What a surprise

S

Stephen Duquette

Well-Known Member
Messages
394
OOC First Name
Pat
Sexual Orientation
Undecided
Wand
Bloodwood Wand 15 1/4" Essence of Phoenix Ash
Age
11/2007
Stephen walked down the streets of Brightstone Village, glad to be home. Even though he had lived in France for most of his life, New Zealand was his birthplace so indeed his rightfull home. But he had never expected to be back, on such permanant basis, so soon. But due to family reasons it was only right to come back and stop distancing himself from the family as much as he already had.

Looking into the distance he could see a few towers of Hogwarts New Zealand, another place he would be calling home in a matter of months. He couldn't believe how lucky he was that his transfer had been accepted and best of all he was sorted, a consept he found strange, into Hufflepuff. The house he knew Becky Gale to be in. The girl of his dreams. How he missed her when she was here in New Zealand and he was in France. But now he had transfered, and were in the same house, he could spend more time with her. Standing perfectly still he continued to gaze over to the castle, wondering about what it would be like.
 
Antoinette once again found herself in New Zealand. She often liked to wander around the place, her dearest cousin attended school there, and she had met all sorts of interesting people around the place. So much more exciting than Beauxbatons. The boys at Beauxbatons were much prettier, but New Zealand was just more...exciting. She had come here as a place to escape her grandfather's wrath, back when she was a fourth year. Now and then, she liked to come back and visit. It was relaxing. And people here didn't know her reputation.

Antoinette was about to go in to sixth year at Beauxbatons, and she was supposed to focus more on her studies. Which she had been doing, she had been toning down her flirting of late. Though she was never one to pass up an opportunity. Spying a rather attractive looking boy in the distance, Antoinette took a deep breath, and straightened up to her full height of about 5'8". Striding over, she approached the boy - but when she got closer to him, she stopped, and gasped, a little surprised. "Oh," she stated. "I know you, don't I?"
 
Stephen was taking out of his daze when he heard someone address him, slightly taken a back when he saw who it was. Of all people to meet when he was in New Zealand, it had to be someone from his school. And not just anyone, this girl was very well known, and for all the wrong reasons.

"I believe we've meet, but not personally," he said, thankfully Antoinette had never got her claws into him. "Stephen. Duquette. You're a year above me in Beauxbatons." he said, strecthing his hand out.
 
"Ah, yes," she said, slowly. "Stephen, that's right," she repeated, nodding. She had remembered seeing him in fourth year, or perhaps it was third, when she had started becoming quite interested in boys. But he had quite obviously been caught up with this weird first or second year, and Antoinette hadn't gone for younger boys then. In fact, she still mostly went for older boys. More mature. Besides, Antoinette was about to be 17. A legal adult in the wizard world.
"What brings you to New Zealand?"
 
"I live here." He said somewhat proudly. Of course he loved France and Beauxbatons dearly and was going to miss them both so much, but it felt right being back in New Zealand, home. "And yourself? Should you not be chasing after some boy back home?" he said, only partially joking.
 
"Ah," she responded, nodding again. New Zealand was a nice place. The climate was nice than in Australia, in any case. "Lucky." Antoinette lived in London, most of the time, unless she was staying with her grandfather in Glasgow. "Oh, no, not right now," she added, smirking. "Taking a break from researching for my book," she added, slyly. She had been working on a book of flirting for witches for close to a year now. About nine months, and she was getting close to finishing it. "Odd that you should be living in New Zealand when you attend Beauxbatons, unless you are intending on changing schools?"
 
Stephen nodded in agreement to Antoinette saying he was lucky. He was indeed lucky. Lucky to be back home. Lucky to have a place in HNZ. Lucky to be in the same house as the girl of his dreams, even if the feeling wasn't mutal. But regardless of that, at least he had one friend at HNZ. He shook his head playfully and chuckled as she explained her break, "Oh! I didn't know you were writing a book. What's it about?" he asked, genually interested, it's probably something girly he thought.

"Bingo!" Stephed exclaimed, with a beaming smile. "I was born in New Zealand and my family moved back recently. So I finished my fourth year in Beauxbatons and I start Hogwarts in September." he said glancing back fondly at the castle that would soon be his home. "I'll miss Beauxbatons, but I'm excited." He said taking his gaze back to Antoinette, his smile never fading.
 
"That's for me to know, and you to find out," Antoinette replied, with a sly wink, before laughing. "I'm writing one of those self-help guides, you know, tips for girls on how to flirt." Antoinette smirked. "I'm somewhat of an expert in that field," she admitted, giggling.
"Oh, that's awesome!" she said encouragingly. "You look pretty happy about it," she added, with a gentle smile. "My cousins go here, eldest one's in fifth year too. Hufflepuff house. Do you know what house you're going to be in?" Antoinette had gone to Hogwarts in Scotland for a couple of years, and had been sorted in to Ravenclaw, so she knew a fair bit about the houses.
 
Stephen listened to Antoinette explain more about how book. Ah I was right he said internally. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed." he said jokingly, Antoinette and her 'field of expertise' wasn't really a secret around Beauxbatons. "But joking aside, that sounds great. You're going to help a lot of girls with that." he said with approving smile.

Stephen rolled his eyes when Antionette observed that he was happy about going to Hogwarts, why wouldn't he be? But of course no one knew why he was so excited, then again no one asked. "I am." he confirmed. Upon hearing the Antoinette had a cousin in fifth year, in Hufflepuff Stephen couldn't believe his luck. "Really? I got into Hufflepuff. At least I think that's what it's called, the whole house thing is still confusing." he said with an unsure expression. "No, I'm sure the hat said Hufflepuff. What's your cousins name? I might try and find them." he said, not wanting to pry, but if he was going on a recommendation, how could it hurt?
 
Antoinette couldn't help but chuckle. She knew she had a bit of a reputation, but really, she couldn't care less. She enjoyed herself, and that was what mattered, right? Sure, she'd got in to trouble occaisionally but most of the time she had fun.
"Yeah, the houses can be kinda confusing. 'Specially after Beauxbatons, what with the whole no houses thing. I used to go to Hogwarts in Scotland. Former Ravenclaw, myself. Hufflepuff's a nice house, though," she smiled. "My cousin's name is Violet. She's nice, and trust me, she's not very much like me," Antoinette said, with a wink. "I'm sure if you get stuck with anything there she'll help you out." Antoinette liked the elder of her three cousins. Hated Angus with a passion, but Violet was lovely and easy to get along with. "Forgive me for prying, but why are you so excited to be going to Hogwarts? I mean, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. Just curious, that's all."
 
Stephen nodded in agreement, the whole house thing ws confusing after Beauxbatons, but like everything, he would get used to it and if not, he was only there for three years. "Um that nice house? That's...um nice? I suppose." he said with a chuckle, how could a house be nice.? He tried to remember back to the poem or song that the hat had said before the Head placed it on his head. Each house had it's own trait, so nice must be the general one for Hufflepuff he figured.

"Thanks Antoinette, I'll be sure to look out for her." he said sincerely, he had never talked to Antoinette much before, but he was glad he had now. When Antoinette asked why he was so excited he felt his cheeks starting to burn, but before he could let them go red he faked a cough, "Um, well." He started off lamely. He was useless at this type of stuff. He had just gotten used to talking to girls, except Becky, he always acted like a blubbering idiot around her. But he was no good at talking about girls to anyone, boys and girls alike. "You don't remember a Becky Gale, do you?" he asked.
 
Antoinette laughed at Stephen's obvious confusion over the house traits. "Four houses. Gryffindor, the brave house, Slytherin, the sly and cunning house, Ravenclaw, the witty and intelligent house, and Hufflepuff, the hardworking, kind, and loyal house." She smiled before adding, "and I hope you like wearing yellow." Blue was Antoinette's colour, out of the four house colours anyway, so she had been glad to be in Ravenclaw. Well, the intelligence part, too, but blue was such a nice colour. The pale blue of Beauxbatons was beautiful, too.

"Becky Gale? Hmm, can't say I remember her well, but I think...I think I know who you're talking about. She transfered from here and then went back, right?" she asked. Antoinette was pretty good with names and faces. She didn't have the most amazing memory but hers was pretty good. Slowly, Antoinette began to smile, brightly. "Ooo. You like her, don't you?"
 
Stephen listened to Antoinette explain the houses, it seemed a lot more simple when she explained it like that, "Now why couldn't that silly hat put it that way, but I can understand that. Well I'm definately not a Raven..er..um..claw!" he said, getting a tad fustrated about not knowing the houses, but they should come to him in time. "Yellow? It's ok I suppose." he said, once again confused. He hopef he met Violet ot anyone pretty close to the school starting or he was going to suffer, big time.

Stephen nodded as Antoinette began to remember who Becky was, but really, who could froget such a beautiful face as hers? "Yeah that's the one." he said, a bit sad at remembering when she left Beauxbatons to go to Hogwarts, but an obviously fondness in his voice that came when talking about her. "That obvious huh?" he said with a nervous laugh, ruffling the back of his hair. "Not that it matters." he said, pushing both hands into his pockets, looking down at the ground as he shuffled his feet, remembering Becky was off bounds.
 
"It's magic," Antoinette replied, with a wink. "It's not supposed to make sense." Antoinette had been raised by muggles, magic hadn't made sense to her at first. Especially when arriving at Hogwarts, she'd spent a good couple of weeks being very confused. However, it hadn't taken long to get used to it. Beauxbatons had provided more confusion, but again, it hadn't taken too long to settle in. "Yellow is Hufflepuff's house colour. Yellow and black, rather."

"Aw, what do you mean, not that it matters?" Antoinette asked, looking confused for a second. "Oh," she muttered, as she realised. "You don't think she's going to go for you, right? What makes you think that? Good looking guy like yourself?" she asked, winking. Stephen seemed like a pretty nice guy, why wouldn't this Becky girl like him?
 
Stephen rolled his eyes at the it's magic comment, how original? "Well I'll take your work for it. I suppose I'll find out when I go for my uniform" he said with a shrug of his shoulders. It was hard to imagine the houses having different colours, could they not just have the same colour and the school crest? It would be much nicer and not likely to cause diversity for people that liked a certian colour or disliked another.

Shaking his head Stephen replied, "No, it's nothing like that. She likes someone else, they are closer and are in the same year too. Heck I haven't talked to her in a while she might even be with him already." He said, realisation hitting him. He hadn't even considered Becky already together with James, he felt sick at the thought of it. "Plus when I first meet her, she liked me but I pushed her away. Now I have the same feelings I know she won't return them again. A guy can only be so lucky to have a girl like Becky Gale fall for him once. It wouldn't happen again." he said with a small sigh. Suddenly all the excitment of seeing Becky again had faded.
 
Now, Antoinette was, of course, a romantic. Her heart almost broke for Stephen on the spot when she told him the story. "Oh, I see. That is a problem..." she muttered thoughtfully, pausing to think. "How long, though, has it been since you've seen her? I mean, what if she's over this other guy, or what if he's found someone else?" she asked, her mind racing. Sure, sometimes Antoinette appeared selfish. But she had been a Ravenclaw, not a Slytherin, and if she could help someone out in a romantic matter, then she'd go right ahead and try. "Maybe she'll change her mind when she sees you again?"
 
"It was around the end of November when I saw her last," Stephen started off trying to remember their meeting. He remember she had her hair down, in lovly long, gold ringlets. She wore an over the top white dress that made her look like an angel, but that didn't matter. "I came back to New Zealand to take care of some family stuff and met up with in the Three Broomsticks. She was talking about a Yule Ball thingy and hoping he would ask her. But seriously, if he had any sense he would have leaped at the chance to have Becky as his girlfriend. Unlike me."

He explained trying to recall the last meeting, it had been very short and rushed, they didn't really have time for a proper catch up and after that it returned no letters or correspondance, at all! "I don't know, I suppose I'll find out sooner or later, the school term is just around the corner." he said taking another glance up at the school, fear filling him now rather than the excitement he had not so long ago.
 
"Hmmm," Antoinette mused, thinking. "Well, he could have asked someone else, you never know. I mean, he might not have as much sense as you," she stated, reassuringly. "I mean, and this might sound stupid coming from me, when you first met her, maybe you were too young?" Antoinette suggested. "I didn't date until end of third year, before then you're just, well, too young. That's just my opinion though," she said, with a shrug. "But you, Stephen, you've got to find a way to sweep that girl off her feet," Antoinette stated, with a smile.
 
Stephen listened to Antionette's words, they were surprisingly helpful, more so than he had expected to come from her. And maybe she was right? They were both fairly young when they first met. But now they were both teenagers, 14 and 15, that couldn't be all bad right? But Stephen tried not to let excitment brew again, he still had to worry about James. Yes it might have been possible that he had someone else, but Becky was really determined. "OK Miss Expert. What do you suggest I do to sweep her off her feet?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest. She got these thoughts into his head, she was going to help.
 
Antoinette couldn't help but smirk. "Thought you'd never ask," she said with a wink. "Well, I'm more used to advising girls on what to do, but I guess I know what most girls want to see in guys, so, now, let me see," she said, before beginning to ponder. She hadn't really advised boys on how to win girls over before. But it shouldn't be that hard? Although, Antoinette knew just as well as any girl that her own gender was strange and complicated. More so than males. "Chivalry," she stated, matter-of-factly. "You want to get the girl? You've got to be her knight in shining armour. You've got to show her that she doesn't need this other guy, that the person she's looking for is none other than you," she explained. "Girls would kill for that sort of thing. Think of Pride and Prejudice," Antoinette added, wondering if he knew the story. Antoinette had always been an avid reader, perhaps that was one of the reasons she had been in Ravenclaw. "Of course, you can't set out wanting to be her friend, because that would just end in disaster. Be friendly, but don't be her new best friend. Be kind, be gentle, be charming." She paused, and chuckled when she realised she was lecturing the poor boy. "Sorry, should've given you a quill and parchment."
 
Stephen listened to Antoinette ramble on, bewildered what the inner workings of a girls mind was really like, it was a bit scary. When she finished he nodded his head, "Ok! Chivarly! Charm! Got it." he said, trying to make a mental note in his head. If he was lucky enough to remember any of this he had no idea how to pursue it. How could he be Becky's knight in shining armour? He always acted weird around her, if he tried to be something he wasn't she would run a mile from him for sure. "Got anything else for me Greenwood?" he asked with a sort of laugh, he was amused with the idea that he was recieving love tips from Antoinette Greenwood, of all people.
 
Antoinette laughed as the poor boy kept up with her ramblings. She never kept things succinct if she could help it. She got good marks in her subjects for going in to as much detail as possible, but when it came to real life, what she said wasn't nearly as structured. There was humour in the situation - nobody would have thought Antoinette Greenwood, infamous for, well, getting around a lot, was capable of advice. Though she knew she gave decent advice. It was just that she rarely followed it herself. Then again, being the romantic that she was, she was looking around until she found the one. That was her excuse, anyway. She figured she had to look around a lot...right? She was about to turn seventeen, and it seemed everyone else was finding the person of their dreams. Violet had that Aries guy, even Angus had that Luna girl, Trista's sister. Trista who was leaving and going to Hogwarts New Zealand, too. Even her best friend was going somewhere else. Still, Antoinette kept her head held high. Everything would fall in to place for her...someday. Right?
"Just, well, you know, be there for her when she needs you. Do nice things for her. Treat her like a princess. Because I'm sure if she's as great as you say she is, she surely deserves such treatment. Show a little affection, if you want...but not too much. Don't scare her off," she trailed off, remembering something Stephen mentioned earlier. "Oh! You might want to invite her to the Yule Ball as soon as you can. I'd say mid-October, ask her to go with you."
 
Stephen chewed on his lip as Antionetter continued. Even though what she was giving was good, solid advice, he had no idea how to go through with it. But that was his own problems that he was going to have to face when the time came. "Oh she is worth it." he said with a sweet smile picturing her smiling face in his head. "So what do you suggest, a shoulder to cry on? Presents? That sort of thing?" he asked to clarify.

When Antionette brought up the Yule Ball again he drew his eyebrows closer together, he wasn't sure on what it was to be exact. But he knew one thing was for sure, "Da...dan...dancing." he stuttered, his face loosing all colour. "Antionette, I can't dance. If I want to sweap Becky of her feet, I'd rather it not involve a trip to the hospital wing afterwards." he said with a shudder, just thinking of the idea.
 
"If she's worth it, then you just have to try your best," Antoinette shrugged. "I guess I believe that love always finds a way, and I guess if the two of you are meant to be together, it'll happen. But that's just me." Antoinette paused again, contemplating Stephen's words. "A shoulder to cry on probably, though you have to be careful with that. If it goes badly, she might end up seeing you as just a friend. Then you're in trouble. But that's no reason not to be friendly to her, of course." Confusing herself, Antoinette took a deep breath. "Okay. What you have to do is be friendly to her. Offer to spend time with her - as much time as you can, considering OWLs and all. Make sure you do put aside time to hang out with her. And well, I know I'm probably confusing you as much as myself with this, but the main thing to remember is to be yourself. You want her to like you for you, right? Then you have to show her who you are, what a great guy you are," Antoinette said, encouragingly.

She couldn't help but laugh at Stephen's reaction to her comment about the Yule Ball. "Silly, nobody can dance these days," she said, dismissively. "But you've got to ask her. I mean, she's a girl, she probably loves the idea of being able to dress up and go to a ball with a date. You don't even have to dance too much if you don't want to. Let her be Cinderella for the night, so you can be her Prince Charming."
 
Stephen listened to Antoinette's words, trying to refrain fro rubbing his head to help ease the pain of the headache he felt coming on. But he just reminded himself that it was for Becky, so it was 100% worth it. "Ha! Be myself, I'll probably scare her off, I'm such a goof at times, especially around her. I just act all weird and I can't help it." he said shaking his head, knowing how pathetic he must sound.

Stephen breathed a sigh of relieve, he didn't have to dance, thankfully. It would have ended up terrible if he did have too. But Antionette had gotten one thing right, Becky loved to dress up, even from day to day she was have the most beautiful dresses on. "OK that I can do, just not the dancing, I'm hopeless." he said laughing at himself, it was all he could do to stop from possibly crying. "Any other tips for the Yule Ball?" he asked helplessly, it seemed like it was a big night for the girls at Hogwarts, so he wanted to get it right, for Becky.
 
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