Chapter 7

        I was walking back to the common room when it happened. Along the way, Hermione had ended up going to talk to some other people and I found myself in a hallway alone. I was just walking peacefully with my book in my arms when someone came from behind and bumped my shoulder forcefully. My book went flying from my arm and skittered across the ground.

        I quickly ran to go pick it up. As I knelt down to pick it up, a foot kicked it away from me. I looked up in anger and saw that no other than Crabbe and Goyle were standing above me. You'll never guess who was standing behind them.

        "Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there," Draco said in a way that pretty clearly said that they saw me.

        I got up and brushed myself off. I glared at them and said, "Oh, it's perfectly all right. I mean, I couldn't get mad at someone who obviously has seeing disabilities. That just wouldn't be right, would it?" I smiled wickedly and then went to pick up my book. As I leaned down to pick it up, I felt another shove from behind me.

        I fell forward and landed awkwardly on my shoulder. I held in a yelp of pain and turned over and sat up. Draco smiled smugly down at me.

        "You know," Draco started. "You should really learn some respect. After all, the only reason you're here is because of Dumbledore's bleeding heart. You should be sent back to America. You can't just pop up here and expect to be let stay."

        "It wasn't exactly my choice to come here," I muttered angrily.

        "Oh, yeah. ’Course it wasn't," Draco said. "You just popped up here, didn't you?" Draco let out a mocking laugh. "Do you really expect me to believe that? You see, me and a few friends know that there's something up with you. We know that there's something not right about you, and we're going to find out what it is."

        "A few friends and I," I corrected.

        "What?" Draco said, looking confused at my reaction to his little rant.

        "You said 'me and a few friends.' The grammatically correct way to say that is 'a few friends and I.' This is why grammar should be taught in wizardry and witchcraft schools," I said.

        Draco made the most fake laugh I've ever heard and turned to his friends. "Do you hear that? Isn't she just the funniest thing you've ever heard?" He whipped back to me and he brandished his wand, pointing it at my face.

        I froze and clenched my fists. We hadn't even learned how to do Wingardium Leviosa, yet alone any offensive spells. What could he possibly be thinking?

        "You think you're funny? Just wait. We're going to make you so miserable that you'll be begging to go home within a few months," Draco spat at me.

        I grinned at him, which probably wasn't the best thing to do in this situation. I couldn't help it, though. I'd heard threats like this before. Once in first grade and again in second grade. You might be thinking, yeah, but how bad can some first and second graders be. You'd be surprised, especially since I was in first and second grade when this happened. You know how impressionable you are at young ages. I was hurt then, but I got so used to it that it stopped bothering me. I was bullied through being ignored in other grades too, sometimes not even purposefully. None of those had ever broken me. If I still wasn't hurt enough by those years, I definitely wasn't going to be threatened into anything by Draco Malfoy.

        "I really highly doubt that," I informed him. I reached back, grabbed my book, and stood up slowly. I looked Draco square in the eyes and said, "You'll never scare me enough to get rid of me." I then turned on my heels and walked briskly down the hallway. As soon as I was out of their sight, I ran. 

        I wasn't necessarily scared, but I also didn't want any bruises. That's why I ran. As soon as I reached the Gryffindor common room door, I said the password and clambered through the port hole. Everyone was talking and messing around and I started walking to my dormitory. After the talk I just had, I really just wanted to have a nice little face-to-face with my book from the library.

         I was about half way across the room when, with my luck, I tripped and fell. Oh, and guess what else? I landed on the same shoulder as before. This time I did let out a little yelp of pain. I was pretty sure there was going to be a bruise there in the morning. That got a few looks and I quickly scrambled to my feet and kept walking to the dormitory stairs. I kept my head down and was almost there. Of course, I had to stumble again.

        This time I stumbled right into someone. I stumbled pretty hard, too. Hard enough to knock the person down. I landed on them and we both groaned in pain. I rolled off them and started getting up while apologizing.

        "I'm really sorry. I'm just being really clumsy today. I just tripped and you were right there. It was an accident and I just..."

        "It was probably my fault. You s-seem to be the hundredth person I've run into today."

        Wait, that stuttering voice sounded familiar. I looked up at the persons face and almost died of embarrassment. It was Neville. Shoot, this is the second time we've run into each other. I was really making a great impression.

        "Yeah, well, I'll, um, see you later." I stammered out and ran up the stairs. I threw myself onto my bed and groaned into my pillow. Ugh! I was making a fool out of myself. Of course, that's what has always happened in the past when I had a crush on someone. I couldn't seem to just talk regularly.

        I sat up and realized that I had lost my grip on my book when I tripped. I hadn't realized it when I tripped and know it was gone. I groaned again and fell back into my pillow. Darn it! This day had been going so well, too. Then Draco had showed up and all my luck had changed. Gosh darn it Draco!

                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        I woke up the next morning and rolled right back over. I didn't feel like getting up today. Besides, today I had planned on reading and I lost my book. Unfortunately, some people can't just let you suffer silently and in peace.

         Hermione opened up my curtains and said cheerfully, "You better hurry, otherwise breakfast will be over before you get down."

        I looked over at her and her face was so happy that I didn't have the heart to complain at how I didn't want to go down. I squinted at her and finally nodded in an "I'm coming, can you please close the bloody curtains" kind of way. She rolled her eyes and closed them for me. I quickly changed and ran down to dinner. I got there and sat down without looking who I was sitting next to. I quickly grabbed myself some bacon and started munching on it.

        I looked to my right and saw I saw sitting next to the one and only Neville Longbottom. Shoot. I looked to my left and saw that Fred and George and smiled. Good, I could talk to them. I finished my bacon and nudged the one closest to me. 

        They looked at me and smiled. "Well, hello. If it isn't our little Miss. America."

        I rolled my eyes. "You're really sticking to that nickname, aren't you?"

        "Definitely," the one farther away said. "Fred and I think it suits you very well."

        I really need to figure out a way of figuring out which is which without them having to mention their names. I studied their faces as they started telling me about what other pranks they'd gotten into yesterday without me. There had to be some little detail. Their eyes were the same, their hair was the same, their nose was the same, and their ears were the same. Of course, their ears weren't always going to be the same. I quickly shooed that thought away as that could lead me to thinking about "the other thing" that happens to them in book seven.

        I got snapped back into reality, quite literally, by Fred snapping his fingers right in front of my noise. I jumped in surprise and smacked his arm.

        "What was that for?" I asked indignantly.

        "Well, you weren't exactly paying attention," Fred told me.

        "It was also funny. You jumped about a foot of your seat," George laughed.

        "I did not!"

        "Did too."

        "Did not!"

        Did too!"

        "Girls, girls, you're both pretty," Fred started.

        "Shut up, Fred," George and I said in unison.