Through the Eyes of a Mercutio

Chapter 1

Ode to the Potter Boy

"Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Hogwarts, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of wand-crossed lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents' strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

And the continuance of their parents' rage,

Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,

Is now the few chapters' traffic of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend."

"Huh?"

"Romeo and Juliet, with some changed words. You know, the Prologue. It's setting the stage for my story."

"You're telling a story?" My nephew looked at me doubtfully.

"Yeah, sort of."

"About whom?"

I pointed to a picture on the mantle of a tall, handsome, dark-haired seventeen-year-old boy.

"Luke?"

"Yep."

"What does that have to do with Romeo and Juliet?"

"Everything."

Luke Potter, eldest son of the famous Harry Potter, most adored seventh-year guy in Hogwarts, and my best friend. Yes, he's the typical 'tall, dark, and handsome', 'hard-to-get', 'ladies man' with no emotional medium. I can't work out exactly how he turned out that way, with parents like his. He's even the odd one in the foursome group of ours, despite public opinion that I'm the one with issues.

Luke Potter, Chadwyck Weasley, my younger brother Dominic and I have been best friends since before I can remember. Our families are always together, so it's almost like our friendship was forced upon us. Maybe the reason that people think I'm strange is because I've spent my entire life in the company of three guys. I suppose they've affected my femininity.

Though aware of his popularity with the ladies, Luke has never much acknowledged it. He's always been a bit of an introvert. I once suggested that this could be because he's a pretty boy sap, but my theory was quickly stomped out by Chad, who said that Luke just has more depth than I do. What he meant by depth is beyond me. I try not to stretch my brain outside of its limits.

Anyway, I previously compared my story to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and it would be an accurate comparison. I have even determined the Dramatis Personae. Luke, of course, is the Romeo, since he's so bipolar and irrational. Chad is the Benvolio because not only is he Luke's cousin, but he's also the peacekeeper. Without Chad, I may have lynched twenty people by now and Luke's head might look more like Spongebob Squarepants for all the times I've felt like chucking stuff at him and leaving permanent dents. Dominic is sort of the Benvolio Number Two with a hint of insanity. He's usually the one sitting back, rolling his eyes and grinning while the rest of us argue, but sometimes he gets these crazy streaks where he's almost like me. It scares me.

And I, of course, am the Mercutio of the bunch. Half the people I know regard me as a lunatic, or an otherwise brilliant lunatic. I talk nonstop, I have an opinion about everything, I never think twice about my actions, and I'll even go so far as to say that I'm the comic relief. Honestly, people around here can be so depressing, that I'm often forced to blow things up in order to return their high spirits. I guess that, at times, I can be sporadic and hyper, and someone once asked me if I had some sort of hyperactive disorder. Yeah, I'm sure.

Our story opens on the eve of the Start of Term Banquet for our seventh-year at Hogwarts. There was nothing particularly special about the evening, except that it was raining. We all converged upon the Entrance Hall, pulling off our hoods and brushing our wet hair out of our eyes.

I decided to put the year to a good start, by further soaking a Slytherin seventh-year that I particularly disliked with a flick of my wand. A huge red water balloon loomed over his head for a moment, before bursting. He froze, a look of fury on his face as he turned to face me.

"Oh, I didn't know it was you," I said in mock apology. "Sorry, mate."

He continued to glare. "One of these days, Black..."

I blew him a kiss, and turned back to my posse, only to hear my name.

"Cait!" the familiar voice of the new Head Boy called reprovingly in my direction.

I rolled my eyes, and prepared another dramatic performance.

"Yes, O ruling one? What dost thou want of me?" I bowed low, one arm flung wide.

He threw me another look of slight annoyance. "Come on, Cait. Did you really have to do that? Can't we just start the term out easy?"

"Well that all depends," I said. "It was going quite easily, so are you going to let me continue starting the term out easy?"

This comment had been meant to tick him off, but he smiled.

"That's what I love about you," he said, still grinning. "You say whatever you want. You're so independent, so crazy."

I knew where this was going, and it scared me.

"So come on, will you go out with me this year?" he asked, still grinning.

"Ah, no," I replied promptly. It's not that he was hideous. He was actually quite attractive, but he used to just plain creep me out. "I've been telling you no for the last three years, Brandon. Did you really think my answer would change?"

"You never know." His grin turned into a mischievous smirk.

I was now moderately horrified.

"I always know. Now, if you don't mind, let's just leave it at that."

I turned once again back to my friends. They were both smirking at me.

"What?"

"He still likes you," Chad taunted, pointing a finger at me.

"So we have observed," I said, wrinkling my nose and pushing his finger away.

I noticed Luke craning his neck to see over everybody else. This was rather unnecessary, however, because he was at least three inches taller than most of us, except Chad. He must have found what he was looking for, because he smiled, and motioned to us to follow him. I glanced around for my brother, who was nowhere to be seen. Must have found his girlfriend.

He led us over to a group of people close to the doors of the Great Hall. We knew most of them, but Luke went up to one girl in particular.

"Hi, Nicole," he said, grinning.

Ah, the object of obsession: Nicole Gabrielli, the Italian Ravenclaw seventh-year. I'll admit she was very pretty. Her long dark hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes were entrancing to most guys, I'd noticed. She was beautiful, but her personality was totally opposite. What she was like with other people, I have no idea. All I know is that to Luke, she was cold as ice. He fawned over her so much, that even Chad was starting to think he was crazy. It seemed almost as though Luke had become so used to the routine of worshipping her that it was all he was capable of doing.

She gave him a doubtful up-and-down. "Hey, Luke."

Oh bloody hell. I knew where this was headed, and I was not going to let Luke make a fool of himself again. Time to take matters into my own hands.

"Hello, Nicole. Lovely to see you, but we really must be going," I said hurriedly, grabbing hold of Luke's right arm. Then I dropped my jaw and pointed, exclaiming, "Look! The violence inherent in the system!"

God bless the boys of Monty Python. That wasn't the first situation they'd gotten me out of without having to explain myself. Chad must have caught on, because while everyone else turned, looking for the violence inherent in the system, he grabbed Luke's other arm, and helped me steer him quickly away from Nicole. He gazed back at her as we pushed him into the Great Hall. When it was safe to release him, Chad let go and shook his head at the glum expression on Luke's face. I, however, put in my opinion.

"Why do you waste your time? She doesn't give a rat's arse about you! You could have just about any other girl in Hogwarts! Have you gone completely mad? Get your head out of the buggering clouds, mate!"

Luke just looked more depressed, and I scowled. He was getting to be no fun anymore.

We sat down at the Gryffindor table as other students filtered in around us. The rest of the Weasleys, Blacks, Potters, Finnigans, Woods and the Longbottom twins sat near us. There were 28 of us all together, 16 of them Weasleys, and we had completely taken over Gryffindor Tower. As Luke, Chad, Ashley Wood, Thomas Finnigan and I were the reigning seventh-years, we were in command. I tell you, the Christmas holidays were always interesting with all of us plus our parents and whoever else in either the Potters' huge manor house or ours.

I glanced around, looking for something to do, someone to taunt, when I spotted someone I didn't recognize. She must have been new, and she looked like a supermodel. Her long blonde hair fell in a silvery sheet to her mid back, and her light green eyes cast curiously around the hall. She was making her way to the Slytherin table.

"Transfer," I muttered.

"Huh?"

I pointed. Chad looked around until he found her and grinned.

"Maybe someone should go and show her the ropes," he said slyly.

"In your dreams, Chadwyck," I said, smiling and rolling my eyes. "Looks like a new Slytherin for me to torment."

"What do you think, Luke?" Chad asked, elbowing him.

He didn't answer.

"Come on, mate. Just look at her. She's much more of a sight than Nicole."

I grabbed his head, and swung it around so he could see her. He gazed dumbly for a second, and then his eyes widened.

"Who is she?"

"Hey Mikey, I think he likes it," I said, satisfied that I had succeeded in removing his mind from prat-girl.

The girl turned, flicking her long hair as she did, so we could see her face. Luke and Chad both seemed spellbound in amazement, and they weren't the only ones. A few male Weasley cousins, Tommy Finnigan and, to my horror, my little brother (alright, he's 16), along with several others, were looking interestedly in her direction as well.

I smacked Luke, Chad and Dominic upside the back of the head, trying to get them back to reality. Chad and Dom responded, but Luke didn't. I hit him again, but received no reaction. I began to repeatedly whack his shoulder.

"She's a veela!" exclaimed Chad accusingly.

"No she's not," I replied, still whacking Luke's shoulder without any accomplishment. Then he spoke:

"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night

Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear;

Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!

So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,

As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.

The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,

And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.

Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!

For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night!"

Chad stared in bemused bewilderment at Luke, who continued to gaze at the newcomer. "What?"

"He's quoting Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene V," I explained, now moving to hitting Luke's head, as the shoulder was only getting me Shakespeare quotations.

"How does he know anything about Romeo and Juliet?" Dom asked incredulously.

"Dunno," I replied, shrugging. "I didn't teach him."

Chad noticed what I was doing, and scowled. "Knock it off, you're making him quote Shakespeare! And you're going to give him a concussion."

I relented, and stopped smacking Luke's head. "There's nothing wrong with quoting Shakespeare."

Dom rolled his eyes. "So, why is he quoting, then?"

"Well, it's clear that he has fallen helplessly in love with transfer-girl.

In such an outrageous fashion, it seems, that he is quoting from the greatest love story of all time."

"He just thinks he's in love with her," Dom said. "He thinks he's in love Nicole, too. He's just in love with being in love. Kinda messed up, isn't he?"

"He's not in love with her!" Chad insisted. "She's a veela, so he can't be held responsible for his own actions."

"She's not a veela," I repeated, rolling my eyes in mild exasperation.

"No, she isn't," came a voice from behind us. We turned to face fellow seventh-year, though from Hufflepuff, Jessica Macmillan the Gossip Queen. "She's a Malfoy."

"A Malfoy?" the three of us said together in a tone of shock and disgust. Luke remained unperturbed.

"Yep," Jessica said, nodding. "Just transferred from some school in Boston."

"Aw, crap. And I thought one Malfoy was enough," Dom groaned. Benicio Malfoy was the sworn enemy of our wild band of Weasleys, Blacks, Finnigans, Potters, Woods, and Longbottoms. He was constantly challenging us to duels and I was constantly getting in trouble for chucking my wand and punching him.

"Yeah, but this is worse," Jessica continued, obviously enjoying spreading this dreadful news. "This is Beni's cousin, Draco's daughter!"

"For the bloody love of leprechauns!" I exclaimed, now in full exasperation. "This school is going to the dogs."

I'd heard all of our parents' rantings about Draco Malfoy. They had all gone to Hogwarts with him, except mine, and Ron Weasley regularly declared him an over-pompous, rat-faced asshole.

Now we were about to get some first-hand experience with the offspring of that asshole.

Speaking of assholes...

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Potty, Weasel and Cait, with her Black heart," came annoyingly drawling voice from my right.

Ah, the Tybalt of our story. I made a point of turning as slowly as I could to the sneering face of Benicio Malfoy.

"If you don't leave, my Black boot is going to give you a Black ass," I threatened, making a disgusted face.

"Oh, but I'd much rather stay here and talk to you people, even you, Mudblood," he added to Jessica, who glared and rolled her eyes.

"Is that a challenge, Mr. Malfoy?" I asked, standing up.

"Cait, no. I haven't eaten yet," Chad warned. "Just sit down, ignore him..."

"Hush, hush now, Weasel," Benicio snickered.

I pushed him. "Come on, Beni, you wanna go?"

He gave me a disgusted look.

"Don't worry, I didn't get you dirty," I sneered, rolling my eyes. "I'm a pure-blood from a noble family, just like you."

Benicio raised an eyebrow. "But your blood is Blacker than mud."

I moved my face three inches from his. "Tonight. Midnight. Trophy Room. You, me, two swords. To the pain. Chad's my second."

"Hey, I never agreed to that -" Chad began defensively.

"What's the point of being a witch if you never fight with your wand?" Benicio inquired, raising an eyebrow again. "Like to be a Muggle, would you?"

"No, but what's the point of being a man if you don't fight with a sword?" I folded my arms.

"Fine," Benicio replied smugly. "McNair's my second."

Just as we reached to shake hands, Chad intervened.

"No, we're not doing any duels first night back," he protested, grabbing my hand and forcing it away from Benicio. "You can wait till next week or something. No, Cait, nothing irrational!" he added, seeing my open-mouthed look of indignation.

He pulled me away, and forced me down onto my chair.

Benicio smirked. "Not as tough as we look, are we? What, backing down, just like your father? What about Potter and Weasley? Must run in all three families. What's up with the thick idiot anyway?" He raised an eyebrow at the motionless Luke.

Before Chad could stop me I was on my feet and my fist was in the process of colliding with the side of Beni's jaw. He staggered backward, holding his mouth with one hand. Fortunately, nobody appeared to have seen my previously forbidden "irrational actions".

I dusted my hands off and clicked my tongue. "What, backing away like your father?"

"Cait, what are you doing?" came a worried voice from behind me. Luke had come from his trance, and was now standing beside Chad, looking confusedly and concernedly between Beni and I.

"I'm defending both our families and your good name," I retorted, glaring at him. I turned back to Benicio. "Now get out of here, Beni, or I'll break your nose as well!"

He stumbled away, his cronies muttering to each other.

Luke and Chad both turned to look at me.

"What have you done?" Luke asked, a sort of dread in his voice.

"Nothing!" I insisted. "He just decided to say hi, so I had no other option but to use forceful tactics. I think I broke his jaw again."

Luke groaned.

"Hey, he was taunting me! He was making fun of all three of our families, so I figured the penalty had to be broken jaw." I folded my arms, knowing that Luke's pet peeve was when anyone poked fun at his family, his father in particular.

"Cait -" he began, but I cut him off.

"Well, someone had to defend you. You had your eyes glued to transfer-girl, who, might I add, is a Malfoy."

He looked back at transfer-girl. "No way."

"Yes way," I said nodding. "She's Beni's cousin, Draco's daughter. I wouldn't mess with her if I were you. Just picture the reaction back home if you happened to mention that you were dating your family's arch nemesis. Trust me, it wouldn't be pretty. My dad would mutter, scowl and pound his fist on the table. Chad's dad would raise an eyebrow, swear, and then scowl and pound his fist on the table. My mum and Hermione would shake their heads and try to calm their husbands. Your mother would try to talk some sense into you, in the midst of telling off your brother and sister, and your father would pace silently for a moment before coming out with a lecture of forcefully suppressed anger. Then he would scowl and pound his fist on the table."

"That was a very accurate prediction," Chad commented.

"Thank you. I've become so accustomed to parental reactions, that nothing surprises me anymore."

"Cait -"

"Not to mention what Malfoy would do," I continued, very intent on making my point. "He'd come out and curse you the second he found out. Then he'd go home, yell at his daughter, mutter to his wife, scowl, and pound his fist on the table -"

"Cait, can it," Luke said, clearly annoyed.

I was flabbergasted. Never in my life had Luke dared interrupt one of my fits of logical rage. In fact, the only one who ever dared to was my father, because he was the only one I couldn't yell at.

In my state of angst, I decided to take Luke's directions to a slightly dramatic point. I crossed my arms and legs, and sat with my nose in the air and my lips pursed, not looking at Luke or Chad. Instead, I chose to observe the terrified expressions on each of the first year's faces as they awaited their sorting. Tommy glanced at me from down the table and cocked an eyebrow. I grinned and rolled my eyes, jerking my head toward Luke, who was once again entranced by transfer-girl. Tommy grinned and nodded knowingly. With new determination, I turned to Chad.

"We've got to do something."

"What?"

"About Luke, we've got to do something," I repeated. "So I suggest, if we can't have a duel, we find something else to do tonight."

Chad exhaled very loudly. "Come off it, Cait. Can't we have one trouble-free night for me to get some sleep?"

I looked at him incredulously. "What do you need sleep for?"

He looked at me exasperatedly. "Besides, do you really think you're going to get Luke out of bed in the middle of the night to get in trouble? Again?"

"No," I replied matter-of-factly. "I'm not in his dormitory. You are."

Chad shook his head. "No, oh no, Cait. I'm not doing it."

"Oh, but why?" I whined.

"Because - because there's something up with him. It's best to just leave him." He glanced over at Luke and lowered his voice. "Maybe he'll sleep off his strange, temporary obsession with transfer-girl."

I leaned forward to see Luke past Chad. His expression was rather vacant and he still seemed to be quite distracted. I waved a hand in front of his face.

"Hey! Luke!" I tried, poking him lightly. "Luuuuke, I am your father!"

Chad looked at me like I was insane. In desperation, I smacked Luke upside the head again. He jumped out of his trance.

"Oy!" he said in a disgruntled tone, rubbing the back of his head. "What do you keep doing that for?"

"To get your attention, dimwit," I replied flatly. "Listen, you up for a bit of fun tonight?"

He gave me a dubious look. "Like what?"

"Oh, I dunno. Something small, just to start out the year. I was thinking about maybe going down to the kitchens. You know, knick some food, see Dobby, knick more food..."

"We're about to eat a banquet and you just think about more food?" Luke raised an eyebrow, but smiled nonetheless.

"Hey, food is a necessity. Even though I never have to stop and think where my next meal is coming from, that doesn't mean food can't be my hobby, or lack there of. Besides, Chad won't let me pull off anything else tonight, not even a little dueling with Malfoy."

"That's because every time you duel with him, you punch him," Luke pointed out flatly. "And every time, you get caught and end up in detention."

"So? If his jaw is more vulnerable to my fist than -"

But I was cut off by Dumbledore, who had stood up.

"Welcome, welcome," he said warmly as he gazed out at his students. "It's wonderful to see some new faces, and a relief to see the old ones. That being said, tuck in."

He smiled as a food magically appeared on the tables. I watched closely as the first years ogled at the food, each of them wondering how it had gotten there. One boy poked gingerly at a chicken to see it was real. I chuckled, loading my own plate with mashed potatoes.

When we had all eaten our fill, including two large pieces of pie each, Dumbledore stood up again.

"Now that feeding is taken care of, I have one important announcement: the Ancient Runes classroom has been temporarily relocated due to remodeling. As many of you may have noticed last year, the ceiling was in desperate need of repair and the windows and floorboards need extensive replacing. Class will be held on the third floor.

"Quidditch try-outs will be held a week from Tuesday. All those who wish to try-out, please contact your House Team Captain to sign up. That being said, I have nothing left to say. Welcome back and goodnight."

I stood up and looked down at my friends. "Come on," I said temptingly. "Knick some food... you know you want to... don't chocolate éclairs sound good?"