A/N: Ok, before we get going this chapter, I want to make sure were on the same page, here. So here's some quick character info:
The Darkflame family is, (oldest to youngest) Zachary, Eve, Tomas, Zekiel, Rakka (those three being only minutes apart), and Rhia (not yet mentioned). All the siblings who have/are attending Hogwarts are /were Slytherins, Rhia being the only one who has not been sorted yet, since she's only about 2 or 3.
Isamu is their cousin on their mother's side. She grew up extremely close to the Darkflame siblings, since her mother and aunt were twins, and stayed very close. When the Darkflames were orphaned, thier aunt, Isamu's mother, chose to help their grandmother raise them. When their grandmother and Isamu's parents died less than a year later, Zackary was already old enough to legally adopt his siblings and cousin (Isamu kept her father's last name/mother's married name), and they all stayed together. Though they may tease eachother frequently, they are very close, and strongly loyal to one another, so much that it sometimes strains all relationships outside the family, which is why they have few other friends. Remi, who was Rakka's closest friend since childhood, was the only one who stood by them all during their crisis, and has pretty much been treated as a sister by the entire clan.. even if she is a bit crazy.
Eventually, all of this is kind of dropped here and there in the story, but I figured maybe that might help you understand the group a bit better. Ok, yes, on to the story!!
Chapter 3: All Hollow's Fool
By the time Haloween had come around, Rakka had failed to convince herself that her attraction to Professor Snape was purely out of need for knowledge. She had also failed at her self assurance that he was just excessively appealing, as opposed to Professor Durrendell, and that her liking for him was simply because he was someone new, unlike everyone else in the school over the age of eleven. In the same way, her excuse of 'spring fever' failed since it was still Fall, and her reasoning that it was simply because she was happy to be back at Hogwarts fell short because, well, quite frankly, it didn't make any sense. Isamu assured her that it was perfectly normal that Rakka liked him. He was a man of resepect, a fellow magic user, not too much older, just old enough to have the 'older man' appeal, and handsome. In fact, the afternoon before the Haloween banquet, in the room the two cousins shared at the bottommost floor of the Slytherin dormitories, Isamu also assured her that quite a lot of girls in the school had an eye for him, even girls in her own grade.
"But don't worry, cousin," Isamu grinned. "He has more of an eye for you than any other girl in the school."
"What?" Rakka asked, blushing, a bit bewlidered that her cousin would even suggest such a thing.
"You're one of his favorite students, I hear."
"Yes, because I'm one of the only ones who haven't blown anything up yet. Even Remi has had an accient in that class, and she's the second best student in that class, only because I do better with hands-on activities than she does."
"He's always asking to talk to you after class..."
"..Because I'm Head Girl and he's head of house. It's perfectly normal. And he's usually asking me just if there have been any problems with other students in our house that he doesn't know of."
"..You're the only person I ever see him smile at."
"Because your class is a bunch of fourth year brutes, and you never see him with any other upperclassmen but myself. He smiles all the time in my class."
"Yeah, at you."
"Yeah, at me, and just about everyone else in that class, save for Zeke, but that's just because Zeke makes a mess every time we do anything, and raises his hand to answer every question, only to give some smart comment that has nothing to do with the class whatsoever. The only reason he hasn't failed that class is because of those amazing grades he manages to pull of on every test."
"He goes out of his way for you. You just don't see it."
"Because it's nothing personal."
"You're hopeless, Rakka!" Isamu groaned. "It's no wonder you manage to be one of the most saught after girls in the school and don't have a boyfriend! You're totally oblivious!"
"Don't be rediculous."
"Oh yeah? Well then, did you know that Michael Swinder is totally in love with you?"
"What?!"
"Yeah. He wants to join the Quidditch team because he's hoping you'll notice him. Betcha didn't know that."
"You've got to be kidding me. There's no way. He's our cousin!"
"Apparently he doesn't know that."
"And isn't he only sixteen?"
"Yeah, and you're only eighteen."
"And you're only fifteen. What makes you think you know more about guys than I do? I've grown up with three of them, and a tomboy of a sister!"
"You're nearly as much of a tomboy as Eve, running around playing Quidditch and hanging out with the boys all the time."
"So do you!"
"I never said I didn't. But I also have alot of friends that are girls... and what few of the guy friends I do have.. they all like you."
"Good for them. It wouldn't even be legal for me to consort with any of your friends that are your age. I hope they know that."
"They do. That's why they're not all over you. they know you're a lost cause, even if you weren't too old."
"A lost cause?"
"Frigid as the Bloody Baron, you are, and they all know that!"
"At least I wouldn't try to chop their heads off," Rakka muttered.
"Not with a sword, but with words, you already do."
"I don't say anything rude to my fellow Slytherins. I'm a Head Girl, and I got that title by both being well mannered with my fellow students and by being a prime example of them, a representative of the best the student body has to offer. I.."
"Oh, do quit your babbling, I know your whole story, no need to repeat it," Isamu grumbled goodheartedly. Rakka frowned. "Besides, it's not so much what you do say as what you don't say."
Rakka's expression turned from disgruntled to confused.
"When someone asks you what you're doing after classes, and all you say is, 'I've got homework and Quidditch practice,' and walk away. When one of the boys asks you how you are, and all you say is 'I'm perfectly fine, and you?' like you're talking to a teacher instead of a student. For crimeney's sake, girl, lighten up!"
Rakka sighed, touching up her eyeliner in the mirror over her desk. It was true, after all. She may not look as much like a tomboy as Eve, who had spent all her years at Hogwarts in pants, never wearing a skirt once, never wearing makeup, and never giving any attention to romance. But beneath the eyeliner and skirts and high heeled shoes, she was as much of a tomboy as her sister, and just as blind to men's advances. But now that she had realized it, she surely had time to change, didn't she?
The night of the Haloween feast, there was a second celebration afterward in the Slytherin's common room; the same little party they threw every year, with a bit of music, dancing, and some drinks that were begged for from the kindhearted cook, who always kept aside a punch bowl for that one purpose, even though she knew it skated a thin line, not necessarily against the rules, but certainly not approved of. All the students were out of uniform, a rare sight outside of the domitories themselves, and the laughter and dancing that ensued was some of the best fun most of them had all year.
For the first time, the Slytherins had actually persuaded their head of house to attend, making the party perfectly allowable, and all the more noisy for it.
And for the first time, Rakka actually attended.
Rakka gaurded the doorway to the girl's dormitories, out of her uniform, in a black skirt that cut down on a diagonal across her knees, gathering on her left hip, directly above the lowest part of the diagonal cut, where the badge had been pinned carefully, to make it seem like the badge was holding the skirt gathered, when in all actuality, the skirt gathered at the waistline. Her stillettoes were barely more than a sole and some straps, which crossed in a loose zigzag pattern all the way up to just above below her knees,dashing black lines across her pale skin. The whole outfit was completed by a black top that came all the way up to the belt around her neck, with wide bell sleeves made of a dark mesh that started at the collar, down over her shoulders, making her pale arms shimmer beneath like silver. Her long hair was left down to curl, as it almost always was, cascading down to the small of her back, loose strands draping over her shoulders. Around her neck, she wore her black belt as though it was a choker, like always, but more visible, as it wasn't hidden under the collar of her uniform, with a silver buckle centered in the front, and a long silver chain with a cross, made of aurora boreallis stones, with a snake winding around it, a good luck charm given to her by her great grandmother, who had been a fellow Slytherin back in her day. The party was boring as anything else, and most of the night, Rakka stood gaurd, wishing she could at least go to her room and study for her upcoming history test. Every once in a while, she chanced upon a quick glance at Snape, who was chaperoning at the boy's doorway, also appearing bored near out of his mind. At eleven, he insisted that all the students go to bed, for Dumbledore would not approve of them staying up so late. As the last of the students filed through the appropriate doorways, Rakka sat back on the main room couch with a sigh.
"Well, that was boring," she grumbled. Snape stood against the back of the couch, resting one hand on her shoulder.
"You didn't get to dance once all night, did you, miss Darkflame?" he asked coolly. She didn't take her eyes off the fire, as he moved to turn down the music, which was coming from a magic sphere in the corner of the room, behind the punch bowl.
"I never do," she shrugged. "Thats why, most of the time I never even go to such parties." She looked over at Snape, who had moved beside her.
"It's your last Haloween party," he said quietly. "You should dance, just this once." Rakka blinked, looking up at him, as though to make sure it was really Snape, and not some prank by Tomas or Zeke. He held out his hand, and she took it, as he pulled her to her feet gently, smoothly, like everything else he ever did. She leaned against him cautiously, gently, afraid to touch him, for fear that he would know how hard she had fallen for him.
What she didn't know was that he was being just as cautious as he let the sweet smell of her hair and the touch of her warm skin play with his senses, so softly, for the same reasons.
The Darkflame family is, (oldest to youngest) Zachary, Eve, Tomas, Zekiel, Rakka (those three being only minutes apart), and Rhia (not yet mentioned). All the siblings who have/are attending Hogwarts are /were Slytherins, Rhia being the only one who has not been sorted yet, since she's only about 2 or 3.
Isamu is their cousin on their mother's side. She grew up extremely close to the Darkflame siblings, since her mother and aunt were twins, and stayed very close. When the Darkflames were orphaned, thier aunt, Isamu's mother, chose to help their grandmother raise them. When their grandmother and Isamu's parents died less than a year later, Zackary was already old enough to legally adopt his siblings and cousin (Isamu kept her father's last name/mother's married name), and they all stayed together. Though they may tease eachother frequently, they are very close, and strongly loyal to one another, so much that it sometimes strains all relationships outside the family, which is why they have few other friends. Remi, who was Rakka's closest friend since childhood, was the only one who stood by them all during their crisis, and has pretty much been treated as a sister by the entire clan.. even if she is a bit crazy.
Eventually, all of this is kind of dropped here and there in the story, but I figured maybe that might help you understand the group a bit better. Ok, yes, on to the story!!
Chapter 3: All Hollow's Fool
By the time Haloween had come around, Rakka had failed to convince herself that her attraction to Professor Snape was purely out of need for knowledge. She had also failed at her self assurance that he was just excessively appealing, as opposed to Professor Durrendell, and that her liking for him was simply because he was someone new, unlike everyone else in the school over the age of eleven. In the same way, her excuse of 'spring fever' failed since it was still Fall, and her reasoning that it was simply because she was happy to be back at Hogwarts fell short because, well, quite frankly, it didn't make any sense. Isamu assured her that it was perfectly normal that Rakka liked him. He was a man of resepect, a fellow magic user, not too much older, just old enough to have the 'older man' appeal, and handsome. In fact, the afternoon before the Haloween banquet, in the room the two cousins shared at the bottommost floor of the Slytherin dormitories, Isamu also assured her that quite a lot of girls in the school had an eye for him, even girls in her own grade.
"But don't worry, cousin," Isamu grinned. "He has more of an eye for you than any other girl in the school."
"What?" Rakka asked, blushing, a bit bewlidered that her cousin would even suggest such a thing.
"You're one of his favorite students, I hear."
"Yes, because I'm one of the only ones who haven't blown anything up yet. Even Remi has had an accient in that class, and she's the second best student in that class, only because I do better with hands-on activities than she does."
"He's always asking to talk to you after class..."
"..Because I'm Head Girl and he's head of house. It's perfectly normal. And he's usually asking me just if there have been any problems with other students in our house that he doesn't know of."
"..You're the only person I ever see him smile at."
"Because your class is a bunch of fourth year brutes, and you never see him with any other upperclassmen but myself. He smiles all the time in my class."
"Yeah, at you."
"Yeah, at me, and just about everyone else in that class, save for Zeke, but that's just because Zeke makes a mess every time we do anything, and raises his hand to answer every question, only to give some smart comment that has nothing to do with the class whatsoever. The only reason he hasn't failed that class is because of those amazing grades he manages to pull of on every test."
"He goes out of his way for you. You just don't see it."
"Because it's nothing personal."
"You're hopeless, Rakka!" Isamu groaned. "It's no wonder you manage to be one of the most saught after girls in the school and don't have a boyfriend! You're totally oblivious!"
"Don't be rediculous."
"Oh yeah? Well then, did you know that Michael Swinder is totally in love with you?"
"What?!"
"Yeah. He wants to join the Quidditch team because he's hoping you'll notice him. Betcha didn't know that."
"You've got to be kidding me. There's no way. He's our cousin!"
"Apparently he doesn't know that."
"And isn't he only sixteen?"
"Yeah, and you're only eighteen."
"And you're only fifteen. What makes you think you know more about guys than I do? I've grown up with three of them, and a tomboy of a sister!"
"You're nearly as much of a tomboy as Eve, running around playing Quidditch and hanging out with the boys all the time."
"So do you!"
"I never said I didn't. But I also have alot of friends that are girls... and what few of the guy friends I do have.. they all like you."
"Good for them. It wouldn't even be legal for me to consort with any of your friends that are your age. I hope they know that."
"They do. That's why they're not all over you. they know you're a lost cause, even if you weren't too old."
"A lost cause?"
"Frigid as the Bloody Baron, you are, and they all know that!"
"At least I wouldn't try to chop their heads off," Rakka muttered.
"Not with a sword, but with words, you already do."
"I don't say anything rude to my fellow Slytherins. I'm a Head Girl, and I got that title by both being well mannered with my fellow students and by being a prime example of them, a representative of the best the student body has to offer. I.."
"Oh, do quit your babbling, I know your whole story, no need to repeat it," Isamu grumbled goodheartedly. Rakka frowned. "Besides, it's not so much what you do say as what you don't say."
Rakka's expression turned from disgruntled to confused.
"When someone asks you what you're doing after classes, and all you say is, 'I've got homework and Quidditch practice,' and walk away. When one of the boys asks you how you are, and all you say is 'I'm perfectly fine, and you?' like you're talking to a teacher instead of a student. For crimeney's sake, girl, lighten up!"
Rakka sighed, touching up her eyeliner in the mirror over her desk. It was true, after all. She may not look as much like a tomboy as Eve, who had spent all her years at Hogwarts in pants, never wearing a skirt once, never wearing makeup, and never giving any attention to romance. But beneath the eyeliner and skirts and high heeled shoes, she was as much of a tomboy as her sister, and just as blind to men's advances. But now that she had realized it, she surely had time to change, didn't she?
The night of the Haloween feast, there was a second celebration afterward in the Slytherin's common room; the same little party they threw every year, with a bit of music, dancing, and some drinks that were begged for from the kindhearted cook, who always kept aside a punch bowl for that one purpose, even though she knew it skated a thin line, not necessarily against the rules, but certainly not approved of. All the students were out of uniform, a rare sight outside of the domitories themselves, and the laughter and dancing that ensued was some of the best fun most of them had all year.
For the first time, the Slytherins had actually persuaded their head of house to attend, making the party perfectly allowable, and all the more noisy for it.
And for the first time, Rakka actually attended.
Rakka gaurded the doorway to the girl's dormitories, out of her uniform, in a black skirt that cut down on a diagonal across her knees, gathering on her left hip, directly above the lowest part of the diagonal cut, where the badge had been pinned carefully, to make it seem like the badge was holding the skirt gathered, when in all actuality, the skirt gathered at the waistline. Her stillettoes were barely more than a sole and some straps, which crossed in a loose zigzag pattern all the way up to just above below her knees,dashing black lines across her pale skin. The whole outfit was completed by a black top that came all the way up to the belt around her neck, with wide bell sleeves made of a dark mesh that started at the collar, down over her shoulders, making her pale arms shimmer beneath like silver. Her long hair was left down to curl, as it almost always was, cascading down to the small of her back, loose strands draping over her shoulders. Around her neck, she wore her black belt as though it was a choker, like always, but more visible, as it wasn't hidden under the collar of her uniform, with a silver buckle centered in the front, and a long silver chain with a cross, made of aurora boreallis stones, with a snake winding around it, a good luck charm given to her by her great grandmother, who had been a fellow Slytherin back in her day. The party was boring as anything else, and most of the night, Rakka stood gaurd, wishing she could at least go to her room and study for her upcoming history test. Every once in a while, she chanced upon a quick glance at Snape, who was chaperoning at the boy's doorway, also appearing bored near out of his mind. At eleven, he insisted that all the students go to bed, for Dumbledore would not approve of them staying up so late. As the last of the students filed through the appropriate doorways, Rakka sat back on the main room couch with a sigh.
"Well, that was boring," she grumbled. Snape stood against the back of the couch, resting one hand on her shoulder.
"You didn't get to dance once all night, did you, miss Darkflame?" he asked coolly. She didn't take her eyes off the fire, as he moved to turn down the music, which was coming from a magic sphere in the corner of the room, behind the punch bowl.
"I never do," she shrugged. "Thats why, most of the time I never even go to such parties." She looked over at Snape, who had moved beside her.
"It's your last Haloween party," he said quietly. "You should dance, just this once." Rakka blinked, looking up at him, as though to make sure it was really Snape, and not some prank by Tomas or Zeke. He held out his hand, and she took it, as he pulled her to her feet gently, smoothly, like everything else he ever did. She leaned against him cautiously, gently, afraid to touch him, for fear that he would know how hard she had fallen for him.
What she didn't know was that he was being just as cautious as he let the sweet smell of her hair and the touch of her warm skin play with his senses, so softly, for the same reasons.
