That Fateful Night
Chapter Nine
An Invite
A/n: For reference: the more reviews I get the quicker I will post new chapters! And uhm...Snape is in this one but I'm not completely sure how he got his job back. lol
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"Come on Katie! We're gonna be late!" Bleu yelled from the door as Katie gathered up her books. Her first class of the year and she had already almost forgotten her books!
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Katie yelled back as she jumped up and sped towards the common room, nearly dropping her books in the process. She kept up her fast pace and made the mistake of picking the wrong moment to look down at her slipping books. When she did, she ran right into someone, dropping her books and bag. She sighed as she saw everything in both of their bags roll away and a few vials of ink explode.
A few feet behind her she heard Bleu's melodious giggle sound. "Wow Katie! You're on a roll today!" This was the second person Katie had run into all day. The first had been Diego and Katie had watched Bleu give him a mistrustful glare. Diego had looked at Katie as if to ask what he did and Katie just shrugged. She wasn't sure what her new friend had against Diego, but it had to be something really bad. As far as she had seen, Bleu was friendly towards nearly everyone she met. She had even attempted to be polite to Dimitri.
She looked up at the person she had run into and a blush crept into her cheeks. Of all the people in the school it had to be Damon. She tried to pick up the pens and such to avoid looking at him, lest he see her crimson cheeks. This was one of the times she hated having pale skin. And god forbid Bleu see her blushing. She'd never hear the end of it! "Sorry for bumping into you…" She muttered, purposely looking at the floor so her white-blonde hair would fall over her face.
"It's my fault, not yours. I wasn't watching where I was going." He said with a grin. He didn't mind running into her, in all honesty, he had hoped he'd see her today. He thought she was rather pretty and although he'd only spoken to her a little bit, he already kind of had a crush on her.
"Neither was I so I suppose we're even." She eyed the boy's eyebrow piercing and winced. It really looked like it hurt. He must have noticed where she was looking though, because he reached up and touched it without thinking.
"It didn't hurt too bad. Most people where I'm from have got worse piercings." He scooped up the rest of his stuff and stood, extending a hand to help her up. "We're gonna be late if we don't hurry."
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An owl rapped sharply at the window just as Hermione was finishing applying her make-up. She missed the sound the first time, but when it sounded again, she set down her lipstick and followed the tapping to the window, gasping at the magnificent eagle owl.
It was a sleek and shiny creature, so huge that Hermione feared it might get stuck in the window when it was allowed in. It had a letter though so it had to be allowed. She could just see the corner of a dark green envelope attached to the owl's mighty leg.
When it was allowed in, the bird promptly pecked her finger and flew to the bed. Hermione glared at it but followed it warily. The peck had hurt quite a bit and she was now going through her mental list of people who would send her letters with an evil owl.
She took hold of the bird and untied the letter. The owl, unlike most others, immediately flew off, not waiting for a response. This shocked her a bit. Most letter senders requested their owls await a response… unless it was an announcement of someone's death.
As soon as she had the envelope away from the owl, and the window locked shut, she examined the envelope. The handwriting on the front was loopy and small, with little curlicues on each letter. This puzzled her. No one she knew wrote like this.
However, when she flipped the letter to rip it open, she realized why the handwriting was not familiar. A large Malfoy crest held the letter shut. Her first thought was Draco, but no, she had seen his handwriting before. It was straight and narrow, and she could tell he had never once thought of adding a curl to a letter. That left Lucius, Narcissa, or someone else.
Draco could have gotten a woman to write the name, but why would he? Never before had he done something like that. So it was either Lucius or Narcissa. Either one could mean bad news for her, Katie, and Draco. She figured it was Narcissa though. She couldn't quite imagine Lucius writing like that.
With a shaking hand, she slit open the envelope with her finger. She was now all too aware of how silent the house was with Katie away at school. The letter could be a threat and no one would be here to help her if someone broke in.
Finally, she reached the letter inside and unfolded it, quickly checking for a signature, and sure enough, there it was, Narcissa Malfoy. The same handwriting pervaded the rest of the letter, which appeared to be somewhat short and to the point.
Miss Granger,
My husband and I are having a family gathering over thechildren's winter break and as your daughter is family we would like to extend an invitation to the both of you. Our son, grandson, daughter-in-law,Miss Zanyini, and her son will also be attending along with a few other family members. We will be hosting everyone for about a week,but if you are not comfortable staying for the entire week, it certainly will not be held against you. We wouldsimply like to get to know our granddaughter.
If you plan on attending please send an owl by December 1st so that we can have adequate time to prepare your rooms. No special attire is required but if you have an evening gown do pack it as we are considering either attending or hosting a Christmas Eve ball.
We are awaiting your owl.
Narcissa Malfoy
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"Bloody hell!" Dimitri yelled aloud in the middle of potions. The whole class turned and looked at him in a sort of shocked silence. Everyone waited for Snape to turn and award the young Malfoy at least five detentions, but it didn't happen.
"Mr. Malfoy, could you refrain from using such language in my classroom?" Snape said icily. It was a well-known fact that Draco Malfoy had been a favorite of his and Lucius had been his good friend. That automatically entitled Dimitri to the new spot of favoritism.
Katie's hand shot up in the air a moment later amidst gleeful giggles. The professor turned and looked at her. A puzzled look came over his face for a second, but he dismissed it. "Ms. Granger is it?"
"Yes, sir. My potion is complete I think…" She looked at it for a moment, but looked back at him quickly. She wanted to watch the expression on his face to see if it was right or not.
He eyed the potion. It was the right shade of green. But this girl said she was a Granger. That might mean it was that insufferable know-it-all, Hermione Granger's daughter. She had light features though and looked an awful lot like Dimitri. He made a mental note to speak with Draco later. "Yes, Miss Granger, you're potion seems to be fine."
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The next few months flew by too fast for Katie's liking. Damon, Travis, Bleu, and her became as inseparable as Ron, Harry, and Hermione in school. Though steadily tormented by Dimitri's little fan club (Amber, Kourtnie, Rob, and Cameron) they continued with their daily routines and ultimately found that Dimitri's tormenting meant nothing.
Damon, being a second year, already knew his way around the school and helped the other three out whenever possible. Since he'd already had all of their classes it made their homework even easier because when they didn't understand something he could explain it.
Soon enough, the Christmas holidays were approaching and everyone was excited. Already, word had spread of the Hogwarts reunion and several students were happy to know their parents would be showing up. The rest were simply happy that the holidays were coming up.
Katalia and Dimitri were just excited to know that they wouldn't have to deal with each other for the break. At this point Hermione had not exactly told Katalia about the invite and was still debating whether or not she should go.
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A/n: Yes! 'Tis a new chapter!
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