A Badger and a Snake: Draco Malfoy x Hufflepuff

2. Something Weird is Going On

Out of the four empty chairs in the room, I take the one next to Ernie Macmillan, the other Hufflepuff prefect. Draco takes the chair next to Pansy Parkinson. The other filled chairs seat Cole Wright and Naomi Harris, two Ravenclaws in my year.

Cole is not just a Ravenclaw though; he's also my new crush. He's cute, smart, and thoughtful. He was my best friend in Herbology last year and really helped me get through the break up. We owled each other over break and I've grown quite fond of him. Actually, he promised to take me on a date over Christmas break to the Lily Pad, a bookshop and restaurant in Diagonally.

I noticed him looking at me so I made sure to give him a nice smile and he returned it, but Draco scowled.

Oh well.

At the front of the room are the head boy and girl, from what I can tell. The Head girl is from Slytherin and the head boy is a Ravenclaw. I don't know who they are, but I suppose everyone else does, so I don't ask.

"Alright," says the Slytherin. "I'm not going to drag this out any longer than I have to. Your job is to enforce rules, keep children in line, and be a good role model."

Just then, Hermione and Ron rush in and take the last two open seats.

"Sorry we're late!" says Hermione, who is out of breath.

The Ravenclaw sighs picks up from there, "You may take away house points, but only fairly and not from other prefects."

"And the main rule," said the Slytherin girl. "Is that we call the shots."

"Exactly," added the Ravenclaw. "We've been doing this for three years. If you have questions about appropriate punishments or things like that, you can come to us."

"That's not really what I meant. Anyway, please take your places at a door of the train about 2 minutes before it arrives. You'll need to show the students where to go. After the sorting ceremony, be sure to gather your house, take them back to the common room, and give them the password.

"You are dismissed," she finished.

We all file out.

"I'm so thankful that our common room doesn't have a password," I say to Ernie Macmillan as we all walk back to our compartments.

"For real," he agrees. "I heard that the Slytherin changes their almost every week."

"They do. It was hard to remember," I say quietly.

Ernie throws a look at me but I've already looked away because Cole Wright is walking up to me.

"That's not quite what I expected," says Cole.

I laugh. "I figured it would be longer."

"And more in depth," he agrees.

I see Naomi Harris walking towards us so I wave her over.

"Hey, Naomi, is it? We were just talking about how short and sparse the meeting was," I tell her.

She takes Cole's hand and nods. "I noticed that as well."

I look down at their hands together and my heart drops. I thought he fancied me? Why are they holding hands?

Cole noticed me looking and blurts out, "Um, Naomi, this is Alyssa. She was my Herbology partner last year.

She smiles at me.

Herbology partner? Is that all I am?

"Alyssa, this is my girlfriend Naomi," he finishes.

No way. No freaking way.

I play it cool. "Girlfriend?" I ask with a smile. "When did that happen?"

Cole blushes. "July." The same time we started owning.

"Oh. Congratulations! You're cute together."

"Thank you," says Naomi. She's for real smiling, completely oblivious to what's going on.

"Let's head back to the compartment for a moment, shall we?" Asks Cole to Naomi.

"Sure," she says and they leave.

I take a step back and lean against the wall, throwing my head back and closing my eyes.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Asks Draco from beside me.

I peek my eyes open. "What do you mean?" I ask innocently.

"Oh so you just fell against the wall dramatically for no reason?" he asked me.

"Yes."

"And it didn't have to do anything with Cole declaring that Naomi is his girlfriend?"

"Nope," I say decidedly.

"Well I guess that means you don't want to know the insider scoop on their relationship then," he says and starts to leave.

The insider scoop? "I'm listening," I tell him.

"I'm sure you know, but Naomi's brother happens to be in Slytherin."

"Go on..."

"He told me that he didn't know anything about their relationship, and she tells him everything. One day, she tells him that Cole randomly owled her. The very next day he shows up at her house with no notice."

"That's so weird," I tell him.

"I know, but get this, she didn't see anything wrong with it. She let him in and they started dating the same day."

I tell him about our letters to each other and our promised date. "Well Malfoy, I think something weird is going on."

"I'll say," says Draco.