I'm a Good Snake (Harry Potter Fan Fiction) | Book 1

Fourteen

The group ate together for breakfast. Henry and Martyn were in their own games of goofing around while Heidi and Riley watched them in amusement. Their Durmstrang friends were also having a conversation, Neculai mainly talking about their current assignment they had to have finished that week. Rosalie just kept most of them zoned out, she was too engrossed in the book she had checked out of the library the day after the first task.

"Okay okay, I'm done..." Henry said with a sigh and looked back at his food. "I need to eat before I go to Charms." He began to cut and scoop his eggs up with a spoon, sometimes mixing them with the beans on his plate.

"Then eat. I've already had my fill," Martyn spoke before he glanced over at Rosalie's book. He'd see the illustrations of wings and claws, all done on an anatomy basis. Another hard look and he'd confirm his guess, making it easy to prod Rosalie to engage in conversation with him. "Dragons there? Did the task on Tuesday get you that interested?"

Riley's head popped up and she'd look at Martyn's focus on Rosalie. She'd lean in a bit more to see the thick book on the table and read the title on the still-visible spine. Why was Rosalie reading about dragons?

Rosalie looked at Martyn and glanced away with slight embarrassment. "Yeah... It felt right, to admire and love them. I went to Professor Snape after dinner with questions too. So he gave me sources and guidelines on how I can start studying to become a Dragonologist."

"Professor Sprout did the same for me!" Riley chimed in. The two looked at Riley and waited for her to continue on, Henry also glanced at Riley as he continued to eat his food. "... I wanted to learn more about the dragons since everyone was talking about how cool they were. So she gave me notes on how I could study them."

Rosalie narrowed her eyes at Riley, irritation and anger already beginning to bubble inside of her. The audacity of the girl knew no bounds, and it was getting to a point where the brunette would eventually snap. She'd pull her wand out of her pocket and discreetly bring it under the table before aiming at Riley and moving in motion for a curse. It was practiced enough since the second year that she no longer had to speak it to use the spell.

"So I got..." Riley went silent and her face began to contort in pain and confusion. A moment later and she was coughing and choking uncontrollably.

Heidi glanced at Riley and then at Rosalie. As she stole a slice of black pudding off of Henry's plate, she raised an eyebrow at Rosalie before mouthing "mimblewimble?".

Rosalie quickly pocketed her wand again and used the same hand to hide her growing smile. She was fast to nod back to Heidi as an answer to the silent question.

The coughing continued on before Riley was able to get control of her tongue again and downed her breakfast cider. Even students at the table behind her looked to see what the issue was. Their eyes fell off of her as the coughing lessened, but it was still prominent. Riley took a few gulps of air, now trying to steady her breathing from the odd sensation her twisted tongue caused. Blue eyes turned and looked over at the brunette, seeing her engrossed in her book yet again.

Riley slammed her hands on the table. "You! Monday!"

Everyone in the vicinity looked at Riley, all equal in shock. But Riley didn't stop, her eyes focused in on Rosalie. The girl's green eyes were big and wide from the surprise, also looking back at Riley as she exploded at the breakfast table. The silence was deafening due to the Great Hall's current occupants being startled by the outburst.

Rosalie finally made a response. "What did I do?"

"You hexed me. Jinx... Curse... ONE OF THOSE!" Riley was trying to get closer, to yell right in Rosalie's face, but Martyn still sat in between them.

Martyn was quick to grab his younger house member and try to push her back down into her seat. "Hey hey hey, don't go accusing Rosalie of something that could've been a simple tongue twister. We all get them."

"She didn't do anything either," Heidi commented with a genuine tone. "You can clearly see she's reading her book and started doing so when you cut her off."

"But she..."

"Accusing others of harming you when there's no proof is not appropriate, Miss Neel," the voice of Professor McGonagall spoke as she passed by. "Ten points from Hufflepuff. Do better, young lady." McGonagall then walked on, having been done with her breakfast and heading out before the outburst even ensued.

Riley's face turned red and she'd suck in her lower lip in anger. "I'm leaving." She'd push up off of the table and exit the Great Hall, footsteps resonating throughout her walk.

The two friends looked at each other in slight distress, Rosalie mouthing a "thank you" to Heidi as the two went back to their main focuses. Heny and Martyn also went back to their own focus of eating breakfast and cracking jokes every once in a while. It wasn't for a while until the first warning bell went off and students began to get up. Henry and Martyn gave a goodbye as they walked off to Charms together. Even the Durmstrang trio gave their goodbyes, Leonid even giving a reassuring squeeze to Rosalie's shoulder as he left.

"If she causes trouble, tell me. I know a few tricks up my sleeve," Leonid spoke as he popped his wand out of it.

A laugh came from Rosalie and she gave him a wave off. "I'll remember that."

Rosalie went back to reading her book as Heidi continued to slowly nibble on an oat cookie. The two were silent for a good five minutes as Heidi finished up her breakfast meal, the secondary bell going off to signal the first class starting.

"What did you want to do for our free time?" Heidi asked.

The brunette looked up at the blonde and shrugged her shoulders. "I 'unno. Practice charms? Practice our hex deflection for DADA this afternoon maybe? Moody wants us to get better at it asap."

"Then go to the lakeside and practice?" Heidi offered.

"I'm down," Rosalie replied and closed her book.

The two got up and gathered their belongings to return to their bedrooms in the dungeon. Items were exchanged for thicker robes, scarves, and hats. They even noticed the slightest bit of fog beginning on their bedroom windows, a sign that their room was beginning to become warmer than the lake's water. It was definite by the time they got outdoors that a frost had taken over the night before, signifying a good start to winter before the solstice had even arrived.

"Just imagine I'm Riley, okay?" Heidi stated as she found an area for the two to practice their counter-hexing.

"Oh, then I may get you easier if you're not quick enough," Rosalie said with a grin. "I'm just going to use the Stickfast Hex, sound good?"

Heidi turned around and nodded her head. "Yeah, that's probably easiest to not hurt ourselves with if it does hit us."

Rosalie went to toss her wand casually a few times before turning to a casting stance. "Maybe I should've used this on Riley as she was leaving."

"Oh stop!" Heidi spoke with a laugh. "I wouldn't be able to cover for that one. You need to know which are safe to do for pettiness, got it?"

A huff left Rosalie's mouth. "Yes, mum..." She'd smile for a moment before shouting,

"Colloshoo!"