"Hey new girl," the blond boy calls to me as I'm walking out of potions class. I speed up.
"I'm Draco," he says, matching my pace. His posse follows him, grinning like idiots. "You're from America, right? You a redneck?" he says, in the worst impression of a southern accent I've ever heard.
"You're hilarious," I say sarcastically. "You slay me with your humor." I speed up so I am almost at a jogging pace. He catches up again.
"How's the weather down there?" he asks, and snickers. His posse laughs as though this is the funniest thing they've ever heard. The boy with the big head laughs especially loud.
"A short joke," I say. "How original. You're a comic genius."
"I try," he says. I am almost running now. Draco takes my wrist.
"Don't touch me," I warn, pulling away.
"What could be better than being touched by me?" Draco says, half to me, half to his friends. His group chuckles, and one large boy loses it, obviously so mature that he finds sexual humor just too hilarious.
"Um, eating my own hair, prison for life, the death of a close relative," I say. "Pick one." His face falls for a brief moment, but it quickly pulls into a smirk again.
"Oi, come on," he says. He takes one of my wrists, spins me around, then takes the other one.
"I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!" I yell. He smirks.
"Or what?" I spit in his face, pick up my fallen books, and run. I look back. He doesn't seem to be following me, but he might-
"OW!" I yell, as I crash into someone in front of me.
"Oh my God," I say to the dark-haired person I have just knocked off their feet. "Oh my God, I am so so so so so sorry!"
"It's fine, it's fine," the stranger says, and lifts their head.
"Oh!" I exclaim. "You're Harry Potter!" I make a mental note to tell him he has black hair and a scar later. God, I can be so stupid. But Harry just shrugs and helps me pick up my books.
"So you look like you were in a hurry," he says once we are both standing again.
"Running from someone actually," I say. "That Draco kid." Harry grimaces.
"You know him?" I ask.
"Draco's just an arse, that's all there is to it," Harry says, but then looks at me grimly. "But he can be seriously dangerous. Stay away from him."
Dangerous? I think. Maybe rude and stupid, but I would have never guessed dangerous. I look to Harry again.
"How is he dangerous?" I ask.
"It's nothing you should be getting into," Harry says. "Just stay away from him." But I am curious, and I'm not one to let my curiosity go unsatisfied.
