Chapter 74. Readying For Hogsmeade

“What was that about?” Draco asked, glancing back at me, Pansy doing the same. I shrugged at them both, completely confused over the reason why she was terrified of me. However, I had a sinking feeling that some part of her remembered the fear she had of me when seeing my half transformed state. ‘She doesn’t remember, but the fear still remains.’ I bit my lip in angst, not wanting to participate, already seeing what I feared most in my own mind. “She’s probably fearful of losing to me in grades.” I quickly spat out an idea to throw Draco from the trail.

Draco nodded with a scoff. “I almost want to say good luck to that mudblood.” He turned around to see other’s fears, and I used his turned attention to look at Pansy, still staring at me. I sighed, she already knew I lied about that. I wanted to tell her, to not have those piercing, pained eyes staring at me, but another set perhaps taking their place in fear held me back. “It’s most likely from inside the Chamber…” I muttered into her ear, telling her the truth, but avoiding details that I didn’t want to say.

Pansy looked at Lucas’ withered expression. Truly he was unhappy to think of that night again. Pansy still vaguely remembered how his eyes and hair had changed from his Magical overcharge condition. She gently patted Lucas’ shoulder, hiding her own glee knowing that Hermione was frightened of him. Perhaps frightened enough to stay away from him. “Thanks…” Lucas muttered, a small forced smile on his face, trying to show his gratitude for her reassurance. Pansy just nodded, already happy with how things turned out today.

“Dementor!” Someone yelled, Pansy and I snapped our heads to see that the Boggart had turned into a Dementor before Potter. Just then, Lupin jumped in front of Potter, and forced the Boggart to change into something else. Confusingly enough, it was a small image of the moonlit sky, the full moon peering from the parting gray clouds. “Riddikulus!” He yelled, forcing the moon to transform into a yellow balloon, let loose across the room before entering the cabinet again. Professor Lupin then ended class soon after that, letting us all out early to calm ourselves from the lesson.

Draco, Pansy and I all relaxed in the common room for a while, studying up on the lessons for Herbology and Potions. However, seeing the Boggart taking the form of a dementor chewed at me. One had bowed to me, the creature known for nothing but fear and terror, just wasn’t that bad for me. Pansy and Draco explained that they felt nothing joyous when one attacked me on the train, but I didn’t feel so bad. Both times I didn’t feel depressed at all when in their presence. ‘Is it because of my curse?’ I knew that they only attacked humans, and since I was no longer completely human there was a chance that was the reason.

It made the most sense, but something bothered me about it. ‘If werewolves were really immune, even while in the human form, then why isn’t that written down somewhere? Are they hiding it to avoid being known as werewolves?’ “Earth to Lucas!” I sputtered in confusion, jumping in my seat before turning to look at Draco. He scoffed at me. “Shrinking potion really that interesting?” I sighed at him while closing my book of potions I was glazing over. “No, I was just lost in thought. What is it?” “We thought to take a break.” Pansy offered, closing her own book of magical plants. I shrugged before stretching. “I was feeling peckish anyway.” I sighed, getting up from my seat, Draco leading the way.

Inside the great hall, we took our seats and began conversing about school. The hot topic of Hogsmeade village quickly came up. However we were cut off by screams of girls far away. We all looked up and I instantly recognized those girls as the ones harassing Luna. Their faces now covered in boils and acne, spreading to their hands. “Wow, almost as if someone switched out their normal potion for something much different.” Draco muttered, watching the girls rush out of the hall covering their faces. My face slowly began smirking with vile satisfaction, patting Draco’s shoulder for a job well done today. I could see Luna looking at them all, alone at the table, no longer with that forced smile she wore before. Only her usual stoic expression.

“Are you guys in on something?” Pansy asked, both Draco and I glancing at each other for a moment before shrugging. “Maybe.” “I just made an observation.” We both denied, badly. It was clear that we were both the reason for that incident, our smiles only growing as whispers began filling the hall. Pansy glanced at me, and I nodded at her with a smile. “I would have to imagine that they deserved it for something like this to happen to them.” Pansy’s lips slowly trembled upwards, trying to not smile as wickedly as I was. “I see.” She muttered, holding back a small chuckle.

“Speaking of deserving things, are you ready for Quidditch practice this month before we beat Gryffindor?” Draco asked, making me sigh. He was always an advocate to try getting me into Quidditch. I did have a fun time with our greatest match last year, but I didn't want to be a large enough player to halter my studies. “Lucas, just sit in the pitch and watch. That’s all Victoria asks of you for training.” I scoffed with a nod, we all knew I was fairly bad at flying, not nearly as horrid as Longbottom, but still not anything that would constitute being on the field. The only thing I had going for me were my eyes, able to overview everything. ‘I don't them to rely too much on me, the more I help, the more they'll come to expect of me...’ I thought, but looking at Draco’s pleading expression along with his help for me just earlier, I felt I owed it to him. “Very well.” I nodded, Draco cheering while Pansy giggled, knowing my thoughts.

Days of classes rolled around into October, soon the coveted weekend was upon us, bringing with it plenty of excitement for many including myself. This was the first day that allowed third years to leave campus for Hogsmeade. I had managed to convince my mother in one of my letters to sign off on it, doing my best to explain that all other Slytherin’s would be doing this as well. She relented, and gave me some more allowance, to make sure that our family wouldn’t look poor to others. “Coming along?” I asked Val, dipping my hand in his tank, Val quickly slithering under my sweatshirt, his bigger body making it increasingly more difficult to hide him. “Of course!”

I glanced at myself in the mirror to make sure there were no telling signs. My large dark green dragon leather jacket, unzipped, showcasing my black shirt with a white snake design, hissing aggressively. ‘No telling signs.’ A knock on my door told me that Pansy was here. I opened it, and saw her in her normal attire. Her straight black hair was tied up into a ponytail, stopping it from getting into her eyes, showcasing the nape of her neck. She wore a high end black pea coat, hiding what she wore underneath, leaving only the bottom end of her skirt and black leggings to be seen.

We both took a moment to observe one another in our clothes, before I felt the need to break the silence. “You look good.” Pansy smiled at my compliment before returning with her own. “You as well. I do love that jacket.” She said, feeling the material between her fingers. I scoffed while closing my door. “Well my father always likes leather, the best to wipe off the ‘filth’ from it.” Pansy sighed, shaking her head, but eventually shrugged at my reason for owning such a thing, similarly to my leather gloves. “It still looks good.”

We met up with Draco, wearing a dark overcoat over everything, and earmuffs hanging around his neck. We already spoke at length about where we wanted to go on our trip, only having a few valuable hours to enjoy ourselves. Pansy wanted to visit the Herbology shop, while Draco and I wanted to visit the sweet and joke shop. We decided that we would divvy up our time between things together. First would be the Herbology shop, then the sweets shop, and then the joke shop. Finally we would end and rest together at the Three Broomsticks inn. Draco smiled widely at seeing me, clearly excited to go. “You better share some of the sweets you get.” I scoffed at him while he led the way. “Only if you return the favor.”