Here We Go Around Again
Chapter 11
Isabel tried not to think much about that first training session, and was thankful that her parents didn't seem to want to talk about it either; it was all still very strange to her, and the fact that she seemed to have so much power (which she had no control over) in her hands was kind of scary. During the next weeks, her improvement was next to none.
She went on normally, trying to cope with her very tight schedule, in which Isabel had to squeeze in time for classes, homework, Quidditch, hanging out with her friends, her parents, special training three times a week and why not, plotting against Anya Malfoy, who, after that Potions' fiasco, had become even more of a nuisance. Honestly, the girl was mental; not only did she have to hold that stupid family grudge (which, she was sorry to admit, her father, Ron and Robin seemed to share) over her, she was also quite taken with Nick Harper (now that was just illogical because, like a good Slytherin, she loathed the rest of the Gryffindors with a passion, his crush's sister being no exception), and the fact that he paid a whole lot more attention to Isabel made her irritable, and in turn gave her an other reason to hate the Gryffindor. As if she didn't have enough…
Quidditch practice was great for Isabel. Not only was she doing something she loved, it also helped her to get better acquainted with some of her housemates (one of the Chasers, Alex Baldwin, who was in her same year, had immediately taken a liking to the new Seeker and always loved to flirt with her when he saw her), and all in all, Isabel was very busy. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to strain herself studying, otherwise she would have undergone a nervous break-down the second week of school, when the teachers started loading them with homework in hope of starting an early review for the O.W.L's.
Thus two months passed.
On Saturday before Halloween the students were allowed to go to Hogsmeade for the day, and Isabel was no exception; of course, before she was able to go, she and Harry had had to go through some serious ever-paranoid-Hermione-persuasion.
-Pleeease?,-whined Isabel, looking at her parents with enormous puppy dog eyes.
-No.
-Yes.
-Harry!,-exclaimed Hermione, turning to glare at her husband with a disapproving look on her face.
-Hermione!,-retorted Harry, giving her the same look.
-Don't you 'Hermione' me, Harry!,-she said, shaking her finger at him.,-I just don't think it's safe for her to be wandering around Hogsmeade on her own. It could be dangerous!
-Well, I don't think it's fair to make her stay back when all her friends are going! It isn't fair and it isn't fun! I know for me it wasn't.
-Yeah, and we both know how well your little escapades turned out at the end!,-snapped Hermione, placing her hands on her hips, and acquiring that look that told them she was not about to change her mind. Which, of course, meant they had to change tactics.
-Fine, be that way!,-Harry turned to face their child.,-I'm sorry, Isabel, but you're not going. You can thank your mother for that.
Hermione sent him a withering look while Isabel pouted.
-Don't make me into the bad one in all this, Harry!,-she said.,-I'm only doing what I think is best!
-Fine!,-retorted Harry, dramatically.,-If you 'think it's best'; Isabel, go back to your room, if you will.
-Thanks a lot, mom.,-the fourteen year old said sullenly, while Hermione's glare wavered. There was just no way she could stand up to those two.
-Oh, you! Okay, fine, you can go.,-she finally consented, albeit reluctantly.,-But promise me that you'll be careful…
Father and daughter gave each other identical grins.
-Sure, mom!,-Isabel said, cheerfully.,-Thanks!
And with that she quickly ran off to meet her friends, leaving the two adults to glare at one other; actually, Hermione was glaring, Harry was just giving her an utterly innocent look.
They stood there, looking/glaring at each other for a moment.
-That's cheating!,-she finally said, crossing her arms childishly around her chest and pouting.
Harry flashed her an adorable smile, and nodded.
-Yep!
Hermione's pout deepened.
-I hate you.
-I love you.
-Oh, you!
And that was it.
Hogsmeade was exactly how she'd pictured it, bursting with live and excitement, and Isabel was positive she was going to enjoy her time away from training and Snape, who had finally began taking points off Gryffindor for 'lack of interest and not enough participation' on her part; Harry had been very inclined to beat the oily professor into a pulp, but Hermione had threatened to turn him into a slug and feed him to Pigwidgeon if he did.
They went everywhere, from Honeydukes to 3W, where they met up with Fred Weasley and his seven year old son, Richard, (who had thrown himself in Izzy's arms as soon as she walked through the door), and had come out loaded with little trinkets and jokes-courtesy of the house-from one half of the infernal duo to their favorite nephew and niece ("Buggsters, little live figurines of your favorite bugs to scare your friends with!", "Skiving Snackboxes, the perfect excuse to skip class!!!" and "Fake Invisibility Cloaks, the perfect gift to give someone you want to see make a fool of themselves!"); they visited the Shrieking Shack, even though Isabel knew the whole haunted thing was a made up story to scare off villagers (uncle Remus led a quiet live with his wife Amelia in a small cottage outside of Edinburgh) and the Quidditch store, where they ogled at the newly-released racing broom, the Quicksilver, for a while before leaving in dispirited moods.
By some strange twist of fate (actually, it looked like it had all been carefully arranged by Robin, who sucked at being discrete) Isabel found herself alone with Nicholas after their best friend dragged a protesting Cathy into a store (she was fairly sure he was going to get her birthday present with the Harper girl's advice but refrained from saying anything aloud because it gave the two little devils some time alone) and though there was no reason to be-Nick was a perfectly sweet guy-Isabel found she was kind of nervous.
-Where do you want to go next?,-asked the Golden Boy kindly, as they strolled casually down the street; Isabel was very grateful that he was willing to show her around, especially since Robin and Cathy seemed to have ditched them both.
She shrugged delicately, giving him a smile.
-I don't know,-she said shyly.,-what do you suggest?
He answered her with a warm grin, placing an arm comfortably around her shoulder.
-Well,-he began.,-you haven't been to 'The Three Broomsticks' yet, have you? We could go for a couple of butterbeers if you want.
Isabel brightened at the mention of the warm beverage-it was her favorite drink.
-Sure!
Together they slowly made their way around the village, talking about nothing in particular, and Isabel was both happy and confused to see that their friendship had progressed so much in such a short time; they were interrupted, however, by a loud screeching somewhere behind them. The young couple quickly turned around, startled, to face an enraged Anya Malfoy who, sided by her two Slytherin friends, Patrick Zabini and Beatrix Bradbury, was standing outside of Madam Malkin's store branch in Hogsmeade, loaded with bags, and was glaring daggers at them.
Isabel was quickly filling with dread. She had wanted to avoid an exchange with Anya that day and had nearly succeeded, but by the looks of it, her nemesis wasn't just going to walk past them and away; Anya was white with ire, lips curled back in a snarl as her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. She felt Nicholas go rigid at her side.
-Anya, what do you want?,-he asked defensively.
The blond shifted her glare from Isabel to him for a second, and then back to Isabel with renewed hatred.
-You…,-she hissed, taking a closer step to them.,-how dare you put your stinking paws on him? How dare you put the moves on my Nicholas?
-Now, wait just a moment!,-exclaimed Nick, feeling quite indignant.
Isabel was frozen with shock; that was just what she needed, a jealous Anya to top it off.
-Anya, I don't know what you're talking ab-
-SHUT UP!!!,-she bellowed, making lots of heads turn.,-You sneaky little tramp!!!
Isabel recoiled, feeling all the blood leave her face; she was shaking with silent anger, but Anya wasn't finished yet.
-I should have expected this from someone of your kind.,-she spat, disdainfully.,-After all, isn't that how your mudblood slut of a mother got a hold of the 'famous Boy-Who-Lived' in the first place? It was obvious you would turn out exactly like h-
Nick made as if to move forward, but Isabel got there first; a loud SMACK! echoed throughout the street as she slapped the insulting girl hard across the face.
Isabel was beyond angry. She was shaking violently, and thunder was clapping in the background.
-You say what you want about me, Malfoy,-she said, angry tears shinning in her darkened green eyes.,-but don't you dare insult my mother like that again.
Anya was holding her reddened cheek with her hand, and was seething angrily at her.
-You bitch…,-she hissed, moving forward, but Nick was in front of her in an instant, effectively blocking her way.
He glared menacingly down at her.
-Leave now, Anya, or I swear I'll…,-he broke off, too angry to continue; Anya was looking up at him through narrowed eyes.
-Nick,-she began.,-you can't possibly prefer that, that mudblood over me...
The Gryffindor's eyes flashed.
-NOW!!!,-he hollered and, with a last glare, she turned and walked stiffly towards her two friends.
She turned back to Isabel one last time, spat something that resembled "you will regret this" and then stormed away, pushing her way through the crowd that had gathered itself around them.
Nicholas put his hand to his forehead and tried to calm himself.
Sighing heavily, he turned around to face Isabel, who was still shaking madly, and his eyes softened for a moment; he glared at the snooping people to disperse, and when they finally did he quickly put his arms around the girl and drew her to him.
Isabel closed her eyes and hugged him tightly, willing her body to stop shaking; she began sobbing quietly, and Nick's heart broke.
-No, no, dear, don't cry…,-he whispered, rubbing her back in what he hoped was a soothing way; he hated it when girls cried, especially if the girl was someone he cared about.
Nick tried to ignore the strange tug at his heart, and focused on comforting the girl in his arms as best as he could instead; too late, though, as Isabel's first visit to Hogsmeade had been ruined and, two minutes later, when Robin and Cathy finally rushed to the scene, the four made their ways to the castle with considerably heavy hearts.
A/N: This chapter was more difficult than I had thought it would be… thanks to kat6528 and PhoenixGirl1234567 again for their tremendous help. =) I'm seeking out all the help I can get for the Quidditch match, (I suck at narrating sport events…), so I'd be very grateful for ideas… I'm depressed because I just found out I get to wait until August, when my cousin gets back from New Jersey, to read OOtP, and that she's ALREADY reading it… ***sighs***
Celestina, thanks for the encouragement, I loved to see your review. ***smiles***
QuickSilver2033, ***chuckles*** you got ahead of me… do expect to recognize some things during the Quidditch chapter.
Tonks, oh, I know everything about untidy rooms! I had a 'disagreement' with my own tonight, and when I tried to straighten it up a little I found out half of the stuff I kept there was trash. ***sighs*** And don't worry about posting late, I love to read new reviews, and besides, I'm a night owl myself. I never go to sleep before 2 or three or the morning on holidays, especially when I'm on a writing rampage…
Silverwand13, it was my pleasure. =)