Disclaimer: I do not own Hp, as I am not the Queen.
A/N: Continuation of My Name Is Tom, Chap 1. Snow Black. Lily Jackson, and Sam Parkinson-Evans are three Slytherin bestfriends who love to live. Yet none of them know how close they are to the next Dark Lord of their generation. This chapter is mostly just to show some interaction between some of the characters, mostly setting the stage. Sorry, nothing real exciting here. Reviews, comments, questions, and snide remarks are welcome!
*Begin*
Snow skipped down the Slytherin corridor, leaving the dungeons in favor of the Great Hall. Breakfast on her first day of being back to Hogwarts, hopefully it was good. Snow slowed down before reaching the Great Hall, now walking and putting on a dignified air. Her robes, sweeping behind her, Snow entered the Great Hall. Sitting at the huge oaken tables, Snow smiled at her other Slytherins. Chirping hello's back at the sleepy nest of snakes, she returned her attention to the food in front of her. Reaching for a glass of pumpkin juice, Snow's hand bumped somebody else's. Snow looked up, and met Tom's eyes.
Dark blue sapphires glimmered at her as Snow's eyes met his. They were a deep, dark dark blue. And they seemed to sparkle with hidden secrets, with a touch of darker tones in them. If Snow was more artistic, she would say his eyes had a touch of darkness in them, like he had been caressed by shadows. But as it is, Snow only thought they were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.
"Good morning"
Snow smiled at Tom, and he smiled back brilliantly, flashing straight pearly whites.
"Morning. So we meet again, Miss Snow. How fared your night? Well, I should hope, m'lady!"
Snow giggled at the silly accent Tom took on, and the Olde English words he used.
"I fared well, my lord."
"Splendid!"
Snow giggled, and Tom smirked slightly.
"You giggle quite a bit, don't you?"
Snow giggled again, laughing at the irony.
"How did you know?"
"I've only talked to you twice, but every time I do you giggle at me!"
"Well I'm sorry!"
Snow pouted, trying to hold in her giggles. Tom smiled at her again, like he knew what she was doing.
"So how are you liking Hogwarts? I assumed you're new, of course, as I've never seen you before."
"Yes, I'm new, and I'm quite liking Hogwarts. I have a great nose for directions, and Hogwarts almost seems to be assisting me. The castle is simply an amazing place. I've managed to find everything on my own - quite a feat, for the first time being in an enchanted castle. Also, everyone is really nice, which is great, especially for someone like me - I've never had alot of friends."
Snow was won over almost immediately. She smiled at Tom, and announced;
"Then I'm your new friend!"
Tom grinned.
"Excellent. You know, you are quite unlike the other Slytherin's. They seem to be friendly, but almost as if they were reserving judgement. I don't mind of course - I'd be doing the same thing. So, I've heard rumors about the Slytherins...?"
Snow rolled her eyes.
"And what mockery of Slytherin house have you heard?"
"Well, that the older levels play flesh games, and the games of power. That you have a inner society, a hierarchy of sorts. Also, in my opinion, even before i was sorted Slytherin was always my preference. Gryffindor is too heroic-sounding, like a bunch of puffed-up prats, Ravenclaw seems like stuffed-up know-it-alls, and Hufflepuff's a bunch of duffers. So, what's your rank?"
Snow gaped at Tom.
"Who'd you hear that from?"
Tom smirked slightly, almost with a malevolent tone to it.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
Snow paused, then decided she didn't want to know. She had a feeling she wouldn't find out anyway. She continued.
"Yes, we do play power games and flesh games. I'm a level 5, currently. Though you are level M."
"M?"
"Mud. Any newbie is a Mud Level, unless you are already well-known and welcomed into the fold. There's 7 levels, not including Level M, and The High One."
"The High One?"
"Slytherin Seventh Year, Xavier Zabini. His mother finally brought the Weasley clan back into the pureblood society, though they still are a bit rustic. They're very unused to power or prestige - and money. However, after the war, they had no choice but to ally with us as all our purebloods were decimated and disgraced. Not all the purebloods stood with Voldemort, and some did, though unwillingly. When we won the war, all the purebloods were brought together, and many unlikely families fell in love. This joining created an entirely new hierarchy of pure-blood society, bringing the Zabini clan and the Weasley clan together. Truly, the Weasley clan's fall from grace is hundred-years old gossip. They now hold much power and weight behind their words. Xavier is a prime example of what we call Phoenix Age - in which we rose from the ashes of our forefathers."
Tom nodded to himself, looking thoughtful.
"So, basically, he is the leader of Slytherin?"
"Yes. We all look to him. He's a natural leader, and navigates politics like he was born to do so. His sister is also my cousin's bestfriend. Her and Raven spend every summer at their house, Zabini Manor, which is always filled with something new to do. They hold the most amazing Summer Grand Bash at the manor, every year."
"Interesting. So, I'm currently at Level M?"
"Yes. You will undergo evaluations, after which the Counsel Of Snakes will decide on a rank for you. Normally, you get a rank by factoring in quite a few things - power, blood, prestige, wealth, background, and politics. Also, if it benefits the council, that is a big influence."
"Well obviously. The Counsel, being benefitted, would have much more motive to promote you. However, if you are seen as a threat to undermine them, they need to eliminate any threats. This sounds very simple - very unlike the system at my old academy."
Snow raised her eyebrows. She was dying to ask what kind of system he had been raised to, but refrained. Her stomach growled, and Snow resumed piling breakfast food on her plate.
"So,"
Said Tom, conversationally, after Snow and him had both eaten quite a bit.
"Where are your friends, this Lily and Sam, you spoke of earlier?"
"Yes," Snow mused, almost to herself. "Where are my friends." Snow scanned the Great Hall, hoping to spot them. After finding Lily with her Charms study-buddy at the Ravenclaw table, she realized where Sam was.
"Oh no!" Snow leaped up from the table, eyes wide.
"What?"
Tom jumped to his feet, whipping his wand out immediately.
"Sam! She's still asleep in the dorms! Lily is always early, and I'm usually still in the dorm, so I wake Sam! But I forgot, it's been such a while."
Snow booted out the Great Hall, running down to the dungeons, taking secret passages to get there faster. She screeched to a halt in front of the black stone door that led to the common rooms.
"Cobra Eyes"
She gasped out. The door slid open, and Snow went running upstairs. "Why is it I'm always running lately? Seems I'm always in a rush somewhere" Snow thought to herself.
"Sam! Sam! Get up, we're going to be late!"
Sam, Lily, and Snow were all walking down to Herbology with Professor Neville, when they heard the first bang. A crowd of people came running out of the forest, all yelling their heads off, while a very annoyed Professor Marelle yelled at all of them. Sam snickered at the first years with singed hair, screaming like banshees. Lily only sniffed and continued on, flicking her wand at the note she had written. It folded in on itself, before the camouflage spell took effect and it disappeared. With another flick of her wand it went zooming off to the castle, towards the Transfiguration Wing. Snow ignored Lily and Sam, and continued to write on the parchment. She was writing a letter to Xavier, and the formal address was a part of how she hoped to impress him. She had thought long and hard all morning about Tom - about the type of person he was, possibilities about who he'd become, and among other things, how useful he was to her.
Tom was bound to become someone important, as even Snow could see the ambition and drive in his eyes. But so far, he proved to be an enigma. Tom seemed to be nice enough - a little out of sorts, a bit odd, but she suspected he would soon grow into Slytherin House. He understood the simplicity yet complicated route of Slytherin politics. Snow wondered yet again what kind of system he had grown up with to understand the Counsel of Snakes straight off the bat. He was a Snake, of course, but all the same. Snow scribbled out a sentence and sighed, frustrated. Lily looked over at her and sniffed again.
"What?"
Snow asked, rather irritably.
"Oh nothing. Just thought you would have apologized to Gwen by now, seeing as you crushed her."
"I did not crush her!"
"You yelled your head off at her!"
"I do that all the time."
"Snow. Gwen looks to you for advice alot, and she trusts you. You know how hard little things we take for granted are for her. Just go apologize and things will be fine."
Sam turned, finally looking away from the recently extinguished first years, who were now smoldering gently.
"Lily, lay off. I think that when Snow's ready, she'll apologize. Honestly, I think you took a can of bossiness this morning."
Lily glared at Sam.
"Why must you act so imbecilic! Honestly Sam, act your age, will you not?"
"I'm 14 Lily, not 30. Chill."
"No I will bloody well not! You are both acting completely immature - sometimes I don't understand how I ever came to be friends with you, you moronic prat. You certainly could use a good dose of smart, it might make a difference, but I doubt you have enough brain cells to understand half the words I'm saying!"
Sam gasped, staring at Lily. Then she swung around to face Snow.
"She was hanging out with Dippet at breakfast, wasn't she?"
Snow's eyes went wide, then narrow, as both Sam and Snow turned to Lily.
"Were you?"
Sam demanded, an ugly look on her face. Lily stuck her chin out defiantly.
"Maybe I was."
"You were really hanging out with that asshole?"
"You should be talking - you're always arguing with Mouth. It's like you secretly love him, but don't know how to express it, so you fight with him in the hope of it being flirting. It's pathetic. He hates you because you can't get along with him. You're pathetic for even liking him. He's a Gryffindor, you're a Slytherin, he's not even a Pureblood. Get over yourself. He'd never give you a chance anyway."
Bright patches appeared on Sam's cheeks.
"Snow! Hey, hey Snow!"
The three girls turned away, as Kali Katari came running up to them.
"What are you doing? Herbology's been going on for over 10 minutes now - where have you been?"
Sam snorted derisively and glared at Lily, while Lily only turned to Kali, brown upturned eyes watching them.
"Thanks for reminding us, Kali."
Lily strode off, her auburn hair rippling in the breeze that provided minimal release from the drenching heat. Sam muttered something and strode after Lily, looking rather grumpy. Snow stared after her friends. What a lovely first day back day it was turning out to be. Snow set off after her friends, who had once again, began to bicker.
"Now, would you please put on the dragonhide gloves? We'll be needing them for Fauna Fonte - Fountain Flower. This tricky little plant is going to be used in Potions - 10 points to whoever can tell me what it's used for!"
Professor Longbottom smiled out at the crowd, waiting patiently. Snow glanced at Lily out of the corner of her eye, along with the rest of the class. Lily usually had her (not so)patient hand in the air, waiting to be called upon. This time, she was scribbling something on a piece of parchment. The Professor paused, then shrugged and resumed.
"Anyone? No? Come on - put those brains to work!"
Snow rolled her eyes at his antics. Did he honestly think that any of them cared? And yet, she was racking her brain for the answer. Snow liked potions, sure, but it wasn't her thing.
"The water that the Fauna Fonte recycles through it's intense filtering system is used in Potions for the Animio Blanc; also known as the healing waters. It's used to repair things that can't be unnaturally or magically regrown. As long as the water is always moving, such as through a fountain, then the environment will begin to heal naturally. It's used in places where Dark Magick has wreaked havoc and destroyed large areas."
Snow looked apprehensively at the plant. It had thick stems twining into light blue flowers that shimmered like the surface of water. A humming sound was radiating lightly from the thick petals, and Snow could barely hear the sound of water running through the hollow stems.
"Very good Miss Evans! 10 points to Slytherin. Now, I want you to carefully prick a hole in the thickest stem, but be careful, it's bound to be in the middle, and highly protected. Fauna Fonte will protect itself, as it's water has special magical properties. Spikes with rise out, so if you were holding the plant bare-handed, small spike red-hot spikes would be embedded into your skin. You need to hum, softly, in order to see if the plant will cooperate. Then, if it does, carefully insert the silver dagger, making a tiny hole, and put the stopper underneath. Be very careful not to spill anything. Now, off you go! Oh, and hum something soft, and not too fast. Now, split up into groups of 3 to 4, pick a plant, and start humming!"
Snow raised her eyebrow at Sam, who rolled her eyes at Professor Longbottom.
"They said he was a Herbology Master, one of the best ranked in all of Great Britain. I think he might have inhaled a bit too much Ellipsis while working in the garden."
Sam made a cuckoo face, and Snow giggled, while Lily sniffed, scribbling on - yet another - piece of parchment. Snow turned back to the plant.
"I guess we're doing this on our own. C'mon Sam, let's try to work."
"OWWWW!"
"What happened?"
"IT BIT ME!"
"Checkmate."
"Bloody hell."
"Pass 'em over."
"I hate you."
"I only beat you once. You've beaten me hundreds of times."
Snow walked over to Sam and Avery Valentino, a 5th Year Slytherin. The two were sitting in front of the green fire, crackling slightly. They were both seated in front of a marble chessboard, watching the black king being mercilessly beaten by the opposing white queen as Avery tossed a couple chocolates her way. She sat down next to Sam, not saying anything. The three simply watched as the black king let out a dying scream, them crumble into pieces. Avery scowled and twirled his wand, sending all the chess pieces on the board back together, making them whole again. Sam was, yet again, playing chess with Avery. A second year named Septimus Vance was petting a miniature black Daemon, who was watching the match with interested eyes. Snow looked around the common room. By the end of the first day back, everyone had settled back into the regular Slytherin attitude. In the Head Boy's room, Xavier and Ophelia was holding court with the fellow 7th and 6th years, Bianca and James were sitting on a cushion, talking quietly, while most of the first and second years were in their dormitories playing games. Snow relaxed as she saw Gwen, Raven, and Ev all sneak out of the common room, no doubt off to wreak havoc. She had been worried that Gwen was really hurt, but knowing Gwen she had sulked for awhile and then bounced right back. Snow thought about Tom, once again. She wondered what he was up to. Just as Snow was about to rise, Tom strode into the common room.
Looking at him, Snow felt compelled to go to him. She didn't know why, but she did know that he was powerfully charismatic. There was something about him that drew her to him -made her want to be by his side. She could sense he was going places, and she wanted to be right there, watching it all. For a second, something seemed to flash in his eyes as Tom looked at her - then a smile broke out and he walked over quietly, each footstep making no more noise than a feather would.
"Snow! How was your day? You came late to Herbology, what held you? Those plants were rather interesting, such powerful properties. I heard that with the right poison dipped into the fountain made of the potion, then you can poison the entire area. Fascinating, how such a powerful healing shield can be turned into a destructive weapon."
"Actually"
Lily walked up behind Tom, shooting him a contemptuous look that surprised Snow.
"When done improperly, the poison will only be absorbed into the potion and the water will become stronger. However, if carefully done with a special ritual, the potion will slowly kill the surrounding area, poisoning it incredibly effectively. The only remedy comes in doses of a powerful extreme-Light Magic, and this only works for short periods of time. There is no sure cure for this fountain, but it takes years to just shape the very fountain itself, not to mention the precise details of the potion and it's transformation into the fountain."
Tom blinked, as did Snow. Lily was usually a Miss Know-It-All, but never this bad, and she was never quite that haughty when speaking to another Slytherin. Snow wondered what was up her butt as Lily sat down next to Septimus, when Tom spoke again, sitting down next to Snow.
"That's neat, thanks for sharing."
Tom smiled at Lily, but she sniffed slightly and turned to Septimus.
"Hallo war Septimus, wie Ihr Tag?"
Septimus grinned, thrilled to be conversing in his native language.
"Interessant, ist es groß, bei Hogwarts zurück zu sein. Ich wusste nicht, dass Sie Deutsches sprachen?"
Lily grinned back at the small boy.
"I'm quite fluent."
Snow rolled her eyes and turned to the raven-haired boy on her right.
"So how was your day?"
Tom paused, flicking his eyes to LIly, but she was deep into an intense conversation in german with Septimus. He turned to Snow once more, opening his mouth to speak, when he was cut off.
"Hey, Tom, that's your name right?"
Avery was looking up at Tom with a glint of something in his eyes. Tom nodded at the boy, closing his mouth once more. Avery cocked his head, motioning at the chessboard.
"Feel like a game?"
The next 40 minutes were spent in a war of intellect and debate, agonizing over every move in a rather fast-paced game of chess that confused everyone by the moves, except for the players themselves.
When Avery finally won, after the grueling match, he pretended to wipe sweat from his bow and shook Tom's hand.
"Good game. But I still won."
"Rematch. Tomorrow."
"It's on!"
Avery and Tom grinned at each other, both looking excited and determined. Avery, to defend his title. and Tom, to prove himself. Snow smiled a little bit. It seemed Tom was fitting in after all.
"Please... Stop. You don't have to do this."
"You don't understand. Things are changing around here. The Light shall no longer blind us all - Dark Magick is returning, freed from it's impressment. The tide is changing. Take solace - you will be the first to fall to it's clutches."
"Please."
The word was a mere whisper, faint. The life was almost gone from them.
"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. I know - I've died before."
There was a flash of purple light, and then all was still.
*Finite*
Kisses & Cupcakes to anyone who reviews!