As we got off of the Hogwarts Express, Draco bumped into my shoulder purposely. I dropped my trunk and it opened, spilling some of my things. I felt my hands spark and I felt Blaise restrain me as I glared at Draco with eyes burning with fury. That boy was going to lose his life if he wasn't careful, which he obviously wasn't. Pursuing my anger further, Draco just smirked at me and then walked along with his own trunk. "Calm down." Blaise murmured in my ear, and I closed my eyes, shaking my head. Then I felt him release me and he bent down to pick up my things. I opened my eyes and gave him a small, feeble smile before getting on my knees to pick up my books. "Thanks." I muttered, and then put my books back in my trunk. "No problem." He said, and he got up as I closed my trunk. Then I got up, holding it by the handle.
Blaise rolled his eyes and took the handle from my grip as he started pulling my trunk. I smirked at him as I stole it back and walked ahead of him. "I was trying to be nice!" He called after me and I scoffed. "More like flirting, Zabini!" I yelled, grinning to myself as I shook my head. Sometimes he was the flirtiest person I knew, and sometimes he was the most understanding. This was one of the flirty times obviously, and he was trying hard. I don't see why though…he knew my secret…
I heard him jog after me and then he was by my side.
Damn. I'd thought he would just give up this time…
"You don't think you can get away that easily, do you?" He asked smoothly and I laughed. "Nice try Blaise, but I'll shag you as soon as I'll listen to my damned mother." I said, and he frowned. "Bloody hell…that'll be never." He sighed heavily, seeming like losing his chance with me in bed was a loss. Which it kind of was for him, I could sense that from his posture. "Aww, don't worry Blaise. You'll have your time to shine in bed, just not with me." I said, cooing the words mockingly as he scowled at me playfully. I rolled my eyes, smiling as I looked ahead of me again. We were heading toward carriages, but there was something in front of them. A black form…
A gasp came from my lips as my eyes widened at the site of the frail-looking, black horses hooked up to the carriages. Blaise touched my arm and looked where I was looking, confused. "What's the matter?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing. "Don't you see those things?" I asked, pointing to one. "What things? There's nothing there, Lila." He said, sounding confused and surprised. I never acted out like this, so it was shocking to him. The horse looked at me and we stared at each other for a few seconds before it looked away and in front of it.
A soft voice came from behind me. "Thestrals, gentle creatures really." My head turned to see a blonde girl with blue eyes, and she was looking at the creatures as well. My eyebrows furrowed, and I looked back at the creatures. "Bug off, Looney." Blaise said harshly, and the girl looked at him with a somewhat hurt look. But there seemed to be more of a dreamy look mainly. "Shut your mouth, Blaise." I snapped at him, my eyes darkening for a moment before I looked back at the girl. He flinched at my tone and took a step away from me. "Thestrals? I've never heard of them though…" I said, frowning a bit at the girl. "Most people haven't because most people can't see them, like you and I can. You can only see them if you've seen death." She said, her voice airy. I froze at the word and closed my eyes. "That's…definitely something I've seen." I managed, and she patted my shoulder lightly. "You're not the only one." She said, and then I heard her walk away. My eyes opened as I looked at the thestrals again, and one whinnied softly at me. Blaise seemed oblivious to the noise, but that was probably because he hasn't seen someone die like I have.
It was a sight I never wished for him to see, as he was my friend.
"Come on, Lila. The carriage is about to leave." His voice broke me out of my trance, and I realized that I had stepped closer to the odd creature, the thestral. His hand took me by my elbow firmly and guided me up into the carriage. He had been nice enough as to put my trunk under the seat for me. I sat, but my eyes were looking at the creatures; the thestrals. They were…kind of scary yet they seemed graceful at the same. It was an odd pairing of traits. "Might want to tone the emotion down, your eyes are lightening to pale blue." Blaise muttered and I blinked, looking at him. I felt my eyes darken to normal and I shook my head. "Sorry…just intrigued." I murmured, and then sighed as I watched trees go by. He rubbed my arm lightly, and it calmed me further more. "Thanks." I said, not looking at him. "No problem." He said, and I saw him smirk from the corner of my eye.
I rolled my eyes and flipped my hair playfully, making it hit his face. He coughed and then – using horrible theatrics – started leaning toward me, apparently from the force of the coughing. A laugh came from me and I shoved at his shoulder lightly, and he grinned playfully at me. "You're such a prat, Blaise Zabini." I said, and he smirked. "Thank you very much." I groaned and hit his arm lightly, then crossed my arms over my chest. But, knowing it would annoy me further more, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side. It was only now that I noticed that we were sitting with Draco, his whore, and his two goons. The arrogant prat that was the son of Lucius Malfoy had an eyebrow raised at the open affection between Blaise and I. "Blaise…" I whined, and he just chuckled. "You're an ass." I grumbled as he hugged me tighter to his side. That made him burst out laughing and I scowled playfully at the floor of the carriage.
"So, you guys are friends?" Draco said, curiosity in his voice as he looked at me intently. "'Course. How else do you think I would be able to play around with her and tease her like this if we weren't? She'd kill me." Blaise said, shooting me a look from the corner of his eye and I just looked away. A scoff came from Draco and his eyes were studying me. "I doubt it. She looks too weak to hurt anything." He said, and he was smirking at me now as I turned my head to glare at him. I felt my hands spark and Blaise immediately grabbed my hands and made me dig them into my sides. "Don't." He said lowly, but my eyes were glaring at Draco with anger and repulsion. "As if you could hurt anything. You're no better than your worthless father!" I snapped, and his eyes burned with fury. "My father is anything but worthless, but then again I'm looking at something worthless right now!" He said icily. My eyes narrowed. "I'm anything but worthless, you prat. I would tell you, but then I'd get in trouble. That isn't something I need considering I've already gotten kicked out of a school for trouble." I said stiffly, my lips in a hard line. He sneered at me. "Its too rich for my own blood to bet that you got kicked out of your last school because you were too busy being a skank." He said, disgust in his voice. "Want to find a skank? Take a look at yourself and that whore hanging onto your arm!" I hissed, and closed my eyes when I felt them go black.
My breathing was too heavy and I felt my nails digging into my skin, creating scratches. "You-" Blaise started murmuring to me to cloud out Draco's voice. "Keep control, you can't kill him without getting yourself killed. It wouldn't be worth it, Lila. Don't give in to temptation." He murmured repeatedly, and I breathed deeply. Control, control, control…something very hard to find nowadays. Especially for me, since I wasn't exactly the average witch. Whatever it was that was wrong with me made things more difficult. "Voldemort is going to kill me if he hears of this." I whispered and Blaise stiffened, leaning away from me when I spoke the name. I opened my eyes, but they were dark blue. "Keep your mouth shut about this…okay?" I said, gulping as my face paled. He nodded quickly and I closed my eyes again, shaking my head. Draco was confused by my change in behavior, and he wasn't understanding what I was doing or saying to Blaise.
But that was a good thing.
The carriage stopped and I immediately stood, swooping down to quickly grab my trunk and then I hopped to the ground quickly and hurried along. My eyes still weren't okay, but they were normal enough. "Lila!" Blaise yelled after me, but I just walked quicker. My sensitive ears could hear him hurrying, but he slowed for a moment and I heard him speak. "Just words of advice, Draco; don't piss her off." Then Blaise started hurrying again and his hand grabbed my wrist and tugged me back. "Let go before I singe you." I growled, and he immediately released me. "Don't let it get to you. He's just l-" I cut him off. "Oh, will you just shut up, Blaise? I'm fine!" I said angrily, my voice close to a yell. I started walking ahead of him and he didn't follow me. And right now, that was a good thing for him to do.
I accidentally bumped into someone and I looked up at him or her, and frowned. "Sorry." I said. He had dark hair, glasses, and green eyes. I also noticed the trace of a scar on his forehead under his bangs. "No problem." He said, giving a warm smile. I managed a small one back and then sighed. "I'm Lila, Lila Coltt." I said, putting my hand out. He took my hand lightly and he winced while my Dark Mark burned. Then he shook my hand once before dropping it quickly. He rubbed his forehead where his scar was, and my eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Are you alright?" I asked, frowning deeply at him. "Just fine…" He muttered; puzzled as he looked at me again. "I'm Harry Potter, by the way." He said, and then tensed as if he was waiting for something. I laughed, and shook my head. "You're used to having people freak out on you when you say that, aren't you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and he nodded slightly. "That obvious?" He asked sheepishly and I nodded, pursing my lips. I studied him for a moment, and my eyebrows furrowed a bit and my head tilted slightly. "I honestly don't get how Voldemort would want to harm you, it doesn't make any sense." I said finally, and he stared at me in shock. "You actually say his name?" He said and I nodded slowly. "Don't you?" I said, raising both of my eyebrows. He nodded.
"Then why are you so surprised that I do?" I questioned, and he shrugged. "Everyone just seems scared of the name. You're one of the only ones I've met that isn't." He said, and I rolled my eyes. "You'd be surprised." I muttered, looking away from him. Harry frowned a bit, and then smiled at me. "So, are you new? I haven't seen you at Hogwarts before." He said, his voice nonchalant. Sadly, I could tell that he was very curious. And though I usually blocked thoughts, I listened in on him. 'Wonder why my scar burned when I shook her hand…she doesn't seem like she would be involved with Voldemort…but then again, she isn't afraid to use Voldemort's name…I wonder if-' I immediately went out of his mind at the beginning of that thought and shrugged. "Ya, this is my first year here. The previous 4 years I was at Beaxbatons, but the headmistress got sick and tired and my presence and I was pretty close to being expelled before my parents took me away from there and sent me here. No idea why they would…but oh well." I half-lied.
I kind of knew the reason, and part of it was because of the person I was speaking to, and so I could be watched. And lets not forget the introduction to Draco Malfoy that was mandatory for me.
Harry raised his eyebrows, then they furrowed. "I don't hear an accent…" He said, confused as he frowned. I gave a tight smile. "I'm British, obviously, but my parents sent me to a French school. Everyone at the bloody school thought that I was a queer presence since I didn't sound like a student at Beaxbatons should, but I spoke the language one should know. Obviously, they were somewhat correct. That wasn't exactly a place I belonged but still, I was there." I said and he nodded slowly, absorbing this information. "Why do you think your parents just all of the sudden decided to send you here?" He inquired, his voice seeming careless and like he wasn't exactly going to get into the answer much. But the suspicion in him was building, and I didn't blame him. His scar had burned when I touched him, and all of the sudden – the year after Voldemort had risen again – I appear here where he is. Seems a bit conspicuous if you ask him, or even me for that matter.
"I don't know, they just wanted me out of the house again and not have me to worry about. Or rather so they don't have to worry about being annoyed by me." I said, snorting as I shook my head grimly. "So, here I am." I said, sighing as I looked around. Then I remembered something. "Oh, and so I can be watched here. They think I'm worthless and have no higher purpose! It's so wonderful. There is even someone here to watch me, Blaise Zabini. And oh, they want me to be buddies with Draco Malfoy, who is a complete angel…and lets not forget charming old Severus Snape, who just adores me." I said, sarcasm thick in my voice and Harry laughed.
"Anyways, that's about it." I said, laughing lightly as we continued walking toward the entrance of Hogwarts. I hadn't realized that we were walking until now, and I laughed at the idiotic realization. "Have we honestly been walking all this time?" I asked him and he blinked, and looked around. "Apparently." He said, and gave a sheepish smile to me. I rolled my eyes, and patted his shoulder. "Trust me, you aren't the only one who didn't notice." I said, letting my hand rest on his arm lightly for a moment before letting my arm drop back to my side. The feeling of burning eyes glaring at my back came to me and I turned my head slightly. Blaise was glaring at me and when he saw me looking back, he gave me a hard look and I just smirked at him before turning my head back. Harry hadn't noticed, and he seemed to be deep in thought. Since curiosity won when I deliberated on whether or not to listen in, I tuned in his mind.
'No…she isn't involved with that stuff. She couldn't be. She's too kind to do that, and I don't see how she would even let herself get involved with the Dark Arts. Unless she was forced…but I'm just taking a guess and saying that I was just overreacting when I shook her hand. I mean…when she touched my arm, it didn't burn. I must've been imagining the burning...' He thought and I sighed. Then decided to interrupt his thoughts. "How is Hogwarts though?" I asked, making my voice sound convincingly hesitant and apprehensive. He looked at me and then smiled a bit. "Well, Snape is horrible. Dumbledore and McGonagall are brilliant. Professor Trelawney is off her rocker. Sprout is okay…Flitwick is pretty good. Filch is horrible, though. Binns is dreadful, you're more likely to fall asleep rather than learn anything." I giggled at that and he grinned at me, and then continued. "Hagrid is great, a lot better teacher than Grubbly-Plank was. I hope he's back…" He sighed and then gave a smile. "Madam Pince is the reason you want to avoid the library, nasty woman. She doesn't take very kindly to anyone. Professor Burbage is good…I'm boring you, right?" He said, and looked at me, sheepish. "Not at all, not at all…its better to get the view of the teachers from someone else. Then I can have some sort of expectation." I said, smiling at him before looking away. I looked up to see we were practically in the entrance of Hogwarts. "Shall we?" I murmured, and Harry somehow heard me and chuckled.
We entered Hogwarts and I looked around, and my head tilted as I surveyed the décor. Then I suddenly remembered something and groaned. "What?" Harry asked, looking at me in confusion. "I need to go find Dumbledore, I was told to go and speak to him." I said, and then thought. "I'll be at the feast. Bye Harry, pleasure meeting you! See you around!" I said, dragging my trunk behind me as I sprinted around people and they looked at me weird, then ignored me. "LILA COLTT!" An irritated shout came from behind me and I skidded, and turned my head. Blaise was right there, breathing a bit harder than normal and he was looking at me with clear anger in his eyes. Though it seemed more like jealousy. "What? I have to find Dumbledore, Blaise." I snapped, and he narrowed his eyes. "We'll talk later. And I guarantee it." He said flatly before turning. I rolled my eyes and then sighed.
I was absolutely positive I was going to get chewed out by Blaise. But right now, I couldn't worry about that. I had to find Dumbledore.
With that thought, I started running toward where I knew his office was.