Black Velvet – Part 3
Co-written by EvilCat and E.A.B.
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A/N – Liz says I should cut down on the Author's Notes… and now she can't talk on the phone 'cause her mother read the whole thing and got ticked at her and now I have to call her at 1 AM every night…ok, this is rated PG13 for swearing, a kiss, and Pansy's blood. If it was Draco's blood, it wouldn't have mattered, but Pansy has dirty blood…
A/D – J.K.R. owns all HP characters, I own the plot, Liz owns my nickname "Moon"
I believe we left off when Rhea realizes she likes Draco a blah-dee-blah-dee-blah, that's it for the recap…
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She woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning. Hermione was already awake, waiting for her.
"Good morning, Hermione," she said, yawning.
"Morning, Rhea."
She walked over to her mirror. She brushed through her hair, which always looked the same. She put it up since it was extremely hot out for October.
"Wow, it's been a month already. I didn't notice how fast days pass when you're stuck in a dungeon."
Hermione laughed a little. "What's up with Draco? I'm so used to saying Malfoy, but now Draco seems right."
"He was stuck in a dungeon longer than I was, so he can't walk very well and he's not very strong."
"You were thrown in a dungeon with him?"
"Yea, do you want the whole story?"
"Sure, I'm in for something long," she sat down on her bed.
Rhea told Hermione the whole story, excluding the part about Harry. During potions, Draco couldn't do much because he was so weak. Rhea did most of it, but Draco helped with the cooking a little. They would meet in the library after school.
"Rhea, come here!" Harry called her. He was working on Potions with Justin. They had an essay due the next day.
Rhea sighed and walked over to Harry. She wasn't officially late, yet. She still had a few minutes to spare.
"What?"
"I need to tell you something," he dragged her over to a corner.
"Go ahead."
"Well… ummm… I…"
"Come on, spit it out," she smiled.
"I really like you and I was wondering if, well…"
"Harry, sorry, but I don't have the same feelings for you. You're just not my type," now it was Rhea who was struggling for words.
"Well… ok, but give it some thought. I'll be here," he forced a smile.
"Before you leave, I need to tell you something. You are in mortal danger."
"What else is new?"
"Well, actually, if you're not in mortal danger, than I am, so…"
He raised an eyebrow at this. "What do I need to do?"
"Not get killed. And I have the perfect plan…" Rhea whispered to him all about the Voldemort thing. "So, we're going to have to make an illusion and you're going to have to control it. So that he doesn't suspect anything. And Draco will have to take you there with me."
"You told him you'd give me to him?"
"You know how it is, I was nervous! Forgive me?"
"It's all right, I can defeat him again if I have to," he sighed.
Rhea blinked, thinking, "He really needs to be less conceited..."
"Rhea, come on! What are you waiting for?" Draco called to her.
"Gotta go, Harry, see you," she told him.
Harry didn't like the idea of Rhea going off with Malfoy. He was totally against him, but he still liked her, and so he slipped on his invisibility cloak and followed them. Draco led her to the back of the library, where hardly anyone went.
"How are we going to get him to Voldemort?" Draco asked her as he sat down.
"I'll have to gain his trust again. It should take me about 4 days. So, I can't talk to you or have anything to do with you. He hates you," she sighed. "Be close to your friends and closer to your enemies…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked her.
"Well, technically, you're my enemy. But then, you're more of a friend. And so therefore Harry is my enemy. But then again, he's ALSO more of a friend."
"Don't worry yourself so much. I have to go…" Draco smiled. He gathered up some books on transfiguration and set them on the table. "Will you help me with some of this tomorrow? I'm not exactly good at it…"
"Transfiguration? Sure, why not?"
"Thanks," he said, kissing her, then walking off.
Rhea blinked in surprise. It wasn't like kissing was anything new to her, but she hadn't expected Draco to just go out and kiss her like that. Of course, it's not like she hadn't wanted to kiss him, because she did, but she hadn't been sure if he had liked her at all. Rhea sighed and stood up, picking up her bag and walking off towards the common room.
Rhea finished all her essays quickly, and went to sleep early again. She was tired out again. Maybe Draco made her tired, she laughed to herself. Then again, she thought as she stroked Apollo, he was really nice to her. Maybe it could work out. But she had work to do, first.
Rhea's birthday fell on Halloween. That meant that she had a feast on her birthday ("What a great birthday present… that isn't really a birthday present!"). She got plenty of birthday presents. All of her good friends back home and at Hogwarts gave her something. Although, she was a bit cautious about the candy from Fred and George. Lauren, Michelle, April, and Sabrina wrote her a letter telling about how they would also be coming to Hogwarts with Bastet.
She had gotten a lot of presents, and her computer (along with an Internet connection) had been sent to her, courtesy of her house-elf, Abydos, who was having the time of his life exploring the house.
"So, who are Lauren and Michelle and April and Sabrina? Oh, and Bastet," Hermione asked, reading the letter over Rhea's shoulder.
"April's the popular one I told you about, Michelle's a really good friend of mine, and Lauren is an even better one, and Sabrina is a nice friend of mine who's a bit… odd," Rhea told her. She held up her hand, a golden ring with a gem on it sparkled in the sunlight streaming in through the window.
"What's that? I never noticed it before."
"That's because it hasn't been sparkling. The gem changes color according to the angle at which it is viewed. The ring itself shapes to fit your finger perfectly. And it's a symbol of friendship. The gem glows when the one with the other ring has done something with true meaning. April holds the other gem."
"Interesting, I've never heard of them before."
"One of a kind pair, VERY special to me."
And then came Christmas break soon after the Halloween feast. The days passed quickly, fortunately enough.
Sure, her friends were coming soon, and everyone was in a happy mood (even Draco, who had gone back to insulting Potter), but the homework was the usual, and she was a Reserve Seeker for Quidditch, but she was only a Reserve. Harry was never out for a game of Quidditch that year. She had a Nimbus 2001, a pretty good broom, but the Firebolt was better. Even better was the Thunderbolt, a new model by the same company that made the Firebolts.
Rhea and Draco stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas. But the only problem was that Bastet hated the Malfoys. In fact, Rhea would probably have to hold her back from killing Draco and get hurt in the process herself. But then again, would Bastet really try to do anything when Rhea was considering Draco as a potential boyfriend?
Lauren, Michelle, April, Sabrina, and Bastet all arrived on Christmas Eve, and were all sorted into Gryffindor that night, to the pleasure of Ron, who needed a good whack upside the head. April gave it to him after she got annoyed at the fact that he was staring at her.
"A little violent, now, are we?" Ron mumbled, rubbing his head.
"Not all of us, just her.. oh, and her, and her," Michelle answered pointing to April, then Sabrina, then to Rhea.
"I'm not that bad, am I?" April asked.
"Of course not, you know we all love you, April," joked Rhea.
"Seriously, am I really that bad?"
"I don't think you're that bad," Ron answered.
"I wasn't asking you…"
"No, you're not, April," Rhea told her, "and if you were, you wouldn't have as many friends as you do."
Bastet stroked her Egyptian Mau, Anubis, and yawned. She wasn't at all thrilled about the choice of conversation.
"Oh, not thrilled about our choice of conversation, are you? Well, then find your own friends, we're perfectly content with the way this is going," Michelle joked.
"What? I don't have an interest in the subject, so I don't think I'll join in," Bastet answered, obviously annoyed by the fact that everyone was paying attention to April.
Rhea shot a sideways glance at Bastet. She turned back and rolled her eyes, Bastet was the name of the Egyptian cat goddess, and Bastet was anything BUT a cat.
Of course, Bastet probably thought almost the same way of Rhea. Rhea was named after the Greek mother of the gods. It was also the name of a moon.
Rhea scratched Apollo under the chin. He purred and leaned against her. Apollo was bigger than the normal-sized cat. And Anubis was smaller than normal. Being a siamese, Apollo had the natural intelligence. He knew over 10 commands, and was the friendliest cat in the world, according to anyone who knew him, except for Bastet, who was convinced that Anubis was nicer.
"You named your owl after a Greek goddess?" Bastet inquired, looking up Mythology on Rhea's computer.
"When did I give you permission to use my computer?" Rhea sneered.
"Hey, what's your problem? It's not like I'm gonna hurt it!"
Rhea laughed to herself. Sure, Bastet wouldn't hurt it, just get grease all over the keys, Rhea thought to herself, eyeing the bag of Potato Chips next to Bastet. "Wipe your hands before you touch the keys or the mouse-pad."
"Fine. But why did you name him after a goddess?"
"I didn't know it was a goddess at the time, and now he just answers to Brizo, so it's no use changing it."
"He's named after a Greek goddess?" Sabrina laughed.
"Yes, he's the new version of Goddess, don't you know? She created it herself!" Michelle giggled.
"So now her owl is an it?" Lauren sniggered and smirked at Rhea.
"Really, he is! So, let me introduce Brizo, the male owl goddess!" Rhea said, and whistled for her owl, which was on the other side of the common room, tearing up some first years' homework.
"Oy, you guys are idiots," Bastet muttered.
"Who's the bigger idiot? The idiot, or the idiot who came here because of the idiot?" Rhea shot back.
"Erk.."
"And stop using my words!" Rhea whacked Bastet upside the head.
"Hey!"
"Ha ha, now go away, you're no fun to have around. You're not at all interested in our conversations." April waved a hand at her.
Lauren smirked, "And take your miniature stuck up cat with you."
"He's the nicest and rarest you'll ever meet. Much better than that filthy Apollo of hers," Bastet sneered.
"Hey, that's my job, and don't you dare insult Apollo again, or I'll beat you into no tomorrow!" Rhea sneered back at her. Apollo hissed at a passing Anubis, who just turned up his nose and kept walking.
"They make a great couple, you know. They're both stuck up little brats who think they're special because they come from Egypt," April explained.
"I have the strangest urge to start singing 'Lemon Parade' by Tonic…" Rhea trailed off.
Lauren sniggered, and then looked to April.
"Don't you even think about it, that's something your boyfriend should sing to you if you have one," April smirked at Rhea.
"Yes, well, he's not my boyfriend yet, but I think I'm beginning to get to him."
"And I think you've been around English people too long," April smacked Rhea on the back.
"Ow! What'd you do that for?"
"Ah, much better, you're starting to sound American again."
"Oy, I AM American!"
"Of course, that's why you need to sound like one!" Lauren exclaimed.
"Ah, good point, there."
"Now, shall we go to sleep and see what Santa has given us when we wake up?" April smirked.
"I have some things to tell you in the dorm, anyways, so come on!" Rhea got up and led the way.
"Soooo, whatcha wanna talk about?" Michelle asked.
"I've got a lot to tell you guys," Rhea replied and sat down on her bed, letting a Blue Morpho land on her hand. She told them all about Draco and the Voldemort incident. Of course, April just HAD to cut in with her silly comments.
"Very interesting.." Lauren smirked at her.
Bastet's hatred for the Malfoys hadn't changed. Rhea got a friendly punch in the arm from Bastet when she told her about it all. Well, not exactly friendly, more angry than friendly.
Rhea went to bed with a bandage wrapped around her upper arm, which hurt like hell. Bastet was a lot bigger than Rhea. And even though Rhea was pretty muscular herself, she looked like a scrawny little girl compared to Bastet. April was definitely stronger than both of them, and could knock them both flat in seconds.
The all woke up around the same time to the laughter coming from across the room. Ron, Harry, and Draco were all there. Of course, the laughter came from Ron, who was watching Harry constantly insult Draco and Draco trying to keep his cool and not turn Harry into a newt.
"Really, Draco, you're taller than him, why don't you teach him a lesson?" Rhea asked him, jumping out of bed.
"He got me here, so I guess I owe him," Draco muttered.
"Yes, but he's insulting you. Shut up before I whack you with a fish, Harry."
"You don't have a fish," he looked at Rhea.
"I will if I turn Ron into one."
"You were always good at Transfiguration, you know that?" Draco sniggered.
"Ah, well, Cedric, stop hiding!" Rhea turned her attention to a boy with short golden brown hair standing next to Justin.
"So that's his name?"
"Er.. Cedric? But I thought he died," Harry started.
"He's not the same Cedric, dummy, he's in Gryffindor I suppose?" Ron looked at him.
"Yea, he got sorted this morning," Justin told them.
"And he's going out with Lauren," Rhea cut in.
"How'd you know that? That was supposed to be secret!" Lauren screeched.
"I have my ways."
"Is that your answer to everything?" Hermione asked her.
"Nope. See, my answer to that question was 'Nope.' Isn't that special?"
"Rhea, don't make me whack you with a fish-" Michelle started.
"You don't have a fish."
"I have a fish-stick!"
"Aren't you special?"
"Don't we have things to do?" Bastet cut in, walking out of her little area.
"Yes, I believe we do," Lauren answered.
"We've been neglecting the presents sitting all over the place. And this one is cutting off the circulation to my leg," April complained. "Ow, pain, hurt, hurt, pain, hurt!"
"Sorry, there was no where else to put it!" Rhea apologized.
"Why did you have to put in on my legs?"
"I didn't want to hurt your little toes," she smirked.
"There's plenty of room on the floor!" April yelled.
"Ah, you have a point, I didn't notice that," Rhea smiled and gently set the package down on the floor.
"What is in that thing?"
"Open it and find out!"
"Why are we here?" Draco cut in.
"Because you must get your presents!" Rhea proclaimed, taking out some packages from her set of drawers. She tossed all of them their presents, which weren't very big, compared to the one April had gotten from Rhea.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Open it and see, dummy. What do you expect me to do, tell you what it is, only to have you open it up and see for yourself?" She complained.
"Good point."
"Go ahead, or do you still want me to tell you? All right, I knitted you a pair of red socks!" she sighed.
"You did?"
"I'm kidding! Open it!"
"You're too American, I can't tell if you mean it or not," he smirked.
"Don't make me whack you with the fish-stick!" she snatched a fish-stick away from Michelle, who had been snacking on them.
"Hey!" Michelle took it back.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself!"
"You have a strange obsession with fish, you know that?" Bastet asked.
"Yes, I happen to know what I am obsessed with and what I hate, thank you very much, unlike you, who seems to not know what you prefer," Rhea sat down on her bed again.
"Have a can of beans!" Lauren tossed Rhea a can of Berrie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
"Oh, so now it's 'Rhea and the Beanstalk?'" Bastet asked.
"Yes, I'm gonna throw three of these magical beans out of the window and tomorrow I shall climb up the beanstalk, which will be rainbow-colored and grow lots of beans," Rhea smirked.
"That's not how the story goes.."
"Oooo, sugar quills!!!" Michelle smiled and took one out.
"All right, who gave Michelle the sugar quills?" April demanded.
"'Twas I!" Rhea sniggered.
"You know she shouldn't have something made of pure sugar!!" she smiled.
"Rhea gave me sugar quills, too," Ron said.
"Sugar quills for all!! No, just 3 people, Bastet, who has already opened her presents, got another box," Rhea tore off the wrapping of a square box. "Yummy, fudge!"
"She gave candy to everyone this year," April pointed out, opening a huge barrel of Berrie Bott's Beans.
"Yes, but you're the only one who got a whole barrel," she took a sip of Pepsi, "Because I kept forgetting your Christmas presents."
"You got Pepsi? From who?" Lauren asked, peeking over her shoulder.
"Myself, have one!" Rhea took out another can.
"You gave me a box of Fizzing Whizbees, how nice," Draco observed, taking the wrapping off his present.
"Oh, looky, broom!" Rhea answered, not exactly listening. She picked up the long package and took the wrapping off. "Ooooooh, aaaaaaahhh... let's marvel at the pretty broom, now!"
She set her Pepsi down and stood up. The broom came into her hand. "Perfect alignment, smooth, well cut, perfect!" she smiled. "A Thunder, gotta love it, top quality!"
"Lemme see!" April walked over to her. "Nice and light, it's made specially for Seekers, right?"
"That's what they were aiming for, with the speed and all. But it would work good for any position," she answered.
"Who sent it?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The gang."
"A gang?"
"No, not just A gang, THE gang!" April corrected her.
"And who would that be?"
"It would be all my little friends back home who pitched in," Rhea smiled.
"You have a lot of friends?"
"80 or so," April answered.
"If you go down to the 6th degree," said Rhea, who was watching her broom being passed around the room.
"Maybe you could request an arm," Harry passed the broom to Ron, who gingerly examined it.
"Hmmm? What for?" Bastet asked.
"So Draco could catch better," he answered.
"So you've settled your differences and are now calling each other by your first names? Great, but all Draco needs is a little training," Rhea popped a red bean into her mouth. "Mmmm, strawberry!"
"So ALL of us have settled our differences?" Bastet stood up. "I wouldn't be caught dead calling him by his first name!"
"Seems that way, doesn't it?" Rhea set her broom across her pillows.
"Yes, come on, let's hurry up, I wanna go outside!"
They all finished opening their presents and went down to breakfast before going outside for a snowball fight.
And so they worked on the plans for the rest of the break, they weren't getting anywhere, though.
Bastet was getting crueler and crueler every day. In fact, Rhea considered knocking out Potter and bringing him to the Dark Lord that week. It wouldn't be that hard, Potter was a weakling, she could take him down when he was sleeping, doing homework, or anytime when Ron and Hermione weren't around to help him.
Bastet had probably considered doing almost the same thing to Draco, but Rhea wouldn't have it. She had saved Draco once and she wasn't going to let him die after her efforts. And Rhea wouldn't have anyone hanging off him like she was his girlfriend. And Pansy was pissing Rhea off day and day.
Rhea stretched and took the scrunchy out of her hair. It was too cold to have it up, and she was going to be in the colder areas of the castle that day. She trudged through the crisp snow. It was February already and so far they hadn't completed much.
She yawned from the cold; it was slowing her brain, which was back in the common room by the fire. She ran into Justin.
"Watch it Rhea," he said as he almost fell in the snow.
"Huh?" she looked at Justin, "Oh, sorry about that, I'm still not awake."
"It's ok, but you need to watch where you're going or you might wander into the Forbidden Forest," he turned back to Harry.
Rhea scowled at him. She wanted nothing to do with Potter at the present moment, but it sure seemed like Bastet did. At this Rhea turned, Bastet thought she was so great. Sure, she was pretty smart, but Rhea had always gotten better marks and everything of Rhea's was better than that of Bastet's. She wasn't about to let Bastet get a taste of popularity that was rightfully hers.
Rhea heard a thud, and she turned. Bastet had shoved Draco into a tree and was getting ready to beat him up. She scowled even more as she saw Pansy try to help him. Rhea was 3 or 4 inches taller than Pansy. Draco was 2 inches taller than Rhea. No way was Pansy even close to helping him.
Rhea sneered at her, then noticed Potter sniggering at him. She had a strong urge to bash his head in. Right through that ugly scar of his.
"Rhea, you look ready to kill, what's wrong?" Justin asked her.
"Oh, nothing, it's just…. Nothing," she had almost let it slip.
"What, Rhea, are you feeling protective about your boyfriend?" Bastet teased.
"Stop acting like a 4-year old, Bastet. Of course, your name should keep you from that, oh mighty cat goddess," Rhea smirked. The Slytherins were staring at them; no two Gryffindors had ever been this close to ripping each other's throats out.
"Come on Rhea, back down, you know you'll never win against me. You're just jealous because I've taken all your popularity away."
"You know just as well as I do that I will always be better than you, and you will always be a hopeless little girl who follows me around like a bug every day," Rhea smiled at the look on Bastet's face and continued. "And of course you will be a hopeless romantic, one who just sits and daydreams all day and who never even tries to make them come true."
"And what does that make you?" Bastet asked, "one who stands there and wipes those dreams out of her mind?"
"No, of course not. I take action. It may not be quick, but I try, nonetheless."
"So what are you going to do to me? Push me in the snow? I'm sorry, but that just isn't a very good line of defense."
"Why would I push in the snow when there's so much more I can do? Like say, feed you to my cat? Or maybe even kill you? Oh, I can control you, cause you uncontrollable pain, anything you like, or anything you don't," she said silkily. She was getting to Bastet. Rhea smiled, it was working. Bastet was nervous under pressure.
"I could kill you if I wanted to, but that would be an Unforgivable, wouldn't it? I'd much rather throw you into a tree," Bastet shot back. She was bigger than Rhea, and comparing the two, Rhea looked scrawny. But Rhea was quicker and more strategic, and if it involved an all out chase, Rhea would win. In confined spaces, Rhea could only go so far, she would have to eventually give in.
Rhea sighed and turned, it was impossible to win an argument with Bastet, she was too stubborn. Rhea would be on a subject and Bastet would change it just so she would eventually win. Rhea had her weaknesses, and Bastet had hers. Bastet would sit and mope all day while Rhea would go out and talk with people, trying to hide her feelings.
"I see I've won again, Rhea. Too bad, I was having fun watching you waste away," Bastet called.
Rhea turned to Bastet, her eyes narrowed. She whipped out her wand, mumbled a few words and turned Bastet into a hamster.
"Great for transfiguration," she smirked and put her wand back in her robes. Bastet was good in an all out physical fight, but when it came to wand-work; Rhea had to be the best.
"Karasa, may I see you please?" Rhea cursed herself. It was Professor McGonagall. Not only was she head of the Gryffindor house, she was the transfiguration professor.
Rhea slinked over to her, a guilty look on her face.
"Now, I would have been happy if you had turned a ball or a book or some inanimate into a hamster, but a student is unforgivable," she scolded. "I'm taking you to the headmaster about this, and 100 points from Gryffindor."
Rhea winced. They wouldn't be able to win back 100 points very easily. And she was in the same dorm as the one she had turned into a hamster. However, no one was asking her to reverse the process, so maybe Apollo would have some fun.
Rhea lay in her bed; she had lost 100 points for Gryffindor, and gotten a week worth of detention. She groaned, her cat was digging his claws into her stomach.
"You should've left her alone, you know," Hermione told her.
"She just gets on my nerves a lot, and I'm not used to people treating me like that. She gets a taste of popularity and it goes to her head. Back in Ohio, she had like 5 friends, and now she's hanging out with someone famous and she thinks she's all that," Rhea stroked her cat.
"Well, I can relate to how she felt with 5 friends. I had less before I came here."
"And I have about 38, most are in the states, though," Rhea sighed.
"So you're not used to having everyone ignore you?"
"Well, I miss Adam a lot."
"He's your boyfriend?"
"No, he's just a good friend…"
"But you're very protective of him, you know?" Bastet strode in.
"He doesn't even like you," she sneered.
"Of course, how would he feel if he knew you were going for a Malfoy?"
"Watch it, Bastet, or I might just turn you into a goldfish," she growled and walked out of the dorm.
"She wouldn't even try it," Bastet looked at Apollo, who was on his back, purring.
"Yes she would," Lauren poked her head in.
"If she says she might, she probably will," Michelle said, walking into the dorm.
"She's like that, you know, hard to figure out at first but once you know her, it's easy to know what she'll do," April continued, striding into the dorm. Lauren followed quickly after.
Rhea poked her head into an empty classroom in the dungeons. It was empty. She slinked in and closed the door quietly. Apollo scampered in and Brizo flew off her shoulder and perched on a chair.
She opened a closet and took out a large, dusty book. She walked over to a chair and sat in it. She blew some dust off the cover. It had a picture of a pure white dragon with a long graceful neck and tail and large, leathery wings. It reared up and looked at her.
Apollo meowed quietly and lay down in a place that was dust-free. Rhea pulled out the Harry plans and looked at them. She sighed and looked at her watch, Draco was already late. It would be easier to pretend to be Harry's girlfriend and take him to Voldemort and then get on with her life. But if she had done that, Draco would be dead at the present moment.
She looked up at the sound of footsteps and went to the door in case it wasn't Draco. Someone knocked violently on the door.
"Let me in, Bastet's gonna kill me!" Draco called.
She opened the door. Draco walked in quickly and Rhea slammed it shut and locked it. A loud banging was then heard. "So why is Bastet going to kill you?" she asked him.
"I had a little run-in with her on my way here. When I didn't tell her where I was going she took out her wand and threatened that she'd kill me if I ever came near her or any of her friends again," he gingerly touched his neck which had blood trickling down it.
"Did she use a spell or just hit you with it?"
"She hit me with it."
"Her wand's not much use to her, her dad was a sorcerer and her mom a sorceress, so she doesn't really need it," Rhea took out her own wand. "Bippity Boppity Boo!" she smiled. "Hey, it worked, that wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Where did that come from?" he asked.
"My weird little mind," she smiled and threw her wand onto her chair, which turned into a frog. "I don't know what's worse, my chair turning into a frog, or Potter liking me."
"What did you just say?"
"Huh? The frog or the Potter?"
"That doesn't make any sense, either," he said.
"I don't think it was supposed to," Bastet called.
"How did you get in here?" Rhea asked her.
"Haven't you ever heard of a back door?"
"Not in a basement," she answered.
"It's a dungeon, genius!"
"Same thing!"
"Do I have any place in this conversation?" Draco cut in.
"Was I talking to you, snake-face?" Bastet whipped out her wand.
"I don't think you were," Rhea said and snatched Bastet's wand away. She hit her over the head with it.
"That's it! Don't ever mess with a sorcer-" she took a sidelong glance and spotted Draco. "Well I just let that slip, now didn't I?"
"No, I did it for you," Rhea smirked.
"WHAT?!"
"That her evil friend was invincible," Draco sighed.
"I'm not evil, you dimwit! Oh, what were you two doing here anyway? Talking about how she's going to save Harry from Voldemort?" Bastet sneered.
"You're working with Potter?" Draco sounded almost disgusted.
"Oh, yeah, she's making a holographic-robot thing to make sure Harry doesn't die and so that she doesn't die. Be close to your friends but closer to your enemies, isn't that how the saying goes, Rhea? So basically you're just using Malfoy, aren't you?"
"No! Besides what would be the point of using him? What would I use him for?" she hissed.
"You know his family's filthy rich, Rhea! In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that he supports Voldemort, I would probably be going for him right now!"
"Money isn't a factor in my life, Bastet. You know I have a lot of money, more than I need, why would I want more? Unlike you, I'm not a greedy little bitch!"
"I'm not little! I'm 6'2" and what are you, 5'9"? I could pound your little boyfriend into the ground anytime I want," she smirked.
"You wish! He could beat you in a duel anytime! And even if you did kill him, I'd defeat you after!"
"That is if you were his second, what makes you think he won't pick Crabbe or Goyle to back him up?"
"Because those two are idiots, you idiot!"
"We're gonna be late for potions, come on or Snape will kill us!" Draco cut in.
"Professor Snape? Severus Snape?" Bastet asked.
"Yeah, what's it to ya?" Rhea glanced at Bastet, then picked up her wand. She grabbed Draco by the wrist and dragged him out of the room, Bastet following slowly.
Rhea dragged Draco into the potions class quickly. They were late, and they were rewarded with detentions.
Bastet arrived 2 minutes after Draco and Rhea. "Sorry I was late Professor!" she panted. Snape glared at her, then told her to take a seat next to Cedric. Lauren glared at her.
Rhea and Draco were both curious to why she didn't get a detention. Rhea brought it up later when the potion was cooking.
"That's an easy question, remember when I went to that private school in the states? Well, it wasn't really in the states. I was transferred here and Professor Snape was one of my teachers." She replied.
Rhea glared at Bastet as she stirred jellyfish into the potion.
"Ummm.. Rhea?" Draco poked her.
"Not now, I'm trying to talk to Bastet," she told him.
"Rhea?" he waved a hand in her face. "RHEA!"
"What?"
"You have to cut the tentacles off the jellyfish before putting them in," he pointed out.
"Oh, sorry," she smiled.
"Come on, even I'M not THAT stupid," Cedric sniggered. Rhea smacked him. "Ow…"
"Don't insult me, you idiot!"
"Don't insult him!" Lauren yelled.
"This is turning into a nice conversation, now isn't it?" Rhea sighed.
"Why did you drag Malfoy into potions earlier?" Justin asked Rhea at lunch.
"Because…" Rhea trailed off.
"Because she was having a little discussion with him in an empty classroom when SOMEONE realized they were gonna be late," Bastet cut in.
"What were you doing with Malfoy in an empty classroom?" Harry asked absentmindedly.
"Discussing your fate," Bastet answered him. "And on the subject of that, I have some great design plans for your little predicament if anyone cares to listen."
"I don't," Rhea said and stood up after finishing a small lunch. She turned and walked away. Everyone else seemed to be interested.
"Well, I'll show you if I can find my… wand," Bastet said, searching through her robes.
"Looking for this?" Rhea said, returning. She held up Bastet's wand and twirled it.
"Give it back!"
"You don't REALLY need this, do you? Of course you don't!" she sneered and snapped Bastet's wand between her fingers. "Oopsies, looks like I accidentally broke it! How clumsy of me!"
"How dare you?! Fine, I won't use it," Bastet glared at Rhea, then turned to her paper. She muttered a few words and the design plans worked their ways across it.
Rhea smirked, then walked off, throwing the two wand pieces back at Bastet.
"Rhea, how do you think your fellow Gryffindors will feel when they find out you're wearing a snake ring? Are you switching to Slytherin?" Bastet called. At this, the whole Gryffindor table turned and looked at Rhea. She narrowed her eyes and strode over to Bastet.
"Yep, see, a snake? Pretty isn't it? My mother gave it to me," she said angrily, holding up her hand. On one of her fingers was a silver snake, which faded into opal for the head. The eyes were made of the same type of gem as her and Lauren's friendship ring, which was on her ring finger.
Justin glared at her. "Rhea, it's a snake…"
"I don't see what your problem is with me having a boyfriend who's in Slytherin! I mean, if he was in Gryffindor, I don't think you would care!" she hissed.
"Of course we wouldn't. But he's one of THEM," Bastet said. "A Death Eater. A good for nothing piece of trash!"
"Which is what she has obviously become," Ron said, looking at Bastet.
"Why do you people care who she's going out with? I find Draco rather attractive myself," Michelle cut in.
"Might I remind you who we're talking to?" April looked at Michelle.
"Huh? Oops, sorry, didn't mean that," Michelle blushed and looked away.
"At least SOME people don't care, they still like me for who I am!" Rhea glared at Bastet, then looked at Justin. "You could do to take a leaf out of her book."
"What are you? Someone who's obsessed with a piece of white trash?" Bastet asked.
Rhea slapped her across the face, leaving two scratch marks. "Stop it! Get ahold of yourselves! I know most Gryffindors and Slytherins hate each other with passion, but sometimes there are exceptions! And all of you, another word about this, and you'll each get a little dose of rattlesnake poison and some scratches across your face, just like her!"
"Rattlesnake poison?" Bastet's eyes widened.
"My nails are still wet, you see? The secret ingredient to this polish is snake poison. Your face will swell up and you might twitch a little, but it'll all go away eventually," Rhea smirked.
"And you'd do that to all of us?" Justin looked at her.
"No, of course I wouldn't!" she looked at him and brushed one of her long nails against his cheek. He pulled back from the sting.
"Go away and leave us alone, you bitch," Bastet sneered. "You don't belong here, you belong with them!" she pointed to the Slytherin table.
"Do I?" she frowned and walked away.
"Well, that was interesting," Harry said, a bit stunned.
"It was, wasn't it?" Hermione asked. Michelle, Lauren, April, Sabrina, and Hermione all got up at the same time and headed to the dorms.
"Now look what you've done, your face will swell up horribly by tomorrow, of course. It'll be painful to sleep, in fact, sometimes you won't even be able to control your muscles," Draco whispered in Bastet's ear. She scowled and threw a punch at him as hard as she could, but he stopped it with his hand.
"How'd you do that?" Harry asked, bewildered.
"Practice. My friends don't let me go around when at any moment someone could jump out and kill me."
"She wouldn't kill you, would she?" Ron looked at Bastet, who was using all of her strength to try and get to Draco.
"You never know," Harry said.
"I could probably hurt you right now, you know that?" Draco looked at Bastet. He was slowly sliding on the stone floor.
"I could kill you if I wanted right now," she hissed.
"I doubt that," he smiled. At this point Pansy walked up behind him.
"What are you trying to do to him?" she sneered at all the Gryffindors. Draco sighed.
"We're not doing anything, she's the only one doing something," Harry pointed to Bastet.
"Get your hands off him," Pansy hissed, then smacked Bastet. Bastet was stunned that someone would hit her, then stood up, trying to intimidate Pansy.
"Wow, you're tall, I'm so scared," Pansy said sarcastically. Rhea returned at that moment. She picked up her bag, then grabbed Draco and dragged him away.
"You don't have to drag me everywhere, you know," he whispered.
"Fine," she let go of him. "Follow me," she ran out of the front doors.
"Where are we going?"
"Forbidden Forest," she answered.
"Why?"
She smiled, "No reason."
"There's always a reason," he raised an eyebrow.
She looked at the lake. "Would you rather sit by the lake?"
"Sure."
"Ok, good enough," she smiled and walked over to the edge. She dipped her hand into the warm water. Even though it was winter, the water was still warm. She looked out over it.
"What are you looking at?" Draco asked.
"Nothing."
"Whatever," he ran his fingers through the water.
"What's wrong, Draco?"
"Nothing, it's just…" he trailed off.
"It's just what?" she looked at him and sat in the snow.
"What's up with your evil friend, why is she so against me?"
"Look at your wrist," she sighed.
"Is that the only reason?"
"You're blond," she sniggered.
"She hates me because of my hair color?" he raised an eyebrow.
"If you had brown hair, she would like you a lot more."
"Where do you find these people?" he said, exasperated.
"I find them in the states, I don't think you'd fit in there very well," she smiled.
"And why not?"
"Because there are some very mean people there. And if don't play your cards right, you'll never make it."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that if you don't make a good first impression, you'll be hated by all."
He laughed, "Yeah, I guess you're right, then. Did you have different houses in your school?"
"Sorta, but it's a lot different from this. We had 4 houses like this, but we weren't sorted with a sorting hat. We didn't have names like yours, though, we were usually referred to by our team animal."
"What were the animals?"
"There was a cobra, a panther, a hawk, and a shark," she said slowly, recalling them all.
"Which one was yours?"
"The panther."
"How did they choose?"
"I really don't know. They tell us when we get our letter, but I know it's not random. Maybe the quill knows and writes it down for them," she smiled. "Our team leader was the transfiguration professor."
"Just like here, then. You were put in the house with the lion as it's symbol, and the head is the transfiguration professor," Draco said thoughtfully.
Rhea nodded, "They all had they're color combinations, too. The cobra was green and sapphire, the panther was violet and ruby, the hawk was orange and emerald, and the shark was teal and pearl. Something else that was different were our team flowers. My team flower was the Queen of the Night, the black rose. The cobras had poinsettias, the hawks had poppies, and the sharks had water lilies."
"That's a bit odd, they got into a lot of detail about all of that, didn't they?"
"Yeah," she picked up a flat stone and whipped it across the lake. It skipped 9 times before finally sinking into the ripples of water. Rhea smiled and looked up; the sun was a bit lower. She looked at her watch and got up. "Come on, we have Care of Magical Creatures."
"What's the rush, it's right over there," he pointed down the path near Hagrid's house.
"You have a point," Rhea sat back down; no one was there, yet. She looked at her nails, which were pretty long compared to most peoples. She sighed and glanced at Draco, who was running his fingers through the water with a distant look in his eyes.
"Rhea, whatcha' doing?" Michelle threw a snowball at her, hitting her in the back of the head.
"Hey! What'd you do that for?" Rhea turned and looked at all of her friends.
"No reason," April walked up to Rhea and sat down next to her. She looked at Draco. "What were you two doing here?" she sniggered.
"Nothing in particular," Draco answered.
"Bastet's really pissed off at you, you know," Michelle sat next to April.
"Well, yeah, Rhea's not stupid, she's probably figured that someone who just got scratched across the face and contaminated with rattlesnake venom from her is gonna be mad," Lauren smiled.
"You never know," Sabrina pointed out, "Bastet might want to die."
"She will once it kicks in," Rhea said, "Just like the Cruciatus curse, except you don't have to control it."
"And it doesn't stop," Draco said, looking out over the rippling water.
"What's wrong Draco? You seem sad," Michelle asked.
"Nothing," he answered.
"Really, that's a stupid question, how would you feel if someone was out to kill you?" Pansy invaded.
"How would we know? No one's out to kill us," Rhea answered irritably.
"Draco, why are you hanging out with these Gryffindor losers?" Pansy turned her attention to Draco. Draco didn't answer, but his face twisted into a sort of snarling expression, still looking out at the lake. "Come on, let's go," she pulled at his arm.
"Mine!" Rhea smacked Pansy's hand away.
"Since when have I been owned?" Draco looked at them.
"I don't know, but she's not stealing you," Rhea smiled mischievously.
"Since when was he yours?" Pansy sneered.
"I should be asking the same of you."
Pansy looked taken aback. "I don't see why he would hang out with rude Americans as yourself," she snarled hatefully.
"I don't see why he would go around with you, you ugly freak," Rhea shot back, not thinking of anything better to say.
"At least I can think up better comebacks."
"At least I'm fairly attractive," Rhea smirked. At this Pansy shot herself at Rhea and twisted Rhea's arm around.
"You got me by the wrist, bad choice," Rhea said calmly, digging her short but sharp nails into Pansy's arm. Pansy screeched in pain and let go of Rhea's wrist, but Rhea had Pansy by the arm by that time and was still digging her nails in deeper, a look of hatred on her face.
"She did that to me, once," Sabrina chuckled, watching the blood run down Rhea's fingers. "Rhea usually doesn't mind blood, it doesn't disgust her like it does most people."
"Why should blood disgust someone, it's in everyone. I think I've hit a bone… or the flesh is too strong for me to go through it. Now for the more painful part; taking the nails out of you," Rhea said, not caring about the blood dripping from her arm. She slowly took her nails out of Pansy, who was in too much pain to move.
After the slow procedure was done, Pansy snapped her hand onto her arm in pain. She hurried off, not wanting to be anywhere near Rhea or her friends. Rhea put her arm in the snow, washing the blood off.
"That was a strange experience," Draco looked at her.
"It was, wasn't it?" Rhea smiled. "Maybe I'll get punished for something."
"You're in a violent mood today, aren't you?" Sabrina laughed.
"When am I not?"
"I think you might even scare Draco a little!"
"Nah, I don't think it's possible, is it, Draco?" Rhea smiled and put her arm around him playfully.
"Aren't you feeling flirty today?" Bastet growled.
"Yes, but not with you, you're too ugly, go away," Rhea sniggered.
"Ha ha, and for a bonus, he," she sneered.
"Hey, we're the ones who get to sneer!" Rhea kept her arm around Draco, almost defensively.
"I really don't think anyone likes you because of your little show back there," Bastet decided to sit down.
"Well, screw that idea then," Rhea took her arm off Draco's shoulder and laughed, leaning against him.
"She's hopeless," Ron muttered.
"I guess it's really not that bad," Harry replied, and they both sat next to Bastet.
"Now, we're a happy little family, now aren't we? We need to get some more Slytherin's over here, though," Rhea looked around and called to a group of 3 standing a few yards away.
"Do we have to do this?" Draco asked, a bit uncomfortable.
"What, you like your old friends?"
"He doesn't have any," Ron sniggered. Draco turned a little red, considering that it was true.
"Well, we must make that change!" Rhea turned to the 3 who had walked over. "Welcome, we would like to know if you want to come join our happy little group."
"She's a bit too cheery right now," Sabrina explained, a bit embarrassed.
"We kind of noticed, but sure, we'll join you," a tall boy about Ron's height said as he stepped forward.
"We kind of noticed, but sure, we'll join you," a tall boy about Ron's height said as he stepped forward.
"Goody, we're just reeling people in by the dozen, aren't we?" Michelle muttered.
"Don't be such a… house-ist, Michelle!" April giggled.
"What exactly are we doing?" a girl a little taller than Rhea asked.
"We're acting like idiots," Bastet sneered to her.
"Don't be so mean, you house-ist!" Rhea sniggered and threw a snowball at Bastet. Bastet threw one of her own, but Rhea ducked and it hit Draco.
"Er.. goody, now I'm snowy, aren't I?" he smiled a bit.
"Oh, here comes David, hang on," another Slytherin girl looked over and called to her friend.
"Oh, it's only polite that we introduce ourselves!" Rhea smiled at the four Slytherins before her. "I'm Rhea, those are April, Michelle, Lauren, Sabrina, Bastet, Hermione, Justin, Ron, Harry, Cedric, and this is Draco," she said, pointing to them all.
"We already know Malfoy," David raised an eyebrow.
"God, when will you people start calling each other by your first names, it's only polite, you don't have to be so formal," Rhea smiled.
"Sorry, DRACO, then," David sneered at him.
"Really, David, what do you have against me?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing at all."
"Stop it, you two! Draco and Harry got over their differences, why can't you?" Rhea asked.
"Draco got over his differences a little… too quickly, if you ask me," David said, looking a bit betrayed.
"Really, stop it!" Rhea hit David over the head.
"Anyways," the boy, who was obviously their leader, cut in, "I'm Jake, this is Lily, and that's Mindy," he put his arm around Lily.
"Well, welcome, sit down and stay awhile, we're letting you into our group, unless you don't want to hang out with us, as most here are Gryffindor," Rhea smiled, her back leaning against Draco's arm.
"Rhea needed some diversity," Justin explained.
"You know, a Ravenclaw here and there, then maybe a Hufflepuff or two, and she'll be happy," Sabrina giggled.
"I believe that she thought Draco would be more comfortable with some of his own kind around," Bastet sneered unhappily.
"Don't make me paint a big red X on your head, you house-ist," Rhea muttered.
"My word!" April hit Rhea.
"Take it as a compliment, El Queero," Bastet glared at April.
"What's with you, you're acting just plain… nasty today," Michelle rolled her eyes.
"He's my problem," Bastet hissed, glaring at Draco.
"Rhea won't let you touch him," Lauren sniggered.
"Yeah, mine," Rhea smirked and hugged Draco awkwardly. Michelle, April, Lauren, and Sabrina all laughed. Rhea let go of Draco then. "You know I'm just kidding."
"I'm sure they believe that," Draco said, running his fingers through his hair. Justin shot a murderous glare at him, but quickly looked away.
"What's this? Looks like Justin's jealous," Lauren teased.
"No I'm not!" he looked at her.
"Yeah, I'm sure he'd rather go out with… Sabrina," Cedric cut in.
"I'm flattered, you two, but really, I'm not attracted to you in any way," Sabrina answered before Justin could say anything.
"Oh, come on, SOMEONE must like him, he is pretty good looking," Mindy admitted.
"The thing is, Justin would never like you because he's also a house-ist. Isn't that sad?" April smirked.
"We'll have to change that soon," Rhea looked at him.
"So Draco, I see you've found yourself a girlfriend. What happened to Pansy?" Jake looked at Draco.
"She happened to Pansy," April, Michelle, Sabrina, Lauren, Hermione, and Draco all said in unison, pointing to Rhea.
"Really?" he raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What did you do to her?"
"She put a whole in Pansy's arm," Sabrina answered.
"I believe he was asking me, but, yeah, that sounds about right," Rhea told him.
"If you want MY opinion, I think that Rhea thinks Pansy is trying to take her guy," Michelle said.
"He's not her guy," Ron frowned.
"Yet," Lauren finished for him.
"You do know none of us approve of this," George said.
"But why should we care who you date? So we don't, although, he is cuter as a ferret," Fred sniggered.
"Maybe I SHOULD turn him into a ferret," Rhea grinned.
"Maybe you shouldn't.." Draco grumbled.
"A toffee?" Fred offered Draco a candy.
"No, that's quite all right," he pushed Fred's hand away.
"No, no, we insist," George looked at Draco.
"Really, I couldn't," Draco eyed the toffee suspiciously.
"Maybe we should try to turn him into a Gryffindor," Fred looked at George.
"Wouldn't he still be a Slytherin at heart?" George looked at Fred.
"Not with his girlfriend in Gryffindor."
"I guess you have a point. Want to start now?"
"Of course, come on," Fred got up, and George followed him.
"That was queer…" David said.
"Very," Rhea rested her head on Draco's shoulder.
"Doesn't look like Draco's used to that," Cedric sniggered. Draco relaxed his back; they had 5 minutes before class, which was basically where they were at, so they didn't need to get up anytime soon.
"I feel so alone!" April whined. "I should get Brandon up here…"
"He'd be in his 7th year, April," Bastet said flatly.
"So?" April and Sabrina chorused. Sabrina had a boyfriend Brandon's age.
"Is Rhea still single?" Lauren smiled at her. Rhea rolled her eyes.
"Sure doesn't look like it, but you'd have to ask Draco," Lily answered.
Draco looked a little uncomfortable about this, but he said, "It all depends, ask Rhea."
"I think we all know what Rhea would say, am I right?" Lauren looked at all the people around her and then looked to Rhea.
"I don't know, what do you think I'm gonna say, Lauren?" Rhea smiled mischievously and looked at Bastet, who was looking at Rhea like something stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
"I think it's official, you and Draco are now together," she answered.
"Aren't you intelligent, now let's get to class," Rhea stood up, pulling Draco up with her.
"We get to walk 7 feet, then stand in the snow for a long time while our toes get cold, I'm thrilled," David said.
"Maybe we could work with dragons, they would warm us up," Rhea smirked.
"Not in a good way, though. What do you think he's going to make us work with this time, another weird, skrewt-like creature?" Draco asked.
"Hope not," Harry said flatly.
"Maybe we could work with a Pegasus or something," Bastet said.
"They're called flying horses, Pegasus was just the first one," Rhea replied. "Get it right for once, ok? I don't like it when people mess up mythology and legends."
"You're obsessed with mythology, that's why," Lauren smiled.
"So she'd probably be better in this subject than all of us," Jake said.
"I'd be better in this subject than ANYONE is," Rhea smiled.
"Why is that?"
"I grew up with these creatures, they're not so bad once you get to know them. In fact, even dragons aren't always so temperamental."
"She's also El Queero," Bastet muttered.
"Oh shut-up, will you?" Rhea glared at Bastet.
"Touchy, touchy," she smirked. Rhea scowled, then looked at Hagrid, who was standing in front of them, waiting for attention from his students.
The rest of the day went swiftly, with a few shrewd comments to Rhea about Draco from the Gryffindors, but other than that, the day was great. They had four new friends to hang out with, and Rhea was satisfied about that. Draco was, too; he wasn't as uncomfortable with other Slytherins around. He didn't have Crabbe and Goyle following him around anymore, but the four Slytherins they had talked to earlier would be better replacements for him.
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A/N: Ok… er… I have nothing to say, darn… I REALLY need a Beta Reader, 'cause I always miss my mistakes… but if I'm your Beta Reader, I'm good at that, it's just that I've read this SO many times that I don't want to read it again, I've practically got it memorized… oh, the next part will be rated PG13, too, and… here's what you'll find out: Will I decide to be evil, kill Draco, and bring Adam into this? Will Rhea hurt Harry? Will Draco act his age? Will Bastet and Harry act their age? Will Rhea be more evil? Can Rhea sing? Will Rhea drift off into another point of existance? What the hell is up with Rhea's family? *looks for something about Harry* Does Harry look good blond? Uhhh… and here's a fact: Rhea acts silly and pushes Draco in Potions class for "stealing her air" Nyahahahahaha!
A/D: All HP characters belong to J.K.R.