Pondering Thoughts
Harry stared at the Daily Prophet. God... It seemed that all these
disasters were happening at once. First Voldemort and now... this. He knew
that it was America and all and they were muggles so it didn't really effect
him that much, but... all those people... dead. Hmph. Who needs Voldemort?
Osama Bin Laden was bad enough... those muggles were killing themselves
off, and Voldemort didn't have to raise a finger. He sighed. Well, there
was nothing he could do. It wasn't as if the whole wizarding world
wasn't expecting him to take on Voldemort and save their lives. But still...
Classes had been canceled due to the tragedy. He would not have much to
take his mind off things. Harry got up and told Ron and Hermione he was
going to go fly a bit on the Quidditch field. They said OK and returned
to their discussion with the others about the same thing that was on Harry's
troubled mind.
As Harry stood up he looked over the Great Hall
and it's inhabitants. Some people were in heated discussions. Others
were quiet, eating their breakfast in thoughtful silence, contemplating.
Still others-the more sensitive or those people who had relatives that
lived in or were visiting America- were crying. A lot of people weren't
there; some people had gone home in mourning if they had lost a loved
one who might have been visiting or had lived there; some people had just
not showed up. Ginny was not here. Harry suspected she was in her room.
Colin looked worried. He had been asking Ron about Ginny all morning. When
Ron replied that he hadn't seen her and asked why, Colin had just brushed
him off by saying it was for a club and it wasn't important. On any other
day, Harry might have laughed. So Ron's predicted Harry Potter fan club
had become true. He might just become the next Professor Trelawney. Harry
might have said as much- any other day. Colin hadn't even tried
to say hi to him today. It seemed as if he had completely ignored Harry.
Harry knew he was just thinking about what had happened and that soon he
would be back to normal. Harry, deciding that he might try and cheer him
up, said "hi," to Colin. Colin replied "hello" but he seemed distracted.
Harry didn't blame him.
The Slytherins had lost their usual cockiness. Pansy
Parkinson and Mulicent Bulstrode were talking quietly. Another Slytherin
in his fourth year looked furious-the Slytherin equivalent to tears in
public from what Harry knew. Even Malfoy seemed to have realized what had
happened. He sat at the head of the table, silent, a copy of the Daily
Prophet sitting in one hand and a spoon for his cereal in the other. He
stirred the cereal but he didn't seem to be eating it. He hadn't even touched
his muffin. Crabbe and Goyle were just as quiet as Malfoy, though Harry
doubted they were thinking about what had happened and it's effect on the
world. They were probably just at a loss at what to do without Malfoy's
regular orders. Harry noted that Capella Montefino, Hogwarts newest student,
a Slytherin fifth year, and rated one of Hogwart's Hottest Girls (Harry
thought Cho should be on that list. But oh..well)., was absent.No surprise
there. She was from America. Harry wouldn't be surprised if she had gone
home.
Malfoy looked up sharply and Harry's gaze met his.
Harry expected some snide remark, but it seemed that Malfoy had actually
realized how precious human lives can be. Malfoy and Harry just stared
at each other. Finally, Malfoy just nodded. Harry nodded in reply and walked
out of the Great Hall, making his way to the dorms to fetch his broom and
then it was out to the Quidditch field. He had a couple of things he wanted
to get off his mind. It seemed someone had made it there before him, though.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Capella couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe it. All those
people... dead. All American. When she had heard, she was devastated. And
then the letter from her mother... "Dear Capella, As you have probably
heard there was a recent tragedy in America. Your father is going back
to see what he can do to help. In the meanwhile, you will remain in school....
Now, Capella I know how close you and your cousin Angela are," Capella's
heart had twisted at this part. " and I want you to know that your father
and I love you very much. Capella, dear, Angela and your Aunt Hyreta were
walking near the Twin Towers when the first one was hit. When the towers
were hit again, Hyreta had screamed to Angela to Disapparate. Angela panicked
and instead, started running. Aunt Hyreta got away but Angela... I'm sorry,
Capella." Capella had stopped right there, fighting the tears. She ran
to her room and grabbed her broom and headed out at top speed to the Quidditch
field. A day that will live in infamy... It was Pearl Harbor- only people
said it was worse. Capella didn't want to live through a war. God, this
was so scary. If she knew her family right, they would all move back with
her father to the states and then she'd never see Colin again. She hated
this. She hated all of this! It wasn't fair! Bloody terrorists! Why'd they
have to go and ruin everything? Everything was fine until they had to go
and kill her favorite cousin.And now they'd probably take Colin away from
her, too, if her parents had their way!! Everything was perfectly fine.
She just wanted everything back to normal. Unfortunately for her, things
were not going to be normal for a very long time...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Severus watched Potter walk out of the Great Hall. But his eyes fell
on Draco again soon afterwards. That boy must have read the same news article
about three times already. Poor boy. With his father being who he was he
would never be allowed to show any sympathy for the Americans. And Severus
had noticed the boy's subtle interest to the new Slytherin girl, Capella.
Severus had to admit that Draco had good taste. Capella was quite good
looking, and smart too- though she was a bit of a show off and she did
often suck up. Draco wouldn't be allowed to talk to her. Actually, he wouldn't
be able to anyway.His meddling father was already writing up wedding invitations
for his marriage to Pansy Parkinson. Severus wouldn't be surprised if he'd
already got the cake baked and the spot picked out for their wedding. Not
that the boy knew this, of course. But Pansy was a pureblood, unlike Capella,
and Lucius could only have the best blood running through his family line-
not that it mattered who the person with the "best blood" was. Besides
Capella didn't seem interested in Draco at all. Severus could have sworn
she was attracted to Colin Creevey, that Gryffindor boy... Professor Snape
sighed. If he didn't watch himself, he to would find himself caught up
in the whole situation.He just wished there was something he could do...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Draco Malfoy sat at the head of the Slytherin table in the spot the
others reserved for him everyday. As he watched Capella walk out, his heart
twisted in the way it had been doing over the past few weeks. It had started
to do this to him ever since he first set eyes on the girl in that potions
class. He supposed others would call it love but since it was the first
time he'd ever felt the annoying thing for anyone he wasn't quite sure
what it was.
He picked up the Daily Prophet
again and read the article for the fifth time that morning. The shock was
overwhelming. To think, America, supposedly the greatest nation in the
world (Though horrible in Quidditch, thought Draco), and now it
was down on it's knees because of something caused by one insane -muggle-
terrorist. His friends were laughing about it. ("Those muggles are killing
themselves off!" "Yeah! You know maybe we should send them a thank you
card." "Why?" "For making our jobs easier!" Laughter.) Draco tried to laugh.
Tried to fill in, but he couldn't. So, he, like many other Slytherins,
sat in silence and watched the others in disgust. How could you laugh at
death? Oh, of course. Death-Eaters could. They live on death. Thus, their
name. Well, he thought, at least you know who you're friends
are.
Draco felt another
feeling that was very new and recent to him. Sympathy. Of course he mourned
over the deaths of all the victims and their families. But he also felt
sorrow for a group of people that most people had probably grown to hate
over the past few years. The Muslims. The ones who lived in America. They
would face such racial prejudice now. It wasn't as if it was probably bad
before with what had been going on in Palestine. It wasn't their fault
those idiots in the Middle East were ruining the reputation of Islam. But
if Draco knew anything, it was prejudice. And the Muslims were going to
get a lot of it.
The main reason
for Draco's sympathy was that he knew the feeling. He knew how it felt
everyday to walk into a room and feel that blinding hatred turned on you
because of who you were. He was a Slytherin, proud and strong. You had
to or else someone would trample you, be it your "friends"-fellow Slytherins-
or enemies, the other houses. They all hated him. He knew it. He could
tell in the way they acted towards him, the way they talked to him, they
way they di everything while he was around. But mostly in the way they
looked at him. Their eyes bored into him, their hatred blazing, searing
him, suffocating him unless he fought to breathe. If you weren't strong,
weren't arrogant, weren't rude, weren't whatever else people called him
now-a-days behind his back, they would trample you. If you allowed yourself
to feel it would kill you. You would go insane. And Draco, amond others,
had faced it, day in, and day out, for the past sixteen years of his life.
Just having his last name did it. Malfoy. People loathed the name.
Draco had finally been getting along, then this stupid thing called love
had to come and mess it all up. At first, Draco had tried to be nice, had
tried to ignore the hatred, but when he got to school... It was somuch
easier to hate, to loathe, to despise back. So much easier to be headstrong.
And he did so for the last couple of years, Slowly turning his heart to
ice. But then Capella had to come. And now he had the feeling that the
ice- the ice that had taken him so long to form- was melting away, just
like that. With just one glimpse of a girl, the ice broke away, after
years and years of forming around a heart that Draco was sure had stopped
beating for others ages ago.
Draco
sighed. Stupid girl. Stupid terrorists. Stupid life...
He watched
as a Ravenclaw boy, about a year older than Draco, walked over to a girl
with dark brown skin and black hair. She had her head in her hands. He
leaned down and said, quite loudly so that the rest of the hall heard,
"You bloody terrorists! My sister was in that building! I don't know what
you were thinking, Sarah, but we are not going to the dance together.
I don't believe I almost danced with a terrorist!" He looked over at her
brother, who had been trying to comfort her. "And you too, Ali! My
best friend. Oh, if only I had known what kind of monster you were." The
girl, Sarah, lowered her hands. Her face was tear-streaked. She watched
as the boy started to walk back to his seat. Then, wiping her eyes,
and standing up, she yelled, "Eric, please! Eric, come back! Please!" The
boy ignored her and sat down talking to his friends. The girl stood up
and ran out of the Great Hall, her brother following.
One of
Draco's "friends" started to laugh. "Did you see that, Draco? Did you see
that! Ha! Thta was hilarious! Ha! Draco?"
Draco
looked at him in disgust before he stood up and walked out of the Great
Hall.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Wow, I feel better. I started this the day after the incident and
didn't finish it until today, when my friends convinced me to post
it. Things that happened here may or may not happen in the actual story
but hey, I wrote it so there. Please review! Flames accepted. People have
different ways to vent. Maybe yours is through flames. I don't know...
I'm gonna do icky-sticky homework, now. Bye!
PS- Excuse typos. I can't worry about them with my evil English homework.
Disclaimer: HP& Company belong to JKR. I own nothing except for the Montefino family, Sarah and her bro, Ali, and Eric. Oh and my mindless ponderings and opinions and views that were sewn into this fic. I do not own Osama Bin Laden- Thank God- or the Muslim terrorists. Even if I did, which I don't, I would now fully disown them. But I don't! And never did! So there! The Muslim people own themselves.... nothing familiar pretty much, is mine!!!!! So there! Don't take it!
MY GREATEST SYMPATHY TO ALL THOSE OUT THERE WHO WERE VICTIMS- BE YOU
THE FAMILIES OF THOSE THAT HAVE PASSED AWAY OF MUSLIMS OR BOTH OR ANYTHING
ELSE!!!! STAND STRONG!!!!!! WE WILL PERSEVERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!