ten
(Thea’s POV)
|September 8th, 1995|
I’m officially 16 now. Nothing’s different so far. Last night was fun. I had fun. I think everyone else did too. Kit did a great job.
Quite a few of my thoughts throughout the night were about George. I am positive Kit noticed. But I noticed their lovestruck glances at Draco every three minutes. He was really sweet yesterday. I knew he was like that deep down, but I’ve never seen it up close like that before; I’ve always taken Kit’s word for it in the past.
I had no idea Slytherins had such big sweet tooths, but they do. Most of the candy was consumed by them. I’m not at all complaining because they looked really happy.
Alzona meets me in the common room so we can walk to breakfast together.
“Morning, Thea.” He waves and links our arms. “Have a good birthday?”
I nod. “I was fantastic! Thank you so much for being there.” His brown eyes gleam. Then I start rambling. “Kit did an excellent job with the party! Everyone had fun, I hope.”
“I definitely saw the Slytherins enjoying themselves.” Al walks through the barrel (the one that serves as the entrance/exit for the common room) before me. There are a couple first years gathered in the area when we exit.
As prefects, we are obligated to help out younger students, so we approach them cautiously.
“Hey!” I say cheerfully. A few of their small heads turn to me. “I introduced myself a few days ago, but my name is Thea Mallard. I’m one of your prefects!” I gesture to Al. “This is Alzona Tursk. He is also a prefect. Our job is to help you all whenever we can.”
One of the first years, a small girl with a head full of neat braids takes a step towards us. “None of us remember how to get to the Great Hall. We’ve been following older kids, but there haven’t been any leaving the common room!”
“No need to worry!” I chirp. “We can help you guys learn the route.”
“It’s really normal for new students to be lost the first few weeks,” Alzona adds.
I roll my eyes. “Or months, in your case.” He feigns a betrayed expression and I look back at the girl who spoke up. “What’s your name?”
“Rose Oakes.”
“Hi, Rose.” I smile and hold my hand out. “Come on, let’s get breakfast.”
She smiles giddily and takes my hand. She waves her friends over and they flock around me and Al. We both laugh and start leading the group away from the room of barrels. As we make the trek to the Great Hall, we take turns giving them helpful advice for remembering how to locate important rooms. Hogwarts is considered to be one of the most geographically confusing buildings in the wizarding world. There are way too many hallways and empty classrooms, if you ask me, which nobody did.
As soon as we get to the Great Hall, Rose drops my hand and runs off to the other Hufflepuff first years already sitting at the table. Her friends rush after her. Al and I look at each other and start laughing. Every year, the new students seem to get more and more energetic. But that’s most likely just us getting ‘old.’ We take our seats to finally start eating. I say that, but I truly love helping first years. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to be a prefect.
I decide to be simple and grab some toast and eggs for breakfast. Al gets a banana. Our conversation is light and meaningless until the mail arrives. A pile of assorted cards and small packages land on the table next to me. Most are marked with the signatures of my parents, and some from our neighbors. My handful of muggle friends have also sent cards. Not that they know where I am exactly. They send whatever they have for me to my parents so they can forward them to me at school.
I let Al help me unwrap the three packages. I got a parcel of muggle candy that gets shoved into my bag for later, a muggle novel, and a stationary set. I’m already grinning at the gifts, but my face glows brighter when I start opening the cards. I manage to not cry at the ones from my parents. My grandparent’s make me tear up a little, and the ones from my muggle friends lead to tears falling. Alzona doesn’t say anything about it, just puts a comforting hand on my arm. Luckily the crying doesn’t last very long. I calm myself in just a few short minutes.
“I love them all so much,” I tell him, wiping my face a final time.
“I know you do.”
I gulp down a glass of water to clear my throat. “I’m gonna run to the dorms to drop this stuff off. Wanna come?”
He shakes his faux-ginger head. “No thanks. I told Levi we would meet up this morning.” I bid him farewell and march off in the direction of my room. The halls have students milling around in small groups. Most kids are in the Great Hall still, and it’s too early for any rambunctious rounds of gobblestones. It’s peaceful; even the portraits are dozing or are out of their frames.
My rush to the dorm is swiftly completed. I make sure I have everything before leaving again. Back in the hall, most of the crowds have dispersed. I’m meeting up with everyone for lunch later, so I have nothing to do except go to the library and finish the homework I neglected yesterday.
Cece ends up being in our usual corner, already working. I silently sit diagonally to her and start on my Transfiguration essay.
{Kit’s POV}
|September 8th, 1995|
Parties suck. I love my friends. I love being around them. But I also hate being around them. Last night was fun, and I’m really glad everyone enjoyed it.
I decided to sleep in today. I love sleeping. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. The Slytherin dorms and common room are usually really cold because of the lake right outside. And the whole ‘being in the dungeons’ thing. I love being cold so I can warm myself up in blankets. I love curling up and doing nothing.
Unfortunately, Pansy is a responsible prefect and makes me get up before breakfast is over. I grumble and roll away from her.
“Kit, you’ll hate yourself later if you don’t eat at least an apple.” She shakes my shoulder.
“Jokes on you, I hate myself anyway.”
Her disappointment is clear in the way she says my name. “Kristian Ollivander.”
I groan and sit up. “Jesus, fine. No need to be so serious, Pans. I’m up.”
“Hurry your ass up. I’m starving.” She notices the face I’m making. “No, I’m not leaving without you.”
She marches away, black ponytail swishing. I let myself fall off the bed with the blankets. Waking up is the worst part of the day. That is a hill I will die on. I force myself out of slumber and use magic to make my bed look somewhat presentable. It’ll pass Pansy’s inspection, if only just barely. She has made me make my bed every morning since our first year. She insists it boosts personal morale and mentality for the day. I pretend to be annoyed, but I actually appreciate it a lot.
Five- okay, ten minutes later, I exit my dorm and meet up with Pansy. She’s standing next to a bookshelf of Slytherin journals, back to me. I tiptoe over and say, “Boo.”
She jumps slightly. “Oh my god, Kit. Stop it.” Her attention was really focused on whatever diary is now closed in her firm grip.
“Did I scare you?” She gives me a Parkinson Death Glare and starts walking. “Hey!” I protest, rushing to her side. She continues to ‘ignore’ me until we get to breakfast. On weekends, Slytherins are usually the ones who wake up the latest. That being said, the green-clad table is the most full when we enter.
To my silent delight, Draco is still at the table. However, his head is resting on his folded arms over the empty silver plates. I slide into place next to him. I sit down and hear him breathing deeply. He’s asleep he’s asleep he’s asleep. I lean over and blow on his ear softly. It twitches and he shifts his arms around. I blow again. This time, his gorgeous grey eyes flutter open and meet my gaze.
“Kit?” His voice cracks slightly. He notices and frowns, sipping a glass of water to clear his throat. “Did I fall asleep?”
“Yes, you did. Right in the Great Hall, no less. Is something wrong?” I put a hand on his arm reassuringly. “Did you not sleep well?”
He moves his arm away from me. “No, I slept perfectly fine, thank you.” He brushes me off so casually that I am about to start pressing him for more. But he cuts me off before I can get a single word out. “I have things to do today, so I shall be taking my leave now. Goodbye, Kit, Pansy.” He nods to us each in turn and gets up. I try reaching out for the back of his shirt, but he walks away quickly.
Pansy and I look at each other in disbelief. “He’s never done that to me before,” I say in shock. “Never.”
She agrees. “Yeah, same. I mean, he’s brushed me off, but never a straight up lie like that.”
“Did you see the bags under his eyes?” I ask. “You think we should ask Blaise and Theo if something happened last night?”
“I’d say we wait for them to come to us.” It’s a fair point. “You know how that trio works, Kit. They talk to each other about nightmares and family issues first. We don’t know everything.”
I’m not going to let that statement stand. “Draco has always told me when he has a nightmare. He always has. Why would he-”
She grabs my hand. “Kit. I would stop worrying about it so much. If it’s something that’s a serious issue, I am positive the boys will tell us. You have to be patient.”
I do not see Draco the rest of the day. He doesn’t show up for dinner (lunch was spent by the lake with my other friends). Blaise and Theo do, so Pansy and I interrogate them about the missing Malfoy. They assure us he’s okay. Pansy tells them to make sure he eats at some point. They promise.
Blaise notices my cautious expression and says, “I swear that he is okay, Kit. I can’t tell you any more, but Draco is okay.”
“Fine. I believe you,” is all I respond with.