THE TWO Slytherins walked to the Great Hall, not speaking to each other. Laura was still entranced by the small details of the hallways. That was one different thing she enjoyed about Hogwarts; it was a whole new experience to roam the castle and find new things.

It was a pretty uneventful walk until Draco and Laura's hands brushed against each other. They both went red.

Laura kept her eyes up, looking at the ceiling. Meanwhile, Draco took the situation into his own hands (literally), grabbing Laura's hand and interlacing their fingers.

Laura tensed up at this sudden movement, letting go of Draco's hand.

"I'm sorry," Draco said quickly.

Laura smiled, putting her hand out again.

"If you're scared of these hallways," she teased, "I guess I can hold your hand till we get to the Great Hall."

Draco laughed, interlacing their hands again.

"Scared?" he asked. "Why would I be scared? You must be the scared one, Pickering."

"I dunno, Malfoy," Laura said. "You seem like the sheltered type that's terrified of everything."

"Well, I can assure you I'm not," Draco said, looking down at her.

"We'll see if that's right sooner or later," Laura said, letting go of his hand as they reached the Great Hall.

They made their way to the Slytherin table, sitting on opposite sides; Laura sat next to Pansy, and Draco sat next to Blaise.

"Was that you two I saw holding hands?" Pansy asked almost immediately as they sat down.

Laura laughed, shaking her head as she filled her plate.

"No, why would I hold hands with Blondie?" she asked. "Besides, even if that were to happen, how would you be able to tell?"

Blaise looked between Draco and Laura. The expression on his face was one of trying to figure out if Laura was kidding.

"Laura, your hair is bright blue at the tips," he pointed out, "and Draco here has platinum blond hair."

"Whatever, let's just eat," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like I would ever want to hold Pickering's hand."

🪐➶.✧༄

Laura was woken up by the sound of singing.

Her other roommates (except Pansy) were in their little girl group.

It consisted of Daphne Greengrass, Natalie Hilton, and Alana Kay.

Laura yawned, getting out of bed. She wasn't used to roommates, as back at Ilvermorny, all the students had their own room. Laura sat there, waking up, wishing she had her old Horned Serpent room.

Laura got up, going to get ready in the bathroom, getting ready for the Saturday awaiting her. When she finished, she went to the common room, where she saw Draco sitting on one of the couches, giving her a brilliant idea.

She snuck over, covering his eyes, "Guess who."

Draco laughed.

"Hi, Larua."

"Wrong, tsk tsk," Laura said, shaking her head as she sat on the couch. "I am Merlin himself."

Draco slowly put his arm around Laura, pulling her towards him.

Laura gingerly moved his arm, moving to one of the armchairs.

"Merlin would not let that fly," she said, sticking her tongue out.

"How would you know?" he asked, placing his bookmark on the page he was on.

"Well, I may not know him personally," Laura said, "but I have a painting of him at my family's summer house. He shares all of the drama and tea."

Draco raised an eyebrow. He still wasn't sure when Laura was joking or not. Sometimes, he wasn't sure what she was going on about.

That didn't stop the two of them chatting. They talked until Blaise and Pansy joined them. The four of them headed for the Great Hall for breakfast.

The fourth-year students were buzzing about finally attending their Defense Against the Dark Arts class that day. All except Laura and Draco. After their run-in with Professor Moody, neither was particularly excited about attending his class.

Throughout every class, at least one person was talking about how excited they were for the class. Laura always voiced her opinion of dislike at least once in every class.

"Why aren't you two excited?" Pansy asked as they ate lunch, having heard Laura and Draco complain about going with each other all morning. Pansy was a part of the group deciding if she wanted to wait outside of Moody's class or not.

"Don't get me wrong," Laura said, "Defense Against the Dark Arts is one of my favorite classes, but Professor Moody just seems... how do I say this... out of it,"

"Pansy, you do know you let Laura drag all of us here," Blaise said, grabbing a sandwich. "You can go stand with the Gryffindors if you'd like to. That includes standing with Lavender Brown."

Pansy froze and then started to fill her plate with food.

"Yeah, I think I'll stay here," Pansy said. "I don't want to stand with the Gryffindors."

"We can go a few minutes early if you want, Pansy," Laura said with a small smile.

"I love you so much, Laura," Pansy grinned, hugging Laura.

So, the four of them found themselves outside Professor Moody's classroom with everyone else in their class, waiting for class to start. Once it rang, they all made their way into the classroom hastily. Draco managed to snag the seat next to Laura.

They all sat quietly, waiting for Professor Moody. Everyone had their books sitting on their desk, eagerly waiting for the start of the lesson.

"You can put those away," Moody said, walking in. "Those books. You don't need them."

He then took the role as everyone quickly put their textbooks away, some more eager than others, like Laura and Draco, who still didn't want to be there.

"Laura Pikering?" he called out.

"Pickering," Laura corrected, cringing at the miss pronunciation. It wasn't something she usually had to deal with. People knew her family name back at Ilvermorny. But what confused her was that he had said it correctly the night before.

"Thank you for correcting me," Professor Moody said, carrying on.

Soon after he finished taking the roll, he wasted no time, jumping into talking about the unforgivable curses. Laura tensed up a bit at the mention of the forbidden curses. She wasn't confident that they should be talking about them in their fourth year.

Moody cleared her concerns, blatantly stating he wasn't supposed to show the curses until their sixth year. That didn't stop Moody, as he went into demonstrating the curses using spiders.

Laura looked away. She wasn't fond of the spiders, but she still didn't like to see them suffer under the unforgivable curses. Laura didn't have the fondest memories surrounding the unforgivable curses either.

She sat writing on the desk until Moody used the Imperius Curse to get one of the spiders to do a poor tap routine. That got her to speak up about it. She wasn't scared of Professor Moody. One of her past defense teachers at Ilvermorny was ten times scarier.

"I would stop interrupting my class if I were you, Pickering," Professor Moody said, a threatening look on his face.

"I would stop making students uncomfortable if I were you," Laura said. She watched as Moody raised his wand. "Don't even try using the Imperius Curse on me. It's not going to work. I'll save you the shock."

The class looked between Laura and Professor Moody, wanting answers.

Laura stood up, grabbing all of her things.

"I'll leave to stop interrupting your class," Laura said. A fake smile formed on her face. "Have fun teaching."

Laura grabbed her bag and left the classroom.

Laura didn't make it very far down the hall when someone grabbed the sleeve of her robes. She turned around to see Draco standing there, who looked concerned.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Laura smiled. "It's honestly not the weirdest thing I've been through. I'm just glad to be out of that classroom. It was becoming overwhelming."

"Well, since we're both out of class," Draco said. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Sure," Laura shrugged, not sure where she was going.

They went to the Great Hall, waiting for Blaise and Pansy to finish class. After class finished, Blaise and Pansy found Laura and Draco, telling them what had happened after they left.

"He performed the killing curse on the spider," Pansy said, explaining what had happened, "and the spider just... died."

Despite Laura's unsavory feelings towards the killing curse, she enjoyed listening to Pansy talk.

"Oi, you four went to Defense Against the Dark Arts today?" Jordan Young said, walking up behind Blaise, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Pansy and I were there the whole time," Blaise said, looking back at Jordan. "Draco and Laura, on the other hand..."

A giant smirk formed on Jordan's face, looking between Draco and Laura.

"You two skipped Mad-Eye Moody's class to be together, eh?" he asked.

"He kicked me out," Laura said bluntly. She was not in the mood to play into Jordan's teasing. "I was interrupting too much, so I left. Malfoy followed."

"It's the first week of school, Pickering. You have no idea where anything is," Draco shot back.

"Ah, young love," Jordan said with a laugh, walking to where his friends sat on the other end of the table.

"Sometimes I can't stand Jordan," Draco said, rolling his eyes as Jordan left.

"I like Jordan," Laura shrugged. "He's funny, you can't handle a little banter?"

"Ooo," Blaise said with a laugh. He put his hand on Draco's shoulder, "Draco's always been a little sensitive. Jordan likes to tease Draco a bit more because of it."

Laura laughed as Draco grumbled something about not being that sensitive.

Soon after eating, Laura stood up, placing her napkin on her plate.

"I'm going to the library," she said, adjusting her robes. "I'll see you guys later in the common room."

Laura thankfully didn't get lost trying to get to the library. While there, she did some homework she had been assigned for about half an hour. After that, she decided to take a break and write a letter to her parents and her cousin, Nick.

She pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill, trying to figure out what to write.

Mom and Dad,

Sorry for not writing sooner! I could lie and say I've been busy, but you know me. I've just forgotten about it until now. I promise I miss you guys so much!

It's been pretty good at Hogwarts so far. I'm a Slytherin! I know it has a bad reputation, but I've enjoyed it. So far, people here have been mostly kind.

There's no quidditch cup this year... Instead, they're holding the Triwizard tournament, which is less fun.

Laura went on and recapped what had happened so far and the new friends she had made. She also made sure to include that Harry was doing well, as she knew they were going to worry.

I miss you guys, but I know you don't want me home causing trouble. Because of that, I'll keep causing trouble for Snape here.

Love you so much!

Your favorite daughter,

Laura

Laura signed the letter, adding a small smiley face after her name. She smiled, folding the letter and putting it in an envelope addressed to her parents.

When she finished, she pulled out another piece of parchment, sighing before writing.

My dearest most stupidest Nicholas,

I know you're missing me so much. Hopefully, this letter about my current tribulations at Hogwarts will cheer you up!

I'm kidding. I'm not worried about you.

I met the man who made me "Harry Potter's cousin" during our first year at Ilvermorny. Harry seems nice, but I haven't talked to him much... (We aren't in the same house even though it was an option for me... oops).

I did make some friends, though. I know. I can hear you smirking while reading this, thinking in a snotty Pureblood voice, "How did Laura make friends?"

Well, with that snotty Pureblood voice, you should brace yourself. One of them is none other than Draco Malfoy.

Or I guess we called him 'Drake Mandrake' after we couldn't remember his name.

He doesn't remember me, which is probably for the better at this point. But alas, he still acts the same (not that we really knew how he behaved from our one conversation with him).

OH! Before I forget, I have another Professor Tart on my hands (ugh). I would explain more, but speaking of the devil, Blondie just showed up.

I love you and miss you!! (Please write back, I'm begging)

Your favorite,

Laura

p.s. Can you send me a pen at some point? It's been a week, and I'm already sick of using a quill.

Laura finished the letter, placing it into a special envelope, especially for Nick. She sealed it just as Draco found her.

"Letters?" he asked, eyeing the letters.

"Are letters a bad thing?" Laura asked, sending him a questioning look, standing up. "I need to send these. Can you show me where the owlery is?"

"Sure," Draco shrugged, "you can use my owl for one of those letters if you want."

Laura looked at him strangely. She waved a hand in front of his face, checking his eyes.

"Are you okay, Blondie?" she asked skeptically. "You're being suspiciously kind to me today... That's not like you."

"I don't think I am," he frowned as she continued to check if he had hit his head. "But if I am, it's because you're friends with Blaise and Pansy. I don't want to deal with them if they find out I've been rude to their new friend."

"Well, it's weird," Laura said plainly. "But let's go. These letters have places to go."

🪐➶.✧༄

Dear Laurentia, (Yes, I know it's not your actual name)

Laura sighed, reading a letter from her cousin, already knowing it would be a roller coaster of a letter to read at eight in the morning.

First off, I stole your spot on the Quidditch team.

Sorry, not sorry. xoxo

Anyways, you and Drake Mandrake are like a thing. I can feel it in my wizard blood. If you're not... then I didn't say that.

BUT YOU CALLED HIM BLONDIE?!? Already with the nicknames, Laura, wow.

Anyway, he's not that important. The Professor Tart dupe? Ew, that's awful; she was so annoying, istm.

I know this letter is all over the place, Laura, but you understand there's too much to discuss. Up next, I have to address your rumors.

My mom sent you that letter telling you my track record has been clean this year... You've probably been concerned with my well-being. You must be thinking, "Did Nick change his ways?"

I haven't.

I just haven't been caught yet.

That's the end of it, but to keep not getting caught, I have to unjinx Katie's locker. She's threatening to chew me out if I don't, so this is where my letter ends.

Your fav,

Nick

Laura sighed, folding the letter back up. She glanced over at Draco, who was staring at her with narrowed eyes.

"Don't ask me why," she said, nodding towards the letter in Draco's hand. "Looks like he decided to send you a letter too."

"Did you call me 'Blondie' or 'Drake Mandrake' in your letter?" Draco asked after processing the letter from Nick.

"No," Laura replied bluntly. "I didn't mention you in my letter, Blondie."

Draco gave her a skeptical look but went back to eating his food.

Laura rolled her eyes at this, knowing he didn't believe her. But she wasn't going to tell him that she did mention him. She also wasn't going to remind him they met once when they were eleven. That would be too embarrassing for her to admit.

"So... the school," Laura said, glancing around the Great Hall.

"It's super clean all of a sudden," Blaise nodded, understanding she was trying to change the subject. "The staff is preparing for the Triwizard Tournament thing earlier than I thought they would.

"Same here," Pansy said with a nod. "The other schools aren't even coming over here for another month. I don't get all the fuss."

"Better prepared earlier than never?" Laura guessed with a shrug. She couldn't figure out the big deal about the tournament.

"It's a whole load of nonsense if you ask me," Draco said, taking a bite of an apple. "Who even cares about this whole 'Triwizard Tournament?' It all sounds like a whole load of attention-seeking to me."

"If you could enter the tournament, we all know you would, Draco," Blaise said, raising an eyebrow.

Draco stared at Blaise, not saying anything. Laura burst out laughing.

"That's quite the double standard there, Blondie," she said. "We all also know you wouldn't have been chosen."

"What?" Draco said, seeming a little offended. "Say that again, Pickering."

"I don't think you'd be chosen," Laura said bluntly, drawing her words out. "You seem like the least courageous person in the school. The cup wouldn't even consider choosing you."

Pansy nodded in agreement but didn't add anything.

Draco glared at the two girls.

"My father will hear about this," Blaise said, imitating Draco, but he burst into laughter.

"Zambini," Draco said, turning to him.

"I'm just joking, mate," Blaise said, as his laughter died down. "I'm sure Laura and Pansy weren't that serious either."

He looked over to Pansy and Laura, who nodded.

"You're easy to rile up, Blondie," Laura said. She had a small smile playing on her lips. "Don't take everything I say to heart, or you're always gonna be mad."

She winked at him as he rolled his eyes, taking another bite of his apple.

"I knew that," he muttered.