Author's Note: I am back from the dead. My sincerest apologies for the delay – I've been so busy with all sorts of things that I at one point even forgot about the existence of this fanfic. As a result, I'm a bit out of it and hadn't written anything in a long time before I started this next chapter. I tried my best to make this chapter worthy of your time, but you'll just have to judge for yourselves.
Thanks again to those who reviewed and pointed out typos and other mistakes. They have been dealt with in the previous chapters. Don't hesitate to point out mistakes (be it typos, grammatical errors or remarks about the plot and characterisation in general) in this chapter as well – I am still beta-less and any kind of feedback is much appreciated.
CHAPTER THREE
Regina was greeted by a warm glow when she entered the common room. Someone had lit the fireplace and the room bathed in a pleasant, orange gleam. It almost made the room look cosy, even despite the cold, stone walls.
Small groups of students had formed across the room, though most had pulled up armchairs by the fire and were chatting casually. Regina sat a little apart from the other first years, though close enough to the fire to be able to read without having to light one of the green lamps. After sitting Oddball down on her lap, she scanned her textbook, turning page after page, and could hardly wait to practise some of these spells. She was tempted to take out her wand then and there and try one out, but figured it would not leave such a good impression if she were to blow something up. Meanwhile, Oddball kept digging his nails into Regina's lap as he turned about in an attempt to make himself comfortable. Eventually he decided there must be something more interesting for him to do and leapt onto the floor. Regina watched with a smile as the cat set off to explore his new territory. Only one of the other Slytherins in her year had brought a cat – Regina figured the rest of them must have brought owls that were now housed in the Owl Wing – but said feline was quite Oddball's opposite. She had an armchair of her own and was curled up there snoozing lazily; a fat, ginger ball of fur, most likely named 'Princess' or 'Mrs. Whiskers' or another name of such sort. Oddball didn't grant her a second glance and continued his adventurous search for some excitement.
When her cat disappeared from her sight, Regina's attention only half returned to her spell book. She overheard scraps of her classmates' conversation. There was excited gossiping from the girls present and boasting among the males. Pretty soon, the conversation turned to the most popular subject among new students of all houses: the arrival of the 'Boy Who Lived', here, at Hogwarts! Due to the fact that he was not only attending the same school, but was also a student in their own year, the young Potter boy caused quite a stir among his peers.
"Personally, I don't know what all the fuss is about," said Malfoy with a nonchalant hand-gesture. He leaned back in his chair and grinned. "I mean, I met him on the train and he didn't seem all that special to me. A bit slow even, if you ask me." He nudged Crabbe, who was sitting next to him, and they both sniggered.
Regina had a hard time trying not to snort too loudly. She had heard all about Malfoy's attempts to make a friend out of Harry – Ron had very clearly been amused when he told her – and thought the blond boy's attempts to make Harry look bad were a bit sad, really. When more of such slander ensued, she made a point of turning the pages of her book very loudly each time something awful was said about her new friend. Or at least she hoped the two Gryffindor boys would still want to be her friends now she was stuck in this house. She also hoped they didn't think she was just as obnoxious as she found the other Slytherin students to be.
Suddenly, all conversation fell silent when a high-pitched shriek emerged from under one of the first year's armchairs. Before anyone could so much as jump out of their seats in alarm, a whirling ball of black and red fur sped out from under the chair in question in raging fury. The entangled creatures were hissing and lashing out at each other with sharp claws. It took Regina a moment to realize the black half of the violent heap was Oddball. She stared at the fighting cats in shock.
"Queenie!"
The girl with the face like a pug roughly made her way through the bystanders who were now watching the spectacle with interest, some of them cheering on either one of the animals. Pansy Parkinson tried to untangle the two cats and free her beloved pet, but was scratched in the process and backed away with a cry of pain and her hands clutched to her chest. This seemed to have made Regina recover from her initial shock, because she too attempted to break up the fight. The cats' claws didn't spare her from any scratches either, but at last she managed to tear Oddball away from the ginger cat. She had a hard time trying to keep him still, especially since the other cat now lunged at her legs in an attempt to get to her nemesis.
"Could someone please get this beast off me?!"
When no immediate rescue followed, she kicked at the animal, which shrieked and ran off hissing indignantly. Parkinson chased after Queenie, while Regina tried her best to calm down Oddball, meanwhile doing all she could to ignore the amused expressions on the rest of her classmates' faces.
She sat back down in her armchair, all the while whispering softly to her cat and petting him. She checked him for possible injuries, but all Oddball got was a good scare. Her fellow students, though, had got a good show and were loudly discussing the fight. Some mused some sort of rematch would probably be in order, because in the end neither of the cats had had their victory, but Regina just glared at them and continued comforting her cat.
It didn't take long for Pansy Parkinson to show up in front of her, fuming and clutching a wriggling ball of fur.
"You!" she spat out. "That vicious animal of yours attacked my poor sweetheart! You shouldn't be allowed to keep such a rabid beast!"
Regina rose from her chair in a sudden wave of anger, and her shouting was no quieter than that of the pug-faced girl. "I beg your pardon?! Oddball would never do such a thing! He is the sweetest thing alive! How do you know it wasn't your precious Princess that started this whole thing?"
"It's Queenie," Parkinson barked, "and I know because… well, look at that ugly thing you're holding! It has 'wild, raving beast' written all over it!"
Before she knew what she was thinking, Regina blurted out: "I would think that you of all people should know not to judge things by the way they look!"
Some of the spectators gasped, and then there was a moment of silence. Parkinson apparently had quite of a reputation. Regina took a step back, felt Oddball struggling to break free and tightened her grip. The ginger fur-ball in Parkinson's arms hissed.
Much to Regina's relief, but even more to her surprise, one of the others stepped in at that point. It was Tracey Davis, one of the two girls who Regina remembered chatting in the dormitory as she made her way down to the common room.
"Pansy, I think you're overreacting here," the blond girl said with an air of derision.
Pansy Parkinson positively fumed. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"
Davis snorted. "I'm on the side of the cat that didn't try to bite me on the way here, thank you! That thing you have there is dangerous, I tell you."
Parkinson looked surprised for just a moment before she adopted her usual haughty expression again. She glanced at the group of people surrounding them as if looking for support, but when it didn't come she raised her chin up high and said: "Fine. Not my fault you have a poor taste in friends." Then she turned on her heel and walked away, followed by a few hesitant individuals assumed to be friends of hers who looked like they'd really rather be somewhere else at the time.
Regina stared at Parkinson's retreating back until she was out of sight. She was still baffled by all this and didn't know quite how to feel about it. What she did know though was that she was just about ready to kick herself. Making a scene on the first day of school? What was she thinking?
After the incident she sat down with Tracey Davis and thanked her. Most of the other students were once again minding their own business, but Regina did notice occasional glances being thrown in her direction. Malfoy was already up on a chair and waving his arms about, no doubt telling about how he heroically caught the mad, black beast at the lake and gracefully returned it to its owner. She guessed so since Malfoy's audience occasionally gasped and turned to look at her and at the black cat in her lap with a touch of suspicion or a hint of fearful awe in their gazes. Regina rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the whole thing. A few moments later another girl joined the two of them. Regina realised this was the same black-haired girl Tracey had been talking to in the dormitory.
"Regina, was it? I'm Millicent."
Regina would have said she remembered Millicent's name from the Sorting Ceremony, but the girl was far too enthusiastic and kept rattling on without interruption.
"You know, don't worry about Pansy, she's just a bit high-strung, really. They say she's like that because her mummy spoils her and she's used to getting what she wants. Just like that cat of hers, now I think of it. You know, when we were on the train, Pansy was constantly feeding her cat sweets of all sorts, ha, no wonder the fur-ball got so fat. I think Pansy herself should cut back on the sweets too, if you know what I mean..."
And so it went on and on. After a while Regina stopped paying attention altogether. She was happy to simply sit there, let the chatter wash over her and nod every now and then. Oddball purred as she stroked him absentmindedly. The warmth from the fire and the previous excitement during the incident made her feel dozy. She noticed some of the others had already traded in the common room for their dormitories, and soon the rest of them were ushered to their beds by the Prefects as well.
On the way down the stairs, Regina anxiously tried to remember where exactly Pansy Parkinson slept. Keeping the pitiful amount of good fortune she had had today in mind, she half suspected it to be the bed next to hers, but she was lucky. Parkinson occupied the middle bed on the opposite side of the room and didn't even so much as glance in Regina's direction. On Regina's left was Daphne Greengrass, next to which was Tracey's bed. Opposite to Tracey was her friend Millicent, and the bed opposite Regina herself remained empty.
She changed into her pyjamas, didn't think twice about putting Oddball in his cage instead of letting him sleep on her stomach, and exchanged good night wishes with the rest of the girls (apart from Pansy Parkinson, of course). At exactly 11:00 p.m. the lights went out and Regina drew her curtains shut, but there were still whispered conversations between some of the girls. She curled up beneath the blankets and felt sleep creeping in. In the dark, she could make out one blue and one yellow eye staring up at her pleadingly from the cage. Regina mentally shook her head firmly and thought: 'This is the second time you've got me into some sort of trouble, you bloody cat.' She sighed, but then smiled to herself. At least you could say she had, in some way, made friends tonight.
Author's Note Part Two: Tracey Davis and Millicent Bullstrode are two of the characters I could find the least information about, so I decided they should become friends of Regina. It's harder to screw up characters that aren't well-known and this leaves much more room for my own interpretation.
I don't know if Pansy Parkinson had a cat or not. I don't think it's mentioned in the books. Again, this is my own interpretation and an attempt to make something interesting out of this. Also, I know little of the behaviour of cats, so feel free to correct me. Unfortunately for me, I've never heard of dogs being allowed as pets at Hogwarts, so this will have to do.
Hope you enjoyed. Next chapter will definitely be up sooner than this one was.