AN:
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To my reviewers, big thank you to you six (all beautifully wonderful 5 of you)! You make me smile too, and your responses are at the bottom! :D
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For a few days after the incident, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris; and though Lillian had often pondered the thought of attempting to console the rather distraught Filch, she never did simply because the man was in an inconsolable rage – each time she passed that still stained blood red wall, he was sitting there, a diligent guard. A guard to what, though, Lillian didn't know.
Other than the talk and subsequent whispers of what Potter's involvement was in relation to the whole scandal, school had continued on as per usual.
Devon was adamantly ignoring Draco, Lillian herself lacking the patience to deal with aforementioned cousin. She severely disapproved of his casual slinging of the heart-hurting slander that affected her nearly as much as it did her muggleborn friend, and it was in those moments that Lillian recalled his loose tongue, that she found herself mildly thankful that Draco wouldn't be accompanying her home that year for the Christmas holidays. She anticipated not having made up with him by the time those months rolled around.
The downside for Devon, however, was that the library wasn't so much of a reprieve any longer. Since the discovery of Mrs. Norris and the premier debut of the Chamber of Secrets, near every student in Hogwarts had been scouring the shelves, looking for any book that may hold the key to unlocking the mystery.
Madam Pince had been in a fluster for days, the demand for answers was so high that Hogwarts, A History was even on backorder.
One evening after the incident, Lillian had been thoroughly amused when Hermione had quietly approached she, Devon, and Theo in the library as they conversed quietly about one of Lockhart's assignments. Theo had regarded the frazzled girl with utter bewilderment, silently wondering why the heck the Gryffindor girl was at their table, Devon had just shaken her head, telling the boy it wasn't unordinary as Hermione and Lillian were acquaintances of sorts.
"I was wondering if you had your Hogwarts, A History copy?" Hermione questioned, studiously ignoring the Slytherin boy she had had no prior interactions with and thus was extremely uncomfortable around.
Lillian shook her head, "I'm afraid not. I take it you're trying to find the answers to this mysterious, elusive Chamber of Secrets?"
"Harry and Ronald obviously don't care enough to find the answers themselves," She had huffed irritatingly before offering a polite smile to Devon, a thankful one to Lillian, and then turned on her heel and left.
Had Hermione decided to linger a little longer, Lillian probably would have told the other girl all she knew about the Chamber – she may have not had her book, she did remember everything said about the Chamber; during her lessons over the summer, hers and Draco's tutor had given them a plethora of exams on the Houses origins and their consequent legends, for all legends were based on some element of truth.
Lillian was pulled out of any further musings on the happenings since Mrs. Norris' discovery, however, by the opening of the potions classroom and the exiting of students that appeared to have a torch at their bums considering most were practically sprinting out of the classroom. Their haste to leave potions behind wasn't really surprising though, considering Professor Snape seemed to have been in a particularly vindictive mood the past few days.
As the last of students exited the classroom, Lillian pushed off of her relaxed position along the wall and entered the room, taking note of Harry cleaning what looked to be scrape tubeworms off of the desks before heading towards Professor Snape's office where she knocked politely along the door.
Beady black eyes pierced her over a crooked, large nose. "Miss Black, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Good afternoon, Professor," She replied amicably, undeterred by his cool tones. "I was wondering if you had any upper level potion books I could borrow for the weekend?"
His eyes widened for the brief moment it took for him to regain his demeanor and level a scowl at her, "My apologies, but is my coursework not rigorous enough for you, Miss Black?" He asked icily.
"No sir, your work is plenty rigorous enough, highly intriguing, too. However, I've already read through the book and studied most of the potions." She explained, knowing that her advanced preparation surprised him, though for what reasons, she wasn't sure. "I merely wished to read a little further on the more intricate potions found in higher level books."
He watched her with a scientifically probing gleam in his dark eyes as if, if he stared hard enough into her eyes, he would gain access to the innerworkings of her brain.
He must have eventually found what he had been searching for, or given up his search entirely, for he pulled a piece of parchment from one of his desk drawers, scribbling something along the blank lines before he signed the bottom and held out the parchment for her to take.
She felt her brows draw down in slight confusion as she read the title of the book listed on the parchment, "Moste Potente Potions."
"It's an advanced potions book in the restricted section of the library, you need a Professor's authorization to obtain it. Return it by Tuesday."
Lillian offered a slight smile, "Thank you, Professor Snape." She would have parted with an 'I'll see you next week' had he not been her Head of House or had it not been one hundred percent likely that she would see him throughout the halls before her next class with him.
Lillian was just leaving the office, tucking the parchment into her bag, as Harry was grabbing his things leaving the same way as herself.
Without conscious choice, they found themselves walking beside each other, and though no conversation was had, it wasn't an unnecessarily uncomfortable walk – at least it wasn't uncomfortable until some Hufflepuff came towards them from the opposite direction.
Lillian had caught Harry opening his mouth from her peripheral, obviously familiar with the other boy, but when the boy had lifted his gaze from the ground in front of him, he had spotted them and immediately turned the other way, speeding away from the direction he had come.
After a couple more silent, suddenly tense moments of walking, Harry asked, "Was that because of me, or you?"
Lillian didn't have to take long to think of her response, "I would gather it was a combination of the two," She contemplated, "Probably you more than I."
"What?" Harry's incredulous question as his head whipped around to stare at her, "How do you reckon that? You are the one in Slytherin."
Lillian felt her countenance cool, her eyes changing from murky grey into cool silver as she slanted him with an indifferent gaze, "I wasn't the one found at the scene of the crime." He had lost all attempts at congenial interaction on her part the moment he had pronounced her House name with unveiled disgust.
The Gryffindor boy gaped for a moment, obviously grasping for some irrefutable defense before settling with, "You were there!" His cheeks flushed red, his glasses slanting across his nose in his exuberant fury.
"Are you accusing me of something, Potter?" Lillian challenged lowly, a note of warning in her voice that briefly shut the younger boy up; that was, before he remembered just who he was talking to, the cousin of Draco Malfoy, that alone had to mean she was capable of evil wrongdoings.
"You're a Malfoy." Another accusation that had her patience thinning, she had nothing against Harry Potter, he was inadvertently family, but she would never tolerate ignorance, and in that moment, Harry was displaying prominent amounts of ignorance unparalleled by any others Lillian had ever before encountered.
"Your hatred for my cousin hasn't yet made you an enemy of mine," Lillian announced in an exquisitely controlled manner, "It would be smart of you to refrain from doing that yourself." A blatant warning to the suddenly gaping boy, "Because you're right Potter, I am in Slytherin, and I do have a bad side; and you would do best to stay off of it."
Yes, Harry was quasi-family, even if he didn't know it; but that veiled connection between them could only get him so far before she disregarded his family's significance to her own and treated him in a manner reserved for all those who brought into question her character; especially when those questioning her knew nothing about her.
Without waiting for the boy to regain his bearings from the soft threat, Lillian left him behind and proceeded to study hour to meet up with Devon.
She had just settled into the bench across from Devon when there was a soft thud beside her.
Curious, Lillian lifted her head, surprised to see Blaise claiming the empty space to her right.
"Zabini?" Devon inquired, utter confusion coloring her tones; they hadn't sat next to Blaise in study hour since Draco's first transgression.
"Maccabee," Blaise responded, offering no explanations to the sudden change in seating arrangements; and when it looked as though Devon would question him further, Lillian caught her eye and subtly shook her head in silent retribution.
Blaise would tell only if he wanted Devon to know and by his rather short response, he didn't feel like explaining himself.
"So," Devon prompted once Blaise had settled into his newly claimed place and they each began working on their assignments, "What did Professor say?"
"He gave me permission to retrieve a book from the restricted section," Lillian answered quietly; grey eyes skimming her assignments, looking for any she hadn't already completed.
"Merlin, do you realize how difficult that is? I overheard some sixth years complaining about how they've been trying to get the same book from the restricted sections for years."
Lillian offered a shrug; all she had done was ask for it.
A few minutes later, after Lillian had realized she had completed all of her assignments due for the next three weeks and had been given no other assignments to thus complete; she settled for reading through her Transfiguration book.
"Hey," Devon whispered just after Lillian had finished a basic, informative chapter on Animagus, "What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"
Lillian looked up from her book, vaguely noting that Blaise was writing in loose, unhurried motions a twelve-inch Herbology assignment due next week. "Quite a few things, why?"
"It's all anybody can bloody talk about," Devon responded, "Tell me what you know?" Devon hated being out of the know, especially when it was all anybody could talk about.
"A rift between Slytherin House and the other three Houses emerged once Salazar Slytherin decided he wanted to be more selective about the students admitted into Hogwarts." Lillian began to explain.
"Let me guess," Devon interrupted dryly, "Purebloods?"
Lillian nodded in affirmation briefly considering Salazar's selectiveness and it's relation to Devon. It was because of Salazar's mindset that Devon's placement into Slytherin made her as much of an anomaly as it did Lillian a threat.
A muggleborn in Slytherin where blood mattered most, it was rare, and in the odd chances of it happening, those few muggleborn Slytherins had found a way to be transferred out of their House and into another. No matter their status, no matter their beliefs, other Slytherins had to commend Devon for her strength for choosing to remain in the Slytherin House.
"He believed," Lillian proceeded to explain once she had finished her thoughts, "That magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy."
"After a while," Blaise continued without lifting his gaze from his parchment, his hand still moving with slow fluidity across his parchment, "Tensions between the houses escalated and Salazar Slytherin left the school."
"So how does all of this fit into the Chamber?" Devon implored, eyes shifting between the two impromptu storytellers.
"Story goes," Lillian picked up where Blaise left off, "That Salazar built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing of. Salazar, according to legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at Hogwarts. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were deemed unworthy to study magic."
Devon looked particularly uneasy at the sound of 'purging all who were deemed unworthy'; her left hand curling tight around her quill, her eyes flickering worriedly around the room before she seemed to find the strength within to continue her search for answers.
Devon wasn't the type to scare easily, hadn't ever been scared in the face of nighttime stories at the orphanage, but she found it was a little different in the world of magic, where tensions between blood was very, very real. She found it easy to be a little fearful when there had already been one blood soaked war on the purity of one's lineage, especially when she knew that she was of the impure sort.
"'Horror within'?"
"Some sort of monster residing in the Chamber, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control." Blaise supplied.
"Is that what happened to Mrs. Norris?"
"No one knows what happened to Mrs. Norris," Lillian assured softly, trying to assuage her friend's fears. "But they'll figure it out, Dev."
Devon nodded, accepting Lillian's assurances before returning to her assignment – it wasn't but a minute later that her head lifted once more. "Wait, so who do you think it is? The Heir, I mean?"
Lillian could only shrug, "I'm not sure, but I can tell you who everyone else thinks it is."
"Potter, right?" Devon questioned, "I've heard whisperings around the commons," She explained when Lillian quirked a brow at her. "I figure if Slytherins are talking about it, then so is the rest of the school."
"It wasn't Potter," Blaise countered, Lillian nodding along in agreement as Devon looked to them both in confusion.
"How can you be certain?"
"He's too Gryffindor for it," Lillian said, by way of explanation, "That and he isn't the type to do whatever was done to Mrs. Norris."
"Aside from those facts," Blaise began, "He couldn't find the Chamber without help from Granger." Undoubtedly true, the bushy-haired brunette was the brains behind all of Potter and Weasley's endeavors.
"And Granger is a muggleborn," Devon mused thoughtfully, "And thus can't be the Heir."
As they each returned to their respective assignments – or in certain cases, side readings – Lillian couldn't help but to recall the slight of hand that had slipped a second book into little Ginevra Weasley's cauldron; what had Lucius been up to?
AN:
Special Shout outs:
xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Ah! Thank you! :D
Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape: He is! :'( But Mrs. Norris will return! (eventually...) :D
StrawberryObsession: It is sad. I'm glad you found their interaction, and Devon's mindset enjoyable! :) Never fear, Lillian's the type to persevere, besides, it takes a little more than three students not so close to her to hurt her feelings. :) That will be interesting! But, I think that will be an extra at the end of this installment, so you might have to wait a little longer for that one.
Dauntless14: Thank you! And no worries, I never tire of hearing it! haha. ;) I'm happy that you enjoy their relationship and that you like Blaise and Lillian's relationship dynamic! I have plans for them in the future, and it's so hard to try and do their relationship justice nowsimply because I'm trying to keep Blaise as mysterious as possible haha. You will see Devon stand up for herself relatively soon! And her lack of doing so now is in part, because of how young she (and the others) are currently, but don't worry, she'll come into her own as she gets older and (slight spoiler alert, maybe?) she'll have absolutely no problems standing up for herself (and others). I can't wait until I get to incorporate romance either! ;) I can tell you now, it's going to be fun to write all of those happenings out, so I hopefully, you'll enjoy it. :D
Moon-chan: Success! :) There wasn't any Draco in this one, but no worries, he will get his comeuppance! Promise. :D Whichever questions weren't answered (and if giving you the answers gives away spoilers, and you're okay with that) just remind me what they were and I'll be happy to answer them. :)
Reviews are welcomed, but they aren't mandatory.
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Hope you enjoyed!
See you next Friday,
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