Sketchbook ~ George Weasley

Chapter 16 - New Partner

The first thing I did the next morning was mail out the letter to David. I didn't feel like sending an owl all that way so I had my owl take it to a post box, to mail to my parents and have them mail that letter to the school for David. At least I hope the school takes No-Maj mail. Well, I suppose it's better if he doesn't read it. It's not the most eloquent letter I've ever written.

I left to head down to the Great Hall to attempt to have some breakfast before classes start, taking my usual seat next to Fred and George. I was able to get a slightly better night's rest last night. For now everything seems to be going good and I haven't gotten any notes in a couple of nights so perhaps the person sending them decided to back off, or at least that's what I'm hoping.

I move food onto my plate, "Good morning."

Fred, George, and Lee all say a "Good morning" back in unison.

I nudged Lee, "Don't go talking at the same time as them now. We don't need a third Weasley twin."

"No one needs that," he agreed, taking another bite into his sausage.

"Oi, a third one of us would be a delight," Fred said defensively.

"If there were a third one of you," I say, "this school would burn down."

Fred just laughed, but didn't disagree with me. I looked over George who seemed to be zoned out and not paying attention. I ripped off the corner of my toast and threw the piece at him. It hit him square in the head and he jumped slightly from the contact, then looked towards me.

"You alright?" I ask. "You're unusually quiet."

"Fine," He says. "Just thinking."

"About what?" I ask.

"A man's thoughts are private, Paige," Fred chimes in.

"And none of a woman's business, really," George finishes.

"Good thing you three aren't men then," I say, then notice that all the fourth years are gone from the table already. "I'm going to be late to potions, gotta run." I chug what's left of my pumpkin juice and grab my piece of toast before slinging my bag over my shoulder and booking it out of the Great Hall.

I made it to class just in time for the lesson and slipped into my seat next to Lavender, who didn't even look my way when I sat down. She kind of stopped writing notes to me in class sometimes too, which I almost miss. We still talk a bit in the dorm, but our friendship isn't the same as it used to be.

"Thank you for joining us on time, Ms. Michaels," Professor Snape says, swishing his cloak from side to side as he makes his way to the black board.

"You're welcome," I say. He turns to give me a startling glare, but says nothing as he turns back towards the board.

"Today we will be brewing a shrinking solution," Snape droned on, writing what he was saying on the board for us to copy into our notes. "This potion will shrink the consumer down to a smaller size. It's commonly used to shrink animals down so they are easier to transport. Can anyone tell me what will happen if brewed incorrectly?"

Hermione's hand immediately shot up, but Snape waited and looked for any other volunteers. Once he realized no one else was going to attempt to answer, he sighed, "Yes, Ms. Granger?"

"Sir, If not brewed correctly to its natural acid green color, the solution could become poisonous to the consumer."

"Exactly," he snarled. "So you better prepare it correctly."

We all move to grab our cauldrons and start to prepare, but Snape stops us before we get very far.

"I've decided to give you all new partners since some of you can't seem to keep your mouths shut during lessons," he says, sending a glare towards Ron and Harry just as it seems Ron said something to him. I looked over towards Lavender to see how she would take the news, but she didn't even react towards it, as if she were glad to be getting a new partner.

I listened as he listed off name after name and waited for mine to be called. It didn't matter at this point because all the people in the class I knew were already paired off. Hermione was with Parvati, Neville with that boy that makes things explode, Harry with some fat Slytherin boy, and Lavender stuck with some pug faced girl.

"Michaels and Malfoy." I perked up at the sound of my name, but then realized that I had no idea who that was. When I looked around the room, I only saw Hermione giving me a look of pity.

"Who?" I mouthed towards her. She nodded over towards this blond boy who I just noticed was glaring at me. Well, if he knew who I was he could have at least had the courtesy of sitting next to me. The seat next to me was empty as well. Either way, I grabbed my things and moved to the table we now shared.

Even though I was with this nasty blond boy I don't know, at the very least, I was next to Hermione's table which was good enough for me. She gave me a small smile.

After everyone's names were called and everyone had taken their seats, we were finally free to move and get our supplies.

"I'm Malfoy," the Slytherin boy says to me as he starts to juice the shrivelfigs. "Draco Malfoy."

"And I'm Bond," I smile. "James Bond." Draco looks at me oddly and glares and I conclude that he must be a pureblood and also that he is no fun. "I'm kidding. My name is Paige."

"Must be a mudblood," he mutters.

"No, I'm adopted," I smile sweetly, and go to add the daisy roots to the potion.

"What are you doing?" he glares, grabbing my hand, and I shrug. "The roots need to be chopped more thinly than that."

I pull my hand back and start to chop the daisy roots up more. I have to admit, I'm not the best at magic when it comes to not using a wand. It's nice to have a partner that knows what they're doing, but I'm admittedly dreading the rest of the year.

"I thought that Ms. Michaels would benefit from having a more talented partner," Snape snapped dully from behind, which startled me to no end. I jumped slightly, but then turned to look at the professor. I then looked over at my "more talented partner'' who was smiling smugly. "It's a pity she didn't inherit the gift for potion making."

I rolled my eyes slightly, but then realized, "Wait, what?" Although my question was lost on him as he was already moving on to reprimand the next student for what they're doing wrong.

My eyes instinctively shot to Hermione, who seemed to catch on and was already looking at me as well. I already knew what we were both thinking: what did he mean by inherit?

There was no way he could possibly mean my adoptive parents. So that means he would have to have been talking about my biological ones, but there's no possible way he could know who they are. I guess he could have meant it as a manner of speech, but why would he say it like that?

I was so lost in thought, I didn't notice the piece of parchment left on my desk.

Library after classes?

I turned my head towards Hermione, who was still looking at me and nodded.

"Would you get back to work instead of sitting there doing nothing?" Draco sneered at me. I sigh, getting back to brewing the potion as I start to shake the wormwood.

Yup, this is going to be fun.