My Sacrifice

2 The Pink Toad

When we finished dinner we walked to the Hufflepuff common room and sat down in the couch next to the fireplace. Dinner was fine in the beginning, but halfway through dinner I noticed Draco leave the Grand Hall and I never saw him return. This strange behavior confirmed the feeling I had at the station. Something was wrong. I couldn't get it off my mind and it wasn't because I liked him, I always felt it if someone was going through something and I always feel obligated to help them. Even Draco Malfoy. It's not that I hate him, but he is just the complete opposite of everything I stand for. The action of Draco caused me to get lost in my thoughts and made it really hard to focus on the conversations with my friends. It did work I guess, because no one asked if something was wrong and I learned that the boy I sat next to was one year older than us and his name was Cedric. When he saw us in the common room he joined and we started talking.

'So, Rose right?' He asks as he sat down next to me making our legs brush against each other. When he looks at me I saw that he has very chiselled features and beautiful bright grey eyes. His messy dark brown hair falls down perfectly with a few strands in his face, which he occasionally tucks away.

'Yes, that's me.' I answer him and giggle. I decided to push the Draco thoughts away for the rest of the night. The worries wouldn't fix anything or help anyone and I couldn't do anything in just one night, so I choose to drop it and do something about it tomorrow.

'I heard from your talkative friend over there,' he says and points at Evie 'you are a great quidditch player. You want to try out for the team this year?' When he mentions quidditch, my heart skips a beat. I used to play quidditch with my sister, it was her favorite game, but I haven't played quidditch after she died and I didn't know if I was ready to start again.

'Well I'm not sure if I'm going to try out, it has been a while since I played and I'm probably not even that good. Most of the quidditch players my age joined when they were younger and have had lessons, I only play for fun,' I reply, hoping that he drops it and doesn't try to convince me to try out anyway.

'I understand, although I think it would be more fun if you were on the team this year,' he says slowly and I think I can spot a hint of disappointment in his voice. I give him an apologetic smile, I'm glad he dropped it, but at the same time I feel a bit of guilt. He looked quite sad and disappointed when we continued to talk about our summers and school. Until I finally snapped.

'You know what, I think I will try out for the quidditch team.' He looks at me a little confused at first, probably because I said it in the middle of our conversation about Snape, but after a couple seconds his eyes light up and he gives me a gleeful smile.

'That's great,' he exclaims 'I think we should head to bed though, it is getting late and we have our first day of school tomorrow.'

'You're right. Goodnight,' I say while standing up and walking towards to girl dorms.

'Goodnight Rose,' he says softly.

-

The next morning I get up early to find a certain Malfoy, because even though I was able to set the thoughts about him and how awful he looked aside last night, I couldn't forget them. So I cleaned myself up and I was now on my way to the Great Hall. I sit down and grab some toast and start eating while watching the Great Hall carefully. My plan is to get Draco alone so I can talk to him, because he probably doesn't want to talk to me with people watching, which I understand. But I don't see him come in to eat the whole hour I stay in the Great Hall. Meanwhile Scarlett and Evie came in and sat down next to me busy talking about Cedric who apparently broke up with his girlfriend Cho over the summer when she cheated. I had been pretending to care their whole conversation while observing the entrance of the Great Hall. We had only ten minutes left to get to our classroom so we left. We had potions together from Snape.

'Looks like we have potions with the Slytherins,' Scarlett says when we arrive at the classroom and she sees a group of kids with green colored cloaks leaning against the wall and smirking at us. I immediately scan the faces of the group, but none of them have blonde hair and pale skin.

'Oh my, that means Blaise is going to be in this class,' Evie panics. She looks at us with wide eyes. They had been writing each other during the summer which went fine, though Evie gets extremely nervous when it comes to talking to boys.

'You'll be fine, you guys have been talking al summer and besides he was the one to send you an owl first wasn't he?' I try to calm her down.

'Yes he was,' she answers me with a shaking voice.

'So, that means he likes you even in person,' I tell her while looking in her eyes and smiling. I really hope this works out for her, she has been so exited about it. She always is excited about everything, but this was different, like she tried to cover her vulnerability with her excitement. I saw right through her though, she was scared to get hurt again, that she would say or do something wrong again like the times she did before. Then Snape comes in and orders everyone to take a seat. Without a second thought Scarlett grabs our hands and drags us towards the Slytherins, pushes Evie in a seat next to Blaise and me in the seat behind them and sits down next to me. I look at her confused and shocked, it all happened to fast.

'I liked your plan of convincing her to talk to him, but this may be more efficient,' she answers my confused gaze and I look at Evie. She is talking to Blaise like they have been best friends for years. I smile at the sight, it was nice to see them like this.

'Today we are going to start with Herbicide Potion,' Snape says and the room falls quiet. 'Do you know what this potion does?'

'It either kills or damages plants,' I say when Snape points his finger at me. I'm not good at making potions, but I do know a lot of theory about them. Before Snape can react to my answer the door opens and I hear someone panting in the door opening. Draco Malfoy.

'Mr. Malfoy please sit down and avoid disrupting my class again,' Snape says looking at Draco. While Draco sits down Snape looks back at me 'Very well Mrs. Jupiter. Make the potion, work in pairs and try not to blow anything up.' He looks at me again while he says the last part. I am known for my art in making potions blow up, it just always does and I never know why.

'I will get the ingredients, we do not want me touching the cauldron at all,' I joke and I stand up to get Flobberworm mucus, Horclump juice, and Spines of lionfish.

'Yes you do that,' Scarlett says still laughing at my joke.

An hour later our potion stands in the middle of the table. It came out perfect, because I had only read the recipe out loud and Scarlett did the rest of the work. The bubbles in the green liquid pop and make a hissing noise, just like it's supposed to do. When Snape walks past our table he gives us an approving look and I make a squeal of joy. He dismisses the class and we walk out of the classroom. My next class is Defense Against the Dark Arts with the new teacher, Professor Umbridge, the woman Scarlett had called a 'Pink Toad'. But when I see Draco walking away, I saw an opportunity to talk to him.

'I'm going to the bathroom for a moment, I'll catch up with you guys later,' I say and without waiting for their reaction I run away in the direction I saw Draco walk. After a few minutes of running behind him I see him go around the corner, but when Iturn around the same corner Draco is nowhere to be seen. I continue to walk down the hallway, but without luck. Then I remember that I have class. I run back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and enter panting.

'I see you have decided to join us today,' I hear a high-pitched voice say. I look at the end of the classroom and see the Professor Umbridge dressed in a pink skirt and cardigan and the evil smile she had during dinner last night on her face.

'I am so sorry, I-' I begin, but Umbridge cuts me off.

'Your name Miss,' she says with a firm voice yet her face still had the evil smile.

'Rose Jupiter,' I answer. I look her in the eyes and when I say my name her eyes burn with fire and the evil smile disappears. I think about what I just said, did I say something wrong? I look around the room and see Evie and Scarlett watching me with scared looks on their face.

'Detention, today after your classes,' she says and turns around to continue the lesson. 'Now sit down.' I walk towards Evie and Scarlett sit down, still confused over what just happened. The whole class I pretend to listen, but really I was lost in my thoughts. Where did Draco go? Why did Umbridge get so angry when she heard my name?'