０４． Ｃｏｒｒｅｓｐｏｎｄｅｎｃｅ ａｎｄ ｓｈａｄｏｗｉｎｇ
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𝐴𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚
𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠
𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑙𝑢𝑟𝑘𝑠
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𝔐𝔶 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔖𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔞, began Lucius Malfoy's letter to Severina Snape.
ℑ 𝔥𝔬𝔭𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩. ℜ𝔢𝔤𝔲𝔩𝔲𝔰 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔰𝔱 ᅳ 𝔞𝔫𝔡, 𝔟𝔢𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔲𝔰, 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 ᅳ 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔲𝔰 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔶, 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭𝔰 𝔪𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔤𝔲𝔩𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔶 𝔦𝔫𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔭𝔲𝔫𝔠𝔱𝔲𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢 𝔞𝔱 ℌ𝔬𝔤𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔩𝔶 𝔱𝔬𝔩𝔡 𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔣𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔬𝔯 𝔖𝔩𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔫 (here, Severina recognised, despite the beautiful handwriting and polite appellation, the pity-tinged contempt Lucius reserved for the master of Slytherin) 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔦𝔫𝔳𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬 𝔧𝔬𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔩𝔲𝔤' ℭ𝔩𝔲𝔟. ℑ 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔓𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫.
ℑ'𝔳𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔫 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔢𝔵𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔞𝔯𝔶 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔬𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔦𝔠𝔥, 𝔞𝔩𝔞𝔰, 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔲𝔭 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 (Lucius had a knack of deftly slipping requests or questions between the lines, invisible to anyone who didn't rub shoulders with the pureblood elite on a daily basis : he expected Severine to tell him about her latest inventions). 𝔑𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰, ℑ 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔫𝔢𝔵𝔱 𝔣𝔢𝔴 𝔡𝔞𝔶𝔰, 𝔞𝔰 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫 𝔉𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔪𝔶 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔞 𝔰𝔢𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔱.
𝔊𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔯 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔡𝔞𝔶,
𝔏𝔲𝔠𝔦𝔲𝔰 𝔐𝔞𝔩𝔣𝔬𝔶.
Severina carefully put the envelope away in her pocket and looked for a dark cloak in her cupboard : it wasn't difficult, as the only light-coloured garment she owned was a green Slytherin dress, bequeathed to her by her mother.
Lucius was keen to keep their exchanges discreet because, according to what he had told her, Headmaster Dumbledore was monitoring the mail sent to the Slytherins. Having already had to deal with the old man's manipulative side as well as his depreciation of the Slytherins, Severina believed him completely.
After grabbing a high-quality parchment ᅳ one of the few she owned ᅳ and a quill, she snuck out of the Slytherin Common Room and headed for the Astronomy tower. She climbed the stairs at top speed, crossing her fingers that no one had spotted her.
The stars and the moon lit up the dark sky and Severina was still amazed at the splendour of such a setting. At Spinner's end, it was always covered in thick clouds.
She dutifully wrote out her reply :
𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔏𝔲𝔠𝔦𝔲𝔰,
ℑ'𝔪 𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔩 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ'𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔫𝔳𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔧𝔬𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔩𝔲𝔤 ℭ𝔩𝔲𝔟. ℑ 𝔦𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔰 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔲𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔡, 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔱𝔶 𝔦𝔱 𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 𝔪𝔢, ℑ 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔞𝔫 𝔥𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔓𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝔶.
𝔄𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔬 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔩𝔶 𝔰𝔞𝔶, 𝔪𝔶 𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔦𝔫𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔯𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔪𝔶 𝔰𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔬𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨. ℑ𝔣 𝔪𝔶 𝔪𝔞𝔦𝔩 𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔠𝔢𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔡, ℑ 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔢𝔯 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔨. 𝔚𝔢'𝔩𝔩 𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢 𝔞 𝔪𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤.
ℑ'𝔪 𝔡𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫 𝔉𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 ℑ'𝔪 𝔫𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔠𝔲𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔲𝔰: 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔳𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 ? ℌ𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔪𝔞𝔤𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩 𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔣𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔩? 𝔏𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔢𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢.
𝔏𝔦𝔨𝔢𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔢, 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔡𝔞𝔶 𝔬𝔯 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯.
𝔖𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔞 𝔖.
Severina had not mastered the art of elegance in writing a letter as well as Lucius had. She assumed that being born into the hypocritical world of purebloods was a criterion for success. A grand duke arrived and landed on the balcony rail. Séverine attached his letter to its paw and gave it some seeds and two sickles : it was a long way to Malfoy Manor. It flew away and she watched him disappear over the horizon.
Lucius Malfoy had despised her until her second year. He had learned that she was the daughter of Eileen Prince, the disowned heiress of the illustrious Prince family, who were once as influential as the Malfoy or the Black. He had contacted her and offered her friendship, which was tantamount to protection in the eyes of the rest of Slytherin. Naturally, she accepted. This had given rise to a certain complicity which was closer to a relationship between comrades-in-arms than between friends.
A shout rang out. Severina turned round abruptly. In her haste, she had forgotten her wand in her dormitory and she felt terribly unsafe without it. She walked cautiously up the stairs and spotted a boy wearing a green and silver tie.
He had a thin face and golden hair. Very small and fragile-looking, she must have towered over him by a head. He was holding his knee with a tense face.
ᅳ Who are you ? She asked, hoping he wouldn't realise she didn't have her wand.
ᅳ I ... I ...
ᅳ No, actually, that's not the most important thing : why are you following me ? Did someone order you to ?
ᅳ Nobody ! He replied, much too quickly for Severina's taste. And... And I'm not following you !
ᅳ What are you doing here, then? Are you going to throw yourself off the Astronomy Tower? There are much less painful and quicker ways of killing yourself.
And with good reason: she had already thought about it many times.
ᅳ I... wanted to... to contemplate the stars...
ᅳ But of course, and I'm a nice girl who'll hesitate to throw you overboard if you don't tell her why you're following her.
The boy seemed to weigh up the pros and cons.
ᅳ Euh. . . Isabelle... and Victoria... Bridger. They ... Saw you coming out... and they were curious... So...
ᅳ So they sent you like a little lapdog to find out why I was leaving? She summarised sarcastically.
ᅳ I'm not their lapdog ! he exclaimed.
ᅳ Really ? Then what are you ? Nothing more than a stooge, following their orders and pandering to their demands.
She threw him a scornful pout and huffed. She saw his clenched jaw but ignored it and went down the stairs.