Forbidden [d.m.] || rewritten

chapter 17

"You okay, Ron? You look a bit under the weather." I spoke as we all sat for breakfast the next morning.

Ron peered up at me as he picked at his food. The Ronald Weasley wasn't eating. Breakfast foods were his weakness and now he was looking at his plate like he knew his eggs were laced with laxatives.

He cleared his throat and mumbled under his breath, "I'm fine."

Hermione and I turned to Harry in response. "Ron's terrified that he's going to receive a howler from home. You know, for forgetting his trunk."

As I shot Hermione a snide smirk, she anxiously looked down at her lap. Aw, she was shy.

"Ron, you're not going to get a howler, alright? You're seventeen years old. I think your Mum and Dad know better than to publicly humiliate you again like they did when you crashed that bloody car." I tried to talk the red-head down.

"She's right." Harry said from beside him. "Don't sit around like a miserable oaf, Ron, and eat your food."

Did I ever mention how much I loved sassy Harry?

Harry could easily put somebody in their place if he wanted to. He had the power to captivate people in a  sort of charismatic way. For good intentions or bad intentions. It was a trait we both earned from our father.

"You've developed quite the 'tude, Potter." Leo chuckled as he took a seat beside me.

"Oh, shit. Leo, it really is you." Ron nearly spat out his food. "I thought it was you I saw in the common room last night."

"Weren't a fan of the muscle-heads in Bulgaria?" Harry asked.

Leo scoffed and folded his arms onto the table. "Christ, don't even get me started. Fur cloaks were not for me. And they were way too chauvinistic over there."

"What d'you mean?"

"Well..." He glanced over at Hermione and pursed his lips. "Durmstrang has a certain... attitude towards Muggle-borns. Once Mum and Dad found out, they were furious. Part of the reason why I was shipped back here."

Hermione's lips absently curled into a grin as she admired the way Leo didn't share that same prejudice. "Oh. Are you... Muggle-born as well?"

"No. I'm er— actually pure-blood." Leo answered hesitantly.

"Well, it's bloody brilliant to have you back." Harry quickly changed the subject away from blood status. It wasn't particularly a cheerful subject of conversation around Hermione.

Leo reached a hand over the table and met with Harry's. "Cheers, mate."

Ron was finally eating again. Thank Godric. I didn't know if I could survive an entire day around a hangry Ron Weasley. After breakfast concluded, the five of us packed up our belongings and headed for our first lesson of the day.

"Did you hear Snape is gonna have us start dueling this year?" Leo pointed out as we walked our way to our Transfiguration class.

"Oh, God." Ron ran a hand through his hair. "Who do we have Defense Against the Dark Arts with?"

"Who do you think?" I sighed.

Not that I didn't think I could take on any of the Slytherins, but I knew they all had a target on my and Harry's backs for getting Malfoy Sr. thrown into Azkaban.

"We need McGonagall present for those lessons. Snape will let anyone of them take our heads off and award them house points." Hermione stated.

"Let's go—" Harry scoffed and increased the pace of his walk, "—McGonagall will have our arses if we're late."