YO!

Sorry for the overly long wait but...

Yep, don't have any valid reason I guess so...

There you go!

This one's not as long as the other ones but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless ^^

Good read!

Ryan's ARC

Chapter 1- Confusion

Ryan Amari was a half-blood. Surprisingly enough, he had discovered this little bit of fact about himself the same day he had discovered he was a wizard. Now, if his mother, who was a witch, had not died only two days after his birth, she might have had found the time to tell Ryan's father about that particular aspect of her life. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and so it was that eleven years after he came out of his mother's womb, Ryan finally had all the answers to his troubled questions.

However, Ryan's father did not take the news quite merrily back then. In fact, he, at first, decided to consider the letter a big joke. Nonetheless, as the 1st of September grew closer, both Ryan and his dad had started to panic slightly, both giving in to a deep apprehension. In the end, four days before the dreaded day, they had decided it was best to send a letter back to the special school that had contacted them. The letter talked of confusion and anger and bad jokes. Five years later, both Ryan and his father agreed it was better to forget of its existence for the shame was far too overwhelming.

At the end of the day, yes, Ryan and his father had conceded the existence of wizards and witches and magic. They also conceded Ryan was part of this world. They even conceded there was an entire gigantic school full of little magicians hidden between the Spanish and French Pyrenees. But the one thing that neither Ryan nor his father had and will ever be able to concede, ever, was that despite all their magic and sorcery, the wizards had that little imagination that the only sport they could think of was also the only sport they practiced: Quiddich. To that, Ryan said no.

Fortunately, Beauxbâtons had greatly changed in the last few years and thanks to the overwhelming demands from muggle related students and their families, the school had allowed kids to leave the grounds in order to participate to particular activities that could not be provided by the staff itself. That is to say, muggle sports. As it is, the great number of students at Beauxbâtons also makes for a great number of students from non-magical families, the likes of whom do not necessarily want to leave all their world behind.

Ryan was one of those and every week, him and a few of his friends were allowed to take a train up to the small town of Bondevec were he practiced rowing. Bondevec was not an all-wizard town, but many lived there. The main reason must have been the proximity of the magic school. Every week-end, students would come swirling in, either to visit or for the reasons previously mentioned. It was hard to keep the magical world hidden but the Ministry had a special team dedicated especially to Bondevec.

Nonetheless, with two attacks on the town at only three weeks interval, Ryan wondered how long these liberties would last. He knew for a fact that the school staff was already discussing the cessation of these excursions.

"Not to mention, many parents are submitting complaints about a lack of security for the younger students."

Ryan looked at his friend. Gwendoline Maréchal was a tall girl with long blond hair tied back in a high ponytail. Hidden under her large sweatshirts which she took from her boyfriend were impressive muscles build from years of rowing alongside Ryan and his best friend Samuel Deglas. Samuel was also on the train. Sat next to Gwen, he wore his usual red shirt and jeans. Both were playing a game of Tetris on Sam's phone, making the most of the distance from the school's magical vibes which prevented electronic devices from functioning.

"Do you mean they won't allow us to go anymore?", asked Sam.

"Well, I doubt so," replied Gwen. "I mean… It's getting a bit dangerous out there and the school has to deal with the Spanish, Italian, Belgian, Swiss and German students as well."

"That's a lot," said Ryan.

"Yep."

"But the competitions are closing in!", complained Sam.

"I think they'd rather have living students than dead winners, Sam."

"Terrible sense of priorities…"

"Guys, the minister just retired!"

Everyone's eyes turned to Melissa. The girl was another of Ryan's friends. Though she took no interest in rowing, she always accompanied her friends on their Saturday's trip to town. Today, her long curly hair were loose on her round shoulders and her dark skin, inherited from her Guadeloupian blood glowed golden under the sun's soft morning light. In her hands, she held a newspaper.

"What do you mean "he retired"?", inquired Gwen.

"I don't know, replied a thoughtful Melissa. It's literally just written "News from the Ministry announced yesterday the official retirement of Minister for Magic Alban DeMontois. Deputy François Carpentier will temporarily take Mr. DeMontois' place until new elections are set. No further information have been released on the topic."

"Weird, commented Sam. Guy must have had a breakdown with all that's going on…"

"This newspaper is property of the state," said Melissa. "This is not how you announce a demission. Particularly not if it's the Minister's demission."

"Well, what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing… I'm just saying something's not right about this business."

"Maybe you're looking too deep into things, Melissa, said Gwen. I mean, that piece of news is from yesterday. There will be plenty of time to explain the reasons of his departure."

Melissa nodded, visibly unconvinced but unwilling to argue further. Eyebrows frowned, she dived her nose back into the newspaper. Ryan smiled. She was such a nerd.

Ten minutes later, they were finally off the train. As the many students scattered across the town, Ryan and his friends walked to the bus stop from which they would travel another fifteen minutes to reach the lake where the rowing club was set. The morning passed and by mid-day, Ryan, Gwen and Sam were done cleaning up their boats and ready to leave. As they walked out the doors, Melissa joined them and together, they took a walk by the woods in the direction of the bus stop.

"So how was training?"

"I can't feel my legs", was Ryan's only response.

"He's just upset because I beat him."

"Gwen, you were in a quad."

"Still better than you!", she said, running up to him and giving him a friendly (yet hurtful) punch on the arms.

Ryan laughed and starting running after her. Five minutes of endless chasing— that Melissa and Sam did not wait to join― passed before the kids came to a stop to find they had gotten way off the path and into the woods. Laughing lightly, they walked a few more meters between the trees until Melissa froze.

"Can you hear that?", she whispered.

"What?", said Sam, not even trying to lower his voice.

"Shhh!"

Slowly, she took a few steps forward. The others followed her in silence, smiling as they pretended to morph into the trees. A few seconds later, all could hear the voices. His hurt pounding, Ryan hid behind a tree, as close to the voices as he could without being too obvious.

At first, it felt just like the games they played when they were kids. Listening to people and pretending they were secret agents on some sort of mission. But as Ryan started to grasp some words, fear started to replace his feeling of excitement.

"… Too late?", said a man with a deep raspy voice.

"No, just in time," replied another. "Arnauld and Amandine will be here soon. They want us to be ready so that things can go as fast as possible."

"That won't be a problem. But tell me, what about the Minister. Who took him?"

"I believe it was Didier and his crew. The operation went quick and smooth from what Bastien told me."

"Davane will be happy."

"The entire Society will be happy! We're made more advancements than anyone else in Europe and even the muggles are feeling that something is off now. Once we're done with all the traitors and the Ministry's at our feet, we'll finally be able to turn this world into it what it was always supposed to be!"

"Yeah, can hardly believe it, huh? We're so close, it barely seems real."

As they kept discussing, Ryan exchanged a long look with Melissa. What they were hearing was of colossal significance and neither felt ready to hold up to it. Next to him, Sam stirred and grabbed his shoulder.

"Let's get out of here!", he whispered.

Ryan looked at him, seeing the fear in his eyes reflect his own. Slowly, he nodded and made signs for Melissa and Gwen to follow them. But Gwen was not moving. She was too close to the men who had taken a few steps towards her as they talked. She knew that there was no way she could even stir without revealing herself. The group looked desperately in each other eyes, Gwen shaking like a leaf, but things became even worse when Ryan heard one of the man cast "Homenum Revelio"!

His heart skipped a beat. Next to him, he felt Sam freeze. For a second, there was nothing, even the birds seemed to have gone silent. Until the wizard who held the wand said: "What the…?" A sudden burst of energy took over Ryan's body and in one quick gesture, he stood up, holding Sam by the arm, and shouted: "Run!"

He took off at the speed of lighting. Sam stumbled behind him but quickly found his balance and followed him. Ryan barely had time to wonder about the girls but he kept going. His legs were taking him through the trees and between the roots in such a way that his brain could barely follow. Everything around him was blurry and he hardly noticed his breath becoming heavier and heavier as the thoughts "Keep running!" formed an infinite loop in his head.

Suddenly, he heard a scream. A girl's scream. Melissa? Without thinking, he stopped and Sam collided into him. The shock was brutal and send them both right to the ground. Falling on his back, Ryan felt shivers of pain travel along his back.

"What the hell?" Yelled his best friend, panic raging in his voice.

"Who was that?", inquired Ryan, once he'd caught his breath.

Sam did not answer. His eyes were going left, right and center.

"What is it?", asked Ryan. But just as the words came out of his mouth, he saw the problem. The men were nowhere to be seen. Melissa and Gwen neither. But the voice sounded so close…

A flash of light came out of a tree. For a second, Ryan was completely blinded. Suddenly, a burst of pain throbbed in his temple. Little stars obstructed his vision. Next to him, he heard Sam hit the ground. Then a laugh, distant… All became blurry and soon, the trees became darkness.

And there you go!

Wasn't the best but I hope you still enjoyed ^^

Things are gonna get darker as the story progresses and I can't wait to write it all down for you guys ^^

Still, I can't make any promesses as to when I'm gonna post next but I'll try my best ^^

I know hollidays are coming but I'm just so busy at the moment, I actually came back to this fic because I needed my brain to get some fresh air ^^

Later! Love you all 3