Hey there- pronghorn here again. This is where we introduce the first real non-OC character...rawr. Anyway, as a thank you for reading this far, we're going to let you wait a few days to read the next chapter! Woohoo! I voted party, but pelham said no...
The next morning Rudolphus woke them as Lorelei had promised with a terrible shrieking that set Lorelei's kneazle on a hissing and scratching rampage, of which Eve was the sole victim before Lorelei managed to calm her down. Scratched and a little unnerved, Eve stood up and woke Danny, who, amazingly enough, had not yet woken from his slumber. Feeling a little grimy, the pair asked about the possibility of a bath before they went down for breakfast. Lorelei, who had been busily filling food-bowls since she had removed the young kneazle's claws from Eve's face, laughed a little.
"Well, we have a shower, I suppose, but I currently have a nest of boomslangs living in the bathtub, and, well, their venom tends to be a bit of a buzz kill. For the past few months I've just been spelling myself clean." Deciding that having the oils and dirt poofed away would be far better than being bitten by a highly venomous snake, Eve and Danny readily agreed and stood before her for inspection. Biting her lip Lorelei drew her wand and pointed first at Eve, muttering "Scourgify" under her breath and then repeating the spell on Danny. Eve and Danny gasped, the sensation of a coarse brush covering their skin. When it had dissipated they were red, as if someone had scrubbed them down, and hard.
"I'm still working out the kinks. The spell is originally intended for cleaning floors and the like, you see." Wincing, Eve and Danny nodded, following Lorelei over to the fireplace. She let them try on their own that day, giving each a pinch of Floo powder. One after the other they tossed the powder in the fire and shouted "Great Hall!" before disappearing in a flare of green flame. They appeared abruptly in the Hall, which smelled distinctly of waffles and pastry.
The windows had once again changed, this time depicting a very long snake with a great horned head, slithering between statues with horribly grotesque and pained expressions. Eve and Danny, despite themselves, were fascinated by the craftsmanship of the window and were only able to tear their gazes away when Lorelei physically dragged them to an empty table.
Lorelei, who, despite her small frame, ate like a horse, dug in greedily to a huge stack of pancakes, eating with reckless abandon. Eve and Danny were much more conservative in their choices, as neither one had been up long enough to be truly hungry, but each stuffed a few pieces of fruit into their pockets for later. As Danny and Lorelei made small talk, Eve's attention began to wander, scanning the other students with a critical eye. They didn't look any different than normal people, and yet they were all highly competent wizards. Eve stared glumly at the stupid stick she held in her hands. It was driving her positively mad.
Her gaze once again returned to the other students and then eventually fell on a boy. Well, not a boy, a young man, but she supposed it was really all relative. He was hunched over a table, reading a supremely thick tome, with no one seated anywhere in his near proximity, as if he was diseased. He was tall, even sitting down, and his long and roughly cut curly, chocolate colored hair fell unevenly about his shoulders. She couldn't see his face, his thick bangs obscuring her view, so she studied his hands. They were masculine but looked nimble with well-tended nails, something she respected immensely as biting was her own terrible habit, and were covered in swarthy skin.
Danny, who by now had become all too aware that his friend had long since checked out of their conversation, followed her gaze, his eyes widening when they reached their mark. He glanced quickly to his friend's thoughtful expression and blanched. He attempted to stop her, grab her arm, tell her that the guy screamed bad news, but she was, as she had always been, unusually strong for a girl and she pushed herself up easily from the table, striding excitedly over to talk to the young man.
Danny cursed and Lorelei laughed a little. "She's rather bold, isn't she?" Danny rolled his eyes.
"When it comes to talking to people, random strangers we don't know and who are more than likely dangerous, yes, she is very bold." Lorelei chuckled again, this time a little dryly.
"Well, you're right- this time, at least." Danny frowned, his full attention returning to his roommate.
"What do you mean?" Lorelei shifted so she was looking at the table where Eve had just sat down.
"That guy, the one Eve's talking to," Lorelei said her voice conspiratorial.
"Yes?" grumbled Danny, wanting her to get to the point.
"He's a werewolf."
Eve, by this time, had crossed the hall, her insides giddy with anticipation. Something about this guy intrigued her, and no one deserved to be alone at breakfast. At least unless they wanted to be alone; but she would figure that out in a moment. Stopping before the table the cleared her throat a little. The guy did not respond, not one flicker of movement to acknowledge her existence. Eve bit her lip. "Pardon me, but do you mind if I sit?" The man didn't bother to look up but responded.
"You're going to sit down whether I want you to or not." He stated, his voice a little husky, as if from disuse. Eve wavered a little.
"But is it okay?" Something in her tone made him twitch.
"Just sit, woman." Eve's eyebrows raised and her mouth pursed with distaste, but she sat, unwilling to abandon her objective.
"I saw you sitting here all alone and I figured I'd come say hi." The man didn't respond, his left hand disappearing behind his curtain of hair with a morsel of food presumably meant for his mouth. "My name's Evelyn, by the way. Evelyn Berry. My friends call me Eve." A rasping sound that might have been a laugh escaped his throat.
"And what in the name of Merlin gave you the impression that I could possibly want to be friends with a ditzy little girl like you?" Eve blinked. She was neither ditzy nor little.
"Well, nothing really. I just figured I'd give it a shot." The man laughed derisively.
"Leave, girl. Before I lose my temper." Eve's eyes grew flat and her arms crossed stubbornly in front of her chest, her lips setting in her growing anger.
"Oh you're worried about losing your temper." She said with a short bark of a laugh. "Sugar, you don't know what mad is." A southern drawl had crept into her voice, as it tended to when she got upset. At her accent the youth looked up, confused, revealing cool, sort of muddy brown eyes, gently arched ebony eyebrows, and dozens of silvery scars, thin and pale with age. Just as he was about to speak Danny swept in, grabbing Eve's arm.
"Eve, we have to go. Leave him alone, Howl's expecting us." Danny had to fight to keep the panic from his tone as his gaze slid nervously towards the young man, who was watching him with what Danny took to be the gaze of a predator. He squeezed Eve's arm tighter and she winced.
"What is your prob-" He cut her off.
"We need to go, now." His voice offered no argument. The man across the table, who was still watching the pair with his silent, intelligent gaze, smirked a little at his fear, revealing a very distinct, white canine.
"Best listen to your nanny, little girl." Eve rolled her eyes, not quite as extreme a reaction as the young man had been fishing for, and stood to go with Danny, who she was beginning to suspect ill by his pallor.
"Thank you for your time." She said coolly before allowing herself to be led off, without even once glancing over her shoulder back at the guy. When they were out of the dining hall and beginning to wander the ruination that was the castle, Danny's pace finally slowed and he released her arm. She stopped him and turned him. "What was that back there? I mean, the guy's a jerk but that was… a bit over the top." Danny bit his lip, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as he brooded over information he had been told only minutes before, information he now wished he did not know.
"Nothing, I just… I don't like him." Eve laughed, the sound hearty and rich and true.
"Well I don't think he liked us much either." Danny attempted a smile but fail, his serious gaze holding Eve's.
"Eve, stay away from that guy. He's dangerous." Eve blinked, curious, but seeing Danny's panic did not inquire further.
"Alright." Danny took her hands tightly.
"Promise me, Eve." She blushed a little at his intense stare.
"Okay already! I promise! Because, you know, it's going to be so hard for me to stay away from a guy who patronizes me and is in general really unpleasant." Her sarcasm, as usual, was barely noticeable, except by a trained ear such as Danny's. Their conversation drifted to lighter venues as they wandered the halls eventually finding their designated classroom. A piece of parchment was pinned there with a bejeweled penknife. The message read thus:
Dearest Evelyn and Daniel,
I must apologize. I have been summoned by the Ministry, a most trying affair, and I am afraid I will be most glaringly absent from today's lessons. Try to fight on without me, my cherubs, for I will return on the morrow when we must retrieve Evelyn's wand. However I have planned for such an occurrence and as such you will not be allowed to be idle and bemoan my absence (as I am quite sure you will in your free time). Your morning will be dedicated to Quidditch, for it is a lovely sport and, frankly, you're both beginning to look a little stout. Or is it thin? I can't rightly remember. Ah well, regardless, off to the Quidditch fields with you, Professor Krum is already expecting you. And after lunch report back here, where Professor Hayeel will conduct your lessons.
Lovingly yours,
Howl
"That's a rather large signature," commented Danny, tearing the letter off the wall to read it more closely. Eve, fascinated by the dagger, began to work on it and with much effort tugged it from the door.
"Do you think he'd mind if I kept this?" she asked, fingering the curvature of the blade. But Danny was elsewhere, his expression the refreshing blankness of someone lost deeply in thought. Eve, who occasionally had her moments of lightning fast intuition, slipped the dagger into her pocket, which she had discovered to be much deeper than it should have been. "It's Krum, isn't it. He's the one you're brooding about." Danny blushed and attempted to deny it but a wide grin had spread across Eve's face. "Don't you lie to me, Daniel Mikhailovich, I knew you had the hots for him the first time I saw you lay eyes on him at the World Cup." Danny, annoyed at how right she truly was, looked away grumbling. Eve laughed, taking his hand.
"Come on, we don't want Professor Krum to be mad, he'll punish us." She paused, licking her lips wickedly. "Or perhaps you want that? Hmm? How about it Danny-boy?" Danny blushed crimson at the sultry quality of her voice and made as if to tackle her. Eve screeched with glee, tearing off down the hall towards the exit and the Quidditch fields, a blushing and exhilarated, but laughing, Danny in hot pursuit. They crashed unceremoniously and loudly through the virtually empty halls, hardly stopping to think as to where the other students might be; in class, of course, but they didn't consider that as they burst out of the castle, tripping into the fields of snow-covered hills.
Finally, both had to pause and catch their breath, both crouching down and panting, laughing as Danny halfheartedly punched Eve on the shoulder. "Is this…the road…that we…have to go on?" Danny asked, his lungs burning as they took in the chill of the morning air. Eve looked around; it seemed so, this was the only road that led from the castle down to the very edge of the cliffs. "What do you suppose we have to do to get down there?" he asked a moment later, as they approached the cliff. The road wasn't very long, and a quick glance behind them showed no one stirring inside of the castle.
The road, of course, explained itself a moment later, dropping down at a horribly sharp angle when it met the cliff. It became very narrow, and instead of a road, down the cliff face was carved a long case of roughly hewn stairs. Danny let Eve go first, wearing a fake smile of chivalry (to which she rolled her derisively), following her a few steep stairs behind. The stairs down the cliff her long, and grueling, and although they were climbing down, both of them felt a slight burn in their legs by the time they came across the first of the Quidditch fields.
"So what do you think this Quidditch thing is?" Eve asked Danny as they walked the short, grassy path from the base of the cliff to one of the fields. He shrugged.
"Well, Lorelei said it was a sport played on broomsticks…and if there's a World Cup for it, I guess it must be pretty popular," he reasoned. He tried to act cool, knowing full well that all he really wanted to do was look around for their new professor. Of course, he couldn't let Eve know that, and so he kept a set face and kept walking. Soon, they came across a five-point fork in the road, and, after arguing a moment as to which way to turn, they decided and took a course for the nearest, right-hand field.
As they passed by the long shadows of the hoops of the field beside them, Eve looked up and noticed four or five birds flashing by extraordinarily quickly in the center of the field; blinking, she saw that it was in fact four or five people dressed in their same robes, all mounted on broomsticks and flying unbelievably fast up and down the field. Pausing a moment, one of the flying people descended several yards, and as Eve felt Lucifera DuMarne look directly at her, she felt a slight chill spread across of her back. Lorelei's words of warning about Lucifera echoed in her ears, but she waved it off and dashed to catch up with Danny; he was nearly to the entrance to the field, which was marked by a crude signpost.
"Is this where we're supposed to go?" Eve said nervously, hoping that they could stray further from Lucifera DuMarne and her broomstick-riding friends, who were now all gesturing and laughing at Eve and Danny. Danny nodded, and pointed to the center of the field; Eve quietly cursed under her breath.
Standing in the center of the grassy lawn, beside what looked like an ancient, moldy old chest, was the young man from the dining hall, his student's robes fluttering spectacularly around him as he waited impatiently for someone- probably, Danny thought, his heart sinking, them. Somehow, he had had time to tie his masses of curly hair back, in a tight knot behind his head, and, with his face now fully revealed, Eve looked at him with cold interest.
His face was impassive, at best, and he seemed to have several long scars, thin, white, stark against the swarthy quality of his skin, lining his rough, unshaven cheek and thin lips. His features were almost hawkish, sharp, and his almond shaped eyes looked over everything, as if watching all of his surroundings with a trained eye. He was certainly tall, almost too tall, and muscular, but lithe, and he didn't seem dangerous as he stood there in the delicate snows, adjusting the thick leather bracelets that bound his wrists. Danny tensed at the sight of him, the dark image in his mind of this man ripping his skin off to reveal the sleek body of wolf, jumping at them, attacking them…
His face fell as Danny and Eve approached, but Eve made it clear for him to tell that she wasn't the happiest person in the world about this arrangement, either. "Professor Krum will meet you up there," he said, his voice hollow and monotone, already annoyed, just by their presence. Eve looked at him dead on, unwavering.
"Up where, exactly?" she said sweetly, too sweetly, the Southern charm slipping its fingers almost undetectably into her voice. The man raised a thick eyebrow at her curiously, and sneered, pointing with a long finger up.
"Up," he spat. "I'm the one supposed to teach you how to get up there," he explained halfheartedly. "My name's Dominic; I'm the assistant to Professor Krum and the broom-maker for the school's Quidditch teams. I guess I'll be teaching you kids how to fly today." It sounded almost as if he had thought about putting a touch of false enthusiasm in his voice, and chose not to. "You two should grab a broom. And change into your leathers. Don't want the ickle firsties to get hurt," he jeered, his eyes narrowing as her jabbed a thumb crudely behind him. Behind him, on the edge of the field, was erected a crude sort of white tent, almost completely hidden by the snow. Danny massaged Eve's shoulder, half leading, half dragging her away from the fight he knew she would love to provoke with Dominic.
"Don't start a fight with him," Danny warned her; she was positively fuming, already ranting about the man and his manners.
"So rude, who does he think he is? Like- you don't just treat someone like that when you don't even know them? What kind of normal person does that?" she cried, frustrated. Danny thought a moment, then solemnly agreed.
"No normal person," he muttered under his breath as Eve stormed into the white canvas tent. Danny half expected it to be liken to the ones at the World Cup, a small house inside, furnished and warm, but instead all he met was the cold ground and a few knotty shelves, all covered in odd pieces of what look like flexible leather armor. There was a single, worn bench, and brooms were stacked in the corner, the handles rough and worn; overall, the small tent didn't have the warmest feel to it. Eve was still fuming as she investigated the leather on the shelves; she didn't notice the other man standing in the corner of the tent, his face covered in shadow, quietly sipping something out of a flask. He replaced the flask to one of the loops on his belt, and stepped forward. Danny gasped, and tugged as a still-furious Eve's robes. She turned, to him, angry, and looked past him, her eyes widening as her angry rant fell silent.
"You are Danny and Eve, I azzume," the swarthy man said, a thick Bulgarian accent heavy laden in his rumbling voice. Danny fumbled for a seat at the cold bench, and Eve's demeanor changed in a second, from furious to what Danny recognized as making fun of him, even if the professor didn't know it, watching her mouth as she suppressed the urge to smile. "I am Professor Krum; Headmassder Howl told me that ze two of you were to learn to fly today." Danny managed a nod, and looked to his new professor under hooded eyes.
Krum was, as he remembered, not a tall man, about his height, maybe a touch taller. His appearance was as gruff as his voice, as if he had been weathered at for many years; he was, however, a younger man, no more than thirty, if that. His clothing, which was so different than that of Howl's, was simple, a fur cloak tossed casually over one shoulder, a deep scarlet shirt, much like that Danny wore, a simple black pant. He wore heavy black boots, Danny noticed, as he looked the man over. A big man, he decided. Not with fat, but years of hard muscle. To add to his almost military look was his hair, buzzed extremely close to his scalp, and the neatly trimmed dark hair on his sturdy jaw.
Eve could tell why Lorelei would be attracted to him, he was a fine sample of a man, the epitome of masculinity, but she was in no way to admire him; she was still angry with Dominic, no matter the fun that she would have with Danny about this later. "Change," Krum commanded, almost harshly, to Eve. "Over zere," he added a moment later, looking suspiciously to Danny. Danny felt frozen under his look, and fell, for moment, into his surprisingly soft flecked hazel eyes, before the man turned away from him, leaving the connection of their eye contact severed and him stunned. "You have ten minutes; get changed," Krum instructed before leaving the tent, a sleek amber broom in hand.
A moment after he left, Danny let out his breath, which he hadn't realized he'd been holding, in a deep exhale. "D-d-do you know what to do with any of this?" he stuttered, knowing full well that to look into Eve's cruelly grinning face would be to invite the ridicule. He held up a piece of the leather, examining it curiously, making sure to avoid eye contact with his friend.
"I have an idea," Eve said, and pulled her robe off. Underneath, she wore a simple black pant and the emerald green blouse, over which she placed a piece of the armor that seemed to be made up of multiple plates. "Will you tie this?" she bade Danny, who clambered behind her to tie the armor behind her back. "See?" she demonstrated. "Stomach armor." She made a growling face, trying to act tough, and Danny hooted his nervous laughter. So far, Eve hadn't made fun, but he knew that it was coming.
After several minutes of bustling about and trying out different things, Eve was nearly fully fitted out in the leather armour, having had to untie the stomach leathers to take her blouse off. Her shoulders and forearms both were covered, as were her claves, thighs and stomach; she held up a piece that looked like two flat pieces, tied together and meant to be slid over the head. "You first," Eve said to Danny, who was finishing tying on his forearm plate. She slid the armor over his head so that it fit snugly against his chest and back, and tied it down one side, nearly shaking with the effort to suppress her giggling.
"Go on, just do it," Danny said, annoyed, and instantly Eve burst into hysterics.
"I bet you wish this was Professor Krum," she giggled as she tied the final knot. He looked to her, annoyed, and slid his robes back on over the plates of leathers. He then turned to help her, hardly resisting the urge to make his own snide comment.
"Better him than Dominic," he whispered into Eve's ear as he tried to slide on the chest plate. Eve exploded into fury. Whether this was from his comment, or from the fact that the armor didn't seem to fit over her breasts, Danny couldn't tell; he rocked back, stunned, as Eve flew into a rage.
"-FIRST THEY TREAT US LIKE WE'RE NO HIGHER THAN DOGS-" Danny tried to calm her down, to massage the anger out of her; it didn't work, and she only kept on yelling, pausing every few seconds to catch a breath over her rapidly beating heart.
"-THEN, THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE THE PROPER EQUIPMENT TO FIT A WOMAN-" she was storming about the tent, seething with anger. Danny checked his watch; they only had another minute or so until they had to be on the field. "-I'M GOING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS TO THAT IDIOT DOMINIC-" and before Danny could stop her, she was gone, wearing nothing but her pants, boots, leathers, and a bra. He sighed, and grabbed two of the least worn-looking brooms in the tent, following out after her. It was stiff, moving in the cracked leather under his robes, but Eve seemed to have no problem with it, already halfway down the field, screaming fully at the top of her lungs at Dominic.
Dominic seemed stunned, in the face of this girl, gesticulating wildly and screaming at him, wearing nothing but a bra to protect herself from the bite of the snow's chill. "-IF THIS SPORT IS REALLY AS DANGEROUS AS THEYS AY IT IS-" Danny heard, scoping around for Krum. He was already on his broom, looking magnificent as his cloak swirled around him, floating a few feet behind Dominic, decidedly amused by Eve's rage. "-YOU'D BETTER PRAY NO ONE GETS HURT BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE THE PROPER EQUIPMENT TO FIT A WOMAN WITH LARGER-"
Dominic was blanching, aghast at the spectacle. In the field beside them, Lucifera and her friends were watching Eve, laughing at her, several of them nearly falling off of their brooms in side-splitting hysterics. Finally, Dominic pulled out his wand. "SILENCIO!" he screamed over Eve's yells. Instantly she grasped at her throat; her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. Danny ran over to his friend's side, wanting to glare at Dominic, but afraid to. This, of course, only made Lucifera laugh harder.
"It's clear you don't know how things work around here," Dominic seethed, snatching one of the brooms from Danny's hands and pushing into Eve's. "But you do as you're told with me. Go- finish changing. And don't say a word," he smiled wickedly. "I'll take that little charm off once you get back." Danny could see her twitching with fury, but, unable to fight anymore, and thoroughly deflated, she stormed back to the tent. "A fiery one, there," Dominic commented to Danny. He nodded.
"She gets riled up pretty easily when it comes to feminism," he said honestly, still avoiding Dominic's eyes. Lucifera and her friends, bored no that Eve was gone, went back to their game. To Dominic's blank stare, he answered, aggravated, "You know, women's rights. Women are just as good as men, and all that?" Dominic shook his head.
"Of course they are," he said. "Who said they weren't?" Danny reeled, wondering if this man had ever taken any social history classes. But, before he could explain more, Eve came trudging back through the snows, fully dressed, but looking like it was tough for her to breath. She carried her broom over her shoulder, and came to rest next to Danny. Dominic raised his wand, and Eve exhaled, screwing her face into a smile.
"Thank you," she said testily.
"Okay," Dominic started, avoiding looking at Eve, whose face was solid. "So- flying. It's really not that difficult; I'm sure even stupid Muggles could learn how to do it. Of course, that doesn't mean that you two will be able to…" Danny sighed; rubbing Eve's twitching shoulder calmingly; some people never learn. "Ok, so first set your broom to the side, about n arm's distance away."
Eve stepped away from Danny, dropping her broom with a decided puff of snow. Danny did the same, letting his broom fall to the ground to his right. "Ok," Dominic continued, "Now, hovering your hand above the broom, say 'Up'. Soon enough you won't have to do this anymore, but for kids, it's a good start."
"Up," Eve commanded, and the broom flew into her hand with such force that she yelped, stumbling back. Danny had a feeling that if he turned around, he would see Lucifera mocking them. Dominic, however, flashed a look of impressed surprise across his face. It was, though, only a flash, and while Eve shook the pain in her hand off, Danny saw that it returned to its normal impassive expression.
Danny stretched his hand out, and trying to mimic Eve, said, in a firm tone, "Up." The broom rose gently into his hand, and he grasped it with ease, smiling. Dominic, however, was not impressed.
"That's not the power you'll need if you want to fly," he said, his voice as flat as ever. "Try again." For once, Danny was at a loss- perhaps this was the thing that having the better wand didn't help him in. And so he tried again, until the broom flew into his palm with such force that it left a distinct red mark. He looked over to eve, triumphant; Dominic was showing her how to mount her broom properly.
Eve sat with the broom between her legs, grasping onto the handle firmly; beneath her, the broom felt spongy, despite it being rough wood. She squirmed a moment, and Dominic corrected her position slightly. "Move your leg up a little," he commanded. She tried, but clearly not far enough; he grabbed her leg and jerked it into place.
"Don't touch me," she snapped at him, and kicked off from the ground, hovering a yard or so above it. He stumbled backwards, not expecting Eve to be able to fly with such proficiency already.
"It's your first day- how in hell did you know to do that?" he asked, a biting, jealous tone in his voice. She smirked, trying to hide her struggle to maintain her balance.
"Softball," she remarked, not bothering to explain the sport to Dominic, who stood there, dazed. She knew something that he didn't, and that filled her with the warmth of supreme satisfaction. He was only stricken for a moment, and soon turned to Danny, who had already mounted his broom.
After a moment of grunting adjustment, Dominic stepped back. "Okay, kick off," he instructed. Danny, nervous, bent his knees slightly and pushed off of the ground, feeling his clumsy handling of the broom beneath him. His movements were jerky, but he still rose to Eve's level, and shifted his weight as to stay there. He looked down to Dominic, but he, too, had mounted his broom and was hovering between them.
"Flying," he explained, "is all about the feel of the broom under you. Shifting your weight means turning, accelerating, decelerating, whatever you want. See what you can do; and try not to fall off," he advised wisely, before speeding off like a flash of lightning up to the sky, where he joined Krum.
"Is that all the instruction we get here? 'See what you can do?'" Danny complained, nearly falling off of his broom. He heard the titters of laughter coming, undoubtedly, from Lucifera and her gang from behind him as he waved his warms frantically.
"See, this is why you should have been more athletic in high school," Eve called as she rose up higher and higher, gaining some speed. Danny followed, shakily.
"Shut up," he groaned, nearly falling off of his broom again as the ground fell farther and farther away. For the next hour or so they hovered over the ground, flying over it, Eve with ease, only sometimes struggling with balance, Danny having a much more difficult time, speeding up then suddenly stopping like a teenage driver.
By the end of the hour Eve was able to accelerate and turn easily, and she looked and felt extraordinarily natural astride her broomstick; Danny, however, was only just able to keep his broom underneath him as he tried to keep pace with Eve. "Alright, stop flying and listen," Dominic said finally, descending down to their level again. "Professor, if you want to take it from here?" He glanced to Krum, who was hovering behind Danny.
Danny turned around sharply, nearly falling off of his broom in the jerk of the sudden motion. He flushed with embarrassment as Krum nodded, and Dominic zoomed off, away from the field. "Ze most popular sport in ze wizarding world iz Quidditch," Krum said coolly, his thick accent woven in with his fluent English. "It iz not hard to play; there are not many rules." He pulled out his wand, a stiff, unyielding rod, with which he pointed at the ancient chest on the ground below, and- "Locomotor trunk"- brought it zooming up towards them, resting on the tip of his sleek, shining broom.
He opened it to reveal three balls, two of them small, black, and heavy-looking, chained down to the inside of the chest, and one large, rusty-red ball, with four large dents in it. Krum pulled this one out first, throwing it back and forth between his rough hands easily. "Zis iz ze Quaffle," he explained. "Ze Chasers will use it to score points in those hoops," he waved behind him, to the fifty-foot-high hoops on either side of the field. "All of ze balls in Quidditch are enchanted; ze Quaffle has charms on it so that it will fall slowly through ze air, and is easy to hold in one hand." He tossed the Quaffle lightly to Danny, and his hand shot out, catching the ball. In his surprise, he nearly tumbled off of the broom again, but he held onto the Quaffle tightly. "Every team has three Chasers.
"Zese," Krum continued gruffly, "Are ze Bludgers. Zey are ze most dangerous zings in ze game."
"They don't look very dangerous," Eve commented. Krum lifted from the chest a heavy, rugged bat, and snapped the chains binding one of the Bludgers off. It instantly zoomed off, extremely fast, making a whizzing sound right by Eve's ear as it rushed by her head.
"Zey are," Krum began to explain, rolling the r while Eve made a face; she never could. "It iz ze goal of ze Bludgers to distract ze players; it iz ze goal of the Beaters to hit the Bludgers away from zeir team and to ze other teams' players. Bludgers move very fast, and it iz very hard for zem to change direction, and zey never slow down." However, as he said that, the Bludger came hurdling back at him, and with a well-timed crack of his hefty bat, it was sent howling away. Eve swallowed nervously. "Every team has two Beaters."
Krum looked around a moment, as if suspicious, before opening a small latch to a small compartment between the crater of the missing Bludger and the chaining, squealing second one. "Zis," he said softly, holding up a small, glimmering, golden ball, covering with intricate designs, "iz ze Golden Snitch." Danny and Eve leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the small ball, which had unwrapped delicate wings and was now buzzing, struggling to get away from Krum's grasp. "Only ze Seeker may touch it; zere is one Seeker on every team, and his goal is to catch ze Snitch. The game is no over until it is caught, and games can last for days," he said darkly. "Ze Quaffle is worth ten points; ze Snitch is worth one hundred and fifty, awarded to ze team of ze Seeker who caught it."
The Snitch glowed coolly in the late morning light. "It iz very hard to see, very hard to catch," Krum said before putting the Snitch back into its compartment. "Ze last player is ze Seeker; zey guard ze goals and try to stop ze other team's Chasers from scoring."
"So there are seven players to every team?" Eve asked, just for memorization's sake. "Three Catchers, two Beaters, one Keeper, one Seeker-"
"And a partridge in a pear tree," Danny finished for her, laughing. Krum blinked at him.
"I want you two to practice with ze Quaffle. Pass it back and forth, go higher," he instructed, rising up with them as they flew up higher and higher. Now they were about forty feet up, and Danny was still shaky on his broom. Eve, however, had taken the Quaffle from him and was zooming around happily with Krum, passing it back and forth while he nodded approvingly.
"Danny!" she called out, and a second later a rusty red streak nearly hit him in the face, knocking him backwards. The Quaffle fell next to him, quickly, but just slow enough that Danny could catch it in his hands. That is, he could have, if the incoming Quaffle hadn't knocked him off of his broom. He was grasping onto the handle tightly with both hands, the Quaffle held between his feet as he swung there precariously. "Oh, no!" Eve shrieked, but Danny, eager to impress Krum, simply grunted, straining to swing himself.
He swung harder and harder until he was able to flip up onto the broom handle, nearly falling off of the broom again as he struggled to maintain his balance. "Danny…" Eve glided up next to him. "That was so cool!" she said enthusiastically.
"I was just getting the Quaffle," he said modestly, blushing, grinning hard. Krum nodded, a hint of a smile on his lips. Danny noticed that he was still holding the Bludger bat, and looked around every once in a while, looking for the demon ball in case it came speeding towards them.
"I vill let you two practice zome more, I am avraid I haffe business to attend to." He flew off, a graceful dark streak against the white snow, leaving the two friends to toss the Quaffle back and forth. Eve was sitting comfortably atop her broom, her hips level, her thighs firm against the wood of the broom. While a bit shakier Danny too sat proudly, the Quaffle fitting pleasantly in his hands.
"Krum seems nice," commented Eve, her voice genuine, teasing no longer her motivation. Danny nodded, thoroughly struck by the vitality and power of the man. "He feels like a storm," she said, her eyes misting over as she remembered the sensation of his voice. Danny chuckled a little at her description, but admitted a similar impression.
"He's pretty intense." Eve nodded vigorously but then bit her lip.
"But you know, he smiles at you a lot. In fact, he rarely takes his eyes off of you. I mean, ever." Danny blushed, surprised how much this detail pleased him. Bored with simply passing the ball Eve swooped down to return it to its case. Danny watched her, her movements agile and aggressive, as if she and the broom were one, solid entity. He watched as she looked up at him and waved. He waved back but then noticed how frantically she moved her arms, and finally, her voice from so far away reached his human ears. "DANNY! MOVE!"
Danny looked up just in time to see the Bludger come streaking towards him. He swerved, almost avoiding the blow but not quite. The ball barreled into his arm, splintering bone with a sickening crack and knocking him from his perch atop his broom. As he fell, Danny was aware of only three things: one the icy wind cutting like blades through his gear, two, pain like fire engulfing his entire left arm, and three, Eve's horrified screams piercing through the air and drowning out all other noise. Finally he collided, but not with solid ground, something soft and muscular instead. The salty scent of sweat and wood smoke filled his nose as he looked up into Krum's dark gaze, tight with worry. He could hear Eve's panicked voice in the background, hysteria clear in her features as Dominic, much to Danny's surprise, held her back, attempting to comfort the distraught young woman.
Danny's attention returned to Krum. "Am I dying?" he asked, his voice weak and strained. The Slav laughed, the sound deep in his throat.
"No, no Daniel. I vill take good care ov you, no?" And with that Danny lost consciousness, not sure if he dreamed the gentle kiss on his forehead.
Tears flooded from Eve's eyes as her body shook, violent tremors wracking her frame. She had seen it. She had seen Lucifera, smirking and laughing, bat the Bludger Danny's way, had seen him fight to avoid it, watched him tumble through the air. She hadn't even been aware she was screaming until Dominic had started shaking her telling her to snap out of it. "He's vine." assured Professor Krum, patting her head. "Just a little drowsy iz all. I vill take him to the infirmary." The man nodded to Dominic before Apparating, the unconscious Danny held tightly to his chest. Dominic, who was still holding Eve, noticed she had stopped shaking.
"Are you calm now?" he asked, shaking his head. "Honestly, the kid will be fine. Injuries like that happen all the time-" Eve tilted her head so her gaze met his and the words trailed out of his mouth. There was something there that chilled him a little, something crazy.
"Get your hands off me." Her tone was even, level, emotionless. He removed his hands and watched as she walked over to a closed Quidditch box. Eve felt a cold fury harden within her heart. No one messed with her family, and Danny was pretty much family. Someone was going to pay, with interest. Her fingers opened the clasp with a crisp snap. She could hear the laughter of Lucifera and her friends behind her and her hand reached into the box, her fingers closing around a heavy bat. The weight was solid in her grip, her fingers fitting naturally into the grooves at the handle. One more look at the girl, laughing happily on her broom and Eve released the Bludger.
Finally realizing her intent Dominic attempted to stop her, but he was too late. With perfect form she cocked her arm back and swung, her entire body going into the well-practiced movement, her features hard. The bat connected with the Bludger, resulting in a resounding crack which echoed across the fields. The ball went flying and, to the surprise of everyone hit its mark, colliding with Lucifera in the center of her chest and toppling her backward. Without a backward glance Eve mounted a broom and sped forward. She caught Lucifera, slowing her descent so the fall wouldn't kill her and then dropped the girl to the snow.
Lucifera landed on her wrist with a snap, coughing as she struggled to fill her lungs. Eve jumped off heavily beside her, her boots carving deep into the snow. "Who-who the hell d-d-do you think you are?" choked out Lucifera. A cruel smile touched Eve's lips, making the girl look slightly demented.
"So, you want to get acquainted, do you?" Eve crouched and slammed the bat into the snow inches away from Lucifera's head. "My name's Evelyn Berry, and that guy you almost killed, he's my best friend. And you know, I really don't like it when people mess with my friends, in fact, it really pisses me off." Her laugh was a little crazy and Lucifera's eyes widened in fear. "So, the next time you think you're going to be funny and try a little stunt like that again, don't, or I will find you and make sure you will be eating your meals out of a magically enchanted tube for the rest of your life. Do we understand each other?" Lucifera nodded vigorously and Eve snarled at her, her smile tight and threatening. "Good." With that she stalked off, leaving Lucifera's friends to comfort the traumatized girl.
The snow was cold and seeped deeply into her boots and toes. Eve grimaced, she really wasn't used to the cold having spent most of her life in the state of Georgia. When she finally returned to Dominic her energy was pretty much spent and her teeth were chattering as she rubbed her arms in preparation of facing the unpleasant man before her. When she glanced upwards she found him watching her with speculative eyes, bright with interest. Eve shook her head, warding off the questions. "Look, I'm sorry, but would you mind taking me to the infirmary? I am really not in the mood to discuss anything with you." To Eve's immense surprise Dominic complied. In a moment he took hold of her wrist and with a flash they vanished from the field and into the in-between.
She felt her body contorting violently and was happy she hadn't eaten very much breakfast. They arrived abruptly, Dominic standing with perfect ease while the magic sent Eve flying into a wall. She groaned loudly and was greeted by a loud, cacophonous shushing. Glancing upwards Eve's gaze met the cold eyes of a woman in form-fitting white nurse's robes. She was slim, middle-aged, and possessed the most stunningly beautiful face Eve had ever seen.
"My god." Eve said before she could stop herself. "You're gorgeous!" The woman paused, clearly flattered and taken off-guard, before tossing her iced blond curls and returning to glaring.
"No loud noises in ze infirmary. You're disturbing our patients." Eve apologized hurriedly, dazed. Even her voice was lovely, like the tinkling of glass, not commanding at all. Dominic, who had come to stand by Eve, whistled low as the woman walked away, her heels clicking and her hips swaying seductively.
"Looking good, Madam H!" he called after her. Eve shook her head bewildered. The woman turned back and shushed him, but none could mistake the bright look in her as she did so.
"Who was that?" Dominic watched her as she struggled to stand, not bothering to offer to help.
"Madame Heriot- she's French. She's the head nurse of our school's infirmary and, quite possibly, the sexiest woman alive." Eve was inclined to agree but Dominic stopped her. "Don't get too excited though, that woman is 100% fake." Eve paused.
"I've seen plastic surgery before and that woman does not have it." She said flatly, wondering if he was taking her for a fool. Dominic laughed, earning a wonderfully icy glare from Madame Heriot.
"Of course she wouldn't get that stupid Muggle procedure." He said with a chuckle. "She just has a particular powerful Glamour on today." Eve was at an absolute loss.
"Glamour?" Dominic rolled his eyes.
"It's a spell. Or, rather a charm, I suppose. It makes everyone look better. I suppose it could even improve your ugly mug." He said coolly with a sidelong glance at Eve. "The user activates it and the spell feeds off of a small amount of their energy to present a certain image. Of course, I suspect Madame H's is extremely strong, so it probably absorbs a significant part of her magic." Eve shook her head in wonder.
"Seems like an awful lot of effort." She muttered. Dominic shrugged.
"Well, some people actually attempt to look good." His voice was thick with implication and sarcasm, and Eve twitched angrily.
"Like you can talk. I doubt you even brushed your hair this morning." Dominic frowned.
"Let's go find your precious Danny," he snarled, his voice low, as he set off striding between the hospital beds. Eve, whose legs were much shorter, struggle to match pace, her eyes shooting daggers into the back of Dominic's head. It wasn't hard to find Danny's bed; it was the only one with the curtains drawn, probably as most of the students hadn't had the tie to injure themselves on the first day of term yet. The infirmary, of course, was filled with row after row of bed, all of them smooth and unused, not a speck of grime to be found along the white floors or walls. It was, however, still extraordinarily elegant, several finely decorated gold-leaf pillars surrounding a large fountain.
The fountain depicted a thin man, his robes flowing around him, with a winged helmet and shoes; in one hand he gripped a wand, in the other, two snakes. The water flowed up in a marvelous cascade from the tip of his outstretched wand, splashing with a quiet, peaceful sound to the pool beneath it. This sound was accompanied in turn by soft singing, in a hushed, whispering voice, the effect of which made Eve's eyelids grow heavy, and she found it hard to walk. "Wood elves," Dominic whispered, seemingly unable to break the serenity of the ward. "Madame H keeps a permanent Disillusionment Charm on them, so that they can't be seen. Only heard. Keeps the patients asleep. You can find them a lot around the school, in the library and such." A golden light seemed to descend from the ceiling and fall, glittering, onto the statue, bathing the cold, sterile walls in a warm light.
The curtain drawn around Danny's bed was very professional, a crisp, white linen suspended in the air by magic. Inside, Eve heard rustling; she parted the sheet with Dominic's encouragement while he stood aside. Danny was lying the bed, whose linens were creased around him, his head falling to one side in a stupor inspired by the wood elves' song, which seemed to echo off the walls. Madame H sat on the edge of Danny's bed, her legs crossed seductively while she wrapped his arm in a tight clothe. She looked up in surprise when Eve entered.
"Vy are you here?" she asked softly, her voice chiming pleasantly. Eve smiled at her graciously.
"Danny- he's my friend, I wanted to see if he's alright," Eve replied, careful to keep her voice down. Madame H nodded, her curls bouncing as her ruby lips broke into a smile, which revealed, as was expected, perfectly straight, white teeth.
"He will be fine. He just needs to be more careful on a broom," the woman replied, finishing her wrapping and looking at the arm curiously. "I zink zat ve have met befo'e, yes?" she said, half-interested, to Eve as she examined Danny.
"Well- no…you just shushed me?"
"Well, it seems zat your friend vill be fine, oui? He just needs to let his potion take effect," she purred, her voice a song. "He should be out of ze bed in an hour, good for lunch." Eve nodded graciously, and it was only then that she noticed Krum sitting on the other side of the bed from Madame H, his heavy brow wrinkled slightly. She waved to him lightly, and he gave her a sullen nod; on her way out, Eve whispered to Dominic.
"Is he always that sullen?"
"Who, Danny? How the hell should I know?" Dominic's voice was stitched with sarcasm, and Eve glared at him. After a moment Dominic's face broke into a curl of a smile, the first she had ever seen from him. "Yeah, Krum is. Has been ever since…well, never you mind that," he said, stumbling on his tongue. "How long did they say Danny's be in there. Taking a Bludger's never easy, especially when you're as shaky on a broom as he was."
"He just needs practice, is all!" Eve said defensively. Dominic snorted, and led her to the fireplace of the atrium that was the infirmary. In a flash of emerald flame, they were gone.
In his bed, Danny stirred, moaning slightly at the twinge of pain deep in the bones of his arm. His eyelids fluttered open to find a woman massaging it gently, unwrapping what looked like fresh bandages. "Insta-set bandages," she explained, her voice like wind chimes. It was pleasant, and it floated over to Danny's ears on a cushion of the sound of softly running water and a curious song, the sort of formless, never-ending melody that made Danny want to close his eyes, slip into a blissful sleep….
"You 'ave broken your arm," the woman said again. "Or, rather, ze Bludger did." She laughed, and flipped her beautiful, flowing iced blonde hair over her shoulder. "Madame Helio' 'as fixed everyzing," the woman cooed. From inside her almost scandalously low cut robes the woman pulled a small vial, filled with a thick, muddy green liquid. She pulled the stopper out with a resounding pop and bade Danny to open his mouth.
"What is that?" Danny asked as an acrid odor hit his nose, wafting from the phial.
"It vill help with ze pain," answered a deep, baritone growl from the foot of his bed. "I have been in here to see Madame H on many occasions; Quidditch players tend to have accidents," Krum explained. "Of course, yours vos a stray shot…"
"I got hit by a Bludger?" Danny exclaimed after a moment, putting hints and clues together. Instantly Madame H hushed him, and straightened his bedspread; he could hardly breathe, it was so tight. She asked him quietly to move his wrist and fingers, to flex his forearm; he complied, feeling not the slightest twinge of pain. "Was my arm broken? I can't feel a thing!" he said in amazement, looking at his arm as if it were some sort of foreign object.
"Zat iz ze potion," Madame H sang softly, taking out her delicate wand, and, with a sharp flick of her wrist, sent the curtain around his bed to fold itself and lay itself delicately on a small table beside his head. "I must be off," she said, her voice husky, to Krum. She placed a delicately manicured hand on his broad shoulder, leaning forward, low, on purpose. "You should veeseet me more often." Krum raised an eyebrow. She walked off, her hips shaking in what Danny supposed would be hopelessly seductive for most boys his age.
"So- what happened?" Danny asked Krum, after Madame H had turned a corner, pausing, of course, to blow Krum a tender kiss before her exit.
"Stray Bludger," was his only reply. "From ze field next to ours. Luceefeera must haffe hit ze zing wrong. You fell off your broom." Danny shifted, remembering what Lorelei had said about Lucifera in the Great Hall. You don't want to come across her in the halls alone. Danny had a sneaking suspicion that halls didn't matter to Lucifera DuMarne. "Of course, a stray vind could have blown you off your broom," Krum mused.
"Didn't you have somewhere to be?" Danny snapped, wounded by his insult. Krum look at him, surprised.
"I voz vaiting on you to vake up," came the swift reply. "Zere are better zings I could haffe done."
"Well, why don't you just do them, then?" Danny muttered, rolling onto his side, away from Krum. Though he liked to pretend he was insulted, he liked even more knowing that Krum had put off other things to bring him here, and watch over him. But, of course, he reprimanded himself, he was the man's student. Of course he had to bring him to the infirmary. He looked up to Krum, who was now standing a few feet away from the bed.
"I am off, zen," the professor said indignantly. "Madame H said zat you may go as vell. I ezzpect to see you tomorrow, during lunch, on ze Quidditch field." Before Danny could ask the question- not that he was going to object- Krum answered it. "You need more practice on ze broom. Do not bring Eve; I vill talk to her separately." With a small white flash and a resounding pop, he was gone; Danny could have sworn he saw a wink just before he Apparated. He found his robes lying folded next to the curtain; he put them on quickly and slipped out to the fireplace, sprinkling Floo powder from the mantle and saying firmly, "Great Hall!"