Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. That honor belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Title is a song by Keith Urban.
The next couple of weeks passed uneventfully for Reyana. She spent much of her time holed up in her rooms, nose in a book. But, today was Saturday, and Reyana was determined to take full advantage of the nice weather to explore the grounds.
She dressed carefully in a red cashmere sweater and black jeans and went to find Blaise.
Most of the students were already at breakfast, so Reyana slipped into the Great Hall as inconspicuously as possible. It had been a month since she'd started living at Hogwarts, and by now most of the residents of the castle were accustomed to seeing her ghosting about the halls and listening in on classes whenever she could. There were no more stares from the students, and as she approached the Slytherin table, a space automatically opened up for her next to Blaise. She slid in, smiled in greeting, and immediately got started on her meal. After taking the edge off her hunger with buttered croissants, porridge with treacle, and fresh strawberries, she turned to Blaise.
"Hey. I was thinking we could explore the grounds today. The weather's really nice."
He swallowed and shook his head in regret.
"Today is the first Hogsmeade visit. I need to stock up on some stuff. Sorry Rey."
Reyana pushed back the feeling of being left out.
"It's cool. I understand."
She listened as the students laughed and talked about the sweets and joke items that they were going to purchase. She envied them. No matter how long she was here, or how hard she tried, Reyana would always be an outsider. It didn't matter that she'd read dozens of books on magic, she wasn't a witch. She was a muggle.
"Hey. Rey."
She turned and smiled weakly at Blaise.
"Why don't you come with us." he looked a little embarrassed, but forged on. "You could ask Snape and I could show you around. If you wanted of course."
Reyana lit up. She wasn't going to be left out after all!
"Oh yes! Thank you Blaise!" she gave him an awkward one armed hug, eyes shining. "I'll go ask Severus right now for permission!"
She jumped up and practically ran to the faculty table.
"Severus!"
He looked up from his eggs and grimaced.
"What is it?"
Reyana grinned. He tried so hard to be stern and harsh, but she could tell that under his gruff facade, he was a perfectly nice man. She also knew that he had a soft spot for her.
"I wanted to know if I could go to Hogsmeade with the other students." she blurted. She didn't want to give him a chance to say no. "Blaise'll show me around and everything! Please!" she widened her eyes.
He narrowed his dark eyes at her.
"You know the rules Reyana."
She felt herself droop. He was going to say no.
"But,"
She looked up, hope sparking again. She saw the familiar resigned "I'm going to regret this" look that Severus so often got when talking to her.
"I'll make an exception this one time."
"Thank you! Thank You! Thank You!" she cried, throwing her arms around Severus' neck. She sensed rather than saw the shocked looks on most of the students faces. She stepped back, beaming to see a slight blush coloring the Potions Master's face.
She giggled and skipped back to her seat. She really did adore cousin Sev. He was so much fun to tease. One of these days she'd be able to get a real smile out of him in public. He was a very handsome man. He only needed to smile more often and use the special shampoo she planned to buy him while in Hogsmeade today.
Blaise looked almost scandalized.
"You hugged Snape?"
The other Slytherins made disgusted faces at her.
"He is my cousin." she defended. "And he really isn't that bad."
"Really." she repeated, seeing the disbelieving looks she was receiving.
"You'll never convince us." Millicent Bulstrode shook her head. "Even if he's our Head of House."
Reyana shrugged. She really didn't care what the other students thought. Severus was her only family and she had complete faith in the harsh man.
Draco tossed back the contents of his goblet and stood up, gracing everyone at the table with his trademark Malfoy sneer.
"Well, Crabbe and Goyle and I are off to the village." he motioned imperiously to his two hulking cronies and they stood, stuffing the remains of their breakfast into their mouths.
Reyana winced in disgust. They were uncivilized pigs. Both of them. And Draco wasn't much better, despite the veneer of sophistication.
"Well," Reyana gave a mock sigh, "I'll miss you." she sniffed and pretended to wipe away a tear, "I don't know if I can stand to be parted from you Drakey dear."
He snarled at her and flounced, yes flounced out with Crabbe and Goyle following obediently.
Blaise snickered and gave Reyana a discreet high five.
Reyana watched Draco go. She didn't understand her fascination with the boy. He was a heartless Death Eater, and yet she couldn't take her eyes off of him. It had been that way ever since they'd met. There was something magnetic about the handsome blond boy, and she was powerless to resist it. She shook her head, trying to clear it. She disliked him rather intensely though, so she wasn't sure what drew her attention.
"Rey?" Blaise poked her in the side.
"Huh?" she jerked.
He leaned over and whispered gently in her ear.
"You were staring again."
Reyana flushed and stood hastily to cover her agitation.
"Come on Blaise. Let's get going! I want to spend the pocket money Severus has been giving me." she tugged on his arm.
He gave her a look that clearly said, "We'll talk about this later.", and stood up.
He wound his fingers through hers and together they walked out of the Great Hall, leaving behind a table full of confused Slytherins.
"I thought Blaise was gay." one sixth year said, puzzled.
"Ya me too." said another.
Pansy looked after the pair in speculation.
"Maybe he's only bi." she mused aloud.
Millicent smirked.
"In that case..."
Pansy smirked back.
"It's time to play matchmaker."
OoOoOoO
There was a light breeze blowing from the North as Reyana and Blaise walked into the wizarding village. It bit through their fall jackets and made them shiver. The sun shone through a gap in the ever present clouds, making unusual shadows on the ground.
"C'mon!" Blaise tugged her along. "The first place we have to visit is Honeydukes! You'll love it."
Reyana didn't protest as she was too busy trying to take it all in. This was her first exposure to Wizarding culture outside of Hogwarts and she was fascinated. There was store that specialized in robes, another with exotic animals in the display, another with brooms and uniforms for that sport, what was it? Quidditich or something weird like that. There were wizards carrying odd shaped packages and young people levitating handfuls of fall leaves before dropping them over the head of some unsuspecting passerby.
Blaise pulled her into the most amazing shop she'd ever seen. There was candy everywhere! Bright colors invaded her senses and the smell of sugar and artificial flavors assaulted her nose.
Blaise laughed at the look on her face. He pulled her over to a display and handed her a couple of cloth bags.
"Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans." he told her.
"Chocolate Frogs." he said dropping a box into her arms.
"Sugar Quills."
"Pepper Imps."
"Fizzing Wizbees."
With every word he dropped another brightly colored package into her groaning arms.
"Enough!" she finally laughed. "I'm going to drop them if you add anything else."
He looked a little disappointed and then brightened.
"We can come back later and get some more. You have to try them all!"
Reyana agreed, although she was a little hesitant about the Cockroach Clusters. Wrinkling her nose at the mere thought of ingesting cockroaches, she decided to pass on that one.
A plump woman rang them up and Blaise insisted on paying for all of the sweets.
"It's my treat." he said firmly. "You can pay next time."
Reyana grumbled, but conceded. Armed with 2 heavy bags, the teenagers stepped back outside. It had started drizzling while they were in the candy store, and they were soon soaked through and shivering.
Blaise led the way to a pub called the Three Broomsticks and ushered her inside. They sat down at a booth and Reyana shrugged out of her wet jacket.
"I'll be right back." Blaise promised, depositing his Honeydukes bag on the seat across from her. "I'll go get our drinks."
Reyana nodded and rubbed her hands together, furiously trying to get some warmth back into her frozen digits.
"Hi Reyana."
She looked up into a pair of green eyes. She bit back the sarcastic retort that rose to mind and said instead,
"Hello Potter."
He smiled nervously and bit his lip.
"Look."he finally said, "Hermione wants me to ask you if you've had anymore dreams."
Reyana blinked at him. What? Oh yea. Comprehension dawned.
"Oh. No. Not that I remember. Why?"
"Oh. No reason." he looked even more uncomfortable.
Reyana almost felt bad for him. He was obviously not a people person.
"Okay then." she said, smiling pleasantly at him.
"Harry!"
Hermione and the red headed boy rushed up to Potter's side.
"There you are!" the girl scolded. "We thought we'd lost you."
"No." he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I was talking to Reyana here."
Suddenly Reyana had a rather devilish idea.
"Potter?"
He jerked back around.
"Ya?"
"If you were wondering about dreams..."
The Golden Trio perked up visibly.
Reyana struggled to find words that would allow her to bypass the Vow of Silence that she'd been forced to take.
She settled for a vague description.
"That Slytherin that you seem to hate so much..." she trailed off, hoping that they'd get the idea.
"Malfoy?" the red head paled.
Reyana couldn't say anything. Her tongue had seized up and she couldn't speak.
Potter looked interested.
"Thanks."
Reyana managed a small smile.
"Bye then."
She waved, and it was only after the trio had disappeared from sight that her tongue loosened up.
Blaise deposited two mugs on the table with a thunk.
"Was the Golden Trio I saw you talking to?"
She nodded and took a tentative sip of her drink. The creamy liquid slid down her throat spreading warmth all the way down. Her eyes widened and she took a bigger gulp.
Blaise took a big mouthful, swished it around and swallowed in satisfaction.
"So..."
"So what?" she asked innocently.
"What did they want?"
"To know if I had passed out lately."
He rolled his eyes.
"Always in everyone's business."
Reyana made a sound of agreement and gave her mug of butterbeer the full attention it deserved.
OoOoOoO
After the rain stopped, Reyana and Blaise decided to just wander around the village and enjoy each other's company. They were window shopping when Reyana spotted something that stopped her in her tracks. She peered in the widow of the jewelery store at the earrings on the velvet pillow. Blaise stepped up next to her to see what had caught her eye. The earrings were silver dragons. Each dragon had a single ruby for an eye, and the hand sculpted serpents looked almost lifelike. Reyana pulled her own dragon pendent from beneath her sweater. She always wore it next to her skin because it always seemed to be warm.
"Look." she said.
He looked and whistled. Her pendent matched the earrings exactly. Right down to the last scale.
"Where did you get that?"
Reyana shrugged.
"I've always had it. I don't know who gave it to me."
She concentrated, trying to remember. All she managed was a sharp headache between her eyes.
"I can't remember."
Blaise looked at the earrings and then at her necklace, and shrugged.
"That's one weird coincidence."
She nodded, and was about to push the door open to ask about the earrings, when she caught sight of a familiar blond figure in the glass. Draco. His face was contorted in grief as he clutched a piece of parchment in his gloved fist. She could see the struggle on his face, and her heart went out to him despite his arrogant superiority complex. She recognized the look on his face. It was the look she'd had when her family had been murdered. As she watched in the widow, he composed his face into a mask of indifference and burned the parchment. He turned on his heel and strode into the crowds of students.
"Rey? What's wrong?" Blaise asked in concern.
"Nothing." she said, but she could still see his face in her mind. His look of utter desolation had opened her own barely closed heartaches. She forced a smile.
"Come on. I still need to see this joke shop everyone talks about."
Blaise grinned, forgetting his concern.
Reyana glanced over her shoulder as she followed Blaise, but the blond boy was gone.
i>a/n--I was debating whether to end it here or not, but I think I'll keep going. /i>
Draco Malfoy ran. He tried to outrun his grief. He ran until he couldn't breathe. He ran until his legs collapsed under him. Then he lay, for once uncaring, in the mud beneath a large evergreen tree. His shoulders shook in silent sobs. No tears fell from his eyes, no, his anguish was too intense for that. He screamed into his sleeve, biting down in a futile attempt to restrain it. It was impossible. He wouldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. He lay there until his grief ran cold. He sat up clenching his fists until his perfectly manicured nails cut into his palms and blood squeezed out from between his fingers. The words of the letter were branded into his soul and he doubted that he would ever be free of the burning images.
Mr. Malfoy,
We are deeply pained to inform you of the death of your mother Narcissa Black Malfoy. She was found yesterday evening in her rooms, by the family house elf. It seems that she was poisoned. We know that it is painful for you to hear this, but we believe that you should be told. Her death was not easy. The poison was administered slowly and she died in great pain. A service will be held in 2 days time at the Malfoy Manor at 4pm.
Our deepest sympathy-
Marcus Coe
Malfoy Family Solicitor
Poison. His dear loving mother had been poisoned. He could almost smell her perfume, the one that he'd bought her for Christmas when he was 10. He could see her gentle smile as she encouraged him at his lessons, he could feel her arms around him as she bade him good bye before he boarded the train, and he could hear her wispy voice whispering "I love you my dragon." in his ear after every duel with his father. She had been there for him through everything. She'd always encouraged him to follow his heart, no matter where it led him. Draco clenched his teeth against the waves of pain.
He slowly forced his customary mask in place and stood. It took every ounce of self-control that he had to clean his robes with a spell and head back to the school. He couldn't cry until he was alone, safe in his room. He brushed past students on the path up to the castle without his usual taunts, and he ignored the Slytherins that hailed him. He knew that if he tried to speak, he would start crying and that was unacceptable. Malfoys never cry. Crying is a weakness and Malfoys are never weak. He stumbled into the common room and practically dove into his room. He put a silencing spell and a locking spell on the door before he allowed himself to fall face down on his bed and let the tears fall. Great racking sobs tore his throat and tears burned his face and stained his robes. He cried and howled himself into a dreamless sleep.
Reyana followed Blaise into the Slytherin common room and sank down on a couch.
"I had a great time Blaise. Thanks."
He shrugged it off, but she could tell that he was pleased.
"It was nothing."
She punched him playfully in the arm.
"It meant something to me."
He grinned and tossed her a Chocolate Frog.
"Good." a twinkle gleamed in his eyes. "I spent enough money on you."
"Ouch!" Reyana pretended to be stabbed in the heart. "I never asked you to spend all that."
He draped a friendly arm around her shoulder .
"I was just teasing."
"I know." she replied. "We normal people know how to tease too."
He grinned and tickled her side.
"Do you know this game too?" he asked as she shrieked and scrambled to the other side of the couch.
"Yes." she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Good." he followed her and began tickling her unmercifully. Their laughter and shrieks echoed in the empty room. The door slid open and Pansy and Millicent entered, their arms full of packages. At the sight of the friends wrestling on the couch, the packages fell to the ground and two mouths dropped open.
Pansy recovered first.
"Are we interrupting?" she asked sweetly.
Reyana sat up, shoving Blaise off of her.
"Not really." she giggled.
Blaise untangled himself and looked up.
"Blaise!" Pansy tsked. "You had us all fooled. Imagine that we thought you liked boys."
Reyana laughed in delight at the misunderstanding. She straightened her sweater and brushed her now hopelessly tangled hair away from her eyes.
Blaise flushed and stammered.
Reyana took pity on him.
"It's not like that Pansy."
"Oh really?" Pansy arched an eyebrow, "What is it like then?"
"We're friends. And we were playing..." Reyana giggled again. "Oops. That didn't come out exactly right."
Blaise groaned and stood up.
"I'm going to leave before I get slandered anymore."
He strode up the stairs to his room, gathering the shreds of his remaining dignity about him, ignoring the giggles behind him.
Reyana exhaled loudly and grinned at the other two girls.
"Really. There's nothing."
"We'll see." Millicent replied suggestively.
She and Pansy dissolved into laughter again.
When they'd recovered, Pansy looked around.
"Have you seen Draco?"
Reyana suddenly remembered. Guilt pricked at her.
"No." she shook her head. "I saw him in the village, but then he left."
Pansy pouted,
"He was supposed to meet me for drinks after our shopping was done, but he didn't show. I wonder if he's mad at me."
Reyana made a concerned noise, but her mind was on Draco. As if the thought of him was a signal, a large black owl swooped into the room.
"That's Mr. Malfoy's owl." Pansy exclaimed. She reached for the letter attached to his leg, but the massive bird pecked at her fingers angrily.
"Ouch! Damn bird!"
Reyana bit back a smile.
"I'll try."
She went up to the owl and looked into his big unblinking eyes.
"I'll take you to him." she offered, feeling a little stupid. "He's probably upstairs."
The bird eyed her and then hopped up onto her arm, flapping his wings a little for balance. Her arm sagged under the weight for a moment before she was able to adjust to the increase in weight.
Giving the other girls a smug smile, Reyana headed up the stairs to Draco's room.
"Draco?" she called through the door. "There's a letter for you!"
Silence. She tried the door. It was locked.
"Draco! Open the damn door!"
The owl hooted in indignation.
"Sorry old boy." Reyana apologized. "I'm trying."
She tried the door again, and this time to her surprise it swung open.
She stepped into the dark room, her eyes adjusting to the lack of light. A figure huddled on the bed, and Reyana knew it was Draco.
"Draco?" she called softly.
He didn't acknowledge her presence.
She went tentatively to his side, and the great owl hopped down onto Draco's knee, and held out it's leg.
"Draco?"
She was really getting concerned now. He was too quiet.
A hand reached forward, shaking visibly and took the letter from the owl. He only held it, not bothering to open it.
Reyana gathered her courage and sat next to the silent boy.
"Tell me."
He turned to her, his face hidden in shadows.
"Why?" his voice was rough and angry. "You hate me."
Reyana's heart contracted painfully.
"No. I don't." she protested. " I don't particularly like you, but I don't hate you."
"You wouldn't understand." he turned away.
Reyana touched his shoulder and he flinched.
"Try me. I can listen."
He growled deep in his throat and clenched his fists.
"She's dead." he ground out. "Mother's dead."
Reyana's hand slid from his shoulder, as she remembered her own pain.
"I do understand." she whispered, twisting her hands together. "My mother, father and brother were murdered. That's why I'm here."
He looked up, but the shadows made it impossible to see what he was thinking.
"Then you know how much it hurts." his voice broke and he turned his face away again.
"Yes. It hurts like hell." she agreed gently. "I wanted to die."
"How can you be so happy?" he practically whimpered.
Reyana felt her heart break at the vulnerability in his voice. The normally proud young man was incapacitated by his grief. It was nice to know that he loved some one besides himself.
"It's what they would've wanted." she chuckled softly and reached out to touch his shoulder. "But it stills hurt, and it always will."
Draco stiffened suddenly and his voice hardened.
"They poisoned her. She died in agony."
Reyana wasn't sure what to say, so she just listened.
"I'm going to find out who did this, and I'll kill them."
Yay! Longest chapter yet!
And the plot's finally getting going! Everything is mostly in place! Now it's getting fun!
Review!