Several heads turned as Justin Finch-Fletchley strutted throught the platform that was lined with students of red, blue,
yellow, and green shades. He was one of the last to dismount the train and he smiled as his pockets rythmically jingled with gold
and silver coins.
He had spent spent a big majority of the time in the Hogwarts Express journey playing poker with some of his mates. And let's
just say he had certainly won himself some sweet moolah. Mmmm, which I'll probably spend in that nightclub at
Hogsmeade next weekend…Sexy mommas, come to Justin!...he grinned.
Those pathetic Hogwarts authorities didn't even notice he had laid off the Prefect meeting he had been asked to attend.
Screw THAT…. He had thought. I ain't going to no annoying and preppy geek fest infested with over achiever prudes
(Justin LOVED sterotyping; it was always his thing).
Hermione "Squirrel" Granger was no exception to this "group", even though Justin had thought differently of her at first.
Justin spotted her heading towards a carriage a little ahead. The slim, wavy haired girl was wearing her spick-and-span
Hogwarts robes (many rebellious 6th and 7th years like him would neglect the uniforms completely and shrug when they were
later chided by teachers) and her polished Prefect badge was pinned on neatly.
Go have fun, you squirrel, with your flat,monotonous life. Too bad though, you'll miss out on a lot of fun from
ME…fun you just can't get in your books. He smirked. Don't worry at all about me, though. I'll be fine; I know how to
live my life…I just feel sorry for YOU…
Justin stuck his flawless nose in the air a little and strutted a bit faster.
The fiery, pleading pupils of the thin, dark-complexioned girl bored right through the side of his blonde head. Draco was
looking away to avoid awkward eye contact and showed no visible emotion.
"Drake-oh," he heard her say, her voice coming out crackled and gasp-like. Pansy always pronounced his name like that;
accenting the last syllable. Draco knew she could pronounce it normally any time, but Pansy still did that to apparently sound
cute and "special".
"What's going on?" she resumed with the raspy voice. "Why were you just now with her? I-I…I haven't seen you all summer,
Drake-oh."
The Slytherin boy sighed softly and heaved his shoulders in a shrug. "I dunno, Pansy, things just sometimes… suck, like really
badly. And, well, then you just have no idea what to do to stay sane. You know what I mean?" he peered at her, hoping she
might actually understand a little now…hoping the heavy fog of self-absorbment that always hovered in her mind might have
cleared off.
Pansy gave a dry sob. It seemed like she had hardly taken in a word Draco had said. "You know what , Drake-oh." She said in
a forced tragic voice. "If this is all about that night before the last day of school, its-''
Draco firmly shook his head to stop her. "Look, Pansy, you think the problem is just you or whatever….but its your aggravating
attitude. You can't just let something go! A little, insignificant incident becomes something so God damn complicated with you."
For some reason, his mind flickered to a certain brown-haired girl as he said this; a girl who didn't confront Draco in the least in
the train when she had a chance, even after all these years Draco had spent scorning and persistently humiliating her.
Pansy stepped in front of Draco as he turned to walk away. "Look, MALFOY, I'm not a slut. And that's that."
Draco stared at the lass, blinking and wondering where the hell that just came from. "Um, Ok….." He stammered befuddled.
"Yesss. And I won't sticking with that dreadful label," Pansy continued. "Even if the school knows we slept with eachother and
all…"
Draco's eyes widened. "What? Pansy, we didn't sleep with eachother…ever. You damn-straight know that well,
PARKINSON. Even if other people may not."
Pansy just narrowed her eyes. "Oh, shut up, moron. I know all of that. But this is just the way it has to be, ok?" She sniffed as if
irritated and then grabbed the boy's arm and settled him in a carriage with her.
"Hermione! Over here!" Ginny called out to her almost-big- sister. Ginny was sitting in one of the "horse-less" carriages
next to a dazed out Luna and she had saved a spot for Hermione.
Hermione saw the chubby-cheeked, freckled pretty redhead and smiled appreciatively.
Malfoy had been stuck in the crowd somewhere behind her when a thin, black haired Slytherin girl made her way over to him
with an evil look. The tired and pained look that came over the chap's formerly joyous, dimpled face was one that surprised
Hermione then and there. He went form a boy clowning and laughing to a pale, aged-out teen sick of life and its bringings.
"How was your summer?" Ginny asked brightly when Hermione settled down next to her.
"Fine, fine. Thank you," she responded automatically, before realizing what a big lie this was. Did anyone ever REALLY tell the
truth when asked questions like this? Did the phrase "fine, thank you" have a real meaning anymore? Hermione didn't know
anyone with a "fine" life anyways.
"Oh, mine was really annoying, 'cus Fred and George, they came back to vist and…" For some reason Ginny's voice trailed off
as a someone passed them and then she started talking louder, more boldly, and to no one in particular. "…and they threw the
BIIGGEST party at our house, with OLDER people and everything. This one guy, Maurizio, was twenty-one years old and
from the Italy Quidditch league! And oh my gosh, I showed him some of my Quidditch moves and he was REAL impressed, yah
know, since I played Seeker last year for the Gryffindor team, and I could catch that snitch so darn QUICK…!"
Hermione stared at the fervent little girl with a puzzled expression. What the hell was she going on about? Hermione knew
Fred and George had come to visit over the summer, but that they threw a party? Not likely…And a Pro International Quidditch
player being at the Burrow? Certainely Ron would have told her. And since when did humble Ginny brag about anything, let
alone about her Quidditch skills?
Ginny had stopped jabbering and had just leaned back twirling her red hair and sighing with longing. She looked ahead a little
and Hermione followed her gaze. The person who had passed them was now mounting a carriage. Hermione flexed her neck
and recognized no one other than the tall, broad-shouldered, big time strutter Justin Flinch-Fletchley.
Hermione arched her eyebrows suspicously at Ginny (who was now chatting with Luna) putting two and two together in her
head according to what she had just witnessed.
Hermione then sighed and her face in her hands.
Please don't let my suspicions be correct. Just let this be a hallucination of mine…or at least not what it appears to be.
Hermione stared at the carriage again, her forehead furrowed with concern.
Oh, please….not with him…
Izzy's note- Well, um, as you can see, I've updated. I guess I should apologize like other authors do for taking so long to update but the fact that I got ZERO reviews for the previous chapter wasn't exactly very encouraging. But, sigh, whatever I'm still gonna keep on writing regardless. I know I'm a good writer and that's the one "review" that's keeps me going.
Um, hope you guys liked the suspense and drama. There'll be definitely more.(!)