-Chapter 6, Discoveries-
Author's Note *PLEASE READ*: I realize that I have not written for many months, and for that I apologize. I could spoon feed you a million excuses and none of them would be acceptable. I jumped back on the wagon for this story and plan to continue till the end. Things got busy with an end of the summer trip and the beginning of another school year, but now things are calming with the holidays coming so I will write MUCH more. Semester exams are approaching within two weeks, but I will update weekly, at least a chapter, if not several. Also note that I will soon be changing the title of the fanfic, so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I have missed writing for you all, and I hope you enjoy Chapter 6.
-Hermione-
They were all a bit surprised by their new professor. Not even Hermione could have guessed he'd be a part of the staff, much less a counselor.
"Oliver Wood!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. Despite recent events and strained friendships, Harry seemed very happy to see his old Quidditch coach back at Hogwarts.
"That's Professor Wood to you, Potter," he replied with a grin. He turned to the rest of the group. "Now, who's ready for some counseling?"
Their less than excited faces must have amused him because he kept his cheerful pace, ushering them into the Room of Requirement, where a string of couches and arm chairs sat loosely around a fire. He shook each of their hands as they walked in, but Hermione noted that he held her's a bit longer than the rest, and his warm smile made her flush a light pink.
"Alright, now I don't want you to feel as if this is another uncomfortable and dreadful class. We are here obviously to resolve some drama and perhaps feuding so why don't you all store your bags over there, against the wall, and mingle for a moment before you sit, while I get my own things ready."
They slowly set their bags down and everyone stood there, rather awkwardly.
"Well, I'm not in the mood for 'mingling' so I think I'll just sit." Draco said, breaking the ice. He seated himself on a couch closest to the fire, and Blaise and Hermione followed, sitting with him.
"Go on now, sit." Wood said from behind the group. They scrambled, and when everyone settled Wood spoke again.
"So, let's start with the first order of business, house rivalry."
-Draco-
It was all too disgusting to see the girls whispering and fawning over Wood. Draco didn't want to be in the class in the first place, much less talking about everyone's problems. Draco figured that a group counseling session would be more interesting than individual ones, nevertheless.
"So, let's start with the first order of business, house rivalry."
"Excuse me, but I don't think you comprehend how exactly bad that idea is, to discuss house rivalry, given this lot. We can't just chat over tea about how much Gryffindors and Slytherins despise each other. Whether there was a war or not, that loathing is always going to exist. We're not supposed to like each other, or rationally agree about anything. Salazar and Godric are an obvious example," Draco argued before Wood could speak any further.
This comment sparked outrage at once, and the class was just starting.
"So even though we're supposed to be on a first name basis Malfoy," Hermione spat, "you still absolutely loathe me and every other Gryffindor? Harry saved your life for crying out loud! I can't believe you… you… you pompous arse!" She finished as she jumped to her feet.
Draco opened his mouth but Ron was standing too, and cut him off quickly. "What are you trying to say, Hermione? That you actually thought Malfoy was your friend? I thought you were smarter than that."
"Of course I don't loathe you. You're a respectable Gryffindor at least, and sit down weasel, before you set her off and she curses you. Actually, I'm not even sure why I'm trying to prevent it," Draco mused.
"Don't you dare talk like that to him!" Lavender shouted.
"Oh, don't even make me go off on you again," Draco retorted.
Ron was turning a shade of red even darker than his hair. "Don't threaten my fiancée!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Hermione flinch, but she quickly recovered. Don't have the faintest idea why she hasn't hexed him already, Draco thought to himself.
"I'll do as I please Weasley."
"Not on my watch Malfoy," Harry said, standing next to Ron.
"Don't forget that this one," Lavender said gesturing towards Hermione, "is the source of all the trouble!"
"You daft dimbo!" She exclaimed back.
Draco smiled at Hermione.
"Alright, enough everyone. Sit down." Wood commanded. They all reluctantly took their seats again, but didn't discontinue the glaring.
"Now, I wasn't sure why McGonagall thought I'd be appropriate for this particular job at first, but now I realize it's because no one even wanted it. Look at all of you! Bickering like first years. You should be able to handle your matters maturely, without any violence whatsoever. It's time to put away these childish disputes and act like the role models of war that you are, especially to the younger students who look up to the lot of you."
Everyone stared.
"You're completely right Professor, of course." Hermione said seriously. Once a teacher's pet, always a teacher's pet, Draco thought.
"Now, before the class is up, I'd like to try an exercise. I want each and every one of you to individually come up here and stand in front of your peers and tell them about yourselves. I don't care how many of them already know you Mr. Weasley so put your hand down. I don't need any sarcastic remarks in this class. As I was saying, I want your fellow students to know what makes up YOU. Whatever you think that is. Any volunteers, or shall I pick?"
To everyone's surprise, Pansy volunteered. She flitted quickly to the front of the group, swishing her skirt a bit too naughtily, and beamed at everyone.
"So you all already know me of course, I'm Pansy Parkinson. I'm a Slytherin and in my 7th year at Hogwarts. I have a very famous boyfriend, Harry Potter, and loads of friends. I hate Quidditch- the team is always too sweaty afterwards. I love to read Witch Weekly, and I hope one day to be featured on the cover when I am a celebrity." She said this all very quickly, bouncing with every word.
"And why do you think that rather short amount of information is what sums you up?"
"Because it's all about me, I didn't want to go into too much detail." Pansy replied.
"Uh, okay, who's next? Maybe a Gryffindor?" Wood requested.
Neville volunteered next, though he looked quite uncomfortable to be the center of attention at that moment.
"I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom. All my life I've been considered gangly, and uncoordinated, and just plain skiddish. I worried when I was younger that I was not fit for the magical life, that perhaps I'd have to live as a muggle, not that muggles live badly, but I didn't want that fate for myself. And then my Hogwarts letter came, and I felt that maybe it would be there that I could do something, or be someone that would have made my parents proud. When I was dubbed a Gryffindor I was so excited, because maybe somewhere on the inside I was courageous and brave, like my friends Harry, Hermione, and Ron here," Neville gestured towards them, "now that I've grown older I realize that I do have those traits, and I can be anything I want, or do anything I want, as long as I am courageous and brave enough to chase it. I have great friends and family to back me, my love at my side, and I'm proud to be Neville Longbottom, a Gryffindor."
It was safe to say that everyone in the room had not been expecting that out of Neville, and the group clapped loudly for him. Even Draco had to admit he'd given a nice speech, far greater than Pansy's.
Luna spoke next, talking of two of the most important people in her life: Neville and her father. She spoke of strange creatures not even Hermione had heard of. She spoke of the Quibbler, which she would take over when her father stepped down, and her odd home. She even told everyone how to make common vegetables into jewelry.
Theodore went after Luna, telling the group how big Quidditch was a part of him, how crazy he was about his long-term girlfriend Astoria, making her blush, and his best pals, the Slytherins. He even noted that, like Neville, Herbology was one of his favorite subjects and he was very passionate about it. Astoria quipped animatedly about her home country, America, and gave a quick run through their history. She was equally infatuated with Theodore and had high hopes of opening up a shop in Diagon Alley selling and taking care of pets, such as owls, which Hogwarts students tended to take to school. Wood called upon Lavender when no one volunteered. She sounded like a squeaking thirteen year old girl with her first boyfriend and her whole speech was about Ron, which made the others stare in disgust. It was as if her whole life was centered on having a fiancé, or at least that's how it sounded to Draco.
"Draco?" Wood asked.
"Yes?"
"Would you like to speak now?" He laughed.
"Actually, no. I'd rather listen if you don't mind," Draco replied smoothly.
"Well it's not optional Mr. Malfoy."
Draco's eyes narrowed but he stood up anyways, and cleared his throat before speaking.
"Draco Malfoy, God of Slytherin, greatly admired, the most attractive of-"
"Malfoy."
"Alright, alright. Draco Malfoy, I'm a Slytherin, and if that's not bad enough for you Gryffindors, I've also got a reputation for being a git. Sure, I don't discourage the thought, but some people are a bit hypocritical to call me such things. Though it may shock you, I am second of our class, under Hermione, of course," he grinned at her, "but that's okay because I don't feel the need to be number one. I'm a Quidditch Seeker and I pride myself in that. I've got some great mates, Blaise for example. But although all these things are true, they do not make up who I am, they make up Draco Malfoy, not simply Draco. Draco Malfoy has made some awful decisions, fell under an influencing… power figure, but Draco, on the inside, wants to be free of his past mistakes in order to make room for the new. Draco does not actually believe that Hogwarts should be home to strictly students with two magical parents, and Draco is actually fond of some Gryffindors, such as Weaselette, Longbottom, and my newest friend, Hermione, to correct Weasley from his earlier statement that she was wrong to think we were friends. I want to be known for whom I am today, or whoever I will be, not the pathetic arse that I was. Who I am as of right now I haven't quite figured out yet."
"Thank you for that Draco."
The day was full of surprises, and Hermione added to that by standing and applauding enthusiastically. The others applauded as well; however, Ron, Lavender, and Harry did not.
Wood checked his watch and seemed to finally notice how late it was getting. "Okay class, that's a wrap. We'll finish tomorrow."
-Hermione-
Everyone gathered their things and began filing slowly out of the Room of Requirement. Before Hermione could make it through the door, Wood caught her arm.
"Professor Wood?"
"Call me Oliver, Hermione." He said, holding her arm a bit longer than needed.
"Okay, Oliver… well, what do you need?"
"I just wanted to say it's a pleasure to see you still here at school. It's amazing that even though you are much younger than me, you seem," he paused to let his eyes travel over her, "so much physically, and mentally older than a mere seventeen. You're by far the most intelligent, and extraordinarily the most, shall we say, visually appealing? Compared to the rest of that lot of course."
"Er, well thank you Professor," Hermione said, sliding her arm out of his grip.
"You're very welcome, Hermione," He replied warmly before she slipped out the door quickly to catch up with Draco.
-Ginny-
Ginny skipped dinner, like she had skipped every other class besides the counseling one. She had been feigning a sick stomach all day, but had insisted to Madame Pompfrey that she needed to attend her last class of the day.
Now, she was hurrying back to the dorm so she could get ahead of everyone else. No one seemed to notice her odd behavior, and for that, she was grateful. She couldn't talk to anyone at the moment really, not even Hermione or Blaise.
Especially not Blaise.
Ginny murmured the password to enter the Head's dorm and closed the door quickly. When she did, she turned to lean against it, trying to catch her breath from dashing up staircases. The fireplace was lit, and it cast a great light over the room.
Of course he was already there, waiting for her. Of course he had noticed her acting so strangely.
He knows, she told herself.
"Funny that you seemed like you were rushing back to the dorm. I happened to know a short-cut which would lead me here faster."
Ginny took a deep breath.
"Even more curious that you skipped your classes today, and avoided everyone," he added when she didn't answer.
"I have to go," she said quickly, sliding along the wall and moving towards her bedroom door.
Blaise moved much faster though and pinned her there against the wall, placing his palms against its cool surface on either side of her.
"You knew, Ginny. You knew, and you didn't even tell me."
Ginny felt a tear slide down her cheek. "I'm so sorry Blaise, I am. I should have told you but… my brother…"
"Let me guess. Made you cover up his tracks for him? Pretty smart of you to make everyone, including me, think that Weasley was screwing my girlfriend," she flinched at his words, "and then go back and insist she wasn't cheating at all. But all along, you knew, you knew and that's why you left Potter, but you loved him enough to cover for him too." He spat.
"Blaise, please…"
He sighed. "I thought I was actually being to… have feelings for you. Maybe even love you. Of course that's blown out of the water now. I can't even look at you without thinking what you did was just as bad as Potter and Weasley."
"I'm sorry," Ginny said finally.
He touched her cheek for a moment, wiping away the tears there, and for a moment Ginny was hopeful, but he dropped his arms and stepped back.
Blaise turned on his heel and used his wand to quickly put out the fire in the hearth. When Ginny murmured the spell to make the lights switch on, he was gone.
For the first time ever at Hogwarts, Ginny felt alone.
. . . . .
And that's Chapter 6, everyone! I hope you enjoyed, and anticipate reading the next one as much as I anticipate posting it! Not much is known of the characters of Lavender, Pansy, Theodore, and Astoria so I added a bit of my own made up personality and aspirations for them.
Have any comments on this chapter? Review it! Or PM me if you wish