𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐗:
malfoy's manners...
... november 3, 1993
✰
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 got progressively worse as the week went by, the clouds only teasingly giving the students a light drizzle in the middle of the week before the rain and hail came crashing back down again, the sounds of thunder cracking echoing throughout the cold stone of the castle walls. raindrops the size of bullets thundered onto the castle windows for days on end -- the lake rose and the flower beds became muddy streams instead.
nova was running across the courtyard, her bag slung above her head to prevent the cold drops of rain from penetrating her already-freezing skin. in her other hand, she held her notebooks that didn't fit, her brunette locks whipping across her face, attaching to the damp skin on her forehead.
once her shoe had finally crossed over to dry land, just barely, she misjudged how much weight she had put on to her feet and her right shoe slipped across the wet pavement. letting out a small yelp, she let go of her bag and notebook, throwing it up in the air, only to have them crash back down at her head. her hands automatically went underneath her body, in hopes of catching herself. she went flying back into the rain, landing on her butt. her hands slapped roughly against the wet concrete, she letting out a groan in pain. rolling her wrists gingerly, the girl caught sight of the watch on her wrist.
"i'm going to be late!" she calls out to no one in particular, looking at her wrist.
"need help there?" someone calls.
looking up, nova saw the comely face of her cousin; he sticking a hand out to the girl, his other arm draping his robe over his head. surprised at the sympathetic gesture, nova raised her brows.
"you wanna help me?" she yells through the sounds of pattering rain, her hand shielding the heavy drops of hail from meeting her squinted eyes.
draco rolled his eyes, adjusting his robe that he held over his head. "just take my damn hand already!"
not wanting to sit underneath the cold rain for a second longer, she begrudgingly took his rough hand in hers, hissing as she felt the strain against her wrist.
"ahh," she groaned, rolling her wrist again. "shoot my books!" she shouted in horror, picking up the soggy pulp of what was left of her notebooks.
"here i got it!" draco shouted, snatching the book out of her hands. "just grab your bag and get underneath the shade!"
doing as he said, the girl grabbed the strap of her bag roughly, swinging it across her shoulders and onto her back.
she sprinted a few steps till she was underneath the roof of the tiny corridor outside, draco trailing behind her. she wrapped her tiny arms around her small shaking frame. soaking wet, draco immediately fumbles with the inside of his robes for his wand, his already freeing cold, numb fingers making the job much harder.
finally reaching the tip of his wand, nova watched as draco re-positioned his wand hand and mumbled an incantation for the hot-air charm. immediately feeling a warm sensation wash upon her entire body, her hands and feet lost of the numb feeling. and with nova's robes now not weighing her down, nova was able to properly question the boy's intentions.
shoving her already dried notebook into her hands, draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair, nova watching his every move.
draco seemed to notice this however and he furrowed his brows at the young girl, his piercing, stormy grey eyes meeting her soft brown ones.
as he opened his mouth to say something, he got lost in the sight of the girl's strangely familiar eyes. he frowned even more. "your remind me of someone," he says simply, a frown still prominent on his handsome features.
"um, thanks?" nova stutters nervously, breaking the eye contact and looking down at the wrinkly red cover of what used to be her notebook for defense, her hand running repeatedly over the thick lines.
"i never said it was a good thing." draco deadpanned.
nova laughed nervously, "yeah, i guess so."
she put her notebook behind her back, casting her gaze down to her tattered converse, noticing a new hole in the side of the thin fabric showing her hot pink socks.
"why are you so nice to me all of a sudden?" nova blurted, looking up quizzically at her cousin.
"you have lupin this period right? go quick! he has a substitute," draco frantically interjected to the second year.
nova frowned. "how did you know that i-"
"lancaster! didn't you say you were late for class? go!" draco shooed at the girl, ignoring her question.
looking back down at her watch, nova noted that she was already ten minutes late. "geez, see you around, i guess!" she called, already making her way down the damp corridor.
"not a word about this lancaster!" draco called.
"fat chance malfoy!" she snickered, her question completely passing her mind as she raced down the hall, ignoring the growing stitch in her side, before she skidded to a stop in front of profesor lupin's class.
wrenching the door open, hands on her knees, nova was able to manage out, "sorry professor lupin." she sucked in a large breath of air. "i had just-" except leering over, looking at her with malice over his hooked nose was snape.
"lancaster, how nice of you to finally join us. let us see: you were late ten minutes, that'll be ten points from gryffindor." snape drawled, a lazy smirk on his face. "go sit."
nova swallowed thickly, but stood her ground. "where's professor lupin?" she bravely asked.
"he says he is feeling too ill to teach today," said snape with a twisted smile. "i believe i told you to sit down?"
but nova stayed where she was.
"what's wrong with him?"
snape's black eyes glittered.
"nothing life threatening," although he looked as if he wished it were. "i'm getting deja vu. that potter boy had the same exact, ah, conversation with me. now, five more points will be taken from gryffindor if you fail to do as i say."
nova slowly walked to the empty seat besides ginny, her narrowed eyes never leaving snape's face.
begrudgingly taking her textbook out, nova slammed it down roughly on the desk for dramatics. snape's head snapped towards her desk, his eyes narrowing menacingly towards the girl. she stared back, not wanting to break the eye contact. the rest of the class held their breath, but to their surprise, snape didn't say anything more.
he broke eye contact first, only to have his glare sweep over the rest of the students. instead of telling the students what to do, he made his way behind professor lupin's desk -- examining the contents inside the drawers and the papers on the top.
picking up a piece of parchment off the top of lupins desk, snape made a tisking noise. "the kappas are most commonly found in mongolia. shame, lupin gave this piece a eight out of ten. i would've gave it a three."
ginny glanced nervously at nova who was glaring daggers at the professor.
"put away your textbooks. we won't be needing them today. so disorganized. i don't know how lupin even keeps up," snape continued.
"lupin was the best defense professor we've ever had," nova shot.
there were murmurs of agreement scattered across the room, nova's words striking a point. but just one look from the professor told nova that she should stay quiet. slouching back into her seat, the rest of the class gone silent, and with a flick of snape's wand, the blackboard had notes scrawled over the entirety of the board.
on the top, stood out one lone word: werewolves.
there was an uproar of voices, one overpowering another.
"but professor," one ravenclaw began to interject.
"silence!" he shouted, his voice ringing throughout the entire classroom.
everyone's voices immediately hushed down, the room eerily quiet except for the uncomfortable shifting of students underneath snape's demeaning glare.
beside nova, ginny shifted uneasily as the red-haired eyed the wand tightly gripped in the pale girl's thin fingers. the hazel-eyed girl heed no attention to the freshly carved pink crescents carved into her palm as she glared deadly at the greasy haired man in front of the class.
nova wasn't stupid per say, she knew that the year above had the same exact lesson as her. there was a ulterior motive to snape teaching each and every single one of his classes and based on the look on his face, it wasn't a good one.
✰
"i do hope that professor lupin gets well soon," ginny says as the two of them hustle and bustle towards the top of the gryffindor tower.
"that bastard," nova mumbled.
ginny threw nova a side glance. "what's wrong?" she asked.
"i heard harry and hermione taking about their class with snape, guess what he made them learn too?"
"er- i don't know," ginny replied uneasily.
"just guess!" nova seethed.
"um, i don't know, werewolves?"
"exactly!" nova yelled out, gesturing wildly with her arms. "what's snape playing at teaching all of lupin's classes about werewolves?"
"you know, the other day when i had tea with professor lupin, snape totally barged into his office and do you know what he did?" nova continued ranting.
"what?"
"he gave lupin a potion!" she exclaimed. "and you know what was even more crazy? professor lupin drank the potion!"
the two of them had just made their way inside the portrait and were clambering up the steps to their dorm room.
"just forget it, i'm going to sleep," nova mumbled, closing the drapes on her bed.
"what about dinner?" ginny calls on the outside.
"i'll be fine," the second year grumbled, or so she thought.