Hogwarts: The Adventure Begins - BOOK 1 (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

8: Christmas

Nico really wasn't very happy with me becoming friends with a Slytherin. He was avoiding me and it really upset me, yet I wasn't going to be the one to give in first. He had spoken to Josh on the train so I didn't understand why the house he was in changed anything! He was a Muggle-born as well, what did he know about house rivalries?

For Transfiguration, we were sitting together but he asked Professor McGonagall to swap seats.

Professor McGonagall looked at us strangely and then moved him next to Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, who was Harry's best friend, got put next to me. I muttered names for Nico under my breath - what an absolute child! He seriously needed to grow up, I was allowed to be friends with other people, he wasn't the only person allowed in my life.

'What has happened to you and Nico?' he asked me, staring at Nico from the corner of his eye. He seemed confused and I understood why - Nico and I were previously inseparable.

'He's annoyed at me because I've made friends with a Slytherin!' I replied, sighing. I started angrily scribbling down what was on the board, my quill on the brink of snapping. Nico was making me angrier and angrier because of his treatment of me - I hadn't done anything wrong!

'How could you make friends with a Slytherin?' he asked, aghast.

'He's actually really nice!' I said, shaking my head in amusement. He needed to open his mind a bit, 'It's Josh Freeman!'

Ron seemed to understand, 'I've heard all the Slytherins saying he isn't fit to be one of them. They don't seem to talk to him much, they act as though he's beneath them. Bunch of tossers, really. Why can't he speak to people outside his house?'

'I thought it was strange he was a Slytherin,' I said and Ron nodded, 'He seems way too nice!'

'Yeah, and he actually likes Harry!' Ron said, 'All the other Slytherin's despise him!'

'You would think they would be thankful!' I said, 'I mean, he saved us from an age of darkness!'

We chatted all through class, although we still got our work done. Unsurprisingly, it was the first time Ron had succeeded in doing that. I teased him about it when McGonagall made a comment, telling him he should consider sitting next to me in all his classes. He jabbed me with his wand and I acted hurt, but stuck my tongue out at him when he just laughed.

'So... With your dad being in Azkaban and all that,' Ron said, 'Who do you live with?'

'Well, I live with his best friend, Remus Lupin. He's my godfather,' I said.

'Oh! So you do live with a wizard!' he said and I nodded, smiling, 'I wasn't sure, I thought you might have been with Muggles. You seemed to drop off the face of the earth, just like Harry. Everyone wanted to know what would happen to you both, but you just disappeared.'

'Well, I'll see you around!' he as we left the class. He seemed really nice!

A couple of days later it was Christmas. I was really looking forward to seeing Remus again.

It was time to get on the train to Platform 9 3/4 and as I looked out the window I saw Nico. He was just getting on. I really wanted to apologise, but then, what did I need to apologise for? He was the one in the wrong. I decided I didn't care if he didn't come anywhere near me.

I was looking through the Daily Prophet when Nico appeared at the door. He didn't ask if he could sit there or anything, he just sat down and looked at me. I pretended not to notice him and continued reading. It was petty but so was he. Wow, the article on how Gilderoy Lockhart had gripped his fan's hearts yet again with a new tale was so captivating that I couldn't focus on anything else! Not...