CHAPTER 2:
With weary looks on their faces and obvious disappointment that the weekend was over, the mumbled conversation between Harry and Ron ground to a stumbling halt as they approached the entrance to the Great Hall. As they walked in the door, they noticed that Hermione was already present and seated mid-way up the Gryffindor Table with Cassandra. Ron and Harry exchanged a quick glance as they moved forward to join their friends. "Hi Harry, Ron," said Hermione breathlessly. It was clear from her rosy cheeks that she had been laughing. "Cass's just been telling me about her holidays."
"Sounds like she had fun!" muttered Harry to Ron under his breath, causing Ron to choke on his mouthful of pumpkin juice.
With a scowl in Ron's direction, Hermione pulled her timetable from her bag. "Ancient Runes first" she mumbled "I should really re-read that chapter." She pulled a massive volume from her bag, propped it against a jug of pumpkin juice, opened it, and began to read.
"I never got to find out how you two of you know each other" said Harry was looking between Ron and Cassandra. Ron looked shiftily over his shoulder, checking for eavesdroppers; "Cass's parents are in the Order too." Before Harry could comment there was a loud crash and Neville skidded to a halt next to their seat. "Hi Harry! Hi Ron! Hi Cass!" panted Neville, as a crowd of Slytherins roared with laughter from across the Great Hall. Ron, whose mouth had been open to introduce Cassandra to Neville, closed it in surprise. "Neville…how…?" he asked. "My Grandma knows Cass's family" said Neville "from when my parents where in the Order." Harry quickly looked at his knees; he was the only one who knew that Neville's parents had been tortured to insanity by Death Eaters, and were not dead as many other students presumed.
At that moment, breaking the increasingly awkward silence, the post arrived. Harry looked up hopefully, but could see no snowy white among the crowds of brown and grey. A large Barn Owl, however, landed in front of Neville. Tied to it's leg was a baby blue, embossed envelope. Neville untied it eagerly, a smile playing at the edge of his lips. As he broke the seal, the Hall was filled with the fresh, sweet scent of Summer lilac. As one, the Hall turned to look at the group of Gryffindors. A bright red blush gradually spread over Neville's cheeks and it was then that Draco Malfoy suddenly appeared behind them. "Got a letter Longbottom?" he sneered "interesting smell, I didn't know your Grandmother knew what perfume was!" It was then that Neville decided to make things worse for himself: "It's from Genevieve; she's my Girlfriend" Draco broke into a fit of loud laughter. "Did I hear you wrong Longbottom, because I could have sworn you said Girlfriend" he put all his emphasis on this word and practically shouted it, so that now the whole Hall was laughing as well. "You heard right!" yelled Neville as he stood up. "We met at the Yule Ball last year and you know what else Draco…SHE LOVES ME!"
"Excuse me!" thundered Professor McGonagall from the staff table. "Mr. Malfoy, return to your seat immediately! Mr. Longbottom, sit down now! If either of you raise your voices again, then I'll put you both on detention."
Upon hearing the anger in the Professor's voice, Draco Malfoy skulked away, glaring over his shoulder at the Gryffindor's as he went.
"So much for an uneventful morning!" muttered Ron quietly to Harry. "We'd better get to class" he said aloud, standing and swinging his bag over his shoulder. Harry, Neville and Cassandra rose as well, collected their things and began to walk slowly in the direction of the North Tower.
As they passed the statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor, they ran into Ginny, with a girl that Harry didn't recognise. "Hi!" exclaimed Ginny, in a cheerful voice that was not entirely in keeping with the prevailing mood of the others. "This is my friend Molly. She left at the end of first year to go to France with her parents. You might have seen her with the Beauxbatons girls last year."
"Hi!" said Harry, Neville and Cass together, and when Ron said nothing, they all turned to look at him. Ron's ears and cheeks had turned the same colour as his flaming red hair. Unbeknown to the other boys, he was remembering a very private moment at the Yule Ball last year, spent in the rose bushes with Molly, who at that moment was also gradually turning scarlet. "Anyway…" said Ginny, breaking the awkward silence "we'd better get to class. See you in the Common Room later!" and they walked away.
When Harry, Ron and Cassandra reached the silver ladder that was the entrance to the Divination classroom, they once again encountered Draco Malfoy, but this time he was not alone. "Tory!" exclaimed Cassandra, and with a flurry of robes they ran to hug each other. With a smirk in the direction of the other boys, Draco turned and began to ascend the ladder to the classroom. With a sigh, Harry, Ron and Neville did the same, followed eventually by Cassandra and Victoria. Once inside the classroom, the girls separated; Cassandra sitting with Harry, Ron and Neville and Victoria sitting with Malfoy. From her pouffe on the other side of the room, Cassandra noticed with interest just how close Victoria and Draco were sitting, and how they appeared to be in deep conversation together. Cassandra smiled to herself; personally she didn't know what Victoria saw in Draco, but she was happy for her just the same.
It was true that Victoria and Draco were sitting very close; so close in fact that Victoria could smell his musky aftershave. "So Miss Bennett," said Draco quietly, "How did you enjoy your first night at Hogwarts? Was everyone nice to you?"
"I have a funny feeling," said Victoria slowly, "that Pansy doesn't like me." Draco laughed at this remark "I don't think Pansy likes anyone; except maybe herself."
"And you" interjected Victoria and Draco laughed once again "Well, you really can't blame her for that, can you?" Before Victoria could comment, Professor Trelawney appeared from the shadows beside the oppressively sweet fire. "Good morning class. Today we will be discussing the prophetic quality of dreams. I presume you all purchased a copy of The Dream Oracle during the holidays?"
Lavender and Parvati who were sitting at the table next to Victoria and Draco sighed with longing and anticipation. "Oh please!" muttered Dea, loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Everyone knows that people with real talent don't bother with Fortune Telling!" Upon hearing this, Professor Trelawney snapped in a voice which was not at all like the mystical one she normally cultivated: "People without the talent of the Inner Eye are always the biggest critics" and with much swishing of shawls and clinking of bangles, she swept off to join Lavender and Parvati.
With a sigh the class as one, pulled out their copies of The Dream Oracle and opened them to the chapter on interpretation of dreams. "So Miss Bennett," mused Draco, "are you a Quidditch fan?" Victoria scoffed and stared at him bemusedly: "Is that even a question?"
"I presume you fly then?"
"I've flown since I was 3. My first broom was a Cleansweep 5, but I've gone up in the world since then."
"Really? What do you fly now?"
"A Comet 290; it was my mother's."
The look of bewilderment was evident on Draco's face: "Really?"
"Is there anything wrong?" she retorted sharply, a threatening note in her voice.
"No nothing" replied Draco quickly. "Anyway, I was wondering," he continued in his smooth voice "whether you'd like to try-out for the Slytherin Quidditch team."
"Um..." Said Victoria, clearly unsure. It was true that she loved Quidditch, however she was naturally wary of all the attention Draco was paying her.
"The try-outs are tomorrow," Said Draco "and…" he hesitated before continuing, "I'd really like you to come." He murmured, before reaching across the table for her hand. He clasped her hand in his as he whispered quietly and quite seductively in her ear: "So, what do you say?" Before Victoria could answer, Professor Trelawney rose from where she had been sitting with Lavender and Parvati. "My dears, I'd like you to compile a dream diary recording your dreams each night for a week." The class groaned collectively before packing their bags and descending the silver ladder to the fresher air of the corridor.
The next class of the day for the Slytherins and Gryffindors was potions. As a collective mass they all traversed the various staircases and corridors until they reached Snape's dungeon. The class filed inside, becoming suddenly deathly quiet as soon as they had crossed the threshold. Quills, parchment and ink were taken quickly out of bags by the silent students.
With the smash of the heavy dungeon door against the wall to herald his arrival, Professor Severus Snape swept into the room, his robes billowing out behind him like a cape. "Quiet!" He called needlessly in his slightly nasal voice, which reminded the listener of the warning rumble that preceded a lion's roar. "Today we will be creating the extremely complicated Albinus Bestia potion which may come up in your OWLs. Instructions are on the board. Begin!"
Yet again Victoria was sitting with Draco and they looked as if they were deep in conversation. Cassandra was so busy watching them that she didn't hear Hermione ask her to pass the scales so she could weigh out the 4 ounces of fumigating figs the potion required. "Cassie!" called Hermione loudly, arousing her from her glassy faced contemplation of the couple. "What are you sta….. oh!" exclaimed Hermione as she saw Draco and Victoria laughing together as Draco helped Victoria cut up the winged beezlebubs; his hand over hers as she held the knife. "Do you think that he…? Do you think they're…?"
"I think so," said Cassandra nodding. "I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet but I definitely think there's something going on! Tory's always had a bit of a 'thing' for bad boys!"
"I've never seen Draco look at anyone like that before!" exclaimed Hermione in wonderment, "…except maybe his reflection!" Both the girls giggled audibly, which resulted in Snape shooting a scathing glance in their direction, which withered them both into a whispered silence. They proceeded to discuss Draco and Victoria's love life in hushed undertones for the rest of the lesson, often regarding the blissfully ignorant couple and subsiding into silent laughter.
As soon as Snape had collected his flasks of potion for marking, set an incredibly long essay on the 27 uses of Fumigating Figs in modern potion-making and finally dismissed them; Harry, Ron, Hermione and Cassandra walked briskly upstairs for lunch followed by their fellow classmates who were all as hungry as they were!
"Sheperd's Pie!" exclaimed Ron, who proceeded to pile it onto his plate and stuff great forkfuls into his mouth. "T'y shum 'Er my ne! 's good!" said Ron enthusiastically regardless of his full mouth. "Honestly Ronald! Do you ever think of anything other than food?" With a hopeless shrug in the direction of Ron and Hermione, which elicited a laugh from Cassandra, Harry sat down. As Harry was helping himself to some pie, Cassandra studied his face; untidy black hair, strong jaw line, his legendary scar, and as he turned back to face her, his gorgeous green eyes. 'Now here's a real man' she thought 'Tory's bad boy Draco is nothing on Harry Potter!'
