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Derfel · 05-24-2010, 01:10 AM

A/N: Connie and Katie, thanks for your comments - they always bring a smile to my stern face haha.
As for your questions, I think they'll be answered within the next 3-4 chapters. For now...
Chapter 6: .. Has a reaction
Several weeks had passed since the morning Cei had smiled at her cousin but Lily was still no closer to exchanging pleasantries with her crush. She noted the increased camaraderie between Cei, Hugo and Albus and it made her nervous; how would they react to her asking Cei to join her in Hogsmeade?
She stroked her new pygmy puff while debating how to word her request and where to ask it.. Deciding eventually to write off this weekend and wait until the next one after getting advice off her mum, Lily began to scribble a note, pausing as she struggled even to come up with the words for that. She was unaware that Rose was doing something similar next door.
Rose's plight had been caused by a prank Hugo had played on Slytherin that morning. He had somehow transfigured the whole house into ferrets; a transformation that lasted 10 minutes and left Scorpius angry and humiliated.
The young Malfoy had taken it out on Rose in front of everyone the following lunchtime, calling her the foul offspring of a blood traitor and mudblood and then loudly condemning as a maker of exquisite love potions before being dragged away by Albus. The last thing she remembered was Scorpius disappearing beneath a large black cloak and a scream.
Rose sighed and began to write down the day's events, adding her thoughts, hopes and fears about them. She folded the parchment and, unaware of the tears covering it, sent it to Hermione attached to a large school barn owl.
Lily began her final draft with much hilarity about the prank, asking if it was part of a new range of WWW products and adding her doubts and fears in a private letter to Ginny.
She only relaxed on her bed when her 3 year old Tawny owl disappeared from view.

****

The fire in the common room slowly died, it's glow reducing with each member of Gryffindor house that went upstairs to bed until only Cei and Albus were sat in front of it. One was lost in his thoughts, the other in an ancient book that stained his robes and fingers with dust.
"Were we too harsh on Malfoy?"
Cei looked up from his book, "excuse me?"
"Were we too harsh on him? Y'know, he wet himself when he saw you, surely that was enough?"
"I let you borrow my cloak. I had nothing to do with whatever you did. What was the aim of your, ah, exercise?"
"Keeping him in line for Rose's sake."
Cei looked hard at Albus then, the fire's reflection in his eyes was steel, causing Albus to shrink into his chair. "Tell me what you know of the dark lord's followers, Al'" Cei spoke warmly, despite his suddenly fierce appearance.
"I, er...."
"They thrived on fear yes?"
"I, er, guess so.."
"The lesson they teach us is simple." Cei's tone had become almost reverent, "fear can be effective against people, at keeping them in line. But all it takes is one individual to stand up, to break that loop and the cycle is broken."
"Your point?" Albus was blunt, a symbol of tiredness.
"Fear breeds hate. Hate breeds vengeance. Vengeance breeds war." Each sentence was emphasised by a hand movement.
Albus laughed nervously, "you really think slapping a bad boyfriend around is a ruse de guerre?"
"Your aunt teach you that phrase?" A nod. "It happens I do. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. It makes us do crazy things. It thrives on chaos." Cei suddenly slapped his forehead hard, "no. Wait. That's mutual infatuation." Cei began to giggle before once more shutting out everyone with a surly mask as if something had upset him. He slammed the book closed, causing dust to pour off it in a miniature sandstorm. "See you in the broomsticks tomorrow Al'."
Was Cei warning him of something? Albus did not find his new friend's answer satisfactory but years of avoiding surly Cei had formed a seemingly unbreakable habit of hiding when the younger boy was on the prowl.
Left to his own devices, Albus cleared dust off the cover of Cei's abandoned book but got no further than the title, "EXCALIBVR", emblazoned on a half familiar coat of arms.

The following morning saw the students talking excitedly about the weekend's Hogsmeade visit. The first of the new term. Lily noted Cei's absence from breakfast with a sinking heart but was pleased to see that Albus had finally got an owl from Teddy. She was almost instantly at her brother's side, "What is it?"
Albus looked up, irritated by the interuption before handing a note to her,
"I'm sorry for the delay, I bought owls for safe flights rather than speed. There's a chance the two artefacts are fragile - they are over one thousand years old after all.
Teddy"
"Hey, is it just me or does Teddy have a neater hand than that? It reminds me of..."
Albus shrugged at his sister's question, focussing instead on two, six inch tall, intricately carved Kantauride figures. One looked like it had a small amount of fire damage and held a sword. The other, in better condition held a staff with what appeared to be a ruby on the end.
Albus spent the rest of breakfast on auto-pilot, unwilling to take hand or eye from the figures. He did not even join in with Hugo's excited chatter about the upcoming Chudly Cannon's game, nor did he complain when his family began dragging him back toward Gryffindor common room in preparation of the day's Hogsmeade visit.

It was a typical mid-autumn day, bright yet cloudy with a light breeze. Even so, what little light there was seemed to flee from Cei as he stormed past the quartet, wearing the same ensemble he had on when in gringotts, with old book in hand and his face a mask of rage and misery?
Lily was convinced she saw misery. The others were too busy trying to avoid the boy's gaze to notice, in case he went mental on them. Old habits die hard after all.
All four of them failed to notice the ruby on the staff weilding kantauride figure light up as Cei approached and fade as he disappeared.
Lily impatiently pulled Rose away from the two boys, muttering, "Cei's upset about something. Come with me," as they reached the end of the corridor and began to shadow Cei.
Rose reluctantly followed her cousin as they headed slightly away from Hogsmeade - both girls pulled their hair into pony tails to prevent the blustery wind from blowing it into their mouths - she had been looking forward to a day of shopping. As the minutes passed, however, she began to feel excited at the prospect of shadowing Lily's crush all day. It opened all sorts of cans for juicy gossip. She did not notice an ever present small red bundle that remained a constant 20 feet behind them.

Chapter 5

Chapter 7

as always, I hope you enjoyed that and look forward to reading any comments - please don't be afraid to post - I don't bite.

05-24-2010, 01:10 AM	#25 (permalink)
Derfel Jarvey Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Wales Posts: 637 Hogwarts RPG Name: Ambrocinius Fifth Year	A/N: Connie and Katie, thanks for your comments - they always bring a smile to my stern face haha. As for your questions, I think they'll be answered within the next 3-4 chapters. For now... Chapter 6: .. Has a reaction Several weeks had passed since the morning Cei had smiled at her cousin but Lily was still no closer to exchanging pleasantries with her crush. She noted the increased camaraderie between Cei, Hugo and Albus and it made her nervous; how would they react to her asking Cei to join her in Hogsmeade? She stroked her new pygmy puff while debating how to word her request and where to ask it.. Deciding eventually to write off this weekend and wait until the next one after getting advice off her mum, Lily began to scribble a note, pausing as she struggled even to come up with the words for that. She was unaware that Rose was doing something similar next door. Rose's plight had been caused by a prank Hugo had played on Slytherin that morning. He had somehow transfigured the whole house into ferrets; a transformation that lasted 10 minutes and left Scorpius angry and humiliated. The young Malfoy had taken it out on Rose in front of everyone the following lunchtime, calling her the foul offspring of a blood traitor and mudblood and then loudly condemning as a maker of exquisite love potions before being dragged away by Albus. The last thing she remembered was Scorpius disappearing beneath a large black cloak and a scream. Rose sighed and began to write down the day's events, adding her thoughts, hopes and fears about them. She folded the parchment and, unaware of the tears covering it, sent it to Hermione attached to a large school barn owl. Lily began her final draft with much hilarity about the prank, asking if it was part of a new range of WWW products and adding her doubts and fears in a private letter to Ginny. She only relaxed on her bed when her 3 year old Tawny owl disappeared from view. **** The fire in the common room slowly died, it's glow reducing with each member of Gryffindor house that went upstairs to bed until only Cei and Albus were sat in front of it. One was lost in his thoughts, the other in an ancient book that stained his robes and fingers with dust. "Were we too harsh on Malfoy?" Cei looked up from his book, "excuse me?" "Were we too harsh on him? Y'know, he wet himself when he saw you, surely that was enough?" "I let you borrow my cloak. I had nothing to do with whatever you did. What was the aim of your, ah, exercise?" "Keeping him in line for Rose's sake." Cei looked hard at Albus then, the fire's reflection in his eyes was steel, causing Albus to shrink into his chair. "Tell me what you know of the dark lord's followers, Al'" Cei spoke warmly, despite his suddenly fierce appearance. "I, er...." "They thrived on fear yes?" "I, er, guess so.." "The lesson they teach us is simple." Cei's tone had become almost reverent, "fear can be effective against people, at keeping them in line. But all it takes is one individual to stand up, to break that loop and the cycle is broken." "Your point?" Albus was blunt, a symbol of tiredness. "Fear breeds hate. Hate breeds vengeance. Vengeance breeds war." Each sentence was emphasised by a hand movement. Albus laughed nervously, "you really think slapping a bad boyfriend around is a ruse de guerre?" "Your aunt teach you that phrase?" A nod. "It happens I do. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. It makes us do crazy things. It thrives on chaos." Cei suddenly slapped his forehead hard, "no. Wait. That's mutual infatuation." Cei began to giggle before once more shutting out everyone with a surly mask as if something had upset him. He slammed the book closed, causing dust to pour off it in a miniature sandstorm. "See you in the broomsticks tomorrow Al'." Was Cei warning him of something? Albus did not find his new friend's answer satisfactory but years of avoiding surly Cei had formed a seemingly unbreakable habit of hiding when the younger boy was on the prowl. Left to his own devices, Albus cleared dust off the cover of Cei's abandoned book but got no further than the title, "EXCALIBVR", emblazoned on a half familiar coat of arms. The following morning saw the students talking excitedly about the weekend's Hogsmeade visit. The first of the new term. Lily noted Cei's absence from breakfast with a sinking heart but was pleased to see that Albus had finally got an owl from Teddy. She was almost instantly at her brother's side, "What is it?" Albus looked up, irritated by the interuption before handing a note to her, "I'm sorry for the delay, I bought owls for safe flights rather than speed. There's a chance the two artefacts are fragile - they are over one thousand years old after all. Teddy" "Hey, is it just me or does Teddy have a neater hand than that? It reminds me of..." Albus shrugged at his sister's question, focussing instead on two, six inch tall, intricately carved Kantauride figures. One looked like it had a small amount of fire damage and held a sword. The other, in better condition held a staff with what appeared to be a ruby on the end. Albus spent the rest of breakfast on auto-pilot, unwilling to take hand or eye from the figures. He did not even join in with Hugo's excited chatter about the upcoming Chudly Cannon's game, nor did he complain when his family began dragging him back toward Gryffindor common room in preparation of the day's Hogsmeade visit. It was a typical mid-autumn day, bright yet cloudy with a light breeze. Even so, what little light there was seemed to flee from Cei as he stormed past the quartet, wearing the same ensemble he had on when in gringotts, with old book in hand and his face a mask of rage and misery? Lily was convinced she saw misery. The others were too busy trying to avoid the boy's gaze to notice, in case he went mental on them. Old habits die hard after all. All four of them failed to notice the ruby on the staff weilding kantauride figure light up as Cei approached and fade as he disappeared. Lily impatiently pulled Rose away from the two boys, muttering, "Cei's upset about something. Come with me," as they reached the end of the corridor and began to shadow Cei. Rose reluctantly followed her cousin as they headed slightly away from Hogsmeade - both girls pulled their hair into pony tails to prevent the blustery wind from blowing it into their mouths - she had been looking forward to a day of shopping. As the minutes passed, however, she began to feel excited at the prospect of shadowing Lily's crush all day. It opened all sorts of cans for juicy gossip. She did not notice an ever present small red bundle that remained a constant 20 feet behind them. Chapter 5 Chapter 7 as always, I hope you enjoyed that and look forward to reading any comments - please don't be afraid to post - I don't bite. __________________ The ballad of Gryffindors sword 16+ Chapter 12 up! Last edited by Derfel; 07-21-2010 at 08:21 PM.