The Sunrise of My Heart

Once my free period had ended, I made my way to Potions. Hermione, of course, proved to Professor Slughorn that she was far more intelligent than the rest of her classmates. I could practically tell the very moment he decided she was worth collecting. Not until we were working on making the Draught of Living Death did anything particularly interesting happen. The person who made the best attempt would receive a small vial of Felix Felicis, which made the drinker incredibly lucky for awhile.
I began working on my potion along with the rest of the class, hardly paying attention to anyone else. I had no interest in being lucky, because I had no goals I was trying to reach. All I wanted to do was survive the year, and that tiny bottle wasn't going to help me do that. When I noticed that Harry's potion was coming along surprisingly well, however, I grew interested in what he was doing. His potion, by all appearances, was perfect. Mine was acceptable, but it was certainly not as great as his. Hermione's, I was astonished to see, was about as good as mine. Not even she had made one as good as Harry. And yet I knew Harry hadn't been good at Potions before. This was very advanced, so his sudden skill seemed suspicious. When I saw his used book and the familiar black scribbles, I smiled softly.
"Nice potion, Harry," I said. His was clear as water, whereas mine was still a light lilac color.
"Thanks," he said. "Guess I got lucky."
"So it seems."
Harry, of course, won the vial of Felix Felicis, since no one else had managed to make their potion half as well as his. After Potions, it was time for dinner, so I was unable to talk to him about his used book. I didn't actually know whose book it was, but I had seen it before. Whoever had spent their time altering the instructions in it certainly knew what they were doing. They were even better at Potions than the author.
I could tell that Draco was pretty angry about not winning the vial. Evidently he had some plan that required a bit of luck. I wondered what it was, and whether it was serious or just a selfish little desire. With Draco, it was hard to decide. I hoped it was just a little selfish desire. A serious plan coming from Draco, especially the more moody Draco, didn't bode well for the rest of us.
"Why do you even sit with us?" Pansy Parkinson asked, startling me out of my thoughts.
"Evening, Pansy. My day was nice, thanks for asking."
"It makes no sense. You spend all your time watching the Gryffindors, you don't talk to anyone over here, no one here likes you. So why do you sit with us?"
"Has anyone ever told you how charming you are?" I asked sarcastically.
"What else makes no sense is how you got placed in Slytherin. You so obviously belong over there with those useless students. So why are you here with us?"
"Perhaps there's more to Riley than meets the eye," Draco answered. The way he said it was not flattering though. It was more like he was silently threatening to tell everyone the truth about me.
Pansy simply laughed. "Yeah, a mental obsession with those lower than us. She's been placed with us for some strange reason, and she can't even appreciate it. She wastes all her time with trash!"
"Pansy, don't talk about my friends like that, or I will show you why I got placed in this house. I can be cold and ruthless, just for different reasons than your typical asshole Slytherin."
"As far as I've seen, you're all talk and no action." She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, challenging me.
"All right, I'll prove it to you. Right here, in front of everyone." I pulled out my wand and aimed it at her, trying to decide what spell to use.
"You'd get expelled for attacking me!"
"Nah, I'd just get a week of detention. Even the teachers think you're a pain in the ass. Still, I need to spend as much time as I can catching up on homework. And you're not worth the trouble." I put my wand away again, turning back to my plate of food.
"Have you ever followed through with a threat? Or are you too scared to actually do anything to anyone?" Draco's voice was laced with dark humor.
"Keep pushing me and I'll follow through with my threat to turn your jewels into raisins. I bet that would be fun to explain to Madame Pomfrey." I didn't even bother looking up from my food to answer him.
Pansy spluttered beside me. "You'll do what?"
"How is it that I always end up sitting next to the two of you? Is all of Slytherin out to make my meals as unenjoyable as possible?"
"It's not like we enjoy sitting next to you either," Pansy answered. "It's like sitting next to a Gryffindor." The way she said it made it seem like that was the worst possible seating arrangement imaginable.
"You are so... No, there are too many bad words to describe you. It would take me all night, so I won't even get started."
"You are such a Gryffindor," she answered. As if that would offend me.
"You mean I'm brave and just, and I do what's right instead of being a wimp and doing what's easy? Why, thank you! I'm glad you noticed. Now shut up, I'm tired of talking to you."
"Bitch," she muttered under her breath.
I smirked at that. I would own up to that title with pride.
The rest of the week passed without anymore incidents or conversations like the ones in the beginning. I did my detention with Snape (cleaning all the toilets by hand), Ron made the Gryffindor Quidditch team again (yay!), Draco and Pansy avoided me like I had the plague (also yay!), and I spent as much time as possible with Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny.
Over the next few weeks, we received more homework, and learned harder things in our classes. I was very glad I had gone through all of this multiple times before, or else I'd have been as flooded and freaked out as the rest of the sixth years. The weather grew steadily colder, making me excited for Christmas. Partially because I loved Christmas, and partially because I would be spending it at the Weasleys' house. Of course, Christmas was still a couple months away.
From Harry's used book of Advanced Potion-Making, he had discovered new spells that the previous owner had created. Some of the spells were new to me, but most of them I recognized. Whoever the previous owner was, I had known him or her in a past life. Unfortunately, spells from different lives tended to bleed together, so I wasn't sure which life it was from.
With the arrival of October came the first trip to Hogsmeade of the year. When everyone else was bundling up tightly, prepared to brave the freezing weather for a bit of fun, I was sitting on the couch in the Slytherin common room. I was wrapped cozily in a warm blanket, having no intentions of going out in that dreadful weather. Soon after everyone else had left, I got up to get some food from the kitchens. I happened to bump into Draco, who was also on his way out. Judging by his clothing, though, he wasn't planning on going outside. There was an awkward silence for a moment before we simply continued walking, our strides the same pace.
"It wasn't your father's death you were mourning last year, was it?" he asked suddenly.
"No. It was Godric's."
He scoffed softly. "I wasted my entire day over that--"
"You didn't have to waste your day," I interrupted. "If you'll remember, I tried to make you leave. You were determined to stay." He remained silent. After a few more moments, I spoke up. "Why, by the way? How come you stayed with me?"
"I was bored."
"You could have gone to Hogsmeade."
"Hogsmeade is boring."
"So am I, according to you."
"Well, it was you or Hogsmeade. I figured you would be a bit less boring. I was wrong."
"Why are you so afraid to prove to the world that you do actually have a heart?"
"Maybe I don't."
"I know you do. I've felt it before."
"I have a physical muscle, sure. But maybe I have no emotional one."
"That's not true. I've seen glimpses of it, at times, when you would let your guard down and thaw the ice around it. What are you so afraid of?"
"I'm not afraid of anything. It's you lot who should be afraid."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
"Right, well this is where I leave you alone with your heart of ice. I'm that way." I pointed down the hall we had entered onto.
He didn't answer me, he simply continued to walk. I sighed softly and walked the rest of the way to the kitchens in silence. When I returned to the Slytherin common room, it was still gloriously empty. I ate in silence, mulling over what Draco would be like if he weren't so cold. Maybe he would have friends that actually liked him, and didn't just like his blood status. Then again, maybe not. While I was thinking these thoughts, somewhere out in the cold, two girls were arguing. One of them touched something that should never make contact with skin. I had no idea that while I was enjoying my time alone in the warm common room, Katie Bell was being cursed by a Dark object.