GAWD! Couldn't people take a joke?

My eyes watered as Professor Snape's breath reached my nostrils. Did the man ever brush his teeth?

"Miss Greengrass, I am completely and utterly ashamed to call you a Ravenclaw. Walking on the Great Hall's ceiling, hanging Pansy Parkinson by her undergarments above the old hag statue, and now this," Snape spat, gesturing at the battlefield of a classroom that lay before us.

Fred Weasley, who was standing beside me, snickered and the angry Professor, shot him a death glare. Snape, who was standing in for Professor Flitwick (Ravenclaw's Head Professor) obviously did not find our devilish prank as amusing as the rest of the class.

"Friday! Friday!" kids yelled all around me. The student body of Hogwarts loved my prank so much that they were cheering for me!

One voice rose above the rest: "Friday! Friday! Seriously, Friday, you got to wake up!" My eyes opened and I yawned, getting a full view of my bestest pal, Colin Creevy, and his dearly beloved brother Dennis. "Merlin's beard, Friday! We're almost at Hogwarts and you still haven't gotten into your uniform!"

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" I cried, sitting up straight and flailing my arms around. My cart was a mess; suitcases littered the floor, and my giant shopping bag filled with chocolate frigs had tipped over and spilled its contents. Dennis was carefully picking each one up and shoving it into a garbage bag.

I started almost every year of Hogwarts the same way: I neatly put all of my trunks into the cart; I sat by myself, waiting for Colin, and then I fell asleep and dreamed of popularity-by-prank moments. Colin would wake me up right before the train stopped, and I would be late. As usual.

So far, it seemed as if my fifth year at Hogwarts wouldn't be much different from the rest.

Popularity-by-prank was something that I'd been dreaming about since I first met Fred and George Weasley. They were what everyone wanted to be; funny, intelligent, and daring. I was unfortunately three years younger than both of them, but that hadn't stopped me from crushing on both of them at once.

During my second year at Hogwarts, something amazing had happened. I had run into Fred while hiding from Crabbe and Goyle- both who were angry at me for "accidentally" jinxing them. Fred was hiding from Professor Snape, who he'd stolen something from. We'd talked for a while, and then we began writing letters to one another. Yep. I had the teensiest crush on Fred.

All that had changed last year, right after we'd learned that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back. Now, the most I heard from Fred was the occasional whispering of his only sister, Ginny, who was in my year.

Now I, Astoria "Friday" Greengrass, had to rely on Colin for friendship, and my once HUGE crush on Fred had diminished. And to top it all off: Colin was a Gryffindor and I was a Ravenclaw. Not much time for chit-chat there.

I sighed, grabbed my uniform and rushed out of our cart, pausing only to stick my tongue out at Colin. My lovely sign of friendship was lost when Harry Potter walked by. Colin stopped looking at me and began to gape at the so-called "chosen one". Gawd. That kid had to ruin everything.

I passed by a couple of gossiping Hufflepuffs, and slid into a bathroom stall and changed into my robes; trying really hard to pull up my socks- which always seemed to fall down the minute I walked past Professor Snape. That guy always seemed to deduct more points than usual because of my wardrobe malfunctions.

The socks wouldn't stay up.

I ran my fingers through my hair and pulled out my wand. Opening my stall door, I checked under each one of the stalls, looking for shiny black shoes or stocking clad feet. I pulled out my wand and carefully whispered "epoximise". A white light shot out of my wand, and I carefully began to stick the tops of my socks to my legs.

I stood up in triumph, and examined my newly sock covered legs. I put my feet down and looked to myself in the mirror. I had dark brown eyes- the kind that looked almost black. My lips were like a rosebud, (at least that's what my mom always told me) and I had a lovely set of forehead zits that had refused to leave for the past year.

Someone knocked on the door to the bathroom, and I jumped up in surprise. "I'll be out in a second!" I shouted, finger-combing my uber-long brown hair. "Seriously, Friday! You have to get out, NOW!" It was Colin, obviously. He had somehow gotten it into his head that he needed to take care of me 24/7 after he'd joined Harry Potter's little 'club' last year.

I took a tube of lip gloss and squirted it over my lips.

Suddenly, I burst from the cubicle of the bathroom, and nearly hit Colin with the door. "How do I look?" I asked, placing both my hands on my hips and puffing out my chest. Colin smirked and shook his head. "Presentable."

My mouth hung open. "Just presentable? Not beautiful or good looking?" Colin put his arm around me. "Come on, Friday." We were nearly out of the train when I suddenly remembered that all of my bags were still lying in the cart that I'd been sleeping in.

"Shoot! Colin, go, and tell the teachers that I'm still here. I forgot my bags!" Colin placed his palm on his forehead and shouted out something. Unfortunately, I was running so fast that I didn't catch it, but it sounded something a bit like "I already bought fags!"

I stopped, wondering what Colin was doing buying cigarettes. I made a mental note to tell him that smoking could damage your lungs. I had a funny feeling that he already knew that, but I'd oh-so kindly tell him anyways. I ran through several carts and suddenly, I came across one that was closed. The blinds covered the window. Taking a breath, I tried the handle, hoping that it would twist open.

It did.

Whipping open the door I began running towards the next cart- and suddenly, somebody grabbed my ankle. "Hey!" I cried as my knee slammed to the ground. "What did you see?" a blurry figure asked, shaking my shoulders. "What do you mean?" I replied. Who did this person think he or she was? The Queen?

As my eyes focused, they drank in the scene before me. Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived, was lying on the floor, bleeding and unconscious. I looked up, and gasped. Draco Malfoy stood above me, looking very, very distressed.

I didn't know much about Draco- only that he hated Potter, he was in Slytherin, and that my older sister Daphne, who was in his year, had a huge crush on him.

He repeated himself slowly: "what did you see?"

"N-nothing!" I cried, struggling to get out of his grip. "Here, I'll let go of you, only if you stay," he said. The minute he released his hold on me I had already begun running. Draco threw something over Potter and ran after me. I was just about to exit into the cart where my bags lay when Draco grabbed my hair. Curse its longness!

"They said I wouldn't have to do this," he muttered, pulling something out of his pocket. "Do what?" I screeched, trying to get away. Damn. For someone so thin, he sure was strong. Draco grabbed a hold of my arm and slid a gold band and my wrist. "What are you doing?" I yelled, looking at the bangle.

I supposed I was sort-of upset at the fact that Draco Malfoy had just tackled me and shoved a bracelet on my arm, but truthfully, I was angrier at the fact that gold absolutely did NOT go with my silver accessories. I tried to rip the bracelet off.

Pain ripped through my arms and I stopped tugging. Tears sprang to my eyes and it took me a moment to realize that I was shaking like crazy. "What does the bracelet do?" I asked, not bothering to look him in the eye. I could almost hear the smirk in his voice as he talked.

"You'll see. Anyways, what's your name?" "Friday," I muttered. Technically, I was telling him the truth. Part of it, anyways. "Last name?" He asked. "None of your beeswax," I shouted. "I'll tell everyone what you did!" "Good luck on that, Miss Friday. Part of the bracelet's job is to prevent you from telling anyone what you saw," Draco said, smiling.

And then he got up and left.

I picked myself up off of the ground, and began to trudge to my cart. "No!" I cried, pressing my palm to my forehead. My bags had already been cleared out. I had suffered all of this for nothing! I turned around and began the slow walk back towards the exit. When I passed the cart where Harry had been, I couldn't see anything. I continued on.

I felt so defeated, that when Luna Lovegood passed me, I actually bought the copy of the Quibbler that she offered me. I exited off of the train. "Pwoar!" I breathed as I surveyed the scene before me: the last student-carriage had three of the staff guarding it. I slid in, and the carriage began to ride towards the school.

The ride to Hogwarts was not a pleasant one. I couldn't stop obsessing over the bracelet, and I was being jostled about like a coin in an empty piggy bank. As soon as we reached the school, Filch, Hogwarts most awesome staff member, grabbed me by the collar and began searching my.

"Good evening, Filch," I said good-heartedly. Filch grunted and pushed me away. "Bye!" I called, waving at him. "What is it you're up to?" he called back, scowling at me. I laughed and said, "oh, Filch! Always suspicious!" He shot me a glare and I shut my mouth and trudged up to the doors of the school.

I walked down a few hallways and was just about to enter when somebody grabbed my wrist and yanked me into the shadows. I screeched, expecting it to be Malfoy, but I calmed a little when I saw that it was only my sister, Daphne. "Where have you been?" Daphne whisper-yelled.

"I was on the train!" I yelled back. "I was worried sick about you! The sorting hat has already sung and-" Daphne stopped as Harry Potter walked by us and entered the hall, his nose obviously broken and bloodied. My sister just raised her eyebrows. "Anyways, don't do it again!" she said, scolding me. "I won't," I mumbled, running my hands through my hair.

"What's that?" Daphne said, grabbing my hand and looking at the bangle Draco had "given" me. "It's not yours, that's for sure," she mumbled, talking more to herself than to me. Then she looked into my eyes. "Who did you get it from?" Draco Malfoy, I tried to say, but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth, just like Draco had said. So instead, I mumbled "Colin."

Daphne sniffed and walked into the Great Hall to join her little Slytherin friends. She'd never liked Colin. Actually, she liked Colin well enough, it just that she didn't like his house. I shrugged, and followed her inside.

On my way to the Ravenclaw table, I passed Colin. "Hey Colin," I whispered, "I just thought that you should know that smoking's bad for you. You shouldn't continue." "What?" Colin said, turning to face me. "I don't smoke!"

Confused, I said "but on the train! You said that you 'already bought fags'!" Colin laughed and shook his head at the same time (something that nobody should ever try to do again.) "I said 'I already got your bags' but you ran off anyways. By the way, your bags will be up in your room like everyone else's."

I sighed and sat down at the Ravenclaw table beside some brand-new first year. Twisting the bracelet around my wrist, my eyes searched for Draco. When I found him, I realized with a start that he was staring at me with an evil smirk on his face.

"Typical," I muttered. "Just typical." This was going to be a long day.