Someday, I will own something of great value. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.
Quidditch, Sort Of
Ryua woke up, excitement snapping her awake immediately. Today was their first quidditch match, and from the way their team had been playing lately, they had a decent shot at the cup this year. Stepping over Millicent's strewn robes and a box of Pansy's makeup, she padded softly down to the bathing rooms; her own robes over one arm.
Parsyl curled around the base of the shower, eagerly soaking up heat as Ryua turned it on full blast. After ten minutes, she felt sufficiently warm enough to get dressed, although she had to pull a reluctant Parsyl up off the floor. She strode smoothly down the corridor to the common room as her snake curled around her to continue to soak up heat. When she got there, however, things didn't go exactly as planned.
"Morning, Marcus!" Ryua called cheerfully. The captain was having a conversation with Draco in one corner, and he looked up when she called, Draco swaggering out the door.
"Ah, Ryua," he said, "Good to see you up and about. Although you needn't have bothered."
"Needn't have bothered?" Ryua frowned. Flint wasn't the kind to forget a quidditch match, especially one against Gryffindor. "What are you talking about?"
Flint grinned nastily. "Well, surely you must be worried about your brother flying in such a condition."
"Condition? Oh, don't tell me he's still going on about that stupid arm..."
"Now, I can't risk my seeker getting injured beyond repair from flying too soon in such dangerous weather. Hufflepuff's playing today, to give Draco's arm a chance to heal."
"What?" Ryua blinked, not at all sure she was hearing this. "Hufflepuff? But this is our day. We're the ones playing today. We've been practicing for weeks!"
"Take a look outside before you judge me too harshly on my decision, hmm? I don't much fancy our chances in a storm like that. Especially with an injured player."
"Ugh!" Not wanting to curse the one person in the entire Slytherin house she actually liked from time to time, Ryua spun on her heel and stalked out before her temper got the better of her. Well, she had to admit once she got to a level with windows, it was a rather nasty bit of weather out there. But what was a little rain? She wanted to play quidditch. Ryua strode angrily up to the Great Hall, vaguely pleased at the alacrity with which everyone she met scrambled out of her path.
One thing about waking up in time for a quidditch practice, you were one of the first to the breakfast tables. And since there weren't any Slytherins up yet, Ryua decided to go talk to the Gryffindors. "Lovely weather this morning, eh?"
"Yeah, right. You aren't the one who has to play in it, are you?" Harry was just as passionate about quidditch as she was, but was in a bit of an off mood. "Wood's just said you've withdrawn due to 'player injuries'."
"That wasn't my idea," Ryua snarled, causing Ron to edge away slightly, "My wimpy brother just refused to play in the rain, that's all. Thought he'd have difficulty keeping up to you. Not that good weather makes it much more likely."
"You two really do fight a lot, don't you?"
"Hah. You should see us when there aren't any teachers or prefects around. Sometimes, I'm amazed we have the same genetic code."
Hermionie looked up at that. "So you're identical twins?"
"Yep. Kinda demeaning if I think about it too much."
"But, isn't that impossible? I mean, if you had the same genes, wouldn't you both be boys? Or girls?"
Ryua actually giggled at that. "Well, you're right, mostly, anyways. We were supposed to be girls. But, you know how guys have one chromosome smaller than ours?" Hermionie nodded, Harry and Ron just stared blankly. "Well, Draco's just didn't finish replicating, or something. He's only a boy because he's deficient half a chromosome." Actually, it probably was an aftereffect of Father's cursing mother before they knew she'd conceived, not that Ryua was likely to tell anyone that. And it was just more amusing to just say Draco was a genetic mistake.
Harry, being muggle-raised, had at least some idea of what she was talking about now, and grinned widely at the thought. Ron still didn't seem to fully get it, but he was pleased with the news that Draco wasn't entirely as perfect as he believed himself to be.
"Oh, lovely. My housemates are arriving. Well, good luck on the quidditch match, Harry." Feeling much more cheerful now, Ryua walked back to her table to eat.
Outside on the pitch, Ryua was starting to feel a little less perturbed at Draco for whining about his arm. The winds really were ferocious, and it was precarious even to climb the bleachers. She'd given up on an umbrella after seeing the first three outside get blown away, and just settled for her hood. She took a spot at the top of the bleachers, mostly because she didn't want to hear Crabbe and Goyle huffing with their odd version of laughter the entire match long, but also because the box to keep over-excited students from falling off kept the wind off her back. She snuggled right up in the corner, sheltered from the worst of the storm, ready to be a spectator.
It was really an incredible match to watch, full of chaos. She winced as one of the Hufflepuff chasers scored on his own goal, unable to see the colors of the keeper. The bludgers were even more dangerous than usual, simply because they were the same color as the clouds. Someone, Ryua couldn't tell who, called a timeout briefly, probably to tell Harry or Diggory to hurry up and catch the snitch so they could all go inside. Just as they were all struggling back up into the air, Ryua heard an odd scrambling on the bench beside her. She whipped her head around, to see a very large, very wet dog climbing up the support beams behind the other spectators. It actually looked kind of funny, paws windmilling in its attempt to haul itself up, like a puppy begging for a treat. On an impulse, she slid down the bench, and twining her fingers through the fur at the scruff of its neck, heaved it up. It gave a surprised yip, paws scrabbling as progress upward became suddenly easier and scrambled to all four feet on the wet bench. Aww, its kind of cute Ryua thought as it looked up at her with wide brown eyes. She patted it on the head, and slid back over to her warmed spot on the bench.
Not two minutes later, Ryua felt a sudden chill seep into her bones. No, oh please, not again... The dementors had come to the match. She curled up, feeling Parsyl's cool body, the hard bench under her, the icy rain hitting her face and concentrated hard on the tactile information, refusing to let herself sink down again. She was just starting to feel old scars begin to twinge when the cold lessened slightly, and a bright silver glow illuminated the stadium. By the strange light, she could see Dumbledore running down, the last of the dementors fleeing his anger, and Harry, unconscious in the mud as Diggory flew down, a golden glint in his hand, face pale. She looked beside her, but the strange dog was gone. She didn't blame it, those dementors would scare off anything with a sane mind.
"Well, that's our chances at the cup doubled." Draco was almost as shaken as she was by the dementors, and was apparently trying to lighten the mood.
Ryua climbed slowly down the stairs to her brother's seat. "Come on, let's go get some food. The elves'll be serving chocolate for lunch, I'm sure." Privately, she was glad she hadn't been on a broom. Sitting on a bench with her back in a corner was almost too much to stand with dementors numbing her mind. She didn't think she could have done it on a broom.
Author's note: Technically, identical twins share all the genetic code. This means they cannot be different sexes. But, hey, I thought it was boring, so I bent the rules a bit. And plus, I only discovered this after I started the story. It's not my fault the biology curriculum was set up that way.
And speaking of school, I'm writing my grade twelve diplomas right now, so I'm understandably busy studying. Updates have been and will be sporadic for a while, but I'll try to keep it up.
