A/N: So I apologize for not updating as soon as I said I would. The library was the only way I was able to update now! *cries* I had some trouble with the internet and couldn't get to a computer any sooner. But now I'm back! Hope everyone will enjoy this chapter, and more to come. Reviews & criticism are always welcome.
Lee pulled me to the middle of the seat and sat across from me as Oliver slides the door to the cabin with a laugh. "Here she is." He says waving his hand towards me then takes a seat by the window. I take a glance to the door to see the Weasley twins grinning their most friendly smiles. I have been a fan of their mischief since entering into the school, but I would never admit it to give them satisfaction. My eyes grew bigger taking in the sight of their height and red hair.
"Word on the train is there is a witch with a stone cold face..." One of them speaks as he takes a seat on my left. "...and even colder eyes." The other one says following suit to my right. I automatically cross my arms and my eyes fall to the floor. I feel their arms touch my elbows, which in turn, causes my stomach to flop. They lean forward and peer at me curiously. "
My my what a shell this one is carrying." I hear the one on the right say.
"This is really unexpected of a Slytherin. What year are you kid?" The one on the left asks me with a nudge. "I'm not a kid. I'm a 6th year." I say, my eyes gazing
everywhere but to my sides.
"Same year!" They both say in unison. "I'm Fred." I look at my lap as a small box of ice mice is inched unto my leg from the left. The next box slides onto my right leg wrapped in a cloth and tied with a neat green bow. "And I'm George." The clothed box shakes slightly as if something were trying to get holes peaked through the box as what I guessed were breathing holes. My gray eyes fall onto Georges and all feeling is lost in my hands.
He looks away shyly to his brother as Fred pipes out, "Don't worry. Nothing will pop out of the box at you. Just make sure you aren't around anyone else when you open it." Fred says with a smirk. "I'm Errazib Krown." I say relaxing into the soft cushion of the seat.
"Errazib...very unusual name."
"Why haven't we met before?" George asks swiping a few of Lee's Jellybeans.
"Hey George, close your mouth before an Imp throws a bug in there." Fred winks at me then steals a quick glance from me to George. I become confused by Fred's hints, so I just focus on Lee and Oliver's amused faces instead.
"Knock off you prat." He thumps Fred jokingly on the forehead with a copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand.
I can't help but giggle at the silliness of the whole meeting. I clasp my hand over my mouth to stop the laughter. "Well lookie there. Attaboy George. You've made her laugh." He nudges me closer to George with his elbow. My ears burn red like a bloodpop when I accidently place my hand over his on the seat. "Sorry." I say swiftly pulling away. His smile softens making the air in my lungs fill up like cotton in a jar. I dodge his gaze and look back to the boys having an intense conversation about the first Quidditch math of the year. This left George and I in awkward silence. Either he was pretending to listen, or he was just lost in his own thought. He breathes in a heavy sigh and tugs on a lock of my hair. I jump a bit to see him smiling innocently. "Why do people call you Batty? You don't seem anymore mad than Mad-Eye Moody himself."
"I was kicked out of Beauxbattons for excessive fighting...And not upholding the way of being a lady. I bit a girl's neck in a scuffle for my wand and one word led to another..." My fingers twidle together. Then a blush colors my face when I realize he was actually listening to me."...Rumor has it I take neck chomps out of people I have a bad taste for." I recall the rumor that caused my reputation to go downstream. No guy would ask me to the Yule ball, or even look my way. Every girl swore I was out for revenge when I tried to make friends, so I kept to myself through the school years.
"I feel sorry for the guy that makes you cross. You may take a nasty bite, and leave him neckless." He makes a funny face and clutched his neck causing another chuckle to escape.
An hour passed by as conversations flowed between everyone. "Finally we're here." Oliver says with a sigh of sky shades away to a murky gray as the steel wheel of the train come to a hault. Suddenly, as if everyone thinks on the same wavelength, we get up to pick up our luggage.
Bodies bump as the sorrys and awkward smiles are fumbled between everyone in the small cabin. "Krown you should join us sometime. We need more pretty faces at the Quidditch game. Sad you're on the enemy side of the games." Oliver calls walking out. Lee bobs his head adding, "Ignore him. He doesn't mean it. At least not all of it." I reach for my bags, but the twins take them in protest. "Now now. We don't want our new friend straining her back on her first day back." Fred says while George helps me step off the train. "Merci." I say with a slight bow taking my bags. "Our pleasure." The sound of their voices in unison sends a tingle in my ears.
'I wonder why I'm in such a panic...Damn. Forgot to put on the necklace again!' I rebound in my head as I pull my wand out. They walk ahead with our belongs in hand. I slowly pace behind them slipping a necklace around my neck. The string feels as soft as a owl feather, but the small bottle at the end holds the true weight; the purple liquid swirling inside the bottle with a slow crawl. My wand touches the bottle casting a maroon shade to the once plum colored fluid. It is tucked away into my shirt, but I can still feel the cold glass against my heart. Slowly, my blood rushes through my veins much calmer than before, settling my nerves and thoughts. Wearing the necklace made me feel a bit sick, but I figured it was just from the butterflies I was feeling from earlier. It was an old family heirloom my grandmother had given me before passing away last year. My stomach does a flip as I approach the carriages.
The twins look at me with suspison as I climb into the back of the carriage. Fred sits across from me with Veppie at his side and George on my left. 'I am sure this term is going to go too smooth. But I don't think I would want to find out why.' I think as I play with the box in my hands.
"Hey Zibby. You're looking quite peaky. Everything alright?" George asks poking me in the side.
"Yeah. Never thought you'd find our faces so repulsive." Fred says in a playful tone. My head pops up to see the two concerned faces. "Oh it's nothing. I'm just thinking of home is all." I lie with a sheepish smile.
"Miss the parents already?" He asks and my face drops in disappointment. Silence creeps over us once they realise it was a touchy subject.
"Sorry bout that." Fred's voice sounds quiet to my surprise, but I just nod back in ride ended on an awkward note once we arrived. With a flick of my wand my bags disappear to my room in the Slytherin house. I walk off without another word hoping I wouldn't get any closer to the boys. They watch my retreating back with ideas swimming between them. "Oliver was right. That is one shy girl I give you that. I give her a month. I'm sure she'll fancy some boy soon enough." Fred says to George while they start towards the Great Hall. "That shell isn't on that tight. I say three weeks tops." George flicks two sickles to him. "If she lasts a month, you keep the money."
"Something tells me we shouldn't underestimate her." Fred looks back one last time to see me searching for my owl. "She's a funny one."
The sorting ceremony and feast went about in a drag like usual every year. My stomach is filled with satisfying food as I make my way down to the Slytherin common room. The stone staircases feel rough against my skin as I slowly climb. The staircase shifts to the right with a soft jerk. I climb to the last stair in front of the cheerful painting of two elderly men playing wizard chess. The Giraffe walks through the background of a painting and I wave with a modest smile.
"Evening Miss Krown. Welcome back to Hogwarts. Still keeping that mind as sharp as ever?"
"Yes sir. It seems like my books will be my friends again."
"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that. Word around the paintings is that the Gryffindor team captin has taken a fancy to you." He whispers low. I feel taken aback by the new peice of information. His opponent shakes his head in heavy agreement. I shake my head in amusement and decide to move forward to the common room. Just as I am about to say the password, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I recognize the flip in my stomach as I peek over my shoulder.
"Oh George. What are you-" I turn around to see Veppie sitting happily on his shoulder. His coal sprinkled gray feathers contrasted against the small yellow package lying in his beak. George smiles when he hears the owl's soft coos, petting him with his finger. "It seems Veppie here has taken a heavy liking to Fred and I. He didn't want to leave us. I figured I'd escort him to you." I extend my arm out and George does the same taking my hand in his. My pulse picks up when I notice George smiling back down at me. Veppie uses our arms as a bridge up to my shoulder. My hand is warm in his for a moment, but he pulls away in what seems like a sad parting.
"Thank you for bringing him. Quite an odd treat to see a Gryffidor standing outside the Slytherin common room don't you think?" I snatch the package from the difficult Veppie and keep my eyes downcast as I unwrap it.
"Its quite an odd treat to meet such a nice girl belonging to such a nasty house."
"You'll find out in due time I'm not as nice as you think."
"Oh is that so?" He leans against the banister. I join him looking down at the staircases switch below us. "Bet ya' a Galleon you couldn't stay mad at me longer than a day. I'll strike when you least expect it." His chocolate brown eyes wander to mines mischeviously. "Deal. And no help from your brother." I call across the room loud enough to make an echo. Fred is walking back with a girl from Gryffindor I recognized to be Angelina. "Don't fret Zibby! I'm not the one tripping over trolls to save your owl." I look over at George in surprise.
"Some 5th year was planning on holding him captive. They heard it was your owl, so I figured I'd save you a fight." He shrugs as if it isn't a big deal.
"Now I see why he has taken fancy of you so soon. I owe you one."
"Oh don't worry, Fred and I took care of him. Free of charge."
Right on cue, Draco walks by with a injured Crabbe and shivering Goyle trailing behind. His head was bandaged and he held his stomach with a sickend face. He looks over at us in fear as Draco whispers the password softly out of earshot. His eyes screamed fear and apology as he attempts to avoid George's glare. The painting swings open and they fall out of sight once more. I look back at the firey redhead with much wonder.
"What did you do to 'im?"
"Nothing much. Just chased him near the Weeping Willow." We both laugh at the thought of the scene. He peeks down at me fiddling with a bag in my hand. I pluck the letter attached to the bag and hesistate to open it.
"What do you got there?" His eyes rest on the letter in my hand. I quickly shove it into the tattered woven messenger bag in front of me. "It's an ol' bag I've had since I was a child..." My arm is swallowed by the deep depths of the bag as I take out my chello. "You play?" I nod and place the instrument back in with ease. "I had a neighbor send it to me. It's a bottomless bag."
"That is quite brilliant. I'd love to hear you play sometime." He says with a twinkle in his eye. His arm brushes up next to mines making me feel even more shy than usual. I look away seeing that most of the students were already in their houses, with the exception of a rebellious few. "George! What are you doing by the Slytherin common room?" He looks past me to see Katie on the opposite side of the room. "Seems it is time to bid you goodnight." I say backing up a bit.
'Why on earth do I feel so disappointed? You should have known he fancied someone already.' I roll my eyes in an aggravated thought with myself. George catches my cue. "Goodnight Zibby..." He gives a lock of my hair a small tug with a coy smile, then starts his way back down the stairway. I keep my eye on him until he reaches the last step, tripping in the process. Katie sends a cold glare to me as I wave back. My smirk spreads to a grin as I turn around hearing Fred's laughter across the room. The men look at me with knowing smiles and wise eyes. "Good night Krown."
"Trolley Treats. And a good night to you as well sir." I say with a bow. He gives a happy bow back and swings open.
Once I am settled in the common room, I take out the letter that came along with my message. My heart races as I read the letter. It wasn't signed from anyone, but my instinct already knew who it was from. It was from Bellatrix Lestrange.
Well things are getting off on a start. My apologies again for the late update. I won't be on for probably another week after this chapter, so bear with me. Until the next chapter, thank you for reading! xx