Tainted
Chapter 1: New School
"Nikki Prescott"
I stared at my name that was written on the front of my school file in black calligraphy. The journey to Hogwarts had been a long one. Since I was only starting the school in January, I had to make my own way to the castle. I ended up on a muggle boat that went slower than a snail on a bad day. I would normally have apparated but there was a ban on the school that would not allow me to do so. But after four long and painfully slow hours, I had arrived at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I was now sat before Dumbledore himself in his oval office.
"Now Nikki, I received a letter from your mother explaining your…unusual sleeping patterns and me and the entire board here at Hogwarts thought it best that you get your own room." My heart jumped for joy when he said this. I had practically begged my mother to make sure that I had my own room. I couldn't stand the thought of possibly sharing a room after Beauxbatons. In my former school in France, each pupil was given their own basic apartment which had a small kitchen, living room etc. This was because it was a well known fact that not as many people who lived in France knew about the magic world and therefore there were not a great deal of pupils.
I myself was not French, but I had moved there when I was ten because my mother had always dreamed of living there. But now, she had married an extremely rich wizard and so we had moved back to England. I liked William, my mother's new husband and I guess he made her happy. It was then that Dumbledore spoke and pulled me out of the trance that I was in.
"Now, there's just one thing left to do." He looked to the tattered old hat that was sat on his desk. I had heard about this hat. The Sorting Hat. I knew also about the four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. I didn't really mind which house I was in. I had gotten my own room and that was all I really cared about. But nevertheless, Dumbledore picked up the hat and walked towards me, his cloak trailing behind him. I liked Dumbledore; there was something in his eyes that made me feel that I could trust him. He looked so wise and kind.
"May I?" I nodded at his request and he gently placed the hat on my head. We waited for about a minute and then the hat began to speak.
"Hmm…an interesting case is this one. She shows traits of being brave and loyal, both personality traits of a Gryffindor but yet…there is something in her that screams Slytherin. Hmm, a tough decision." A couple of seconds past and then the house almost screamed "SLYTHERIN!" Dumbledore removed the hat from my head and then summoned a house elf.
"Nelly, would you be so kind as to go and fetch Professor Snape and bring him to me?" The elf bowed and then disappeared as quickly as she had come. A few minutes later and there was a knock on the door. "You may enter Severus." The wooden door opened and in came a man dressed in black and with shoulder length black hair. "Nikki, this is Severus Snape. He will be your potions teacher as well as the head of your house here at Hogwarts. He knows where you will be sleeping and he will show you where your room is now." Professor Snape gave me a slight smile.
"Hello Nikki, if you would follow me." I looked at Dumbledore again and I smiled at him, a gesture which he kindly returned.
"Have a good day Nikki; I hope that you will enjoy your first and last year in Hogwarts tremendously." With that, I walked out of the room and followed Snape down the revolving spiral staircase and into the long corridor. It was quite quiet as it was already eleven o'clock at night. Snape didn't say a word as he led me through the twisting hallways. We turned down a long corridor and the stopped when we reached a magnificent gold door. He opened the door for me and I stopped in amazement as I walked into the room.
There was a huge fireplace roaring at the centre of the left wall and there were two black couches facing it. The wallpaper was silver and gold and along the wall above the fireplace, there were four crests each with the Hogwart's houses on them. There was a Persian rug lining the cream carpet and there was a large bookcase behind the couches. I could see a hallway at the back of the room but I couldn't see where it went. There were two doors on the back wall and Snape lead me to the left hand one. "This will be your room Miss Prescott, I am sure that you will be able to find your way from here." He turned to leave.
"Goodnight Professor." I said as he was just about to exit. I was certain that I saw a smile tug at his lips.
"Goodnight Miss Prescott." And with that he turned on his heel, walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. I smiled to myself and then opened the door and switched on the light. The room was absolutely stunning. The back wall was covered in black and white wallpaper and in the centre of the back wall there was a four poster queen sized bed with a black and white patterned duet cover and pillows. I opened a door on my left and entered a walk in closet that could have been a bedroom in itself. Next there was the bathroom. There was a bath Jacuzzi in the corner and a walk in power shower. Everything gleamed white and there was a huge mirror above a marble sink. I noticed a patio door next to the bed. I opened it and walked out to see that I was standing on a balcony that overlooked the see. The sight was extravagant. And I could see for miles and miles on end. That's when I noticed the other patio door that was to the right of mine and I remembered to other door that was next to my bedroom. I wondered whose room that was is. I was too tired to find out that night though so I walked back into my room and collapsed on my bed entering into the land of dreams.
I opened my eyes and for a second I forgot where I was, but then I looked at my trunk and remembered. I walked into the bathroom, stripped off and entered the shower. The jets of water felt like heaven on my back and I had to force myself out of the bathroom. I dried my hair and it fell naturally straight on my back. That was the one thing I liked about my appearance, my hair. It was jet black and fell to about my elbows but I had layered it so much that it was a bit spiky on the top but I loved it. I put on the uniform that was hanging in my closet. I frowned at my appearance in the full length mirror. Something definitely wasn't right. I hitched up my skirt a couple of notches and undid a button on my blouse. I mean I'm not a slag but I'm not exactly a nun either. I smiled in appreciation and the put on my robe. I lightly traced my fingers over the Slytherin badge. I liked the symbol, the snakes looked so elegant. I checked my bag again and was surprised when I heard a knock at my door. I opened it and saw a boy about seventeen with black hair and a handsome face. I had to hide a laugh when his jaw dropped as he saw me.
"H-hi," He stuttered out. He took a deep breath. "I'm Blaise, I was told to come and take you to breakfast. I'm a Slytherin, like yourself." He was quite handsome and I found myself stepping a little closer to him.
"Hi, I'm Nikki and I'd love to come to breakfast with you, just give me a second so I can grab my bag." I quickly picked up my bag and swung it over my shoulder and then returned to Blaise. "Shall we?" He lead the way down corridors and steps, everything looked so much more different in the light. We were talking the whole way about my old school and his classes, I really liked this guy.
"So yeah, the first thing we've got is charms and then double potions with the Gryffindors." His voice went sour when he said the last bit.
"Hang on am I missing something? Do we not like the Gryffindors?" He chuckled at me.
"Ancient rivalry." He answered and I found my self giggling away with him. I could hear people chatting and laughing and we turned through some double doors that lead into the biggest room that I had ever seen. There were floating candles in the air and when I looked up, I could see the morning sky. There were four large tables and a fifth at the end where all of the teachers were sitting.
"This is the great hall." I looked in pure awe as Blaise lead me to the furthest table to the right. I was slightly embarrassed when I noticed hat most of the eyes in the room were looking at me but still I kept my chin up and walked swiftly behind Blaise. All around me I could hear whispers.
"Hey, that's the new girl I was telling you about."
"Damn that new girl is hot."
"Look at that new girl, walking around here like she owns the place."
The last remark made me chuckle and I looked at the girl who had said it. She was quite a small girl but was obviously in the top year like me. She had short dark brown hair and a pixie like nose. She wasn't the prettiest of girls but it was obvious that she tried to make up for that with make-up. Her shirt was so low that I could almost see her breasts and she was pushing them out like she was trying to make them look bigger. Blaise took a seat opposite her and he scooted over so I could sit down. I took the seat, said thank you and then turned to the girl and held out my hand.
"Hi, I'm Nikki. I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting." She took my hand and reluctantly shook it.
"I'm Pansy, Pansy Parkinson…You know…the Parkinsons?" She looked at me as if I should know who she was. "Daughter of Richard Parkinson…the air to Parkinson Corp?" She was getting frustrated now and I had to use all my will not to laugh out loud.
"Sorry, it doesn't ring any bells." The whole table laughed and Pansy looked like she wanted to rip my throat out.
"Nice one Nikki!" Blaise said as he laughed, he turned to me and smiled and then turned to the boy sat next to him.
"Hey Nikki, this is Draco." He leaned back a little so that I could see who he was referring to. I had to take in a quiet breath when I saw him, he had platinum blonde hair that he somehow managed to pull off and it went down to the bottom of his ears. He had striking features, high cheekbones, perfect lips and his eyes were a dazzling grey colour. He smiled at me and grabbed my hand.
"Hello." He pressed his lips against the back of my hand and I almost jumped from the cool sensation that I got when he kissed my hand. I needed to stay calm and in control so I pretended that his action didn't affect me in any way, shape or form.
"Hi." I smiled a smile that practically yelled "I'm not interested" and then drew back my hand and turned back to Blaise.
"So, I hear that this is the school that the famous Harry Potter goes to is that correct?" The moment I said Harry Potter's name I saw Blaise and Draco's eyes flare. "I'm sorry; may I ask what's going on?" I saw Blaise look over in the opposite direction and I followed his gaze to see a boy with glasses and messy black hair sat at the Gryffindor table. "Ah so that's him."
"He's nothing special trust me." Draco butted in and I turned my head to look at him. He looked fuming. "Us Slytherins feel a natural hatred towards Potter, it'll come to you soon enough." He practically spat when he said the name Potter, I had to gulp down a laugh.
"So anyway…where's our next classroom?" Blaise's eyes softened but Draco looked away, it was obvious that he was still angry.
"I'll take you there, it's just across the courtyard really and we'd better get going if we don't want to be late." I looked around me and noticed that the great hall was nearly empty apart from us and a couple of other groups. We stood up and once again Blaise lead the way but this time, Draco was with us. I was just about to walk out of the door when I noticed that the boy we were talking about before, Harry Potter that is, was staring at me. I quickly avoided his gaze and headed out of the Great Hall.
Charms went by quite quickly. I found the lesson rather intriguing. The lesson in itself was boring and I couldn't even remember what it was about but I was sat next to Blaise and we just chatted throughout the whole lesson. Draco was sat on the desk next to us with girls constantly fawning over him. I was really starting to like Blaise though. He listened to what I had to say and he seemed to take my feelings into consideration. The bell went sooner than I'd hoped but me and Blaise talked all the way to potions class. I could see the Gryffindors filing in to the classroom and the looks between the two houses were highly amusing. I waited at the back of the class looking for an available seat as Blaise was sat next to Draco in this particular lesson. I saw Harry Potter looking at me again. He was sat on the second row from the front and it looked like there was an empty space next to him. I walked over casually.
"Is this seat taken?" I asked him with a friendly smile on my face.
"No, not at all…please sit." I sat down and pulled out my parchment and quill from my bag. I looked in front of me and saw a brunette haired girl looking at me.
"Hi I'm Hermione you must be Nikki." I smiled at her and noticed the gleaming Head Girl badge that was pinned to her robe.
"Harry, what the hell? Why's there someone in my pla-" I turned around to see a red haired boy with lots of freckles staring contently at me. He then shifted his gaze to Harry and something seemed to click inside his brain.
"Oh umm…never mind me." I couldn't help but giggle as the boy sat down next to Hermione. It was obvious that the seat that I was sat in was taken. "I'm Ron by the way, you must be…"
"Nikki, Hello." I smiled at him and saw his cheeks turned scarlet. This was going to be fun. Just then I noticed Draco staring at me but as soon as I caught his gaze, he turned away. Professor Snape entered through a door at the back of the room and silenced the noisy pupils.
"Class, before we begin today's lesson does anybody know what I would have if I added newt eggs and nettle extract together?" Hermione's hand shot up and everyone (including Snape) rolled their eyes. "Miss Granger?"
"You would get a hair growth potion." She stated with a smile on her face. Snape looked shocked.
"Actually Miss Granger, that answer is incorrect." Everyone in the class looked ecstatic with shock and Hermione looked mortified. "Now does anyone else know the answer? Anyone at all?" I looked around and slowly raised my hand. "Ah, Miss Prescott."
"Umm…would it be an attraction potion?"
"Correct, 20 house points to Slytherin." All of the Gryffindors groaned but all of the Slytherins basically cheered my name and I could feel a smile stretching across my face. The rest of the lesson was quite easy. I decided not to tell Snape that me and some of the girls in my old school had accidently made the attraction potion whilst trying to make a love potion, no. I decided to keep that information to myself. We were told to discuss our notes within groups of fours so Ron and Hermione turned around to face me and Harry.
"So Nikki, any hobbies?" Ron asked me and Hermione scowled at him obviously wanting to actually do what the professor said. "Aw come on, lighten up! It's her first day."
"Well I like drawing and ballet; I've been dancing all my life really. How about you? What do you all do for fun around here?" They told me about how Ron and Harry played Quidditch and that there were matches every now and then.
"Actually there's one tomorrow, you should come." Harry invited.
"I'd love to." It turned out that tomorrow was the big match between Slytherin and Gryffindor and that there was a huge pitch at the bottom of the grounds. Apparently, Draco and Blaise were on the team as well and Harry and Draco both played Seeker. After that it was lunch and Blaise took me to the Great Hall once again and Draco followed. The food was delicious and I decided to bring up the Quidditch match.
"So I was told that there was a game tomorrow?"
"Yeah it's us verses Gryffindor. Trust me; this is the match that everyone has been waiting for. You should get a scarf or something you know to support your team; I mean that is if you are going?" Blaise couldn't hint to save his life.
"I'd love to; tell me, where do I get this scarf?" I assumed that there would be a shop or something on the grounds.
"Well I'm sure Draco'll lend you one, if you ask nicely that is." A smirk tugged on Blaise's lips but Draco had beaten him to it and was fully smirking.
"Draco, can I borrow your scarf for tomorrow?" I said simply, Draco and Blaise exchanged a look.
"Sorry, just wasn't nice enough." I shook my head and rolled my eyes and the two boys carried on smirking.
"Fine, you want nice, I'll give you nice." I stood up and walked behind Draco and knelt down so I was right next to his ear. "Draco," I whispered and sighed "I really, really need to borrow your Slytherin scarf tomorrow so that I can cheer you on." I moaned slightly in his ear "And if you do this nice thing for me…well I might just do a nice thing for you." He turned around to look at me and I bit my bottom lip in what I hope was a slow and sexy way and then I sat down in my original place next to Blaise. I was pretty sure that no one else could hear what I had just said as their faces were all filled with curiosity. They all looked at Draco.
"God, I'll give her anything she wants." He sighed out and everyone cheered and looked at me with big grins on their faces.
"Wanna borrow my scarf baby?" A lad sat a couple of seats down said and I just smiled, I could feel my cheeks going pink.
I was just walking out of the Great Hall when I felt an arm pull gently on my shoulder.
"Still wanna borrow my scarf?" I turned around and my eyes met Draco's.
"Of course I do, I don't ask nicely for nothing." He chuckled and then motioned for me to follow him. He led me down corridors that looked strangely familiar. It was only when we reached to hallway leading to the golden door that I realised what was going on but I still didn't say anything. He held the door open for me and walked to the right door that was next to mine.
"Wait…this is your dorm?"
"Well yeah, where's yours?" He asked me, still oblivious. I pointed towards the left door and he looked surprised. "How did you swing that? I had to become Head Boy to get a room of my own." I laughed.
"According to my mother's letter, I have a sleeping disorder and it wouldn't be fair to anybody else if I slept in a room with them. Hang on, if this is the head boy and head girl's quarters, why isn't Hermione here?"
"Ah yes, I saw you taking to Granger in potions. She didn't want to leave her friends. I however jumped at the chance of having my own space." He opened his door and turned on the light to reveal his room. It was magnificent. There was a king size bed in the centre of the back wall like in my room but his was gigantic. The colour scheme was green and silver and the colours contrasted superbly. The layout was basically the same as mine but he had customised everything. He walked through the door and gestured for me to follow and then he headed to the emerald chest of drawers and began searching through the second drawer down. I took a few steps forward and continued to silently survey my surroundings.
"So, what are your first impressions of Hogwarts?" he asked whilst continuing to rummage through his drawer.
"Actually, I think I could grow to love it here. I mean the grounds are great, the people are nice and…well…everything here is just…beautiful." I could see him smile slightly. He seemed to find what he was looking for and he turned around with a green and silver striped scarf.
"You must love Slytherin; it's got the same colour scheme as your room." I stated the obvious and laughed quietly. He smiled at me.
"I guess I just owe it a lot."
"How so?" I asked, intrigued.
"It's hard to explain." He stretched out his hand to give me the scarf and I could see that I would not be getting an actual answer so I decided to drop it…for now. I took the scarf and smiled gratefully.
"Thank you. I'll give it back after the game." I turned on my heel to walk out of the room but then I remembered something. "Hey umm…are pupils allowed to use empty classroom's after class?" he seemed puzzled yet at the same time curious.
"Yeah, you just have to put everything back the way it was. Why?" He looked at me and I decided to play his game.
"No reason, just wondered." I walked out of the room and into my own. I chucked the scarf on my bed and went straight to my trunk which I still had yet to unpack. I rooted through my clothes until I found my white leotard, black tights and legwarmers and a baggy yet stylish purple tee shirt. I headed out of the common room and went off in search of an empty classroom. The first one I checked had a few pupils in it and the second had too many desks. I was near the north tower when I found a suitable classroom. It looked like a transfiguration room and I cast a few spells to move all of the desks to the side of the room. I enchanted a symphony to play and then I began to stretch. I rested my foot on one of the desks and brought my arms over my head so that my hands were clasped around my toes. After about fifteen minutes of stretching, I began to dance. My movements weren't choreographed as I let the music guide me. I started out by doing a couple of pirouettes and then some complex spins. I wasn't pushing myself too far but I still hoped that I was being graceful. I let my mind daydream as I moved around the room. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a chair move behind me and I turned around sharply to see my intruder.
"Sorry," Blaise was stood next to the door "I came to your room and you weren't there and I asked Draco if he had seen you and he said you said something about an empty classroom so I came looking for you…you're an amazing dancer." I could feel my cheeks blush. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about honestly, you have some serious talent."
"How long were you watching?" I asked.
"Not long, just about five minutes. I would've said something earlier but truth be told I was speechless…you looked so beautiful."
"Thank you." I smiled at him and when he smiled back I felt the earlier embarrassment drain from my mind. "So, you said you were looking at me?" I stopped the music as I spoke.
"Yeah umm…" He walked a few steps closer to me and shifted uncomfortably "actually I was kind of going to ask you out, I know I've only just met you this morning but it just feels…good when I'm with you." I smiled, happy that he felt exactly as I did.
"I'd love to," he looked surprised but happy at the same time "just let me shower and get changed first." He offered to walk me to my room, an offer that I accepted. He said that h would chill out with Draco anyway while he waited for me. He looked really good tonight, he was wearing baggy jeans and a grey tee shirt with a pop art design printed on the front. I left him in the common room as I rushed into my room. My head was an absolute mess. What was I going to wear? I dived in the shower and then charmed my hair to dry instantly. My hair hung naturally straight down my back and I puffed up my spiky layers. I applied a tad of eyeliner and then headed back to my unpacked trunk. I decided on black faded skinny jeans and a white tank top with a smiley face on it that gave me a great cleavage. I checked my appearance in the full length mirror and grabbed my red hoodie.
Blaise wasn't in the common room so I turned to Draco's door and knocked lightly.
"Come in." I opened the door and looked around. Blaise and Draco were sat on the emerald couches against the left wall. They were both looking at me like they had never seen a girl before. Draco quickly recovered and looked away but Blaise continued to stare at me.
"Wow," he finally managed to speak and I rolled my eyes "you look…amazing."
"My god, I'm not even dressed up, are we going?" Blaise nodded and stood up slowly and muttered something to Draco and walked through the door that I was holding open.
"Thanks again for the scarf." I smiled at Draco.
"No problem…Blaise is right, you look beautiful." I smiled at him and then walked out of the room closing the door behind me. What was that all about? I shook the question out of my head and turned to face Blaise. He was smiling at me.
"So, where to?" I asked.
"Well I thought that we could go and walk by the lake and then tonight there's a party tonight…well I say party, there's about ten of us meeting up in the great hall tonight at eleven." We were heading down the steps of the castle as he spoke.
"Isn't that a little late, I thought there were rules about that. Not that I have any problem breaking those rules but, won't we get caught?" Surely there would be someone who looks out for people out at night.
"Well, Draco's head boy and it's his night on patrol tonight so he said why don't we all meet him at the Great Hall." I shrugged as if to say "fair enough" and we walked to the edge of the lake. I took my cigarettes out of the back pocket of my jeans and lit up. I inhaled and turned o see Blaise looking at me funnily.
"What…you don't smoke?" He looked at the cigarette in my hand and then back to my face.
"I think Draco does but, I've never really tried it…do you mind?" He gestured towards my hand and I understood what he meant. I handed him the cigarette and he brought it to his lips and, as I had just done, he inhaled. For a second he looked as if he was about to cough but then he took another drag.
"You have that one." I lit another cigarette. After we had finished we made the cigarette butts disappear and then continued to walk along the lake. We chatted about school and our friends. We talked about each others family and our hobbies and I found myself having an extremely good time. Before I knew it, it had gotten dark.
2We should get going, it's ten to eleven." Blaise took my hand as we walked back up to the school. We had to be quiet as everyone else was in bed and at ten o'clock; no one was allowed to be out of their dorms unless they were either the head boy or girl. We walked into the Great Hall and I could see a faint glow from about four candles lighting the far right corner of the room. We came closer and I could see a couple of people that I recognised from earlier that day and a couple of people that I didn't. I could see Draco sat with a girl on either side of him. Everyone's heads seemed to turn our way once they realised that we had arrived.
"Hi, I'm Nikki." I said to a blonde haired girl who looked about my age.
"I'm Luna; it's a pleasure to meet you." I smiled at her and she returned the gesture. Draco stood up, looked at me and then gathered everyone's attention.
"Everyone has arrived now so it's time to break out the party favours." People cheered as a brunette haired girl produced a crate full of bottles of Vodka and various other alcoholic drinks. I smiled knowing that I was in for a fun night. The bottles were passed around one between two so me and Blaise shared one. The first gulp seemed to burn down my throat but then I felt my senses slacken and drunk more than my half. Every now and then I would catch Draco staring at me but I was too drunk to take any notice.
"Spin the bottle!" Once again people cheered and we all sat in a circle. Blaise threw his arm over my shoulder and I snuggled into his side.
"Right now let's get the rules straight." Draco started "A kiss between opposite sexes must be tongues and must last longer than ten seconds. A kiss between two of the same sex can be a peck on the lips. Let the games begin!" Draco spun the bottle first and it landed on a black haired guy who I found out was called Caspian. Caspian then span it and it landed on Luna who was sitting next to me. People jeered when they kissed and the Luna span it and it landed on a lad called Tobias. After a couple of goes it got to Blaise and he just tapped it and it span once and then stopped on me. Everyone went quiet and I felt like I was being tested as to how far I would go. I smirked and then turned to Blaise.
"Pucker up." I said in a voice that I hope was sexy and then I crushed my lips to his. Our tongues met each other smoothly and I could feel his hands playing with the hem of my top. I groaned into his mouth and I heard people whistling. It lasted way more than ten seconds and I clutched my hands in his hair and pulled my lips from his. I swept my eyes around the circle and for a second I saw Draco looking at me furiously but I diverted my gaze quickly. By the end of the night I was absolutely off my face and I had lost count of how many times the bottle had landed on me. I saw Blaise talk to Draco and I turned around feeling sleepy. I felt two arms lift me up and I didn't even bother to look and see who it was until we got to the common room. I turned around and Draco was holding me. My heart raced at the contact of his skin with mine. What was I doing? It was Blaise that I liked, not Draco. He opened the door to my room and carefully laid me on the bed. He looked at me for what felt like a year and then turned back to the door.
"Goodnight beautiful." I thought I heard him say as he flicked the light switch but by then I was too far gone in my dreams.
