By the time Rio made his way to the door of the common room, it was just past 10pm – curfew had just commenced.
I need to be careful of any Professors and Prefects when I'm coming back, Rio thought. Wouldn't want a detention on my first day.
Rio inched open the door, only the see the same Prefects that he had just wanted to avoid walking towards the door.
Damn! Where am I gonna hide?
Having been left with no other choice, Rio shamefully hid in the corner of hallway, just behind where the door would swing, making himself as small as possible and holding his breath. If I get caught now, this is going to be so embarrassing.
Luckily, the Prefects didn't turn around once as they walked out of the door, but Rio didn't dare move as he heard them speak.
"This has got to be the worst start to the year ever for us," a tall male said.
"Not only is Harry Potter in Gryffindor, but there's a mudblood in Slytherin too?"
As the rest of the group murmured, another male spoke up.
"Give it a rest, Marcus. He's still in Slytherin, and Professor Snape literally told us there's nothing he can do. If you mess with him, it'll only create problems for yourself."
"So what? Am I meant to get along and be friends with a mudblood? He's a disgrace to our House!"
"And I agree – but I'm not stupid enough to create problems for myself. I won't give the brat any favours. I'm just going to ignore his entire presence and life. As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't exist."
Marcus grumbled, not fully agreeing, but didn't reply, as the group of Prefects continued down the hallway and turned left, disappearing.
Finally, Rio breathed out a sigh of relief, before slipping through the common room and into the Slytherin common room before the door fully shut. After going up the spiral staircase for the boys (Ron told him that Gryffindor's left spiral staircase led to the boys' dorms), he roamed around a bit, trying to figure out which room was his. Eventually, he came across the room at the end of the hallway. All the other rooms are evenly spaced between each other, but this one's not – it's smaller.
Taking a deep breath, Rio turned the door handle, then opened it and walked it.
Although Ramson kept his surprise masked, Blaise Zabini was already sitting down on his bed, and facing him with a neutral expression, as if he had been expecting this.
The 2 boys stared at each other, as if sizing each other up.
"So, you're a muggleborn, then?"
He didn't call me a mudblood – just as expected, he can't. He is a halfblood, after all. The Slytherins probably won't make life easy for him either.
"And you're a halfblood?"
Zabini didn't respond, continuing to stare at Rio, as if trying to analyse his face.
"Your presence is probably good for me."
"I'm aware, but I doubt they'll welcome you any more just because of that."
"That's true."
The two boys stared each other down again. He's smart, they both thought.
"I've been told there's no rules against boys going into other boys' rooms." Zabini nodded in response.
"I'm assuming that you don't want Malfoy and his fools, or anyone else, coming into here?"
"Are you suggesting we what, set traps? Curses?"
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting."
"If someone gets hurt it'd be against the rules."
"It's also against the rules to enter someone else's room without permission. Besides, do you think anyone would grass?"
Zabini stared him down again. He likes staring, doesn't he? Is he trying to intimidate me?
"Fine. Do you know any?"
"Nope. Not a clue," Rio lied. That's the first thing I learnt from Professor McGonagall. "You?"
"Neither." Is he lying too? "But we have all the books we need," Zabini said, rummaging through his bag, and finally producing a book – 'Standard Book of Spells'. Zabini looked at Rio expectantly. "Sit down, then," he said, gesturing to the part of the bed next to him.
Rio sat down, and as Zabini flicked through the pages, the boys read together, and they eventually decided on 3 spells.
"You try first," Rio told Zabini, who stood up, and faced the door, pointing his wand.
"Colloportus!" An audible click sound was heard from the door, signifying that it had worked, and both boys couldn't help but smile – after all, this was their first time using magic properly and for good reason.
"You next."
"Alarmus!" Rio wasted no time and thought long and hard about what he wanted out of the spell, thinking back to what McGonagall had told him.
"It's all about intentionality, Mr Ramson. The best wizards are those that understand that magic isn't a rigid force, confined by spells – it is constantly moving, flowing and the wizards that understand that flow are the ones that can use it the best."
I don't want Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle or anyone else coming into my room. If they even try, I need to know – and Zabini does too.
Immediately after the spell was cast, Rio felt an odd sensation in his mind – like a… ping? A ring? He couldn't place his finger on it, but nevertheless he turned to Zabini.
"Did you feel that?"
"Yeah, it worked," Zabini said, causing Rio to smile even wider. It worked! "Now, the last one."
"You try first," Rio offered. Zabini concentrated, and Rio looked on in anticipation – they both knew this one was more advanced that the others.
"Claudo Invito!" Unlike the other spells, this one didn't have the same small rush of air accompanying it, and Zabini turned to look at Rio, trying, but unable, to hide the disappointment on his face.
"Didn't work. You try," Zabini said. If I do it, will he be jealous? I don't want any unnecessary problems. But, if he's going to be in all my classes, and if I'm planning on doing as well as I can, there's no point in trying to tone it down. Might as well…
"Claudo Invito!" This time, there was a rush of air – still small, but greater than the ones before. Rio beamed, and Zabini looked surprised for a moment, before looking at Rio in an odd way. I really hope he's not jealous.
AN: Thanks for reading, everyone! Please remember to COLLECT and VOTE with POWER STONES for more chapters - I'll be releasing a BONUS chapter when we hit 10 Power Stones!