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 Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:10 pm
Dec. 24, 5:30 am, Gryffindor Girl’s Dorms
Jade had just turned over to get her right hand into the moonlight and snuggled into her pillow, dreaming of Harry, when someone pounced on her and batted her head until she was awake. Sitting up, she tried to dislodge the assailant, but only succeeded in letting them get a firm grip around her shoulders.
“Gumi! Geroff, you overgrown kitten!” Her sister sat back and brushed her hair back with a paw-like hand while pouting.
“Oh, c’mon! It’s Christmas Eve morn! Get up already!” She sat on the end of the bed with one leg drawn up in a crouch. Cat ears poked through her hair where she had more than likely transfigured herself earlier; they twitched in anticipation. She mewed in exasperation. “C’mon! The boys are already up! I wanna get the ritual on, already!”
Jade sighed tensely and groped for her wand; finding it and tapping her head, her hair began to arrange itself in an easy long braid that then coiffed itself on her head. Kagumi had done hers slightly differently, but in essence similar. The ears twitched and as Jade’s eyes adjusted, she could see whiskers, and claws, as well as a tail swishing around. Kagumi leapt down from the bed and stretched, purring as Jade rubbed her back once.
Then both girls descended the stairs to see Draco, Ron and Harry all sitting there. Kagumi leapt lightly onto the back of Draco’s chair and began kneading the fabric as he scratched behind her ears. Jade looked mildly disgusted. “Can you two not do that this early in the morning? Jeezy fricking Creezy, I haven’t even had any coffee,” she grumbled. Kagumi arched her back and lithely climbed down.
Jade took her hands and the entire group went outside in the moonlight. Kagumi transfigured herself back to normal and they began to dance, in a slow circle around each other. The girls upraised hands and the slow Latin and Italian chants resounding through the night sent chills down the backs of the group as they slowly joined in. The chants rose and suddenly a fine line connecting the girls appeared, white and flowing. As they swirled, this line formed circles, concentric and repeating.
When Harry felt that the energy and magic could go no higher, they all threw their arms up and the magic released itself in a shower of sparks. Kagumi hugged her sister in the light of the Yule Lights they had sent floating over the grounds and finally, they seemed to be at peace. Jade clasped her sister and said, “Too bad we’re not in charge of decorating everything this way,” with a smile. Hermione looked from one to the other.
“What do you mean?”
Kagumi pointed to the falling stars. “Those will last all day and all night. We were in charge of doing something for the night. As long as those are out here, the ceiling in the Great Hall will reflect it. Of course, we’ve set time delayed spells all around the castle, to off at certain moments during the day, but that wasn’t enough. See?” As the group watched, several spells went off with a bang as the sun was coming up over the mountains in the distance.
The trees began growing long and delicate icicles, fog rolled in light blues and colors associated with ice; the lake, of which the edges were only frozen, began to freeze up all the way. A tentacle rose out of the water and shook itself briefly at the girls before slowly slipping to the bottom, where it was warm.
Snow began falling in huge drifts, and several paths cut themselves through the thickly piling flurry. Hagrid came out and set several faeries loose near them, after the girls waved him over, and they began conjuring hedges that extended into an enchanted glade full of blue and purple roses, lit with the faeries of Hagrid.
Kagumi put her arm around Draco’s waist. “I’ll expect you to take me out here later, you know,” she said out of the corner of her mouth. He laughed delightedly and swung her around in the flurry, watching the snowflakes cling to her eyelashes. She laughed until her cheeks were a delicate pink and her hair began to come loose. She wrapped her arms around his legs and pulled him to the ground after he accidentally dropped her and they both made snow angels in the snow banks. Jade laughed quietly at their "childish acts" and they both bewitched snowballs to chase her.
“He’s really changed, hasn’t he?” Ron asked.
“Yeah…I think he has, “ Harry said softly, thinking about how impossible this scene would have a year ago.
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 11:19 pm
Dec. 24, 7:30am, Entrance Hall
Everyone had a good time with the enchanted snowball fight that it wasn't until two hours later that they realized what time it was and went inside.
"Ah, and I got you right in the butt", Jade said, still laughing.
"Yeah, my arse is still frozen", Ron said, brushing snow out of his hair.
"Well, you hit me in the ear", she said.
"Because you tried to get me in the back", Hermione said.
"We didn't tell him to block that shot", Gumi said. "You just did."
"Maybe, Mr. Ron has a crush on Ms. Hermione", Draco said, shiaking his head free of the snow clumps that now filled it.
Both Ron and Hermione's faces went pink, and not from the cold.
"Let's go have some Christmas breakfast", Harry said wrapping his arms around Jade, who kissed him on his cheek. "Onward!"
They all migrated into the still highly decorated Great Hall and sat down. Most of the school had gotten used to the fact that Draco was almost always going be around Harry, Ron, Hermione, Jade and Gumi from now on. As such, most of the Slytherins gave up trying to revert him back to his old self, except Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle who took to cornering him when he came into the Slytherin dorms for bed.
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:47 pm
Dec. 24, 7:32am, Great Hall
Kagumi looked over her shoulder to see Pansy glaring at her as she walked in. The group had been sitting there, doing some holiday homework and of course, talking to each other. Draco had his arm comfortably around Kagumi's tiny waist and her head was previously leaned into his shoulder. Pansy, on her way into the Hall and past the Gryffindor table, had bumped Kagumi, making her spill cocoa coffee down her white shirt. Kagumi coughed and turned round to glare at the offending Slytherin, who gave a sarcastic wave and sat down. Since there were many people staying at the school for the holidays, the four House tables were still set up and they were staring across the hall at each other.
Kagumi got up calmly, after magically cleaning her white shirt, and pushed Draco back down. Stepping carefully over the bench of her table, she glided quietly across the Great Hall. Everyone began to get quiet when Kagumi stopped five feet from the table and lept up on to it, right in front of Pansy, who then slopped eggnog down her robes.
“Hi…Merry Christmas, Pug-face,” Kagumi said, in a scarily cheerful voice.
“What do you want, slut?”
“This.” And with that, Kagumi let her hands fly forward, punching Pansy twice in the mouth with each hand before hardly anyone could blink. A thin dribble of blood ran from two busted lips and a slender, slightly golden hand reached forward to grab the collar of the semi-dazed girl. Kagumi dragged her over the table, scattering several plates, tureens and goblets as she went. Lifting her effortlessly, the enemies made their way out into the Entrance Hall, where the entire school heard the great double doors open. There was a screech like a Banshee’s and then…silence.
A flash of vivid scarlet light and then, Kagumi could be heard shouting, “Oh, no you do not!” There was a bang, very much like someone being thrown against a door, and Crabbe, Goyle and two other Slytherins ran outside. Pandemonium ensued, what with the trio, Jade and Draco rushing out into the hall to see Kagumi, standing with Pansy in a one-armed Headlock and was holding Crabbe, Goyle and all of the other Slytherins up in the air with only a wand.
They were being repeatedly knocked against the wall, and there were four cracks in the stone wall. Kagumi was speaking very softly to Pansy, who seemed to be only just coherent, seeing as she a very pale blue. Weak responses were issuing themselves from her mouth and she seemed to be defying Kagumi with each ragged breath.
“C’mon, Pansy. You can’t think that he would want you? I mean, why would he need you?”
“I take care of him…And he only doesn’t realize that he needs me. You’re just a Gryffindor slut,” Pansy choked out. With a loud snarl, Kagumi threw against the same wall that the others were being slammed into.
Draco ran forward. “Kagumi, stop it!” She vaguely put her wand down and all of her victims crashed to the floor. “What, Honey?”
He cupped her face in his hands and spoke somberly. “Sweetie, don’t do this. They’re not worth it. I don’t need them and there’s no reason for you to hurt them,” he said, kissing her tenderly. Hermione looked aghast at the dents in the wall and the bloody bags of raw meat tat had once been Slytherins.
Jade pushed her way forward with wand drawn and looked square at Kagumi. “Why?” was all she could muster in her anger. Kagumi shrugged.
“She went too far and I had to repay in kind,” she snapped with her arms crossed. Jade shook her head with disgust. “You know, you are a disgrace. All you can think of is revenge. You’re no better than Voldemort! All you do is hurt those around you; never thinking of consequences of you actions. It’s a wonder that Dumbledore ever even kept you here!’
At every word her sister spewed at her, Kagumi's eyes filled with more and more tears until finally she looked at Draco. “She’s right…you’re right. It’s over, Malfoy. You don’t need me. I’m just a disgrace that doesn’t even deserve to be here,” and speaking these words to a stunned crowd, she healed the Slytherins on the floor and ran for Gryffindor Tower. Jade let an explosive sigh and ran a hand over her hair as Draco stared after her in incredulity. “God…. shite.”
Jade ran up the stairs after her sister, with the trio and Draco following. The crowd was left to gossip amongst itself and Pansy fled into the dungeons to hide her breaking heart.
Dec. 24, 8:13 am, Gryffindor Girl’s Dorm
Kagumi was packing, furiously throwing things into her enlarged truck. Her dragon, which had until that time resided in her pocket, flew around her head, reflecting her agitation. Picture frames shattered, books lost pages and the torches flickered often.
Jade stood in the doorway. “You’re going to miss him, you know that.”
“I know,” Kagumi replied without stopping or looking up. Jade sighed and grabbed her arms, easily catching them over her head. “Stop it! You’re acting like a child!”
“So?! As long as I don’t stand in your blissful life with The Golden Boy, I don’t see why you’d care!”
Jade slapped her. It resounded in the room and there was silence afterwards as Kagumi shed tears, finally.
“Because you’re my sister!”
“So? That didn’t matter to you when you said I was no better than a man who runs around, afraid to die,” she sobbed. “Shhh….shh shh shh…” her sister crooned, letting themselves slowly slide to the floor as her sister turned around and buried her face in Jade’s shirt. “Shh shh…It’s all going to be fine,” she whispered.
“No, no it won’t. I’ve lost him, you know. Haven’t I?”
“No, sweetie. You couldn’t have lost him that quickly.”
“But I pushed him away! He thinks I hate him,” she cried again as she sat up. “Why…why was I cursed with the sunlight? I feel everything to extremes. And I hate it, Gods I hate it so much!”
Jade looked at her sister as she wiped her face. Her midnight blue hair shone in the early morning light and her skin turned a tawny gold. She cleared her face easily enough and sniffled. With a terse twitch of her wand, everything repaired itself and flew back to its rightful place. The dragon finally quieted and fluttered wearily to the cushion in the closet for a well-deserved nap.
Kagumi stood near the window, letting the sunlight wash over her and the clear smell of snow wash her sense anew. “Why us? What’d we ever do?”
“I don’t know, GumiBear…I don’t. But they wouldn’t have spared us if they didn’t think it was us,” Jade whispered.
“Some wondrous destiny,” Kagumi snorted. She turned around and wiped her hands on her jeans. “I suppose I should go see him.” Jade nodded.
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:08 pm
Dec. 24, 8:43 am, Slytherin Common Room
Draco stared at the flames. He missed her already and longed to go to her. But Pansy was nestled at his side, with her head on his lap. When Kagumi had broken it off, she had immediately come forward to claim him as her own again. Many Slytherins in the room nodded approvingly as he forced himself to laugh at the jokes being made about the Gryffindors and the twins.
But she broke it off. And I can’t exactly bring her home to Father, now could I? It’s better for all of us this way. He pushed the tantalizing scent of her hair out of his mind and tried to forget the way they had made love that night and the things they had said to one another. Instead, when Pansy sat up, he made himself kiss her.
“You’re back, now. You’re my Drakey again,” she cooed happily against his lips. He almost gagged when her slimy tongue shot out against his lips. He pulled away.
“Pansy, Baby…I’m sorry. Not yet,” he swallowed hard.
He heard the doorway sliding open and felt familiar eyes on his back. “So…I get flustered and you turn around and stick your tongue down the dog’s throat before I can explain. That’s fine, Drac - -No…Malfoy. That’s fine,” he shuddered to hear the hatred in her voice as she threw his last name in his face. He turned and assumed the mask he had worn up until this year. Taking a deep breath, he sneered, feeling his heart break as he did so.
“What’s it to you? You had a chance. You gave me up,” there was silence from her end, but he could see her sun-kissed face go taut and he wanted so badly to soothe it again. She flipped him off. “You’re still arrogant, Malfoy. You haven’t changed at all. Just like your prisoner of a father. May you all rot in hell,” she turned on her heel and strode back through the door, fists at her sides in fury. He ached to run after her and tell her that it was all just a ploy; it was just that he was hurt. And he was simply lashing out because his soul ached and felt empty.
Kagumi sat on the stairs, not caring that her hair was coming loose, or that she was freezing, or even that she hadn’t eaten or drank anything in going on twenty-four hours. She didn’t respond to her sister, or McGonagall, or even Hagrid. But when Harry came to see if she was even still alive, she grabbed his hand on her shoulder and the tears that she had kept locked in Pride’s prison freed themselves and flowed freely. She didn’t remember standing up, or turning around or even hugging Harry, but soon, she was clasped in his arms, sobbing as her soul split in half.
He rubbed her back and picked her up, carrying her through the castle to the common room, where her sister was waiting.
Dec. 24, 10:23 am, Slytherin Common Room
Everyone seemed pleased to have Draco back and no one noticed that he was often far quieter than he normally would have been. Finally, the room emptied and he was left looking at the fire, thinking of the one who had scorched his heart. Pansy’s arms went around his neck and he stiffened.
“Hey, Lover…”
“Hullo,” he managed. She came round the couch and straddled his lap, playing with his tie. “Tell me you love me…You haven’t said it for so long,” she whispered, probably attempting seduction. He gulped slightly, forcing the bile back down. Her skin was oily and greasy, pale and sick looking. Her hair was shorn, and the edges were ragged. She smelled like she hadn’t showered in a week and her breath was as bad as Crabbe’s shoes.
“Pansy…I love…” He stared into her face, but instead of seeing brown eyes, he saw silver-rimmed sapphires. He saw golden skin and smelled Moon flowers for just a second.
He tried again. “Pansy, I love…” Again, instead of plain, empty brown, there were those sapphires again.
“Kagumi….”
“What?!” Pansy screeched. “What?”
“Pansy…I love…Kagumi. I can’t be here anymore,” and he shoved her brusquely off of his lap and ran for the exit.
Dec. 24, 10:59 am, Gryffindor Common Room
Draco’s feet pounded the stairs. Up, down, turned a corner. He didn’t see where he was going, only felt the tugging on his heart get stronger every time he got closer. He opened the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower and was no sooner inside than he was punched in the face by Ron, Harry, Jade and Fred and George Weasley.
He flew against the back of it as Ron and Harry rolled up their sleeves again. Jade’s face was red with strangled fury and he knew that all of them were in a towering temper. Fred easily threw him into a table, smashing it. They stopped for a moment, seeing if he would fight back, but he only sat up with a black eye and three loose teeth.
“Not going to fight back, Malfoy?”
“No…”
“Why?”
“Because I deserve it…and so much more,” he managed, wheezing from the blow he had taken from Jade that had winded him. “Damn straight, you do,” came George’s voice.
“No, wait…” Harry said. “Why?”
And he was helped into a chair with an icepack as he told them the contents of the last morning. How Pansy was obsessed with him and how he had felt betrayed by Kagumi's declarations in the hall. How she had hurt him when she said that she wasn’t good enough for him, how her mysterious eyes had haunted every moment since.
“…I do love her. I don’t know why I said those things in the common room, I think I was just hurt…and I wanted Revenge. And I hurt her. Again.”
“Too right you did,” said Fred quietly.
“What’re you doing here anyway?”
“We got an owl from Ginny that said Kagumi was here and was contemplating, well, something not good. We rushed over as fast as we could.”
"She tried to jump...out of a window, Malfoy," George growled, still looking as if his fist was itching to hit something again.
“But how do you even know them?” Draco asked.
“They came into our shop a lot. Bought a lot of stuff, said they intended to rise the pranking bar at Hogwarts. You can imagine how shocked we were when we saw them and how they had changed. Besides, Charlie knows them a little, something about a common past or something or other.” George said matter-of-factly.
“Harry…Can you help me? I don’t know what I can about it. I can’t lose her,” he pleaded.
Jade piped up. “I think I know a way…”
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 3:50 am
Dec. 24, 6:05pm, Great Hall
At a little after six that night, all of the students and teachers that were staying over for Christmas vacation all gathered in the Great Hall for the Hogwarts Christmas Festival, where the teachers play games, sing songs, both karaoke style and unplugged, tell stories and eat snacks. This is all done on Christmas Eve, then on Christmas Day, they continue playing games, singing and dancing, but they also stop for a while, when Professor Dumbledore reads 'A Christmas Carol' to everyone in the Great Hall and there are normally some students who put on skits and such for everyone else. After they finished a round of Heads Up, Seventeen Up (like heads up, 7 up but for more people), they switched over to singing, to which Jade kicked off, byt singing 'All I Want For Christmas Is You', where she was accompanied by Harry on bass guitar, Ron on regular guitar, Ginny in keyboard and Hermione on drums.
"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There's just one thing I need I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know Make my wish come true...
All I want for Christmas Is you...", Jade sang, acapella then the others came in with their instruments.
"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need I don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree I don't need to hang my stocking
Hung upon the fireplace Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas day I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick I won't even stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
Ohh All the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere
And the sound of children's Laughter fills the air
And everyone is singing I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need
Won't you please bring my baby to me
I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for I just want to see
My baby Standing right outside my door
I just want him for my own More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true Baby all I want for Christmas is
You
And you and you and you and you
All I want for Christmas", Jade finished perfectly and the Great Hall exploded in applause, with the major portion of it, coming from the tables that had Gryffindors at them.
"Thanks", Jade said, into the magical microphone at the front of the newly erected stage, which Jade built. "Thank you. I would just like to welcome you all again to the Hogwarts Christmas Festival." There was another round of applause, which Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione joined in on, as they sat down at the table where Gumi was. "To continue with this singing celebration, I give you none other than, Draco Malfoy", she finished as she sat down while people applauded.
Draco came onto the stage in a nice shirt and pants, looking a bit nervous. The music started as he got to his place in front of the magical microphone.
"They read you Cinderella
You hoped it would come true
That one day your prince charming would come rescue you
You like romantic movies And you never will forget
The way it felt when romeo kissed Juliet
And all this time that you've been waiting
You don't have to wait no more
I can love you like that
I would make you my world
Move heaven and earth if you were my girl
I would give you my heart
Be all that you need
Show you you're everything that's precious to me
If you give me a chance, I can love you like that (I love you like that, I can love you like that)
I never make a promise I don't intend to keep
So when i say forever Forevers what i mean
Well, I'm no Casanova But i swear this much is true,
I'll be holding nothing back When it comes to you
You dream of love that's everlasting
Well baby open up your eyes
I can love you like that
I would make you my world
Move heaven and earth if you were my girl
I would give you my heart
Be all that you need
Show you you're everything that's precious to me
If you give me a chance, I can love you like that I love you like that", he continued as he walked off the stage with the microphone in his hand and walked right over to Gumi and knelt down in front of her, singing.
"If you want tenderness
I've got tenderness (tenderness)
And i see through to the heart of you
If you want a man (want a man)
Who will understand (understand)
You don't have to look very far
I can love you, girl i can (i can love you love you)
Oh baby oh... I can love you like that I would make you my world
Move heaven and earth if you were my girl (you were my girl)
I would give you my heart Be all that you need S
how you you're everything that's precious to me
I can love you like that
I can make you my world
Move heaven and earth if you were my girl
I would give you my heart
My heart my heart my world
Show you you're everything (you're everything to me)
Love you like that I can make you my world
Move heaven and earth if you were my girl
I would give you my heart My heart my heart my world
Show you you're everything."
He concluded, and no sooner got the last word out, then Gumi flung her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply as the Great Hall blew up in applause again. Draco sat down next to her as Harry got up to sing.
"My sexy love
So sexy
Mmm…
Hm…
She makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up
Just one touch and I erupt
Like a volcano and cover her with my love
Baby girl you make me say
OoOOo
And I just can’t think (of anything else I’d rather do)
Then to hear you sing (sing my name the way you do)
Oh, when we do our thing (when we do the things we do)
Baby girl you make me say… OooOOo
Sexy love
Girl the things you do (oh baby, baby)
Keep me sprung
Keep me running back to you (oh baby, I)
OoOo I love
Making love to you
Baby girl you know your my
Sexy love
I’m so addicted to how she’s the sweetest drug
Just enough… Still too much
Say that I’m slippin’ up sprung on love be above
I can’t help she makes me say
OoOOo
And I just can’t think (of anything else I’d rather do)
Then to hear you sing (sing my name the way you do)
Oh, when we do our thing (when we do the things we do)
Baby girl you make me say… OooOOo
My sexy love
Sexy love
Girl the things you do (oh baby, baby)
Keep me sprung
Keep me running back to you (oh baby, I)
OoOo I love
Making love to you
Baby girl you know your my
Sexy love
Baby what we doing makes the sun come up
Keep on lovin’ til it goes back down
And I don’t know what I’d do if I would loose your touch
That’s why I’m always keeping you around
My sexy love
Sexy love
Girl the things you do (oh baby, baby)
Keep me sprung
Keep me running back to you (oh baby, I)
OoOo I love
Making love to you
Baby girl you know your my
Sexy love
Sexy love
Girl the things you do (oh baby, baby)
Keep me sprung
Keep me running back to you (oh baby, I)
OoOo I love
Making love to you
Baby girl you know your my
Sexy love
She makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up
…just one touch…", Harry finished his last note as most everyone gave him a standing applause, except fro Jade, who was blushing to profusely, but still clapped.
__________
Songs by:
'All I Want For Christmas Is You' by Tessa Niles (Love Actually Soundtrack)
'I Can Love You Like That' by All-4-one
'Sexy Love' by Ne-Yo
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:50 pm
Dec. 25, 7:43 pm, Great Hall
It seemed that his song had done the trick. Kagumi was in his arms, and he wasn’t delusional or dreaming. She had kissed him, and though he was getting many uncomfortable glares from the Slytherin side of the room, he knew that he could bear it so long as she was by his side. He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head.
They listened to Dumbledore give his Christmas Day speech and then they began to eat. The food was delicious, as always. There were puddings, teas, desserts to make even Hagrid blush scarlet. Jade was wondering why Kagumi, Hermione and Draco were looking at the High Table every five minutes when Minerva McGonagall had, apparently, a bit too much wine with her meal and halfway through, she got up on her chair and took her hat off, letting waist length hair fall down from her usual severe bun and asked for some Celtic Dance music. Kagumi snickered into her treacle fudge, even as the rest of the group looked at her, Draco and Hermione, who were all rather pink in the face.
“What did you three do?” Harry asked incredulously.
“We - -We put a charm on McGonagall’s goblet. Hermione’s find; brilliant really,” Draco choked out. Hermione ducked under the table, laughing relentlessly as Hagrid tried to carry a singing Professor out of the Great Hall. She threw a punch at him and when he dropped her, she began a Scottish Jig in the middle of the floor. Kagumi roared and didn’t even notice that everyone was laughing at the struggling Hagrid, who had been pulled into a Riverdance type of thing by McGonagall and was trying to get out of her iron grip.
“Well - -” Kagumi managed, her face very red. “Since ‘Mione is under the table, and Draco is too busy choking on food,” here she slapped her lover on the back, “I suppose I’ll tell you. Hermione was studying a book of spells that Fred and George had sent her. Speaking of them, where did they get off to? Anyway. It was a book full of practical joke spells and McGonagall had just docked points from Draco and me for kissing under the mistletoe, right? Well, we were reading over her shoulder and…we found this one.”
Hermione emerged and said,” It places a constant ring of 'liquid' around the goblet. That way…every time she takes a drink, she gets the equivalent of half a shot of liquor.” She was glowing with pride and perhaps a bit of fear of being caught.
“We chose Firewhiskey.” Draco said simply, rubbing his shoulder where Kagumi had nearly knocked him into his plate of Bangers n’ Mash. He smirked at the look of horror on Snape’s face when McGonagall dragged him the middle of the floor and put a drunken charm on him to make his tap dance. Ron was banging the table with his fist and Harry was about to fall off of his chair. His eyes were tearing up rapidly as Hagrid picked both Professors up and promptly carried them out of the hall. A second later, McGonagall ran back in, clutching her hat and waving it around.
“Put me down, Hagrid! I’m a Scot and I can hold my liquor!” She yelled at the giant of a man begging her to come to the Hospital Wing, and promptly passed out from the sheer amount of Alcohol. Harry looked at Hermione, wondering what had gotten into her, but he couldn’t help smiling as Draco and Kagumi grabbed Jade and did a spirited impersonation of the liquored Head of Gryffindor. The Hall roared with laughter, and Dumbledore, along with Professors’ Flitwick and Sprout, applauded them as they all sat back down.
Jade looked rather oddly at the trio who had done the prank.
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 3:57 pm
Dec. 24, 8:00pm, Great Hall
"Umm, I gotta use the bathroom", Jade said, with blank face, not looking at anybody and leaving the Great Hall.
Harry paused at this, with a quizzical face. "Something tells me she isn't going to the bathroom", Harry said, going after her.
Hermione, Draco and Gumi all paused. "Did we do something wrong?", Draco asked.
"I hope not", Hermione replied.
Gumi didn't say anything but just stared at the doors to the Great Hall.
Dec. 24, 8:02pm, Entrance Hall
Harry had found Jade sitting on the base of the statue of the Gryffin in the Entrance Hall. "Hey", Harry said, getting Jade to look up. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm- I'm ok, I guess. I don't know, I just, for some reason had to get out of there", Jade said, propping her head on her knees. "Now, more than ever I curse myself for what I am."
"Because of what you are?", Harry repeated.
Jade's face went unnoticed shade of pink, that was masked by the torch light. "I sometimes have a problem with things going the way they aren't normally. I- it, catches me off guard and I just have to get away to process it."
"Mmm, I know that feeling", he answered now leaning against the base of the statue. "But I get it because people around me aren't as happy they should be."
Harry pulled Jade off the bottom of the statue and into a loving hug. "Whatever you are, I love it", he said. "Now, let's go have a party."
"Alright", she replied.
Dec. 24, 8:10pm, Great Hall
They had just re-entered the Great Hall when Ron got up on stage and began singing a love song, which Jade and Harry knew was meant for Hermione.
"I look at you. You look at me
(You can tell me you ain't feeling butterflies)
Its obvious there’s some chemistry
(I think I know when it feels so right)
Girl I wanted so long to know
Know your telling me you gotta let it go
(Don’t tell me I have to start all over again)
I never knew this day would come
(This is something I wanted in my life)
I realized that you’re the one
(And your telling me it’s time to say good-bye)
What’s inside my heart it ain't gonna change
So it shouldn’t be so easy to walk away
(You feel it I feel it lets not pretend)
Maybe I don’t know what love is
Maybe I’m a fool
I just know what I’m feeling and it’s all because of you
Don’t tell me I don’t know I want the truth
Cause they call it, we call it, you call it, I call it love
It’s so clear for you to see
(Don’t let no body telling you what to do)
Why they can’t just lets us be happy
(I don’t want to find somebody new)
If you know what’s really in your heart
Then don’t let them tear us apart
(Cause you feel it I feel it don’t say were through)
Maybe I don’t know what love is
Maybe I’m a fool
I just know what I’m feeling and it’s all because of you
Don’t tell me I don’t know I want the truth
Cause they call it, we call it, you call it, I call it love
We have a bond, that's unbreakable
I know and it's not time to letting go
(Where in love)
And know that we know that it’s real
Were gonna let it show
To the whole world that I’m yours forever
And you’re my girl
Maybe I don’t know what love is
Maybe I’m a fool
I just know what I’m feeling and it’s all because of you
Don’t tell me I don’t know I want the truth
Cause they call it, we call it, you call it, I call it love
Maybe I don’t know what love is
Maybe I’m a fool
I just know what I’m feeling and it’s all because of you
Don’t tell me I don’t know I want the truth
Cause they call it, we call it, you call it, I call it love", Ron finished as he became eye-locked with Hermione, who blushed.
Ron put the magical microphone back in the stand, gave a small bow and sat back down as Seamus got up to sing.
"And just what was that?", Gumi asked.
"What was what?", Ron asked.
"Oh, come on", Draco said. "We totally saw what just happened."
"And what would that be?", Hermione asked, still a bit pink.
Harry went to speak but Jade stopped him. "Don't, honey, they aren't talkn'", Jade said. "Their lips are sealed shut about what they just did."
They all turned back to the stage where Seamus, who was still singing, ripped off his shirt and continued dancing wildly, while singing.
"Hola amiga, Hola amiga
You're my temple of desire
Hola amiga, Hola amiga
let my spirit take you higher
We'll go around the world in a day
Don't say no, no
Shake it my way, oh
Shake your bon-bon
Shake your bon-bon
Shake your bon-bon
We'll go round the world in a day
Don't say no no
shake it my way oh
shake your bon-bon
shake your bon-bon
shake your bon-bon
I'm a desperado
Underneath your window
I see your silhouette
Are you my Juliet
I feel a mad connection
With your body
Shake your bon-bon
Shake your bon-bon
Shake your bon-bon
I wanna be your lover
Your only latin lover
We'll go around the world in a day
Round the world will be the vandango
Shake your bon-bon
Shake your bon-bon."
Seamus finished his song, bowed to the wildly cheering younger girls, grabbed his now ripped shirt and sat down.
"Dude, you have no shame at all do you", Dean said, looking at Seamus who sat down next to him.
"None whatsoever", Seamus replied blowing kisses to the younger girls close by who fainted.
"Oy", Neville said, shaking his head.
_______
Songs by:
I Call It Love by Lionel Richie
Shake Your Bon-Bon by Ricky Martin
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 8:28 pm
Dec. 24, 8:13 pm, Great Hall
Kagumi patted Neville on the head a little tipsily. She was unknowingly suffering from the same charm as their Head of House, but this time it was Fred and George who had charmed the goblet. They snickered under Disillusionment and did the Charm to all of them.
“Good thing we know that book by heart, eh Fred?”
“Oy, George. That it is,” he whispered back as they charmed all of the Gryffindors’ goblets. Hermione was getting a pink tinge to her face and laughed excessively at Ron's corny jokes. Kagumi looked at Draco as they all got up, albeit a little inelegantly, and he nodded. As the two were walking past Ron and Hermione, who were walking suspiciously close together, they split like a well-trained dance team.
Kagumi walked near Ron and Draco near Hermione. On the third nod of both partners, they “accidentally” stumbled over the victim’s cloaks and pushed the sexually tensed couple together. Their lips brushed for a moment before they drew back, flustered. Then her hand cupped his cheek and then their lips were meshing again, this time quite deliberately. Several hoots came from the Gryffindor crowd and Harry spoke softly.
“Finally!’
Draco took Kagumi's arm and they made their way merrily to the common room to open presents. Normally, presents would have been opened that morning, but the twins had specifically asked that they have a family night and open the presents together.
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Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:24 pm
Dec. 24, 8:20pm, Gryffindor Common Room
Everyone sat in the Gryffindor Common Room and unwrapped their gifts. The boys all gave their gifts first. Ron got Hermione a gold chain necklace with an otter pendant, which she loved, and kissed him for. Draco got Gumi a pair of red and green earmuffs with a matching scarf, along with a golden chain charm anklet and Harry got Jade a blue-silver jewelry set, with dragon pendant necklace, a dragon bracelet, a pair of dragon earrings and a dragon ring.
"Oh, Harry", Jade gasped.
"You like it?", Harry asked.
"I love it", she replied kissing him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome", he said and then watched as she put in the earrings and the bracelet, but handed him the necklace and ring. "What?"
"I don't wanna put them on", she said as he took the necklace and the ring. "Can you?"
"Yes, I- I- I can do that", he said with a smile.
Harry draped the necklace around her neck and clasped it, then slipped the ring onto her right ring finger. Next, the girls gave their gifts. Hermione gave Ron a broom service kit, for his Comet. Gumi got Draco a silver ring, with a matching one for herself. Harry, who was last to get his gift as Jade kept it locked in her closet, was given a fuzzy brown box. When he opened it, he found a silver and gold pocket watch. "Jade", Harry breathed.
"It was my dad's old watch", Jade said. "It keeps perfect time. He said you could set your heart by that watch."
"Oh, thank you", he said, leaning over and kissing her on the neck, above the chain of the necklace he gave her.
Dec. 24, 8:40pm, Gryffindor Common Room
"Has everyone given their gifts?", Fred asked.
"Not everyone", Harry said, looking at Jade. "I have one more gift for my beloved girlfriend, and it's out on the Quiddich Field."
"Why is it out there?", Jade asked as Harry pulled her up from the floor.
"You'll see", he said with a smirk on his face and they left through the portrait hole.
"What do you think it is?", Hermione asked, looking from everyone to the portrait hole.
"I don't know", Gumi confessed. "But, with as much time as he has been spending around my sister, I wouldn't put anything passed him."
Dec. 24, 9:00pm, Quiddich Field
Harry had put a red satin blindfold over Jade's eyes before he set her on his broom and flew her over to the middle of the Quiddich field.
"Where am I going?", Jade asked as Harry helped her off the broom.
"Your spot is.... just there", he said with a chuckle as she tried to sit down, but was suppose to stand instead. She heard a soft 'click' and Harry took of her blindfold. Their was soft music playing from a magic stereo and snow was falling around them, which Jade didn't know was coming from Ginny and Neville's wands who were hiding far up above them on two school brooms. "Now, you can scratch this off your life list", Harry said, bowing and offering his hand to Jade who took it.
"Thanks", Jade said, as they danced in the falling snow. "You know, this is definitely up at the top of my list for favorite Christmases."
"I'm glad", he said, then spun her around, watching the snow fling to her long brown hair and eyelashes. "This is going up as one of the best Christmases I've had too."
Almost the entire time Harry and Jade danced on the Quiddich Field, everyone in the Gryffindor common room watched them, via a magical link to a camera that Ginny had with her from George.
"They really are a great couple", Hermione said, watching Harry and Jade dance on the small magical monitor Fred set up.
"I'd have to say, that if I had to pick someone for my sister", Gumi said, also watching the monitor. "Next to Shawn Ashmore, I would pick Harry, hands down."
Both Hermione and Gumi giggled while Ron and Draco sat, holding both of them, watching Jade and Harry share their first snow dance.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:02 am
Dec. 24, 9:08 pm, Gryffindor Common Room
After about five minutes of sitting there and trying not to yawn, she stood up. “Alright, either some one shut this thing off or go get a puke bag,” Kagumi said, stretching out on the floor of the Common Room.
“But I thought you said next to Shawn Assmore or whatever his name was, Harry was the best guy?”
“First off, it was Ashmore, not Assmore. And I may think that, but that doesn’t mean I wanna watch the mush. I mean, jeezy creezy, call Marc Lawrence and tell him to get a camera crew over here before he actually wins something,” she said, glaring at the ceiling. Everyone except for Hermione stared at her; Hermione laughed, since she, as a Muggle, knew exactly who both of those people were.
“Hey ‘Mione?” Kagumi's cut through the uncomfortable silence.
“Yeah?”
“’I’ll give you twenty for your cab!’”
“’Keep your twenty and have dinner with me,’” Hermione replied with a completely straight and earnest face.
“’You keep your dinner, I’ll keep my twenty and we’ll call it a deal!’” Kagumi managed, before both girls dissolved into laughter. The rest of the group watched the girls laughing hysterically, silently fearing that the two bookworms of Hogwarts had finally absorbed enough knowledge to go insane.
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:50 pm
Dec. 25, 8:00pm, Great Hall
Everyone compiled back in the Great Hall the next night for more singing and dancing and of course, to see the small performance for Rent, which was the Life Cafe scene that included the song, 'La Vie Boheme' and many extras.
"Bisexuals, tri-sexuals, homo sapiens,
Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men, Pee Wee Herman
German wine, turpentine, Gertrude Stein
Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa
Carmina Burana
To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy
Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC,
To no shame - never playing the Fame Game", everyone sang loudly, then paused for Dean to sing.
"To marijuana!"
Everyone came back in. "To sodomy, is between, God and me, to S&M."
"Waiter, waiter, waiter.... waiter!", Draco screamed, leaving the set.
"La Vie Boheme!", everyone continued.
The scene ended, as Gumi (Mimi) and Harry (Roger) left the set, hand in hand, which would then transfer into the next scene. The set went black and there was a soft patter of footsteps so that everyone got to their places for 'Seasons of Love'.
"525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes - how do you measure,
measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In
inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes - how do you
measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love. Seasons of
love, Seasons of Love", Gumi, Draco, Hermione, Ron, Dean, Lavender, Harry and Jade sang, then Jade stepped forward to take her solo.
"525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan. 525,600 minutes - how can you measure
the life of a woman or man?"
As Jade stepped back, Dean stepped forward for his solo. "In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried. In bridges he burned, or the way that she died."
Then the others joined back in as he stepped back again. "It’s time now to sing out, tho the story never ends let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends.
Remember the love! (Oh, you got to, you got to, remember the love)
Remember the love! (You know that love is a gift from up above)
Remember the love! (Share love, give love, spread love)
Measure in love. (Measure, measure your life in looooooooooooove)
Seasons of love!
Seasons of love. (Measure your life, measure your life in love).
As the music ended, the entire Great Hall blew up in tremendous applause. They all took a bow and exited the stage set. The upper stage went black again and once more came sound of pattering feet. When the lights came back up, the entire Hogwarts Choir, along with Jade were up on the risers. The music started and Jade took her place as soloist and started singing.
"Joy to the world the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her king
Let every heart prepare him room
And heaven, let heaven, heaven and nature,
Heaven and nature sing", she sang then the choir came in.
"Everybody sing joy to the world
The Lord is come
Let Earth receive her king
Let every heart prepare him room
Heaven and nature sing
Go tell it, go tell it his glory
Shout out his glory
That the savior is born
Let Heaven, heaven, heaven and nature sing
Let fields and flocks
Rocks hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Go tell it his glory
Shout out his glory
The savior is born
Let heaven, heaven, heaven, heaven and nature sing", everyone sang then quieted as Jade sang again.
"Sing Joy to the world
For the savior reigns
And makes his blessings flow
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic hosts proclaim
Glory to the king
While the angels sing", Jade sang loudly as everyone came in again.
"Everybody sing joy to the world
The Lord is come
Let Earth receive her king
Let every heart prepare him room
Heaven and nature sing
Go tell it, go tell it his glory
Shout out his glory
That the savior is born
Let Heaven, heaven, heaven and nature sing
Everybody sing joy
Sing joy to the world
All over the world
Sing joy, oh
Sing joy, everybody sing...
Joy to the world
Sing joy, joy joy, peace, love and joy
Joy joy joy sing joy to the world
Sing joy to the world
Everybody sing joy to the world
Everybody sing oh yeah
Sing joy to the world
Hey, sing joy
Sing joy, sing joy, sing joy
Joy to the world!", everyone on stage finished, gave a bow and exited by both stage right and left.
Dec. 25, 8:30pm, Side Chamber Off Great Hall
"That was great!", Harry exclaimed, dipping Jade as he did when they danced in the snow last night.
"God, I hope I'm not that nervous we when we do the full performance", Hermione said, taking off the very nigh heeled boots she had been wearing.
"Personally, I enjoyed that", Gumi said, buttoning up her cloak.
"You would", Ron said. "I thought for sure I was gonna trip on one of the glasses on the table and fall flat on my face."
"Guys, it's behind us now, and now we know a bit of what to expect when we do the full version", Jade said, clutched in Harry's muscular Quiddich arms.
"I'll drink to that", Harry said, burying his face in the back of Jade's neck and gave a growl, making her giggle.
Dec. 28, 4:10am, Gryffindor Girl's Dorm
Jade was having a nightmare, which included Jade and Gumi doing their Dragonrider challenge, and for some reason, Harry was there and Harry ended up getting killed because Jade's opponent threw a Dragonball at her, which she dodged but it hit Harry. She quickly jumped off Lunara and ran to Harry.
"Oh, Harry", Jade said, setting his limp head on her knees. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not so bad", he said in a strained voice. "I only wish that you would've told me about all of this sooner is all."
Jade gave a loud sob, as Harry's eyes slid closed and his entire body went limp.
Jade sat bolt upright in bed, panting and gasping for air. Tigra was still fast asleep at the end of her bed and when she looked at her bedside clock to see what time it was, it said, 4:13. She quietly slid out of bed and decended the stairs from the Girl's Dorm, but then went up to the Boy's Dorm to Harry's bed.
Dec. 28, 4:15am, Gryffindor Boy's Dorm
"Harry, Harry", Jade whispered urgently, shaking Harry.
"Huh? What? What is it, Jade?", Harry whispered, putting his glasses on.
"Could you come downstairs with me?", Jade whispered. "I have something I have to tell you."
Harry climbed out if bed and followed Jade down into the common room.
Dec. 28, 4:19am, Gryffindor Common Room
"Ok, what did you need to tell me?", Harry asked.
"Um, you might wanna sit down for this", Jade said, taking Harry over to the couch and they sat down. "Ok, you may not believe me, when I tell you this, but I swear, I'm telling the complete and absolute truth."
"You're not pregnant, are you?", Harry asked.
"No, sweetie, I'm not pregnant", Jade replied then gave a sigh. "Ok, here it goes. I'm a Dragonrider, so is Gumi, I have powers that only work at night, Gumi has powers that only work during the day, and both me and Gumi are leaving on the 11th of next month to participate in the Dragonrider challenge that we have been chosen for, and it's so dangerous that we might die and never come back", Jade finished and took a deep breath.
Harry just sat next to Jade on the couch, stunned at the load of new information that was just spilled out at him, by Jade.
"Let me guess", Jade said after a few minutes. "The phrase 'just when you think you know somebody', flashing in your brain right now."
"Uh, yeah", he said, still not moving. There was yet another pause before he spoke again. "So, uh, is, um, that- that the only thing you never told me?"
"Yup", Jade said, nodding. "Well, that and Gumi hasn't told anybody else either. The only other person who knows, besides you now, is Dumbledore."
"Uh-huh", he said.
"You're mad at me now, aren't you?", Jade asked.
"No, no, I'm not mad", Harry admitted, facing Jade. "I mean, I can understand why you wouldn't want anyone to know. Dragonriders haven't been seen or heard if in centuries, just think of the questions and unwanted attention that would bring."
"Exactly", Jade said.
"I actually think that's kinda cool", he said. "I have the greatest girlfriend in world and she's also a Dragonrider, I mean, how much better could this get? Jade?"
"Yeah?", she said.
"Exactly what kind of things can you do with your, "powers"?", he asked.
"Watch", Jade said.
She rubbed her hands together and exhaled in her hands as if to warm them. She exhaled in her hands a few more times before opening her hands, to reveal a small ice model of Harry standing in her hands, in his Quiddich robes. She poked the mini Harry with her finger and at once it came to life, jumping from hands to the floor where it ran around until it got too close to the fire and melted.
"Now that's cool", he said, pointing to where the ice Harry was a moment before.
"I can do more than that", Jade said, leaning into Harry.
"Like what?", Harry asked.
"You'll just have to wait and find out", Jade said, putting her finger on his lips.
The days flew past, and sooner than Gumi and Jade wanted it to be, it was the day before their Dragonrider challenge at Crater Lake in Siberia.
___________
Songs by:
La Vie Boheme by The Cast Of Rent
Joy To The World by Whitney Houston (The Preacher's Wife Soundtrack)
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:08 pm
Jan 10, 9:27 pm, Gryffindor Common Room
The twins had been talking with Hagrid about something and had taken the Invisibility Cloak as to avoid teachers. When they returned, over five hours later, Jade came through the portrait hole with a very pale looking Kagumi. Harry jumped up and walked carefully to where Jade was standing, weaving slowly on the spot. “Honey? Is something wrong?” Jade sighed and blinked away the glassiness of her eyes. She smiled wanly and a solitary tear fell down her cheek; he could tell that she was worried about the challenge. Kagumi flopped down into one of the chairs and began humming. Jade clung to Harry in the meantime, whispering something in his ear. Kagumi's words echoed in the air, astounding everyone with the melancholy ambiance of her song.
“Each sour word, sounds so absurd, but lingers in the air…while happiness in an ashen dress fades into the years. Each lonely hour my heart has slept has drifted back to me…a splintered dream of awful things…that now have come to be…and I heard the angels cry…for us.”
“Ogni parola acida, suoni così irragionevoli, ma lingers nell'aria… mentre la felicità in ashen il vestito si sbiad negli anni. Ogni ora che sola il mio cuore ha dormito ha andato alla deriva di nuovo me… un sogno scheggiato della cosa terribile… che ora è venuto essere… ed ho sentito gli angeli gridare… per noi…” Jade repeated quietly in Italian.
And with that, Kagumi sank her head into her hands and cried softly. Not the body-wracking sobs that had grasped her at Draco’s betrayal. Instead, these were soft and very nearly silent. Jade’s eyes had shed only one tear and her hand, no matter how Harry had tried to keep it held down, kept straying to her cloak pocket. He gave up and leaned back. “Are either of you going to tell all of us what the hell is wrong with you two?”
Harry left Jade where she was standing and whispered something to Hermione, who ran out of the portrait hole and down the hall towards the stairwell. Kagumi finally got up and, with a breath that they could literally see, took her sister in her arms. “Sis, it’s okay… At least it’ll be our day,” she whispered. Jade nodded dazedly and taking her sister’s hand, they went upstairs, into the Dorm rooms. As they walked across the balcony, they were whispering. Harry could see smoke beginning to swirl in the fire, which was odd, since that had never happened. Many portraits in the common room began muttering and several curtains burst into flame, while others froze solid right before their very eyes. Windows shattered and smoke came from the rugs. It was if the magic in the atmosphere rose in leaps and bounds.
Just then, Draco and Hermione came running back through the door and stopped dead. The girls’ voices were dawning, getting louder and louder, one chanting in English and then one is Italian; after each verse, they’d switch off. The entire group ran up onto the balcony, and Hermione levitated the boys one by one through the girls’ dorm. The hymn was still being reiterated and they stood there, seeing the girls kneeling in the middle of the room. The stairs leading down into the dorm were smoldering, and yet felt absurdly cold to the touch. Invisible winds whipped both girls’ hair around, since neither of them had bothered to cut it since the transformation.
“Oh, Bast. My mother, my goddess, I beg of you to protect these, us, your faithful and chosen. Guard us from the evil taking our innocence, that we may inherit our birthright, though unwanted it remains. The prophecy forgotten, even now, as ancient tomes often are, let us be not harmed whilst in your service. Oh, goddess mother, Paw of the Righteous, Pelt of the World…We beg this of you in the name of us, your twins, your litter…your only. Though blood of our forefathers runs within us, we remain true to you and yours, having walked the path of The Claw. Protect us in our ordeal, and endow us with the Power of Bast,” Jade chanted.
Kagumi's voice intertwined with her sister’s, forming a reverberation of words.
“L'OH, Rafia. La mia madre, il mio goddess, Elemosino di voi per proteggere questi, noi, il vostro fedele e scelto. Custodiscali dalla malvagità che prende il nostro innocence, che possiamo ereditare il nostro birthright, benchè indesiderabile rimanga. Il prophecy dimenticato, ora livelli, come antico i tomi sono spesso, non siamo danneggiato mentre nel vostro servizio. L'OH, madre del goddess, Paw del Righteous, Cuoio del mondo… elemosiniamo questo di voi in nome di noi, i vostri gemelli, il vostro disordine… vostro soltanto. Benchè l'anima dei nostri antenati funzioni presso noi, rimaniamo allineare a voi ed il vostro, having walked the path of The Claw. Protect us in our ordeal, and endow us with the Power of Bast.”
The air crackled with electricity and the hairs on Harry’s neck stood on end. Draco’s long blond hair had risen and was standing straight up. Hermione was clutching her arms, with her wand still in her hand and Ron was shivering like a child. The hole opened and slammed faintly, and Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore ran up into the dorm, stopping right behind the group. A gasp came from the Head of House and Dumbledore raised his hands.
“Stop! Stop it, you’ll bring the school down!”
Indeed, the walls seemed to be shaking. Rubble was falling from the ceiling and the floor trembled under their feet. A bubble, which swirled with gold and blue, appeared around the girls, still holding hand as the windows in the dorm flew open and two tiny specks took to the air and once outside, swelled into two dragons. Ron and Malfoy screamed and Hermione looked extraordinarily troubled. Harry was, oddly enough, calm and it was he who covered the mouths of Ron and Draco.
Dumbledore shouted, “Stop!” once more and the chanting stopped, or dimmed down until none in the group could hear it. The clothing of the girls flew apart in a sphere of light and when the radiance faded, they were sitting there, in far different clothing then any of them had seen before. Kagumi was dressed in a white ensemble, with a red dragon going up the side, with gold trimming and a circlet of gleaming garnets. Jade was in a similar piece, except that hers was different shades of blue and purple and an amethyst circlet. Both were designed in a backless Romanesque style, with flowing lines and hems.
Dumbledore strode forward. “How dare you? In my school? There were arrangements made at the beginning of the year, I accept that, and I accepted your parents’ wish for you to come here. I also understand, perfectly well, that you have far too much energy for even your current forms to contain. That does not give you leave to almost reduce Hogwarts to ruins. You could have brought the castle crashing down around our ears!”
No one noticed until the girls turned around, completely ignoring Dumbledore, that they had the same tattoo. It was of two dragons in a ying-yang shape. The fire that the dragons were breathing formed the outside of the circle. A clutched talon of each dragon, one black and one white formed the two circles that are a traditional symbol of the ying-yang. Wings and body curvature both figured into tying the entire tattoo together and the black lines glowed brightly against the flowing white fabric of the new robes.
One after the other, they climbed out onto the small ledge beyond the windowsill and climbed onto the dragons, seemingly not hindered by the light, floaty material of the ancient-looking robes. They appeared not to hear Dumbledore, or McGonagall, or any of the others calling after them and for the first time in a very long time, Harry saw Dumbledore truly angry. He rested his hands on the windowsill and sighed heavily.
“They’re too caught up in their own call to hear any of ours…I should have remembered,” he whispered angrily. “Never again…four of them is enough…never again.”
Draco sat down on what he assumed to be Jade’s bed; it had a blue rug beside it, which looked odd in the scarlet and gold room. “Professor? What...just happened? I don't know about anyone else here, but I'm utterly confused,” he asked.
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Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:54 pm
Jan. 10, 9:40pm, Gryffindor Girl's Dorm
Dumbledore told Hermione, Harry, Draco and Ron about how Jade and Gumi were Dragonriders, born from the Eygptian Goddess Bast, they had extraordinary powers that only work during the day or at night, and that they had been choosen for a challenge in Siberia the next day.
"Whoa!", they exclaimed.
"So that must've been why when Jade was in the Magical clothing shop a few nights ago, when she got mad, some of the dresses and robes fell off the racks", Hermione said.
"And that must be why I went to put on one of my cloaks, there was a hole burnt in the back of it", Draco said.
"Yes", Dumbledore said. "They are both very powerful, even more than they know. See, people born of a God or Goddess, their powers escalate over time gradually, and as they went from 11 to 16 so quickly their powers are rapidly catching up to where they would be when they would turn 16."
"Nice going, Malfoy", Ron said, crossing his arms and looking at Draco.
"It's not like I knew this was going to happen", he said defensively.
"Where would they be?", Harry asked.
"Well, if they would be trying to get back to semi-normal, they would need a wide open space for that", Dumbledore replied.
"The Quiddich field", Harry, Ron and Draco all said at the same time.
Jan. 10, 9:50pm, Quiddich Field
"Uh, Professor", Hermione asked as they made their way to the Quiddich field on foot. "Why did they just do that?"
"They seemed to be testing their magical powers, to see what they could and could not do", he answered. "Most likely so that they could strategize ways to win their battles tomorrow."
They reached the gigantic Quiddich field and indeed found Jade and Gumi still in their weird clothes, laying in the blanket of snow that covered the Quiddich field, and both seemed to be smoking. Harry knelt next to Jade and Draco next to Gumi. Draco felt Gumi's face and he had to jerk his hand back as her skin felt as if it was on fire. Harry felt Jade's face and he too had to jerk his hand back, not because her skin was hot, but quiet the opposite, it was super cold. They continued to smoke for a moment before they stopped. Draco and Harry felt their faces again and they were back to normal, cool from the snow they were laying on.
Jan. 10, 10:00pm, Gryffindor Common Room
They took Jade and Gumi back to the Gryffindor Common Room and sat them on the couch in front of the fire.
"Professor Dumbledore?", Harry asked, tucking a patch of hair behind Jade's ear.
"Yes?", he replied
"Is there a way that I could go with them to this challenge or wherever they're going tomorrow?", Harry asked. "I don't think that I could live with myself if either of them died and I wasn't there to either try and prevent it or at least see them for the last time."
"I would like to go too", Draco said.
"Me too", Hermione and Ron said at the same time.
Dumbledore contemplated them for a moment before responding. "Well, I know that they are allowed to take one visitor each, but if went, I don't think that it would be too hard to take Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley as well."
"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore", Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco chorused.
"Well, you might want to get to bed", Dumbledore said. "If we are all going to Siberia tomorrow, we are going to leave early tomorrow. Have a good night."
Dumbledore gave a smile and left through the portrai hole. Everyone decided to sleep in the common room that night, just so that they could keep an eye on Jade and Gumi.
Jan. 11, 4:00am, Gryffindor Common Room
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Jade and Gumi were awoken very early the next morning, so early that the sun wasn't even up yet, by Dumbledore.
"Good early morning", he said, looking slightly himself. "I have arranged for a portkey to take us to a wizard village in Siberia. We'll have to get dog sleds from village for everyone." Dumbledore waited until everyone came back down from their dorms, changed. Jade and Gumi were now in even weirder clothes. Gumi was in an outfit with varied reds, oranges and yellows on it. She was wearing a pair of dark red combat boots, tight crimson pants, a belt that looked to have knives and other smaller things that could be considered lethal, a red tank top, dark orange and sun fire yellow arm length gloves, and a red, gold and orange head band, her hair in a tight bun at the back of her head and a leather choker with a sun pendant. Jade was in navy blue and purple combat boots, tight blue pants with a belt that included dangerous things on it, an electric blue tank top, black arm bracers, a white, purple and blue headband, her hair in a long braid, and she too had a leather choker on, but hers had a moon pendant. They also had bigger weapons with them too. Gumi had a bow and arrow quiver on her back and a katana. Jade had a crossbow and sniper rifle on her back along with one band on each of her upper arms with small daggers and throwing stars in them. Also, both Laen and Luny were at full height behind them.
"Are we ready?", Jade asked. the others nodded. "Alright, let's get to gettin'."
Dumbledore pulled out a small teapot and set it on the table. "Get ready", he said and everyone touched it. "Three, two, one."
Jan. 11, 4:03am, Lapinstok, Siberia
They all felt a large jerk and within moments they were inside what looked like a magically enlarged tent, like the ones at the Quiddich World Cup two years prior. A plump woman was sitting in a chair in the corner next to a fire, knitting. "Welcome, Albus", she said. "As per your request, we have lent you seven dog sleds. They are outside."
"Thank you", he said.
Everyone changed into clothes that made each of them look like eskimos and then they went outside into the blistering cold.
"Uh, question!", Gumi shouted through her face mask. "Why do we need seven sleds when me and Jade can use our dragons?!"
"Because Laen and Luny should get as much rest as possible before the challenges tomorrow!", Jade shouted back, hooking Luny to her retractable leash.
"Good point!", Gumi shouted.
"One more question!", Hermione shouted. "Why can't we Apparate to Crater Lake?!"
"Because!", Jade shouted back. "Crater Lake is in the Dead Zone!"
"What's the 'Dead Zone'?!", Ron shouted.
"The Dead Zone is a place where nothing works!", Jade shouted back. "Nothing works! No electronics! No Apparating! No magic!"
"Just great!", Draco shouted, adjusting his face mask.
Everyone situated themselves on one of the sleds and took ahold of the sled handles. "Everyone ready?!", Jade yelled.
"Yes!", the others shouted back.
Jade put her goggles on. "Alright let's go!", she took ahold of the sled handle. "Ready?! Hike!!"
At once the dogs dug into the snow and ice and they were off, with Jade and Gumi in the lead.
Jan. 11, 5:45am, Going to Crater Lake
They had been traveling for a while before Jade yelled back to the others. "We are now at 137º North and 77º West! Welcome to the Dead Zone!"
Jan. 11, 7:30am, Crater Lake
They continued ride on. They saw the sunrise up in the sky as they got closer and closer to their destination. They followed Jade and Gumi into a tunnel in the side of the crater which they followed aways before stopping fifteen minutes later in a big cavern that had food and beds. They got off the sleds, unhooked the dogs and were finally able to take off some of their clothes so that they didn't roast in their parkas.
"From now on", Jade said, picking up her stuff. "It's on foot."
"Let's move out!", Gumi shouted and they set off down another tunnel.
Jan. 11, 8:00am, Crater Lake, Dragonrider Challenge Stadium
They walked and walked and walked until they reached a gigantic, deep, vast and enormous stadium.
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Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:46 am
Jan. 11, 8:01am, Crater Lake, Dragonrider Challenge Stadium
Kagumi and Jade stepped carefully, minding the extremely sharp rocks that towered on the group as they walked across the floor of the arena. Hermione gasped as they passed a thirty-foot spike of solid granite and Draco looked with apprehension at the dried blood on the path he had walked.
Harry’s mind raced as they trekked for more than fifteen minutes through a seemingly never ending field of rocks, sand, water and debris. He could swear that he saw a pile of bones in the distance and his anxiety grew in leaps and bounds. He caught up with Jade. “Honey, did you say that you could die?”
She nodded tersely, refraining from showing the trepidation she felt. Finally, Ron piped up as Hermione twisted her ankle. “Hey, how long is this field?” Kagumi looked at him with a sardonic smile. “Seven miles wide, seven miles across, seven miles deep. Look up, Ron,” she said. They all looked heavenward and gasped at the sheer size of the walls. They soared above the group, and in the sky were several shapes with wings. “Welcome to the Dragonrider Stadium,” Jade said. Draco put his arm around Kagumi, not wanting to believe that he could lose her.
Finally, there loomed in sight a long staircase. Harry sighed. “Lemme guess: seven miles of stairs?” At Jade’s energetic nod, he groaned inwardly. He threw a glance back to Dumbledore, wondering how a man of his age could possibly hold up under such toil. Surprisingly, he had a smile on his face and was as calm as the girls, where as Ron, Hermione and Draco were all beginning to break into a sweat.
After what seemed like hours to the group, they reached the landing of the stairs and it opened into another cavernous area, filled with soft chairs and couches. It was filled with men and women, all dressed oddly; there seemed to be only two modes of dress: the same kind of robes the twins had been in the previous night, or else battle costumes similar to the ones Jade and Kagumi were wearing now. Heads turned as the group passed, and Ron looked ready to bolt when he saw that many people were standing by dragons.
There were dragons curled up on the floor, dragons standing on their hind legs beside their owners, dragons that could be heard flying outside in the stadium, and amidst all of the dragons, Harry gasped as he caught a glance of two people who were familiar. One was a flaming head of red hair, with a large shiny burn on one arm. The other was a giant of a man, with bushy black hair and a beard to match. Kagumi squealed and flew forward, darting through the semi-thick assembly to tackle the red-haired man, who was thrown to the ground. Ron gaped as they neared, seeing the man holding Kagumi on his shoulder as easily as Hagrid could.
“Charlie?!” The man’s face looked at Ron and broke into a huge grin. “Ron! What on earth are you doing here, little brother?” Ron pointed to the twins, now climbing over to Hagrid.
“We’re with those two. What are you and Hagrid doing here?”
“Oh, it’s a long story. But I wonder…” He gave a sharp whistle, and there was a great rush of air from the opening. The group could see two large and scaly talons that were an odd olive green that struck a phantom pain in Ron's right hand.
Charlie led the way past the legs of the huge dragon, with Hagrid carrying the twins in the back. Ron gaped as the dragon took off from the ledge and hovered in front of them; looking a bit unwell, he stepped back and Hermione cried out, “Norbert?” Charlie nodded proudly, stroking the dragon’s snout with obvious affection; it nuzzled his arm, careful of the spine on the snout.
“Yeah. The dragon colony we tried to take him to rejected him, and by that time I had bonded with him; so I took him in as my own. I, of course, invited Hagrid as one of my guests since Norbert used to be his dragon,” He inclined his head towards the huge man, now being tickled by his passengers.
“Wait. ‘One’ of your guests? As in….you have more than one here?”
“Of course!” He pointed towards two heads in the very back of the vast room, where two identical red heads sat, poring over a huge book. Ron paled.
“You brought Fred and George?”
“Uh huh…why?”
“So they know about…you being a….Rider, then?”
“Of course, Ron! Even mum and Dad know. I’m pretty sure that everyone does, except for Percy and maybe Ginny. I found out myself in a Care of Magical Creatures Class when I got too close to a Komodo Dragon and it glued itself to my head. I read up on them when Binns mentioned it in class, and then tried to practice, if you could call it that. Mum told me that there hadn’t been a Rider in our family for two centuries, and that she was really pleased. That’s one of the reasons I went to Romania, was to track down Dragons and find out about my own abilities,” he finished with a smile. Jade came back with her sister and a big grin plastered to her face.
“Okay. We’re officially evil,” Kagumi said quietly to her sister. Jade snickered behind her hands.
Around three o'clock, after finishing the socializing, Jade and Kagumi went to a mostly unoccupied area of the room; the only other inhabitant was a young man dressed completely in black, who had his head down and sat in the darkest corner. Kagumi nodded to him.
“Huh…Well, you got the weird ones in the crowd too, I suppose,” Jade said with a shrug.
The boy looked her directly in the eyes at this comment, and they could see only the glistening whites in the darkness he had surrounded himself with. Jade sat down near the group uneasily.
She and Kagumi both called their dragons and then laid on the floor with them for comfort. Kagumi lay curled up like a cat between her dragon’s claws and Jade lay stretched out beside hers on the ground. Harry and the group sat near them, chatting quietly amongst themselves.
“This has officially blown my mind,” Draco said while reclining in the comfortable chair. “I mean, I don’t even want to think about tomorrow.”
“Neither do I,” admitted Harry. ‘I’m sort of just hoping that this is all a huge joke, but I really don’t think I’ll find that out anytime soon.”
As of that moment, he had seen Charlie Weasley, Rubeus Hagrid, Fred and George Weasley, and the girls’ parents. He wasn’t likely to forget that instance when he had had to meet the heads of the entire committee.
The girls were slowly walking over to a taller couple, both clothed in what Harry had come to know as DragonRider Formal Wear, which happened to be the robes the girls had had on when they let their energy loose last night. The man was a handsome man, with streaked brown hair like Jade’s and the blue eyes of Kagumi. His skin was a light tawny, probably from the sun, and the white robes stuck out oddly against his skin. He was by no means a bad looking man, but the skin around his eyes had more than a few lines, and if Harry looked closely, he could see the worry lines on his face.
Time had been kinder to the woman, who had Kagumi's blue-black hair and Jade’s aqua eyes; the girls’ got their figures from this woman and she was as pale as Jade. These must be their parents, Harry thought.
“Harry, these are my parents. My father, Victor Falcon. My mother, Rena Falcon. They head up the DragonRider committee. Mum, Dad…this Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, and of course, Dumbledore.” Jade introduced each one in turn. Her mother smiled with her eyes, the same way that Jade and Kagumi did, but when she spoke, it was an older version of Jade’s mellifluous voice.
“So this is Harry. We’ve heard about you. And of course, another Weasley,” she crinkled her eyes in jest when she said this.
“Hope you’re not as disruptive to the dragons as those twins are,” Victor laughed, revealing a gentle tone that commanded respect; Victor’s voice brought Remus Lupin to Harry’s mind.
“How are you handling the shock? Are you adjusting well?” Rena asked kindly, noticing that the entire group was a little awkward. Harry shook his head.
“I’m adjusting slowly, I’m afraid. I don’t think I’ll ever actually get used to this,” he said softly.
At that moment, Laen chose to snatch a large crow that had flown in from the air as a snack. Harry and Draco both stared at the feathers falling to the floor as Kagumi snuggled closer to her dragon. Harry turned to Draco.
“I really don’t think that I will ever get used to this…”
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Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:04 am
Jan. 12, 2:36am, Dragonrider Challange Stadium
“These prophesied children make me sick.” Savean chuckled to himself as he left the lobby walking up the stairs to the lodging area.
He loved this place, it was the closest thing to home he had had in a long time. Up the third staircase, left, right, right again, second staircase up, left, right, left, three doors down and there he was. He was finally at the lodge where he and Charles slept, resting for the battles ahead. Inside he found Charles sleeping on one of the beds. Anger filled him thinking of what had happened today. Why hadn’t Charles told him that he had known the prophesied children, as well as the ‘great’ Harry Potter? Savean felt betrayed, Charles was the only one that he trusted now, especially after that night.
He knew that Charles didn’t have to tell him everything, after all they had known each other for only a two years. However, Charles also knew that he was the only thing that Savean had left except the Dragon Riders. He thought back to when the moonlit one commented on his appearance.
“…Well, you got the weird ones in the crowd too, I suppose,”, she had said.
How could she know anything about him? Though he didn’t know them, he already hated them. They didn’t know how he had suffered. They’re incarnate gods among the Dragonriders and he was just a lowly executioner. They weren’t there, they just didn’t know. He imagined what their life was like. He imagined them in a large palace, much like the one that he had lived in before it was so cruelly ripped away from him. He saw them dancing and laughing, getting all the greatest pleasures that they could ever possibly want. That Harry Potter, how he tired of the name; in the papers that’s all he saw, on the streets that’s all he heard. The boy that lived, he laughed at the thought. Then he pondered withdrawing the statement in his mind. Now that he thought of it, Harry might be one of the few that could understand his pain. Savean had felt that pain and more, but Harry hadn’t felt the burden of the curse that Savean had to hold.
Charles stirred in his bed groaning and rolling over. Charles had understood him. Charles had chased Savean down for months trying to catch him. They had first despised each other till the night Charles finally cornered him when Savean was weak enough not to escape. That night Charles had spared him from the overwhelming gaze of the ministry. Afterwards, Savean had given himself up so that Charles could get the glory of catching him. Since then they traveled together after the trial. Charles taught him spells given that Savean was a mudblood. Charles groaned again and Savean felt that he should let him sleep. He left for the Dragonrider archives. He loved the smell of books and they always seemed to calm him down. Left, left, down the fourth staircase, straight, eighth door on the right. The old doors opened and released the ancient smell of moldy old tombs of great Dragonriders long since past. His sense of relief quickly dropped when he saw a tired red headed boy that Charles had talked to earlier trying to focus on a book. The boy glanced at Savean, became scared and immediately returned to his book. Savean walked over the granite floor then sat at a table adjacent to the red head. Savean studied the boy; he was meek, timid, and above all confused. Savean’s red and blue eyes darted over the boy’s attire trying to figure out where he was from. The red headed boy let out a sigh of frustration.
Being himself frustrated, Savean went over to the boy. “What’s your problem?”
The boy looked up at him, “Oh I’m just trying to figure out this whole Dragon Rider business.”
Savean almost humphed but tried not to for the boys sake. “Are you not a Dragon Rider?”
The boy shook his head, “No, but my brother and two of my friends are.”
Savean looked at his hair, “Who’s you’re brother?”, Savean asked even though he could already guess.
“Charlie”, the boy replied.
“Wealsey?”, Savean asked. “Yeah do you know him?”
“We’re partners in the competition”, Savean admitted.
The boy looked even more confused, “I didn’t know he had friend Dragonriders!”
Savean chuckled, “We knew each other before we knew that the other was a Dragonrider.”
“How did you know each other?”, the boy asked.
“It’s a long story", Savean said. "What’s your name?”
“Ron.”, he answered.
“Well, Ron, let’s see if I can’t help you figure all of this out, eh?”, Savean said.
Several hours they spent discussing the rules, regulations, and history of the Dragonriders. Eventually they strayed from the topic getting to more personal matters. Ron talked of his life in Hogwarts and of his friends. Savean just listened to his story until Ron asked of his past.
“So where are you from?”, Ron asked.
“Originally from Russia until I had to leave for Romania.”, Savean answered.
“Why did you leave?” Savean’s eyes dulled.
His head became filled with the screams of his mother, the yells of his father to hide, and the malicious laughter of his attacker. Savean could not control his mind; he recalled the dark floorboards, raising his head to see his mother’s corpse, nude, bloody, defiled, and raped.
“Savean? Are you all right?”, Ron asked.
“Ye- Yeah… I’m sorry”, Savean replied.
“So where are you from?”, Ron asked.
Savean paused, he found himself trying to tell the words but they got caught in throat trying to choke them out. He settled on something else. “I… I have to go.” Savean got up from his chair and began to leave.
“Why?” Ron asked.
Savean thought for a moment. “I’m tired, I need to rest for the challenge tonight.”
“I’ll see later then?”, Ron asked, but his words were lost.
Savean’s mind was swimming with the images of that night. Straight eight doors down, up the staircase, right, right and there he was. He saw the gray of the morning coming through the window.
“I need rest”, he said to himself. His stomach growled. “I’ll need to feed before the challenge.”
He pulled the drapes and lay down in his bed. He try to sleep but couldn’t, his mother’s screams filled his ears.
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