I moved my finger in the air, tracing the burning lines to doodle absentmindedly when Malfoy walked into the common room. Something inscrutable flashed across his features before he simply brushed past me towards the boys' dormitory. Was it fear? I couldn't help but wonder. He had been doing that a lot lately, avoiding me. Perhaps that last encounter at Hogsmeade had scared him off for good. I couldn't quite decide how I felt about that, whilst my mind recognised the advantages of being under Malfoy's radar of maliciousness and rejoiced, my heart was a little wounded at the notion that I was probably being looked upon as a danger of sorts. The thing was, the more he avoided me, the more I wanted to get a rise out of him, some psychological need to seek proof that nothing had changed, that he didn't fear that part of me.
Masochistic much?, the voice in my head goaded. Ignoring it, I decided to bring up his little stunt earlier on the pitch. "Blimey, I didn't realize it was already Halloween" I said without turning though I could picture his quizzical expression clearly.
"I mean what other reason could it have been for you to dress up as a Dementor and dock fifty points off us" I said, still concentrating on my drawing. "Tell me, aren't YOU afraid of Dementors?"
It took him more than a moment to respond till I almost thought he wouldn't. "Don't be ridiculous" he finally scoffed.
"You fear nothing then? Not even ghosts?" I hinted with a knowing smirk recalling our first encounter with the Bloody Baron. Not even me?, a small part of me asked before I smothered it.
"What makes you think I would tell you even if I did?"
"Oh I was simply looking out for you, you know, from one Slytherin to another. Better watch out for the Dementors, unlike Harry, I doubt you can cast a Patronus"
"What makes you think I can't?"
"Go on, let's see it then" I folded my arms and looked at him expectantly as my sketch evaporated in the air.
"Why don't you try it if you're so brilliant?" he deflected, shifting a little uneasily.
"I can't" I replied honestly. A look of genuine surprise flashed across his face.
"To successfully cast the spell you have to muster and concentrate on a single, very happy memory. The happier the memory is, the better the charm will work. I can cast an incorporeal one but that's all" I explained. There was something different in his usually cool expression when he spoke, something that appeared almost earnest. "Why?"
"Perhaps I haven't had many happy memories powerful enough for a fully corporeal one" I replied offhandedly, returning to drawing fiery patterns in the air with mock indifference. Or perhaps every time I think of a happy memory the bad ones overpower and rob them away.
He went completely quiet that I had to look over my shoulder just to be sure he was still there.
"Does this have anything to do with your parents?" he asked almost cautiously when he caught my gaze. On a regular day the very thought of Malfoy saying anything cautiously around me would have made me laugh. But something about the expression he now wore compelled me otherwise, not one of mockery or contempt but genuine attentiveness. Perhaps it was a mixture of that expression and the relief I felt that he had bantered with me unreservedly as before that I found myself replying openly. "Yes, well, I suppose witnessing the murder of your parents leaves a mark on you no matter how old you are, doesn't it" I said.
He didn't seem to know what to make of it so he remained silent.
"You were not entirely mistaken in what you said before. Contrary to what I said about your family, at least you have one" I confessed.
"Well, you had Dumbledore and McGonagall, no matter what sort Father says they are and I reckon it must have been quite something to be raised in the castle" he offered.
"You're right, if it wasn't for them I – wait, how did you know that?"
"I-" he began before the entrance to the dungeons opened to reveal Parkinson and Bulstrode. Her eyes flared with resentment instantly at the sight of us.
Excuse me while I restrain myself from jumping with joy to see you too, I thought rolling my eyes.
"What are you doing with him?" she accused, stomping towards me.
"Pipe down, Parkinson, I didn't do anyt-"
"Well isn't that convenient for you, Montaine. Never needing to do anything yet have boys eating out of the palm of your hand, the sneaky little two-faced floozy that you are"
"Pansy-" Malfoy started but she was having none of it.
"Don't think for a moment that I can't see right through you. The nerve of you, prancing around and acting virtuous and pure when really it's just a ploy to get boys to do anything you want. Think you can steal Draco away from me? You just can't stand to have someone be better than you are, can you? Well, he doesn't want you"
Her words did little to affect me; rather I was more preoccupied figuring how Malfoy had found out about my being raised in the castle.
"Are you even listening to me!?"
"Nope" I replied, popping the p. "You can have him for all I care. Just a word of advice though, you know, if you want this precious 'relationship' of yours to work, your boyfriend doesn't take too kindly to being talked over, he can speak for himself" I wandered off but not before fixing a sharp look on him. This conversation isn't over.
He tilted his head almost imperceptibly in acknowledgement. I know.
…
I lounged on the bed next to Hermione's as she preened through several thick tomes and schoolwork. I hadn't bothered with mine today, figured I could catch up with it later before dinner when the Slytherin dungeon was more deserted.
"How is Neville holding up?" I asked.
It was no secret that Sirius Black had gained access to the Gryffindor tower because Neville had written down a week's worth of passwords and then lost it. The Howler he got from his grandmother made Mrs Weasley's look like a Christmas card.
"He's really beating himself up about it. Professor McGonagall was positively livid. She's taken his Hogsmeade visitations for the rest of the year and even forbidden us from telling him the password to the Tower"
I grimaced. "That's brutal"
"Well it can't be helped, he put all our lives at risk, not to mention Harry's"
Speaking of Harry… I eyed Hermione warily and pondered how best to broach the subject. I knew she had yet to reconcile with them since the incident with Harry's Firebolt and Scabbers' disappearance and their feud was getting to her. She would never have admitted it but I could tell she fancied Ron, even if by just a little - she wouldn't shut up about him all summer. I would've confronted her about it if it wasn't so darn difficult to catch a quiet moment with her. Though she didn't appear to suffer any lasting effects of the Hogsmeade attack, she did seem to be more frazzled about schoolwork and studies this year, more than usual anyway. She always had an exorbitant mountain of schoolwork but this was getting ridiculous – I could never catch her between classes and she wasn't in the library as often either. I had no clue where she was most of the time, almost as if she vanishes into thin air.
"What about you?" I ventured cautiously. "Are you, Harry and Ron still not speaking?" To my dismay, her eyes filled with tears. She explained through light sniffles that she had only been trying to protect Harry as I patted her awkwardly.
"You'd think after what happened at Hogsmeade that they'd appreciate you more. But I know they'll come around, they always do. And if they're still being thick about it by the end of the week, I'll round up Fred and George and make their lives miserable" I joked, trying to cheer her up. She shot me a small grateful smile in return.
"Besides, Ron isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, no offense, so don't take it too hard if he's oblivious to how you feel about him" I teased, enjoying the way her cheeks coloured brilliantly. "He's an idiot not to-" the rest of my sentence was a series of unidentifiable mumbles through Hermione's hand.
"Ari!" she whispered fiercely, looking about the dorm frantically though clearly we were the only ones there. "What if someone heard you?" she said, finally uncovering my mouth. I laughed. "It's painfully obvious, Hermione and shocking no one else has made mention of it"
She visibly deflated. "Is it really? Ginny's told me the same before" she confessed.
"Well, she's one to talk. I mean, honestly, the way she is around Harry? But don't worry, your secrets are safe with me" I grinned. "Unless of course it benefits me to tell someone about it, Fred and George would have a field day teasing-"
"Ari!"
"I am a Slytherin, you know" I reasoned as she fixed me a withering glare. "Don't need to get your wand in a twist, I'm only joking"
"And you?" she asked, unsubtly diverting the subject. "I mean I know I haven't been around much lately but even I can see you've been a little distant since…"
"Well I haven't had the urge to kill anyone else yet"
She huffed at my brusque reply and I laughed. "Everything's fine. Dumbledore reckons I need to understand myself more. I figured I tend to lose control when my temper gets the better of me so I've been working on not letting it overwhelm me"
"How so?" she enquired interestedly.
"Deliberately riling myself so I can learn to control it, practice makes perfect after all"
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Practice?"
"Picking more fights with Parkinson and Malfoy" I replied flippantly.
She groaned. "Ari…"
"What? Haven't you heard of fighting poison with poison?"
…
He was lounging on the fourth floor ledge, gazing out the window at the Quidditch pitch in the distance when someone spoke. "Knut for your thoughts?"
"My thoughts are worth far more than a mere Knut" he replied tersely.
"Unusual to find you by your lonesome self"
"Let's skip the idle pleasantries. What do you want, Montaine?"
"To know how you knew about my upbringing. Who told you?"
He was itching to say it was one of the Weasels, if only to spite her and fan flames of betrayal to their little friendship but when he opened his mouth to speak, the truth seemed to simply tumble from his lips. "I overheard you in the library" he found himself saying.
Her amber eyes narrowed. "You mean you were eavesdropping"
"Not intentionally"
"How much of it did you overhear exactly?"
"Well…" he trailed off nondescriptly.
She visibly tensed and regarded him warily and he could almost hear the cogs turning in her mind. "Why haven't you told the whole school about it then?" she asked, her eyebrow furrowed in confusion.
He had no explanation for her question puzzled him too. Why didn't he? He could have used it as leverage against her in the very least. With a secret like that who knew what lengths she would have gone? Perhaps cheat a test or two for him so he could ask Father for a new broom. Or simply to see the look on that Mudblood's face when he outdid her for once. Or blackmail her into being his personal slave for the rest of her Hogwarts life.
Preoccupied with his thoughts, he did not notice her keen eyes scrutinizing him nor the way their honeyed depths warmed when they discovered something in his expression.
"You know, you're not as awful as you think you are" she commented softly.
He stiffened at her words. "I am not weak" he snapped.
"I never said you were. You could learn to take a compliment, Malfoy"
He looked away, grumbling under his breath. A horrifying thought crossed his mind. "Don't think for a second that this makes us friends, we owe each other nothing"
"Of course, I would not be so easily deterred from my life goal"
"And what might that be?" he asked, curiosity piqued.
"To make yours that much more miserable everyday" she said with an impish grin before walking away.
He rolled his eyes but his lips pulled up into a tiny involuntary smile and obscured from him, so did hers.