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viii. CHAPTER EIGHT
STUPID BROOMSTICK POLISH.
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"UGH! QUIDDITCH. I just don't understand what these boys see in it, it's a sport. It's meant to be played, not worshipped!" Lily complained, as she and Briar walked past the Quidditch pitch the next evening. The Gryffindors were practicing for the first Quidditch match of the term. It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and both teams were equally determined to win.
Briar smiled as she thought back to the prior month, her and Lily couldn't even stand to be in the same room back then but now Briar found herself enjoying every moment she spent with Lily. Yet despite that, there was always an invisible barrier between the two girls. They were from different houses, and shouldn't get along. But they did, and Briar couldn't explain it. All she knew was that despite being a Muggle-born, Lily Evans was easier to get along with than any of the other pureblood girls.
"Evans!" James Potter called out cheerfully. He was sitting on the grass in his red and gold robes, with his broom in front of him. There was some sort of a broomstick kit open, and he seemed to be servicing his broom. "Couldn't resist the sight of me in my Quidditch robes?"
"Hardly," Lily muttered, as they walked past him. "Let me know once that Quaffle-sized head of yours has deflated a little bit."
James sobered up instantly. "Hey, I'm sorry! Will you go to Hogsmeade with me, this weekend?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I've got studying to do. There's a Charms test on Monday."
"But if you didn't, would you go with me?"
Lily rolled her eyes slightly. "Probably. But it doesn't matter, because I won't. Just bugger off, Potter."
Briar ignored their bickering, glancing around the pitch. Most of the Gryffindor players were taking laps, and she spotted Sirius Black among them. Despite not wanting to admit it, she couldn't help but think that he looked breathtaking, his raven hair was illuminated by the sun making him look almost angelic. She tore her gaze away, however, as a faint smell wafted towards her by the wind. She wrinkled her nose, she'd smelt it before.
"What's that smell?" she asked Lily, interrupting her yelling at James.
"What smell?"
"That... odd, stinging smell. It smells like varnish or something."
Lily took a deep breath and frowned. "I smell it too. Why?"
Briar shook her head. Where had she smelled this before? It took her a few seconds, but she suddenly remembered. It was the Amortentia! This was the third smell from the Amortentia that Slughorn had brewed in Potions last term!
James was watching both the girls curiously. "Is it this?" he asked, holding up a small container filled with brown cream. He'd been spreading it on his broom, and he handed it to Briar. She took a sniff and nodded.
"Yes, this is it," she replied, examining the container. "What is it?"
"Broomstick polish," James replied simply. "Not the normal kind, this one's more expensive. It's supposed to make your broomstick shine, without making the grip too slippery. It's absolutely awful when you put too much polish on, and your hands slip off the broom. But this sort doesn't do that. Smells like horse dung, though."
"Where do you get it?" she demanded.
"It's Sirius', he's the only one that uses this polish. You can ask him, he loves it. It was a gift from someone, it's not even sold in stores," James commented lightly, taking the polish back. He put it into the kit, and then grinned up at Evans. "I'll see you Saturday, then?"
Lily raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me?"
"Saturday? Hosmeade?"
"I just said no."
James smiled up at her, unable to hold back a grin. "You said you would come if you didn't have to study, you should know that Monday's charms test was cancelled yesterday- Professor Flitwick is in the Hospital Wing with the chills."
Lily's face drained of all color. "What? No, I didn't- But that wasn't I meant to mean..."
"See you on Saturday, Evans!" James cried out cheerfully, before closing the service kit and picking up his broom. He walked away, grinning from ear-to-ear.
Lily looked horrified.
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As Briar entered her common room later that night, she came face-to-face with Lucius Malfoy. He was sitting on a couch near the entrance to the common room, deep in thought. When she entered, however, his eyes snapped up to her, and he stood.
"Briar, where have you been?" Lucius asked. His tone wasn't angry, merely concerned. It was for that reason that Briar decided to reply instead of ignoring him.
"I was studying in the library," she lied. In reality, she'd been sitting in the courtyard with Lily Evans, while her friend complained about how James Potter had tricked her into agreeing to go to Hogsmeade with him. But Briar wasn't about to tell Lucius that, it was bad enough that he thought she was having an affair with a blood traitor, she didn't need him finding out about her muggle-born friend now.
"Well, I've been waiting for you to return," Lucius replied. "I was hoping we could talk about yesterday's misunderstanding."
Briar frowned. She wasn't in the mood to discuss Sirius Black, but Lucius looked rather apologetic. She decided to give him a chance.
"All right."
"I think we both know that I was... rather harsh with you last night. I said some things that I shouldn't have, I need you to understand that it was Black that I was angry at, not you," Lucius admitted. "It was never my intention to offend or accuse you of anything."
Briar sighed, sitting down on the couch slowly. She was angry at Lucius, certainly, but she'd never expected him to apologize. Of course, he hadn't said the words (I'm sorry) directly, but it was as close to them as he would ever get.
"I know," she muttered. "You were angry, I can understand that. So was I."
Lucius nodded looking slightly relieved, he sat down beside her. "I was only worried about you, Rose, associating with the likes of Sirius Black... you're a clever girl. Surely you can see that it's a dangerous, if not a foolish idea."
Briar nodded, lifting her eyes to look at him.
I know, she thought, feeling slightly ashamed.
She had no right to be angry at Lucius when she was the one who'd been stupid enough to let Black play around with her. The irritation she'd felt for Lucius disappeared into a feeling of cold shame. "I'm not associating with him," she said firmly. "You don't have to worry about me, Lucius. I-I can handle Sirius Black."
As she said the words, however, she knew that they weren't true. She could never handle Sirius Black, and what was worse was that she couldn't handle herself around him. She'd frozen when he stepped near her, she'd lost all rational thought and self-control. She shuddered to think of what might happen if she was put into the same situation again.
And that stupid broomstick polish, she thought to herself, irritably. She'd wondered about that smell for a long time, and it was a horrible moment when she realized that it was associated with Sirius. It was his broomstick polish, one that nobody else used, according to Potter. She was shaken from her thoughts, however, when Lucius spoke again.
"You're too innocent for your own good," he muttered, shaking his head. "Briar, what I did was... wrong, to put it mildly. I failed in my responsibility to protect you from Rosier, and I won't let that happen again. Promise me that if Black bothers you, you'll tell me."
Briar couldn't resist a smile, it was just like Lucius to turn everything into a duty, or a responsibility. "I'll be fine, Lucius."
"But you'll tell me? That blood traitor betrayed his own family, Briar, I don't trust him around you for a moment. Promise me that if anything else happens, you'll come to me."
"I will."
He smiled slightly, nodding. "All right, you look tired, get some sleep. I want to see you at the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match tomorrow, Potter and Black won't know what hit them."
Briar nodded. "I hope you win, Lucius. Tell Rabastan and the rest of your team I wish them the best of luck."
"I'm sure Rabastan would be delighted to hear that."
Briar D'Alessio had never liked crowds much. It was no surprise that the loud Quidditch pitch, with the screaming students and the noisy chatter, wasn't her favorite place to be.
She'd brought a book with her to read, but a few people had given her astonished looks when she took it out halfway through the match. In the end, she closed it, realizing that she looked stupid. Nobody else was reading a novel while the biggest match of the term was happening, the rest of the students were sitting on the edges of their seats, but Briar didn't see the point. In a couple of weeks, this match would be forgotten. Why was it such a big deal?
Gemma Prince and a few other Slytherin girls had joined her, when they saw that she was sitting alone, but Briar hadn't been required to make much conversation. They spent the entire match discussing which boy's windblown-hair looked the best. Briar only listened to a few snippets of the conversation, but from what she heard, they'd narrowed it down to Regulus Black, Marcus Avery and Rabastan Lestrange.
Slytherin was down by 40 points, when someone finally saw the snitch. Both James Potter and Regulus Black were after it at once, most of the chasers stopped what they were doing to watch the two black-headed boys racing each other. Sirius grabbed his bat, and tried to send a Bludger towards his brother, but it wasn't working.
Even Briar found that she was sitting on the edge of her seat. It was impossible to predict who would capture the snitch first, the Seekers were so evenly matched. Everyone was watching the game so intently, that nobody really noticed when Rabastan Lestrange picked up a beater's bat, and sent a bludger straight to the back of Sirius Black's head.
Regulus caught the snitch at the same moment that the bludger connected with Sirius' unsuspecting head. The screams of triumph merged with those of despair.
One Black was holding up a Snitch victoriously, while the other plummeted 40 feet to the ground.
Briar approached the cheering Slytherin team to congratulate them on their win. Most of the Gryffindors looked extremely dejected, and the majority had crowded around the spot where Sirius Black had fallen. There were so many people around him, that Briar couldn't even catch a glimpse.
Before she could even try, however, a large figure approached her and enveloped her in a hug. Startled, Briar stiffened before realizing that Rabastan Lestrange was hugging her. Not knowing how to respond she simply stayed still he'd released her and was smiling widely.
"Wasn't that brilliant? I can't believe we won!" he cried, excitedly. Briar frowned in response.
"What made you hit Black?" she demanded. Sirius hadn't even been doing anything, and she couldn't fathom why Rabastan had chosen that moment to hit him. "Isn't that against the rules? You're a Chaser, not a Beater!"
Rabastan's smile faltered. "It's not explicitly mentioned, and how does it matter? We won, anyway, didn't we?"
Briar nodded, deciding not to push the argument further. She didn't want to seem like she was protecting Black. To be honest, she didn't care about what happened to him, but Rabastan's actions had seemed somewhat underhanded. Then again, who was she to complain? They were Slytherins, it was in their very definition to get what they wanted, no matter the means, any noble actions were left to the Gryffindors.
"Rabastan! Wonderful game!" Lucius called out, approaching him. He shook Rabastan's hand happily. "Went exactly as planned, eh?"
Rabastan agreed happily, before letting out a yelp of pain, and removing his hand from Lucius's. "Sorry, my wrist... I think it's sprained, I'm not used to holding a beater's bat..."
Lucius looked concerned. "Well that's no good. I think you should go to the Hospital Wing, I'd hate for you to suffer from an injury. Briar, would you take him there? I need to speak to some of the other players."
Briar agreed reluctantly, and started to walk with Rabastan to the Hospital Wing. It wasn't a very long walk, and Rabastan was content to discuss the highlights of the game with Briar on the way there. He seemed very excited, and Briar found it contagious, by the time they reached the Hospital Wing, she couldn't resist smiling with him as well. Rabastan could be very charming when he wanted to be.
The two of them entered the Hospital Wing, but there was no sight of Madame Pomfrey. It was entirely deserted, except for a small fourth year boy lying on one of the beds with a pink face. He watched them nervously.
"Where's Madame Pomfrey?" Briar asked the boy. He sat up slightly, and sniffed before replying.
"She went down to the Quidditch pitch. Apparently Sirius Black was hurt."
Rabastan nodded, a bit of smugness making its way into his tone. "Yes, Black was injured rather badly. Perhaps we should come back later, then?"
Briar shook her head. "No, what if your hand becomes worse? You won't be able to play Quidditch, and Lucius would murder me. It's just a sprain, if only I could find the milliweed cream..."
Rabastan waited patiently, a small smile on his face as he watched Briar open a few of Madame Pomfrey's medicine cabinets, muttering to herself. He was surprised- she really seemed to know what she was doing. He couldn't differentiate one potion from another, himself. He wondered where she'd learned about medicines.
"There's no milliweed," Briar muttered, returning with a small tube of thick, yellow paste. "But I found primgrass, and they have almost identical properties so I'm sure it should do the job."
Rabastan frowned. "Are you sure? Perhaps we should wait for Madame Pomfrey to return..."
"No, trust me, it'll work." Briar grabbed Rabastan's wrist, and spread the cream onto it slowly. She moved her fingers in small, perfect circles, and within seconds his skin had absorbed the cream. Surprised, he slowly rotated his wrist, feeling no pain.
"Wow, you're really good at this," he complimented, and Briar looked pleased. She closed the tube, and was about to return it to the cabinet, when Madame Pomfrey walked in, helping Sirius Black to a bed. She made sure he laid down, before turning to look at the two Slytherins.
"Well? What are you two doing here?" she asked.
"He sprained his wrist," Briar explained. "I put some primgrass cream on it, I hope that's all right."
Madame Pomfrey was surprised, and stepped closer to inspect Rabastan's wrist. "That was some quick thinking, Miss D'Alessio. I, personally, would have applied milliweed instead."
"I couldn't find any."
She blushed slightly as Madame Pomfrey nodded, looking impressed. She let go of Rabastan's wrist, and smiled at Briar. "Well, I've never met a student who knows what milliweed is, let alone how to use it. Do you intend to become a Healer, dear?"
Briar looked startled. "I, erm, I don't know."
"Well, if you do, be sure to let me know. It would be a pleasure to write a recommendation for a bright young girl like you. Now Mr. Lestrange, I think you should be all right, but I'd suggest applying some more paste if the pain returns. I'll get you an extra tube, wait here for a moment..."
Madame Pomfrey bustled into a storage room at the back, leaving Rabastan and Briar alone. Unaware of Sirius who was sitting on the bed, watching them curiously.
"What a stupid woman," Rabastan commented harshly, once Madame Pomfrey was out of earshot. "Doesn't she know that you're a pureblood? Suggesting that you become a healer..."
Briar expression hardened, and she narrowed her eyes at Rabastan. "And why shouldn't I?"
"Well, because you're from one of the purest bloodlines there are and you're a woman. You don't need to work to earn money for yourself," Rabastan replied, as though it was obvious. "Really, imagine being a Healer, working among all those sick people in those terrible conditions. Your fortune is nowhere near miserable enough for that."
Briar felt her throat constrict. "And if I wanted to work as a Healer?"
Rabastan was surprised. "Why on earth would you want to? Briar, you will marry a man who is perfectly capable of taking care of you financially. What would possess you to want to work at all, much less as a Healer? I'm sure any potential suitor would run if you told him of these passing fancies of yours."
"Perhaps I'm better off without him, then," she muttered, angrily. She wasn't sure if Rabastan heard her, but Sirius Black was giving her a knowing look from where he was lying on the bed. Resisting the urge to squirm, she turned away from him.
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hey hey, I finally updated lol, but honestly the reason I haven't lately is bc I'm in turkey for vacation atm so I barely get WiFi so that makes it hard to do anything.
also the development between Sirius and Briar will start within the next chapters so yeah! I hope you guys like it! Thank you for all your positive comments.
I love you all 💖💘💕💖💓💓💞💝💖💕
━━sel.