Early Days
Disclaimer: (clears throat) I, 13BlacKAnGELs, hereby declare that I do in fact not own Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy or any other creations of J.K. Rowling (that being everything apart from the plot, Phoenix and Soreda...and maybe a few characters I left out)
Timeless4Life: Thank you for that lovely (if slightly mental) review-it's really appreciated. Oh, one last thing-school's out, yay!
unknown: Thanks for the review, and Rodolphus will find out...eventually
xbloodxredxrosex: Hey, thanks again! I'm really glad you like these! And I promise, next time, I will think of a better comment!
Phoenix was woken by muffled talking in the dorm. She thought she heard Pansy muttering something about' you wake her up', before moving towards her own bed. Looking through the curtains, she saw a large figure coming towards them, and opening them, to reveal Millicent.
"Hey, breakfast, in ten minutes," she said to her, and walking off again.
"Your robes should be in your chest of drawers," commented Pansy from her own bed, brushing her hair.
"Right, thanks," Phoenix yawned, making her way towards where Pansy pointed, and opened them. Sure enough, inside lay some neatly-folded black robes, bearing the Slytherin patch on them, to the left side. The hem and sleeves were outlined with an emerald green.
Below them, also neatly folded, was a black sweater, a shirt, a black skirt and a tie, with green-and-silver stripes. She noted that the other girls in her dorm were wearing the same.
She slipped them on, and like Pansy, began brushing her hair.
"You want to borrow some make-up?" offered Pansy, coming up to her with a pot of foundation in one hand, and eyeshadow in the other.
"You're all right, I've got loads-somewhere. In my trunk."
"Under your bed," Pansy told her. Phoenix smiled, and reached under to pull it out. It was bloody heavy! Sure enough, though, inside lay her wash-bag, containing the typical toiletries plus all her make up (it was a magically enhanced bag to fit in a lot more than it should be able to). She pulled out her eye pencil, and started drawing it lightly round her eyes.
"You want some bronzer?" Pansy offered, holding up her pot. Phoenix nodded, and took it. She had to admit, Pansy did look a lot better once that was on. She was too pale otherwise.
"Hey, would it be all right if used your eye shadow?" asked a Mediterranean girl nervously. Phoenix nodded, and handed her her selection.
"Thanks," the girl said. "I'm Soreda, by the way."
"Phoenix," Phoenix replied, adding a hint of lipgloss.
"I haven't seen you before," Soreda noted.
"Probably cos I haven't been here before," Phoenix smiled.
"Did you transfer?" Phoenix was about to say no when she stopped to think. What was she going to say to anyone who asked her that? She couldn't say that she'd been living with Muggles, blissfully unaware of her true identity for the past seventeen years, could she? She'd have to go along with the transfer story Draco had made up. What was that place called? Bootbaton, or something. It sounded French.
'Beauxbatons!' she thought triumphantly.
"From Beauxbatons," she told Soreda. She nodded.
"Oh. We had them come here a few years back. For the Triwizard Tournament, you know. Well, of course you do. You were there," Soreda said, handing the eye pencil back.
"Yeah. Shame I couldn't have come," Phoenix said, playing along.
"Oh, you know what these people are like. Only bring the best. Oh, god, I'm sorry, that makes it sound like I'm taking the mickey. I'm really not!"
"Relax, it's okay. Our Head was really-pompous."
"Really? I always got the impression she was no worse than that Durmstrang Head. He was an arsehole, tried to cheat his Champion through to no end. Mind you, he was cute." She stopped. "The Champion, not the Head. I'm not making a good first impression, am I?"
"You're all right. Tell you the truth, you're the only one who actually makes any bloody sense so far."
"I'm surprised you would even talk to me."
"Why?"
"Pansy doesn't like me much. Well, at all. To be honest, I think she has a problem with me being Maltese. I've heard her say something about 'that slut from Europe'. I'm probably just being paranoid, though. You're friends with her, aren't you?"
"Sort of, I guess."
"Oh. Please-don't tell her what I've just said. She'd slap me."
"I'm not saying anything, Soreda. Relax. I'm not the enemy. Well, not unless you start conspiring against me or anything." Soreda smiled.
"Thank you. I'll see you later, maybe. I'm going to breakfast now. Or are you coming now?"
"I'm done, so yeah," Phoenix nodded, and walked out with her.
"Hey, Phoenix, are you going to breakfast?" Pansy called.
"Yeah. I'll see you there," Phoenix replied. Pansy nodded, and smiled.
"Hey, what was Beauxbatons like?" asked Soreda as they were walking through the Common Room.
"Um, it was nice, but I prefer it here. I don't have to speak a foreign language all the time."
"Yes. I imagine it must be hard to always have to speak French if you're not French. Sometimes, it's hard speaking Maltese when I'm there in the summer. The thing is, I have spent nearly all my life in England. My parents only moved back there recently, because of good business opportunity. Malta was becoming a more popular tourist spot," Soreda explained.
"I went there once. It was really nice, but I got the shittiest sunburn!"
"Oh, tell me about it. I looked like a piece of charcoal once after I'd spent too long in the sun."
"Yeah? I looked like a ketchup bottle." Soreda laughed.
"That must have been funny."
"Yeah. There was my whole family looking normal and tanned at a barbecue when we got back home, and there was me wearing a huge hat, and really dark sunglasses. My bloody foster brother still pointed me out to everyone, though."
"You were fostered?"
"No!" Phoenix replied quickly. "He was. Yeah, my parents had always wanted a boy, so they adopted."
"That can't have been nice for you."
"What, that they preferred him? Wasn't my highest moment," Phoenix admitted. Soreda gave a small shake of the head.
"I've never understood why pure-bloods always want 'heirs'. It's so sexist!"
"I know! It's like 'hello! You kinda need us to even be born!'"
They had now reached the Great Hall.
"Um, I always sit with my sister, Calypso. You're welcome to join, if you want," Soreda offered. Phoenix, though, had seen Blaise, and he was waving her over.
"Maybe some other time," Phoenix declined. Soreda gave a small smile ,and walked off almost dejectedly. Phoenix really didn't want to be a bitch, but she could see why Soreda wasn't exactly candidate for Pansy's apparent 'cool-list'.
"Right, either you're trying to take the moral high ground, or it was a little moment of desparation," Blaise contradicted as soon as she sat down.
"Neither. She started talking to nme, and she seemed nice, so I talked back."
"Yeah, I'd say that classifies as taking the moral high ground," Blaise replied.
"Yeah, maybe. Whatever," Phoenix grinned. "Where's my dear cousin?"
"At this time, I'd say either torturing poor Mudbloods, or being tortured by Pansy," Blaise replied.
"Sounds like you've got his schedule all worked out."
"Yeah, well, someone's gotta keep an eye on our Draco."
"Hmm. And I'm guessing you're either doing it because you're some innocent passer-by wanting to help his mate, or it's because of you that he once got into total shit. I'm opting for the latter, personally."
"And either you have this very scary sense of psychic abilities, or you've been talking to Pansy."
"First one. Sorry."
"Damnit. Guess my setting-him-up days are over," Blaise grinned.
"Oh, I wouldn't jump to conclusions," Phoenix smirked, pouring herself some tea. Blaise laughed.
"Well, I could use an accomplice."
"Yeah, don't push it." Blaise nodded.
"Fair enough. Hey, there he is!" Draco came and sat down next to Blaise, and got himself some coffee.
"Planning your next idea to set me up, Blaise?" he smirked.
"Whatever would give you such an idea?"
"I heard you."
"Oh." Blaise looked defeated. "But now I have an accomplice!" he said triumphantly.
"Oh yeah? And who would that be, Blaise?" Blaise thought for a moment, before;
"Phoenix!" he pointed to her. She choked on her tea.
"Are you really?" Draco asked, looking at her. She smiled.
"Yes, that's right, we're conspiring against you, because our lives are so sad, we get a little thrill out of getting the 'Slytherin Prince' in detention." Blaise looked dejected again. Draco just smirked.
"Just so long as she's loyal," he remarked, mock-seriously. Blaise gave him a 'shut up' look.
"Mr Malfoy, could you please confirm your chosen subjects," came a voice from behind him. Snape was there, brandishing a time-table.
"Yes, Professor," replied Draco, looking confused. Snape knew full well which subjects he was taking. "Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Arithmancy and Herbology," he read off his list. Snape nodded, and handed him his time-table.
"Mr Zabini, I believe you have dropped, Transfiguration, correct?" Snape asked, looking across at him. Blaise nodded, and took his time-table. "And, Miss Melody, which subjects have you chosen?" Phoenix stopped. Damnit, which ones were she taking? "Can I give you some advice?" She nodded. "Don't bother with Divination, I've always found it to be rather tedious. And it would be incredibly difficult to catch up on Ancient Runes, not to mention Transfiguration. It is, of course, up to you."
"I'll take Divination," Phoenix confirmed, catching Blaise's eye. He winked. "Potions, Charms..." Snape nodded as though he approved. "How much more room have I got?"
"You would be able to fit in three more subjects quite comfortably. However, I would recommend only taking two, as you also have to catch up to O.W.L standard." Phoenix nodded. She didn't really want to give up on Defence, it sounded freakin important!
"I'll take Defence Against the Dark Arts," she replied. Snape nodded, but a slight frown came across his face. "Would I be able to fit in Transfiguration and Ancient Runes?" Snape nodded.
"It's possible, although if you were to take on two more, I'd recommend the less challenging subjects, such as Herbology and Ancient Runes, for example. Transfiguration can be very challenging at times."
"I'll take Ancient Runes," Phoenix confirmed. "And if I have room for one more, um-sod it, I'll try Herbology. Would I also have room for Transfiguration?" Blaise sighed.
"Is it your wish to collapse from fatigue and have to spend the term taking anti-anxiety potions?" he smirked. Phoenix shot him a 'shut up' look, and turned to Snape.
"I guess I won't bother with Transfiguration."
"I was only joking!" Blaise protested. "Anyway, Transfiguration's fun! You get to turn things into-other-things."
"You're selling it really well," remarked Draco, smirking. "I wouldn't bother, cousin, it's bloody hard. You're being brave taking up Ancient Runes. Only Granger could pass that!"
"Who is this Granger everyone keeps going on about?" Phoenix enquired, taking her time-table. She'd 'officially' decided not to take Transfiguration.
"Hermione 'Mudblood' Granger," Draco replied. "Smartest bloody witch in the fucking school. Friend of Potter's, of course."
"Ooh, sounds like you're jealous. What's the matter? Embarrassed that a Muggle-born beats you?" Draco's face turned red.
"She gets an advantage cos she's a Mudblood," he finally replied. Phoenix sighed.
"Bloody hell, I've got a really full day!"
"Yeah? What you got?" asked Blaise, looking over at her time-table. Today, she had four of her chosen subjects, all double lessons.
"Divination first thing," she replied.
"Hey, you'll be with me and Daphne for that," Blaise remarked.
"I'll try to contain my ecstasy," Phoenix replied. "Then I have Potions. What's Snape like as a teacher?"
"Depends on your house," Draco replied. "You'll be fine, you're in Slytherin. Oh, but if we do partner work, there's a good chance you'll have to work with a Gryffindor. Work with the Mudblood, you can just sit back and relax. Work with Potter, you can take the piss all lesson. Work with Weasley, and you're unfortunate. Work with Longbottom, and its goddam catastrophic!"
"Thanks for the advice. I've got Herbology after lunch."
"Don't think anyone took that subject," Blaise commented. "I didn't, and nor did Draco, right?"
"What?"
"Did you take Herbology?"
"Yeah, it's practically a guaranteed pass. I got an 'O'," Draco replied. Blaise made a mock huff and puff, muttering 'show off' The other two ignored him.. "Hey, Phoenix, looks like it's just you and me for that class," he smirked.
"Great," she replied mock-unkeenly. "And I got Charms last thing." Draco nodded. He knew that everyone, including Crabbe and Goyle, had passed Charms N.E.W.T mocks.
"Speaking of classes, we'd better hurry, Phoenix," Blaise announced. "We have Trelawney and her room's in the highest tower! And our class begins in-ooh-fifteen minutes."
"It takes that long?" Blaise nodded serenely. Phoenix shrugged and grabbed her bag.
"Welcome back, those with the ability, to another year of the subtle, yet invaluable, art of Divination," cooed Professor Trelawney. "This year will you not only be able to see, you will be able to sense. We're not just analysing the future this final year, but also our present surroundings. Note that this isn't Sociology," she smiled. "No, we leave that to the Muggles. I am talking about being able to sense what's going on elsewhere-at the present time. For example, Miss Brown," she rounded on Lavender Brown, a seventh year Gryffindor. "Perhaps you could tell me what your mother is doing right now?"
"Uh, she's probably cooking, Miss."
"Cooking what, may I ask? For breakfast? Perhaps for your father a cup of tea? Or any younger siblings, a glass of orange juice? Tell me, Miss Brown, what you think."
"My father always has black coffee, but he makes it himself," Lavender replied, looking serious. "So, I guess mother would be cooking-eggs. For my brother, he likes eggs, especially the runny ones. Easier to dip his toast in." The rest of the class snickered.
"How do you know this, Miss Brown? Is it simply what you know, or what you sense?"
"It's routine," Lavender answered.
"Aha! There you go. What you gave us, Miss Brown, was a detailed analysis of what your family was currently doing, which was good. But you didn't sense it. That is a mistake many make in this topic; they tell us what they know or believe to be happening based on past events, rather than what they sense is happening. Let's try someone else. Mr Zabini," she rounded on Blaise. "Perhaps you could tell me what your mother would be doing right about now." Blaise looked blank.
"Uh, washing up the breakfast. With her wand, obviously," Blaise replied, looking unsure.
"Did you sense this, my boy?" Blaise shrugged.
"Just taking a wild guess there, Professor," he grinned.
"You are not taking this too seriously, are you, Mr Zabini?"
"No, I'm well serious, Professor," replied Blaise in earnest. Professor Trelawney frowned slightly. Then she spotted Phoenix. "Oh! A new face. And you are?"
"Phoenix. Melody," she finished, feeling nervous. She hated being put on the spot.
"Oh, of course, Miss Melody. Welcome, dear. Perhaps you could tell me what your brother is doing now, dear?"
"It'd be hard, cos I don't have a brother," Phoenix replied. Blaise grinned.
"How extraordinary. For I could have sworn you had a male relative who also attended this school?"
"I do. My cousin."
"Of course. What is he doing now, Miss Melody?" Phoenix looked blank. "Think hard, search the back of your mind, and try to see beyond what is in front of you. Think." All this sounded like babble to Phoenix, but she thought-long and hard. Draco had never actually told her what he had first thing. She could remember him having his time-table given to him, but he hadn't actually said what lessons he'd had that day. Perhaps she could just pick a subject at random, guess and hope for the best?
She was about to reply 'in Transfiguration' when something made her stop. The room became a bit fuzzy, and oddly shaped, as though there was a wall of glass dividing it. She looked down to try and clear her head-and she saw numbers. Numbers in a very mixed, confusing equation. Which subject could be related to numbers?
"Arithmancy," she whispered. "Arithmancy," she repeated louder.
"Very good, dear. However, did you already know he had Arithmancy at this time?" She shook her head, and Blaise nodded along.
"She was there when he was given the time-table," he confirmed. "But he never told us what he had first thing." Professor Trelawney smiled.
"Good work, dear," she said softly, and moved on to the next table.
"Okay, that was freaky, what just happened there?" Blaise leaned in and whispered. Phoenix shrugged.
"Dunno. I just-saw numbers in front of me. Weird, huh?" Blaise nodded, but his face broke out into a grin. "What?"
"Now that Saint Potter's left her class, and you've just 'seen' as she puts it, you're her favourite." Daphne started giggling.
"Trust me, when you've been in the class for as long as us, you know that's not a good thing," Daphne laughed.
"Malfoy!" Blaise called out as he, Daphne and Phoenix heaed towards the Potions classroom.
"All right, Zabini?"
"Hey, Draco, what did you just have?" Daphne called out.
"Uh, Arithmancy. Why?" He was a little surprised when Daphne, Blaise and Phoenix burst out laughing again.
"That is a goddamn classic!" Blaise laughed. Draco was still looking confused, and turned to Phoenix for answers.
"Hey, Draco what's the answer to this?" She recited the equation she'd 'seen' earlier, and started laughing again as Draco's face broke out in surprise again.
"How the hell did you know we were set that equation?"
"Oh, bloody hell, you mean it was real?" Blaise gasped, laughing still. "Woah, think I know who I'm sitting next to in all our Divination practicals!"
"You already do," Phoenix pointed out. Blaise nodded in a 'that's true' sort of way.
"What the hell is going on?" Draco asked.
"Nothing," Phoenix smiled, breaking out into a laugh again. Draco sighed, and headed towards Crabbe and Goyle who'd just come tumbling down the corridor. They might not talk much, but at least they'd be making more sense than the other three right now. (A.N. and that's saying something, considering...)
He turned to face the three of them again, and saw Hermione, Ron and Harry coming down. He smirked. This would be fun.
"Hey, Granger!" he called out, attracting a lot of people's attention. "That Arithmancy question was a real, bugger, wasn't it? I mean, I barely managed to finish it. What about you?" Hermione shot him a glare, and turned back to Ron and Harry. "Oh, that's right," Draco continued. "You couldn't do it, could you? What did you think the answer was again? Oh yeah, all you did was replace the numbers with letters to try and get away with it! Muggle methods won't work here, Granger! I guess that's one thing having an over-sized head hasn't taught you!"
Pansy, who had come down shortly after the Gryffindors, started snickering.
"And then you got all upset, didn't you? Because you got the answer all wrong. Didn't Professor Vector have to give you the hem of her robe to use as a hanky at one point?" There were laughs at this, and not just from the Slytherins. "Jesus, you gotta relax, Granger! Well, not too much, or you might-"
"Piss off, Malfoy!" Ron shouted.
"Don't talk to him like that!" Pansy snapped. "Only because you can't think of any better insults!"
"Yeah, Granger, it's just as well you're not as retarded as Longbottom!" Draco continued, seeing Neville come down the corridor. "Otherwise, the school'd be flooded by now!" The Slytherins all burst out laughing. Even Phoenix couldn't suppress a giggle.
Ron had had enough. He went charging up to Draco, looking ready to hex his arse off!
"Oh dear, I think I've made Weaselby angry!" taunted Draco, laughing as Harry and Hermione struggled to hold Ron back. "Tell me, Weasel, what's it like at home now that your father's dead? Has your mother lost some weight yet? And-"
"Shut up, Draco!" snapped someone. Everyone's heads turned, and were surprised that the voice belonged to Phoenix.
"What's up with you?" Draco retorted.
"You really need to ask that question?" she said in a patronising manner. "For God's sake, get a freakin' grip! You might enjoy being a total bloody prick to anyone who's a Knut poorer than you, but it's getting bloody irritating! You're not even being funny, it's only because you're this 'Slytherin Prince' that the rest of them are even laughing!" Draco looked astounded.
His reaction, however, was nothing compared to that of the Gryffindors'. Normally, the Slytherins always sided with Malfoy, laughing at every single one of his jokes and charades, and just getting general enjoyment out of his taunting.
"Why are you standing up for them?" Pansy hissed in her ear.
"Because if he carried on shouting as loud as he had, he'd have gotten the attention of the two redheads coming down the hallway behind him," Phoenix replied, indicating to where Fred and George Weasley were just coming. They didn't look very happy. As a matter of fact, they looked dangerous.
"What have you been saying about our family, Malfoy?" one of them said, causing Draco to spin around.
"Why do you automatically assume that?" Draco hastily replied, trying to act indifferent.
"Because, Malfoy, that's normally what little pricks like you do. Someone who thinks they've got everything, when really, they have nothing, which is why they take the piss out of people who seem 'worse off' than you, when in fact, you're just jealous."
"And what have I got to be jealous of exactly? My father's still alive, thank you very much." By now, Fred had grabbed Draco by the throat, and George whacked him one.
"You want to repeat that?" George whispered dangerously.
"Well, maybe if you gave him some air," Phoenix said. They turned.
"Ah, let me guess, another one of his little Slytherin whores?" Fred remarked. "He dump that Parkinson bitch, then?"
"No, he did not!" Pansy screeched defiantly.
"Yeah? Well, I suggest you dump him, now he's got a 'new friend' to play with."
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Phoenix retorted coolly. Fred looked like he wanted to grab her by the throat, too, but restrained himself.
"C'mon, George," he said, and they headed off towards Ron instead. Now that the threats seemed to be over, the room resumed to its usual banter.
"What was all that about?" Draco asked, as he came over towards Phoenix and Pansy.
"What?" Phoenix asked.
"Uh, the yelling might be a good place to start."
"You mean apart from the fact that I saw those two redheads? Who are they, anyway?"
"Weasley's brothers. They graduated two years ago. God knows what they're doing here now."
"Save yourself the trouble, Malfoy, we're just about off," Fred called almost jeeringly.
"But we'll be back," George called as well, in a more joking manner.
"Yes, yes, all right, move on, you two, show's over!" Snape called. "Well, why are you all standing out here?"
"Classroom's locked!" someone from Slytherin shouted.
"Have you not heard of 'Alohomora'?" Snape sighed irritably, opening the door with a swift motion of his wand. The class began filing in, and were surprised to see that everything was already set up for them, and that their cauldrons already had steam bubbling out of them.
"Take a seat anywhere! It really doesn't matter!" Snape called as everyone was still moving around. Phoenix naturally found a place by the Slytherin side of the room, and ended up next to Blaise.
"For goodness sake, Longbottom, just sit anywhere!" Snape shouted at Neville, as he was torn as to whether he should accept Hermione's invitation or sit with Seamus and Dean. As they were closer, he settled for them, reddening slightly as he sat down. "Well, I'm sure you are all wondering why everything is set up for you?" Snape began. The class gave a few mutters of agreement. "It is because today you are not going to be making a potion. You are going to be determining what the potion nearest to you is, judging by its properties, for example, or the volume of steam rising from it. There will be some guidelines to help you, but do not look at your books until you have a complete list of ingredients. I shall know."
"As this is your first time doing this, you may work in pairs. However, before you all go deciding who's smarter than who, rest assured, I will be assigning those pairs."
"Here we go," muttered Ron to Harry.
"I will be pairing Slytherins with Gryffindors, just to-add some more interest. We'll start with-Miss Granger. You will be paired with Miss Greengrass." Daphne groaned on Blaise's other side. "Mr Weasley, work with Mr Zabini." Blaise muttered "oh, what!", but a warning look from Snape stopped him saying more. "And we'll have Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy together." Snape continued swiftly around the room until only Neville, Phoenix, Soreda and Dean was left. Neville looked positively terrified to be paired with a Slytherin.
"Mr Thomas, you will work with Miss Hermas," he announced, pointing to the empty seat by Soreda. "Miss Melody, if you would be so kind as to take the vacant seat by Mr Longbottom. I do apologise for any disadvantages and injustice that you should be paired with him for your first lesson." The Slytherins sniggered, but most of the Gryffindors looked either shocked or angry. Neville tried to look indifferent to these comments, but kept his head bent low all the same.
Phoenix indifferently got up and moved next to Neville, ignoring Gryffindor glares.
"Right, you have one hour and a half to complete this task. Begin," Snape announced. Neville made no signs of moving.
"Note you are allowed to take samples of the potion to study it more closely should you need to!" Snape finished, sighing as a lot of the students looked confused as to what they were supposed to be doing now.
"I'll get a flask," Phoenix muttered, getting up. Neville looked up.
"I'll get it if you want," he offered.
"You're all right." She returned in a few moments with several flasks and a scooping instrument in her arms. "You wanna get the first sample?" she asked, holding out a flask. Neville nodded, though slightly reluctantly, and took it.
'Please don't let me spill it, please don't let me spill it, please don't let me spill it...' he chanted continually in his head. For once, luck was on his side. Not one drop was spilled. He handed her back the flask almost proudly.
"Thanks," she muttered, studying its contents closely. The potion was a dark green colour, with a foul odour coming out. It had stopped steaming, though, and only a few bubbles were fizzing away on the surface.
"Any idea what that means?" she turned to Neville, who hastily shook his head.
"Hey, Phoenix!" Blaise called to her from in front where he was sitting with Ron. "Don't bother asking Longbottom for answers, he's the one who thought a dragonfly was a really tiny dragon species!" Phoenix let out a small giggle. Neville looked like he'd been slapped.
"Having trouble already, Longbottom? It really was unfair of me to place a newcomer with you. Miss Melody, perhaps you should trade with Mr Malfoy?" Snape offered, sidling up to them. Neville's face went extremely pale.
"I'm all right, Professor," Phoenix replied, taking her flask again, and examining its contents. They were left in an awkward silence before Neville piped up;
"That's a helagon."
"What?"
"It's a helagon variety! We did these in Herbology! They're healing potions, using mostly chlorophyll and Mandrake juice. That's why they're so green."
"Oh, right. Is that an ingredient?" Neville nodded.
"You can probably tell which plant by smelling it," he continued, taking the flask and taking a big whiff, before coughing.
"I think we can say we wouldn't recommend smelling it," she smiled. Neville gave a small smile back.
"It smells like it has some Mandrake juice in," he concluded, taking a pice of parchment and a quill. Phoenix followed suit, and jotted down 'mandrake juice'.
"What's that?" she asked out loud, seeing a small white spot that appeared to be floating in the potion. Neville looked at it, and his face went blank again. Phoenix was trying to remember back, though. She'd seen a tiny spot float in a potion like that before.
"You have to drink all of it if you want it to work," she told him. He sighed.
"It tastes so gross," he moaned.
"Don't be such a baby!" she mock-scolded, handing him a flask.
"Mean," he muttered, about to take a sip, when-
"Draco, what the hell is that?" She pointed to what looked like a tiny white spot in the mixture.
"What? This white spot?" he asked, looking into it. She nodded. "That's just all that's left of the Pepper Wood," he explained. "Most of it gets dissolved. It only needs that small amount to work." Phoenix shrugged. "Trust me, cousin, that's what it is," Draco smirked.
"Pepper Wood!" Phoenix burst out.
"Really? I thought it was meant to be bigger?" Neville said.
"Most of it gets dissolved. Dunno why. Apparently only so much is needed or something." Neville nodded, and jotted 'Pepper Wood' down on his parchment.
"Oh, there has to be some hellebore in there," he remarked suddenly. That was one of the few things he remembered; all helagon potions had hellebore in them.
"Why? Is it like a little helagon trend or something?" He nodded in earnest.
In another ten minutes, they had been able to uncover three more ingredients-ginger roots, powdered blackwood and essence of heilas gonora.
"How are you getting on over here? I'm surprised the enitre potions classroom hasn't been gassed yet," sneered Snape, coming up to them. He looked faintly surprised when he saw the progress that had been made. He couldn't even use the 'you must have cheated' card, because that would have been accusing a member of his own House as well as Neville. "Try not to spill the potion all over your answers," he muttered as he left.
"Is he just in a shite mood, or does he always do that?" Phoenix remarked once he was out of earshot.
"He's always done it," Neville replied. "The Slytherins don't help, they're always laughing whenever he does it. Hermione tries to help, but-oh my God, I forgot, you're in Slytherin!"
"Relax, I haven't been a bitch yet, have I?" Phoenix grinned. Neville shook his head. "I won't say anything," she assured him. Neville nodded, but for the rest of the lesson, he was back to his shy, usual self, and not volunteering much, aside from a small mention of ingredients now and again.
"So, cousin mine, how was it working with Longbottom? Did you get-ooh, one ingredient is pushing it, even for an hour," Draco smirked.
"We got a list of ten ingredients," Phoenix smirked back. "And Longbottom gave us six of them." Draco looked shocked.
"Bloody hell! Either you're protecting Longbottom, for which I can see no reason, or you're telling the truth. As much as I despise Longbottom, I'm going for the latter." Phoenix smiled.
"Well, you'd be right. Cousin mine," she added as an afterthought. Draco smiled back at her.
"I'm gonna go chuck my stuff in my dormitory. What about you?"
"Yeah, sure," she agreed. They began walking down the corridor, when Draco asked;
"How did you know I was given that equation in Arithmancy? And how did you know I was in Arithmancy? I never said."
"Dunno, really. I was in Divination, doing this weird thing, where we were trying to 'sense' what was going on around us. Well, in the present, but not actually by us." Draco looked lost. "Anyway, she came to me, right, and asked me what my cousin was doing right about now. I obviously didn't have a bloody clue, so I was going to take a guess, when... I don't know what happened, I mean I was still in Divination, but it's like my mind...was somewhere else. And I saw those numbers in front of me, in that equation."
"Don't s'pose you saw any answers to test papers, did you?" he smirked.
"No, but I'll let you know. Two weeks after the test, of course," she grinned.
"And you would, wouldn't you? My dear cousin would let her own cousin fail a test."
"Well, revise, and you'll do fine."
"Didn't work for Defence," he muttered. She stopped.
"Yeah, I still can't figure that out. I mean, you couldn't have worked hard enough, but why would they let me in?"
"Where did this come from?"
"You! You said I couldn't handle it."
"That was ages ago. I've matured since then."
"Oh, yeah?" Phoenix scoffed. "Yeah, cos what you did before Potions was real mature!"
"Hey, hey, why the sudden hostility?"
"Dunno what you're talking about."
"Oh, come on, you're doing it right now, look."
"Yeah, well, I'm stressed."
"Why?"
"Because-I don't know, I just don't feel like I can do this anymore!"
"It's only your first day! You're just new at this! Anyway, you did great in Potions, and apparently Divination."
"That's just it! It just scares me how I managed to see you so clearly I saw what fucking equation you were doing!"
"That's a good thing," Draco said earnestly.
"And there's that whole me managing to get four of our ingredients when I didn't even know what I was doing!"
"Remind me how that's bad?"
"It's not, it's good! Too good! I don't get how I'm able to suddenly do all this magic stuff!"
"You said you adapt quickly."
"When did I say that?"
"At the ball where you were acting like Granger reading a book."
"Oddly enough, that doesn't mean a lot to me, Draco."
"Yeah, you're right, that's a crap example. But you said it."
"But why am I able to 'adapt' so quickly? Before, when it came to new families, it was easy to adapt, because the other family who were shitty enough to dump me back I could easily forget because they didn't matter!"
"And?"
"For God's sake, aren't you even listening? The way I'm fitting in so easily, it makes it seem like the Melodys' don't even matter! I mean, even before I was fostered again, I always had a 'cooling-off' period where I could 'recover' from it. That was my closure, so I'd find it easy to move on. But I haven't had any closure yet."
"Wasn't salvaging enough?"
"No. In a way that helped, but I just feel like I'm leaving my old world behind too easily."
"Phoenix, you don't have a choice. You had to."
"I know," she whispered, a few tears coming down her cheeks. "It's just-oh this is so sodding ridiculous-like I'm 'betraying' my old life. By giving up on it so easily. It always took me at least three months to forget my old foster family before. Now, it's like, in three hours, it's all 'hey, Phoenix, I'm your cousin, I'm your new family, you're going to come with me to my school and fuck your old life!'"
"No offence, but I didn't say that once," Draco remarked, trying to get her to smile.
"Seriously, though, it's just over these past four weeks, it looks like I've gotten over this, and I just haven't."
"That's all right, you know. It's only been a month."
"I'm being pathetic, aren't I?" Draco shook his head.
"I don't think so. And I'm not known for my tact, you know that." She gave a snort.
"It had come to my notice," she smiled. "Sorry."
"Hey, it's okay, cousin. Feel free to scream, shout, cry, lose it and just go plain mental in front of me whenever you want, yeah?"
"You make me sound like I've just escaped a criminally insane institute."
"Now that I'm not denying."
"Hey!" She punched him playfully on the arm.
"You all right now, cousin mine?" She nodded. "Thank God, cos I'm starving. Lunch? I'll pay," he joked. Phoenix started laughing.
"You know, I think I could get used to this."
"What?"
"Oh, just the subtle art of manipulation. Cos if we were about to go to a restaurant and you just offered to pay cos I got all emotional-interesting."
"Don't push it," he smirked.
"Harry!" Hermione screeched, running into the Hall. "Have you seen this?" She produced a copy of the Daily Prophet. He picked it up, and quickly scanned the front page.
"I don't see anything," he remarked.
"On page 2, Harry!" He turned and gasped;
"Shit!"
"What?" asked Ron, who had gotten over his mood that morning.
"Voldemort. He's been sighted!"
"Bloody hell! Where?" Harry read the article again.
"Somewhere in the highlands. Some Muggle farmers spotted him. He killed most of them, but left the other. By the time the Ministry got there, he was in shock, but they managed to get enough information to confirm it was him."
"The highlands? What part of Britain are we in?"
"South highlands," Hermione replied grimly. "He's obviously gone further north to be more inconspicuous. Hardly going to to work if he's going to kill any Muggle around!"
"He'll probably lie low for a while now," she continued. "It's too obvious he was trying to get to Hogwarts now! Dumbledore will have had extra protection put around the school. I'm talking high-security," she explained, seeing Ron's expression, which clearly read; 'haven't we got some already?' "Something even Dumbledore would struggle to get past if he were the enemy." Ron gave a low whistle.
"It'd have to be if Dumbledore couldn't get past." Hermione sighed.
"People are really starting to panic," she remarked, looking round the Hall. Only the Slytherins seemed content and behaving normally.
"Can you blame them?" Ron argued. "This guy's worse than Sirius Black!"
"Well, yeah, but there was the small factor that Sirius was innocent," Harry pointed out.
"I know!" Ron said. "But-oh you know what I mean." Hermione nodded solemnly. "No more Hogsmeade trips for us, then," Ron sighed, taking a bite of curry. Harry nodded agreeingly, but Hermione looked stunned.
"What? Oh yeah, you're right, shouldn't be talking about such 'insignificant' things what with a crazed killer wizard on the loose."
"No, it's not that, it's just-where's Dumbledore?"
"He doesn't come down here every lunch-time, you know," Harry pointed out. "Anyway, he's right there." He indicated to his chair.
"Where? I can't see him, Harry."
"He's there, Hermione," Ron pointed to him. Hermione looked blank.
"You really don't see him," Harry asked. Hermione shook her head. "Can you see me?"
"Yes, I can see you, Harry!" she snapped. "You're right in front of me."
"So was Dumbledore. Can you see him yet?" Ron repeated. She shook her head.
"I can't see him. What's going on? Harry, what's going on?" Harry looked worried.
"I don't know, Hermione, maybe it's-" Hermione looked like she wanted to cry again. She turned on her heel and ran out the Hall.
"God, you've got to stop crying everywhere, Granger!" Draco jeered after her, laughing as she ran out as fast as she could.
The rest of the day went relatively smoothly for Phoenix (lesson-wise), as did the next two. But come Wednesday, she was getting nervous again. Today she would have her first Defence Against Dark Arts lesson, and she didn't know another Slytherin who'd gotten in. Come to think of it, she didn't know another student who'd gotten in.
"You'll get an ulcer at this rate," muttered Draco, sitting next to her at the table.
"What?" she said, snapping out of her thoughts.
"You. You're always stressing about something." She smirked.
"Trust me, you get into my head, or just try hanging out with yourself for a few days, you'll see why."
"You're always insulting me, cousin."
"Yeah, well, isn't that what you warned Blaise about? That I always have a witty comment or an insult to throw at you?" Draco grinned.
"See your point. At least it's true." He looked up and noticed Harry and Hermione enter the Hall. "Hey, you know, you probably won't be alone in DADA."
"Oh, yeah? Who do you know who's in it?"
"I'll bet you twenty Galleons Potter's in it."
"No way am I betting that, not if you're that sure!"
"What? Would I do that to you?" She thought for a moment.
"Yeah," she replied.
"I just have a lot of money to show off, cousin."
"So do I. Sort of. But do you see me betting it away about some stupid, weird little things?" Draco nodded.
"Ah, except they're not stupid. Weird, sure, but not stupid. No bet is ever stupid if you win it," he argued.
"Okay, I'll give you that. But your point's just clearly proved that you're absolutely certain that Harry's in the class."
"Just being optimistic, cousin mine." She laughed.
"Nah, you're just being a prat again." He looked hurt. "Sorry, cousin, but someone's gotta tell you the truth."
"Fine. You're gonna be like that, I'm not going to talk to you anymore. I'll talk to-Jessica here! Yeah, hey, Jessica, how's it going?" He turned to a fifth year girl, who looked surprised.
"All right," she mumbled, staring down at her plate, looking like she was blushing.
"So, yeah, how's O.W.L year treating you? Real bugger, isn't it? Of course, some handle it better than others. I'm sure you'll do just fine." The girl gave a small smile. "No, you see, it's the others you have to worry about. The ones who never got a chance in their fifth year. Tragic, isn't it? Hope they don't have a nervous breakdown," he smirked.
"If you're trying to wind me up, Draco dear, you're doing a shite job of it," Phoenix cut in.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that you were a fifth year called Jessica," Draco replied, deliberately not looking at her.
"Yeah? I wasn't aware that I was a part-French Beauxbatons transfer," she muttered, causing Draco to give her some attention. He looked confused. "Isn't that what you've been telling them? Okay, so I made up the part-French bit, but haven't you been saying that I was a transfer from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France?"
Draco gave a nervous laugh. "I'll have to get back to you, Jess. See you later," he said to her, and she gave an almost terrified nod. "You kinda blew your cover," he whispered.
"What cover? The only people who heard me were you-and you're not exactly going to say I'm wrong cos you made up the story in the first place-and that fifth year who looked so terrifed she's probably been rendered mute!"
"She's Pansy's sister, though," Draco pointed out.
"Since when have older sisters listened to their younger ones? Especially about subjects relating to either their boyfriends or friends." Draco laughed.
"I wouldn't know, seeing as I was never blessed with siblings."
"You're lucky. They can be total arses when they want to be."
"Aaw, did they give you a hard time, cousin?"
"Draco, it's not that I mind or anything, but why do you always call me 'cousin'?"
"Well, cos you are," he replied, matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, I guess," she replied, smiling, and getting up. "Right, I'd better go. Need to find my next class."
"We still have fifteen minutes left."
"Yeah, but I haven't got a bloody clue where it is."
"You should have asked me, cousin. I would have taken you."
"Yeah? You still could." He nodded.
"All right, then. Better than being stalked by Pansy all lunch."
"Why do you hang out with her if she drives you mental?" she asked once they were well out of earshot of anyone in the Hall.
"Her and Daphne are the only half-decent looking pure-bloods in the school, I saw Pansy first," he explained.
"So it was a deeply committed decision?"
"Oh yeah, took me about five seconds to decide I preferred her to Daphne Greengrass," Draco answered, in a mock-serious tone. "But you're a much better hang-out than either of them."
"Either you're flattering cos you want something something, or you're being genuinely sweet," Phoenix listed off her choices.
"Would I do do any other?"
"Right, so that would flattering me." Draco grinned.
"I'm serious, you're just more fun. If I was having this conversation with Pansy, she'd laugh manically for a few minutes, and at the mention of Daphne, she'd have been all 'do you think she's prettier than me, Dracky?'" Phoenix laughed. "And I don't really know how to talk to Daphne."
"Just talk, I'm doing okay."
"Yeah, I noticed that. I think you and Blaise are the only two she actually properly 'talks to'. She either ignores or is a bitch to Millicent, and either ignores or is sucking up to Pansy. She just ignores me or gives me these really weird looks, like she's saying 'you're a total freak' with her eyes."
"Can't think why."
"Hey!" He pushed her playfully. "See, now Pansy would have said 'what did you do that, for Dracky?' and go off crying. Merlin knows how Daphne would react. Probably get her Mum to gossip about how I tried indecent assault on her. Nah, you're much better, cousin, I promise you."
"Seriously, you always call me 'cousin'. I mean, it's not that I'm bothered, just, well, why?"
"I dunno really. Probably cos I've never had one before," Draco remarked thoughtfully.
"You've never had a cousin before?" Phoenix repeated, shocked.
"Neither have you!"
"Well, I've been in foster care all my life! You can't blame me, can you?"
"Well, obviously I do have cousins, I've just never met them."
"Why?"
"They're all my Aunt Andromeda's. She married a Muggle, so was officially disowned," Draco explained. "So, basically, you're the first cousin I've had." She smiled almost sadly.
"Yeah. Sorry, I've just-that never occurred to me. That I was your first cousin."
"I'll stop calling you that, if it pisses you off."
"No, you're all right, cousin," she grinned. "You call me 'cousin', or 'cousin mine' or whatever whenever you want."
Phoenix hung around outside the DADA room for at least five minutes and no-one, inlcuding the teacher, turned up. Draco had already gone to his next lesson.
To help 'pass the time' she thought about other things-mostly her 'old life'. She hadn't been over-reacting (not much) when she had said that it felt weird being able to adapt to wizardry so easily after nearly seventeen years of Mugglehood.
Also, it still disturbed her slightly about how she'd left things after the whole 'salvaging' escapade.
'Bloody social worker, what did she have to turn up for!' Phoenix thought angrily. She could have gotten a lot more memories if she'd hadn't come. Obviously it was part of their duty to check up on them occasionally, even after two years of successful fostering.
Also, now that Phoenix had been nearing adulthood, they probably wanted to start discussing post-16 options.
'Shite! I forgot I was meant to be starting sixth form this term!' Phoenix remembered. She had chosen one in Derby, which had had excellent A-Level exam results, and it was easy-ish to get to.
"Uh, hi," said someone, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned and saw Harry.
"Hey, Harry," she greeted back, smiling. "You in this class as well, or do you just like hanging around apparently empty classrooms?"
"I'm not that mental," grinned Harry. "I'm one of the 'select few' who got into Defence Against Dark Arts." She nodded. "Stupid question, but are you in this class?"
"No, I just like hanging round apparently empty classrooms," she replied. Harry grinned again.
"No offence, but how-"
"You're not the first. Half of Slytherin have been interrogating me about this bloody class since they found out I got in. Can you believe I'm the only Slytherin to get in?"
"I'm the only Gryffindor," Harry reasoned. She laughed.
"You reckon there'll be one Hufflepuff and one Ravenclaw to give us a complete set?" Harry shrugged.
"How is Slytherin treating you, by the way?"
"They're all right. You know, normal. The only ones I actually talk to, though, are Pansy and Draco and that lot," she replied.
"I still don't understand why someone like you would want to hang out with people like them."
"Don't judge them. Or me. Anyway, what do you mean?"
"I still think of you as the girl who went and punched the guy who was being a prick." She laughed.
"That was classic," she giggled. "Been there for two days, and was called in to the Head's office for bullying, would you believe?"
"You were actually called in?"
"Yeah. I mean, it's stupid, the Head actually said they were 'aware of your situation, however, that is no need to get violent' or something. Sort of drifted off after the first word."
"Yeah, my dear Aunt and Uncle blamed me for 'making friends with the wrong sort'. Sort of like Malfoy's only civil words to me."
"He's not that bad, you know, Harry," she said. Harry nodded.
"I wouldn't know, I've only ever seen the 'prick' side of him."
"There'll be no need for talk like that," interrupted a male voice from behind them. "I must apologise for my lateness, but I mislaid my keys to this room."
"Couldn't you just use 'alohomora?'" Phoenix suggested.
"I spell-proofed the door," the teacher explained. "I have trust issues." He fumbled with his keys until he found the right one, and opened the door. He beckoned them in, and they followed, taking seats next to each other.
"Well, is it just the two of you then?" the teacher enquired, after they had 'gotten settled'. Phoenix and Harry looked around.
"I guess," Harry muttered..
"Very well, then," the teacher said, closing the door behind him. "I am Professor Wilson, and I will obviously be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year. Who knows if I will last to next year." Harry grinned, but Phoenix looked confused. "Rumour has it, no Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher has lasted longer than a year since Mr Potter joined the school," Professor Wilson, continued, making Phoenix snort with laughter. Harry smiled.
"To prevent from wasting further time, I'll go straight into what we'll be doing today. I am aware of your situation, Miss Melody," Professor Wilson assured her. "And I'm sure Mr Potter will aid me in helping explain things?" Harry nodded. "Today we'll be working on a nice little introductory topic, of which I'm sure you're very familiar with; reflexes. I'm sure you're both familiar with them?" They both nodded.
"Excellent," he continued. "Mr Potter, perhaps you could tell me what spell would be good for reflexes?"
"Uh, the Shield Charm?"
"And the incantation?"
"'Protego',".
"Absolutely, very good. It will protect the caster from most jinxes, but there are some powerful enough to penetrate. Give us an example, please, Miss Melody."
"Cruciatus?"
"Yes. The others being?"
"Imperius and..." she faltered. Wilson nodded encouragingly. "Avada Kedavra," she mumbled finally. Wilson nodded.
"Yes, the Unforgivables. But we're not going to focus on them today. They're for next term. No, today, we will be doing a practical. Wands out, please." He stood up, and with one swift motion of his wand, all the desks behind them Vanished. "We'll be needing a lot of room for this. We're going to be doing some duelling," Wilson explained. "Basically, I want to assess your reflexes, physical as well as verbal. For example, just ducking is a good enough reflex, as long as the spell misses you. Just in case, though, we'll be practicing not too serious jinxes, such as Jelly-Legs, or perhaps even 'Impedimenta'."
"Okay, Mr Potter, I want you to think of a jinx. When I say 'go', you cast it. Miss Melody will try to defend herself in any way she can. Verbal, please. This is just an introductory lesson." Harry thought carefully, and eventually decided on the Impediment Jinx. Phoenix, meanwhile, was having trouble. Duelling was one of the things she'd never practiced with Draco at the Manor. At least she now knew the incantation for the Shield Charm. She would just have to try and concentrate bloody hard!
"All right, you two ready?" Harry nodded, and Phoenix gave much smaller nod. "Okay, go!"
"Impedimenta!" Harry shouted. Phoenix panicked, and just ducked. The curse flew by her, and ricocheted off the wall. Wilson cast 'Finite Incantatem' and the spell disappeared.
"All right, good strong jinx, Mr Potter. Miss Melody, I would have preferred a spell, but no matter. It was your first try. Again, please. Go!"
"Impedimenta!" Harry cast again, but this time she was ready. She had fought off a sodding Death Eater, for God's sake, this should be easy.
"Protego!" she shouted herself, and the curse disappeared. Harry stumbled back slightly from the impact of the Shield Charm.
"Much better!" Wilson applauded. "Good work, Miss Melody. Mr Potter, you now have to defend yourself any way you can. Miss Melody, think of a curse." Phoenix thought hard. Harry could have been a lot meaner on her. He could have done the Stunning Curse if he'd wanted.
'Got it,' she thought, smiling.
"Go!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!" Phoenix nearly fell back onto the floor at the strength of his charm.
"Excellent Shield, Mr Potter! Interesting approach, Miss Melody, attempting Disarming. It saves a lot of time. Switch roles again, please."
They did this for about another twenty minutes, by which time Phoenix's Shield Charms were improving well.
"Good work," Wilson said, charming the room back to normal. "Time for the boring bit now, I'm afraid. Open your books to page 102, please." Harry and Phoenix did so, and weren't surprised to see that the chapter they'd just opened was 'Duelling'.
Well, that's it...again. So if you could do me a small favour and tell me what you think? You love it, press that button that says 'submit review'. You don't get it, same thing. You hate it...be nice!
