(I know this scene doesn't take place in January but we are going to pretend it does)
"Yeah you're not dangerous at all are you? You great ugly brute!''
Draco had become jealous of Harry for being able to ride a Hippogriff in our Care of Magical Creatures lesson. He had made a huge mistake trying to approach the Hippogriff without any caution whatsoever. Buckbeak, the Hippogriff, raised itself high in the air and came back down to hit Draco in the arm. He laid in the dirt, whimpering...
"It's killed me! It's killed me!"
Everyone around ran away from the beast but I couldn't help but laugh. I mean yes... my friend did just get knocked down but it was Draco's reaction that was hysterical. He groaned being the drama queen he is. I didn't actually believe he was hurt that bad. All it did was tear his sleeve but who knows.
"Calm down! It's just a scratch!" exclaimed Hagrid with a bit of worry in his voice.
"Hagrid! He needs to be taken to the Hospital Wing immediately!" exclaimed Hermione.
At these words, Hagrid picked up the miserable boy and instantly dismissed the class. I decided I would grab Draco's belongings from Crabbe and lay them in the Hospital Wing with him. And so, I did according to plan, and once I had Draco's bag, I sprinted towards Hagrid.
"You are going to regret this! You and your bloody chicken!" threatened Draco, still whimpering in pain.
"Oh please," I mumbled.
"See there Holly! I could have died!"
"Well Hagrid did warn you about insulting it. Honestly, I doubt you could go one minute without insulting someone. But an insulting an animal! You've gone mad!"
Hagrid didn't look at me but I could tell by his facial expressions that he seemed off. I read his mind very clearly. A Slytherin standing up against Draco Malfoy? Most importantly... the only Slytherin standing up against Draco Malfoy. But while the Slytherins blamed Hagrid, I blamed Draco for his arrogant acts. Someone has to set him straight most days.
"Are you blind? Did you not see how it attacked me!"
"Oh yes I saw very clearly how you walked up to it without bowing."
"My father will hear about this!"
"Pathetic," I mumbled under my breath.
Draco was too busy whining and complaining that he didn't hear those last few words.
Once we had made it to the Hospital Wing, I told Hagrid thank you for carrying Draco since he obviously wasn't going to. Hagrid laid him down in a near by bed and went on about his day. I pulled up a random chair beside Draco's hospital bed and began to tell the nurses the entire story. Well at least I tried. Draco kept interrupting me, making the actual story ten times worse than it actually was. I watched as the two nurses wrapped a bandage around Draco's arm and gave him a sling. Once the nurse had moseyed on, Draco turned his head towards me.
"Does your arm legit hurt?" I questioned.
"Yes! Why are you so skeptical?"
"Ok! Ok! I believe you!"
When in all of reality I didn't necessarily think he was that broken.
"Good grief," I giggled as I ran my fingers through his messy hair, moving any strands of hair from his face.
"What?" asked Draco, smiling.
"Nothing."
"Well," I added," We should be making our way to our Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson."
"Well then...let's go," said Draco, and he got up from his place in the hospital bed.
As we entered the classroom we could see and hear Professor Lupin talking about boggarts. All of the students were standing very quietly, listening to him speak. Draco and I walked over to a place near the wall along with Crabbe and Goyle.
"Now how many can tell me what shape a boggart is?" asked the professor.
"Boggarts are shape shifters. They change shape to whatever the particular person fears the most," explained Hermione," That's what makes them so..."
"So terrifying," interrupted the professor as he walked around the room to observe all of the students," Yes very good."
"Today we will be learning a spell that can change your boggart into something funny. You will picture the boggart as something you are afraid of then call out 'Riddikulus'. Now let's practice that without your wands please."
"Riddikulus," mumbled the class.
"Very good but speak up a bit," commented the professor.
"Riddikulus!" shouts the class.
"This class is ridiculous," murmurs Draco.
"Just hope you don't break another arm in this class."
Draco then replies by nudging me in the arm, informing me to shut up before my arm became broken. All I did was laugh but he did nudge me pretty hard.
"Neville," says Professor Lupin," Why don't you go first?"
Neville was genuinely petrified at the sound of his name being called. He stood there completely still and frozen. Neville gradually walks up to the front of the classroom. In front of him, which I just now noticed, stood an immense, towering cabinet. It had a large mirror on the front of the door and the cabinet was entirely made out of wood.
Professor Lupin asked Neville what his biggest fear was.
"Pro-Professor Sn-Snape," stuttered Neville, petrified of his own voice.
All the students around him giggled, especially Draco and his gang of Slytherins. To be honest, a great deal of students is terrified of Snape, so I don't know why everyone was giggling. Professor Lupin, however, was nice about it and agreed that he does scare many students. I then watched as Professor Lupin whispered something in Neville's ear which made his eyes grow wide. Professor Lupin stood back, and the cabinet opened its doors. Out of the cabinet came Professor Snape, heading directly towards Neville. It looked too real to be a boggart. Neville slowly reaches for his wand and says in an almost clear tone of voice...
'Riddikulus!"
Suddenly, Professor Snape was no longer wearing his original black clothing but was now in something Neville's grandmother would have worn. Neville was no longer tense or nervous but was relieved and laughed along with the rest of the class. The class overflowed with laughter at the sight of Professor Snape in old woman's clothes. All except for Draco, of course. I didn't care though for I found it quite hysterical. Nevertheless, now everyone wanted a turn at the boggart. Professor Lupin told everyone to form a single file line which was difficult as Draco pushed everyone aside and out of his way. Ron was first, and he proposed to be more fearful than Neville had been. I knew exactly what Ron's biggest fear was. Sure enough, the boggart transformed into a gigantic spider. It was a massive spider... larger than the average spider.
Ron pulled out his wand and gulped.
"Riddikulus."
The massive spider was now wearing roller skates on all six feet. The spider struggled to stand up with all the roller skates, except it never did collapse. Next came this girl and her biggest fear was snakes. The snake was ten times larger than Ron's spider but the girl never resembled any signs of fearfulness. Instead, she took out her wand and said the spell. The snake turned into a ginormous jack-in-the-box. The jack-in-the-box looked pretty funny but rather... creepy. But then again it's not everyday you see a huge jack-in-the-box in the middle of your classroom.
Next was Harry and after him would be me! I still couldn't wait to see Harry's biggest fear. He stood there looking excited for a moment until the boggart transformed. I had not known what it was the first time I lay eyes on it. It was terrifying, and the whole room seemed to have gotten darker. The boggart was a hooded figure with large claws and hardly contained a face. It also floated in mid-air. I felt myself and the air around me become completely frigid. Everything felt empty and it was as if I would never be happy again. The figure kept gliding closer, closer, and closer. I couldn't move. I tried to speak or even scream but I was submerged deep in freezing water. Everything was cold. The world kept spinning and spinning aggressively. My mind began to replay tragic moments in my life.
"Voldemort could really use a girl of your sort."
"Never! Not in a million years!"
There were even voices.
"Don't disappoint me, Holly. Alas, Voldemort will be the one you serve."
It was just a boggart, so why would this strange creature affect me this drastically? All I remembered after that was when I felt myself fall into someone's arms. My vision was so blurred, however, that I couldn't make out who it was. Finally, I fainted.
I woke up later on in the Hospital Wing. Gathered around my bed were Harry, Hermione, and Professor Lupin.
"What happened?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"Harry's boggart must have gotten to you. It was, of course, a dementor," replied Professor Lupin.
"I could have sworn I just died back there. Wait? That was a dementor!"
"Indeed it was," replied the professor, handing me a piece of chocolate," It wasn't a real dementor obviously, but this will still help."
I took the chocolate offered to me, then he left the three of us to ourselves.
"How long was I passed out exactly?"
"Not too long," said Harry," Look I'm sorry I didn't intend-"
"Don't be! It wasn't your fault."
''How do you feel?" asked Hermione.
"Not bad at all."
As I sat up in my hospital bed, I thought about everything. From the emptiness to the freezing atmosphere, I remembered it all. It all seemed to have happened too quick but I could never forget that feeling. I couldn't imagine what the real dementor would feel like. But even when it was gone, I could still hear the voices as clear as day. I did my best to push the memory aside.
"Did you guys see who caught me when I fainted?"
No one answered right away. Instead Hermione turned to Harry as if waiting for an answer from him. There was a brief moment before anyone spoke.
"It was me."
That was totally unexpected. Harry was the one who caught me? I mean he was right there when I fainted so I supposed it made sense.
I simply replied with, "Thank you."
I smiled and Harry wore his usual awkward smile.
"We'll be going now," said Hermione, " Hope you get to feeling better. Also-," she leaned in closer to where no one else could hear," I believe someone is waiting at the door for us to leave."
Well that was sort of awkward. Still though, Harry caught me. Just the thought of it made me blush. Wait no! What am I saying! Right when the two were exiting, Draco comes walking in. Hermione was right.
"What on earth did Potter's boggart do to you?" asked Draco with a bit of rage in his voice.
"It wasn't his fault," I answered.
"Bet he did it on purpose."
"I doubt he would ever do such a thing,"
"Then Potter has the audacity to catch you! To touch you!" raged Draco.
"Would you have just rather let me fall?"
"You would have never fainted if it weren't for Potter!" spat Draco loudly.
"He can't control what he's afraid of!" I protested.
"Well I'm about to be his next boggart."
"Just don't do anything extravagant," I replied. I knew I couldn't change his mind.
"You're free to go. Just a boggart.'' I hear a nurse tell me.
"Thank you," I call out to the nurse as I exit with Draco.
Draco and I walked side by side back to the Slytherin common room. He seemed to have been in his own thoughts while looking around the castle... or he was just searching for Harry. Luckily we didn't pass him on the way to the dungeons. I still continued to think about how he caught me from falling onto my face. It was so kind of him to do so. I only felt the feel of his arms for a few seconds before everything blacked out.
I had been out for only a few minutes. My vision was blurred and my thoughts were fuzzy. But I did see something. It was a terrible memory... one I try to forget. However, I didn't want to think about it at that moment.
————————————————————————
As I was walking out of the Great Hall that night, Harry was approaching me. I watched as he fidgeted with his hands as he stepped towards me.
"Hello,'' I said.
"Hi."
What was he thinking? Something... a thought rather... lingered in the back of his mind. I knew there was something on his mind, but he couldn't find the words needed to bring that thought to the surface.
"What is it, Harry?"
What is it your thinking? Then I thought he may be thinking what I was thinking.
Impossible.
So, what if Harry had felt something the way I did? Or had it even been there at all? I would catch him staring at me in class. Sometimes he would smile while other times he looked away quickly as if it never happened. At times he would invite me to sit with him and his friends in the library and I would gladly accept the invite. Other times I would have to run off with Draco and his friends. But I missed the times Harry was gone. His name kept me up at night. Harry. Could it be true or am I too quick to catch feelings?
"Well... I was wondering if you um..."
"Go on," I said, as if I was telling Harry to finish an untold story.
"I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to come to the Astronomy Tower with me. Midnight."
He had said it so quick that he gave me little time to comprehend his request. The Astronomy Tower? Tonight? Alone! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My mind whirled and I had an odd feeling in my stomach.
"Sure. I can meet you there."
I said it as casually as I could, however, nothing about this was casual. Could it be? Does he really feel that same feeling that I feel every time his eyes meet mine? I have thought about it for a while but of course I could never pull myself together to come face to face with this new feeling of emotion. I asked myself over and over again. What is this? Love? I had never known love. The word love had meant nothing to my parents. Love only meant weakness in my world. Then I met Harry, and something seemed to change the way I saw things.
"Great! Great... I'll see you there." he replied.
Harry spun around happily towards Ron, who was on the other side of the corridor. But then I thought maybe it wouldn't be just us. It would probably be a friendly Gryffindor hangout. Still, I couldn't wait. As long as Harry was there. But then I pondered upon this new emotion. Could it be dangerous? Risky? I had never felt it before, so it was all new to me. But I couldn't try to forget about it now. It floated in the air all around me. It was so overwhelming. I couldn't wait.
A few words from the writer: so when I was writing this I was completely new to writing and I now realize I might have been rushing the story a bit. I promise to not rush the story anymore and give a bit more detail. Please stay with me. After all this is my first story book.
Also sorry if everything isn't completely accurate.