Love at First Sight (Harry Potter)

Talons and Tea Leaves

|ALEXANDRIA WEASLEY'S P.O.V|

"Look, Potter, who am I?"

Draco Malfoy was sat between Crabbe and Goyle, his face alight with humor as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I passed by the Slytherin table during breakfast before our first day of classes. The four of us watched as he leaned over the bench and pretended to faint.

Instantaneously, the group of students in green and silver began to laugh — all pointing at Harry, who kept his head down low in embarrassment. I placed my hand against the back of his robes in comfort, my eyes glaring daggers at Draco Malfoy as I said quietly, "Ignore them, Harry."

The blonde looked up, as though hearing my voice through the chaos, and the smile faltered for a moment on his lips upon seeing my expression. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and continued to lead Harry to our table, Ron muttering words of anger beneath his breath behind us. I sat down on the bench beside Hermione, Harry and Ron across from us beside George.

George began to hand out papers to each of us, mouth full of cereal as he announced, "New third-year course schedules. What's up with you, Harry?"

"Malfoy," grunted Ron, still glaring behind his shoulder at the Slytherins as he helped himself to a plate of eggs.

George followed his eyes, just in time to see Malfoy pretend to faint again.

"That little git," he said, eyebrows furrowed. "He wasn't so cocky last night when the Dementors were down at our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"

"Nearly wet himself," agreed Fred with a nod.

"I wasn't too happy myself," said George, adorning a pained frown and pushing his cereal away. "They're horrible things, those Dementors . . ."

"Sort of freeze your insides, don't they?" added Fred.

Harry suddenly leaned forward on the table, so that he could see the faces of both twins as he asked, "You didn't pass out, though, did you?"

"Forget it, Harry," said George bracingly, then looking between Ron and I, "Dad had to go out to Azkaban one time, remember? And he said it was the worst place he's ever been, he came back all weak and shaking.  .  .  . They suck the happiness out of a place, Dementors. Most of the prisoners go mad in there."

"So why didn't Black?" I asked, eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. The twins looked at one another and shrugged.

"Anyway, we'll see how happy Malfoy looks after our first Quidditch game," said Fred in excitement. His bright smile was enough to lift my mood as he leaned across the table, hand held up for me to slap which I did with a giggle. "Alexie and I have been practicing all summer." He turned toward Harry as he spoke, brown eyes full of pride when he spoke of me. My heart swelled with happiness. "She is going to be great, just watch. Gryffindor versus Slytherin, first game of the season."

"Ooh, good, we're starting some new subjects today," interrupted Hermione suddenly, and I found that she was studying her new schedule.

Hermione had never been interested in Quidditch. She found the sport to be a waste of her time; she refused to fly on a broomstick, she hated when I asked her to help me practice, and she only attended the matches to support Harry and I — although Ron said she was quite the complainer.

Ron stood up from his seat and, before she could even react, he had snatched the piece of parchment out of her hands. He stared down at it for a moment, eyebrows slowly furrowing together as they did whenever he read something he didn't understand.