Chapter Text
No matter how long you've been going to the same place, somehow those pesky insects crawl into your stomach and make a mess of things before you arrive at your destination. Maybe they find a way through some crevice of your body; your ears or maybe your belly button works. Maybe they find a crack in your resolve and worm their way in alongside all of your insecurities and those “what if” thoughts. After all, this tends to happen when you stand in one place wondering if you should take the next step; maybe all the creepy crawlies think you're a large dirt hill for them to call home, and not a person at all. I can hear a train whistle blow and hordes of busy people rushing past me and giving me strange looks. I know I should have combed my hair out this morning, but it was late and I barely had time for breakfast. Of course, the people that found me strange aren't judging my curly mop of hair; they just find it odd for me to be staring down a stone pillar so fiercely. This will be my fourth year at Hogwarts and I still second-guess my choice to get out of bed every time.
“So,” a voice from behind me rudely interrupts my intense train of thought, “are you going to go or we going to miss the train this year?”
Behind me stands a girl with long blond hair tied into a ponytail at the back of her head. She wasn't very tall, a nice 5'2" my 5'2 1/2" and she had very thick curves that I could see despite the hoodie I'd seen her in countless times before. Her hands were on her hip as she playfully smirked up at me. “I was only waiting for you,” I retorted, “jeez.”
“Oh, sure,” she replied easily, but I knew that we were both suffering from the jitters this morning. we passed through the column to platform 9 and 3/4 and while my best friend's presence is a comfort the motion sickness did nothing for my earlier unease.
The Hogwarts Express hadn't changed since last year, the only changes were few new faces and the absence of a few old ones. We pushed our way through the crowds, families saying goodbye, and students wasting time as if they couldn't just talk on the train. I went first, being the more aggressive of us two in crowds; weaving through the masses was a skill that I was fairly proud of, and we got into the train fairly quickly. Unfortunately, it was crowded inside as well, and not many seats remained. “God I hate people,” I muttered under my breath.
“Well, if you hadn't stood there for so long, you could have saved us some seats,” I turned to shoot her a pointed look but she knew it didn't mean much.
Soon enough she saw an empty bench near the back and I all but shoved other kids out of the way to get us there. When we got to the train compartment that the bench was in, we saw that the other side was occupied by two 4th year boys; a blond and a mixed kid with short curly hair. I felt my friends firm grip on my arm practically begging me to go through with this. Okay, she's probably asking me not to, but I was done looking for other free benches that probably didn't exist. ‘Hey, do you guys mind if we join you?” I ask as I slid in next to the window. “thanks a bunch.” I thought I was being pretty smooth, but the two pair of icy blue eyes that were staring me down as I got settled said otherwise. One was familiar and incredulous which was normal, but the other pair was needlessly hostile. The green pair next to those angry blue orbs were lazily amused as they surveyed the scene, which was a bit of a comfort.
“I have no intention of sharing a cart with filthy-” the blond boy started.
“Let me stop you right there,” I smiled, “I know what you're about to say, and don't worry, I've checked, and I bleed red.
“Besides,” my girl chimed in, “I'm just as pure-blooded as you are.”
“And I don't know if you've noticed,” I said as I looked the curly haired kid's eye’s, “ mutts are cute.”
I'm pretty proud to say that those green eyes disappeared as he choked on his breath. His friend looked at me like I was crazy, and I could feel my friend’s mortification as she tried to collect herself.
“Well,” she broke the silence that was only previously threatened by barely contained laughter. “Hi, you guys can call me D., and this mess beside me is J.J. and I apologize, she probably tied her bandana on too tight.”
At this point, the mixed kid was openly laughing at the situation. “Cool,” he managed, “I'm Blaise Zabini, pleased to meet you.” He shook our hands and something told me he was actually pleased to meet us. “And this is Malfoy.”
Of course, we had already known who they were, they had a fairly large presence in the school. We sat there in silence for the most part; we would occasionally strike up a conversation with Blaise or just with each other, but Malfoy had been stewing in his corner for the last 5 minutes while we waited for the train to leave the station. Our less than amicable atmosphere was interrupted when two boys, who looked far too large and clueless to actually go to school with us, stumbled in with snacks piled up in their arms.
“Oi,” the larger one barked, “those're ou seats.
“Yeah,” the rounder one piggybacked, “shove off.”
“Uh,” D started as we looked at each other and back at them, “I didn't see your name on em.”
I made a show of checking the back of the seat for emphasis as she straightened her posture, squaring up.
“I also didn't feel any butt imprints,” I said as I sunk into the seat and shrugged. “And, trust me, if you'd have sat in these seats earlier, we would've felt them.”
Blaise let out a chuckle and Malfoy actually seemed to be somewhat amused. I could tell that D saw it too because we both started to feel a little more confident.
The tall one piled his snacks on top of his round friends’ “He said shove off.”
“Listen, just because we're down here doesn't mean we can't hear you,” chimed D.
“Yeah, all this does is ensure we don't have to smell your rank breath,” I was barely keeping from laughing.
Just as the tubby one dropped all the snacks and they moved towards us, the snack trolley came by, pushed by a short woman with wavy greying hair.
“And what do you think you're doing?” She looked down at the snacks on the floor then back at the boys. “Pick those up and run along now,” she scolded, “we'll leave the station any minute now!”
The boys bent down and gathered their treats before grumbling and walking farther back. “Did you dearies want anything from the trolley?” She had turned her attention towards us. The boys declined the offer, one more polite than the other, but D and I had a different idea of what a train ride should consist of.
“We're gonna need about four chocolate frogs and a couple bags of crisps please,” I said as I pulled out some cash. D had brought some fruit and I had brought sandwiches, but there was no way we were gonna go without snacks.
The rest of the ride was actually pleasant and sprinkled with conversations between the group. Malfoy wasn't too happy about it, but even he joined in or laughed now and then, even if most of his contributions were small sarcastic comments. He may be prejudice against mudbloods, but when he let loose a little and forgot about it, he was pretty cool. We talked about our favorite classes, teachers, and places to hang out in the castle. D and I pretty much raved about the library, and we were surprised to find that Malfoy agreed, though he mostly stuck to speaking with D.
When we got to the castle, it was time for supper. Candles floated in the air, illuminating the night sky above our heads as Crabbe and Goyle joined us begrudgingly. As more and more people began to flood the hall, we broke apart to sit at our house tables.
“Why must we always say goodbye,” I exclaimed rather dramatically. I threw my wrist on top of my eyes and flung my head back for flair. I thought it was a marvelous little show I was putting on.
“I miss you already,” D smiled like she was humoring a pet, just barely containing a chuckle as she shook her head.
At this point, my hand was stretched in her direction as we walked. “I’ll always be with you, man,” I began fake crying; too late to go back now, might as well go for it, right? “Just look inside your heart!”
D must’ve caught a glimpse of our new Slytherin friend’s faces, because she burst with laughter as we sat down. They had to be gawking really hard to get her that flushed. I turned around to see for myself and was delighted at Malfoy’s nearly disgusted face.
It’s not like D and I sat far from each other, we sat an aisle away - back to back. The only people we actually separated from were the Slytherins, and they didn’t seem too broken up about it. Dumbledore stood at the podium and called for attention as per usual. “This year, Hogwarts has been chosen to host the Triwizard Tournament,” he exclaimed. The room was ecstatic, everyone was buzzing with excitement and stories of the previous competitions. As he finished explaining the tournament, a nervous Filch ran into the dining hall, spoke in hurriedly hushed tones and ran back out. Shortly after, though my sense of time may be a little skewed - I was trying to communicate to D with my hands probably longer than it seemed - Dumbledore must’ve announced the two other schools that would be joining us because they burst through the doors effectively halting my poor attempt to get the last bag of crisps from D. Ah, those cheddar cheese crisps; I’ll have to get them after dinner.
The students of Beauxbatons Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry danced their way into the great hall. They leaped, and they twirled; their flowing blue uniforms dancing in the wind along with them. Following that graceful entrance was the Durmstrang Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Their entrance was far more straight to the point; they marched in banging their walking sticks to the pace of their feet. It sounded an awful lot like drums which was quite impressive. More impressive was the student walking alongside the professor, Victor Krum; or that’s what I gathered from D’s frantic arm motions. Soon enough the feast concluded, leaving students to wonder at what was to become of this year at Hogwarts, and many students under the age of 17 with a feeling of disappointment and resentment for the newest rule of the tournament.
After I got that pack of crisps from D, we ended up joining Malfoy and CO. We talked about upcoming classes, the other schools, and the tournament.
“The new rule is ridiculous,” Malfoy harped.
“What,” Blaise smiled. “You want to enter?”
“I should be able to if I wanted to is all I’m saying,” the blond sneered back.
“You’d do great Malfoy,” said Crabbe.
“Yea,” came Goyle through a mouthful of food, “Brilliant.”
“Of course I would.”
D and I had both been making some strange faces at the conversation.
“Let me get this straight,” I held my hands out as if I were stopping an animal from passing, “You think that you should be able to join a competition where you could die against kids that have mastered spells we don’t even know about yet?”
“Well you might not you filthy mu-”
“Bitch you got me fucked up,” D all but shouted. “Continue that, please, continue.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yes, Bitch; talk.”
“And just who do you think you're talking to.” it almost looked like Malfoy was squaring up.
“You,” D rather aggressively poked his chest, “and while we're on the subject, who do you think you are?”
What ensued was a rather awkward silence as Crabbe and Goyle began downing their food in preparation for a fight. Yes, the tension was palpable, and there was a large possibility that D would start a fist fight that Malfoy would then try to end with his wand, but to be fairly honest I had fully planned to roll with the mudblood comments until he warmed up to me later this year. Yea, it was a little awkward for me as I tried to replan this year's goals.
“Well, bloody hell,” came a rather gruff sort of nasal voice, “looks like Malfoy still doesn’t know how to make friends.’’ A gangly sort of fellow - not lacking in muscle, but oddly proportioned nonetheless - walked over in what I suppose he thought was a suave manner. His red hair gave him up as a Weasley immediately, and even if he wasn’t well known, his attitude would suggest that this was Ron Weasley.
We all stared for a moment as our shared silence had just been broken by the outsider. “And what’s it to you,” spat Malfoy.
“Not much,” the ginger shrugged, “just found it funny you thought you could get friends outside of Slytherin or the Death Eaters fan club.”
If I’m being honest, I probably put too much thought into simple things and not enough into situations like this. However, when that burning sensation spreads in the back of your head and your arms, finally resting in your chest in that euphoric way that it does, you don’t really think to think. As my fist went flying and crashed against Ron’s face, the most I could manage to think was that the pain in my knuckles would be worth it. After the first punch landed, I figured it would be fairly easy to use his shock against him, so I tackled him to the ground. We were a mess of limbs and shouted profanities; when I finally sorted out that the pale arms were, in fact, his, not mine, I pinned them with my knees and put all of my effort into maneuvering my body to put as much weight into my punches as I could.
“Take it back!” I was really just yelling the first thing that came to my mind. Turns out that speaking while trying to wail on somebody is counterproductive, and he managed to free his arms and lift himself into a crouching position. He raised his freckled arms to hit back, but D grabbed them from behind and held him back; in a brilliant moment of tactical thinking, I jumped up and rammed him with my head. It felt like blood was rushing to my head, and my head hurt like hell. The entire room was being covered in a dark red haze as we struggled. I could feel eyes on me, not sure who’s, and footsteps approaching; but who cares, I was killing it.