Chapter 15. Ultimatum

Before Lucas came back to his room Pansy decided to enter his room again. His lie to Draco, combined with the hissing she heard in the room compelled her to check. Entering inside, she glanced around the room for any changes. He wasn’t inside for very long, so whatever he did inside should have been obvious. Her eyes traced around his large trunk all students had to carry everything they might need for school. Nothing else seemed to have changed so Pansy thought he must have done something with his luggage or something else that could be hidden inside easily.

However a loud hissing noise froze her in place as her hand touched Lucas’s trunk. Pansy slowly moved her head in the direction she heard it from and noticed two gleaming blue eyes piercing the darkness to see her. “Hi…” She shakily said in a scared attempt to ease the creature. The hissing slowed and the creature slithered from inside the tank it was inside, letting Pansy see its blackened scales.

Pansy took a minute step back in fear of the snake, however the look the snake had made her stop. The tilt in its head as it sized her up was less predatory and more of interest and curiosity. The snake hissed again, but it was more chirpy while its tail wagged against the table it was on. Pansy took a step forward, however the snake didn’t hiss in angst or fear of her approach. Seeing that, she continued until she stood right beside the desk the snake was on.

Pansy slowly moved her hand out as the black snake looked at her. He then looked down at her hand and licked it to smell her. She held back a sputter while the snake did this, making sure to be quiet and still. Pansy did know a bit about snakes because of her family explaining how snakes were their and her house. However this was the first time she had seen one this close. The snake then rubbed its head against her hand while hissing in a higher pitch that seemed almost happy.

Pansy chuckled a bit at the scene that unfolded before her, and began to understand Lucas. He never hissed, it was his pet snake. One that she understood couldn’t be known by the staff or they might take it away for the year. He clearly kept it under his clothes explaining almost everything about him. Except for his strange behavior she had seen before. The weird expression Lucas had on after he asked that strange question. ‘My answer was exemplary, I wasn’t wrong…’

Pansy was lost in thought for a bit, until the snake tensed up. She looked down and saw the snake quickly go back inside its small habitat. Pansy was confused as to why the snake acted that way, until the door to the room started moving. The owner was unlocking his door, and Pansy had no way out. Out of pure instinct, Pansy lept under the bed and held her breath as the door quickly opened and closed behind Lucas. Pansy only saw the familiar shoes of student’s enter inside, accompanied by the strange hissing coming from both Lucas and the snake.

Pansy shook as the sounds of hissing sounded almost like communication. A sudden thought came to Pansy’s mind, one that her parents told her about Slytherin heritage. Some pure bloods, able to trace their lineage back to Salazar himself, could speak to snakes. It was something that was inborn and looked down by others in the lower classes.

Just as Pansy started to listen in more, wanting to see if she might gain clues as to what else Lucas might be hiding. However to her horror, as she moved to listen better, she bumped her foot on the bed.

I stared into Pansy’s eyes, my thoughts running through my mind of what best to do. I eventually settled on one question. “What are you doing here?” Pansy looked away, not able to keep eye contact with me as she failed to come up with an answer. “Do you speak parseltongue?” I asked next, causing her to snap her head at me, her gaze told me instantly she didn’t know what I spoke. “Fine… What did she do?” I turned around to ask Val as he slithered from his tank.

Val slithered onto my arm, however he was on the outside of my clothes this time. “She played with me for a bit. She’s nice.” I clicked my tongue, inwardly relaying her answer to me in my mind as she slowly got up from under my bed. I sighed, needing to have her keep this a secret from the teachers. ‘She doesn’t know what I said to Val. That’s good. However I still need to find a way for her to keep Valdemar a secret.’

After nodding I looked back at Pansy, she jumped a bit as she glanced between Val and I. “This is Valdemar.” Val hissed his hello as I moved my arm towards hers. Pansy seemed a little on edge, however Val licking her hand caused a smile to form despite her best efforts. “The school doesn’t allow him to be here, so I smuggled him in.” Pansy nodded, but let out a surprised 'Eep' when Val started to slither up her sleeve. She held as still as possible, but shivered from the strange stimuli. “Sorry, Val! Get back out here.” “Ok…” Val whimpered as he made his way back out.

Pansy gave a chuckle once Val was on Lucas’s arm again. ‘So it really was just his pet hissing under his cloak. I almost feel foolish for imagining something darker.’ She thought, before also remembering back to the first night, when he was dragged down in the icy waters, and when he smiled happily at the abyssal creature under the waves. “The giant thing under the water, that’s your pet too?” Lucas shook his head and chuckled a bit from Val’s hissing. “No, I met Abarrane that night, and we became friends.”

Pansy couldn’t believe that in the time he was under the waves, he became close to something so terrifying. However something else bothered her. “Why did you yell then?” Lucas’s expression darkened, hardly noticeable under the dim lights, but Pansy noticed his hand becoming a fist. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally answering. “My parents… Are opposed to all magical creatures. If they hear wind of my closeness… I may change schools.”

That last part struck a chord with Pansy. After seeing what she might learn from Lucas, and this new happy expression she had witnessed when Lucas looked and spoke to Valdemar. Pansy didn’t want Lucas to go. ‘But my parents always told me to never do anything for free.’ With a nod Pansy decided what she wanted to do with this new information. Completely forgetting that strange question Lucas had asked before, and his weird reaction. Focusing on gaining from this secret for her own self interests.

After placing Val back inside his small pool, I turned around to see Pansy smiling at me. It seemed to be a bit mischievous, but warm regardless. “Then, I’ll keep Valdemar, and Abarrane a secret.” She said giving me hope that I might still be able to graduate here without having to deal with the wrath from my parents. “But!” However Pansy pointed her finger close to my face, her mischievous smile grew with what she was about to say next. “You will help me study magic!”

I thought for a moment about her conditions for keeping my secret. ‘She doesn’t know about my mudblood beliefs, but this is still not great. If my parents hear about being close with magical creatures, father may still have me kicked out. I made that up to get her sympathy (A trick my mother taught me), however with further thought it does seem likely…’ I knew that she might change the terms of keeping my secret, but the amount she wanted now seemed reasonable.

I nodded my head with a smile. “Deal. We can study together.” Pansy then glanced at the clock in the room. I did the same to check the time, seeing a few hours before curfew. “Then let’s start now, I’ll get my things. We’ll study in your room. I don’t want others profiting off of my gain.” I scoffed as she left my room, seeing her in a nicer light. “See? She is nice.” Val said in an uppity tone making me roll my eyes. “Yes, she may be better than most Slytherins…” I didn’t say that I admired her more tactful behavior, not wanting to teach Val darker values.

It wasn’t long before Pansy came back with her things to study on what we learned today. There were no ingredients for potions, so all we did was just go over what ingredients had what effects. After that, we began focusing on the spells we learned today. Helping Pansy further with her magic control wasn’t too difficult, she seemed to have a simple time doing what I suggested and the results spoke for themselves.