CHAPTER EIGHT: An Unreasonable Owl
They made quite the trio, Draco marching in a rather determined manner next to Ivy, his wand gripped in his right hand, an angry sneer on his face; his robes fluttered behind him making a rustling noise. He gritted his teeth and kept his eyes focused on the looming castle. Ivy marched along beside him, she hadn�t even bothered with robes, she had on a pinstripe pair of pants, a shirt that was missing a shoulder was ripped and safety-pinned up the other side; the word "Fighter" scrawled across the front of the black material in blood red letters. Knee high black combat boots finished the look. No one ever saw what she wore beneath her robes, but they would now. Osanna wore a black leather corseted dress, the necklace she had received last night and red velvet elbow length gloves, her amethyst colored robe fluttered un-buttoned around her shoulders. None of them looked happy.
Ron just happened to be on his way to get a snack when he glanced out the window, his mouth fell open and he felt panic rising in his gut. Draco had squealed, literally...and now they were all going to get it..........he had sicced his girlfriends on them. He backpeddaled in the direction he had come from; he began to sprint back towards the Gryffindor common room.
"POPPYCOCK" He screamed at the top of his lungs, several people were staring at him, he could have cared less.
He ducked through the portrait and began blubbering..."HARRY, HERMIONE, FRED! GEORGE! WE'RE IN FOR IT NOW!"
His friends and both of his brothers turned to look at him, confusion reading on their faces.
"What?" Asked Hermione calmly.
"Draco...squealed, Cariad and October are on their way up to the castle with him now!"
Hermione gaped for a moment then shrugged. "So, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING"
Ron shook his head. "That doesn�t matter, THEYRE GOING TO BLAME ALL OF US! I just know it!"
Fred and George seemed as if they could care less; Ron however didn�t feel quite as nonplussed.
He ran back out the painting hole and towards the Slytherin Common room.
Trying to hurry he clumsily ripped down the offending banner when he heard the unmistakable sound of Ivy�s boots.
He attempted to hide the banner under his robes.
The three turned the corner and marched right up to him. �Ahhh, if it isn�t Ron Weasley just the very person.�
Ivy sneered at him. �What�s that you�ve got under your robes there?� Draco glowered in pleasure at Ron�s obvious displeasure.
Ivy reached under his robes and pulled out the crumpled banner, she handed it to Osanna who unfolded it.�Well the decoration is quite nice, the colors are good.� She commented. Draco looked at her confusedly; wasn�t she going to shout at him?
�The content however will earn you a weeks detention and hmmmm? Fifty points from Griffendor� Ron visibly shrank, 150 points lost in one day. Must be a record for one person.
�So,� They heard form behind them, �That will make a total of one months detention Mr. Weasley.� It was Snape; looking as imposing as ever he had sneaked up behind them with his usual stealth. Osanna turned to face him; he gave a slight nod to her. �I�m sure Miss October would like to contribute to you�re detention tasks for the first three weeks as well as her own?�
He started to say something else but his eyes were drawn to the cluster of rubies at her throat. He locked her into one of his patented stares; she met it and felt her body give an involuntary shiver.
�Of course Severus, I�m sure we can come up with some quite interesting tasks�.
Ivy watched with a little smile and then turned back to Ron. �If I catch you doing anything like this again I will personally give you a whole years detention and I will make sure that Griffendor loose the House Cup as long as you remain at this school. Now GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!!�
He ran.
Ivy turned to Draco, �Would you care to help me prepare for tomorrows Defence against the Dark Arts class?� Draco nodded and they left; leaving Osanna and Snape alone.
Osanna had to stop herself from fidgeting nervously. Her eyes fell to the floor and she mentally chastised herself...she never acted like this around anyone and she hated herself for it now. Her heart thudded in her chest like hoof beats and she took a deep breath, trying to think of something, anything to say before his attention fell on her trembling hands.
"So Ronald managed to get himself in trouble in Potions this morning as well?" She winced, it had been a stupidly obvious thing to say, but it had also been the first thing she had thought of.
Snape ran his hands idly across his robes and nodded. "Indeed he did, he had a bit of a incident with a shrinking potion I'm afraid. Not terribly bright..."
Osanna chuckled softly and nodded. "No, it would not seem so, not to be messing with Draco."
Snape smiled and leaned in close to her, his eyes flickered to the necklace, then back to her face. Osanna felt her heart stop; actually cease to beat for a moment. She sucked in a deep breath, as if attempting to inhale the breath he had just exhaled inches from her face.
"Perhaps Miss October, however I believe it is more foolish of Weasley to be angering you."
He allowed a delicious smirk to slide across his lips then before he moved back from her. Osanna found herself wishing he had not and deep inside, in a place he liked to forget even existed, Severus found himself being pulled back towards her; she was positively entrancing, hypnotic..............
He managed however to keep his composure and he merely tilted his head to one side. His eyebrows arched as he studied her for a moment, if only he could allow himself...but no. He snapped back to reality and cleared his throat.
"What did Weasley do to get himself into trouble with you?"
Osanna shrugged, her heart still pounding. "Slander basically, that and he TRIED to transform Draco into a rat, but he botched the spell up of course."
Snape smirked. "Indeed? Using magic in-between classes, that's another week at least."
Osanna grinned and nodded. "Oh I would think so! At least." Her eyes flashed at the mock tone of gravity.
Snape nodded. "Perhaps he should accompany us into the Forbidden Forest to gather herbs, I am quite out of Screeching Spineflower...."
Osanna's heartbeat quickened...the Forbidden Forest? With Snape? Granted Weasley would be there, but she could always lose him.........she nodded perhaps a bit to enthusiastically.
"Yes, lovely idea."
Snape nodded again. "Next week then, I will let you know beforehand."
Osanna had turned to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder; she turned back again and stared into his eyes. His fingers graced her collarbone for a moment, lingering for the space of a breath and then fell onto the necklace, his brows curved upwards.
"This is lovely...created magically...." He smirked and allowed it to fall like water droplets across her skin.
With that he was gone, merely a retreating shadow down the corridor. Osanna felt as if she could finally exhale, so she allowed herself to suck in a gulp of air that seemed that much sweeter.