Sigh, Teenagers

It was dark. Not the type of dark when the world seemed to be tinted some shade of black or blue from the shimmery moon, but the dark that was tinted a deep brownish-red from…curtains? Wait what?

Groaning, Y/N pried her weary eyes open to meet the oak ceiling of her canopy bed. The gap between her curtains allowed a tiny sliver of light in the girl's alcove to attack the drowsy student. She immediately shut her eyes as she didn't quite enjoy being blinded first thing in the morning-or possibly afternoon, Y/N had no idea.

Having stayed up far past witching hour (the 3:00 one to be precise) to read a novel the previous night, the girl was far from being wide awake, to say the least. But it most definitely wasn't her fault. Surely, it was the fault of Professor Moody for assigning such an obscene amount of homework on defense charms the night before. Then it was the fault of her book for being so bloody interesting that it kept her up till it was nearly dawn.

Not bothering to rub the sleep out of her eyes, Y/N pushed open the velvety curtains and stumbled off her bed only to find her dorm room empty. She'd never been completely alone in her dorm before. The girl almost contemplated opening her eyes a bit wider to check but decided against it, so she slipped on her bunny slippers and shuffled out of the dorm.

Once she'd arrived at the common room, the girl squinted extra hard through her bleary eyes to find that she had encountered yet another empty room. Maybe Y/N was still dreaming. That would certainly explain why her movements had felt so restrained or why no one was around.

Compelled by the thought of cereal or toast, the girl shuffled out of the portrait hole, not bothering to ask the fat lady if she knew the whereabouts of the rest of the school's students. After all, this was all but a dream. The girl reaffirmed her working theory when she was unable to spot a single soul on her way to the kitchens.

Y/N's needs were quickly satiated by a slice of toast she'd snatched from the empty kitchen. With her eyes still barely inched open, she robotically made her way back up the grand staircase and through the halls. Once again, not a single soul was to be spotted in the hallways as she dragged herself back to the common room.

The girl hardly even remembered giving the password to the fat lady or stepping through the portrait hole, yet here she was, trudging past red couches and oak tables. Hell, she hadn't even realized the boy sitting on the couch staring wide-eyed at her until he called her name.

"Y/N?"

The girl stopped, turned to the couches, and squinted profusely at the body occupying what was supposed to be empty space. She blinked a few times and finally fully opened her eyes. "You're not supposed to be here," she grumbled, her voice horribly raspy and scratchy from its lack of use throughout the night.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not supposed to be in my dream," she asserted once again.

Harry, who'd been in the common room the entire time, shot the girl a slightly judgemental look. But could you blame him? His friend was acting exceedingly strange today. "We're not in a dream right now, Y/N."

"Are you sure?" The girl walked over to her friend and plopped down beside him. "Pinch me."

"What?" Harry sputtered, taken aback. His wide green eyes stared incredulously at his friend and he instead retracted from the girl.

"Prove me wrong," she mumbled, displaying her forearm for pinching.

Hesitantly, the boy leaned over to pinch a small bit of skin on his friend's arm. Upon feeling the sharp sting of pain, Y/N mumbled a passionate string of profanities. "I walked all the way to the kitchens and back in my bloody pajamas," she complained as she smacked her forehead. "Embarrassing. I must’ve looked completely mental."

"I'm sure it's fine," Harry assured, awkwardly patting the girl's shoulder as she hid her face in shame. "What are you still doing here?"

The girl looked up after just encountering an insight moment. "Is there somewhere I'm supposed to be?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side in thought.

"Well no, but I thought you would've wanted to go to Hogsmeade with Hermione or the twins since it's our first trip this year."

"That's fine with me, I don't really like big crowds anyways. The real question is why you're here." She paused, scanning the common room for any incoming souls. "I mean Padfoot signed your permission slip, didn't he? Why aren't you at Hogsmeade?"

Harry looked away uncomfortably, feeling too embarrassed to admit the reason as to why he wasn't enjoying a nice trip to Hogsmeade. Luckily for him, Y/N seemed to understand. Guess Ron was still a touchy subject. "Either way, it's just us today so what do you want to do?"

"I dunno," Harry shrugged, wondering if his friend was okay with being dragged all the way to the quidditch pitch to watch him practice. After all, it had been a while since he'd last practiced given the sport's cancelation this year.

Fortunately, the two were saved from a good ten minutes of mindless brainstorming by Neville, who'd magically appeared at the foot of the staircase. "Hi, guys!" He greeted cheerfully as he approached. Though the closer he got, the more Neville seemed to grow nervous. "Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to interrupt," he apologized as he eyed the two students.

"Oh hi Neville, you weren't interrupting anything," Y/N assured as she turned to face the boy.

"What are you still doing here?" Harry asked although he sounded the slightest bit less cheerful than his counterpart.

"I'm going to collect some Ranunculus corms to plant," said Neville as he held up a metal bucket and a withered book. "Would you like to join? ...If you don't already have plans," the herbologist added.

"We're not...um...well sure, me and Harry will come along," she answered, shooting up from the couch. "Just let me get changed first."

Soon after the girl had left the boys, she came barrelling down the staircase in more appropriate clothes with two books tucked into her arms. "Sorry it took so long," she wheezed breathlessly, almost embarrassed at how long it had taken her to comb out her nest of hair that morning.

"I didn't want to keep you two waiting."

"It's alright Y/N, we're not in any rush," the kindhearted Neville assured.

Finally, the girl collected herself and the trio left the common room, following Neville to wherever he happened to be leading them. Harry and Y/N strolled together a little ways behind Neville, feeling more comfortable sticking to each other than to their acquaintance. Not that Harry and Y/N were uncomfortable with Neville; the two were just closer to one another than they were with the herbology-loving boy. Harry had only begun truly interacting with Neville this year due to their potions project and Ron's sudden fit, and Y/N... Well, she wasn't the most social creature in the castle.

Nonetheless, the cheerful boy led Harry and Y/N out of the castle and down the grounds to the lake with a mouthful of herbology facts falling from his lips. The two behind him couldn't help by exchange amused glances with one another. Herbology was a wonderfully fascinating subject that neither teenager was interested in in the slightest.

Neville's chosen spot was at the bank of the lake in a shady area close to the forbidden forest. While the boy rolled up his pants and prepared to step into the muddy waters, Y/N and Harry settled down at the trunk of the closest tree.

Aside from Neville's excessive gushing about the different aquatic plants that he could spot in the water, the group was relatively quiet. Y/N couldn't bear to be bored out of her mind so she busied herself by stuffing her nose into the book from the night before. Harry, who wasn't nearly as interested in books as his friend, watched Neville with a disinterested gaze whilst fiddling with his wand. Occasionally, the two would hum response whenever Neville ranted jovially about whatever he had found in the water.

After about an hour or so, Y/N felt her eyes droop lazily as she ran through each worn page, slowing down every few minutes because she just couldn't seem to comprehend the words as time wore on. After two hours, Y/N was fast asleep, her head dropping onto Harry's shoulders and book rolling out of her hands and closing on the ground.

Harry stiffened, worried about moving around too much lest he wake his friend from her peaceful slumber. As gingerly as possible, the boy leaned over to pick up the fallen book from the floor and tucked the bookmark back onto the page he'd last seen her read before placing it back onto her lap. Despite feeling enticed to sleep by the even breaths coming from his friend, Harry stayed awake, thinking about the upcoming trial.

Y/N opened her eyes hours after she had last closed them. Like the last time she had read her book, she unknowingly fell asleep, taking one more blink and falling into the hole of darkness that was sleep. She recalled hearing sounds, but not wanting to open her eyes just yet because that would mean she would lose all the warmth that she'd built upon Harry's hoodie.

Based on what she had first heard, Neville seemed to be raving about his aquatic plants again, which Harry seemed rather annoyed by. "Neville, you're doing it again," he warned, on edge about Y/N possibly waking up.

"It's too early for this," Y/N grumbled wearily as she hid her face into Harry's shoulder to avoid the fading sunlight.

"It's four in the afternoon," Harry deadpanned, furrowing his thick eyebrows in slight judgment.

"Fine, I'll wake up," she mumbled, peeling herself off of the boy's side. Immediately, the two noticed the lack of warmth coming from one another and wished to return, but decided against it.

Neville waved from the lake, catching the teens' attention. Harry and Y/N turned to look at the incoming strangers only to see their friends approaching. "I thought they went to Hogsmeade," Y/N said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Harry, who seemed angrier than usual at the sight, stood up abruptly. "They did."

Y/N let out a soft "oh" before pressing her lips together into a line and standing up to meet with her friends. Hermione was making a fuss with Ron about wording while Ginny, with her hands stuffed in her pockets, rolled her eyes at her brother's ridiculousness.

"Get on with it already Ron," Ginny scolded.

"Uh, Ronald would like me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid was looking for you," Hermione declared hesitantly.

Y/N scrunched her eyebrows harshly as she tried to make sense of Hermione's words. Apparently, Harry was doing the same as he struggled to take in the information. "Is that right?" He paused. "Well...what?"

Yet another round of hushed conversation occurred between Hermione and Ron until Ginny finally spoke up. "For Merlin's sake! Hagrid's looking for you Harry," the redhead said, nodding towards Harry and taking Hermione by the arms while leaving her own brother behind.

Ron hesitated for a second before turning his back on his ex-friend and climbing back up the slope from which he came. Y/N stuffed her hands in her pockets and turned to her friend. "Can I come along?"

"Sure," he answered.

Together, they bid Neville a warm goodbye before trekking to Hagrid's hut. But once at his hut, Harry was asked to return with his invisibility cloak, which slightly annoyed the girl. They'd already done plenty of walking that day, both up and downhill, yet she just had to choose to stick to her friend's side for moral support. It had become a habit since their second year.

They soon found themselves trudging through the forbidden forest beside Hagrid right after sundown. Although Harry seemed to be a bit nervous about whatever Hagrid was leading them to, Y/N was decently nonchalant, keeping her head down as she did her best to keep from tripping over the roots; never again after she twisted her ankle on some roots in front of the twins her third year.

"Did you bring your father's cloak like I asked you?" Hagrid asked as he stepped over a mess of roots, causing his lantern to swing back and forth wildly.

"Yeah I brought the cloak," Harry replied hastily. "Hagrid, where are we going?"

"You'll see soon enough," the half-giant assured. "Pay attention, this is important," he warned as he looked left and right nervously.

Y/N was now unnerved by the fact that one of the only people on campus that wasn't afraid of the dark forest was keeping his eye out for something while in the dark forest. Now on edge, the girl glued herself to Harry's side in fear that she would take one wrong step and find herself dangerously off course. Harry, however, was a bit preoccupied with picking apart Hagrid's suspicious fashion.

"What's with the flower?" Harry questioned, a bit of judgment and surprise in his tone. "Hagrid have you combed your hair?" He asked again, causing Y/N to snort quietly. At Harry's observation, she too noticed that Hagrid was looking oddly kept today. She could even pick up the slightest scent of some sort of cologne that felt very unfitting of their groundskeeper.

"As a matter of fact, I have," Hagrid replied. "You might like to try the same thing now and again."

Harry looked away with slight embarrassment and Y/N patted his shoulder. "I mean, you really might want to try it at some point," she suggested, ruffling his mop of black hair as she said so.

"What? I comb my hair," he asserted as he tried to fix up his touseled locks.

Then, a growl surged through the forest, sending chills up the teens and causing them to stop in their tracks. Harry looked up at the groundskeeper with worry and Y/N looked at Harry with complete and utter regret. Oh, she was really going to get herself bloody killed this time.

An accented "Hagrid" suddenly rang out throughout the woods, alerting the group of the one and only Madame Maxime. Hagrid happily strode ahead of his companions before his lovestruck brain finally realized they weren't supposed to be present.

"Oh, the cloak, put the cloak on," Hagrid hurriedly whispered as he turned back to the two. Feeling the sense of urgency, Harry unfolded his cloak and cast it over him and Y/N. The teens stuck tightly together as they scurried over to the departing half-giant, watching and listening as he greeted the headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy with familiarity.

The gushy scene between the two half-giants had Y/N feeling like an intruder while Harry was completely disgusted; the boy stuck out his tongue as if gagging at the thought of love. Y/N snickered quietly and elbowed the boy. "It's not that bad," she whispered.

The black-haired boy scrunched up his face with continued disgust, not believing his friend. After hearing the half-giantess's next line, however, Y/N was entirely on Harry's side. She too internally gagged at the thought of the mushy gushy couple acting like a bunch of high schoolers sneaking out in the middle of the night. Somehow she failed to see the irony in that.

Hagrid then pushed aside two bushes to reveal a concerning scene of men struggling to contain some fire-breathing creature. Y/N and Harry, having encountered one of the beasts but in a smaller form in their first year, immediately knew that it was a dragon: a rather fierce one at that.

As soon as Madame Maxime stepped away from the group to take a closer look, Harry shed his cloak haphazardly. "Dragons! That's the first task? You're joking." Harry whisper-yelled in disbelief. Y/N, with her eyes nearly bulging out of her head, stayed speechless as she stared at the dragon that had now broken the flimsy wood box containing it.

Hagrid was almost done giving his spiel about how they were "seriously misunderstood creatures" until the beast shot a stream of fire in their direction, causing the trio to duck. "Although, I have to admit that Horntail is a right nasty piece of work. Poor Ron nearly fainted just seeing him you know."

Harry's attention quickly shifted from the dragon to Hagrid. "Ron was here?" he asked angrily.

"Oh sure, his brother Charlie helped to bring him over from Romania. Didn't Ron tell you?"

"No. He didn't tell me a thing," Harry noted bitterly.

"Ohhh, well that would explain why we saw Ron so late a few nights ago when we were well...," she trailed off as she racked her mind to find the correct words. Well, they were supposed to be studying, but they were also talking, but it was mostly filled with Y/N teasing Harry.

"Blimey Harry! I didn't know you two were involved like that. Congratulations," Hagrid cheered as he gave the teens a hearty pat on the back that nearly sent them straight to the floor.

"Oh no Hagrid, we're just...friends," Harry quickly clarified though his cheeks were burning red.

"Yeah, what Harry said," Y/N mumbled as she looked at the floor in the opposite direction of Harry. The emerald-eyed boy did exactly the same.

"Oh sorry you two, it's just that you've been spending an awful lot of time together. I might've jumped a little ahead of myself there," the half-giant apologized. After a bit of an awkward pause with neither teen looking at each other, Hagrid finally spoke again. "Right then, you best be off to bed now. You can't get big without yer sleep."

A round of soft farewells ensued and the duo was quickly sent back through the forbidden forest.

The walk back up to the castle was almost entirely silent as Harry kept to himself, presumably to fume over Ron, while Y/N's mind bombarded her with unwanted thoughts. It wasn't until they were right outside the castle doors that Harry spoke.

"You've been quieter than usual."

"You're going to die."

"What?"

"A dragon. You have to beat a dragon. You're going to die," Y/N said, almost as if confirming Harry's fate to herself.

"Well thanks for the support," he shot back.

Y/N kept her mouth shut for the rest of the walk back to the common room, sensing that Harry was in a bad mood and that her unsavory comment did little to help it. When Harry bid her a grumpy good night, she could only hope that he wouldn't stay mad at her.

The girl immediately found herself back in the kitchens after her stomach gave off an awfully ugly rumbling sound. Dobby had been busy when she entered the kitchens so another house-elf kindly helped serve Y/N. For a while, she sat at her usual spot, biting down listlessly on strawberries as she thought through her situation. Honestly, Y/N wasn't even sure she had fallen asleep while staring into the fire at some point. She'd barely even noticed the two heads of fiery red hair entering the kitchen until she was literally being squished from the sides by the two.

"You're cruel, Y/N," Fred accused.

"How am I cruel?"

"We wanted to go to Hogsmeade with you today but you forgot to wake up," George whined whilst jabbing an accusing finger into her shoulder.

Y/N shrugged and continued popping strawberries into her mouth. The twins both eyed the girl's snack suspiciously. So it was that kind of day. "You're not still worried about Ron and Harry are you?"

The girl remained silent as she continued looking onwards in thought. She felt that it would be a lie to say she wasn't, but also that the twins would be concerned if she said she was. Yet the two boys knew their best friend well enough. They hummed simultaneously, obviously brewing up a scheme.

"Would you like to bet on it?" Fred proposed devilishly, prompting his friend to raise an eyebrow in question.

"If Harry and Ron don't makeup by the end of the month, you can ask us for whatever you want. If they do, then we can ask you for whatever we want.”

"Absolutely not," Y/N deadpanned. Okay fine, if the twins were ready to sell their souls over this bet, then maybe Y/N would finally have to take their word for it. Naturally, the twins knew their younger brother better than anyone else, so of course, they would be able to predict his actions. But Y/N still had her suspicions.

"Now then," Fred cheerfully announced. "It's time for you to go to bed."

"No it isn't," said Y/N through a mouth full of strawberries.

"Yes it is," insisted George. The boy then proceeded to do what he did best and hoisted her over his broad shoulder.

"What?! Let go of me! I'm not going to sleep," She protested angrily as she attempted to wriggle out of his airtight grip. Her totally unaffected captor continued briskly on his way to the door.

"As I recall, Hermione says you stayed up all night reading," Fred said as he trailed behind Geroge and Y/N.

"And what about it."

"You need your sleep to grow nice and tall," George teased.

"What am I? A mandrake? I've grown enough thank you. It's you two who need to stop growing," she scoffed.

Fred laughed as he tossed her messy hair over her face. The entirety of the walk back to their common room was filled with grumbling from the girl protesting her punishment of a good night's sleep. In the end, Y/N only agreed to go to bed after being bribed with a pack of jelly slugs courtesy of the twins' trip to Honeydukes. If not, Y/N would have fought tooth and nail out of sheer spite. She was just in an aggravated mood that night.

~

Maybe it was just an upcoming "time of the month" thing for Y/N, but she found herself agitated the next morning too. Though it was far more likely that Y/N's sour mood was a result of the pins adorning several students' attire that morning.

Y/N was undoubtedly angrier than Harry when they stepped into the Great Hall for breakfast. Though being the person she was, her anger was quick to melt into frustration and petty pouting. "I'm going to murder Malfoy," she swore under her breath.

Two hearty laughs erupted from the girl's sides. "As much as I hate Malfoy, how about you focus on your breakfast first," George suggested as he piled bacon onto Y/N's plate.

"Yeah, you can plot his murder over breakfast," Fred pointed out.

"Fine," Y/N sighed as she rested her chin on her hand before grabbing a piece of bacon to chew on. Her eyes wandered over to Harry eating with Hermione but quickly averted to Malfoy. The bugger was sitting at the Slytherin table acting like some king. But Y/N only saw him for who he truly was, a nasty, attention-seeking prick. For a second, Malfoy's steely eyes met with Y/N's, but both teens quickly looked away.

At some point, the Slytherin stood up from his seat and left the hall alone. By some strange moment of possession, Y/N found herself stepping away from the table and following the boy out of the same doors he had just gone through. She doubted anyone but the twins noticed her following after Malfoy, and she knew they wouldn't stop her. Sometimes Y/N's bloodlust was too much to maintain.

As the blonde boy turned down an empty hall, Y/N sped up after him. Suddenly Malfoy stopped, surprising Y/N. He spun around on his heel to smugly face the girl. Y/N halted, standing tall and proudly without the shyness that she had in her first three years at Hogwarts. Maybe her confidence came from the hateful words she had thrown at him a while back. She knew now she had the capacity to hurt him, and as bad as it sounded, she still wanted to. She was angry, almost too angry again.

"Looks like I've got a fan club...Or a stalker. I'll sign your pin if you want," the Slytherin taunted, sending a wink at the girl.

"Shut it you snake. Destroy those pins. Or decommission it or stop selling it or whatever," Y/N demanded angrily.

"Awww are you mad that your precious boyfriend Potter's feelings got all hurt?"

"He's not my boyfriend, and I could say the same about your stupid girlfriend Pug-faced Pansy."

The boy rolled his eyes and started walking away. It seemed he was either bored or done with this conversation. But Y/N wasn't. The girl ran after the boy with silent footsteps until she rammed into his back with her elbow.

The prince of Slytherin nearly tumbled to the floor but just barely managed to catch himself because God forbid letting his pristine black suit be dirtied or he'd die. The boy turned around harshly and stomped up to the girl whilst peering down menacingly at her like a snake ready to strike."Don't touch me with those filthy hands."

Y/N shoved him again, causing him to step back. "I'll touch you if I want."

The blonde stepped up to the girl, towering over her with his stupid outrageous height. For a second, she thought he was going to shove her back, but he didn't. Maybe he was just being a gentleman by not shoving her. Yeah right, he probably just didn't want to touch any "half-breed filth" like Y/N.

Y/N stayed rooted to her spot even though she wanted to run away. At least she wasn't visibly shaking, though her resolve definitely was. She had no idea what on earth possessed her to provoke Malfoy in the first place knowing he was so much better at dueling, but it felt so right to do. If he hurt her friends, then she wasn't going to stand by and let that happen.

Her eyes narrowed as she glared into his steely grey orbs. "Stop passing out those pins or you'll wake up glued to your ceiling. Or maybe I'll make you vomit every time you see me for the rest of your life."

The tiniest flash of fear crossed Malfoy's eyes. Her threat sounded too familiar to Pansy's recent bout of illness. Unfortunately for him, It was just enough for Y/N to latch onto. A terrifying grin spread over the girl's (admittedly chapped) lips. "This isn't a threat. It's a promise."

The Slytherin grit his teeth and scoffed before walking straight ahead and bumping roughly into the girl's shoulder. As much as she unnerved him, Draco was too concerned with his facade to fight back in public. Y/N nearly lost her balance but caught herself just in time to see him reach a corner. "Have you ever considered that this is why no one likes you?!" She yelled down the hall.

For a split second, Y/N's heart dropped as Malfoy stiffened. Had she perhaps hit a nerve again?

However, he kept walking. Despite winning their little battle, Y/N felt incredibly guilty. She had never said such mean things to anyone before this year, and it was eating away at her mind. Not again. She had gone for long enough without mulling over her moral persona. But then again, was her comment too far? The girl sighed heavily before heading to the common room to spend her Sunday alone with her book and her guilt.

~

At least Y/N didn't have to hex Malfoy in the days following her threat. In fact, the girl had been on her merry way to the library to search for antigravity spells when she overheard some Slytherins complaining about the discontinuation of the Potter Stinks pins from Malfoy. Begrudgingly, Y/N found it in herself to at least apologize for her rude actions the other two days.

It nearly burned the girl's hand and soul to write the words "sorry" onto the piece of parchment that she would slip onto Malfoy's desk. It wasn't like she expected forgiveness. Y/N was just a selfish person who wanted to ease her own conscience. Now she could at least say she apologized for uttering such harsh words. As the girl wrote those very words, she could already imagine the words "once told a school bully that no one would ever love him and that he would die alone" fading from her tombstone.

Yes, Y/N was being melodramatic given that she'd probably done much worse in the past, but it still felt like the right thing to do. She wasn't that type of person. Being near Malfoy just sparked a burning passion in her that made Y/N blow up, and she hated it. Her parents had raised her to be a better person. Though the twins had taught her to raise hell upon her enemies. It was quite the contradiction.

Y/N had soothed her own issues quickly, but the school environment rarely ever worked that way.

Despite the halting of productions and distribution of pins on Malfoy's part, that didn't mean that the large selection of students who had already purchased the pins would stop wearing them. That was made apparent by the Hufflepuffs flashing their pins to Harry as he tried to enter the courtyard Y/N had been reading in.

Y/N had no idea what her friend's business was in the courtyard since he was usually somewhere else during their free period. She would have followed Harry, but the girl had been sitting on her bench for a while now, and she didn't feel like getting up anytime soon. After all, she already had such an amazing view of Cedric from across the courtyard.

Well, she did had quite the view of the Hufflepuff lounging on his bench until her black-haired friend covered it. The girl sighed, disappointed. Though she did regain sight of Cedric Diggory as he followed Harry away from his group of friends, his eyes darting to Y/N for a quick second before looking back at his fellow Triwizard Champion.

Now Y/N was insanely curious about their conversation. Her mother had taught her better than to eavesdrop on others' conversations, but she was still desperately intrigued. It was a quick chat, however, as the two split ways and the poor Gryffindor boy confronted a new challenge: Malfoy.

All previous thoughts were shed away from Y/N's mind as she slammed her book shut and raced toward the gnarled tree that Draco had just jumped down from. She quickly arrived by Harry's side and the boy flashed her a quick look of acknowledgment.

An annoyed look had crossed Draco's face as soon as the girl arrived. "Oh look, Potter's girlfriend has come to defend him," he spat.

Y/N rolled her eyes this time instead of denying it. She had no particular interest in restarting that specific argument with Draco, and especially not in front of all his mindless goons. "Whatever," she huffed before pulling at Harry's arm to leave.

"You're all just pathetic," Harry spat before turning to leave with Y/N.

Everything after that seemed to happen in a blur. The temperamental Slytherin had pulled out his wand, ready to curse the two until their newest defense against the dark arts teacher appeared out of nowhere. Then, a spell shot out of Mad Eye Moody's wand, turning Draco into a cute, fuzzy white ferret right in the middle of the courtyard.

Harry and Y/N were quick to turn around at the commotion. A gasp left the girl's lips right as she brought a hand to cover her mouth in shock. Though, she had to admit that she was more or less hiding an amused smile. Laughing at peoples' misfortune was supposed to be a bad thing or whatever, according to Y/N's mother, and Y/N needed to make it up to herself morally lately.

Harry displayed much less effort in controlling his amusement. Y/N wouldn't hold it against him though. In her eyes, Malfoy's untimely transformation was reparation for the hurt he'd caused Harry in these last few days. Even being levitated up and down over and over again seemed like a well-deserved punishment for his crimes.

Being shoved down Crabbe's trousers, on the other hand, was just a tad bit excessive from a professor. Everyone around Y/N was laughing as Malfoy's tiny little ferret head slipped past his minion (or possibly friend, you never know)'s waistband. All hell reigned loose as Goyle tried to swat at the panicky ferret still trapped inside Crabbe's trousers. Must've been a low blow for Malfoy.

The girl didn't want to ruin the jovial mood with everyone laughing and all. Even Cedric seemed amused. Blimey, Y/N really wasn't lying when she said no one liked Malfoy. She wondered if he realized it too as students from all houses laughed whilst his own friends tried to swat at his little rodent form.

McGonagall was quick to come to his rescue. At least the professors had no choice but to treat him decently- minus Mad Eye Moody of course. The mess of a scene continued as Malfoy turned back into the bratty human that he was normally in a spinning flurry of robes. He looked shaken and disoriented in the few seconds following his transformation before he scrambled off- but not before threatening the professor that caused the mess in the first place. Lastly, Y/N could tell he looked genuinely hurt as he swiveled around, facing the laughing student body. Y/N's words must have finally dawned on him.

"Alastor," McGonagall reprimanded. "Alastor, we never use transfiguration as a punishment. Surely Dumbledore told you that."

"He might've mentioned it," Professor Moody grumbled.

"Well you will do well to remember it," McGonagall threatened before spinning on her heels and shooing students away from the scene. "Away!"

Moody too hobbled away. "You, come with me," he demanded, not even bothering to give a second glance to the students or clarification as to which teen he was calling for. It wasn't necessary for the professor to clarify anyways. They all knew he meant Harry.

Y/N waved goodbye to her friend before he followed the professor out of the courtyard. The girl decided that she too would leave the courtyard for she no longer liked the jittery atmosphere. She was only a few strides into her retreat when she accidentally bumped into another student due to her mindlessness.

Y/N had forgotten to apologize to the student the moment her eyes landed on the "Potter Stinks" pin swirling into a "Cedric Rules" design. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pursed with frustration. "Pardon me," she mumbled quietly before hurrying away with her eyes aimed at the floor.

Normally, Y/N would have been staring at the floor out of perhaps shyness or fear, but this time she was doing it out of restraint. It was the same girl who harrassed her beloved friend earlier in the hallway, Y/N had noticed. It took everything in her bones just to not slap the magic out of the witch and her stupid pin.

The Gryffindor didn't bother looking back on the conversation that was apparently happening behind her, or the footsteps that crescendoed until they were by her side. It was quite a startling revelation when Y/N was tapped on her shoulder by the heavenly Angel that was Cedric Diggory.

"Oh! I didn't see you there. Gave me quite the fright."

"My apologies, I didn't mean to."

"You're lucky I didn't accidentally smack you again," Y/N joked. "Again, sorry about that."

"No it's perfectly fine," He chuckled. "I'm just glad I found you back then."

An unstoppable smile spread across Y/N's cheeks as she looked away nervously. She cleared her throat out of habit. "So uh, what brings you here?" Great, Y/N. Just great. 'What brings you here? Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that he's attending school as a normal person should,' she internally panicked.

Cedric looked back, enticing Y/N to do so too and she quickly noticed the Hufflepuff girl from earlier toying with her pin before ultimately taking it off of her robes. "I've asked them to stop wearing those," he explained.

Merlin, why did Cedric have to be such a good person? It was unhealthy for Y/N's swooning heart as she thought through all of the boy's good deeds. The Hufflepuff could've easily given into the temptation to assert dominance over his competitor but he chose to not only be a good sport, but also a good person. At this point, did Y/N even have a shot with a boy that perfect? At least Ceric asked people nicely to rid of the pins. Y/N had literally shoved and threatened Malfoy to get him to recede.

"That's nice of you," she hummed. "Is she your friend?"

Cedric shook his head. "She's just in my house. A third-year I believe. You seemed uncomfortable around those pins so I asked her to stop wearing it."

Y/N was definitely going to faint. She liked to believe that she was just looked obviously discomforted instead of the fact that Cedric may have been watching her or paying attention to her. Because one, it meant that he was at least concerned for her, and two, he caught her bad banana, shrimp-like posture as she was reading on the bench. Unconsciously, the girl stopped slouching and straightened out her shoulders as her mother had told her to do so many times before.

Suddenly, the hallway seemed unbearably confined with just her and Cedric, and Y/N didn't want him to look at her and notice all her flaws. Especially since she had broken out with a new spot of acne just that morning. Yes, Y/N had indeed fallen upon her time of the month. It just might've been the reason behind her recent bouts of impulsiveness too.

"I've...Got to go, See ya!" And just like that, the girl dashed away with a heavy blush painted across her cheeks.

Y/N soon found herself back in the library with only an hour left of her free period to spare. Her earlier troubles were already forgotten the second she squeezed through the stack of books leading into her little safe haven.

The girl immediately noticed how dusty the corner was due to light piercing through the equally dusty window. Her eyes naturally followed the path of light upwards until she stopped, an excited gasp leaving her lips. "I can't believe it," she whispered to herself.

Without much thought in mind, Y/N headed straight for the shelf that she'd spotted it at. The girl had never seen a book this new in the library before. Someone must have stashed it quite well then. Apparently, it was hidden so expertly, that the girl had to grab a chair to stand atop to reach the book. Now with a clear view of the very top shelf, Y/N caught sight of the different novels collecting dust.

Her original choice, "Dracula" was discarded in favor of the little copy of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" sitting at the farthest corner. Unfortunately, the girl found it hard to reach the book as she leaned over with her arm outstretched as far as she could possibly reach.

Her fingertips were just barely able to latch onto the leather cover before Y/N realized her big mistake. Now, thanks to her mindlessness, Y/N was tipping over at an alarming rate. This was going to hurt immensely.

But alas, Y/N never felt the pain of a sore bum or maybe even a sprained wrist if she dared to hold out her hand to catch herself. Instead, the girl was floating a few centimeters off the ground. But she hadn't heard any spells being spoken, which confused her.

Surprise overtook the girl as she saw Malfoy standing at the entrance with his wand out. Then awe quickly replaced surprise. "You can do wandless magic?!" After that, Y/N was dropped harshly onto the ground.

"All that for a book," Draco complained as he took a seat, running his hands through his tousled blond hair. Y/N had never seen him so defeated and messy in all his time at Hogwarts, and she watched him tumbling over the quidditch pitch their second year. Could it be Draco's little facade was cracking? Yet, the Gryffindor could tell Malfoy had been fixing his hair quite often as it got caught on a knot that a comb would've been able to take out easily. It was more surprising that the Slytherin didn't carry a comb with him everywhere than the fact that he could do wandless magic. Maybe he was less vain than she originally thought, given how put together the boy always looked.

"It's a pretty good book," Y/N defended as she sat down across from him, placing her newly acquired reading material in front of her. It was sort of strange the way that her words held no trace of malice for the boy. However foreign, Y/N was trying to put everything behind her. No, she was simply trying to avoid it.

"That's what you said about the last book."

"Well, I like this one more. I even have a copy of it at home from when I was a kid." Then it hit Y/N: she was having a pretty normal conversation with Draco Malfoy, a boy she'd been at odds with all year. It went quiet for a second as they both settled into content silence. Maybe the Slytherin had finally exhausted all his anger on the ferret incident and maybe Y/N pitied Draco for the ferret incident. She'd be traumatized too if she ever had to be in such close proximity to Crabbe's uh...forbidden wand…nimbus 2000…um…flesh flute…you get the picture.

But enough about that or Y/N would throw up in her mouth. It was time to switch subjects even if the conversation was only going through her mind.

"Why are you here?" Y/N asked softly. She knew bloody well that Draco hadn't shown up on Wednesday and that he wouldn't have come back just to continue the bet when he hated her so much.

"Pansy was being insufferable and Crabbe and Goyle were being...Crabbe and Goyle, idiots." It was weird how little Draco thought of his so-called friends. Though Y/N couldn't complain. She also retreated to her dusty little corner whenever she wanted alone time.

While their conversation did come to a peaceful end, Y/N continued to be wary of Draco. He was temperamental, to say the least. He was also prone to insulting words and hostile actions whenever around the girl.

Though Y/N guessed he just wasn't feeling like himself today. It was probably the fact that he had looked so wretched with his messy hair and dirty robes.

Eventually, Y/N let her guard down as she flipped through the pages of her book whilst Malfoy stared absentmindedly through the window. It was sort of easy to forget that he was even there when she wasn't worried he'd hex her or something.

"If it's any consolation," Y/N began. "You look pretty cute as a ferret. Almost makes me forgot how terrible you are." Though she muttered the last part quietly to herself.

"Whatever," Draco huffed grumpily, too defeated to really keep up that teenaged angst of his.