Stars in the Darkness | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter Seven - Blaise

I'm aboard the Hogwarts Express, sitting in my usual compartment with my friends, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and Vincent Crabbe, when our conversation is interrupted by the compartment door sliding open. A pretty Ravenclaw girl in the same year as me, making her a sixth year, stands there and I recognize her immediately as Allison Whitley, the muggle-born girl that Draco is always hanging around with and pretends that we don't know about.

"What do you want, Mudblood?" Pansy snarls, and I remember that Pansy has a problem with her because of her relationship with Draco. However, Draco doesn't even look up at her and she doesn't look at him, the two of them avoiding each other's gazes. What happened to them over the summer? I silently wonder. "I'm supposed to deliver this to Blaise Zabini," she says, and her eyes meet mine.

After being slightly taken aback at hearing her speak my name, I notice she's holding out a scroll of parchment tied with violet ribbon. Perplexed, I take the scroll from her and she leaves the compartment without a backward glance. "Get rid of it, Blaise. It could be contaminated," Pansy laugh. "Shut up, Pansy," I snap. Draco doesn't even stand up for her.

"What is it?" Draco demands as I unroll it. "An invitation," I say.

Blaise,

I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.

Sincerely,

Professor H. E. F. Slughorn

"I suppose I should go since he's a Professor," I say, nonchalantly, as if it's no big deal, but secretly I'm glad that I'm getting some attention for once instead of the children of Death Eaters.

The hallway is crowded with students as I make my way to compartment C, each of them most likely eagerly anticipating the arrival of the lunch trolley.

I'm the first to arrive and Slughorn greets me warmly before greeting the next person to arrive until finally Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom enter the compartment. "Harry, m'boy!" Slughorn says, jumping up at the sight of him. "Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!"

Longbottom nods, looking scared. At a gesture from Slughorn, they sit down opposite each other in the only two empty seats, which are nearest the door. Potter surveys the occupants of the compartment, his glance falling to me before quickly darting away.

"Now, do you know everyone?" Slughorn asks Potter and Longbottom. "Blaise Zabini is in your year, of course -" I don't make any sign of recognition or greeting, nor does Potter or Longbottom.

"This is Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you've come across each other -? No?" McLaggen, a seventh year Gryffindor I know dated Allison in fourth year, raises a hand, and Potter and Longbottom nod back at him.

"- and this is Marcus Belby, I don't know whether -?" Belby, a thin and nervous-looking seventh year Ravenclaw, gives a strained smile. "- and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!" Slughorn finishes. Ginny Weasley, a fifth year Gryffindor who dated one of Allison's friends last year and whom I had a terrible crush on in fifth year, grimaces at Potter and Longbottom from behind Slughorn's back.

"Well now, this is most pleasant," Slughorn says cozily. "A chance to get to know you all a little better. Here, take a napkin. I've packed my own lunch; the trolley, as I remember it, is heavy on licorice wands, and a poor old man's digestive system isn't quite up to such things...Pheasant, Belby?"

Belby starts and accepts what looks like half a cold pheasant. "I was just telling young Marcus here that I had the pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles," Slughorn tells Potter and Longbottom, now passing around a basket of rolls. "Outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his Order of Merlin most well-deserved. Do you see much of your uncle, Marcus?"