Chapter 7- A Typical Brekkie at Hogwarts
As Neville scoffed down his scrambled egg, listening intently to Angelina Johnson argue with a seventh year girl about the benefits of Gillyweed, Lavender looked disgustedly at the yellow and white mess. "Look at him," she muttered to Parvati, who agreed that Neville Longbottom was the most nauseating eater on the Griffindor table. They decided that Colin Creevey had perfectly lovely table manners, and that Ginny should learn how to hold her fork and knife properly.
As Ron, Hermione and Harry sat down, Lavender and Parvati discreetly observed their table etiquette. Hermione was impeccable, her movements calm and steady, and she did not talk as she ate. Ron and Harry, on the other hand, appeared to be in an incredible hurry as they piled everything onto their plate and shoveled it all down their throats at an astonishing speed. They also spoke constantly, chatting amicably to everyone around them as they chewed noisily.
"Boys." Lavender shook her head as Parvati joined in.
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Gregory jerked involuntarily as he felt someone's hand touch his knee. The hand was removed as he looked up at the person beside him, who happened to be Draco. Greg lifted an eyebrow. Draco's hands were underneath the table, and he was talking to Adrian Pucey about the aerodynamics of the new Sovereign brooms out this month. Looking back down at his plate, with only a few crumbs remaining on it to show what had been there, he felt the hand touch his knee again, and he concentrated on the crumbs, trying to ignore the fingers that were stroking his skin now.
Turning to his right, he saw Yentl Poisen, a Slytherin girl in his own grade. She turned to him and smiled, her sharpened teeth flashing white. Greg sucked in a breath and turned back to his plate, feeling the warm hand sliding up his leg. It was now caressing his thigh. What had made him wear shorts? The hot weather you fool, he remembered.
From the corner of his eye he could see Yentl smiling to herself, and sometimes glancing at him before turning away. He sighed. Girls were such idiots. His mother wanted him to get a girlfriend, but they were just too…out there for him. His own sister at Durmstrang was hard enough to handle during school holidays.
As the fingers lazily drew small circles on his skin, Greg gulped down the rest of his orange juice, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and turned to face Yentl. The hand was pulled away as he cleared his throat.
"Excuse me Yentl," he said quietly in his deep voice, "but I am not interested." The Slytherin girl looked taken aback.
"Not interested? Not interested in what?"
"In you. Sorry." Yentl looked furious and reached out for an orange piece, which she squeezed with one hand into her cup and drank the juice in one gulp. Greg was impressed.
"I'm sorry," he repeated. "Just don't touch my leg again, alright?"
"Excuse me?" She turned her blazing eyes onto Greg. "What makes you think I'd want to even touch something like you?" she sneered, and Greg was taken aback.
He turned to his other side, but Draco had already left.
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Harry groaned as he let his head hit the
table. "Man, I ate too much!" he cried.
"Of course you did and it's only breakfast!" Hermione said, tut-tutting. Ron
grinned at his two best friends.
"I could eat a whole unicorn!" he crowed and Hermione gasped.
"Ron!" she scolded. "That's awful!"
"Oh calm down Herm," he muttered, "it's only a figure of speech." Turning to Harry, he asked, "What do we have first?"
"Divination," Dean answered loudly from the other side of the table.
"I have Arithmancy first," Hermione announced as she stood up. "I want to meet the professor early. I hope he's finished marking the essay I handed in on 'The Dichotomy of Numbers and Divination'."
"Goodluck Hermione," Harry called out as she scurried off. He stretched and stood up. "I gotta go to the bathroom," he said to Ron. "Meet you in the classroom?"
"Okay," his freckled friend agreed. And they parted ways.
Coming up...Chapter 8- This is Where It Gets Serious…;)