Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, only Raven and her family and background. And this story. Yeah.
Summary: This is a girl's quest to find out just why she was placed in a house with people she hates. A witch, raised as a muggle, finds out about her family history. Unexpectedly, she is inducted into Slytherin House, and is doing everything in her power to find out why.
Chapter Notes: This chapter contains a scene from 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.' (You'll all know which one.) However, the only thing that is from the books is the dialogue, which is the sole property of J.K. Rowling and affiliates, and I am in no way trying to steal from her. The descriptions are of my own creation. But I make up for using the book scene by making this an extra long chapter…it's almost twice as long as any of the others! Hopefully you will all like it, and I can't wait to hear your comments.
Does anybody ever read this part? It's awfully important…
Anyway, if you have any questions, comments or ideas, please feel free to tell me. I'll try to accommodate as best I can. (I really like ideas... :)
Please review; I'd really like some constructive criticism! Try not to flame; constructive criticism is by far more helpful in a world of hate. (Ok, that sounded a little cheesy, but I meant it.)
The Angels Were Holding Hands
For the next month, things had become rather humdrum. I hadn't talked to Harry since that night, but we stole the occasional glance from across the Great Hall or while passing each other in the corridor. I had a hard time trying not to smile when I saw him, because I knew I would give myself away. Jesse Jameson asked me once what I was grinning at, as we made our way to Charms one day, but I just made up a lie that I was thinking about Blaise.
Speaking of which, Blaise was becoming more attentive than before, after my little episode on the common room floor. He always seemed to be looking at me; like he was making sure that I wasn't going to collapse on him all of a sudden. I kept telling him that I was fine, and that I had probably only been sleep walking. I could tell he didn't believe me. Oh well.
Draco hadn't spoken to me, for which I was grateful. I really didn't know how I would react, if he said anything to me, even if it was just to borrow a quill. He kept his distance, only coming near me when social protocol asked for it. And even then, he never spoke to me, just gave me the occasional unreadable glance. It was annoying, really, seeing him look at me, and not having a clue what he was thinking about. I just tried to act normal, which was much easier; now that I knew I had both Harry and Hermione to turn to.
I finally wrote to Hermione, telling her how sorry I was for not staying in touch, as well as telling her what I had found out about my family. She wrote back immediately, letting me know that it was alright that I hadn't written back, that she understood that my situation was rather limiting. She also expressed her opinion of the information I had given her, in a way that seemed very much not Hermione. I laughed at her colourful use of words, and wrote her a short note reassuring her that I would be fine, and that Draco didn't seem to be talking.
About a week into December, I received a letter from my mum, explaining that I wouldn't be able to come home for Christmas because a client for her sewing business needed her in Switzerland, and she couldn't afford to bring me along. She even thought ahead of me and told me that she forbade me from using my wizard money to try and pay my own way; that I needed to save it for school. Slightly depressed, I signed up to stay over the Winter Holiday, and learned later that Draco was going to as well. I sent a short note to Harry, telling him of this new development. Hopefully, their Polyjuice Potion would be ready by then.
Dear Father,
Thank you very much for your assistance in my inquisition. Your information was enlightening. However, I have chosen to do nothing with it at the current time, for reasons directly concerning my inquiry.
I would like to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, if that is acceptable with you and Mum. I have information that my inquiry is staying as well, and would like the chance to observe her in better detail before I do anything with the information you provided me.
If I do not see you, have a Happy Christmas.
Your Son,
Draco
When I saw the sign for the Duelling Club, I was just as excited as any other student to go. I watched everything unfold with wide eyes. Lockhart, of course, was entertaining; he obviously had no idea what he was doing. I silently cheered Professor Snape on as he blasted Lockhart off of his feet with the Disarming Charm.
When it came time for partners, I cast a worried glance at Harry when he was paired with Draco. I had been paired up with Donnie, who always seemed indifferent to the fact that I was a girl, but was nice anyway, and let me disarm him first. Not that I wanted to be treated any different, but the boys in my class either didn't care, and treated me like one of the guys, or were super nice to me and walked over themselves to treat me like a girl. It was sad, really.
When Draco sicked that snake on Harry, I wasn't sure what would happen, and was secretly murdering Draco in my head. But then Harry said something strange. It sounded like hissing, and the snake was moving closer to a Hufflepuff I didn't know. Everyone stood rooted to the spot, terrified. Was Harry talking to that snake? It sure seemed like it. Then the snake turned docile, as Harry kept hissing angrily at it.
The Hufflepuff glared at Harry. "What do you think you're playing at?" he shouted, and then left the hall. I saw Ron and Hermione drag Harry out a minute later. I turned to Donnie.
"What was that all about?"
Donnie had a dark look on his face. "Potter's a Parselmouth. I can't believe it."
"What's that?" That sounds awfully familiar…
"He can talk to snakes. He must be the Heir of Slytherin then." Blaise came up to us.
"Did you see that? Potter can speak Parseltongue. The only other wizard known for that was Salazar Slytherin himself." Oh.
This can't be good.
And then a few days later, that Hufflepuff, Justin Finch-Fletchley, along with Nearly-Headless Nick, were attacked. And everyone was jumping at the chance to go home for the holidays. And I was stuck here. With Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and few older boys. I would be the only Slytherin girl. I even thought of giving my hair to Hermione to use for the Polyjuice Potion, but decided against it; it would have blown Harry's and my cover.
My only consolation was that Harry, Hermione and Ron would be staying too, and that I would hopefully be able to see them interrogating Draco. I couldn't wait. Especially since he had been in such a foul mood, ever since people were naming Harry the Heir of Slytherin.
And when people kept whispering that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, I just shook my head. No. He just couldn't be. Regardless of the evidence against him, I just knew that Harry wasn't the heir of Slytherin…it was like an instinctive knowledge I had.
And then Christmas Day had finally come, and with that, presents. In the Slytherin common room, there was a large Christmas tree set up, glittering with lights and bobbles, with the Slytherin presents under it. We all took turns opening our presents, drinking hot cocoa or hot cider and eating various cookies and sweets. It was a quiet morning, and we hardly spoke a word to one another, seeing as I didn't know any of the other Slytherins, and really didn't care to know them. Crabbe and Goyle hardly ever speak to anyone other than Draco, and Draco and I weren't speaking to each other.
My mum had sent me some Swiss chocolate and book called The History of Magic in Eastern Europe. Blaise had given me a silver bracelet with bright green jade pieces set into it; Theo gave me a set of bookends shaped like dragons for my large collection of books, and Pansy gave me a beautiful full-length mirror to hang up in my room. She was rather vain, that girl. But I liked her.
I had also received a few gifts from the Gryffindors. Hermione secretly sent me a bookmark; one for every schoolbook and then some-she remembered that I liked to read. She disguised it as a present from a made-up friend from my childhood named Harmony. She was a clever girl, that one. And Harry secretly sent me a card saying that I'd get my present the following evening, and to meet him in the same room we talked in at 11p.m. He used Hermione's same idea (I'm assuming she told him what she was sending me and how,) using the name Harriet. I shook my head at their antics. It was quite fun actually, trying to fool everybody.
But I got another present I wasn't expecting. And I had no idea who it was from. There was no note, and no indication of who might have sent it. It was a snow globe, in which the snow was always magically falling. There were two moving figures in it, a man and a woman, who looked an awful lot like my parents. They twirled and danced in the snow, and would sometimes look up at me and wave. And when you wound the switch, it played a tinkling lullaby that I had never heard before.
"Mum…Dad…" I whispered, as I watched the figures dance. Crabbe and Goyle glanced over at me, pausing from stuffing their faces with goodies, but I paid no attention to them. I looked up at Draco, and straight into his grey eyes. He looked coolly back, but a small furrow was forming between his brows. Like he was worried about something. Dropping my gaze, I quickly gathered my gifts and went to my room.
It had to be Draco…it just had to be. Who else would send me a gift like that? What is he trying to do? Shove it in my face? I sighed heavily. Bloody hell. I've got to get out of here. I dressed quickly and nearly ran out of the common room to wander the school a bit.
Eventually, it was time for the Christmas feast, and although the meal and the teachers were wonderful, the company at my table wasn't. Draco kept making loud and rude comments about the sweater Harry was wearing. I thought it was a wonderful sweater. Someone obviously spent a lot of time on it, and it showed. It was a green that was a little darker than his eyes, but it still fit him perfectly.
After the dinner, the other Slytherins and I left Crabbe and Goyle in the Great Hall, where they were still having their third desserts, and went down to our common room. When we arrived, the other students went to their room under the pretences of changing into something comfortable, and I went into my room and grabbed my new book and the snow globe. It was time Draco and I had a little talk.
I went over to the table next to the bookshelves and set my book down. Then I walked over to Draco, who was reading something in one of the armchairs, lounging lazily.
"Draco, why did you send me this?" I held up the snow globe.
Looking annoyed, he stopped reading his letter to look up at me. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb, Draco. I know you sent this. Who else could it have been?"
He looked disinterestedly back down to his letter. "So what if I did?"
"Are you trying to shove it in my face? That I can't ever have a happy family? That I'll never have a father?"
Sighing, he set whatever he was reading down on the coffee table and stood to face me. "No. I was trying to give you something nice, to remember them by."
"Why? I don't understand you, Draco. You hate muggles. You hate Mudbloods, like my father. You even hate half-bloods, like me. Why do something nice?"
He spoke in a tight voice, a pointed look on his face. "Because, Raven. It's different with you. I can't hate you. I've tried. Believe me, I've tried. And I just can't." He sighed. "Look, if you don't like the gift, fine. But I…" He shook his head, the sneer back on his face. "It's not that I pity you. Or even like you. In fact, I really don't like you at all. You annoy the hell out of me. I'm just trying to be nice for once in my life. Because what I did to you wasn't. The fact is, that you were put in Slytherin for some reason that only Merlin knows, and I can't change that, no matter how much I want to. So I'll be as civil as I can. This is the only thing you can expect from me. A gift to show my regret for how I told you about your family. Other than that, we're still enemies. But I'm not planning on telling anyone about your family. Not until it suits my purpose." And with that, he grabbed his letter and went to his room, only to come out a minute later with a grin on his face, heading straight for the door, leaving me alone in the common room.
I was confused beyond all hell. "What on earth?" I shook my head. "He's nutters. Absolutely insane." His thought process was beyond me. It's like he wanted to be nice, but just couldn't. He didn't even sound as snide as usual. I felt that there was something more to him…but perhaps he didn't even know what yet.
I sat down to start reading my new book, but really I was staring at the snow globe. I realized that I had a question to ask Draco about how it was made. I shrugged. I guess I would ask him when he got back. Then the other Slytherins came out and sat down in a few of the armchairs in front of the fire.
Draco arrived a few minutes later with Crabbe and Goyle, who looked rather nervous for some reason. It took a minute of looking at their posture, but eventually, I realized that it was actually Harry and Ron. I wonder where Hermione is? I shifted in my seat, so I could watch the interrogation, but still look like I was reading my book.
"Wait here, I'll go and get it—my father's just sent it to me—" Draco said, motioning the two boys into chairs set back from the fire. They sat down, and I tried to not laugh, but it was so hard. It was obvious to me, at least, that these two boys were way too fidgety to be Crabbe and Goyle. I wonder which one is which? I thought.
Draco came back and thrust a piece of paper underneath Crabbe's nose. "That'll give you a laugh," he said. Crabbe read it, gave a forced laugh, and then gave it to Goyle who just stared at it. I wonder what it could be about?
"Well? Don't you think it's funny?" Draco asked impatiently. Goyle forced a miserable laugh as well. "Arthur Weasley loves muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go join them. You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave." Draco said scornfully. What's wrong with loving all human kind, you prat?
Then I saw Crabbe turn very angry. That must be Ron, which means Harry's Goyle. "What's up with you, Crabbe?" Draco snapped.
"Stomachache," he grunted.
"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," Draco said, snickering. "You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in." Draco started miming Colin, saying: "'Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?'" Then he dropped his hands. "What's the matter with you two?" He said to Crabbe and Goyle, and I couldn't help it; I started snickering from behind my book. Draco was just so dense. Honestly.
Crabbe and Goyle then started laughing a bit, and that seemed to satisfy Draco, because he started talking again. It was like he loved to hear himself speak, rather than have actual conversation. "Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend. He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood." Hey! That's Hermione you're talking about, you arse! "And people think he's Slytherin's heir!" I don't. And apparently, neither do you. That's the only thing we'll ever agree on, Draco.
"I wish I knew who it is," Draco said impatiently. "I could help them." He cast a sideways glance at me, and I just glared back through my bangs. Yes, Draco…I'm listening.
"You must have some idea who's behind it all…" Goyle said. Good thinking Harry…just go out and ask…
"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" Draco snapped. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, an he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing—last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time…I hope it's Granger." I'll kill you first, Malfoy, you bloody arsehole.
"D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?" Goyle asked quickly.
"Oh yeah…whoever it was was expelled. They're probably still in Azkaban."
"Azkaban?" Goyle asked, confused.
"Azkaban—the wizard prison, Goyle. Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward." Draco shifted a bit. "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week? Yeah…Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff, but luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor—"
"Ho!" Crabbe exclaimed. Although I couldn't see Draco's face, I could tell that he was puzzled at Crabbe's exclamation. And then I saw a slight change in the colour of Crabbe's hair. Both Crabbe and Goyle jumped up, Crabbe grunting something about medicine, and then they ran from the common room. Yep, no doubt about it, that was Ron and Harry…
Draco stood up, and when I saw the puzzled look on his face, I burst out laughing. Draco whirled to face me, and the other Slytherins turned to look at me as well. "What's so funny, Raven?" Draco spat.
I shook my head. "Oh nothing…just reading about some wizard from Yugoslavia who was stupid enough to fall for an obvious trick and was humiliated in front of his friends and enemies." Which was completely untrue of course…I hadn't the slightest idea what was in the chapter I was reading…I was too caught up listening to Draco's conversation that I forgot to read. I wonder if he'll catch my meaning…let's hope not. Chuckling, I gathered my things and went to my room, where I spent most of my time quietly giggling before I finally went to bed. I couldn't wait to see Harry the next night.
And the next night really couldn't come quick enough. My day was fun, but later, after dinner, the wait for eleven was terrible.
I had spent a few hours outside; enjoying the quiet, snow covered view before the other Slytherins came out and started a snowball fight. Even Draco had fun pelting Crabbe and Goyle, although for the most part, they were just acting as his shield against the older Slytherins. I just sat by the entrance, watching as they built little snow forts and enacted in a battle: the younger Slytherins versus the older.
"Hey Raven!" Goyle shouted. "We need another person! Will you come play?" I looked at him oddly. When had he ever talked to me? I was surprised he even knew my name. Shrugging, I thought, "Why the hell not?" And I got up and plodded over to their massive fort, as it was big enough to hide both Crabbe and Goyle.
Immediately, it was warfare, and with Crabbe and Goyle on our side, we weren't doing too badly. Draco and I hid behind the two boys, and followed up on their attacks. Of course, our snowballs weren't nearly as big, and I really couldn't throw very far, but we tried.
Soon, we were all exhausted, and Crabbe and Goyle went inside for lunch. I walked a little ways away and flopped back on a patch of fresh snow. I looked up into the grey sky and watched the snow fall down from above, feeling the cool flakes melt on my face.
"What're you doing?" I heard Draco ask from somewhere near my feet.
"Watching the snow."
"Why?"
"Because I want to, is there something wrong with that?"
There was a pregnant pause. "No, I suppose not."
I lay there a moment longer, very aware of Draco's gaze on me. And when I got tired of waiting for him to leave, I just started moving my arms and legs in the snow.
"Now what are you doing?" I stopped and sighed.
Lifting my head up, I asked, "Do you always have to know everything?"
"Generally, yes."
Putting my head back down, I started moving my arms and legs again. "Well, for your information Draco, I'm making a snow angel."
"A what?"
"Oh, goodness." I huffed. I stopped and sat up slightly, holding out my hand. "Help me up. I'll show you." Draco hesitated for a moment, but then took my hand in his and tugged me to my feet. I turned around and stood next to him, facing my work in the snow. "See? Look at the outline. It's an angel. And it's in the snow, so hence, a snow angel."
He studied it and moment, cocking his head. "I see." Then he looked at me. "Can you show me how to make one?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Sure…" I gestured to a blank patch of snow next to my angel. "Lay down right there." Draco walked over and copied what I had done, flopping back into the snow. Only his snow was a bit deeper than mine, and he wound up getting it all over his face. I burst out laughing. "No! Don't move, I'll wipe it off for you." I walked around him and up near his head. Leaning down, I wiped the powdery white substance off of his face with my mitten. "Sorry about that. Sometimes it's hard to tell how deep the snow is. At least you're wearing a hat." I smiled. He scowled back up at me. "Hey, I said I was sorry!" Then I moved back to Draco's feet.
"Ok, now all you have to do is move your arms up and down as if you were waving them. Like this," and I showed him. He mimicked me. "Good. Now you have to move your legs too, spreading them apart and then back together again. You only have to do it a few times to get it." He did as I said. "Ok, now you can get up and look at it." I helped him to his feet.
Turning to look at it, he said, "Not bad for my first one, eh?"
I shook my head. "Nope, not bad at all."
Draco looked at me sideways. "You're odd, you know that?"
"And only you know why." I said ruefully.
"Indeed."
"Well, I'm hungry, let's go back inside and warm up."
He nodded. "Ok." Then we turned and started walking back to the entrance. We met up with the other Slytherins who were still outside, and when I turned around to look back at what Draco and I had done, I noticed something strange.
It looked like the angels were holding hands.
Finally, night had come. I had spent the afternoon actually reading my new book, and drinking cider. Lounging around a nearly empty common room had its perks. I had one corner of the room to myself. I wasn't even bothered by the games the others were playing at the other end.
But much later, shortly after we had come back from dinner, I snuck out of the common room under the pretences of visiting the library. "Don't wait up for me!" I called back to the boys. Hopefully, when I was gone past midnight, they would just assume that I was engrossed in some books, regardless of the fact that the library was generally closed that late at night. It really wasn't all that uncommon to find me reading in some random classroom or corridor in the dungeons, especially when I wanted to get away from Slytherin House and have no one bother me. Of course, I nearly lost house points every time I was caught, but Professor Snape would just roll his eyes and say, "Just be happy it was I that found you and not someone else. Now get back to your common room."
This time though, I never went to the library, I went straight to the room Harry and I met in. I sat in the dark room, with the door just barely ajar, waiting. Actually, I was there almost an hour early, so when the door seemingly opened and closed on it's own a good fifteen minutes before eleven, I tried not to panic, seeing as I was now blind.
"Harry?" I whispered into the dark.
"Yeah, it's me." I breathed a sigh of relief. I quickly cast lumos on my wand, and was blinded again by the bright light. Harry was standing in front of me, the invisibility cloak in this left hand, and a wrapped package in his right. Setting his cloak down, he took out his wand and cast a silencing charm on the room again. Then he sat down in front of me.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Good. You?"
"I'm good. I got you something." He smiled, handing the package to me.
"Thank you, Harry. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get you or Hermione anything. Yet. I couldn't think of what to get you guys." I added.
"It's alright. You don't need to get me anything."
"Oh, but I want to." I looked at him for a moment, thinking. "What size do you wear?" I asked.
Harry looked puzzled. "I…don't really know, actually."
Now I looked puzzled. "You don't?" He shook his head. "Oh, honestly, let me look at the tag on your shirt." He leaned forward, and I un-tucked the tag from his collar. "Medium. Ok. I'll let Mum know."
"Why?"
"You'll see when you get it." I smiled secretly. Then I looked down to my package. "Do you want me to open it now?"
"Of course. Go ahead."
I untied the twine around the box, and slowly undid the brown packaging paper. Inside was a green leather-bound journal and a fine black quill. "Oh, Harry, they're beautiful. Thank you," I leaned forward and hugged him.
"You're welcome. Hermione told me you like to read, so I thought maybe you might like to write as well. The journal is charmed so that only you can read it, unless you want someone else to, so you can use it like a diary if you wish. The quill's really special, though. When you hold it, it takes imprints of your memories, even parts that you can't consciously remember, so when you use it to write down your thoughts, it will write exactly how the memory was imprinted in your brain. Plus you can add thoughts about what you've written. You'll always have your full memories written down. People use them to write their memoirs."
"Wow…Harry, that's amazing. It must have been really expensive. Thank you so much. Really. I love it."
He shrugged. "From one secret friend to another." I smiled.
"So what did you get for Christmas? Other than that sweater Draco was going on about. I think it's a lovely sweater. Who gave it to you?"
"Mrs. Weasley, along with a plum cake."
"Oh, I love plum cake!"
He nodded. "I also got a luxury eagle feather quill from Hermione, a book about Ron's favourite Quidditch team, the Cannons, from Ron, and a tin of treacle fudge from Hagrid. Oh, and the Dursleys sent me a toothpick." He said sarcastically.
"Are those the muggles you live with during the summer?" He nodded. "I wish you could stay with me. I'm sure Mum would love to have you. But we have a reputation to uphold, huh?"
"Yeah, we do." Harry sighed. "So, how about you? What did you get for Christmas?"
"Oh, Mum gave me some Swiss chocolate and a book on the history of magic in Eastern Europe, and Blaise got me this pretty bracelet, see?" I showed it to him, but he just nodded, a troubled look growing on his face. Moving on I said, "Theo got me some bookends, and Pansy got me a full-length mirror to put in my room. I swear, she thinks no girl should be without one." Harry nodded, but his mind seemed to be elsewhere. "Harry, is there something wrong? You turned troubled when I showed you the bracelet Blaise gave me."
He smiled a little. "I'm ok, really. I just…I'm just afraid that you're getting too close to some of the Slytherins. I'm afraid it might turn out badly."
I thought for a moment. "I…I think I know what you mean, but really Harry, I can't just pretend to hate them all. That would be even more dangerous. Besides, some of them are actually not bad people. They just come from less-than-desirable families."
"I know." He said resignedly. "But…I saw something interesting this morning. That kind of bothered me."
"Really? What?"
"You and Malfoy. Playing in the snow."
Oh.
"I saw you from Gryffindor tower. Did something happen between you two?" Harry asked, the troubled look still on his face.
"Yes and no." I answered, biting my lip. I really couldn't keep anything from him. It was like lying to your twin.
"Why don't you tell me what's happened in the last month."
I sighed. "Well, nothing really. The first time I've talked to Draco for about a month was last night."
"And what did you say to him?"
"I asked him…about something. He…also gave me a gift."
Harry looked alarmed. "What was it?"
"It was a snow globe. It has two people dancing in the snow together, and waving at me. They look just like my parents did when they were younger."
"And why did he give you something like that?" Harry did not like this at all, I thought. He really looked like he was getting angry.
"He said that he was trying to do something nice for once. Because what he did to me when he told me about my family wasn't."
"It sounds like a load of rubbish, to me. You should get rid of it."
I was taken aback. "But I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because…well…regardless of who gave it to me, it's a very nice gift, Harry. I'm sorry, but I really don't think I can just throw it away."
Harry sat for a moment, studying my face. Then he sighed. "I…understand, actually. I would probably keep something like that too." We sat for a moment in silence. "So what was going on with you and Malfoy today? Did you guys call a truce or something?"
"Oh. No, we didn't. We're still enemies. But Goyle asked for my help against the older Slytherins today in a snowball fight. So I helped them, then went to lie in the snow for a while. And Draco kept asking me what I was doing, especially when I started to make a snow angel. He asked me to show him, so I did. That was it really. Nothing more." Harry quirked an eyebrow.
"Did you notice what the snow angels looked like afterwards?" He asked.
"You mean that they looked like they were holding hands?"
"Yeah."
"You could see that from up there?" He nodded.
"I saw everything, I just couldn't hear." I nodded an 'oh.'
"So you think that I'm acting too friendly with Draco?" I asked Harry.
"Yes, I do. But I suppose I'm just being over-protective. I just worry about you, is all." My heart warmed at hearing those words.
"By the way," I said, "I saw you last night. You and Ron."
Harry looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, yeah. As Crabbe and Goyle." I nodded. "I saw you too, sitting in the corner, reading."
"Well, I was trying to read, but I was having too hard a time trying not to laugh. It was so funny. I mean, I could tell that you were too fidgety to be those two oafs, but Draco…gods, is he dense."
Harry laughed. "Yeah, we fooled him pretty well, didn't we?"
I laughed too. "Yeah, you did. So where was Hermione?"
"Oh. She…um…well, she got some hair off of Millicent Bulstrode. But…it was cat's hair. And the Polyjuice Potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations."
"Oh…so she's in the infirmary, huh?" Harry nodded, mirth in his eyes. "I was wondering why she wasn't at the meals today."
"Yeah, she'll probably be there until after term starts, actually."
"That's too bad. She probably hates missing school."
"Yes, actually, she does." There was another long pause, before Harry spoke again. "Raven…I've been thinking about that…connection or something that happened last time…"
"Yeah?"
"And…there are times when I feel something…weird, inside me, but separate. It's hard to explain."
I sat for a minute, thinking. "I…think I know what you're talking about. Except…you know when everyone started calling you the Heir of Slytherin?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, I'm not sure why, but I just knew that you aren't. Like I was you, like I knew that I wasn't the heir of Slytherin, meaning you aren't the Heir of Slytherin, you know?"
"I think so. Maybe something did happen between us."
"Maybe. But what?"
"I don't know. But I keep thinking that maybe that's why I feel so comfortable around you…even more so than before. Like…I can talk to you about anything. Is that weird?"
I shook my head. "No, I don't think so. I've always felt that way about you."
"Always?" he asked and I nodded. "I just felt strange when I couldn't talk to you for all that time. I'm really glad to see you again."
"Me too." I said. We sat in companionable silence for a few moments, just looking at each other. "Hm…well, I should probably get back. It'll be easier for the guys to miss me because there are only a few of us." Harry nodded.
"So, when will I get my present?" He asked mischievously, standing up.
I held out my hand to him. "I'll let you know when we can meet again. Until then, you'll just have to wait." He pulled me onto my feet. We both got under the cloak and left the room, removing spells as we went.
When we got to the entrance to my common room, Harry held me back a minute before I left him. "Just…promise me you'll be careful, Raven. I'd hate to think of what could happen to you," he whispered, giving me a warm hug.
I hugged him back, fiercely. "I will. I promise. You just worry about your own problems, ok?"
"Like finding the Heir of Slytherin?"
"Yeah. But I'll try to help you as much as I can, too." He nodded. "Goodnight, Harry. Thanks again for the gift."
"You're welcome. Goodnight, Raven."
I left the invisibility cloak, entering the Slytherin common room and going straight to my room. The boys were still up talking around the fire. When I was halfway across the common room, however, Draco asked, "What's that you got, Raven?"
"Oh, my mum sent me another package. It seems she found something else she'd thought I'd like," I lied. Then I set off again, wanting to get in a good chance of using my new gift before I went to bed. This lying thing is getting way too easy.
That was when I started writing down my memories. And I would continue to do so, during all my time at Hogwarts, until I finally started compiling them into this book.
Lady/Queen Thayet: Thanks for reviewing. And I made that correction you asked about. Maybe I need a beta…I don't always quite catch everything, even though I read everything like fifty times before I submit it…And I did mean 'phials.' It's the same thing, really. But please, keep reading!
PinkKangaroo: I'm liking Seattle a lot, actually. Thanks for asking. And there might be something you don't know about Raven and Harry…;)
Raisa: Hmm…Malfoy…is…a complicated character. Let's just leave it at that for now. :D And as for Harry and Raven…well, I've been toying with a few ideas, but we'll just have to see how it works with everything else I have in mind for later. Thanks for reading!
SmileyFace3: I'm glad you liked the 'Secret Friends' idea. That was one of the very first ideas that I had for this story…I just had to get there first! lol Thanks you so much for reading!
Thanks everyone for reading! Please review!
