Mind racing, James settled on the first Slytherin name he could think of, "Um, I�m Lucius Malfoy, fellow Slytherin."
Silently, he cursed Peter�s choice of secret tunnels, for the one they had chosen allowed them to pass through the wall of a stairwell which they thought would not be in use at the time. That obviously was not true, as James frowned out the hard way . . .
Before either James or Adhara could say a thing, Sirius the dog emerged at the deer�s side through the wall. "Er, this is my friend . . . " The deer paused, glancing at Adhara, "This is Severus Snape!"
Adhara watched in horror as the black dog sank its teeth into the silver stag�s hind leg, causing the deer to yelp in pain. "Severus Snape?!" The dog hissed, releasing his grip on the stag, "I�ve never been so insulted in my life!" Sensing Adhara�s presence, �Severus Snape� kicked the wall with his hind leg, and turned to the taller Slytherin girl, "Um, hi, how�s the party?"
"Fine," Adhara frowned, and glared at the deer and the dog, "Sorry for running into you, I�m Adhara Sinistra. I guess I�ll see you around tonight?"
"You sure will!" The stag answered pleasantly as Adhara descended the remaining stairs and melted into the Slytherin crowd. James turned to the wall and kicked it with a hind leg, "Remus, Peter, it�s okay. We just ran into a little technical difficulty, that�s all."
"Technical difficulty! As if! We had to pretend to be Slytherins when we ran into Adhara. Slytherins!" Sirius huffed as Peter the rat joined them, along with Remus whose eyes were wide with shock. Maybe it was just the shock of getting kicked in the head by a stag, or perhaps it was just his fur color, but the white wolf that Remus had chosen to become looked paler than ever.
"Come on," James headed down the stairs, "Let�s get this potion into the punch . . ."
"And then get out of here!" Sirius finished for him, but James shook his head and turned to the party, saying that they couldn�t possibly leave yet, before the feast! Sirius frowned and earned stern looks from James, and Peter, as well as a wary look from Remus. He shrugged, well, even if Professor Slytherin caught them, they couldn�t be in anymore trouble, now could they? With a quick wag of his tail to indicate that he had decided to stay, the four Gryffindors descended into the Slytherin party.
Adhara gave the stag and the dog a backwards glance as she hurried towards her friends. Severus and Lucius offered her looks of concern, and she quickly explained, "I ran into something on the way down! Literally! Smack into some silver stag that claimed that he was Lucius Malfoy, and his companion, surprisingly, Severus Snape."
"What?" Severus frowned, pulling out his wand, "Where�s that joker? He�ll feel the wrath of the real Severus Snape when I get through with him . . . Hey, Adhara, who is it?"
"I�m not sure," She turned to see that both the stag and the dog had disappeared, probably into the Slytherin crowd, "But I�m almost positive I saw the stag today by the Forbidden Forest. However, this stag can talk! So it has to be a student! Actually, when I saw him today he was with a Gryffindor . . ."
"Gryffindor?!" Snape spat, waving his wand, "By the Forbidden Forest, �eh? If it was a student, we�d better tell Professor Slytherin and then we can knock off some more house points! Are you sure it was the same deer? But then again, how many silver stags do you see around Hogwarts, after all?"
"I think I know who that is," Malfoy frowned slightly, "Great Gryffindor Head Boy, James Potter. He was sneaking around the forest last night and Dippit didn�t give him any trouble because he said that Dumbledore taught him to transfigure himself into a deer! It has to be Potter! What nerve! But unfortunately, he shall not live to tell the tale of his adventures . . . Let me go find Professor Slytherin!"
"I have to find him, myself." Adhara shivered, remembering her promise, "I have to find Thuband."
"Oh him." Severus sighed, "Well, I guess he�s all right, awful smart, but can�t tell a Quaffle from a Golden Snitch, I tell you . . ."
Ah yee, Quidditch. Adhara frowned, the popular wizard�s game on broomsticks still was rather confusing to her, and the idea of seven people on flying broomsticks chasing four balls around on a Quidditch pitch did not appeal to her, what so ever. She shrugged and together with Lucius, left Severus standing alone, her mind dreading what lay ahead.
"Over here!" James hissed, as he and his friends walked behind a pillar and quickly transformed back into their human forms. He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a large red flask of potion, as well as a golden one. "Gryffindor colors," He explained, and glanced at the large glass of punch Peter held. After a moment of thought, he emptied the two solutions into the glass and repocketed his flasks.
"You mean," Peter frowned, "I have to transform back into a rat and put the punch back into the punch bowl? That�s disgusting!"
"Well," James changed back into his animal form, as did the rest of his friends, "Slytherins are disgusting, aren�t they?"
"I should think not." A cold voice sounded from behind them and James turned to see Severus Snape heading toward them. He gulped. Had the Slytherin heard . . . ? Snape continued, "I mean Slytherins should have respect for themselves, and we certainly are not disgusting. Gryffindors are disgusting. I don�t believe we�ve met, I�m Severus Snape."
James side-kicked Sirius in the side and they both grinned at each other, foolishly. Peter crept away from Snape who James had engaged in a conversation involving their favorite sport, Quidditch. Remus followed Peter, perhaps a little to cautiously to be a wolf, but he almost stepped on a Slytherin who had transformed into a snake, as well as a small mouse that scurried quickly away from him.
"I feel so stupid!" Peter whispered harshly as Remus gave him a lift onto the refreshments table. He slowly lowered the mixed punch into the container, watching the contents mix. A few Slytherins gave him a strange look, but Peter just smiled and shrugged sheepishly.
"All done?" Remus asked as Peter clambered down from the table, and to his relief, his friend answered, "Mission accomplished! All done! Now all we have to do is wait until some Slytherins walk over for punch. That�s when the real fun begins!"
Across the room, Remus saw the silver stag, who had managed to get away from Snape, but someone was missing. He and Peter exchanged an uneasy look and they hastened their pace towards James who looked thrilled. Remus frowned and confronted his friend, "Where�s Sirius?"
Adhara shook her head and sighed, sipping her punch. Thuband was nice and smart enough, but still, her interests lay elsewhere, namely, with her Potions text book up in her dormitory. The five minutes she had spent with Thuband already told Adhara that she was just wasting her time. Fortunately, she did not have to spend the next five minutes with him, for Lucius ran up to them and motioned for Adhara to follow him. She was only too glad to comply, although she gave Thuband a sympathetic smile before melting into the crowd.
"Oh I just don�t get Professor Slytherin!" Lucius hissed when he, Adhara and Severus had gathered in a little quiet spot, away from everyone, "I told him that there were Gryffindors in Slytherin Tower. He just told me that there was absolutely no way that Gryffindors could get into the tower in the first place, and asked me if I liked it here at Hogwarts! Of course I like it here at Hogwarts! He continued to say that if I liked Slytherin so much that even if there were Gryffindors, I wouldn�t cause any trouble or else the headmaster would surly expel me! Is there any more justice in this world?!"
"Calm down," Severus instructed, waving his wand, "Professor Slytherin is right. Going to get some punch, Adhara?" He asked as she walked away, but she did not answer. Severus shrugged and continued, "Besides, the Gryffindors haven�t done anything."
"That�s what you think," Lucius frowned, and motioned at something behind Severus�s back. He turned quickly to see a few Slytherins floating above the crowd. Severus turned to Lucius for an explanation, which he gladly gave, "I think it�s a hovering potion, compliments of Gryffindor, no doubt, and the flaming decorations would be a Incendio fire starting charm."
"Um," Severus frowned as he felt a funny feeling in his stomach, a heaving, upwards feeling, "Um, Lucius, you don�t think they put the hovering potion in the punch, do you?" His friend looked alarmed, and was truly terrified when Severus started to rise a little into the air.
"Oh no!" Lucius whispered, and looked around the room to find almost all of the Slytherins floating in the air, "Am I glad that I�m allergic to punch!"
"Ha! Very funny!" From above, Severus sneered, branishing his wand, "GET ME DOWN!"
Although she was glad that Lucius pulled her away from Thuband, she had other plans for the evening. At the first possible moment, Adhara slipped away from Severus and Lucius who seemed to be arguing about Gryffindors at a Slytherin party. She would have really doubted that, but what about the stag? She saw it clearly by the refreshment table, with the rat and the white wolf, but where was the dog? Not that it mattered, anyway.
Retiring early, a warm bed and a Potions textbook sounded good to Adhara as she made her way towards the staircase which would lead her to her dormitory. Miti reappeared from the crowd and followed her mistress up the stone steps, Adhara was smiling to herself for she was extremely glad that the night was over for her, at least.
However, Adhara Sinistra was destined not to have a quiet night. It was Miti who sensed that first. With a screech, the cat tore back down the staircase as if its tail was on fire, leaving Adhara dazed, but then as she saw what had frightened her cat, and her eyes grew wide with terror.
Wand! Her hand quickly dove into her robes and she withdrew her wand and pointed it at the thing. Heart racing, Adhara had no idea what it was, in the limited light of the corridor . . . big, black, and hideous. She quickly thought back to all her textbooks lying on her bed, what was this creature . . . could it be the Grim? The dog that haunts graveyards at night? Yes, Adhara took a step backward, judging from the size and the snarling sounds from the animal, it was a dog. Or was it?
It did not matter. "Petrificus Totalus!" Adhara quickly pushed doubt from her mind and sent a rather simple, but powerful, total body lock charm at the dog. However, the jet of white sparks missed as the animal jumped, but before she could try again, the dog had vanished. No, it hadn�t vanished, but something was in its place. Adhara stared at it in amazement . . . it wasn�t an �it� after all! She blushed furiously at the second stupid mistake she had made that night.
"Sorry, I thought you were a dog." Adhara muttered to the wizard who stood before her, but as she heard her words, she realized how stupid she sounded, "Um, you sort of scared my cat, and I�m sorry I tried to cast a charm on you . . . I�m Adhara Sinistra, sorry, once again . . ."
Sirius couldn�t believe what had happened, it was her again! Was it a twist of fate . . . or a twist of luck? He smiled, and extended his hand, "Charmed to make your acquaintance, literally charmed!"
To his relief, she burst into laughter, and shook his hand, "I ran into a deer on the way down, and on the way up, I charmed a dog! I�m such a klutz and totally stupid!" She smiled weakly and stared into his dark eyes. They were startling, almost as if unnatural . . . hypnotizing? Adhara shook her head slightly, but then looked down at her hand, clasping his. Miti had somehow made her way back up the stairs and had curled around Adhara�s feet, the cat�s heavy warmth seeping into her. Sirius gazed down at her, and could see her startling green eyes, studying his own. Even in the limited light, she was beautiful. He sighed, "Adhara, I-"
"Sirius!" They both jumped in surprise, Adhara falling off her step, but Sirius caught her arm, and they paused for a moment, lingering in their own little world, before Sirius gave her arm a soft squeeze and quickly dropped to the floor, a large black dog once more.
A strange emptiness bubbled through Adhara and she found tears in her eyes. Placing a hand on the dog, she felt its soft fur brush her fingers as it walked down the stairs towards his friends, the silver stag, the rat, and the wolf. Sirius? Was that his name? She watched as all four of them disappeared through the wall, but didn�t think this was odd until they left. Rushing down the stairs, she placed her hands where they had gone. Solid stone. Was it all a dream?
Adhara . . . Sirius smiled to himself, his tail wagging, but then mentally scolded himself. What was the matter with him? She was a Slytherin, and he was a Gryffindor. Both of their houses hated each other bitterly and she�d probably hate him too, if she knew what house he belonged to . . . But that thought did nothing to cheer him up, on the contrary, sadness welled up inside him, as if he would never be happy again . . .
"I CAN�T BELIEVE THIS!" Severus Snape yelled, he was still floating in the air, along with most of the Slytherins, with Professor Slytherin and Lucius below him, trying to think of a spell to make them come back down.
"Slumpus!" Lucius pointed his wand at Severus and instantly, his friend lost his hovering charm. He fell with a crash onto the refreshment table, sending pumpkin seeds scattering across the room. Looking extremely pained and embarrassed, he got off the food and drew his own wand. After a good quarter of an hour, all Slytherins were back on their feet and the flaming decorations were put out. Lucius breathed a sigh of relief, but instantly, toughened up.
"I�ve got to go teach those cheating, cowardly Gryffindors a lesson!" Severus roared and stomped towards the exit of Slytherin Tower, but Professor Slytherin caught his arm. Sternly, he pulled his student to a halt and glared at him. Severus blinked in surprise, but then resumed his train of thought, "Those Gryffindors ruined our party, Professor, I couldn�t look them in the face again if I . . ."
"Then you shall not." Professor Slytherin whispered coolly, "I will not have any one of my students seeking any type of revenge for anything that happened tonight. We all know what the headmaster thinks on this account. I shall speak to Professor Dippit myself, on the matters of tonight, and the Gryffindors shall not go unpunished. However, none of you, will so much as say a harsh word to one of those Gryffindors! I can not help you if the headmaster recommends your expulsion, and I trust you all want to remain at Hogwarts. I assume that this includes you, Severus, or have I been mistaken?"
Blazing with anger, Severus tugged his arm away and headed up to his dormitory, Lucius following behind, also furiously angry. Slamming the door behind him, Lucius pulled out his wand and faced his friend, "I don�t care what Professor Slytherin says, but I swear that I shall make the Gryffindors pay for what they have done tonight . . . even if it shall be the last thing I do!"