The next morning Niger was the Slytherin hero. Even those in Slytherin who weren't privy to the identity of his father (there weren't many) came to congratulate him. And since he was still in the infirmary, he had no choice but to endure it.
He had slept poorly the night before and had woken up in a foul temper, but no matter how he baited Madame Pomfrey, she refused to allow him amnesty. I'm being imprisoned in a place many people think of as a sanctuary, he thought savagely, and yet I still have to tolerate these visits.
On around lunch time he was forced to converse with Draco for at least a half an hour. He seemed to have gotten over his jealousy of Niger in the face of his victory, much to Niger's chagrin. Niger almost got up and left after Draco made comments about how good a captain Flint was, that the game would turn around so quickly. Niger was severely tempted to point out the fact that if it hadn't been for Niger, they never would have won. If Flint was still getting credit for this win by next practice, Niger would be sure to let him have what was coming to him; a brutal talking-to and a couple well-placed hexes. Maybe then he'll listen to reason and start working on our defense.
It wasn't until almost suppertime that Madame Pomfrey finally let Niger leave. He'd had to convince her that he had homework, and no, she couldn't just have his books sent there, he needed things that couldn't just be brought to him. She watched him very carefully as he left, as though expecting him to pass out again. He made sure not to give her that satisfaction.
He hurried to the Great Hall. The woman had hardly let him eat since he'd gotten there and he was starving. He had hoped to enter without any notice and slip into a seat before anyone saw him, but it was not to be. It seemed as though half the Slytherin house had been watching the door for his arrival, so as soon as he walked in, the broke out in applause. Just the Slytherins, that is. Almost all of the Gryffindors (besides a choice few) pretended not to hear anything, while the other two tables seemed to have mixed feelings. Oh cripes! Niger thought, can't they just leave me alone?
For some reason Draco felt the need to get up from his seat and walk to Niger to throw an arm around his shoulders and direct him to a seat at the heart of the Slytherin table, and nothing Niger did could stop him. He felt very much like slugging the stupid prat but figured it would only bring more unwanted attention. He was just about to think that it couldn't get any worse when his scar decided to make its presence known once again.
Flinching from the pain every now and then, Niger ate silently; silently and as fast as physically possible without chocking himself. It wasn't likely that there was any place he could go to get away from these maniacs, but at least he could try. Tomorrow classes would start back up and hopefully then people would forget about him. Not likely.
When he had finished eating and was starting to get a serious head-ache, Niger thought of something that might actually ease the throbbing. He concentrated on the pain, and only the pain, until he felt as though it was all he could do to keep himself from crying out. Then, when it had become unbearable, he concentrated on everything else; the sounds around him, the breeze from the windows high overhead, the smell of the food in front of him. With the contrast he had made for himself, the scar felt now only like a painful tingling – as though his ear had been violently asleep for a few days and was just now starting to wake up. It was an exercise very reminiscent of one his father used to make him use.
Using some kind of excuse or other, Niger finally managed to slip out of the Great Hall. Well, "slip" had nothing to do with it; if he had been glued to his seat he would have "slipped" out easier than he actually did. He finally did make his way out amid more cheering (thankfully much less than before) and many good-wishes (most of which Niger wanted to shove back down the speakers' throats). Out in the hallway, out of eye-shot, he made a beeline for the Slytherin Common Room. He didn't care if two dozen people watched him as he sprinted down the hall as long as he got to his dorm before the cheering started up again. Maybe if I run fast enough they won't even be able to tell that it's me.
Panting, he slid to a halt outside the entrance to the common room and was just barely able to gasp out the password. "Serpentine!" He tripped in and noticed with great relief that no one else was there. He made his way rather ungracefully, still huffing from the exertion of running through the whole school, down the stairs to the First Years' dormitory. Niger sat down on his bed, trying to catch his breath, and then he fell backward with his legs still hanging off and thrust the palms of his hands against his eyes until he began to see spots. While the spots cleared he pulled himself the rest of the way onto his bed and tried to go to sleep, still fully clothed.
He was still awake when his roommates showed up, but he put on a very good show of being asleep. Even when Draco came over and shook him to see if he'd wake up, Niger only groaned and rolled over, when really he wanted to sit up and pummel him. Eventually they gave up and got to bed as well. Not long after, several of them began their usual snoring, but even without it Niger wouldn't have been able to sleep. The pain was back. Not as bad as it had been, by it was still neigh unbearable. He clasped his hand to his neck and rolled over on his side, hoping the pressure would relieve some of the pain.
It didn't.
Niger was pretty sure the next morning that he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. Every time he thought he was about to fall into the land of sweet insanity that is the dream world, his scar would give another jolt that left him quite awake as he had been and in no better a mood.
Which was why, when he got up the next morning, he was in a very foul mood indeed. Being absolutely exhausted from two nights of poor sleep, and yet quite awake, Niger was easily the first Slytherin out of the dormitory that morning. He was the first one to leave the table after breakfast and he made it to his first class a good ten minutes before the class started. He had finally found his haven, but it was one that only existed in the minute time before a class started. Alas.
Not long after, Niger's sanctuary was broken as the rest of the class filed in. Defense Against the Dark Arts was Niger's preferred class for several reasons. First of all, it was taught by his favorite professor; Snape. Secondly, it was a class shared with the Gryffindors, which made most of the Gryffindors upset, and all of the Slytherins, except for himself. This was one of the few classes that he had with his friends in which the other Slytherins didn't seem to care if he hung out with the Gryffindors. In fact, the other Slytherins seemed oblivious to everything the moment they stepped in to this room. After all, why should they care about defending themselves against dark magic?
Most of them knew how to use dark magic more than any other. Niger enjoyed defense, however. When asked why, he would give the excuse that it's best to know how someone may defend themselves against you, but that wasn't the real reason. Really, he did just find it fascinating. His father had, of course, made sure to teach Niger all about the dark arts and had even made him use it often, but he'd never much liked it. Why use something illegal when you could beat someone in a duel without cheating? It just didn't make much sense to Niger. Plus, he was sure there was a way to defend against even some of the nastiest of his father's curses, and he was determined to learn them. Not that he'd use them against his father – that would be a death wish. And not that he ever thought he'd have to fight any of his father's followers. He just liked to be prepared for everything. He supposed it was his father in him.
Hermione, Ron, and Neville came in a few minutes before class started and took seats near him. Niger was almost appalled by how reassured he was that they were still associating with him. And since he was sitting in one of the front rows he didn't have any worry that Draco or his goons would sit near him. They always sat in the back of this class. Strange that most Slytherins would abhor the class taught by their Head of House.
Neville turned to look at Niger and gave him a very amused look. "All this fame isn't going to your head, now is it?" Niger groaned.
"You make it sound as though I could possible be enjoying getting applauded at every time I enter or exit a room." Rolling his eyes, Niger smiled slightly to take out any sting that may have been in his words.
"Well, I guess they have a good reason, mate. I mean, a first year won a Quidditch match for them when Slytherin hasn't won the Quidditch cup in about 10 years. I guess you're kind of the Slytherin hero," said Ron with mock loathing. "Ugh!" he added. "I can't believe we're friends with the Slytherin hero!" Niger smacked him upside the head.
Just then, Professor Snape walked in.
---------------------
Chips Challenge: Yeah, mostly Niger thinks it's a test because he wants that to be all it is. Would you want to believe it if you found out your "father" didn't really care what happened to you? His rationalization (I guess I didn't explain this well enough) was that Moldy-vort was testing to see how well Niger was controlling his emotions. –shrugs- I thought it worked… lol
Adenara Yatman and sami1010220: Thanks!
Khellendros: Well, I don't think it's as simple as they weren't friend, then suddenly they were. I thought I wrote it a bit more subtly than that… Yeah, sorry about the length. They are longer than chapters in some of my other stories, though.
PippinsMyHobbit: If you like Fred and George you should read Return to the Wizarding World by Snuggle the Muggle – George is the love interest. It fabulous! Hehehe Anywha, hey! You laughed at my fiancé joke. That's great. I like you even more now! -grins-
Hermione HP: -shudders- Please, no history teachers… History was always my worst subject…until I started college, that is… I would assume that Dumbledore wouldn't logically separate "Harry" from "Voldemort's son." Dumbledore realizes that he is somehow both, you know?
Emmy: rotfl! No, if I was JKR there never would have been a Harry Potter series…I would have gotten writers' block half way through the first book! lol Thank you very much. I'm truly flattered. A thing between Hermione and Ron? Now, where would you get an idea like that –grins evilly- hehehe
Szelij: CHAPTER 1 REVIEWER – what are you talking about with slash? You think my story has slash in it? I reread chapter one and I can't understand why you would think that. I hate slash, I will never even read a story with slash, let alone write one, just so you know. Thanks for reading :)
Erm, I can never think of incentive anymore, but here's the thing: I'm trying to get it so that I have an average of ten reviews every chapter. So, that means if I get 10 reviews (of any of my chapters, not just this one) lets say I'll…post chapter 8 on Monday (instead of Tuesday) and chapter 9 the day that PoA comes out (that would be Friday). I probably won't get as many reviews for chapter 8 that way –sigh- but I've already gotten more than twice the reviews for half the chapters here than I have the other place that I post this story! Thanks so much to all of you!
P.S. or something… I just started a new fanfic that I'd like you all to check out. I already have 6 and a half chapters of it written (though I've only posted one) and I'm really proud of it. It's an AU and is completely non-cannon but it's based on a reality show. You know like the Bachelor or whatever those shows are called…I don't actually watch reality shows, so… Please check it out and review! Cheers!