A snake in a clan.

The first night back

The sorting ceremony was in full swing. The warm atmosphere was topped by a starry night sky. Everyone knew that the Great Hall's ceiling was enchanted to reflect the sky but this particular starry view made me feel a little relieved. At least when I see Cat later there will be a calming sky so settle my guilt. I shouldn't have jolted my hand away from hers like that. But after 2 years of hiding our relationship form everybody, it was hard not to. 

Once the last first year was sorted, the feast began. Usually, I would dig right in and eat my weight in food but tonight I was nervous. I could feel Cat glancing at me every so often but I was seated with my back to her so it was hard to look at her without it seeming obvious. 

"You've hardly touched anything. What's wrong?" Scorpio said over a mouth full of hashbrowns. Honestly, it's like he was obsessed with those things. Miller, who has sat a couple of seats away from us, looked over and down at my plate. 

"Nothing just ate too much on the train." I mean its not a lie. I did eat a lot on the train, just not necessarily food. I said it loud enough for Miller to hear and started picking a bit more at my food. I opted for toad in the hole but found myself unable to eat it after briefly remembering the infected toads Scorpio had tried to cure over summer. 

Once the feast was over, everybody started piling out of the hall. It seemed that everyone was in a mad rush to get into their dormitories and share stories about their crazy summer. I tried searching for Cat or even Isla through the crowd but could only see Taylor and Victoria, both of which I couldn't deal with right now. I knew that Taylor had a thing for Cat, in fact, she had since 1st year however Cat had made it explicitly clear that she wasn't interested. But that didn't seem to stop Taylor. I knew she despised me. Not only was I a Slytherin, but a Slytherin who was beating her in every class and got the girl. 

I felt a tug on my sleeve and turned to see Mildrid Alton. She looked up at me with her big doe eyes licked her bright red lips. I raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Mildrid." She smiled at my attention and moved closer to me. 

"Hi Quiche. How was your holiday?" Her voice was smokey and low. I gritted my teeth. Mildrid was always flirting with whoever whenever she could. She tended to lean towards those on the house quidditch team and seeing as I was the Slytherin seeker, I was one of her common targets. It's almost impossible to avoid her considering she is also a 5th year Slytherin. 

"It was good thank you. I spent a lot of time with my girlfriend. Lots of summer sex." In recent years I've learnt that the only way to get rid of Mildrid is to be extremely blunt. Her seemingly sexy smirk turned into a disgusted glare. 

"Oh really? And which whore are you fucking this time?" By now we were outside of the hall and about to ascend the moving staircase down to the dungeon, so I had plenty of room to grab her by the scruff of her shirt and shove her against the wall. I growled a little and felt everyone watching. 

"What was that, Mildrid?" I ask with an unwavering calm. I clench my fists tighter bringing her shirt closer to me. I heard heavy footsteps approaching and know that its professor Longbottom.

"What on earth is going on here!" He shouts over the crowd. I glare into Mildrids eyes for a few seconds longer and let her go. I watch her scatter away and turn on my heal to face Longbottom. 

"Just a little misunderstanding professor. It won't happen again I assure you." Professor Longbottom and I had mutual respect for each other for various reasons. The main one being my history with the ministry and the work I have done for them. Longbottom was my favourite Professor. I was almost convinced to take herbology this year purley because he was teaching it but was convinced to take a different course. 

He looks around at the crowd and nods at me. "Make sure it doesn't. The rest of you to bed, please." He herds a bunch of first years away from the scene who were watching with open mouths. I smirk at them and straighten my shirt. I notice a few people hanging back, probably waiting to see if anything else will happen. I can't blame them, not much drama happens here anymore. I raise an eyebrow at them and they slowly disperse leaving Cat. Her expression is unreadable which causes me to furrow my eyebrows in confusion. She takes a stairway that doesn't lead to the Hufflepuff common room and looks behind at me before continuing to walk.  I take a deep breath and follow after her. 

I know where she's going. She's going to our place. An abandoned classroom on the 13th floor of the castle that we had cleaned up and decorated as our own. They stopped teaching there when students were turning up late to class due to it being too far out of the way. We didn't mind how far away it was though, it meant that nobody bothered to pay a visit and we could spend night after night there without anyone knowing. 

She unlocked the door and waited for me to reach it before entering. The fairy lights and candles made the room seem warmer than it actually is. A double bed and bookshelf with our favourite books took up most of the room while various pieces of art and a guitar sat in the corner. This was our space. 

Cat didn't acknowledge me. Instead, she walked over to the bed and laid down. No dust shot up from the movement as we had charmed the room to stay clean over summer. I was unsure if I should copy her movements stood at the foot of the bed. It was unlike me to be nervous but then again I knew I upset her earlier so I should be nervous. 

"You need to decide what you want, Quiche.' The statement pulled me from my thoughts. I looked down at her confused but Cat just continued to stare up at the ceiling. 

"I know what I want. I want you." 

"If that's true then I need you to start acting like it. I can't go through another year of hiding what we are. Can you understand that?" It sounded like she was pleading with me to understand. I sigh and walk around to kneel next to bed and held her hand in mine carefully.  She turned her head to look at me for the first time since we reached the room. "I need more. I need you to show me more. Because this isn't going to work otherwise. We aren't kids fooling around anymore." Her eyes glisten in the dim glow of the room with tears shes trying to hold back. It breaks my heart.

"I'm scared. I'm scared you will get hurt." 

"I know you are Quiche, but I'm willing to take that risk. Besides after the show today I doubt many people will try to hurt me." I smirk as she blushes re-calling tonight's events. 

"You enjoyed that huh?" She blushes deeper and nods her head in that adorable way. I allow my smirk to fade and I kiss her head lightly. "I want this to work. Please let me show you?"

She looks up at me and smiles faintly. She nods again and moves over so I can join her in bed. It's been a long day with a long train ride so I hold her close and pull the covers over us. I take my wand out and lock the doors. Sleep welcomes us warmly.