Parvati and I were sitting opposite in our compartment, Liriana curled up next to me and Tyler absentmindedly staring out at the countryside, discussing what we thought Lavender and Nate were talking about when we left them down the corridor and told them we would save them seats.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Parvati wondered.
"They are are couple now. So, I guess couple-y things." I suggested.
"Wow, aren't you two just having the most insightful conversation." Tyler groaned, interceding.
I chuckled and the door slid open unexpectedly, to reveal a platinum blonde headed boy staring unsurely at the two of us.
"Oh, it's only you three." Draco Malfoy muttered.
"Who did you expect it to be?" Tyler shot back coldly. Draco glared at him.
"Watch your mouth, Eddie." He threatened, "I'll put you on detention if you're not careful."
He remained silent and he turned his glare on me, his eyes instantly softening when they met mine. He continued to stare at me for some time, until someone cleared their throat from behind. He quickly glanced behind him before returning his gaze to me.
"Sarah." He acknowledged, something... different in his voice.
"Malfoy." I returned, unsure of why he had used my first name. He disappeared into the corridor, revealing Lavender and Nate who had been standing behind him. They both entered the compartment and sat down next to each other.
I was still staring at where Draco had just stood when Nate asked, "What was that about?"
"He thought we were someone else." I shrugged, bringing my attention back to the group.
"Why did he call you by your first name, then?" Lavender asked this time. Again, I shrugged.
"What were you two talking about?" Parvati prompted eagerly. Tyler groaned audibly and Lavender blushed slightly.
"Nothing you need to know." Nate answered, taking Lavender's hand in his. She smiled at him and he leant down and kissed her.
"Oi!" Tyler and I interrupted in unison.
"If you two intend on snogging the whole way, you can find somewhere else to do it!"
Nate chuckled and stood up, motioning for Lavender to follow him. "Come on, Lav, our affections are not wanted here." He announced dramatically. His new girlfriend giggled and followed him out of the compartment.
"Good luck finding any room!" I shouted after them. Parvati rolled her eyes.
"Was that necessary?" She scolded.
"It may not be to you, but it is thoroughly disgruntling to me!" I exclaimed.
"Agreed!" Tyler stated.
"The door slid open for a second time and Laurie came to stand in the doorway.
"Any room for me to sit?" He asked sarcastically, noticing the lack of company we had.
"No sorry, but you're welcome to sit on the floor." I said with a smile as I put my legs up on the seat, Parvati doing the same, pushing Tyler closer to the window. Laurie chuckled as he effortlessly picked me up, sat down and placed me comfortably back on the seat.
I woke, curled up on the seat, much like Liriana, who was now asleep on my lap, with my head resting on Laurie's shoulder. I saw that sometime during my nap, Harry had joined us and the compartment had become rather squished with the four of us, my cat and our luggage. The train had stopped and Laurie was gently nudging my shoulder, I could hear a lot of shuffling and muffled voices coming from the other side of the door. I sat upright and stretched, Liriana awakening and doing the same.
"Finally awake then?" Harry greeted.
"How long have I been out?" I asked, yawning.
"Bit less than an hour." Laurie replied.
"Come on then, or we'll end up back in London." Parvati said, standing and collecting her trunk.
We made our way off the train into the cold night air and, following the crowd, made our way to the gates. I shared a carriage up to the castle with Parvati, Laurie, Tyler and Katie Bell, who for the whole time could not take her eyes off Laurie.
"What was Katie doing, staring at Laurie like that?" I hissed to Hermione when were seated in the Great Hall and the sorting had commenced. She shrugged.
"I don't know, but I don't think you get to be jealous if you're not planning on going out with him." She whispered back.
"I never said I wouldn't, I have to think about it." I explained. "And I'm not jealous." I added indignantly. She raised her eyebrows and I turned away from her in denial.
The sorting soon finished with new additions to each house and many delicious smelling dishes filled the long tables. Everyone dug in and enjoyed being back at Hogwarts with friends. After the last plates of food were cleared and start of year announcements were made, we were all thankfully dismissed to our dorms. I seated myself in a comfy, three-seater lounge in a corner of the common room and Parvati and Lavender joined me soon after, Hermione being occupied by her prefect duties.
"So how is it?" Parvati asked Lavender, although, neither of us had any idea of what she was talking about.
"How's what?" Lavender asked back. Parvati rolled her eyes.
"Finally being with Nate!"
"I'm going to find Laurie." I said quickly, getting up to leave. The two girls simultaneously rolled their eyes and laughed, returning to their conversation.
I found Laurie sitting in a lone armchair by the fire and I started towards him. Unexpectedly he stood as someone else came towards him. It was Katie. I slowed to a halt as they began talking and she laughed and flipped her hair flirtatiously. The next minute she had wrapped her arms around his neck and they were locked in a kiss. I felt myself frown and before long, my eyes were watering rapidly. I hurriedly exited through the portrait hole and tore off towards the dungeons, where I always went to think, tears trickling down my face. I was near the potions room and I stopped and sank to floor.
I couldn't rationalise my actions or my thoughts. I had no idea how I felt about Laurie, but when I saw him with Katie, it hurt... a lot. I heard footsteps coming down the corridor towards me and realised I was openly sobbing. I clamped a hand over my mouth and risked a peek around the corner, in the desperate hope it wasn't Filch. Thankfully, it was a student, and as they came closer, I saw that it was in fact Draco Malfoy. I hastily wiped at my eyes and tried to quieten my sobs, but to no avail.
"Who's there?" He asked quietly.
"No one." I murmured back, not thinking of anything else to do. He was too close to make a run for it now. I buried my face in my hands as he came around the corner. I could feel his eyes fixed on me.
"Sarah..?" He asked cautiously, sounding nothing like the Draco I thought I knew. He knelt down to my height. I looked up into his grey eyes, they glittered in the light of the torches, they were positively mesmerising. He sat down a little way away from me, not breaking eye contact.
"What are you doing out here?" He asked. I wiped at my eyes again, as if my tearstained face was enough explanation.
"And why are you... crying?" He asked hesitantly. I felt a wave of anger come over me as the image of Katie and Laurie entered my mind.
"I don't know, okay?!" I practically shouted at him. He looked taken aback. We sat in silence for a while but I couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Do you know Laurie Parker in our year?" I burst out.
"Yeah, he's actually one of the few Gryffindors that I don't hate." He chuckled.
"What about me?"
"What?" He replied, confused.
"Do you hate me?"
"You go alright." He smirked. I smiled, momentarily forgetting about Laurie.
"What were you saying about Parker?" He asked, changing the subject back. I took a deep breath.
"He's one of my bestfriends and I like him more than that and I know he fancies me. I don't know what to do about it because I don't know if I'm willing to risk our friendship." I quickly explained. He nodded, prompting me to continue, "And just then I saw him kissing another girl and it hurt... so much." I felt new tears trickle down my cheek.
"I'm sorry." I stuttered, openly crying again. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. I'm pouring my heart out to a boy who for the past four years I've been taught to hate."
"You hate me?" He asked, obvious hurt in his voice.
"I've never hated you... Draco." I explained. He half smiled. "Can I ask you something?" He nodded.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" He looked hesitant to answer.
"You were crying. It's not as though I wanted to make you feel any worse." He stated, choosing his words carefully.
"No, not just now. Today on the train, you were absolutely horrible to Tyler-"
"He brought it upon herself." He interrupted with a snarl, his usual tone returning to his voice and sounding like the Malfoy I knew.
"Why do you treat people like that?" I asked bluntly, ignoring his comment, Tyler was my brother after all. He frowned.
"Any friend of Potter's is an enemy of mine." He spat.
"Then, why are you being so nice to me? Harry's practically family." I argued, getting frustrated. Draco stood up, clearly annoyed as well.
"Because you're different!" He said loudly, "You always have been!" I stood also, not liking the way he towered over me.
"When I look at you I feel... something. I've never gotten this feeling with anyone else before, not even Pansy. And it's a lot stronger this year, more so than it's ever been." He muttered, more to himself, pacing in front of me.
"You're comparing me to Pansy? Does that mean you-"
"I don't know, alright!" He said, cutting me off and sounding a lot like I had just a few minutes before. He stood very still, realising what he had just divulged to me.
"I have to go. I'll see you later." He finally said, stalking off down the corridor from which he had come.
After a while of trying to make sense of everything Draco had said to me and what I was feeling about Laurie, I decided I had better get back too. I slipped inside the portrait hole and saw that nearly everyone was where they had been when I left. I hurried up to the dorms without anyone noticing, changed and snuggled into the warmth of my bed, falling asleep in no time.
"Sarah..." A muffled voice called from somewhere in my dream, "Sarah..?" They called again, getting louder, "Sarah!" They finally shouted. I suddenly awoke from my half sleep, realising the voice was not coming from my dream but from a very impatient Hermione, standing at the foot of my bed.
"What?" I groaned, "I'm allowed to sleep in today."
"Hagrid?" She hinted. Realisation dawned on me as I remembered our conversation the night before involving visiting Hagrid to make sure he was alright as he hadn't been there to escort the first years across the lake nor in the Great Hall for dinner.
"Fine." I grumbled, jumping out from the warm blankets of my bed in an attempt at an energy boost.
I rummaged through my trunk and pulled out from the bottom, a warm jumper and jeans before bounding across to the bathroom, changing and making my long brown curls somewhat presentable. It was seven o'clock, meaning everyone was yet to wake up, how we wanted it. It was a very chilly and windy morning and the five of us, myself, Hermione and Harry, Tyler and Ron, slowly made our way down to Hagrid's cabin, stumbling and tripping in the wind. I rapped on the door but was met only with silence. I tried again but received the same outcome. Tyler tried to open the door but it was bolted shut.
"Alohomora!" I said, pointing my wand to the doorknob. It flew open with a loud 'bang', but apart from that, Hagrid's cabin remained unpleasantly silent.
"I really don't think we should worry." Hermione conveyed in a hushed voice. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore knows exactly where he is."
The five of us were sitting around the fire in the common room. Having only just arrived back from Hagrid's, it was still quite early and we didn't want to wake anyone.
"I think Hermione's right." Tyler answered.
"Me too. And there's nothing we can do about it now anyway." Ron added. However, I could see that Harry shared my sentiments with the concerned look on his face. The five of us stood to depart from the common room, eager to begin our first day of the year in the castle.
"Harry, Ron and I are going to get some breakfast in early. You two want to come with us?" Tyler asked.
Hermione answered first, "No thankyou, I think I'm going to go to -"
"The library." The four of us chorused.
"I have some things to revise before school starts!" She defended.
"That's the thing Hermione, school hasn't started yet!" Harry joked. She glared at him as she climbed through the portrait hole and descended the stairs. We all chuckles after her.
"'Mione just lent me a book so I think I'll stay here and start reading that." The three boys nodded and left the same way Hermione had.
The book I was reading, Macbeth, by some Shackspert muggle, wasn't even a book but a play and turned out to be quite dull and extremely hard to follow so instead I took up a seat next to the window and stared out across the lake. It wasn't long before I could hear people stirring upstairs and finally footsteps coming down the staircase. I didn't bother turning around to see who it was, I was too wrapped in the view. Suddenly, someone's arms had wrapped around me and my eyes we covered.
"Guess who." He whispered menacingly in my ear.
"Morning, Laurie." I replied, trying not to let the images from the past night enter my mind.
"How'd you know it was me?" He sighed, defeated.
"Because you're the only one that's game enough to do that with me. You know I go mental when people surprise me." I explained, standing up and lightly shoving him. He caught my hands and pulled me into a hug, just like he always did.
"You are strange, aren't you?" He teased. I scowled at him.
"So how's Katie?" I asked, finally finding enough courage. He looked confused.
"Katie... Oh, you saw that?" He asked, coming to the realisation. I nodded. "Don't get the wrong idea, she kissed me. Angelina pulled her off me, said they'd been messing around with some love potion. It didn't mean anything." He reassured. I sighed, a little too loudly.
"Why? Were you jealous?" He taunted.
"No! Why would I have been?"
"Cause you love me." He drawled.
"In your dreams!" I shot back, shoving him again. He laughed.
"What's on the itinerary for today, Miss Sarah?"
"Mmm. Definitely breakfast first." I answered, realising how hungry I was.
"After that we should go for a walk, I want to show you something."
Ooohhh, the begins of romance! Hope you're enjoying, please remember to review! :)