Chapter 4
After washing and dressing the next morning, Trinity pulled a brush through her long dark hair before loosely plaiting it over one shoulder. She left the bathroom and grabbed her book bag on the way past her bed as she made her way downstairs towards the common room.
She had Divination first thing, then Purebred. The lesson she was dreading. Of course her Uncle was going to chose a rich Deatheater for her. That thought had always been present in her mind at some point, but she had never really thought too much into it. After Purebred, Trinity had Potions, Dark Arts and then Charms. She smiled, at least she would do well in her last two lessons, hopefully.
George sat himself on the couch nearest to her armchair, his shirt untucked; his tie hanging loosely around his neck, but he still smiled at her and said, "good morning."
She smiled shyly in return and looked up. "Good morning," she replied before dropping her eyes back to her Potions textbook.
"Still reading Potions?" He asked, chuckling.
Trinity nodded, "Ron told me Malfoy is good at Potions."
"What are you trying to do? Impress him or something?"
Trinity went red with embarrassement, she hated being put on the spot. "Of course not!" She snapped the book shut. "I just, don't want to seem like I suck. If I'm near enough his standard of potion making, then surely he won't pick on me for it." Although Trinity didn't care about name calling and such, she just preferred it when people ignored her. Trinity hated conversations, preferring to be by herself the majority of the time with an exception to the Weasley's of course, they were the kindest people Trinity had met. (Not that it was hard, of course, she only knew Deatheaters).
Trinity sighed and put the book back into her bag. "The less amount of conversation the better."
"That's understandable." George nodded his head in agreement, "Malfoy is a pain in the arse."
Leaving the conversation there, Trinity cast her gaze towards the floor. "Has anyone applied for the Quidditch team?"
George shook his head, "not really. Of course I will be one of the Beaters and Ron wants to be Keeper...no one else has applied to be a Beater except for Dean. We have a few Chasers - including Ginny, who will be one, and then we have one Seeker, but, then again no first year can match up to Harry. What about you? I haven't seen your name on the list." He raised his eyebrows and mocked a stern look.
Trinity smiled nervously. "My Uncle said I can be a Reserve."
"That's alright. I'm sure there will be a lot of accidents, especially for Chasers." He cleared his throat, "unless you just become a Chaser and tell your Uncle that no one else applied?"
Trinity just shrugged and nodded slightly. "Only if they're not very good...I don't really want to get into trouble." Trinity remembered the time when she disobeyed her Uncle's wishes, after that punishment, she'd never disobeyed him again.
Ginny and Ron soon joined them on the sofas, Ginny began sorting out her tie whilst Ron tied his shoelaces, then the four of them made their way downstairs towards the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Anyone nervous about Purebred today?" Ginny asked, a worried expression crossing her face.
Trinity nodded, and both Ron and George grumbled their replies as they sat at the Gryffindor table and began eating. Trinity - once again - could feel eyes on her, and when she looked up, a few Hufflepuffs turned away, but one Slytherin didn't. Draco Malfoy caught her gaze before nudging the dark skinned boy beside him and gesturing in her direction. Trinity looked down at her plate and cleared her throat. "George," she asked the boy next to her. "Who's that sitting with Malfoy?"
George looked up before going back to his breakfast. "Blaize Zabini." He replied, "complete nerd, yet has a reputation with the ladies. Second best male voted in Slytherin actually."
"Second best what?" Trinity asked, frowning.
"The Slytherin sex God's." Ginny replied, rolling her eyes when her brothers put their hands over their ears.
"Ginny, will you not say 'sex' when we're around?" George asked, "Ron and I don't want that word coming from your mouth. Ever. Let alone do it, we'll bloody throttle whoever looks at you let alone who touches you."
Gineva rolled her blue eyes. "Anyway," she resumed her story. "Blaize is second to Malfoy. Why're you asking?"
Trinity shrugged. "Their looking at me and talking."
"Oh no," Ron put down his fork. "Any girl they think is attractive or off-limits, they have a competition to see who can lay them first."
"Why does that include me?" Trinity asked. She was plain looking, and she wasn't dating anybody so how it included her she had no idea.
"They think we're an item." Ron stated. "Remember the library incident where you told Malfoy to leave us alone so we could have some privacy? He must've taken that pretty seriously."
Trinity blinked, "I'd completely forgotton about that."
As soon as breakfast was over, Ron and Trinity made their way towards Divination, closely followed by Draco and Blaize.
"She won't be able to resist me, Draco." Blaize's voice was audiable. As silence followed, Trinity and Ron exchanged glances before Trinity felt someone's arm come to rest on her shoulders. "Well, hello there." Blaize smirked.
Trinity had no idea what came over her, but she spun around, connecting her palm with Blaize's cheek. Her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened. "Merlin!" She said slowly, "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did that."
Draco's laughter echoed around the hallways, and all the student's stopped to look, everyone silent, Draco's laughter subsided when a black cloud of smoke began to form between Zabini and Riddle. A Deatheater appeared, along with another - his associate.
"Now, now, Miss Riddle." One of them drawled, turning to face the raven haired girl who's eyes instantly dropped to the floor, "let's not start throwing our fists around, shall we?" His pale hand outstretched to hold her chin, he turned her face left and right to get a good view of her plain features. He saw the vibrant Slytherin green eyes however, and smirked. "The Dark Lord should be proud, and so should your potential mate." He dropped his hand and prepared to apparate. "Detention. Be at Hagrid's hut tonight at eight o'clock." As soon as the Deatheaters apparated, the students resumed their way to class, whispering about what had just happened.
Ron steered Trinity towards the classroom, "come on, it doesn't matter, Hagrid will look after you."
"Why? Is denention dangerous?" Trinity asked, following Ron into Divination and leaving Draco and Blaize standing in the corridor.
"Pavarti knows someone who's had detention," Ron began. "Apparently it's in the Forbidden Forest." They seated themselves at one of the tables. Each table was rounded, with two chairs assigned to each one, along with two teacups and saucers.
Trinity remembered the images that had crossed her mind the day before. As Professor Trelawny began to speak, Malfoy and Zabini entered the classroom and took the table beside Trinity and Ron.
"Now, I would like you all to finish the tea in your cups and then try to read the leaves." The Professor smiled like the cheshire cat.
As Trinity and Ron finished their tea, Ron nudged Trinity's foot with his own under the table. She looked up, her eyes resting on his Gryffindor tie.
Ron cleared his throat and inclined his head to the left. Trinity glanced at the table beside them and groaned inwardly when she saw both Malfoy and Zabini watching her. "Come on then seer." Malfoy snickered, "what do your leaves say?"
"Are you asking how it's done?" She asked, in a whispered tone. "Because if you need help you only have to ask." She turned back to her cup and looked down into flaky brown liquid floating at the bottom. She sighed, she'd read tea leaves back home, one of her house elves had taught her how to do it. She sighed and slammed the cup back down onto the saucer in defeat.
"What did you get?" Ron asked.
"The usual." She shrugged, not really wanting to go into detail. "What about you?"
"Probably the grim." Ron shrugged as if he couldn't care less, and handed his cup over to Trinity who took it into her own hands.
"It's not the grim." She replied in a small, distant voice. "You have the horse shoe. Something good's going to happen to you today." She placed the cup back on the saucer and looked up once Professor Trelawny reached their table.
"How're you two getting on?" She asked Ron and Trinity, a grin on her face when she looked at the raven haired girl.
"Ron has a lucky horse shoe and I...have the usual."
"Let me see dear." She smiled and picked up Ron's cup, smiling and nodding as he did infact have the lucky horse shoe. She picked up Trinity's cup and dropped it as she gasped, attracting the attention of the whole class.
"Let me guess," Ron rolled his blue eyes. "The grim."
Trinity cleared her throat, her eyes on the table. "The Dark Mark actually." The girl looked up to meet his eyes before glancing down at the table again. "An eye and the snake-"
"-The eye means caution." Professor Trelawny stated, warily. "The snake, means an enemy, but your protector...the Dark Mark links to the Dark Lord."
"The Dark Mark, in tea leaves." Draco snickered, "come off it, Riddle. The only Dark Marks are on the arm's of Deatheaters."
Trinity glanced up at Draco and snatched his cup from his hands, there in the centre of his cup was the- "fan?" Trinity frowned.
"Flirtation." Professor Trelawny nodded her head, encouraging Trinity to identify more symbols.
"And an umberella."
"That means a new lover." The professor stated, "anything else?"
Trinity frowned, "it looks like a rabbit, but I'm not sure?"
Professor Trelawny took the cup from the raven haired girl and a look of realisation crossed her face. "Ahh, the rabbit." She placed the cup back on Draco's saucer, "a need for bravery." She patted his shoulder.
Trinity kept her eyes on the table as the Professor stood at the front of the classroom, talking about tea leaves.
Ron and Trinity made their way towards Purebred, as slowly as they could.
"I hope I'm not put with a Slytherin." Ron stated, "Ravenclaws I can handle, but I'd prefer a Hufflepuff - or a Gryffindor."
Trinity shrugged, it was obvious she was going to be with a Slytherin. Her Uncle wouldn't partner her up with anyone in any other house. "At least you have the option to hope." She mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked, sliding into the seat beside her when they chose a desk at the front of the classroom.
"I mean," Trinity sighed. "My future's been set with a Slytherin. For obvious reasons."
"Your tea leaves said something about the Dark Mark." Ron stated, "do you think that has something to do with your mate?" He asked.
Trinity had no time to reply, when a paper ball hit her in the back of the head. Both her and Ron turned around to see Draco and Blaize slip into the seats behind them. "Ready to surrender your girlfriend, Weasley?" Zabini smirked, sending a wink in Trinity's direction.
"Shut up." Draco snapped, keeping his eyes on his desk. "It's enough being in this class, let alone have Parkinson blowing her germs at me from over there." The platinum blonde looked up, and sure enough, Pansy was looking over at him, blowing kisses whenever she had the chance too.
"Your father said she wasn't your mate." Blaize leant back in his seat, "maybe she'll leave you alone after she's been paired up."
"This is Pansy were talking about." Draco glared at his friend as he held his head in his hands.
The door opened and in walked a short plump woman, wearing a powdery blue dress suit with a pretty pearl necklace. Her hair was white, short and curly and her skin was a light beige colour. The woman's lips were bright red and it looked like she had more lipstick on her teeth than her actual lips.
Her thick pink framed glasses magnified her beady black eyes, which came to rest on Trinity sat at the desk closest to the front. "Stand at the back of the classroom." She smacked her long wand on the desk infront of the raven haired girl, making her shoot back in her seat and onto her feet. Trinity grabbed her bag before hurrying to the back of the room. "All of you!" The woman demanded. All the students groaned and rose to their feet, annoyed at having to have another seating plan. "When I call your name," the woman called to the class, her voice very high pitched and quite nasal, "you will sit in the seat I assign. You will be placed beside your mate. No questions asked!"
Most of the class was called out, sitting boy/girl at each of the desks which had been assigned too them. Draco groaned, turning to Blaize. "If I'm stuck with a Gryffindor, I'll-"
"-Draco Malfoy and Trinity Riddle."
The entire classroom went silent and Draco stepped fowards, "how do you feel Weasley? I've got your girlfriend-"
"-Mr. Malfoy, detention." The Professor interrupted the platinum blondes rant, walking over to the desk at the back of the classroom, furthest away from the door. "We do not mock other people's misfortunes. Not in my classroom anyway."
Trinity gently pushed past Draco and placed her bag on the desk which had been assigned to her. Draco slipped easily into the seat beside her, a smirk plastered on his face. "Look's like you're stuck with me for the rest of your life, Riddle." Trinity ignored him and fixed her eyes on the engraved lettering of 'Snape sucks my wand' on the wood of her desk.
"Ronald Weasley and Lavender Brown."
Trinity didn't listen to anymore of this woman's speech. She'd been paired with Draco Malfoy for Merlins sake, the Weasley's had told her about his reputation with the ladies, and it frightened Trinity to think that he might actually be the type of guy to rape girls. And Trinity most certainly did not want that to be the way she lost her virginity.
The powder blue woman stood at the front of the classroom and cleared her throat. "My name, is Seraphina Umbridge. You may have met my sister a few years previous: Dolores." She slapped her wand on the wooden lecture podium, Trinity sat bolt upright and stared at the ceiling above the Professor's head. "I'm going to teach you about what there is to know about Pureblood's. You might also be wondering what this subject covers." She smacked her wand on the wood again. "I can tell you that it is mainly about the men keeping themselves zipped up when around other women, and the women keeping themselves shut whilst around other men. Miss Parkinson? Are you listening?"
Crabbe and Goyle began to laugh, their mate's had turned out to be the Patil twins, Ron felt incredibly sorry for the girls'. "Detention Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle." The Professor snapped. "You will join Mr. Malfoy at Hagrid's hut this evening at eight o'clock."
Throughout the lesson, Trinity was trying to think of her Uncle's logic in pairing her with Draco Malfoy. Although tea leaves did make sense now. Draco's family must be Deatheaters, her Uncle said they were and that they were important people at the Ministry. The eye, meant proceed with caution and then the snake, although Draco being a Slytherin had nothing to do with it, he was her friends' enemy but now they were mate's, Draco had to protect her from other men...or at least that's what Professor Umbridge was speaking about that very moment...
"-from other men. Your mate, is your mate. No one elses." 'Blah, blah, blah...' Trinity thought. The Professor slapped her wand on the desk infront of her again. "Are you awake, Miss Riddle?" The woman spoke in a shrill voice.
"I am now..." She muttered under her breath, a few students snickered quietly.
"What was that?" The Professor snapped. "Detention, Miss Riddle. Be at Hagrid's hut, eight o'clock."
"I'm already going."
The teacher raised an eyebrow, "two detentions in one day? You better not make a third otherwise the Headmaster will have to speak to you." Trinity remained silent as Umbridge walked back to the front of the classroom and resumed her lecture again.
Once class was over, Trinity rushed over to Ron and together, they left the classroom to go to Potions.
"I thought the Patil twins had it bad," Ron began, "but you're stuck with Malfoy?"
"Who's stuck with Malfoy?" George asked from behind them, jogging to catch up.
"I am." Trinity sighed defeatedly. "And to make matters worse, I've been given two detentions."
"At least that's time away from Malfoy." George chuckled.
"Not quite." Trinity replied, "he's got one aswell."
"Are you sure it wasn't done on purpose?" Ginny chuckled as she appeared beside them.
"Crabbe and Goyle have it too." Ron stated. "At least Hagrid will look after you. And Fang."
"I thought Fang hated Slytherins. I know I'm not one, but I am kind of suppossed to be-"
"-You're wearing Gryffindor robes. I'm sure Fang will take your side over their's." George chuckled. "What lesson have you all got next?"
"Purebred." Ginny groaned.
"You can't get much worse than Malfoy, Ginny, infact I think you should consider yourself lucky that Crabbe and Goyle are taken aswell." Ron stated, "we're going to Potions. See you at lunch alright?"
The other two Weasley's nodded before turning off down the corridors they needed to go in. It looked like George was heading towards the Quidditch pitch, but one couldn't be too sure.
They reached Potions and sat in their assigned seats, except for Ron who took his new place in the empty seat beside Trinity.
"Are you feeling better, Miss Riddle?" Professor Slughorn asked as some of the other students took their seats.
The raven haired girl nodded, her eyes on the desk as she spoke. "Yes, thank you Professor."
"Good." He grinned and then frowned. "Weren't you sat over there Mr. Weasley?" He gestured towards the other side of the classroom.
Ron looked around and shrugged, "no." He said in an innocent tone. "You told me I could sit here at the end of the last lesson - right before I took Trinity to the infirmary. Especially as I nearly blew up the cauldron and set fire to Pansy's robes."
"Huh..." The Professor looked confused for a moment before breaking into a smile. "If you say so, Mr. Weasley." As the Professor resumed placing textbooks onto the desks, Ron and Trinity sighed with relief, and once Potions was over, they had their lunch in the Great Hall before going to their last two lessons.
As the school day came to an end, Ron dropped Trinity off at Hagrids hut before heading to the Gryffindor common room. He felt bad for her being stuck with the Slytherins', but Ron was positive Hagrid wouldn't leave her with any of them.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, fav'd and alerted my story :) I hope you're all enjoying it and I would love it if you took a few minutes of your time to pass along a few kind words in the form of a review :) Hopefully the next chapter will be up in a few days :) xx