Beauty and the Beast [Draco Malfoy]

Chapter Two

Lizzie's POV:

"Lizzie! Why is it always you! Get up, you cow!" Millicent shouted, yanking the emerald curtains around my bed apart.

"I'm not a mirror, you know," I grumbled back. I was not someone who loved to wake up early.

"Just get up! Breakfast is, as of now, over and class starts in ten minutes." I groaned and rolled out of bed. The days when I missed breakfast never ended up being good ones. I angrily forced my arms into my robes and threw my bag over my shoulder, stomping down to the common room.

"Took you long enough. I was about to leave you," a voice called to me from the plush, black sofa by the fireplace. The source of the deep voice shut the book they were reading and slid it elegantly into their bag.

"You wouldn't have. I don't think you could find any of your classes without me," I teased, plopping down beside him.

"Oh come on, have some faith, Hufflepuff."

"I've been in your house for five years, Draco. Just let it go. I'm a Slytherin through and through," I scowled at him. 

"I brought you some breakfast. I know how crabby you get on days when you sleep in," he said, ignoring my argument and standing up, removing a small package from his bag.

"You really are the best," I laughed. Inside of the napkin is a bit of toast and an apple.

"I know," he smirked. "Now unless you want to be late on your first day, we should probably get to class."

"Draco Malfoy doesn't want to be late to class?" I mocked surprise. "I have lived to see the world end."

"Oh shut up. I need to make a good impression on the new teacher and so do you. So get your bum up." He held his slender hand out to me. I grasped it and he helped me stand.

That years Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a stout little woman from the ministry. She obnoxiously wore pink from head to toe, save for the little black bow on the top of her curly hair.

When we reached her classroom, it was almost full. Draco and I sat in the very back, as far from the wicked witch as we could. We could already tell we were going to hate the woman because of her sweet voice and scripted talk.

The woman was seated at her desk with her hands folded neatly in front of her.

"Good morning. class," she piped overly sweet. A small grumble of greeting arose from the students. "Now, now, that will not do. You will reply 'Good morning, Professor Umbridge' when prompted, such as now. So let's try that again." I raised my eyebrows at her and she cleared her throat. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning. Professor Umbridge," the class said collectively.

"Much better. Now, your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you will be pleased to know from now on, you will be following a carefully structured, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic." The woman waved her wand and the stack of books on her desk distributed themselves among the students. "Please open your books and read chapter one. I expect a one page summary essay by tomorrow. There will be no need to talk."

I turned my head to Draco. Like me, his eyebrows were sky-high.

"One page summary essay? Is she mad?" Draco whispered to me. "If she continues like this, she won't make it through the year alive."

"Good thing the job's jinxed," I muttered back, opening my book to chapter one.

At dinner that day, all the talk was about the new ministry-approved-defense-against-learning professor. Everyone was outraged by her demeanor and way of teaching. No one was going to learn anything with her teaching the way she was.