"Val. Hey, Val. Wake up dumbass."
"Huh?". Valencia turned in her bed and opened her eyes slightly to look at the person in front of her.
"Come on," June's voice said. "We're going to miss breakfast."
"Alright fine" she said as she slowly got up from her bed. June was already fully dressed minus her robes which she was currently buttoning up. "What time is it anyways" Val asked as she made her way over to the closet that the two of them shared.
"It's nearly eight, which is why I've been trying to wake you up for the past twenty minutes," June said. She had finished buttoning the top of her robes, so she turned to face Val who now had wide eyes.
"What! Oh my God. We're so late for breakfast. You should have yelled in my ear or something". Valencia hastily tugged on her uniform, socks and shoes and then finally her robes.
"I did that. Like three times. You also woke up all of those times. And then you fell back asleep" June rolled her eyes as she said this before she made her way over to the door to wait for Val.
After combing through her knotted hair, brushing her teeth, and grabbing all of her books, Valencia joined June at the door and the two of them made their way down into the common room, and then up to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast.
"Your schedules," a deep voice from behind the two of the girls said. They were now seated at the Slytherin table and practically shoving food down their throats before they would head to class. When Val looked up, she saw a tall thin man with greasy black hair standing in front of them. He handed them each a piece of parchment before swiftly turning on his heel.
June almost immediately grabbed Valencia's schedule out of her hands to compare the two of them. "Oh gross, you have History of Magic with Binns first. Carson has told me how much that class sucks. Says he falls asleep within the first ten minutes. Besides that, our schedules are basically the same; Charms second, then Transfiguration and then- oh ew. Potions last".
June had been right. History of Magic was easily the most boring class out of her entire schedule. Mr. Binns, the professor of the class, was a ghost. He dragged on about the important events and their dates of magical history, all while the students attempted to stay awake. After this, they had their Charms class, which was taught by a stout man named Professor Flitwick, who had to stand atop a pile of books in order to see the students. While this class was far less boring than History of Magic, the professor had them take notes for the first day, ruining June's expectations of being able to use their wands for the first time. Next was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. She too made them take notes for the majority of the class, but near the end they were finally allowed to use their wands. She instructed each student to transfigure a match into a needle. At the end of the class, Hermione was the only one who had made any progress. Finally, they had potions.
Valencia and June had just entered the potions classroom and taken their seats when the door was shoved open and the tall, thin man with greasy black hair that had handed them their schedules at breakfast was now striding to the front of the room.
"There will be no silly wand waving or incantations in my classroom" he began in his monotone voice. "My name is Professor Snape, I will be your potions professor. Here in potions, you will learn to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper to death. That is- if you aren't a bunch of dunderheads."
Val and June were still settling in their seats next to Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle as Snape said these words.
"Potter!" the professor snapped. "Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Hermione's hand shot up as he asked the question but Snape only ignored her.
"Erm- I don't know sir" Harry replied. His cheeks flushed as Snape's eyes bored into him.
"Well, pretty clearly- fame isn't everything" he dragged on. "Let's try again shall we. Tell me Potter, where would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?"
Once again, Hermione's hand shot straight into the air. She was practically standing up now as she attempted to get the professor's attention. Again, Snape ignored her completely.
"I don't know sir."
At this Malfoy began to snicker from where he said next to Valencia. She elbowed him in the gut causing him to hunch over in pain before she turned her attention back to Professor Snape.
"Clearly you didn't think to open a single book before coming, Potter. What a shame. Now what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"I don't know sir, but I think Hermione does. Why don't you ask her?" Harry retorted rather snappily.
Snape's glare intensified as he looked at Harry for another few seconds before snapping his attention to Hermione. "Sit down," he said to her. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood create a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone that is taken from the stomach of a goat that can save you from almost any potion. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the exact same plant and they also go by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying this down. Oh and Potter, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your smart mouth. I suggest you open your book before coming to my class next time." He scowled at the entirety of the class before turning to make his way over to his desk. His long black cloak swished behind him.
Snape continued to quiz the class over small questions like he had done with Harry, but the only person who seemed to know anything was Hermione Granger. Her hand would shoot up at every possible moment, even if Snape weren't asking her the question. He began to get rather annoyed by her enthusiasm, so he opted to take another five points from Gryffindor, which caused Hermione to become embarrassed. She stopped raising her hand after that.
"I think I'm going to go to the library. Want to come?" Val asked June. Potions had ended a few minutes ago so they were making their way up the marble staircase towards the entrance hall.
"Books? No thanks. I'd rather just go taunt some little Gryffindors." And so the two broke apart as they reached the entrance hall.
Valencia continued up the stairs until she reached the third floor corridor. She had asked Professor McGonagall where the library was located, but she still had trouble finding it. She eventually found the entrance, and when she walked in, her eyes went wide with amazement. This library had a high ceiling that accommodated the hundreds of rows of tall shelves that were filled with thousands of books.
The librarian, Madam Pince, gave her a small smile as she began to make her way to the back of the library where there were less people. She decided on a large book named Modern Magical Families and Their History before looking for a place to sit.
She approached a pair of cream colored armchairs that sat at the very back of the library in the far left corner.
"Hello Valencia" a familiar voice said. She turned to see that Hermione Granger was looking up from a book that lay in her lap. She was sitting with her legs criss-crossed in one of the armchairs. She hadn't noticed her before, but a smile appeared on Valencia's face as she looked at the busy-haired girl.
"Hey Hermione. I didn't see you here. Er- do you mind if I sit here" she asked as she motioned her hand towards the chair opposite Hermione.
"Oh not at all, as long as you don't talk every five minutes."
"I won't. I came here to do a bit of research, that's all" Val said as she sat down. Hermione gave her a small smile before turning her attention back to the book that was placed delicately in her lap.
Valencia sat in a similar position as Hermione before she too placed her book on top of her criss-crossed legs. She was here for two reasons; to find out why everyone was so obsessed with looking at Harry every chance they got, and to further her knowledge on the four houses of Hogwarts. She opened Modern Magical Families and Their History and turned the pages until she found what she was looking for, and began to read.
The Potter Family
James and Lily Potter, parents of Harry Potter; The Boy Who Lived.
On the night of October 31st, 1981, Tom Marvolo Riddle, more commonly known as Voldemort, broke into the Potter's family home, and murdered James and Lily Potter. Voldemort then attempted to murder their son, Harry James Potter, but in an attempt to do so, was killed. The Killing Curse that the dark wizard used caused no harm to the child, and instead backfired onto Voldemort himself. He and his followers haven't been seen since so it is believed that he died on that night.
She stopped reading at this. Valencia was beyond confused so she turned to Hermione for answers.
"Erm- Hermione? What happened to Voldemort after he tried to kill Harry?" she asked.
"Call him You-Know-Who will you? Anyways, You-Know-Who's spell sort of backfired. No one really knows what happened to him though, he fled the scene before anyone could get there. Some people think he is dead, but others believe that he is still alive, still out there."
"And what do you believe?"
"I think he's still out there somewhere, but like I said, there's no way to know for sure. Why do you ask?"
"Oh well I was confused about why everyone thinks Harry is famous. I guess I still don't really understand. I mean, why does everyone stare at him in the halls?"
"It's because he is The Boy Who Lived." Noticing that Valencia was clearly still confused, Hermione sighed before continuing her explanation. "You-Know-Who used the Killing Curse on Harry. No one is supposed to survive that. Ever. Harry is the only person known to have survived the curse, which is why he is so famous."
"Oh, okay I think I get it now. And what about his scar? Is that just from some injury he got as a child or is it from something else?"
"The scar marks where the Killing Curse hit Harry as a child. Only really Dark Magic can leave a mark like that. Now if you don't mind I would like to continue reading."
After processing Hermione's words, Valencia decided that she knew enough, so she got up and placed the book back on the shelf where she originally got it before grabbing another one in its place. This one was about the houses of Hogwarts. A few hours passed of her and Hermione reading in the cream-coloured armchairs before it was time for dinner in the Great Hall. The two walked in together and smiled at one another before separating and going to their house tables.
Valencia joined June and two other first year boys at the Slytherin table.
"Ooh who's your friend Adams?" one of the boys asked. He had bright blue eyes accompanied by dirty blonde hair.
"Noah, Damon, this is Val" June introduced her. The two boys were both sitting on the opposite side of the table looking at her. "We like to taunt first year Gryffindors together," June said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Hey! I think you mean you and Noah like to taunt them! I just follow along because Noah forces me to" the boy next to Noah said. She assumed that he was the one named Damon. His hair was a similar color to Val's, but while her eyes were a hazel-brown, his were a dark green. He also had light brown freckles dotted all over his somewhat pale face.
"Oh don't try and lie your way out of this one Hendrix, we all know you enjoy it" June said with a sly grin.
"Do not!"
"Erm, yes you do" Noah said as he playfully nudged his friend in the side.
Damon rolled his eyes before turning back to Valencia who was now placing a lamb chop on her plate.
"So, are you like-"
"Hendrix, Williams!" Draco Malfoy called to Damon and Noah as he entered the Great Hall. "I would stay away from that one if I were you. She's a mudblood." he scrunched his nose in disgust as he said as the words left his mouth.
"Sod off you ugly git!" June called to him with a harsh glare in her eyes.
"Wha- wait you're the mudblood that got into Slytherin? I thought that was a joke" Noah said. He looked at Val with a newfound sense of loathing in his eyes.
"Shut up will you?" June began. "You're only a Half-Blood."
"Bu- but aren't we supposed to hate muggle-borns or something like that?" Damon asked.
"You really are dumb as shit aren't you? Hmm? You're a bit late to the common sense train there bud." Noah rolled his eyes at his friend.
"I thought it was supposed to be the other way around" Valencia commented nonchalantly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Damon asked.
"I mean I always assumed it was the blonde friend that was the dumb one, not the one with brown hair. Is it not? I suppose Draco is an exception in this situation as well. He and his two goons are all dumber than Hippos" Val said. This caught Malfoy's attention from where he sat a few people down from Damon and Noah. He scowled at her before turning to talk to Pansy Parkinson.
"Oh she's ruthless. I like her." Damon said with a giddy smile.
"That was supposed to be an insult, Hendrix" June said as she and Noah both rolled their eyes at his stupidity.
While Damon, June, and Valencia all talked throughout the rest of dinner, Noah refused to look in Valencia's direction after finding out she was a muggle-born.
Just as it had been the first night at Hogwarts, the food was incredibly delicious.
After dinner, the four of them went back to the common room to sit on the couches and continue their conversation about Damon how believed Dumbledore was some sort of shape shifter and how Snape must have used grease to wash his hair rather than shampoo. Val could barely keep up with the conversation as the topic changed to something new every five minutes.
The remaining weeks of September passed in a similar fashion as their first day, and so Valencia fell into a routine. She would attend her classes, sitting next to June in all of them, then she would go to the library where she and Hermione would sit in the armchairs opposite each other and read before heading down to dinner where Val would talk with June, Damon, and occasionally Noah. Noah still mostly avoided looking and talking to her at all costs, but she had gotten used to it.
It was now Halloween night. Valencia and Hermione had become rather close to one another over the time in the past two months that they had spent with each other in the library, and so when she heard that Hermione had been crying in the girl's bathroom all day, Val started out on her journey to find her. She wasn't quite sure why she had been crying all day, but she knew that it was likely that no one else had checked up on her. The Halloween Feast had just begun, but Val had decided that eating the delicious food while knowing Hermione was crying in the bathroom was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Hermione?" Valencia called as she entered the girl's lavatory just off of the first floor corridor.
"Go away" a shaky voice called back.
"Hermione it's Valencia. I just want to make sure you are okay and see if you wanted to talk at all."
"Oh. Hi Valencia." Hermione sniffled before stepping out of one of the stalls. Her brown curly hair was much frizzier than usual and her brown eyes were puffy and had a tint of pink surrounding them.
"What happened? Why are you crying?" Val asked.
"Boys" was all she said at first before she continued. "Stupid boys… Ron said some hurtful things, but I guess I'm being a bit over dramatic aren't I?"
"No, not at all. Let's be honest here, boys are just dumb little shits" Val said with a grin.
Hermione choked up a laugh. "They really are-".
The door to the bathroom swung open before she could finish her sentence.
"Oh my god" Hermione said. She had stopped crying as her eyes went wide at the sight in front of them.
Ugly; was the first word that came to Valencia's head when she spun around. She had read about trolls during one of her reading sessions with Hermione, but seeing one in person was completely different than reading about one.
The troll was twelve feet tall. It had granite gray skin that sat on top of it's lumpy body, and a small head the size of a coconut sat on top of its broad shoulders. Its legs were short and stubby, leaving its torso to take up most of its height. It held a huge wooden club in its massive hands. The smell was the worst part of it. It reeked strongly of old socks and a public restroom that no one ever cleaned.
"Go go go" Valencia said as she rushed over to Hermione and began to pull her with her. The door had closed abruptly behind the troll, locking them in with the beast. The two rushed over to the stalls and locked themselves in, but it was too late; the troll had seen them.
The troll swung its massive club across the stalls causing the two girls to shriek as they sunk to the ground to avoid being pummeled.
"Hermione!" a voice shouted from the door. It was now open and Harry and Ron were standing there with panicked expressions as they watched Valencia and Hermione crawl out from under the shards of wood from the broken stalls.
"Valencia?" Ron asked dumbfounded.
"Who did you think it was!" Valencia called back. She and Hermione were now moving over to the porcelain sinks to attempt to hide under them.
"Do something!" Hermione shouted at the two boys who were still standing in the doorway.
"What are we supposed to do?" Ron called back.
"Distract it, I don't know! Just do something, anything!" Val shouted.
The two girls screamed again as the troll brought its club down onto the sink next to Hermione.
"Oy- pea-brain!" Ron shouted. He had picked up pieces of wood from the ground and was now chucking them at the troll. The troll didn't feel the wood being thrown at its small head, but it had heard Ron's shout and so it turned to find the source, giving the two girls time to run away from the broken sink and towards the back wall of the bathroom.
Harry then grabbed a hold of the trolls club and was flung up to sit on its neck. It looked around dumbfound before realizing where Harry was. The troll grabbed Harry by one of his legs and then attempted to swing its club at his head.
In a panic, Ron shouted the first spell that came to his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club flew out of the trolls hand, up into the air, and then back down onto the trolls head with a crack. The troll started to sway before it dropped Harry, who scurried out of the way, and then it fell onto the ground, causing the entire bathroom to shake.
"Is it- dead?" Hermione asked.
"I don't think so," Harry said, "I think it's just been knocked out."
Harry bent down to pull his wand out of the troll's nose. It had gotten stuck up there when Harry was flung up onto the troll's shoulders.
"Urgh- troll boogers."
The sound of loud footsteps entering the bathroom made the four of them turn around. None of them realized just how loud they had been while fighting off the troll. Professor McGonagall, closely followed by Snape and Qirrell, entered the room, and their eyes went wide with shock when they saw the troll lying unconscious on the ground in front of them.
"What on earth were you four thinking?" Professor McGonagall practically shrieked. Her face was white with anger as she looked over the four of them. "You're lucky you weren't killed! Why weren't you in your dormitories?"
"I wasn't aware-" Valencia began but Hermione cut her off.
"It's my fault Professor McGonagall- please. I- I thought I could take on the troll. I've read all about them so I thought I could handle it on my own. Harry, Ron, and Valencia only came looking for me."
"Miss Granger!"
Valencia's mouth dropped open and Ron dropped his wand in shock. Hermione had just lied. To a teacher.
"If the three of them hadn't found me," Hermione continued, "I would probably be dead. Valencia helped me to escape from the troll, then Harry stuck his wand up the troll's nose, and Ron knocked it out with its own club. It was going to kill me before they arrived."
Valencia confused. Why had Hermione lied? It was unlike her for one thing, but for another, there was no point in not just telling the truth. The truth was much simpler than the lie she had created, and if she had just told the truth the professors would surely understand.
Nevertheless, Harry, Ron and Valencia all gave the professors reassuring nods, as if this were the truth.
"Well- Miss Granger… What a foolish thing to do! Five points from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgement. As for you three," Professor McGonagall said as she turned to Harry, Ron, and Valencia, "Well I just hope you know how lucky you all are. Not many first year students are able to take on a full-grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. You will each receive five points for your house. I will inform Professor Dumbledore of what happened. You may leave now."
The four of them scurried out of the bathroom. Harry, Ron and Hermione left Valencia in the corridor as they made their way up to the Gryffindor common room. After standing in the corridor for a few seconds, Valencia's stomach began to grumble in hunger. She had missed the feast completely.
Sighing, she began to make her way back to the Slytherin common room, but before she could reach the stone entrance, a pair of tall redheads stepped in front of her.
"Oi- Martin!" one of the Weasley twins called.
"We didn't see you at the Halloween feast with your little first year buddies. Where were you?" George asked.
"Oh you know, just out fighting a mountain troll. The usual" she said as a smirk spread across her lips.
George's mouth hung open, but Fred's lips turned up into a grin.
"So- so… What?" George asked, still shocked. "You don't mean to tell us that the troll is- is dead? Is it dead?"
"That really would be a bummer wouldn't it Georgey?" Fred said. He still had a grin on his lips.
"Oh- no it's not dead, just knocked out. You can thank your little brother Ron for that." Val replied with a cheeky smile.
"What!"
"By the way, what are you two doing down in the dungeons? I thought everyone was supposed to be up in their common rooms" she added.
"Oh, we are supposed to be in our common rooms" Fred started. "What else do you think we were doing in the dungeons? Georgey and I were looking for the troll obviously. But of course little Ronniekins had to get to it before us."
"You- you what? You went looking for it? Why on earth would you do that? The four of us could barely handle it."
"That's because it was four ickle first years" Fres said as if it were obvious.
Valencia's eyes rolled to the back of her head before she looked back at the two of them.
"Yea. I reckon Freddy and I could have handled the troll with ease" George chimed in.
"Say Georgey, we haven't paid our little friends a visit in quite awhile now have we?" Fred asked his twin, changing the subject completely. The grin on his lips gew even wider as he said this.
"I agree Freddy. I think it's about time we go tickle the pear again."
"It's time you tickle- you what? What are you going to go do and why does it sound… sexual?" she asked dumbfounded. What on earth were they talking about?
Fred and George both chuckled before they each grabbed one of her arms.
"Come on Val, we're taking you to meet some dear friends of ours" George said as they began to drag her back up the stairs.
"Hey! Wait. But we're supposed to be in our common rooms!" she protested. "What if we get caught out? Oh I really don't fancy getting detention tonight."
"Relax Valencia, we're not going to get caught. I would be surprised to see Filch out here. He's most likely in his office shitting his pants thinking the troll is still out there. As for the other professors- well we'll just run if we see them" Fred said. The grin on his face was now permanent as he looked down at her.
They only dragged her a short ways, never making it back up to the entrance hall, before they stepped out into one of the dungeon corridors. They then made their way down the corridor before they reached a painting of a fruit bowl.
"Would you care to do the honors Val?" George asked.
"The honors of what?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow at George.
"Go on then. Tickle the pear" Fred said. The two of them finally let go of her arms and ushered her towards the painting.
"Erm- you want me to… tickle the pear? I mean- all right then."
Valencia stepped up to the large painting and began to tickle the green pear that sat in the fruit bowl. She was shocked when the pear began to squirm at her touch, and then it began to giggle before the painting swung open revealing a room almost as large as the Great Hall. It had four long tables, just like the Great Hall, and the walls were lined with shelves full of pots, pans, and the golden plates and goblets that Val recognized as the ones they ate off of during their meals.
"Welcome, Valencia, to the kitchens" George said as he stepped past her to enter the large room. When she entered behind them, she saw that there was a group of small creatures staring up at them, all with different items in their hands. It looked as if the three of them had interrupted what they were doing. They all had rather large ears, pointy noses, and they all wore old and worn pieces of cloth that almost looked like pillowcases. None of them reached a height taller than 4 feet.
"Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley!" one of the kitchen elves said as it approached them. "Winky is so happy to see you both! Winky has waited long time for you to return!" The small elf that talked to the twins appeared to be a bit tipsy as she walked.
"Hello Winky," Fred said, giving the small elf a smile, "do you have any spare food for our friend here? She happened to miss dinner and we can't have her going to bed hungry."
"Of course!" another elf chimed it. "Anything for a friend of yours Mr. Weasly."
The elf who said this quickly hurried off in search of food for Val to eat.
"You- er… How did you guys know about this place?" was all Valencia could think to ask.
"Oh an older friend of ours showed us. We raid it every now and then for parties, and on occasion when Freddy here gets extra hungry" George said as he pat his twin on the back. Fred then patted his stomach as if to prove George's claim.
"Couldn't let you starve now could we?" Fred said.
"Er- well thank you" Val said as she gave them both a smile.
The house elf that had gone to get her food returned only moments later with a platter full of chicken wings, potatoes, biscuits, an apple, and three raspberry tarts.
"Thank you Hokey" George said as he flashed the small creature a smile.
"Yes of course. Hokey is more than happy to get food for a friend of Mr. Weasley's" Hokey said. The small elf made a partial bow towards the three of them before returning to the group of other elves that had now resumed what they were doing before the three of them had arrived.
Fred and George both helped themselves to the food seeing as there was plenty to go around. After the three of them finished their tarts, they thanked the elves for the food and left. As the twins were departing from Valencia, Fred turned around and said:
"Now Valencia, if I were you, I would hurry back to your common room before Snape finds you. We wouldn't want to see you get detention because of us."
"Okay." she said with a smile "Oh and thank you for the dinner."
"Of course" George said.
"Oh and don't be afraid to go ask them for food whenever you want. Just mention how you're our friends and they'll give you whatever you want" Fred said with a cheeky smile.
"We're pretty famous down in the kitchens you know. The elves all love us" George added.
Fred then gave her a wink while George only smiled at her before the two of them turned on their heels to head up the stairs.
Instead of following, Valencia turned and made her way to the Slytherin common room. She had definitely become close with the Weasley twins over the two months that she had been at Hogwarts, but this was by far the nicest thing they had done for her. She walked with a smile on her face and a stomach full of delicious food.
The smile was still on her face as she entered the Slytherin common room, so she failed to notice a particular blonde who was sitting on one of the black leather couches as she made her way down the steps into the main area.
"Hey! Martin! What are you over there smiling about? Hmm? And what exactly were you doing out after curfew?" Draco Malfoy asked as he got up from the couch to approach her. She had reached the bottom of the steps and was just about to start walking again before his voice sounded.
"Oh. I was just in the kitchens, getting food. I missed the feast because I was too busy fighting the troll that got loose in the castle. Didn't you hear?" she said as she shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't about to let Draco ruin her good mood so she opted to just tell him the truth, hoping that he would bugger off and let her go to bed still happy. She should have known better than to think that.
"No you weren't. You didn't fight the troll. Now tell me where you actually were or I'll go tell Reid that you were out after curfew" he said as he raised an eyebrow at her tauntingly.
"But that is the truth. I'm not sure what else you want me to tell you" she shrugged her shoulders again before starting towards the dorms but before she could walk far, his cold hand grabbed her forearm. "What are you doing? Let go of me, I'm going to bed."
"No you aren't" he said with a smirk. "You're going to tell the truth, and you are going to help me with the potions essay Snape gave us."
"Like hell I am." She tried to rip her arm out of his grasp but he held on. "Honestly Draco, what do you want? Why would you want my help with the potions paper? You're always telling me and everyone else how much you hate the Slytherin mudblood. So what is it? Hmm?"
"Believe me, I don't want your help mudblood, but there's no- there's no denying that you are the smartest witch in our year" he said. He practically gagged as he said these words which was enough to make a sly smirk to appear on Val's face. "Oh don't get too cocky Martin" he said when he saw the smirk on her lips. "It's nothing personal. It's just the facts. Now come help me and while you do you can tell me where you actually were."
He began to tug her to the secluded area and then over to the round table where she could see parchment and books scattered all over it. "Sit" he told her. And so she did. She sat in front of the heap of papers that lay on the table. He too sat down at the table but left two chairs in between them when he did.
"So- what now? How are you supposed to write it from over there when all the books and parchment are over here?" she asked as she raised her eyebrows at him.
"Oh I'm not writing it Martin, you are" he said with a grin.
"Oh absolutely not! I'm leaving. You can do this on your own." She stood up to leave, expecting the grin on his face to falter, but it didn't.
"You are" he insisted. "That is, unless you want me to go tell Reid that you were out after curfew. I'm sure he will be more than happy to give you detention."
She huffed a defeated sigh before plopping back town in her seat. "But this is going to take hours. I mean look," she said as she held up a blank piece of parchment, "you haven't even started. I'd be surprised if I am able to finish this before 4 in the morning. Why didn't you start it? Hmm? Snape assigned it almost a week ago. I mean I finished mine only two days after I knew about it. You really are pathetic. Why don't you just do your own work like everyone else-"
"Martin! If you don't stop babbling it's going to be 5 am before either of us are going to be able to get any sleep!" Draco complained in a raised voice.
"Oh? You're staying down here? Why's that? Well I assume it's because you want to spend as much time as you can with the oh so fabulous me. I mean who wouldn-"
"Martin! Seriously" he grumbled. "Just do the essay already. And I'm only down here to ensure that you don't write complete nonsense."
"Well you definitely aren't going to be able to tell what I'm writing from over there now are you?"
He rolled his eyes before grunting and getting up from his char. He took the seat next to her and scooted it away slightly before sitting back and putting his feet up on the table.
"Get your feet off the table Draco."
"No."
She rolled to the back of her head before refocusing on the parchment in front of her. "Whatever. Just don't interrupt me while I'm writing. Got it? I don't care if you don't like it. You're only here to make sure I don't write about fairies and puppies. Hmm? Got it?" She gave him a glare as she said this.
"Yea whatever" he said as he put his hands up in surrender.
She dipped her quill in the ink before beginning to write. Not even ten minutes passed before Draco did exactly what he said he wouldn't do.
"Hey. Why are you writing that? That's not something I would write-"
"Draco. I said don't interrupt me. If you don't like it and you don't think it's something that you would say then why don't you write it yourself?"
"I-"
"Exactly what I thought. Now don't talk again or I'll jab this quil in your eye." She gave him a menacing scowl that she hoped would help get her point across before turning back to the paper in front of her. He was the most annoying git she had ever met. Here she was, doing his homework, all because she had been out after curfew. She despised him.
Her threat appeared to work because he didn't interrupt her again. Instead he sat there, beside her, feet up on the table, and watched her write. He would give an occasional scoff when he would disapprove of something that she had written, but she would give him another scowl and he would throw up his hands in surrender and then go back to leaving her alone.
The required length for the essay was three pages of parchment. It was the longest assignment that they had gotten from any teacher, and of course it had to be from Professor Snape.
Valencia looked up at a clock on the wall to her right to check the time. It was now 3 am. She had been writing this stupid paper for over four hours and she still had one page of parchment to go. Draco yawned beside her and she looked over to see that he had closed his eyes to fall asleep.
"Get the hell up" she said as she jabbed him in the gut.
"Holy shit Martin. Relax, I was just resting my eyes. I wasn't asleep. Yet." He rubbed his stomach where she had hit him.
"Yea well if I have to stay awake then so do you. This is your paper after all."
"Yea yea whatever" he said as another yawn escaped his mouth.
They sat in silence for another twenty minutes before Draco Malfoy, being the idiodic git that he was, decided it would be a good idea to give Valencia a good scare.
"Serpensortia" he said under his breath.
Valencia was too focused on finishing up the paper that she hadn't noticed Draco conjure the snake that was now in his hands.
"WHAT THE FU- DRACO MALFOY GET THIS THING OFF OF ME" she yelled at him. He had placed the snake on her shoulders scaring the living shit out of her.
But he wasn't any help. He was on the floor dying of laughter as she struggled to fling the snake off of her shoulders.
"DRACO WHAT THE FUCK" she yelled at him again. 'WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
When the snake finally landed on the table, it began to make its way towards her in an offensive manner. She fumbled for her wand in her pocket of her robes as it continued towards her.
"Stop. Don't attack me. Get out of here" she said. She knew it would be of no use but her hands were shaking too hard for her to grab her wand, and Malfoy was still on the floor laughing. But the snake actually stopped, and it looked her straight in the eyes. It blinked its small eyes twice before slithering onto the ground and then up into a crack in the wall to her right.
Draco stopped laughing then. He scrambled to his feet and stared at her in shock.
"What the hell Martin" he said in a shaky voice. "What the bloody hell."
"What? Is it still here? Oh please don't tell me you put another snake on me. Draco Malfoy I swear if there's another snake on me-".
"N-no. That was the only snake."
"Well then what are you staring at me for? Hmm?" The way that he was staring at her was beginning to bother her. It was almost as if his eyes were filled with fear.
"Y-you can… you're a parselmouth?"
"A parsnip what?"
"No you idiot" he said rolling his eyes. "You're a parselmouth? You can speak to snakes?"
"Erm- no? What are you on about? I just told it to go away. In English. It's not like I spoke in some nonexistent snake language or something. "
"That's exactly what you just did." His eyes were still wide with shock as he stared at her.
She snorted a laugh before looking at him. Her smile faded when she saw just how serious he was. "You're joking right?"
"No. You just spoke to that snake."
"Yea. I did. Did you not hear what I said? I just told it to not attack me and to scram."
"N-no I just heard you speak in snake language. You know. Parseltongue."
"B-but I.. I was speaking a different language?" He had to be lying. There was no way she had spoken another language without being aware of it.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Yes. You were speaking snake language."
She was completely dumbfound. She opened and closed her mouth multiple times before finally speaking again.
"Well- I mean that's kind of cool honestly. Just another talent that I have and you don't" she said nonchalantly. She shrugged her shoulders before sitting back in her chair. "It's not like it's a bad thing I can speak to snakes right. I mean I would be surprised if you can't too."
"You think I can speak to snakes? You're a blithering idiot. A-and it's not necessarily a bad thing that you can speak Parseltongue, it's just that… only Dark wizards and witches have been known to be able to speak it. You don't strike me as a Dark witch Martin. Unless you are hiding something from me" he said as he raised his eyebrow at her.
"Ha! What would I be hiding from you?"
"Well-"
"Nevermind. Can I finish this now? Or are you going to put another snake on my shoulder? Tomorrow is Friday, meaning we have classes. I would like to get at least two or three hours of sleep. Do you think you can manage leaving me alone for another ten minutes while I finish your paper? Or is that too much to ask of you?"
"Finish the sodding paper Martin" he huffed. He sat back down in his seat, observing her while she wrote.
After she finished the essay, she picked up the five pages of parchment and slammed it into Malfoy's chest.
"Here. Now can I go to bed?"
"Sod off."
She took this as a yes, so she made her way up the stairs that led to the dormitories. After changing out of her robes and into her sweatshirt and shorts, she climbed into bed. Why had she never known she was a Parselmouth? She had been around plenty of snakes in her life, but never had she spoken to one. Not until today. Draco had also said that only Dark witches and wizards had been known to speak the language. Did that make her a bad person? Why was she able to speak a language that she didn't know about and no one else was? All sorts of questions crowded her mind as she attempted to fall asleep. She had been beyond tired only twenty minutes ago, but with all of these new questions to think about, it was nearly 5 am before she was finally able to drift to sleep.