Slytherin Royalty

Chapter One:

Of Cold and Broom Cupboards

It was unusually cold. The September air hung before her, her breath coming out in short gasps through chattering teeth as she raced with the rest of the students into the moderately warmer corridors looming ahead. She shivered as another cold wind wracked her body.

She was a small girl with a small frame and the cold was blowing right through her. Camden Tarragon hated the cold. She thrived in the warmth and basked in the loving glow of the sun. Why, then, was she stuck here in the harsh cold climate that was associated with this part the her country? It was a combination of being forced to go by her parents and having no other real options.

Oh, sure, she could have gone and studied abroad in Beauxbatons, but who would do that in their right mind? Besides, French was not exactly her strong point, no matter how much coaxing she'd had as a youngster. Thinking about the tantrums that she had thrown in her younger days caused a sneer to curl her mouth upwards in a grudging smile. A passing First Year shivered in fear and edged away, which wiped the smile off Camden's face fast.

She wasn't used to smiling and that was quite obvious. Most of the people in her house weren't used to real smiles. They had foul simpers, false sweet ones, and smirks that came close but none ever managed to reach their eyes. Some said it was the life that had caused them to harden at such a young age. Camden assumed it was just inherited, as none of their parents had ever managed a smile for them, either.

Reaching the dungeons was no hard feat but reaching it in time was. She was almost late and that would never do. She slipped in when Slughorn's back was turned, thankful for small favors like the oddity of having Harry Potter as a student that distracted the new, overly-large teacher that reminded her vaguely of an armchair that was favored by her Great-Aunt Mildred. Then a scowl graced her features as she realized she was actually grateful to Harry Potter. She shivered with self-disgust.

Soon the man realized he had a class to teach and turned his attention on the rest of them. Camden sighed; this was certain to be a long year. The man was full of himself and definitely attention seeking. During role call, he managed to pause at every single name that he associated someone rather famous with. Of course, Zabini he acknowledged. Camden smirked to herself as she thought about the tall boys' mother's latest marriage. Gold-digger if ever there was one. To her surprise, her name was called once again and she flushed in embarrassment at being caught daydreaming.

"Miss Tarragon? Are you, by chance, related to Remington and Sheridan Tarragon?" the man asked, peering down at her and suddenly standing right by her desk in a far corner of the room.

"Y-yes. I mean, yes, sir, I am. They're two of my older brothers," Camden said softly to her desk.

"Hmm. Brilliant boys, brilliant. I had the pleasure of meeting them a while back, there. How've they been?" the man boomed merrily.

"Uhm, good, I 'spect. We, uh, don't talk much, as I'm so much younger than they are..." she trailed off, slightly irate that the man was talking to her in the first place.

"Oh, yes, well, that's lovely, dear," he blinked, obviously put-off by her manner and continued on.

Camden sighed and allowed her head to drop to the desk. It was Sixth Year and already she couldn't wait for next year to be over. Potions she hated with a passion, mostly due to a certain Severus Snape who had took it upon himself to make her life a living hell for the past five years. It didn't look to be much better this year.

The only form of amusement during the entire lesson came from watching Draco Malfoy get purposefully ignored and rejected by the Armchair. It was truly the high point of her entire day, she'd soon find. She hated the blonde pretty boy with a passion. He was another reason for her tangible dislike of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

It never occurred to her that Malfoy would be even more of a git as a result of being treated like nothing compared to Potter during a class he was used to being favored in. It had never occurred to her that his anger outlet would be her. If it had, she'd have made herself scarce. As it was, she was floating towards her next class in a daze of happiness, induced by watching Slughorn put Malfoy down. It just so happened that none other than Draco Malfoy was, too.

"Oi, Tarragon! Haven't you forgotten something, dear?" he mocked her with his fake politeness.

She whipped around and eyed him curiously. Upon seeing a gleam in his cold gray eyes that meant imminent doom for her, she began backing up. Next thing, she was on her back, having been caught by a well-aimed "Petrificus Totalus" curse. Her body was completely bound and she cursed internally, fearing what might become of her now.

The tall blonde loomed overhead and sneered down at her. Even from this angle, Camden could see why he had all the girl's in her Year practically eating out of the palm of his hand. Undeniably, Draco Malfoy had to be about the hottest boy in their year. This was all admitted grudgingly, of course. She'd never admit such blasphemy aloud.

"Aw, Tarragon, rolling around on the floor, are we? Hoping I'd join in? Sorry, sweetie, but I don't do others guys and seeing as you're so close to one... Well, may as well be one, yes? Or were you getting in some practice? It really pays off to be able to lay on your back well enough, so I hear," he smirked at me with his words being said.

Camden only stared at him, being unable to work her mouth to form the angry words so desperately wanting to be said. Finally she managed to furrow her eyebrows and glare, probably only managing to look inanely stupid, if Malfoy's face was anything to go by and he was usually a good judge of feminine appearance.... She wondered suddenly if she did resemble a boy.

"I'll just leave you somewhere for someone to find eventually, shall I? Up we get, Tarragon," he sneered and then continued to pick her up like she weighed nothing. His face looked momentarily surprised by the light burden he held but said nothing about it.

Inside Camden's organs were rebelling against the close contact he kept with her. She was also turning over in her head what last she'd had to eat. She ate an awful lot but none of it ever seemed to stay. It must have been extremely fast metabolism because she certainly wouldn't binge and purge like the rest of her house mates seemed to be doing these days. That was they're thing.

Suddenly, she was dumped like a sack of potatoes into a broom cupboard. Really, she huffed to herself, I should have paid more attention. Now she had no idea where she was, not that it would do her any good, really...

"I'll just leave you here... to be found or not," he said with a smirk and closed and locked the door.

Several minutes later and what seemed like an eternity to her, she was able to move again and immediately searched her robes for her wand. It wasn't there. She stared in horror at the locked door. It was going to be a long time until someone found her. She sighed and slouched down from her sitting position, her back against the door. May as well be comfortable, she thought, even as her stomach gave a rumble. She groaned. What a day this was turning out to be.

Malfoy's Point of View

Today was a horrible day... He couldn't seem to be get anything right. He was late to his first class this morning, the first of the entire year. Way to start off on the right foot, Draco, he thought sarcastically to himself. And to make matters worse, he was basically rejected by the fat arse who was pretending to be a qualified Potions master. The nerve of some people.

He'd stormed off from the Dungeons, not bothering to apologize to anyone as he bulldozed through the group of anxious students, bent on getting to their first set of classes of the year on time, with as little exposure to the cruel weather currently gracing the countryside. Then again, it wasn't his way to apologized. He took what he wanted, got what he wanted, and so what if tread on a few toes to get there? He smirked to himself and then spotted her.

Camden Mildred Tarragon. A name that often ran through his thoughts, much to his disgust. A name that plagued him like nothing else had ever been able to. For some reason, his fellow Slytherin just really pissed him off. She had always gotten under his skin and he'd never had the guts to find out why. Truth be told, she scared him slightly.

Well, it wasn't actually her that scared him, more her family name and who she was associated with. Camden came from a rather large family that was just as Pure as his was (which wasn't actually very pure, if you think about it, he thought wryly) and quite nearly as rich and much older. The Tarragon's had, in fact, had more of a hand in shaping the history of Great Britain that any other Pureblood family, even calling a few of the Crown family. They had to be related, however distantly, because that's the way of Pureblood families.

Her father, Phyllus Tarragon, had married Luciella Foxglove and had built quite the family. Camden was one of nine children, almost all of whom were male. The oldest son, Remington, was the heir to the considerable fortune and estates of Tarragon. His twin brother, Sheridan, was younger by three minutes and resented his Fall from Fate's grace. There had always been tension between the two brothers, enough so that the Daily Prophet commented on the family from time to time.

The next oldest after Sheridan was Adrien, who apparently detested his name and was telling everyone he could to call him Cole, although most just ignored it. After Adrien came Lucan and Lucienne, another set of Tarragon twins. They attended Hogwarts and were in the year above Draco and Camden. Camden was the favorite sibling of the L Twins, as they were called around the school, and most people knew not to mess with her, except for Draco, of course. He smirked. As if anyone would confront HIM, the Draco Malfoy.

The youngest children were Mildred, Benedict, and Fox. Draco knew all about Camden Tarragon. He'd made it his purpose in life to find out about everyone he ruled over. And indeed, he thought in amusement, he did hold sway over Slytherin House. Camden wasn't being a loyal follower. He sneered. Well, he'd just have to fix that, now wouldn't he?

A few minutes later he was sitting in the Transfiguration room, satisfied that Camden was currently stewing in front of a remote broom cupboard. He supposed he'd have to set her out, after dinner, of course. No one else would bother looking for the tiny mouse of a girl that he'd just left. He would feel sorry for her, only he had just reminded himself he didn't care. He smirked as he fingered the wand he had stolen from the young Tarragon girl before dumping her in the closet.

This year would prove to be fun, he thought with a smirk better than any he'd given to date. Oh yes, loads of fun indeed.

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Author's Note: Yes, well, I've had this idea brewing in my head for a long time now. I figure, everyone else can do it, why not me? This is the first chapter and my first attempt at setting something in writing for a long while. Tell me how you liked it and yes, I actually do have something that resembles a plot to go for the story. Next chapters will probably be in first person, as that's the way I usually write. This was sort of... a test, if you will. XD

I hope you liked it and please review! More as soon as possible.