Always - Welcome to the Wizarding World

Part 10

Once the door had slammed, Zarah fell onto the bed nearest to her, exhaling loudly. 

"Jesus Christ, that was tense!" she muttered. I nodded, puffing my cheeks out. I jumped at a sudden squawk from the far left corner of the room and there on my bed perched Noctem, along with all my cases.

"Noctem!" I exclaimed, wandering over to my bed  and stroking Noctem's soft feathers.. Zarah came over and sat on the bed next to mine.

"You're lucky I'm here too and it's my bed next to yours, otherwise they would literally kill you in your sleep" she told me. I giggled, but her face was deadly serious.

"Yes, she did seem the sort. Who were those girls, anyway?" I asked her.

"Pansy Parkinson and her "thugs", Tiana and Lois Carrow. They are the most awful girls in Slytherin and trust me, hat's saying something because we have some real bitches in this house" Zarah explained.

"I can imagine. What makes her so much more awful than the rest of them, then?" I asked her.

"Well, I think this is just a rumor, but she supposedly stupefied her own father and wouldn't restore him for months because he was having an affair with a woman in his workplace". My jaw dropped to the floor. This Parkinson girl really would kill me in my sleep!

"Bloody hell. And the Carrows?"

"They, themselves, haven't done much for cause to fear them, but their mother and uncle are proven Death Eaters. That's witches and wizards who are followers of..."

"You Know Who, I know. So why does Parkinson think she's all that?" I questioned Zarah.

"Everybody is frightened of her, Radia. They'll do anything she says because they are scared she'll hurt them if they don't. She wasn't kidding when she said she controls Slytherin because she has a hold over everyone. No one stands up to her. But you did and that puzzled her". So I had just aggravated someone who had stupefied their own father? 

"I don't see this ending well for me" I chuckled nervously, scratching the back of my head. Zarah shook her head sympathetically.

"I shouldn't worry. I'll look out for you here and I'm sure your uncle will too. Have you made any other friends in Slytherin so far?" she asked.

"Well, not friends exactly, but I've spoken to a few others. There was Goyle, Crabbe and Draco Malfoy". Zarah raised her hand to her mouth in shock at that last name.

"Oh, Jesus, Radia. Please tell me you didn't just say Draco Malfoy?" I nodded. Zarah gritted her teeth nervously at me. I just rolled my eyes. 

"Oh, come on, Zarah! I mean I've heard some gossip about him, but he can't be that bad!"

"No, that's not it! Pansy is absolutely mad for him and everyone knows it, even Draco himself". I raised my eyebrows. 

"But he isn't interested in her?" I insinuated. Zarah looked up suddenly, a look of worry on her face.

"What makes you think that?" I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. He just seems to have other things on his mind". Zarah moved from her bed and came to sit next to me, her eyebrows furrowed dubiously.

"Radia, where did you meet Malfoy?" A spectacular setting came to mind and I remembered when I had seen his face for the first time.

"At the Quidditch World Cup, I saw him with his father. Then, when we were on the train, he invited me to sit with him..."

"Whoa! What?" Zarah shouted. 

"I said he pulled me into his compartment on the train to sit with him, Crabbe and Goyle" I informed her. Zarah sat on the edge of my bed in silence, her thin pale mouth completely agape and her eyes bulging out of her head. "Zarah?"

"Oh, Radia. I'm sorry, but you are so dead! Malfoy likes you, that is the only logical explanation! This is so strange, Malfoy doesn't feel things, he doesn't have feelings! Oh God, Parkinson is going to kill you. Radia, she will eviscerate you for this!" she murmured rapidly. By this point, I was starting to get quite worried; I felt my pulse swiftly increasing and my cheeks staining red.

"Oh, bloody hell, Zarah! What am I supposed to do? If this is true, she cannot know about this!" I squealed, running my hands through my hair. Zarah shushed me and put her freezing cold hand on my arm. I hadn't known this girl too long, but there was something about her that made me trust her.  

"Now, now, there's no need to panic. As long as Professor Snape is here, Parkinson won't touch you. She may be aggressive, but she is not stupid. Just try to keep your head down and stay away from Malfoy" she advised. I nodded.

"And if that doesn't work?" Zarah grinned.

"Trust me, it will. Anyway, it sounds safe to say that if Snape doesn't get angry about Parkinson trying to get to you, Malfoy will. No, hurting you will only make Malfoy despise her even more. If she even thinks about touching you, he will be onto her like a tiger on a gazelle! If Draco is even making the effort to talk to you, you may as well start planning the wedding now, Radia! There's no running away from this one!" she joked. 

It must be a big deal, I thought, that he might be attracted to me. I didn't know how I felt about him; he clearly wasn't well liked. It was all well and good joking about it, but Draco sounded intense, as did Parkinson, unfortunately. Nevertheless, suspecting how Draco felt about me only made me feel worse about Cedric.  I had to remember that who was better for me, who I really wanted to be with.

I went to sleep that night listening to the serene sound of the waves lapping against the window.