Chapter 9:
Vasara glanced away from Harry and his friends to look back over at Draco. His piercing grey eyes burned into hers when she finally met his gaze. Draco took in a deep breath through his nose before he reluctantly stepped away from Vasara and lowered his arms back down to his side; his eyes never once left Vasara's face for a second as he backed off. And once he had put enough distance between him and her, Vasara swallowed softly before she moved past him to stand by Harry. Vasara met Harry's emerald green eyes and offered him a tiny smile of assurance before she nodded her head, signaling that he could lower his wand. Cautiously, Harry did lower his wand as did his friends before he sent one last death glare towards Draco while he placed his arm around Vasara's shoulders and led her away.
"You okay?" he asked as he turned his head to stare over at Vasara, his eyes bright with concern. Vasara nodded her head,
"Yeah I'm fine…he didn't hurt me." She answered. From behind, Ron let out a soft snort,
"No but that little rat had intentions of doing something." Ron mumbled. Vasara let out a quick sigh and shook her head,
"I don't think so." She replied calmly as the group exited the library and headed down one of the school's many corridors. Harry also took that time to drop his arm from Vasara's shoulders.
"Are you kidding me?" Ron answered. "You could see it in his face and everything." He stated. Hermione softly glared at Ron before she elbowed him in the gut.
"Hey!" he protested quietly while he rubbed his side with a hand,
"Hush Ronald." She ordered.
"Well its true…you all saw it…I'm just saying it." He answered defensively.
Vasara simply shook her head, "Guys it's alright. Honestly, Draco wasn't gonna actually do anything. What you guys saw, was him trying to intimidate someone who is unaffected by his….uh…" she sarcastically cleared her throat, "...charms." she explained.
"I don't care what he was trying to do…" Harry grumbled, obviously still very angry about what had happened in the library. "For him to even think about pulling a move like that…ugh… I should've hexed him." He stated as he stared straight ahead. Vasara lightly placed her hand on Harry's arm in response; when he turned his head to stare over at her, his gaze softened immensely before he too sighed,
"So what class do you have next?" he asked curiously.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts." She answered.
"Oh good!" Hermione interjected, "We'll all be in class together then." She stated with a smile. Vasara glanced over at the only other girl in their group and smiled too,
"Yeah it'll be a nice change." Vasara answered.
The group then swiftly made their way through the school to get to their next class. As they approached the open door that would lead into the classroom, Vasara glanced over at Harry who was staring intently at her with a soft smile on his face. She smiled in response,
"What are you staring at?" she asked curiously. Harry blinked a couple of times before looking away to raise a hand up to scratch the back of his head,
"Oh…was I staring?" he returned with a tiny timid laugh. Vasara laughed too before shaking her head. Then without another word, the group entered the classroom where they then headed up to take their seats in the front. Ron sat at one end of the long table, followed by Hermione, Harry then Vasara who took the last seat on the other end of the table closest to the aisle. Pretty soon, once they were seated, everyone else who would also be taking the class filed into the room and took their seats as well. Through the chatter that was going on in the room, Harry leaned over by Vasara's ear to talk,
"So how has your day been?" he asked. Vasara turned towards him and smiled before shrugging,
"Fine…for it being the first day I guess." She replied. Harry smiled back and was getting ready to say something else but the room grew quiet as the teacher walked in and closed the classroom door. All heads turned to face front while their professor swiftly made his way up to the front of the room. When Vasara caught sight of her new teacher, a soft frown pulled down at her lips while she rolled her eyes.
"Oh great…" she mumbled under her breath.
Professor Snape, with his wand out and at the ready, stood front in center before the entire class, his dark eyes quickly scanning over the many faces of the students sitting at the desks.
"Who here can tell me what one should do if they ever found themselves under attack?" he asked in his low, mono tone voice. "No one? How disappointing."
Vasara glanced about the room to see that not a single hand was raised to answer the question; so after taking in a quick breath, Vasara slowly placed her hand in the air. Professor Snape eyed her disdainfully before he nodded his head in her direction,
"Yes Miss Thompson?" he dully inquired.
"If you're under attack…" She started, "….the best solution would be to fight back and try to disarm your opponent." She answered.
"Do you know how to disarm someone, Miss Thompson?" Professor Snape asked.
Vasara blinked a couple times at the question, "Uh…I know spells…" she answered with uncertainty.
"Spells are useless in less you know how to use them, Miss Thompson." Snape pointed out. "Everybody pair up and prepare yourself for dueling." Snape suddenly called out.
A bunch of unenthusiastic groans went around the room before everyone got out of their chairs and sought out a partner to work with. This must've been a routinely process because it seemed like everybody already had their partners picked out for the pairing took less than a minuet. Well everyone except Vasara who was the last one standing alone.
"Miss Thompson where is your partner?" Snape demanded. Vasara glanced around the room to see no else available before she softly shrugged her shoulders,
"Don't have one, I guess." She answered.
"Well then you're absolutely useless for this activity…go stand off to the side then and observe." Snape answered before he quickly waved his wand out in front of him and had all the desks and chairs in the room swept off to the side to provide space for dueling. Vasara did what she was told while everyone else with their partners lined up on one side of the room, waiting for instructions.
"Now with your partners, each of you will come out into the center of this room before the class and duel. Your goal…is to disarm your opponent. First up…"
As the names were called and each pair of students stepped forward to complete their task, Vasara silently stood off to the side by the abandoned tables and watched for the entire class period with great interest. Everyone had their own technique of dueling, some did it in ways Vasara had never seen or heard of before, while others were just strange and slightly awkward. When Harry and Ron went up, their duel lasted for about two minuets before the classroom door was lightly slammed open. Ron, who got distracted by the noise, was hit square in the chest by a spell that Harry had casted and was thrown off his feet. All heads turned to face the back of the room to see Draco Malfoy stroll into the classroom. Professor Snape did not look pleased but when did he ever?
"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy." Professor Snape stated in a slightly disapproving tone,
"Sorry Professor, I got caught up in some….unfinished business." Draco replied.
Snape's dark eyes narrowed softly at his words before his head snapped in the direction of where Vasara was standing,
"Well then Miss Thompson, looks like you've got a partner after all." Snape announced to the entire class,
Vasara glanced over at Draco for a quick second who returned her look before she turned her gaze back onto Snape, "…you have got to be kidding me." She replied in disbelief.
"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Thompson will be the next pair that we'll see." He declared to the class officially before he glance dove at a clock sitting on his desk. "….we'll start with them tomorrow seeing how we've run out of time for today. For homework, you're all to write a one page essay on a disarming spell. Choose whatever one you want, I don't care but have the paper here tomorrow when you first walk through the door." Professor Snape ordered, "…class dismissed." He finished.
Vasara watched Professor Snape move behind his desk with soft resentfulness before she collected her things and turned to leave. She swiftly weaved her way through the bustling bunch of students who were scurrying to collect their own possessions and found the door. As she patiently waited outside of the classroom for Harry and his friends to join her, a group of Slytherins walked out of the classroom and sneered as they passed on by. Vasara glared at their backs while they disappeared down the corridor for a quick moment; when she brought her gaze back in front she gasped in alarm as a pair of piercing grey eyes met hers. She naturally took a step back and bumped into the wall behind her before she frowned at the proud, smirking Slytherin boy in front of her,
"Have something to say Malfoy?" she asked irritably. Draco Malfoy smirked softly before he crossed his arms over his chest in response,
"Yeah I might." He replied his face suddenly going serious.
"Well?" she pushed. Malfoy took a menacing step closer,
"You got lucky today in the Library…but don't you think for a second that your so called bodyguards are always going to be around to protect you." He warned.
Vasara raised an eyebrow up at his threat, "Why so hostile, Draco?" she returned, unaffected by his words. Draco shook his head once before he took a step back,
"You haven't seen hostile yet, sweetheart." He replied before he turned on his heel and walked off.
Vasara watched him leave in puzzlement, not understanding what he seemed to have against her. Forgetting all about waiting for Harry, Vasara let herself follow Draco steps with the idea of confronting the handsome grey eyed boy and finding out.