hamandswisscroissant

[hamandswisscroissant]

Pawn- Draco Malfoy X Reader (ch 2)

Fandom: Harry Potter

Summary: Ava Lestrange is the unfortunate daughter of Bellatrix and Voldemort and spent the first 16 years of her life dissociated from her reality. Now she is being used by her father to both aid Draco in his mission, and report back any interesting information she gathers on their enemies. What will Draco do when he finds out that not only does she loath her father's politics, but he's also falling in love with her?

Note: teehee

wc: 3,753

EXOTIC

Draco

    ·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

Draco wanted to kiss Blaise for whatever exotic strain he had brought this time. Inhaling the almost yellow smoke felt euphoric, and he could feel a lot of his tension melt away. Something felt strange, though. Draco looked up and saw what was watching him. Ava. She was smiling wider than he thought she would ever be capable of and seeing her sprawled out with Daphne and Pansy, who he considered sisters, felt bittersweet. A small part of him was sorry for Lestrange, and glad to see her happy for probably the first time in her life, but a much bigger, destructive portion of him despised her. She was polluting his family, his safe space. Over the summer the mission felt so far away, but now it's up close and unnerving. And it isn't lost on Draco that Dumbledore's death will start something that his family may not survive. And here she was, the spawn of Draco’s two least favorite people, here to keep an unwavering eye on him and report back to her father. 

Ava herself didn't seem evil, but for all Draco knew it was just an act. Something to get him to let his guard down. Either way, he knew she would probably want to get started on the mission soon, and Draco was dreading reality. Thankfully, the whiskey in his right hand and joint in the left was taking him far, far away from here. He hoped Theo could get some stuff soon too. 

Everyone seemed happy, which was good, but Draco still felt a bit of him holding onto some tightness in his chest. Theo was currently loose as could be, dancing maniacally with Daphne to some muggle song and Ava looked so happy she could cry, which was a huge switch from what Draco was used to seeing. She was swaying to the music in her seat and Pansy was curled up next to her. After about ten minutes Theo was breathing heavily and returning to his seat. Blaise struck up a conversation with him about the first quidditch game of the season, but Theo ignored him, instead looking at Ava on the couch.

“You seem happy, Ava.” He slurred a bit, his shirt buttons coming undone. 

“I've always wanted to listen to muggle music.” Ava said, still grinning. “It's even better than I expected.”

“Oh man,” Blaise joined in, “I'm gonna have to give you some of my CDs.”

“Yes please!” Ava smiled even wider and clapped her hands together.

“So,” Pansy lifted her head up, waking up from her cat nap. “I think it's bedtime.”

“Me too.” Daphne yawned. “ Do you want us to show you the dorm, Ava?”

“Yeah,” She responded. “I'm probably gonna go to sleep too.”

Draco watched the girls gather their things, Pansy notably grabbing three joints from the bag, before they shuffled upstairs, giggling the whole time and stumbling a bit over each other, resulting in even more giggles. Once the girls had left, the boys sat in a moment of silence before Theo spoke up.

“So, lads.” He sat back in his chair and waggled his eyebrows. “Thoughts on the new girl?”

“She seems real sheltered,” Blaise responded. “But her mum is Bellatrix so maybe she's got a freaky side.” 

“I'd like to find out,” Theo chuckled deviously.

“I doubt she’d let you.” Draco stated, sipping on his whiskey. 

“And why is that?” Theo huffed and crossed his arms in defiance.

“She doesn't seem like the type to just jump into someone's lap.” Draco explained, but truthfully he had no clue what to think of Ava. She was the classic bubble-wrapped kid, and socially awkward, but she didn't really hesitate to try the whiskey or even the joint. Maybe she had some surprises up her sleeve. “Stop being a perv,” he added.

“Oh, I'm a perv?” Theo guffawed in shock. “I'm not the one who got a blowjob in front of everyone during the last ravenclaw party!” 

“You're just jealous, Theo.” Blaise joked. “I'm sure some girl will take pity on you at the next party.”

“Hey!” Theo shouted, pointing a finger at Blaise. “I'll have you know that I totally banged Ella Selpie over the summer!”

“So, what?” Blaise scoffed. “I had her in fourth year.”

Suddenly they heard the stomping of footsteps coming down the steps. Pansy popped out from the entryway, slippers and robe and joint lit between her fingers. 

“Stop being pigs.” She reprimanded, before turning back around and leaving, presumably back to bed. 

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

Ava

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

Once the girls had reached the top of the stairs, they continued stumbling and giggling down the hallway until they reached their dorm. After swinging the door open so hard it bounced off the wall, making Ava flinch, Daphne flung herself onto her bed and sprawled out wide. 

The room was one of the best things Ava had ever seen. Millicents stuff was gone by now and moved to a different room, leaving Ava the bed closest to the window, making her smile a bit. The windows were the same as they were in the common room, allowing greenish blue light to leak into the room through the lake. Everything was mostly green, including Daphne and Pansy’s bed covers. Ava was happy to see that her luggage had been placed at the foot of her bed, she was aching to make her bed and go to sleep. However, Pansy had other ideas.

“Here let me show you around.” Pansy grabbed her hand and started leading her around the room, pointing out where in the closet Ava could place her clothes and which desk was hers. After showing her the bathroom and the record player that the girls shared, Pansy pulled out a joint from the bag. “It looks like Daph is out.” Daphne was in fact snoring very loudly, not having moved from her spread eagle position. 

“You wanna smoke?” Pansy asked, offering a joint to Ava. She gladly accepted, seeing why people tended to enjoy the calming effects. She lit it just as Pansy had showed her and sat down cross legged on her bed. 

“You're very quiet, you know.” Pansy sat down next to her on the uncovered mattress.

“I honestly think I'm doing pretty well, given the circumstances.” Ava laughed in response.

“Did you not get out much before this?” Pansy asked. “I know you were homeschooled and I guess no one even really knew Bellatrix had a daughter.” 

“They didn't let me out much. I just stayed in my room all day.” What Ava declined to mention was that she was physically unable to leave her room, ever, period. The few times she had been successful in getting out, she had been penalized with weeks in the dungeons. A common punishment in the Lestrange-Riddle household. It was strange having her Lord around as well. Her mother always spoke about him with manic praise in her childhood, but he didn't have a physical body until recently. 

“Hey, it's okay.” Pansy placed her hand on avas shoulder comfortingly, seeing through her vagueness. “We all have shit parents and bad memories. But that's why we stick together.”

“Do you know?” Ava asked and took a small hit of the joint, then passed it back to Pansy.

“That your dad is the Dark Lord?” Pansy questioned. “Yeah, the friend group knows all about that and your collaboration with Draco.” 

Ava stopped for a moment and took this information in. She wasn't mad that Draco told, really she was just glad that no one else in the student body knew. 

“What's he like?” Ava asked suddenly.

“Who, Draco?” She responded.

“Yeah, he doesn't really do much in the meetings.” Ava replied, “ I don't know much about him.”

“Funny, he said the same thing about you.” Pansy giggled and passed the joint back. “Draco’s been through a lot, just like the rest of us. Shit dad, high expectations, constant fear. But, he holds it together better than all of us. He's very good at occlumency, so we really don’t see his true feelings a lot. I think he finds peace the same way the rest of us do.”

“Are you and him…?” Ava wondered, shyly.

“Oh no!” Pansy scoffed. “I like women, not weasels.”

“He's pretty like a woman.” Ava confessed, slightly pink.

Pansy just burst out laughing and didn't stop until she was holding her sides and wiping tears from her eyes. “You're odd, you know that?” Pansy finally spoke after she contained herself.

“Everyone keeps saying that.” Ava looked down at her feet, feeling self-conscious.

“No, no no.” Pansy assured her. “I mean it in an endearing way. Like Luna, y’know? Love Luna.”

“Who's Luna?” Ava asked, tilting her head. 

“Oh, you'll meet her soon enough.” Pansy had an odd, far away glint in her eyes. “She's really cool.”

“You think she's pretty.” Ava observed bluntly.

“No, I don't!” Pansy denied, but she had gone bright red. Ava giggled and passed her the joint back.

“Whatever you say.” Ava laughed. “But, I think I'm gonna go to bed. Thank you for showing me around and being so nice.”

“Of course.” Pansy had a small smile on her face.

Ava unlocked her trunk and unpacked her pink bedding from the bottom. Her favorite house elf, Noopy, had gotten it for her as a going-away gift. All her other belongings were from a muggle thrift shop that she had snuck away to during her school shopping. Her mother had purchased her books and essentials, however, which caused a stark difference between the worn, loved clothing and the brand new high end school supplies. She hoped one day she could get away with some money and have her own place filled with all the things she really likes. 

After her bed was made and Pansy had started the shower, Ava curled up in her brand new nest. It felt so much better than her old bed. Just being here felt so amazing and she could hardly believe it. Soon, her eyelids felt heavy and her breathing slowed, and she let sleep take over.

Ava opened her eyes. She felt lighter than usual. It was really dark too. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, realizing she was not in her dorm room bed. In fact, she was standing in the middle of a long, poorly lit hallway. All of a sudden she was very awake and she whipped around quickly trying to figure out where on earth she was and how she got here. The wallpaper was torn and dusty and a green so dark it was almost black. The dark wood flooring creaked as she stepped along it carefully. 

When she looked down at her feet, something caught her eye. Her skin looked different somehow, but she couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. It was very disconcerting. Before even really thinking about it, she pinched her arm as hard as she could and was very surprised to find that she didn't feel much at all. Only the slight recognition of pain, but nothing compared to how much it should've hurt. Her nails had left angry red crescents in her forearm. 

Ava was startled from her thoughts when she heard what sounded like faint crying. It wasn't a child and it didn't sound like normal crying. It sounded like pure fear and loss. It was coming from the expanse of hallway in front of her. She walked cautiously, flinching each time the floorboards creaked or a spider got too close to her. As she trekked, she started to see the outline of a double-door at the end of the hallway. It was huge and heavy, ornately carved from expensive wood. She turned the extravagant doorknob and found that the door wouldn't budge. She changed tactics and leaned her shoulder against the door and pushed with all her might. 

As the door was slowly pried open, the cries got louder and louder, echoing in the room beyond. Moonlight poured into the hallway and Ava opened the door just enough to squeeze through. She entered a large expanse of a room. It had beautiful marble floors and a huge skylight above, the only light source being the moon. In the center of the room was the source of the noise. She could make out what seemed to be a boy crouching and sobbing, but everything was covered in red. 

She hesitantly stepped closer, not sure who the blonde man in front of her was, but she wasn't taking any chances in this weird dream world. As she got closer, she saw what the boy was crouching over. It was Narcissa Malfoy. She was much paler than normal and the red of her blood was seeping into her dress and the stone beneath them. Her eyes were gray and wide open, but looking at nothing.

Over her was Draco, choking out sobs and holding her tight. He had blood all over his clothes, but he didn’t care. He was completely engrossed in his pain. Ava approached him gradually and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, just as Pansy had done to comfort her earlier. Draco jumped and almost snarled at the girl before recognition lit up his bloodshot eyes.

“Ava?” He choked out, his voice hoarse.

“Hi, Draco.” She responded awkwardly. 

“Get the fuck away from me!” He screamed, baring his teeth at Ava as tears streamed down his cheeks. She jumped back in response.

“Hey, hey, it's ok.” Ava tried again. “It's not real, I promise.”

Draco just kept sobbing, clutching his limp mother, not listening to Ava. 

“Draco, please, just breathe.” Ava pleaded. “You're just having a nightmare.” 

Her words barely registered to Draco, but if what she was saying was true, he did need to calm down. He took in a shaky breath and tried to chill out, but his mother was right there. And she felt real. But if she was real, why was Ava here? And where exactly was he? How did he get here?

Ava had sat down next to Draco and began rubbing small, soothing circles in his back as he tried to regain his breath and composure. Slowly, he became more and more coherent, and Ava was amazed to see that Narcissa was slowly fading away, becoming translucent, until she was no longer there. Now it was just Draco, on his knees taking rattling breaths and Ava cross-legged next to him, pacifying him.

“Are you real?” Draco finally asked after a couple minutes. His cheeks were a bit pink and he had dried tears on his face, but his stormy grey eyes carried their familiar dissociation. 

“I’m not sure.” Ava responded truthfully. 

“You're part of my dream?” He continued.

“Possibly.” She replied, shrugging. In all honesty she had no clue what was going on or if she was actually just dreaming all this herself. She had never dreamt anything like this, but she had also never seen Draco in such a state, and never expected to.

“It wouldn't be the first time.” He said vaguely, looking up at the ceiling and avoiding her questioning gaze.”

“You've dreamt of me before?” She asked, shocked. She had never dreamt of him before and they had never even had a real conversation before.

“It doesn't matter.” He looked back down at his feet, frowning.

Ava felt dizzy and looked around to see her surroundings going dark, Draco quickly fading from her vision. She felt like she was free-falling.

“Thank you.” Was the last thing she heard before she slipped away.

[hamandswisscroissant]

Masterlist <3

Pawn- Draco Malfoy X Reader:

Ch 1

Ch 2

[hamandswisscroissant]

Pawn - Draco Malfoy X Reader (ch 1)

Fandom: Harry Potter

Summary: Ava Lestrange is the unfortunate daughter of Bellatrix and Voldemort and spent the first 16 years of her life dissociated from her reality. Now she is being used by her father to both aid Draco in his mission, and report back any interesting information she gathers on their enemies. What will Draco do when he finds out that not only does she loath her father's politics, but he's also falling in love with her?

Note: teehee

wc: 4,753

BOND

Draco

    ·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

He sat there, the last place he wanted to be, waiting alongside his father and the rest of the death eaters that were graciously invited to the Dark Lords meeting. He turned to look down the long dark oak table and catalogued all the faces present. Rodolphus, the Carrows, and Yaxley were all in attendance. He drummed his fingers on the finish of the table in anticipation, the room drenched in silence.  He sat between his mother and father, schooling his expression into one of cold stone. 

"Draco.", his father hissed through his teeth. He stopped drumming at once. After taking the mark earlier in the summer, Draco had been expected to attend every bloody meeting the Dark Lord organized. Not much happened at these meetings other than the occasional torturing of a mudblood or muggle. Voldemort had become so distrusting of his own followers, strategy was rarely discussed unless he spoke to you individually. Really, they seemed more like tea gatherings lately. He scratched his forearm absentmindedly and looked down at his lap. Across from him was Snape, whose attention was fully on the Dark Lord as he began speaking, his voice a harsh whisper in the echo of the dark room.

“Today is a new day. A new era for our cause." Bellatrix snickered slightly beside him, covering her mouth with her hand like she was keeping a hilarious secret. “Dumbledore grows stronger every second, but he will always be weak compared to me. I'm growing tired of his constant attempts to undermine us and delay our inevitable rise to power. That is why, after 17 very long years, I am finally able to introduce you to the newest addition to the Death Eaters.”

“Ava!” Bellatrix called out to the entrance of the room in a sing-song voice, almost like she was taunting the girl who timidly shuffled in, her head tilted towards the ground. Whether it was in fear, or something else entirely, Draco couldn't quite figure out. She was thin and a bit lanky, her curly hair almost forming a chocolate and caramel halo around her head. When she hesitantly raised her eyes to the wall across from her, not meeting the Lord’s gaze, Draco could see a smattering of freckles across her pale cheeks. 

“I would like to introduce you all to my daughter, Ava Lestrange. She will be attending Hogwarts alongside some of your children this coming Fall. I trust we are all aware of Draco’s responsibility this school year, and Ava will be there to help and also supply any information she can get out of the Potter boy and his geriatric bodyguard.” Voldemort hissed out, baring his teeth during the last couple of words. He lifted his eyes to the silent girl at the foot of the table and beckoned towards her, “Please, my darling, sit alongside me.” He smiled menacingly as she slowly stepped to the chair next to him, across from her mother. 

She sat carefully and raised her head to the other people sitting at the table. Her eyes flitted across the death eaters, until finally her eyes met Draco’s. His breath stopped as her eyes lingered on his for just a moment, before quickly flitting away towards the dark lord. He looked at her with a phony expression of pride and continued grinning at his supporters. “She will be an invaluable asset to our message.”

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

Draco continued seeing her at various meetings, she didn't attend every single one and no one dared comment on her absence. When she was there, she spent the whole meeting with her hands in her lap and her eyes focused on the wood grains of the dark table. Draco did the same thing too when he first started attending meetings, but quickly stopped once he began to notice just how deep the years of blood stains had soaked into the oak. 

She never spoke more than one word, and only when addressed directly. Draco wasn't entirely sure how this timid, scared girl was supposed to help him with his assassination. She looked like she would drop dead the second someone threw a disarming charm at her. Still, he was curious what she would be like at school. He imagined she wouldn't make many friends, but what if she was sorted into anything other than Slytherin? What if she was a Hufflepuff, god forbid? He doubted that was even a possibility, though, given her lineage. Her blood probably ran green. Perhaps the same captivating emerald of her eyes. 

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

“Draco, please finish your peas.” Narcissa’s voice interrupted the tense silence that always seemed to hang over the Malfoy dinner table. Draco stopped pushing his veggies around with his fork and stabbed a singular pea before eating it gingerly. His appetite had not been the same recently. “The ball starts at 8 so I expect you to be dressed and ready at 7:45, do you understand me?” He nodded and started pushing his peas around again. 

Tonight was a small charity ball at the Carrow residence, unfortunately. His mother had mentioned that Bellatrix and quite a few other death eaters would be in attendance, which meant that his father was coming too. Perhaps Blaise, Pansy, or Theo would be there to entertain him and help him sneak booze. 

What he did not expect, however, was to be standing in between Pansy and Blaise staring intensely at the girl who he had just spotted amongst the crowd of laughing, brightly clothed socialites. Her dress was floor-length and midnight blue, gold sparkles, or jewels, he couldn't tell at this distance, caught the light of the chandeliers above and he found himself oddly entranced by the sight. 

Not by the fabric, mind you, but instead by the skin exposed. He found himself quickly growing an affinity for short hair. If it wasn't as short as it was it may have committed the heinous crime of covering some of the expanse of her back. The way the dress draped over her made Draco’s stomach hurt. 

“Oh, I heard about her.” Pansy’s voice cut through the cloud surrounding Draco’s brain and he snapped his attention back to his friends. 

“She's our age, innit?” Blaise piped up beside her. There was a beat of silence before Pansy’s elbow dug into Draco’s ribcage. He rubbed the spot, almost expecting there to be an indent from her razor sharp bones. 

“Well? You're the only one who's allowed to go to the meetings. And you seem like you know her, so what's up?” She chirped. Draco took a long sip of his drink (thankfully spiked by his new favorite person, Blaise) before answering in a low voice, his eyes still following the golden sparkles around the room. 

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“What do you mean ‘what do i mean’? I mean what's the story? What's the hate baby that popped out of Bellatrix’s loins like?” Pansy glared at Draco, clearly thinking him stupid. Draco glared back before answering.

“She’s quiet, doesn’t really speak much. She's kinda like a plant.” What Pansy needn't know is that when he imagined her a plant, he thought of the lily pads his mother had installed in one of the ponds on the estate one spring when he was small. Blaise laughed at his comment and grabbed a new drink from the table behind them.

“But she is our age, right? Who do you think the poor sops are that are gonna be forced to room with her? Do you think she's as unstable as her mother?” He spoke. He was almost as bad a gossip as Pansy. 

“She seems normal. I’ll pray for you regardless, though, Pansy.” Draco smirked slightly into his drink. She laughed and smacked his arm. 

“If she ends up rooming with me, I hope she replaces Millicent. That loathsome wretch has been using my hair potions, I just know it.” She crossed her arms and sent a murderous glare towards Millicent, who was oblivious, across the room chatting with an older woman.   

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

Ava

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

All she could feel was eyes around her. It was a common theme in her recent life. She had dreamt, yearned for the day when she would be allowed into the public, allowed to serve under her father and further his cause. It left a bitter taste in her mouth, sharp like iron, when she thought about her future now. She had thought that she would be here, on this train, many years ago. She had almost given up hope. Bellatrix would talk extensively about her time at Hogwarts, and all Ava heard was the hope of freedom. 

She tugged her sleeves further down her hands as she glanced out at the vast, open fields that were streamlining past her window. Underneath the thin flannel sleeves was not only her dark mark, but also permanent purple-red rings around her wrists. She rubbed them over her sleeve anxiously, the rumbling of the train underneath her unsettling. She could hear the chatterings of students beyond her door and she prayed that they didn't notice her. Her Lord had told her that she would be faced with discrimination at the hands of others due to her last name, and she wasn't surprised. 

Perhaps her father had waited a little too late to introduce her to the world. She imagined if he had let her out when she was younger, perhaps her view of him would have remained as the righteous, revolutionary leader that was curing the world. However, in her captivity, she had become curious. She did all she could to find any information on the outside world, much credit due to the house elves at Lestrange Manor. And what she learned was that muggles aren't bad at all. In fact, a lot of them were geniuses beyond what she had ever seen in wizards. And her father was not fixing the world, he was committing genocide. 

One thing that made her happy in recent days was the elation that she would be able to listen to muggle music for the first time soon. Hogwarts was going to be the beginning of a beautiful new life, until she inevitably ends up helping kill the headmaster. The extremely important headmaster whose death would incredibly benefit the greatest evils in the world. She was fucked. 

For some reason she felt compelled to look through the glass of the carriage window as she heard a certain group of students passing. By doing so she managed to lock eyes with the one and only person she had been dreading to see. Harry Potter. 

Ava was incredibly confused about Harry Potter. When she was little she was taught to hate him, he had killed her Lord, committed the worst act known to humanity. But once she had seen photos of the boy in her teens, she had realized that he was her age. He was just a kid. Not only was he just a kid, but he did not seem like a very threatening kid. Bellatrix had said that he was the devil reincarnated, but Ava just saw a dork. A dork who was now opening the door to her carriage. 

“Hey, are you new here?” The redheaded kid beside him asked as a trio, a brunette girl also with them, entered her quiet bubble of precious solitude. They looked at her expectantly as they sat down with her, the redhead pulling a rope of candy out of his pocket. It had a piece of lint on it. He picked it off.

“My name is Ava. I was homeschooled.” She said, cautious to not tell them her last name. If they asked, she wouldn't lie, but she also felt a bit awkward just outright saying it. 

“Hi Ava! I'm Hermione, this is Harry, and that's Ron.” The brunette stated, pointing in turn at the boys sitting beside her. “May I ask what year you're going into?”

“I'm going into sixth year.” Ava replied, feeling a bit overwhelmed by her new guests.

“So are we!” Ron blurted out, his mouth stuffed full of licorice. “What house do you think you'll be in?”

“My parents were Slytherin so probably that. I don't know much about the other houses.” She replied awkwardly. A short silence fell over the carriage as her words hung in the air. “I'm not prejudiced!” She suddenly yelped, making Hermione jump slightly in her seat. 

“Blimey! We never said you were.” Ron said, eyes wide at Ava’s outburst. 

“I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to think ill of me right off the bat. My parents are blood purists but I don't share their views.” She rambled, trying to recover the conversation. She mentally smacked herself for her lack of social grace. She started picking at her fingers in embarrassment, hoping her face hadn't gone as flushed as it felt.

“We wouldn't think ill of you if you were in Slytherin, you seem nice enough.” Hermione explained, comforting the awkward girl in front of her slightly. “Just as you don't judge us, we won't judge you.”

“Yeah, just look out for Malfoy and his friends.” Harry spoke for the first time, “They’re in Slytherin and they're not nice at all.” Harry didn't need to know that Ava already knew Malfoy and would soon be spending a lot of time with him. She had only really seen him at the meetings, and she didn't spend much time with her eyes up, much less talking, so she really knew nothing about the blonde boy at all. Just that his face made it seem that he was always in pain, and he was the only other death eater her age. Apparently, he was also a bully. Great. 

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

Ava walked with the trio to the carriages and rode along with them to the great hall, where the sorting would take place. Her hands were entwined with each other in her lap and they felt as if there was a small fire lit within her palms. Hermione leaned towards her and bumped their shoulders. Ava looked up at her, she was smiling empathetically.

“Are you nervous?” She asked as the boys across from them bickered about Quidditch, Ava had never learned much about the game, it didn't seem important compared to everything else. Either way, the boys were too engrossed to notice the girls having a sidebar. 

“A little. Will I have to be in front of everyone?” She asked anxiously. The thought of everyone's eyes on her made her want to vomit. It would be far too much.

“Yes.” Hermione spoke the one word Ava had not wanted to hear. “But it will be okay, I promise. I was nervous too. Harry, Ron, and I will be there cheering you on, so don't worry!”

“Thanks Hermione.” Ava tried to muster up a small smile to convince her new friend that her words had helped, but truly she had never dreaded anything more than this moment. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration. Still, she was not thrilled. 

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

Soon she was the caboose of a very long line of children, only one other person close to her age, a 14 year old girl named Lilac. Lilac had explained that she was a transfer too, from Beauxbatons, and she was very excited to be sorted. Her pigtails were tied in pink ribbons and they flounced about every time she moved her head. For some reason, Ava had the strong urge to rip them off of her head, but she restrained her aching fingers. Ava had very quickly decided that she was not a very big fan of people younger than her. 

As the girl in front of her rambled about some french town, the line was growing smaller and smaller and Ava's face felt like it was going to catch fire. She could see some Hogwarts students already curiously peering her way, she assumed they didn't get many older transfers. By scanning the room and the different colors adorning the tables she was able to find Malfoy, his head held up by his hand, looking incredibly bored as a curly headed brunette boy was making a ruckus beside him. She was surprised to see Malfoy’s eyes snap to hers, almost making her physically stumble backwards. His expression did not change as he maintained eye contact from across the hall, until one of his eyebrows flicked upwards almost in a challenge. She immediately looked away to see that the line had grown even shorter and she was now quickly approaching a beat up hat on a stool. 

In her waiting, she had noticed the same lady who had brought her to the line, a stern older lady named McGonagall, was calling the names of the kids who were to be sorted and the blood drained from her face when she realized that every single person in that room was about to hear the name “Lestrange” shouted for everyone to hear. A boulder sat in her stomach and her body moved on autopilot as she counted upwards in her head, trying as hard as she could to not turn on her heel and run as fast as she could out of the room, away from all these wide-eyed kids and her new home and straight into the Forbidden Forest, to live amongst the unicorns and thestrals, where nothing could hurt her ever again. Yet, as McGonagall’s voice called out her name, and as the Golden trios eyes all widened as they stared at her, she still stepped up to the stool and placed the hat on her head. This was her dream, something she had yearned for almost her whole entire life. A chance. 

“Going to school is your dream, huh?” A voice suddenly laughed from above her, “I should put you in Ravenclaw.” Ava did not laugh, however, she was currently frozen and burning up at the same time.

“Anyways, you've got a lot of drive, kid. But, I don't wanna know what would happen to you if I didn't do this.” The hat continued, pausing a moment before declaring, “Slytherin!”

As fast as she could, she ripped the hat off her head and scrambled towards the Slytherin table, not meeting a single person's eyes. She knew what they were whispering about, they would probably whisper for a while. She was going to be known as her mother. Thank god they don't know who her father is. 

She sat at the end of the table, one of the only places left that was far away enough from others for her comfort. She decidedly did not look over to the Gryffindor table, where she knew Potter and his friends were sitting, probably discussing her betrayal. She had barely touched her ass to the seat and in front of the warm, savory smelling food before a high pitched voice rang out beside her. 

“Hey. Ava, right?” A pretty girl with a black bob and dramatic makeup asked from next to her, completely invading her personal space and smiling warmly at her.

“Yes.” She answered without looking up. She knew where this was going. 

“My name is Pansy, Pomona Dawlish, she’s a prefect, she told me you're going to be rooming with me for the foreseeable future!” Pansy smiled at the surprised girl next to her. “I know how it feels to have shit parents, most of us Slytherins do, and our house is our bond. No ones gonna make fun of you at this table.”

“What about the other tables?” Ava asked, eyeing the rest of the room and seeing more and more snickering occurring as people stared. 

“They can eat shit.” Pansy grinned back at her and took her hand. “Come sit with my friends, they're all chill, I promise.”

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

Ava sat at the table with Pansy (and Draco’s) friends. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the motley crew she had been suddenly thrown into. They had all been nice during introductions, polite even, except for a boy named Theo who winked at her and smiled. She scowled back at him, she was not going to let boys make fun of her while she was here. She found herself really liking Pansy, despite her forwardness, and Blaise seemed nice too. There was one person who seemed to be irked by Ava’s presence, though. Draco Malfoy sat at the table and barely spoke, his eyes staring daggers into his left sleeve, the cuffs opened slightly. His hands were big, but his fingers slender, veiny and adorned by a few silver rings. She liked that his knuckles were pink compared to the pale white that coated the rest of him. 

She startled when she heard a short cough. Her eyes lifted to meet piercing blue ones, catching her in her hand-ogling. She blushed bright red, embarrassed that he had seen her staring, hoping that he didn't think she was weird, or worse crazy like her mother. Instead a small smirk grew on his lips and she quickly looked away, at anything else. 

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

The rest of the feast went quickly by, Ava not saying much but still feeling included in this strange group that had swooped her up. She was nervous about what was going to happen next concerning her assignment with Draco. She wasn't sure when or how to best broach the subject and just elected to let him take the lead. She didnt want anything to do with this stupid suicide mission, anyways. 

She found herself in the Slytherin common room with the rest of the dinner crew, plus a blonde girl named Daphne who laughed like a fairy. The group was excitedly talking about what the plans were for tonight, and when the first party of the year would be. They were all sitting in front of the fire and she found herself entranced by the way the red light of the flame mixed with the blue reflections from the lake on the green upholstery. She was seated between Blaise and Pansy, and Draco was lounging in a chair alone. He had been silent for the past 30 minutes before his head slowly perked up and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“Blaise?” His voice was slightly gruff and Blaise snapped to attention, smiling when he saw Draco’s face. 

“Yes sir.” He spoke before running up the stairs to the boys dormitories, leaving Ava confused. The rest of the group seemed to get it. She turned to pansy with questioning in her eyes.

“Oh, Blaise is getting his stash from the summer. He usually stocks up while we're away from school.” Pansy explained, like it made most sense in the world.

“Stash?” Ava questioned. Stash of what? Alcohol? Drugs? Something she had never heard of before?

“Just some weed and whiskey. Nothing too crazy, unfortunately.” Pansy shrugged at Ava and pointed over to the implike boy in the armchair across from them. “That's Theo’s job.” 

“Oh. I've never had either of those things before.” Ava admitted sheepishly, hands in her lap.

“Oh wow! A virgin!” Pansy giggled. “Just kidding, girl. You can try some if you want, no pressure though. If you don't want to partake tonight there will always be another, the boys love their firewhiskey.”

At that moment Blaise came barreling back down the dorm stairs and lifted two handles of whiskey above his head, whooping loudly. Theo stood up and joined in walking over to him and reached into Blaises pocket to retrieve a scrunched up ziploc baggie of weed and some cones. He strutted over to Pansy and dropped it into her lap. 

“Your highness.” He smiled at the girl and she grinned back at him.

“Thank you Blaise!” She called out to the boy who had actually purchased the paraphernalia.

“No problem, Pans.” Blaise responded before setting down the handles and conjuring some cups for everyone. “Daph you want some?”

The blonde eagerly nodded and reached her hands for a cup, already filled with the brown liquor. She smiled wide and cradled it to her chest. “Damn I've been needing some of this.” She sighed contentedly and took a long swig. 

As Blaise silently filled a cup and handed it to a stoic Draco, Theo looked to Daphne questioningly. “Same shit?” He asked the troubled girl.

“Pretty much.” Daphne stopped for breath to respond and handed her empty cup back to Blaise, who promptly refilled it for her. He also handed out cups to Pansy and Theo before stopping in front of Ava, unsure of whether to give her one or not. 

“I'll try it.” Ava quickly said before she could chicken out and gingerly took the cup from Blaises hands. 

“Yay!!” Pansy grinned and clapped her hands together. “Just don't puke, okay?”

·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·

After about thirty minutes of nursing her drink and watching Pansy roll the joints, Ava did begin feeling slightly different. Her cheeks felt warm and she felt the urge to smile even though nothing particularly good had happened. She found herself really enjoying the company of the other Slytherins. They didn't expect her to say a lot, but still listened when she did speak. They all welcomed her and didn't ask anything about her family or her life, which she really appreciated. 

Theo by far talked the most out of the whole group and seemed to have an unbridled amount of energy. He bounced around the room and talked with his hands excitedly no matter the topic. Pansy also talked a lot, but was much more restrained and calm. Blaise was also very calm but could match everyone else's energy well. Daphne was sweet and supportive but did seem a bit more introspective. Draco mirrored her and didn't speak much at all. Everyone acted like this was completely normal, however, so Ava assumed that Draco probably was just a man of few words. 

Pansy had lit up another joint and took a drag before gesturing with it towards Ava. 

“Do you wanna try some this time?” She asked the girl next to her. For some reason, Ava felt like much of the anxiety that had been clinging to her bones all day had worn off and she found herself smiling at Pansy and taking the joint from her blood red fingertips. Pansy reached behind her and also handed her a cup of water. 

“You'll want this.” She explained, vaguely. Ava inspected the joint in her fingers for a moment before bringing it up to her lips for Pansy to light. “Breathe in slightly.” Pansy instructed, cupping her hands around the flame and successfully lighting the joint. Ava took in a small breath of the smoke and felt fire go down her throat, holding in her cough she quickly gulped down some water and shook her head a bit. 

“You'll get used to it.” Theo assured her and reached for the joint. He brought it to his lips and looked her up and down. Subconsciously, Ava crossed her legs and tried to make herself smaller. “So, you're rooming with Pansy right?” He took another drag before handing it to Draco. Avas breath caught in her throat for a moment when she saw him bring it to his lips and exhale the thick smoke. He did it so smoothly and effortlessly compared to her tiny hit and choke. 

“Yeah.” She finally answered. “Do you room with Draco and Blaise?” 

“Yeah we've got a full man pad.” Theo bragged, but she saw Draco scowl a bit at his words. Before she could stop herself a bubble of giggles came out. Pansy also laughed at Theo. 

“What the fuck is a man pad?” Pansy asked in between laughs and Daphne also joined in on the giggles. She had now draped herself over the laps of Pansy and Ava and seemed half in this world, half in some other. Ava could feel a small fraction of the bliss that Daphne was feeling and she was unsurprised to realize that she really, really liked it. For once, there wasn't an enormous weight on her chest. She felt as light as a feather. 

She tuned out the conversation around her and looked at the mesmerizing view out the window and into the lake. She could see small fish swimming close to the glass and shadows of something bigger farther out. She wondered if mermaids lived there. She had read about mermaids when she was younger, envious of their lives in the murky water. She considered how long she could hold her breath for.