Slytherin Common Room, Hogwarts, Harry
After watching Severus stalk from the room, I turned to Draco and smiled.
Rhine had started telling us that Severus had come across as really harsh to many students, even Slytherins sometimes, but I thought that Severus was probably just annoyed at students.
Draco had explained on the train what the general knowledge on each topic was, and Potions, while sounding the most interesting, was also the hardest, with Transfiguration following.
'Now, Head of House aside, let me show you around. Obviously, this room is the main common room area.' Rhine explained, his arms showing off the exquisite leather lounges and dark wooden tables set up around the room.
I hadn't even realised that each table and set of chairs were given separate fireplaces, and that the ceiling held a number of green light fixtures that basked the chambers in a glow.
'This is quite often where you complete your homework, outside the school library of course.' Rhine than motioned for us to follow him over to a wooden door.
'This is the Slytherin Library, it doesn't have quite as much as the school's one, but if you ever need to do research on a book that's been completely checked out of the school library, chances are it's in here. Just make sure you return the book, and write when you took it out, Snape gets upset when books go missing.' He explained, and I nodded. I wouldn't want to see what Severus looked like upset if I had the chance.
After asserting that Draco had heard him, he lead us over to an archway that had light filtering through it in a way I'd only seen at the Zoo the Dursley's had been forced to take me to. He didn't say anything as he lead us through the archway into a spectacle room that seemed impossible to exist.
We were staring out into the great lake, with nothing between us and the water, but we weren't wet, we could still breathe properly, and I couldn't help but gasp at all the fish swimming around.
Looking down, I saw the murky sand only a few meters down and turned to star wide eyed at Rhine.
'Yeah, it's a bit of a shock when you first see the room, what with the entire room being made out of glass.' Rhine explained, and Draco nodded, accepting his answer, I wasn't satisfied with that.
'H-how is the room not collapsing un-under all of th-the pr-pressure?' I asked, because glass was incredibly fragile if what I had overheard on the telly when Aunt Petunia was running the television for background noise while she baked cookies and the like for Dudley and his friends was true, and the amount of water pressure this room should be under should've caused it to collapse by now!
Rhine chuckled at the shocked and worried look I must've been wearing.
'We're in a literal school for magic, and it surprises you that an underwater room is not correctly obeying the rules of science?' He asked, shaking his head slightly and I started chuckling too. How silly of me.
'Can you show us the Duelling Room? Father said it's quite amazing.' Draco asked, causing Rhine to hesitate and blow out a breathe.
'Students aren't allowed in the Duelling Room until they have permission from Professor Snape and can prove they know at least three duelling spells. Naturally, that means a general rule of being in third year or older is in place.' Rhine explained rubbing the back of his neck a little.
I nodded, it made sense after all, but Draco scoffed. He didn't say anything else though as Rhine lead us out of the Underwater Room and up a silver spiral staircase going up quite a few floors by the looks of things.
I was shocked by the first landing, where there three separate wooden doors, proudly gleaming sliver plating on them and standing out from the stone walls beside them.
I turned to Draco who smiled and muttered something about magic.
'Now, your trunks should be in your room, which will have you names etched into the sliver plates.' He explained nervously. I figured he'd answer with something like magic, but I had to ask.
'Wh-what type of m-magic does th-this type of stuff R-rhine?' I asked, and his eyebrows seemed to disappear into his shaggy hairline.
'Charms, I think? I'm not a hundred percent sure. Most kids don't question it. Anyway, I best let you boys settle in. I'll come wake you up tomorrow if you're not up by eight.' He finished before dashing up the stairs.
I turned to Draco who just shrugged and started reading the sliver plates. Finally, I saw one with similar lettering to the name that been on my Hogwarts letter. Dra o Mal oy I could make out from the first line read followed by a strange symbol underneath. The last line read Harry Potter which made me smile, because there was no weird letters I couldn't recognise.
'Dr-draco, I found a door that says D-dr? Dray-o Ma-mal-oy?' I questioned at the end. I think that was how the name was pronounced. Draco then came up to look at the sign and turned to me with a confused expression. After reading the sign he looked at me with a look that Dudley normally wore whenever I couldn't fully read the homework, that he forced me to do.
'This is our room, but can you not read properly?' Draco asked and I gulped before shaking my head. He didn't say anything further though as he opened the door and exposed the room within.
To say this room was better than the Dursely's rooms was an understatement. There was a window gazing out into the lake, casting the room into a greenish hue, and grand dark wooded beds standing proudly opposite each other, the bed posts show casing craved snakes spiralling upwards and sporting dark green hangings. There silver lamps attached to the wall near each bed, and when I turned to close the door, two fireplaces lay in the wall, one either side and currently extinguished.
Draco approached his trunk, which was situated in front of the left-hand side bed, and started unpacking all his items, pulling his little green solider from his robes and placing it on one of his bedside tables, next to a photo of him with his parents.
Figuring I should follow though with what he was doing, much like I did when everyone was digging into the feast, I started with the pillow and blanket I had woken up with. Just what could I do with this?
Deciding to pack it back into my trunk after I took everything else, I placed them on my bed and grabbed out the old backpack. Delicately picking up the blanket, grimacing at the old tablecloth and dog pillow that lay in the trunk, I set about folding the blanket the way Aunt Petunia had told me I was to fold them when linens were going in the cupboard.
Packing the two items away and shutting my trunk, I then set about emptying the backpack, occasionally glancing over at Draco, who was now hanging clothes into the wardrobe that boasted the same wood as the beds.
The silver and green lighting seemed to make his whit-blond hair shimmer as if he had decided to run glitter through it, the shadows casting over some of his face and causing him to look like he was almost glowing. I blushed as he started to turn, and quickly glanced back down to the backpack, grabbing a draw handle and placing all toys, minus the toy soldiers which I placed on top of the bedside table.
I walked over to hang the cast-offs from Dudley in the wardrobe, seeing a small wooden desk with a bookshelf attached above, once again same dark wood as the bed and wardrobe, that I hadn't yet seen because it was blocked by the bed. A green leather armchair sat tucked in, a small silver lamp resting on the desk.
Glancing over to Draco's side, I saw that his side was sporting the exact same desk and that he was now setting up all the textbooks along the shelf, spines facing outwards while he muttered under his breath.
Feeling out of place, I decided to go to the bathroom and take a shower, before stopping and realising I didn't actually know where the bathroom was. Or have any toiletries for that matter.
'Uh Draco?' I asked, watching him turn around slightly and tilt his head. 'D-do you know where the bathroom is? Rhine didn't sh-show it to us.' I blabbed, mentally patting myself on the back for not wringing my hands together or stuttering too much. The look that took over Draco's face was a pondering one, before he set the book he had been holding onto his desk and went to inspect the stone near my fireplace.
'Father said that the doors to the bathroom didn't show until you found them, and that were usually on the right side. Aha!' He rushed over to his bed and grabbed his wand, tapping a stone that hung slightly out of place now that I looked at it closer, and appeared to have a coiled snake carved into it.
A silver painted door appeared, with a doorknob similar to the carved snake and looking out of place when compared to the dark wooden objects in the room.
Draco smiled as he opened it to reveal a green tiled bathroom, with silver towels stacked in shelfs made of the same dark woods as the wardrobe, a large claw footed bathtub that could've feet Aunt Marge, Dudley and Uncle Vernon in it with enough room for two more people their size, a few toilet stalls and two green curtains, attached to green tiles that seemed to go behind them. They must be the showers I thought, before turning to smile at Draco.
'Th-thank you Draco.' I stummered, feeling slightly overwhelmed. Everything in the Slytherin common room so far was so posh and elegant looking, and Draco just smiled at me, as if he was used to seeing rooms as exquisite as this.
'No need to thank me Harry,' he happily proclaimed, blue-grey eyes crinkling at the edges as he smiled brightly, 'that's what best friends are for.' Friends. And not just friends but best friends…
I smiled brightly at Draco, my eyes prickling with tears slightly at the fact that Draco who looked at first glance as if he would've fitted in with Dudley and his gang, considered me his best friend. Before I even knew what was running through my mind, I wrapped my arms around his middle and squeezed.
After a moment of shock, in which I had questioned pulling out, he hugged me back just as hard and made me laugh, as his fingers moved to tickle my sides. 'Dr-Draco!' I gasped between laughs clutching at my sides a little to try and stop his tickling.
He smiled as he stopped, arms sagging at his sides, completely unexpecting me to retaliate the attack and so before he could even guess what I had started smirking about, he was laughing just as much as I had and half bending over.
I stopped after a few seconds, both of us giggling when a thought struck my head. 'Tag!' I exclaimed, touching Draco's robe covered forearm for a split second before dashing out the bathroom, Draco in pursuit as I ran around one of our beds, but as I was climbing over one, he tackled me slightly onto the bed, fingers raining tickles on me and causing me to squirm. The glint in his eye evil in a way I had never seen before.
'Draco!' I giggled, wanting him to let up on the tickles.
'Say that I'm the tickle champion.' Draco asked with a chuckle, doubling his attack on me while my hands uselessly tried to pry them off.
'Okay, okay! You're the tickle champion!' I finally got out through my laughs, my eyes opening fully to stare at the triumphant look Draco was wearing on his face with pride.
'Good.' He exclaimed climbing off me and standing proudly with his hands perched on his hips. 'Now that that's sorted, we best get ready for bed.' He suggested, electing a nod from me as we both headed into the bathroom after grabbing our pyjamas from the wardrobes.
The warm water was a treat on my still-healing body, and as I snuggled into the warm bed, the smile from earlier graced itself back onto my face as I heard Draco murmur a good night.
'Good night Draco.' I sighed happily into my pillows, feeling lighter and exhausted in a pleasant way that I hadn't felt for a while, or ever for that matter.