𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐝 {𝐇. 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫}

5

Johnny woke up before his dorm mates the next morning. At half past seven, Johnny quietly showered and changed into his green and silver uniform, packed up any books he may need for the day and stuffed his wand in his pocket, before quietly leaving the dorm and making his way out of the entrance to the Common Room.

The halls were relatively empty as the halls were empty at this time of the morning, the sun shining through the windows and onto Johnny's face. Once Johnny found a window ledge he could comfortably sit at, he reflected on the night before in his dorm. Draco, and his friends, Crabbe, Goyle and Theodore Nott tormented him endlessly, calling him Mudblood. Both Crabbe and Goyle even went as far as to give him a punch, resulting in Blaise stepping between the three. Johnny now had a nice black eye that resided on the left side of his face.

Blaise and Pansy were truly his only friend in Slytherin House. Johnny wished he could be in Gryffindor with Hermione, Hell he wish he could've been sharing a dorm with Harry and Ron, but luck was clearly not in his side. When eight thirty finally rolled around, Johnny made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, hoping he'd least find Hermione there, and to his luck, she was.

She smiled cheerfully at him as he walked through the double doors, motioning for him to sit opposite her at the Gryffindor table. Hermione hadn't noticed the black eye yet, but as he got closer, Hermione saw the nice shiner that Crabbe and Goyle had given him, making her gasp and cover her mouth in shock.

"Are you alright!? What happened!?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"I-I'm fine," Johnny lied, waving her off. "Fell down the stairs, that's all."

Hermione clearly didn't believe him, but she didn't press on, seeing the sad look upon her best friends face.

When the Great Hall started filling up, the Heads of Houses started coming around with the students timetables. McGonagall handed Hermione hers and sent the Slytherin and the Gryffindor a smile, but when Professor Severus Snape, the Head of Slytherin and the Potions teacher handed Johnny his, his eyes swept over the two, before he turned back to Johnny and said: "Friendships with other houses don't often work, Scaletta. Especially Snakes mixing with others," and he swept off back over to the Slytherin table.

"W-we'll still be friends, won't we?" Hermione asked insecurely. She hadn't really clicked with any of her own Gryffindor peers just yet, much like Johnny in that aspect. Johnny was her only friend here, her best and only friend ever.

"Of course," Johnny smiled reassuringly. "I won't let some greasy git say otherwise."

Hermione smiled widely, and took Johnny's timetable in her hand to compare both.

"Look, we practically have everything together! Everything but Charms and Astronomy!" Johnny smiled at her excitement, smiling even wider as Hermione motioned eagerly for them to make their way to Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall fifteen minutes early.

When the bell rung, and the First Year Slytherin and Gryffindor students bustled into the classroom, everyone seemed to notice that Professor McGonagall wasn't here yet, and a tabby cat that was practically sat as still as a bored was watching them from atop of the desk.

"Creepy," Johnny mumbled as he took his seat next to Hermione, also taking notice that Harry and Ron were nowhere to be seen either. Ten minutes into the lesson, and the class was jotting down notes from the board, neither McGonagall, Harry or Ron had turned up yet and the tabby cat still sat still, that was until the two boys came rushing in and that tabby cat turned into Professor McGonagall, making Johnny's mouth open wide as Hermione giggled at his face.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Said Ron, with the same amount of aw as Johnny.

"Well, thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley," said Professor McGonagall, glaring slightly at the two late boys. "Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch. That way, one of you might be on time."