Broken

Chapter Two

Bilius wakes up to see Cedric standing over him, "What time is it?" Bilius mumbles.
"It's four-fifteen. Did you know you look adorable when you sleep? Like a little purring kitten." Cedric tells him still standing over him.
"Thanks." Bilius says awkwardly. As he gets up and grabs his things Cedric crawls back into bed. He heads for the bathroom and starts to comb his hair. When he is finished, he realizes that he left his school clothes under his bed, so he runs back out to grab them. Once back inside the bathroom, Bilius takes off his pajamas and changes into his school robes. He brushes his teeth and leaves for the Great Hall.
When he got there it was empty. Bilius looked around wondering why no one else was down there, "Bilius Bartok!" a voice rumbles behind him. Bilius turns to look at who or what had called his name. He sighs in relief when he sees it's the headmaster. He had heard last night about how nice, brilliant but strange the headmaster is.
"Hello sir." Bilius says.
"Please, call me Dumbledore." The headmaster tells him.
"Well, okay then," he says with a smile, "Hello Dumbledore." Bilius says giving him a slight bow.
"What are you doing in the Great Hall so early?" Dumbledore asks. "I—I came down for breakfast. I guess I am a bit early aren't I?" He says chuckling a little.
"Why don't come with me to my office." says Dumbledore motioning toward the doors.
"Okay." Bilius says following Dumbledore as he walks out of the Hall. They take a few rights and lefts, forwards and backwards, until they come across a giant golden eagle where a door should be. Dumbledore steps in between the eagle's wings and motions for Bilius to step in with him. When both are in the eagle spins around and reveals a huge office.
"Wow!" he says in amazement.
"It is quite nice, isn't it?" Dumbledore says as the eagle spins back around.
"Its grand!" Bilius says still in awe.
"You should shower. You smell like vinegar." Dumbledore tells Bilius.
"Where is your bathroom?" Bilius asks.
"Right there." Dumbledore says pointing to a red-grey door.
"Bilius!" says Dumbledore before Bilius reaches the door. Bilius turns, "Yes?"
"How many kitchen elves did you have to ask for help before you got it?" Dumbledore asks with a slight grin on his face.
"I had to ask 42 of them. The 43rd said he would help." Bilius tells Dumbledore. Dumbledore shakes his head and mumbles under his breath. Bilius walks into the bathroom and strips off all his clothes. Once he finds the water warm enough he steps into the shower. "Ahhh.." sighs Bilius in content as he cleans away the smell of vinegar. Once he is finished, he steps out of the shower and puts on his robes.
"Do you happen to have a hairdryer anywhere in here?" Bilius calls out.
"Use your wand. Just give it a gentle flick and say 'heatro'" Dumbledore calls back. Bilius flicks his wand and says "heatro." Bilius can feel the gentle heat wave coming out of his wand. He raises his wand to his head and lets his hair fully dry. Once he steps out of the bathroom Dumbledore is gone. "Dumbledore! Where did you go?" Bilius calls into the office. When there is no reply Bilius decides to have a look around. As he's walking around, he sees the sorting hat.
"The Sorting Hat! I need to ask you some questions." Bilius says to the hat not expecting a reply.
"Ask away my dear boy." The Sorting Hat responds. Bilius stumbles back in shock. "Okay....why did you yell Hufflepuff before you even touched my head?" Bilius asks with anger and confusion lacing his voice.
"Because it was your destiny dear boy...you were meant to be a Hufflepuff." The Sorting Hat explains. Bilius is not pleased with this answer but does not say anything as to not get into an argument.
What has been done, has been done! And you cannot change it no matter how hard you try! Bilius remember's father telling him before he died.
"What time is it? I should probably get back to the Great Hall." Bilius says to himself.
"No need to rush Bilius," Dumbledore says from behind him. "It's only four-thirty. This is when most student begin to get out of bed."
"Really? Okay." Bilius says looking around for a place to sit.
"There is a chair over there in that corner." Dumbledore says signaling to the oakwood chair.
"Hey Dumbledore. Where did you go earlier?" Bilius asks as he walks over to the chair Dumbledore had previously pointed at.
"Why I left to see what you would do all alone in here. You were wondering why you got sorted into Hufflepuff weren't you?" Dumbledore asks politely.
"How did you know?" Bilius asks in astonishment.
"I just listened very closely. I also stood on that balcony right there." Dumbledore says looking up at the little balcony above them. Bilius knew something wasn't right about his listening story.
"What exactly is going to happen today?" Bilius asks hoping to get a headstart on something.
"First, we will eat breakfast in the Great Hall. Then, you will receive your schedule and one of your fellow classmates will show you where to go for each class." Dumbledore tells him knowing that wasn't what he wanted to hear.
"I'm going to head to the Great Hall now. I'm getting a bit hungry." Bilius says as he gets up out of his chair.
"I'll walk with you." Dumbledore says standing up in his chair. They walk to the Great Hall in silence. When they reach the Great Hall it is still empty. Bilius takes a seat at the front of Hufflepuff table. Dumbledore goes and seats himself in the head chair of the teacher's table. Bilius sits and waits patiently for other students to appear.
He takes some Yorkshire pudding, peppermint humbugs, roast chicken, and some other food items. He and Dumbledore eat in silence. Three students walk into the Hall.
I know her. She was that girl that waved at me yesterday. I think her name is Alison. Bilius thinks to himself. Alison and the other two students sit down at the head of Ravenclaw table. Bilius continues to eat as he waits for his fellow Hufflepuffs. Quinn is the first one to show up and sits down to Bilius' right. Cedric is right behind her and sits on Bilius' left. He looks back and forth between the two.
"You sure are here early." Quinn says looking at Bilius with a smile on her face.
"He was up at four-fifteen." Cedric says with a laugh.
"Dang! That's early." Quinn says.
"I'm sorry for being an early riser. It's just that at home I had to wake up at four-ten so I could get to work on time." Bilius explains with embarrassment.
"You worked!?" Quinn says with surprise on her face.
"Well yeah. My sister, Farley, and I had to work to make money so we could take care of ourselves. Our dad died when I was ten and my mom abandoned us two months later." Bilius tells Quinn and Cedric with sorrow in his voice.
"I'm so sorry. If you ever need anything just ask me." Cedric says patting Bilius on the back.
"Will do." Bilius says staring at his food. He isn't hungry anymore and decides to just lay his head on the table.
"You okay Bilius?" Quinn asks tapping him on the shoulder.
"Yeah. Just a bit tired." Bilius says lifting his head to look at Quinn.
"Oh, Okay!" Quinn says going back to eating her food. Cedric and Quinn exchange confused glances. A little while later Cedric taps Bilius on the shoulder.
"Here's your schedule Bilius. The blank space is your free time." Cedric says handing Bilius a rolled up scroll. Bilius unrolls the scroll.
"Looks like our first class is Defense Against the Dark Arts with..." Bilius pauses as he tries to read the house name. "Gryffindor!" He finally says.
"Great! We should probably get going. Snape hates it when students are late." Cedric says standing up and looking at Quinn and Bilius. Quinn and Bilius stand up following the rest of Hufflepuff as they twist and turn through the halls. They finally come to a classroom and they all shuffle inside.
"Find a seat and listen up!" a tall black haired man yells. Bilius finds a seat and waves at Quinn to get her attention. Quinn sees him and let's Cedric know. They sit on either side of him. Quinn to his right, Cedric to his left.
"Alright class. Today we will be learning the Cure for Boils." Professor Snape says. Bilius studies Snape and realizes that he has a scowl on his face. Cedric notices and explains to Bilius the Snape always wears a scowl. Once class is over Quinn pulls out her scroll and looks at it carefully.
"Lunch!" She says rolling up her scroll.
"Great! I'm starving." Cedric says practically pushing Quinn and Bilius out the door.
"Mind if I walk with you guys?"calls someone from behind them. The three turn around to see a short, brown haired boy jogging towards them.
"Sure!" Cedric says as he waits for the boy to catch up.
"Who are you?" Bilius asks almost rudely. Cedric hits him on the arm as Quinn gives him a disgusted look.
"What?" Bilius mumbles.
"I'm Hunter Miller. Gryffindor." The boy says.
"Hi Hunter. I'm Cedric and this is Bilius and Quinn. Hufflepuff." Cedric says gesturing towards Bilius and Quinn.
"Hey." Quinn says.
"Hi." Bilius says hiding his disgust. He already has a bad feeling about Hunter.
"I've been having a hard time making friends here." Hunter says with a pang of sadness in his voice.
"Well, we'll be your friends Hunter." Cedric says glancing at Quinn and Bilius. Quinn smiles and Bilius scowls but tries his best to smile. Cedric glares at him.
"Thanks guys! I really appreciate it." Hunter says with a big smile on his face. Bilius can tell it's fake. He can spot a fake smile anywhere. He's been giving them since he grew his first set of teeth. They reach the Great Hall and walk inside. Lunch is halfway done but Quinn, Cedric, and Bilius take their seats and begin eating.
"Hunter seemed nice." says Quinn as she bites into her food.
"Yeah. If you get past the fact he's a bit upsetting." Bilius replies.
"How do you mean?" Cedric asks stabbing his chicken with his fork.
"Well...uhhhh...it's a bit hard to explain but I just didn't like him. Okay?" Bilius says.
"How did everyone enjoy potions class?" Quinn asks trying to change the subject.
The next few weeks seemed to go by in a blur. Bilius having only been to his classes once or twice doesn't really know what to make of them, but he can tell you that, he doesn't like Potions class for two reasons. The first being Professor Snape. The way he speaks and how he explains the information in a monotone voice, as well as, Bilius feels like he is up to something.
The second being he has it with Gryffindor, which means he has to deal with Hunter after class. The connection between Hunter and Bilius is like two puzzle pieces being forced together, even though they don't fit. They'll get along but Bilius would rather be not tag along with them.