Stolen Moments

Jack rolled her eyes, saying, “Trust me, I was not thinking you were secretly my guardian angel, I was just considering your angle.” She really did no care why he had bothered to offer his help, only that help was being offered. It would be thick of her not to accept it, when duelling was probably one of the most effective ways to prepare for the tournament. She was just curious how it came to be that the Slytherin boy she was fairly sure had never spoken to her was now offering to get spells hurled at him.

Jack was focused, because she did not want to be the idiot to screw up so badly that it shamed Hogwarts for years to come. She did not think it would end so badly, but she was human, so of course she considered the possibility of complete and utter failure. She had decided right then that it would not happen. She would rather die in the tournament than be put to such shame the rest of her life. Though she hoped it did not come to that. Who would watch over Elliot and Vito if she died?

Not only had she decided she would not be a failure, but she would give the audience a show to remember. She would not only clench the Cup for Hogwarts, she would do it with the flair she had that often frustrated her peers but knew would win them over in the arena. Her sarcasm, her pranking, her hotheadedness, even the fact that she was a capable muggleborn... She knew she could transform them into tools to aid her.

She was not looking for any sort of popularity. If she had been, she would have been destined to fail. The tournament had done nothing to improve her social standing, nor had she. She did not think much of her peers, and they returned the graces. However, she thought that some of the fear surrounding her would have abated, as would have snide comments made under their breath that called for swift, but fair punishment. But no, she had become even more isolated. The only change seemed to be that she now somewhat got along with James Wake, and he tolerated her in return.

As for old “friends”... Andrew had jumped ship it seemed, Chase still hated her, Adam and Peter had moved on to bigger and better things (code for girls who took an interest), Elijah had never even worked for their friendship, and Vito... well, since she never knew what to expect from him, it seemed that the silence between them was normal. She had never expected it.

She did not look for amazing change from the tournament. She did not look for fame and popularity, she did not even seek the riches. If she won... Cool. She would invest it in Weasley's and send some to Elliot. She had no major plans with anything except that she was going to work her ass off to pay off the school that had rescued her from the crappy life that awaited her with her stifling parents.

The Jack ducked and the spell soared right past her- one of the many perks of being vertically challenged- and it hit a book, which immediately sprouted antlers. She grinned. So he was following her lead and having a less lethal, more witty sort of duel. She had always preferred jinxes and hexes to actual duelling curses because they were more clever and harder to predict. She raised her wand and silently cast a shield charm, saying immediately after, “Densaugeo! Langlock!” Either spell would amuse her.

The idea of Ariel being a Guardian Angel to anyone let alone Jaquellene was fairly... Well, it was delving into the realm of fantasy that Wizards and Witches didn’t belong in. He’d be Angel Ariel, replacing Angel Gabriel – probably because he was doing a crap job at that angel stuff. Or maybe he’d replace the Fairy Godmother. She was a weird one. Didn’t she know that glass heels were hazardous? He would have given Cinders a nice pair of shoes like Dorothy except they’d be silver instead of red. Maybe he’d just skip being a fairy all together...or an angel or whatever. Anything with wings was a no go zone which meant he wasn’t going to be a Hippogriff either.

“I’m not as fond of dresses as you ladies are,” Ariel said smoothly in reply, “If the outfit included trousers and no wings then I’d be all for it. I don’t think I’m holy enough somehow but it is the season for giving.” Ariel shrugged and pulled his tie off, deeming it useless. He balled it up in his fist and chucked it away so it joined his bag and his outer robes. “Perhaps I am Merlin’s messenger or something.”

That would have been bizarre. Merlin, Ariel was sure, hated him so it would have been both ironic and insulting to both men if the latter was the former’s messenger. Ariel believed he was much too pretty for all of that flying business and because of his lack of wings he’d probably have little ones on his shoes like that Greek God messenger person. The name, Ariel could not recall and he made a mental note to owl his mother later to find out because he knew it would irk him for the rest of the day if he didn’t find out. If he recalled, the bloke also had wings on his helmet although they were only there for ornamental purposes, nothing major.

Much to Ariel’s dismay, the short redhead ducked and the spell gave one of the books behind her a lovely pair of antlers. They were really quite pretty but Ariel didn’t have time to admire them long because as soon as Jack dropped her own shield she was casting again. He figured he may as well let her hit him once so he sidestepped the first spell, determined to keep his teeth the same length they were currently, but allowed the second one to hit him. He placed one foot behind him, supporting himself incase the spell had some power to it. It didn’t and he felt his tongue fuse to the roof of his mouth. It wasn’t the nicest of feelings but it was better than having his teeth grow to extraordinary sizes.

Ariel smirked and swept down into a bow, a customary acknowledgement of defeat. Those who were succumbing did tend to dip a bit lower than he was, although he doubted she’d know that. Ariel wracked his brains for a ‘humorous’ spell that he knew non-verbally. He found one and flicked his wand, holding his arm out straight in front of him. The spell, Confundus, shot from his wand and danced towards Jaquellene. Ariel rose out of his bow and put the tip of his wand in his mouth, severing the connection his tongue and the roof of his mouth had with a little bit of magic. He rolled his tongue around his mouth a few times before raising his wand, ready to cast a shield charm. Perhaps he’d start using multiple hexes at one time soon. Then again, maybe not. He was going a bit easy on her.

Jack chuckled, saying, “Don't be so quick to assume. I would rather skip out on the dress part of the whole deal, as well.” She felt better, now that she had something constructive and slightly challenging to do. Something that required all parts of her brain to be engaged on to one activity. There was not much room for considering other things, thinking about people she would rather not consider at all. There was simply a whole arsenal of spells to go through.

Ariel was able to move out of the way of her first spell, a real shame too. It would have been entertaining to see they boy who was so quick to point out the flaws of others, grow teeth that would rival a beaver's. Though perhaps it was best. She may not be able to focus and would be easily caught off guard if she burst into laughter at the sight.

The second spell, however, did get him and she immediately saw the effects in his saw as it closed a bit tighter. She smirked wider but held her stance, waiting for some sort of counterattack. However, he bowed to her and she almost allowed herself to straighten up. She remained at the ready, though, but was not able to keep her eyebrows from going up slightly and her head cocking. “But I was just starting to have fun...” she said, grinning.

His arm came out and for a moment, she considered that it was apart of his bow, but it hit her the next second that he was being tricky. She spun away, but the spell hit her, making the spinning all the worse. Even after she planted her feet, her head felt dizzy and she was disoriented. However, they had worked on the spell in Potter's Army, so she raised her wand to her temple and quickly righted the world. She kept the tip of the wand next to her forehead.

“Tricky,” she said, watching him free his tongue and she smiled. “Thank you for being more creative than the dunces around her.” She let her wand slide forward so it laid parallel to her forehead, though it looked as though she were still struggling to right herself. She thought Rictumsempra, thinking it would be immensely funny to see the boy double over with giggles. For good measure, she cast a Shield Charm before dropping her arm.