In the ending of One Hot Stuck-Up Slytherin Girl, I told you guys I'd do another fic with Samantha, – just because I can't get enough of her – well, this is it! This fic puts Samantha on a whole different light and it's a lot different than my previous one, for instance, it's in third person, so I can show lots of point of views at the same time (a suggestion I had from a reviewer of Slytherin Girl). Let me know if you like it better (keep in mind I won't change styles in the middle of the fic, I'm way too paranoid about organization to do it, but I'll think about it the next time I start writing something).
Other thing you might notice is the name of the fic and the chapters – I got a bunch of my favourite rock 'n' roll songs and tried to match with the chapters, I will, of course, give credit to the band at the end of the chapters; I like to think that, if this fic ends up terrible, it will at least be an awesome playlist! Anyway, the name of the fic, "The Nature Of My Game", is a quote from the chorus of "Sympathy for the Devil", by the Rolling Stones (the Ozzy cover is also very good).
So, warnings: first of all, my fics feature gay characters, so if you don't like that, it's cool, go do something else; secondly, this one features a lot of infidelity and trickeries, as well as graphical description of sex scenes, so if it's not your cup of tea, back button for the win.
And, disclaimers: I don't own any of the songs here, I just borrowed some verses and I promise to give credit to the band in question (like I did above with Rolling Stones); Harry Potter, all its characters and scenarios are not mine, they are J.K. Rowling's; furthermore, the interpretation of Astoria Greengrass in this story is heavily influenced by all the Astorias in chikinita09 stories.
Finally, my eternal gratitude to my beta reader who heard me discuss the idea of this story endlessly, in an infinite babble, until couldn't find any more plot holes (I hope you guys can't find them either).
Now that we're done with all the pleasantries, on with the story!
Chapter 1.1: One hot angel
Samantha woke up groggily to the sound of the alarm clock. Her barely opened eyes wandered through the room and she sighed, forcing her memory a bit longer... oh, now she remembered: Hogwarts, that's where she was. She grimaced and put her hand on her forehead, thinking about the long year ahead of her, then glanced the clock – five thirty, time to get up.
Saying that Samantha had a strict morning routine, which she maintained with almost military discipline, was a gross understatement: classes at Hogwarts started normally at eight, but Samantha woke up everyday at five thirty; took a long shower; brushed her teeth with that whitening potion she managed to finally get it right during summer; made up her hair, using her own brewed variation of Sleekeazy; put her uniform and started to do her make up – that was the part that took most time, since the mirror in the seventh year's dormitory had a clear view of Daphne Greengrass' sleeping, almost naked form; no one was awake, so she didn't bother refraining from taking a glance, or two, or maybe stare blatantly for a bit.
At seven o'clock, she was ready for breakfast, save for her high heels, which she only put when both girls were awake. She choose her favourite pair and sat on the bed, waiting for signals of consciousness of both of her roommates – and there they are: Pansy's groan and tossing; Daphne's purr and stirring; the contrast between them was almost poetic.
Rule number one of Samantha's handbook for pretending you're straight: never look at Daphne Greengrass when she just woke up, unless you want to blow your cover – with that in mind, let's continue, so, where was she? Oh, yes, high heels, she had to put those on; also, an excellent pretext to look at the floor.
"Are you better, Sam?", she heard Daphne ask with her characteristic high-pitched voice. Better? Oh, yes, Samantha left right after sorting yesterday, saying she had a... what was it? A headache, maybe?
"Yes, much better, Daph, thank you", Samantha briefly looked at the girl's green eyes and flashed a smile.
"Oh, I didn't have the chance to show my new nightgown, then!", Oh, rats..., "my mom and I bought it in Paris! Isn't it gorgeous?", damn you, unavoidable exception for rule number one! Samantha raised her eyes – oh, my, Merlin!
"It's beautiful, Daph!", Samantha's eyes twinkled and she showed her dimples once again to the girl, trying to fix her gaze in Daphne's eyes as she rattled on excitedly about the piece of clothing. Hard task, since the nightgown was revealing to say the least: it was made from thin black silk, almost transparent, with black lace in the ends, so it was like looking at Daphne in her underwear – her small, black, lace underwear. However, during those years of pretense, Samantha became a professional actress, which made her handle the challenge outstandingly.
"Daph, I'm sorry, I have to go to breakfast early. Snape wanted to see me before Potions", she threw an adoring smile at the girl when she ended her babble – it was true, but mostly she said it because she wasn't that fond of playing with fire and she was finding the temptation of sneaking a glance at Daphne's beautiful body unbearable.
"Oh, alright, I'll take a shower and meet you there in a few"
Samantha breathed freely again when she walked into the empty common room. Dangerous situation, that one. Truth to be told, being over the crush she used to have on the blonde made things a lot easier, Daphne herself is the one to thank for that.
It all started in fifth year, a stupid game of truth or dare in a Saturday night. Malfoy snuck some bottles of firewhiskey in the boys' dormitory and gathered most of their colleagues to play. People drank and drank and, after a while, they started crashing on the beds and floor, until there was one a small, very inebriate group: Daphne, Blaise, Draco and Samantha. Oh, wait, no: the first three were truly intoxicated, but Samantha, she was smarter than that, so she took a dose of Sobering Potion and was very conscious of everything, only faking her drunken state.
"I dare you, Daphne, to kiss Samantha", Draco said in a slur and sneered, causing Daphne to glower at him.
"Oh, cool! And make it hot, Daph!", Blaise complemented between chuckles and nudged Draco.
"What? No!", Daphne had a profound look of disgust, predictably.
"Yeah, it's gross, Draco", Samantha frowned a bit.
"Do it! You don't have a choice, Daph", Malfoy laughed. She protested and protested, but Malfoy didn't even bend, so Daphne neared Samantha.
"I'm sorry about this, Sam", she whispered before she leaned in.
As cliche as it seems, time stopped for Samantha as she felt Daphne's lips on hers – for the first time, she lost control, kissing Daphne back a lot more enthusiastically than she should; lucky her the girl was lost in her own haze and just grabbed the back of Samantha's head to kiss her deeper. Then Daphne abruptly pulled away, causing Samantha to come down to earth.
"Oh, Merlin!", Draco and Blaise stood there open mouthed.
"Happy now?", Daphne snapped.
"Of course not! I wanna see that again!", Draco smiled mischievously.
"In your dreams, Draco", Samantha snapped.
"Yes, enough show for both of you. I'm going to sleep. Are you coming, Sam?"
"Yeah, I'm tired", Samantha got up with Daphne's help.
"Please tell me you're continuing this in your dormitory"
"Oh, Merlin, do us a favour and shut it, Draco", Daphne exclaimed irritably and the girls left to their dormitory in silence and laid in their respective beds.
"Hey, Sam, sorry about that kiss", Daphne suddenly said.
"It's ok, Daph, Draco was very persistent about it, it's not like you had a choice"
"Yes, Draco's such a prat when he wants to", Samantha chuckled at this, "anyway, if we're lucky, he'll just forget everything in the morning. It's kind of gross, I don't want to do it again", Samantha forcefully shut her eyes, "not that I don't find you pretty, that's not it, but we're both girls, you know?"
"Yes, I know, I totally agree", Samantha felt the sharp pang.
"Argh, my head hurts, I need to sleep. Good night, Sam, sweet dreams!"
"Good night, Daphne", she said inaudibly. Sweet dreams, huh? It was almost ironic, since Samantha didn't get a wink of sleep that night. She couldn't stop thinking about Daphne, the kiss and how she yearn to do it again. The other girl's words replayed in her head endlessly, until she almost went mad: 'it's kind of gross', 'we're both girls'; she had to apply tons of make up to hide the black circles under her eyes the next day.
She barely could hide her apprehension when approaching the Slytherin table for breakfast, too. Would people comment on how she seemed very excited when kissing Daphne? Oh, Merlin, please let it not be the case!
"Hey, Samantha", Draco smiled charmingly.
"Hi, Draco", she managed a lovely smile, taking a seat next to him.
"So, did you sleep well?", Draco asked, apparently idly. Breathe, Samantha, breathe.
"Yes, thank you, and yourself?"
"I slept like a rock, but I woke up with a terrible pounding in my head"
"Oh, poor you", she stroked his hair a bit.
"So, do you remember the end of last night?", he seemed genuinely puzzled, but Samantha decided not to risk it.
"No, drank too much for that", she ended with a smirk, which earned a likewise reply.
"Oh, bloody hell! No one does, then. I asked Blaise and Daphne, they both said it was almost Obliviated of their heads!", Samantha's eyes lit up – thank you, Merlin!
Even though the kiss disappeared from everyone's mind, it caused a turmoil in Samantha's. For months she slept poorly because she couldn't help her guilt for wanting it again. She'd go out with the boys, as she always did, and frustrate herself more and more – their kisses didn't come even close to what Daphne Greengrass unwilling had done to her; she didn't even want to go further with them, unlike all the other girls in her year. Her desperation grew so much she felt the need to talk to someone about it, and there was only one person in the entire world she felt confident enough to do it: her uncle Sirius Black.
"Hey, Sam!", he greeted cheerfully.
"Hi, uncle", she smiled and sipped her tea.
"So, you wanted to talk to me about something...", her expression darkened.
"Yes"
"You seem nervous, Sam. Don't be, no matter how bad it is, it'll be fine"
"No, it won't"
"Tell me, then, and I'll prove you wrong", he smile, making her smile back. She sighed and told him the story.
"So, you fancy girls, then? Ok, what's the big problem then? I think I have missed it", he chuckled, earning a grin from his niece.
"Uncle!"
"Come on, Sam! It's nothing to be ashamed about. That's you, and I'm proud of you, no matter what", and he pulled her into a bear hug.
"Thanks", she beamed. Then he pulled away and asked:
"So, this Daphne girl, are you going after her? You seem to be pretty into her", he smirked and she made a face.
"Heavens, no! She thinks it's gross, remember?"
"I do, but if I understood correctly, she kissed you for quite a while"
"She was drunk"
"And you agreed with her, Sam, and you weren't drunk!"
"Of course I did! What was I supposed to say?"
"Well, I can teach you a few pick up lines for that", she laughed contently, for the first time in a long while.
Since then, Samantha owned up to her crush internally, though she maintained the fact in secrecy, because the traditional values carried down her family wouldn't approve such behaviours. She'd often take a good look at the girl when she was sleeping, a habit that persists – not that it was easy to resist: Daphne, like most offsprings of traditional wizarding families, was ridiculously, stereotypically beautiful. She had long, straight blonde hair; big, bright green eyes, with long, dark lashes; high cheek bones and naturally pink toned cheeks; fair, uniform toned skin; a thin, elegant nose and full, light pink lips.
The pretense worked very well – Samantha went out with boys once in a while, though their boldness was starting to disturb her; Daphne and the rest of the school seemed to not have a clue about Samantha's preferences and she was in peace with the fact.
Of course, with time passing, Samantha became more and more eager to go out with girls, so as soon as the school year ended, she started elaborating a plan to do it without being discovered, which involved a nice stock of Polyjuice Potion, a strand of hair of a random beautiful girl and gay muggle clubs. However, Polyjuice was too weak for her ends – since its duration is one exact hour – so she started studying Potions really hard to attempt to modify the formula, which made her eventually take a liking of it.
Her summer effort paid off very well, since she performed outstandingly the following year – better than the top student, Granger – and earned an invitation from Snape to join him as his assistant after a few months, which she accept without much thought; Snape's liking of her and her work also granted her a prefect title, which left both her uncle and her mother very proud. Her sixth year seemed perfect, until...
"Are you sure, Daphne?", a muffled boy's voice was heard in the silent girls' dormitory. Samantha was quiet in her bed, trying to sleep.
"Yes, you coward, people are all sleeping", followed by a kiss sound. Oh, no, please, no... "now, come here", she purred and there was that kissing sound again, "Oh, aren't you a naughty boy", and it was followed by light moans. Light moans progressed to breathy ones and screams, from both of them. Clothes were eventually tossed to the floor carelessly and the bed started to creak – ugh.
Samantha cringed, wanting desperately to disappear, but that didn't happen; she didn't fall asleep either, she couldn't. She should interrupt them, she knew it, but she didn't find the strength; she was paralyzed – she stood there quiet and heard it all, feeling her heart break with every sound Daphne made.
The couple finished, the boy snuck out and Daphne apparently fell asleep. Samantha didn't, her mind too full, so she decided to use her prefect privileges to take a night walk. She took her pair of heels in hand and walked out of the dormitory bare foot. She let herself fall on the couch near the fire and stared into it for a while, trying to erase those sounds she just heard, or the sharp pain that took over. She put a hand to her face and felt her cheek wet – she didn't remember when she started crying, she recalled only closing her eyes in an attempt to make it go away. She put the heels on and exited the common room, only coming back when she was barely keeping herself standing.
Needless to say, she didn't get much sleep that night and, when she thought it couldn't get worse...
"Sam!", Daphne smiled.
"Hi, Daph", she tried to sound enthusiastic, but noticeably failed.
"Oh, what happened? You sound terrible!", oh, shoot!
"It's nothing, I slept poorly", Daphne looked apologetically at that and Samantha realized the huge mistake she made saying that.
"Oh", she pursed her lips and averted her eyes, "I guess that's my fault", she bit her lower lip, "I'm really sorry", she looked back at Samantha with her eyes a bit wide.
"Why would it be your fault?", Samantha raised an eyebrow and mustered a smirk.
"So you didn't hear?"
"No, hear what?", Samantha sneered lazily, trying to fake her tiredness better. Daphne opened a timid, bright smile – great idea, Samantha, ask the girl about her latest shag you've been trying to forget!
"Me and Draco... slept together last night", she said, with the last part in a whisper. Samantha used all her strength to avoid grimacing, widening her smirk instead.
"Was it good?", she smiled, sounding convincingly curious.
"Oh, yes, he's a god!", of course, being Daphne, that drove the girl into a jabber about the topic and Samantha cursed herself for being such a good actress, "but I bet you know what I'm talking about, right, Sam?"
"What, sorry?", no, no, she knew nothing about Draco's sexual expertise, nor she was a tiny bit interested about knowing.
"Didn't you and Draco sleep together already?", what. the. bloody. hell! Ew, no!
"Me and Draco?", Samantha half-smirked.
"Yes, you silly. Come on, don't play dumb, you can tell me", she looked away for a bit: that phrase triggered an idea in Samantha's head – she wouldn't deny it, so people would still think she's straight without really needing to actually go to bed with the guys she went out; she couldn't confirm it, though, because if the truth surfaced, she'd be perceived as a liar. Yes, yes, that seemed perfect! Finally, she smiled fully to Daphne, looking straight into her green eyes.
"Who told you that?"
"Draco"
"Isn't he a conceited bastard?", she shook her head with a smirk plastered in her face, in mock disapproval.
"How was it?", Daphne shrieked and Samantha sneered wider with the girl taking the bait so easily.
"Well, you know, obviously. I have to go, Daph, Professor Snape asked for a report due tomorrow, I have work to finish", Samantha walked away.
"Ah, no! You are so telling me, Samantha Lestrange!", Daphne chased after.
The end of the school year was a blur to Samantha. She spent it hearing all the rumours about her and boys – boys she did nothing but make out for a tiny little while – and mostly, she tried to forget Daphne, though it was near impossible with the girl sharing the dormitory with her, which caused her decision to spent the least amount of time possible in the Slytherin dungeon. Instead, she focused all of her energies in her research for Professor Snape and earned credit enough with him to try a research of her own. It took a few more months, but she finally achieved a Polyjuice with sufficient duration – one entire day; to say Snape was impress is an understatement.
With her new improved potion, her summer vacations were quite a cure to her infatuation, because she was free to sleep with girls – that's exactly what she did; she slept with girl after girl until Daphne and their shared kiss became just another kiss in her mind.
Finally, there she was, in the first day on her seventh year, with her blonde curls neatly framing her face, eyeliner drawing her hazel greenish eyes, mascara perfectly applied on her long lashes; prefect badge shining proudly and her black stilettos clacking against the dungeon floor, attracting all the attention on the corridors to her long, toned legs, making she grin with satisfaction at every blatant stare she received on her way to the Great Hall. Finally, things were the way they should be: her way.
There's part 1 (of 2) of chapter 1, I hope you liked the development on Samantha – I know Slytherin Girl is also Samantha-centric, but since it's narrated by Hermione, I couldn't show all of that without it turning out terribly, so I refrained to do it there. Here, though, I can show whatever I want – hail third person narrator!
Oh, and the song for both parts of chapter 1 is "Rock 'n' Roll Train", by AC/DC.