章 45: Hallows Eve Aftermath

The morning after the Halloween Feast, Rowan sips warm tea for breakfast. On the other hand, Severus looks rather tired and pale after last night's feast. He may have eaten an entire sack of sweets and is now feeling the aftereffects.

"Thank goodness that the Halloween feast was on a Friday," Rowan gingerly thought to herself. At least they would have the weekend to get back on their feet after a sugar-filled night. Indeed, far too much sugar had been ingested by the entire student body.

Even at the later hour, the Great Hall is notably empty as most of the student body had partied a little too hard last night and are still in bed. Among them is Prefect Wilkes, who had joined the Irish Jig dancing contest and won. And as such, it was quite an utter shock to many that Wilkes could still walk back to the dorm on his own two feet without the aid of anyone.

A flurry of sounds can be heard from overhead as Severus's large, great-horned owl halts before them. Rowan takes the newspaper from the owl's mouth and says, "You did well."

Owyn preens his feathers with great pride as Severus merely grunts at the early hour. "I'll stop by the Owlery later and give you a treat," Rowan murmured causing Owyn to gently rub his beak against Rowan's hand, before fluttering away.

"He never does that to me," Severus grumbled green with envy.

"That's because, he knows who his real master is," Rowan snickered.

"Grandfather bought him for me!" Severus snapped, before painfully clutching his head at the sudden burst of pain in his already aching head.

"What is yours is mine and what is mine is yours," Rowan staunchly replied.

"Then why do you never share your candy with me, hmm?" Severus pointedly grumbled.

"Food is off-limits when it comes to my sisterly love," Rowan solemnly retorted.

Severus rolls his eyes as Rowan says, "Take a sip of the chamomile tea, it will help with your headache." Severus sighs and does as he is told as he frowns at the bittersweet taste. After a sip or two Severus's eyes widen in blatant disbelief the headache dulls. Not wanting Rowan to be that much smugger, Severus remained silent on the subject as he gulps down the rest of the tea.

Finished eating a light breakfast, Rowan says, "Shall we head back to the common room to rest?"

Severus agrees as the two exit the Great Hall heading down the winding stairs towards the dungeons. Abruptly a loud cry of pain is heard in a side corridor. Instantly Rowan follows the source of the sound followed reluctantly by Severus.

Around the bend they find Mary being surrounded by Quyen Cowley and her gang. "Pick your things up, you, useless muggleborn witch," Quyen sneered. But every time Mary tried to grab her things, Quyen and the other two girls would purposefully knock down whatever Mary had in hand.

Rowan slowly reaches for her wand. "What are going to do, Rowan?" Severus worriedly whispered.

"Oh, just a nasty little hex," Rowan grumbled as she cast Petrificus Totalus! Quyen and her gang suddenly find they are frozen stiff as Mary's mouth flops open as she meets the eyes of Rowan and Severus around the corner. Rowan motions to Mary to keep quiet as understanding dawns on Mary's face. Mary hastily grabs her things and flees as Quyen and her gang remain frozen stiff in embarrassment.

With a cheerful smile, Rowan motions Severus to follow her back to the common room area as Severus says, "You know they'll eventually figure it was you."

"Maybe or maybe not," Rowan cheerfully said. Severus rolls his eyes as they enter the common room area and find that the common room area is almost empty except for a few older Slytherins, who are loudly snoring passed out on the couches after a late night.

Rowan as usual eyes the green-like windows as schools of fish passed by with watchful eyes. "Did I mention that I don't like no good overly watchful fish?" Rowan idly commented.

"Yes, on a regular daily basis," Severus drily said. "I'm going back to bed to lie down for a bit."

"Alright then, see you later," Rowan replied as she grabs her tabloid from under her arm.

Severus heads upstairs as Rowan begins to read the Daily Prophet. Nothing of interest is on the front page or the next as she skimmed through the moving images and news articles. Hearing footsteps, Rowan glanced up to see the Slytherin Head Boy, Lucius Malfoy. Doing her best to hide her smirk, she lowers the tabloids and coolly says, "It looks like I won our bet."

"Yes, it would seem so," Lucius truthfully said as he took the opposing seat across from her.

The two are quiet for a moment as Lucius says, "But what I don't understand is how such a cunning witch such as yourself ever became friends with a Mudblood like Evans and those insipid Gryffindor's."

Rowan kept a poker face and coolly answered, "Is it not the best plan to hide in plain sight?"

Lucius blinked in surprise before coldly laughing. "Well, you certainly are the embodiment of the Slytherin values, both cunning and sly."

The two cautiously study each other for a moment before Lucius rises to his feet. "I will hold my end of our bargain and disband our impromptu meetings including forbidding any talk of joining Tom Riddle as I shall use your persuasive argument to aid me in my endeavor. However, I must point out that more than a few fervent Slytherins will remain loyal to his cause and may continue to seek out opportunities to join him."

"Malfoy are you and Narcissa Black among those loyal followers?" Rowan pointedly inquired.

"A Malfoy will never bow down a mere half-blood," Lucius arrogantly declared, "and nor will Narcissa." Lucius briskly nods to Rowan Prince, before rather elegantly striding out of the common room area.

Rowan watches his figure vanish to only feel an unsettling feeling of being watched. She glanced up to only find a giant squid eye larger than a basketball staring at her from the lake window. She vehemently shivers and shoos the squid away through the enchanted glass. Abruptly, the squid squirts out a cloud of ink and vanishes into the inky cloud to Rowan's great relief.

Much more relaxed, Rowan leans back into her seat. The first step had been successfully taken. The attack on the Ministry of Magic had been thwarted. And more importantly, the indoctrination of Slytherins would not occur. Slytherin as a whole would not become the next of Death Eaters. There will without a doubt always be exceptions but is that not always the case. It is a good start and that is enough for the moment.