Vanessa's POV
I woke up earlier than I usually do and realized that I'm not in my bedroom. I rolled over and was face to face with Draco Malfoy. I smiled to myself before realizing that I need to get back to my room before Hermione wakes up. I jumped out of Draco's bed and frantically filtered through his drawers looking for some shorts or something I could wear as pants. I was tossing his drawers when a pair of arms wrapped around my waist.
"What are you doing?" He asked
"I'm looking for pants so I can get back to my room before Hermione wakes up!" I said still frantically throwing things out of his drawers.
"Stop panicking. Here." He laughed as he went over to the top drawer and pulled out a pair of boxer briefs and held them out to me.
"Honestly, it's better than no pants." I smiled and slipped the pants on. "I've gotta go." I smiled and kissed him before quickly running out the door and down the corridor in hopes of getting back to my room before Hermione wakes up. I opened the door to our room slowly and breathed a sigh of relief when she wasn't in the living area. I quickly went into my bedroom and hopped into the shower and washed my hair and body. Once I was finished, I got started on my makeup and hair. Then after I was done, I put on some pleather jeans and a light blue crop top and got ready to go into the living area. I opened my bedroom door and walked into the living area to find it empty once again. I wonder where Hermione is… As I was about to leave, the door to the corridor opens and reveals Hermione in a baggy t-shirt and boxer briefs.
"Hey, sorry I didn't come back last night I ended up sleeping in Ron's room." Hermione apologized and I let out a sigh of relief.
"It's no big deal, Mione!" I reassured her with a smile, "I'm gonna go on down to breakfast. I'll see you down there?" I asked
"Of course!"
I walked through the still open door with every intention of going to breakfast, but I decided to make a pit stop at Ron and Harry's room. I should probably apologize to Ron. I was really scared for Draco and I didn't filter what I was saying from what I was thinking. He didn't mean any harm. I found my way down to their room, knocked on the door, and waited patiently for it to open. I was standing outside for a little bit before the door swung open and I saw a very distressed looking Harry standing on the other side of it.
"Nessa?" He questioned
"Harry? Are you okay?" I asked, even though I knew he wasn't. When he didn't immediately answer, I stepped through the threshold into his room. Once he realized I was walking into his room, he closed the door behind me and followed me into the kitchen area.
"Are you okay?" I asked again as we both sat down onto the bar stools in the kitchen area.
"I'm fine, Nessa. I just had a bad dream last night. I'm fine" He reassured me, but I wasn't convinced.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked, trying to get him to talk to me about it.
"It was about Voldemort."
"Again? Harry you need to see someone about this." I encouraged
"They can't do anything for me!"
"Harry, I think you need to see a mind healer. I think we could all use a visit to a mind healer" I suggested
He sighed and put his head in his hands.
"You really think it would help?" He asked, his head still in his hands.
"I do. I think we could all benefit from it. At least you and I would do well from it." I smiled at him
He raised his head up and looked at me for the first time since I mentioned the mind healer.
"Okay, I'll consider it." He said smiling at me.
"Okay, so where is Ron? I asked, trying to get back to the real reason why I came to their room this morning.
"Ron? He left earlier this morning for breakfast, I think. He left for breakfast before you got here. Why?" He asked
"I was going to apologize to him for last night." I explained
"No. You shouldn't apologize. He was being an arse. He should be the one apologizing to you and more importantly to Malfoy. Wow I don't think I ever thought I would say that." He laughed
I joined in laughing with him
"Go get dressed and then we can head down to breakfast." I told him, as I shooed him towards his bedroom. I waited until he was dressed and then we headed down to the Great Hall. Once we got down to the Hall, we sat down with Ron, Hermione, Jordan, and Ginny. When Harry and I sat down our table went silent, until Ron spoke up.
"Hey Nessa, I'm sorry about yesterday. I was just upset about not being chosen." Ron apologized.
"All is forgiven, Ron." I smiled at him as I reached for a bagel in the middle of the table. As everyone continued talking, I looked around the hall and caught eyes with Draco who was sitting across the Hall with Blaise, Pansy, a few other Slytherins, and surprisingly Arabella and Marius. Draco was sitting beside Pansy and Arabella, and once he caught my eyes immediately smiled at me before going back to his conversation with Arabella. I started to turn around and go back to my conversation with my friends when I felt someone tap on my shoulder. So, I turned back around to see a professor that I can assume was a Beauxbatons professor.
"Excuse me, young lady. Can you step outside into the corridor with me?" The unnamed professor asked.
"Of course, sir" I said while wondering what I had done already to get in trouble. I followed the professor out into the corridor until he stopped only a little farther than the entrance to the Hall.
"Now, miss why are you not wearing your robes?" The professor asked
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Professor…" I tried to explain, but before I could even get a sentence out the rude professor interrupted me.
"I'm sorry miss, but I'm going to have to escort you to Madame Maxine's office for not following the dress code."
"But…"
"No exceptions." The professor stated as he began shooing me in front of him. We walked for a little way before we stopped at a random wall that turned into a door as soon as we stepped in front of it. We walked up a few sets of stairs before we stopped in front of a grand door and the professor knocked.
"Come in." Madame Maxine said from the other side of the door.
The professor opened the door and shooed me into the office and followed in behind me. When we walked through the door, I saw Madame Maxine, Dad, and 'Professor Krum' discussing the tournament.
"What are you doing here, Vanessa?" Dad asked as confused as I am.
"I found her sitting in the Hall without her robes on." The idiot professor stated.
"Professor Beaumont, do you know who this is?" Madame Maxine asked.
"No"
"This is Vanessa Dumbledore. She isn't required to wear robes. I'm sure if you would have let her explain she would have told you that." Dad stated, slightly irritated.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Miss Dumbledore." Professor Beaumont apologized
"You should leave now." Madame Maxine told him as he scattered out of the room.
"I'm sorry, for interrupting you professors." I apologized
"Don't worry about it, Vanessa. You better be going now, don't want to be late for your classes." Madam Maxine smiled at me. I quickly thanked her before leaving the room and heading back down to the Hall to find my friends before heading to our class.
"What was that all about, Nessa?" Ron asked when I finally caught up to them outside the Hall.
"That bloody professor drug me all the way to Madame Maxine's office because I wasn't in my robes." I explained as we walked towards the room our potions class was being held in. When we walked in, we saw Slughorn standing at the front of the class and we all sat at tables with our usual partners so I sat down at an empty table and waited on Draco. When he got there, I gave him a small smile before Slughorn started talking about the lesson. Since Draco and I are phenomenal at potions, we finished early so Slughorn allowed us to leave. We had to go separate ways out of the room so we wouldn't look suspicious to Ron and Hermione, but then we met up at his room. He sat down then I sat down beside him and he wrapped his arms around me. We were taking in each other's presence until he let out a sigh and kissed my forehead.
"What's on your mind?" I asked, raising up to kiss his cheek
He stood up from the couch and started pacing around the small living area. I kept sitting on the sofa until he started talking really fast, and not even trying to take a breath in between words.
"I'm not the right choice I'm not the right choice Why did the cup choose me I've never done any good for Hogwarts I'm the monster who let deatheaters into the castle It should have chosen someone else I'm not the right choice" He said without taking a breath or even a pause. I stood up off the sofa and went to stand in front of him so he couldn't keep pacing. When he looked at me, I cupped his face in my hands and started to calm him, "It's alright, it's okay. It's alright, it's okay. You're not a monster, just a human and you've made a few mistakes. The cup chose you for a reason, and you are going to represent Hogwarts well. I know it." I smiled up at him and he bent down to me and kissed me passionately.
"Come on, we should get to lunch." He suggested as we both started towards the door. We headed towards the Hall and I went in first, then he came in a few minutes after I sat down. I sat down with Harry, Hermione, Jordan, Fred and George, and Ron then grabbed a croissant sandwich.
"How are you guys getting around the castle?" I asked as we ate our food.
"It's been a little difficult, but we've been doing okay." Fred announced talking about him and George. Everyone agreed with them and we finished our lunch.
"Well, we better be off to class." Hermione announced looking at me and Jordan. I nodded as we stood up and started to walk out of the Hall. We have Arithmancy, which we are taking with the Beauxbatons students with their professor. We were only sitting there for a few moments before the professor walked into the room and when he did, I noticed it was the same professor that drug me to Madame Maxine's office about my robes. Oh fuck. This is gonna be a fun class. I thought to myself as he introduced himself to the class.
"Bonjour class, for those of you who do not know me, my name is Professor Beaumont and I am the Arithmancy professor at Beauxbatons." He said as he caught my eye. "Miss Dumbledore, what an honor to have you in my class, I've heard much about you." He smirked
"It's my pleasure." I responded with sarcasm dripping from my voice.
"Today we have a 10-inch in class assignment on the effects of Arithmancy in Curse Breaking. You have 45 minutes to complete it. My students are used to these types of assignments, so I do not expect for the Hogwarts or Durmstrang student to complete this assignment." He said smugly. "You may begin."
I immediately started working on the assignment, determined to finish it and prove him wrong. It had been about 30 minutes and only a handful of students from Beauxbatons had finished, when I stood up and walked up to his desk to hand in my finished assignment.
"Miss Dumbledore, are you sure you don't want to continue your assignment?" He asked when he saw me walking up towards him.
"No sir. I'm finished, I think you'll be surprised." I smirked and handed him my 11-inch essay. He briefly looked over it. "Thank you, Miss Dumbledore. You are free to go."
I smirked as I walked out of the room and started to wander around the castle. I didn't get very far before I heard someone calling my name, "Vanessa?"
I turned around and saw Arabella walking quickly towards me.
"You're Vanessa Dumbledore, right?" She asked and I nodded, not really sure why she was wanting to know.
"I'm glad that you didn't let Professor Beaumont get to you. He is known for being scary and rude to new students, especially when he doesn't get his way." She explained
"We have a few teachers like that at Hogwarts, so I'm used to it. I know how to handle myself, but thanks though" I smiled at her and she returned my smile before skipping off towards her friends who had just come out of Arithmancy. I turned around and decided to just head to the classroom where DADA is being held. When I got there, I saw Severus sitting at his desk grading some papers.
"Hey Uncle Sev." I greeted him as I walked into the classroom.
He looked up from the papers and gave me a small smile, "I don't think it's good for you children to be here, reliving this experience. Especially you, Harry, Granger, Weasley, and Draco. It brings back hard memories for all of you."
"I suggested to Harry that him and I at least go to a mind healer. He's been having a hard time with this whole thing." I said honestly as I sat down on his desk.
"How have you been holding up?" He asked, looking concerned.
"I'm surprising myself, actually. I'm not as bad as I thought I would be." I responded
"Do you know how Draco is doing?"
"He's been better. He had a panic attack or something earlier today, he started talking about how he was a monster and a deatheater. I think I calmed him down, but he was really freaked out." I said quietly as Severus nodded with a solemn look on his face.
"After he was chosen as the champion, he came and expressed some of the same concerns to me. I told him they were nonsense and he just nodded and left. You kids need someone to talk to. Preferably a professional, but honestly anyone who you feel comfortable talking to."
"I agree. Harry seems skeptical about it, but we can't face our 'inner demons' by ourselves. No matter how much we want to. We lived through a war, and we need to talk to someone about what we saw and what we experienced." I agreed
We continued to talk about the mental health of my friends and I until some students began walking into the room. When that happened, we stopped talking immediately and I went to take a seat. Harry came into the room and took a seat beside me just as Severus was starting his lesson about nonverbal spells. Severus is a great professor because he transitions between lectures and practical approach in his lessons. Today was a lecture day, so all of us were scribbling down notes about what he was saying about nonverbal magic. Class was over before we noticed and we were all walking out of the room and back to our rooms to do our homework. I told my friends that I was going to go talk to Blaise about prefect responsibilities and headed off to their bedroom. I didn't knock before just walking into their room, to find no one in the living area, but I heard sound coming from Draco's bedroom. So, I went to knock on his bedroom door and the person who opened the door was not Draco.
"Oh, Vanessa. Hello!" Arabella said as she opened the door. I started laughing mostly because I always seem to get myself into these types of situations.
"You know what, never mind." I laughed as I walked away from the door and out of their little dorm. I walked down the corridors for a little bit before I heard Draco calling my name.
"Vanessa! Vanessa! Please slow down!" He yelled as he was running trying to catch up with me, "Let me explain!"
"You don't have to explain yourself." I screamed back still walking quickly through the corridors as I still laughed at my luck.
"Vanessa! Please, slow down!" He screamed again and I just stopped in the middle of the corridor. "What do you want?" I yelled, seeing no one else was in the corridor.
"Let me explain."
"Go on, explain."
"Arabella is my sister." He said in a matter of fact tone
"Are you kidding me. You're bloody kidding me. I look like a total bitch." I laughed and pushed his chest. He started laughing and nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me you have a sister?" I asked still laughing at how much an idiot I was.
"It never came up, I didn't really think it would matter." He responded honestly and shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay, well let's go do some homework before dinner." I suggested still feeling like a complete idiot.
"Your room or mine?" He asked
"Let's do yours, I don't know when Hermione is coming back." I answered and he just nodded. We took off walking to his bedroom, and when we get there Blaise was sitting in the living area and Arabella was no longer there.
"Remind me to apologize to your sister." I told Draco before we got started on our homework, but we soon got bored and started working on things to help Draco with the First Task in the tournament.
"So, what did they say the first task was?" I asked Draco when we started talking about it.
"They said something about a 'Triathlon' but I'm not sure how that works. They said there will be a running, swimming, and flying portion with shooting spells intermingled in to each separate portion." He answered.
"Well, the first task shouldn't be so hard for you. However, we should practice the shooting spells while running, swimming, and flying." I suggested and they agreed with me.
"Let's wait and start tomorrow since we don't have classes." Draco said
"Yeah, if I'm correct, I believe it's dinner time." Blaise said with a grin.
"Oh crap! I have to get to my room before Hermione starts wondering where I am." I yelped as I jumped up off of their couch. "I'll see you guys later!" I said as I quickly gave Draco a quick peck on the lips and rushed out of the door towards my room. When I opened the door, I saw Hermione, Ron, and Harry sitting in the living area.
"Hey, Nessa! Where have you been?" Ron asked smiling at me as I walked through the door.
"I was getting some help with my defense against the dark arts homework from Severus." I explained.
"Wait, what homework?" Hermione asked, concerned
"Oh, uh, just some homework that I missed a little while back and need some help to finish it." I quickly back tracked
"Oh yeah! Remember when she missed that class where Snape assigned that major essay." Harry helped and Hermione nodded like she remembered
"Come on guys, it's almost dinner time, let's head down to the Hall." Ron said getting up off the couch and heading out the door. We all followed him out the door and into the Hall. Tonight, the round tables had white tablecloths on them and the food was already on the plates. We all sat down at a table and waited for Madame Maxine to tell us that we could eat. It wasn't long before she said a small speech and told us we could eat. We all finished our food and then quickly left the Hall. I had planned to go to Blaise and Draco's room; however, Hermione drug us all to the library to do our Arithmancy homework that Professor Beaumont assigned us.
"This homework is ridiculous!" I complained as I slammed my head down onto the table after I had finished the essay. "I've never had this much homework in a single subject in my life!"
"I'm glad you find my class ridiculous, Miss Dumbledore." I heard and turned my head to see Professor Beaumont standing behind our table. My day is just getting better and better.
"Professor, so nice to see you again." I said with a smile.
"You best get working on that 20-inch essay." He said with a smirk
"20?! I thought it was 15!?" Ron asked
"After hearing how ridiculous my class was, I thought I would add an extra 5 inches and make it due tomorrow." Professor Beaumont explained how my comment added 5 extra inches to our essays. I smiled up at him and handed him my finished essay with 20 inches.
"Here you go, Professor. I figured you would want the essay a little longer anyway." I smirked as he took my essay and looked over it. He grimaced and walked away without another word.
"You've got to stop doing that! You're going to get into some serious trouble!" Hermione warned me
"What can he do?" I taunted, but not before looking over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't there.
"He can fail you! You do not want to fail Arithmancy!" She screeched, and the librarian scowled at us.
"He's not going to fail me, Mione. I'm one of the best students in his class." I said, "Since I'm done with my assignment, I'm heading back to our room." I smirked as I got up and left the library. I walked down the corridors as I headed to Draco and Blaise's room. I didn't even knock before I walked through the door. When I walked through the door, I saw Draco, Blaise, and Pansy sitting on the floor.
"Hello, snakey friends!" I said as I joined them on the floor. Blaise and Pansy rolled their eyes while Draco just wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him.
"So, have you figured out what you're planning on doing with the triathlon?" I asked
"Well I think we have decided to have a little practice session tomorrow. If you wanna help?" Blaise suggested with a smile.
"Yeah of course!" I agreed and we all just chatted for a while before I decided I should go to my room before Hermione got back from the library. I said goodbye to my friends and headed a few doors down and walked through the door to my empty room. I walked back into my bedroom, changed into some pajamas, and went to sleep.