Shattered

Three

January 2, 1996

    I wake up and for a moment I feel like I'm in the Manor, with the familiar constant silence and stifling air. Then, I hear Astoria's snoring. Oh, so it wasn't a dream. How I wish it had been. I roll out of bed and realize what time it is: 5 in the morning. I have a tendency to wake up early, but for me this is extreme. Then I remember that I forgot to ask Dumbledore for my schedule. And I don't know my way around. I have to ask Draco. Astoria is out cold, and she's not waking up anytime soon.
    I groggily leave the room and stumble my way into the boy's dorms. Oh shit. I don't know which one Draco's in. From the other end of the hallway a door opens. Blaise walks out and sees me. Oh, thank god. "Hey Blaise, do you know which dorm is Draco's?" He nods. "Third on the left." I smile and walk over. I open the door casually, ready to see Draco asleep peacefully in the bed. Not that I don't see that, but Pansy's there too. In bed. With him.
"What the fuck!" Pansy is startled and for a moment, she genuinely seems scared. Draco just opens his eyes like he expected this. Pansy recovers her stature and stretches out on him, smirking at her. "Hey Draco, look who came to check on you." He glances at me. "Get out." Her smile fades and the look on her face is priceless. "But..." One look at his face says it all. She leaves angrily, pouting as she stomps away. "Why her? Why the fucking kiss up. She's probably a slut, sleeping with someone new every night. Do you even know?" I speak in a low voice, making sure to sound as angry as possible, but really I'm just hurt.
His eyes begin to burn. "You don't control who I sleep with. This isn't my first time with her, and it won't be my last because you said so." Is he serious right now? "Were you at that stupid party too? You're a fucking hippocrite, you know that? Telling me to lay low and then you go and do this?" He looks down. I know I got him there: the only thing he cares about is his ego. I can't be here with him anymore. I'll just find Dumbledore's office myself. Or ask Blaise. Why didn't I think of that before?
I storm out of the room and slam the door. I don't care that I'm waking everyone up. Blaise is in the common room, waiting for me. He must've known, too. They all knew, they were all in on it like a big fucking joke. I shouldn't be mad at him, I know. "Can you take me to Dumbledore's office?" He nods wordlessly and we walk off. Turns out, Blaise is the best person to be around when you're mad. He doesn't talk, doesn't ask about what happened and just listen. He just lets you be with yourself and someone else.
Eventually, we make it to his office. What did the old hag mutter? Blaise must know, because he mutters something and the eagle spins again. I walk up the stairs, trying to stay calm. Upon entering the office, I find Dumbledore is gone. Instead, the old woman from yesterday is sitting in his chair. Good. I don't think I could have dealth with him today. "I don't believe we were properly introduced. My name is Professor McGonagall. I teach Transfiguration, and act as a headmistress when Dumbledore is away. Can I help you?" I nod shakily and sit down.
"I need my schedule. I forgot to ask Dumbledore for it yesterday." She seems perplexed. "I do believe Albus mentioned he gave it to Draco and told him to give it to you. Have you asked him?" I don't want to admit what happened, so I nod unconvincingly. "Alright, we will have to write you another one, then. Luckily we have some time. What prompted you to be up at this hour?"
"I'm sort of an... early bird." She nods. "I also tend to wake up on the earlier side of day. She pulls out a long drawer and pulls out a small slip of paper. "It seems you have me for your Transfiguration class." I look down at the paper. Of course, my first period is Potions with Snape. What a wonderful way to start my morning. Next is Charms with Professor Flitwick, followed by Herbology with Professor Sprout. Those two are straightforward enough, but I already know they're going to bore me to death.
The next class listed is Elective. I put that in the back of my pocket to brainstorm about in the four hours before my first class starts. The first class listed for the second day is History Of Magic, which is a mellow but excruciating class to have with Professor Binns the ghost. The next class is, indeed, Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. The second to last class isted is Care Of Magical Creatures, taught by Hagrid. I know that name. It's the half-giant that saved Harry Potter, the very same who got kicked out in his third year of school here. Served him right. I gasp when I see the final class: Astronomy.
My eyes shine as I look up at McGonagall. "Are you sure I have Astronomy?" She smiles patiently. "Dumbledore has a way of judging character. He seemed to think you would like Astronomy, so he insisted it be on your schedule, even though it is rather advanced." I thank her and leave the office. Immediately my mind wanders to my elective. What could I choose? I take out a list of electives I was given with the list at Diagon Alley. Arithmancy is definitely a no, and Advanced Arithmancy is for sixth and seventh years, paired with Alchemy. That leaves Divination, Muggle Studies, and Study Of Ancient Runes. Muggle Studies sounds disgusting. I make a mental note to avoid that class at all costs.
I look at the two remaining options and I'm struck with nostalgia. "Merlin was an ancient wizard who created magic. He was powerful... much more powerful than me. If we were able to harness Merlin's power, we would not have to bother with plans. We could destroy our enemies. We could create a perfect world. Think of it, Kali!" I smile when I think of that memory. I know which Elective I'm choosing. I find myself back at the common room. I take a deep breath and peek tentatively through the door.
No Draco. I walk in nervously and get back to my room. I have plenty of work to catch up on, seeing as I came in halfway through the year. I start myself reading my textbooks, and the rest of the world melts away. Three hours becomes 1 hour, which becomes 2 minutes until class. I scramble to gather my stuff and hurry to class. I get to Snape's classroom right on time and burst through the door. The entire class stares back at me with varied faces: some scared, some interested, some angry. One worried. I ignore him and choose a seat at random.
"Mrs. Lestrange, you are late." I shake my head and correct him. "I'm right on time, Professor Snape." His mouth curls into a smile. "Right on time, Mrs. Lestrange? I look at the clock once more and find I misread it: I am 10 minutes late. Well, shit. What a great first impression on Snape, of all people. "I suggest you fix your clock. Lucky for you, we are creating a time dilation potion today. Can you tell me some of the ingredients in a time dilation potion?" I nod confidently. He smirks. I'm going to have fun with this.
"12 strands Abraxan hair, cut to a length of 12 inches each; a sloth brain in full; 3 shavings off a dragon claw, preferably using a small 9-inch knife; and 6 drops of iguana blood. Between each ingredient, let the mixture boil for 3 hours. Additional preparations include the use of a pewter cauldron and a base of ¾ water and ¼ oil." For a moment, silence overwhelms the room. Snape's eyes are wide and his jaw slack with surprise, intrigue, or both. I hold my head high and smirk. He turns quickly and angrily, ruffling his cloak.
The rest of class he picks on me with increasing frustration, watching as I get every one of his questions right. In the end, it becomes less of a class and more of a trivia battle between us. Often, I correct him on a piece of information he has been misinformed on. By the end of class, he is red in the face and sternly tells me to leave. The rest of the class sits in stunned silence for a moment before he shouts: "Well, go on!" At which point they leave, chatting excitedly.
As I'm leaving the room, someone pulls me aside roughly. "What did I say about not drawing attention to yourself?" I shoulder him and continue down the hallway. He raises his arms and looks at me, perplexed, before hurrying after me. Why doesn't he just leave me alone? Soon, I'm entering Charms. The moment I enter the room, I see Blaise. Sitting to his left is Hermione, the girl from the station.  I hurriedly sit down next to Blaise and notice Ron across the room. My attention is drawn to the door as Draco enters. We make eye contact, and he walks right towards me.
I shift my eyes to Hermione, who looks at him defiantly. She leans over Blaise and whispers in my ear: "He always sits next to Blaise. Today, you took his spot. But I'm not giving in to his..." She trails off as Draco nears. He leans over her and grabs her chin and jerks it up to meet his eyes. He whispers, but I can hear it. "If you don't get your ass up right now, I swear to god I will make it so you can't walk for days." She gets up, shaking. As she walks away, he mutters under his breath. "Filthy little mudblood." I hear a chair scrape from across the room. Ron gets out of his seat and raises his fist, throwing a punch at Draco.
Draco catches it in his hand, and begins pushing Ron across the room effortlessly. I stand up and rush over. "Are you ladies done? Because although this is very entertaining, class is about to start." Just then, the door to the classroom opens again and everyone goes silent. "Mrs. Lestrange, Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Weasley, what do you think you are doing in my classroom? Detention on Thursday, all of you." We all go back to our seats. Class rushes by and I catch several long stares between Draco and Ron. Eventually, we are on our way to lunch.