Summary: Adhara Phoebe Black was raised to believe she was the daughter of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, growing up alongside Draco as his sister. Expecting to begin her first year of Hogwarts as a Slytherin princess, things do not go according to plan and Ari begins to learn some things about herself and the people around her that start to make her question the life she lives.
Copyright: I am not J.K. Rowling and therefore do not own anything recognised as belonging to the Harry Potter universe, I do however own Ari and anything else original in this story.
Riddled with Black
Chapter Fourteen – The Cancelled Quidditch Match
In the days following Eleanor's attack I tried to pretend that everything was normal, that everything was alright. The truth was, I felt responsible, even though I knew I wasn't. I studied at the library alone. I couldn't work out what was happening to me. Being around my classmates was giving me headaches because I started to find myself more and more aware of what many of them were thinking.
It was probably about a week after Eleanor's attack when Draco approached for the first time since he'd told me he was going to tell uncle Lucius about my conversation with Ginny Weasley. I became tense the moment I saw him, expecting that Blaise had informed him of my connection to the muggle born Slytherin. I was surprised that he'd come alone, as he was normally with Crabbe and Goyle or Pansy.
"May I sit here?" He asked once he had arrived at the table I was sitting at in the open study area of the library.
"Sure," I muttered coolly, keeping my eyes on the paper I was writing for Transfiguration; my best subject. He sat down, and waited a few moments before speaking.
"So, Ari, about the other week," He started, I put my quill down and turned to look at him, my eyebrows raised. I could sense that he wasn't here to be friendly.
"What about last week?" I snapped.
"What were you doing with Weaselette?" He snapped back.
"Oh, so now you ask? You didn't think to maybe talk to me before you went and sent a letter to our parents?" I demanded, whilst trying to keep my voice so that the librarian didn't hear us.
"You were seen socializing with a blood traitor by the entire school, and everyone in Slytherin was laughing at me about it. You have no idea what your actions could potentially do to our reputation!"
"Oh, so it's okay for all these bad things to happen, so long as your reputation is still intact? Merlin, Draco, this is school, we shouldn't have to act like adults and make proper decisions."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"I walked with her to the common room; we are in the same house you know! With that beast on the loose we established it's a lot safer to walk in groups!"
"You're a pure blood Ari, and despite being a blood traitor, so is that Weasley girl. The beast is clearly after mudbloods." I didn't respond. "And that doesn't explain why you smiled about it." I sighed.
"I don't know what you want me to say Draco. That I'm sorry? Promise you that I won't talk to her again?"
"I guess, I don't know, all I know is that they're disgusting, and I don't understand how you could want to talk to them."
"I don't want to talk to them, and for the most part I usually don't,"
"You're changing,"
"No I'm not."
"You are, it's been nearly eight months in Gryffindor and they're starting to rub off on you." I frowned; he was just trying to cause a fight.
"I won't talk to her again; can we please just leave it? I don't want to fight, I'm still the same." Draco sighed. I could feel his resolve lifting.
"Sure, why not, now why in Merlin's robe are you alone in the library for?"
"To study,"
"Are you always alone in the library?"
"Yes, always, I've got no friends. It's not easy being in Gryffindor,"
"You can always hang out with me," I smiled; I really missed having friendly conversations with Draco.
"I would really like that," I remarked. Draco then pulled out some of his own homework and we studied together.
After our conversation in the library, I started to spend more time with Draco. Unfortunately it meant that I also spent more time with his Slytherin cronies. I stood with them quietly, carefully resisting the urge to offer my opinion in their conversations. Spring was well under way with the weather warming up slightly, and flowers coming out. The popular Slytherin group took advantage of today's sunny day, and sat out in the courtyard, I decided to join them. I sat on the outskirts with Blaise nearby; neither of us contributed to the conversations much. Crabbe and Goyle stood towards the back of the group and were equally as silent, reminding me of body guards rather than simple second year students. Draco sat beside Blaise, with Pansy on his other side. Daphne Greengrass sat across from Pansy, and the two were discussing hair and make-up; something that I hadn't yet come to understand. Theodore Nott sat beside Daphne with a bored expression.
"Let's talk about something a little more interesting, like the Slytherin monster," Theodore exclaimed; quite suddenly. I frowned, this was not something I wanted to hear or talk about any longer. A shuddered as the memory of the whisper came into mind; deep down I knew they had to be connected.
"The filthy mudblood was petrified just the other week, that Elena or something. Our house, unfortunately," Daphne responded.
"Eleanor," I said simply. Everyone aside from Blaise looked at me; facial expressions ranged from surprise to suspicion. Draco's faced flashed with the strongest suspicion, but that was covered with his mask in just moments.
"It's nice to know that you speak, but how did you know that," Pansy said. The question was kind of odd; I mean she was in the same year level as me, why wouldn't I know her name?
"Just from around, she is the same year level, and Gryffindor has potions and Quidditch with Slytherin." I risked a look at Blaise, who looked up from the ground
"Damn mudblood shouldn't have been a Slytherin, tainting our students." Daphne exclaimed. I scowled.
"My question is, why just petrify them, why not kill them?" Nott asked.
"Yes, you'd think that the monster would be designed to kill mudbloods." Daphne expressed absent-mindedly. I'd had enough; I wasn't comfortable here, I never was. As cliché as it seemed, I honestly felt like a single, cowardly lion that had fallen and was trapped in a pit of venomous snakes. Draco was right, I had changed.
"Who do you think the next victim will be?" Theodore questioned the group.
"I don't know, but I sure hope it's that Granger serves the trio right." Draco snarled, and I frowned in surprise. Did he not realise what he was saying? I needed to get out of there.
"I have to go, I just remembered I had a paper to finish for Snape," I said quickly before jumping and leaving before any of them could respond. I really didn't have one to finish, but no one would know that. Once out of their line of sight I headed towards the lake, a quiet place to think. I'd probably been sitting there for about ten minutes when I heard footsteps.
"That is a very strange paper, Little Black, is it covered with some kind of invisible potion?" I didn't have to turn around to see who it was.
"What do you want Zabini?" I sighed as he sat down beside me.
"Nothing, just thought I'd keep you company." I raised my eyebrow; now that is believable.
"What do you want to know?" He raised his eyebrow to match, before smirking slightly.
"Am I that transparent?"
"No, you're just a Slytherin…" He snorted.
"This… girl… Eleanor? She's your friend, isn't she?"
"Yes, she was nice to me and I appreciated that. Am I transparent?" I admitted.
"No, just a Gryffindor," Blaise retorted.
"I just, I don't really have any friends, and she doesn't have any friends, and she's good at potions and Herbology, but sucks as spell work. I'm good at spells but suck at those two."
"You thought that maybe you could be friends?" Blaise prompted.
"Why did you cover for me?" I asked, changing the subject.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the other night, when we found Eleanor, and the staff asked what happened, you covered up the fact that I was hearing voices. And again today, you already had your suspicions about me, and you could have told Draco, but you didn't. In fact you could have told him about it ages ago."
"It's not my place to go telling people your problems and the things in your personal life. You hear voices, that's your problem… you want to be friends with a mud-muggleborn, that's your prerogative." He covered his slip up well, and I smiled a little bit. "Don't get me wrong, I'm pure blooded, I love the fact that I'm pure blooded, and yes I do think I'm better than those… people." He paused, "However, it isn't my place to go telling your family who you're with and what you're doing. I know what your family is like, and I would gain nothing from putting you through that."
"Wow, I think that's the most you've said to me all year,"
"Try the most I've said to anyone my whole life," There was something serious in his tone. I wasn't used to it.
"Thanks," I said, although it seemed redundant. "I don't disagree with the pure blood values… I just, didn't think,"
"The rules are how they are; we can't do anything about them. Now, try not to be so gloomy, you're eleven, worry about changing the world when you're older."
"And what are you, twelve? You kind of sound like a wise old man…" I joked at him. He laughed a little.
"Thirteen," I looked at him blankly. "I'm thirteen, my birthday is in November, the twenty ninth."
"Oh, nice to know… I was supposed to be born in September, came a little early though in August; the nineteenth." It was a strange topic change, but it was nice to think about something other than Eleanor, the other petrifactions and the Slytherin monster.
"I'll have to keep that in mind, I'm going to go now." I nodded, and he stood up and left me alone to my thoughts.
The week passed by quickly, with no one being attacked. Everyone was still an edge and stayed in large groups in hope to avoid being attacked. I'd stopped hanging out with the Slytherins again, instead choosing to spend time with Evelyn and Loretta, or Isaac, Eric and Adam. Sometime the whole group of us studied together at library. It wasn't long before it was time for the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor Quidditch Match, and all of us sat in the stands waiting for the game to begin.
"Who do you think will win?" Isaac started a conversation from beside me. I was about to respond, before I heard a faint noise. I looked around and saw nothing. Isaac frowned, "Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" I responded, shaking my head, "And I think Gryffindor will win, of course!" I heard the noise again, in my head, and I started to have this dreadful feeling; there was going to be another attack, I could hear the monster, albeit only faintly." I sat quietly and waited for it to pass. What could I do? Tell a Professor that I heard strange voices and that somebody was going to get hurt? No one would believe me, and if they did, they'd think I was involved. I tried to think about the match. We'd gotten here early so we could get good seats, and the stands were only just starting to fill. I spotted Draco over the other side wearing something from Hufflepuff, he appeared to scowl though and I got the feeling he was only wearing it to be anti-Gryffindor. Soon the stands were full, the game should begin soon. Time started to pass and I knew something wasn't right.
"Shouldn't it be starting by now?" Adam observed.
"I think someone else has been attacked," I said quietly before stopping myself, Isaac must have heard because he looked at me strangely.
"How would you know that?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just a feeling," I tried to cover.
"Oh, it's Dumbledore!" Evelyn pointed out on to the center of the pitch where Dumbledore stood. He held his wand to his throat, and suddenly his booming voice spoke.
"I regret to inform you that the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor Quidditch Match has been cancelled," That received loud groans from the audience. I closed my eyes. "Two more students have been attacked not too long ago, it has proven to be far too dangerous and the Quidditch season has been cancelled. It is expected that you will all return to your common rooms to hear more information from the Heads of each House. Thank you." Suddenly everyone stood up, fear evident in the atmosphere. The group of us stayed close together and made it the Gryffindor common room safely. McGonagall was waiting there for us. I noticed that Harry, Ron or Ginny were not in the common room. When most of the Gryffindor students had arrived, McGonagall decided to speak.
"Sadly, two more students have been attacked; fortunately they have only been petrified and not killed." She paused, as if thinking about how strange it was for petrifaction to be considered a positive in comparison to the alternative. "The students are second year Gryffindor Hermione Granger and sixth year Ravenclaw, Penelope Clearwater." People started to mutter amongst themselves.
"Well I guess it wasn't Potter after all," Adam said bluntly. It was a shame it took the attack on Hermione before the opinion changed. McGonagall explained that we would have to travel in large groups and be in the common room before eight, and to report anything strange that we heard before leaving us all to talk. I sat quietly in the corner and thought to myself. Suddenly Nyx appeared and jumped on my lap, attempting to comfort me. I needed to know what was happening; I needed to know what that voice was. It occurred to me that the only person who could truly help me was Dumbledore, and I made the decision that it would be top priority to speak to him tomorrow morning. For now, I was going to put the event outside of my mind.