Chapter 7: The Letter
Aquaria yawned and sat up in bed as her kitten Tigress climbed up on her bed. Tigress was a black cat with copper streaks across her fur and blue eyes. She purred as she rubbed against Aquaria's arm.
"Good morning, Tigress," Aquaria murmured, scratching Tigress between the ears. Aquaria got out of bed and hopped in the shower, making the water as hot as she could without it burning her. She finished getting ready as the other girls in her dorm started waking up. Aquaria sat down on her bed, looking in a photo album at a picture of her mother and father holding her as a baby thoughtfully. She wished her mother was still with her and her father; the only things Aquaria could really remember about her mother was that she was unnaturally beautiful, she loved to sing and sang wonderfully, and she'd made Aquaria's father immensely happy, and much more laid back. Ulric MacNamara had become very over-protective of his daughter since his wife had been gone. He wouldn't let her go out alone and didn't want her in the water, especially near the ocean. Aquaria could understand why; it was a secret she'd kept for years. But that had still not prevented her from sneaking out to wherever she could go swimming. Aquaria sighed as she gazed at her mother, wishing more than ever her mother was there for her. Noticing the time, she snapped the book shut, shoved it under her pillow and left to start the school day.
"Double Potions first," groaned Ron as they left the Great Hall from breakfast. "Cheery way to start the day."
"Oh, come off it Ron; we all know Snape is your favorite teacher," snickered Aquaria. "Or was that you, Harry?" Harry rolled his eyes playfully.
"Aqua, that's sick; not funny," he said shaking his head at her as they hurried off to the dungeons. They sat down and waited quietly for class to begin--the Gryffindors didn't want to give Professor Snape a reason to deduct points. He swept into the classroom quickly and stood at the head of the class, his cold eyes glaring around at the class.
"Today we are starting minor truth potion. These potions are not nearly as strong as veritaserum, but do come in handy and are quicker to be made. I will be setting you up in pairs," he informed them. Snape picked up the class roster and began calling out pairs.
"Avery, Patil. Nott, Finnigan. Parkinson, Weasley. MacNamara, Mal-" Snape glanced back and forth between Draco and Aquaria, and, probably thinking of the food fight two days ago, changed his mind. "No. MacNamara, Zabini. Malfoy, Potter…" Draco zoned out, not even realizing he had been paired with Harry. He was too busy glowering at Blaise, who looked thoroughly pleased with himself.
Aquaria shyly glanced over at Blaise, who gave her an approving smile, and she returned it. He was kind of cute, for a Slytherin. She laughed inwardly; she was being prejudice about his house the same way Draco was about hers. "And who am I kidding, Blaise is hot," Aquaria thought appreciatively.
Draco made sure he and Harry sat behind Aquaria and Blaise.
"Hi," Aquaria said, holding out her hand to shake Blaise's. "Aquaria MacNamara." Blaise took her hand, but instead of shaking it he kissed it, never taking his eyes off hers. Draco felt enraged inwardly, and was surprised to see Potter suddenly chopping the murtlap roots rather roughly. "So Saint Potter fancies Aquaria as well as Zabini, well, isn't she little miss popular," Draco thought, feeling irritated. What was so great about her, anyway?
"I'm Blaise Zabini," Blaise answered. Aquaria felt a little weird under his stare, and pulled her hand back, although she kept her smile fixed the same.
"Let's get started then!" she said brightly. Aquaria was a little thrown off by his…outgoingness. Draco smirked at this. Blaise was obviously going to have to work a little harder and longer than that, and maybe that would give him time to make up something nasty about Blaise to tell Aquaria. Most likely he probably wouldn't have to make it up.
"So…I don't think I've seen you in this class since first year with the Gryffindors," Blaise mentioned.
"That's cos I switched in sixth year from Ravenclaw to Gryffindor," she answered. Draco's ears perked up; he'd just realized the same thing.
"Why were you switched?" Blaise asked curiously, but at the same time, Aquaria asked, "Could you pass the Jobbernoll feathers?" They both stared at each other a second, both expressionless. Draco was getting mad and looked over at Harry briefly. Well, Draco wasn't going to be the only angry guy around here…
"Hey Potter, looks like Blaise is going to steal your little girlfriend's heart away," Draco said quietly, so only Harry could hear. Harry's temper was rising already, because he had been doing most of the work while Draco had been absorbed in Aquaria and Blaise's conversation, but he controlled it as he measured a beaker of Delilah essence.
"Gee, I dunno Malfoy. You seem to be getting pretty jealous of Blaise over there, though; scared I might become competition as well?" he replied coolly. Draco stiffened.
"What are you implying, Potter?" Draco asked, his tone harsh.
"Nothing at all…except you appear to have the hots for Aquaria. Better tell Parkinson over there it's over," Harry said in a tone similar to one he might use if mentioning the weather, pleased with how well he was handling the situation.
Draco's temper flared. Harry Potter was making wise cracks to him.. And he was acting like a Stunned beast, not even retorting the weakest comebacks. Of course, this rarely happened, Potter getting defensive and thinking up comebacks; he mainly just ignored Draco. So of course Draco would be a bit surprised.
"Just proves that a muggle-loving loser such as yourself can't keep a girl who's in their own house--and you lost her to a Slytherin, no less. Tsk, tsk, tsk," Draco drawled. Just then Aquaria giggled at something Blaise said. Harry smirked.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't appear to be you over there flirting with Aqua either. Besides, Aquaria is what you would call a 'muggle lover', so what would she want with a Death Eater like you?" Draco was outraged now. He was not, nor ever would be a Death Eater, and Potter had gone to far. He could see out of the corner of his eye Blaise and Aquaria standing very close to each other and flirting, both of them now.
"You may clean up now," Snape told the class lazily. Draco was seething still until the bell rang, and he and Harry took so long cleaning up that only Hermione Granger was still there as they left. As soon as they were out the door, Draco slammed Harry up against a wall outside the classroom, in an empty room's doorway.
"I am not a Death Eater, Potter. I've a pure arm to prove it, any time, and that's the way it will stay. As for Aquaria," he paused and glanced around to see if any one was listening in, "As for her, I know more about her then you could even think." Harry simply glared woodenly back at Draco. "So if you think you're going to tell me to stay away from your little girlfriend, you're sadly mistaken," Draco sneered. Harry's smirk never faltered.
"If I had to tell you that, she wouldn't be my girl," he answered. He pushed Draco off of him and started walking away, then paused and turned around. "Oh yeah, and Malfoy? Stay away from my girl." Harry smirked once more and left Draco there, confused. Was she or wasn't she?
"Blaise, you're a stitch," Aquaria laughed as the walked into the Great Hall together. He smiled to himself. It was now Wednesday and he thought at first it was going to be rough getting Aquaria to like him, but after the first ten minutes of potions together on Monday, she loosened up and was a lot friendlier. He casually draped his arm around her shoulder.
"You're not so bad yourself," he murmured in her ear. Aquaria held back the nervous shiver she got when she felt his breath on her neck. She shook her hair and tucked it behind her ear.
"Er…I better go to the Gryffindor table," she hinted, sliding out from under his arm and smiling coyly. Aquaria left him there, and hurried to get the empty seat beside Hermione, who smiled at her knowingly as Blaise went and sat down at the Slytherin table.
"Someone has a crush on Aquaria," she said in a sing-song voice under her breath.
"Oh, please! Slytherin, Gryffindor? I don't think that could work out," Aquaria snickered in response. Hermione gave her a weird look.
"I thought you were all about interschool unity," she said skeptically.
"I am. It's the Slytherins who have the problem with me," Aquaria answered truthfully.
"Well, I know at least one Slytherin besides Blaise who doesn't; Draco Malfoy. You're becoming like a Slytherin magnet!" Hermione giggled. Aquaria rolled her eyes.
"You're such a geek, 'Mione. Plus, you're crazy."
"Okay, but listen to this, anyway. On my way out of Potions on Monday, I dropped my quills and a whole bunch of parchment, and so I stopped to pick them up. Well I heard voices, but I was the last one out of potions, so I didn't know who it could be. I went a little closer, and it was Harry and Malfoy. Well, I hid myself behind the corner, incase Harry were to need help--"
"Hermione! You're Head Girl! You should know better. I thought you were on the side of unification, too?"
"Well…they hate each other…and I'm Harry's friend, d'you think I could just stand by and watch them hex the dickens out of each other anyways? I would…just end it as quickly as possible," Hermione finished, smiling innocently at Aquaria, who rolled her eyes again in return.
"By what means, petrifying Draco?" she said pointedly. Hermione sighed.
"You know, you petrify someone once, and you're marked for life," she answered dramatically. "Anyways, can I just finish my story?" Aquaria rolled her eyes.
"Please, continue," she said, although she didn't think that Hermione may have picked up on Aquaria's teasing sarcasm. Or she was at least ignoring it.
"Well, there I was, hiding behind the corner, and Malfoy and Harry were arguing. It was about Malfoy being a Death Eater, actually, and believe it or not, he said he wasn't." Aquaria was slightly surprised but very pleased to hear it. "Then he said he knew more about you than Harry did, and Harry couldn't tell him to stay away from you. And then Harry said that if he had to tell Draco that, then you wouldn't be his girl, and then I thought he was going to leave, but then he said, 'Oh yeah, and Malfoy? Stay away from my girl.'" Hermione sat back in her chair, crossing her arms, and looking smug. Aquaria stared at her blankly, brows raised, not sure of what to say. Half of the conversation she was still taking in. Then she laughed.
"Oh Hermione! That's rich, really," she chuckled.
"Aqua, I wasn't joking. I think they both like you, no, I'm sure. I mean, there's Malfoy, telling Harry off about you, and then asking if you two were together or not, and then there's Harry, calling you his girl…I mean, please, how obvious does it have to be for you? C'mon!" Hermione huffed exasperatedly. Just then, Harry and Ron came in, talking in low voices to each other. They came over and sat across from the girls.
"Quidditch practice tonight, Ron. Don't forget," Harry said. Ron gave Hermione a kiss across the table.
"Oh yeah," he answered absentmindedly, giving Hermione a grin. Hermione returned it. Harry looked at Aquaria and rolled his eyes playfully.
"Really, try to remember this time though, Ron," Harry added, but Ron and Hermione were already arguing happily over some homework that Ron wanted to copy from Hermione. Harry was the captain of the Quidditch team since Angelina Johnson had graduated and he was even more manic about Quidditch than both Angelina and Oliver Wood (the captain before Angelina) put together. Aquaria smiled, remembering Oliver. Their fathers had worked together, so Aquaria had known Oliver before she'd started school, although they'd never really gotten along. In fact, it wasn't until last summer they'd met up in a muggle dance club did they finally warm up to each other. By the end of the night (most of which they'd spent dancing exclusively with each other), they'd wound up snogging and messing around in an upstairs room of the club, and Aquaria had actually spent that night at Oliver's. Soon after, Oliver was going to be training with his Quidditch team, and he said that he wouldn't get to see her often, but would try to on weekends. After a few brief letters, Oliver stopped writing back to Aquaria, and they'd lost contact for nearly a month by the time Aquaria had gone back to school.
Aquaria shook her head and hopped up from the table. She wasn't hungry anymore.
"I'll see you all later," she said casually to them, hurrying off and not looking directly at any of them. Harry watched her leave.
"Well, she's been acting rather funny this week hasn't she?" Harry muttered under his breath. Hermione smiled knowingly.
"Don't worry, Harry; she doesn't like Blaise," she assured him. His face turned red.
"I-I don't like…" Harry stammered. Hermione and Ron both gave Harry pointed looks. Harry turned his attention to his bubble and squeak. "So let's not point any fingers then."
Draco was just walking into the Great Hall when somebody collided into him, sending them both to the ground.
"Hey, watch it--" he started to snap until he realized it was Aquaria. "Oh, hi..." he began again, but then noticed the large tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Draco tore his eyes away from hers not wanting to have to see her cry. Crying was a sign of complete and utter weakness to him, and Draco would rather not see her weak. Aquaria ran off when she realized Draco wasn't going to make an attempt to comfort her. But Draco didn't know how to comfort someone and would feel awkward and stupid trying to do so. He stood there, not quite sure what to do, then headed toward the owlery.
Aquaria lay on her bed, crying softly. No one was here because it was lunch time, and she was glad of it. It wasn't fair, none of it was. Oliver Wood was the biggest jerk she'd ever met, and he'd totally used her. So why couldn't she get over him? Just the talk of Quidditch reminded Aquaria of Oliver, and she hated to admit it but she missed him horribly. And then Draco turned away from her when she cried. Aquaria had thought after Saturday night maybe Draco wouldn't be so cold, but again, she was wrong.
"It seems every time he does something good, he has to do something negative to equal it out," she thought sulkily. Aquaria lay silent a second, and then sat up. An owl was tapping at her window. Aquaria got up and unlatched the window, and the owl, a tan Eagle Owl dropped a letter in her hand. It sat on the ledge, preening its feathers, as she read the note.
Aquaria:
Will you meet me down at the lake at midnight tonight? We'll talk. Send a reply if you'll come.
Aquaria stared at the note in bewilderment. It wasn't signed. Who in the world was this from? It was a boy's hand writing, she was sure of it, but it wasn't Harry's or Ron's…it was similar to Blaise's, but there was something different about it, still. Aquaria had no idea of who would want to meet her so late, and it intrigued her. She grabbed a quill and quickly scribbled an answer.
I'll be there. Who is this?
She gave the parchment back to the owl, which flew off. Aquaria waited five minutes, then another five minutes, until it became twenty. The owl finally returned, dropped the same parchment and left.
You'll find out. See you at 12.
Aquaria sighed, frustrated. There was still half the school day left, and then half the night to wait through. This was so egregious…Aquaria sighed again, and begrudgingly grabbed her bag and left to go to her next class. What choice did she have but to wait? There was no way to contact that person because their owl had flown off before she could send a second reply. She bet a million gallons the owl had orders to return immediately after delivery, too. Aquaria trudged to Herbology sullenly, when she was suddenly grabbed by her wrist.
"Aquaria, c'mon, we'll be late!" Harry exclaimed as he pulled her along with him. The two ran off to Herbology laughing, and the letter was pushed from Aquaria's mind.