she isn't what she says

6. Potions

"So I guess we're going to be late for class." Pansy said as she and Valencia stumbled into class minutes behind everyone else. "It doesn't matter" Valencia replied, smiling. "And what's got you smiling Lestrange?" Someone sneered. "Got plans to kill someone?" Another Gryffindor added.

"And why would I tell you?" She spat back, smiling, before turning back to talking with Pansy. "Don't mind Ron, he's a traitor. He hangs out with mud-bloods, like Hermione over there" Pansy said pointing at a girl sitting a couple of rows in front. You laughed of course. "Red hair, hand me down robes, he must be a Weasley" Pansy laughed immediately, "It's too obvious!"

Later, in Potions, Valencia saw Professor Snape for the second time since she had met him at the Malfoy mansion. He gave her a nod when she walked in, obviously a little bit late. What was it with males and their nodding? She saw that Theo was sitting next to Blaise, so Snape allocated her a seat next to a Gryffindor girl. "Nice to meet you Valencia, I'm Ginny Weasley." The girl said. Ginny seemed like a very nice girl, so Valencia played along. "Are you a Pureblood?" Valencia asked, hoping the girl would say yes. 

"Yes," The girl replied. "Why would it matter?" She finished now glaring at Valencia. "I'm a Lestrange, I don't work with half breeds or mud-bloods." Valencia said with an equal glare. This was going to be a long lesson.

Draco watched on with a protective gaze as Valencia walked towards Pansy and past Harry Potter who immediately put his hand to his head in pain. Valencia glared at Harry, as he had  a quick vision of Lord Voldemort standing over him, wand at the ready to kill.

The vision abruptly stopped, as Valencia got closer to the door, and all he could do was smile; smile and hope that his secret assumption was only caused by a coincidental encounter. Snape seemed to have noticed what was going on and stopped this friendly exchange of pleasantries as quickly as possible, before asking Valencia to see him after class. 

Ginny eyed her suspiciously. "What was that about?" she inquired. "I have no idea," lied Valencia. She knew what Snape was talking about. She had seen the vision that Harry was having and she was certain that Snape had seen it too. Who else had seen it?

Valencia strode up to the Professor's desk, while Draco, Blaise and Theo waited outside. "What were you thinking, foolish child?" he ordered. "You could've exposed us! The untold damage that you could've inflicted on the Dark Lord's plan could've backfired on all of us! That was Harry Potter you have just become acquainted with; the boy who is meant to die at the hands of the Dark Lord! Do you understand? I don't want you to go anywhere near him and his little friends. They are sure to find out what we are up to if you go frolicking around with them." He banged his hands on the desk in front of him, which startled the poor girl.

"Yes Professor Snape, I understand. It won't happen again," she answered as innocently as possible, but deep down she didn't really care.

                                                                                *    *   *

That afternoon, Draco took Valencia out to the Quidditch Pitch to keep watch over her while he practiced. She was introduced to Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team captain.
"He's already graduated," Draco explained. "But Dumbledore let him stick around, since he has nothing else better to do with his life. I don't pity him at all."

Valencia was told to go and sit in the stands and watch. She didn't like the idea of just sitting and doing nothing, so, when Flint wasn't looking, she conjured up a small chess set and sat in the stands, playing a few games against the chess set itself.

Valencia watched brooms flying in all directions for nearly an hour and she was starting to feel a little dizzy. Finally, they all landed and headed for the change rooms, except Draco, who swaggered over to where Valencia was sitting. "Time to go back yet?" she asked, yawning.
"Not until you've had a go on the broom," Draco said. She gasped, "What? I've never ridden a broom in my life!" "Trust me, you'll do fine!" he said.

As night fell, and the team started to pack up their equipment, Draco led Valencia into the middle of the Quidditch pitch and helped her mount the broom. "I'm not so sure about this Draco. What it I fall off? What if..." "Just trust me," Draco interrupted. "Is a Lestrange scared?" Draco taunted towards his cousin, laughing with Marcus. Valencia glared at him. "Pshhh, of course not!" Draco and Marcus laughed, whilst Valencia continued to glare at them both.

When she was properly mounted, Draco instructed her to 'kick off'. Having only a slight idea what he meant by this, she kicked off the ground with all her might and shot up into the air. She zoomed around like a pro, thinking that she had never felt so free in her whole life. Her hair was a wild mess as it was blown around in the breeze, and she stopped for a moment to gaze at the orange sun sinking behind the trees, as purple clouds blew across the navy sky. It looked more like a scene captured in a painting rather than real life.

Suddenly, one of the bludgers escaped from the grip of Flint and Crabbe, who were struggling to put it back in its box. The bludger shot up towards Valencia. She dodged it and raced back towards the ground. As she levelled out and skimmed the grass, she managed to grab a bat, like she had seen the Slytherin beaters with earlier on.

The bludger came whizzing through the air at an incredibly fast speed, heading straight for Valencia. She flew toward it and hit it with the bat, nearly smashing it to pieces. A deafening CRACK filled the Stadium and the team below applauded. Flint made Crabbe fly up to retrieve the bludger, while Valencia landed safely on the ground below, handing the broom back to an open-mouthed, awe-stricken Draco.

As the rest of the team walked back to the school for dinner, Marcus Flint, Draco and Valencia followed in silence. "Hey, Valencia..." Flint started. "Do you... um... do you want to become our second chaser? Our other one left last year and we've been short of a chaser for a little while. And you showed real potential out there today. Would you be interested?" Valencia looked at Draco, who was grinning at her and nodding his head. She turned her attention back to Flint. "Yes. That sounds great! Thanks Marcus!" Flint smiled and walked with a new found confidence back to the castle.