Deception

School seemed to be going by in a flurry after the first week. Amara was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed with her school work that she found herself hardly having any free time. Despite the fact that she didn’t actually enjoy school, she knew better than to fail.

Plus, Jonathan would have a heart attack.

Soon it was nearing the of September and Amara was starting to realize that her plan to entice Draco Malfoy was failing horribly.

She’d like to blame Pansy Parkinson, but in all honesty she wasn’t the problem. Yes, she was annoying, and yes, she followed Draco around. But Parkinson never really seemed to have a problem whenever Amara was around.

Probably because Parkinson knew Amara wasn’t getting anywhere with Malfoy.

At this point in time the only thing Amara could look forward to was the trip to Hogsmeade in the beginning of October. Hopefully by spending time with Malfoy she could learn more about him and perhaps wiggle her way into his life a little better.

It was a cold Saturday afternoon and Amara found herself sitting next to Fran in The Great Hall picking at her lunch.

Nicole and Gabby sat across from them, both of them having hardly touched their meals. Gabby was too busy gossiping with Fran and Nicole tended not to eat much anyways.

“So, Professor Umbridge becoming High Inquisitor - that’s something huh?” Fran said, her brows rising high on her forehead. “As if we needed even more reason for her to boss everyone around.”

“I find it in inconvenience more than anything,” Nicole muttered, pushing her plate away. “Her showing up to watch are lessons tends to be a bit distracting.”

Amara sighed, tearing her eyes away from her friends and looking towards the Slytherin table, hoping to spot a certain blond haired boy. However, as she suspected, he wasn’t there.

“So, Granger talked to you two right?” Amara heard Fran whisper.

Amara glanced over at her, then towards Nicole and Gabby, both of which were nodding their heads. “What about Granger?”

Fran’s face turned a bright pink as she gave her friend a sheepish smile. “Oh, nothing.”

“No, really.” Amara persisted, narrowing her brown eyes slightly.

Fran looked towards Nicole and Gabby with a weary look. Gabby avoided her gaze and Nicole just shrugged her shoulders. Letting out a loud sigh Fran focused her attention back on Amara.

“Look, you can’t tell any one,” Fran said, glancing around the room as if somebody were listening to them. “But, Potter is going to be teaching us a few things.”

Amara furrowed her brows, a frown on a her lips. “But why can’t I know about this?”

Fran bit her bottom lip, looking quite uncomfortable. Her blue eyes glanced around the room, trying to avoided Amara’s penetrating stare. “Well, because you’re in Slytherin…”

“But I’m not like-”

“I know,” Fran cut her off, holding up a hand to silence her. She gave a quick glance towards Nicole and Fran and quickly continued. “We know that you are nothing like those Slytherins. I mean, you aren’t malicious, or cunning, or even greedy. We know this, but others don’t.”

Amara crossed her arms over her chest. “I promise to behave.”

“I’m sorry,” Fran said, a sympathetic look on her face. “We just, can’t. Nobody would accept you.”

“Fine.” Amara muttered stabbing her mashed up food with a fork, a bitter look on her face.

“If it was up to us, you could go.” Gabby said, her curly hair plated to the side. She gave Amara a worried look, as if not quite sure how to cheer the angry girl up, but was going to try anyways. “You know how we don’t like excluding you.”

Amara let out a sigh, letting go of her fork so that it clanked loudly on her plate. “I know. So what exactly is this meeting about? What is he teaching you?”

The look on all three of her friends faces told her that they would rather not talk about it. As the three of them seemed to be having a mental debate with one another, Amara shifted in her seat and gave Fran what she hoped was an innocent look.

“Like I said, top secret.” Fran said, leaning closer to Amara.

Amara smirked. “Who would I tell?”

Fran gave her an apprehensive look before continuing. “So, basically he’s going to be teaching us a few defensive spells. You know, stuff we should be learning in Defense Against the Dark Arts?”

“Oh?” Amara’s curiosity peeked. She sat up straighter in her seat and gazed intently at Fran. “Do tell more.”

“Well, we don’t really know much. Just that Granger was letting a few people know…”

“Hmm…” Amara pursed her lips as she thought this over.

“We can’t let anyone know,” Fran said quickly, her face flushed with worry. “Especially Professor Umbridge. If she found out, we’d all be in trouble.”

“Of course,” Amara replied, waving the worry away.

“Good,” Fran said and let out a breath of relief, a smile finally returning to her lips. “And I am sorry that you can’t go, but you understand don’t you?”

“Sure.” Amara shrugged and gave her friend a smile to let her know all was well.

“See, we can always count on you to understand.” Gabby gave them all a large smile. “That’s what makes you so great.”

“I’m not great.”

“No, you aren’t,” Nicole agreed, taking a bite out of her apple. She smiled at Fran’s and Gabby’s stricken faces before looking at Amara. “But you are the best Slytherin I know.”

“Thanks…” Amara grinned, though she didn’t really care whether her friends thought she was great or not.

No, as her friends began talking among themselves once again, Amara’s mind began to wonder to the Hogsmeade trip. She had to spend time with Malfoy. But there was this Potter thing she wasn‘t welcomed to.

As she thought about this, she questioned how she was going to possibly be in two places at once.