A/N: I had some problems getting this chapter to seem somewhat real. It was hard.

Chapter 3: Rude Slovaks in Red Skirts and Earrings

Nephiro and I sat in our beds in the tent, listening to the celebrations going on. I couldn't sleep, too much running through my mind. The noise was gradually growing fainter as the night grew later, but right as I was almost asleep it boomed ten times worse than before. Nep looked at me and shrugged.

We took no notice till it crept toward the shimmering white tent. Both of us got to our feet and grabbed our robes and rushed downstairs. Lucian and Adam were already up and looking slightly worried. Screams and maniacal laughter flooded the campsite. Crowds that was drinking and singing earlier were now running past us with horrified expressions.

"Kids!" We looked up and saw Nephiro's dad coming out from behind a door; her mom followed suit. "Go, hurry to the woods." None of moved, I at least was frightened with the pain that carried those five words. "NOW!" he yelled with such authority I would have never guessed it was he. Nevertheless, we high-tailed it out of there.

Tents were on fire, people were being levitated, and others were laughing and marching with the rather large group of rioters. Something about the evildoers was bizarre… All of them were wearing white masks and has hoods up. Nephiro tugged at my arm and motioned away from them.

We walked briskly, but seemingly in no hurry. It appeared the rioters were attacking the few muggles there and muggle-borns, and we were purebloods. Adam and Lucien had disappeared a couple of minutes after we left the tent when a huge crowd of Irish supporters split us apart, so once we made a good distance into the woods we stopped to wait.

A few meters away stood the mysterious girl I saw earlier. Her mouth was formed in the same amused smile she had before, that up a little closer seemed to challenge Nephiro's. Her light brown hair blew hair loosely from the strong winds created by the panic-stricken people who rushed past her; she didn't seem to care much for their reason for being scared. She turned her head in my direction and her smile grew larger, as if she just spotted her biggest gift under the Christmas tree. My stomach twisted in knots and a bad tingly feeling made me shudder involuntarily. Around her a gay light began to glow, kind of like Ephraim Furduckin's did the previous school year. I gulped.

"Are you a Confianza by any chance?" she asked, still grinning.

My first thought was to gasp in response to the questioning my heritage… and the fact she knew my mother's maiden name. Her eyes glowed brightly. I felt like I've met her before… I've seen that twinkle in her eyes…

"Maybe…" I answered, not wanting to give my personal information out to the strangers. Nephiro had taken a step or two back and was now half hidden in shadows. The girls expression faltered.

"That was a yes or no question." Her accent was like no other I've heard before; it sounded Slavic… but not at the same time. I just stared at her. "Answer me!" I was taken aback. How could such forcefulness come out of her? It's like when Remus yells, it doesn't seem right.

"I'm not your slave, I don't even know your name so why should I answer your silly question?" Her glare deepened at my reply, and then it relaxed.

"You have a point." I gave her a blank shrugged and started to turn away when she continued. "I'm Marissa Rushvish." Something in the back of my head clicked, but I ignored it. "4th year Durmstrang student." She extended her hand and I kind of told her to go screw herself by not taking it.

"Well…"

"There you girls are!" I heard Lucien's voice call to us. "Come on!"

Nephiro and I shot each other fleeting glances and ran after the two Frenchman. We walked a little bit deeper, just enough to remove Marissa Rushvish from my sight.

"What exactly is going on?" I asked breathlessly. All of us looked around, apparently searching for a familiar face, but we were disrupted by silence. Everyone was looking up at the sky and I followed the lead. "The Dark Mark…" I hissed, recalling Remus' description. This very mark loomed over my house the night my father was wrongly convicted and my mom was murdered.

The silence didn't last long, once people realized what they were staring at, the cries came back. There was even more mayhem than before and seeing Nephiro reach for Lucien's hand I had found myself worrying about Draco. I felt bad for just leaving him in the box, and with a fake excuse too. As the thoughts crossed my mind, arms wrapped themselves around my waist. My immediate reaction was to yelp, which I did, drawing the other's eyes to me.

"Emi, its just Draco, calm down," Nephiro told me, rolling her eyes. Draco nuzzled his face into my neck.

"I'm glad you're safe," he whispered. His breath was warm on my skin and was nice since I was so cold. It's weird how he just randomly appears at the right moments… I thought, closing my eyes, forgetting, the green skull hovering above treetops. "Are you feeling better?"

"Mmm… very." The five of us were fairly content standing there, except Adam. He looked angrier then usual, and cold. No one wanted to go find out what was going on, and it was Mr. Miketsu that told us to return to the tent.

"Emi? May I talk to you for a second?" Draco pulled me aside, and I watched the others walk away from me… again.

"Sure, Draco. What is it?" I question, eager to get warm again.

"My mother says I shouldn't talk to you anymore," he blurted. My eyes opened wide.

"Ummm, why?" I asked, not really believing him.

"She says your family is tainted and that we shouldn't put ourselves in the same leagues as murders."

"My family has no murders in it, at lest the ones I know of," I growled. "And how is your family any different, you father is a Death Eater!" He quieted me.

"Not so loud."

"So, you're admitting it fully now? Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater?"

"No." I glared at him.

"You go and tell your mother we're not speaking to each other."

"Emi! This isn't what I wanted out of this conversation!"

"Then why did you bring it up? You could have lied to her, and said we were no longer "seeing" each other!"

"I wanted to be honest."

"You won't be honest with things that involve your feelings and when I want to help, but you'll tell me your mother doesn't like me? That's bull!"

"My problems don't concern you!" he bellowed. Turning around, I planted a firm slap to his face.

"They should," I told him, running after my friends.

"Emi! Come back!"

Xanu explained how the Ministry doesn't know where it came from, but the culprit used Harry Potter's wand. Haha. As long as it doesn't show up anywhere near Prague I didn't care.

o.O

Everyone retired for the night and the next morning I followed Nephiro home like a lost puppy dog. The Egyptian house was huge and probably could fit 20 of my apartments into it… maybe more… It was covered in Earth tones, mostly white and gold though. The two of us decided it was best that we stat in her room. Xanu was busy with work and who knows where Nephiro's mom is.

She wasn't lying when she said it bare. Although the furniture she had was elaborate like I thought, the room was so big that it looked empty/ Thee was a desk in one corner, painted with gold paint, a dresser with too many drawers and a large mirror, and a bed –an enormous bed, with a drop canopy that draped down sheets of gold and white fabric. Oh, and a couple chairs were near the bed, next to a bookcase that matched the desk and dresser.

"I'm bored," I whined, jokingly, rolling on my back and looking at Nephiro from across the room –upside down. She glanced up from her book and gave me her "you're dumb, be quiet" expression.

"What would you suggest then?" she asked, mocking me while shutting her book. I stuck my tongue out.

"I don't know, something spontaneous and fun."

"Sorry to burst your bubble Black but most of them involved magic, which by law… stupid laws… we can't use."

"There's probably a couple of things…"

"Like what?" she inquired. "If you know of something, pray tell."

"Murder?"

"Too risky."

"Kidnapping?"

"Not fun enough."

"Piercings?" Nephiro raised her eyebrows and I automatically regretted saying it.

"Piercings?" I was actually hoping she'd shoot it down like the others.

"Err… yea…"

"Interesting Emi, very interesting." She got to her feet and headed toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I questioned. She smirked.

"Getting supplies."

"Hey! Hold –" The door closed behind her. " –On…" This is bad… very bad.

When she returned, she had a flash, some matches, a thing of cloth, and a very long needle. She set them down on the bed I was sitting on and went over to the fancy dresser and got a jewelry box.

"What do you want done?" Nephiro was lighting one of the matches and running the needle. She set them down on the bed I was sitting on and went over to the fancy dresser and got a jewelry box.

"Ummmmm… my… my…" She was now putting the liquid from the liquid from the container on the piece of fabric.

"Whatever, come here." I was hesitant to move closer, and wasn't completely sure I should trust her with a needle. But I did slide over, and she grabbed my head so hard that I face felt like it was squished and my lips looked like a fish, rubbed the cloth on my nose and said, "Don't move." I felt like screaming then and there, the potion numbed my skin almost instantly and her grip actually hurt a good amount. Though, I'll admit, when she pushed the needle through my nose, I didn't feel a single thing, probably because I was already in enough pain. "Ha! Done!" I wanted to slap her.

"What the fu –"

"Which earring do you want?" I glared at her.

"None! Take the needle out now or I'll use that upper cut I used on Zandyr on you!"

"OK. Hold on," she said. I could hear rustling of metal, but couldn't see since she still had a hold of my face, and the needle was out of my nose… only to be replaced by something new. "I do good work!" Nephiro exclaimed in a cheery voice.

"I told you –"

"Take the needle out and I did. Just go look. Its actually cool." 'Cool? That's not a word widely used by Nep,' I thought while running my hands over the earring.

"Who are you and where's the real Nephiro Miketsu?" I asked, looking around.

"Com'on Em, go look." She shoved me off the bed with force and I fell hard on the wood floors.

"Ow…"

The bedroom door opened and the mysterious figure of Naomi Miketsu filled the frame. Our attention immediately shifted; Nephiro's expression changed quickly and she shot off the bed.

"Yes mother?"

"I need to tell you something." She pushed past her daughter and went into the center of the room. "I feel that it is time you receive the mark of our heritage." I watched baffled from my spot of the floor, but Nephiro seemed to precisely what her mom was speaking of.

"I am not ready mother," Nep commented. There was so much respect and admiration shining from her amber eyes that it was almost scary. Her mum let a small smile appear.

"It is time. You are to turn 15 in three months. Traditionally, that is when it is done but you are… special. Now is the time." Nephiro was speechless. 'Nep's older than me! Must remember to ask her about it later…' Naomi held up her hands around Nephiro's head and a small amount of wind began whisking around the room. A bright light was emitted and it blinded me for a couple of moments. When my sight returned, Nep was running her fingers through her hair, which now had streaks of gold in it.

Nephiro looked up at her mom, her eyes thick with more emotion that I had ever seen before. She actually had tears in her eyes. I felt kind of awkward and out of place but couldn't force myself to look away, it was kind of surreal.

"Mom…" she began able to continue or express what she was feeling.

"I know, I know," her mother replied, wrapping her arms around her daughter. At this, I did finally turn away.

I began to head toward the door, feeling it would be better to leave then stay but I was caught mid-step by Naomi.

"Miss Black," I froze before she even finished.

"Ye… yes?" I asked hesitantly, unsure of what I did.

"You are like a sister to my Nephiro, are you not?" she asked. I nodded. "Than you may also receive something, if you would like." I felt my jaw drop and did my best to return to a normal facial expression. "You do not follow our beliefs, however, so you will not receive what Nephiro did."

"Shouldn't we ask Lupin first, mom?" Nephiro inquired.

"Nonsense. Did you ask before you pierced her nose?" Naomi replied, with an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"Well… no… but…" Nephiro's words came to an awkward halt.

"Besides, it won't hurt her. It will merely be a vanity spell. If Remus has a problem with it, he can talk to me about it." She turned back to me. "I can make you hair change color at will, or something else. Your choice."

"You… can actually make it so my hair can change at will?" I stammered, in awe.

"Pff. She is my mom. I mean, she just infused real freakin' gold in my hair. Making yours change color will be child's play for her," Nep sneered, smiling at her mom.

"That's… real gold!"

"Yeah. That's what I said."

"Woah."

"So… you want the color changing spell, then?" Naomi asked. I nodded excitedly. "Very well." She approached me and put her hands on my temples. She then proceeded to say a few words in a language I didn't understand. "OK. You're done. Try it out." I thought of something I've been thinking of doing my hair since the beginning of the summer, but Remus wouldn't let me and I opened my eyes. Nephiro smirked and Naomi gave me a pat on the shoulder and left the room.

I wandered over to the dresser and stared into the mirror. My nose was little red around the peridot stud that went through it, but you hardly noticed it with the green streaks in my hair (which coincidently matched my nose ring.)

"Remus is going to kill me," I said, running my hands through my new hair.

A/N: Heh heh.