somewhere only we belong .h.j.p

one

Alyce sat at the far end of the Slytherin bench, with some girls in her year. Pansy and Millicent. She doubted how much they liked her but their company wasn't so bad. They took her in when no one else had. Alyce loaded her plate with pastries and fruit and yoghurt whilst Pansy droned on about Draco Malfoy.

"I think this is the year, girls," Pansy said with a sly smile on her face. "He wrote to me over the summer and I really think he's starting to like me."

Pansy has been smitten for the boy since first year, although it's come to nothing. Draco never paid her, or any other girls, for that matter, a second glance. Alyce had reason to believe that he didn't quite swing that way.

"You could do so much better than him, Pans," Millicent groans, as she has every time Draco gets mentioned. Which is a lot.

"You're just jealous," Pansy jokes, her red lips stretching into a smile as she winks at the other girl. "What do you think, Alyce?"

Alyce snaps out of her trance, midway through a freshly baked pain au chocolat. "You can do infinitely better than him," Alyce replies, hand covering her mouth and words slightly mumbled from the pastry. "But if he makes you happy and you insist that he's the one. Give it a go, how bad can it be, really?"

"She gets her heart broken and we have to kill Draco," Millicent offers. "Murder can be tricky to cover up, you know."

"What's this about killing me?"

"Speak of the devil," Alyce mutters, raising her mug to her mouth and gulping down the still boiling tea.

"Alyce, always the pleasure," Draco remarks, as he climbs on to the bench next to pansy, whose face is flushed from the pale boy next to her. "You missed the prefect's meeting last night."

"I'm sure it was thrilling, did I miss anything important?" Alyce questions.

The sharp faced boy pulls out some paper from his pocket and hands it to her. "Just the timetable, I think you're with Granger." He sighs like this causes him great pain. "I did try to get you with someone else but it seems you're stuck with the mudblood."

Alyce's eyes flash dark dangerously as she looks up at him. "You really need to watch your mouth, Draco. It's going to bite you in the arse one day." She grabs the bag she's had since first year and awkwardly climbs out of the packed bench.

"One summer off and you've gone soft, Selwyn. Is this because of Cedric? What would dear daddy say?" Draco remarks.

Alyce stops in her tracks and turns slowly to face the boy. She walks towards him and whispers quietly rough so that only he could hear. "How about we tell Lucius what his darling boy does with the Hufflepuff boys, how many of them are mudbloods as you call them?" She chuckles slightly as he pales, if that's possible.

Alyce  turns and walks to the entrance of the Great Hall, a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was a bad card to play, Alyce thought, but sometimes it's necessary.

The last lesson of the day was double potions. To most this was a curse, but to Alyce it was more of a blessing. It was by far her best subject and it had the most practical use as she often had to whip up healing salves and potions to help her after a bad run in with her father. Professor Snape favoured her as well, treating her like a daughter sometimes. Alyce occasionally questioned whether knew, even though that would be impossible.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to potions. Slytherins always share it with the courageous, the brave, and the bold Gryffindors. Some of them are okay. Dean and Seamus argue like a married couple, and Hermione is too smart for her own good. But Harry Potter grates Alyce's nerves. She's never been able to come up with an actual reason for his dislike. Never really had to when her whole house hates his very existence.