"I can't wait to play quidditch! I've been dreaming of it since I was small!" Aurum tittered. "Especially a chaser! I did want to be a seeker, but I'm glad I got on the team."
"Really? I always knew I'd play. I bet I'll be the best seeker in all the United Kingdom by the time I'm a seventh year." Draco smirked, holding his broom to his chest defensively.
"You could very well be. Shame there were no spots for Greg or Vincent on the team. I know they'll cheer us on though," Aurum said. She had been hanging out with Draco more often now since Greg hung out with him. Rarely did she actually get to hold a conversation with him though. Draco didn't offer the time. She got the feeling he at least appreciated her company though due to how much he dogged the other boys in intelligence and eloquence levels.
"Yes, yes. If Goyle can find his way to the stadium without us, that is." Draco rolled his eyes.
"He's not blind, Draco. I'm sure he knows where everything is," Aurum said hotly. "He's smarter than our give him credit for."
"You're right, Creste. He may not be Dr. Jekyll, but he does have his wits about him. I think he'll be fine, then."
"Stop calling me 'Creste', I have a name you know."
"I do know, but I respect your honesty and loyalty so much so that I call you by your last name. It's only formal."
"I understand that, but I do prefer Aurum or Aura."
"Goyle calls you 'Aura', I wouldn't want to take that from him."
"Too special?"
"Yes," Draco said, stopping. "Perhaps Tiffany, then?" He resumed again.
Aurum blushed and shoved Draco. "No, no! That's so embarrassing!"
"Creste it is!" Draco howled with laughter, as did Aurum.
The group of quidditch players soon stopped. Another group approached draped in red and gold. Those were the colors of Gryffindor, their biggest rival. And lo and behold, there was Harry Potter with his friends by his side. Aurum blushed and his behind Draco who held his arm out defensively.
"Malfoy! You prat! What are you doing here?" Harry shouted, practically running towards the stationary blonde.
"I should ask the same of you. Slytherin has the field for practice today." Draco squinted.
"No, Gryffindor has it." Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team announced loudly. He produced the Gryffindor schedule from his pants pocket.
"I'm afraid it must have been a typo because Slytherin has it, Wood." Marcus Flint, captain of the Slytherin quidditch team took the Slytherin schedule from beneath his robes.
As it appeared the schedules both had the same day, Marcus and Oliver made for dueling over it.
"What does it matter who gets to play? I think this is stupid." Hermione commented, crossing her arms.
"Who cares what you think? You filthy little mudblood." Draco sneered.
Hermione and Ronald gasped, extremely taken aback by Draco's language. Aurum took offense to it much more than they, however. She took her hand and slapped the blonde across the face with it. A pink palm was left on his cheek when she was done with him. He was shocked she had the nerve.
"You're my friend, Draco, but I don't appreciate you calling anybody anything that derogatory." Aurum growled, her eyes shining a peculiar yellow tinge.
"Why do you care? It's not like you're..." Draco's eyes widened and he put together the pieces. "You're a mudblood too, aren't you?"
"My father was a squib, and my mother was a muggle-born. Our blood makes no difference." Aurum shook her head. She knew Draco wouldn't have accepted this.
He drew out his wand and stepped away from her. "A dirtblood! You're a dirtblood! I can't believe you lied to me!"
"I never lied, I just never said anything! I didn't think it was important to you." Aurum felt herself tearing up.
"What else haven't you told me?" Draco asked.
"That's it. That's it, I swear!" Aurum cried.
"What were you doing out a week ago, then? In the middle of the night? Tell me, and I might forgive you."
"I'm not ready to tell you that yet." Aurum sobbed, knowing she couldn't patch this up. Now she would never see Greg again if she didn't see Draco.
"Then you're just a stupid, filthy, lying little dirtblood! I never want to see your stupid face again!" Draco screeched, running off in the opposite direction. "A fool! I've been made a fool!" he screamed behind him.
"What a drama queen, honestly." Ronald guffawed. Harry joined him.
Hermione walked over to Aurum who was still sobbing, having just lost friendships. The blonde knelt on the ground and the brunette hovered over her, seeing if there was a way to soothe her.
"Let's just go to Hagrid's and let Slytherin have their field." Ronald suggested to Hermione.
She nodded and turned her attention back to Aurum. "Would you like to come with us?"
Aurum brushed her hair out of wet eyes to look at the trio. Her brown eyes were immediately drawn to the boy she still had a crush on. She quickly looked away for fear of staring. Aurum silently agreed to the concept of going down to the gamekeeper's grounds.
Aurum wasn't surprised to see that he lived in a small cottage. She thought him to be a simple man and she was right. Inside it was very homey and cozy. Hagrid offered the quartet tea and cakes. She couldn't have asked for better at a time like this.
"Hagrid, I don't understand, what is a mudblood? Or a dirtblood. I knew they were bad words when Malfoy said them, but I'm not sure what they refer to." Harry admitted.
"Derogatory terms for muggle-borns and quarterbloods." Ron answered quickly, trying to sound smart.
Hagrid's mouth hung wide open. "He did not. Malfoy said tha'? I jus' can't believe he would have the gall to say tha'."
"Well he did." Hermione asserted. "He's horrible, that one."
"Draco has his moments when he strays from his gossip. We carry good conversations about various books and writings when he isn't ranting about you lot." Aurum corrected. "I sometimes wonder how you got off on the wrong foot, but I can never think to ask."
"He just got angry that I chose Ron over him. He was being an arse over it." Harry shrugged.
"And the Malfoy's have always hated the Weasley's. Even though the Malfoy's were Order spies, we never thought they were on our side." Ron explained. "They hate us so much that they made a word for those who side with muggles. They call us blood traitors."
"I'm very sorry about that." Aurum apologized for Draco. "I would have felt the same way as he though, if you had chosen Ron over me. I think you should always try to walk in someone else's shoes; it's very obvious he doesn't like Greg and Vincent. I like Vincent alright, but Greg has been my childhood friend for forever since we've been neighbors. He's been pushing away though lately because his parents followed the Dark Lord and mine were in the Order. I wish it wasn't so."
"We'll hang out with you." Harry began. "If you dump Draco and that lot."
"I can't. They're my friends. Draco will get over my blood type, you'll see," Aurum said. "Without someone 'intelligent' to hold a conversation with, he'll go crazy."
"He has that Pansy Parkinson. He'll be just fine without you," Hermione said as nicely as she could manage.
Aurum began chortling. The others thought it awkward and sat in silence. She looked around and soon stopped. "You really don't know anything about him, do you?"
"You've only known him for a month at the most." Hermione reasoned.
"Three, actually. It is October, isn't it? Well, Pansy isn't someone he's interested in. She's too clingy. They just broke up and he doesn't like talking to her. She just agrees with everything she says and titters over all his jokes. He prefers someone he can argue with and tell him right from wrong." Aurum informed them.
"I would have never guessed there'd be so much depth to that Malfoy kid." Hagrid commented.
"Maybe if you walked around in his shoes, you'd see," Aurum said to the trio. "He makes for quite the interesting fellow."
"So you don't care that he called you a dirtblood?" Ronald asked, furrowing his brow.
Aurum looked down at her cold half-drunken tea. "Oh yes, it did hurt. I know it's not him saying it though. His parents are very pureblood-centric. I see where he gets it. It may take me a while, months maybe, but I will win him back."
"Why do you want him back?" Harry grimaced.
Aurum blushed. "I like his company. He's very brash. I like having someone to correct and be the opposite to my positivity. Otherwise I think I would find him very boring. Everyday we have an exciting conflict. I'm afraid this one simply went too far if that all makes any sense to you."
The trio just blinked in confusion. Someone positive who wanted to hang around someone so negative? How odd. Perhaps opposites truly did attract.
"It's been nice," Aurum put down her teacup, "but I must be going. I have a meeting with Professor Snape."