DISCLAIMER: So... I sort-of, kind-of don't own Harry Potter. If you don't know who does, you are beyond help. Please Google it before reading my story (or after, what ever levitates your pumpkin -yes, that was indeed my variation of 'whatever floats your boat'-).

Anyways, so here's Chapter Two! I worked super duper hard on it (well, not really, but I'd like you to think I did), so if you'd be a doll and pretty please with a cherry on top review my story, I won't send my Dementor army after you.

CHAPTER #2 - Mondays

It was morning. It was Monday. Need I say more?

It's not that I wasn't a Monday, or morning, for that matter, person… I just wasn't really a school day person. I liked the weekends and all of the silence that came along with them. Somewhat groggily, I dragged myself off of my bed and began getting ready for an exciting day of learning! Or not… Don't get me wrong, I loved school and, not to brag, I was the best in our year but…something about today just felt…off.

Al was waiting for me in the Common room, as he always did in the mornings. When he saw me, he broke out into song.

"It's Monday, Monday, got to get down on Monday; everybody's looking forward to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dark Arts!"

I rolled my eyes. Al was such a dork sometimes.

"Learning and learning and hey! Learning and learning and hey! Fun, fun, fun, fun, looking forward to the Da-ark Arts!"

I take that back. Al was such a dork all the time.

"Please stop singing that wretched Becca Brown song," I say, "It's horrid."

Al shakes his head, "You just can't appreciate quality music, Rosie."

Quality, my arse.

"Oh, shut up. It's too early in the morning for me to point out all the things that are wrong with the fact that you put 'quality' and 'Becca Brown' in the same statement," I retort, "Let's just go get some breakfast before I have to see Professor MacQuoid's jubilant face again."

We walked down from the Gryffindor tower and made our way to the Great Hall. When we arrived, I moaned, peeved as I remembered what had happened here just this Friday.

"Well, aren't you a joy to be around today," Albus says jokingly.

I punch him playfully and we go sit down with Lily and Hugo, at the Gryffindor table, who were sitting side by side, whispering together.

"Hey guys!" Albus shouts euphorically.

They look up at us, concerned.

"Why is he so happy today?" Hugo inquires.

I shrug my shoulders.

In response, Al says, "What's there not to be happy about? The flowers are blooming; the birds are chirping and everything's perfect!"

We all stare at him silently before I finally speak.

"Al, you do realize that it's early December, therefore there are no flowers and I don't see any birds other than a couple of mute owls over there…"

"Technicalities," He murmurs.

I choke back a laugh. What was up with him? Sure, Al usually was indeed an upbeat person to be around but never to this extreme.

"He's gone mad," Hugo says, "There's no other explanation."

"Madness is bliss," Al replies.

"That's ignorance," I correct him.

"Technicalities," He repeats.

I don't respond. There's really nothing more I could say. Albus was acting very…odd…today. So, I proceed to heap some food onto my plate and begin to eat. Lily and Hugo go back to their conversation which leaves me sitting quietly beside Happy McHapster over here. I contemplate talking to him again, but it really was too early in the morning for me to deal with such a…situation.

Fifteen minutes later, we're all done with breakfast and Al and I begin strolling leisurely towards our first class, Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was my worst class. Let me define 'worst' for you. I almost got an 'Exceeds Expectations' in it last year, but gladly I managed to pull through and get an 'Outstanding' in it. I don't know what I would have done if I had gotten anything less. Just the thought of getting 'Exceeds Expectations' in anything scared the hell out of me. I was what someone might call a perfectionist, but I took that label as a compliment. Hey, when you're smart, you're smart.

The thing is though, since this wasn't my best class, it meant that it was someone else's. It came as no surprise when I had discovered it was a Slytherin who was triumphing over me. It was even less of a surprise when I found out that the Slytherin was Scorpius Malfoy.

When I had first left for Hogwarts, my very first time, just before leaving, my father had said 'So that's little Scorpius. Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains.'

And I had beaten him in every test…in every subject other than D.A.D.A, which was beyond frustrating.

I had grown up hearing stories about the Malfoy family. Nothing too immoral, but enough to know that my father wasn't about to go play Quidditch with Malfoy's any time soon. Before I came to Hogwarts, I had thought that if I ever was to meet him, Scorpius, he would be cruel and wicked. So, naturally, when I got to Hogwarts and actually saw him for the first time, I was astonished at the revelation that he wasn't some immature bigot who yanked the braids of girls he liked. Instead, he was responsible, dogmatic and serious.

We probably would've ended up being academic rivals, except he didn't care about that. He didn't care about being the best in the class. He didn't care about competing with me for top spot, and even more than that, he didn't care about me. If you put me beside a speck of dust in front of Malfoy, he would be more likely to notice the dust. That was how non-existent I was to him.

It would be a lie if I said that it didn't bother me. I wasn't bothered because I fancied him or anything, that was just not a possibility, it was more like…the need for me to know that he knew who I was. It just didn't seem fair that I had known exactly who he was even before we came to Hogwarts, yet he didn't have the decency to let me know that, yeah, his father talked about my family as much as mine did about his. If that makes any sense…

Al and I were now sitting at our pair's desk, waiting for the Professor to arrive. Professor MacQuoid was a short man, bald, and small in stature. Yet he was the most intimidating Professor Hogwarts had ever seen, in my opinion. I'd seen Dementors friendlier than him. The only way to stay on his good side was to excel in D.A.D.A and to look interested in everything he said, even if he was talking about his toad's sinus complications (which he did regularly, mind you). If you got on his bad side, well, let's just say your Hogwarts days wouldn't be quite as pleasant as you'd wish them to be. And if you didn't stay on his good side because you didn't want to get in trouble, you stayed on his good side because you were scared.

He strode in vociferously, his cloak dragging behind him as passed through the door frame. Professor MacQuoid stood behind the Professors desk and swiftly scanned the room with his stone-like eyes. He nodded, to himself I presumed, before he spoke.

"This week we will focus on conjuring the Patronus charm," Professor MacQuoid says sharply. "Can anyone tell me what a Patronus charm is?"

My hand shoots up.

"Yes, Miss Weasley?" The Professor says.

Right as I opened my mouth to answer, a figure entered the room.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy!" Professor MacQuoid says sternly with a hint of affection powdering his tone, "How nice of you to join us."

"I apologize for disrupting your class, Professor," Malfoy begins astutely, "It's just that I slept in today as I stayed up late last night looking over the notes I had taken in your class. They were remarkably insightful, Sir."

Kiss-ass.

The Professors expression changed 'remarkably' fast from strict to cordial.

"Ah, my boy, not at all, not at all! Come on in then, hurry up," The Professor says.

I always knew that Professor MacQuoid had taken a liking to Malfoy. Had it been me or anyone else standing in that doorway, not only would we have gotten chewed out for disrupting the Professors lesson, but he'd glare at us for the rest of class as well.

Malfoy walked in, an almost undetectable smile shadowing his lips. He proceeded to take a seat beside his closest friend, Sefton, or I assumed him to be the closest as he seemed to be the only one Malfoy tolerated, and set his ardent gaze on the Professor.

I sighed.

"Oh, that's right!" Professor MacQuoid suddenly said, "Miss Weasley, please continue."

Great to know that my existence had also slipped the Professors mind.

"Right," I start, "A Patronus is a defensive charm that can only be conjured when a caster focuses their most intimate positive feelings in order to repel a predator of the soul. Such creatures include Dementors and Lethifolds. A Patronus may also be used to transmit messages between two individuals. Patronus's typically take the form of an animal; however the form differs from wizard to wizard."

"Very good!" The Professor affirms approvingly.

What, no 'ten points for Gryffindor'? What a bloody cheapskate.

"Now, I want you and your partner to take out your textbooks, page 234, if you will, and begin reading about the Patronus. I will expect a one page essay on it handed in to me by tomorrow morning," He looked over at poor Marvin Mallrick, "No excuses."

I feel my heart lighten. I loved writing essays.

"Tomorrow we will begin learning the incantation for the charm, so I would suggest you be present. I also suggest you use this time wisely if you do not wish to be finishing this essay during your free time this evening."

"Merlin, it's only Monday first period and already we have homework," Al shakes his head in disappointment, "And today was going so well, too."

I take my chance to ask him about what happened this morning.

"So, what exactly was with you today? All that pep and cheer about butterflies, flowers and birds?"

He looks over at me and smiles, "I don't know. I was just…happy."

"We could tell."

He snickers, "Was it really that bizarre?"

"Quite so," I reply.

"Well, I'll try not to scare you like that again, Rosie," He says.

"Please do."

I flipped to the page in the textbook and Albus and I began skimming through the endless paragraphs on the history of the Patronus, the use of the Patronus, the discovery of the Patronus, etc… Class was, as you'd expect, less than stimulating. The only good part about this assignment at all, really, was the essay anyways.

After what seemed like hours, though I knew in reality it hadn't been, the Professor got up and spoke again.

"Please gather your things. The transition bell will ring any minute now," He told us.

I began to pack up my things, stuffing all of my papers into my book bag.

"Wasn't that just most…illuminating," Al says.

"Illuminating? What a load of—"

I had been getting up and therefore hadn't seen anyone behind me. Instantly, I was chanting 'I'm sorry' as I turned to see whom I had bumped into. Once I steadied myself and focused my vision, I found clear, blue eyes staring back at me, livid. His books were scattered on the floor and I tried to hold back a laugh, I really did, but it was just too comical.

A/N ~ Ba dum dum! Okay, I'll admit, that really wasn't the best cliff-hanger I've ever written but I really didn't know how to end this chapter so... Anyways, I hope you liked it. Thank you to the people who reviewed my story earlier, you guys really made my day! If anyone wants to make my day again (of course you do!), you're totally welcome to review. Please. Pretty please. Pretty, pretty please. ...But don't review if you hated it, or I'll send my Dementor army after you. No, I'm dead serious. Don't believe me? Just you try!

But really, I'm sorry if it wasn't good enough. I just wanted to get another chapter out today, so... If you guys say it sucks, I'll definitely work harder so please don't drop my story yet.

- Anna B.