✓ | RECKLESS AND BRAVE | Draco Malfoy

5 | ETHEREAL

ETHEREAL
(adj.) extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world

TESSA WAS ECSTATIC. Fred was right, flying lessons would be soon and to her delight, posters were pinned up in the Gryffindor room. They were on Thursday, Tessa read, but she had scowled upon seeing that Gryffindors would have them together with Slytherins. She could already feel Draco Malfoy's smugness about having ridden a broom before.

     "Typical," Harry grumbled darkly as the three lounged in the Common Room. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

     "You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," Ron tried to reason. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

Tessa rolled her eyes, fiddling with her necktie. "So true," she quipped. "His only talent is running his mouth with nonsense as fuel."

By Thursday for breakfast, Tessa and the boys suffered through Hermione's stupid flying tips from Quidditch Through the Ages. Her nose was scrunched as she forked egg in her mouth when mail arrived. Tessa sat up straighter as she beamed at the sight of Tommy, her golden owl soaring above the tables when an eagle owl rammed right into her owl. She let out a startled cry as both birds tumbled to the ground in a mess, letters and sweets sprawled.

She leaped to her feet, shooting daggers at the boy who was making his way to their owls. "Malfoy, you git, knock some sense into your stupid owl!"

He made a face. "Your owl is old and useless, most likely blind as well. Get a new one, Valentine."

She let out a frustrated groan, stomping over to him and purposely shoving her shoulder against his as she helped Tommy to perch on her shoulder. Malfoy shot her a glare, gathering his stuff as Tessa snatched her letter from the ground.

Tessa sat back down on her seat, Harry and Ron sending her concerned looks as she grumbled incoherently under her breath. She opened the letter to see that it was from her uncle, telling her that he'll be gone for a few days since he'd be visiting some old friend of his who was Tessa's mother's best friend. Tessa pursed her lips in thought, probably it was that brown haired man she saw talking to her uncle a few years ago.

Tessa frowned, noticing that she didn't get a letter from Philip. She glanced back at the spot where her and Malfoy's owls had collided, but saw nothing. Turning behind her to send one last glare at the blond, she expected to see Malfoy gloating about the sweets he got, but he was reading a letter with a serious look on his face. Tessa rolled her eyes, it was most likely his parents drilling him to study harder and stuff.

A barn owl swooped down the Gryffindor table and dropped a package in front of Neville Longbottom. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke. "It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things — this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red — oh . . ." His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, ". . .you've forgotten something . . ." Neville let out a deep sigh as he said, "Problem is, I can't remember what I've forgotten."

Tessa cocked her head to the side. "Well, that's just stupid. Why can't it just have words appear on the glass ball or pictures on what you've forgotten?"