When We Were Young: Year One

Chapter 4

Tina tucked her notes into her History of Magic textbook. She dumped it in her bag along with her Astronomy book and star charts. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she moved from her corner of the common room towards the exit.

"Hey, Goldstein."

Tina ignored Eleanor and took two steps towards the door. The blond girl stepped in front of her.

"I was talking to you, Goldstein. Are you deaf?"

"What do you want?" Tina asked impatiently.

"Where are you going, Goldstein?" she demanded. "Why do you have your bag? It's not class time, stupid."

"What's your problem, Clark?" Tina turned to see John hanging upside down over the back of a couch. Nathan's face poked over the back beside him.  John let himself drop to the floor.

Eleanor scowled. Her scowl turned into a sneer. "You're defending her?"

Having scrambled to his feet, John shrugged. "I'm just saying, you don't even like her, why do you care where she's going?"

Eleanor's face darkened. She opened her mouth as if to reply. Then she snapped her mouth shut, spun around, and stalked out of the common room. John winked at Tina then clambered over the back of the couch.

Tina left the common room and made her way down to the library. She spotted Newt at a table on the other side of the room. Leta stood across from him. Tina made her way over to them.

"Hello," she said.

Newt looked up and raised her eyebrows.

"What are you doing here?" Leta asked.

"I'm here to study with Newt," Tina replied. "Do you want to join us?"

Leta shook her head and turned to Newt. "Just give it to me already. Then I'll leave you alone with the American."

"My name is Tina," she muttered, too quietly for anyone to hear. She had been at Hogwarts for a month but there were still people who insisted on calling her 'the American'. She knew they knew her name. She had heard it being whispered in the corridors during the first few weeks at school.

Newt pulled a stack of parchment out of his bag and handed it to Leta. She took it and left. Tina took a seat beside him.

"Do you want to start with History or Astronomy?" she asked.

Newt shrugged. "Either one is fine," He started pulling his books out of his bag. "Why not Astronomy?"

Tina nodded and pulled out her book and charts. Soon, the two of them were memorizing names of stars and constellations. When they had gone over nearly everything twice, they decided to move on to History. Tina took her notes and spread them across the table.

"Do you have any notes?" she asked as she opened her textbook.

Newt looked embarrassed. "No -- I mean . . . Well, I took notes but I gave them to Leta. She lost hers."

Tina raised her eyebrows. "Do you really think she lost her notes? Did she even have notes? I'm pretty sure I've seen her sleeping in that class."

"I don't question her," Newt shrugged.

"How did you become friends?"

"No one in Hufflepuff really likes me and Leta doesn't like any of the Slytherins. She's also interested in magical creatures." He paused and glanced up at Tina through his hair. "Do you like magical creatures? You seemed interested on the train."

"I don't really know anything about them. You'll have to tell me about them sometime."

Newt grinned. "Anyway, Leta's nice to me. She tries to help me study though she's not very good at it. She gives me my space when something's wrong; she doesn't force me to talk about whatever's bothering me."