portentous ✧

'The Princess and The Knight'

"Should we hold it in the Room of Requirements? They'll decorate the room for us, and it'll be as large as we need." Hai questioned.

"That sounds ideal! You have to find it, though. You know how I am with directions." Hunter winked, and went off to find her clipboards for the team.

Hai smiled, before turning around to see the rest of her group. She watched as Malfoy challenged Tayo, who was looking progressively irritated.

"Oi! Lucius Malfoy!" Hai called. The boy looked at her, and rolled his eyes.

"What is it, Nguyen?" he huffed. He pretended to get along with Hai, until he was found out for being a bigot. At least then, he thought, he could be honest.

He pretended to like... others out of convenience.

"Tayo is our co-captain, and we have permission to practice from both our head of house and Professor Dumbledore. Considering that you're not Head Boy, and higher ranking people have permitted us to practice, I trust that you'll let Tayo go before I retrieve Hunter." Hai said in a calm, yet matter-of-fact way. She didn't want to anger the Slytherin, but needed to ensure that he let Tayo go.

Lucius looked between the tall, dark-skinned Nigerian boy and the short Vietnamese girl. He groaned before walking away, his robes blowing behind him in the wind.

Jessica looked at the pair and winked to say 'well done', before following the direction Lucius went in.

"Sorry about him." Hai sighed as the pair walked to practice.

"There's nothing for you to apologise for. We both know why he stopped me." Tayo said, his voice bitter.

Hai knew. She understood.

They walked in a comfortable silence towards the quidditch field, and the rest of the team emerged from the changing rooms. Tayo went off to get changed, whilst Hai found Hunter (both girls who had changed before coming down).

"All alright?" Hunter asked as she flipped through her paper.

Hai watched Tayo as he walked into the changing rooms, greeting people as if nothing had occurred.

"...Yeah." Hai said calmly, smiling at her best friend.

18th September

"So, okay, going off the thought that it'll be a masquerade ball, how are we going to get costumes?" Hunter asked Hai over dinner the next day. Hai thought for a moment.

"There's always Hogsmeade. Or you could write home and see if they'll send you anything. You're all posh, I expect they'll send something." Hai suggested, cutting into her steak.

"My family are posh, and even then, not really. Just sort of... well-known. I've always said to my dad that I don't think we should be a part of the Sacred 29. It's funny, the Potter's are all purebloods yet they had no qualms with letting them go..." Hunter rambled, mumbling slightly as she went on.

"Yeah, I've always found that weird. Let's face it, you're related to Malfoy, but so is James. Funny how they all pick and choose." Hai chuckled.

"I have a rule for myself; if I ever want to get married or if I fall in love, I won't pursue it if it's with a pureblood. Or a half-blood, I suppose. It's weird." Hunter shuddered, pushing away her plate of steak and chips.

Hai laughed, and then her face went blank. "What if I'm related to Sirius?" she asked, panicked. Now it was Hunter's turn to laugh at her half-blooded friend.

"Check in a book, there are plenty with bloodlines stated in them. Although, I suppose you two would be incredibly distantly related if you are." Hunter sipped her water.