Before you met me, I was alright but things were kind of heavy, you brought me to life -- Fall 1991

"Riddikulus," I repeated with a nod. "I think I'm going to have to start reading ahead with some subjects as well." I needed to do well to impress Father. It took a lot to impress him and it seemed to take twice that for me to be able to do so. I sighed, "So is Defence Against the Dark Arts your favourite subject?"

I shook my head.  "No," I replied simply.  Then I realized that in polite conversation someone would probably elaborate.  "Potions is by far my favorite.  Snape is horrible, but I love the concept and whatnot of potions."  I have made my own remedy for pain after my first year here once I realized how well I excelled in that class.  "What do you like best thus far?" I asked her.

"Potions is interesting as is Defence Against the Dark Arts." I began, "but my favourite has to be Astronomy. I love looking at the stars and just losing yourself in them." I looked up at the sky, wondering how big the world really was. I shook my head to clear it. "I can't wait until third year to take Care of Magical Creatures though." I would make sure that every creature I knew had the best care possible. If I couldn't be treated well, at least they could be. I turned back to Lincoln, "Have you thought about what electives you might want to take next year?"

I shook my head.  I thought about taking Muggle Studies just to irritate my family, but I was not sure if I wanted to make a reason for them to hurt me.  "Not really," I said.  "Care of Magical Creatures does sound interesting, though.  I'll probably do as many as I can fit in... I don't do well with free time."

"Me either." I agreed. "Free time give your mind too much opportunity to think about everything." I sighed, thinking about home, Father and Draco. I shook my head to clear it. "I can't wait to actually be able to pick classes though." I knew Father would probably tell me what classes I had to take but at least they would be different from the usual.

That was one reason, I suppose.  "Exactly," I agreed, though it went so much deeper than that for me.  If I had free time, I was more likely to be hunted down by my family while I was at home.  And that same fear followed me into the castle, even though I knew I was safe from them.

I smiled, glad he agreed although something in his eyes told me there was more to it then what I had said. I didn't want to press the issue though, I had just met him after all. "So did you get lost in the castle on your first week or was I the only idiot to do that?" I was attempting to lighten the mood, wondering if it would work with him.

I attempted a chuckle.  "I believe everyone here has gotten lost at least once," I assured her.  "They really should hand out maps or something..."  There were so many moving staircases that it was a wonder that not more students got lost -- I think part of it had to do with older siblings helping out younger relatives, but I was not entirely sure.

I gave a small laugh. "A map would've been nice." I agreed. The moving staircases had me most confused, you could never know when they would change. "I probably sound really stupid hu?" I asked. "Talking about classes and getting lost."

I shook my head at her.  "No, but you do sound like a typical first year," I pointed out, shrugging.  "But that's not a bad thing... and when you're talking to a complete stranger, what else is there to speak of?"  Especially wiht me... it was not like I opened up about anything.

I appreciated how nice he was being about everything. "Well, we could talk about ourselves but for me these's not much to say." I said, not wanting to get into that conversation. He already knew who I was, no need for him to know anything else. I shrugged it off. No one cared about me, Father always said so. That's why I hadn't wanted to introduce myself first, but he seemed almost as reluctant as I did. "Unless there's anything you want to tell me about yourself?" I wasn't going to press the issue, but if he did want to tell me anything, I wasn't going to drop the subject just because I didn't want to talk about it. Not everyone was like me, but he seemed to be pretty close.

I could not believe how she seemed to just know that there was almost no way I was going to talk about myself just by the fact she did not want to talk about herself.  "Yeah, I'm pretty boring," I lied.  It was almost easy to do that whenever anyone asked about my home life.  "It's about as normal as it gets..."  I figured that would suffice.  There was no way I would elaborate.  There were only two other people at Hogwarts who knew what I had to go through and that was just because they were insightful -- Professors Dumbledore and Lupin.  

"But... you said you didn't like free time.  Do you just work on school things, then?" I asked, turning the subject away from anything that could turn more deep than just the surface.  Speaking of free time would be okay... it was pretty superficial.

"Me too!" I said a bit to eagerly as I nodded. I toned it down a bit. "I mean it's just my parents, my brother and I." My brother was the only one here who knew what being a Malfoy was like, no one else needed to know.

I nodded at his comment about free time. "Some school work, sometimes I just read ahead or read for fun. My. brother and I hang out together a bit too." I didn't mention that upholding the Malfoy reputation was a full-time job, I never really had any free time. "What about you?" I asked looking up at him.

I had a feeling that her agreement was slightly similar to mine, but I was not going to pry.  I did not want to have anyone trying to pry into my family life so I would not pry into theirs.

"About the same," I answered, shrugging.  "I tend to read a lot -- no matter the subject.  I try to have at least a basic knowledge on a handful of things so I can be useful in many situations if necessary."

I looked up at him, "You were useful in dealing with my situation." I informed him. "So I think you're doing pretty good there." I looked down to the ground, embarrassed once again that he had to save me. "Thanks for that again." I looked up at him, a slight smile playing on my lips, "Do you really know the Bat Boogey Hex?" He had threaten the girl with it but I wasn't sure if he had been bluffing. By what he had said though, I was pretty sure he did know it.