Because I Love You (D.M)

Chapter 2: Nerds In Sight

"What did I miss?" I asked suspiciously.

Hannah shook her head of blonde waves and launched into the story.

"Apparently Zach has had this secret that he told Ernest in complete faith he'd take it to his grave. Yet Ernest just spilled the whole thing to me. Zach's never been this embarrassed before. Wait till you hear it!"

"Spill," I pressed.

Hannah was about to open her mouth when Zach jumped up and glared at her.

"Abbott, I swear if you open your mouth and tell Davis, I'll never speak to you or Ernie or her again," he said quietly.

"I don't see how that's a problem," Ernest whispered causing me to giggle.

"Come on Zach, you can tell me anything! What happens between the four of us stays between the four of us," I said sitting up and looking him dead in the eye.

"You wouldn't understand," Zach muttered.

Right at that moment, the train jolted forward and began its way to Hogwarts causing Zach to fall back into his seat. He sighed loudly and glared at the three of us from under his mop of thick blonde hair.

"You've piqued my curiosity, tell me?" I asked him again.

"No, Davis, I told you that you wouldn't understand," he snapped and looked out the window angrily.

I frowned, letting it slide.

About two hours into the ride, a knock on the door snapped us out of our trance-like state. I made to open the compartment door, but it slid open and in stumbled an out of breath fourth year. He scanned our faces and decided Ernie was the one he wanted to talk to.

"Are you Davis Nine?" He asked stepping forward and shoving an envelope under Ernie's nose.

"Nice try, buddy, but she is sitting over there," he said attempting to hide a laugh rising in his throat.

The boy froze and his cheeks flushed as he slowly turned around and handed me the envelope. As I took it from his hand, he spun on his heel and sprinted from the compartment not even bothering to shut the door.

"Well, that was awkward," Hannah said and Ernest burst out laughing for the second time today.

I shook my head as I tore open the letter and removed the paper inside. It was written in flowing handwriting and addressed to me. Frowning, I scanned the contents before handing it to Hannah. She squinted and read it aloud:

"Dear Miss Davis Nine,

I would like to take a moment introduce myself. My name is Professor Horace Slughorn and I will be teaching Potions to sixth year N. E. W. T. students such as yourself.

You must be wondering why you have received this letter from me. It is to my liking that I select esteemed students who only strive to achieve the best to join me this year. I would be very much obliged if you would come to the first train compartment upon reading this to meet with me and the other students I have selected. Lunch will be provided and you'll be back with your friends in no time.

I do hope to see you there. Best of luck this year in Potions.

-Professor Horace Slughorn"

Hannah gave me the letter back and I re-read it to myself.

"Did Dumbledore finally fire Snape or something?" Zach asked scooting closer to us and appearing much happier than before.

"I hope," said Ernie. "Are you going to go to this meeting then?"

I shrugged. "I don't really want to—"

"You're so going!" Hannah said enthusiastically.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"You always go the extra mile in classes Now, you're getting recognized for being super smart," she said smiling.

"Nice, a club for nerds, just for you, Davis!" Zach said winking.

"I told you I'm the Queen of the Nerds," I shot back. "I guess I'll go."

I didn't understand why I was nervous, but I was indeed apprehensive as I made my way to the front of the train. A few other students joined me and before long, a small crowd of people were outside the compartment whispering excitedly. I shuffled my feet and realized I knew no one here. A few other Hufflepuff students were here, but I had never talked to them before so I tried to focus on just breathing deeply.

As everyone squished inside and took a seat, my eyes were greeted with what appeared to be a walrus in green robes smiling at us. I was shoved between a Ravenclaw and one of the unknown Hufflepuff students.

The walrus rubbed its mustache and introduced itself as Professor Slughorn.

"Welcome to the Slug Club," he said as he adjusted his robes and smiled widely.

He talked about how he was very excited to be teaching at Hogwarts for, apparently, the second time and that he was able to organize these parties. Lunch was actually provided and he asked a few students about their families. After the final story had been told, Slughorn bid us a happy remainder of the train ride and shooed us back to our compartments.

Upon arriving back, I discovered the others had already changed into their robes so I did the same. Once I was done, they bombarded me with questions about the afternoon spent with Slughorn and as Zach said, 'other nerds'.

I relayed the whole thing about how he had worked at Hogwarts before and was excited to be back. Also, I told them about the parties he planned to throw through the year.

"Dull and boring," Ernie said through a yawn as we pulled into the Hogsmeade train station.

"There's the reason Ernest Macmillan wasn't invited," I said getting up and opening the compartment door.

He made a face at me and followed Zach into the flood of students exiting the train. We boarded the carriages that were pulled along by nothing and were swept up to the castle to a waiting feast.