Dark Wizard Collector: A Hogwarts Fanfiction

Chapter 30

In the next moments, the Ravenclaw Keeper missed deflecting the Quaffle and the crowd of Slytherin fans went wild with joy. I stood from my seat and bade farewell to Severus and Narcissa. Walking down the stairs from the stands, the fur hood of my cloak fell once again over my eyes and I missed a step. Falling forward onto a student ascending the stairs, I let out a yelp when my hood was pulled back. Gray eyes were looking into my blue ones.

"Lucius," I fumbled with my words, but managed to collect my physical bearing. "Slytherin is up by fifty points." I remarked, but did not remove my hands from his shoulders as he held my sides tightly.

Silence followed; neither of us dared to speak. Our eyes were locked as the cheers of students faded from my hearing and an empty ringing filled my ears. Attempting to control my breathing, I cast my eyes down and felt that my face was warm from blushing. In the awkward tension, I pulled my hands off the student and he released his grasp of my hips. Quickly, I moved to continue down the steps. Then, Lucius' voice called out to me. "Maera..."

Addressing me informally for the very first time, the young man caught every fiber of my being. "Yes?" I replied and looked back at the troubled face.

It seemed like hours passed before he could muster up the courage to say, "You're safe while I'm here."

Astonished, I simply replied with a slight nod of my head, I turned and hurried from the pitch to the castle.

When I reached the castle, Professor Slughorn was pacing back and forth in the entrance. I greeted him and asked what was ailing him. "Oh, Miss Zeria! Just the person I needed to see."

"Sir?" I asked a bit skeptical that I could help him.

"Yes, yes this is fine, great, good. Hmm. Yes, well I wanted to ask if you could help me with my Potions class this upcoming Friday. I have a rather good group of sixth years, but I would like you to help me. They seem to like you very much and are always asking when you are going to assist again. Would you be able to?" The portly professor asked with a smile.

"Of course, Professor Slughorn, but may I ask something?"

"Indeed you may."

"Do the students really like me?"

Slughorn laughed and put his thumbs in his tweed waist coat pockets. "I gather you have never worked with children have you?"

I shrugged and admitted I had not. "No, I work with monsters and criminals." I smiled in jest, referring to my days working with the Dementors at the prison of Azkaban. The old man gave a nervous laugh and began shifting his weight. "Well, I must be off." I said before he had the chance to awkwardly attempt to end the conversation.

What felt like no time had passed, Friday was upon me and there was still no sign of Avenger. Anxiety began to grip at me. I was never separated from my owl for such a long period of time. Where could my brother be? I thought angrily and paced in my office. A ticking sound struck my thoughts and I looked to a many geared clock with red dust-filled hourglasses. "DAMN!" I yelped and grabbed a hold of my cloak, quill and a bit of parchment; I was late for assisting Professor Slughorn.

I reached the Potions classroom and all the students faced me as I burst through the door. Catching myself and returning to an adult-like manner of control and cool posture; I noticed a ginger haired head bob with a chuckle. "Something amusing, Jezebel?" I said, moving unnoticed to her blind side. The teenager gasped and jumped in fright. The Slytherins laughed at the startled Gryffindor.

"No, nothing at all, Miss Zeria." Jezebel quickly corrected herself and I moved my eyes away from hers. My rolling eyes were caught in a cold grip that was trained intensely upon me. I felt my face flush again seeing the laughing smirk upon Lucius' mouth.

"Good to have you Miss Zeria!" Slughorn piped up, seeing me among the students.

"Pardon my lateness..." I apologized, "I was... detained."

"Nothing too serious, I hope?" The professor queried as he moved about an already boiling cauldron with a flick of his wand. However, I did not reply. Instead, I looked at my black heeled boots. Again, I felt the stare of Lucius and I looked over at him. This time the blond quickly shot his eyes away from mine and down to his cauldron. "Well, today we shall be working on Polyjuice Potion. A rather time consuming and tricky one to work, but we have time and I've gathered all the ingredients we shall need. So let's review the first part of brewing...

I stopped listening as Professor Slughorn continued his little lecture of the day's potion. Class passed with hardly any hiccups from the students. All of the problems that occurred were of my own clumsiness. As I walked back and forth to help the students, an unknown tension arose within me. "Maera," a smooth voice whispered over my shoulder as I went to replace a pair of brass scales into the cupboard. Gasping in shock, I dropped the scales with a loud clang, the entire room turned to look at me. I was standing alone near the storage shelves and all eyes were on me.

"Sorry about that." I sheepishly apologized and returned to pick up the mess on the floor. What in the bloody Hell was that! I scolded myself in thought. No one was even near you, so who whispered my name? My blood began to boil and I wanted nothing better than to run away to the forest.