The Girl From Durmstrang

Harry led me to the Gryffindor tower, I was a bit taken back by the wandering ghosts and changing stairways. The moving pictures were something that I was used to though. All of the great people who came from Durmstrang had their pictures hung in the halls, they moved around and spoke with the students sometimes, but there were never as many as there are at Hogwarts.

“Here we are” said Harry happily as we approached the full sized portrait of a portly woman.

“Password?” she sang out of key.

“Balderdash” he sighed, a bit annoyed with the painting.

“Enter" she sang again as it swung open.

“Merlin…” I muttered annoyed, “is she always like that?”

“Sadly, yes” he said a bit more shy and embarrassed.

I looked around the lain room fondly, the maroon and gold colors made it feel warm and welcoming. It felt like home. I was snapped from my thoughts when I heard two voices yell from the staircases.

“Harry! There you are!” “Oy!! Harry! Where have you been?”

I turned to look at the people who’ called out for him. a boy and a girl, the boy was a taller ginger with longer red hair and the girl was a bit taller than I was and had a bush of brown hair on her head. They both looked surprised to see me.

“Oh...” said the girl, “who’s your friend?” she asked eyeing me wearily.

“I am Allondra Petrovich” I said as I bowed politely, “I’m a student from Durmstrang”.

“Blimey!” exclaimed the boy, “you’re the girl with the fire right? That was bloody amazing” blurted the red head, as soon as he realized what he’d said his face and ears turned bright red with embarrassment.

“Thank you,” I chuckled with a smile, finally relaxing around them.

“How’d you learn to do that?” asked the bushy haired girl.

“If you want I can teach you,” I said politely, he face looked a bit weary, “it’s not something you can find in a book, more something you learn by watching and listening”.

“Okay…” she said slowly, “Oh! Terribly sorry, I’ve forgotten my manners, I’m Hermione granger, fifth year” she said finally smiling at me.

“And I’m Ron Weasley, I heard you nearly made Malfoy piss his panties!” he said giddily. I picked up that they were exactly friendly associates in the slightest.

“Yes, he was being a blubbering idiot, and I treated him as should be expected” I said curtly.

For the rest of the day we sat and talked amongst ourselves, mostly me telling stories and them explaining where everything was, who’s who, and just joking around about how peculiar I am. I noticed how late it was.

“Well I should be getting into bed now” I said as I began to stand, “Mione, can you show me to my room” (it’s extremely difficult to say her name!).

“Of course Rae,” she said smiling and standing with me.

“Awww! Come on! Who needs sleep?!” whined Ron, I guess he enjoyed my tales quite a bit.

“Don’t worry Ron, I’ll tell you about my training with the mer-people tomorrow” I said whilst ruffling his hair.

“Hey!” he said while trying to fix his hair, “Don’t mess with my hair!” he huffed.

"Good night boys” I laughed, “See you in class maybe”. There was a chorus of ‘good nights’ from the room as I walked up the stairs.

I awoke the next morning before anyone else was up, I showered and prepared for a day of school. It felt odd not being in my own room, but this would have to work for now. I descended the stairs and exited the room once I’d realized there was no one there. Walking down a corridor, I came upon a square garden area, and sitting in the grass was Viktor.

“Hello stranger” I said sitting down next to him.

“Hallo" he said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” he lied, his ears turning a bit red.

“You’re lying” I stated harshly, “Who’s the girl?”

He looked baffled that I had, and could, read him so easily, but he should understand that by now since we’ve been friends for years.

He sighed in defeat; his cheeks tinted a light pink.

“Her name is...” he seemed to struggle with her name ”Hermy-own-ninny Granger”

I was shocked, my old friend had become infatuated so quickly with my new acquaintance, and this could become a bother. But I put those thoughts in the back of my mind, and decided to support him.

“I know her” I said with a smile, “she’s a new friend of mine”

“She is?” he looked hopeful.

“Yes, she likes to sit in the library and read all the time. You should talk to her in there, Vik. I haven’t seen you so wound up about a girl like this before. Go for it, I think she might like you too” I said with a pat on the back. I’d learned a lot about her from our conversation the previous night, and I would help him.

“Just talk to her” I said reassuringly once I saw his nervous face.

“Okay, I will try” he said with a smile, “thank you Rae”. He hugged me and got up, and left. I breathed out a sigh of relief, I wasn’t good with this stuff and I’d barely managed to skate by, hopefully he doesn’t come back for more help.

I got up and left the area, suddenly feeling quite alone. Without Vik I would have no one I was familiar with, until I thought of Ron and Harry. I guess I’ll have to be with them until we go home, I thought to myself bitterly. I don’t hate Hermione for catching Viktor’s eye, I just hated that he is leaving me alone. The one thing he promised he’d never do.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I realized I was at the Great Hall’s entrance.

“Well, here goes everything” I muttered as I entered the room for breakfast.