Friday had finally rolled around and Vega had somehow managed to avoid Draco entirely.  He hadn't shown up to Potions class, and that was a blessing in its own right, but she still had to find a way to work on the project.  She had made the executive decision to just do it alone.  After classes, she went to the library and sat in the back at an empty table for hours upon hours.  She had a stack of six or seven books sat in front of her, all pertaining to the Vadon potion.  If she failed at brewing the potion, at least she would ace the essay on its uses and history in Native American culture.  

She hadn't realized how long she had been working until she heard footsteps approach.  "You showed," Draco said surprised.

Vega didn't bother to look at him, keeping her focus on jotting down the notes from an old crimson tome.  "You're off the hook, Malfoy.  I'm going to do the project myself."

She heard him pull up a chair and sit down.  She could glimpse his slender fingers intertwining over the wooden table.  Vega sighed and slammed the book shut, giving him her attention.  "What is it that you need?  Come to insult me some more?  Or perhaps you wanted to bruise my other wrist so they can match?  Is that it?"

His expression was unreadable, but he parted his lips and said, "I bruised you?"  His demeanor shifted as his face fell.

"What did you think you were doing?  Being gentle?  Just go," she snapped.  He didn't move.  "I'm not in the mood for your shit.  Go!"  A few heads turned as her voice raised.

"I have the highest marks in Potions," he reasoned calmly, "let me help you with the Vadon project."

"Why?  Why do you care?  Don't mummy and daddy have you set for life?  What does it matter if you pass at all?"  He slammed his fists down on the table and leered over at her.  Vega shrunk back in her seat as he raised himself up and loomed above her.

"I was trying to be nice to you.  If you don't want to get good marks on this project, that's fine by me.  I could make it with my eyes closed.  I just thought your father would have something to say about his daughter flunking classes because she was too proud to work with her assigned partner."  Vega bit her lip, not wanting to admit he was right.  If her dad found out that she was refusing to work with Draco and risking a bad grade over it, he would do worse than leave a few finger shaped bruises on her wrist.

She just wanted to go back to her dorm and curl into a ball, but instead, she took a deep breath and set down her quill.  "Fine," she relented.  "Let's get this over with," she said lowly and waved her hand as the books floated back onto their shelves.

Draco motioned for her to follow him and lead her out of the library and down into the dungeons.  She refused to speak to him the whole way, only making a sound when she caught sight of the crooked little man sweeping off the stairs.  He looked up at her and scoffed, pausing his sweeping.  "There weren't no cockroaches in my office, Mr. Malfoy."  Draco didn't seem the slightest bit phased.  "I'm watching the two of you," he threatened.

"You missed a spot, squib," Draco said with a smirk.  He snapped his fingers and the pail of sweepings tipped over and bounced down the stairs.  The man stomped his feet and chased it down.  "Over here," he directed.  They went down a different set of stairs, and Vega was relieved she didn't have to see the crooked man once he finally caught up to his pail.

"That was rude," she commented on the situation.

"He deserves it," he retorted.  He stopped at a bare stretch of wall and gave her a quick glance before mumbling, "Pureblood."

Vega stared incredulously at him and crossed her arms.  He refused to look at her as the wall slid away to reveal a dark passage.  She looked down into the darkness and back to Draco as if it was just a trick.  "Lumos," he whispered and his black wand lit up to show them the way.  He entered first, and she followed closely behind.  She wasn't so afraid of the dark that she couldn't function in it, but there was something about the eerie stillness within the passageway that was unsettling.  She couldn't imagine having to walk it alone on a daily basis just to get to her dorm.

"Don't you have a private dormitory?" she checked, wishing there was a way out of the passage.

"I do," he replied quietly.

"Then why do we have to study in the Slytherin common room?"  

Draco paused to throw a cocky grin at her.  "Would you rather be alone with me?" he asked arrogantly.

"No," she snapped.  "I just would rather not be here, where everyone looks down their noses at me."  Anywhere that required someone to say pureblood upon entry was nowhere she wanted to be.

He hummed once and kept going.  Green light began to pour through and illuminate the passage.  "Nox," he muttered and his wand light extinguished.  The Slytherin common room was obnoxiously loud, unlike the quiet sound of studying that was ever present in Ravenclaw.  She could hear boisterous laughter and a boy's voice bellowing above the others.  

"I don't care," the boy was saying, "I'll wait another weekend if that's all it takes.  Should have seen her swooning when I offered to take her to Hogsmeade."  More laughter rose up and Vega froze.  It was Blaise that was doing the talking.  She looked over to Draco, but he had stopped walking and was watching Blaise carefully with his jaw clenched.  She could practically feel him tense up beside her.  "If all it takes is a few sickles spent on licorice wands to get her to suck my cock, then I'm all for it!"  Vega's mouth fell open, her emerald eyes bulging at his statement.  

Pansy was cackling, holding her side as she howled with laughter before her eyes snapped up to Draco.  She twirled a lock of dark hairbetween her long, chartreuse fingernails. "Draco, come to play with me?" Draco didn't budge.  Pansy's eyes shifted from his to Vega and a deceitfully wicked grin split across her pinched face.  "Oops," she said, tapping Blaise's shoulder.

Blaise turned around and had the decency to let his smile fade.  "Vega?"

Vega could feel the lump forming in her throat, but swallowed it down.  She shot a glare at him and brushed past Draco, no longer caring to study for the project.  She'd rather fail than spend another second with a bunch of Slytherins.  She felt her way in the dark until she reached the wall at the end.  Her voice cracked as she sobbed, "Pureblood."

It was after curfew, but she didn't care.  She had a few books stowed away in her bag that would be a welcome distraction from Hogwarts.  She set out for the lake, hoping to see the wolf again.  The water's edge was void of all people.

She set down her book bag before bringing it up to her face and screaming into it, letting the fabric muffle her sounds.  She screamed and screamed until her voice was hoarse and she couldn't muster anymore tears.  She had never felt so alone when she was at Beaubaxton's Academy, but Hogwarts was a nightmare.  It was segregated, racist, crawling with bullies.  She hated it.

She hadn't heard the wolf approach, nor did she know how long it was watching her crumble, but she felt its tongue lap at her tears when it finally made itself known.  She hugged its neck and collapsed against its sturdy body.  The wolf let her cry, let her use it as a pillow, and then, when she was finished, it nudged her off and curled up into a ball behind as if it was asking her to lay on it.  She rested her head against its soft fur and shut her eyes, forgetting about her books entirely.