Athena Dumbledore - Thanx. Nice to have you reviewing both stories.
KittyWillow - Thanks. I'm glad to hear you don't have any complaints but questions are always welcomed as long as they're not written in a nasty tone (had a flamer do that once). I'm just happy to know that you were still reading my fan fic. I thought I had a lost reader!
Chapter 8
It had been a long wait but the day had finally arrived. That day of the first Quidditch match of the year, Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff. Breakfast had been eaten and both house's Quidditch members raced off to change. Roxy was on her way to the locker rooms when she ran into her parents. Quickly, she clapped a hand over her house badge so neither parent would see what house she was in.
"Hello Roxy. Are you enjoying Hogwarts, dear?" asked her mother.
"It's great. But what are you two doing here? I thought you would be sitting and waiting for the game to start," said Roxy.
"We were but we decided to come see where our daughter was. So I guess you're going to join your house mates and get ready to watch Slytherin trample Hufflepuff, eh?" laughed her father.
"Something like that," replied Roxy with a small smile.
"Well, we'll see you after the game then."
The two parents left and Roxy let out the breath she had been holding. She continued on her way to the locker rooms. She was passing the Hufflepuff boys locker room when the door was opened and someone yanked her inside. Roxy gazed into the nervous faces of her male teammates.
"Guys, I really don't think I'm supposed to be in here. In fact, I know I am not supposed to be in here," pointed out Roxy.
"We got a big problem, Roxy," suddenly spoke up Justin.
"Problem? What's the problem and why aren't you going to Ernie about it?" inquired Roxy.
"Because he's the problem. Ernie caught the Wizard's Pox and Madame Pomfrey's keeping quarantined in the hospital wing. He can't play the opening game," explained Wayne.
"What?! Great, that's just great," groaned Roxy.
"So you automatically take position of captain. So what do we do, cap?" questioned Justin.
"First of all, you stop calling me cap. Owen, you go grab Kevin and get him in ready for the game. Justin, I want you to run a message up to Lee. He was going to announce the players of Hufflepuff so he needs to be notified of the changes," instructed Roxy.
Both boys left the locker room and Roxy quickly left too so she could get ready for the game. She went in, opened her locker, and began dressing. The two Chaser's were confused when Roxy growled something about Wizard's Pox.
"Is something up, Roxy?" asked Megan.
"Yeah. Ernie caught Wizard's Pox. He can't play. I'm taking over as Captain for the game and Kevin is taking Ernie's position. Listen, I need you guys to wait until I tell you to use the Hufflepuff Fake-Out," informed Roxy.
"Okay, Roxy. We'll be sure to tell Justin," replied Elenor.
The three finished getting ready and met up with the boys as they stood waiting to be released onto the field. Overhead they could hear Lee's voice.
"There has been some drastic changes made to the Hufflepuff lineup. It seems their Captain and Seeker has caught Wizard's Pox so is unable to play. Hufflepuff's Co-Captain and Keeper has taken place of Captain and Hufflepuff's substitute filling in for Seeker. Now to
introduce this year's Hufflepuff Quidditch team!"
The Hufflepuff's mounted their brooms and flew out as soon as the doors opened. The Hufflepuff's cheered loudly for their team as they flew out.
"Playing for the Chaser positions are Justin Finch-Fletchley, Megan Jones, and Elenor Branstone. New to the team and playing Beaters are Wayne Hopkins and Owen Cauldwell. Filling in for Ernie as Seeker is Hufflepuff's substitute Kevin Whitby. And last but most certainly not least taking over as Captain and playing for Keeper is our own Roxy Fudge!"
Everyone cheered as the Hufflepuff's got into position. Roxy looked around and spotted Malfoy who was hovering above the ground in front of Kevin who looked really nervous. Roxy had done a terrible yet wonderful thing by switching around Snape's schedule and scheduling Kevin's class for a quiz the following Monday. She knew Snape was going to skin her alive later but for the moment she didn't care.
The bludgers and Snitch were released as Madame Hooch took the Quaffle out.
"I want a nice clean game out of all of you," warned Madame Hooch.
"Madame Hooch throws up the Quaffle and the game begins! Megan Jones grabs the Quaffle and dives under Blaise Zabini before he can have a chance to grab it. Nice going, Megan!"
Roxy half listened to Lee as she paid close attention on the others playing. She kept a close eye on Malfoy and Kevin who were trying to spot the Snitch. All the sudden, the Snitch appeared in front of her face and then disappeared off. Kevin seemed to spot it and flew after it with Malfoy close on his tail. Without warning, the Slytherin Chaser's came rocketing down the field towards her end of the field.
Wayne whacked a bludger that barely missed Malfoy and Owen let a bludger go flying at Blaise who managed to dodge it. Blaise who had the Quaffle aimed and threw it as soon as he was close to Roxy. She whipped to the right and shot it to Justin with the end of her broomstick. Blaise glared angrily at her but flew after Justin to retrieve the Quaffle.
The game continued on without either Seeker catching the Snitch. Slytherin managed to score six times on Roxy who was having a hard time keeping her eye on the Quaffle like she had told Ernie and Justin in the beginning. Justin and the girl Chaser's streaked down the field with the Slytherin Chasers trailing behind. Roxy saw that they were fine and decided to take a glance at Kevin.
She saw Malfoy suddenly dive down and Kevin take after him. Malfoy was streaking down fast with a smirk on his face. He threw a look over his shoulder as if to make sure Kevin was following him. Roxy stared at him confused and then realization etched across her face.
"Oh no," whispered Roxy.
She saw it all happen in slow motion. At the last possible second, Malfoy pulled up but Kevin was not able to and hit the ground awfully hard.
"And Malfoy has just performed the Wronski Feint perfectly. Kevin Whitby goes down hard."
"Time-out!" hollered Roxy to Madame Pomfrey.
Madame Pomfrey blew her whistle and all players landed on the ground. The Hufflepuff's gathered around Kevin who was clutching his wrist.
"Hufflepuff team has gathered around Kevin Whitby. We'll know what has happened in a moment," announced Lee.
"Are you okay, Kevin?" asked Elenor.
"Yeah. I just didn't expect him to do something like that. I think my wrist was twisted
though," confessed Kevin.
"Then me and you will switch places," said Roxy.
There were protests from all of the Hufflepuff members and Roxy held up her hand to silence them.
"Roxy, you can't! That just has to be against the rules!" exclaimed Justin.
"I've checked every rule book of Quidditch and not one thing in it says anything against switching players around. Kevin can play Keeper and I'll play Seeker. I have a problem with speed sometimes while Seeking but Malfoy is no match for me," explained Roxy.
The Hufflepuff's looked at each before all nodding in agreement. Roxy's reasoning was correct.
"Okay. I need you guys to let the Slytherin Chaser's score and then it's time for the Hufflepuff Fake-Out. Everyone ready?"
"Yeah!!" chorused the group.
Madame Pomfrey blew her whistle, signaling the end of the time-out, and the Hufflepuff's flew off into the air. Everyone was surprised when Kevin flew over to where Roxy had been and Roxy hovered in front of Malfoy.
"What are you doing, Ro?" demanded Draco.
"Just switching with Kevin. No rule against it, Drake," smiled Roxy.
"It seems Kevin Whitby and Roxy Fudge have changed places, no doubt a plan of Hufflepuff's Captain. But the question is will this new change make a difference? We'll find out."
Roxy spotted the Snitch and bolted after it. Malfoy saw it a split second after Roxy and chased after it. Roxy vaguely heard the Slytherins score on Kevin when she lost sight of the Snitch. She looked down and saw the three Chaser's heading for the Slytherin's side of the field.
"That's it. You can do it, guys," whispered Roxy.
"And the Hufflepuff Chaser's streak down the field with Slytherin trailing behind. A bludger sent flying at Justin Finch-Fletchley from Crabbe but Justin dodges it easily. Wait a minute! Elenor Branstone and Megan Jones are streaking towards Justin. They're going to collide!"
Roxy smirked as Elenor flew above Justin and Megan under. That's when she saw the Quaffle just barely move from Justin to Megan.
"And the two Chaser's just barely miss their other Chaser. The three return to streaking down the field but here comes Slytherin's Chasers on Justin and Justin flies high in the air. Elenor is staying just barely below him while Megan streaks down the field towards the Slytherin Keeper.
It's obvious what they're trying to do."
Roxy shook her head. She knew that Lee was thinking they were going to try to pull off the Porksoff Ploy in which Justin would throw the Quaffle down to Elenor who would fly towards Megan and throw it to her for her to score. But no one could tell that it was Megan that had the Quaffle tucked in her arm. When Megan was in the scoring area, Justin suddenly stopped and looked at the Keeper.
The Keeper flew away from the hoops by a few feet, thinking that Justin was going to try to score, therefore taking his eyes off Megan. Justin held his arms out with a wide smile on his face.
"Justin doesn't have the Quaffle!" yelled Lee.
Everyone watched in surprise as Megan revealed the Quaffle and threw it through the hoop before Slytherin's Keeper could get back to block the hoops.
"Hufflepuff scores with a surprise maneuver!" cheered Lee.
Roxy clapped her hands and it was then that she spotted Malfoy. He was streaking down the field with a smirk of triumphant on his face. Roxy shot after him but was having trouble catching up with him.
I have to speed up or he'll catch the Snitch before me, said Roxy to herself.
She pushed herself to go faster and found that she was catching up with Malfoy. She got up right next to him and kept her eye on the Snitch as it flew ahead of them.
"That snitch is mine, Ro!" said Draco.
"Not without a fight it is," replied Roxy.
Roxy barely missed getting hit by a bludger and pulled up before hitting the ground. The crowd let out a huge sigh of relief as Roxy regained control of her broom. The snitch had disappeared again and Draco was just floating, trying to search for the snitch.
"And Hufflepuff scores again! That makes the game 320-210 with Hufflepuff leading."
The game seemed to drag on forever until finally Draco caught the snitch with the score being 400-410 with Slytherin winning. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team trudged into the locker rooms and all took a good, long shower. They all walked to the Great Hall together where everyone was currently having lunch.
"You played a great game, Roxy," remarked Kevin.
"Thanks. You did too. I can't believe you were able to catch that one play they had!" exclaimed Roxy.
"You're not kidding. It was almost impossible to catch," put in Justin.
Kevin blushed as the players chatted about how great the game had been. Along they met up with the Slytherin Quidditch team who were too tired to even care who they were walking and talking with.
"You're a pretty awesome Seeker, Drake. But don't let that go to your head," said Roxy.
"Go to my head? Whatever are you talking about, Ro?" jokingly replied Draco.
The Keeper for Slytherin talked with the Hufflepuff Chaser's about their Hufflepuff Fake-Out while Blaise gave Kevin some tips about Keeping. Slytherins could sometime act like normal people and be pretty okay people. This happened to be one of their better moments. When they arrived at the Great Hall, the Slytherins turned back into their regular selves and Draco sneered at Roxy.
"Nice try Seeking, Ro, but I think you better keep to your Keeper position. Wouldn't want to disappoint your poor father. After all, he shouldn't have to be disgraced about his daughter losing," sneered Draco.
"Thanks for the advice, Drake. By the way, I have a gift for you. I just happen to have it with me too."
"Well, let me have it."
And Roxy let him have it. She drew her fist back and punched him in the nose. Blaise and Nott caught him as he fell backwards. Fortunately, the Great Hall doors had been closed so no one but the two teams had seen Roxy punch Draco.
"No one insults my father but me. Have a nice day, Drake."
The Hufflepuff's walked into the Great Hall, leaving the Slytherins behind to take care of Draco before they entered the room. Roxy was shocked to find her parents sitting at the Hufflepuff table and waiting for them.
"Hi mom. Hey dad. Did you enjoy the match?" asked Roxy.
The Minister looked up with a look of shame and regret on his face. He stood up and
hugged Roxy.
"Uh, dad could you not do that in here?" mumbled Roxy.
"I am so sorry, Roxanne. I had no idea you were in Hufflepuff and the whole time I thought you were in any other house but it," apologized her father.
Roxy cringed at her full name. Her father was the only person that called her by her full name.
"It's okay, dad. I wanted to surprise you both. Now would you like to meet some of my friends?" inquired Roxy.
"We would love that," answered her mother.
"This is Justin Finch-Fletchley, he was the first one to introduce himself and that's..." Roxy spent most of lunch introducing her friends to her parents.
Tracey rushed down the hall and up the stairs. The figure was small and unlikely to have the key but she had to trust her instincts that the person knew something. She leaped at the figure and tackled it to the ground at the top of the stairs.
"Let go! Please let go! I have to escape. It will come after me if I do not get away!" shrieked the figure.
Tracey got up and flipped the figure over. It was a small man with a big mustache and eyes the size of golf balls.
"What will come after you?" asked the curious shape shifter.
"I can not tell you! It has forbidden me to speak," exclaimed the man.
The shape shifter shook her head. She could not figure out what was wrong.
"I know what you seek."
Tracey's gaze fell on the man. His eyes were glowing a light blue and he appeared to be in some sort of trance.
"How? Only my family and best friend know what I search for," murmured Tracey.
"I see all, young Tracey Webster. I know you seek the Key of Aseraf to protect it from Lobo," said the man in a strange, eerie voice.
"Who are you?" demanded Tracey.
"I am the one known as Liam. My name means 'determined guardian' and that is what I am," explained the man.
"Liam? As in Liam, the Guardian of Shifters? But no shape shifter has talked to you in over a thousand years," replied Tracey.
"Roxy! Come on, girl! It's time to go to Hogsmeade!"
"This is true but I have watched over all of you and helped by not letting anything happen. I am talking through this mortal so that I may help you. The Key of Aseraf can be found only if you wish not to abuse its power but to protect it with your life. Only then will the key be revealed to you."
Before Tracey could say anything, the man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell unconscious.
"Roxanne!!"
"Liam!! What do you mean? How will that help me find the key? Liam!" shouted Tracey.
But no reply came to her. She was now alone with an unconscious mortal who was probably going to wake up with one heck of a headache in the morning.
What to do, thought Tracey.
"I'll go up and get her guys. She might have accidentally fallen asleep or something."
Tracey dragged the man into an empty room and deposited him onto the bed. She was responsible for what had happened and decided that it was none of her business what happened to him from thereafter. Quietly, she left the room and mansion. Upon arrival at the Dark Forest, Tracey shape shifted into a wolf and disappeared into the spooky forest.
"ROXANNE FUDGE!"
Roxy nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping her notebook to the ground. She looked up into the pissed off face of her friend Megan.
"Hey Megan. What's up?" innocently asked Roxy.
"We've been calling you for the last ten minutes, Roxy! We thought maybe you had died up here," said Megan.
"I guess I got too caught up in my writing that I didn't hear you guys. I'm sorry," grimaced Roxy.
"No real damage done. Now let's get going before we get left behind. Snape is the chaperone so you know he wouldn't care about it."
"Bloody hell! It's a good thing Professor Sprout and Mercer are coming too."
The two girls ran out of the room. Although Roxy bolted back in to shove her notebook under her bed and then ran back out.
Hogsmeade was buzzing with Hogwarts students. Professor Snape had walked off to get some potions ingredients while Professor Sprout stayed outside to keep an eye on the students that remained outdoors. Professor Mercer had disappeared off to somewhere. It was near the end of October and had began getting cold out. The three week trial period had passed and Roxy had been happy to hear that Snape had allowed her to remain as his T.A.
"Where you going, Megan?" asked Roxy.
"Three Broomsticks. I just have to get a butterbeer!" exclaimed the excited Hufflepuff.
"How 'bout you, Ernie?" inquired Elenor.
"I'm going over to Honeydukes. Justin wondered down to Zonko's to get some joke items but I came to get some candy," answered Ernie.
"Do you suppose Mr. and Mrs. Honeydukes would mind if I brought Satan in?"
Standing on Roxy's arm was Satan who was nuzzling Roxy's neck gently.
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind, Roxy. Now let's go."
Roxy followed Ernie into Honeydukes. It turned out that the Augurey was the favorite animal of Mrs. Honeydukes. She was so delighted to meet Satan that she gave Ernie and Roxy each a free bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"Would you mind if I give Satan a cockroach cluster?" asked Mrs. Honeydukes.
"No. He likes them," replied Roxy.
Mrs. Honeydukes gave Satan a cockroach cluster and petted him on the head as he ate it.
"Dear Merlin!" exclaimed Ernie who quickly took his water bottle out of his pocket and choked down a bunch of water.
"What?" questioned Roxy, curious about Ernie's outburst.
"Sardine flavor. Merlin, they should really tell you which one is which," whined Ernie.
"You big baby!.....Holy bloody Christ!"
Ernie laughed crazily as Roxy ripped his water bottle out of his hand and gulped down half the bottle.
"Problem?" smirked Ernie.
"Nah. Just ear wax in my mouth," replied Roxy.
Ernie stayed to buy some more candy but Roxy left with Satan to walk around.
"You better get back to the dorms, Satan. I'll make sure to buy a box of cockroach clusters for you before I leave."
Taking this as a good sign, Satan playfully nipped Roxy on the ear and flew off back to Hogwarts. Roxy shook her head as she watched Satan fly away. She brought her eyes back and they suddenly froze.
"There is something seriously wrong in this picture," growled Roxy.
Standing and talking with Professor Mercer as if he was an old buddy was Lucius Malfoy. Roxy couldn't hear them so she sat down on a bench nearby and took out her box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, pretending to be staring up at the sky while eating. But in reality she was listening in on their conversation.
"That boy of yours has a mean streak, Lucius. He cast the Furnunculus curse without showing any mercy. I'm lucky McGonagall didn't blast my head off. Apparently two of the Hufflepuff's had snuck out to get help. Draco could have done some serious injury on Fudge's daughter if her and Sprout had not come in running," snarled Professor Mercer.
"Glad to hear he put that brat in her place. Are you doing your work as you were told?" inquired Lucius.
"I have been doing just that. But I think one of the students at Hogwarts may have followed me to the room and listened in on my conversation," replied Professor Mercer.
"You should be careful, Mercer. Keep your eye on the Fudge brat. She will surely be the downfall of the Minister once she is the possession of the Dark Lord."
Roxy's eyes got large but she kept staring up as she popped a chocolate flavored bean in her mouth. So Mercer was working with Malfoy, huh? Roxy had already known about Malfoy being Voldemort's right hand but was curious about Professor Mercer's position in all of this.
Lucius told him to keep an eye on me. Well, I'll be keeping my eye on Mercer in return, thought Roxy.
End of Chapter 8