Once Upon A Time | Book 1

T w o

"Well, well, well, look who it is! It's filthy little Half-Blood Violet!" There, in front of me, stood Draco Malfoy, and his two goons. "Oh, shove off already." I muttered, trying to push past him. "Ah ah, pretty one. You're not going anywhere. We have so much to catch up on, don't you think?"

"What I think, is that you need to get your own life, and quit trying to ruin mine." I snapped. "I've alway been the guy to go after the feisty ones, but not the guy to chase filth." He said, smirking. "Then why won't you leave me alone?" I demanded.

"Uh, let's see, because I like to see you suffer." I rolled my eyes. "As if I'm suffering from your pathetic taunts." 

Suddenly, he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, and pulled me so close to him, our bodies almost touched. "You think you're so big and bad, don't you? I'll show you the real bad one!"

"Leave her alone, Malfoy!" A male voice barked from behind him. He shoved me to the floor, causing me to land on my rear end. 

Once Malfoy was out of the way, I saw Harry Potter, and his two friends with him. "Yeah, I'd like to see you pick on a boy for once. Why is it you're always messing with girls?" The redhead, Ron, teased.

"Obviously he's too much of a coward." The girl, Hermione added.

"Shut it, Mudblood!" Malfoy commanded, causing the two boys to whip out their wands, pointing them at his throat. I couldn't help but laugh, as the three fools ran off, causing the trio to look down at me.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked me, extending a hand to help me up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for saving my skin." I replied, letting him pull me up.

"I swear, if he uses that word one more time, I'll kill him." Ron muttered angrily, grabbing my trunk, and giving it to me. 

"Don't worry about it, Ron." Hermione said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Once I get a little better at Hexing, I'll make sure to hex him into next week for you." I told him, patting his back.

"You're Violet, aren't you? Violet Austing?" Hermione asked me. "Yeah, that's me." I answered.

"Wanna sit with us, Violet?" Harry asked, gesturing to the compartment we had stopped in front of. "Sure, that'd be nice."

Once my trunk was secure on the luggage rack, the four of us plopped down on the cushioned seats. Ron and Hermione sat across from Harry and I.

"Did you go to the Quidditch World Cup, Violet?" Ron asked me. "No, I didn't. My mother had a baby a few months ago, and she doesn't like loud noise. Which team won?" I responded.

"The Irish, unfortunately. Just barely, though. Viktor caught the Snitch." Harry explained. "I would do anything to have been able to go. Dad was going to take my brother and I, but mum claimed she had a horrible feeling, and wouldn't let us go." I said.

"Well, her feelings weren't wrong," Hermione told me. "The Death Eaters came, and destroyed everything. Then, one of them cast the Dark Mark in the sky. It was horrifying." 

"Now I'm kinda glad I didn't go. My mother probably would've had a heart attack." I mumbled, leaning further into the seat. 

After that, the ride was pretty quiet. Hermione read a book, Ron ate a boatload of candy, Harry gazed out the window, and I twirled my wand between my fingers.

As much as I enjoyed having new friends, I missed having Luke with me. He was my closest friend, and probably the only person I could ever trust with my deepest, darkest secrets. I remember telling him that, and he laughed, saying I was too innocent for dark secrets. Overall, I think he was touched.

---

When we finally arrived in Hogsmeade, I joined the trio in a carriage, and rode with them up to the castle. Ron and Hermione were bickering over something, but I wasn't really listening.

"They do this constantly." Harry muttered to me. "I ship it," I replied, making him nod in agreement.

Once the carriages stopped, we made our way into the castle with the rest of the students. I was internally squealing with excitement, considering the fact that the huge feast was about to happen. I was quite hungry, plus, I really wanted to enjoy some treacle tarts.

When we got to the Great Hall, I bade the trio a farewell, and hurried over to the Slytherin table, plopping down between two girls. The two of them grimaced when they saw me, and scooted away.

I decided to ignore this, and begin piling food onto my plate. From a few seats down the table, I could see Malfoy glaring at me. I returned his cold stare, before going back to my food. After that, Dumbledore began his speech.

---

From what I had heard, Hogwarts was going to be hosting the Triwizard Tournaments this year. The Tournaments were basically three tasks that three Champions had to complete without getting killed.

Luckily for me, only students at the age 17 or older could compete, so I had no chance of doing it. 

Speaking of students, as if Hogwarts didn't have enough of them, two other schools would be staying in the castle as well. There was a school of all girls, called Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and an all boys' school called Durmstrang Institute. The boys from there would be staying with the Slytherins.

The only thing I really enjoyed about all of this, was the fact that Viktor Krum was going to be in my common room quite often. Being the huge Bulgarian fan I was, I knew it was going to take a lot of guts to be able to talk to him.

But, this year, I vowed that I'd step out of my comfort zone at least once. So, I guess this would be how I'd do it.