A tiny, almost invisible smile edged onto her face, although most would label it smirk. Nonetheless, the fact that Hermione Granger was not hunched over a stack of thick books at one of the nearby heavy, wooden tables in the library pleased Dracona Malfoy. The platinum blonde Slytherin was hard pressed to admit that anything to do with the mudblood was pleasing, but she let herself be amused, and a slight bit relieved. It was curious, however, that the Gryffindor was not in the library at eight o'clock on a school night; the bush-head was usually studying incessantly at this hour.
Shaking off any thoughts of the Gyffindor, Dracona walked briskly over to an empty table close to the Herbology section. Her ice blue eyes scanned the book edges on the shelf as she took her seat, and rolled her eyes at the uselessness of most of the selection.
For a school night, there were relatively few students occupying the library, for which Dracona was slightly grateful. A young Ravenclaw boy, possibly a first year, was falling asleep on top of an old, yellow paged book a few tables to her right, and two Hufflepuffs were busy working on essays a ways away.
Dracona opened the book that she had carried down from her dorm. It was a slate grey hardcover book with golden edged pages. It was untitled on the cover, but Dracona lifted the wooden cover and scanned the elegant words written on the first page.
'Dangerous Potion Invention'
A smirk crept its way onto her face once more, this time more than tiny, and she allowed herself to be pleased. Dracona reached into her black messenger bag and pulled out a stack of parchment and a few quills. Most of the pages of loose parchment were filled with scribbles, notes, diagrams and various writing, and they were all important.
After a deep breath, Dracona flipped to a section she had previously bookmarked as interesting and possibly useful. There were at least three other parchment bookmarks sticking out of the pages in various places.
Before she could read a single word, rather loud whispering drew her attention away from the page. It was coming somewhere from behind her, and it was quite obnoxious in the Slytherin's opinion. Without even thinking, Dracona turned around sharply, her hair traveling in a graceful arc in response to her movement. Her ice blue eyes immediately acquired the cold glare that her enemies were acutely accustomed to.
The whispering ceased as soon as her gaze landed on the culprits. Dracona was faintly surprised to discover two identical sixth years with flaming red hair grinning broadly in her direction. The smiles even reached into their eyes, which was a somewhat of a shock to the blonde Slytherin. It wasn't everyday when someone smiled at her, especially when it was genuine.
Choosing to ignore the Weasly twins, Dracona opted to simply raise once thin, delicate eyebrow in their direction and turned her attention back to her book. The two Weaslys were always aggravating, in her opinion.
The chapter that was opened on the table before her was entirely devoted to protection spells, and how to customize them to the creator's desire. She searched for a quill blindly, refusing to pause in her reading, and found one after a few seconds. After acquiring a blank page of parchment she tapped the hawk feather against the empty paper in thought, and then finally wrote down the word 'shield'. She then leaned back in her chair and pondered that simple word before adding a single question mark.
The Slytherin resisted the urge to jump in surprise when two people slid into the empty seats on either side of her. She slammed her book shut in annoyance, and slid it quickly over the spread out parchment, hoping whoever the intruders were missed any of her notes.
The red hair gave them away immediately. The Weasly twins sat comfortably next to the cold blonde, mirroring each other's smiles effortlessly.
"Are you Weasleys dense enough to miss the fact that there are numerous other tables, most of which are uninhabited?" Her words hissed out of her in sharp whispers, while she glared coldly at the two of them. Thrown off by the fact that there were two of them, she took turns glaring at each of them.
"We know." They spoke in perfect unison, their glowing smiles never once leaving their faces. Dracona vaguely wondered how they were possibly able to speak as one person. She asked herself whether it was some inherent sense, or if it was planned and rehearsed.
"If you are that desperate for company," Dracona replied quietly and sharply, shaking off her curiosity and replacing it with annoyance. "I'm sure that Ravenclaw is about to start snoring. So, do everyone else a favor and show him, and yourselves, out."
"He looks busy." It was the twin to her left that spoke, leaning back in his seat.
"I see." She said as she started collecting her strewn parchments and shoving them into her bag. They watched her for a second, the shared a look that Dracona failed to miss.
"Wait, we want to discuss something with you." The same twin spoke.
"A business proposal, if you will." The other finished.
"That is ridiculous." Dracona snapped back without thinking, while placing her book alongside the loose parchment in her bag.
"Is it?" The second twin spoke, raising his eyebrows pointedly in an attempt to grab her attention no doubt. Dracona gave the twins a disgusted glare, with a matching snarl, hoping that her harsh response would drive the two away.
Instead of giving them the satisfaction of conversation, Dracona stood swiftly, placed her messenger bag over her shoulder and began to walk away from the pushy redheads. The pair didn't speak until they were out of the library, but the Slytherin could feel Fred and George Weasly following close on her heels. Dracona sighed inwardly and rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Just hear us out!" One of them finally spoke, once the three of them had exited the library and entered an empty hallway. Dracona shook her head slightly, and turned a corner, fully intending to continue to ignore the twin Gryffindors and trek back to the Slytherin common room.
"You'll be interested, promise." One of the twins, Dracona couldn't tell if it was the same one or not, but she didn't really care. "It's-"
"Purely business." The other finished, almost like they had rehearsed it.
"It is highly unlikely that someone like me would to business with people like you." She spoke suddenly, halting and facing the two annoyances. She sincerely hoped that her harsh words would send them away. "Purebloods and blood traders are known for having different business interests."
If the twins were at all surprised or shook by her words, they did not show a hint of any of it. Their matching grins never once faltered, even through here implications and insults.
"Not necessarily." They spoke in perfect unison.
Despite herself, Dracona was actually a bit intrigued and curious toward the Weasly twins and their supposed 'business proposal'. As much as her common sense and sensibility were screaming at her to send them another insult and stalk away, she couldn't bring herself to move her feet.
"Intrigued, I see." The twin on the left spoke his light green eyes sparkling down at her. Dracona couldn't fight the sense that the sparkle was at her expense.
"Don't push it." She glared back, her hands clenching at her messenger bag. "You have one minute."
The twins took this opportunity to glance around the empty hallway, most likely for signs of any other students who might overhear. It was clear that the hallway was deserted, making Dracona wonder whether or not their actions were purely theatrical.
"45 seconds." Dracona reminded, crossing her arms in impatience. Fred and George shared a look and smirked in her direction, always mirror images of one another. Dracona raised an eyebrow once again.
"Theodore Nott." They finally said together.
Dracona was instantly even more confused and frustrated. Her eyebrows knit together, but she smoothly covered her confusion with a glare.
"What about Theodore Nott?" Dracona managed to get out through clenched teeth.
"We know that you hate his guts," the twin on the right said, as if it was obvious. Dracona rolled her eyes; she absolutely hated anything to do with Theodore Nott.
"And that he is one of our arch nemeses." The other added pointedly, with his eyebrows raised.
"One thing in common!" The first twin exclaimed with a glance to his brother.
"Where are you going with this?" Dracona sighed, getting tired of the confusion and frustration. She highly doubted their conversation was going anywhere, and she was pretty sure it would end with her hexing them into unconsciousness.
"A prank." The said as one. Dracona remained expressionless and took a few steadying breaths in order to calm her anger.
"All of this is about some stupid and ridiculous prank?" Her words were soft and quiet, but dangerous. "I have been searching this castle for some peace and quiet, so I could finally get some actual work done for once, and you follow me around and prevent me from doing anything productive whatsoever, for a prank. All of this for one stupid prank!" By the end of her tirade, her voice had risen to a loud yell, and the twins had taken a step back in shock. She couldn't bring herself to move an inch, so she just glared up at the redheads.
"Blimey, Fred." George, presumably, spoke in a loud whisper after a few tense seconds.
"Blimey, George." The other, Fred, responded, their grins once again creeping onto their freckled faces. "I do believe she needs a bit more persuading." Dracona took a deep breath and rolled her eyes before turning around and stalking down the corridor. She hadn't gotten a few feet before the twins were once again before her, halting her progress.
"It's not just any prank." Dracona had lost track of which twin was which, but she was beyond caring.
"This prank is the ultimate."
"If you hate Nott as much as we do,"
"This will be the perfect revenge."
"Plus,"
"It's purely business."
Their constant verbal relay was somewhat dizzying and confusing and definitely hard to follow. Dracona was getting sick of it, but there was something about them that drew her curiosity, almost like a gravitational force. Her icy eyes focused on their smiles.
"Business." Dracona muttered, pondering her options. It was true that she absolutely despised Theodore Nott, but it was almost unthinkable to work alongside Gryffindors, especially Weasleys.
"Well?" Again, they spoke in unison, and Dracona resisted the urge to smirk.
"I'll get back to you with my decision." She decided finally, nodding at them.
"Alright!" They cheered and high fived.
"I have not decided, so don't get ahead of yourselves, Weasleys." Before they could respond, the blonde turned away and continued her walk to the Slytherin common room, leaving Fred and George Weasly standing silently in the corridor. Dracona could sense that they were smiling at her back.
Dracona turned the corner, and then subtly looked behind her to see if the twins were following her. She half expected them to be right at her heels making puppy dog faces, but the corridor was void of any other students.
She sighed, beginning to ponder whether or not she should take the Weasly's up on the offer. A taller student came quickly around the corner ahead and Dracona resumed her cold exterior.