Double, Double Boils and Trouble
Destiny sighed and refocused her stare to the table in front of her. Just my luck…she thought bitterly. My very first ever friend, and I lose him to stupid prejudice! At that moment, Destiny felt a tap on her shoulder interrupting her thoughts.
"Hi there!" one of the red-haired boys said with a grin.
"Hi," Destiny replied with an attempt at a smile.
"What's your name, new Gryffindor?" the other twin asked with a grin identical to his brothers.
"I'm Destiny," she said. "Who are you two?"
"I'm George Weasley," the boy on her immediate right said.
"And I'm Fred Weasley," the other twin added.
"Nice to meet you," Destiny said with a small laugh. "Please don't be offended if I mix you up from time to time."
"We won't be," George said.
"We'd probably just go along with it anyway," Fred added with a grin.
"We're kind of known for that," George grinned.
"So you're pranksters," Destiny supplied. "Good to know."
The sorting continued quite normally until McGonagall called, "Potter, Harry," to the stool.
Everyone in the hall began to whisper to each other as a boy with black hair and glasses climbed up to try on the hat. Destiny was just as intrigued as everyone else; she had read a little about Harry Potter during the summer of course, and she wondered if they might become friends. They did have quite a bit in common after all.
The hat seemed to take just as long with Harry as it had with Destiny, but it finally called, "GRYFFINDOR!" and the table where Destiny sat exploded with cheers.
Fred and George began chanting, "We got Potter!" over and over again while Harry slid into the seat next to Destiny.
"Hi," he said as he sat down.
"Hi," Destiny replied.
After Harry had been sorted, the ceremony finished with little excitement except for another Weasley joining the Gryffindor table. Once Professor McGonagall had cleared away both Sorting Hat and stool, an old man with a long white beard and half-moon glasses stood up at the teachers' table. He spread his arms wide and beamed around at all of them before beginning to speak. "I have several announcements to make, but first…tuck in!"
Destiny grinned as she looked down at the table to see it filled with food. Glancing to her left, she saw that Harry's jaw had dropped, and she couldn't help but laugh. "It's alright, you know," she said as she began piling her plate. "You can take what you want and as much as you want here…it'll just keep coming back!"
Harry grinned at her before diving into the nearest plate.
Over the next hour, Destiny listened carefully as everyone around her began discussing their families. One boy seemed to have one muggle parent and one wizard parent which Destiny knew meant he was a half-blood. Another boy who was eating with one hand and clutching a toad in the other was pure-blood but lived with his grandmother. A girl with bushy brown hair was busy venting to anyone who would listen about how she hoped that knowing all her textbooks by heart would help make up for the fact that she was muggle born.
Destiny shook her head in silent thought. At this table, it didn't seem to matter what type of blood you had, but she knew that the table on the opposite side of the hall felt very differently.
When the feast had ended, Dumbledore stood up again and gave a brief speech warning students not to go into the Forbidden Forest or the third floor corridor.
"What's so special about the third floor?" George muttered.
"I wish I knew," Destiny whispered back. "All the teachers have been in and out of there for the past month, so whatever it is it must be important."
"How do you know that?" Fred asked.
"I've been alone here since the beginning of August; I had time to learn everything about the place including all the secret passageways."
"Really?" George asked with a raised eyebrow.
"All of them?" Fred asked.
Destiny nodded. "I even found some that don't look like they've been used since the place was built!"
Both Fred and George's jaws dropped. "You are showing us those later!" they hissed in unison as Destiny was herded off with the other first years.
As the group of first year Gryffindors followed their prefect (Percy Weasley) up to the common room, Destiny was waving to several portraits she knew when suddenly…
"WHOA!" a girl with curly brown hair tied in a ponytail shrieked as she fell backwards.
Destiny put her arms up quickly to try and catch the girl, but they both ended up falling backwards down to the landing. "Ouch," Destiny groaned as she wriggled out from under the other girl.
"I'm sorry," the girl groaned as she moved off Destiny. "I'm such a klutz! I was looking up at the paintings, and I lost my balance. I'm sorry," she repeated looking very sheepish.
"It's fine," Destiny sighed as she pulled herself to her feet and brushed the dust from her robes. "I know the paintings are distracting; you should've seen me on my first day here. I'm Destiny by the way."
"I'm Alexis King," the girl replied with a smile.
"You a Gryffindor too?" Destiny asked.
"Yep," Alexis replied.
"Keep up please," Percy called down to them.
"Let's go," Destiny said, offering her hand down to Alexis and pulling her to her feet.
After Percy had shown them how to get into the common room and where to find their beds, Destiny and Alexis climbed up a spiral staircase to their dorm room. Their trunks had been set up at the foot of two beds right next to each other. Destiny was just to the right of the door, Alexis was to her left, then a girl named Lavender Brown, then Parvati Patil, then finally the bushy haired chatterbox Hermione Granger opposite Destiny.
Destiny knelt next to her trunk and began unpacking all her clothes, books, and equipment. She sighed as she hung up her gold and red ties; she had never liked those colors much. Once all of her belongings were safely stored, Destiny changed into her nightclothes and climbed into her four poster bed, pulling the curtains shut around her. She closed her eyes and had just begun to drift off when…
"What do you think our first class will be tomorrow?" Hermione Granger whispered loudly. "I do hope I don't get lost on the way; this place is so big! I've memorized our course books, of course, but I hope that that's enough. Do you think the teachers will be nice? What about-"
"Look, Hermione, right?" Destiny snapped, sticking her head out between the gap in her curtains. "I get that you're excited about class, but some of us would rather be awake for the actual thing than the preamble, so if you don't mind shutting up, that would be much appreciated."
She heard Hermione spluttering as she pulled her head back into the safety of her curtains and again closed her eyes.
The next few days passed quickly for everyone. For her part, Destiny quickly discovered she had a natural talent for magic and picked up on everything she was taught almost instantly. Unfortunately, that meant she suffered the wrath of Hermione Granger, who had, apparently, come to school with the expectation of being top of the class.
Hermione never seemed to miss an opportunity to point out how unfair it was that some people were just able to do a spell or wand movement perfectly without having studied for hours at a time. Not that anyone listened to her, though. The rest of the Gryffindor first years all came to love and admire Destiny and even some members of Ravenclaw and Huffelpuff seemed impressed especially since it didn't seem like she cared what house a person was from; she helped anyone and everyone who asked. The true test of this didn't come, however, until the first Transfiguration lesson of the term.
Destiny came walking briskly into the classroom a few minutes early and took a swift look around the room. On one side of the room were the Gryffindors with a seat open next to Granger in the front and an open table in the back. On the other side of the room were the Slytherins with a seat open next to Malfoy up front and nothing else. Making a fast decision, Destiny walked down the aisle closest to the Slytherins and sat gracefully down in the seat next to Draco Malfoy.
All the Gryffindors gaped openly as she pulled out her book and wand without a care in the world. The Slytherins, too, waited silently to see what their leader would do in response to the gutsy Gryffindor.
"What are you doing?" Malfoy asked.
"I'm getting ready for class," Destiny said simply. "And you can put the parchment away; Professor McGonagall starts with a practical lesson."
Malfoy gaped at her. "I meant, why are you sitting with me? You belong over there with the other losers."
Destiny looked him straight in the eye. "I sat here because I like to sit up front in class. The only seats over there that were open were the ones in the back, which I hate, or the one next to Granger whom I cannot stand. Get it?"
Several of the Gryffindors snickered while Hermione sulked. It was now the Slytherins turn to gape as Destiny successfully shut down their leader.
"It won't kill you to put up with me for a day," Destiny continued. "Besides, I thought you and I were friends," she added in a whisper so only he could hear her.
Draco twitched. "You're a Gryffindor," he said simply as though that were enough of an explanation.
"And you know how I feel about that," Destiny shot back. "It shouldn't matter!"
Draco opened his mouth to argue, but Professor McGonagall chose that moment to stroll into the classroom which forced him to swallow his retort.
After McGonagall had turned her desk into a pig and back, the class forgot all about Destiny and Draco sitting together and instead focused on getting started. McGonagall gave each one of them a match and told them to turn it into a needle.
Once everyone began, it became clear just how difficult this class was going to be. Even Destiny took two or three tries before she made any difference to her match. "Maybe you should've read the book," Hermione hissed at her.
"Nope…" Destiny said as she screwed up her face in concentration. "I just need to-ah there we go!" she cried happily as the match changed color. Within a few more waves of her wand, Destiny's match was now a shiny silver needle.
Draco, on the other hand, was having real trouble. He kept waving his wand violently, but no progress was being made on the match, and he was starting to get really frustrated. "Stupid spell," he muttered under his breath after another failed attempt.
Destiny glanced over at him and bit her lip as she watched him try again to no success. "You're waving your wand too hard," she said quietly.
"What?" Draco spat at her.
"You're not trying to kill the thing," she said, a little louder this time. "You're wand movements are too sharp; try being a bit more fluid like this." She demonstrated.
Draco tried again, but still nothing happened. "Some help you are," he scoffed.
"I would have been if you had listened to me," Destiny said patiently. "Relax your arm," she coached. "Now, try waving it like this." She reached over and guided his arm with her own into a more fluid motion. "See…it's all about being gentle and patient."
At first, Draco had felt awkward and angry that she had had the nerve to help him in such a way, but after a few moments, he relaxed against the pressure of her hand on his. Suddenly, he noticed that she had pulled her arm away and that he was continuing the motion on his own.
"Now try it on the match," Destiny smiled encouragingly.
Taking a deep breath, Draco waved his wand and muttered the incantation. His match changed to silver, and he let out a gasp of triumph.
"See," Destiny said quietly.
Draco looked sheepishly at her, but the bell rang before he could say anything. He glanced at the board to copy down the homework then turned to talk to the Gryffindor, but she had already gone.
"Are you mental?" Ron Weasley hissed at Destiny later that day. "You were helping Malfoy!"
"So what?" Destiny asked while she loaded her dinner plate.
"He's a nasty little git, that's what," Ron said firmly.
"Not really," Destiny said with a shrug. "You just have to be patient and not rise to his taunting, that's all."
Ron rolled his eyes at Harry. "She just doesn't get it."
But as it would turn out, Destiny's "not getting it" would prove to be a great deal of help later that week.
Friday meant an afternoon off, but for the Gryffindors it also meant two hours in the dungeons with Snape and the Slytherins for double potions.
Destiny was slightly worried about this class. As much of a natural as she was in her other classes, she was concerned that Snape's rumored favoritism towards Slytherin house would throw her off. She wasn't obsessed with being number one (unlike Granger), but she did have a pet peeve about things being fair. Nonetheless, she traipsed down to the dungeons with Ron and Harry.
Upon entering the classroom, she sat herself on the aisle seat next to Harry and waited for Snape to begin the lesson. As soon as Snape entered the room, the whole dungeon fell silent.
Snape moved like a cross between a bat and a snake with a quick, graceful walk that seemed to ooze cold, darkness, and fear. His voice had the power to keep a class quiet with the slightest whisper but also had the power to terrify once raised or lowered beyond normal level.
To begin class, Snape read through roll call and made eye contact with every student as he went. When he reached Destiny's name, he seemed to stare at her longer than anyone else, and Destiny shuddered at the look in his eyes. It wasn't something she could understand or articulate, but it made her uneasy.
Upon finishing the roll call, Snape began to ask a series of very difficult questions that were all aimed at Harry. Every time Snape asked a question, Harry responded with, "I don't know, sir," while Granger's hand continued to come closer and closer to knocking the ceiling. Destiny rolled her eyes; she too knew the answers, but she also could plainly see that Snape wasn't looking for the right answers, but an excuse to pick on Harry.
Not long after, Snape began breaking everyone off into pairs in order to brew a simple potion to cure boils. He paired Harry and Ron together, and Destiny was relieved when he didn't put her with Granger. Instead, she had been told to set up a cauldron with Draco Malfoy.
"Long time no see," she whispered with a smirk.
"Now I can pay you back for Transfiguration," he replied with a smirk of his own.
"What makes you think I'll need help?" Destiny quipped.
Draco shrugged. "Mum always said I was good at potions," he replied simply.
For the next few minutes, everyone worked quietly and diligently. Destiny's eyes were either glued to the book, carefully reading the instructions, on her hand as it guided a knife through her ingredient, or on the potion as she stirred it.
Malfoy, however, had one eye on whatever he was doing and the other on his partner. Suddenly, he noticed her about to make a critical mistake and seized her wrist. "No!" he hissed sharply.
"What?" Destiny asked with fear in her eyes.
"You have to take the cauldron off the fire before you put the porcupine quills in otherwise-"
Suddenly a loud hiss echoed through the room as the cauldron in front of Draco and Destiny (Neville's) melted.
"…that will happen," Draco said exasperatedly as he pulled Destiny and himself to stand on a table to avoid the potion that was spreading across the floor.
"Idiot boy!" Snape shouted at Neville who dropped his book in surprise.
As the book hit the table, some of the potion splashed just enough for some to land on Destiny's hand. She gasped in pain as the spot stung and burned as a boil formed there.
Draco instinctively seized her hand and looked closely at it for a moment before pulling out his wand.
"G-gently remember," Destiny reminded him as she desperately fought back tears of pain.
"I know, just relax," Draco replied quietly. He waved his wand over her hand and muttered something Destiny couldn't hear, and the boil disappeared. "Better?" he asked.
Destiny nodded. "Thank you. Not just for fixing my hand but also for stopping me before I did that to us."
"Like I said, it's payback for Transfiguration," he replied simply. "Don't get used to it…you're still a Gryffindor."
"And I still don't care," Destiny chanted back.
Draco rolled his eyes, and Destiny smirked.
Destiny paused a moment in her story, and Kingsly took the opportunity to ask a question. "So, did this arrangement continue?"
"Yes it did," Destiny smiled. "Draco continued to struggle in Transfiguration, and so he kept repaying me in Potions. We were the best in the class, and I think we just got used to it. We tortured each other, though."
"So what happened next?" a member of the council asked.
"Nothing really important," Destiny shrugged. "Our first flying lesson Draco stole Neville's Rememberall, and Harry got it back and made the house quidditch team. It would've been me, but Alexis got ahold of my arm and wouldn't let me go. Anyway, we'd be here for years if I told you everything, so I'll just stick to the important stuff. When summer came, Fred and George Weasley offered to take me home with them, so that's what I did. School started again, and the Chamber of Secrets was opened again. I guess it was around Christmas that things started to get really interesting."
