Here it is. My first chapter of Alternative. Hope you like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm excited to finally utilize Arien as a character. :)

Hogwarts Rumble Alternative, Chapter 1: Enter Arien.

It was a relatively overcast day, not out of the ordinary for Britain. Much in line with the rather dreary weather, the house of the pureblood Carstair family stood out greatly from the surrounding forest, the clearing for the yard further enhancing the dichotomy of the property. The building itself was structured like a typical wizarding household. Somewhat dated in external appearance, but still functional at the core. It was made of Victorian era bricks, signaling the family home was not a new building by any means. It had a multitude of windows on the front, with one large window on the left corner of the house, one smaller window on the right, and 3 average sized ones on the second floor. The roof was made of sturdy tile, which was faded from years of exposure to the sun. All in all, the building had character, much like the Carstair family at large. They were a line of moderately successful individuals, typically taking part in dueling circuits and law professions, be they auror or lawyers. Most recently, was Nihilus Carstair, the current head of the family. Retired auror and best friend/former partner to Alastor Moody, he possessed every bit of eccentricity you would expect from someone as paranoid as the former number one auror. While Moody shouted 'Constant Vigilance', Nihilus would should 'SITUATIONAL AWARENESS' before setting off semi-harmless traps on those under his command. All in all, he'd only lost 3 aurors out of 40 under his command, so he considered his methods effective. Much to his consternation, his methods did not seem to effect his slacker of a son, Arien. Speaking of the two, we find them lounging in the family sitting room, with Nihilus sitting in his favorite chair, hands steepled in front of his face, eyes locked on his son's lazing form on the couch. Arien was currently listening to the family radio, taking in a muggle broadcast of some sport called "football", quietly listening as two teams called Arsenal and Manchester United duked it out for some title or another. Nihilus did not consider himself a pureblood elitist, but he was not that interested in muggle culture. Personally, he found the idea of Quidditch much more cultured than this...football. Hell, he had taken steps to ensure Arien would eventually be able to attempt playing professionally, or at least he hoped, given the numerous pricey lessons with those fancy chaser coaches. Considering Arien had scored the most individual goals the last 3 years for the school, though he fell short of the Gryffindor "Flying Foxes" trio, he was still being observed by at least three Quidditch clubs. Not that Arien seemed to care, at least from Nihilus' observations. It was actually why he'd gotten box seat tickets to the World Cup Final with one of his foreign colleagues. Maybe seeing the noble sport played on such a level would motivate his perpetually lazy son into action.

Nihilus took a glance once more at his son, before finally deciding to get Arien's attention.

"Son." He started simply, using his somewhat intimidating presence to make himself known. "Have you packed up your things for the trip?" This prompted Arien to twitch, but didn't immediately say anything. Nihilus was about to speak again when Arien raised a hand in a "a moment" gesture. This prompted a sigh from the grizzled retired auror, though he acquiesced nonetheless. A few moments later, Arien jumped to his feat in triumph, his team apparently winning off a penalty. When he realized what he had done, Arien sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Are you done?" Nihilus asked, amused at his son's enthusiasm, even if he didn't fully understand the big deal of muggle sportsball. "As I asked before, have you packed your things for the Final, son?"

Arien shook his head negatively. "No, pops. I haven't. We still have like 3 hours before the portkey activates, and I can just use my magic to pack my crap in a few minutes, so I've been procrastinating."

"You need discipline, son. Back in my day..." Nihilus took amusement in the visible signs of Arien tuning him out, which lead him to start saying rather silly things. "We had dark lords who wore pillow cases like house elves, dancing cats, an enthusiastic animal enthusiast and we LIKED IT!" He raised his voice at the end just to mess with his son, taking great enjoyment in watching Arien jump about four feet in the air. "Now pack your things. Since you seem so hellbent on being lazy, I think it's time we do another...training session, before we meet up with the Zabinis." Nihilus chuckled darkly. He always enjoyed turning Arien into a testing dummy for his old skills. One day, Arien would appreciate his madness. One day.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

5 hours later...

Arien found himself wandering around the stadium ground aimlessly, taking in the giant stadium in relation to the myriad of tents and vendor stalls that had cropped up over the grounds. He was not really sure how to feel about the fact he was here. Sure, he liked quidditch since it was the closest he'd get to playing muggle football, but he honestly found watching teams he had no vested interest in to be a boring experience. The only saving grace for the whole experience was the skill of Ireland's chasers. Arien was sure he could find something useful from them. They were pros after all. He pulled out his wand to check the time, as he'd left his watch at home to avoid potential theft. The tempus told him he had about 30 minutes before the game started. He was about to move towards the stadium when a haughty voice caught his attention.

"Arien Carstair. One of the only uncouth individuals I've deemed worthy of my presence." A sily and sophisticated voice said to him, causing Arien to turn around. A lazy grin appeared on his face as he found himself staring at his best friend Blaise Zabini. The tall and aristocratic looking boy was a tan boy of Italian descent, his face always the picture of composure and cool. His black hair was combed perfectly, and not so much as a single hair was out of place. His friend was dressed in typically 'Blaise' style, meaning expensive everything. He had been slightly less pompous since he started dating Tracey Davis, however, so Arien was grateful for that. Blaise was basically his brother, but he could still be a bit much sometimes.

Arien shook his head, before clapping his best friend on the shoulder. "Blaise Zabini. I should have realized it was you, given the smell of Armani cologne and hair spray." Blaise merely quirked an eyebrow as if to say 'I fail to see that as an insult'. The tan boy glanced around at the 'rabble surrounding them, before sneering a bit.

"Let us move from this crowd, Arien. I don't want mediocrity to rub on me." Blaise spokely cooly, though his words lacked venom. He was a product of his upbringing, and while Arien had grounded his best friend significantly, Blaise was still prone to making thoughtless statements of like that from time to time. His mother had a history of choosing bad men, and his uncles had a habit of making those men...disappear. Though, she had recently begun dating Professor Snape, so many the bat would be less...broody now.

"Hello? Arien?" Blaise was snapping fingers in front of his eyes, trying to get his attention. "Why the hell did you space out like that?"

Arien just threw up a wry grin. "I was thinking how funny it is that Snape is dating your mom. You call him Dad yet?" This prompted a round of hexes from Blaise, which Arien just avoided.

It was sure to be an interesting evening, that was guaranteed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arien and Blaise had arrived at their seats with only about 40 seconds to spare before the opening ceremonies started. They had gotten sidetracked by insulting Malfoy, which inevitably became a contest between Blaise and himself over who could be the most scathing towards the git. So they'd had to sprint up the winding staircases of the stadium up to their designated booth. When they arrived, they found they were the last to arrive, as they'd expected. Inside the booth was the motley crew of Arien's father, Ms. Zabini and Snape, and the French DMLE head Sebastian Delacour, along with his family. Much to his annoyance, he realized three of the four female occupants were veela, meaning he was going to have a bitch of a head ache by the end of the day from the strain on his Occlumency shields. He didn't look down on veela or anything, he just hated how they gave him headaches. Well that, and how arrogant they typically were. Given how the older daughter was looking down on him already, he could already tell she was going to be delightlful company. Shaking his head, he and Blaise made their way over to his father, who was currently leaning over the rails next to Sebastian and Severus, with each man holding a glass of firewhiskey.

"Heya, pops. What'd we miss?" This prompted a sigh from his father, who then turned his attention back to the other two adult males in the room.

"Sebastian, allow me to introduce my idiot son Arien and his friend Blaise Zabini. As you can see, punctuality is not one of their many virtues." He said while rubbing the salt and pepper colored stubble he'd cultivated over the past few days. The Frenchman nodded with a wry grin on his face, before extending a hand to Arien, and then one to Blaise.

"Ah, greetings, young ones." He spoke impeccable English, likely a side effect of working with English authorities over the last two decades to catch Death Eaters. He was a rather normal looking man for an auror, lacking the usual scars most veteran aurors had. This mean he was either a pen pusher...or very, very good at his job. Arien concluded it was the latter, based on the respect his father showed the man. His father was not the most tactful towards individuals who only cared for political aspirations.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Delacour." Arien spoke cooly, knowing when to give respect when it was due. "My father has said nothing but kind things about you. Which is out of character, seeing as he usually insults everyone in sight." This prompted a sigh from his father, and what sounded like a snort from the Potions master.

"Ah, I was wondering if your wit was family trait. I see the apple does not fall far from the tree, Nihilus." Sebastien replied with a laugh, before he beckoned his wife and daughters over for introductions. "May I introduce my wife Appoline along with my daughters Fleur and Gabrielle."

Appoline and Fleur were beautiful, as veela often were, and could easily pass as sisters over mother and child. Appoline had a regal air to her, and long silver hair than ran to the middle of her back, though her eyes had that sort of kindness that only mothers could have.

"Eet iz a pleazure to make your acquaintance, young Arien." Appoline spoke warmly, though her English not quite as good as her husbands. Arien took her hand, and brushed his lips to her knuckles, as was pureblood custom in his family.

"Enchante, Madame Delacour." Arien replied evenly, promptly an impressed look and a raised eyebrow from Appoline.

"My, quite ze charmer, izn't he?" She spoke to her husband, before her voice took on a teasing quality. " 'E must be quite popular with ze ladies, at 'Ogwarts."

Arien merely brushed aside her comments. "Not at all, I was just trained in how to treat a lady." He then knelt down to look the youngest Delacour in the eyes. "And who might you be little one? And why...do you have such dirty ears?" He said before he pulled a galleon out from behind her ear, prompting a wide eye expression from the young girl, and an unimpressed gaze from the elder sibling. He was always amused by how easily magical children were impressed by sleight of hand tricks when they literally lived around the spectacular everyday.

"Maman! 'Ow did 'e do zat?!" Gabrielle's excited voice asked with childlike wonder. Arien smiled at the enthusiasm, before leaning in conspiratorily.

"Magic." He whispered "But you can't tell anyone okay? Especially not your surly looking sister." Gabrielle nodded emphatically, while Fleur just huffed in annoyance. Patting the younger girl on the head, before rising back to his feet, he subtly slipped his wand into his left hand, preparing to go for the kill.

"And for you, Ms. Delacour." A subtle flick of the wand and a hand flourish later, Arien had produced a flower in his right hand, startling the older girl. "A pretty flower for the lovely lady." She eyed him suspiciously, before tentatively accepting the flower. Arien nodded to her, before excusing himself, and headed over to talk to Blaise. Arien didn't notice, but Fleur kept her eyes on him, trying to figure out the odd boy.

Blaise just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You are so bloody lame, though the part with the little one was rather endearing." Blaise spoke sarcastically, enjoying the ammunition with which to rib his friend with. "At any rate, you did an effective job at killing time before the actual game started. I was getting bored of these stupid opening ceremonies."

Arien was about to reply, when he felt a tug on his robes. He glanced down to see the wide, puppy like eyes of Gabrielle Delacour staring up at him.

"Can I zit over 'ere with you?" She asked in a small voice, clearly very shy about talking to new people. Arien merely patted the girl on the head and nodded, which caused her to beam up at him, and her to look expectantly at Blaise. There was a moment of where they were staring at each other, Blaise's disinterested grey meeting Gabby's innocent blue ones. After a few minutes, Blaise began to sweat slightly, before he coughed awkward, and patted the small girl on the head as well, and moved over enough to make room for the small girl to join them. Arien heard a light snort from Fleur, who was standing a few feet away from them, leaning on the railing, mask of indifference still in place. Her steely blue eyes were flitting about while she took in the game, her silver hair moving slightly in the wind from being up so high. Occasionally, her face would shift to annoyance whenever the Bulgarian Veela would bat their eyes at the referees and the crowd. At some point, she noticed Arien looking at her, before she shifted into a slightly defensive stance.

"Why are you ztaring at me?" Her voice was demanding, like she expected him to drool over her or something.

"I was just curious why you keep looking annoyed at the veela." Arien stated curiously, not trying to offend the older girl. Her brow furrowed a bit, as if trying to figure out how to put it into English.

"Zose veela are very typical. Zey bat zeir eyes at ze men, and enjoy being fawned over. Eet iz annoying." She stated neutrally, before brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hm, I can see how that would be annoying. I wouldn't like it either if someone reduced my people down to their stereotypes and exploited that."

She glanced at him a moment, clearly surprised by his response.

"You mean you are not effected by zeir allure?"

"No, it mostly just gives me a headache from the strain on my occlumency shields. They're not trying to reign in their allure at all, and it's really annoying. It's why I avoid veela." He stated blandly, both annoyed at the blatant attempt by the Bulgarians to tilt the odds in their favor and the fact his head was going to hurt like a bitch for the remainder of the evening. She took on a slightly offended look at that.

"Zo you are prejudiced against Veela?"

"No. I just find the attempts at seduction by the less...reserved tribes annoying, and the fact they give me headaches doesn't help either."

She took on a look of disbelief. "You mean to tell me zat you feel nothing for ze beautiful women?"

"Beauty without substance is meaningless." Whatever Fleur had expected him to say, it clearly hadn't been that. They didn't speak again for some time, roughly an hour, though he did entertain Gabby when she wanted his attention. The little girl apparently liked him, which was fine with Arien. She was sweet, and gave off sister vibes. Fleur observed this, and decided to test this boy beside her. She subtly focused her allure on him, using as much as she could while still being subtle. He stiffened immediately, before he began to rub his temples and glared at her angrily. He said nothing, however, and turned his focus back on the game. Fleur was in shock, because she'd yet to find anyone who wasn't affected by her allure. Even the boys at Beauxbatons trained in occlumency struggled to control themselves, much to her annoyance. This Arien Carstair intrigued her. Perhaps she could glean information about him from his father...

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The game had ended hours ago, and yet the atmosphere was so different from how it had been. Screams, smoke, and fire were everywhere, and Fleur was terrified. The men in silver masks were chasing her, and she wasn't sure she could fight them all off and protect Gabby at the same time. She had gotten separated from her parents in the confusion, and she honestly thought this might be it for her, but she would be damned if they touched a hair on Gabby's head. Taking a look around her, she realized she had lead them into the forest. That was good, to a degree, since that gave her a lot to burn with her fire magic. She kissed the top of Gabby's head, before placing the small girl on the ground. Gabby looked at her sister, eyes wide in terror.

"Fleur? What are you doing?" Gabby asked in French, too terrified to realize she'd switched back to her native tongue.

"It's okay, little sister. I want you to close your eyes and hum Maman's lullaby to yourself. It will okay soon. I will protect you, but you mustn't open your eyes, okay?" Gabby nodded, and did as she was told. Knowing her sister wouldn't have to witness her battle, she rose to her feet, and shifted into a defensive stance, wand in hand. She was exceptionally talented, but there were five of them against her. She gulped, and hoped they didn't intend what she thought they did. However, just before the first one moved to engage her, there were two aangry yells, and identical spells called out she didn't recognize.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" The first masked man staggered a few feet, before he collapsed in a heap, his a deep cut running from his back. A second man fell over as well, and she wasn't sure if they were dead or not. Seeing she now had back up, Fleur leaped into action and began to engage the last three men on her own, her wand a blur of motion and her actions poetry in motion, a furious storm disguised as a gentle breeze. Fleur Delacour was a force to be reckoned with, as they would soon find out.

Xxxxxxxx

As soon as the last man fell, Fleur dropped to her knee, feeling the drain of the magic she had used. She had not ever had to fight that hard in her life, and despite her skill, she was glad the two figures who had come to her aid were there as a precaution. She glanced over at them, one of them walking to check on her. She recognized the one approaching her as the Zabini boy from earlier, meaning the other figure was probably Arien. She glanced over at the other figure, who was knelt down and handing something to Gabby. She realized when Gabby latched onto him that he had given her chocolate, and had hugged the girl to reassure her. Blaise examined her briefly enough to assess her condition before he move to secure the perimeter. Arien stood up, and led Gabby over to her.

"You fight well." It was a simple statement, but it was filled with a large amount of respect. Despite that she could not help but snort in derision.

"Did you expect me to merely be a pretty face and no substance?" She felt bad for throwing his own words back at him, especially since he had helped her, but they slipped out before she could stop them. She was so used to being seen as nothing but a pretty face that it was a defense mechanism.

"No, I- nevermind. Blaise, keep an eye on them. I'll keep watch. But first." He pointed his wand at her head, but before she could react, the spell left his lips. "Sanae!" The gentle blue light left his wand, and touched her head, feeling a like stinging sensation before it faded. She idly reached her hand up to where he'd pointed, find it was wet with blood. She hadn't even realized she had been injured. Before she could apologize or thank him, he was gone, replaced by his Italian friend.

"He specifically went looking for you two, I hope you realize that." Blaise's words were spoken in an offhanded manner, but he had clearly made sure they were audible to her. "He as soon as he saw the first Death Eater that muggleborn and halflings like you would be targeted the worst."

Fleur opened her mouth to speak but Blaise raised a hand to cut her off.

"I just wanted you to know that. Even though you pissed him off royally, he still decided we needed to make sure you and Gabby were safe. I hope you'll bear that in mind before you try something like that on my best friend again." Blaise spoke with a quiet intensity that was out of character for the usually haughty boy. He removed his coat, and placed it around Gabby's shoulders. "Though, not likely you'll see each other again after tonight." For some reason, that notion made Fleur uncomfortable, though she couldn't immediately identify why. She was going to ask Blaise why Arien had gone looking for them, but was unable to because Arien had comeback from his patrol.

"Blase, did you check them for other injuries?" He asked robotically, seeming to be on autopilot.

"I did, but you're the one with the mediwizard interest, not me." He paused a moment to grin at his friend. "You know I'm better at spells that take lives, not save them." Arien rolled his eyes, but didn't respond. He paused, to take in the surrounding noises.

"It sounds like the fighting has died down. I'm going to send up some sparks so we can get some help." When no one objected, he raised his wand to the sky, and sent up red sparks to illuminate their position. "Okay, help should be on the way. Fleur, if you can still fight, take up watching the north. Between the three of us, we can form a protective triangle around Gabby until help gets here. It's probably not necessary, but it never hurts to be careful." Seeing them both nod, they moved into position.

Xxxxxxxxx

Fleur sat at the window of her room at Delacour Mansion. She idly let her thoughts drift back to the odd boy named Arien. He was hard to get a grasp on, and the fact he had ignored her entirely after they had reunited with their parents hurt her feelings. She had wanted to apologize for stunt with the allure, but she never got the chance to. In fact, Arien hadn't appeared well when they'd parted, though Blaise had appeared to know what was going on, seemingly in a hushed argument with the boy who had helped protect her sister. Fleur shook her head, she told herself that she could, and should write a letter to him, but whenever she asked her mother for advice, Appoline's eyes would merely sparkle, before saying "I think you'll get your chance to thank him sooner than you think."

Whatever that meant, it wasn't helpful, at least in context of alleviating her immediate sense of gratitude towards the younger boy. Fleur sighed, and hoped she'd be able to remove this distraction before full got into full swing.

Xxxxxxxxx

To be continued...

So I was going to put the entire of year four from their perspective in here, but I realized I wanted to be a lot more detailed with this section, because it gives insight as to who Arien is as a character. As for what was bothering him at the end, it is something for you to figure out, at least until I write the next chapter which explains it LOL. I hope you at least find him mildy interesting, and don't worry, Haphne goodness will return in two chapters:)

Raizen out.