Chapter 11
In which Draco dodged a hex and Quirrell assigned his first ever detention.
Draco eyed his cousin cautiously. Three months observing her had made him sensitive to her tells and all. For example, when she is reading, depending on the subject and importance of the book to her projects, she may tolerate his presence and interruptions. He had noticed that her left eyebrow twitched slightly when she contemplated hexing someone, and the corner of her lips opened slightly in an almost imperceptible sneer when she did hex someone. When she is happy, the corner of her lips would lift slightly in a slight smile, and her eyes would lit up with amusement and a little chuckle if she's amused. The little frown that appears so suddenly, like right now, is when she notices a disturbance in her quaint peaceful activity. Namely him.
A wiser person would take a strategic retreat in the face of Harriet's frown. That is 69% hex, 30% indifference and 1% alright-what-do-you-want. Sadly, Draco didn't have the choice to pull a strategic retreat. As his Father said, 'Embrace your inner Gryffindor', which was rich coming from him since he delegated his task to Draco, and he hated anything Gryffindor.
"Are you going to stand there and stare at me all day, or are you going to tell me what is bothering you?" She asked all of a sudden, flipping a page without even looking at him.
Ah, so he belonged in the elite 1%, after all. Draco mused as he sat down in front of her, carefully (and discreetly) left enough space for him to bolt if need be. He smiled charmingly at her. With a little exasperated sigh, she put a bookmark on the page she was reading and look at him questioningly.
"I've been sent as a messenger by Father, and before I say anything, I'd like to remind you that an owl is just an owl that followed its master's whim. Cursing the owl won't change the message nor the outcome. So, nothing really. " He said as calmly as he could.
"Are you saying that you're an owl, or you Father had a situation that will make me want to curse him, so he sent you here? " Harriet raised an eyebrow at the unusual opening.
"... A little bit of both, I suppose. " He answered her, still eyeing her face for the smallest tell.
"Alright, shoot. " She sighed and prepared herself.
"Ok. So, my Father has been asked to ask me to tell you that the Dark Lord… " He hasn't even finished his words when his eyes widened and he lunged to the grass on his right side, inadvertently plunging into a puddle of mud that had been formed by the rain that morning. Not a moment sooner too, as he righted himself and stared at the smoking charred remains of a young Willow tree that stood behind him before with wide eyes.
His stare turned to Harriet's face, who supported a snarl. "Okay, nevermind. My mother sent us some treats from home. Would you like to see it? It's in my common room, but I can bring it up to the Great Hall if you'd like." He said with forced cheerfulness.
He'd forgotten that the Dark Lord triggers the most violent reaction in her. That and that she's a quick draw with her wand.
She sighed and relented. "Alright, I suppose I can read there as well as here. The air smelled of smoke anyways. "
Just who was it that made the air smell like smoke? Draco wanted to rage, but the Slytherin he was, he said instead,
"A wonderful feat of magic I'm sure, My Lady. I'll escort you to the Great Hall, and then I will wash this mud off of me. After I am presentable, I will bring the treat to the Great Hall. "
She sniffed and nodded, taking the book with her. "If you took too long, I would leave. "
They walked to the Great Hall in amicable chat, and he left to the dungeons sedately, his mind on the now burnt Willow tree.
"Remember, Draconis Lucius Malfoy, " He mumbled to himself. "Harriet is ten times scarier than the Dark Lord or even your father. The next time anyone asks you to upset her, just hex them and hide behind Harriet."
He nodded to himself, went to take a quick shower, wrote his Father a short letter detailing his short near miss with death, and went to deliver the treats from home that was previously sent from his mother exclusively for him. He's not happy, but self-preservation is way more important at the moment.
Lucius received his son's letter a few hours later (he'd just returned from Croatia to sort a mine from Slytherin's Vault's investment. Why the Slytherin family had to invest in a dilapidated mine in Croatia is beyond him) and winced at his son's description of Harriet's reaction. He floo'ed Severus immediately. Fortunately, his Lord was in Severus' quarter, so he didn't have to come and tell him himself.
"Severus, My Lord, " He greeted.
"So, has Draco made the date?" Voldemort asked rather eagerly, but none of the death eaters were suicidal enough to mention it.
"No, My Lord, I'm terribly sorry. He made it as far as The Dark Lord before she sent a hex that burned a tree behind her." Lucius said fearfully.
He kept reminding himself that his Lord can't send a curse via the floo network. a burst of orange ball of light flew in his direction. Or not, he thought as he hastily pulled himself out of the fireplace and jumped to the side as a blasting hex made it through and destroyed his late mother's beloved China vase in his table. The vase shattered to a million pieces, and Lucius can't help to imagine if it hit him.
"Tyrant. Both of them are tyrants. Oh, they will rule the wizarding world with iron fists. We will finally prosper. Oh, how wonderful. " He smiled and tried to gather the strength in his knees and went to the cellar in search of fortification.
In Severus' office, the poor Potion Master was stuck watching the Dark Lord paced around his office furiously.
"It's been three months, surely she couldn't be that mad at me this long!" He complained.
"Err, her mother held grudges very well, My Lord, maybe she inherited her temper? " Severus tried and was rewarded with a stinging hex.
"It wasn't even my fault! How am I responsible for every single one of my incompetent ancestors? How? Why should I? I didn't even know them! And she wouldn't hold grudges! She's eleven, and pure, and . . ."
Severus tuned out at this rant. Good Lord, their Dark Lord was in love…
"Powerful… I mean, I want to see that willow tree. You have to ask Draco to tell you the location! I want to preserve the tree. This is an important milestone, not everyone could burn a tree in their first year. And she did it silently too! She deserves a trinket to commemorate this achievement… "
Yep, totally smitten. Severus coughed, not wanting to think too much about the Dark Lord's newfound emotion. He's waxing poetics, for Merlin's sake! It's creepy! Shaking his head to chase away his wayward thought, he said,
"What about the date, My Lord? "
Lord Voldemort waved his hand unconcernedly. "My Lady deserves the best. I will invite her myself, whose idea it was anyways to send a child to ask her to my date? "
Yours, Severus thought dryly, and said,
"As you wish, My Lord."
Despite saying that he will arrange his date by himself, Harriet remained elusive as she was very rarely alone and asking her to a date in front of her friends was just asking to be sent to Azkaban.
Finally, the chance came in his last class of the week in the beginning of December. He was just packing his books after ending the class with copious homework when a commotion was heard in front of his door. Deciding to investigate, he found Harriet glaring at a Gryffindor boy, his name was Weasel or something. He was going to take points from the Weasel for upsetting his Lady when the girl, quick as lightning, hexed the boy's hair into a clutch of snakes.
His eyes turned dreamy at the hissed words the snakes emitted. Snakes were creative creatures after all, and their expletives were very colorful. Suddenly, he was reminded of Ms. Harriet Potter, his Lady, and coughed to announce his presence.
"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Ms. Potter. And Detention with me tomorrow evening at dinner time. You don't need to eat earlier as dinner will be provided. " He said calmly.
In his mind, he was dancing a jig at the opportunity he was presented with.
"Yes Professor. " Harriet tilted her head in acknowledgement.
"Now, this is an interesting one. Do you think you can reverse the hex? " He asked, silently mourning the entertainment it provided.
With a raised eyebrow, Harriet murmured the counter for the hex, changing the snakes back into flaming red hair, making the boy fainted in relief.
"Well done. Twenty points to Ravenclaw for a perfectly performed hex and counter hex. You! Mr. Smith, was it? Come and deliver this one to the Hospital Wing! Ms. Potter, do you have class after this? "
The Hufflepuff came quickly with his friend to carry Weasel to the Hospital Wing while Ms. Potter raised her other eyebrow at him.
"It's the end of the day, Professor." She said tonelessly.
"Oh, " A little heat suffused his cheeks and he waved for her to follow him back to his class. "I found something interesting the other day."
He took out the burnt tree that he had covered in resin. In his youth, Tom had taken an apprenticeship with a craftsman to get away from the orphanage. It was something enjoyable and if he finished his tasks early, his time was his until he had to go back to the orphanage.
"Beautiful, isn't it? " He asked and handed her a smaller version of the tree inside of a clear crystal cube. "This is a remarkable feat, Ms. Potter, and you should have something to remember it."
Harriet took the little trinket with cautious curiosity. "How did you know that I burnt the tree, Professor? " She asked.
"Well, I was bored, and was looking for inspiration. The light flash and fire startled me, and I thought you and young Mr. Malfoy were in trouble. Instead, I saw Mr. Malfoy stood up from where he fell off. It wasn't that hard to reach a conclusion. " He drawled.
"I…see" Harriet smiled slightly. "Well then, Professor. I still have something to do before dinner. Thank you for this. " She waved the small trinket and turned to go.
"Wait, Ms. Potter, what is your favorite color? " He asked hastily.
"My favorite color?" Harriet asked in confusion.
"For your detention tomorrow. Might as well have something you enjoyed, right? " He said.
"Hmm, I never thought about it, I suppose. Maybe between Mauve or Orchid? " She left a thoroughly confused Dark Lord in her wake.
"Good job, Quirinus" Voldemort hissed.
Quirrell sighed for all that the Dark Lord said that he was going to do it himself, it was still him who did the talking.
"What in the blazes is a Mauve color? And Orchid? Isn't that the name of a flower? Does that mean that she wanted a Mauve Orchid?" The Dark Lord asked him.
"Uh… I have no idea, My Lord, I never heard of those colors in my life. " He squeaked.
"Why can't she like a normal color? To Severus' quarter, Quirinus. I need to find this out before tomorrow. " The Dark Lord commanded.
"At once, My Lord."