Adrienne leaned against the wrought iron fence opposite the scarlet steam engine, crossed her arms over her chest, and sighed. The curtains on the car of the train she and her friends had been on were simultaneously pulled down, startling Adrienne. However, she brushed the thought from her mind, seeing as it was none of her business. The Slytherin sixth year closed her dark brown eyes and exhaled slowly. She allowed her thoughts to travel to the task that she had been assigned. After meeting with Slughorn, she realized that she would not have to manipulate him in any manner to get to know him, whatever that meant. He already liked her, seeing as he sent a student to come and search for her. That pushed one of the harder parts of task the out of the way. She didn't have to worry about getting him to like her, everything after that was simple.
"Addy," he called to her using a nickname that only he, her brother, and a select few people dared to utter.
The chocolate skinned girl opened her dark eyes and pushed herself off the fence behind her, pulling her satchel higher up on her shoulder. Draco hadn't stopped walking when he got off the train, or when he called out to her, so he was a good distance ahead of her. Adrienne, who usually took small quick steps, had to take larger, longer steps to catch up with him. When she finally caught up to him, he said nothing.
She did not dare ask what he did on the train, and he wouldn't tell her until he wanted her to know, so the two sixth years walked to the school, seeing as they'd missed the carriages. Draco's hands were in his pocket as he walked next to the girl, his grey eyes trained to the brightly lit castle in front of them. He was thinking about something and who was she to interrupt his train of thought.
"Where have you been?" Professor Snape snarled as the two approached the gates. The dark cloaked Professor stopped inches away from the gate and tapped the padlock once, and stepped away as the chains snaked back into the lock.
"Taking care of business," Draco said. Adrienne sighed and shrugged her shoulders when Snape turned his eyes to her. She reached out and grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him through the gates roughly.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," Adrienne apologized.
Professor Flitwick stood at the gate with a list, "Names?"
Adrienne narrowed her dark brown eyes, wondering why the Professor whom they'd had class with for five years was asking their name. It was then that she remembered that Pansy had said they were upping security. "Zabini, Adrienne and Malfoy, Draco," Adrienne said as she watched the small man check their names off on the list.
"Nice face, Potter," Draco taunted as he stopped walking to look at Harry.
Adrienne looked over her shoulder, seeing Potter approaching Professor Flitwick with Luna Lovegood. There was blood on his face, dripping down to the front of his shirt, and he looked rather disheveled, his dark hair messier looking than usual and a small crack in the lens of his glasses. Adrienne looked from Draco, who was sneering, and Harry. As she did, she began to piece somethings together, however everything did make sense. She crossed her arms over her chest as the Auror looked through her satchel and when he approved it and placed it with the rest of the belongings going to Slytherin house, she stepped to the side and cast a glance over her shoulder. Draco and Snape were now gazing at one another, having some sort of silent conversation. Finally, Draco left his Professor and moved towards her.
Together, the two entered the castle. Stopping just in the door, Adrienne flourished her wand, her casual black attire being replaced by the Hogwarts uniform and pointed her wand at Draco. His tailored suit was replaced by his standard Hogwarts uniform. Adrienne adjusted her tie, as they walked into The Great Hall, where the sorting had just ending and the hat was speaking about being strong in troubled times. Draco took his usual seat next to Crabbe and Goyle and across from her brother. Adrienne settled into the seat next to her brother.
Blaise leaned over to her and subtly gestured down the table at the new additions to the house. Adrienne let her eyes scan over the new students as they sat munching on the items on their plates. Pansy was talking to one of the boys, but she couldn't exactly make out what she was saying. Knowing Pansy, she was probably going on about how she was a Prefect and what that meant. Adrienne rolled her dark eyes and started to place food on her plate.
"Adrienne," a familiar female voice called to her.
Adrienne looked at the space next to her that had been empty. It was occupied by a brunette of average height and average looking hazel eyes. Melanie King, a girl in her year and her only close friend. Melanie reached over to take something off of Adrienne's plate only to have Adrienne move the plate out of her reach.
"Melanie," Adrienne greeted as she poked her fork into a meatball. "How was your summer?"
"It was fine," she replied. "Not as good as yours, of course." Adrienne's gaze was questioning, urging her to continue. "You and Malfoy?" Melanie's eyebrows wiggled on her forehead. "As your friend, I am upset that I didn't hear it from you."
"Where did you hear it?" Adrienne questioned.
"The Pureblood Wizarding World is small, and getting smaller every day. There are no secrets between us," Melanie said with a shrug.
Of course, she was right. The Pureblood community was continually shrinking, due to the constant addition of mudbloods into their world. Pureblood witches and wizards were starting to marry the mudbloods, thinking of them as their equals. Pureblood family lines were starting to fade away. As a result, the families that remained grew closer. These types of arranged marriages, like the ones between she and Draco, were starting to become more common, although they usually waited until at least one party was seventeen. They were desperate attempts to keep the blood pure.
"The very best of evenings to you!" Dumbledore said as he opened his arms to the entire hall. As he did the Hall started to fill with frantic whispers.
Adrienne turned her eyes away from her plate and towards the front of the room. The Headmaster's right arm was blacked, as if it were dead. Whispers moved across the Great Hall as the students started to point. Dumbledore, never missing a beat, shook his arm and covered the dead flesh with his sleeve. "Nothing to worry about," he said to the Great Hall, and continued with his welcome speech. However, Adrienne didn't dismiss the dead-looking skin on the old man's arm, and when she glanced down the table, she was sure that Draco hadn't missed it, because his steely grey eyes were boring right into her dark brown ones.
Adrienne shifted to the edge of her seat as she watched Draco. He looked like he wanted to stand and leave the Great Hall, however he didn't move, it was like he was frozen in his seat. After a long moment, he relaxed and turned his eyes to the Headmaster. Adrienne followed suit, turning her attention to Dumbledore just as he said, "We are pleased to welcome a new staff member this year, Professor Slughorn" - the fat man from the compartment stood – "as the new Potions master."
Melanie coughed a little as her Pumpkin juice went down the wrong pipe. "Potions; what about Snape?"
"Professor Snape, meanwhile, will take the place of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor," Dumbledore had to raise his voice to continue over the muttering. More muttering ensued and he knew that speaking at the moment would be pointless. So he gave the student body a moment to voice their surprise.
Adrienne tapped her brother's shoulder and said something to him in a low voice. He then stood and stepped over the bench allowing her to slide across the bench and sit in front of Draco. He then took her seat next to Melanie, who greeted him with a low hello. By the time, he'd looked over at his sister, she was deep in conversation with Draco, using a low voice so that she remained unheard. She was leaning on the table her forearms resting on the edge and she held steady eye contact with Draco. Her lips moved quickly at first, and then more slowly, a sign that her sentences were trailing off at the end. Draco's replies were just as quick, but not as lengthy.
"Looks like Snape finally got his wish," Adrienne said suddenly, signaling that she and Draco's conversation was over.
"That's a good thing for us, right?" Melanie asked. "We won't have that easy passing grade in Potions anymore, but now it'll be in DADA."
"I suppose so," Blaise answered, eying the fork that Draco was levitating with his wand.
Adrienne took the fork from her brother's plate and held it over the pineapple on his plate, "Can I?" she asked quietly, so quietly that she was sure he was the only one that heard her. He nodded and she lowered the fork into the bright yellow fruit and chewed on it as her brother and Melanie continued to talk.
"Eleven," Draco said suddenly and quietly.
Adrienne nodded as Dumbledore dismissed all of the students to their dormitories. In the background, she could hear the clock strike nine o'clock. Adrienne and Melanie excused themselves from the table and then rushed out of the hall just as they had every year since their first year. Of course, in their first year they didn't know what the password was or where exactly the common room was, so they were running about the dungeons before Marcus Flint, a family friend, can to bring them to the right place and tell them the password.
Since then, it was a sort of tradition for the two girls to rush out of the Great Hall when they were dismissed. Mostly, because they didn't want to get caught up in the crowd of students milling around in the corridors and the long lines of first years being escorted around the castle.
When the two reached the wall at the end of the corridor, Adrienne stepped forward and said, "Puer," and then stepped back as the wall opened and revealed the common room to them.
A low-ceilinged, dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and black leather chairs appeared before them. The room had a green tinge to it, seeing as the dorms and the back part of the common room were under the Black Lake. One wall was dominated by a large black marble fireplace with a large painting of the house founder, Salazar Slytherin - dead center above the fire place, and smaller but still large pictures of the other heads of Slytherin house: Professor Snape and Professor Slughorn, where the ones that she could name off the top of her head. Adrienne sighed. This felt like home; more so than her own home did. She'd grown up here; this was her home.
Adrienne and Melanie raced to the black leather sofa towards the back off the common room. This was their favorite spot to sit, because of the window that looked directly into the lake, not over it, but into the lake. There was some sort of charm on the window to keep it from breaking and flooding the Slytherin common room killing them all. If you sat and looked out the window long enough, then you might get lucky and see a merperson swim by or the giant squid. Adrienne and Melanie had yet to spot that latter.
"So what's it like?" Melanie asked as she and Adrienne settled into the leather sofa. The Zabini's eyebrow arched, showing that she didn't understand what she meant. "Being betrothed and all," the girl clarified as the common room slowly started to fill.
Adrienne ran her fingers through her hair as she thought over her friend's question. "It's the same. I mean, he doesn't treat me any different. I think Blaise is a little," the dark skinned girl struggled to find a word that suited her brother's emotion about the topic, "angry, for lack of a better word, about it." She looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear," she drawled as Draco and Blaise sat down on the sofa opposite of the girls.
"Talking about me, Addy?" Blaise questioned.
"What did you do with Pansy?" Adrienne asked changing the subject.
"Told her I was tired of her following me around, so she left with that girl, Taylor, or something," Draco said.
"Taylyn," Melanie corrected.
"Poor Taylyn, she doesn't know what she's in for," Adrienne drawled as she looked down at her nails.
"No one knows what they are in for," drawled Draco.
There was a morbid look exchanged between Adrienne and Draco. Both Blaise and Melanie exchanged looks and sighed. They knew that they were out of the loop on this one. Draco and Adrienne shared something that Mel and Blaise didn't. The Dark Lord's trust; neither of the other two knew how it felt to have someone so powerful and all-knowing trust you so much. The pressure, although she'd never tell anyone, was keeping her up at night. She'd never admit that to anyone though. There were people that had to kill other wizards, by order of the Dark Lord, and they'd competed their task and got to sleep at night. So how could she ever admit that befriending a Professor in the school was keeping her up at night?
A/N: The password for the Common Room, puer is a geomantic figure that means 'the boy' and refers to male energies, primarily aggression and passion, but also war. I thought it was fitting. Thanks for reading! I look forward to reading you reviews. Also, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you've enjoyed it.
~ Nikki
