Author
Notes
To my newest reviewers, Loreylli and Angel… thank you
for taking the time to read this story. Thanks to all my reviewers,
and huggles to Tiny, my lovely beta-reader…
Some notes: This chapter is named after the song Don't Ask For More by Abby Dobson… and a very good song to listen to.
Oh, and on reading this chapter, you'll see that I use the line "Books and cleverness…" Credit to JK for that line… it fit so well in that part for me, and it's a line I really like, so I wanted to use it.
Hope this chapter is as good as the rest…. I hope you like it…Chapter
Nine
Don't
Ask For More
Aini couldn't help smiling to herself as she left the small room. Pausing briefly at the top of the stairs, she listened for any sounds coming from the corridor below, but couldn't hear any. She pulled her robes around her, and made her way rather clumsily down the stairs. Her thoughts, after all, were still with the man that remained back in the small room. Her smile became a sly grin as she remembered what had happened. She could still feel his hands all over her, and blushed as she stumbled, then fell against the wall.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she peeked around the corner, then hurried along the corridor towards the common room. Wanting to avoid the Great Hall, she was about to turn down a different corridor, when she heard someone call her name. It was Hermione.
"Aini!" Hermione called again, as she and Ginny both hurried over. "Where have you been?"
"Nowhere," Aini said, trying desperately to hide her smile.
"I know that smile," Hermione said, as she laced her arm through Aini's and led her to the common room. "And that does not mean nothing,"
"So, what's his name?" Ginny asked.
Aini stopped walking, causing Ginny to walk into her.
"There's no one," Aini stammered.
"Really?" Hermione persisted. "So you just decided to spend the night out by yourself?"
"I did," Aini said.
"Pull the other one," Hermione said. "It plays jingle bells,"
Ginny stared at Hermione.
"What does that mean?" Ginny asked, her brows creasing as she pondered what Hermione had said.
"It's a muggle expression," Hermione explained, and was about to continue questioning Aini, when they were joined by someone else.
"Miss Benson, aren't you meant to be in Dumbledore's office?"
It was Professor Malfoy. Her sharp eyes took in the girl's appearance, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she merely waved her wand, and now a school uniform was visible.
"That spell…" Aini said, then looked up at Professor Malfoy. "Thank you,"
"You'd better go, the other prefects have been there for a little while now," Professor Malfoy said, then continued her way down the corridor.
"What spell?" Hermione asked.
"Why was she nice to you?" Ginny asked, still wearing her look of confusion.
"I don't know," Aini replied, although her conscience pricked at her as she said the words.
"I'll explain later," Aini hastened to add. "But, I should go now. I'll see you later,"
Aini made her way to Dumbledore's office. As soon as she stood in front of the gargoyle statue she realised that she didn't know the password. She heard footsteps behind her and turned, hoping to see Professor McGonagall. Instead, she came face to face with Snape's cold eyes. They looked her over.
"Late are we, Miss Benson?" Snape's icy cold voice sent shivers of a different kind down her spine. Aini stood there in silence.
"A Gryffindor prefect…" Snape continued, his eyes looking into hers searchingly. Aini stepped back, colliding with the statue.
"If you're going to help me by saying the password then great, but if not, go away," Aini said abruptly, as she felt her cheeks blush. Snape rounded on her.
"It would not be…" he searched for the word. "Wise… to be rude to me, Miss Benson,"
Aini looked defiantly at him, but chose not to say anything else, although the silence that ensued was uncomfortable. It was, thankfully, cut short by the sound of footsteps behind her. Snape glanced past Aini, then continued his way down the hall, black robes billowing behind him.
"Aini, there you are," came Harry's voice from the top of the stairs. "Where have you been?"
"Sleeping," Aini said quickly, although she blushed slightly. "What did Dumbledore want?"
"Just telling us about the Christmas Ball. We're meant to supervise, you know, responsible things like that. But, he's not telling us who's going to be the entertainment," Harry said, and started down the corridor. Aini glimpsed down the hallway Snape had gone, but he was nowhere to be seen. She sighed a breathe of relief, then followed Harry back to the common room.
Aini sat quietly in the library, leafing absentmindedly through her copy of the Daily Prophet. Hermione had run down to the Owlery to send a note to Viktor asking him to meet her in Aini's room. He wouldn't be here for some time, but Hermione wanted to make sure the note arrived in time. Harry and Ron had already started to make their way tp Defence Against the Dark Arts, but Aini had decided to stay behind. Finding nothing of interest in the paper, she put it aside then rested her arms on the table. She pulled her Defence Against the Dark Arts book closer to her, and rested her head upon it. She was about to close her eyes, when two things happened simultaneously. The first, she heard a chime in the distance, which reminded her that she should go to her Defence Against the Dark Arts class. The other was Madam Pince making her way over. Aini reached for her bag, and quickly placed her books into her bag. This action, however, did not deter Madam Pince from coming over.
"Miss Benson, this library is not to be used for sleeping," Madam Pince said, looking disapprovingly at Aini.
"Sorry, Madam Pince," Aini replied. "Exams are…"
"If indeed you are so worried, then perhaps you should make an effort to go to your classes, Miss Benson," Madam Pince said, then hurried away as she spotted some first years near the restricted section.
Aini stood up. She tried to
dismiss Madam Pince's words, but they were etching her conscience
away a little. Placing her bag over her shoulder, she made her way
out of the library.
When she neared the Defence Against the Dark
Arts room she saw that the door was open.
The silent class looked up as she walked in, but no one said anything.
Aini looked towards the front of the room, where Professor Malfoy sat. A slightly quizzical look was on her face, but she didn't say anything. Aini half smiled at her, then looked away as she took a seat next to Hermione.
"Where have you been?" Hermione asked.
"I was waiting for you in the library, then got asked to leave by Madam Pince because I nearly fell asleep," Aini replied, taking out her books. Hermione looked towards Professor Malfoy and noticed that notes were appearing on the board. She began to copy them down.
At the same time, however, she was also taking little glances at Aini, and hoping that the girl did not notice. Although, judging by the way Aini had wandered into the classroom, about ten minutes after everyone else, and yawning like crazy, there was a good chance. Even now, Hermione noticed on one of her glances, that the notes Aini was taking were going almost vertically down the page, and the ink was smudging.
"So, what's his name?" Hermione asked suddenly.
This last question served to wake Aini up somewhat, or at the very least knock her ink pot over. Professor Malfoy turned around in time to see the ink spill over the table. Hermione removed the ink with a wave of her wand.
"What?" Aini asked, feeling her cheeks start to burn.
"His name," Hermione repeated.
"There's no one," Aini replied, although the words felt painful to say. She looked back down at her book, feeling tears prick behind her eyes. Before she'd had time to think about, she'd stood up.
"Miss Benson, where…" Professor Malfoy began, but that was all Aini heard as she ran out of the classroom. She'd only gotten to the end of the hallway when she felt something brush past her ear. Turning around, she saw Professor Malfoy hurrying after her.
"Miss Benson, where are you going?" Professor Malfoy finished her question.
"Nowhere. My life is going nowhere," Aini said, then looked up at Professor Malfoy. She felt defiant as she said this, but it lasted only a second.
"Come," Professor Malfoy said kindly. "I have some Honeydukes chocolate in my room,"
Aini smiled in spite of her tears.
"Chocolate," Aini repeated.
"It works wonders when one is not happy," Narcissa replied. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she'd grown fond of Aini. There was something about the girl that reminded her of herself when she was that age.
"Why?" Aini asked.
"Maybe when you're older you'll understand," Narcissa replied.
They reached Narcissa's office, and as they entered the room, Aini remembered the class she was meant to be in.
"What about the class?" Aini asked, noting that the chair she had once sat on was still in front of Narcissa's desk.
"I let them go early," Narcissa replied. "But, let's not talk about that,"
Narcissa reached for the chocolate which was sitting on her desk and offered Aini a generous piece. She then took some herself, and perched herself on the edge of the desk.
"Now tell me, Aini," Narcissa began, and Aini recoiled at this matter of fact tone. She looked down towards the ground.
"Is it exams?" Narcissa asked. "Although, a bright student like you shouldn't have to worry about them,"
"It's not them," Aini replied, and moved uncomfortably on the chair.
"What is it, Aini?" Narcissa asked, a bit more persistently.
"Well…" Aini began, then looked up at Narcissa, and reminded herself of several things. The first, and possibly the most important, was that the face that was looking at her with concern belonged to the person she could say the least to.
"I'm sorry," Aini said, and jumped out of her seat. "I can't…"
"Miss Benson, please…" Narcissa said, but Aini was already at the door. She watched Aini grab at the handle blindly and miss, then finally manage. Narcissa looked down at the half eaten Honeydukes chocolate, and started to put it back into its wrapper. She was about to place it back into her desk, when she heard a sound come from the door and looked up to see Aini's way blocked by Lucius.
"Lucius…" Aini stammered, a fresh wave of tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked up at him. Her fingers curled slighty, and she longed for nothing more to throw herself at him and feel his arms around her, comforting her. But, then the mere ounce of reason she had left within her came to the surface, and she hurried past him.
He watched her run down the hallway, then looked back at Narcissa, who was still seated at her desk.
For a brief second, their eyes met, but almost as quickly, Lucius looked away and hastened make his way across the office and into his room.
"Lucius,"
Lucius stopped as he heard Narcissa speak, but did not turn.
"What is it?" Lucius asked. He heard Narcissa stand up, heard her walk over to where he stood.
"Well…" Narcissa began. "I was thinking…"
"Yes?" Lucius snapped, then turned to face Narcissa. She faltered slightly, but maintained eye contact
"It's been so long…" Narcissa said, then started to play with the edge of Lucius' robes.
Lucius looked down, watching Narcissa's hand disappear as it crept along his waist.
"And it's going to stay that way," Lucius said irritably. He caught his wife's hand before it could creep along any further. For a moment, their fingers were interlocked, and he looked into her eyes.
"What's changed, Lucius?" Narcissa asked. "When did it…"
"We never were, Narcissa," Lucius said, and pulled his hand away from his wife. He crossed the room and into his quarters, then turned to face her again.
"We never were," Lucius re-iterated, and closed the door firmly behind him.
"Aini?" The voice cut into Aini's dreams at possibly the right moment. Any later, and she would have not been able to think of anything else. Although, perhaps it would not have mattered for her imagination alone served to make up for what she had missed in the dream.
"Come on, get up. You're missing breakfast," Hermione said.
Aini grumbled and turned the other way, her arms wrapped around her stomach. It had been hurting at night when she went to bed, and it was after midnight when she had managed to fall asleep.
Hermione shook her again, and this time threatened to strip her of the covers. Aini grumbled again, but managed to sit up. Hermione stood in the doorway of the dormitory, arms crossed and tapping her foot. Aini reached for her robes, and absentmindedly put them over her pyjamas. She pulled a pair of socks on, then noticed Hermione staring at her with an eyebrow raised.
"I just don't feel like getting changed," Aini said, yawning.
"Well, you can't go down to breakfast looking like that," Hermione said. Aini walked past the mirror, and caught sight of her reflection.
"You look beautiful, now put these on," Hermione said, holding out Aini's uniform. The girl made no sign of reaching for them. Sighing, Hermione put the uniform aside and stood next to Aini.
"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked. Looking at Aini's reflection, she noticed the girl looked a bit pale.
"Just tired," Aini replied. "Still getting over the 'flu,"
"Well, come on then. A nice breakfast will help you feel better," Hermione said. "Take your mind off things,"
"Good idea," Aini said, her eyes meeting Hermione's. She hastily looked away.
"Aini," Hermione began, stepping closer to the girl. "I know something is going on,"
"There's nothing," Aini replied, silently cursing the tears that threatened to fall.
"You can keep telling me that, Aini, but I'm no longer believing it," Hermione replied. "You never miss classes, Aini. Not to mention the fact we found you wondering around the castle in your pyjamas,"
"So?" Aini said, tracing the edge of the mirror with her finger.
"It's not like you," Hermione said.
"Then what is?" Aini replied, flinching as she felt a splinter graze her skin. "Books and cleverness? Sometimes, I just want…"
The words were said so quietly and muffled Hermione didn't understand them.
"You just want what?" Hermione asked. She placed a hand on Aini's shoulder.
"Never mind," Aini said. "I'm just being stupid,"
"But…"
"Let's just go to breakfast, okay?" Aini asked, making her way to the stairs. Hermione was still standing by the mirror.
"One day, I hope you can trust me enough to tell me," Hermione said. Mixed in with the words was a hint of sadness. She crossed the room to where Aini stood.
"It's not that. It's just…"
She was silenced by Hermione.
"Just tell me when you're ready, okay?" Hermione said, and she hugged Aini.
