the truth of snakes

Mischievious Grins & Devilish Smiles

"Ow! What the- Damn!" Black said from his spot on the ground, tentatively feeling where Roxanne had punched him. His cheek was red, already starting to swell and bruise. A nasty cut was bleeding from where Roxanne's onyx ring had cut him.

Roxanne looked down at her raw knuckles, surprise etched into her face but she covered it up quickly, not wanting anyone to see that she was just as shocked at her action as the rest of the wide-eyed students around her.

Potter's mouth was slightly ajar, but the tiniest hint of humor seemed to be making it's way onto his and Lupin's faces as their flustered friend continued to spew out curses.

"Wicked.." The bespectacled Gryffindor said in amazement, all trace of his previous anger towards Roxanne seemingly being replaced by awe at the bit of muggle violence she had displayed. "You just ... decked him."

Chattering started up again in the students surrounding the group, and Roxanne was brought back from her momentary stupor, saying "How very observant of you, Pottie." The words were a bit shakier than usual, but still held traces of her typical arrogance.

Florence was the first of her friends to recover from the surprise of the outburst.

"Come on, girls."

Roxanne and Georgie followed their friend away from the boys, and the latter started giggling from the excitement of what had just happened.

"Wow! Rox I can't believe you just- I mean- Wow!" She was smiling like a giddy school-girl which, Roxanne supposed, she technically was.

All three of them were smiling now, laughing and joking about their little confrontation with the boys as they made their way further down the banks of the Black Lake, where two other girls of their house were stretched out on the grass, waiting for them.

"Well look who finally decided to show up!" Said Juniper Yaxley, staring upside down from her position on the ground. She was a pretty girl, with dark skin that was complemented perfectly by what looked to be ribbons of emerald green braided into her ebony hair. Except, no, they were not ribbons, at least not like any Roxanne had ever seen. They seemed to be curling, twisting through Juniper's long tresses, and Roxanne could have sworn she saw a minuscule reptilian head pop out for an instant.

"Like them?! Grecian Hair Vipers- Mum just sent a box of them from Athens this morning as a bit of a good luck charm for OWLS, perfect timing too I need all the luck I can get in DADA!"

"Yeah their really cool! Do they bite??" Florence said in awe.

"Only when- and who- I want them to." Juniper replied with a mischievous grin.

Roxanne returned it and said, "Could've used those a few minutes ago." And recounted the earlier events.

"Well," started Farrah Travers, sitting up as Roxanne finished her little story-telling. "He can't have been too surprised. I mean, how many people at this school have wanted to smack that slimey grin off of that beautiful gab of his?? Ooooh I wish I had seen it! And I just knew it would be you Roxanne, absolutely."

"What? Why would it have been me?"

Farrah and Juniper exchanged glances.

"Well you know Rox, you're just so ... you." Said Juniper.

"Yeah our Rebellious Roxanne!" Added Farrah.

"Hmmmm..." replied Roxanne. "Well it's not like I went up planning to just nail him like that, I was just ... having a spot a fun messing with those . . ." She trailed off, a devilish smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

• • •

Hours later, when the sun had long been gone from the sky and the castle grounds were empty of students, one lone pair of eyes stared into the darkness of the Slytherin girls' dormitories.

Roxanne was much too excited from the days events to fall asleep, unlike the snoring forms of her classmates in the surrounding fourposters.

This was not an unusual occurrence, for Roxanne to be wide awake while the rest were off dreaming. She liked to have a few quiet moments away from distraction so that she could think clearly about her most recent experiences, to learn from them.

Of course, no one could say Roxanne didn't enjoy the company of her friends. If she didn't, she wouldn't hang around them. That's how she always had been; if a situation was not beneficial or pleasing to her Roxanne had no trouble walking away from it to find something better. She definitely had that sort of take no shit attitude.

Roxanne laughed to herself at the expression. It was Florence Travers who had first used it to describe Roxanne. They had been in second year, and it was right after Roxanne had told Peeves to fuck off and she had received a weeks worth of detention after telling Filch to do the same when he caught her throwing an apparently 'priceless' vase at the poltergeist. She originally had received a months worth, but a letter from her father to the head of her house quickly converted the rest of the sentence to tasks of  'community service' which included testing out new pie flavors in the kitchens and filling in as quidditch commentator when the usual one took ill (which coincidentally started happening more and more as Roxanne started liking the job).

Ah yes- good times... Roxanne thought as she rolled over to her side, staring out the glass wall that gave an underwater view of the Black Lake.

Florence and her had been friends since they first met on the Hogwarts express in their first year. A year later Roxanne had been acquainted to Farrah, Florence's younger sister, on yet another train ride. She had immediately taken a liking to the younger sibling as well, sensing a rebellious nature that Roxanne felt inexplicably drawn to.

She had found it surprising when Farrah called Roxanne herself  'rebellious'- as she had never really felt especially so. Feisty, yes... but rebellious? Roxanne had never felt like she went against any certain status quo- the way she acted was merely a reflection of the values she was raised with. Malfoy's made their own rules, followed their own strict codes of conduct, and the same, Roxanne felt, could be said of Slytherin house. 

So no- she could not really be called a rebel; she had never veered away from her lineage, or resisted any part of her upbringing.

No, if anyone was a rebel it was someone like- someone like... Sirius Black, she thought to herself.

Yes, he would definitely qualify as a rebel...

He had totally renounced his family in the recent years, Roxanne had heard that he actually ran away from his family home last summer. Roxanne shivered at the thought, she couldn't imagine running away from her family, never seeing or speaking to them again...

But even before all that, he always had seemed a bit out of place with the rest of his pure blood family. Roxanne could remember him at the extravagant parties Walburga Black used to throw- he always had seemed uncomfortable in the high class crowd, loosening his tie and swiping bottles of fire whiskey from the bar for the younger crowd to convene on in their own separate party away from the adults. Roxanne usually couldn't remember much of those wild nights (as she had never been one to miss out on the effects of fire whiskey) but she did recall the young Black always playing the best records, many of them she had never heard before...

Hmmm I wish I could find some of those songs... Roxanne thought as she yawned and snuggled into her warm pillow.

Maybe sometime I'll ask Black for their names... And with that last thought Roxanne was carried off into a deep sleep, with visions of green snakes slithering through her own blonde tresses, and of boys with dark hair dancing vivaciously to a song she wouldn't remember in the morning.