The Trickery Begins

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.

Betad by morde24, Atrius, Hermes, Priapus, Marethyu, Old man of the mountain and TheDonFluffles

Chapter 04: The Trickery Begins

Do I think Lucretia is planning to manipulate me? Obviously, it's how the game is played and Draco wouldn't be blatantly scared of her if she was a sweet cinnamon roll.

I'm pretty sure she was telling the truth, as she knows I could just use Draco to find out if she was lying, but was she telling me the whole truth? I highly doubt it.

But her offer? Getting access to the forbidden section and some advanced tutoring, letting me get ahead of my classmates faster than I could on my own?

Could I really say no?

I cup her breast, rubbing my thumb against her nipple as she kisses me, her bra on the floor. She gently strokes my cock, slender fingers wrapped around my length, as I mentally nod.

Yup, that's the only reason I accepted her generous offer, it has nothing to do with her shapely, mostly naked, body.

Okay, maybe it had a little to do with it, but I'm a teenage boy who just got approached by my friend's insanely hot older sister. Show me the teenage boy who would have the self-control to refuse.

Touching my first breast and getting my first real kiss, I can feel my orgasm rapidly approaching as she skillfully pleasures me, and she can obviously tell as well as she breaks the kiss and gives me a sultry smile.

"That's it, don't hold back. Cum for me," Lucretia whispers in my ear, nibbling on my ear lobe ever so lightly as she speeds up.

I've seen a girl topless before, but Lucretia's amazingly perky milky white breasts, topped with two hardened light-pink nipples, are a far better sight than the time I accidentally walked in on Petunia in the bath, or the girls in the nude mag I stole from Dudley (which I threw away because it was sticky, I just wanted to take what Dudley enjoyed away from him.)

And in this case, I can touch as much as I want, gently squeezing the smooth but firm flesh as she moans lightly. I don't know if she's faking her own enjoyment or not, but her nipples are rock-hard.

I don't want this to end yet, stubbornly trying to hold off the impending climax, I know what it feels like, I'm a teenage boy, of course I've jerked off before, but it feels so much better when it's someone else's hand.

"Stubborn, aren't you?" Lucretia says, amused as she slips off the bed and onto her knees between my legs, staring up at me with a sultry smile as she gently caresses my balls with her other hand, leaning forwards and placing a kiss on the side of my cock, making it twitch. "Let go, coat my face with your hot, sticky, seed, I want to feel your cum on my body. Mark me as yours, sexy."

Unable to stop myself as she places a few featherlight kisses along my shaft, I groan and give her exactly what she's asking for.

To my surprise, she doesn't try to avoid the incoming facial but instead leans back with a smile and almost basks in it, uncaring as my seed splatters against her face before she adjusts her aim and lets the rest land on her breasts.

Opening her eyes, a string of cum going over her left eye, she smirks up at me as she swipes it off with her finger and slowly licks it clean, making my cock throb in arousal even as it starts to soften.

"You taste surprisingly good," Lucretia says simply, leaning back so I get a good look at her cum-stained face and breasts before she pulls out her wand from her robes, piled next to the bed, and flicks it, cleaning herself off.

"Thanks?" I say, not exactly eloquent, but I'm not thinking particularly straight as I watch her stand up, giving me a sexy little smirk.

"You're welcome, shame I couldn't go downstairs and curse Flint while wearing your seed, the pain, confusion, and heartbreak would be hilarious," Lucretia says, reminding me that she's dangerous. "So, how public do you want our… courtship to be?" Lucretia asks, making me pause as she moves forward and sits in my lap, making my cock harden again at the feeling of her silk-covered backside resting against it.

It's hard to think straight with a half-naked girl in my lap, gyrating her hips just the slightest, my hands moving to her ass, which makes her chuckle.

"I think it should probably stay secret, for now at least," I finally say, even if the idea of having a very sexy older girlfriend sounds like one hell of a bragging right.

"Don't want to ruin your little scheme with Draco, huh?" Lucretia asks, making me chuckle a little.

"Something like that," I agree, making her nod, uncaring of how I'm gently groping her booty, my erection pressing against her undercarriage.

"We can use tutoring as the reason we spend time together, both magical and political, since you're rather fucked if you inherit your houses after being muggle-raised," Lucretia says bluntly. "No offence."

"None taken. Trust me, I know, I'm trying to learn what I can to fix that," I say, making her nod.

"Good, too many stubborn idiots won't even acknowledge their weaknesses, and if you don't do that, you'll never fix them," Lucretia says approvingly. "I'll admit I'm not the best at the bigger political games, so you might need another tutor for that in the future, I might even have an idea of who, but I'm the top of my year and have been for every single year. You won't find a better tutor when it comes to magic."

She's confident to the point of it almost being arrogance, but I can't deny it's a sexy attitude.

"Oh, who do you think could teach me how to handle the two houses that have dropped into my lap?" I ask, making her smirk.

"My mother, she's a Black after all. My father makes most of the decisions for our family, but she knows the game well, she knows all the movers and shakers in the Wizengamot," Lucretia explains, leaving out an important point which makes me confirm my earlier thoughts about her half truths.

"And it works for your goals, because it'll tie me closer to your family and make it look like you're doing what your father asked," I point out, making her smirk grow slightly dangerous.

"Smart man," Lucretia says, not denying it and giving no apologies for her attempt to leave that little fact out and make this seem like a favour her family would be doing for me. "You're right, of course. My parents would be thrilled if I convinced you to make my mother your political mentor, since it'd give her a chance to try and sway you to their political ideals, which would be a massive win to gain the Potter and Black votes, since Dumbledore has been voting with them while you've been in muggle purgatory," Lucretia explains easily. "They're two old and powerful names, plus your fame means a lot of sheep will follow wherever you go. I imagine Dumbledore will choke on his lemon drops if he hears you're being tutored in politics by a Malfoy," she laughs, which does make me smile slightly.

It mildly annoys me to know that he's been voting with my houses, from what little I've gathered it seems like the Potters (or at least my father) tended to vote more progressively, pioneers for muggle, muggleborns and magical creatures rights while the Blacks are a more traditional house who focus on pureblood rights, tending to vote against anything that would weaken the influence the pureblood families have.

Almost opposite in many ways, making it mildly amusing that I'm now in control of both. Technically I could submit the paperwork to become Lord Potter-Black today, as the last member of my house, but I don't want to join that game until I know the rules better.

I'd be eaten alive as I am now.

No matter which way I go politically, one 'side' loses out. If I go traditional, the progressives lose the Potter vote, if I go progressive, the traditionals lose the Black vote (though they already lost it since Dumbledore has no doubt been voting progressively since he's basically the leader of that side).

As for her suggestion, it's not a bad one. Sure, it benefits her more than me, but I do want to meet my magical family, and while I know they'll try to influence me, who wouldn't?

Is there such a thing as an unbiased political tutor? If there is, I don't know how to find them, and besides, I like to think I'm smart enough to make my own decisions and not let myself be manipulated.

Maybe I'm overestimating myself or underestimating Aunt Narcissa, but I do need to learn these things and this is killing two birds with one stone, since I want to get to know my surviving family.

If they take the manipulation too far, I'll just cut ties with them like I did with the Dursleys. I want to meet them, but I'm hardly some desperate orphan hoping to find a loving family.

Plus, I'm curious to see how Dumbledore reacts. He acts like he only has my best interests at heart but how will he act if he sees me being tempted by his political rivals?

It'll be a good test for both the Malfoys and Dumbledore, and likely end up with them fighting over me, which can be used for my benefit all the same.

"Fine, I'm game if she is," I finally say, making her smile and nod.

"Thanks," Lucretia says, admitting that this will benefit her now that I've called her out on it. She's not telling me the whole truth, but she's honest about that at least. I'll just consider this training in picking up half-truths and deception, since that's commonplace in politics. "Now, I should leave… but it's Saturday tomorrow, so~ how about I spend the night? I can sneak out tomorrow," Lucretia asks, making me pause.

It's a risk, if I want to keep our relationship a secret for now, but how can I say no?

"Sounds like a plan," I say, making her smile softly as we lay down, spooning against her (as the big spoon, I have some pride), feeling her ass pressing against my crotch.

Turning around, she plants a light kiss on my lips as she waves her wand and puts out the fireplace, plunging the room into darkness aside from the small amount of moonlight leaking in.

"Sleep well," Lucretia says, wiggling back against me as her ass presses against my still-hard cock, giggling quietly for a moment as she reaches back and grasps it, pulling it between her thighs and clamping down on it.

…Sleep well? Yeah I'm sure there'll be no problem with that.

Still, as I settle in against her, breathing in her surprisingly sweet scent, I can't deny it's better than an empty bed.

— Next Morning —

Sleeping with an erection is somewhat uncomfortable, but it's entirely worth it as I wake up to the feeling of something warm and hot around my cock, the quilt moving as I groan immediately.

Lifting the cover, I make eye contact with her steel-grey eyes as she slowly bobs her head, her lips wrapped around my cock.

I could definitely get used to this.

Despite her confident attitude, I get the feeling she isn't as experienced as she's acting, as her teeth very occasionally bump against my cock and there's a certain awkwardness in her actions, but it's also my first blowjob, and what she seems to lack in experience, she makes up for with a surprising amount of enthusiasm as she rubs her tongue along my shaft.

I'm not exactly massive down there, I'm still growing after all, and she's probably four or five years older than me, but I'm not small either.

She's probably been at this a while, and since it's my first blowjob I don't last as long as I'd like to, my fingers gripping her hair as I grunt, thrusting slightly into her mouth, her eyes widening as I unleash my load into her waiting mouth.

She recovers quickly, swallowing as she waits out my orgasm, pulling back and sitting up as she gives me a sexy smirk, some semen leaking out of the corner of her mouth which her tongue quickly laps up.

"You wouldn't stop poking me, so I decided to… take care of it," Lucretia explains, stretching as her breasts bounce. "A shame you want to keep our relationship a secret, or you could be waking up to this every morning," Lucretia says with a smirk, briefly making me second guess my decision.

But as much as I like this, I also know she's trying to lead me around with my cock. Frankly I don't blame her, if I'm dumb enough to fall for it then I deserve to be manipulated.

"Something to look forward to in the future then," I say instead, making her smirk grow ever so slightly.

It's not the answer she wanted, but she's happy to hear it anyway? She likes when I don't let myself get manipulated, even by her.

She'll be Lady Black, my wife, if her family gets their way. We'll be sharing a bed regularly for the rest of our lives.

"I suppose it is, I'm using your bath. I'm going to linger in your room for a while before I sneak out, I don't want to get caught doing the walk of shame from your room after all," Lucretia says, making me nod.

If she wants to make our relationship public, all she has to do is let herself get caught, but I don't think she will.

"That's fine," I say, watching her get out of the bed, her ass barely covered by the dark green thong. Bending over as she deliberately sticks her ass out towards me, wiggling it slightly as she slowly pulls her thong off, giving me my first in person view of a pussy, the tiny pink slit making my dick throb despite the recent climax.

She smiles over her shoulder at me, but the moment is ruined slightly as Draco lets himself in, reminding me that I forgot to lock the door last night, strutting in with his usual swagger before he freezes midstep, making eye contact with his less than amused sister as she straightens up.

I can't see her expression from behind, but I can guess at it as she faces Draco, not covering herself.

"L-Lucretia?" Draco squeaks, the door slamming shut behind him as her wand is suddenly in her hand, despite her definitely not having it moments ago.

"You didn't see me here, is that clear, Drakey?" Lucretia asks dangerously, her wand letting off some light purple sparks as Draco nods rapidly, going an unhealthy pale as his body freezes up, doing an admirable impersonation of a bobble head. "I'm taking a bath, if you get done with whatever the little ferret wants, feel free to join me," Lucretia says as she turns to me, her glare softening briefly before she throws another venomous glare at Draco.

I take back what I thought, he's not scared of her, he's fucking terrified.

Strutting away, the presence of her brother doesn't stop her from swaying her hips enticingly, drawing my eyes but not Draco's.

Actually, Draco never even glanced at her body. He's a teenage boy who just saw one of the hottest girls I've ever seen utterly naked and he didn't even flicker his eyes down once.

I know it's his sister, but I'm also pretty sure he's at least a little narcissistic and she's like an older female clone, and if I'm honest?

When I saw Petunia naked, my eyes wandered and that's Petunia, aunt or not, tits are tits to my teenage mind. Of course Petunia also noticed my staring and my chores got increased massively, plus I didn't get dinner that night.

I got my revenge, she never knew but I did. Let's just say you shouldn't tell the guy making the food that he won't get to eat any of it, it removes any incentive he has to not sabotage it.

Lucretia is infinitely hotter than Petunia, and Draco, a teenage boy, didn't even glance at her naked body, even when she was walking away.

Draco did say he found Pansy plain, and that he'd rather marry Daphne Greengrass, but I wonder…

"Really?" Draco finally says as the bathroom door closes, quietly as to not attract her wrath.

"Long story short, we might end up brothers, in-law at least," I deadpan as I pull the quilt back over my body, making him pause before he sighs.

"Of course, father told her to approach you when he found out about you being the Black heir, that makes sense," he sighs.

"This shouldn't ruin our plans, while I'm technically courting her, she's mostly just going to be tutoring me for now," I admit, making him narrow his eyes.

"She is at the top of her year, but she's also a massive bitch so better you than me," he says, very quietly as he glances at the door.

"I heard that," Lucretia shouts back, making him wince. "Harry, tell the runt to go away and come wash my back."

"You know, I was gonna ask if you wanted to go to breakfast but I'll say you slept in, I'm out of here before she decides to come out and get you," Draco says with a deadpan expression. "Good luck, my friend, I hope to see you alive and well when you return from that hag's grasp."

Before Lucretia can reply, Draco bravely runs away, happy to have gotten the last word.

I sense genuine hostility from Lucretia, and I can guess why. She's the oldest but Draco is the heir, and I've looked it up.

There's no patriarchal law that gives male heirs priority, the heir or heiress is picked by the current Lord and Lady. Lucretia was passed over for the position by her parents to make Draco the heir, while she was going to be sold off to some old man.

Somehow, I get the feeling she might be ever so slightly bitter about that, but it's just a feeling.

Heading into the bathroom myself, I smile seeing her lounging in the bath, soapy bubbles concealing parts of her body which only makes it more alluring, hinting at what lies below.

"I'll wash your back if you wash mine?" Lucretia offers, making me smile.

I don't know who decided that the private Slytherin rooms needed large baths, but they deserve a medal.

— Later —

You know, I could have graduated from my virginity last night or this morning, Lucretia has made it clear that I could fuck her if I wanted to.

But as odd as my might be, I want my first time to be more than just an impulsive fuck, and I think Lucretia respected my decision even if I definitely still wanted to play.

Given the inexperience Lucretia tried to hide, I'm even more convinced it was the right thing to do since I think she's a virgin as well. I want to be the one to pop that cherry, but I'd rather there be at least some romance behind it.

I don't know if she even cares about dates, but I do. I'm free from my shitty, and worse, boring life in Privet Drive, I want the full life experience.

But before I can get to that, I have something very important I need to do.

Looking down at the tome from my vault, I take a deep breath as I carefully repeat the pattern I've memorised from the book across the page with my wand, whispering the words I've finally deciphered.

It's no language I know or recognise, I half expected it to be latin but it doesn't seem to be as far as I can tell.

But then, I also don't speak or read latin either, I can just mildly recognise it thanks to it being used so frequently in media.

The words almost get caught in my throat, the language harsh and alien, I have no idea if I'm pronouncing this properly but something deep within me tells me that I am.

The words flow smoothly, almost too smoothly, as I find myself unable to stop my quiet chant, the words spilling out of my mouth as they grow louder, sounding hauntingly familiar in a strange way.

I only knew a small sentence, which I thought was a pass-phrase, but after I finished the sentence the words kept flowing, and it's only once I cannot stop that I realise why they sounded familiar.

Why do the words sound like something out of Lovecraft?

The words finally come to a close and I fall silent, the page shifting before my eyes as the indecipherable becomes legible, leaving me ever-so-slightly worried that I'm out of my depth, as the words seem to continue in the back of my head for a few moments more.

I'm glad Draco taught me the anti-eavesdropping spell, because I don't need rumours of eldritch chanting coming from my room.

But it's all worth it as I can finally read the tome I've been obsessing over this entire time. I had plans for today but they've been thrown aside as I shake my head, trying to dislodge the whispers in the back of my mind.

This is my family magic, and that thought alone makes me push past any doubts I might have, taking a seat as I start to read.

With it being named the art of illusions, I figured it would be about making visual illusions, but I was clearly thinking too small, as the tome starts by describing the art of fooling all the senses, not just sight or sound, claiming to be able to make illusions so realistic they're indistinguishable from reality.

Of course, that's a long term goal, I have to start small. The first spell I come across is a minor illusion that fools a singular sense, and already my mind fills with plans for how I could use this to deal with my Flint problem.

I expected there to be some mention of the Potter family, maybe as the creators of this type of magic, but it doesn't have an author and there's no mention of my family, which is… curious, if this is truly my family magic.

While I do need to use my wand for these spells,apparently true masters of the art won't require any foolish wand waving or silly incantations, as Professor Snape put it. There's no clear flash of light or visual identifier to give away the game, and I spend some time practising.

Admittedly, practising on myself was a questionable decision, but I quickly find my limits with this spell as I get it down and start working on finesse.

I can't do any grand illusions, I couldn't make myself see a dragon, hell I could barely even make myself see another human before the illusion starts to waver.

The bigger the illusion is, the easier it is to notice that it is fake, but I'm just getting started, so I don't get discouraged as I start to make a plan.

Flint's biggest advantage isn't his experience, I've already heard he's damn near dropped out from sheer incompetence. His grades are apparently garbage, and while he definitely knows more magic than me, that's not what I'm worried about.

His physical size is a problem if he decides to teach me a lesson, muggle-style, but the biggest problem is his little band of friends. He's semi-popular thanks to his position as the captain of the Quidditch team and the success the team has found under him, as he is at least decent at his job.

I need to pull away his support, and I can already think of a way to try and achieve that.

Casting my new spell again, which doesn't require an incantation thankfully, I wince at the feeling of something pinching my arm.

I can't make someone think they're burning alive, but a small feeling localised on one part of my body is very doable.

I can also 'overwrite' sounds, which my owl helped me discover. She hoots and I use the spell to make myself hear something different instead.

I could probably replace a sentence at the most, any more than that and it'd be pushing it, plus the lips wouldn't match to what I made someone hear since I can only deceive a single sense at a time at the moment.

It's still a tool in my new arsenal, something I could have used to get away with a lot back in Privet Drive.

My owl hoots again, which I replace with a dog's bark, making me nod as I'm convinced I've gotten the hang of this.

"Thanks girl, I really do need to think of a name for you," I say, giving her a treat. I've tried a few names but she hasn't liked any of them yet. She's obviously a very smart owl, but Athena is kinda cliche. "What about Metis?"

I enjoy mythology, and Metis was the mother of Athena, I think she was also a figure that represents wisdom.

My owl pauses, hopping from foot to foot for a moment before she hoots once, approvingly.

Chuckling, I give the newly-named Metis another treat, but when she wants a third I have to put my foot down. I don't want her being spoiled.

Unfortunately, she disagreed with my decision and more importantly took great offence to my accidental implication that she'd get too fat to fly. I had to give her two more to stop her from pecking my fingers, but all worked out in the end.

Mental note, order more owl treats.

— Later —

Sitting in the common room, I chat with Draco and Blaise about relatively irrelevant subjects (mostly the professional Quidditch teams which Draco and Blaise quickly come to disagreements about), trying not to show the amusement on my face that I've seen both Draco's sister and Blaise's mother naked.

Blaise is actually a pretty laid back guy, Draco says he's probably siding with Daphne in this little competition but I get the feeling he doesn't particularly care about who wins this game.

I've also heard that his mother has had seven husbands who all had a strange hobby of dying in mysterious circumstances and leaving their fortunes to her, so the fact that she's interested in me is worrying… but also she offered herself as my mistress.

She wouldn't get anything from my death, but maybe she just wants to use it as a chance to get close to me, and as hot as she might be, I'm not eager to let a potential serial killer get that close to me.

Even still, Blaise himself seems like a nice guy, but by his own words he barely even sees his mother who is usually away, he's evidently well aware of how infamous she is.

But I'm not here to listen to Draco and Blaise argue about whether the Montrose Magpies are better than the Hollywood Harpies (Blaise is a Harpies fan but most of his reasoning seems to be about how attractive the all-female team is rather than anything sports-related).

I'm here to take my first shot at damaging Flint's reputation.

Flint isn't popular, I've realised that by observing him and his group. I don't think they even like him that much, but as the captain of the team he has a fair amount of groupies, and the other Slytherin players have to stay in his good graces. He likes throwing his weight around, but only with people who are clearly weaker than him.

Essentially he's a bully with delusions of competence.

It gives him the illusion of popularity, usually in a decently sized group which makes him hard to deal with since he wouldn't fight fair if it came to violence, that'd be a problem for most people.

I'm not most people, and I've made a plan.

His little group has a secondary 'leader', Anthony Burke. He's one of the chasers for the team, apparently the best chaser Slytherin has.

Pureblood, fairly good looking (unlike Flint who looks like he's been repeatedly hit in the face with a beater's bat), decently smart. Flint clearly doesn't like him, and Burke doesn't like Flint either.

More importantly, Burke has a fairly hot girlfriend, Cordelia Rowle (or maybe fiancée, I couldn't work out if they're in a marriage contract or not).

Flint has a wandering eye problem and while he might be in charge of his little group, he's not popular with the girls.

His family is very minor, despite being a part of the 'Sacred Twenty-Eight', plus they're poor by pureblood standards. I'm a better catch, even as a half-blood, and while he can throw his weight around in school, people know he's going to be a nobody once he graduates.

No girl outside Slytherin would give him the time of day given his reputation as a misogynistic asshole, but the girls in Slytherin are playing this political game, or their families are picking their partners, and either way someone like Flint doesn't stand a chance.

So he's jealous of Burke, and he's bad at hiding it. He also makes Cordelia uncomfortable, understandable given the rumours that he might have raped a half-blood girl who dropped out last year.

Burke doesn't really stand up to Flint, guess he doesn't want the trouble or to lose his place on the team which Flint is ruling like his own little kingdom, but he gets macho when it comes to his girl. Typical teenage jock testosterone-fuelled bullshit, magic or not, some things never change.

Seeing my opportunity, I wave my wand under the table as I deliberately don't look towards the group, only watching out of the corner of my eye.

Draco's surprisingly passionate defence of the Magpies is interrupted due to a shriek, and as we turn to look at where the noise was coming from, we watch Cordelia slap a confused Flint across the face, catching him and everyone by surprise.

Burke stands up, but before he or Flint can even ask what's going on she turns to her boyfriend/fiancée in anger and disgust.

"He just grabbed my ass, I felt his fat grubby hand touching me," Cordelia says, deliberately loud enough for all the common room to hear.

It's after dinner on a Saturday, the common room is fairly packed and everyone is looking towards them at this point.

"What? No I fucking didn't, you stupid bit-" Flint starts, growing as he stands up and takes a threatening step towards her.

Then suddenly there's a wand in his face, Burke glaring at his captain as he moves in front of his girlfriend defensively, who clutches his robes and buries her face in his back.

Somehow, I doubt she's that traumatised as I start to truly understand the game Slytherins play. Flint is coming off as an unsubtle, sexually harassing brute, while Burke looks like the good guy in this situation, even as they start to argue, with Flint insisting that Cordelia is lying.

But Burke doesn't believe him, and neither does anyone else, from what I can tell. I don't blame Burke, after all he's been seeing Flint repeatedly taking glances at Cordelia (courtesy of me).

Flint, not exactly a paragon of class, starts insulting the girl who from his point of view is lying about him, and as he calls her a cheap whore (accusing her of sleeping with one of the other chasers), Burke's wand sparks.

Knocking Burke's wand out of his hand as it clutters to the floor, Flint goes for his own but Burke, a proper pureblood, just punches Flint instead, and things only devolve from there as the two wizards start throwing punches like a pair of drunk muggles.

Glancing around the room, nobody seems overly interested in getting involved, just watching the chaos, with the exception of one person.

Lucretia is looking at me from her spot in the corner of the room, glancing over the top of her book as she looks at me with a questioning stare, her eye briefly flickering down to where she can just see my wand still in my hand.

Making a decision, I swish it again as she flinches ever-so-slightly, feeling something grope her perfect backside, her lips growing into an impressed smirk as she gives me an approving nod before she goes back to her book.

Putting my wand away, I watch the fight, which is only getting more violent. It's not long until they're unfortunately split up, though not before Flint's wand ends up broken after he tried to pull it out and Burke snapped it.

Blasted apart, the two are levitated into the air as the room goes very quiet, turning to see an incredibly unamused Snape glaring at them.

Without a word, he simply levitates the two of them towards his office, the door slamming shut behind him with a satisfying finality to it.

I didn't expect things to go that well, I definitely didn't expect Snape to get involved or for it to end in an actual fight, but all in all I think this was a good start to Flint's downfall.

But it's only a start.

"Sucks to be them," Draco finally says as people start to talk quietly, Cordelia seeming to enjoy playing the victim as some of the other girls surround her.

I felt slightly bad about using her like this, but looking at her now I think she'd have probably volunteered to actually lie if I'd approached her because she's oddly happy about what happened.

Or at the very least, she's spotted an opportunity and grasped it with both hands, you go girl.

Draco gives me a small questioning look, knowing I was planning to deal with Flint but unsure of whether I had anything to do with this, I have the motive but not the means, from his point of view, but I return the look and he gets the message that this isn't the time or place, starting up the conversation (more like argument) with Blaise again.

I eventually side with Blaise, much to Draco's frustration, because if I have to watch some people fly around for potentially hours until they catch the snitch, it might as well be some attractive women.

Apparently this makes both me and Blaise 'uncultured fools who don't understand the true art of quidditch', but Draco is just being a drama queen.

I'm pretty sure he's trying to copy Snape's condescending tone, but it's less intimidating coming from a blonde, skinny boy a few inches shorter than me.

Flint and Burke don't reappear before we go to our rooms, and after Blaise heads into his room, Draco follows me into mine again.

Casting the usual charms, Draco turns to me and sees the smug smile on my face.

"I knew it, you did cause that," Draco says, making me laugh as I take a seat. I shouldn't admit it, but honestly I want to boast.

"I did, Flint will have more to worry about than me," I admit, making Draco's eyes narrow.

"How did you even manage that? Did you bribe Rowle to pull off that little act?" Draco asks, making me shake my head.

"No, it's family magic, from the book I'm always reading. It's just a little spell to fool the target's senses, I just made her feel like someone touched her ass when she was facing away from Flint. The rest was on her, I got the feeling she was waiting for a chance to slap Flint," I laugh, making him nod approvingly.

"Odd, I've never heard of Potter's doing that before, I know your father was apparently a really good duelist but I don't think the Potter family magic has ever been made public," Draco says, impressed. "Also, I don't trust Blaise."

"Because he likes a different quidditch team?" I ask, smirking slightly as he rolls his eyes.

"Terrible taste aside, I don't trust him because he's spying on us for Greengrass." Draco says, making my eyebrows raise.

"Do you know that or are you guessing?" I ask.

"I'm sure of it, he's always hung out with Greengrass at the balls most pureblood heirs and heiresses have to go to. I thought they were engaged, to be honest, but apparently they're not," Draco says, seeming rather paranoid.

"And now Daphne knows you like the Montrose Magpies, how sinister. Who knows what she's going to do with this terrible secret," I deadpan, making him roll his eyes.

"He didn't learn anything this time, I was too smart for his espionage, just watch what you say around him. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll slip up," Draco says, scowling.

I'm not gonna bother telling Draco that he sounds schizophrenic.

"I'll keep that in mind," I say simply, making him nod.

"Blaise thinks he's so smart, but he won't trick us," Draco says confidently.

…is he paranoid or am I too trusting?

— Blaise Zabini —

Honestly, the games the other Slytherins played were ridiculous, but Daphne was basically his sister in all but blood so if she was going to throw herself into them, he was getting dragged along for the ride.

So when she asked him to try and get close to Harry, he shrugged and agreed, it didn't seem that hard after all.

Plus, Harry understood the appeal of the Harpies, which meant he was a fellow man of culture, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"…that's it?" Daphne asked, making him nod proudly.

"Yup, he likes the Harpies over the Magpies, and agrees that Gwenog Jones is hot," Blaise repeated helpfully, making Daphne stare at him blankly as Tracey tried to muffle her giggles.

He was great at this espionage thing.

— Harry Potter —

Nah, Draco is just being paranoid.

As Draco leaves, I decide to spend some time reading more of my mail, working through the seemingly endless pile.

Huh, an interesting offer from a broom company to sponsor their upcoming professional-level broom, which they want to call the Lightning Bolt if I agree to put my name on it (apparently it was going to be called the Firebolt), allegedly it's going to be the fastest broom yet and they're offering a personalised one as part of the deal, but I've not even tried flying yet. Maybe I should try walking before I skip straight to sprinting. I have time to answer, since they're not releasing it this year anyway.

I pause as I read another marriage contract offer, a recent one as well that was sent after I was sorted into Slytherin.

Like the Patil twins, Hestia and Flora Carrow, their father has offered one of them as my wife (for the Lady Black position) and the other as a mistress. The contract Lord Carrow has offered has a… clause which can be best described as 'try before you buy'.

As in, as long as they remain virgins, he understands I want to test our compatibility before I make any decisions. As in, I could 'try' them both until the deadline he gave (which was when they graduate in six years) and then decide I don't want to marry either.

Apparently both girls have been informed of the clause, and know their place. He used those exact words, he doesn't sound like the kind of guy I would want as a father-in-law.

They get added to the list of girls I need to talk to, but something tells me that's going to be a very uncomfortable conversation.

I've seen those two, they were in the common room during the fight, the pair of rather attractive twins in the year above mine. I noticed them looking at me occasionally but I didn't think much of it, a lot of people look at me so I've gotten used to the attention.

Are they hotter than Lucretia? Not really, but also they are identical twins which gives them an appeal Lucretia lacks.

But somehow, I doubt they're as willing as Lord Carrow makes them out to be, and taking advantage of them like that doesn't exactly appeal to me.

Hm, if I'm to play the part of the nice Slytherin, the Carrows could be a good place to start when I approach them with this, for now it all goes into my little black book. Information is just as dangerous as any spell, and I intend to gather as much of it as I can.

Speaking off…

Madam Pince, the rather intense librarian, was helpful in directing me towards some specific books that deal in spells for scribing and looking after books. She seemed to approve of my desire to protect my books, as expected of a magical librarian.

Admittedly, I told her I wanted to make a copy of an animated picture I found of my parents, but as I copy the photo of Angelina, Katie and Alicia, I'm sure she'd understand the importance of the situation.

In the sections of my black book for each of the three girls, I now have a copy of their drunken little gift, and there's ways to copy them back out of the book as well, so I can return the original to Angelina without any risks.

Have I mentioned that I love magic? Because I really, really do.

Also, going back to Natalina Zabini's section, I admire the dozen or so pictures as I add 'shitty, absentee mother' to her notes, right next to 'probably a serial killer'. She seems like an interesting woman.

Glancing back at the picture of the beautiful olive-skinned woman giving me a very sultry smirk wearing nothing but a leather collar, I pause and lock the door as I send a mental apology to Blaise.

A very, very interesting woman.

— Bonus Scene — Nymphadora Tonks

She'd heard about the boy saviour starting Hogwarts this year, everyone had, but she hadn't thought much about it.

She was a seventh year student now, she didn't really pay attention to the little firsties if she was being honest, beyond occasionally messing with the Hufflepuff ones when the mood struck her.

But Dumbledore had called her to his office, and while she'd thought it was about her habit of using her metamorphmagus powers to get people who annoyed her into trouble, he'd instead wanted to talk about Harry.

From what she'd been told, Harry's family life in the muggle world hadn't exactly been good, and he was hoping to meet the magical relatives he had.

Like for instance, her.

Sure, her mom had been disowned by the Blacks for marrying a muggle, but they were still somewhat distant cousins and Dumbledore thought it'd be good for him to meet her.

So how could she say no? Her cute little (superhero) cousin was probably lonely and out of place in the snake pit, so she'd save him!

And maybe set him up with one of the Puffs, everyone knew Puffs made the best lovers.