The Choco!Man
Theme # 92: Chocolate


Accepting chocolate frog offers from just about anyone [presentable] in the vicinity; biting into pretty, chocolate dragons before going to sleep; going around suggesting Gryffindor/ Slytherin chocolate partayyys at the drop of a hat - It was clear that Fyo loved chocolate, and loved it almost as much as he loved Arithmancy.

Being called "chocolate-lover," then, was something that could be expected. What was not expected - thought not displeasing, either - however, was Syd's latest nickname for him, something which went along the lines of [okay, okay - so it didn't 'go along the lines of' - it was] Choco Boy.

Haste Makes Waste
Theme # 97: Dictionary


Oh. My. GOSH! He was late, late, late! Fyo had just glanced carelessly at his wristwatch - only to realize that he was late to meet Lacey. And she would be waiting! Darn.

The third year got up from the corner of the bamboo forest he had been shaded by, and made a pretty much mad dash for the relative warmth of the Gryffindor/ Slytherin common room, a HUGE Ancient Runes dictionary tucked under his arm.

He rushed up the staircase - stumbled through the portrait hole - and fell, flat on his face with dictionary and all, somewhere near her seat.

Ouch.

The Joy of Arrival
Theme # 64: Nap


Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip.

Whoosh.

It was late in the evening and, outside, the rain raged in wild ways. But that last noise - - it had clearly not belonged to the raindrops. Raising his head, which had been resting on two, tired shoulders in a nap of sorts, Fyo looked up from his writing desk and peered at the window-pane by his side:

An owl!

Excited, he rubbed his eyes and quickly opened the window. A gust of wind blew inside, along with a shower of much-loved rain - but that was not what Fyo cared about, right now.

Pretty-Faced Men, Yo!
Theme # 71: Untie


It HAD to be a note from Nat!

She had not written for ages - A week, actually, but that was still forever when you were such awesome friends, you found each other better than chocolate. Of course, the owl was unfamiliar, but Fyo knew she was on vacation and had not taken Orla, her pet eagle. [Yes, eagle. Not owl.]

Fingers positively flying, he untied the envelope from the owl's legs, and half-ripped the thing open.

- Only to find an advertisement whose heading read:

"Pretty-Faced Men Limited: Your chance to have a face as hot as mine."

One, Smelly Sock
Theme # 50: Boggart


Fyo had always wondered what his boggart would look like - Nat's was a giant, purple human-eating vine that came at cha, and he knew that that partially resulted from her strong dislike of Herbology. But, him? He really wasn't scared of anything, come to think of it. Losing his house ten thousand fifty-three points, maybe, but nothing serious, really.

"What do you think my boggart's going to be?" he asked Nat, taking a seat as they entered The Dragon's Child together, and she began to order their butterbeers.

"A smelly sock," she replied slyly.

The Gillyweed Eats Cuscuta [Not]
Theme # 70:Team


It seemed liked evil!woman Bunbury was actually using teamwork, for once. It came in the form of a certain so-in-his-thousands man, also known as Professor Kazimeriz, or Hogwarts's resident potions master.

They were now being instructed on the appearance, uses and other details of Gillyweed and its more mundane cousin, Mr. Parasitic Cuscuta. Fyo listened intently - getting most of the oh-so-intellectual talk, though there were definitely a few points that passed right over his head - wondering if this, the gillyweed-cuscuta, cuscuta-gillyweed talk, was all their lesson would be out.

Bah! Humbug.

And Zap Went The Fist
Theme # 76: Zap


Seeing red. That's what Fyo was doing, at the moment - seeing red. He wondered which the better way to "resolve" the whole matter would be: Punching Torin, or zapping him into oblivion with his - Fyo's - wand.

Difficult as the question might sound to the silent observer, Fyo's instincts did not take too long to decide: There was, perhaps, a second's pause and then, without any warning whatsoever, Fyo had thrown his fist into the Hufflepuff's face.

- Now he just needed to see if he had given the guy a black eye, or a broken nose.

Non-Pink Shoes
Theme # 73: Warn


Know what? Fyo was pretty sure the door of Professor Bunbury's office needed a huge, non-pink sign that read "Intruder, you have been warned" attached to it: He had never been inside the place, and the details he had about it were, at the best, sketchy, but almost all of them included pink and, oddly enough, shoes.

Shoes.

Shoes.

What were shoes, anyway? As Torin would say - just things you wore on your feet. [And, occasionally, had thrown your way.] Yeah, things you wore on your feet.

- He would never get why women were so obsessed with them.

Them Cute, Kitty Eyes
Theme # 72: Vex


Those two naughty kittens Xyntheshia had not given away [and, by doing so, given an official invitation to trouble] were beginning to drive Fyo up the wall: They vexed him when they ate his share of chocolate, they vexed him when they bit him for fun, and they vexed him when they slept on his Arithmancy textbook. And you know what the most infuriating part was?

- Knowing that they would probably make the cutest, kitty eyes in the world, and win you over the moment you so much as thought of handing them over to the blonde guy next door.

Sunday Morning Dreams
Theme # 99: Newspaper


Sunday morning at the Balouch household.

The weather raged wild outside, and Gold and Dust were tucked - safe, sound and, for once, calm - in their favourite, wickerwork baskets. Meanwhile, Ma'am mother cat pawed at a rug near the fireplace; Nova ran after a gnome she had just spotted with a big book; Xyntheshia stood in the kitchen, the delicious and heart-warming aroma of breakfast-in-the-process-of-being-made thick and yummy as it spread through the place; and Christian poured over the morning's newspaper.

And Fyo?

- In his bed and dreaming of Butterfly, of course.

Greetings of Cheer
Theme # 75: Yodel


Cold.

As he stepped into the courtyard that was his own house's, Fyo glanced around for signs of Nat - Back home for the winter holidays with the crazy!woMAN in question staying over, he could always expect her to be wherever he went to - say - throw a bucketful of water over his head.

But it was his birthday, today. She wasn't going to not miss an opportunity to tease him to bits and pieces, today, was she?

"Hey there, Fyoch Boch," a familiar voice greeted him and, within milliseconds, Natkalia Souvena bounded up to him. "Yodelling again, matey?"

Something. Is. Not. Right.
Theme # 80: Author's Choice


"I do not yodel," Fyo said, crossing his arms against his chest in a mock cross way, despite being fully aware that the argument would not - could not - bear any fruit: Arguing with Nat was like punching a boulder.

- You always came out worse.

"Guess what?" Nat pushed on, giving an excited nod [and absolutely ignoring his I-do-not-yodel comment.] "I got you a birthday present!" Both her arms were behind her back, as if hiding some sort of present, and they seemed to be itching to show it off.

Uh uh - This did not sound too good.

Snow for the Snow-Loving
Theme # 95: Snowball


Um, okaayyy.

Fyo was sure he could handle this, yes. [Actually, he wasn't, but positive self-confidence happens to be one of the keys to success, right?]

"Really?" he asked, trying to sound interested, rather than.. mildly alarmed. "But I thought you said you were going to give me my present when everyone gathers for the cake party."

"Oh, that?" Nat asked, her eyes shining pretty excitedly. "That's the main course! - This is just the appetizer. Catch!"

Next second, Fyo was blinking through a faceful of snow.

"Want another?" Nat asked cheerfully, bending down to mould another snowball.

The Fyo Allergy
Theme # 94: Allergic


What was this, a Potions assignment or a health report? Fyo blinked as he registered what their potions master was saying, before turning to give a Nat a look that clearly went along the lines of what-the-?


Five minutes later.

"I can't believe we're supposed to write about what we're allergic to, and how we think we can overcome our sensitivity to that particular substance," Fyo muttered, as he and Nat left the potions classroom.

Nat yawned. "What I'm allergic to just needs a good bath."

Fyo blinked. "Nat – what are you talking about?"

"You."

Pink Lipstick Sucks [NOT!]
Theme # 91: Future


"Mr. Balouch! In the future, I will bear no such insolence from you! Thirty points from your house!"

"Yes, professor," Fyo mumbled, glaring daggers at Nat the moment their flying instructor had turned her back on him. "This is all your fault!" he said, through gritted teeth. "You placed that stupid jinx on her broom!"

"I told you to move away," Nat said angrily. "I told you if she turned around, you'd be in trouble."

"How was I supposed to know you had jinxed her broom to read "Pink Lipstick Sucks" the moment she picked it up?" Fyo snapped.

Gotcha, Gotcha!
Theme # 84: Angry


"Are you still angry at me?"

Nat's voice was half-hopeful. Half-hopeful - in a teasing sort of way. The teasing sort of way he knew so well.

"Yes," Fyo replied, further burying his head into his Arithmancy textbook, and refusing to look up at her.

"How sad. So - are you, like, not going to talk to me?"

"Yes."

"Is yes all you're going to say?"

"Yes."

"Wow, really?"

"Yes."

"Aww, come on, Fyoch Boch, you know I said I'm sorry."

"No, you didn't!" Fyo exclaimed, immediately putting down his book.

Nat burst into laughter. "Gotcha!"

The Changes That We Are
Theme # 89: Past


Life surprised Fyo.

It was such a roller-coaster ride - forever dynamic - forever evolving - indeed, never ever the absolutely same. Today was always - would, in fact, always be - so different from yesterday. And tomorrow.. mystery complete. Ah, yes, what strange changes there reside between our pasts and presents! Proof?

Fyo was pulling Torin into the main street, Hogsmeade, his mood clearly very merry.


Smiling inwardly, Fyo shook his head to himself as Torin threw a snowball at him. Only a week ago, he had been pretty much enemies with the guy.

- Now they seemed all set to become best buddies.

Pink Lipstick for Breakfast
Theme # 86: Daring


Two days later, they were still at it.

"There was nothing daring, whatsoever, about what you did to Professor Chanel's broom!" Fyo said angrily, stamping a foot on the ground.

"Well, you do it, then," Nat said, clearly egging him on. "If there wasn't anything daring about it, then YOU go and jinx her broom to read 'Pink Lipstick Sucks' and -"

"But I DON'T think pink lipstick sucks!" Fyo burst out, clearly infuriated at her lack of sense.

"Why?" Nat asked coolly. "Do you, like, apply it first thing after you've woken up, in the morning?"

Wait, Hope, Be
Theme # 83: Fearful


Let us all please take a moment to have second thoughts about the earlier-mentioned, Fyo-not-really-scared-of-anything statement. Because, as the third year entered Madame Puddifoot's alongside Lissy, he was a little scared.

- A little scared about what she would think of his present.

He wanted her to have a blast, today - something along the lines of a birthday unforgettable, a birthday she would not stop thinking of anytime soon. The heart-shaped box of chocolate-covered chocolates felt heavy in his pocket and, for now, all he could do was wait.

Wait - and hope.

[Sort of] Trouble
Theme # 51: Act


- It had been a mess.

Fyo was just glad it had not ended badly. There he had been, chatting to Torin and actually beginning to realize that the guy was not so bad as he had first thought him to be when - VERY big uh uh - Lissy had walked in on them.

GAH.

Not that he did not like her being around. He had.. just been at a loss for words, at a loss for any sense of how to act. Torin Kane had apologized, Torin Kane was being good, Torin Kane was -

- Torin Kane was hated by his Butterfly.

Another One Bites the Dust
Theme # 66: Pace


"Fyohh?"

Fyo looked up as Nova poked her head into his bedroom and, with an effort, stopped pacing up and down the floor to look at her.

"Yes?" he asked, slightly cheerlessly: he had still not gotten over the fact that the letter from Nat, had turned out to be an advertisement from some useless organization.

"Mum got me a new teddy," she said, stating the fact as if it was the world's most precious piece of information.

"So?"

"Gold made it go dead'ed."

And she held up the teddy bear, one of whose arms no longer existed.

Of TeddyCookies
Theme # 69: Slap


"Nova Balouch! If you don't stop annoying me this instant, I'm going to SLAP that new teddy of yours," Fyo snapped as, for the umpteenth time that day, his little sister picked up one of his spellbooks, and began to doodle in it.

"It's already dead'ed," Nova replied, rolling her eyes at him. "You can't do anything to a dead'ed teddy."

Aarrgghh. "Stop it, Nov," He said, momentarily wishing that he lived on Pluto, or some other, faraway place like it. "Or I'll tell mum you ate my share of cookies, last week."

[Because] Someone's Growing Up
Theme # 67: Quell


Nova looked up from his Transfiguration textbook, clearly stunned that he could even think of doing such a thing.

"But you said you wouldn't, if I fed Mrs. Angie next door's kitty with the potion that turned its tongue green," she said, eyes huge.

"Well, I will now," Fyo said, hoping that that quelled her interest in doodling on his books.

"You will not," Nova insisted confidently.

"And what makes you think that?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Because then I'll tell everyone you blushed, when mum said Marleen was cute, the other day," Nova replied slyly.

An Eye for an Eye [And a Blush for a Cookie]
Theme # 74: X-tinguish


"WHAT?" Fyo asked, his face resembling a pretty light that had been forcefully extinguished. "I did not!"

"Yes, you did," Nova said happily, carelessly putting down his spellbook: even though her story was untrue, she knew she had touched a nerve, and was clearly enjoying the fact that the ball was, for once, in her court. "You went red."

"I only rolled my eyes," Fyo insisted. "Since when did rolling your eyes began to be counted as blushing?"

"Since the day you told me you're going to tell mum that I ate your share of cookies," Nova replied cheerfully.

ButterLion: Breathlessly One
Theme # 61: Kiss

She was so.. warm.

At the moment, Fyo felt like a trillion things - things better than the feel of an Arithmancy textbook, fresh from the stands; better than the taste of hot chocolate, at night; better than walking, barefoot, along a sandy beach; and better than watching the sun set in a haze of orange glory, to give way to the onset of dusk.

When he pulled away, he was breathless. Breathless to the point where he found it hard to speak, found it hard to so much as attempt to string two words together.

- Butterfly kissed better than chocolate.