When we arrived at Hogwarts there was no sign of Ron or Harry. Fred and George had told me their brother hadn't made it through in time and I could tell they were worried, even if they were trying to hide it. Soon we separated, having to go to our own houses for the opening ceremony. Our stuff had been taken into our rooms and I told Lev to be nice as I left him behind. All these things brought back memories of my first year, both good and bad. First years piled into the Great Hall looking scared and excited at the same time. It was easy to recognize Ginny among them with her trademark Weasley hair.

"Great, there's more of them. Like we need any more red headed beggars around" I heard Pansy complain to which Draco snickered. She was sitting on his side, I was on the other. It was apparent she still had a crush on him and looked pleased to have made him chuckle. I would have stopped him but she would have taken that personally so I didn't.

One by one the first years were placed into their new houses. We welcomed the new Slytherins to our house and they all seemed as stuck up as the last. I tried not to judge them on that as first impressions weren't always the best and welcomed them warmly anyway. "Weasley, Ginevra" called Professor McGonagall as the little red head made her way up

"A hand-me-down robe, shocking" said Pansy sarcastically making Slytherins around us laugh

"GRYFFINDOR" yelled the Sorting Hat from the front and I saw she looked relieved. Fred and George happily welcomed their sister and I cheered a little too, happy that she was with her family. A few other Slytherins did too but their cheers were mocking, relieved she wasn't accepted in our house.

The feast began and we all started digging in when Professor Snape walked into the Great Hall. He looked happy which was strange. Like most other people in Slytherin he seemed to only smile when someone he didn't like was hurt or in trouble. Maybe he has Harry? He went straight to Professor McGonagall and told her something in a hushed manner. Whatever he told her upset her; she made her way out of the Great Hall, fast. Snape went to tell Dumbledore something too who now looked deadly serious. He stood and he, along with Professor Snape, left the same way as Professor McGonagall had.

"I wonder why Professor Snape looks so happy" Daphne commented in front of me. I had an idea but just shrugged. I looked over to the Gryffindor table to see Hermione sitting next to Neville, and Fred and George who were happily talking to Ginny obviously trying to distract her from Ron's absence.

"You know if you love those Gryffindors so much I'm sure Dumbledore would let you switch to their house. If you asked nicely, of course" Pansy said with a nasty smile. She was really starting to annoy me. I didn't wish for enemies but if I were to name one it'd be her. I was sick and tired of her behavior and if she insisted in acting like this then I would too. I sighed and smiled at her

"Pansy, you talk as if I care what you have to say"

A lot of those sitting around us went wide eyed or stopped eating from shock. I had forgotten not many of them knew that I could be as rude as the rest of them. Draco was the only one not affected. He'd met me before I started acting nice so this wasn't as surprising for him. But even Daphne, who had heard me talk bad about Pansy, looked shocked. I didn't think it was that rude of a comment so I kept eating and eventually everyone else did too. Pansy didn't say a word to me all through our meal. Later, our prefects guided us to our common room down in the dungeon. Everything looked the same in the common room, just as it had last year.

"So what do you think happened to Potter?" someone finally asked what everyone was thinking

"Rumor is he brought a flying car into school with that Weasley kid" said a fifth year by the door.

Others started saying things like "That's dumb" "What an idiot" "Why does he get everything?" and "Not fair". Next to me Draco was making a face to which I smiled. Although I was still unsure as to why Draco hated Harry so much I found it funny. Either way I wished him a goodnight, deciding I should go up to check on Lev. When I got up to my room he greeted me with a warm puppy hug. I picked him up and walked over to my bed and sat both of us down. I reached to grab a brush for Lev's fur and began thinking about what I had said to Pansy. Maybe I should apologize, she isn't that bad…

"Oh look now we have two dogs staying here" Pansy said as she and Millicent walked in. Then again maybe she is that bad. I ignored her and kept brushing my puppy's long soft hair. It felt nice and it made it look shiny silver when brushed. "What are you deaf and stupid now?" Millicent laughed and I had to hold Lev tighter so he wouldn't do anything. It was people like Pansy that made it hard for me to act nice. Daphne walked into the room making them walk to their side of the room to whisper

"They weren't too bad were they? I came here as soon as I saw they weren't in the common room anymore." Daphne said quietly, looking over at them

"No more than usual" I replied with a smile. "This is Lev by the way." I grabbed his paw and began mimicking a wave. She said he was cute and tried to pet him but he growled. Daphne pulled back as I had already warned her about his behavior before we came up here.

"Maybe he only likes other dogs" commented Pansy from her side of the room. I ignored her again and tapped Lev on the nose as a warning so he wouldn't do anything. "What's wrong got nothing more to say to me?" She sat on her bed, arms crossed, staring at us; Millicent right next to her like a bodyguard.

"Pansy" Daphne said in a threatening tone but I put my hand on her stopping her. Being focused on Daphne, Lev jumped out of my arms and in front of Pansy, snarling at her and Millicent.

"Your pets are a little rabid aren't they? Then again with their owner being as pathetic as you-" Pansy didn't have time to finish her sentence. With a bark Lev made Pansy's bed throw her and Millicent off and hard against the ground. "Get that thing away from me!" she yelled at us looking for something to throw. I sat there, frozen with anger. It was one thing when Draco said that but I was not going to allow Pansy to speak to Lev like that. He was a better person than she could ever hope to be. I tried my hardest to be nice but if she was going to be like this then I had no choice

"Lev is a little mean but he's nicer to people he's around more, like Draco." I smirked as I saw Pansy's smug face start to fade. "He visited me a lot in the summer, you know. Lev was mean to him to at first but seeing as he was around so much he eventually became more, well behaved."

"I don't believe you" Pansy said but I knew she did

"You can ask him if you want I'm sure he's still down in the common room. He likes it there. Last year we would sit there and talk for hours. Once we stayed there until morning." She looked like she wanted to hit me which I found amusing. She stepped towards me but Lev growled and she stepped back. For a puppy he was scary. Pansy gave me one last hateful look before storming out of the room.

"Wow" Daphne said when they were gone. I smiled at her shocked expression. "Since when can you do that and can you do it more often?"

"I treat people how they treat me. You're nice to me so I'm nice to you. She was mean so I was mean" I said simply and shrugged

"So you and Draco stayed up all night… I thought you were 'just friends'" she said suspiciously

"We are. I just know how much Pansy hates it when I'm with him, for whatever reason, which is why I told her that. I still don't get why she hates that I'm so close to him but whatever. And it was last year, when I was waiting for him to come back from detention; he got back really early in the morning so technically it was true"

"Well maybe now she'll leave you alone" Daphne said encouragingly. That or she'll hate me more I thought and smiled at her sadly. Well if she pushed me too far maybe Lev could help and he gave a happy bark as if he could read my thoughts.