The Mudblood

Chapter 9 : Year 1

Apparently Hermione had turned herself into a cat, so she spent the next few weeks in the hospital wing. Even though she didn't want anyone to see her in such an awful state, I insisted on spending my afternoons doing homework with her, which she hated to admit that she actually enjoyed.

I was indifferent about Ashley, Astoria and Melody coming back to Hogwarts. It was nice to have people to talk to in Slytherin, but Ashley was as crazy as ever, Astoria was as mean as ever, and Melody was as cold as ever. I hadn't spoken with Malfoy since Christmas, although I could tell he was on edge about the upcoming Quidditch match.

The day before the match, however, was my twelfth birthday: January 8th. I made sure to send Dev (my owl) to Lyle with a letter and a birthday gift, and a few hours later, the demonic-looking bird returned with four letters, one from each of my brothers and one from my father. There was a fifth—a little postcard that simply said "Happy Birthday, Love Mom," but I knew that it wasn't actually from her. It was doubtful that she even knew today was my birthday.

"Happy Birthday!" Ginny enthused when I arrived in the Great Hall that morning. "How does it feel to be twelve?"

I shrugged, a smile on my face. "Not much different, honestly."

"We have to tell Lockhart," Ginny hissed to me once we were sitting in the D.A.D.A. classroom. Lockhart was at the front of the room, admiring his portraits as the rest of the class filed in.

"Tell him what?" Astoria demanded as she sat down next to me. "That your hair looks exceptionally horrible, Lainey? Because it does."

I sighed before muttering "No, nothing..."

"Welcome, welcome, first years," Lockhart greeted once everyone had sat down. "Today we'll be reading an extraordinary passage from one of my books."

"Pst, Mudblood," Harper hissed back at me. He and Anderson were both seated in the row ahead of us, but they were both gazing back at me with grins. "Isn't today your birthday?"

"What!" Ashley shrilled, completely cutting off Lockhart's speech about himself. His horror-stricken eyes fell upon her in outrage.

"What ever is your problem, you portrait maiming first year?" Lockhart questioned.

"It's Lainey's birthday!" Ashley screeched so loudly that I had to cover my ears.

"Happy birthday, Mudblood," Harper whispered with a mocking wink. Anderson couldn't help himself from chortling.

"I'm sorry?" Lockhart said, looking at Ashley with narrowed eyes of confusion. "Who?"

"Lainey!"

"The Mudblood," Melody confirmed dryly.

"Excuse me, Miss Purple Hair, but I do not tolerate such language—"

"Can we sing? PLEASE!" Ashley whined with deafening intensity.

"No, no, no," Lockhart insisted. "You all refused to sing for my birthday, which is obviously a much more important occasion, so—"

"Happy birthday to you!" Ashley bellowed in a scream-filled tone. To my surprise, Ginny stood up with her and also began to sing. I buried my face in my hands when Astoria chimed in. Melody, Harper and Anderson wouldn't stop snickering.

The mention of my birthday in Potions class was arguably more horrible than the singing in Lockhart's class.