Hello! How're you today? Well, you're about to get a hell lot better! Chapter 13 is up!
Thank you to my lurrrvly reviewers:Adora81, rowellylovesgryffindor and ForeverTeamEdward13! You guys are immense!
Disclaimer: I only own Mia, Céleste and Anton… and when Mia uses the spell Exaresco… I found this spell after searching for it… none of the websites (like wikipedia) are particularly reliable, but it's the best I have… so…
Oh and when I typed in Frenchnames, the names Céleste was one of the ones that came up. If it just so happens to not be French, give me a French one!
Also, this is my first try at writing a French accent. If I think it turns out well, I may continue, if I think it turns out horrible, I won't and just say that the person speaking is French or whatever.
So, this chapter- as the name suggests- is set during December. It is vital concerning the next few chapters and the scene at the end has been sitting in my mind for a very long time… so have fun reading!
Chapter 13: December
The weather became colder. And Mia hated the cold. Every morning, when she looked up at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall, she groaned and wished for summer, wondering why she couldn't live in a place like Tenerife or Australia. And within the first week of December, it had started to snow. Every morning, the grounds were layered with another new blanket of snow, hiding all the footprints of the previous day.
Mia, Fred and George were trudging back up to the castle. Mia and George had snow in their hair and clinging to their eyelashes. Fred, however, was sopping wet and shivering. "I hate snow!" Mia suddenly exclaimed.
"Mia… you've j-just particip-pated in one of our most b-brutal snow-ball fight-ts in history! You p-pushed me into the lake!" Fred said, teethe chattering.
"Well, then dry off!" Mia said, exasperated.
"And how d-do you propose I d-do that?" Mia sighed and stopped walking, yanking her wand out of her coat pocket. She pointed it at Fred.
"Exaresco!" she said. The water on Fred's robes evaporated.
"Thanks… but I could've done that," he said.
"Then why didn't you?" Fred opened his mouth to reply, closed it, the opened it again.
"Because I wanted to make you feel like you actually knew something," he said.
"I know a hell lot more then you, that's for sure. Now can we go inside? Please? While I may enjoy massive snow-ball fights, I hate the temperature that causes them!" she turned around and started towards the castle again.
As they were walking up the stone steps, a high, girly voice came from behind them. "Excuse me?" they all turned around and saw a girl hurrying up the steps. She was tall, with caramel coloured skin and long, very thick, course black hair. She had small, dark brown eyes and high cheek bone. She was pretty, but she was nothing on Fleur Delacour. "Excuse me?" she said again, in a prominent French accent. So she was from Beauxbatons.
"Mmm?" Mia asked, looking up to her and smiling politely as she came to a stop on the step below them.
"Do you know where I could find Professor… Rubeus 'Agrid? Madame Maxime 'as given me a message for 'im," the girl said. She looked at the three Hogwarts students, fluttering her eyelashes at George. Mia felt her smile drop.
"Yeah, he's probably in his hut," Mia pointed in the direction. The girl looked and squinted her small eyes.
"I cannot see anytheeng…" she said.
"Yeah, it's a bit of a walk, but it is there," Mia replied. The girl looked in the direction again.
"But… what if get lost? I could go in the completely wrong direction…" the girl looked at the three again, then at George, "per'aps you could show me ze way?" the girl smiled sweetly and fluttered her eyelashes a bit more. Mia crossed her arms and huffed, a small cloud coming out of her mouth. George just blinked for a second.
"Well… I'm kinda…" he started, but the girl cut across him.
"Please? I don't want to get lost," she bit her bottom lip.
"Um, o…k?" he said. The girl grinned happily.
"Thank you. I promeeze, I won't keep you out in zis cold long," George slowly walked down the steps with the girl. "I am Céleste, by ze way."
"Um… George…" he looked back at Mia and Fred before almost slipping off one frozen step. He didn't look back as they went off in the direction of Hagrid's hut.
Mia and Fred climbed up the staircases and wandered down the corridors towards Gryffindor tower. "I mean, what kind of name is Céleste, anyway?" she said, shrilly.
"A… French name?" Fred suggested.
"Oh, shut up, Fred!" she snapped. Fred just rolled his eyes and sighed.
When they got to the common room, Mia ran up to her dormitory quickly, threw off her coat, kicked off her three-inch, block heeled boots and picked up Medicine Magic: a Guide to the World of Magical Medicine and headed back downstairs. She curled up in the armchair opposite Fred (who was scratching something down on a piece of parchment) and opened the book where she had left off: Pepperup Potion. This was a potion that could get rid of colds.
Fifteen minutes later, the portrait hole swung open and in came George, with a red nose and snow still in his hair. "I'm glad I don't need to go out in this dreadful weather!" the Fat Lady said as her picture swung shut.
"Have fun?" Mia asked, not looking up from the page on the Wiggenweld Potion- a potion that wakes up someone in an enchanted sleep.
"Do you know how cold it is out there?" he asked, flopping onto an armchair.
"Yes. I do. I've just spent an hour being pelted with balls of snow. With you two." She replied, still not looking up.
"And pushing me into the lake," Fred added.
"It wasn't that hard, really," she said, finally looking away from the book, "all I had to do was push you with one finger…"
Fred scoffed, "you had to ram into me with your whole body! You almost fell in yourself!" he told her.
"Yeah, 'cause I was the one who walked halfway back to the castle looking like he had his own personal rain-cloud!"
"That's why I said almost!" Fred said, in a 'duh' voice. Mia rolled her eyes and flicked her hand at him, turning to George.
"We going down to the kitchen tonight? Make sure Hermione hasn't put them on strike?" she asked.
"We went down last night-" he started.
"yeah, we don't want you getting' fat!" Fred cut him off. "OW!"
"Oh, it was a PILLOW!"
A few days later, Mia sat in the library with Angelina, a few potion books open on the table, and parchment scattered around them. Mia sighed and gripped her scalp, before scribbling out a word, only to write it again seconds later. She sighed again and fiddled with the rose around her neck.
"I'm going to go find another book that might help," Angelina said, standing up and walking away.
"You do that," Mia muttered, crossing a 'T', only to realise it was actually meant to an 'L'.
"Hello," a deep voice said. Mia looked up and saw a boy sliding into Angelina's seat. He was quite tall, probably seventeen, with messy, sandy blonde hair and green eyes. One of his ears was pierced, and he was smiling lazily.
"Hi?" she said, pathetically.
"My name is Anton," he said. He had an accent, but Mia couldn't place it. It wasn't French, so he wasn't from Beauxbatons.
"Really?" Mia said, plastering an unimpressed expression on her face. He didn't seem to get the hint. "And what might your name be?"
"Mia."
"Ah… a very pretty name, for a very pretty girl" he said.
"Thanks…" Angelina came back around the bookshelf and Mia shot her a look saying Please come help me! Angelina decided to ignore this look. She stood and watched. Subconsciously, Mia slipped on her cardigan and zipped it up.
"So tell me…" Anton leaned forward, "is there any boy in this school lucky enough to have you?"
"Um…" she considered saying 'yes', but somehow, the word 'no' came out of her mouth. Damn it!
"That, I am surprised as," Anton said.
"Why?" Mia asked, looking at Angelina again, why just smiled and put her hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
"Because, usually, girls as pretty as you are not left alone for long."
"What's so pretty about me?" Mia asked, raising her eyebrows. Anton came out with the classic.
"Well, you eyes, for one thing. Light brown and wide…" Was that meant to be a complement?
"Last time somebody described my eyes, they said 'Bambi without the innocence'," Mia replied.
"What is a Bambi?" Anton asked. Mia just looked at him. Finally, Angelina decided to come and save her.
"Um… excuse me, but I was kinda sitting there…" she said.
"Oh! Forgive me," Anton stood up, "I hope to see you again soon, Mia," he bowed his head slightly and left the library.
As Angelina sat down, she blew out a breath and fanned herself with her hand. "What is wrong with you? He's so fit!" she said.
"Yeah. If you like the pervy-let's-go-flirt-with-some-random-girl type," Mia replied.
"But still! I tell you, if George don't make a move soon, he is definitely your back-up-boy," Angelina said. Mia just rolled her eyes and crossed another 'T', groaning when she realised she had just crossed another 'L' instead.
A few days before term ended, Mia sat in transfiguration, between the twins. She had given up trying to turn the hat into a mouse, and just sat there.
"If I could please have your attention!" McGonagall said, from the front, "I have a quick note to give out before we end out lesson." Everyone looked up at her. "The Yule Ball is approaching—a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Although the Ball is really only for students above fourth year, you may invite a younger student if you wish. Dress robes will be worn, and the Ball will start in the Great Hall at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight. Of course, the Yule Ball is a chance to, perhaps, relax a little. BUT, that does not give the freedom to lower the views of Hogwarts in our guests' minds. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way," at this, her eyes fell upon Mia, Fred and George.
When the bell rang, everyone left the class, talking about the Yule Ball in one way or another. In the Great Hall, they sat down opposite the three Chasers.
"Did you hear? About the Ball?" Alicia asked, excited.
"Yep," Mia replied, eyeing the food. Not burnt. Hermione was restraining herself.
"Well… we found out this morning, in History of Magic. And guess what?" Alicia went on.
"What?"
"Michael asked me!" Alicia squealed. Everyone stared at her blankly.
"Who?" Fred asked.
"Michael! Michael Spooner! In Ravenclaw… seventh year. I told you about him earlier this year!" she replied.
"Nope…" Mia said, racking her brains.
"Oh! I remember!" Katie said. "I remember…" just one person remembering seemed to be enough for Alicia and she daydreamed for the rest of lunch.
Finally, the Christmas Holiday rolled around and Mia, George and Fred were wandering around the castle, looking for something to do. The twins refused to go down to the kitchens, despite Mia's many hints and suggestions.
"Y'know, if you're not gunna go down to the kitchens willingly, I'll just have to force you," she said.
"And how would you do that?" Fred asked,
"Easy!" she grabbed Fred's bag and yanked it off his shoulder, sprinting down the corridor.
"OI!" he yelled, running after her. George, laughing, dashed after them.
Mia rounded a corner and hid behind a suit of armour. Fred came around the corner with George and they stopped.
"Where'd she go?" Fred asked. George saw her peeking out from behind the armour and she winked at him. He grinned back and just shrugged at his brother. Mia, being the nosey girl she is, opened Fred's and started to root through its contents: his Charms book (that probably had half the pages missing), some Dungbombs, a couple of Fake Wands, a few Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans rolling around in the bottom (which had probably been there for months) and… a folded piece of parchment. Brow furrowed, she picked it up and un-folded it, reading the words.
Dear Bagman… her eyes skimmed over the words. She stormed out from behind the statue and threw Fred's bag at him. "You can't seriously be thinking of sending this!" she said, holding the letter up.
"What is it" George asked cautiously. She shoved it into his hands and crossed her arms, popping her hip out as he glanced at it.
"Um… well… not real-"
"He conned us!" Fred cut off.
"So you thought you'd just go ahead and blackmail him? I mean… it's… it's… it's blackmail!" she cried. Fred opened his mouth, but she spoke again before he could, "I mean, did you guys think it might've been an accident? I mean, there was loadsa Leprechaun Gold there! He could've given it to you by accident!"
"Yup, and we asked him! But he ignored us. Then he turned up here, so we asked him again. And now he ain't giving us anythin'! Apparently we were too young!" Fred said.
"… He didn't?"
"He did," George replied, solemnly.
"That cheating bastard!" Mia exclaimed. "But y'know… it's still blackmail… I mean… you get caught for that… it'll be bad…"
"Which is why we're not sending it," George said, stuffing the letter into his pocket.
"Yet…" Fred muttered quietly. Both Mia and George ignored him.
George, Alicia, Fred, Angelina, Mia and Katie were leaving the Great Hall to go outside and throw around some snow.
"I can't believe Snape gave us that massive long essay to do over the holiday!" Angelina was saying, "We should really do it, Mia."
"Angie, in two days it'll be Christmas Eve. I am not spending the week running up to Christmas doing homework! I'll do it after Christmas!" Mia replied, sticking her hands in her pockets. "Anyways, it's not like-" she was cut off.
"George!" everyone turned around to see a tall, caramel colour-skinned girl walking towards them. Céleste. She stopped in front of them and looked at all of them. "'Allo," she greeted, and then looked at George. "Can I speak to you for a minute?" she asked.
"Errrm… ok…" Céleste grinned and skipped a few metres away, out of earshot. George followed her slowly. Fred raised his eyebrows, Mia crossed her arms, Angelina furrowed her brow, Katie bit her lip and Alicia glanced at Mia. Céleste started talking to George, who gave short replies. Most of which looked like 'um' or 'ok'. Finally, Céleste smiled and batted her eyelashes and they walked back over. Smiling, Céleste said, "I am sorry to keep you all waiting," she smiled at George again and walked away.
"What was that about?" Fred asked, as the walked across the Entrance Hall.
"She asked me to go to the Yule Ball with her…" George replied.
"And did you say yes?" Mia asked cautiously.
"Well, I couldn't exactly say no, could I?"
"Yes you could," Mia replied, "Harry's said no to loadsa girls!"
"All of whom he's never actually met," Alicia reminded her.
When they got to the doors, Mia stopped. The snow was at least a foot higher then it had been the previous day. "Oh, I am not going out in that!" she said.
"Awwww! C'mon, Mia!" Katie complained.
"No. I'm sorry. I'm not going out in snow that covers half my leg. My foot, yes. My ankle, maybe. But not half my leg!" she turned and went back through the entrance hall. Fred and George just shrugged. They didn't understand Mia's mood swings, but Alicia, Angelina and Katie glanced at each other. Angelina sighed and ran after Mia.
Later that night, Mia and the three Chasers were in the dormitory. Angelina was sitting on her bed, Alicia and Katie were leaning against the headboard of Alicia's bed and Mia was standing in the middle of the room. Her finished Potions essay lay on her bedside table. Finally, Angelina decided it was time to address a little problem.
"What are you gunna do?" she asked.
"About what?" Mia turned around to face her.
"About a little problem called Céleste."
"Céleste," Mia sneered the name, "why couldn't she just ask someone from her own school?" she asked moodily. "I'll probably just end up going alone! I mean," she pointed to Angelina, "you're going with Fred!" then she pointed to Alicia, "and you're going with Michael Spooner," then to Katie, "and you're going with some random guy called Timothy who's in Hufflepuff! Fred's going with you-" again, her finger went to Angelina.
"You already said that," but Mia carried on like she hadn't been interrupted.
"And George's going with Céleste! And who am I going with? No one!" she whipped around and looked at her self in the mirror. She met her reflection's brown, too-wide eyes. "Yet…" she muttered.
"What do you mean?" Katie asked. Mia brushed her fingers along her cheek bone, and then scooped back her hair. And her next words, Angelina's eyebrows quirked, and Katie and Alicia glanced at each other worriedly.
"Oh, I am going to make him wish. He. Was. Mine."
Now… what's Mia going to do? What plan has her mind come up with?
The next chapter is the Yule Ball, and I have it ALL set out. It'll be up soon… the more reviews the sooner!
Remember, to find out Mia's plan, review!