Chapter 10

Pleasant and Unpleasant Surprises

I returned to my dorm beyond pissed off. Thankfully, none of those other annoying girls were there at the time; however, I was greeted by a menacing stack of letters (Howlers included). I let out a groan.

How the feck am I supposed to deal with this?

I thumbed through the letters to see who they were from. Lucius Malfoy. Narcissa Malfoy. Ignatius Prewett. Caspar Crouch. Druella Black. Evan Rosier. Lysandra Yaxely. Antione Periculbus. These were only the first few names that were so angrily written across the letters. The blood red Howlers glared at me from their spot next to the massive mountain of letters.

I'm not sure why I did it, but a minute later I was standing in front of none other than Nicholas Periculbus. Maybe the ration part of my brain was too busy thinking of ways to respond to the influx of Purebloods that had written to me (who had most likely cursed my very existence). That's the theory I like to use when thinking back on the incident. I was simply void of all rational thought.

I stood in front of Nicholas, who was reading a book in the Slytherin Common Room, for all of three minutes before he looked up at me.

"Yes?" he asked, his voice dreadfully calm.

I held up the letters. "I'd like your help, if you don't mind," I replied in the most polite voice I could conjure up.

He smirked. "Of course. We'll probably be missing dinner, so come on then."

I followed the albino boy up to his dorm, trying to prepare for the vicious letters that were waiting to be read. Nicholas sat on his bed and motioned for me to do the same. I did so with a sigh.

"So, who wrote you?" he asked as he took the letters from my lap.

"The Malfoys, obviously. Yaxely. The Rosiers were kind enough to write. Ignatius wrote. I stopped looking when I got to your father," I listed.

"This news even got to my father? He's in Russia right now! Oh you've got another from my mother, my uncle. Oooh, even got Selwyn to write. Imagine what the response will be when Lucius gets your letter. Well, let's start with the Howlers then."

He handed me the first snarling Howler, a grimace on his face.

"I've got some pretty horrible memories with these things," he thought aloud.

"I've got a feelin' I'll be makin' some," I muttered.

I opened the first one with a glare. I wasn't surprised to hear Lucius's angry snarl on the other end.

"VULPECULA VEGA LIAMHAIN BLACK! HOW DARE YOU THREATEN TO KILL MY SON! YOU HAVE NO GROUND TO THREATEN HIM! I KNOW SCORPIUS RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THAT! HELL, I'D EVEN CURSED YOU A FEW TIMES FOR HIM—AND YOU CAN BET THAT I WILL AGAIN! SEVEN YEARS UNDER THE CRUCIATUS CURSE AND NOW THIS! THIS! AND DRACO TOLD ME YOU'RE FUCKING A WEASLEY? A BLOODTRAITOR! WHAT THE FUCK HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU? EXPECT TO SEE ME SOON. OH, AND IF YOUR FATHER WAS ALIVE, YOU WOULD BE DEAD OR WISHING IT."

I dropped the Howler the second my father's name was mentioned. Nicholas simply handed me Lucius's letter once the Howler shut up.

"Are you going to open it?" Nicholas asked after the letter had been sitting in my hands for a few minutes.

I looked over to him, trying so hard to hide the fear in my eyes. I knew he could see it, though; he could read me like a book, remember? He sighed.

"Now, I know Scorpius taught you better than to get scared over someone like Lucius Malfoy," he pointed out.

I simply nodded and opened the letter. Again, Lucius repeated how I was disgracing my family and that he was going to "take care of" me very soon. With regained confidence, I began writing a reply to him, with Nicholas helping me along the way.

Lucius,

I'm sorry your son is a fucking idiot.

"You're being nice, remember?" Nicholas reminded me. "Start over."

Dear Lucius,

I'm very sorry that your son pissed me off enough for me to threaten to kill him.

"Liamhain!" he scolded. "You know your manners; use them. Now, start again, and write what I say.

Dear Lucius,

I am writing to apologize for my uncalled for behavior—"

"No! I'm not writing that!"

"Dammit, Black! Just shut up and write.

I am writing to apologize for my uncalled for behavior both this morning and last night. It's been so long since my father was here to reprimand me. I understand that there is no excuse for this—"

"What the feck, Nicholas?"

"Ugh, must you complain so much?"

After half an hour of arguing, we finally finished Lucius's letter. It was pathetically submissive, but Nicholas sent it off before I had a chance to catch it on fire. With a grimace, I opened the next waiting Howler, this time from Narcissa Black.

~o0o~

"Are we really done?" I asked through a yawn.

It was two in the morning, and I had just finished writing a reply letter to Ignatius Black. The replies had been very hard, since I'd just wanted to yell and curse the whole lot of them. Nicholas instructed me otherwise, however, so it took even longer to write back to everyone. Nicholas was sprawled across his bed, his eyes half drooping in sleep. The other three beds in the dorm remained empty, though it never crossed my mind that his roommates never even attempted to come into the room.

"Yes, we're finally done," he mumbled. "Come lay down."

I rolled my eyes and sent Nicholas's owl on its way to find Ignatius. Nicholas wrapped his hand around my wrist and gently pulled me to the bed.

"Come on; it's too late to go back to your dorm anyway," he insisted.

"I've got nothing to sleep in," I tried uselessly.

"Here." With a flick of his wand, a pair of his boxers and his Quidditch jersey flew out of his dresser and into my arms. I groaned.

"Are yew gonna' give up?"

"Nope, so save us the breath and get in bed."

With a glare, I changed into his clothes and climbed into bed next to him. As I was folding my clothes, pain shocked my body, nearly sending me to my knees. I dropped my clothes onto the floor and climbed into bed as quickly as I could. Waves of pain were still flying through my body, making me sneer in pain. Once Nicholas saw my grimace, he cupped my check in his hand.

"Be happy," he insisted. "You just took care of about half the Pureblood population in England; you deserve the sleep."

I shook my head. "It's not that," I moaned. "Ugh, feck!"

Nicholas sat up and looked me over. "What's wrong?"

"At the World Cup, some feckin' Death Eater—FECK!" A new, sharper wave of pain cut through me like knives. I tried to steady my breathing before finishing explaining everything to Nicholas. "A Death Eater cursed me, and I passed out, and I've had these…pains ever since."

"What kind of pains?"

"Ya'know that soreness ya' get after the Cruciatus Curse?"

He nodded before searching for something in his bedside cabinet. Once he found what he was looking for, he handed me a potion bottle.

"What's this?" I asked.

"It will make you feel better," he explained. "Trust me."

I was in too much pain to argue with him, so I just uncorked the bottle and guzzled down all the amber contents. The liquid burned as it slithered down my throat, but the burn was soon replaced by an icy freeze. As the liquid reached my stomach, the rest of my body experienced these same sensations. Then, every muscle in my body relaxed as though they'd never before. I let out a soft sigh.

"Thank yew," I whispered, letting my head fall over to the side so that I was looking at him.

He smiled down at me. "You're welcome, Liamhain," he murmured, "though that coldness will come back a few more times."

I shook my head. "It's okay, it felt nice. Mmm…thank yew so much, Nicholas."

He snickered and gently pulled my body closer to his. I got the chills suddenly, so I curled into Nicholas's side to keep warm. I fell asleep that night curled up with Nicholas's arms wrapped loosely around my waist.

~o0o~

"VULPECULA!"

What a wonderful way to wake up. With a groan, I rolled onto my side and pulled my legs tight to my chest.

"VULPECULA BLACK!"

Fuck.

"WHAT!" I yelled back finally, my eyes snapping open.

"Hush," a soft voice whispered in my ear, hot breath blowing on my neck.

I jumped slightly as I remembered my surroundings. I was still in Nicholas's room, and he was lying next to me comfortably.

"DAMMIT, VULPECULA!"

Oh, there goes Draco's incessant yelling again.

"What?" I groaned, looking up at Nicholas.

"Stop yelling," he grumbled.

"Draco's looking for me."

He sighed. "Go on. I'll see you in class."

I quickly changed back into my uniform, leaving Nicholas's clothes on his bed. Just before I walked out the door, I turned back to him.

"Thank you," I murmured, "for everything."

His only response was a simple nod and a gesture to leave the room, so I did just that. Pacing down the hallway then, was none other than Draco Malfoy. As soon as he heard the door close, he spun to face me.

"VULPECULA! WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING IN HIS ROOM?" he demanded as he stalked towards me.

"None of your business, Malfoy," I sneered, heading towards my dorm.

Unfortunately, Draco blocked my way. He grabbed the tops of both my arms and held me in place, an absolutely sinister look on his face.

"I don't think you understand, Black," he snarled. "You're going to be my wife, and in two years, you will be mine. The more shit you pull here, the more punishment you'll get."

"Are ye' threatenin' me, boyo?" I growled.

"Yes, he is, Black," Nicholas interjected, stepping out of his room, "and you'll do well to remember your place."

Draco glared at him but knew better than to argue. I simply nodded, holding back my glare. I owed Nicholas for helping me the night before; I couldn't disrespect him.

"However, Draco, Snape has partnered Black and I, so she will be spending plenty of time with me," Nicholas added, nodding to Draco once more before descending the stairs. I went to follow, but Draco grabbed me and pulled me back, holding me close against his body.

"Don't start fucking him, too, or there will be hell to pay," he growled in my ear. I felt his wand press into the flesh of my throat.

"Yew don't scare me, Malfoy," I sneered, pulling out my wand and pressing the tip of it to his groin. "Two can play this game, boyo, and yew can bet yer arse that I'll win."

I wasn't surprised when he slapped me; Malfoy men were infamous for that. I was, however, surprised by the Dark curse he shot at me not a second later.