A/N: YAY! Got it done :D And as it's my Birthday today, I demand each and every one of you reviews! Lol kidding, I love you guy's :P Anyway! I'm glad to have finished this (although some how it still came out short even though this morning I had 12 pages done... ) it's not very exciting though, I gotta warn you XD I'm not going to go through every class or anything (cause that's WAY to tedious) but you will see lunch because that's important lol. Not much to say, except thank you as usual for all the reviews! And I've decided (as I Finally got Final cut 3) when I get to 250 reviews, I'll make something special for you guy's :3 I don't normally like stuff like that, but I think you guy's deserve it, and I'd really love to make a video pertaining to this fic haha XD Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D
Onward!
O ~ O ~ O
Alfred stared, stone struck, at the cheery blonde standing at the other edge of the room. Was it really Laura? It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. Laura wasn't a student!
"Today, we're discussing last weeks team challenge." The girl who looked like Laura chirped, picking a paper up off her desk.
"Particularly, what the freshman thought of their first challenge of the year. But first, I'd like to make the announcements for the week, if that's alright Mr. Lewis." Their teacher nodded encouragingly and she continued.
"The Brokebeck house is leading this week-" cheers from a couple of the students cut her off, and Alfred watched as a trio not far from where they sat stood up and high fived each other. The girl smiled and waited for them to cease their celebrating before turning back to paper. "And we congratulate them for their victory in last weeks challenge. In second is Ensenzia, and third, the Republic house. Well done to all of our teams."
The students clapped, some more enthusiastically then others, until she held up her hand for silence. "In other news, the academy is proud to welcome four new teams this year. One of which, has replaced the former Script team. The other three are completely new additions to the academy, and it is the headmaster's hope that we welcome these new teams with open arms. If there are any members of these four teams in the room, please stand."
Alfred flicked his gaze over to Arthur, who was looking at Laura as if she had just turned into an alien. "We're new.' He declared, pushing himself out of his desk and signaling for Arthur to do the same. The Briton jumped quickly to his feet, emerald eyes wide as if he'd just been snapped out of a daze. Laura gave them a warm smile and nodded.
"Thank you, Alfred and Arthur. Does anyone have any questions for the two newbie's?"
Newbie's? Alfred felt his mouth twitch down into a frown at the derogative term. Ok so they were newbie's, but she didn't need to make it more obvious then it already was!
"What's you're team name?" A brunette boy piped up. "I mean, assuming you two are on the same team. Are you in the Script house?"
"No we're-"
"No." Arthur cut him off. "We are not part of the Script house. We're one of the new groups."
"Cool!" One of the girls exclaimed. The room murmured in agreement and Alfred felt the blood rush to his cheeks. Was being a new team such a big deal?
"So, what's your name?" The same boy asked again. "You guy's don't have your emblems yet so it's the only way to distinguish between teams until you get them."
"Oh that." Alfred laughed, speaking up before Arthur had a chance. "Our house name is Imperaturi."
"Ahhh that's Latin is it not?" Mr. Lewis smiled. "I took Latin in college. Although don't believe that I know that word."
"One of our cabin mates is Italian. Well actually two of them are, and their grandfather taught them some Latin so they came up with it. Translating it to Latin I mean. The name was a group idea." Alfred replied, mind flashing to Feliciano and Romano. The taller brother hadn't really lent a hand in the naming, but it would have made Romano happy to know he was being included with his brother.
"Seriously?" A girl with ebony hair gaped. "You have two Italian kids in your cabin? How did you all manage to get so many foreigners?"
"Oh that's not the half of it." Alfred laughed proudly. "We have two Italians, an American, that's me, two Germans, a Canadian, a Dane, a kid from Norway, another one from Sweden, one from Finland, and then there's a guy from France, a Spaniard, a Russian, a Chinese kid, another boy from Japan, a girl from Hungary, a guy from Austria, and then this guy," He said, jabbing his finger towards Arthur. "Who's a Brit. He's the only one in our group. Basically, we're all foreigners."
"That's awesome!" One of the students cried. "What are you guy's, the international team or something?"
"Exactly." Arthur breathed from beside him. "That's precisely what we are."
"Well," Mr. Lewis chuckled, clapping loudly over the chatter. "We certainly have an interesting new team this year now don't we? I hope to meet all of your team mate's, and wish you all the best of luck."
"Thank you sir." Arthur responded respectfully. "We will relay the message."
"Now then," Mr. Lewis called. "Will that be all Laura?" The blond girl nodded, setting her papers back on the table.
"Just one more thing. Because of the arrival of these new teams, you all will be seeing three new tables in the lunch hall today. The headmaster asks that you all wait to greet our newcomers until their whole team has settled and found their spot so as to avoid confusion. That is all, sir."
"Thank you my dear." He boomed. "Alright, homeroom ends in ten minutes, so why don't the lot of you get to talking about last weeks challenge? Laura, would you talk with our newcomers?"
"Certainly Mr. Lewis."
Alfred felt his heart leap in anticipation, glancing over at the smiling girl again. Hopefully, they'd get an explanation out of her. Mr. Lewis nodded and waved his hands dismissively, to which the class began chattering loudly amongst themselves. Alfred watched as Laura rounded the large stone walled classroom toward them, slowly taking a seat in front of them and turning around.
"Laura! What are you-"
"Doing here?" She laughed, smiling brightly. "I suppose my presence would raise some questions wouldn't it? I'm sorry I didn't really explain it to you yesterday. I wasn't really thinking right..."
"So explain it now." Alfred cut in eagerly. Arthur punched him in the shoulder, most likely for interrupting her, but at this point Alfred was to excited to care.
"Well, you see, even though I said I was your counselor for the year... that's not quite right..."
"Clearly." Arthur sighed. "We saw that when that awful lady appeared this morning saying she was our counselor instead of you."
"Ah you mean Ms Pecket." She giggled, covering her mouth. "Yes, you see, to be honest, I sort of lied to you all. I'm actually a teacher's assistant. Well, to be more specifically, I aid the counselors with whatever they need done. I'm going to university next year to study Psychology, and I've always wanted to be a counselor, so they agreed to let me shadow them in order to get a better feel for the job."
"You're a senior?" Alfred gaped, staring at her. She nodded.
"That's right. Anyway, Ms Pecket was supposed to come up to your cabin with me that day, but something came up and she sent me by myself. I guess I just got so excited that I forgot to mention that she was your real counselor and just kind of stepped into the role. I was going to tell you as I was leaving, I swear! But I had realized that I'd forgotten to do something for one of the teachers I help, and I completely disregarded telling you all the truth... I was going to tell you today when we both came up to your cabin, but something happened and ahaha she sort of fired me. Well not fired because I wasn't getting paid or anything, but she doesn't want me for an assistant any more..." She sighed, smiling in embarrassment and scratching her head. "I'm really sorry about all the confusion... but I'm glad you two are in my homeroom! Can you please tell the others what happened?"
"I don't know if they'd believe us." Arthur smiled wryly, spinning his silver studs around slowly in his ear. "But we will certainly tell them what you've told us."
"So you're not mad?" She breathed happily.
"Of course not!" Alfred grinned. "It was an honest mistake, you know? Besides, what kind of hero would I be if I didn't forgive something like that?"
"Hero?" She chuckled, arching her eyebrows in amusement.
"Ignore him." Arthur muttered. "He's not really all there..."
"Who asked you?" Alfred snapped defensively, folding his arms in front of his chest. How did he do that? He acted like such a perfect little boy in front of Mr. Lewis, and yet here he was being a smart ass again as soon as the teacher wasn't looking.
"No one. Do I need an invitation to say what I want?" Arthur shot back.
"I'd like it if you had one, yes." Alfred growled, gritting his teeth.
"Guys hey come on." Laura intervened. "You're on the same team, can't you get along?"
"Tell that to him." The responded in unison. Alfred shot him an annoyed glare, but brushed off the pissed off feeling in his gut and turned back to Laura.
"Anyway, what house are you?" He asked curiously, examining her black armband.
"I'm in Republic." She replied proudly, showing off the white eagle on the cloth of her band. "We're in third overall. It doesn't mean anything to me if my house get's selected to go to international, cause I'm going to university next year, but it would be great for our underclassmen if we got chosen." She laughed.
"So your group took in new kids this year?" Arthur inquired.
"Yea. It's pretty rare now a day's to see a house that doesn't. Everyone wants their houses legacy to live on." She chuckled. "Although I understand somewhat why there are still teams who don't take new members."
"Why wouldn't they?" Alfred asked incredulously. "Doesn't it make the team stronger?"
"True." She agreed. "It's just... after a year with the same people? You form a bond, and unbreakable bond that you don't want any one to be a part of. We had seniors in my group freshman year, and I'll tell you, it was the hardest thing I've ever done, watching them go. And it was hard, taking newbie's the next year."
"I suppose I understand why it would be hard saying goodbye to a friend." Arthur agreed. "Although I'm not sure I'm certain about the whole unbreakable bond bit. Even so, what does bringing in underclassmen have to do with the seniors leaving?"
"Because no one wants to feel like they're replacing the members who have moved on." She replied matter-o-factly. "Which is why I get why some houses choose to just let their houses graduate peacefully without taking on new members. It happened a lot more towards the beginning of the school, so new teams came in more often. That's why it's such a fuss when the academy gets whole new teams. Anyway, back to the maine subject. It hurts at first, to think that some random kid will be filling the spot that your precious teammate held. And some teams form such strong bonds that they can't bear to replace them, although I for one am glad our team did."
"You are?" Alfred gaped. "Even after how much they meant to you?"
She nodded, smiling gently. "It's odd, because at first it does feel like replacing, but then you realize that you're giving these kids the chance to experience what you did. And it makes you feel pretty good. That's why I really hope we can come out on top this year, so our new kids can go right up to the international academy. Say, do you two have anyone in your group that's not a freshmen?"
"Gilbert, a sophomore." Alfred answered automatically. "He told us all when we first met him that he was a year older and he constantly harps on it. His younger brother Ludwig is in the group too. He's a freshman, like us. I think Romano too..."
"He's not older you git." Arthur scoffed, rolling his eyes. "He and Feliciano are twins."
"Oh yea, did you ask them?" Alfred shot back.
"Actually I did."
"Liar."
"Guy's!" Laura cut in again. "Goodness, have you two been at it like this since Saturday?"
"Constantly." Alfred drawled, glaring at Arthur.
"Well knock it off." She chuckled. "Fighting will get you no where."
"Tell him that." They grumbled in unison.
"Stop repeating me!" Arthur hissed.
"Then you stop repeating-" His comeback was drowned out by the sudden chiming of a bell and the sound of chairs squeaking across the floor.
"Well that's the bell for first!" Laura laughed, smiling brightly. "Why don't you two get your schedules from Mr. Lewis, and I'll help you to your first class?" They nodded in agreement, and walked towards the front of the room, refusing to look at each other.
"I thought you two would be needing these." Their teacher grinned knowingly, handing them both a slip of paper. " As well as these..." Reaching behind his desk, he pulled out two brown leather bags and handed them to them. " Your bags." He laughed. "If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. My door is always open."
"Thanks, we'll remember that." Alfred responded, giving him a wave. "See ya Mr. Lewis!"
"Goodbye you two!" He called as Laura ushered them out the door. "Don't get into to much trouble!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alfred grumbled as the door closed behind them.
"Oh don't mind him, he say's that to all the first years." Laura laughed. "Oh, watch it!" Grabbing onto Alfred's bag strap, she yanked him backwards.
"Hey what was that for?" He cried, rubbing his shoulder. She pointed down the hall at a student with a large stack of books in her hands.
"She didn't see you." Laura chuckled. "You would have gotten run over." Alfred blanched at the thought of getting hit by a stack of books that big. Not only would his arm be hurt, but his head broken.
"I'm surprised how full the halls are." Arthur commented as hoards of students pushed past them. "I would have figured there wouldn't be that many students here. On top of that, the school is so huge..."
"Oh it's big, but there are a lot of sections not in use." Laura stated, leaning against the wall as she waited for the crowds to thin. "For example, the east wing on the 8th floor is totally off limits. And their doing construction on most of the north side, you know the one against the mountain? There are still classes there and everything, but the rest of it is pretty much out of commission for now. When they finish working on it, I'll take you guys up there. It's crazy pretty. Oh! And you totally want to go to the 10th floor observatory in the west wing. The view of the lake from there is stunning."
"Laura, what are you doing here?" An impatient voice inquired over the noise. Alfred looked over to see a tall boy standing beside the petite blonde, arms cross and mouth turned down into a disapproving scowl. The boy, (at least a good six inches taller then himself) had messy crop of ash blond hair that framed his face in a disheveled manner, as if he'd forgotten to brush it that morning (much like a certain Briton he knew).
His hazel green eyes glared intently at he and Arthur, as if he was trying to decide weather to ignore them or pick them up and kick punt them down the hallway. Alfred was preying it wouldn't be the latter. Besides his obviously annoyed expression, Alfred's eye's were drawn to the long blue and white scarf that he had wrapped around his neck, much like the tan one that Ivan had been wearing since they'd met (he'd refused to take it off, even for school). Was it really ok to wear things over the uniform? If that's the case, I wouldn't mind wearing my bomber jacket instead of this stupid blazer. He thought longingly.
Of course, Gilbert had made no attempt to conceal his disgust with the uniform, and had spent a good five minutes arguing with Ms. Pecket about wearing his red jacket instead of the blue blazer until she finally gave up and let him do what he wanted, resulting in the brash German showing up to school in a dark red t-shirt (granted he wore the dress shirt over it, but the top three buttons were left open, exposing the boy's disregard for the dress code) and said red jacket. Not to mention he was still proudly displaying the iron cross that had been swinging from his neck since Saturday. While he'd been waiting around on Sunday night, he'd skimmed the school rules that were posted on the door, and large jewelry was definitely not allowed, for boys or girls. Even so, he'd been reluctant to take his dog tags off, and had quickly stuffed them into his shirt before the counselor saw them.
"Oh hi Lars." Laura chirped brightly, snapping him from his thoughts. "This is Alfred and Arthur, their freshmen, so I was going to show them to their next class."
"We're going to be late for Statistics." He pressed impatiently, frowning at them. "I don't want any tardies on our record, not when our team is doing so well."
"Yea yea I'm coming, I'm coming." She insisted, shoving him gently. "Just give me a minute. Tell Mr. Parks, I'm sure he'll understand."
"Absolutely not." He snorted. "I'm not a messenger boy. Besides, why are you wasting your time on these freshmen from another house?"
"Hey, the freshmen from another house are standing right here and can hear you." Alfred grumbled. The other boy ignored him, keeping his gaze locked firmly on Laura.
"Laura we're going to get in trouble."
"You worry to much."
"You worry to little."
"Alfred!"Huh? Alfred turned his attention away from the bickering pair to see Matthew and Soren waving to him over the crowds, accompanied by one sour looking Frenchman.
"I can't believe we ran into you!" Matthew smiled, running up to him. "What do you have next? Soren's heading up to AP chem right now. I've got advanced English." He said proudly. "I don't know why they put me in it, but I'm glad they did. It's better then being in an advanced math..."
"Laura?" Soren cut in, gazing in bewilderment at the still arguing girl. She jumped in surprise, diverting her attention from the blond boy and smiled.
"Oh hey Soren! Hi Matthew, and Francis too! Alfred, Arthur would you two be dears and explain everything to them?"
"What's going on?" Soren asked in disbelief, still gawking at her.
"I told you they'd explain." She replied. "By the way, that uniform oddly suites you Soren." She chuckled. "You're so tall I would have thought that- waaaoh!" She cried as the other boy tugged on her arm.
"If you have time to sit around giving compliments to first years, you have time to come to class with me." He snapped irritably, pulling her away.
"Sorry guys! I'll see you later!" she called. "Good luck finding your classes!" Alfred watched as she turned back to the ash blond and waved her finger in front of his face, catching something about him being rude and that she was going to keep calling him Lars mars if he didn't improve his attitude. And then they disappeared around the corner, and out of sight.
"Well that was interesting." Arthur muttered from beside him. "Anyone care to tell me how long we have to get to class?"
"Passing periods are ten minutes, because the school is so big. I'd say we have about five minutes left." Matthew offered.
"How was homeroom?" Francis asked, casting them an obnoxiously knowing smile that made Alfred want to knock it off his face.
"Miserable." Arthur snapped, not even having the decency to look at him. "But at least Laura was there."
"Ah yes, you two are going to explain that, non?" Francis inquired.
"Let him explain it to you." Alfred snapped at the French boy.
"Alfred." Matthew warned softly. "That... confusing issue aside, have you looked at your schedule?"
"No." He sighed, opening the paper. Honestly, the last thing he wanted to do was go to class. "AP bio, English studies, British history, Calculus, music theory, theatre, PE, and..." He frowned studying the sheet. "Criminology. What the heck kind of class is that?"
"You're in Calculus?" Soren gaped, snatching the scheduel from his hands. "Dude, that's a junior course. A senior one in normal high schools." He pointed out, clearly impressed at his friends feat. Alfred shrugged dismissively. He'd always been good at math and science. They were his strong suites. He didn't even have to pay attention in class to get perfect grades in those two. English and history... now that's where the problem lay. He just didn't see the point. Why should he have to take English? He spoke the language for fucks sake. He didn't need to know about prefixes and suffixes and homophones and whatever the heck else there was.
Nor did he care for hidden meanings and references in literature. How again, did it impact his life that the pigs in animal farm represented Hitler and Stalin in WWII? Seriously, it was stupid. Analyzing literature looking for things that the author may or may not have been connecting too, it was a waste of time. So was history class. What did he care how the Roman Empire fell? It was in the past, and this was the future. It was different. They should be looking ahead, not behind them.
Language. That was another thing he'd never been so hot at. He liked listening to people speak other languages. It was actually kind of neat. But when it came to himself, he could never get it. Five years of Spanish class had left him with nothing but how to say hello and how are you doing, and he was just fine with it that way. Besides, who would want to listen to HIM speak Spanish? He'd probably be bludgeoned to death if he actually went to Spain and tried. So he was grateful for the lack of foreign language class on his schedule.
"That's great Al." Matthew admitted, looking over his paper. "I'm only in Geometry."
"I'm in Algebra!" Soren whined. "I mean seriously, Algebra? How lame..."
"I told you you should have study more in math." Matthew laughed knowingly.
"Oh shut up." Soren grumbled. "Anyway, we've both got music history so we should have at least one class together. I got woodshop though, not theatre. But I've got PE and so does Matty, so hopefully we have it at the same time... I'm not sure WHAT that criminology thing is though. They put me in a weird class too, although not the same. Look." He said, motioning to his schedule. "Sparring? Who the heck has sparring as an actual class? I'm seriously tempted to write that essay..."
"Hey, I'm a boy and they put me in home ec!" Matthew complained. "Why would they do that? That's a girl's class! I mean really, it's rather insulting."
"You really do need a haircut." Alfred teased, rubbing the top of his friend's head.
"I would say it's fine as it is." Francis commented. "There's nothing wrong with long hair."
"Thankyouverymuch." Matthew murmured, words tumbling out of his mouth in rapid succession, as he shuffled on his feet uncomfortably.
"Actually, I wouldn't mind if you gave me the name of the brand you used. Your hair looks so soft it's like- augh!" He winced as Arthur elbowed him in the gut, cutting him off.
"No one wants' to hear you talk." Arthur muttered, frowning at the other boy. "Just shut up." Alfred felt a spark of surprise light in his gut as he watched the sharp exchange between the Briton and his friend. He... really was keeping to his promise to protect Matthew. Damn, now I owe him. He swore inwardly. Either way, he was glad that things would be easier for Matty now. Turning back to his friends and ignoring the bickering pair he let out a long sigh.
"I really don't want to go to class..."
"I know, but I think we should probably get going." Matthew pointed out. "Look, the crowds are starting to thin. And don't forget, we don't know where we're going..."
"He's right." Soren agreed. "Alfred, what room is your bio class in? Matt and I are going the same way, but you don't know where you're headed do you?"
"Let's see..." He mumbled, glancing at the sheet. "612."
"Aww, that's in the west wing." Matthew sighed. "We're going to the 4th floor in the north wing."
"How the hell did you figure out the floor plan so quickly?"
"I'm just... awesome, as Gilbert would say." Matthew chuckled. "Anyway, good luck finding your room. We'll, see you at lunch?"
"Yea that is if I can find the damn lunch hall." He grumbled.
"It's called a map Al." Soren smirked; eye's alight in amusement. "Maybe you should try using one."
"Oh fuck off." He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. They laughed and with a wave, turned the other direction. "See you guy's later." He called as they started away.
"See you!" Soren yelled. Then they rounded a corner, and disappeared.
"Great, now how the flaming fuck am I supposed to find this place?" He grumbled, scratching his head and staring at his schedule.
"Well you don't have to be so mean."
"I'm not being mean, you need to lay off."
Alfred flinched, suddenly remembering whom exactly he was still standing next to. Maybe if I just inch away...
"Hey!" Arthur snapped suddenly, glaring at him. "Don't you dare fucking leave, this is your problem too. I could use some help here."
"My problem?" He snorted. "Why don't you deal with your friend and I'll deal with mine?"
"And I'm wondering why we're being treated like annoying side characters here." Francis cut in. "What exactly do you mean by deal with? That's just rude, like we're a hassle. I hope you don't speak like this in front of Matthew..."
"What happens between Matthew and I is none of your concern." Alfred snarled. "Would you PLEASE stay the fuck away from him?"
"There." Arthur grumbled. "That's all the help I was asking for. Honestly, you're dense."
"I'm going to ignore that." Alfred growled, not breaking his gaze from Francis. "Look. You have to leave him alone. I don't know if you're gay, or you just want to be friends, or whatever it is, but you can't keep bothering Matty like this. He's already got self-esteem issues. He doesn't need you adding fuel to the fire."
"I'm not being mean..."
"But you're being overbearing. He already has Soren and me, he doesn't need anyone else loud and pushy around him."
"Well, at least you admit it." Arthur snorted. "Seriously though Francis..." He said, turning to his friend. "Even I can tell, you're making him uncomfortable. Perhaps, with time, he'll warm up to you. But for now, just let it go."
"I..." Francis looked away. "I am sorry." He sighed dejectedly. " I did not realize that my actions upset him so much. I will not talk to him so much."
"That's all I'm asking." Alfred promised. Alfred's ears perked at the sound of the bell, chiming through the hallway. "Shit." He swore, stuffing his schedule in his pack. "Class..." With a curt nod, he backed away from the pair and as soon as he had rounded the corner, broke out into a sprint.
"Shit shit shit shit shiiiiit!" He cursed, glancing at the room numbers as he passed. Hadn't that guy Laura had been talking to said something about points being deducted on a account of tardiness? If that was true, he certainly hoped his bio teacher was as kind as Mr. Lewis...
"Hey!" A voice yelled from behind him. Skidding to stop on the red velvet floor, he turned to glance at the owner of the familiar voice.
"What do you want?" He snapped as the Briton slowed beside him.
"My class is in the same direction. I'm 611." He replied stiffly. "I figured it would be easier if I went along with you, so that we're both not overly late."
"Fine with me, as long as you don't talk to me again." Alfred snorted, turning away and starting down the hall. "Damn it, must be on another floor. But where are the stairs?"
"Not that I'm talking to you, but I do believe they're over there." Arthur stated dryly from behind him.
"Yea yea whatever." Alfred grumbled, following the other boy over to a winding stone staircase. "I would have seen it if you had just given me a minute."
"If you have time to stand there and gripe, then you have time to get your ass up to class." Arthur muttered in annoyance.
"Same to you." Alfred shot back, pushing past him.
"I'm not the one who was just standing there." Arthur replied smugly, shoving him back.
"Shut up."
"You shut up."
"Excuse me?" A tired voice cut in. Alfred glanced away from Arthur to the step in front of him, nearly jumping in surprise as he came mere inches from the face of another boy with deep green eyes.
"I'm sorry." He yawned. "It's just, I have to get down and you two are sort of blocking the stairs."
"Oh, yea sorry about that." Alfred apologized, stepping back to let the other boy through. As he passed, he cocked his head curiously, and gave him a warm smile.
"You're new here aren't you?" He tossed his gaze to Arthur who had also stepped aside and was pressed against the wall beside him. "You too?"
"Yea." Alfred blinked. "How did you know?"
"So am I." He chuckled softly, tugging at a strand of his long chocolate brown hair. "I'm running late for class as well. Overslept. I thought my room was up there, but it seems I was mistaken..."
"You need a hand?" Alfred offered, earning him a sharp jab in the gut from Arthur.
"We're already late you wanker."
"Well then five more minutes isn't going to make a difference." He replied dismissively, turning back to the olive skinned boy. "What's your classroom number?"
"612." He replied.
"Hey!" Alfred cried in surprise. "Seriously man? That's my classroom! Aw man, it's not up there? Way to go you moron, you lead us up the wrong staircase."
"Oh so now it's MY fault?" Arthur hissed. "I followed YOU down the halls you know. It's as much your fault as it is mine."
"Did you check the third floor?" Alfred inquired, biting back and angry retort meant for Arthur.
"The third floor?" He asked, a puzzled expression settling upon his face. "Oh, well no you see..."
"There we go!" Alfred grinned, cutting him off. "And if it's not there we'll try the next one. It's gotta be around here somewhere."
The brunette nodded uncertainly, stepping aside to let Alfred in front. "I'm not so great about figuring out where stuff is. My sense of direction... isn't the best."
"Meh that's ok. Neither is mine." Alfred laughed. "Come on, if we hurry, we'll get there before class is even ten minutes in."
"That's a lovely prospect." Arthur muttered from behind them. Alfred ignored him and continued up the spiraling stone steps, until he saw an exit.
"So that's the second floor, then the third must be- omph!" He yelled, rubbing his nose. "What the hell? Why is there a wall in the middle of the staircase?"
"Obviously because it's ended." Arthur sighed, sliding in beside him. "Although, it is troubling. Perhaps there's another flight somewhere on this floor..."
"That's what I was going to tell you." The other boy stated from behind them. "It doesn't go up any further, so I figured I'd go out to the second floor to see if there was another flight of stairs but... well let's say I found a little more then I was hoping to."
"What do you mean by... that?" Alfred breathed, stepping out into the second floor corridor. Well ,it wasn't so much like a corridor, but an enormous room with four flights of stairs spiraling upward from each corner of the room, criss-crossing ever which way. Each set led to another, and another, some connecting with the wall of the giant room and becoming an unseen pathway, others ascending upward further then they could see. It was like an enormous maze with no end, and only one way out. Up.
"Fuck." Arthur swore bitterly. "How are we supposed to figure out which one leads to the right floor?"
"How should I know?" Alfred snapped, eyes flitting around the room. "I guess we'll just have to pick one and hope we get it right."
"Oh that's effective." Arthur shot back.
"Uh guy's?"
"You have a better idea?" Alfred seethed.
"Guy's?"
"Anything's better then THAT."
"Guy's!"
Alfred jumped at the intrusion, glancing back at the brown haired boy who was staring at them almost impatiently. "Look, I think there's a hallway over on the other side. Why don't we try there first?"
Glancing around the massive flights of stairs, Alfred saw that he was right. There was indeed another passageway at the other end of the room. "Oh, hey cool! How did you miss that the first time?"
"I was to shocked by all the stairs. I figured I had come to the wrong place." He shrugged. "It hadn't occurred to me that one of these might lead where I wanted to go, I went back downstairs."
"Enough chatting, let's go!" Arthur called, already half way across the room. Tossing each other a glance, Alfred and the other boy sprinted after him. Oh god. Alfred thought. I hope this is the right way!
O ~ O ~ O
A/N: Yup, in this chapter, I introduced Holland ^^ I was going to name him Abel, because I originally liked that name the best out of the ones Himaruya suggested, but after a while, Lars just started to grow on me XD Probably because my friends and I kept calling him Lars mars lol. So yush, horray for Holland! Or the Netherlands whatever floats your boat. I have to tell you, I'm in LOVE with Holland 3 So you'll be seeing a lot of him if I can help it lol.
Oh, and if anyone can figure out who the new character is (he IS a hetalia character) you get a cookie! :D
Hmm, looks like Francis got a talking to and he's going to back off of matthew! At least... for the time being XD
And yes, the castle is supposed to have a Hogwarts feel to it ^^ Particularly that room of stair cases (they don't move I promise but there are a lot of them XD)