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ii. CHAPTER TWO
KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR
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BRIAR FLIPPED A PAGE, nose buried in the muggle novel that she managed to find in one of the lesser known shops in Diagon Alley, she'd had to re-read it a few times, mainly because she didn't understand the Muggle customs and behavior but she found that the main concept was quite familiar to her.
Pride and Prejudice was about a mother who was desperate to get her daughters married off, something that Briar quite understood.
She glanced up from the book once as she turned the corridor, Lucius had been trying to talk to her all day and she'd been rather successful in avoiding him, the teen girl was terrified he would suddenly announce that he'd found her a match and to ensure that he couldn't find her, she'd even volunteered to take up extra prefect duties, patrolling the corridor at night.
It was one of the few duties she enjoyed doing, Hogwarts was a much beautiful and peaceful place at night.
As she walked down the deserted corridor, she paused for a second, certain that she'd heard voices, closing her book and pulling out her wand, she quickly hurried towards the source of the noise.
"Filthy little blood traitor!" a familiar voice was screeching (she recognised it immediately). Briar closed her eyes for a second in exasperation before quickly marching down the corridor where the noises were coming from.
As expected, she saw Bellatrix Black with her wand held out, facing a rather angry-looking Sirius Black.
"What are you two doing?" Briar demanded, quickly stepping in between the two.
Despite usually being rather soft-spoken and understanding among her pureblood peers, there was something about Bellatrix Black that irritated Briar. "Put your wand down, Bellatrix."
Bellatrix shook her head, messy black curls flying around her face. "Just get out of my way, Briar; this won't take more than a minute, the little traitor deserves what he's going to get for shaming our family!"
The platinum blonde pursed her full lips together, holding back a groan. She glanced at Sirius, noting that he looked more amused than scared at the sight of Bellatrix. "I can't let you do that, Bellatrix; you shouldn't be out in the corridors at this hour, either of you. I suggest you return to your dormitories immediately."
Bellatrix frowned. "So you're going to take the blood traitor's side, D'Alessio? I expected more from you."
"I'm not taking any sides," Briar raised an eyebrow at her. "But if you go back to your dormitory now, then I'll consider not giving you detention for the rest of the school year."
There was a long pause as the two girls stared at each other down. It was Bellatrix who finally relented, putting her wand away, and giving Sirius a dark look. "You're lucky. Next time, you won't have a prefect around to save you."
"I'll be happily waiting, cousin," Sirius replied, grinning widely as Bellatrix swept away. Once she was gone, he turned to look at the girl in front of him. She was putting her wand away as well. "Who knew, eh? My knight in shining armor."
Briar rolled her eyes, she didn't have the patience to deal with Sirius Black. "You know, one day she is going to kill you and no one is going to be around to save you."
Sirius snorted, "Oh well, I'm here for a good time D'Alessio, not a long time."
Briar glared at him, she didn't have the patience to deal with Sirius Black. "Black, get back to your dormitory, or you'll get detention."
"Ah, but you've already given me detention. Remember? About us having fun with Snivellus? Looks like you're out to get me in trouble, D'Alessio."
Briar felt her temper rising. Quickly biting the inside of her cheek, forcing herself to cool down and gave Sirius a steely glare. She wouldn't let him get the better of her. "In case you hadn't noticed, Bellatrix would have cursed you if I hadn't stepped in."
"Oh, please. I had it under control," Sirius replied, arrogantly. "I've been dealing with her for years. She is my cousin, after all."
She frowned. "I'll give five seconds to get back to your dormitory or I'll hex into oblivion."
Leaving him standing in the corridor, she quickly walked away, trying to ignore the rapid beating of her heart.
What had made her so flustered? The last time she had spoken to Sirius was a few months ago but there was something about his mischievous smile that both attracted and terrified her, either way she didn't trust him.
Attempting to shake off the encounter, she pulled out the novel again, and flipped to the page she'd stopped at, she had barely read a few sentences before a voice interrupted her once more.
"Is that a Muggle novel? I certainly didn't see that coming..."
She suddenly whirled around and saw that Sirius was just a few steps behind her, still smirking. Had he followed her? Irritated, she pulled her wand back out.
"Didn't I tell you to go back to your dormitory? Twice?" she demanded.
"And I am. Just taking a longer route, that's all; didn't think it was a crime."
Glaring at him, before hesitantly putting away her wand, deciding to ignore him, she pressed her book deeper into her robes only to have it snatched out of them.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Black, what is your problem?" she demanded, exasperated, she lunged to get the book back but Sirius held it out of her reach with a grin.
"Pride and Prejudice," he read out, examining the cover casually. He flipped through a couple of pages, his smile widening. "I knew it! This is a muggle novel! I've seen Evans reading the same one! What do you have to say for yourself, D'alessio?"
"I don't have to explain anything to you," she replied, trying to hide her rising anxiousness. He wouldn't tell anyone what she was reading, would he? then again, who would believe him? "If you don't mind, I'd like the book back."
Sirius shook his head. "Not until you tell me why a respectable pureblood girl owns such... scandalous reading material. I must admit, I'm rather curious."
She folded her arms across her chest, her tone turning noticeably smug, "You're one to be talking. There is nothing scandalous about reading a Muggle novel, Black, certainly not enough to get me blasted off my family tree."
There was a short silence, as both of them digested what Briar had just said. She herself was surprised, She hadn't intended to be so harsh, an apology was at the tip of her tongue but she held it back. Why should she apologize to him?
"I see your cousin has been teaching you well," Sirius replied quietly.
"Don't talk about Luci-"
"My apologies. I didn't mean to offend. Tell me, D'Alessio; do you even have a brain of your own? or is it that you blindly follow what darling Lucius says?"
"How dare you-"
"But of course. You worship his every word. You spend all your life trying to keep him and the rest of your Muggle-hating family happy, don't you? I saw the look in your eyes when I recognized that novel, you were scared I'd tell someone; ruin your family's reputation like I did mine, right?"
Briar glared at him. "You know nothing about me, Black, so don't presume-"
"I know more about you than you think. You're quite easy to read, D'Alessio, you just want to keep them all happy, sacrificing your beliefs for a bunch of Muggle-hating, Dark Arts fanatics that don't even love you for who you are."
Briar tried to hold herself back but her anger had already gotten the better of her and there was a loud, ringing smack, Sirius's palm shot up to grasp his cheek, where she'd just slapped him, Briar's own hand was still hanging mid-air, trembling. "Watch your mouth, Black. I may not be a courageous Gryffindor but I know a hell of a lot more about love than you, So don't you dare presume you can teach me anything about family values, you filthy blood traitor."
With that, she grabbed her book, gave him a hard glare and brushed past him
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Briar's hands were trembling as she climbed into bed late that night, her other dorm mates were all fast asleep, curtains drawn around their beds. Trying not to wake anyone up, she quietly changed into her pyjamas and curled up under the sheets.
Black's words were still ringing in her head, they'd made her so furious, that her head was starting to throb. 'Muggle-hating, Dark Arts fanatics'. It was true, more than once, Briar had overheard conversations between her father and Uncle Abraxas. They talked about forbidden dark magic and about ridding the world of Muggles.
The thought sent chills down her spine, but she'd always forced herself to forget the conversations. It seemed wrong to think her father was capable of such inhumane acts, her father, who'd sat her on his knee when she was eight years old and called her his little princess.
But why should she listen to Sirius Black, anyway? He was the one who'd left his entire family in shame, love wasn't about leaving your family in humiliation because you didn't agree with them.
It was about loyalty, and respect; it was about unconditional love.
Sirius fucking Black knew nothing about love.
Nothing.
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Briar was half-asleep as she trudged into Potions class the next morning. She'd barely had time to tie her hair in its usual crown braid and throw on her uniform before rushing to class.
She'd just slipped into the Potions dungeon, when she realized that Lucius Malfoy was sitting in the seat right beside hers. Cursing silently, she gave him a forced smile, before taking her seat.
"Not sitting with Rabastan today?" she asked her cousin casually, trying to appear uninterested. Lucius usually sat with Rabastan Lestrange during potions, but she could see that Rabastan was sitting a few rows behind them, with another Slytherin boy. The move had clearly been intentional.
Lucius shrugged. "Simply felt like a change. Have you been avoiding me?"
She gave him an innocent smile. "Of course not, Lucius! Why would you think so?"
"I didn't see you yesterday, that was all. I actually had something rather interesting to tell you."
She nodded. "I see. Well, perhaps after class, we can speak about-"
"I have it on good authority that Evan Rosier may attempt to speak to you today. His family is very respectable. Perhaps not quite on par with the Malfoy's or the D'Alessio's... But that's hardly the issue. Your parents have a lot of expectations on you, Briar. Do not disappoint them."
"Of course not," she muttered quietly.
Lucius didn't look convinced. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Professor Slughorn bustling loudly into the classroom, and calling for the students to take their seats. Frowning, Lucius turned around to face the front, just as a large cauldron emitting steam was hauled into the classroom.
As Briar opened her book, Lucius' pale hand slid her a small bar of chocolate. "I didn't see at breakfast today."
"Practicing on your manners before you meet Narcissa, I see right through you Malfoy." She whispered teasingly.
Before Lucius had the chance to retort Slughorn's booming interrupted them "All right, settle down, everyone! I've got something quite interesting for you today. Who can tell me what potion this is? Quickly, now, no looking into your textbooks!"
Both Briar and Lily's hand shot up, "Ah yes, Miss Evans."
"It's Amortentia," Lily replied confidently. "The most powerful love potion in the world."
"Excellent! 5 points to Gryffindor!" Slughorn exclaimed, causing Lucius to mutter something rather unflattering under his breath. "And can you tell me, Miss Evans, how you identified it?"
"By it's distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen. And the steam rising from it in characteristic spirals."
"Correct! Another 5 points! Now, although the actual brewing of this potion is not in your syllabus, I do expect a 15-inch essay on it, due Monday. Shouldn't be too difficult, there's plenty to write about. Extra marks if you can put your own personal spin on it. Now, who can tell me what Amortentia smells like?"
Another hand went into the air, just before Briar's could. Surprised, the entire class turned to face Sirius Black, who was smiling smugly.
"Mr. Black?"
"It smells differently to each person, according to what attracts them the most," he said, still smiling cheekily. Clearly he was trying to make it sound as dirty as possible. A few snickers were heard in the last seats.
"Correct, Mr. Black. Just as an experiment, I'd like everyone to gather round and take a good whiff. As I said, if you can identify the smells, and put them in your essay, extra points. Come now, everyone!"
Reluctantly, The D'alessio girl slid out of her seat along with the rest of the class, and gathered slowly around the cauldron. She waited, while a few other students took their turns, and then inhaled deeply.
The first smell was incredibly easy to identify. It was the scent of lavender. Expected, since she had a small pot of it growing in the window of her dormitory. The D'Alessio Mansion's gardens were filled with lavender, and she'd loved playing in them as a child.
The second smell was also very familiar. It was her mother's Christmas pudding. Although her family had sufficient house elves to do the cooking at home, it was a small tradition that her mother always made the Christmas pudding. It reminded her of home, once again, and she smiled to herself.
The third smell was the only one that she couldn't quite place. It was odd. Certainly not food, or flowers. In fact, it distinctly resembled varnish, or wet paint. Confused, she stepped away from the cauldron, allowing the girl behind her to take a turn. She returned to her seat, where Lucius was looking at her curiously.
"Well, What did you smell?" he asked.
"Flowers, and Mother's Christmas pudding. You?"
"Some sort of perfume. And the muddy scent of the Quidditch pitch when it's wet."
She nodded. Lucius hadn't mentioned a third scent either. Perhaps she'd been imagining it.
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hello, so small reminder that Briar doesn't hate muggles nor does she want to get rid of Muggleborns she's just trying to do what makes her parents happy.
━sel