Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, only Raven and her family and background. And this story. Yeah.
Chapter Notes: Hello! I don't think I have anything to say about this chapter…except that I really enjoyed writing the scene between Raven and Draco…And before I get any reviews telling me that he's not acting like himself…I know. I've written him that way when he's around Raven for a reason. And it will all come to bear fruit…somewhere around Raven's sixth year. That's all I can say. :D
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.)
Boys Are Obnoxious, Pratty, Pains-in-the-Arse
A day before term started, everyone who was gone for the holiday returned, and the castle suddenly came alive again. I wanted to retreat into my room, but Blaise wouldn't let me, so I was forced to remain in the crowded common room.
"So," he said in my ear, "did you like your present?"
"Oh yes, Blaise. It's beautiful. See?" I showed him my left wrist, "I haven't taken it off since I got it." He grinned brightly.
"I'm glad."
I turned to Theo and Pansy. "And thank you for your gifts as well. I hope you liked what I got you." They all nodded. For Blaise, I had gotten him a bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and magical silver hair die. I got Pansy a couple sets of pink hair barrettes, and I got Theo a poster of his favourite Quidditch team, the Phantoms.
Then term started again and life went on.
On Valentine's Day, Professor Lockhart decided it might be fun to interrupt everyone's classes with singing Valentines from dwarfs. That man is absolutely bonkers.
When I got back to the common room that night, I went straight to my room to start on my homework; avoiding the common room that had already been filled with people, and there were even a few couples making out on the sofas. Bleck. Who wants to watch that…get a room.
I had just started on my potions homework when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
"Raven?" I turned around.
"Blaise. Hi. What's up?" He closed the door behind him and kept his hands behind his back. He held his gaze on the floor.
"I uh…wanted to give you something."
"Oh? What is it?" I stood. He walked over to me and presented me with a single red rose.
"For you. Happy Valentine's Day."
"Oh Blaise, it's beautiful. Thank you." I held the blossom to my nose and inhaled.
"I would have liked to put a charm on it so that it wouldn't wilt, but couldn't find one in time."
"Oh, that's ok. I still love it."
He bit his bottom lip. "You're welcome." Then he bent and gave me a short but sweet kiss on the cheek, leaving before I could utter a word.
Touching my cheek, I returned to my desk, placing the rose on it, off to the side. Grinning, I set about to finishing my homework, but found I was distracted, so I went to bed. I had dreams full of soft smiles, warm hugs, and sweet kisses. Who they were from, however, was a mystery.
When Harry and Hermione's presents came in, I sent Hermione's to her with a note, and sent Harry a note telling him to meet me that night in our special meeting place.
For Hermione, I asked Mum to make her a blue summer dress, for when it got too hot out to wear robes. My mum seemed to know just what I wanted, and the dress turned out lovely. It was made of a light fabric with different shades of blue swirling all around. It was sleeveless and was no longer than just below her knee, if I got her height right.
For Harry, I asked her if she could make him a dress shirt. The shirt was a dark forest green, with a small pattern of griffins embroidered with silver thread into the fabric, which was Chinese silk. It was also sleeveless, with a Chinese collar and frog closures going across the shoulder. It was exactly how I imagined it would be. Granted, it was in Slytherin colours, but for some reason, I really couldn't imagine Harry in a red shirt like this.
That night, when I got into the room, Harry was already there. When he saw me, he immediately pulled me into a hug, as if he hadn't seen me in a few months.
"Harry…Harry, is there something wrong?" I asked over his shoulder, hugging him back.
"Yes…no…I just…I've been finding out some really awful stuff about the attacks, and I just needed…" He sighed heavily.
"It's ok. I understand. We're friends, right? Friends help each other out. Now why don't you tell me about it?" I pulled away and went to sit down against the wall, Harry right next to me. I held onto his hand for moral support.
"Well…Ron and I, we found a diary in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It's from fifty years ago, and it belonged to a boy called Tom Marvolo Riddle. But the diary was blank. And then when a singing valentine broke one of my inkbottles yesterday, all of my other books were drenched in red ink, but the diary was fine. So I started writing in it. And it wrote back. It was Tom…inside the diary." Harry pulled his knees up to his chest, taking a deep breath. "I asked him about the Chamber of Secrets, and he wouldn't tell me, but he showed me something. Something bad. Raven, I think Hagrid was the one that opened the Chamber fifty years ago. I think Hagrid killed that muggle-born. And I don't want to believe it, but…I mean…it just can't be Hagrid! Sure, he likes to keep monsters, but he wouldn't hurt a fly! I just can't believe it!" He buried his face in arms, which were now crossed over his bent knees.
"Shh…Harry, it's ok." I started rubbing his back. "I'm sure there's another side to the story. Why don't you ask Hagrid? If he was at school back then, maybe he can tell you something more about what happened." Harry nodded.
"Hermione suggested that too."
"Well, for now, cheer up! I've brought you your present!" I held out a package to him.
He raised his head and smiled weakly. "Really?"
"Yep. Sorry it took so long…Mum was rather busy with her sewing and baking businesses."
"So what exactly did your mum do?" He asked, taking the package.
"Open it. You'll see."
He untied the ribbon on the box, and lifted off the cover. I held my wand up so he could see better.
"Wow…Raven…this is really nice…I'm not really sure I'll ever get a chance to wear it…"
"Oh, I'm sure you will. You can use it for a costume party, or a date or something." He blushed, taking the shirt out of the box.
"Who says I'm going to be dating?"
"I do. I'm your friend, and I insist that you start dating at some point in your life." I stood up, placing my wand in the corner so the light filled the whole room. "Ok, now try it on."
"What? Here? Now?"
"Yes, silly. I want to see how it fits." I held out my hand to help him up. "You can keep your undershirt on if you like, but I think you'll like it better if you put it directly on your skin."
"Ok…" he conceded. "But will you turn around?" I rolled my eyes, but complied.
"Boys."
After a few minutes of the sound of moving cloth, Harry told me it was ok to turn around.
"Oh, Harry! It's perfect! My mum really did a good job, didn't she?"
Harry looked embarrassedly down at himself. "Yes, she did. Am I wearing it right? I feel a little goofy."
I looked at him, calculatingly. "Don't be silly, you look great. But let me fix the closures." I fiddled with his shoulder a minute, then stepped back. "Yes. Perfect." And it was. His arms were just starting to look muscular, so the sleeveless factor was a good thing. The fabric fit his torso just right, not too snug but not too loose. The hem went about five inches past the waist of his pants, which was exactly where it should be. "Mum told me that she put a charm on it, so if you grow out of if it, it will resize to fit you. Neat, huh?"
"Yeah…it's really, really nice, Raven. Thank you."
"You're welcome. So, how does it feel?"
"It feels…silky." I laughed.
"Well, that's good, considering it's silk. Ok, enough of torturing you. You can take it off now if you want."
"No, I think I'll keep it on for a while."
"That works for me," I said, sitting down. He sat down next to me.
"So how was your Valentine's Day?" he asked.
"Boring, really. I mean…I got a few Valentines, but thankfully, they were written, not singing."
"Oh? Who were they from?" Harry asked, fiddling with the ribbon from the box.
"Well, Theo gave me one, but just as a joke, really. And this boy in my year, Jesse Jameson, gave me one too. And Blaise. He gave me a rose, and a kiss."
"He kissed you?" Harry asked, looking incredulous and murderous all at the same time.
"Only on the cheek." I said with a hint of defensiveness.
"Jeez, he's not really hiding the fact that he likes you, is he?"
I blushed. "No, I suppose not."
"But you don't like him that way?" He seemed to be asking for confirmation.
"Honestly, I don't know how I feel about anybody. But I might kind of like Blaise. A little. He's really sweet. But I'm certainly not ready to date him or anything. I'm too busy. And I'm only eleven. My mum probably won't let me date until I'm at least sixteen anyways." I looked at Harry. "You seem to ask a lot of questions about how I feel about Blaise…are you jealous?"
"What? No. I mean, yes. No. I mean no, I'm not jealous, but yes, I am…in a brotherly sort of way. I just don't want you to get hurt. It goes back to that 'getting too close to the Slytherins' thing."
"I understand. But I'll let you know if anything happens. I'm really not ready to date anyone, so even if Blaise asked me to go out with him tomorrow, I would say no. Really…I'm a little surprised he's thinking so much about girls already. Aren't boys your age still supposed to be obnoxious, pratty, pains-in-the-arse?"
Harry laughed. "Some of us still are. Like Malfoy."
"Oh, yes. He definitely fits all of those requirements." We laughed and talked for a few more minutes, then left our special meeting place, setting off on our own ways.
It was sometime towards the end of April when something happened that affected me almost as much as finding out about my family had.
Hermione was attacked.
I sat there in shock, even after Professor Snape left. How could this happen? Who's doing this? Oh, gods, Hermione…A lump had formed in my throat as I tried to hold back tears. I wonder how Harry and Ron are doing…
"Ha!" Malfoy laughed as he stood up from his chair. "That Mudblood Granger's finally got it! It's too bad she didn't die…" That was the last straw; I snapped. I stood up and walked straight over to him, slapping him in the face. Draco's eyes went wide, and he turned back to me with a snarl. "What the hell d--" but I cut him off.
"How dare you!" I seethed. "Regardless of your feelings towards muggle-borns, she's a human being, Draco. How would you feel if someone wanted to get rid of you?" I poked him hard in the chest and glared at him. "You're nothing more than a racist prick." Then I turned on my heel and started walking back to my room, the stunned crowd giving me a wide berth.
"Why do you care, Harrell?" Adrian Pucey said disdainfully. I turned around slowly. "You're a pure-blood, we all are. Why do we care what happens to those outside of our own house? It's not like we're friends with any of them."
I looked at Draco, and he cast me a hard look that read, 'You've just dug your own grave.' I sighed and turned to Adrian. "You're right. None of us should care. But that doesn't mean we can't. Slytherins are supposed to be ambitious. So let's be ambitious! We need to stop doing whatever our parents tell us to do, or think what our parents tell us to think." There was a murmur in the crowd. "I'm not saying love the muggle-borns, or even like them. But I really can't think ill of people I don't know. It's just the way I am. All I'm asking is for you all to accept that about me. You can do whatever it is that you want." I turned to walk away again, glancing at Draco. He raised a calculating eyebrow at me.
"Well then, Raven, you'll just have to accept that we hate anyone who's not in Slytherin," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. There was a mutter of agreement in the masses. It was an unspoken given; to me at least, that he hated a few in Slytherin too. Namely me. I stopped again.
"That's fine, Malfoy."
"So do you really expect us to be ok if you want to become friends with the Mudbloods?" Flint asked, so I turned back around.
"No, not really. But I never said I wanted to be friends with any of them, did I? I'm not one to entirely stray from the pack. I just stick to my own kind: those who can think for themselves." And I left a dumbstruck room of Slytherins for my own room, where I flopped down on my bed, grabbed my pillow, and screamed into it. Goddamn bloody hell! What did I just do? I just totally lost it, that's what. And barely picked up the pieces too. Shit. I'm never going to live that down. Oh, Hermione…I hope you'll be ok.
"That wasn't too smart, you know." Startled, I sat up and threw my pillow at the intruder. He caught it deftly.
"What the bloody hell are you doing in my room? Get out! OUT!"
"You do realise you almost blew your cover?" Draco said calmly, not even fazed.
"And do you realise that you just lost your chance of getting rid of me, once and for all?"
He shrugged. "Honestly, I just wanted to see if you'd make it out in one piece." He threw the pillow back at me, and I caught it. "You didn't do too bad a job, either. You didn't directly deny that you're not a pure-blood, so your social status is still intact." He grinned arrogantly, like he had been in on some big joke. Which maybe he was, in a way.
I glared at him. "I hate you."
"Well, I'm not too fond of you either." Draco looked around. "Are those muggle pictures? Of musical groups or something? Kinda risky, you know. I heard Pansy's been in here once or twice."
"Yeah, she asked about them once and I just told her that I have a few really distant relatives that are muggle-borns. And that music doesn't have to be magical for me to like it. But that I wished there was a magical way to listen to it, I had to leave it all at home." I sighed. "Why the hell am I telling you? You don't care."
"You're right. I don't, really. But what I am interested in is this," he walked over to my desk and picked up the snow globe. "I thought you'd have thrown it away by now."
I looked at the floor. "I…couldn't. I thought about it, but honestly, I never got to thank you for it. It's a lovely gift, even if the reason you gave it to me is still questionable."
"Questionable? I thought I made my reasons perfectly clear." He set it back down.
"But you were so rude about it. 'I wanted to do something nice, but I still hate you.'" I mimicked. "Merlin, could you be any more unfriendly?"
"Yes, I could. And I do not sound like that!"
"Of course you do. All you do is whine and snivel. Or gloat and act pompous. It's rather predictable, really."
"I am not predictable."
"Sure you are."
"No, I am not."
"Fine, have it your way. But I'll think what I like."
"And I can't stop you, is that it?"
"Yep. Pretty much."
"You're exhausting."
"And you're not?"
He glared at me. "I'm leaving now."
"Good," I replied.
"Then maybe I'll stay."
"That's fine too."
"Argh! Do you always have to be so bloody compliant?" I loved the fact that I got under his skin.
"No, I do it just to annoy you." I smiled sweetly.
He rolled his eyes. "It's a never-ending battle with you…"
"And it will never change."
"No. It won't."
"Good. I think things would get boring around here if they did."
"I agree."
"And that's the only thing we will ever agree on." I sighed. "Well, since we're cooped up, I suppose I better get all of my studying done. Get out." So much for seeing Harry tonight…I'll never be able to get out now.
He nodded and walked to the door, pausing just before he opened it. "You're welcome, by the way."
"For what?"
"The gift." And he left, closing the door behind him. I visibly relaxed and stood to lock my door.
Wait…did I just have a semi-civilconversation with Draco? Oh gods, I hope not.
Towards end of term, life around the castle was tense but boring. We weren't allowed to go anywhere on our own, and there were so many teachers and prefects on patrol in the halls, that it would have been impossible for Harry and I to meet. Things in the Slytherin dungeons weren't any better. Everyone seemed to believe that none of the Slytherins would be attacked, to which I secretly agreed, regardless of my own family history. However, they were restless because they thought they could have free reign over the school, but weren't allowed to leave the common room. I was happy enough, though. I had books, homework and a bedroom all to myself. Although being in the dungeons can get depressing, I found my solitude to be quite a bit more freeing.
Unfortunately, the incident that had Draco barging into my room still left me shaken. What if he's coming in here when I'm not around? Looking through my things? I may need to destroy evidence of my friendships with Harry and Hermione…I'm not sure why I didn't think of it earlier. Maybe I just wanted evidence that I actually had friends. I wish I could speak to Professor Dumbledore, but he's gone. Sighing, I resigned myself to talk with Professor Snape in class the next day.
Before class, I approached Professor Snape's desk, placing on it a note explaining my concern and asked if there would be any way to save the situation with Professor Dumbledore being gone. When he entered the classroom and read the note, he gave me an imperceptive nod, then continued on with the lesson.
Later that night, I heard a knocking on my door; it was Professor Snape.
"Come in, Professor," and I allowed him to walk in, closing the door shut behind him.
Snape stood near the end of my bed. "I'll get right to the point, Miss Harrell. There is only one thing that I can do in the Headmaster's absence. I have spoken with Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, and she had granted me the permission to help you in any way I can until Professor Dumbledore returns."
"He's returning?"
"In time, yes, I am sure he will." That statement did not ease my mind, but I didn't have time to dwell on it, as Professor Snape spoke again. "I can produce a potion that can be adhered to your door to create a magical barrier towards those whom you do not wish to pass. I will need to alter it slightly, however, to allow certain people to pass, namely the professors, in case of an emergency. Unfortunately, this will require some major participation on your part. I will need some of your blood to infuse into the potion."
"Some of my blood? Isn't that kind of dark?"
"Some may think so, but it is strong magic as well. For the purposes it is being used for here, I do not think it will be a problem in the eyes of wizarding authority."
"Ok."
"The blood needs to be a very specific number of hours old, before I add it to the potion, and so I will need you to fill this vial," he held out a tiny glass tube to me, "at precisely midnight tonight. You will need to think very distinctly about whom you would wish to pass the barrier. Say their names aloud if it helps. That is the only way someone will be able to pass through the barrier. I am requiring that you include Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and I."
I nodded, looking at the small vial for a minute. "Sir, can I ask you a question?"
"Yes, you may."
"How exactly does the potion work? I mean, how does my blood play a factor?"
"Your blood acts as an identifier in the potion. This potion has mainly been used for protecting possessions from being handled by people that the owner doesn't want to handle them. It creates a magical barrier on the object that it is coated in. But in this case, I will also need to use runic magic to give the barrier special properties. Have you heard of runic magic?"
I nodded. "Yes, a little."
"I will need you to mark you door with certain runes to tell it to react to the blood in the potion as well as the blood in your body."
"Why is that, sir?"
"There will be times, I'm sure, that you will not wish a particular person to bother you, even if you normally would have let them enter your room. The barrier needs to recognise this change in feeling, using your blood as a catalyst to recognise that change."
"Oh…ok. I understand. So, anyone can just walk in, unless I have a change in feeling about letting that person pass the barrier?"
"Generally, yes. Although, it will probably require a conscious effort on your part as well, possibly even verbal consent. But no one will notice a change in the door; it will just appear locked and incapable of being unlocked. Although, there is only one probable possibility that no one would be able to pass through."
"And what's that, Professor?"
"Granted, I have no evidence to support this claim, but with the knowledge I have about the properties of this process, I can say that if you are in a state of mind in which you can make no conscious decision on letting anyone pass, the only way to break the barrier is to shed your blood and trace over the runes in a particular order. I will give you a chart on the pattern we will use, in case this happens."
"But…if I could make a decision to break the barrier, couldn't I just think to let someone pass?"
Snape nodded. "That is the idea, but there is always a chance with magic…there may be some side effects that we may not know about yet. I am sure you can see that this is a rather risky chance to take, Raven, combining magic in this way. But it has been done before, and I ask you to have full confidence in my abilities."
"Oh, I do, Professor Snape. Truthfully."
"Good. Now, I'll leave you to your homework. Remember, at midnight sharp you want to start filling the vial. Do you have a something to prick your finger with?"
"Yes, I have small sewing kit."
"That will be acceptable. I will be by tomorrow morning before breakfast to pick it up. Goodnight, Miss Harrell."
I rushed forward and hugged him around the middle. "Thank you, Professor." I felt him stiffen, then relax slightly and pat me on the head.
"You're welcome." He said curtly. "Goodnight." I knew that was about as affectionate as he could get.
I stepped back, allowing him to pass by me. "Goodnight." As soon as he was out of the room and the door was closed, I let out a yelp of joy. Finally. Some real privacy.
And at midnight that night, I pricked my finger with a sewing needle and let the blood flow into the tiny vial, whispering the list of names I made of those I would allow in my room. The only problem was that I couldn't stop my finger from bleeding. Crap, I must have pricked myself too deep. Sucking on my finger, I padded out of my room and turned to go down the hall to the washroom, but I ran into someone. A very pale, annoying someone.
"Malfoy! What are you doing down the girl's corridor at this time of night?" I said, frowning.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I was helping the second year girls with some of our homework. Just finished up."
"I see." I said disapprovingly, raising an eyebrow.
"What are you doing up?"
"I--" but my response was cut off as he suddenly jerked my injured hand up to his face.
"What have we here?" He drawled, examining my finger. "You're bleeding."
"No shit, Draco. Now let go."
"How'd you do it? You weren't trying to kill yourself, were you? That's an awfully slow way to die." He leaned forward, a secretive smile on his face. "I know some rather quick and painless ways, if you're really going that direction."
"I'm not stupid, Draco. Besides, you'd enjoy that, wouldn't you? Watching me slowly bleed to death?"
"Not particularly. I get squeamish at the sight of too much blood."
"Pansy," I muttered.
"What does she have to do with anything?"
I shook my head; my insult was lost on him. "Never mind."
"So, what did you do?"
God, can't he stay out of anything? "I pricked myself sewing," I lied.
"Sewing by hand? My, you really are a muggle." I glared at him. "I bet you learned that from your muggle-loving mother, didn't you?"
"So what if I did?"
"I can fix this for you, you know." Talk about a change of subject…
"That's nice, but I can fix it myself."
"With what? You don't seem to have your wand…"
I rolled my eyes. "It's called 'cleaning the wound first,' Draco. Now will you please let me go?"
"No." he said, and then he looked at the drop of blood that was about to run down my finger, right before he closed his mouth around the wound, sucking softly on it. My eyes widened. What the…what is he doing? I stood there frozen, entranced by the strange feeling in my hand. His tongue massaged the wound for a moment, his eyes closed. Then he stopped, slowly withdrawing his mouth from my finger, his eyes suddenly locked on mine. "There. It's fine." He said, dropping my hand.
I stared at my finger for a moment. There was nothing. It was like I had never pricked it to begin with. "What…what did you do?" I whispered, my voice caught in my throat.
He leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "That was innate magic, babe. Something your half-blood body will never have the ability to control." He chuckled low in his throat, brushing past me and out of the corridor.
I shuddered. That was…that was… I sighed. Weird. I looked at my finger a moment longer, then started rubbing it on my nightgown. Bleck. Now I really have to go wash my hands.
POLL TIME!!! I'm taking a poll, through the reviews. When you review, let me know whom you like Raven to get together with…I'm curious to see what my readers think. Not that it's guaranteed to change my story…but we'll see. :D Oh, and if you have any ideas for the story, don't be afraid to drop me a line…I'm always looking for fresh ideas and outlooks to my story.
A/N:I forgot to mention how long it took me to figure the proper way to spell Raven's door. I had all these different things running through my head, and had a nice, long conversation between Snape, Dumbledore and Raven…and then I realised that Dumbledore was already gone at this point. Lol. Oh well, I like this way better.
Gingerlover: Yay! More Seattle friends! Lol Thank you so much for reading. And yeah, I know Raven sounds a little bit older…it's due to two reasons: One: I'm a 21-year-old trying to write and think like an 11-year-old…not exactly easy to do. (But granted, I was quite a bit more mature than the other kids anyway…) And two: This story is basically a compilation of the memories Raven writes down while she's in school (using her new quill), and her observations and musings years later, as she writes her memoirs. I hope that helps my writing make a bit more sense. :)
PinkKangaroo: Sorry about the suspense. :D I'm evil, I know. But I'm glad you're reading. You and SmileyFace3 are my most dedicated readers…and I hope I can keep your attention.
SmileyFace3: I'm glad everyone like over-protective Harry! And as far as romance…well, nothing for a while yet. Remember…she's only eleven! And I agree…I like competition too. :) And now the evil plot bunnies run rampant
Thanks everyone for reading! Please review!
