Hogwarts: A Snake in the Grass - BOOK 6 (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

2: Return to Hogwarts

Remus came to see me off to Hogwarts. I quickly joined Nico and Josh in their carriage and sat down. Both of them had cut their hair since I last saw them and they had more muscle tone. Definitely not boys anymore.

'Hey! You OK?' Josh asked me.

The night before had been a full moon so I was looking kind of rough. Snape was still sending me Wolfsbane, and I was still giving it to Remus instead.

'Nothing I can't handle!' I said, smiling, though it didn't quite reach my eyes.

'So, you're better now?' Nico asked.

'What do you mean by that?' I asked sharply, my hands clenched tightly beneath my jumper.

'I mean... Er... Have you... You know...' he stammered.

'Well, I'm glad you're alright!' Josh quickly moved the conversation along, pulling me into a hug. I was still jumpy, the events of that night haunting me, bringing memories back that I didn't want. Josh released me but moved closer gently, his warmth comforting me. I knew I shouldn't push him away, he could comfort me, but I needed time.

'We were all over the Daily Prophet!' Nico told me.

'Yeah, I saw! I was worried they would mention something about you being... You know... But they didn't!' said Josh.

'Yeah...' I said glumly.

Suddenly, someone appeared at the door,

'I-I'm supposed to deliver this to M-Molly B-Black,' the small girl stammered.

I took a bit of parchment from her hand, thanked her, then read it.

Molly,
I would be delighted if you joined me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.
Sincerely,
Professor H. E. F. Slughorn

'Who's Professor Slughorn?' Nico asked me.

'God knows... Probably a new teacher!' I said, 'I should probably go... God knows why he wants to see me...'

I headed off to compartment C to find Harry and Neville were also there, along with some other people.

'Why, hello Molly!' said the man who must have been Slughorn, 'Take a seat!'

I was a bit late so the only seat left was in between a Slytherin called Blaise Zabini and a boy called Marcus Belby.

'Well, we've heard about everyone else, so let's hear what's happening in the noble house of Black!' Slughorn said to me.

'Er... I don't really talk to my family... None of them want to talk to me... My father ran away when he was in Hogwarts and even though my mother was from another well-respected pureblood,' I spat the word out, 'family, they wanted nothing to do with me. Didn't bother me though... They were all crazy. You would be punished if you weren't in Slytherin. They hated anything that wasn't normal. Muggle-borns, werewolves and anyone who wasn't pureblood, really, was looked down upon. I'm kind of ashamed to be one of them.'

I looked down after that speech. I was ashamed to be one of them, and they were probably ashamed that I was too. I hate the fact I'm one of the 'noble' Pureblood families. I could feel Harry's stare, knew that he knew some of that was a lie. That nothing of my family bothered me. He had seen how broken I was, he knew all about my life before Remus.

'And your parents?' Slughorn prompted.

'Dead,' I said in an incredibly quiet voice.

'Well, I'll tell you a bit about me!' Slughorn then went on to tell us several long winded stories about his life.