Little White Lies | Book 4

Chapter 5: Slughorn

Things between Harry and I could not have been worse. He treats me the same as he always has, with affection, and all that. But, whenever I kiss him, hug him, or cuddle with him, the only person on my mind is Draco. I felt so awful for cheating on Harry, but at the same time, I was happy to be with Draco again. I was being a horrible girlfriend to both of them. Neither of them deserved me. 

Anyway, we were on the Hogwarts Express, finally on our way back to school. Ron and Hermione were off in with the Prefects, while Harry and I found a compartment with Neville and Luna. When people walked past—especially girls—they'd press their noses against the glass of the compartment door, gushing over Harry. Draco had told me that the Daily Prophet had been making a fuss over him being the 'Chosen One' and all of that. There was also a bit about me, considering the fact that I'm the daughter of a mass murderer. People seemed a bit more afraid of me than anything. I guess they think I'm like my dad or something. 

Yeah right.

My thoughts were cut off when a young girl came in, with a rather nervous look on her face. "I-I was asked to give these to Neville Longbottom, Riley Winters, and H-Harry Potter." She stated. Then, she handed each of us a small folded piece of parchment, and hurried out. I unfolded mine, as did the boys, and read it.

Riley,

I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C.

Professor H. E. F. Slughorn.

I frowned a bit, and looked up. "Who's Professor Slughorn, and why does he want us to join him for lunch?" I asked. Neville shrugged, and Harry stuffed his note into his pocket. "Slughorn's a new teacher. Let's just go have lunch with him, and we can come right back." So, after saying goodbye to Luna, we headed to compartment C. There, we saw Ginny, Blaise Zabini, some weird kid who appeared to be checking Ginny and I out, and an elderly man who had a large round stomach, and a bald head. There was one other kid there too, but I didn't know him. 

As soon as the man—I'm assuming Slughorn—saw us, he smiled brightly, and stood up. "Harry, m'boy, great to see you again! Ah, and you two must be Miss Winters and Mr. Longbottom!" He said heartily, shaking our hands. He then began introducing us to everyone there. The unknown boy was called Marcus Belby, and the pervert was Cormac McLaggen. I was lucky enough to have to sit next to him. 

Slughorn seemed to have brought his own lunch for us all. I forced most of mine down, hoping I could keep it down. This food was disgusting! But, I didn't want to seem rude. The elderly man had an individual conversation with each of us, asking about our personal lives and all of that. I learned that Blaise's mother was apparently really pretty, and had a total of seven husbands during her lifetime. Neville's parents were tortured to insanity, and everyone else seemed to have relatives with connections to the Ministry. 

Of course, Harry was questioned about his parents, Voldemort, and everything else going on in his life. From beside me, Cormac was annoyingly 'accidentally' brushing his hand against mine every time he went to reach for something. 

"So, Riley," Slughorn began, making me look up from my plate. "Your father was a Gryffindor during his years at Hogwarts. He was a very bright child. Such a good student he was. It surprised me when I found out he was a Muggle-born." Anger boiled in my blood when he said that, making me glare a bit. "Are you suggesting that Muggle-borns are stupid?" I asked, thinking of Hermione. "No, no, of course not!" He said, chuckling nervously. "Anyway, it must be rather devastating to be in your position right now. Although, you seem to be holding up fairly well. I hear that most students here are beginning to fear you, because of the unexpected turn your father took. Don't think you'll do the same, do you?"

"Of course not! I'm nothing like that filthy rat, nor do I want to be. Whoever is afraid of me can get over it, because frankly, I really don't care." I told him, jerking my hand back as Cormac tried holding it. He laughed a little, taking a sip of tea. "You have definitely inherited a few traits of his. Your cockiness, and even your looks. The world just isn't ready for what you can do, is it?" I shrugged. "Probably not," Then, everyone laughed, except for me.

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When Slughorn finally released us, the lights in the compartments had come on because it was dark. On the way out, Harry kept glaring at Blaise, only for him to return the favor. As we went our separate ways, I turned to him. "Something going on between you two?" He scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "He's a Slytherin, Riley. Of course we're going to hate each other." I shrugged, watching him as he kept turning his head, staring at the back of Blaise's head. "Harry, can I ask you a question?" I asked. "Yeah, go on." I sighed, and looked down at my feet as he looked at me. "Do you think I'm cocky?"

"Yes," When he saw my glare, he continued. "But, it's one of the many things I love about you, so that's okay." He slipped an arm around my waist, pressing a kiss to my temple. Draco flashed in my mind again, making my skin prickle under the touch of his lips. 

As soon as we got back to our compartment, I sat down with Ron and Hermione, who must've gotten back while we were gone. Harry told us that he needed to use the restroom and left. Little did I know, the bathroom was definitely not where he was going.