I
DRACO
"Good evening everybody and welcome back to Hogwarts." Dumbledore began his welcome speech as usual.
Fourth year in a row.
"Welcome back." "I hope your summer was great." "Good luck in the new year." And blah blah blah. Boring and un informative. I don't even want to listen.
"... and let me introduce you to the new professor of defense against the dark arts. Alastor Moody."
I looked at the professor's direction. What a strange man. He looked a little mad.
Or maybe he was just pretending he was to scare the kids.
Chuckles rippled through the hall.
"What's wrong with him? Why does he look like this?" Crabbe could barely contain his laughter.
I turned my head to the left to look at him, but my gaze stopped on the girl. She was sitting across from us, a few people away. I'd never seen her before. But she didn't look like first year.
Her eyes were downcast and she was picking at the table with her fingernail.
Dumbledore was going on and on about some stuff. Something about a Triwizard tournament, I think.
I was still looking at that girl and I couldn't figure out who she was.
"Hey, do you know her?" I asked the guys who was sitting next to me.
They all turned to look at her as if they had just noticed her presence.
She seemed to sense several eyes staring at her and looked up from the table. And that was definitely the first time I've seen her.
And she didn't look friendly. She furrowed her brows and looked at us with a mute question, raising an eyebrow.
Her eyes were pale blue, almost white, like a frozen lake, and they were piercing to the point of goosebumps.
"And another news," still Dumbledore...
"Mostly for Slytherin." I looked at the professor.
"A new student in the fourth year," he continued and I looked back at the stranger girl. She looked at me steadily. What's wrong with her?
"Kindly meet Violet Sombrey." Everyone looked at her.
She calmly looked around the entire hall and only straightened her hair. Her long, shiny, black hair.
I don't think the people at the other tables could even see her. It was quiet for a while. Maybe people expected her to stand up or say something. But when that didn't happen, Dumbledore finally called for everyone to start dinner.
"She's a little strange, don't you think?" Crabbe whispered in my ear. I looked back at Miss Icy Eyes. She ran her finger over her glass and didn't seem to touch her food.
"Yes, she is."
VIOLET
I don't feel particularly comfortable there. Among such a huge number of people. Especially when everyone started gawking at me. I even lost my appetite.
I could hear some of the students at this table whispering. Probably about me. It annoyed me so much. How tactless they were.
I looked up to see people from other houses and noticed Dumbledore walking towards our table.
Many of the students had already started to leave and I got up from the table but the headmaster came right up to me.
"Violet, is everything all right?" He was smiling such a sickly sweet smile and he looked so softly into my eyes. It's too much.
I focused on the lines at the corners of his eyes and I felt everyone was looking at me again.
"Yes, Professor, it's all right, thanks." I smiled back at him, trying to look grateful.
"We've been waiting for you to finally take your place here." He spread his hands and looked around the hall.
Oh, really, Mister?
"I'm glad I'm here." I could only say it and tried to smile as naturally as I could.
He nodded slightly several times.
"I'll ask someone from your course to help you to adapt here." He looked at the remaining students at the table, pretending to think.
"Draco, would it be difficult for you to help the girl?" He fixed his gaze on a bunch of guys who had been staring at me unceremoniously a while ago.
Great. And which of them the hell is Draco?
After a few seconds the blond one spoke up.
"Why me?" He didn't look happy. His eyes were moving from headmaster to me and I couldn't help but smile.
Come on, boy, help the poor girl.
DRACO
I don't want.
I looked at the girl. She was smiling at me? It looked like she was daring me.
I looked back at the Professor and smiled too.
"Fine. I'll help."
She rolled her eyes and turned away.
"Take that, Icy Eyes." I thought and got up from the table.
"All right then, good night, children and good luck, Violet!" The Professor said and went back to his seat.
"Let's go." I walked out of the hall, expecting her to catch up with me, but when I turned back I saw she was walking very slowly and was looking at everything around her like she was in somewhere like museum.
So she decided to start annoying me?
I took a deep breath and waited.
"Haven't you ever seen concrete walls?" I asked when she finally got to me.
"I thought it was a special kind of concrete, right?" She grinned and walked past me.
"What?" I caught up with her in a few meters and she just laughed.
What a strange sense of humor.
"So, you're Sombrey, right? I've never heard that before. Are you pureblood?"
Silence.
"Why did you come now instead of three years ago?"
Silence.
"I'm Draco Malfoy, by the way."
"I remember that." She finally spoke up.
"So... I haven't even seen you put on a sorting hat. Why are you..."
"Look, blondie boy," she interrupted and turned to face me, "you ask too many questions. None of this is your business. Just take me where we need to go and tell me about what's around us."
She spoke calmly but firmly, and at the end of her sentence she raised her slender finger and twirled it in the air.
Okay, she's the girl with temper.
"I'm not your tour guide, mystery girl." I continued on my way.
"But you agreed to help me!"
I felt her robe touch my arm as she ran to me.
"I don't know anything about this place. I might get lost."
I didn't turn to look at her, but I knew she was joking around. Such a weirdo.
"Look, I have no idea where you came from or what the rules were there, but you have to be in bed here at this time."
We entered the common room and I headed for the stairs leading to the dorm.
"Gosh, are you a bore?"
I heard her voice from below and turned around. She was facing me, her arm around her shoulders. It's colder here than up there.
She'll get used to it.
"And do you like being punished?"
Her face immediately became serious and she looked away.
"Go to the dorm up these stairs. Good night." I continued up the stairs, leaving her alone.
"If she's not going to tell me about herself, I'll find out for myself." That's all I thought about.
But why?
