Fixing to Fly
Chapter Three
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She continued to clap for the ten new first-years that had joined the Gryffindor table, but she hadn't truly paid attention to a word that'd been spoken since her entrance to the Great Hall. Her mind instead kept wandering back to her encounter with Oliver Wood, and replaying it in slow-motion each time to let her get the full scope of each of the many acts of idiocy she'd managed to commit. It still baffled her that in the four years she'd shared her school with him, she'd never really noticed him, which was all the more ridiculous considering that Wood was one of only two male Gryffindors in his year.
Even now, she found her gaze sneaking to his spot at the table, across from her and two places down, close enough to touch, if she desired so. He'd been there for four years now, and again, she'd never noticed him. This was especially frustrating to the girl who prided herself on being acquainted with everyone at Hogwarts.
Well, almost everyone, it seemed.
"Bloody hell, the Sorting Ceremony takes longer every year, I swear!" Keely's protesting voice brought Darcy out of her musing with a start. "I'm so starving I could eat the bile sacs off a grindylow! How much longer do we have to wait?"
Brian interjected, "Well, this is traditionally the point in the evening where Professor Dumbledore has a few words to say—"
"I have only a few words to say," came a commanding voice from the Staff table situated at the front of the room. A silence instantly fell across the Great Hall as all eyes rose to greet the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. He looked fully the part of the revered old wizard he was with his long, flowing white hair and beard and luxurious multicolored robes. Smiling wisely at them over his half-moon glasses, he announced, "First, a very warm welcome to all of you, old and new, here for another year at Hogwarts. Before I share with you some rather exciting news, I must remind you that the Enchanted Forest is forbidden to all students. That said, I am very happy to announce that we will be hosting a Yule Ball this year, the first in quite some time here at Hogwarts."
An instant hum of conversation rippled across the Hall, and down the table Darcy heard Keely exclaim, "Wicked!"
After allowing the students a moment to chatter amongst themselves, Dumbledore continued, "Yes, yes, very exciting news, I know. But I also need to announce this year's new Head Boy and Girl, who will be fulfilling a special duty this year, as they will be opening the Yule Ball with a traditional first dance."
Darcy felt an uncomfortable lurch inside her belly as Brian's gaze flickered down to meet hers. It wasn't bad enough that she was having yet more recognition thrust upon her, but now she was being shoved into the limelight as well? She swallowed hard, wanting to melt into her seat, as the headmaster finished his speech.
"Now I know that a bit of mystery has surrounded the Head Boy and Girl this year," he said, with a small smile that seemed to be directed specifically at Darcy. "I'm sure you're all curious to discover their identities. And so I will now ask our Head Boy and Girl to stand momentarily and be recognized…"
Sucking in and holding a long breath, Darcy waited.
"Mr. Nicholas Levine, from Ravenclaw—" A smattering of applause met this name, though there didn't seem to be much surprise in the faces of the students. Apparently, Nick had kept his achievement a bit less private than Darcy. Even as Nick stood, curious gazes were combing over every inch of the Great Hall as everyone attempted to be the first to spot the new Head Girl. Daring not keep them in suspense any longer, Dumbledore finished, "And from Gryffindor, Miss Darcy Reed."
Shocked silence prevailed for a moment as Darcy got to her feet, and then the applause was overwhelming, hammering her like waves until she could feel the beats in her chest… or maybe that was just the heavy-handed thumps of congratulations Toby and Loren were pummeling upon her back, one hard enough to make her lurch forward and force her to catch herself on the table's edge. She felt her gaze slipping from Brian to Keely to Toby to Loren to… Oliver? She completely surpassed Kotter, even though he was seated right beside her, and found her azure eyes inexplicably focused on Oliver Wood, who was clapping wildly and giving her a smile so wide she was surprised it hadn't broken his face. She gave him a smile of her own before finally glancing down at Kotter—and finding him sulking, his shoulders hunched petulantly.
When he noticed her attention, he muttered irritably, "You couldn't even tell me…" and glared back down at his plate, content to ignore her.
Her spirits suddenly dampened despite the continuing outpour of praise. Darcy realized she'd somehow expected this reaction from Kotter. Of all the people who should've been happiest for her, her boyfriend, she had known he instead would be upset that she'd failed to tell him. Was that why she'd looked to Oliver first? Curious…
But now was not the time to ponder such matters of the mind as Dumbledore's voice was cutting through the clamor, "Let the feast begin!" and at those simple words, a grand feast appeared across the Gryffindor table: bowls upon glimmering golden bowls of various foods, countless plates of rich cuts of meat, and flagons full of brilliant orange pumpkin juice all awaiting their consumption. Darcy reclaimed her seat and dug in before it could all vanish at the hands of her House mates.
"I can't believe you didn't even tell us!" Keely was chiding her through a mouthful of chicken casserole, though her tone was playful rather than accusatory. "Not that I'm surprised or anything…" A bit of partially-chewed chicken flew out of the Scottish girl's mouth and landed on Darcy's robes.
Giving her friend the evil eye, Darcy flicked the food off her sleeve and explained, "I didn't want you guys making a big deal about it. So I didn't say anything. I knew you'd find out soon enough anyway." She stabbed a slice of tomato from her gold plate and slipped it into her mouth.
"So where's your Head Girl badge, DC?" queried Toby as he sipped at his pumpkin juice.
"Oh!" She'd forgotten all about the little piece of metal with the big connotations, still concealed beneath her sweater. With a sigh of resignation, she relocated it to the collar of her robe, and flashed the shiny thing at Toby. "Better now?"
"Much."
She went back to consuming her dinner, choosing carefully from amongst the variety of dishes. Having spent the first ten years of her life growing up in the United States, Darcy still tended to be picky about the British dishes they served at school. To this day she refused to touch the so-called blood pudding, despite numerous assurances that there was, in fact, no blood in it. Luckily, the main course soon disappeared off the tables, replaced by dessert, which she had no reservations about indulging in quite freely. By the time the last dishes were cleared, she was feeling rather full indeed.
With the feast concluded, Dumbledore rose once more. "Now, if Prefects will please lead first-years to their House common rooms, I ask all students second-year and up to wait here momentarily until your newest classmates have been settled in."
At this pronouncement Darcy again found her feet and as she did so, tugged off the pointed black hat she'd been wearing the majority of the evening. She tossed it to Brian. "Bring this up for me when you all come, huh? Stupid thing's making my head itch." To the first-years, she announced, "All right, Gryffindor kids, care to follow me?" and started off down the Great Hall with a line of young witches and wizards in her wake.
As they began to traverse the series of staircases and corridors that would lead them to the common room, she gave a running narration to her charges. "In case any of you fell mysteriously deaf when my name was announced loudly in the Great Hall, I am Darcy Reed, your Prefect for the year. If you've ever got a problem, or a question, or just need someone to talk to, I will always, always be ready to listen." She grinned back at them. "Any questions so far?"
The first-years stared back at her uncertainly, wanting to trust her but still too dazzled by their new home to trust much of anything their eyes showed them.
Darcy shrugged. "Okay. Follow me then." She set up the stairs, careful to move slowly enough for the others to keep up, and making the occasional remark as she went. "I know right now it seems easy to get lost—and believe me, it is—but in a week you'll know Hogwarts like the back of your hand… Yes, the paintings can be rather chatty at times, but don't worry about them… We're almost there, not far…"
An immense portrait of an equally immense woman in pink came into view as they turned down a final corridor, and she said with a smile, "This is it, home sweet home—"
Gasps and screams from the first-years made Darcy turn sharply in time to see her ten young charges scattering away from something lurching up the hallway, and she felt a cold chill of panic herself when she spotted it—a giant angry black wasp, roughly the size of a large dog, buzzing its way up the corridor with its foot-long stinger held menacingly at the ready.
Moving to put herself between the wasp and the first-years, she went instantly for her wand, every last nerve in her body lit with electricity and adrenaline pulsing furiously through her system. Her mind was racing with all the possible spells she could use to eliminate the insect… when a thought occurred to her. She groaned aloud, all the tension in her shoulders releasing, and with an almost lazy flick of her wand she muttered at the creature, "Riddikulus!" Instantly the wasp's wings disintegrated, its stinger was replaced with a bouquet of roses, and the disabled creature dropped helplessly to the floor. When the first-years huddled behind her began to snicker at the sight, the creature disappeared all together.
"What was that?" queried one of the students, but Darcy failed to hear him, her momentary fear having been replaced with sudden irritation.
Loud enough for her voice to echo down into the hall, she bellowed, "Weasleys!" and watched as two red-haired, freckle-faced second-years emerged from a door hidden beneath a tapestry, identical mischievous grins on their identical faces. She waited until they both stood flanking her to remark, "And which one of you's brilliant idea was it to ambush us with a Boggart? If I'm up all night counseling first-years with nightmares, I'm going transfigure you both into gym socks and wear you to my next Quidditch practice."
"Sorry about that, DC," said one of the duo, "we hadn't meant it for you."
The other chimed in, "Yeah, we were waiting for Percy when the little prat got away from us." He turned to his partner in crime. "I told you not to open the box, Fred!"
Darcy rolled her brilliant blue eyes skyward, but the smile on her face was indulgent. "Why must you two always be terrorizing your older brother? He's got enough stress without you releasing random Boggarts on him." She started down the hall again, with either redhead at her sides. "Why don't you focus your energies on someone more deserving, like that big troll Marcus Flint from Slytherin? I heard he made Quidditch captain this year."
"Oh, we've got much bigger plans in store for Flint," said the brother labeled Fred. "Should be ready in about a week, right George?"
The other nodded eagerly. "You'll love it, Darcy."
"I'm sure." She allowed herself a smirk at the twins' antics as they all stopped in front of the portrait and regarded the Fat Lady with politely. The Fat Lady stared back for a moment, first considering the new Gryffindors, then suspiciously eyeing the Weasley twins, before finally turning a warm smile on Darcy.
"Have a nice summer, dear?" the portrait asked her kindly.
"Delightful, ma'am. I had the chance to develop a few new Quidditch strategies that, I think, may just win us the Cup this year."
The Fat Lady clucked approvingly, "Lovely, lovely. Do you have the password?"
"Blazing Bludgers," she recited, and added with a smile, "Apparently I'm not the only one who's been thinking about the Quidditch Cup." At this the Fat Lady chortled and swung open to admit the small group of Gryffindors, Darcy in the lead as she stepped into the common room and stopped in front of the staircase up to the dorms. She took a moment to admire the comforts of the familiar room—plush scarlet chairs and couches, large oak tables for evening homework, vast stone fireplace. The fireplace alone brought instant memories of returning to the common room after particularly nasty Quidditch practices, ice cold and her robes soaked with mud, only to curl up in front of the fireplace and find herself warm and contented again in a matter of minutes.
Once the first-years had gathered around her, the Weasley twins still in their midst, she finished the last of her explanatory speech. "Welcome to the Gryffindor common room. One of the best places to be in the entire castle, in my opinion. Upstairs and to the left are boys' dorms, same on your right for girls. I think you guys are the… fifth floor up, I want to say? Anyway. You'll find all your things already waiting for you, including your new Gryffindor robes, and other than that, you're free to explore."
Chattering among themselves, the group of ten split up, leaving Darcy with Fred and George. The former was fiddling with something in the pocket of his robes while the latter asked her, "So who are you going to ask to the Yule Ball?"
The blonde cocked a skeptical eyebrow at the redhead. "George, honey, it's only September; the Ball's not for another three and a half months," she told him, and then added, almost as an afterthought, "Plus I'll probably go with Kotter. He is my boyfriend, after all."
"Oh, go on, DC, that great git doesn't deserve you any more than… than… Marcus Flint!" protested Fred, whatever he'd been fiddling with forgotten for the moment.
George chimed in, "Yeah, you can't fool us, DC, we saw him when Dumbledore called your name tonight as Head Girl! He must've been the only person not clapping in that whole Hall, even the ruddy Slytherins were! He doesn't even act like he cares about you!"
"Unless, of course, someone else is watching," added Fred.
"Or trying to talk to you," agreed George.
"Or looking your direction—"
"Yes, yes, I get it," she interrupted wearily, using her fingertips to rub at the headache that was trying to form behind her eyes. "Believe me, I know exactly what you're talking about. Don't think I haven't thought it myself a million times or more. It's just… I've been dating him so long, and my parents seem to like him, and I know he'll be very successful in the future…"
The twins were shaking their heads in disappointed unison. "So you're staying with him because it's easy?" Fred filled in.
Darcy started to argue, then shrugged and said, "Yeah, you've pretty much hit it on the head there." As they both opened their mouths to argue again, she quickly interjected, "Listen, neither of you need to be worrying about my business with Kotter; things are a lot more complicated than I could explain to you at the moment. Just believe me when I say I'll take care of things…" she noted the downtrodden looks on their faces, and added, "and remember that things are never as final as they seem. You never know what could happen between now and the Yule Ball."
Grins came back to the identical redheads, and they left her just as the portrait swung wide, admitting the rest of the members of Gryffindor House.