The Lost Story

Chapter 3: The First Weeks

The first few weeks went by and I hung out a lot with Ron and later Hermione because of my brother, although I didn't like Ron much and could constantly annoy Hermione because she studied so hard for her good grades and I got good grades without studying much if I wanted to. Most of the time, however, I had other things on my mind. When it came to academic performance, Harry and I often agreed, but not always. You don't have to be top of the class. Especially not because we already got enough attention.

In our first Potions lesson, Snape had put Harry down terribly. I was sure that half the class wouldn't have known the answer. I wasn't sure about the bezoars either. I read a lot when I had the time. It was the only subject we had together at the moment and so we sat at the same table, as did Emily. In these lessons, however, you quickly noticed who Snape liked and who he didn't. He always had something to complain about with the Gryffindors (though strangely less about Emily than the others) and only rarely about us Slytherins. He even seemed to like Draco and me a lot...

His POV:

Halloween was an interesting experience this year, in many ways. Even though the story with the troll was not and will never be one of my fondest memories. After Professor Quirrell collapsed in the middle of the corridor between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, complete panic broke out in the hall. A troll in the castle was no mere trifle. Of course, I would never have admitted that I was afraid. That was not appropriate for a Malfoy.

After Dumbledore had told us to go to our dormitories, Eleanor joined Blaise and me.

"Who do you think let him in?"

"Maybe your stupid Gryffindor friends, those Weasleys," I replied with a cold undertone. She raised her eyebrows.

"Stupid friends? Be careful what you say about my friends, otherwise you'll see how stupid I think they are," she hissed, her voice even colder than mine. I gulped.

"Probably none of them, they don't have the imagination to do something like that," Blaise said, clearly smoothing things over between us. He spent the rest of the way talking to Lea about Transfiguration and I trudged along beside them, dejected. Why, why couldn't I be nice to her?

Her POV:

On some whim, Professor Snape sat me away from my brother and next to Draco Malfoy one Friday in November and that was just the beginning of his strange tyranny, which did not consist of openly humiliating us like Harry, no, he seemed to have something else in mind. I did not know what he was doing or why, but I played along, I was naturally curious. Emily was also allowed to change her place so that she was still sitting next to me.

"Do you have to sit next to me, you stupid mudblood?" Draco hissed quietly during the lesson in which we were supposed to prepare the Potion of Dignity, he treated me very dismissively even though we were in the same house. He was not the only one, but he was the loudest.

"I am sitting here because the professor wanted it that way and nothing else. I don't know how you got the twisted idea that I'm a mudblood, but I don't understand how you would have an opinion about me without knowing me anyway," I replied calmly and continued brewing my potion, which was fairly simple. How did I know what a mudblood was? I was a Slytherin, you learned that in the first few days.

Malfoy was quiet, at least for now. What he had against me, I didn't know, but I would find out!

His POV:

Now she was sitting next to me. Not only did I see her at every meal and every morning and evening. Now she was sitting next to me! She was strange, she was different... She was Potter's damn sister! Twin sister! Did the professor want to kill me? He seemed to sense that there was something between us that neither of us could explain and that I didn't really want to know.

I couldn't avoid her and I constantly caught myself looking at her. Whether it was at dinner in the Great Hall, in our lessons when she was always sitting near me, only interrupted by Crabbe or Goyle, or in the evening in the common room when she was sitting in one of the high armchairs a little way from the fire, doing homework or reading. The sweet scent of her skin filled my nose with every movement she made and I held my breath every now and then. Not because I didn't like the smell, quite the opposite, she smelled so incredibly good that I couldn't help but stare dreamily at her every time she moved.

I had just stared at her again, luckily without her noticing. That had to stop! But did I want to? What was actually going on? There was anyone I could ask. Crabbe and Goyle were great bodyguards, but you couldn't get anything done with them when it came to conversations of a high standard. Blaise was no better, although Blaise had something I would have liked, the friendship with Eleanor. They had become friends in the first few days, Blaise and I had known each other since we were five. Eleanor was rarely there when Blaise and I talked, which was a shame, maybe then I could have talked to her too. She was so mysterious...

I silently and angrily scolded myself for my own thoughts and turned to my potion, which had begun to smoke threateningly.