The following day, Amelia didn't bother to wait for the Weasley twins. She walked confidently into the Great Hall, offered a curt nod to the two boys, and sat stiffly in between Draco and Larissa.
"What has gotten into you today?" Amelia asked Malfoy, who was staring, open-mouthed, at Harry Potter. "Please don't tell me that you're a Harry Potter fanboy too, I've about killed Ron Weasley three times already."
"Weasley trash." Draco muttered on impulse, not tearing his eyes off the Boy Who Lived.
"I swear Draco Malfoy, if you don't tear your eyes off of that stuck up piece of Harry Potter I'm going to get him to autograph your personalized arse cactus!"
That got him off of his thoughts, looked at Amelia as if she had just sprouted another head. "Bloody hell, Julis! Forget me, what has gotten into you?"
"Those Weasleys!" Amelia voiced her irritation to none other than Draco Malfoy, glaring at the twins who were deep in conversation with Lee Jordan. "I hate them, I hate them, I-"
"What's going on?" Larissa leaned into the conversation. "Is she telling you about her crushes?"
Amelia turned on Larissa, her face bright red. "I can't believe you accused me of having crushes on those wretched twins, playing mind games with me with every turn! They put mousetraps around the door of the Great Hall yesterday and scared me half to death, but when I inspected them it was an illusion, Larissa! An illusion!" She tugged on her short hair. "I fell for a bloody illusion!"
"Calm down." Draco counseled. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Mail!" Terence pointed.
The owls swooped down, delivering letters. Harry Potter didn't get anything since his fancy new Nimbus came in, but Amelia did get an owl. She sent an unseen smirk towards the boy who lived before unwrapping her gift.
"It's brownies and biscuits!" Amelia grinned, looking at Larissa. "From your mum!"
She looked at Draco, prepared to gloat, but faltered. The boy was appearing to be greatly interested in his own food, staring at his turkey like he had never eaten meat before.
"Draco?" Amelia turned to give him her full attention. "What's wrong?"
The moment he looked at her, she realized something: Draco had only once gotten post from an owl, and that was his second day at Hogwarts - his father, congratulating him on achieving Slytherin.
"You can have one, if you like." Amelia offered the box of biscuits.
Larissa gasped. If there was one thing Amelia never did, it was share her food. Especially not with a boy, and even more so one whom she frequently threatened with a cactus.
"Are you okay, Ames?" Larissa leaned closer.
"Tom." Amelia whispered back.
Larissa's mouth formed an "O" shape, and she looked at Amelia sympathetically.
Meanwhile, Draco cautiously reached for a biscuit, and then bit into it, immediately making a satisfactory noise. "This is amazing."
"I know, right?" Amelia rushed over her words, reaching for a biscuit herself. "Compliments of Larissa's mum."
"Eh, chums." Terence leaned over, inviting himself into the conversation. "Party in the common room tonight."
The message spread down the Slytherin table, passing faster than the Hogwarts Express. If Slytherins were evil, at least they threw a party while they were at it.
--
Yeah, I'm ending the chapter here. It's hella short, I'm sorry. I'm also sorry for the four--month absence, but someone recently encouraged me to keep writing this, so I will.