Rio was surprised. This girl's sentence was odd. She doesn't associate with us, but no insults? No mudblood? She didn't even say it maliciously. What's her deal?
Tracey's face was bashful as she tried to do damage control.
"Daph! I'm really sorry about her, guys – she's just a little old-fashioned, but she doesn't mean any harm," she said apologetically, finishing with a small awkward laugh.
"This is Daphne Greengrass." Greengrass – another Sacred 28. I need to be careful, Rio thought. I'm surrounded by them, and they're all important – I've already got enough of them against me as it is. I need to do my research on the Houses and their stances, Rio concluded.
"It's alright," Rio said with a small smile which he hoped seemed genuine. Zabini, meanwhile, continued to eat his food, very unbothered by the blonde girl's statement. Is this what he meant by 'I'm here for myself'?
Tracey Davis had also picked up on Zabini's nonchalance and decided to investigate.
"You don't talk much, do you, Blaise?" she asked, deliberately while he was chewing. Unfortunately for her, Blaise continued to chew his food at the same pace before answering.
"I'm not sure what to say," he responded neutrally. Fair enough.
"Hmm. Well, what do you think your favourite subject will be?" She's not giving up.
"Probably Charms. You?" he responded, not saying any more or less than required to be polite.
"Transfiguration," Tracey responded without missing a beat. "Less favourite clas?"
"Herbology. You?"
"Same! What about your favourite Quidditch team?" Quidditch? What's that? Rio thought, while munching down on his food, spectating the interaction.
"Chudley Cannons. You?" It might have been Rio's imagination, but just for a moment, he heard the tiniest amount of annoyance creep into Zabini's voice.
"Puddlemere, probably. Who do you think will be your favourite teacher?" continued Tracey, either purposefully acting oblivious or being truly oblivious.
"Snape." He's stopped asking for her opinion, Rio thought, grinning internally. She's getting to him.
Despite Zabini not asking her favourite teacher, Tracey gave it anyway.
"Mine's probably going to be Flitwick, he seems interesting. What's your favourite colour?"
"Green."
"Mine's purple. What's your favourite food?"
"I don't know." At this, Rio couldn't stop himself from snickering at the normally airy boy's annoyance, and Zabini shot him a glare in response.
"Is something funny, Ramson?" he said, in a way that almost mirrored Snape's silky speech.
"Not at all, Zabini," Rio responded quickly, stuffing his mouth with food.
"Ha! I made you talk!" Tracey said triumphantly, pointing at Zabini as he narrowed his eyes.
"When did I say I wouldn't speak."
"You implied it."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did!"
"Maybe I just didn't want to speak," he said.
"So you admit it!" Zabini and Tracey's back and forth continued, and Rio was honestly surprised. He had taken Zabini to be someone that was a genuinely unbothered person, but in the span of a few minutes, Tracey Davis already had him arguing with her. Maybe he was just pretending to be nonchalant, Rio mused. Is Tracey really a Slytherin? She doesn't care about blood status, and she's very friendly. She seems like she suits Hufflepuff or Gryffindor more.
Just then, out of the corner of his eyes, he finally saw a reaction from Daphne Greengrass – she was rolling her eyes at something Tracey had said. But as suddenly as he had noticed her, she noticed him, and in an instant, her eyes were locked onto his. Rio being Rio, however, didn't avoid eye contact, and held her gaze. Unfortunately, she held her gaze too, and the two of them looked at each other in a staring contest for a long time. What's her issue? Rio thought.
Her eyes were narrowed at him, as if calculating or looking down on him, and Rio didn't like that. It wasn't the same as Malfoy's stare, who clearly exuded a delusion that he was better than them purely due to blood status. No, this was different. This girl looked at him like he was an obstacle – a roadblock that she needed to either move, avoid or crash through entirely to continue. And that's arguably worse.
Suddenly, someone clapped, causing Rio to blink. It was Tracey, who had apparently found it hilarious to do that, and Zabini took his moment to snicker at Rio during his confusion, much to the latter's annoyance. What annoyed Rio even further, however, was the fact that Greengrass had still been staring at him until he re-made eye contact, as if waiting for him to acknowledge that he had lost, before turning back to her food. What a stuck-up girl, Rio thought.
As breakfast continued for the remaining 20 minutes, Zabini, Tracey and Rio eventually started to have a normal conversation about what to expect in the future. Rio noted that Tracey, despite her loudness, was relatively kind – especially in comparison to the rest of their House, which Rio was gratefully for (considering his current situation) and Zabini, despite his uncaring, lone wolf attitude, wasn't a total loner, especially in conversation with Tracey. The boy he shared a room with was smart, after all, and clearly able to use magic fairly well, considering he could cast a lock spell with zero practice or teaching. Zabini probably knows how this society works better than I do, reasoned Rio. I should probably try to get some information out of him about the Sacred 28 – he'll know because he's one of them.
Tracey also made an effort to include Charlotte in the conversation – the shy girl blushed at the mere mention of her name, and initially seemed reluctant to get involved, but after more pushing from her peer, she too joined in the conversation, albeit in the same shy, quiet manner. She's the first pureblood I've met that isn't loud or blood supremacist, Rio noted. I like her.
Eventually, the warning bell rang, and the students made their way to their first lessons. Charms. Professor Flitwick. As he entered the classroom, he saw desks lined up in orderly fashioned, in pairs of 2.
"Hello, Slytherin! I'm Professor Flitwick – please remain standing until all of you have arrived, I've arranged a seating plan."
"I would hate to sit next to a mudblood like Ramson," Malfoy said loudly, instantaneously earning himself a scolding and detention from Flitwick.
I really hope I'm not next to one of them, Rio hoped as Tracey laughed at Malfoy's face, but his prayers were disrupted by a voice behind him.
"Rio?" it said with uncertainty. I recognise that voice. Rio turned around.
"Harry," he greeted the other boy, with Ron at his side. Surprisingly, the ginger wasn't blaring insults at him, although he did look at Rio with suspicion. Is Ron actually sensible, or did Harry talk him down? Rio wondered. And wait - why are the Gryffindors in a Slytherin class?
Before another word could be exchanged between them, Professor Flitwick spoke up.
"Now, please look up at the board to see your seating plan!" Flitwick said excitedly. The first thing Rio noticed was that the professor had wisely chosen to separate the two houses, and had also paired every boy with a girl.
MALFOY AND PARKINSON
Yes! Rio mentally cheered.
CRABBE AND ROSIER
Damn, sorry Charlotte.
GOYLE AND BULSTRODE
Ugly and ugly paired together. Makes sense.
ZABINI AND DAVIES
Zabini had chosen to loud out a purposefully audible groan at the pairing, to which Tracey promptly whacked him on the arm.
"Ow!" Zabini said loudly for once, looking at her incredulously.
"You hit me!"
"Stop being rude then!" As they continued to bicker, Rio gave a small smile and carried on reading.
RAMSON AND GREENGRASS
Just like that, his smiled vanished. He looked over to Greengrass, who's face finally betrayed a small hint of emotion, before returning back to normal. Disdain, Rio assessed. Well, she's not the only one that's not happy with this.
On the other hand of the classroom, Rio noted that Harry had been paired with a girl with the surname Brown, and Ron with a girl with the surname Granger.
Rio sighed as he took his seat next to Greengrass, who still hadn't looked at him once, and a certain feeling ran through him: annoyance.
She thinks she's better than me, but she's not. And I'm going to prove it.
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