Chapter 6 ~ Not Hogsmeade
Muriel stepped into the Leaky Cauldron through the back door, scanning the tables to be sure there was no one here she knew. Her eyes were drawn to the back corner, where someone had turned away from the door quickly at her entrance. She nodded to the bartender, Tom, and made her way over to the solitary figure. It was odd to see someone with his hood pulled up inside a bar. She couldn't see his face, but she could see a wisp of platinum blond hair that looked rather familiar.
A half-finished shot of fire whiskey was grasped in the man's hand, which was trembling ever so slightly. She could feel pain coming from him in flickers, like light from a candle's flame. When she reached out with her mind, she had to stifle a gasp. She sat down quickly. "Malfoy?" she whispered, her surprise making her voice louder than she'd intended.
"Quietly, Deesia!" he hissed through his clenched teeth. There were few people here, as it wasn't even lunch time yet, but his warning tone made her look around. When she looked back at him, she noticed the patch of midnight black seeping steadily across the shoulder of his dark gray robes. "Sod off, would you?" he said, a little more gently. Even if she couldn't read his thoughts, she would have known he didn't really want her to go. She narrowed her eyes. This was THE biggest git at Hogwarts. But she had a feeling this was too big a thing for her to walk away from. Her eyes focused on the black stain, which was still growing larger.
"There's blood seeping through your robes. If someone notices, you'll wind up in St. Mungo's and there'll be all kinds of trouble. Stay here until I signal for you, then follow me upstairs," she whispered. He looked up in shock, but nodded resignedly before turning his face back toward the wall. He was obviously afraid to be recognized. She paused a moment before tucking the tell-tale lock of hair down into his hood. When she pulled out her hand, there was blood on her fingers and her eyes widened worriedly. She'd better hurry.
It didn't take much to convince Tom to give her a room. He eyed her suspiciously for a minute before she forked over five extra galleons, then he gave her a key with a big grin. "School gets a bit stuffy, eh?" he asked, trying to be friendly. She sneered at him coldly before turning toward the stairs. On the first landing, she drew her wand and cast the Legilimens curse on Malfoy.
"Come on, mate. Room 13."
She felt his surprise. Naturally no one had ever spoken inside his head before. When he appeared at the bottom of the staircase, she shook her head. No way was he going to make it up to the landing. He was barely shuffling along as it was.
Hoping no one would notice, or at least that Tom would have the discretion to keep it to himself, she ran back down the stairs and put one of the tall boy's arms over her shoulders. He leaned on her heavily all the way into the room, then sat gingerly on the bed. She closed and locked the door, casting a few privacy charms for good measure. When you were dealing with a Malfoy it was best to be cautious. And she had a shrewd idea that she was in the middle of a Malfoy family feud.
"How long have you been bleeding?" she asked quickly, her tone business- like.
"I just got here a few minutes before you came in." His voice held none of the proud tone for which he was known, but Mur only nodded and helped him out of his robes. She doggedly ignored the dark mark that stood out hideously against his pale skin, and she hung out with Severus enough not to be embarrassed by the sight of a man in boxers. For some reason Malfoy found her nonchalance humorous.
"What?" she asked crossly as he stifled a chuckle. She pulled back the covers of the bed and he laid down on his stomach. "Sweet Merlin!" she breathed, before he had a chance to answer. His back was covered in cuts and welts, and he was bleeding profusely from at least six deep wounds. "I'm not sure there's much I can do about this."
She thought hard for a minute. She'd never learned a spell that would knit cuts that deep, but she was sure there must be one. And she DID know how to make a blood restorative potion. She used the towels from the bathroom to catch the blood, knowing that they were going to owe an awful lot of money when they left here for the ruined towels and bed sheets.
He watched as she went to the window and pointed her wand toward Diagon Alley. "Accio healer text," she said forcefully.
"I don't think that's going to work for you. You'd have to be an awfully powerful witch to summon something that far when you can't even picture it." Muriel ignored his words, noticing instead that he didn't sound NEARLY as derogatory as usual. He also looked even paler than was normal, which was really saying something. She needed to hurry.
The book whizzed into the room a few silent minutes later, a heavy volume that stung her hands when she caught it. Malfoy closed his eyes. He was in luck. If she could summon that strongly, maybe her healing spells would do the trick. It killed him to accept help from the blood traitor, but he couldn't very well go to St. Mungo's or Hogwarts, either. For one thing, people would ask questions. Not that Muriel wouldn't, he soon found out.
"So what did you do to deserve this?" she asked quietly, not looking up from the pages she was leafing through. He didn't answer. She mumbled a spell twice, getting the pronunciation down, and stood up. In only a few moments she had closed the six deepest cuts, as well as the one behind his head. She sat back down in the chair by the bed to look for something for the welts that hadn't broken the skin. Finally she looked up.
"Well?"
"I let you get the better of me in front of my Slytherin FRIENDS," he answered bitterly, his face turned away from her on the pillow. Muriel swore quietly, getting up again to wipe away the blood from his back.
"Malfoy, if I'd known – " She didn't finish the sentence, knowing that would be enough. She pulled the towel away as he sucked air hard through his teeth. "Alright?" she asked after a minute. Again, he didn't answer. This was so humiliating. A fourteen-year-old girl was saving his ass, and in a couple hours he was going to have to THANK her for it. What's more, she's the ONLY one who would have done it. Few people in the wizarding world would ever put their will contrary to his father's.
"I didn't kill your bird," he said suddenly, making her pause again. She'd examined the cut on his head and determined that he probably had a concussion. It had obviously not been caused by the spell that had cut his back. She said the spell to alleviate his head injury before stepping back to think about what he'd said.
"I found Rena in your room, Lucius, the same day she turned up in my room mangled," she said wearily. Her common sense told her that he had to be lying, but when he turned his head to face her and she looked into his eyes, she knew that he wasn't. He really hadn't killed the bird.
"Avery transfigured a pigeon and put it in your wren's place. That's what you found. I was planning to give Rena back to you on the train, but he'd already killed her by the time I figured out what he'd done."
Muriel looked at him. To see anything in the eyes of a Malfoy besides hate and condescension was a new experience. But to see remorse: of all things? That was a once in a lifetime deal. She smiled.
"I believe you," she whispered. She wet a washcloth and gently cleaned the blood out of his hair. He didn't wince. "We're going to need to get you a blood restorative potion. I can buy the ingredients in Diagon Alley. Will you wait here? I'll only be a few minutes."
He caught her wrist as she turned to go. It worried her that he was holding it so weakly. It didn't even hurt! "You can't tell anyone about this, Mur," he said quickly. She smiled at him again.
"You can wipe my memory as soon as you're feeling up to it. Honestly, I don't think I'll be able to act like I hate you anymore, and we both know that we'll be doing this again if your father thinks you're fraternizing with the blood traitor." Lucius did wince at the mention of his father. She was right, and he was grateful that she didn't mind the memory charm. He was probably too weak just now to force it on her. He let her go, and she ran out the door.
He was fast asleep by the time she returned. She brewed the potion quickly. It had to simmer for a few hours, so she left again to buy the blue jeans that she'd come to London for in the first place. It seemed rather anti-climatic after all that had happened, but she had time to kill, and she really did want those jeans.
Lucius was pacing when she returned, about half an hour before the potion would be ready. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he got back in bed. He didn't speak to her, and she didn't speak to him, preferring to lock herself in the bathroom and try on her new trousers. When she emerged she got a raised eyebrow for her trouble.
"What do you think?" She spun around slowly, holding her jumper above her waist to show off the embroidery on the pockets.
"Officially?" he smirked. "I think you could dress up as a mud blood for Halloween next year." She gave him a withering glance and his smirk fell into a more serious expression. "They look great, but Severus will hate them."
"Only officially," she replied, gracing him with a smirk of her own, but wondering how he knew she had hoped to impress Severus. He laughed in spite of himself. "Tom's going to bring us up some lunch. The blood replenishing potion works much faster if you eat something." Of course Lucius, who was three years ahead of her in school, already knew this information, but he only nodded. The scathing remark she'd been expecting never came. Muriel shook her head. "You're not the man you pretend to be, Lucius," she said quietly.
"I'm not the man I'm expected to be, but that doesn't stop me trying," he answered, his voice suddenly hard again. She nodded. The children of dark families had a lot to live up to, as she well knew.
They ate in silence, and Muriel gathered her things to go. She walked half way down the staircase and stopped, her back to the door of the room Lucius would stay in tonight.
"Thanks, Mur," he whispered. She nodded. Then he hit her with the memory charm and closed the door quietly, breathing a sigh of relief. He had been lucky this time. He'd have to be more careful in the future. Especially since Muriel would probably try to humiliate him again now that she didn't remember their rather unlikely friendship.
Mur went back to Hogsmeade and met up with Severus, who approved of her new jeans, in spite of the fact that he rolled his eyes when he saw her. She just glared at him until he smiled and started telling her about what he'd done to the marauders without her.
Muriel stepped into the Leaky Cauldron through the back door, scanning the tables to be sure there was no one here she knew. Her eyes were drawn to the back corner, where someone had turned away from the door quickly at her entrance. She nodded to the bartender, Tom, and made her way over to the solitary figure. It was odd to see someone with his hood pulled up inside a bar. She couldn't see his face, but she could see a wisp of platinum blond hair that looked rather familiar.
A half-finished shot of fire whiskey was grasped in the man's hand, which was trembling ever so slightly. She could feel pain coming from him in flickers, like light from a candle's flame. When she reached out with her mind, she had to stifle a gasp. She sat down quickly. "Malfoy?" she whispered, her surprise making her voice louder than she'd intended.
"Quietly, Deesia!" he hissed through his clenched teeth. There were few people here, as it wasn't even lunch time yet, but his warning tone made her look around. When she looked back at him, she noticed the patch of midnight black seeping steadily across the shoulder of his dark gray robes. "Sod off, would you?" he said, a little more gently. Even if she couldn't read his thoughts, she would have known he didn't really want her to go. She narrowed her eyes. This was THE biggest git at Hogwarts. But she had a feeling this was too big a thing for her to walk away from. Her eyes focused on the black stain, which was still growing larger.
"There's blood seeping through your robes. If someone notices, you'll wind up in St. Mungo's and there'll be all kinds of trouble. Stay here until I signal for you, then follow me upstairs," she whispered. He looked up in shock, but nodded resignedly before turning his face back toward the wall. He was obviously afraid to be recognized. She paused a moment before tucking the tell-tale lock of hair down into his hood. When she pulled out her hand, there was blood on her fingers and her eyes widened worriedly. She'd better hurry.
It didn't take much to convince Tom to give her a room. He eyed her suspiciously for a minute before she forked over five extra galleons, then he gave her a key with a big grin. "School gets a bit stuffy, eh?" he asked, trying to be friendly. She sneered at him coldly before turning toward the stairs. On the first landing, she drew her wand and cast the Legilimens curse on Malfoy.
"Come on, mate. Room 13."
She felt his surprise. Naturally no one had ever spoken inside his head before. When he appeared at the bottom of the staircase, she shook her head. No way was he going to make it up to the landing. He was barely shuffling along as it was.
Hoping no one would notice, or at least that Tom would have the discretion to keep it to himself, she ran back down the stairs and put one of the tall boy's arms over her shoulders. He leaned on her heavily all the way into the room, then sat gingerly on the bed. She closed and locked the door, casting a few privacy charms for good measure. When you were dealing with a Malfoy it was best to be cautious. And she had a shrewd idea that she was in the middle of a Malfoy family feud.
"How long have you been bleeding?" she asked quickly, her tone business- like.
"I just got here a few minutes before you came in." His voice held none of the proud tone for which he was known, but Mur only nodded and helped him out of his robes. She doggedly ignored the dark mark that stood out hideously against his pale skin, and she hung out with Severus enough not to be embarrassed by the sight of a man in boxers. For some reason Malfoy found her nonchalance humorous.
"What?" she asked crossly as he stifled a chuckle. She pulled back the covers of the bed and he laid down on his stomach. "Sweet Merlin!" she breathed, before he had a chance to answer. His back was covered in cuts and welts, and he was bleeding profusely from at least six deep wounds. "I'm not sure there's much I can do about this."
She thought hard for a minute. She'd never learned a spell that would knit cuts that deep, but she was sure there must be one. And she DID know how to make a blood restorative potion. She used the towels from the bathroom to catch the blood, knowing that they were going to owe an awful lot of money when they left here for the ruined towels and bed sheets.
He watched as she went to the window and pointed her wand toward Diagon Alley. "Accio healer text," she said forcefully.
"I don't think that's going to work for you. You'd have to be an awfully powerful witch to summon something that far when you can't even picture it." Muriel ignored his words, noticing instead that he didn't sound NEARLY as derogatory as usual. He also looked even paler than was normal, which was really saying something. She needed to hurry.
The book whizzed into the room a few silent minutes later, a heavy volume that stung her hands when she caught it. Malfoy closed his eyes. He was in luck. If she could summon that strongly, maybe her healing spells would do the trick. It killed him to accept help from the blood traitor, but he couldn't very well go to St. Mungo's or Hogwarts, either. For one thing, people would ask questions. Not that Muriel wouldn't, he soon found out.
"So what did you do to deserve this?" she asked quietly, not looking up from the pages she was leafing through. He didn't answer. She mumbled a spell twice, getting the pronunciation down, and stood up. In only a few moments she had closed the six deepest cuts, as well as the one behind his head. She sat back down in the chair by the bed to look for something for the welts that hadn't broken the skin. Finally she looked up.
"Well?"
"I let you get the better of me in front of my Slytherin FRIENDS," he answered bitterly, his face turned away from her on the pillow. Muriel swore quietly, getting up again to wipe away the blood from his back.
"Malfoy, if I'd known – " She didn't finish the sentence, knowing that would be enough. She pulled the towel away as he sucked air hard through his teeth. "Alright?" she asked after a minute. Again, he didn't answer. This was so humiliating. A fourteen-year-old girl was saving his ass, and in a couple hours he was going to have to THANK her for it. What's more, she's the ONLY one who would have done it. Few people in the wizarding world would ever put their will contrary to his father's.
"I didn't kill your bird," he said suddenly, making her pause again. She'd examined the cut on his head and determined that he probably had a concussion. It had obviously not been caused by the spell that had cut his back. She said the spell to alleviate his head injury before stepping back to think about what he'd said.
"I found Rena in your room, Lucius, the same day she turned up in my room mangled," she said wearily. Her common sense told her that he had to be lying, but when he turned his head to face her and she looked into his eyes, she knew that he wasn't. He really hadn't killed the bird.
"Avery transfigured a pigeon and put it in your wren's place. That's what you found. I was planning to give Rena back to you on the train, but he'd already killed her by the time I figured out what he'd done."
Muriel looked at him. To see anything in the eyes of a Malfoy besides hate and condescension was a new experience. But to see remorse: of all things? That was a once in a lifetime deal. She smiled.
"I believe you," she whispered. She wet a washcloth and gently cleaned the blood out of his hair. He didn't wince. "We're going to need to get you a blood restorative potion. I can buy the ingredients in Diagon Alley. Will you wait here? I'll only be a few minutes."
He caught her wrist as she turned to go. It worried her that he was holding it so weakly. It didn't even hurt! "You can't tell anyone about this, Mur," he said quickly. She smiled at him again.
"You can wipe my memory as soon as you're feeling up to it. Honestly, I don't think I'll be able to act like I hate you anymore, and we both know that we'll be doing this again if your father thinks you're fraternizing with the blood traitor." Lucius did wince at the mention of his father. She was right, and he was grateful that she didn't mind the memory charm. He was probably too weak just now to force it on her. He let her go, and she ran out the door.
He was fast asleep by the time she returned. She brewed the potion quickly. It had to simmer for a few hours, so she left again to buy the blue jeans that she'd come to London for in the first place. It seemed rather anti-climatic after all that had happened, but she had time to kill, and she really did want those jeans.
Lucius was pacing when she returned, about half an hour before the potion would be ready. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he got back in bed. He didn't speak to her, and she didn't speak to him, preferring to lock herself in the bathroom and try on her new trousers. When she emerged she got a raised eyebrow for her trouble.
"What do you think?" She spun around slowly, holding her jumper above her waist to show off the embroidery on the pockets.
"Officially?" he smirked. "I think you could dress up as a mud blood for Halloween next year." She gave him a withering glance and his smirk fell into a more serious expression. "They look great, but Severus will hate them."
"Only officially," she replied, gracing him with a smirk of her own, but wondering how he knew she had hoped to impress Severus. He laughed in spite of himself. "Tom's going to bring us up some lunch. The blood replenishing potion works much faster if you eat something." Of course Lucius, who was three years ahead of her in school, already knew this information, but he only nodded. The scathing remark she'd been expecting never came. Muriel shook her head. "You're not the man you pretend to be, Lucius," she said quietly.
"I'm not the man I'm expected to be, but that doesn't stop me trying," he answered, his voice suddenly hard again. She nodded. The children of dark families had a lot to live up to, as she well knew.
They ate in silence, and Muriel gathered her things to go. She walked half way down the staircase and stopped, her back to the door of the room Lucius would stay in tonight.
"Thanks, Mur," he whispered. She nodded. Then he hit her with the memory charm and closed the door quietly, breathing a sigh of relief. He had been lucky this time. He'd have to be more careful in the future. Especially since Muriel would probably try to humiliate him again now that she didn't remember their rather unlikely friendship.
Mur went back to Hogsmeade and met up with Severus, who approved of her new jeans, in spite of the fact that he rolled his eyes when he saw her. She just glared at him until he smiled and started telling her about what he'd done to the marauders without her.