🖇·˚ ༘ ┊͙[ chapter three ] ! ˊˎ

╰─▸ lessons, exposure, and a new seating plan

     THE SORTING CEREMONY ENDED NOT LONG after that, and after a much-needed first-night feast the three of us made a brisk exit to the dungeons to finally get the chance to crash out.

     "Pureblood," I said to the large stone wall, and at the sound of the correct password, it began sliding open, to reveal the underwater, Slytherin common room. It was dark and dimly lit by green lanterns and had a large granite fireplace, surrounded by leather sofas with creatures that inhabited the Black Lake gliding past the windows. It was quiet and it seemed we had been quicker to leave than we thought.

     We made our way to our dormitory; the three of us bunked together of course and slumped onto our four poster beds. As soon as my skin touched the freshly cleaned sheets, I could already feel myself falling asleep. I would have done it if Ava wasn't so nosy.

     "So, y/n/n, what's going on with you and Mr Diggory?" she asked, slyly, dragging out the vowels.

     I rolled my eyes and leaned over to open the drawer of my bedside table, where I pulled out my stash of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, "Okay, the name? Really? And absolutely nothing, so drop it now would you?"

     "Calm down, we're just asking. It's not like you to associate with Hufflepuffs," she replied.

     "I'm not, that's why. I just bumped into him on the train."

     "And what did you do in return exactly?" Spencer asked. "He was staring at you the whole of the ceremony! And he looked kind of, pissed?"

     "Okay, first off, he wasn't. And it was more like glaring." I replied, "all I did was not apologise, because it wasn't my place to." I laid back on my pillow, placing a bean into my mouth.

     "And why is that?" Ava asked laughing.

     "Cause he walked into me. He frankly didn't deserve one."

     "He seems to think he did."

     I rolled my eyes, and threw back the duvet, "Goodnight ladies."

     And soon, I was drifting off to sleep. A much-awaited sleep.

' ੈ˚ ❃ 

     I WOKE ABRUPTLY to the deafening sounds of someone yelling directly at me. Why was it this year that I was constantly being woken up when I am actually peaceful?

     "Come on y/n, wake up!" Spencer shouted.

     "Alright, alright. Merlin, what time is it?" I said rubbing my eye and sitting up.

    "9:45!" They both yelled back.

     "WHAT?! That means we've missed breakfast and first period!" I jumped up and scrambled around for my robes. I had never gotten ready so fast in my life. Although the rush quickly died down when I turned around to see the two girls standing there, laughing and I stopped immediately, "Oh for fuck sake, what did you do?"

     "Set your clock two hours late," Ava replied, still finding it all hysterical.

     "Har har," I replied, the sarcasm evident in my voice. I threw a pillow at the two of them and hard, "Well now we're gonna be early for breakfast."

     "What's the problem y/n/n?"

     "Do not call me that," I replied, getting sick of the nickname they so kindly call me.

     "Aw, you love it really." Ava wined.

' ੈ˚ ❃  

     THE GREAT HALL WAS particularly empty. The four tables were almost completely barren, with only a few students dotted around.

     "Why didn't we just stay in the common room, there is literally no one at the Slytherin table," Ava asked.

     "Oh so now you agree with me. I told you we'd be complete loners." I replied.

     Not long before the two of us left the comfort of our dorm room, I warned them that no one would be at breakfast this early. Or at least no one we would want to sit with.

     I stared at the Serpent table and it was honestly sad to look at; there were one or two first years sitting towards the front of the hall, all of which were on their own. But that was about it, "oh look, we can go and befriend some eleven-year-olds, how fun." I said sarcastically.

     Spencer had had quite enough of Ava and I complaining and grabbed the two of our robes and shoved us down onto the bench at our table.

     "We could have done that ourselves you know?" I said, readjusting my robes, which had been scrunched up by Spencer's grasp.

      I grabbed some toast from the middle, and butter from the other side and began buttering the bread, when Spencer, once again, began gossiping.

      "So, Ava, you and Marcus huh?" she too dragged out her vowel sound.

     "Oh shush," she said cheekily. The grin on her face suggested she did not want Spencer to 'shush' but actually want to gossip about her new 'fling', "he is super cute though, don't you think?"

     I grimaced at the thought, "we are talking about the same Marcus Flint, right Ava? Because no, not at all. And don't go distracting him Av, I need him to be focused for Quidditch this year." I said.

     "You and your game, honestly y/n. I think Diggory would be a great distraction for you." Ava suggested, causing Spencer to let out a little chuckle.

     "I asked you to drop the whole 'Diggory' thing. And I'm not good at anything else." I shrugged.

     "You're good at potions," Spencer said whilst eating a spoonful of cereal.

     "Only because Snape likes me." I pointed out, taking another bite of my toast. "And can't you guys gossip about anything other than guys? It's becoming mentally draining."

     "Nope," they said in unison, a big smile on their faces as they looked at each other. I just rolled my eyes.

     "Great. This year is gonna be great." I put down my crusts and got up. "Well, in that case, I'm heading to class." I picked up my bags and as I left, I could still hear the girls gossiping about Marcus Flint's arse.

' ੈ˚ ❃ 

     "EARLY ARE WE, MISS Y/N? That's a first." Professor Snape droned as soon as I stepped into the potions classroom. It too was down in the dungeons and its scent made that clear: it was a mixture of ageing broths and moulding cobblestone.

     I nodded in reply, with a sort of sheepish smile.

     "Take a seat next to Mr Diggory," he instructed and I looked up to see the same Hufflepuff sat fiddling with feathers on his quill. He was the only one sitting on the front row, and he looked up at the sound of his name.

     My mouth fell slightly ajar at the thought of being stuck with him all year and I tried to come up with the best thing to say in protest, "I think I'll just go and sit where I normally do sir."

     "That you won't. I have devised a new seating plan, to ensure no messing about in class."

     "But sir, my grades are fine and I always sit-"

     "Sit Miss y/l/n." he interrupted, sternly; his decision apparently final. I rolled my eyes and huffed as I slumped down into my new designated seat and crossed my arms.

     "I didn't think sitting next to me was that much of a burden." he leant in and whispered to me. I felt my body tense up slightly and all the hairs on my arms stand up.

     I leant away in the opposite direction and glared at him, ignoring anything he said from now on. "You know it's rude to ignore someone." He tried. Once again, I didn't reply but began tapping my foot on the floor. "It's also rude to walk into someone and not ap-"

     "You walked into me." I gave in and said sternly in hopes he would shut up.

     "I'm not too sure about that, but I guess we were both at fault."

     There was a moment's pause, where I thought about what was the best thing to say. "You talk too much."

     "Well, it might come across that way only because you are ignoring me. You do know how a conversation works, ri-"

     "Look I don't particularly want to sit here and by the signs, I'm giving you, I'm not sure why you are still talking to me, so if you cared to shut up, that would be great." I had turned around to face him and gave him a sarcastic smile before turning back around to face the front.

     "You talk fast."

     "And you're incredibly irritating," I said emotionless, yet I didn't look at him.

     "I didn't think Slytherins cared much to show up early for class."

     "Well that's a very broad assumption now isn't it, Diggory?"

     "You know my name?" he smiled, almost as if he had accomplished something.

     "Don't be too pleased with yourself, love. If you had cared to notice, Snape referred to you two minutes ago."

     "Yes, he did, but you already knew my name before didn't you y/l/n?" He said, almost playfully.

     "And so what if I did, Cedric?" I looked at him as I said his name; his beautiful eyes staring back into mine.

     "Well, I don't think we've properly met, y/n," he offered his hand. I ignored it and rested my head on my own.

     He left his hand out for about three seconds more, before shaking his head with a smirk and pulling it away.

     A few minutes went by and everyone started entering the room, after what seemed like an eternity. Let's just hope not all lessons are like this. I looked up to see Ava and Spencer walk in and as they did I mouthed "help me". They giggled to each other and winked at me as they took their assigned seats, which luckily for them was at the back and next to one another.

' ੈ˚ ❃ 

     I WAS SCRIBBLING DOWN on some parchment the answers to the questions on the board when Diggory nudged me, "Hey, what's the answer for question six?" he whispered and scoffed quietly.

     "You ruined it. You know that had been approximately," I checked my watch, "seventeen minutes where you had managed to cease talking to me?" he chuckled to himself and I paused, before eventually speaking again, "The answer is Wolfsbane."

     "Thanks," he said. I smiled at him sarcastically. "You know, you should try and not be so sarcastic all the time."

     I went to open my mouth to reply, but Snape got there first. "Mr Diggory and Miss y/l/n, could you two refrain from flirting until outside my classroom?" he said, staring at the two of us. I huffed and rolled my eyes. The rest of the class laughed hysterically.

     "As if," I muttered to myself.

     "What was that, Miss y/l/n?" The Professor asked.

     I turned and looked directly at Diggory, just to make sure he knew who I was talking to, "I said as if," and smiled at him, once again sarcastically. He laughed to himself and put his hands up in defence. The rest of the class was clearly very amused.