Wow, I've been getting so many reviews for this, and so far nobody has wanted to flame it :-) Well, a few little shoutie outs, and then ON WITH THE STORY!
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Thanks & Replies
Sweet Sere- happy to know that you think it's cool ;-)
Firefly-chan- hopefully you'll be able to wait a while... I'm babysitting and both kids are crying O_O
Serenity Cloe Potter- they might end up together, but like I said at the beginning, I've no idea where this story will go.
D-Chan- Glad you think the Oliver/Usagi pairings ok... I only did it because I liked him in the movie ::sighs:: my mom says he's "not right", but I didn't care...
Aidenn Legacy- I've been doing nothing but writing for a long time today (and last night), and then I post. Not too hard, ne? I'm not sure if you're really confused... I write like I read: who knows what's gunna happen next?
Honey- he might not suffer so long, but we'll see. Also, I'm not evil. I'd be evil had I actually bought that Devil's Bible I saw in the bookstore the other day, but I didn't. ;-D
Princess of the Fae- I'll try ;-) and I'm glad that I've done something you wouldn't have thought of.
DevilsDarling- Thanks! I do try to go for the originality, but it's kinda hard when a lot of other fics have already been written, ne? And the next chapter is coming as quick as I can make it.
Caspian58- Umm... it's not supposed to be THAT funny, but there were some things in there that were meant to be, so I'm pleased that you've seen them :-D
Anime Luver- I won't say what's going to happen, but I already know, so :-P
Star0704- She might, but she might not. Glad you love it!
Bunni V- a lot of people have colds, don't they? Yes, I can still put them together, but I might not ::grins evilly and beings laughing:: mwahahahaha! I HAVE ALL THE POWER! Sorry, couldn't resist :-D
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I'm really pleased with all the reviews this has been getting... the last SM one I wrote only got about nine in all before I reposted it, but I'm really stuck with that one...
Oh, and I've been wanting to get around to explaining how Usagi speaks English so well, and that's in this chapter ;-)
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Everyone was amazed at how much Usagi had changed. It had seemed like she was easy going and could make friends easily before, but now that she was no longer stuck with people she hated (and who hated her, for that matter), she was much more cheerful, and her smiles didn't seem as if they were forced any more. Of course, it seemed obvious to all that she was with Oliver, now that they didn't have to hide it as much, and the twins were now perfectly happy with the two of them being together. The only one who didn't seem quite so satisfied was Draco Malfoy.
"You mean to tell me that after what she did, she's not even being punished?" he exclaimed incredulously to Crabbe and Goyl. Both needed sharp prods in the back of their heads for grunts of agreement.
Draco growled and glared over at the Gryffindor table. This was even more of a reason to hate Gryffindors... but she wasn't a Gryffindor when she did that, was she? a strange, reasonable voice said in his head.
She was already friends with Potter and his fan club, as well as that great lug of a captain for the Quidditch team... why am I arguing with myself? I'm right, and that's all that matters. Draco shook his head to clear it of the strange conversation taking place within.
Over at the Gryffindor table, Usagi was seated in between Hermione and Seamus Finnigan. Seamus was explaining his parentage to Usagi, about how his muggle father hadn't found out that his witch mother was a witch until after they were married. Usagi laughed lightly at this.
"Hey, Usagi, you never told us about your parents and everything... I mean, aren't you Japanese?" Dean Thomas interrupted.
"Hay is for horses," Usagi said with a grin. "But I'll tell you. I was born in Japan, and lived there until I was six. Then my father got a new job in America, so we had to move there for a while. He kept on moving around to all different English-speaking countries, and we went with him. That's how I'm able to speak English so well... at six, you can pick up different languages easily.
"Both my parents are muggles. My mom wouldn't even believe that there was such a thing as Hogwarts, so I had to take her to find Mrs. Figg to convince her. That's how I met Harry," she added to Ron, who was across from her. "I knocked on his door-"
"And fell into the hall," Harry added.
Ignoring him, Usagi went on, "And he showed me the way to Mrs. Figg's house."
"Fell into the hall?" George snickered with an innocent grin (innocent grin for a Weasley twin, that is... and we know how innocent THAT is).
"How'd you do that?" Fred asked, and identical look on his face.
"I was knocking and Harry opened the door... and I lost my balance," Usagi said, frowning at them.
"And then you couldn't stand yourself up again," Harry teased. Usagi simply stuck her tongue out at him.
Changing the subject, Usagi said, "I saw you at Gringotts with a giant man. Who was he?"
"Oh, that was Hagrid. He's gamekeeper here," Harry informed her.
"He looked very nice," Usagi said, smiling a bit.
"You should meet him sometime," Hermione said.
"Yeah, we can take you down to his hut," Ron added.
"That'd be excellent," Usagi said, grinning.
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Usagi found herself down at Hagrid's hut the following Saturday, munching away happily at the rock cakes he'd set out for her, Hermione, Ron, and Harry. Usagi had taken an instant liking to Hagrid, and was deep in conversation with him and Hermione.
Ron, watching Usagi slack jawed, muttered to Harry, "How can she eat those things so fast, AND talk at the same time?"
Harry just shrugged. It completely baffled him, too.
The remaining few weeks until Halloween flew by, and the day before Halloween, all the girls in the dormitory could talk about was who they were going to the ball with.
"I'm going with Seamus," Parvati said excitedly.
"Dean asked me," said Lavender.
"Who are you going with, Hermione?" Parvati asked.
"I'm not telling," Hermione replied with a secret little smile. Usagi knew perfectly well who she was going with, but had been sworn to secrecy.
"And of course we know who you're going with, Usagi," Lavender said to her.
"You do?" Usagi asked in mock astonishment.
Parvati giggled and said, "Yes. You're going with Oliver."
"Am I, then? When was somebody going to inform me?" Usagi said sarcastically. "I mean, I did only ask him and he did only say yes," she continued, rolling her eyes. This caused everyone to burst out into fits of giggles.
"So," Lavender choked when she'd recovered. "What are you all wearing?"
"You'll see tomorrow, anyway!" the other three exclaimed in unison. This only caused them to burst out laughing again.
"J-jinx!" Usagi gasped out after a second.
"What?"
"Never mind," Usagi muttered, seeing their baffled looks.
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The ball was to be in the afternoon, and then the feast later. All the girls began to prepare in the morning so that they wouldn't be rushed, though.
Lavender had braided her hair and put sparkles all over it. Her robes were a dark blue, with little white dots on it that somewhat resembled stars in the sky. She had also purchased a dark blue hat that matched the robe perfectly. Parvati had also braided her hair, but she left it unadorned. She wore robes that were a very light yellow, and had jade green trimmings. Hermione had used tons of a special magic hair gel to straighten her hair, and then had pulled back into a messy bun. She had light blue robes on, with a gauzy fabric overlay. She wore no hat.
Usagi had the pink robes with yellow moons and stars on it. They fitted her tightly in all the right places, and flowed down loosely from her hips. She wore her hair down, as her favorite style would just be covered up by the chosen hat anyway. She wore almost no decoration in her hair, except for two small pink clips to hold back her bangs. They all thought that every one of them looked lovely, but they thought Usagi looked the best, standing there with the most beautiful wand, with robes and hat, all the same.
Grinning, Usagi said, "Shall we go, ladies? Our gentlemen await."
She waited for no reply, but instead pushed them out the door and down the stairs.
Most of the boys and some of the girls were waiting down in the common room, either for dates or just to have SOME people at the ball before they went.
Dean and Seamus were nowhere to be seen, however, so after Parvati and Lavender had forced Harry to go see if they were still upstairs (which they weren't), they stormed off to the Great Hall to yell at them.
Hermione went down next, and Ron stood up a gaped. "Wow, Hermione... you look great!" he said, ears reddening.
"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said, waiting for him to escort her to the ball. Ears still burning, he walked over to her and took her hand, saying something about the Weird Sisters playing already.
Usagi was left alone on the stairway, staring around for Oliver. She didn't notice how all the boys were staring at her and the girls almost glaring jealously... Parvati, Lavender and Hermione had been right: Usagi had looked the best.
"Has anyone seen Oliver?" she asked, directing the comment more towards the group of fifth year boys.
They all shook their heads, and Percy said, "He wasn't upstairs."
Usagi sighed and left the common room. At the end of a hall lay a note with her name on it, however, and she scanned it quickly.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Come and find me,
With a sight to show you.
Usagi understood immediately, and rushed outside to the Quidditch Pitch to fetch a broom, ignoring the loud sounds coming from inside the Great Hall.
She noticed that Oliver's broom was already gone, and that confirmed her suspicions. She grabbed the best-looking broom she could find (that didn't belong to anybody, of course), and she took off.
The wind whipped her shin-length hair back as she flew at turbo-speed towards their spot. Her hat almost fell off, so she grabbed it and clutched it to the broom without slowing. She had no idea how beautiful she looked with robes and hair streaming in back of her.
"Oliver?" she asked tentatively when she landed. She carefully propped her broom against the wall of a tower, and walked along the roof, trying her hardest not to fall. "Oliver, where are YOU!" she shrieked the last word, because a strong arm had wrapped around her waist, and she was lifted up into the air while being pulled onto a broomstick.
"Right here," he said in her ear.
Turning around, Usagi let her arms sneak around his neck, and hovering miles above the lake, kissed him. Pulling apart, Usagi said, "We should go in now. The ball will be over and I won't have gotten any food!"
"Here we go, then," he said, pointing the broom straight down at the water.
"Oliver, no... NO!" Usagi squealed as the broom shot straight towards the water at break-neck speed. He pulled up at the last second and zoomed away across the black waters, alighting neatly on the stands in the Quidditch pitch. He whispered a small spell, and his broom flew off quickly in the direction of the broom shed.
Taking Usagi's hand, Oliver led her inside to the ball.
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I'm going to stop there. I know it's getting really fluffy, but it won't get any worse (I hope). I've decided that after the troll-encounter, I'm going to disregard the books and any timing they have. I'll still kinda stick to the first book's plot, but the end will be different (to say the least).
I'm surprised I got this far ::grins:: I had to keep on checking the reviews, because there would be one or two new ones every time I checked! Keep 'em coming, peoples!
~**Rini**~
