Chapter 3
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No one got into the carriage with me. No matter. I wished I had known how to properly meditate. I needed some calm feelings right about then. Being head boy was culture shock.
I began to close the door of my carriage when all of a sudden it was wrenched open again. Startled, I looked up to see who had done it. It was the girl from the train. Fun? Mirth? No, those weren't her name. I wracked my brain for another synonym for happiness that could have been her name.
"J-Joy?" my voiced cracked, embarrassingly as she struggled to climb in. I cleared my throat. "What are you doing?" I shut the door behind her.
She straightened her robes and sat down next to me. "What's it look like?"
"Well, I thought you would have ridden with Gerald, or someone else."
"All of them were full except this one. It seems no one left room for me."
I wondered why, but kept quiet. "Oh. I don't mind."
She didn't say anything. She stared out the window again, just like she had done in the train. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail and she was twirling the end of it with her right hand. As the carriage lurched forward she turned around towards me.
"Aren't you going to read your book? It's a long ride up to the castle."
"No, actually. I tend to get carriage sick when I read. And it's too dark, anyway."
"Well wonders never cease. He's not reading or acting authoritative," she snickered sarcastically.
"What? Whoa, you definitely don't know me. That's not me at all. Quite the opposite, actually."
She snickered. "Oh really? I bet. That's why you're head boy, then. Because you're NOT a bookworm."
"Aren't you forgetting that you're head girl? You're a bookworm, then, if you look at it from your point of view, anyway."
"I didn't say I wasn't. I just don't openly display it, that's all."
"Then you and I are different. I suppose you want to be head girl, then."
"Of course. Mother was crushed when we had to move to Britain from Ireland. She didn't think my good marks in the Irish academy would count for anything in this school. But when Dumbledore picked me for head girl anyway, she, AND I, were thrilled. Why let all the hard work go to waste, you know?"
"I see. And no I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't really done any hard work to care about."
"You're kidding."
"No, I'm not. I just, kind of- fell into it, I guess you could say."
"So you didn't work hard at all in school, and you got head boy just-- because?"
"I guess I had the highest marks in the class, and I haven't gotten caught as much as everyone else when I'm up to no good."
She gasped. Then she said with an air of sadness in her tone, "That's so unfair."
"I know. Believe me, I know. I don't even WANT to be head boy."
At that moment I realized something that I had never really thought about before. There must have been a lot of other Hogwarts students who hated me. Others, like Percy, who devoted their entire lives to academics and study and then were beaten out by someone like me, who meandered through and was just lucky enough to succeed. The thought scared me. I actually began to feel guilty about wearing the badge.
"Phht." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "That's rather amazing, though. You never tried, and you came out on top..." She was still trying to process the concept.
"So... You and Gerald..."
"-Are not a couple," she finished.
I nodded. So she was just a flirt. I was NOT about to be her next victim. True, I had defied her stereotype for an "overachiever" because I didn't want to be one. But she had defied mine as well. Book worms weren't flirts. I was puzzled, and repulsed at the same time. I couldn't stand flirty girls and I still can't.
"I'm tired," I declared, sitting back against the padded back of the seat, closing my eyes, "I think I'm going to sleep."
"Me too," she said. And she laid her head on my shoulder.
I shrugged her off. She was startled. She gave me a very, very evil look before she turned towards the window again. She crossed her legs, put her elbow on her knee, and rested her chin in her hand. She obviously wasn't used to being rejected.
I sighed and closed my eyes again.
She was right, it WAS going to be a long ride to the school.
a/n: There it is, another chapter. Tell me what you think, OK? Thanks.
~~~~~~~~~~`
No one got into the carriage with me. No matter. I wished I had known how to properly meditate. I needed some calm feelings right about then. Being head boy was culture shock.
I began to close the door of my carriage when all of a sudden it was wrenched open again. Startled, I looked up to see who had done it. It was the girl from the train. Fun? Mirth? No, those weren't her name. I wracked my brain for another synonym for happiness that could have been her name.
"J-Joy?" my voiced cracked, embarrassingly as she struggled to climb in. I cleared my throat. "What are you doing?" I shut the door behind her.
She straightened her robes and sat down next to me. "What's it look like?"
"Well, I thought you would have ridden with Gerald, or someone else."
"All of them were full except this one. It seems no one left room for me."
I wondered why, but kept quiet. "Oh. I don't mind."
She didn't say anything. She stared out the window again, just like she had done in the train. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail and she was twirling the end of it with her right hand. As the carriage lurched forward she turned around towards me.
"Aren't you going to read your book? It's a long ride up to the castle."
"No, actually. I tend to get carriage sick when I read. And it's too dark, anyway."
"Well wonders never cease. He's not reading or acting authoritative," she snickered sarcastically.
"What? Whoa, you definitely don't know me. That's not me at all. Quite the opposite, actually."
She snickered. "Oh really? I bet. That's why you're head boy, then. Because you're NOT a bookworm."
"Aren't you forgetting that you're head girl? You're a bookworm, then, if you look at it from your point of view, anyway."
"I didn't say I wasn't. I just don't openly display it, that's all."
"Then you and I are different. I suppose you want to be head girl, then."
"Of course. Mother was crushed when we had to move to Britain from Ireland. She didn't think my good marks in the Irish academy would count for anything in this school. But when Dumbledore picked me for head girl anyway, she, AND I, were thrilled. Why let all the hard work go to waste, you know?"
"I see. And no I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't really done any hard work to care about."
"You're kidding."
"No, I'm not. I just, kind of- fell into it, I guess you could say."
"So you didn't work hard at all in school, and you got head boy just-- because?"
"I guess I had the highest marks in the class, and I haven't gotten caught as much as everyone else when I'm up to no good."
She gasped. Then she said with an air of sadness in her tone, "That's so unfair."
"I know. Believe me, I know. I don't even WANT to be head boy."
At that moment I realized something that I had never really thought about before. There must have been a lot of other Hogwarts students who hated me. Others, like Percy, who devoted their entire lives to academics and study and then were beaten out by someone like me, who meandered through and was just lucky enough to succeed. The thought scared me. I actually began to feel guilty about wearing the badge.
"Phht." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "That's rather amazing, though. You never tried, and you came out on top..." She was still trying to process the concept.
"So... You and Gerald..."
"-Are not a couple," she finished.
I nodded. So she was just a flirt. I was NOT about to be her next victim. True, I had defied her stereotype for an "overachiever" because I didn't want to be one. But she had defied mine as well. Book worms weren't flirts. I was puzzled, and repulsed at the same time. I couldn't stand flirty girls and I still can't.
"I'm tired," I declared, sitting back against the padded back of the seat, closing my eyes, "I think I'm going to sleep."
"Me too," she said. And she laid her head on my shoulder.
I shrugged her off. She was startled. She gave me a very, very evil look before she turned towards the window again. She crossed her legs, put her elbow on her knee, and rested her chin in her hand. She obviously wasn't used to being rejected.
I sighed and closed my eyes again.
She was right, it WAS going to be a long ride to the school.
a/n: There it is, another chapter. Tell me what you think, OK? Thanks.
