BLOOD TRAITOR [HARRY POTTER - BOOK 1]

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter world, all rights go to J.K Rowling. I do however own my original character Nova Malfoy and her background.

The wind nipped at her cheeks and whipped her dark curls around as she shivered and pulled her scarf closer around her neck. It was getting late but Nova had promised Draco that she would watch his Quidditch practice, a vow that she was beginning to regret as her teeth chattered in the cold. She had always loved watching her brother play and secretly envied his talent for flying, something that she could never get a grasp of. After what felt like a century, Draco finally emerged from the changing rooms and stalked over to her with a smug look on his face, his silvery blonde hair illuminated on one side by the spotlights on the pitch.

"You should've have seen the Gryffindor practice, Weaslebee was atrocious." Her brother sneered as they made their way back into the castle, "Quite the embarrassment if you ask me!" His grey eyes darted to his sister briefly as he watched for a change of expression. Receiving no response, he added: "You know there are better ways of annoying father..."

A frown etched itself across the younger twin's features as they started up one of the great staircases: "I don't know what you mean." She muttered, waiting for an explanation as she gripped the golden bannister to her right.

"Potter, the Mudblood and Weasel? If father were to find out..."

"He doesn't have to know. And I'll have you know that I happen to like them." Nova interrupted with authority before retorting, "Not everything has to be about father." Draco sighed lightly, glancing at his other half for confirmation. When he realised that she was deadly serious, he elected to drop the conversation. Nova was the most tenacious person he had ever known; she was independent and refused to accept anyone's opinion as the truth until she had decided for herself and the commanding tone that laced her words told him that it was in his best interests to keep her choice of friends between the two of them. "I'll see you tomorrow," she smiled, her tone lighter this time. "I enjoyed watching you practice today; you're playing a lot better!"

The older Malfoy grinned at his twin's approval, watching as she disappeared into the Gryffindor common room, before he locked the smile away behind his signature sneer.

*

As she entered the common room, Nova's gaze landed on Hermione who was humming away to herself as she knitted another one of her hats for her S.P.E.W project; she had tried to enlist the Malfoy girl's help but after discovering how truly awful she was at knitting, decided that her help wasn't needed – in truth Nova did in fact know how to knit but she found the task boring and so elected to sabotage herself, essentially manipulating her friend into leaving her alone. The young Malfoy was particularly pleased that she had also managed to successfully fail to charm a pair of knitting needles, much to Harry's amusement. As she greeted the Granger girl, she noticed two figures huddled over a mountain of books and immediately recognised them as a very stressed Harry Potter and a flustered Ron Weasley; she fought back a laugh as Hermione told her that they had been stuck inside all day doing the week's homework.

Nova waltzed over to the pair, continuing her conversation about her day. A small smile graced her lips as she noticed the extra homework that Snape had assigned Harry after he had ruined one of his potions in class. The boys lifted their heads briefly to look at her as she carefully picked up the essay and leant against the table, all the while conversing with Hermione. She immediately picked up on the fact that Harry had only written what his designated potion was used for and after surveying the ever deepening frown on his forehead, decided to put him out of his misery.

"Strengthening potion is brewed in at least two stages," Nova began, catching the Potter boy's attention as his green eyes snapped up to her. "It takes several days to mature properly and the key ingredients are... powdered Griffin claw and salamander blood," she smiled.