A/N: Next chapter...here we go...
Chapter II: Contemplations
"Get out of the compartment," Andromeda declared snappishly, as soon as she opened the door and walked inside.
"Ooh, what is this?" Regulus smirked. "Attitude, me sees. Congratulations on the backbone, Potter."
"Quit being smart, and just remove your nasty self, along with your goons, while we change," Andromeda was not humoured in the slightest. "Unless you have the brainpower of a worm, you'll understand that simple instruction."
"You caught me," Regulus sighed sarcastically, hanging his head, "I have an overwhelming desire to see you in your underwear - can you please remove me and goons physically, so if I can't see you, I can imagine you in that situation?"
The announcement reverberated throughout the train once more that the school would be reached within fifteen minutes.
"We don't you have the time, you useless bag of dragon dung. Now, git!" she finally lost her temper, and drawing her wand, she caught the male half of the occupants unawares. With a flick, all three were immobilized, and with another, found their rigid selves in the corridor outside.
"Thank you, boys." Andromeda smiled sweetly, and she proceeded, followed by Holly and Jane. The door closed with a bang that was rather louder than necessary
Ten minutes to arrival.
Regulus was royally angered, because she had surprised him so badly. The freezing charm did not quite wear off so easily. His wand was in his back pocket, and there was no possible way he could reach for it - and as it happened, all three of them were still wearing civilian clothes. He groaned inwardly; losing house points for the consecutive year before school even began was becoming somewhat of a tradition...
Five minutes.
He could finally move his fingers, but the rest of his body was still quite immobile. Worry surfaced all of the sudden - they could be trodden to death, or even worse, left to go back on the way to London. It was with a jolt of relief that he saw the compartment door slide open, and the girls in question walk out, outfitted with their new robes.
"Shall we release them yet?" Holly asked the others out loud with a purposeful tone.
"Maybe," Andromeda smiled devilishly.
Regulus had at last regained motion of his jaw. He looked furiously at Andromeda. "I will murder you, Potter."
"Now, isn't that cute?" Jane pitched in sweetly. "He wants to kill you for everything you did for him."
"Finite Incatatem," Andromeda waved her wand dismissively, as she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "We'll see at school, boys, if you can make it," and the three girls swept past the humiliated and infuriated trio.
Standing up, Regulus, along with his friends, dashed madly into the compartment in the effort to be able to make it to the feast on time, and not lose any more House points unnecessarily. The train was already beginning to slow down, which meant they were already pressed for precious time.
"I am going to kill her," he steamed while pushing his robes over his head. "Slowly and painfully."
"Mate, we've got minutes left," Otto glanced at his watch. "Let's go!"
Outside the compartment, a steady stream of students had started to exit the train, and by now, the crowd had thinned considerably.
Not quite dressed as good as they wanted to appear, Albus, Otto, and Regulus took their trunks and joined the last few stragglers.
"So how many points d'you reckon it'll be this year?" Albus asked Otto behind Regulus.
"The usual twenty, I'm thinking," the other said, "twenty-five, if we're not lucky."
"Will you two stop it?" Regulus called to them annoyingly.
"Lighten up, mate," Albus punched him on the shoulder. "So we were tricked by some girls. It's not as if they'll spread it around..."
A moment of silence followed, before Albus spoke again. "Did that sound completely ridiculous and naive to me, as it did to you?"
The other two only nodded. "Damn."
At last they stepped out of the train, as it just began moving. "Good job, guys." Albus commented.
To their immense displeasure, however, professor McGonagall was coming down the line in the traditional inspection of the uniforms. Any discrepancy, as some knew, would be heavily punished...
Our three heroes lined up at the end, hurrying to make last a few clandestine changes for the better. "Mate, you look like a dark lord. Smile, damn it!" Otto elbowed Regulus.
Regulus looked at him and grimaced. "Shut it."
"Way to be cheerful, git," Albus muttered under his breath. "We will even the score, but not now."
Very unfortunately for Albus, McGonagall approached him Just as he was saying those words, and her ancient expression did not seem forgiving.
"Mr. Percival, this remark alone will cost Gryffindor House twenty points. Insulting and plotting revenge are not activities we hold to high esteem at Hogwarts, as you have been warned countless times," she told him sternly by way of a greeting.
"I understand, Headmistress," Albus acknowledged her quietly, but Regulus could tell he wished her a very painful death inside...
"As for you, Mr. Malfoy," she turned to the second of the trio, "the abysmal state of your attire will cost you a further ten points from Gryffindor."
"But - " he tried to protest, but the former Transfiguration professor put up a hand.
"Would you prefer to make it twenty?"
"No, ma'am," Regulus seethed on his own turn, and fixed the pavement with his eyes.
"Very well, then," McGonagall said. "We shall see each other at the banquet shortly."
They all waited until she was completely out of earshot.
"Thirty points, before we've even started," Otto exclaimed. "Nice going. Really nice."
"Shut it, before I do it for you," Regulus snarled.
"Still pissed off about Andromeda, mate?" Otto patted him on the shoulder. "She is a feisty one, I know."
"I'm not in love with her, if that's what you're implying?" Regulus responded, without even listening to him.
"Who said anything about love?" Otto was confused for a second, but then grinned widely. "Good one, mate." And he clapped Regulus on the shoulder.
Albus had overheard the exchange. "Regulus and Andromeda?" he recited to himself slowly. "Nah, no way," he shook his head immediately after, and the three of them followed the rest of the troupe to the carriages.
**
After a half-hour long ride, the carriages accosted next to the entrance gates of the castle. One by one they emptied out, and the students made their way into the Great Hall. Trying to break their way between second and third years, Regulus, Otto and Albus managed to reach the Gryffindor table quite easily. On the other end of it, they spotted the girls, responsible for their troubles tonight - Andromeda was quite possibly regaling a gaggle of her friends, among which were Holly and Jane, and judging by their voracious laughs, his reputation was being thoroughly destroyed.
"Let it go, mate," Otto told him when he noticed where Regulus was looking. "We'll have our revenge, and we could plan it tonight right under their noses."
"Here and now?" Regulus raised an eyebrow. "Listen to yourself, Otto, they could have a spy among the people around us."
"Fine then," the other conceded. "Dorms, right after dinner."
As soon as the students were seated on their respective tables, Minerva McGonagall rose up from her chair, and raised her arms to restore silence.
For a few minutes, she regarded the entire school in front of her without speaking. Every year around this time, she could not help but think of the time that had passed, and how quickly it did so. Her eyes were particularly trained on the Gryffindor table. Seeing the next generation of Potters made her smile inwardly, yet it was also unusual to see a Malfoy in the house as well...
She herself had aged considerably. It was nearly twenty-five years ago that she remembered teaching Harry Potter. Since then, much had changed. A lasting peace, an old age spent in serenity - those were only two of the gifts the triumph over Voldemort gave her. How long she would live, she did not know, but taking every opportunity to help the next generation of witches and wizards was something she found very important.
"Welcome back, everyone," she addressed the Great Hall feebly through her magnified voice. "It is good to see you all again. It will be another year, full of magical learning and experience. Friendships will be tested, others lost and regained, but in the grander scheme, we are all here to learn first and foremost about ourselves and others, and along with that, learn to appreciate the value of friendship. As is it an yearly tradition at Hogwarts, before we begin out sumptuous feast, we will sort this year's new First Years. Let the ceremony begin!"
As the timid first years started coming in, Regulus gradually lost interest. Seeing the ceremony so many times before had lost its appeal, and he turned to talking to his friends.
It was an hour later that the name of "Zamboni, Peter", was called, and the feast finally began. Talk turned to the happenings of the summer months, and as concentrated as he was on the subject, Regulus could not help but glance in Andromeda's direction from time to time. What was even more infuriating is that he thought she caught him glancing at her. At least, that couldn't be what the four or five dazzling smiles she had flashed in his direction meant...
"Reg," he heard Albus' voice suddenly, "You've been staring in space for the last ten minutes. What's going on?"
His attention snapped back immediately. "Oh, nothing. Contemplating a torturous revenge for Andoromeda and company. How about you?"
"About to enjoy your baked potato if you don't eat it first," Albus grinned.
"You're hilarious, you know that?" Regulus told him dryly.
"Again, lighten up, mate," Albus told him, and turned his attention back to his sheepherder's pie.
Regulus sighed, and assaulted the aforementioned baked potato with the fork. What could he possibly do about Andromeda to recrify his embarrassment?
A/N: As this is going to turn into another completely plotless story, much like its prequel, I'll increase chapter length as I go along and think of new ridiculously crappy details to fill the white space with. :D
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