"This year has been exhausting" I grumbled to myself walking down the corridor, Lev following close behind. It was time to return home from Hogwarts and I kept peering into the compartments not finding what I was looking for. Exams had passed and I had gotten all good notes of course. I did have some trouble with the boggart in the Defense Against the Dark Arts test. I was more terrifies of snakes than I remembered, and it didn't help that it had been that snake... One would think that being in Slytherin I would get over that fear, with so many snakes painted all over the place. But no… Still, overall, nothing had been too bad.
As the train kept its course back to King's Crossing I was still in search of Hermione. She had somehow gotten into danger again and we hadn't had much time to speak. Even after the match things between Gryffindor and Slytherin hadn't died down much. Certainly not as quickly as we had been hoping. It was kind of frustrating since three of my closest friends happened to be in my rival house. Wonder how that happened…
Draco certainly wasn't helping things either. He was still acting somewhat bipolar. Whenever he was with me he was his happy and caring self. Yet with everyone else all I ever saw was anger and that petty uncaring expressing that irritated me to bits. But what could I do but leave him be. Everyone had a side of themselves that they chose to hide. I was no exception.
Finally, after several annoying minutes of searching, I found the compartment I was looking for. Hermione sat inside with Ron and Harry talking, all with their pets. I frowned, not remembering Ron having an owl like the one he was holding. Then again we weren't exactly on pet story sharing terms. Or any terms that involved a conversation without snide remarks and eye rolling... I knocked on the door but opened it before any of them could. Harry had a letter in his hands which he quickly hid. Ron gave me an angry look but I ignored it. I sat in the empty seat next to Hermione; Lev climbed on my lap
"How are you doing?" was the first thing I said
"Why do you ask?" she asked not understanding my question. She looked fine now but I just wanted to make sure
"I heard Professor Snape complaining about you three in the dungeon. He mentioned you were in the hospital wing but since we haven't been able to talk…"
"Oh, I'm fine" she answered with a small smile. I nodded and turned to her cat
"Hey Crookshanks" I cooed petting the little cat. He purred under my grasp making Ron scowl.
"That proves nothing" Ron mumbled to Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes. Lev growled and stepped in the space between us. Ron stared at him holding his owl back protectively
"Lev" I called. My puppy turned around and I patted my lap. He gave Ron one more warning bark before climbing back over to me. When I looked back up Hermione was frowning at him
"Ron, stop it" she told him
"She's a Slytherin!" He was never going to let that go was he…
"What's so bad about being a Slytherin?" I frowned though I wanted the question answered. I really didn't see what was so bad about it but people were always put off by Slytherin. Maybe it was due to Salazar's reputation
"Are you kidding?" Ron yelled incredulous. "Name one good wizard who was ever in Slytherin!"
"Ron!" Hermione warned
"No, Hermione, I'm serious! Go ahead name one, just one. Go on" he insisted and I sighed
"Merlin"
"Well you started it so go ahead!" Ron pressed
"Merlin" I repeated a little louder
"If you can't think of any –"
"Not the expression" I gave a frustrated sighed. "Merlin. The wizard Merlin. One of the greatest wizards in History, he was in Slytherin." Ron and Harry's eyes snapped over to Hermione who confirmed it with a nod
"That proves nothing!" Ron shouted again. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Hermione
"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something. Mind stepping outside with me for a second?"
"Sure" she smiled and stood up. Ron too, looking at me carefully
"Why do you need to go outside?"
"Well I wanted to put a curse on her and I can't be doing that in front of you two now can I" I answered as seriously as I could. Hermione laughed but Ron frowned some more
"Ron, relax. We're just going to talk"
"Sure we are" I replied smiling at his frowning face
"If it not bad you should have no trouble saying it here" he insisted
"Some things are private, Ron" Hermione mumbled
"Alright I'll say what I have to say here if you read me that letter; the one Harry's been hiding behind his back since I got here." All looked quiet shock that I had noticed and a little scared. Maybe that letter was more important than I had guessed. Now I kind of wanted to know
"Let's talk outside" Hermione said stepping closer to the door. I shrugged and followed her. It probably wasn't that interesting
"Any objections" I asked the boys before stepping out. Neither said anything so we left.
When we stepped out Lev decided to wander away on his own, probably having smelled something tasty. Hermione and I walked down the corridor as I looked for a compartment. Nobody was out there but figuring someone might eavesdrop I decided to move our conversation elsewhere. I found one not too far away from the one we had just been in that was empty. I led her inside and closed door behind us
"Should we be in here? There are other people's things out" she asked a little nervously looking at the trunks of the students who had occupied the space before us
"It's not like we're going to live here" I smiled trying really hard not to roll my eyes. With the company I normally keep sometimes I forgot people like Hermione actually worried about others
"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked carefully moving things aside to sit down. I smiled at the difference between us. I pushed things aside making enough room to put my legs up too
"I was actually wondering if I could come visit you during summer"
"Really?" Hermione asked a little shocked
"Yeah I have some things I want to talk to you about, but not here…" I told Hermione. She was my best resource for Muggle information and if I was going to go to my brother's wedding I needed a few questions answered. Muggles were a subject I wasn't particularly knowledgeable about. But if I asked her here she might ask questions I wasn't about to answer in public
"Yeah that'd be great" she replied smiling. Hermione was a sweet girl though a little too trusting. Not that I would curse her like I told Ron but she did agree to this a little too quickly. Or maybe I was just too suspicious
The compartment door slid open suddenly interrupting any further conversation we may have had. A boy I had seen a lot in school stepped into view. I was sure I knew his name but for some reason I couldn't remember it. He was frowning but not at Hermione
"What are you doing here?" he asked looking at me, surprised and suspicion. He must be a Gryffindor
"Who is it?" A curious voice asked from behind him. A head poked in from under the boy's arm. It was Fred. "Oh hey, Kitty"
Suddenly he disappeared to be replaced with a very similar looking head.
"Kitty! What are you doing here?" George asked grinning. I waved at him. He entered the room making his friend stagger back
"Hey guys, sorry about taking your place like this" Hermione apologized, unnecessarily I thought
"It's their own fault for leaving it empty with the door wide open" I said waving off any guilt I may have had. George smiled and sat down next to me
"Did not. I made sure to close it"
"Are you sure" I questioned
"Umm" he mumbled thinking it over more carefully. I giggled as the other two boys stepping in. Hermione stood up
"Well I'll be leaving before Ron thinks you actually did curse me" she said waving goodbye. Hermione left, leaving just me and the Gryffindor boys
"Why were you going to curse Hermione?" Fred asked not at all concerned
"I wanted to talk to her alone and Ron kept asking why so I said I was going to curse her. I was kidding of course but I think he believed me"
"No I'm pretty sure he'd be the first to go" Fred commented
"Or that girl you're always complaining about" George added. It was true, Ron and Pansy would probably be the first people I would consider harming. I had more people I wasn't too fond of but they were two of them
"I'm guessing you're staying here then" the boy muttered, looking at me for some reason. I frowned confused knowing he hasn't meant his words for me but George chuckled.
"Yup" he smiled at his friend. I turned to him and he gave me a grin
"Well I'm not." The boy took something from his trunk then left. Fred looked at him go for a second as if deciding what to do but he stayed too
"What's his name again?" I asked them
"Lee" George replied looking a little surprised I asked
"Right..." I mumbled thinking it through. "He's that kid that does the commenting for Quidditch games... Yeah?"
"Did you seriously forget his name?" they asked a little amused
"It's not like I talk to him" I shrugged
"Speaking of which what were you talking to Hermione about?" Fred asked curiously
"About summer. I'm probably going to visit her"
"You're what?" George asked taken aback
"What?" I asked not thinking it was that big of a deal
"How come you don't visit us?" he asked seriously. I laughed and shook my head. "Hey wait a minute" George mumbled suddenly. He moved to sit next to his brother and whispered something in his ear. Fred smiled and nodded, both turned to me smiling.
"What?"
"You're going to visit us this summer too" George stated rather than asked making me laugh a little
"Why?" I asked, not that I wouldn't but curious as to what they had in mind
The twins just smiled at me not answering. I rolled my eyes at them. Outside the door we heard muffled barking. I stretched over to open the door and saw Lev had come back from wherever he had gone. The twins leaned away as I sat up straight to hug puppy. He jumped onto my arms but kept barking
"What is it?" Fred asked curious but stayed at a distance. I smiled at him and patted my angry looking puppy's head. He wasn't barking at the twins but rather at the door
"I can imagine" I mumbled to myself. He only behaved this way for particular people and if it wasn't these two then I had one more guess. I hugged Lev a little tighter and stood up. "I have to go"
"But you just got here" George pouted. I laughed a little but stepped outside waving goodbye. The door closed and I started walking away. It only took a few steps before the cause of Lev's barks showed himself
"Where have you been?" Draco complained as Lev growled at him again. He flinched away a little and I pretended not to notice. "I've been looking all over for you!"
"I'm right here" I smiled and he scowled at me
"We're almost at the crossing. Where did you go anyway?"
"Thought I'd buy some hot chocolate but turns out they don't have any at the moment" I shrugged and walked past him. Draco shook his head frustrated and followed behind. I actually had gone to get some hot chocolate but on the way decided to stop by to talk to Hermione. Merlin knows Draco wasn't going to let me when the train stopped
"Of course not, it's summer!" he grumbled
"Well excuse me for wanting something a little out season" I smiled and walked into the compartment with our stuff. Crabbe and Goyle sat there eating sweets I imagine they got from the trolley lady
"Speaking of summer, what are you going to want to do?" The asked taking his seat. I shrugged and sat next to him, resting Lev on my lap
"I'll have to let you know; I'm kind of busy" I mumbled petting my puppy
"With what?" Draco frowned at me. Usually he didn't have to ask to visit. It was always implied that he would and that my parents would allow it. This could go both ways, I could visit whenever I wanted too, but my suspicions of Mr. Malfoy usually changed my mind
"I can be busy" I mumbled frowning back at him for implying otherwise. Draco smiled a little and shook his head
"Shut up" he chuckled. "Now, really, what is going to be keeping you so busy?"
"I'm going to need to do some planning. You know, for August" I added lowering my voice. The other two boys in the room looked up but didn't seem much interested in our conversation. Instead they went back to sweets
"Alright, fine" Draco sighed. "Then just let me know when you have time." His tone was irritated. He clearly didnt like that he wasn't higher on my list of priorities. I let go of Lev and hugged his arm, smiling up at him
"I will. As long as you haven't lost it" I said with an acusing undertone. I would be seriously upset if he lost the parchment I gave him on Christmas. He knew that so I doubt he would but I just wanted to remind him
"You have so little faith in me" he narrowed his eyes accusingly too. On the contrary, maybe i had more faith in him than i should. I laughed and hugged the rest of him. Lev jumped off my lap annoyed clearly not feeling the same way about him. I let go of Draco and searched my things for a treat to give Lev. Hopefully one day they'd get along better but today was clearly not the day