Madam Pomfrey let me leave the next day after promising her I would come back if I felt sick. I still couldn't remember why I had fainted and it was starting to bug me. I felt perfectly fine before and after it happened. I walked into the great hall and waved and smiled at my father assuring him I was okay. I knew he was always worrying about me and I hated causing him so much stress. I took my normal seat between Harry and Hermione.
"How you feeling?" Harry asked.
"I'm fine except for the fact I fainted yesterday and I don't know why!" I snapped. I instantly felt bad
"Sorry!" he said looking away from me.
"No, I'm sorry! I have a lot on my mind and I shouldn't of snapped at you! Forgive me?" I asked.
"You don't have to apologize, Miley! I know how you feel!" Harry said smiling.
"You do?" I asked
"Yeah, I have a lot on my mind these days too!" He said looking off into the distance. I wanted to ask him what but he didn't look like he wanted to talk about it so I just smiled and changed the subject.
"So, the Quidditch game is tomorrow right?" I asked.
"Yeah. You coming?" Harry asked.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world. I really want to see you guys play. Who are you playing against ?" You said
"Hufflepuff." He said just before the bell rang to signal classes were to began soon. I jumped up from the table.
"I'll meet you there!" I told them having to go to the common room first to get my bag. I made it to History of Magic just in time. I handed in the makeup essays I did for Professor Binns and took my usually seat in the back of the room. When the end of class bell rang I packed up my stuff and went to Transfiguration class. Professor McGonagall smiled at me as I entered and I smiled, taking my seat.
"Settle down, settle down." Professor McGonagall told the chatting class. Everyone stopped talking and looked at her, but she was no longer there. Instead a tabby cat was sitting in the spot the professor had just been standing. I look around the room trying to see where the professor had gone. I looked back at the tabby cat and it was gone and Professor McGonagall was back.
"Today we will be starting animal transformations. You will read the chapter beginning on page 300 and then when you are done reading I want to try and attempt to change your desk into an animal. You may begin. You have any questions please raise your hand." Professor McGonagall announced to the class. Many people smiled and whispered to the person next to them. I opened my book to page 300 and read the chapter. Hermione was the first one finished reading the chapter and waited semi-patience beside me waiting for me do get done. After I finished reading I closed my book and Hermione cleared the tables we shared of everything and we stood.
"Okay, so the book said all you have to so is picture the table turning into a animal in your head and then wave your wand." Hermione said. She screwed up her face in concentration and waved her wand, but nothing happened. She tried again and again, but the table stayed a table.
"Let me try!" I said. She nodded her head in defeat and sat back down in her chair. I closed my eyes and imagined one of my favorite animals. I opened my eyes with the animal still in mine and waved my wand. The table disappeared and in it's place stood a tiger. Many people gasped as the tiger opened his mouth and roared.
"Very good, Miley. Fifty points to Gryffindor." She told me as I scratched the tiger behind his ears. The tiger purred loudly in pleasure.
"Woe, Miley, that was cool. You did something before Hermione did. Usually she's the first." Ron said. Hermione looked sad in her chair.
"Hey, Hermione, want to pet him? He's really nice." I asked her trying to make her feel better.
"No, thank you. I don't like tigers very much." She said. I knew she was lying. She was just upset that the spell didn't work for her. Several people came over to pet the tiger and then returned to their tables to work on the spell. My tiger stayed by my side and eventually curled up and went to sleep. By the end of class birds, snakes, cats, dogs, lions, tigers,(bears , oh my. Sorry. Movie moment. Lol.) and rabbits cover the class room. Hermione finally managed to turn a table into a cat and then Ron's dog chased her cat around the room causing some of the other animals to get into the chase until McGonagall used a stunning spell on all the animals and then turned them all back into tables. The bell rang and Harry, Ron, and Hermione and I left the transfiguration class room and went to the great hall for lunch. Draco joined us at our table
"You are such a pig." Was the first thing Draco said to when he saw how much food I had on my plate.
"Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment." I told him.
"You do that." He said laughing. I stuck my tongue out at him and went back to my food. The bell rang for our next class and everyone went to Dark Arts class. I smiled at Dean and sat down.
"Just a reminder the try outs for the contest are this weekend so anyone planning on trying out please let me know and remember I am available to anyone who needs a drum or guitar player." Dean reminded the class. After he made the announcement he started talking about shield spells and everyone took notes for the rest of the class. Every so often I heard someone talking the contest and it made me wonder how many people were actually trying out.
In potions I sat in my normal seat in the front with Draco.
"Good afternoon class. Today I want you to construct the memory spell. Partners are to make one cauldron and bring me a vial of the finished potion at the end of class. Instructions are on the board. You may begin." He told the class waving his wand at the board and words appearing on it. I lit a fire beneath our cauldron while Draco went and back the supplies. I read the instructions and at the bottom and it said that if made correctly it could bring back forgotten memories. I couldn't help but think about the day before. Could it help me remember why I fainted? Did I dare take some and find out? I didn't hear Draco come back with the ingredients until he tapped me on the arm.
"Miley, Did you hear what I said?" Draco said snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Huh? What?" I said.
"Are you okay. You seem miles away." Draco said looking worried.
"Sorry. I was thinking about the talent contest!" I lied hoping he couldn't read in my face what I was thinking about doing
. "Oh!" He said. I couldn't tell if he believed me or not.
"Now what were you saying before?" I asked.
"I forgot the ginger root. Will you go and get some from the supply closet?" he said.
"Yeah, sure." I said. I walked to the back of the room near Harry where Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat and got into the supply closet. I looked all over the shelves but couldn't find the ginger root anywhere."Looking for something?" A voice asked from behind. I turned and saw Harry standing at the door.
"Ginger root." I said. Harry looked and grabbed a bottle marked GR and handed it to me.
"Sometimes Snape abbreviations the ingredients." He told me.
"Thanks!" I said. When I got back to the table Draco was half way through mixing the ingredients. I handed him the ginger root and he added it to the potion. The potion was a white in color and smelled faintly of wild flowers. Draco added a couple other ingredients and stirred until the potion turned clear, but still smelled of wild flowers.
"We're done." Draco told me.
"All ready? Are you sure its prefect?" I asked.
"We won't know unless we try it but Professor Snape won't allow it unless he tells us to." Draco said. He put some of the potion in a vial and carried it up to Snape. Quickly, before he got back I grabbed another vial and filled it with the potion and put it in my bag. I helped Draco clear the rest of the potion and he went to put the cauldron away.
"Can I ask you something?" Draco asked when he returned
"Yeah." I said suddenly afraid he saw me put the potion in my bag.
"Are you going to the Halloween ball with anyone?" he asked nervously.
I sighed in relief "No?" I said.
"Would you go with me?" he said quickly.
"Draco, are you asking me out?" I asked.
"No….Yes." He said. His pale face turning pink. "So will you?" he asked again.
"I don't know!" I said hesitantly. "Can I think about it and let you know?" I asked.
"Yeah, sure." He said. Just then the bell rang signaling the end of the school day.
"Hey, Miley, want to come watch the Quidditch team practice today?" Harry asked coming up to me.
"Yeah! Sure! I'll meet you there! I just have to run back to the common room first!" I said grabbing my stuff. I said goodbye to Draco and was half way to the door when my father called my name.
"Dad, I'm fine! I swear!" I said over my shoulder and quickly left before he could say anything else. I didn't stop until I got to the portrait of the fat lady. I said the password, opening the portrait, and went inside. I went up to the girls dorm. It was empty of the other girls. I put my bag and my bed and opened it. I dug around until I found what I was looking for, the potion vial. I opened my trunk and pulled out a pair of socks I hardly wore. Stuffing the vial into the sock, I hide the sock at the bottom of the trunk.
"Miley!" I heard someone yell when I was outside walking to the Quidditch field. Thinking it was my father I turned, bracing myself knowing he was going to yell at me for running off earlier, but it wasn't my father who I saw jogging to catch up with me. It was the Nathan, the boy who came into Professor Wilson's classroom when I finished practicing for the contest.
"Did I scared you?" He asked stopping infront of me.
"No! I thought you were my father!" I told him.
"In trouble, are we?" He said laughing.
"He worries too much!" I said.
"He's just being a parent!" He said. "Where you heading?" He asked when I didn't say anything.
"Quidditch field to watch Harry and Ron practice!" I told him.
"Ah! I would ask to join but they might think I'm spying for my team!" He said smirking.
"You're on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team?" I asked.
"Chaser since my second year!" He said proudly.
"Well then I better go before I'm accused of fraternizing with the enemy!" I said jokingly, pretending to turn away.
"In that case…" he said laughing. "I need to confess something before you go?"
"What's that?" I asked.
"It wasn't by accident I found you! I've actually been looking for you!" He said.
"Oh!" Was all I could say to what he just said.
"There's another Hogsmeade visit this weekend and I was thinking maybe me and you could go together?" He asked. I was being asked out for the second time that day! It felt different then when Draco asked me out though. With Draco I couldn't see myself saying yes but with Nathan, a guy I had only met once before, I could.
"I'll take your silence as a no!" He said backing up to go!
"What! No! Wait!" I rushed when I realised he was leaving. He stopped. "Sorry! I mean.." I took a deep breathe to slow my breathing. "yes I would like to go with you!" I said.
"Great! It's a date! I'll see you in Herbology tomorrow then!" He said.
"We have Herbology together?" I said trying to remember if I saw him in class before.
"Charms too, but your usually sitting with your friends! It's okay if you've haven't noticed me before! I noticed you!" He said laughing. He had a nice laugh. It was more of a chuckle than a laugh that came more from deep in his chest then his throat like most people. He was tall, maybe 6'2! His medium brown hair ended just past his ears curling slightly and in the front in swept across his forehead giving him a boyish look. I smiled.
"I'll see you tomorrow then!" I said. He turned and jogged back to the castle and I walked the rest of the way to the field. I found Hermione sitting alone in the stands.
"What are you so happy about?" She said seeing the smile I had on my face when I sat next to her.
"Promise you won't tell anyone!" I asked.
"I promise!" She said crossing her heart with her right hand.
"Do you know Nathan from Hufflepuff? He's the Hufflepuff Chaser! Tall, brown hair?" I asked.
"Yeah! Nathan Stuart! He's the team captain!" she said.
"He's the captain? He didn't tell me that!" I said.
"Wait…go back! Why were you talking to Nathan?" she asked suddenly very curious.
"He stopped me on my way here! He asked me to Hogsmeade this weekend!" I said. For some reason I blushed when I told her.
"What did you say!" she asked.
"I said yes!" I told her. She didn't seem to be as happy about it as I was! "What's wrong, Hermione? Aren't you happy for me?" I asked.
"Ofcourse I am! It's just…what about Draco?" she said. Huh? Draco?
"What do you mean? What about Draco?" I asked.
"Didn't he ask you to the Halloween ball today!" she said.
"Yeah! How did you know he asked me?" I said. I didn't see her anywhere near us when he asked me?
"He told me he was going to ask you this morning at breakfast before you got there! I take it you told him no!" she said
"No! I told him I had to think about it!" I said frowning. The happy feeling I had before was gone.
"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know! I don't like him other then as a friend!" I said.
"Tell him that! He'll understand!" she said.
"I hope you're right!" I said sighing looking down at my feet.
"Uh oh!" I heard Hermione said.
"What?" I said looking back at her. She pointed at the entrance of the field.
"Crap!" I swore when I saw who it was. "I'd better go!"
"Good luck!" Hermione said.
"Thanks! I'm think I'm gonna need it!" I told her. I felt like I was doing the walk of shame as I crossed the field to my father. I saw Harry and the others flying above me and I wished I had a broom so I could fly away and not have to face whatever punishment I was about to get. Whenever I would walk out of a room when my mother was trying to speak to me she would let me go and then later on give me some kind of punishment. Most of the time it was an easy punishment like washing windows. Once though she got her boss at a restaurant she worked at to let me clean the bathrooms. The ladies room was easy to clean, but the men's bathroom was a whole other story. It was disgusting. Lets just say I never walked out on a conversation with her again. I finally made it to where my father stood.
"I don't appreciate you walking out when I am trying to talk to you!" He said.
"Sorry!" I said. I was afraid to look him in the eye.
"I worry about you, Miley! I may not be as good a parent as your mother was, but I still should get the same respect you gave to her!'' He must not of known about the bathroom thing I thought. I looked up at his face excepting to his anger in his face but I saw only hurt. I had hurt him! I wanted to cry! Here he was just trying to protect me and here I was being a brat. He was scared. He knew there was a reason why things kept happening to me.
"I'm sorry!" I said again. He sighed.
"You're not to leave Hogwarts grounds until after Halloween!" He said.
"But the Hogsmeade visit this weekend..?" I said.
"What about it?" He said.
"Can I please go?" I asked.
"I believe Hogsmeade is off Hogwarts grounds!" He stated.
"Dad, Please!" I begged.
"There will be no more discussion about it!" He said turning to go.
"Ikindahaveadate okay!" I said quickly. I could feel my face turning bright red.
"You have a what?" He asked turning back to me. I knew by the look on his face he had heard me.
I took a deep breathe. "I have a date!" I said slower.
"A date? With who?" He asked stunned.
"Nathan Stuart! He's in Hufflepuff!" I told him.
"Oh…! I didn't know you liked someone!" He said.
"It's not something a girl likes to talk to her father about! Plus he just asked me out today! I've only met him once before today!" I said. This was starting to turn into a very awkward conversation. There should be some kind of handbook for these kind of things. The "What you should do when you're daughter tells you she's going out on her first date when you're trying to ground her" book. Should you let her go or make her suffer. I was hoping for the first.
"I guess we could forgo punishment this once!" He said a minute of silence.
"Thank you, Daddy!" I said throwing my arms around his neck. "Just be careful!' He added. "I will I promise!" letting him go. I went back to Hermione and watched as Ron caught a pass one of the chaser through at him.
"What did he say?" She asked.
"He grounded me…!" I started.
"Oh no! What about your date?" She said before I could finish.
"I told him about it and he said I could go! I think I caught him off guard!" I said.
"What are you going to wear?" She asked.
"I don't know! I've never been on a date before!" I told her.
"I'll help you!" she said. I told her thanks and watched the rest of practice. After practice the team went to change and Hermione and I went to dinner, planning to meet Ron and Harry there. I saw Nathan sitting at his table and when he noticed me looking he smiled and waved. I blushed when I realised I was caught and waved back. The boys came in when Hermione and I were almost done eating looking tired, but happy.
"You guys looked good out there!" I said as Harry and Ron filled there plates with that nights dinner, steak and potatoes.
"Thanks! We are so going to win tomorrow!" He said happily. Ron grunted his agreement while stuffing mashed potatoes in his month. They called me a pig I thought. Hermione and I decided to let the boys eat and peace and go back to the common room to work on this weeks homework. The common room slowly filled up with people returning from dinner and the sound of scratching quills and scroll could be heard everywhere in the room. An hour later I yawned loudly getting many dirty looks from people.
"I'm going to bed now. I'll see you in the morning." I told Harry, Ron, and Hermione deciding to call it a night.
"Me too." Hermione said. She kissed Ron and followed me up to the girls dormitory. I changed into my pajamas and got into bed, falling asleep soon after.
The next day classes were cut an hour short so students could attend the Quidditch game. I walked out to the field with Hermione and sat with the other Gryffindor supporters. Madam Hooch called the teams onto the field and asked the team captains to shake hands. Harry looked nervous and excited as he shook Nathan's hand. Madam blew a whistle and the game began. The game went on without anything exciting happening until the game was almost over.
"The score is tied 60-60. Stuart of Hufflepuff has the quaffle. He racing toward the Gryffindor keeper, Ron Weasly. He's getting closer and… oh Ginny Weasly the Gryffindor chaser steals the ball and….. She scores. 155-145 with Gryffindor now in the lead. Harry is still looking for that snitch." The person doing the commentary said.
"The quaffle is back in Stuart's hand with Ginny on his tail. Here comes the Hufflepuff beaters. Oh, Ginny is down and it's a penalty against Hufflepuff for hitting Ginny with there club. She's on the ground. She's not getting up. And that's the whistle. Time out." The person said. Madam Pomfrey ran to the field and looked over Ginny. She looked so tiny from where I was sitting. Madame Pomfrey looked away from Ginny and gave the crowd a thumbs up telling us Ginny was fine. She helped Ginny up from the ground and got off the field as Ginny went back into the game.
"The score is now 90-40. Ginny has the quaffle and its… not in. The Hufflepuff keeper caught in just in time. Stuarts has the quaffle. Score for Hufflepuff. 90-50. Gryffindor is still in the lead. Wait it looks like Harry has seen the snitch. He dives. He caught it. Gryffindor wins ending the game 240-50" The person said. The crowd cheered and both teams landed on the ground. Soon everyone made there way to the great hall for dinner. The Gryffindor team cheered the whole way there. Dinner that night was great and after going to bed that night I dreamed I was playing.