Author's Note: o_0, notes about Satoru again... ^^; he really isn't Saonji-kun, for a variety of reasons.. namely because i'm sort of villifying him for this part of the story, and i don't need anyone being like "Saonji is so cool! meanieee!". i actually feel sorry for Saonji right about now, having seen the first of four Utena story arcs.. *sniff..* poor green haired boy...
Another mini-note: as of now, there doesn't really seem to be any one character specifically the "Utena" of the story.. they all react differently to the rose bride, some in utena-like ways, some ... not.
3. Challenge Accepted
Anthy came back during Potions class, where Snape had just finished lecturing everyone on the destructive powers of the porcupine's blood. She slid into a seat nearest the door, which happened to be one next to Malfoy. The platinum blonde stared at her, with what could only be described as amazed adoration. It amused Harry, who had been watching the door again.
He usually did that during Potions, willing the time to run faster. And as Snape explained for Neville, third time in a row, that no, sleeping potions weren't derived from ducks, Harry simply switched his attention to Anthy. She was also staring off into space, her eyes still in that empty, glazed stare. He noticed that her cheek was slightly blue where the green haired boy had hit her, and something made him wonder whether someone in the infirmary had really taken care of her. Harry wondered about that, and a dozen other things. Even when Snape took ten points off of Gryffindor House for Harry's 'ogling of young women as though they were pieces of meat', he kept his head squarely in the clouds throughout the entire class.
Lunch finally rolled around, and Satoru reappeared. He sat down next to Anthy at Gryffindor's table, and whispered in her ear the entire time. She looked somewhat uncomfortable with the arrangement, but again, she raised no protest.
Hermione got her opportunity to dissect the events of the day in privacy with her partners in crime sooner than she would have hoped, as Anthy and Satoru left the table early, the larger boy pulling Anthy by her wrist out of the Great Hall.
"Look at this." Hermione said, showing the two boys her ring. And, after staring at it for a fraction of a second, they each raised their hands and showed her two identical to hers.
"There was a dried up rose on my bed this morning, and this was inside." Harry said.
"Mine was in my omelet at breakfast. Didn't you see me choking on it?" Ron said, and his face turned one of those lovely purple shades his family was so good at achieving. "What is going on with that.. Satotu fellow?" he asked after a bit.
"I think he might be Anthy's boyfriend.." Harry said. "But did you see the way he hit her? She has a bruise."
"She didn't say anything about him to ME." Hermione said. "But she made a rosebush appear with no wand!"
"That was… strange." Harry said, stopping as Malfoy walked by, with his entourage. Their conversation was truncated there, for class was beginning, and they had to race to Herbology.
Over the next few days, they noticed more, and discussed less. Anthy drifted through the world of Hogwarts like a sad evening cloud. She was usually with Satoru, and usually bruised in some way. One day her eye would be blackened, the next, a violent indigo patch on her arm, or rings around her wrists, or a cut across her cheek. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched with growing alarm these injuries mount upon each other, as Satoru appeared and disappeared each day. He attended some classes, but it was unclear if the teachers noticed him. Anthy, or, at least as Hermione reported this, came in late every night, collapsed in her bed, and cried quietly.
A week went by like this, of secret mumbling that ran like an underground river in the school. It was common knowledge that something was afoot, and the uninvolved were content, as usual, to sit back and watch the soap opera unfold.
It pretended to resolve itself, but the eventuality came. It was after Herbology, on a rainy Tuesday. They had been studying the cultivation of roses, which confused most of the class. Anthy seemed delighted by the topic, and was the first to begin caring for the miniature garden to which she had been set.
Ron had less success. His roses, although they grew with the aid of his wand, came out a strange orange-red color that Professor Sprout denied was even a kind of rose. So Ron had harvested his strange crop, and was now bearing them back to his dormitory, for lack of a better thing to do.
Behind them, in the hallway, Anthy was walking next to Satoru, quietly stuck to his side. Something seemed wrong, however, and Satoru was talking rather loudly. Not loud enough to be convenient, Harry thought as he stumbled along the familiar corridors.
The talking grew louder, and Harry was on the verge of turning around to see what was happening, when a lot of sound filled the hall at once: a pointed smack of a hand hitting human flesh, and Anthy's voice raised in pain, and the sound of a small bit of a curse leaving a wand.
"Stop hurting her." Said a voice from behind Harry's head, as Satoru found himself covered in green goo. Anthy had fallen to the floor, a red welt raising onto her cheek bone. And before Harry could do anything, Ron with his tray of cut roses stepped out from the hidden areas behind his back, carrying a wand unevenly in one hand.
"Don't lay another hand on her." Said the red head, deadly serious. Satoru looked up at the boy, green goop clashing with his slightly different shade of hair. "I challenge you to a duel.." Ron said, waving his wand arm about menacingly. "A wizard's du--" there he stopped, for in his menacing movements, the tray had become unbalanced, and almost fell out of his grasp. As it was, one of the biggest blossoms fell, and landed softly at Satoru's feet.
The taller boy's expression slowly changed, like a sunrise. Up to that point, he had been looking at Ron like one would look at some slightly interesting insect - but now something like respect, wonder and maybe annoyance spread over his features. His eyes darted to the rose signet ring, which the Weasley boy had taken to wearing in the last few days, and then to the solitary rose lying on the ground.
"Very well… your challenge is accepted, Duelist. In the arena after the last class." And with that, Satoru turned on his heels, and, leaving Anthy stunned on the ground, walked away.
She was looking, also, at the rings on each of the three's hands. "Where did you get... rose seal rings… the duels…" she backed away from the trio, in something close to mute horror, and then down the hall to Herbology again, muttering something about "preparing for the duel.."
Ron picked up his rose, and glanced at it with wonder. "Well, Harry, you want to second?"
"I'm not sure this is at all a good idea." Hermione piped in. "Have you ever seen the green hair boy with a wand?" she asked, as they continued their walk. "I think you're getting into something over all of our heads here…"
Another mini-note: as of now, there doesn't really seem to be any one character specifically the "Utena" of the story.. they all react differently to the rose bride, some in utena-like ways, some ... not.
3. Challenge Accepted
Anthy came back during Potions class, where Snape had just finished lecturing everyone on the destructive powers of the porcupine's blood. She slid into a seat nearest the door, which happened to be one next to Malfoy. The platinum blonde stared at her, with what could only be described as amazed adoration. It amused Harry, who had been watching the door again.
He usually did that during Potions, willing the time to run faster. And as Snape explained for Neville, third time in a row, that no, sleeping potions weren't derived from ducks, Harry simply switched his attention to Anthy. She was also staring off into space, her eyes still in that empty, glazed stare. He noticed that her cheek was slightly blue where the green haired boy had hit her, and something made him wonder whether someone in the infirmary had really taken care of her. Harry wondered about that, and a dozen other things. Even when Snape took ten points off of Gryffindor House for Harry's 'ogling of young women as though they were pieces of meat', he kept his head squarely in the clouds throughout the entire class.
Lunch finally rolled around, and Satoru reappeared. He sat down next to Anthy at Gryffindor's table, and whispered in her ear the entire time. She looked somewhat uncomfortable with the arrangement, but again, she raised no protest.
Hermione got her opportunity to dissect the events of the day in privacy with her partners in crime sooner than she would have hoped, as Anthy and Satoru left the table early, the larger boy pulling Anthy by her wrist out of the Great Hall.
"Look at this." Hermione said, showing the two boys her ring. And, after staring at it for a fraction of a second, they each raised their hands and showed her two identical to hers.
"There was a dried up rose on my bed this morning, and this was inside." Harry said.
"Mine was in my omelet at breakfast. Didn't you see me choking on it?" Ron said, and his face turned one of those lovely purple shades his family was so good at achieving. "What is going on with that.. Satotu fellow?" he asked after a bit.
"I think he might be Anthy's boyfriend.." Harry said. "But did you see the way he hit her? She has a bruise."
"She didn't say anything about him to ME." Hermione said. "But she made a rosebush appear with no wand!"
"That was… strange." Harry said, stopping as Malfoy walked by, with his entourage. Their conversation was truncated there, for class was beginning, and they had to race to Herbology.
Over the next few days, they noticed more, and discussed less. Anthy drifted through the world of Hogwarts like a sad evening cloud. She was usually with Satoru, and usually bruised in some way. One day her eye would be blackened, the next, a violent indigo patch on her arm, or rings around her wrists, or a cut across her cheek. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched with growing alarm these injuries mount upon each other, as Satoru appeared and disappeared each day. He attended some classes, but it was unclear if the teachers noticed him. Anthy, or, at least as Hermione reported this, came in late every night, collapsed in her bed, and cried quietly.
A week went by like this, of secret mumbling that ran like an underground river in the school. It was common knowledge that something was afoot, and the uninvolved were content, as usual, to sit back and watch the soap opera unfold.
It pretended to resolve itself, but the eventuality came. It was after Herbology, on a rainy Tuesday. They had been studying the cultivation of roses, which confused most of the class. Anthy seemed delighted by the topic, and was the first to begin caring for the miniature garden to which she had been set.
Ron had less success. His roses, although they grew with the aid of his wand, came out a strange orange-red color that Professor Sprout denied was even a kind of rose. So Ron had harvested his strange crop, and was now bearing them back to his dormitory, for lack of a better thing to do.
Behind them, in the hallway, Anthy was walking next to Satoru, quietly stuck to his side. Something seemed wrong, however, and Satoru was talking rather loudly. Not loud enough to be convenient, Harry thought as he stumbled along the familiar corridors.
The talking grew louder, and Harry was on the verge of turning around to see what was happening, when a lot of sound filled the hall at once: a pointed smack of a hand hitting human flesh, and Anthy's voice raised in pain, and the sound of a small bit of a curse leaving a wand.
"Stop hurting her." Said a voice from behind Harry's head, as Satoru found himself covered in green goo. Anthy had fallen to the floor, a red welt raising onto her cheek bone. And before Harry could do anything, Ron with his tray of cut roses stepped out from the hidden areas behind his back, carrying a wand unevenly in one hand.
"Don't lay another hand on her." Said the red head, deadly serious. Satoru looked up at the boy, green goop clashing with his slightly different shade of hair. "I challenge you to a duel.." Ron said, waving his wand arm about menacingly. "A wizard's du--" there he stopped, for in his menacing movements, the tray had become unbalanced, and almost fell out of his grasp. As it was, one of the biggest blossoms fell, and landed softly at Satoru's feet.
The taller boy's expression slowly changed, like a sunrise. Up to that point, he had been looking at Ron like one would look at some slightly interesting insect - but now something like respect, wonder and maybe annoyance spread over his features. His eyes darted to the rose signet ring, which the Weasley boy had taken to wearing in the last few days, and then to the solitary rose lying on the ground.
"Very well… your challenge is accepted, Duelist. In the arena after the last class." And with that, Satoru turned on his heels, and, leaving Anthy stunned on the ground, walked away.
She was looking, also, at the rings on each of the three's hands. "Where did you get... rose seal rings… the duels…" she backed away from the trio, in something close to mute horror, and then down the hall to Herbology again, muttering something about "preparing for the duel.."
Ron picked up his rose, and glanced at it with wonder. "Well, Harry, you want to second?"
"I'm not sure this is at all a good idea." Hermione piped in. "Have you ever seen the green hair boy with a wand?" she asked, as they continued their walk. "I think you're getting into something over all of our heads here…"