Hey, I've been forgetting a disclaimer! *Dies!* I had one written out, just completely forgot about it. Hopefully I won't keep forgetting. But I mean, you all know I don't own Harry Potter or Draco Malfoy, Hogwarts, or any of those other characters, right? Only ones I own are Sable, Brone, Doyle, Keishin, and Brendan. There, done with the disclaimer.
DarkSlytherinAngel: Sorry I didn't get to say this in the last chapter post, I felt kinda rushed. ^^; I'm glad you like my story so much, sometimes I wonder if maybe I don't write half as well as I think I do. Although, I might think I write half as well as I really do. Either way. I've never heard Evanescence, although it sounds kinda familiar. Thanks for the review, and keep reading! (Please.)
To all my other reviewers: Thanks for the reviews! ^^ Glad to know people are enjoying my story. And it's always nice to get reviews from new people too.
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"Drakey-o!" Sable called, her voice sickeningly sweet, as she pounced on him in the Slytherin common room.
"Uh," Draco's eyes went wide, his face flushing at the snickers from the other Slytherins. "I thought I said no nicknames!"
"You did," Sable grinned then jumped off him. "Come on, I need your help with something!"
"I'm not helping you," Draco lifted his head defiantly. "You just called me Drakey-o!" More snickers.
"If I didn't call you by some disgusting nickname you would've ignored me," Sable laughed then dashed into the bedroom, calling for him to come with.
"Women," Draco growled, getting up and stalking into the bedroom.
Sable sat on her bed, small cardboard boxes scattered around her. On each box was a picture of a different girl, each one with different colored hair. Keishin was peeking out fearfully under the bed. When Draco entered the room, he eyed the girl warily. She didn't seem to notice him at first. When she looked up, there was a sparkle in her eye. Motioning for him to sit down, she launched into words.
"I'm going to dye my hair! I already dyed some of Keishin's, but it was kind of hard because he wouldn't stop squirming." A pitiful whimper from the fox kit at this. "But I can't do my own hair, because I can't see. So I need you to help. And I need help choosing a color too."
"You're going to dye your hair?" Draco asked disdainfully. "Why? What does Snape have to say about this? I can't believe he would approve."
"I haven't exactly asked him," Sable shrugged. "I bought these when I snuck to Diagon Alley yesterday."
"You snuck to Diagon Alley?" Draco raised and eyebrow.
"During dinner," Sable shrugged. "So whcih color?"
"I'm not helping you with this!" Draco said. "I'm no getting in trouble with you."
"Nobody'll mind, it's not like I bought outrageous colors," Sable shrugged. "They're all fairly normal colors."
"Yeah, nobody'll mind..." Draco said, then added. "Except Snape! He'd slaughter me for helping you!"
"I won't tell him you helped," Sable shrugged. "Come on, please? If you don't, I'll keep calling you nicknames."
"Blackmail!" Draco glared. "Fine, I'll help. But if I get caught, I'm blaming it all on you!"
"Fine," Sable nodded. "Now. Which color?"
At that moment, Keishin took a few shaking steps out from under the bed. Draco's eyes bugged out of his head at the sight. The little fox kit was normal in color at first glance, but when he stepped farther out there were splashes of color at different points on his fur. His belly had splotches of blue, his tail some pink, and various other colors in mingled on his back and legs. At the very top of his head was a small cap of green. Altogether, he looked a bit like an Easter egg.
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Sable laid languidly on the cold ground beside Draco. They stared up at the stars in a companionable silence, the darkness wrapping around them like a warm blanket. Except that it wasn't warm. Actually, it was quite cold. They shivered a bit every once in a while, trying to ignore the cold rush of wind in the leaves. Sable's hair was messy and sticking up at odd angles from the wind. What was more noticeable than that, though, was the bright blue color.
"You're hair is sticking up," Draco said, glancing at her.
"At least mine is able to," Sable grinned. "Yours has too much gel."
"At least mine isn't bright blue," Draco said indignantly.
"At least mine isn't boring," Sable laughed.
There was silence.
"Does the blue really look that bad?" Sable frowned.
"No," Draco murmured softly after a moment. "It looks very good."
"Thanks," Sable smiled softly. "Think the unicorns'll agree?"
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"Sh, don't attract his attention," Sable whispered to Draco, who sat beside her. They were in potions, and both were wondering what Severus' reaction would be.
"We are a bit rushed today, so I expect you all to-" Severus stopped mid sentence as he saw Sable, his mouth hung open.
"Uh oh," Sable said, but couldn't help the giggle from escaping her mouth. "I've been found out!"
"Good luck," Draco said before Severus' eyes blazed.
"Sable Brue!" His words echoed angrily off the walls. "Come down here this moment!"
"But Se-.. Professor Snape," Sable smiled angelically. "I thought we were rushed for time?"
"Get down here!" Severus roared, stalking out of the classroom and into the hall.
"See you later," Sable grinned, getting up to follow Severus out the door.
There were nervous whispers at the sound of Severus' anger. Looks of wonder were directed at Sable, who was unconcerned with his rage. She had dealt with it since she was little. The worst he would do to her was yell and send her to her room for the day, only allowed to come out for dinner. Or in worse cases, ground her so she wasn't allowed outside for months. But what could he really do at school? A few detentions during lunch? She never ate lunch anyway. When she was outside, the door was closed with a loud bang.
"What did you do to your hair?" Severus hissed, his face red with anger.
"I died it," Sable said simply, then frowned. "You don't like it?"
"No, I don't like it!" Severus said, trying to control his anger. "It's blue!"
"I know," Sable nodded. "What's wrong with blue? You've never minded it before."
"But it's never been in your hair!"
"So?"
"So your hair is blue!" Severus seemed like he was about to burst.
"I think we're going around in circles," Sable said, trying to hide her amusement at being able to wind him so tightly.
"I do not have time for this, Sable," Severus narrowed his eyes, seeming to know what she was trying to do. "I will give you a potion to turn your hair back to its normal color. Come to me at the end of class."
Severus stormed back into the classroom, scaring a few Gryffindors. Sable followed, skipping to her seat, a smirk firmly placed on her face. Draco raised an eyebrow at her as she sat down. There had been a silencing charm on the door, so no one knew what had been said outside. For all they knew, Sable had gone off as well. She chuckled at the thought, imagining the gossip the girls would get from the event. She sighed as Severus began class.
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Sable sat idly in a chair at the front of the Potions class. Severus was at his desk, mixing ingredients in his cauldron. She watched as the potion gave a hiss and Severus poured it into a vial, then handed it to her. He motioned impatiently to drink it. Upon smelling it, Sable grimaced. It smelled putrid and sour.
"Ew," She said, scrunching her nose up.
"Drink it," Severus commanded, tapping his fingers impatiently on the desk next to her. A sign he was getting angry again.
Holding her breath, Sable swallowed the concoction quickly, then handed the vial back. "That was disgusting, Sevvy." She frowned as her hair turned back into it's normal color.
"That was part of your punishment," Severus said, putting the vial down on his desk to be washed later. "I purposely did not add one ingredient that was there solely to make the potion taste better."
"Sev!" Sable frowned, folding her arms across her chest in a pout. "That was mean of you."
"I'm heartbroken," Severus said wryly. "Allow me to make it up to you in a week's worth of detentions."
"Oh, okay," Sable said, trying not to smile. "Lunches, starting now?"
"No. After dinner every night, starting now," Severus said, standing up straighter at her surprised look. "You think I did not know about your late night trips to the lake with Draco?"
"Well..."
"Honestly, I'm not that think, Sable," Severus said. "The only reason I've let you keep on going is because Dumbledore thinks it will be good for you, and although he may be an old coot, he knows more about children than I."
"Dumbledore knows?" Sable asked, flabbergasted.
"Of course," Severus nodded.
"Oh," Sable sighed. "So I guess that means I can't go to the lake for a whole week?"
"Exactly," Severus said. "I'll let you serve your detention early today, but only because I have quite a bit of work to do and I need everything cleaned for the next class. You know what to do, now get to work."
"Yes, Sevvy," Sable beamed.
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Sable yawned as she finished scrubbing the last table. Just as she was sitting down to wait for Severus to come back, the door opened and Harry stepped inside. She smiled when he saw her, confused when he didn't smile back, just looked away. He walked forward and stood close by, shifting nervously.
"Um, Sable," Harry began. "Uh. Hi."
"Hi, Harry," Sable said, raising an eyebrow. "Did you have something to say?"
"Yeah, look..." he shifted again. "I'm going to have to... Discontinue our friendship."
"What?!" Sable's eyes widened. "Why? Wait, let me guess, Ron and Hermione."
"They're just worried about me," Harry murmured. "They saw your hair earlier. And you've played pranks and you hang out with Malfoy. You're even in Slytherin! They just don't want me to get in trouble."
"And what do you want?"
"I'm sorry," Harry said, turning around to leave.
Sable sat, her expression doing nothing to hide the hurt. Severus walked in, and it was obvious by his glare to Harry that he had heard the whole conversation. Harry flushed nervously and scurried out the door, leaving Sable and Severus alone. Sable's thoughts barely moved an inch, and neither did her body. Even when Severus came and slowly sat down beside her, she did nothing.
"Sable?" Severus asked, almost gently.
"Hi, Sev," Sable said, glancing at Severus a bit.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sable nodded. "Can I go now?"
"Sure," Severus said after a moment, but just as Sable got up, he spoke again. "That bumbling fool, Albus, has said something. He might be a bumbling fool, but he says wise things."
"What did he say?" Sable asked quietly.
"He said 'Even a star can change colors, it just needs time and patience. And if the star does not change colors, it is not worth your time, as it as about to explode.'" Severus said. "That goes for more than just stars in the sky. Go on or you'll be late for your next class."
Sable smiled slightly and nodded, rushing out the door. She wouldn't be attending her next class. Instead she would be in her room, crying over the loss of one of her few friends.
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DONE! It isn't as long as I wanted it, but I wanted to put a chapter up tonight. I might not be able to update for a week, I'm going to see my brothers Saturday for a week. REVIEW!