Harry tightened the strings on his shoes and stood up, tapping the tip of them on the ground to settle them. He picked up his robe from the bed and slid it on over his jeans and long sleeved shirt. The boy walked over to the table next to his bed and opened the bottom drawer. After shuffling around a bit he pulled out a medium sized pouch and opened it. It was full of gold galleons. Nodding, he pulled the two draw strings at the top and closed it. He then fastened it to his belt and slid on the Marauder Sunshades just because it was a bright day outside (and he thought he looked 'snazzy' in them). When he left his dorm, Ron smiled at him from the common room. His friend stood and gave him a high five as they met. On the way out, Ron put on the other pair of shades. The two best looking men at Hogwarts were on their way to Hogsmeade to get two very lucky girls candy.
At least, the two 'lucky' girls hoped it was candy. Last year they got something that changed them into kittens for several hours.
Breath of Fire IX
By:
Satashi
"So what first?" Harry asked, stepping out of the carriage and onto the ground. Ron followed his lead and stretched when he could.
"Dunno," he replied, looking around. "I think we should shop for the girls first, though. That way we'll have enough money for it."
Harry nodded. "Sounds like a plan then." They started walking down the streets, waving to fellow students and a few people they knew from the town. The people from Hogsmeade had gotten used to Harry over the last four years. Almost every week since his third year (well, fourth year since he had to sneak out his third year), he came to the town. No longer was he treated like a valued customer, but more like the traditional guest from Hogwarts. He no longer got free meals, or discounts at shops. It made Harry happy, though, since he was (for once) being treated like a normal person and not like a celebrity.
"How about flowers?" Ron thought aloud as he passed by a magical flower shop.
Harry paused and looked from him to the shop. "Flowers? We've never given girls flowers before. Besides, they are really expensive."
"Yeah, well, I've never wanted to give flowers before." Said Ron, blushing lightly. "I think she'll like them."
Harry considered this and nodded. "Sure, flowers it is then. They'll be surprised." The two boys entered the shop and started looking around. "Who you getting them for? Lavender?"
"Of course." Ron agreed, looking at a very pretty flower, but jumped back when it tried to bite him. "Not this one, though."
"You think Hermione would like roses?"
"Roses?" Ron looked at the pretty red flowers. "They are so… boring, they don't shine, sparkle, sing, or anything! They just… die in a week's time or so."
"Yeah." Harry picked up a vase of a dozen of them. "I think I'll get them." He smelt the first one he saw and grinned. "She'll love them."
"You're nutters." Ron shrugged and looked at some flowers that changed colours ever so often. "Now these are what a girl would like."
Harry knelt down and inspected the psychedelic flowers. "Oh wow, check them out!" Ron laughed at his reaction. "But aren't they a bit pricy, though?"
"No problem." Ron took out a pouch of coins. "I've enough to cover it." Harry opened his mouth, but closed it. Ron saw this and shook his head. "I know what you're thinking. It's okay. I have been doing odd jobs around Hogwarts for the students. I even tutored a couple of the first years." Now Ron wagged his eyebrows. "I also bought stuff at Zonko's and sold them at inflated prices."
"Inflated by how much?" Harry snatched the pouch and peered in. "Ron!"
"A galleon for a canary cream." Ron took it back.
"That's highway robbery!" Harry whispered, shocked, amazed, and right damn proud of his friend. "You can buy them for a few knuts a piece!"
"Grand, isn't it?" His grin threatened to split his face. "But one thing."
"Huh?"
"Highway robbery? What's that?"
~**~
Dean felt something poke his back, probably a wand. "Give me all your money." A voice told him, pushing it harder on him. Dean swallowed, starting to panic, but stopped when he heard someone try to suppress a giggle. Turning, he saw Harry holding out his finger. "Bam." He joked, blowing the tip of his finger like a gun, getting a laugh from Seamus.
"Hey Harry." Dean said calmly before jumping on him and giving the lightning bolt scarred boy the nugiee of his life time. "Good to see you!" He shouted, rubbing his knuckles onto his head.
"Hey, hey, I give! I give!" He laughed at him.
"Hey guys." Neville said, walking up to them. "Fancy meeting in a place like this."
"Neville, buddy, chum, pal, mate," Ron put his arm around him. "We're in Zonko's man; I'd be scared if we met anywhere but here."
"Yeah, yeah, I still need some chocolate."
"For that special someone?" Seamus asked, jumping on Neville's back.
Neville tossed him off, and let Dean catch him. "If you must know, yeah."
"How about this?" Harry asked, holding up a box of prank candy. "Guaranteed to make her love you or your money back?" The group all had a good laugh at that one.
"No, no," Ron picked up another box. "Edible knickers! Chocolate flavoured!"
Dean snatched it from his hand. "Oh, I'm getting this!"
"I prefer strawberry myself." Harry grinned, and ignored the looks that got him. "But I think I'm going to be serious this time. I had someone tell me to be."
"Siriusly?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.
Harry nodded. "Sirius."
"Serious what?" Seamus asked the pair.
"Siriusly, serious." Ron smirked.
~**~
Sirius Black sneezed. "Someone must be talking about me…"
"Oh you're just paranoid, Padfoot." Lupin told him from the fire place. "Have you succeeded in the book yet?"
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I have it copied. And I had to force the magic into a vial in the process." He held up two test tubes. "We have to drink it at the same time and we'll be able to talk telepathically, like we can in our animal forms."
"Good work. I can come meet you in two weeks then. That's the next full moon. Plus that way I can still announce the next match Harry will be in."
Sirius nodded. "See you then." A click was heard. "Crap, the people living here are coming home! I have to run!"
"Careful, Padfoot!"
"Always am!"
The green fire in the fireplace was snuffed out as Sirius ran to the kitchen and opened the window, jumping out.
"That's weird, darling." A female voice said, closing the window. "Did you leave this open?"
"I didn't think so." A male replied.
Sirius sighed and looked around before sneaking off. "Damn and I wanted to snatch some food, too…"
~**~
Harry grinned as he snuck up on Hermione and wrapped his arms around her, getting a squeak from her startled frame. "Happy Valentine's Day, love," he whispered, moving the vase of roses so she could see them. "For you."
Hermione smiled brightly and took them. "Oh Harry, they're beautiful!"
Ron watched the two love birds and shook his head at them with a grin. He steadied himself and walked over to Lavender, who blushed when she saw his approaching figure. "Hey Ron," she said, biting her lip and looking at the flowers in his hand.
"Hey Lavender," he began, trying to search for words. After a moment, he settled for a simple "For you." And handed her the vase of changing flowers.
Lavender smiled brightly and accepted them. "Thank you." She smelt them. "They're lovely."
"The only thing lovely here is you."
She instantly went a darker shade of red. "Oh Ron…"
Harry grinned as he hugged Hermione. "Ron's getting smooth over there. You hear that line?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It was cheesy."
"And a lie." Harry pulled back from her, enough to look into her eyes. "You're the thing that's lovely here."
She melted. "Oh Harry…"
Ginny rolled her eyes at the lovey-dovey couples in the room and went back to reading her book. Well, she tried to at least. The moment she started to pick up where she left off, a brown school owl dropped a package on to her lap, as well as a note, before flying off. Blinking, she unwrapped the present and looked at it. A box of the most expensive chocolates on the market. 'Who would send me this?' she wondered, opening the letter.
Ginny,
Yeah, yeah, I've never given a Valentine's Day gift before and all that stuff. But, well, here you go anyway. I saw them while just browsing, that's all. Just thought, maybe, you might like them.
~Draco
Ginny bit back a smile. 'You don't 'just so happen' to see a box of this kind of chocolate in any store, Draco-hun, you have to specially order it.' Just then a little, hastily written, section of the note seemed to stand out. She realized he had a P.S. written on it.
P.S~ Will you go out with me this Friday?
Ginny laughed and stood. "Ohhhh Haaaaaaaarry-sweetums!"
Harry looked over Hermione's head and gave a her a look. "What do you want?"
Ginny hugged him from behind. "You know me oh so well! Can I borrow Hedwig?" She held up a note. "I need to reply to someone and don't want to walk all the way to the owlery." Harry had taken his bird to his room a few days before so he would be able to send out a few letters to friends, as well as friendly valentines as well.
"Yeah sure." Harry shrugged. "He's in my room."
"Thankies!" She skipped up to the Prefect's room and opened the door. Closing it behind her, she walked over to the bird in the cage and greeted him. "Hiya, Hedwig! Will you deliver a letter for me please?" Hedwig hooted at her to show that she wouldn't mind it. "Thanks. Let me write it right fast." She pulled out Hermione's chair at her desk and started on her note.
Draco,
Thanks for the chocolate, I love it! Careful not to spoil me now, I'm not used to such expensive gifts .I'll savour them for a while, I will. About tomorrow night; ask me again tonight at dinner in person and we'll just see about it okay?
Bye-bye,
~Ginny
Ginny re-read her letter and nodded before folding it and giving it to Hedwig. "Here you go." She said with a smile. "Take this to Draco Malfoy. I think he should be in the Slytherin common room." The snowy white owl hooted and nipped at her fingers before taking off out the window. As an after thought, she walked to the window and called after her. "And hurry back, it may rain tonight!"
~**~
"Ouch."
"Hold still." Jena chastised her prefect roommate as she plucked another stray eyebrow hair. "You're the one who wanted me to do this for your date tomorrow."
"I said- ow- possible date. I don't know if -ow- she'll go with me or not."
Jena smoothed over his eyebrows and debated plucking a little more. "You're a sweet boy, Draco, but you need a little more confidence, you know?"
"Yeah, whatever. You almost done, Jena?"
"I think so." She let him sit up and looked him over. "Yes, you look nice now. What you should do is . . ." She looked at the window were a snowy owl just flew in. "Oh, look at that!"
"That's Harry's owl." Draco noted. "I wonder what he wants?" The boy held out his arm and let Hedwig perch on him. He snatched the letter and let Hedwig fly off again. Opening it, he scanned the letter and gave a half smile. "It's Ginny. She wants me to ask her in person."
"Draco Malfoy! Do you mean to tell me you asked her in a letter once again!?"
Draco flushed. "Um, yeah?"
She sighed at him. "What on earth am I going to do with you?" She pointed at him. "Tonight, I want you to ask her during dinner. Not before, not after, but during."
Draco shook his head, waving the note too. "Whoa, whoa whoa! In front of all the Gryffindors!? I'll be the laughing stock of the school!"
"You're already the laughing stock of almost all of Slytherin anyway. Why not go for gold and let this girl know you are really serious about it?"
Draco paused a moment to think. After a while, he realized that asking her out in notes was pretty lame. "God, I hate you." He told her. "Why do you make so much damn sense all the time!?"
She smiled. "It's why I'm here, sweets!"
"Don't call me sweets!"
~**~
Harry shoveled rice into his mouth at a pace that shamed even the fastest of eaters. When the bowl hit the table and someone thought he was going to actually breathe, he picked up a chicken leg and ripped into it. His best male friend was doing just the same, eating and scarfing down everything in site. They each took a long drink from their goblet and returned to inhaling their food.
"Harry, let's go out this Friday." Hermione said out of the blue, cutting her steak and putting a bite into her mouth with a fork like a civilized human being.
"Hmm?" Harry pulled on the chicken leg in his mouth, tearing off another bite. "Where to?" he asked, mouth full.
"You going to talk or eat?" She scolded him, making him pause and look embarrassed for a full three seconds before he turned and started eating again. "I should have known." She sighed. "Harry, stop eating and talk to me."
Harry obeyed her, letting Ron snag all the food he wanted. "Yes?" Harry asked after a drink and wiping his mouth. "You want to go somewhere? Hogsmeade?"
"Let's go out for dinner tomorrow. We haven't even been on a single date together yet!"
Harry considered it. "Yeah, you're right. Hey, how about that nice place? Puer Duex? We have free meals there, remember?"
Hermione nodded. "Sounds nice." She smiled at him. "Around seven?"
"Sounds nice."
"Hey Ginny."
Ron choked on his food and gasped, making Harry pound him on the back before he took a long drink to wash his food down.
Ginny turned to the voice and saw Draco standing before - or rather behind- her. "Hey Draco. What can I do for you?"
"Well," he began, all too aware of the Gryffindors giving him looks. "I was just wonder, since you wanted me to ask you in person that is, if, maybe, you would like to, you know…"
"Know what?" She asked coyly, making sure to show him that she knew exactly what he meant. "Come on, out with it."
"Well . . ." He could feel Ron's glare on him. He looked for help somewhere else, but then remembered where he was; with Gryffindors. Swallowing, he let it out. "Gooutwithmethisfriday."
"I'd love to."
"You would!?" He coughed. "I mean, yeah. I'll pick you up at your common room about seven thirty?"
Ginny nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you then."
Draco nodded. "All right then." He turned and walked a few steps before looking over his shoulder. "Wear something fancy. I'm taking you to Puer Duex."
"Where!?" Ginny asked, amazed. She turned to look back at him, but only saw the careless two finger wave as he walked away. She was also sure he was smirking. "Oh my gosh, that place must cost a fortune!"
"What place?" Hermione asked with a confused look. The trio had been too preoccupied helping out a strangling Ron to hear what Draco had asked her.
"Oh, nowhere," she replied, thinking it best not to let Ron know that Draco was taking her to a place as fancy as that for their first date. Although he didn't say anything about their growing friendship, Ginny was sure that he was keeping it inside for her sake. Standing up, she smiled. "I'm full," she declared, stretching. "I have a foot of parchment to write, so I'm taking my leave." There were a few 'g'bys' as she left, only pausing to pat her older brother on the head.
~**~
"Sure you don't want to come, Ron?" Harry asked, tucking in his shirt in front of the mirror. "Hermione won't mind a double date, I'm sure."
"Can't afford it man." Ron waved him off. Harry was once again dressing in the seventh year boy's dorm. "'sides, I didn't make any plans with Lavender about it."
"Well, the manager said I could always have free food there because I stood up to big bad Voldie, so I'm assuming it means my friends too. I'll ask the manager tonight if it's cool if you get food as well."
"You're a pal, Harry."
"Yeah, I know." He turned, "How do I look?"
"Muggleish, as usual." Was the standard reply.
"Yeah, I look snazzy."
"What is it with you and that word?"
"He heee!" Harry gave him a smile and turned to look into the mirror. He was wearing a fine silk long sleeved black button up shirt along with khaki pants and timberland shoes. He also had on one of Dudley's old leather jackets that he had magicked, making it a perfect fit. His necklace clashed dreadfully with his outfit so he had told Celestial about his date and after a few good byes, he put it into his jacket pocket and instead wore a black choker beaded necklace. "Dang, I'm smooth."
"Yeah yeah." Ron picked up his Herbology book. "I'll go ahead and start on that dumb essay we have to write. The next Sorcerer's Circle match is next weekend, luckily. I'll see you later tonight?
"Maybe, I'm not sure how long we'll be out. If I'm lucky, maybe we'll be able to go by floo to London and see a muggle movie."
"A movie?"
"Yeah," Harry replied, not stopping to think he didn't know what they were. "Dare Devil is supposed to be real good. I hope it's still in theaters, though."
"Theaters?"
"Yup. We'll I'm going to go meet her now. Take it easy."
Ron shrugged the words off. "Always do. See ya, mate."
Harry waved over his shoulder as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
~**~
"Hiya, Herms." Harry greeted, seeing her already down stairs. "Wait long?"
"Just got here," she replied, smiling. "Not three seconds ago."
"Figured as much, girls always take so long to get ready…" He allowed his eyes the pleasure of looking her over. "Wow, you look very nice."
Hermione looked down at her skin tight red dress. "I do hope its okay. I mean, this is a fancy place we're eating at." She looked at him and blushed when he grinned at her earrings and light touch of muggle make up. "You just going to ogle me or are we going to go?"
"Ogle." He let his eyes trail to the cleavage of her dress, and let out a wolf whistle. Hermione quickly crossed her arms and glared.
"You, Harry Potter, are sleeping alone tonight."
~**~
Harry looked at the restaurant as he stepped out of the carriage. Luckily the horseless carriages traveled back and forth between Hogwarts and school all day on Saturday. This was their means of getting back as well. He didn't fancy a trip through that long tunnel from the back of Zonko's.
Walking into the restaurant, Harry smiled at the waiter at the small podium at the door. "Table for two please. Name's Harry. Harry Potter."
The waiter noticed his scar and nodded with a smile. "Yes, we have been instructed to always keep a table open for you Mr. Potter. Please, right this way."
Harry blinked, but followed him anyway. 'Wow that was easy,' he mused to himself, feeling Hermione take his arm in hers. Looking down at her, he got a smile and a wink. Harry grinned at her before making a stupid face and making her giggle. Such was the care free way of Harold James Potter.
"You're table, sir, madam." He moved his hand to show a nice looking booth. Next to it was a small wall divider with several nice looking flowers and other decorative plant life. "Here are your menus." He continued when they were seated. "Someone will be with you shortly to take your drink orders."
The waiter walked back to the door to meet another couple who had just come in.
"Two. We have reservations," the man said with a grin.
"Name, sir?" he asked, looking at the list of tonight's customers.
"Malfoy, Draco."
A quick scan. "I'm sorry sir; I do not see your name on the list."
"Are you sure?" He asked, stepping forward to look. "There it is, see?" He discreetly placed several galleons on the podium. The man looked at him indignantly for a moment. Draco frowned and opened his hand up more, allowing more pieces to fall with the others. The look on the young man's face showed he was clearly upset about the amount for the bribe.
"Oh, yes sir, Mr. Malfoy. Sorry about that. Please, this way."
Draco turned to Ginny and gave a small shrug. "Must be going blind." He smirked at the waiter's back. "He missed it first time through."
"Oh hush, you bribed him." Ginny took his arm and followed.
"Wha? Did not!"
She looked up at him and smiled. "You're sweet."
He felt his cheeks grow a little warm as he looked away. "Not really…"
~**~
Harry nodded at the waiter as he left and turned back to Hermione. "I hope nothing bad happens this time. Who would have guessed Voldemort liked French cuisine?"
His date laughed lightly at him and slid her foot next to his and played with the cuff of his pants. "I always thought he might like Chinese take out myself. Looks like the kind."
"Hey, I love Chinese! Eat it all the time when I'm at the Dursley's. I met the delivery guy once when he came to give food to Dudley. Turns out he's a wizard working for the summer. He recognized me and since then he let me owl in orders with money and he would magic it up to my window."
"Not abusing your name sake are we now?"
He chuckled. "I can't help it. You know I don't like to use it to my advantage, but, hey, they starve me at that place. The only time I can eat is at Hogwarts."
"If you eat like that here, I swear I'll…"
"Hey, hey, don't worry don't worry." He held up his hands as if to ward her off. "I ate a lot before we came so I'll just order a normal amount of food." He looked at the menu. "Hmmm…."
"A normal amount of food?" she asked, looking over hers as well. When the waiter came over for their drinks a moment ago he had asked them to please not cast any magic. After the incident, they did not want any spells being cast in the restaurant. "And what might that be?"
Harry considered this a moment, hand on his jacket pocket over his necklace. "Everything on the left side looks good."
"Harry!"
Harry laughed at her while some people sat down on the table next to them, just past the greenery. The two talked for a bit before ordering drinks and getting the menus. A moment later Harry heard a familiar voice. "I can't read French…"
"It's not too hard," another voice said.
"Will you order for me then?"
"Um, yeah."
Harry looked to his left and gaped at the part viewable through the leaves. 'Draco?'
Draco laughed nervously and looked around to think a moment. It was then that he spotted the face of Harry, mostly covered by leaves. "Harry!?" he asked silently.
"Draco?"
"I… Have to go to the restroom right quick, I'll be right back."
"Hermione, excuse me for a moment?"
"Yeah."
~**~
"What are you doing here!?" Draco demanded when Harry stepped into the loo. "Did Ron tell you to monitor me? Huh!? Did he!?" He moved up close to him, so their noses were almost touching. "SO help me, Potter, if you're here to ruin my night…"
Harry took a step back and fought the urge to punch him. "Malfoy, you're an idiot," he told him, glaring as he put his hands in his pockets. "I made this date with Hermione, not even knowing you were coming here."
"Oh!" He instantly looked embarrassed, but covered it quickly. "I see." He didn't apologize, however. "So, nice night for a date huh?"
"How did you get in?" Harry wondered. "I heard it was near impossible."
"I had to sacrifice more gold than I would have liked, but I did it." He gave a casual shrug. "I stole enough from my house that I can afford a few outings."
Harry didn't press the topic. "Well now that I know how you got here, I'm going back to my date." He turned to leave. "See ya."
"Harry, Wait!"
He turned, looking over his shoulder. "What is it?"
He clearly looked like he didn't want to say it. "I need a favour."
"A favour?" Harry eyed him skeptivly. "What kind of favour?"
"I need to know what Ginny likes so I can order for her."
"Oh." A grin slapped across his face. "Draco Malfoy is asking me for a favour," he mused, making the boy in front of him cringe. "And if I don't answer, he will look bad in front of my best friend's little sister."
Draco clenched his fist. "What do you want?"
"Oh nothing." Harry replied. "Just knowing you had to ask is enough to make up for everything you ever did to me in the past."
Draco gave him a clear look of meaningful death. "God, I hate you."
"No you don't. Anyway, get her linguine. She'll love it." Draco nodded and moved past him. "Oh, wait." This time Draco turned around to look at him. "Make sure to get the white sauce, all right? The red is too spicy."
Draco nodded. "Thanks."
"Hey, anytime."
The two returned to their respective dates, a little closer to friends than battle partners.
~**~
Harry placed a bite in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, thinking about the question he was just asked. "I dunno, Herms." He admitted. "I haven't studied for the N.E.W.T. s as much as I would have liked too, but when I do study, you always keep me on top of things."
"Don't tell me you still haven't studied any besides the time we spend together in the library?"
He blushed. "Um, no?"
"Harry, from now on we're going to study an hour before we go to sleep. Every. Night."
He sighed and picked at his food, no longer as hungry as he was a little while ago. "Yes ma'am."
"We'll start Monday." She decided. "We fight after the N.W.O. and Hokage. That gives us a long time to work on things. Oh, and Harry, please try not to get into trouble, okay? Last night I wanted to study a little with you, but you were in detention. What was it again?" she asked, although she already knew.
"For 'throwing an unauthorized party' or something like that," he mumbled, stuffing some food into his mouth to help ease the memory. "I had to clean things in the Hospital Wing. By the almighty Tuesday, I hate that."
"Yes, yes, we know, we know."
~**~
"Did you hear about Snape?" Ginny asked while they ate. "They say he's really mad about all the hand to hand going on in the tournament."
"I heard." Draco agreed. "He's a nice guy, he really is, on the inside, but way close-minded." He considered this. "Like I used to be. I can see why he thinks like he does. I, for one, would have never even considered using a muggle method of doing something last year."
"What made you change your mind?"
Draco turned the ring around his finger, a nervous habit he picked up sometime over the course of wearing it. "Let's just say a friend forced me to see things in a different light."
"A friend?"
"Yeah." He let go of his ring and ate a bite of his food. "She helped me out a lot. Showed me that muggles can do things as well as we can. They may not be magical, but they are one smart race on some points. They invent things to work magic for them."
"Magic? Muggles? No way!"
"Not real magic, so to speak… Let's see, an example that I can use…I'm not real good at muggle things just yet, I just know a few that my friend told me. Ah, here's something. You know screws? Both muggle and magical people use them to put things like, doors for instance, into walls?"
Ginny nodded slowly. "Yeah."
"And how do we do that?"
"A turning spell."
"Exactly. We wizards use our wands to point at things and make them work. Muggle have this thing called a 'screwdriver' they use to do it. They even have these special ones that turn on their own by using 'battery power', whatever that is."
"Draco Malfoy, talking about muggles, I would of never seen it."
He blushed. "Well, the point is, after realizing that even they have skill to invent things to help them when they can't do something, I gained enough respect for them to go deeper into it. With a little prodding from my friend, I came to realize they are an equal race, and in some ways, better."
"Better?" She prompted, loving that he was talking so much.
He went on. "Yeah. Did you know that if someone's heart isn't working right, they can put a new one in?" Ginny's eyes went wide at this. "Yeah, we wizards can't help that because the heart is too sensitive to be tampered with by potions and things. In the muggle world, they can have a donor give their heart to this ill person… And they do it too, out of pure goodness….of the heart, so to speak."
Ginny giggled. "I see. No wonder Daddy loves learning about them so much."
A nod. "And the martial arts are just… outstanding."
Ginny giggled. "I love the Muggle Martial Arts class."
"The MMA was a good idea. I know for a fact that dark wizards under Voldemort can't do any hand to hand."
"You know for a fact?"
"Er, well…"
She quickly changed the subject. "Thanks again for taking me here."
Draco looked down at their plates, realizing they were done quite some time ago and he never realized it. "Oh, yeah. Yeah! It was my pleasure. I hope you liked it?" He motioned for the check and soon got it.
"I loved it. Next time, don't spend so much money on me ,though. I don't know how to thank you for it all. It's kind of overwhelming."
"I wanted to make a good first impression."
The two stood up after Draco paid and left a nice tip. "Well you made it all right. Want to go out again sometime?" She took his arm and walked with him out of the place.
"Yeah. How about weekend after next, since the next match is this coming weekend?"
Ginny smiled up at him and nodded.
~**~
"Thanks for walking me to my room." Ginny said, turning to look at him. They were in front of the picture of the Fat Lady now. "I had a wonderful time, Draco."
"I'm glad." He gave her a true smile, a rarity. "I'll see you tomorrow." He took a step back to turn , but found Ginny's arms around his neck and standing on her tip toes. Her eyes were closed and lips slightly parted. She looked so expectant, waiting for him to kiss her. And he did. On her hand after taking it away from his neck. Her eyes opened and looked fearful, as if she had done something wrong. Her mouth opened to speak, but she found one of his fingers was pressed to it. He was smiling brightly; after all, she had done this to him so many times before. "I'm not ready," he told her truthfully. "I'm scared about these feelings, and I need some time to think on them some more, okay?" He gave her a pleading look now. "I don't know how to love. You have to know that if we start dating."
Ginny reached up and took his hand, kissing it. "I understand." She brought her free hand up to run through his hair. "I'll show you how, don't worry Draco. I'll stand by you and show you how to live a normal life, away from what you were brought up with. I just hope someday you can tell me how exactly you were brought up. I know it must have been hard…" She smiled at him one last time before taking a step back and telling the password to the portrait and going in.
Draco stood there for a moment, looking at his hand with a small smile. "How I was brought up…"
~**~
"Are you going to write, Draco-hon?"
'Yeah.' Draco took out a parchment and a quill.
"I'm glad. It really does help out. Don't destroy it this time, you may want it for later."
'I don't know about that, but if you insist.'
"I do."
Draco thought about the words Ginny spoke to him. "My life…huh?" he asked aloud, lighting a candle and sitting by the window. His quill started to dance across the page, leaving neat handwriting. His thoughts formed into words and words into a natural rhyme as he went.
What I've felt What I've known Never shined through in what I've shown Never be Never see Won't see what might have been New blood joins this earth And quickly he's subdued Through constant pained disgrace The young boy learns their rules With time, the child draws in This whipping boy done wrong Deprived of all his thoughts The young man struggles on and on, he's known A vow unto his own That never from this day His will they'll take away What I've felt What I've known Never shined through in what I've shown Never free Never me So I dub thee "Unforgiven" They dedicate their lives To running all of his He tries to please them all This bitter man he is Throughout his life the same He's battled constantly This fight he cannot win A tired man they see no longer cares The old man then prepares To die regretfully That old man here is me You labeled me I'll label you So I dub thee "Unforgiven"
Draco looked at the parchment and smiled sadly down at it. "Am I such a loser?" He debated burning it, but shook his head. "Nah, it's the past. I've beaten them now. I still have my will." He folded the paper and slid it under the bed to his mattress. "They'll never take my will."
And he smiled.
~*two weeks later*~
Harry took a deep breath as he slid his hand into his glove and slowly let it out while smoothing the fit. He slowly inhaled through his nose again as he repeated the process with his other hand. A light wind blew through the room from the open window, making him shiver slightly. It was getting warmer, but still was a little nippy outside. Still, it was a flawless day for a fight and they all knew they had lucked out. Two weeks ago the Angels had taken on the Hokage and pulled out a nice victory over them. Now it was the Marauder's turn. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Ron make an uneasy joke about how they should be able to beat the 'girl team', and get a nervous chuckle from Draco.
Harry slid the long bandana across his forehead and tied it in the back with a tight knot. It was time to fight.
Hermione took hold of Harry's hand when he met up with her and smiled reassuringly up at him. It was the fourth match so far, and their second one to actually be in. The group knew what to expect and nodded to each other as the door in front of them opened. The crowd had only gotten bigger since their first match. Hogsmeade had closed its shops early today and were gladly responding to the invitation to watch the tournament. At least five majour newspapers had sent representatives to Hogwarts, and each had been given a special seat in a News section of the crowd.
The protective fields around Hogwarts had been increased more than ten fold. Each person allowed in was scanned by a professor to make sure no dark mark was detected on them. There were no chances being taken with the safety of the crowd. So far Voldemort hadn't attacked while there was a tournament match, and Dumbledore made sure that he never did.
Harry heard his name being called and stepped out onto the field to meet his team mates. The crowd went berserk when he made his appearance. The boy-who-lived and publicly fought with Voldemort was about to test his skills against other people his age. Although both Harry and the students used to seeing him knew that he wasn't nearly as skilled as other Hogwarts students, the general public didn't care. All they thought about was that Harry Potter was going to duel.
And it served to irk him greatly.
Ron looked across the field and stone arena as the other door opened. Although far away, he could tell who was coming out before the announcer said their name. They had brought the Marauder sunshades with them from the start this time so they wouldn't have to summon them from the castle like last time. Lee Jordan was once again doing the announcements with Remus Lupin. He was told that Lee had been given a manual of rules and specifics and given the position as an official speaker instead of a guest. Of course if Lee Jordan was somewhere, Fred and George wouldn't be far behind. If the twins went to a grand event, you could be sure the entire Weasley clan was with them. Tonight was no exception. The large banner held by several people was once again hanging from the stands. It read: The Marauders! Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron & Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy! They had added his name in after reading Ron's interview saying he was being tolerable and actually helpful. After seeing him work with Harry, the clan decided to give the boy a second chance as well.
"The Angels also won their last match," Lee was saying as they walked onto the field. "The group consists of Cho, Nyssa, Julie, Yuki, and last but not least Samantha! Don't let their good looks fool you folks; these lovely ladies are as sexy as they are dangerous! Don't you agree, professor?" Lee turned to Lupin, giving him a wide grin.
"Er, nice way of putting it, Lee," Lupin covered nicely. "But you are right about their skills. Both teams here tonight won their last match. Who will win tonight? Only time will tel1."
Harry grinned nervously across the field at Cho, who was waving at him. Hermione, seeing this, wrapped both her arms around Harry's right one. Cho blinked at the possessive gesture, but laughed when Hermione stuck her tongue out at her when Harry's attention was elsewhere. Hermione giggled to herself and simply gave Harry an innocent look when he asked her what was so funny.
"Tonight's first match has been pre-arranged for added challenge and entertainment." Professor Lupin commented as the cheers died down and people started cheering for the dueling to begin. "First match will be a Muggle use only fight!"
"That's right," Lee added, looking at a piece of parchment in front of him. "Harry will face Yuki in a grassy field." The arena changed to a grassy field with trees scattered around at random places. Also there were quite a few large rocks that were big enough to hide behind. "The rules are simple. Each contestant will be given a caster gun." Two people started to walk to the teams and split up. They gave both Harry and Yuki what looked to be a revolver. "For those of you not familiar with a caster gun, Professor Lupin will explain. Professor?"
"Thank you, Lee," He began. "A caster gun is a special gun molded after a Muggle revolver. Instead of using a substance known as 'gun powder' to fire a 'bullet', caster guns use a small magical casing to hold magical powder that shoots out a spell when activated. Each gun can hold six of these shells, and when activated, will draw magical power from the user."
"Much more stressing than a normal spell through a wand," Lee chimed in.
"Yes, I must agree. The contestants are given six reloads. They are four sets of energy blast, and a single set of fire and ice. Each set contains six shots." On the field, Harry was looking at the bullets and the gun. "There will be no wands or any other source of magic other than the caster guns. Magical artifacts are still allowed to be worn by the participant as usual. Match is over when a player gives up. Magical walls surround the arena so no stray shots will hit the audience. Also, they will prevent rings out. Yes, the only way to lose is to give up. "
"How do you use that thing?" Ron asked, looking the caster over. "Do you say a spell while pointing it?"
"You're holding it wrong," Hermione said, taking it from him. "You hold it like this."
"You don't need a gun." Harry grinned, taking it from her. "No wands, huh?" Harry took off his arm guard and rubbed the skin there, feeling weird with the bracer not there. "Hold it for me Ron?"
"Sure thing." Ron caught it as it was tossed to him.
"Six reloads," Harry mused, looking at the gun and the eight sets of bullets next to him. Lee and Lupin were further describing the caster guns and shells, but he was more concerned on strategy since he already knew how to hold and fire a gun. "Gun's already loaded. That means seven sets of six bullets. Forty-two shots." Harry put the spare bullets into his pockets and made sure to separate the special ones. "Muggle methods. Heh, I wonder who thought of this kind of match."
Hermione patted him on the head, standing on her tip toes. "Harry, love, being a successful wizard, one must know both wizard and Muggle ways. A wizard would die just as fast by being shot as a Muggle. But Muggles know what guns are, they know to fear them. A wizard would ignore it and be shot. However, if that wizard, you for example, knew what it was and how it worked; you could charm it not to fire or know to get out of the way."
Draco nodded and walked up to them. "A few months ago, I would have called you an idiot after hearing that… but I know that it's true. Muggles can't use magic, so they defend themselves in different ways. Some of them are just as dangerous as our killing curses, and they can go to any convenient store and buy the killing instruments at their leisure. We are strictly forbidden to use certain spells…"
Ron smirked. "Malfoy, you're getting smarter and smarter."
"Harry!" Ginny scolded, grabbing the back of his sleeveless jacket and pulling on him. "Get up there already! They're waiting on you!"
"Oops!" Harry turned and grabbed the sunshades from the redhead as he passed. After muttering a fast charm, he gave a quick wave and lopsided smile to his friends and took the stairs to the stage by twos. At the top, he stepped onto the grass and heard it crunch softly below him. The field was also magically charmed to be warm like a summer's day as well. The two duelists looked at each other across the large field. Harry gave his trademark grin and slid on his glasses. The view was completely normal, as he had them set on a 'single person mode' which he liked to call it. In this setting, they acted as normal sunglasses. There was only one small tweak, however. At the lower left hand of the glasses, there was a number that read '42.
"READY!? FIGHT!"
Harry ran forward and shot three times, making Yuki jump to the side and take cover behind a tree. The number on Harry's glasses now read '39' and he was glad it worked. Now he wouldn't have to worry about counting his bullets. His mind came back to the match as a yellow blast of energy shot too close to his head that he would have liked.
Taking cover behind a rock, Harry leaned over the side of it near the bottom to try and find his opponent. Harry didn't think the Marauder's Map in the sunglasses would be of any use on an open field like this but rather knew that it would have hindered his vision more than anything else. He would need to be able to see clearly if he was to aim using a Muggle like gun.
The ground next to his head suddenly exploded, leaving a sizable hole in the ground. Harry quickly retracted his head and placed his back against the rock, breathing heavily. "What the hell is she!?" He demanded. "A sharp shooter!?"
~**~
"Sharp shooter?" Ron asked, hearing Harry's voice clearly thanks to the magic of the arena.
"Someone with really good aim," Hermione informed him, biting her lip. "Come on Harry…"
~**~
Yuki took a deep breath and ran forward, out from behind her shelter. Harry rolled from behind the rock and knelt, holding out his gun with both hands. He shot twice, missing both times. Yuki got to the tree she was going for and hid partway behind it before shooting at Harry four times, grazing his right leg with the last.
Harry's eyes went wide and he pulled himself behind a tree and looked down at his bleeding leg. "I've been shot…" He whispered, looking at the gash. "Damn that hurts… the energy blasts are like real bullets…" His eyes lit up. "Real… real bullets." He reached into his pocket and took out a reload. "Here goes nothing!" Quickly he moved from the tree and threw the set of bullets over where Yuki was just looking up from a large rock that she moved to after Harry got behind the tree. "Take this!" When the bullets were close to her, he let loose the remaining bullet left in his caster gun. They met in air and a loud explosion followed.
Yuki felt herself being thrown hard to the right and heard her ears ringing loudly with a pestering high pitched sound. She landed harshly on the unforgiving ground and rolled several times before stopping. Yuki grit her teeth and made her Sorceress training shine through by rolling onto her stomach and clasping her gun with both hands as she lay on the grass. She shot at Harry four times as he ran to another large rock for shelter.
Harry groaned as he leaned against the rock and slid red bullets into his caster. "I was hoping for a quick win." He breathed to himself as he loaded. "Underestimated her. Better not take any chances." A shot hit the top of the rock, clipping off several small pieces of it and ricocheting off. "From that angle, she should beeeeeee…… THERE!" Harry jumped up and aimed at the tree where he thought she was hiding behind.
When the trigger was pulled, Harry felt a large wave rush over his body. From the end of his gun he saw a massive fireball fly forward and crash into the tree, setting it ablaze. Yuki, however, was at the tree next to it and shot twice at him, making him take cover. The tree stopped burning a moment later and looked as if it was never touched in the first place.
'She's so fast…' Harry thought, gasping for air. The shot sapped a respectable chunk of his energy. 'Without being able to cast the wind charm to pick up my speed, I can't match her.'
"Don't take any chances," Celestial whispered to him. "Here is some of my power, go for it."
Harry felt a sudden surge of dragon energy. "Oh wow!" Fully energized, Harry stood and held out his gun at arm's length. "Dodge this!" He shot the gun five times, blasting away two trees and setting most of the ground on fire. When the last bullet was out, Harry let out a confident laugh. "Hah. No way could she avoid that."
A monotonous voice came from his side. "Think again."
"Wha!?" He tried to turn, but found a blast shoot his hand, making his gun fly away. "No!" He leaped backwards and avoided another shot and, somehow, managed to get hit by the next. She had fired six times and ran to reload.
"Harry? Are you okay!?"
"My side…" he wheezed out, gripping himself just below the ribs. "I got hit badly."
"Let me see."
Harry gasped for air and slowly brought his hand from his side to look at it. "Oh god…" he gasped steadily, looking at the blood on his hand and feeling sick.
"Harry Potter, do you give up?" Lupin's voice rang into the area.
"No," he wheezed out, clutching his side. "No, I don't!"
~**~
"Give me those!" Hermione squeaked, grabbing the sunshades from Ron and putting them on. She quickly turned the dial on the side and saw a bloody hand on her right side. "Oh Harry…" Suddenly the vision was stripped from her as Ron took the shades from her face.
"No, you can't look. The other team can't either, and these carry voice. It would be cheating to use them."
"But… but…"
Ron enveloped her in a hug. "He'll be fine, have faith. I do." Hermione sniffed against him and nodded silently.
~**~
Yuki smiled to herself as she loaded her gun with alternating ice, regular, and fire bullets. "Harry, Harry, Harry, you're way too slow. You can't win like that." She turned to shoot at the rock, but found that she could see him from the corner of her eye. Quickly changing her aim, she turned and bit back a groan when he picked up his caster gun and hobbled behind a tree. "Nice, Harry. I didn't think you would try and recover your gun without a distraction of some sort…"
She aimed her gun at the tree and fired, gasping as her power was sucked into the gun and a fireball came from it. The blast screamed to the tree Harry was at, but was cancelled out by a well placed ice blast from Harry. The shot from the boy was quickly followed by two regular energy blasts and another ice beam. Yuki responded by taking cover behind her rock and letting them all hit her shelter. The stone was now a block of ice, but that didn't concern her. She once again moved from her spot and shot again, sending a normal blast, an ice blast, a normal, and a fire.
"Nice aim." Harry said from behind her. She spun on her heels to see him, hunched over and clutching his side, in front of her. He held his gun with one hand and chuckled without humour as he shot six times. Thanks to his wound and one handed aiming, he missed most but landed a few shots that grazed her sides and leg. Yuki shot her last bullet at him, and hit his gun right when he fired the last time. Harry's last bullet, ironically, hit her gun as well. Both flew from their hands in different directions.
The two looked at each other a moment as they caught their breath and recovered from the massive magical drain that the guns brought with them. "You're bleeding." Yuki said, looking at him.
"Ah."
"It hurts, doesn't it?"
"Ah."
"Ready?"
He smirked. "Ah."
The two of them grit their teeth and dived for the guns next to them. The guns were reclaimed in their master's hands at the same time and they slammed the bullet clip into them at the same time. Both turned and aimed. Being so close, Harry raised his hand at the same time Yuki did and both grabbed the revolving chamber of the other's gun and held the trigger so it wouldn't move.
The two were in the exact same position; a stalemate in which neither could fire as long as the other wouldn't move their hand from the chamber and trigger. Harry looked deeply into Yuki's eyes as the guns shook from pressure of hands. Yuki returned his gaze with a fierce determination to prove that she could beat Harry Potter.
The guns both clicked at the same time as they gave way to the stress. The front of the gun clicked down, as if to be reloaded. The bullets already in the guns burst out from the force of it.
Both their eyes went wide.
Simultaneously they let go of the other's gun and made a mad grab for the ammo. Each managed to get one single bullet and slam it blindly into the empty chamber. Moving again, they quickly aimed their guns at the other's head and pulled the trigger at the same time.
Click
Click
Harry's eyes were wide and pupils were dilated from fear as Yuki's gun was shaking not an inch from between his eyes. On the other end, Yuki was gasping as Harry's gun was the same length from her forehead. The hands not holding the guns were locked together, fighting to try and force the other down. The crowd was deadly silent as they watched them on the light reflecting screen in the sky.
The duelist were panting and sweating. They stayed like this for almost twenty full seconds, just breathing hard and looking into the other's eyes. Then, once more at the same time, each pulled their trigger again.
Click
Click
Harry was near blinding panic now. His mouth was open and gasping air so fast he thought he might be sick. Yuki wasn't any better off, but once again they took a breath and pulled.
Click
Click
Harry gasped in pain and forced down harder on Yuki's hand. He succeeded in throwing her a little off balance before they did it again
Click
BAM!
Harry screamed in pain as he felt the magical energy bullet sear right through his arm and exit from his back. Yuki fell to the ground and both knew she would have won the match if Harry hadn't managed to topple her before she fired. Harry now looked down at her warily and held his gun with a shaking hand. If he could pull the trigger and fire, he would win. Yuki closed her eyes. They both knew a winning shot would end the match and not actually kill the other, but she didn't know if it would hurt or not.
Click
Yuki's eyes snapped open and rolled out of the way as Harry fell to his knees. Quickly, the girl flipped open her gun and grabbed a bullet from the ground. Putting it in, she clicked the gun back up and held it to Harry's temple. His gun was on the ground, and he was clutching his side with one hand and his shoulder with the other.
"Bam." She said wearily, drained from the encounter.
"I give." Harry managed a small smile before falling over unconscious.
"Harry Potter surrenders!" Lee shouted out into his wand, voice rebounding in the silent quidditch pitch. "Yuki wins!" All at once the crowd screamed in applause.
"Harry!" Hermione screamed, running onto the stage as it dissolved from the field. "Oh sweet Merlin, are you okay?" Tears were streaming down her face. "You idiot, it's a game, a friendly duel! Why didn't you give up?" She hugged him to her chest, crying. "You're so stupid… stupid…"
Ginny gently took Harry from her and laid him down, looking him over. "The magical things."
"Bullets," Hermione corrected out of habit, not realizing it.
Ginny rolled her eyes "Bull- lets," she said herself, pronouncing it slightly wrong. "Seemed to be charmed to make the wound easy to heal." She poured some potion onto the wounds. "He'll be fine in a few hours. He'll be sore for a while, though."
Hermione nodded to herself and looked up at Ron. He nodded and picked up Harry's unconscious figure and carried him off stage, where Draco was waiting, arms crossed. "He did a good job," he said, looking away. Ginny nodded and watched Ron lay Harry down next to the arena. Hermione instantly went and held his hand.
"I'm next." Draco said, walking forward. "I'll get us our first win."
"Be careful out there, Draco," Ginny told him, looking up. "And for Merlin's sake, if you get hurt as bad as Harry, be smart and give up before you get yourself killed or something."
Draco smirked and patted her on the head as he walked past. "No chance in hell."
~**~
"What field will the next pair are fighting in?" Lee asked as the crowd cheered for the Angels and worried over Harry's safety. Currently madam Pomfrey was observing him with Ginny standing to the side. Draco was at the steps, waiting.
"Glad you asked." Lupin replied in an over excited voice. "But first, a word on Harry. I'm getting a message from Poppy as we speak." A small owl landed and he took off the note. "Harry will be fine with a little rest, so don't worry." A collective sigh of relief was heard even over the cheers of fans. "Back to the next match," He tried to make it sound as if he wasn't deathly worried if Harry was okay. "Draco Malfoy seems to be the Marauder's choice. On the Angel's side…. Nyssa!"
Draco nodded at the girl across the ring, and got a nod back. The stage in front of them slowly started shifting and soon rose into the air. Draco titled his head back to look at the buildings slowly rising. "What in the…"
"The match will be atop the buildings in an imitation of New York City in America." Lupin explained. "The buildings are ten feet tall, and the arena is charmed to move with them so there is no possible way of a ring out. For those of you who are close to the ground, the light reflection spell has been changed to be cast on the sides of the buildings near the base."
Lee nodded and continued where his partner left off. "Also, each contestant will be charmed to jump incredibly high. To win you must both stay down for a count of ten, be knocked off and hit the ground (don't worry, it won't hurt at all), or lose your wand."
"READY!? FIGHT!"
~**~
Draco jumped from his place in front of the building and got a right nasty surprise when he soared half way up the building, passing the screen that showed him jumping along the way. At the peak of his jump, he realized he was going to start falling, so he leaned forward and landed on a window sill on the building. Letting out a sigh of relief, he kicked off of his perch and continued to window hop until he landed on the top of the buildings.
"Why do I feel uneasy about being this high?" he asked himself, looking around at the close roof tops. They were no more than four to six feet between most of them. There were bigger gaps along the sides of some builds, where roads were probably meant to go. If the boy had ever been to New York, he would have realized just how close it actually was to it.
"It's because you don't have control of your height like you do with a broom," Christina told him, making him nod. "She's at the other end, just got up." Draco set his eyes and leapt, easily clearing the building and landing on the next.
"Hey, I like this," he breathed, running across the roof top and jumping to the next. "Come and get iiiitttttttttt Nyysssssaaaaaaaa!" he sang in a serious voice as he jumped. "Whoops!" He jumped a spell and landed in a hand spring, flipping back over and landing on his feet with a smirk and arms crossed over his chest; beaming proudly as if he had done the coolest thing in the world.
"Allo Draco," Nyssa rhymed, landing on a water tower looking thing across from him. "Ready to fight?"
"She says after casting a spell."
"It slipped." Nyssa smiled at him, eyes laughing.
Draco gave the Slytherin smirk. "Think you can beat me?"
"I can try, although I must admit I don't like heights."
"Let's do it then!" He held out his left hand. "Flames of justice!" His hand caught fire, making Nyssa gasp. The blue flames licked at his arm, but didn't move past his wrist. Then, without a warning, it shot into his wand. "Blazing heat!"
Nyssa jumped from her perch and did a small flip in the air. She landed and jumped again. Turning to see what his spell had done, she was surprised to find the water tower she was just on was nothing more than a pool of quickly hardening metal. "Oh man, that would have hurt…"
"Bolts of heaven!"
Nyssa rolled as a lightning bolt crashed where she had been standing. She could feel the power tingle through the ground and shivered as it washed over her. The girl, however, was well trained just like every other member of the circle in the Muggle arts of kempo. She used this knowledge that only Professor Lupin had thought to teach them and pushed from the ground, spinning her legs, and righting herself to her feet. Just in time she pushed up from the ground and soared into the air.
Draco, caught off guard, barely missed the hex thrown at him. Looking up into the air, he realized that she jumped in such a way that her body was now right in the middle of the sun's light. He made his way to the edge of the building and brought his hand in front of him to shade his eyes, but still didn't see the movement she made because of the sun. The blond boy's legs sudden clamped together and he teetered a moment before falling.
Draco grabbed hold of the ledge, but his wand fell from his grasp. Groaning, he let go of the ledge and fell after it. About a second later he realized just how dumb an idea that that was and forced his mind to run overtime as the windows blazed past him.
"Accio Wand!" He held out his left hand and forced his magic through his ring as he would with his wand. His wand shot to him and he quickly disenchanted his legs. His right hand moved out and caught the ledge of a window sill on the second floor of the building. "Sweet dancin' sisters," he mused as he dangled. "That was hella close."
~**~
"Sweet Dancin' Sisters?" Ron asked slowly, making sure he heard right.
"'Hella' close?" Hermione ventured, both turning to look at Ginny, who blushed and put her face in her hand, embarrassed on Draco's behalf at the corny sayings.
~**~
Draco kicked off from the building and, with Christina's help, remembered the Muggle book he picked up when he bought his school supplies. HE recalled reading about a group called 'ninjas' and their powers that allowed them to defy gravity and almost all natural laws without the aid of magic. Setting his face, he looked at the other wall of the building he was heading toward.
Triangle jump.
Draco's feet hit the wall and he brought his hand to it, almost as if he was clinging to it. Not even a second later, he kicked from it and went to the other building. He repeated the process almost eight times before he flipped and landed back on the building.
"Very impressive." Nyssa clapped. "But not good enough." She pointed her wand at him as he was standing up. "Petrificus totalus!" Draco saw the spell leave the wand tip and slapped it away with his left hand.
The crowd went silent at the maneuver, but the two on the field wouldn't have noticed a difference even if a bomb was dropped just outside of the arena. Nyssa was looking at him in shock while Draco was gaping at his hands.
'I can focus through my ring,' he thought, looking at it. 'Like Harry still uses his wand, but he isn't holding it...'Experimentally, he looked at his hand and concentrated. A blue ball of flame appeared in his palm. "Oh hell yes!" He threw it at Nyssa, making her jump away. Draco ran at her, arm ablaze with blue fire and wand pocketed in his jeans.
"Auaris!" Nyssa pointed her wand, spraying several gallons of water at him.
Draco jumped the blast and flung several fireballs at her. They hit their mark and sent the girl flying across a large gap in buildings and crash through a window on the other side of the non-existent street belong them. The Slytherin leapt off of the building after her, but was blasted back by a rather strong disarming spell. He felt himself falling and realized he was too far from the other building to make a come back jump. 'Am I going to lose!?' he thought, watching the building windows once again flying upwards. 'After I just learned what I can do?'
"Do you want to fly?"
~**~
Nyssa rolled on the floor of the building to put out the flames licking at her body. She had just managed to pull off her spell before resorting to patting out the flames on her. When free of the fire, she took a steadying breath and winced at the burns covering her. Grimacing, she stood up shakily and felt a little nauseated when her burnt skin stretched out again to support her weight. She hobbled over to the broken window and let herself out, standing on a fire escape that she somehow had missed on her way in. What she saw then would forever be engraved in her memory.
Draco was in the air in front of her, his toes slightly down pointed and his arms crossed at his chest. His eyes were glowing blue and two sets of ash grey angel wings were flapping every five or so seconds to keep him airborne. What was more, his hands were both on fire as well. She swallowed as he uncrossed his arms and formed two fireballs in his hands. "Give?" he asked in a voice almost like a girl's.
Nyssa forced her mind to think clearly. She was a witch, he was a wizard. It was a spell. Nothing to be scared of. "No," she breathed, jumping as the fireballs were hurled at her. She jumped from different window sills until they were both on the roof tops again.
"Miracle blast!" Draco/Christina shouted when his opponent was on the roof top. A beam shot from his out pointed finger and blasted a hole straight through the roof. Nyssa was shocked, but still had enough sense in her to shoot another spell at him, which he just batted away like a fly.
The Angel in the air flew down at her so fast he left an after image of himself in the sky. The next thing Nyssa knew was the feeling of the ground being cruelly ripped away from her feet as she soared into the air. Then, she felt herself falling. Panic over took her as she saw the buildings screaming at her at an incredible speed. "I give!"
Suddenly she found herself hugged into a strong chest and felt powerful arms around her. The fall stopped and she felt a slow flap of a breeze on her every now and then. Looking up, she saw Draco holding her. He no longer looked threatening, but she realized just how handsome he really was. He long whitish blond hair was flowing out behind him, long since out of his usual ponytail. His eyes looked down at her and his lips turned to the smirk that he always wore. The breeze hit her again and she realized that the wings were beating, making the wind move. Curiously, she moved an arm from his waist and reached to touch them, gasping at the silkiness of the feathers.
The ground met her feet and she heard the crowd was screaming as loud (if not louder) as they had when Harry had fought. She then realized she lost the match. With a sigh, she watched Draco fly over the field to his friends.
"Nyssa you okay?" Cho asked, reaching her.
"I think I'm in love…"
~**~
"Good job, Malfoy." Hermione congratulated, smiling at him. "That was a really nice spell. Wings to fly instead of magic? Nice!"
"Bloody brilliant." Ron corrected her. "I didn't think you had it in you!"
Draco looked pleased with himself, but his face fell when he saw Ginny, not looking at him. He ignored Lee and Lupin going on and on about the match and walked over to the female redhead of the team. "Ginny?" he asked, getting a 'Humph' from her and making her turn from him completely. "What's wrong? Ginny? Gin?" He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh why don't you go and touch Nyssa," she sniffed, pulling her shoulder away from him. "You sure held her when you were in the air!" She turned again when he tried to look at her face. "Leave me alone! I hate you! Go to her! Don't touch me! Don't-"Ginny stopped screaming when she felt his arms around her waist and her back being pressed against his chest. She felt a feather-like flutter of a kiss on her ear.
"I don't like her," was all he said before releasing her slowly and turning to look at the group still celebrating over an unconscious Harry. "You told me to help people, so I did."
Ginny flushed and looked at the ground. "Sorry."
"It's okay." He shrugged; making his wings shift as they slowly went into his back. "You're cute when you're jealous."
"Jealous!?" Ginny instantly looked up, face matching her hair. "I wasn't jealous! Really!" Draco didn't look at her, but instead gazed over the field with that damn smirk of his. "Draco Malfoy, I was not jealous of you! Honestly!" Her face, however, clearly told she was.
Hermione shook her head at the pair and walked to the stage. "I want to go next."
"Win it for us." Ron nodded at her. "Want the sunshades?"
"They really won't help if we're not fighting in teams." Hermione smiled at him. "Thanks, though. Instead, could you pass me Harry's necklace?"
Ron gave her a weird look, but did as he was asked. Harry didn't protest, as he was still asleep by the ring. Hermione gave a curt nod in thanks and put it on.
"Helloooooo," Celestial sang into her mind. "How are you this lovely day, Hermione? Don't you agree that Harry is a stubborn boy who doesn't know when to quit?"
Hermione bit back a giggle. 'How is he?'
"Oh he's just fine. I told you once before we can't talk while he sleeps, right?"
Hermione nodded. 'Yeah, that's why I asked for you when I'm going out there. You can't inspect him while his mind is asleep.' The girl looked across the arena where Cho Chang was walking up the stairs.
~**~
"What's up next, professor?" Lee asked, obviously making himself sound like he was way beyond simply interested.
"Why, I'm glad you asked, Lee!" Lupin replied, also over acting. "Next stage we have a swamp like arena. Thick fog and unsteady footing. It'll take a clear and well thought out mindset to win this one!"
"Rules of the following match!" Several people cheered. "Wand loss, Ring out, and a special for this match only; no count downs - as you can use the fog to hide, and knock out!"
~**~
"Sure you're up to this?" Celestial asked her, warily. "Maybe you should use the sunshades. It would help you greatly."
'But the point of the match is to be able to hide. It would be more cheating than helping in this scenario.'
"Honest words."
Hermione smiled. 'Thanks.'
"READY!?" The stage shifted quickly before them into a gross looking soggy grassy ground. There were a few trees scattered around, but it was mainly an open field. "FIGHT!"
Hermione ran forward, holding back a groan as her shoes sank almost an inch at each step. To top it off, there was now a thick magical fog that surrounded the arena. One could still see if they looked hard enough, but it was still highly annoying.
"Electrus!"
Hermione's mind went into danger mode as she heard the spell being called out. It was a lightening spell that came from the wand tip rather than from the air. Listening as she had been trained to do, she heard the crackling of energy and predicted where the spell was coming from. She guess right, but when she jumped out of the way, she found her feet sink deeply into the sludge of a groud. "Ewwwwww……"
Jerking her feet out, Hermione ran in a half circle and saw her opponent, Cho, with her back turned. Taking advantage of it, she sprinted up to her and grabbed the girl in a choker hold. "Hiya, Cho!" she said into her ear. Her voice was happy, though.
"Hi, Hermione." Cho flipped the girl off of her, but she landed on her feet. "Nice move."
"Thanks, you too."
~**~
"This is an outrage!" Snape shouted, seeing the exchange on the screen. He was one of the judges today, sitting next to Dumbledore himself. "Albus, did you see that? Lupin is not teaching them magic! He's teraching them…Arts!" He said the last word as if it was an insult to the entire magical community. "Clearly he is not doing his job!"
"Now, now, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly. "I approved the teaching of Muggle Martial Arts as long as spells were still learned. The classed were split and the martial arts class was completely voluntary. However," he took his eyes from the magical screen/cloud in the air showing the furious cat fight on the field and turned to him. "Every single sorcerer and sorceress signed up for it, so we made it a regular class and put it down as extra credit. Don't worry, they are still learning as much magic as they are use of their bodies."
Snape kept a growl to himself, but could not keep his words from being whispered under his breath. "Muggle means are a waste of time in comparison to real magic…"
~***~
Hermione put up a shield to deflect the next attack and successfully deflected the spell. Following up, she gave a flick of her wrist and sent her flying back a few feet before landing and skidding in the sludge of a ground. Cho 'ewwwww'ed at this, but stood up, more disgusted than hurt. "Hermione, that was uncalled for!"
Hermione laughed in reply. "But it was fun!"
Cho held up her wand and two throwing stars appeared before her, hovering in the air. "It's time we got serious." She watched the stars spin in the air. "They are enchanted to paralyze whoever they hit." She flung her wand forward, sending the stars to Hermione. "One scratch and you lose!" Hermione simply dropped to the ground to avoid them, and barely had a chance to move when they immediately changed course to hit her. The stars sank into the ground where she had just been. "Did I forget to mention that since this place is so foggy I put a heat seeking charm on them?"
Hermione rolled a few times before jumping to her feet and running away from the following stars. She then leapt to the side, making the projectiles fly past her. She turned on her heels and began to run where she had come from. She saw Cho's figure slowly come into view through the fog.
'I won't fall for that.' Cho thought, grinning as Hermione ran toward her. 'Going to jump at the last second to make them hit me, are you? Well, I can stop that.' The raven haired girl cast a quick no jumping zone spell in front of her. 'Let's see you dodge now.'
Hermione grimaced. 'Are you sure?'
"Trust me." Hermione grimaced, but ran forward anyway.
Cho smirked as Hermione got close enough to make her move. What happened, however, shocked her. Hermione's image was there, then gone the next. "Apparation!?" she cried. "But she doesn't have a license!"
The next thing she felt was two sharp points hitting her in the chest and stomach. The world slowly faded into black as she fell forward, wand dropping from her hand as she did so.
~**~
"Where did she go!?" Ron shouted, running onto the field as the fog cleared as Lupin and Lee talked about the winning of the match.
"Did she Apparate?" Ginny asked, looking around.
"No." Draco said, calmly walking up to them. "She tricked her." He pointed to the ground, where Hermione's head was emerging.
Her hair was sopping wet and muddy. Ron helped her out of the slimy water and laughed as she coughed out the grimy liquid. "Don't tell me you fell in while running to her?"
Hermione grinned sheepishly up at him.
"What a way to win." Ginny laughed, patting her on the back.
"Told you so," Celestial spoke into Hermione's mind.
Hermione coughed some more, feeling like she would be sick. 'Next time you tell me a sure-fire way to win, I am _not_ listening to you.'
"I said you would distract her and win, I never said anything about staying clean." The dragon's voice was laughing.
~**~
Harry groaned and leaned forward, gripping his side and his shoulder. "Owww…"
"You're up." Ginny commented, kneeling next to him and placed her hand on his forehead. "Good, you're not feverish, that means the medicine worked."
"Where am I?" He took Ginny's hand and moved it from his forehead. "My head hurts."
"No surprise there." Another voice chimed in. "You got hit pretty bad."
"You can't say much." Another voice, Hermione's, told the first. "Ron, you idiot, you're worse than Harry."
"Huh?" Harry blinked a few times and realized he was in the hospital Wing. "What about the match?"
"It ended yesterday." Ginny grinned as Harry looked over at Ron, who was in a bed next to him. "You should have seen the matches. I lost mine, but Ron here made up for it." She smiled at her brother. "Fought in a sand arena like an ancient Egyptian tomb. Lasted well over three hours."
Hermione looked over at Harry and scoped him over for the thousandth time, making sure he was okay. "Yeah, and Ron kept on fighting, even after he got hurt really bad. I don't think anyone sees this as a friendly competition anymore. It's now win or nothing."
Harry laid back in his bed and looked at the ceiling. "Ah."
"I'm going for a walk." Ginny said, patting her brother and Harry on the head as she left. "See you later guys. Harry, you can go to the common room tonight. Ron, you need to stay in here for a night."
"Sure."
~**~
"You always come here?" Ginny spoke softly, standing next to a tree and watching the sun set.
"Not really." Draco was leaning against the tree, sitting down with one knee bent and the other leg straight in front of him. On his bent knee was a book with a piece of parchment on it. A quill was in his hand.
"You writing something?" she asked, bending over to look over his shoulder.
Draco opened the book and placed the parchment into it before she could read. "I was, yeah."
"Don't mind me."
"I do."
"That's mean."
"I come here to think."
"The sunset is beautiful," she said, changing the subject. "I love how the colours all melt together, don't you?"
"Wouldn't know." He stood and turned. "I'm colour blind." Ginny gasped lightly and immediately wished she could take back her words. Draco looked at his ring as he walked away. "Not even an Angel's blessing can make me see, unless I find an emotion strong enough to match the desire."
"What does that mean?" Ginny asked in a small voice as he walked.
"One whose heart cannot love can't work all of holy magic. The healing is beyond my grasp." He was almost to the castle doors, but Ginny could still hear him. "I don't know how to love."
Ginny watched the doors close and turned to the place where he had been sitting. "What's this?" she asked, bending over and picking up a stray scrap of parchment.
Its like I'm paranoid, looking over my back
Its like a whirlwind inside of my head
Its like I can't stop what I'm hearing within
Its like the face inside is right beneath my skin
Here we go again. the pain I feel isn't real, but only in my mind.
But I find myself in places with names, but not faces.
My memory races at speeds, hundred degrees.
My soul, it bleeds. devil must have planted the seed?
Now it feels like my backs against the wall, I'm taking the fall...
Whenever I call, nobody's responding at all
But I don't know who I could trust... They're screaming my name...
Dear God, I need somebody to help me out of the flame
The sun goes down
I feel the light betray me
The sun goes down
Its like I'm paranoid..
I feel the light betray me
The sun...
~~**~~
Okay guys, I know I disappointed a lot of you. Last post the chapter wasn't even done, and I couldn't even get it out in time like I had hoped. Well, this added edition was only a thousand or so words long. The tournament is getting harder to write and is taking up more space than I originally thought. It's hard to move with the story line when a round in the tournament takes up almost 6,000 words, ya know? Well, I can't promise next Monday will bring in a new chapter, but I'll try. Thanks goes to my beta reader as usual.
Till next time.