"So...How was your summer?" asked James. As if this wasn't already awkward enough.
"Um. Fine," I said softly, "How was yours?" I am an embarrassment to life. No joke. Yeah, back off bitches, there's a new sheriff in town. The sheriff of...um...awkwardness? Yes. That's it.
Sometimes I wonder how I became so amazingly cool.
"Pretty good, but I think you knew that already, considering the fact that I was at your house for half of it."
"Oh. Right." What a git. He was the one who asked me how my summer was first, and when I ask him, he makes me look all stupid. Well you know what, Potter? I think you should've known how my summer was, considering the fact that you were at my house for half of it. HA. I bet you feel stupid now, don't you? Damn right.
We continued down the train to the prefects compartment which, fortunately, was not very far. Potter slid open the door and waved me forward, allowing me to enter the compartment first. How sweet (but not really).
All of the prefects had arrived before us, which meant that we were a bit late. Oops?
Roxanne Weasley, this year's Head Girl and Fred's twin sister, attempted to look stern but ruined the effect by let a slight smile grace her lips. Somehow, George Weasley had spawned a child that was actually kind of serious. Well, as serious as any child of his could be. Roxanne was studious, but not incredibly so. I knew for a fact that a few of the pranks pulled over the years were her ideas. Although Fred was much more loud and boisterous, Roxy was only a few steps behind. The only difference was that Roxy was much more subtle about it, so none of the professors really suspected a thing. As far as they were concerned, Roxanne Weasley was an angel sent from heaven. With her looks, she might as well be. With her long black locks, blue eyes and lightly tanned skin, Roxy had always gotten a fair amount of attention from boys. Not that Fred let her do anything about it. Weasley boys were very protective.
My prefect partner was Brian McLaggen, prat extradonaire. Yes, this not-so-fine young man was truly an insult to humanity. He was Rose's boyfriend in second year (her very first boyfriend, in fact) but he broke up with her because she was "too clingy". So what if she tried to follow him into the bathroom a few times? She was obviously enamored by his...er...well, I can't think of anything at this exact moment. Don't worry, it'll come to me. Wait for it.
...
Alright, fine, I got nothing. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, okay? Plus, McLaggen smells like cheese. Not the good kind, either.
Roxanne and the Head Boy, Jacob Clevely, talked about our rounds and shit like that. I didn't bother to pay attention, they were going to give out sheets that told us when and where our rounds were anyway, so what was the point? You thought I was a good girl, didn't you? Well, you thought wrong. I'm a rebel, bitches. Like a tiger. Watch out, or I'll pounce. ROAR!
"Alena? Are you okay? You look kind of constipated," said Roxanne, looking rather worried, "Maybe you should go back to your compartment and rest a bit. This meeting is over, you are all free to go back to your compartments or stay here." I blushed deeply and gave a quick nod in reply, embarrassed about the strange faces I had unknowingly been making to go with my tiger noises. Perhaps I should stop talking to myself in my head?
Nah.
Quickly, I stumbled out of the compartment, my face still hot and red as a tomato. That's embarrassing. Maybe I'll get fat too, with all the eating I do, and I'll turn into a real tomato. Wouldn't that be great fun? Everyone could just roll me around, all over Hogwarts. Maybe someone would roll me all the way into the Black Lake and I would just float in there, like some sort of giant red balloon.
I think you're jealous that my hopes and dreams are cooler than yours. Be jealous.
"Are you sure you're alright? You look really red. Is your temperature burning up? Do you feel like you're going to blow up?" There comes Potter's voice once again, following me around creepily. With his illogical assumptions. Seriously? Blow up? Who comes up with something like that?
"Um. I - I'm sure. I just...it's kind of...hot?"
"Yes, you are," he mumbled, studying me carefully. What? What did he just say? What is he doing? Is he - dare I say it - checking me out? Oh. Wow. That is. Awkward. Slightly.
I coughed lightly, shifting my weight and blushing even more.
"Uh, I mean...Let's go back to the compartment," he said, now blushing a bit himself. I just made James Potter blush by saying absolutely nothing. Well actually, I do a lot of things by saying absolutely nothing. My brain thinks, but my mouth doesn't speak. That's how I roll. Like a ball. Balls roll. I had this really nice yellow ball with red polka dots when I was 8, it was great fun to play with. Until Seb decided to see what would happen if he inserted a needle into it.
Wait, did he just say THE compartment? Since when are him and his douchebag friends sitting with us (no offense, Seb)? I was hoping they might've left by now.
Shitsicles.
***
"ALENA!" I jerked awake and rubbed my eyes tiredly. Ugh. Go away. Rose, Rose, go away, come again another day. I had finally fallen asleep after listening and watching my brother and his stupid friends take over our once peaceful compartment. Okay, so it wasn't exactly peaceful, but close enough, right?
"Wha? Wha happen?" groaned Dom, attempting to push Rose away from her makeshift bed. It consisted of various articles of clothing (don't you dare think dirty) and a few Chocolate Frog wrappers. Lovely.
"We're getting off the train, you idiots! Let's go!" yelled Rose, her exasperation evident in her voice. Dom responded by mumbling various curses and slowly rolling off her seat. I stood and stretched slowly, yawning and rubbing my eyes. I love sleep.
The three of us were the only ones left in the compartment, and, according to Rose's incessant screeching, the only ones left in the whole train.
"Right. Let's go," I whispered, my voice horribly croaky from my nap. Dom had finally managed to stand up and gather her possessions. We walked out of the scarlet train tiredly and approached the nearest carriage, which happened to contain my brother and his pets (and by pets, I mean friends). Neither Dom or I greeted them, obviously frustrated by 1) our interruption of sleep and 2) being seated with annoying...things.
As we approached the castle, my eyes sparkled slightly with tears. I hadn't realized how much I had missed this place. My school. My home. No matter how upset I was, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry truly had a magical effect, one which could not be achieved with a wand.
***
The Sorting ceremony was insignificant, and the feast was delicious as always. By the end of it all, I was dead tired. I think I went a bit loopy at one point, chattering to myself about a hippogriff's typical diet.
Bollocks, I have gone loopy.
Rose, Dom and I shared a dormitory, along with two other girls, Valerie and Anna. Valerie was a nice girl, but kept mostly to herself and was incredibly shy. She was a lot like me in that respect, but I highly doubted that she was secretly mental. Anna was...well...not so nice. Actually, Dom called her Queen Bitch, which pretty much summed up her personality. When we were younger, she bullied me quite a bit. She would push me around, hex me in the corridors, make my potions go awry. Me being the wimp that I am never did anything, but Rose and Dom kicked her ass for me. Needless to say, she never attempted to bully me again. Of course, occasional snide comments escape her mouth sometimes, but we let her off with warnings. By we, I mean Rose and Dom. Just in case you mistook me for a brave person. Honestly, I have no idea how the hell I ended up in Gryffindor. I'll have to have a chat with that senile Sorting Hat someday.
I collapsed on to my bed and drew the curtains, sighing in relief at the warmth and softness of my bed. Utter bliss.
***
"WAKE UP! EVERYBODY WAKE UP!"
"Shut the fuck up Weasley, I have a free period," grumbled Anna, chucking a hairbrush at Rose. She wasn't acting half as bitchy as she normally did. Holy shit sticks, I must be tired! I just talked about Anna positively!
Why is Rose always the one to disturb everyone's sleep? She's going to gain a lot of enemies. Trust me, I am not a good enemy to have.
Alright, I'm bluffing, I'm probably the best enemy to have because I wouldn't do anything, but you know what? Wait, what? I don't even know what. What am I saying? What?
After we got Rose to calm down a bit, we got dressed and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, something I really needed at the moment.
"Good morning," greeted Fred, chewing on blueberry pancakes. I love blueberry pancakes. Give. Me. The. Pancakes. Fred must have noticed me glaring at the pancakes, because he dropped those suckers on my plate immediately. Sorry for scaring you, Freddie boy. I just need me some pancakes.
"What classes do you three have?" asked Potter, watching Seb fall asleep on his toast.
"We all have History of Magic together right after breakfast," replied Dom, munching on some scrambled eggs. Gross. Eggs are chicken period, did you know that? Ugh.
"Actually, we have History of Magic in about 5 minutes. Let's get going," said Rose, pulling Dom away from her breakfast.
"RO-OSE! I'm hungry!" Poor Dom. I stood up and followed them out of the Great Hall. Potter waved at me. I pretended not to notice.
Atleast I could get a nice nap out of this class. I always attempted to pay attention at the beginning, but I always ended up getting too bored and falling asleep. In fact, I think Rose is the only who's ever actually paid attention to what dreary old Binns says. She should probably get a prize. I'm pretty sure the only other person who has ever managed to stay awake is Rose's mother, Hermione Weasley.
Binns was just blabbing on and on about useless things that nobody really cares about. Honestly, who gives two shits about Randolph the Raunchy and his sexual escapades?
...Wait, what?
***
By the end of our last class, I was ready to shoot myself. Honestly, we just had our O.W.L.s last year, cut us come slack.
I was walking down the corridor with Rose from Potions (Dom dropped it, said Professor Slughorn was barmy) when I heard someone shouting Rose's name.
"ROSE! ROSE!" It was, of course, Scorpius, ready to begin his duties as Rose's very own personal stalker. I swear, that boy is bipolar. One minute he's in love with Rose, following her around like a lost puppy, and the next he's participating in a screaming match with her. It drives all of us insane. Especially Al, since he has to listen to that wanker admiring (or insulting) his cousin every 5 minutes.
"Scorpius, come back! Come on mate, we talked about this!" Al yelled, breathing heavily. Apparently, he had to run after Scorpius to stop him from finding Rose. That's kind of scary.
"Rose, go out with me! Please?" gasped Scorpius.
"I don't know Scorpius. Um...Alena's er...uncle...he died," lied Rose, "Yeah. He died and I have to be there for Alena in her time of need. Sorry." ROOSSIIEEE. Why do you get me into these situations? Now I have to lie to the poor boy.
"Oh. I didn't know. Maybe another time then, Rose. I'm sorry Alena." Rose grinned at me and gave the thumbs up, signaling to go along with it. I gave him a nervous smile and nodded, partly because I was scared the truth would come out if I opened my mouth (I was never a good liar), and partly because I was pretty sure there was something stuck in my teeth.
"Besides, now you have time to fix your hair, Weasley." See what I mean? This guy is bipolar.
Rose scowled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she screeched, "Are you making fun of my hair? I'll have you know, I use the best hair tamer out there, Sleekeazy's Hair Potion!"
Scorpius snorted and retorted with something to insult her further. Al and I exchanged glances. He tilted his head towards the Great Hall and I nodded. Dinner time!
***
After an extremely filling dinner, we started toward the Common Room. Dom was chattering about some guy who had winked at her in Divination whilst Rose questioned whether her brain was addled due to the fact that she even took Divination. I rubbed my stomach contentedly and burped rather loudly. Someone nearby cleared their throat.
"Oh, hey James!" greeted Rose. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Why do I burp so loud? Why does Merlin hate me?
The prat smirked at me and said hello back. All four of us entered the Common Room through the portrait hole with the rather interesting password, "Vomitus tortulas", which translated to "vomit biscuits". Are they running out of passwords or something? Rose and Dom shared a look as we entered and ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitories without a backwards glance. What the bloody hell?
Potter and I stood there awkwardly. I stared at the floor as if it had suddenly become very interesting. La la la. La. La. I'm a great singer, aren't I? I think I'll release an album soon. It'll be bigger than Celestina Warbeck's album "You Stole My Cauldron but You Can't Have My Heart". Although, admittedly, that particular album of hers wasn't very popular. In fact, I'm pretty sure Rose's Grandma Weasley is the only one who even bought it. Pfffttt, whatever. I'm still pro.
Merlin, I am bored. I wonder if we could get some belly dancers to come to Hogwarts for entertainment. They could perform in between classes. It would be great!
"I have to go to bed, I've scheduled a Quidditch practice for tomorrow at 6 so...Yeah. Bye," said Potter, finally deciding to speak. Well, good riddance!
"Um. Yes. Alright. Er...bye then," I replied softly, still not looking up. He was still standing there, I could see his shoes on the ground. Not moving. Ugh, leave already!
After about 5 more minutes of debating with myself in my head, I looked up slowly, only to see Potter staring at me. That's not creepy at all. I coughed awkwardly and began to rock back and forth on my feet. Slowly, my hands moved up to my mouth and my nails disappeared between my teeth. Yes, I bite my nails when I'm nervous. Yes, it's disgusting. Yes, you should fuck off.
Potter continued to stare at me.
"James? Don't you er...have to go now?" I whispered frightfully. Okay, I'm a bit scared because of his creepy staring. Shh.
"Why do you do that?" he asked. Huh?
"Huh?"
"You know. Talk so quietly. Hesitate between words."
"Uh..." What is he saying? How am I supposed to answer that? That's way too personal, buddy boy.
He gazed at me intensely for a few more minutes and then took a few steps towards me. Oh dear.
"I...Never mind. Good night then, Reed." He turned abruptly and jogged up the stairs to his dormitory.
What just happened?