Needless to say, I did not go meet up with Draco after dinner. Instead, I enjoyed sitting in front of the fire with Harry and Ron's sister, Ginny. Apparently, Hermoine and Ron were an item, and needed alone time to themselves. Honestly, you totally wouldn't know by the way those two acted that they were a couple. More like best friends that snuck away every chance they got. I thought maybe she was tutoring him so he wouldn't fail. Turns out, she was tutoring him in a whole different way. Nasty.
I stared solemnly at the fire. The truly brightest light here at Hogwarts was Draco for those few hours. Turns out, the boy that I had known all those years ago had in fact changed. He was, technically, an accessory to murder. How could he become a Deatheater, a follower of such an evil man? That wasn't him, not my Draco. Not the kid I stayed up late talking from a window with because our parents wouldn't let us out alone. I thought I had known everything about him. Then again, as Hermoine told me more times than I wanted to hear, people change.
"Dante?"
I looked up from the flames to find Ginny staring at me. "Sorry, day dreaming. What did I miss?"
"We were wondering," Harry leaned forward a little bit, "Is Lord Voldemort as infamous in the US as he is here?"
"No," I shook my head, "He is feared, but was not quite a threat. We have our own dark wizards to deal with." I felt my fists clench at the thought of dark wizards. It took all my strength not to remember nine years ago, when I had my first run in with one of them. These guys weren't the only ones who have dealt with darkness, and Harry wasn't the only one with a scar to prove it.
"I know Hermoine told you about Draco, and that he's not the only Deatheater student," Ginny whispered, looking over a group of third year girls gossiping across the room, "But you still need to watch yourself. They can be hard to spot."
"I'm incredibly aware of that," I hissed, then felt like changing the subject. "So, what other fun things are we allowed to do around here?"
"Sneak around the castle in the middle of the night, but that's not really something we're allowed to do," Harry smirked. "Want to go? Maybe you can figure out where everything is that way."
"Sure," I nodded, standing up. "You coming, Ginny?"
"No," She leaned against the couch, "I got some stuff I need to do. I'll see you in the morning."
Harry and I stepped out of the portrait covering the entrance and I felt him slip something over my head. "What the-"
"Invisibility cloak, calm down," Harry whispered. "I want to show you something." He took my hand and pulled me down hallways and around staircases. We stayed silent, and luckily didn't run into anyone. The dimness of the night made me shiver a little, and I wished for a nice patch of warm sand to lay out on. That'd be wonderful.
"What are you wishing for at the moment?" Harry stopped.
"How'd you know I was making a wish?" He pointed at a large door, which hadn't been there previously. That I knew of at least, I hadn't really been paying attention. Couldn't with Harry's hand wrapped around mine so tightly.
"It is called the Room of Requirement. It only turns up when you're in need of something."
Now this, I could really have fun with. I threw open the door and stepped in, feeling warmth even through my shoes. The walls were painted the color of the Carolina sky and the floor was covered in the exact type of sand that was found on the coast. There were even shells in it. The entire room was warm, just like an early fall day. I couldn't believe it, just when I had lost something, I gained another that was even better. Something that could bring me a piece of home.
"This is amazing," I sat down and pulled my shoes off so I could feel the sand between my toes.
"I thought you would like this," Harry joined me, "I know the past few months must have been pretty hard for you, so I wanted to give you something that would allow you to come home. In some form at least."
"Thank you, Harry." I nudged him and smiled, "I really appreciate it."
"Anytime," he looked around. "Tell me about the States. I've never been there."
"I've only ever lived in the south. All my family is from there. We lived on a big plot of land that six generations of my mother's family grew up on. The sky was always blue, hot in the summer and chilled only a little bit in the winter." My heart longed to be back there, but I wasn't about to tell Harry that. "Everything else is just a feeling, something you'd have to experience for yourself. Maybe ya'll could come visit me when we're all graduated from here."
"I'd like that," he murmured, leaning close to me.
"If you're trying to make a move," I snickered at him, "You might want to cool your jets." His eyes went wider than a skillet and I couldn't help but burst into laughter. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to assumed that you were hitting on me. Its just, when I'm comfortable I'm a little more hyper than I would like to be."
"No, I was hitting on you. I should be the one apologizing," he started to pick at the sand, "Probably shouldn't have thought that you would want to date someone with only knowing them less than a week."
"You're right," I agreed, "I would prefer to get to know you better before I make any kind of decision on our status."
"Good plan," When he looked up at me, his eyes held hope. For some reason, I felt almost guilty. Like something in my heart told me that I was leading Harry on. I didn't believe that I was, he was a very attractive guy, a little on the short side but I liked that I could look him straight into those pretty green eyes. And he was nice, a fighter of evil wizards like myself, and hadn't killed anyone. He was basically the perfect guy for me.
But if that was the case, why in the name of God's green Earth was a picture of Draco's devilishly handsome face stuck in my head?
"Now, class," Professor Slughorn tapped my cauldron so I would look up, "I want you all to come take a look at Miss Saint-Evan's cauldron. What has she done wrong?"
Kids gathered around me as I moved slightly back from the table. I knew I had done something wrong, cause it was starting to look more like a swamp than the bubbling lime green this potion was supposed to be.
"She didn't add enough wintrily juice," His voice penetrated my senses like a bullet. And did I mention he didn't sound happy? "Looks like three more drops will do the trick."
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," Professor handed me the vile that contained the juice I needed. "Please be sure to pay attention a little more to your directions. Other than that, good work."
"Thanks," I restrained myself from telling him that he was annoying me with his constant looking over my shoulder. Maybe I was being a little paranoid, but for some reason I had it in my head that Professor Slughorn had it out for me because I was from the US. Yes, we may not use the metric system, but that doesn't make us inept.
"You should be thanking me," Draco sat down across the table from me. I could almost feel Hermoine shudder next to me.
"I should," I stared at him and tried to keep a smile off my face. I had to think that he was a killer, not the pale boy that got sunburned from being outside too long. Oh, just that memory made my face spontaneously loose control, I felt the smile only after it was on my face. "Thank you, Malfoy."
"You've never called me that," he looked confused, "And what happened last night? I thought we were going to catch up." I saw his fist clench a little. He was mad, but controlling it. That had to mean something right. Dante, snap out of it!
"Something came up," I lied, looking back down at the directions for the potion. "I didn't think to send an owl or anything."
"Oh," His voice suddenly turned to ice, "Tonight then?"
"She has plans with me," Hermoine piped up and I really wished she hadn't.
"Really?" Draco glared at her, "That's fascinating, you know. Because I didn't know you two were friends." His eyes turned back to me, "At some point, could you maybe find at least a little time to talk to me."
My eyes wandered to Hermoine, who was relaying wordlessly that I shouldn't. How could I convey to her in this moment that ignoring Draco completely would only make this a lot worse for all of us? Guess I would just have to explain it later. "Yeah, I'll make some time for you," I sighed.
"Thank you," He stood and walked away from us, back to his potion and the two fools that followed him around everywhere. Crab and Goyle looked my way and grinned their fat faces off. Draco must have said something about me and for a second I was thrilled. Then, I really wasn't. I didn't want Deatheaters thinking so highly of me. I'd rather be their enemy. But Draco, I couldn't be his enemy. Not after that summer oh so long ago. For that time, he had been everything to me. That one thing was too hard to let go, even though he was apparently such an evil person. In my mind, he could never be that.
"What do you think you are doing?" Hermoine hissed under her breath.
"I can't go on ignoring him, Hermoine. He thinks him and I are friends," I explained. "I'll let him know that him and I are different now and that there can not be a relationship. Happy?"
"Yes," She took my hand and squeezed it before returning to her potion. "Only trouble follows Draco Malfoy, and not the good kind of trouble, either."
Class ended soon after that, and we went to meet Harry and Ron for our Care of Magical Creatures class on the grounds. For the first time since I could truly remember, it was almost nice outside. There was a little bit of a bite in the wind, but nothing I couldn't handle. I'd lived through hurricanes, a little breeze wasn't about to knock me over. No sir.
Hermoine on the other hand could have been considered a giant klutz, although she said she normally wasn't. She knocked herself over twice before we reached a little house on the edge of what kids here called the Black Forest. Didn't look as ominous as the name, but that was just me.
Ron bounded up to Hermoine and I, looking more excited than he had been earlier when food was in front of him. I didn't think he could surpass himself, but clearly he could. "We're learning about Pegasus!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Flying horses! Can you believe it."
"Ron," Hermoine gave him a scared look, "You need to calm down a little bit."
"Do you have ADD?" I asked, staring at him.
"No, I do not," he looked offended, "Am I not allowed to be excited about flying horses?"
"You can be excited at a lower level," I patted his shoulder and followed some of the other students to the clearing. If I haven't told you already, I have an extreme love for magical creatures. My hope is to become a Healer for all kinds of creatures. Ever since I was little I had a fascination for them, and even went on a few rescue missions to help wounded or helpless ones. My life was magical creatures. I wouldn't be who I am with out them. And as for the Pegasus, well, lets just say that I could have taught this class.
As everyone gathered around in a group at the edge of the clearing, I walked straight into the middle where a beautiful horse with blue tipped wings was picking at a patch of wildflowers. It was a young one, I could tell by the size. Normally their huge but this one was the size of a regular horse. And beautiful, with its perfectly white coat and the unique tips, I hadn't seen one this pretty.
"Excuse me," I got his attention, "How are you today?"
"I'm fine, thank you for asking," he looked back at the crowd. "How'd you know I'm an Arion?"
"The small A on your side," I pointed out. "I know my stuff here." Arions are a type of Pegasus that have the gift of gab, so to say.
"Ah, I like you already," he strutted toward me, "I'm Lunic, Son of Handred. And you are?"
"Dante Saint-Evans, of the United States," I reached my hand out to stroke his face, the normal wizard-Pegasus greeting. He nuzzled my hand gently in return.
"You're a student here?" he asked, again looking back at the other students. I turned as well and they were all talking in amazement and staring at me like I was nuts. Maybe I was breaking some sort of rule, but at this point it didn't matter. Lunic wasn't going to hurt me, that was obvious.
"Yes, I am," I smiled, "New here. How'd you come to be in this line of work?"
"Long story," his eyes looked sad, "Maybe I'll tell you over drinks someday." "I didn't mean to bring up a bad memory if I did," It was only common courtesy to apologize. The thing about Pegasus is that they are incredibly formal when you first meet them. If you don't treat them in their formal style they will basically shun you. But when you're acting like I am, you typically become faithful friends. Pegasus are very loyal creatures, and even more so when they're Arion. I sensed that soon him and I would be sharing a bottle of Whiskey and reminiscing about the good ol' days.
"You are perfectly fine, dear Dante," Lunic bowed his head slightly to show that I was forgiven.
"Settle down, class!" I heard a booming voice coming from behind me toward the clearing.
"I think I should return to my classmates," I went to back up, but Lunic tugged me back by my robes.
"I apologize," he whispered, "But this is my first class and I'm a bit nervous. Would you at all mind staying by my side. Hagrid doesn't quite get my stage fright."
"Of course," I placed a hand on his neck and stayed where I was, now facing the other kids. They all looked at me like I was going to get it and they would enjoy seeing me yelled at. "Whose Hagrid?"
"The professor of this class, and Grounds Keeper for the castle. Big fellow." At that moment, I became aware of his size. He was gigantic! Big fellow was putting it lightly. Fear rushed through me at the thought of getting in trouble with him and I stepped even closer to Lunic.
"Do not fear, Dante," Lunic chuckled, fluffing his wings a bit. "Hagrid is sort of a big push over most of the time."
"Hey you!" Hagrid pointed at me, "What are you doing?"
"Uh…" I looked at Lunic.
"She's simply keeping me company, Hagrid," Lunic pranced a few feet in front of me as the other students gasped. "Is that so wrong?"
"Nah, I suppose not," Hagrid gave me a look before addressing the rest of the class about the lesson today.
Lunic came back to my side and I could feel him starting to twitch.
"You're going to be fine. Worst that can happen is they'll be overly curious and ask you too many questions."
"You think?" Lunic gave me a hopeful glance.
"I know so," I smoothed out a few feathers. "And if they try anything, they will have to answer to me."
"Dante I think I might love you," Lunic joked.
"Now," Hagrid motioned for Lunic, "As you can see, this is a juvenile peg. The A on his side designates him as Arion, which you lot should have read about last night. Clearly, Miss Saint-Evans has done her homework."
"No," I chimed in, "Actually I already knew all about the Arion and Pegasus."
"Good for you," Hagrid smiled, "Care to show the class the defining details."
"No problem," I rubbed Lunic's forehead and he unfolded his twenty foot wingspan. "These, as you can see, are the wings. Designed with the hollow bones of a bird, but with extremely strong muscles to power the Pegasus in flight. Not all Pegasus have colored feathers on their wings, but Lunic here has blue, which can be a result of family history or he's just magnificently different."
"Well done," Hagrid clapped. "Does anyone have any questions for Lunic?"
Lunic went a little ridged, but as kids asked him questions and with me stroking his mane, he eased up. The more he talked the less his voice shook and by the end of class he was making his answers more detailed.
"Great job, Lunic," I grinned at him, "You're a natural."
"Couldn't have done it without you," he pressed his head against my face, which was a sheer sign of gratitude that I had never gotten from a Pegasus. I was incredibly honored.
"You'll come visit me, yes?"
"Of course," I assured him. "I have my free period before lunch, I can visit you then whenever you want."
His eyes sparkled with happiness. "Tomorrow are you free?"
"I sure am," I patted his head, "I must be off, but I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodbye, Dante."
As I walked to the path, Professor Hagrid stopped me. "Harry told me a bit about you, said you're a magical creature enthusiast." Hagrid slowed his steps to keep pace with me up to the castle. "And you were brilliant back there with young Lunic. If you're ever interesting in bein' my assistant during a class, I'd love to have you."
"Wow," I exclaimed excitedly, "Really? That'd be awesome!"
"Great!" He ran his fingers through his rather scruffy beard. "The gang is coming to tea later, you can join if you'd like."
"I'd love to," I nodded, and said goodbye. For awhile, I had forgotten my issues with Draco. I had forgotten everything bad that had happened the past few months and felt really truly happy.
Tea with Hagrid was a fairly interesting experience. In fact, Hagrid himself was an interesting being. I don't even know how to begin to describe him.
Unfortunately, I had to get back to the dorms early to finish some studying I had put off a little bit. So I left the trio with Hagrid, as they talked animatedly about their past six years at Hogwarts. As I trudged up to the castle, I got the feeling I was being watched. I put my hand on my hip holster and kept walking. If anyone was going to try anything, I'd be faster than them. Keeping my ears keen to any noise, I climbed the stairs to the door.
That was when I heard a foot hit the stair behind me and felt someone grab my waist. I whipped my wand out and twisted away from my attacker, only to find that the person in front of me was Draco Malfoy. Of course, he would be the one to sneak around in the darkness. Why hadn't I thought of that before?
"What the hell, Draco?" I bellowed, putting my wand back in its place. "Must you do that?"
"I'm sorry," he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. "I just need to talk to you."
"Speak," I couldn't help but be a little mad at him, sneaking up on me. Southern girls have hot tempers, in case you didn't already know. He was lucky that I was more shocked than angry when I found out he was a Deatheater, otherwise he would've probably been in a million pieces. And I wouldn't have even used a wand.
"I'm sure Granger told you some less than flattering things about me, but I want you to know that they probably aren't so true," he started.
"So you're not a Deatheater and you didn't help kill the old headmaster?" And for a second I was hopeful. Somehow Hermoine was wrong, or Draco was framed or something.
"Um…well, actually.."
"Then I have nothing else to say to you," I turned on my heel but he grabbed my wrist, holding me back.
"Dante, please hear me out," he pleaded, "When I saw you the first day of school I knew I had to have you back in my life. All that bad stuff that happened is in the past now if you want it to be. Just please, don't write me off."
"No, Draco," I shook my head. "You have changed. You became a dark wizard, after you knew what they had done to me and my family." I shook with anger and sadness from the memories and turned away from him.
"Oh God," Draco whispered, as if just now remembering what had happened to me. "I will change for you, Dante. I will do anything."
"I don't want you to do anything," I turned away from him and began up the stairs, this time he didn't stop me. "I think you should leave me alone." Silence followed me all the way up to the dorms, where in the empty room, I collapsed onto my bed and cried.