𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 • (𝐝.𝐦.)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

♔

We continued talking about my little run-in with Pansy, laughing and making jokes now which was lifting my spirits immensely. 

"Was anyone else around to see this legendary event go down?" Blaise joked, and I nodded. 

"Just Draco, but he didn't do anything," I said, remembering how speechless Malfoy was. He honestly just kind of stood there. 

I wished I paid more attention to how he acted. 

"Are they together?" I asked. I had seen them walking together a lot, so I wondered if they were official. The two most sour Slytherins: the perfect couple. 

"Pansy's obsessed with Draco, but he's not into her. Told me himself," Blaise informed me, and I nodded, a little bit surprised. 

"Wow. I'm not shocked about Pansy, but Draco doesn't like her? They talk... so much," I recalled, knowing that they spent a lot of time making fun of people in the halls. 

"Well, the Parkinsons and Malfoys are pureblood families. They go way back, but no, Draco hates her," Blaise said. 

"Whatever, they're both royal assholes in my opinion," I said.

Blaise then had a weird look on his face, almost contemplative. He wanted to tell me something, I was sure of it, but I didn't know if I should push it or not. 

When he said nothing, still looking strange, I decided to intervene. 

"Something on your mind?" I asked him, and he seemed to zone back in, looking at me again. 

"I just- I don't know. Pansy's a bitch, there's not a doubt in my mind about that. But Draco? He's an arse, sure, but go easy on him, okay? It might be difficult, but he's got a lot going on at home. If he's a dick to you, just know he doesn't usually mean it," Blaise said, and I stared at him. 

"Oh, okay," I said, a little stunned by what he was telling me.

"Of course, don't bring it up to him. It wasn't my place to say any of that, but I just thought you should know to be a little wary of it, that's all," He said, and I nodded. 

"Sure, I'll keep that in mind," I said, and he smiled lightly at me. 

It was now well after breakfast, but Blaise and I had been sitting at the table talking for quite some time. 

"So, that new teacher? Umbridge? She's the worst," I said, changing the subject. 

"Oh, she's a literal witch. I hate that woman with a passion," Blaise said, and I fully agreed. 

Soon, more and more kids left the Great Hall. "I have Quidditch practice in fifteen minutes, I'll have to get going," He sighed. 

"Oh, alright, good luck," I said, not sure what to do with myself now, but he seemed to pick up on that. 

"Do you want to come with me? I'd actually like to introduce you to a friend of mine, he plays on the Quidditch team too, you might like him," He said slyly, and I looked at him accusingly. 

"Blaise Zabini, what are you up to?" I asked with a playful smile, and he just shrugged, still smirking. 

"I'm not up to anything, but you should definitely tag along. Come on, now," He said, pulling my arm up so I was on my feet now. 

He was practically dragging me along, so I had no choice in the matter. I gathered my things together and went with him to where he was supposed to find this Montague person. 

We walked all the way to the Quidditch fields, where the entire team was practicing, and Blaise steadily pulled me towards it. 

"Blaise! You have to be practicing, shouldn't I just come back later?" I whisper-yelled at him, but he ignored my reasoning. "No, I want you to hang out. You can sit here in the stands. After practice Montague and I have to talk about our Potions assignment anyway, I'm supposed to give him the rest of the ingredients list, and he knows to meet me here," He said. 

"You're the worst, he's going to have no idea who I am, this is so awkward," I complained. 

"Oh, calm down, would you? Don't you know what an introduction is? The whole point is you two don't know each other," Blaise retorted. 

"You're annoying," I huffed, and he rolled his eyes. "Shut up," He joked, before heading down to the locker rooms under the pitch and eventually reemerging in full uniform, flying off the ground. 

After watching the team fly around on their black brooms for a little while longer, Bludgers flying and Quaffles soaring. I wondered what it would be like to be on the Quidditch team here, I played back at Ilvermorny a little bit, but I never really connected much with the team.

When the practice had finally ended and everyone was on the ground again, people started going their separate ways. 

Blaise waved over one of the players after coming back up to the stands where I was, and he looked up and waved back. "Zabini! You're a lifesaver, hold on, I'm coming up," He shouted up to us. 

I looked at all the players walking back into what I assumed were locker rooms, and before he went in, Malfoy turned and caught my eye. 

I looked away immediately, not sure why I now felt so weird looking at him. I knew he had problems at home, I guess, which made things awkward for me. 

Eventually, Montague made his way up the stairs, still in his Quidditch uniform like Blaise, and he and Blaise talked for a minute. I sat a distance away from them, writing something in a journal I had brought with me to busy myself and give them space. 

"Who's this?" The unfamiliar voice asked, and Blaise turned around, a mischievous gleam in his eye. 

"This is Maggie Warrington, my friend. She's new this year," Blaise said, and I stood up as he guided me towards Montague. 

"Warrington?" 

"No relation to Cassius," Blaise confirmed. Montague nodded, understanding what Blaise meant even though I did not. 

He was... incredibly handsome now that I got a closer look at him. 

"Hi, Maggie, I'm Graham Montague," He said, extending his gloved hand to me. 

♔

ooooooh, trouble is brewing! haha get it? bc they had a potions assignment! i'm funny it's okay you can all admit it.