The Mudblood

Chapter 32 : Year 3

I spent the rest of the week with the Weasleys at the Burrow, which was arguably just as exciting as the Quidditch World Cup. Fred and George were constantly blowing things up in their bedroom—to Molly's malcontent—and Ginny and I usually found something entertaining to do. We played Quidditch with the twins and Charlie a lot. Charlie had been a Seeker for Gryffindor when he was at school, and he was extremely good. Ginny—to my surprise—was actually amazing at Quidditch. She blew me out of the water with her skills.

On Sunday, we headed for the Hogwarts Express. All of the Weasley adults kept talking about the exciting things that would be happening at Hogwarts this year, but they wouldn't explain it to us.

"Maybe they're bringing dragons to Hogwarts!" Ginny enthused as we got onto the train. "Charlie said he would be seeing us soon—I bet he's bringing dragons."

"I hope we get to ride them," Fred said as he walked up behind us.

"Yeah, wouldn't that be a trip," George enthused.

"I didn't even know dragons were real until I met Charlie," I commented dumbly.

"Of course you didn't," someone drawled from the entrance to a compartment. I turned to see that'd we'd just walked past Malfoy's compartment, where he stood smugly in the doorway. "You're just a filthy little Mudblood—"

"Say it again, Malfoy," Fred threatened, taking an intimidating step toward him. Even though Malfoy had grown a few centimeters over the summer, Fred still stood at least a head taller.

"Just leave him," I grumbled, pulling on Fred's arm. "He's not worth our time."

Malfoy gave me a nasty scowl before the four of us moved on. He was clearly still angry with me for punching him in the face. I was clearly still angry with him for wanting to throw me to the Death Eaters...and being a pigheaded git...and just for being alive.

"C'mon, Fitz, we want to show you some more of the things we've made this summer," Fred told me as he tugged me into an empty compartment. Ginny and I sat down across from the twins as they began to pull contraptions out of their pockets.

"I'm surprised your mother actually let you leave the house with all of that," I commented.

"She doesn't know," George replied, flashing a grin.

I leaned back casually in my seat as Ginny glanced over at me.

"I wonder if Colin Creevey got any more attractive over the summer," she teased. "Maybe this will actually be the year that you decide to date him."

Fred let out a loud laugh before looking over to us. "Was that not a joke?"

"You don't think Lainey and Colin are perfect for each other?" Ginny asked, giggling.

"Yeah, Fred, maybe he's the one I fancy," I said, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Well, Lainey," George began, "you never did tell us—"

The door to the compartment slid open, revealing the very excited Colin Creevey about whom we'd just been speaking. "Hi Lainey!" he greeted with a burst of energy.

I glanced over at Ginny with wide eyes, and I shook my head slightly as she giggled to herself.

"Er—hi Colin," I greeted awkwardly as I brought my attention back toward him.

"Oi, Colin, Fitz was just—"

"Just saying that I—like your camera," I blurted over Fred, who seemed to want to cause some trouble for me. "Is it new?"