As she predicted, Draco was all smiles again the next morning. She did not bring up their argument from the night before or the fact that she had talked to Hermione. Rhyann smiled right along with him and ignored their twin shadows. She knew it all to be a façade, but it was preferable to them snapping at each other every other minute. She noticed, too, that the other students in Slytherin were in better moods when she and the Head Boy were getting along.
Sitting in the Great Hall, the dreamer paid no attention when the morning post arrived. She did not expect anything from her uncles and she never got any mail from anyone else. Draco regularly got little packages from his mother and sometimes she included a little something for her too. This time, there was something in the care package for her but it was from his father.
He handed her the small piece of neatly folded parchment and gave her a smile that was not like any of the others that morning. "My father sends his regards, love. Both my parents look forward to seeing you again at the quidditch tournament."
"I'm sure they do. Thank you." Rhyann leaned over to kiss his cheek coolly and stuck the list in her robes without looking at it. She did not think that her boyfriend could have sent to his father the night before and asked for him to do that knowing how much it bothered her, but she would not put it past him either.
The list burned a hole in her pocket throughout the day and she was glad to get a chance to go back to the dorm and stuff it into her trunk. Rhyann did not even look at the names on it. They were unimportant. She focused her mind more on the double Charms class they had and then DADA with Professor Snape. They were practicing wandless magic and that required their full concentration.
She was tempted to see Snape after class and tell him that she had another 'assignment' to do from Lucius, but that she was thinking about not doing it. Yet the more she considered it, the more purposeless it seemed. There was nothing he could do about it. No way to help her in this. She was more looking for someone to confide in as she once did with Draco. The hooked nose professor could not be that one, she knew.
Later that night in the room of requirement, Rhyann had to throw off the urge to share her predicament with Hermione or Harry. Of course they'd want to help and maybe the Head Girl could offer some good advice, but then she would have to explain a lot of other things that she was unwilling to share with them. Thinking about it affected her performance so much that she was not even a challenge for any of her partners to disarm.
Near the end of the meeting, she sat off to the side with the two Gryffindors. She watched Drucinda facing off against Ginny and Millicent actually helping a fourth year Ravenclaw get a jinx off correctly. "I really do think they are fitting in now."
Hermione nodded, going over the schedule in front of her. "You know, Rhyann, I had been a little worried when you chose those two as the ones you wanted to bring with you, but you were right. This only goes to prove that Slytherins can get along with students from other Houses."
"Dru is even getting better with Ginny. Well, just as long as she can dodge or block the spell." Harry chuckled. Everyone knew how powerful the Weasley girl's hexes were and none wanted to be on the receiving end of those. Yet Drucinda had willingly paired up with Ginny. More often the two were a pair than not. Most everyone believed it was because the redhead just liked to hex a Slytherin, but to those that watched them, they could see that the two teens were getting along.
"Yes, that anti-balance jinx that she put on Dru last week took a while before we could figure how to get it off. I think some of our house mates thought we were helping her back to the dorm because she was drunk!" Rhyann snickered.
Giggling as well, Hermione finished whatever she was writing and looked over at the petite brunette. "You should start bringing in other students from Slytherin, Rhyann. Just a few at a time. Do you have any idea of who you'd like to bring in next?"
Rhyann had been thinking about it. She knew the time would come when they would need to start bringing in others from her House. At first, she wasn't sure where to start. There was no one she trusted. Many looked up to Draco and she was sure that it would get back to him if she started recruiting from what he and many others considered HIS House. She knew the students in their year the best. The only one she would consider is Blaise Zabini. She would have to ask Millicent and Drucinda about him though. She had heard him talking of his mother and how she was forced to marry then kill someone for the Dark Lord. Yet she could not tell if he was alright with it or not. He had such a sardonic manner that it was almost impossible to know when he was serious and when he was joking.
She made a mental note to herself to check his sleeping mind. That way she would be sure about him. The dreamer would have to check all the minds of those she thought to recruit. Not only to make sure they would agree to joining, but to ensure they would keep the secret and not tell anyone else.
"There's one seventh year that I'll have to ask about first. Maybe a few fourth and fifth years." She answered thoughtfully. "It's hard to know for sure in Slytherin though. I don't know the younger ones well at all. Hardly more than their names. Maybe we could ask the opinions of other students from different Houses and see what they think."
"That's a good idea." Hermione smiled and stood up. "I'm going to walk around to see how everyone is doing. I think you should practice some yourself, Rhyann." She used the same tone when she was reminding people to do homework.
Smiling back and nodding, Rhyann then looked to Harry. "Would you like to practice with me?"
"Of course!" The scarred teen bounded up and stood across from her. "Just as long as you promise to be gentle with me."
Rhyann took out her wand and rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I am lucky to make you breathe heavy with the effort of blocking my pitiful spells."
Taking out his wand as well, Harry chuckled. "You're not that bad." He caught himself and then quickly started trying to say something nice. "I mean, you do the spells right. We just have more practice, that's all."
She was about to open her mouth to say that she was older and should be better, but bit back the words. Rhyann gave him a disbelieving look. "It has nothing to do with that and we all know it. You are stronger than me. A lot of you are."
"Oh, well, maybe a little… but you're still doing good." Harry said a little embarrassedly. Then he stood up with his wand at the ready, motioning to her. "Try one right now and I'll see if I can help any."
She knew he was just trying to be encouraging. It frustrated her in a way but in another manner, she was grateful for it. It was just the opposite of what Draco would do if he were in the Gryffindor's position. Rhyann held her wand up and did a little swirling flick. "Rictusempra!"
A little silver beam of light flashed out and Harry easily deflected it so that it dispersed harmlessly against the wall. "Well, that was nicely done. You can cast fine…"
"It's just that you're more 'practiced.'" She smirked.
"It's not bad, really." Harry tried to reassure her. "Besides, you have other talents that you're much better at."
Her smile faltered slightly. She did not want him bringing that up here where anyone else might overhear. Rhyann glanced about as if casually and then shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I do."
"We still need to, you know, get together and practice some of that." He said in a quieter voice. It was obvious he was trying to suppress his eagerness to do so.
Rhyann knew she didn't have to teach him anything. If Dumbledore had told him everything about her, he would not have let her back in these meetings nor would he even be talking to her. She could continue feigning her lack of skill and knowledge in the field of dreaming. Not that there were any barriers that could stop her from entering sleeping minds any more, but this way, Potter would be opening his mind willingly to her. If she ever needed to, it could be used to her advantage.
"Some time this coming week? Next week won't be good because it's the one just before the quidditch tournament. I'm sure you'll be practicing a lot yourself."
Harry bobbed his head in agreement. "We'll be practicing every day then. So next week is good. Before one of the meetings? Wednesday or Thursday?"
"Wednesday." She agreed. Then with a mischievous smile, she swiftly swished her wand and muttered, "Rictusempra!"
Beaming about meeting her to practice dreaming, Harry was not expecting the charm. The little silver light hit him and he fell back on his rear laughing. Other students in the room looked their way, surprised that anyone could beat him in a duel.
Rhyann grinned as she stood over him. She could not stop herself from a little gloating. "And here I thought that one of the rules was to be always vigilant!" She chuckled and removed the spell from him, offering a hand to help him up.