Provocation
Morning broke the next day, unwanted sunshine poured in through the closed drapery of the domed windows in the common room. Draco rolled in his sheets, pulling the soft fabric over his face in an effort to shield the sun. Blaise was already up and dressed, he was always first to start and first to finish, and caused quite a stir as he threw the bathroom door shut. Crabbe fell off his bed with a loud thud and Goyle just nearly did the same but seemed to have learned from Crabbe's mistake.
"You buffoon, get up Crabbe." Blaise snapped.
"Bloody hell Blaise, why'd you have to go and do that for?" Goyle murmured groggily.
Within a matter of minutes, Crabbe and Goyle were dressed and ready. Blaise shot a look at Draco, who didn't seem to have the intention of moving, and left with the pair. When it was clear, Draco pushed his blankets aside and sat up. He blinked, finding that it was more of a losing war with his sleepy eyelids. He hadn't gotten much sleep his first night back at Hogwarts. He'd actually been a lot more peaceful about everything back at the manor, just because it all seemed so far away. Now that he was at school, it was a pressing reality. He could no longer put it off. His throat suddenly tightened. He had never felt so lost in his entire life.
"What am I going to do.." he thought aloud, wondering if voicing the question that had been occupying his mind would allow him to answer it once it sounded more, real. He wanted to avoid breakfast at all costs, knowing that he would periodically be receiving letters checking on his progress, but he had to go today. It was the first day of classes and he would be getting his schedule. His head of house, Snape, would ask him along with the rest of the Slytherins what their future aspirations were, and try to nudge them in the right direction to attain it. But as of now, Draco had no ambitions. He had no other choice, really, his career was thrust upon him. When he was younger, this was his dream; he could think of nothing more than to make his father proud and become a deatheater, just like him. However, now, it was a trap – and he was pulled in so deep, that he could never escape.
He looked at the clock beside him, vouching he had to get dressed if he wanted to catch the last fifteen minutes of breakfast.
Silver stood in the queue behind Blake, aggravated. She couldn't speak to Harry this morning like she was looking forward to. Each house was lined up in a different corner of the room with their head of houses, waiting to be approved to N.E.W.T level courses. Her eyes wandered, but she couldn't catch sight of neither Draco nor Harry. When it was finally her turn, Professor Flitwick examined her results carefully.
"Had a nice summer did you?" he asked her.
"Yes, sir, thank you." She smiled, watching the top of his head.
"Excellent, very well done Ms. Crouch…errr…Potter." He quickly cleared his throat in an effort to make the mistake causal, "Potions, Charms, the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and divinations. Would you like to continue all five?"
"What do you recommend professor?" she asked, unsure herself of what she should do.
He looked up, "Do you have any ambitions for a future career? An auror or a teacher perhaps?"
"No, not at the moment."
"Well then, take all five. What have you got to lose? Best to keep your options open innit?" he said encouragingly as he marked her down for all five.
He preceded to oblige to the demands of the rest of the sixth year Ravenclaws as Silver met with Blake who was a bit ahead.
"What have you got?" Blake asked, not seeking an answer for she snatched the parchment right out of Silver's hand.
"Bloody brilliant! We've got Charms and Transfigurations together." She grinned broadly before adding, "Divinations?"
Silver sighed, "Yes, divinations. It's my favorite subject didn't you know?" she said sarcastically.
"Oh so it is mine as well!" Luna said cheerily from behind them, "I've got it with Firenze, what about you?"
Silver took her timetable from Blake, "Me too. What happened to Professor Trewlaney?"
"Not sure, but I hear she's rather upset with the idea of another Divinations teacher."
"It might be because she's a nut." Blake murmured, causing an affronted Luna to stare at her oddly.
"She's lovely, just a bit different. The world would be quite boring if we were all the same wouldn't it?"Luna simply said.
Blake, still astonished by Luna's blatant ways of speaking blinded truths, was rendered speechless and decided to change the conversation to Alec, who had just crossed their path. Luna fell behind, still examining her schedule. Divinations was first for Silver, who instantly regretted taking on so many subjects when she learned that Blake had a free period until after lunch.
"We've got Defense Against the Dark Arts together Draco!" Silver heard a girlish squeal as she neared the exit of the great hall. She instinctively jerked her head to where the sound had come from to see Pansy Parkinson practically hanging off of Draco's arm.
"You've got to be kidding me." Silver said, to no one really.
Blake stopped, "About what?" but she needn't not be answered for the question answered itself with one glance at the Slytherins, "Who does that prat think she is?"
Silver stood with her arms crossed over her chest, staring directly at them, causing Luna to also halt and wonder what she was looking at.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Blaise walked forward a few inches, closing in on her when she realized how much attention he had drawn.
"Nice to see you too Zabini." Silver drawled.
Her response seemed to have drawn even more attention, this time including that of Draco and Pansy as well. The small, irritating girl purposely moved closer to Draco, pretending to not have noticed Silver's sudden appearance.
"Ah, too bad I can't say the same about you Potter."
And suddenly, a voice decided it was appropriate to interrupt the scene."Potter? Did you just say Potter Mr. Zabini?" A large, round figure stood between them with a large smile painted n his face, "Is this true? I read about it in the Prophet this past summer but hadn't thought it to be true."
Silver kept her piercing green eyes on Zabini, but had no choice but to break it when Slughorn began to address her directly. Her story was in the Daily Prophet?
"Professor Horace Slughorn." He introduced himself and outstretched a hand, "how do you do?"
"Silver," she said simply, "fine, thank you."
"Ah, Ms. Potter, but it has to be true! Look at that striking resemblance to your brother..your mother's green eyes.." he trailed off, but then put his hands along his suspenders, "I look forward to seeing you in Potions later. According to my list, you've signed up for my class. Well played, I'll make a Potions master out of you!" he said brightly and nodded his head at Zabini before he left.
By the time he'd walked out, Draco had managed to break away from Pansy and was now standing beside Blaise.
"Looks like you're going to follow you brother's footsteps," Blaise said smugly, "earn you're the sympathy vote from your teachers, only because they feel so terrible for your pathetic lives."
Draco eyed his friend cautiously, "Piss off Blaise."
Blaise looked a bit put off, "Don't tell me this is still going on? " he said, aggravated, "If anyone's got to piss off it's you Malfoy."
Draco only glared at him before he walked off without another look at neither Silver nor Blaise. Silver followed his lead, but instead went the opposite direction towards the Divinations classroom with Luna.
"I can't do this anymore." She exhaled, determinedly looked straight ahead, "I thought I could, I really thought I did. But it's just…impossible. He doesn't tell me anything, and I went nearly the entire summer without even a mere letter from him. if he wants to……..," she faltered, "end things. He should just do it already."
Luna looked at her sympathetically, truthfully feeling sadness for Silver. They had seemed so at ease together last year. They would fight, but it just seemed as if things were simpler. "I don't think he wants to break up with you Silver. He just seems a bit, bothered with something."
"That much I've figured out. He just won't tell me what it is." She frowned, pausing momentarily."He's probably told Parkinson." She said bitterly.
"I doubt that. I'm sure if he hasn't told you, no one else knows."
"What makes you so sure?"
Luna shrugged, "You see, you can tell a lot about a person by their wackspurts."
Thankfully, Silver hadn't enough time to question her furthur. The pair walked in to a teaching centaur that had already begun his lesson. Divinations was a lot more interesting with Firenze, he spoke of myths and methods the centaurs had to telling the future, something that seemed more legitimate than Trewlany's teachings. As class droned to it's end, Silver's heart sank knowing that DADA was just round the corner and she would have to make do with having both Draco and Harry in the same classroom.
She bid Luna goodbye and descended down the North tower towards civilization. Not a lot of students seemed to have signed up for Divinations, and the tower was nearly vacant; but amongst the few were Lavender Brown and Padma's twin sister, Pavarti.
Already having lost count of the abundant amount of staircases she had descended, she finally made it to the third floor to meet with Blake and head to what now was known as Snape's classroom. Blake was anxiously waiting for her at the foot of the stairs.
"You want Snape to kill us? We've got to be there loads earlier than this to spare ourselves!" Blake's auburn hair was tied into a loose bun with a few rogue strands falling against her cheekbones. She seized Silver's arm and pulled her into another dreadful sprint. Blake suddenly slowed her pace, seeing as there was a waiting queue outside the Potion's corridor.
Silver looked past Blake's shoulder and announced, "I suppose we're early then!"
"Not quite." Blake laughed as she past the gaggle and made her way up to Padma Patil.
The three of them exchanged hello's when Silver caught sight of Draco. She felt a sudden pressure on her chest when he locked eyes with her. She looked away, still unhappy with the lack of protectiveness he showed when Blaise confronted her earlier. She pretended to be listening to Padma going on about her prefect duties, her thoughts drifting elsewhere, when she saw the girl's face twist in confusion. Blake looked in the same direction as well but had a different reaction, immediately burying herself in gossip she had surely just invented on a whim, a whim to distract Padma. Silver was left to ponder their peculiar behavior, until she looked to her right and her eyes landed on a boy's chest.
"What do you want Draco?" she asked, her voice sounding a bit tired.
He took a moment to answer, but she could feel his eyes on her. "I just wanted to see how your classes were going."
She looked at him when she heard a tinge of disappointment in his words, "Fine, thanks, but you'd probably already know that if you weren't hiding all the time."
He didn't respond to this, knowing she spoke the truth.
"I bet you've asked Parkinson." She accused, crossing her arms over her chest, "Do tell, is she having a fine day so far?"
He shook his head wearily, "You know she's bloody mad Silver – "
"Stop making excuses Draco," She said as she brought her hand to her forehead, "If you still mean what you told me during the summer about us…..ending things." Her voice was but a whisper, "then, well then…just tell me."
He paused, marshaling his thoughts, and said,"Do you?"
"Do you?" she insisted.
"I asked you first."
"No, I asked you first." Her lips shut into a straight line but they slowly loosened into a stifled smile, "We fight over everything don't we?"
He let out a short laugh, "Yes, we do. Can you just forget about it, what I said I mean. It was a load of rubbish, I'm just as insane as Parkinson really."
Silver chuckled, pushing her mid-length bangs off her forehead, which she had deliberately pinned to the side. "These dreadful things!" she laughed again.
He smiled, allowing himself to take her lead, only difference being he successfully managed to set them right, and let his fingers linger on her temple once he had tucked the strands behind her ear.
"Of course you'd know how to fix hair better than I would, pretty boy."
"You think I'm pretty?" he smirked as she stepped closer to him.
"No. Definitely not."
Silence fell upon the queue immediately when the sound of the classroom door creaking open alerted them that Snape was in the vicinity.
"Inside." He drawled in his usual monotone as he patiently waited for each student to, silently, enter. His black eyes fell on Draco and Silver, lingering upon Draco longer than Silver thought normal. The oval room seemed to be overcrowded with desks, seeing as now all four houses were combined. The pair sat together, much to Blake's dismay who was now forced to endure Padma longer than she would find enjoyable. Silver hadn't even noticed Harry, who was shooting daggers at Malfoy's direction.
"Wait til she finds out her boyfriend's a deatheater." He said succinctly to Hermione besides him.
"Oh not this again Harry." She said, throwing her hands over her face.
"Well, he is." He stated confidently.
She looked back at Ron who was busy wondering what Neville kept looking for so frantically.
Anthony Goldstein reached over his desk to tap Blake's shoulder, to which she obliged to face him. "Silver isn't dating that bloke is she?" He said, revolted. Blake opened her mouth to answer but was saved by Snape initiating the lesson.
"I'm surprised you've all managed to scrap a grade worthy enough to enter the N.E.W.T's level," his eyes fell upon the class, making sure he had everyone's undivided attention, "Brace yourselves for this class will be anything but simple."
Silver felt a bit uneasy, and it wasn't because of Snape's bracing greeting, but because of the way he would look at Draco so frequently. She kept her eyes on the professor, examining him closely. He looked somewhat, different. His sallow cheeks seemed even sallower and his ashy skin, paler. She met his dark eyes for just a second when her mind meandered off unwillingly.
"Severus, please, he's just a boy. My son!"
Silver stiffened, alert, and looked around. Nobody spoke, Snape's voice was the only sound heard. Yet that voice belonged to a woman, and not just any woman. It sounded like Narcissa.
"I do hope there isn't anything in the classroom that is distracting enough to avert your attention Ms. Potter." Snape drawled but for an instant, she thought she had seen hesitation in his face.
Silver, admittedly, had nothing to say. "No, of course not professor."
The classroom once again broke into silence, and the attention went back to Snape.
"Is it definite then, an Inferius has been seen then?" Said Padma whilst Blake rolled her eyes.
"It is a great possibility he will, he has used them in the past, therefore I see no reason for him not utilizing them in the future.." He travelled across the room, his cloak nearly getting stuck under Neville Longbottoms shoe, and in his highest efforts to avoid that from happening, fell right off his chair. Snape's black eyes glanced at him impassively, "Who can tell me the advantages of a nonverbal spell? Preferably someone who can manage to sit upright in his seat." He said the last bit in a taunting manner, causing a few laughs from the Slytherins, and then addressed Hermione Granger's persistent arm, "Yes, Ms. Granger."
"Your adversary hasn't the slightest idea of what you are to perform next, thus giving you the advantage while the other hesitates." She said quickly, but proudly.
Snape seemed uninterested, "Do not bother to open your textbooks to see if Ms. Granger is correct, Mr. Goldstein, for she has said it's definition straight off of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six…word for word." He said dismissively, his sight drifting off towards Draco and Silver again, "You will now split into pairs, one partner will attempt to jinx the other silently, while the other repels it, in silence as well."
The class immediately got to work searching for a partner, Silver and Draco paired up, Anthony and Terry did as well, and closest on her right, Parkinson and Bulstrode.
A few minutes into the class, Draco and Silver had accomplished absolutely nothing, instead Silver would break into laughter at the degree of concentration in Draco's expression.
"Stop laughing." He insisted, holding back a laugh himself.
"But you're nearly purple! It's impossible to stop."
He looked displeased, things not going at all how he planned. Clearly, impressing Silver with his uncanny knack to catch on to nonverbal spells so quickly wasn't going to work.
Suddenly, Silver noticed Pansy's aim askew. Her wand was no longer pointed at Millicent, but at her. She had a look of upmost concentration in her face, alarming Silver as she instinctively chanted, "Protego!"
Having perfected the shield charm from Harry at the DADA meeting last year, the small girl was sent flying backwards, crashing into Lavender Brown. Lavender yelped in fear while Pansy hastily lifted herself off of the girl, scornfully. Draco looked back at Silver, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and admiration. Silver eyes were wide as well, but for a different reason entirely as she heard Snape's voice hissing behind her.
"I said," he marched up to her, "practice on your own partners, Ms. Potter. Last I checked, Mr. Malfoy here was said person, not Ms. Parkinson."
Silver felt herself shrink under his glowering gaze, "She was about to jinx me!" she said, although knowing it would get her nowhere.
"Oh, stop pointing fingers would you?" said Pansy in a high pitched voice as she straightened out her robes, "I did nothing of the sort."
Silver looked aghast, "Your joking aren't you? I saw you, your wand was pointed straight at me!" her voice was louder now.
"Ms. Potter," he said through his teeth, "my classroom is not a place for your personal differences with another student."
Silver's eyes were ready to bulge out of their sockets, "But Professor –"
"Back to work, immediately or I shall issue you a detention! Ten points from Ravenclaw." Snape snapped harshly, walking past them to continue his patrol of the class.
Silver stared back at Pansy, a wild look in her eye and her wand just inches away when Draco leaned forward to grab her shoulder. "It's not worth it, Snape will never side with you." He said in barely a whisper.
She avoided his pleading gaze, but surrendered nonetheless. "Teacher's aren't supposed to have favorites."
"Seems like he never received the memo then."
"I'm not imaging it, you know, she really did have her wand pointed at me."
Draco only stared at her, glancing backwards at Pansy, then looking at Silver. "That was bloody brilliant you know." He smiled, "I think Snape was more upset about the idea that you could cast such a strong defense spell."
Silver blushed, "It was pretty great wasn't it?"
He traced her jaw line, "Great…but not better than mines."
She put her hand over his, unknowingly earning themselves several disapproving looks, the harshest from Harry.
"It has to end, Ron." Harry said, resolved. "Look at them!"
Ron stared at Silver and Draco. "Blimey, I'd never thought Malfoy would be so..open about it. I mean, Pansy and him were always wrapped around each other like a bunch of eels, but, she was slytherin at best. And she especially wasn't your sister."
Instead of helping, Harry found Rons musings to have repulsed him further. "I can't concentrate." He set his wand down on his desk beside him.
"Pick it up Harry. Snape's coming." Ron said as effortlessly as he could make it seem.
"I don't care."
"You too, Potter? I've already had to deduct points from your sister. Is it necessary to inflict the same punishment on you?"
Harry glared at him. "No, it's not."
"Then I suggest you see to it, and have nonverbal spells mastered in the ten minutes that remain before class is dismissed." He said, traipsing by him dismissively.
"If I master it, is he eligible to use as practice?" Harry said darkly, once again reaching for his wand.
As the day passed, Silver's mind seemed to be getting more and more caught up with that mere sentence. It could be a figment of her wild imagination, a result of spending too much time deducing what had happened with the Malfoy's over the summer. Lucius was in Azkaban, leaving Narcissa and Draco the manor to themselves. Narcissa would never put her son in danger, especially if she didn't have Lucius as an influence. She simply wouldn't allow it.
Recalling the words, Silver had gauged Narcissa's character correctly. What she heard was a plea for her son. She was indeed protecting him from something, whether she had succeeded was another matter she didn't have the right amount of resources to hypothesize.
A/N: Ok, so I just wanted to say how excited I am for the upcoming chapters! I was inspired the other night and wrote two chapters.
Anywho, remember that gap between chapters, where one minute Bellatrix finds her and the next she's with Dumbledore?
Well, the gaps will slowly be answered in subtle ways, and this is the first of a series of flashbacks that are going to be triggered.
So on that note, please revieww! They make me happy(:
And, they'll earn you a preview.