𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 ↬ 𝔡.𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔣𝔬𝔶

11 | h u r t

{T} he first year Slytherins walked to their common room, following the head boy almost as if they were ducklings following their mother.

"This is exciting," I whispered to Draco as we were walking down the stairs.

"You impress easily, Potter," he replied, but I could see the elation in his eyes that reflected my own.

Blaise bumped shoulders with me, "Aren't you glad you made it into Slytherin?" he said, falling in step with Draco and I.

"Obviously," I smirked. Blake and I fist bumped, snickering. So, dungeons, right?" I asked.

"Yep," Blaise said, "We have Snape as the head of our house."

"Who's that?" I asked. The name was familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had heard it from.

"The really gloomy one in all black, did you see him at the sorting ceremony?" Blaise asked.

"No." I had my eyes on Harry the whole time. "Is he nice?"

Blaise and Draco both burst out laughing. "Snape? Nice?" Draco chuckled, "Maybe to us, but not to anyone else."

I frowned. I was disappointed in myself because the first reaction I had was delight. I was happy that my teacher had favoritism. But then again, it would help my case a lot.

We entered the common room and my words left me. Green adorned the room and a fire crackled in view.

The windows led to murky green water, and god knows what was in there. The head boy turned around to say, "Girls on the left, boys on the right," dismissively, and went up to his dorm.

I walked through the emerald corridors, greeting almost every painting.

Draco and Blaise gave me a strange look, while trailing behind me, "What's the point of that?"

"Making friends," I replied. It could come in useful. Nobody minds the paintings, so they hear everything. After I was done befriending everyone—except for a stubborn old lady— I asked, "Want to go up the astronomy tower?" It had been my dream since I was little.

"Hell yeah," Blaise said.

"If you insist," Draco shrugged.

We walked out of the dungeon and while laughing, Blaise bumped into a Hufflepuff. Who by the looks of it, was a first year, just like us.

"Watch where you're going," Draco growled, glaring at the poor boy.

"Hey," I said, stepping in front of the boy, "Stop it." Turning around, I made a shooing motion with my hand and shot him an encouraging smile, urging him to go on.

"What was that about?" I turned back around and glared at them.

Draco scoffed, "I can't believe you touched that filth," he said to Blaise.

"What's wrong?" I asked exasperated, "Did he do something to you?"

"A scrawny thing like that? Do something to us?" Blaise snickered.

I cleared my throat. Cocky much? Draco sighed, "It's different here, Potter."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"This isn't just us hanging out anymore. This is bigger than that." I knew that Draco wasn't the most open minded person. It showed sometimes when we were talking. But, I had never known it had gone to this extreme.

I raked a hand through my hair, something I do when I'm frustrated. "What are you trying to say, Draco?" I snapped.

"I'm trying to say that we aren't babies anymore! I can't spare my words to coddle your feelings." he barked.

"Well, I'm so sorry that I seem so sensitive to you!" I shouted back.

"These people are below us." he snarled. "And if you can't see that, Potter, you're a traitor to your blood!"

"Is that what you mean I was too sensitive for? Judging people by their blood?" I scoffed. "I'm a traitor now because I don't have bigotry views?"

"You're so great, aren't you?" he spit out. "Poor little Potter, a true visionary."

"You know I didn't ask for this."

"Spare me! You're in Slytherin, for god's sake."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you wanted this all along, didn't you? I bet you were delighted when they took those pictures of you!" he raved.

"Draco-" I said warningly. He was crossing the line.

"Why? Happy that mommy and daddy died so you could be popular?"

"DRACO!"

"Why not ask the Dark Lord to finish off your brother as well? Hell, kill me too! Then, you could have the fame all to yourself."

Blaise tried to step in, "Draco—"

"No, she needs to hear this," he pulled free of Blaise's grasp. "She needs to hear that she's a traitor— just like the Black who killed her pathetic parents. Just like the mangled mutt she lives with!"

I took a step back, his words a harsh blow. "What?" I whispered.

Draco's face fell at my expression, but he recovered quickly. "I—"

"No." I said forcibly, backing away from him. "You need to learn, Malfoy, that there are some things you can't take back."