Dodging Prison and Stealing Witches

Chapter 39: The Little Trials of Virgo Malfoy

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text
In every large building where people live and work in close proximity, there are always crossroads that conspire to draw together people who'd much rather keep their distance — teachers and students, upper years and lower years, rival quidditch teams, even the occasional 'I'm-never-talking to-you-ever-again' situation involving two people of the opposite sex who will nevertheless soon be found together, in a broom cupboard, wearing between them rather less than the regulation amount of clothing for just one of them.

The Hogwarts owlery is just such a crossroad. Most everyone needs to send letters and the morning of the first day of school is always particularly busy.

Holding a sealed letter in one hand, Virgo Malfoy stepped aside for yet another pair of students descending the long set of stairs that he was busy ascending. Annoying, he thought. By the time he'd put himself into the diary, fifty years ago, people had been stepping aside for him.

The soul of Julia did the mental equivalent of tiredly rolling her eyes, then went back to sleep. The girl had settled down a bit since leaving Malfoy Manor, but not by nearly enough for his liking.

Last night had been a good example. He'd been sitting in his scarlet and gold four poster bed, busily planning how he was going to attack the problem of Harry Potter and Lord Slytherin, when she'd kicked up an almighty fuss over a stray murderous fantasy. They'd argued about it for ages before he'd eventually managed to persuade her that wanting to find out more about someone who wanted to kill you wasn't evil just by itself.

So that was his plan, find out about Harry Potter. And for that he needed John Potter. The Heir of the Potter family was the key, of that he was sure.

Another two sets of footsteps approached down the spiral staircase above him. Virgo almost considered just holding his ground and demanding they get out of his way, until he saw it was Professor Severus Snape and Lady Lilly Potter. Maybe not then. He stepped aside. Snape's sharp eye caught Virgo's as they passed and he felt the lightest of light touches brush against his occlumency barriers.

Traitor.

He made his way up the rest of the stairs and pushed the door open. The owlery was still bustling, even this close to breakfast. Almost a dozen students from all houses and ages were busy tying envelopes to the various birds that flocked around the room, or else finishing off their letters at the small, crap covered, central table.

Virgo quickly spotted the large screech owl his new adopted father had bought him and called it down. It alighted on the edge of one of the windows next to another owl being attended to by a girl in his year — a girl wearing radish earrings, dirty blond hair, and expensive, Slytherin green robes. Heiress Lovegood. Future consort of Lord Slytherin.

Perfect.

Virgo took a length of string from the ball on the table and stepped over beside her. "Good morning. I don't believe we've been introduced."

Lovegood looked up. She smiled. "Good morning. You are correct. I am Heiress Luna Lovegood. You are Miss Virgo Malfoy." She went back to her bird.

"I am." Virgo carefully watched the other girl humming quietly to herself as she stroked her owl's feathers. She needed some point of common ground. Something of an in. "I don't suppose I could ask your advise, could I?"

"You may."

"How do you handle it? Being betrothed, I mean. What's Lord Slytherin like? I know my father could choose to contract me if he so chooses. It scares me." Not really, of-course. Lord Malfoy wouldn't dare, but there wasn't any need for anyone to know that.