Slytherin's Heir

Chapter Seventeen ~ The Dark Stranger

At first she thought it might have been her brother, home at last but well ahead of time, but instead it was some dark haired stranger she'd never met. It wasn't hard to know she'd never met him because she'd held interactions with few people and surely she would've recognised him if she'd seen him before.

So she did the logical thing any witch would do. She cast a quick spell and the boy crumpled, unconscious.

Thank Merlin that she was the only one home for had her father been here he would've promptly put an end to the boy's life. That she had no doubt about.

Lifting him up by roping her arms under his armpits she squeaked as she pulled him up, his head lolling limply to his chest. He was lighter than she'd been expecting. Slowly and unsteadily she dragged him down the dark hallway to her room which was dusty and bare. The girl pulled out the wooden chair from her desk. It was old and fragile and on its last legs but she pushed the boy onto the chair regardless. Hoping her spell was strong enough to keep him under long enough, she raced downstairs to where her father kept a bundle of rope. She used it to tie the boy's arms to the arm rests and his ankles to the chair legs. She could only hope it would hold him.

And then she waited.

Sitting on her bed she anxiously tapped her leg repetitively on the wooden floor, her knee bouncing up and down as she stared the unconscious boy down. He had the same dark hair as her brother, but their eyes were an entirely different colour. He was far smaller than him too, although just as pale as the last time she'd seen her brother. That was only a few days ago before he left for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The boy looked like he needed food, which was a sight she was familiar in her household.

As the minutes ticked by she began to wonder if she'd performed the spell wrong and maybe killed him so with utmost caution she leaned forwards and pressed her fingers to his neck where she roughly guessed his pulse was. At her touch his head snapped back and she shrieked, scrambling back into her bed and flat against the wall.

They stared wide-eyed at each other. The boy looked down at his restraints and tensed his arms, testing the bonds.

Swallowing her fear she was the first to speak. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" She could only hope her voice didn't shake as much as her hands did, which she hid behind her back. Showing weakness never got her anywhere.

The boy's dark eyes met her own. "Who are you?"

"I asked you first." She persisted.

"And I asked you second, what's your point?" He retorted.

She realised she wasn't going to get anywhere without giving him anything first and she wanted him out of her house before her father got home. She was silent for a moment as she contemplated how much of her name she should give. If the boy was also a wizard he might recognise her last name. She shuddered at the thought of what the outcome of that could be, for her father was a cruel man who had a bad reputation. She settled on just her first name. "My name is Isa."

"Nico." He answered shortly.

"Why are you here, Nico?"

He offered her a dark grin. "Just doing a bit of sight seeing."

She gave him a flat stare. "Yes I can tell you're not from here. Your accent is strange."

"Thanks."

"Are you a wizard?"

Nico choked on air, startled by her question. Had she seen what he'd done? "Ah what?"