A Heart Break
I entered Professor McGonagall's classroom a few minutes early. That surprised me. I thought I was going to be late. The cause of my worries walked through the door two seconds before the bell rang. I avoided his eyes and his face. I was still peeved at him.
I was seated in the back, quite alone. That was, until Draco glided into the seat next to me. My stomach clenched in anger. He dare sit next to me after practically raping me and then attempting to physically harm me. My temper was about to boil over. That is, until I saw that Draco looked a little saddened. I did not quite understand it.
"Good afternoon, class." Professor McGonagall's sharp greeting caused a few students to jump. There was a few mumbled, 'Good afternoon, Professor.' amongst the room.
I personally did not greet her. I was still mad about earlier this morning, springing Head Girl duties on me. I was also too preoccupied with the look Draco had etched into his pointy features. It was bothering me.
"Today, we are going to do a review. Everything you have learned the past six years in Transfiguration." a few groans emitted throughout the room, "It won't be hard if you had studied over the summer holidays." she added. A few curses flashed through the air.
'This should be easy.' I thought happily. I may have specialized in Defense and Conjuration, but I was pretty good in other things. I was not exceptional, but I was good. Well, I had always thought I was. The teachers in Sitka, Alaska liked to see me sweat. Popping questions on me at random times during the class period. They made sure they were tough questions too. I did a lot of sweating at Sitka High School of Magic.
When class was over, I felt depressed. I knew that being in Alaska automatically meant that you were behind somewhat, but this is ridiculous. Half of the questions Professor McGonagall asked, I did not know. I knew that I was going to have a lot of homework tonight. I guess it was a good thing she only asked me five questions.
I walked to the Defense classroom. I saw the third year and above teacher close the door. He looked a little cranky and angry in my opinion. No wonder I was to teach the younger ones. By third year, I suspect they have a sense of maturity and know enough for his tastes.
I opened the door and snapped my fingers. The two chair desks with chairs were back to their four rows. I walked briskly to the front. It was then that I saw someone sitting in my chair.
"Excuse me, but what are you doing in my chair?" I kept my temper out of my person in my chair rose up and turned around. I first saw my owl, then I saw his face. Mark had this big, stupid grin plastered on it. I felt my lips break into a huge grin also.
"Well, I was relaxing." his native accent was like heaven to me. I miss Alaska.
"Well, you can't." I said. I patted my shoulder for Denali to perch upon it. He obliged while hooting happily. When the familiar weight descended on my shoulder, I felt more relaxed.
"How you been?" Mark asked, worry was entwined with his voice. I giggled slightly.
"Well enough." I replied, "What about you?"
"Been missing you." he smiled, "What you laughing fer?"
"Your voice." I stated simply, "I miss the home land. English accents still make me feel lonely."
"Ah," he chuckled, "Well, everyone misses you. When Kadie said she wrote you, I decided to contact Minerva and come here. I just came by to check up on ya." Mark raised an eyebrow, "I was surprised to find you beating on the blonde boy.
"Um, well, yeah." I said nervously, "He pushed a button or two." Mark shook his head slowly with a \smile of understanding. I smiled sheepishly.
"Always." he said and turned for the door, "Well, I will be in yer room." and he walked out, pushing past the second years.
"Good afternoon, darlings!" I greeted warmly, "Please, find a seat so we may begin." They obediently sat down. I took a deep breath to steady myself and then began. "Now, we are going to do something a little different." The poor things looked confused, "Now, I am going to have each and every one of you in turn state your name, what month you were born in and your favorite sport." Whispers were instantaneous throughout the room. I was on a roll in creativity, "I need you all to stand up." the scraping of chairs floated into my ears one more time.
This class was the opposite of my other second years. I suppose it was because they were Gryffindors and Slytherins. I could feel the tension in the room. It was thick like fog. Although they were tense, they were fairly calm and obedient. They each, in turn, stated everything I asked for. Calmly and almost maturely. I could see the few snickers behind hands they thought they covered up. It only took twenty minutes for them to do the activity.
"Well, now that everyone knows everyone's name, we shall continue-"
"Professor Sownbinder, we do not hear from you." a loud voice called out. I snapped my head towards the observant voice.
"No, you didn't." I said softly. I cleared my throat, "My name is Henria Sownbinder. I was born in October and my favorite sport is softball."
My classroom erupted with curious and confused whispers. Most wondered about my name, but others were frantically whispering about what softball might just be. Since the majority is purebloods, Slytherin, they did not understand what it was. Even some of the half bloods were curious. The muggle-borns, however, had heard of it and were curious about how it was played.
"Settle down." I said, "Now, I need everyone to find someone with the same season as you. I will make one rule however, they must not be in the same house as you." Gasps resounded throughout the room. A few curses flew. A hand shot up and I nodded for the student to go ahead.
"Are you bloody insane?" the voice burst, "Do you want a blood bath?"
"There is no need for profanity." I said sharply, "And, if you so much as think about physically harming your partner, I will hand out detentions like candy." I promised, "Now, look for someone in the other house." I snapped. When no one moved, I brought myself up to my full height and growled, "Now!"
As they began to move like molasses on a cold December night, I turned around and snapped my fingers towards the black board. Writing appeared in chalk. I walked behind my desk and pulled my chair up to sit down. I was fuming and I knew I could not do anything about it. For now at least. I just needed a moment to calm down. I gently stroked Denali's feathers.
"Your assignment is on the board. It must be complete by the beginning on the next class period." and with that, they set to work.
I sat in my chair observing the quietness. I was observing the transaction between the partners. Well, the lack of. The only sound was the flipping of papers and the scratching of quills. Disappointment was surging through my veins. This class would be hard to break. I half smiled to myself. I liked a challenge.
The class and I jumped at the sound of the bell. The students gathered up their books and parchment.
"Have a wonderful night!" I called out cheerfully.
I got a few mumbled replies and a wave or two. They filed out the door, eager to get to their dorms. I was tired and my shoulder was sore again. I fell back in my chair and exhaled loudly. Denali did not like being bumped around like that. In fact, he made it known, very loudly in my ear. Something snapped in my head and I shrugged my shoulder. Denali screeched and took off. He landed on the bookshelf and turned his head around. He screeched at me and then soared out this open window.
My eyes began to burn. Scalding tears were forming behind my already tired eyes. I shut my eyes and leaned forward. I rested my elbows on my desk and cradled my head with my hands. I refused to cry. I took a deep, calming breath and let it out shakily. I coughed and had my composure back. I opened my eyes and stood up abruptly.
"Yes?" I snarled.
"Just stopping by to see where you were." Draco drawled from the doorway, "But I can tell you are in a foul mood." His eye was black from this afternoon. His lip was swollen on the left side.
"Mostly because of you." I said tartly.
"What did I do?" he sneered arrogantly.
"Trying to make me kiss stone is not my idea of being friendly." I replied with a clipped tone, "Now, if you will excuse me, I have someone to talk to." I brushed past him and headed for the dorm.
I decided that I was going to walk off my energy. So I kept my pace pretty fast. By the time I came to the Common Room, I was breathing hard. I took a quick second to regulate my breath and then I mumbled the password. The door swung open and I stepped through.
I saw that the couch was uninhabited. Mark must have migrated to my room or he bypassed the whole thing. So I walked over to my door. I grabbed the handle and turned and stepped. I thought I would be able to just keep walking, but I ended up flattened against my door. I stumbled back and looked at my door quizzically for just a second. Then I started pounding on my door.
"MARK!" I yelled through the door, "LET ME IN MY FUCKING ROOM!" I heard the click of a lock unlock and my door opened slowly.
"Did you call?" Mark asked facetiously.
"No. Now let me in." I responded as I pushed by him.
"My, my, you have a nasty temper." he said as he closed the door. I sighed.
"Did Denali come by?" I wanted my bird.
"No. Is he mad at you?" Mark looked at me questioningly.
"Just a little. I shrugged him off." I flopped down on my bed face first and winced.
"Was he being an attention pig?" Mark knew Denali all too well. I mumbled something into my bed. I did not even understand it. "Pardon?" I lifted my head.
"I said, yes." my head plopped back down and I winced again.
"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked suspiciously. I paused for half a second.
"Denali shredded my shoulder yesterday on the train." I replied. He looked at me expectantly. I sighed heavily and started to unbutton my shirt, "Madame Pomfry already looked at it. She bandaged it and gave me a salve to put on it too." I rolled down my shirt so he could examine my shoulder.
"You shouldn't let him do that." Mark said with a chill to his tone.
"It's not like he did it on purpose." I snapped, "Hell, if he was here, he would tell you it was an accident. We both dozed off and when the train stopped, he started to slip off. He did the only thing that he thought he could do and tried to hang on. Want to ask him yourself?" I sighed and massaged my temples.
"Look, Henny, I did not come here to fight. I came here to see how you are doing and to make conversation." Mark took a step forward. I closed the distance and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Need a hug?" I nodded into his chest and I felt his arms hold me tightly against him.
I turned my head to the left and rested my cheek against his chest. I felt his chin rest on top of my head. I breathed in his cologne and sighed. I felt at peace for the first time in two weeks.
"You shouldn't stress yourself out like this, Henny Penny." Mark scolded softly. My throat tightened at my nickname.
"I know." I replied, "But I feel like I could have done more. I am only here because He died. I was there when we lost Sirius. I saw the look on Harry's face. We keep loosing people." I choked back a sob, "Harry is out with his two friends looking for those blasted Horcruxes. It seems that there is no hope for what Albus started." a single tear slid down my cheek, "No hope." I squeezed him tighter to stifle the wave of tears that threatened to crash down my cheeks.
"Hush you silly Hen," Mark cooed, "Calm down. You had nothing to do with anything that happened last term or two years ago." He started rubbing my back, "You did all you could in the Department of Mysteries. You were continuing your education when Dumbledore was killed." I took a deep breath. "Feel better, Henny?" I nodded my head.
"Good, now you both can stop snogging and let me talk to Sownbinder." a voice sneered from my door. I growled and felt Mark tighten his hold on me.
"Fine." I replied through clenched teeth, "Just get out of my room. I am having far too much fun 'snogging' with Mark." I added sarcastically.
Draco glared at my facetiousness and backed out of my room. He closed the door with more force then necessary and Mark relaxed. I backed out of his hold.
"Well, looks like I am needed." I said softly.
"Yeah." Mark replied with a small smile, "I need to get back. Kadie is probably quite lonely."
"I'll come and visit during Christmas." my voice cracked with emotion, "Tell Kadie that I will write her back. And that Dee is fine." I coughed in a vain attempt to keep the emotion from boiling over.
"Alright." Mark responded, "Don't worry Hen, you will see us again. Minerva doesn't intend on keeping you here forever. Just until the light shines through." He gave me a quick hug.
"I guess." I murmured unconvinced. He kissed my forehead in a brotherly kind of way.
"I'll see you later Henria, I promise." Mark went to my door, turned the knob and then turned to face me, "Besides, you might find English life fun." He flashed me his white smile and stepped out. The lock clicked softly.
I took a deep breath. I collected all the composer I could muster. I scrubbed my face to be rid of any sign I was crying. I glanced around to signal for Denali to come onto my shoulder. I physically winced when I remembered that he was gone. I growled in frustration. I need my bird. I stomped to my door and ripped it open.
I stormed out of my room. I spotted Draco on the couch looking quite comfortable. I glared at the back of his head. I mainly did it just to release some of my frustration. And because I was mad at him.
"So, what so important that you just had to talk to me now?" I asked viciously.
"The first Prefect meeting." he said calmly, "We have to discuss when it will be and what we will talk about." Draco sat up. He winced slightly. I must have kicked him harder then I thought. Regret flooded through my heart.
"Prefect meeting?" I asked.
"Um, the kids who are almost our equals." He looked at a loss of words to describe them.
"It is ok. I will ask Professor McGonagall tomorrow or something." I replied, In a quieter tone I said, "I'm sorry." Draco snapped his head around to look at me.
"For what?" he asked suspiciously.
"For beating you up this afternoon." I responded my tone still soft.
"'Tis fine. I'm used to it." he replied sarcastically.
"So, I think we should have a school dance. On a special day." I said smoothly. Draco raised an eyebrow at my sudden, abrupt change in topic.
"Well, if you want to do that, we could bring it up. How about next week?" I nodded, "Okay, now, it is time for dinner. We can go eat." Draco rose and headed for the door.
I turned on my heel and headed for my dorm. My stomach growled in protest. I touched it lightly, trying to make it be still. I felt a weight descend upon my shoulder. My heart did a leap for joy. I thought Denali had come back. When I swiveled my head, I did not see black feathers. I saw pale fingers.
"I know for a fact that you have not eaten since breakfast." Draco murmured, "Now come on. Maybe your bloody bird will come." I felt hope soar into my heart. I smiled weakly.
"Maybe," I replied before I followed him through the Common Room door to dinner.