Stay - Theodore Nott

Chapter 12

Malfoy and Theo couldn't believe their eyes when they saw that Kirra, Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.

However Theo seemed to be far more annoyed that Kirra was there, he seemed pissed off and was basically snapping at everyone, even Malfoy who had decided not to talk to him for a while, scared that he was going to get yelled at again.

Harry and Ron had told Kirra all about the three-headed dog that they had seen and she had been shocked to find out that something like that was in the school. Harry had also told her that he was sure it might have had something to do with the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection, the one Hagrid had gotten out when they went to Diagon Alley.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.

"Or both," said Harry and Kirra. But all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. Harry had told his sister that he didn't want her friends finding out about it, which they had got into an argument over but after he said they could get hurt, she finally agreed to keep it quiet.

All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus however her and Kirra had been getting along quite well and the two had grown rather close, they studied together after class in the library.

All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy and Theo, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later. As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by two long, thin packages carried by six large screech owls each.

Kirra and Harry were just as interested as everyone else to see what was in these large parcels. Kirra was at the Hufflepuff table in between Rudy and Adira while a few of the Hufflepuff quidditch players were in front of her, talking about all the strategies they had.

Kirra watched as one parcel flew towards her and the other towards her brother and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of her, knocking her bagel to the floor, causing the girl to pout.

They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. Kirra ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE. It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick, or they'll all want one. Gilbert Blythe will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at four o'clock for your first training session, good luck! I know you will make your house proud.

Professor Sprout

Kirra had difficulty hiding her glee as she handed the note to Rudy to read and then Adira read over it.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Adira exclaimed in excitement as her eyes danced over the package. "I've never even touched one and my whole bloody family loves quidditch"

They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Goyle and Theo, they assumed that Malfoy and Crabbe were at the other exit blocking her brother who had also been leaving the hall with Ron and the package.

Theo and Goyle seized the package from Kirra and felt it.

"That's a broomstick," Goyle said, throwing it back to Kirra with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face.