Opposites Attract (part 2)
Warnings: cursing
Pairing: Hufflepuff!oc/Slytherin!oc
I spent the rest of the journey in an angry silence. Angry at Malfoy, angry at Lestrange, and most of all angry at myself for my totally predictable reaction. Susan, Megan and Hannah had tried a few times to coax me into telling them what had happened, but after a while they gave up. I knew it wasnât exactly fair to take out my annoyance on them, but I couldn't help it. Sometimes, or most of the time, they could be annoyingly persistent.
Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott had become an inseparable pair as soon as they had met. Sometimes I wished I had a friend like that. It seemed as though recently, there had been trouble in paradise however- instead of staying with Susan over the summer, Hannah had stayed with me for a couple of weeks. Sure, it was a small change, but I knew that the cause was something more serious; Susan had always disapproved of Hannahâs close friendship with Cedric Diggory before his death, whether it was caused by jealousy or some other, inexplicable reason. After his death, they had drifted even further apart. My guess was that it had to do with Susanâs lack of sympathy, but I could be wrong.
Meghan Jones was undoubtedly the most Ravenclaw of our group. For a while, I had considered her one of my closest friends, but over the years we had grown apart as she made buddied up with the more academic members of our year, namely Ernie Macmillan, Padma Patil and Terry Boot. We were still on very good terms, but I wasnât quite sure if we were properly friends anymore.
*
Finally, we reached the train station. The promise of food and a good nightâs sleep was enough to put a smile on my face as we travelled up to the castle.
I sat with my friends, finally starting to forget about the incident on the train as we laughed and talked together, and I just about managed to drown my sorrows in roast potatoes, stuffing, and the most delicious roast chicken that I had ever tasted.
âSo, how was your summer then, Vee?â Ernie Macmillan asked me. He was a pompous twat, but he meant well. He leant over to take a large slice of chocolate cake from across the table as I replied.
âPretty great- I spent most of it with this loser, though.â I playfully elbowed Hannah in the ribs, who pulled a mock-offended expression.
âHow was yours?â I asked him.
âAmazing, actually. Did some pretty great stuffâ He grinned. For a moment, he glanced up, eyes briefly meeting Hannahâs. She looked down after a second, face reddening. Interesting. I was about to ask a follow up question to try and probe further, but the plates disappeared without warning, and Dumbledore stood to make his annual welcoming speech. I made up my mind to ask her about it later. This speech was different to usual, however, and not over nearly as quickly as I would have liked. When he was nearing the end, an annoyingly pink woman, who was short and squat, almost toad-like in her demeanour, interrupted him with a tiny, delicate cough.
Her speech lasted 15 minutes. And yes, I timed it. It had only taken me about thirty seconds to zone out though, and I could see that most of the other students were in the same predicament. I couldnât help but glance over to the Slytherin table. Kane was sat upright, staring right at pink lady, apparently giving her all of his attention. I couldnât help but wonder how it was possible to stay tuned in to what she was saying for so long. I also couldn't help but notice the way the overhead lighting from the candles made his hair shine, and gave him a sort of golden glow. I realised what I was doing, and immediately looked away.
*
Unpacking was less fun than usual. I noticed there was an air of tenseness between Hannah and Susan that hadn't been there last year. Maybe something bigger had happened between them that I didn't know about. I decided to ignore that, though, and try and say something to lighten the mood.
âSo Megan, you and Ernie. huh?â I said conspiratorially to her, raising an eyebrow.
She immediately went pink, smiling as though she was trying not to. âWhat do you mean?â
âWell, I assume that you were the âpretty great stuffâ he was doing over the summer, right?â
This got everyoneâs attention. Hannah started to giggle, Susan span around to stare at Megan, and Megan threw a pillow at me, hitting me square in the face.
âHey!â I threw the pillow back at her, but missed. âWhat was that for?!â
âHeâs just nice, okay?â she said, looking away.
âYou like him!â Hannah exclaimed.
âOh my God, I told you!â Susan said. Apparently I wasnât the first to figure it out, then.
âShut up guys, seriously, itâs not a big deal.â
âOh yes, it definitely is. Does he know?â Hannah asked.
âMaybe.â
âOh my God! You told him!â
Turns out it was easier to cheer them up than I thought. Megan refused to go into any details, but I could tell that she really liked him, and that he probably really liked her. Honestly, I wouldn't have paired the two together, but apparently I am not always such a good judge of character.
That night, I barely slept. We had stayed up late talking, not vaguely surprising, but when we finally agreed to turn in, my mind went immediately to Malfoy and Lestrange. Until today, I had had no idea that the notorious deatheater Bellatrix Lestrange had even had a child. Though I supposed that maybe he was a more distant family member. Well, I hoped. But it wasnât his fault what she did- I had to remember that, though it appeared that he would soon be making a negative reputation of his own, judging by the dickheads that he had fallen in with. But maybe he hadn't even chosen to fall in with those dickheads. After all, all of the pureblood families were inter-connected from what I could tell, so maybe they were childhood friends who he didn't have the heart to say no to. Still, no excuse for being a knob though.
I finally fell into a restless sleep. God, I was going to be exhausted for my classes tomorrow.
