Chapter 5 ~ Quack, Quack
Muriel sat uncomfortably in Transfiguration class. Professor McGonagal kept giving her odd looks. When it was her turn to transfigure the hamster in front of her into a duck, she scratched her plan and performed the curse flawlessly. She was rewarded with a slight smile before the professor moved on.
Black was sitting two tables ahead of her, and she had hoped to take this opportunity to pay him back for last weekend's pumpkin juice prank. She would only have had to flick her wand his way and change the pronunciation of the hex a tiny bit to turn HIM into a duck. It would have been perfect, but something about McGonagal's stares had told her that she was already on thin ice. Maybe the strict lady had learned how she'd met Maverick and was just waiting for a reason to question her.
She hurried out of the room when the bell sounded. Marisa was waiting for her in the library. She frowned, thinking of her friend. Marisa had been so pleased when, the day after Halloween, Sirius had asked her if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow. But today she had been upset at lunch when she'd asked Mur to meet her after classes. She'd left without eating anything, and skipped every class since. Not a common thing among Ravenclaws.
She pushed open the library door and looked around. A few Hufflepuff girls she didn't know were studying quietly together, but there was no sign of Marisa. She headed into the shelves and found her friend sitting alone in an alcove, her head resting on the desk and her shoulders shaking. Muriel could see the scene that was replaying in her friend's mind clearly. She didn't need to ask what was wrong.
The table was tiny, and there was only one chair, so Mur tossed her bag on the floor, making Marisa look up. Then she planted herself on the table, her back against the window. She looked seriously at her friend. "He's a bloody git."
Marisa only nodded, tears still streaming down her face. Muriel took out her wand. "Legilimens," she whispered, closing her eyes. Sirius was out on the grounds with Remus. She could hear him thinking more but didn't bother with it. All she wanted to know was where to find him. She broke the spell and opened her eyes.
Marisa was staring at her, wide-eyed. Her tears had dried up quickly and now she looked worried. Mur had explained her Legilimens abilities to Marisa half way through last year, and the girl knew she could locate people that way. Muriel smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry. I won't do any permanent damage." With that, she kicked her feet and jumped down from the desk, landing loudly enough to earn them a sharp look from Madam Pince.
She left her bag in the library and headed outside. It was windy and cold, as winter was approaching, and she hadn't brought a cloak. But it didn't matter. Marisa would never have said anything to Black herself, so it was up to Mur to teach the boy a lesson. She found them sitting in the courtyard on a bench, and planted her feet in front of them, her eyes flashing angrily.
"What do you want, Deesia," Sirius said tiredly. It had been a long day. He had barely managed to transfigure his hamster, and his extra curricular transfiguration work wasn't going well either. Not to mention that stupid Hufflepuff 5th year who'd surprised him before lunch and kissed him before he could get away. He wasn't in any mood for pranks.
"I want to know why you would ask Marisa to Hogsmeade and then be kissing someone else only a few days later. She saw you, you know!" Muriel was only barely keeping her wand in check as he looked up, startled. Then the irony of it all sank in, and he laughed. The bloody prat had the nerve to LAUGH! Muriel's scowl took on a much more menacing look, and Remus tried to intervene, but she turned her wand on him, and he stepped back out of the way. He was brave, but he wasn't stupid.
"You insufferable git! Don't you even care that she's in the library crying?!" Muriel didn't wait for his answer. A moment later, Sirius Black was quacking angrily up at her from the bench, his shiny black feathers ruffled and his wings beating furiously. Muriel spared the boys a smirk as Remus snatched him off the bench and ran for the Harmless Hex ward.
"Doling out punishments for your weak mud blood friends, Deesia?" Malfoy had walked up behind her, flanked by two of his dorm mates, Minchew and Crabbe. "I think transfiguring a fellow student should get you at least a week's worth of detention with Filch, don't you?" His voice was oily and smooth, and infuriatingly superior.
"Malfoy!" A voice came from behind her and she closed her eyes for a moment. Severus had wonderful timing. "Your badge looks particularly good outside. It has a bit of a blue cast to it. In fact, from back there," he said as he reached them, "it reminded me a little of Mur's pet bird."
Muriel licked her lips, as they curled into a devious smile. Severus hadn't spoken to her since the ball. One of his house mates had gone down to the dungeons to tell him about her date as soon as she'd started dancing, and he'd been furious. He knew from the descriptions he'd been given that it had to have been Maverick, and he really didn't like him much. He'd spent the entire week remembering how in their second year, she'd blushed every time the man had spoken to her.
Malfoy looked worried for an instant before he sneered at them. "You have no proof," he hissed angrily. The fact was that he didn't want Severus angry with him, but he wasn't going to tell anyone else that. He'd thought Severus was upset with Muriel, and that they might have a laugh over her punishment.
"My father believes my word is proof enough," Mur said quietly. "And it's likely that Dumbledore will believe that HIS word is proof enough. Even suspicion of such a thing would lose you that pretty badge."
Lucius weighed his options. This was blackmail, and it was going to work. For the second time in one term, he fixed a smile firmly on his face. "Perhaps detention was a bit harsh. After all, Black is a blood traitor." The smile fell away abruptly. "Don't let me catch you again," he said sternly, and swept away, his goons following closely.
Muriel sank down onto the bench that Sirius and Remus had vacated and waited to see if Sev would join her. She'd been pretty sure he'd been avoiding her because he didn't want her to know that he was jealous, and now she could feel it, running through his head like a rip tide under a calm-looking surf.
"Thanks," she said, smiling up at him. He'd gotten very tall in the last year, though he was still extremely thin.
He gave her a strange look before sitting down beside her. She would know how he felt, and tease him for it. He resigned himself to this, and waited, but she just looked at him, her eyes cloudy and her expression concerned. Finally he turned toward her, tired of the silence.
"Want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Sorry, Sev, I can't go this time, I've got plans." He saw her lips turn up and was suddenly angry again and fixed his eyes on the fountain.
"Visiting Maverick?" he spat. Muriel was surprised. Severus very rarely said anything in jealousy, though she'd known him to feel it once or twice. Voicing it meant admitting that he cared, and he'd spent years denying that, in spite of her ability to feel his emotions.
"Severus, he only took me to the dance as a favor," she began, her voice soft. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings. She'd only wanted someone to dance with. She tried to take his hand, but he moved it abruptly, still not looking at her.
Mur raised an eyebrow, and stood up. He had no business being upset with her for going with someone else when she'd given him several opportunities to ask her himself. "You didn't want to go with me, remember?" She snapped. When he didn't meet her eye, she softened her voice.
"He's in love with Adella, you know, the unicorn. I only asked him because I know that he thinks of me as a little sister. He was safe, Sev." Finally Severus looked up, and Muriel smiled as his range of emotions shifted back to what she had grown accustomed to feeling from him. "Come on, let's get to lunch. You can sit with me, and I'll tell you where I'll be instead of Hogsmeade."
Muriel sat uncomfortably in Transfiguration class. Professor McGonagal kept giving her odd looks. When it was her turn to transfigure the hamster in front of her into a duck, she scratched her plan and performed the curse flawlessly. She was rewarded with a slight smile before the professor moved on.
Black was sitting two tables ahead of her, and she had hoped to take this opportunity to pay him back for last weekend's pumpkin juice prank. She would only have had to flick her wand his way and change the pronunciation of the hex a tiny bit to turn HIM into a duck. It would have been perfect, but something about McGonagal's stares had told her that she was already on thin ice. Maybe the strict lady had learned how she'd met Maverick and was just waiting for a reason to question her.
She hurried out of the room when the bell sounded. Marisa was waiting for her in the library. She frowned, thinking of her friend. Marisa had been so pleased when, the day after Halloween, Sirius had asked her if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow. But today she had been upset at lunch when she'd asked Mur to meet her after classes. She'd left without eating anything, and skipped every class since. Not a common thing among Ravenclaws.
She pushed open the library door and looked around. A few Hufflepuff girls she didn't know were studying quietly together, but there was no sign of Marisa. She headed into the shelves and found her friend sitting alone in an alcove, her head resting on the desk and her shoulders shaking. Muriel could see the scene that was replaying in her friend's mind clearly. She didn't need to ask what was wrong.
The table was tiny, and there was only one chair, so Mur tossed her bag on the floor, making Marisa look up. Then she planted herself on the table, her back against the window. She looked seriously at her friend. "He's a bloody git."
Marisa only nodded, tears still streaming down her face. Muriel took out her wand. "Legilimens," she whispered, closing her eyes. Sirius was out on the grounds with Remus. She could hear him thinking more but didn't bother with it. All she wanted to know was where to find him. She broke the spell and opened her eyes.
Marisa was staring at her, wide-eyed. Her tears had dried up quickly and now she looked worried. Mur had explained her Legilimens abilities to Marisa half way through last year, and the girl knew she could locate people that way. Muriel smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry. I won't do any permanent damage." With that, she kicked her feet and jumped down from the desk, landing loudly enough to earn them a sharp look from Madam Pince.
She left her bag in the library and headed outside. It was windy and cold, as winter was approaching, and she hadn't brought a cloak. But it didn't matter. Marisa would never have said anything to Black herself, so it was up to Mur to teach the boy a lesson. She found them sitting in the courtyard on a bench, and planted her feet in front of them, her eyes flashing angrily.
"What do you want, Deesia," Sirius said tiredly. It had been a long day. He had barely managed to transfigure his hamster, and his extra curricular transfiguration work wasn't going well either. Not to mention that stupid Hufflepuff 5th year who'd surprised him before lunch and kissed him before he could get away. He wasn't in any mood for pranks.
"I want to know why you would ask Marisa to Hogsmeade and then be kissing someone else only a few days later. She saw you, you know!" Muriel was only barely keeping her wand in check as he looked up, startled. Then the irony of it all sank in, and he laughed. The bloody prat had the nerve to LAUGH! Muriel's scowl took on a much more menacing look, and Remus tried to intervene, but she turned her wand on him, and he stepped back out of the way. He was brave, but he wasn't stupid.
"You insufferable git! Don't you even care that she's in the library crying?!" Muriel didn't wait for his answer. A moment later, Sirius Black was quacking angrily up at her from the bench, his shiny black feathers ruffled and his wings beating furiously. Muriel spared the boys a smirk as Remus snatched him off the bench and ran for the Harmless Hex ward.
"Doling out punishments for your weak mud blood friends, Deesia?" Malfoy had walked up behind her, flanked by two of his dorm mates, Minchew and Crabbe. "I think transfiguring a fellow student should get you at least a week's worth of detention with Filch, don't you?" His voice was oily and smooth, and infuriatingly superior.
"Malfoy!" A voice came from behind her and she closed her eyes for a moment. Severus had wonderful timing. "Your badge looks particularly good outside. It has a bit of a blue cast to it. In fact, from back there," he said as he reached them, "it reminded me a little of Mur's pet bird."
Muriel licked her lips, as they curled into a devious smile. Severus hadn't spoken to her since the ball. One of his house mates had gone down to the dungeons to tell him about her date as soon as she'd started dancing, and he'd been furious. He knew from the descriptions he'd been given that it had to have been Maverick, and he really didn't like him much. He'd spent the entire week remembering how in their second year, she'd blushed every time the man had spoken to her.
Malfoy looked worried for an instant before he sneered at them. "You have no proof," he hissed angrily. The fact was that he didn't want Severus angry with him, but he wasn't going to tell anyone else that. He'd thought Severus was upset with Muriel, and that they might have a laugh over her punishment.
"My father believes my word is proof enough," Mur said quietly. "And it's likely that Dumbledore will believe that HIS word is proof enough. Even suspicion of such a thing would lose you that pretty badge."
Lucius weighed his options. This was blackmail, and it was going to work. For the second time in one term, he fixed a smile firmly on his face. "Perhaps detention was a bit harsh. After all, Black is a blood traitor." The smile fell away abruptly. "Don't let me catch you again," he said sternly, and swept away, his goons following closely.
Muriel sank down onto the bench that Sirius and Remus had vacated and waited to see if Sev would join her. She'd been pretty sure he'd been avoiding her because he didn't want her to know that he was jealous, and now she could feel it, running through his head like a rip tide under a calm-looking surf.
"Thanks," she said, smiling up at him. He'd gotten very tall in the last year, though he was still extremely thin.
He gave her a strange look before sitting down beside her. She would know how he felt, and tease him for it. He resigned himself to this, and waited, but she just looked at him, her eyes cloudy and her expression concerned. Finally he turned toward her, tired of the silence.
"Want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Sorry, Sev, I can't go this time, I've got plans." He saw her lips turn up and was suddenly angry again and fixed his eyes on the fountain.
"Visiting Maverick?" he spat. Muriel was surprised. Severus very rarely said anything in jealousy, though she'd known him to feel it once or twice. Voicing it meant admitting that he cared, and he'd spent years denying that, in spite of her ability to feel his emotions.
"Severus, he only took me to the dance as a favor," she began, her voice soft. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings. She'd only wanted someone to dance with. She tried to take his hand, but he moved it abruptly, still not looking at her.
Mur raised an eyebrow, and stood up. He had no business being upset with her for going with someone else when she'd given him several opportunities to ask her himself. "You didn't want to go with me, remember?" She snapped. When he didn't meet her eye, she softened her voice.
"He's in love with Adella, you know, the unicorn. I only asked him because I know that he thinks of me as a little sister. He was safe, Sev." Finally Severus looked up, and Muriel smiled as his range of emotions shifted back to what she had grown accustomed to feeling from him. "Come on, let's get to lunch. You can sit with me, and I'll tell you where I'll be instead of Hogsmeade."