Chapter 18
Pansy, Tammy and Daphne made it to Dark Arts a few minutes late; all of them were giggling as they stepped into the classroom.
"Quiet." Snape demanded. "Hurry up and sit down."
Instead of taking residence in her usual seat, Pansy took the one beside Draco, and the platinum blonde looked suprised that it wasn't Trinity making a last minute entrance.
"What're you doing?" Draco asked, annoyed by her presense.
"Sitting beside my, Drakey." Pansy smiled, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Parkinson!" Snape snapped, "your usual place. Now!" Pansy pouted, but gave Malfoy a goodbye wink as she got up to leave. Draco shook his head, and listened to his favourite teachers' lecture as the man in black strode around the classroom proudly.
After Snape had told the students what they needed to do, he made his way towards Malfoy's desk and placed his hands on the wood, leaning foward.
"Where is Riddle, Malfoy?" Draco shrugged and leant back in his seat, "don't you think you should? She is your mate after all."
"She was in Potions no longer than ten minutes ago." Draco replied, nonchalantly. "Probably sulking in the girls' bathroom." Snape sighed and straightened up before storming down the aisle of the classroom and slamming the door closed behind him as he left.
Snape strode down the corridor, annoyed at having to leave his classroom unattended. He reached the girls' bathroom and a grey, transparent face popped out.
"Oh, hello, Professor Snape." Myrtle stated, "are you looking for Trinity?"
Snape shuddered as he walked through the ghost and into the girls' bathroom. He looked around before noticing Trinity slumped in the corner of the bathroom. He strode across the room and stood infront of her before knealing down. He examined her face; the bruising eye and the bloodied lip, and grabbed her forearm to pull her to her feet.
As he did so, a black letter fell to the floor and he knealt down to pick it up. It was unopened, but he knew what it was.
"You haven't opened this." The Professor stated, handing Trinity the letter. Trinity nodded and picked up her bag as she followed the Professor through the corridor. "It is vitally important that you open it. Once Madam Pomfrey has seen you, open it then." Trinity nodded again and once Snape had delivered her to the infirmary, he slunk back into the corridor and made his way back to his classroom.
Draco had finished the work set for Dark Arts, and was waiting for the Professor to return so that he could leave early. He had recieved a black enveloped letter from the Dark Lord, who had arranged a meeting with the Death Eaters for that afternoon. He didn't particularly want to go, but at least Kimberly had recieved one too.
He didn't know many students that were Death Eaters, only him and Kimberly. Both Crabbe and Goyle's parents were Death Eaters, but the Dark Lord must have known that the imbeciles weren't worthy enough to hold to Dark Mark, otherwise they would have already got one.
Professor Snape burst into the classroom, silencing the hushed whispers of the class. Trinity was not with him, "Malfoy, stay behind after class. Parkinson, Greengrass and Oliver - you too. The rest of you, I want his essay completed by tomorrow morning and placed on my desk." Everyone packed up their things and filtered out of the classroom and into the corridor - making their way towards the Great Hall for lunch. Draco, Pansy, Daphne and Tammy stayed in their places.
"I found Riddle in the girls' bathroom in quite a state." Snape began, taking a seat behind his desk. "Parkinson? Do you know anything about it? Oliver? Greengrass? Why were you all late for my lesson?"
"We don't know, Sir." Pansy stated, using her innocent voice, "we were talking to Professor Slughorn after class about the homework."
Malfoy scoffed, "we didn't get homework." He crossed his arms and rocked the chair back on two legs. "Sir, why am I here?"
"Riddle is in the infirmary with a letter. She may need you to escort her somewhere." Snape stated, signalling Draco could leave.
Malfoy sighed and got up; shouldering his bag as he turned to leave. He made his way along the corridor and up two flight of moving staircases before coming to a stop outside the entrance to the infirmary.
There were plenty of first years in Quidditch clothing, obviously there had been an accident or three, and Draco looked around before noticing Trinity in the corner, cross legged on one of the beds reading a textbook as she patiently waited to be seen by Madam Pomfrey.
Her hair had been scraped back from her face and tied in a bun, and it was pretty obvious she had been beaten up. A purple bruise had formed over her left eye and on her cheekbone, and her lip was fat and bloody.
Draco dumped himself in the seat beside her, only then did Trinity realise that she had company. She looked up at him slowly before returning her gaze to the textbook.
"Snape said you have a letter." Draco stated, rocking back in the chair, smirking at the bruised face.
Trinity pulled the black envelope out of her bag and placed it on the end of the bed closest to Draco. The smirk fell from the Slytherin's face, "you have the Dark Mark?" He asked, in shock.
Trinity didn't reply, but closed the textbook and stared at the envelope. "I thought the letter had something to do with Death Eaters." She whispered.
Draco nodded once, "so that's why you weren't in classes for three days." He said to himself, "you were given the Dark Mark."
Trinity looked down at the white bed sheets. "I was reading about Polyjuice Potion." She stated, quickly changing the subject.
Draco frowned, "what? Are you thinking about turning into someone else?"
Trinity shook her head, "while I was in the girls' bathroom. Myrtle said she found something suspicious."
"What's that got anything to do with Polyjuice Potion?" Draco asked.
"She said she found some in the drains. More than likely to have come from the boys' bathroom."
"What's this got to do with anything? Why're you telling me this?"
Trinity shrugged, "I just thought it would explain how I could have been in two places at once." She whispered.
Something lightened inside of Draco. Pehaps that did explain how he had seen Trinity with Blaize in the corridor, and how she was with the Weasley's all day. Someone had put Trinity's hair in Polyjuice Potion and drunk it. Draco growled, Blaize would most definately be a part of it...but who was his accomplice?
During the trip to Hogsmeade a few weeks ago, Pansy and Blaize had been in Slug and Jiggers Apothecary looking for particular ingredients. They had been planning this right under his nose.
"Open the letter." Draco stated, "what time and place is your meeting?"
Trinity carefully ripped open the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment. "The Hogs Head at ten o'clock."
Draco nodded and stood up, "after detention with Umbridge I'll take you there." He caught another glimpse of her bruise and frowned, "was it Pansy?" Trinity frowned up at him, "who did that to you?" The raven haired girl looked back at the bed and tried to smooth out a crease in the sheet. Figuring that he wouldn't get a reply, Draco turned and left the infirmary, passing Madam Pomfrey as he left.
Draco knew Pansy must have been the one to have beaten Trinity up. Not only did he get the hint from the pug faced girl herself when she lied to Professor Snape about being late to his lesson, but because he knew Trinity wouldn't name drop. If it hadn't have been Pansy, she would've definately said no.
At least he now knew that Trinity didn't sleep with Blaize. 'I need to get my money back.' He thought as he made his way towards the Great Hall.
After a quick bite of lunch, Draco grabbed his bag and headed towards his last lesson of the day; Charms. He was quite content walking by himself, but that feeling suddenly abandoned him when he head a pair of heels speeding up to join him.
"Hey, Drakey." Pansy cooed, clinging onto his arm. "Isn't it nice, just the two of us?"
"Get off." He snapped, pulling his arm away from the Slytherin whore. "Leave me alone, Pansy."
Pansy frowned, worridly and placed her palm across Draco's forehead, "you're feeling a little hot and flustered." She stated before her hand was slapped away. "And you're frustrated-"
"-Angry." Draco corrected her.
Pansy gasped, "what's wrong, Drakey?" She ignored the platinum haired boy's eye roll and carried on. "Tell me, maybe I can make you feel better?"
Draco stopped walking and turned to face her, "no." He growled, glaring at her. "You can't help me. You're the one that's made me angry - you and Blaize." He carried on walking, but then turned back. "And stop calling me 'Drakey'!"
Pansy watched, open-mouthed as Malfoy stormed away from her. She pouted before following him towards Charms.
Trinity followed Nearly Headless Nick to her Charms classroom before nodding her head politely and thanking him, she smiled quickly as she timidly opened the door to the classroom.
"Ah, Miss Riddle!" Professor Flitwick smiled warmly at the Gryffindor as she made her way to the seat beside Draco at the front of the class. "How lovely it is for you to join us!" Draco looked at Trinity's face, the bruise was gone and her lip had been healed, Madam Pomfrey really did work wonders.
"Now, everybody..." The Professor began from his position, standing on the stool at the front of the class. "Swish and flick, Avis."
Trinity drew her corkscrew wand, "avis." She whispered, sending six tiny white birds flying out from the end of her wand, chirping as they did so. They were soon joined by green, red and blue birds from the other students, and some yellow ones from Draco.
Trinity frowned, noticing some wasps and turned around to look at Ron. He was pretending that they didn't belong to him, but he chuckled once he noticed the raven haired girl giving him a small, yet questionable look.
"Lovely!" Professor Flitwick clapped his hands together in delight, "although, I believe someone needs to practice their punctuation." He chuckled and swatted a wasp away from his face before turning back to the class. "I would like you all to complete this questionnaire sheet, and then you can leave early." He smiled proudly at his students before sending a flurry of parchment around the classroom - delivering the homework to each desk. Trinity picked up the questionnaire and scanned through it quickly before slotting it into her bag and standing up to leave.
Draco caught her wrist just before she left, and handed her a Potions assignment and the Dark Arts homework once she had turned around. "I haven't written any notes for you for Potions." He admitted, "meet me in the library after dinner. Then we'll go to detention with Umbridge."
Trinity frowned, "you have a detention aswell?"
Draco shrugged and shouldered his bag, "most of the class does. You were dreaming for most of the lesson." As he left the classroom, Trinity walked over to Ron's desk and waited patiently for him to pack away his things before they made their way to the Great Hall.
"Did you manage to talk to Malfoy?" He asked as soon as they left the classroom.
Trinity nodded, "Myrtle told me that she found some Polyjuice Potion in the drains. So I told him that."
Ron stopped walking, "you know what this means right?" He asked.
Trinity blinked, "what?"
"The tea leaves?" Oh yes, Trinity knew what he meant now. Draco's leaves had told him that he needed to investigate something and that he had been decieved. Blaize on the other had had decieved someone - most likely Draco! - and a broken friendship - obviously the two Slytherin's were going to have some rivalry for a while after this. And finally, Trinity's tea leaves: she had romantic problems, good news, and scandal - which was more than likely to do with the Polyjuice Potion.
Trinity's eyes sparkled and her stomach fluttered, "do you think he believes me?"
"He'd be a fool not too," Ron stated, taking a seat on the Gryffindor bench beside the raven haired girl. "It's a pretty good explanation about how you could be in two places at once." Trinity smiled, happily. "What happened in Potions?" Ron asked, forking some pasta onto his plate. "Why did you run out? And Dark Arts, where were you?"
"Malfoy upset me." Trinity replied, "I'm not sure how but it was something he said. And, I was in the infirmary." She finished in a whisper.
"Why?" Ron asked, pausing the journey from his fork to his mouth. "What happened?"
Trinity shrugged, "I think I had it coming really." She stated, looking at the pasta on Ron's plate. "Pansy followed me into the bathroom with Tammy and Daphne."
Ron's eyes widened, "Merlin, Trin! Are you alright?"
She nodded, "Professor Snape led me to the infirmary and...sent Draco up after class." She went a little pink at the mention of the Slytherin's name.
Ron chuckled, "that must've been a bit awkward."
Trinity nodded, "it was a little, but that's when I told him about the Polyjuice Potion. He looked in thought when he left."
"He probably went to go and find Blaize." Ron shrugged and checked the time, "shoot, I've got to go." He stood up. "Detention with Snape." He pulled a face. "What time is your detention with Umbridge?"
"Eight o'clock." Trinity stated, also getting to her feet. "I'm meeting Malfoy in the library to do Potions work before though."
"I'll walk you there." Ron stated, shouldering his bag. "I've got to walk that way anyway."
Trinity said good-bye to Ron before pushing her way through the wooden doors into the library and - realising that Draco hadn't arrived yet - she took a seat in the corner of the library instead the usual table just underneath the window with the moving sapphire butterflies. She managed to finish her Charms questionnaire and make a start on the Dark Arts essay before the chair beside her was pulled out. Expecting it to be Draco, Trinity packed her things away before turning around in her chair to face her guest. The smile left her face and her eyes dropped to the desk when she saw Blaize sitting beside her, a cocky smirk sat on his face.
"How're you doing, Riddle?" He asked, scanning his hungry eyes over her.
"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" She asked, politely.
Blaize smirked and leant back in his chair, "I'm alright...are you here just for homework?"
Trinity shook her head, "I'm meeting someone."
"Oh?" Blaize rested all four legs of the chair on the floor, his tone was one of interest. "Anyone special?"
"Yes." Butterflies fluttered in Trinity's stomach at the sound of his voice, "me."
Blaize smirked, "would you mind if I stayed?"
"Get out."
"Now, now, Draco. I wasn't asking you." Trinity glanced at Draco before looking back at Blaize. The dark haired boy smirked again, "well than, I guess I'll have to find you again later, Princess." He ruffled her hair as he got up to leave, taking his time to walk past Draco and out of the library doors.
Malfoy watched him leave before taking residence in Zabini's chair. "Blaize knows I know." He stated, watching the Gryffindor sitting uncomfortably infront of him. She made no attempt to smooth out her hair, which made Draco frown; didn't all girls' have the need to look perfect?
"Knows what?" She asked.
"That he made Polyjuice Potion with Pansy." Draco saw recognition flash in her eyes when she looked up at him. He smirked at the light blush that crept across her face. 'She fancies me.' Draco thought, proudly. He leant back in his chair, rocking on the two back legs carelessly, "so don't worry, I can talk to you now." He smirked.
Trinity nodded and pulled out her Potions questionnaire, it had questions about Amortentia, Draught of Living Death and Liquid Luck. Once that was completed, Trinity slipped the parchment into her bag and rested her arms on the table top.
"What?" She asked, noticing Draco looking at her intently.
Malfoy smirked, "nothing." He'd get his kiss from her later. "We have some time to spare." He noted, "twenty minutes until we have to go and see Umbridge." Trinity nodded. "Why didn't you tell me you were given the Dark Mark?"
Trinity looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes, "I...I didn't tell anyone, except Kim...Blaize knows aswell."
Draco glared at her and growled, "you told Zabini before you told me?"
Trinity shook her head, "no!" She said quickly, "Blaize saw it on the arm of my clone. I didn't tell him!"
Draco stopped glaring at her and checked the time again, "if we don't want to be late for detention we'd better leave now." They both shouldered their bags before stepping out of the library and walking along the corridor towards their Purebred classroom.
"Have you heard about the new dorm rooms?" Trinity asked, breaking the silence between them. Draco shook his head, "the nineth years are moving in to new dorms across the Black Lake with their mates. They have to use Floo powder to get to and from Hogwarts."
"That's...great." Draco stated, a smirk on his face.
"What's great?" Trinity asked.
"Well," Draco began. "When we're ninth years, we'll be sharing a dorm together...and quite possibly a bed." He winked at her and smirked at the blush that swept across her face. He chuckled and reached out to open the door to the classroom, quieting down as he stepped inside and made his way over towards his usual seat near the back of the room, Trinity sat down in the chair beside him, still slightly pink and dreading the first Death Eater meeting Draco would be taking her to straight after detention.
As if reading her mind, Draco turned to her, "the meeting's are about the Snatchers progress. Your Uncle also checks the Magic name book and checks to make sure all the children born with magic are Purebloods. If they're Half-Bloods or Muggle Borns then the Snatchers are sent out to them." As Trinity opened her mouth to ask what would happen to the children, Draco held up a hand to cut her off. "You won't want to know." Was all he said.
Thank you to my alerters and reviewers :) I hope everyone reading this fic is enjoying it, and please review so I can have some idea's to put in the sequel which I've started writing now (this fic is finished, I just need to post the other chapters) xx