The Black Queen | F. Weasley

35. Protective Slytherins

Two weeks had gone by since the day Harry and Salem had been chosen along with Cassius, Fleur and Viktor. Two weeks had gone by where Salem hadn't spoken a word to either Fred or George. She spent most of the lunches and dinners with Harry who had been abandoned by Ron. Hermione has found it hard to choose between the two boys, but had eventually sided with the latter considering that Harry stuck with Salem most of the time. To Salem's utter delight she was asked by Graham Montague to join him and his friends at the Slytherin table.

Everyone looked at her strangely whenever she sat with Graham, Cassius, Adrian, Miles, Maggie and Sarah. Even the teachers had noticed how the Black girl had swapped the Gryffindor table for the Slytherin one and how she was avoiding both of the Weasley twins.

Snape had tried to send her back to her house more than once, Salem would then always point out how Dumbledore encouraged interhouse unity and she was therefore permitted to sit with them. Though, it wasn't just Snape who was trying to get rid of her...Draco, more often than not, commented on it as well. Whenever he did though Graham would sent a scowl so foul his way that he shut up almost immediately.

She had even convinced Harry to come and sit with her and her newfound friends. It was a bit awkward at first, they didn't really like Harry, but for Salem they had tried to tolerate him and it was with reluctance that they admitted after a while that he wasn't all that bad.

"Graham, can you pass me the marmelade?" Salem asked him as she grabbed a piece of toast off one of the piles and laying it down on her plate. The boy handed her the jar which was filled with the sweet substance and she thanked him with a smile.

"Sarah?" Harry asked timidly, he still felt a bit intimidated by the Slytherins but just like them he was trying for the sake of Salem. The girl looked up from her breakfast and over to the messy haired boy. "Could you hand me the pumpkin juice?"

Cassius suddenly threw his arm over Salem's shoulders catching her off guard. His lips graced the shell of her ear as he quietly whispered something. "Weasley's watching you again."

Her eyes flicked over to the Gryffindor table and interlocked with Fred's brown eyes. His eyes were flicking between her and Cassius and his stare turned cold and angry as he observed how very close the Slytherin boy was to Salem. She turned her face toward his and now their noses were mere inches apart, but she didn't pull away. "You're making him jealous."

Cassius grinned broadly. "You're only noticing just now?"

Meanwhile from the other side of the Great Hall Fred was glaring daggers at the two who were much too close in his opinion. He looked back down at his plate and stabbed a piece of egg on his fork rather violently.

Macy turned to glance over her shoulder and saw what had distressed the boy across from her so much. With a sigh she gave him an unimpressed look. "If you would just apologise to her for acting like a presumptuous prick she would be sitting here instead of at the Slytherin table."

"I know that, but it's not all that easy." He grumbled and stabbed another piece of egg on his fork. Fred had mulled things over a lot the first few days and eventually came to terms with the fact that Salem would never do something like that behind their backs. But he was too ashamed to tell her he was sorry, he didn't feel all that courageous when it came to her.

"It really is though, Fred. Just walk up to her and apologise." Lee quipped before stuffing his face a piece of toast.

Hermione sat down next to Macy with a loud thud and sighed irritably. She glared at Fred and George who raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. "Your brother is a git, I don't understand how Ron, or you two for that matter, don't believe that Salem and Harry had nothing to do with putting their names in."