ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅʀᴀᴛᴛᴇᴅ ʟɪʟᴀ ʜᴏʟᴍᴇꜱ || ᴅʀᴀᴄᴏ ᴍᴀʟꜰᴏʏ x ᴏᴄ || ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ 1-3

schemes

"Listen, Holmes," Malfoy whispered to me, the bubbling cauldrons loud enough to mask his dialogue. "I have an idea."

"Pray tell," I looked up and tried to hide my amusement. He'd been holding true to his statement about thinking of ways to get rid of Harry and Ron, though most involved them dying very violent, painful deaths.

"If I challenge them to a wizards duel, and tip off Filch," Malfoy smirked. "There's no way they'll turn me down."

This piqued my interest as the only idea Malfoy had had that wasn't entirely ludicrous. Maybe he'd been testing the waters with me, trying to make sure I didn't tell. I figured it was more likely I was giving him too much credit.

"They might make poor decisions, but they're not plain stupid," I frowned at him. "I doubt your plan plays out the way you hope."

"You say that now," he said arrogantly. "I'm sure you won't doubt me when they get expelled for being out during curfew."

"I'm not stopping you," I told him, though I bit my cheek. If it came down to it, I certainly would stop him. As much as Harry and Ron had given Hermione and I the cold shoulder, I still liked them. "I'm just saying that maybe you're underestimating his intelligence."

"Are you underestimating mine?" He scowled at me.

I shrugged. "You've had better ideas."

"I suppose," he admitted. "But it's the best one I've had yet. The others weren't too realistic."

Well, at least he was self aware. He appeared satisfied with himself, a conspiratory smirk on his face.

"When exactly do you plan on doing this?" I asked. I kept my expression neutral as he scrutinized me.

"I'm not sure," he tore his eyes off of me and glanced at Ron and Harry, who were too busy struggling horribly with their Befuddlement Draught to notice. "I think I'll just have to wait for an opportunity to present itself."

"Patience is key," I mused, though now my guard was up. An opportunity did present itself the day we had flying lessons.

Ron was outraged by the fact that we had them with Slytherin. He had complained about it all morning. Hermione and I couldn't really care less, except she had read loads of books on flying itself to see if she could give herself an advantage. I had read along with her, but there was nothing that really seemed of any use to me. Something told me that flying couldn't be learned from a book.

The mail came in the middle of Hermione reminding the table (mostly herself) of some of the tips she learned from Quidditch Through the Ages. Willow dropped another letter from my father to me. I opened it excitedly, wanting to see what he'd written.

Dear Lila,

I'm glad to hear that you've been making friends! I'm sure that Harry and Ron will come back around. Boys can be frustrating sometimes, I would know. Hermione sounds like a lovely young lady, and I would really like to meet her someday. About this Malfoy boy; don't give up on him. Something tells me that he just needs a good friend.

I'm also very glad to hear about how well you've been doing in your classes and all of the points you've been winning for your house. Gryffindor, sounded the most impressive from what I remember. I'm not surprised that you're doing well in your classes — I knew you would. Owl me back about any updates, and I'm looking forward to seeing you back home again! Keep up the good work!

Love from,

Father Holmes.

In the afternoon, I walked with the other Gryffindor first years to the courtyard. The Slytherins were already there, as were twenty two brooms on the ground in neat rows. Madam Hooch appeared soon with the sound of her whistle.