BLACK VELVET – PART 2
CO-WRITTEN BY: EvilCat and E.A.B.
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A/N – Weeeee!!! Time for another installment of "Black Velvet!" This part is pretty long, it includes Rhea's sorting, Rhea's hatred for Draco… more and more things involving Rhea… and Draco… And… I guess that's all. Draco is my favorite character, and the first draft I wrote of this made Draco seem so… nice. So I changed a few things around and tried to make him seem more like he really hated her. Near the end of this part, he's really nice, though, because his life is kinda on the line. Remember this; Rhea's temper takes her over sometimes. So remember that… it will help you understand what's happening near the end of this part with our old pal Voldemort… I would like to thank the reviewers! Thank you reviewers! And no, this is not a daughter-of-Voldemort + Harry fic… Rhea isn't too fond of Harry, although she may act nice to him, she really doesn't find anything too intriguing about him… I wasn't sure whether to rate the PG or G… so I rated it PG just in case. This fic is almost completed on my hard drive, but I'm gonna make you WAIT! So ha ha ha ha ha!
A/D – I own Rhea, Liz owns some of the little details and important events, I own some little details and the basic plot line and some important events. I made up the plot line! MINE!!! If it were up to Liz, Draco would die. She's tried that more times than I can count. All regular HP characters belong to the mighty J.K.R!!! Well, read on!
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The alarm clock rang. Well, it wasn't really an alarm clock, and it didn't really ring, but it did wake her up. Apollo nudged her with his cold, gray nose again.
"I'm up, don't worry!" she told him. She walked over to her mirror, which had ivy winding its way up the side. Her hair wasn't as messy as it usually was in the morning. She changed into a tank-top and some jean-shorts. She strolled into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, then brushed through her hair, and put it up. Sure, she looked like a tom-boy when she did that, but she could care less.
She walked over to her cat again. It was the crack of dawn in London. She looked at a picture of the lake. The sun hadn't risen in Ohio, yet. The lake was navy blue, large storm clouds billowed above it. Her friends would be in store for lots of rain when they woke up. The sky was clear where she was staying.
At this point, a small white owl flew in. He carried an envelope of thick parchment. Rhea walked over to it and took the envelope away. Brizo naturally hooted angrily at the owl that sat on her bed from his perch on the tree.
She opened the envelope and pulled out a few slips of paper. A permission slip for Hogsmeade, a list of school supplies, and a note from the Headmaster about her sorting, the houses, and the train. All the homework she needed to do was included, written by the teachers.
"Well, the potions master seems to be thrilled about me, now doesn't he?" she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Doesn't seem like a very pleasant fellow, does he?" Justin asked.
"Don't sneak into my room!"
"Sorry, you left the door open.."
"You know just as well as I do that it was closed," she snapped, her light blue eyes narrowed.
"Ok, ok!" he backed out the door and scampered away.
Rhea smiled and gave the little owl a treat before it flew away. Brizo bristled his feathers and hooted angrily at her. Apollo meowed loudly for attention and stretched out across the bed. They were always fighting for attention. She walked over to Brizo, and opened the window for him. He hooted and flew out.
She smiled as he flew away, then quickly ran down the steps, awaiting breakfast. She was starved, she hadn't had dinner the night before. Apollo followed her, like usual. She ordered scrambled eggs and cinnamon toast.
Tom made her breakfast quickly, and it was very good. Well, comparing to what she usually had to eat.
She and Justin decided to explore Diagon Alley that day. It passed quickly for them, and before they knew it, it was dark. So they retired for the night.
Rhea woke up that morning with a new burst of energy. It was Saturday, so she would need it. She looked at the clock, it was 12:07 PM, she had waken up late, like usual. Apollo was being his usual sleepy self, so he didn't serve much as an alarm clock today.
She jumped out of bed, put on some of her nicer Muggle clothes, a tank-top and some of her nicer jean-shorts. She decided to leave her hair down for today, it usually looked better that way.
Rhea ran down the stairs and almost tripped over Apollo, who was weaving about her legs. She took out her wand; it was Maple, 13½ in, sturdy. She tapped the brick in the wall, and entered Diagon Alley, not bothering to eat breakfast, like usual.
Apollo followed her, like he normally did. She checked her watch, it was 1:58 PM. 2 minutes, boy it took her a long time to get ready today, or maybe it was the stubbornness of her owl. So, she headed off for Flourish and Blotts, which wasn't far away. She sat down near a tree, and looked around for who she was supposed to meet.
She spotted Justin heading quickly over. Rhea turned away, noticing a group of 3 standing a few feet away. She grabbed Justin's arm and dragged him over to Harry Potter's little group.
"Hey!" Rhea said, trying to be a little too cheery.
"Er.. hi," said a boy who she figured must be Ron.
"Excuse her, she's acting a bit like a drunken idiot this morning," Justin apologized. He was rewarded with a kick in the shins from Rhea.
"I may be a drunken idiot, but that's no reason to voice it out to the whole world.. or something like that," she said, confused.
"Yeah, well, we're supposed to meet someone here, so could you excuse us?" Hermione pointed out in her usual tone.
"Yeah, well, I'm supposed to meet you here, too, so bye-bye."
"Ummm.. wouldn't that mean that you're supposed to meet us? So therefore, you should stay here."
"Ok, sure, whatever."
"Rhea?" asked Harry.
"Huh?"
"Oh, ok, just making sure it was really you, your letter seemed more… refined."
"Of course, in her letters, she always seems more refined, it's when you meet her that she's really crazy!" Justin sniggered under his breath.
"Don't make me sing, Justin…" she trailed off.
"Oy, she's threatening me, now."
"Ok, why don't we all just sit down and have a nice little conversation?" Ron asked.
"Sure."
"So, how are you little people today?" she asked.
"You've met an insane one, Harry," commented Fred, strolling in.
"Like us, you know, I kinda like her now," continued George.
"Can you leave me alone, I'm old enough to look after myself," Ron complained. At this point, Rhea sniggered.
"Maybe I shouldn't act so insane," she commented, "I'm confusing myself."
"Yes, try and act more refined, would you?" Justin pleaded.
"Fine, I shall attempt to do so. But what is normal? Nobody is truly normal, so therefore, we are all weird. But in that sense, if we're all weird, then we're all normal, now aren't we?"
"I guess in a sense, if you think of it that way," said Fred.
"But we prefer to consider ourselves weird, so that is why we have normal," she continued.
"Hey, Potter, what are you doing here? Talking to some filthy mudblood first years again?" Draco cut in.
"Hey, where did you come from?" Rhea asked confused, again.
"Rhea, cut it out!" Justin hissed. At this point, Rhea realized what Draco had been saying.
"MUDBLOOD?! MUDBLOOD?! Who are you to call mudblood, and besides, who are you to call me a 1st year? AND who are you to insult muggle-borns in the first place?!" She screeched at him.
Draco sneered at her, but looked a little taken back by her comments. "Oh, so what year ARE you two? And what is that silly accent you have? It sounds absolutely horrible."
"For your information, I'm a 5th year by your terms, and I'm American, much better than you British people, no offense to anyone else here." She hissed at him.
"And you are a muggle-born, I suppose?" he commented, looking at her clothes.
"Nope, pure-blood, just like you, Malfoy," she scowled at him.
"And how do you know my name?"
"I have my ways, I'm not stupid, you know."
"I'm not going to waste my time on talking to idiots such as yourselves," he said with an edge of hatred in his voice.
"Gee, that was fun!" Ron said unenthusiastically.
"Yes, wasn't it? Draco can be a pain sometimes, can't he?" she smiled.
"A pain? JUST a pain? He's more than a pain!"
"Well, if my friend was here, he wouldn't just be slinking away like that, he'd be pretty scratched up," Rhea commented again.
"Yes, Bastet is very violent against the Malfoy family, isn't she?" Justin recalled.
"I dunno if it would be just them, but all supporters of Voldemort," she corrected.
"Don't say that name!" Ron complained, "You're just as bad as Harry is!"
"Tee hee, isn't that thrilling?" she replied sarcastically.
"Well, we haven't got all day to shop for our supplies, do we? Let's get started!" Hermione cut in.
"Sure, why not?" Rhea got up, and spent the rest of the day shopping with Harry and his little friends. She was taking Care of Magical Creatures and Divination as her optional classes.
"Wouldn't it be great if Potions was an optional class?" Harry asked absentmindedly.
"Yea, the potions master seems thrilled to have to be the one to write out my homework," Rhea answered him, taking a bag full of advanced potions ingredients.
"Leeches? Yeck.." commented Justin, who was looking through the supplies.
"Spiders…" Ron shivered.
"Yep, spiders, thrilling, isn't it?" she said sarcastically, holding one up.
"What's next?" Hermione checked her list. "We have books, potions ingredients, and new robes."
"We need something to eat," Justin said brightly.
"That'll work, I haven't had anything to eat all day." Rhea cut in.
"You were that excited to meet us?" Ron asked.
"No, I hardly ever eat breakfast," she answered him, and led them away to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch.
After they bought the rest of their supplies, they spent the rest of the day looking at brooms & Quidditch supplies at the request of Harry ("I only get to come here once!" He complained).
Rhea admired a new broom, but unfortunately didn't have enough money on her to buy it. Well, she did, but she still had a week until school started, and she needed to buy food and pay for her room.
At the end of the day, they all trudged up to her room. And, they all tripped over Apollo at least once on the stairs.
"Crookshanks never does that, he at least knows better than to weave between your legs when you're walking up stairs," Hermione was quick to complain. Apollo hissed at her indignantly.
"He knows what you're saying, and if he disagrees, he'll make his opinion known," Rhea said. Apollo curled his tail around her leg and meowed at her. "And he needs his food now, too."
After Apollo was all fed and happy, Rhea stretched out on her bed, admiring a butterfly, which had landed on her hand.
"Your room looks like a forest because..?" Harry trailed off.
"Just like home, I love the look. I live in the middle of a forest," she answered him quickly.
"I remember when this room looked normal."
"I'm not normal, I prefer to be called weird."
"Don't get into the weird/normal speech again, Rhea," Justin cut in. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all left around 9 PM ("Stupid cat!" Hermione commented as she tripped over Apollo once again).
The rest of summer passed rather quickly, and before she knew it, she was magicking all the ivy and statues back into her suitcase. Her owl was fastened tightly in his cage, and Apollo hung on her back in protest of going into the cat-carrier. Rhea relented and let him follow her everywhere.
Rhea arrived at King's Cross in quick time, since it wasn't that far away. She checked the train pass.
"Platform 9 and ¾, is it? Ok, that shouldn't be too hard. Platform 9, Platform 10, it should be around the middle somewhere, shouldn't it?" she asked herself.
"Yes, I expect it is, we had to board Platform 7 and ½ at home," Justin answered her.
"Huh? Oh, I forgot you were here again, sorry…"
"It's fine, but you really need to stop doing that. Come on," he dragged her through the barrier and onto the platform.
"Must you drag me everywhere, I can walk, you know!"
"I know you can, but you were taking too long."
"Your point? I'm fine by myself, unlike you, who can't even lift up your suitcase."
"Oh, shut up!" he said, and boarded the train.
Rhea sniggered and followed him. They got a compartment with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"I haven't seen Malfoy, yet, thank goodness," Hermione commented.
"Oh, that Draco person?" Rhea asked.
"Er.. yeah, Draco," said Ron, awkwardly.
"Just wait, you'll see him soon enough," Harry said.
"I doubt it, the train's leaving," Rhea told him, looking out the window.
"Well, good enough, he's not the nicest company to have around."
"I know what you mean," Justin answered him, "he seems like a pain."
"What color are his eyes, blue or gray? They looked like they had a blue-ish tint to them," she asked Harry.
"Gray, like steel," Harry answered.
"Yeah, just like his personality," Ron replied.
"Maybe we could give his attitude a little tweaking," she said, a mischievous look in her eyes.
"And what do you mean by that?"
"Oh, look, here he comes now," Justin cut in.
"Great, I can get started," Rhea smirked. Draco walked into the compartment as she was saying this. He looked at her, then back at Harry.
"Talking with this American trash again, Potter? You would have been much better off if you would have listened to me in the first place," Draco commented.
"You would have been better off if you would've listened to ME in the first place," Rhea said as she punched him in the jaw. Draco staggered a little, shocked that someone hit him with Crabbe and Goyle around.
Rhea scowled at him, then kicked him in the shins. "You're lucky I'm not my best friend, or you would be dead right now," she said as she crossed her arms.
Draco took out his wand, as if issuing a warning. "Draco," Rhea said coolly, taking out her own wand. "Do you think I'm scared of you? I could probably turn you into a newt within a second. And from what I hear, you're not that great at wand-work."
"I wouldn't trust the word of them. But if you're that stupid, go ahead. After all, you ARE American, not exactly intelligent, if you ask me," he sneered. Rhea sneered right back. Her blue eyes flashed dangerously, and she started advancing on him again. Harry held her back.
"You don't want to get in trouble before you're even at the school, Rhea," he said quietly.
She glared at Draco, then sat down in her seat again, watching him closely as he stalked out of the compartment.
"I should turn him into a ferret," she said airily.
"How did you know about that?" Harry asked sharply.
"Like I said before, I have my ways," she smiled angelically.
They stayed on that subject for quite awhile, and before they knew it, they were at Hogwarts. Rhea and Justin went off with the first years, looking a bit awkward since they were so tall.
Rhea and Justin got in a boat of their own, because the first years seemed intimidated by their presence.
After they made their way across the lake, they all went into a small room, where a Professor was standing.
"Rhea and Justin, may I see you for a minute, please," the Professor beckoned for them to follow her. They made their way to a corner, where she lowered her voice.
"You two will be fifth years, as you may already know. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You are sorted in front of the whole school, and put in one of the four houses. We will sort you last."
Rhea nodded, taking all the information in, at that, the Professor left.
"Follow me, I will take you into the Great Hall, now," she called out over the noise. At once the noise ceased and she led everyone away.
Rhea looked out over the tables. She spotted Draco talking with some fellow Slytherins, and Harry and Ron talking with some Gryffindors. Her name was called then; she hadn't realized how long she had been standing there.
She strode up to the stool and put on the Sorting Hat, which fell over her eyes. It whispered a few things in her ear.
"Hmmm… smart, that's Ravenclaw, loyal, so that would be Hufflepuff, but, no, that wouldn't do. Slytherin would be good for you, too, but then again, so would Gryffindor."
"Don't put me in Slytherin!" she thought pleadingly.
"Are you sure that's what you want? After all, power comes to those in Slytherin."
"I'm VERY sure," she thought back.
"Well, you're brave at heart, so for you, it better be GRYFFINDOR!"
She took the hat off and strode over to the Gryffindor table, and sat down next to Ron. She crossed her fingers, Justin was up next.
The hat immediately shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" He smiled and took off the hat. He ran up to the Gryffindor table, and sat down next to Rhea and Hermione.
Rhea enjoyed the feast immensely, and gobbled most of it down quickly. She then noticed the bewitched ceiling; it was dotted with stars. "Oh, it must have been made to look like the sky outside," she thought to herself.
At once, all of them got up and followed the house Prefect to the portrait hole. She said the password and all of them filed into the common room. Rhea followed Hermione up the steps to their dormitory.
Rhea woke up early that morning, before everyone else had. The area around her bed was covered with vines, and her favorite statues were crowded around it, also. She had a tree by her bedstand where Brizo was sleeping, and a few potted exotic flowers where 2 morpho butterflies rested.
She took out her schedule, Potions was right after breakfast, in the dungeons. She frowned, double potions with the Slytherins. She then let out a quiet groan, realizing who she'd run into. Fortunately, she had done her potions essays, though it wasn't explained very well what she had to write.
She had heard some rumors about Professor Snape, so she would have to watch it. He was head of the Slytherin house, and everyone said that he favored Slytherins. Rhea pushed her hair back and changed into clean black robes.
"Black. It just doesn't go with my complexion, does it?" Rhea complained.
"Get used to it, it's the school uniform," Hermione sighed.
"I look like a zombie. Oh well, I'm demonic enough, maybe it brings out my personality more. You don't like it either, do you?"
"No, but if I were to wear a different color, it would be on a day when I didn't have Potions."
Rhea smirked at that thought. Professor Snape must REALLY be bad, for the top student to insult him like that. She brushed through her hair and put it up in a ponytail.
"So, what's Divination like? I only took it because I don't like math much, and I know enough about Muggles," Rhea asked Hermione.
"You're going to be predicted to die in the next year, and will be tortured and step on a nail or something, she's terrible."
"Ah, well, I might be able to change that."
"Hmm?"
"Never mind," Rhea smiled. Her robes were long enough, but a bit tight, she didn't like baggy things. They were flowing, but not too much, so they looked normal, but a bit better for her.
"Did you just get those robes?" Hermione asked her. "They look a little tight for you."
"I know, but that's fine, I'll live. Besides, I have bigger ones for later in the year if these become too tight, which I doubt."
"Ok, it's up to you, then," she went back to brushing out her hair.
"You know, you could really do something with that hair," Rhea said, and strode swiftly over to her.
"Like what? I've tried almost everything."
"You're using the wrong kind of brush. Hang on, I have just the thing," she said. Rhea took out her wand. She muttered a few things, and Hermione's hair curled under a little, and looked a little bit sleeker, too. "Not bad. Look at me."
Hermione turned to Rhea; she had an amused look on her face.
"Ok, you need just a little foundation…" she took out a small case, and dabbed some of the powder on Hermione's face, covering up the few freckles she had gotten over the summer.
"Perfect, look!" Rhea held up a mirror. Hermione smiled. Her hair wasn't as bushy as it usually was, and some marks on her face were gone due to the foundation.
"Wow, thanks, how long will it stay this way?"
"A month or two, it's magical," she smiled as she closed the case with a snap. They walked down the steps into the common room, their bags over their shoulders.
"Hey Rhea, hey… Hermione?" Harry greeted them.
"Yep, it's the new her!" Rhea proclaimed.
"Well, not exactly…" Hermione corrected her. "Just a little make-up and something with the hair."
"It looks great, feel good about yourself!" Rhea exclaimed.
"Sure, I guess, come on, we're gonna be late for breakfast," Hermione said quickly, and they all walked down to the Great Hall together.
"Where's Professor Dumbledore?" Rhea asked as she looked up at the Staff Table.
"Probably out on Ministry business," Harry replied.
They ate breakfast quickly, then headed down to the potions classroom.
"Professor Snape is his name?" Justin asked.
"Yes, but he's just horrible. I can't stand him, he usually partners me up with Malfoy," Harry said with disgust.
"Well, good luck, I hope I'm partnered with Justin or one of you three, Draco seems horrible," Rhea commented. "Besides, he already doesn't like ME much."
"Snape doesn't like anyone who isn't in Slytherin, especially not Gryffindors."
"He's the head of the Slytherin house, what can you expect from him? He was obviously a Slytherin himself at one time."
"A long, long, time ago," Ron sniggered as they walked into the classroom with the rest of the class.
"Two new ones? OK, Haynes, go with Potter. Karasa, you go with Malfoy," Snape said silkily.
Rhea groaned silently. Draco was the last person she would want to be partnered with. Well, she would make the best of it, as long as she was with the favorite she would be blamed for ANYTHING that went wrong.
"Not you again…" Draco sneered at her.
"Oh, I'm just as thrilled as you are to be with you at the moment," she said, taking out her essays.
Draco eyed the essays as if he wanted to pour acid all over them and make her write them again.
"Don't even think about it, Draco," she hissed. Apollo had followed her without her noticing, and he nudged her leg.
"Why did you bring your cat here?" Draco asked with a tone of disgust in his voice.
"He must have followed me. If you don't watch it, I'm sure Apollo would love to tear you to shreds."
Draco scowled at her, and then started working on the potion they were assigned to do. They had to share a cauldron, so Draco did the cooking, and Rhea did the ingredients.
She handed him some leeches, which he took without looking.
"Ah! Why did you put leeches into my hand like that?" he glared at her as he picked the leeches off of his fingers.
"Why weren't you paying attention, then?"
"Is there a problem here, Miss Karasa?" Professor Snape strode up to them.
"Leeches," Draco glowered.
"I handed him the leeches, and he wasn't paying attention, Professor," she said politely.
Snape glared at her for a minute, then looked at Draco, who had taken the last leech off his thumb. He strode away, glaring at Rhea.
Draco glared at her. "How did you do that?" he hissed.
"Oh, easy, do you really think he'd take away points for something as little as leeches? Really, you need to stop acting like such a baby," she replied calmly. "Simmer that for 30 minutes."
He looked at the cauldron, which he had almost forgotten about and went back to cooking the potion.
At the end of Potions, they had lunch. Draco had stayed behind to finish simmering the potion, but he never did show up at lunch or dinner that day.
The rest of the week passed fairly quickly, with still no sign of Draco, to most everyone's pleasure. Rhea was a slight bit curious to his disappearance, but still happy about it.
The usual happened that week, Professor Trelawny predicted Harry's death, along with Rhea's, and Snape was overly strict after his favorite student had disappeared. Transfiguration went good, along with Charms, and Care of Magical Creatures. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a bit eccentric, though.
And a week after Draco's disappearance, Rhea did the same thing. She showed up for potions, but didn't return to lunch. It was then that Professor Dumbledore came back. He had heard of Draco's disappearance, and wanted to head over at once, but wasn't fit to do so, since he had gotten a strange sickness at the Ministry.
If Rhea would have been there to know about that, she would have known that it was only Dark Magic that could cause that particular sickness. Rhea studied the Dark Arts often, and people often said her goal was too difficult for her to ever accomplish; it was to become a sorceress. She figured if Voldemort could do it, why couldn't she?
Her extreme studies on the Dark Arts had often led her to certain people who were involved in the Dark Arts, which is how she knew who Draco was. It was often her main cause of letters going home from the school about her sneaking in the Restricted Section again. She had learned the curse on it, and closely following, found out the counter-curse and how to work it. But no one every really cared in her family.
Rhea was being dragged along by her father, much against her will, to a small castle. She was dressed in a large black cloak, so no one could see her face. She was pulled into a dark room; which had only candles for light.
She looked around her. She was surrounded by more people wearing black cloaks. In front of her stood none other than Lord Voldemort. She rolled her eyes inside her cloak and sighed quietly.
"Take off your hood, I enjoy seeing a look of pain on my victim's faces," he hissed. Rhea decided to please him a bit, so she took it off, and threw her hair out of it.
Voldemort stared at her, then looked at her father. "You brought me this… girl? An inferior? And yet you didn't tell me this because you were too cowardly?" he said silkily. Her father looked straight ahead, not saying anything.
"Inferior? Is THAT what you think of me?! An INFERIOR? And what are you? The supreme high a mighty king of dark arts or something? Wait, take that back, you are, but still! You expect everyone to bow to you and worship the ground you walk on? I mean, look at what you've done to yourself! Those eyes, and your face! You could have actually looked good and become some king of dark arts, you know!" she screeched at him.
"I see you're a feisty one..."
"You couldn't even beat little Harry Potter, that wimp I go to school with who has two little friends following him around all day, and 1st years gawking at him in the halls because he has some little scar on his forehead! I mean, you lost to him four times! And that pathetic little servant of yours, Peter, what's up with him? Boy am I a victim of disappointment in you!"
"And I'm not going to kill you because?"
"I can get you little Harry Potter! He worships the ground I walk on, he follows me like a lost puppy dog! I'm sure I can convince him to follow me right into your clutches."
"I'll think about it, Malfoy, throw her in the dungeon. The last cell, at the very bottom."
"My Lord, I believe that cell is occupied at the present moment," Lucius Malfoy said, stepping into the circle.
"They despise each other, it would be good for them. One or the other will die, your son is sure to be hungry by now," Voldemort said, and waved a hand at Rhea.
Lucius Malfoy grabbed her arm tightly and dragged her away.
"Watch it!" he hissed at him. Mr. Malfoy threw her into the cell, locked the door and strode away without a word.
"Potter, is that you?" Draco called.
Rhea turned sharply on her heel. "Excuse me? Potter? That little bug that walks around following me all day? Who are you anyway?"
She got no answer. This just aggravated her all the more. She whipped out her wand, which the Malfoy had carelessly forgotten to check for, and mumbled something under her breath. The flames of the little fire he had built flared up, catching Draco's wrist.
He scurried away from the fire quickly. She still couldn't make out who it was. So she leaned against a wall and slid down it, thinking nothing of what she might have done to the person by the flames.
Rhea looked in the direction of where the person should be, and for a moment, caught a glimpse of their eyes, which had changed from a gray to a more blue color. She blinked, and the person had turned away.
"Draco?" she called out, thinking of the only person she knew with gray eyes besides the one who had locked her in.
She heard a soft growl, but nothing more. She looked at the flames, which were pretty high by now, so she softened them.
"Well, if we're going to be locked in here together, we might as well get used to it," she got up and walked over to the corner where Draco was holding his arm in pain.
"If you burn my arm off, I don't think that's likely to happen," he growled at her. She looked at his arm where the flame had touched him. It was slowly disintegrating the flesh.
Rhea waved her wand at his arm, and the skin and muscle tissue appeared like new, except for a small scar the shape of a flame. He rubbed at it
"At least it's not in the middle of your forehead."
"I guess that's true. Hey, can you make some food with that, I'm starving down here."
She looked around, it didn't look like they fed anyone down here, they would let them waste away forever.
"Ok, what do want?"
"Anything as long as it's edible."
She waved her wand and made him an order of fries and a Whopper. "Er.. I'm out of practice, sorry. It's edible, though, try it. It's a Muggle food. Here, there's ketchup, too, you put it on the meat and the fries."
He picked up a french fry and took a bite of it. "Pretty good for a Muggle food. Thanks."
"No problem." She waved her wand again and coleslaw appeared. "Ew.. ummm.. let's try something else, then." She waved her wand again, and some chicken strips and fries appeared. "Eh, good enough."
She took a bite of the chicken. "Mmmm.. Chi Chi's!"
"What?"
"American Muggle restaurant. Yours is from Burger King, another restaurant."
"Oh. It's pretty good."
"You said that already. And you know, you could cover that mark up with a bit of foundation," she said, eyeing the Dark Mark on his wrist.
"Huh? Oh, that… yeah, I'm gonna have to cover it up eventually… if I ever get out of here."
"I'm too valuable to kill, they're gonna let me out of here sometime."
"What do you mean 'too valuable?'"
"I can get Potter to dance right into his clutches. While singing the macarena!"
"Why didn't I think of that?" he asked himself.
"You're Slytherin."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I'm better than you."
"I resent that."
"It's true! You're not in Gryffindor, are you?"
"Slytherin's the best house and you know it!"
"I do? That never occurred to me before, Draco-boy. Anyways, I'm gonna find a way to get you outta here. No one deserves this."
"I'm really tired. I haven't slept for days. Can you make me a pillow?"
"Sure." She conjured 2 pillows out of thin air, and one fell on him.
"Ow…" he rubbed his forehead. "Well, I'm going to sleep now, talk to you in the morning."
"Yeah.. sure." She trailed off and strode over to the other side of the cell, where she set her pillow against the wall and lay down.
Rhea looked at the fire, which was dying down. She flared it up a little and lay her head back down on the pillow before falling asleep.
Rhea played with the fire for awhile. She looked around the cell; it had dead things lying all over the place. Mostly rats, but a raccoon or two were rotting in a hole in the wall.
It was the dead of night, she could here the faint sounds of voices, but nothing sounded close enough to hear them. She looked at Draco, he was still sleeping.
She decided not to wake him. He needed his sleep. Rhea looked up at the ceiling; it was made of dirt. Shouldn't be too hard to break through. She took out her wand and tried everything she knew on the dirt ceiling, but nothing worked. It must have been bewitched.
"You know you can't get out of here. And he'll let you out when he's ready. Which should be soon," Draco said wearily.
"I hope so, I hate it down here."
***** 2 Days Later *****
Draco was looking a bit better, but no one looks good when they've been locked in a dungeon for more than a week. Rhea was in a fairly good mood, for someone in a dungeon, at least. She had a good feeling about that day.
"Cheer up, Draco, I'll figure out a way to get you out of here," she told him, he was looking extremely glum that day.
"I hope you do, if they let you out and leave me down here, I won't survive," he answered.
Rhea looked at her wand, which was lying on the floor, the Lumos charm being used. The cell was so decrepit after you saw it in a brighter light. There were bones lying all over the place.
"It gives me the creeps down here," she said, trying to take her mind off of the fact that Draco might become an addition to the bones in the other corner.
"I wish father would let me out of here, but then he would probably be punished for it," he told her.
"You'd both be dead, so I guess it's best for one to survive."
"It would be better for me to survive than him, I'd end up lasting longer."
"True, but would you give your life up for your son?" she asked, figuring Draco to be just like his father.
"Yes, I mean, if I was his age I would."
"I guess you're not as bad as I first thought," she smiled at him, "There's a spider in your hair."
He wiped it out. "At least I'm not like Weasley, he'd probably die of fear if there was a spider on him."
"Which one? Ron?"
"Yea, him."
She sighed, "This confinement is too much. I need to run, to… feed my cat and make sure he doesn't tear Potter up before I can bring him here."
Draco sniggered. "Your cat doesn't like many people, does he?"
"Apollo is very protective of me. Knowing them, they probably locked him in a closet or something."
"Apollo is it?"
"Yea…" Rhea stopped suddenly. She picked up her wand. "Nox…" The light went out and she sat against the wall.
Lucius Malfoy opened the cell. "Rhea, the Master wants you."
She hid her wand in her robes and followed him, dusting herself off on the way. She silently cursed herself; she should have left her wand with Draco. He could at least make some food for himself.
"Ah, Rhea, I see your time in the dungeon is up," Voldemort said. "Although it didn't seem to have much of an effect on you."
She didn't say anything, just stared at him.
"Your father has been killed, the Avada Kadavra curse, and you will die the same way if you don't get Potter to me. Now, I'm sure you want something in return? I can give you almost anything. Money, a bit of power, other things."
"Getting Potter back here will be a lot of trouble, so I'll need an assistant. Someone who won't look too conspicuous," she said.
"Take your pick, I have many who can help you."
"Draco Malfoy."
"You want him? He's not very trustworthy."
"He's powerful enough. Besides, I'm sure he'll be happy to help," she continued. Voldemort obviously did NOT want to let that kid out. She sighed to herself and wondered what Draco might have done.
"Fine, have it your way. Lucius, bring your son here."
"Yes, Master," he turned and strode off in the direction where she had come.
Draco arrived shortly after, being dragged along by his father. Lucius pushed his son into Rhea. She stumbled and Draco fell.
"Really, you don't want to make yourself look like an idiot," she whispered to him as she pulled him up.
"Sorry, it's hard to keep my balance, I haven't stood up for a long time…" he whispered back.
Rhea turned to Voldemort. "After Draco gets used to walking on two legs again, we will begin."
"Very well. Lucius, take them back to the school," he hissed. Lucius nodded, grabbed them both by the wrists and dragged them out of the castle.
"So are you going to cut the circulation off to my wrist the whole way there, or are you going to let us follow you?" Rhea complained after 10 minutes of walking.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry," he let go of them and kept walking. "Come on, we don't have all day."
Rhea and Draco jogged up to him and then slowed and continued walking. Rhea loved the outdoors, but in this area everything was dead. The grass was yellowed, and the trees didn't have any leaves. Well, any trees still standing, at least.
"I'm just thrilled about all of this," she said sarcastically.
"I know what you mean," Draco stumbled.
"Do I need to make sure you don't trip over yourself?"
"Yes."
"Fine then," she caught his wrist and hoisted him back onto his feet.
"You're just as bad as he is," he motioned towards Lucius.
"Not really, he'd just leave you there to pick yourself up."
Draco nodded and they walked in silence for the rest of the way. He wasn't very steady, so Rhea had to keep pulling him back up.
They finally reached the school, and Lucius had to walk them all the way past the Great Hall (which was very loud compared to the dungeon) where the rest of the school was having dinner, and up to the Gargoyle guarding Professor Dumbledore's office. He looked disdainfully at it, then turned and looked around.
He made up his mind and headed toward Professor Snape's office. He probably couldn't think of any other teacher who might be around during a mealtime. Well, besides Professor Trelawny, and she wouldn't be the best person to talk to.
He knocked on Snape's door, and after getting an answer, opened it and pushed Rhea and Draco in before him. Draco fell again, and again, Rhea pulled him up.
"Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you. I see you have found our missing students," Snape greeted Lucius.
"Yes, Severus. I found them quite far away from here."
"Sit down, Lucius. As for you two," he turned his attention to Rhea and Draco, "where have you been?"
Lucius looked at Rhea, who looked at Draco, who just kind of stared into space. Rhea sighed.
"Wake up, time, Draco," she poked him.
"Huh?" he blinked a few times.
"Er.. I don't think he's doing well," she looked at the Professor sitting before them.
"I can see that. Lucius, take your son down to the hospital wing, I suspect you still know where it is?"
"Yes, of course. Come, Draco," he grabbed his son by the wrist and pulled him out of Professor Snape's office.
"Karasa, please explain to me what you were doing and where you were," he glowered at her.
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. If Draco told you, you might, but he's not here right now."
"Well, go ahead and tell me. Potter and his friends seem to think I'm the one behind all of this, and I can't have that, now can I?"
"No, sir. Well, I know it sounds crazy, but… Voldemort."
"You're saying Voldemort took you? You would surely be dead by now, but you may continue."
"He locked me in the dungeon. And Draco was there. But I got released because I made a deal with him."
"And what was that deal?"
"That I would bring Potter to him."
"You told him that you would bring him Potter, and you got Draco out because of this?"
Rhea nodded.
"I see. Very well, I will speak with Draco about this later, you may go."
"You WHAT?" Draco asked, shocked that she would tell Snape about everything.
"Well, it's not like I had a choice, I mean… you should try it while he's staring at you, it's creepy," Rhea said.
"Now I have to tell him the exact same thing or he'll expel you!"
"Why would you care if he expelled her or not, Malfoy? I mean, after all, she is a Gryffindor, much too good for someone like you," Ron said as walked in.
"Why are you here in the first place, if you're so much better than me?" Draco sneered at him.
"I came for Rhea, we need to talk."
"You came down to the Hospital Wing when I was visiting someone just to talk to me?" she asked him.
"Well, I figured no one should really care if you leave Malfoy here."
"Draco."
"Same thing, now come on!"
"Why should I? I came here for a reason, is it that important?"
"Yes!"
"Fine. Draco, I'll be back later. Bye," Rhea scowled at Ron, but followed him out the door.
"She'll be back, that's something I've never heard before. They always say they'll come back, but they never do.." Draco mumbled to himself.
"Hey Rhea!" Harry called. He jogged up to her.
"Hi! What was so important that you needed to tell me?" she asked him.
"First we want to know what you were doing with Malfoy and what you were doing with that guy's dad," Hermione pointed out.
"And what you see in him, but that's off the topic," Harry cut in.
"Well, Draco's father was taking us back to the school. And he had both of us, so that's what I was doing with him," Rhea answered.
"What exactly were you doing with him?"
"Ask Professor Snape, I'm sure he'd be thrilled to tell you everything."
"You told Snape, but you're not going to tell us?"
"What choice did I have?"
"What choice do you have now?"
"I can walk right out of here whenever I want to."
"Then why don't you?"
"Stop being difficult, Harry!" she kicked him.
"Ow! Why don't you stop being difficult?" he shot back.
"I'm leaving, you're trying to use my own insults against me. You'd never survive against Draco," she turned and smiled to herself.
"I've beaten Voldemort, I can defeat Drac- er- Malfoy, too!"
"Aha! You were going to call him Draco?"
"And your point is?"
"I have no idea."
"Umm.."
"Oy, I'm trying to have a conversation with an idiot!" Rhea strode off towards the Hospital Wing again.
"You came back," Draco said, surprised.
"Yes, I came back, what did you think I was gonna do, leave you here? If I say that I'm coming back, I'll come back," she told him.
"Well, I'm feeling pretty good now, I think I can go tell Professor Snape what happened back there," he stood up, still a little shaky.
"Ok, do you want me to help you down there?"
"Yea, that would be good," he said. Rhea stood up and walked with him down to Professor Snape's office, catching him whenever he looked about to fall.
"I'll wait here for you, Ok?"
"Sure, see you," he knocked on the door to Snape's office and strode in after getting an answer.
Rhea waited for about 10 minutes before Draco walked out of the office.
"You were right, that was difficult," he said, dazed.
"Go back to your common room, you need some rest."
"That sounds like a good idea. See you in Potions tomorrow," he waved to her as he strode off in the opposite direction.
Rhea was tired, too, but she needed to find her cat, first. Ginny provided the useful information that he was in her dormitory, and Hermione was feeding him every day. Rhea walked up to her dorm and changed into her nightclothes. She plopped onto her bed, where Apollo was having a nice nap.
Her back was aching from sitting in the dungeon. Draco must have felt 10 times worse since he was sitting in there longer than her. She guessed that she actually kind of liked Draco. He wasn't that bad of a guy once you got to know him. Maybe it was just pity, but she doubted it. She hardly ever felt pity for someone.
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A/N – So, if you could please R/R, I would be most grateful. I don't mind flames, go ahead and flame me! But I'd much rather prefer constructive criticism over flames… Reviews such as the first four (I might have more, I'm not sure) are also great! They let me know if I'm doing a good job. Please tell me if I'm doing a good job keeping Draco in character… or if he's too evil. Rhea is moody… I would like to also thank my co-author, Liz. THANKS, LIZ!!!
A/D – I claim Liz as mine. Liz claims Adrian as hers. Therefore, I own Adrian… Sorry, Adrian, she told me to put that she owned you. I actually kind of find that offensive to you, but… To Justin, you haven't been online in a month!! WHY?! I really hope you didn't die! Send me an E-mail to reassure me, I'm getting worried.. Yeah, that was a private message to a friend, sorry… My Power of the Pen team CAN'T afford to lose me, and if my friend, Sarah, quits, I'll quit because my enemy that goes by the name of Maggie is our alternate… and I refuse to work with her… I hope we go to state!!! Two days outta school, even if it isn't that far away this time, we still get two days of excused absences because it's a school group… BTW, I live in Ohio… (near the Cleveland area… go Robby Alomar! Heeheehee) R/R or I'll bore you with more stories in the next disclaimer!
I dedicate this to… Adam… ^_^ Hee hee hee… No, I'm not stalking you, Adam… I haven't talked to you in awhile though, so when you go online, I'll IM you, and if you're not on, I'll E-mail you!!
BTW, if you want to contact me by AIM, here are my names:
EvilCat13
EvilCat1324
SilverDragon1324
I have 6, but those are the only 3 I give out to the public. My E-mail addresses are:
By the way, it's thirteen twenty four, not one three two four, because that's so stupid it's not even funny… no offense to anyone…
Until next time,
EvilCat
P.S. I'm waiting for Liz to call me back!! Darn!!!