Days had passed without much excitement. I tried to send Draco letters but he never responded. After two days I just gave it up. The rumors never stopped for a second. Cissy made sure I was up to date on the latest gossip. Harry had a stalker, Colin Creevey, or the boy with the camera. Several people were either flirting, or dating. A few were being bullied by someone or other. I found it interesting but didn't always pay attention to every word she said. I suppose the highlight of the days had been when one of Ron's spells accidently hit Professor Flitwick between the eyes and left him with a large green boil. The weekend came with a new surprise.
I awoke early that morning. I got dressed quickly and was about to head down to the Great Hall when I saw a snowy owl tapping at my window. I quickly opened and watched the owl dropped off a letter and fly off. I wasn't sure if I wanted to open it. I sighed and reached for the letter.
"Who's that from?" Jean suddenly asked from behind me.
"Good morning Jean," I responded rolling my eyes.
"Who is it from? Who is it from? Who is it from? Who is it from?"
"Jean," I shouted. Jean closed her mouth and just stared at me. "I don't know yet. I need to read it first."
I swiftly picked up the letter and opened it. I could tell by the paper that it was from Draco. The mystery person usually sent dirty crumpled pieces of paper. I read through it quickly.
"So, who is it from? What did it say?"
"It's from Draco," I told her. "It says to go down to the Quidditch field."
"Why would it say that?" Jean asked astonished.
"Let's go find out shall we," I said and walked around her. Jean followed behind me eagerly.
Jean went on talking about random things. I tuned her out and made my way through the castle. Once outside I smiled. It was a brisk morning; a light mist filled the area. I was definitely glade to be back at Hogwarts. We walked to the Quidditch field. I thought it was odd to be here in the deserted field. I saw Colin, a small first year taking pictures. Hermione and Ron were sitting in the stands eating the remnants of their breakfast. The Gryffindor team had begun practicing already.
"Oh, wow," Jean muttered.
I glanced down and saw something emerging from the shadows. They walked closer towards us. I squinted to try and get a better view. My eyes went wide when I saw the Slytherin Quidditch team form from the mist.
"This is going to be bad," I muttered to Jean.
"I don't believe this!" Wood said angrily. "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!" Wood flew straight to the ground. He landed hard and dismounted. Harry, Fred, and George followed behind him. "Flint, this is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!" Wood told him. I could see the anger in his face.
I saw something flicker in Flint's face. He grinned. I only watched on waiting to see what would happen next. "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."
The rest of the Gryffindor team flew onto the ground. I noticed that there were no girls on the Slytherin team. They stood shoulder to shoulder as if forming a large wall.
"But I booked the field!" Wood retorted. "I booked it!"
"Ah," Flint said grinning wider. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. 'I Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owning to the need to train their new Seeker.'" Flint handed Wood the note.
"You've got a new Seeker?" Wood said. He glanced around searching for the new seeker. "Where?"
I watched someone walk from around the wall of Slytherins. My mouth dropped when I saw Draco Malfoy appear. He was smirking proudly.
"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" One of the twins asked with disdain.
"Funny you should mention Draco's father," Flint said. The entire Slytherin team smiled broadly. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."
Every member on the Slytherin team revealed their brooms. I read the gold letterings Nimbus Two Thousand and One. I shook my head trying to sort through all of this.
"Very latest model. Only came out last month," Flint added. He flicked off some dust from his new broom. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps," he smiled viciously at the twins holding their Cleansweep brooms", sweeps the board with them."
No one said anything for several minutes. I blinked my eyes thinking about this. Draco had bought his way onto the Slytherin team to play the same position that Harry plays. He sent me a letter early this morning to make sure that I had been here to see this.
"Oh," I said to myself.
"Oh, look," Flint went on", a field invasion."
Ron and Hermione had begun crossing the field and walked towards the two teams.
"What's happening?" Ron asked. "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?" Ron asked indicating Draco.
"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," Draco responded slyly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."
Ron stared at the brooms with his mouth hanging wide open.
"Good aren't they?" Draco asked with a slight sarcastic tone. "But perhaps Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them." The Slytherin team roared with laughter.
"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to but their way in," Hermione remarked", They got in on pure talent."
Draco's face changed to show a superior grin. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he told her.
There was an instant reaction. Flint jumped in front of Draco to protect him from the twins. One of the girls shrieked "How dare you!" Jean tugged at my arm.
Ron pulled out his wand yelling "; you'll pay for that one, Malfoy!"
There was a loud bang the echoed through the field. I saw a jet of green light shot out from Ron's wand. Instead of the light hitting Draco it hit Ron in his stomach. He went reeling backwards and landed on the grass.
"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" Hermione asked worriedly.
I watched Ron trying to open his mouth to speak, but no words came. Instead there was a belch and a slug. I disgustedly watched it slither from his mouth and land on the ground. The Slytherin team howled with laughter. Flint hung on his broomstick for support. Draco was on all fours pounding his fists on the ground. The Gryffindors surrounded Ron afraid to touch him. Jean and I just continued to watch the scene from a respectable distance.
"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," Harry said. Harry and Hermione lifted him from the ground and whisked him away.
"See ya at breakfast," Jean said running off.
I stood still unsure of what to do. I combed my fingers through my hair. I turned and made my descent from the scene. I didn't come across too many people walking the hallways. I assumed it was too early. I was about to turn a corner when I felt someone pull at my sleeve. I was whirled around and soon staring at Draco.
"Glade you showed up," Draco said.
"Why haven't you been responding to my letters?" I asked. "Are we friends or aren't we?"
"It's hard to explain," Draco said.
"What's so hard to explain?"
"Trust me, one day you'll know."
"Know what? Look, just because we're in different houses doesn't mean we can't be friends."
"It does make a difference Marina," Draco replied.
I shifted my weight. "So, you're the new Slytherin Seeker."
"Yes," he responded.
"If we're not friends, then why did you send me a message asking me to come to the field?"
"Just thought you would like to know," Draco muttered turning from me.
I watched him walk down the corridor. I smirked to myself. I shook my head knowing that I had to get ride of such notions. I turned and continued walking down the hallway. Naturally it didn't take me long to get lost. Inside the castle each hallway looked the same. When I stopped seeing other students I knew I was really lost.
I ran down the hallway and turned. I continued to run but wasn't getting anywhere. The light was growing dimmer. I had run into the darker side of the castle, could I be in the dungeons? I continued to run in hopes that running would somehow help me find my way. I continued to run forward until the wall stopped me. I fell backwards and landed on the ground.
"Ouch," I said carefully moving onto my side.
I saw glanced at the wall to my right. I saw something, some sort of mark on it. I pulled out my wand and said ", lumos." The tip of my wand lit up brightly. I moved my wand closer to the wall. It was a jaguar's head. Someone had engraved a jaguar's head into the wall.
I moved closer towards it. My finger lightly touched the engraving. My fingers traced the head carefully then I heard something. I backed away and stood up. I stared at the wall as it began to move before my eyes. It shook violently for a few seconds. Then a part of the wall moved towards me and then moved to the side to reveal a narrow opening.
"Wow, this is different."
I carefully inched my way towards it. I was about to walk inside when I heard distant voices walking towards me. It was coming from the dark entrance. I took a few steps backwards.
"Nox," I said and ran the opposite way of the hallway. The light distinguished itself as I ran. I wasn't going to risk either getting detention or getting captured by some crazed lunatic. Not this early in the school year.
I ran without any real direction. Eventually I slowed my running to a walk. I turned down a corridor and saw light at the other end. I walked towards it quickly. It lead me back outside. The sunlight blinded my eyes for a few seconds. I lifted my hand to block the light.
"There you are," Rema said. "We've been looking for you."
"Really?" I asked glancing at her. She held an armful of books. "Why?"
"I just heard about Draco on the Slytherin team. Is it true that he bought his way in?"
"In a sense yea he did." I informed her.
"Are you okay?" Rema asked.
"Yea, I think so." I decided it was best not to tell anyone just yet. I could have been imagining the entire thing. Besides I knew what would happen if I did tell them. They would all want to go down and investigate.