Chapter 7: I'm a lover, not a fighter.

"Alright…So, shake?" Spitz said. We all nodded and spit on our hands. Nothing could seal the deal more than saliva.

"Deal." I said as I struck my hand out.

"Deal." Said Spitz has he shook it.

"Deal." Said Freck as he laid his on top of ours.

It was our three-way shake thing.

"So boys…may the better girl win." I smiled. This would be fun.


So Troy and Nick ended up showing up about 2 minutes before the flight was set to take off…and now we had 5-6 hours of pure nothing to do as we made our way to Salem, Oregon. We did loads of things, I painted my nails silver, we played a bunch of card games, ranging from Go Fish, to Texas Hold 'Em, to Egyptian Rat Screw (which I own at by the way). Then we talked for a long time, and then Nick realized he forgot to do his Herbology homework, we had to identify 100 plants and their defensive uses…he only had two.

Needless to say, there wasn't really a dull moment on this flight.

And now we're in the mess hall, each of us going our separate ways to our circular tables by our teams. The tables go (in order from left to right) Snakes, Lions, Badgers, Eagles. And there are 4 circular tables, the seventh and sixth years sit closest to the doors, and the first years sit all alone closest to the teachers table. The boys and I went to go sit at our table, while waving to the 2 girls and one guy from 7th year.

"Hey Shawn, how was your summer?" Tory asked as we sat down next to her. Tory was a seventh year DM and not in the accelerated program, sadly. She was short, only about 5'3" and had brown hair and green eyes. She was captain of the quidditch team, and our keeper.

"Not too bad, did some stuff, went to the world cup, but I didn't really do much else." I said as I sat down, waiting for the food to appear. The firsties wouldn't show up till the end of the week, because they still needed to be tested and all that hooplah, so the first day back is really uneventful. We just sit, talk, eat, and then Headmistress J. makes a couple of announcements and we go to bed. Blah, blah, blah.

I had a similar conversation with the other girl, Ryann, who looked almost the same as Tory, except she was a little taller and had hazel eyes, before I turned back to the boys and dug in. After we were all fed, and made some small talk, Johanson stood up.

"Welcome back students, this year will surely be eventful." I snorted, yeah right.

"First, I would like everyone to note that the hockey and quidditch cups have been cancelled this year, due to our school entering the Quad-Wizard tournament." There was an immediate outbreak of yells and whispers.

"Would those students who wish to attend Hogwarts sign up with their team leaders by Friday, only those who will become 17 by October 31st may enter." She said with a look to each of the tables. There was a collective nod from the school.

"That's basically it everyone, the sorting ceremony will be on Friday at noon, so you have Friday off, and 2nd years and above are allowed to attend the village weekend. It's only 7 o'clock right now, so you can mingle for the next couple of hours, but remember your curfew. For those of you who conveniently forgot, it is 9:30 for 1st and 2nd years, 10:00 for 3rd and 4th years, 10:30 for 5th years, and 11:00 for 6th and 7th years. Also, would the accelerated students from 5th years and up please come to my office sometime during the night so I can give you your assignments and passes for the year? Thank you, and have a good night!" She finished before stepping down from the head table and walking out of the mess hall. I looked to Freck and Spitz, they nodded and we got up and found our way to Nick and Troy.

"When do you guys want to go get our assignments?" Troy asked as Nick and I neared him.

"As soon as possible, I wanna know who I'm working with this year." Each year we get assigned to a squadron of about 5 or 6 other aurors and we work with them on special assignments. Last year I was with a bunch of Brits working to find Sirius Black…of course, at that time I didn't know he was innocent.

"I bet you're not with either of us." Nick said sadly. We were never together, even in training, Nick trained with the East Auror Division, Troy trained with the West, and I trained with the Canadian Division, not fun.

"Wanna make it official?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ten bucks says that we aren't together." Nick sighed, we bet American money, not Wizarding money.

"Fifteen says you two are, but I am in a total other division by myself." I said confidently.

"Twenty says that you and Nick will be together, but I'll be in the East Division all alone." We did the three-way handshake.

"Well, only one way to find out." I said. The boys nodded and Freck and Spitz sighed. We all linked arms and made our way to Headmistress J.'s office. Oh what fun this year would be…


We entered the Headmistress' office quietly, as three 5th years came out looking upset. We cocked our heads at them, but nodded all the same, we were like that last year.

"You two are gonna have to stay outside." I said turning to Freck and Spitz, "it's top secret business, no joke." I said as they laughed. They nodded at my solemn look and walked out the door. The three of us that were remaining turned to look at our headmistress.

"Hello, kids, how was the remainder of your summer?" She asked as she poured us each a glass of coke.

"It was pretty cool; I didn't really do anything, which was nice for a change." I smiled, as did Nick and Troy. They both gave similar answers.

"That's good, now, for your assignments." She rifled through some files and pulled out three manila folders, one had Black, Shauna written across the top, with a picture of me in auror robes paper clipped to the top. One had Winters, Nick and a picture of him, and the last had Andrews, Troy with Troy's picture on it. We all clutched hands.

"Nick, you will be stationed with the Eastern Division, your first mission is to help strengthen wards in all major Wizarding parts of the East coast, I will call you in on your first day." Nick sighed, he hated warding more than anything in the world. And I swear I saw Madame J. smirk. I raised an eyebrow…so Madame J. could be evil too?

"Shawn, you will be with the Canadian Division again," I snorted, "your mission is to collect all information you can about this Ryan Darker, and bring it back to HQ by the end of the month. During this time you will be called in to give brief reports, and as well as be on the first line of any attacks made by him and his followers." I twitched. I hated research beyond anything, but I suppose I should be grateful, at least I was getting some field work. "You will have access to all private government records, as well as any school records you may need to acquire." I perked at the school records part…this could be tres interessant.

"Troy, you will be with the Western Division this year." He pumped his fist at this. According to him, the Western Division had all the hott babes, but I think that is a load of bull. "Your squadron will be working along side Shawn's squadron to work against Ryan Darker, you do not have a set mission, only that you are stand-by patrol for any attacks made by Darker." Troy swore quietly, he hated stand-by, he wasn't one to sit and wait for someone to be incapacitated before he could do his job, he liked to do it then and there.

"You all have your assignments, here are their details, and I will call you in if I receive any information." She handed us our manila folders and we walked out quietly.

"This is so dumb, I hate research! She knows that!" I complained loudly.

"It's not like I like warding, Shawn." Nick said quietly. We both turned to Troy, who stood there quietly.

"Who won the bet?" We all looked at each other, none of us won the bet, since none of us were working together, but technically, Troy and I would be working along side each othr, so Nick didn't win either.

"I don't think anyone did." Nick sighed. We all groaned, no body likes a void bet.


For the next couple of hours before curfew, we really didn't do anything. We walked around for a little bit, and explained to Freck and Spitz about our warding experience over the summer. We skated on the outdoor basketball court that was in the courtyard, before Nick finally conjured a basketball and we played a little 3 v 2, me and Freck verses the rest of the boys. We lost. Horribly.

And now, I'm walking into the Snake lounge with Freck and Spitz, only about 2 minutes to spare before curfew. We were laughing at a story Spitz told us about his close encounter with a shark this year. That boy is endlessly amusing. My eyes fell upon the lounge, and a smile graced my features. This was home.

The walls were painted a bright emerald, with white trimming all around. There were somewhere between 8 and 12 square tables that lined the right wall, all with about 5 feet spaced in between them, each one had four chairs around them. On the left wall, a good 50 feet away from the right wall, were two huge bookcases, one that held Healer texts, and the other held Defense texts. The ground was covered in a nice silver plush carpet, with a green strip that was a walkway to down to the dorms. There were about 7 armchairs scattered around, and two L-shaped sofas, one on either side. Needless to say, our lounge is pretty amazing.l

We walked in a bit further and collapsed onto one of the sofas. There was a collective sigh, before I sat up.

"I'm gonna head up, we have classes in 8 and a half hours, and I'm beat." I yawned as I got up from my seat. I helped the boys and we made our way along the walkway, before coming to a slide. Like, literally, its actually a tube slide.

"You first, or me?" Freck asked politely.

"I'll go, I'll wait down at the bottom so we can go to our rooms together." I said as I stepped into the chute. I flung myself down and waited about 4 seconds before I hit the bottom. I got out of the slide and stood by it to wait for the boys. The slide empties out into a long hallway. There are 14 doors, the closest to the slide being the 7th year dorms. On the right side are the boys dorms, and on the left are the girls. Freck tumbled out of the slide, and soon after him Spitz, and we walked over to the second set of doors.

"I'll meet you guys out here at 7:00, how's that? That gives us time to grab breakfast and get to our classes." I said as I pulled out my room key from around my neck. The boys nodded and Freck pulled out his.

"Night." Freck and Spitz said.

"Night, boys." I smiled as I opened the door.

So, I've been alone in this room for the past 5 years. Sometimes, I wish I had roommates, but most of the time I like my privacy, besides, it isn't as if the rest of the team isn't 5 steps down the hall or so.

One benefit of no roommate is that I get this huge space to myself. The room is big, enough to fit two people. I've got a full sized bed on the left side, with a nightstand on both sides. One would hold my lamp and other little things like quills and pens, and the other side is my 'remember-side.' I normally put my case files, and a bunch of little post-it notes on that side, and I check it once in the morning, and once at night, to make sure I'm always on track. Going over, on the wall directly in front of my door is a desk, which holds my WizNet (basically a wizard version of a laptop which isn't powered by electricity, but by magic), another lamp, and a pull out desk thing that I can do all my homework on. It has a shelf on top of it, where I normally put most of my school books, so I can have easy references when I'm doing late night essays. On the right wall I have a huge wooden armoire. It's old fashion, one shelf on the bottom, and a closet hanger on top. Two drawers beneath the doors, and a cute, old-fashioned key, which I think pulls the whole thing together. Next to the armoire is a plush armchair that I never really sit in, I only ever do when I need to figure something out. Like last year, I almost always sat in that chair when I was trying to figure out my dad's case; it's like my imagination chair or something. And of course, I don't get my own bathroom, I share with the two seventh year girls, and the one fifth year girl. The fourth, third, second, and first years all share one bathroom, but it's big. It's got about seven showers and six stalls, so it's useable. Of course, ours has a Jacuzzi, and a bunch of bath/shower things, not just regular showers, but what would you expect for the best right?

So now I'm unpacking all my stuff, with my wand, because I can do that. I waved the ebony stick listlessly and watched as everything zoomed to their designated spots. With that over with, I plopped down at my desk, opened my WizNet, and set my manila folder down. I stared at it for a few moments, before opening the folder with a sigh. Inside was a stack of about 10 or so papers, all which were supposed to detail my mission and give me information on Ryan Darker. I looked at the first page, it was a detailed biography of Ryan Darker, along with a picture of him. He wasn't bad to look at, I'll admit. This guy is only in his mid twenties, with dark hair, and fair skin, blue eyes, and from what I can see, a nice build. If he wasn't a deranged murder, I would not mind dating him in the slightest.

Name: Ryan Darker

Age: 25

D.O.B: 1/13/1979

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 175 lbs.

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Brown

Early Life: Ryan grew up in the outskirts of Washington DC, he has one younger sister, who attended DCMA, and played for the school Quidditch team. He was set to attend DCMA, but was accepted to Salem School for the Gifted, and later joined the Eagles team. Here he excelled as a Defenseman, joining the accelerated program, and becoming one of the Western Divisions best aurors to date. He later went on to be the Eagles Quidditch captain, and graduated with high honors. He went directly into the force, working on raids, and rose in the department, before quitting, quite unceremoniously. No one has yet to find the reason why.

Criminal Record: Numerous attacks on Wizarding villages all up and down the West Coast, does not seem to be targeting anyone, only killing those he meets. Charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, large-scale destruction, and so forth.

I cocked an eyebrow at the page, this guy seemed like your regular lunatic, albeit, a bit smarter. Rubbing my tired eyes, I leafed through the rest of the pages, before shutting down my WizNet, and placing the papers back in the folder. I set the folder down on the night stand, and changed into my pajamas, before crawling into bed.

Once again, it was good to be home.


I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring in my ears. I squinted at it, seeing that it was 6:30, and I had half-an-hour to get ready. I hit the off button and yawned loudly. I sat up and grabbed my bag of toiletries from my nightstand, before getting up and stretching out my back. I grabbed my robe from behind the door and walked outside, putting my room key in my pocket as I locked the door. I scuffled over to the bathrooms and heard the other girls in the showers. I walked into an empty one and placed my stuff outside of the curtain. I took a quick, 15 minute shower, and washed my hair before I came out with a towel wrapped around me. I put my robe over my body and pulled out my wand, casting a drying spell on my hair. I walked over to the mirror and brushed my teeth and washed my face, before using the bathroom. I glanced at the clock, it was 6:55, I had five minutes to change and meet the guys.

With a sigh, I rushed back to my room and opened the door. I got in and opened my armoire, before grabbing my uniform. I left the door opened so I could use the mirror as I dressed into our school uniform. Our uniforms are cool, the girls wear pleated, plaid skirts, and the guys wear black slacks. Our skirts are color-coded to our team, so mine is a green and gray skirt, and the lions are red and yellow, the badgers are yellow and black, and eagles are blue and bronze. On top we have the choice of wearing a white button up long-sleeved or a short-sleeved black polo. I normally stuck with the polo. I slipped the shirt on over my head, and then the skirts over my legs.

"Crap, I didn't shave!" I whispered, oh well, time for metamorphagus powers! I willed the hair to disappear, and POOF! It did!

Now, for my hair. I looked at my curly mass of rats nest, before closing my eyes in concentration. I opened them and saw my hair in nice and loose ringlets. I opened my bag of toiletries and pulled out eyeliner, I applied a little and then some mascara, before grabbing my school bag and key and walking out the door. I glanced down at my watch as I turned to lock it and saw that I was seven minutes late. Not bad.

"Sorry guys." I said sheepishly as I stood next to Freck and Spitz.

"It's cool, Shawn, but let's go get breakfast really fast, cuz we still have to come down to get our books later." Freck said as he lead the way up the staircase. There is a staircase next to the slide, so that we don't have to climb up the slide to get out of the dorms.

We took a shortcut to get to the mess hall, and sat down at the 6/7th year round tables. On the table was bread, butter, orange juice, apple juice, milk, and some bagels and fruit. Of course, they make us work for our food here. We have to toast our food, conjure goblets for our drinks, and conjure silverware. Thankfully, kids learn this within the first two months, so they're not totally screwed. Of course, us older kids being amazing and whatnot, always help them out their first couple of weeks, so that they don't starve.

I picked up a bagel and held my wand to it, as Freck did the same with his toast. Spitz took the easy way out and grabbed an apple. Health nut…

"Incindio." I whispered as Freck did the same. I held the flame charm at a controlled temperature and turned my bagel around it until it toasted well enough. Even after six years, I'm not very good at toasting my food.

I bit into my bagel dry as we walked up to the teacher's table. We went up to Mrs. Handle, who was our team leader, and grabbed our schedules.

"Shawn, Madame J. wants to talk to you about your schedule." She whispered as she handed me mine. I nodded and walked over to Madame J. as Handle gave Freck and Spitz their schedules.

"Mrs. Handle said you wanted to see me, Madame?" I asked her as I stood in front of her nervously.

"Yes, Shawn, I don't think you should continue your healing studies this year--" She started.

"--But--" She cut me off.

"--if you are going to go to Hogwarts, there will be no time for you to have private tutoring, as well as keep up with your duties, I'm sorry." She said sympathetically. I nodded and walked back over to Freck and Spitz.

"What--"

"--Did she want?" They asked.

"I cant take healing this year, since I'm gonna go to Hogwarts." I said depressed as I bit in once again into my bagel.

"That's okay Shawn, healing isn't all that great anyway!" Freck exclaimed.

"Yeah! The human body is disgusting." Spitz said distastefully.

"Yeah, I guess. Besides, I know I'm going to be an auror anyway, so I might as well breeze through these next two years eh?" The Canadian-ness is coming back to me.

"Atta girl Shawny, we'll see you later, alright?" They said as they walked off to their first class. I looked down at my schedule.

1st Period: Integrated Defense

2nd Period: Potions and Herbology in Defense

3rd Period: Conditioning

4th Period: Weight training

5th/6th Periods: Lunch

7th Period: Charms and Transfiguration in dueling

8th Period: Weapons training

Today was an A-Day, meaning I had all my odd-period classes. We have four classes a day, each about an hour and a half long, and a 10 minute break in between. Lunch isn't technically a class, its basically a study hall where we do all our homework and stuff. It switches every day from A to B day, (b-days we have all our even-periods) and switches off every week. So this week would go ABABA, and next week would go BABAB, so its evened out.

I sighed, I had Integrated Defense first, which is my worst class. It's basically a dueling class where all they do is teach us how to duel using wizarding and muggle techniques. I'm not a big fan of fighting muggle style.

What can I say? I'm a lover, not a fighter…


A/N: Wow, two new chapters in about 13 days, that's got to be a record. I had this done about a week ago, and the document was up here, but i didnt really want to edit everything, so i let it sit for about a week...sorry! So, it occurred to me that last chapter was pretty short, so I made this one longer. It's eight pages long and just under 4,000 words. I'm hoping to keep my chapters this size. I wasn't originally gonna end it here, but I've been dying to use the whole, I'm a lover, not a fighter phrase for ages.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine, but you already knew that didn't you? This goes for all other chapters!

Please review, I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter, so anything would be great!