Chapter 6 – Second Year Prep
Summer vacation went by too quickly and soon enough I received my letter advising what I needed to bring with me for my second year at Hogwarts. I made my way with my Aunt Gigi to Diagon Alley and headed directly to the bookshop 'Flourish & Blotts' to collect my textbooks, which all happened to be written by Gilderoy Lockhart. When we got there, there was a huge line to get inside.
"Aunt Gigi, wait outside. I can squeeze in and find the books" I told her. She nodded, causing a lock of strawberry blonde hair to fall in her face, but she quickly pinned it back into the messy bun that was resting on the nape of her neck. Aunt Gigi was a slender middle-aged woman with grey-green eyes and long curly hair that was usually swept back in a bun. She was always kind, something she shared with her twin sister, my mother. I waved goodbye as I ducked under someone's arm and made my way up the staircase and straight into Draco Malfoy.
"What do we have here" he smiled.
"Sorry, I didn't see you there. This place is so packed that you can't move downstairs" I told him. He shrugged, which I didn't expect, and then motioned to me to follow him to the railing.
"Because of him" Draco said, pointing to Gilderoy Lockhart. "All the mothers are losing their minds over him" he explained.
"You're not yelling at me" I noted. "Last year, whenever you saw me, you'd call me a half-blood, or a badger. What changed" I asked, and he shrugged again.
"I'm trying to avoid the craziness down there, and you're not bothering me as much as all the fan-girls downstairs" he replied. I nodded.
"So are you just a jerk when you're in front of your friends? Trying to prove you're the boss or something" I asked, trying to figure him out. He looked offended at this.
"I am the boss. I'm a Malfoy, a pure-blood" he snapped at me, making me flinch. "You have mudblood in you, your mother even died to avoid having to raise you." My eyes filled with tears in the silence following his outburst. How could he be so cruel?
"Were you dropped on your head" I asked through the tears. "How dare you" I sobbed, turning on my heel and running down the stairs before crashing into Fred and George.
"Hey, it's Murph" George smiled, then noticed my tears.
"What happened" Fred asked, pulling me in for a hug. I couldn't speak, I just cried into his shoulder.
"What's going on here" Mr. Weasley said as he made his way over. I pulled away from Fred just enough for Mr. Weasley to see my face, and his expression changed. He reached towards me and took my hand. "Sweetheart, what happened" he asked.
"Malfoy, he-" I stopped when Mr. Weasley looked over my shoulder.
"What about my son" Lucius Malfoy asked. I'd met him once before in passing last year, and I didn't like him. Across from him, standing on the steps, was Draco.
"Hope, what's taking so long" Aunt Gigi asked as she came inside. She noticed my puffy face and ran over, wrapping her arms around me.
"Muggles" Lucius grumbled. Aunt Gigi walked me outside and sat with me on a bench while I calmed down.
"I'm fine" I insisted, not wanting to repeat what Draco had said. "Can you please go get my books though? I'd rather not bump into Draco again" I said, and she nodded and headed inside.
The next day Aunt Gigi and I made our way to platform 9¾. She was fretting over everything; making sure I had all of my magical items (wand, cauldron etc.), making sure I'd packed enough clothes, had enough jumpers. I smiled and rested my hand on her arm.
"I'll be okay Aunt Gigi" I told her. "Besides, my Dad is there with me. He can go and get anything I might have forgotten." She smiled and nodded, then sighed.
"I'll just miss you kiddo" she told me and wrapped me in a hug. I hugged her back and then quickly looked to the train when it let off some steam.
"Time to go" I told Aunt Gigi. She gave me another quick hug and then watched as I stepped into the train and looked for a seat.
"Hope" I heard someone call as I walked down the corridor. I turned and looked inside the one I just passed to see Draco sitting alone.
"What now? Haven't you insulted me enough" I asked, standing in the doorway.
"I'm sorry I brought up your mother" he apologized. I frowned in confusion. "There's so much pressure from my father to be him, and to have the perfect grades. He was furious when he found out that Hermione beat me in nearly every class" he explained.
"So you take out your anger and frustration on me? How is that fair" I asked.
"It's not" he said simply. I sighed and turned around, only to bump into Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise.
"What do you want" Blaise snapped.
"You don't think you're sitting with us do you" Crabbe asked.
"No, she was just leaving to go sit with the other Badgers" Draco told them simply. I looked to him and he gave a light nod, I barely even noticed it. I quickly made my way back through the corridor until I found Neville sitting with a blond girl wearing funny glasses and Cedric.
"Hey" I smiled. "Mind if I join you?" Neville quickly slid over so I could sit next to him and across from Cedric.
"I'm Luna" the blond girl said, offering her hand.
"Hope" I smiled and took her hand.
The first week back at Hogwarts was exciting, seeing the fresh faces and reuniting with friends. Fred and George were excited to tell me all about how they broke Harry out of his boarded up bedroom, using their father's flying car. Hermione was telling me about how she was hoping to do every elective class next year, which didn't surprise me at all. Harry and Ron had arrived late and told Hermione and I about not being able to get to the platform and how they had used Mr. Weasley's car to get to Hogwarts, and Neville was telling me about his latest trip with his Grandmother. I had managed to avoid Draco in that first week, feeling unsure about him after our short encounter on the train. Was he really just under too much pressure or was it an excuse? His father wouldn't be that harsh, right? I made my way to herbology class with Professor Sprout and took my spot between Neville and Justin, trying to ignore my thoughts about Draco; which was difficult considering he was standing directly across the table from me. Today we were discussing Mandrake, and learning how to repot them. Poor Neville fainted early on, making a few students laugh. I offered to take him to the hospital wing but Professor Sprout said to just leave him be. I was so distracted during the lesson, watching Draco nearly get his finger bitten off by a mandrake. He smiled at me when he got his finger out of the Mandrake's mouth, but quickly went back to working with Crabbe and Goyle, pretending he hadn't noticed my existence. This was getting confusing; Draco was a bully, he was always picking on Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville amongst others. He had picked on me as well, and now he had apologised and I felt odd. Should I accept the apology and avoid him? Should I try and talk to him to see if this was a truce? Was he just pretending so I would lower my guard? I sighed as I left herbology and made my way to my next class: defence against the dark arts.