It's you and me, right? Bad Influence

Chapter 10

The day of the most important quidditch game came and the twins sat by the Gryffindor table when I walked into the great hall. I was tired, drained from my dreams that kept me awake at night. I looked over at Neville who sat at the Hufflepuff table with Megan. Our eyes met, without anyone of us smiling.

"Zeller!" Lee shouted and I shook my head, like I was waking myself up from the trans of watching my friends, my old friends, the people that I missed talking to.

I walked over to Lee and the twins and sat down with them. Ron, Harry, Hermione, Dean and Seamus sat with them, and they all looked excited, with a hint of worry.

"How are you guys feeling?" I asked and grabbed a piece of bread.

"Awful", Fred said and passed me the butter.

"Awfully good", George added. "Hey Harry, you have to show that Cho Chang the speed of your new broom today. She will only taste the air you leave behind you when you fly past her!"

After we finished our meal, the quidditch players left and me and the rest stayed. Hermione opened her bag and started to read a book. Ron talked about the quidditch game between Gorodok Gargoyles and Toyohashi Tengu from a couple of weeks ago with Seamus and Dean, but after a couple of minutes Dean turned his head and left the conversation.

"What's up with you, Neville and Megan", he asked.

I didn't know what to answer. All I knew was that Neville and I had avoided each other. I didn't know why he did it; if it was because of the fight between me and Megan, or if it was because he thought that I'd moved on. I missed him and I wanted to tell him that but was too scared of what he would answer. Most of all I wanted to hug him and say once again that he wasn't a burden.

"It's nothing."

"You three always stick together, especially you and Neville."

"Me and Megan fought a little. It's fine."

"You can stand with us during the game if you want to. You may already know that", he giggled.

"I'm aware of my freedom, yes", I smiled.

"Use it to stand with me and Seamus then. We will go there early to get some good seats–"

"Miss Zeller, I want you to come with me right this second." McGonagall stood behind me with her mouth tightly squeezed together. "Come on then. We don't want to miss the game."

I tried to keep up with her when we walked to her classroom. Professor McGonagall closed the door behind her and gestured for me to sit down.

"I have two things to say to you. One I'm very sad about and the other one makes me furious. I'll begin with my anger if that's okay?"

I nodded slowly and felt a heat run up my neck.

"I'm know for a fact that you were the one who made everyone sneeze in the library the other week. I also know that the Weasley twins and Mister Jordan were a part of it as well. I will talk to them also, but not before the game. Believe it or not but I want Gryffindor to win, and I can't risk our chances. The four of you almost got away with it, but you didn't notice the house elf that helped Miss Pince that day. What you did could have damaging valuing books! You made Irmas hair turn white for a day and the students took up a lot of space at the hospital wing. We thought we had an outbreak!" McGonagall leaned forward and took my hand. "What is going on with you Miss Zeller? You might think those boys are fun but they also have bad grades and who knows what they will bring to the table as adults? You are smart and talented."

"I–"

I didn't know what to say. For the first time I actually felt guilt rotting inside my body.

"Professor, I'm sorry. I mean it. I just wanted to have some fun", I sobbed. "It feels like everything is moving so fast, like days go by like seconds and I'm trying to grab it, the moment. I have a fuss with Megan– Miss Jones and I don't know... The twins and Lee just saw me and sure they laughed when I fell–" The last part made McGonagall frown. "But then they were nice, and it really felt like they saw a value in me. Like my face was my face and my words were mine with a real meaning. I don't know. I guess sometimes someone sees you and you can feel it, feeling them actually seeing you."