Vanessa was undoubtedly a good student. Even though she was a mixed-blood, she was still well-liked by Professor Slughorn, the dean of Slytherin. Even though she didn't come from a good family, she had received an invitation to the Slughorn Club.

Slughorn never gave up trying to recruit students who had potential in the future, including Severus Snape, a second-year mixed-blood student who had been specially invited.

Vanessa was doing her homework in the common room. Snape was also doing his homework not far away. He had greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and a pale face. When he was doing his homework, he would stick his eyes to the parchment paper.

Vanessa stared at him for a while. He seemed to have sensed her gaze and looked over with a frown. She didn't avoid his gaze and gave him a kind smile. Snape's frown deepened. His hand holding the quill stopped moving. After a while, he reluctantly nodded at her.

"You're writing your thesis on the Euphoric Agent?"

Vanessa came closer and glanced at his parchment paper. She whispered, "Maybe you can add some peppermint to it. It'll solve your confusion about its side effects."

Snape was stunned. He looked down at his thesis and thought for a moment. He nodded and said, "Thank you."

Vanessa smiled and said, "You're welcome. However, the Euphoric Agent isn't a potion that second-year students can come into contact with. Did the dean give you this homework?"

Snape continued to nod. His hand holding the quill was a little nervous. He was obviously not used to talking to a beautiful senior girl. In fact, he didn't get along well with the people in Slytherin. However, he was close with a beautiful red-haired girl in Gryffindor.

"It seems that the dean really admires you. You must be very talented in making potions."

Vanessa wasn't stingy with her praise. Snape blushed and lowered his head even more.

There was some movement behind her. Vanessa looked back and quickly looked away.

It was Lucius and Narcissa. They had just returned to the lounge. Both of them didn't look too good. They seemed to have had an argument.

Because of the conversation earlier, Vanessa was sitting very close to Snape. His thin and weak body was very abrupt compared to the girl's well-developed body. Lucius saw them as soon as he came in.

He walked forward without leaving a trace. When he was nearby, he stopped and tapped his pale, slender fingers on the table. Snape looked up and lifted his chin slightly, revealing an elegant smile.

"Severus, why didn't you go to the Dean's party today?"

After he finished speaking, he quickly glanced at Vanessa. Narcissa was standing next to him. Even if Lucius deliberately didn't look at Vanessa, he couldn't ignore the girl sitting next to Snape.

Vanessa was really beautiful. Otherwise, with her excellent grades, she wouldn't have had such a bad life with Slytherin, who worshipped not only bloodlines but also strength.

Even if she usually tried to keep a low profile, she would still attract the attention of many men when she appeared. Even those who already had girlfriends or were engaged couldn't help but look at her a few more times.

Under such circumstances, it was too difficult for her to get any benefits from her female classmates.

For the past six years, Narcissa's fiancé, Mr. Malfoy, played a big part in her being able to study and socialize with a smile.

"I have something else to do today."

Snape lowered his eyes and explained with difficulty why he didn't go to the party. He didn't want to mention that he had an argument with Gryffindor's gang of robbers because of Lily and almost got into a fight in the corridor.

"Is that so?"

Lucius drawled. His every move was full of aristocratic aura. He might know everything, but he didn't expose him. His cold grayish-blue eyes took one last look at Snape and said softly, "If you need help, you know how to find me."

After he finished speaking, he turned and left. The hand with the silver snake ring slowly clenched into a fist. Vanessa didn't see it.

She kept her head down and did her homework obediently. Even if they were so close to each other, she seemed to be automatically isolated and didn't want to get involved at all.

Lucius left, but Narcissa didn't leave so quickly. She and Vanessa were in the same grade. She sat next to her and looked at her with one hand supporting her cheek. Vanessa couldn't continue to pretend to be stupid.

She slowly raised her eyes and looked at her with her green eyes in confusion. "Miss Black, what's the matter?"

Narcissa raised her hand. Just when Vanessa thought she was going to be in trouble, her hand unexpectedly fell on her soft and smooth blonde hair. She was stunned and looked at her in surprise. Narcissa smiled slightly and said in a low voice, "You are indeed very beautiful, Miss Albert."

After a moment, she withdrew her hand and stood up. She bent down slightly and whispered in Vanessa's ear in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Even I am almost tempted by you."

Vanessa didn't know why she said that. She sat there in a daze. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Narcissa get up and leave as if nothing had happened. She casually went back to the dormitory with Miss Gryffindor.

Vanessa pursed her lips. She wasn't sure why Narcissa was acting like this, but she was sure that she didn't know what happened in the abandoned classroom not long ago.

Slowly putting down the quill, Vanessa gave up on doing her homework. She packed up her things and went back to her dormitory.

Because of the number of students, there was only one dormitory for two people in her grade, which was her and Anji's dormitory.

Anji went out on a date and probably wouldn't come back before the curfew. Vanessa put her bag on the bedside table. She sat on the edge of the bed and thought about everything that had happened this year. She felt that something was wrong.

She couldn't figure out what the problem was, so she stopped thinking about it and continued to do her homework.

The next day, there was a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. This year, Gryffindor had a new suitor, James Potter. He was very good at flying and had already defeated Ravenclaw before his match with Slytherin.

Vanessa didn't like this sport very much. It seemed too dangerous, but she was still dragged by Anji to watch the match because her boyfriend was the suitor of Slytherin's Quidditch team. She had always been very enthusiastic about Quidditch matches. She came to watch the matches almost every month and never missed her training. As her friend, Vanessa was always dragged along.

Vanessa sat in her seat. There were many people who came to watch the match. Everyone was very excited and jostling. To be honest, no matter how many times she had experienced it, Vanessa was still not used to it. She frowned and endured the jostling. After a while, the surroundings suddenly quieted down and it wasn't as crowded. She looked back in confusion. Lucius was in the back row, staring at the match expressionlessly.

Vanessa's heart skipped a beat. She looked away and tried to focus on the match. Potter was really good at flying, and Slytherin's fighting style … wasn't very gentle. It was even a little barbaric. Vanessa frowned. She nudged Anji beside her and left first.

There was a Potions class in the afternoon. She carried her bag and wanted to go to the classroom early. Halfway there, she met Lucius, who was also rushing back.

Vanessa paused. He was in front of her, probably a little earlier than her. She deliberately slowed down to increase the distance between them. In fact, after what had happened in the classroom that day, she had been thinking about it impulsively. After regaining her rationality, she consciously reduced the chances of meeting Lucius. But unfortunately, they had been accidentally bumping into each other recently.

Vanessa bit her lip and stopped in her tracks. At the same time, Lucius, who was in a hurry, also stopped in his tracks.

He turned around, his gray-blue eyes slightly narrowed as he stared at her from afar. Then, he walked back step by step until he stood in front of her.

"Miss Albert," he said, his tone cold. "What a coincidence."

He didn't seem to mean "what a coincidence". Vanessa hesitated for a moment, but still explained, "I didn't follow you, Captain Malfoy. This is really a coincidence …"

She thought that maybe she needed to explain that what had happened in the abandoned classroom was mostly an accident caused by impulsiveness. She would never pester him because of this, and he didn't need to worry about her. But when the words reached her mouth, she looked at his handsome and pale face and couldn't say them out loud.

He probably wasn't worried about her pestering him at all. He could get rid of her without any effort if she bothered him.

Because most of the students had gone to watch the competition, there was no one in the corridor. When Lucius stepped forward, Vanessa had to look up to meet his eyes. She actually dared to look into his eyes at this moment. She really felt like a brave warrior.

He didn't seem to be in a good mood. It was very strange. Vanessa thought for a moment and continued, "I will try not to appear in front of you in the future. Don't worry, I …"

Before she could finish, her chin was grabbed by a cold hand. She looked at him in astonishment. He said in a low voice, "Really?

Try not to appear in front of me?

Very well, Albert, we'll do as you say. But we have to give this a little punishment to make it seem more reliable, right?

If you appear in front of me again, what punishment do you want to receive? "

Vanessa gasped and leaned against the corridor wall. She tried to stand on her tiptoes so that her chin wouldn't be so uncomfortable. "… But we're students of the same school. I can only try to avoid you. I can't guarantee that I won't appear at all …"

"If you can't do it, then don't make rash promises."

The hand on her chin loosened. Lucius Malfoy looked down at her condescendingly and snorted. "Wait for me at the door of the Room of Requests at eight o 'clock tonight."

After that, he turned and walked away. His black school robe fluttered in the wind. Vanessa reached out to touch her chin that was hurting from his grip. Goosebumps rose all over her body.

In the common room.

Narcissa looked at Lucius who had returned and whispered, "Bad mood?

What happened? "

Lucius glanced at her indifferently. "Give some of your concern to Andomida, Narcissa. She's really close to that bastard."

He still remembered to maintain his poise. He didn't even say the word "bastard" even though his eyes were full of disdain.

Narcissa frowned and stood up. "What do you know?"

"You should really go and see how they hug each other."

Lucius dragged out his tone and said sarcastically, "That's really wonderful. I can't wait to send them my blessings for their wedding."

Narcissa's face turned ugly. "Enough. I'll ask clearly."

"I hope so."

After saying that, Lucius left. Narcissa stood in place with an ugly face. Not long after, another figure appeared behind her. After a moment of silence, he grabbed her hand under her school robe.

"Sissy," he said softly.

Narcissa suddenly turned around. "Rozier."

"What happened?"

Narcissa quickly shook her head and said a few perfunctory words before returning to the female dormitory.

She had to find Andomida to prove something.