Melody Riddle and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chapter 5: Buckbeak Backfire

At breakfast the next day, Becky and I went downstairs to find a bunch of the Slytherins sitting around Draco. He was entertaining them with what seemed to be a really funny story.... Apparently. Becky and I stood there, watching him.

"He's suddenly become very popular," I muttered softly to Becky.

Draco did a very ridiculous looking impression of a swooning fit, and the Slytherins burst out laughing.

"No wonder," she snorted. "His humor has risen the ranks by leaps and bounds."

I put a hand to my mouth to stifle my laughter.

Pansy Parkinson — one of our... often disappearing roommates, for lack of a better description — called out, "Hey, Potter! Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooo!"

We turned to see Harry Potter come into the Great Hall. He merely walked to his seat, and obviously tried hard to ignore her.

I would, too. Neither she nor Millicent Bulstrode ever spoke to me or Becky. And Pansy's face was similar to a pug's. As Draco continued regaling about the incident he didn't personally witness, I suddenly noticed her gazing at him as though he was the most amazing person in the world. Something in me dropped as I glared daggers at her, she never seemed to notice him before. Now that he's popular all of a sudden is when she suddenly likes him?

"The way she's staring at him, I bet she wishes she could snog him," Becky whispered to me, still staring at Pansy as she giggled uncontrollably.

As Becky turned to look at me, I pushed a laugh through. "We'll just leave him to his adoring fans," we linked arms and walked down the table, sitting down far away from the group.

Professor Snape came and handed our schedules first to us, going down the table and giving them to the large swarm of Slytherins. First on our schedule that day was Transfiguration, and next was the Study of Ancient Runes.

My former irritation forgotten, I turned to Becky excitedly, "I can't wait to see how Ancient Runes will be."

She nodded her agreement enthusiastically. "I think I'll enjoy that class best seeing as we don't have to share it with Draco," she said, giving a side-long glance to him. "We'll soon be people that 'were' his friends, anyway."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking up at her from the schedule.

She pointed at the group of Slytherins dramatically, "Look at this! He's enjoying the attention. Everybody is actually listening to him, and enjoying what he's saying. Whereas with us, he gets insults... well, with me he gets insults. He'll probably enjoy ignoring me for the rest of the year, but I don't know about you. Sometimes you're so lost in space, but you're not ignoring him on purpose."

I rolled my eyes. "I certainly don't need to goggle at him like he's some sort of god though. Pansy has taken quite a new fancy to him... I didn't even know it was possible given her qualities."

Becky chuckled, "I know, right? If she were an animal, she'd be a pug."

I laughed, "Too true." Her animagus would be a pug, I thought with a big smile.

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We walked to Transfiguration without the boys, who went with the swarm hanging around them. They'd paid attention to him before this, but not so much as now. It was weird.