I managed to catch up with Belinda, although she was too happy about it. But she was far to polite to walk off again or say anything, so we continued to walk in awkard silence towards the carts. As we approached, one of the older Slytherin boys, in Draco's year, the one above us, ran past us with a few of his mates, slapping Belinda lightly on the bum as they went, cheering and teasing her in a friendly, playful way. This caused her sullen expression to turn into a huge grin. She always loved getting that sort of attention, and she called back remarks of 'in your dreams!' and 'yeah,i bet you would!' which helped our situation greatly, as i laughed along with her and we giggled to each other at each remark they gave. After they had gotten onto a cart of their own, i linked arms with her and hauled her up onto another one, with a few of the more gossipy Slytherin girls Belinda liked, because they always believed everything they heard, and most of it was from Belinda herself, which pleased her some what. They started giggling and squeling almost as soon as we sat down, questioning Belinda on what had just happened. Belinda sighed, acting as if it was the most boring task to talk to them, but after a matter of seconds, she leant in and started discribing her summer romance in elaborate detail, all of the other girls hanging on her every word. I listened too, because although i knew none of it was true and Belinda in actual fact was a very innocent girl, i still enjoyed hearing what she came up with, and i loved watching the other's expressions. It was always entertaining. I looked back out of the cart as it started to rumble towards Hogwarts, and saw him standing there, as beautiful as ever, staring back at me, with a thoughtful expression on his face. I was once again caught in his gaze for a moment, then i forced myself to look away. I swore to myself, there and then, that i would not become one of Draco Malfoy's prizes. I would not let him win me over. It would be hard, because he basically already had, but who knows. Annoying him might even be fun.
Once Belinda had finshed her story, because thats all it was, the girls all suddenly started asking her a flurry of questions, mainly about the boys she'd had an earlier confrontation with, wanting to know how she got them to like her and did she like any of them. Her response was a cool and collected, 'It's a natural gift, I suppose' with a smug expression on her face. I'd always wondered if Belinda belonged in Slytherin about as much as I did. She was a sweet, kind, friendly girl who worked hard and got good grades. But it was moments when she showed her fairly enormous ego that i remembered, theres a cunning bitch beneath that smile. I suppose i liked her for that, the fact there was more to her than met the eye. I was thinking about this when suddenly, one of the girls asked her about something that completely caught me off guard.
'So what about Draco? I saw you two getting close on the train. He sat with you, didn't he?' she said. The whole cart positively shook with the squels of excited girls. But Belinda's smile faded. She looked at me, and i ducked away from her gaze in embarressment. But i thought to myself, no, i'm not going to let her do this, i'm going to help her. So i lent forwards, and started whispering to the girls.
'Oh yeah, Belinda was kind enough to let me sit with them too. I felt like i was intruding on some sort of private date or something, with the atmosphere of that carriage. They were talking and laughing the whole way here, sat opposite each other, gazing into their eyes. I felt a bit like a gooseberry, if i'm honest' I embelished the story a little, and didn't mention the whole trunk thing, and suddenly they were listening to me as if i was Belinda herself. They were in total awe of her, for i was making out that she had been in a total romance type of journey with the Prince of Slytherin. Even Belinda was listening to me, on tender hooks, and when i'd finished, she grinned at me happily, as all the girls asked her if it was all true, and she just winked and tapped her nose, saying 'aah, well. I could tell you, but i'd have to kill you.' which made them all groan, and continue to badger her with questions. When we got off and went our own way, away from the giggling group, she linked arms with me, and whispered,
'Was that what it looked like from your point of view? Was he really gazing at me?' with a look of hope on her face. I decided that she'd probably forgotten about the whole trunk fiasco, so i endulged her.
'Oh yeah, he couldn't take his eyes off you.' I told her, smiling to myself. Just then, a streak of grace and charm pushed past us, followed by the two oafs, and stormed into the castle. Draco seemed to be in a bit of a mood.