DEXTERITY | S. BLACK

05.

"YOU!" THERESA THUNDERED, HER WAND HELD AT REGULUS BLACK'S throat. The dark-haired boy flinched. "It was your bloody father that did it!"

     "Lower it, Brooms," Callista hissed, all traces of sympathy for the girl immediately gone. She stood with her wand drawn, eyes piercing into Theresa's. "He's only a third year. Leave him out of this."

     Theresa laughed; a maniacal kind of sound that only came out of the mouths of those who had lost a loved one. "His father is the reason my parents were killed, Nott. You think I'm just going to let this pass? He's the son of a murderer!"

     Emilia Zabini slammed her fist onto the table and scowled. "Orion Black has two sons, doesn't he? Why're you only coming after this one?"

     She sniffed, taken aback. There were more tears rolling down her face, but the Slytherins felt nothing but contempt for the girl. "It's because Sirius is—"

     "I don't care what Sirius is," Callista fumed. "Keep him out of it. He's only a third year, Brooms."

     Theresa broke down into a fit of tears upon seeing Callista's fierce expression and, although she had just suffered through the loss of her parents, the entirety of the Slytherin table eyed her with cold stares, causing the girl to retract her wand and back away slowly.

     Professor Flitwick quickly rushed to the scene, attempting to console the crying teenager. He sent a disappointed look towards the Slytherins. "Teaming up on a student like this, is th—"

"With all due respect, Professor," said the blue-eyed fourth year, "she was threatening another student. I think you need to address that before you accuse us of teaming up on her, as we were clearly only defending our housemate."

"I'm an orphan because of people like you!" Theresa spat through her sobs. "Death Eater scum like yourselves killed my innocent parents! They didn't deserve this!"

"Neither does Regulus," Callista snapped, disregarding the pang of guilt she felt in her chest as the crying girl left.

As Flitwick led the girl out of the Great Hall, the Slytherins could feel the eyes of the other houses on them. The accusatory looks and judgmental stares weren't anything new, but they were definitely much more present than before. It happened every time there was an attack; the members of the house of green and silver were quick to be blamed. While most of the house believed in blood superiority, the majority of them hardly wanted to go as far as murder. However, the Slytherins quickly jumping in to defend themselves only seemed to add fuel to fire, causing the other houses to believe that they were indeed guilty.

In their opinion, their housemates were their family. No Slytherin student would allow another to be harmed or insulted under their watch. They might have been secluded and estranged from the other houses, but that only made them stick closer together. Once the Sorting Hat placed a child in the House of Serpents, that child became one of their own; and Slytherins protected their own, no matter the cost.

Taking the seat beside Regulus, she asked, "Are you alright? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

He shook his head. "No, but she's insane. They all are."

"They?"

Regulus mumbled, "The rest of the school, Callista. It's not all of them, but... but sometimes when they look at me, I can tell. They're scared of me— of us. They look at me as if I've killed someone, Callista, I haven—"