It was well past ten o'clock when Namora and Queenie met up in the Ravenclaw common room. Namora was just glad that some of the Ilvermorny students got to stay with the Ravenclaw, otherwise they might have had to sneak in. Queenie had a black cloak with a hood, but her striking blue eyes twinkled in the candlelight. Namora wrapped a similar cloak around herself and slipped her wand up her sleeve. After looking around the common room to see if anyone had been spying on them they left as quietly as one could through the creaky portrait.
Queenie sighed seeing that the portrait and most of them lining the hallway were sleeping. Namora wondered what would happen if she awoke one of them. She was tempted to press a fat lady's face, but Queenie "eeked" and they both hid behind a pillar as Mrs. Norris (the caretaker's cat) patrolled the hallways. They both exhaled a long-held breath and made their way to an awaiting headmaster.
Namora was quite surprised when Queenie had gotten word to him and that he actually replied back...with something polite. The reply specifically read:
"Meet me in the dueling room, ten thirty sharp. Do try to not get caught for I will not acknowledge it and will decline anything said to do with it." Sincerely, Phineas Black.
Namora guided Queenie to the dueling room and it was unfortunately in the Slytherin Corridor. It seemed darker down there and Namora shivered in her cloak. "You're cold," Queenie whispered, reading Namora' mind. Namora rubbed her arms, "Yes I am." The two made their way to then end of the corridor which lead to another. Hurrying down it, Queenie pushed open the door and the two hurried in and closed the door behind themselves.
It was dark in the room and shadows creeped along the floorboards creating terrific spikes. In the middle of it all was two, gleaming eyes and a dim wand light . Queenie fell behind Namora, cowering in fear. Namora held the wand in front of her, slightly shaking. The eyes came closer to them and balls of light flew around the room to light lamps. Queenie sighed, it's Mr. Phineas Black. Namora was still slightly shaking.
Queenie hopped by his side and the two shook hands. Namora's mind was blowing up, physical contact with Mr. Black? Unbelievable! "Come here girl," he said, gesturing for her to come forward. Queenie smiled and nodded her head. Namora gulped and cautiously came toward him, looking him up and down for any signs of danger. When she was in front of him he stared at her for a moment. "Do not be frightened by my appearance Namora Ren, I am pleased to teach a pure-blood such as yourself the art of Legilimency." Namora didn't like how he read her mind, but nodded at his somewhat a compliment. "Shall we begin?"
~
Namora sat face to face with Phineas Black. "Come on, concentrate girl." Namora's temple's were squeezed together as she tried to read the headmaster's mind. "You...are...thinking... of..." Namora gave up, her head suddenly sweaty. "I am trying, but just can't seem..." Phineas interrupted her, "You obviously are not trying hard enough, you are wasting my time." Namora opened her mouth to argue, but he had already started to pack up his supplies. "Headmaster!" "No, we are done here, miss Ren," he said and disapparated somewhere.
Namora met Queenie outside the dueling room and they walked in silence up to the great hall. "Oh, honey, I am so sorry. He didn't teach you?" "Can you not read my mind!?!" Namora yelled, making a few Slytherins stare in their direction, eyebrows raised. "Well if that's how you feel ,honey," Queenie said, looking away to the portraits.
This was the week of the tournament and the contestants were as prepared as they dared to be. Namora and Queenie were distant and Albus didn't even show up to most of the diners anymore. She suspected he might be off with that Durmstrang boy. The only person who was still, somewhat a friend, was the one person she hated, Piper. She stuck by Namora any chance she got.
Piper was always ranting on about her brother who actually was, in fact, competing in the tournament, to everyone's surprise. He was the chosen one from Ilvermorny, a girl with dark hair was chosen for Beauxbatons, a boy with a scar across his face for Durmstrang, and for Hogwarts, there was a girl from Gryffindor by the name of Clarise. All week the school was bubbling about the tournament and the ball right before it.
~
Their head of house had informed all of the students earlier that it started at eight o'clock and ended at midnight in the Great Hall. They would also have to wear their best robes or evening dresses which was no problem for the girls. The champions of the schools would also have to bring a partner to the dance as was tradition and of course they must dance. Vanessa Greengrass giggled when their head told them this and looked towards Piper's brother's direction. He immediately noticed and blushed.
Namora and Queenie laughed and their head tapped her wand on their desk to regain their attention. The bell rang shrilly and the students shuffled out. Queenie pointed out Piper and Vanessa, reading both their minds with difficulty. "Are you alright?" Namora had asked. "Yes, I think so. It's just a bit harder to read back and forth between a Brit and an American. It's the accent." Namora laughed, "Alright, if that's what you say." Later, when Piper wasn't around, Queenie had spilled the beans to Namora.
"They're not friends anymore. Something obviously happened between them, I believe it was over a sore topic, their parents perhaps." Namora listened intently as Queenie told her all of what she had seen in Piper and Vanessa's mind in the Library. "Are you telling me that Piper's parents went to Azka..." "Hello!" Piper called and sat herself down in a chair. "What were you both talking about?" "Oh we, uh, were..." Namora started "...Talking about who we are going to the Yule Ball with," Queenie finished and winked at Namora.
"Oh splendid! I was asked by Felix! He's a Slytherin!" Piper exclaimed and held the card he had given her. Namora nodded while Queenie squeaked excitedly. "Alright, so tell me." "Tell you what?.." Namora started. "If you must know, a young man named Jack has asked me to go. He is just such a sweetheart!" Queenie said and Namora nodded as she knew what the two were talking about. "How about you Namora?" Piper asked. "Oh, She hasn't been asked yet?" Queenie said sympathetically. Namora eye-balled Queenie for reading her mind. "Yes, I haven't been asked, but I was just going to go and have fun. I can..." "Oh nonsense Namora. We will find you a date," Piper said as she and Queenie both smiled. "Really it's fine." "We insist Namora," Queenie added.
The girls walked down the halls full of bubbling students. Namora thought she saw Albus escape behind a pillar and was saddened that he had not talked to her since the incident. She often wondered what he did or if he had even longed for her friendship. She suddenly tripped and fell into a boy. They tumbled behind a pillar and Namora held her head as her vision went in and out. Her vision cleared and she could see Queenie and Piper trying to push through the students to get to her.
"I am so sorry," a boy with black hair and stunning dark chocolate eyes said as he helped her off of the floor. Namora blushed, "It was completely my fault.." "Oh, I actually believe I have seen you before. My friends were whistlin' at you last night...I mean I, my friends...they thought you were pretty and...," he said, blushing after he said it, but recovering quickly to straighten his posture... "I was going to ask..." he started. Queenie and Piper were suddenly there beside Namora. "Ohhhhh, who is this" Queenie said, smiling. Queenie gasped, blushed and twirled back and forth, smiling. " I think he wants to ask you something Namora," Queenie said and mischievously smiled. Piper smirked and elbowed Namora as the boy smirked and ran a hand over his,. "I'm Percival, Percival Graves. "I, I'm Namora Ren." "I was going to ask before if you would like to go to the dance with me?" Namora smiled wide, "I would love too!" "Right! Well, I'll see ya at eight then," he said and rushed off to a group of boys waiting farther down the hall. Namora watched and listened as one of them yelled, "I told you she would. She is a doll man, like she is awful pretty." The girls laughed and hurried to get their dresses on.
It was just a few hours before the Yule Ball, Piper was on edge. Namora sat on no doubt, an expensive piece of furniture. Piper was running around her room frantically as she threw dresses and shoes on top of her bed. Lots of the girls talked of boys and dates and dresses. But for Piper it was the dress. Since she was from America, Piper had all the latest fashions and make-ups. She had a whole rainbow of color for blush and lip choices and about ten dresses to choose from. All the while, Namora sat and watched Piper, staring at her, trying to read her mind.
After an intense few minutes of straight staring, Namora sighed loudly and breathed in deeply, trying not to lose her temper. She didn't even notice Piper walking over to her with a few dresses until she felt a sharp push in the ribs. "I was wondering when you were going to notice me. I have been standing here for a minute almost." Namora grumbled something under her breath that made Piper scoff and place a hand on her hip. "Well, I was hoping that you could help me choose a dress." "Right," Namora said, and looked at the dresses that she had chosen. One was a bright pink with fluff everywhere, another was a yellow dress with layers of lace, and the last few were about the same.
"Can I have a look at the other dresses?" Piper seemed annoyed, but gathered the rest from her bed and laid them about the floor. Namora searched for a color to match the girl, blonde hair, blue eyes, short, attitude, but somewhat sweet. Her eyes picked over the dresses like picking candy and her eyes finally landed on "the dress". It was a pink dress with a bow and lace covering the bottom. "This one," Namora said, Picking up the dress for her to see. "Really, you think so!?" She said, snatching the dress away from her and holding up in the mirror. Namora nodded. "Wonderful, you are a great helper." Namora raised her eyebrows, but was secretly happy that she had helped someone, even if it was Piper.
"So, let's see it then." "What?" "Silly, your dress Namora." "OH, right, well I wasn't really going to go..." Piper gasped loudly, "Not going! What did your parents say about it!" "Well they both are off on a trip in Europe so I didn't bother sending them an owl..." "Namora Ren," Piper said, stomping her foot. "You will be attending that ball." "No, I don't really think so, I don't have a..." "Have what Namora, "Piper interrupted. "A...dress," Namora said, looking down to try to avoid the awkwardness now settling in. "Oh nonsense Namora, you can borrow one of mine." "Are you serious Piper, I mean, I don't even have a date." "You don't have to have a date to go to the dance."
"Let me see, color, size, about the same I would think besides the fact that I'm short of course," Piper said as dresses and shoes flew through the air, creating a circle of fabric and color around her. All of a sudden the dresses dropped and there was one still floating in the air. It was a dark blue with black sleeves and silver sequins around the upper body that strung down to the bottom of the dress. Namora smiled, "It's wonderful." Piper smirked, "I know," she said and tossed her hair.
"Well, I best be going," Namora said, holding the dress and shoes. "I am going to get ready, thank you for the dress," Namora said, and rushed out of Piper's room and down the hall. "Oh...your welcome!" Namora rushed into her bedroom where Sarah and Hemley were preparing for the dance. "Where's Jillian gone to?" Namora said, looking around the room. "You know her, she's probably trying to get into the Slytherin dormitory again," Hemley said, looking to Sarah as they both nodded. "Oh, uh, yes, I knew that," Namora lied.
"Both of you look gorgeous," Namora said, trying to change the subject. "Why thank you!" Sarah said, smiling and blushing. Hemley smiled to then turned in the mirror to do her hair. Namora had to get ready quickly if she wanted to catch Queenie. She had been avoiding her ever since the dueling room blow-up and Namora really wanted to apologize. Right about now, Queenie would be getting back from Hogsmeade, Namora needed her to know that they were still friends.
Namora traced her wand through the air and the dress slipped up her body as her robes came off at the same time. She curled her dark hair and added a small barrette on the side. She smiled and breathed out, trying to run through what she was going to say to Queenie. How she would stand and if she would hug or shake hands. She planned it perfectly. The moment that she slipped her shoes on, she heard the portrait door open and a handful of steps coming into the common room.
Opening the door, she slipped out into a crowd of returning students. Ravenclaw students along with Ilvermorny students talked about Hogsmeade and were buzzing with excitement for the dance. Namora squeezed past a few giggling girls in the hall and stopped to look for Queenie at the top of the staircase. She felt eyes staring at her as she made her way down the steps. A group of Ilvermorny boys passed her and whistled and smiled at her as they looked her up and down. Namora turned away from them and saw Queenie sitting alone on a sofa.
She rushed past the staring eyes and whispering mouths as she quickly sat down on the sofa. "Queenie? I wanted to apologize for earlier this week. I was just..." Namora paused long enough for Queenie to read her mind. "Oh honey..." Queenie said thoughtfully and Namora leaned in to hug her as she planned. "Do you like my dress?" "It matches you perfectly Namora," Queenie said then brought up her wand to change. "Oh, shouldn't you change in the room," Namora said, glancing around to see if anyone had seen. Queenie laughed then rushed up the stairs.
Namora laid back into the sofa and watched as most of the students disappeared into their dorm rooms to change for the ball. She watched Queenie come out dressed in light pink dress with glittering sequins and a matching headband. Her strawberry-blonde hair was wavy and she had pink blush on her fair skin. The two hooked arms, "Ready?" Namora asked. "Ready!" Queenie replied and they skipped out of the portrait hole. Piper rushed down the stairs behind them, trying to put earrings on, "Wait for me you two!" She called after them.
Now it was almost eight o'clock and all of the fourth year students were getting with their dates and standing in a very long line waiting for the doors to open. Namora and Queenie stood for a moment together then split off once Queenie waved at her date and walked away. As Namora looked at the couple's she saw Piper at the very front of the line with Felix. They both were making fun of someone who had fallen and their shoe had flown up in the air. Namora stood on her toes to see if Percival was here yet.
"Attention students!" A woman's voice said. She had graying, dark hair and brown eyes with purple robes. "The Yule Ball will now begin," she said and opened double doors that lead down to stairs and a dance floor with couples already dancing. Each couple got their moment to walk down the staircase and soon almost all of the line was already through. Namora wondered where her date might be. She pulled her slippery white gloves up to elbows and waited patiently by the doors. ~
PERCIVAL
Percival slicked back his hair and straightened his bowtie as he looked in the mirror for the twentieth time. He breathed out a shaky breath, "You got this Percival, it's just a dance." Pulling out the pocket watch from his vest, his eyes widened as he saw that the time was eight already. He cursed and hurried out of the boys bathrooms and two-stepped the stairs.
As he reached the bottom of the staircase, he saw that the doors were open. He took one step and felt a terrible pain in his neck. He cringed and held his hand over a bulging red spot that appeared on his neck. He gagged, finding it harder breath as his air was slowly cut off. Percival began to see three of everything and stumbled. He fell down a few of the steps and collapsed.
~
NAMORA
It was eight thirty-five when Namora gave up. She walked into the dance with a group of young witches and squandered over to where the refreshments were. She happily accepted a cup of punch from the charms teacher and stood in the corner, watching everyone dance. She drank the rest of her punch as another song ended. The orchestra was quite good, she liked the piano that was played every so often. She dropped her cup as a headache came upon her. She massaged her temples, trying to ease it away, but it lingered.
She started to hear faint whispers that gradually became stronger and stronger until it screamed at her. "Help! Danger! Fear!" The thoughts cried and Namora finally made a mad dash up the stairs and out in the hall where there was no one. She cringed as the thoughts kept coming at her, attacking her mind and overtaking her thoughts. They finally started to faint after a minute and Namora was left breathing heavily.
She rubbed her temples again and looked around to see of anyone had seen. Her focus was directed to a bundle of black on the staircase. She grabbed her wand from a hidden pocket in her dress and cautiously came up to the stairs. "Lumos". She gasped as she saw the body of Percival Graves lying on the steps.
Namora hurried up to him and turned him over. She noticed a terrible red bulge on his neck. She watched his chest and was frightened to see that it was not moving up and down which meant he wasn't breathing. She gently pressed the bulge and could see yellow liquid coming out of his mouth. She gagged at the foul smell, but thought she saw his chest depress. An idea popped into her mind. If she could somehow drain the bulge or pop it, it might release the pressure on his throat and he would be able to breath.
She thought of the consequences or if she was wrong, but pushed them from her mind. She took off her gloves and pressed down on the bulge with her hands, squinting as flecks of yellow splattered her. All of a sudden, a waterfall of yellow liquid came spurting from his mouth and Namora turned his body to the side, so he wouldn't be choking on it. The bulge popped loudly and a lot of air and yellow liquid came rushing out.
Percival coughed repeatedly and breathed loudly. "Are you alright!" Namora said as soon as he spit out the last bit of the liquid. "Yeah, I almost died! There was.." A loud bang sounded. She saw fire racing toward her and Percival as a cloaked figure pointed a wand at them. A crowd had gathered and professors pushed through the students to get to what was causing the ruckus. Namora held her wand up to the figure as teachers gasped at the situation. They fired spells at it, but nothing happened. "Stop! Namora suddenly yelled, it's a boggart!" "Riddikulus!" She yelled. The figure turned and was suddenly a girl with glitter, blush and makeup. Most of the school burst out laughing and then it poofed and disappeared. The students gasped and the professors were stunned.
The professors rushed over to them and put out the blue fire. "Are you two alright?" a witch with a big blue hat asked. Namora nodded besides having the foul liquid covering her dress. Percival nodded too and wiped off yellow residue from his mouth. "Just a li'l smelly," he said and laughed a bit. A Professor Gaundriel talked to them, another professor with an oversized beard yelled: "The dance shall resume!" Then he shuffled the students back into the hall and closed the doors.
The headmaster, Phineas Black, came up to them. "Nothing can quite describe what I witnessed. Tell me, how did you know it was a boggart?" Namora gulped: "I, I just heard the thoughts..." the headmaster smiled. "It seems that you did learn something from those lessons," he said and then turned briskly. "The night is still young. I suggest you two clean up and enjoy the dance," he said and walked away down the hall. "What just happened?" Percival asked her. "You two just stared at each other," Percival said as he dusted himself off from the fire. Namora looked at him in confusion for a second. Then she put it together. The Headmaster had spoken to her without even speaking. He was using legilimency and she was too. They were reading each other's minds. Namora didn't know what to say to him. "I think I might be in shock, " she said with a little laugh. "Your school have a nurse?" "Yes...but I think, maybe a little dancing might help like the Headmaster said."
"Do you still want to go?" Namora asked after they cleaned the liquid off of themselves. He smiled, "Shall we, young British girl?" He said and held out his arm. She laughed aloud as they hopped down the steps and opened the double doors to the ball. The room was filled with students dancing and laughing. Up above them, gold seemed to shower down almost like rain. "Woah," Percival said as he looked around. "You Brits sure know how to throw a ball," he said as he looked the banners of the school hanging on poles all around the room. "Hogwarts is the best," she said and winked at him. Percival laughed. "I still like my school, but, how about we do some dancing?"
Just as a fast paced song ended with a loud stomp, a slow song started to play and they hurried down the last few steps to the dance floor where they met up with Queenie and Piper. Percival faced her and slipped his arm around her waist, Namora put her arm on his shoulder and soon they were twirling around and bowing to the song's rhythm.
"You look pretty tonight," he said and spinned her around in a circle. "Thank you," Namora said as they dipped down. Their eyes met for only a moment then he lifted her up and ran a hand through his hair. "Quite the night," he said with a chuckle. Namora nodded. "It really has been." "So.." he said they danced. "Your house is a Raven?" "Well, not exactly. It's called Ravenclaw and it was named after Rowena Ravenclaw." "Ah. Well that makes sense. Are the other houses like that?" "like what?" "Named after people." "Yes." "Huh. Well, Ilvermony has its houses based on animals like the pukwudgie." "What is that?" Namora asked him, laughing. He gave her a small smile and said: "Well, from what I've heard here, Pukwudgie is the equivalent to your Hufflepuff." "Is that a person?" Namora asked. "Because I don't think I've ever heard of someone named that." "It's not a person," he chuckled. "It's a creature." "Really?" "Mhmm." "Is that that house you were sorted into?" Namora asked as she caught Queenie smiling as she danced with a boy. "Horned Serpent." He told her as they spun around. "You must be quite clever then," Namora said. He shrugged his shoulders. "I try."
The song ended, he bowed as students clapped. "I'll get us some punch," he said and walked toward the refreshments stand. Queenie suddenly hooked arms with her and they went over to a corner. "Well, how was it!" "It was.." Namora said smiling. "Well you could just read my mind," Namora giggled and then put a hand around her mouth. Piper came up to them, "You two are such a wonderful couple." "We're just dance partners, Piper," Namora said, blushing. The truth was that she did like him. "I think..." Namora started before Piper interrupted, "Felix and I are just so perfect aren't we?" She said then smirked, and waved to someone across the dance floor.
Namora and Queenie exchanged a look and laughed. Queenie's date, Jack, came up beside them along with Percival. They were talking about wizarding games and quidditch. Queenie shook her head at Namora playfully, boys," she said and ran a hand through her curly hair before joining hands with Jack. Percival handed her a cup of punch and they escaped toward a balcony outside.
The stars shined bright outside and glittered onto the lake. Percival looked up at the moon. It was a beautiful white that lit the night sky. He then climbed to sit on the edge of the balcony.
"Percival, if I may ask..." He looked at her and smirked a half smile. "...what happened with the boggart?" His smile faded away and he looked down at his shoes and seemed fascinated at his legs effortlessly dangling in the air, hundreds of feet from the ground. "I, uh... You see I was, a..." He said and as he ran his hands through his hair nervously. "You don't have to answer." "No, no. I want to tell you. But, ah, maybe we could set it for another date," he said and glanced up at her. Namora slowly nodded and looked up towards the Ravenclaw tower and sighed. Did she ask him too quickly? "Should she have worded it differently?"
Meanwhile Percival looked out and marveled at the view. "Hogwarts is certainly...something," he said as he spied the Quidditch pitch, trying to change the awkward silence. Namora nodded and sipped her punch, "It is." "Not like Ilvermorny o'course," he said and chuckled. Namora laughed with him and they turned toward each other suddenly and Percival leaned towards her to give her a kiss on the cheek, then blushed and looked back at the ongoing ball. Namora followed his gaze and saw Queenie laughing as Jack jumped into the air and did a flip that made the professors nervous. "Wanna dance some more," Percival asked, his New York accent making her smile. Before Namora knew it, she was swept off onto the dance floor again, trying to forget what had happened earlier.