AN: Sorry guys if this chapter has a few mistakes, I'm just trying to get it finished before all my performances for my school play start (pls kill me I am so tired).

Translations are at the bottom.

Chapter Seventeen
Of Frankly Terrible First Dates and Dark Spells

31 years ago

Celina Daviau was a mixture of confused, upset and hopeful as she hectically double-checked her outfit for the date for the tenth time. Ivonne and Mae were laughing at her, but she didn't care. She still couldn't believe she'd asked Devin Luca Blackwood III on a date.

Neither could her friends, come to think of it, though they'd reluctantly kept their word not to tell anybody about it. She'd asked the same of Luca, and hoped that he'd done as she said, because otherwise her parents might just murder her. She wanted to see if she'd made a huge mistake first, before facing their disappointment.

"Allez Celina, si elle va mal, il va mal, il n'y a aucune raison d'être si inquiet." Mae said, grinning. Celina huffed but didn't reply, not wanting to voice the real reason behind her franticness, not even to herself.

Celina Daviau, the calmest, wittiest and possibly prettiest girl in the whole of Beauxbatons was excited.

God it was embarrassing.

"Quel est embarrassant?" She hadn't realised that she'd left her room, or that she was muttering to herself. Luca stared up at her from the bottom of the stairs, dressed is casually fancy dress robes, with a small smile. "Vous regardez beaucoup par la manière." Celina fought to keep the blush from her face, descending the stairs.

"Rien Je parlais à moi-même." Luca smirked, but she could tell he was nervous by the way his hands were fidgeting anxiously with his robes. "Vous ne regardez pas trop mal même. On y va?"

She was very glad that the last two years in school were allowed to visit the village whenever they liked, provided they were back by ten and they didn't bring anyone younger with them. It made it much easier to go on dates, not that Celina had been on that many (she was rather picky) and she was less likely to get doubly punished by her parents and the school for breaking the rules.

She took Luca's hand in her own, hiding a smile at his startled expression, and apparated them to her favourite restaurant.

"En aucune façon. Je adore venir ici." Luca grinned.

"Je ne vous vois jamais quand je viens ici." Celina pointed out, as they walked towards the doors. Luca looked down at his feet.

"Je viens ici souvent avec mon père et il vient seulement après les heures."

"Il ne fait que les restaurants fermés?" Celina asked, incredulous.

"Ils sont ouverts pour lui." Luca said with a shrug. Celina rolled her eyes.

"Pourquoi veut-il seulement d'aller manger après les heures?" Luca shrugged again, as they were seated by a slightly-too-happy waitress. They ordered their drinks (a butterbeer and a small glass of nettle wine (Celina's eyebrows told him this was a rather pretentious choice but he really liked it)) and their food (which would be along as soon as possible).

"Il n'y a pas beaucoup d'une personne de personnes."

"Tel père tel fils, alors?" Celina guessed, a kind smile on her face.

"Quoi?"

"Allez Luca, vous ne jamais sortir avec vos frères et vous n'êtes pas dans tous les clubs." Luca shifted uncomfortably.

"Je ne savais pas que je suis surveillé de si près." He said eventually, but the teasing tone fell a little flat. Celina still took the bait.

"Je suis pas un harceleur, juste attentif. Je suis sûr que vous savez beaucoup sur moi aussi." Luca smiled again, and it lit up his whole face. She had to admit, the way that his dark hair fell into his eyes only brought out the vivid green and blue colours in them. She hadn't really noticed before but… Luca was handsome. Very handsome, if unconventionally so. And tall. His brother Anton towered over him, but when they weren't stood together it was easy to see that he was well over six foot. And he was lean and when he smiled at something you said, he made sure to look right at you, so that you'd know it was because of you.

"Peut-être. Mais seulement ce que chacun sait; vous êtes intelligent et populaire et plein d'esprit et de plaisir, vos parents enseigner ici, vous avez deux meilleurs amis et vous haïr Herbologie." Celina did blush this time.

"Voilà tout un tas de compliments."

"Voilà tout un tas de vérités." Luca said quietly. "Je vous aime vraiment Celina, mais je ne vous connais pas en fait que bien." Celina gave him a measured look.

"Je veux être avocat. Je aime les animaux, mais je suis allergique à la plupart d'entre eux. Mes parents sont religieux. Je ai toujours voulu apprendre l'anglais et je ronfle très fort." Luca burst out laughing, the sound rather rich, and the way it contorted his face made her join in. When their laughter had calmed down slightly, their conversation was interrupted by their drinks being brought over, and Luca took a long sip before replying.

"Je ne sais pas ce que je veux être, mais je pense que de ce que, plutôt une bonne chose parce que je dois reprendre l'entreprise familiale à un moment de toute façon."

"Quelle est l'entreprise familiale?" Celina asked.

"Je veux dire les propriétés. Et les investissements. Il est pas vraiment un travail aussi longtemps que vous gardez un œil sur elle." Luca replied, quoting his father. Celina pulled a face but didn't comment. "Il est plutôt dégoûtant est-ce pas? Que nous avons tout cet argent que je ne sais pas quoi faire avec elle, et je pourrais poursuivre toute carrière, je voulais à cause de cela, mais je ne sais pas ce que je veux faire. Je dois toutes les options et aucune de la puissance du cerveau." He said, with a small smile to ease the weight of his words. Celina shook her head.

"Il est pas faute si vous étiez né dans l'argent, pas plus qu'elle ne l'est de ta faute si à 16 ans vous ne savez pas ce que vous voulez faire avec votre vie. Qui est semble très bien pour moi." Luca's smile grew as Celina sipped her drink.

"Je ne l'aime de belles animaux. Pas ours ou quoi que ce soit." Celina snorted and some of her butterbeer sprayed halfway across the table. Her cheeks heated but before she could apologise Luca had leapt back into his infectious laughter and Celina didn't feel quite so much like an embarrassment to the entirety of Wizarding kind. "Si je l'avais su 'ours' allais provoquer cette réaction je l'ai dit plus tôt." Celina hit his hand teasingly and rolled her eyes with a smile when his hand snaked around hers and kept hold of it.

"Allez, dites-moi plus. Je vais essayer de garder mes réactions extrêmes à un minimum."

"Je suis gravement socialement maladroit, qui est pourquoi je tiens avec mes frères et moi aussi, je ronfle très fort." Celina smiled.

"Vous êtes une personne très bizarre, Luca Blackwood."

"La faute à ma famille." Luca said, tracing circles on her wrist.

"Je devine que vous et votre père ne vous entendez pas." Luca gave her a strange look. "Il est juste, vous semblez comme un gars vraiment super et il est..." Luca raised an eyebrow. "Tu sais. Ombragé."

"'Ombragé'?" He chuckled.

"Eh bien mes parents disent qu'il est la sauvegarde contre le projet de loi modifiant le statut de la pureté du sang."

"Celui qui est ondulant au-dessus de l'Angleterre? Eh bien, il va être une sorte de confusion."

"Eh bien, il pourrait prendre un certain temps pour s'y habituer, mais il est un pas dans la bonne direction pour les droits de moldus. Tout simplement parce que deux de mes quatre grands-parents sont des moldus ne veut pas dire que je suis pas moins d'un assistant de vous."

"Bien; étant donné que vous êtes une sorcière -" Luca tried to joke.

"S'il vous plaît me dire que vous souhaitez voter pour le projet de loi."

"Je ne sais pas ce que je ferais. Je ne l'ai jamais pensé."

"Il est de bon sens! L'égalité est quelque chose que nous sommes toujours en lutte pour. Pour Moldus nés et leurs descendants, pour femmes, pour Cracmols-"

"Cracmols? Qu'avez-vous en commun avec un cracmol?" Luca asked incredulously.

"Tout simplement parce que je ne dois rien de commun avec un cracmol ne signifie pas que je ne peux pas défendre leurs droits aussi. Il est comme la défense des droits des animaux."

"Donc, vous dites Cracmols sont comme des animaux?"

"Non! Est-ce ce que vous pensez?" Luca squirmed.

"Je ne sais pas vraiment." Celina's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Et cela fait une différence comment? Ils sont des êtres humains!"

"Mais il ya quelque chose de mal avec leur génétique droit? Voilà pourquoi ils sont sortis sans magie."

"Voulez-vous dire qu'il ya quelque chose de mal à être sans magie?" She snatched her hand from his.

"Je veux dire, il serait assez décevant pour les parents -" Celina's nostrils flared, and faster than he could follow, she poured her bottle of Butterbeer over his head. A stunned silence rang throughout the restaurant.

"Pensez à ce que vous avez dit et peut-être venu et de trouver cela moins magique que votre auto sorcière estimé lorsque vous avez travaillé sur la façon d'obtenir votre tête sorti d'entre vos fesses!" Celina stormed out of the restaurant, fire dancing in her eyes.

Luca realised, as he sat there, dripping in Butterbeer and ignoring the other customers curious looks, that he wanted to marry that less magical than his esteemed self witch, even if it was the last thing he did.

"Today class, we will be learning to do the disarming charm. Can anybody tell me the incantation?" Professor Rossesson's light voice spread across the classroom, mostly halting the mumbled chats between the second-years. Albus was not surprised to see almost every hand up in the air; one couldn't properly re-enact Harry Potter's many duels with Voldemort in the courtyard if they didn't know the incantation for his favourite spell. "Mr Potter?" Scorpius raised his eyebrow; Albus was one of the only people who hadn't put his hand up.

"Yes sir?"

"You don't know the incantation?"

"I do I just don't often contribute to class discussion sir." Albus said honestly. Professor Rossesson frowned at him.

"That's not a great attitude to have." He said disapprovingly.

"I can tell you the answer if you want sir." Albus said, baffled. Professor Rossesson waved a hand to continue. "It's Expelliarmus."

"Correct. Five points to Slytherin." Albus smiled uncertainly. "We only study the theory in this class as you will be doing the practical in Defence Against the Dark Arts." There were a few half-hearted groans.

The class dragged on, with much useless note-taking and rolled-eyes. It wasn't that Professor Rossesson was a bad teacher, only he was so meticulous and pernickety that it always took them two classes to do one spell, and Albus could feel his brain melting from all the irrelevant, if interesting, information the Charms professor was giving them around the subject. Scorpius told Albus to wake him up when the class had finished, and then turned his head away so Albus couldn't see him staring at a certain bushy-haired redhead.

He was quite happy like this, until Rose turned around and caught his eye, at which point he realised what he was doing and went bright red, hurriedly turning his face away. It was then that he realised he hadn't properly dried his parchment before he'd laid his face on it; and his half-smudged notes were now imprinted on his face.

Albus burst out laughing; trying to control his snorts from Professor Rossesson's sharp gaze but it was to no avail. Every time he thought he had himself under control; he'd look at Scorpius' offended face and start sniggering all over again. Scorpius hastily tried to wipe the ink from his cheek, staining his shirt sleeves in a way his mother would never forgive.

"Mr Potter would you care to enlighten all of us to your friend's joke?" Albus held his breath to hold in his giggles and tried to keep a straight-face as he shook his head.

"Mr Malfoy?" Scorpius had no choice but to face the Professor, showing his blue cheek in all its mess. "Would you like to go to the bathroom to wash that off?" Scorpius smiled his 'respectful-teacher' smile and nodded, standing up from his seat, not risking glancing at Albus or the rest of the class before exiting the room. Rose covered her mouth with one hand to stop herself laughing, but Albus could see her eyes dancing with mirth.

Scorpius snuck back in with five minutes left to go and when Albus and Scorpius finally packed up their bags and left, it was to find the rest of their group waiting outside for them.

"Wanna come to the kitchens for tea with us?" Lydjah asked, as soon as they were in the doorway. Scorpius and Albus shared a look.

"Sure." They chorused.

The spy had decided several years ago that all you needed to know about a person was present in their walk. He observed the eight laughing students as they wandered away from the Charms classroom with a careful eye.

James Potter strutted. He threw his shoulders back, spine straight, chin up; an easy swagger as he took uneven steps forwards. His legs were spread wide and his feet planted firmly on the ground as he moved. His wand was held loosely in one hand and the other was firmly inside his trouser pocket. His strut wasn't entirely arrogant though, it was cocky as hell but, although he couldn't see it, the spy knew James' smile was being bounced down the corridor to everyone he passed.

Sam Andrews' confidence was more contained. She took up less space than her best friend, being shorter and slimmer across but was no less proud. Her chin was up but her body was slumped. Many people would dismiss it as laziness but the spy knew better. Sam Andrews was one of the most active people in the school; so why would she slump? The reason was, of course, that hunkering down would save her precious seconds if she got into a fight; she was already half in a fight pose. It was a left-over habit from her purely muggle days as the Gryffindor hardly ever fought with just her fists now as she had no interest in detention anymore. Jinxing people was ten times easier to conceal. Unlike James, who thought that he was honour-bound to only have fair, visible duels, Sam thought that if she needed to fight with someone, and therefore that the person was being particularly annoying or wrong, they shouldn't have the benefit of knowing when their attack was coming.

Lien Irby always walked like she was in a hurry mainly because she couldn't keep up with most people if she walked at a normal pace. She took many quick steps to match only a few of her friends' long strides. Her wand was not visibly on her person which meant that either she hadn't adjusted to the magical way of life yet or she had too much trust in not being attacked. Given her house, the spy concluded it was the latter.

Molly Weasley walked like she had a purpose. She had somewhere to be, a specific amount of time and a limited number of steps to get there. She kept her head low, not for secrecy but so she could talk to her shorter best friend, and had her hands safely in her robes. She didn't smile outwardly at other people; she did a polite nod and tight-lipped upturn of her lips at people she knew. The spy thought it fairly funny that the girl had been so upset with her friend Jayna the year before for acting so superior when really she, whether consciously or not, exuded that vibe herself.

Albus Potter was more inwardly centred. His shoulders were hunched and his hands were scrunched in his trouser pockets. He kept a sincere smile on his face at all times but seemed to always be surprised when people recognised him. The spy felt slightly bad for helping those who wanted to see this boy suffer; to be so famous and not have it go to his head at all, unlike his smirking older brother, took a much greater man than most. That being said, he kept his house colours on show proudly, despite everyone's conflicting views on it, and his nose occasionally screwed in annoyance when he saw people glaring at the colours until they realised it was him, more because of the way their face cleared when they realised who it was than them frowning to start with.

Scorpius Malfoy had the most grace. His steps weren't calculated or a particular speed or style. His movement was fluid, matching other people's pace easily and without hesitation. It was impossible to decide how Scorpius would walk if he was on his own. The spy took this to mean that he was influenced heavily by other people, but he kept his own personality through his grace. He was a Pureblood, of that there was no doubt, and it was very easy to imagine him waltzing around a dancefloor, though any sort of modern dance was impossible. He held his wand in his hand like James but the way he gripped it was entirely different; where James held it loosely to feign bravado, Scorpius' fingers curled elegantly but tightly round the wood. He had long fingers; the spy guessed he was an artist of a kind. His angular face always pointed up and was almost entirely blank when in public. The spy knew this boy was the most dangerous of the group; in a few years he would be entirely unreadable and as quick with his spells as he was with his tongue.

Lydjah Dawson walked with ease. Like Lien, she had to take several steps just to match one of her best friend's long strides, but she'd been doing it for so long now that she'd just adapted it into her normal pace. There was a slight swing in her hips as she moved, enough to gain people's attention, but not enough for them to be able to explain why they were so captivated. She flicked her hair every third step, not in a vain way but just to keep the sheer amount of it away from her face. She had a strange resting expression; it seemed as if she was always filled with an emotion but you couldn't tell which one it was until when, if ever, she decided to let you know.

Jayna Blackwood's steps were strangely erratic. Her strides were always long and precisely calculated to where she wanted to step, which would be easy to read if she strode all the time. Unfortunately Jayna was a very expressive person, and it showed in everything she did from her hand gestures to her body language to her walk. She'd take skipping steps, quick, curt steps, huge bounding steps and undignified leaps to get to her destination, and she'd most likely do a very funny if not very good impression of someone else's walk along the way. The only thing that kept the same through Jayna's walk was her straight back and fluid arm movements (that did not extend to her hands) which was the only visible reminder of her Pureblood upbringing. She also always had her wand in her hand, alike James and Scorpius, but she didn't grip it casually or elegantly; Jayna gripped her wand like a warning; perfect textbook hold to match the plethora of spells that constantly ran through her mind. She would be able to curse you just as well as she could heal you (perhaps better actually, considering her heritage) but when it came down to it the spy had no doubt Jayna would snap like a twig.

'Instruction: Trace back your steps'.

"What the Hell?" Sam asked, as they gathered round the paper as usual.

"It's not the first time it's had us trekking through the school trying to find it." Lien pointed out, subtly moving away from the Gryffindors who still smelt disgusting from their Saturday Quidditch practice; it had run over so they didn't have time to shower.

"Yeah but that was before the tasks started properly." Lydjah said.

"Maybe we'll have more clue when we get in there." Albus sighed, opening the door. The others shrugged and followed, where they were once again led into a completely normal looking room with nothing in it at all.

"Any charms that allow you to go back?" James asked.

"We're not time-travelling Potter." Jayna said, alarmed.

"I think it might be simpler than that." Scorpius said quietly. He held out his wand. "Prior Incantato!"

From Scorpius' wand, images were produced; a dazzling blaze of light, curtain stitching itself back together and a strange, dark spell that smelled like burning. The door clicked open as the final image faded away, and Scorpius was gone before any of them could ask him what that last spell had been.

AN:

"Come on Celina, if it goes badly, it goes badly, there's no reason to be so worried."

"What's embarrassing?"

"Nothing I was just talking to myself. You don't look too bad yourself. Shall we?"

"No way. I love coming here."

"I never see you here when I come."

"I usually come here with my dad and he only comes after hours."

"He only goes to closed restaurants?"

"They're open for him."

"Why does he only want to go to eat after hours?"

"He's not much of a people person."

"Like father like son then?"

"What?"

"Come on Luca, you only ever hang out with your brothers and you're not in any clubs."

"I didn't know I was being watched so closely."

"I'm not a stalker, just observant. I'm sure you know plenty about me too."

"Perhaps. But only what everyone knows; you're clever and popular and witty and fun, your parents teach here, you have two best friends and you hate Herbology."

"That's a whole lot of compliments."

"That's a whole lot of truths. I really like you Celina, but I don't actually know you that well."

"I want to be a lawyer. I like animals, but I'm allergic to most of them. My parents are religious. I've always wanted to learn English and I snore very loudly."

"I have no idea what I want to be, but I think of this as rather a good thing because I have to take over the family business at some point anyway."

"What is the family business?"

"I mean the properties. And the investments. It's not really a job as long as you keep an eye on it. It's rather disgusting isn't it? That we have all this money that I have no idea what to do with it, and I could pursue any career I wanted because of it, but I don't know what I want to do. I have all the options and none of the brain power."

"It's not fault you were born into money, no more than it is your fault that at age 16 you don't know what you want to do with your life. That's seems fine to me."

"I only like nice animals. Not bears or anything. If I'd known 'bears' was going to cause that reaction I would've said it earlier."

"Go on, tell me more. I'll try to keep my extreme reactions to a minimum."

"I am severely socially awkward, which is why I stick with my brothers, and I, too, snore very loudly."

"You are a very odd person, Luca Blackwood."

"Blame it on my family."

"I'm guessing you and your dad don't get along. It's just, you seem like a really great guy and he's… You know. Shady."

"'Shady'?"

"Well my parents say that he's backing against the bill changing the status on Blood Purity."

"The one that's rippling over from England? Well it is going to be kind of confusing."

"Well it might take some getting used to but it's a step in the right direction for Muggleborn rights. Just because both of my sets of grandparents are Muggles doesn't mean I'm any less of a wizard than you."

"Well; considering you're a witch-"

"Please tell me you'd vote for the bill."

"I don't know what I'd do. I've never thought about it."

"It's common sense! Equality is something we're still striving for. For Muggleborns and their descendants, for women, for Squibs-"

"Squibs? What have you got in common with a Squib?"

"Just because I don't have anything in common with a Squib doesn't mean I can't defend their rights too. It's like defending animal rights."

"So you're saying Squibs are like animals?"

"No! Is that what you think?"

"I don't really know any."

"And that makes a difference how? They're human beings!"

"But there's something wrong with their genetics right? That's why they came out as magicless."

"Are you saying there's something wrong with being magicless?"

"I mean it would be pretty disappointing for the parents-"

"Think about what you said and perhaps come and find this less magical than your esteemed self witch when you've worked out how to get your head out from between your arse cheeks!"