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He was the first boy that Millicent saw on the train. They didn't speak as she already had company in her compartment. He simply moved off to find a different compartment. She didn't blame him. Had it been her choice, she wouldn't have been sitting in the middle of those girls, either. Unfortunately, they had chosen to sit with her. She was too busy wondering how long it would take for her to fade into the background again.
She didn't think it would take too long as the girls were more interested in gossiping about the other students than getting to know anyone. They all seemed to be friends already. She'd never been very popular with the girls. She'd always blended in better with the boys. Maybe she should have joined them. It would, no doubt, have been better than speculating as to how much makeup so-and-so could wear and not look like they'd plastered paint all over themselves.
She was briefly excited when she heard them mention quidditch, until she realized they were talking about the players, not the actual game. She wanted to play quidditch at school and Draco had promised to help her get on the team. Her parents had always hated that she loved to play quidditch with the boys. They'd always wanted her to be a pretty, little princess like all the other daughters.
When they got to school and sorted into their houses, she was thrilled to discover that HE was in her house. Not only that, but he was also a quidditch player. He was on a fast track to a professional quidditch career, according to those gossipy girls. She longed to sit down with him and talk quidditch, but she didn't think he'd want to sit down with a first year. He had too many fangirls hanging all over him.
She was right. It didn't take long at all for her to fade into the background. While the other girls were hanging all over Draco, Blaise and Theo, she kept her head down and her nose to the grindstone. They really only noticed her when they needed a study partner or a reliable lab partner. Anyone could almost say that she was their Hermione Granger. She was studying in the library one day. They were all there, laughing and gossiping about Harry Potter.
"What do you think, Millicent?" Pansy asked, sneering in Potter's direction. He glared back at her, along with the redheaded boy and the bushy headed girl who constantly followed him around.
"I don't know. Maybe if you give him another chance? Just because-." She looked up and realized they hadn't even listened to her answer. They were already sniggering and whispering again. She quickly dropped her head before they could see the tears shining in her eyes. Nobody, NOBODY, was allowed to see Millicent Bulstrode cry. She ignored them for the rest of the study period, realizing they hadn't really wanted her to answer anyway.
She didn't notice the boy seated across from her. He was the same boy she'd seen on the train, the quidditch player. He watched silently as she tried to hide her tears. Inwardly he cursed the other girls. 'Could they not see they were destroying her self-esteem?! Or did they just not care?' Obviously, they didn't care, as none of them even offered to apologize for ignoring her attempted answer. He decided right then and there, he would do something nice for her. It might take him awhile to figure it out, but he would do something nice for her.
The first Hogsmeade visit of the year gave him his first opportunity. He'd watched her at the Great Hall whenever the desserts came up from the kitchen. She seemed to favor pumpkin pasties and treacle tarts, so he bought a small box of each and left them at her own special study chair. Everyone knew Millicent always sat in that seat. He saw her cautiously read the note and took a careful bite of a pasty. The big smile that spread across her face made the teasing of his friends worthwhile.
Every month after that, he would bring her either a box of pumpkin pasties or treacle tarts. She was curious as to who was leaving her these presents. Whoever it was always left a note, making it plain the treats were for Millicent and nobody else. There was never a name. Finally, she got brave enough to leave a note back. She noticed the treats always appeared the night of the Hogsmeade visit or the day after. So, she concluded that it had to be at least a third year or above student leaving her the treats.
To her surprise, the next month saw her receiving an answer. Her mystery provider told her they would reveal themselves on Beltane, at the bonfire party and Maypole dance at Malfoy Manor. She'd already forgotten that Draco himself had invited her. At Christmas, she watched to see who of the older students went home and who stayed behind. Maybe her mystery person was one of them. She noticed that HE was one of the ones who stayed. Since he stayed with his friends though, she never gave it a second thought.
After school resumed, she noticed that her treats were still showing up every month. Soon it was almost time to go home for Beltane. Her mother had written, telling her she'd bought her a Beltane dress for the Maypole party. They would be spending the night at the Malfoy's. Milly couldn't wait. She and Draco usually sat up all night, talking quidditch, going over professional team scores and stats.
The night of the bonfire, she stayed with Pansy and the other girls because her parents frowned on her hanging with Draco and his friends. She was bored silly all night, but she had to stay for the Maypole party. Her friend had promised to reveal himself. The next morning, they dragged themselves downstairs. She blushed when she realized HE was there, and he smiled at her. They all went out and waited for their ribbons to be attached to the top of the pole.
The boys were set to go left, and the girls were to go right. As they danced and chanted, they wove colorful patterns of ribbon around the pole. As they wound down to the end of the ribbons, she saw him looking at her. Her ribbon was the first to finish. After all of them were woven, she admired the pole. It was the most colorful Maypole she could ever remember seeing. As she sat there on the grass, someone dropped down beside her. Then a box of Honeydukes chocolate was laid in her lap. "Happy Beltane, Millicent."
She looked down, opened the chocolates and offered him one in return. "Happy Beltane, Thorfinn."