Chapter four
The Three Headed Dog
Delaney's POV:
There was a lot of fuss on Halloween night. There was a troll in the dungeon which I didn't even see. I didn't see Ron, Harry or Hermione much after that. It hurt a bit. I thought I was becoming fast friends with Ron. I sat in the courtyard, alone. Hazel was in class and my siblings were somewhere. Probably hanging out with older kids. It had been a couple of weeks since Halloween. As a young kid, thinking you're losing friends was hard. I felt tears well up into my eyes and cried softly. I never was too good at making friends or being away from home for long periods of time. Now, I was wishing I was home. "What're you crying about?" A snarky voice said. I looked up to be met with Draco Malfoy. I quickly wiped my tears and said "m'not crying." "But, you are. I saw it." I rolled my eyes and said "are you here to make fun of me?" "No." I furrowed my eyebrows and then noticed it was just him. He was alone. Crabbe and Goyle weren't with him. He pulled his green Slytherin scarf closer to his neck. "Aren't you cold?" I shook my head. "Why're you crying?" "What's it to you?" I said. Draco shrugged, sitting down next to me. "You said I shouldn't be friends with Ron, why?" Draco made a face like I was an idiot. "Because! He's a Weasley! They're purebloods and purebloods shouldn't associate themselves with muggleborns. They shouldn't be allowed to go to school here." Draco said. I gulped and looked away from him. "I'm half and half." I said. "One of your parents is a muggle?" "My dad." "Your mum was in Slytherin wasn't she?" I nodded. "Oh. Well, I guess you could come to school here. One of your parents is a witch. I guess it's ok." "So, someone like Hermione shouldn't be allowed." "No, Granger is a disgrace." I looked at my lap and Draco said "why were you crying?" I huffed and said "why does it matter?" "Cause. Whenever I cry nobody asks me how I'm doing. Everyone thinks I can be mean. I can be nice." Draco set down his books on the ground and I said "I'm crying because Ron and I aren't friends anymore." "Weasley? You're crying because you're not friends with Weasley?" I glared at Draco who said "sorry. I'm trying to understand." "Why? Why do you want to understand?" "I felt bad! You're sitting here crying! I'll leave then." He picked up his books and I said "Draco, wait." He immediately stopped in his tracks. His eyes were wide as he turned around to look at me. "What?" I said. "You called me Draco. Nobody calls me Draco. Everyone calls me Malfoy." "Well, that's how you introduced yourself." He half smiled and said "I did, didn't I?" I nodded and he said "look, don't worry about Weasley. You have other friends, right?" "Yeah." "So, be friends with them then. Ron follows Harry around like a puppy. Find new friends." Draco then left me in the courtyard. I grabbed my things and then left, thinking about the interaction I just had. It was so weird. Draco was known to be a bully but he treated me with respect. Which I didn't understand why.

-

I looked at Ron across the great hall. He was sitting with Harry. "Have you talked to him?" Hazel whispered. "No." I whispered back. "I hate that he's making you sad. I'm you're friend too." I looked at her and said "I know. I'm grateful to have you. It's just always been hard for me to make friends. Especially with boys. I thought Ron was different." "I thought I told you to not worry about Weasley." Draco said. He was sitting a few seats down from us. "Mr. Malfoy, be quiet and return to your table." Snape said. Draco nodded and stood up, giving me a frown and went to sit at the Slytherin table. Hazel furrowed her eyebrows at me and I shrugged. I looked over my notes and did my potions homework. I felt Snape standing over me, reading my work. "Nice work, Lacework." "Thank you, professor." Snape then walked away, his robe flowing as he did so. I then switched to my charms homework, having a bit of difficulty with it but ended up finishing it.

-

I walked down the hall, heading back to my common room. "Hello, Delaney." Percy said to me. "Hello, Percy." I said. He gave me a smile and said "how're you enjoying your first year at Hogwarts?" "I like it. I really like it. It's just a bit hard for me to make friends." I then made a face, realizing I had just told that to Percy, an older boy I barely knew. "Don't stress about that, Delaney. There's plenty of kids who would be your friend. You're very sweet. Ron's told me how nice you are to him." "Oh. Has he?" I asked. Percy nodded. "Well, I'll see you around, Percy." "You too, Delaney." I then went to the Hufflepuff common room and up to my dorm to drop off my books. I figured a walk outside would help me clear my head and not worry about friends too much. I was a bit homesick as well. I didn't know how my brother and sister did this with ease. I wrapped my scarf around my neck and went to leave the common room. "It's about time!" Ron's voice said. I furrowed my eyebrows at him and said "what're you doing here?" "Waiting for you. I didn't know the password so I couldn't get in the common room." "Why were you waiting for me?" "Cause, I was bored. I thought we could hang out?" "Hang out?" "Yeah." "Why would you want to hang out with me?" I asked. I then started to walk away. "Well, I haven't seen you in a while. Plus, I kind of wanted to hang out with you instead of Harry and Hermione." Ron put his hands in his pockets and I said "you should probably go back with them. I'm sure they're waiting for you." "But, I came to find you." I sighed and started walking towards the black lake. Ron still followed me. "Are you mad at me, Laney?" Ron shuffled his weight from foot to foot, looking down at the ground. "A little bit. Yeah." I said as I sat down on the grass. "Why?" Ron looked at me, his eyes full of confusion. "Did I do something?" "I thought we were friends. And you kinda started hanging out with Harry and Hermione all the time. I understand they're you're friends too. But, I've always had a hard time making friends. And I thought you and I were friends. I thought I had finally made friends with a boy who didn't think I was weird." I picked at the blades of grass staring out at the lake in front of us. "You're not weird, Delaney. And, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow you off or not hang out with you. I really like Harry. Hermione too. I helped Harry save her from the troll. Professor Quirrel nearly died." I chuckled at that and remembered how everyone nearly rushed out of the Great Hall when he ran in and announced that. "It's hard for me to be friends with girls too. Especially Hermione." I half smiled at him, knowing Hermione was a bit uptight and afraid to break the rules. "I sort of wanted to hang out with you since we hadn't in a while." "And you don't think I'm weird?" I adjusted the glasses on my face. "No, I don't. And I didn't know you wore glasses." "Only to read sometimes. And to do my work in class. I don't usually want to wear them." "Why?" Ron asked curiously. I shrugged and said "I dunno. I've been teased for it." "You look sophisticated." I smiled and said "really?" Ron nodded and said "I like them. They look good." "Thank you, Ronnie." He smiled at me and said "everything good?" I nodded and said "yeah."

-

I got along more with Harry and Ron then I did Hermione. I was hoping our relationship would increase like mine and Hazel's. The five of us were walking on one of the staircases when suddenly it changed. I stumbled forward as did Hermione. "Bloody hell!" Ron said. "What's happening?" Harry asked. "The staircases change! Remember?" Hermione said as she grabbed onto the railing. The stairs then stopped and Ron took a breath. "We should get off here, right?" Hazel said. "Yeah, before the stairs change again." Ron replied. We all stepped off and went into a corridor. It was dark and a meow was heard. I gasped and said "Mrs. Norris." Filch's voice entered the air as he talked to his cat. "It's Filch. We gotta go!" Harry said as we rushed down the hall and into a room. I panted as we closed the door behind us. Hermione brushed a cobweb out of her face. "Where are we now?" Hazel asked. "Don't know." Ron said as he took a step forward. Harry then looked up, Hermione doing the same. I followed their gazes and gasped. A three headed dog sat in front of us. Ron had a look of fear on her face while Hazel stared in shock. The dog growled at us, the five of us screaming and immediately running out of the room. We slammed the door shut as the dog pushed on it, trying to get out. Once the door was shut we quickly left the area. "A three headed dog?!" Ron said. "Did you guys notice what it was sitting on top of?" Hermione asked. Ron scoffed and said "no! I wasn't looking at it's feet! I was looking at it's three heads!" "It was sitting on a trap door." Hazel said. Hermione nodded and said "exactly." Ron rolled his eyes and said "who cares?" "That dog is guarding something." Harry furrowed his eyebrows and said "what exactly?" "Not sure. We should definitely find out. But I'm going to bed before we all receive detention or even worse, expelled." Hermione turned around and left the four of us standing. Ron shook his head at her and I said "I guess Hazel and I will get going as well." Harry nodded and said "see you guys." "Bye, Laney." "Bye, Ronnie." Hazel and I then walked back to our common room, not before bumping into Valerian. Quite literally.

Here's the update!! I meant to have this update up sooner but I spend too much time at universal!
~skylar✨✨✨✨