All credits to J.K. Rowling!
The fumes around them were almost a little choking – mostly because some stupid Gryffindor had put something he really shouldn't have in his potion. It wasn't exactly something new that those stupid lions exploded everything they touched… Professor Slughorn rushed around on his tired feet, trying to calm down the girl with pigtails – the one who had gotten a little too much sot in her face. Behind her there was at least four boys snickering like the snakes they were; so childish. Mira threw a glance at her – rolling her eyes as if agreeing with Arianne's silent judgment.
Nothing bad happened when the two of them were making potions; mostly because Mira always said whatever she was doing and therefor granting Arianne the advantage of knowing what to do. It wasn't like she was cheating off her best friend – she had actually gotten a lot better since Mira poked her in the ribs a little too hard and told her to study a little before class. It had helped – granting Arianne the ability to actually do it herself.
"Longbottom… Just – just don't touch anything, okay?" The professor seemed to be a little exasperated, yet he tried very hard to hide it. That boy – Longbottom – had to be cursed. He was such a clums, always messing up his potions, and hurting himself more than what was normal. If she didn't know any better, she'd think that it was her brother of his friends that had done something to the poor chap – she thought so because her brother was on the bench behind her, snickering louder than the others.
"Do you think that the boy will ever learn?" Mira huffed, she wasn't that fond of the Gryffindor – but she had a heart of gold.
"I don't know, maybe when my brother lifts that spell?" She said as she slowly turned around, looking back at her over the top tall brother. He smirked back at her while shrugging; as if he had heard or knew exactly what she was talking about. His hair was – as always – perfectly combed back, with some of that stupid grease the boys seemed to fancy nowadays. Yet some pieces of his hair were starting to act up; probably because of the hot fumes that rose from his kettle.
He wasn't doing an outstanding job here – but at least it seemed like he might be doing better than last year? At least she hoped so. If he failed this year too, it was kind of likely that he'd drop out and then abandon the family – her father would not take it kindly if he didn't finish school. You obviously had to be smart to be his heir… Well, shit luck there. Alick wasn't that smart, he was just a little street-smart.
"Don't look at me like that, Anni, I did nothing!" He raised his hands as if to surrender; something that only resulted in his potion drastically changing colour.
"I don't know if I trust you on that one… "Yet she smiled at him, a little overbearing though. She watched his potion with a little distrust in her eyes, "Alick… You should really fix that brew…" Backing up a little to her potion – which was stirring itself by now. She looked at Mira – which was obscenely busy with her own brew.
"Oh… It's not supposed to have that colour… -"Rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully Alick looked at his brew, which had gone from a healthy green to a dark blue. "Professor?" Raising his hand a little, to catch the attention of professor Slughorn, he slowly started to back up from the potion. If there was something Alick was good at, then it was to blow up stuff. It was amusing; because he always laughed at those who got their own potion in their face, but yet he was a master at that same thing. Maybe it was only to make him feel good that he laughed at others – or the fact that he was just a big twat.
"What now, Rosier?" The slightly old man sighed as he approached the rather large specimen of a Rosier. The professor was used to this boy ruining his potions – this was the second year he was teaching him as a seventh year student – and quite frankly… The boy was not in the Slug Club. He might become something big one day – but Slughorn wasn't taking the risk.
"I think I did something bad." He said, abruptly and avoiding eye contact with just about anyone in the room. Nobody dared to pick on him; too afraid of the giant.
"Oh well, isn't that a surprise…" He now huffed, looking down at the potion that seemed to go darker by the moment. It was obvious that it wasn't salvable. "I swear, even your grandfather was better than you. And he was, quite frankly, a disaster." It looked like he had given up as he raised his wand and levitated the kettle away. Nothing could save it, obviously. "Good thing the lad has money…" He mumbled, yet Arianne heard it clearly. She rolled her eyes, eyeing her brother – which had pulled his eyebrows together – looking rather annoyed.
"He's right; at least you won't be poor." She shrugged, gaining a pointy look from her brother.
Alick had followed her and Mira to lunch in the great hall. His company had been slightly sullen, walking a step behind them; yet hovering over them like some sort of a black tower. Arianne was coming to a conclusion that Alick might indeed be the reason why men avoided her; or just the reason why people in general avoided her. She could feel his black stare around her, looking at people who looked at his little sister. Alick wouldn't admit it in front of Arianne or Anni as he liked to call her, that she was considered rather beautiful by many men. He couldn't blame them; she was such a tiny, frail being with dark blue eyes which pierced whoever was in her way. She had a critical way of behaving; as if she was analysing everyone and everything around her.
They had been raised with one year between them; taught to love each other like true siblings, not just half-siblings. A girl needs a big brother, and a big brother needs a little sister than he can watch out for. His father had – plenty times – told him to keep an eye out for Anni. Their parents saw her as a doe eyed, innocent little thing. They thought the world would chew her up and spit her out; but Alick knew that she was so much more than that.
They entered the great hall; Arianne and Mirabelle in the front and Alick walking behind them; hovering like a hawk. It was the usual business; the Ravenclaws looked at them with some fascination – even friendliness from some. The Hufflepuffs seemed to cringe, mostly because those little ones knew who they shouldn't be around. The Gryffindor's threw mean words an arrogant glances; doing the usual stuff to show that they didn't like Slytherin's. They really had no business being mean to the girls, but Alick on the other hand. Alick was a Slytherin bully; everyone who wasn't pureblood or worthy in general was a victim for men like him. Arianne tended to ignore the fact that her brother was a merciless bully – it was easier that way. It wasn't that she justified the fact that her brother was being mean to everyone and everything, it was just that… It was easier to pretend that it never happened. If she was caught standing up for a muggle of mudblood; oh, it would not be pretty then… She was taught that those kind of people weren't good enough; and she really didn't question that either. But she was not going to taunt anyone for it either.
"Hey, Rosier! Get your greasy hair over here." A man, none other than Antonin Dolohov actually, called out. Alick put a hand on the back of Arianne's back, steering her in that direction.
Oh dear… This could only mean that Alick was forcing her to meet up with the boys.
"Sorry, Arianne, I promised Linda I'd sit with her and… Well, you're obviously not going that way." Mira smiled apologetic, yet she knew very well that she was avoiding this situation. Mira wasn't any keener on sitting with the weird gang than she was.
Alick kept his hand on her back, leading her with him. It wasn't as if she was going to run off; she was too polite to do that.
"You owe me big time, Alick." She mumbled, making sure he knew how much she was opposing this situation. He knew exactly what he was doing; he was trying to include her in the life he was starting.
"Did you bring a friend, Rosier?" Another lad snickered as the both of them sat down, Arianne tried her best not to make any particular eye contact with any of them; yet she made sure that she didn't look insecure. Alick shrugged, patting the shoulder of his sister. He had placed himself between her and Dolohov, not really keen on trying out destiny too much. He didn't want the boys to catch an interest with her; he just wanted her… - In his life.
"My little sister, actually." He cleared his throat, well aware that he had placed her on the opposite side of Tom Riddle. He wasn't yet sure if that was his best move, but it was an experiment. Arianne was well aware whom she was sitting on the opposite side of; a young man with dark chestnut hair and vibrant, brown eyes. He was a pale lad, yet there was nothing about him who said 'scrawny lad'. Around him laid an aura of power; a lad who was awfully sure of himself.
"I didn't think you liked the thought of introducing her to us, Rosier." Tom said out of the blue, obviously hitting a nerve in Alick. Her brother's lips went tight, yet he didn't answer the lad right away.
"I changed my mind." He said his voice low in his chest. And obviously he did. He leaned a little back and the lads came closer to the table. She felt eyeballed by them all; Avery, Lestrange, Mulciber, Nott, Dolohov and Riddle. She knew who all of them were, mostly because all purebloods knew each other somehow. All of them were purebloods; except from Tom Riddle. As far as she knew, he was a half-blood, though this seemed not to make any difference to them – why? That was the curious question. Alick sighed deeply, obviously already regretting his decision.
"This is Arianne Emeline Rosier, lads." She herself were entwining her fingers underneath the table, not quite comfortable with the situation; but she wouldn't show that to any of them. She was trained in being around other purebloods; especially unmarried ones – and now she'd play her role by all the rules in the book.
"It's pleasurable to finally make you acquaintance, Miss Rosier." His voice was so slick, and it made the other men shut their mouth. As she moved her gaze to the young mister Riddle she tilted her head ever so slightly, as if she was calculating what kind of a man he was. His eyes held a glimmer, but she could honestly not see anything real within them. It wasn't unlike pureblood men to be devoured by their own arrogance – but Tom Riddle was no pureblood, he was just hyped up on power. Yet there was something off with him.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance too, Mister Riddle." Her voice was soft as satin as she thought this was awfully a lot like the courtesy lessons she'd had with her nanny. He lifted his hand, offering it to her as if he was someone close to her position; it was actually outrageous, but it seemed like his blood status didn't even matter here. What kind of a mess had she gotten herself into? This seemed like some weird parallel universe. She took his hand, almost a little surprise when he gave it the slightest peck; all for the courtesy. He had obviously had some lessons too, even though that seemed awfully weird to her. Maybe he'd forced some professor to show him how to talk to a pureblood without offending them.
The other lads seemed to try to ignore the situation, pretending that they weren't following their every move.
"I was wondering when your brother was going to introduce you. We need more good witches within our group." She had withdrawn her hand while trying to ignore her discomfort, he was acting like a perfect gentleman, but something was awfully wrong with this situation. And the way he looked at her – it felt like he was judging her by her pedigree, well, he probably was as well. Alick cleared his throat, obviously a little uncomfortable. Arianne couldn't blame him, really. Tom seemed to have this effect on people, as far as she'd seen. He was a little unnerving.
"So it seems. I feel slightly overruled by the amount of men here." She tilted her head gently, smiling as the courteous little doll she could be. To be honest, she was only 'making polite' right now.
"Well, we don't let just anyone in, Miss Rosier." His sudden smile, if that was going to be what you'd call it, sent shivers up her spine.
She had a few classes after lunch, but the day had in general just gone on quite quickly. She had felt a little unnerved for the rest of the day; the dark eyes of Tom Riddle haunting her thoughts. She couldn't quite make out what kind of a man he was… He looked at her like her pedigree was gold, and he spoke to her like he was just as high up in the rankings as her. He wasn't, he just wasn't. He was a half-blood, nothing wrong with that really, but he was basically a half-blood with too much power over six other pureblood men. Usually they didn't take any bullshit from anyone who hadn't an impeccable pedigree, but now… What was all that about? One thing was for sure; he'd captured her attention.
She was walking down the hallway towards the Slytherin common room, quite ready to sit in front of the fireplace; ignoring the world. She was carrying her Alchemy books, which seemed to be as heavy as gold this afternoon. At least her ponytail was still hanging high, and this time even without a spell.
The hallway was empty, quiet like a crypt. The Slytherin banners on the walls, the burning torches and black rock around her was to set her in that immediate Slytherin mode. Reminding everyone who walked here that some of us is walking down a dark path, but we all are walking down in elegance.
"I didn't know your brother let you walk alone." Someone had crept up on her, and that would be the ultimate scarecrow. No, that was just mean, but Tom was scary. Holding her books close, looking up at the surprisingly taller man that now walked beside her, she smiled weakly.
"He lets me, yet he'll get a scolding from my mother when she finds out." Her tone was calm, trying to be as polite as possible. She could grow to like Tom, yet right now? She didn't know.
"Then I should accompany you, it's not proper for a woman of your standards to walk alone like that. Some stranger might have the nerve to look at you." There was some humour in his voice, yet his face was much like stone. Maybe there was a ghost of a smile there, yet one had to look close for it.
"My mother would say that you're a stranger, young Mister Riddle." She raised her chin, smiling ever so slightly. They approached the common room, which was surprisingly empty. Was everyone having classes at this hour? That or they were watching some fight in the hallways.
"Oh dear, then I better not look at you then." He sad casually, following her to one of the fireplaces. She sat down in one of the chairs, placing her books on the stone table before she put one leg behind the other, not crossing her legs. Tom sat down in the chair on the opposite side of her before he aimed his wand at the fireplace, igniting it and bringing some warmth. "I didn't take you for the Alchemy kind." He said, a little 'a matter of fact' stating. She smiled without looking at him, only watching the flames without real interest.
"And I didn't take you for the talkative kind, at least not with women." She aimed her gaze at him, hitting him with one of her piercing gazes. It seemed like it puzzled him for a moment, how she wasn't afraid of him, how she could just look at him like that without flinching.
"There are few women worth talking to, Miss Rosier." He tilted his head, as if trying to figure out this young woman. She was a puzzling one.
"Funny how I'm worth talking to then, I'm like any other pureblood woman." She was actually challenging him, trying to figure out where his trigger points were. Maybe he wouldn't like how she pointed out her status, where he had none?
"You render men speechless without saying a word." He laid his chin in his palm, starring at her in a way that made her a little uncomfortable. He obviously didn't care; taking the challenge for himself. "You have gone unnoticed by many, yet you must be the most attractive marriage partner on the marked right now." His words puzzled her, he didn't quite make sense.
"How can I go unnoticed, if you mean that I'm the most attractive one on the marked?" Her tone was soft, yet Tom noticed the slightest spike.
"Your money and status makes you well beyond desirable, anyone can point you out as a powerful Rosier. Yet you seem to go by unnoticed. Hiding in the library." He smirked, obviously he hit a nerve. Arianne looked at him as if he was a new specie, how the hell could he know where she was hiding? She shook her head, sending him a polite smile.
"You know too much for your own good, Mister Riddle."
"Oh please, Mister Riddle is my father. Call me Tom."
