Essential Hope

Though you heard Hermione’s alarm, you rolled over and pretended to still be asleep. Hermione had been up for half an hour, and Ginny was groggily sitting up, trying to learn how to shut the alarm off.
“Mione, how the hell do you make it stop??” She groaned, slamming it on the bedside table several times.
“Its bewitched to keep ringing until everyone I set it to is awake. I set it for you and Kelsey, and until both of you are out of bed, it wont stop.”
Uh.. great.. You thought to yourself, knowing Ginny would do anything to shut it up. Before you knew it, a pair of hands landed on your back, and shoved you onto the ground. The alarm stopped, and Ginny sighed in relief.
“Oi! I was awake, you didn’t have to do that!” Ginny spun around and cried,
“You purposely let me suffer?!” You ducked an oncoming pillow, and ran to the bathroom to avoid further attacks from her. After showering, and getting into your uniform, you grabbed your bag and followed Ginny and Hermione down the stairs. Harry, Ron and George were waiting for you.
“Where’s Fred?” You asked automatically.
“Oh, so we’re not good enough?” George teased, pulling you into a hug. You hugged back and said,
“Of course you are.” And left it at that. You all walked to the great hall, and ate a quick breakfast. You, Harry. Ron and Hermione all had identical schedules, so you bid farewell to George and Ginny, and headed off to class.

In potions, you noticed a familiar person at the front of the class. Draco’s blonde head stood out from the brunettes and black haired kids around him. As you were about to call his name, Harry groaned and said,
“Great, another year of potions with that ass hole.” You looked around for who Harry could be talking about.
“Who?” You asked.
“Draco Malfoy. I hate him.” Harry said, pointing to your friend. You raised your eyebrows in surprise, and asked,
“Why do you hate him?” As Harry began going into the stories of him and Draco, Hermione steered you all to a desk. You sat to the desk next to Draco. You looked over, and grinned, genuinely glad he was in this class. He smiled excitedly back at you. His eyes looked over your shoulder, and he sent a horrible glare past you. You looked back, and saw Harry and Ron glaring right back at him, and Ron even sent him a rude gesture. You smacked Harry’s arm, and said,
“Hey, come on stop that.” He immediately switched his angry glare to a confused expression, and looked at you.
“What, why?” Draco smiled at you again for standing up for him, and then turned back to his friends. You looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione, all of whom were staring at you, confused. You explained how you were Draco’s friend, and how he was very nice to you. Harry laughed scornfully and said,
“Honestly, Kelsey, friends with HIM?” You glared at Harry, and said,
“Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean he isn’t my friend.” Taken aback, Harry was about to say something back, when you heard Hermione say,
“Oh honestly, Harry. Let her be friends with who she wants. If he’s nice, I don’t see a problem.” Harry looked very upset, but said,
“Fine, I’ll let you figure this one out on your own. But if he steps out of line, just make sure he knows what I can do.” Ron sniggered at Harry’s seemingly empty threat, completely changing the subject.

At dinner that night, Harry announced to everyone (everyone being Ginny, George, Fred and Katie) that you were friends with Draco Malfoy. Everyone looked surprised, but George said,
“Well, as long as you can trust him..” Fred, Ginny and Katie agreed, and dinner continued without any other problems.

As everyone headed to the dorms for some sleep, you hung back to wait for Draco. He caught up to you quickly, and you two walked to the Gryffindor tower together again.
“Thanks for standing up for me. I didn’t think you actually would.” You smiled at Draco, and said,
“Of course, you’re my friend. They need to understand that.” He blushed slightly, and said,
“It really means a lot to me. I’ve never had a friend do that for me before.”
“That’s why you have me.” You told Draco. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and gave you a quick hug. As you reached the fat lady, Draco stopped and said,
“Until tomorrow.” He hugged you close. He smelled very good, and you smiled to yourself. You pulled away and told him goodnight.

You entered the common room. It was empty, except a few first years. You walked up to the dorms, and saw Hermione and Ginny already in bed. Ginny was completely out, of course, and Hermione was reading. She smiled as you returned, and then shut her book to go to sleep. You changed quickly and crawled into bed, letting the aroma of Draco put you into a deep sleep.