Alohomora

5)Flying and Friendships

We had been at Hogwarts for a month now. Despite the piles of homework, i was really enjoying school. I was seeing less of Draco, but i had become good friends with Hermione. Lavender and Pavarti were friendly, but we didn't spend much time with them. Seamus and Dean always made me laugh. I often helped Neville with his work and i spoke to Harry and Ron, but because they weren't too keen on Hermione we didn't spend much time together. 

Post arrived at breakfast today and i was waiting for a letter from my parents, scared of their reaction to my house. Petal swooped down, dropping me a letter and a parcel, before flying back to the owlery. I picked up the letter and opened it

"Dear Ruby,

Congratulations on Gryffindor, we were surprised when we found out, but we are still proud of you, don't worry! We are glad to hear that you are enjoying school and have made new friends. Don't worry abour Draco, boys can be stupid sometimes! In the parcel we have sent you some every flavour beans because we know how much you like them and some books we found at Diagon Alley we thought you might find interesting. 

Looking forward to seeing you at Christmas, we miss you so much

Love Mum and Dad x"

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least they didn't mind. The letter had made me feel slightly homesick but i didn't get much time to dwell on it.

Today, we had our first proper flying lesson. For once Hermione was nervous as it was something she couldn't really learn from a book. I had flown a little before because Draco loved Quidditch and we often had small games of it in his garden, but i wasn't the best flyer. We made our way out into the grounds on a clear day to find Madam Hooch stood surrounded by broomsticks. Nervously, I stood next to the closest broom, wishing i could keep my feet firmly on the ground. Hermione looked slightly green. The Slytherins came marching down the lawns looking confident, then took their places. When everyone was ready Madam Hooch spoke. "stick your right hand over your broom and say up" she instructed. I glanced down at my broom and lifted my hand. "up!" the broom didn't move. "UP!" i said louder. The broom rolled on the floor but still didn't leave the ground. Only a few people had managed it. "UP!" i shouted even louder. Slowly, the broom started to hover slightly, the shot straight into my hand. I looked to see Hermione desperately calling "UP" at her broom and after 6 attempts, she finally had hold of her broom.  We were then shown how to sit on our brooms correctly. "now, when i blow my whistle, kick off from the ground, keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, then come back down by leaning forwards slightly, one, two, three" Just as she was about to blow the whistle, Neville started hover above the ground, everyones eyes on him. "come back!" shouted Madam Hooch but a terrified Neville was rising higher and higher.His face growing pale, his hands shaking so much that he slid off the broom and landed with a thud on the ground. A cracking sound told us something had broken. Confirmed as a broken wrist, Madam Hooch took Neville to the hospital wing, telling us if anyone left the ground we'd be expelled. "did you see his face?"laughed Draco, making me angry."look, the lump left this" he continued, picking up the rememberall Neville recieved this morning in the post."give it here Malfoy"said Harry, stepping forwards. "i think i'll leave it somewhere for him to find" said Draco, mounting his broom. Why was he being like this? He kicked off from the ground and hovered in circles above the crowd. Suddenly Harry joined him in the air, ignoring Hermiones shouts. "Give it here Malfoy"shouted Harry. Draco laughed "catch it if you can!"he called and he threw the rememberall. Harry shot after it and caught it perfectly in his hands. The crowd cheered.

"HARRY POTTER" shouted a familiar voice. Professor McGonagall. People started making excuses for Harry but she ignored them all and pulled Harry away. If he was getting expelled because of Draco i would never forgive him. The slytherins were laughing. Draco looked straight at me and i glared, causing the grin to leave his face.

The smile stayed off Dracos face when it was announced that Harry had been made Gryffindor seeker, all because of him. He was really angry and decided the only way to settle the problem was to have a duel. 

Despite Hermione and I's pleads, Harry and Ron ignored us and at midnight made their way to meet Draco. We followed them outside reminding them they would be on the train home tomorrow but they didn't care. Unfortunately there was a problem. The common room door had shut, the fat lady had disappeared leaving Hermione and I locked out.  We had no choice but to follow the boys unless we wanted to be caught by Filch. The castle was different at night. Silent and cold. And very, very dark. We waited in the trophy room, the minutes passed by but nobody else turned up. "i don't think he's coming"i whispered. Harry agreed and we decided to make our way back to the common room. But as Ron turned he fell into a suit of armour, the deafening crash must have woken people up. To our horror, we heard Filchs cat purr. "RUN" shouted Harry as we passed through twisting corridors as fast as we possibly could. 

We seemed to have lost Filch, but gained Peeves. It seemed we were done for. "please Peeves, don't tell Filch, please!"begged Hermione, a large smile spreading across Peeves face. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED, STUDENTS IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR" Peeves shouted. Ron swore and we had to run for it again. Until we were at a dead end of the corridor. The locked door not budging. "alohomora!"squeeled Hermione as the lock opened and we got inside just in time. 

Someone was breathing behind us. But it wasn't a teacher or another student. A ginormous three headed dog was staring right at us. Sharing a glance, we all knew we had to run back in the corridor and get back as quick as we could. Harry yanked the door open and we ran, faster than ever before. 

"where have you been?!"asked the fat lady as we reached the common room. "never mind PIG SNOUT" said Harry desperately as the door swung open. Collapsing onto the sofas to catch our breath, Ron spoke. "what do they think they're doing keeping that locked up in a school?" exclaimed Ron. "you don't use your eyes do you?"she snapped. "I was too busy looking at its three heads" replied Ron. "it was standing on a trapdoor, it was obviously guarding something"she stood up, glaring.  "we could have been killed, or even worse, expelled, im going to bed"she said, making her way up the stairs. "me too"i said hurridly following her up the stairs.

I needed a word with Draco about his "new personality"