This one's for Ella, my other best friend.
Chapter 13: Mudblood.
Skye's POV
Severus took me with him to the staff meeting. I was anxious to see the new Defense teacher, but I saw no one new. I saw that Quirrel was gone, but he was dead.
We were seated around the table, and I was getting curious glances from everyone, except Severus and Dumbledore.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts, professors!" Dumbledore said, spreading his arms wide. "Our Defense Against the Dark Arts hasn't arrived yet, but this was a request. He is not one of Hogwarts' usual inhabitants, and therefore Severus thinks he cannot trust him. Severus?" Dumbledore motioned for Severus to take the wheel and start his story.
"In the middle of last year, I received a letter saying that I've got a child. A daughter. Miss Night is this child." He looked at me. Everyone in the room gasped. "She already knows her story, but I shall repeat it."
Everyone looked at him expectantly. "She was brought up in an Orphanage, where I went to get her over the vacation. She has been adopted by me, it took me a consideringly shorter time than I thought it would, but it might be because I contacted the Orphanage beforehand. She will be living with me."
"What about Voldemort?" McGonagall asked.
"This is where you all come in." He said. "The Dark Lord cannot know that I have a child, for she would be forced to join his followers once he returns to power."
"What do you plan on doing?" Madam Pomfrey piped up.
"I intend to his the fact that she's my daughter. I will treat her as I treat every other student."
"What about the Malfoys? Do they know?" McGonagall asked.
"Draco and his mother know."
"Are you sure that's wise, Severus?"
"Albus, as you have reasons for trusting me, I have reasons for trusting Narcissa."
"I'm sorry to ask this, Severus, but I am rather curious. Who is the mother?" Madam Pomfrey asked him whilst looking at me.
"Storm Night."
"Who?"
"We do not need to know." Dumbledore spoke up. Every eye turned to him. "Severus had a right to some privacy, doesn't he?"
Everyone around the table nodded, though reluctantly.
"Very well, I believe that Severus was going to ask us to keep his secret and help him with it."
Severus nodded at Dumbledore's raised eyebrow.
Silence followed. Everyone looked at me. I cringed under their stare, but I held my composure. It was McGonagall that spoke up first.
"How can we help?"
I smiled at her. We'd always been fond of one another.
"How about giving me detention?" I spoke for the first time. I got confused stares with those words.
"So I can spend more time with Severus?" I explained. Still, no one caught my drift. "You give me detention; I do it with Severus, problem solved."
"We can do that." McGonagall smiled at me.
"Thanks, ma'am."
I think I like the Gryffindor head.
123
"Skye?" Draco's voice called from the front door.
"Draco!" I shrieked as I ran from my room. "Mrs. Malfoy!"
They were waiting for me in the living room. Severus' quarters at Hogwarts looked much more organized than his home in Spinner's End.
Mrs. Malfoy hugged me again and Draco and I exchanged hello's.
They took me to buy books in Diagon Alley. Where I would meet Mr. Malfoy. In Flourish and Blotts I met up with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hermione hugged me and the boys just smiled. I found out that Harry's relatives had shut his owl away and could therefore not send me any letters.
"Are you sure your relatives didn't mistreat you?" Hermione asked me. I took 'relatives' to mean 'those at the Orphanage'. I decided to tell her the truth, or half of it.
"Yes, it's fantastic!" I leaned in and whispered: "I was adopted."
She looked at me with huge eyes.
"That's great, Skye! Congratulations!"
"Thank you." I saw Draco and Mrs. Malfoy enter the store. "I've got to go; I'm here with someone else."
"Bye!" The three of them called. I turned around to wave at them. I walked straight into someone.
"Slowly, there." A hand caught me before I could fall. I turned around to face my savior. He was a tall man with long, light blonde with eyes like Draco's.
"Are you Mr. Malfoy?" I asked, not being able to keep my mouth shut.
"Yes, I am. Who are you?" He frowned at me.
"I'm Skye Night, sir."
"Little Draco's friend?"
I nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, Skye."
"You too, sir." I said with a smile. Just then Harry and the Weasley's neared the exit – and us. I felt a hand on my arm and I was drawn away from them. It was Mrs. Malfoy who had pulled me away.
I looked back at Mr. Malfoy and burst out in laughter – he and Mr. Weasley were fighting!
That there made my day.
123
Harry and Ron were late at the Welcoming Feast the next week. So was Severus. Later I found out that the two boys had come to school in a flying car. This in itself was funny, but Severus had been the one to catch them, which meant that they would get detention and points deducted from their house. The last part I didn't mind, really. We were supposed to be competing for the House Cup, weren't we?
The part that made me laugh of the Welcoming Feast was the new DADA teacher. I'd heard about him and had read his books, but he was a phony. I could see that immediately. He loved his fame and the fact that the female students, and some of the female teachers, were under his thumb.
The first day in his class was annoying, because he kept bragging about winning something about a 'Best Smile Award' from some magazine. I didn't really understand – he wasn't that dashing to me. He showed his incompetence by bringing a creature to class that he didn't know how to control. Hermione saved the day. Neville was lifted from the floor and basic chaos ensued. I was going through my head for a spell to use when Hermione yelled 'Immobilus!' and every pixie started to move in slow-motion. Our beloved teacher was nowhere to be seen. It frustrated me that Hermione was defending him, when I knew that he was a fraud. At least I wasn't the only one calling him a fraud, Harry and Ron agreed wholeheartedly with me.
"He's a joke, Hermione! How can you think Lockheart is so amazing? He's a bloody idiot!"
"Detention, Miss Night." A voice behind me drawled. I whipped around and saw Severus. I hadn't seen him behind me.
"But…" I tried to protest, knowing it would look incredibly weird if I just said 'okay' and skip to my next class.
"Tonight. At eight, my classroom."
"I'm almost jealous." Harry said as we walked to Transfiguration. Hermione, Ron and I looked at each other, then at Harry.
"Huh?" It was a communal sound.
"I've got detention with Lockheart." He moaned. I patted his shoulder sympathetically. I wasn't really going to do anything but hang out with Severus.
123
Severus and I spent the night going over my homework. He helped me understand why on earth one would add Flobberworms to a potion, and then he explained the twelve qualities of Dragon's blood, even though I'd learn it in the next two years. He went over my Transfiguration homework, changing some of it. He laughed at my DADA homework, answering a sheet of questions that had to do with Lockheart's taste in clothes. He bent himself low over my History of Magic Essay, as I had only copied everything from the book it was about two feet longer than the sixteen inches required. After that he helped me practice the newest charm. By the time my 'detention' was over, I felt much smarter.
"Goodnight, Skye."
"Night, Severus." I said. Then I threw my arms around his waist. Startling both him and myself. He returned my hug, and as I made to return to the Slytherin Common room he bent down to look me in the eye.
"If anything is bothering you, go to Draco or come here."
"I will."
123
The next week I decided to pay Hagrid a visit. Draco had made the Quidditch team, so I couldn't hang out with him as they were practicing. I knocked on his hut's door. I was greeted by the familiar barking of Fang, the boarhound.
"Get down, Fang!" The door opened. "Well, hello, Skye!"
"Hiya, Hagrid!" I smiled at the giant man.
"What are yer doin' here?"
"Visiting you, of course!"
"Come in, come in!"
"Thanks!" I stepped inside and went to sit at the table.
"Would yer like some tea?"
"That would be lovely."
"Take a cookie, too." He place a plate of what I assumed was cookies. I waited for him to pour the tea and sit down opposite me before taking one.
"How was yer vacation?" He asked me.
"It was great… better than I expected. You?"
"The gamekeeper doesn't go on holidays, Skye. I've been here."
"What did you do?"
"Been tendin' to the shrubs, helpin' the unicorns, watchin' over Aragog…"
"Who's Aragog?" I asked.
"Promise yeh won't tell?"
I nodded eagerly. Hagrid looked for something in his pocket before showing it to me. A huge spider was staring back at me. He was hairy and had milky eyes.
"Is he blind, Hagrid?"
"Yeah, I've had 'im sine I was a lad, I have."
"He's gorgeous, Hagrid!" I exclaimed, I may be afraid of spiders, but this thing was beautiful. I didn't know spiders could grow this big!
"He can talk, too."
"No!"
Hagrid chuckled.
"Yeh really think he's gorgeous?"
"Yes, Hagrid! He's beautiful!"
"Never thought a Slytherin would say summat like that to me."
It was my turn to laugh.
"You said something about unicorns?" I said, handing the photo back.
"Yeah, they've mated and now they have foals."
"I wish I could see them." I said longingly.
"I'll show 'em to yeh sometime, all righ'?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. And the centaurs, too. Just don't call 'em a bunch of half-breeds or ask 'em for piggy-back rides and ye'll be fine."
"Thank you, Hagrid!"
"It nothin'." He said with a wave of his hand.
I really like Hagrid.
"Hagrid!" Hermione called from outside.
"Comin'!"
Hagrid opened the door to reveal the Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ron was being supported by his two friends. Ron made vomiting motions and I got out of the way. He spewed – and a slug landed on the floor.
Ew!
A few seconds later Ron was sitting with a bucket on his lap. Puking up a slug every twenty seconds.
"Who was Ron tryin' to curse anyway?" Hagrid asked.
"Malfoy." Harry said. I pointed my ears. "He called Hermione a… well, I don't know what it means."
"He called me a Mudblood." Hermione said, she was standing near the window.
"He did not!" Hagrid gasped.
"What's a Mudblood?" Harry and I asked simultaneously.
"Mudblood means dirty blood. Someone with none magic parents. Someone like me." Hermione said sadly.
"He did what?" My voice echoed through the cabin. They all looked at me. The silence was broken by Ron giving the slugs in the bucket a new friend.
"I've got to go." I said, heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked me.
"I'm going to murder someone."
123
"Draco Malfoy!" I yelled as soon as I entered the Common Room after uttering the password (Magic is Might).
"What, Skye?" He was standing by the fireplace, surrounded by the Quidditch team. I made my way over to him angrily. He must've seen it, because he cringed a bit.
"You are a coward!" I yelled as I lifted my hand and slammed it into his face. I heard a faint 'crack'. I retracted my hand and left the Common Room.
I made my way to Severus' office… but halfway there pain overtook me… every part of my body was burning… it felt as if thousands of pins were being pressed into my body… I couldn't see anything as white lights swam before my eyes… I felt for the wall… something hard was under my hand… the wall… I felt my way along the wall…
"Miss Night?" It was McGonagall's voice.
"Ma'am." I breathed; I couldn't speak aloud… it hurt too much.
"Miss Night, are you all right?"
Obviously I wasn't! I wanted to scream, but a very different scream exited my mouth… one of pain…
I felt a thin arm lift me up… I must've fallen…
"What's wrong?"
"Sev…er…ussss…." I breathed, the 's' going into another scream.
The next thing I knew I was lifted into the air by strong arms…then I was lied down gently… my head was forced backwards… but I refused to open my mouth… I knew that this needed to happen…
"Skye, open your mouth." Severus' voice said in my ear.
"Noooo… I'm changinnggg…"
123
Severus' POV
She didn't want me to pour the potion down her throat. Screaming that she's changing – into what? Minerva was standing next to me, looking worried. I was holding Skye in one arm and a potion on the other.
Suddenly her eyes shot open… they were glowing… so much so that it illuminated the whole room… She screamed again…
"Skye, please." I begged.
Then it stopped. Her body went limp and her eyes closed.
"Skye?"
Her eyes flew open again. They were still glowing, but to a lesser extent.
"Sev? What happened?"
"That's what I was hoping you could tell me."
"I just remember… um… going into the Common Room, coming out and heading over here. The next thing I knew I was bent double with pain."
"That's where I saw her. She asked for you and I sent the patronus."
"Thank you, Minerva."
"Shall I call the headmaster?"
"No. Call madam Pomfrey, please."
Minerva left for the Hospital Wing.
"What did you mean when you said that you're changing?"
"I'm a shape-shifter."
"You're certain of it?"
"Completely. That book you gave me told me something about having to change from human to shifter, and that it would be painful. It also said that it'd happen over three months' time."
"And you started in the summer…"
"Which means this month and next month will be very painful." She said happily. Which I didn't understand, but that's Skye's motto, it seemed. 'Confuse people.'
"We must request that you be moved to the Hospital Wing."
"I'm scared." She said in a small voice.
I put my arms around her and pulled her closer.
"I'll ask permission to keep you in my quarters." I promised.
Pomona came in, looked at Skye, gave permission that she could stay with me for the next two months, and swore to check in every day. We were also to work under secrecy. One of the teachers would come and escort Skye to a class every morning. I also found out that Skye had hit Draco – she had broken his nose. He'd been very upset, but Skye was refusing to accept his apology. When she told me why she was angry I completely supported her. I had lost Lily by calling her a mudblood, and I didn't wish for anyone to go through that.
The second year passed quickly. In the two months that Skye had stayed in my quarters she'd changed remarkably. We told everyone that she was in the Hospital Wing, quarantined because she had some sort of rare disease. Draco didn't know where she was either, because Skye hadn't wanted to tell him. He went to the Hospital Wing every day, though, to try and talk to her. Pomona sent him off every time. No one knew that Skye was changing except for Minerva; she'd been present, after all. Every day there was something different with Skye. One morning she woke up with all of her hair gone. She'd refused to open the door for anyone until five o' clock that afternoon when all of her hair had grown back. They had become darker and longer. Her eyes had a permanent glow to them, and one morning she woke up with an entirely different eye color, it had changed from the light green to a light purple, or lavender. Her facial features had also changed, slightly, but it had changed. Her eyes had become bigger and her lips had become thinner.
She and Draco didn't speak for the rest of the year. He tried many times, but she just ignored him. The first morning after she went back to school he was shocked to see how she had changed. She had also hit him again, just after the old caretaker's cat had been petrified. Granger had only hugged the girl, which was surprising to the other Gryffindors. Parkinson had been very excited to have Skye back in their dormitory. Christmas came and went. Skye and I had spent it at Hogwarts. She had gotten me a book – a copy of King of Shadows. I had gotten her a bracelet. It changed color, that way she could see if anyone meant her any harm. It would turn white if the person was to be trusted, but black if not. She'd gotten Draco something too, but I didn't know what. She'd wrapped it and called the Malfoys' house elf, Dobby, to deliver it to him. The house elf looked incredibly frightened and shook up.
The worst day for Skye was when Granger got petrified, followed by the day that Hagrid had been arrested. She had screamed at the minister that he was a stupid, old idiotic man who wouldn't know how politics worked even if hit him in the face. I had given her detention for that, but that detention was spent laughing about the Minister of Magic's facial expression. I realized that she had developed a soft spot for the Grounds Keeper, as she could spend hours and hours on end in his cabin or at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She had been extremely excited when he had shown her the unicorns.
At the Leaving Feast Hagrid returned, as did Granger. Skye had been one of the first to greet Granger with a hug, but for Hagrid she went after curfew – with my permission. I had a feeling that a class she would take the following year was Care of Magical Creatures.
On her birthday Draco had sent her a gift along with a letter. The letter read:
'Dear Skye
Yes, I am saying 'dear' again, because you are important to me, and I was wondering if we could talk. Please. I'm worried about you.
Yours
Draco'
She had answered:
'Dear Draco
You and I can talk when you apologize to Hermione. And yes, I did say 'dear', for the same reason you did.
Love
Skye'
And thus her second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ended. On a high note, sort of. She had her friends back – except for Draco, and she had me. I wouldn't exactly call myself a high note, but she did. She's told me so a dozen times. She was the only person that I would smile for and laugh with. She was a fantastic child. And she was going to be beautiful woman. That much I could tell.
The best part of my year was Lockheart losing his memory – and Skye had been right, too, about him being a fraud. He was an insipid idiot – and clearly the other members of staff agreed. Especially after that disastrous attempt on Valentines' Day.