The Serpent's Song

Slytherins

Malfoy glanced around the corridor before coming out. He can't get caught around here. His secret project is progressing, slowly. As he turned the corner, he saw Crabbe leaning against the wall, as though waiting for or expecting something. He matched his strides with his friend's when they walked towards the dungeons to the Slytherin Common Room.

"How is it?" Crabbe asked his comrade.

"Still needs work. But it's difficult." Draco reported bluntly.

A green-tinted light from the ceiling illuminated the Common Room as they entered. Green, black, and gray furniture dotted the stone floor and green rugs. Serpents decorated nearly everything proudly. A few Slytherin boys called Malfoy and Crabbe over to a fireplace. As he approached the group, they made room for the blonde boy on the couch. He sprawled onto it, kicking his feet to the short table in front of him.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

One of the boys straightened himself, like a soldier called to attention. "We want to know your opinion about a certain student to settle an argument among us."

"Are you serious?" Malfoy snorted, raising his eyebrow quizzically. No one knows what to do with these boys, but he humored them. "Who is it?"

"Serena Chanson," His heart skipped. Why does her name make me. . . happy? The boy continued. "She's a Ravenclaw, half-blood. Second in her class, behind that Granger girl. Some of us think it'd be fun to play a joke on her, others are saying we shouldn't."

"We want to know what you think of her, so we'd know whether or not we should." another boy chimed.

"She's incredible!" Draco wanted to say, but he bit his tongue to stop himself. He can't say that. Why did he want to though? He shrugged nonchalantly. "She seems clever, extremely stubborn. Kind of annoying. Complicated thing, really."

"She's kind of strange," Goyle remarked. When everyone turned their attention to him, he explained. "The other day, I was messing with some first-years, and that Chanson girl got in the middle of it. She wasn't scared or anything when I threatened to hex her. She just stood there, smiling. Then she. . . said something I couldn't remember, and made me leave. Me! I would have made her regret getting in my way, but for some reason I left. She must have put a spell on me or something."

"She's too smart to risk getting in trouble, though."

"Or maybe she knows how to get away with it," Crabbe suggested. "After all, we don't know that much about her. Where she's from, what she does, how she does things like that, or why she gets herself involved in the first place."

"Do we know which House her father was in?" Malfoy asked curiously. He'd been meaning to ask Serena himself, but it kept slipping his mind.

"We don't. Some people think he was in Ravenclaw, others would say a different House. There's even rumors that he might have been a Slytherin. It's a complete mystery."

Malfoy thought for a moment. Suddenly, the clock chimed 10 o'clock on the mantle and he stood up. "It's getting late. I'm going to bed."

As he passed Goyle, he was grabbed at the elbow. "How did you know that Chanson's father was of magical blood and not her mother? The boys never specified that." He whispered.

His blood froze. Oh no! If they find out. . . "Lucky guess."

"Is there something that we should know?"

"If you need to know anything, I'll tell you." Jerking his arm away, Draco left for the boys' dormitory. They don't need to know anything.