The morning was as worse as the night. The couch was uncomfortable and hot, due to the scorching fire right in front of me. The common room was full of people towering over me, whispering, and others throwing me pity looks.

My eyes fluttered open and once people saw that I was awake, they acted as though they were intently examining the couch material the whole time. I sat up and heard a variety of questions and statements as I walked up to my dorm room.

"Are you okay?"

"I heard about you and Ron."

"I can't believe you broke up with him!"

I ignored all the remarks and went to my dorm to get ready for the day. I skipped breakfast and headed straight to potions. When potions class flied by after many questions were thrown at me, I met up with Blaise during our free period.

"Aren't you excited? We get to hang out all break," Blaise said eagerly.

"I'm thrilled, it's just hard to be happy after... well you know what." I groaned.

"I understand, but you'll be okay eventually."

The day, and classes in general, passed very quickly as I had the breakup with Ron on my mind, not the classwork.

It was already dinner, and I was sitting across from Blaise, who invited Draco to sit next to him.

"Do you want to do some homework in the library after dinner?" Blaise asked.

"I would but I set up a quidditch practice with Harry after dinner," I informed him.

"Now you're hanging with Pottah?" asked Malfoy.

"Yes, I am, and I would be careful what you say about him around Hermione."

Dinner was dismissed shortly after that tense conversation and I grabbed my broom from my dorm. Pansy eyed me as I grabbed it but went back to playing dress-up with Daphne.

"There you are!"

Harry smiled as I exited the building with many layers on and headed to the quidditch pitch. He had a hand-me-down looking broom that seemed to be borrowed from someone else.

"Where's your broom," I asked.

"Did you not hear? Last week I fell off my broom from the dementors and it decided paid a visit to the whomping willow," he explained.

"Why weren't you in the hospital wing, Harry?"

"I was was for just a day, but I thought the rumors would've got to you."

"No, they didn't."

"Did you think I wouldn't show up?" I questioned after standing for a moment in complete silence.

"Well — after what occurred, I wasn't sure how you were feeling," he shyly stated.

"Please don't feel awkward around me. It's bad enough not talking to Ron, I don't want to lose you as a friend either. I'm just trying to distract myself from — well — the whole situation."

"I understand. How about I help you get started?"

"Okay, sounds good."

First, Harry explained to me the basic rules of the game. There are seven players (three chasers, two beaters, one keeper, and one seeker) and four balls (two bludgers, one quaffle, and one snitch) in the game known as Quidditch.

Harry had me try keeping, chasing, beating, and even seeking. I felt as if I did best with keeping and chasing, but I was ultimately waiting for Harry's experienced opinion.

We flew around for hours, messing around with the practice quidditch balls and finally ended when the wind picked up in the already cold air.

"It's getting colder out, I think we should head inside," Harry shouted from across the field.

I flew over to him as the wind blew in my face, causing my eyes to water. We soared down onto the grass and packed up all the equipment that we borrowed into the large trunk. As we walked back into Hogwarts, he began to enlighten me on his opinion of my sports performance.

"I thought you did best at keeper. You were better than average at chaser and average at seeker. I mean this in the nicest way possible but — well — you're trash at beater," he said uneasily, sending an apologetic smile afterwords.

I burst into laughter. "I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when you handed me the bat. I didn't expect to be good at anything but I'm actually surprised. Thanks again for taking me up on the offer."

"No problem. Frankly, I think you should try out for keeper or chaser next year."

"Harry, are you serious?"

"No, I'm Harry. But besides that, you're brilliant at keeper, I say at least give it a try?"

"I probably will," I said excitedly while imagining joining in on the games instead of watching anxiously with the crowd in the stands.

"You realize we will have to compete if you do try out?" Harry questioned after a moment.

"Of course, that just makes me want to try out even more. I mean — when the Slytherins beat you, I'll be laughing with them."

"As if; I'm the best seeker since my father," Harry boasted.

"I guess we will just have to see next year when I become a brilliant Quidditch player, Harry Potter."

We laughed as we travelled down the hall and I waved goodbye once I got to the corridor that leads to the Slytherin common room. Once I arrived into the common room, I ignored all glares and whispers of people around me. I hurried up to my dorm and took a short nap, avoiding all contact for the rest of the day. That small moment was very relaxing, unlike the rest of the week.

•••

The week was a complete blur. Last minute assignments were being thrown at us by every professor at Hogwarts. During every free moment, I was cramming to finish the vast assignments that kept piling up. By the time I went to sleep, I was awaking only a few stressful hours later just to be slammed with even more difficult work. By the end of the week I was absolutely exhausted. The only thing giving me immense motivation was that I would be taking off for Blaise's house the next day (December 22nd) for Christmas break.

Blaise and I were sitting in the common room on the night before winter break, scribbling answers to every last question of our assignments. All I had left was divination from weeks ago that wasn't due until January.

"

I scribbled a quick answer and looked over it once.

No new bonds but got closer to Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter.

I was content with my work and took a huge sigh of relief. I sat and watched Blaise while he furrowed his brow in concentration and violently pressed his quill on the parchment in front of him.

"Blaise, calm down, you don't have to be so aggressive."

"I just want to get this done!"

I flinched slightly and was taken aback by his sudden outrage.

"I'm sorry, it's just so stressful doing this last minute," he apologized.

"It's alright, hand me your transfiguration paper, Blaise."

"What? I can do it."

I grabbed an empty piece of parchment and starting writing his short essay for transfiguration.

"Stop doing that! You are already stressed enough," Blaise sincerely begged.

"I'm just writing it here and once I'm done than you can copy it down on your own. She would notice if my handwriting was on your paper," I said, ignoring his pleads.

"Merlins beard, Y/n, you're so stubborn."

"I know."

For the next few minutes, I adjusted and rewrote everything that I wrote on my short essay and put it on a blank piece of parchment for Blaise. He sighed like I had done when I finished and looked up at me. I wrote the conclusion line and handed him the paper.

"Thank you," he mumbled, copying it down on his own transfiguration worksheet.

I waited for him to finish while looking at other stressed out students who procrastinated to the last day to finish assignments, like Blaise and I had done.

Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice Blaise waving his hand in front of my face until he shouted my name.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you were talking to me," I said, clearly startled.

"I'm finished. What should we do with our last day until we come back in 1994?" Blaise questioned.

"That is such a Muggle dad joke." I chuckled.

"Ooh, that gives me an idea!"

"What?" I urged.

"Let's go sneak out to a Muggle city, Y/n!"

"Blaise, that's brilliant!"

I heard two sets of footsteps approaching Blaise and I and I turned my head around. Pansy and Draco were walking right towards us, smirking and obviously planning something.

"What's so brilliant?" Draco asked.

"Oh we are just —," Blaise began.

"Nothing," I aggressively interrupted.

"Going to sneak to a Muggle city? We already heard, L/n." Pansy squealed.

I sighed and realized that they are going to try and tag along.

"I suppose you want to come with us now?" I questioned.

"Of course we do!" Pansy said excitedly.

"You guys can come," Blaise calmly replied.

I gave him a death glare that could shatter his soul into thousands of tiny little pieces, but he avoided eye contact as much as he could to ensure that event wouldn't occur.

"I suggest we all get dressed than," I said while rolling my eyes slyly.

"We are already in normal clothes," Draco notified, annoyed.

"Malfoy, we need Muggle clothes," I informed in a tone that implied it was obvious.

"Well, let's go," Blaise quickly interrupted, trying to stop possible verbal bullying amongst Draco and I.

I walked quietly next to Pansy into our dorm room. I scoured through my clothes and settled on leggings, a sweater, and a beanie.

Once I dressed, I felt pretty good about the outfit. After all the Muggle studies classes and my parents forcing me to live in a Muggle city after Eleanor passed, I had more knowledge then most pure-bloods about Muggles.

Pansy scurried through her clothes and looked very frustrated. She glanced at me and seemed somewhat — impressed by my style.

"Pansy, I'd be more than happy to help," I offered.

"Okay," she muttered.

I hunted through her clothing and found some ripped jeans, a cream colored sweater, and a pair of brown boots. She nodded as I handed her the clothes and scurried into the bathroom.

I placed my wand in my nightstand drawer and saw a small picture of Ron and I in there. I picked it up, examined it, and began to grow sad. The bathroom door opened and I suddenly threw the picture into the drawer and slammed it shut. Pansy walked over, opened the drawer, and had a sympathetic look on her face once she noticed what I was looking at.

"Does it hurt?" she began. "Seeing the memories?"

"Just a little."

I quickly smiled the pain away.

"Let's go have some fun," she said while grabbing my wrist and leading me into the common room to meet Blaise and Draco.

Blaise was dressed in jeans and a Fred Weasley-like sweater that reminded me of Ron. I pushed the thoughts away and glanced at Draco's outfit. His blonde hair was messily sat upon his arrogant head. Nonetheless, he was wearing black jeans, a white t-shirt with a flannel overtop of it.

I was stunned by his ability to pick out such a good outfit. Draco noticed my staring at his appearance with my eyebrows slightly raised.

Draco grinned. "Staring won't give you the power to see through my clothes."

"Merlins beard, Malfoy!" I yelled while forcing down a burst of laughter that wanted to erupt.

He and Blaise laughed for a couple seconds and finally caught their breath.

"Break it up boys," Pansy finally said.

"Draco, that was brilliant," Blaise said while intertwining hands with Pansy and leaving Draco and I to walk behind them as we both shoved down a grin that dared to form on our faces.