Acidic Knowledge.
Prologue.
The morning after the summer holiday ended, September 1st, was one of the biggest days for each and every student at Hogwarts. Besides the excitement for first years and the sad departure of seventh years from the previous school session, regulars in the years between were buzzing with an irregular amount of excitement.
Before the summer holiday, Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had made an announcement. Transfer students from two other Wizarding schools, Beauxbaton- a French school, and Durmstrang- a Russian school, would be attending Hogwarts as of the beginning of next school year due to overpopulation of students and too large of classes.
Naturally, as September 1st rolled around on every young witch and wizard's calendar, excitement seemed to burst from each and every train car room on the Hogwarts Express. Once the train arrived at Hogwarts, all the students and their belongings were in their respected common rooms, every Hogwarts student was to report to the Great Hall, and was expected to be sitting and waiting patiently for the first years to be sorted and the arrival of the two foreign schools' transfer students.
Tedious as the sorting of first years was, seeing as everyone was on their toes, anticipating the arrival of Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, it went by extremely quickly and there was an awkward, heavy silence that hung around the Great Hall.
The silence was very shortly ended by the main entrance to the Hall's doors swinging open and the rather colossal Madame Maxime strutting in, her fine students scrambling after her in a rather elegant fashion. As Madame Maxime spoke to Dumbledore in a hushed voice, her students formed a line by the far wall, abiding their turn to be sorted into each house.
Finally, the Beauxbatons were sorted. Fleur Delacour's younger sister, Olive Delacour, was sorted into Ravenclaw. Seeing as Ronald Weasley, a ginger-haired boy in the same year as her and had fancied her sister previously, he found her just as, if not more, interesting than Fleur. Olive's hair was white-blonde, much like Fleur's, and she had vibrant sky blue eyes that glistened beneath her tight curls that hung in ringlets to her shoulder blades.
Durmstrang finally arrived moments after the last Beauxbaton was sorted into Hufflepuff. Students were sorted rather quickly, seeing as everyone was becoming hungrier by the moment. Viktor Krum's younger sister, Yvonnska Krum, was sorted into Slytherin. Draco Malfoy, a pureblood boy with white-blonde hair much like Olive's, but was slicked back against his head, stared rather maliciously at Yvonnska. Her black, smooth hair was a bit above her shoulders, and she stared Draco down with just as much ferocity with her mint green eyes as she sat across from him, sitting next to another new Durmstrang Slytherin boy, who was a good friend of hers.
Finally, after a bit awkward tension between the new students and Hogwarts students, Dumbledore summoned the feast and everyone dug in ravenously. All the while, Ronald kept his eye on Olive, who was shyly talking to Cedric Diggory, whilst Draco glared at Yvonnska through slitted eyes.
DELACOUR
It had been exactly one week since Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students had been sorted and settled into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Over the course of that week, each school stuck to their familiars, not trusting the other schools.
Tension was high, and each teacher and student felt it- especially Dumbledore.
Olive Delacour, who was sorted into Ravenclaw, was having more fun then she could have ever imagined having in Beauxbaton. Her transition from an all French speaking school to an all English speaking school was rather hard, but she was taking her time with that and was doing quite well.
Cho Chang, an older Ravenclaw student who was from Hogwarts, made sure she was extremely nice to Olive. Olive herself rather fancied Cho in a sister-type way, and began to make friends. Slowly, but surely, the odd pair they made, became great friends in less than a week's time.
"Cho, vould you be interested in visiting ze bibliothèque? Er, liburry?" Olive stammered out, constantly having to fix her French-to-English translations. Cho laughed heartily and nodded, as the two walked off, splitting from Cedric Diggory and a few other Ravenclaws.
Once the pair arrived in the library, Cho pointed to two boys across the way, looking slightly puzzled as to why they kept staring at them. "Olive… Do you know those two boys? They've been staring at us this whole time, but I can't really make out who they are…"
Olive looked over the shelf of books and shook her head absentmindedly, curls flying in all directions. "I've zeen ze rouge 'aired boy looking at moi z'ince I waz zorted last week… I do not know ze boy with glazzez though." Cho shrugged and continued to search for her book, mindlessly talking to Olive about what Beauxbaton was like.
"Harry! Harry! I think she knows we're looking at her… Er, I mean, I think they know we're looking at them!" Ronald Weasley, the "rouge 'aired" boy stuttered out to Harry Potter, "ze boy with glazzez".
"Ron, I know, don't worry. Delacour is in the same year as us, just be calm! And Cho… I don't think she even knows I exist half the time when we're not chasing after a Snitch together…" Harry mumbled out, his face burning so bright it matched Ron's hair.
"But, Harry! I want her to notice me first! Like, really notice me! I want her to see me and say 'Oh, Hi Ron!' in her cute accent!" Ron whined, attempting to imitate Olive's accent. Behind the two boys, a girl with bushy brown hair that looked very unkempt, coughed on purpose, which caused them to turn around. "And what could you possibly have to say, Hermoine?"
"Well, just that I think you should go over there and talk to Olive! She's very nice, I've met her already. She's polite and tends to include French into sentences a lot. She's kind of nervous, but she's very intelligent… Mastering three languages, hmmm…" Hermoine drifted off at the end, being sucked back into her book before Ron or Harry could say anything, so they exchanged surprised glances instead.
"Three languages? You hear that, Harry? My girl is a genius!" Ron beamed, before turning away from Hermoine and looking around the library again. "Where'd she run off to-"
Olive was seated on an enchanted couch that could seat four people and was risen from the ground about a foot for easy cleaning and comfort. She was reading a book of Hogwarts History, as she flipped the pages once every thirty seconds or so. Her white-blonde hair flowed around her shoulders in perfect, natural ringlets, as she brushed a few strays behind her ears and continued reading.
"She's flawless…" Ron drooled, as Harry searched for Cho Chang, who had grabbed a book from the opposite side of the room from them and strode over to sit next to Olive, who didn't look up when she sat next to her, about half a foot apart. Suddenly, Ron made a quick movement next to Harry. "I'm going to go talk to her…"
Before Harry could argue, or Ron could even leave the safety of the area behind the bookshelf about magical creatures, as if on cue, Draco Malfoy and his two rather burly friends, Crabbe and Goyle, strode into the library, holding a box in one arm and a book in the other. Staring astonished after Malfoy, Ron and Harry stood still. Hermoine had risen behind them and was now watching Malfoy next to Harry, leaning on the top of the bookshelf.
Olive looked up from her book when Malfoy was about ten feet from her. She smiled brightly at him, book marking her page with her wand. "Bonjour, monsieur. Comment allez-vous?"
Draco, who was slightly taken aback by her sudden outburst of French, laughed heartily, before replying to her with a handsome smile, "I'm very good. How are you, mademoiselle?"
Olive blushed, realizing a student from Hogwarts understood her. "I'm very good, merci beaucoup! Erm, did you need zometing, monsieur? We need to be back bevore six, for dinner." She pointed to the clock and frowned a little bit.
Draco frowned a tad bit, too, but quickly brightened up as he extended his hand that had the box in it to Olive. "I was here to give you a welcoming gift from Slytherin, since you're new and all. I can also escort you to dinner too, if you'd like, Mademoiselle. You do not mind if I take your friend, do you, Miss Chang?" Draco smiled devilishly at Cho, as she shook her head very quickly, before patting Olive's shoulder and leaving before them.
Olive blushed harder than before, giggling slightly, as she grasped Draco's box lightly, holding it to her chest with delight. "Merci, monsieur. I get lozt much in zis school. It iz big!"
Draco smiled as he dismissed Crabbe and Goyle, his large and brutish bodyguard-like friends, who took off sprinting to get down to the Great Hall, while Draco and Olive walked elegantly there, less than a foot apart the entire time. Before leave the library, as if Draco knew Harry and Ron were listening, he managed to squeeze out a, "You know, that gift is something like a token of gratitude for coming to Hogwarts. It's quite a ratty school, if I say so myself- what, with all these mudbloods and half bloods running around. Quite disgusting, I daresay!"
Ron's only retaliation to that was a scoff and, "you bloody bastard, just shut your trap…" before the three of them, Ron, Harry, and Hermoine, left for the Great Hall.
The next day, Olive sat at Slytherin's table, next to Draco, which killed Ron to see her so happy with someone so devilish.
"Harry, I just don't understand it!" Ron continued to whine in Potions the next day, as they attempted at making Wartcap Powder. Harry sighed, shaking his head, as Hermoine cut in before Harry could. She mumbled to him, saying something along the lines of, "Look, Ron, just talk to her! I've met her, she's extremely nice, and she's polite. You're nice, polite, and I bet if you didn't get so nervous around girls, you'd be perfect for her. Trust me! Just… go talk to Olive!"
At once, Draco spun around and was staring at Ron and Hermoine from in front of them. His grey-green eyes were slitted to almost nothing, as he jeered at Ron. "Weasel, you'll never get Delacour! Not with that hair of yours, or all of those freckles! Besides, she's mine, and that's how it's staying!" Draco quickly turned around before Snape noticed, which he did, but he called Ron and Hermoine out on it for 'distracting Malfoy', and deducted twenty points for each of them from Gryffindor House.
The day went on in torment, as Ron had to drool over Olive from afar and glare at Draco up close. During Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid, the gamekeeper at Hogwarts, the Beauxbaton students from all Houses were there. Since Cho Chang wasn't around, Olive gravitated towards Draco and his friends.
"You know, Olive, you're probably the best at this and you've only been here for what- a week? Hah!" Draco pleasantly complimented her, as Olive blushed furiously under her white-blonde curls. Draco brushed them behind her ear and smiled handsomely at her, making her look away in embarrassment.
"Draco! S'il vous plaît!" Olive stuttered out, her hand accidentally touching his as she lowered it from her chest to her waist, becoming more embarrassed.
Ron brooded all of class, as they dissected horklumps, which were mushroom-like plants that were pinkish in color and covered in black bristles. Olive pricked herself a few times, and Draco insisted on kissing her fingers better, completely and utterly sucking up to her like a child would to their mum. "Disgusting" and "hideous" was all Ron mumbled out the entire class.
Dinner was served, as Olive returned to her designated Ravenclaw table. She socialized with Cedric Diggory, who was rather intrigued by her, Cho Chang, her best friend, and a few other Ravenclaws and Beauxbatons. Draco sneered at Ron all of dinner, as he pointed and gestured at Olive, who was completely oblivious to all of it, for she was engaged in a rather heated argument with Cedric about Quidditch.
After dinner, instead of returning to Ravenclaw's common room, Olive strode off to the library. Little did the blonde know, she was followed by Hermoine, who didn't intend on following her, and Ron, who did intend on following her. His cover was that he needed "help with Potions, so he was going to read for more help", which only excited Hermoine more than it should've.
Once the trio were in the library, and Olive had settled onto the couch where she had sat the day before and Ron went over plans in his head on how to talk to her, what to say, what to ask her, and how much French he actually knew… which was none.
Hermoine and Ron had split up when they first entered the library. Ron was sitting between the magical creatures aisles of books again, while Hermoine went straight for Olive, who was completely absorbed into her book. Ron didn't know Hermoine's plans, nor did he even know that Hermoine was speaking to Olive at that very moment.
"Excuse me, Miss Delacour?" Hermoine grinned brightly, her hair as mangy as it always was. Olive looked up at Hermoine, smiled, and pressed a finger to her own lips, an apologetic glance in her eyes. "Oh, pardon me, but I'll only be a moment. I'm very sorry for interrupting your studies, Miss Delacour."
Olive laughed, book marked her page with her wand again, set it aside,, before looking at Hermoine and patting the couch coushin next to her. "Sit, s'il vous plaît?"
Hermoine gladly took a seat, before turning to Olive and smiling. "Miss Delacour, I want to talk to you about-" Olive stopped her again, smiling wider than before.
"S'il vous plaît, je m'appelle Olive." Her blonde ringlets hung loosely on her head, framing her face and accenting her sky blue eyes perfectly in the soothing candle lights of the library.
"I'm sorry, Olive. I'm Hermoine Granger, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Hermoine held out her hand and Olive shook it once, before setting her hand back on her lap on her folded legs, smiling patiently. "I want to talk to you about my good friend, Ronald Weasley. He's got ginger hair, lots of freckles, and well… He really fancies you, you see…"
Olive's expression went from patient happiness to an anxious sadness. "Zorry, but I am with Draco Malfoy, ze blonde one. "E iz very… nice. And 'e iz funny et charming…" She smiled, but it was pained. "I am very zorry… I vould like to meet your friend though, oui!"
Hermoine nodded in agreement. "I think you'd like each other a lot. How about we meet up after breakfast tomorrow morning and walking to Hagrid's-, er I mean, Care of Magical Creatures together?"
Olive smiled and nodded, appreciating that Hermoine understood what she had said. Olive hugged Hermoine, before walking off to go back to Ravenclaw's common room to meet up with Cho and Cedric before turning into bed.
DRENDER
Birds abruptly awoke Felicia Drender, who was a loyal Gryffindor. As of recently, since she joined the Quidditch team as a Bludger. Since Quidditch season was just around the corner, she decided to practice. It was still early, and usually no one was awake at this hour, seeing as everyone woke up to the smell of food from the Great Hall.
Jumping out of bed groggily, Felicia dressed quickly, tucked her want beneath her robe, and grabbed her broomstick before quietly shuffling out of her dormitory so as to not disturb her three sleeping dorm mates. Once in the Gryffindor common room, she sat by the fire on a plush couch for a moment to attach her Quidditch gear. She hadn't ridden her broom since last school year and was thoroughly excited.
A small hack of a cough sounded behind Felicia, which made her jump and her leg plate clunked loudly against the polished wooden floor boards. She twisted around to see who had coughed; George Weasley, a ginger-haired boy in her year, was peering down at her, his robes and Quidditch gear already on, his broomstick clasped in one of his hands, the other rested firmly on the back of the couch. Leaning forward, George smirked at Felicia. "Seems we've both thought of the same thing- practice makes perfect, after all!"
Felicia was a skeptic. Eyeing George up and down from what she could see from his haunched-over form, she nodded curtly to him, before picking up her leg guard and in a whispery tone muttering, "I guess great minds think alike, but only one of us has a great mind in this common room…"
George's hearty laugh boomed behind Felicia. Flicking her dark auburn hair behind her and tightening her leg guard on, she scoffed under her breath. Standing from the couch, Felicia rolled her eyes at George and mocked him, haughtily. "You know, George, you'd be even more handsome if you didn't laugh so loud, so early in the morning!"
"You know, Felicia, you'd be even more gorgeous if you practiced Quidditch with me," George batted his eyelashes in a girly manner. Felicia couldn't help but laugh as she picked up her broomstick and strode out of the Gryffindor common room, followed closely behind by George.
It was mid-morning when Felicia and George had returned to the common room. Everyone was arriving back from breakfast, but neither of the pair felt the slightest bit hungry. The two sat next to each other, polishing their broom, as they watched the rest of their fellow Gryffindors bustle into the room, looking groggy and hardly awake still.
"Felicia! Felicia!" Taken out of her broom-polishing haze, Felicia turned around to see Ron Weasley, George's younger, also ginger-haired, brother, and his two friends sprinting toward her.
"Morning, Ronny. What can I do for you?" Ron blushed furiously at the nickname, but dismissed it. Felicia was on good terms with all of the Weasley brothers that she knew; Ron, George, Fred (George's twin), and their elder brother, Percy, who graduated last year.
"We've got news on Delacour!" Harry spilled, his green eyes looking slightly pained. Hermoine, who was panting just like the other two, looked slightly uninterested in all of the 'Delacour Talk'.
"Well, spit it out! Crookshanks got your tongue or something?" Felicia sniggered, as the large, orange squash-faced cat padded past them, before meowing at Hermoine's feet for her to pick him up, which she of course did.
"Olive Delacour is dating Draco Malfoy!" Ron blurted out, his face reddening and his eyes slitting with anger. "Hermoine found it out the other day, and she never even told us!"
Hermoine sarcastically guffawed, looking at the back of Ron's head with distain. "You mean to tell me, I didn't tell you, when I just found out last night? You ran off and I couldn't find you in the library, and you're blaming me?"
Felicia blinked at how the situation turned. Ron had spun around and started to defend himself, before Felicia stood up, pushed Ron and Hermoine apart, and snapped at both of them sharply. "Now, listen! Delacour isn't the smartest French flower in the vase. She's beautiful, she's got book smarts, but Draco is obviously putting up a façade for her. He wants to make you jealous, Ronny! And you! Stop yelling at Ronny like he doesn't know anything. You're smart Hermoine, but please stop rubbing it in!"
George had stood now, his hands on Felicia's shoulders, holding her back slightly. Ron looked astonished that someone besides Harry or Hermoine stood up for him, but Hermoine was practically in tears from being indirectly yelled at about being a know-it-all. Before any ran down her cheeks, she bolted out of the common room and up the steps that lead to the girls' dormitory.
"Felicia… You don't have to be so mean to her. She's only a young girl, still…" George whispered into Felicia's ear, making her tense up and walk forward, brushing George off of her shoulders.
"She deserved what I said and so did Ron! You two always make a big deal out of nothing and it's a total bloody piss off!" Felicia stomped through the now gathered crowd and up the same steps as Hermoine previously had sprinted up. George, Ron, and Harry stood motionless for a few moments, before huddling into a small group so the surrounding students couldn't hear their whispers.
Up in Felicia's room, she sat on her four-poster bed, staring out the window with arrogance. She had been sitting there for at least half an hour now, thinking profusely about what she had done. A sudden tapping from the window behind her signalled that her owl, a tiny little Suet owl, had arrived with a letter. Hurrying to the window to let her owl in, whose name was Archerine, she let the small owl land on her wrist. She cooed softly too it like a mother would to a baby, before removing the note tied around Archerine's ankle. She smiled and set Archerine on the wooden footer of her bed, as she whispered, "Thank you," before opening the note. In small, fine print, in neat boyish letters, a letter was written to her. She could tell it was freshly written ink from the aroma that the parchment let off.
Dear Felicia,
I know you're upset. I'd be upset too if I had yelled at two younger students. Especially if I yelled at my own brother. Hermoine said she forgives you and that she's sorry she got overdramatic. Ron went upstairs to talk to her and they came back down in an argument, but it was over how Ron was going to start talking to Olive, seeing as their last encounter together hadn't gone so well. I hope you don't mind, but by the time you finish reading this out-loud to yourself, since that's what you do when you read letters, I'll be knocking at your door.
Your's Truly,
George.
Surely enough, by the time Felicia had finished reading George's letter and let Archerine back out of the window, a soft rapping came at the door. Luckily, none of Felicia's dorm mates were in the room, as Felicia strode over to her bedroom door. Panic struck her as she realized what this probably would look like to most other students. A girl and a boy alone in the girl's room together. Completely and utterly alone.
But, without a second though, Felicia's impulses to open the door urged her to peek around the wood to find George grinning from ear to ear at her. He gestured to the door, which was only slightly ajar, and said in a gentleman-like tone, "May I come in, my fair maiden?"
Felicia giggled and nodded, opening the door fully. "Please do, my handsome gentleman."
George seemed to glide into her room as he looked about, examining everything that lay about the room, especially the things around Felicia's corner. He laid on her bed next to her, as they sat and chatted for a couple of hours. No one had classes today, seeing as it was Saturday, so they spent the rest of the day talking about nonsense.
Somewhere along that time, George made a soft comment under his breath, "I'm really cold, and you're sweltering hot next to me…" in which Felicia snuggled up against him, as he wrapped his arms around her. She nuzzled her head into his chest and they laid their in silence, coming in and out of a warm consciousness every now and then, but uttering nothing more than a shift of position every now and then.
The two were jolted awake out of their cat naps by a repeated tapping on Felicia's window. Groggily, she stood up, opened it, and Archerine flew in and landed on George's shoulder angrily. She pecked at George's neck, not with affection, in frustration for a few seconds, before Felicia removed him from George's shoulder quickly. "Archerine!"
The Suet owl cooed unhappily, as she held up her leg, which had a small piece of parchment tied to it. Untying it and looking at it, she laughed. "It's Ronny. He said rumours about us are going around quite quickly in the Great Hall, considering we both missed breakfast and dinner today."
George smiled from ear to ear again, the smile he was most notorious for showing to people only when he was truly happy, which was quite rarely, believe it or not. With a smirk, he purred out, "Well, what types of rumours are there?"
Felicia laughed as she climbed back onto the bed, before letting Archerine out the window again. "Oh, you know. The ones where everyone believes we're dating or… you know." Felicia winked, tossing her dark auburn hair behind her, her eyes half-lidded.
"You know," George smoothly said, "we could prove those rumours true, if you want…"
Felicia's eyes shot open, as she blinked madly. "A-Are you… asking me out?"
George chortled, never once taking his eyes off Felicia's face. He nodded, before whispering, "Felicia Drender, will you be my girlfriend, as loyal as you are to your Gryffindor title?"
"Of course, George Weasley. As long as you promise to return the favour, along with letting me join in on your pranks…" Felicia beamed, cupping George's freckled face in her eyes, before kissing him lightly on the lips.
The next day was strange for everyone. Every Gryffindor student was astonished to see that the rumours someone had lamely started for the fun of it, were actually true. Everyone laughed awkwardly about it, as Felicia and George became inseparable. Fred Weasley, George's twin, told Felicia she was "lucky that he thought she was a positive reinforcement for his troublesome brother and that he himself liked her as a good friend." George and Felicia laughed about this, as Felicia and Fred hugged out their differences.
As the days went on, it got closer and closer to Halloween. Soon, it was only two weeks away, and a lot, but very little, had happened in the short period of time. One and a half months at Hogwarts had already passed- and very quickly, too.
Harry Potter was still chasing after Cho Chang. Hermoine Granger was trying to talk sense into Ron Weasley about talking to Olive Delacour. Felicia Drender and George Weasley were getting along perfectly, and everyone deemed them the "dream couple". Tensions were growing more and more between Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley over Olive Delacour. The only difference was: Olive was starting to notice that everyone was preening over her, and she was starting to dislike all of the attention she was getting from boys and the little time she was now allowed to spend with her friends.
KRUM
After Halloween, and all of the jokes and tricks were through with, Yvonnska Krum took the liberty to scout out who was useful to her and who was not. Yvonnska found that Draco Malfoy, a white-blonde bloke the same age as her, who liked to stare her down and over-analyze her a lot, was probably the only tolerable one in all of Slytherin, aside from ex-Durmstrang students she was good friends with. She wasn't typically fond of anyone else.
"Yvonnska, want to come with Crabbe, Goyle, and I to the breakfast?" Draco had asked Yvvonnska two mornings after Halloween.
"No, thank you," Yvonnska spit out. She was foul-mouthed, but somehow everyone in Slytherin liked her, even though she disliked almost all of them for being stubborn about getting through her for her brother's, Viktor Krum's, autograph.
"Please, Yvonnska? I need to talk to you… Alone!" Draco hissed out, as Crabbe and Goyle dispersed from Draco's sides. "Please, it's urgent."
Yvonnska stood up, placed her Potions book on the table in front of the couch in Slytherin's common room, and followed Draco out of the room, knowing she would regret this later. She growled out, "what do you want?" as soon as they had left the common room.
"I want you… to be my girlfriend." Draco whispered the last half of the question. "Please."
Yvonnska blinked at Draco for what seemed like ten minutes straight. "You do realize, if you date me, you'll have to dispose of your Frenchie Ravenclaw Veela girlfriend, aye?" Yvonnska remained open to the question, but was skeptical about it all.
"I know, I already have. Yesterday." Draco looked unfazed by this cold statement, as Yvonnska eyed him up and down.
"And what could you possibly want out of me, besides a free ticket to my brother? You're a bloody heartless bastard!" The black-haired beauty hissed out, tossing her hair behind her with one hand.
"Yvonnska. I know it's sudden, and I'm the last person you'd expect to like you- even as a friend! -but I swear on my own grave that I am not lying to you about this. You're sensible, you're almost as famous as Harry Potter himself, and you're not over-emotional like Delacour was. I know, you don't like soft-hearted people, but… I just didn't know how to tell you any of this without being soft momentarily. Besides, I think you'd really get along rather nicely with my parents." Draco smiled, as Yvonnska smirked. It faded as she turned to walk away, done with Draco and is pointless wanting of Viktor and his autograph.
"You just want me for my brother, and both of us know it! Well, fine! Take his autography, you filthy mudblood!" Yvonnska hissed out the last word she said to Draco before he could retort a smart-aleck comment back, as she turned quickly on her heel and fled for the Great Hall. Even though she knew Draco Malfoy was as much of a pureblood as she was, she would refuse to let him overpower her for something as simple as an autograph of her older brother. It was simple things like that that pissed her off so much in arrogant people like Draco pureblood Malfoy.
A couple of weeks passed before Yvonnska even looked at Draco. Her chest was throbbing, strangely, as breakfast rolled around one morning. As she ate her toast with jam, a glass of orange juice and a freshly, magically-sliced apple with cinnamon, she looked up to find Draco, his two goofy lackies, Crabbe and Goyle, and Pansy sitting down around her. "Good morning," was all she muttered indirectly.
Draco perked up at her voice, staring contently down at his breakfast plate. "Lovely weather today. We have Care of Magical Creatures class with Hairball this morning, and then block of Potions with Snape."
Yvonnska nodded, as she stared at her note-filled Care of Magical Creatures portfolio, which was filled with loose-leaf parchment- some written on, some not, -and random ink splatters on the front of it. Looking to the enchanted ceiling, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brightly through the non-existent roofing of the Great Hall. "I don't like warm weather…"
"Krum, it's only 55 degrees out!" Pansy Parkinson squealed next to her, tugging on her Slytherin robe sleeve. "How could you possibly say it's warm out?"
"Because, I come from Russia, where all the weather is cold. Below zero, all day, every day! In winter, it goes below 20 degrees sometimes." Yvonnska brushed her hair behind her shoulder, which she did when she was either frustrated, flustered, or annoyed.
"Pansy, I think it'd be wise if you shut your trap," Draco purred out smoothly, gazing from Yvonnska to Pansy and back. "Yvonnska doesn't have that long of a fuse, remember."
Yvonnaska glared daggers at Draco, before gathering her books in her arms, grabbing a few apple slices, and practically jogging to the door. She didn't care how ridiculous it looked, she just wanted to be as far away from Draco as possible whenever she could.
Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid always put Yvonnska in a wonderful mood. Yvonnska's eldest brother, Aleks, was a dragon trainer and handler for the Russian dragons back at home. Today, in class, Gryffindors and Slytherins learned about different types of reptiles. Some looked like mini dragons no larger than a meter, while others reminded her of newts with an Engorgement Charm on them. Some of the reptiles breathed noxious gas or breathed fire, which Yvonnaska found completely and utterly fascinating.
Unfortunately, Draco ruined the class for her by the end of it, but trying to hand her a Fire-Bellied Newt that was fully developed and lit the tips of her hair on one side of her head ablaze. After Harry Potter, a Gryffindor student in the same year, and arch-enemy of Draco, poured water on Yvonnska's head, she was ordered to the hospital wing due to minor burns on the side of her face and neck.
Yvonnska turned in late to Potions, Professor Snape's class. Snape was Slytherin's Head, so he didn't really mind that one of his students from Slytherin showed up late. If anyone from Gryffindor were to show up late, since Slytherin and Gryffindor shared Potions together, Snape would have their heads in less than a second.
"Ah, Ms. Krum. Please, have a seat next to Malfoy. Someone else has taken your seat for the day, but you may sit in it next class." Yvonnska sighed and nodded, dropping her books on a couple of Malfoy's fingers as she sat down next to him.
"Don't speak to me, don't look at me, don't even breathe next to me. Just leave me alone, please." Yvonnaska hissed into his ear, before pulling out a piece of parchment and beginning to listen to Snape talk about how to make a Girding Potion, which increased once endurance when drunken. Yvonnska heard Malfoy sigh next to her, but she ignored him and went about her business as usual, being the top of her class, right underneath Hermoine Granger, since she didn't study nearly as much as that bushy-haired girl did.
As night fell, Yvonnska sat around the Slytherin common room, talking to Pansy Parkinson and other odd Slytherin girls with strange ambitions. Pansy suddenly turned to Yvonnska on the couch as they sat side-by-side and hummed out, "What are you trying to accomplish this year, Krum?"
Yvonnska blushed, before quickly murmuring out, "You know, get top grades, play Quidditch like Viktor, maybe join Slytherin's team. I'm a wonderful Beater, I've been told!"
Pansy's eyes lit up at the mention of Viktor's name. "You know, Yvonnska, you should totally get me Viktor's autograph! He's so, so very good at Quidditch!"
Scoffing, Yvonnska spat out, "My brother doesn't want to be giving obsessive fan girls like you all here his autograph! Why do you think he asked Hermoine Granger to the Yule Ball this year? She's not insanely obsessed over him like you all are"
Pansy shrieked, Daphne Greengrass almost fainted, and a few others began to sob, crying on each others' shoulders. "I'm sorry," was all Yvonnska mumbled out, before waving goodbye and returning to her room, expecting to hear from her Durmstrang girl friends about this later tonight, since the regular Slytherin girls would be up all night in the common room whining and crying over the news.
"Wonderful," Yvonnska muttered to herself, before dressing and laying down, attempting to get some sleep. Tomorrow was Saturday. Tomorrow, everyone would be a buzz with the news about Hermoine and Viktor, along with the fact that it was almost time for the annual Great Feast, which was in less than two weeks, around the end of November. Tomorrow, Yvonnska would be excruciatingly busy with trying to keep away from Draco, finding a date to the Yule Ball, and possibly studying for the finals that were coming up in the next two weeks. "Wonderful."
DELACOUR
"It's only deux weeks until ze Great Feast!" Olive Delacour burst out, her face smiling and bright, as she laughed with her Ravenclaw friends around her. Draco Malfoy had broken her fragile heart almost three weeks ago, but she was almost over him. Every now and then, whenever she'd pass him in the hall, or accidentally make eye contact with him awkwardly in class, she'd feel a pang of sorrow hit her in the chest like an arrow, but after a few minutes of remembering Draco only wanted to be with her to make the ginger-haired boy, Ronald Weasley, jealous, it wasn't so hard trying to get over the handsome blonde boy. Olive was actually becoming more and more interested in Ron, as he talked to her and became less nervous over time. Olive even considered him a friend, now.
"So, Olive, are you excited for finals this week?" Cho Chang, Olive's best friend, said sarcastically, stuffing her face with dumplings and ham.
"No, no! I am prepared for ze finals. 'Ow about you, Cho?" Olive smiled, her thick French accent still lingering around her, even though she'd been in Hogwarts for over two months now.
"I'm very prepared! I've been studying for ages!" Cho laughed, before pausing momentarily to whisper something to Olive. "You know, Ron has been looking at you this entire time, hm?"
Olive shifted uncomfortably on the bench next to Cho. She nodded. Of course she knew, she'd already made eye contact accidentally more than once, waved twice, and was beginning to think Ron would start drooling if she didn't do something about it. Twirling angel hair pasta around on her golden fork, she mumbled quietly to Cho, "Everyone at 'Ogwarts iz strange. I will talk to 'im after I am finished with my dinner." Cho's response was a nod and a smile, before both continued to eat in silence, occasionally sharing a glance every time Ron would look away to speak to Harry or Hermoine, his two best friends.
As Olive finished dinner quicker than she expected, she left Ravenclaw's long table with a flourish of "goodbyes" and "see you laters" from her friends. She departed the table and headed for Gryffindor's. Mostly everyone was still eating, including Ron, Harry, and Hermoine. Olive tapped Ron on the shoulder, before slipping in next to him, her outer thighs brushing against Ron's. She smiled lightly, as she let Ron finish chewing his food. She was anxious and her palms were starting to sweat as he took his last bite of food, pushing his plate away from him.
"Afternoon, Olive," Ron smiled after downing a glass of ice water. "What brings you to our table?"
"I, er, was wondering if you would… like to go on a date with me. Er, well… 'Mm…" Olive stuttered quite a bit, as she blushed furiously. She was practically whimpering next to Ron, as he straightened up, brushed the hair out of his eyes, and patted Olive's hand that was resting on her leg.
"Of course, I'd love to. Where do you want to go? Girl's choice," Ron grinned, not taking his hand off of Olive's.
"Oh, erm, you know. Maybe ze lake? We could 'ave a… Urhm…?" Olive was at a loss of words, seeing as English was her second language. Ron laughed with Olive, and whispered to her, "You mean… Have a picnic?"
Olive nodded curtly, before pursing her lips and going into deep thought suddenly. Perking up randomly, she smiled, pointed upward with the hand Ron wasn't touching, and brilliantly spoke out, loud than she intended, "It does not matter to moi, az long az we are alone together!"
Ron blushed, but Olive was oblivious to the Gryffindors around them snickering at her sudden outburst. She was puzzled when Ron cupped his hand over her mouth. Looking hurt, Olive began to stand up, but Ron held on to her. He looked extremely flustered, as he insinuated to Olive, "Why don't we just take it slow and meet up after breakfast tomorrow and spend all day together down at the lake?"
Olive nodded optimistically, her face glowing with affection as she kissed Ron on both of his cheeks in a departure, before hurrying off out the door to head up to the Ravenclaw common room to joyously tell Cho Chang all the details about what had just happened. Ron was still sitting, awestruck, that he was actually going on a date with a girl that he had gotten on his own accord, with a slight bit of help from Hermoine and Harry, who had to practically drag Ron out of the Great Hall he was still in such a daze.
The rest of Saturday passed quite easily. Olive and Cho had hung out, talked about Olive's date the next day, and planned what she's wear. Sunday came and Olive woke up flustered and anxious. She actually like Ron- a lot more than she liked Draco, that was for sure. And talking to Ron, compared to Draco, was a lot more comfortable and she didn't feel like she always had to have her guard up around Ron. He was easy to talk to, extremely nice, gave nice hugs, and didn't mind her 'strange' greetings and goodbyes with kisses on both cheeks.
Both strutted into the Great Hall. Ron had his hair parted and brushed neatly. Olive was wearing a dressy shirt underneath her school robes, because she didn't intend on wearing them by the lake. She was hoping she wouldn't be too cold, seeing as she wasn't adapted to the cold like the Durmstrang lot were.
After breakfast, Ron and Olive met up outside the entrance to the Great Hall. Ron was waiting for Olive by the stairs to the dormitories, sitting on the third to last step, his feet stretched out onto the step he was sitting on, his back against the banister. "Hello, Olive!"
"Bonjour, Ron!" Olive greeted him with kisses to the cheeks, before grabbing his hand and walking to the hallway opposite of them. "Are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Ron breathed out, unsure of how he himself was going to act alone with an extremely pretty girl. "Are you?"
"Of course! You are easy to talk to, you do not… er… fool out? about my 'ellos et goodbyes, et you do not mind 'ow weird I can be," Olive smiled at Ron. She really liked him. He was just… so different compared to all of the other guys she'd ever dated.
"Olive, we're here!" Ron called out to her, as he dragged her to the lake's edge, before throwing a blanket down on a small cliff that was covered in spongy grass. Sitting down, he felt so relaxed and at ease with Olive by his side. "Enjoying yourself?"
Olive nodded, as she started to doze off. She had her head laying on Ron's chest, as they laid on the blanket in the grass together. Olive's hand had entwined fingers with Ron's, as she finally fell into a soft slumber, her breathing evened out.
It had been a couple minutes after Olive fell asleep, that Ron had fallen asleep, too. His arms were wrapped around Olive's slender body, and his fingers were still entwined with her's. A few hours passed by before Olive woke up to the sound of a howling animal somewhere off in the Forbidden Forest. The sun was setting, and Ron was still sleeping comfortably underneath Olive's head.
"Ron… Wake up. Ron! Wake up, Ron." Olive nudged Ron in the rib cage with her free hand. He jolted away, sat up quickly, as Olive's head fell into Ron's lap heavily. She sat up, her curly white-blonde hair sticking out in about every direction.
"Need something, hmm?" Ron murmured absentmindedly, before starting to wrap up the blanket they had been sitting on. "Want to go back to Hogwarts and eat our lunch in my dormitory, even though it's dinnertime? Harry is out practicing Quidditch, while the other two guys are probably in the common room, so they won't bother us. Harry even told me not to wait up for him for lunch, and Hermoine is always off in the library at lunch- she won't mind," Ron said, knowingly.
"Okay, let us go, then," Olive smiled, as she grabbed the uneaten basket of food into her arms, as Ron carried the blanket jutting out in front of him. "Sounds like a good plan, Ron!"
When they got to Ron's dormitory, everyone was shocked to see a Ravenclaw in Gryffindor's common room. No one really noticed, until they saw Ron holding hands with her. Both of them rushed up to Ron's room, where luckily, no one was at the moment. They sat down on Ron's bed and began to talk quietly about everything on their minds right now.
"You know, Ron, I 'ave only been 'ere for less then one year… and I am in love with this place!" Olive blushed out, smiling warmly, as they devoured their prepared lunches together.
"I'm glad, Olive. I always thought you'd never notice me, or you'd never like it here… But the whole time, I would watch you from a distance and well, hope for the best." Ron's face went completely red and Olive giggled.
"Ron, you get em…embarrass… mmm… very easily!" Olive managed to stutter out, biting her lip as she thought out her sentence. "I'm sorry…"
Ron smiled courageously, as he set his sandwich down on a conjured plate, and leaned over to Olive, kissing her lightly on the lips. He grinned from ear-to-ear as he sat back, looking Olive straight in the eyes. "It's okay, Olive. I understand."
Olive was speechless, as she blinked at Ron. She had dropped her sandwich unexpectedly into her folded lap, the contents spilling everywhere. With a quick clean-up spell, she sat there in silence with Ron. His grin faded now, as he began to worry what Olive must think of him, for kissing her on their first date, for him barely knowing her, yet he just did what he did.
"Olive," Ron started out, backing off the bed so he could walk around the other side to talk to her more clearly. "Olive, I'm so sorry!"
Olive remained quiet as Ron wrapped his arms around her from behind. She leaned backward into him slowly, but surely, as Ron forced her to turn around. As she did, her legs dangled off the bed, her knees to Ron's waist, and her white-blonde curls falling raggedly around her shoulders. "Non, je suis désolé…"
Ron hugged her closely, as she gradually wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry I did that," was the last thing Ron said, before Olive dropped her arms to her sides. Ron backed away a step, so as to let Olive descend from his bed, but instead, Olive cupped his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly on the lips.
Backing away, Olive smiled and blushed, as Ron's face went redder than his entire head of ginger hair. She jumped off the bed, took both of his hands in hers', and cupped them around her own face. She stood there until Ron went out of shock and leaned down a tad bit to kiss her one last time, before Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom, Ron's roommates, barged in to see them kissing.
As Olive quickly collected her things to leave, Seamus whistled at her and Neville stared longingly, before asking Ron why he had a Ravenclaw girl up in their dorm. Olive left before she heard what Ron had to say, making a mad-dash for the Gryffindor portrait hole that lead in and out of the Gryffindor common room.
But, much to Olive's chagrin, once in the hall, she ran into none other than: Draco Malfoy, her ex-boyfriend.
"Oh, look boys! It's Delacour, Ravenclaw's biggest tramp!" Draco hissed out venomously, grinning wildly as Crabbe and Goyle, his two goonish best friends, sniggered behind him. Olive twirled around to face Draco, her teeth bared in defence, but someone had already swooped in to rescue her from Draco's wraith.
"Just because you're a snobby rich kid, doesn't mean you deserve to pick on others! You're a filthy, spoiled-rotten boy, who should go rot in a well!" Hermoine Granger was screeching her head off at Malfoy. Usually, stuff like this wouldn't phase him, but ever since Hermoine punched him in the face once, previously, he thought of her as a mortal enemy that could pack a literal punch.
Draco backed off, his grin wiped clean off his face, as he grumbled to Crabbe and Goyle, "Let's leave these two alone, I don't want another broken bone…"
Hermoine turned to face Olive, but she didn't smile. Before furiously stomping through the portrait hole into Gryffindor's common room, she hissed at Olive, "you know, I should tell McGonagall about this, but I'm a good friend of Ron's, so I won't!"
Once Olive left, she felt extremely flustered and wasn't looking forward to sharing a table with Hermoine in Transfiguration, since she sat between her and Harry, which made it awkward when they attempted to talk around her, about her.