Ch. 8
Yeah, Life has a funny way,
Of sneaking up on you.
And life has a funny, funny
way
Of helping you out,
Helping you out.
-Alanis Morissette. I know, it's a reiteration of the
song from Ch. 7, but it fits!!
Chibimoon
frowned as she struggled to push an adolescent mandrake into it's pot. Her
earmuffs were on, so she couldn't hear the obscenities it was yelling. She
could tell, however, from the equally obscene hand gestures it was making, what
it was trying to convey. Stuffing the insolent plant into it's pot, she reached
over and grabbed the next one. She turned and watched Jupiter struggling with
hers. The plant had aimed a very good kick at her and was currently running
around the table. Ernie MacMillian, Hannah Abbot and Sailorpluto all assisted
in trying to catch it. Jupiter eventually got the idea to perform a stunning
charm on the runaway mandrake, and order was restored.
The Hufflepuffs and
Gryffindors left the greenhouse smudged and dirty, and determined to avoid
Filch. Sailorjupiter had a predatory gleam in her eye.
"If I can get within good
distance of Mrs. Norris, I'm sure I can deal her a good one without her knowing
it was me. And my shoes are pretty pointy-toed," she said, hiking up her
robes to reveal her green lace-up boots. Sailormoon looked scandalised.
"No! Imagine if it were
Neko-chan!" She said, looking deeply hurt at the mere thought of it.
"Neko-chan," Hermione pointed
out. "Doesn't go around telling on kids who break a minor rule like no rude
language in the corridors!"
"Especially when one gets
their foot trodden on," Harry added, frowning. Sailormoon smiled.
"My Neko-chan would never do
that…I think I'll take her with me to Transfiguration."
"You mean you still have that
ridiculous cat?" a voice behind her said. She didn't turn.
"Hello, Malfoy."
"I turned mine back into a
chair the instant I had a chance," he said, sneering. Venus grinned.
"I don't believe yours
actually ever was a cat."
Malfoy flushed scarlet and
turned to Chibimoon.
"Ogenki desu ka?" he asked
her. Chibimoon blinked. Apparently Malfoy had been reading up on his Japanese.
She grinned. He wanted to pretend he understood her? Fine with her.
"Genki desu, baka-kun. Anata
wa kuso-atama, ne?" She asked with a devious grin.
Hermione, who really had been
studying Japanese in earnest, flushed scarlet at Chibimoon's words. Malfoy,
however, stupidly grinned.
"Un," he said proudly. "Ano,
nani kore?" he asked, looking at Chibimoon's brooch. She frowned.
"Kore wa watashi no Ginzuishou
yo. Henshin objecto wa."
Malfoy nodded knowingly. After
a moment, he smiled and kissed her hand.
"Ja ne, Chibimoon-sama."*
With that, he turned and
walked to the castle. Sailorpluto looked after him shrewdly.
"I wonder if he realises that
that made no sense at all?"
"What on earth is that cat
doing in my classroom?"
"I'm sorry Professor,"
Sailormoon said rather sheepishly. "She won't disturb the lesson, I'm sure."
"You see to it," Professor
McGonagall said quite sharply. "As a matter of fact, I think it would be better
if you turned it back into a chair for now."
"Ok," Sailormoon sighed. She
pointed her wand at the cat and began to mutter under her breath. As she
reached a crucial part of the spell, however, she sneezed. A small poof
sounded, and a yellowish smoke filled the air around Usagi. When she looked
down at her desk, she gasped. She hadn't turned Neko-chan into a chair at all.
Instead, she had turned her
orange.
Neko-chan was now a bright,
bright orange. The orange cat peered curiously at it's new fur colour and let
out a questioning "Mew?"
"Well, that was interesting,"
Sailormars mused as they left Professor McGonagall's classroom. She glanced at
Neko-chan, who was walking beside Sailormoon, mewing quite cheerfully. "I knew
you'd mess up sooner or later, Usagi."
Sailormoon froze, then turned
to her. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she hissed. Venus frowned.
"Sailormoon, we've got lunch,
remember?" she said, trying to distract Sailormoon.
"Only that you've never been
good at anything, and I knew your beginner's luck couldn't keep you good at
stuff here for long. You'll fall off of your broom before the match begins
Saturday," Mars answered smugly. Sailormoon started doing a slow boil.
"It's Chicken pot pie,
Sailormoon!" Chibimoon said desperately. Sailormoon didn't give them a moment's
notice, however, as she pulled out her wand and held it on Mars.
"You want to say that again?"
she asked menacingly. Mars grinned.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Sailormoon yelled, and Sailormars gasped as her arms snapped to her sides, and
her legs sprang together. Her jaw clamped shut and she tipped over on her side.
Sailormoon looked down at her smugly.
"Oh, you can do that, huh?"
"Sailormoon!" Venus said,
taking out her wand. "Finite Incatatem!"
Sailormars was able to move
again. She shot a murderous glare at Sailormoon before walking off. Sailormoon
returned it with equal hostility. Sailorvenus and Sailorchibimoon both sighed.
This was a problem.
Mamoru frowned as he read the
letter. "Oh no," he whispered. Gohan looked up.
"What is it?"
"Rei and Usagi are fighting
again."
"So what's so unusual about
that?" Gohan asked, taking a big gulp of his Butterbeer.
"Well, it's gotten to the
point where they're beginning to use curses on each other."
Gohan looked up. "Oh no," he
said softly. Mamoru nodded.
"Agreed. If those two don't
resolve their differences, then it may disrupt the harmony of the Sailor Senshi
altogether."
"No harmony, no fight."
Mamoru nodded. "Exactly. Like
the Samurai Troopers, they fight best when they fight as one."
Gohan sighed. This certainly was
trouble. As he seemed to be welcome on campus, he'd have to go up and talk to
both of them. Just as well, he thought happily. He could use it as an excuse to
go see Usa-ko.
Sailormoon walked out onto the
grounds. She was due for her Care of Magical Creatures class. If they were
still feeding Flobberworms, she'd take some time out to think up a really nasty
curse to use on Rei.
All thoughts of curses, and
Flobberworms, flew out of her mind when she saw Gohan there, speaking to Mars.
Venus threw a meaningfully look at Gohan, then at her. Sailormoon sighed. Gohan
had been called there to talk both of them into making up.
Well, I won't do
it,
Sailormoon thought. Not until she admits that I can be good at some things,
and sometimes even better than her!
She stole a glance at Malfoy.
He was looking at Gohan with something like hatred in his eyes. He smiled
politely, and, strolling up to Gohan, tapped him on the back.
"Excuse me. I'm sorry if I'm
being rude, but would you like a toffee?"
Gohan smiled a bit.
"Certainly. Thanks." He took one and began to unwrap it. Ron caught sight of it
and gasped.
"Accio!" he yelled, snatching
the toffee out of Gohan's grasp. Gohan blinked.
"Nani?"
"This," he said venomously,
glaring at Malfoy, who was glaring just as hard back. "Is one of my brothers'
inventions: a Ton-Ton Toffee. It'll swell your tongue up the moment you eat it.
That git must have sneaked into the tower and looked for it."
Gohan blinked. Why would this
student want to hurt him? Then he remembered.
The roses he gave Usa-ko. The
way she'd dropped them when she was running to him. He must have felt that
Chibiusa spurned him for me. He smiled grimly. Well she's known me a
whole lot longer than she's known you, pal.
Chibimoon was looking at
Malfoy, shocked and a little hurt. He was supposed to like her and he'd do
something like this? It was totally uncalled for! Hagrid, who had in fact seen the
whole thing, took twenty points off of Slytherin for Malfoy's attempted prank.
Gohan, with Hagrid's permission, sat back and watched the class.
"Today," Hagrid boomed
cheerfully. "We're goin' t' see wha' it's like t' take care o' a Unicorn."
Everyone in the class gasped.
"Really, Hagrid?" Hermione said. "You've really gotten a Unicorn?"
"Actually, it's more like the
Unicorn is lettin' us take care o' it fer awhile," Hagrid admitted.
Gohan was intrigued. He'd
never seen a Unicorn before. An Eternal Dragon, sure. Dinosaurs, you bet. But a
unicorn? Now that was worth seeing.
Harry looked up from his
Divination homework and glanced at Ron's.
"Oh pooh. I was going to be
drained by the monster. Guess I'll have to break my neck playing Quidditch
instead," he mused, fixing his. Ron grinned.
"Then I suppose I'll end up
eating the Ton-Ton toffee Malfoy was trying to feed Gohan."
"Speaking of Gohan," Hermione
said, looking up from her Arithmancy work. "Where is he and Chibimoon?"
Venus grinned. "I wouldn't worry
about them. The two have just discovered how they feel about each other.
They'll be sneaking off alone for awhile."
"And you would know?" Hermione
asked. Venus flushed slightly.
"Well, I did go through
the same thing with Sei-chan. As a matter of fact, almost all of us did."
Harry grinned. "Then I suppose
we'll only be seeing her during classes?"
"If then," Venus confirmed.
Ron frowned.
"Is that healthy? I mean to
spend that much time with one person?"
"They've known each other
since they were very young," Venus told them, smiling. "I think they deserve
this time alone."
"Yes, I suppose they do,"
Hermione said, smiling faintly. Harry and Ron both shrugged and returned to
their homework.
"I cannot believe you snuck
into the school like this! I didn't even think it was possible!"
"Such little faith ye have in
me."
Makoto giggled. "It's not
that. It's just, well, you know, it's Hogwarts and…"
"And what?" Shin asked softly.
" 'Tis no harder than the Shoguns' castle…"
Makoto silenced him with a
kiss. "No shogun. Not now. What did you sneak us up to the Astronomy Tower
for?"
"Well," Shin began. "I had a
present waiting for ye at home. When this started, I brought it with me. I
figured that I'd rather it be now or never. Ye remember the conversation we had
in England?"
"Which one, about your brother
or about the food?" Makoto asked teasingly. Shin smiled good naturedly and took
a small velvet box out of his pocket. Makoto gasped, suddenly realising what
was about to occur.
"Mako-chan," he said softly,
going down on one knee. "Ma-ko. I've known ye for a very long time. I've always
cared for ye, and I made a promise to ye a long time ago to always protect ye."
He opened the box, revealing a beautiful diamond ring, with two emeralds set on
either side. "Will ye marry me?"
Makoto couldn't keep the tears
from flowing as she shakily took the box from Shin's hands. She took out the
ring and looked at it for only a few seconds before closing her eyes and
nodding her consent. Shin grinned, and slipped the ring onto Makoto's finger.
He then stood, and after a moment, kissed her.
She couldn't keep from crying
in happiness for the young Senshi. She had seen them sneaking up to the
Astronomy Tower and had silently followed them, intending to put her in
detention and ban him from the grounds. But when she realised what was
happening, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Sighing, and resolving to teach
Jupiter's class how to turn a quill into a personalised necklace, Minerva
McGonagall turned and walked back down the tower stairs.
Mars' eyes went big as
saucers. "So he finally asked you, ne?" she asked. Jupiter flushed happily.
"I'm so excited! He says he's
already gotten us an apartment in Tokyo when we return!"
"You mean you two won't be
staying with us anymore?" Mercury asked, a little disappointed. Jupiter
shrugged.
"Well, you know, we'll visit."
Venus smiled. "Nevermind all
that right now, we've got Potions now! Come on, it's bad enough we've got a
test on aging potions without losing points for being late too!"
Sailormoon looked over her
results with glee. A ninety five! Wait till she shoved this into Haruna-sama's
face back home! She glanced over at Mars and nearly doubled up in a giggling
fit. A sixty nine. So Sailormoon was better than Sailormars in potions too, huh?
She giggled extensively. Maybe she could consider giving up the Senshi thing
and becoming a full-fledged witch. She tittered at the thought. Turning,
Sailormoon caught Professor Snape's eye. He looked at her and very, very
faintly smiled. He nodded his congratulations and moved on to terrorising the
next student. She then looked to Venus, who gave her a thumbs up and then
pointed to Snape. Sailormoon blinked as she realised something:
She was one of Professor
Snape's favourite students!
No wonder he kept being
nice to Gryffindors, she said to herself. It's because he likes me and
I'm one. The same way he's nice to Slytherins because he's the head of their
house. She grinned. Perhaps Harry wouldn't have so very much to worry about
next year if Snape kept up this attitude. She left the dungeons and headed to
her Commonroom, not surprised at all to see Chibimoon had arrived before her
and was currently perched in a chair on Gohan's lap. They two looked up
guiltily at her arrival, but she waved them off.
"It's
nothing to me, you guys," she said. "Only you'd better ask the Fat Lady to give
you guys warning if Professor McGonagall comes."
Chibimoon smiled in relief.
"Thanks, Usagi. We'll try that."
Sailormoon nodded, then looked
up as the portrait hole opened again and Venus, Hermione, Harry and Ron stepped
through. Venus, upon catching sight of the young couple, smiled in a very
knowing way and moved to an armchair in front of the fire to work on her Charms
work. Harry, Ron and Hermione perched themselves around a table and began to
set up a game of wizard chess, seeming content to let the two alone. Chibimoon
grinned and turned back to Gohan, who pulled her closer.
"Nice to know I have such nice
housemates, hmmm?"
Gohan chuckled. "Very nice. Of
course, I think if I'd been anyone else, we'd have been reported by the Fat
Lady."
"Well, that shows how much
you're trusted here," Chibimoon said. Gohan frowned.
"Not by everyone, though."
Chibimoon blinked, then
smiled. "Are you talking about Malfoy? The guy is an idiot if ever I saw one.
Trust me. I mean, I'd trust Usagi to build me a computer before I voluntarily
let him within ten feet of me."
Gohan laughed out loud at
this, causing Ron to lose his concentration and lose a bishop as a result. He
sighed, then set to work fixing his mistake.
"He's that bad, eh?" Gohan
asked, still amused. "We just ought to have some fun with him before you guys
leave."
Chibimoon giggled. "Yeah.
Shove a destructo-disc in his face, and say 'Want to play Frisbee?'"
Gohan was about to say something
else when he caught sight of Sailormoon's orange cat making its way to her. He
blinked.
"What happened to her?"
Chibimoon glanced at it. "Oh,
Neko-chan? Sailormoon was trying to transfigure her back into a chair, sneezed
and turned her orange instead. I think it gives her a very interesting look."
"I'll say," Gohan said. "She'd
blend in with my dad's jumper perfectly."
The first Quidditch match of
the season was in early October, and involved Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. The
entire school poured into the stadium, anxious to see the Senshi play. Along
with them were the Samurai Troopers, Rajura, Tuxedokamen and Gohan, standing on
the field on the sidelines ready to help anyone who should be attacked by the
youma. Most, however, weren't really expecting much to happen, and were looking
forward to watching their girls play. The stadium erupted in cheers as the
Gryffindor team marched out onto the pitch, dressed in their scarlet robes. The
Stadium burst forth in enthusiasm again as the canary-yellow clad Hufflepuffs
marched in from the other side. Both captains shook hands, and the guys could
hear the girls yelling good luck to each other in Japanese. All mounted their
brooms, and at Madam Hooch's whistle, fifteen brooms rose into the air. The
guys had each been given a pair of Omnioculars and were using them to follow
the game.
Lee Jordan, too much of a fan
of Hogwarts Quidditch to stay away even after he'd graduated, was commenting,
with Professor McGonagall beside him monitoring him.
"And the two teams rise into
the air! The Quaffle is taken by Kate Bell of the Gryffindor team as she dodges
a very good bludger hit sent at her from Uranus, she goes in for the
score and-oh! She just misses it, a terrific save by the Hufflepuff Keeper.
"And now the Quaffle is in the
possession of the Hufflepuff team. Dean Thomas sends a Bludger their way, but
no, Hannah keeps going. She's coming up against Sailormoon again. She goes for
it-oh! That was close, but a great catch by Sailormoon and she hands it over to
Angela, who-ouch! That's going to bruise!"
Angela had just been hit in
the arm by a Bludger and had dropped the Quaffle. Fortunately for Gryffindor, A
second year Gryffindor boy named Richard Kledge picked it up and handed it over
to Kate Bell.
"And yes, nice pick up by the
new Chaser, and Katie sends it back to Angela, who's up against the Hufflepuff
keeper and-she scores! It's Gryffindor 10-0!"
The stadium erupted. First at
Angela's score, then at the dive that Harry had just gone into. He'd just seen
the Snitch!
He outstretched his hand as he
gained on it, but was forced to swerve off course to avoid being creamed by a
Bludger.
"Oh, and a very good play on
the part of Sailorjupiter takes Harry Potter off of the Snitch's trail for now.
And the Quaffle's back in Hufflepuff's possession, and they seem determined to
get it past the Senshi guarding the goal hoops. They take aim and-no!
Sailormoon stops it again, handing it off to Richard and Gryffindor goes on the
offensive again!"
And so the game continued.
Sailormoon stopping every Quaffle, but Sailors Jupiter and Uranus keeping Harry
from the Snitch each time he'd seen it. After a few hours, the air was tense.
Gryffindor was up 160-30. If the Chasers scored three more times, they cold
afford to let Hufflepuff have the Snitch.
"And a terrific play by
Sailormoon keeps them 160-30 and-yes, it seems Harry has seen the Snitch again.
Will he be stopped-and yes he is, by yet another good play by Sailorjupiter.
Wait! This is incredible!"
While the entire team had been
focused on Harry's dive for the Snitch, Kate Bell had managed to score twice
against their keeper. It Hufflepuff's Seeker caught the snitch now, they'd be
tied.
"One play will decide this
match, ladies and gents. Angela makes yet another terrific play and Gryffindor
us up 190-30! Sailorjupiter makes a devastating play to keep Katie from scoring
again and-what?"
The Stadium had gone berserk.
People were cheering wildly as Harry rose slowly into the air, Snitch in hand.
Lee was beside himself.
"Gryffindor has won it!
Gryffindor has won it! A score of 240-30! What a match! A terrific display!"
Sailormoon landed and, after
being nearly crushed by her team mates, was swept up into a hug and then a kiss
by Tuxedokamen. He grinned.
"You were great, Usa-ko."
Sailormoon grinned too and
hugged him before being full rushed by all of the Gryffindors and all of the
Senshi-including Jupiter and Uranus. Together, they all celebrated the match.
*Japanese translation of the conversation
"How
are you?"
"I'm fine, dummy. You are a sh*t-head, right?"
"Right! Um, what's that?"
"This is my Ginzuishou. It's my transformation
object."
"See you later, Ms. Chibimoon."