The Mudblood

Chapter 3 : Year 1

The Slytherin common room was a dingy dungeon with leather seating and creepy artifacts. Apparently Slytherin's house color was green, and the House animal was a snake, so there were a lot of green and snakey things as well. Out the windows we could see the murky water of the lake, and occasionally a strange looking fish or creature would swim by.

I shared a dormitory with all of the girls in my year, who happened to be Melody, Astoria and Ashley. There were two bunk beds in the small room, and since Melody and Astoria immediately called bottom bunks, I took the top bunk over Melody. Ashley had somehow disappeared before we got to our room, so we all went to bed without her.

The next morning when we woke up, Ashley still was not present, and neither of the other girls seemed to be bothered by it.

"Not my responsibility," Melody grumbled as she rolled out of bed. Somehow her purple hair still looked flawless, and she barely did anything but put on her school uniform.

"Dido, I have more important things to worry about, like my hair," Astoria agreed as she hopped out of bed. Apparently she had a lot of work to do, because her hair was a knotty mess. "I need to look perfect. Daphne will eat me alive if I don't. Besides, how else will Draco Malfoy notice me if I don't look gorgeous?"

"Malfoy?" I blurted as I jumped off of the top bunk. "Why do you want Malfoy to notice you?"

"Because he's sooo hot!" Astoria sang as she struggled to comb through her hair.

I glanced over at Melody, who was already completely ready, and she just shrugged.

"But he's a bully," I insisted.

"So?" Astoria questioned. "Daphne's a bully and everyone still loves her. Personality doesn't matter, Lainey. All that matters is beauty and blood-status. The two B's."

I blinked a few times, unsure of how to respond to that. "Er—who's Daphne?"

"Her sister, Mudblood. Try to keep up," Melody said dully as she picked up her books. She had a teasing sort of expression on her face, but I still couldn't tell if she was joking with me or not.

Reluctantly, I walked to the Great Hall with the two Slytherin girls. Astoria continued to gush on about how cute Draco Malfoy was, as Melody just read through one of her books during the entire journey. While we walked, she also happened to trip a Hufflepuff boy. He seemed to think it was an accident, but I don't think that she thought it was.

As we stepped into the Great Hall, we were immediately bombarded by Ashley Pucey.

"Miss me?" she questioned eagerly. "Any guesses as to why I didn't show up last night?"

"Don't care," Melody droned, not daring to take her eyes off of her book. She briskly strolled past Ashley and took her seat at the Slytherin table.

"Well—since you're all so curious—I told my brother that I beat him in the sorting contest and he got so mad that he locked me in a closet!" Ashley enthused, bouncing up and down. "Oh, the thrill of winning! I just love to beat my brother!"

I glanced around awkwardly as Astoria picked at her nails.

"Is Draco Malfoy here?" Astoria drawled.

"Oh, yeah, he's sitting at the table," Ashley replied simply. Glancing beyond her, I saw that Draco Malfoy was indeed seated at the Slytherin table, chatting amongst his second year friends with his lofty, supercilious attitude.