Blurring Perceptions

Chapter 1 - A Rose Among Thorns

Morgan slowly let her eyes flutter open and greet a sea of green around her.

She looked up to see the canopy of her bed, it’s silver framework carefully wrought to trace an ivy and snake design (as if to remind her as she began her day that she was a Slytherin and should behave as such), softly glowing with the light from the cloudy day outside. She slid out of her bottle green silk sheets and stepped onto the plush Ever-Warm rug. She glanced over at her roommates’ beds, thankful that they were not awake yet.

Saina Fehtinne’s bed was characteristically empty; she was undoubtedly having a ‘sleepover’ with her boyfriend or one of his friends behind his back. Morgan never understood Saina and Drew Camfield’s relationship, she would cheat on him, he would forgive her and they’d get back together, she would cheat on him, and the cycle would continue.

Morgan was getting tired of Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini’s games, it seemed as though they felt that their main goal in life was to marry a rich Death Eater and become powerful and have whatever they wanted. Not that either of them had been told no before, they just felt that if they were married they wouldn’t have to ask as nicely. It was kind of amusing, Morgan thought, that they both had their eyes on Draco and were constantly competing over him, but neither would admit it. They spent their time reading Witch Weekly and trying new magical products to make themselves more beautiful. Neither of them never bothered asking Morgan about this sort of thing, merely assuming she wouldn’t know, when in reality her mother had taught her charms to make her hair do anything she wanted it to.

Morgan’s father was a Death Eater, but not as supportive of it or as obsessed over it as many of the others and it, thankfully, stayed out of the home. When her father wasn’t home every once and a while in the evenings, she knew better than to ask where he was. Her mother didn’t approve, but stayed out of it. Morgan had nothing personally against the dark side; it was more of an ignoring of it. She felt deep down that the light was good and right, but kept quiet and stayed on good terms with all. She occasionally considered for a career becoming a spy for the light, she would never be suspected and the Dark Lord was certainly about to rise again.

Morgan walked to her spring green decorated private bathroom, thankful that she didn’t have to share that space with the other girls and their numerous smelly products. After she showered and dressed, Morgan surveyed herself in her full-length mirror. Her long black hair was straight today and the sides were pulled up in an emerald clip. Her normally dark blue eyes were slightly gray today, they got that way when it was cloudy outside, she supposed. Her skin was probably a bit paler than was considered appealing, she didn’t believe in using all those useless tanners or spending wasted hours in the sun just to make her skin darker and supposedly more attractive. Her reasoning didn’t stop her mother from telling her that she looked too white and should get more time outside, in the sun. She checked up and down her 5 foot 6 inch self, not wanting to miss an undone button or stray hair, she didn’t care what the others thought of her and it was a Saturday, but those weren’t excuses for not being presentable, after all she sure didn’t mind looking better than the falsely beautiful Pansy and Blaise, she pulled it off with a calculated grace. Morgan knew exactly what she looked like and that she would never be gorgeous, but she was what the French called jolie laide. It meant that she was not conventionally pretty but was still alluring. She was a fairly modest girl and kept pretty covered up, although her well-tailored robes still made her look pretty good. Today Morgan wore a flowing green robe that happened to be one of her most comfortable and made her feel a little better.

“Your eyes look gray today. Are you feeling alright, my dear?” the mirror said in a caring female voice.

“I’m fine, Katrina. They just lose their color sometimes” Morgan replied.

“You know that they say eyes are the window to the soul.”

“Yeah, well my soul feels pretty colorless today too. It’s like there’s something missing, something I’m not doing and should be I don’t know.”

At hearing this Pansy popped her head out from her bathroom and said in her most mocking of tones, “Ooh, is poor little Morgan sad? Sure she can learn what’s in the books, but does she have a guy who cares for her and dotes on her and thinks she is the most gorgeous creature alive? No. She doesn’t. I guess I should feel sorry for the less fortunate, I mean, not everybody can capture the affections of a guy like Draco,” she bragged.

“Stuff it, Pansy. Just go back to your little primping and put on some more makeup to cover that pimple on your nose." Pansy’s facial expression quickly changed from one of contempt to one of utter horror and she quickly ducked back into her bathroom to check in the mirror. Morgan decided she better get before Pansy could start critiquing her appearance.

Walking down the hall to the common room, Morgan thought about what Pansy had said. True, she didn’t have anybody at the moment. Come to think of it, she never had had anybody. The thought that Pansy was ahead of her in this area made her a bit sick, but then she thought of Saina’s situation and decided she was better off where she was. Pansy and Draco, a couple, yeah right. He cared for her about as much as he did for a sack of dead rats, that much was evident to anybody. It did suck sometimes being alone and hearing Pansy and Blaise’s conversations about which guys they had flirted with the previous day and how they were going to surprise their boyfriends on their anniversaries. The absolute worst was when the Yule Ball came around. They devised cute and creative ways to ask their dates and she had merely faked, although very convincingly, the flu and hadn’t gone. Morgan stopped those thoughts in their tracks and made an effort to think of something on a lighter note.

She decided that she liked green. After all, it was the color of soft moss, spring grass, lime sorbet, many dragons, and that Potter boy’s eyes. If she had to pick someone with the best eyes, he would likely win. They held every emotion in one glance. But, moving on, green wasn’t such a bad color, although it was definitely overly represented in the Slytherin dungeons.

Morgan arrived in the common room and looked around. There were only about 15 students in there, she figured that most were still asleep or getting ready for the day, it was only 8am and breakfast on Saturdays wasn’t until 9. One person she was surprised to see up was Draco Malfoy. He was sitting alone on one of the leather couches by the fireplace reading. She found this a bit odd, considering that Crabbe and Goyle weren’t around him and he wasn’t bragging or putting someone down. She thought he looked kind of intelligent, sensitive, and captivating there, sort of sexy. Then she reminded herself that this was Draco Malfoy she was talking about and he didn’t have a sensitive bone in his body, which she now noticed had really matured over the summer. His once weak shoulders were now more sturdy and looked strong, and he had grown some, he didn’t look like he really needed bodyguards anymore, and his robes hinted to a fit physique. Morgan decided that he was fairly good looking, despite his personality flaws and would be worth a little flirting, besides it would be worth it just to piss off Pansy.

Morgan walked over to the massive bookshelves, pulled down a black leather-bound volume entitled The Many Uses of Veela Hair, and settled in the armchair opposite Draco on the other side of the fireplace. She had noticed him give her a double take as she had walked by, and smiled to herself. Morgan opened to the chapter entitled “Love potions and the Veela” and put a captivated expression on her face and ever so slightly pouted her lips. She waited a bit and then leaned forward, letting the neckline of her robes slip a little low, but not so low that one could actually see something, she did have some modesty. She counted to 15, and glanced up at Draco; it was working! He had stopped reading and had been staring at her. When she looked up she smiled and he turned a slight shade of pink and quickly went back to his book. She stifled a slight giggle and went back to her book. She started to bite her lip a bit and occasionally watched Draco shift uneasily in his chair, as if unsure to make a move.

Draco couldn’t figure out what was going on. All of a sudden Morgan was being really sort of cute. He didn’t get it, the words “Morgan” and “cute” were never used in the same sentence. She usually just ignored him and sat to the side and rolled her eyes whenever he made an intentionally negative remark. Every once and a while, when the spirit moved her it seemed, she would let slip a zinger, something other Slytherins just didn’t do. He was as good as royalty in that house and commanded the utmost respect of its inhabitants. It had always slightly intrigued him that she never played those games, making herself into a ditz or constantly bragging and showing off like Pansy and Blaise did. She knew her father was a high-ranking official in The Ministry and a Death Eater and so had nothing to fear of Draco Malfoy. He noticed that with the firelight playing off her features in the dark dungeon she looked really sexy, her hair looked so soft and her skin so smooth. His father wouldn’t mind if he were with a girl who was a pureblood, rich, and from one of the best wizarding families in Britain. As these thoughts he never knew he would be having raced through his mind, he reminded himself that this was Morgan Moon, a girl who would make a conscious effort to kick his ass if he tried anything funny. He decided that if he was going to get anywhere with her he would have to be creative and real. None of that sappy winking then throwing a dashing smile crap (it always worked on Pansy), he figured that judging from what he’d seen of her personality it would be a total turnoff to her. It was an opportune time to make a move, but what? He decided to try something he’d never really attempted before, make conversation. He closed his book, looked up at her and said, “Hey Morgan. What are you reading about?”

“Castration,” she replied, still reading. Draco sat shocked for a few seconds until she looked up, smiled, and continued with a slight giggle.“Just kidding. Nothing special, I was just extremely bored and preferred not to be subjected to the torture of having to communicate with beings that consider Gilderoy Lockhart to be the most captivating man of 1998. What about you?”

“Uh, dragons. It’s pretty dry stuff.”

“Oh, cool. Draco, dragons, never mind. Here, let me come sit by you,” she got up and started to walk over.“It’s hard to hear you over the fire and those annoying 1st years, is there anywhere they aren’t?” By now she was to the couch and sat down next to Draco, “Wait, I think I can come up with a few places,” she said, shooting Draco a mischievous grin, which he returned with raised eyebrows.

Draco was dumbstruck. Was she coming on to him? Was his mind playing tricks with him? Should he play back? Was she flirting or just trying to make conversation? He decided to go for it, regaining his composure and nonchalantly saying, “Wanna go find one of those places?”

“Only if you consider it necessary, after all, they could hardly see,” she whispered into his ear, placing her hand on his leg and giving him one of those ‘come hither’ looks. Morgan could hardly believe what she was doing, they’d talked for what, 25 seconds and they were this far? She decided that she’d better watch herself.

Draco was inwardly freaking out and very confused, but was careful to keep a cool exterior. Morgan had never acted this way towards him before, if her invitation wasn’t just a joke, he was thinking he’d be glad to take it, being currently single. She’s actually not so bad, he thought to himself, forgetting how horrible she made him look whenever she decided it was a good time to fit in a snide remark. All he could think right now was that her hand was on his leg and he was glad that he had a book on his lap. He was also overcome by the extreme urge to kiss her, show her that he could be just as seductive as she could.

Morgan, extremely pleased with her results, began to trace her fingers over Draco’s bare forearm with her free hand and to move her pinky finger ever so slightly up his thigh. Feeling her fingers touch his bare skin sent shudders up Draco’s spine he didn’t know he could get. He decided that this would be the opportune time to make his move and leaned in to kiss her. It was an extremely passionate kiss and she was certainly kissing back. He never dreamed she would be this good of a kisser, she was confident, feminine, and sweet. Her one hand was now in his hair and the other one was still gripping his leg. He was just about to recline her on the sofa when she broke the kiss, looked at him as though she wanted him more than anything in the world, ran a finger down his chest and smiled at him, leaning against him, bit her lip seductively, stood up, turned, and walked out of the common room. Draco was left sitting on the, entirely shocked at what had just happened and momentarily speechless, just staring at where Morgan had exited.

Morgan walked out from the common room through vanishing wall confidently and with a self-assured smile on her face. She ran to the library where she knew that her best friend Aleena Donovan, a Ravenclaw, would be. They had been friends ever since they had both been shopping at Flourish and Blotts shortly before first year and discovered that all of their optional items happened to be exactly the same. They found that they had several things in common and their personalities worked very well together. They could tell each other anything and did. They respected each other and were there for each other in any situation. Morgan walked confidently over to the table Aleena sat at, a controlled smile on her face. Once she sat down she couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, evoking a dirty look from Madam Pince. “What happened to you?” Aleena asked.

“I am so good.”

Aleena gave her a confused look, then sudden realization came over her face. “You have to stop those, those studies! They’re not nice, that’s probably what got you into Slytherin.”

“It’s not my fault that I’m captivated with seeing why people do the crazy stuff they do, human nature is a fascinating thing.”

“But not when you use it against humans!” she whispered harshly, a smile creeping onto her lips, “So what did you do and who did you make do what?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Morgan then told Aleena of the past several minutes’ events, extremely pleased with herself.

“So now what are you gonna do? You can’t just leave him like that; he’ll go crazy.”

“This, coming from a Ravenclaw? I thought you of all people would enjoy hearing that two can play his game. For god sakes, he seduces half the girls in our grade, I thought I’d give him a taste of his own medicine.”

Aleena paused for a moment, unsure whether to state her next remark, “Was it good?” she finally blurted out.

“Oh yeah. I’m not positive what to do next. I sorta saw a side of him I’d never noticed before, if it only came out for a couple seconds, before he put his ‘I’m too sexy’ exterior back in place, that would be what I would go for. But until he can do that more often, he’s not gonna get my true personality either.”

“Well I guess I should be glad that he’s not on the same level I am in his conversational relationship with you.”

Morgan laughed, “Maybe that’s what I should work on next ”