Over the next couple days the students adjusted to Hogwarts, classes, and their living arrangements.
"Hey!" Morgan met her friends in the courtyard, a black and yellow tie knotted sloppily at her collar.
Elizabeth snickered, her gold and scarlet tie in perfect order, "You still haven't gotten the tie down yet, have you?"
Morgan grunted a groan and whipped the tie off handing it to Dade, "You do it."
"Me?" Dade looked at her confused. "Look at mine." He pointed to his perfectly triangular knotted tie.
"Looks fine," Morgan said.
"Give it to me," Elizabeth extended her hand, "I'll do it."
Morgan lifted her collar and let Elizabeth explain again how to loop it just right to make a clean, tight knot. "I've never worn one before," Morgan told them for the umpteenth time.
Dade nodded taking a bite out of the green apple he'd swiped from lunch, "We know."
"Did you finish the Potions homework?" Elizabeth asked.
"Nope," Morgan shook her head, "not yet. I thought I'd do it a wee bit later."
Elizabeth nodded, "I'm stumped on the 3rd element for the silent slumber potion."
"Willow wollup," Dade said randomly.
"What?" Morgan looked at him.
"Willow wollup, the 3rd part."
"You sure?" Morgan asked. "You wouldn't want Snape getting on Elizabeth would you?"
Dade shrugged, "Suit yourself. It's willow, I'm telling you."
"Did you do your homework already Dade?" Elizabeth looked up to him.
He shrugged again, "Maybe, maybe not."
Morgan smirked at him, "Hmmm, Mr. Goody-goody who steals apples from lunch, sneaks out late, raids the potions cupboard, and plays jokes on anybody that'll let him."
Dade wrinkled his nose, "Maybe not than."
"Well if it isn't the troublesome trio," Abigail's voice cut through the pleasant conversation the friends were having.
"What do you want?" Dade grumbled.
Abigail rolled her eyes, "When are you three going to get it through your heads that you can't be friends when you're in different houses?"
"Mind your own business Abigail," Morgan growled.
"I hear you've got an Irish temper, to go with that accent. Already lost 5 points for Hufflepuff due to fighting?" Abigail prodded with a sly smile. "Why don't you show me just how dangerous those fists are?" Abigail batted her eyelashes innocently at a hotly fuming Morgan.
"Make like a tree, and leave," Dade told Abigail sharply, taking Morgan by the arms gently just in case she made a dive for the instigating American.
"Oh," Abigail cooed mockingly, "that was cleaver. I wish I had your wit."
"Look," Elizabeth pointed behind Abigail, her voice nervously high and yet still barely audible, "it's your boyfriend Abby."
Abigail's face paled, she need not turn to see who Elizabeth was talking about. She had come to a silent thought not to step on Malfoy's toes, but also to steer clear of him; for she knew eventually she'd call him an idiot or useless and get her father and mother on her back about making problems for them with Lucius, and they'd rather not bother with the Malfoys…they'd made that perfectly clear in the last owl they'd sent her. They had told her to be polite to Draco, and Abigail wondered if she'd ever been polite (to anyone) in her life.
Abigail gritted her teeth and hissed, "Call me Abby one more time Fox, and you'll be cutting the grass with your teeth." With that Abigail turned and presented Malfoy with a smile, "Malfoy."
"What are you doing over here Abigail?" He demanded.
"Mingling with the commoners," Abigail told him.
He sneered at them, then asked, "Aren't you all from different houses? What are you doing together?"
"Spending time with friends, a concept you'll never grasp," Morgan told him in a low growl.
"At least I can make friends in my own house," Malfoy barked.
"What's going on here?" The entirety of the group looked up to see Ron Weasley (who had spoken), along side Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
"Nothing," Abigail said with a faux smile and a patronizing tone, "we were just scrutinizing over the theories and responsibilities of friendship…ridiculously I might add." She looked over her should to Malfoy, deciding it was their time to leave because they were out numbered by far now; even with Crabbe and Goyle counting as two persons. "Come on, let's get out of this place. I think the sun's getting to Fox; if she hangs around outside much longer she might catch fire with that pale skin…and I wouldn't want to be around when the s'mores break out over the bonfire was once a Gryffindor student."
Malfoy laughed trotting along beside Abigail, Crabbe and Goyle following with Draco in step and snicker.
"I could do without them all," Morgan said.
"Me too," Dade agreed.
"Hey Hermione," Elizabeth turned her attention up to her classmate, "is the 3rd ingredient in the silent slumber potion willow wollup?" Dade and Morgan looked over to Elizabeth in shock, Abigail's bombardment of threats and jokes about her hadn't even fazed the small Gryffindor girl…in fact she took no notice to the words Abigail had said.
"That's right," Hermione nodded.
"Thanks," Elizabeth smiled looking up to Dade, who just took another bite from his apple with a shrug. Like a good friend, he didn't bother with the I-told-you-so.
"What brings you three over here?" Dade asked, as not to draw any attention to his knowing the answer to Snape's potion question.
Ron smiled nodding to Draco, "We saw Malfoy and his entourage bothering you and wanted to join in the fun."
"That was kind of you," Morgan said, noticing Ron's answer danced around him admitting they wanted to help and she knew that was the reason behind their arrival…and she also knew that Malfoy bothered Harry, Ron, and Hermione the way Abigail Alcott bothered her and her friends.
Elizabeth smiled with a giggle, and decided against telling them that Abigail had started it all and they would be sure to find Abigail extremely mad if she heard people saying she was part of Draco's 'entourage', let alone not noticing her at all.
"Hey Dade!" A Ravenclaw boy, alongside two other young Ravenclaws, called across the courtyard, "Come on, we're going up to the common room, d'you want to come along?"
Dade waved and nodded then looked over his shoulder at his friends, "I'll see you in transfiguration Morgan after break. Elizabeth, I'll see you at dinner."
"Alright Dade," Elizabeth smiled and turned to the group around her, first addressing the other Gryffindors, "I'm going to go up and drop my potions books and pick up my charms book, I'll see you in class."
"I'll come with you," Hermione said, after all Harry and Ron had been nothing but trouble all morning and the only reason she stayed with them was to make sure they didn't get into anymore trouble.
"Bye Elizabeth, see you later. Bye Hermione," Morgan waved at them. She turned to the two boys left. Ron was frowning, "That girl will be the death of us Harry. Bloody hell she's a pain!"
Harry simply smiled uncomfortably at Morgan, whom he thought shouldn't hear Ron's distaste for Hermione.
"Well, I'll let you boys to your talk," Morgan said, seeing Harry's hesitation and Ron's inability to do anything but say what's on his mind.
"G'bye," Ron said and Harry followed suit with a nod and a goodbye.
"They're going to be the cause of Gryffindor not winning the house cup this year," Hermione was saying, as Elizabeth trotted alongside her through the Quiddich trophy hall; toward Gryffindor Tower. Elizabeth looked over at Hermione and as she did her eye caught a Ravenclaw cabinet full of golden cups and plaques.
"Hermione," Elizabeth caught the girl's arm bringing her to a stop.
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing really," Elizabeth said walking toward the glass case. As she approached it she looked over her shoulder at Hermione, "My parents were in Ravenclaw. I'm completely loyal to Gryffindor, I wouldn't want you to think any other way but I want to know more about what my parents did when they were here at Hogwarts, they don't speak of it at home."
Hermione nodded and walked over to the Gryffindor case, just looking over the Quiddich trophies, she noticed a champion gold cup trophy that said James Potter Quiddich Seeker and she snorted smugly, deciding not to tell Harry for fear that it might go to his head; but Hermione decided to file it in her mental rolodex for future use, just in case she needed that information for some reason.
Elizabeth scanned the engravings on the awards, aimlessly…she didn't even know if her parents played Quiddich…and from what she knew of them she doubted it, but it was worth a try. For as long as she could remember her family had been perfect, holding up the laws of wizardry and witchcraft. Neither would fray at all from the law, and neither would get dirty or be involved in a contact sport like Quiddich…but perhaps when they were younger they were more adventurous. She had no relatives to ask, at least none that she knew of…and she often wondered if there were Muggles in her family that they didn't want to talk about. Her father was two years older than her mother and they spent the past 20 years or so happily working for Hogwarts in some way or another, they never really told her what they did for the school.
It only took a matter of seconds for her eyes to fall on a name that matched her mother's first name…Alexandra, 1966…it also matched the year her mother would have been in her third year…but, Elizabeth shook her head as she examined the name again, it couldn't be her mother for the words etched on the golden cup read, "Alexandra Malfoy team Seeker" and next to it "Douglas Fox team Keeper - Captain"; and down the rest of the cup were embedded the rest of the players names. Elizabeth felt all the blood drain from her face and she thought surely she'd swoon until Hermione's voice brought her around, "Elizabeth, are you alright? Did you find them?"
"I'm fine," her voice didn't come but her mouth moved, and slowly her words became audible, "I don't think they were Quiddich players," she lied. Before she made any declarations she need to do more research and consult her friends…for she knew that this could not be; she could not be related to Draco Malfoy.