Lucianna Zabini watched her friend Helga McCormin separate the ingredients apart from her salad. Even after four years of friendship, it still amazed Lucianna the way Helga ate her food. Alphabetically. Yes, the girl ate everything that started with an A before any other letter. She was so finicky about it, even the corn kernels in her soup and stews were arranged into a pile in her bowl. Helga spent more time organizing her food into tiny piles than she did eating it.
Helga finished her task before looking up with her dark blue eyes and giving Lucianna a small giggle knowing that her friend thought she was crazy.
It was because of that strange behavior the blonde Gryffindor only had a handful of friends. Helga did not seem to notice much. She spent so much time with keeping her things in order to even worry about friends. Lucianna and her were friends because Lucianna had found her 'condition' fascinating. Even from the first moment she saw Helga do it, Lucianna was completely in awe that someone would put so much effort into eating.
"What did you score on the Charms exam?" Lucianna asked her friend. Helga was now eating the 'Cs' of her meal. Cabbage, carrots, chicken, corn, cranberry juice...
"An eighty-two." Helga wrinkled her forehead. "Disappointing too. I studied my ass off!" She took a long drink of her juice. "I don't need to ask what you scored." Helga said with a grin.
Lucianna displayed a grin wider than her friend's. "One hundred as always." She announced without necessity. "If I ever get less than that, I am positive Professor Flitwick would drop dead off those books he stands on."
"You aren't kidding there." Helga laughed.
"My Potions exam was awful though. How the hell am I supposed to know the ninth ingredient added to a Wit-Sharpening Potion?!"
"Kelp Oil." Helga supplied automatically.
Lucianna rolled her eyes. Helga had the best grade in Potions of all eleven fourth year Gryffindors.
Now Lucianna on the other hand... She did not care to learn how to wizard cook. Yes, it was cookery. No matter what anyone said about it. And it was a boring skill. Who the hell would want to cook for a living? Not Lucianna, that's for sure. With her lack of interest in learning his precious skill, Professor Snape had insisted on making her look like a complete incompetent fool in his class. As if Lucianna cared what he thought of her. He had no room to talk about inability and incompetence just because he was grand at a petty skill as cookery. He was the one with the lame teaching job after all, no one else would probably hire the sour puss.
Lucianna was not usually a bitch, but Professor Snape spent more time telling his students how much of a waste they were rather than encouraging them. It's no wonder the Headmaster never gave him the position he preferred; Defense Against the Dark Arts. He would probably end up being hexed to death by a full class.
Charms was much better than Potions anyway. Lucianna was so far ahead than anyone in her year. Even better than the Ravenclaws, who just about bested everyone at everything. Well, besides Defense Against the Dark Arts, that is. A skill of physical performance was not something you could learn thoroughly from a text book.
"One of these days you need to take that skill more seriously." Helga told Lucianna. "You need at least a L for half of the career skills."
"I don't plan on schooling after Hogwarts."
"What?" Helga nearly gasped.
"Nope. I want to start my own business."
"Do you have anything in mind?" Helga was now eating her leaf lettuce.
Lucianna shrugged. "Inventing new spells or charmed objects, maybe. Don't know for certain. The wizard community could use a new way of communication. Not everyone has access to the Floo Network. Oh! A new way of transportation would be brilliant."
"You're not entering the idea blindly at least." Her friend said approvingly.
"I'll come up with something that will make me rich and famous." Lucianna said certainly.
"Why do you care? Doesn't your mother already have a bucket load of Galleons?"
Lucianna smiled slightly. "That's Mother's money. I want to make my own. But she has complete faith in me, and even set aside a grand amount to help me start my career when the time comes." The three hundred thousand Galleon fund ought to give her major jump start. "I'll replace it when I am a success though. I don't need that over my head, even though Mother would never do such a thing."
"What about a husband?" Helga knew about the arranged marriages that the majority of Purebloods had to deal with. Helga was only half blood and half blood families did not have the tendency to worry about such issues.
"She's more worried about Blaise than she is of me." Lucianna took that moment to look at her Slytherin fifteen year old brother. He had his same fine dark, smooth skin. Her hair was set long in a single braid, he kept his very short, and the girls loved it.
Him and Draco Malfoy appeared to be bickering over something. Probably over some stupid girl, they did that a lot.
"To carry on the name?" Helga asked, interrupting Lucianna's thoughts..
"Yep. Blaise will have no issues fulfilling Mother's wishes. He hates Muggleborns. Everyone knows that." Lucianna did not quite agree one hundred percent on her brother's hatred for muggleborns, but that was his thing. If he wished to act ignorant, it was not her place to stop him..Their mother was not that way, not thoroughly anyway, so he got it from the five year friendship with Draco Malfoy. "Of course Mother says I can't wed anyone under eighty percent blood. I'll marry a suitable man when the time comes. Career first though. I don't need to get myself pregnant before necessary."
"Smart." Helga simply commented.
"Blaise will reward mother with many grandchildren soon enough. Especially down the path he's already started."
Helga nodded. "Playboy, he is. I am sure you heard of him and the Ravenclaw girl."
"Yep..." Her brother started this term getting caught in a broom closet doing something he should not have been doing. Of all the professors to catch him, it was the ever strict Professor McGonagall that had walked in on them. Lucianna smirked to herself. She would have loved to see the look on her Head of House's face. Him and Shasha Northstar got one hundred points deducted from their houses right off the top, and then were reported to their heads of house. Nothing happened to Blaise though, Professor Snape was Slytherin's Head of House, and he never disciplined them.
Helga finished her lunch before Lucianna did. "You coming up to the library to study?" Helga asked, gathering her things.
Lucianna's mouth was full of pudding. She nodded since she could not give a verbal answer.
"Want me to wait for you?"
"Nah, go on ahead. I'm going to savor this pumpkin mousse." Lucianna loved pumpkin. Pumpkin soup, pudding, juice, pie. Pumpkin was the best thing on Earth.
When she finished her pudding ten minutes later, she made way for the library. They had a Transfigurations test coming up, and she would need the extra cram time. Lucianna was not terrible at Transfigurations, but it was a difficult skill and she did not like to work hard. That is why she was great at Charms. It came easy to her, and, to Lucianna, easy was fun.
As she exited the Great Hall she heard a commotion.
"Give it, you tub of lard!"
"Who you calling lard, whale ass!"
Crabbe and Goyle.
Figures. Those two fought like tom cats around a female cat in heat when Malfoy was not around to keep them in line.
Goyle raised his fist to pop Crabbe in the face. Before he could swing, Lucianna cast a wandless binding spell, freezing them both in place.
"Fist fighting?" She asked with her eyebrows raised. "Seriously, you guys are like brothers. Now what in Merlin's name are you fighting over that you're willing to beat each other up for?" She unbound them for an answer.
Goyle lowered his fist but still scowled at Crabbe. With a swift movement, Crabbe soundlessly stuffed a full cupcake in his mouth big mouth.
Lucianna burst out in giggles. "That's it? A cupcake?"
Goyle turned his head to her with narrow eyes. "It was the last one!"
She rolled her eyes and took out her wand. "You know, if you two would study instead of bitch all the time you would learn something very interesting and useful." She then tapped her hand with her wand and a cupcake appeared in it.
The two Slytherins gapped as if they truly never seen such a thing.
"Shit you two!' She rolled her eyes. "There's always food in the kitchen, you just have to know how to summon it." She then held out the cupcake to Goyle. "Here, Goyle."
"Really?" His eyes lit up like he was a child on Christmas Day.
"Of course." Lucianna said impatiently
"No fair!" Crabbe squawked.
"You just had one." Her voice scolded softly as Goyle eagerly snatched her cupcake after muttering a thanks.
Crabbe pouted. "But yours looks better."
"Tastes better too." Goyle gloated.
"Do you guys ever stop porking out?!" An approaching voice demanded behind Lucianna.
Draco Malfoy.
You would think after five years the teenager would just accept the fact that his friends were overeaters.
"They like their sweets, it's not a crime to indulge." She said in their defense.
Draco sneered. "All they think about is food."
"If I spent most of my time with you, I suppose I would become a food vacuum too."
"What do you know?" He snapped. "You spend most of your time with a freak!"
Lucianna rolled her eyes. Draco could not come up with anything better. Besides being a Gryffindor who was friends with someone with a disorder to have organization, there was nothing wrong with her, and he knew it. It was the only insult he could ever come up with. He could not do much to her anyway, Blaise would beat the shit out of him and Draco was more bark than bite. If it weren't for Crabbe and Goyle, he wouldn't be near as lippy. Everyone feared the two oversized bodyguards of Draco. They were the only things that saved his ass from being someone's bitch, and they only hung around him because of his name. Malfoy was a known name in the wizarding community, and not for good reasons.
Before going up to the library, Lucianna watched Draco stalk off toward the Slytherin Dungeons with his two companions closely behind.
Who could be friends with someone that constantly teased you?
* * *
"What are you peeping at, Goyle?" Draco asked. Goyle's eyes had been off in space since he sat down. He had failed to laugh at Draco's jokes and his dinner sat untouched. "Are you ill or something?"
Goyle's glazed eyes went back to normal. "No." He said quietly as he blindly spooned something into his mouth.
"Lovestruck" Crabbe snickered.
"What?" This caught Draco's attention. "Did I hear you right?"
"No!" Goyle denied it immediately.
"He's been all googly eyed since the Zabini girl gave him that cupcake."
"Oh, fuck no!" Blaise practically bellowed. "You shit that idea right now!" He stood up, ready to pounce on Goyle.
Draco burst out into laughter. "You fancy Blaise's sister? Oh, this could be very entertaining." His eyes glowed as they shifted from Blaise to Goyle.
Goyle hid his red face.
"You don't go near my sister! You're not good enough for her!"
"And who is really, Zabini?" Draco's eyebrows quirked up. "If it were up to you, the girl would stay a virgin until her death day."
Blaise lunged for Draco, snatching his throat in one hand. "Don't you ever mention my sister's virginity, Malfoy!" He growled.
Draco's grey eyes grew wide with fear as he sputtered for air.
"Gentlemen, what is the problem here?" A lazy voice asked.
Blaise instantly withdrew his hand when he saw Snape. "Nothing, sir." He sat back down in his seat, scowling at the blonde.
"Tried to murder me, he did!" Draco spat, rubbing his sore neck.
"If I wanted you dead, you would be buried already, Malfoy." Blaise snarled.
"Is it another girl?" Their professor asked. "I assure you, Azkaban is not worth it, boys."
"Goyle is drooling for Zabini's sister." Pansy Parkinson sung out.
Snape smirked. "Is that so, Mr. Goyle?" Goyle made no notion to answer. "Mr. Zabini, you need to practice your aim. You had the wrong neck in your hand." With that, Snape stalked back to his seat at the teachers table.
"Draco has a point, Blaise. Who do you think would be good for your precious Gryffindor sister?" Pansy asked.
"I don't know. Definitely not some bloke who is incapable of wooing her though."
"I could woo her!" Goyle demanded indignantly.
"You can't." Crabbe told him.
"I bet that I could!" snapped Goyle. He turned to Blaise and pointed a finger. "I bet you!"
"What's the wager?" Blaise could never turn a bet down.
"If I woo her, you gotta leave us be, and allow me to date her."
"And when you lose, you have to find a date with a mudblood."
"Deal." Goyle leaned across the table to extend his hand in a shake.
"And no coitus, Goyle, you will not touch my sister in such a disgusting way!" Blaise's eyes stared threateningly at the oversized teenager.
"I won't." Goyle promised and they shook hands.
"Who else wants to bet?" Draco said to the table. "Five hundred Galleons that Goyle loses." No one raised their hands to bet against him. "Shit." Draco muttered. "I'll triple my side of the wager then." He offered.
"I'll do it." Pansy spoke up.
Draco smirked. "You're going to help him, aren't you?"
Pansy shrugged. "You're going to sabotage him, so why not? Fair is fair."
"We have a deal, sweetheart, but don't expect me to buy you any jewelry with my winnings. I have my eyes set on a new broom."
"I won't need you to buy any for me after I win this bet." She sneered to him.
Draco just sniggered in reply and returned to eating his dinner.
* * *
Lucianna exited the Transfiguration classroom with a smile on her face. She was sure she aced that exam. Nearly positive.
"How'd you do?" She asked Helga as they met up in the hall.
"I don't know. I'll see when I get the results. You?"
"Pretty sure I got somewhere in the high 90s." Lucianna smiled proudly.
"We got Defense next." Helga's voice hung with glum.
Lucianna knew why.
Umbridge.
Professor Umbridge was the worst DADD teacher they had ever encountered. And Lockhart was pretty bad. She forced them to sit in their seats quietly, copying inaccurate things from her blackboard. The student body had learned quickly not to earn a detention with her. Her sick pink fortress was enough to send you over the deep end, but she'd have you spend hours upon hours writing lines.
Lucianna was wise enough to hold her tongue though. She had only ever served one detention, and that was with Professor Snape, who gave her an unjustified one two years ago. She spent most of her Friday night scrubbing his stupid cauldrons clean. Sometimes Lucianna wondered if he had not had someone to do it for him and she just got the 'lucky' draw that night.
"Good Morning, Professor Umbridge." The class said in a dull unison as she started her class.
"Wands away, dearies." She said with her sneering sweet voice. With a wave of her own wand, the blackboard displayed that day's lesson:
Giants.
All giants are bad. Period.
There is nothing you can do to save yourself should you come across one.
Many wizards have claimed to have escaped an encounter; they are liars.
And it went on and on. The only thing heard in the room was Umbridge's content sighing, and the scribbles of quills against paper.
"I really miss Professor Lupin." Helga announced when the class was finished and they were well enough away from Umbridge.
"Professor Moody wasn't bad either."
"You mean the impostor."
"Oh... right."
"Oi, Lucianna." Pansy called as they passed her in the corridor. She was casually leaning against the wall.
"Hello?" Lucianna questioned warily. Pansy hardly spoke to her because she was a Gryffindor. And she never called by her first name.
"Do you have a moment?" The Slytherin girl asked.
"I guess..."
What in Merlin's name is she up to?
Lucianna and Helga joined Pansy.
"Privately." She said, giving Helga a sneer.
"Could have just said that." Helga muttered before taking off.
"Thought you ought to know that you are the subject of a little betting game that the Slytherins have made." Her smile was evil; conniving.
Lucianna was siblings with a Slytherin, she wasn't inexperienced with their character.
Lucianna grinned. "And you're in on it?"
"Can't pass up on an easy fifteen hundred galleons, can I?" She said with a matter of fact.
"Wow, that's quite a bit. So what's it have to do with me?"
"Your kind deed the other day didn't go unnoticed." Pansy sighed with annoyance. "To make a long story short, Goyle has to woo you into accepting a date with him, else he'll have to find one with a mudblood."
"What?" Lucianna started choking. "You're serious?" She managed sputter out. A date with Goyle? She wrinkled her nose.
"Oh, very serious." Pansy smirked.
"What does Goyle get if he succeeds?"
Pansy's smirked turned into a wide grin, then she giggled. "Something he'll enjoy more than a few hundred galleons, I would say."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Pansy shrugged. "Thought you would want to know."
Yeah right...
"What do you want?" Lucianna asked automatically.
"I'll give you two hundred galleons to go along with it."
"So you can profit thirteen hundred?"
"Precisely. What do you say?"
Well, Lucianna did not need the galleons, she was not sure why should even bother...
"Your brother's in on the bet." Percy sang teasingly.
"What?! He's betting while I'm a subject?" She hissed.
"Oh, yes, Lucianna, he told Goyle that he couldn't date you. He's done that to a few guys, actually."
So her brother was chasing boys away from her... No wonder a pretty girl like her had no offers.
"Listen, Draco's made bets against Goyle with many of us..."
Lucianna suddenly smirked. "Is that so?" Now the girl said something that was convincing. "Alright, Pansy, what do I have to do?" How amusing it will be when she saw his look of devastation from losing a bucket load of galleons. He might even a get Howler from his father.
Pure Bliss.
* * *
Betting.
That's all they ever did in their spare time. They could use their minds for something else, but the competitive house would rather just show off and profit from each other.
In the seventies, the Slytherins did more daring than anything. The next generation found a way to profit from it all. He was not sure how many galleons the students of his house passed around, but there was no day that went by where the young snakes would not exchange some sort of winning from a bet.
None of them played fair, of course. That was half the fun after all; seeing what you get away with.
There was a time in his life where he could relate to Goyle. He supposed a little shove in the proper direction wouldn't be a bad thing for the boy. Besides, the bat bogey hex Draco cast on Goyle that morning was a cheap move. No girl is going to want a snot dripping ape. With a little work, Goyle would win this bet.
He will make sure of it.
* * *
"Are you sure this will work, sir?" Goyle eyed the package doubtfully.
"If you can refrain yourself from consuming it, yes. Now tuck in your shirt, and comb down your hair."
Goyle did as he was told.
His professor nodded approvingly at him. "You do not look half bad when you make yourself presentable, Mr. Goyle."
"Thank you, sir." The teenager's face turned a faint shade of red.
"Remember the table manners I taught you. Small bites, chew with your mouth closed. Keep it shut until you have swallowed. Do not talk with your mouth full of food. Use your napkin..." the professor listed all he could that would help him.
"I know you can use your head when you want to, Mr. Goyle. It's not often, but this is definitely one time you will need to, am I clear? Girls do not wish to eat with farm animals."
"Yes, sir." Goyle acknowledged.
"Go on then, and good luck."
"Thank you, sir."
The boy had manners. He just needed to remember to show Miss Zabini that he had them.
"Hello." Goyle drawled behind Lucianna. She had accepted his invitation to be his date to the Valentine's Ball; going along with the bet.
She turned in her seat and could not help that her eyes grew wide at the boy in front of her. Goyle stood in a fashionable green dress suit. His dark hair curly hair was combed neatly down at the sides. He wore shiny black shoes. He actually looked...very pleasant and handsome.
He smiled shyly. "I uh, got you something." He handed her a package wrapped in lavender (her favorite color)tissue, a purple ribbon fastened around the box.
"Thank you, this is nice of you, Goyle."
"Your birthday is tomorrow, and I wanted to get you something." He scratched at a nervous itch, then instantly stopped when he realized what he was doing.
"How very thoughtful." Her and Pansy never had discussed a birthday present. Who told him when her birthday was?
"Is this pumpkin?" She breathed as she looked down at the sweet smelling fudge. Pumpkin treats would be the death of her someday.
"Yes." His hands were behind his back and he rocked on his feet.
"Pumpkin is my favorite. How did you know to get this?" Her brother wouldn't had said anything about it.
Goyle shrugged.
"Would you like a piece?" She held out the box.
Goyle pursed his lips together, refraining himself from taking the offer. "No, I bought them for you, Miss Zabini. Thank you though."
"Come sit down." She gestured to a seat.
"Really?" He gasped. "I can?"
Lucianna smiled. "Yes, you bought me a very nice gift after all." He sat down next to her. "And call me Lucy."
Goyle's jaw dropped. "Not Lucianna?"
"No, Lucy."
He grinned and his face turned a slight red color. "You call me Greg then, Lucy." He cleared his throat. "And you look...amazing."
Now it was Lucianna's turn to blush. Her red dress was covered in sequins that glowed with many different shades of red when the light hit it. It hugged every curve she had. She noticed the many looks of the guys in her year, but none had approached her, they knew she had a date.
"It's perfect against your skin tone." He said quietly.
"Thank you, you look great too."
"So... uh... would you dance with me?"
"You can dance?" She asked with surprise.
Goyle smiled. "I have been told so."
Lucianna stood. "Alright, Greg, let's have a dance then."
Goyle slightly bowed and held out his hand to her. If she had not been accustomed to the gesture, she would have been embarrassed, but this had not been her first dance.
He led her to the dance floor and bashfully placed a hand on her waist. "Follow my lead." He whispered.
And she did. He gracefully led her through the waltz, occasionally tilting her back into his arms, and looked into her eyes when he did. His brown eyes glittered with admiration, and he smiled.
"You are swell on your feet." She commented as they pulled closer together for a slower song.
"You too." He murmured into her ear.
"You're not such a bad guy, Greg. Once you stop thinking about food, that is."
"There's not a thing wrong with you, Lucy." His soft tone sent an excitement through her. His eyes bore dreamily into hers.
"What are you thinking?" She asked him.
He said nothing at first, but after a few moments, he grinned. "I was debating if Blaise's fist was worth kissing you or not."
Lucianna blushed. "And what did you decide?" She asked nervously.
* * *
"Congratulations, Mr. Goyle." Professor Snape said to himself, raising his goblet of pumpkin juice slightly in the air.
Maybe this time the lion won't break the snake's heart.
"Now... on to rescuing you from the Zabini boy."
A/N Hope you enjoyed this, I had fun writing it. It's my first ONE SHOT!
Written for Lostmyheart's Gryffindor/Slytherin Challenge