The Mudblood

Chapter 103 : Year 5

The artwork of Harper and Anderson was drawn by https://www.quotev.com/29338974 (:

Ashley loved the new tint of green to my black hair. She said it showed House spirit and that I would look like a "Slytherin badass" at our upcoming Quidditch match. Astoria, however, was devastated with what had become of my hair, calling it "that ugly clump of spinach" on my head, and she was now even more adamant about changing it than she had been before. She tried to slip me potions that would change my hair to blonde or brown or even back to that bright orange, but I refused to take them. Malfoy had given me this greenish hair to irk me, and I could not let on that I was irked. Whenever we spent time in the Room of Requirement attempting to fix the Cabinet, I would brag about how many compliments I'd received while failing to mention that all of the compliments had been from Ashley.

Harper said the color was "hip", Anderson was relieved that I no longer reminded him of his Weasels, Melody was fairly indifferent, and Ginny thought it was mildly comical. She suggested that I tell Fred, but I didn't really care to explain the origin of my new hair color to him...

The first two weeks back at school after the holiday break were actually an improvement for me compared to my life before. Since Fred and I had been corresponding through the blackboards, I'd been in a bit of a better mood, and my grades reflected it. I received my first passing mark in Arithmancy since my fourth year, and even though it was atrocious in contrast to Malfoy's grade, it was still progress. Malfoy and I had actually been making some minor advancements with the Vanishing Cabinet as well.

Over the past few months, we'd been sending mostly inanimate objects through the Cabinet, all of which came back perfectly intact after a spell we'd tried in November. In December, we'd started sending small creatures like birds and mice through, and though Borgin sent us notes to inform us that the animals went through without dying, they never came back when he tried to send them. By our second week back, however, Malfoy and I had managed to find a charm that brought the animals back through. They were all dead, unfortunately, but it was a step in the right direction.

In light of our recent success with the Cabinet, I was actually expecting Malfoy to show up to Slytherin's Quidditch match against Ravenclaw, but, of course, I was sorely disappointed when, as usual, I found myself changing in the broom cupboard alone. Grumpily, I trudged out of the closet to see a bunch of shirtless boys in the locker room, a sight that I had grown oddly comfortable with over the past few months. Harper was actually the only one that I couldn't bear to look at while he changed—not because I found him attractive, but because Melody would probably somehow know and then murder me... Despite her lack of affection, she was wildly possessive.

"Hey, Lay," Harper greeted after he'd pulled his shirt over his head. I approached his locker while ignoring the fact that shirtless Vaisey was wiggling his eyebrows at me. He'd become weirdly confident after surviving Melody's wrath at my birthday party.

"Hey," I sighed, leaning against the metal lockers as Harper strapped on his protective gear.
"No Mal today?" he asked casually. He'd recovered smoothly from his allergic reaction to alcohol, and after one day in the hospital wing he'd been able to come back to class. Anderson and I had, of course, visited him when he was temporarily bedridden, though Melody showed no interest in joining us.

"Apparently not," I mumbled as I watched Ashley help Crabbe put his padding on. "He's too much of a wimp to show up."

"Well...that means I get to play," Harper reckoned with a nervous edge to his tone. "I think I've improved since our match against Gryffindor. Plus, Ravenclaw's Seeker isn't Harry Potter, so..."