Chapter 7

The room I slept in was also inhabited by Mandy Brocklehurst, Lisa Turpin, Padma Patil, Su Li, and Morag McDougal. The four-poster beds were arranged in a circle around the tower room. I gently sat on the bed, bouncing up and down slightly. Changing into my bedclothes, I slipped under the blankets and ignored the feminine chattering throughout the room. I was very tired.

The next morning, I took my place at the Ravenclaw table before most else. I always was an early riser. Drizzling treacle on my porridge, I looked over my schedule. Herbology, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and double Transfiguration. It seemed easy enough. I was a fairly good student, particularly with Transfiguration. I turned around to see a figure behind me. The blond boy smiled a rather obsequious smile at me. "Enjoying your first day?"

"Yes, thank you, Draco." My smile was frozen on my face. He didn't correct me, and so I assumed that I got his name right. That was a relief. "I think we'll have Transfiguration together, right? And Herbology?" He peered over my shoulder at my schedule and nodded.

"Yes, we do. I was wondering," he sat down next to me, "Since your parents have… passed… why aren't you queen?"

"Ah, yes, that. I will assume the title once I take the throne. I have a regent for now, and once I'm ready, having studied everything I need to be queen, I will do that." I shrugged. "I know it's just an ornamental position, really, and the monarchy doesn't really do anything anymore, but I still feel that it's important to be educated about things Hogwarts doesn't teach. Political science, etiquette, that sort of thing." I found myself quoting Uncle about my lessons.

"Yes, that makes sense." He nodded, then rose. "I'll see you in Herbology, then?"

"Uh, yeah. I mean yes, you will." I smiled again, and turned back to my porridge, grabbing a few strips of bacon as well. Luna, yawning, plopped down beside me. "Were you talking to Malfoy?"

"Does everyone here refer to people by their last name?"

"Just people we don't like."

"Oh." I shrugged. "He came over and talked to me. I sat with him on the train here. He's a bit smug. I think he might be trying to get to know me because of the whole-" I wrinkled my nose, "-princess thing. Is that mean?"

"You're completely right." She lowered her voice and leaned in close. "His entire family's Death Eaters, you know. All they care about is blood status. And I suppose your blood is the purest of all."

"Oh. Alright. I just don't want to assume mean things about people, you know? Not something I like to do." I finished my porridge. "So we don't like Draco? Malfoy?"

"Not really, no. We don't."

"Alright. Works for me."

Not liking Draco became increasingly easy after breakfast. He casually strolled by me on the damp lawn on the way to Herbology. "Here," he said, waving his wand and muttering an incantation. Immediately, the soft rain that had been slowly soaking me ceased, and my robes were dry. Looking up, I noticed that the rain seemed to slide away from me about a foot above my head.

"Oh, thank you." I noticed turned around and mouthed, "Help!" to Luna, but she smiled, shook her head, and went to class. I wished she was in my year.

"Do you want me to carry those for you?" Without waiting for a response, he whisked my books out of my hands and levitated them in front of him, also protected by a magic umbrella.

"Thank you again," I said. "You really don't have to, you know."

"I know. But I want to." He shrugged. "It's easy enough, anyway. No trouble."

"Oh. Alright." I was terrible at conversation, always had been. So I remained silent. Draco politely inquired about how my summer had been, and what life was like in America. That was something I could talk about. "Well, first off, it's a lot drier." I motioned to the sky. "One day I'll get sick of the rain, but right now, it's a wonderful change. And everyone in Boston has the most dreadful accents. I was raised by a Welsh wizard-"

"I can hear that."

"-and it's just harsh. But I like it. Somehow. Pahk the cah at Hahvahd Yahd, all that. But it's a lot of fun. Biscuits are cookies, chips are fries. A whole different language, you know?"

"Interesting. I did not know how different it was." We arrived at the greenhouse, and he opened the door for me. He handed me my books and went to stand with the other boys I had seen with him on the train. I gravitated towards the girls from my room, waiting quietly for class to start.

Nothing particularly interesting happened until Transfiguration. I missed lunch, because I misunderstood my schedule, and as a result, was starving. I sat down in the back of the class, making sure that someone was sitting directly in front of me. Obviously, Draco sidled up to take the seat next to me. I ignored him for the moment. "What are you doing-"

"Shh," I hissed at him. I had already transfigured a small eraser into a plate, and a pencil into a fork. I was working on a speck of ham I had snatched from the Great Hall, trying to make it into an adequate meal. I was concentrating so hard that I did not hear the professor call my name.

"Jessica Harcourt? Miss Harcourt?" The voice got uncomfortably close, but I was almost done. Carefully holding the plate in my lap, I looked up to see McGonagall looking over her glasses at me.

"Oh, hello." I tried to smile.

"What have you got there?"

I looked into my lap, then placed the plate onto my desk. "Er… lasagna, professor?"

She frowned. "No, thank you, Miss Harcourt." With a flick of her wand, the objects were returned to their normal state. A giggle rippled through the room, but I was focused on my empty stomach, pouting at the items on the desk in front of me. I felt a nudge from my side, where Draco was offering me a cookie. I smiled and accepted it. He was cocky and irritating, but he did have his uses after all.

The class went rather smoothly after that. As I was trying to leave, Professor McGonagall waved me towards her. "Miss Harcourt."

I approached the desk, smiling nervously. "Yes, Professor?"

"I want you to know that your stunt at the beginning of class will not be taken lightly. You will not be exempt from punishment because of your station, I hope you are aware of that."

"Oh, no, professor, I didn't think I could do that because of my station." I was babbling now, the truth coming out whether I wanted it to or not. "I was just very hungry, and I was trying to be subtle, and, well, I just hoping you wouldn't notice. Nothing to do with station. I'm sorry." I bowed my head and shuffled my feet.

"I do not want it to happen again," said the professor.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied. She nodded at me, and I assumed that I was free to go. My first day, and I already had a talking to. I frowned and bit my lip. Other than that, the day had been fine. It was dinnertime, and as a result of my confiscated lasagna, I was starving.

At the Ravenclaw table, I quickly found Luna before Draco could spot me. "Food? Is there food yet?"

"I missed lunch the first few days, too. The schedules are confusing." She patted my hand. I stared at the empty platters, waiting for them to fill.

"Foooooooood," I murmured, burying my head in my arms. Luna only smiled and absently patted my head.

Soon enough, though, there was food in my belly, and I was content. Some of the Ravenclaws around me chatted, mostly about America and Windhithe, how I was liking Hogwarts, things like that. It was nice. I hoped I could make friends with some of these girls. I was a bit of a loner back at Salem, with no really close friends. That's one of the reasons I was so eager to come to Hogwarts. I was a little more anxious around the boys. Salem Witches Academy was just that- an academy for witches. I also lived in the middle of nowhere, so I couldn't meet boys on my summer vacations. I hadn't even been kissed yet. It was a little embarrassing, but with Hogwarts being coed, hopefully that would change soon. No one really piqued my interest yet, and the only interest I seemed to have piqued was Draco's. That was unfortunate. I smiled and kept answering questions. I would be as charming as possible, I decided. That is, until I got tired of it.

Back in the common room, I sat by the fireplace, quietly working on my homework. There wasn't much, but I wanted to do well to make a good first impression. Luna had also lent me a copy of her father's magazine, the Quibbler, which was currently draped over the arm of the chair, waiting for my homework to be done. My first day, done. And I had only gotten in trouble once. Luna had laughed over the thought of me offering McGonagall lasagna. I sighed, sinking into the chair and scratching at the parchment. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better.