FestinaLente — Roleplayer Guild

Noah Hollingsworth can be a temperamental boy occasionally.Fine... more than occasional. Frequently.

Or even better : all the time.

Yet, how could he remain all calm and collected when, in just a few hours, he will have to spend the following 10 days in the presence of the most obnoxious person he’s ever met.And as if her presence alone isn’t enough, he has to...to... team up with her.Her, a damn Slytherin!Unbelievable.Was is even legal to allow a Gryffindor and a Slytherin help each other?Two Houses who hates each other with passion?
Okay, it might make sense to team up two people from different House since they both are not looking for items with the same emblem which means no predictable and pointless fights. But still...He couldn’t afford himself to listen any more to what Dumbledore has to say about this outrageous idea that,as soon as he finished his speech, Noah quickly rushed out of the damn office room towards the Dorms to take a shower after slamming the door loudly, leaving an annoying metallic noise echo through the narrow halls.

„You two... what?”

The question that left Jacob’s mouth was followed by a short cough, spitting a good amount of orange juice on his shirt.Jacob swore under his breath as he examined his now stained shirt before lifting his glance up to see a newly showered Noah who has been wiping his hair hastily with a towel.Once he was done, Noah wrapped the towel around his neck, exposing his nearly-defined chest.

„Have too much earwax to get what I said, Greyback?I said the old fart geezer forced me and LeStrange to work in a team... during the entire Test!”Noah spoke venomously, his eyes sparkling of what it seemed to be wrath.His cheeks were burning, though it would be hard to tell if the reason was the temperature of the shower water or his increasing anger.

However, Jacob seemed to carelessly eat his last piece of cookie while sitting cross-legged, leaving crumbs on his bed,opposite to Noah’s.That’s it, until he did finally catch what his roommate said, when he eventually stopped chewing the food.„Oh.” Jacob’s mouth became O-shaped, chocolate cream covering a small part of his bottom lip. ”...no... nonono... I can’t believe that.You... Alyssa LeStrange... working together. Something smells fishy here. Dumbledore’s aware that you two will end up ripping each other’s head off, isn’t he?I mean, you barely stand each other for 10 minutes, let alone 10 whole days.”

„Glad you understand the gravity of the problem, Einstein.” Noah rolled his eyes at the oh-so-obvious statement and threw a shirt on him, before heading towards the nearby table and pouring some juice in a glass. ” Breathing the same air with that gal will be hell.”

„Hell and heaven.” Jacob pointed out with a sly smirk as he gulped the juice down, causing Noah to raise an eyebrow, as if demanding him to continue.” Look at the bright side, mate : there are 549 guys,me included, enrolled in the Test and you’ll be the only one who’ll get the chance to spend some time with her.”

Noah narrowed his eyes examiningly at the blonde boy, having a faint idea about what could Jacob possibly mean.Of course, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t play stupid. „And your point is... ?”

„She’s hot, man.Hot.Bitchy,I know, but hot.Long legs, pretty face,that nice ass...” Jacob’s brown eyes darkened slightly, sign that he did indeed find Alyssa Lestrange sexually attractive.That kind of dreamy stare meant only one thing – he is imagining himself doing something perverted with her.And you know what’s worse?That even Noah himself couldn’t deny her physical beauty. Although this has nothing to do with his constant feeling of hatred for her.

Noah was watching the boy with an unimpressed look, resorting to just grab a pillow and threw it in Jacob’s face.„If Elena hears that...”

Jacob’s smirk suddenly vanished, his face turning suddenly white, much to Noah’s self-satisfaction. Gosh, he loves whenever he gets the chance to blackmail Jacob by using his girlfriend.„She won’t. Your lips are sealed, Hollingsworth.Plus, you need to get over Blythe--.”

„It has nothing to do with Blythe!” Noah suddenly cut him out and turned his head towards Jacob, his anger level increasing alarmingly at the mention of that name. Blythe Lewis – an attractive but naive redhaired Hufflepuff in her 5th year,his deskmate in the Potions and Herbology classes, his ex-project partner and, recently, his ex-girlfriend. The reason of the break-up? Someone has spread rumors around school about him cheating on Blythe.Rumors, obviously, completely untrue. While Noah was trying to overlook them, Blythe became more and more self-conscious of them to the point of turning into a paranoiac.The cherry on the top could be considered the moment when an unfamiliar-looking girl threw herself at his neck and kissed him right in front of Blythe, which caused her to dump him at once. It didn’t take Noah long to realize that the source of the rumors could be a single person : Alyssa Lestrange.The girl who kissed him was more or less paid by her to do that, he could bet on anything. The incident obviously left a sour taste in his mouth, thinking that the Slytherin bitch sticks on him like some disgusting leech and continues to mess with his live on so many levels. On the other hand, the relationship wouldn’t have lasted long anyway, with Blythe’s continual lack of trust.
Noah soon shook his head to erase the thoughts out of his head and took a deep breath. ”Look, I’d rather make out with Sybill Trelawney than hanging out with a Slytherin.Keep that in mind, dickhead.”

Jacob took one doubtful glance at him and just shrugged. „Suuuure, mate...”

In the next morning,Noah woke up early.Way too early for his personal liking. His watch’s hand pointed toward hour 5 in the morning.And, well, he has a very good reason to : the Tests.Oh, and one more thing : Alyssa Lestrange. A familiar wave of frustration did overwhelm him again. He didn’t like team work, which is why he and Jacob didn’t team up at all in spite of them both participating in the Tests .And now he has to do it with her . He scratched the back of his head in irritation and eventually got up to finish packing everything necessary, since yesterday he was too lazy to do that. And by ,everything’, it meant the only things he was allowed to take : a blanket, a knife, an empty bottle, soap, mouthwash, aspirin, bandages and, of course, the wand.In half an hour he managed to prepare his backpack properly, using the other half to wash himself and change his clothes. When the clock pointed 6 o’clock, he decided to use the 1 hour left to take a nap…

“Noah.” Jacob’s hasty whisper along with a firm grip on his shoulder followed by a shake did manage to wake Noah up, whose ridiculously long eyelashes were fluttering sleepily. “Open your eyes, Dumbledore’s here!”

“Ah, uh, what?” Noah mumbled half-consciously on his pillow, through the mention of the principal’s name did make him open his eyes instantly. “Shit.” Noah quickly got off his bed and a hold of his backpack, not before giving Jacob a short handgrip. Once Noah was out of the Gryffindor’s Dormitories, with his hand running through his hair in an attempt to rearrange it, he was taken a back by somebody’s hug. For a second he thought the person could be perfectly fit in his arms, though the smell of her strong and overly familiar perfume, followed by the obvious intention of murdering him, did make him stomach ache at the realization of the person . And here we are, me and the pathetic bitch. As she kept hugging him tighter and tighter, he wrapped his arms around her and dig his nails into her skin at the pressure she was pulling. Dumbledore interrupted their upcoming session of fighting right in time because one more second would mean him scratching her skin enough for the blood to rush out. However, he made sure to leave at least some red marks down her spine.

“Not as well as you did. And… keep your ‘undying love’act for the arena, LeStrange. I’m allergic to idiocy. ” He said with a disgusted expression as he walked alongside her.

Dumbledore sent him one reproaching glare, pointing a finger toward him. “Noah.”

“What! This is called honesty, professor! Friends should be honest to each other!” Noah was quick to add and, to make their friendship look more plausible,he closed the gap with Alyssa and bent down close to her ear. ”Right, darling? ” He whispered with a subtle hint of huskiness, his lips barely brushing against her ear, before stepping back and giving her the fakest smile in the whole universe. That’s it, until he ‘accidentally’ stepped on her foot as he walked past her. Hard.

Once all the students gathered in the back garden of the castle, the noise felt more and more uncomfortable for Noah’s ears.Alyssa,who had been standing by his side, didn’t help easing the discomfort neither.A lot of expressions could be read on the students’ faces : nervousness, excitement, fear, confidence and the list can go on.Talking about strategies and various magic spells seem to be their main activity at the moment.A few others were quietly waiting for Dumbledore to show up in front of them, on the specially-made stage , to keep a short speech about how proud of themselves they must’ve been to take part in such a challenging Test. Challenging Test my ass. Noah’s nose twitched at the thought.
Once Dumbledore did make his appearance on the stage, he made a quick check on the mic and, afte a short wave, he began to speak.“Ladies and gentlemen, today… 18th May 1984…a momerable day for our skillful students.This is the first day of the 409th Hogwarts Annual Aptitude Test, which will begin in less than one hour.”

Lovely.

After about 5 minutes of encouragings and boring advices, Dumbledore stepped back and took off his wand much to his students’ shock.Moving it slowly in circles, it creates a strange blue-colored smoke which, as soon as it vanishes, a huge black screen could be seen.The screen soon began to light up, revealing some sort of a map which consisted in four islands, each of them connected by bridges.Noah felt the sudden urge to swallow down his saliva – there will be water.Lots of water.The fifth island – named Sea’s Heart ,which could be located right in the middle of the bigger islands, was marked with a red star, signing that it must be the ending spot they need to go to once they finished collecting the items. Noah couldn’t help but internally swear, because it won’t be easy to use magic in order to reach that small piece of land – he will be an instant target for the rest of the students. So he probably would have no choice but to swim… unless coming up with another idea until then. He could only hope Alyssa Lestrange was able to swim towards there without breaking a nail , so that he wouldn’t be in charge of carrying her along.

Map [+]

Small, shining white specks began to spread around the map. Many of them could be spotted in the forest sides of the islands, while some of them were being seen in either the mountain and plain side, at an fairly equal distance.It didn’t take him long to realize – the shining specks were them .The players. The map didn’t look that appealing anymore, it will be danger anywhere.He assumed the mountainous area to be the coldest one with snow storms, though it might be good for hunting.The opposite area – the desert – is hottest one and the need of water could be unbearable, but at least it seemed the most unpopulated.The plains are rich in vegetables, cereals and animals but it will be hardest place to hide. And the forest – the best place to hide and also the best climate, but also the most populated one.Which means danger.And what’s worse?That no one do know in which place they could end.

“Children, 3 more minutes will break us apart from the start of the 409th H.A.A.T. Once the time is up, each of you will be directly teleported to a random place on the map.Use your own spells wisely and…”

Noah used those last minutes to re-examine the screen.Judging by the looks of the map, each player will be placed at a strategical distance of one another.The closest one should be detected at a fair distance of 400-500 meters.In his case, it should definitely be Alyssa.

“… may the odds be ever in your favor.”

He took one more glance at Alyssa and said nothing.Not as if he needed to, his sharp eyes says everything. Do what we were told to do.There’s no other way.

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