A Lesson After Class

"You hardly told us anything!" Ron said as we sat on the train headed back to Hogwarts. I rolled my eyes, I had told them about being there, how I wanted to leave but at the same time, Christmas was enjoyable and there was plenty of food.

"But that's it? Really? What about the room?" He asked but I shook my head, part of me didn't want to tell them, I didn't want any animosity, but at the same time if I wanted to invite them over one day I rather they not be surprised.

"It's a Manor, Ron, what do you expect?" George asked as him and Fred came to the door, either leaning against the doors.

"Must've been all musty and smelly though" Lee chipped in, squeezing pass the twins. "Did your mom stay too?" He asked. I hadn't told them about the rest of the terms and condition, and now didn't feel like the right time.

"For a couple of days, she had some stuff to do."

"Well at least you don't have to go back over the summer" Fred said plopping down next to me.

"Actually..." I started, definitely not ready to have this conversation, "the invitation was kind of a introduction to my next few years here."

"Meaning what?" George with an increasingly judging look.

"I'll be at the Malfoys for summers and any holidays going forward" I said as I nervously bit my lip.

"Wait, why? Aren't you going home?" Melinda asked as she looked incredibly confused. "You'r not going home are you?"

"It's complicated and I don't want to get into now, but..." I trailed off as the compartment door opened again, this time Draco standing there.

"Looks a bit crowded in here if you ask me" he said as George snorted.

"Well no one was asking you" Ron snickered.

"Tammie, a minute?" I looked at everyone else, there were so many reasons why I didn't want to move but I had to remember Draco wasn't completely the enemy. He didn't ask for this, he didn't want anyone staying at his house with his family, he didn't have to be kind to me.

"Yeah, just a second though, I was in the middle of a conversation" I told him as I started to get up but felt Fred's hand on my lap.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, don't feel pressured" he whispered as I nodded but gently pushed his hand off and got up, closing the door behind me as I left and followed Draco down the hall.

"How are you doing?" He asked as we came to an isolated area.

"What?"

"You, how are you? I know you're going through a hard time with your mom and everything" he said, his voice low.

"Draco, you don't have to ask how I am, you don't have to ask anything. Hell, you don't even have to talk to me" for some reason he looked extremely offended.

"Is that what you rather I do?" He asked with a huff.

"I just don't want you to hurt yourself going above and beyond just because we're related" I hissed.

"Why do you assume I'm going to be a jerk to you?"

"Because you're a jerk to my friends!"

"Not Melinda" he countered but I shook my head, but then realized something "hang on, why aren't you a jerk to her?" I asked.

"She hasn't judged me" he said in a low voice. "Tammie, before you and her came along we all had our own groups, just because you're in Gryffindor it's pretty unfair to lump me as an ass."

"I'm not just blaming it on you being a Slytherin. You're father was a death eater; my father left because you're family supported Voldemort, you lot are pure blood purest and that's not fair. You may be smart and talented Draco but you're a bully too" I told him and then walked around him.

"It's a shame our parents didn't end well and I'm sorry he passed, I wanna make it up, you deserve family" he said, his back to me.

"I have a family" I reminded him, the pain of my mother leaving rushing back.

"Until your mother can come back we're your family, I'd appreciate if you treated me as such" he said and disappeared around the corner.

"Tough one he is" I looked over my shoulder, seeing Oliver walking toward me. "Everything okay?"

"No actually, but, I'm pretty good at making the best out of a bad situation" I told him as he nodded and came over and leaned against the wall.

"I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you I quit the team" he said as I jerked my body around and stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, just seemed like it was getting to be too much, don't know how far I'll get with it professionally and I kinda overdo it at school. Figured it was time to pack it in" he explained as I felt my jaw drop.

"Are you absolutely insane?" I hissed as I waved my hands above my head.

"No, but, I didn't like how upset you looked, figured saying anything insane would get that look of utter sadness off your face" he said trying not to smirk.

"You..." I trailed off as I shook my head, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"But I had you going right? Don't know if anyone else would've believed me" he said as I half chuckled and jokingly smacked his arm.

"I don't look utterly sad."

"You do, what's up? You and Fred still dating, right?" He asked as I glanced at him, his tone didn't match that of a concerned friend.

"Yeah, he's fine, it's me" I told him but he didn't look convinced.

"Don't get me wrong, he's a good guy, I just haven't really known him to cut ties with someone easily" he said as I raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

"I assumed you were upset about that Charity business and you tried talking to Draco and Draco right out told you to get rid of him" he explained as I waved him off, trying not to question what he meant about Charity.

"No, I actually found out due to some...long standing agreement I'm now a permanent resident at the Malfoy Manor..." I told him as he puffed his cheeks. "And obviously I have no idea why I'm telling you. I just don't know how to tell Fred. There's so much beef between the Weasleys and the Malfoys; and I get it, I do, Draco's a bully, his family are purest."

"And you're worried what they're going to think about you?" I nodded, my eyes unexpectedly stinging.

"It's not even my fault, my mom..." I trailed off, shaking my head, it didn't feel right telling Oliver, but not because I didn't value his advice or friendship, I just didn't think Fred would've appreciated it.

"Is she alright?" he asked, this time sounding the right amount of concerned.

"Tammie?" Fred called out as he came down the hall. "What's this about? Everything alright?" He asked looking from me to Oliver. "You didn't drop her from the Quidditch team already did you?" He teased as I tried to discreetly wipe my face and perk up.

"Never" Oliver answered, "we were just talking about a pain it is when you get gross flavored beans. Tammie got her first taste of soap."

"I don't mean to be weird and stick my nose in your business but where's the candy?" Fred asked as Oliver smiled and pulled a box from—well—wherever he was keeping it at. "Do you mind?" Fred asked as Oliver said no and held the box out to Fred who looked around and then fished one out, finding a blue one and popping it in his mouth. "C'mon, we're about to play a game of exploding snap. I would ask if you wanna join but we're full."

"It's fine, I was gonna start making plans for our practice anyway, see you guys later" he said with a nod and then walked off.

"You sure everything is okay?" Fred asked.

"Can we talk about it during one of our walks?" I asked deciding I didn't want to keep feelings like this from him.

"Sure thing" he answered, his face lighting up.

To say I was busy the next few weeks was a complete understatement; it was almost like the universe knew I had plans to tell Fred and wanted to make take every opportunity to step in my way. Aside from classes and extra homework there was practice. 'We got lucky' according to Oliver and won our first game but going against Slytherin was no easy feat. If we managed to beat them we still had to face Ravenclaw and based on Melinda's increasing good performance Harry had quite the challenge to look forward to; she was certainly fullfilling Cho's shoes. At one point I got desperate enough to talk to Fred after hours but found him playing a game with Charity, Lavender and George. I didn't want to interrupt, I didn't want to appear jealous but it also just hurt that he suddenly forgot I wanted to talk to him; he hadn't tried particularly hard to find me when he was free.

"Ms Allen?" I looked up, Professor Burnner looking at me with great concern. "Are you alright? You look a bit off" she whispered though at this point the whole class was turning around to look at me. I obviously couldn't tell her that I spaced out and seen a graveyard, someone in a black robe standing at a tombstone, their hand touching it. I couldn't read it, it was much too blurry and I couldn't tell who the person was but it felt as if I was right there but I wasn't supposed to be. Like I was intruding on someone else's private moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I told her as she nodded and went back to the front of the class, continuing the lesson. I sat up, wondering if maybe it was mom, had she gone to visit my dad's grave? But as I learned before these things happened afterwards, like visions. I shuddered, I wasn't having visions.

I made myself concentrate on the rest of the lesson and my notes but by time class ended I couldn't have told anyone a damn thing I learned. "Ms Allen" Professor Burnner called as I was packing up. A few students snickered but I ignored them, telling my friends to go ahead and I'd catch up. I wanted to say if they saw Fred to glue him to the wall or something, it still seemed almost impossible to track him down.

"Hi" I told her as I pulled my bag on my shoulder.

"Something's bothering you, what's wrong?" Professor Burnner asked as I shook my head.

"Just a lot really, school is a lot different here" I told her.

"That's right, you and your friend are not only from a muggle community but from America. It must be so hard to adjust, I can relate you know" she said kindly as I nodded, pulling on the strap to my bag.

"It's not that bad really." She nodded sympathetically.

"Listen, I don't want your grades to suffer, Bill will think I'm doing something wrong" she paused to laugh, "you just seemed so spacey today, are you sure you're well?"

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, I must have dozed off, had a weird dream about graveyards and stuff, must be thinking about my dad" I had hoped the professor would nod in understanding but instead her eyes seemed to follow mine, almost like she was trying to read my mind.

"What do you mean a graveyard?" She asked, her voice still very kind and easy, almost making me want to spill everything.

"Nothing, just, my dad, he died when I was young and I guess the holidays brought back some of the memories; I usually go to his grave, put down flowers or something" I knew I was rambling, why I felt the urge to lie I wasn't sure, but something in the back of my mind made me edgy around this women, but I knew it was just me, it was probably because I hadn't really had anyone ask if I was okay with such concern. Unless they were related.

"Of course, I'm so sorry to hear that, did you ever find out what happened?" She asked but I shook my head.

"No, unfortunately not" I replied as she nodded, her face still very kind and welcoming, again almost forcing me to explain everything.

"And it's just you and mother at home?"

"Yeah, well, no, I moved in with the Malfoys" I corrected as she tilted her head.

"Oh, that must be strange I imagine. You're dating Mr Weasley aren't you? I've heard there's lots of bickering and rivalry between those two families, it must be awful being caught in the middle." I didn't respond, I wouldn't know how to, somehow feeling regardless of how I answered I would be feeding into whatever she was trying to grasp at. "But the Malfoys are nice too, you're father was related wasn't he?" She asked as I furrowed my eyebrows. "Bill told me about it, he didn't feel it was his place to tell you and preferred if I kept quite until after the holidays, I'm sorry you were left in the dark for so long" she said as she went to place her hand on mine but I backed up.

"Uh, yeah, it's nothing really, we're all fine, really. Uh, thanks for the talk, I promise I'll pay more attention next time" I said with a nod and nearly ran out of the classroom.