Chapter Two:
“Severus.” Bellatrix smirked as she called out to him. After throwing out the idea of waiting for the chit in Hogsmeade, Bellatrix came up with an even better, sneakier idea.
“What,” the Potions Master sneered, his eyes never leaving cauldron that was burning on his fireplace, making a new batch of dreamless sleep potion. He needed to make sure it was perfect, or else the nightmares would drive him mad.
“I want Lillith Deacon.”
The name jerked Severus Snape out of his thoughts and his obsidian gaze landed on the bloodthirsty woman that sat on his couch. Her eyes held giddiness the likes of which he'd only seen when it came to her precious Dark Lord, and she radiated danger.
“The Dark Lord, wants Lillith Deacon, Severus,” Bellatrix clarified at his disbelieving look.
Severus Snape didn't so much as blink, as thoughts and plans ran through his mind. He'd have to talk to Dumbledore about this. Why would they want the girl, anyway?
“I'll see what I can do.”
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“Where's Harry?” Hermione questioned, her eyes sweeping the other carriages looking for her friend. I followed her gaze, for the first time noticing that something was actually pulling the carriages.
Ignoring the odd skeletal horse-like creatures with wings (which was extremely hard to do) I shrugged my shoulders
“I dunno. Maybe he's just riding up with someone else,” I muttered, playing with a frayed string on my uniform that was dangling down. Even I didn't believe myself, because Harry was constantly attached by the hip to the two other teenagers, and probably wouldn't even dream of sitting with someone else.
The horse-like creature began to walk, dragging us with it and I did one more sweep of the other students before deciding that Harry wasn't among them.
“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts,” Dumbledore's voice echoed off the walls of the Great Hall after the sorting had finished. Six new Gryffindors, three Hufflepuffs, five Ravenclaws and seven Slytherins had been added to the student population, none of them very attention-grabbing. Their eyes were all filled with awe and an innocence that it was so hard to find nowadays but there was nothing out of the ordinary in any of them.
I tuned out of the conversations around me, as my eyes began seeking the obsidian gaze that sat at the professor's table. Once our gazes connected, the seemingly-permanent scowl left my father's face to be replaced with...worry?
Why would Professor Snape be worried? Shaking it off, I turned away, hurt filled me as I thought about the last time I had seen him nearly a month ago in Diagon Alley. Breathing deeply, I stuffed a random bit of food in my mouth and took another glance around the Great Hall.
Draco Malfoy sat at the Slytherin table, more proud that I had ever seen him before, though why he seemed so proud of himself, I did not know. His white blond hair was no longer gelled back as it was last year, and his grey eyes seemed harder almost... more threatening. Shivering slightly, I looked to the people next to him. Pansy Parkinson was listening attentively to every word he said while occasionally letting out a rather high-pitched giggle. Blaise Zabini, the boy whom I was getting closer to last year seemed more detached than ever.
His dark skin looked paler than before, his brown eyes -usually so full of humor- were dull and his lips were thin and in a straight line. I wondered what had happened for a moment before deciding that I'd talk to both of them later.
The table I sat on felt so incredibly empty, nobody spoke to me, nobody so much as glanced my way and though I sat surrounded by people I'd known for nearly a year now, I felt excluded. Too bad Fred and George aren't here, I thought to myself. I was sure that they would never let a dull moment pass in my life. Looking to Hermione and Ron, I realized that Harry was with them once again. His nose was slightly swollen and it looked as though he had a split lip, but otherwise seemed fine.
“Harry, what happened?” I questioned, letting concern leak out into my question. I never thought of Harry as someone to get into a fight, I just couldn't see that happening, so what caused him to get a split lip?
“Nothing,” he muttered darkly, his eyes glancing towards the Slytherin table before going back down to his plate of food. He shoved a bite into his mouth, momentarily reminding me of Ron, and didn't say anything else.
I turned away, deciding to mind my own business. I shouldn't get into other people's business, it was nosy. I should have figured that out when I saw Father in Diagon Alley and started asking him questions about his life. Nobody wanted a nosy person around them.
Grimacing, I pushed my plate of food away before standing up and exiting the Great Hall. I'm pretty sure that you shouldn't do that at the welcoming feast, but I just didn't want to hang around anymore.
The Quidditch field called out to me, beckoning me and I walked over to it, as if I was a marionette and the field was the puppeteer.
* * *
“You're back to this again?”
I looked over towards the new voice, my eyes immediately landing on platinum blond hair.
“Hey Draco,” I mumbled, staring at the sparkling green grass underneath us.
“Are you going to answer the question?”
“Um. No.” I smiled, trying to convey that I didn't want to talk about it while still showing him that I was perfectly fine.
Draco sat down next to me, stretching his legs out as his long fingers brushed through the grass, like they would his own hair from time to time. For several moments neither of us bothered to speak, and when it came down to it, I was happy with that. This comfortable silence was something wonderful, to have someone's company yet not having to speak about every little thing that was bothering you.
Unfortunately, it couldn't last.
“Lily!” The voice broke through my peaceful quiet and I watched from the corner of my eye as Draco sneered at whomever was coming. Turning my head seemed a lot harder than it should have been, my neck was stiff and aching, for what reason, I didn't know, but the slight discomfort definitely made the normally easy task harder.
“Hey Harry,” I muttered, looking back to my god-brother. Draco stood up, smirking towards Harry before walking off.
“I just came out here to apologize.”
“For what?” I questioned. It wasn't as if he was rude, there wasn't a reason to apologize.
“For basically ignoring you, for being a bit rude when you were asking if I was okay.”
“That's fine, Harry, it's already forgotten,” I smiled, proving my point.
“So, how close are you and Draco, exactly?” His eyebrows raised as he questioned me and I could easily detect the bit of concern in his voice, maybe brotherly-affection?
“Good friends, at most,” I grinned before pushing myself up off of the ground. My legs protested, barely able to hold my weight after the run I had finished not an hour ago. “Why?”
“He's not good for you.” His eyes darkened as he glanced back towards Draco's retreating back.
“Listen Harry. We're just friends, and despite the fact that you're my god-brother, I don't appreciate you talking about my friends like that. He doesn't talk about you around me, and I'd like it if you did the same.”
I hated being mean, I knew that I sounded extremely rude, but I'd stand up for my friends, no matter what. They were all I really had in this world, friends were something I cherished more than anything else.
Harry nodded before nodding for me to follow him.
“I just... I wanted to tell you about Draco. I think he's a Death Eater,” he stared straight into my eyes and all I saw was pure, unfiltered honesty. “Don't ask me how I know, because it's an extremely long story, but I wouldn't tell you this unless I was sure, Lily.”
I bit my lip, staring at Harry before nodding. “Thanks for telling me.”
We went out separate ways, him to find Ron and Hermione while I went straight to the Gryffindor entrance, before realizing that I didn't have the new password.
Looking around, I realized that nobody was there, but didn't let that stop me. I banged on the portrait, ignoring the Fat Lady's protests as she yelled obscenities at me and waited impatiently for the portrait to swing open.
I just wanted to crawl into bed and go to sleep.