Draconian

Waking Up

“You wake her up!  She’s already annoyed at me!  She called me ‘funny looking’!  Come on, Harry!  Please!  Just this once!  She’ll just snap at you, but she won’t bite!” Ron whispered quite noisily and therefore defeated the purpose of whispering.

“No way, you’re out of your mind!  I hardly even know her!  What happens if she hexes me?” Harry retorted.

“Ugh! Look, I’m not going to kill anyone!  I’m evil, but not that evil! Can’t you guys shut up for a minute?” I woke up, quite angrily if I must say so myself.  I did not like being disturbed during a nap.

“Who even mentioned ‘killing’?  Harry just said ‘hex’.  Are you sure you’re even related to me?  Because I wouldn’t be surprised if you were related to You-Know-Who,” Ron twiddled his thumbs.  He obviously had something more important to say, but he needed my full attention.  I felt a pang of remorse.  Ron was the closest thing I had to family right now, and I was being a complete bitch to him. 

“Sorry!  I feel really bad! I didn’t mean to snap.  You know, I just get a little cranky after a nap.  Did you have something to say?” I inquired, hoping Harry and Ron would take my apology. Fortunately they did, and huge grins were spreading on their faces.  I returned their expressions. 

“Yeah, I was just going to tell you to look outside.  We’re five minutes from Hogwarts.  I thought you might enjoy the scenery,” Ron sheepishly stated.  Ron knew I loved beautiful scenes, as I frequently painted vast oceans or mountains.  I hadn’t even noticed the view when I woke up; I had been too busy relentlessly snapping at Harry and Ron.  The castle seemed magnificent and unworldly with its turrets and piercing towers.  On the periphery, green grass flooded my vision, and I continued to stare for a couple more minutes.  The sky was saturated with millions of stars.  Any night here would be perfect for star-gazing.  I wonder what awaited me inside the colossal castle and began to drift off once again.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Harry dreamily questioned before I could sneak off into another world.

“Yes,” I agreed, feeling as if I were in a trance.

“Ok, since you’re new here, Ron told me to take you to the boats.  He and Hermione have prefect duties, so I’ll assist you. You’ll meet up with Hagrid.  He’s the gamekeeper and the Care for Magical Creatures teacher,” Harry rambled.

“Ok, thanks, Harry,” I blushed a little, not knowing what exactly to say.  I had always been gauche for as long as I could remember, and as a result, I usually kept to myself most of the time. 

 Suddenly, Harry grasped my left hand and urged me to follow him. With my right hand, I gripped onto my suitcase’s handle.  Several people peered at us, and I could feel myself becoming more and more flustered.  I knew Harry was famous long before Ron had told me a couple years ago, and therefore, I had never expected him to be nice.  I thought he’d probably be a snotty, stuck-up little prick, but Ron’s letters had proved me wrong.  After I had heard about his interesting ventures, I had become increasingly interested in Harry.   Well, in other words, I had developed a silly little girl crush. 

Harry proceeded down the train’s steps and onto a cobblestone path.  Right as I descended from the train, I met Draco’s glare.  His eyes trailed down from my eyes to my left hand, which was clutching onto Harry’s right.  I averted my eyes and looked in the other direction, hoping Draco wouldn’t spread rumors about Potter and some ‘Silverlake’ girl.  After pursuing Harry for what seemed like hours, we finally stopped at a lake where several boats were docked.  I looked around for a male professor, but only saw an old, shriveled up lady. 

“Hm.  Professor Grubbly-Plank?  She must be filling in since Hagrid doesn’t seem to be here,” Harry muttered under his breath, and I nodded my head in agreement.  Many younger kids arrived, and I found myself becoming increasingly uneasy.  I wasn’t claustrophobic, but I simply disliked younger kids.  I always perceived an evil aura from them; from pure observation, I had noticed that many young kids think they have faced everything in the world.  Therefore, they often acted bold and naively recklessly.  They were also very oblivious of their own offensive remarks.  However, somehow younger kids admired me; this fact is quite perturbing, but I can’t help but accept it. 

Harry seemed to notice that I had shifted into quiet rumination and faintly coughed in an attempt to bring me back to reality.  My amber flecked eyes searched until they caught his jade-eyed gaze, and he frowned for a moment and then said, “Uh, well, I should probably go back to the carriages.”

“Right,” I looked at my toes in order to avoid his facial expression.

“It’s ok.  Don’t be nervous about the boat ride or the sorting.  You’ll be just fine.  Well, I really have to go, otherwise Snape will have an excuse to give me detention.”

“Haha, hurry, go ahead!” I chuckled and urged him to shoo.  I’d heard rather terrible things about Professor Snape from Ron, and I didn’t want Harry to be punished because of me. 

As Harry faded from my vision, I finally entered the boat two feet away from me.  It was already filled with three other kids, and I reluctantly took a seat to an extremely anxious-looking girl.  During the entire boat ride, the three other kids were eagerly talking about how they were going to be sorted into the different houses. 

“Will we have to go through a series of mazes and perform dangerous spells?  Because my father just taught me the ‘Alohomora’ spell,” one hastily remarked.

“I hope not!  I don’t know any magic at all,” the anxious-looking girl finally spoke.  I felt slightly sorry for her, but I wanted the others to dwell in the misery of not knowing the task.  Of course, Ron had already divulged the truth about the entire sorting mystery.

“I want to be placed in Slytherin.  That’s where all the true purebloods are. Besides I want to be the next Slytherin Prince,” the ‘Alohomora’ boy arrogantly announced.  I scoffed and continued eavesdropping on their pitiful conversation.  Slytherin Prince?  Did that title really exist?  How lame.

Unfortunately for me, the conceited little ‘Alohomora’ boy, or ‘A’ boy, as I’ve decided to dub him, noticed my scoff and turned his attention to me.

“What are you even doing here?  You must be at least 14. Did you get held back at your old school?” ‘A’ boy sniggered.  Uh, hello, I’m not 14!  I just turned 15!  I wanted to wipe the smile off of his face, but I knew I would immediately receive a reputation as ‘The girl that beats up innocent little kids,’ a title which would probably get me nowhere in life.  I knew I had nothing to prove to these little prats, and I turned my cheek the other way, continuing to ogle at the orange-lighted atmosphere surrounding the Hogwarts Castle. 

“Students, we have arrived!  Please follow Professor McGonagall!” Professor Grubbly-Plank informed us.  I wearily followed some of the younger students, and we climbed a knoll before reaching the enormous front doors of the palace.  After eternal minutes of venturing through hall after hall, we finally reached the Great Hall.  Professor McGonagall ushered me to the very end of the line, so I assumed I would be sorted last.  I craved for a smooth, comfortable bed in which I could slumber for hours on end.  I didn’t want to linger at the back on this line for hours!  I pouted slightly, yet I knew I couldn’t do anything but wait. 

I glanced off to my right and I saw Fred and George waving restlessly. 

“We’ve been waving for ages!” Fred mouthed.

“It’s about time you finally noticed” George mimicked.  I laughed and waved back, wondering why their arms weren’t enervated yet.  Fred and George had created a little commotion, and therefore, I witnessed several eyes glued on me, including eyes that didn’t belong to Gryffindors.  I blushed profusely, and faced the other way.   A long year awaited me.  How much more of this would I get?  Being associated with hooligans and famous people was definitely going to ruin my aspiration of living a simple, typical high school life.  As I contemplated several events that may occur during the course of this school year, the line kept on diminishing.  After what had seemed like two hours, I found myself alone in this very line.

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All characters except my OC Ami Silverlake belong to J.K. Rowling.