ad astra per aspera - {♕ f.w.}

6. Trelawney's Trepadations

After the day's events, sleep was a great relief. A full stomach and lingering mental strain of the Dementor nearly knocked you out the second your head hit the pillow.

Soon, however, you woke to the realization that you hadn't yet sorted out the issues with your schedule. Caught up during dinner, it had slipped your mind to ask McGonagall if she had received your letter. Now, 9 A.M. was less than an hour away.

You didn't doubt McGonagall's ability to provide you with a solution. In your head, there were two: One, she would help you travel through time and sit through several classes at once. Or what seemed more likely, she picked the courses best suited to your skill set and was going to remind you that you couldn't have everything you wanted.

Either way, the schedules would be passed out during breakfast. You could only pray Defense Against the Dark Arts didn't start today.

After changing and attaching your Prefect's badge to your robe, you left the dormitory with Angelina and Alicia, two of your three roommates and fellow Gryffindor Chasers. The three of you slipped out of the portrait hole, joining the tired students walking towards the Great Hall.

The ceiling of the Hall was light grey with the remnants of slow moving clouds from the previous day's rainstorm. The long house tables, large sections of which were still empty as students filed in, were laid out with steaming serving dishes of food.

Fred, George and Lee, looking like they had done the bare minimum in getting ready that morning, were already there. They wore crooked ties, and Fred and George hadn't bothered to fix their sleep tousled hair. They glanced up as you approached.

"Morning." George greeted you through a yawn.

"Good morning." You replied pleasantly, sliding into the empty spot on the bench next to him.

"Schedules." Fred said, leaning over George slightly to give Alicia and Angelina a piece of paper each. He was empty-handed when he looked at you. "I checked, Y/N, but I couldn't find yours."

With a purse of your lips, you glanced up towards the staff table. McGonagall wasn't there.

Maybe she had something particularly impressive up her sleeve and was simply withholding it from you for dramatic purposes. With less than half an hour to spare until the start of the first lessons, you couldn't help your increasing restlessness. However, thoughts of an empty schedule were quickly pushed aside as loud laughter suddenly filled the room.

You looked in the sounds direction, eyes landing on the Slytherin table. A large crowd was gathered around Draco Malfoy, who was entertaining them with something particularly funny. He imitated a dramatic swooning fit, and another roar of laughter ensued.

"Hey, Potter!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked over the laughter. "The Dementors are coming!"

There was an eerie collection of mocking wails, followed by more obnoxious laughter. Harry, who was sitting a few seats down, took a particularly hard stab at a sausage on his plate.

"Ignore them." Hermione urged. "Just ignore them, it's not worth it."

"Has it been like this all morning?" You questioned. By the looks of it, the Slytherin's plates had cleared. With no reason to still be in the hall, it seemed they were lingering to bother Harry.

Harry didn't answer. Ron still glared at Malfoy. Hermione met your eyes and nodded.

"Pug-face Parkinson has some nerve, doesn't she?" You said bitterly, eyes narrowed on Malfoy as he pretended to faint dramatically again.

"That little git." Fred said, eyeing Malfoy as well.

"Wasn't so cocky when the Dementors were down at our end of the train." You mumbled.