The fine line...

A/N: Hello all! This afternoon I finished the final episode of the X-Files. So, as promised, here is the next instalment. I’m gonna miss Scully and Reyes, and spending the whole time wishing they’d hook up, but as long as I’ve got Bella here, I’ll be fine :P

Stay tuned for more of my useless thoughts after the chapter…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anything But This


The start of year feast had finally come to a close and while the students began filing out of the Great Hall, Ava remained seated. To anyone who cared to glance her way, it would have just seemed as though the new girl didn’t know where to go, which is exactly what Arian supposed when she grabbed Ava’s arm and insisted on showing her the way to their common room.

“C’mon, Ava, I’ll show you where you have to go.”

“Huh?” Was all Ava said back, attention being pulled away from the subject of her thoughts over the entire course of the feast.

Arian raised an eyebrow at her. “You know the common room? And the place you sleep? I thought you might like to come up with me and I’ll show you around. Unless you think you can make it on your own…”

“The common…? Oh right, yeah, definitely. I’d love you to show me the way.” Ava said, finally collecting her thoughts properly. She tried to ignore the confused look Arian was giving her as she stood up and began to make her way to the door, throwing one last glance over at the Slytherin table.

On the way to the Ravenclaw tower the two girls chatted animatedly, Arian filling Ava in on all the comings and going of Hogwarts. When they reached the entrance to the common room Ava told Arian of the arrangements Professor Dumbledore had made for her own room.

“Oh okay, Then you’ll want this portrait here,” she said, thoughtfully, leading Arian a little further up the stairs to a portrait of an elderly lady. “Last year’s Head Girl was a Ravenclaw and she got her own room just here. You can set your own password and there’ll be another portrait inside through which you can access the common room, you can password that one as well. I guess being new Dumbledore wanted you to have some privacy.”

“Yeah I guess so. I do have the option of coming and staying with the rest of the girls once I’ve settled, but I think it might take a while til I wrap my head around things.”

Arian laughed. “Are you kidding? You’ve got your own room, and you’re thinking of coming and sharing with a heap of annoying girls? You’re crazy, Ava, keep your own room. Most of us would kill for that!”

Ava chuckled and asked the portrait to open for her. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. We’ll just have to see what happens. Wow, this place is great!”

The two girls entered the room and had a look around. It was a small room, but comfortably so. It had its own little fire place with lounge chair, desk for studying and a four poster double bed. On one wall Ava could see another portrait exactly like the one she had just entered through (presumably leading to the common room) and an open door leading to a small bathroom on the other wall.

“Yeah you keep telling yourself that, you’ll never want to leave this room. Especially with the opportunities it opens up for certain luxuries one can’t have in a shared environment…”

Ava stopped scanning the room to turn and look at her new friend who appeared to be smirking at her. “Oh great, all the people to make friends with it had to be the sex crazed one,” she said, grinning to show that she was only joking.

Arian pretended to be offended. “What makes you think I was referring to sex? I was talking about the opportunity to study in a quiet environment. So I suggest that it is you has the dirty mind.” The two girls laughed. “Oh come on, really, they gave you a double bed and everything!”

“Oh yeah, if that isn’t the green light to start sleeping around I don’t know what is.”

Arian threw one arm around Ava and laughed. “You know what? I really like you, I see us becoming good friends. But for now I’m going to leave you to it. Let you settle in and set your passwords and all that.”

“Thanks, Arian. I appreciate all the help. I guess I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Indeed you will.” Before exiting Arian stopped and gazed around the room with an impressed expression on her face. “Boy is it going to be good when Black hears you got a room as big as hers. She is gonna be pissed!”

“Black?” Ava asked, standing up from her trunk which she had just begun rummaging through, and trying not to seem too interested. “You mean that Bellatrix girl? What’s her deal?”

All Arian did in response was raise her eyebrow in a knowing smile and walk out of the room, the portrait closing behind her.

‘Well that was weird,’ thought Ava, as she finally pulled her pyjamas out of her trunk and changed into them. Deciding that she would unpack the rest of her stuff the following day, she made to close the trunk but something caught her eye. It was a book, a book she had never seen before. Pulling it out from all her clothes she realised that it was a diary, small and simple looking in its black leather binding and completely empty of any writing. Flicking through the empty pages she remembered something else; the book Dumbledore had given her.

She picked up her discarded robes and removed the book from its pocket, studying it the same way she had just done with the diary. This book was bigger than the little black one, but it too was empty. Having no idea why she was in the possession of either book or having the energy to give a damn at that particular moment, she went to sit them on the desk, intending on giving them further thought in the morning. But as she sat the down something odd happened, something all of a sudden didn‘t feel right.

Ava shut her eyes, feeling dizzy for a moment, but when she opened them they had a glazed look about them. Sitting herself at the desk she pulled some ink and a quill from the drawer and began writing in the book Dumbledore had given her. Only half aware of what was happening, she looked down at the parchment pages as the thoughts that were not hers spilled onto the pages. Bella. It was all about Bellatrix Lestrange, with a few notes on Malfoy here and there. She was confused, but her mind was too foggy to figure out why she was writing down every detail she had learnt about the Slytherin girl.

Once she was done she pushed the book aside and pulled the little black diary towards herself. She opened it up and began to write in the same half-aware state as she had with the previous book. Only this time when she looked down she didn’t see point form facts about Bella, she was reading her own thoughts about what had happened that day. Everything from the bizarre conversation with Bella on the train, to meeting Arian and all the things they talked about in her room. This one definitely was more of a diary.

This time when she had finished, she put both books in the bottom drawer, sealed it with a spell she didn’t know and climbed in to bed, falling asleep the second her head hit the pillow. When she woke in the morning, she would have no recollection of writing in either of the books or even their existence. It seemed both Snape and Dumbledore’s spells had worked perfectly…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I still don’t think this is fair,” Lucius said angrily. “You shouldn’t be able to lay claim on someone if no one else has seen her yet.”

Bella rolled her eyes at Narcissa who smiled and returned the expression. Lucius had been bitching and moaning about the new girl ever since they had arrived back at the Slytherin common room. Even his cronies had seemed to have tired of his whinging, as they had stopped backing up everything he was saying and just sat staring ahead stupidly.

“Since when is Black one to play fair, Malfoy?” Said Rabastan from his spot in front of the fire. “You play this game just as bad as she does, if you can’t hack it why not just back down?” He now had a hint of mockery in his voice. Lucius tried not to look too pissed off.

Bella just sat grinning evilly in her favourite arm chair, watching the first year who hadn’t known it was her chair try not to cry as he picked himself up from the floor after being thrown off of it by her. “Wow, Malfoy, I had no idea this would get to you so bad. If I’d have known how much this was going to screw you up I would have done it years ago.”

“Fuck off, Black,” he shot back. “You stupid bitch.”

“Oh, all out of intellectual retorts are we? That doesn’t matter, insult me all you want, I still get the girl.” Everyone laughed at this except Lucius and a few of his boys. He turned red from anger, but didn’t have anything to say. “Well, it’s been a pleasure, Malfoy. It really has. I’d love to stay up all night cutting you down but I’m getting tired.” And with that she got up and left the common room via the passage that lead directly to her private rooms.

After stripping down she climbed into her huge four poster bed and stared around the room in the moonlight. It was a lot bigger than any room usually given to the Head Girl, compliments of being a Black. She thought of her ever raging war with Lucius. He could very well win, and she knew this, but she couldn’t let it happen. She had to come out on top, she had to be first. The Dark Lord would be hers, and Malfoy would cower before her. ‘Yes,’ she thought, ‘he will cower.’

This room would certainly come in handy for all her plans for the year. Her quests and conquers would be a lot easier now she didn’t have to worry about other people being around. ‘I have all this room to myself, to do what and who ever she pleased, and all Malfoy has is a shitty single bed in a room full of other boys… I can definitely beat him. Besides, I’ve got Mendez…’

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ava woke earlier than necessary the following morning. She was up, showered, packed and ready to go way before breakfast was even being served. ‘Must just be the nerves,’ she thought. Getting restless in her room she decided to go check out her house’s common room. When she reached the other side she entered a round, cosy room full of arm chairs and desks and a roaring fireplace. The whole place was decorated in the Ravenclaw colours and she liked it immediately.

“Thought you’d be up early.” Ava jumped not having realised there was anyone else in the room. She turned and found herself face to face with Arian. “Boo?”

“Sorry, I didn’t realise anyone else was in here. What are you doing up so early?”

Arian smiled. “I’m an early riser. I was just gonna come down and see if you were up. See if you wanted to take a walk around before breakfast if you’re ready.”

“That sounds great. I’ll just grab my bag and we can go.”

It was a beautiful morning outside. The two girls strolled casually, Arian occasionally pointing out some significant landmark. “And that,” she said, pointing to a huge tree down by the lake, “is where all the cool kids hang out.”

“Are you one of the cool kids?”

“Me?” Arian scoffed. “Of course not. I was talking about the Slytherins. They who think they own the place.”

“Oh right. Sarcasm, I’m with you. So what’s with them?” Ava said, nodding towards the tree. “I noticed they seemed a bit-”

“Up-tight?” Arian cut in.

“Well… no… I was gonna say-”

“Arrogant?”

“Yeah, that’s a bit closer.”

“I assume you’re referring to Black and Malfoy.”

“The dark haired girl and the blonde guy?” Ava knew exactly who Black and Malfoy were, she knew a lot about them (not that she knew how it is she knew) but she didn’t want Arian to know, so she played dumb. Besides, she wanted to hear what other people thought of them.

“They’d be the ones. Where to begin…” Arian sat on the grass and gestured for Ava to join her. “Bellatrix and Lucius come from the two richest, powerful, purest wizarding families around today.”

“Purest?”

“Pure-blood. Pride themselves on not having a drop of muggle blood in them. So naturally they were raised believing they’re better than everyone else. Most students fear them, some teachers do too.”

‘Yes, I already know this. Get on with it,’ Ava found herself thinking.

“Bellatrix is insanely smart. She knows people and how to manipulate them into getting anything she wants. She tops most classes and if she doesn’t come first in one then it’s only cause she doesn’t think it’s important. Lucius on the other hand isn’t as smart, not intellectually anyway. He’s cunning and cruel and usually only does any good at school cause the Professors are too afraid of his family to fail him. They’re very different people, but at the same time they’re driven together by their lineage and the fact that they’re just both pure evil.”

“Pure evil? Surely that’s a bit of an overstatement.”

“They share a common goal. They’re both very much in to the dark arts and both plan on joining with this so-called ‘Dark Lord’ when they leave here.”

“Voldermort? It’s Voldermort they want to join with?”

“Yeah. But you probably shouldn’t be saying his name so much. A lot of people are starting to fear him, especially hearing a lot of the stuff he’s been doing lately.”

“That’s terrible!” Ava pretended to be shocked at this news. It didn’t come as news to her, hearing all this. But she couldn’t let on that she knew, she didn’t even know why. “I had no idea they were caught up in something that big. Is that what their ‘war’ is?”

“How do you know about their war?”

“I, uh, heard it in passing on the train.”

“Well, no. Their ‘war’ is a private little game the two of them have going on. A game in which we are all pawns. They pretty much compete to see who can sleep with the most people or the prettiest people. Shit like that. Someone plays hard to get then they compete to see who can get them first. It’s like this with everything and everyone, it’s all just a game to them.”

This was new. This was exactly the kind of stuff Ava wanted to hear. Stuff that would help her get close to Bella. But why did she want to get close to Bella? Sure she wanted her, but this was something more. It was like a nagging feeling in the back of her head telling her that this is what she needed to do. She had to know more. “Surely people don’t just give in to them? I mean, they sound like horrible people.”

“They are horrible, Ava, but at the same time they’re charming and enticing. You’d have a hard time finding someone who hasn’t slept with at least one of them.” Arian pointedly averted her eyes from Ava and looked out at the lake.

“Yeah but… Oh my god, you didn’t!” Ava stared at Arian with surprise. “Which one?”

“Both of them,” Arian replied with a sly smile. Ava just stared at her in disbelief. “Not at the same time, just over the course of the last couple of years they’ve both made their moves and I gave in. Don’t you look at me like that! You can’t tell me that you didn’t want at least one of them the second you saw them.”

“That’s true,” Ava said, thoughts lingering on Bella moving seemingly in slow motion up the train towards her. “I guess I don’t blame you. Didn’t pick you as a fan of the ladies, though.”

“I’m not.”

“But you slept with Bella!”

“So did the majority of the female population. Just like a lot of the guys have screwed around with Malfoy. It’s just who they are, they’re insatiable. Doesn’t matter if you like girls or guys, no one says no to either of them. Well, not for long anyway.”

Ava smiled and sighed heavily, shaking her head in pretend disappointment. “Well did you at least resist a little?”

“Nope.” Ava hung her head. “They wanted me, I wanted them. Why prolong the inevitable. They’re bloody hot!”

“Well, looks like I did get stuck with the sex crazed one after all.” Both girls laughed. “Should we head up for breakfast now?”

“Yeah, lets go. Word of advice though, Ava. Resist it.”

Ava looked at her confused. “Resist what? Them? That’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you think?”

They began walking up to the castle. “Yes, but believe me, you don’t want to get caught up their game. One night of incredible sex is not worth how they make you feel afterwards. And they’ll come after you. You’re a gorgeous girl and I’d be surprised if they haven’t already formed a whole heap of plans to seduce you.”

“You think I’m gorgeous?”

“Yeah, but that’s not the point. I’m just trying to warn you cause I like you. They’ll be after you but you can’t give in. it’s not worth it. At least say you’ll try?”

“Alright. But just so you know I have no intention of getting caught up with either of them,” said Ava, trying to ignore the mantra of ‘lies, lies, you’re gonna get to her, you want Bella’ that was playing through her mind.

“Yeah, you say that now.” Both girls laughed. They’d reached the entrance hall now. “So, just for the record, if you had to, which one would you do?”

Ava laughed. “Couldn’t help yourself huh?”

“Aww come on, you can’t tell me you don’t have it in for at least one of them.”

“Fine. I guess I’d take Bellatrix.

Arian slapped her on the back saying “I knew it” but stopped suddenly. Ava turned to see what Arian was looking at and ended up staring straight into the smug face of Bella.

“So you’d screw me over Malfoy, huh? This is good news. Very good news indeed…”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Another chapter down. Chapter nine is half way through so it shouldn’t be much longer for that one.

Special thanks to Taryn, this weeks favourite reviewer. Love love :)