Hello All!
I've been dwelling on this idea for quite some time now and finally decided that I'm happy enough with Chapter 1 to post it. Don't hesitate to give feedback!
Thanks! I hope you all enjoy! :-)
Chapter One: Nightmares and the Kitchen Raid
As the moon quickly rose above the mansion, a blood-curdling shriek echoed from within.
A woman, whose exhausted expression seemed warped and unrecognizable, cowered in the corner of a rather large bedroom, her arms clutching her body as if that was all she needed to protect herself from harm.
A man, tall and brooding, hovered over her, his dark hair casting shadows on his menacing face. He smiled, pressing his index finger against his lips, gesturing for her to keep quiet.
"Please, sir, don't do this," she pleaded between cries. "I beg of you." The man scowled as he grabbed the woman by the nape of her neck and hurled her across the room. She landed with a thud onto the mattress.
"Silence!" he hissed.
She shivered as he approached her, stifling her cries in the sleeve of her nightgown. He clutched his wand in his right hand, skeleton-like fingers wrapped around it. With his left, he caressed her face, bringing his hand down to her chin and lifting her head, forcing her to meet his lecherous gaze. She closed her eyes and tensed her jaw. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
"Never speak a word about this."
And everything went black.
Esmeralda Greyleaf shot up from her bed in the Slytherin dormitory, glittering with sweat and eyes widened with fear. This was hardly unusual.
Her eyes darted around the room, petrified. However, much to her relief, everything was seemingly in order. The other girls were all asleep soundly in their beds, murmurs of their soft snores were music to her ears. Without a shadow of a doubt they would be overcome with worry had they been awake to witness another of Esme's frequent nightmares.
Since she'd arrived at Hogwarts six years prior, the girl had experienced said nightmares. They started off brief and distant, yet nothing about them have drastically changed since then. The trembling woman and shadowy man were the same she'd seen when she was merely eleven.
Though, somehow, in the past year, since the renowned Harry Potter won the Triwizard Tournament, after the tragic death of Cedric Diggory and the apparent return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the nightmares grew darker. They began to feel almost personal, as if she was there, frozen and forced only to watch as the man maliciously groped and prodded at the woman until she had no tears left to cry. Until she could no longer scream. For Esmeralda, these dreams were horrific and heart-wrenching. They were painful and scared her senseless. They tortured her mind.
As she slowly gained control of her heavy breathing, Esmeralda flung herself from her bed, deciding it was best to take a midnight stroll through the castle to clear her head. Typically on a night like this, she'd find solace amongst the house elves who stayed after hours in the kitchen, usually tidying up or for reasons she would never understand, already preparing food for the following morning. Esme wiped the sweat from her brow and tiptoed out of her dormitory and into the common room, carefully closing the door behind her.
To her surprise, Esme found that she was not alone in her struggle for a good night's rest. In the common room, the infamous Draco Malfoy paced back and forth anxiously, mumbling incoherently under his breath. He likely wouldn't have noticed Esmeralda standing there had she not cleared her throat loudly, startling him.
"Oh! Esmeralda." He swiftly took a seat on one of the green sofas. "Nightmares again?" She nodded slowly in response.
"And you?" she asked as she unconsciously toyed with a loose string on her pajamas. "What's keeping you out of bed, Malfoy?"
He shook his head profusely, looking down at his empty palms, "It's not important."
"Bullshit," Esme frowned. She scurried over to him and sat beside him on the sofa, smoothing her nightgown underneath her legs. "It must be important enough to have you awake at this hour."
Draco did not reply. His piercing grey eyes burned holes in the old rug.
"Is it your parents?" the naive girl persisted. Malfoy scowled.
"I said it's not important!" he shouted. Esme flinched before her eyes filled with sorrow.
She paused for a moment, twiddling her thumbs, unsure of what to say if anything at all. They both sat, drowning in the unbearable silence.
Looking around the room, she noticed for the first time how many Slytherin crests and flags were embellishing the walls. It was strange, she thought, to be proud to be a part of something that made others resent you.
Though she'd never admit out loud, certainly not to another Slytherin, it saddened her that the house she was sorted into brought on so much premature judgement from her peers. Surely not all students were this way, not intentionally at least, but the whispers behind her back and cruel glares in the corridors made her feel otherwise.
Esmeralda most definitely had her faults and more darkness inside of her than she'd like to admit, but she'd stand by the fact that not all Slytherins have ill intentions. There is goodness inside of every living soul, though for some, like the boy sitting beside her, that kindness is merely an afterthought. One that has you restless in the common room at twilight.
She extended her hand and placed it on Malfoy's pale cheek, stroking it cautiously with her thumb. He flinched, but hesitantly warmed up to her touch. It was quite unusual for Draco Malfoy to accept love from another person, however, he and Esmeralda had a history. Nothing official, or serious even, but the winter of his third year, her fourth, before most students left Hogwarts for Christmas break, Esme kissed Draco briefly under some mistletoe. It was short but sweet. She giggled about it, completely smitten, all night to her two best friends, Lydia Greengrass and Daisy Nelson.
She remembered clearly how his face burned red and how quickly he turned on his heel and ran down the corridor, followed with heavy footsteps by his friends Crabbe and Goyle who howled with aching, eruptious laughter, mocking the pale-haired boy with a chorus of kissing sounds.
Esmeralda moved on from Draco shortly after that, however, after the awkwardness subsided, they remained close friends.
With her clammy hand still on his face, she spoke, almost in a whisper, "You worry me, Draco Malfoy." Without meeting her gaze, Draco nudged her hand off his cheek.
"I value your concern," he began, standing from the suede couch, running his sweaty palms on his Slytherin robe and still refusing to face her. "But please don't pity me, Esme."
And with that, he retreated to his dorm.
Esmeralda gulped as she poked her head around a turn in the castle's corridor. At this time of night, the hallways were always barren. All that could be heard was the strong wind outside, causing the ancient building to groan. The candles lining the stone walls were beginning to burn out.
Raising her wand, she whispered, "Lumos," and it's tip glowed brightly enough to lead her safely to her destination.
Upon entering the kitchen, the girl expected to be greeted by maybe a handful of house elves. Her favorite, a grumpy old elf named Eckhart, always baked her the sweetest, gooiest cookies when she couldn't sleep.
Nevertheless, when Esme opened the door, hopeful, finally, for some peace, she was completely baffled by the scene before her.
The walls, the floorboards, the counter tops, were all splattered with food. Eckhart sat sound asleep next to the oven, wearing a bowl on his head like a hat. Strange batters were mixed in levitating bowls, some clumpy, some colorful, and the frying pans flipped their own ingredients. At the counter, with their backs facing her, stood two identical lanky frames with mops of flaming red hair.
"Weasleys…" she scowled.
The two boys turned around and greeted her with the two most irritating smiles she'd seen in all seventeen years of her life. In all honesty, she probably would've ignored them had it not been for the mess, and the fact that she was exhausted.
"Ah, Esmeralda Greyleaf," the one on left stated smugly, flour splattered all over his flannel pajamas, "How nice of you to finally join us."
"It's about time!" the other added. Esme shot the boys a confused glance.
"About time?"
The boy on the right, a glob of purple frosting on his cheek, replied, "We, unfortunately, haven't been able to avoid you on your midnight snack escapades since we forked over the Marauder's Map. Two years ago now, to be exact."
"Without it, we've just had to hope you wouldn't be here," said the boy on the left passively as he tasted a rather repulsive-looking goop with his finger. He continued with his mouth full, "Which, might I say, worked rather well until now."
Esmeralda eyed the boys, completely dumbstruck and at this point, rather annoyed.
"The Marudoor's... what?" she asked with slight hesitation.
"MarAUDER's!" they exclaimed simultaneously, teleporting behind the puzzled girl, causing her to jump. She turned to face them.
Fred explained, "The Marauder's Map allowed us to track everyone's whereabouts in the castle at all times."
"Including yours," added George.
"Oh..." Esmeralda's face flushed with worry. She paused before asking, a slight tremble in her voice, "How long have you been able to do that?"
The twins laughed. George placed a hand on Esme's shoulder before saying, "Don't worry about it too much."
Esmeralda swatted his hand away, clearly irritated that nothing the boys were telling her made much sense.
Fred continued, "Yeah, you're not the only student who's been up to no good."
"You probably ought to get a bit more rest, though," George muttered as he walked over to where Fred was standing.
This made Esmeralda's heart fall as she recalled the reason why she'd been out of bed so often. It was strange. For a moment, she'd forgotten.
"I'm not up to anything, really..." She was interrupted by the overwhelming feeling of a presence behind her.
"What in Merlin's name is going on in here?" Professor Snape inquired.
Startled, all three of them spun swiftly on their feet, facing the cloaked professor. His greasy, black hair only complimented his sullen and horrific expression. Snape strided into the room, swishing his wand through the air causing the mess to clean itself. Pots and pans flew through the air and back into the cupboards, the counters wiped themselves clean, and all the spilled piles of "food" seemed to disappear. Esmeralda stepped forth and cleared her throat, shaking with fear as she began to speak.
"I was just getting some water, sir. They made the mess."
"Hey!" both boys exclaimed in unison. Esmeralda looked over her shoulder, shooting them a look as if to say, 'Well, it's true.'
"Miss Greyleaf," Snape began, slowing stepping towards her. "I am especially disappointed to see one of my own gallivanting with these two blubbering baboons. Five points from Slytherin."
Esmeralda winced as she thought about her house. What would they think had they heard she'd been caught in the middle of the night with none other than Weasleys? She herself had never known a Weasley well enough to judge, but every Slytherin she'd encountered insisted they were no good.
"And for us?" the redhead inquired.
Snape smiled cunningly, tapping his fingers against his wand.
"You'll be serving a week's detention in my office. Hopefully this time that will suffice."
Esmeralda looked back at the twins mockingly, the tiniest hint of a grin tugging at her lips.
"Along with you, Miss Greyleaf," the professor added. The two boys stifled laughs, making Esme sigh and roll her eyes.
It was frustrating how the two could make such a joke out of this serious situation. Esmeralda Greyleaf did not receive detentions. Especially not from Professor Snape, the head of her house, who she respected greatly and worked so hard to impress.
"Off to bed. Now. Before I make it two," Snape threatened as he turned and exited the room.
As soon as he was gone, the room filled with enough tension to feed a horse if it were edible Esme was fuming, her hands balled up in fists.
"You absolute gits! This is your fault!" she yelled, stomping towards the twins, who appeared rather amused. "I have been coming to this kitchen almost every night since my first year and not once have I received a detention!"
Fred and George backed up into the counter, Esmeralda pointing her finger in their surprised faces.
"How many times have you been caught, huh?"
The twins looked at each other before Fred replied with a bit of a proud grin, "A few, I'd say."
"A few," she repeated, a sliver of exhaustion in her voice as her eyes began to well up with tears. "Maybe for you that's not so bad. But for some people, magic is more than just a joke."
And just like that, she stormed out, leaving the Weasley boys baffled in the kitchen.
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Stay tuned for Chapter 2!