~*~Chapter 8~*~
~*~Cupid's POV~*~
Hermes and I decided to walk in the forest for a while. We were walking there, him trying to get information on my non-existent relationship with Euterpe, me denying everything. I suddenly noticed that everything had gone abnormally quiet…
"Duck!" I yelled at Hermes. He dropped to the ground just in time; an arrow shot out of the shadows and implanted itself in the tree just behind his head!
"Honestly Bane," Complained Hermes while dusting himself off, "It's no wonder you're so unpopular." That was said to Bane, a centaur living the forest, who came out where he was hiding.
"Well, you were making enough noise to wake the dead. Was I supposed to stand back and watch you scare off the animals?"
"I think the sight of your face is enough to accomplish that. I was merely warning the animals."
Hermes and Bane didn't have what could be called a friendly relationship. They simply detested each other, always looking for opportunities to humiliate/maim/grotesquely disfigure the other, sometime managing to accomplish all three at once!
As for me, I try to stay out of the crossfire as much as possible. After all, my motto was 'Make love, not war'.
Some hippies discovered it, and it became a popular mantra during the sixties. It's a very long story…
Anyway, Hermes and Bane were glaring at each other, and I was trying to keep them away from each other as much as possible. Thankfully, Bane decided that he didn't want to waste his time on Hermes.
Ok, so it was an insult, but I didn't want to be around when he really lost his temper. Hermes had this way of winding people up, and Bane had the shortest tempers in the forest.
Hermes was still miffed at the arrow incident. "I am so gonna get back at him at the party tonight."
Oh no, I completely forgot about it. Zeus' annual 'Look at how all powerful I am' party. He throws a party every year for the sake of throwing one, and everyone from Mount Olympus has to attend. If not... well, just look at Medusa.
"You know, everyone is going to pester us for information on the wager tonight." I said to Hermes as we continued on our way.
"Oh yeah. I am going to impress the ladies with the story on how I pulled Draco out of the way." Said Hermes smugly. "That wasn't fair!" I complained.
"Should I care?"
We walked into a clearing at the edge of the forest, where a class was taking place.
"Hey, look. There's Draco!" I pointed out.
"Speak of the Devil…" Muttered Hermes. "I wonder where Hermione is." Hermione was standing on the other side of the group, with Harry and Ron.
The professor teaching the class was a really huge man with a bushy beard covering most his face. He spoke with this coarse, hard to understand accent, and I could only make out a few words.
He went on about something called 'cabbits' or something or other, and it knowing what's best for their owner. He then called out students, and handed them a strange-looking cat with wings that led them to another student. The student would either be pleased or disturbed at whom the winged cat would lead them to, but they seemed to be forced to stay with them.
"Cool," Hermes observed. "They're letting these things choose their partners for them."
"I wonder who Hermione's partner will be."
"Judging recent events, I'm guessing Draco."
"You actually admit it?!"
"That was my sarcastic voice Eros."
"Really? It sounds a lot like your normal voice. And my name is Cupid."
"Says who?"
"Says me."
"Oh yeah?"
We bickered on for a while, and we got interrupted when Hermione's name was called. The cat-thing took one look at her, and then floated off almost instantly, almost as if it already knew where to go…
"Noo! Stupid creature!" Yelled Hermes in frustration.
"I think it's called a cabbit." I told Hermes. We moved over to where Draco and Hermione were standing, both looking disgusted with each other.
Hermes didn't hear me. He was looking at the cabbit with a mean look on his face.
"I wonder if you can eat these things…" He wondered.
"Shh! Magical creatures can hear us, remember?" I quickly covered the cabbit's ears, but it was a bit too late. The cabbit was staring at Hermes, clearly understanding every word that Hermes said.
"I don't care if they make good company! This… thing is implying that… that…" He motioned with his hands, too emotional to speak.
"Hey, these things know what's best for its owner. If Draco is the best thing for Hermione then-"
"Stop right there! I don't even want to hear the rest of that sentence."
Meanwhile, the cabbit was hissing at Hermes and trying to claw at him. Hermione picked it up, and tried to comfort it, saying in baby talk:
"Awww… Is something wrong with my widdle Fwuffy?"
Draco rolled his eyes and muttered: "Fluffy?"
He then continued, drawling in a disgusted voice, "I can't believe anyone would even bother to name that thing, let alone a name like Fluffy. Its name's Cabbit, and that's final."
"Give the boy a gold star for originality. Its name's Fluffy."
"And like Fluffy is original?! Cabbit."
"Fluffy."
"Cabbit."
They bickered on like this for some time, and the cabbit concerned just followed the course, turning its head to who ever was speaking.
"That is really sweet," I motioned to the two arguing, "They're having a lover's spat."
"Oh please!" Retorted Hermes, "Those two are having a spat, all right. A normal, enemy's spat. No love and lots of contempt."
"I don't think contempt is a word that can be used when describing last night's events."
"Yeah, that's right. Rub it in, why don't you." Muttered Hermes.
"Does it bother you?" I asked with mock concern.
"If it did, would you care?"
"Not really."
Hermes glared at the cabbit again, and it responded by hissing back.
"You know," I remarked to Hermes, "I don't think it likes you a lot."
"You don't say…"
I reached out to the cabbit and petted it which started to purr. When Hermes tried to do the same, it gave him a disdainful look.
"These things are really adorable." I said, petting the cabbit.
"Yah, that's right, really deplorable- I mean adorable." Muttered Hermes when the cabbit glared at him.
You know, these things are a lot smarter than they seem…
Anyway, since I hadn't done any matchmaking over the last few days, I drew out my arrows and looked for some promising couples.
"I thought you agreed that you wouldn't use your arrows."
"I agreed that I wouldn't use the arrows on them." I jerked my head in Draco and Hermione's direction. "Regardless of the Wager, I still have a job to do. Unlike you. When was the last time you delivered messages to the Gods?"
"That's not my only job," Replied Hermes, looked offended, "You know that I'm a 'bringer of good luck', and the protector of loads of people and other stuff. So that's what I'm doing. I'm bringing good luck."
"To who?" I snorted.
"I think the correct word is 'whom'." He smirked.
Honestly, being the 'patron of writers', or whatever they called it, can get really annoying.
I shot an arrow at Ron and his partner, a Slytherin girl, and aimed another arrow at a Gryffindor boy and his partner.
All the students were placing various objects in front of their cabbits, trying to make it choose and noting whatever it went to.
All in all, very boring.
I started to aim my arrow at another couple, when the cabbit tried to scratch Hermes. As he jumped out of the way, he bumped into me, sending my arrow flying and hitting Draco!
Slowly, as though it was in slow motion, we both saw the arrow fly and hit Draco, who was looking up from his work at-
"Pansy Parkinson?!" Exclaimed Hermes and me.
Draco started staring at Pansy, and I was yelling at Hermes.
"You just had to bump into me, didn't you?!" I shouted furiously. "Just like that Psyche incident! Do you actually plan these things?"
"Hold on!" Hermes tried to stay as far away from me as he could. "First of all, yeah, so what if the Psyche thing was on purpose? This was the cabbit's fault. It tried to scratch me!"
"Oh, sure, a cat with wings is to blame!" I yelled back. The cabbit, looking up, hissed at the insult.
"Oh shut up!" I snapped at it.
"Sheesh, Cupid. You have to cut back on the caffeine."
I was panicking. What am I going to do?
I racked my brains for something I could do to stop all this, and came up with… nothing! Absolutely nothing!
I don't have anything to stop love, and once a person is hit by an arrow, then the love is unstoppable!
This is just like the Psyche incident, only it wasn't me who wasn't hit.
Hermes thought it was funny to sneak up on me and scare me when I was aiming an arrow, and in the process I pricked myself and fell in love with Psyche. The rest, as they say, is history.
After a few months of trailing around Psyche like a love-sick puppy, I managed to make her fall in love with someone, which broke my heart.
It was only after pining for her for a few days was I able to get over, and end the "accidental love."
All in all, it wasn't a pleasant experience, and I still blame Hermes for that.
"Well Hermes, it's your fault. You got Draco to fall in love with Pansy, so end it. Now." I glared at him.
"Why should I fix this? You're the "bringer of love" or whatever." Hermes replied. "I am merely a "bringer of luck" and all the afore-mentioned things. Beside it…was… your… arrow." Hermes screeched to a stop when he saw me glare warningly at him.
"Besides," He continued, "You think this is going to help me with the wager?"
"Yes."
"Hmm… You're right. Anyway, it's no fun to win like this. Don't you have anything like a romance repellent or something?"
"Sure, I'll use it WHEN I DO HAVE SUCH A THING!" The last part was yelled at Hermes, who winced.
What was I going to do?
~*~
A/N: You know, I think I'll leave it like this for now.
Angry Mob: What?! *Start to run after me.*
Me: Um, guys? Guyyys? Uh oh. *Starts running away* HELP!!!
Sorry to leave you all like this, but I have writer's block like you wouldn't imagine! Plus, I'm starting school next week, so cut me some slack! Anyway, I want to work on this fabulous story I just started. I'm waiting for it to be approved by my beta, so watch this space!
By the way, I've started this MSN group that focuses on D/Hr stuff. It's still new-ish, but I'm still working on it. I would really appreciate it if you people could join, post on the message boards, and maybe submit a fic on the Documents page every now and them! Here's the URL:
Anyway, I'll start work on the next chapter as soon as I get some ideas. Thanks a lot to my Beta McG, and to all the readers!
Until next time!
MiChA
