Author's Note: In the first chapter, Ginny was widely referred to by just that. 'Ginny'. However, Blaise and Draco call her Virginia, so that is what I will call her, unless it's one of the trio's P.O.V's, all right? Just to clear up any confusion. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, I really appreciated it.
You may notice that I use both spellings of the word 'magic'. I only spell it 'magick' when talking of Dark Magick, everything else is 'magic'. All right? :)
Once again, I do not speak French. I am using a dictionary/translator on my computer, so I'm aware it won't be perfect. If you do speak French, I would like to apologize now for any slaughtering of the language I may have inadvertently caused. Otherwise, what do you care, right? On to the story! Please review!
French translations: ((example))
Oh, and interpret this however you want, but Sirius is ALIVE in most of my stories, this one included. Although, I don't see him having that large of a part in this one, but you never know! In fact, let's just pretend OOTP never happened. (No offense to those who love it more than their own limbs, or anything.)
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The entire way toward the dungeons, Draco had been cursing vehemently under his breath in French, coating the walls in ice and frosting every window and suit of armor that they passed. Virginia still couldn't speak very much French, but since he and Blaise had been teaching her she could at least understand most of what he was saying. Or she would have if he hadn't been so very quiet about it, which was almost scarier then if he'd been screaming.
Having grown up with eight people who all had loud, explosive tempers, she didn't quite know how to handle the eerie, contained malevolence that Draco and Blaise presented. She knew they were both beyond infuriated, and she couldn't really blame them. Plus, she felt more than a little guilty for asking them to go and meet with the Gryffindors in the first place. It hadn't exactly been the most pleasant meeting in history. For a long, startling moment, she'd really thought that Draco was going to kill her brother.
If Ron had actually managed to hurt Blaise...Virginia shivered. She shook the thoughts from her head as a bolt of lightning flashed outside one of the second-story windows they were passing, accompanied by an almighty 'CRACK'. She vaguely saw Blaise's eyes charged and glowing before her own zeroed in on half of a massive tree falling to the ground. Thunder boomed outside, more lightning flashed, and something began hitting the windows and bouncing off of them rapidly.
She walked closer, almost in a daze, and saw that it was hailstones the size of her fist. The storm wards around the castle began buzzing, warning everyone to stay indoors because the weather had turned dangerous. The wind began howling outside, tearing through the trees that were visible from where she stood. Dark clouds had come from nowhere and nearly covered the sky, tinting everything in a shadowed, gray half-light.
Suddenly, the sky seemed to rip open, a torrent of rain whipping through the air and instantly soaking everything she could see. Nearly half of it was freezing before it even hit the ground, thousands of tiny ice crystals bouncing off stone and grass. Everything lit up sharply with the flashes of lightning before fading back into twilight and shadow. She turned slowly, knowing in her core what had brought on this sudden, out-of-season storm.
She saw that they had stopped, and it appeared that the very air around them was wavering, a lot like heat mirages in the dead of summer, although there was nothing even remotely warm about them. But it was their eyes that fascinated and slightly frightened her; though the fear just seemed to make her desire them more, sending shivers down her spine and causing a smirk to twist her lips. Those alluring, magnetic eyes were shining ferally; the colors in them--silver and gray, blue and black--were twisting and swirling slowly, maddeningly.
"Are you coming, Virginia?" Blaise asked in that low drawl that came so naturally to both of them. The rage was still just under the surface no matter how calm they both seemed; she could see it in the slight tensing of muscles, in the gleaming white teeth that were still just a little too sharp to be human. And the fire in their eyes testified that they were anything but calm.
"Yes. Yes, of course." She said and took his outstretched hand.
Shocks immediately ran through every nerve ending, from the tips of her hair to the tips of her toes. She almost moaned, but managed to just grip his hand tighter in her own. Draco was still muttering darkly to himself, but had at some point switched to English. She caught 'bloody fools', 'flayed alive', 'fucking Finnegan', and something that sounded an awful lot like 'make my mum another corset from Gryffindor bones', but she chose to ignore the last and concentrate on the Finnegan part.
"What was up with Seamus being so vicious, anyway?" She asked. "I know he doesn't like Slytherins, but..." She trailed off as Draco murmured something about the sixteenth century and an oubliette. Virginia stared.
"Did you just say 'oubliette'?" She asked slowly. "What would one of those horrible places have to do with you and Seamus?" She'd read about oubliettes, of course. Old wizards and muggles had used them to place people in that they wished to be forgotten. It was usually a window-less hole in the ground, but some were a lot worse than that, especially the versions wizards could come up with. Draco looked up at her again.
"One of those stupid Irish fucks tried to rape Ignatia Malfoy in the late fifteen hundreds, and succeeded in raping her friend. My kinsmen wanted to string him up in a cornfield, covered in oil and honey, leaving him to roast in the sun while the crows and their pet hunting eagles ate him alive over a period of weeks. But our laws made it her decision, and she chose the oubliette. More precisely, one that let him see into our Great Hall, so he could die slowly while seeing the food, drink and company he craved only feet from him. No one could hear him, while he could hear everything. My kinsmen did, however, put spells on him that kept him alive much longer that he normally would have survived, and made him believe that spiders, which he was terrified of, were laying eggs that continually hatched underneath his skin. I'm told that it was quite a horrific way to die. Needless to say, it reminded people to keep their filthy hands off our females." Draco said, his tone clearly stating he was of his kinsmen's way of thinking when it came to such matters, although he approved of her choice, too.
"So why is Seamus angry? Surely he sees that the man got what he deserved! Rape is punishable by death in our world, as well it should be!" Virginia said hotly.
"The Finnegans have hated us ever since, don't ask me why." Draco replied with a dismissive wave of one elegant, black-nailed hand. "It's quite all right, though. We're used to being hated. You can't expect much more from people with brains the size of sickles."
"You must be referring to Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs." A deep voice said from the end of the hall, carrying over the roaring of the storm. They looked up to see Snape approaching them, his eyes flicking across the shadows, his gaunt cheeks outlined starkly in the flashing light.
"You know me so well, Severus." Draco replied, the colors in his eyes beginning to slow from their mad, melting dance.
"I should. I've known you since you could breathe. Come, let's go to my chambers." Snape said. "And you can tell me exactly what happened." He said, his eyes shifting to the storm outside the window that they were standing in front of.
"Happened?" Blaise questioned with wide, limpid eyes. Snape snorted.
"Don't even try, Blaise Zabini." Snape said with a smirk. "There hasn't been an innocent bone in your body for longer than I care to remember. In fact, I do believe your fetal scans all came back with readings of 'Completely Evil'. Your parents were so proud."
Blaise glared at him while Draco snickered. Virginia couldn't help laughing herself, even though she wasn't completely comfortable around this 'new Snape' that she'd been around lately. It probably had something to do with the fact she had too many memories of him sneering down at her like a giant, livid bat out of hell. Which he still did in Potions, of course. In fact, he still did plenty of sneering anyway. It just wasn't malicious as long as she was within the bounds of Slytherin House.
She was starting to like him, though, and that was something she'd never seen coming. But he was amazingly funny sometimes in a dry, sarcastic way, and she had always respected his unrivaled skill in Potions. In two months, she had found that he wasn't nearly as bitter and cruel as he made out to be. He was like a surrogate father to the Slytherins, and had known Draco, Blaise and Pansy since they were born. They all trusted him, and Ginny found that she did too, now.
He was both Draco and Blaise's godfather, and had been their legal male guardian for the first half of their sixth year after their fathers had been killed only days before that term had started. No one alive but Draco, Blaise, Narcissa, and Snape know what really happened that day, except for Dumbledore and Silana Zabini, but she seriously doubted that even they knew it all. All anyone else knew was what had been headlined in every major broadcast and newspaper in the wizarding world for months afterwards. Two billionaires from old, powerful families; both brutally slaughtered simultaneously.
The official report stated that the residents of a small town on the border of the Malfoy estate, a town that lived under their infamous wards and protection shields, had seen the heavens light up a million different colors before the earth shook and the sky screamed. They were said to have believed that the wrath of the gods was upon them and had fled into their homes. Someone from the town had alerted the Ministry, but they had had a problem. No one can find Malfoy Manor unless they know, specifically, where it is, down to the last twinge in latitude, and even then they couldn't get through the wards, since only someone with Malfoy blood or someone keyed into their wards could pass through them without being blown to bits.
None of the villagers knew exactly where they were, mainly because the Malfoys sure as hell hadn't told them, so the Ministry had been stuck even if they'd wanted to try their luck on the wards. No one else but the villagers could see the bizarre lights, hear the horrendous noise or feel the earth rippling like water under their feet, because the wards shielded everything from prying eyes. So for nearly an hour, no one had known anything except that both senior Malfoys were there along with Draco, Severus Snape, and Jeran and Blaise Zabini. And the Ministry had only known that because the last three were the first three they had tried to find to help them get to the Manor, as only four living people had free access besides the Malfoys themselves, and they were three of them.
Eventually, Blaise's mother (and Narcissa Malfoy's best friend) had been found somewhere on vacation in the Caribbean, and she had agreed to get them through the wards, being the forth person with the ability. She, along with a team of nearly eighty Aurors (you can never be too careful concerning Malfoys) had passed the main ward a little before dawn. The Aurors had later commented that even though she had helped them in, she wouldn't let them see how to deactivate any of the wards, curses and nasty little surprises that had been waiting for them. When they had gotten in, they'd known immediately that something had gone very, very wrong. The villagers hadn't exaggerated about how bad things were.
What came next was been splashed across so many front pages that Virginia couldn't even begin to count them all. When the Auror team had finally reached the Manor that night, their number, even with a guide, was eight wizards short from the deadly trek across the grounds. Not one of them would have survived the first five minutes without Silana Zabini. The Aurors had stormed into the Manor, and it was said they hadn't understood what they were seeing when they'd first entered the one of the smaller family study rooms. They'd said (and pictures later proved it) that everything was simply red. A lumpy red. A red that smelled of death and raw meat.
They still hadn't understood when they'd noticed the four people huddled in the corner. Four red-soaked people in green, hooded cloaks, two of whom were holding the other two down, magically and physically, and had seemed to be having a hard time doing it. Then one Auror had looked down and exclaimed 'Is that an ear?!?'. And so it had come to be known that Lucius Malfoy and Jeran Zabini had been splattered all over the study's walls. The largest pieces that were reported to have been found included the famous ear, a portion of large intestine, and a piece of a femur. Even the rest of their bones had been ground into a sticky, scarlet paste. For two days afterwards, no story had been released on what had happened to cause their deaths.
Those two days had been filled with so much running around and gossiping, that at the time Virginia had thought her head would explode. Everyone had had an opinion, and everyone's seemed to be different. A few had said that Voldemort had turned on them, but most thought that it was unlikely he would kill his two favorite supporters out of nowhere. A few more had said that it was wizards or witches they had wronged, but that was discredited because there wasn't anyone powerful enough and because no one could get into the Manor to do it in the first place. Wild stories flew around that Snape or Narcissa had done it, that they'd been having an affair along with Silana, and anything else people could dream up.
Others wanted to know what spell it was, since what was described had never been heard of. Or if it had, it hadn't been in hundreds upon hundreds of years. But everyone's main focus had been on the heirs. Two boys who'd still been six months from their majority, which they would reach on their seventeenth birthdays; two boys who had been scant days from beginning their sixth year at Hogwarts, where they were among the top in their class; two boys who were about to inherit separate, multi-billion galleon accounts that are the largest fortunes in the wizarding world. Yes, they'd all been very interested in them. In what they were doing there that night, what they had done there that night, and what they were planning to do in the future.
And they were the most popular murder suspects. Everybody had seemed to eat the idea up that the two of them had killed their own fathers. It didn't matter what the reason was. It didn't matter if it was for the fortunes, didn't matter if it was in defense, didn't matter if they really hadn't done it at all. The pictures some rookie Aurors had taken just solidified that belief. Pictures of the two of them that dark, early morning, soaked head to foot in blood and snarling at the reporters. Pictures of them digging through their fathers' remains until they'd found their signet rings, while the Aurors in the background had watched, looking severely ill.
There were others of Snape and Narcissa, who were nearly as messy as the boys, trying to calm them down after an Auror had made a derogatory comment about Narcissa, and had foolishly done it within hearing distance. Draco and Blaise, who had reportedly not said a word until then, had attacked the man simultaneously. They'd had to be drug off of him, as they hadn't bothered with magic, and the only reason they hadn't gotten jail time for that was because they were on Malfoy property and honest witnesses had seen the man provoke it. He'd spent a week in the hospital, and still had the marks of their signet rings branded into his flesh from their anger, which no one had been able to remove.
So yes, everyone had been more than pleased to assume the absolute worst, and wizards and witches had met up in large groups to discuss it and ponder over what their fates would be. Virginia had never really made her mind up, but if she was completely honest with herself, she knew that it was very likely that they had done it. But she didn't think that if they did it had been for something like money. More like freedom, from what she suspected. They'd never told her and she'd never asked. When the time had come for them to testify in an emergency trial the day before that term had started, they hadn't said anything then, either.
They'd been hailed the Silent Sons, as they would not speak a word regarding that night, or a word at all in court. Neither had they worn black at all over the usual six month mourning period, which was unusual for them as that was what they wore most often, and had instead stuck mostly to green, even at school. Their wishes had been respected by the Headmaster, and their robes were passed over in the enforcing of the dress code. They had been found not guilty in the charges of manslaughter, as Narcissa, Snape and Dumbledore had all testified for them. Most believed that Dumbledore was really the only reason they'd stayed out of Azkaban, even though there had been no direct evidence against them.
The case was dismissed as an accident, the official story being that the two older wizards had been messing with the Dark Arts and it had backfired rather nastily. If it had been anyone else in that room but for Draco and Blaise, the whole thing would have simply been thrown out from the beginning, since no one had really liked either man. But their heirs...Well, that had been nearly as good as getting at the men themselves to the general population, which Virginia had found quite disgusting. Even her own family had believed them guilty, saying it was just like something a Malfoy and Zabini would do. And with all the people who believed they had done it, none of them believed that they might have had a good reason, if they even did it at all.
It was also reported that something about the boys was different after that night. It was a feeling around them, a feeling of power, though many didn't recognize it for what it was and the papers said only that they were 'odd and extremely dangerous'. Ginny had recognized it immediately at the feast the first night back at school that year; she had felt the dark energy that surrounded them like sewn-on cloaks. They had been avoided like the plague ever since, except by their Housemates. No one, not even the Gryffindors, threw nasty comments at passing Slytherins anymore, even if Draco and Blaise weren't with them. Today's little mob of Gryffindors had been the first move of aggression towards either one of them in over a year.
And she, as well as they, knew that it would cause more to try their hand at them, to test them. Like throwing a torch into a warehouse of full gunpowder barrels, it would start a chain reaction. The display of power on the stairs in Gryffindor Tower might hold them off a week, maybe two, but it can be quite shocking how quickly people forget what should not be forgotten, and how easily they can delude themselves. Virginia was just afraid that some fool was going to get themselves killed by challenging one of them. There were no laws against murder during an official duel; because once you crossed into the circle, there was no murder, only defense in every shape and form. The only spell not allowed was Avada Kedavra.
And Virginia knew, beyond a doubt, that neither Draco nor Blaise needed that spell to kill. The only question of whether or not the person in the circle with them would die was if they had managed to provoke one or both of them into a vicious rage beforehand. She would probably get her own fair share of challenges once they went public with their relationship, and at this point, she was just hoping that her family didn't disown her. Not that it would stop her. How could it? She loved Draco and Blaise, she knew that, and she couldn't imagine leaving either of them for anything. She had every intention of spending the rest of her life with them, or for as long as they would have her. She had never been as happy as she was when she was with them, and everyone else could fuck themselves.
"Virginia? Virginia!" Her name brought her sharply back to the present. Her eyes shot up, and she saw that they were standing in front of Snape's door.
"You with us now?" Blaise teased. "Because you weren't for a while."
"Yeah." She said, her cheeks heating slightly. "Sorry."
"Not a problem, ma chéri." Draco replied, taking her other hand and leading them into the study when Snape opened the heavy wooden door. The common area was lit by candles and the fireplace was roaring as they took their seats in the squishy armchairs. She could still distantly hear the storm raging outside, but it was muffled so far under the castle. ((my darling))
"So, what has happened now?" Snape asked in a dry, jaded way. They told him everything from when they'd first reached Gryffindor Tower for their meeting with the Golden Trio, to the end when they'd had to force themselves past the pack of maniac Gryffindors who'd thought the two Slytherins were homosexual demons. Literally. Snape whistled when they were finished.
"Well, you've really done it now, haven't you?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow at them. "In a week's time, you won't have a moment of peace."
"Let them come." Draco hissed. "Let them try their luck."
"After the first of them fall, they'll reconsider." Blaise said, his midnight eyes narrowing.
"Especially if we make it messy enough." Draco agreed with a feral smile.
"And what of her?" Snape asked, nodding to Virginia. They smirked.
"We've thought of that." Blaise said.
"On the walk down here?" Snape asked suspiciously.
"Yes." They chorused in unison.
"Never mind." Snape sighed. "I'm really not surprised."
"We are Slytherins." Blaise said haughtily, and a ghost of a smile whispered over Snape's thin lips.
"By this time next week, she'll be able to handle anything any of those fools throw at her. We can't do anything about her being challenged..." Draco trailed off, twirling a strand of silver hair between his fingers idly.
"But we can make sure she kicks their arses and makes them real fucking sorry." Blaise finished for him, a malicious sneer curling his lips. Snape turned to her.
"They have been teaching you already, yes?" He asked, referring to the Dark Arts and Elemental lessons she had been taking, with them instructing her.
Draco and Blaise were vehement that she knew everything she could that would keep herself safe. If that meant that she needed to roll up her sleeves and dabble in dark magick, so be it. She had agreed, because she loved knowledge above most else, and she'd been shocked at how much of their world had been hidden from her. There were so many, many different levels to dark magick that she could barely keep them all straight in her head. She had hardly skimmed the surface of what it offered freely, and there was much that was considered dark that wasn't the least bit evil. Discerning the difference was one of the things that she was learning.
They had taught her quite a bit already, but she knew it was nothing compared to what was stored inside their minds. If she was only skimming the surface, then they had sunken nearly to the bottom. She had never known anyone with as much magickal knowledge as those two possessed. Or as much power. It made her wonder exactly what the hell Dumbledore and everyone else was thinking by sending Harry, a seventeen year old boy who had no Dark Arts training whatsoever, up against the Dark Lord. It made little sense once she had considered it farther, and when she'd told Draco and Blaise her thoughts on it a few weeks ago, they'd laughed and said that if he won, it would be pure luck or Voldemort's own folly.
The Animagi lessons wouldn't begin for another few weeks, and where the process usually took six months to a year to learn, they assured her that they could teach her in less than two. They weren't Animagi, as they had no need to be since they were shapeshifters. Shapeshifting wasn't something you could learn, however, only something you were born with, a bit like the Metamorphmagi, but different since Metamorphmagi are limited to human form. Shapeshifters are born with one primary form, and for Draco and Blaise it had been tigers, although they'd soon learned to shift into pretty much anything that they wanted. They told her they had a feeling her Animagus form would match their primary forms, because she smelt like 'family', which is how they described the scent of their own kindred.
The Elemental lessons were different still, and later she would learn to tie her Elemental magic and the dark magick into one force. But they said that was still a while off, and had been concentrating on making the process of calling the magic easier, so that it wouldn't drain her as quickly. She was much better at that, now. The Elemental stuff came naturally and wasn't nearly as hard as mastering the Dark Arts, although it was still taxing. She could keep a ball of fire that was a foot in diameter burning steadily for over an hour, which they said proved she would be strong when she was fully in control. Blaise could do the same with a ball of lightning, Draco with a sphere of whirling snow and ice, and both could with witchlight and darkfire.
But they could hold theirs for nearly two days before feeling any strain, and two more before running out of energy and needing to draw on their reserves. When she'd asked how in the bloody hell they'd figured that out, they'd told her, with all honesty, that they'd once gotten stuck in a demon reality that was accessible at Stonehenge through the forth slab from the left of the north star. When she'd asked why they were there, they'd mumbled something about a mutual distant cousin. She hadn't asked anymore questions about it after that. Otherwise, the lessons had gone smoothly, besides a few more shady comments that made her suspect her boyfriends were slightly mad, and more then a little evil. Which, it turns out, was fine with her. They were sexy as hell when they were being evil, after all.
"Yes, they've been teaching me." She replied, giving Snape a small smile.
"And they haven't done anything...unusual to you, have they?" He asked seriously. She stared. And kept staring.
"What?" She finally exclaimed. "What do you mean 'unusual'?" Snape almost looked shifty. Virginia blinked and shook her head.
"No funny incantations? Odd runes in blood on your possessions? Strange, unexplainable smells?" Snape questioned, staring at her attentively. I was wrong; if anyone's bloody mad, it's Snape, she thought to herself.
"Umm, no." She said slowly. "None that I can think of. May I ask why you're wondering if I've encountered those things?" She asked, and he sat back quickly.
"No reason. No reason at all." He said, and glared at Draco and Blaise, who were barely restraining their laughter. She glanced at her boyfriends, and their misty eyes met hers.
"Don't listen to him." Blaise choked out, gripping Draco's robes tightly in his hand.
"Yeah." Draco agreed, having as much difficulty speaking as Blaise. "We'd never do any of that to you. And anyway, Severus, we haven't done anything of the sort in ages." They couldn't help snickering aloud as Snape's glare intensified.
"Ages?" Snape hissed. "Two weeks ago is 'ages'? That pogrebin followed me for days before I could get rid of it! Rolling its foul little body over everything and coating it in that horrible stench! I have never been so bloody annoyed in my life!" At this point, Draco and Blaise were full-on laughing, holding onto each other as they shook with mirth. Snape's mouth was twitching, and Virginia swore he was trying not to smile.
"A pogrebin?" She asked him. "Don't they infuse people with hopelessness until they collapse, before trying to eat them? I thought they were native to Russia."
"They are." Snape replied. "Like that would stop them." He said, waving a hand at the laughing Slytherins. "Draco probably just nabbed one from the Manor. Even I'm not aware of everything that's kept within those walls, and I highly doubt that I would wish to be." Draco and Blaise smirked knowingly at this through their hilarity. "They put a charm on the nasty little bugger that wouldn't let it get less than twenty feet from me. I had to shield my classes and myself from its disturbing aura. And the stench..." The Potions Master trailed off, his nose wrinkling in remembered disgust.
"Poor Severus." She said with a giggle, and then froze. She hadn't even thought before she spoke, she'd been so comfortable and relaxed...But he didn't seem to mind, just raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her.
"You sounded exactly like Narcissa just then." He said, clearly amused. Draco and Blaise finally stopped laughing, and looked up.
"What about my mother?" Draco asked, trying to sneer threateningly and failing as Blaise brushed soft lips over his cheek. Draco's eyes flicked to him automatically, a fond look crossing his face before disappearing an instant later. He waved a hand, and a tea tray appeared on the low coffee table that sat in the semi-circle their chairs made. They each took a cup of the steaming liquid gratefully.
"Oh, nothing." Snape said casually, answering Draco's question. "I was just noting a similarity between your girlfriend and your mother. I bet there are tons more. Why, plop blond hair on her and she could be Narcissa." Snape smirked as Draco paled, his eyes flying to Virginia before relaxing.
"Do fuck off, Severus."
"Now," Snape started sternly. "You know I'm saving myself for Black." Three mouths simultaneously spit tea everywhere, three sets of eyes grew huge, and Snape laughed. Really laughed. Tears gathered in his eyes and he gasped for air as the three students in front of him stared in stunned disbelief.
"I can't believe you said that!" Draco finally exclaimed. Virginia was shocked herself, but Snape had completely floored the two usually-unmovable Slytherins.
"That...That..." Blaise seemed to have trouble forming a complete sentence. "That was wrong." He eventually got out. Snape just laughed harder, especially when he saw their matching horrified expressions.
"I can't believe you said that!" Draco repeated, staring at his godfather as if he'd grown another head, burst into song and professed his undying love for Dumbledore. "He's...He's a canine!" Draco spat the word out as if it were foul. Virginia supposed, that for a feline, it was. "And a Gryffindor!" He added for good measure.
"So is she." Snape pointed out once he could breathe again. Draco shook his head.
"No, she's not. Not really, anyway. She should have been a Slytherin and she practically is now, anyway." He said with conviction, and Virginia knew that from him, it was a high compliment. Snape looked at him intently.
"What do you mean 'she should have been'?" He asked. Draco tensed and looked over at her. She shrugged, and he turned his attention back to Snape.
"It was the Sorting Hat's first choice."
"Was it now?" Snape asked, looking thoughtful.
"Why?" Blaise questioned, slightly suspicious of the gleam in his godfather's eyes.
"No reason. Just curious, is all." Snape said, before turning serious. "Have you two cretins finished your own lessons this week?"
"Yes, papa." Draco said in a sickly sweet voice, fluttering long, black eyelashes that Parvati Patil would kill for, and that happened to be the only dark hair on his body. "I also cleaned my room and didn't kick any of the house-elves, just like I promised."
"Oops." Blaise piped up, turning wide, innocent eyes on Snape. "I didn't know we couldn't kick the elves, papa. But I only kicked one this week and it deserved it. Really it did." Snape rolled his eyes, his lips twitching again.
"You two are too much, sometimes. I've spent many a sleepless night wondering exactly what the bloody hell is wrong with you both." Snape said with a sigh. Virginia saw her boyfriends give him identical smirks.
"You've had sleepless nights over us, have you?" Blaise asked, his voice suddenly low and husky, sending chills down her spine.
"You dirty, dirty old man." Draco drawled, sliding from his chair in one liquid move and crawling on all fours towards Snape, whose face was expressionless.
Draco moved like the predator he was across the thick, black carpet, not making a single sound, the muscles just under his skin rippling sensuously through his robes. Anyone else (besides, perhaps, Blaise) would probably have looked silly crawling across the floor on their hands and knees, but Draco looked anything but silly as he somehow still managed to glide, his every movement filled with an inborn, elegant grace that couldn't be taught and his eyes full of something dark and unexplainable. Silver hair glittered in the rolling light of the flames, falling rakishly over one platinum eye and trailing down on the rug around him.
He stopped when he reached Snape's bent knees, and put a pale, slender hand on each of his thighs. Hooded silver eyes traveled lazily up to meet Snape's own, and a pink tongue darted out, licking blood-red lips. Virginia wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but Blaise looked both relaxed and amused, and she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the utterly ravishable figure that Draco was making. Snape stared down at Draco, his black eyes blank, and then brushed a long strand of mercury hair from Draco's face. Draco leaned in to the touch and...purred. Virginia almost moaned. She loved it when they did that.
"How would you like me to service you, Uncle Severus?" Draco asked throatily, a mocking glint in his eyes, and Snape just stared for a moment.
"You're barking mad, you do know that, don't you?" He asked Draco lightly after a moment. In a move so quick it was blurred to her eyes, Draco flipped away, peals of musical laughter tumbling from his lips.
"Am not." He replied from his new place at Blaise's knees. Blaise wrapped his hand in Draco's hair, his hungry blue eyes running over features as familiar as his own, but much more beloved to him.
"Yes, you are." Snape argued. "Thoroughly and irrevocably insane."
"I'm wounded, Severus. Really. I'm bleeding all over your bloody floor." Draco crooned in a singsong voice, and Snape looked as if he was refraining from rolling his eyes again, his lips twitching once more.
"That's fabulous, Draco. Do clean up when you're done." Snape responded dryly, and then raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Why me? I mean, I wouldn't have minded Azkaban that much." He told the stones above his head.
"Oh, come off it, Severus." Blaise said, grinning evilly. "You know you want our bodies. Bella told us the last time she came to see Narcissa and my mother." Snape glared.
"Bellatrix is more of a lunatic then the two of you." He snapped. "And that is saying something." They put on disbelieving faces.
"No, not my Auntie Bella." Draco protested, recoiling. "She's been as sane as they come since she got out." He said, referring to the Azkaban breakout over a year ago.
"Definitely." Blaise agreed. "Wearing pixies in your hair, dying yourself green and dancing naked for the glory of Voldemort is perfectly normal." Virginia gaped.
"Does she really do that?" She asked incredulously, and the Slytherins stared at her.
"I don't think you want to know half of what Bella does." Blaise finally said. "She really has gone nutters."
"Completely 'round the bend." Draco agreed.
"Psychotically deranged." Snape added, nodding his head.
"Oh gods." Virginia gasped, desperately trying not to giggle hysterically. She couldn't clear her mind of an image of the escaped convict dyed completely green, with rabid, shrieking pixies yanking out her tangled hair, while dancing naked and chanting with a dead chicken in her hand (she had no idea why Bella had a chicken, but in her highly amusing mental picture, she did).
"Honestly, it wasn't very amusing at the time. More like 'terribly and eternally life-scarring'." Blaise said, still slightly horrified at the one memory they couldn't seem to Obliviate no matter how many times they had tried. He glanced at Draco and Severus, and saw their eyes were slightly glassy, testifying that they, too, still suffered.
"Right." Virginia said. "Any more bizarre relations I should know about?" She asked, and all three of them seemed suddenly distracted. Snape appeared to find his tea fascinating, Draco became quickly obsessed over the sleeve of his velvet robe, and Blaise was positively riveted by the tapestry Snape had of the Dragon Revolt, which she was sure he'd only seen two or three thousand times before.
"Uh-huh." She said after a minute of watching them behave like four year-olds. "That bad, eh? You know what? Never mind. If I've learned anything in the last couple of months, it's that not knowing appears to be the less mentally abusing choice when it comes to matters like this. You can keep your creepy little family trees to yourselves. For the moment anyway." She said as an afterthought. They finally looked back up at her, typically not in the least bit sheepish.
"Excellent!" Draco said, flashing a smile that could, apparently, make her knees weak even while sitting down.
"Yes, enough with families." Blaise said, and turned to Snape. "I was meaning to ask you if you had any more ingredients for the Aetherius Draught. We wanted to whip some up later."
Virginia's eyes widened. She'd heard of that potion before. It sent you deep into visions, but not prophetic ones or anything. It was sort of like the muggle drug, LSD, which Hermione had told her about, except that it was much more...intense. It was perfectly legal, although not many people could make it, which made it extremely expensive even though the ingredients were dirt cheap.
An ancient Roman wizard had invented it, because he wanted to see the past. And that's what the potion did, if taken by someone with a trained mind and the ability for vision-walking. They could see memories of any time period that they chose, and experience them as if they were living them, along with an intense high. For an untrained mind, it was chaotic jumbles and an intense high.
"Yes. They're where they always are. I have plenty. You're out already?" Snape asked, and Draco and Blaise nodded.
"We're getting better at vision-walking, and the potion makes it more...interesting." Draco said. "We shouldn't have waited so long to start, but it's amazingly easy. I don't know what you made such a fuss about."
Snape stared and Virginia mentally reeled. She'd known they walked the visions, but she hadn't known how. She'd never thought to ask, as she wasn't learning yet, and had assumed they always did it the normal way. But for him to say that they'd started late was preposterous. Vision-walking was usually forbidden until you reached the age of twenty five, and only then to those with the skill and control not to lose themselves among the twisted highways that spanned the land of dreams, visions and memories. They'd been walking those highways for nearly a year and a half, which was unheard of.
But, apparently, they hadn't had a choice on whether to wait any longer, as the dreams had come looking for them instead of the other way around, which was also unheard of. They said no one knew except for her, Snape, Narcissa, and Silana. Not even Dumbledore knew that two vision-walking prodigies were right under his nose. When she'd called them that, instead of going humble as anyone normal would have done, they'd preened for nearly two hours, ecstatically chattering about how wonderful they both were. The sad thing was that she had agreed wholeheartedly with them, the arrogant bastards.
"I'm not even going to reply to that." Snape said in a long-suffering way.
"Funny. I've been taking that approach more and more myself here lately." Virginia said, a very Slytherin-like smirk dancing across her lips.
"So you've noticed there's something…off about them, too?" Snape asked, his voice full of mild curiosity.
"Oh yes, of course." Virginia replied nonchalantly. "But as they're quite amusing in the throes of lunacy, I've let it slide."
"Je faire croire ils sant joignant en haut contre nous." Draco commented dryly to Blaise, who sneered mockingly in agreement. ((I do believe they're teaming up against us.))
"Oui, mais quel mal pouvoir deux bête farceur causer?" Blaise questioned with all seriousness. ((Yes, but what harm could two brainless fools cause?))
"Excuse me?" Snape hissed venomously, turning to face them.
"Well, that's our cue." Draco said, rising from the floor smoothly.
Blaise took the hand up he offered, and they moved for the door before Snape could hex them. Virginia rose, giggling at the Potion Master's expression. She quelled her mounting laughter and gave Snape a sneering curtsy before joining her boyfriends. They were silent on their short walk to the Slytherin dormitories. The Slytherins, of course, all knew about them. How could they not, after that first night? By the time she'd left, nearly the entire House had been sitting avidly in the common room.
But none of them had said a word to the rest of the school for four main reasons. One: That's just how Slytherin worked. They were a tightly-knit faction, and had discovered long ago that the best bet for self-preservation was group-preservation. Two: Snape had warned them to keep their mouths shut, although they probably wouldn't have mentioned it to an outsider anyway. Three: The Slytherins might not fear Draco and Blaise like others do, mostly because they know them and are under their protection, but they're not stupid, nor do they have death wishes.
But the main reason, as Virginia had pieced together in the last two months within their House, was that the Slytherins adored them. It had shocked her at first, when she had realized they followed them out of affection more than fear. They were the pride of their House, and they looked after their own fiercely. In return, their Housemates did the same for them, although it wasn't really necessary. She had assumed the majority of the Slytherins were as cold and unapproachable as they had always seemed to be, and they usually were if it was anyone from another House. She had also assumed most of them wished to be Death Eaters.
She had, in fact, been wrong on both accounts. Once Draco and Blaise had accepted her, so had they. Some of them still looked at her strangely from time to time, but most had welcomed her into their circle, especially after hearing that she would have been in Slytherin if the Hat had had its way. And the one thing that had made her really like them, that was probably nothing but a blotch in their minds but meant everything to her, was that when the Chamber of Secrets had been mentioned, they hadn't shied away and treated her like glass or something contagious. They'd just grinned.
And then proceeded to wring out every last detail, of course. But it hadn't felt strange talking about it, not like she had thought it would be. She never had before, either. Talked about it, that is. Her family avoided the issue like the plague, even though it hadn't 'traumatized' her as they all thought it had. It had been frightening, yes. And yes, it had probably warped her mind a bit. But she had accepted it and moved on. It was everyone else that had still seemed screwed up about it. But the Slytherins? Never. They found it grandly amusing, especially since it was a Gryffindor who had opened the Chamber.
That had been a very...entertaining night, altogether. They'd talked about it for hours, all of the upper-years lounging around the common room, laughing at numerous 'Voldie' jokes and eating neon-purple mushrooms that Pansy had quite miraculously produced from nowhere in the middle of the discussion that had taken place after Virginia had finished her story. She had never seen mushrooms as midnight snacks before, but hadn't complained, although she had wondered over the color. They'd tasted like candy though, and she'd had six or seven before Draco had seen what she was eating.
She remembered his eyes widening before he'd poked Blaise in the ribs hurriedly. Blaise had followed his half-horrified, half-seriously amused line of sight, and choked on the wine he'd been drinking. She'd known something was up when he'd asked 'How many has she had?', and then started laughing when one of the sixth years had answered him. Draco had whistled, saying 'Well, you're definitely not going anywhere tonight, Virginia. Those could keep a centaur tripping balls for hours.' And then everything had been a blur of green, silver, black, blue, fire, voices and her own laughter making her head feel light and carefree.
Her boyfriends' Housemates had been much more open around her after that (well, as open as a Slytherin ever is with anyone besides those they love). It had been a few nights later when she'd discovered their real view on Voldemort, all joking aside. The majority of them agreed with the original standpoints for his cause, such as pureblood supremacy and disliking mudbloods and muggles, but they also agreed that he was completely deranged. Mass slaughter wasn't what they were looking for to solve the issue. After all, if they exterminated the mudbloods and muggleborns, what would keep their family businesses running smoothly? They certainly didn't want to lose their wealth in the bargain.
And above all, they were proud children and young adults from old, proud families. They would bow to no one, especially not some upstart muggleborn. Many of their parents didn't even agree with Voldemort anymore, although some were so power-hungry they'd nearly gone mad with it themselves. Much, apparently, like Lucius and Jeran had, although they weren't spoken of in more than whispers, and never around Draco or Blaise. And most importantly (or so the Slytherins claimed) was that they refused to have some bloody tacky skull burned into their skin for eternity. So no, they didn't want to be Death Eaters. Apparently, being rich, powerful, spoiled and vain was quite enough for them without a nasty war. Not that surprising, really.
"Sang être le vivant rivière." Draco's silky drawl cut through Virginia's thoughts. The stones before them pulled back, phantom blood oozing down the wall, and they stepped into the crowded common room. ((Blood is the living river))
"Over here!" Pansy called from the one of the secluded nooks that were scattered around the room.
They made their way to where she was sitting on a divan with Crabbe, Goyle and Millicent, saying hello to the Slytherins who hailed them on their way. Two other seventh years, Anton McGregor, who was tall and dark-haired, and Melody Arcdine, a striking brunette with green eyes almost as vibrant as Harry's, were sitting to their left in black-cushioned chairs. Draco and Blaise sunk onto the remaining divan, pulling her down between them. Goblets of wine (which the Slytherins seemed to have an absurd amount of) were handed to them, and Virginia took hers gratefully.
"So..." Pansy started speculatively. "How'd your little rendezvous go?" She asked, and Virginia noticed other Slytherins drawing close to them, as usual. They told them the basic gist of what had happened with the Gryffindors, and by the end, the Slytherins all seemed to have identical, malicious smirks plastered on their faces.
"Let them try." Said a sixth year witch, almost echoing Draco's earlier words. "They will regret it."
"Yes." Another agreed. "Who on earth jabs at a sleeping snake with a stick?"
"Gryffindors." A handful of them chorused at once, and laughter broke out around the group that was by now quite large. None of them looked to Virginia, because they knew by now that she would take no offense.
"Who do you think will try first?" Melody questioned after their chuckling subsided.
"I would have said Virginia's brother, but he's probably too scared of her to try!" Crabbe exclaimed, and Virginia threw one of the smaller cushions at his head.
He caught it easily, looking smug, before it burst into flames in his hands. He yelped, tossing it in the air and causing burnt feathers and singed material to cover his hair and robes. He looked shocked, and stared at her with wide eyes. A snicker broke the silence, and soon Draco and Blaise were laughing hysterically, both at his stunned look and at the trick she'd just pulled. The Slytherins, being Slytherins, caught on very quickly to what had happened, and soon the whole room was cracking up. Virginia felt quite pleased with herself, and let it show. It was how you did things in Slytherin. Being falsely modest would only get you ostracized, insulted and branded a fake. And, as they say, when in Rome...
"You should have seen your face!" Pansy teased, sneering at Crabbe, who had started laughing himself after a moment. "You looked like a Dementor had just leaped out at you!"
"Shut up, Pansy." Crabbe grumbled, ruining the effect by laughing again.
"That was hilarious." Draco stated simply, falling back against the cushions. His eyes were bright and sparkling, reminding her of moonlight shining through thick, silver clouds. His eyes met hers and a chill ran down her spine, flooding her brain with remembered nights of passion and ecstasy, of blood and completeness. A hand ran up her side from behind, right before a sensual voice whispered in her ear, causing her whole body to tremble.
"Vouloir vous venir en haut avec nous?" Blaise's tone and his warm breath on her skin nearly had her moaning aloud. Her eyes still hadn't left Draco's, and the same invitation lay inside them that lay inside Blaise's velvet-coated words. ((Will you come up with us?))
"Oui." She breathed out in French, knowing that it would please them. It did. ((Yes))
She could feel Blaise's lips curl into a smile on her neck, where he had moved them in order to place a kiss upon her exposed skin, and she could see Draco's eyes light up with pleasure and a dark, expectant hunger that she couldn't help responding to. She held out her hand to him, and snow white fingers soon intertwined with her own. They stood as one, and her other hand snatched onto a handful of Blaise's expensive, tailored robes. The other Slytherins weren't surprised at their sudden departure, as that's how most of their nights ended, this one a just a little earlier than usual.
As soon as they entered their room, they fell onto one of the giant cushions, mouths and hands moving everywhere. Her robe was gone in seconds, fingers that chilled and charged her skin running all over her and pulling breathless moans from her throat. Draco's frosty lips on hers just made her hotter, and Blaise's electric mouth sucking and nibbling in all the right spots had made it impossible to form a coherent thought. After a whispered plea from her, two sets of identical fangs sunk into her flesh, ripping screams from her throat as her world erupted into raptured bliss.
Wave after wave of excruciating pleasure swamped her senses until she was drowning it, drowning in them, and she surrendered freely. In these moments, it was as if they held her very soul in their grasps, and she honestly couldn't bring herself to care as long as whatever she became was molded by their hands. And in their own way, they surrendered to her, too; opening their minds to her as she opened hers for them. And from that came the completeness, the overwhelming sense of being one. As the ecstasy peaked and sensations exploded throughout them, Virginia Weasley was very sure of one thing.
Nothing would take them from her, or her from them.
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Please Review! I do have a plot set out for this story, but I won't continue posting it here unless people are at least reading it. There's no point in it just taking up space. So, if you like it, hate it, whatever, please tell me!