The Ancient Wielder

Chapter 6: The Map Chamber

September 5th, 1995 Tuesday

The next day Alice spots Draco in the corridors early morning as everyone was heading to breakfast. He was chatting with his friend who Alice had recognized to be Theodore Nott. She had him in a few classes since he was also a fifth-year Slytherin. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and was quite thin. He was pretty tall as he stood at 5'10". Draco was an inch shorter than Theodore as the blonde Slytherin stood at 5'9". Alice was shorter compared to the two towering Slytherin that walked alongside each other heading towards the Great Hall. She was only 5'3".

She quickens her steps towards the two boys, wanting to take the chance to quickly speak to Draco about the situation that had occurred with Blaise yesterday when she had exited the secret passage leading to the Undercroft. She was still shocked that Blaise had caught her right then and there, especially after Draco had specifically told her to be diligent in not getting caught. She had tried to cover for the blonde but had only made it worse as she had watched Blaise's fuming figure storm off towards the direction of the Slytherin Common Room in search of Draco.

She eventually reaches the two boys who were quick in their steps due to their long strides. She steps to the left of Draco as Theodore was already accompanying his right. Draco looks down in surprise at the sudden movement coming from the corner of his eye. He looks to his left to see Alice walking alongside him as she peers up at him with a smile. "Good morning," Alice says to him. He smiles down at Alice as he jokingly says, "Aah, well a good morning to you. I've got a bone to pick with you."

Theodore watches from the sidelines as he observantly eyes the duo. He watches the pretty witch try not to laugh at Draco's statement as she replies back, "It wasn't my fault!" Theo recognized her immediately. She has been a popular topic amongst the students in the halls. She was well known for not only the dragon and troll attack she endured, but also for her beautiful looks and excellent skills in spell-casting.

Draco rolls his eyes playfully as he responds, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. I received an earful because of you." Draco drops his gaze to the floor as he shakes his head playfully. He was immediately berated by Blaise after the Slytherin had unfortunately caught Alice exiting the Undercroft. Draco was able to calm his life-long friend down as he assured him he hadn't said a word to Alice about the secret chamber, which was a lie. And Draco wasn't angry at the girl since he knew she didn't do it on purpose. How was she supposed to know that Blaise would be rounding the corner at the same exact time she was exiting his secret chamber. Alice was glad Draco was taking this way better than she had thought.

"I promise to make it up to you," Alice says softly in return as she continues to walk alongside Draco and his friend. Her head had slightly tilted towards her right to peer up at him as she says this. She watches as he quickly lifts up his gaze to look at her. They make eye contact as he does so and he stares at her for a second, his eyes falling from her hazel ones down to her plump lips. He quickly picks his eyes back up to her watchful ones that had noticed. She shifts her gaze between his sparkling blue eyes hesitantly as her own fall onto his pink lips for a millisecond before turning her head down to look at the cobble-stone flooring in front of her as a slight blush enveloped her cheeks. Draco noticed the way she bit down on her bottom lip as her gaze was now turned away. Draco made her nervous. Theo smirked slightly to himself as he quietly observed the interaction between the witch and wizard.

Alice averts her gaze back onto the blonde Slytherin at his witty response. "Expect my letter," Draco says with a large smirk plastered on his face.

***

Breakfast in the Great Hall was interesting that morning as Alice sat for the first time alongside Draco and his friend, Theo. Draco had invited her to sit with the two as they were already walking to breakfast together. They had never really gotten the chance to sit together at the Slytherin table, one always arriving later than the other. Theo takes the chance to politely introduce himself to her as the three of them enjoy their first meal of the day together. Alice really liked Theo for his fun personality and the countless jokes he cracked. He was very care-free and she liked his wittiness. Alice ignored the countless glares sent over to them by a jealous Pansy who sat at the other end of the Slytherin table alongside Blaise who wouldn't even spare them a glance. Once they were finished it was now time for the trio to go their separate ways as the two boys had History of Magic with Professor Binns, a ghost of an elderly man who wore glasses and a long robe. The professor having taught History of Magic at Hogwarts for many years until the moment he died, slumped at his desk. Not to be perturbed by his sudden demise, Professor Binns continued to teach as a ghost, boring students with his slowly spoken tone. Alice had Flying Class with the flying instructor, Madam Hooch. She was ecstatic to start the class as she had been anticipating to fly atop a broomstick for her very first time.