Harry Potter- "Hungry Eyes"
Disclaimer: All of these characters besides Tali and Peyton belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling
CHAPTER ONE
"What's the buzz? Tell me what's happening. What's the buzz? Tell me what's happening. Why should you want to know?" sang the girl, coming up the stairs of the main hallway. Her green eyes opened and closed with passion as she got into the song. A cat that looked like a small lion bounded behind her, jumping up to avoid the girl's heels. Her stomach rumbled with hunger as she heard many voices in the Dining Hall.
She opened the door slightly, observing the people inside. That's what she loved to do: people watch. There were four long tables with a fifth in front of the entire hubbub. The first table had students clad in all gold and red, shouting something at a bright red-haired boy, chugging pitcher after pitcher of pumpkin juice that sounded like "Weakling! Weakling!" In fact, all of the first three tables were screaming those words at the poor boy. She frowned and shifted her gaze to the last table.
All the students here were clad in silver and green. They all seemed to be whispering secretively to each other, a boy with white blonde hair in the midst of it all. He seemed to be leading the group conversation. The boy looked up and saw her looking at him, so she ducked down to scratch her cat's head as he grinned in her direction. She thought that this was a good time to make an appearance as the redhead stopped drinking and the noise resided. She pushed the door open all of the way and entered.
Not many people noticed her, just a few boys including the red head. She grinned and began to walk down the center aisle, subtly "strutting her stuff." Her cat still followed at her heels, mewing at the lack of attention she was receiving. The girl reached the man she knew as the headmaster and handed him a note, written on graffiti parchment. He read it silently, and then held out a hand.
"Pleased to have you with us Ms. Siemple. Please, be seated." The old man smiled at her. She looked around at the four tables, a bit confused with a slight flush. By now, she had everyone's attention in the room. She knew that most of the guys would have wandering eyes. But, she supposed it served her right for wearing white short shorts.
"Where?" she asked, as politely as possible. He glanced at the parchment again, rereading a sentence. He smiled up at her.
"You were in Thering house?" he asked. She nodded slightly. He gestured towards the red and gold table. "You will be in Gryffindor." The girl casually made her way to the first table, the only open seat being next to a girl with long, slightly highlighted, golden brown hair.
"Hi," greeted the girl, holding out a hand, "I'm Hermione Granger." The girl shook her hand as her cat jumped onto her lap.
"I'm Tali Siemple. This is Peyton," the girl greeted with a smile. The cat mewed at the recognition. She looked across the table to be face-to- face with the red haired boy. Bright blue eyes met dark green eyes and the boy lowered his hand to shove more food in his house. Hermione glanced at him strangely.
"That's Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." The boy across from Hermione held out a hand to shake Tali's. He had round glasses and bright green eyes. He looked relieved and a bit disappointed when her eyes didn't acknowledge the scar on his forehead.
"Nice to meet you Tali," greeted the boy. The cat batted his outstretched hand as he withdrew it.
"Yeah," grunted Ron. Peyton crawled off of Tali's lap and curled around Ron's legs. He jumped and pulled the cat up by the scruff of her neck. She purred happily, her chocolate eyes gazing up at him. "You've got one weird cat."
"I got her in Africa. She only ever wants attention, doesn't care if it's good or bad." Tali reached across the table to take Peyton back.
"So, you're from Africa?" Harry asked, not really paying attention. He kept his gaze steady on Cho.
"Naw, I'm from the States. Minnesota. I just transferred here," she explained. Hermione looked up, a bit skeptical.
"There aren't any magical humans in Minnesota. It's only trolls and elves, with the exception of your ministry's handlers." Hermione narrowed her eyes. Ron and Harry rolled theirs.
"Yeah, I know. My dad and I are the last magical civilians. And I went to school in Louisiana," replied Tali, just as seedily. Ron and Harry could sense a fight stirring up and didn't want to deal with that. Ron kicked Tali's shin, bringing her back to reality. "Ow!" Ron just shrugged.
"So why'd you transfer?" Harry asked. Hermione began to pout.
"My mom got transferred from her job to one in London. She's a Muggle and my dad and I just kind of followed," replied Tali. Peyton was curled up on her feet now. "What were you doing before when everyone was shouting at you?" she asked Ron.
"Oh. Harry and I had a bet over how much pumpkin juice I could drink in five minutes. That was awesome man," he grinned at Harry. He was saying, which she could now hear as, "Weasley! Weasley!" Tali laughed at their stupidity at which Hermione's scowl deepened.
"Who won?" asked Tali, swigging down her own goblet of pumpkin juice.
"Harry," Hermione half-whispered, not wanting to be part of their conversation. Tali suddenly hit her forehead, causing Peyton to jump up, clawing her way up Ron's leg. He winced in pain, pulling Peyton off of him, grumbling something about "Damn cats."
"What?" Harry asked of her sudden move.
"Now I know where I've seen you before! You're that one kid who...brought that one guy back from like the supposed dead or something! Right?" she asked Harry, a bit excitedly. Harry, Ron and Hermione all gaped at her with open mouths. Here was a person who obviously didn't know everything about Harry, and for that matter, Voldemort.
"Yeah..." Loud raucous laughter erupted from the furthest table, directed towards Ron, causing his ears to redden. "Malfoy," sneered Harry. The group stood up and exited the hall, still laughing. Ron stood up, a knife in his hands, but Hermione grabbed his arm. He sat down on, what ended up being, Peyton's tail. She screeched in pain and jumped onto Harry's lap.
"Come on Peyton," sighed Tali, picking up her cat around her waist and hauling her onto her lap. "I should probably be getting to bed. I had a really long trip. You know: Minnesota to London. It's a little tiring."
"I thought you went to school in Louisiana," accused Hermione as Ron got up to show Tali the way.
"I did, but I had to go home to repack. This is my first day in England," replied Tali, not wanting to fight with the other girl. Peyton struggled in her arms so she let her down. Peyton bounded down the aisle, stopping at the end, looking at Tali and wondering why she wasn't following.
"Come on Tali, I'll show you where the common room is," insisted Ron, gesturing towards the way she'd come in. She caught up with Peyton at the same time as Ron. He offered his arm to her and she accepted, Peyton following nipping at their heels before Ron kicked her away. She sat, a little stunned, before running to catch up.
"What's Malfoy? The other house?" Tali asked as they began their ascension of case upon case of stairs. Ron snarled.
"No, Malfoy's that kid with the white hair that you might have noticed. He's prefect of Slytherin house. He's a big-wait. Do you mind if I swear?" he asked cautiously. She laughed.
"Ron. Remember who you're talking to. I grew up in America," she grinned. He looked relieved.
"Good, 'cause Hermione freaks out every time I say something we didn't learn how to say by teachers or parents." Tali looked a little uncomfortable.
"Well that might be a problem. See, my friends kind of "influenced" me. Making me have the sickest mind ever," confessed Tali. Ron laughed.
"Maybe in America. But at Hogwart's, you've got guys like me, Harry, Seamus, and, though I hate him, Malfoy. You don't stand a chance!" Ron started tickling her. She laughed hard, falling down in the process, dragging Ron with her, on top of Peyton.
"Stop it! Stop it! Ok! You guys have the all-time sick minds. I'm sorry! So, you ever played pool?" she asked sneakily. Ron didn't catch on.
"Nah. I've never really wanted to though," he replied, helping her up. Her eyes began to shine.
"So, you're saying you're gay?" she questioned, laughing inwardly at the look on his face. He was genuinely confused and it showed.
"How the hell do you get that from me not wanting to play pool?" He was thoroughly bewildered.
"Pool. The game of getting the balls in the holes," she explained, watching, as he finally understood. He looked shocked that she could come up with that.
"Ok! Excuse Ms. Siemple. You have the all-time sick mind of the whole world!" he gave in. She bowed, pretending to be accepting an award. Then, a voice came from behind her.
"So Weasley. I can see that you've snagged yourself a decent looking girl for once. This one's a lot better than Granger is. And sadly, it's taken you this long too." Tali turned around to see the boy with white hair, who she now knew as "Malfoy", standing behind her. "Draco Malfoy." He held out a hand for her to shake, which she did, unsure if she should be interacting with this boy. True, he was very cute, almost hot, but she could tell that he and Ron didn't get along.
"Tali Siemple," she introduced herself. Peyton jumped on Malfoy from behind with such force that he ended up sprawled on the ground, face-first. Ron started laughing hysterically, as did the passerby. The boy stood up huffily and brushed himself off.
"You look like a nice girl. What are you doing hanging out with a Weasley?" Malfoy sneered at the pair. Tali looked taken aback. She knew that, though the question was directed towards her, he was directing the insult towards Ron. She didn't know whether she should answer or not.
"Fuck off Malfoy," whispered Ron, actually picking up Peyton from around Malfoy's feet and stroking between her ears.
"Language Weasley. You should watch your manners in front of such a lovely woman." Malfoy raised an eyebrow. He took Tali's hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles. She looked a bit flattered, but when she saw the look on Ron's face, she pulled her gaze away from Malfoy's face.
"You think that I care whether any jackass starts fucking swearing at me? Damn it man, I'm from America. We invented the swear words," she smirked. She was putting on her best "ghetto" charade. He looked surprised, but then put on a smirk to rival hers.
"Excuse me Tali. I didn't realize that that's where you were from. Hopefully, you can forgive me for my blunder?" Draco was doing his best to let his fine upbringing show through. She grinned, but as Ron pulled her away, kicked herself mentally for what she had been doing.
"Let's go Tali," prodded Ron. He had set Peyton down on the floor again and she began leading their way again. Tali silently began following him, not bothering to look back at Malfoy. He still had the smirk plastered on his face as he went back to find Crabbe and Goyle.
"What was that all about?" Tali asked as they stopped in front of a picture of a very large woman. She looked at Tali strangely before Ron said the password.
"Wingardium Leviosa," Ron said. The large woman still eyed Tali suspiciously as she swung open to reveal a circular hole in the wall. She began scolding Ron as Tali first climbed in.
"You know Mr. Weasley, it's not healthy to have more than one partner at a time. And this poor girl has the looks of never having one. I'm not even sure if she belongs at this school," scolded the Fat Lady. Ron ignored her and she swung shut again.
"So, this is the common room," introduced Ron, having forgotten Tali's previous question. She had already begun wandering around the room. Ron was extremely glad that Fred and George were gone; otherwise they would have tried to convince Tali to hang out with them.
"Ooh! Whose cat is that?" Tali asked, having found Crookshanks. Peyton and Crookshanks were sniffing at each other, before Crookshanks moved over from his spot by the fire so that Peyton could curl up next to him.
"That's Hermione's. His name is Crookshanks. He's harmless unless you've got a rat and then he'll try to take your head off. Trust me, I know from first hand experience," complained Ron. Tali got up from her knees and went to hug Ron.
"Well obviously he didn't do a good enough job. It appears that you've still got your head on tightly. Aside from that scar," she grinned. He unconsciously touched the scar on his jaw then smiled back at her.
"Naw, that's not from Crookshanks. That's from a bludger in Quidditch," admitted Ron, quite proud of himself. Tali looked a little surprised and pulled back from her awkward position, so close to his face.
"You play Quidditch?" she asked. He looked at her, just as surprised. She was acting as though she had something against Quidditch.
"Yeah. I'm Keeper for the Gryffindor team. Harry used to be the Seeker, but we're still waiting to hear from Dumbledore if he's unbanned or not," Ron explained, "Now my little sister, Ginny's, Seeker. And my brothers, Fred and George, used to be Beaters, but they got banned with Harry."
"Wow, does your whole family have like their own team or something?" Tali asked, smiling again. He didn't answer. Instead, he looked around the common room, finding it odd that there was no one else in the room with them. Tali followed his gaze, but asked the question first. "Why is there no one in here?" Ron thought for a while, and then hit his head.
"The Fat Lady," he said, crawling through the tunnel and pushing the portrait open. He clamored out to see a large crowd of Gryffindors waiting outside, wondering why they couldn't get it. "Why aren't you letting anyone in?" he asked her.
"I was waiting until you and that young lady went to the dormitory so that you could be ensured some privacy. No one wants to walk in on your little "expeditions"," she replied. Ron groaned and looked her squarely in the eye.
"There is nothing going on there. That girl is Tali Siemple, and she's new in Gryffindor this year," explained Ron. The Fat Lady looked a bit taken aback as Harry and Hermione came up to join Ron.
"What's going on up here?" Hermione asked. The Fat Lady looked taken aback as she swung open to allow everyone in the common room.
"Quite sorry about that!" she called as Ron entered, being the last person. She swung shut, looking very embarrassed of herself. Ron entered the common room to find that Parvati and Lavender had ambushed Tali.
"So, you're from America?" one would ask.
"I've heard that there are many good looking boys there," another would comment. Tali looked at Ron, with a plead for help in her eyes, so he came to her rescue.
"Sorry ladies, but I have to take your guest of honor away for awhile. Perhaps I can lend her to you at a later time?" he asked, grinning at Tali as she stood up and made her way from the girls who now had their eyes suspiciously narrowed. Ron grinned his infamous Weasley grin and then followed Tali who had found refuge with Harry and Hermione.
"I heard that they were caught shagging each other already. That's why the Fat Lady wouldn't let anyone in earlier," Lavender whispered to Parvati. She looked shocked.
"Ooh, wait until I tell Padma. She's not going to be happy with Ron at all." Parvati glared at Ron. She was under the impression that Ron and Padma were a couple because he had shagged her at the beginning of the year. That was the same impression that the Fat Lady was under, no matter how many times Ron had insisted that it was just "comfort sex." But he certainly seemed to need a lot of comforting. Not that Seamus or Dean cared. They just knew that he had gotten one of the best looking girls of the year in bed and that made him a god in their books.
"Are they always like that?" Tali was asking Harry and Hermione as Ron came up to join them. He accidentally brushed his hand on her thigh and she didn't seem to flinch, but he saw her grin slightly out of the corner of her mouth.
"Pretty much. You get used to it though, having to share a room with them for the whole year. You are in sixth year, right?" Hermione replied, taking a sip of butterbeer left over from Ron and Harry's latest raid to the kitchens.
"Yeah. You mean I have to share a room with those two for a whole two years?" Tali asked, appalled. Hermione laughed. Ron took this as an opportunity to brush his hand on Tali's thigh again, to make sure that it was ok with her. She still didn't react, but he thought he felt goose bumps rising on her skin.
"Imagine having to spend seven years." Hermione raised an eyebrow. Harry had to interrupt them.
"Don't look now, but it looks like Lavender's finally gotten over Lee," he informed. Lavender had been secretly seeing Lee Jordan, but he had graduated the previous year. The four looked at Lavender, who was, at the moment, just a bunch of legs, arms, hair, and lips combined with someone else that Tali didn't recognize.
"Who's she with?" she asked curiously. Ron snorted into his own butterbeer as he recognized whom Lavender was with. He wiped his mouth, and then he and Harry exchanged glances, trying not to laugh.
"That's Seamus Finnigan. Biggest pervert besides you, me, Harry, and- yes Harry-Draco Malfoy," replied Ron. Hermione looked disgusted and went back to the report of Harry's that she was correcting.
"Damn, I wonder how long it'll be before they come up for breath," smirked Tali. Ron snorted again.
"Knowing Seamus' snogging record, a long time," he replied. He settled back into his La-Z-Boy chair and brushed his hand on Tali's thigh, this time leaving it there. He saw her eyes widen slightly, but then he thought that he was just imagining things. She, however, chose that as an opportune time to get up from the conversation.
"I'm gonna go to bed guys. I'll see you in the morning?" She picked up Peyton from her position on the rug and made her way to the girl's dormitories. "Ron? Could I talk to you a second?" Ron got up and followed her to the base of the stairs.
"Yeah?" he asked, a bit too anxiously. She grinned and pulled his ear down to her mouth.
"I know what you're doing and it ain't gonna work buddy. You're forgetting, I've got the sickest mind, meaning that I can also be a tease. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched," she whispered. His face went from pasty white to bright red. She hugged him before making her way up the stairs. He laughed at himself inwardly before going to challenge Harry to Wizard's Chess.
Disclaimer: All of these characters besides Tali and Peyton belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling
CHAPTER ONE
"What's the buzz? Tell me what's happening. What's the buzz? Tell me what's happening. Why should you want to know?" sang the girl, coming up the stairs of the main hallway. Her green eyes opened and closed with passion as she got into the song. A cat that looked like a small lion bounded behind her, jumping up to avoid the girl's heels. Her stomach rumbled with hunger as she heard many voices in the Dining Hall.
She opened the door slightly, observing the people inside. That's what she loved to do: people watch. There were four long tables with a fifth in front of the entire hubbub. The first table had students clad in all gold and red, shouting something at a bright red-haired boy, chugging pitcher after pitcher of pumpkin juice that sounded like "Weakling! Weakling!" In fact, all of the first three tables were screaming those words at the poor boy. She frowned and shifted her gaze to the last table.
All the students here were clad in silver and green. They all seemed to be whispering secretively to each other, a boy with white blonde hair in the midst of it all. He seemed to be leading the group conversation. The boy looked up and saw her looking at him, so she ducked down to scratch her cat's head as he grinned in her direction. She thought that this was a good time to make an appearance as the redhead stopped drinking and the noise resided. She pushed the door open all of the way and entered.
Not many people noticed her, just a few boys including the red head. She grinned and began to walk down the center aisle, subtly "strutting her stuff." Her cat still followed at her heels, mewing at the lack of attention she was receiving. The girl reached the man she knew as the headmaster and handed him a note, written on graffiti parchment. He read it silently, and then held out a hand.
"Pleased to have you with us Ms. Siemple. Please, be seated." The old man smiled at her. She looked around at the four tables, a bit confused with a slight flush. By now, she had everyone's attention in the room. She knew that most of the guys would have wandering eyes. But, she supposed it served her right for wearing white short shorts.
"Where?" she asked, as politely as possible. He glanced at the parchment again, rereading a sentence. He smiled up at her.
"You were in Thering house?" he asked. She nodded slightly. He gestured towards the red and gold table. "You will be in Gryffindor." The girl casually made her way to the first table, the only open seat being next to a girl with long, slightly highlighted, golden brown hair.
"Hi," greeted the girl, holding out a hand, "I'm Hermione Granger." The girl shook her hand as her cat jumped onto her lap.
"I'm Tali Siemple. This is Peyton," the girl greeted with a smile. The cat mewed at the recognition. She looked across the table to be face-to- face with the red haired boy. Bright blue eyes met dark green eyes and the boy lowered his hand to shove more food in his house. Hermione glanced at him strangely.
"That's Ron Weasley and Harry Potter." The boy across from Hermione held out a hand to shake Tali's. He had round glasses and bright green eyes. He looked relieved and a bit disappointed when her eyes didn't acknowledge the scar on his forehead.
"Nice to meet you Tali," greeted the boy. The cat batted his outstretched hand as he withdrew it.
"Yeah," grunted Ron. Peyton crawled off of Tali's lap and curled around Ron's legs. He jumped and pulled the cat up by the scruff of her neck. She purred happily, her chocolate eyes gazing up at him. "You've got one weird cat."
"I got her in Africa. She only ever wants attention, doesn't care if it's good or bad." Tali reached across the table to take Peyton back.
"So, you're from Africa?" Harry asked, not really paying attention. He kept his gaze steady on Cho.
"Naw, I'm from the States. Minnesota. I just transferred here," she explained. Hermione looked up, a bit skeptical.
"There aren't any magical humans in Minnesota. It's only trolls and elves, with the exception of your ministry's handlers." Hermione narrowed her eyes. Ron and Harry rolled theirs.
"Yeah, I know. My dad and I are the last magical civilians. And I went to school in Louisiana," replied Tali, just as seedily. Ron and Harry could sense a fight stirring up and didn't want to deal with that. Ron kicked Tali's shin, bringing her back to reality. "Ow!" Ron just shrugged.
"So why'd you transfer?" Harry asked. Hermione began to pout.
"My mom got transferred from her job to one in London. She's a Muggle and my dad and I just kind of followed," replied Tali. Peyton was curled up on her feet now. "What were you doing before when everyone was shouting at you?" she asked Ron.
"Oh. Harry and I had a bet over how much pumpkin juice I could drink in five minutes. That was awesome man," he grinned at Harry. He was saying, which she could now hear as, "Weasley! Weasley!" Tali laughed at their stupidity at which Hermione's scowl deepened.
"Who won?" asked Tali, swigging down her own goblet of pumpkin juice.
"Harry," Hermione half-whispered, not wanting to be part of their conversation. Tali suddenly hit her forehead, causing Peyton to jump up, clawing her way up Ron's leg. He winced in pain, pulling Peyton off of him, grumbling something about "Damn cats."
"What?" Harry asked of her sudden move.
"Now I know where I've seen you before! You're that one kid who...brought that one guy back from like the supposed dead or something! Right?" she asked Harry, a bit excitedly. Harry, Ron and Hermione all gaped at her with open mouths. Here was a person who obviously didn't know everything about Harry, and for that matter, Voldemort.
"Yeah..." Loud raucous laughter erupted from the furthest table, directed towards Ron, causing his ears to redden. "Malfoy," sneered Harry. The group stood up and exited the hall, still laughing. Ron stood up, a knife in his hands, but Hermione grabbed his arm. He sat down on, what ended up being, Peyton's tail. She screeched in pain and jumped onto Harry's lap.
"Come on Peyton," sighed Tali, picking up her cat around her waist and hauling her onto her lap. "I should probably be getting to bed. I had a really long trip. You know: Minnesota to London. It's a little tiring."
"I thought you went to school in Louisiana," accused Hermione as Ron got up to show Tali the way.
"I did, but I had to go home to repack. This is my first day in England," replied Tali, not wanting to fight with the other girl. Peyton struggled in her arms so she let her down. Peyton bounded down the aisle, stopping at the end, looking at Tali and wondering why she wasn't following.
"Come on Tali, I'll show you where the common room is," insisted Ron, gesturing towards the way she'd come in. She caught up with Peyton at the same time as Ron. He offered his arm to her and she accepted, Peyton following nipping at their heels before Ron kicked her away. She sat, a little stunned, before running to catch up.
"What's Malfoy? The other house?" Tali asked as they began their ascension of case upon case of stairs. Ron snarled.
"No, Malfoy's that kid with the white hair that you might have noticed. He's prefect of Slytherin house. He's a big-wait. Do you mind if I swear?" he asked cautiously. She laughed.
"Ron. Remember who you're talking to. I grew up in America," she grinned. He looked relieved.
"Good, 'cause Hermione freaks out every time I say something we didn't learn how to say by teachers or parents." Tali looked a little uncomfortable.
"Well that might be a problem. See, my friends kind of "influenced" me. Making me have the sickest mind ever," confessed Tali. Ron laughed.
"Maybe in America. But at Hogwart's, you've got guys like me, Harry, Seamus, and, though I hate him, Malfoy. You don't stand a chance!" Ron started tickling her. She laughed hard, falling down in the process, dragging Ron with her, on top of Peyton.
"Stop it! Stop it! Ok! You guys have the all-time sick minds. I'm sorry! So, you ever played pool?" she asked sneakily. Ron didn't catch on.
"Nah. I've never really wanted to though," he replied, helping her up. Her eyes began to shine.
"So, you're saying you're gay?" she questioned, laughing inwardly at the look on his face. He was genuinely confused and it showed.
"How the hell do you get that from me not wanting to play pool?" He was thoroughly bewildered.
"Pool. The game of getting the balls in the holes," she explained, watching, as he finally understood. He looked shocked that she could come up with that.
"Ok! Excuse Ms. Siemple. You have the all-time sick mind of the whole world!" he gave in. She bowed, pretending to be accepting an award. Then, a voice came from behind her.
"So Weasley. I can see that you've snagged yourself a decent looking girl for once. This one's a lot better than Granger is. And sadly, it's taken you this long too." Tali turned around to see the boy with white hair, who she now knew as "Malfoy", standing behind her. "Draco Malfoy." He held out a hand for her to shake, which she did, unsure if she should be interacting with this boy. True, he was very cute, almost hot, but she could tell that he and Ron didn't get along.
"Tali Siemple," she introduced herself. Peyton jumped on Malfoy from behind with such force that he ended up sprawled on the ground, face-first. Ron started laughing hysterically, as did the passerby. The boy stood up huffily and brushed himself off.
"You look like a nice girl. What are you doing hanging out with a Weasley?" Malfoy sneered at the pair. Tali looked taken aback. She knew that, though the question was directed towards her, he was directing the insult towards Ron. She didn't know whether she should answer or not.
"Fuck off Malfoy," whispered Ron, actually picking up Peyton from around Malfoy's feet and stroking between her ears.
"Language Weasley. You should watch your manners in front of such a lovely woman." Malfoy raised an eyebrow. He took Tali's hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles. She looked a bit flattered, but when she saw the look on Ron's face, she pulled her gaze away from Malfoy's face.
"You think that I care whether any jackass starts fucking swearing at me? Damn it man, I'm from America. We invented the swear words," she smirked. She was putting on her best "ghetto" charade. He looked surprised, but then put on a smirk to rival hers.
"Excuse me Tali. I didn't realize that that's where you were from. Hopefully, you can forgive me for my blunder?" Draco was doing his best to let his fine upbringing show through. She grinned, but as Ron pulled her away, kicked herself mentally for what she had been doing.
"Let's go Tali," prodded Ron. He had set Peyton down on the floor again and she began leading their way again. Tali silently began following him, not bothering to look back at Malfoy. He still had the smirk plastered on his face as he went back to find Crabbe and Goyle.
"What was that all about?" Tali asked as they stopped in front of a picture of a very large woman. She looked at Tali strangely before Ron said the password.
"Wingardium Leviosa," Ron said. The large woman still eyed Tali suspiciously as she swung open to reveal a circular hole in the wall. She began scolding Ron as Tali first climbed in.
"You know Mr. Weasley, it's not healthy to have more than one partner at a time. And this poor girl has the looks of never having one. I'm not even sure if she belongs at this school," scolded the Fat Lady. Ron ignored her and she swung shut again.
"So, this is the common room," introduced Ron, having forgotten Tali's previous question. She had already begun wandering around the room. Ron was extremely glad that Fred and George were gone; otherwise they would have tried to convince Tali to hang out with them.
"Ooh! Whose cat is that?" Tali asked, having found Crookshanks. Peyton and Crookshanks were sniffing at each other, before Crookshanks moved over from his spot by the fire so that Peyton could curl up next to him.
"That's Hermione's. His name is Crookshanks. He's harmless unless you've got a rat and then he'll try to take your head off. Trust me, I know from first hand experience," complained Ron. Tali got up from her knees and went to hug Ron.
"Well obviously he didn't do a good enough job. It appears that you've still got your head on tightly. Aside from that scar," she grinned. He unconsciously touched the scar on his jaw then smiled back at her.
"Naw, that's not from Crookshanks. That's from a bludger in Quidditch," admitted Ron, quite proud of himself. Tali looked a little surprised and pulled back from her awkward position, so close to his face.
"You play Quidditch?" she asked. He looked at her, just as surprised. She was acting as though she had something against Quidditch.
"Yeah. I'm Keeper for the Gryffindor team. Harry used to be the Seeker, but we're still waiting to hear from Dumbledore if he's unbanned or not," Ron explained, "Now my little sister, Ginny's, Seeker. And my brothers, Fred and George, used to be Beaters, but they got banned with Harry."
"Wow, does your whole family have like their own team or something?" Tali asked, smiling again. He didn't answer. Instead, he looked around the common room, finding it odd that there was no one else in the room with them. Tali followed his gaze, but asked the question first. "Why is there no one in here?" Ron thought for a while, and then hit his head.
"The Fat Lady," he said, crawling through the tunnel and pushing the portrait open. He clamored out to see a large crowd of Gryffindors waiting outside, wondering why they couldn't get it. "Why aren't you letting anyone in?" he asked her.
"I was waiting until you and that young lady went to the dormitory so that you could be ensured some privacy. No one wants to walk in on your little "expeditions"," she replied. Ron groaned and looked her squarely in the eye.
"There is nothing going on there. That girl is Tali Siemple, and she's new in Gryffindor this year," explained Ron. The Fat Lady looked a bit taken aback as Harry and Hermione came up to join Ron.
"What's going on up here?" Hermione asked. The Fat Lady looked taken aback as she swung open to allow everyone in the common room.
"Quite sorry about that!" she called as Ron entered, being the last person. She swung shut, looking very embarrassed of herself. Ron entered the common room to find that Parvati and Lavender had ambushed Tali.
"So, you're from America?" one would ask.
"I've heard that there are many good looking boys there," another would comment. Tali looked at Ron, with a plead for help in her eyes, so he came to her rescue.
"Sorry ladies, but I have to take your guest of honor away for awhile. Perhaps I can lend her to you at a later time?" he asked, grinning at Tali as she stood up and made her way from the girls who now had their eyes suspiciously narrowed. Ron grinned his infamous Weasley grin and then followed Tali who had found refuge with Harry and Hermione.
"I heard that they were caught shagging each other already. That's why the Fat Lady wouldn't let anyone in earlier," Lavender whispered to Parvati. She looked shocked.
"Ooh, wait until I tell Padma. She's not going to be happy with Ron at all." Parvati glared at Ron. She was under the impression that Ron and Padma were a couple because he had shagged her at the beginning of the year. That was the same impression that the Fat Lady was under, no matter how many times Ron had insisted that it was just "comfort sex." But he certainly seemed to need a lot of comforting. Not that Seamus or Dean cared. They just knew that he had gotten one of the best looking girls of the year in bed and that made him a god in their books.
"Are they always like that?" Tali was asking Harry and Hermione as Ron came up to join them. He accidentally brushed his hand on her thigh and she didn't seem to flinch, but he saw her grin slightly out of the corner of her mouth.
"Pretty much. You get used to it though, having to share a room with them for the whole year. You are in sixth year, right?" Hermione replied, taking a sip of butterbeer left over from Ron and Harry's latest raid to the kitchens.
"Yeah. You mean I have to share a room with those two for a whole two years?" Tali asked, appalled. Hermione laughed. Ron took this as an opportunity to brush his hand on Tali's thigh again, to make sure that it was ok with her. She still didn't react, but he thought he felt goose bumps rising on her skin.
"Imagine having to spend seven years." Hermione raised an eyebrow. Harry had to interrupt them.
"Don't look now, but it looks like Lavender's finally gotten over Lee," he informed. Lavender had been secretly seeing Lee Jordan, but he had graduated the previous year. The four looked at Lavender, who was, at the moment, just a bunch of legs, arms, hair, and lips combined with someone else that Tali didn't recognize.
"Who's she with?" she asked curiously. Ron snorted into his own butterbeer as he recognized whom Lavender was with. He wiped his mouth, and then he and Harry exchanged glances, trying not to laugh.
"That's Seamus Finnigan. Biggest pervert besides you, me, Harry, and- yes Harry-Draco Malfoy," replied Ron. Hermione looked disgusted and went back to the report of Harry's that she was correcting.
"Damn, I wonder how long it'll be before they come up for breath," smirked Tali. Ron snorted again.
"Knowing Seamus' snogging record, a long time," he replied. He settled back into his La-Z-Boy chair and brushed his hand on Tali's thigh, this time leaving it there. He saw her eyes widen slightly, but then he thought that he was just imagining things. She, however, chose that as an opportune time to get up from the conversation.
"I'm gonna go to bed guys. I'll see you in the morning?" She picked up Peyton from her position on the rug and made her way to the girl's dormitories. "Ron? Could I talk to you a second?" Ron got up and followed her to the base of the stairs.
"Yeah?" he asked, a bit too anxiously. She grinned and pulled his ear down to her mouth.
"I know what you're doing and it ain't gonna work buddy. You're forgetting, I've got the sickest mind, meaning that I can also be a tease. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched," she whispered. His face went from pasty white to bright red. She hugged him before making her way up the stairs. He laughed at himself inwardly before going to challenge Harry to Wizard's Chess.