Chapter 9: Girl Meets Gryffindor

"Do you really think I'm one of those girls who follows rules and never gets into trouble?" - Riley Matthews, Girl Meets World (Episode), Girl Meets World

The bed was soft when I woke up. Hovering over me was my dad - who looked as happy as ever when he saw me. He gives me a massive hug as I found myself waking up. This hug wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but it felt soft and warm - something that I missed from my dad a lot ever since I was sorted in Slytherin. He seemed a bit distracted upon seeing the close curtains to keep Albus private but he seemed to have full attention on me.

"What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest and not being on the train with Potter and Malfoy?" He asks me.

I had to lie, "Trying to stop them from doing something stupid." My lying has gone from terrible to great in two years - yes, I lied to myself that I like Albus a lot, but I didn't want to admit it at all. I notice my father eye balling Harry as he sees Harry exit. Harry seemed to care no less, but he nods at my father. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," he replies. I knew this was a lie. My father is a terrible liar.

"Dad, just tell me," I said. He looked away from Harry as he exits.

"Harry and I are co-workers not friends," he says, dully. "But you and Albus never got along. Often fighting amongst each other. Fighting for each other's attention."

I sat there looking shocked. Albus and I aren't friends - we basically hate each other's guts. "Maya is your best friend," he continues. "You two are in Gryffindor together along with Lucas."

"What about Farkle and Smackle?" I asked.

"Farkle and Smackle are in Ravenclaw," he answers.

"And am I close to Scorpius Malfoy?" I ask.

"You two haven't spoken since the end of last year," he replies. "You two were in a relationship."

I felt myself cringe in the stomach. Scorpius and I dating? That is disgusting. Don't get me wrong, Scorpius and I are best friends but us dating was pretty much cringe-worthy. "I must leave you," he says, as he hugs me again and leaves me be.

The next day, I walked to the Great Hall as I am greeted by Maya and Lucas, both of whom were happy to see me. "Come, Riles," she says, as I sat down beside her and Lucas. Smackle and Farkle waved at us as we sat down. We all waved back.

"So, I heard you caught Malfoy and Potter sneaking back into the Castle," Lucas says. "Is it true?"

"Of course it is," Maya adds. "Potter and Malfoy always want the attention as much as the next person. I mean Malfoy wants you back after your break up last year."

"It must've been terrible," I added.

"Terrible, you could say that," she adds. "Potter got himself involved saying that 'Malfoy only had the attention span of a toad'. You punch Potter right in the nose, breaking his nose - which by the way, I was proud."

"Potter mustn't have many friends," I added.

"You could say that again," Lucas adds. "Nobody wants to be friends with him. You tried - once, but he pushed you away."

Shocked, I looked over to see Scorpius trying to catch Albus's eye. I looked to see Albus entering the Great Hall with his so-called friends. The friends seemed to not involve Albus in the conversation at all as I see Albus walk over to where Maya, Lucas and I are sitting.

"What do you want, Potter?" Maya asks, dully.

"I want to speak with Riley, Maya," he replies.

"Maybe, Riles doesn't want to speak with you," she says.

"Maya," I sighed. "Please."

"Urgh, fine," she says. "But if you hurt her, I'll find you and hurt you, Potter. I'll see you in Charms, Pumpkin."

I nodded as I waved goodbye to both Maya and Lucas. "Bye, Peaches," I said, dramatically as she smiles back at me. "I'll miss you."

"'Pumpkin', seriously," Albus laughed.

"Oh, haha," I said. "Maya and I created our own nicknames for each other ever since we were little."

"Of course you did," he adds. "Look, I want to talk to you. I know we're technically not friends in this dimension, but we were friends, same with Scorpius - best friends."

"Albus," I sighed. "Maybe it is best if we aren't friends."

"But-" he says.

"Hear me out," I said. "Maya and Lucas don't like you at all - hell in this dimension I don't even acknowledge your existence, so why would they want to be friends with you?"

He looked over at Scorpius who looked sad. "We are still friends," Albus says, sounding sad.

I sighed as I stood up. "I'll see you in Charms, Albus," I said.

At lunch, I sat with Maya as Lucas had detention with Slughorn for misuse of school property. She was eating her lunch as I sat down. "I need to ask you something," I said.

"Yes, you should superglue Albus to a toilet seat," she jokes. I rolled my eyes. Maya in this dimension seems to have something against Albus. She never held a grudge against Albus in the other timeline.

"I wasn't planning to superglue him to a toilet seat," I added. "Anyway, I want your advice. Mainly about - you know - the opposite gender."

"Being specific about gender, aren't you?" She asks me.

"I'm trying to be as secretive as I can," I said. "Look, I may like someone, but I don't know if they like me back. How would you know?"

"About them liking you back," she says. "That's easy, if it is the way they look at you, then they like you. Why are you asking me? I thought you were in a relationship with Ranger Rick."

"Maybe I like Potter," I muttered.

"Ew, you are disgusting, Riles," she says. "Potter? Seriously? Couldn't you like someone else - like Farkle?" I didn't know how I should respond to Maya's disgust about me liking Albus. I looked down the table to see Albus sitting away from us. He seems to me fiddling with his food, but I notice as soon as Maya looks away, he looks at me giving me a small smile. I missed being friends with him and Scorpius. "See, proof that he doesn't like you. He isn't even making eye contact."

We continued eating as we started getting ready for Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Granger. "Hermione teaches this class," Maya says. "Don't get on the wrong side of Hermione. She'll give you some torture detention. Lucas got into trouble last year and well he is still shaken up and I still bring it up, because he deserves it."

I laughed as we walked to class. I sat in the front row along with Farkle and Smackle, as I am interested in what Hermione will do in this lesson. Hermione enters silently as she stares at all of us. I heard a bang as I see Albus. "Potter the train jumper," Maya mutters. "Oh, how I wonder what Professor Granger will call him?"

"Ah yes," Hermione says. "Our train absconder. Finally joined us." Maya snickered as Albus looked unsure.

"Hermione?" He says, looking amazed.

"Professor Granger I believe is my name," she says.

"What are you doing here?" He asks.

"What does it look like?" Maya said, loudly. "Teaching?"

Hermione looks at Maya with displeasure, but I notice the glimmer of smile in her eyes when Maya mentions this. "But... You're... You're... Minister for Magic," Albus says.

"Someone is crazy," Maya adds to the tension. Hermione slams her fists on our table. "Miss Hart, enough of you including commentary which is incredibly painful. Anyway, we're going to look at Patronus Charm."

"You're our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Albus says, sounding amazed.

"Ding-Dong, someone needs his ears checked," Maya mutters.

"Losing patience now," Hermione says. "Ten points from Gryffindor."

"That's unfair," Maya says. "He is just doing that on purpose, isn't he, Polly?"

Oh, great, Polly Chapman is also in this timeline. "Yep, Maya," she says. "He just hates Gryffindor."

"Miss Hart, Miss Chapman, enough of your chatter," Hermione says. "Settle down. And I suggest you join Miss Chapman, Albus. And end this charade."

"But you're not this mean," Albus says.

"And that's twenty points from Gryffindor to assure Albus Potter that I am this mean," she says.

"Ass," Maya coughs.

"Kisser," I heard Lucas say.

"If you don't sit down right now, Albus..." Yann Fredricks says.

"Can I just say-" Albus says.

"No, you can't," Hermione says. "Just keep quiet, Potter, otherwise you'll lose what limited popularity you read have. Now who can tell me what a Patronus is? No? No one? You really are a most disappointing bunch."

I put my hand up as Hermione smiles at me. "Miss Matthews."

"The Patronus Charm repels Dementors who are from Azkaban," I replied. "A strong Patronus will eliminate a Dementors, meanwhile a weak Patronus will repel the Dementor a short distance."

"Correct," she says. "Five points to Gryffindor."

"No," Albus announces. "This is stupid. Where's Rose? She'll tell you that you're being ridiculous."

"Who's Rose?" Hermione asks. "Your invisible friend?"

"Rose Granger-Weasley! Your daughter!" He says. "Of course because you and Ron aren't married Rose-"

"How dare you!" Hermione shouts. "Fifty points from Gryffindor. And I assure you if anyone interrupts me again it'll be a hundred points and for you, Albus a detention is looming... As Riley has stated, A Patronus is a magical charm, a projection of all your most positive feelings and takes shape of the animal with whom you share the deepest affinity. It is a gift of light. If you can conjure up a Patronus, you can protect yourself against the world. Which, in some of our cases seems like a necessity sooner rather than later."

Another chapter done and dusted. Hopefully you guys like this fanfiction so far. As this is the long weekend for me, I'll be uploading earlier than expected for this fanfic on Monday. Remember to Fav and/or Review.