Liz has always refused to become like her family. Even though the blood of the Black family flows in her veins. Adopted by Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange after the death of her father Regulus - in hopes of "setting her on the right path" , she st...
Liz would have preferred to skip breakfast, she felt so sick. But she needed to know what the other students were saying about last night. Who wouldn't come to breakfast? Whose blood had been on her hands?
"Wow, you look like shit," Ginny remarked, just sitting down at the Ravenclaw table with them. "Just going around, right? Madame Pomfrey's handing out strengthening potions if you're not feeling well."
Liz just managed to lift her head. Maybe she really had just caught the flu. After all, she had been lying around on the floor soaked for who knows how long. "Thanks, will stop by later."
"Did you guys catch that last night? The Chamber of Secrets?"
Liz winced, but no one seemed to notice. Especially Ginny, who couldn't wait to get rid of the information she had. "They say Salazar Slytherin himself built the chamber when he and the other three founders built Hogwarts."
"That doesn't sound like a very friendly place," Luna remarked. "Absolutely not!" Ginny leaned forward conspiratorially. "They say there's a monster living there that's supposed to prey on Muggle-borns."
Liz discreetly dropped a piece of the toast Luna had forced on her under the table. "A monster? Wouldn't Dumbledore and his," she nodded towards the teacher's desk, "have found such a thing by now if such a thing existed?"
Luna was about to launch into a long explanation of how it was possible that no one had found anything, when Ginny thankfully interrupted her. "You're probably right. It was definitely quite a fuss because everyone thought Harry did it. But since Miss Norris is going to be okay and that was just paint on the wall, they let him go."
"Paint?", Liz interrupted her. "Didn't you see it? It looks like blood! Really creepy and it seems to be bewitched so that it won't come off easily. But if you ask me, it's just a joke in bad taste. Probably someone trying to suck up to Riddle."
A huge weight fell from Liz's heart. That hadn't been blood? Immediately she felt guilty that she hadn't questioned it at all. She had washed her hands without even a thought that it might not be blood.
She still couldn't get breakfast down, but she promised herself to get one of those fortifying potions before first period.
*
It helped only moderately, but Liz got through the school day better than she expected. Her last lesson was History of Magic together with the Slytherins. Mattheo ignored her as usual, but Liz just had to confront him.
As soon as class ended, she said goodbye to Luna and followed the young Slytherin at some distance. As she had hoped, he sneaked off to the secret passageway on the roof.
"Will you take me with you?" she called as soon as she reached the stairs. Mattheo was already at the door, and seemed surprised that he hadn't noticed her.
"If I have to," he muttered, already opening the door.
Liz had to run back up the stairs to get there in time before the door slammed shut. Indecisively, she stood between the door and the frame. Mattheo had gone further away this time. Did he want to keep her at a distance? He should have thought better of that. Deciding on the spur of the moment, Liz took off one of her shoes and wedged it between the door so that it couldn't close.
"You never told me why you fought with Draco."
Mattheo turned around pointedly slow, his eyes narrowed skeptically. "Why would I have?" He eyed Liz dismissively.
"Because I asked you more than once?"
Again, the Slytherin looked at the Ravenclaw suspiciously. "Have you?"
Liz rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I don't have the nerve for that right now. No one can hear us up here, so please stop this fuss."
"Really. Refresh my memory. Who are you again and when did we talk?"
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"Do you have to be such an ass?" blurted out Liz. She still hadn't forgiven him for his 'joke' being at her expense. In a flowing gesture, she pulled the notebook out of her pocket and slapped it in Mattheo's face. "Suprise, bitch. Disappointing, I know, but your awesome pen pal isn't a Slytherin."
Mattheo had to visibly suppress his anger. "Pen pal? Girl, I don't know what you took, but I'm not one for pen pals." Only now did his gaze linger on the worn leather book. "Where did you get that?"
Liz responded surprisingly quickly as she saved the book from his grasp. "This? Well, did it click now? You can spare your cool facade with me."
"I think there's been a misunderstanding." The fact that Mattheo had suddenly gone completely quiet only made Liz angrier. The arrogance of it all!
"Misunderstanding? It was a misunderstanding when I agreed to hear your stupid secret and you stole my whole fucking weekend instead! Do you think I thought it was funny to wake up in the middle of the night on the dirty floor of a toilet?" This time Liz slammed the book accusingly against his chest. "If you're not going to tell me about your stupid fight, at least tell me what happened this weekend! What kind of shit did you do to me that I don't remember?"
"Listen," Mattheo tried to reassure her, "your weekend sounds like a successful party, but I really had nothing to do with your blackout. And I've never seen this book before."
"Sure," snorted Liz, who had had enough of his excuses. "You know what? Fuck you. Just say straight out that I'm not good enough for you. If you're going to tell a stupid lie like that, next time don't put your name on the last page." And then Liz hurled the book off the roof with all her strength.
"What?!" Mattheo must have realized he'd made a mistake, because Liz heard him casting another spell while she was already storming inside, pulling her shoe out of the door and letting the thing fall into the lock behind her.
