The Warning part one.
Chapter 84 - The Sneak
Abraxas sat in the Slytherin Common Room; his homework spread before him and a scowl of resentment and frustration on his face. He felt stumped, alone, and cross. His friends should be here helping him, but none were. Nott was helping to set up the classroom for the Duelling Club meeting, Avery had disappeared with his sister to locate a book, and Riddle had a prefect meeting.
Tapping the nib of the goose quill against his work, he considered the Ancient Runes question, but nothing came to him. Why had his father forced him to take two electives? Why was he forced to take Ancient Runes when he hated it? If Hogwarts had Quidditch or Flying as an elective, he'd have easily achieved an Outstanding in those subjects. But no – instead he'd been forced to take Ancient Runes because it had been one of his father's favourite subjects. Things had been different back then. His father didn't have Babbling as a professor for a start; the woman was not only new, but completely hopeless. He dropped the quill and put a hand to either side of his head, glaring down at the question on the page as if he could make it change by force of will alone.
A high-pitched squeal broke into his thoughts.
"Look at the sleeves on that dress! It's divine!" Dorothea Parkinson pointed to a picture of a wedding dress in the magazine she was holding.
Next to her, Penelope obediently bent her head and let out a long sigh.
Abraxas ground his teeth. Those two had been gushing over fashion magazines all morning and the urge to hex them had grown stronger with each passing hour. If only he knew what spell had been used to vanish Lancelot Lockhart's mouth, he'd have enjoyed using it on the Parkinsons.
Trouble was, he didn't know who'd cast it. At first, he'd thought it one of Riddle's. His roommate revelled in learning obscure hexes and although he'd the motive, he hadn't had the opportunity. Tom had been with Slughorn when Lockhart was hexed. The other contenders were Marcus Lestrange or Antonin Dolohov. Lestrange knew far more about Dark Magic than he pretended, and Malfoy's father said that the entire Lestrange family were coached in darkness from an early age. As for Dolohov... the French family had a fantastic library of unusual books. Many of the spells they described would not be Ministry approved.
"I don't know which of you is worse, you or Lovell. I'm beginning to think you're as big a brain-box as Riddle is," Fiona declared from the entranceway.
Fiona and Buffy began walking down the steps. Malfoy eyed the two, mentally comparing them and wondering how the two polar opposites had become friends. They were very different, not only in looks and breeding, but also in temperament. Malfoy ran his eye over Buffy appreciatively, taking in her slight figure and how she'd styled her hair to fall partially over her face in a waterfall of gentle waves. There were prettier girls in the school, but he could see why Riddle had had his head turned.
Then, another thought occurred to him – one that had him regarding her more speculatively. Buffy's arm was often raised during Ancient Runes class and she was already one of Professor Babbling favourites. He bet she knew all the right runes to protect pumpkin fields from marauding swarms of Thrips and Loopers. Whatever Thrips and Loopers were.
"I'm four years behind you in every single subject, Fee!" Buffy was protesting. "I'd no magic until a few months ago and Lovell is helping me catch up. That's why we're researching in the library so much!"
"I know! But what's with all the books on the Fae? You can't pretend that's an exam subject."
Summers mumbled something and went so red that Malfoy thought he could toast bread on the heat from her face. He sniggered. Silly chit being interested in the Fae. She'd probably start drawing sparkly Fairies and Unicorns on her books next. He supposed it should be expected in someone who toted around a book on imaginary creatures and wore Spectrespecs. Oh, yes, Summers might be pretty but she definitely had cuckoos in the brain.
"Honestly, Buffy," Fiona continued, "you need to start having fun. I can't believe you said no when Caradoc asked if you'd like to walk down to the lake with him."
Malfoy slanted Buffy a look. Dearborn was chasing a Slytherin girl again? That titbit was something Riddle might be interested in.
Buffy shot the window that looked into the murky lake a sharp look. "Um, I was kinda worried in case the, er, Grindylows appeared if we went down to the lake."
"Oh, they won't come out of the water," Fiona replied. "And they weren't at our bedroom window this morning. I said they'd become bored eventually and give up."
The pair walked towards Malfoy and then veered off, to take a seat near the Parkinsons. Malfoy eyed them thoughtfully. Why choose those particular seats? Apart from a group of third-years pointing at the snake on the fireplace, the Common Room was almost empty. Either they'd done it to annoy the Parkinsons or one of them secretly fancied him. He tried not to smirk. They wouldn't be the first girls to try to get his attention like that. He was handsome, rich, and very well-connected. Leaning back in his chair, he ran his fingers through his hair, knowing the movement would catch their attention.
Fiona looked over (as he'd known she would) and he smiled, causing her to drop her eyes embarrassed. Malfoy smirked. Then Buffy's eyes met his, mischief making them sparkle and she had a little quirk to her lips, almost as if she knew he was preening for them. And then she looked away – bored. Which, sort of, took all the wind out of his sails.
Still... he had something important to ask her. Better not to let it get to him. "Oi, Summers!" At the same time, he pasted a winning smile onto his lips. The sort 'Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches' would approve of.
Fiona looked ever, Buffy didn't.
The ignorant cow. "Oi, Summers!" he tried again. "I'm talking to you. I know you heard me the first time. Ignoring people might be normal amongst Muggles, but it's considered rude in the civilised world."
Buffy scowled at him. "If you're gonna ask if you can borrow my broom again, don't bother. The answer is always gonna be a no!" She turned back to Fiona and whispered something that set her off giggling.
Malfoy barely noticed. Broom? His chair legs screeched as he pushed away from the desk and stood. The Parkinsons eyed him nervously and then turned matching sneers onto Buffy. Malfoy ignored them, concentrating only on the blonde as he stalked towards her.
"Has Sluggy returned your Nimbus One Thousand and One?" he asked, his voice low and intense.
"Nope. If he had, you still wouldn't get near it."
Pity. He'd have liked to get his hands on her broom. Disappointed, he stood at a loss until he remembered what else he wanted to ask. "Have you done your Runes homework yet?"
She looked at him curiously, surprised at the fast change of subject. "Yeah, I finished it Thursday. Why? Are you stuck?"
He shrugged, not wanting to admit it outright. "I'm a Malfoy," he drawled. "How am I supposed to know about agriculture? Do I look like a country bumpkin?"
Buffy regarded him steadily. "Is that a trick question?"
Sarcasm was not what he needed right now, but hexing her was out. Despite Riddle's claim that he didn't care about her, Abraxas wasn't stupid. No one paid that much attention to a girl if they didn't like her. So he fidgeted, unsure of what to say and feeling uncomfortable.
And then something unthinkable happened; Buffy smiled. A smile so bright and pure that it lit up not only her face but the dull Common Room around them. Malfoy's brain shattered into a thousand pieces and he drew in a deep breath as he felt the full force of her charisma hit him. That smile was meant for him and him alone. She didn't believe he was a country bumpkin, she knew he was a Malfoy and special. He blinked stupidly back at her, his scattered thoughts taking a moment to reform. No wonder she'd been sorted into the best house in Hogwarts. No wonder Sluggy, Dumbledore, and even Riddle had all seen something unusual in her. But... where had he seen that smile before? Not on a Lovegood, that was for certain.
And then the smile vanished, and she was back to being just Buffy. "Did you do the graph?" she asked.
"What?" It took him a moment for his brain to re-adjust from what he'd just seen. "Graph?" His heart sank. "What graph?" He couldn't remember anything about a graph. Riddle and Nott didn't do graphs. "We don't have to do graphs for OWLs. Do we?"
"I do graphs," Buffy replied smugly, flicking a piece of lint from her robe. "That's why Professor Babbling gives me Exceeds Expectations and Outstandings on all my work. She says my plans are exemplary."
"But, but... a plan? That must be like... warding?" Malfoy shook his head. "We aren't taught warding until NEWT level!"
Fiona grinned. "Buffy is our newest brainbox. Riddle needs to watch it. He's going to lose the top spot in Ancient Runes if he doesn't pull his socks up."
Buffy shrugged. "What can I say? My socks are well and truly pulled. My Muggle friends taught me well."
Malfoy gaped at her until he remembered that Muggles knew nothing about wards because they didn't have magic. She was pulling his leg. He laughed. "Since you're such a brainbox, is there any chance of helping me with the Loopers and Thrips question, Summers?"
"Only if you stop calling me Summers. My name is Buffy and I answer to it."
She'd surprised him again. He thought she'd tell him to sod off and do his own homework. Remembering his manners, Malfoy put out his hand and took her smaller one in his. "That's a deal, Buffy. Do call me Abraxas."
…..
A while later, when Buffy had left to go to her appointment with Professor Trelawney and Malfoy was putting his homework away, he heard Dorothea call out to her cousin. Malfoy dipped his head and looked between the table's legs. Something in her voice told him to stay out of sight and listen.
"Did you find Sluggy?" Penelope asked, her voice so low that he had to strain to hear it.
That in itself was odd. Penelope had a voice that carried across the room, even in normal conversation. What scheme were those two hatching together? And what had Dorothea told Sluggy? Malfoy stayed below the table, hovering over his bag and listening.
"He was in his room all along. Said he'd been in the bath and hadn't heard me knock the first time. He'd a turquoise dressing gown on." Dorothea sounded offended.
Penelope giggled. "I bet that was an ugly sight?"
"Very." Dorothea hesitated. Was she checking around to see if anyone was close enough to hear? "I told him about Buffy. He asked if we were sure. That accusing someone of bringing prohibited material into Hogwarts is a serious accusation to make."
Malfoy frowned. He didn't like the sound of that.
"I told him we'd both seen Grindelwald's book fall out of her bag."
That had him jerking his head, almost hitting it on the underside of the table. Buffy had a book by Grindelwald?! His father had copies of all Grindelwald's books, but it was a strange book to own for someone who'd been raised as a Muggle and claimed to like them. It was also odd that she'd brought a book like that into school. The Ministry had banned Grindelwald's books over a decade ago and issued fines to anyone found with one. Not that the Malfoys cared. Malfoy Manor had many hiding places for their darker items, and they were related to all the best people in the Ministry. If a raid was about to happen, someone would tip them off beforehand.
"I described it to him," Dorothea continued. "I told him she'd realised her mistake and shoved it back into her bag, hoping that no one had seen it."
Malfoy hadn't seen it. He vaguely remembered books tippling out of her bag, but he hadn't looked at any closely. The Parkinsons had been sat nearby, they must have seen it fall then.
"Is she going to be expelled?" Penelope asked, her voice bubbling with excitement.
"I've no idea what Dippet will do, but even if she isn't, she's in a lot of trouble."
"Do you think she's more illegal books hidden away in that trunk?" Penelope pressed.
"I do. Because she's not only ugly, but stupid with it."
"I wish we could have gotten in there. We could have added a few more items and then Dippet would have no choice but to expel her."
"She shouldn't be at Hogwarts, anyway," Dorothea sneered. "Anyone who doesn't get their letter before their eleventh birthday has something fundamentally wrong with their magic."
Malfoy peered between the table legs; both girls were on the opposite side of the couch. He could just see Penelope's arm and shoulder.
Dorothea went on, "He's going to search her trunk when Trelawney has finished with her. Since she's going to be a while yet, why don't we get one of the elves to bring cake to our room?"
Penelope must have nodded because she moved from view, and Malfoy heard their footsteps as they left the room. Emerging from under the table, Malfoy threw his bag over his shoulder and pondered the door to the girl's dorm. Tom was going to be furious about this. You didn't snitch on your Housemates to the teachers. He had to get a message to Buffy and warn her.
…
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AN;
thanks to my beta Deiticlast for his speedy turn around.
Thanks to all those who left a review on the last chapter. I hope you like this one!
