Chapter Four:Unmistakable Sources make for Inexplicable Injuries
"Luci! Luci wake up!", someone was shaking her. She swatted at the enemy and got a whack in the head. Sitting up quickly she peered around blurrily,
"Wh-What, do you want?",
"Duh-hh-h Breakfast, me hungry", someone drawled idiotically before jerking her arm toward the edge of the bed. She tumbled sideways and landed on the railing of the bed, wincing, she rubbed her surely bruised ribs,
"Whoops", someone muttered before the bed jolted and Luci reached blindly for the glasses she had shoved aimlessly in her cloak pocket the night before, slipping them on over her nose she squinted against the bright sunlight,
"Gabriele?", the purple head bobbed,
"Didn't see you as a morning person?",
"I'm not, I hate the morning, I hate waking up, I need coffee before I even speak",
"What do you mean?",
"It's almost time for 2nd period, you missed the entire 1st class
"What!", she yelled, as she rubbed sore appendages,
"You wouldn't wake up this morning, it was kind of weird", she murmured,
"I just need a cold shower and a little something in my stomach and I'll be fine",
"well right now you have to get to the last few periods you have left", Luci nodded,
" Hey, have you decided where you're going to be staying, you can't keep borrowing my clothes?"
"I'm not sure? But I'll get my trunk up here soon, 'kay",
"Soon? When exactly would be soon? Because you know I don't have enough uniforms for both of us to last forever, as it is the houseelves are so confused I'm afraid they might reserve the right to refuse service.
"I'll get up here very soon", Luic said before yamwing, rubbing her hands achingly over her face she just caught Gabriele's nod before she turned toward the door,
"Well,you better hurry because we've only got about 15 minutes left before second period", Luci scrambled off the bunk before starring around blindly in the morning sun,
"Isn't there a bathroom in here?"
" Not in here",
" Where? then" Luci asked quizzically peering into corners and peeking into closets,
"Last door on the left", Gabrielle said over her shoulder as she left the room, Luci bounded out of the room and hurried off in that direction. Upon walking into the dark bathroom, she pulled her wand from her greasy hair and grimaced.
With a flick of her wrist an array of lamps began to flicker on, illuminating a large room filled with stalls. Walking quickly to the nearest one she slipped behind the curtain and found a tall bottle of odd purplish black liquid and another bottle beside of faint lime green goo. She took a sniff of both and they both smelled faintly of Gabriele, stripping quickly she turned the knob full to the left and stood shivering as the spout gurgled and shook before spouting out hot scorching liquid to slide fervently down her body, thawing her freezing skin.
Luci wrapped herself in the fluffy yellow towel and stepped from the stall into the freezing air. She ruffled the towel through her hair before wrapping it about her chest. Picking her clothes up off the floor she shoved them beneath her arm and reached one hand up to ran her fingers quickly through her raven tresses and was surprised to find a dark purple colored her fingers, running to the mirror she wiped the fog away quickly and screamed.
Faintly, glowing in the morning light her hair shimmered the same deep purples as Gabrielle's, stepping back from the window it returned to the normal raven black. Pressing her fingers to her eyes she took a deep breath before glancing quickly down at her watch and yelping.
She had exactly 8 minutes to get to class, she ran quickly through the door out into the empty corridor, thank merlin. Her feet were freezing and the water still on her skin was raising the hair on her arms. Looking down briefly she realized little bumps were popping up all over her arms. Shivering she clasped her towel to her and sprinted down the hallway. As she slid to a stop in front of Gabriele's door and shoved it open, it echoed silently and she swore,
" Crap, after this long they haven't managed to haul my trunk up here, is it really too much to ask", snatching her cloak off the bedpost she threw it around herself quickly and snatched her wand out of the air before it fell from the tumble of clothes in her arms and tumbled to the ground. As the towel slid from beneath the cloak to land in a puddle on the floor, she dropped the clothes in a heap beside the wet towel and just managed not to kill herself tripping over it as she sprinted from the room and raced down the stairs and out the portrait.
Flying down the hallway she sprinted down the stairs and managed to topple against the couch before she took a flying leap into the fire grate, pushing herself off the couch she ran through the portrait hole and down the hallway, rushing past portraits and a few dazed students, her face turned a bright crimson red and she put on an extra burst of speed, if they couldn't se her they wouldn't know. As she walked quickly down a staircase she skidded to a stop as the staircase started to move,
"Shit", she murmured. Taking a running leap she flew across the gap and skidded down the hall, tumbling into a suit of armor. As she fought her way free she glimpsed movement out of the corner of her eye but when she looked up the corridor was empty and she stumbled quickly down the hall.
After a few hairpin turns and a near collision with a frightened 2nd year she stumbled to a halt before the Fat Lady. As she racked her mind to try and think up a plausible excuse for not having the password, it suddenly creaked open slowly and she looked around quickly for a place to hide. Instead, in a moment of panic, she froze when she spotted a head of black hair. As time slowed, she watched fearfully as the face came up….and she met a pair of deep green eyes.
She shoved the boy aside as she sprinted past him, he yelled up the stairs at her but she didn't bother because she couldn't hear him anyway. She slipped once while stumbling up the stairs and busted up her knee. Stumbling and limping she crawled into the 6th year girls dormitories and found it astonishingly empty, throwing her cloak quickly aside she sped around trunks and strewn clothes to her own trunk. Quickly pulling another clean uniform from the trunk and dressing hurriedly if not clumsily.
Grabbing her cloak quickly off the floor she threw it around her shoulders as she straitened her tie. Pulling her leggings down over her already bruising knee she glanced at her watch and realized she had a matter of minutes to make it to-she racked her brain mercilessly-DADA!. Sifting quickly through the mess she shoved her textbooks into her bag and sprinted from the room, one sneaker untied.
As she stumbled down the stairs, she felt her feet slip from beneath her just as she reached the bottom step and fell awkwardly into the arms of the boy at the bottom of the staircase. After quickly detangling herself from his arms she yelled,
"Thanks!", and dashed from the common room and down the hall. Rushing quickly down the staircase she glanced at her watch briefly and noticed she had two minutes left,
"Aghhh!", putting on a extra burst of speed she sped down the stairs and turned down toward the DADA room just as another body came sprinting from the opposite direction. Neither looked at the other as they raced down towards the classroom. As they sprinted down the last stretch of hallway, the bell rang loud and clear throughout the halls. Both raced quickly toward the door and skidded to a stop before the door. As Luci collapsed against the large wooden door, the boy beside her raised a wavering hand and knocked on the it. After a moment it swung open slowly and a black cloak swished into view.
"Yes?", Luci looked up and was met with dark black eyes, surrounded by steel gray hair.
"So sorry Professor, we uhh", the boy beside her panted for a moment before taking in a great gulp of air, " we uhh were studying in the library. Trying to get a leg up on the lesson", more panting, "thing."
"Really Mr. Black, is that so?" Luci looked over quickly and glimpsed Sirius' profile. Trying to duck her head more effectively, she grimaced when the Professor turned to her,
"And you Miss Malfoy", her eyes drifted sideways quickly and she glimpsed Sirius starring, taken back at her. As he realized she was watching he leaned his head against his arms,
"Yes Professor?"
"Were you studying for the lesson…thing, here with Mr. Black?" Everyone was silent for a moment, before Luci croaked out,
"Yes Sir",
"Hmmm, so of coarse you would know the exact color and smell of Grunnings Memory Loss potion, which is of coarse on the test coming up at the end of the month", she glanced over at Sirius briefly, his hands were clenching into fists,
"Uhhh, yes sir", Sirius looked over at her quickly and she hid her face behind her hair.
"Look up at me girl, when you speak", the Professor instructed. Luci scowled and lifted her face to him as she stood up, he wasn't much taller than her so she met him almost eye to eye,
"Grunnings Memory Loss potions is exactly the color of deep mahogany and smells exactly similar to week old socks, sir." After a silent moment she said sarcastically,
"It's also easily mistaken for the pea soup at the Leaky Cauldron", the class burst into laughter and the professor glared at her.
"Miss Malfoy",
"Yes Sir,"
"For that wonderful display of immaturity Gryfindor loses 12 points", there was a cry of outrage. "And you will serve detention this Friday in my office, understood", Luci nodded, she saw out of the corner of her eye Sirius slip past the professor, who was starring down at Luci lividly, and walk to the back of the room. She watched him go coldly, the bugger.
"Now go sit down", he said pointing to a seat not far from where Sirius had just slipped into a seat beside James who was smiling at her wickedly. As she walked irately across the room she heard the whispers overwhelming her. The girl who sat next to her inched her chair quickly to the far end of the table as Luci sat down, as had become the custom over the past few days, dropping her bag loudly in the hushed room all fell silent and the Professor returned to the front of the room,
"Now as Miss Malfoy said a few moments ago, Grunning's Memory Loss potion is a very dark mahogany and will occasionally emit a foul smelling odor very similar to sweat, this Potion originated…." Luci's eyes lost focus as the man began to drone and she watched as the images before her eyes wavered, her hand reached slowly into her pocket and pulled her glasses from the inside pocket.
Slipping them over her eyes images grew clearer and the head in front of her came into view, a mop of silver white hair winked in the sunlight, pulled back with a fine black velvet bow, she snorted in derision as her Uncle came into view. She wadded a piece of parchment from her inside pocket into a wad and chucked it at his head, he spun around viciously and glared at her,
"Is there something wrong Mr. Malfoy?" Ice blue eyes flashed quickly before he straitened his spine and turned around,
"No Professor, a simple distraction, easily dealt with, continue", he said suavely. The Professor nodded and continued on with his lecture, as Lucius turned to glare at me,
"Watch yourself half-breed", he mouthed before turning around. Luci made a face at his back, 'what a way to treat your own niece' she thought, drawing her wand from her back pocket. As she went to mutter a charm, a vial of liquid smashed against her skull and dripped cold fluid down her neck. Luci's head began to itch tremendously and she felt behind to find large squishy pockets dotting her skull, turning around abruptly she starred aghast at a laughing Sirius and James' wicked smirk, her eyes caught on Remus who smiled slowly at her before putting his nose back behind his book, Peter sat beside him looking as shocked as her. Suddenly a girl squealed and Luci winced,
"Professor! Malfoy is sprouting odd orange boils on the back of her head," Luci turned around just in time to see Lucius reach back and feel his hair quickly, she rolled her eyes as the professor came over hastily and felt the bumps along the back of her head. He yanked her from her seat abruptly and shoved her out the door,
"Go to Madame Pomfreys and have those taken care of, return to class later to retrieve your bags", he said harshly and closed the door in her face as she opened her mouth. Closing it with a snap she glared at the door, and after kicking it defiantly, she limped dejectedly up the stairs to Madame Pomfreys office. Upon entering she spotted Zabini sitting on one of the beds with a swollen purple eye,
"Long time no see", she murmured
"No kidding, where have you been hiding?",
"Every cranny and crevice available",
"Hmmm"
"What happened to you?", she said upon approach,
"Your boyfriend took a swing at me when I mentioned to a friend….well not really a friend…. But anyway, that I'd shared a cabin with you on the ride here and was wondering if he'd seen you lately",
"I'm sure you said more than that to incite the reaction of this said 'boyfriend', who I would like to know the name of, of coarse?" she said as she hoisted herself up onto the bed opposite him.
"Well yes, I did happen to mention how absolutely gorgeous you were, somewhere in there", he smirked as Luci glared at him, " And Mr. Black was the one to knock my lights out, which might I add, quite literally knocked me out", Luci smirked while trying to suppress giggles as Don looked on in amazement,
"What?"
"The reason I'm in here is because of Black, well technically it was his buddy Potter's 'fault' but my 'boyfriend' did nothing to stop it, more than likely Black punched you because you complimented me and I'm the scum of the earth and so am not to be acknowledged in anyway, including having friends, I assume."
"And you are the scum of the earth because?" Luci was silent for a moment, "What? Did you break his whittle heart", Luci sobered quickly at the mention of the words.
"Yeah, something like that I imagine", she murmured glancing down at her hands before looking up quickly and smiling slightly,
"a story for another day I assume",
"Not likely but yeah, sure, another day", Don looked at her quizzically as Madame Pomfrey bustled in,
"Alright Zabini", she handed him a cloth bag full of ice and helped him hold it to his eye,
"Couldn't you just fix it with magic, my poor face is ruined",
"Can't you?", she murmured,
"I wouldn't do magic on my own face, I might screw something up",
"So will I, now hold that there until the swelling goes down then put this ointment on it for the next couple of days, and it'll be good as new in a couple of days", she turned from Don to Luci and scowled,
"And the reason you're here Miss Malfoy?", Luci turned and her head and saw Don grimace, Madame Pomfrey pressed tenderly on the puckered skin before making tsk'ing noises quietly with her mouth and bustling from the room.
"Who the bloody hell did that to you, again?", after glancing quickly at the closed door she muttered,
"Potter and Black, I assume",
"Why, what did you do to him?",
"Actually I was trying to give Lucius' green hair ",
"They did that to you because you tried to turn the hair of their worst enemy green",
"Well I imagine they didn't know what I was doing I was basically just pointing my wand at Lucius' head, and James, I imagine, threw a glass vial at my head, it broke and I got this", she said pressing tenderly at her scalp.
Madame Pomfrey walked back in with a ajar of gooey translucent lime green slime. Upon opening it the smell of apples erupted from within and Luci smiled, Don unscrewed the cap of his jar and took a whiff and grimaced,
"Eghhh, why does mine smell so bad and her's smells like green apples."
"Because that's just the way it's made, now Miss Malfoy I'm going to place this ointment on the back of your head and place a spell on it, you'll have to walk around with it for a couple of hours but just remember to wash it out tonight before you go to bed and it should be healed by then." Don scoffed at her,
"Oy! Are you favoring her?",
"Why Mr.Zabini I'm surprised you caught on, good for you!" She smiled at me and patted my shoulder,
"I was Gryfindor once, reason I'm more inclined to them, no telling of coarse", I smiled and she turned to Don,
"Now you keep that on your eye or I'll let it turn every color of the rainbow before I even think about helping you", Don stuck his tongue out at her as she bustled back into her office. Luci's hands felt gently at the green smelling goo but found no gunk,
"It kind of seeped into your hair, there's no residue",
"I've been living with Muggles for to long", Luci muttered before sliding down from the bed. Don landed in front of her, him having only to place his feet fully on the ground before standing up, he smiled as she glared up at him,
"yes, you're taller than me, shut up", she said as she stomped from the room.
A/N: hello everyone!! thank you for the wonderful reviews. i mean, i only got two, but it's the most i've ever gotten in my whole life, so it makes me happy. i'm sorry it took me awhile to put up these next chappies but i'm trying really hard. please R&R, thank you!