Dressed to Kill

The following day, the students were allowed to return to their common rooms. Apparently, the teachers had searched all night for traces of Black, but since they hadn't found a thing, everyone went back to their daily routines, as if a crazed mass murder had never invaded the school.

Overnight, the entire school's favourite discussion topic became how Black had managed to enter the castle without alerting anyone. The students didn't seem overly concerned with the fact that a dangerous criminal had slipped right under Professor Dumbledore's nose unnoticed, then left the castle grounds just as easily as he had entered them, as if Hogwarts were his own home. Perhaps last year's events had blunted their sense of danger. At any rate, everyone knew Black was after Harry Potter, which meant everyone else was perfectly safe. The only thing left to do was gossip about it!

The first thing Oleandra did when she returned to her dorm room was to check the package that had been left on her bed. Due to the previous day's events, she had been unable to collect it, so it had been forwarded to her dorm room. Excitedly, she tore open the wrapping and held up the khaki and emerald green robes to better admire them.

Oleandra quickly slipped into her new outfit and walked over to a full-length mirror in her room to see how she looked wearing the Basilisk robes. The design below hip-level was identical to ordinary robes, long and flowing. However, everything above was much more form-fitting, unlike traditional robes which obscured one's figure. The robes hung to her body by the collar and completely covered both her chest and her midriff, while a sash bound the cloth tightly around her waist.

The key difference with these special robes was that her shoulders and upper back, down to her shoulder blades, were left completely exposed. Furthermore, the sleeves were detached from the rest of the dress, covering her elbows and her forearms, as sort of vambraces that allowed more freedom of movement.

Indeed, freedom of movement was a key part of the design. With these clothes, Oleandra didn't have to worry about billowing robes getting in the way when she employed stances, which required exaggerated movements. These clothes also left the front of the neck, back, shoulders, and both sides of the hands exposed, which meant she could easily access tattoos or painted runes on her bare skin in those locations to activate them with a touch. Her upper back was a little difficult to access, but it had enough room to draw a complex sigil.

At any rate, Oleandra hadn't decided yet about which runes she wanted tattooed. It would have to be the more convenient ones in a combat scenario, who were at the same time difficult to form the stances or hand seals for.

After some time, Oleandra spotted her sister in the mirror.

"How long have you been standing there, Sis?" Oleandra asked her, blushing slightly.

"Long enough to see you try out different poses," commented Daphne. "Give me a twirl? Hm, not bad. It'd pair well with my hair."

One of the positives about being identical twins was that you could use your sibling as a mannequin, to see what clothes would look like on yourself. Of course, the Greengrass twins were no longer quite as identical as they had been. Daphne was a little shorter by comparison, and her hair had turned from black to green.

"Here's your set, if you want to try them," said Oleandra, tossing her sister a bundle of clothes. She had made Madam Malkin make two sets of robes out of the precious Basilisk hide. She would have asked for more, but with the quantity of fabric she had given the seamstress, Madam Malkin would only accept to make two robes free of charge for her.

"Perhaps later," answered Daphne, catching the package and storing it in her trunk.

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Little by little, the excitement over Black's invasion died down over the following days, and things went back to business as usual. The school's attention shifted instead to the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, which was always the first match of the season. Only, this time around…

"We're not going to be playing against Gryffindor?" Oleandra asked Draco. "Why not?"

"Have you looked outside, recently?" Draco snorted. "Just look at the weather; a storm's coming, we'll be playing in unfavourable circumstances."

"So will the opposing team, though," said Oleandra, scratching her head.

"Thanks to my family's generous contribution, we've all got Nimbus 2001s," Draco explained. "However, the enemy team doesn't. Our greatest advantage is speed, but with poor visibility, that's useless. And at the speed we're going, the rain's going to feel like needles."

"So that's why you're still pretending to be hurt," Oleandra observed. "To play the match at a later date. Well, I expected nothing less from you, Draco."

"Why, thank you," he said smugly. "And the bandages are also really popular with the ladies. It's win-win!"

Oleandra opened her mouth to tell him she hadn't really been complimenting him, but Draco distracted her with his last line. Oleandra frowned; what did Draco mean by that? Why was he talking to her about the ladies as if she were one of the guys?

"Will you be coming to the match?" Draco continued. "I heard Gryffindor will be playing Hufflepuff. Normally, with Potter on their side, Gryffindor would win by a landslide, but the Hufflepuffs have completely reorganized their lineup, so what happens is anyone's guess. They have a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory, a fifth year."

"Why not," said Oleandra. "You're going to the match to see how they play, right?"

"And hopefully to see Potter lose," Draco admitted. "I doubt there'll be much he'll be able to see through those glasses of his, and with his build and his Nimbus 2000, he should have trouble navigating the high winds."

Unlike Draco, Oleandra wasn't especially happy about the bad weather. There was a full moon tonight, and she certainly hoped the bad weather wouldn't obscure her moon-viewing party.