House of Black

Unease

As soon as I entered the Slytherin common room behind Daphne I was on edge, my eyes darted around the room filing details away, Mum had raised Rhydian and I to be as prepared as possible, she had always worried that we would be tracked down in France and she wanted us to be able to fend for ourselves should anything happen to her. I couldn't see any decent hideout spots from where we stood but I knew I would come across them as I cleaned. There weren't many students around, a few firsties were playing Gobstones in a corner and some older students were splayed across the couches chatting or studying, Daphne handed me a cleaning caddy and a bucket and brush and gave me a small smile that was probably meant to reassure me before walking away.

I told myself, the quicker you clean the quicker you leave, and dived into my tasks. Throughout the morning I came to realise that most of the Slytherins were neat freaks, the boy's dorms from seventh year to fifth year were almost immaculately in order, which made my job much easier. The fourth to first year dorm experience was like a sliding scale of organised chaos and I saw some things I wished I could burn from my brain, but I knew would be there forever ready to traumatise and nauseate me years from now when I'm trying to fall asleep. The thought of the bathrooms alone made me shudder. Throughout the morning I had also had a few slurs thrown at me, some spells too but to my relief they either bounced back to the caster or fizzled out just shy of hitting me. I had used up three of the five hideouts I had found too which made me slightly uneasy.

I started the girl's dorms from the bottom, I wasn't sure how long I had been cleaning for, the murky water outside the large windows was now black, my hands were cramping, my feet were killing me and back and neck ached. I persisted and flew through the first to fourth year dorms, to my surprise they kept them immaculate and organised down to the last hair potion, the fifth year dorms were absolute chaos and by the time I began the sixth years I was exhausted.

Naturally the first room I walked into was Astoria's, it was like they were waiting for me, she was perched on the bed while Pansy sat on the end and Millicent Bullstrode sat in a nearby chair. I placed my supplies down and ignored them as I got to work.

'Look girls the Mudblood house elf is here.'

I ignored Pansy's nasally voice while wiping down the top of a dresser, I heard footsteps approaching my back as I wiped down and replaced all the objects that were strewn on top before.

'You missed a spot.' Astoria whispered in my ear before she pulled me to the ground.

I was tired and slow as she took me down and started furiously slapping and tearing at me, it was all rage, no fighting experience. My face stung fiercely from her repeated slaps and I only started to fight back when she took her absurdly long nails and dragged them straight down from my hairline to the base of my throat with all her might. I punched her in the face and got my legs under her to kick her off before lurching to my feet and sprinting away, Millicent chased after me, but I was faster than her and knew where I was going, I darted around corners and after slipping through the door I paused to still the tapestry covering it just in time to hear Millicent thundering past and continuing into the common room. Stepping back, I closed the door quietly and slowly made my way down the spiral staircase, there weren't many steps, but it felt like an absurd amount of effort to descend them, I had to slide one shoulder against the wall for support.

I stepped down and into the small cosy room I had found earlier today, or maybe it was yesterday now? It was nestled into the centre of one of the staircases, the door hidden behind a tapestry and only visible to someone looking for it, the warmth of the room was at odds with the coldness of the common room. The wallpaper was emerald green, of course, the floor was wood, ancient and weathered by the feet of countless people who had discovered this place over the years, a bookcase covered one wall and it was full to the brim, stacks of books also littered the floor. I was surprised to see that the comfy looking emerald velvet couch I had seen earlier now held Blaise Zabini reading a book, he went to flip a page and noticed me standing at the bottom of the staircase.

'Merlin!' he exclaimed.

'Nope, just Callie.'

He blinked once at my pathetic joke before rising from the couch and coming around to gently guide me to the couch. I sank into the soft cushions and sighed deeply as I felt my muscles unclench and relax slightly.

'Who did this?' Zabini asked.

'Astoria, I think she's still upset over me calling you handsome.'

This time Zabini smiled at my joke and shook his head.

'I think it might be more over you breaking her nose.'

'Or it could be because she thinks I'm a Mudblood, if only she knew.'

I murmured the last part to myself in a silly, exhausted haze as the adrenaline left my body but of course Zabini picked up on it.

'What does that mean?' he looked at me, confused.

'I'm not a Muggleborn, my mother is, but my father was a pureblood.' I slapped my hand over my mouth as soon as I finished speaking, only removing it for a second to add on a shocked, 'I don't know why I told you that.'

'Relax Callie, your secret's safe with me, I promise.'

He seemed like he was being honest so just to be safe I asked for a pinkie promise.

'What the ever-living fuck is a pinkie promise Calliope?'

I laughed at his perplexed expression before lifting his hand up and making my pinkie into a little hook shape, he copied me and I wrapped mine around his.

'Pinkie promise.' I whispered to myself, smiling as I recalled all the times I had done this with the people I loved, it was strange to be doing it with Zabini but it didn't feel wrong.

'Pinkie promise.' he responded, and I saw him conceal a little smile as he looked at our intertwined fingers.

I released him and he reached for his wand, he raised it towards me, he began to mutter a healing spell, but I put my hand on his arm to stop him.

'If I go back out there with no marks, they'll know it was someone within the house that healed me.'

He sighed, knowing that I was right and put his wand away again.

'I'll get Astoria out of the dorms tomorrow, so you don't have to worry about her.'

'Thank you.'

He nodded and rose to his feet, before he left, he topped up the protection spell and told me to get some sleep. After he was gone, I lied there, wondering why he was so keen to keep me safe, why Daphne had wanted to protect me, why she had recruited Zabini of all people. Eventually I drifted off, taking refuge from this nightmarish situation in my dreams.