This, My Friends, Is A Dream Come True! (Open)

Alastair listened to her carefully. So she did believe that he could get into the Tournament, huh? But somehow, suddenly, his ego seemed to not be kicking in for once. Wow...well this was different! He looked back once in the direction in which Antonia had vanished followed by her drooling puppy dogs, and he then turned back to Melissa, a true, sincere smile playing at his lips.

"I promise." That was a big thing; Alastair never promised anything to anyone. "As long as you promise me that," He took hold of her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. "if you do get into the Tournament, you will NOT let us down. You WILL win the Triwizard cup, Lissa. You need to. I trust you." If nobody had noticed that Alastair wanted to win the cup more than anything else in the world, then they must have been dumb.

A sudden realization made him stop in his tracks, his first ever bright blush lighting up his pale cheeks. Shit, did he just say he trusted someone!? And what was more, did he just say he trusted a Gryffindor!? Well this was it...he was screwed. He trusted nobody but himself, so why did he have to go ruin that by saying he trusted Melissa? Although it really was the truth. He did trust her because he knew that if he didn't get in the Tournament, then she would, and they were probably the only ones that had a great chance at winning this.

I promise. As long as you promise me that, if you do get into the Tournament, you will NOT let us down. You WILL win the Triwizard cup, Lissa. You need to. I trust you.

Needless to say, the response shocked her. A Slytherin had just promised something to a Gryffindor?! It took her a moment to recover herself, but when she did she nodded, both in thanks to his promise, and as confirmation of the promise he asked her to make. "I promise. I will do my best to make sure that cup stays at Hogwarts."

It was only then that she was aware of the use of her nickname, Lissa. Again, she was shocked. Even more so by the fact that he said he trusted her. Wow. Mr Ego trusted her. Then again, she realised that she trusted him in that respect too. Neither of them wished to see the Triwizard Cup leave Hogwarts, and the both knew that they could trust the other 100% to do their best to make sure that it didn't happen.

Obviously, at that moment, Alastair had realised he had said he trusted her, and she noticed, for the first time ever, a blush appearing on the older boy's cheeks. She raised an eyebrow, amused. "Wow. Alastair Creed is blushing." She laughed, but not in a mocking way. Then she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. Wouldn't want to ruin your reputation."

"I promise. I will do my best to make sure that cup stays at Hogwarts."

"Great!" Alastair found himself grinning widely at the girl, though he refused to be surprised that she would promise something like that, especially to him.

After all; they were supposed to hate each other and that, right? Well it wouldn't hurt for that to change...but it was way too soon and it would be way too awkward for them both. It was best when they were just bickering...plus, it was immensely fun doing that. At her comment about him blushing, he scoffed at her and turned around, obviously embarrassed about blushing in front of a girl, thing which he never did. But hey, then again, their moment had been nice while it lasted.

"I won't tell anyone. Wouldn't want to ruin your reputation.

"Thanks. Then again, wouldn't like your friends to ask you every five minutes, 'oh my god he blushed!? What was it like, did he look cuter? What did he do? Was he embarrassed!?'" Alastair hopped around squealing the words out like a fangirl would, his voice high pitched. But then he stopped, crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. "There's no way I'm letting anyone witness something like that. I may have a big ego and love to get attention from chicks-heck I even love it when they speak about me between themselves-but Alatair Creed does NOT blush, and girls will NOT talk about it."

"Thanks. Then again, wouldn't like your friends to ask you every five minutes, 'oh my god he blushed!? What was it like, did he look cuter? What did he do? Was he embarrassed!?'"

She rolled her eyes as the arrogant attitude of the older student returned in full force, only she couldn't help laughing at his impersonation of a fangirl. "Please, I don't think any of my friends have ever acted like that over a guy." She retorted, smirking ever so slightly. Whilst her friends may be even more boy-crazy than her, they were mature enough to not go around acting like they were under some form of love potion, which Lissa was extremely thankful for. She wasn't sure she could handle it if any of her friends started acting like that, considering she had a rather short temper when people started annoying her.

"There's no way I'm letting anyone witness something like that. I may have a big ego and love to get attention from chicks-heck I even love it when they speak about me between themselves-but Alatair Creed does NOT blush, and girls will NOT talk about it."

Once more, she laughed. "On the contrary, Alastair Creed does blush," she smirked, one eyebrow raised for emphasis. "However, Melissa King is not a gossip girl. Believe me when I say no one will find out, at least not from me, that you aren't just an arrogant Slytherin."

Alastair nodded. He just hoped the truth wouldn't fade with her saying stuff about him in the end. She was probably the only Gryffindor he would be annoyed with if saying anything about him.

He sighed, "Okay. I believe you." And he happily draped an arm over her shoulders. "Let's explore!"

His voice was as enthusiastic as a kid's could be and he really couldn't wait to see the rest of the museum. Company wasn't always a good idea, but this time Alastair felt he might have needed it. Perhaps talking to somebody whilst observing wasn't such a bad idea at all.
Almost taking baby steps, he slowly moved towards an ancient broom, his eyes widening. Oh how he'd always wanted to see one. And now here it was in front of him.

"Isn't this just so cool?" This time he sounded like an obsessed fanboy himself.

Poor guy couldn't help it; this was Quidditch after all. Quidditch should have been both a game and a religion...! Although, admittedly, he didn't see how that could possibly work...

She rolled her eyes as the older student put his arm around her shoulders and shrugged him off, glancing at him with a raised eyebrow, giving him a look that said 'I may not hate you, but I don't like you that much[/i], before shaking her head, a slight smile on her lips. Really, he wasn't as bad as she had always thought. At least she was seeing some sort of human side to him, as opposed to the arrogant pig mask he always seemed to wear.

Her thoughts trailed off as she hurriedly followed him to an ancient broom, her eyes widening just like his. If only the stupid glass wasn't in the way... mind you, she may be a bit too tempted to fly off with it if the glass wasn't there! Oh, but for the chance to touch it... Instead, she had to be content with pressing her hands to the glass just in front of the incredible artefact.

"Isn't this just so cool?"

She turned to him, her face showing amusement as she struggled not to laugh at the way he had gone from impersonating his fangirls to actually being a fanboy. Still, she couldn't blame him. Being a Quidditch fan herself, she could completely understand his enthusiasm. However, unlike the older student, she was more reserved with the way she let such emotions come to the surface. She wasn't the sort to let people see her squealing in an obsessive manner, and she was sure that Alastair Creed was the same. For the most part, at least. It was definitely interesting to see him outside of the confines of their school and peers.

Yes, he was being ridiculous. And yes, he shouldn't have acted like his own fangirls when seeing him - that thought brought a smirk to his lips - but, again, this was Quidditch. Quidditch was amazing, and although others didn't find an ancient broom that fascinating, to Alastair it was way better seeing that than receiving 1000 Galleons and whatever else people drooled after. It took a while for his eyes to glue off the wonderful artifact and, when they finally did, he slowly walked towards another, his excitement still obvious on his face.

Never - and I mean never - had Alastair Creed acted like this around a fellow student, but this time he felt compelled to. Who wouldn't, when in a place where you see things you love absolutely every minute of every day you spend in this Museum?

He sneaked a glance over at Melissa, to see her just as fascinated as him, but trying hard to not show it that much. Embarrassed, maybe? That made him tilt his head to the side and think for a moment, before he shook his head and looked back at the now different artifact in front of him. She was still by the broom, he noticed, but he'd still wait for her. What if she got lost? Even though he shouldn't care about that...

Eh, whatever. He'd still wait.

She was vaguely aware of the older student moving away from the broom, but she lingered a while longer, not wanting to leave it quite yet. She tried to imagine flying on it, racing the wind, and had to stifle a laugh as she realised that her broom probably flew a thousand times faster than this ancient one. Still, she would do anything to just have one fly on such a broom...

She sighed and turned away, surprised when she noticed that the Slytherin had waited for her to catch up to him where he now stood at a different artifact; the original robes of Quidditch legend Viktor Krum, beside a picture of the famous seeker. She rolled her eyes as she realised that, had her friends been alive during the height of the player's career, they would probably have been all but physically drooling over him. For the life of her, though, she was unable to see what they would find so attractive.

Rolling her eyes one last time at the famous robes, she turned and moved to the next artifact, walking slowly so that the older student could catch up if he wanted.

He was standing there happily, looking down at the original robes of Viktor Krum and having trouble keeping himself from nearly fainting. He'd always had a guy crush on that dude...he was like a role-model to him, the same as he was to probably many other Quidditch players. When Melissa had moved on, he stared down at them for another few moments, imagining how it would be like for him and Viktor to be on the same Quidditch team; playing as a team with him would be amazing. He'd been told the guy had a great sense of humour and was amazing at basically everything.

The moment he saw her getting further away from him, Alastair jogged towards her so she wouldn't have to walk as slowly if waiting for him. That wasn't fair, especially if she wanted to go to another section of the Museum. They were currently in the 'Equipment' section, so if she wanted to go on to Players, Teams and other things, then he'd happily pull himself away from whatever he was watching to go with her.

A golden thing caught Alastair's attention and he stopped abruptly to see a golden snitch; not just A golden snitch...but the one that Harry Potter caught in his first ever match. He was the first ever first year to make it as Seeker, and the student kind of admired him for that. He was a beater though, so the snitch wasn't as interesting to him; it was only the fact that it had been Harry Potter's.

Even this generation grew up knowing of 'The Boy Who Lived'.

She couldn't hold back a small gasp as her eyes saw the tiny golden snitch. The one THE Harry Potter had caught in his first ever Quidditch match. She was amazed it was there in the museum; last she heard, it had been given to Harry when the Headmaster of the school at the time had left it to Harry in his will. Still, she wasn't exactly complaining. It was incredible to see such an artifact right there in front of her. Once more, her hand reached out to brush at the glass. She was a Chaser for her team, but the position of Seeker had always been one she coveted. If she could, she would play that position when she graduated and played for the Holyhead Harpies, but that's not to say she didn't enjoy being a Chaser. But to be a Seeker... she sighed wistfully, still staring at the tiny golden ball in wonder. It was as if everything else around her had ceased to exist since her eyes caught sight of the snitch.

"Oh, my God." Alastair whispered to her as if, if he spoke just a little bit louder, the snitch would break. "I thought that was given to Potter. Why do you think he handed it along to the museum? Do you think it still opens?" He leaned down over the glass, staring intently at the golden ball and trying to imagine what it would be like if it opened...although he could also imagine it quivering. After all, Alastair was staring at it so intently that it could make even the fiercest bully cower away, frightened.

In silence they stood for the following half hour, and he didn't doubt that Melissa was thinking about her future; about joining the Holyhead Harpies. He, on the other hand, was merely thinking through stuff like what it would be like to have been alive when Harry Potter was just a student at Hogwarts. To know him; be his friend, all that. Perhaps it would have been rather enjoyable, really. He did feel like things were getting a little dull and boring at school. What would it have been like indeed to know the Chosen One? Was he...still alive now?

Idiotic question, because he really must have been alive still.

"Oh, my God. I thought that was given to Potter. Why do you think he handed it along to the museum? Do you think it still opens?"

Lissa just nodded slowly as the older student's words registered. It was only after another half hour passed in silence, both of the simply staring at the Snitch, that she tore her eyes from the Golden object and turned to the Slytherin. She shrugged. "It was. Given to Potter, I mean." She frowned. "As for why it's here... I guess they must have asked really nicely or something. If that was mine, I certainly wouldn't give it away." She laughed softly, before addressing the final part of his question. "It probably would still open," she nodded, glancing once again at the tiny golden ball. "But there's no way to know for sure unless Potter comes down here himself. Flesh memories, and all that." She laughed again. "And I highly doubt he'd come along just to show people it still opens; he'd be here forever if he did that, because everyone would want to see it open!" She smiled, thinking how amazing it would be to meet the wizard who had saved their world.

He hadn't done it alone though, having been helped by the other two members of what had been dubbed "The Golden Trio", Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. They couldn't have had any idea what their lives would be like when they first befriended Harry Potter in their first year at Hogwarts. How amazing must it have been to be in their shoes? Terrifying at times, she didn't doubt that, but amazing nonetheless.

She cast one final glance at the famous snitch before walking down a corridor which led to the Players section of the museum. She almost laughed when she entered, seeing life-size models of the most famous players, including Harry Potter and Viktor Krum, as well as posters and other such things.

"I'm in Quidditch heaven." Alastair breathed, being dangerously close to fainting at seeing the life-size models of the Quidditch players.

Many people were already taking pictures with the models, and it made him grin, longing to do that on the inside. He wasn't that sad though, so he left it for another time. After all, it was just something he could take pictures with any day! Huh...he really would have to bring Blair around here sometimes and see whether she would be nice enough to not laugh at him whilst he were taking photos! Eyes adjusting to the dim light in that one particular room, Alastair looked over at Lissa, who was by now on the far end of the room, so he pouted, having noticed she didn't really wait for him, but he shrugged and went on his way to inspecting. Somebody had to make sure that the posters weren't Photoshopped (although they probably most certainly were), the wax models being exactly perfect, and not one spelling mistake or wrong fact by each parchment with the info about each character. He'd be too annoyed and-in his mind-sue this museum for giving visitors the wrong type of information they needed.

How rude that would be! Smirking to himself, he slowly began walking away, but stopped soon after beside the wax model of Dumbledore. Ah. The legendary headmaster who had died by the hand of Voldemort-or rather, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Alastair had no clue why people still didn't call him by his name; there was no possible way that he'd suddenly come back to life and attempt to kill the Headmistress and half the students with the help of Slytherins and their parents...not to mention all other manner of dark creatures...

Lissa was standing by the wax model of Harry Potter when she turned to see where the older student was. She caught sight of him standing the other side of the room, beside the wax model of Albus Dumbledore. She smiled as she walked up to Alastair and joined him in looking at the model of the old Headmaster, quite possibly one of the greatest Wizards the world had ever know, apart from Harry Potter of course.
"Bloody Voldemort." She muttered, just a little louder than under her breath. She cast a quick, sideways glance at Alastair after she spoke, realising a moment too late that she didn't know how he felt about the name being spoken out loud. She knew many of her friends still shivered when they heard the name, but Lissa didn't see what the point was. "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." She said softly, her thoughts flowing out into words. She smiled slightly as she recalled the quote spoken by Dumbledore himself. She had always admired the man, for many reasons; his extraordinary magical talent, his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald, and the way he willingly gave his own life to bring the Wizarding world one step closer to getting rid of Voldemort, to name just a few reasons why she admired him so.

Grinning, she pulled her camera from her pocket and threw it to Alastair before moving to stand next to Albus Dumbledore, posing with one arm on his shoulder.
"Take a picture?" she asked, laughing, not caring if he thought her a freak. Then again, maybe he was just as excited by the wax models; after all, their reactions to several other artefacts had been pretty similar so far... either way, she was determined to get pictures of her with her heroes!

He didn't even flinch at the name, and gave Lissa a reassuring smile to let her know he didn't care if she used that name or not. One person did turn to look at them though, almost terrified, but then they slowly walked away and left them alone, not saying anything. People were so stupid sometimes. It was just a name, for goodness' sake! (Or perhaps, in this case, for badness' sake). Lissa seemed so deep in thought that Alastair had thought she wasn't going to say anything more for the following couple of hours. But then she heard the quote, "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.", and it made him half-smile. Although the old wizard had been someone that not many Slytherins liked, the older student was still among the few that kind of admired him and looked up to him (or at least used to, when he was younger), not really caring about what other people would say or think about it.

"Take a picture?"

He smirked then, catching the camera and winking over at her as she went to stand beside the Dumbledore wax model. "Why of course," He purred. "The beautiful young lady needs her personal photographer to take some pictures once in a while." He held it up and made sure he had her and the model in full view of the camera. The dim lighting gave the picture an air of mystery, and he had to admit he quite liked it. Pressing the button, he held down on it until he heart a small sound come from the camera, and then he happily let his arms drop back down to his sides, smirk returning. "Want a picture with anybody else? Harry? Viktor? Cedric? Snape?" He highly doubted that Lissa would want a picture with someone like Snape, but as far as he knew, he was actually a good guy.

She was glad he had seemed unfazed by her use of the name so many still feared, but she noticed one person stare, almost in terror, before walking away slowly. At this, Lissa simply rolled her eyes. It really was ridiculous.

"Why of course, the beautiful young lady needs her personal photographer to take some pictures once in a while."
She grinned as Alastair caught the camera, and proceeded to roll her eyes at his response, laughing lightly. It really was strange, she thought, that they could be so opposite in their Houses, and yet be so similar and get on as well as they were. She wasn't complaining, though. She had to admit that she quite enjoyed seeing a different side to the seventh year Slytherin student.

"Want a picture with anybody else? Harry? Viktor? Cedric? Snape?"
"Definitely Harry!" She grinned, already walking over to the model of the savior of the Wizarding World and posing next to him, her eyes twinkling with delight and fascination at seeing so many famous faces in one room. Granted they were only wax models, but they were so realistic! She walked over to Cedric after being photographed with Harry, and bit her lower lip before she struck a smile and a pose. He was the one who had died last time the Triwizard Tournament was held. He was only 17. It was such a waste of a life, and all down to stupid old Voldemort.

She looked around at the other models. "I'd like one with Snape," she smiled, remembering an article she had read from an interview with Harry Potter in which he said that Snape was actually one of the good guys all along. "Viktor, though... to be honest I think he's a stuck up pig, so I may pass on that one!" She laughed. "Anyone you want a picture with?" She offered.

Alastair found himself raising an eyebrow as she rolled her eyes at his comment. "Oh come on. You like it really." He winked at her again, and carried on taking a few more shots of her before she answered him, telling him what other models he wanted his picture taken with. Of course she'd picked Harry for a picture; after all, he had saved the Wizarding World and was still, what was the word, worshiped by many witches and wizards. How did he react to still being so famous to this day? He must have been around 36 years old, so he was obviously not as enthusiastic about fame as he must have been through his teen years.

He snapped out of his daydream in time to hear, "Viktor, though... to be honest I think he's a stuck up pig, so I may pass on that one!"

He couldn't help laughing at her comment about Viktor Krum. Honestly, he hadn't found him that bad when people spoke about him. I mean sure, he was from Durmstrang and most students there seemed annoying and stuck up, but Viktor really didn't seem like such a bad guy. Then again, perhaps Melissa saw something in him that Alastair couldn't. So, sighing, he shrugged and smirked at her last question.

"Anyone you want a picture with?"

"Actually, I have these as memories of this section of the Museum now." He held up the camera and grinned widely at her, before settling on taking the pictures that she wanted him to take; the ones beside Snape, Cedric and Harry. Cedric's death had been a terrible incident. Sometimes, he felt sorry for him but, among Slytherins, being nice and feeling sorry for others' deaths was not to be shown in public.

"Oh come on. You like it really."

She laughed and shook her head in amusement, but proceeded to shrug and raise an eyebrow. "Well I wouldn't be a girl if I didn't enjoy flattery, now, would I?" She grinned, responding to his wink with a mock-flirty wink of her own, unable to believe how easy she was finding it to be herself and banter with him, just as she would any of the guys in Gryffindor. Dare she admit it, she actually felt like the older student was becoming sort of like a friend. He would always be a Slytherin, but she wasn't exactly a perfect goody-two-shoes Gryffindor. Still, things would probably go back to normal once they returned to Hogwarts. At the moment, though, that seemed so far away.

"Actually, I have these as memories of this section of the Museum now."

She raised an eyebrow as he held up her camera. "Oh? And who said you get copies of the pictures on there?" She laughed, before going back to posing with the various models. She couldn't wait to see the pictures! And to show her friends and younger sister, Lizzie! Finally satisfied she had enough pictures, she turned back to Alastair.
"You're sure you don't want any?" She offered again.

"Well I wouldn't be a girl if I didn't enjoy flattery, now, would I?"

"Well that's strange...I always thought you were a man." Alastair joked, stepping back in case she'd try to hit him, which was what she usually did when receiving comments such as that. "Naw, I'm joking." He smiled at her, once again almost shocked at how they were acting like old friends, even though they weren't that at all, and they were just two students who exchanged glares when passing each other or, if in private, then they'd argue playfully, which later would lead to an actual proper argument, which rather annoyed others.

"Oh? And who said you get copies of the pictures on there?"

"I do. Oh, but you aren't getting the camera back until I put those on my computer. You look so cute next to Dumbledore." He cooed, grinning and holding up the camera out of her reach, knowing full well that she couldn't reach it, as she was shorter than him and everything. Then he heard her offer again, "You're sure you don't want any?"
"Told ya, these pictures will suffice. Bye bye." He grinned childishly at her and took off to the next section, away from her and camera safely in his pocket, where he was sure it wouldn't break as, if it were in his hands while he ran, then he might have forgotten about it and it would have slipped out of his hands, breaking.

Once safely in the next section, he leaned against a wall and looked back to see whether Melissa was catching up to him.

"Well that's strange...I always thought you were a man."

Lissa opened her mouth in a fake gasp and reached out to playfully slap Alastair's arm, glaring as he stepped away out of her reach. It really was strange how easily were getting on. Still, she wasn't complaining. After all, she had been stuck playing chauffeur for her younger sister all Summer, and it was good to finally be hanging out with someone more or less her own age, even if that someone was one of the last people she would have thought she could have a good time with.

"I do. Oh, but you aren't getting the camera back until I put those on my computer. You look so cute next to Dumbledore."

She continued glaring at him, but there was a glimmer of amusement in her eyes as she jumped to try and get the camera out of his grasp, mentally cursing when she realized that she had no chance of getting it back. Damn him being tall!

"Told ya, these pictures will suffice. Bye bye."

The glare vanished and was replaced with an amused shock as he ran off, taking her camera with him. Barely a second later, she gave chase. "Oi!" she called out, attempting not to laugh as she ran after him. She ignored the strange looks she was getting from other people in the museum, as well as some glares from the older visitors who were clearly more than a little irritated at the lively girl running through the place.

"Oi!"

Alastair laughed quietly, and tried to make himself unseen, which was kinda hard seeing as the only places he had to hide behind were glass cases, and she could so see him through those. Making sure he had enough time to find a place to hide, he then slipped behind a curtain and remained unseen, taking the camera out of his jeans' pockets to look at the pictures one more. When he heard footsteps, and someone going past the curtains, he grinned, poking his head out to confirm it was Lissa, and then he put the camera back into his pocket, sneaking up behind her, his lips close to her ear.

"One for me, zero for you." He whispered as if it were a game, smirking and ruffling her hair as he stepped back, then took off somewhere else before she could even turn around to look at him once. Oh, how he loved doing this! Further away, he found a better hiding place.

This was almost exciting to him; as if he was a five year old playing hide-and-seek for the first time ever. It was really quite nice, getting along with her so well was usually unusual. One did not get on with what were supposed to be wizards or witches of rival houses, but they seemed to be doing a rather good job of being here, together, acting friendly and play-fighting only briefly when one said something that set the other off.