Woken early on Sunday morning, Cybele decided to go down for breakfast at eight. She had just realized that Draco Malfoy had not specified any time for their meeting, and with breakfast being available from seven to ten on Sundays, she began to wonder whether or not she would have to stay at the Ravenclaw table for half of the morning.
She bumped into Ben in the common room. He was not his usual overconfident and distant self that morning, and he was not with his older brother for once.
They were both going through the door and ended up in the corridor together, both headed for the same place. Ben however, did not seem inclined to talk; he looked preoccupied.
‘Are you going down to the Hall, Ben?’ Cybele enquired out of her pure dislike of silence.
Ben looked up and seemed to only realize then that he was not alone.
‘What? Oh, right. Good morning Cybele, how are you?’
‘I’m fine, you’re not,’ she tried in a joking tone.
Ben smiled weakly.
‘Yeah, no, I’m all right.’ He seemed to realize that she may think something serious was wrong. ‘I really am. Just nervous,’ he explained.
‘What could make you nervous on a sunny Sunday morning?’
‘Quidditch trials,’ he stated simply.
‘Oh. You want to join Ravenclaw team.’
Ben looked at her, stricken by the obvious lack of interest in her voice.
‘You don’t like Quidditch.’ It was not a question.
Cybele thought it was an unfair presumption.
‘No, well, it’s just, I don’t know Quidditch. I’ve never even seen a match.’
To her surprise, Ben did not look the least taken aback, on the contrary, he immediately relaxed and smiled.
‘Oh… Of course! How stupid of me! Mediterranean, you barely have Quidditch over there! It’s all about Bumqwu, isn’t it?’
‘Ah, yeah,’ Cybele answered, bamboozled. ‘So tell me about Quidditch!’ she added quickly, lest he start asking her about her favourite Bum-whatever team.
Ben happily distracted himself by explaining Quidditch to Cybele through breakfast. Entering the Hall, Cybele spotted Draco already having breakfast with his two large friends at the Slytherin table.
Half an hour later, Ben rose from the table. The Hall was still empty except for a pair of fourth-year Ravenclaws, a small group of Hufflepuffs and three Gryffindor first-years.
‘The tryouts start at nine. I’d better go and warm up.’
‘Good luck! I’ll try to pass by to support you!’
‘Thanks… Hey, thanks for the company, I don’t think I would have been able to take any solid food, if I was alone!’
‘Any time!’
Cybele poured herself some more tea and gave a quick glance to the Slytherin table, wondering if she should join or wait. Draco, however, had noticed Ben taking leave and they made eye contact. With a smile and a small gesture, he made her understand that he was coming.
Crabbe and Goyle were twisting their fat necks to see who I was gesturing to.
‘I’m leaving.’
Their necks flipped back so fast I heard them crack.
‘What? Where are you going?’ Vincent blurted.
‘My friend, there, the pretty one,’ I stated, standing up. I left them before they could make a proper English sentence out of the tangled questions in their minds.
I sat in front of Cybele at the Ravenclaw table. She smiled at me ear to ear. It was possibly the first time a non-Slytherin looked happy to see me, and the first time I seated at any other House table, too. Something foreign lurked in my stomach. It was going to be an unusual day and I did not know yet if I really wanted that or not. Being a Malfoy and a Slytherin came with a reputation and as far as I was concerned it was an advantageous one. I had never made a fuss over unworthy non-Slytherins looking at me with hostility.
Then I spotted Crabbe and Goyle, who had not moved an inch since I left and were looking blankly at each other. Yes, different that was exactly what I wanted.
‘So, do we have the same tastes in music?’ I tried to engage conversation.
‘What? Oh… well we sneaked out of the concert, actually, it was cover-up for some shopping in Diagon Alley…’
I felt pleased that Cybele was ready for a bit of rule breaking and that she trusted me too. I had been afraid she would abide strictly to the rules, as it was a Ravenclaw trait.
‘So, we will have to figure out that another time!’ She was continuing. ‘There is this song which is following me everywhere, though.’
‘Which one?’
‘They were playing it at the concert when we went back. Wandless.’
‘Oh, that’s not so bad, actually, softer. Let’s go out, shall we?’
We ended up on stands while the Ravenclaw trials were going on. Cybele wanted to see if her second-year friend would be chosen. The tall boy was as at ease on a broomstick as a Niffler in salted waters, but he was selected anyways as a Chaser.
‘I’m going to try for the Slytherin team, next year, you know.’
She beamed again. What made her beam like that every time I said something? It once again gave me the now familiar cocktail of pleasure, surprise and a stomach pinch.
‘What position would you go for? Ben just explained the entire game!’
‘Chaser if I can.’ She beamed again. I was starting to come up with a theory on the beaming phenomena. One, it was her way of being nervous - maybe she was afraid we would run out conversation topic and reacted overenthusiastically at any successful exchange. Two, she was jus a beaming person - I had noticed a lot of people who would just beam all day. Three, she fancied me - it must have been that.
I smirked. She noticed.
‘A pretentious Chaser… Ben warned me; apparently it’s a common Quidditch player trait.’ She winked.
She now had a mocking twist on her lips. I was already regretting smirking.
It then struck me that she had learnt all about Quidditch from this Ravenclaw boy. He could not possibly have explained as well as I could – I’ve been playing since I was a kid!
I started explaining better.
We discussed an awful lot. I can’t remember ever spending so long talking with someone intelligent. It made a nice change from the two trolls. Actually it was a different from being friend with all the Slytherins at large. All were childhood friends, our parents knew each other and we virtually all attended the same private primary school the Zabinis ran. We were close friends. But somehow, being together all the time and knowing each others for so long prevented us from having much to share, in an ironic sort of way.
I soon realized there were topics she was avoiding, though; her family, the circumstances of her arrival, her Sorting - even the Potions tutorials, for some reason.
The Quidditch trials that we hadn’t really been following were long over and the pitch was deserted when we came down for lunch.
It was weird to have spent several hours chatting happily. I wondered if it meant that we were officially friends and if I should offer to see her again, but when we reached the now crowded Great Hall, Cybele just said, ‘see you around,’ with one last beam as she walked to the Ravenclaw table.
Only when I spotted my friends at the Slytherin table did I realize that I had not tried to figure out if Cybele was a pureblood. She knew nothing about her family and Severus had forbid me to say anything on the subject, but I could easily have tested her opinion on basic topics such as Muggleborns. But after all, it had been part of the break. Mudbloods were best least talked about and I was growing tired of the obsessive conversations on the topic within the Slytherins. As on cue, Pansy asked.
‘Pretty girl… Draco’s found himself a Ravenclaw girlfriend! Pureblood, is she?’
‘Would she be hanging around with me if she wasn’t? I answered coolly.