Melanie Rosen Chamberson: Year 1 (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

Chapter 13 Potions

Chapter 13

Potions

“So you two actually went to the third floor and saw a three headed dog?” an older Slytherin (I think his name is Montague) asked enthralled.

I nodded, grinning smugly. This could not be better. Here, Lenora and I sat in the center of the Slytherin common room, surrounded by our classmates anxious to here about the events of last night. I had never been this popular in my old school. I guess since all those kids were muggles it was difficult for people like me to fit in.

“You know you two should be more careful,” Pansy’s voice interjected. “If another teacher had found you then you could have lost Slytherin several points.”

“Chill out, Pansy,” Lenora argued with an exasperated sigh, though still smirking. “You’re just jealous you missed out on all the fun.”

“I would hardly consider a near death experience fun,” Pansy exclaimed hotheadedly. “Besides I’m the one who cares about our house winning which won’t happen with people like you always looking for trouble.”

Now it was my turn to jump in. “What are we suppose to do, just stay cooped up in the common room because we’re afraid we’ll get in trouble if we don’t.”

Pansy walked up closer to me, a dark look in her eyes, and spoke softly. “I warned you about hanging out with people like her unless you want to be expelled soon.”

I rolled my eyes as Pansy stormed off beckoning for Daphne and Millicent to follow.

“Come on, Melanie,” Draco ordered in an irritated tone. “We are going to be late for Potions. You want to stay on Professor Snape’s good side, don’t you?”

“Alright.” I followed him wondering why he seemed so annoyed.

“Hey, Chamberson,” A second year rushed up to me as she departed the common room. “Is it true you can actually talk to snakes? That’s what I heard.”

“Yeah,” I answered smiling. “I can prove it sometime if you happen to have a snake on you.”

“Cool.” He hustled off to talk to his friends.

“Well, I think now the only person who can outshine your celebrity is Potter,” Draco grumbled as we made our way to the dungeon for class.

“What is your problem?” I demanded, thinking Pansy is not the only jealous one.

“Why did you even go out last night, without me I might add?” Draco demanded. “Are you that desperate for attention? I would have thought talking to snakes would be enough.”

“You were asleep,” I huffed in defense. “Besides, I wasn’t trying to get attention. Lenora and I were just bored so we went out to see if there was something to do.”

“Yeah and look how much you benefitted from it,” Draco grunted.

I sighed. It could not be more obvious that Draco could not stand someone else having the spotlight, just like Dudley used to be when we were friends, but what am I supposed to do about it? He’s just going to have to get over it.

We walked the rest of the way in silence. When we arrived I spotted Potter and his friends sitting on the right side of the room so naturally I followed Draco towards the left. Since the front row filled up after Draco, Crabbed and Goyle sat down, I decided to sit directly behind them with Lenora.

“So what were you and Draco arguing about?” Lenora whispered as we both pulled out our books.

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms. “He thinks I desperate for attention. Oh, and according to him, the only one here more famous than me is Potter. Can you believe he said that?”

Lenora just chuckled, briefly glancing at Potter. “Well, if you want just as much fame then we’ll just have to get you a nice big old scar on your forehead.”

I breathed not sure whether or not to laugh at that. Fortunately, at that moment, Professor Snape suddenly burst in already lecturing about proper behavior for the class. Not one person dared utter a word as his stern voice filled the room. Even Lenora remained quiet.

As he spoke, I half expected him acknowledge that I was there, but he did not even look at me, or Lenora for that matter. Based on him rewarding us points last night, I thought he liked us.He did not seem to want to make eye contact with any of the students as he lectured, except for Draco. I could have sworn I saw Professor Snape offer him a flicker of a smile, but I am not for certain. Even though I could only see the back of Draco’s head, I could tell he was gazing up intently, absorbing every word that came out of Professor Snape’s mouth.

I let out a soft huff. Well, it appeared Draco will probably be Snape’s favorite in no time. At least this should put an end to his jealously. I’ll just have to put of with his boasting instead, the same way I did before with Dudley. I suppose I should be used to this by now.

Lenora, on the other hand, did not seem all that concerned with getting attention or whether or not Snape liked her. She just sat doodling in her notebook, clearly not paying any attention to the lesson.

“Lenora,” I whispered. “What are you doing? Don’t you think you should at least look like you’re listening?”

She whispered slightly more loudly than me, “Who cares. We’re not going to get in trouble. Besides, I don’t need this class. Actually come to think of it, the only class I do need for my future is something we don’t even have here.”

Just as I was about to ask her what that was, I heard the volume of Snape’s voice rise. “Some of you feel confident enough to not pay attention.”

Every part of me froze expect my heart which began to race rapidly. Slowly, I turned my head to the front of the room soon to let out a sigh of relief once I realized Snape was not talking to us. Instead, he was talking to Potter.

I watched in slight awe as I observed Snape tear down Potter, ending with Gryffindor losing five points. I could not believe Lenora and I got away with talking during the lesson. Meanwhile, Potter gets in trouble for doing, well, I’m not sure exactly what he was doing but it could not have been very disruptive.

Lenora smirked as we started his assignment. “See, I told you we wouldn’t get in trouble.”

The assignment turned out to be rather difficult. Neither Lenora nor I could get the potion just as Snape wanted. The only one who seemed to do it just right was, of course, Draco. This resulted in him receiving praise by Snape in front of the rest of the class. Oh, and that Granger girl seemed to make the potion right also, but Snape did not seem to notice.

The class ended with some very ecstatic Slytherins along with some disgruntled Gryffindors.

“I can’t believe that!” a Gryffindor with an Irish accent stammered as we all left the classroom. “Those two Slytherin girls were chatting throughout the entire lecture but they don’t get in trouble, and Potter is taking notes and Snape takes points from our house. It’s not fair!”

Lenora leaned over to me and smirked, “Isn’t it great to be a Slytherin?”

‘Definitely’ was all I could think to say. The situation did not seem all that fair, but I suppose I should not complain about it. In my old school, I spent quite a bit of time in detention. Hopefully things here will be different. So far, everything seems to be looking up.

Draco then caught up to us in a gleeful mood. “Did you see the look on Potter’s face when Snape called him out. I knew he would never give Potter special treatment just because he happens to be famous.”

“Well, you seem a bit more cheerful now,” I commented. “You know I could act all jealous and not talk to you because Snape decided to give you all the attention in class today and completely ignored me.”

Draco did sigh but could not hide his proud grin as he offered me an insincere apology. “Fine. I suppose I was slightly out of line earlier. I should be honored to have a friend who can talk to snakes.”

Despite his tone, I smiled glad our little feud was over. “Great, that’s all I needed to hear.”

For the rest of the day, we continued to poke fun at what happened to Potter in Potions today.