I stretched my arms above my head as we walked through the grounds, towards the Forbidden Forest. Once again we had Care of Magical Creatures where we would once again be taking care of the Blast-Ended Skrewts. It seemed that we would be doing that for the rest of the year. But unlike most of my classmates I actually liked going to class. It was a lot better than staying inside listening to Professor Bins talk about history so old I hardly thought it was relevant. That and the weather was amazing.
"Oh I'm so glad it's December!" I called to my fellow Slytherins putting my hands back to my sides. There was nothing better than the crisp cold of winter weather. The way it bit at your skin in that strange yet enticing way. It even made the air smell fresher. But clearly they didn't agree as they all turned to give me skeptical looks.
"I know I say this a lot but I think she's gone mad" Pansy commented shaking her head at me. I rolled my eyes at her but otherwise ignored the comment.
"Maybe a little" said Theo with a smile to me. I gave him a look but returned it. Daphne huffed at me, wrapping her scarf around herself one more time. Once she did she turned to give me a disapproving look.
"More like a lot" she added. "How are you not freezing?"
"It's simple; she's cold-blooded" Draco answered giving me a smug look. I stuck my tongue out at him which only made his smirk grow.
"First of all," I began explaining before he got too proud of his comment, "humans are not coldblooded. If they are, then that person is either a freak of nature or a result of a failed experiment; most likely a potion or an incomplete transfiguration. Secondly, cold blooded creatures match the temperature of their surroundings as they are not anatomically designed to self-adjust temperatures. So if I were cold blooded I would, at the moment, be extremely cold and most likely displeased with the weather."
"Good point" Theo noted, turning to me. "There would be a lot of disadvantages to it. For one, humans would be limited to the environment we could inhabit successfully. Besides being a pain and a burden it would be an issue of building adequate living quarters as well."
"That's right" I agreed with nod. "I doubt humans would have lasted this long if we were coldblooded. We would be too weak a prey; survival of the fittest and all. And—"
"Would you shut up; we're here" Draco whined next to us as our professor's hut came into view. I gave Draco a quick look before turning ahead. He continued. "I really don't understand how you two never get tired of that kind of talk. One of you blabbering is boring enough, but both of you together…"
"Maybe it's because they're secretly soul mates" Daphne teased, putting a hand over her mouth as if excessively shocked. We laughed at her joke. Draco made a face at her.
"You're hilarious" he sarcastically commented. "Now could you shut up for a moment, we do have a lesson attend."
"Since when do you care about our attendance, especially here?" Theo smiled at him knowingly. Draco glared at him for a moment.
"Shut up, Nott" he grumbled turning back to the front. When he did Draco made a face, as did the rest of us, having caught a whiff of what was ahead.
"Ugh what is that smell?" Pansy called out first, while beside her Daphne covered her face with her scarf. There were some strong fumes coming from the direction of the Forbidden Forrest. Not common to the region, of that I was sure. If they were I would definitely not spend as much time in the area as I currently did.
"I think it's coming from the Beauxbatons' horses; or their drink I mean" Theo offered as an answer, still making a face in that direction.
"Oh right, that lot only drink single-malt whiskey" I frowned before adjusting my scarf over my face too. That's what I remembered the headmistress having said to Professor Hagrid anyway. If they were using it as a way to keep warm then the amount would have increased in this weather and that would explain why the smell was so strong. Whatever the case, we tried to forget about the fumes emanating from that area and turned our course back to class.
With a few more steps we walked into the paddock and into class. The wind began to pick up, making it a little chillier. I closed my robes and frowned at the sky from under my scarf. I loved winter and basically anything cold but the wind was something I had never been too favorable of. Once inside the enclosure we saw the now fully grown Blast-Ended Skrewts. With a height of 6 feet they now basically towered over me, along with a lot of the other fourth years. Their thick armor, powerful scuttling legs, fire blasting ends and suckers made them look a lot more threatening too. But there were only about 10 skrewts left; the rest had been killed off by their brothers and sisters. It was a pretty morbid way to think about it but it's their own fault, they were weak. Shelly was one of the survivors. There was no surprise there; she was tough. I waved to her earning me a look from Draco as our professor began the lesson.
"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not" Professor Hagrid called to us, pondering the subject for a second. "Thought we'd jus' try an' see if they fancied a kip… we'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes…"
"I think I'm getting lightheaded" Pansy complained. It was her mistake for not bringing a scarf. She was shivering too, as was most of the class. Although part of me thought that might be due to their fear of the skrewts; it was really not that cold.
"You're just trying to get out of working" I replied moving towards our professor. I didn't need to look at her to know she rolled her eyes at me. Ahead Professor Hagrid was showing the class large boxes lined with mismatched pillows and fluffy blankets.
"He could've at least tried to make them match" Daphne grumbled, her words being muffled slightly by her scarf. She was glowering at a particular box with bright orange polka-dotted pillows on top of a zebra print blanket. I smiled at her.
"We'll jus' lead 'em in here an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens" Professor Hagrid explained not knowing just what it was he would make happen.
If anything we learned two things from that Care of Magical Creatures lesson. One, Blast-Ended Skrewts did not hibernate. And two, Blast-Ended Skrewts became restless when they were shoved into pillow-lined wooden boxes and nailed in. Most of the rest of the lesson resulted in their slightly rampageous behavior, and the screaming students who were trying to avoid them, with the professor who caused all this trying to get everyone to calm down.
"Don' panic, now, don' panic!" Professor Hagrid screamed but nobody really seemed to be listening to him. Most ran around frantically as others just made sure to avoid them. I understood why they were running but I didn't understand the screaming. Loud noises were probably just making them angrier.
"Come on" I heard Draco say moments before I was pulled by the back of my robes. I pulled back and frowned as Draco came closer. He gave me look. "Let's go!"
"Where exactly?" I replied, crossing my arms. He knew I hated being told what to do. Aggravated, Draco gave a sigh and grabbed my arm, then proceeded to pull me against my will back and away from the rampaging skrewts. "Hey, let go! Draco!"
"Just shut up and follow me!" he snapped dragging me with a little more force. I followed his gaze and noticed where he meant to take us. He was headed inside the gamekeeper's hut.
"Draco, let go!" I screamed not wanting to be forced inside. I tried to get away from his grasp; I hated being pulled around like that. Draco hardly ever used force with me but whenever he did I was always surprised by his strength and how easily he could drag me along. It made me feel like a doll, and not in the good way. I looked behind us to see how the skrewts were only to find most of the rest of the class following us.
"Shut up and get inside" Draco barked, not letting go of me. I flailed my arms trying to at least loosen his grip but he didn't budge. Instead he took a moment to readjust himself, letting go and wrapping his arm around my waist instead. Getting a better hold of me he managed to drag me back faster and more efficiently. Daphne and Theodore laughed as they watched Draco pull me the rest of the way inside. I gave them both a glare. We reached the hut where Draco forced me inside and basically carried me through doorway.
"What was that about?!" I screamed at him as he set me down a ways away from the door. Behind us students were pouring into the hut as their means of safety from the skrewts. Draco didn't look phased.
"Those things were going insane and I needed you inside" he said in an 'isn't it obvious' sort of tone. The rest of the Slytherins were now inside and had followed us to the back as more of the class continued to file in.
"Did you ever think of, oh I don't know, asking?!" I snapped still not finding his excuse good enough. He rolled his eyes at me.
"Like you would have come if I had just 'asked'" Draco replied in a sarcastic tone and air quotes which I thought to be too much. I moved to step beside him but Draco pulled me back. "Don't even think about it, you're staying here!"
"But—"
"Sweetie, no" Daphne interrupted me with an endearing smile.
"They are not that bad!" I groaned getting tired of them always complaining about the class.
"I agree let her go" Pansy intervened, smiling at me, but that didn't help my cause.
"Shut up" Draco told her wiping the smile off her face which, I have to admit, helped me forgive him a little. Either way I crossed my arms and frowned.
"I can take care of myself" I pouted at him. Draco sighed, shaking his head at me.
"You're an idiot" he looked down at me disapprovingly. I stuck out my tongue at him.
"I would be an idiot if I was purposely putting myself into a dangerous situation. This isn't a dangerous situation. I know perfectly well how to handle myself ergo I am not an idiot" I smirked at him. Draco made a face and was about to argue when Pansy spoke up before him.
"If you're so brilliant then why were you so scared of those things in the beginning" Pansy challenged. Draco made a face. I pretended not to see it and stared back at Pansy. He knew that in reality it hadn't been the skrewts that had terrified me but what we had to be feeding them. It was the snakes… But I wouldn't let her know that.
"Because I thought they were more dangerous than they actually were" I rolled my eyes to make the point seem more obvious and therefore more truthful. "And I wasn't scared I was just put off by their appearance. I had the same feeling when I first met you, you know. I'm still not quite used to it to be honest."
Beside us there was some quiet giggling. Pansy glared at them as they pretended to have been coughing the entire time. Draco smiled at me, happy I got over the issue so smoothly. He worried about me more than he probably should. I smiled back for a moment before remembering why we were in here. He had forced me against my will into the hut. My smile turned into a glare and so did Draco's as his thoughts mirrored mine.
"I said you are not going out there" he snapped correctly guessing what I had just been thinking.
"It's not dangerous!" I argued with a huff. Theo smiled and stepped between us.
"Calm down you two" he said in that calming tone only he could manage. It seemed he had taken that role in our little group. He was always the one to try to stop things before they got out of hand. It was sweet but it could also get annoying, especially when I was involved in the conflict. "I'm sure things are… getting better outside. Why doesn't one of you check so we don't have this needless arguing?"
With a grumbled Draco started walking and moved towards the backdoor, where we had come in from. A few students were already standing around it, curious of what was happening outside, Crabbe and Goyle included. I took a second to note how easily those two seemed to drift in and out of the group without anyone noticing; it was probably because they were never too involved anyway. I shrugged at the thought and followed Draco. He was leaning into the window trying to get a better look when a reached him. He frowned at what he saw but made no comment on it.
I sighed next to him.
"At least let me see what's going on" I complained. He looked down at me for a second but complied. Outside most of the Blast-Ended Skrewts seemed to have been taken care of. They were all locked up. All except for one, they were still trying to catch him. Turning away from the scene and a bit to the side I saw something else, something far more aggravating than the skrewts could ever be. "Ugh, she's here."
"Who?" Daphne asked, suddenly appearing next to me. She was pushing her way to the front past the other students also curious to see what was outside. I let her take my place which she quickly filled.
"Rita Skeeter; that foul gossipy hag" I huffed stepping away from the door. "It's as if she has such a pitiful existence that only blathering about the lives of others can fill the pathetic void."
"Hey, Greengrass, maybe a job like that would suit you" Draco smirked as he came to join me. She gave him a look but returned to look out the window, only proving his point. It made me giggle a little.
"Whatever the case, I don't want to see her when I get out. And, since we're obviously not going to do anything else productive, I'm leaving" I sighed and headed for the front door.
"Right behind you" Draco called and picked up his pace. He held the door open for me as we exited the hut, neither of us really looking to check on the others.
The good news was we successfully avoided Rita Skeeter that day. I never liked running into her. Hogsmeade had been a horrid meeting with her and I was glad we had been able to leave her so quickly. I hadn't seen anything about Vik and I on the papers though. Not that I followed her writing, if that's what one wanted to call it, but I was sure Daphne would have brought it up if there had been.
Besides that nothing much of interest happened at Hogwarts for a while.
One thing I did notice around the grounds was the Support Cedric Diggory badges, or rather the lack thereof. It was the students' way of showing some sympathy for Harry I think. The boys weren't complaining though. They had all gotten something out of the badges' popularity. Theo had improved an area in his magic that he had complained to lacking. Blaise had made a substantial profit, having gotten most of the revenue of them as it had been his idea to sell them. And Draco still had enough people wearing the badges to keep himself satisfied. All in all they had benefitted a great deal.
We were near the end of the term now. It was nearly the holidays and a lot of the students were deciding on staying this time around. It was mostly fourth years and above since they could go to Yule Ball this year. I myself found Christmases at Hogwarts more interesting than at home so of course I was staying too. That and if I missed an event like the Yule Ball I doubted my mother would get over it so easily. She would complain about it for a while. For about a week at least; which for her, in truth, was a long time.
As the event neared the professors showed their concerns over our mien more profoundly. It wasn't so much our day to day behavior anymore but rather that we would demonstrate at the Yule Ball. All Heads of houses were to instruct us on the proper behavior of such an event. It was as though they thought we had never been to one like it. This of course was met with both contempt and mockery.
That morning the Slytherin house gathered in the Dungeon Hall, awaiting our professor's arrival. The hall was wide and tall, much like a smaller version of the Great Hall though not nearly as many people visited the area. It was a very open area with wide windows looking into the lake, much like those in the common room. I doubted any of the other houses even knew of its existence; they generally only came down here for Potions. Regardless of its lack of popularity among the school it was still quite nice to visit.
The Slytherins were lined against the dimly lit walls of the hall chattering about the lesson we were about to receive. It was only fourth years and above seeing as those were the only ones allowed to go to the Yule Ball in the first place. We all knew what it would be about but were mostly wondering how Professor Snape would go about the whole thing. This included me and my usual group, some of whom weren't too excited about this whole thing.
"This is stupid" Draco complained, staring out one of the windows and onto the Great Lake.
"Hey at least we got out of History of Magic. That class is boring" I complained alongside him.
"But I thought you liked books and learning and all that nerdy stuff" Blaise smirked at me. I giggled a little and nodded.
"I do, about interesting topics. I enjoy learning how to make a potion that is able to paralyze the muscles in the body yet allows the person to be completely aware of their surroundings. But learning about little goblins that fought each other... about something... That's not a topic I would say I enjoy" I muttered not completely remembering what the exact topic from our last lesson was.
"And you wonder why I get better marks than you" said Theo next to us. I stuck out my tongue at him making and the boys smile at me.
"I'd rather be in class than here to be honest" Draco sighed after a second. "Why couldn't we choose if we wanted to stay in class or not"
"You're right" Pansy told him, batting her eyelashes at Draco. "I think that this should be an option. Especially since some people don't even have dates yet" she added turning to grin at me. I gave her a look but decided to smile back.
"Aww you know if you wanted to leave no one would blame you" I cooed. She scowled and turned away from me. I laughed a little at her expression. "Well in your defense December did just start"
"But how do you not have a date yet" Daphne looked to me with a smile. "Is it maybe that some people are too cowardly to ask you? What do you think Draco?"
"I think that her life is none of your business Greengrass" he muttered stiffly, turning back to the window. She giggled somehow satisfied with his response.
"She has a point, you know" Theo said softly to him. Draco made an annoyed sound.
"Whatever, it's not like any of you have dates yet anyway. Why are you even bringing it up?" Draco grumbled at us.
"I have a date" Blaise commented nonchalantly. We looked to him a little surprised but the only one who seemed deeply interested was Daphne.
"You do?" she asked snapping her head to him. He shrugged not looking too excited about it. Daphne didn't accept that as an answer however. "Well, who is it?
"Megan Jones" he said looking to one of the windows. One of the usual creatures was swimming by. It stopped for a second to look at the students from behind a patch of seaweed before scurrying back, deep into the lake. "She's a bit more than decent looking so I agreed to go with her"
"She's that Hufflepuff, right?" asked Theo sounding like he had met her before. Blaise nodded at him. Hufflepuffs were okay by me; they were generally fun people. Some were annoying but that could be said for any house. Take Pansy for example…
"She's in our year I think."
"You think?" I asked Blaise with a laugh. He shrugged again and smirked at me.
"Never really bothered asking" Blaise commented. I laughed a little at his attitude. Should I really expect more from him by now? Daphne must have thought the same thing as she just rolled her eyes at him.
"This is all stupid anyway" Draco repeated himself with a scowl. I smile and poked his cheek as a way to cheer him up. He turned and smiled a little at me as the head of Slytherin house walk in.
"Everyone, seize your droning and listen" Professor Snape declared silencing the students as he entered the room. "I despise the idea of being here as much as any and all of you so be silent. Cooperate and you can all go back to your mundane activities that much sooner."
Professor Snape reached into his robes and pulled out his wand. He waved his wand with an incredibly annoyed expression towards a large gramophone at the corner of the room. The Dungeon Hall was filled with soft playing music along with a wide mixture of groans and giggles from the many Slytherins inside.
"I said silence!" our professor insisted as he stepped to the middle of the hall. The room was quieted, the only sound coming from the faint music and the echo of his footsteps. Even after all these years, that was still one trait I was always impressed by. I liked that about him. "Now, I'm sure most of you know why we're here but let me explain anyway."
"What's there to explain?" Blaise mumbled leaning his back against the wall. Daphne shushed him making Blaise roll his eyes at her. "Oh now you don't want me talking"
"The Yule ball" Professor Snape began, "is, and always has been, an important part of the Triwizard Tournament. It will commence Christmas Eve night, eight o'clock to be exact, and shall end at midnight. We, all three representing schools, shall meet for a night of... frivolity" he muttered almost with a sigh, showing the true lack of his enthusiasm. "And, as the name suggests, the Yule ball is a dance. Therefore it is required that you all know how to do just that."
His words were met with excited, and annoyed, whispers from the students in the hall. I giggled noticing our professor's clearly irritated expression. Daphne did too but my guess was her giggle was more likely due to her excitement.
"Silence!" Professor Snape snapped, his irritation gaining the best of him. Whoever thought having him teach us this was a good idea obviously didn't spend enough time with him. That or this was their passive-aggressive way of getting back at him for something. "As idiotic as this all may seem it is not to be scoffed at. We have the honor of Slytherin to uphold and thus we must do this frivolous task."
"So are you going to dance for us professor?" a sixth year called out from near the gramophone. All the Slytherins start laughing, all except Snape I mean.
"Hope that was worth the detention Mr. Warrington" Snape called back to Cassius with a glare. I saw Cassius shrug a little like it was as friends pushed him around playfully. "To answer your question: no. I will not take part in this. You can all teach yourselves. Anyone who actually knows what they're doing and would like to volunteer please step up now."
No one moved. Nobody really wanted to move. I did know how to dance. Considering all the events I had been forced to attend as a child I was involuntary taught. Sometimes I would dance with my brother. Fun as it was I didn't care enough to show whole class. I'm sure the others had the same idea since nobody stepped forth to teach the class. But I knew most, if not all, knew how to dance; they had been raised and taken to similar social events like myself. I had never bothered speaking to any of them but I was sure I had seen a few there. Besides, it was unfair of our professor to ask this of us since it was his job to do it.
"The longer you stand there the longer we all have to stay here" he sighed at us. I was okay with that. The longer I stayed in the Dungeon Hall the more History of Magic I got to miss. A win-win situation when you thought about it.
Feeling like this was going to take a while I repositioned myself to get more comfortable. I leaned back, trying to press my back against the wall. As I did however I lost my leverage and someone took advantage. With a quick movement I was pushed from behind and forced to step forward and towards the center of the hall.
"Ow—hey!" I complained looking behind me. Blaise was smirking at me as Daphne looked to the side in an obvious attempt to hide guilt. I glared at them but before I could speak someone else did.
"Miss Volkov" Professor Snape called. I turned around to find him looking at me. He looked uninterested as usual. "Would you care to teach the class?"
"Sure I guess" I sighed at him. I was already up there anyway, though I made a mental note to think of a punishment for Daphne later. He nodded at me then turned back to the rest of Slytherin.
"Would anyone care to be Miss Volkov's partner?" he asked as I made my way closer to the center of the hall. As I did I thought I saw a few move to raise their hands but was distracted by Daphne's voice behind me.
"Draco would!" she nearly screamed. I turned back to where they were and saw Draco being shoved forward, much like I had been. He gave her look and didn't step forward. She leaned in to whisper something to him with a seemingly innocent smile. Draco let out an exasperated breath and started walking towards me, but not before shooting another scowl her way.
"Mr. Malfoy, then, please step forward" Professor Snape nodded to him. As he walked Draco received a lot of whistling, cat calls, and other such comments from the other students.
"Shut up!" Draco snapped as I giggled along with the other Slytherins. He gave me a look as he stopped next to me and I smiled innocently back at him.
"Miss Greengrass, since you so kindly volunteered Miss Volkov and Mr. Malfoy why don't you help them teach the class" Professor Snape called once the comments quieted down and motioned for her to step forward. Daphne stepped up shrugging a little figuring the prize was worth the trouble. Once she was closer to the center our professor began to make his way to the edge of the scene, leaving us to instruct the class. "You will announce the proper technique as they demonstrate to the rest of Slytherin how one does this sort of dance."
With that Professor Snape waved his hand to signal the commencement of the lesson. As he disappeared from the center the music that had up to now been merely background noise began to grow louder. I recognized it as Waltz no. 2 by Shostakovich; it was a good piece. Having that out of the way I turned back to Draco. At least it was him I had to do this with. He noticed my glance and frowned, making me smile at him.
"Shut up" he hissed quietly at me stepping closer. I laughed a little and turned to Daphne. She smiled once she noticed us and started our lesson. Daphne cleared her throat and spoke in an odd voice, like someone much older than her. I guessed this was her attempt at sounding more mature.
"The first and most important step to ballroom dancing is the posture. That means you Draco." He gave her a look but stood a little straighter. Daphne nodded pleased with her newfound power and continued. "The head must be held parallel to the floor, and the neck as an extension of the spine…"
"Is all this explanation necessary or is it all for show?" Draco mumbled beside me as she went on with her explanation. I giggled a little at him.
"I think it's a little of both but Daphne's just enjoying that she can share her wisdom onto others" I replied with a small smile and he chuckled a little. I saw Daphne give him a quick look but turned to smile at us before continuing.
"Now the chest should never be too forward or too back, as to allow for proper breathing. This is very important. Now, are you watching Katerina's chest Draco?" Daphne asked making the room fill with quiet laughter and snickering, including from me. Draco turned to her again, not amused, then back at me.
"Just get on with it Greengrass" he grumbled, but more than loud enough for her to hear clearly. She smiled, satisfied with the result, and went on.
"Fine. We'll start things off with the male's position—"
"Which by default here is Malfoy" someone who sounded an awful lot like Blaise called out. Again there was snickering and laughter among the not so mature students. I began laughing a little too but stopped when Draco gave me a look.
"What?" I mouthed at him innocently but could see his face starting to get more and more irritated as the lesson progressed.
"Now," Daphne continued once she was done with own laughter, "Draco will place his right hand on Katerina's waist. Well, go on," she added when he didn't move. He sighed but did as he was told. "Good. Now Katerina will place her left hand on his right shoulder. See, now don't those two just fit perfectly together—"
"Get on with it Daphne!" a shrill voice commanded, which I guessed belonged to Pansy. Daphne flipped hair waving away the comment and returned her attention to us.
"Lastly Draco will hold out his left hand and Katerina will place hers on his. There, between his thumb and forefinger."
There was more commotion as we did. Slytherins were whistling and calling out to us from their place along the Dungeon Hall wall. Even though there were only supposed to be fourth years and above present it felt as if the hall was filled with ten year olds. I easily ignored them but I couldn't say the same for my dance partner. Draco looked like he was trying very hard not to murder someone. I laughed again and he gave me the same disapproving look.
"And now they dance" Daphne stated, signaling for us to move. And so we did. "This is a waltz; one-two-three pattern. See how pretty they look—"
"For the love of Merlin, will you shut up?!" Draco barked as he spun me around with him. I laughed again and his face seemed to cheer up a little this time. Others were laughing too. All students seemed to have forgotten their initial annoyance from having to be here; all except Draco, of course. He was feeling better but I could still see that hint of homicide in his eyes.
"Very well you three. Now, if anyone else would like to step up feel free to" Professor Snape announced in a very uncaring and perhaps less encouraging tone.
I heard Draco give a small sigh as other Slytherins started stepping up to join us, some more willingly than others. Students grabbed one another finding a partner to dance with. Daphne half dragged Theo as he reluctantly agreed and Pansy angrily joined unenthusiastic Blaise. Once most of the students were in the center dancing it was obvious from watching them that nearly everyone knew exactly what to do. This lesson hadn't been very useful but at least it earned everyone a good laugh. Draco spun us around again and I let out a laugh, leaning against his chest.
"Shut up" Draco mumbled at me but didn't stop dancing. I giggled as he continued to spin us around. If this was what the Yule Ball would be like then this just might be fun.