"Hermione! Do you not read the paper? Right after school got out MacDonal was elected president of the ABC!" Cried Ron.
"The what?" Hermione asked.
"The American Broom Company," Harry told her, bewildered himself, "that explains a lot."
"What does that have to do with that Irish-blah, and what does that explain?" She asked exasperated.
Ron could only glare, words weren't powerful enough to express what was going through his mind at this very moment. Irish-blah! He didn't want to know what she thought of him.
Harry did find words, "Make the match Herm-MacDonal, MacDonal. It explains why her broom was so much better than mine-she was probably testing it for her dad and she wanted to compare it to the Firebolt."
Sian chose this as a moment to join them.
Hermione stomped off.
"Hey guys."
Ron forced a smile, Sian was awesome, the complete opposite of the brainiac, Hermione, that's what made her cool.
No one noticed Sian's eyes twinkle an angry grey as she watched Hermione storm off. She had always had trouble making girl friends. She didn't know why. Could it have something to do with how she hit it off with guys immediately and other girls had to earn their way into the group gradually. Sian knew how it felt, that was how things had started, wanting to be on the inside. There were only two ways to do that, be pretty, or know something about what guys liked and show it off, like her own ability to make brooms. Some girls just got jealous. She still couldn't resist the curiosity to ask, "What's the dealiyo with her?"
They shrugged their shoulders in response.
"No hard feelings about yesterday right?" She asked Harry.
"Nah, where'd you get that broom?"
"Uh-actually, I made it."
"No way!" Ron interrupted because of his own disbelief.
"Yeah."
"How'd you know how to make it?" He asked.
"My dad. I've watched the guys work-it isn't as hard as you think."
"Is that your first?" Harry still couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"No, it's my fourth, Hazel used one yesterday, and I always use the other one. I raced you on one that I had been wanting to test against a decent broom."
"Uh-huh."
"Sian!" Hazel was waiting impatiently for her at the Gryffindor table. "We've got our schedules." Hazel handed her friend a sheet of parchment. Herbology and Astronomy were her first classes. After lunch she had Transfiguration. She smiled rather grimly, tomorrow she had Potions first period. It wasn't sounding too pleasant, from what she had already heard about him, he didn't sound like a very pleasant man. In Herbology, Professor Sprout, a stout little woman covered in dirt, greeted her warmly. They would start the day planting Thorn bushes. Pretty green little bushes with flowers on them everywhere. Underneath the flowers were tangled vines of... "Thorns up to three feet long!" Ron exclaimed reading the caption in his book.
"They only hurt when they poke you," Hazel pointed out.
"But three feet?"
"Look at the size of the plant," Hermione pointed out logically, "the plant itself isn't even three feet long so how can something inside it be that big?"
Ron turned away embarrassed, but Harry laughed.
Astronomy proved to be more fun for Sian because she named her brooms after constellations. Harry and Ron also figured out how she had named her brooms. Sian thought of another name for her new broom, it would be creative she thought as she wrote down the assignments.
Transfiguration was taught by the tall, wiry, strict figure who Sian had met for the Sorting and who was their head of House, Professor McGonagall. She was incredibly strict and gave them the task of turning turtles into dishes. Sian had surprised Hermione because even though she was not a goody-goody, she proved to have a lot more control over her magic, and was the first person to turn her turtle into a bowl. It was green and did have a check pattern, but it did not scurry away from her as it did to Hermione, and it was made of ceramic, and not turtle shell, like Hermione's.
After Transfiguration, Sian plotted time with the twins and BJ to play a game of tag on their brooms. They all wanted to use Sian's. Sian grabbed the Lupus for herself and let the other guys choose. BJ grabbed her Cygnus because it was the safest looking.
"Um-what are these made out of?" George asked.
"The Corvus is made out of ash and willow, it is a better version of the Firebolt. The uh-Columba is faster than that, made of cedar and witch hazel," Sian told them.
"Witch-Hazel?" Fred asked pointing to Hazel who was passing by.
"No, it's an American tree."
"Oh." Fred took the Corvus and George took the even faster Columba.
Out on the Quidditch pitch the kids played tag. George started out as the person who was "IT" and swiftly tagged his brother. Fred tagged a passer-by who turned out to be Ron. Sian paused the game to get a broom for him and he joined them as Hermione looked on, displeased with how well they were all getting along.
Why was it so easy for some people?
Potions, the first class of the day proved to be the most annoying in the world. Not only did it have Draco Malfoy and the Slytherin fifth years, but Professor Snape was the most obnoxious man she had ever met. He started class by taking roll call, as Ron informed her that he normally did. He paused at her name, "Ah, Ms. MacDonal, now we have two celebrities to put up with. Do you, perhaps know more than the famous Harry Potter, or are you just one of those blonde, rich daughters that know nothing about what their father does?" Many Slytherins laughed at this comment, but Sian remained unfeeling, though her eyes flashed an angry grey and she saw Hermione smile, pleased.
"MacDonal, I will give you the same test that I gave Potter when he first joined us, maybe you will prove to be better?" Snape snapped.
"Shoot," she told him. His eyes narrowed as he recalled the questions.
"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Sian laughed, "Um-Professor, I am new, so I may be in the wrong class, but-that's all first year stuff."
"Your name was on the list wasn't it?"
"Yeah."
"So answer the question!"
"Okay," Sian sighed, "it makes a sleeping potion so powerful that it is often called the Draught of Living Death."
"Too easy for you, eh?" the man sneered and many Slytherins laughed.
"No, not at all Professor, only, I learned it-oh-four-five years ago."
"So he taught you well to remember it all?"
"No it just kind of stuck there."
"Uh-huh, where would I find a bezoar?"
Sian laughed again, "Seriously Professor?"
"I asked you didn't I? Or have you forgotten, as I am sure that these other nit-wits have."
"No, not at all Prof, the bezoar is a stone that comes from the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons," she listed off uninterested.
"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"Nothing, they are the same plant, also known as aconite. Are you sure this is fifth year potions Prof?"
"Positive," he snarled.
The class got progressively worse, he called on Sian and asking her advice on a million different subjects that they covered. Luckily, Sian had learned them already, and answered him only partially paying attention. She looked over to the Slytherin side of the room and noticed Draco staring either at her or past her intently, he did look in the opposite direction when she noticed. Why did she have to attract all sorts of guys? Couldn't she just attract the nice ones? As the class departed Snape called to their retreating backs, "Five points from Gryffindor for your cheek MacDonal!"
"That must mean twenty points from Slytherin for Snape being an ass!" Sian commented to Hazel.
"I heard that..." Snape told her.
"How bout you skip the subtraction of points, because you love math so much and just give me a detention!" Sian yelled.
The chattering of the students subsided as they heard this cry of defiance.
"It won't be the first I've given, so don't think you're special by any means!" He retorted.
"So?"
"Tonight, five to seven, and wear something to get dirty in-forget it, you won't have to change anyway."
