Heiress of Slytherin

chapter 7 - true colors

look up and get lost

in the dark between the stars.

By Sunday morning, Mara was finally settled into life at Hogwarts. She and Daphne Greengrass, a Slytherin in her year, had made some sort of alliance against Parkinson and struck up a kind of friendship.

She spent the majority of Saturday unpacking, avoiding Bram, and scoping out the Gryffindor male population. Luckily, a certain seventh year named Cormac McLaggen seemed to be taking a liking to her. Apparently, getting a boyfriend would be easier than expected.

That goal had never been at the top of her priority list at Ilvermorny, but now it was an exciting prospect. She had always been adored and more than slightly feared by her peers for her overwhelming knowledge, insanely high grades, manicured appearance, mysterious aura, and natural quidditch talent. The importance of quidditch seemed to be one of the few things that was shared between Ilvermorny and Hogwarts. The differences were far greater. The number of students at Ilvermorny far overwhelmed that of Hogwarts, probably twenty to one, as wizards and witches from all of North America called Ilvermorny home. And the general atmosphere of Ilvermorny was much different thanks to the general architecture, designed more as a sprawling series of buildings over well-manicured grounds than as a looming castle. And, of course, Ilvermorny was much more strict in rules of magic that students could perform. In fact, students weren't even allowed to take their wands home for school holidays.

Apart from the difference in schools, though, Mara was quite looking forward to adding the hearts of Gryffindor boys and an acting career to her long list of accomplishments. Unfortunately, pretending to be carefree and generally happy was much more physically demanding than she expected. After one day of it, all she wanted to do was find herself a quiet corner, a book of dark spells, and a cup of tea, and hex anyone who bothered her. Or, in other words, revert back to her general behavior at school in Ilvermorny.

She dressed in a grey shirt and black ripped jeans as always, curled her hair, perfected her makeup, and headed down to breakfast with Daphne.

"So, we should see Snape first to get our schedules then go to breakfast. The line'll be too long if we wait," Daphne said, leading the way to a corridor open to the courtyard.

Daphne was generally quiet but obviously intelligent and quite beautiful. Mara had observed Draco's eyes on her since they were briefly introduced on the train. But other people's trifles were never her priority.

The two compared schedules under the September sunshine then headed to the Great Hall, where they had a quick breakfast of oatmeal with cinnamon and apples. Mara was never one for breakfast or mealtimes in general, but she mixed up her oatmeal and ate slowly anyway.

"Oh, Daphne, I'm going to head up to the owlry and check on Rue. I haven't seen her in a few days and I need to send a letter anyway. I'll meet you later," Mara said as they exited the Great Hall. She didn't really have to send a letter, but she wanted to be free of Daphne for a little while. As nice as it was to have a friend, it seemed that Daphne was a bit needy.

"Of course! I'll see you later!" Daphne replied, turning to head back to the common room. Mara breathed a sigh of relief, then headed up a few flights of stairs. Not to the owlry, but to the library.

Turning a corner, she suddenly slammed right into someone tall wearing Gryffindor robes. Mara automatically turned on her fake megawatt smile, ready to make a new friend. She felt two hands on her arms, holding her steady, and suppressed the urge to hex them off of her.

But then she looked up into the insanely handsome face of Cormac McLaggen and automatically went into full-on flirt mode.

"Hi, I'm so sorry, I don't think we've met. I'm Mara Grimsbane," Mara said perkily, staring up into McLaggen's green eyes.

He smirked cockily and raised an eyebrow, saying, "McLaggen, Cormac McLaggen. You must be the new student from America. I must say, Americans are much more beautiful than I would've imagined."

Mara had to admit that his accent was much more attractive than Draco's or Bram's. She brushed a hair behind her ear before replying with a simple "thank you" and a practiced blush.

"Hey, I need to get down to eat breakfast. Do you want to come with me?" He asked, tracing circles on Mara's arms with his thumbs and leaning a little closer.

"Oh, I just ate, but I'll definitely go back with you," Mara replied, grinning up at him and leaning in a bit, just to see what he would do.

He stared down at her lips, and then his green eyes flicked to hers.

Suddenly, Mara pulled back a bit and laced her arm through his, pulling him in the direction of the Great Hall. He seemed a bit put off, but smiled playfully back at her and the two of them chatted aimlessly all the way to the Great Hall.

They sat together at the Gryffindor table and received a few pointed glances at her being Slytherin, but soon Mara had the whole Gryffindor intrigued by stories about Ilvermorny.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you weren't allowed to have your wand over holiday? You had to leave it at school?" A boy named Seamus in Mara's year asked, absolutely disgusted.

"And you couldn't have any pets other than owls?" A quiet boy named Neville asked as he stroked his toad protectively.

Mara laughed at their shock and continued answering questions. Suddenly, she felt Cormac wrap an arm around her waist and whisper in her ear, "Want me to show you around a bit?"

Mara nodded and the two left the Gryffindor table with a wave and promises to visit later.

As they walked out the doors and followed the path to the Black Lake, Cormac laced his fingers with Mara's silently. Mara was quite surprised that finding a boyfriend- much less such an attractive one- would be so easy. Sure, she had been warned of McLaggen's reputation with girls, but it wasn't like she had any intention of falling in love with him. If anything, she would be the one playing with him. She was quite invigorated by this game of breaking his heart before he broke hers.

It was a beautiful day- warm, but not hot, and sunny. It was almost nice to be able to lose yourself in conversation without having to worry about anything else. It reminded Mara of life America her first few years of school. The two stopped by a tree next to the black lake, away from some of the other couples and groups of students.

Suddenly, Cormac grabbed her waist and pressed his lips to hers. Mara was surprised at the suddenness of it all, but his lips felt nice against hers. She wound her arms around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair, smiling into the kiss.

Now, Mara may not have had time for a steady boyfriend, but that certainly didn't mean that she didn't enjoy a good shag every once in a while, especially if the guy was hot enough.

Cormac pulled away after a few seconds and said against her lips along with a sly wink, "Sorry, that was a bit unexpected. But I noticed you last school year when you visited, and I couldn't let anybody else get to you first."

Mara grinned against his lips before pulling him back down to kiss her again. He responded eagerly, pulling her tighter against his hips, then pushing her back against the tree. He bent down a bit to kiss her harder, and so that she wouldn't have to strain to meet his height.

Across the lawn, on the Hogwarts steps, Bram watched the two going at it while Pansy pulled against his arm, begging for attention. He couldn't help but wish it was Mara with him instead. Or, rather, he wished it was him kissing Mara rather than McLaggen. He shook his head at the stupid thought and turned his attention to Pansy, the one girl he could have.

At the same time, Mara couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be kissing Bram instead. But the thought passed as quickly as it came when Cormac started kissing down her neck, sucking on a spot right behind her ear that made her knees go weak and her eyes flutter closed again.

oooh, mara and cormac?? honestly i would totally date him if i was at hogwarts, like have you SEEN his character in the hp movies??? 

-rnm