AN: After this chapter, things will start to pick up a bit more. I'll be updating less often as I've just about got to the end of my prewritten chapters. This is the shortest chapter yet, but I didn't feel right attaching it to any of the others, so you're stuck with one short chapter – Chapter 8 to come soon though, as it's mostly finished!
Chapter 7 - Painted
As I marched from the library to the slytherin common room, my anger at the interfering Gryffindor prefect began to fade. I was still happy that Harry had approached me, even if everything had been ruined by that lumbering idiot. Today I had finally found two people that I could talk to - Padma, who seemed as interested in learning as I was, and Harry, who seemed to want to be friends with me despite everything. I hoped that he wouldn't get trouble for hanging around me.
"Devilswort," I whispered at the hidden door, and I made my way down to the common room, slipping through the shadowed areas and into my dorm. I stopped and stared. The hangings of my bed had been slashed. The duvet, pillows and mattress were now nothing more than feathers and ripped fabric - worse still, red paint had been splashed across my things. Pansy and Millicent were sat on their beds talking. They looked up and giggled when I came in.
"It wasn't us," Giggled Parkinson. "It was like that when we got here."
Bullstrode dissolved into a fit of giggles, and then they made their way into the common room, probably to tell everyone about how funny my face was when I saw what happened. Sure enough a few seconds later I heard Malfoy's cold aristocratic laugh, and a few deeper chuckles from the older students. I remember the conversation I had overheard this morning and decided it probably wasn't someone from my own year who had done this - it was someone in the older years, trying to get rid of me.
I wouldn't let this get to me. "Tolly?" I said quietly.
There was a pop and Tolly appeared nearby. "What is it mi- oh." Tolly came to me and put her hand on my elbow comfortingly. "Tolly will clear this up now. Missy is not to worry, for Tolly can sort this out right away."
"Thank you Tolly" I said softly. Tolly patted my arm again and popped away, reappearing with five other houselves and some fresh bedclothes. They worked their magic, and within five minutes my bed was fresh and clean and the paint had been cleared away.
"Thank you," I said, kneeling down so I could look Tolly in the eye.
"We are always happy for you to call on us, Missy!" Said Tolly, and then with a little curtsey, she and the other houselves disappeared.
With that, I climbed into bed and tugged closed my fresh hangings. That night, I slept without the dreams I had come to expect. Perhaps my mother was warding off those that were trying to pull me into harms way. Every now and then, I thought I heard a dog barking, or the howling of a wolf under the moon, but it was a comforting sound and it helped me sleep.
The next morning I awoke as early as usual. After washing and changing, I made my way down to breakfast. There were only a couple of people in the hall - sleepy Ravenclaws, adding a last few extra inches to their lengthy essays, or panicked looking Hufflepuffs finishing off forgotten summer homework. There were a few older Slytherins sat at one end of the table, so I took my seat at the other side and pulled a slice of toast onto my plate and buttered it. I checked my schedule and felt a bubble of dread begin in my stomach. I had transfiguration this morning. I sighed and packed my stuff away, deciding I would try to catch professor McGonagall early and talk to her about what happened. I knew she was always in her classroom before her students so if I came early enough I would be able to apologise.
I slipped out of the great hall the moment Draco Malfoy appeared and made my way to the transfiguration classroom. The door was open and I could see professor McGonagall at the desk, marking summer homework. I knocked on the door to let her know I was there and stepped through. She looked up and I closed the door behind me.
"Professor," I said softly "I wanted to talk to you." Her lips pursed into a half smile,
"And I to you ruby." Come in and sit down." I took my seat for class and she came over, leaning against the desk next to mine.
"I'm sorry about yesterday." I said, quietly.
Professor McGonagall stayed silent for a while. "I understand you were having a hard time. I too was shocked by your placement. However, I do not feel this was an excuse for the dangerous way in which you reacted. I hope you will work hard in class to make up for it." I smiled. She was being colder than usual, but at least she was still willing to teach me.
"Of course," I said with a smile. A feeling of relief washed through me. I got out my books and parchment and began finishing off the last of my homework as the rest of the class arrived.
Professor McGonagall turned out to be as strict a teacher as I had expected. I already knew a little bit of what to expect after going through the essay with harry. I managed to answer a couple of questions and even managed to win a couple of points for slytherin. I was both pleased and a little guilty; although I took it as a sign that she had mostly forgiven me. I realised that I was the first one in our class to win points, and I wondered if it would make my classmates dislike me more, or if they would give me less of a hard time.
After Transfiguration we had another period of charms. Professor Flit wick was still somewhat cold, but I had begun to feel better and I was sure that after a while he would become less awkward. I sat with my classmates during lunch, staying quiet and listening to them talk. I began to wonder how I might go about trying to win them over - I had no idea, but I was sure there must be something I could do. Things carried on in this way for the rest of the week. In classes we shared with other students I tried to make friends with other houses, and in those where we were the only ones I kept my mind occupied thinking about the various things I had learned - about my mother, and the still mysterious stranger, and about how I would begin to get along better with my house.
