My Wings Are Black

Harry rolled his eyes at Hermione as they made their way to breakfast the next morning. Ron was trying to tell Harry about the new Slytherin girl Odette and describing with flamboyant hand gestures just how beautiful she really was.

“Ron, I did notice her you know” Harry finally snapped.

Ron shrugged and then hurried into the great hall, looking anxiously around for the newest object of his undivided attention.

Hermione sniffed, annoyed, “She’s not that pretty….Is she Harry?”

Harry shook his head, avoiding Hermione’s eyes. He had briefly glimpsed the newest student the night before but couldn’t admit to Hermione that yes, she was that pretty. But Harry had learned his lesson from Cho Chang that beauty wasn’t always skin deep. He had watched the striking girl as she turned her nose up at Hogwarts as if the magical castle wasn’t good enough for her. And worse, he had seen her sneer as Dumbledore had stood up to address his students.

Apart from Malfoy, she had been the only person Harry witnessed that hadn’t shown any sign of fear or shook when the Headmaster had mentioned Voldemort. She had in fact straightened in her place by the long Slytherin table and looked at Dumbledore in amusement. She looked almost proud that Dumbledore had warned the students about protection against the Darkest wizard of all time, which in Harry’s opinion confirmed his belief in she was a Dark Witch.

“Harry please…” Hermione snapped when he had confided in her “You’d know she was into the Dark Arts by looking at her but that doesn’t mean she’s necessarily a Death Eater. Like I said with Malfoy, I hardly think that Voldemort’s going to trust in two sixteen year olds is he?”

Harry dropped the subject and half listened to Ron as he babbled on to Seamus about Odette
“I wonder where she went to school before?” he asked dreamily “Probably in Beauxbatons. They have the fittest birds in there.” He ignored Hermione’s disgusted tittering. “She’s certainly not in first year…I hope she’s in our year…I hope she’s in some of our classes!”

He grinned stupidly then glared at Ginny as she snorted into her porridge
“Hey look Ron! There’s your girlfriend…” she pointed

Ron turned along with many others to watch Odette sweep into the Great Hall like royalty and take a seat at the end of the Slytherin table. Harry couldn’t help but notice she was alone and he was surprised. He’d have thought she would have joined with Malfoy and his cronies by now.

He watched her with one eye as she pushed the food away from her, a disgusted look on her pale face and pulled out the Daily Prophet from an inside pocket of her Hogwarts robe. She carefully opened it and he face was lost from view. Harry couldn’t help but feel the smallest twinge of desire stir within him as she crossed her long legs demurely under her very short Hogwarts skirt.

He shook his head quickly, scattering the daydream out of his mind. He wasn’t going to like her. Harry knew that girl was trouble and he wasn’t going to fall for any tricks she might pull. He looked up and down the table, Ron was eating his fry and talking to Dean and Seamus about the Chudley Cannons latest defeat by the Golden Goals. Harry looked to his right and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Fred Weasley was sitting on his own at the end of the Gryffindor table. His bowl of soggy cornflakes were untouched before him and he was staring across the hall at Odette with a slightly dreamy look on his face that Harry had not seen before.

He seemed to feel Harry’s stare and looked down at him, before grinning and turning away, pretending he hadn’t just been caught fantasizing about a Slytherin.

A loud scream broke out in the middle of the Hall and Harry whirled around. Several girls were jumping on top of the Ravenclaw table, making way for a large white corn snake entering the hall.

Harry froze in shock as the snake slithered up the hall and finally came to a rest at Odette’s feet, sliding up her body to lay tamely around her neck, its tongue flickering from its mouth occasionally.

Odette hadn’t moved when the girls screamed but as the snake slid up her body, she turned and smiled softly at it and kissed its face as the creature nuzzled her like a pet dog.

She got up and glided quickly across to the Gryffindor table, halting by Harry who stiffened. She smirked and leaned closer, hissing something only he could hear into his ear before getting up, caressing the snake on her shoulder and walking out of the Hall.

“What did she say Harry?” Hermione demanded at once, her hair bristling angrily.

Harry’s mouth opened and closed for a moment

“She said…she said I was no longer alone”

Hermione frowned “What on earth does she mean by that?”

Harry looked at her “She didn’t say it in English Hermione…she said it in Parseltongue. She speaks to snakes!”

~
Odette deposited Styx back into her dorm, ordering her to stay put. Styx meant no harm, she was a good snake and didn’t bite people…but they didn’t need to know that.

She looked at her timetable. Ancient Runes…lovely. She sighed as she heaved her heavy school bag onto her shoulder and made her way up the stairs to the fourth corridor, hoping not to get lost. She really hadn’t appreciated the benefits of home schooling.

The corridors were empty, most students still having breakfast as it was quite early. Odette liked having a head start and it also meant she wouldn’t be at the mercy of anymore tedious staring students. She wasn’t here to be admired…she was here to get information.

Lost in her thoughts, Odette didn’t hear the person behind her or pay attention to the stairs she was climbing. Her foot slipped through a trick step and she shrieked in alarm. A strong arm suddenly grasped her elbow and lifted her upwards onto the next step.

She turned slightly and looked at the tall, good looking boy beside her. She hadn’t seen him before. Her face showed nothing, she made certain it showed nothing.

“Watch yourself” the boy spoke, his voice was throaty and his mouth seemed to quirk upwards when he talked so it looked as if he were permanently smiling.

She looked at him for a moment longer, noticing how his soft brown eyes were decorated with long eyelashes and holding her own stare. She surveyed his deliciously freckled face and striking red hair.

“Thank you” she said abruptly and turned walking back up the stairs, not allowing herself to look back at the boy. Not allowing herself to even ask his name