Dancing with Danger

one

"YOU NASTY LITTLE, INCONSIDERATE, GOOD FOR NOTHING, BITCH!" Pansy Parkinson's words echoed off the walls of the Slytherin common room as she pointed her grubby little finger in my face.

"Oh, piss off already, Parkinson!" I scream back as she's already halfway up the stairs to the dormitories and comes back with her long, navy blue coat.

"You'll pay for this, Rogers!" she shrieked, storming out of the common room.

"Yeah, as if." I scoffed back.

six months earlier...

"ELIZA, WAKE UP ALREADY! COME
ON, WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" my best friend, Kate Williams, energetically shook the side of my bed as she began to throw my old Slytherin robes and Quidditch uniforms into my trunk.

I'm more ready than anyone to get back to Hogwarts, it is my fourth year after all, just not excited enough to get shaken awake at five thirty in the morning, to wait for the train, that leaves at eleven o'clock.

"You need to get ready!" she said eagerly.

"Kate, do you see that?" I said sarcastically while pointing out my window into the streets only illuminated by moonlight. "The sun hasn't risen yet, and neither have my energy levels, go back to sleep."

a few hours later...

I woke up to see Kate passed out on the floor beside my bed. If I hadn't have looked down, I would've accidentally stepped on her.

"Kate," no response. "Kate," still no response. "KATE ALICE WILLIAMS, WAKE UP!" I said, raising my voice to wake her up.

"Eliza, it's too early," She groaned as she flipped over checking her watch. "The train leaves in thirty minutes! Why are you just standing around?! We should've been up hours ago!" She quickly scrambled to her feet to fix her hair and throw open the door to my room and dash down the stairs.

"Kate! Your trunk!"

"Might need that," she panted as she climbed the flight of stairs back up towards my room and lugged her trunk, that weighed more than a small first year, down the stairs.

Twenty-five minutes later, we'd gotten to platform nine and three-quarters just before the Hogwarts Express was getting ready to leave. We ran onto the train and collapsed in the seats out of breath, watching the billowing steam from the train scatter across the landscape.

"I can't—believe every year—we've almost been—late," Kate choked out.

"Nonsense, Kate, we're just early for next time," I said as we finally regained the energy to roam around and catch up with friends from the previous year.

——————————

"He makes me sick," I mumbled as Draco Malfoy strutted down our part of the train with his posse of Crabbe and Goyle following shortly behind. "What, is there something on my face?" I moved some of my brown hair away from my face to see all the first years running about in the train.

"Oh, nothing. Just a bit of blush, that's all. Shade name, I'd say Draco Malfoy," Kate joked as she looked out the window of the train to the hills and trees along the tracks.

"Malfoy? Oh please, in his dreams," I scoff and roll my eyes a little, "Don't you have standards, Kate?"

"It might be your year, I saw the way he looked at you," she said cheekily and started rummaging through her coat pockets.

"And what's that, with disgust?" I coughed out after choking on air like a lunatic.

——————

"Guess who," said the boy behind me who covered my eyes with their hands.

"Andrew, I swear, if you try to kidnap me," I turned around and pulled him into a tight hug after recognizing the voice as Andrew Marshall, the boy who fell head first into the lake in second year.

"Did you two leave anything on the trolley?" Andrew teased, examining all the Chocolate Frog wrappings and other pieces of candy on our table. Kate hit him on the shoulder as he sat down beside us.

"New Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year, how long d'you think they'll last?" Kate asked intriguingly.

"Four months," said Andrew proudly.

"Four? Pathetic, I'll say three," I spat back at the two of them while reaching into my pocket to pull out a few Sickles and an old gum wrapper.

"I'll bet five months, you're on," Kate slammed her fist on the table with a couple more Sickles while Andrew just decided to go with an I.O.U.