"Slytherin, huh? Guess you're stuck with me..."

Chapter Three: Finding the Library

Walking down the corridors, I am focusing hard on my map and muttering to myself: "Coffee...books...coffee... Decaf maybe? No, am I insane? Library...library...Take a left and..." "OUCH!! Hey, what's the deal?" I look up at what has interrupted my concentration and see a girl about my age kneeling down to pick up her books. She was beautiful. "Oh! I am so sorry," I exclaimed, almost as flustered as she was. I bent down to help gather her things. "I was trying to find the library and thinking of coffee and I was definitely not paying attention. Are you hurt? Here," I hand her a textbook: "Unfogging the Future" by Cassandra Vablatsky. "Divination textbook. It's supposed to be really hard, so I'm on my way to the library to pick up some more books about the subject," the girl states while picking up the last of her items. "Listen, I'm really sorry I bumped into you, I swear it wasn't on purpose I--wait, did you say you were going to the library?" The girl stood up--maybe an inch shorter than myself--and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm on my way right now" she replied. "Do you think you could show me where it is? I'm new here and I was actually looking for it when I crashed into you. I'm trying to pick up some books about the history of the school and the culture. I'm new to this magic thing..." She smiled and I noticed how her eyes dark eyes sparkled in the candle-lit hallway. "Sure, no problem! By the way, my name is Cho. Cho Chang." I smiled and introduced myself as well. "Juneau. Juneau Thomas. You can call me June if you'd like. Or JT. Either works." She thought for a moment. "June...Pretty! I like it! Well, the library closes at eight, so we had better start moving." Potential friend? Definitely better than Pansy...She turned and began walking the way I came. Guess the map wasn't much help after all. 

In the library--another enormous candlelit room filled top to bottom with books of varying size--Cho directed me to the history section. "So," she said after a few minutes of searching for books. "You said you were new? What school did you go to before?" I added another book to the increasing stack. "East Lane High. It's in the States. I'm new to this whole wizard thing." She looked surprised. "Wow, so you don't know anything about magic? What class are you?" "I'm a seventh year," I said while reading the title of a new book: "Hogwarts: A History". "It's only the first night and I'm already overwhelmed," I continued. "Snape and Slughorn have already told me I'm going to have a tough time if I don't make any friends, plus I'm so behind in basic magic knowledge that I've been assigned a tutor. Her name's Pansy." Cho stopped looking at books and went quiet. Then she started laughing. "Pansy? As in Parkinson? Pugface Parkinson is your tutor? This is rich. The girl couldn't tell the difference between a mandrake and an actual baby, let alone tutor someone. Sure she's top of her class, but that's because she has dirt on everybody. She probably manipulated Slughorn or something." I took this in then became worried. "Wait, so if Pansy won't help me, what will I do? I don't know the first thing about Hogwarts or magic in general. I can't just enter my last year of school like this! I'm definitely going to fail!" I became panicked and apparently loud because the librarian gave me the death glare. Cho began trying to calm me down by gaining my focus. "Listen June, you'll be okay. From what I can tell you're a hard worker, and if you're actually trying to learn the history of Hogwarts to succeed I think you'll be fine. But you cannot, I repeat, CANNOT be in with Pansy and her group. That's the quickest way to be crushed under the sole of popularity and drama. You need a real mentor, someone who knows their stuff. Lucky for you, she's right here helping carry your books." She smiled, looking accomplished, and I realized she was referring to herself. "Oh my gosh Cho," I sighed, relieved. "You would really help tutor me? You're amazing." I hugged her feeling much better about my future at this school. She chuckled and looked at me with determination. "Not only that, I'll also be your eyes and ears. I'll let you know who is safe to be friends with and who to stay away from. Starting with Pansy of course." I had never felt so grateful in my life. "Thank you, thank you so much! I seriously owe you one and if you ever, for any reason, need my help, I will be here to provide it. Thank you, seriously." With that, we carried the enormous stack of books to the librarian to check them out. I knew now that I had finally found a friend, and I wasn't so worried about what the following months would bring.

After leaving the library, Cho headed back to the Great Hall to meet a friend while I decided to explore the castle some more. Books in hand, I made my way down ancient halls all dimly lit with candles, each corridor becoming increasingly less populated. I hadn't noticed until now, however, that there was almost no one around. The hall seemed so full of life and excitement a few minutes ago, where did they all go? Now, I realized that I had no clue where I was. I reached in my pocket to pull out my map and felt only the soft fabric from the inside of my cardigan. My map was gone. Oh crap! I must've left it in the library! Looking around for any indication that I wasn't alone, I slowly became panicked when I realized I was the only one in the hall. I might as well keep going, I'm bound to come across someone...It was getting late, and I knew that everyone was probably in their rooms for the night. I know that because I'm new, I'll probably be watched more than other students which makes my walk a big risk. After a couple of minutes trying to find my way back to a main area of the school, I hear footsteps--I freeze. They continue rhythmically, then increase in sound as though they are coming closer. I duck behind a pillar and try to make myself blend in as much as possible. I strain to hear the sound and realize the footsteps have stopped. Hopefully whoever it was went into a classroom? Assuming there are any around here. Suddenly, a voice behind my shoulder makes itself known, and in almost a whisper it says, "Where do you think you're going?" I let out a yelp and quickly turn around to see the source of the sound. Leaned up against the wall with a smirk on his face is Draco. My face feels instantly hot, and I can tell he senses my embarrassment . He is obviously taking pleasure in this.  I try and act calm when he slowly begins to move toward the pillar I'm pressed against. "I asked a question. The polite thing to do is to answer, you know," he sneers. He face was inches from mine which allowed me to truly observe his features. His grey eyes seemed to be looking directly into my soul. His hair was perfect, not a blond strand out of place. His brows were furrowed as he waited for my response. His lips...they were perfectly pink and...my mind began to race, and I felt even warmer though it was freezing in the corridor. I regained my thoughts and replied, "I was exploring the castle and wandered off my planned route. What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be with Pansy or terrorizing first-years or something?" He rolled his eyes and chuckled. Then, he raised his arm just above my shoulder and placed his arm on the pillar behind me. I didn't think we could've gotten closer, but here we were. He didn't break from looking into my eyes. "It's a little late for you to be walking around by yourself," he says, lowering his voice. This is my first night at this school, I can't do anything to get into trouble. No matter how bad I want to...Wait, what am I saying? I don't like Draco, he's an ass. I moved from under his arm and began to walk away. "Yeah, I know. That's why I'm heading back to the dormitory," I replied, trying to hide my emotions. "And which house did they put you in," Draco asked while trying to catch up to me. "Slytherin, I guess..." At this, he looked surprised and, dare I say, happy? He jumped in front of me and tried to block my path. I was getting annoyed. "Slytherin, huh? Guess you're stuck with me, then." He flashed a (fake?) smile, displaying perfectly white teeth. I finally stopped walking and huffed, showing my irritation. "Wow, great," I remarked sarcastically. "I'm just super thrilled! Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to put these books up and get ready for tomorrow." He stepped aside and allowed me to continue my path. Finally, maybe he'll leave me alone. I had only walked a few steps when I heard him call out, "Though, if you're going to the Slytherin dorm, it would be nice to know you're walking the opposite way. For your information, I'm headed there now!" Ugh, great... I took a deep breath and walked over to where he was standing, and we began our walk. This is going to be an interesting year.