Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter etc.
Chapter 4:
During the morning break, Alison sat with Lucian and Marcus, though, Malfoy had been invited over so that Marcus could discuss quidditch training times with him. Alison did her best to ignore him but he kept sending proud, egotistical looks her way. She couldn't help but slightly regret her decision to have him on the team. If it weren't for the Nimbus 2001 broomsticks that Lucius Malfoy was sending the entire time, including Alison, Marcus would have kicked him off the team before he'd even gotten a chance to play. Alison didn't really want a new broom. She was comfortable with her Nimbus 2000. But under Marcus' orders, she was to use the new broomstick and keep the Nimbus 2000 as a spare.
The owls swooped in to deliver the morning post. Lucian's owl handed him a letter from his parents. Alison felt slightly disappointed that she didn't get one, but her spirits were raised when Lucian told her that they had said hello and were hoping for her to stay next summer.
A crash sounded from the Gryffindor table and the entire hall looked over at Ron, whose owl had landed in a bowl of cereal. People laughed, including Marcus and Malfoy. Lucian coughed to disguise a chuckle but Alison glanced over at Ron, concerned. Ron picked up a red letter and stared at it in horror as the owl flew away.
"Look everyone!" shouted Seamus, "Weasley's got himself a howler!"
People laughed again. Alison looked at Lucian with a confused expression. He just pointed at Ron, so Alison watched intently. Ron nervously opened the letter and dropped it as a female voice filled the room.
"Ronald Weasley!"
The voice could only belong to Mrs Weasley. The letter floated up and formed the shape of lips, spitting out the words that Alison supposed were written on the page.
"How dare you steal that car! I am absolutely disgusted!" continued the voice, "Your father's now facing an enquiry at work and it's entirely your fault! If you put another toe out of line we'll bring you straight home!"
The howler turned and faced Ginny Weasley, "Oh and Ginny, dear; congratulations on making Gryffindor, your father and I are so proud!"
The howler stuck its tongue out at Ron and tore itself up. Ron stared at the pieces of paper on the table in front of him in shock. A few of the Slytherins laughed at Ron's misfortune. Alison caught his eye and gave him an apologetic look. Eventually, the commotion died down and people began to drift towards their classes.
Alison walked alone to the defence-against-the-dark-arts classroom and took a seat near the middle, leaving the front few rows for the love-struck fan-girls. Soon, people began to file into the class. Many girls were eager to get to the front, including Hermione. Alison thought that she would get a table to herself until Malfoy took the seat next to her. He was only doing it because he knew that it would annoy her; she could tell because of the slight smirk on his face.
"Why don't you go and sit with your stalker?" snapped Alison.
"Sitting with a pretty girl is nowhere near as fun as making your life a misery, Lewis!" he said, emphasising her name.
Alison sat as far away from him as she could, though the sides of the desk made it impossible to move a lot.
The office door at the front of the classroom burst open to reveal the tall, blonde-haired Professor Lockhart. He grinned proudly at the class and began to descend the stairs.
"Let me introduce you to your new defence-against-the-dark-arts teacher: me! Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, honorary member of the Dark Force Defence League and five times winner," he paused and winked at a portrait of himself that winked back, "of Witch Weekly's Most- Charming-Smile Award. But I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him!"
He laughed at his own joke, revealing his slightly scary smile. Alison noticed that most of the other girls were gazing adoringly at him. She wrinkled her nose and turned back to the performance that the professor was putting on for them.
"Now," he said, his tone turning serious, "be warned. It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard-kind," he tapped a covered cage on his desk and it shuddered violently.
Alison heard Malfoy gulp and slide closer to her.
"You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. I must ask you not to scream...it might provoke them!" Lockhart said, shouting the last part and lifting the sheet off the cage.
The cage was full of electric blue Cornish pixies; Alison remembered seeing them in one of her books. They were quite harmless apart from their hyperactive nature and love for causing trouble.
"Cornish pixies?" questioned Seamus, from across the room.
"Freshly caught Cornish pixies!" said Lockhart proudly.
Seamus laughed, snorting as he did so, causing the rest of the class to giggle. Malfoy slid back to the other side of the table in relief.
"Laugh if you will, Mr Finnegan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters! Let's see what you make of them!"
He opened the cage and the pixies swarmed out to intimidate the class. Everyone leapt out of their seats, eager to avoid the mischief-makers.
"Come on now, round them up! They're only pixies!" shouted Lockhart.
One began to rip the pages out of Lockhart's books that he had placed along the sides of the classroom. A group of them lifted Neville up by his ears. Alison rushed over to try and help him down, but she was dragged back by a pixie that had grabbed hold of her hood. She swung her arms around in order to swat the pixie away but she was unable to reach. Malfoy appeared behind her and ripped the pixie away. He grabbed Alison's sleeve and dragged her out of the classroom with the majority of the students. Alison turned to face Malfoy once they were away from the chaos.
"Thanks," she said, slightly confused at him saving her, again.
She remembered that last year, during detention in the Forbidden Forest, Malfoy had dragged her away from a hooded creature that was drinking unicorn blood.
"I only helped you because I don't want our team to forfeit our first match because one of our beaters is injured!" he spat.
Alison raised an eyebrow, "Still, thanks."
She walked off in the direction of the common room with Malfoy scowling after her.
Chapter 5 will be out soon. Please review and thanks for reading.