Destiny Trilogy: The War

Chapter 5: Seth, Sam and Sebastian

"Hermione, you've got to see this!" Lavender squealed, dragging her from their dormitory to the notice board. There was already a large crowd around it.

Of course it would have to be the announcement for the Yule Ball. All the Prefects had already been informed of it on the train. Harry and Ron came up behind her, still rather sleepy. Ron saw the notice, paused, and rubbed his eyes again.

"I thought the Yule Ball was only part of the Tournament," Harry frowned, staring at the notice.

"It is," Hermione replied. "This isn't as formal as the Yule Ball, it's really more of a Christmas party. The Head Girl and Head Boy thought it'd be a good idea since everyone was quite excited about it last year. The first years can come to this too if they like."

"Oh no," Ron moaned. "You mean I have to put up with this for another three years?"

Hermione scowled.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," She snapped. "Or you could ask Fleur again this year. Maybe she'll actually agree since you're the hero who saved her sister by snoring at the mermen."

"Well, too bad Vicky isn't here this year then," Ron retorted, his face turning red. "You could haven been the centre of attention again with your Bulgarian Quidditch superstar."

"Um, Hermione, when did you hear about this?" Harry interrupted quickly.

"The Prefects' meeting, on the train," Hermione huffed.

"Maybe you could fill Ron in on that meeting over breakfast since he missed it?" Harry said, shooting a warning look at Ron. "Anyway we have about fifteen minutes more till class."

Hermione and Ron shot one last malevolent look at each other, and then stomped off in opposite directions up to their own dormitories. Shaking his head, Harry sighed as he followed Ron upstairs to grab his books. He was willing to bet his Firebolt that if Ron didn't get his act together and ask Hermione out this time, his two best friends would be at each other's throats forever.

That does it. He was doing something about it even if match-making was a stupid girly past-time only people like Lavender and Parvati did.

*~*~~*~**~*~*~~*

"Today, we'll be starting on a little project," Charlie said, carrying a large wooden crate in his arms.

Hermione heard Parvati giggle and say something about strong muscular men from behind her and rolled her eyes. But at least Charlie's Magical Creatures lessons were a lot better that Hagrid's. For one, Charlie didn't have an unnatural liking for terrifying beasts. His practical knowledge and the fact that he had been the star pupil of Care of Magical Creatures during his time at Hogwarts had also helped a great deal. So far, they had covered Glumbumbles, Jobberknolls, and much to Hermione's delight, Kneazles.

"Will all the girls step out, please," Charlie said, picking up a cardboard box. "I want you to be working in pairs for this, but I don't want the usual groupings. Since we have an equal number of girls and boys, I'd like the girls to pick a boy's name out of the box."

The girls lined up in front of him, with the Slytherins making their usual snide comments and complaining. But after they had drawn out their partners, pretty much the whole class looked like it was ready to start a revolt.

Hermione and Malfoy very nearly got the shock of their lives when she drew his name out, and much to Ron's horror, he ended up with Pansy Parkinson. Poor Lavender and Parvati got Crabbe and Goyle, and a very miserable Neville went off to sit next to Millicent Bulstrode. Harry supposed he ought to be very thankful he had gotten Kera as a partner. Charlie ignored the looks the class was giving him cheerfully, and if Harry hadn't known better, he'd have thought Snape's sadistic sense of humour was rubbing off.

"We're doing runespoors today," he announced, taking one of the three-headed serpents out of the crate. It was still only a juvenile, so instead of the usual vivid black and orange stripes, it was covered with a greenish, splotchy pattern. "As you are aware, runespoors do not live long because the heads keep quarrelling with each other and will attack each other."

Harry thought that sounded incredibly like two people he knew. Fortunately they didn't have poisonous fangs to bite each other's heads off with.

"Your job is to keep your runespoor alive for the next two weeks."

Charlie taught them how to differentiate the runespoors from each other from the markings on its tail. The Slytherins didn't look too happy about that, since it meant they couldn't sneakily make a switch if theirs died. Harry stared at his runespoor, which stared expectantly back at him with all six eyes.

"Hello," the left head hissed at Harry.

"Hi," Harry replied, aware that the rest of the class was watching him converse with the runespoor. Kera was looking at him in faint surprise.

"You can speak to snakes?"

"Um yeah."

"Neat," she said.

Harry looked at her in surprise, then guessed she probably didn't know that Parseltongue was the mark of a Dark wizard. After all, she was about the only person from the wizarding world who hadn't stared at his scar or made a big fuss upon hearing his name.

The left head now turned to Kera.

"Hello," it hissed. Harry opened his mouth to translate but Kera seemed to have guessed what it said to her.

"Hello," Kera replied softly. For the first time, Harry realised she spoke in an accent he couldn't place. The left head hissed happily, pleased to find itself understood, while the right head hissed a snort and looked away, disgusted.

He must have been looking at her strangely, because she raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" she asked, amused. Her strange accent was gone.

Harry shook his head and looked back at their runespoor. He must have imagined it. The left head was rather enthusiastic and asked a lot of questions, but the right head kept trying to get away from them and go somewhere else. The middle one being, well, stuck in the middle, was attempting some sort of compromise by moving very slowly in the direction of the right head.

"Do you think we should give it a name?" Kera asked Harry.

"Yeah. Okay."

"What was all that about?" the left head hissed excitedly, reminding Harry strongly of the first time Mr. Weasley had seen a telephone.

"We're thinking of giving you a name," Kera replied. Harry blinked. The accent again.

Then it hit him.

"You...you're a Parselmouth too?" Harry asked, making sure no one else could hear them.

"If you mean I can talk to snakes, yes," she replied, unconcerned, her attention still on the runespoor. "How about Seth, Sam and Sean?" she asked it.

"I'd prefer Sebastian, actually," the right head said haughtily.

The only other person Harry had heard speak Parseltongue was Voldemort. He tried to recall what he had sounded like, if he had spoken it with an accent as well, but it had been too long ago and the Chamber of Secrets had had too many weird acoustics anyway. Did he himself speak with a weird accent?

"Do you mind if I keep it with me?" Kera asked, jolting Harry from his reverie. "I'm getting rather attached to Seth here," she pointed at the left head, which looked beseechingly at Harry.

"No, I'm fine with that," Harry mumbled.

He turned away and caught Charlie looking at them a little worriedly. Had he heard Kera speaking Parseltongue? Or did he already know she could and was afraid Harry would tell Ron and Hermione?

Kera was trying to coax Sebastian into some sort of conversation, oblivious of Harry's troubled expression. Luckily for her, the rest of the class was so busy trying to separate the quarrelling heads and avoid the venomous fangs at the same time, they hadn't noticed the new Parselmouth in their midst. Harry could still remember the reactions of the majority of the school when they had learnt of his ability to speak to snakes. Not that Kera would mind, since she was practically in the same situation he had been in for the most part of his second year. But now was a dangerous time to be associated with the Heir of Slytherin. And Harry didn't want Kera to have to deal with anything like that--no one should have to.

"And what is his name?" asked Sebastian, grudgingly starting to show some interest in these two alien beings who could speak in his tongue.

"Um, I'm Harry."

"Are you sssiblings?" Sam asked timidly.

"No, we're classmates," Kera said.

"What's a...'classmate'?" Seth asked, puzzled. Evidently that word didn't really exist in parseltongue. "Is it like a friend?"

"Yeah. We're friends," Harry told Seth.

*~*~~*~**~*~*~~*

"Ron, try to eat something," Hermione wheedled.

"Can't," Ron said stonily. Even the twins had known enough to leave Ron alone about becoming a Prefect or making the team this morning before the first match of the season, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Although Ron wasn't playing today (Katie had fortunately managed a full recovery), he was still a bundle of nerves. Somehow he felt more invested now that he was actually in the team.

Just then, the mail owls started streaming in with their packages and letters.

"Look at that!" Ginny said, pointing.

Five barn owls were swooping down, carrying a long thin package between them.

"That's got to be a broomstick," Harry said, recalling the Nimbus 2000 he had received over breakfast in his first year.

The rest of the Hall was also looking on, curious to see who the package was for.

It was dropped in front of Kera, who reached out absent-mindedly to catch it before it landed in her cereal.

"What, she's only gotten her broomstick just before the match?" Ron asked incredulously, getting more agitated by the minute.

Kera had been using one of the old school Cleansweeps for practice, and she had been pretty good even then, so Angelina hadn't done anything more than to remind her to get her own broom soon. But Harry knew it took time to adjust to a new broom, no matter how good a flyer she was.

"Maybe it's not a Nimbus 2001, and she didn't want all of you to find out until it was too late," Hermione said scathingly.

Just then, a very distressed Angelina came up to them.

"Ron, I know this is very sudden, but could you stand in for Alicia today?"

"W-wha...WHAT?" Ron stuttered, paling. "But why?"

"She's missing," Angelina explained in a low whisper. "She's not in the dorms, she's not in the bathroom, she's not in the library..."

"You mean...something has happened to her?" Harry asked, turning around suspiciously to look at the Slytherin table. The Slytherin Chaser Montague, who had pushed Katie down the stairs just weeks ago, smirked in his direction.

"The rest of the Gryffindor boys have gone looking for her, but the game starts in an hour. You're the best alternative we have, Ron."

"Blasted Slytherins...blasted bloody Slytherins..." Ron muttered as he changed into his team robes. He had been saying that in a sort of mantra for the past hour, but none of the team was complaining.

"Where's Kera?" Angelina said as she rushed in to the changing room.

They exchanged glances. Nobody had seen her since breakfast.

"Not those blasted Slytherins again!" Ron exploded.

"What Slytherins?" Kera asked as she came in.

The team heaved a collective sigh of relief.

"You're late," Katie snapped.

Kera ignored her. She bent down to tie her laces, putting her broomstick on the bench next to her--and Harry remembered the package at breakfast that had been forgotten in all the anxiety about Alicia.

"Wow," was all Ron could manage.

In her hand was a broomstick with a hand-carved ebony handle. The rest of the body was a deep mahogany, with a perfectly streamlined tail, not a twig out of place. Harry could just make out a fine stream of decorative silver flecks running down the length of the broom, and fine silver lettering at the side forming the words 'Stardust'. It looked like a sturdier version of his Firebolt, one specially made to suit Kera's position on the team.

"Is that a--"

"--Firebolt X60?" the twins asked, awed.

"I don't know much about brooms," Kera said, straightening up and frowning at all the sudden attention. "My godfather gave it to me." She picked it up. "Is it time?" Harry noted that her knuckles were turning white from gripping her broom too tightly.

Angelina nodded.

"We're winning this, and to hell with the Slytherins," She said to her team, her eyes blazing with determination.

Ron turned to Harry. "Now would be a good time to catch the Snitch really fast," Ron said, his face sheet-white as his nervousness returned in full force.

Not knowing what to say, Harry just clapped his friend on the back reassuringly. And it was time to go.

As they stepped out on the pitch, Harry heard a loud roar of cheers from the Gryffindor stands. The stands were almost half empty, since the search party for Alicia was still underway. He quickly scanned the faces of the Ravenclaw team. Cho wasn't playing today. He didn't know whether to feel relieved that he wouldn't have to face Cho just yet, or guilty that he was in some way the cause of her misery.

"And here comes Ron Weasley, the fourth Weasley to make it on the Gryffindor team!" he heard Jordan announce.

Harry kicked off from the ground at Madam Hooch's whistle, soaring all the way up above the main action to look for the tell-tale golden glitter of the Snitch. The new Ravenclaw Seeker seemed to have decided on the same strategy as Cho, and was following closely behind him.

"Ravenclaw Chaser Hillbury takes the quaffle, she's going to sco - nope, stopped by the new Gryffindor Keeper Kera Ladon, beautiful save there - Weasley, well the youngest Weasley on the field today, in possession - he swerves, passes it to Angelina - she dives to avoid a Bludger - GRYFFINDOR SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the air, seemingly louder than before. Harry looked down and heaved a sigh of relief to see the stand filled. At least they'd managed to find Alicia.

"The Gryffindor Keeper is on what seems to be the new Firebolt X60, but in deep mahogany finish. Interesting. Anyway, that's arguably the best broom on the market made specially for keepers and...um, sorry Professor," Jordan said hastily, noticing the look on Professor McGonagall's face.

"Right, the game. Ravenclaw in possession, closing in on the goals - ouch, that had to hurt - Gryffindor now in possession - Chaser Terry Boot of Ravenclaw grabs it from Gryffindor's Katie Bell - Bludger sent Kera's way by a Ravenclaw Beater, looks like Ravenclaw is going to score - Wow! Check out that comeback by the Gryffindor Keeper, that Firebolt X60 with its super acceleration features and zero friction design is really doing its jo--"

"Jordan!"

"Okay, okay, Chaser Weasley in possession, heading towards the goals..."

When Ron scored his first goal, Harry gave a loud whoop and did a loop-the-loop. The Snitch, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Harry zoomed around, half-heartedly trying to shake the other Seeker off.

But Ron was just warming up. By the time they were an hour into the game, he had worked himself up to the form he had shown during the tryouts, attacking the Ravenclaw goalposts viciously.

"Look at Chaser Ron Weasley go! He's only on a Cleansweep Five but that's not stopping him - watch out!"

The audience gasped as Ron did a particularly sharp swerve to avoid an opposing Chaser.

"Reckless, that one, completely mad - and he SCORES! SIXTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Then Harry caught sight of the flickering gold Snitch at the foot of the Gryffindor goalposts. Leaning forward, he zoomed towards the Snitch, the Ravenclaw Seeker too inexperienced and too far behind him. Twenty feet...ten feet... then the Snitch abruptly sped vertically upwards towards Kera. Harry made an almost-90-degree change in direction. His out-stretched hand closed on the cold metal of the Snitch, but he was moving too fast. It looked like they were going to have a collision.

"Watch it, Potter!" Kera shouted as she deftly got out of the way, barely missing him.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

The Gryffindor supporters cheered and waved their banners madly in celebration.

"Wow! Can you believe that? We really trashed Ravenclaw!" Ron grinned as Harry landed next to him, still a little dazed from the adrenaline.

"The both of you were great!" squealed Ginny as she rushed forward with Hermione in tow. Hermione threw her arms around Harry and Ron.

"It's bad enough that I have to worry about Harry during every match--and now I've got to worry about you as well!" Hermione said, on the verge of tears.

"Oh, come on," laughed Ron, exchanging an amused look with Harry over her head.

Kera landed somewhere a little apart from her team-mates and turned to leave.

"Kera! Wait up!" Harry called as he pulled away from Hermione and jogged towards her. "You'll be joining the celebration party right?"

Kera looked up in surprise and shrugged.

"I suppose so."

"Good. It was a great game," Harry grinned, giving her a friendly clap on her back before turning back to join his friends.

Kera arched an eyebrow at his retreating form.