Standard disclaimer applies.
AN: little bit on notation here à /thoughts/
Also, I'm being disheartened by lack of reviews. This fic is already in my head and most of it on paper, but if you would like it posting please let me know. Anyways…
Chapter 3 – A few revelations
Raven looked over at her clock, 4am. /Why don't I just go out? I'm awake, but I promised Albus I wouldn't. So hungry though. I'll feed you later. Just one, just a little taste. No! Have a bloody cigarette instead. OK, give me one then, and don't forget to banish the smoke afterwards, maybe I can get some sleep then./
She pulled out a cigarette from the box on her bedside cabinet, lit it and began to slowly inhale. Hermione woke up briefly and muttered something about opening a window but dozed straight back off. Looking around the room, Raven saw that Lavender and Parvarti had already decorated the areas around their beds with photographs of pets and posters of the current male magical bands. Hermione only had her prefect duty roster pinned up by her bed. She realised that her part of the room looked unnaturally bare, like she was staying in a hotel, so decided to cut up some of her old magazines for pictures of her favourite bands. Before she realised that she had extinguised the cigarette and cleaned the air she had closed her eyes and fallen into a deep sleep.
"Raven, Raven! Come on wake up!"
"What? Eh? Where the fuck am I?" Raven blinked groggily at the people around her, shielding her eyes from the sunlight streaming through the window.
"Hogwarts. I dunno it looked like you were having a fit or something. You were moving about lots and then you screamed so much you couldn't breathe."
Raven blinked a little more and the faces started coming into focus. "I… I got dressed and came down here, sat down…" /Damn, I forgot how much early morning sunlight hurts my eyes./ "Had a nightmare, that's all. I'm OK." Raven stood up and picked up her bag, "Think I'm just going to explore a bit before lessons, see yas in a bit." She climbed gracefully out of the portrait hole and strode down the corridor. "FUCK!"
***
Professor Snape wasn't in his room when Raven arrived. She was obviously early, having skipped breakfast. The dark stone passageways were exactly as she remembered, exactly as she saw in her nightmares. She closed her eyes, sighed and rested her head against the cool stone, finding the darkness and isolation very comforting, but the silence unbearable. She started to drum her hands randomly on the wall, but quickly found a rhythm. A quick glance around confirmed that there was noone approaching, so she began to sing.
"Drowning deep in my sea of longing, broken your servant I kneel. It seems whats left of my human side is slowly changing in me. Looking at my own reflection when suddenly it changes, violently it changes. There is no turning back now you've woken up the demon in me… Get up come on get down with the sickness…"
Approaching footsteps halted the chorus, and the elfin girl slid down the wall to a seated position, pulled her legs up to her chest and grabbed her hair close to the roots. The position completely hid her face from whoever was approaching, just how she wanted it.
"Well well, cracking up on your first day Black? I think the headmaster will have to be informed of this. I'll be sure he knows that you're still not ready to be here."
Raven's head snapped upwards to look at the intruder in 'her' corridor. The black billowing robes and the contemptuous tone of voice gave it away as Severus Snape. "No sir. Just tired. My sleep pattern is messed up. Jetlag and all that." Her voice was respectful on the surface, but beneath lay a hint of sarcasm.
"You have your marks Black, I have mine. I know what you are. I know exactly what you are. Don't forget that."
"Go on then, show me yours and I'll show you mine. Shame I know already what I'm going to see, eh Severus?"
"Miss Black, that mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble. Ten points from Gryffindor for being such an obnoxious brat. See how your housemates like that Gabriella."
Raven smirked, "Gabriella isn't here. I thought you would have realised. Sorry, bad assumption on the intelligence level there."
Another three sets of footsteps halted the approaching argument, hurried this time.
"Raven! You're here. Thank God, we hoped you hadn't got lost."
"Miss Black has, shall we say, an amazing sense of direction. Anyone would think she had been here before. Raven is it? Rather suits you, nicknamed after vermin."
Her deep blue eyes flashed dangerously, and by the time she had jumped to her feet, both parties had their wands trained firmly on each other.
"Now now, you wouldn't want to be attacking a teacher would you, automatic expulsion."
"Self defense. You know what happens when I'm insulted Severus. Don't forget, I can own your ass with a click of my fingers. Just one thought and you're mine. You gave me all I need a long time ago. More students are coming, put your fucking wand away."
"I hear noone…" A group of Slytherin 6th years ambled around the corner Raven already had her wand away and was standing nervously with the three Gryffindors.
"So you're the fourth Musketeer then are you?" Malfoy. " You'll always be a Slytherin in my books, freak."
"Draco, play nicely. You should be welcoming your new classmate. Get inside then." Hissed Snape sarcastically.
Raven took the space next to Hermione that had in previous years been occupied by neville Longbottom. Unfortunately Malfoy took the space on the other side, sneering viciously as the door slammed shut.
"Now, lets see how much you've forgotten. As you are now on an advanced potions course and we have weeded out some of the hopeless cases, you can now use more dangerous and volatile ingredients. Today you are going to make a fairly simple potion, which can be used to tame vampires by subduing their bloodlust. The method is on the board. Begin."
Raven raised her hand. "Yes Miss Black?"
"Sir, where do you keep the ingredients that aren't in the basic kit? I've no idea where anything is in here."
"In the store room." He waved his wand and a door opened, followed by the appearance of a large flashing arrow over the door. "Clear enough for you?" The Slytherins sniggered.
"Perfectly, thankyou." She waved her wand and the sign disappeared, "Blue light impairs the vision."
She strolled off confidently to collect the ingredients she didn't have, and returned to set about preparing them.
A few minutes later, Ron turned around to see where everyone else was up to. He nudged Harry in the ribs. "How can she be up to there? I'm only on step three and she's on number 10 already. As if this is a simple one, trust Snape."
The potion was indeed a difficult one to brew, even Malfoy was on the receiving end of some disapproving looks. As Raven reached a stage where the potion needed to rest for 3 minutes, she ducked underneath the table to retreive another roll of parchment from her bag. Malfoy leaned over and dropped something into her cauldron and the liquid turned from a deep green to a wonderful turquoise. Snape grinned, and was about to approach the Gryffindors for a humiliation session when Raven picked a vial of a red liquid from her potions kit. She carefully added three drops of the substance to her mixture, and watched the green return.
"Thanks for that Malfoy, if I needed something I would have asked though. I'm giving you a civil warning not to make an enemy of me. The next time I won't be so polite. Oh, Hermione, watch the surface scum, take it off or you'll end up spending a few days in the hospital wing when Professor Snape makes you test it."
"Ten points from Gryffindor for being a show off Black." Raven shrugged and carried on with what she was doing.
***
"I an't believe he took points off for you stopping Hermione killing herself when he made us test them on ourselves! My stomach is killing me as it is!"
"It's not meant for humans, the method he put up on the board was a weakened version that's on the NEWT syllabus. I made the proper version on autopilot, which is why I'm not screaming in agony right now."
"But you just said…"
Raven grinned, baring her teeth for the first time to show elongated canines. "I'm not human, not entirely anyway. Part vampire. Snape wanted to expose me to the whole school. It's a long story."
"That's why he chose it? The slimy git. You'd think he'd want to behave himself now You-Know-Who is back. I just can't believe that man! As if he doesn't have his own secrets to hide!" Ron was finally venting his anger at the first potions lesson of the year, "If I didn't have to take it to get into the job I want I would have dropped it."
"Woah, hold on a minute… I just told you I'm part vampire and you're not bothered?"
"You saved Hermione."
Raven blushed a little, some colour reaching her pale skin, "She's a totally genuine person, and I admire that. It would have almost killed her. Snape didn't have the right antidote."
Hermione flushed a deep red, "I shouldn't have let Malfoy distract me. Stupid little ferret!"
Ron and Harry laughed loudly, making some other students turn around and stare. "Ferret? Am I missing something?"
The old friends laughed again, before explaining about the encounter between Malfoy and the impostor Professor Moody in their fourth year. Raven smiled genuinely again, "You guys are so cool. You really don't judge anyone do you?"
"Only Slytherins!" chirped Ron happily, "We're friends with Remus. Professor Lupin I mean, and he's a werewolf."
Walking down the corridors towards the grounds for break, Harry spotted the Quiddich fixtures for the year, instantly sparking a discussion between him and Ron about who was going to fill up the teams this year. "Bet you Malfoy gets captain." Hissed Ron.
Hermione muttered something that sounded remarkably like "boys!" and took a detour to the girls bathroom. Raven dutifully followed, realising that there was an alterior motive.
"This bathroom is always deserted, we can talk in here."
"You're used to having secrets then I guess."
"You could say that. How did you end up with vampire blood I you can stand sunlight and garlic and stuff…" Hermione's question was interrupted by an ear piercing wail from Moaning Myrtle, who had now drifted through the toilet cubicles into plain view. "Oh, hi Myrtle, how are you?"
The anticipated reply followed, "I'm DEAD!" Another screech made Raven cover her ears, before a look of realisation crossed her face.
"Myrtle? My mother told me about you before she dumped me. Said you used to be friends. She looked like me, shorter hair, no metal through her face?" Myrtle glared accusingly at Raven, who smiled broadly back.
"You do look amiliar. Gabriella? Was that her name?"
"Yep, we've both got the same name, how sad is that?"
"She was the only person who was ever nice to me," sniffed Myrtle," tetchy cow sometimes, she could be really nasty, but always apologised. Is she dead too?"
"Yeah, she's a vampire. Was turned while up the duff with me. Out I came, bloodlust and all, but with none of the nasty side effects like spontaneous combustion in sunlight."
Raven felt a twinge of guilt, but put on a brave face.
"She disappeared in her third year. Because she was a Slytherin everyone thought she'd left to join You-Know-Who, but you'd never have taken her for a Slytherin, none of the backstabbing and conniving."
Hermione glanced at her watch, then did a double take, "Raven! We've gotta go, we're 10 minutes late for McGonagall."
Myrtle waved a gloomy goodby and sank back into her regular spot in the U-bend, while the two living girls almost sprinted to Transfiguration. They hurtled through the door to find that the lesson had already begun.
"Sorry we're late Professor, I felt ill during break, and Hermione was holding my hair back while I threw…"
"Yes, thankyou for the details Miss Black. Professor Snape told me to expect a few people to be ill. Making you brew and test that potion yourselves! Especially on your first day! Take your seats."
The lesson was revision of their previous ive years, most of the class were rusty, with the obvious exception of Hermione. Luckily noone was bad enough to warrant homework, unlike Snape's lesson where everyone had been given a three foot long essay on the correct composition, brewing techniques and uses of the potion. The sun made an appearance at lunchtime and determined to enjoy what may have been the last warm day of the year, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to the doors to picnic underneath a tree. Raven followed blindly until the light hit her skin. "Erm, yeah guys. Sun. Don't like." Hermione smiled, and cast a spell that tinted the lenses of Raven's black framed glasses. "Sweetness! You'll have to show me that one. Feels like nighttime. Bring it on!" Raven linked arms with Harry and strolled out into the sunshine comfortably for the first time in years.
***
True to her promise to herself, Raven spent most of the evening flicking through magazines and cutting out pictures. Noone in the common room was fazed by this until they saw that the photographs were totally immobile. Word spread like wildfire amongst the students who had grown up in the wizarding world, and soon there was a large group fighting to marvel at the pictures on the discarded pages. Raven looked up after about half an hour of this, smiling a little,
"You think that's cool, look at this." She reached into the bag she had been using on the train and pulled out a CD. "These little things have music stored on them. Well, some people would call this particular one noise, but there's sound on there." She reached in again, retrieving her CD player, inserted the disc and pressed play. When nothing happened she inwardly groaned, remembering that Muggle appliances don't work where there is too much magic. "Stupid thing, gimme a sec. Gotta block the magic from it." She muttered a spell and hit the button again, causing the headphones to rattle. Hermione had strolled over at this point, grinning at the interest in something she had been an owner of for years.
"Sonorus," she added helpfully, causing the Gryffindor common room to be filled with the sound of an American band called Evanescence. The distraction allowed Raven to continue with her task while her 'fan club' were amused changing the CDs and pressing different buttons, hermione overlooking to make sure no damage was done.
"Hope someone's got plenty of batteries."
Ron rolled his eyes, "If you run out just owl my dad. He's Muggle obsessed."
The common room started to die down around 10pm as students filtered off to bed. Raven packed her things away around 11pm and headed to bed, making a mental note to put a silencing charm on the hangings around her bed.
"So…" said Ron once he had heard Raven's footsteps disappear, "what do you guys reckon?"
"I don't think she's the one we've been told to watch out for. She's being far too open."
Harry jumped to his feet, "Why is it always suspicion with you two? Why can't we just make a new friend? Or are you just jealous because she seems more interested in me?"
Ron's ears had turned a vivid shade of red and he stood glaring at Harry, fists clenched. "Me? Jealous of you? Yes I'm jealous of you Harry, the way you're famous and everyone thinks you're amazing. I'm just another Weasley aren't I? I'm nothing."
"Want to swap places then Weasley? You've got a home to go back to, a family who loves you, who don't starve you or deliberately deny you everything you want. Your parents do their best to give you what you need, keep a roof over your head! For eleven years of my life I lived in a fucking cupboard with the spiders! I was beaten twice a day, denied food for weeks. I only went to school so they didn't break the law. And you know what? I thought this was NORMAL!!!"
A creak of the door leading to the dormitories halted Harry's tirade.
"Sorry, I forgot my quill." Raven looked at the floor, her long hair hiding her face from full view. She had removed her almost-gekky glasses /and looked far prettier without/ noticed Harry. "I'm sorry, I'm going now. Didn't mean to bother you. Going now…" The words from her lips were hurried and barely audible. Harry's furious expression melted into one of concern.
"Raven, are you alright?" He stepped forward and gently brushed the hair from her face, only to be greeted with a look of sheer terror. Harry gasped and involuntarily took a step backwards. Hermione took his place to the relief of Ron.
"Come on, sit down. What's wrong?"
Raven flinched from Hermione's touch, "Please don't hurt me."
"Noone here is going to hurt you, you're safe." The words didn't have the desired effect, Raven jumping from the chair she had just sat on.
"Not safe. Never safe. He knows, doing it deliberately. Let me out of here. Not safe here."
"Woah! Slow down. Who did what?"
"Tom. Tormenting me deliberately. Feel people die. Hurts too much. Make it stop." Raven collapsed crying into Hermione's arms, who gently began stroking the upset girl's hair. Harry winced visibly, his scar giving a violent twinge.
"Voldemort. Stupid occlumency! He's happy about something, the bastard."
Raven pushed Hermione away and wandered to the window, staring blankly over the grounds. "What the hell happened to you Tom?"