Chapter 26: The one where I meet Stacey.

Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by the brilliant mind that is J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers.

Chapter 25

I slowly took the hat off my head and looked at it and smiled. I handed it to Minnie who grabbed it quickly, a worried look on her face. I realised that the Great Hall was completely silent and then there was applause from here and there and the sound became more uniform. I turned and curtsied at Nonno who took his hat off and nodded at me. I winked at Sev who just glared in response. I then made my way to the Gryffindor table and was engulfed in a tight hug.

"Oh, my goodness! I was so worried! The hat never takes that long! I thought he was going to say you couldn't be placed or something horrible like that! Oh, I'm so glad you're in Gryffindor! Of course, I knew you would be!"

"Yes Mione' you were so sure. That's why you were convincing Harry to get out the map so you could remember how to get into Slytherin common room so you can say good night to her."

I plopped down next to Mi and laughed, "You thought I was put into Slytherin!"

"Well, why else would the hat take that long to place you? I thought you were fighting to convince him against Slytherin."

"Ahh Slytherin's not so bad." Ron choked on the piece of ham he had in his mouth, but that could have just been because of the amount of food he was trying to contain. I rolled my eyes, and they landed on Harry. What the Sorting Hat had said was still stuck in my head and I barely paid attention to Mi's conversation with Nick.

I followed Harry's line of vision and it fell on a mop of black hair. Ugh straight hair is so overrated. Who wants it all straight, and neatly trimmed and dark and shiny? It's unnatural. I looked down at my hair for a second, for the first time actually bothering how it looked. Maybe I should brush it more often; I mean it wasn't bushy like Mi's so unfortunately it lacked character, but then it wasn't sleek like hers.

Harry turned and I swiftly looked away from him and found a face right near mines. I pulled back a little, recovering from the shock. The mane of dirty blonde hair just got closer, and I was practically sitting on Mi at the moment.

"Hi! I'm Lavender Brown, this is Parvati Patil." She quickly gestured to the Indian girl next to her who was also trying to obscure my peripheral vision. "Of course, we know who you are. We're going to be roommates and eventually of course, best friends."

"Hmmm…"

"We absolutely love what you did with your skirt."

"We love it too." I looked at the Irish boy with the sandy hair who looked like he was pulling out all his charm, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Every single time we try to shorten it one of the teachers always lengthens it. But with legs like that I don't blame you for wanting to air them." Parvati chipped in, winking at me.

Oh crap, did the student body think I did this to get attention from boys or something. I mean they wouldn't know about my little game with Sev and Minnie. I laughed in my head; they must think I am such a skank.

"Princess." Voices said in unison as they squeezed up on either side of me.

"Fabulous entrance."

"Tré magnifique!"

I laughed at the twins, "I was wondering where you two were?"

"We were seconds away from grabbing you and making a run for it. That hat gave us a right fright."

I smiled at George, "You know me, I always put on a good show."

"You sure do! You walked down that aisle like the queen of the castle."

"Let's not forget the entrance!"

"Yes, let's all commend her for her attention seeking behaviour." Harry's voice quietly floated over to us but he didn't lift his eyes up from the piece of lamb he was cutting.

I looked at him, and he still had his head down.

"You also 'efusin to ea'" I looked at Ron who had his mouth full of what I think was Chocolate gateau.

"What? Of course not!" I grabbed a drumstick and had a go at it. I tasted a little of whatever Ron pointed at and was considerably stuffed when the food disappeared. I was also confused at the weird looks Mi was giving me and her untouched plate. I never thought of her as the 'watch my figure' type, but hey, who am I to judge? On anything.

Nonno stood and smiled at the crowd. His eyes twinkled over us all and it stayed longer on me. I gave him a wide smile. He started talking about rules and regulations and I started staring at the other teachers at the table. I looked at Sev who was giving me a glare; I returned it with a wink. The other teachers were all paying attention to Nonno.

Harry suddenly gasped and I looked at him, his eyes popping, he looked to Fred and George who was on either side of me and their mouths were gaping open.

"What happened? What did Nonno say? Why are you-"I was cut off with Fred's hand on my mouth and I decided I might as well pay attention to Nonno if they were?

It seemed luck was not on my side as Nonno was cut off by the doors to the Great Hall banging open and a rumble of thunder along with a strange man stormed in.

My surprise turned to excitement as I took the new man in. His whole face told a story; you only got a mug that awesome from a good number of wicked fights. He looked like a freaking pirate what with the wooden leg, he just needed a parrot. And it seemed he swapped his eye patch for a magical eye, which I'm sure had a gismo or two installed in it. He was like a magic cyborg! He shook hands with Nonno and then sat down.

"May I introduce our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody!"

I started clapping immediately, not bothering that the sound just echoed emptily in the room. I stopped a whole minute after Nonno did and he gave me an amused grin. All the heads at our table was looking at me and I shrugged at them.

"Moody? Mad eye moody, the one your dad went to help this morning?" Harry asked Ron. Ron returned in a voice of awe, "Must be."

Mi chipped in with, "What happened to him, what happened to his face?"

"I know, wicked right? There must be at least ten stories or more behind it. His face has more than just character, it has a plot line!" I smiled but the three of them just kept looking awed.

"As I was saying, we have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held over a century. It is my great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING," Fred screamed into my ears, and everybody laughed, even Nonno.

"I am not joking, Mr Weasley, though now you mention it I did hear an excellent one over the Summer about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who all go into a bar-"

I started laughing, having heard that one from him the other week. Minnie cleared her throat and Nonno seemed to realise that he was talking about this tournament thing. Aww he was so preciously weird.

He went on explaining about how the tournament was established 700 years ago between a French school and a school that sounded both violent and placed somewhere cold. Oh, and Hogwarts. There would be a person that would represent each school in three tasks and the home ground changed every five years and they claimed it was to increase interschool relations, but we all knew it was a reason to show off.

I mean, there's a death toll, the primary rule of friendship is don't kill each other. I stopped paying attention to the finer details and decided to stare at people. I looked at the Hufflepuff table and they mostly looked scared, and the Slytherin table kept their haughty looks, but I could see a few of their eye's dancing in glee. Ravenclaw just took in Nonno's word without a change of expression. Yeah, I'm sure they would be so much fun to date. So much fun with their boring personality and perfect hair and tall, slender frame.

I looked at our table and they all seemed excited. Shame, poor things didn't know Nonno well enough to know that he would only allow this if there was so much red tape protecting students it wouldn't even be fun to take part. I looked at the younger students and shook my head, like he was going to let thirteen-year-olds have a go at something like this. Though, this does explain why he was going off to so many meetings in France this summer.

"This must be why dad came for a meeting over the holidays, to discuss the tournament with a member of the parent body…" Ron whispered.

I heard scraping of chairs and realised the announcements were over. I called out to Mi to go ahead without me and ran off to the head table. I beamed up at him,

"Kyrianna! I believe congratulations are in order. And may I express my happiness at seeing you sprightly again."

"Why thank you Nonno. And no need for congratulations, I'd be happy in any house Hat placed me in."

"I agree. If you're here to ask about the tournament-"

"Oh no, I'm not interested in that Nonno. I'd probably be interested if it was a hundred years ago and there was actually the thrill of sudden death on the horizon. I know you won't let anybody die so you probably took all the fun out of it."

He shook his head down at me and chuckled.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor." I looked to the sardonic voice and smiled up at him,

"You can't deduct points just because you're upset that I'm not in your house."

Sev raised his eyebrow at me, "Please don't delude yourself, nobody clapped harder when you were placed right where you belong with the other dunderheads. That was actually because here at Hogwarts, you know an educational institute and not a…"He breathed in and censored what he was about to say, "Female students' skirts are to be knee length and no shorter."

"And how long do boys pants legs have to be?" He gave me an eye roll and I heard a few chuckles, but a stern voice cut through.

"There are no rules on the length of boys' trousers because they are not likely to pull a stunt like you. And Severus school hasn't started yet, point deduction is unnecessary. Maybe another week of detention, this time in my office. Go on like this Bane and you'll have no free time."

I smiled up at her, "Oh come on Minnie, I wouldn't have pulled a stunt like this if you didn't force me to use the insulting piece of cloth anyway. Skirts are so inhibiting; they make you sit all-".

"Lady-like and that's why I bought you them. You better have it back to the appropriate length come tomorrow otherwise I will personally deduct points. Don't let me regret clapping the hardest when you were placed in my house." Wow, that was akin to a hug to Minnie.

A grizzly voice cut in with, "Because we all know that clothes maketh the man." I looked at the magic Cyborg and smiled at his sarcastic statement. He nodded at me and held out a hand which I took quickly, finding it callused and hard, "So you're Dumbledore Jr." He said letting my hand go.

"That would be my brother Linus. So how did you lose that much of your-"

"Bane, bedtime! Now!" I looked at Minnie and sighed. I hugged Nonno and went towards Sev and he hurtled back so quickly I laughed, and wheezy voice joined in. I blew a kiss at him, and he looked like he wanted to tear my face to pieces, Minnie nodded at me. I waved to Zio Fil and Zia Mona on my way out, each deep in conversation with some adult but winking back.

"Oh, come on Stacey!"

The portrait looked down at me. "That is not my name!"

"I highly doubt it's The Fat Lady!"

"How rude! How dare you call me that!"

"Everybody calls you that Jane!"

"If you don't know the password, best you get comfy."

"Give me a clue?"

"There are no clues nor hints nor anything."

"What does that mean, there's no anything. What kind of English is that? If there's no anything, then there's nothing. Why can't you just say nothing! You know…."I leaned toward her, and it was a testament to what a gossip she was that she bent down, "I saw that horribly skinny Melinda the Medieval, the one with no curves, in the portrait of Sir Hawthorne the Third and they looked quite cosy."

She gasped, "Nonsense, Sir Hawthorne is a real man and therefore needs a real lady not some sack of skin and bones. Balderdash!" I then heard a gasp and a cuss word, and the portrait flung open. I laughed and walked in. I just meant to swap gossip for the password, but I guess she let it slip.

I looked around the empty common room and launched myself into the first scarlet armchair. It was huge and right by the fire and had a good view of the grounds from a nearby window; I decided that this would be my armchair from now on.

"Enjoying yourself I see," I scooted up and she filled in the space, she was already in her pink striped flannel pyjamas. I leaned my head on her shoulder,

"Realised I didn't have the password?"

"Yes, and I rushed down, seems there was no need though."

We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the warmth of the fire.

"Ky…."

"Mi?"

"You know I'm here, if you want to talk about anything. These past few weeks…your whole life has been turned upside down."

"I like to think of it as being turned the right side up. And I know that Mi. I miss Linus and Lenzo. It's weird not seeing them every day."

"You'll get used to it; it took some time with me too. Being an only child and not having many…well any friends growing up, I was really close to my parents. And now I see less and less of them as the years go by. I mean I love them to bits, I guess it's hard splitting myself between these two worlds."

"Then maybe don't split yourself so much. Maybe instead of splitting, you should be merging. That's the problem with this world, there's too much division."

"Well, it's like that for a reason, they tried your approach in the past and it wasn't a success."

"Different times Mi. And I'm not saying shout it out to the world, I'm just saying be a little more inclusive. Like they should allow a day in the term that you can see your parents, you can take them down to Hogsmeade. Expose them more to magic, so it doesn't seem so foreign when you speak to them about it."

"Thinking about a future in politics Ms Thornton?"

"That might just be my calling. I heard there's a lot of delegating duties and very less work, just my style. Of course, you'll be my second in command."

"Well, the real leader is always the second in command, the playmakers backstage. I don't mind the position. This world does need change." There was a grumbling and I laughed at Mi,

"Was that you?" She blushed slightly but responded quickly,

"Well, that's the noise of rebellion. Of fighting oppression. Of-"

"An empty stomach?"

"Well, it's not my fault I have too much of a conscious to full my stomach on food made by slave labour."

"And starving yourself will change things?" I cocked my eyebrow at her but smiled, very few people in the world were compassionate enough to give a damn about their fellow humans, let alone their inferiors. Linus always said judge a man by the way they treat their inferiors, guess Mi must be a woman above men.

"Fine, you convinced me, I'll join your little rebellion. I shall not eat the house elf made food either. But you need to feed me! I love food much more than I like you." She laughed.

"It's a deal. I know how to make a thing or two."

"Well, you best learn to make more than a thing or two, I bore easily."

She laughed, "Well I've been thinking about diversifying my culinary skills. What about I try and roll up some ingredients and we do Chinese tomorrow night!"

"NO!"

She looked at me in shock at the sudden outburst, and I was internally slapping myself. I laughed awkwardly, "Bout time I told you, I'm a filthy racist. Yeah…"

She rolled her eyes at me, "Hmmmm sure you are. That's why you got on like a house on fire with Lee earlier on?"

"Lee is not white! No, I thought it was a tan! Now I can't associate with- "

"Ky I'm not stupid. It's because of Cho Chang!"

I was going to deny but then…. "Why do you have to be so intuitive?""

She smiled, "Well you were ogling her at the table. I did notice…. He's liked her from last year. Well, I don't really know if you can call it like because I'm not sure they've had a conversation, but he looks at her often. And he is quite obvious about it…"

"As obvious as I am evidently."

She sighed, "No you're not. I doubt anybody else noticed. Not even him. He's-"

"Don't worry Mi. It was just a passing crush. Actually, I think it could have been anybody. I mean if that Neville had been the one that I ran into in the corridor that day we'd be having this conversation about him. I never really spoke to another boy my age before, and I guess I was a bit drunk on the experience. I'm sober now though."

She didn't look convinced but dropped it. But I was being honest. And judging by the way Harry treated me he didn't even have a passing crush on me. Mi stood and pulled me up,

"We better get to bed. We don't want your first day of your new life to be in dregs because of lack of sleep. Not on my watch." She tugged me to the stairs, and I followed. I thought of Harry as we passed the other staircase which must lead to the boys' dormitories. Up there somewhere he was fast asleep, his emerald eyes hidden from the world. Yeah…it was definitely a passing crush.

A/N: Remember how hard it was admitting your first crush? Reviews are always welcome.

Kalina