Yay, the fourth chapter is finally here! I hope y'all enjoy it! It took me longer than the rest, since school started. Instead of updating every week, this story will be updated every one and a half to two weeks. Sorry for the delays!
Leslia woke with a splitting headache, and the strangest feeling that she was being carried. She forced open her eyes and winced in the light. When her eyes adjusted, she peered up at her kidnapper. Blaise's face stared straight ahead until she wiggled in his grasp. He came to a stop.
"Morning, love. Why'd you decide to pass out on us, if you don't mind my asking? I assumed you'd rather not draw attention to yourself, but too late now!"
Leslia fumbled getting her stick out of her pocket but dropped it with a clack. Blaise adjusted his grip, bent down, and grabbed it off the floor. Handing it to her, his hand lifted her head higher so she wouldn't fall down. When she struggled, he flipped her over his shoulder and carried her like a sack of potatoes down the stairs. She pounded on his back, soundlessly demanding to be set down. Blaise merely laughed.
"I can't set you down yet, love. You might fall again, and who wants that?" He patted her petite bottom. "You really need to learn how to not make people worry about you. I don't know how they do it where you're from, but here we try to figure things out."
Leslia slammed her palm on the back of his head, trying to jar him into letting go. He tripped, which would have made for a fairly awkward landing had Draco not been there. He smoothly snatched Leslia from midair, letting Blaise land on his face. Flipping her over his shoulder, he offered Blaise a hand up.
"Thanks, man. Appreciate the catch."
"I know. What've you done if you'd landed on her? You'd have felt so bad about dropping her, right?" Draco grinned sarcastically.
"Of course, of course. Hey, you had to talk to Snape, right? I'll just take her back so you can do it." He gestured to Leslia.
"Why, you gracious boy. Thanks for the offer, but I've finished my chat with the Professor. So, you can go finish your breakfast while I take Leslia to the nurses," Draco glared meaningfully at him.
"Oh, the nurses? I shall go there as well! It seems I injured myself when I fell. Great idea, old chap!" A spark passed between the two boys, and they stood immobile as Leslia grew more and more uncomfortable. At last, she wrenched herself from Draco's grip and tried to escape before an argument erupted from the tempers of the lads. Simultaneously, each boy grabbed a wrist before she could leave.
She spun around and whipped out a fierce glare at both of them before writing, "I don't know what your problem is. You two are the weirdest friends I've ever seen, fighting over stupid stuff. I can get myself to the nurse, thank-you-very-much. I'm not paralyzed!"
"Do you know where the infirmary is?" Draco regarded her curiously.
She hesitated, "I'll find it myself. If anything, your bickering will make it worse."
"If we stop," sheepishly asked Blaise, "can we bring you there? We are worried about you, love."
She considered it, trying to appear as though she had to think really hard if she wanted to deal with these boys. After making them sweat for a minute, she replied, "Sure. No more fighting or whatever you call it."
"Jealousy?" Blaise smirked.
"What?"
"You asked what we'd call it. Draco is jealous that I carried you thus far. He probably thought it was romantic of you to collapse onto my lap." He grinned evilly at Draco. "He can keep on being jealous all he likes, but-." Draco clamped a hand over Blaise's mouth and steered him in the direction of the infirmary. Returning to wrap an arm around Leslia's waist, he moved her quickly past Blaise, almost at a jog until Leslia dug her nails into his hand. He let go and she raised an eyebrow.
He looked away. "Sorry."
"Y'know what? I'm just going to find Snape. Neither of you are allowed to come with me. Get lost," she wrote, her emotions showing blatantly on her face.
She stomped away, heading for- for where? She had to get a map. Or an unbiased guide. Neither of which she currently had. Spinning around, she gripped both boys by their collars and forced them to walk in front of her. "Walk."
Her cheeks were red, whether from the realization of what jealousy from Draco meant, or from anger at their stupidity. As they frog marched through the hall, they got odd looks from their classmates who'd missed breakfast. Leslia ignored any and all distractions, intent upon her goal of reaching the infirmary without any more altercations.
When they arrived at the infirmary, Snape was awaiting their arrival. Blaise and Draco tried to follow Leslia into the room, but Snape jerked a stiff wave of dismissal.
The boys began protesting, insisting that they had a right to be in the room.
"If you do not quit pestering me- or Leslia, for that matter- I will personally make sure Dr. Moody turns you into a pair of moony weasels," Snape snapped.
The boys scattered, slamming the door behind them as they beat a swift retreat.
Leslia and Snape stared at each other for a moment before each reaching for one of the double door's doorknobs and yanked them open.
Draco and Blaise tumbled to the floor, obviously guilty of attempted eavesdropping. They stood up quickly, brushing themselves off. Blaise, being slightly slower than Draco was unable to dodge the energy bolt Snape sent at his rear. Yelping, they took off at a run, trying to avoid any more burnt flesh.
When Snape was sure they were alone, he turned to Leslia. "I gave you the stick for a reason. Use it to tell me what the heck just happened. You managed to not obey my orders of staying relatively away from the public eye. The whole of Hogwarts knows that there's a new Slytherin, and the rumor-mill is going haywire with all the possibilities. They don't know if you're a cursed muggle, a death eater gone wrong, or, God forbid, my long lost child. What happened to staying under the radar?"
She started to write, but Snape waved away her words.
"What happened to you in the cafeteria? Draco informed me that you seemed to be in extreme pain before passing out," he paused, considering his words. "It is impossible that my potion didn't work, so why are you in pain? Is it another curse, or is your condition worse than I expected?"
Leslia's mind was working furiously, trying to decide whether to say that she merely passed out from anemia or if she should trust the man who saved her. On the other hand, by telling him, he could be in more danger than he could deal with. She didn't want his cadaver on her conscience.
"I may not be able to read your mind, but I'm extremely gifted in the category of reading micro expressions. Do not test my patience, girl. Tell me what really happened. I'm respecting your wishes of not cracking into your brain to figure out who, or what, put you in such a state, "but I'm not beyond breaking your trust to gain information if I deem the situation dangerous. If you won't inform me, I may have to dig without your permission. I'm assuming you don't want that."
She sighed. "I still won't tell you everything. I will solve my…my issue on my own time. As soon as I can talk.
"As well as I can tell, the mishap in the lunchroom was the product of hearing multiple conversations from people across the country-maybe the world- all at once. They were discussing things ranging from the common, like gillyweed root prices, to the extreme, like how to cast Avada Kedavra." She held up her hand to stop Snape from asking any questions.
"Before you ask, no, I can't tell who was teaching the last one. I know it's an unforgivable curse. I only heard snatches of each conversation, it's not like I could latch on to any specific one. If it happens again, I'll try to limit the hearing to one conversation. Keyword-try. Without talking, I can't even spell myself to control an ant."
"I highly doubt controlling an ant would be useful."
"It was an example."
"No matter. The next curse I'm working on is your inability to speak, as that is the next layer. You'll have to deal with the 'speakings', as your voices are called, until later. Are you all right for now?"
Leslia nodded.
"You understand, yes, that getting involved with anyone at Hogwarts is a bad idea. Especially Malfoy. His family is rather…" Snape searched for the correct word, "Difficult to deal with. Especially Draco's parents."
She raised her eyebrows.
"Worse than what I've been through? I think parents are the least of my worries, unless they're the ones who tried to kill my squad." She tried to scratch out the last part, not wanting to give Snape anything he didn't need.
"Speaking of which, did you see how many attacked you, or your…"
"Five…maybe six?"
"How many were in your group?"
"Group?" She gave her best innocent face.
"Don't mess with me, girl," Snape warned.
She shifted her weight and, looking at her feet replied, "Seven. Not counting me."
"Were the attackers full wizards, or were they students?"
"Adults. One was a shapeshifter. All but one was male. I noticed nothing else," she looked away, her jaw set in stubbornness.
Snape looked at her with a hard glint in his eye.
"I said I didn't. You'll get nothing more out of me."
Frowning, Snape replied, "You realize that if you do know the attackers, you could be freed of the curses if they were caught?"
"I understand. Unfortunately for you, it's my business. If, or when, I decide I can't deal with the issues myself, then I may call upon you. I would greatly appreciate your help in my regaining my speech. Other than that…" She shrugged.
"You're very prickly."
"Noted."
A small smile played around the edges of his lips as he looked at her in approval.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe your friends are waiting for your return. I trust you shall tell them nothing of our conversation?" He swept regally out of the room.
Leslia stepped hesitantly out the door and peered around the edges. No boys lying in wait to ambush her with questions and stupidity. Good. She slipped around the corner and down the hall a ways. Just when she thought she was in the clear, she nearly ran nose-first into Draco.
"Hey."
She stared up at him with utter disinterest. She really wanted a nap. Talking with Snape as an intellectual equal made her sleepy.
"How're you feeling?"
She gave him a fake grin and a cheesy thumbs up.
"No need to be snide!" He paused. Peering behind her. "Blaise didn't find you first?"
She shrugged nonchalantly. Stepping around him, ready to make her escape, she nearly tripped over a cat.
Glancing down as Draco steadied her, her eyes grew large. She dropped to the floor, too quickly for Draco to try to grab her. He watched in amazement as she nearly choked the cat in her excitement. The cat was a beautiful ragdoll specimen with grey markings on its face, dark grey ears, and stunning blue eyes.
"Your familiar, I assume?" He queried.
She ignored him until the cat freed itself of her affection. As it leaped gracefully to her shoulder, she replied distractedly, "Persephone chose me, if that's what you mean. She's looked after me since I was sent to Beauxbatons. She's kind of special." She smiled.
"Special because…?"
"Because Perse chooses to talk to me, like, mind to mind. I don't know if she's really a cat or a higher being, but it's pretty neat."
"Are you sure you're not crazy? First you hear voices, now you converse with your cat?"
She glared at him. Persephone leaped the chasm between her body and his in a single bound and sat on his head. Leslia giggled silently as Draco spun around, trying to dislodge the cat. Finally, when she chose to, she leapt free of Draco's hair and landed back on Leslia's shoulders. Draco muttered something about cat stew before ruffling the cat's fur, making her start to purr.
Leslia closed her eyes in contentment. Life was great. No one was making her out to be a practice dummy for fighting spells, or dumping her books in the toilet. People were actually trying to help her. Best of all, Perse was back- she hadn't seen her since she left her back in the dormitory at Beauxbatons. She'd have begun to purr herself if she hadn't been in front of a very lush boy.
"Why Persephone?"
She opened her eyes, confused. He was expectantly waiting for her to answer.
"What do you mean?"
"Why'd you name her Persephone- after the Goddess of the Underworld?"
"She told me her name when we met. Otherwise, that would have been a sick joke on my end."
"Huh?"
"Never mind."
Draco ran his hand lightly over Persephone's back and flicked her tail. She meowed mournfully and Draco smiled. His hand slipped lower until it was brushing Leslia's face. As if in a trance, he leaned closer, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She froze, unsure of how she was supposed to react. There weren't exactly very many males where she came from, and definitely not attractive ones who made her heart do weird flippy things by just smiling.
"You have beautiful eyes, did you know?" He murmured.
She swallowed hard. She'd always been told she had her mother's eyes, so she treasured them. Snape's warning to avoid becoming involved with anyone at Hogwarts rang in the back of her mind, but she ignored it for the time being.
She had better things to concentrate on, like a blond male nearly touching her forehead with his.
Suddenly, Draco's head jerked backwards. She jumped in surprise, released of the spell she'd been under with his gentle touch.
"Getting a head start, are we?" Blaise asked savagely. "Now, now, freezing me in the closet was a novel idea. Except that you were in such a rush you did it poorly, you dunce. Shame. It was so sad having to interrupt your little shindig."
Draco yanked his head out of Blaise's hands and scowled, blushing. "What're you talking about? We were only talking!"
The three teens, two blushing and one irate, were so engrossed in their arguing that they didn't notice a certain Miss Parkinson spying on them from the doorway of the girl's bathroom. If this hadn't been real life, there'd have been steam coming out of her ears. The thoughts running through her mind were merely the beginning of Leslia's problems. Soon Leslia'd have no time to relax as she does now.
Dumbledore watched the events unfolding from his office and shook his head. "I had hoped that Mr. Potter would be the extent of our issues. It seems we have a new contender for who attracts the most danger. Good luck, young ones."
