Chapter Four: An Early Start and Breakfast
Draco slammed his hand over his bewitched alarm clock. Arghh.I wake up to early for my own good. He pushed his covers off him, and for a minute he just sits down on the side of his bed, rubbing his eyes. He wasn't fully awake, so he took a shower. After that, he did what he did every morning. Brushing teeth, gelling his hair, the works. In 15 minutes he was in and out of the bathroom in his robes. He pocketed his wand which rested on his bedside table. He also grabbed his schedule which was passed out the night before. He hadn't taken a look at it yet so he took a quick overview of it. Damn it, he thought. His schedule read:
Period One: Arithmancy (with Gryffindors)
Period Two: Potions (with Gryffindors)
Lunch
Period Three: Herbology (with Gryffindors)
Period Four: Care of Magical Creatures (with Gryffindors)
End of Day
Great, just great. A whole day of classes with Gryffindors. Probably all Dumbledore's idea. That git. He shook his head angrily and started to pack his bag with books from his trunk. When he had completed the task he thought of what to do for the next two hours before breakfast. He decided to go to the lake to read his favourite book: Advanced Potions. He grabbed his cloak from his closet, for it was a bit chilly, and walked to the common room, only to find the new Gryffindor girl. Holly, was it? He thought, trying to remember her name. She was already in her uniform and was reading a small leather bound book, but didn't seem very into it. When Draco closed his bedroom door Holly lifted her head up from the book to face him. She calmed down when he saw that it was only him.
"Oh, it's only you," she said, "you gave me a fright there, Draco." She placed her book on the coffee table. She continued, "What are you doing up so early? There's still 2 ½ hours till class starts." She looked at her watch.
"I could ask you the same question." Draco smirked.
"True. Well, I wasn't really that tired last night, so I woke up early. What about you?"
"I'm not sure, but I set my alarm clock to 6 am, and now I am off to the lake." He started off towards the door.
"I see," Holly said, "well, see you in class then." She picked up her book and found her book marked page. Draco stopped. He really was bored and didn't want to get in trouble if he got caught. He decided to ask her if she would like to come with him, only because he didn't really feel like reading and because he didn't want to get caught.
"Hey, uh, Travis," he said, remembering her name. She looked up from her book to look at him. "Would you like to come with me? I'm probably going to die of boredom by myself." She smiled and said, "Sure, just let me get my cloak." She dropped her book on the coffee table and quietly walked to her room. What am I doing? Draco asked himself. Being nice to a Gryffindor? I really must be out of it today! He shook his head and look where Holly was sitting previously. He spotted the book she was reading and went over to see what was so uninteresting about it. It read: Hogwarts: A History. No wonder, the only one who could find pleasure out of reading this would probably be Granger.
Draco heard a creak from behind and saw Holly in her cloak walking down the stairs from her dorm.
"Shall we go, then?" she asked. He nodded and the two of them walked silently through the ancient halls of Hogwarts. Draco led the way, but Holly was still standing beside him. Luckily, neither Filch nor any of the teachers were there so they got outside without being seen.
When they arrived Holly leaned against a tree while Draco walked over to the lake. He picked up a rock and chucked it across the still water. It skipped four times before it sank to the bottom of the lake. He then saw another rock jumping over the water five times to his left. He turned fully to his right and saw Holly with a look of satisfaction on her face. She looked so familiar, and good-looking. Draco thought then slapped himself mentally. This is a Gryffindor you are talking about remember! He remembered that she had tried to beat him at rock-skipping so he picked up another rock and skipped it again. This time it went six times. He smirked to himself. No one could surpass that.
"Trying to beat me, are you?" he heard Holly say. Draco turned to her and said, "That's what us Slytherins do. We are always up for a challenge." Holly raised her eyebrows a bit. She picked up another rock.
"Is that so? Beat this then." She threw the rock across the water, and to Draco's surprise, it skipped 10 times! She turned to him, crossed her arms and said, "Go on then."
He thought for a moment. I can't beat that. Think, think! I know! Draco picked up a rock and pulled out his wand out of his robes. He pointed his wand to his rock and muttered a spell, "Petra Salire Infinito". He then threw the rock into the water and magically started skipping on its own until it was out of sight.
"Hey! That's cheating!" Holly said with her mouth open. Draco shrugged and walked over to the tree and sat down. He stretched his legs out in front of him. Holly sat down beside him and leaned against the tree. After a few minutes of silence Draco opened his eyes and turned his head.
"Have we met before, Travis? You look really familiar, but I can't remember where I met you before." He said. Holly opened her eyes and looked him over, thinking to herself. She then shook her head.
"I don't remember you from anywhere before. Perhaps you saw me in Diagon Alley?" she replied.
"Perhaps," Draco left it at that.
"Hey, Draco-" Holly started but Draco cut her off.
"Malfoy, call me Malfoy." He said.
"Okay, Malfoy," she continued, staring out to the lake, "Is it true that there's an interhouse rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin?"
"Yeah. If you put one from each house in a room, they'd most likely kill each other off." He chuckled to himself. If only I could do that to Potter and Pansy. That would do me two favours.
"Then why are you not mean and nasty to me? I mean, this is the first time we've ever met." She asked him, still staring out to the lake.
Malfoy shrugged, and said, "I don't know. Maybe to show you that Slytherins can also be nice and that it is a better house than Gryffindor."
"Oh," Holly said, "which classes do you have today?"
"Uh," Malfoy tried to remember which classes he had, and then, when he thought of them, he said, "Potions, Arithmancy, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. All with you Gryffindors. What a day."
"You take Arithmancy?" Holly faced him again. Malfoy nodded and asked, "Why, don't you?" She shook her head and said, "I take Divination. I can do the things they do in Arithmancy, but I find it boring, repetitive and quite easy. I have never taken Divination, so I thought that I would try that." Malfoy was shocked, but didn't show it. He had never heard anyone say that Arithmancy was easy. It was probably the hardest subject in Hogwarts, other than Potions of course. After that, they started talking about Snape and how he favours Slytherins more, and anything else Malfoy thought was important to remember about all of the teachers. Even Hagrid. Holly didn't believe what she heard. From what she had seen, Hagrid seemed like a great person.
Holly looked at her watch. "Oh, there's 15 minutes before breakfast and we still have to get our books. Let's head up then." She stretched her arms while Malfoy got up. He offered her a hand. She gratefully took it and got up. The two started walking back towards the castle.
When they got inside most students were already heading to breakfast and had not seen them come in. Holly met up with Hermione in the Prefect common room. She told her that she had to get her books from her room and ran up to it. Malfoy had strolled in and made his way to his dorm as well. He had come in a few seconds after Holly. Where had they been? Hermione thought. She would ask Holly when they went to meet Harry and Ron for breakfast. Holly came down from her dorm.
Holly and Hermione made their way down to the Gryffindor Common room through Hermione's dorm. Hermione tickled the book and the two of them stepped back to let the painting open up. Holly headed in first, followed by Hermione. They found Harry and Ron sitting on two chairs talking.
"Good morning, you two." Holly said. Harry and Ron looked up from their conversation. "Are we going to wait for Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"Uh, yeah," Ron looked at Harry. They were both really hungry and were anxious to get to the Great Hall for breakfast. Luckily for them Ginny had just come from the stairs that led to the Girls' Dormitories.
"Let's go," Harry said as he and Ron grabbed their bags. The five of them walked side by side all the way to the Great Hall. There were lots of students headed that way as well, but they saw no Slytherins in the hall. They found out where they all were when they entered the hall. Every single Slytherin was already seated at their table. What pigs. Hermione thought as she, Holly and Ginny seated themselves on the opposite side of Harry and Ron. As usual, the two boys were stuffing their faces full of eggs, bacon and toast.
"So, Ron," Holly started, "do you have any other brothers or sisters at Hogwarts, other than Ginny, Fred and George?" Ron looked up and swallowed his bacon.
"Not at Hogwarts," he replied, "I have three other brothers who are working. Charlie works in Romania with Dragons, Bill works at Gringotts, and Percy works at the Ministry of Magic."
"Cool," said Holly, "So do you guys take Arithmancy or Divination?"
Harry and Ron said Divination, but Hermione said Arithmancy. "Why don't you take Arithmancy, Holly? You seem like a smart person." Ron added. Holly told them the same things she had told Malfoy earlier that morning.
"What is Divination like? Is it fun?" she asked. Harry and Ron looked at each other and started laughing. Hermione looked annoyed, and Holly looked confused.
"It's not funny." Hermione said. She turned to Holly. "Every year Professor Trelawny predicts Harry's death, but of course he hasn't died. I think that Divination is a waste of time."
When Harry and Ron's laughs ceased, Ron said, "It's actually really simple. Of course we make up everything, but Trelawny believes us. Plus Malfoy's not in that class. Two pros of taking Divination." Holly smiled and looked forward. She saw two grey eyes looking back at her. She blushed slightly, and she went back to eating. Hermione thought this was the perfect time to ask her where she was that morning because Ron and Harry were talking to Dean and Seamus about Quidditch.
"Holly," Hermione whispered, "Where were you this morning?"
"Oh, I was out, by the lake-" she started.
"Alone?" whispered Hermione in a concerned tone.
"Of course not. I'm not stupid. I went with-" she was cut off by Harry who said, "Oh no, we have class in five minutes. We need to hurry if we're going to get there on time. Come on Holly." Ron and Harry quickly got up and started walking to the Great Hall doors. Holly waved goodbye to Hermione and Ginny. Hermione mouthed, "Who?" Holly mouthed back, what Hermione thought looked like, "Malfoy," before she left. What, with Malfoy! I have got to set her straight on that one. What if something happened? I'll talk to her later; I have to get to Arithmancy.
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A/N: Okay, that was that chapter, I know that was a boring chapter. I'll try to make them more interesting. Next chapter is the Arithmancy class and the Divination class. I'm having writer's block so review and give me ideas. Remember: REVIEW, REVIEW REVIEW!!!
Draco slammed his hand over his bewitched alarm clock. Arghh.I wake up to early for my own good. He pushed his covers off him, and for a minute he just sits down on the side of his bed, rubbing his eyes. He wasn't fully awake, so he took a shower. After that, he did what he did every morning. Brushing teeth, gelling his hair, the works. In 15 minutes he was in and out of the bathroom in his robes. He pocketed his wand which rested on his bedside table. He also grabbed his schedule which was passed out the night before. He hadn't taken a look at it yet so he took a quick overview of it. Damn it, he thought. His schedule read:
Period One: Arithmancy (with Gryffindors)
Period Two: Potions (with Gryffindors)
Lunch
Period Three: Herbology (with Gryffindors)
Period Four: Care of Magical Creatures (with Gryffindors)
End of Day
Great, just great. A whole day of classes with Gryffindors. Probably all Dumbledore's idea. That git. He shook his head angrily and started to pack his bag with books from his trunk. When he had completed the task he thought of what to do for the next two hours before breakfast. He decided to go to the lake to read his favourite book: Advanced Potions. He grabbed his cloak from his closet, for it was a bit chilly, and walked to the common room, only to find the new Gryffindor girl. Holly, was it? He thought, trying to remember her name. She was already in her uniform and was reading a small leather bound book, but didn't seem very into it. When Draco closed his bedroom door Holly lifted her head up from the book to face him. She calmed down when he saw that it was only him.
"Oh, it's only you," she said, "you gave me a fright there, Draco." She placed her book on the coffee table. She continued, "What are you doing up so early? There's still 2 ½ hours till class starts." She looked at her watch.
"I could ask you the same question." Draco smirked.
"True. Well, I wasn't really that tired last night, so I woke up early. What about you?"
"I'm not sure, but I set my alarm clock to 6 am, and now I am off to the lake." He started off towards the door.
"I see," Holly said, "well, see you in class then." She picked up her book and found her book marked page. Draco stopped. He really was bored and didn't want to get in trouble if he got caught. He decided to ask her if she would like to come with him, only because he didn't really feel like reading and because he didn't want to get caught.
"Hey, uh, Travis," he said, remembering her name. She looked up from her book to look at him. "Would you like to come with me? I'm probably going to die of boredom by myself." She smiled and said, "Sure, just let me get my cloak." She dropped her book on the coffee table and quietly walked to her room. What am I doing? Draco asked himself. Being nice to a Gryffindor? I really must be out of it today! He shook his head and look where Holly was sitting previously. He spotted the book she was reading and went over to see what was so uninteresting about it. It read: Hogwarts: A History. No wonder, the only one who could find pleasure out of reading this would probably be Granger.
Draco heard a creak from behind and saw Holly in her cloak walking down the stairs from her dorm.
"Shall we go, then?" she asked. He nodded and the two of them walked silently through the ancient halls of Hogwarts. Draco led the way, but Holly was still standing beside him. Luckily, neither Filch nor any of the teachers were there so they got outside without being seen.
When they arrived Holly leaned against a tree while Draco walked over to the lake. He picked up a rock and chucked it across the still water. It skipped four times before it sank to the bottom of the lake. He then saw another rock jumping over the water five times to his left. He turned fully to his right and saw Holly with a look of satisfaction on her face. She looked so familiar, and good-looking. Draco thought then slapped himself mentally. This is a Gryffindor you are talking about remember! He remembered that she had tried to beat him at rock-skipping so he picked up another rock and skipped it again. This time it went six times. He smirked to himself. No one could surpass that.
"Trying to beat me, are you?" he heard Holly say. Draco turned to her and said, "That's what us Slytherins do. We are always up for a challenge." Holly raised her eyebrows a bit. She picked up another rock.
"Is that so? Beat this then." She threw the rock across the water, and to Draco's surprise, it skipped 10 times! She turned to him, crossed her arms and said, "Go on then."
He thought for a moment. I can't beat that. Think, think! I know! Draco picked up a rock and pulled out his wand out of his robes. He pointed his wand to his rock and muttered a spell, "Petra Salire Infinito". He then threw the rock into the water and magically started skipping on its own until it was out of sight.
"Hey! That's cheating!" Holly said with her mouth open. Draco shrugged and walked over to the tree and sat down. He stretched his legs out in front of him. Holly sat down beside him and leaned against the tree. After a few minutes of silence Draco opened his eyes and turned his head.
"Have we met before, Travis? You look really familiar, but I can't remember where I met you before." He said. Holly opened her eyes and looked him over, thinking to herself. She then shook her head.
"I don't remember you from anywhere before. Perhaps you saw me in Diagon Alley?" she replied.
"Perhaps," Draco left it at that.
"Hey, Draco-" Holly started but Draco cut her off.
"Malfoy, call me Malfoy." He said.
"Okay, Malfoy," she continued, staring out to the lake, "Is it true that there's an interhouse rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin?"
"Yeah. If you put one from each house in a room, they'd most likely kill each other off." He chuckled to himself. If only I could do that to Potter and Pansy. That would do me two favours.
"Then why are you not mean and nasty to me? I mean, this is the first time we've ever met." She asked him, still staring out to the lake.
Malfoy shrugged, and said, "I don't know. Maybe to show you that Slytherins can also be nice and that it is a better house than Gryffindor."
"Oh," Holly said, "which classes do you have today?"
"Uh," Malfoy tried to remember which classes he had, and then, when he thought of them, he said, "Potions, Arithmancy, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. All with you Gryffindors. What a day."
"You take Arithmancy?" Holly faced him again. Malfoy nodded and asked, "Why, don't you?" She shook her head and said, "I take Divination. I can do the things they do in Arithmancy, but I find it boring, repetitive and quite easy. I have never taken Divination, so I thought that I would try that." Malfoy was shocked, but didn't show it. He had never heard anyone say that Arithmancy was easy. It was probably the hardest subject in Hogwarts, other than Potions of course. After that, they started talking about Snape and how he favours Slytherins more, and anything else Malfoy thought was important to remember about all of the teachers. Even Hagrid. Holly didn't believe what she heard. From what she had seen, Hagrid seemed like a great person.
Holly looked at her watch. "Oh, there's 15 minutes before breakfast and we still have to get our books. Let's head up then." She stretched her arms while Malfoy got up. He offered her a hand. She gratefully took it and got up. The two started walking back towards the castle.
When they got inside most students were already heading to breakfast and had not seen them come in. Holly met up with Hermione in the Prefect common room. She told her that she had to get her books from her room and ran up to it. Malfoy had strolled in and made his way to his dorm as well. He had come in a few seconds after Holly. Where had they been? Hermione thought. She would ask Holly when they went to meet Harry and Ron for breakfast. Holly came down from her dorm.
Holly and Hermione made their way down to the Gryffindor Common room through Hermione's dorm. Hermione tickled the book and the two of them stepped back to let the painting open up. Holly headed in first, followed by Hermione. They found Harry and Ron sitting on two chairs talking.
"Good morning, you two." Holly said. Harry and Ron looked up from their conversation. "Are we going to wait for Ginny?" Hermione asked.
"Uh, yeah," Ron looked at Harry. They were both really hungry and were anxious to get to the Great Hall for breakfast. Luckily for them Ginny had just come from the stairs that led to the Girls' Dormitories.
"Let's go," Harry said as he and Ron grabbed their bags. The five of them walked side by side all the way to the Great Hall. There were lots of students headed that way as well, but they saw no Slytherins in the hall. They found out where they all were when they entered the hall. Every single Slytherin was already seated at their table. What pigs. Hermione thought as she, Holly and Ginny seated themselves on the opposite side of Harry and Ron. As usual, the two boys were stuffing their faces full of eggs, bacon and toast.
"So, Ron," Holly started, "do you have any other brothers or sisters at Hogwarts, other than Ginny, Fred and George?" Ron looked up and swallowed his bacon.
"Not at Hogwarts," he replied, "I have three other brothers who are working. Charlie works in Romania with Dragons, Bill works at Gringotts, and Percy works at the Ministry of Magic."
"Cool," said Holly, "So do you guys take Arithmancy or Divination?"
Harry and Ron said Divination, but Hermione said Arithmancy. "Why don't you take Arithmancy, Holly? You seem like a smart person." Ron added. Holly told them the same things she had told Malfoy earlier that morning.
"What is Divination like? Is it fun?" she asked. Harry and Ron looked at each other and started laughing. Hermione looked annoyed, and Holly looked confused.
"It's not funny." Hermione said. She turned to Holly. "Every year Professor Trelawny predicts Harry's death, but of course he hasn't died. I think that Divination is a waste of time."
When Harry and Ron's laughs ceased, Ron said, "It's actually really simple. Of course we make up everything, but Trelawny believes us. Plus Malfoy's not in that class. Two pros of taking Divination." Holly smiled and looked forward. She saw two grey eyes looking back at her. She blushed slightly, and she went back to eating. Hermione thought this was the perfect time to ask her where she was that morning because Ron and Harry were talking to Dean and Seamus about Quidditch.
"Holly," Hermione whispered, "Where were you this morning?"
"Oh, I was out, by the lake-" she started.
"Alone?" whispered Hermione in a concerned tone.
"Of course not. I'm not stupid. I went with-" she was cut off by Harry who said, "Oh no, we have class in five minutes. We need to hurry if we're going to get there on time. Come on Holly." Ron and Harry quickly got up and started walking to the Great Hall doors. Holly waved goodbye to Hermione and Ginny. Hermione mouthed, "Who?" Holly mouthed back, what Hermione thought looked like, "Malfoy," before she left. What, with Malfoy! I have got to set her straight on that one. What if something happened? I'll talk to her later; I have to get to Arithmancy.
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A/N: Okay, that was that chapter, I know that was a boring chapter. I'll try to make them more interesting. Next chapter is the Arithmancy class and the Divination class. I'm having writer's block so review and give me ideas. Remember: REVIEW, REVIEW REVIEW!!!