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Back at their cottage Osanna was doing her best to convince Ivy of the truth.
"Ivy you have to realize it, there's no denying it........."
Ivy was doing her best to ignore Osanna.
"Ivy I AM SERIOUS! This could present a problem. I mean he obviously has it bad for you, not that it isn�t cute and all of that, well adorable actually but..."
Ivy's brows creased and she exhaled loudly, as if she were completely annoyed with the whole situation.
"Osanna, it's nothing like that, evn if he has a schoolboy crush on me, that's all it is, simple as that."
Osanna desperately wanted to believe her, but remembering the look on Draco's face, the look in his eyes...it seemed to be much more than a simple crush, and even if it weren�t yet, it would be. Osanna and Ivy complimented each other, Osanna was the perceptive one; she could always see between the lines, and Ivy had as she had said a flair for the personal; she could always get inside peoples heads. Osanna wanted the best for her friend, they had after all made an unspoken vow to get to the top, but only together, whatever else they may do to others; their bond remained unbroken. She bit her lower lip and shrugged.
"Say what you will Ivy, but this is only going to get worse, and more awkward.... the age difference and all that..."
Ivy shot her a menacing glare and Osanna quickly changed the subject. "All right then, back to Dumbledore.... what's our next move?"
Ivy thought for a moment as she idly fed George a licorice wand, allowing it to dangle between her fingers. "All right, well I was thinking.... we have to get something concrete, something on paper..."
Osanna nodded.
"Perhaps.........The Ministry of Magic?" Ivy said thoughtfully.
Osanna gave her friend a weird glance.
"What makes you think they would have anything there? Even if they did, we can�t just waltz in there...besides someone would have discovered it by now..."
Ivy tapped her nails on the tabletop. "That isn't necessarily true...think of how we found out about the first bit of information...."
"Someone changed the writing in the book...." Osanna said.
"EXACTLY" Ivy countered. "Who is to say the same thing hasn�t been done to other documents, much more important documents?"
Osanna grinned. "I suppose it's worth a shot! Besides, if we don�t find anything there are plenty of other places we can look, but in order for documents in the Ministry to have been altered...."
"Dumbledore would have to have someone working for him in the Ministry" Ivy finished.
Osanna nodded. "We will have to be careful, we have no idea who it could be, and like I said, we cant just waltz in there!"
Ivy nodded. "Your right, we can�t just walk in there, unless of course we look like we belong in there!"
Osanna chewed on her lower lip "We can�t do a Polyjuice potion, that would take a month, and I�m not sure I know of any other way to..."
"That isn't necessarily true" Ivy interrupted.
"Oh?"
Ivy nodded, a devilish smirk on her lips. "Of course, we are teachers...what if we were doing research for Dumbledore?"
Osanna quirked a brow. "That may just work.... we have a few days to come up with exactly how to do it...."
Back in the school Draco was alone in the Slytherin common room, it was a rare occasion that this happened, but he had been in such a foul mood even his fellow Slytherins had cleared out of his way. He flopped down onto the green velvet, overstuffed couch and sighed heavily. He had been.... so close to her..........and had been interrupted yet again. Of course he couldn�t be mad at Osanna, yet...he had been so close to her, he had been able to inhale her exotic scent of roses and spice, the feel of her hand on his body had caused him to shudder, just the feel of her fingertips on his skin...what would it have felt like to lean forward and kiss her? He closed his eyes and allowed the thought to dominate his mind.... never mind what other people would think, he could show her how he felt if he could just get alone with her...he wanted her so badly...to taste her skin...to...he was interrupted from his blissful state by a loud rapping on the common room window. He opened his eyes, a frown on his lips...couldn�t he have her alone for a moment even in his HEAD?
He sat up and turned to the window, outside hovered an eagle owl, obviously from either his father or mother. He scowled and opened the window, the eagle landed squarely on his arm and he recognized it at once as being his mothers. He removed the package and literally tossed the bird out the window, he slammed it closed and made his way back to the couch. He opened the letter first, his lips curled in a hateful sneer of disgust.
"My Dearest Draco,
I must apologize for my behavior the other day. Perhaps I acted rashly. You must forgive me, my reaction was un-founded. I am sorry, I ask only that you keep this quiet for the time being, I will tell your father when the time is appropriate, however for now I am still your mother and would appreciate treatment as such, we must maintain some degree of normalcy for the family name. I will tell your father soon, and then I will simply leave and never return...that way the Malfoy name will not be soiled, my silence is guaranteed. I will not breathe a word of my birth to anyone...therefore no one will know any better, but until this point we must act normal. So, I ask you to accept these sweets, and forgive me for acting so rashly. However I must ask that you stay away from Ivy and Osanna, they are dangerous women.
Love
Your Mother"
Draco stared at the letter, then crumbled it up in one fist and hurled it into the rubbish bin by the couch. He didn't really believe a dammn word of it, but she wouldn�t really attempt to hurt him, she knew better than that, he may as well play along until something happened. He opened the parcel and found several lumps of chocolate, a large slice of cake, and some cookies. He picked up a cookie and sniffed it before taking a bite; nothing was going to keep him from Ivy...nothing or no one. He would have her...he was just at that age where these sorts of feelings could border on predatory obsession, she was tormenting him day and night, her lips, the way she moved, the way she smelled...everything.... about her was absolute perfection, thinking of her like this made his breath catch in his throat...he would kill to feel her by his side, her face invaded his dreams...and he was NOT going to be ignored. He was positively burning inside...such a strange feeling, he couldn�t quite comprehend it, his breathing quickened...she would come to him...there was no other answer. He had never wanted to possess something so badly, nothing else mattered...he closed his eyes, so entranced in fantasy, in thought, that reality faded away...what would it feel like if she...oh yes...yes...then as quickly as it had started, he snapped back to reality when the Slytherin common room door opened. He blushed and righted himself as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn�t been doing a thing.
In strode one of his fellow Slytherins, she was his year, she was exceptionally tall and slender, her hair fell to her shoulders in a satiny curtain of black with vivid, blood red streaks, her eyes which plainly read "Don't fuck with me" were a green-hazel color, she had skirted the school dress code rather artfully, her black, pleated skirt was festooned with safety pins, her shirt had safety pins instead of buttons, in place of regular black knee socks hers were gray and green stripes, she also wore combat boots in a reddish color, much like her hair, her face was pallid and heart shaped, she wore a dark green lipstick and black eye shadow that covered her eyes in a charcoal haze, bracelets of various colors hung off her slender wrists and she slipped into the common room with a silent authority.
Draco struggled to remember her name...Sestine...Sestine Vorgosti wasn't it? Ah yes, the one who had gotten into a fight with Hermione and turned her into a spider, and had nearly squished her but Professor Flitwick had stepped in at the last second. She nodded to Draco as she slipped past, the various bracelets and spikes chiming in rhythm with the stomp of her combat boots. She slid into one of the chairs across form him and opened her transfiguration book, promptly burying her nose in it. Draco crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes again, happy to have at least one more chance to daydream before supper.... even if he wasn�t quite alone, he ate another of his mother's cookies and drifted off.
A note of interest to some of our cult. The character of Sestine is a cameo for our Beta reader Danielle.