The Taming of The Viper

Chapter 6: Mood Swings

As Autumn settled into the mountain range, the hills and valleys that encompassed the Hogwarts castle were being peppered with amber trees. The cold that came along with the change of seasons started to seep through the stone walls, turning the dormitory into disarray as girls rushed to get dressed, trying to spend as little time in their undergarments as possible. Amicia sat atop an already made bed, her makeup sprawled across the covers. While looking into an ornate silver hand mirror, she ran a spoolie through her thick brows. An itchy wool throw blanket hung from her shoulders. Underneath it, she wore only a thin dress shirt. Earlier that morning, Amicia had gone looking through the trunk for her house sweater only to be reminded that Pansy had used it as kindling.

On the neighboring bed, Pansy was pulling stockings up over her legs. She pretended to shiver, "Getting cold, isn't it, Nolander? You ought to put on a sweater. Wouldn't want you getting sick."

Though her hand tightened around the handle, Amicia didn't look away from the mirror when she told Pansy in a straightforward manner that she knew she'd burned her clothes.

Pansy was caught off guard by the statement, but didn't want to show it. She continued to dress, shimmying into a short tartan skirt while avoiding eye contact.

"Which one of the girls snitched?" Her voice was straining to sound casual.

"None, actually." Amicia saw a glint of mischief in her own reflection. "It was Draco who let it slip the other night," she said knowing full well what assumption Pansy would draw from that statement. Was it childish to stoop that low? Yes, she knew that, but seeing Pansy on the brink of an eruption was well worth it.

"And why would you be talking to Draco?" Pansy hissed through her teeth while angrily tucking her shirt into the waistband of her skirt. "Better question, why would Draco be talking to you?"

What's that supposed to mean? Amicia nettled but bit back a nasty retort, convincing herself that someone here needed to take the moral high ground first and it definitely wasn't going to be Pansy.

"I'm not upset with you, if that's what you're thinking," Amicia told her, disregarding her questions. "You were angry with me, I get it. You tried to reach out, in your own brash way, mind you, but I insulted you in response. It was immature of me and I'm sorry. So if we could just move on-,"

"As if." Eyes narrowed, Pansy leaned against Amicia's bedpost, arms crossed, "I saw your fight with Potter and the others, and frankly, I don't buy it."

Amicia glanced into the hand mirror, checking to see if the panic that she felt was visible on her face.

"You can't just switch sides whenever you feel like it. I've slept next to you for years, Nolander. I know a lot more about you than you might think. You're not the type to be friends with someone for four years and just now decide it's a bad fit." Her voice was low, just above a whisper, but it was obvious that the other girls had picked up on their tense conversation, considering they had all gone unusually quiet.

Once again Amicia's fingernails embedded themselves in the flesh of her palms, but she held Pansy's suspicious gaze firmly, "You did say loyalty wasn't my strong suit." She swallowed, hard, "Look, honestly, what you said the other night was true. I didn't want to admit it but I'm tired of pretending. I want to know what it feels like to be a part of something for once." That wasn't a complete lie. "I'm not asking you to be bosom buddies or anything, but I don't want any more trouble, yeah?"

That didn't seem to eradicate all of her suspicions, but it was enough for Pansy to draw back and resume getting dressed. "We'll see."

That's good enough for me, Amicia thought and dropped the tension in her shoulders.