𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 ── ʜ.ᴊ.ᴘ

08: 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝗀𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝖿 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗈𝗌.

Chester nodded.

Harry, who was eavesdropping onto the whole conversation, turned away and glared at the girl who sat beside him. "For the whole week? You'll be by his side for the entire fucking week? How come I've never been told about this? And I thought it was only for today!"

"It's not my fault!" Y/n argued. "I thought so too, but Professor Minnie came up to me this morning while I was walking to the Slytherin Common Room to pick Chester up."

"Pick him up? What are you? A mum who's picking up her six years old son from primary school?"

"Shut up and let me explain, you wanker."

"Don't call me a wanker!"

Y/n calmly strolled through the still empty halls of the castle, enjoying the fresh morning air. Sure, she felt bad for leaving Harry back at the dorm but she did what she had to do — besides, she did not want to find out what would happen if she didn't show up.

"Lovewright," said Professor McGonagall as soon as Y/n arrived in front of the entrance to her common room. "There's been a change of plans."

"Change of plans, Professor?" Y/n tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

Professor McGonagall pushed her glasses back up onto the bridge of her nose. " Professor Dumbledore decided to have you accompany Mr Ainsworth for the rest of the first week instead of the first day."

"Oh — well I should get him now and we'll be off, Professor."

But before the password could even slip past her lips, the entrance suddenly opened up, revealing Chester, who was already in his new Slytherin robes.

"Good morning, Professor," he greeted, stepping out of the common room and walking over to stand beside Y/n, "and good morning, Y/n."

McGonagall responded with a nod while Y/n sent him a small smile.

"I hope to see you around soon, Lovewright," said McGonagall, turning away to leave, "and please do make sure Mr Potter gets up early. It's the first day and I wouldn't want him already failing to be a representable Head Boy."

"Yes, Professor," nodded Y/n and with that, she found herself leading Chester around the castle.

Harry pouted when Y/n told him what happened earlier in the morning. "That's not fair!" He whined like a child. Y/n wouldn't be surprised if he started throwing a tantrum in the middle of the room at that very moment. "Why does he get a whole week? When we have new students, they'll normally just be accompanied by someone for just one day."

Y/n shrugged as an answer for the pouting boy. "I don't know — it was Dumbledore's orders."

All of a sudden, their hushed conversation was soon interrupted by the sound of a stool scraping against the stone-cold floor.

Harry glanced over to the seat beside Y/n and found himself glaring at the person who had come over to sit down.

"Professor Slughorn told me I could join any group for this project," said Chester as he sat down on the other side of Y/n. "So I decided to join yours and — er — Harris, is it?"

In an instant, Harry wrapped an arm around Y/n's waist, pulling her closer to him so there was a gap between her and Chester. "My name is actually Harry, you fuc—" Y/n shot him a deathly look as if daring him to continue and see the consequences. Harry sighed. "My name is Harry, not Harris — or whatever you just said."

"My apologies, Harry," said Chester, though Harry swore he could hear a tone of amusement in his voice.

'Oh he thinks it's funny, is that it? Just wait until I decide to shove his stupid face into that boiling cauldron filled with deadly acid over there — then we'll see who'll be laughing.'