Rohini was furious. Furious at Malfoy for being the biggest jerk she had ever met, except from Dudley. Furious at herself for being unable to keep her calm. She couldn't even remember what Malfoy had said that day in the corridor, to upset her so much. The only thing she remembered was trying to punch him in the face right when Filch arrived, grinning as he caught her in the act. And for the first time since she arrived at Hogwarts, Rohini got detention. Not only that, but she had been left into Snape's paws on the next Saturday's morning.
As she knocked at the classroom door, she couldn't help but remember what Hermione and Ron had said two weeks ago: Snape had been the one jinxing Harry's broomstick. What if he tried to get rid of her too? Gulping, she checked that she had her wand in her pocket before entering the cold room. Snape was standing behind his desk with a smirk. Rohini clenched her teeth; he was probably pleased by the whole situation.
"Miss Potter." He said, slowly walking towards her. "Your detention began 5 minutes ago. Two points from Ravenclaw. Maybe you will finally realise that you're not above the laws."
"I never considered myself above them." Rohini said between her teeth. Snape was going to add something when McGonagall knocked at the door, Draco by her side.
"Excuse me Severus, but Mister Malfoy will join Miss Potter for detention. I caught him saying quite the awful things about Mister Potter."
"What?!" The two students shouted, glancing at each other. "No!" They protested but quickly cooled down as the old witch gave them a severe look before leaving. Snape pinched his lips, obviously having not expected this. He rolled a newspaper that was lying on a desk and hit Draco with it before dragging him by the arm next to Rohini.
"You will clean up every single cauldron in this class." He then said, pointing at old brushes and cleaning products that seemed as old as the castle. "Without magic."
Throwing a nasty glance at Draco -it was his fault that she was here after all- Rohini began the disgusting task. Draco did nothing at first and Rohini bitterly wished they would have got detention with McGonagall; she was strict but fair and did not privileged one house above the others.
"Why isn't he cleaning too?" Rohini asked, pointing at Draco. "I thought we were two in detention."
"This is a servant job." Draco scoffed, losing his smile as Snape dropped a sponge in his hands.
"Clean up the chalkboard." Snape ordered and Draco looked offended but one look at Snape's face was enough to put him into action. Rohini still found it unfair that she had the dirtiest job, but at least Draco was getting punished too. After a while, Snape stood up from his desk where he had been reading. He needed to go back to his own office to check something and sworn that if any of them wasn't here when he came back, there will be consequences.
"My father will hear about it." Draco said and Rohini groaned.
"My father this, My father that… is there anything you can do by yourself?" She asked and Draco threw her a nasty glance. "And don't think you scare me. I'm just as good as you and don't need my father to back me up."
"You don't even have a father; he was blown up when you were young." Draco spat and Rohini froze. Malfoy smirked, victorious. "Lose your tongue, Potter?"
"Shut up." Rohini said, turning her back to him and trying to focus on cleaning a particularly tenuous stain. "At least my dad was on the right side. Can't say the same about yours, can you?" Draco dropped his sponge and Rohini felt her confidence coming back. Touché.
"You know nothing about my father." Draco said, standing in front of her. Rohini was annoyed by the fact he had gotten taller and looked down at her. Couldn't he just stop growing?
"Rumours travel fast. Believe it or not, it's not hard to imagine that those about him are true." She said, crossing her arms above her flat chest. She will not let Malfoy impress her. He was pale now, more than usual and Rohini could tell he was thinking about a thousand ways to murder her. But he would do nothing. Because otherwise he would be expelled, rig- Oh.
Draco was now pointing his wand at her, and Rohini hoped she didn't look as scared as what she felt right now.
"That would be stupid of you." She pointed out. "You would be expelled."
"Oh, will I?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "I could pretend you attacked me. That it was only self-defence."
"You dirty liar." Rohini spat, furious. Draco only smirked. That's when Rohini saw him; floating right above them, Peeves was holding a pile of heavy books. He had a huge grin on his face and winked at Rohini before dropping them on Malfoy's head.
"Hehehehe!" Peeves laughed, holding his ribs as if it was the most hilarious thing ever. Malfoy was now lying on the ground, moaning in pain. Snape came back at that moment and chased Peeves away, furious.
"Out." He then said to Rohini who ran out of the classroom and only stopped when she bumped into Hagrid's huge stomach. He caught her right in time before she fell on her butt.
"Rohini! Where are yeh running like that?"
"Far away from Snape and Malfoy." She said, glancing behind her to make sure they weren't following her. "It's complicated."
"Yeh look a bit shaken." Hagrid said, frowning. "Did Malfoy do something to yeh?"
"No, yes- It's fine Hagrid, I promise." Rohini assured him. Hagrid didn't seem convinced and invited her to come have a cup of tea at his place. Rohini agreed and followed him to his hut where Fang seemed quite happy to see her again.
"He likes yeh, this lil' coward." Hagrid said with affection as Fang rested its huge head on Rohini's laps. "Can feel that yeh likes animals. How is yer cat?"
"Thranduil is doing well. He took the bad habit of sneaking out of the dorm if we are too careless. I found him fighting with Filch's cat last time."
"Good boy." Hagrid said and Rohini laughed. "Here, have a cup of tea."
"Thank you, Hagrid."
They sat in silence for a while, until Hagrid asked her what happened. When she finished telling him the whole story, he was looking outraged.
"He did what? That boy should be expelled! Threatening you, Ah! I should give him a pig tail too." He grumbled and Rohini patted his arm.
"It's ok, I can protect myself." Rohini lied. Truth was, she had been too taken aback to think of a single defensive spell back in the classroom. "I never thought I'd say that, but I'm glad Peeves was here."
She stayed at Hagrid's place until lunch and then they walked back to the castle together. She waved at Harry, Ron and Hermione, mouthing "see ya later" before sitting next to Padma.
"Glad to see you survived your detention hour." She said with a smile while handing Rohini a plate of sausages. "How did it go?"
"Terrible." Rohini sighed before telling what happened once again. Just like Hagrid, Padma was scandalised by Malfoy's behaviour and suggested she warned a teacher about it but Rohini shook her head. "He's not worth it."
"If you say so…" Padma said, unconvinced. Uncomfortable, Rohini decided to change subject and asked her about her plans for the holidays. Christmas was right around the corner, and everybody was paying less attention to classes and more to what kind of gifts they were waiting for.
"We do not celebrate Christmas." Padma told her. "Our family isn't Christian. But we do celebrate a religious holiday called Pancha Ganapati, which is a five-day holiday that honors Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed lord of culture and new beginnings."
"Really? And how do you celebrate it?" Rohini asked, intrigued. She was a bit ashamed by the fact she never thought about asking Padma's more questions about her religious background.
"The celebration begins on the 21th of December and includes outings, picnics, feasts and gift giving."
"Picnics, in December? Isn't it too cold for that?" Rohini asked.
"You just need to bring your scarf." Padma said with a smile. "Pancha Ganapati includes traditions that are similar to your Christmas traditions. Families put up a statue of Ganesha and decorate their homes with pine boughs or durva grass, tinsel, blinking lights and ornaments. Children dress the statue in different-colored clothes for each day of the celebration. Each color, including yellow, blue, red, green and orange, represents a different aspect of the holiday."
"Wow…" Rohini said. "So, I can still give you a gift then?" She asked and Padma blushed.
"Oh, you don't have to." She said. "I mean, that would be really nice of you, but don't feel like you have to!"
They spent the rest of lunch talking about the different divinities in which Padma and her family believed. Rohini admitted she had never heard of them before and didn't believe in any gods herself. Then, Rohini promised to join her in the common room to work on their assignments and waited for Harry, Ron and Hermione to finish their meal.
Xxx
The morning the holiday began, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and a few bold idiots, such as the Weasley twins, tried to ice skate on it. Rohini had somehow been convinced to follow them and fell more time than she could count. It was the first time she saw so much snow, and it's with a red nose and a huge grin on her face that she entered the Great Hall had for lunch. She bumped into Malfoy who made sure to speak loud enough for her to hear when he said:
"I do feel so sorry for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."
"Go spite your venom somewhere else, Malfoy." Rohini groaned.
It was true that Harry and she weren't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas, but it wasn't as much as a problem that what Malfoy seemed to think, on the contrary; this would probably be the best Christmas they'd ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying, too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decoration. The hall looked spectacular; mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles. Rohini thought with a certain fondness that Hogwarts felt more like home than Privet Drive will ever do.
"Rohini!" She heard Padma shout. She was standing next to her sister who gave Rohini a polite smile. They were both standing next to their trunk.
"Oh, you're leaving already?" Rohini asked. "I hope you'll have a good time at home!"
"Thank you." Padma said before hugging her. She smelled really nice, Rohini thought. "We'll see each other after the holidays. Try not to get detention again." Padma joked and Rohini puffed. "Goodbye!"
"See ya!" Rohini said, waving at the twins until they were out of sight. Then, she joined Harry and Ron who were playing chess. Hermione joined them soon after, wheeling a cart behind her. She watched in silence as Rohini advised Harry who wasn't as good as her or Ron at the game. Still, Ron managed to win and the twins groaned in defeat.
"You will keep looking for Nicolas Flamel while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione. "And send me an owl if you find anything."
"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."
"Very safe, as they're both dentists," Hermione pointed out and Rohini snorted. "You should try the restricted section." She whispered, glancing around to make sure no teachers were around. "Enjoy the holiday, and do your homework!" She said as she left, though they all knew the boys will probably copy most of Rohini's notes. Ron asked Rohini if she wanted to play chess with him, and she took Harry's place. While playing, they tried to come up with an idea on how to get into the restricted section, but none of these were particularly brilliant.
"Maybe we could ask your brother? Percy is a prefect, he would be able to get in." Rohini suggested. "Knight to E5."
"You're crazy? He would harass me to know why we need to find out who Nicolas Flamel is. Queen to E5." Ron said. His queen walked over to E-5 and clank Rohini's knight away.
"Well, I don't know then…" Rohini sighed. "Queen to D4."
Ron won the game five minutes later and they spent the rest of the day talking about anything and everything, from Charlie Weasley's work to how to order birthday gifts from Hogwarts.