'You're joking.'
'That's insane!'
'No bloody way'
It was dinner time. Alora and Astra had just finished telling Mattheo, Jasper and Theodore what had happened when they'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Jasper had a piece of steak-and-kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.
'Seeker?' Mattheo said looking over at Alora with wide eyes. 'But first-years never – you two must be the youngest house player in about –'
'– a century,' said Alora, shovelling pie into her mouth. She felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. 'Wood told us.'
'I told you lot we were brilliant didnt I?" Astra grins widely, reaching over to Jasper's plate to grab one of his chips, 'Not our fault you didnt believe me' she shrugged happily
'That's insane though... youve only been here for about 2 weeks and you've both made the quidditch team already?' Theodore said, shaking his head proudly. He threw his arm over Astra's shoulder, 'you're gonna go easy on Slytherin right?'
Astra scoffed, 'hell no,' she laughed
'They don't need to go easy on Slytherin, our team will win anyways,' Mattheo said with a shrug
'You just keep on telling yourself that buddy,' Alora grinned over at Mattheo
Jasper was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Astra.
'We start training next week,' said Alora. 'Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret.'
'Well you just told us didnt you?' Mattheo asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked over at her, spinning his fork between his fingers
'Well yeah, you guys are our friends, why wouldnt we tell you?' Alora said, her eyebrows furrowed a little bit. Mattheo nodded, not replying to her words. He could see how excited she was over this, and he was happy that she had found something that she really enjoyed.
Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Alora and Astra and hurried over.
'Well done,' said George in a low voice. 'Wood told us. We're on the team too – Beaters.'
'I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch Cup for sure this year,' said Fred. 'We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, you two, Wood was almost skipping when he told us.'
'Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school.'
'Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you.'
Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
'Having a last meal, you two? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles Potter?'
'Oh shove off Malfoy, you seem to be a lot braver now that you arent getting rock cakes thrown at you from meters away. Like seriously, I thought you were supposed to be an amazing flyer, how the hell didnt you dodge them,' said Jasper coolly.
'Shut up Rowle, you looked pretty comfortable on the ground doing absolutely nothing,' Draco snapped at him
'Yeah Malfoy, that may have something to do with the fact that we couldnt see the point of stealing something that belonged to someone who just broke their wrist,' Mattheo said, a sarcastic smile on his face as he tilted his head up to look at the boy threateningly
Draco scoffed, rolling his eyes as he looked down at them, 'God, the three of you have turned into a bunch of softies,' he spat in disgust as he looked at Mattheo, Theodore and Jasper, 'you should be embarassed.'
'No, whats embarassing is walking around with tweedle dee and tweedle dumb behind you as body guards because you're too weak to actually do anything yourself,' Astra sneered, turning in her seat to look at Draco and his goons head on.
There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.
'I'd take you on any time on my own,' said Malfoy. 'Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?'
'Of course I have dip shit,' said Astra, 'just found it funny how you want no contact, is that because you know I would beat your ass in hand to hand combat?' she asked with a glare
'Yeah right,' Draco said, his smirk faltering a little bit, 'I just want to prove that i'm better at magic then you and your stupid friend,' he said, looking over at Alora
Mattheo's fist clenched tightly but he kept his mouth shut, glaring over at Draco.
'Alora is my second, who's yours?' Astra said. Alora felt her heart speed up a little. Seoncd? What the hell was that? Still she nodded her head, going along with it since she trusted that Astra wouldnt put her forward if she thought something bad would happen
Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.
'Crabbe,' he said. 'Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked.'
When Malfoy had gone, Alora and Astra looked at each other.
'What is a wizard's duel?' said Alora. 'And what do you mean, I'm your second?'
'Well, a second's there to take over if you die,' said Astra casually, reaching over to Mattheo's plate and going to grab some of the pork crackling but he swatted her hand away, earning a small pout from the girl.
Theodore rolled his eyes and took the pork crackling off his plate and put it onto Astra's. Astra grinned widely, 'that's why youre my favourite Theo!' she giggled. Alora grinned at her friend but then she began to get worried.
Catching the look on Alora's face, Mattheo added quickly, 'but people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most Astra and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of them knows enough magic to do any real damage. I doubt you'll even have to do anything. I bet he expected her to refuse, anyway.'
'And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?' Alora says in worry
'Throw it away and I'll punch him on the nose,' Astra said with a shrug, happily eating her food, 'besides, have some faith in me Potter, I'm gonna win. There's no way i'm gonna lose to bleach boy.'
'Right well we are coming with you guys,' Jasper spoke up
'Why?' Alora asked in confusion
'To make sure nothing bad happens obviously,' Mattheo replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world
'Well i'm going so that I can watch Draco get his ass handed to him by Black,' Theodore grinned
'Excuse me.' They all looked up. It was another Slytherin girl. Sure Alora and Astra should have expected it when they had sat at the Slytherin table for dinner, but they hadnt expected so many people to come up to them
'Can't a person eat in peace in this place?' said Mattheo with a groan of annoyance.
The girl ignored him and spoke to Astra.
'I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying –'
'Bet you could,' Jasper muttered.
'– and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Slytherin if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you.'
'And it's really none of your business,' said Mattheo.
'Goodbye,' said Jasper.
'Who the hell was that?' Theodore asked in confusion as they watched the girl storm off angrily, huffing as she flipped them all the bird
'I don't know but she's fine as hell,' Astra grinned, her eyes following after the girl with a toothy grin. The group turned to look at her, earning a shrug from the girl, "don't look at me. Honesty is the best policy my dear friends.'
'That's Daphne Greengrass,' Jasper mumbled as he played with his food, stabbing his fork into his chicken
*
All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Alora thought, as she lay awake, waiting for Astra to return. Astra still hadnt come back from yet another detention that she had collected.
Mattheo had spent all evening giving her advice such as 'If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I don't think you'll remember how to block them'. There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs Norris, and Alora felt she was pushing her luck, breaking another school rule today.
On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness – Alora could tell how much Astra wanted to beat Malfoy, and she knew Astra was going to win - she had faith in her friend.
She refused to chicken out and let her friend down, she couldn't miss it.
'Half past eleven,' Astra muttered as she pushed the door open at last. 'We'd better go.'
They pulled on their dressing-gowns, picked up their wands and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them: 'I can't believe you're going to do this, Alora.'
A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink dressing-gown and a frown.
'Sorry but who are you and can we help you?' said Astra in confusion as she looked at the frizzy haired girl.
'Thats Hermione, she's my brothers friend,' Alora whispered to Astra. Astra's mouth widened into an 'o' shape
'Right well nice to meet you but we really should be going,' Astra said and grabbed onto Alora's hand, going to tug her out of the door
'Go back to bed!'
'Hermione this really doesnt concern you,' Alora said with a small sigh
'I almost told your brother,' Hermione snapped. 'Harry – he'd put a stop to this.'
Alora snorted at that, 'please - my brother would be doing the exact same thing as us right now if Malfoy had told him to duel'
Alora couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.
'Come on,' Astra said to Alora. She pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.
Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Alora through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose. 'Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells.'
'Go away.' Alora told her, huffing in annoyance
'All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so –'
'Yeah yea,' Astra commented, 'you have a nice night yeah?' she giggled then tugged Alora's hand down the halls to where they were going to meet the boys. They kept quiet, their eyes scanning the area constantly to make sure that they didnt get caught.
'There you are, what in Merlin's name took you both so long?' Mattheo asked them as he pushed himself off the wall that he had been leaning against
'Sorry someone saw us and tried to stop us,' Alora said with a small sigh, wondering if Hermione was going to snitch on them for going out at night
'Was it a teacher?' Jasper spoke up, concern etched on his face
'Nah, just another first year its no biggie,' Astra said with a grin 'Now enough with the chit chat. We've got to go, we're going to be late.'
Mattheo, raising an eyebrow, scanned their faces with a playful smirk. "Someone trying to play hero, were they?"
Astra rolled her eyes. "Just a kid with too much enthusiasm for the rules. Nothing we couldn't handle."
They began walking through the halls once more, Jasper and Theodore bickering softly about god knows what before bumping into Astra who had stopped in front of them suddenly
'Hey, what did you stop f-'
'Quiet, both of you!' said Astra sharply. 'I heard something.' It was a sort of snuffling.
'You heard something? how the hell did you hear something, its onl-' Jasper started but was cut off by Astra raising her hand in the air. She was silent, her head tiliting slightly as she tried to get a better idea of what she could hear
'Sounds like soft footsteps...' she muttered softly before her nose twitched a little and her eyes widened 'its a cat,' she whispered so the group of them had to wait
'I really dont hear anything Astra' Alora whispered to her
Astra sent her a small grin, 'I've got good hearing, just everyone be quiet so I can tell when she's gone,' she whispered. They all nodded their heads, waiting patiently for Astra to give them the all clear
'Alright, lets go,' she told them and they followed after her once more as she lead the pack.
They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Alora expected to run into Filch or Mrs Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed towards the trophy room.
Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Alora took out her wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.
'He's late, maybe he's chickened out,' Alora whispered.
Astra nodded her head, 'Wouldnt surprise m-'
Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Alora had only just raised her wand when they heard someone speak – and it wasn't Malfoy.
'Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner.'
'Shit'
She heard Astra curse from beside her
It was Filch speaking to Mrs Norris. Horror-struck, Alora waved madly at the other four to follow her as quickly as possible; they scurried silently towards the door away from Filch's voice. Jasper's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.
'They're in here somewhere,' they heard him mutter, 'probably hiding.'
'This way!' Astra mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Theodore tripped and bumped into Astra who then also tripped, grabbed Jasper around the waist and the three of them toppled right into a suit of armour.
The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.
'RUN!' Alora yelled and the five of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following – they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Alora in the lead without any idea where they were or where they were going.
They ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.
'I think we've lost him,' Mattheo panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Alora forced herself to look away, looking at the ground as she tried to catch her breath
Jasper was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.
'Merlin that was fun!' Astra grinned widely, practically jumping from happiness, not even out of breath in the slightest while the others all looked like they were about to die from a heart attack.
'How the hell are you not puffed out?' Jasper asked her in confusion, leaning against the wall and clutching his chest as he tried to get his breath back
'huh?' Astra asked in confusion, looking around at them with wide eyes as she calmed down from her excitement and realised what state they were all in, 'i run alot' she muttered, 'We've got to get back to Gryffindor Tower and you need to get back to the dungeon,' said Astra, seemingly trying to change the subject, 'quickly as possible.'
'Malfoy tricked you,' Alora heard Jasper say to Astra. 'You realise that, don't you? He was never going to meet you – Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off.'
'yeah no shit,' Astra said with a sigh but then threw her arm around Alora's shoulder, 'at least we had a fun night though.'
Alora couldnt help but smile, 'Let's go.'
It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.
It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.
'Shut up, Peeves – please – you'll get us thrown out.' Alora begged the ghost
Peeves cackled.
'Wandering around at midnight, ickle firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty.'
'Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please.' Alora begged
'Should tell Filch, I should,' said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. 'It's for your own good, you know.'
'Get out of the way.' snapped Astra, taking a swipe at Peeves – this was a big mistake.
'STUDENTS OUT OF BED!' Peeves bellowed. 'STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!'
'You little shi-' Astra was cut off by Jasper grabbing onto her and yanking her.
Ducking under Peeves they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor, where they slammed into a door – and it was locked.
'This is it!' Alora complained anxiously, as they pushed helplessly at the door.
Theodore nodded, 'We're done for! This is the end!'
They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves's shouts.
'Alright I take it back, not so fun anymore,' Astra winced