A/N: Hey guys! I'm kind of new to writing fanfiction, so any praise/constructive criticism is appreciated. I'm pretty alright when it comes to grammar and spelling (I live in America, so except for the Oxford comma, I'll stick to American English spelling/grammar, but throw in a good amount of British slang in the dialogue), but I apologize for any abnormalities in sentence structure.
Disclaimer: Except for the few OCs throughout the story and perhaps a bit of the plot, all credit goes to the great J.K. Rowling.
His Inner Circle: Chapter One
Although the traditional opening feast should have been a jovial event for all of the professors and students at Hogwarts, an ominous cloud hung over the Slytherin table. While most students certainly relished in the joy of a fresh school year, since their families hadn't fully leagued with the darkest wizard of all time, a small handful knew about the imminent turmoil slowly building up in wizarding Britain.
When the final first year, a stocky boy who tripped over his laces twice while walking up to the stool, was sorted into Gryffindor, a raucous round of applause and cheers sounded from their table. He smiled in their direction, and managed to find a seat without killing himself on the way there.
Brielle Murphy, who was seated at the end of the Slytherin table closest to the grandeur double doors of the Great Hall, stared down at the carved wooden table. Her forearms resting together on the edge, she allowed her ash brown hair to shield her face so that she could tune everyone out and think. She was well aware that it was practically immoral to show such blatant apathy towards Dumbledore, who had stood up at the Professors' table and cast a sonorous on himself in order to start his address. It wasn't as if Snape would dock a serious amount of points from their house later tonight for it, anyway.
After a few moments, though, Brielle was torn from her mental sanctuary when she felt a bony elbow take a sharp jab at the left side of her ribcage.
"Ow!", she said. Brielle turned to glare at the boy, or rather, the young man who was sitting to her left. His chestnut mop of hair was a tad shorter than usual, indicating that he had cut it for the beginning of the school year. Despite his lean, almost lanky physique, it was his international flair and severity that made him one of the more respected Slytherin students.
He simply gestured towards the abundance of food piled on the long table. As usual, there was a wide variety of traditional British fare, ranging from black pudding to steak and kidney pie. With a slight blush, Brielle noticed that Dumbledore had long finished his annual speech, and the feast had apparently commenced ages ago since every plate except hers had at least something on it.
"You've been staring at your plate like a bloody fool for the last ten minutes", Sergey said, slightly raising one of his thick eyebrows. "You have to be hungry, especially since you refused to eat anything on the train."
Brielle let out a forced laugh, but winced at the pain in her side. She made a mental note to get him back sometime later, especially if it turned out to bruise.
"I was too surprised that there was anything left on the cart", she casually said, her nose wrinkled. "The Weasel usually jumps at any opportunity to devour anything edible that isn't the rotted rodent remains they eat in that shack of theirs."
Brielle began to dish roasted potatoes onto her plate, even though she truly didn't plan on eating them. The truth was that all the stress during the summer concerning the Dark Lord's plans for her, along with several other Slytherins had seriously hampered her appetite. She absolutely hated how gaunt her face had become, and was forced to cast a small disillusion charm so that nobody would notice. She didn't want to worry anybody, especially Sergey. In one of his letters, although he didn't actually say it due to the tightened owl security implemented by the useless Ministry, Brielle concluded that aurors searched his family home for dark artifacts, and found something worth locking his father up for. Even though as a Ivanovich, his father would easily be able to slide out of any serious convictions in his upcoming Wizengamot trial, she felt as if he already had enough on his plate.
"-and I stayed at Malfoy Manor for a whole month! Of course, we had to have escorts during the day, but at night, he always came to my chambers", Pansy Parkinson said, her shrill voice piercing through the various conversations of the majority of the table. Millicent and Daphne, her drones, held interested, yet envious expressions. Although there were plenty of good looking candidates, it wasn't a secret that Draco Malfoy was one of, if not the most sought over student in the entire school. On multiple occasions, she'd run into him in very... compromising positions with various girls since third year, even that Gryffindor Patil sister the previous year. Since he wasn't at the feast, one could only assume that he was making use of the conveniently empty classrooms, but she knew better. Draco was one of the Dark Lord's vital pawns, and something told her he wouldn't have the time nor energy to fool around this year.
"The bint doesn't know what she's in for", said Lucy, Brielle's best friend since they were in diapers. "I bet her precious little Drakie is in the process of getting into some girl's knickers by now."
Personally, Brielle didn't have much of an issue with Pansy, but Lucy had despised the girl since third year, after Pansy tampered with a few of her hair potions. Apparently, she believed Lucy was 'pining' over Draco, which was very untrue. Her hair was Hufflepuff yellow for a whole week. Since then, their constant verbal spars over trivial matters actually made History of Magic tolerable at times.
"Honestly, I don't know what he sees in her", Brielle said, raising an eyebrow as Pansy and co. began to discuss one of her midnight rendezvous, in vivid detail despite the food on everyone's plates. "She's a bit... obsessed with him, yeah?"
"A bit?", Sergey asked with a snort. "That must be the understatement of the year. On the train, she was practically dry humping him in front of everybody, with no shame at all. I thought I was in a cheap muggle brothel or something."
Lucy grinned, showing off her slightly crooked front teeth. "I second that. Don't you remember them earlier today? The whole thing was bloody disgusting, if you ask me. I'm pretty sure she sampled his breakfast, with how far her tongue was down his throat."
Brielle couldn't recall that particular moment on the long train ride, but she shuddered. Lucy's exaggeration planted an unpleasant image into her head of Pansy and Draco sucking face.
Sergey shook his head. "Of course Brielle didn't notice them nearly shagging. She was out of it for practically the entire journey."
"Yeah, I noticed also. Are you sure everything's alright?", Lucy asked, the worry clear in her voice. She frowned, and gently touched her shoulder in a comforting manner.
Brielle sighed, and after glancing around to make sure nobody was particularly paying attention to them, she lower her voice. "I'm fine. My father's friends have been hanging out a lot over the summer, though", she whispered, looking down.
Since neither of them replied, she knew her words had been understood. Brielle was fortunate to have friends like Lucy and Sergey, since trustworthiness didn't usually go hand-in-hand with Slytherin. However, when it came to matters concerning her becoming a Death Eater, she felt alone. Even though Sergey's father was well accustomed with the Dark Lord, he was merely used for connections into Russia and Eastern Europe, and he saw no reason to induct him into his inner circle. As for Lucy, her family refused to join the Dark Lord's ranks. Her parents claimed to be halfbloods even though they were both purebloods. Although it was true that Lucy had hosted her a few times during the summer on days when the Murphy Estate would host a Death Eater gathering and Brielle's presence wasn't requested, neither of her friends would ever truly experience what she was going through.
Suddenly, a wave of anxiety washed over Brielle. She knew she had to leave the Great Hall before she had a mental breakdown and embarrassed not just herself, but her family and house on the first day of sixth year.
She shot up out of her seat, nearly overturning her untouched plate in the process. A few people turned to see what the small commotion was about, but went back to their conversations about how Slytherin would win the Quidditch Cup this year, or the trendy beauty tips featured in the newest edition of Witch's Weekly.
"Er... I'm not feeling too well. The train ride really sapped my energy, so I think I'll be heading down to the dungeons now." She turned to Sergey, since he was a prefect. "What's the password?"
"Prestige", he said, tilting his head in concern. "But are you sure you don't want to stay for a little longer? Pudding hasn't even come out yet, and I can recall you saying that Hogwarts' chocolate eclairs are simply orgasmic."
Brielle gave him a polite smile, and shook her head. "There's always dinner tomorrow. I'll see you guys later." She nodded towards her friends. "Enjoy the rest of the feast."
With a fleeting glance, she escaped from the confines of the Great Hall.
Although not many students noted her abrupt leave, a pair of deep hazel eyes from the other end of the table curiously watched Brielle flee.
A/N: There's Chapter 1. Please, any and all reviews (expect for flames) are welcome! I won't say that I need x number of reviews for the next update, but it should be here in a week or so.
Thanks,
~Bretzeln