Slytherin X Hufflepuff - Tumblr Posts

I love you Slytherins.

heya! I saw your post about requests so can i have like a Regulus x reader? Maybe Regulus and reader went to the cave together? (died or survived? idm) ty! love your works

A/n: Dear Lord I need to get my act together w my writing. I'm so sorry to the people who have requested and not got theirs for like- months. Hope you enjoy! Sorry I decided you were a hufflepuff bc lets be real, if Reg lived, he would've married a puff. As always constructive criticism welcome, but pls polite 💖🥰

Call Her Mistress

You stood in the dark of the cave glaring at the liquid in front of you. When Kreacher told Regulus of what Voldemort had done, his Master decided to find the locket and he begged you to stay behind.

So naturally, you wrapped your arms around him and told him there was no way in hell.

A soft, cold hand made its way into yours and squeezed. You looked up at the man next to you.

"You have to drink it?" You asked him, voice a lot shakier than you intended.

Regulus' hand squeezed yours again and his eyes flashed.

"Yes, darling."

"And I just have to... to what? Stand here? Watch you?" Regulus let out a resigned sigh as he listened to your worries.

"Yes, darling. Kreacher will force the drink down my throat if he needs, just as he has been ordered. And if I don't make it-"

"You'll make it!" You cut him off with a yelp. He winced at the pain in your voice.

"If I don't make it, you and Kreacher take the locket and destroy it. Kreacher is also under orders to protect you." He says slowly.

His voice is low and it's almost as is he has given up already.

You pull him close and rest your free hand on his cheek. His light grey eyes glisten with tears, yet they're still the most beautiful things you've ever seen.

His silken, black hair tickles your hand as it moves against your hard brrathing and you close your eyes for just a moment, relishing the feeling of his cheek against your palm. The feeling of your hand in his.

"You. Will. Make it." You stated defiantly and brushed your lips against his ever so lightly.

When you pulled away, Regulus chased your lips for a real kiss and you pressed a finger to his lips.

"You'll get more when we get out of here."

"Are you trying to bribe me into surviving?" He asked with a small glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Is it working?" You asked, biting your lip and he let out a humourless chuckle.

"I love you Y/n."

"I love you too Regulus."

🔸️

Only a few days ago were you sitting in a library with your love, giggling as he placed kisses all over your face. Now you held him still as he screamed and thrashed while Kreacher tried to pour the horrid substance into his mouth.

Well, you held him as still as you could.

Even weakened this way, Regulus was much stronger than you and his body was currently pumping him full of adrenaline.

"Come on Reg just a little bit more. Please Reggie for me, just a little bit more I promise. Kreacher, how many more mouthfuls?" You stroked Regulus' hair with one hand as the other held his mouth open.

"About two M-" He stopped when he realised he didn't know how to adress you.

"Two more, my love. Two more mouthfuls, please..." You begged him as he pleaded with you and the house elf to let him free.

Your heart broke every time a strained plea left his mouth. His cheeks were wet with tears and your eyes blurred with your own.

Horrible thoughts raced through your mind as his screams echoed about the cave. You must be a monster to put the love of your life through this. You should've done it yourself.

Next time you go after a horcrux, it's you who goes through the pain.

You and Kreacher coaxed the last drop into his mouth and then you let him go.

"W-water..." He mumbled and you nodded.

"Yes sweetheart. Kreacher you stay with him, I'll get him water." You ordered and pressed a kiss to Regulus' head before you ran off.

His hair was stuck to his face with sweat and you could've cried with how greatful you were.

Regulus leaned forward and muttered some words to his house elf. Kreacher looked unsure, but a weak, yet stern glare from his Master seemed to convince him.

"M-Mistress no!" Kreacher yelled, stumbling over the first word, unused to calling you, a hufflepuff of all things, Mistress.

But it was his Master's orders.

You stopped still at Kreachers yell, standing only feet away from the water.

"Mistress musn't go any further. Do not call attention to the Inferi!" Kreacher warned and as you began to back up, a sickly hand popped out of the water and landed on the stone in front of you.

"Shit!" You shrieked and scrambled back up to where Regulus lay.

"Kreacher can you apparate us out of here?" You asked before conjuring some water directly into Regulus' mouth.

He spluttered and choked for a moment beacuse of how he was laying, but soon swallowed the water and begged for more.

"I may be able to, but there are many defenses in this cave Mistress. It may take Kreacher a while." He answered as you pulled Regulus' head up onto your lap to get him into a better position for drinking.

"That's okay, do whatever you can just please get him out of here." Hundreds of Inferi were crawling up from the water at a swift pace.

Your heart was beating out of your chest and your throat tightened in fear, you didn't want to die.

And more than that, you didn't want Regulus to die.

"I'm under my Master's orders to keep you alive." Kreacher pointed oif while scrunching his face up, digging around his magic to gather the strength to apparate the three of them out of there.

"Yeah well you call me Mistress, which means I can give you orders too. And I order you to save him at any cost." You cried out trying to stifle your sobs in favour of keeping Regulus calm.

"W-water..." He rasped again and you complied.

"Yes dear, water. Stay alive and you can have all the water you want I promise you." You pushed his hair out of his eyes and gave him more water.

Your fear and panic was rising and making it harder for you to cast spells.

"Kreacher hurry!" You yelled out as you felt a disgusting, bony hand wrap around your ankle and begin to drag towards the water.

"Y-Y/n!" Regulus' head had gathered itself together enough for him to realise you were in danger.

"Master Regulus must stay calm." Kreacher told him and Regulus panicked as your body was pulled from underneath him.

"Kreacher save her!" Regulus screamed as he began to sit up, crawling towards the Inferi.

"Stay away from the Inferi Master Regulus!" Was the last thing you heard before you head hit a jagged piece of stone and the world around you faded from existence.

🔸️

"Y/n... love?" A small voice echoed through your head. You knew that voice.

Did this mean you had both died?

"Sweetheart... please... please wake up..." The voice you loved more than anyone elses sounded through your head again.

His voice was strained and tired and it pulled at your heart.

Your eyes slowly blinked open to see a blurry figure above you.

"Y/n! You're alive!" He rejoiced and you blinked slowly.

"I am?" You muttered as you began to sit up. Pain racked through your body and your head pounded.

"Doesn't feel like it." You groaned, but nevertheless stayed sitting up.

You looked around the room and found yourself on the ground of the small apartment you shared with Regulus since the beginning of your seventh year at Hogwarts.

Regulus still looked like death, but here he was kneeling over you.

"W- how?" You asked and Regulus let out a breathless laugh.

"The Inferi got you, I crawled after you and Kreacher crawled after us. He apparated us out of there. He's fine. He's drawing us a bath now, then he'll be returning back to my parents house."

You looked at him with wonder. How lucky could you have been to not only have landed a man like him, but go through that and both of you come out alive.

"You're a bloody idiot Regulus Black." You laughed and surged forward to kiss him.

After a few moments of sinking into the comforting feeling of your lips on his he pulled away.

"One more thing."

"But I promised you those kisses if we survived. What, now you don't want one?" You giggled, but his eyes had turned serious - filled with love - but serious.

"I told Kreacher to call you Mistress because... I was hoping you would be." He admitted solemnly and you raised a brow at him.

"Y/n please, please, pretty please marry me?"

draco malfoy ff

just gonna leave this here, i've gotten to year three already so (๑>ᴗ<๑)

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ᵐᵉˡᵗ ʸᵒᵘʳ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗ | 𝐝. 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲

as only first years, they know nothing of what's to come. julianna candy thought everything would be normal for her yea...

❥ melt your heart | year one, chapter one

pairing: draco malfoy x oc genre: best friends to lovers! slow burn! warnings: draco being a lil bitch, very badly edited word count: 4.2k masterlist: melt your heart next chapter: chapter two

A CROWDED STATION leaves a little girl absolutely faint, having trouble getting through the sea of people to get her luggage onto the train. "hello, miss! need some help with your bags?" a railway porter asks, the girl blinks for a moment, taken aback, but then nods with a bright smile. "yes, please!" she says in a soft tone, handing her things to the man and thanking him in the process before getting onto the train.

julianna candy had to head to the station alone for her grandmother didn't really bother going with her for moral support. she didn't mind though, sure, she was a bit nervous but her excitement outweighed the nerves. passing by compartment after compartment, trying her best to find an empty one, she stumbled upon someone familiar.

as she slid the door open, "draco!" her voice cheery and face beams at the sight of the bright-haired boy. seemingly startled, draco placed his hand on his chest. "merlin's beard, know how to scare the wits out of someone do you, candy?" his comment ignored by julianna while the brunette placed her sling bag on the seat and sat opposite of draco. now, i know you're probably wondering 'they already know each other?! how?!' well, let me give you a flashback!

it was at flourish and blotts when the two met.

"i'm going to go get your books, girl. stay here." her grandmother said, heading towards the long line of parents and guardians trying to get their children's school books. she was particularly eyeing a man with long platinum blonde hair and his wife, her grandmother seemed to dread the potential encounter. julianna heard what she said about staying at the spot she left her at but she just couldn't follow through and so, she headed up the staircase of the shop.

the girl stared at the books uninterested. she didn't like reading much, it took too much effort, which was why she was mostly interested in art-related things like painting or drawing. "looking for something specific?" a young male voice asked her which made the brunette snap her head towards the person. julianna was met with a boy that was probably around her age, with slicked back blonde hair and bold blue-grey eyes. his lips were shaped into a tiny smirk and he oozed of confidence.

julianna starts panicking, not knowing how to answer. "o-oh, uh no... just browsing, sort of." she shyly replies, "i don't actually... like reading." her words shocked the blonde boy, "what?! why? it's an effective way of gaining knowledge." "mm, too bad. can't really gain knowledge from a book, i'm a visual learner. need pictures." she cheekily replied, her lips turning into a wide smile. the boy stared at her for a bit before a tiny smile broke out and he put his hand out. "i'm malfoy. draco malfoy." he introduced himself as though he'd been rehearsing this in front of his bathroom mirror at least twelve times. "julianna candy. i know, weird last name." julianna giggled, "no, not at all. in fact, sounds a bit familiar." he commented, "are you related t-" "draco! come! we have to go obtain your wand!" a woman's voice calls out, stealing draco's attention from julianna's name.

as he walked down the stairs, he stopped midway. "i hope to see you on the train so we can further this discussion." at his words, julianna smiled and nodded, bidding the blonde goodbye. she found it funny that he spoke so formally, but assumed it was the way he was brought up, just like her.

"julianna? where are you?" the sound of her grandmother's voice startles her, making her rush to the lower floor. "i'm here!" she announces, "didn't i tell you to stay here? can't do one thing right." the comment makes julianna look at the ground, feeling poignant. "here, help me carry your books, then we can go get you fitted for your robes." the heavy load of books was dropped onto her tiny hands, but the girl managed, always. "yes, nan." she had no choice.

julianna smiled widely at draco. "wasn't expecting to see you so soon!" she tells the boy who only scoffed. "i was. the train is not that long, you know?" he enunciates every word which makes the girl giggle. "what are you laughing at?" "well, i'd hardly call that laughing but, you're just funny." draco's eyes widen before going back to their regular size, "funny? no one's ever said that to me before." the brunette fiddles with her hands, "oh, uh, i just find how you enunciate amusing. reminds me of my grandmother." "your grandmother?!" this makes julianna burst into real laughter this time, especially at the redness of draco's face.

the two continued to talk, enjoying one another's company. this would be julianna's first friend ever! she hoped it would only get better from here on out. suddenly, draco remembered something. "oh. i just remembered the question i wanted to ask you at the bookshop. are you related to atticus chambers?" he asked, leaning his elbow on the window sill. "i am! he's my great great great grandfather or something. i don't really pay attention to my grandmother when she talks about things like that." the sudden topic change makes her fiddle with her hands once more. "i knew it! i heard my father talking about the candys and chambers at some point. heard your grandmother doesn't like my father very much." draco's words make her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "huh... i wonder why." she mutters quietly before the blonde ultimately changes the subject once more.

julianna realised how talkative draco was. sometimes he would talk about how he gets everything he asks for, or that he's amazing on a broomstick. he seemed a tad bit spoiled and egotistic, but overall, julianna liked him. draco listened to what she had to say about her interests and her views, until it became political.

"hope i don't get sorted into hufflepuff, heard a lot of the muggle-borns were sorted into there." julianna's jaw dropped slightly as she heard his words. "what's wrong with muggle-borns?" she asked, earning a disgusted look from draco. "what do you mean 'what's wrong with muggle-borns'? there's everything wrong with them! they don't belong here, with witches and wizards like us." he speaks so surely of himself that julianna knows this had to have been written into draco's mind by his parents, there was no way he just suddenly thought like this. "okay... but there's muggle-borns in all the houses, so why only hufflepuff." "hm, that house is just filled with boring people. it's just a horrible house." okay, julianna had a high tolerance for arseholes but this was a bit too much for her.

she had thought she'd make a normal friend, not a controversial one with whom she did not agree with on very important and serious topics. "that isn't fair. if you heard this from someone else, how would you know it's the truth if you didn't see it for yourself?" julianna spoke up, "and it isn't really our decision to decide whether someone is fit to be a proper witch or wizard, whether they're muggle-born or not, right?" she calmly tried to reason with him even though on the inside she seethed with anger.

draco rolled his eyes, "hm. didn't take you for a blood traitor, julianna. luckily, i'm willing to look past that because i find you tolerable as a person." julianna couldn't believe her ears! there was no way this was actually happening! "well, even though i really want you to be my friend because you seem like a nice person, i'm not willing to look past your views and i'm leaving." she said, standing up and taking her bag. "fine. be that way." she heard draco's comment as she left the compartment and she huffed, saddened. as quickly as she gained a new friend, she had lost them and made a new enemy. truth be told, she was willing to look past what draco said, thinking it was possible for people to change, but she didn't want her first friend to be someone who was prejudiced against muggle-borns! they literally didn't do anything or even ask to be chosen to become witches and wizards. it was unfair for draco to think that way.

while she was walking down the corridor, she bumped into a person, or actually, two people. "u-uh! sorry!" julianna quickly apologised, "it's fine, love." "no bumps or bruises, no harm done." two similar voices say. julianna looked up and was faced with a pair of red headed twins. "are you alright?" the one on the right asks, "uh, yes!" she turned towards the compartment they were about to go into that had only a boy with dark skin and dreads. ''is this your compartment?" the two nodded, "do you have room for one more?" there was a glimmer of hope in julianna's voice and the twins looked at each other before nodding again. "of course!" "come on in!" the two say back-to-back, she lets out a sigh of relief and thanked them.

walking in, julianna quickly learned the names of the twins and the other boy. fred weasley, george weasley and lee jordan, all third years. "what's your name?" lee asked, "i-i'm julianna candy." julianna cursed herself for stuttering but they barely noticed. "candy?" "that's cute." fred and george commented, "sounds familiar too." lee added, which made the girl think back to her conversation with draco about her ancestry. "yeah, i'm related to this important wizard or something, i don't know." she brushed off the subject which the three found weird but left it alone. the ride from there was then filled with giggles and little stories from all four of them. one of the stories was about how the twins fooled their little brother ron with a spell that could turn his pet rat yellow, it wasn't a real spell obviously. whilst they were talking, a chubby boy with a nervous look on his face came in asking if they'd seen a toad anywhere and explained that he had lost his but they all hadn't.

when they reached hogwarts, the first years were being called to a different route to the castle. "ah, you lot got the easy route." "we have to go by carriages." the redheads groaned in complaint, lee just shook his head. "we'll see you in the great hall." he said, waving goodbye. "have fun with the boats!" "be sure not to rock them too much-" "-or you just might fall out!" julianna rolled her eyes at the teasing and walked towards the rest of the first years. there stood a hairy, large man, who was over 12 feet tall, with a pair of kind eyes. his name was rubeus hagrid, the gamekeeper, keeper of keys and grounds at hogwarts. julianna had seen him in a few photos of her parents when they attended hogwarts. he seemed to know them pretty well. upon reaching the boats, hagrid told everyone to get into groups of four or five.

by the time julianna had wanted to find a boat to share, it had seemed all the boats were filled. she spotted a glimmer of platinum blonde hair but turned away as quickly as she did. "oh, dear. seems we have more new students than last time. never mind that! you can ride with me! i'm sure the boat can handle a bit more weight." hagrid smiled, sensing the dread that filled julianna's stomach when there were no boats left.

riding the boat with hagrid gave her the opportunity to ask him about her parents. "mr. hagrid?" "oh, just hagrid'll be just fine!" he assured, making her feel less tense. "did you know a maurice candy and a ivy purice that went to hogwarts around the early 70s?" at the sound of the two names, hagrid's attention was caught. "why yes, yes i did. why?" julianna grinned, "i'm their daughter, julianna candy." she explained and hagrid's grim expression was turned into a joyful one. "blimey! a candy and i didn't even notice! you look just like your mother too!" hagrid was absolutely elated before his face became sorrow once more, "i'm sorry about your parents, julianna. they were amazing people." "oh, it's alright! i didn't even know them so it's hard to be sad about people i barely spent any time with." she smiled reassuringly, but hagrid knew it was probably just an act. in fact, he was right.

then, she turned around and saw it; the hogwarts castle. all lit up inside as can be seen in the windows and all lit up outside by the numbers of lanterns surrounding it. the castle looked majestic in the night but had a hint of gloom to it. "it's beautiful." julianna whispered to herself, absolutely mesmerised. she looked behind her for a moment and saw draco staring at her before looking away immediately. the confused brunette decided to ignore it and continued looking at hogwarts.

once they got to the school, she was absolutely overwhelmed by the entrance. the design and the atmosphere made her burst with inspiration, giving her the desire to paint. the first years were then told to walk up the staircase until they reached professor mcgonagall. julianna was in the middle of the first year crowd. at some point while walking, the students spotted a woman in a witches hat with long green robes.

"welcome to hogwarts. now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates but before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses." she started, "they are gryffindor, hufflepuff, ravenclaw and slytherin. now, while you're here, your house will be like your family. your triumphs will earn you points. any rule-breaking and you will lose points. at the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup." "trevor!" professor mcgonagall was interrupted by the same boy from the train that lost his toad. he rushed towards the highest step, grabbing a toad that sat there. mcgonagall gave him a look, "sorry." he muttered, going back to his spot. julianna quietly giggled at the interaction but was happy he had found his pet. "the sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." professor said before leaving and heading towards the gigantic doors before them.

at this, draco seized the opportunity. "it's true then, what they're saying on the train." he spoke and everyone's heads turned towards him. "harry potter has come to hogwarts." his words cause chatter and whisper amongst the first year students. julianna was starting to sweat, wondering what draco's going to do to the boy who lived. she's heard of him, of course, every kid in the wizarding world has, it's brilliant but she had barely any interest in him.

"this is crabbe, and goyle." he introduced the two goons beside him and julianna scowled, confused. 'where did those two come from?' he was literally alone when she came into the compartment and when she came out of the compartment. "and i'm malfoy. draco malfoy." julianna giggled, she was right, he does practise it, but she wasn't the only one who laughed. draco snapped his head at the redhead next to harry, who also snickered. "think my name's funny, do you? i've no need to ask yours. red hair and a hand-me-down robe? you must be a weasley." the blonde sneered demeaningly before averting his gaze to julianna for a second but said nothing, looking back at harry. "you'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, potter. you don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. i can help you there." draco glanced at ron when he talked about the 'wrong sort', putting his hand out for harry to accept it.

harry potter had a hard look on his face before ultimately declining it. "i think i can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." he coolly replied, embarrassing draco whose face looked upset. as if just in time, professor mcgonagall returned and tapped on draco's shoulder. he went back to his spot, "we're ready for you now. follow me." mcgonagall informs and they all line up in pairs, unfortunately, julianna was next to draco.

she wanted to say something to him. she felt bad but knew he definitely deserved it, who would be friends with someone with that kind of attitude. only that's the thing, julianna got to know him without that attitude in the way and he wasn't so bad. "well, uh, that was something." she quietly spoke, regretting her choice of words as soon as they came out. draco didn't say anything.

"great hall's looking pretty nice." julianna pressed her lips together awkwardly, looking at the ceiling as they walked to the front of the tables. "good luck with the sorting. hope you don't get hufflepuff." she joked, this time draco did turn to look at her. "don't worry. i'll definitely get slytherin. it's in my blood." the look on his face showed how sure of himself he was, "hah!" she suddenly exclaimed, confusing the boy. "got you to talk to me." julianna grinned playfully, wiggling a finger at his face before he slapped away lightly. "whatever." the blonde crossed his arms before letting out the tiniest smile.

julianna was finally able to say that they weren't enemies, they're frenemies! definitely. hopefully.

everyone stood before the platform where mcgonagall stood, listening to her words. "now, before we begin, professor dumbledore would like to say a few words." she announced as a man with long white hair and a long white beard stood up. at the side, julianna could see hagrid and gave him a tiny wave which he reciprocated. "i have a few start-of-term notices i wish to announce. the first years please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. also, our caretaker, mr. filch, has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. thank you." at the end of dumbledore's announcement all the first years looked either grim or terrified, julianna found it quite amusing. "pretty great first words of welcoming if i do say so myself." she quietly joked to draco, who rolled his eyes playfully, or not, nobody can really tell.

mcgonagall picked up a dusty, old-looking wizard's hat. "when i call your name, you will come forth. i shall place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses." she explained before taking a look at the parchment, "hermione granger." the girl who was called out started whispering to herself, feeling rather nervous. julianna, herself, was feeling quite anxious. did they really have to get sorted in front of the whole school? hermione was sorted into gryffindor which she seemed extremely happy about. "julianna candy." the brunette's eyes widened in horror, it was her turn already?

she walked towards the stool, sitting down with a tense look on her face. when the hat was placed, it yelled and the halls echoed. not only that but julianna got so scared she stood straight up. "ah, i do love messing with my fair share of candys. very jumpy lot." the hat comments as the hall erupted with laughter. she sat back down, a little less tense than she was before, thanks to the little prank. she caught a wink that both fred and george sent her, making her even more relaxed.

"now, this is a complicated soul. perfectionist are you, but how much can you really try to be absolutely flawless before it breaks you open, tears you apart? a fast learner, but not willing to learn as much. loyal and patient, i know where you belong. any idiot can see it from a mile away. hufflepuff!" the hat roared and the hufflepuff table roared as well. fred and george can be seen with their hands in their heads, disappointed she didn't get sorted into gryffindor but were happy nonetheless. draco had the most hilarious expression, in utter disbelief in what just happened. julianna found this to be extremely ironic, standing up and making her way to the hufflepuff table. on her way, she stopped at draco. "still can tolerate me, malfoy?" she teased and ran towards the hufflepuff table, sitting beside a fourth year. julianna only watched draco get sorted, which was only a few seconds since the moment the hat grazed his hair it announced 'slytherin' which julianna found weird but brushed it off.

while waiting for the sorting to be done, she talked to the fourth year who she learned to be cedric diggory. he explained all about the classes and which were the best in his opinion. "personally, defence against the dark arts is particularly interesting but who knows, you may love potions, if you don't mind professor snape." he chuckles, "who?" julianna asked and cedric subtly pointed at the man with long, greasy-looking hair, a crooked nose and cold, empty eyes. "oh. he doesn't look too bad." "hah, you say that now but wait till you get in a class with him. he can be particularly strict." "oh, ceddy. nobody can be more strict than my grandmother. trust me." julianna jokes, the two smile at each other. the feast commenced after the sorting was done and afterwards the first years were guided to the dormitories by their respective house prefects. hufflepuff's prefect was gabriel truman.

gabriel led the first years down the grand staircase and into the hogwarts kitchen, which was conveniently underneath the great hall. inside they find a pile of large barrels and stand before it. a bunch of house-elves were working around the kitchen, cleaning up dishes and such. now, each dormitory had a password and this one particularly was extremely unique. "the password never changes. the way to enter the dormitory is to tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row to the rhythm of 'helga hufflepuff', like so." he explained, tapping on the barrel 'tap-tap, tap-tap-tap'. the barrels opened up a secret passage which led to a beautiful yellow-themed common room, decorated with flowers and all kinds of greenery. there was a yellow sofa near the fireplace and wooden seats with tables all around the common room. since the kitchen was on the ground level of hogwarts, there were only windows high up the walls which were accented by the hanging flower pots and vines. the common room was a botanist's dream, you could say.

"now, girl's dormitory is on the right, boy's on the left. just head up those staircases and go to your respectively assigned rooms, your luggage should already be in there. good night!" gabriel cheerfully says, ushering the boys to their dorms. now, this was what julianna was dreading the most; having barely any friends in the house she was sorted to.

she walked up the staircase and entered the first door on her left. two girls followed closely behind her, one girl with blonde hair and another with auburn hair. julianna had no idea who they were since she wasn't paying attention to the sorting, but luckily, they decided to introduce themselves. "hi! i'm hannah abbott! nice to meet you." the blonde girl greeted julianna who grinned at her, "julianna candy! and you?" she turned towards the auburn-haired girl, "susan bones." susan softly smiled and the other two smiled back. the three of them talked for a bit whilst unpacking until julianna heard a meow. they all went silent. "...d'you have a cat?" hannah asked julianna who only nodded, "oh no." she muttered, dashing towards the opposite side of her bed and saw her pet carrier that she didn't see because it was somehow pushed underneath her bed.

"pudding!" she exclaimed, taking her out of the carrier. pudding was a bright brown kitten with bright blue-grey eyes and scruffy-looking fur. "i'm so sorry! i entirely forgot about you!" julianna apologised and hugged the kitten close to her chest as she could feel the kitten shaking. "she's adorable!" "her fur is so pretty!" the two other hufflepuffs compliment, coming closer towards them. the kitten mewed, snuggling her face onto julianna's shoulder. "thank you! she's about four weeks old!" the three gushed over the kitten before they decided it was a good time to go to bed. they all got ready to go to sleep and julianna had to place pudding on her bed. worried she might trip and fall flat on her face, julianna set up a tiny little area for her in the corner of the room next to her bed so she could roam around in the area along with eat, sleep and poop. three most vital things to do in life.

once she finished, she changed into her nightgown and laid down. saying she was excited would be an understatement, she was over the moon. hoping that tomorrow would be great and the rest of the year too.

(─‿‿─) melt your heart masterlist

last updated: 19th july, 2023 newest: chapter seven warnings: bullying, violence, kissing, cursing wattpad: (i usually update here first than on tumblr) moodboards: julianna's

❥ year one chapter one,, chapter two,, chapter three,, chapter four,, chapter five,, chapter six ❥ year two chapter seven,, chapter eight,, chapter nine,, chapter ten,, chapter eleven,, chapter twelve,, chapter thirteen,, chapter fourteen,, chapter fifteen ❥ year three chapter sixteen,, chapter seventeen,, chapter eighteen,, chapter nineteen,, chapter twenty,, chapter twenty-one,, chapter twenty-two,, chapter twenty-three ❥ year four chapter twenty-four,, chapter twenty-five,, chapter twenty-six,, chapter twenty-seven,, chapter twenty-eight,, chapter twenty-nine,, chapter thirty ❥ year five n/a ❥ year six n/a ❥ year seven n/a ❥ the aftermath n/a

❥ melt your heart | chapter two

pairing: draco malfoy x oc genre: best friends to lovers! slow burn! warnings: draco being a bully(what's new?) word count: 4.8k masterlist: melt your heart last chapter: chapter one next chapter: chapter three

JULIANNA WOKE UP much earlier than she expected to, which was no need since hufflepuff had a pretty laid back first day, for the first years at least. it was six o'clock in the morning, so she decided to quietly get out of bed and check on pudding. looking into the tiny pet area the girl had created, the brown kitten was sleeping safely on her own baby pink bed. julianna smiled before heading towards her bed again, pulling out a yellow leather vintage suitcase covered in butterfly stickers. she flipped a switch at the handle and opened it up.

lo and behold, an easel sprung out of it resulting in her shoulder being hit ever so slightly. she quietly yelps in pain, rubbing her side, bending down to grab the easel and set it up nicely next to her bedside table. grabbing a hair tie to put her hair up into a bun deemed impossible when suddenly she tripped over a stray  paintbrush and knocked her head on the bedpost.

"jules?" a groggy voice spoke, turning on their lamp. "i'm alright!" she exclaimed, standing straight back up out of embarrassment. "what are you doing up so early?" susan asked as she sat up to get a better look on what the brunette was up to. "i mean, it's six and the sun's just coming up." she yawned out while rubbing her eyes, julianna only smiled sheepishly. "i woke up earlier than i expected." at julianna's words, susan finally saw her tiny little set up. "a paint stand? do you paint?" she asked, intrigued. the other girl shyly nodded. "have since i was only four! it's probably the only thing i find pleasing to do." she explained, "oh, and it's called an easel." she added, the redhead's mouth turned into an 'o' shape. shortly afterwards, susan decided to head back to bed for a few more minutes leaving julianna to organise her equipment and materials.

her suitcase was no ordinary one, it had an extension charm on it(thanks to her grandmother) which allowed her to store absolutely every type of artistic material inside said suitcase. she got the idea after learning about newt scamander, a well-known magizoologist and hufflepuff, who also had a case such as this.

when she was done, it was already 15 minutes after seven so she decided to wake the other two up and get ready for the day. "blimey, we've got potions with slytherin and gryffindor! it's only the first day." hannah complained as she looked through her schedule on their walk to the great hall, which wasn't that far since it was right above the common room. "i'm kind of excited! heard professor snape was really strict though, but i'm not worried." "who cares that he's strict?! he's terrifying just by appearance already!" the two girls discussed while susan just listened, deciding it wasn't necessary to say much in this conversation. the great hall was packed with students by the time they arrived, which was only 7.30am, and she could spot draco at his slytherin table talking with his friends. she saw everyone was either sitting at their own house's table or sitting with their friends from other houses. it made her want to sit with him.

"hey, you comin' or what?" hannah asked when she realised julianna was standing still, daydreaming. "oh! uh, yeah." she stammered, following her to the tables on the third row from the left, one row away from slytherin. just as she had turned away from draco, the blonde had turned his head and spotted her. his blue-grey eyes followed her figure till she sat down at the hufflepuff table, he held back a sigh. truth be told, draco really didn't mind she was in hufflepuff, or that she didn't care about blood status, because he'd already gotten to know her and he liked who she was. however, his pride will not allow him to go over there and talk to her, not while his 'friends' were there, not while everyone can see.

julianna grabbed a couple of toast and placed a scoop of baked beans onto them, chomping them entirely as soon as they touched her lips. "you'll get a stomach ache eating that fast." julianna gets startled by the sudden voice, turning around quickly. she's faced with a huge smile complimented by rosy cheeks, "cedric! morning!" the brunette mumbled incoherently, her mouth still full. cedric only chuckles, "morning, jules." he sat next to her and one of his other fourth year friends who happened to be next to julianna. "excited for your first day, first years?" the charming boy asked all the first years around him collectively. a few of them shrug, a few of them nod and julianna was the latter. "we've got a free period first so technically, our first class is potions with gryffindor and slytherin." cedric grimaces, "good luck with snape. you'll need it." "i doubt that! you're gonna see me ace his class and be one of his favourites. one of my specialties is pleasing strict mentors." julianna assures with a satisfied smile on her face, wiping her mouth with a napkin. everyone continued to talk about tiny things like their families, their interests.

"hey, candy! good luck with your first day!" "should be alright considering it's only the first day!" the weasley twins came out of absolutely nowhere, appearing beside julianna's face. "fred! george!" she turned around, "thanks! i'm sure it'll be fine!" her reply makes the twins grin harder, they lean closer to her. "if you ever need help in escaping a class or two," "we're always here to help." they whispered before skipping off to their table, julianna only shakes her head.

after waiting another hour, it was finally time for potions. julianna had lost susan and hannah due to the fact the two of them had decided to go to the library after breakfast to which julianna replied with a 'ew, hard pass.' and so she just stayed in the great hall, sketching anything she can see before her. she recalled the conversation she had while she was there. "free period, ms. candy?" a dreamy, amused voice had asked, tearing julianna's focus away from her sketching. she turned around and saw professor dumbledore. "ah! yes, professor!" she replied hurriedly, dumbledore only hummed before peering over her head and observed her drawing. "lovely rendition of the great hall. i, too, have tried doodling realistically." "oh? and how did that go, professor?" her question makes dumbledore pause for a moment, "ghastly." julianna had to hold back a laugh at his response, "well, i'll leave you to it." he smiles and glides away, 'interesting encounter.' she thought as she remembered it. she was so distracted by it that she didn't realise she was about to bump into someone.

"oh! sorry!" she immediately apologised, "i-it's fine." she looked and saw the boy with the toad from before, "heading to potions?" julianna asked him and he shyly nodded, she nodded along with him. julianna wanted to make conversation but she was suddenly feeling shy as well. "u-uh, what's your name? mine's julianna candy." "n-neville longbottom." longbottom, it sounds familiar. from what she knew about the longbottoms, she didn't want to make neville uncomfortable by bringing it up so she left it in the back of her mind.

the two conversed awkwardly as they walked to the dungeons. once they reached the potions class,  julianna realised there were no seats available next to anyone she knew. the only seat left was one next to harry potter. she quietly sat next to him, not really wanting to hold up another conversation. she looked in front of her and saw platinum blonde hair. julianna stared at him till the door swung open and all the chatter amidst had halted. "there will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class." professor snape immediately spoke as soon as he entered, strutting to the front of the class. "as such, i don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. however, for those select few," his empty eyes glance at draco, "who possess the predisposition. i can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. i can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death." draco hung onto his every word, julianna looked bored.

snape caught harry not paying attention (even though he was actually writing down every word he was saying), "then again, maybe some of you have come to hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention." snape uttered the last few words loudly, staring holes into harry's head but he still seemed to not have noticed. julianna panicked and nudged harry's elbow gently, who looked at her before looking at snape while lowering his quill slowly.

"mr. potter. our new celebrity." the professor walked closer towards them and julianna was internally cursing at her choice to sit next to the harry potter. the floor would've been a better choice! "tell me, what would i get if i added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" snape asked and a bushy haired girl sitting on the other side of julianna shot her hand up instantly. harry only shook his head, not knowing the answer. "you don't know? well, let's try again. where, mr potter, would you look if i asked you to find me a bezoar?" again the girl from beside julianna raised her hand faster than she could blink.

julianna was confused. sure, harry's the boy who lived but he's parents had passed, right? he's been living with muggles definitely, how would he know any of this? julianna felt the need to save him from this but it was hard, she didn't want to lose points for hufflepuff in doing so. "i don't know, sir." "and what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" okay, now this was just sad. "pity. clearly, fame isn't everything. is it, mr. potter?" "professor, since harry doesn't quite know much about magical herbs and fungi, maybe you could ask someone else that knows?" julianna spoke up, "like her?" she pointed at the girl who was now standing up with her hand reaching towards the ceiling. snape looked at julianna with an unreadable expression before walking around the first table and grabbing a seat directly in front of them. "put your hand down, you silly girl." he told her then averted his gaze back to the gryffindor and hufflepuff.

"if you want me to ask another student then fine. why don't you tell me what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" snape asked julianna, thankfully, herbs and greens were her specialty, so she didn't need to read a book to know this. "there is none. they're the same plant and they also go by another name, aconite." she confidently answers, praying the information didn't somehow change while she said it. draco stared at her in astonishment and confusion, remembering that she doesn't like reading so how'd she know? 

the long-haired professor stared at her for a while, "hm, and what about the asphodel and wormwood? the bezoar?" now, she was screwed. "i don't know much about those, sir." she quietly muttered, her cheeks turning pink out of embarrassment. snape only scoffed, "for your information, potter," he turned back towards harry, "asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the draught of the living dead. a bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. as for monkshood and wolfsbane, as ms. candy has explained, they are the same plant." julianna cringed in her seat, this was a bad first class. "well, why aren't you all copying this down?" he asked loudly and soon the sound of books being opened and quills being dipped in ink filled the room. snape went back to his desk but not without a last word, "and gryffindors, note that a point will be taken for your classmate's cheek." harry looked guilty, "and hufflepuffs, a point will be awarded for ms. candy's coincidental knowledge of herbs." now, julianna was looking extra guilty. she didn't mean to do that, she felt horrible. she glanced over at harry who was still staring angrily at snape. she opened up her notebook and chose to stay silent for the rest of the class.

everyone was then put into pairs and to julianna's dismay, she was partnered up with draco. she didn't miss how he was snickering when snape was picking on harry and she didn't like that. "julianna." draco greeted, "talking to me again, are you?" julianna jokes, nudging him in the shoulder. "are you really taking sides with potter now?" his sudden words made the girl extremely baffled, "sides? there are sides?" she asked incredulously, her eyes widening. draco furrowed his eyebrows. "yes." he simply replies, "well, then i'm on my side! are you telling me i can't be friends with you if i become friends with harry?" it didn't show, but julianna was rather angry. "well, no- but, yes!" draco's argument was confusing the hufflepuff and her head was already buzzing from the lesson at hand. "look, draco, i'm not going to not make friends with other people you don't like just for the sake of not liking them. i like having you as my friend and i hope we can continue to be friends regardless if i do become harry's friend." the frown on the boy's face stayed there but he uttered a tiny 'fine' which made julianna extremely happy. character development! sort of.

besides that argument, the pair made an excellent team. draco read the instructions, not before mentioning, "since you don't like reading so much, i'll read the instructions for you." with his signature malfoy smirk, earning him a light punch, while julianna added the ingredients and stirred. as she stirred however, snape had turned his attention to them. "mr. malfoy, you would do well to assist ms. candy on her stirring. any faster and this could-" snape was interrupted by a puff of green smoke and a shriek. the three looked behind and saw that the contents in neville and his partner's cauldron had burned the cauldron itself and was now on the floor, melting people's shoes. "idiot boy! i suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" snape was definitely livid at that. draco sniggered and was about to say something bad about neville before he realised who he was talking to and held back his words. julianna turned to him, "you're not going to say something mean about what just happened?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. draco blinked and shook his head. "i'll keep my thoughts to myself." this made julianna smile.

"also, how'd you know monkshood and wolfsbane were the same?" draco asked, "oh, my grandmother has a garden and i tend to it. i know everything there is to know about plants and flowers. at least, i think. there's probably a lot more i don't know about them, like for instance..." and this went on and on whilst they worked on their potion, which made the slytherin regret his question partly. on the other hand, he enjoyed listening to her going on and on about her plant children back home.

when potions ended, she caught up to harry to apologise. "apologise? whatever for?" harry asked, confused. "i didn't mean to lose gryffindor points. i just wanted to help you." julianna pants out due to the fact she had to run to catch up with harry since she stayed back to ask snape a question or two about asphodel. 

"hey, it's not your fault..." harry paused when he realised he didn't know her first name, "julianna! julianna candy!" she smiled, he smiled back. "it's not your fault, julianna. it was all mine for those points." "more like just snape being biased towards gryffindor, again!" the redhead beside harry spoke up, julianna recognised him. "are you ron? fred and george's little brother?" she asked, he nodded. "ron weasley. nice to meet you." he held his hand up for her to shake and she does. "you too." "i'm hermione granger." the bushy haired girl from before came out of nowhere, startling julianna. "nice to meet you too, hermione." ron looked annoyed at the sudden sight of hermione, julianna was not going to ask why.

the four made their way towards the great hall since they had a free period and it was near mail time. "hey, candy!" julianna turned around and was surprised to see draco. "draco?" the trio looked at her and then him, utterly at a loss for words. "draco? you're friends with him?" ron whispered, disgusted. julianna didn't appreciate the judgement. 

"forgot your notebook." he told her, handing her said notebook. "oh! thanks, dray." the nickname caught everyone, and i mean, everyone, off guard. draco's face was a light shade of pink before he stormed off towards the great hall, almost running. julianna just hummed to herself, not realising how weirded out everyone still was. "let's go, guys." she says, walking about her business with the trio trailing after her.

julianna entered the great hall and bid the three goodbye, dashing towards the first hufflepuff she recognised. "ceddy, my favourite fourth year!" she exclaims, sitting on his left side. cedric smiled, "i'm the only fourth year i've seen you talk to." "yeah, i don't really like talking to people actually." julianna whispered jokingly, placing her sling bag next to her on the bench. julianna left cedric alone so he could focus on his work and decided to disturb the gryffindor table. 

"'ello, gryffindors! how're we doing on this fine morning?" "it's 12 in the afternoon, julianna." "codswallop! it's still morning in my books." hermione rolls her eyes at julianna's response. "mind if i sit here, neville?" she asked the nervous boy and shook his head shyly. 

the sound of a boy chanting a spell was so loud, harry just had to ask. "what's seamus trying to do to that glass of water?" ron glanced at who julianna assumed was seamus, who was neville's potions partner from before, and ron explained that he was trying to turn the water into rum. "actually managed a weak tea this morning, before-" ron was cut off by an explosion coming from seamus, the whole hall erupting in laughter. "oh, dear." julianna mutters, fanning away the smoke. suddenly, a squawk was heard. "ah, mail's here!" she heard ron announce and looked up before looking back down with a bored look on her face.

everyone had gotten either packages, letters or even both from their parents or guardians, while harry and julianna hadn't gotten anything. harry asked ron if he could borrow the newspaper that came with his mail and ron nodded. neville opened up a package from his grandmother, receiving a glass ball. "oh? a remembrall, nev?" julianna asked, her head leaning on her hand which was placed on the table. "i've read about those. when the smoke turns red, it means you've forgotten something." just as hermione explained, the remembrall glowed a bright scarlet. "the only problem is, i can't remember what i've forgotten!" neville says with a small frown, julianna pants him on the back. "s'okay neville! i'm sure it'll come to you some time." she reassures and he nods, putting the remembrall in his pocket.

he then looked at julianna, "did you not get any letters or packages from your nan, julianna?" he asked carefully, not wanting to indirectly insult her. julianna realised he knew, "nope. not surprised. she probably doesn't care enough to send even a tiny little note." she nonchalantly replied, taking out a sketchbook and starting to doodle. neville felt a tad bit guilty. "i'm sorry for-" "don't apologise, it was just a question. in fact, since you asked me one, may i ask you one?" the boy nodded, julianna breathes in. "are your parents... frank and alice longbottom?" she asked slowly, neville pursed his lips before shaking his head. "they are. your parents are maurice and ivy candy?" julianna gives him a melancholic smile, "fun to know we have something in common, eh, longbottom?" she joked and he cracked a smile, easy to say that this made them bond a little easier.

"reese, come look! she's awake!" a woman with dirty blonde hair calls for her husband, "yes, yes, i'm on my way!" her husband shouts back at her, coming out of the kitchen, going up the stairs while wiping his hands with a cloth. the couple looked at their infant with only love in their hearts. "she looks just like you! how unfair." the man complained, "now, now, she has your eyes, maurice." maurice nods, "hm, you're not wrong, ivy." he agrees with his wife, pulling her closer by the waist and placing a kiss on her temple. they leaned closer towards their baby. "hello, juli." ivy gushed, "you're doing it again." "what are you talking about?" "the baby voice?" "i am not!" the couple bantering makes baby julianna guffaw and giggle, "awh, she likes it when we fight." "don't be ridiculous, reese!" they continued to bicker until a loud crack and boom interrupted them, "oh? didn't realise it was raining." ivy said, about to look out the window but was stopped by maurice. "it isn't." he says lowly, pulling her back closer to him. "stay here with julianna. i'll check out what's happening." he tells her, clenching her hand in his before going out of the nursery room.

ivy nibbles her bottom lip nervously and turns back towards her child. "i'm sure daddy will be just fine. he'll be just fine." she reassured julianna, but it was more for reassuring herself. the house was so quiet, it scared ivy. suddenly, the sound of a man shouting and spurs of magic rang throughout the chilly home and ivy reached for her wand. placing a protective spell around julianna, ivy went out the nursery door and placed a spell on the entire room as well.

"maurice?!" she shouted for him, but no answer. when she reached the staircase, she saw the door had been opened. ivy raced down the staircase and out the door, looking around frantically. "maurice?!" she called out once more, only for her to get hit by a spell, putting her in a deep sleep.

the house was empty, cold, there was nothing there. nobody was there. only julianna.

julianna shoots up from her bed. panting with sweat dripping down the side of her forehead. "another dream? about dead people? merlin, it's always about dead people." julianna whispered to herself, rubbing her face with her palms. she often had dreams of her parents. she hated it.

she checked the time and it was about 4am. rolling out of bed, she heads towards her easel and grabs a canvas. it helped to paint it out, the dream. painting out the tiny details of the house, the tiny details of her nursery room. her grandmother had only ever told her about how they died and who killed them but rarely ever explained what they were like as people. julianna didn't know what her parents were like, how they acted, what their favourite colour was, she had no one else to ask. no one but hagrid. hm, hagrid. she could talk to him about it. she didn't want to disturb him though, so she erased the idea from her mind.

a few hours later, it was time for flying class. julianna was beyond psyched up for this one. no reading, no writing required, just pure broomstick action.

"don't fall on your face, candy." draco taunted, mostly jokingly. "in your dreams." actually, there was this one time in julianna's dreams where she fell off a broomstick but she was sure it was just a dream and not the future. all four houses lined up in two rows facing each other. julianna was next to harry and hermione and was on the opposite of draco, who was smirking at her constantly like an evil little git.

madam hooch was making her way to them. "good afternoon, class." "good afternoon, madam hooch." julianna was tempted to scratch her nose but she controlled herself. "welcome to your first flying lesson. well, what are you waiting for? everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. come on now, hurry up." madam hooch instructed and everyone did as told, "stick your right hand over the broom and say, 'up'." and soon, there were students shouting 'up' and brooms flying to their hands. harry, draco and julianna were the first of few to get it immediately. in fact, julianna's broom went up so fast, it slapped her in the palm. "ow!" she exclaimed, alerting harry. "are you alright?" he whispered and julianna nodded, smiling. draco's smirk left his face while watching the interaction.

once everyone had gotten their brooms up after madam hooch told them to do it with "more feeling" (ron's broom entirely smacked him in the face, causing others around him to snicker), it was time to mount them and take off. "when i blow my whistle, i want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard." at the sound of the whistle, neville's broom suddenly had floated up on its own. "neville?!" a few student murmured and shouted at him, even madam hooch was concerned. it was like his broom had gone rogue, taking him up and down, left and right, all around the yard. the poor boy then got stuck on one of the statues before falling to the ground, ending up injuring his wrist.

julianna was worried but madam hooch had told them to stay put on the ground while she took neville to the hospital wing, so it was unlikely she could follow. draco rushed to neville's original spot and grabbed his remembrall that had fallen out during the incident. "d'you see his face? maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat arse." "draco!" draco's words have julianna scolding him, giving him a dirty look. "what? am i wrong?" he asked her, harry had enough. "give it here, malfoy." his words make draco turn around with a scowl on his face, "no. i think i'll leave it somewhere for longbottom to find." draco stepped on his broom and floated away dramatically before mounting his broomstick properly, "how about on the roof?" he suggested, flying up high.

oh, now he's done it. julianna was pissed. you can't be prejudiced against houses and blood status, and be fatphobic! that's just too much. "come down, right now, draco!" she shouted at him, a more-than-angry look on her face. draco contemplated it but after seeing how upset harry looked, julianna's words completely left his mind. "what's the matter, potter? bit beyond your reach?" he asked with a mean grin plastered on his face, harry then started mounting his broom. "harry, no way! you heard what madam hooch said. besides, you don't even know how to fly!" and harry flew anyway despite hermione's reminders, "what an idiot." she muttered, julianna sighed.

the two boys flew around each other for a bit before draco decided to throw the remembrall far away, leaving harry to zoom after it on his broom. when draco flew back down he was met with a harsh look from julianna, who only 'hmph'-ed and turned around to watch and see if harry would be able to catch neville's belonging.

of course, he did. it's harry bloody potter we're talking about. "well done, harry!" julianna congratulates, running up to him. harry blushed at all the praise he was receiving from everyone. "harry potter!" professor mcgonagall spawned out of nowhere, calling out to harry. "follow me." she told him and draco was back to being content. "uh oh." julianna muttered, harry turned around and handed the remembrall to her. "give this back to neville, could you?" he asked and she smiled, "of course." and harry went off to follow professor mcgonagall. 

"merlin's beard! that was bloody fantastic! lucky he didn't heed your warnings, eh, hermione?" hermione rolled her eyes at julianna's words, "well, it could've gone worse if harry wasn't a natural! he could've been injured and neville's remembrall would have broke!" the bushy-haired gryffindor reasoned, "yes, yes, but that didn't happen!" the hufflepuff exclaimed, clenching the remembrall in her fist. "which reminds me, need to go hand this to neville. i'll see you!" she bids the two gryffindors goodbye and skipped all the way to the hospital wing, humming to herself happily. 

it's great and all, what harry can do, but she couldn't stop thinking about draco. if only he weren't such an insufferable bully, she wouldn't have so many contemplations.

❥ melt your heart | chapter three

pairing: draco malfoy x oc genre: best friends to lovers! slow burn! warnings: TROLL IN THE DUNGEON word count: 3.3k masterlist: melt your heart last chapter: chapter two next chapter: chapter four

THE HOSPITAL WING was empty except for the only patient there, neville. "'ello, nevs. how's the wrist doing?" julianna asked him, neville mustered up a smile. "madam pomfrey tended to it. should be healed up in no time. it's okay, i'm used to getting injured by now." his reply brings julianna to a frown, "best be more careful then? don't want your limbs disappearin' all a sudden." she joked and handed him the glass ball, "here's your remembrall. i'm sorry about draco, he's just a big, stinking bully." she apologised and neville shook his head, "i should stand up to him, b-but i just- i'm too scared." "and hey, that's alright. move at your own pace. it's already a huge improvement that you do want to stand up to malfoy." julianna comforted him, patting him on the shoulder.

when madam pomfrey came back, she had said neville could be discharged and so they walked off to their respective classes. sadly for julianna, her class was history of magic with ravenclaw. it went by slower than slower could go by, and that says a lot. however, once it was finished and she came out of the classroom, she was faced with whispers around her about how harry was the new gryffindor seeker. immediately, she rushed off to see him.

she found them staring at a trophy case. "gryffindor's brand new seeker?! amazing!" she gushed and harry turned a bright shade of pink, "it's not that amazing." "oh, but it is!" julianna insisted and then she caught what the three of them were looking at,  "merlin! your father was a seeker too?" the revelation shocks her, harry nodded as his eyes roamed around the case and saw something. "seemed like your father was one too?" he asked and julianna almost snapped her neck at how fast she looked. there stood, in all its glory, a plaque with the name 'maurice candy' written on it. julianna tip toed as high as she could to admire it, "he was a seeker?" she whispered to herself, her eyes glistening.

"he's a bloody seeker?!" she exclaimed in a high register, startling the three gryffindors. "could've been something better like a beater but he's a seeker?! no offense, harry." she turned to him and he had a deadpanned look on his face. "gee, none taken." he rolled his eyes playfully, "what's wrong with seeker?"  ron asked, "well, it's kind of overrated, don't you think? either way, it's just my preference. i like the beaters' position much better." julianna crosses her arms, "well, what's your mother's name?" hermione asked, her eyes observing the awards. "ivy purice." "oh, look at that. she's a beater for slytherin." hermione's words had julianna scrambling over to her spot, "where?!" "right there! look with your eyes, not your elbows!" julianna glares at hermione for the nagging and looks at the plaque. it was right there, her mother's name with the words beater over it. this meant the entire world to julianna, learning something new about her parents.

the four of them walked up to the gryffindor common room, the three said julianna could tag along for a bit since she needed hermione's help with history of magic. ron was telling harry how spooky it is that hermione knew more about him than he knew himself, when all of a sudden, the stairs started moving. "what's happening?!" harry exclaimed, "the staircases change, remember?" hermione reminded them, "let's go this way." harry chanted once the staircase stopped moving, "yeah, before this staircase moves again." ron commented.

the four of them headed up to the third floor and went through the door, only to realise this was a place they really shouldn't be in if they didn't want to die a most painful and horrible death, as dumbledore had said. the corridor was dark and dusty, not to mention creepy. "let's go." harry said when a fire lit up the more they walked forward but it was too late, for filch's cat, mrs. norris, was already behind them.

"oh, bugger! filch's cat!" julianna hissed, "shoo, mrs. norris, shoo!" she attempted to get her away but alas, it did not work because she is a cat, and cats listen to nobody. "run!" harry exclaimed and the four of them ran through the corridor until they stumbled upon a door. "quick, let's hide through that door!" julianna went to go open it but it didn't budge one bit. "it's locked!" she cried, "that's it, we're done for!" ron cried as well, "oh, move over!" hermione snapped, pushing both of them out of the way. she pointed her wand at the lock and casted a spell, "alohomora." with that, the door opened.

the four skedaddled into the previously locked room and closed the door. "alohomora?" "standard book of spells, chapter seven." hermione explains to ron who was confused with what spell she just used. harry and julianna looked at the room while the other two were talking, "filch is gone." hermione announced, "probably thought the door was locked." "and for good reason." harry and julianna said in sync as the four saw the reason why the room was locked.

before them stood a black, gigantic, three-headed dog that had just awoken from it's sleep. the four screamed and the dogs growled in return. they hurriedly exited the terrifying room and shut the door as quickly as they could before the dogs could attack them.

from there, julianna departed from them and headed towards her own common room, too shaken up to care about the homework she needed help with. 'that was horrid.' she thought, hugging herself as she made her way through the kitchen, accidentally bumping into a house elf. "oh! sorry!" she apologised to the tiny creature, "oh, young master candy needn't apologise to ditzy gilpy. it twas gilpy's fault." the house elf, gilpy, bowed, julianna had seen her around the kitchens before, she made lovely cookies. "no, gilpy. it was entirely my fault, i wasn't focusing. take the apology, yeah?" she smiled at gilpy and gilpy reluctantly nodded before going back to her duties.

when julianna reached the hufflepuff common room, she saw ernie macmillan was reading a book near the fire, three other hufflepuffs were conversing at one of the tables and hannah and susan were doing their homework at one of the tables as well. julianna dashed straight towards them, placing her book bag onto the seat before sitting down herself.

"where've you been, juli?" hannah asked, looking up from her stressful potions homework. "oh- uh- um-" julianna had no idea what to say, she was stumped to say the least. "was trying to find hermione granger and ask her to help me with history of magic. didn't find her." she lied, opening up her bag and taking out her history of magic textbook. "do you need me to help?" susan volunteered but julianna only shook her head, "to be entirely honest, i only wanted to ask hermione 'cause if i pretend i don't understand anything at all, she'll do my homework for me indirectly." julianna gives the two a cheeky smile as they roll their eyes with smiles on their faces.

julianna was heading to charms class when draco had sauntered next to her. "candy." he greeted but julianna didn't respond. she hadn't talked to him since the incident with neville's remembrall. "what? are you still not talking to me?" he scoffed in disbelief, julianna pretended not to hear him. "what do you want me to say? sorry?" still, no answer. draco sighed out of frustration, "fine, i'm sorry. happy?" nope, nothing. the blonde boy groaned, "you can't ignore me forever, juli." wrong! she can.

"could you tell me how to get you back to talking to me?" draco pleaded, now, this, this was a surprise to julianna. did he miss her that much? she puts her finger up, signalling him to wait till they reach the charms classroom. they walked in silence and when they reached the classroom, they decided to sit next to each other.

she took out her parchment, quill and ink, only to start writing something on it. she handed it over to draco, the note read:

hello, draco. if you want me to start speaking to you again, you need to apologise. not to me, but to neville. if not, i will no longer speak to you for the rest of my remaining days here at hogwarts.

draco's eyeballs nearly bulged out of their sockets reading the bloody note. "apologise?! to longbottom?!" he repeated out loud, julianna nodded. draco thought about it, she only said during her days at hogwarts, so he would just have to wait for another seven years before being able to talk to her again. he could totally survive that! no, he can't. he'll literally pass away. with a distressed sigh, he gave in. "okay, fine! i'll apologise to longbottom later! can you please just talk to me now for the time being?" draco asked, the hufflepuff thought about it but shook her head.

then, she had no choice but to talk to him because professor flitwick had partnered them up. luckily, this spell was quite individualistic so she didn't really see the need to talk to him.

"wingardium leviosa!" julianna swished and flicked her wand as the charms professor had instructed but to no avail, the feather stood still. julianna was never really good at charms, she just didn't have the talent for it. draco saw her struggle. "try saying the words on the same beat as the swish and flick. like this." draco demonstrated it but didn't carry out the spell, the hufflepuff tried to follow but it was no use, the feather still wouldn't float up. soon, hermione's feather had gone up and seamus' had blown up. nothing new really.

at her last attempt, the feather managed to float up and julianna let out a giggle. "i did it, draco!" "mm, that didn't take you long to talk to me again." and julianna immediately went silent, "oh great. gone back to the silent treatment d'ya?" he complained and julianna slightly nods, "i'll-" he sighs heavily once more, "apologise to longbottom later." he finishes his sentence and casts the spell, his feather going up at once and julianna smiles without him noticing.

after the class, draco and julianna had cornered neville(he struggled a bit because he thought they were going to beat him up), he couldn't believe the fact that draco malfoy was apologising to him but he knew it was all thanks to julianna and he appreciated it, draco sounded pretty sincere. the rest of the day the slytherin and hufflepuff hung out until dinner arrived, draco told crabbe and goyle to go off on their own, underneath a tree near the black lake.

"are you sure we're allowed to be here, dray?" she asked, draco leaned back onto the stump. "who cares? i need a break from all that incessant learning." he groaned, closing his eyes while julianna sat next to him and opened up her sketchbook. the blonde opened up one of his eyes and peered over her shoulder, "you draw?" he asked, julianna let out a tiny 'mhm' as she started drawing a base of the lake before them. they sat in silence for hours, just enjoying each other's company. "draco?" "yeah?" "do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a bird?" draco stares at her for a while, "no, why the bloody hell would i do something like that?" he asked, puzzled. julianna sighed and leaned back, coincidentally leaning slightly on his shoulder but draco doesn't do anything to move her.

"i mean, to fly, to be free, from expectations and responsibilities. just fly constantly." she explained, looking at the water as she did some finishing touches on her sketch. draco stayed silent. he wasn't going to lie, he would like that. "done!" she shouted and a few birds in the tree they were laying under flew away. "merlin, you scared the birds away, candy floss." he muttered, earning julianna's attention. "candy floss?" she leaned her head to the left as she looked at him before grinning widely, "i like that." she said making draco blush, "what d'you think?" she then showed him her sketch.

it was a sketch of the black lake as expected. what draco wasn't expecting was for there to be a mini tree with a mini her and mini him laying underneath it. "i think it's..." lovely, was one of the words he could have said but being an eleven year old boy who didn't want his feelings to come across, "horrid. my hair doesn't look like that from the back!" he exclaimed, pointing at the drawing. julianna looks perplexed, "turn around for a moment." draco follows, "yep. it looks just like this." draco snapped his head at her, huffing. julianna only cackles before looking back at her sketch. "hm. guess i'll just throw this one away since it turned out bad." she said, tearing out of the sketchbook and as she was about to crumple it up, the boy cried out a "no!" before snatching it. "uh, i mean- i'll throw it for you." draco cleared his throat, turning around the tree stump and crunching up a few leaves, pretending to be crumping up the piece of paper.

julianna only smirked, knowing he probably didn't do that and is probably folding it up real nice to keep in his pocket. she looked at the time and realised it was time for the halloween dinner which she was itching to go to. "it's time for the dinner!" she announced, standing up and dusting her skirt off. julianna placed her sketchbook back into her book bag and slung it over her shoulder. "let's go!" she urged the boy who seemed to just want to continue resting under the tree. it took her a total of 15 minutes to pull him from his spot and head to the great hall.

when they reach the great hall, they bid each other goodbye before heading to their own tables. "hello, everyone!" she greeted susan, hannah, ernie and justin finch-fletchey. "hey, had fun with malfoy?" hannah asked with a raised eyebrow, "now, who said i was with malfoy?" "i did, because i saw you with him near the black lake." the blonde continued, crossing her arms. "well, i'm allowed to hang out with whoever i want, no?" julianna asked, "yes, but be careful with him. he's a horrid person." julianna frowned, sure, he was mean, but he wasn't horrible, right? she ignored the conversation the rest had as she turned around to look at the gryffindor table and realised something weird. hermione granger was nowhere in sight.

weird. she rarely ever misses, well, anything. the doors then slammed open. "troll! in the dungeon! troll in the dungeon!" screeched professor quirrell who came running into the hall, pointing behind him. the entire hall had gone dead silent, the only thing heard was the storm outside. "thought you ought to know." quirrell muttered before fainting, falling to the ground. then, everyone started screaming in panic, dropping all their food and getting out of their seats to scramble out the great hall. julianna sat still, "what can a troll do?" she whispered to herself, confused. "silence!" dumbledore bellowed and the hall become silent once more, "everyone will please not panic." he announced, "now, prefects will lead their house back to the dormitories. teachers will follow me to the dungeons." and soon the chaos became organised chaos.

"alright, first years! come on!" gabriel ushered, not wanting to be near the great hall at all. "hurry! our common room is only one floor down so it won't take too long to get there!" he makes sure each of them are following him but misses when julianna tagged along with the gryffindors to ask harry and ron where hermione was.

when she reached them, the two boys had stopped walking. "julianna-" "where's hermione?" she asked frantically, the boys looked at each other. "oh, no." "she's in the girl's bathroom! we've got to go help her!" harry says and all three of them head back to the staircase. as they made their way there, they spotted a big shadow. "i think the troll's left the dungeon." harry pulled the two behind a wall to hide from the troll as it walked by, "it's going into the girl's bathroom!" julianna says, chasing after the creature. "wait, julianna! wait for us!" harry exclaimed, him and ron trailing after her.

as the three burst into the girl's lavatory, the troll is seen destroying all the stalls with it's club. "hermione! move!" julianna shouted, spotting the girl on the floor inside the stalls. hermione moved under all the walls before cowering to the farthest side of the restroom. her wails for help continued as the boys decided to throw broken wood at the troll to distract it. hermione runs to hide under a sink but it doesn't help one bit. harry takes out his wand and grabs onto the troll's club before landing on its neck, his wand getting stuck in its nose. julianna tries to get pass the troll by ducking underneath while it was distracted with harry, she grabs hermione and brings her back to the other side near the door. "do something!" harry shouted as the troll held onto him by his leg, "i'll go call a teacher! ron, do something!" julianna tells them before running out the door to find at least just one professor.

lucky for her, she stumbled across three. "professors! i found troll! harry in trouble!" she said between pants, holding her knees. mcgonagall, snape and quirrell look at each other before following after julianna without any questions. by the time they arrived, the troll was dead asleep on the ground. "woah! you guys did it!" she said happily, but professor mcgonagall was more relieved.

"you two!" she pointed at harry and ron, "explain yourselves!" she demanded, "well, what it is-" "you see, professor-" "it's my fault, professor mcgonagall." both boys were cut off by hermione, "miss granger?" "i went looking for the troll. i'd read about them and thought i could handle it, but i was wrong. if harry, ron and julianna hadn't come and found me, i'd probably be dead." the other three couldn't believe their ears. hermione granger lying? to a teacher? no, teachers? they all had looks of disbelief on their faces.

"be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do. i would've expected more rational behaviour on your part and am very disappointed in you, ms. granger. five points will be taken from gryffindor for your serious lack of judgement." professor mcgonagall scolded hermione before turning to the other three, "as for you two gentlemen, i just hope you realise how fortunate you are. not many first-year students could take on a full grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale! five points will be awarded to each of you for sheer dumb luck." ron and harry smile, satisfied with themselves. mcgonagall looked at julianna, "five points to you as well, ms. candy. thank you for coming straight to us to inform of the situation." julianna smiled, "thank you, professor." mcgonagall and snape then leave before quirrell told them they'd better leave as well before the troll woke up.

as the four left the bathroom, harry thanked hermione for getting them out of trouble. "mind you, we did save her life." "mind you, she might not have needed saving if you hadn't insulted her." harry shot back at ron, "what are friends for?" he asked to hermione who only smiled at him, "so that's why she was missing from dinner, was wondering where you went, 'mione." julianna nudged hermione's shoulder with her own as they grinned at each other. safe to say that the four definitely got much closer after that incident.

❥ melt your heart | chapter four

pairing: draco malfoy x oc genre: best friends to lovers! slow burn! warnings: light angst, talking about dead parents word count: 3.5k masterlist: melt your heart last chapter: chapter three next chapter: chapter five

THE THREE STARE at harry with worried eyes. "take a bit of toast, mate, go on." ron encouraged, "yeah, you're gonna need your strength harry." julianna tells him, rubbing his back. "i'm not hungry." harry simply said, pushing his plate away. suddenly, snape came up to them. "good luck today, potter. then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll. a little game of quidditch should be easy work for you." he tells him, "even if it is against slytherin." he added before walking away in his usual snape-like fashion.

"that man is extremely confusing. his walk is brilliant though." julianna admitted, admiring the way the potions master dashed away with his cloak following after him. "that explains the blood." harry commented as he watched him walk away, "blood?" julianna asked, "listen, last night, i'm guessing snape let the troll in as a diversion so he could try and get past that three-headed dog but he got himself bitten, that's why he's limping." harry's explanation made julianna flabbergasted.

"i'm sorry, you think professor snape, our potions teacher, let that ghastly troll in, endangering students' lives, in order to get past that three-headed dog from the forbidden corridor?" she tried to understand and harry nodded, "why would he want to do that exactly? i mean, what would it achieve?" "that dog is guarding something. it was standing over a trap door." "you had time to look at its paws?" hermione ignores julianna's incredulous question. "the day i was at gringotts, to get some money out, hagrid took something out of one of the vaults. he said it was hogwarts business, very secret." harry explained further, looking at all three of them. "so, you're saying-" "that's what the dog's guarding. that's what snape wants." harry was so sure of himself that it worried julianna. "harry, i don't think you should jump to conclusions so fast. why would professor snape even want whatever was in that vault?" a squawk then interrupted their conversation, harry's owl, hedwig, swooped down, letting go a package for harry. "bit early for mail, isn't it?" hermione commented, "but i never get mail." a perplexed harry muttered, the four decide to open the package together.

when they opened the package, it revealed to be a a sleek broomstick. "it's a broomstick." harry said, "not just any broomstick, harry!" "it's a nimbus 2000!" ron and julianna exclaimed excitedly, their eyes roaming all over the object. even oliver wood, the gryffindor keeper and captain, was gawking over it. julianna followed the lightning-scarred boy's sight and saw professor mcgonagall petting hedwig. "must be a gift for your match today, potter." julianna teased him, winking and harry smiled contently.

hours passed by quite fast, everyone's excitement for the first match of the season made time go faster. julianna spent most of her day with neville, and they got seats next to each other on the gryffindor bleachers. the brunette was nervous for harry's first game but knew he could handle it.

once the game had begun, there was no surprise that slytherin was already doing some foul play but gryffindor had 20 points by the time harry had found the snitch. suddenly, harry's broomstick was jerking left and right, similar to what happened with neville's. "what's happening?" julianna asked hermione, shouting over all the noise. "it looks bewitched!" she added as the gryffindor looked through her binoculars, "it's snape! he's jinxing the broom!" "what?!" julianna had a hard time believing snape was trying to kill harry. when hermione went to go "deal with it", the hufflepuff snatched the binoculars from ron to look at where snape was. yep, he was definitely chanting something. then she looked a little higher up and observed quirrell, his eyes weren't moving and his body was jerking back and forth slightly. "something isn't right." julianna muttered to herself as she stopped looking through the binoculars. however, it didn't matter because now harry was back on his broomstick, safe and sound.

gryffindor had won, of course. harry had ended up swallowing the snitch. luckily, there was no rule against that, so no harm was done. the whole crowd, excluding the slytherins, cheered for the young boy, the youngest quidditch player in a century, chanting 'go, go, gryffindor!' over and over again. julianna was happy her friend succeeded in his first game of quidditch ever.

after the game the four of them decided to go see hagrid and tell him about snape bewitching harry's broom. "nonsense! why would snape put a curse on harry's broom?" hagrid asked, "who knows? why was he trying to get past that three-headed dog on halloween?" the half-giant gave them a look, "who told you about fluffy?" "fluffy?" "that thing has a name?" ron and hermione said simultaneously. "of course he's got a name. he's mine. i bought him off an irish feller i met down at the pub last year. then i lent him to dumbledore to guard the..." "yes?" as soon as hagrid realised where this conversation was going to go, he cut himself off.

"shouldn't have said that. no more questions! don't ask anymore questions! that's top secret, that is." he tells the children who huffed, "but hagrid, whatever fluffy's guarding, snape's trying to steal it." "codswallop. professor snape is a hogwarts teacher." hermione stepped forward, "hogwarts teacher or not, i know a spell when i see one. i've read all about them. you've got to keep eye contact, and snape wasn't blinking." her words made julianna remember back to what she saw professor quirrell was doing, "actually, what ab-" "now, you listen to me, all four of you." hagrid interrupted julianna before she could explain what she saw, "you're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in. it's dangerous." he warned, "what that dog is guarding is strictly betweem professor dumbledore and nicholas flamel." the four looked at each other, "nicholas flamel?" harry asked and hagrid realised he did it again. "i shouldn't have said that. i should not have said that." he muttered as he walked away from them and now the group had a new question, who is nicholas flamel? well, i can tell you julianna could care less, the last thing she wanted to do was die from being stupid.

the next week, it had started snowing. the grounds of hogwarts were covered in snow, even hogwarts itself. everyone was getting ready to go back home for the holidays, everyone except julianna, harry, ron and the rest of the weasleys.

in her purple-maroon scarf, julianna made her way to the great hall. she was surprised to see draco there with his suitcase, holding a tiny box. "merry christmas, draco!" she greeted, incredibly jolly. draco smiles at her cheeriness, "merry christmas, juli." he greets back before handing over the tiny box. julianna stared at it for a while before pointing at herself, "for me?" "yes, it is. why else would i be handing it over to you, candy?" he rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand, placing the box in her hand. "don't open it till christmas day, alright? bye." draco's random rush to leave confused julianna, "wait! i didn't get you anything!" she calls after him and he stops walking, "it's okay, you've already given me enough." "...enough of what?" "headaches- ow!" his joke received a heavy punch from the hufflepuff, "arsehole!" she shouted but the slytherin only smiled smugly, "i'll see you after the holidays, candy." they bid each other goodbye, not without julianna telling him to write to her for if he didn't, he won't ever see the light of day ever again.

she stared smiling at his fading figure before two certain redheads place their hands on her shoulders. "now, what do we have here?" fred and george asked in unison, they were in their weasley jumpers with the letters of their first initial on it. they snatch the tiny box out of julianna's tiny hands. "hey, give it back!" she whined, the two exchange mischievous looks. "why? is it from-" "-someone special?" "what? d'you-" "-fancy malfoy?" julianna's eyebrows furrowed, frowning at the pair. she grabbed the box back and tucked into her pocket. "are you still up for joining us?" "for the merry of christmas pranking?" they wiggled their eyebrows and the hufflepuff smiles before giving them a hearty 'yep'. "also, our mum wanted you to have this." fred handed her a thick, pink, perfectly wrapped present, "ever since we told her about you in our letters, she's been bugging us about giving you a present on christmas." george explained, julianna was touched. their mother has never even met her and still gave her a present for christmas? is she a saint?

"oh, tell her i said thank you so much! i didn't get her one though." the brunette frowned, the twins snort. "please, your thanks is gift enough." "if it makes you feel any better," "you can give her a christmas present next year." they say back and forth before leaving out the great hall. "merry christmas, jules." hermione said from behind her, julianna turned around and saw she had her luggage with her. "merry christmas, 'mione!" they hugged and the girl gives her a gift, "it's not much but you mentioned you liked lanterns a few weeks back and i found this." the gift was a key chain of a lantern, "this is the best part." hermione whispered, taking out her wand and tapping the keychain with it three times. the lantern started to glow and patterns of flowers and vines could be seen on it. julianne was in awe, "thank you! i love it so much!" she gave her a bear hug before taking out a flat package out of her bag, "this is for you. i think you'll like it." she tells her, "i was thinking of getting a book but honestly, i'm pretty sure you've already read everything in existence." the two laughed and decided to go see what harry and ron were up to, seeing as they were sitting at the tables.

they were playing wizard's chess which hermione had deemed barbaric as ron smirked, "that's wizard's chess. i see you've packed." the redhead fired at her, "i see you haven't." hermione fired back, "change of plans. my parents decided to go to romania to visit my brother, charlie. he's studying dragons there." ron explained and hermione crossed her arms. "good. you can help harry, then." julianna looks at them with confusion in her eyes, "help harry with what?" she asked, "he's going to go and look in the library for information on nicholas flamel." "we've looked a hundred times!" ron exclaims at harry, hermione leaned closer to them. "not in the restricted section. happy christmas." and just as she was leaving, ron whispered to harry. "i think we've had a bad influence on her." julianna scoffed, "tell me about it." she said before going back to the subject at hand.

"why are we digging further into this when we really shouldn't?" she asked, taking a seat next to harry. "because we're trying to figure out what was in that vault." he said, "honestly, harry, think you should stay out of trouble." she tells him as ron left to go get something from the kitchen, "i just need to know what snape wants so badly-" "and how do you know it's really snape?" harry sighs, frustrated. "just look at the signs, juli!" "the signs aren't as clear as you make it out to be, harry." she tells him and they both go silent for a while.

julianna held her locket that was attached to her bag in her hand, a locket she's had since a baby. inside contained a photo of her parents, moving and smiling at her, kissing each other's cheeks. "are those your parents?" the boy asked and julianna nodded, "they're dead. i'm assuming you don't know." she smiled, "you're right, i didn't. i'm sorry-" "i never truly understood why people keep saying sorry as if it's their fault they died when it's my parents' own fault." she blankly shared her opinion and harry sat there taken aback. "hey, we have something in common. dead parents." she lightly jokes, smiling. her smile wasn't happy however, it was more morose. harry smiles the same smile, realising they did have something in common, something depressing, but it was something. they began to talk about what it would be like if their parents were still alive, would things be different or the same?

the two talked until ron came back and julianna decided to go back to her common room. there were barely any hufflepuffs who were staying back for their holidays, possibly two or three, but nobody she knew. spending the holidays wasn't unfamiliar to the candy, her grandmother barely tried to celebrate it, not even getting her a gift. julianna still got her grandmother a gift, usually something handmade, but she's never seen her hang the paintings she makes for her, or place the flowers she picked for her in a vase. she doesn't care.

julianna went up to her empty dormitory and grabbed pudding, placing her out of her area. "free roaming time starts now!" she tells the brown kitten, scratch beneath her tiny ear. the kitten mews and used the tiny steps to get up to her bed, finding a comfortable position to sleep in. julianna cracked open herself a new canvas and started painting whatever came to mind.

on christmas day, julianna woke up and went down to the common room that was so empty that if she spoke, it would echo. she sighed, spending christmas eve and day alone, how lovely. she opened up the weasleys' mother's present first, which inside was a baby pink jumper with the letter j on it and some homemade fudge. julianna was so ecstatic, she immediately put the jumper on. it was a little too big but she knew she would grow into it just fine. the next present was neville's, he'd given her a succulent which she had kind of figured since it was given in its pot with a bow wrapped around it. she had gotten a bunch of sweets and candy from ron and harry, even from cedric, hannah and susan.

last present she opened was the one draco had given her, a tiny yellow box with green accents and a silver bow on top. she opened the box and gasped, a pretty silver charm bracelet was laying in the box and a note was stuffed behind the pillow of the jewellery. julianna took out the note and it read:

"thanks for the drawing. my hair actually doesn't look that bad in it. i wasn't going to get you anything but i thought, why not?"

julianna grinned reading the note, she could hear draco's voice as she read it. she folded the note and put it inside her pocket before taking out the charm bracelet and sliding it onto her wrist. like magic, literally, it adjusted its own size to fit julianna's wrist. the charms of the bracelets included a snake, a badger, a flower and a leaf. 'that softy.' she thought, rolling her eyes as she admired the bracelet.

the next day, she grabbed pudding and left the common room with the kitten sitting on her shoulder. she made her way to the great hall for breakfast and along the way, the weasley twins joined her. "pudding is scrumptious-looking." fred says, staring at the brown feline who only mewed. "don't say weird things like that, fred, you'll scare the kitten." george scolds, "don't look too scared to me." fred raises an eyebrow at his brother while julianna only shook her head as they entered the great hall.

everyone had breakfast together, julianna placed pudding on the table and the kitten laid down next to the eggs. julianna noticed harry was off at another table, staring at the fire and sitting by himself. "ronnikins, what's wrong with harry?" she asked the boy who was stuffing his face full, "he's recently discovered something, it's a mirror, and he saw his parents in it. i know that's what he's thinking about- and also, don't call me that! merlin, fred and george are starting to rub off on you." he huffed before going back to his sausages, julianna wiped her mouth. "george, look after pudding for me, would you? i'll be right back." george nods, stroking the kitten's head.

julianna stumbled across the tables and made her way over to the golden boy. "morning, harry." she only received a mumble of 'morning' back, "i heard from ron you've found a mirror? you can see your parents in it?" her mentioning it snaps harry back into reality and he looks at her. he nods, "well, how were they?" "warm, but cold. they looked warm, but i couldn't feel them." he explained, "i look just like my father." he spoke so quietly but julianna could hear it clearly. she understood what he was feeling. "maybe you could take me to see them?" "i can't. i took ron and he couldn't see them. only himself as the quidditch captain, winning the quidditch and house cup." julianna snorts, 'typical ron.' she thought, "well, that's ron, and i'm me, so let's go see the mirror." harry nodded, "but we need to go after curfew." "what?! why?! and how?" the gryffindor then explained how he received an invisiblity cloak from someone but the note was anonymous and that he stumbled upon the mirror when he was running away from filch after sneaking into the restricted section of the library.

"harry, that's dangerous! you could get in serious-" "i know. i don't care." harry's straightforward attitude made julianna annoyed but she ignored it. "fine, we'll meet tonight in the kitchens and then go see the mirror."

when night fell, julianna got out of bed and freely hopped down the stairs. she could make as much noise as she wanted to and that was a gift. she opened the common room door and there stood harry. "hey! where's your cloak?" she asked, harry held it up as if to say 'right here'. the two got underneath it and made their ways through the hallways and corridors to an empty, dark and dusty room. there were desks and chairs stacked up at one side of the wall and on the other side stood the very mirror harry was talking about. julianna moved closer and read the reading on the top of the frame. "erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi..." a bunch of gibberish? wait, no, this wasn't even latin? this made julianna read it backwards. "i show not your face but your hearts desire." she read out loud but harry couldn't take his eyes off his reflection, or his parents.

"do you see them?" he asked her, julianna looked into the mirror but she didn't see harry's parents, she saw her own. "i see..." she trailed off, moving closer. "my parents." her parents were smiling at her, her mother waving at her like how she did in her dreams. her father leaned his head to the side and mouthed 'we love you'. from there, julianna could feel a single tear roll down her cheek as she clenched her locket, her fist turning white. the two of them sat before the mirror for hours, staring at their parents who were somewhat interacting with them.

around 3 o'clock in the morning, another voice was heard. "back again, harry? and you brought julianna along as well, hm?" the two turned around and saw a familiar, long white beard, immediately standing up, scared they were in trouble. "i see that you two, like so many before you have discovered the delights of the mirror of erised. i trust by now you realise what it does." harry shook his head while julianna nodded, "it shows us our hearts desires." she answered, dumbledore eyes twinkled as he walked towards them. "yes. the happiest man on earth would look into the mirror and see only himself exactly as he is." the analogy finally clicks in harry's mind, "so, it shows us what we want, whatever we want." dumbledore clicks his tongue, "yes, and no. it shows us nothing more or less, as ms. candy said, the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. now, you both, harry and julianna, who have never known your parents, you see them standing beside you." the two look back at the mirror, and their parents were still there, looking back at them.

"but the both of you must remember this. this mirror gives us neither knowledge or truth. man have wasted away in front of it, even gone mad. that is why tomorrow it will be moved to a new home, and i must ask you both not to go looking for it again. it does not do to dwell on dreams," for a moment, dumbledore looked at julianna only. as if he knew about the dreams she constantly had of her parents. "and forget to live." dumbledore warns them and leaves the two alone.

julianna and harry went back to their common rooms and julianna was left to her own thoughts. she sat on the couch near the fire, her parents' faces stuck in her mind. at times like this she wished draco was around so she could distract herself by talking with him but he wasn't there.

❥ melt your heart | chapter five

pairing: draco malfoy x oc genre: best friends to lovers! slow burn! warnings: draco being a SNITCH, that's about it word count: 4k masterlist: melt your heart last chapter: chapter four next chapter: chapter six

EVERYONE HAD COME back from their holidays and the first thing julianna did was thank draco for his gift with an enormous hug. the boy's face turned into a bright red at the action before pushing her off and saying that it was nothing, crossing his arms and looking away. they talked about what they did over the holidays. draco spent his time with his mother and julianna talked about all the dumb pranks her and the weasley twins pulled on filch. the slytherin may not like weasleys but he did admit the pranks were pretty funny.

she had also been bear-hugged by hermione who thanked her for the pretty, black, bedazzled hairband she gave her. "well, you know since your hair is so poofy. i thought you would like something to keep it out of your face!" julianna explained and hermione smiled, saying she would always wear it only for special occasions since she wanted to preserve it like the nerd she is.

when classes started again, julianna spent the most of her time with hermione. "i know you're only here so you can indirectly make me do your homework!" "okay, but you're just so good at it!" julianna sheepishly responded and the bushy haired girl rolled her eyes, going back to her work. ron was playing around with his cards and hermione started lecturing him about exams. harry and julianna snicker at the two. "that's insulting! it's as if they don't trust us!" ron exclaimed when hermione told him about the anti-cheating bewitched quills, "he's kind of proving their point." julianna whispered to harry since just before ron said he could copy off of hermione during the exams. "dumbledore again!" he cried, throwing the card onto the table only for harry to pick it up.

in comes neville bouncing with both his legs bound together. "leg-locker curse?" ron muttered and harry immediately stated it was malfoy. "hey, don't assume." julianna said before turning to neville, "nev, what happened?" "malfoy put a leg-locker curse on me." okay, she couldn't face harry now. "you have got to start standing up to people, neville." "how?! i can barely stand at all!" neville exclaimed, seamus suddenly stood up and held his wand. "i'll do the countercurse!" "no, that's all i need! you to set my bloody kneecaps on fire!" seamus looks offended by his words and slams his wand down on the table. "i don't appreciate the insinuation, longbottom! besides, if anyone cared to notice my eyebrows have completely grown back!" as he stomped away, everyone didn't miss the fact a patch of his hair at the back was still bald. "yikes." julianna muttered to hermione who held back a chuckle.

"i found him!" harry suddenly yelled, referring to the card. "dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard grindelwald in 1945. for the discovery of the twelves uses of dragon blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, nicholas flamel!" ron read out loud, "i knew the name sounded familiar! i read it on the train that day." harry said as hermione packed up her things, "follow me!" she exclaimed and the other three trailed after her, "hey! wait! where are you going?" neville shouted after them but only julianna turned around. "what about the countercurse?" he asked, the brunette pulled out her wand from her cloak. "locomotor liberari! okay, bye nev!" she waved as she dashed away to catch up to the other three, somehow, neville still fell over.

as soon as they arrived at the library, hermione went off to go find a book as harry, ron and julianna sat down at one of the tables. julianna was doing the usual, drawing whatever she could see, and today her subject was ron. "what are you doodlin' at?" he asked, trying to see. she held up the book, "you!" and showed a rather exaggerated sketch of ron and his features. "blimey! i don't bloody look like that!" the redhead exclaimed, "been influenced by my brothers to the t, have you?" he angrily asked and the others only laugh.

"i had you looking in the wrong section. how could i be so stupid?" hermione came back with a humongous, heavy book that she placed on the table with a loud thud. "i checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading." "this is light?" ron's incredulous question makes hermione glare at him as she flips through the pages of the book. "of course! here it is! nicholas flamel is the only known maker of the philosopher's stone." "the what?" the three asked in unison, "honestly, don't you three read?" "no? why would i read when i could listen to you telling me about it?" julianna cheekily grinned beside her and hermione ignores her. "the philosopher's stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. it'll transform any metal into pure gold and produces the elixir of life which will make the drinker immortal." "immortal?" "it means you'll never die." "i know what it means!" ron and hermione bicker which causes harry to shush ron.

"the only stone currently in existence belongs to mr. nicholas flamel, the noted alchemist who last year celebrated his 665th birthday." all of their eyes widened, "that's what fluffy's guarding on the third floor. that's what's under the trap door; the philosopher's stone." from that moment on, the four of them decided to see hagrid that night.

deep into the darkness of the night, julianna had rushed out of bed and out of the common room. she met up with the golden trio in one of the halls before they made their way to hagrid's hut. unbeknownst to her, a certain blonde had spotted her and started following all of them.

when they reached hagrid's, harry knocked on his door as hard as he could. the door opened, "hagrid!" "oh, hello. sorry, don't wish to be rude but i'm in no fit state to entertain today." he replied as he was just about to shut the door, "we know about the philosopher's stone!" "sorry, hagrid." julianna muttered after the three exclaimed, hagrid opens the door again. "oh." he simply said before leaving the door open for them to enter. this was the first time julianna had entered hagrid's home and she had to admit, she liked it much better than her humongous family house. it was small but cozy as cozy could get.

"we think snape's trying to steal it." julianna subtly rolls her eyes at harry's words, "snape? blimey, you're not still on about him, are ya?" "hagrid, we know he's after the stone. we just don't know why!" hagrid turned to look at them, "snape is one of the teachers protecting the stone. he's not about to steal it." hermione gives them a weird look, "what?" harry asked in disbelief. "you heard right. come on, now. i'm a bit preoccupied today." the bearded man seemed to be in quite a rush which make julianna look at him quizzically. "preoccupied? with wh-" "wait a minute, one of the teachers?" the hufflepuff glared at harry, "of course! there are other things defending the stone, aren't there? spells, enchantments." "that's right. waste of bloody time, if you ask me." fang, hagrid's dog, was starting to lick ron and he was having a hard time stopping him. "ain't no one gonna get past fluffy. ain't a soul knows how, 'cept for me and dumbledore." hagrid's smile fell from his face when he realised once more, "i shouldn't have told you that. i should not have told you that."

suddenly, the cauldron behind them started crackling, or rather, something inside the cauldron. julianna walked closer to it, "hagrid..?" she asked, "i think your... egg is hatching?" confused, she stepped back and allowed the tall man grab the egg with the oven mitts he had on. however, even the oven mitts didn't help the heat that came with the egg.

the children followed him to the table where he set down the golden object. "hagrid, what exactly is that?" "that? it's, uh.. it's- um-" hagrid was having trouble thinking up a lie. "i know what that is!" "but hagrid, how'd you get one?" ron and julianna looked at each other in horror for a second, they were turning into fred and george. "i won it! off a stranger i met down at the pub. seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter o' fact." he explained, the egg then started shaking vigorously, signifying it was just about time to hatch. like glass shattering, the egg burst open and a tiny, web-like winged dragon came out with squeaky roars. "is that... a dragon?" hermione asked in disbelief, ron and julianna stared in awe. "that's not just a dragon!" "that's a norwegian ridgeback!" ron and julianna did it again and started shoving each other, telling the other to quit it.

"my brother, charlie, works with these in romania." "isn't he beautiful? oh, bless him. look, he knows his mummy." hagrid chuckled with teary eyes, "hello, norbert." he greeted, caressing the side of norbert's neck. "norbert?" "yeah, well, he's gotta have a name, don't he?" ron and harry smile at each other, finding it a tad bit ridiculous that hagrid had named himself a pet dragon. norbert the dragon squawked at hagrid before unintentionally setting his beard on fire with a hiccup of flames. julianna lets out a tiny gasp, "he'll have to be trained up a bit, of course." hagrid's words still leave the rest uneasy but the brunette had to admit, norbert was a pretty adorable dragon.

as hagrid is putting out the fire on his beard, he spots someone through the window. "who's that?" he squinted his eyes to look closer at the figure before they ran away but at the slightest sight of platinum blonde hair, everyone knew who it was. "malfoy." harry chanted, "oh dear." hagrid stated in a low tone, julianna only groaned and allowed her head to fall onto the table with a thud. "i'm sorry." she apologised yet again, harry stared at her. "don't apologise, it's not your fault." he smiled reassuringly at her and then said they should all probably head back to their dormitories before they get in trouble.

however, at the sight of professor mcgonagall, they knew it was too late. "good evening." she greeted the four with a grim look on her face, and from behind her emerged draco with a grin on his face that left when he saw julianna's expression. the five of them followed the professor into a classroom. 

"nothing, i repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night." the hufflepuff stared down at the ground, too depressed at the fact that she probably disappointed mcgonagall. "therefore, as punishment for your actions, 50 points will be taken." okay, now it was even worse! not only has she broken a rule, but lost hufflepuff, who was already low in points, 50? her head was going to be on a stake tomorrow morning. "and to ensure it doesn't happen again, all five of you will receive detention." draco's smile drops and he comes forward, "excuse me, professor, perhaps i heard you wrong. i thought you said the five of us." "no, you heard me correctly, mr. malfoy." now, it was the other four's turn to smile. "you see, honourable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours." the smile on harry's face couldn't stop growing, "you will join your classmates in detention." mcgonagall finished and the slytherin looked back at the other four, mostly julianna. she smiled at him and raised her eyebrows saying 'you entirely deserve this'.

detention happened as soon as filch arrived, in fact, he couldn't have arrived sooner. he seemed to be very excited for it. "a pity they let the old punishments die. there was a time detention would find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeon. god, i miss the screaming." filch's words gave julianna no doubt about it; he was most definitely a sadist. they all walked back to hagrid's hut, "you'll be serving detention with hagrid tonight. he's got a little job to do inside the dark forest." the hufflepuff's eyes widened, “the dark forest?! as in, the dark, dark forest?" she whispered to herself, draco looks at her. "don't worry, i'm sure he's just saying that to mess with us." he whispered back to her but she only ignored him, upset over the fact they were only in this position because of him.

"a sorry lot, this, hagrid." filch apologised for troubling the half-giant who only stood there looking depressed and grim, filch noticed. "oh, good god, man, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?" at his words, hagrid sniffled and grabbed his crossbow. "norbert's gone. dumbledore sent him off to romania to live in a colony." he confessed, "well, that's good, isn't it? he'll be with his own kind." "yeah, but what if he don't like romania? what if the other dragons are mean to him? he's only a baby after all!" hagrid argued, his concern and worry for the baby dragon showing clearly. "oh, for god's sake, pull yourself together, man. you're going into the forest after all. got to have your wits about you." filch scolded and hagrid looked down at the ground.

their words shock draco. "the forest?! i thought that was a joke. we can't go in there. students aren't allowed! and there are..." he tried to think of something and the howl from a distance gave him an idea on what to say, "werewolves!" he exclaimed, the sadistic groundskeeper only grinned evilly. "there's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. you can be sure of that." draco looks distressed as filch bids them goodnight and goes back into the castle. julianna wasn't that terrified. there couldn't be that many dangerous creatures in the forbidden forest, why would hagrid live so close to it if there were?

the group of six made their way into the depths of the forest until they came across something peculiar. a puddle of liquid, but not just any type. hagrid kneeled down and took a dollop of the liquid on the ground with his fingers. when he pulled them up, the colour was silver. he stepped towards the children, "hagrid, what is that?" harry asked, his pupils shaking as he looked at the what stained the man's fingers. "what we're here for. see that?" he raised his hand, "that's unicorn blood, that is. i found one dead a few weeks ago." everyone had dark expressions on their faces. "now, this one's been hurt bad by something." julianna looked around the forest, feeling like they were being watched. "so, it's our job to go and find the poor beast. ron, hermione, you'll come with me. harry, julianna, you'll go with malfoy." julianna was dreading this. she swears if either of them fight, she will end their lives by feeding them to any of the werewolves that lived in these woods.

"okay, then i get fang!" "why?" "for extra precaution!" hagrid sighed, "fine. just so you know, he's a bloody coward." fang, the humongous, black dog that had been following them, whines and whimpers, making draco regret even thinking of bringing the dog along with them. the two groups set off in different directions, draco decided to be the one responsible for the light. julianna assumed it was just because if he wanted to run away, he could easily do so with the lantern to light up his path. not even 15 minutes in and the blonde boy was already complaining about having to do all this wretched 'servant' work. "well, we wouldn't have to do all of this work if you hadn't ratted us out, like a snake." julianna spoke up, "oh, how befitting! seeing as my house is a snake!" he retorted, the two glared at each other and harry only smirked. throughout the journey, the two constantly bickered with harry being in the middle, at some point, julianna wanted to just take harry and leave to another direction just so she didn't have to hear draco's ridiculous squawking.

harry was fed up with it after a while, "can you two stop quarrelling like an old married couple?! this is worse than when you two are usually all googly eyes for each other." harry's words leaves the other two in the dust as he walked to the front with fang following. "we do not quarrel like an old married couple!" "we are not all googly eyes for each other!" they say at the same time, chasing after harry. "sure, sure, and i'm not the student snape hates the mo-" he stopped talking once he saw how pale white the two had gotten and looked to the front.

in front of them stood a cloaked figure, drinking the blood of a dead unicorn. julianna gasped and draco started wailing before turning around, grabbing julianna's hand and running off without a second thought, leaving harry behind. "draco! we can't leave harry all by himself! he could get hurt!" "who the bloody hell cares?! we'll just go find that daft oaf hagrid and let him deal with it!" he screamed, clenching her hand in his so tightly that julianna felt as though it was about to be ripped off. they ran all the way to the other side of the forest as quickly as they could with fang trailing after them. once they found the other group, julianna wasted no time in telling them what happened and to follow them.

when they came back, harry was conversing with a centaur. "harry! are you alright?!" julianna yelled, coming back down to pull him into a hug. "i'm sorry i left. draco just dragged me back." she explained when she let go of him and he shook his head, saying it was okay. the centaur left him and they all went back to their respective common rooms for the night. since draco and julianna's common rooms were on each other's way, they walked together. "i'm sorry i dragged you back." the slytherin broke the silence, surprising julianna. "i just... didn't want you getting hurt is all." he quietly muttered while looking away shyly. julianna smiles at this, "it's okay. i understand, but i'd like it if you let me decide where i get to go and where i get to stay." she softly speaks and he nods slowly, "yeah. plus, i'm sure potter needed much more protection than you did anyway." he said in a 'as a matter of fact' tone, the hufflepuff rolled her eyes. "sure, dray." draco swore his heart skipped a beat hearing the name but he ignored it. "right, well. here's the kitchens. i'll see you tomorrow morning. night." he speedily said before rushing off to his own common room, the girl was left puzzled. "night." she replied back in a hushed, longing tone before retreating back to her dormitories.

we fast forward to when exams end 'cause nobody wants to see that. julianna had decided to talk to harry about what he saw in the dark forest that night. he told her that what he'd saw, who'd he saw, was lord voldemort (also known as he-who-must-not-be-named, you-know-who, the dark lord and the list seems never ending). "what?! are you alright?!" she asked frantically and harry chuckled, "well, i'm still here, am i not?" he asked jokingly, trying to lighten the mood but julianna was still extremely concerned. "my scar's been burning ever since, it's been burning a lot." "so we've been told." hermione and ron came up from behind them. 

all their uniforms seemed to be worn differently. ron had his untied tie hung around his neck with a few buttons unbuttoned, harry's tie was pushed off to the side slightly and julianna's shirt was untucked and her tie was missing. hermione's was, well, the same considering it's hermione and end of exams or not, appropriate attire is a must.

"maybe you should see madam pomfrey about that scar burning?" julianna suggested as they walk through the archways, "no, it's not visible. it means something. i think it's a warning. it means danger is coming." he said, holding his forehead. when he saw hagrid at his hut, it all clicked for him. "of course!" he exclaimed and the three looked at him off, "what?" ron asked and harry started stomping towards hagrid. "don't you think it's a bit odd that what hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon and a stranger turns up who just happens to have one?" he asked rhetorically and now that julianna thought about it, he was right. "you're right! not many wizards walk around with dragon eggs in their pockets unless they're a dealer, of course but that's highly unlikely since they usually have a certain spot they meet up at." julianna caught up with them barely as they dashed towards the hut.

"hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg? what did he look like?" "i don't know. i never saw his face, he kept his hood up." hagrid explained to the antsy 11 year-olds, "the stranger though, you and he must have talked." harry pointed out, hagrid thought back to the moment. "well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures i looked after. i told him, i said, 'after fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem.'." "and did he seem interested in fluff?" hagrid looked at the boy weirdly, "well, of course he was interested in fluffy! how often do you come across a three-headed dog, even if you're in trade? but i told him, i said, 'the trick with any beast is to know how to calm him.' take fluffy, for example. just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep." harry and julianna's eyes widened and they all looked at each other before looking back at silly, old hagrid. "i shouldn't have told you that." his revelation was too late too soon because the four immediately ran back to the castle to inform professor dumbledore of their suspicions.

they stumbled all the way to professor mcgonagall's office to ask for him. "we have to see professor dumbledore, immediately!" harry told the perplexed professor, "i'm afraid professor dumbledore is not here. he received an urgent owl from the ministry of magic and left immediately for london." she informed them and all their expressions turned even more concerned. "he's gone?! now?! but this is important!" harry cried, "this is about the philosopher's stone!" at his words, professor mcgonagall's eyes widened. "how do you know-" "someone's going to try and steal it!" his explanation didn't help their situation now that professor mcgonagall realised they might've been sneaking around in order to figure out all about the philosopher's stone. "i don't know how you four found out about the stone, but i assure you it is perfectly well protected." she took a breath in, "now would you go back to your dormitories? quietly." mcgonagall demanded and the four reluctantly went out of the classroom.

when they reached outside, they talked about the fact that the stranger hagrid met at the village was most definitely snape. "he most definitely knows how to get pass fluffy." they nodded, "and with dumbledore gone-" "good afternoon." a deep, ground-shaking voice emerged out of nowhere and the four turned around to face none-other than the infamous professor snape. "now, what would three young gryffindors and a hufflepuff such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?" he spoke with his usual gravitas and looked at julianna, her eyes widened. "uh- well- um, we're just-" snape raises his eyebrows at her, "no answer for me this time, candy?" the professor then turned to hermione, "you ought to be careful. people will think you're..." he averted his gaze to harry, whom he stared at for a while before his facial features subtly hardened. "...up to something." and with that, professor snape left and the four let out breaths of relief they didn't know they'd been holding in.

"now what do we do?" julianna cried in a hushed tone, harry stared hard at snape's receding form. "we go down the trap door. tonight." harry stated with determination and julianna could only groan. they had no plan, no way of succeeding, this was going to go absolutely swell.

❥ melt your heart | chapter six

pairing: draco malfoy x oc genre: best friends to lovers! slow burn! warnings: injuries, so many injuries, julianna's grandmother being a bitch word count: 3.4k masterlist: melt your heart last chapter: chapter five next chapter: chapter seven

THE THREE PICKED up julianna after easily escaping neville longbottom, who tried to stop them from sneaking out again. "you petrified him?!" julianna shrieked and the three shushed her, "i cannot believe you did that to neville!" she whispered as she got underneath the invisibility cloak with the rest of them. keep it in mind that they had to squeeze together really hard in order for all of them to fit under one cloak. "what else was i suppose to do? duel him?" hermione retorted, "ow! you stood on my foot!" she exclaimed, ron let out a measly 'sorry'.

they reached the room quite fast but apparently not fast enough, because by the time they had arrived, a harp was playing a lovely, soft tune and fluffy was dead asleep. "uh oh." julianna muttered as she got out from under the invisibility cloak. "snape's been here already." the hufflepuff wasn't going to lie, she still had many doubts that snape was the one behind all this evil, cursed madness. he's evil, but not that evil. while the dog was asleep, the four opened the trap door and looked down it to see absolute nothingness. "i'll go first. don't follow until i give you a sign. if something bad happens, get yourselves out." harry tells them but they realised that it was suddenly way too quiet. "has the music stopped or is it just me?" julianna whimpered, clutching onto hermione. they all looked behind to see the harp stopped playing. "ugh!" groaned ron when a weird gooey, slimey liquid dripped onto his shoulder. looking up, the children scream at the sight of the three-headed dogs fully awake and angry. "jump!" harry exclaimed and one by one went down the rabbit hole of doom.

luckily for them, there seemed to be black, vine-like plants at the bottom of the trapdoor. unluckilyy for them, julianna knew exactly what type of plant this was and safe to say, it was not safe. "lucky this plant thing's here, really." ron pants but when seeing julianna's face, his concerns come flying back. "nobody move! this is devil's snare!" she shouted once the plant started to grab ahold of their limbs, halting their movements. "what the bloody hell is that?!" ron yelled, "oh! i've read about this!" julianna held back the urge to roll her eyes, trying her best to stay calm and not move. harry and ron didn't seem to listen as they still tried their hardest to get around the snake-like vines. "you have to relax! it's a type of plant where the more you move and struggle, the more it kills you faster-" "kills us faster?! oh, now i can relax!" ron grunted and julianna scowled before the devil's snare took her and hermione down underneath into another room, they fell with an 'oomph'. "hermione!" "julianna!" harry and ron shout simultaneously, the girls help each other up. "oh, now what are we gonna do?!" "trust julianna and just relax!" hermione shouted from underneath them, "hermione? julianna? where are you?" "just do as i say! trust me!" harry closed his eyes and tried to remain as calm as possible, and the plant pulled him under.

now ron was the only one left and he wasn't going to stop screaming or struggling any time soon, they figured. "i'm trying to remember something in herbology! i only ever learned about the plants through experience and i barely read on them! what about you, 'mione?" hermione lowered her head, "sadly, this was something i overlooked." well, this was the biggest shock of them all. julianna's mind went back to a nursery rhyme her grandmother used to say to her. "devil's snare, devil's snare is deadly fun... but will sulk in the sun! that's it! devil's snare hates sunlight! hah, can't believe i remembered that, i was like five." she rambled as she grabbed her wand from the back of her shirt, pointing it above them. "lumos solem!" she conjured up light with the biggest sunlight spell she could think of, making the devil's snare screech and tear apart, allowing ron to fall through.

he stands up and dusts himself, "lucky we didn't panic!" they all deadpanned, "lucky julianna's brilliant at plants." harry bluntly stated and julianna blushed. "it's nothing, do you guys hear that sound?" she asked and they all nod, "sounds like wings." the four went down the staircase and opened the door. the door led them to a room with flying birds? "curious, i've never seen birds like these." "they're not birds. they're keys." hearing what harry said makes julianna groan, "charms. this is all professor flitwick's idea i presume." she mentioned, seeing as that the professors at hogwarts helped out with a few of the things to help keep the stone safe. the four soon realised in order to open the next door, they would have to find its key, and to find the key, they would need to look for one that was old and rustic. to get the key, they would need to use the broomstick to fly up and catch it. you see why julianna hates this now?

of course, the right choice for the job was harry. now, the only problem was that the other keys were crowding around him, blocking his vision like a flock of birds would. once he caught the key, he threw it down to hermione and she opened the door, allowing the three of them to continue their journey. the next room was dark and filled with huge statues, it gave all of them a bad feeling. "this is no graveyard." said ron who walked forward, "it's a chessboard." at his words, the room lit up and it showcased all the pieces in wizard's chess but 20x larger. "there's the door!" harry pointed, "oh, thank god. imagine we had to play real life wizard's chess-" julianna got cut off by the clanging of swords when the soldier pieces started to move as they tried to pass through. "aaand i spoke too soon." julianna pressed her lips together as they all backed away.

"now, what do we do?" "it's obvious, isn't it? we've got to play our way across the room." the redhead expertly says before telling each of them where to stand and what to do. "alright. harry, you take the empty bishop square. hermione, you'll be the queen-side castle. julianna, you'll take the king-side rook." they all nodded, "as for me, i'll be a knight." he heroicly says making julianna stifle a laugh as she went to her spot, 'adorable.' she thought. the game wasn't what they expected to be, yet at the same time, it was. when they lose a piece, it entirely gets broken, attacked, murdered! i'm getting carried away. at some point in the game, julianna had gotten herself hit by a tiny, falling piece of debris. "julianna! are you alright?!" ron yelled from across the board, "yes! but, my eye hurts really bad." of course the debris had to hit her in the eye, as if being almost strangled to death wasn't enough.

after many lost soldiers and pieces, ron had finally made it but then they realised what he had to do in order to win. "once i make the move, the queen will take me. then you're free to check the king." he said to harry, "no, ron, no!" harry's exclaim made hermione confused, "what is it?" "he's going to sacrifice himself." hermione snaps her head at him, "no, you can't! there must be another way!" julianna cried and ron turned to her, "do you wanna stop snape from getting that stone or not?" his words tick her off, 'we still don't know if it's snape or not.' she thought as she crossed her arms. with that, ron made his move, and so did the white queen who plummeted her sword into ron's horse making him fall off and land on the cold, marble, chess board floor, knocking him out cold. hermione almost moved before harry stopped her, reminding her that they're still playing.

once they had finished the game, there was one more room for them to go through. "you two go without me." julianna tells the two, "with only one eye left to use, i'm no use. i'll stay here and take care of ron." hermione and harry looked at each other before looking back at julianna. "are you sure?" "yes, i'm sure. harry, you need hermione's wits and harry, you need to be the one to face off whoever's going to be there at the end." harry furrowed his eyebrows, "it's going to be sna-" "you don't know that. maybe there's something you missed, because my gut says it really isn't him." julianna's low tone gave chills to the both of them, "alright. stay safe, jules." the two said before leaving out the door.

julianna sighed as she continued to hold her right eye, thinking of a way to cover it. she ripped off her pants, her grandmother totally won't mind her ruining her pants(she definitely will mind), and used it to make some sort of eyepatch to wrap around her head. when she was done, she sat there with no thoughts in her head. "ah! no!" ron's sudden scream scared the wits out of her, "merlin! do you usually scream this loud when you wake up?!" she screamed back at the redhead who looked around before looking back at the brunette before him. "why do you look like a pirate?" he questioned and they went silent for a bit before bursting out laughing. when they stopped, julianna gave him a hug. "i- um-" ron had no idea what to say, confused and puzzled. "i was worried about you." "oh, really? i hadn't noticed." he replied with a half-smile plastered on his face, she hits him lightly.

they continued to start talking about how hungry they were and could really go for a feast right now when hermione came back without harry. "we need to go!" she exclaimed, weirding out the other two. "what?" they asked in unison, "stop that." again, in unison. they only groan. "we need to send a letter to professor dumbledore about harry!" hermione dragged the two out of the room, "how are we suppose to get out of the hole?" ron asked, the two girls looked at each other with knowing smiles. "we fly." the boy lets out a laugh of excitement, "yes!" they all grab brooms and flew out of the place as easy as pie, julianna having to cast lumos again just so they could get through the devil's snare.

when they had just sent the owl, they stumbled upon dumbledore in the entrance hall. "harry's gone after him, hasn't he?" he asked and without an answer, he hurried off to the third floor before they could say anything. "well, that's what we call fast mail, innit?" julianna joked, the other two still confused. "come on, we should head to the hospital wing to treat that eye." hermione patted julianna's back, "and what about me?!" "well, you're coming along too." and the bickering between the two friends commenced, julianna laughing in the back.

for the next three days, it was all chaos. first reason is because everyone had heard about what happened to harry but didn't know exactly the full story. people assumed many things, started many rumours but, of course, they were only that; rumours. 

draco was senselessly worried about julianna when she came into class with an actual eyepatch. "what happened to your eye? i want answers this instant." he told her, acting like her father. julianna was so taken aback she started laughing, and i mean, 'falling to the floor' laughing. she explained everything seeing as he was one of her best friends. "that's great, you're apart of potter's chummy chums group, are you now?" draco scoffed and julianna smiled, "why? you jealous?" "no! don't be ridiculous, jules." "mmm, sure." the teasing continued for the whole day, she was even able to sit next to draco during dinner at the slytherin table, which caused a lot of heads to turn but nobody questioned it.

of course, julianna, ron and hermione all worried about harry as he hadn't woken up yet at the time. "when do you think he'll wake up?" "i don't know but i hope he won't miss the end-of-the-year feast. he would definitely beat himself up for that." julianna cocked her head to the side as she pushed a few strands of harry's hair away from his eyes.

"forget about him waking up! when will i be able to see with two eyes again!" the hufflepuff exclaimed dramatically, placing the back of her hand on her forehead. "right now should be the time, actually." madam pomfrey said out of nowhere, startling julianna. madam pomfrey took off the eyepatch and placed a few more magical eyedrops or whatever you use to heal a bruised eye. "everything seems to be fine. can you read this?" she used her wand to grab the eye chart and julianna could definitely read all of it. "ah, finally! full sight! now, we just have to wait for harry to wake up." ron and hermione gave her a look, "what? my sight is very important to me! how would i paint or draw if i could only see half?!" they both rolled her eyes at her before they all went out to go to the great hall to have lunch.

after three days, harry finally woke up and the three raced to the hospital wing to wait for him at the top of the stair case. when harry came out of the hospital wing, he saw the three at the top of the staircase waiting for him. hermione was wearing her christmas present from julianna, ron had a black eye ("but at least he can see!" said julianna at some point) and julianna's eye was a-okay. the sight of them filled harry with joy. "alright there, ron?" harry asked his best friend, "alright. you?" harry shrugged and said he was okay with a smile, "hermione? julianna?" the two girls smiled, "never better." they all head to the great hall while harry told them all about what happened.

"you were right, jules. it wasn't snape, it was quirrell the entire time." harry said, "i'm sorry i didn't listen to you-" "no, it's fine! i could have been wrong too! all that matters now is that you're safe from harm and safe from you-know-who." julianna smiled, swinging her arm around the gryffindor.

inside the great hall, flags of slytherin house were lined up to signify their win over the house cup. gryffindor was very bothered, but like other hufflepuffs, julianna didn't really care. "juli!" "ceddy!" the two friends greeted each other as julianna sat next to the tall fourth year. with that, chatter filled the hall. from every table, even the teachers' table. at the sound of clinking glass, the hall fell silent.

dumbledore stood up, "another year gone, and now, as i understand it, the house cup needs awarding. the points stand thus: in first place, gryffindor with 312 points. third place, hufflepuff with 352 points. in second place, ravenclaw with 426 points, and in first place, slytherin with 472 points." a round of applause from the slytherin house was the loudest. julianna was quite happy for draco but that was literally the only person from slytherin she talked to. "yes, yes, well done, slytherin. well done, slytherin. however, recent events must be taken into account and i have a few last-minute points to award." this had everyone on their toes. "first, to miss julianna candy, for her rather absurd but admirable knowledge of herbology, and her amazing skill of working under pressure when others are in grave peril, i award 50 points." julianna's eyes widen as everyone at the hufflepuff table erupted in cheer, patting her on the back as cedric gave her a high-five. she could see from the corner of her eye, draco clapping underneath the table, subtly smiling at her. she was embarrassed but was very grateful for winning back the house points she had lost for hufflepuff.

"second, to miss hermione granger, for the cool use of intellect, quick wits and intelligence in the face of fire, 50 points." cheers erupted all around except for the slytherin table, "third, to mr. ronald weasley, for the best-played game of chess that hogwarts has seen these many years, 50 points." julianna's jaw fell in a smile, she realised what dumbledore was doing. "and fourthly, to mr. harry potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, i award gryffindor house 60 points." the whole gryffindor table could fill the hall with their screaming and shouting, which they did. julianna looked back at draco who wasn't smiling at all anymore.

"finally, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. i award 10 points... to neville longbottom." this time julianna stood up, "yes! go neville!" she screamed and everyone else did the same thing as the round-faced boy looked entirely lost. "assuming that my calculations are correct, i believe that a change in decoration is in order." dumbledore announced, clapping once and the flags changed from slytherin to gryffindor. that night it was a win for everyone but slytherin.

it was time to go back home the next day, and truth be told, julianna desperately didn't want to leave. she wanted to stay, stay here forever. the sight of her grandmother however, told her that she wouldn't be allowed to. "nan? what are you doing here?" she asked, nervously. "what is this i heard about you going off and getting yourself into trouble?" her grandmother, circe candy, asked with a strict look on her face, "i- um- well-" "my dear circe! lovely to see you once more." dumbledore came out of nowhere just in time to save julianna, or rather, greet her grandmother. "albus. i heard about what happened with my granddaughter. she isn't causing you any trouble, is she?" circe grabbed julianna by the shoulder roughly, pulling her to her side. dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "not at all, she is quite a bright witch." the old wizard assured, "hm. that's good to hear. if she does cause anymore trouble, i am only a letter away." the witch, literally, says with her lips pressed in a firm line, "pleasure to see you, albus. always." "you as well." and with that dumbledore left, disappearing into the air.

"are you taking me back personally, nan?" julianna asked, hoping she wasn't. "no, child, don't be ridiculous. i have business elsewhere. you will arrive home and continue your usual lessons." the little girl nodded, "i understand. goodbye, nan. i l-" circe then disapparated away, "-ove you, but clearly you do not." julianna says to herself, sighing in despair. "yikes, your grandmother might just be a tad bit worst than my father." she knew who that voice belonged to and she couldn't be happier. "draco!" she exclaimed, "candy." he smiled, "shall we?" he referred to the train, "yes, we shall." julianna stepped onto the train and draco followed suit. they quickly found an empty compartment. "just like the old times." julianna sighed contently, draco looks at her with nervous eyes.

"why do you look like that?" "look like what?" "like you need to pee." "i don't look like that, julianna!" he yelled making julianna laugh, "are you going to draw at all this entire ride?" he asked, curious. julianna shook her head, "can't draw in moving vehicles or trains, i get motion sickness." draco nodded, fixing his eyes on her wrist that still wore the bracelet he got her, ever since the first day she opened the gift. julianna caught his eyes and smirked. "were you expecting me not to wear it?" she teased, "honestly? yeah." his honest answer was something julianna didn't expect from him, "well, don't look too surprised. this is the first expensive gift i've ever gotten in my entire life, so naturally, i'm guarding it with my life." draco's eyes widened, "but you're rich too, aren't you?" his disbelief was shown very clear. "yes, but my grandmother doesn't buy me anything unless it's for my studies or hobbies. i need to ask for it. i've never gotten something from the heart, y'know what i mean?" he looks down, "yeah, i do." it went silent for a bit before they look at each other again and smile.

the entire train ride they couldn't stop smiling or giggling, it was honestly really disgusting if you were there to witness it yourself. when they arrived at platform 9 3/4, they bid each other goodbye and swore to write to each other in the summer, and trust me, they definitely did.

❥ melt your heart | year two, chapter seven

pairing: draco malfoy x oc genre: best friends to lovers! slow burn! warnings: lucius being sorta creepy, draco being a jealous little bitch, JULIANNA'S GRANDMOTHER IS A WARNING HERSELF word count: 4.1k masterlist: melt your heart last chapter: chapter six next chapter: -

AN OWL BURSTS into the room julianna was staying in. the owl ruffled its feathers before handing her a beige envelope with a dark green seal on it. it also dropped off a box, which julianna probably figured it was something sweet for her to eat. "thank you, croissant." she thanked her family's owl, caressing his feathers as he squawked and flew back out the window. julianna opened up the letter and began to read:

dear julianna,

i'm writing to you to inform you that i've gotten your last letter and to ask you if you've made it to the weasleys' place safe and sound. even though i don't think you should be staying with their lot, i'm just glad you won't have to spend any more time with your grandmother. the last painting you sent me is definitely one of my favourites, i think all of your paintings are my favourites. write back to me soon, stay safe.

from, draco.

she smiled as she read the letter from her good friend, draco malfoy. they had been writing letters to each other nonstop for the entire summer, talking about what they were doing, sending each other things. "another letter from your boyfriend?" a mocking voice asked from right behind her. she snapped her head at ron. "shut it, ronnikins!" she exclaimed and the redhead groaned at the use of the nickname. "i'm starting to think it was a bad idea to let you stay over until school starts." ron muttered, julianna smiled as she folded the letter back into the envelope and placed it safe and sound in a box filled with other letters from the blonde slytherin.

"i genuinely don't know what you see in that git." "hey! he can be really sweet when he wants to be." she argued, standing up and stretching. "are we going to go get harry now?" she whispered to ron who nodded and they headed downstairs to meet up with the weasley twins, fred and george.

if you're wondering why they're going to go get harry 10 o'clock at night, it's because he hadn't been replying to either julianna, ron or hermione's letters. they believed something happened to him and ron's mother, molly, did say if harry didn't reply in the next week they would go get him but ron and julianna couldn't wait that long. how, you ask, are they going to get to privet drive, the place where harry lives? well, ron's father, arthur, worked in the misuse of muggle artefacts department which he seemed to do quite a lot. he would take apart muggle items and enchant them before putting them back together, julianna has seen his collection in their garage. one muggle thing arthur had that they could use to see harry was a car that he had enchanted to fly. of course, julianna had her worries.

"are you sure you can drive this thing, fred?" she asked, completely uneasy as she got into the backseat with ron while the twins sat in front. "oh, sure! how hard could it be?" fred assures, "don't tell me you don't trust us, julianna." george adds on and honestly, after staying with them for almost five days now, she doesn't trust them one bit. "no, i don't trust you guuuys!" she yells the last word as fred stomped on the acceleration paddle and off they were, out of the garage and into the air. "bloody hell! calm down, would you?" ron exclaimed, leaning onto julianna because fred made a sharp turn when george pointed out they were going the wrong way. "what if we get spo-" "we've already discussed this!" george groaned, "we stay high in the clouds so no muggles can see us." fred explained once more, the girl rolled her eyes. "yes, i know, but there's still a very good chance we get caught." from there, the boys just decided to ignore her incessant fussing.

open reaching harry's home, they saw his windows had been barred up. "what the bloody hell?!" ron exclaimed at the sight of them, "oh, what lovely people they are to bar harry entirely from the outside world!" julianna sarcastically cheers while the twins laugh at her, fred drove the car and positioned it so the doors could face the window. inside, they saw harry potter with an amazed look on his face. "hiya harry." ron greeted, harry walked closer to them. "ron, julianna, fred, george, what are you all doing here?" he asked, seemingly relieved that they had arrived. "saving your arse, of course. what's with the bars? is your uncle this much of a menace?" julianna's questions brings a laugh out of harry, "pleasantries later! come on, get your trunk!" ron hurried and he dashed through his room, quickly gathering everything he needed. 

julianna grabs a hook attached to a rope that she fashioned up rather fast, attaching the rope to the back of the car and placing the hook around one of the bars. "you'd better stand back, harry." she told him and he obliged, fred turns the car and steps on the accelerator once more, the bars coming off with ease. however, julianna was so sure this woke up harry's ruddy uncle, aunt and cousin. "hurry, harry!" "come on now!" everyone rushed, only having a few more seconds before his uncle would burst into his door. just as harry was about to get in the car, the bedroom door slammed open and his uncle, vernon, was chasing towards the window, holding onto harry's ankle. "let go of me!" he cried, trying to get rid of his uncle's hands. "drive, fred, drive!" julianna yelled, holding onto harry so he didn't slip off as fred drove away. vernon plummeted to the ground, landing on a few bushes, all safe and sound. kind of.

they all cheered as they could finally relax in the car. "by the way harry," ron suddenly said, "happy birthday!" julianna finished his sentence and handed over a boxed present to him, "from us to you." she grinned and harry was absolutely elated at the gesture. she slapped his hand when he was going to open it, "hey, grabby hands! wait until we're at the burrow!" she scolded playfully, and harry rolled his eyes. they talked about what had happened to him and why he hadn't been answering their letters. harry told all about a house elf named dobby doing everything in his power to stop him from going to hogwarts because something bad was going to happen this year. "i feel like something bad is going to happen every year." julianna presses her lips together as she sunk into her seat in between ron and harry. "tell me about it." harry commented with a loud sigh.

when they reached the burrow, it was bright daylight, and they tried their best to sneak into the tall house without making any sound. "think it'd be alright if we had some?" ron referred to the buns on the table, the twins nod their heads, "yeah, mum will never know." they all take one. harry was walking around, admiring the house in all its glory. him and julianna stared at a grandfather clock but it didn't have numbers for the time, it had the whole weasley family's faces on the hands, with many words such as 'dentist', 'school' and even 'prison' written on it. the hands turned ron, fred and george from 'lost' to 'home'. "let me tell you, i love this clock so much. i could not stop gushing about it for the first three days i stayed here." julianna whispered to harry who agreed that it was a very cool ass clock.

they then walked further into the house and harry spotted needles knitting themselves. "it's not much, but it's home." ron said with his mouth stuffed full, "i think it's brilliant." harry said with a huge smile on his face. everything was going all fine until the sound of rushing footsteps were heard. in came molly, "where have you been?!" she shrieked and all of them froze, ron hid the bread behind his back. "harry, how wonderful to see you, dear!" her demeanour turned bright when she spotted harry, walking closer towards them with a smile on her face before placing her hands on her hips. "beds empty, no note! car gone! you could have died! you could have been seen!" she yelled at her sons before turning to both julianna and harry, "of course, i don't blame you, harry, julianna." julianna was starting to get more scared about the fact that she was both happy and angry at the same time.

"they were starving him, mum. there were bars on his window!" ron softly said, "well, you best hope i don't put bars on your window, ronald weasley." and that immediately shut ron up. molly then told them that breakfast was ready and they should eat up. julianna made her way to the table and took a seat between fred and george. "careful around the house, harry. there's a ghoul in the attic." julianna muttered under her breath, attempting to scare harry. "what?" harry asked before ron's little sister, ginny, came down the stairs in her pyjamas and robe. "mummy, have you seen my jumper?" "yes, dear, it was on the cat." mrs. weasley replied to the girl but she didn't hear it at all, her eyes widened as she got distracted by harry. harry greeted her but she only slowly backed away before running back upstairs with nothing said. the twins and julianna snicker at the scene. "what did i do?" harry asked, puzzled. "ginny." ron shortly answered, taking another bite of his breakfast. "she's been talking about you all summer." julianna teases, wiggling her eyebrows and nudging the twins beside her who also had the same reaction.

"morning, weasleys!" arthur greeted, coming home from work. "morning, dad." "morning, arthur." the weasleys greeted back, arthur walked into the kitchen. "and, of course, good morning to you too, julianna." "good morning, mr. weasley!" she greeted cheerfully as he set his bags on a table nearby. "what a night! nine raids. nine!" he exclaimed, harry had more questions. "merlin, you sure are curious about everything aren't you?" the brunette asked with eggs in her mouth, "mr. weasley works in the ministry of magic, in the misuse of muggle artefacts office." she explained, "dad loves muggles, thinks they're fascinating." ron added as arthur gave molly a kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to harry. "well, now." arthur said before realising harry, "and who are you?" he questioned, harry puts down his fork and knife. "sorry, sir. i'm harry, sir. harry potter." he introduced himself and the redhead man seemed starstruck by the boy who lived. "good lord. are you really? well, ron has told us all about you, of course. when did he get here?" mr. weasley started to cut up his food, "this morning." mrs. weasley answered, "your sons and julianna flew that enchanted car of yours to surrey and back last night." she told him and he did not seem upset one bit. in fact, he seemed ecstatic. "did you really? how did it go-" the twins and julianna were about to say how it went but a slap on the shoulder changed the man's manner, "i mean, that was very wrong indeed, boys, and girl. very wrong of you." he 'scolded', if you could even call that scolding. they all look at each other and smile.

then arthur asked harry all he knew about muggles while julianna and the twins talked about what they were going to do later on, to which julianna replied with 'sleep'. a few moments later, errol smashed against the window to deliver the post. "maybe we should invest in some glasses for the owl?" the girl joked and the twins chuckled, "fetch it will you percy, please?" molly asked her third eldest son, percy, who grabbed the letter from the clumsy owl. "oh, look, it's our hogwarts letters. they've sent us harry and julianna's as well." he told them, handing over the two letters to them. "dumbledore must know you're here, harry. doesn't miss a trick, that man." they opened the letters to find that almost all the second year books needed were by a famous wizard named gilderoy lockhart. he has lots of fan girls, julianna was not one of them. "my goodness, almost all of these books are by that narcissistic wizard, lockhart!" she quietly exclaimed to george, who only snorted. "this lot won't come cheap, mum. the spell books alone are very expensive." fred frowns but his mum gives him a smile of hope. "we'll manage." she reassured, "there's only one place we're going to get all of this; diagon alley." molly said before rushing everyone to finish off their breakfast so they could get a move on things. a few minutes later, ginny turned up.

after breakfast, they all got ready wearing their cloaks, standing in front of the fireplace. mrs. weasley grabs a pot from the side, "here we are, harry. you go first, dear." "but harry's never travelled by floo powder before, mum." ron informed his mother, "oh, then you go first, ron, so that harry can see how it's done." she said encouraging him to come forward and step into the fire place, julianna moved next to harry. "it's quite simple really." she assured as ron grabbed a handful of floo powder, "diagon alley!" he held up his fist and let go of the powder, bursting into green flames. harry's eyes widened, "quite dusty though." julianna commented, molly ushered harry to go next. he looked nervous but this should be nothing compared to what he had to go through last year. "diagonally!" julianna was so sure, in fact, everyone else was sure too, that harry had definitely said the wrong words. "what did he say, dear?" "diagonally." "i thought he did." molly and arthur were hoping he was alright and didn't turn up somewhere horrid (he did).

"alright! julianna, you go next!" the hufflepuff walked into the fire place and grabbed the floo powder. she takes a deep breath, "diagon alley!" she said loud and clear, releasing the powder and going up in the same green flames the other two had. on julianna's side, the fire was absolutely blinding but she eventually found the right entrance to the place. coughing, she saw ron, "you made it! where's harry?" he asked, trying to help her dust off the soot on her cloak and face. "he said the words wrong, he's probably somewhere else." she said, worried. "i'm going to go look for him-" "no! that's the last thing we need, you to get lost too!" ron exclaimed, clinging onto her arm. julianna rolled her eyes at the boy, "fine, but if he doesn't turn up ever, i'm blaming you." the rest of the weasley family came shortly afterwards and they made their way to flourish and blotts.

the shop was filled with witches lined up and when julianna looked to her right, she saw why. "dear merlin! that lockhart git is doing some sort of fan sign for his bloody biography!" usually, julianna would be really sweet about someone she barely knows about but from what she had heard from hermione about him over their letters, he seems insufferable. the twins snigger, "no wonder." "mum is itching to line up." they said, julianna sighed. "i'm going upstairs. call me when the line dies down." she said, wanting to get out of the crowded area before she lost her mind. just as she was about to, a voice caught her attention. she turned around and saw hermione granger with her parents.

"hermione!" she exclaimed, jumping on her to give her a hug. hermione laughs and hugs her back, "it's so good to see you again!" she said, smiling wildly. "line's pretty long, huh?" "yeah, that gilderoy lockhart you like so much is doing fa-" "what?!" hermione shrieked, her curly hair swishing behind her as she tried to go to the front to get a better look at the blonde wizard. "and goodbye." julianna blankly stated before continuing her journey upstairs.

walking to the other side of the book case, she bumps into someone. "ah! sorry!" she apologised, "looking for something to read, candy floss?" the voice makes her head snap up to look at the person. there stood draco malfoy, who definitely grew taller during the summer as now he was towering over her with his hand resting on a top shelf. "draco!" julianna immediately lurched forward to give him a hug, her head just barely reaching his chin. draco smiled to himself as he hugged back, "what a coincidence! seeing you here, i mean." julianna said as she let go of him, which draco really didn't want her to, but oh well. "yeah, specifically the same spot we met too." he looked around before looking back at her, unable to take his eyes off her face. julianna had barely changed over the summer, she still had her huge, lovely smile and her pretty, chocolate brown eyes. however, she did grow more into her looks and looked significantly older, just like how draco did. "you look pretty as always." he complimented, his eyes not leaving her own. "thank you. you're not too bad yourself." she shyly said with deep red hues covering her face, draco leaned closer to her as they started talking.

the two talked about their day and such, everything was going swell until she mentioned the flying car incident. "you what?!" he exclaimed, "we didn't get seen!" "you could have! can't believe that stupid family brought you into that, and a flying muggle car? really?" he shook his head in disappointment, "okay, yes, all those things, yes but everything turned out fine! just don't tell your dad about the car, okay? i know you hate the weasleys and all, but you don't hate me, right?" julianna teased and draco crossed his arms, "so, please, don't tell your father about it. for me?" she pleaded, fluttering her eyelashes and he rolled his eyes before pushing her away. "yeah, yeah. i won't." "you promise?" she held up her pinkie, the blonde boy stared at it for a while before grabbing it with his own pinkie. "promise." he stated and julianna smiled, not letting go of his finger. a voice from downstairs steals their attention and they let go of each other to see what was happening.

"ugh, potter loves getting all the attention doesn't he?" draco snarled in disgust, watching harry taking photos with gilderoy lockhart. julianna frowned at his words, "no, he doesn't. he hates it." she whispered to him as he leaned onto the railing, "sure he does." he muttered under his breath, staring at the boy with envy. over the many letters draco had sent, the brunette realised why he might have hated harry so much is because he was jealous of him. he wanted the attention, the love, the admiration, and he could have gotten it all if he was, well, nice.

draco had enough of watching the interaction and grabbed julianna's hand, "c'mon, let's go to the other side. i'll lose more brain cells listening to that lockhart character going on about 'famous harry potter'." he complained, leading her to the other side of the second floor. julianna blushed at the gesture. when they reached the staircase, something caught draco's eye. he grabbed the book and flipped through it, before ripping the page out. "draco! you can't do that!" julianna scolded but he folded the paper with no response.

they spotted harry and julianna immediately knew what he was going to do when he raced down the staircase, leaving her behind. "i'll bet you loved that, didn't you, potter?" he accused, julianna chased after him. "draco-" "famous harry potter! can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page." draco stood in front of harry, sneering at him. ginny stepped forward, "leave him alone." draco laughed, "oh, look, potter. you've got yourself a girlfriend!" " i could say the same thing about you, malfoy." harry retorted, looking at julianna. both draco and julianna's faces turn pink. "harry!" julianna exclaimed, annoyed that he would bring her into this argument.

suddenly, a walking cane with a snake head attached landed on draco's shoulder. "now, now, draco, play nicely." a man with long, platinum blonde hair said, pushing draco to the side making him bump into julianna who moved next to him. "mr. potter. lucius malfoy. we meet at last." the man, lucius, who julianna knew as draco's dad, put his hand out for harry to shake. the moment he placed his hand in his, lucius pulled the boy towards him. "forgive me." he quietly but firmly spoke, using the snake head on his cane to brush aside harry's hair, revealing his lightning-shaped scar. "your scar is legend. as, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you." "voldemort killed my parents." harry stated, pulling away from the long-haired man. "he was nothing more than a murderer." he glared at lucius, "you must be very brave to mention his name, or very foolish." "fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." hermione spoke up out of nowhere, 'where the bloody hell did she come from?' julianna thought, looking at the girl standing next to her.

lucius turned his attention to hermione. "and you must be miss granger?" draco nodded when his dad looked at him for confirmation, "yes, draco has told me all about you, and your parents, muggles, aren't they?" he asked, hermione stared at him with a hard look on her face. lucius averted his gaze to julianna, "i know who you are, ms. candy. draco has been gushing about you nonstop this entire summer." he smirked and draco wanted to die, not able to look at anyone but the floor. julianna's eyes widened, "u-uh, yes, mr. malfoy." she quietly spoke, "your grandmother, madam circe candy, is quite a powerful woman in the ministry of magic." he said, creepily. "tell me, how is she doing these days?" "i'm doing fine these days, lucius." julianna dreaded the voice, knowing that it was her grandmother.

lucius turned around and smiled menacingly at circe. "madam circe, lovely to see you doing well, and alive." julianna had a bad feeling at the bottom of her stomach, "yes, the same goes for you, lucius." the older woman blankly said, "however, i would appreciate it if you didn't ask my granddaughter so many questions that you know the answer to." she gave the man a harsh look before gesturing julianna to come over to her, "have you gotten your books, child?" "uh, i- um-" "distracted, again? you're useless." everyone stared at the interaction, julianna desperately wanted to run away. lucius went back to belittling the weasleys as julianna and her grandmother walked away from them. "i will go pick up your books and then hand them to you. i would also like to add that you should keep your distance well away from the malfoys, especially their son." circe's words have julianna at a lost. "w-what? why?" she asked incredulously, circe raised an eyebrow at her granddaughter. "don't question things, child. i tell you what to do for your own good and safety. you do not want to hang around their lot, their family has a history involving dark magic." she warned her but let's be real, julianna wasn't going to listen to her. just because draco's family had a history of dark magic doesn't mean draco himself does dark magic. it's ridiculous!

julianna went back to the group while waiting for her grandmother. lucius and draco were leaving and as the boy left he looked at julianna. "i'll see you at school." he said, smiling slightly before leaving, not without giving a dirty look to the rest. julianna sighed at his attitude. "i'm sorry abo-" "don't." ron cut her off, "he's just absolutely uncontrollable." he said, shaking his head. circe came back immediately, dropping the books onto julianna's hands without warning, causing her to stumble backwards. "madam circe! lovely to see you again!" arthur greeted happily, this was the first time circe slightly smiled. "arthur." she greeted back before turning to julianna, "take care of the rest of your things yourself. stay safe at the weasley's and heed my words." she strictly told her, "okay, nan. bye, i'll-" without any word said, circe walked out of the shop, disapparating immediately. "why do i even bother." she muttered to herself, harry placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

after that, they all got the rest of the things on their list before leaving back to the burrow. the rest of the weeks would be spent splendidly.

Lol

Hufflepuff: I never tell people off the bat I’m bisexual. I wait. I wait until they say some homophobic shit and I’d laugh and go like “You know I’m bisexual, right?” and watch the look of terror fill their face.

Slytherin: *shook*

Slytherin: I like you. I’m gonna keep you.

HARRY X CEDRIC

SLYTHERIN AEMOND TARGARYEN

HUFFLEPUFF LUCERYS VELARYON

𝙈𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙞𝙖 |𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙤 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙛𝙤𝙮 𝙭 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧|𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙚𝙣: 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙃𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙪𝙛𝙛 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚

The hall was silent; everyone stared for a brief moment until Professor McGonagall started clapping. Slowly, the other professors at the high table on the raised dais joined in. Y/n didn’t know what to do. He was frozen—at a standstill. While the table under the yellow banner with a badger applauded and cheered with smiles, he never felt so unwelcome. 

Y/n didn’t notice that the stern professor had removed the old raggedy hat until she urged him off the rickety chair. He didn’t notice his legs moving on their own. Poor Y/n couldn’t hear anything. It was all muffled. As if someone was cupping his ears, shutting him out from the world into a plain of silence. His e/c eyes were glued on Harry. His twin was staring at him with a pained expression. Of course he was sad, thought Y/n bitterly. Why didn’t that talking hat put me in Gryffindor? 

Ever so slowly, Y/n started moving towards the table of his new house. Eyes from the Gryffindor table watched his movements as he slunked towards the long rectangular table. Behind him, Professor McGonagall continued to call out names for each new student to be sorted. Once he reached the table, many eyes and faces greeted him with smiles. They were happy; he realised. Happy to have snatched one of the Potters. Though they did not boast about it like Harry’s house, you could see the joy each one had. 

Before Y/n could sit down, a tall boy with black wavy hair and sky-blue eyes stood up, drawing attention temporarily from Y/n but in the end winded back to being on the young Potter. The boy stopped in front of Y/n and he watched with a terrified expression on his face. 

“‘Ello Potter! The name’s Oliver Benedict, and I’m the seventh year Prefect of Hufflepuff House. If you need anything at all, please come straight towards me. And welcome to Hufflepuff.” Y/n watched in silence as he smiled and gestured to the table behind him. The tall creature smiled too much, which made shivers climb up his spine. Y/n wanted to say hello or nice to meet you, or possibly anything. But alas, all he said was: “Um… w-where d-do I-sit at?” His e/c eyes wandered over the table, trying to figure out where he was supposed to go. He knew from primary school that each table had a group. And he was able to figure out which group was friendly and which one was not. However, there were no multiple tables for Hufflepuff. Just one long rectangular table that had a handful of students. 

“Oh, right!” Oliver cleared his throat and pointed to a small group at the end of the table. “You can sit there with the other first years, or—” He pointed to the front. “You sit with us, seventh and sixth years.” 

Y/n pointed to the rest of the first years. “I think I’ll sit with them; the other first years.” He said shyly. His eyes flickered down to his hands as he fiddled with the black robes of his uniform. 

“Of course, of course.” Oliver chuckled. “Remember now, if you need anything—and I mean anything at all, please come to me and I shall be glad to help you.” With one last friendly smile, Oliver went back to his original seat before Y/n sluggishly walked up to the group of first years. 

He quickly took a seat next to a girl with auburn hair. The girl turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were crystal blue, and she took in Y/n. He smiled, awkwardly. She returned the sentiment and tucked a copper strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Hullo, I’m Rosemary.” She had a bit of an Irish accent, but it wasn’t so prominent. Rosemary held out her hand. “And you are??” 

Y/n took her hand in his. 

“I’m—” 

“That Y/n Potter, that is!” exclaimed a boy with blond hair. He was leaning across the table, staring at Y/n closely. His brown eyes were glued to his scar, making Y/n want to cover it up with his hair. 

“If you don’t know who he is, you must be daft!” 

Rosemary glared at the boy. “And you must be rude to interrupt our conversation, y’know!” She spat venomously. 

The boy next to the rude one simply stared at Y/n. 

“I don’t know who you are.” He said quietly. “I’m Justin Finch-Fletchy.” He held his hand out. Y/n took it. “I’m Y/n Potter.” 

“How is it you don’t know who he is, Justin??” cried out the blond. “You muggle-born or somethin’?” Justin blushed, his cheeks were the colour of beets. 

“Yes. I-I am. Do you have a problem with that?” Justin’s voice quivered slightly. 

“No! ‘Course not! Just cause I’m a pureblood doesn’t mean I believe all that rubbish!” 

Rosemary rolled her eyes. 

“Anyway, I’m Ernie. Ernie Macmallin. Nice to meet you, Justin. Potter.” Ernie purposefully left out Rosemary to goad her, and she knew it too. Glaring at the blond pimple, she scoffed before introducing herself to Justin. 

Y/n watched as Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the sorting hat after a boy named “Zabini” was the last one to be sorted. Soon the hall grew quiet around Y/n as the man sitting at the high table on the raised dais stood up, raising his hands to draw everyone’s attention. 

“Welcome new and returning students!” His voice was soft yet strong at the same time, plus his long white beard reminded Y/n of Father Time. He, like the rest of wizards and witches apparently, wore bright purple robes with blue and burgundy embellishments and embroidery in the fabric. On his head seemed to be an overly large nightcap. “Before we start feasting, I would like to say a few words: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!” 

Laughter boomed through the hall, and Y/n looked around the hall as he said those odd words. His brows were furrowed, confusion laced in his eyes. Was he supposed to laugh? If so, those words weren’t funny. In fact, they were rather strange. Strange word choice. He didn’t like the way the old wizard’s eyes twinkled. It made him shudder. 

“He’s a bit loony, huh?” questioned Rosemary. “My mum thinks so,” whispered a girl with blonde pig-tails. “Dumbledore, loony? Reckon you’re loony if you think the best wizard in the world is loony himself!” claimed Ernie. 

“Thank you, and have a wonderful feast!” He raised a hand and suddenly, dishes appeared. A plate and silverware and goblet materialised in front of him, making Y/n gasp and stare wide-eyed. 

“Whoa,” he whispered. Food started being passed around and lively chatter filled the hall. Soon, food was piled on his plate, drawing some looks from other Hufflepuffs—though Y/n did not care. He was busy eating. He never, in his entire eleven-years of life, has ever seen this much food that he could eat! Harry would be lucky to see him tomorrow and not nursing a food-coma. 

As he shovelled food into his mouth, Y/n missed the glances he received from others. A few Ravenclaws whispered behind their hands, a few Hufflepuffs elbowed each other and pointed, while some Slytherins watched on. Gryffindor house was the only ones that did not notice, for they were too busy being occupied by their new member. 

“Y/n, would you like some potatoes?” He looked up and nodded. “Thanks, Rosemary,” she smiled in return. “No problem,” She brushed her red locks behind her ear. 

“So, Potter, did you and your brother really kill You-Know-Who?” The table became silent. The only ones who spoke were the 7th and 6th years who were far down and didn’t hear. Y/n froze and hesitantly looked up from his plate. His housemates were either staring at him, waiting for his answer, or they were sending glares at Macmillian—Rosemary was in the latter, her fists clenched—and a tense silence was cast on the table. 

Before Y/n could give his answer, someone interrupted him. 

“Oh, shut your trap Macmillian, ye old geezer!” snapped a voice full of a Scottish burr. “The next time a hear any incentive thing comin’ outta yer mouth, a’ll kick yer arse maself!” A tall and muscular girl gripped the rude blond boy by the ear, yanking on him as her eyes, full of fury, was directed on him. “Shame on you for bein’ an old cocker!” Giggles and snorts were heard all around Y/n, as his new housemates laughed at Macmillian. 

“Mary!! Put me down!!” he whined. The giant of a woman sneered and Y/n realised then that somewhere in between her telling him off, she picked Macmillian up by his robes and held him close to her face, a few feet off the ground. The giant—Mary—plopped the scrambling boy down onto the bench and gave him one last glare, before she turned her fiery amber gaze onto Y/n. 

“Am Mary Fraiser, this little twat,” she nudged Macmillian. “--is ma cousin! He’s a shite, ignore ‘im,” Fraiser reached over and held out her hand. Y/n took it gingerly before being yanked a bit as she gripped it and shook. “Nice ta meet you!” 

The Y/n gave her a friendly smile, hoping that she’ll stop shaking his bones with her strength. “I’m Y/n Potter. Nice to meet you as well.” 

The brawley girl barked out a laugh. “Aye we know ye, Potter.” She chuckled before giving Macmillan one last glare before she went to sit further down at the table. 

The rest of the meal, Macmillan ignored Y/n, only talking—more like yelling—with Justin about the wizard sport, Quidditch. It looked like Justin didn’t get it, but nodded along for Macmillan’s sake.  

As Y/n reached for a jug full of pumpkin juice, an arm went straight through the jug, making the Potter boy scream and jerk back. His eyes blown wide, he watched as a fat man wearing a grey frock with a rope tied at the waist flew through the table, moaning as he gazed at the juice longingly. 

“Oh phooey,” he sighed. “I forgot,” 

A few older Hufflepuffs looked on at the ghost with pity. 

“Y-Y-ou’re the Fat Friar,” Y/n said, his eyes watching the ghost with a strange fascination. The ghost turned to look at him, a smile on his face. 

“Indeed, I am Mister Potter! Oh! I heard you were able to be sorted into my old House!! Oh, dear, I hope you’ll enjoy it. We have a celebrity! I cannot wait to rub it in Old Baron's face! Ha!” The Friar flew off towards the Slytherin table. Y/n turned his head to watch. He noticed how the ghost called the Bloody Baron was sitting next to the blond-haired boy—Draco Malfoy. Shaking his head, Y/n went back to his food. 

“What class are you excited for most, Potter?” asked Rosemary, her blue eyes full of curiosity. Before he could answer her, Rosemary interrupted. “I’m very excited for Herbology! My mum is a herbalist, it’s what drew my dad to her, y’know!” 

“I really like Charms, but also I’m very excited about Potions.” 

Someone chuckled. “I thought so too until I knew who was to be our Professor.” Y/n turned his head to look at the voice. He had short black hair and brown slender eyes and a round face. He looked nervous, yet confident at the same time. 

“Snape, that fellow right there,” He pointed to the raised dais where the high table was, and pointed at a man with a hooked nose, shoulder-length black hair and black eyes that were staring at his brother, Harry. 

“He’s a nasty bloke I’ll tell ya,” Y/n watched as “Snape” nodded his head as the professor from Diagon Alley, Professor Quirill, spoke with the black-haired professor. 

“He hates anyone that isn't in his house. It makes Potions dreadful. He’s always hovering and when you make a simple mistake, he takes away so many house points and calls you names.” Y/n and Rosemary gasped. 

“How cruel!” 

“Can he do that?” 

Cried Y/n and Rosemary at the same time, their eyes wide with shock and fury. 

“No one stops him, not even Dumbledore. Tcch.” The boy crossed his arms, his eyes rolling. Realising that he didn't introduce himself, he sighed and offered his hand. “Nakamura Hiroshi, second year.” 

“Y/n Potter,” He gripped Nakamura’s hand. “Rosemary Thorn, nice to meet you,” she smiled and shook his hand. 

“Nice to meet you both,” Nakamura nodded his head in greeting. “Welcome to Hufflepuff House,” 

The Hall fell silent after dessert as Professor Dumbledore stood up from his chair. 

“Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.” A few Hufflepuff’s rolled their eyes. “First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.” 

“I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.” Rosemary leaned over to whisper to an older Hufflepuff. 

 “Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.” Madam Hooch stood up from the High table. “And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.” Only a few people laughed, Harry being one of them, along with Justin, who looked around at the worried eyes of their new housemates looking grim. 

“He’s… he’s not joking?” asked Justin, his voice wavering. “Nah, he ain’t. A jus’ wanna know wat it is,'' spoke Mary a few seats down. 

“Usually Dumbledore gives us a reason,” murmured another student. 

“And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!” cried Dumbledore. Y/n noticed that the other teachers’ smiles had become rather fixed. Oh, no. Nakamura and Mary firmly placed their hands over their ears. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

 “Everyone please your their favorite tune,” said Dumbledore, “and off we go!”

 And the school bellowed:

 “Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

 Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

 Our heads could do with filling

 With some interesting stuff,

 For now they’re bare and full of air,

 Dead flies and bits of fluff,

 So teach us things worth knowing,

 Bring back what we’ve forgot,

 just do your best, we’ll do the rest,

 And learn until our brains all rot.”

The noise was painful. Y/n had placed his hands over his ears when it first started. “Ah, music,” he said, wiping his eyes. Rosemary whispered to Y/n. “Was that really music?” He chuckled, smirking at the auburn-haired girl. “A magic beyond all we do here!” 

“And now, bedtime. Off you trot!” Prefects, Oliver and a girl with short blue hair and green eyes, stood up with a bunch of other students from the three other tables, calling out: “First year Ravenclaws, follow us,” “First year Slytherins, follow us,” “First year Gryffindors, with me.” 

Y/n watched with sad eyes as he and Harry were split from each other, one wearing red and gold and the other yellow and black. 

Oliver and the witch led Harry and his fellow first years through the corridors of Hogwarts. Y/n watched as the other students, red and gold, blue and bronze, climbed the grand and moving staircase—thanks to Hogwarts: A History—that Y/n couldn’t wait to explore. While he and the rest of the first years followed their Prefects. Rosemary stuck close by him, pointing to the portraits that lined the cobblestone walls. 

“Our common room is in the basement?” whispered Justin. Macmillan nodded. 

“Yeah, it’s near the kitchens,” a smirk formed on his face. 

They climbed down the non-moving staircase and they felt a slight chill in the air. Rosemary stuck close by Y/n, pointing to the fruit themed portraits that lined the cobblestone walls. They passed a portrait of a bowl of fruit—that reminded Y/n of the bowl of fruit that muggle art teachers would have their students paint or draw—and Y/n could hear a slight commotion happening behind the portrait. Frowning, he looked at Rosemary, seeing if she had any clue as to what it was. Her face was marred in confusion. So she didn’t know what it was then, mused Y/n. 

“If you need a map of Hogwarts, please let us know, myself and Oliver shall provide you with one.” Commented the female perfect, a friendly smile on her face. 

The group stopped together at a nook, hidden by… barrels? Y/n looked at it in confusion. 

“Unlike the other houses where they need a password or need to answer a riddle, for us, we need to tap on these barrels to a rhythm, our House Founder’s song’s rhythm. We will teach you the rhythm tomorrow after your classes. So until then, stick together in a group and we’ll assign an older student to let you in and out of the common room.” Oliver smiled at the first years. “Now, Ethel, will you do the honours?” Ethel—the other prefect—nodded her head. She approached the barrels and tapped two from the bottom, and two in the middle row, and one in the top row. A soft melody played from the barrels, and the door of the nook opened. 

Y/n peered into the doorway along with the other first years. The ceiling was low; the room was round and had two small platforms with a staircase leading up to a door. One said Gents, the other Ladies. It must be the dorms, Y/n thought to himself. There was a sense of warmth and welcoming to the room. The smell of vanilla and sunflowers reached Y/n’s nose. It brought a sense of homeliness to the common room. It made him want to cuddle up in a blanket and read one of the books about dragons by the fireplace and drink some hot chocolate with marshmallows. It temporarily made him forget about his dread and his sadness. It made him forget that Harry wasn’t with him. His heart winced at the thought. 

“Welcome,” Oliver smiled. “To Hufflepuff House,” 

Authors Note:

Happy birthday Harry, Y/n Potter! Hope you enjoyed this weekends chapter! I don't know when the next one will be, hopefully soon, but this Monday I'm starting my last semester at school, so wish me luck! A lot of the characters that'll be showin' up will most likely be OC's, so I'm plannin' on doing an introduction to Hufflepuff house students of Hogwarts soon so you'll get a feel of them when they get older! Thanks for reading! xx

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@officialsaturn

@mysticanxy

who took this picture of a slytherin and a hufflepuff

(ik thats not a badger but enjoy the cute)

draco dating a hufflepuff girl in the same year as him.

*requested

Draco’s sixth year at Hogwarts comes in a succession of black and blue, the shape of a Mark, a branding, a death sentence, stitched into the capillaries of his arm.

The gossamer ribbon of his lungs slips through his rib cage and swirls around the notches of his esophagus till he’s choking on the silent screams.

Because loving her is a dangerous thing.

A tricky thing.

A deadly thing.

For she’s now a pawn in the Dark Lord’s game, all muddled blood, and impure veins.

He feels like Icarus falling for the sea, can taste the foam in his lungs, on his tongue, shards of salt lacerating the walls of his once beating heart.

And he cannot breathe, cannot swallow, cannot see, no, not as she’s standing behind him more ghost than girl, ankles buried beneath more truths than lies, tears staining the rim of her cathedral-glass eyes.

“Draco,” she whispers, and it sounds like a hymn, a chorus of angels screaming, crashing, burning, falling from heaven, falling for devils. 

He’s never heard something quite so tragic.

“I’m sorry,” he replies, almost laughs at the irony.

The Mark, the blood, the truth, the lies.

He wonders if this is what it feels like to die.

With a girl - the girl - by his side, eyes wide, lips swollen and tinged with a hint of Botticellian pink.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Please, he’ll kill you, he’ll kill us all.”

A strand of hair catches in her lashes as she shakes her head adamantly.

“Like you said, he’ll kill us all. At least I’ll be by your side when I die.”

She twines their fingers together and knots their knuckles in a manner that reminds Draco vaguely of a promise. 

He thinks he wants to hold her hand forever, wants to memorize each slope and curve and jut of her tender, porcelain bones.

Because loving her is like Russian Roulette.

A game, a chance, a dangerous thing.

She folds her arms behind his neck, brings her lips close, close, close till they’re closest.

“I’m not leaving,” she says, again.

Again, again and again.

And yellow never was so beautiful.

Draco dating a Hufflepuff in the same year as him

❝Loving her is like Russian Roulette. 

❝A game, a chance, a dangerous thing.❞

Ben and Mal are such a slytherin / hufflepuff couple. I love it.