Author Notes: HA! Second chapter in less than a week! I'm a year and a half ahead of schedule. Woo! Thanks to everyone still reading this nonsense and for the comments! Much love. Let's see if I can get a third chapter out by end of the month. Granted, I'm fully aware that now I've said it, it'll be posted sometime next year, but hey, STILL A YEAR AND A HALF AHEAD! WOO!
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Seeker
The stench of singed hair hit her long before the heat - that repulsive smell warning her of just how close the fire had actually come this time around. The heat that the flame brought with it was scarcely noticeable, lost among remnants of all the other similar spells that had come before it, still hanging heavy in the air around her. It was unfortunate Totomaru did not favor variety in his spell choices.
Not that she had much room to talk.
A quick water shield dispelled another fire spell as it hurtled towards her, the flame dissipating into a hiss of burning vapor as fire met water.
Beside her, Gajeel knocked down another of Sol's earthen stalagmites, the French boy as predictable in his spell choices as Juvia and Totomaru were in theirs. The older boy kept Gajeel at a distance, earthen barriers designed to prevent the other from reaching him, which Juvia imagined infuriated Gajeel to no end. Gajeel, despite being a more than formidable duelist, had decided lately that he much preferred being a brawler instead, favoring spells that worked better in close quarters. Sol, like most of the Phantom Lords by this point, was well aware of this and focused his efforts on creating distance between them.
After another blast from Totomaru dissipated into hissing wafts of vapor around her, she stole a quick glance again at Sol's latest raised barrier. With a quick flick of her wand, she casted one of her newer spells, hoping it went where she wanted it to for once. "Aqua Praecido!" Two streams of water rushed from the tip of her wand and sliced straight through the barrier, sending it crumbling to the ground. A half second later, Gajeel vaulted over the remnants of the rock, eliciting a curse from the French boy. Focusing back on her own problem just in time, she narrowly managed to avoid a hit with a hastily summoned shield. Unlike Sol, Totomaru lacked the zone control to keep Juvia away but equally unfortunately for her, she was no brawler. She needed the distance. Her new water lock spell, however, also needed the element of surprise or it'd be wasted against a shield of Totomaru's own.
The vapor around her, evidence of the fight going on far too long, clung heavy in the air and made it difficult to get a clear view of Totomaru or of Gajeel and Sol. An idea flitted through her thoughts. She dropped her shield. "Gajeel!" she called out.
From somewhere beyond all the haze, she heard him respond. "Clypeus Ferrus!" A great slab of iron rose from the earth between her and Totomaru's newest strike. She ducked behind the barrier as blast after blast hit the iron slab instead.
"Come on, Ameonna! You can't just hide behind there! If you keep this up, I'm claiming victory," Totomaru called out.
She didn't respond, letting the strikes continue as she heard Totomaru approach. She gingerly reached out to the iron slab only to yank her hand back as the metal scorched at her touch. After a deep breath to prepare herself and crouching low to the ground, she flicked her wand once more. "Aqua Praecido!" A jet of water arched around the barrier. She heard Totomaru yelp and stagger back, but the strike was not meant for him - it continued to arch around to slam against the face of the iron barrier, clouding the entire area in a thick wall of vapor and masking all sound beneath a massive hiss. Hoping that the added haze provided the cover she needed, she scrambled out from behind the shield and, in a wide arch, rounded behind Totomaru to flank him. "Aqua Claustra!"
She heard Totomaru start a spell a half beat later, but that half a beat was more than enough time. Whatever spell he had intended to use was cut short as the water lock took effect.
Heaving a sigh of relief, she approached the boy as the haze began to dissipate, revealing the irritated Totomaru imprisoned in a bubble of water. He pushed against the sides of the watery prison, but the bubble refused to extend or pop under the pressure.
"Giihii! Nice job, Raindrop," Gajeel said, patting her on the back as he approached. "That spell's really holdin'."
"Thanks," she said with a slight smile, masking the rush of pride she felt watching her fellow Phantom Lord member struggle. The spell was new to her. It had been one of many water-based spells in a book she had found among the library hidden away in the cavern by the beach. She had taken the book to Professor Precht, keeping the promise made last year to not learn magic on her own. After a thorough review of the text, he returned the book to her, determining it to be an old alchemy text, a century out of print, but nothing more. With his help, she had learned a number of new spells, the water lock spell being the newest and the one that had posed her the most problems thus far. She and Professor Precht had been working on the spell for well over a month, often with spectacularly disastrous results. He'd be relieved to hear she managed to execute the spell, if only because he wouldn't have to deal with one more afternoon with a flooded dungeon or a waterlogged library.
"Where's Sol?" she asked Gajeel.
"Tied him up over there," Gajeel replied with a jerk of his head behind him.
Juvia followed his motion to where Sol lay on the ground, his hands and legs bound together behind him with iron chains. An iron plate had also been placed over his mouth, muffling what Juvia could only assume were a string of curses directed at Gajeel for keeping him like that.
"You were just supposed to restrain him, Gajeel. Not gag him as well."
"Eh, got tired of hearin' him bitch."
Juvia sighed. "Gajeel, let Sol out of those."
"I don't know - I think it's an improvement."
"Gajeel..."
"Fiiiiine..."
The boy stomped off to release his captive, though not before he had properly taunted his vanquished opponent for a few minutes, she imagined.
Beside her, Totomaru pounded on the walls of his bubble prison, or tried to anyways, any sounds lost in the watery cell.
"Sorry, Totomaru." She pointed her wand at the water lock. "Reverte!" The bubble popped, Totomaru falling into the puddled remnants with a thud and splash.
"Dammit," Totomaru cursed as he sloshed his way to his feet, drenched from head to toe. He fetched his wand from the ground and, with another quick fire spell, dried himself. "Good fight, Ameonna. You're getting much better with those water strikes of yours. They're actually headed in the right direction for once. And that bubble's going to be killer when you speed up that cast."
"Thanks." Opting to take the compliment, such as it was, in good humor, she added, "You're improving with your casts as well - much better this time in the speed of your strikes, but your aim is a little wild still." She caught the boy wince slightly. "Just how bad is Juvia's hair?"
"I think it looks good," he replied with a sheepish grin. "Asymmetrical hair styles are all the rage nowadays."
She sighed. "Totomaru, fix her hair now before Gajeel realizes how close you came to hitting her."
"Hmmmm. That would end badly for me, wouldn't it? Okay, hold still." Juvia waited patiently as Totomaru pointed his wand at her, unconcerned. While his fire spells still required a little work, Totomaru had a firm grip of spells modifying hair - he never had the same hair style from one week to the next since he started Hogwarts and always kept half of his hair white. He'd fix her hair without an issue. "There. Good as new."
She ran her fingers through her curls, relieved to find them all there. "Thank you, Totomaru."
"Your turn now." He held up his hand for her to see a long line of scarlet that ran from the back of his hand to his wrist. "Looks like you still need to do some work on your aim too."
She rolled her eyes. "It's barely a scratch. Come on." She led him back to one of the courtyard's benches where Aria sat reading, uninterested in the duel or its outcome. She fetched her satchel from where it waited beside the oblivious older boy. After retrieving a small vial of violet liquid from the confines of her satchel, the bag shrinking with the loss, she held out her hand to Totomaru. "Give Juvia your hand." Obediently, he extended his hand out to her, the blood still oozing from the wound. She poured a small amount of the vial's contents over the wound, and the potion bubbled away as soon as it made contact with the boy's skin. When it had dissipated, the cut and blood had vanished. Totomaru inspected the results and grinned. "Good job, Ameonna. It didn't even dye my hand bright pink this time."
"Oh, hush. That only happened once," Juvia said as she returned her vial to the satchel. "And it only stayed that way for a few hours. With the amount of complaining you did, you'd think she'd amputated it."
"Had it stayed pink any longer, I would have amputated it myself." She rolled her eyes, and he only grinned back at her.
"Ce n'est pas juste, Ameonna," Sol griped as he joined her, Totomaru and Aria. "You helped Redfox. I was holding off fine before that."
"It was a two-vs-two duel, Sol. They were supposed to help one another or they just would have dueled one at a time," she reminded him as she took a seat next to Aria, Totomaru taking a seat on her other side. "Besides, she did it largely for your benefit. Another few minutes of that and Gajeel was going to ignore the fact that they were only supposed to restrain rather than attack. She didn't think you really wanted to spend the next couple of weeks in the Infirmary."
"Ya would have too," Gajeel added as he joined them. "Damn barriers were givin' me a headache. Had a few choice spells in mind fer ya."
"The whole point was to learn how to stop people peacefully, Gajeel," Juvia reminded him. Totomaru raised his hand to show where the cut had lately been, but whatever he might have said to contradict her was silenced by Juvia pointing to her hair. "You're the one who wanted to work on the restraint spells to begin with."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Damn pain in the ass, though. Easier t' just bash heads together. Wanna proper duel, Sol?"
"Hell no. Find someone else to pummel, monstre."
"Tch. Coward. Oi, Aria! Get yer nose outta that book and fight me!"
The fifth year obediently closed his book and set it onto the bench beside him. "It would be tragic to miss out on such an opportunity."
"Yeah, tragic. Let's go!"
Juvia watched Gajeel and Aria head for the middle of the courtyard as Sol took the now vacated spot next to her. The fourth year attempted to prod her into conversation, but save for the occasional nod or shake of her head, she let him chatter on without assistance, which luckily suited Sol well enough. He rarely needed help to hold a conversation and happily veered off into a lengthy story about his family's allegedly distinguished history, one of his favorite topics as he tried to compensate for his Muggle half by extolling the virtues of his wizarding half. On her other side, Totomaru attempted to get her to laugh by mimicking the entirety of Sol's soliloquy, complete with flourished hand gestures and expressions, the story being told one of Sol's limited repertoire that both Juvia and Totomaru had heard a dozen times before. He didn't meet with any success, though she did crack a small smile once or twice for his efforts, while the French boy remained wholly ignorant of the disinterest from one of his companions and the outright mockery from the other.
Anyone watching might have just assumed it to be a simple gathering of friends, enjoying the warm fall afternoon.
Except they weren't friends.
Not really.
Friends, at least by Gajeel's standards and those were the only standards she knew, meant someone you were willing to spend six afternoons in detention for because you jinxed the guy who at looked them weird. She had yet to spend a moment in detention for the others' sake, nor had they spent any for hers. But, they tolerated each other well enough, which was something she could say about only handful of Slytherins. The three boys were all half-bloods and, though tolerated slightly better than she was among their fellow Slytherins, they were never allowed to forget that they were inferior to the rest.
Jose had been quick to encourage them to spar together, to study together, to train together as though their shared struggles in Slytherin would somehow make them a more cohesive unit. Not that it worked. She much preferred fights on her own or with Gajeel. The others made good partners to spar against, but she didn't trust them as she did Gajeel, though Juvia supposed her uneasiness with the others to be due more to Jose's enthusiasm for their cooperation than any actual dislike of any of the other three. Whatever the case, though, it was only Gajeel she felt any sort of anxiety for as he squared off with Aria.
The fight started as it normally did, Gajeel throwing the first strike. He always struck first. He never went into any fight cautiously. Never took a moment to study his opponent. He just went in swinging, believing that force and sheer will would grant success. Aria knew all of Gajeel's opening moves, and Gajeel never stopped to consider that his fighting style might make him more than a little predictable for his opponents. "Ooof," Totomaru winced as Gajeel's first blow missed, leaving him exposed to the counter attack from Aria, sending the younger boy flying backwards.
"I hope he beats the hell out of Redfox," Sol grumbled, leaning back against the bench.
"He won't. Gajeel doesn't lose fights. Even when it's better he should," she said as she watched Gajeel scramble to his feet and launch another assault, only to be knocked away again by a strike from Aria. "He'll just keep fighting until his opponent is too tired to continue." Gajeel didn't stay down more than a moment. He scrambled back up again. Another strike. This one landed on Aria. Hard. It sent the large boy hurtling back. Hurtling towards them.
"Shit, down!" Totomaru yelled.
The three of them ducked, hitting the ground hard as Aria went flying overhead.
"GIIHII! Got ya, ya overstuffed bastard!"
"Redfox! Watch where you're aiming!" Totomaru snapped.
"Sorry, Raindrop!"
"Where's the apology to the rest of us, blaireau?" Sol demanded to know as he extended a hand to Juvia to help her back up to her feet.
"The hell I care about the two a ya. Ya okay, Raindrop?"
"She's fine, Gajeel. Is Aria?" she asked, glancing over at the older boy. The fifth year stayed still for a moment, Juvia contemplating just how to get him to the Infirmary all the while, but he soon shuffled to his feet. He returned to the center of the courtyard with far less alacrity than Gajeel, but that was always the difference between Gajeel and the others. Whatever Gajeel lacked in knowledge due to his youth, he made up for in stubborn determination. The next exchange of blows saw Aria the victor once more, but Gajeel was back on the attack before he even fully hit the ground.
Beside her, Sol let out a low whistle. She thought it was at first a reaction to the blow that Gajeel had just landed until he followed it up by saying, "Looks like we've attracted an audience."
She followed his gaze to the corridors all around the courtyard, students from all houses, all years watching the duel.
"Most of them have been there since the start of the last duel," Totomaru said with a shrug, unimpressed with the interest.
"Super," the fourth year muttered. "They all got to see me trussed up."
"Yeah, and I got bubbled. I think I got the worst of it. 'Sides, everyone knows Redfox is a monster. Don't think him winning surprised anyone."
Juvia studied all the faces watching them, the students a mixture of nervous, impressed, frightened. But no one was looking down on her. Not anymore. Last year, their eyes on her would have instilled only fear and uncertainty, but now - she knew she was a capable witch. She controlled her storms. She controlled her island. She was as worthy of being there as any of them, if not more so. And now they all could that see that.
"He actually used that word? Impressed?" Gajeel gave her a slightly incredulous look. Not that she blamed him. It was such a rare occurrence that she was practically beaming as they left the dungeons on their way to the Great Hall.
"Yes! Well, to be fair, what he really said was that he was impressed she hadn't actually drowned Totomaru with her water lock."
Gajeel snorted. "Yeah, that sounds more like 'im."
"But still! He said impressed! He never said that about any of her spells before! And he even said that if she kept making good progress with her water spells that he would talk to the Headmaster about holding an alchemy elective during Juvia's sixth year!"
"Don't ya go gettin' a big head outta all this. Precht's gettin' on in years. His standards might just be slippin'." She responded with a light swing at Gajeel's arm which only earned her one of his odd laughs in retaliation. "Still, it's a good spell. You an' me - we're gonna be unstoppable as Aurors. I'll beat 'em and ya'll bubble 'em. Even Zeref won't stand a chance against us."
Juvia grinned at him, but whatever else she might have said was cut short by the sound of some sort of gathering up ahead, a myriad of voices talking animatedly about something indistinguishable. "What's going on?"
Gajeel paused a moment before starting. "They musta posted the rosters!" He was already running down the hall before Juvia fully comprehended what he meant and ran after him. The last two weeks, Gajeel had been on tenterhooks as he waited for the results of the Quidditch tryouts he had just gone through. Every day that had passed without posted results saw him more agitated than the day before, something he dealt with by sparring with their group or starting fights in the Slytherin Common Room. For the sake of the health and welfare of her and the entire Slytherin house, she hope that he was right as they rounded the corner. A large mass of students had gathered around the area where the Quidditch Cup rested in its glass display, Gajeel hurrying to join the fray.
"Can ya see it?" he asked as she came up beside him.
Juvia rolled her eyes as she stared into the backs of what seemed like an endless sea of students in front of her. "Gajeel, she's a good foot and more shorter than you. If you can't see it, how is she supposed to?" While it seemed like the rest of her year had gone through a growth spurt over the summer, Juvia still hadn't grown more than an inch or two since the previous year. Meanwhile, Gajeel just kept growing. The growth spurt that she swore had begun when he was five showed no sign of slowing. Gajeel claimed it was due to the fact that his mother's family was rumored to have giant's blood, but whatever the cause, it didn't help him in doing more than seeing the top of the heads of the students in front of him.
"I don't know - yer small. Can't ya like crawl yer way to it?"
"And get stepped on by a couple dozen upperclassmen? Not happening. You'll just have to wait for the crowd to disperse."
"The hell with that," muttered the boy beside her. Before she could remind him that casting spells in a crowded hallway was as likely to get them seriously injured as it was to expel them, Gajeel had grabbed her and set her on his shoulders so quickly that she didn't have time or sense enough to do more than emit a quiet eep.
Flushing bright red, she could feel the eyes of the neighboring students on her. "Gajeel, put Juvia down now!" she hissed at him as quietly as she could and still be heard, desperate to attract as little additional attention as she already was getting.
"Just look, would ya?" he snapped back.
Grumbling a few choice curses at the boy, she nonetheless peered over the mass of students in front of her to the four prominently displayed Quidditch rosters posted on the wall. She quickly scanned the Slytherin roster.
"Well?" Gajeel called up to her.
Juvia's first instinct was to exact a little revenge for her current humiliation and for a half dozen other situations over the past few weeks by prolonging the news, but while Gajeel was normally a strong proponent of her taking a little revenge now and again, even when the target of said revenge was directed at him, she had learned long ago that there were some topics that he didn't take lightly. Toying with him on Quidditch bordered on the cruel. "Congratulations. You're the newest Slytherin Beater."
"Well, obviously. They'd be stupid not t' pick me," he said with feigned arrogance, but she could feel his grip on her ankles relax.
"Obviously," she repeated with a smirk and roll of her eyes he couldn't see.
"Who else made it?"
"From their year - just Dreyar. He's set for Keeper."
"Not too surprising. Bastard's actually pretty decent on a broom. Kinda surprised Justine didn't make the cut. Sure he'll be on it next year. Who else is on the team?"
"Ummm... let's see. Nanagear's the other Beater."
"Ugh. That dumbass again. He was the beater last year too. I'll have my work cut out. Who's the Seeker?"
"Fernandes. He's the fourth year with the weird tattoo, yeah?"
"Yeah. He's alright. What about the Chasers?"
"Aria, Cobra and Zancrow. Looks like Zancrow's the captain this year."
"That fucker. Goddammit."
"Not a good Chaser?"
"Eh, he's fine. He's just an ass," the boy said with a shrug.
"Surprised you care about that part," she said. He just grumbled a response. "Can she get down now?"
"Wait up. Who's on the other teams?"
"Are you seriously going to make Juvia read off everyone on the other House teams?"
"Just the ones from our year. Want to know what t' expect. What about Gryffindor? Half their team last year graduated. Bound to be a few from our year up there."
She glanced over at the Gryffindor roster and just barely managed to suppress the involuntary squeal as she spotted a name on the list. "Gray made Chaser!"
"Oi! Watch those hands of yers. That's my hair yer pullin' on!" he snapped. "Damn. Don't get what yer interest in Fullbuster is. He's an ass. Least I get t' throw a few Bludgers his way this year."
She lightly swatted at the back of his head. "Don't you dare."
"Risks of the game. He knows what he signed up fer. Who else?"
"Dragneel's one of the Beaters."
"Giihii! This day keeps gettin' better."
"And Scarlet's the Seeker."
"Ugh. That's gonna be a problem. That witch is a beast."
"Ravenclaw only has Sarusuke from their year. He's set as Seeker."
"Not a surprise. Kid's pretty fast. Hufflepuff?"
"Alberona. She's a Chaser. That's it for their year. Now can she get down?"
"Giihii! And lose a chance t' humiliate ya a little longer? Nah, I think we'll head t' the Great Hall first!" He laughed as trotted down the hall, Juvia no longer caring who heard the lengthy and imaginative curses she lobbed at Gajeel as they went.
Gajeel was right. Zancrow was an ass. Even by Gajeel standards.
It wasn't as though she wanted to watch their practice. She hadn't the heart to tell Gajeel that she was going to be watching his matches peeking through her fingers, terrified that he was going to go crashing to the earth as she once had. But still, Zancrow was most definitely an ass.
"I don't want that mudblood anywhere on the field," the seventh year snapped, glaring daggers at her.
"Call her that again, and I'm gonna rip out yer spine, Zancrow."
"Gajeel, it's alright. She doesn't need to watch."
"She's not bothering me," Fernandes said with a shrug, leaning against his broom.
"She's going to spy on us and tell everything to her mudblood friends in the other Houses."
"What friends?" Dreyar piped up. "Only friend she has is Redfox."
"Thanks, Dreyar," she said with a roll of her eyes followed by a glare.
"Any time, Lockser," he replied with a smirk before turning back to Zancrow. "You haven't complained about Freid, Ever and Bickslow watching."
"They're all proper Slytherins," snarled the captain.
"You mean they're all purebloods."
"Precisely."
"It's alright, Dreyar. She's fine," she assured the other third year. She kept a hand on Gajeel's arm, the boy practically radiating venom. "She'll wait just outside the locker room. It'll be fine." Gajeel didn't look any more at ease. She leaned in close to him and whispered. "Don't let him get to you. He's not worth it. Just send a couple Bludgers his way during practice for Juvia, okay?" Still glowering at the captain, he nonetheless nodded. Once she was sure that blows weren't likely to be thrown, she left the Quidditch pitch and waited in the hall outside of the Slytherin locker room for practice to finish. She really should have just waited for Gajeel in the Common Room, but he had been so excited for his first practice that he had practically dragged her all the way to the training grounds from the dungeons before she had any chance to protest. But, it was alright. She'd wait for him, and when he was finished, he'd come out rattling off about six hundred different things that she wouldn't understand in the slightest. But that was alright too. She'd smile and nod and do her part. It was enough that he'd be happy.
Of course, Zancrow was throwing a bit of a wrench in all that, but she was sure Gajeel wouldn't dwell on it for long. Not when there was Quidditch to play.
Lacking anything really to amuse herself, Juvia spent the time waiting for Gajeel by observing the trophy cases positioned about the hall. She didn't know many of the wizards and witches in the photos, but it was always interesting on the rare occassions she came across someone she recognized, like a much younger Gildarts posing with the Quidditch Cup from one of Gryffindor's earlier wins. She also found another Gryffindor Cup photo with who she assumed was Gray's father. A glance at the name on the plaque next to the photo confirmed it to at least be a Fullbuster, though she supposed it also could have been an uncle or a cousin. Though, judging by how much the two resembled one another, she found it hard to believe that the boy in the photo could be anything but Gray's father. He had that same haphazard smirk.
She compared that resemblance with a photo in one of the Slytherin cases, a photo she had seen often in the Slytherin Common Room, where it had pride of place in the Common Room's trophy cabinet as the last time Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup. It was the photo of the Slytherin Quidditch team around said cup, Gregory Redfox standing in the center of the photo. In appearance, the boy in the photo could have practically been Gajeel's twin, save for the unkempt hair and the piercings, but in mannerisms, they were far different. Gajeel always had a wild sort of chaotic energy about him. Though surly was probably his most common state, he still radiated life in every expression. Gregory Redfox, however, was cold. Collected. The boy in the photo wasn't thrilled like the rest of his team. He looked as though he knew he would be there because he belonged there. There was no enthusiasm. Just a quiet acceptance that he had achieved exactly what he was supposed to achieve.
Shaking her head, she had moved on to the next case when an odd thought struck her. She returned to the photo. She had seen it so often in the Slytherin Common Room, but it was always on its own. Just the single photo from a single year. But here, among all the other years that preceded it and all the years that followed it, something was off. Someone was missing. She looked over the photo again, counting the players. Gregory Redfox as Keeper. Then two Beaters in the back row. Two Chasers on one side of Gregory and one on the other. That was all. The Seeker - the photo had no Seeker. She consulted the plaque next to the photo but found even there, there was no mention of who the Seeker for the team was. She went back to the previous case to compare, but in the previous team, the Seeker was present in both photo and plaque. The same with the year before that one. In all of them, there were seven players. Except in the one Slytherin photo.
"There ya are!" Gajeel called out as he trotted over to her. "Ya'll be happy t' know Zancrow landed on his ass at least a half dozen times during practice, and between me, Aria and Dreyar, we managed to make each one of those trips down look accidental. Hell, even Fernandes was joinin' in towards the end, but I'm pretty damn sure that's just cause he thought it was funny rather than trying t' get a bit a revenge."
She gave him a small smile. "Did you at least have a good practice?"
"Yeah, we're gonna be unstoppable. Can't wait to get out there and knock Gryffindor down a peg or two or seventeen. Giihii!" The boy's grin faltered as he peered past her at the cabinet she was standing in front of. "Why the hell ya lookin' at that asshole for? Swear, I'm gonna burn that damn photo once we win the Quidditch Cup."
"Did you ever notice that it's not right?"
"Of course it's not right. That fucker's in it."
"No, count the people, Gajeel. The Seeker's not in the photo."
"'Course they are," Gajeel replied immediately, not even looking at the photo.
"Look at it, Gajeel. They're not there."
Muttering something that she didn't catch but assumed wasn't very nice anyways, Gajeel leaned in and studied the photo. He must have seen it as often as she had seen it and more, in spite of his distaste for the subject. He frowned. "That's weird." He glanced over at the plaque as she did. "Not even listed on the roster."
"Is it possible they played without a Seeker?"
"I can't imagine they'd have won the Cup without one. Maybe the Seeker was ill when they took the photo? Or maybe they were expelled?"
"People actually get expelled from Hogwarts? How have you managed to avoid that?"
He glared at her. "Think ya have t' kill someone. More than willin' to test that bar if ya keep it up." She just smiled back at him. "Expulsions do happen - the school just doesn't care much about fightin'. They figure it's a life skill students need t' learn nowadays. They just throw detentions around fer the sake of appearance. Possible this person managed to figure out just what justifies expulsion."
"Maybe. But look at it - it seems like there's supposed to be someone there. See? Your father's right behind the cup. The Beaters are just behind him on either side. He has two Chasers to his left, and one to his right. But the one on his right isn't next to him. It's like they're leaving a spot for someone. Is it possible that the person left the photo? Like a portrait?"
Gajeel shook his head. "These photos aren't like that. They're just loops. If the Seeker was expelled, it could have been that they left the spot in there to honor them."
"Maybe the Seeker died before they took the photo?"
He shook his head again. "They'd have left the name on the plaque in remembrance if that were the case. Removal from picture and plaque means the school didn't want them remembered. Explusion's more likely. Probably one of Zeref's lot."
"Your father's still there."
"Yeah, but he wasn't workin' for Zeref 'til long after he left Hogwarts. Coulda been someone that started while still in school." He turned from the case, looking towards the direction of the school as the bells rang five. "Dinner time. Let's go, Raindrop."
"You aren't curious about this?"
"Eh, it's weird, yeah, but there's weirder shit out there. And 'sides, ya ain't goin' figure out anythin' here. Ya can ask around while we're eatin' dinner, but really, there's more important things to worry about than a Seeker twenty years ago."
