Someday, I will own something of great value. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.
Just an interesting bit: I actually started writing Ryua's story in the fourth, fifth, and seventh books. This means, I'm finally getting to the points I originally wanted to write. I'm all excited, and a little weirded out. They've been sitting in my head so long I don't know if they sound dumb or not... we'll just have to see. Also, I might have to raise the rating again, I noticed my chapters I'm thinking of putting in are starting to get bad...
And Cassie Darkwind came from JeannieBeannie33, thanks. You know, I can never decide whether I enjoy reviews from my faithful reviewers, or from new people more. It's all good. (Hint, Hint)
The Amazing Bouncing Ferret
"Eurgh!" Ryua heard as she crossed the grounds to her Care of Magical Creatures class with the rest of the Slytherins. She sighed. Charms had been a dismal failure as usual, so she had really been hoping this class would make up for it. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be going that way.
When she looked down into the boxes waiting innocently for them, Ryua had to suppress an eurgh of her own. Blast-Ended Skrewts, eh? They looked rather like mutated lobsters to Ryua, and not in any way edible, cuddly, intelligent, or useful. "What is the point of them?" Draco asked, echoing her thoughts.
Hagrid actually managed to come up with a half-decent reply, although it was painfully obvious he'd be spending the entire night coming up with a reason for owning a Blast-Ended Skrewt. He sent them off to try feeding them bits of bizarre food choices. "I can't believe he's making us feed them snakes. That's just cruel. And eggs? He expects them to eat eggs?"
"What, you got a better idea?" Draco looked positively revolted at both the creatures and their food.
"They seem to enjoy the frog liver, sort of. Although, by the way they're lunging after your fingers, I think they'll enjoy human best." Ryua said, quite seriously.
"What? You're not feeding them my fingers!" he yelped, pulling his hands quickly out of the box.
"Of course I won't feed you to them, brother dear."
"I don't trust that expression, dearest sister."
"Good." She grinned. "You shouldn't."
"So, are we going to disembowel some first-years, then? Maybe that irritating girl, the Darkwind kid..."
"Cassie? You just don't like her because she doesn't worship you the way the rest of the female population seems to."
Draco glared, not quite able to come up with a response to that. Then, a slow, evil grin spread across his face. "At least I'm not the one saddled with a fiancé to try and shut me up."
"Why, you..."
"Good morning!" Blaise's all-too cheery greeting came from right behind her. She moved away, rather disgusted when he sat himself right between them.
"You know, Zabini, we were having a conversation here." Not that it was a very cheerful one, but...
"Oh, come on, you can keep talking when I'm around! I don't mind..." He smiled at Ryua, an actual smile, not the calculating grimace or sneer she was so used to seeing.
Maybe he actually is trying... "Okay. Sorry, these creatures aren't exactly a calming influence," she said as she pulled her hand out of the way of an exploding Skrewt. Ryua was keeping a very tight rein on her tongue. The way things were likely to turn out, she'd have to be friends with this guy at least until she turned of age. She had better try to come halfway.
It was hard, though. Ryua didn't naturally get along with people, and had trouble with guys trying to be nice to her. Even Draco was rarely nice, and Ron and Harry still treated her fairly formally, as a casual friend. She couldn't banish the thought that Zab-Blaise was automatically closer than that, and the way he kept trying to open her mind up was unsettling. Luckily, before too much longer, Hagrid called lunch, and Ryua managed to break off from him and walk with Millicent up to the castle.
Arithmancy, too, was sans-Blaise, something she much appreciated. Hermionie, miraculously, hadn't noticed him hanging around, and didn't ask about it. Good, Ryua thought. There was no way she was going to tell her friends she was betrothed to someone at 14 years. I really am going to have to come up with a cover story for that...
And just before supper, something happened which made Ryua's whole day turn good. She rounded the corner to the entrance hall, coming up from the girls' room, when she saw Draco taunting Ron about something. She was on her way to break it up when Harry jumped in too. Ron, responding to some instinct, backed off into the crowd, which turned out to be a good thing. As Harry turned away, Draco blasted a spell at him. It would have likely caused Harry some moderate pain if it hit, but her brother's useless aim ensured just a light graze. She had just pulled out her wand to disarm them both when...
BANG! Professor Moody had gotten there first. Although, he hadn't just disarmed Draco, he appeared to have turned him into a ferret. Even better, he proceeded to lecture him about never attacking from behind like a scummy coward, bouncing the madly protesting ferret against the floor to punctuate his words. Ryua, although brimming over with giggles, tried to act shocked at Draco's treatment.
All too soon, Professor McGonnagall came down the stairs. "What-what are you doing?"
"Teaching"
"Teach- Moody, is that a student?" she shrieked, dropping her books onto the landing.
"Yep!" he said, quite cheerfully.
"No!" Much to the disappointment of most of the people standing in line for dinner, she was able to turn him back with barely an effort. She started to lecture Moody, who amiably took her advice and marched off with Draco to arrange a detention with Professor Snape. Interestingly, he appeared to know both Lucius and Snape quite well. Well of course he does, he's an auror... Although it still didn't sit quite right. Oh, well, she could smell spaghetti and meatballs for supper, which was altogether more important.
