Draco Malfoy walked out of the Headmistress' Office in shock. Only when he had rounded a corner and made sure that no-one was around did he allow himself to smile, and punch the air. Then, he headed down the corridor to the dungeons and muttered the password quickly, sweeping in.
"Everybody! Gather round!" he called. All the Slytherins were either in the common room or the dormitories, and they came quickly, until the entire House was assembled before him. "Good news. Who here does not know of the curse of Slytherin House?" A few first years, looking terrified in a corner, raised their hands.
"Muggle-born?" asked Draco. They nodded. "For as long as we can remember, the members of Slytherin House have been sent into the inner circle of Dark Wizards, working to destroy them from the inside. These stone tablets behind me list those who have been killed or those who have lost themselves, and become mindless slaves of a Dark Wizard. All Slytherins bear this curse. However, the Headmistress has taken mercy upon us." An excited murmuring spread among them, and a smile spread across Draco's face. "It is time, my friends, for Slytherin House to return from the shadows!" He cried, and everybody cheered and whooped. He smiled as he watched them celebrating, but he knew that he would have to bring them down to earth. "However, this will not be easy. Part of our curse was that we must live with the mistrust of all around us. That will not end because we say so. We have been forbidden from simply telling everybody of the curse, because that would embarrass the Ministry. We have to earn their trust, through House unity. This will be hard. You may feel as though the weight of the world is on our shoulders and, I will not lie to you, it is. If we fail, Slytherin House will still be known as the evil house. New first years will still pray not to be sorted into Slytherin, even those whose ancestors are inscribed on these tablets. We must not let our predecessors deaths go in vain. You may all go now, except for the seventh years."
The crowd dispersed, leaving the seventh years standing, watching Draco. He beckoned them over to a side room, and they all sat down around the table that was in there. He looked around the table, seeing both old friends and new. Blaise, Pansy, Theo and Astoria were there but there were also those who had just finished their sixth year, and had moved up, to join those who had returned from war. He knew all of their names: Alice, Orion, Tom, James and Elizabeth, to name but a few. "We will face prejudice. It will not be easy, but I wish to remind you of one thing. Those who despise our house will not limit themselves to the older ones among us. We must protect the lower years, particularly the first and second years, who have no hope of defending themselves against someone like Cho Chang or Ernie Macmillan." Blaise let out a weary sigh.
"Yes. Forgive me Draco, but this task seems impossible." Draco shrugged.
"There is nothing to forgive. However, there is one gift we have been given. The Golden Trio are to be told by us, and we will put our pride aside and ask them for help. I doubt they will refuse." he said. The others nodded. "That's all. Now, lets go and enjoy being back at Hogwarts, the way it should be." They all stood and walked out leaving Draco there. "You can come out now." he said, seemingly to the air. A small girl stepped out from a corner, and sat on the table. She had short, straight black hair, dark eyes and pale skin. She was small for her age and quite skinny. Draco leaned back in his chair and smiled at her. "What's up, Cass?" Cass shrugged.
"Nothing much." Draco rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"Come on Cass, I'm your cousin. You think I can't tell when something's wrong? Tell me." She shrugged, staring at her hands.
"Are we really going to be attacked?" She asked. Draco sighed and leaned forward, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Quite possibly. There are those blinded by what they think the Slytherins did, and those who have been raised to despise us, much like the world thought we were raised to despise the others. You will have a better chance than most of your year Cass, I'll be honest, because you've suffered through much worse than anything a seventh year could throw at you, and you can defend yourself more, but that doesn't mean you can play the hero and get yourself killed or wounded. If something happens, use your judgement. Generally, run. If you make it into the dungeons, you should be alright. I don't want to see you in the hospital wing, alright?" Cass nodded. "Good. Now, come on. I'll take you to Severus to get your potion." They stood up and walked out, Draco's hand resting firmly on Cass' shoulder. Most of the Slytherins looked at them curiously, bar the seventh years, who all knew who Cass was. They walked out of the common room and down the corridor towards Professor Snape's dungeon. Draco knocked on the door.
"Enter." called Snape, and they walked in. The dungeon was as dark as ever, and Professor Snape himself was bent over a cauldron. He straightened up and nodded when he saw them.
"Ah, Draco, Cassiopeia. Here for the potions? I'll get them, for you." He disappeared into his Potions store and came out holding two vials of potion, one clear and one a dark blue. He handed the dark blue one to Cass carefully. "Remember. Two drops, dreamless sleep. Three drops, comatose." Cass nodded.
"I know, sir. I've only been taking it my whole life." Snape smiled tightly.
"Yes, well, judging from the idiocy of the rest of your year, I thought it best to take precautions. Now, you'll have to take this one here. I'm not allowed to let it out of my sight. Drink it all, I've modified the potion so it doesn't taste so foul." Cass nodded, stowing the sleep potion in her cloak, and taking the other one from Snape. She uncorked the vial and drank it all, handing it back to him with a grimace.
"Still doesn't taste nice, though."
"Yes, but it does the job. You won't need another one until term ends. Now off you go, I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow. You too Draco, unless there's anything else?"
"Yes, actually. Cass, go back to your friends."
Cass rolled her eyes. "Alright, no need to patronise me." She walked out of the dungeon, and closed the door behind her.
"Have you heard, Professor?" asked Draco. Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Heard what?"
"About the curse." said Draco urgently. Snape smiled fully.
"Yes. In fact, I was the one who put the idea forward." Draco looked surprised.
"You?"
"Yes. It had gone on for long enough, and we lost much more than we gained, by sending children into the field. The Headmistress hastened to agree with me, particularly when I brought up your cousin's case. Absolutely horrible, that is."
"Yeah." said Draco. "She's gone through enough already, being dragged away from the only home she'd ever known and being tortured mercilessly about things she had no knowledge of, by the parents she'd never known. I just thank God for the Memory Suppressor Potion. I'm not sure I could sleep knowing that she could remember everything that had happened in perfect clarity."
"It's good that you're so protective of her, though." said Snape thoughtfully. "She needs someone like that, someone she can rely on. I need to tell you something, though. I'm sure you'll already have thought about the first and second years being attacked by older students, but Cassiopeia's name could make her a target. The Lestranges were never well liked at all."
"Anyone lays a finger on Cass, they'll answer to me." growled Draco. "And that goes for any Slytherin."
"Don't do anything stupid, Draco." warned Snape. "You can go now."
Draco walked out of the dungeon, and Cass stood up from where she had been leaning against the wall. She fell into step with him easily.
"Draco?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah?"
"What...what if the other kids don't like me?" she asked, sounding timid, and Draco was struck by how, even with all the trouble she'd had, she could still be worried about something like that, just like every other kid starting a new school.
"Then they're idiots. You can always come and hang out with us if you need to, you know you're always welcome." said Draco confidently. Cass smiled.
"Alright. Thanks." They reached the entrance to the common room and muttered the password quietly, before sliding in. Cass moved over to a group of first years, joining in the conversation effortlessly, and Draco headed over to the corner currently occupied by the seventh years, both old and new.
"How is she?" asked Blaise, nodding over to Cass.
"Memory Suppressed. A little nervous about a new school and all that, but honestly I'd much rather have her nervous about that than nervous about being snatched by Death Eaters." answered Draco honestly.
"How are we supposed to get the Golden Trio to speak to us?" asked Orion.
"Ask them?" offered Alice, and the rest of the group shook their heads.
"They won't come alone. We'll either have to ask Severus, or kidnap them." said Theo.
"I suggest we ask Severus first. Somehow, I don't think kidnapping the Golden Trio is going to help us prove to the world that we're actually on their side." said Pansy.
"Yeah." agreed Tom. "I mean, everyone in my year is already scared of me because I'm a Slytherin and my name is Tom. It's ridiculous."
"It is." agreed Draco. He looked at the clock. Half past ten. He stood up, held his wand to his throat and began to speak, his voice amplified by the charm.
"Everybody, curfew starts now. Lights go out in ten minutes, and I know it's the first night but please, I don't want any trouble until morning. We are planning a midnight feast, but that will be later on in the term. Go on, up to bed now, everybody." The Slytherins all began to move towards the staircases leading down to the dorms, and Draco swept the common room, making sure nobody was left. He reached into a particularly dark corner and hauled out Cass and a young boy, Blaise's little brother, Matteo.
"Go to bed, you two. Now." said Draco sternly.
"Yeah." said Blaise, coming to stand next to Draco. The other seventh years had also gone to bed, and it was just the four of them. "Get to bed, you want to be rested for tomorrow. Besides, the fifth years will induct you at some point, and this is the only night you know for certain you can sleep easy. Now go." The two slunk down to their dorms, saying goodnight with a bump of fists, and Draco and Blaise headed down the boys steps. They walked past Matteo, who was pulling on a pair of silk pyjamas, to their beds at the very end of the large dungeon, which held all of the male Slytherins. They changed quickly, nodding goodnight to each other, and slid into bed, extinguishing their wand lights and plunging the entire dungeon into a silent darkness, broken only by the occasional snuffle or snore from a sleeping boy.
A/N: There will be another chapter up, hopefully today. Let me know what you think.