Guess that makes me an old person XD
One last thing before I leave you to read this.
This chapter isn't one of my best, but there are HEAVY hints in this chapter about the twist I'm making later in the story. Just to warn you again that I might be breaking the rules in the books.
Have fun reading AND REVIEW!
Pemet High School was filled with excited chatter of students. Each year group had been assigned a place to stay, before they were directed by a teacher to begin the Walkathon. Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the school and sought out their friends.
"Ah! There you are!" Eleanor exclaimed across the quad. She beckoned them over and they sat down. "Lawrence is late as usual, and Catalina had caught a ride with him this morning."
"Did you bring any food?" Tim asked, holding a bag of potato chips. Siobhan went through her bag.
"Hey, I bought a packet of- Tim! That was for later! What is wrong with you!" she scolded, snatching the potato chips away. James pulled an MP3 player out from his pocket and offered Ron a headphone. Ron gave him a puzzled look and James laughed.
"Oh. I forgot you lived in the secluded country," he said "this is an MP3. You listen to music on it." Ron accepted the headphone after a wary glance at Harry. "Siobhan's probably going to win that iPod for the fundraising prize. Maybe I should've made an effort too."
"Argh! When are we leaving!" Allen moaned, pacing around.
Lawrence popped up behind him. "We're second last. We won't get the good spots," Tim shrugged.
"Hey Catalina..." he started. Catalina grinned at him.
"Yes Timothy, I've brought the picnic mat, the Cola, some lollies and cookies. I'm sorry, but Callum stole the Pringles."
"Callum?" Hermione enquired.
"My brother," Lawrence replied. Mr Mason strode into the quad and blew his whistle. There was immediate silence, then the Year 7s gathered around the teacher.
"Take those earphones out of your ears Mr Li and Mr Weasley!" Mr Mason barked, "No one will be listening to portable music devices during the walk. It is for your own safety. There are only a few things to keep in mind. Mr Moab, I can see you. Stop trying to impersonate me. Anyway, as I was saying. You shall move efficiently at the pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. Keep in mind that you are not the only people in the world; other people use the footpaths. Be on your best behaviour, just because you are out of school uniform it does not mean you don't represent our school. You shall not take any detours; there will be teachers stationed at regular checkpoints to make sure you don't dawdle either. Stay in groups and try to keep up. Folllow Ms Allet now." Their math teacher waved and they went after her. Siobhan rolled her eyes.
"I think he should be teaching at a military camp, not a school," she commented.
"All sport teachers are like that though," Allen replied. They walked on as a group for a while, passing many people and chatting to other students. After crossing at two traffic lights, Ron sighed.
"I'm bored. How much further to go?"
Catalina giggled, "Ron, we haven't even made a kilometres distance, let alone ten!"
"What are we supposed to do for the next nine point whatever kilometres then?" Harry asked.
Eleanor's face lit up "We could tell horror stories..."
"Horror stories," James snorted.
"Well, why not?" Hermione shot back, "who wants to go first?"
"I will," Eleanor said smiling.
"Oh look what you've done Hermione," Tim groaned, "Eleanor's stories suck."
"They do not!" Eleanor muttered defensively. "Now shut up and let me start. Okay so there's like, this girl."
"Oh scary scary," Allen murmured sarcastically.
Eleanor ignored him. "She'd never been left alone in the house before. One night, her parents were attending some fancy function, so they told her to keep the dog in her room. If it licked her and it's tongue was warm, then everything was all right. But if it's tongue was cold, then something was wrong."
"That's gross," Siobhan said, wrinkling her nose.
"Well duh, horror stories are meant to be disgusting," Lawrence pointed out. "Like the House of Wax, and the Grudge, when she goes up to the attic and she sees all the bones-"
"Okay, we get the point," Eleanor said loudly, "let me continue. So the girl did what her parents told her to. She locked up the house before she went to bed. The dog licked her foot and it was warm. As she got into bed, she heard this dripping noise. So she got up to check all the taps. After she did that, she went back to bed. The dog licked her foot and it was warm. She tried to go to sleep, but she could still hear the drip, drip, drip. She got up again to check the house, but all the taps seemed fine. She returned to her room and the dog licked her foot. This time it was cold. Frightened, she turned on the light and-"
"AGHH!"
A few students and some random pedestrians turned to the source of the sound. Siobhan clutched at the back of her shirt and glared at Tim and James, who were trying to supress laughter. Mr Mason came running up to them.
"What's going on here Miss Hever? Did you hurt yourself?" he asked. Siobhan gave a weak smile to the teacher and the people who were staring.
"No Mr Mason. I... I thought I saw a spider," she responded. Mr Mason raised his eyebrows incredulously, then turned on his heel and muttered something about women and arachnaphobia. As soon as he was out of earshot, Siobhan turned on Tim and began whacking him with her bag.
"Gosh Siobhan," he said, grinning. "It was only cold water."
"You-" whack, "idiot-" whack, "that-scared-the-sh-"
"Come on Siobhan, it wasn't that bad," James said. She rounded on him and began delivering the same punishment she gave to Tim.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Hermione asked, biting her lip.
Catalina nodded, "Oh yes. Eleanor, please finish off the story."
"They've ruined the mood," Harry said, jerking his head towards Siobhan, Tim and James. Eleanor shrugged.
"Who cares," she said. "So where was I up to?"
"The girl turned on the light," Ron prompted.
"Oh yeah. So the girl turns on the light and gasps in horror. From the ceiling hangs the dog, its red blood steadily going drip, drip, drip onto the floor beside the girl's bed. The girl screams and turns around, then she sees what's on her mirror." Eleanor paused for maximum effect before continuing, "written in blood, the message, 'people can lick too, darling' was scrawled across the mirror."
"Then..." Lawrence urged on.
"Then what?" Eleanor queried.
"Then what happened? Did she get murdered? Did she get butchered?"
"I don't know," Eleanor replied. "So who wants to go next?" No one volunteered, so Eleanor told another story, then another.
"Gosh Elle," Allen moaned, "can you shut up now? That's already what, five stories?"
"Three," Hermione corrected.
"Whatever. It's getting boring."
Catalina shrugged, "You guys, we're moving too slow. Can we walk faster?" When no one answered, she let out a sigh and began power walking.
"Oi Catalina! Wait up!" Lawrence called, increasing his speed as well. Eleanor didn't seem to notice their departure.
"Ok, so what story should I tell next?" she asked, "the one about the haunted house or the wizards."
Ron's head snapped up, "Tell the one about the wizards." Eleanor nodded and immediately launched into another horror tale. Harry sighed and looked around, noticing that Siobhan, Tim and James were no where to be seen.
"Is Siobhan still bashing up the boys?" he asked.
"Probably," Hermione replied. "I better go check on them," she fell behind as Eleanor just went right on talking. A few of the other students had come to listen to her; they were taking up the pathway. Harry covered up a yawn and went ahead to join Catalina and Lawrence.
"Oh hi Harry," Catalina greeted as he drew up alongside them. They'd managed to put a fair distance behind them and the rest of the group, they were practically tailing the Year Nines. "Is Eleanor still telling stories?"
Harry smiled. "Yeah. She's attracted a bigger audience."
"Bet she's loving that," Lawrence murmured dryly. "I don't suppose you have any cool British horror stories to tell us?"
Harry thought of the mystery of the wizarding world and smiled, "No, not really."
"Shame," Catalina sighed, "the Woman in White horror story was pretty good."
"Oi! Retards!"
Harry looked behind for the person who'd called out, but there was no one there. He turned around again and almost jumped when he saw a tall boy in front of him, walking backwards.
"You're such a polite boy Callum," Catalina said icily. The boy grinned.
Lawrence coughed. "Harry, this is my older brother Callum."
"Pleased to meet you," Callum said, extending his hand. "It's wonderful to see you in the flesh Mr. Potter."
"Uh... you too," Harry replied.
Callum winked, "You really should come over some time. The rents would love to have a chat with you, so would Matt and Liam. And sometimes Catalina brings over the twins. I bet they'd love an autograph-"
"Shut up, Callum," Lawrence interrupted nonchalantly, but his brother didn't seem to have heard him.
"And your two friends can come over as well, Hermione and Ron. Those are their names, right? Catalina's been more talkative ever since you guys have arrived, it's Harry this, or Hermione that, or Ron's siblings are-"
"Callum, if you keep walking backwards, you're going to trip over some time," Catalina pointed out, "besides, you're slowing us down."
Callum rolled his eyes, "Gosh Cat, you're such a prude sometimes. Let me make up for 'slowing you down'." And with that, he picked her up bodily and started walking ahead. Harry glanced at Lawrence.
"Your brother seems like an... interesting person," he said a little awkwardly.
"Oh aye. Sorry about him," Lawrence apologised, "he freaks people out most of the time." They watched as Catalina beat her arms against Callum's back.
"You guys seem pretty close," Harry observed.
"Who? Callum and I? Mate, that's an insult."
"No, I mean your family and Catalina's."
A fleeting smile flashed across Lawrence's face. "Yeah. Our families are pretty close. Our mothers went to school together and everything. Catalina comes over all the time with Mickey and Jade. The twins."
"Put me down!" Catalina shrilled, "or I'll-"
"You'll what? Crack me over the head with one of your textbooks?" Callum baited.
"They don't really seem to get along though," Harry remarked.
Lawrence laughed, "That's an understatement. She's hated him ever since he taught the twins to say 'Catalina is a nerd'. Although, I do reckon Callum likes her." They walked on for a few minutes longer; Catalina stopped thrashing about and instead began sifting through the contents of Callum's bag without his awareness. She triumphantly pulled out the Pringles and his wallet.
"Hey look, she's saved our Pringles," Lawrence said. He held out his hands and Catalina threw the Pringles back. Lawrence quickly stuffed the food into his backpack and put on an innocent face.
"Geez woman, you're heavy," Callum said. He dropped Catalina onto the ground and turned, waving at Harry and his brother. "See you later bro! Nice meeting you Harry." Then he ran to overtake the Year Nines. Catalina stood, rubbing her backside.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked.
Catalina grinned in return and held up the wallet. "Yup. Hey Lawrence, here's the solution to your financial difficulties."
"And she was burned at the stake. They say you can hear her screams and wails in the night, and you know what? They never found her wand."
Eleanor's audience was silent, jumping at the teeniest sounds and merest movements. She'd been telling stories non stop and Ron was getting bored. The last story had been completely crazy.
"Muggles," he muttered, shaking his head. "Weirdest stereotypes of wizards."
"What did you say, Ron?" Eleanor asked.
"If she was a real witch, then she wouldn't have been burned," he said sceptically.
"Haven't you studied history at all?" Dana queried, "they burned witches."
"Yeah, and there were all those tests for witches. Like the ordeal by water and everything," Lisa added.
"Yeah, but if she was a real witch, she would've escaped," Ron insisted.
Allen shrugged, "Witches don't exist. Wizards don't exist. Eleanor's stories are all a load of crap."
"Tell another one!" Cassius called out. The rest of the students agreed and Eleanor beamed.
"All right. This one is really, really good. There was once an all powerful wizard named Lo-"
"Eleanor, why don't you just save it for camp?" Allen said, exasperated.
Eleanor frowned, "You're right, that one needs to be told at night. Ah well, I'll tell another one."
"Gosh, do we seriously have to endure this for the rest of the Walkathon?" Allen murmured to Ron. Ron nodded in agreement. If he had to listen to another strange, completely silly, muggle story about the magical world, he'd explode.
"I can't make it any further!"
"Siobhan, I'm sure that-"
"SHUT UP JAMES! MY FEET ARE KILLING ME!"
Tim passed Siobhan a bottle of water. "We're coming along the beach now. Law told me that that means we're close."
"Can't-make-it," Siobhan muttered. She buckled at the knees and Hermione winced.
"You guys, a littlte help here," she said, supporting Siobhan. "We can go find Mr Mason-"
"No! It's ok, I'm fine," Siobhan assured them. She began walking at an excruciatingly slow pace. She managed to walk another ten paces before collapsing again.
"Ok you guys, come on, help," Hermione said. Tim muttered something unintelligable, but went over to help. James sighed.
"We should get you running around the block in the morning or something Elle," he said, supporting her from the other side.
"Just shut up and let's go," she muttered.
Harry, Catalina and Lawrence reached the end of the Walkathon. There were seniors stamping the sponsorship cards, and random Year Twelves in strange costumes.
"Don't forget to enter the pie contest at one o'clock!" a senior girl said through a megaphone, "you can chuck pies at Mr Mason and the deputies!"
"Bet Siobhan would love to enter that," Lawrence said. "We better get these sponsorship cards stamped so we can get a good spot."
"Crap," Catalina muttered, looking through her bag. "Siobhan has my sponsorship card." She gave Harry and Lawrence an apologetic look. "Sorry guys, I'm going to have to wait for her. Go ahead and find a spot."
"Do you want me to bring the picnic mat?" Lawrence asked. Catalina nodded and proffered the rolled up mat.
"I can wait with you Catalina," Harry offered, "I'm still waiting on Ron and Hermione."
"Sure. Make sure you get a good spot and don't surrender the Pringles!" Catalina called to Lawrence. He grinned and went through the throng of students getting their cards stamped. Ten minutes later, Eleanor, Ron and Allen showed up with Eleanor's audience.
"Finally!" Allen exclaimed, running towards them. "She talked non stop for the whole thing."
"I had to listen to a morning full of stories of muggle views on wizards," Ron whispered to Harry.
"Those were really good," Dana told Eleanor.
"Thanks," she replied, grinning, "I think I'll stop now. But I'll have more ready for camp!"
"Thank goodness the boys and girls aren't in the same cabins," Allen muttered.
Harry looked around, "Hey Ron, where's Hermione?"
"I don't know. Last I saw, she went to catch up with Siobhan," Ron replied.
Catalina groaned, "Knowing Siobhan, she's probably going to be last. Lawrence has gone ahead, so you guys can go find him."
"Sure," Eleanor said cheerily, "come on Allen, let's go."
"I think I'll wait for Hermione," Ron said, standing next to Harry. After another fifteen minutes, the last of the group arrived. It was a little amusing to see Siobhan, red in the face and being supported by three people.
"Are you ok Siobh?" Catalina queried.
"You should be asking me that," James said. "When Lawrence said that coming along the beach meant that we were close, I thought he meant we were only a few metres away!"
"Food," Tim groaned, slumping to the ground. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Can you walk by yourself Siobhan? Ok, good," she headed over to the seniors who were stamping the cards. "So where is everyone else?"
"They went to find a good spot," Catalina answered, taking her sponsorship card from Siobhan's back pack. "Cheer up Siobh, there's the pie throwing contest and Mr Mason is a contestant."
Siobhan smirked, "Great."
They looked around for Lawrence, Allen and Eleanor. They found them sitting in the shade and sprawled across Catalina's picnic rug.
"Food!" Tim sighed, sinking to his knees and opening up the Pringles. They all sat down for a rest, except for Catalina, who threw off her shoes and headed down to the beach.
"How can you keep walking around after almost two hours straight of walking?" Siobhan asked.
"It's not everyday we get to see the beach," Catalina yelled back.
"Let's go check out the stalls," James said, beckoning for his friends to follow. Everyone got up except for Tim, who was devouring everything in sight. The seniors had set up a number of stalls and activities. There was a water slide, stalls with food, stalls selling jewellry and a fairy floss machine. After buying a few things and a go in the pie contest ("Oh yeah! Take that Mr Mason!" Siobhan screamed, right before Allen pied her in the face), they headed down to the beach and built a sand castle. All too soon, the day was over and they began boarding the bus.