The quintet headed to The Three Broomsticks first and Draco had yet to let go of her hand. They took one of the only unoccupied booths and Cyn rested her chin in her hand, observing Makayla. From what she could see the girl seemed nice enough, perhaps a little shy but underneath that Cyn was sure that Makayla was a force to be reckoned with. Verity flopped into the seat beside Blaise, grinning her cheeks pink and her eyes bright with mirth.
"How'd your dueling go?" Cyn asked Verity.
"Great!" Verity chirped. "I beat my opponents – it took a little while but I still won, and I got us twenty House points too. Makayla didn't fare so well."
Makayla flushed ducking her head. "I've told you before Verity that I feel uncomfortable dueling. I can't think quickly, I like to analyze choices and respond accordingly to the stimuli presented."
"Are you sure you're not supposed to be in Ravenclaw?" Blaise questioned her.
Makayla's flush deepened. She didn't answer. Cyn quickly changed the subject to something less touchy, like Potions and Apparition. At the word Apparition, Blaise and Draco groaned. Cyn and Verity snickered at the looks on their faces. When Cyn asked them why they didn't want to learn how to Apparate, the two explained that it was because it seemed very disorienting and confusing. Cyn acknowledged that it did make sense – the first time that she had Apparated alongside her mother, she was terrified. It felt like parts of her were being squeezed and when they had finally arrived at their destination, the world had spun around her and Cyn vomited onto the ground.
Their worries weren't unfounded – Apparition was very disorienting and most didn't react well to it. But she found it a little humorous that the two most popular guys in Slytherin looked absolutely terrified to Apparate. Cyn took a sip of her butterbeer, eyes glimmering with amusement as Blaise vehemently denied being afraid to Apparate.
Yeah right, she thought.
"Apparating isn't that bad," Cyn spoke up, taking another sip of her butterbeer, "but side-along Apparition is the worst." She frowned.
"Really?" Verity asked intrigued.
Cyn nodded emphatically. "Undoubtedly, side-along Apparition is awful. I remember the first time that I did it; it wasn't pretty." She shuddered.
"Hence why I will never Apparate," Draco declared, resting his elbows on the table.
"Aw come on Dray, don't be a chicken." Verity goaded him. She smiled, "You'll Apparate, and then you'll find that you love it."
Draco shook his head and with a sigh Verity rolled her eyes. Cyn found that she was inclined to agree with Verity – right now Draco may say that he loathes the idea of Apparating and will never like it, but she had this feeling that with time he would come to love it. Her first side-along Apparition had been terrible, but after that Cyn found that her intense dislike over Apparating had faded and she began to anticipate Apparating. She couldn't wait until she could Apparate on her own.
Verity swiftly changed the subject to Potions where there was much grumbling from Draco, Blaise and Cyn. Slughorn – their new Potions instructor – was a complete and utter ninny; the only ones who actually liked him were the Golden Trio. Slughorn was completely enamored by Potter, much to the dismay of the Slytherins and he refused to acknowledge many of the Slytherins; he seemed to harbor a dislike for Draco and Blaise. Cyn was decidedly neutral on the topic of Slughorn, but she had a few complaints – the first one being his obvious favoritism directed toward the Boy-Who-Lived. The second being that he never awarded points to the Slytherins, only the Gryffindors or other Houses. She could list a plethora of other things that she disliked about Slughorn, not that it would do any good when everyone else seemed to love him.
"Sounds rough," Verity commented sympathetically, fidgeting with her green and silver scarf which was wrapped around her neck. She looked around, "I find that I'm done here. Shall we go?"
"Go where?" Draco asked but stood anyways.
"Anywhere but here," Verity said, her eyes falling on a gaggle of redheads that had walked through the door of The Three Broomsticks.
Draco nodded, and the two hurriedly walked out of The Three Broomsticks; Cyn, Blaise, and Makayla followed leisurely after them.
"Honestly, I don't know why she continues to avoid him." Makayla grumbled, as they followed Draco and Verity at a distance. Cyn glanced at Makayla. "Their relationship was frowned upon, by both families but it wasn't like they were going to do anything to stop it. There are so few Blacks left that none of them would bother blasting Verity off of the tree, and she's never been able to do anything wrong in the eyes of her parents. The biggest issue was his family – it's why they broke up. Potter's stupid friend ruined their relationship."
Cyn nodded, awkwardly looking down at the ground. She didn't know what to say – if she could say anything at all. She hadn't been there so she didn't know the circumstances, and it may seem a little rude for her to insert her opinion where it likely doesn't belong. Thus, she stayed quiet. They followed Draco and Verity into one of the newer shop's in Hogsmeade: Cerissa's.
Walking in, Cyn was delighted to find that it was a multi-faceted shop; by that she means that it sold a variety of goods from potions to broomsticks, books and even clothes. The shop smelled faintly of perfume and in the center of the room, in a see through fireplace, fire crackled emitting a warmth that was welcome over the chill that had descended in the air. The colors were muted and neutral with varying shades of black and gray, blue and green. Verity and Draco were standing near them, gawking around the shop and Cyn's heart beat faster as she examined all of the goods that were available.
"Welcome to Cerissa's, I'm Cerissa how may I help you?" A voice said from beside them.
They turned and Cyn's eyes widened at the beauty of the woman before her. Brown hair curled elegantly over the woman's shoulders and bright blue eyes glimmered with happiness and mischief as she stared at them; her skin glowed with a healthy tan and she was impeccably dressed in a white knee-length dress, with a faux fur shawl wrapped around her shoulders.
"I didn't know that this place existed," Makayla whispered to Cyn, as Verity explained to Cerissa that they were just fine and were looking around.
Cerissa grinned, "Well then by all means look around."
The five teenagers shared amazed looks before going their separate ways. Makayla gravitated towards the books, Blaise and Draco towards the Quidditch supplies, and Verity headed for the clothes. Cyn, meanwhile headed to the back where she could hear the soft croons and sounds that animals made. What she saw took her breath away. Cerissa had all kinds of magical creatures, from exotic ones to more commonplace ones like a Bowtruckle. Lying on a soft cushion in front of her were several baby Kneazles, not even a year old.
Her heart melted and she stepped forward, peering at them. A soft laugh made her whirl around.
"A Kneazle lover huh?" Cerissa asked her wand in her hand. She stepped up beside Cyn looking at the Kneazles. "So am I. You have a license?"
"Of course I do." Cyn answered.
Cerissa smiled, "Just checking. These little babies are twenty Galleons each."
Cyn didn't flinch at the price. Paying twenty Galleons for a Kneazle wouldn't leave her family hurting for money at all. Cyn dug around in pockets, withdrawing twenty Galleons and handed it over to Cerissa, who smiled primly and told her to pick one. At first Cyn was drawn to the darkest colored Kneazle, but a soft and plaintive meow drew her attention away from it and she knew that this was the one that she wanted. The Kneazle was the tiniest out of all of the ones that Cerissa had, and was a spotted gray with brilliantly blue eyes; her tail didn't resemble a lion's in any way. She looked more like a regular American shorthair if Cyn was being honest with herself, but the intelligence sparkling in her eyes confirmed that it was a Kneazle.
"She's a purebred Kneazle," Cerissa said, "I have her identification right here and I can prove it." She waved her wand over the Kneazle and a pink light glowed around the kitten. "It glows pink if they are a pure Kneazle – which she is."
Cyn cuddled the Kneazle close to her, watching Cerissa carefully. The witch handed Cyn all kinds of supplies for the Kneazle, and instructed her on how to treat it. Then she thanked Cyn for her business and disappeared. Cyn had difficulty balancing all of the supplies and her Kneazle – as if knowing her struggle the Kneazle clambered up her arms and rested on her shoulder, its cold nose touching her neck.
"What to name you," Cyn mused as she headed back to the front of the store. "I know! Belle, because you're so pretty and you're very intelligent."
"Talking to yourself now are you?" Draco drawled and Cyn turned around, seeing his eyes widen when he saw the Kneazle perched on her shoulder.
"No, I'm talking to Belle." Cyn indicated the Kneazle. "Did you guys get anything?"
"Yes," Draco answered falling into step beside her. "Christmas presents."
"It's not even October yet!" Cyn protested with a smile.
"Well yes, but we both figured that it would be easier if we bought presents now." Draco explained with a shrug. "I can see what you got."
Cyn nodded proudly. Belle plaintively meowed and Cyn cooed at the Kneazle, "Ah Belle vous êtes si mignon n'est-ce pas? Une si jolie fille."
"You know French?" Draco questioned sounding surprised as they headed over to the clothes, where they could hear Verity talking loudly to Makayla.
"I do." Cyn answered. "My parents demanded that I learn it along with several other languages, and having classes on décor and etiquette." She smiled wryly, "The perks of being a pureblood."
Draco nodded in understanding. Being a pureblood wasn't easy. As a pureblood a number of expectations surrounded you and you had to live up to all of them, or risk bringing shame onto an ancient and well-respected family; it was a lot of pressure. That was why from a young age, purebloods were groomed to be the best at everything they did and were trained in dance and languages; things that many people thought had no use. But to a pureblood etiquette was everything.
"I'm going to head back to the castle," Cyn told Draco. "My arms are aching."
"I'll walk you back." He offered.
Cyn tried not to let the surprise that she felt show on her face. She would have thought that he would have wanted to stay with Blaise and his cousin. But she didn't question it; she only nodded and with a small smile walked out of the shop, Draco following closely behind her. The walk up to the castle was silent, but Cyn found that it wasn't awkward and she had no desire to break it. It was a comfortable silence, both teenagers absorbed in their own thoughts.
"Thank you for walking me back to the castle," Cyn told Draco as they stepped into the Slytherin Common Room.
"Not a problem," he returned sticking his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. "It's what a respectable pureblood wizard do." Insert eye roll.
Cyn snickered. "Well thank you anyways."
As the weeks passed, Cyn found herself becoming increasingly isolated. She was swamped with classwork and Draco had all but disappeared from her life; Verity was busy with her own classes and because of Astronomy was often up late at night meaning that Cyn almost never saw her. With Draco's absence in her life, Blaise had also disappeared. Makayla was of a different house, and so was someone that Cyn didn't see very often if at all; Makayla was also a fifth year so they didn't share any of the same classes.
Cyn sighed, absently stroking Belle who meowed and ducked away from her hand. The kindhearted Kneazle curled up against Cyn's side, watching her mistress with a concerned look in her blue eyes. Cyn glanced down at her book 101 Spells for a Hit Witch by Elythia Winters. The door to the girl's dormitory opened and Pansy walked in, a satisfied smile on her face. Cyn looked down, reaching out and rubbing Belle's head, as Pansy flopped onto the bed occupied by Daphne Greengrass.
She couldn't help but overhear their conversation.
"I had the most amazing time with Draco," Pansy sighed dreamily.
"You know that it's likely just sex right?" Daphne's cold voice answered in return, and Cyn flinched.
He had abandoned her for Parkinson. Cyn sighed, turning the page in her book. She shouldn't really look at it as him abandoning her; they had only just met and they had forged a tentative friendship at best. At least, that's what she told herself.
"So what if it is?" Parkinson sounded defensive. "That doesn't take away from the fact that he's amazing."
Cyn rolled her eyes. Parkinson's rather obvious devotion to Draco was something that she couldn't fathom.
"But he's just using you for sex," Daphne pointed out. "Anyways, I thought that he liked Winters."
"Well obviously not since they don't spend time together anymore," Parkinson snapped. "Can we focus on me?"
Cyn's grip on her book tightened. Belle meowed, nuzzling Cyn's hip and she smiled a little gazing down at the Kneazle fondly. Even though I was virtually alone, at least I still have Belle, Cyn thought. Cyn reached into her messenger bag, withdrawing the stack of letters that her parents and Farrah had sent her; she had never gotten around to reading them because she had become too busy with school. Now seemed like the perfect time to read them – it would take her mind off of what had happened, and it would help her to block Parkinson and Daphne out.
The letters from her family were standard; her mother was inquiring about how she was doing in school, and her father was imparting the need for caution especially amongst "that Potter boy, that you so often mention". He also made sure to emphasize the need to make friends from other houses and added that ideally they would be purebloods. Cyn set the letters that her parents had sent her on her left and then began to read Farrah's letters.
Dear Cyn,
Hello girly! I'm so glad that you wrote back to me, and I must confess that I'm a little disappointed that Hogwarts isn't as awful as you thought it would be. I was hoping that it would be because I was holding out this hope that if it was terrible that you'd be able to come back. I realize now that isn't the case.
The rest of that letter was Farrah expressing how much she had missed her, and how much she wished that she could come back. The second letter that Cyn read was Farrah explaining how everything had changed at Ilvermorny, from attacks on Muggle-born students, to a new Charms teacher, to Kyra and Grayson announcing that they were going to get married after they graduated. That last tidbit of information shocked Cyn to the core; she had known that the two had begun dating but she had no idea that they were that serious about each other.
Once Cyn had finished reading all of Farrah's letters, she stuffed them back into her messenger bag alongside the letters from her parents.
I'll write back to them tomorrow, she decided, laying back on the bed and cuddling Belle close.
