Hogsmeade

[Salazar Strayde]

Salazar had lied to his parents. He'd said he was at his mate Gwylim's house. He wasn't. He knew his parents wouldn't call to check - they rarely spoke to Gwylim's parents, and most of the time Salazar was there, anyway, so they'd have no reason to believe that this time would be any different.

But why? Salazar had never told a lie like this before. In fact, he was usually scrupulously honest. The truth was 'Zar was curious. He wanted to go to school, but he couldn't tell his parents that. Or his friends, either. People who sent their kids to school didn't have the same resolve as those who kept them within the community. People who wanted to go to school were muggle-lovers or just plain weird. Salazar didn't love muggles, so he must be weird.

He'd taken the floo network to Diagon Alley; made a complete mess of getting himself to the train station, but eventually managed; found the right platform and taken the Hogwarts express to Hogsmeade. It had been full of parents of younger students, anxious to see their children for the Hogsmeade weekend. Now that 'Zar was here, he wasn't sure what to do. He'd chosen this weekend because he'd known there would be many Hogwarts students there, but he wasn't sure how to approach them.

He looked around for a bit, casting a bluebell flame spell for comfort, letting the little blue balls of fire float about him. He wasn't sure which were the muggle-borns. He was surprised he couldn't tell. He'd expected them to look different from normal people. Maybe there weren't any, he reasoned. Maybe someone had done the right thing and banned them from schools. Then it would be safe for him to attend. He smiled at the thought and examined the shop in front of him. It looked like a pub - similar to his father's. He went in and ordered a butterbeer.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

In and out of the various stores they went Gregor insisted he had to have the latest gimmick from the joke shop while Helga piled herself with candy from Honeydukes. Laughing they browsed different windows, giggling at some stupid new fangled contraption in the muggle market window. Time was flying by and yet it seemed as if they seriously hadn't enough brought or done. Day looked about her breathing plumes of air for her to watch in the cold as she noticed Helga practically swooning over Maurice Clapthorne from the year above them. Gregor and herself rolled their eyes for it was no secret that both were fairly into one another but for some bizarre reason were living in denial. With a wicked grin Daytona nudged her friend who bumped into Maurice, his hands were holding her instantly and with that Daytona winked at Gregor who ran off in one direction, while she bid a hasty goodbye to Helga and raced off in the other direction. If they had gone together then of course their best friend would have followed them.

Deciding it best to get in out of the cold, Day pushed open the door to the Inn she found herself in front of and walking up to the counter ordered a butter beer for herself. Tossing the coin on to the counter, she pulled her gloves from her cold fingers first and then yanked her knitted hat from her head, revealing her long lustrous brown hair. Her piercing blue eyes scanned the room and rested on the boy standing at the counter as well. She didn't recognise him from school and was convinced till that moment that she had known just about everyone on sight.
"Hi there, I'm Daytona but my mates call me Day" she grinned at him, "Are you visiting someone for the day or are you actually attending the school?"
She wasn't half nosey but didn't think there was much point in beating about the bush.

 

[Salazar Strayde]

Salazar was enjoying his butterbeer when a pretty younger girl barged into the pub and ordered one for herself. She seemed full of self confidence, which Salazar took to mean she must definitely be a pureblood. Anyone lesser should surely act with more diffidence. 'Zar watched as she removed her winter accessories, not sure if they were muggle-wear or just a wizarding fashion that hadn't made it to his home town of Gwyntogllan yet. The small teenager watched her eyeing him up out of the corner of his eye as he slowly drank his butterbeer. His slight frame made him look younger that he was, but it only occasionally bothered him.

He wasn't surprised when she spoke to him. She looked like the type to start a conversation, and he'd been waiting for it. "Nice to meet you, Daytona, or is it permitted for me to call you Day?" He was surprised, though, that she didn't know who he was. His father had filled his head with so many stories of the Strayde family's importance, he thought everyone must know who he was. He narrowed his eyes, "I'm Salazar Strayde," he said, emphasising his family name and waiting for a reaction. "I'm here to find out about Hogwarts. I'm thinking of attending. What do you think of it?" He expected her to be excited upon hearing a Strayde was considering getting his education at the same school as herself.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

She eyed him as if he had just fallen on his head, she had stressed only her mates called her Day so why he automatically thought he fell into that catagory was beyond her.
"Trust me a wee introduction does not constitute you as a mate" she retorted before taking a sip from her drink, his name was not familiar to her and it actually made her grin when he placed so much emphasis on his surname as if it actually meant something. She considered him immediately as a bit of a pompous windbag and hoped he wouldn't ever attend her school. Kids like him invariably ended up in Slytherin and she liked her house Strayde free.

When the boy did go so far as to mention the school, her own true Slytherin colours came out in full force.
"Oh you'd hate it, it's totally crap. Seriously I mean the professors are constantly absent due to some pranks the kids might have played on them, so we're always inundated with substitute profs and they're worse than the normal ones. Detentions always being handed out and then of course the food... well, the food just sucks you know. I mean it is bad. They might as well feed us up some bread and water. Hogwarts is just a step up from Azkaban if you ask me" she smiled sweetly at him hoping he would buy every word she said.

 

[Salazar Strayde]

'Zar took the rebuff politely on the outside: "My apologies, Daytona," but on the inside he felt like he'd been slapped in the face. No-one had ever spoken to him like that before; it made him uncomfortable. He inwardly congratulated himself for not letting his discomfort show, though. This girl was a bit of a firecracker, he decided. Perhaps she was from an important family he'd never heard of - if so, that might explain why she'd never heard of the Straydes. Perhaps it was just a different world here in England. His father said the Straydes were well known everywhere, but 'Zar was beginning to suspect he may be mistaken. Perhaps it was only in Wales. This was a bit of a knock to Salazar's sense of importance, but he was determined not to let it faze him.

He listened with interest as the girl spoke with passion about the school. Good grief! It sounded awful. "Merlin's beard! I always did wonder why it was frowned upon to send young wizards here. Now I know! How on earth can parents allow it? Something should be done!" He was truly shocked. He did appreciate, though, what he took to be honesty in Daytona's description. Was this a plea for help? Perhaps he could do something. She clearly considered herself above the mess that was Hogwarts. "I'm truly sorry, Daytona, how do you put up with it? It's really commendable that you can put on such a brave face for the outer world, here." Then he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "Is it true they let muggle-borns in?" His face was full of disgust at the thought.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

Daytona wasn't malicious by nature though she did get a kick out of gullible people and at that moment in her view Salazar Strayde was the biggest, most gullible person on the entire planet. Unable to contain herself she broke out into fits of laughter. It bubbled up and seemed to tinkle off the bottles and ricochet off the glasses. The sound seemed at odds in the dingy tavern but it was also a really pleasant sound, the barkeeper turned around and probably for the first time in years actually smiled a little.

Daytona was so busy laughing that she didn't notice the others in the tavern turning their attention now to her and the boy. Gripping her side and virtually howling with mirth now, she raised a hand to wipe away a few tears of laughter. She gripped the counter as she eventually attempted to contain herself but always her lips were turned up with the intent to laugh uncontrollably once again. The boy was priceless and perhaps it would be fun to get to know him a bit better after all.

His face had been a picture when he mentioned muggles and she could not wait to reveal that she had muggle blood in her heritage. They weren't just any muggles either though, they were as proud and ignorant of their stature in muggle society as Salazar seemed to be. They were rich and extremely affluent, the fact that they had a son who had been 'different' had caused him to be ostracized from their family tree. Daytona had discovered over the years from her mother that in most pureblood families anyone who married a muggle or was born a squib, were usually burnt off the family tree out of shame. It seemed such a universal act of treachery towards ones own blood kin and it disgusted Daytona immensely.

"Salazar you're queer folk boy, where are you from?" she knew well enough that the accent that he spoke with could only be Welsh. It was extremely distinctive. Taking a sip of her drink it was only then she noticed the looks that they were getting as if some of these patrons were waiting for her to divulge whether or not muggle borns really did attend the school or not. Bristling at the very idea that those about her were all prejudiced witches and wizards, she turned her head around to stare at Salazar, blue eyes blazing as she did so and with a clear voice spoke loud enough for all to hear.

"Yes muggleborns attend Hogwarts, they always have and always will. So do half-bloods, mixed bloods and purebloods and for the most part we all get along!"

 

[Salazar Strayde]

Salazar was a little shocked, and definitely hurt when Daytona, this young girl he'd just met, laughed at him. The sound of it echoed around the pub and something in 'Zar paid close attention. He didn't recognise it, but subconsciously, he knew he'd do anything to hear that laugh again. It was the most incredibly sound he'd ever heard. Already he could imagine making a new work of art to represent it visually. He thought perhaps he might need to invent a new colour to do it.

He couldn't help it, before long, he was chuckling. Not because he thought it was funny, but because Daytona's laugh was just so contagious. "Queer?" he laughed, "Who you calling queer? You're the one laughing over nothing!" It suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he'd been made a fool of. Perhaps she hadn't meant what she'd said before? "I'm from Gwyntogllan, Wales!" he announced, proudly. "How about you?"He'd thought they were perhaps beginning to get along, what with all the laughter, when suddenly her eyes turned cold.

He wasn't sure he quite understood what she meant by 'we all get along,' he simply couldn't comprehend the concept. "You mean," he lowered his voice again, "You've actually seen one? What do they look like?" Salazar was intrigued. A girl who'd actually met a muggle-born!

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

The Welsh language was a very difficult one in her mind to grasp but one of her first homeschool tutors had been Welsh and for reasons that Daytona was still not sure of, she had taught her this rather bizarre Celtic language. She didn't remember alot of it mind you and she certainly couldn't pronounce half those words now but she could get by with silly things like commenting on the weather and such and asking after someones health. The accent itself was nice though and she liked it when Salazar spoke, though what he had to say was not as nice as the voice with which he spoke it.

"I was laughing over your gullibility Strayde" she was never one to mince her words and saw no reason too now, "of course Hogwarts is brilliant and no they don't feed us bread and water. I just seriously thought by saying so you'd be put off attending. What the school doesn't need is another pureblood thinking he's the greatest thing since snitches were used instead of little defenseless birds for quidditch".

Her temper when it got released became like a rolling stone, it just went on and on and on. Nothing short of a larger obstacle would ever stop her or it.
"I know you're from Wales ninny, it's not like you speak with an English accent now is it?" she wished she could shut up now but pride always came before a fall and Daytona just continued to dig herself a nice tidy hole to leap into.

"I am one!" she roared, okay she wasn't actually a muggle born but her father had been. She herself was more mixed blood. Hands on hips she glared at him, dared him or anyone else in the bar to say something about it all.

 

[Salazar Strayde]

That was it, as fascinated as he was with this girl, he couldn't take her jabs any longer. He didn't like being called gullible. He found his anger rising and even though he actually felt angrier with his parents (for keeping him in their closed community with no outside influence for so long) than he was with her right now, she was the one who was there; she was triggering his anger, and she could be lashed out at. His friendly face contorted into a picture of anger as Daytona explained that she had taken an instant disliking to him, and didn't want him attending her school. Of course he didn't think he was the greatest thing since the snitch, but he had been brought up to believe in the superiority of purebloods over all else.

Gripping his wand, Salazar raised his arm, causing his cloaks to swish. He pointed his wand at the little girl's hat and mittens that she'd laid on the bar. "Incendio!" he commanded, and the wool burst into flames. "Watch what you say about me, girl," he sneered, "At least I don't meddle with mudbloods."

However, Daytona, apparently, would not be stopped. She called him a ninny! He pointed his wand at her mouth and cast another spell, "Densaugeo!" Daytona's teeth began to grow, and grow, but she still spoke around them. "I am one!" she'd said. For a moment Salazar wasn't sure what she meant. This girl looked like a normal witch. Not just normal, pretty. And she had a nice laugh. She couldn't be a muggle-born.

"Finite," he whispered. He didn't know why. He wanted to destroy this girl who had just turned his whole world view upside down. "Say that again," he commanded, aware that the pub had gone quiet. "Look at me and tell me you're a dirty muggle-born, or are you just lying to me again?" He couldn't believe what was happening. He'd just snuck away for a bit, to see what this school business was all about, and now he found himself face to face, talking to a muggle-born! And there were witnesses! What if his parents found out? He'd be banished, probably, kicked out of home, out of Gwyntogllan. If they didn't kill him, that was.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

Spoiler: note

please don't godmode my character, at least give her a chance to duck from his spells. she would not simply have just stood there and let him strike her with a bunch of them in a row.

---

Daytona watched as the boy became extremely angry and set her things on fire, luckily the bartender was watching and put it out immediately. Reversing the spell and warning the boy not to be performing magic on the premises. Daytona smiled at the man before turning back to Salazar who seriously had not paid a blind bit of attention to the man. She wondered at how old he was for a moment, he didn't look old enough to be using magic outside of school but then again he was so wrapped up in himself, he most likely didn't think rules applied to him.

He shot another spell her way and unfortunately for her the bartender had gone into the back. Her teeth grew bit by bit and through the growing enamel she spoke to him. As if undecided he whispered the end to the spell by which time she grabbed her own wand out of her pocket and held it up to him tightly.

Everyone now was looking intently at the pair of them and she could seriously care less.
"Don't you ever put a spell on me again. I may not be old enough to do magic outside of school yet but I can do other things" she glowered at him, "And actually my father is a muggleborn. He is a wonderful man and a far better wizard than what you will ever be" she continued to spew before retracting her wand and putting it away again.

Turning her back on him she grabbed her things and headed towards the door.

 

[Salazar Strayde]

Spoiler: blush

Sorry, I did actually wonder if what I was doing was too much as I typed it. I really should have thought about it more before posting. Thanks for letting me know; I won't make the same mistake again.

---

Instead of answering Salazar straight away, Daytona grabbed her wand and in the blink of an eye had it directed firmly at him. She warned him not to put any more spells on her, and... said she wasn't old enough to do magic outside of school. "What an idiotic rule!" thought Salazar. What was the point of being a witch or a wizard if you couldn't perform magic? That would be like teaching someone to count and then saying they couldn't do that outside of school! It sounded to Salazar as though Hogwarts was definitely not the place for him. While he was thinking all of this, though, Daytona had carried on speaking. After telling him she was the offspring of a muggle-born, she insulted him and stormed off. "Daytona, wait!" he called after her, "Why would you say you're a muggle-born when you're not? That makes no sense!" The girl was in such a huff he wasn't sure if she'd heard him.

He wasn't sure, really, what to think at all. He didn't know if anything she'd said was the truth, but he had a strange feeling that everything he'd been taught wasn't entirely true, either, anymore. She'd seemed so angry that he was proud of being pureblood. Why? She looked like a normal witch, but... maybe what she'd said was fact: maybe she really was a halfblood. And that would mean... muggles had to be somewhat human, too. He was incredibly angry with the girl, but he felt he could learn a lot from her. Of course, it didn't seem like she'd be talking to him voluntarily any time soon. Salazar was suddenly exhausted. He wanted to go home, but now... he wasn't sure if home would be the same anymore.

He finally realised that other people in the bar were aware of what had been going on, and he threw a fiery glare at some of them. A few looked away, but most just smirked at him. Okay, so maybe he'd made a fool of himself. He couldn't wait to get out of here.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

She turned as he spoke again to her, feeling a tad bit exasperated but at the same time sorry that she had wound him up as much as she had. It was her own fault he had jinxed her as well as he had. Looking at him before casting her gaze about the other patrons of the tavern she sighed.
"Because you were being a pompous ass is why" she told him very matter of factly, "you went on and on and on as if I should know you or as if I should know your family. Your own self importance is worn like a badge around your neck. Come down off your high horse and visit the real world once in a while, there are all sorts of people living in it. There are purebloods on my mothers side as there are half bloods. I don't care what type of blood a person is, I care about what type of person he or she is. There's a difference Salazar, a huge difference."

Turning the to the others in the tavern she executed a perfect yet exaggerated curtsy.
"I hope you all enjoyed the show, the next performance starts at five o'clock" with that she opened the door this time and hesitated for a moment glancing back at the oaf beside her.

"We could start this again if you want or we just part ways here and now. Your call" with hand on the door handle she waited for his reply, not sure that he would want to make friends with someone alot younger than he obviously was and more importantly not a pureblood.

 

[Salazar Strayde]

Salazar could not have been more embarrassed when Daytona told him the truth. No-one had ever talked to him that way before. Back home, everyone treated him well, simply because of his surname. He came from good, pureblood stock, and that was what he'd been taught was of utmost importance. It made him angry to be spoken to in this way, but, for the first time in his life, he held back that anger, because for the first time in his life, he didn't feel justified in his anger.

He said nothing to Daytona calling him a pompous ass. He said nothing to her when she told him there was a difference between a person's blood status and who they were. He said nothing when she curtsied to the bar patrons, although he couldn't help but smile a little. And for a moment, he said nothing to her completely unexpected offer of starting over. His first instinct, of course, was to say no, for many reasons.

First, she was not a pureblood. She was half blood who spoke highly of mudbloods. She had also embarrassed him. She told him he a was queer, a ninny, a pompous ass, and clearly didn't think much of him. She threatened him with things other than magic - which he was not accustomed to. And yet... he was drawn to this girl. He wanted to hear her laugh again, even if it were at him. That certainly was a new feeling - sacrificing his pride? What was this girl doing to him? He narrowed his eyes. He wanted to go home.

He walked towards where she was standing in the door way. He pushed her hand aside, took the door handle and opened the door, letting in the cold air. He held it open for her and looked at her, still not entirely sure what to say. "I'm going home. Expect an owl from me. You can tell me about this real world of yours."

He was fairly certain Daytona wouldn't like being spoken to like that, but he was a Strayde, after all. He couldn't go about grovelling to a half blood. He waited to see how she would respond.

 

[Daytona Bradshaw]

Daytona wasn't sure whether the boy would not simply whip out his wand and hex her to kingdom come but she stood her ground anyways. At least until he moved closer and pushed her hands aside, opening the door and it would seem for her. A slight frown creased her brow as he spoke but with more confidence than she felt at that moment she walked through the door and stood outside a moment before turning to look at him.

"Okay" she said then, nodding her head once as if she had made up her mind at last about the boy, "I will expect your owl and be sure to expect my own in response."

With that she made another curtsy but to Salazar this time, she could careless whether he saw the funny side in it or not. Standing up she gave him a wink and then took off down the road as if the very bats of hell were chasing her. She couldn't wait to get back to Gregor and Helga and tell them all about this meeting.

 

[Salazar Strayde]

Salazar inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when Daytona answered him civilly. He simply wasn't sure what he would do if she kicked up another fuss. Despite her straightforward manner, he had no idea where he stood with her, and that slight nod of the head confused him even further.

She then curtsied again and 'Zar began to wonder if perhaps this was common practice in this so called 'real world.' It looked amusing to him, but then, so did muggle clothes and street signs and such. He wondered if maybe he should be curtsying back. Before he could choose upon any action though, Daytona winked, turned and sped off down the road, running like the wind. Salazar was left confused and very much wanting to get home to everything that was familiar.