The Islanders

[Elbio Aiello]

The setting sun melted into a moonlit, star studded canvas as Elbio was leaving behind him the castle. Not really belonging to the group of troublemakers or law trespassers he rarely was out after twilight. Nontheless, he enjoyed a little adventure now and then with the proper partners and tonight he was going to meet with the person he had helped him the most to break his hard shell and finally enjoy himself. A few hours earlier he had received Minoas' owl while checking his photo collection. His friend was telling him to meet him by the lake at eight o' clock in the afternoon and although the letter was lacking details, Elbio had an idea of what Minoas' had in mind. Elbio was informed by his gryffindor friend of what had happened during last holidays. They had talked a lot about Minoas' plans after school and Elbio did not hesitated to show his willingness and join his cause.

Back at Hogwarts after the holidays, they were both looking for an appropriate place that would serve as their little hideout. The first couple of weeks they were both searching intensively but when classes started getting more demanding they left aside their purpose and eventually they almost abandoned it. Minoas owl could possibly mean the resumption of their chase. Elbio was soon going to find whether his expectation was right or wrong. As the trail he was following was getting him closer to the lake, he hoped to see Minoas waiting by the shore but instead it seemed Elbio was the first one to arrive. He sat down on a rock and watched the shimmering reflection cast on the waters as he waited for Minoas to show.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas was waiting at the top branches of his favourite alder tree at the lake's shore. He had been practising a lot lately the disillusionment charm he was recently taught at a charms class. The tree’s foliage may had provided a great concealment on its own along with the veil of the night falling above the grounds but Minoas has casted the charm on him as well. It wasn't because he was afraid of getting caught outside the castle concluding to points deduction. Whether Gryffindor was going to win the house cup or not was at the very bottom of his concerns' list. He was in high spirits tonight and he had a reason for that. Finally the mischief it was drained off him long time ago has returned like a high tide.

He was waiting to see Elbio's figure coming down the hill to the shores he had told him to meet him. Once he discerned a shadow in the gloaming coming his way, a smirk stretched on his face to reveal his excitement about tonight's upshot. He recognized Elbio's features on the face of the individual who stopped at the edge of the shore. Minoas spared him a minute to wait while facing the calm lake but then he carefully climbed down the tree and sneaked right behind him. He nudged Elbio unexpectedly giving him a good fright. Minoas casted the counter spell on him and appeared in front of his friend. "Evening Elbio." he smiled heartily for meeting again with his best friend.
"My owl has been seeing you more than I do lately. How have you been?" he jested. He had definitely missed being around people he liked.

 

[Elbio Aiello]

Elbio's heart filled with peace as he was watching the pale shimmers on the black waters. After a long day wandering around the castle armed with his camera, just sitting by the lake seemed the most relaxing thing he could enjoy at the moment. Maybe a floating dock could make it even better with the lulling stroke of water, drifting him to distant places of imagination. His daydreaming came to an abrupt end when he felt something or someone nudging him. With bated breath and his heart skipping a beat, he turned abruptly to see who was right behind him. He saw Minoas appearing out of nowhere and relief chased away dread.
"Damn it Minoas! I thought I was busted for good." He breathed startled.

Coming around his friend's ambush, he realized how long it was since the last time they had met.
"Next time we should try smoke singals instead." He japed. "I haven't bumped into you for ages." He commented. He used to meet Minoas at the school's corridors but this semster he was nowhere to be found. Either Minoas was doing an extensive use of disillusionment charms or he wasn't really wandering around castle.
"I'm actually pretty well. Thank you. You on the other hand..." He paused and let an up-to-no-good smile form.
"...you are up to something good, you sly fox." He tested to see any hint of mischief on Minoas' face.
"Spill the works. Did we found finally a place to practise?" Elbio prompted his friend to tell him. Suddenly wild spirits arouse inside him and the desire for devilry creeped in.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"Mr Aiello. Follow me to my office now. House points' deduction should be the least of your concerns." Minoas did a close impersonation of Professor Styx's cold voice, erupting in laughs. Spending so much time at the library with piles of books as his only companions, had almost made him forget how well felt to be around a friend. Elbio's genial response made him think that at least he had one person in this castle he could rely on. "No time, no see." he tersely replied with a smile. Where exactly he was dwelling was an uninteresting topic to chat about compared to what he had planned for them tonight. "Who's the sly fox now? You're too prejudiced, you know that? I could just want to see my friend." he asserted but a mischievous smile had already cracked on his face. "I'm impressed Elbio. Just knowing I'm up to something means that you know me pretty well but guessing exactly what I'm up to...this gets awkwardly creepy. Have you been stalking me?" he joked, knowing it was just a good guess. He hadn't himself yet visited the place they were going to inspect. "Finally I found a suitable place. We are going to see it soon." he confirmed. Any attempt to hide his smile would have been in vain, that excited he was.

 

[Elbio Aiello]

Elbio rolled his eyes when Minoas tried to act affected.
"You are a terrible actor. You should know that." He began with the fact that Minoas couldn't really lie or act.
"You do a little better at performing impressions of others..." He credited him for Styx's impersonation. "...but if you could see your face, you would see you're like an open book." Elbio commented about Minoas' face that was close to that of a Quidditch fanatic child, promised to be taken to the Quidditch World Cup.
"Nope. Stalking has never been in the list of my hobbies." Elbio replied amused. "I would call it sheer luck. The same you probably had when you finally found this place because I kept searching throughout the castle and the grounds and I had no luck." He revealed he had never really stopped searching. Elbio could feel Minoas cause ever since they went together at the Festival of Innovative Magic. He admired the close friendship he had with Briar, who he was actually calling her his sister, and he always wanted to have friends like this. In some way, he was considering him as a brother for unknowingly helping him break his shell and enjoy life. So he was more than eager to assist his 'brother' in anything he needed.

Elbio waited impatiently for Minoas to say more about the place he had found. Wearing a smile he urged his friend to say more but Minoas wasn't responding.
"So? Where is it?" Why aren't we going now to see it?" Elbio queried. It was like they were waiting for someone there in the dark.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

What Minoas hadn't revealed yet to Elbio was that he hadn't find the practising place on his own. Actually he had no idea where it was. Minoas was just based on some other person's affirmation about an isolated place somewhere in the grounds the could be proved just what he was looking for. He couldn't deny it, he was feeling restlessness flooding his insides for talking a little about his plans to someone else than Elbio. At first he thought that the idea of training to confront Scitorari was going to sound insane to most people but contrary to this, it so far seemed to have more supporters than opposers. Yet again Minoas was having this gut feeling, an instict warning that he shouldn't tell much about what he was planning. On the other hand he needed a few but good allies but the point was, was he choosing the right ones? He was trusting Elbio with his life but the new arrival in his circle of trust was yet to prove itself.
"I don't know where exactly it is. Just somewhere outside the castle." he began knowing this was going to sound confusing.
"We should wait for the guy who told me about it. He knows how we'll get there." he explained.
"Oh look! There he comes." he gestured at the distance as a figure was approaching them in the dark.