Chapter 9 – Mornings

The Dungeon was in an uproar when they finally entered the common room. Those that would have been sleeping so early in the morning were now up, still in their PJs, and demanding what had happened. And those who were there were busily talking about how they had saved the day. Draco stood next to Raven, now powerless to contain such a group of teens when there was so much excitement. But that didn't stop him from trying.

"Hey!" The blond yelled into the crowd, trying to get somebody to pay attention so that he could try and straighten things out. Only a few students looked his way before being side-tracked into another version of what happened during Quidditch tryouts.

Frustrated, Draco ran his hand through his hair and glanced at Raven helplessly. Raven shrugged, not knowing if anything she could do would help. Suddenly someone shouted above the noise.

"There she is!" screeched a still-in-her-pajamas Pansy. Said girl marched through the parting crowd that had suddenly quieted down, past a bewildered Draco, and stuck one of her nail-polished fingers right in Raven's face. "She's the one who did it!"

There was a ripple of suspicion through the dungeon as Raven confusedly stared at the finger so dangerously close to her nose.

"What!" Exclaimed a just-as-confused Draco, running another hand through his hair.

Pansy, needing no further encouragement to hear herself talk pulled her finger away from Raven and faced the Dungeon. "She was the one who did the attacks! Wasn't she the one who was next to Terence before he passed out?" A mumble ran throughout the crowd. "Also, didn't she know exactly where the attacks were coming from when she went to meet their leader?" Another rumble.

Pansy was about to continue her logic when Draco finally found some words, "Wait, what? How do you know all of this, Pansy? Weren't you asleep?"

Pansy looked at Draco, "I saw it from my window!" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Raven immediately found the hole in her lies. Smirking dangerously, she spoke to Pansy, "Did you, now?"

Pansy's satisfied smile that was once on her face dwindled, but didn't disappear. Despite that she was leading herself into a trap, she stood firm with her previous statement. "Yeah, I saw everything, you traitor!"

Raven almost laughed. "Your window, that you claim to have seen things out of," out of the corner of her eye, Draco smiled as he saw where this was leading, "is underwater."

The common room was again in an uproar, and Pansy stomped away, thoroughly embarrassed. Just as the crowd was again converging on them to make sense of what happened during tryouts, the common room door opened.

"Silence!" All of the voices silenced and the Slytherins looked to their Head of House who had just entered. Professor Snape addressed the House, "Professor Dumbledore is taking care of what has happened. He will make an announcement on what happened, and the Quidditch tryouts have been postponed until next week. Now get to class before you lose any points for our House."

Promptly after that, he swept out of the room and left the common room. Before anyone could get ask any more questions, Raven and Draco sped to their own dorms. Just as she closed and locked the door, she heard a pounding from the other side of the door, along with dozens of questioning females.

"Let me in! Hurry!" Millie shouted.

Instead of risking letting anyone but Millie in by opening the door, Raven used her energy and put her hand through the door. Feeling around until she caught Millie's arm, Raven tugged her through the black void, through the door, and into their dorms. On the other side of the door, Raven heard the girls shout and wonder where their source of information went.

Millie, somewhat shocked to be on the other side of the door, nodded in thanks to Raven. "They're like wolves!" She said, striding over to her trunk and pulling her uniform. Looking as Raven, she asked, "Aren't you going to change?"

Raven inspected her clothing, "I don't see anything wrong with it."

"You don't have to wear a uniform?" Millie asked, gathering her supplies to get ready for the day.

"Nobody's said I should, so I don't." Raven replied.

Millie snorted, "Lucky. Enjoy it while you can. These things are completely horrid." She said, walking into the bathroom. With that, Raven walked over to the underwater window by her bed, folded her legs underneath her, and waited until it was time for class.

Just as she was finally beginning to relax, there was a knock at the door, a girl's voice drifted through the door, "Draco's waiting for you. And let me in!"

Raven walked over to the door, unlocked it, and slipped past a still-humiliated Pansy, who was still in her pajamas. Raven couldn't help but smirk as she proceeded down the stairs.

Arriving at the bottom, she found Draco waiting by the door with his book bog slung over his shoulder. In his hand was a piece of paper. As she approached, he looked up, "Snape gave me schedule. He thought it was best we have the same classes seeing as you're new to magic."

Nodding, she took the paper from his hand. Looking at it, she read that she had Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, then two periods of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Draco started out the door and Raven followed after him. As they left the seclusion of the Hogwarts' Dungeons, they merged into the crowds of students heading into the Great Hall.

She caught the questioning and accusing looks that were sent towards the pair. As they passed a certain point, she saw Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise fall into step behind them, glaring at anyone who looked like trouble. Curiously, Raven watched as the Slytherins she knew evolved into an unapproachable front, causing the other students to look down when they passed and give them a wide berth.

Glancing at Draco, she saw that his face was composed into a mask of mainly indifference, and occasionally a sneer when he connected eyes with a few people. She watched as a red-headed girl stormed up to the group of Slytherins, and glared up at Draco.

"Malfoy! After what you did this morning, I'm surprised you can show your face!"

Raven stared at the girl, watching as the girl's face turned as red as her hair with anger.

Draco just sneered, straightened his posture, folded his arms over his chest, and glared down as the girl, "And what, exactly, did I do this morning, Weaselette?" Behind him, she saw Blaise, Goyle, and Crabbe step forward, in the same posture.

Raven continued to observe as the girl as she replied angrily, "You sabotaged your own Quidditch tryouts! Everyone knows that half of those who tried out are in the infirmary!"

Behind her, a few other people she didn't recognize came up behind her. One had dark hair, freckles, and a serious overbite. He stood in front of a girl with long, curly blond hair that stared of into the distance, seemingly concentrating on something near Mr. Overbite's head.

Out of the corner of her violet eye, Raven saw Draco's hand inch towards his wand. Mr. Overbite saw this and put a shoulder on the girl's shoulder, "Come on, Ginny, we'll be late for breakfast."

Giving a last glare, the girl, Ginny, turned and stomped away. As she entered the Hall with her friends, the group headed in as well, striding to the table she sat at yesterday. Following them, Raven sat next to Blaise and Crabbe, across from Draco, who was currently stabbing a pile of eggs on his plate.

Raven was the first to speak, "What was that?" she asked, picking out a waffle from the buffet of breakfast items in front of her.

Blaise answered, "That was Ginny Weasly."

"Weasly?" She repeated, "Is she the sister to the other Weasly that was kidnapped?"

Blaise nodded. "She must have heard about what happened this morning through the gossip grapevine. She's also, currently, the captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team, which is probably the source of her anger. She's pretty volatile, on the field and in the halls."

"You acted differently when you entered the halls." Raven pointed out. Blaise took it as a question and answered.

"It's for self-preservation. Slytherins are essentially seen as the bad guys in the school, any weaknesses shown could be exploited to gain the upper hand." She nodded, understanding. Growing up as the Demon King's daughter, she often experienced such exploitation, any weakness they saw, they added it to their argument that she would grow into a demon like her father, and therefore, should be killed.

A few minutes later, the ten-minute bell rang, alerting the students still in the hall in was time for class. As if on cue, the Slytherins stood up. At a certain point, Crabbe and Goyle walked off into their own classroom. Just as the start bell rang, the remaining three walked into their first class.