Elisabeth looked across the table at William, trying to put a wild
newt into a pot and plant it.
"Aren't you smart."
"Oh hush Elisabeth, don't tell me that you've never potted a wild newt upside down."
"I haven't. You don't pot animals you fool."
"This isn't an animal!"
"Actually, Mr Weasley, it is an animal, from the species Wilidius Newticus. They eat parsley, basil and garden gnomes." Neville was standing over them. "So I strongly suggest that you remove it from that dirt before you end up with fewer fingers than you started with."
Elisabeth, Moira and Daniel tried to muffle their laughter. "And Mr Longbottom! I see that you have put your plant upside down. When it starts to scream I would suggest you run however you'll probably have turned to stone before I get around to it."
"Why are we saving these things if they're so dangerous?" Daniel muttered, sticking his plants head in the dirt.
"Because it's a proven fact that once something has killed an extraordinary amount of people it turns around and starts saving more. Now, it's time for your next class, remember, study for the exams next week! I'll see you on Monday."
They filed out of the classroom and headed for Transfiguration. "I can't believe the school year is almost over already."
"I know. Stupid exams. If it wasn't for them we would be home by now."
"If it wasn't for the exams wizards would have died out and we'd have a bunch of people running around using magic improperly."
Oh shush. You are such an optimist."
"What's optimistic about people randomly killing each other with powers they didn't know they had?"
Elisabeth was saved from William's reply by Hermione's arrival. They handed in their homework (the last assignment of the year, Elisabeth noted) and filed, once again out of the classroom.
"So, child-prodigy, all geared up for the Quidditch Cup tonight?"
"Ha! I'll never be ready for this."
Ugly grinned. "I suppose that's all we can expect."
"What! Ugly is accepting a lack of preparedness? APOCOLYPSE!"
"Oh hush Vivyann."
Elisabeth looked up and saw Kris walking through the courtyard. "I'll be right back." She got up and walked towards him. She hadn't spoken to him since Christmas.
"Kris?"
He turned. "Oh! Elisabeth, hello. I was looking for you."
"Oh?"
"Yes. I have Natasha for two weeks this summer. We are going to go to Australia. Your dad said that he would come but he was not sure if you would want to come or if you would want to stay with your friends."
Elisabeth counted mentally, she was going with Anna and Will for the first week, Moira, Daniel, Will and Anna for the second two weeks, Moira and Daniel for the last week of the first month, Caroline for the first week of the second month and as far as she knew she was free after that. "What weeks?"
He smiled. "The second last week. I thought that you would want to get yourself together and ready during the last week and my mother and father will be wanting to see Natasha."
Elisabeth nodded. "Yeah, no problem. I'll see you at the game tonight."
"So what did our hero want?" Vivyann asked.
"Somebody to practise Unforgivables on."
"That's what I thought."
"Yes. Well. Ahem..we had better go. Ugly is all excited and stuff. He reckons we could actually win this thing."
"That would be nice. I'm nervous."
"Why? You have all that Quidditch blood."
"Keep in mind Bulgaria never won a World Cup when my dad was on the team."
"Well you don't look like him. Maybe you can pretend to be someone else's daughter."
"Yes. Who is extremely rich?"
"Draco."
"Your father."
"No way man! You are so off it's scary."
"I'm off? Hello, your dad received a 700,000 Galleon inheritance. As far as I know he hasn't touched a fifth of it. Plus, he's bringing in unbelievable amounts of moolah out there on the pitch."
"No kidding?"
"No way."
"That loser! He never told me we were rich."
"I'm sorry, I don't like to flatter myself too much."
"Oh do go away Derrick."
"Oh do go away Derrick." He said in a whiny imitation of Vivyann.
"Get lost Dekko."
"A little appreciation, that's all I ask." He paused briefly. "And a pound or two everyonce and a while."
"Oh you'll get a pound alright."
"You can pound him all you want after the game but right now we need him."
"Why?"
"Target practise."
Derrick glared at Ugly but said nothing.
"Uh-oh."
"What is it?"
"That swotty little pansy boy Walker and his henchmen."
"Saxon Walker?"
"The one and only."
"Thank god he's the only."
"Wonder what he wants."
It soon became clear exactly what Saxon and his team wanted.
"We had this place booked Ugly."
"Mr Ugly to you Saxon. And you didn't have it booked."
"Anders?" Anders Peyna scurried up with a piece of parchment that had some illegible writing on it.
"Okay, so you can scribble. Where's the note?" Signey was in Saxon's face.
"That's the note you prig."
Chase and Derrick, who had, up till that moment been laughing and joking suddenly turned to Saxon. "What did you call her Walker?"
"Because if you called her what we think you called her you're going to be in trouble."
"I called her a-"
Kris appeared suddenly. "You called her Sig, right Walker?"
Saxon looked at the Ravenclaw team, glaring at him and he backed down. "Er-yeah. Yeah. Sig, that's it."
"Well my name is Signey. You can spend the rest of the evening, while we practise, figuring that one out."
The Gryfindor team turned and left. "Why'd you do that Svenson?"
"Because you know as well as I do that we weren't booked for this evening." The team drifted off the pitch.
"So Sig! You ready to play?"
"Call me Sig one more time you pansy and I'll kick you and your unmentionables to the moon."
Derrick rolled his eyes. "Would you two just start dating so that we can get on with this practise."
"What makes you think we're going to start dating?!"
"Oh come off it. You tow have been all over each other since Mahoney stopped playing."
"Have not!"
"Oh Arthur, would you come help me with my Arithmancy in the library? Oh Arthur, will you come help me do that Wronski Feint? Oh Signey, would you be so kind as to accompany me to the owlery to deliver this letter?"
"Touché."
"Only we don't sound so flaky."
"Hurry up and ask her out Mahoney. We need to get up in the air."
Arthur looked at Signey and half-smiled. She shrugged.
"So what, was that some sort of secret code?"
"Not that it matters or anything."
"We're going out. Can we get in the air now?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because Elisabeth hasn't got a boyfriend yet."
"And I don't need one!"
"You do so. You're twelve years old, time enough to begin dating."
"Explain that to my dad and I'll go out with Saxon Walker."
"Ha! I wouldn't say that if I were you."
"What about Svenson?"
"Yeah right, he's going to be spending his summers chasing a kid around the country-side. Not the person for our Elisabeth." Elisabeth, who was quite amused with the entire production asked, "And who, oh wise Chase, is the person for me?"
"Me?"
Everyone turned and looked at Chase, not believing the usually quiet, reserved and polite boy had burst out with this. Then they turned and looked at Elisabeth. She shifted uncomfortably. She liked Chase a lot, his off-beat humour, his easy manner and his all-around sweetness. She was sure that her dad wouldn't have that big of a problem with him. He was only two years older than her. But everyone was looking at her.
"Umm, could you guys, uh, leave us alone?"
The concept of alone appeared to confuse them so Elisabeth gave them a general nudge. "Alone, solitary, away from others."
They grudgingly turned and went up into the stands, leaving Elisabeth and Chase alone on the pitch.
"Er, so..where you being serious when you said, when you said that you wanted to go out with me?"
"Only if you want to go out with me. If you don't then I retract all previous statements and begin life as a hermit on the southern coast of New Zealand."
"No, I think I would like that."
"You mean it?"
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."
The others returned to the pitch shortly after and they prepared to begin the game.
"So, Ugly, what's the game plan?"
Ugly explained. "And you guys?"
"Yeah?"
"Please call me Cage from now on, if it's no problem."
"But you've always been Ugly!" Elisabeth blurted.
"Well, I guess it's okay when, you know, it's just me and you guys but can we try to keep it Cage when we're around, well, other people?"
"What? You've out-grown your nickname? To grown up for us?"
"You guys, it's not that, I just, well it was made to distinguish me from Chastity and now I'm moving on. I don't want to go through the rest of my life as Ugly."
"Okay Ugly-I mean Cage."
Cage smiled and tuned away. Elisabeth had a feeling that he wished he could hang on to the nickname a little bit longer.
"Aren't you smart."
"Oh hush Elisabeth, don't tell me that you've never potted a wild newt upside down."
"I haven't. You don't pot animals you fool."
"This isn't an animal!"
"Actually, Mr Weasley, it is an animal, from the species Wilidius Newticus. They eat parsley, basil and garden gnomes." Neville was standing over them. "So I strongly suggest that you remove it from that dirt before you end up with fewer fingers than you started with."
Elisabeth, Moira and Daniel tried to muffle their laughter. "And Mr Longbottom! I see that you have put your plant upside down. When it starts to scream I would suggest you run however you'll probably have turned to stone before I get around to it."
"Why are we saving these things if they're so dangerous?" Daniel muttered, sticking his plants head in the dirt.
"Because it's a proven fact that once something has killed an extraordinary amount of people it turns around and starts saving more. Now, it's time for your next class, remember, study for the exams next week! I'll see you on Monday."
They filed out of the classroom and headed for Transfiguration. "I can't believe the school year is almost over already."
"I know. Stupid exams. If it wasn't for them we would be home by now."
"If it wasn't for the exams wizards would have died out and we'd have a bunch of people running around using magic improperly."
Oh shush. You are such an optimist."
"What's optimistic about people randomly killing each other with powers they didn't know they had?"
Elisabeth was saved from William's reply by Hermione's arrival. They handed in their homework (the last assignment of the year, Elisabeth noted) and filed, once again out of the classroom.
"So, child-prodigy, all geared up for the Quidditch Cup tonight?"
"Ha! I'll never be ready for this."
Ugly grinned. "I suppose that's all we can expect."
"What! Ugly is accepting a lack of preparedness? APOCOLYPSE!"
"Oh hush Vivyann."
Elisabeth looked up and saw Kris walking through the courtyard. "I'll be right back." She got up and walked towards him. She hadn't spoken to him since Christmas.
"Kris?"
He turned. "Oh! Elisabeth, hello. I was looking for you."
"Oh?"
"Yes. I have Natasha for two weeks this summer. We are going to go to Australia. Your dad said that he would come but he was not sure if you would want to come or if you would want to stay with your friends."
Elisabeth counted mentally, she was going with Anna and Will for the first week, Moira, Daniel, Will and Anna for the second two weeks, Moira and Daniel for the last week of the first month, Caroline for the first week of the second month and as far as she knew she was free after that. "What weeks?"
He smiled. "The second last week. I thought that you would want to get yourself together and ready during the last week and my mother and father will be wanting to see Natasha."
Elisabeth nodded. "Yeah, no problem. I'll see you at the game tonight."
"So what did our hero want?" Vivyann asked.
"Somebody to practise Unforgivables on."
"That's what I thought."
"Yes. Well. Ahem..we had better go. Ugly is all excited and stuff. He reckons we could actually win this thing."
"That would be nice. I'm nervous."
"Why? You have all that Quidditch blood."
"Keep in mind Bulgaria never won a World Cup when my dad was on the team."
"Well you don't look like him. Maybe you can pretend to be someone else's daughter."
"Yes. Who is extremely rich?"
"Draco."
"Your father."
"No way man! You are so off it's scary."
"I'm off? Hello, your dad received a 700,000 Galleon inheritance. As far as I know he hasn't touched a fifth of it. Plus, he's bringing in unbelievable amounts of moolah out there on the pitch."
"No kidding?"
"No way."
"That loser! He never told me we were rich."
"I'm sorry, I don't like to flatter myself too much."
"Oh do go away Derrick."
"Oh do go away Derrick." He said in a whiny imitation of Vivyann.
"Get lost Dekko."
"A little appreciation, that's all I ask." He paused briefly. "And a pound or two everyonce and a while."
"Oh you'll get a pound alright."
"You can pound him all you want after the game but right now we need him."
"Why?"
"Target practise."
Derrick glared at Ugly but said nothing.
"Uh-oh."
"What is it?"
"That swotty little pansy boy Walker and his henchmen."
"Saxon Walker?"
"The one and only."
"Thank god he's the only."
"Wonder what he wants."
It soon became clear exactly what Saxon and his team wanted.
"We had this place booked Ugly."
"Mr Ugly to you Saxon. And you didn't have it booked."
"Anders?" Anders Peyna scurried up with a piece of parchment that had some illegible writing on it.
"Okay, so you can scribble. Where's the note?" Signey was in Saxon's face.
"That's the note you prig."
Chase and Derrick, who had, up till that moment been laughing and joking suddenly turned to Saxon. "What did you call her Walker?"
"Because if you called her what we think you called her you're going to be in trouble."
"I called her a-"
Kris appeared suddenly. "You called her Sig, right Walker?"
Saxon looked at the Ravenclaw team, glaring at him and he backed down. "Er-yeah. Yeah. Sig, that's it."
"Well my name is Signey. You can spend the rest of the evening, while we practise, figuring that one out."
The Gryfindor team turned and left. "Why'd you do that Svenson?"
"Because you know as well as I do that we weren't booked for this evening." The team drifted off the pitch.
"So Sig! You ready to play?"
"Call me Sig one more time you pansy and I'll kick you and your unmentionables to the moon."
Derrick rolled his eyes. "Would you two just start dating so that we can get on with this practise."
"What makes you think we're going to start dating?!"
"Oh come off it. You tow have been all over each other since Mahoney stopped playing."
"Have not!"
"Oh Arthur, would you come help me with my Arithmancy in the library? Oh Arthur, will you come help me do that Wronski Feint? Oh Signey, would you be so kind as to accompany me to the owlery to deliver this letter?"
"Touché."
"Only we don't sound so flaky."
"Hurry up and ask her out Mahoney. We need to get up in the air."
Arthur looked at Signey and half-smiled. She shrugged.
"So what, was that some sort of secret code?"
"Not that it matters or anything."
"We're going out. Can we get in the air now?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because Elisabeth hasn't got a boyfriend yet."
"And I don't need one!"
"You do so. You're twelve years old, time enough to begin dating."
"Explain that to my dad and I'll go out with Saxon Walker."
"Ha! I wouldn't say that if I were you."
"What about Svenson?"
"Yeah right, he's going to be spending his summers chasing a kid around the country-side. Not the person for our Elisabeth." Elisabeth, who was quite amused with the entire production asked, "And who, oh wise Chase, is the person for me?"
"Me?"
Everyone turned and looked at Chase, not believing the usually quiet, reserved and polite boy had burst out with this. Then they turned and looked at Elisabeth. She shifted uncomfortably. She liked Chase a lot, his off-beat humour, his easy manner and his all-around sweetness. She was sure that her dad wouldn't have that big of a problem with him. He was only two years older than her. But everyone was looking at her.
"Umm, could you guys, uh, leave us alone?"
The concept of alone appeared to confuse them so Elisabeth gave them a general nudge. "Alone, solitary, away from others."
They grudgingly turned and went up into the stands, leaving Elisabeth and Chase alone on the pitch.
"Er, so..where you being serious when you said, when you said that you wanted to go out with me?"
"Only if you want to go out with me. If you don't then I retract all previous statements and begin life as a hermit on the southern coast of New Zealand."
"No, I think I would like that."
"You mean it?"
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."
The others returned to the pitch shortly after and they prepared to begin the game.
"So, Ugly, what's the game plan?"
Ugly explained. "And you guys?"
"Yeah?"
"Please call me Cage from now on, if it's no problem."
"But you've always been Ugly!" Elisabeth blurted.
"Well, I guess it's okay when, you know, it's just me and you guys but can we try to keep it Cage when we're around, well, other people?"
"What? You've out-grown your nickname? To grown up for us?"
"You guys, it's not that, I just, well it was made to distinguish me from Chastity and now I'm moving on. I don't want to go through the rest of my life as Ugly."
"Okay Ugly-I mean Cage."
Cage smiled and tuned away. Elisabeth had a feeling that he wished he could hang on to the nickname a little bit longer.