Sorry for the really long wait but I've had a bad case of writer's block. I've been banging my head against the computer screen, trying to get some ideas which is why it broke down. -. I'm also sorry to say this but there won't be much Fate or Destiny or Serendipity in this chapter. Couldn't really fit them in.

Chapter eight:

"Hey, Cho!" someone called out as Cho made her way to the Great Hall for lunch.

Cho turned around and saw Ginny running to her, closely followed by Hermione.

"Oh, hey, Ginny," Cho said as the redhead reached her. "Hey, Hermione."

"Have you seen Harry?" asked Ginny. "We haven't seen him since the match. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

"I'm sorry. I haven't seen him since the match, either," Cho said, shaking her head. "There's nothing wrong, is there?" Worry started to nag at her.

"We're not really sure yet," replied Hermione.

"Hermione, he isn't in the dorm," said Ron breathlessly as he ran down a flight of stairs. "Caleb isn't there either. I even checked the perch. Nothing. Hedwig's in the Owlery though. I don't think he needs her wherever he's off to."

Ginny and Hermione now looked extremely worried.

"Damn him," muttered Ginny. "That prat."

"What's wrong?" asked Cho. Her worry grew.

"It's Harry," explained Ron. "He disappeared right after the match. No one knows where he is. Some of his clothes are gone, too."

"Didn't he leave a note?" Hermione turned to Ron.

Ron shook his head, looking hopeless. Hermione muttered a curse word under her breath. Ginny and Ron looked at her with wide eyes. That had been very un-Hermione like.

"What?" asked Hermione, looking indignant. "You can't possibly expect that I'll keep my language when my best friend is missing, do you?"

Ginny shook her head. Then, she looked at Cho.

"Anyways, if you find out where Harry is, could you tell us?" requested Ginny.

Cho nodded though she thought it would be very unlikely if she figured things out before Hermione.



Harry's jaw nearly dropped as he got up from falling into the Realm of the Elves with Rei and Elie. The place was full of trees. It seemed like everywhere he looked, there was green. The elves themselves, who were mostly golden-haired, were wearing green and some, blue. They received many smiles and curious stares as they walked to...Harry didn't even know. He was just following Rei and Elie. Finally, they stopped in front of a house. Rei opened the door and they walked in.

"Welcome to my humble abode," said Rei with a mocking bow.

Rei's 'humble abode' was quite big and it looked very homey indeed. There were many pieces of wooden furniture with intricate carvings to decorate them. Harry's eyes landed on a table surrounded with chairs where a person who looked a lot like Elie was sitting. She stood up as they entered. Caleb, who was on Harry's shoulder, bowed his head.

"Sis!" Elie exclaimed, hugging the woman tightly.

"It's good to see you again, Elie,"

Rei smirked while Harry looked confused.

"Tell me again, why they named you Elie when your sisters are named Fate, Serendipity, Hope, Charity and some other names that have meaning?" asked Rei with a raised eyebrow.

"Because 1) they ran out names and 2) I'm half-elf," said Elie. "What are you doing here, Fate?" she looked at the woman.

Fate shrugged and said, "You know why."

"Ah, okay. Fate, you remember Rei don't you?" Fate nodded and looked at Rei. "Fate, this is Harry, Rei's student at school."

"I know who he is, Elie," said Fate, holding her hand out to Harry.

Harry shook her hand.

"You do?" he asked, confused. Then, he frowned as he got a closer look at Fate. "Have we met before?"

"I don't think so, Harry," Fate said as she smiled at him.

Harry let go of Fate's hand with a smile but he could have sworn he had seen her before.

"Elie, I'll just show Harry his room while you chat with your sister, okay?" Elie nodded and Rei lead Harry up some spiral stairs.

"How long are you staying?" asked Elie as she and Fate sat down.

"Not too long," Fate answered. "I left Serendipity and Destiny in the realm. I don't want to go back there and find out that they wreaked havoc and destroyed it while I was gone."

Elie grimaced. "Serendipity and Destiny in the same realm. That cannot be good."

"Tell me about it," agreed Fate. "So, how long are you going to keep Harry?"

"Till he learns to control them,"

"But that might take weeks,"

"I don't think so. Rei says he's a fast learner. Besides, you should know if he's a fast learner or not. You've been watching over him all these years,"

Fate thought for a moment. "Okay. So he is a fast learner,"

They looked to the stairs as they heard someone hiss obscene words that would make a sailor blush.

"Harry, you okay?"

"I'm fine, Rei," came Harry's voice.

Elie looked at Fate with a raised eyebrow. Fate avoided her gaze, looking a bit sheepish.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Serendipity...um...she planned something," said Fate. Elie waited. "Harry was pricked by the thorns of a Love-Me-Not flower," Fate explained. "He feels pain whenever he thinks of Cho Chang."

"What?! How could she?" demanded Elie.

Harry and Rei came down the stairs with Caleb flying behind them.

"What's going on here?" asked Rei.

"Nothing," chorused Fate and Elie.

"If you say so," shrugged Rei. "Anyways, I'm going to show Harry around and introduce him to Lord Ryu. He's been wanting to meet Harry since forever. We'll be back in thirty minutes."



"Where's the Quidditch hero?" asked Aurelia, looking over at the Gryffindor Table.

Jessica looked up from her magazine. "Who?"

"Harry," said Lara.

"Ah," Jessica nodded and returned to her magazine.

Aurelia shot a look at Jessica before turning to Cho.

"Do you know where he is?" she asked.

Cho shrugged and shook her head.

"No," she replied. "And neither does Ron, Hermione and Ginny," she added silently.

Apparently, it wasn't quiet enough.

"What?! Why?" asked Erin as Jessica looked up from her magazine, eager to hear some gossip.

Cho hesitated. "Promise not to tell anyone else?" She looked pointedly at Erin.

"Promise," replied her friends.

Cho sighed. "Nobody's seen Harry since the Quidditch Match and his friends don't know where he is, either."

"I saw him after the match," the others turned to Aurelia. "He was making his way to the castle with some pretty redhead. I'm not sure if she's from here or not since I didn't get a very good look at her face. But I'm quite sure she was pretty."

"How pretty?" asked Lara. "On a scale of one to ten."

Aurelia thought for a moment. "Eleven," she answered.

"Let's see, how many pretty redheads do we know?" Erin looked around at the different House Tables. "A lot," she said, answering her own question.

"Well, one thing's for sure, it wasn't me," Jessica said as she flipped her red hair over her shoulder.

"We know it wasn't you, Jess," said Lara with a smile. Then, she turned to Cho. "It's got to be hard when the guy you love suddenly disappears, Cho. We just want you to know that we're here for you."

Cho's brown eyes widened. "I am not in love with him," she insisted.

"Right," Erin muttered dryly, rolling her eyes.

"You know, the Nile isn't just a river in Egypt," said Aurelia.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" demanded Cho.

"You're in such denial," sighed Lara.

Cho frowned. "Shut up and go snog someone," she bit out.

"I might just do that," said Lara. "Hey Alex!"



"Draco!" Ginny called out as she saw him in an empty hallway.

The fair-haired Slytherin smiled as he saw the redheaded Gryffindor walking towards him. The smile disappeared when he saw Ginny's quite worried look. Draco hugged her as she reached him.

"What's wrong, Gin?" asked Draco.

"Harry's gone missing. No one knows where he is," Ginny told him as he held her in his arms. She looked up into Draco's gray eyes. "Did you see him after the match?"

Draco shook his head. "No. Sorry. But don't worry though, I'm sure P—Harry will get himself out of any trouble. He's done that countless of times in the past. I don't think now will be any different."

"I know but...what if Vol—" Draco cut her off.

"He hasn't gotten Harry yet," he said firmly.

"How are you so sure?" asked Ginny.

"Because Voldemort would want to show off to the whole Wizarding World that he's gotten the one person who supposedly defeated him, raising panic everywhere. He would do it as soon as possible," said Draco. "Don't worry, Gin. Harry will come back and show to the world that he's not any ordinary, weak prat."

Ginny smiled at him.

"What?"

"You just said some nice things about Harry," said Ginny.

Draco looked a bit flustered. "Yeah, well, don't expect that I'll do it often."

Ginny smiled again before hugging him.



"Lord Ryu seems like a nice person," Harry said as he, Rei and Caleb walked/flew back to Rei's house.

Rei smirked. "Yeah, sometimes he is but at other times, he can be quite of an arrogant jerk," he said. "He liked Elie a while back and we were rivals until Elie said that she loved me. It took both of us by surprise since she was choosing me over someone with royal blood and loads of money."

Harry smiled. Then, he started to run.

"Race you back!" he called to Rei.

"No fair! You got a head start!"



"Did Fate leave already?" Rei asked as he and Harry walked into his house.

"Uh-huh," answered Elie. "Ready to start training, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"Alright. Let's go out back," said Rei, opening a door leading to the training grounds.

Elie turned to the phoenix perched on a chair. "Dumbledore told me about your possible powers, Caleb. Maybe you could assist us in training Harry."

Caleb bowed his head before landing on the ground. A red whirlpool of sorts surrounded him completely for a moment and then the phoenix was gone. In his place was a man with golden brown hair and piercing green eyes, clothed in a blue Elven robe. He smiled.

"I suppose," said Caleb. "Master Harry, you might want to close your mouth." He looked at the bewildered elf beside Harry. "You too, Rei."

"Wh-why didn't you tell me about this before?!" sputtered Harry.

"I didn't feel the need to, Master Harry," replied Caleb.

"Y-you didn't feel the need to?" echoed Harry.

Caleb nodded and stepped out of the house and onto the training grounds. He immediately took a fighting stance.

"Come, Master Harry. Attack me and try not to feel any emotions," said Caleb.

Harry glanced at Rei and Elie, who both nodded. He hesitated before also taking a fighting stance. He approached Caleb cautiously, trying to lock his emotions like Caleb had said. I wonder why, Harry mused. Without any warning, Harry aimed a kick at Caleb's head. Caleb ducked and barely dodged the kick.

"No emotions," Caleb reminded him.

"I'm trying. What's the point of all the 'no emotions' thing anyway?" asked Harry.

"You will soon see, Master Harry,"

Harry concentrated and in a moment, he wasn't feeling confused anymore. He couldn't feel any emotion at all. His face was placid as he threw a punch at Caleb, cold smoke emanating from his fist. Harry stepped back, now feeling confused. Luckily Caleb had dodged the punch.

"What was that?" inquired Harry, blinking.

"That was the power of ice, Master Harry," said Caleb. "With training, you can be able to control it without the need to lock all of your emotions. Now, your water power is a different issue."

"Uh-huh. And why is that?"

"Well, all you need to do is concentrate on water, actually. Go ahead. Concentrate on making it rain in this spot over here," Caleb gestured to a small tree in the middle of the grounds. "Embrace your power, Master Harry."

Harry smirked. "You sound like one of those mentors from Muggle comics," he remarked.

"Pardon me?"

"Nothing," said Harry.

He took a deep breath before concentrating on rain coming from the blue sky. Somehow, his thoughts drifted to Ravenclaw. Cho...thought Harry.

"Aah!"

"Stop thinking about Cho, Harry," said Rei, smiling.

"Shut up or I'll throw an icicle at you,"



"I finally figured out where you went to," Serendipity said as Fate reappeared.

"Oh, how brilliant of you," Fate said sarcastically, as the light green robe turned back into her normal clothes.

"You went to see Elie, didn't you?" asked Serendipity.

"How'd you figure it out? That well only shows the mortal realm," said Fate, frowning.

"Well, this person over here," Serendipity gestured to Destiny who was casually leaning on a tree. "seems to know that you have a thing for Lord Ryu."

"I do not have a thing for Ryu!" Fate replied hotly.

"Aha! What happened to the Lord?" inquired Destiny with a grin. "You know, that we're still required to call the rulers of the realm by their title even if we're gods. You could only call them by their name if you're 'really' close to him."

"Shut up, Destiny," said Fate.



"The Halloween Ball is only a few days away, on Saturday," Erin sighed as she, Cho and Jessica lazed around in their dormitory (Lara was off somewhere with her boyfriend), with finished homework littering the floor around their beds.

"What are we going to wear? Muggle formal or Witch formal?" asked Jessica.

"Witch formal," replied Erin.

"Well, we're going to Hogsmeade on Wednesday since Dumbledore declared it a 'do-some-last-minute-shopping' day," said Cho. "Any of you planning to go with someone?"

"No. But I think Lara's going with Alex unless she breaks up with him between now and Wednesday," said Erin. "But I think that's unlikely. She's been dating him longer than any guy she's dated before. How long has it been, Jess?"

"Three weeks," answered Jessica. "And it'll be a month next Tuesday."

"See, I think she's really serious about him," Erin said before waving her wand at the Muggle cassette on her desk, which started playing 'Somebody Else's Song' by Lifehouse. "Cho, I'll forever be thankful to you for finding that spell to make this cassette run on magic."

Cho smiled before taking out a book.

The door opened and a smiling Lara walked in, looking a bit flushed. The three girls smirked at their roommate.

"Well, look who finally came up for air," Cho said wryly.

Lara blushed before sitting on the closest bed next to the door, Erin's bed.

"You will never guess who Alex and I caught snogging in an empty classroom," gushed Lara.

"Uh...yourselves?" guessed Jessica with a slight smirk.

"Oh, funny," Lara said sarcastically. Then, she returned to grinning. "I'll give you girls three guesses."

"Just go ahead and tell us, Lara," said an exasperated Erin. "We know you're dying to tell us anyway."

"Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy,"

"What?!" exclaimed the girls as they sat up.

Lara nodded. "And before that, we heard Malfoy talking about Harry's loss."

"What loss?" asked Cho curiously.

"I have no idea," said Lara. "You don't think they have anything to do with Harry's disappearance, do you?"

Cho shook her head."I don't know. Ginny seemed to be really worried when she asked me if I knew where Harry was."

"Well, maybe she's a good actress," suggested Jessica.

Cho frowned. Jessica had a point but wouldn't she have been able to tell if someone was being fake or not?

"Well, I guess we'll have to do what everyone's doing and wait until Harry himself comes back and explains everything," Cho said, even thought she hated saying it.

"Why are you so sure that he'll come back? Do you have a sixth sense or something?" Erin asked suspiciously.

"No. It's just this gut feeling that I have,"



Days passed and still Harry hadn't come back, making everyone worry except Dumbledore, McGonagall and Avery's group. The Gryffindors' favorite pastime was now playing pranks on Crabbe, Goyle, Avery, Nott and at times Pansy Parkinson.

"Wish Harry was here," sighed Ginny as Crabbe and Goyle walked into the Great Hall, wearing transparent clothes and pink and yellow boxers. "He'd have liked to see this. Maybe he'd even come up with some better pranks."

"Hmm," Ron murmured in agreement. "C'mon. Let's go to Hogsmeade." He stood up and Hermione followed.

"Nah," Ginny shook her head. "You two go ahead. I have some stuff to do."

"Are you sure? Wouldn't you like to go shopping and fawning over dresses or do some other stuff girls do?" asked Ron.

Ginny gave her brother an I'm-glaring-at-you-because-you're-an-enormous- idiot-and-you'll-be-in-deep-trouble-if-you-don't-leave-my-sight glare. Ron got the message and left the Great Hall with Hermione, Seamus, Lavender and Dean.



"Can we please go home? Just for a while?" Harry begged as he looked away from the small fire he had started when he had gotten furious at Rei for letting one of the elf girls who had a crush on Harry into the house a few hours ago.

"I don't know, Master Harry. You still haven't mastered your powers yet," Caleb said, looking doubtful.

"Please? Even for an hour?"

"Oh, let him go, Caleb," said Elie. "He could use the break from your intense training."

"Yeah," Rei agreed as he walked out of the house, nursing some nasty burns on his arm. "He needs the break or else he's going to collapse one of these days."

Finally, Caleb relented. "Oh, all right," he sighed. "But we're coming back here in two hours."

Harry grinned widely. "Thank you!"

"Where to, Harry?" asked Rei.

"The Three Broomsticks! I've got a craving for a butterbeer," said Harry.

Rei and Elie nodded while Caleb massaged his temples.

"The Three Broomsticks, it is!"



"Well, hey there, Chang," Avery greeted her as he and the other Slytherins stopped in front of the Ravenclaw girls' booth in the Three Broomsticks.

"Get lost, Avery," Cho said as she sipped from her butterbeer.

"So do you want to meet up after the Ball?" asked Avery, ignoring Cho's remark.

Some cloaked figures in the next booth shifted in their seats.

"I said get lost, Avery," repeated Cho while Erin and Jessica threw glares at the arrogant Slytherin.

Avery smirked, Crabbe and Goyle grunted (Cho took those for laughter) and Nott chuckled.

"Stay calm. All of you have to do is stay calm," one of the cloaked figures said to one of her irritated comrades. "Wouldn't want anything to get out of control, do we?"

The person she had been talking to ignored her and stood up. He faced Avery.

"I think she told you to get lost, Avery," he said. "A gentleman would follow a lady's request."

Cho took a close look at the figure but couldn't see his face since it was dark and the hood wasn't helping any. The voice was familiar though but she couldn't place a finger on who it belonged to.

"Yeah?" Avery challenged. "Well, a gentleman wouldn't interrupt a conversation."

"Oh, boy," Jessica muttered as Erin and Cho rolled their eyes.

The figure took out his wand and pointed it at Avery. "Who ever said I was a gentleman?" he growled fiercely.

Avery cowered and backed away. He quickly turned around and walked out of the pub with Crabbe, Goyle and Nott scurrying pathetically after him. The three Ravenclaw girls giggled at the sight before turning to the man standing in front of them. Cho was about to say something when...

The doors to the Three Broomsticks burst open and a silver blonde-haired girl stood there, surveying the pub.

"Shit! What is she doing here?" the person in front of them asked himself.

"Nina?" said one of his companions.

"That's it. This break's over. Let's go back," another one said.

The three people, at the table beside Cho's, stood up and altogether, the four of them headed for the girl at the doorway. The girl's eyes lit up when she saw them.

"I knew I'd find you here!" she exclaimed. "Lord Ryu to—hmph!"

One of the figures had covered her mouth. He leaned over and whispered something into her ear. His hand fell away as the girl nodded. The five of them then walked out of the pub and into the cold autumn with most of the pub's customers staring after them.

"What a weird bunch," Erin said after taking a small sip of her butterbeer.



"Nina! Why on earth did you jump realms?!" Rei demanded of his fellow elf as they arrived in the Realm of the Elves.

Nina shrugged. "Just wanted to see Harry," she replied.

Harry suppressed a groan and shook his head. He was just about to talk to Cho for the first time in days without feeling any pain and Nina had spoiled that. He started walking to Rei's house with Caleb and Elie. Rei told Nina never to jump realms again before leaving her by the fountain and following the others.

"You think I can be done by Saturday?" asked Harry, some of his anger subsiding.

"Why? What's on Saturday?" Rei wondered blankly.

"It is the night of the Halloween Ball," Caleb replied for Harry.

"Oh, right!" Rei exclaimed. "The Ball! I completely forgot."

"So do you think I can be done by Saturday, Caleb?" repeated Harry.

"I think so, Master Harry, if you concentrate," said Caleb.

"And stop thinking about a certain Ravenclaw," Elie added quietly.

"I heard that!"



I guess that's it for now. I'm sorry it's so short but the next chapter will be long. I promise!

I'm not really sure if I can update regularly anymore. See, I'm going to stay somewhere else during my vacation and there isn't any Internet there! I don't think I'm going to survive. But if I really can't update in 3-4 weeks, the next update will be a few chapters.

So sorry,

angelwings

P.S. Next chapter will be the Halloween Ball at last!