Showdowns
November 1972
Paisley sat there in the Slytherin common room. She had gotten used to the empty feeling of the common room when it was a Hogsmeade weekend since it seemed like every single third year and above had taken off to the small village, and as such, the common room was eerily quiet without the older students making much noise.
"Thank Merlin, we can join them next year," Alecto complained as she collapsed onto the couch beside Paisley.
While Paisley was eager to be able to join their older classmates at Hogsmeade, she wasn't feeling like she was missing out since it was rare to have the common room this empty. It always felt full and noisy, and she liked the quiet.
"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," Paisley pointed out, throwing the magazine back onto the table where she found it. She doesn't know who does it, maybe one of the older students who have a subscription, but there are always magazines left on the tables, from Witch Weekly to numerous Quidditch magazines.
"I hate the quiet," Alecto complained, and Paisley looked at her, knowing exactly how the other girl would react to the following words out of Paisley's mouth.
"We could go sit in the Great Hall, socialise with the other houses," Paisley suggested, watching as a foul look appeared on Alecto's face.
"Hell no, I don't want to socialise with blood traitors and mudbloods," Alecto complained before standing up. She gave Paisley a look before she stalked off, muttering to herself as she left, and Paisley laughed.
"What's her problem?" Regulus questioned as he walked over and took the spot that Alecto had just left.
"She was complaining about the silence, and I said we could go sit in the Great Hall and socialise with the other houses. It wouldn't be all that quiet in the Great Hall," Paisley explained, and Regulus shook his head.
"Tell me, how do you put up with her?" Regulus questioned quietly, leaning closer to her. "Her values and opinions are pretty extreme."
"We get along most of the time, and I can take jabs at her, and she doesn't care. I think for a while, she realised I was getting the approval of the older students while she wasn't. She wanted to keep me close to try and help her with that." Paisley had thought about this before. She knew why she personally kept Alecto around; she had nothing of value to ultimately push the girl away aside from her rather extreme values and opinions. Still, she wasn't the only one in Slytherin that has the same values.
Regulus didn't say anything, and Paisley noticed the odd look on the other boy's face. "Are you okay?"
"Sirius won't speak to me." Regulus turned and looked at her. "He just ignores me."
"Could be worse," Paisley pointed out, laughing. "He could treat you like Snape, and I think it's partly my fault."
"Why is that? What did you do to him?"
Paisley fell silent. She would hate herself if her actions towards Sirius were why the wedge appeared between the two brothers. She had a dream after Regulus' sorting, another one from the far future where Sirius spoke of Regulus and the boy he was speaking with may not have noticed her. Still, Paisley knew Sirius well enough to catch the pain in his voice as he spoke of Regulus and his disappearance. It was partly why she was working hard at keeping Regulus close, and she wanted to try and change it, so he didn't disappear for whatever reason.
"He kept trying to fight my battles with Snape, and I disapproved of it. He kept trying to get involved in Slytherin politics; I may have made too many jabs in his direction. After the ball at the beginning of the summer, he's barely said anything to me," Paisley explained. She was unsure about how Regulus would respond since he was eerily relaxed. "Reg?" she questioned softly.
"He knows better. He knows how Slytherin politics work because we were all raised to know what to expect when we were sorted into this house," Regulus explained. Paisley looked at him, but she didn't say anything. "I have to head to the library, and I need a book for an essay."
Paisley let him go, not saying anything as she had a feeling that Regulus needed to sort out what she had explained. A part of Paisley was worried about Sirius's future and if she had any effect on it, but there was only so much she could do when he actively causing problems with her housemates. Despite her and Snape not getting along, she couldn't be seen taking the side of a non-Slytherin outside the common room since they had to be a united front.
She let out a sigh before standing up, deciding she was hungry and wanted to head to the Great Hall and see what snacks were out.
Only on the weekends, the Great Hall had various snacks lining each of the tables, allowing the students to grab food as they wished throughout the day. During the week, when they were meant to be in class, they didn't have that option, as it was seen as a cause of distraction with students thinking about what food they wanted to grab from the Great Hall. Still, over time, students learnt to grab some fruit from the table during breakfast or lunch if they got hungry during the day. They could quickly eat it on the walk between classes while the older students stocked up on sweets and other food they could purchase from Hogsmeade.
But it was as she reached the Entrance Hall, that she had to quickly duck to avoid being hit by the spell that came her way. "Oi!" she yelled out, unsure who had sent it in her direction.
She hid behind one of the statues, taking a moment before she turned and stuck her head out from behind and saw who was duelling in the Entrance Hall. Still, she quickly turned back around as another spell came in her direction. Now she was pissed.
The first one would have been an honest mistake since there could have been someone previously where she had appeared. However, the second time was not on since she had made her presence known, and they still sent a spell in her direction.
"Stop, now." McGonagall's voice echoed off the wall, and Paisley stayed seated where she was, hoping if no one knew she was here, she wouldn't have to get caught up in whatever trouble the unknown students were.
"What about the blonde?" Paisley bit her lip at the voice. She thought it belonged to Pettigrew, one of the second year Gryffindors that James and Sirius were friends with. "She's over there behind the statue."
She really wanted to throttle Pettigrew. But at least now she had a feeling about who was involved in the duel.
"Out you come," McGonagall ordered, and Paisley stood up before she took a step out from behind the statue. "Miss Burke, care to explain why you were hiding?"
"Because it was just that, I came out from the dungeons, and they were duelling. I jumped and hid behind the statue," Paisley explained. She didn't really want to get dragged down with this because she wasn't involved. Her hope was that she was a typically well-behaved student and wasn't one to be caught duelling in the corridors.
"Very well, continue on with your day. The rest of you follow me," McGonagall spoke, ordering the boys to follow her. Paisley stood there, watching them all walk up the stairs behind McGonagall.
Paisley grew curious as Sirius was the last to leave, giving her an odd look before he too went up the stairs. When they all disappeared around the corner, Paisley continued on to the Great Hall.
Snape, Wilkes and Perry didn't resurface until all the older students had returned from Hogsmeade and Paisley were sitting there with Maxton and Alecto, listening to the third years go on about the splendour that was Hogsmeade as well as what happened to Rabastan in Madam Puddifoot's tea shop.
"Wait," Maxton cut in, trying not to laugh while Rabastan sulked on the couch. "Let me get this straight. He just walked straight into the shop, stood there for a moment before he bent over, vomited all over the floor, and sprayed some seventh-year girls?" Evan could only nod, too busy trying to hold in his laughter.
Paisley looked over at Rabastan, taking a chance to gain his support. "Come on, lay off him. He probably ate something that didn't sit right with him, not to mention he missed the first Hogsmeade weekend because he was in detention. You were all excited for your first time," Paisley spoke softly, giving him a small smile, and he nodded his head.
But no one else could say anything as Snape's voice cut through the common room, causing a beat of dead silence to appear.
"Burke!" Snape yelled. "So much for us having a united front in front of the other houses."
"Excuse me," Paisley responded angrily. "I wasn't involved in that duel that broke out, and I will not let you all drag me down with you. I was planning to hide until you all left, but no Pettigrew had to open his big fat mouth."
"Exactly, Pettigrew, not us," Wilkes commented, reminding Paisley of who actually ratted her out.
"I know that," Paisley rolled her eyes. "It's not like I said anything against you lot of buffoons, and I just attempted to defend myself. I guess it also helps I don't start illegal duels with the Gryffindor students."
"You could have just as easily have said they started on us," Snape interjected.
"And did they?" Paisley questioned sweetly, a smile on her face but a scowl appeared on Snape's before he raised her wand. "What are you going to do? Start an illegal duel with me now?"
"I defeated you back in January," Snape snarled, but Paisley did pull her wand out.
"There is one slight difference between now and then, Snape," Paisley reminded him. "It doesn't necessarily have to be one on one."
"What's going on here?" Rodolphus questioned as he walked over and stood off to the side but in the middle of Snape and Paisley.
"This one," Paisley pointed at Snape. "Thinks he's going to duel me because I supposedly betrayed them in front of McGonagall and some Gryffindors. They got caught duelling that I almost got dragged down for, and I protected myself."
"Oh goody, can I join in?" Rodolphus questioned, stepping in beside Paisley with a sinister sneer. Still, the scowl merely increased on Snape's face before he turned and stalked off.
Paisley turned and looked at Rodolphus, a slight glare on her face. "I could have handled that."
"Oh, you mean it will end up like it did last time?" Rodolphus questioned, and Paisley shrugged. She honestly had no idea how it would end up. "We don't have anyone in their seventh year who wishes to become a Healer. As such, we can't allow any risky illegal duels in the common room this year."
Paisley looked at him before nodding, storing the information away in case it came in handy in the future.
"That's a reminder for everyone!" Rodolphus yelled out. "No trainee Healer means no duelling to take place in this common room!" there were complaints heard, but no one argued what was said, and Paisley retook her seat on the couch.
"Rabastan," Rabastan held his hand out, and Paisley shook it.
"Paisley." Paisley gave him a smile before she looked over at Alecto, a foul look on her face before she stood up and stormed off.
"Could this backfire on you?" Maxton whispered, and Paisley shrugged.
"Rabastan introduced himself in the very full common room, and she got pissy. It will look bad on her for severing ties that way," Paisley explained, and Maxton nodded.
Paisley knew that the jabs she sometimes sent toward Alecto could be considered harsh. Still, at the end of the day, Paisley was saying those jabs because it felt good for her to let out her frustrations so that she wouldn't let Alecto know that she genuinely didn't side with her values ultimately. But despite the jabs, she was careful as to when she fully let them out. She made her jabs hit the hardest when no one was around to hear them, while the softer ones were around the other Slytherin students.
All Slytherins were known for poking fun at each other, and it was a way to keep them all in line and show who was on top. For Paisley, that was how she was doing with Alecto. Her gaining more alliances than Alecto was the most outstanding jab at her because Paisley was setting herself up to be Prefect while Alecto watched her chance wash away in front of her eyes.
"So," Paisley spoke calmly, addressing those sitting around her. "Apart from Rabastan puking his guts in Madam Puddifoots, how was Hogsmeade? I do hope you all brought enough sweets from Honeydukes to share."
There was a round of laughter coming from the third years but none the less they did pull out a couple of blocks of chocolate that came from Honeydukes and some chocolate frogs and other sweets before they went back on explaining what they witnessed happen in Hogsmeade.
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"Oi." Paisley held her tongue at the voice, she hoped it wasn't for her, but she was also alone in the corridor. "Burke." She let out a quiet groan before turning and facing Sirius.
"What do you want? Come to drag me down in another detention?" She snapped, and Sirius rolled his eyes before stopping in front of her.
"You didn't get detention, don't act so put out by it. Maybe detention will remove the stick from your ass. You used to be fun," Sirius teased, a smirk on his face and Paisley shook her head before she turned and continued on with her path. "That is exactly my point, Burke."
Paisley stopped walking before she spun around and glared at Sirius. "Are you kidding me?" she yelled, losing her usual composure. She was grateful they were virtually alone except for the two Hufflepuffs that had just taken off in a jog. "Do you forget everything we were taught? I have to play the stupid game that is being in Slytherin. I have to play the politics and keep them all happy, so I don't end up a loner and risk my death in that house." She snapped, attempting to keep her anger under control. Still, it wasn't quite working, and she didn't understand how Sirius was always able to push her buttons.
"Paiseā¦" Sirius started, but Paisley's eyes narrowed. No one except Lucas called her Paise.
"No, it's insane. I've told you this before, I don't need your help. Let me fight my own battles. Maybe you should see if the other Slytherin in your life needs your help?" Paisley snapped before she turned and stormed off.
"You're kidding, right!" Sirius yelled out, breaking out in a job to follow her. "You mean the golden child who said everything my parents wanted to hear."
"Because we were raised to pick up on the hidden meaning in conversations and respond how we suspect they won't," Paisley muttered, picking up her pace. However, Sirius still managed to keep up with her.
"Regulus doesn't need my help," Sirius responded, but Paisley could pick on the uneven tone that showed he wasn't so sure.
"That's funny because he asked for my help on shutting Snape up about you," Paisley snapped, venom filling her voice, and Sirius stopped walking and stared at her.
"What?" he stuttered out, and Paisley stopped walking and looked at him.
"What, you didn't realise that the people you pissed off turned on your brother." Paisley pointed out, her voice rising slightly with her anger seeping out. "Why am I not surprised since you're so convinced the world revolves around you." She muttered, turning and storming off, grateful that he didn't follow her this time.
She had no idea what would happen with this information she let slip to Sirius. However, she was still dead set on making sure the two brothers didn't hate each other come to their own graduations.
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Paisley was on her way out of her dorm when she heard the eruption of laughter from the common room that floated through the corridor that held the girls' dorms. She quickened her pace to enter the common room, but she stopped in the doorway and laughed.
Snape, who was typically known to have black hair that was long enough so he could cover his face when he wished, was standing there with relatively short spiky neon pink hair. His hands and feet were magically tied together, preventing him from undoing the magic himself, making Paisley think he had somehow hopped the whole way here, not coming across anyone who felt sympathy for his situation.
The kicker of the whole thing was the fairy wings magically glued to his back, making Paisley believe what happened to Snape wasn't a mistake or a mere prank. No, she felt it was payback for what she let slip about Regulus.
"Do those fairy wings look familiar?" someone questioned, but no one said anything, the laughter rising.
It took thirty minutes for someone to set Snape free. Wilkes attempted to but was told not to by Rodolphus, claiming it was punishment for all his non-stop comments regarding any member of the Families with hopes that he would remember his place.
Paisley had a feeling after this incident that Snape would no longer make comments regarding anyone from the Families. She didn't think he would instantly stop having an issue with her or Regulus and Sirius. Still, she had a feeling that this way, it would be something other than who their families were.
