Notes: Thanks again for everything guys! Here's a chapter! Soon they'll get longer again. Also, we're almost up to Hogwarts. Just a long quick Romania chapter and then we're there! *cheers*

Competitions and Challenges: None.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I only own my idea and character(s) that are far from perfect human beings, thank you.

THE GAME

HARRY POTTER: THE JOURNEY OF AN ENGIMA

Nikolai stared up at the roof of his room with dull eyes, his lips parted slightly and taking in slow breaths.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

He tried to calm his heart down, but it wouldn't stop beating quickly, fueled by his thoughts that tumbled around like a hurricane inside his head. A whimper escaped his lips, and he brought a shaky pale hand up to cover his mouth, so to not disturb Luminita who resided in the room next to his. His eyes were rimmed with red and had a glassy sheen to them, and he turned to face the window in his small room to glance outside at the half moon.

'I miss Mum and Dad,' he thought as he clenched his fists in his sheets. Something wet and salty started dribbling down his cheek, but he didn't pay it much mind. 'I want to go home.'

But he couldn't.

His memories conflicted with one another, and the longer he spent in the game, the harder it was to realize that it wasn't in fact true. Several times he had gotten too immersed in it, and was completely startled from an alien thought of 'Mum's enchiladas are better than other-Mum's', which then caused him to panic and to have Lucian and Mary stare at him worriedly as his cheeks were drained of colour.

It felt so real though…

(He wasn't quite sure what was going on anymore.)

"Excuse me?" Nikolai hesitantly rocked back and forth on his heels. "Sir?"

The old man didn't bother showing him that he was listening, instead gluing his watery eyes onto his paper and blatantly ignoring him.

"Sir? Mister? Old 'n wrinkly? Smelly fish? George? Praise the Alamo? Sweet cheeks?"

The old man's fingers scrunched up on the side of the paper, and he growled and lowered it. "What?" He hissed, spit flying slightly.

Nikolai just blinked innocently. "Sir- er, do you have another name? I suppose Old and Wrinkly would work perfectly well, but-"

"Blasted boy!" the old man lowered his paper into his lap and glared at Nikolai. "Just call me Levi. It'll be easier."

"Okay, Levi. I was wondering…"

"Get on with it, brat."

"It's becoming harder to remember my, er, reality."

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you're really here about? Didn't you bother reading the instruction manual?"

Nikolai flushed red. "Well, I was reading it, and then I got sucked into that weird waiting room and didn't get to finish it!"

"Honestly…" Levi rolled his eyes. "The longer you're in the game the more you forget about it. Tell me you at least read the rules. They explain that much."

"I did read them once."

"Well, that honestly surprises me." Levi said with sarcasm. "I'm amazed that you can even read."

"Oi!" Nikolai scowled.

"Anyways, that's why you come to me every week. You and I have a chat like this, you remember it, you feel a little better, you go home and forget it all, and you come back. Hehe. You know, in the prototype, the people even forgot about the meeting and wouldn't come." Levi sniggered. "How amusing that was."

Nikolai blinked and paled. "So… they thought they were really part of Harry Potter?"

"Shush, boy, don't say the name so loud. They've got spies everywhere." Levi hushed him. Nikolai wasn't sure whether 'they' meant the Dark Lord or the Game Managers, both seemed equally terrifying. "But yes," Levi continued. "They really did. Bit of a nasty shock for them when they found out."

The Romanian's mouth popped open. "You just quoted Seamus Finnegan." He pointed a finger at the TPIRP.

Levi scowled. "After spending time working on this game and working in this game for over twenty years makes you remember stuff, brat. If I have to hear another Sorting song I'm going to rip out my hair and do the moonwalk into the Lake where I shall passionately make love to the Giant Squid."

Nikolai blanched. "That's oddly… descriptive."

"It better be."

[New Goals Earned!

Mind-Altering - 600 points

Minor Character Quote - 250 points

Total Until Level Three: 1,290/5,000 points]

"So, you're going to Romania." Eiríkur raised an eyebrow, twirling his spoon around in his empty bowl of ice cream.

(Nikolai wasn't sure how he could put it all down. First of all, the kid was tiny, and second of all, it was a giant sundae that he had only had for five minutes. Even Nikolai was only halfway done with his.)

The two of them sat in the ice cream parlour on Diagon Alley, Mary and Irina off running errands together with Luminita, leaving Eiríkur and Nikolai alone to chat. Diagon Alley was one of the safest parts of the Wizarding World, and the small back corner where the two were situated was directly across from the kitchen, so they had little worries.

"Yep." Nikolai spooned in a mouthful of Bertie Bott's ice cream, wrinkling his nose a bit as the taste of cherry and guacamole assaulted his mouth. "Ugh. Why did I pick this flavour again?"

Eiríkur shrugged, and the platinum blond handed him a glass of water, which he accepted thankfully. "No idea. Romania though? For how long?"

"Eh, probably about a month. We're going to see all the relatives and that, not to mention tour around. Mum and Pa said that we might also spend a little bit more time and go to Bulgaria or Hungary or something, but we're not sure." Nikolai smiled.

Eiríkur looked relieved. "Ah, that's good. When will it be?"

"Mmm…" Nikolai bit into the chocolate part of his ice cream. "Probably in two months or so."

"That's when Mother and I are going back to Iceland." Eiríkur blinked. "Well, isn't that lucky."

"Ha. How long are you going to be gone?"

Eiríkur shrugged, and stole a bit of Nikolai's Bertie Bott's. Nikolai didn't fight it, instead watching Eiríkur's face to see what kind of flavour he got. Much to his disappointment, Eiríkur just grinned and said simply, "Cherry."

"Darn it. You're so cheating somehow." Nikolai complained. "So, how's Bondevik?"

The Icelandic child blinked. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Well, he always follows you around. Knowing him he's probably here right now." Nikolai replied.

Eiríkur twisted his head to the side and rested his chin on his palm. "Lukas isn't that bad. And he just is always at the right place and the right time."

"Emphasize on always."

"Shush."

"Why do you defend him anyways?" Nikolai asked curiously.

Eiríkur blinked. "I don't."

"You just did."

The boy scratched the back of his head. "It's, er, complicated. I'm not allowed to tell you."

"Will it topple the government and trigger the apocalypse?"

"According to Mum, yes."

Nikolai nodded. "I will accept that- only that, and nothing less."

Eiríkur rolled his eyes. "Of course."

[New Goals Earned!

What The Hell Is Up With Lukas - 100 points

Romania and Iceland - 900 points

God I Hate Bertie's - 520 points

Total Until Level Three: 2,810/5,000 points]