Sorry I haven't updated but life and work has been so crazy!!! So I hope you enjoy this next chapter and oh btw
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!
I stood between Roger and Cecelia, my arms resting on the cold stone frame of the bridge, as we awaited the arrival of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students. I sighed, watching my breath swirl up towards the gray sky.
"Where's Becky?" I asked, turning towards Cecelia.
"Dunno. The last time I saw her she was upstairs in the dorm, trying to get ready or something," she replied shrugging, as she pulled her blue knit hat low over her ears.
"Hmm," I replied, leaning back from the bridge wall and examining my scarf in attempt to appease my boredom.
The scarf was a deep indigo blue, trimmed with silver thread until it reached the bottom and formed a thick silver band that capped the ends of the scarf. At one end, the family crest was embroidery in the same silver thread; a coat of arms encircled by a snake. Above the crest was the family moto "veneratio pro vestri prosapia"—honor before thy family. I laughed to myself. Mother had taken that close to heart. My scrutiny of the scarf was interrupted as Roger's voice rang out of the cold silence.
"Look, just there!" He cried, signaling towards a blue speck that had appeared in the distance.
Cecelia turned her head in the direction of Roger gesture.
"Don't be silly, it's a bird Roger," she replied, shaking her head.
"It's too cold for birds thank you very much," He retorted, as if her response had been a blow to his pride.
I laughed.
"Aw don't take it too hard Roger," I laughed, inspecting the blue speck as it drew closer, "Besides Cecelia's wrong. It's not a bird, it's the Beauxbatons carriage."
Cecelia turned to me, an eyebrow raised.
"Are you telling me that's a carriage?"
Before I could answer, a loud neigh pierced the air. The 'bird' had traveled considerably closer to the bridge since Roger's first observation. You could now make out the blue boxy shape of the carriage and the great winged creatures pulling it closer to Hogwarts.
"It's a carriage," I said, "We used it for long distance travel when I went there. It seats about 100, 150."
"Impressive," Roger said.
"What's that pulling it?" Cecelia asked reluctantly, a small frown still painted on her face. Cecelia never seemed to appreciate being wrong.
"Horses. Great winged horses," I replied.
***
By now, the bridge had become filled with excited wide-eyed students, all eager to witness Beauxbatons' arrival. I heard several students gasp from as the winged horses drew close to the school and prepared to land. At last, the carriage touched down in a cleared stretch of grass by the lake. As soon as the horses' hooves met the ground, the great Durmstrang ship broke the still surface of the lake, capturing the attention of the school. It began sailing towards the school, its red and white banner billowing proudly in the wind.
"Why can't we be that impressive?" Roger muttered as the Durmstrang ship approached the shore.
"Because you're here Roger," I replied.
He laughed dryly, pretending to glare at me. Cecelia, laughing, linked arms with me.
"Come on let's go to the entrance hall," she said giddily, pulling me towards the school.
Since I had arrived at Hogwarts, I never saw Cecelia as excited as she was now—in fact, I didn't believe she could be that excited. We hurried towards the school, accompanied by the enthusiastic crowd eager to greet our newest arrivals.
"Can you recall the last time either school came to visit us?!" Cecelia all but squealed as we raced down the staircase.
"I don't believe I do. Nonetheless its still quite fascinating," I replied, feigning enthusiasm.
"No need to be so dreary Elizabeth," she said, slapping my arm playfully, "Besides, this will be one of the first times we get to meet other witches our age whom we don't know already."
"I went to Beauxbatons you know. They aren't all that great," I replied, rolling my eyes.
"Nonsense!" Cecelia cried in response, shaking her head as if she were addressing a foolish child. She quickened her pace as we reached the last corridor before the entrance hall. Roger, following closely behind us, was forced to jog.
"By all means, go by your own extensive experience," I muttered under my breath as we arrived in the entrance hall. We began to make our way through the crowd towards the arriving students when a loud voice called out behind us.
"Ms. Fredrichs! Ms. Selenes!"
I turned around to see Dippet's short bald figure waddling toward us.
"Professor Dippet," Cecelia said turning around to face Dippet, her face falling slightly.
"Sir," I replied, nodding curtly.
"A word with you both in my office. I have something important to tell you both."
Cecelia groaned while I tried to suppress my frustration. Must he meet with us now? I forced a smile. With a final gesture, Dippet turned back and headed towards the crowded staircase, Cecelia and I grumbling closely behind him. He led us to his office on the sixth floor, coming to a stop before the great stone griffin that guarded his office.
"Ah, here we are ladies," he squeaked, waddling towards the door, "Pumpernickle."
The griffin groaned once before bounding to life, spiraling upwards and revealing a hidden staircase.
"Follow me," Dippet beckoned starting up the reached the top of the staircase and Dippet pushed open the carved wooden door to his office. We weren't alone. Abraxas Malfoy stood, leaning on the front of the desk, his arms crossed in front of his chest. His pale blue eyes were blank as they stared forward at us, uninterested. Seated in a chair across from him was Sally Belisle, a freckled seventh year from Hufflepuff, to whom I was introduced to by Cecelia. Across from her in an identical chair was Arius Black, a seventh year Slytherin. Though I hadn't seen him since school began, I recognized him from one of my parent's many parties. His blue eyes briefly flickered toward us as we entered.
"Girls, please have a seat," Dippet said, gesturing to the room before him. Cecelia settled for the arm of Sally's chair, while I headed towards Dippet's chair behind his desk—the only free chair. Just as I reached for its worn leather back, the chair and its occupant swiveled to face me.
"Good afternoon Lizzie," Tom said, giving me a smug smirk. He stood up arrogantly from the chair, offering it to me. I forced a smile and sat down in the chair, immediately turning my attention to Dippet. Tom stood behind me, his hands clasped at his back.
"Well now that I have you all here and seated, I would like to tell you all congratulations!"
Dippet's exclamation met silence. I glanced over at Cecelia, who shrugged in response.
"Don't all talk at once," Dippet said, in what I presumed as a failed effort to make a joke. He chortled to himself slowly until his laugh finally died.
"Fine then, let's get to business. I have hand selected you all to be the tour guides and hosts for our visitors," he began, his voice considerably less enthusiastic.
"And so you've chosen six students to lead around three hundred or so visitors," Arius cut in, his dark brows raised as he eyed Dippet cynically, "That's convenient."
"Well, not exactly," Dippet began slowly, as if struggling to find the right words, "You see, it's only a handful of…"
"Ah, I understand. You've chosen us to personally welcome the few students who are actually of any importance," Arius retorted, his pale eyes fixed on Dippet. "Delightful."
"Well it's not quite…" Dippet stuttered, waving his hands in front of himself, "That's besides the point Airius,"
"Arius," he corrected arrogantly, lounging back in his chair. No wonder my mother liked the Black family so well.
"Arius," Dippet repeated, "my apologies. I guess I'll just get to the point now then, eh? Twenty or so students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang have been divvied up between you six. I have the lists here. You will take it with you to the Great Hall and find your students."
Dippet walked towards his desk, picking up a stack of parchment.
"Ms. Belisle," he called out, pulling out a list and handing it to Sally.
"Mr. Malfoy," he said offering a sheet to Abraxas who snatched unenthusiastically from his hand.
"Selenes, Ms. Selenes."
Cecelia stepped forward, thanking Dippet as she took the sheet.
"Ms. Fredrichs."
As I made to stand up in my chair, Tom reached forward and took the list from Dippet, handing it to me with a smirk.
"So kind of you Mr. Riddle," Dippet said, fumbling with the papers and handing one to Tom. "Here you are my boy."
"Ah, Mr. Black," Dippet said sighing and handing the last sheet to Arius, who made no attempt to reach for it until Dippet had made his way across the room to hand it to him.
I looked down at the three names scrawled on my list:
Anthony Calanthe, Durmstang
Arthur Batilden, Durmstrang
Angelina Bodelyn, Beauxbatons
Great, two guys and one girl. I sighed. Could be worst. At least I'd gotten along with Angelina during my time at Beauxbatons.I looked over at Cecelia. She too was busy reviewing her list, her spectacles balanced on the tip of her nose.
"Now then," Dippet exclaimed in a loud voice, causing Sally to jump in her chair, "Off with you all to the meeting hall. I stood up quickly, walking as quick as I could towards the door.
"How many do you have on your list?" Cecelia asked as we left through the door and down the staircase.
"I have three, you?"
"Same here," she replied, nodding. When she reached the end of the corridor, she stopped, turning to me with a broad grin on her face.
"Race you down to the entrance hall."
***
After several minutes of racing down staircases, across corridors, and maneuvering through an impossibly large crowd, I arrived panting in the entrance hall; Cecelia arriving just seconds behind me.
"You...win..." She panted as we slowly made our way through the crowd of black robed students towards the courtyard. As we moved closer to the center of the crowd, I caught the flashes of the blood red and powder blue uniforms of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
"That must be them," Cecelia said, gesturing towards a group of students standing apart from the rest of the crowd. We headed towards them, pushing slowly through the crowd of students.
"Lizzie, dear, is that you?" A soft voice drawled.
I recognized Caroline Backley, the daughter of Magistrate Backley, amongst the Beauxbatons students in the group before us.
"Caroline," I replied, smiling at her. She was a trip. Because of my father's connection with her father, I had known her from quite some time. She always seemed to like me, however, her kindness always seemed exaggerated. I was probably one of the few people she knew who could stand in her presence without a burning desire to become her. Nonetheless, I approached her and gave her a hug.
"How are you darling? I haven't seen you in ages. No one's heard about you since you left Beauxbatons," She said, pulling away from me and holding me by my shoulders.
"My father had me transferred here."
"Can you do that?" She asked, raising a dark brow.
"My father had connections with Dippet," I replied smiling back at her.
"Of course. I should've known. What can't we do when our fathers have connections like ours?" She smiled at me again before pulling me into another hug. "So good to see you dear."
Using the break in the conversation, I stepped back and gestured to Cecelia.
"Cecelia Selenes, Caroline Backley. Caroline, Cecelia."
Caroline took a step forward, tucking her dark red hair behind her ear before extending a hand to Cecelia.
"A Pleasure."
Cecelia shook her hand, forcing a smile.
"I believe I am your tour guide while you're here Caroline. Dippet assigned you to me earlier this afternoon."
Caroline smirked as she eyed Cecelia beadily.
"Delightful."
Sensing a tension growing between the two, I held up my own list.
"Which reminds me, I have three buddy I need to find," I glanced down at my list, "
Anthony Calanthe, Angelina Bodelyn, and Arthur Batilden."
Caroline laughed.
"Oh god, you have Angelina?" She laughed again.
"Yes I do," I retorted, "Do you know where she is?"
Through her laughter she pointed towards another group of girls. Shouldering past her, Cecelia at my side, I made my way towards Angelina.
She was standing with her back to me, her long black hair falling pin straight to her waist from under her blue hat.
"Angelina?"
She turned sharply, staring at me with wide brown eyes.
"Leezee?"
She threw her arms around my neck.
"O Leezee! 'Ow I've meesed you. 'eet's not been the same wit'out you at school! 'Ow 'ave you been?"
I laughed, pulling away from her slowly.
"I'm good. I ended up transferring here, but that a long story I'll explain to you later."
She nodded excitedly.
"Oh my goodness 'eet's so cold! I'm here waiting for my buddy. Do you know her?"
I laughed again, nodding my head.
"I'm your buddy."
Angelina clapped her hands together happily.
"Quelle joie! I'm so 'appy ! Am I your only buddy?"
I shook my head.
"I have two more—two guys from Durmstrang. Speaking of which I have to go find them…"
I turned so I faced Cecelia and Angelina.
"Let's hurry so we can get out of the cold."
The two nodded. I turned my back to them and began to make my way towards the red robed group of Durmstrang students—the only group who did not seem to care about the cold. As I walked closer, I noticed some even looked comfortable in the weather. I tapped on the shoulder of a tall dark-haired Durmstrang student.
"Excuse, I'm looking for Arthur Batilden and Anth…."
Before I could finish, a large pasty straw haired boy standing next to me flung his arms over my shoulders."
"Batilden. Arthur Batilden," he said, his sticky breath blowing across my face. He spoke with a strong Cockney accent. "You must be my buddy for the week than, eh?"
I nodded, shrugging his arm off.
"Yes," reluctantly, "I am."
"What's your name then, deary?"
"Lizzie," I replied, taking a step back from him.
" 'S a pretty name."
I managed to turn my mouth upwards into a smirk.
"Who we got here?" he said, looking past me at Angelina and Cecelia.
"That's my friend Cecelia Selenes and my friend and other buddy, Angelina."
He shouldered past me to stand in front of them.
"Pleasure." His beady eyes turned towards Angelina. "Imagine that, we get to spend the whole week together, eh love?"
Angelina was silent.
I made my way back in front of Arthur.
"I'm looking for another buddy," I started, looking back at my list.
Arthur looked hopeful.
"From Durmstrang."
He face fell.
"Anthony Calanthe. Do you know him?"
Arthur's rosy cheeks faded. He blinked twice.
"Are you sure that's him?"
I handed the list to him. He read over it, before shoving it back to me quickly. He backed up and gestured towards a huddle of Durmstrang students standing away from the rest of the group.
" 'e's over there," he said.
Exchanging a glance with both Cecelia and Angelina, I began walking in the direction of Arthur's pudgy finger. As I approached them, I realized they were busy conversing in a language other than English.
"Anthony?" I called out.
The conversation stopped. The boy closest to me turned around, staring down his long nose at me, before moving away.
The boy I presumed to be Anthony stood leaning against the wall of the school. His dark golden hair was long, curling down to his collar and falling low into his eyes. Even leaning against the wall, I could tell he was tall, much taller than me. He was incredibly handsome.
"Yes?" He said in a low voice. I expected him to have an accent but alas, he spoke with a perfect English accent. He stared up at me and his eyes met mine. They were hazel, an intense golden hazel, as compared to the common hazel which consisted of dull browns and greens. More than that, those eyes seemed so familiar to me, though I knew I had never seen the boy before
I stepped forward.
"I'm Lizzie Fredrichs. I was assigned to you while you're here."
He stood up and sauntered towards me. As he did so, I noticed the boys around him made an effort to stay out of his way.
"Pleasure to me you Lizzie," he said, taking my hand.
The buzz of students around me seemed to fade into silence. His stared at me again, tilting his head slightly.
"Your father, he works in the ministry does he not?"
I nodded slowly. Anthony simply shrugged and stepped closer to me.
"So where are we of to now Lizzie?" He purred looking down at me with a smirk etched across his handsome face.
"Well, I assume we should make our way into the school."
He nodded slowly and turned back to his group. His said something I did not understand, but from its tone I took to be an order.
"After you Lizzie."
I nodded slowly and headed back to where Cecelia, Arthur, and Angelina were, only to find Cecelia gone. Arthur all but squeaked as I approached, Anthony following behind me.
"Arthur," he drawled.
Arthur squeaked again and averted his eyes. What was up between Anthony and Arthur? Angelina spoke up.
"Cecelia left to find 'er buddies."
I nodded.
"Alright then," I said, pulling my scarf tighter around my neck. Let's hurry in before we freeze to death."
We attempted to head towards the school, but within a few moments I realized it would take much longer than I expected.
"Anthony, what language were you speaking?" I asked, attempting to end the silence that had enveloped my group.
"German," he replied, smiling down at me.
"Ah. Did you learn German at school?"
He shook his curly head.
"My family's German."
I nodded, turning back to face Arthur.
"What about you Arthur. Where are you from?"
He shrugged, shooting a cursory glance at Anthony.
"Me mum's English. So's me dad. Grew up in east London. Been at Durmstrang since I was a boy."
I nodded as we finally stepped into the warm entrance hall.
"Well then, I guess I show you all where you all will be staying. Beauxbatons is staying on the floor below in the Hufflepuff house, while Durmstrang is staying up in the towers with the Gryffindor House."
"What 'ouse are you een?" Angelina asked.
"Gryffindor," I replied.
She frowned. I recognized a trace of joy on Arthur face. Anthony regarded me with his bright hazel eyes, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Well let's go," I said, heading towards the stairs which led to the Hufflepuff House. Whether it was instinct or an outlying force that compelled me to, I am not sure, but as we began our descent to the basement, I looked up at the grand staircase. There he was, staring back at me, his green eyes shining. For the briefest second his eyes met mine, before I was swept under the low stone archway of the stairwell. Despite the crowded confusion of the hallways, I managed to arrive in front of the Hufflepuff house.
"Here we are Angelina," I said, gesturing to the large portrait that served as an entranceway into the common room.
She nodded, stepping forward to push on the portrait.
" 'Ow do you get in?"
Hadn't thought of that.
"I'm not quite sure…"
I looked up to see Sally Belisle shuffling down the hallway, leading a group of timid Beauxbatons girls.
"Sally!" I said rushing towards her.
"Lizzie," she replied in a timid voice.
"Will you do me a huge favor? I need someone to take Angelina here to her quarters in the Hufflepuff House. I would 'cept I can't get in. Could you do that for me?"
She nodded shakily. I stepped back, gesturing towards Angelina.
"Angelina, this is Sally. She's going to take you to your room in the Hufflepuff House, where you'll be staying for the next week."
She shook her head.
"I'm staying at a house with her?" She asked, pointing towards Sally.
"No, Angelina, you're staying here."
She shook her head again. I sighed.
"Tu resteras ici, dans la maison de Hufflepuff. Voici Sally Belisle. Elle sera ton guide pour le moment."
She nodded.
"D'accord," She said, nodding her head as she walked towards Sally.
"I will follow you."
Sally nodded shakily and turned towards the portrait.
"Now to the Gryffindor tower."
* * *
En route to the Gryffindor tower, Arthur managed to run off on the main floor, claiming he promised to meet his friend. From the Great Hall, Anthony and I made our way up to the towers.
"How did you end up at Durmstrang Anthony?"
He shrugged.
"My family wanted me there, so that's where I went."
"You're parents must have quite the reputation then," I replied jokingly.
He laughed, his voice ringing out into the corridor.
"Oh they do."
I stopped as we reached the portrait of a large fat lady clad in an absurd pink dress.
"Here we are Anthony."
He smiled down at me.
"Thank you Lizzie," he said slowly, turning to face me.
"It's really no problem Anthony."
He stepped towards me, smiling mischievously.
"You know you're a pretty girl Lizzie," He drawled, bringing his hand up and stroking my face softly.
I opened my mouth, but said nothing. There was nothing I could say.
"Anthony…"
He slowly took his hand away from face, staring at me with his bright hazel eyes. I turned towards the portrait, fumbled through my racing mind for the password. Ah, I remember now.
The pink land turned towards me, holding up her glass.
"Password my dear?"
I fought the twisting feeling in my stomach.
"Forbidden."
And the portrait swung open.