I made my way towards Draco's usual compartment and opened the door. Crabbe and Goyle's eyes widened and their mouths slightly fell open. I hid my smile and made my way over to the seat, sitting in between them.
"Hello" I smiled and waved at them both. They returned the smile and waved.
"Who are you?" Goyle asked his eyes were focused on me.
"Are you new?" Crabbe asked smiling at me.
I was about to open my mouth to speak.
"She's Lauren. And no she's not new she's been going here for five years now." Draco answered looking at them both. "How is it you two gits haven't noticed her before?"
"It's okay. I kinda hoped that no one would remember me from last year." I said making them laugh. My dad once told me if you can't laugh at yourself, you can't laugh at anyone, so I had no issues making fun of myself.
"I would remember a pretty girl like you." Goyle smirked, making my blush appear.
"Come off it." Draco scoffed.
Just then Pansy opened the compartment door, I talked to her briefly last year. I wouldn't really call her my friend though.
"Hey Draco." She smiled fiercely at him. It amused me. I had heard that Pansy had quite a liking towards Draco. No matter how many girls Draco would cheat on her with, she'd come back.
Crabbe and Goyle giggled quietly, causing me to smile. Pansy looked over at Crabbe and Goyle and then finally noticed me and made a face.
"Who are you?" She asked, giving me a look and making her way toward Draco, sitting next to him.
"Lauren Carrington." I responded, before Draco could say anything else.
"Lauren? I remember you. You've changed a bit from last year. You were bigger back then." She was giving me an obvious fake smile.
"That's me." I gave her an exaggerated smile and pointed at myself. Draco smiled, looking at me.
"I think she's changed a lot, seeing how I didn't recognize her." Crabbe added.
"Thank you Crabbe. I appreciate that." I said in a joking/sarcastic tone. And he slightly blushed, I smiled.
Crabbe and Goyle asked me questions throughout the ride, still not believing that I wasn't new. Draco tried jumping in on the conversation, but Pansy would quickly end it and focus the attention back on her. I could tell that Pansy was getting annoyed, but I wasn't sure if it was because she felt excluded or threatened or both.
"You're hair is very dark." Crabbe touched a strand of my very curly hair.
"Great observation."
I looked over at Draco, Pansy was basically on top of him, petting his hair and touching his face. He tried to shoo away her hands but it was no use. I snorted at the sight and quickly realized I snorted. Crabbe and Goyle noticed what I laughed at and attempted to hide their laugh. Pansy shot us all a look quickly shutting me up.
"Want to go somewhere more private, Dracy?" She asked smiling at him innocently. Dracy? Cute.
"Actually do you think you could get me water from a cart?" Draco asked, trying to pull himself away.
"Anything for you." She smiled, causing my eyebrows to raise to the ceiling at her comment.
When she left, Draco was able to relax in his seat.
"You have your hands full with that one." I chuckled.
"I'll say." Crabbe added in a very low voice.
"Are we almost there? I don't know how much more of her I can take." He asked looking out the window.
"I think we're about to arrive any minute now." I shot up. "Excuse me."
I got out of the compartment and walked to the loo. When I walked in I saw Hermione washing her hands.
"Hello Lauren." She smiled.
"Hello Hermione. It's nice to see someone still recognizes me. Even if they're a Gryffindor."
"Well you do look very different, but I don't think I'll forget the only Slytherin I've actually had a pleasant conversation with."
"I don't know if I should be proud of that, you know being a Slytherin and all."
She chuckled and made her way out.
"Well, bye."
"Bye."
I walked out of the loo and realized that we had arrived. I made my way out of the train, only to see the familiar red haired wall in front of me.
"It seems you like to be in my way." I joked and looked up at him. He turned around and quickly moved. I'd always thought he was quite cute, but never really saw him up close. I'd only seen the side of him, from where I sat in class.
"Sorry...again." His faced turned a red tint.
I walked past him and the students surrounding. Harry dropped some kind of box and I picked it up and handed it to him. "Thanks" He had an awkward smile on his face and I simply nodded and walked towards the castle entrance.
"You two are acting like you've never seen a girl." Hermione laughed, amused at their interactions.
"Cause we've never seen a girl like that." Ron looked in Lauren's direction.
A Gryffindor boy came up to them and also looked in Lauren's direction.
"Lauren has to be the only reason I want to be in Slytherin." He said, taking a bite of his apple. Ron, Harry, Neville and two other guys stood there staring at her, mesmerized.
"I'll see you inside." Hermione stomped inside, clearly annoyed.
"Great, it's the first day and you've managed to upset Hermione twice." Harry scolded.
"She's getting upset cause she wants to." Ron defended walking to the entrance. Harry and Ron made their way to the Great Hall and took a seat near Hermione.
She looked away from them.
"Oh come on Hermione, it's too early for you to be getting upset." Ron smiled.
"I'm not upset, I'm disgusted that almost all the guys in this school didn't seem to show a care about Lauren until now." She huffed. Ron looked over at Harry who shrugged.
"Who's Lauren." A pair of voices said in unison. Ron rolled his eyes already knowing who it was.
"You're telling me you haven't noticed her?" Harry asked smiling. Lauren walked in and it seemed that all guys turned their attention towards her. Ron could've sworn everyone got quiet.
"That's Lauren." Ron slightly pointed at her.
"Is she new?" George asked, looking at Lauren take a seat, in awe.
"Nope." Harry laughed at their reaction.
"But she's Slytherin?" Fred asked, watching her sit down at the Slytherin table. They had the same look of awe on their faces.
"Yup, which means she's filled with slime and probably eats cat eyes for breakfast." Ron looked at her with disgust.
"She's not like that." Hermione rolled her eyes, speaking up again. Lauren took a seat next to Draco, in front of Crabbe and Goyle.
"Of course." A Gryffindor boy said. "Now that she's pretty, they finally want her in their group."
"She's Slytherin, it's probably her one dream to be part of the prats." Ron scoffed making an even more disgusted face and turning away.
"Does our ickle Ronnikins have a crush." Fred asked elbowing George.
"Absolutely not. She's Slytherin. She's probably worse than Malfoy is."
"Doesn't mean you can't like her." Harry smiled cheekily.
"All Slytherins are disgusting. I stand by what I say. You should agree more than anything mate."
At the Slytherin table a crowd of guys had formed around Lauren.
"Looks like we're not the only ones interested." George added.
Harry and a few other Gryffindors still looked in her direction.
Ron who was turned towards the table, still had the look of disgust on his face. "Wait 'till everyone finds out how rotten she is."
"You weren't saying that when she was tapping your shoulder earlier today." Hermione shot, not looking at him. Ron gave her a disbelieving look.
"Ron, mate, you've already taken your first steps with her." George praised, laughing.
"I'm impressed." Fred smiled, ruffling Ron's hair.
"No. She told me to move cause I was in her way. The rude prat." Ron fixed his hair, patting it down.
"Liar!" Hermione said loudly, slamming her book close. They all gave a startled look. "She asked you nicely and you were so mesmerized by her that it took you a minute to comprehend."
Harry, George, and Fred laughed. Ron looked at her and frowned. They drew their attention away from Ron and looked at the Slytherin table, where a loud laughter came from the people huddled around Lauren. They were laughing at something she had said.
They, themselves, had rallied up a crowd, discussing Lauren.
"Pretty and funny. Our type of girl, huh, Georgie." Fred winked, while elbowing George.
"Maybe she's not so bad." Neville added fidgeting his hands.
"All Slytherins are the same. That's why they're in Slytherin." Ron insisted.
"You didn't think she was so bad the first time you saw her." A Gryffindor said.
"So what I thought she was pretty when I first saw her, that was before we all realized what a terrible person she is for being a slimy Slytherin." Ron started to get a bit frustrated.
"Maybe you shouldn't judge someone before you get to know them."
They turned their heads to the person speaking. It was Lauren. She had her hands behind her back and was standing behind all of them. She didn't look mad, she had a small smile on her face. Then she just walked away back to the Slytherin table. They all looked at her, their eyes locked.
"Ron, mate, I think she might've heard you." Harry said, giving him a worried smile. Ron was pale and his eyes were wide, his full attention was on her.
"She was right next to me." Neville wheezed, looking at where she was standing.
"When did she get here and how did we not hear her?" Fred asked looking confused.
"She's prettier up close." Someone else said.
But Ron just sat there and looked at her. Had she heard him? Did she hear him call her pretty?
"Ron!" Harry snapped his fingers. "Don't worry mate, I don't think she heard much." He slightly grabbed Ron's shoulder. "Ron?"
"I didn't think you'd be one to shut up." Hermione said giving him a smug smile.
"Even if she is pretty, she's still a Slytherin." Ron finally said, leaving the trance.
"Yea but no Slytherin's ever left you speechless like she did." George pinched Ron's cheek.
I walked back over to my table. I had walked over to the Gryffindor table simply out of curiosity. I wanted to know why they were all huddled together. I had no idea when I walked over that they were speaking of me. It made me feel flattered that I was finally someone, worth talking about. But I had heard Ron say something absolutely foul, and I wasn't gonna let him get away with it.
"... what a terrible person she is for being a slimy Slytherin."
I felt proud of myself for speaking up. If everyone at Slytherin had given me a chance, instead of judging me on my appearance, they would've been my friends earlier. And I wasn't about to let someone like Ron Weasley talk about me.
I made my way back over to Draco. This time however, Pansy was sitting on his other side.
"Where'd you go?" Draco asked looking my way when he felt my presence.
"Azkaban." I sat. He laughed.
"Only crazy people go to Azkaban. You don't look too crazy to me." Goyle chuckled.
"You don't call a crazy person crazy."
Sorting began and everyone seemed to get quiet. Dumbledore gave his speech and Crabbe and Goyle mocked him. It amused a few people including Draco and Pansy, but it kinda annoyed me. I was taught to respect all elders regardless of who they were. I was looking at Dumbledore and felt people looking at me. I looked around and realized that people were in fact looking at me. Guys waved at me from there tables and I awkwardly waved back, I was still new to having attention. I didn't want to seem rude so I redirected my attention back to Dumbledore. I looked over at the staff table and saw Professor Snape. He was my favorite professor. Maybe it was because I was Slytherin but his class was always fun to me. So of course, it bothered me when students would disrupt it, even when Draco did it.
Sorting had finally finished and the feast began.
"I don't know if it's because I ate almost nothing this morning or that I missed this food, but the chef deserves a raise." I said, my mouth full of food. Draco looked at me amused.
"I'm surprised you're not bigger than Crabbe with all you're eating." Pansy chuckled. I looked at her and then Crabbe.
"I'm surprised you're nose isn't bigger with all the lies you're telling." I retorted.
Crabbe smiled and I smiled back. Draco and the people around me laughed. "Crabbe is not fat he's just thick boned." I said, my mouth still full of food.
She used to make fun of me over my weight and Crabbe would laugh, but it didn't feel right just letting her get away with making fun of him like that. He was my friend now, regardless of what he did.
"Anyways." I said "Draco I've been meaning to ask." He looked at me in anticipation. I looked at Crabbe and Goyle. And then looked down and played with my food a little. "Do you think that I could...like try out...for ummm quidditch?" I looked at them with the softest eyes I could make.
"You wanna play Quidditch?" Draco asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well yea. But I know that girls don't really play on Slytherin."
"Are you any good?" Goyle asked.
"I must be some good if I'm asking."
They looked at each other. I got nervous. There were two girls currently playing quidditch. Girls in Slytherin weren't really that interested and it was hard for them to get in if they were.
"I say we at least give her a chance." Crabbe said looking at Draco.
"Alright. Lauren you can try out, but we'll only let you play if we think you're any good."
"THANK YOU!" I said really loud and laughed. People looked over at my yelling and I ducked down embarrassed. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle laughed. I couldn't believe they would allow me to try out.
"I can't believe you guys are letting me try out." I said smiling widely.
"Take it as a sort of apology for what we've done...in the past." Draco said. I looked at him and then at Crabbe and Goyle. "It's in the past." I said smiling and chuckled.
It was finally time to head to the dungeon. There were a group of guys walking with me and talking.
"So you're trying out?" Someone said.
"Yep." I said
"It's gonna be cool to have a pretty girl on the team." Someone else said and made the two quidditch girls angry.
"You guys are gonna cause me not have any female friends." I said making them laugh.
It was amazing. I was finally popular. It was like in a cliche teen movie. Except this time I was the girl guys were talking to. We walked into the dungeon and everyone took a seat, not wanting to head to bed so early. I sat on the couch Draco one side and Crabbe and Goyle on the other. There were guys huddled around talking to me.
"Why'd you wanna try out for quidditch?" Draco asked.
"It looks fun and I like flying around on broomstick." I said. "Is that a stupid answer?" I said second guessing myself. Draco giggled and ran his hand through his hair. "No. But it's not just flying on a broomstick." He said.
"I'm aware but still, it just looks like fun." I said
"And if you don't make the team." He asked looking at me sideways.
"Then I'll just never talk to you again." I said. He snorted.
"And I would care?" Draco said with a smug smile
"Hopefully." I said. "I hope my friendship means something to you." I said faking pain in my voice. He laughed really loud, causing Pansy to glare at me.
"Nice going Malfoy now your girlfriends out to get me." I whispered to him.
"She's not my girlfriend." He said smiling.
"If she's not then why is she stomping over here to kill me." I whispered to him. Pansy made her way over and sat next to him. She grabbed his face and kissed him. It looked like he was trying to get her stop but it was no use. Was that supposed to affect me? I do not fancy Draco contrary to her belief.
"I think I'm gonna head to bed." I said getting up.
"Goodnight guys." I said and made my way to the girls dormitory. I put my clothes in the closet and made my bed with the sheets my mom packed.
I was happy that students liked me. I was odd but they found it funny. I was finally being accepted somewhere. I slipped into my bed and drifted to sleep, not crying for the first time.