– Ellen's pov –
"Hey... Hey!" A voice was echoing from distance then became clearer.
"Wake up!"
I opened my eyes and saw a curious girl, neatly dressed in her uniform, looking down at me. I got up swiftly, surprised.
"Hi! I'm Amber. Amber Brown." A girl with the voice who woke me up smiled widely at me, holding out her hand to me. She must be one of my roommates.
"Ellen Tay... Lascelles." Still struggling to fully wake up from my sleep, I shook her hand gently. Amber had a medium-length dark brunette hair with a fringe. She had kind and beautiful hazel eyes.
"I know. There's two other girls, Sylvie and Ceci, I mean Cecilia, but they already left so,"
Amber was a bit talkative but I'm not that talkative, so it was a perfect balance. But out of all, she didn't hype over my "Lascelles" background and didn't ask me anything about my past. I was thankful.
On our way to the "Great Hall" – as Amber called it – for breakfast, she filled me in with all the details about Hogwarts (things like Houses, rules, classes, etc) that Draco didn't care to tell me about yesterday... Draco...
I almost passed out after the traumatising time at midnight with him. It wasn't 100% his fault since there was someone else stirring up trouble in my head, and I felt bad that I had to leave things off like that with Draco. Though we definitely didn't consider each other a good friend, I did feel some sort of a connection with him during that short period of time that we spent together. I felt the need to talk to him.
.
When we entered the Great Hall, she told me about all the "important figures" pointing out each amongst the crowd.
"She's Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor, Deputy headmistress, and teaches Transfiguration." She was talking about the lady who put the "sorting hat" – this is how Amber called it – on my head. Just like that, she told me about all the professors.
As she talked, we sat on the table along with the other Slytherin students. My eyes scanned the table, but Draco wasn't present. I simply got over it and shifted my attention back to Amber.
"...and that's Harry, the boy who lived," I remembered Draco talking about Harry before. Amber then paused and looked at me as if trying to see if she made a mistake through that "who lived" part. I don't know how well, but she certainly knew about my past. I smiled at her and she smiled back.
"And perfect timing. Here comes the Slytherin prince, Draco Malfoy." I turned my face to the Hall entrance and saw Draco approaching the table. His platinum hair was nicely combed to the side. I would have felt really bad if he didn't show up.
"Prince? That is so cringey." I chuckled.
Amber then looked back and forth at Draco and me.
"Wait, you are like the girl version of Draco, just much nicer." She chuckled, recognising our similar, though definitely different hair.
"Oh, I mean look at him. He's tall, he's handsome, but he basically treats everyone like they are less than him so it's quite a fitting nickname. You wouldn't want to be involved with him. He could make your life much more difficult." Amber spoke in a warning voice.
"Oh, and do you see that girl next to him? That's Pansy Parkinson, second reason not to go near Malfoy. Parkinson has the biggest crush on him, it's almost scary. And she's a sucker for him and I mean, quite literally." I made a disgusted look and Amber laughed.
"I'm close with his other friends, though. They are actually really nice. The one with short straight black hair, right next to Malfoy, his name is Kyle Nott. Many girls fall for his green eyes. The messy brown hair one across him is Shane Avery. They all come from families of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. True pure-bloods. But still, if I were them, I wouldn't want to put up with Malfoy." As Amber continued with her Hogwarts directory, I looked over at Draco.
"He didn't seem like a totally bad person, though." I defended him because despite the small drama, if it weren't for him, I probably could not be sitting here, enjoying my breakfast.
"Wait, when did you guys even talk?" Amber put on a confused and concerned look. Then I told her about what happened yesterday.
"You sure we are talking about the same person here? The 'Draco Malfoy' helped you?" Amber seemed amazed. I also told her about what happened in the common room.
"I can't believe you did that to him and you are still... unharmed." Then Amber's face gradually turned frozen. I looked back to see where her eyes were laid on.
It was Draco, looking down at me with a sullen look. He seemed a bit tired. I quickly turned away from his face.
Good morning, Draco. Good morning, Draco. Say it, Ellen. I got frustrated at my inability to face him. I wasn't ready to see him because of someone he reminded me so much of.
"Good morning, Lascelles. You've got something to do." His cold voice was heard and I couldn't turn back to him.
What do I have to do? I answered him internally. I looked so dumb.
Draco then expressed his displeasure by grabbing my shoulder to forcibly turn me around. My body was facing him but I still couldn't look at him in his eyes.
Stupid Ellen. What am I so afraid of? Look at him. Look at his eyes. But my body didn't listen. Draco apparently was frustrated as well and he lifted my head up with his hand on my chin. This seemed to be his favourite action.
"Hello?" He raised his voice furiously, staring straight into my eyes, which were still failing to do the same in return. Draco then grabbed my wrist and pulled me out from my seat.
"Let go!" I fought, pulling my wrist away from his grip, and finally looked at him.
"I know how to walk by myself." I scowled at him, tidying up my attire.
"Really? It didn't seem like you do." Draco taunted me and I snickered at his response.
He walked back to his seat, where all his friends were. I followed and watched him pick up his school bag, which he threw at me.
"Your job." Draco nodded towards his bag in my arms.
"I didn't have a good night's sleep unlike someone so I'm extremely tired" Draco sneered, and I noticed this Parkinson girl glaring at me.
"Draco, she's new. Take it easy on her." Shane spoke in a worried voice.
"Oh, so you're the Lascelles?" Kyle shot me a wide smile and stood up to wrap his arm around my shoulders with his other arm throwing the bag back at Draco.
"Quite unfortunately Draco, I've been a huge fan of your new friend" Kyle spoke.
"Quite unfortunately Kyle, I do not care" Draco smirked.
"So how do you find your new home so far?" Kyle ignored Draco and turned to me. Our faces were close, and I could see why "many girls fall for his green eyes." Well, they were captivating, but I felt a bit uncomfortable by our proximity.
"And quite unfortunately Kyle, seems like she's not enjoying your company as much" Draco scoffed and pulled me towards him, away from Kyle.
"Alright, alright." Kyle smiled and playfully raised his arms into a quick surrender gesture.
Then I heard a sudden thump from behind and it was Pansy Parkinson. She rose from her seat swiftly and left the Hall. My presence around Draco definitely got her mad.
"Don't mind her too much. It's not like she's always with us, anyways." Kyle spoke as he watched Parkinson leave then leaned forward closer to me and whispered: "She forces herself to join us for –" Kyle nodded his head towards Draco, who was glowering at us.
"Kyle, by the way, Kyle Nott. It's an honour." He held out his hand and I shook it gently.
"Likewise." He did seem like a nice person just like how Amber described him.
"I feel like you will get along pretty well with us, Lascelles." A voice from behind spoke to me. It was Shane.
"I'm Shane Avery. Nice to meet you." Shane smiled politely.
"Nice to meet you, too." I put on a soft smile then quickly dropping it when I realised Draco's glare. Draco rolled his eyes and walked out of the Hall.
"What could you possibly have done that made him do that to you on your very first official school day." Shane chuckled.
"Oh, you need to be thankful it ended here." Amber joined us and handed me my school bag.
"What do you guys have first?" I asked, already feeling tired.
"Kyle and I have Transfiguration." Shane replied.
"Really? I have Transfiguration, too!" Amber sat across Shane, speaking brightly. They shared a high-five.
"Seriously? Nobody has Potions?" I gave them an upset look and Kyle laughed at my response.
"Uh-oh. We know who does." Kyle turned his face towards the Hall entrance where Draco disappeared through.
"Great." I realised who they were referring to.