Wants of the Heart

Chapter 9

My first few weeks of school do not get any better. My sister, Ron, and Harry still seem set on suddenly hating me. And because everyone in Gryffindor said Harry was crazy for believing Voldemort was back last year, they're much more inclined to believe his opinion this year. Neville will at least send me a friendly smile once in a while, but all the lions are keeping their distance.

Nobody in my dorm will talk to me. Hermione refuses to acknowledge I even exist while Parvati and Lavender send me not-so-subtle glares.

I've been spending a lot of time in the library outside of class. Theo searches me out most evenings and will do homework with me. He even introduced me, well reintroduced, to Blaise Zabini and the Greengrass sisters. Tracy Davis joins us fairly often as her and Daphne are best friends.

About a week into term I stop sitting at the Gryffindor table for meals.

-

Draco had entered the Great Hall during lunch and stopped on his way to the Slytherin table. Turning around, he instead came to a stop where I was sitting at the end on the table, alone.

"Come on." He had held his hand out with the demand. I looked up from my book and stared at his hand.

"What?"

"I'm tired of watching my betrothed eat alone because the House of Lions are idiots." He reached out and took one of my hands. Several heads had turned at his words. He leaned down so that no one could hear what he said next. "Now, be a good little witch and come with me before I'm forced to sit at this garishly red table."

I wasn't able to stop the giggle that left me at his disgust. I followed him to the table of silver and green.

-

Even Pansy is nice to me while I eat meals with them; Millicent, Greg, and Vincent are too. It's been a welcome change. Now I have friends to sit with in most of my classes, if Theo and Draco aren't there.

Theo has even snuck me into the Slytherin common room a few times, glaring at anyone who gives me a strange look. Surprisingly, Pansy has been the most supportive of these ventures. We've even had sleepovers in the girls' dorm on the weekend. It's been strange to realize that Pansy is probably my best friend, but also a relief to have my childhood best friend back.

On the morning of September 19th, I wake up already knowing the date. Hermione's and my birthday. Well, Hermione's birthday. For me it's just a random Thursday. I get up and ready as quickly as possible, wanting to avoid the other girls. Making sure not to wake my sister, I set her gift and card on the trunk at the end of her bed. Having my own trust vault allowed me to spend a little more on her this year, finding a first edition of Hogwarts: A History along with an automatically updating version so that she won't have to purchase a new one ever again. Even if she hates me, I can't imagine not acknowledging her birthday.

I'm the first one of my friends to get to breakfast, taking my now customary seat at the Slytherin table. Mid-way through a bite of eggs, I feel a presence behind me. Firm hands rub my shoulders before I can turn around.

"Happy Thursday." The voice purrs in my ear before a thin box appears before me.

"What's this?" I tilt my head back to meet Draco's gaze.

"A present." The mischievous tone causes my stomach to flip.

"What for?" One of my eyebrows raise.

"For your kind of adoptive birthday." He replies as if it should be obvious. "Even if your actual birthday is a couple months away, I still want to acknowledge the one you've celebrated for so many years."