Hateful Love

Chapter Five

          To my disappointment, it seems Slughorn’s trying to mix the houses up. I watch as many Gryffindors are grudgingly put with other Slytherins—this just isn’t my day.

          And it’s about to get twenty times worse. Slughorn seats me at a currently empty table, then fills it with three Slytherins. And guess what? Malfoy is placed directly next to me.

          Matt looks over at me with sympathy and worry in his eyes, but I’m too angry to notice. What the hell? Are all the teachers secretly out to get me this year? Malfoy will surely get fed up with me eventually, then kill me out of frustration. In fact, I think grimly, I just might end up killing him.

          I’m exaggerating, obviously, but it doesn’t feel that way right now. Glancing at Malfoy’s stiff figure out of the corner of my eye, I have to bite my lip to keep from hurling an insult at him. He’s the last person in this entire school I want to be sitting next to.

          Slughorn finishes seating everyone and stands back up at the front of the room. “Now, you may have noticed that I split up the houses and put different people together than usual,” he smiles down at us. “The teachers of Hogwarts are attempting to integrate the different houses with one another, in the hopes that certain rivalries will be put to an end.”

          Malfoy and his Slytherin friends scoff at the professor’s words, and I silently agree with them. Though I’ll never say so out loud, it’s true. With the Slytherins acting the way they do, house friendships are nearly impossible.

          Slughorn goes on to explain what we’ll be doing today, and I barely pick up on the fact that we’ll be brewing a Death Potion. Fitting, I think dryly. Death is looking pretty good right about now.

          It takes me a moment to realize everyone’s rising from their seats to grab textbooks from the back of the room. I find the best-looking copy possible and carry it back to my seat.

          The professor instructs us to turn to page 133, and then he sends us off. I get up once more to gather ingredients from the side cabinets, wanting to get this over with. Hopefully, Malfoy would just leave me alone like last class.

          Unfortunately, Malfoy is acting way different now that he’s surrounded by Slytherins. He laughs and jokes around with them, throwing an occasional insult my way. I refuse to react to this, and I’m doing pretty well until he calls me an annoying bitch.

          I slam my file down on the table and turn to him, responding furiously, “You know what, Malfoy? Shut the fuck up.”

          His jeering face turns darker, and he slowly stands. “Want to say that again, blood traitor?”

          The short burst of bravery I had previously vanishes. He looks way scarier when he’s towering over me. My mouth feels dry, and I’m opening my mouth to tell him shakily that I can say whatever I like, but Slughorn passes by just in time. Malfoy sits back down after a glare from the professor, shooting me another dirty look.

          My arms feel weak with relief as I pick up the file again, returning to slitting a rat’s tail down the middle. I’m never standing up to Malfoy again, no matter how much the jerk deserves it.

          The rest of class continues uneventfully, now that Malfoy has graciously chosen to ignore me once more. He still talks with the Slytherins at our table, but acts as though I don’t exist. I prefer it this way.

          Finally, Slughorn goes around the room to test all of our potions. Mine fails the inspection miserably, of course; I suck at Potions. Much to my disappointment, Malfoy’s is deemed nearly perfect.

          Harry Potter wins the prize, however (there was a prize?), and I watch as he impatiently accepts the Liquid Luck from Slughorn. I roll my eyes as he attempts to take the vial from Slughorn before the professor is even finished talking. It isn’t like I have anything against Harry, I just think all the fame he gets is a bit uncalled for.

          Anyway, the bell finally rings and I catch up with Matt so we can walk to lunch together. He tells me how bad he feels about my terrible seat, and I have to refrain from telling him how badly I wanted to sit with him instead. I manage to keep quiet, and we make it to the Ravenclaw table before I spill anything.

          I collapse next to Cho with a loud groan, completely ready to complain the entire lunch period. I know Cho and Katherine will actually put up with it. And they do; thank God, I need to vent about the terrible start of this year.

          After lunch, I have double Herbology. Much to my anger, Malfoy is in that class as well. But, Professor Sprout must like me, because she doesn’t force me to work with him. I sit with Julie from our dormitory, which is such a nice change from sitting with Slytherins.

          Transfiguration is even better; Malfoy isn’t in my class. The only downer is that Danny practically forced me to sit with him, and now I’m super paranoid he’s going to give me cat ears when I’m not looking.

          Finally, the first day is over. I flop onto my bed tiredly after dinner and homework, hoping desperately that tomorrow will be better.