The Date
After dropping Indi off, Cougar retired to his room across the corridor. He had another three hours before they went out, so he got out a copy of 'Bestiarius Brews' by Vera Vumble and started reading. Mickey was a bit jealous, thinking that Cougar had 'scored' on his first week of University. But he was also hitting it off with Shelley. She was just a bit shyer than Indi, so nothing was happening between them.
"So where are you guys going tonight?" Mickey asked as Cougar was putting on some Eau de Toilette in the bathroom.
"We're gonna go into the city centre, find some place to eat, then maybe see a movie." Cougar said. "What are you gonna do?"
"Probably go down to the pub." Mickey said sombrely.
"Aye? I might join you afterwards. If we're not too late back." Cougar grinned.
"Yeah right!" Mickey laughed.
"You should see if Shelley wants to go out." Cougar said trying to cheer him up.
Mickey looked at him, suddenly brought to life. "She wont want to go out."
"Why not? She'll probably just be thinking the same as you. I saw you two today. Flirting your bloody arses off!" Cougar laughed.
Mickey laughed back. "Yeah I might do."
"Well that's just about six thirty. I'll see you later. Good luck with Shelley." Cougar turned, got his keys, money and wand, and went out the front door.
He knocked on the girl's apartment. "Just a minute!" He heard Indi shout from behind the door. Typical women! He thought. But he was not kept waiting long. Indi came out, a few minutes later, looking stunning. She had on a violet dress that was clearly, see-through at the top, her hair was shoulder length and brushed beautifully, and her face, was indescribable.
"You look..." Cougar, normally a very articulate person, was stuck for words.
She gave a cute little giggle. "Aww, you're so sweet." She then turned her expression to a more sensible and adult manor. "Now, where should we dine?" She asked politely, trying to impress him. But she was totally transparent to Cougar.
So they went out of the University and into the town. It was really lively. Ever-Burning candles illuminated the city. There was a huge Fair in the centre, so Indi suggested that they go to that. It was even more mobbed. Little stalls along narrow alleys made it very difficult to navigate, and they soon got lost. But they just let themselves get swept away in the culture. The funny thing about Overbogians was that they were all about a foot shorter than people from the rest of the world. This meant that they spotted students and tourist a mile off, literally; so Indi and Cougar were bombarded with sales men and women, all trying to sell necklaces made from dragon-ridge horns and books made from Alligator skin.
Later on they found themselves in a large square in the middle of the town. Small building surrounded the crowds. Cougar and Indi headed towards a large crowd, where in the centre was a duelling ring. Cougar took Indi's hand and pulled her in towards it. "Come on! Lets watch!" Cougar had always loved duels. At Hogwarts he was the champion in Ravenclaw, when they had their start of year, and end of year battles in the common room. They hurried in. A man with a black cloak was leaning against a pole on one side of the ring talking to his friend. On the other side was an older witch standing, dressed in grey, talking to no one, but soaking in all the shouts and cheers.
"The Duels begin!" A man shouted on a sonorous charm.
The two competitors walked towards each other and began with the Duelling salute. They then walked to opposite corners of the ring and waited in the correct position. A horn blew somewhere from the air. The woman flicked her wand upwards and shouted "Jiggery Nuff!" Her wand released a shock of electric light, which went into the sky and disappeared. The crowd, who did not know her tactics, unlike Cougar who had used it many a time before, booed her. The man then reacted quickly and shot a blade out of his wand straight at her head. She deflected it with a shielding charm. He then shouted "Expelliarmus!" and the woman was taken aback but did not loose her balance. She retaliated by taunting the ground surface. "Ungula Serum Ungula Serum Ungula Serum." The ground erupted and the floor of the ring folded and formed a wave, which flung forward and through the wizard to his back, and making him scream in agony. She finished him off by commanding her first spell back down to him. "Jiggery Mull!" The clear sky above raised and a nebula of clouds appeared. From them came a beam of light, shining to the wizard, still on his back in pain. The light stayed and nothing seemed to come of it. But the victor was announced when the wizard could no longer move and all the energy was drained from him.
"The winner for the fifth time in a row tonight is Winifred Tullanger!" A man announced and the crowds cheered. "And for the next contestant, who will we have?" The crowd was meant to be cheering and fighting over who would get to fight the champion, but the sight of her opposition being stretchered off was quite un-nerving. "No one?" The man asked. "There must be someone! Some one with the courage to take on tonight's champion!" But no one replied from the crowd.
Suddenly Cougar got the urge. His adrenaline surged through him and attacked his mouth. "I'll compete!" The crowds turned and focused on him. Indi beside him gave him a sharp nudge in the ribs.
"Ah! A brave young student no less, who will rival the victor, Miss Tullanger!" The entertainer seemed delighted that someone had challenged her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Indi whispered to him.
"It'll be fun!" Cougar said as he walked towards the ring. The crowds parted to let them through.
"It won't be if I have to get you to the nearest hospital." She sarcastically remarked.
He jumped into the ring and leaned over to assure "That won't happen!". He gave her a kiss then walked towards the centre to meet his opponent and the judge.
"The two duellers, Miss Winifred Tullanger and Mr -" He took off the sonorous charm and asked Cougar, "Your name?"
"Cougar Slazer."
"- Cougar Slazer will be competing for the street-duelling championship!" The man finished.
Cougar took his wand out and flung his cloak to the side. He saluted Winifred and walked to his corner. He loved this. He had never seen a street-duel before. They had been outlawed in Britain back in the forties, but he grandfather had always said that they were brilliant. "Begin!" The man shouted.
Cougar took his wand and flung a fireball at her. But her superior defence stopped it straight away. Cougar had no doubt about it, that she would be a tough enemy.
"Sorbiah Feeeeee!" Winifred shouted. Out came a thousand small rats, which headed straight for Cougar and jumped on him. The crowd screamed at the sight.
Cougar yelled in the pain as he felt several bites all over him. But he maintained his thoughts and sense and he shouted. "Abicio!" The rats were thrown from him and disintegrated as they hit the floor. He took his wand again and said "Caementum Alipes." Winifred's feet were immediately emerged in blocks of stone. He then pushed her with a Flipendo curse and she fell backwards. She was unable to get back up.
But still she fought on. "Derium Minisule! Hypimum Di!" She sounded.
Cougar felt a flurry of tingling wings over his body and he found himself floating in the air, also unable to move. "Irridical!" Cougar shouted.
The witch began to spin about in a circle. The crowd laughed. She became enraged and stopped the spinning. She showed her devious side by transfiguring Cougar's watch into a Flesh-Eating Lizard. The lizard bit Cougars hand and slipped through his skin. Cougar felt sick, but he continued.
"Olken Manus, Ulkem Menas, Elkem Monis." Cougar remembered from the hex teachings of Professor Flitwick.
Winifred began to squirm. Unable to move in the solid blocks of stone she jerked in her place. He had infected her with hiccups. They worked their way up to her throat and she began hiccupping violently and spluttering as she did so. Every time she attempted a spell a hiccup threw her back.
Cougar was about to finish her when she gathered up all of her strength and shouted "Wingardium Leviosa!" She levitated a rock from the ground outside the ring and whacked Cougar in the head with it. He was knocked out, and once again she became the victor.
Cougar woke up in a small medical tent. Indi was right beside him. She smiled down on him. He was surprised to see that beautiful smile. "I didn't think that you would be happy with me." He looked up to her.
"You did brilliantly. Very entertaining." She laughed. "There are a few reporters outside in fact. Should I let them in?" She asked looking unsure.
"What do they want?" Cougar asked.
"To interview you." She said as if it was something he should really already know.
"Why?" He asked thoroughly confused.
"Cougar, you nearly defeated Winifred Tullanger! Do you know what that means?" She said open mouthed.
"No?"
"She is the Champion of the Americas." She said.
"Really? God!" Cougar had not realised it.
Two reporters pushed past some medical staff and shouted over to Cougar. "Any chance of a picture? It's for the Overbog Miracle."
Cougar was taken aback. He could not believe that they wanted a picture of him. They took many. Of him holding his arm up where the Medi-Wizards had pulled out the lizard, of him and Indi, of him in a hospital bed, of him with his University cloak on.
By the time they got out of the tent it was nearly ten o'clock and they were famished, so they looked for a place to eat. The pair made their way down to the beach where they picked up some seafood snacks. They then took a long walk along the Overbog beach talking about University and Schools, and their past.
"So you never got your forth NEWT in potions?" Indi asked as she was walking with Cougar to the University.
"Nope. We got a new teacher that year. Professor Snape, I kept correcting his grammar, and formulae for the potions, and he hated me for it. I must have lost about seven hundred points for Ravenclaw just because I corrected him. So he failed me for 6th year potions, then he 'mysteriously' looses the paper." Cougar said resentfully.
Indi laughed. "For goodness sake! I never had any problems like that. My teacher, Professor Urha, she loved me. I was her favourite student. It was her who guaranteed me a place here. But everyone else in my year hated Potions, well apart from Shell, but she isn't as good as me." Indi laughed. "That's a terrible thing to say. I don't really mean it."
Cougar laughed as well. "That's nothing compared to what I did! My pal from Hogwarts, Charlie, he's in Romania right now. But when him and I were in school he went out with a girl named Irene Bileflower. He went away on a Quidditch trip to Beaxbatons and I went out with Irene while he was away. But after he came back and found out I dumped her. I don't ever know why I went out with her." He laughed. "She was horrible to everyone. Anyway I split them two up and I didn't really get anything out of it. But Chaz beat me up when he came back anyway." Cougar hung his head. "I feel really bad about that now."
"So you should!" Said Indi who had been listening with a look of disgust on her face. "If Shell did that to me I'd kill her!"
"Yeah, well we were kids. I was stupid." He shamed himself into surrender.
She looked into his boring brown eyes and found the cute sensation that had made her want to go out with him in the first place. They both smiled, and Cougar put his arm around her as they entered the University grounds.
As they got up to their rooms Indi turned to Cougar. "That was a great night. I really enjoyed myself."
"Yeah it was fun." Cougar said, and he leaned into her. They kissed. Although, unlike most 'Goodnight' kisses it did not seem final.
Indi pulled herself away. "So, you wanna come in?" She asked. "I've got the bedroom." Cougar followed Indi inside and spent the night. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.
After dropping Indi off, Cougar retired to his room across the corridor. He had another three hours before they went out, so he got out a copy of 'Bestiarius Brews' by Vera Vumble and started reading. Mickey was a bit jealous, thinking that Cougar had 'scored' on his first week of University. But he was also hitting it off with Shelley. She was just a bit shyer than Indi, so nothing was happening between them.
"So where are you guys going tonight?" Mickey asked as Cougar was putting on some Eau de Toilette in the bathroom.
"We're gonna go into the city centre, find some place to eat, then maybe see a movie." Cougar said. "What are you gonna do?"
"Probably go down to the pub." Mickey said sombrely.
"Aye? I might join you afterwards. If we're not too late back." Cougar grinned.
"Yeah right!" Mickey laughed.
"You should see if Shelley wants to go out." Cougar said trying to cheer him up.
Mickey looked at him, suddenly brought to life. "She wont want to go out."
"Why not? She'll probably just be thinking the same as you. I saw you two today. Flirting your bloody arses off!" Cougar laughed.
Mickey laughed back. "Yeah I might do."
"Well that's just about six thirty. I'll see you later. Good luck with Shelley." Cougar turned, got his keys, money and wand, and went out the front door.
He knocked on the girl's apartment. "Just a minute!" He heard Indi shout from behind the door. Typical women! He thought. But he was not kept waiting long. Indi came out, a few minutes later, looking stunning. She had on a violet dress that was clearly, see-through at the top, her hair was shoulder length and brushed beautifully, and her face, was indescribable.
"You look..." Cougar, normally a very articulate person, was stuck for words.
She gave a cute little giggle. "Aww, you're so sweet." She then turned her expression to a more sensible and adult manor. "Now, where should we dine?" She asked politely, trying to impress him. But she was totally transparent to Cougar.
So they went out of the University and into the town. It was really lively. Ever-Burning candles illuminated the city. There was a huge Fair in the centre, so Indi suggested that they go to that. It was even more mobbed. Little stalls along narrow alleys made it very difficult to navigate, and they soon got lost. But they just let themselves get swept away in the culture. The funny thing about Overbogians was that they were all about a foot shorter than people from the rest of the world. This meant that they spotted students and tourist a mile off, literally; so Indi and Cougar were bombarded with sales men and women, all trying to sell necklaces made from dragon-ridge horns and books made from Alligator skin.
Later on they found themselves in a large square in the middle of the town. Small building surrounded the crowds. Cougar and Indi headed towards a large crowd, where in the centre was a duelling ring. Cougar took Indi's hand and pulled her in towards it. "Come on! Lets watch!" Cougar had always loved duels. At Hogwarts he was the champion in Ravenclaw, when they had their start of year, and end of year battles in the common room. They hurried in. A man with a black cloak was leaning against a pole on one side of the ring talking to his friend. On the other side was an older witch standing, dressed in grey, talking to no one, but soaking in all the shouts and cheers.
"The Duels begin!" A man shouted on a sonorous charm.
The two competitors walked towards each other and began with the Duelling salute. They then walked to opposite corners of the ring and waited in the correct position. A horn blew somewhere from the air. The woman flicked her wand upwards and shouted "Jiggery Nuff!" Her wand released a shock of electric light, which went into the sky and disappeared. The crowd, who did not know her tactics, unlike Cougar who had used it many a time before, booed her. The man then reacted quickly and shot a blade out of his wand straight at her head. She deflected it with a shielding charm. He then shouted "Expelliarmus!" and the woman was taken aback but did not loose her balance. She retaliated by taunting the ground surface. "Ungula Serum Ungula Serum Ungula Serum." The ground erupted and the floor of the ring folded and formed a wave, which flung forward and through the wizard to his back, and making him scream in agony. She finished him off by commanding her first spell back down to him. "Jiggery Mull!" The clear sky above raised and a nebula of clouds appeared. From them came a beam of light, shining to the wizard, still on his back in pain. The light stayed and nothing seemed to come of it. But the victor was announced when the wizard could no longer move and all the energy was drained from him.
"The winner for the fifth time in a row tonight is Winifred Tullanger!" A man announced and the crowds cheered. "And for the next contestant, who will we have?" The crowd was meant to be cheering and fighting over who would get to fight the champion, but the sight of her opposition being stretchered off was quite un-nerving. "No one?" The man asked. "There must be someone! Some one with the courage to take on tonight's champion!" But no one replied from the crowd.
Suddenly Cougar got the urge. His adrenaline surged through him and attacked his mouth. "I'll compete!" The crowds turned and focused on him. Indi beside him gave him a sharp nudge in the ribs.
"Ah! A brave young student no less, who will rival the victor, Miss Tullanger!" The entertainer seemed delighted that someone had challenged her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Indi whispered to him.
"It'll be fun!" Cougar said as he walked towards the ring. The crowds parted to let them through.
"It won't be if I have to get you to the nearest hospital." She sarcastically remarked.
He jumped into the ring and leaned over to assure "That won't happen!". He gave her a kiss then walked towards the centre to meet his opponent and the judge.
"The two duellers, Miss Winifred Tullanger and Mr -" He took off the sonorous charm and asked Cougar, "Your name?"
"Cougar Slazer."
"- Cougar Slazer will be competing for the street-duelling championship!" The man finished.
Cougar took his wand out and flung his cloak to the side. He saluted Winifred and walked to his corner. He loved this. He had never seen a street-duel before. They had been outlawed in Britain back in the forties, but he grandfather had always said that they were brilliant. "Begin!" The man shouted.
Cougar took his wand and flung a fireball at her. But her superior defence stopped it straight away. Cougar had no doubt about it, that she would be a tough enemy.
"Sorbiah Feeeeee!" Winifred shouted. Out came a thousand small rats, which headed straight for Cougar and jumped on him. The crowd screamed at the sight.
Cougar yelled in the pain as he felt several bites all over him. But he maintained his thoughts and sense and he shouted. "Abicio!" The rats were thrown from him and disintegrated as they hit the floor. He took his wand again and said "Caementum Alipes." Winifred's feet were immediately emerged in blocks of stone. He then pushed her with a Flipendo curse and she fell backwards. She was unable to get back up.
But still she fought on. "Derium Minisule! Hypimum Di!" She sounded.
Cougar felt a flurry of tingling wings over his body and he found himself floating in the air, also unable to move. "Irridical!" Cougar shouted.
The witch began to spin about in a circle. The crowd laughed. She became enraged and stopped the spinning. She showed her devious side by transfiguring Cougar's watch into a Flesh-Eating Lizard. The lizard bit Cougars hand and slipped through his skin. Cougar felt sick, but he continued.
"Olken Manus, Ulkem Menas, Elkem Monis." Cougar remembered from the hex teachings of Professor Flitwick.
Winifred began to squirm. Unable to move in the solid blocks of stone she jerked in her place. He had infected her with hiccups. They worked their way up to her throat and she began hiccupping violently and spluttering as she did so. Every time she attempted a spell a hiccup threw her back.
Cougar was about to finish her when she gathered up all of her strength and shouted "Wingardium Leviosa!" She levitated a rock from the ground outside the ring and whacked Cougar in the head with it. He was knocked out, and once again she became the victor.
Cougar woke up in a small medical tent. Indi was right beside him. She smiled down on him. He was surprised to see that beautiful smile. "I didn't think that you would be happy with me." He looked up to her.
"You did brilliantly. Very entertaining." She laughed. "There are a few reporters outside in fact. Should I let them in?" She asked looking unsure.
"What do they want?" Cougar asked.
"To interview you." She said as if it was something he should really already know.
"Why?" He asked thoroughly confused.
"Cougar, you nearly defeated Winifred Tullanger! Do you know what that means?" She said open mouthed.
"No?"
"She is the Champion of the Americas." She said.
"Really? God!" Cougar had not realised it.
Two reporters pushed past some medical staff and shouted over to Cougar. "Any chance of a picture? It's for the Overbog Miracle."
Cougar was taken aback. He could not believe that they wanted a picture of him. They took many. Of him holding his arm up where the Medi-Wizards had pulled out the lizard, of him and Indi, of him in a hospital bed, of him with his University cloak on.
By the time they got out of the tent it was nearly ten o'clock and they were famished, so they looked for a place to eat. The pair made their way down to the beach where they picked up some seafood snacks. They then took a long walk along the Overbog beach talking about University and Schools, and their past.
"So you never got your forth NEWT in potions?" Indi asked as she was walking with Cougar to the University.
"Nope. We got a new teacher that year. Professor Snape, I kept correcting his grammar, and formulae for the potions, and he hated me for it. I must have lost about seven hundred points for Ravenclaw just because I corrected him. So he failed me for 6th year potions, then he 'mysteriously' looses the paper." Cougar said resentfully.
Indi laughed. "For goodness sake! I never had any problems like that. My teacher, Professor Urha, she loved me. I was her favourite student. It was her who guaranteed me a place here. But everyone else in my year hated Potions, well apart from Shell, but she isn't as good as me." Indi laughed. "That's a terrible thing to say. I don't really mean it."
Cougar laughed as well. "That's nothing compared to what I did! My pal from Hogwarts, Charlie, he's in Romania right now. But when him and I were in school he went out with a girl named Irene Bileflower. He went away on a Quidditch trip to Beaxbatons and I went out with Irene while he was away. But after he came back and found out I dumped her. I don't ever know why I went out with her." He laughed. "She was horrible to everyone. Anyway I split them two up and I didn't really get anything out of it. But Chaz beat me up when he came back anyway." Cougar hung his head. "I feel really bad about that now."
"So you should!" Said Indi who had been listening with a look of disgust on her face. "If Shell did that to me I'd kill her!"
"Yeah, well we were kids. I was stupid." He shamed himself into surrender.
She looked into his boring brown eyes and found the cute sensation that had made her want to go out with him in the first place. They both smiled, and Cougar put his arm around her as they entered the University grounds.
As they got up to their rooms Indi turned to Cougar. "That was a great night. I really enjoyed myself."
"Yeah it was fun." Cougar said, and he leaned into her. They kissed. Although, unlike most 'Goodnight' kisses it did not seem final.
Indi pulled herself away. "So, you wanna come in?" She asked. "I've got the bedroom." Cougar followed Indi inside and spent the night. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.