History of Magic has got to be the most boring class in all existence. Well boring was an understatement considering the ghost of Professor Binns was teaching. Regardless of their house everyone in Hogwarts agreed that this man had the utmost monotone and drawling voice. And he hardly ever looked to the students in class so it was easy to disregard him and his lectures. That ghost just talked, and talked, and talked…
"Are you going to fall asleep again?" Draco teased leaning in from his seat next to mine. I looked over to him and couldn't help but smile
"Well what else is there to do in this class" I groaned turning ahead though why I wasn't sure
"You could listen" Theodore muttered turning from his seat in front of ours. I stuck out my tongue at him not bothering to reply. He smiled a little at me but turned to the front of the class. Unlike me he was actually able to pay attention
"This is not the best class to wake up to" I mumbled, mostly to myself, putting my head down onto my crossed arms. I let out a sigh wondering if Professor Binns had died from boring a student to homicidal insanity
"Are you still having trouble sleeping?" Draco asked quietly. I shook my head, still down in my arms, as a reply.
"No, after last night I think I'm okay. I'm just bored is all" I sighed. I could feel him still staring at me and decided to raise my head before saying anything else. As I did my hair caught under my elbow pulling it slightly and making me wince. "Ow"
"Idiot" Draco chuckled to himself. I gave him look but that only made him laugh harder. With a grunt I leaned back against my chair trying my hardest to care about the goblin rebellion our professor appeared to be rambling on about.
Sometime later, a little too long if you asked me, the bell rang through the castle, signaling the end of the hour and the start of a new class. We made our way to the stairs and down from the first floor to the entrance hall. Care of Magical Creatures was next and this was the fastest way out to the grounds. I stretched a little on the walk, being more hopeful with the activities that could be done outside. All of us inched closer to the Forbidden Forest's entrance. Well, all except Blaise; he had chosen not to take the class in the first place. Personally I thought it was worth the trouble but he was the kind of person who liked to be alone from time to time. Secretly I felt that he hated everyone in our group but just talked to us as a form of entertainment. Not that I'd mind to be honest
"I know Katerina was joking earlier but could you not make the class boring this year, Malfoy" Theo commented as the forest got closer in view
"Shut it, Nott. I didn't make the class boring" Draco snapped back defensively. I giggled a little earning me a look from him
"That's that boor's fault. Do you think he can actually teach us correctly?" Pansy sneered in his defense too
"Exactly" Draco agreed making Pansy fight back a smile. "Why are you blaming me when that bumbling fool can't teach worth… well he doesn't have anything of worth now does he." The others laughed while Theo and I just shook our heads, though admittedly slightly amused
"Well I'd like a chance to find out" I mumbled quietly. Draco shot me another look and I smiled back innocently. None of us said anything else as we walked. From the looks of it the Gryffindors were already there. They were all standing around the gamekeeper's hut and looking into boxes of sorts. Most were making faces finding whatever was in them displeasing. Professor Hagrid's voice echoed though grounds as he spoke to them
"On'y jus' hatched, so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves!" he called out proud and excited about whatever they were. "Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"
"And why would we want to raise them" retorted Draco stepping in front of the rest of us
Theodore and I sighed knowing he would completely disregard both of our warnings. Next to me Theo gave me a look as if to say fix this, but what was I to do? Crabbe and Goyle chuckled at Draco's words and Hagrid just looked on him bemused. I hit Draco lightly on the back as I got closer to the crates. He sighed at me but complied.
"I mean, what do they do?" he asked in a more calm, though forced, sounding tone. I smiled; that was better I suppose. "What's the point of them?"
"Tha's next lesson, Malfoy" Hagrid replied a little roughly. Either he hadn't figured that out yet or… no, that was probably it. "Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things – I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer – I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake – just try 'em out with a bit of each."
Instinctively I leaned over to Draco. Did he say… snakes? I hated snakes, why did there have to be snakes? I tried not to make it obvious as I looked around for them, already feeling myself start to shake a little. Draco guessed what the problem was and led me by my bag a little away from the other students. He moved us towards the pile of frog livers, the farthest things from the now very obvious pile of snakes, and stayed there. The other Slytherins came to join us
"He's kidding us with this, right? I mean frog livers? Yuck!" Daphne complained not bothering trying to do anything that could be considered participating
"If you hate it, why are you even taking this class?" Theo mumbled, leaning to look into the crates only half paying attention to her. We all knew by now that Daphne really just liked hearing herself talk. "I'll admit, Blast-Ended Shrewts sound like a bit of a mouthful though"
"Where do they eat?" Crabbe asked noting the Blast-Ended Shrewts didn't have visible mouths. I looked up but froze when I noticed he was holding a hand full of little grass snakes. They were thrashing about in his careless grip. There were too many there for him to be able to keep them still. Why that oaf of a professor hadn't killed them I didn't know. I gripped Draco's arm for support. I hate snakes. I hate snakes. Oh how I hate snakes
"What are you doing?" Pansy questioned noticing I had been getting closer and closer to Draco as class continued. Not stable enough to come up with a lie I just tried not to stare at the snakes. Stupid… slippery…. "What is with you?"
"Ouch! It got me" yelled a Gryffindor distracting the others from me. I sighed and Draco patted the hand that held his arm tightly. The Gryffindor complained to Hagrid, showing him his burnt finger. "Its end exploded!"
"They do that?" Goyle mumbled turning and bumping into Crabbe. Since Crabbe was also distracted by the uproar he dropped the handful of snakes onto the crate. I jumped back giving out a slight squeal. They turned to me again with confused looks
"We probably shouldn't stand so close if they go off exploding all the time" I mumbled backing father away. Draco nodded and joined me a little ways away from the crates now also containing several snakes. Daphne happily joined us having an excuse to move away from the dirt and grime of the strange creatures
"Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?" some other Gryffindor complained, this one a girl
"Ah, some of 'em have got stings" our professor answered heartily. "I reckon they're the males… The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies…. I think they might be ter suck blood."
"Well I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive" Draco called out sarcastically. I moved slightly farther from the cages since he was making a good distraction anyway. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"
"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped at him. I smiled a little finding it funny when she did that. I didn't consider her scary, though I had seen her slap Draco before. That only made it funnier for some reason. "Dragon's blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"
At the remark, several eyes from the Slytherins turned to me. I shot them a look back and most smiled a little to themselves. I would definitely keep a dragon as a pet if I got the chance, and they all knew that, but at the moment I was more interested in the crate with the snakes. Horrible, slithering snakes…
"Stupid mudblood thinks she knows everything" Draco mumbled not bothering to pretend to feed the Blast-Ended Shrewts anymore. Theo smirked to himself at the comment
"You're just upset you keep getting told off by little girls"
"Shut up, Nott!" Draco barked at him
"And who else would you be referring to as little" I asked Theodore with a look. He shrugged but continued to smirk to no one in particular. Daphne giggled and turned to watch Goyle who was attempting to give a Blast-Ended Shrewt a bit of frog livers. Better than the alternative at least. I hate snakes…
"You do realize they're not poisonous right?" Draco asked quietly so only I would hear. I nodded slowly but had to resist the urge to snap at him. Over the years I had learned that my fear was, by the very definition of the word, irrational. I knew spells to get rid of snakes, and could easily pick up those little grass ones. But the thought of having one of those anywhere near me… A chill ran cold down my spine and I had to remind myself to breathe evenly
"I know, Deedee... I would just rather not get near them…" I said gently still putting most of my energy on not screaming at him or running away from them.
"Fine" he sighed and shook his head as if submissively. I turned to give him a look but he smiled at me sweetly. "I know how you get with these things. The Blasted… whatever, they're nasty so I doubt anyone would blame you if you kept away from that area"
"Okay" I muttered leaning against him. Draco patted my head lightly before turning to look over it at something behind me. His sweet smile turned into a smirk but before I could ask him why I heard it
"What are you two doing over here?" Pansy questioned rather loudly. I sighed and turned to her annoyed expression
"We were playing with my new pet dragon, can't you see it?" I asked innocently, gesturing overhead with my hands. I heard Draco start to snicker. "He's a Hellkite Dragon. Say hello to Rex"
"What are you bloody talking about?" she snapped crossing her arms
"Are you blind? There is a dragon standing not ten feet behind me. Can't you see his red scales, and all the enormous spikes covering most of its body? In fact, you should probably back away before Rex bites you. Or worse, he could burn you to ashes! Hurry along; he has a particular distaste for loud shrill noises"
"Excuse me!" Pansy shrieked making Draco burst into laughter
"Shh!" I snapped and pretended to look worried. Pansy's breathing picked up. "Do you have any idea how deadly Hellkites are? Go before it's too late!"
"How you're not locked away in St. Mungo's for that head of yours I will never know!" Pansy stomped away but not before sending me one final glance of annoyance. I tilted my head to the side as if confused then shrugged and turned back to Draco. He was still shaking slightly with silent humor but had otherwise stopped with his fit of laughter
"There really is something about that head of yours" he teased looking happy. Whether that was because he found the scene amusing or because I looked calmer about the snakes I wasn't sure. Maybe it was both. Still I smiled and moved to sit against one of the trees. He continued to stand next to me
"It's called having an imagination. You kind of need to have one in order to come up with decent lies on the spot. A good memory helps too, to keep them all from intertwining." Draco smiled down for a second but then turned towards the class. Although Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle were still trying to deal with the Blast-Ended Shrewts the girls, as well as some from the Gryffindor side, chose to supervise rather than help. I would've been happy to help if not for those scaly beasts slithering among them…
"Hey" Draco smiled crouching to be at a closer eye level to me. "What would you say to skipping out on class and going down to the dungeon with me for a while?"
"I'd say… get detention this early in the year and you'll be hoping that Rex, my invisible Hellkite dragon, kills you off quickly so you don't have to deal with me" I smiled back and he rolled his eyes
"You can be such a kill joy" Draco sighed before standing up again. Maybe I was but if I didn't kill his joy now and then he'd get in trouble more often than he already does. I patted his shoe as conciliation and heard him chuckle because of it
About an hour after, it was time for lunch. We slid into the Slytherin table for a well earned meal. To think he had actually put snakes, live snakes, in the lesson…
"Are you okay?" Daphne asked looking at me uncertainly. I had been rather quiet the whole time since class and I'm sure she was beginning to guess something was wrong
"I'm just trying to think if Care of Magical Creatures will be worth it this year" I replied having a better state of mind now that I was far away from those fanged beasts
"Weren't you the one trying to convince me to take it last year" Blaise replied casually playing with his plate of sprouts
"Well last year we got to see a hippogriff. Those creatures are strong and majestic. The Blast-Ended Shrewts on the other hand…"
"They almost made me lose my appetite" Daphne mumbled nodding in agreement
"Yet you're still eating" Theo retorted watching her pick up more than handful of bread. She gave him a look and they laughed. I gave out a fake one to cover my recent strange behavior but they didn't seem to notice the lack of sincerity behind it
"Now do you agree that we should have that fool fired?" Draco smiled trying to take advantage of the moment. Usually I defended him; Hagrid deserved a chance at least. But since the snake… Draco looked at me waiting to hear what I would reply. I smiled and shook my head at him
"I just think he should choose his creatures a little more carefully" I replied simply. Something in his eyes changed, knowing I didn't mean the Blast-Ended Shrewts
"If you had it your way there'd be a dragon next class" Theo smiled as I rolled my eyes at him
"A Hellkite named Rex" Draco muttered making me laugh. Pansy made a frustrated noise while the others just looked on curiously. Once I stopped I turned back to my food. Honestly, I would rather deal with a Hellkite Dragon than with a snake. But they didn't call them irrational fears for nothing…
I picked at the food on my plate unenthusiastically. I knew that, considering all the creatures that were in those woods, a snake was bound to show up but… My mind was still swimming with thoughts of those vile creatures. Draco placed his hand on top of mine under the table. I turned a little surprised to see him looking ahead as if he hadn't just done that. Smiling I held onto it. That boy was such a sweetie. No matter how rude and troublesome, my Deedee, the Draco only I knew, was a little gumdrop inside. I grabbed my sandwich with my free hand and bit into it.
"Thank you" I mumbled softly, reaching for my orange juice. He shrugged lightly but I saw a small smile form on his lips.
"Anytime…"