CHAPTER 8
"Come, come." Dumbledore called to us that afternoon a bit after lunch.
"You have 15 minutes to make yourselves look presentable." Commanded McGonagall as she gave a weary glance towards the twins who were reenacting the sword fight. ( but with added effects of Malfoy screaming and transfiguring one of the wooden swords into fabric to roll over it) I laughed at it raising my goblet to them as they finished with bits of paper cut in diamond shapes and then racing behind McGonagall's stool to her immense displeasure. They took a heavy bow knocking their heads into one another for the finale and then were chased up to the common room by the very mad professor.
Draco hadn't come down for lunch to avoid being further questioned about the fight. I wished he had because he would have found the reenactment quite funny. He had even admitted to enjoying some of their jokes earlier.
I planned to wear some velvet green robes to the ceremony. Dumbledore had suggested we be more open about what we wore since most of the students hadn't had time for a trip to Diagon alley before they were rushed here for safety. That meant that the first weekend would be a Hogsmeade trip for every one. Even the first years!
I had a lot on my mind after I finished dressing and had headed out to the main entrance to welcome the others. I didn't even notice Draco standing behind me until I felt his warm breath on my neck. I had seen that Harry's new dress robes were a glowing green them selves and I was feeling unfortunate that we had to match. That all was forgotten when I turned to see Draco.
Instead of his normal black robes or the Slytherns signature green, he wore a set of high collared midnight blue robes that billowed open to reveal boots much like his fencing robes had. He looked much more like a medieval prince than a student. Jason stood with a swelled chest trying to seem important and less out of place in robes in a similar style but made of a blood red fabric.
I had to turn away to keep from smiling and still couldn't quite manage.
"What? Are they too different? I know I should have stuck with black…" I heard him mutter to me under his breath staring regretfully at the ground.
"I don't think that's why she was smiling Draco…" Jason whispered as he jabbed at an invisible enemy with a wooden sword.
"He's right… I was thinking the opposite actually." I said checking to make certain Harry and Ron weren't listening. He smiled and glanced down at Jason. Jason swung at a spark of blue light, missing barely. It grew a bit larger and he swung again. Another miss as it scooted a bit away and grew a bit larger yet. He squealed with delight at the challenge.
"Come out and fight," he cried. Thrusting the sword forward. Oddly it stuck, and was followed by an evil sounding laugh. He pulled at the sword where it stuck in mid air, grunting and crying out in despair and effort. Finally giving up, he fell over and sighed. A human-like figure appeared briefly fading then coming more and more into focus. Finally I distinguished who it was as they fully materialized.
"You again!" Jason cried with a mixture of delight and irritation. Delvi pulled her self off her knees and stood, casually handing him back the wooden sword.
"What does he mean by again, Delvi?" I asked as curious as Draco was.
"Oh we hung out in what must have been the boys dorms in the dungeons the other day while you and Mr. Tight-pants were snogging. Right?" She bent over to pick up a nodding Jason when I caught my brother and Harry staring at her… lower backside and walking over. I sent them both death glares as she stood up. "Relax, they are boys, and there fore staring at girls is what they do…" She cautioned as she followed my gaze. What Delvi was saying was true, as was the fact that the Aneth is a distant ancestor of the veela. The thing is Aneths may turn ion the charm whenever they feel like it. She sent me a mischievous grin that promptly said that she had already messed with the twins. I sent her a pretend scowl.
"Ginny are you all right?" Ron cried out overly loud in efforts to perhaps impress Delvi, by making her think he was a wonderful and very protective brother. She turned toward me and Draco and laughed silently while mouthing 'soooo gullible!' Draco smirked. I turned sharply and stood inches from their faces.
"What makes you think that I am not okay? Do you think I can't take care of my self?" I bitterly responded.
"Oh, why of course you could with her here." Harry said pointing towards Delvi. I let out a growl and Harry backed off a bit. What was he playing at? I guess he realized that he didn't have a chance with Delvi and that it would probably be best to stay on my good side since it was I who was guarding his life.
"The other students are just arriving from the station…" Delvi began glancing out into the pitch-black sky.
"Where… I don't see anything, do you Harry?" Ron interrupted. Harry shook his head still looking around.
"Yes, I see them now, you best be going Del…" I said after closing my eyes and watching pictures of students exiting on to the platform erupt in my head. Both boys looked over at me with disappointment that she would be unable to stay.
"Yeah, well, I can take Jason for a bit Draco, if you'd like." She said while Jason tugged on Draco's robes and nodded vigorously.
"Sure, that'd be great." Draco smiled and watched as Delvi's pale green freckled face broke into a wide grin.
"Come on Jason we're going Vampire hunting!" Draco shuddered but smiled as they waved then dashed off. Or rather Jason dashed. Delvi turned back to a spark of blue light bounding all around him.
"Can you really see them?" Harry asked looking back into the misty night.
"Certainly, they will be coming over the hill there in 5-4-3-2-1" To the other's amazement the dim shadow of first white carriage skittered over the hill. Then another. They followed in a train like form and I could feel the wind of the phantom horses pulling them as the approached. Students began to exit them and a few pointed to us.
I closed my eyes and turned my head toward the phantom horses that pulled the carriages. I had been told about them from Firenze when I had mentioned seeing flickers of light near the front of the carriages. I could see them perfectly. Raising and bowing their heads, their eiree white hair cast behind them almost flickering in the autumn breeze. I took a couple of steps forward. Gently I raised my hand from them to smell before I began to nuzzle them, knowing that I was obviously getting quite a few stares from the others. I heard a thrumming noise come from the one I was stroking and noticed that two people had joined me at my side. Draco was one of them, staring incredulously into the empty air. Dumbledore was on my other side scratching the top of the ponies' head.
"So you can see them. Not surprising but they are quite amazing creatures, aren't they?" I nodded and he smiled which strangely lit up his bottle blue eyes even in the dark.
"Can I see them too?" Draco asked as if he were merely asking to pet someone else's puppy.
"Yes but you have to know that you can see them. If you have any doubt, they will remain invisible. Oh and close your eyes Draco." He did and I could see a smile spread across his face as he reached forward to touch it. I was a little scared at first that it would end up like the Hippogriff. Harry and Ron must have been thinking similar thoughts as they walked over quickly watching intently with deep scowls on their faces.
The horse didn't seem to mind that much as it continued to thrum. Draco began to hum back gently putting his forehead to the horse's and scratched under its chin. A few people had stopped and were gathering around to watch. Some of them had expressions on that clearly read that Draco was insane and stroking mid air. However they were soon proved wrong.
A dull light flashed and began to come off the phantom horse. It looked like it was glowing under a black light bulb casting shadows on nervous bystanders.
"Well aren't you a beauty." I heard Dra
"Come, come." Dumbledore called to us that afternoon a bit after lunch.
"You have 15 minutes to make yourselves look presentable." Commanded McGonagall as she gave a weary glance towards the twins who were reenacting the sword fight. ( but with added effects of Malfoy screaming and transfiguring one of the wooden swords into fabric to roll over it) I laughed at it raising my goblet to them as they finished with bits of paper cut in diamond shapes and then racing behind McGonagall's stool to her immense displeasure. They took a heavy bow knocking their heads into one another for the finale and then were chased up to the common room by the very mad professor.
Draco hadn't come down for lunch to avoid being further questioned about the fight. I wished he had because he would have found the reenactment quite funny. He had even admitted to enjoying some of their jokes earlier.
I planned to wear some velvet green robes to the ceremony. Dumbledore had suggested we be more open about what we wore since most of the students hadn't had time for a trip to Diagon alley before they were rushed here for safety. That meant that the first weekend would be a Hogsmeade trip for every one. Even the first years!
I had a lot on my mind after I finished dressing and had headed out to the main entrance to welcome the others. I didn't even notice Draco standing behind me until I felt his warm breath on my neck. I had seen that Harry's new dress robes were a glowing green them selves and I was feeling unfortunate that we had to match. That all was forgotten when I turned to see Draco.
Instead of his normal black robes or the Slytherns signature green, he wore a set of high collared midnight blue robes that billowed open to reveal boots much like his fencing robes had. He looked much more like a medieval prince than a student. Jason stood with a swelled chest trying to seem important and less out of place in robes in a similar style but made of a blood red fabric.
I had to turn away to keep from smiling and still couldn't quite manage.
"What? Are they too different? I know I should have stuck with black…" I heard him mutter to me under his breath staring regretfully at the ground.
"I don't think that's why she was smiling Draco…" Jason whispered as he jabbed at an invisible enemy with a wooden sword.
"He's right… I was thinking the opposite actually." I said checking to make certain Harry and Ron weren't listening. He smiled and glanced down at Jason. Jason swung at a spark of blue light, missing barely. It grew a bit larger and he swung again. Another miss as it scooted a bit away and grew a bit larger yet. He squealed with delight at the challenge.
"Come out and fight," he cried. Thrusting the sword forward. Oddly it stuck, and was followed by an evil sounding laugh. He pulled at the sword where it stuck in mid air, grunting and crying out in despair and effort. Finally giving up, he fell over and sighed. A human-like figure appeared briefly fading then coming more and more into focus. Finally I distinguished who it was as they fully materialized.
"You again!" Jason cried with a mixture of delight and irritation. Delvi pulled her self off her knees and stood, casually handing him back the wooden sword.
"What does he mean by again, Delvi?" I asked as curious as Draco was.
"Oh we hung out in what must have been the boys dorms in the dungeons the other day while you and Mr. Tight-pants were snogging. Right?" She bent over to pick up a nodding Jason when I caught my brother and Harry staring at her… lower backside and walking over. I sent them both death glares as she stood up. "Relax, they are boys, and there fore staring at girls is what they do…" She cautioned as she followed my gaze. What Delvi was saying was true, as was the fact that the Aneth is a distant ancestor of the veela. The thing is Aneths may turn ion the charm whenever they feel like it. She sent me a mischievous grin that promptly said that she had already messed with the twins. I sent her a pretend scowl.
"Ginny are you all right?" Ron cried out overly loud in efforts to perhaps impress Delvi, by making her think he was a wonderful and very protective brother. She turned toward me and Draco and laughed silently while mouthing 'soooo gullible!' Draco smirked. I turned sharply and stood inches from their faces.
"What makes you think that I am not okay? Do you think I can't take care of my self?" I bitterly responded.
"Oh, why of course you could with her here." Harry said pointing towards Delvi. I let out a growl and Harry backed off a bit. What was he playing at? I guess he realized that he didn't have a chance with Delvi and that it would probably be best to stay on my good side since it was I who was guarding his life.
"The other students are just arriving from the station…" Delvi began glancing out into the pitch-black sky.
"Where… I don't see anything, do you Harry?" Ron interrupted. Harry shook his head still looking around.
"Yes, I see them now, you best be going Del…" I said after closing my eyes and watching pictures of students exiting on to the platform erupt in my head. Both boys looked over at me with disappointment that she would be unable to stay.
"Yeah, well, I can take Jason for a bit Draco, if you'd like." She said while Jason tugged on Draco's robes and nodded vigorously.
"Sure, that'd be great." Draco smiled and watched as Delvi's pale green freckled face broke into a wide grin.
"Come on Jason we're going Vampire hunting!" Draco shuddered but smiled as they waved then dashed off. Or rather Jason dashed. Delvi turned back to a spark of blue light bounding all around him.
"Can you really see them?" Harry asked looking back into the misty night.
"Certainly, they will be coming over the hill there in 5-4-3-2-1" To the other's amazement the dim shadow of first white carriage skittered over the hill. Then another. They followed in a train like form and I could feel the wind of the phantom horses pulling them as the approached. Students began to exit them and a few pointed to us.
I closed my eyes and turned my head toward the phantom horses that pulled the carriages. I had been told about them from Firenze when I had mentioned seeing flickers of light near the front of the carriages. I could see them perfectly. Raising and bowing their heads, their eiree white hair cast behind them almost flickering in the autumn breeze. I took a couple of steps forward. Gently I raised my hand from them to smell before I began to nuzzle them, knowing that I was obviously getting quite a few stares from the others. I heard a thrumming noise come from the one I was stroking and noticed that two people had joined me at my side. Draco was one of them, staring incredulously into the empty air. Dumbledore was on my other side scratching the top of the ponies' head.
"So you can see them. Not surprising but they are quite amazing creatures, aren't they?" I nodded and he smiled which strangely lit up his bottle blue eyes even in the dark.
"Can I see them too?" Draco asked as if he were merely asking to pet someone else's puppy.
"Yes but you have to know that you can see them. If you have any doubt, they will remain invisible. Oh and close your eyes Draco." He did and I could see a smile spread across his face as he reached forward to touch it. I was a little scared at first that it would end up like the Hippogriff. Harry and Ron must have been thinking similar thoughts as they walked over quickly watching intently with deep scowls on their faces.
The horse didn't seem to mind that much as it continued to thrum. Draco began to hum back gently putting his forehead to the horse's and scratched under its chin. A few people had stopped and were gathering around to watch. Some of them had expressions on that clearly read that Draco was insane and stroking mid air. However they were soon proved wrong.
A dull light flashed and began to come off the phantom horse. It looked like it was glowing under a black light bulb casting shadows on nervous bystanders.
"Well aren't you a beauty." I heard Dra