The Badger and the Snake

Chapter 1: The Daughter of the Death Eater

There she was again. Sitting there across the room, her black hair shining, despite it's deep dark colour. I couldn't stop staring at her. She just seemed like someone who didn't realize how beautiful she looked, yet everyone else could notice. The Great Hall of Hogwarts was filled with students from every house, and was as usual, bustling with noise and activity. And every time, throughout the entirety of dinner, I always noticed that she never spoke one word. Not to her friends, or to anyone for that matter. She sat and ate. I looked over at her and tried to remember her name. I remembered it being something formal and old...like Elizabeth or MaryKate. I just couldn't put my finger on it. "You gawking at her again, Marcus?" I turned around and looked at my friend sitting next to me. David had been my best friend since Year 4, and he and I were always honest with each other. We were the two best players on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and were inseparable in our classes. He was currently looking at me with a sly smile and his sunken in eyes, with one of his thin eyebrows raised. I smiled at his humour and sighed. "I'm not gawking. I'm just observing is all." He peered over at her, then back at me. "You know her Slytherin friends are gonna kick your ass if you creep on her, right?" "I'm not creeping...I just wonder why she never talks to anyone." David frowns at me. "Wait, you mean you don't know?" I shake my head. "Her dad used to be a Death Eater. He was tried after the Battle of Hogwarts a few years ago. Now, everyone thinks she's a Death Eater like him. Even some of her own Slytherin friends hate her." I look over at her again, with new eyes. She doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd be like that. Not with those sad eyes. "What's her name?" David looked up, trying to remember, than snapped his fingers. "Ophelia Ulric." I kept looking at her. Now I knew.

A day afterwards, I walked into the Potions class I had every day after lunch. This was one of the joint classes Hufflepuff had with the other houses. In this case, it was Slytherin. And wouldn't you know it, she was in the same class. We say on either sides of the room, and were unable to talk to one another. Not that I could really say anything. After learning what David told me yesterday, I wouldn't really know where to start. Slughorn walked into the room, his suitcase in hand, and addressed the class with his usual exasperated tone that he always seemed to speak with. "Alright children, today we'll be starting our new assignment. You will be making a Hippogriff Attractor, using the essence of one of it's feathers along with other materials, and also write a small report on it." Most of the class groaned, but I was slightly interested. I'd never done something with a Hippogriff before. "You will be paired up into groups. I'll read out the names." I sat there waiting for mine to be called, but, seconds before my name came up, I somehow knew exactly who I would be with before Slughorn said it. "Creevy, you'll be with Ulric." I looked across the aisles and saw her scan the classroom for her new partner, then our eyes met. She looked at me with curiosity mixed with a bit of annoyance, as if the thought of being paired with a Hufflepuff was too much for her. I thought to myself: Well, at least I don't have to work up the courage to talk to her now.