TPS Part 5: Fay's Fall

He looked towards the door and there stood a young boy. "Figured I'd save you from Malfoy at least" It was Zabini! Onyx sagged a bit in relief and smiled at his roommate "Glad it's you. I was a bit afraid Malfoy'd want to get in here to sort me out until Yule."

Zabini sat down on his bed as if judging if it was good enough "Oh he wanted to. You should have seen the scene out there after you left." Onyx chuckled and sat down on his bed and looked towards Zabini for answers. "So tell me. Who's with who?"

Zabini smirked and answered. "Crabbe and Goyle joined up across the hall. Malfoy forced Nott into the room next to ours. Greengrass took the Davis girl and Moon which left Bulstrode and Parkinson."

Onyx started removing his clothes as he walked towards the bathroom "As expected then. It'll be interesting to see what changes happen after Yule. I wouldn't mind taking in Nott, if nothing else then to get him away from Malfoy. We'll see. That's after all assuming you'll dare to stay with me"

Onyx smirked and left to take a shower. When he came back the room was dark and Zabini had gone to sleep. Onyx brought out the books he would need, some parchment and a few quills and put them in the pouch he had the muggleborn books in before.

Then he went to sleep, it wasn't easy though. He was excited for what was to come, he still hadn't seen how the upper years had taken his arrival.

The next day he woke up early, about two hours before breakfast. Sadly he realized that the noises he made while taking out his workout gear woke up Zabini.

"What are you doing awake at this merlin forsaken hour? Going for a run?" Onyx nodded. "I want to stay in shape here. Those feasts are going to make me soft eventually."

Zabini laughed as Onyx put on his shirt and shorts. "Good luck man. I might join you if I feel like I'm going soft. For now though, be a bit more quiet next time." Zabini turned around and tried to go back to sleep.

Onyx took that as a sign and hurried. He took the last few things, including Tina the Bowtruckle and left with Rufus on his heels. He cast a small diagnosing charm to have a read on his pulse while running and then he went up the stairs to ground level and out to the yard.

He figured a run by the lake would be sufficient as long, as he did some intervals, and so he did just that. He ran for quite some time before taking a break by a tree and brought out Tina.

"Do you think you can find another place to live here? The magic around this castle should give birth to some excellent trees after all!" He smiled at the little creature as he saw her sit down on his shoulder.

"You know I won't let you stay there all the time. If you find a new colony, I promise I'll visit." He looked at her, waiting for an answer and soon he heard a small chuckle from a bit away. "Figured I'd run into you here Onyx!"

It was Neville. The guy had brought his workout gear as well and har gone for a run. "Little Tina won't leave you alone will she? Well I got just the tree for her" Neville smirked and Onyx wondered what he was thinking about, but he followed his friend along the path until they got to an enormous tree.

The three was incredible. Magic was oozing out of it and it was actually moving. The tree was moving on its own, Onyx hadn't seen anything like it but he knew what this was. A whomping willow!

Onyx set Tina down and pushed her gently towards the tree, hoping she'd find someone else there. He didn't dare come close himself but figured the tree might be kind to a bowtruckle, it was. The tree gently brought down a branch for her to climb up on and brought her into a small cavity in the trunk.

It went several minutes without Onyx seeing his little friend and then finally he saw a small arm waving from the cavity and he knew she was fine. He'd have to figure out a way to safely visit her in the future but for now he had to let her do her thing.

The boys caught up and told each other about the little that had happened since last. Onyx told Neville about the common room and how the Slytherins acted. Neville seemed a bit annoyed at them but quickly accepted it as he had met most of them before and knew what they were like. He also approved of Zabini. Zabini had always struck him as a bit of a side character in that group.

What Neville told Onyx about the Hufflepuffs seemed like an alternate school. They had been welcomed by their head of house and the people had performed a mental group hug. It was all about support and their values were explained instantly.

The rooms were divided however they wanted and were supplied with plenty of comforting items. An elf even met them inside their room to explain that they only had to ask and they'd be there to help. The difference was massive but Onyx didn't mind. He didn't feel like being parented and was secure in his decision.

The boys got back to their common rooms and showered. They had decided to meet up again after breakfast to compare schedules. When he got out of his shower he saw Zabini sitting on his bed, fully dressed and ready, waiting for him. Zabini looked up at Onyx. "I've been meaning to ask. What's the deal with the pet bed? Did you bring a pet with you?" Onyx smirked. "Yeah, haven't you seen him? I've brought a fox with me. He's right in front of you, you know."

At that moment Rufus appeared in Zabini's eyes. He blinked several times before holding in a chuckle. "You keep on surprising me Grey." Zabini studied the fox who clearly appreciated the attention since Onyx had been a bit more absent the last day or so than usual.

While Zabini did so, Onyx finished getting dressed "Let's go, don't want to miss breakfast!" The fox and roommate followed him out of the room and up the stairs to the common room.

The common room was filled with quite a few students by now and as soon as the boys got there, as the last of their year, the prefects started leading the way to breakfast. Right outside the great hall, the group of snakes encountered a couple of Gryffindors, Hermione one of them.

The prefects walked right past them but some of the older Slytherins in the group nudged the young lions with their shoulders and two of them fell to the ground. As one of the last in the group, Onyx of course decided to pick up the pieces left behind from his older housemates.

He reached out a hand to one of the girls who got knocked down and pulled her up. He flashed her an apologizing glance, nodded hello to Hermione next to her, and then caught up with the rest.

His fellow Slytherins clearly saw this as an act of defiance but didn't do anything currently. Onyx could hear the whispers around him though. He was surely in trouble, Zabini's sigh could have told him that as well, but right now his focus was breakfast.

After an interesting breakfast, their schedules were handed out to them. Not by a person of course. The parchments were spelled to hand out themselves by Snape so he could stay in his chair doing nothing but glare at a certain few students.

He had a few classes with Hufflepuff and a few with Gryffindor but most with Ravenclaw it seemed like. Those two houses had always seemed closest, why did the school schedule reflect that? Shouldn't they try to break barriers?

No matter. His first class was starting soon but before that could happen, he was stopped by a familiar face. "Hello Greengrass. Here to ask me something? Ask away." She was stumped by his forwardness but after a second or two got herself together and asked him anyway.

"Why'd you have to do that? Gather power slowly. Build up yourself from performances in class! Don't go against people right away, especially the quidditch team!"

She was a bit too loud and a couple of people around them could hear them. Onyx gestured for an empty classroom and opened the door for her. "I have a perfectly good reason which I'd be glad if you spread around so I don't end up in trouble."

Greengrass huffed but still awaited his explanation. "That there was Fay Dunbar. Don't you know how important she could be for my family? Why would I let her view me in any other light than a positive one?"

Greengrass looked sceptically at him, wanting him to explain further and with a sigh, he did.