Happy New Year
This chapter is for goDDarknes, who is a legend out of her time!
Chapter Five: First Impressions
Leon Necrose looked over the serene lake of Hogwarts. It was the day of the delegates arriving and he was assigned to Durmstrang, who were to be staying as usual in their ship, which was now docked at the new pier that had been built for the conference. The archery students of Hogwarts were practicing in front of the lake, and Leon was watching them.
"Draw! Take Aim! RELEASE!!!"
Madam Hooch was getting overexcited about showing off her students' skills to the already arrived students from all the schools.
Leon walked behind one of the students who was aiming at a set of targets 40 metres away from her.
"Elbows up," he said, "that way you will have a better pull."
The girl blushed and thanked him. As he walked away he heard the girls yabbering about his adorable accent. Could he help it if he was Australian?
"AGAIN! Draw! Take aim! RELEASE!!!"
As Leon watched the arrows fall into their marks, a weird humming sensation washed over the group for a second, sort of like a small electric shock then it faded away again.
"What was that??" a girl asked staring out into the lake, the direction from which the sensation had come.
"I don't know," Leon responded, "But I'm gunna find out."
He walked to the water's edge, followed by the archery class, the group staring intently down into the depths of the water. Was that a sound? Leon could hear something that sounded remotely like singing. His first thought was that it must be the merpeople. But as the song grew it became more and more like… whale song?
Then about fifty metres from the shore Leon saw a little group of bubbles rise above the waters surface. He arched one dark eyebrow and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword under his robes. Since gaining his position in the DA as Sword master he carried it with him everywhere "Could everyone please move back up the bank," he said calmly.
Suddenly there was another barrage of bubbles.
"Now." He said more firmly.
It seemed almost as if a localised section of the lake was boiling, the water billowing an inundation of steam, sort of simmering like when you add cold and warm water. From the centre of this rose what seemed to be one massive bubble, easily the size of the Durmstrang ship, which just seemed to grow and grow.
The song intensified, and there came a great whooshing of water as it suddenly began to whoosh around and around, causing a whirlpool of sorts to form around the gleaming sphere. Leon could swear something was moving in the tidal waters. Something big.
Students aboard the Durmstrang ship were all standing at the rail of their ship, and many had walked down onto the wharf, and were pointing towards the bubble.
They can see something! Leon thought, sprinting towards the wharf.
Just as he reached the other students the whirlpool just seemed to stop, and the bubble exploded outward, causing massive waves, which ran high under the wharf, and rocked the Durmstrang ship.
Upon the now serene waters of the Hogwarts lake sailed a beautiful white Cabin Cruiser. Leon guessed her to be 60 foot, with polished silvery trimmings. Her name was written in glittery silver writing down the side of the side of the ship, 'Starstream'. She sailed in next to the docks and a shiny rope tied itself around the docking pegs. On deck three girls were sunbaking on cushy deck chairs, and Leon could see other movement further up the boat.
"Hail! Are you with Durmstrang??"
The middle sunbaker, who was a pretty girl with long blonde hair, turned to the girl next to her, who had short black hair and said something. Because they were so far away, he missed what she said, but all three girls broke out laughing. The third girl had shortish hair, but Leon couldn't tell what colour it was, as she turned her head he saw all different hues.
"Willkommen zu Hogwarts," he tried.
Suddenly a tall, sandy haired guy jumped down onto the deck. "Do we look bloody German mate? I mean really."
Leon thought he picked up an accent… but no… was the Australian school even coming? He decided to test the waters, so to speak. "G'day, I'm Leon, welcome to Hogwarts"
"Knock me down with a feather! G'day, I'm Saul." Then Saul turned to his ship, "Mates, he's a bloody Aussie!"
"True blue, through and through."
"We're the Aussie contingent, fresh from Kallaix Academy, Could you point me towards the Entrance Hall, I've only got like ten minutes to sign the school in."
Leon smiled at the other boy. He had a sort of little boyish quality. "So you're the Head Boy?"
"Oh god no! Do you really think they would trust me with that sort of responsibility." Saul laughed out loud. "Oi everyone, Leon's gunna show us how to find the Entrance Hall, toss me my robes will you!"
Five others quickly joined Saul on the wharf, and introduced themselves as Alyson, who was the blonde, Tegan, the girl with the multi-hued hair and Jacque, the black haired girl. There were also two boys; Adam had blonde tipped hair and Jeffery was tall with dark, almost black eyes.
"So who are your school's captains?" Leon asked, "You really do need them to sign in."
"Oh, I suspect you'll find Kris and Justine somewhere up there," Tegan said pointing towards the castle, "But don't worry, we can be very convincing when we want to be," with a grin, "trust us."
Leon shrugged and led the group towards the entrance hall. They were all wearing coloured jumpers, and he could understand their need for warmth, it was drastically colder in Britain. Jacque and Jeffery were wearing purple V-necked jumpers under their creamy coloured robes, which confused Leon, was purple the colour of their Hufflepuff? Adam and Alyson were obviously in Slytherin, because they were in green jumpers, Tegan and Saul in Ravenclaw blue. Where were the Gryffindors?
Just outside the doors the group all flicked the hoods to their robes up and thanked Leon for his help.
"It's cool," he said "Call me if you need anything else." He waved to the group and walked away.
The front doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opened to admit the group of six. They walked confidently towards the sign-in desk. They were all wearing cream robes, so no face could be made out, but word had gotten round that this was the elusive group from Australia.
Pansy Parkinson sat behind the desk she had been seemingly chained to all morning and plastered on a fake smile, beside her she saw Daphne do the same. Why had the stupid DA given the schools four whole hours in which to arrive? Why not just assign times?
As the group approached Pansy reminded herself how much she hated Australians. They always ruined things for her. Especially that freak, Alyson Deveréaux who had gone here for a year, during fourth year to be exact.
Pansy suppressed a shudder remembering how she had witnessed the freak going behind a bush in on the far side of the lake and turned into… a unicorn. It wasn't natural. She was an Animagus. Pansy had done what any other self-respecting person would do in her situation, she had grabbed the bigpgest stick she could find and proceeded to beat the unicorn furiously with it.
Then that other bitch had turned up and turned the tables on her, attacked her. Pansy still winced remembering the bruises she had endured. She was just trying to protect herself from a freak. The other girl had said she was being brutally evil and deserved a taste of her own medicine. By the time teachers had found them, Alyson was human again and the bitch was trying to stop her bleeding, not even her blood looked natural, Pansy could remember, sort of a pewter red colour.
Pansy had been sent to the hospital wing, along with the others. The bitch had gotten a splinter while she was beating her, and Alyson was apparently quite hurt. Faker. She had been stuck there all night wearing cream to get rid of the bruising and fix the cuts. The freak was across from her, but was there the next night too.
Pansy's parents had been called in, and it was only on the part of her begging and swearing for it to never happen again and that she'd tell no one ever that she had not been kicked out of Hogwarts. So not fair.
The group approached the table, lead by a girl in Slytherin green.
When she reached the table she threw back her hood and silver eyes twinkled down at Pansy, she let out an involuntary gasp. Those eyes had haunted her for the last three years. Alyson Deveréaux had returned to Hogwarts, "Pansy," she then said condescendingly, "Fancy meeting you around here!"
Pansy was mortified, "What are you doing here!"
Alyson shook her head in mock insult, "Pansy, do I get no 'welcome back' or 'we missed you'? I'm here to sign Kallaix Academy in for the United Youth Conference." Alyson was enjoying this. Three years ago Justine had noticed Alyson missing from class and looked for her, thank god, and turned the tables on Pansy.
Alyson could tell by the look on Pansy's face she hadn't forgotten it, nor had she forgotten Justine in the hospital wing, being treated first, because she had gotten a splinter beating up Pansy, and it was 'more efficient' to deal with her first.
"I'm sorry, registration is closed," Pansy said, nodding to the redhead to her left, "You're too late."
"Bull," Alyson quipped back, "We have five minutes."
Daphne grinned maliciously, "I can't believe you're the head girl, and it takes the Head Girl, and Boy at least ten minutes to fill in these forms, so you're too late." Alyson was fast losing her temper. A second Kallaix student, this time a boy, stepped forward and took off his hood. He was tall and serious,Pansy couldn't believe her eyes. He placed his hand on Alyson's shoulder. The other two girls now de-hooded and faced Pansy.
Pansy nearly fell off her chair. The stupid Australians had brought the werewolf. Tegan scowled at Pansy's reaction. "Remember to keep your mouth shut," She maliciously grinned and added, "If you tell my secrets I'll get you expelled."
Pansy stood up and yelled, "You freaks! You're too late, now get out!"
Alyson spoke over her: "Don't be such a prat, we have five minutes!"
Daphne called out across the room to two others, whom Alyson recognised as Malcolm Braddock of Slytherin and Seamus Finnegan of Gryffindor. Why were they together? "What's the matter here?" Seamus asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Yes," Tegan spoke up, "These stupid cows won't let us register."
Pansy's eyes bulged clear out of her head, "Because it takes time to fill out the bloody forms, and you HAVE NONE!"
A deathly quiet filled out the Entrance Hall after Pansy's outburst, and a calm voice responded, "Then it's a good thing I filled out the forms at home."
Alyson pivoted to look up the stairs, then herself and the other Aussies grinned and moved back near the doors.
Everyone turned to look up the staircase, to where Justine Snape stood at the head of the stairs. She was wearing the Kallaix uniform robes over a short white pleated skirt and emerald green tight sweater.
Beside her was one of the most handsome boys. He was tall with near black hair and twinkling eyes. He was smiling patronizingly, but had a mischievous air about him. Next to him was a girl with golden red hair, very pretty with big hazel eyes. On the other side of Justine stood her uncle, Severus Snape, and Alexander Kidson, still remembered at Hogwarts by most of the girls, looking superior.
Justine continued as she elegantly descended the stars beside Kris, Ax and Tanya following. "As the heads of Kallaix Academy, here are the filled out forms, given to you in person by myself and Kristopher," She looked up at the clock, "With two whole minutes to spare."
Pansy began to reply when Snape's voice cut through from the stairs, "Don't… make the mistake of second-guessing those forms. I checked them myself, ergo, Kallaix is registered."
Justine turned to Pansy. "Take my forms and choke on them Pansy, seems I've … beaten you again." And with that she turned on her heel and left the Entrance Hall, the Aussies following in her wake. She left behind a defeated Pansy, an annoyed Daphne and confused students.
High on the landing above Draco and Harry stood, quite quietly. Harry turned to Draco expecting some scathing remark, but saw something else… sadness?
"Draco, I know you two have some serious history, do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked, placing a hand on Draco's arm.
"No," Draco said in a strained voice, "but… thanks. Just leave me alone. If you need me I'm in the Dining room setting up for tonight."
The school's cabin cruiser was docked on its own little wharf by the time the Kallaix crew got back to the ship, but they noted that both wharves were joined at the end, to create sort of a rectangle.
Justine climbed up the stairs at the rear of the boat, after walking across a rope lined gangplank, and straight away stripped off her outer robes. The ship had a warming charm on the entire space, meaning it was a warm Aussie summer's day. Everyone followed suit once they were on board.
Justine flopped onto a cushy deck chair, one of six towards the stern. The entire back end of the deck was a small pool, and the deck chairs sat facing this. Behind the deck chairs was the wheelhouse. Stairs lined this room on either side, going up onto a small lounging area where the girls planned to sun bake daily. Through the wheelhouse was the stairs leading down into the galley.
The entire under-section was magically enlarged in true Kallaix style, and was large enough for 7 bedrooms, the dining room/galley, a small library, lounge and two bathrooms.
The two bedrooms at the bow (front) of the ship under the wheelhouse were Kris and Justine's, and to the immediate left of Justine's was the library, then Jacque and Jeffery's, and on the other side of the girls bathroom, Tanya.
To the right of Kris was Ax and Adam, the boys bathroom, then Saul (whom everyone flatly refused to even consider sharing with) then Tegan and Ally.
The back end of the ship opened out and down a few steps was a beautiful lounge, with a balcony, squishy lounges and leaded windows in diamond patterns. Saul pointed out that the pool must be charmed, because by right it should occupy the space where the lounge was, every one else pointed out that this ship belonged to a magic school.
Justine loved this ship. All the décor reminded her strongly of the school train with tons of glass and white surfaces, and silver trim and accessories. It was very clean and Tegan seemed afraid to touch anything.
Justine turned her face up to the sun. It wasn't as bright here as it was at home, but the charms made it feel just as warm. Contemplating a swim, she walked down through the wheelhouse, waving to Jacque and Jeffery who were up on the roof. On the stairs she passed Ax, Kris and Saul, all in boardies.
"Heading to the pool?" Justine asked Kris as he gave her a quick hug, "I was thinking of a quick swim myself."
"Yeah, were also going to check out how cold the lake really is." Kris seemed to think this a good idea for some reason.
Justine just shook her head, "I'll join you in a second, but I'm not getting in the damn lake, I'll just leave that to the idiots like you."
Down in the galley at the table Alyson, Tegan and Adam were finishing up a game of Magic Monopoly started during the trip over. Everything was magical, so your money disappeared and appeared at will, and if you bought a property, you had to look after the damn thing. And words like 'bankrupt' and 'GO TO JAIL' flashed in the air, and if you did indeed go to jail, bars appeared around you till you 'paid your debt to society'.
Justine chucked a left at the bottom of the stairs and headed into her room, pulling her bikini out of her trunk as she went.
Up on deck, Tanya was being thrown unceremoniously into the pool. By Kris and Ax of course.
Shrieking in fury, and laughing at the same time Tanya surfaced, and glared up the two boys. "You would be dead by now but …" she started stripping off her jumper.
"Good lord, she's going to strip for us! Go girl go!" Ax yelled, looking positively delighted by the idea.
"I'm wearing swimmers you dick," Tanya informed him, pulling off her shirt, and revealing that she was indeed wearing one-piece, backless halter neck swimsuit in a metallic violet colour with a plunging neckline.
"Well, you look good enough in that anyway," Ax flirted, trying to embarrass her. It worked.
Tanya blushed, and glared up at Ax. "Stop the flirting!" Tanya told Ax sternly.
"You might as well tell the Dalai Lama to stop praying," Saul muttered, "Or trees to stop growing, or the sun to stop shining."
While Saul lifted a hand in a dramatic style to prove his point, and at that moment he toppled sideways into the pool, and resurfaced with one eyebrow raised. Kris stood where Saul had moments before, brushing his hands together.
"You were asking for it."
"Oh really?" Saul asked, "Here I am thinking I'm asking to stand beside the pool, not fall on my ass into it!"
Everyone broke out laughing, and Tanya slipped off her skirt under the water and added it to her pile of sopping clothes.
When Justine arrived on deck in her white diamante studded bikini, the boys predictably broke out in wolf whistles, which she gracefully accepted, with a shake of her head. She was wearing a sheer white sarong with sparkly edging, which she draped over a chair and placed her sunnies on top.
Saul looked over at her and said in a stage whisper, "Dear god, if thou art in heaven, make thy swimsuit see-through-ith when wet."
"You butthead," Justine said as he gracefully pushed him back down into the water then stood to gracefully dive into the water, popping up to add, "It's brand new, and made of special fabric, it's not going see through."
For fifteen minutes the group splashed around like idiots before the topic of swimming in the lake was raised again.
"I'm all for it." Kris said, "We can just swim to the shore over there and walk down the wharf to get back to the boat."
"I'm in!" Saul added, "I know a good warming charm if it's too cold."
"Might as well, got nothing else to do," Ax put in blandly, " The feast isn't until seven."
And with a mighty splash the guys jumped over the side of the ship.
"Holy Shit!"
"Damn, how do the Brits swim in this?" Justine swam over to the edge of the pool, which looked down over where the boys were swimming around in the water.
"Cold?" Justine said, "You do realise there is not an ice cube's chance in hell of me getting in that water don't you?"
"Oh come on Justine, it's really nice once you're in!" Kris called back.
"This is Britain, not Australia guys, I'm not going near that water." Justine added gleefully.
"I'm with her, if you can con her into the water, I'll come too." Tanya added.
Justine shrugged and jumped over the edge.
"Bitch."
"OH MY LORD" Justine squealed as she resurfaced, "IT'S SO BLOODY… nice… in this water." She finished lamely looking up at Tanya.
Tanya glared over the edge, "You're not fooling me guys." Tanya prepared to jump over the edge.
"I'll give you a hug." Kris added as if it were an incentive to jump faster.
"Dudes, is it getting warmer in here, or is there something Ax isn't telling us?" Saul asked concernedly.
"Hey, butthead, it wasn't me but yeah it is." Ax responded pushing Saul's head under.
The McEwan dragon's head surfaced to the left of Saul and she made her cute little cooing noises, letting him know it was she who was warming said water, by her magic.
"Dragon magic's good enough for me," Tanya screamed as she jumped ship.
As she resurfaced next to Saul she noticed he was wearing the boardies he had been wearing that day at her place on the beach, but was wearing them with a belt. He followed her line of vision and added impishly; "One can never be too safe, especially with them around." He pointed his chin in the direction of the others. "If they give you any trouble hon, just holler."
"Oh, because I can't take care of myself at all, " Tanya added, "but thanks." she added to not hurt his feelings. Tanya had decided over the last few months hanging out with these guys that Saul was like the brother figure of the group.
"You're welcome, of course," Saul smirked.
"Quick, before the dragon spell wears off, head for the bloody shore!" screamed Kris, with everyone following him towards the lake shoreline. Whenever the group hit a 'cold patch' in the water they broke out yelling and cursing delightedly. Kris took an early lead, his athletic physique giving him an edge, and Justine and Saul, who were backstroking languidly, followed him.
Tanya and Ax broke out in splash wars every five minutes, ending with Tanya sinking, and Ax popping her back up to the surface. "You need to learn how to tread water," Ax said as she was resurfaced for the seventh time, this time rather close to the shore, although he still couldn't touch the bottom.
"I live on the beach, we just jump with the waves, or use a bloody board," Tanya quipped back, grabbing his arm so she didn't sink. "Waves make life so much easier."
At that moment a great ruckus broke out as Kris reached Tegan, who was standing at the edge holding towels.
"I am the greatest," he yelled throwing his arms in the air.
"No sweetheart, you just like to think you are, as I have to remind you all too frequently." Justine flashed him a huge grin as she reached a level where she could touch the bottom.
"WENCH!" Kris yelled, plunging back into the water after Justine, "I SHALL PROVE MY POWER!"
Justine screamed, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE POWER!" and threw herself back into the deep water, "AX save me, save-a me!"
Ax ran forward in front of Justine, "Fair maiden, I shall defend thy honour!" He said in a mock hero voice.
"Get out of mine path," Kris returned similarly, "The maiden whom thou would'st defend so readily be no innocent at all."
"Oh damn it! Didn't we get enough Shakespeare back in Primary School?" Tanya rolled her eyes.
"I am withest thee fair Tanya, are we not overeth this shiteth?" Saul responded, grabbing Tanya round the waist and swinging her onto his shoulders.
"Oh, I'm tall, I'M TALL!" Tanya was delirious with joy.
"You could be taller on me," Ax said blandly.
"OI, you're meant to be defending my honour or something," Justine said from behind Ax as Kris lunged for her.
"Noble steed." Tanya reverently stage whispered to Saul, "We must fight for the lady's honour."
Amongst all this commotion no one was paying any attention to Tegan, who had stealthily stripped down to her black one piece, and no one saw it coming when she threw herself at Kris from behind, dunking him completely under the water.
She backed off in a hurry, and when he resurfaced he looked like the proverbial thundercloud. "Right," he said calmly, "you all asked for it." And just as coolly launched himself at anyone within jumping distance.
Tanya screamed, "Saul move, giddup!" but too late, as Saul was pushed under the water. Tanya made the split second decision to use him as leverage to dive off in the opposite direction, but Ax used his reflexes just as well to catch her mid-flight.
"Got you now," He winked at her, "Kris do you want her?" he mused as he handed her over.
Far above the screaming group Draco stood at a window in the great hall watching. He had to admit Justine was looking beautiful. She had let her once shoulder-length hair grow down her back and she had gotten taller. He had laughed at her indignation about her petite height back when… Draco was disgusted as he caught himself smiling.
Pushing away from the windowsill he stomped back to the table he was setting to accommodate the students from two other schools. For the ten days of the hunt, tables were to be set out in the common rooms for the Hogwarts students for meals. "Daphne, what schools are at this table?" he asked the redhead, referring to the Hufflepuff table.
"Um…" she whipped out a clipboard, "Kallaix and Beauxbatons."
"Damn it." Draco said, and then he heard the scream. It was different from the other fun ones. It was terrified. Tearing for the window he looked down to see Justine being carried from the water by Kris, her foot covered in blood.
"OH MY GOD SHE'S DYING" Saul yelled dramatically.
"What in icy hell have you done to yourself sweetheart?" Kris asked in a gentle tone. The pain in Justine's foot had reached boiling point.
"I think I may have cut my foot." She mildly responded gesturing to the blood.
"Well duh," Tanya responded, "The blood dripping from your foot and pained expression didn't give it away at all."
"Excuse me for pointing out the obvious. Kris didn't seem to have noticed," Justine replied. "Now can someone do something about my foot before I bleed to death or something?"
"I know it!" Saul cried, "I know how to do this! Yay! First aid courses do come in useful after all … I should probably go and apologise to Mr. Bathie for saying his course was the most useless one I'd heard of, huh?" Saul waved his wand in the air and muttered something. Instantly the hurt disappeared and the blood cleared up.
"It's good thing there aren't any Great Whites in Britain," Tegan remarked.
"Guys! There's only five and a half hours until the feasty-thing and I haven't even started unpacking or getting ready, or planning what I need to wear or anything!" Justine cried, glancing at Kris's watch.
"Oh no! Party princess doesn't have time to get ready!" Saul cried.
"I thought we had to wear formal uniform. Can't take that long to primp," Tegan muttered. Justine scowled at Tegan, then gestured to herself and looked questioningly at the other to see if she understood yet. "Oh yes … it's you. Silly me."
"Exactly, little miss 'I'm just going to roll out of bed and put on what I was wearing yesterday'," Justine muttered rebelliously.
"OK everyone, I'm sick of this place for meetings," Harry said, looking around the Room of Requirement. "This is a training place … Besides, we have to be all together in case something comes up and we can't get to one another … anyone got an idea on where to go?"
"I propose that we steal the Kallaix Academy tower – have you seen that place? It's totally gorgeous! When I get a house, I'm so hiring Professor Snape as decorator!" Daphne said.
"What is it? Black on black, with a bit of black for the accessories?" Harry demanded, rolling his eyes.
"No. It's like a nineteen-twenties paradise, with cream walls and walnut panelling, and palm trees and chiffon everywhere, it is so beautiful. All of the furniture is done in tasteful soft cream leather, and the bedrooms are to die for. Especially the room set out for their bitchy head girl."
Draco paled, Harry noticed, although he didn't think anyone else did.
"Oi, mate leave the Aussies alone, right?" Leon piped up. "They were real decent to me earlier, and that boat! Whew."
"It's not my fault she's a righteous cow." Daphne mutinously threw in.
"And it's so good to have someone who understands proper Aussieland talk, I was like 'mate' and they were all like 'mate' and I was like 'mate' and they were like 'maaaate'it was great!"
"What? Are you stoned?" Malcolm raised his dark eyebrows at Leon.
"Drop it." Harry said firmly, "The last thing the Council should be doing right now is bickering pettily with one another. Everyone go to their rooms and pack and meet me at the northern end of the third floor corridor at three, ok?"
When everyone had left the room, except for Draco and Harry, Harry turned and asked in what he hoped was a consoling voice, "Draco, are you ok? You know I'm here if you need me."
Draco looked up at his new brother. "I know." They might have only become brothers last summer, but in heart and mind they had been brothers for a little under a year ago. Harry would always be there for him ... but he wasn't ready to talk about ... her ... yet.
"OK, this room is mine," Draco said, looking around the room prepared for the Head Girl of Kallaix.
"Draco, this is ... her room," Harry decided that not mentioning Justine's name would be a good thing right now.
"I know. It's only fair that I get something back from the bitch."
"OK, then I get the Head Boy's room," Daphne said.
"No," Harry interrupted, "Shotgun!"
"Shotgun?"
"Good lord! It's one of the very institutions that make up the teenage existence. In Australia, if one wants to be in the front of the car for instance 'SHOTGUN' and Bob's your uncle. It's the only way to have, um... how do you put it... first choice."
"Leon, I thought we discussed you corrupting Hogwarts students with your language." Draco looked scornfully at the Australian, who parried with "I am ashamed" in a fake French accent.
Harry grinned, something that had become so rare that when it happened his entire face lit up, "Shotgun." he said with fervour.
Daphne glared at the group and flounced out, declaring, "Fine! I didn't want it anyway."
Harry laughed, "Sure you didn't."
This, of course lit up the mood of the entire group, who all began to become acclimatised for the stay. When everyone had finally claimed their rooms and thoroughly explored the entire wing, it was approaching five, and everyone separated to take care of all the final preparations.
Justine looked down at her outfit, hoping to god that the skirt she was wearing wasn't too short; she had poor Sevie's heart to think of after all, he was getting on in years... and it was her longest one. She had teamed it with her favourite white blouse, a black tight v-neck sweater and her cream school robes. Her shoes were inappropriate: the black stilettos' ribbons wound up and around her ankles. They were gonna give Sevie a coronary.
She didn't even hear him come up on deck, but she felt a hand on her shoulder and Kris's voice whisper in her ear, "Stop fretting, you look fully hot."
"Ahh, that's my problem!" Justine turned to run back on deck and steal someone else's skirt when Ax grabbed her arm out of nowhere and pulled her into a hug.
"And how, exactly, is this a problem?" he whispered seductively in her ear.
"Ax, back off," Justine heard Tegan mutter from somewhere, "You know she has issues with this place, and her uncle's gonna friggin flip when he sees what she's wearing."
Justine squealed, and again tried to run for the stairs. "Oh fine, you can borrow mine ... I'm not gonna need it, locked up in the dungeons tearing anything remotely tearable to bits."
"No thanks – that thing still has a grass stain from last time you had to save some 'poor defenceless little animal' " Justine said.
"Hey, at least I mended the rips!" Tegan scowled.
"You know where Uncle Sevie's apartment is, he'll make you comfortable," Justine told her cousin, resting a hand comfortingly on her shoulder.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow morning, and if I miss anything, I expect full explanations later …"
Tanya looked around as she walked into the Great Hall. She felt slightly out of place as she walked between Justine and Alyson. Both of them were wearing skirts that only barely covered the essentials - and this was Justine's longest skirt. She wasn't even wearing a skirt, but rather pants.
"Which table is ours?" Saul asked.
Tanya glanced over at the other boy. Trust Saul to manage to make the formal uniform look as if he had slept it in and had only just woke up and was stumbling in straight from bed. And still manage to look the type of guy that most teenage girls would fall in love with ... if he hadn't been walking between Ax and Kris. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place…
Jacque checked a notation on her palmpilot and then replied, "The one that's usually Hufflepuff," she replied.
"What?" Ax yelped. "No! That's just degrading!"
"Why?" Tanya asked.
"It's the idiots house!" Ax said, between a series of outraged noises. "We are the most selective wizarding school in the whole damn world, and they give us the idiot house's table!"
"Is he just overreacting, or is it really that bad?" Tanya asked worriedly.
"No ... it's worse," Justine replied. "This was Draco's doing."
"Bastard," Ax agreed, "Must have been him."
"Actually, I heard Daphne talking to one of her little groupies - it was her," Jacque replied.
"That's like, freaky - do you have eyes and ears everywhere?" Saul asked.
"Honey, if a mosquito sneezed in Antarctica, I would know."
"Do they even have mosquitoes in Antarctica? Damn, and that was gonna be my escape next summer ..." Saul muttered.
"Idiot," Jeffery said, "You would seriously go to Antarctica to escape mosquitos? Get away from the bites only to freeze to death?"
"Who are you talking to?" Jacque asked her boyfriend of nearly four years.
"Oh, well, obviously ... I wasn't thinking."
"Leave him alone, he just got out of bed," Adam said.
"I did not!" Saul cried.
"Look at how you're dressed," Adam said.
"I was having an intimate moment with ... Bobby two," Saul said loftily.
"You were asleep," Adam agreed calmly.
"There's two now?" Tanya asked.
"Yeah, I noticed the black spray paint on one of them," Ax remarked. "It said Boby 2 and looked like a four year old had written it."
"I was pressed for time," Saul said.
"You only had time for one B?" Justine demanded.
"Like I said, pressed," Saul replied, then glanced at Tanya, "You know, when you have a 2, it's supposed to be like, bigger or better or some shit? Well, the original is still the best, but Boby 2 is the most comfortable deck chair on the cruiser."
"Trust you to get it before anyone else could," Jeffery remarked.
"Well, I couldn't lose him!" Saul said, "We got this real nice thing going, me and Boby 2."
"Now, Justine, when we walk into the Hall, just look straight ahead and don't glance at the Slytherin table - Jacque tells me that's were ... he ... will be," Ax said to Justine. "Or, just look at me, I know it's hard not to."
"Or you could look lovingly into my eyes and make the guy jealous as hell."
"It's a plan," Justine replied, then looked at Jacque, "How many cameras do you have so far?"
"Only seventeen," Jacque replied.
"Only? We've been here for what? Three hours?" Justine demanded.
"Seven, actually," Jacque replied.
"Oh, well, I was only four hours out! How much can you get done in four hours?" Justine replied.
"Couple of cameras in trees for the hunt, few in the Quidditch stadium, couple in the brickwork - there's one there," she pointed, "and onein Malfoy's pocket, and a tracking device as one of Daphne's hair ornaments."
"What about the Gryffindors?"
"That was in the first three hours."
"Oh."
"Now, are we ready to go into the Great Hall?" Adam asked as they stopped momentarily in front of the Great Hall.
"Yes," Justine spoke for everyone, since she had the most reason to avoid the place.
Ax nodded and pushed the door open.
Talk within the room stopped momentarily as everyone looked to see who had arrived now.
"Oh look, it's the Slut Brigade," Pansy's voice called out sneeringly.
Justine tried to force herself to look ahead, but, as usual, her temper got the better of her, and she spun around, green eyes flashing, "Oh look, it's the girl who wishes she was a slut, but can't get laid. Are you still chasing after Draco?"
At that moment, she spotted the man in question and quickly turned back to face away from the table.
The Kallaix students made to head after their Head Girl, but Tanya had seen someone who looked as though he might be familiar. She paused, and slipped back a few paces from the rest of the group, trying to see a little better.
"…Leon…" someone murmured, though she didn't catch the rest of the sentence. But that one word was enough.
"Wait a sec," she muttered to Adam, though she wasn't sure he had heard her, and stepped closer to the Slytherin table, where the Hogwarts Hunt entry students were sitting.
"Leon, why is that girl from Kallaix walking towards you and looking pissed off? I thought it was only Draco who had to watch out for death stares amongst us guys," Harry demanded.
Leon looked at Harry, then leaned over and whispered, "Does she have red hair?" with a slightly pained expression on his face.
"Um, yeah," Harry replied, not sure why this was happening – wasn't Leon the one who knew the Aussies? Or was this someone he had offended earlier?
"Oh shit," Leon muttered, and went to stand up.
He turned, ready to run, and came face to … well, chest to face with a small, red haired, blue eyed pissed off young woman. "Leon," she said softly, eyes flashing dangerously.
"Tan-oof," Leon replied, as the girl gave him a swift and surprisingly powerful uppercut to the stomach.
Suddenly, Tanya was pulled a few steps back from him, and a tall, also pissed off looking Australian male took her place, with a sword at Leon's throat. Really oh shit, Leon thought.
Justine stepped in and caught Tanya's arm, pulling her back. Ax was going to get … nasty. Last time she'd seen him like this, people had gotten hurt.
"Justine, let me go," Tanya said, trying to escape.
"Adam? Saul?" Justine asked, and the two boys hurried forward to take custody of Tanya.
"Justine!" Tanya yelled, Leon had kicked at Ax's shin, driving the surprised sword mage back a step. Leon had twisted free, and suddenly had his own sword in hand, resting at Ax's … delicate area, at the same moment Ax had his sword back at Leon's throat.
"You're good," Ax allowed. "Japan? Or China?"
"Japan," Leon replied. "And so are you… But are you good enough?" he swung back from the block, and then came to meet Ax's counter swing.
Suddenly, Ax's sword began to glow a light purple, and his eyes turned to pure white.
"Oh shit," said Leon, for the third time that night, "I've heard about your type …"
"Oh shit just about covers it," Ax agreed calmly, and swung powerfully. Leon skipped backwards. Harry and Draco were yelling, somewhere in the background, telling people to move back, away from the fighters. Teachers were yelling too, wanting to know what was going on.
"Justine!" Tanya yelled again.
"What? Didn't the guy hurt you?" Justine demanded, "You know Ax has a thing for you! He won't see you get hurt."
"I wasn't, I was just telling Leon off for not telling me he was a wizard!" Tanya yelled.
"You know him?"
"He's my next door neighbour and one of my best friends, apart from you guys."
"Oh shit," Justine bolted, throwing herself into the crowd. Somehow, they were all getting pushed out of her way, though Tanya didn't see her touch them, or her wand.
Leon was cornered, backed up against a wall with a very pissed off sword mage swinging a bloody glowing sword right in front of him.
Suddenly, one of the Aussie girls came to his rescue – not Tanya, why wasn't she helping him? – This was the Head Girl of Kallaix, threw herself between him and Ax just as Ax was about to swing for the kill, a tiny dagger appearing from somewhere, and catching the glowing sword just before it would have cleaved her in two.
"Oh god," Justine muttered. "So glad you have reflexes."
"Why didn't you let me hurt him?" Ax demanded, a slight pout on his face.
"Leon, are you alright!" Tanya bounded out of the crowd, apparently having managed to escape from Adam and Saul. Ax was surprised and bewildered as she hurried over to his opponent.
"Your friends are scary," Leon said, dropping his sword in relief.
"Ax, meet Leon, Tanya's next door neighbour and good friend," Justine said hurriedly. In a second, Ax's sword was sheathed, and he'd slipped around the Head Girl to stand before Leon.
"You mean you weren't trying to hurt Tanya?" he demanded, looking at the Australian Hogwarts boy.
"No," Leon replied, "You mean you weren't trying to kill me?"
"No," Ax agreed. "Hi, I'm Ax!" he added, with a bright smile, holding out a hand for Leon to shake. Every female in the crowd looked like they were about to swoon … in fact, a couple of them did.
"Leon," the other replied.
"God Ax! I'm not some 'maiden in distress' or something!" Tanya snarled, "I don't need you to coming running to my rescue." Then she turned to Leon, "You know, if you'd just told me you were a wizard, none of this would have happened."
"Oh, so this is all my fault now?" Leon demanded. "It was your crazy friend who started this!"
"Mate, the gal is never on the wrong side of the argument. Especially if she's from Australia. It's always the bloke's fault," Kris said, wandering over. "That's just how it works."
"Of course," Leon replied.
"Oh!" Saul squealed, "It's the mate! Leon! Dude! You OK … gettin' on the wrong side of our mate Ax … not a good place to be."
"I think I noticed," Leon muttered.
"Is there a problem?" Draco appeared before them.
Justine didn't even glance at him, but casually walked off, as if she were now bored with the whole operation. "There wasn't," Ax muttered, and followed, with rest of the Australians following him.
"Leon, this is your fault, somehow," Draco said, stalking off to the Slytherin table again.
"That's what Tanya said," Leon remarked.
"She's a female, it's always the guy's fault," Ginny said, as she and Hermione walked into the group. "What's happened now?"
"You OK Justine?" Adam asked, as they took their seats at the Hufflepuff table.
"I'm fine," Justine replied, unconvincingly, but no one got a chance to press her about it, as Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"Well, Welcome everyone to Hogwarts. The Unicorn Hunt is one of the unbroken traditions of the Magic schools that we are very proud this year to be hosting. Ten years ago we were lead to victory by our Quidditch Captain Charlie Weasley, and this year I am proud to say he will be with us again, but in a different capacity, he is now a teacher, and the sponsor teacher of Grendwell," at this the whole group politely clapped for the South Africans, who were all smiling and seemed to be a generally nice group.
Dumbledore then went on to introduce each school in turn, with the Spaniards, Villefort lead by Prof. Sinistra and Beauxbatons sponsored by 'Special Ministry Member' Rubeus Hagrid. The Chinese Nhi-lon Fohs were with Flitwick and Durmstrang with McGonagall. Egypt's Thundreds were to be sponsored by Trelawney.
When Dumbledore finally reached Kallaix, "And our final school, Kallaix Academy…" The Aussies went absolutely ballistic. Kris jumped on his chair, making the usual spectacle of himself, and Saul followed, so as not to outdone.
"WHO'S YOUR DADDY!" Kris yelled, in true form, followed immediately by Saul's, "I'M YOUR DADDY!" capering around like an idiot.
When the group finally calmed down, everyone in the Hall having had broken out laughing, it was announced that they were with Snape as sponsor. Bedlam ensued.
"Yeah, go Sevie, GO SEVIE!" The girls all broke out in an impromptu cheerleading like dance.
Every Hogwarts student's mouth dropped open at this, everyone looked at Snape and nearly choked from shock. 'Is he blushing?' The whisper went around the hall, magnifying when he let out an accidental laugh, something that no one had ever witnessed before.
"WOO HOO! Go Severus!" Broke out Justine, shocking every one with a smile so bright it could have outdone a sun. Every guy in the hall swooned. She could smile.
"After that … delightful … display of School and Community Spirit from the Australians, I must hand you over to Kingsley Shacklebolt, Britains newly appointed Minister of Magic, to tell you all the Rules and Regulations of the Hunt."
"Well, how can I pass up a show like that?" Shacklebolt asked, which started the Aussies off again, with Saul screaming it was impossible, and Tanya and Alyson attempting to pull him down, Justine, Kris and Adam all hiding their faces, and everyone else laughing to hard to do anything.
"Well, since I have been informed that it is, in fact, impossible, I guess I'll just have to do my best," Kingsley said, struggling not to laugh.
"Too right!" Saul piped up.
"That's it!" Justine yelled, whipping out her wand, "Silencio!" Saul's mouth kept moving, but no sound immerged. He glared at Justine, and mouthed angrily at her.
"Yes, I know you had loads of other things to say, but let the nice man talk now," Justine said, in an 'I'm talking to a five year old' voice.
"Thank you," Kingsley said, sounding relieved.
"He gets a little excited," Kris said, smiling slightly, "You should have seen what he did when Dad got Minister of Magic in Aussieland."
"You don't want to," Jeffery interrupted. "I only appreciate his humour when he keeps his clothes on."
Everyone looked worriedly at Saul, who had started mouthing at Justine again.
"No, you can't do that again, or I'll put a body bind on you as well," Justine warned him. "You can go now," she added to Kingsley.
"OK, Rules and Regulations for this years United Youth Conference are as follows. One, all people competing in events, or entering an area of competition, must be wearing passes, to prove that you are allowed to be there. This is for the protection of the competitors, as we do not want the press infiltrating back stage areas and annoying them.
"Two, every event has a set amount of points allocated as prizes, the school which has accumulated the most points at the end will hold the trophy for the next ten years, although each event is scored differently, and you will hear more about that on the day…"
Saul mimed falling to sleep, with a wide yawn, lying his head on the table. If he had been able to make sound, you would have heard some very loud snores. Kris kicked him, but got no reaction, so just shrugged and left him to it. Saul would ask later.
"Five, any school caught cheating will be immediately fined, either in points on exclusion from events … or from the remainder of the tournament, depending on the circumstances. Each school is given a complete list of times and schedules – you are all responsible for following them…"
Seven rules later and it was Kris's turn to yawn and lay his head down on the table. Every other person in the hall was paying careful attention to the Minister, sitting up straight, eyes focused, determined to hear all of the rules.
On the last rule, number twenty, only Alyson and Justine were still listening. Two of the Australians had disappeared altogether, and the rest were sleeping… or looked like they were.
"Right, that's all I have to say, I hope I wasn't too boring," Kingsley remarked.
"You weren't," Kris called out, now waking up, "time difference is starting to get at us!"
"Sleep," murmured Alyson longingly, silver eyes now half closed.
"Sleep good," Adam agreed, half opening one eye.
"Well, I have only two words left for you then," Dumbledore said happily, looking far too cheerful for Australian taste. "Eat up!"
With that, every single Aussie jumped and sat up, blinking away sleep. "Bog in!" Adam roared as the food appeared on the table.
"Severus! Come join us!" Justine called out.
To the eternal astonishment of the Hogwarts students (who never got away with even calling him Severus), the most feared teacher in the school rose and strode down to the Hufflepuff table, as Justine shooed Kris from the seat next to her, pulling it out with a bright smile at Severus.
"I'm not sure that's allow…" McGonagall started, then stopped with a sigh, seeing that for one thing Snape wasn't going to listen to her, and for another, he was smiling again. Two times in one night, when they could normally see this sight once a decade. There was something about this girl … she was making him happy – and the happiness of her colleagues was more important than the rules, in Minerva's eyes … especially in Severus Snape's case. He'd lost so much, and his constant depression was infectious.
One of the Hogwarts students slipped away from the Slytherin table and out of the hall, returning a moment later with Madame Pomfrey. "What appears to be the problem?" the nurse enquired.
"It's Snape," one of the students replied, "Look, he's enjoying himself. Something has to be wrong."
Said student was lucky that Snape was too busy laughing – properly laughing – at something that Justine had said to notice.
Madam Pomfrey shook her head and walked out again.
Justine had gone down to the Kallaix boat to fetch one of her infernal photo albums, to the disgust of her fellow students. She had an annoying habit of catching everything on film, and keeping every single newspaper clipping … thankfully she hadn't brought the one from Greg's last election … and the incident with Saul.
She was running up the front steps, photo album clutched to her chest. She pushed open the castle doors and skipping towards the hall, head down, laughing silently at some of the shots she had tucked away in here.
Draco had to get out of here. First the scene with the swords, then the stupid Australian oafs making all the noise, then Snape was smiling, his world was turning upside down.
He made for the Entrance Hall to go up to the Tower, but as he was about to pass through the door he literally ran into some idiot who was going too fast for him to avoid, and in an effort to not be knocked to the ground he couldn't catch them, watching hopelessly as someone was thrown to the ground, her head slamming into the stone floor.
He regained his balance and turned around to face the imbecile, but when he looked into her terrified green eyes he could only stare.
Justine stared up at him, eyes brimming with tears she couldn't wipe away because she seemed to have lost the ability to use her right arm. It took her a moment to realise it was bleeding, having had been grazed on the floor. Her head was pounding. Forcing her left hand to her hair, it came away with blood there too.
Everything went blank.
Kris reacted with instincts not thoughts. Running for Justine who had just passed out he heard Ax and Saul right behind him yelling for people to get the hell out of their way.
Ax got there first, drawing his sword again, he swung straight at Draco, who jumped back and scowled. Balancing himself on the balls of his feet, he drawled at Draco, "My, my how this does seem familiar. You, a bastard, abusing Justine, who yet again has done nothing to deserve your bullshit."
Draco opened his mouth to retort, but Ax saw something on his jaw line. "Hey, did I manage to mar your pretty face, bastard?" Ax demanded, the tip of his (glowing) sword tracing a tiny scar across Draco's jaw line, remembering the day he'd given it to him, in rather similar circumstances in the Gryffindor tower. "Pity it doesn't show up better … but if you don't get out of my way, it might."
He remained where he was, between Justine and Draco, as Kris lifted the Head Girl into his arms, and followed Draco with a sword tip as the Slytherin stepped out of the way.
"Come on Ax – don't waste your time on bastards like him," Jeffery spat.
"I wouldn't degrade my sword twice," Ax replied, striding down the steps with him, leaving the rest of the gathering, particularly the other schools, wondering what in the world was going on here.
He was hacking into the charmed dummy as if tomorrow might never come. Draco was glad he couldn't actually blunt his sword on this or chop it to pieces. He needed to relax.
When he was a boy, his father would lock him in the duelling room for hours on end, then come in unexpectedly and attack, saying that Draco had to be prepared and ready to predict his opponents next move. He hadn't been prepared for this. It had been like a blow to the stomach the other day just to hear Severus Snape say her name, and then just now when she looked up at him with those eyes. Damn, even now, after all she had done to him, he still couldn't look at her without wanting her. Bitch. He hacked into the charmed dummy violently.
"Well, remind me never to break up with you, I appreciate my head." Harry's voice drawled from the other side of the room. Draco turned and saw him leaning on the doorframe.
"I broke up with Her." Draco said disdainfully.
"Oh fine, remind me a) never to date you in the first place, quite apart from the fact that you're my brother, and a male, it's just a nasty thought, b) piss you off so that you might want to break up with me and c) go anywhere within five miles of you for the rest of my life, should the rest of that somehow happen."
Draco laughed, and sheathed his sword. "I'm glad I've got you for a brother, Harry," he said quietly, "After all, I might have ended up with Weasley, or worse yet, Longbottom."
Harry laughed, "Oh, get over that already."
"But I don't want to."
Yay its another thankyou session with the incomperably crazy little aussie princess, MEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Thankyou so much to goDDarknes, you rock with your reveiws, and now that christmas is over we will be updating alot faster... The OC'edness will balance out a lot more as they begin to integrate, and it is Tegan who is the ware wolf, Alyson is an Animagus, a Unicorn in fact. Ahhhh, my bracelet, nice to know someone remembered it...
Alaranth-88 - Thanks for reviewing! We're in northern NSW. Hey at least with another Aussie you'll understand the schoolyear timing!!!
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