Mary:
From the corner of my eye I saw a movement. I looked up and followed Alice with my gaze, who disappeared from the hall.
''What is it Mary? '' Daphne asked. She and a couple of others had followed my line of sight.
''I've noticed that this girl is different from the others.'' Astoria whispered. Yes, because she was a half-vampire, I thought.
''I would stay away from her guys.'' Malfoy interjected. Rising an eyebrow, I looked at him.
''Why? Just because she does not obey your every word and defends herself against you?! ''
''No, because she's a Gryffindor and a Monster.''
I smiled sweetly. ''The only monster here, is talking to me right now. ''
Looking back at my plate I ended the conversation. But the others did not want to stop talking about it, so I let my thoughts wander off and my eyes slid through the hall.
After dinner I went to the dormitory with my friends.
''Sooo Mary. How were your holidays?'' Daphne asked with a meaningful smile. Her undertone was mischievous.
''Okay, I guess. And yours? '' Eight pair of eyes looked at me incredulously.
''What is it? '' I asked sceptically.
''You were with Theo and all you say is okay? '' The disbelief in Milicents tone was almost palpable.
''Yes?'' I didn't understand what they wanted. The girls still stared at me. Slowly it got on my nerves.
''Oh man spit it out! '' I finally hissed.
''Mary. You were alone with Theo. Theodore Nott! The boy who constantly defends you, who constantly throws you glances and who immediately starts talking about you as soon as you leave the room.''
''What?'' I breathed. The girls laughed.
''Are you really that blind Mary?'' This question came from Astoria.
''So, answer me honestly. How were your holidays?'' A little surprised, I went through my holidays again. There had never been signs that Theo would feel something like this for me.
''I really think you interpret too much in his actions. We're just good friends. And the holidays were destroyed by Malfoy.'' A gasp sounded and all eyes turned towards Pansy. Frowning, I looked at her.
''Draco was there as well? Chrm ... how nice.'' She said and laid down on the bed. She crept under her blanket and said no more.
,,Mh... I wouldn't describe it as nice.'' After that, I told them everything.
Alice:
I had found Professor Lupin quickly and although he hesitated at first, he had agreed to teach me the Patronus. We had immediately started to practice. Curiously enough, Professor Lupin had a Boggart in a box.
''It is very important that you focus on your strongest and most joyful memory.''
I nodded and then started to search such a memory. There had to be something... There! I had found one. I thought about me, my dad and my mom. The memory wasn't very clear but I remembered us being in a Park on a rainy day. We hurried down a street as to not get thoroughly wet. The thing I could clearly remember about this moment was that I was really happy at that time.
''I am ready ...'' I said confidently. He nodded and went to the box. He opened it and a Dementor came out of it. At first, I was afraid, but then I quickly focused.
''Expecto Patronum!'' My Wand hissed briefly, but nothing else happened. Concentration, concentration.
''Expecto Patronum! '' The Dementor came closer and Professor Lupin was getting ready to go in between.
''No professor let me! ''
Lupin was surprised but still resigned.
I was terrified and cold, but I would not let this feeling overcome me. My dad had to face those monsters more than anyone ever should, so I refused to recoil from this single one. All I needed was to feel. Stop thinking, start feeling. If it did not work with only one memory, it had to work in a different way. I let my most beautiful memories flow through my head and used that energy to strengthen my wand. I thought about my Family, the House we used to live in, the friends I had now and about the first friend I ever had. My little blond Childhood friend. At some point even the kiss with Draco from the last year came to my mind, so I used it. I used all of those memories to make myself stronger.
''Expecto Patronum! '' A white light appeared from my wand. The light urged the Dementor back in the box. When Lupin closed it, I sat down exhausted.
''That was incredible, Alice. And very dangerous.'' He said enthusiastically.
''Thank you, Professor.'' Somehow, I still managed to offer him a smile even though, all I really wanted to do right now was to sleep.
Mary:
The next day was somehow weird. All Slytherins behaved like angels towards me. The outbreak of Sirius must probably have scared them. It was funny to see how they asked me things politely and smiled. As if I was the personified evil. Ridiculous. But well, I should not complain. They left me alone. But unfortunately, not all of them. The one I wanted to avoid most, sat down next to me at breakfast. Sighing, I looked at my cornflakes and tried to ignore him. It didn't work out. He really wanted to ruin my day.
''Hey Riddle ... Why so quiet today? No snide remarks? '' He asked with raised eyebrows. I threw him a look à la shut-your-mouth and began to enjoy my flakes.
''Leave her alone Malfoy. '' Said Theo. He'd just joined us and sat down on the empty seat next to me.
''What is that to you, Nott?'' The blonde snapped back. Confused, I watched the dialogue that ensued.
''Guys shut up. I want to eat in peace.'' I exclaimed annoyed after I came to the conclusion that the two necessarily wanted to start a fight. They were both silent but threw themselves murderous glances. For real, I had no idea why. Boys were different ... yes that must be it.
Alice:
After I finished the training with Professor Lupin on the next morning, I was on my way to the great hall. Everyone was whispering something about Mary. They all claimed that she knew something about Sirius and although I did not believe that, I needed to be sure that it wasn't true.
I entered the Great Hall and found Mary, between Theo and Malfoy sitting at the Slytherin table. Theo ... I hadn't seen him for a long time, which made my kind of sad. Malfoy was just about to say something stupid to Mary, as Theo intervened. The two blondes threw themselves mean looks, when I purposefully slammed my hand on the table, between Mary and Malfoy and leaned forward.
''Mary, do you have a minute? I want to talk to you.'' She looked at me in surprise but nodded. She stood up, when Malfoy held her by the arm.
''You won't really go with this monster, are you Riddle? '', Malfoy spat the word monster formally out. He was back to normal, again. Maybe he got brainwashed by his father and his 'Pureblood Slytherin' values, in the holidays.
''And why the hell not? Now let go of her before the monster bites you in your arm.'' I slightly showed my teeth, which led him to immediately let go of Mary. I turned to Theo and smiled.
''I'm glad to see you again, Theo.''
''Me too, Alice.'' He replied with a smile. I gave Mary the sign to go and we started walking. We had left the Great Hall and now went to the bell tower.
''I didn't know that you're friends with T- Nott.'' I said in a light voice.
''I forgot that you were close and called him Theo'' She glanced at me. Fair enough.
''How could you ever remember? He's in Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor. There is no reason why someone should make a connection between us, unless you know that Theo and I are childhood friends. Don't ask, it's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you one day. But until then I've got a question.'' I said.
''What is it? ''
''What do you know about the escape from Azkaban?''
''You too? Listen, all I know is that Sirius Black has escaped and that between him, Harry and you-know-who, there is a connection, but everyone knows that.'' We stopped in a corridor.
''Well, at least you tell the truth.'' I had focused on her heartbeat. A new trick I had learned over the summer. If someone lied it beat was faster, but Mary's was very steady.
''How do you know that?'' I threw her a look that said: Are you serious? She seemed to notice it, and after a few seconds of silence her face lit up.
''Right. Probably some fancy vampire thing.'', instead of answering I smiled slightly and went on my way.
Mary:
I watched Alice leave. She had saved me from a weird situation, for which I was grateful. But why was she worried about Sirius? Hm, actually, it wasn't my problem.
''Hey Mary, everything all right with you?'' Yes, he was either a leech or his mucus remained glued to me.
''Until now Malfoy, everything was.'' I replied and went on my way to Divination. He caught up with me. Sighing, I walked on.
''You know it borders on stalking what you are doing here.'' This made him laugh. ''I did not mean it as a joke.''
''C'mon Riddle, we had a bad start. How about a fresh one?'' Turning around I looked into his eyes and stared at him for a few seconds. Why should I? Was my first thought, but there crept a second one. Why not? But my scepticism answered.
''Why? Why do you want that Malfoy? Because of my name? Because of my ancestry? Why? '' He opened his mouth, closed it again and repeated this like five times. ''You know ... forget it. Just forget it Malfoy! You can put your reboot somewhere else.'' I turned around and crashed straight into the next boy. Blaise.
''What is going on here?'' He asked, looking alternately at me and Malfoy.
"Nothing. It's just swarming of incompetence here.'' I said and walked into the classroom. I sat down on an empty seat and at first didn't realize whom I was sitting next to. It was only when I met an incredulous look from the just entering Malfoy that I looked around. I sat next to Alice and the other three people who were not very popular among the Slytherins. Harry, Hermione and Ron. For a second I thought about standing up and going to my house, but Alice smiled at me and handed me a blue cup. Why not give her a chance?
Alice:
I was surprised that Mary sat next to me, but then I told myself, why not. I handed her a cup and filled both, hers and mine. Trelawney let us empty them before she started to explain what our goal was. We had to exchange the cups, and then interpret the signs. Me and Mary exchanged the cups and then began to decode the stuff.
''So I'm just gonna start.'' I said to Mary.
''I see quite a lot of romantic encounters, some more earnest than others, but also great danger and important decisions. Your future could be bright but at the moment it is covered by a shadow. Which, according to this book means, that you'll have to get rid of someone that is currently controlling your life. That's all. '' I said and put the cup on the table.
Mary nodded thoughtfully, then focused on her task.
''That's odd... but let's start from the beginning. Your love life is complicated, and some things are yet to come to you. Looks like it will be quite hard. Now the strange part... your future is not clear...I'm not sure what that means, but it could be very dangerous... Looks like there is a crossroad? This hints at… wait, I need to look this up. Two different lifes? Sorry, divination is not really my strong point. ''
''Don't worry, neither is it mine.''
Well... now I was thoughtful, but I was torn out of my mind when Professor Trelawney suddenly acted very erratically. Something was going on with Harry. When the hour was over, she let us go. Ready for the lessons with Hagrid, we all left the room.
Mary:
After Trelawney had let us go, we all went to Hagrid's hut.
''And yet another incompetent teacher who tries to tell us how magic works.'' Sneered Malfoy.
''Shut up Malfoy.'' Harry hissed. I watched with a raised eyebrow. Malfoy opened his mouth again to dish on it.
''Come on, just leave it. OK? It's really tiring to listen to you.'' Theo sighed and looked at him. To my surprise, he actually closed his mouth and said nothing the rest of the hour, up to the part where Hagrid had called someone else than Harry to ride on Buckbeak.
''Pf... That cannot be that hard. Come here, you ugly beast. You're not dangerous at all!'' Against all warnings, Malfoy had not been smart enough to move back and Buckbeak had taken the matter in his own hands. As Hagrid took him to the infirmary, we all stared after them in disbelief. Buckbeak was being calmed down by Alice, who slowly took him back towards the reservoir where all the magical beasts we studied were being kept.
