Disclaimer: No, I do not own Harry Potter... Blah blah... You know the drill
Author's Note: Uh... yeah, I haven't updated in a while and I have a friend that was going to kill me if I didn't put a new one up soon...
Chapter Twenty-Six
Draco's Crush and Useless Talks
Throughout the rest of the break Thorn hung around while the others held more snowball fights and such. A few days after the mirror incident Cade received a late gift from his beloved Melissa. She had gotten him a white visor, and the Gryffindor was hardly seen without it. Most of the time it was hanging from his belt loop. This little token gained Cade a new nickname from Sparkie and Maken: Visor Boy.
Not long after the break was over did Thorn get a rather unpleasant surprise; one that cast Sparkie into a laughing seizure for months. After a long day of classes, Thorn was sitting by the fire, her book, in her hands. She was now near the end, reading about the Sorcerer's Stone. Rather ironic, really. Sparkie was resting on her lap, curled into a little blue ball.
Suddenly the mysterious Slytherin felt a tap on her shoulder. She ignored it. Usually when she didn't respond, whoever it was got the hint and left. But not this pest. The tap came again and she sighed, looking behind her to see Draco Malfoy standing over her with a cocky smile. She rolled her eyes and transferred her gaze back to the pages.
He cleared his throat, as if nervous, or unsure, about what he was about to do. This made Thorn think one thing, but she kept her mouth tightly shut. Not even she would dare to let that slip past her lips. After another quiet moment he said, "So… You're reading?"
Thorn nodded quietly as Sparkie lifted his head to get a good look at Draco. He has a big, fake smile on his face… the lizard thought, Wonder what he's pullin' at…
"So… is it, erm… is it a good book?"
She sighed, turned the page, and said, "What do you want, Malfoy?"
He made an annoyed sound and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine, Rose, if you must know…" With the hateful tone in which her last name was said she felt an air of relief. "You see, Thorn," he said more kindly, as if trying to befriend her, "There's this… girl… and I think that she's… really, really soft on the eyes, if you catch my drift." He gave a strange smile and continued. "Well… I guess you could say that, I fancy this girl, and I was wondering if you could help me…"
Thorn rolled her eyes. Dreara? Phillis? Maybe, if he was insane enough, Antonette? Surely he must have been speaking to someone in her own house… Or so she'd thought. "Well?" He insisted, "Will you?"
She sighed. "Who is it?" Another page was flipped in the volume.
"Raleigh Sawyer."
Thorn's eyes froze within the pages. Sparkie, who was listening intently, broke into a fit of nothing less than hysterical laughter. The second year looked up to her first year house mate and, the usual, emotionless gaze held a small hint of sheer amusement. "You must be joking," she said in a low, silky way.
He shook his head. "No, I'm not." His blue eyes held a glint of annoyance at the lizard, who was now rolling around the floor in a little ball, trying to ease the pain that his own laughter was inflicting in his gut.
Thorn gave a short, mocking chuckle, and said, "Well. Good luck with that, then. You are going to need it." Then she turned back to her book and began to read, as Malfoy slunk off angrily and Sparkie caught the attention of everyone in the common room.
"Please…" Sparkie managed to wheeze through another terrible fit of teary laughs. "Please let me be the one to tell her! Please, please, please!"
Thorn chuckled. "She can't understand you, Sparkie, no one can."
"I can write it!" he pleaded through harsh laughs, "PLEASE!"
The Slytherin shrugged and continued to read her book, leaving Sparkie to rejoice and roll around in peace.
The next morning Thorn was sitting at her table in the early hours, and Sparkie, who would normally be concentrating on nothing but bacon, was hardly eating as he stared at the doorway, waiting for the tall figure of Raleigh to come in.
When she did he didn't waist any time. He looked around furiously, trying to spot a quill, and a piece of parchment. He couldn't find any and, in anger, he screeched, causing the majority of the hall to look their way and also drawing Raleigh to see what was wrong. Malfoy, when he saw her coming, smoothed out his already sleek hair and tested his breath.
"What's wrong with Sparkie?" the elf asked Thorn, who was, not surprisingly, reading.
The Slytherin shook her head. "He has something to tell you."
Sparkie nodded vigorously. Then he stood on the plate, and made drastic points to Draco, then to Raleigh. The Ravenclaw stood there, eye brows cocked, and said, "Uh… right… and he won't let you tell because…?"
Thorn shrugged as Malfoy made his way over to the two of them. He stood against the table, looking rather confident with Crabbe and Goyle to back him up, now. He was trying to look cool. In fact, trying too hard to look cool. And not only Sparkie and Thorn saw that. Mikey walked by, took one look at Draco, and broke into abrupt, but not as violent, laughter as Sparkie had.
The blonde looked down to him with a nasty sneer. "What's so funny, Corvin?"
The Hufflepuff stood, laughing hard still, and ran a hand through his bleached hair, revealing some of the dark brown beneath it. "It's nothing other than YOU LIKE RALEIGH!" He broke into laughter again and Draco, in a completely foul mood, told his goons to take care of him. Yet Mikey, being too fast for the bulky boys, darted around to his table, where he sat with his head on the wood, and pounded his fists into the table in his laughing fit.
Raleigh had merely watched the whole thing take place, her eyes portraying nothing but complete confusion as Draco Malfoy and his thugs walked away, grumbling. Sparkie, upset that he hadn't gotten to tell Raleigh this news, sat back on his plate and took a bite of bacon.
Then Raleigh turned to the table, a strange look to her eye, as if she might accept the unspoken words that Malfoy had said. "If you are thinking about agreeing…" Thorn muttered.
Raleigh shrugged. "He may not be much now, but I have a feeling that he's gonna grow into a fine man."
Thorn rolled her eyes and closed her book as the others came in. "Yes, but what about all the other 'fine men?'" The elf shrugged and agreed as they sat at the Gryffindor table next to the others.
A week later Thorn was sitting in Severus's office, finishing her Transfiguration homework. Sparkie was still describing to her the look on Draco's face when Mikey had screamed his crush to the entire school. Then the heavy door swung open and the black-clad potions master swept in. "I am going to referee the next match," he announced rather bitterly as he took his seat and began to read over some reports from the seventh years.
Thorn looked up to him. They had been talking about how to best protect Harry at the next Quidditch match, because, if they had to do the same thing that they had the previous time, only with luck would they keep him on his broom. Yet the answer that Severus had just announced didn't seem to pleasing for either of them. Neither of them was a large Quidditch fan, and this would probably be taken as an attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor team by the other professors.
"Are you sure that it's the only way?" Thorn asked as she shushed Sparkie, for now he was charading the entire episode from the previous week to her for about the hundredth time.
He nodded. Then, with a joking, somehow self bitter laugh, he said, "You should be the one up there. You inherited the broom skills from some distant relative."
Thorn sighed. Severus had always regretted the fact that he had never been a skilled Quidditch player while he was in school. Honestly, Thorn herself didn't see the need to play Quidditch, but she was different than her uncle. She sighed and said, "If it's the only way. The Gryffindors will be furious."
Which they were. That night, after the Gryffindor team had returned from a very muddy and wet practice, Thorn, who was reading in her dormitory, heard Sparkie whimper and looked up to him to see a strange glint in his eyes. "Hello," she said to whoever was gazing out from them.
"Thorn?" Maken's voice sounded through. "Man, I gotta talk to you! Where can we meet?"
Thorn looked back up to him and said, "Well, I could go to the Gryffindor common room, but, seeing as that is against the rules—"
"And it's too risky," Maken cut her off. "So is Sparkify. How about…" There was silence, and Sparkie snickered at Maken's lack to think of anything.
"The forest?" Thorn suggested, but no sooner she dispersed it. "No, that's too dangerous in the dark rain… How about the room that the Mirror of Erised had been in?"
"Yeah, that works. I'll be there soon. I have seen—"
Sparkie sighed, shook his head, and muttered. "I don't wanna have him talk through me…"
Thorn was scurrying about her room, gathering her cloaks and such. She quickly shoved the annoyed lizard into her pocket, pulled the hood over her dark hair, and darted from the room. She walked past the prefects, ignored them as they told her not to wander the halls at night, but, since they didn't see her face, they couldn't do anything.
She swiftly strode down the corridors, climbed staircases silently, and swept around corners without a sound. She got to the room before Maken, seeing as he had more distance to travel. When he entered the room she turned to the door and muttered, "Colloportus!" locking it securely behind him.
When she turned back to him he pulled her close and said, "What is it that I hear? Severus is going to referee the next match?" Thorn nodded and looked away to where the mirror had been. "Why?"
She sighed. "It's the best way to keep Potter alive. No one is going to know that his reason for refereeing is such, they'll all think that he's aiming at an unfair game."
Maken nodded quietly and released Thorn's arms as he stepped back to sit on a dusty desk. "So… what's the plan? I mean about Quirrell."
Thorn sat next to him, shoulder to shoulder, and both stared at the unclean floor as she spoke. "Well, at the moment, Severus is trying to convince Quirrell to help him get the stone, just as a diversion, so he knows how far he's gotten."
Maken nodded, then asked, "Can't he just tell him that he knows about You-Know-Who? Wouldn't that force him to give in? After all, he's weak, and Quirrell's not cut out to be much, either…"
The Slytherin shook her head. "No. If he did would be suicide. After all, Voldemort will come into power once again, no matter what we try to do, and he'd—" She cut off, having just almost said, "kill him because he hadn't truly been loyal," but she caught herself. If she'd let that slip…
"He'd what?" Maken insisted.
"Nothing…" Thorn muttered, for once unable to think up a good lie to cover her blunder. She could feel Maken's eyes boring into the side of her head, but she did not clarify the matter.
"Thorn…" he muttered, almost pleadingly, but did not continue with his statement. Perhaps he knew that it was a futile task, or perhaps he accepted that she would tell him in her own time. Either way, Thorn was relieved.
"So, what's the next step? After the Quidditch match, I mean." The Gryffindor looked back to the ground, and Thorn felt his burning gaze leave her head. Sparkie, who was huddled in her pocket, peeped out, then dove back in.
"Severus has arranged a meeting between himself and Quirrell for after the match. I'm not sure whether he'll show up or not, but we are going to try." Maken nodded and the Slytherin said, "We should get back to our dormitories, we don't want you to be late to classes tomorrow."
The following days until the match seemed to have stressed out the entire Gryffindor team. Maken would continually tell her how Oliver was furious about the fact that Severus was to referee. Celestial, and Cade, who both knew nothing of Quirrell, silently accepted the fact that it wasn't an attempt to sabotage Gryffindor.
Then, the day of the match, Thorn, and Severus, received some unhappy information from Celestial. "Uncle Albus is going to attend the game!" she exclaimed. Thorn stared in slight surprise at her friends words.
"What?" she managed to say. Dumbledore attending the match? She preceded to think, If he's coming then there's no need for Severus to referee. She sighed. He was not going to be too happy with this new fact, even if it did keep Potter alive.
"Uh, yeah," Celestial continued, seeming surprised at Thorn's reaction. "He had some free time so he figured that he might as well come. What? Is that bad?"
Thorn sighed and shook her head. "It's both good and bad…" she turned up to the head table, where the professors were eating breakfast, and quietly darted around until she was behind the table. Hardly anyone would notice her there, for the students were too busy discussing the upcoming match. Silently she came up behind her uncle and, as he turned to ask what she needed, she muttered in his ear. "Albus is coming to the match."
Severus let an inaudible sigh of annoyance and anger pass through his lips as he turned back to his plate, to see Sparkie perched upon it, feasting on, as usual, bacon. The lizard gave a guilty smile and darted to Thorn's shoulder. "I don't have to be out there…" the Potions Master muttered angrily.
Thorn nodded. "I know… Well, the match is about to begin… Good luck."
Severus didn't respond as she made her way back down to her classmates. Luckily she could sit anywhere this time, because, since her team wasn't facing the Gryffindors, she didn't have to worry about 'accidents.'
When she rejoined the group of five the halls began to empty. Sparkie flew about the heads of the crowd again as they spilled into the stands. Thorn followed her golden and scarlet clad friends, along with the blue and bronze wearing Raleigh, as they found spots high enough to see the game. Not far below them, Sparkie pointed out Harry's two friends, Ron and Hermione, along with the dumpy kid who'd fallen from the broom.
She watched as Severus angrily threw the quaffle into the air to begin the game. She watched as the players darted around the field, Potter patrolling along the top like a bird of prey. Thorn glanced back down to Severus to see one of the Weasley twins send a bludger flying at him. Sparkie must have felt the inkling of worry that Thorn either ignored or did not feel, for he muttered, "It's okay," and flew off towards Severus, invisible.
Not five minutes later, Sparkie pulling at Severus's arm, the Potions Master turned to see Harry rushing towards him. Thorn, who was following Potter's path to the ground, caught sight of a fight below her on the stands. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle against Ron and Neville Longbottom, the kid who'd fallen from the broom at the lessons, were all fighting, completely unaware that Potter was now rising up in the air, the Snitch in his palm.
The stands erupted in applause, and the Gryffindors rushed down onto the field. Thorn followed after and walked calmly to Severus, who had just spat onto the ground. When Thorn reached her angry uncle he muttered. "Well, now I have to get ready to meet Quirrell in the forest."
An hour later Thorn was resting as a black tiger in the heavy shadow under the trees, waiting for Severus to emerge from the castle. The sun was now setting, casting a reddish glow around the castle. She'd stayed outside while he'd changed into his normal robes and cloaks, not really wanting to face her classmates, who would be complaining about the match and thinking up far-fetched stories about how Potter had cheated.
Soon she saw Harry begin to walk back to the castle. She stared at him, her feline eyes narrowed slightly as she watched. Severus then sped from the heavy oak doors. He didn't seem to see Potter, who was standing out of view on the side. Yet the young Gryffindor must have known that Severus was the one under the hood, because his face contorted in a suspicious manner and he leapt into the air on the broom that he'd been carrying.
Thorn gave a small growl of annoyance and Sparkie, who'd been sleeping on the grass, was jolted awake. "What? Who? Where…?"
The Slytherin rolled her great black eyes and carefully picked Sparkie up by his tail. He hung limp in her teeth, staring around as she sped to a run. What was Potter up to? Well, he'd seen Severus, and he was probably following him. She sighed as she silently stopped, Severus speeding into the forest right in front of her nearly unseen form. Then she looked up to the sky to see Harry's form for a split second before the trees covered him again.
She shook her colossal head, Making Sparkie swish to the sides, and followed quickly after her guardian. Her keen cat ears heard the rushing of cloth on the wind as Potter spun in circles above their heads.
Then she caught sight of Quirrell in the distance. Severus stopped in front of him and pulled the hood off of his head. "So," he said icily, "you've decided to show up. I hadn't thought that you were confident enough to do so."
Thorn heard the slight creaking of a branch as Potter landed. "I-I d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus…"
"Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," Severus said coldly, "Students aren't supposed to know about the Sorcerer's Stone, after all."
Thorn flicked her head to the side and cast Sparkie into the air. Go find him, and distract him. She didn't want to take a chance about Harry figuring out anything, and, if he hadn't known about the stone before, he did now.
"I-I know th-that…" Quirrell muttered. Sparkie flew into the trees and spotted Potter
"Have you figured out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?" Severus asked dangerously. The lizard looked around frantically, trying to find a way to distract the young Gryffindor.
"B-b-but Severus, I—"
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," Severus said as he took a threatening step towards him. Then the blue and red reptile saw an owl waking from its days sleep and an idea struck him.
Quirrell took a step back, and Thorn wondered what Sparkie was doing. "I-I don't know what you—"
"You know perfectly well what I mean," Severus cut him off. Sparkie dove out at the bird, startling it and making it hoot loudly. This resulted in Harry nearly falling from the branch. "I will not wait forever to get that stone, and all I need is your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."
Thorn smirked at his bold faced lie and Quirrell said, "B-but I d-d-don't—"
"Very well," Severus said before he had time to finish. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decide where your loyalties lie."
Sparkie dove onto Thorn's shoulder as Severus pulled his hood back over his head and strode from the clearing. His niece followed swiftly and changed back to a human just before they reached the entrance. "That went well…" she muttered.
"We didn't learn a thing…" he replied angrily.
