The Ravenclaw Malfoy

Chapter 11 - Dutch Braids

I was sadly awoken this morning courtesy of Fiadh throwing a pillow at my face. I sat up in my bed, my hair an utter mess, and glared at her, "What was that for?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to hit something," she shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and flopped back onto my pillow, "I can't wait for you to start Quidditch again. Finally, you'll be able to hit bludgers instead of me."

Dawn piped up from the other side of the room, "Speaking of Quidditch when are the trials?"

"I don't know, probably next week at some point," Fiadh yawned as she walked into our bathroom to tie up her hair. All of a sudden I heard a scream followed by Fiadh yelling, "Oh come off it!" Dawn and I shared worried looks but stayed quiet to find out what was happening.

"I'm in the shower!" I heard Padma shout as Fiadh stormed out, annoyed.

"You pulled the shower curtain closed!" she groaned back.

"I'm still naked!"

I tried hard not to laugh as Fiadh caught my eye. Trying to relieve the tension, I changed the subject, "Err, where's Brooklyn?"

"Oh, she went to breakfast early, as per usual," Dawn said, grinning. Typical Brooklyn.

"Cool," I said, getting out of bed quickly getting changed, "Look, I'm going to go see Isabel and Dessa. I'll see you guys at breakfast!" I said tying my tie as I ran out of the dormitory, out of the common room and down the staircase all the way to the Hufflepuff common room. I knocked on the right barrel and strolled inside. Too easy to get in, if you ask me. I wonder if that was Helga's original intention, to allow anyone in.

Among the slowly decreasing crowd of Hufflepuffs, I saw Isabel sitting there, flicking through the latest copy of Witch Weekly on the sofa. She hadn't seen me so I just cleared my throat a bit over-dramatically and she finally looked up.

"Tina! Oh my goodness, cariño! How are you?" she exclaimed with a heavy Spanish accent. She put her magazine down and I took a seat next to her on the sofa.

"Not too bad, you?" I shrugged.

"I'm good," she said. Suddenly, she noticed my hair. I forgot to brush it before I left. Oops. Isabel just stared at me in mock horror, "Tina, Tina, Tina," she muttered, "Honestamente, ¿dónde me equivoqué?" 

I had absolutely no idea what the hell she was saying but I had learnt from experience that it was better not to ask. She sprinted up to her dormitory suddenly, leaving me in a common room that was not my own, alone. To say it was awkward would be an understatement. I assumed she needed to get some things to deal with my hair as being the resident hairdresser was her thing, so to speak. Luckily, she returned as quickly as she left, this time with a hairbrush and some bobbles. The equipment confirmed my suspicions so when she sat down facing me, I turned my back to her so she could style my hair as she pleased. Just as she was beginning to comb through my silver blonde locks, I noticed a small, dark-haired girl make her way towards us, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Dessa! You took your time!" Isabel scolded, only briefly looking up from her 'work'. 

"Sorry, I was tired!" she squeaked back, her tiny voice making my heart melt on the spot.

"Hi Dessa," I greeted warmly, looking at her as best as I could while being forced to not face her.

She beamed at me, "Hello Tina, how was your summer?" 

I know she only meant well by this supposedly harmless question and it wasn't like she, or anyone else for that matter, knew about my home situation, but still the very mention of my summer made my breath hitch. I quickly coughed to cover it up, making sure my head didn't move to much so as to not disturb Isabel, "It was good thanks, you?"