Sixth Year in the Life of Draco

Draco woke early the next morning. He looked around his room. Everything was the same. Maybe the previous day had been nothing but a dream, but he doubted that very much. Part of him was delighted that she was here. The other half of him wished she had just stayed home.

He dressed slowly. He was looking forward to his classes to begin once again. His schoolwork was a good thing to distract him from all of this. After pulling his school robes over his head, he walked down to the common room, where he found Pansy waiting for him on one of the couches.

"Hi, Draco!" she said cheerily, cracking a fake smile. She puckered her lips and attempted to kiss him. He turned his head, causing her to miss. Running his fingers through his hair, he turned back around and asked her the question that was on his mind.

"Have you seen Ella?"

"That tall, blonde, skinny girl?" she said with a bit of disgust in his voice. "She headed down to the great hall with Glen Rutherford about half an hour ago."

Draco was confused. Glen and Ella seemed to have become fast friends. It was difficult for him to comprehend at first. He stood there for a long time, thinking. Finally he shook his head and exited the room to find where his lady was.

The Great Hall was alive with activity as everyone waited for the schedules to be handed out. The First Years always got theirs first in case they had any questions. It would be quite a while before he received his. He noticed a large crowd of people at the Slytherin table. All of them were from different houses. Quickly, he noticed that all of them were boys. Sitting towards the end of the long table, he wondered what they were all gathered around. As he poured syrup over his pancakes, Glen came over to sit with him, a smile from ear to ear.

"Wow, she's something!" he said. Draco cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me?"

"Ella! She's marvelous! She knows all about Quidditch and she's got a pair of knockers that most women would kill for," he said with a hearty laugh. He waited for Draco to join in, but it didn't happen. Uncomfortably, he began tapping the table with his fingers.

The group at the end of the hall parted and Ella came walking out. Draco didn't know what to think at first about her current state. It was definitely something he had never seen her like before. His jaw dropped.

Ella had made a few, er, "changes" to her school uniform. He skirt was significantly shorter and she seemed to have added black lace as a slip that peaked out just slightly. She wore her knee highs and Mary-Janes the traditional way. She had chosen to ditch her school robes and go with nothing but her oxford and school tie, which was hanging loosely around her neck. Her blonde hair was in soft waves that tickled her shoulders. She smiled sweetly at him. He stood up.

"Hey, Draco," she said, grabbing his tie and pulling him into her. Their lips met. Draco was still in shock over the amount of skin that she was showing. When she finally pulled back from him, he noticed that she was wearing the locket he had given her. He smiled and tugged nervously at his tie.

"Hey, Ella. Adjusting well?"

"Oh, yes I am! This place is amazing! I love it here!" she said. The group of boys that had been drooling over her looked slightly disappointed with her affectionate greeting for Draco. They slowly started going back to their respective tables, hanging their heads.

At that moment, Hermione Granger walked into the room, carrying her large stack of books. She sat at the Gryffindor table. When she caught a glimpse of Ella, she stared open mouthed at her and leaned over to whisper something in Ron and Harry's ears. They, too, both stared in Ella's direction. Ron's eyes widened and Harry straightened his glasses while he quickly looked away. Ella winked, startling Ron and making his ears turn pink.

Ella took notice of Hermione right away. She could have sworn she had seen a picture of her before. She sat down next to Draco on the bench and tapped his shoulder. She whispered something of her own.

"Who is she?" she said, pointing in Hermione's direction. "I think I've seen her before, but I just can't place a name on that face!"

"Her? That's the filthy, mudblood, know-it-all Hermione Granger," he said, throwing a glare over at her. Ella's lips pursed. That's where she had seen the bitch before...

"Give me a second," she said, standing from the table. Draco turned his back to watch where she had gone. He stood up with Glen and they watched the main event begin.

Walking casually over to the Gryffindor table, Ella sat playfully on its edge. She pretended to suddenly remember Ron and Harry, even though she had recognized them immediately.

"I know you two! Ron and Harry, am I right?" she said, flipping her hair. They both nodded. "So Harry, did you get a letter back from France?"

"No, not yet," he said, trying not to look at her massive chest. He poked at his eggs on his plate. He snuck a glimpse at Hermione from under Ron, who was still staring up at this woman. She glared at him.

"Oh, I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting yet," she said to Hermione, who seemed startled that she had talked to her.

"I'm Hermione."

"Hermione Granger?"

"That's my name," she said, rather annoyed with this blonde bimbo who was being awfully flirtatious with her boyfriend.

"Hmm, just what I thought. Viktor has told me so much about you," she said. "Oh! That reminds me," she said. Wrapping her fingers around the handle of a pumpkin juice pitcher, she smiled a faux-friendly smile at Hermione. Carefully, and slowly, she poured the entire contents of the pitcher onto the top of her bushy little head. Frightened and wet, Hermione began to yell. Ella changed her expression and leaned in towards her ear.

"That's from Viktor," was all she said before turning her back and walking towards the Slytherin table to the applause of the whole group. She curtsied for them and went back to conversing casually with Draco, who had never felt more proud of anyone in his entire life.

Draco saw Professor McGonagall walk back into the hall from the outside where she had been talking with a student. She had obviously heard Hermione's yells after the pumpkin juice incident. Luckily for Ella, Severus Snape had been the only teacher in the hall at the time. Ella turned around to watch Hermione complain about the new girl who had deliberately poured pumpkin juice over her head. McGonagall turned in her direction and walked over to where she stood with the group of boys.

"Ms. Stone, Ms. Granger seems to tell me that you have just poured pumpkin juice on her. Is this true?" she asked, staring at her over her half-moon glasses. Ella put on her most innocent face. Those four summers in acting school were finally going to be put to good use.

"I don't know what she's talking about, Professor. I've been over here the whole time. Draco saw me, didn't you?" she said, turning to Draco. He stuck up for her.

"Yes, Professor, she has been here with us the whole time, right?" he said. The rest of the house agreed.

While McGonagall's attention was directed elsewhere, Ella turned to the group that was watching the scene, all witnesses to her devious crime. With a wink, she held her fingers to her lips, a signal to keep quite. They laughed. Just then, a large man in black cloaks and extremely greasy hair came over to the group and stood next to the other teacher.

"Minerva, I can justify. All members of my house have been on their side of the hall for the entire time. I can assure you that Ms. Stone had nothing to do with Ms. Granger's current state," he said in cool, suave voice. Ella already liked this teacher, whoever he was.

"Well, if there are no witnesses, punishment cannot be carried out. But for the record, stay out of trouble Ms. Stone," she said with a scolding glare that, for a moment, made Ella's blood run cold. She handed Ella and the rest of the Slytherins their new schedules. Walking back over to the Gryffindor table, she cleaned up Hermione with a wave of her wand.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Granger, but no punishment can be given if someone will not elucidate. See you in my class," she said and continued handing out schedules to the older students. Hermione was mortified and glared at Ella from across the room. She just smiled and waved, unfazed by the whole experience. Hermione pouted and left the hall with her nose in the air. The Slytherin boys howled with laughter.

"It was brilliant!" said Glen through his laughter.

"Absolutely bitchy! I couldn't have done it better myself!" said Draco, clutching his sides. Ella just bathed in the glory. The girl deserved it after breaking Viktor's heart.

"I can't believe it! You actually did it!" said a black-haired boy whose name Ella didn't remember. She bowed again to the applause of her housemates. For the first time since the teachers had disappeared, she turned her back and looked at her schedule. She grabbed Draco's as well.

"We have all the same classes!" she said with glee. Draco smiled.

"Most of the students in our year have their classes together. But how did you get into advanced classes if you didn't take the O.W.L.'s?" he asked, confused.

"Hmm... I'm not sure. I should go find out. Where's a teacher?" she asked. Draco grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the head table where Professor Snape was sitting by himself. Draco stopped in front of him.

"Professor, Ella has a question for you," he said. Snape looked up from his book and glanced at the two of them.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering how I got into the advanced classes? I never took a pre-exam or anything," she said, handing her schedule into his outstretched hand. He looked down his large nose at the small print.

"Well, Ms. Stone, all of your teachers at Durmstrang gave you excellent recommendations. Your Potions master gave you top marks, which is why you have made it into my advanced class. As for your Defense Against the Dark Arts, we were told that you excel in that field. It doesn't come as a surprise that that is the main focus of Durmstrang. Arithmacy, too, had high recommendations. You are truly a top-notch student by their standards. You should do fine in these classes," he said, handing her slip back and returning to his book. Ella looked down at her schedule with some panic. The words Advanced Transfiguration seemed to be glowing at her from on the page. With a deep breath, she walked back down with Draco and they headed to their first class, which was Arithmacy.

~*~*~*~*~

About two hours later, Ella walked from her Potion's class feeling very relieved. She had managed to make it through Arithmacy and Potions feeling very good about the courses. Still, there was a knot in her stomach. Advanced Transfiguration was her next class. She still wasn't sure how she managed to sneak her way into this class, but it was something she definitely wasn't looking forward too.

She followed the rest of the Slytherins up the staircase. In the mess of packing up, she had lost track of Draco. Finally, she noticed them all go into a classroom on her left. She took a deep breath and headed into the class.

Draco was sitting near the front of the room and there was a spare seat beside him. Quickly, she took her seat next to him for moral support. He smiled at her. There was a cat sitting on the desk that Ella hadn't noticed at first. The rest of the class seemed unfazed by this, but she found it obnoxious.

The late bell finally rang and there was still no sign of the teacher. Ella began biting her nails and twirling her hair around her wand. Everyone in the room was staring at the cat, as if waiting for something. Finally, she found out what it was.

The tabby leaped off the desk and took the form of a woman. The same woman, in fact, that had scolded her in the Great Hall that morning. Ella seemed to be the only one impressed by this. She sat gaping at her. When she noticed that she was the only one amazed, she sunk into her seat. Obviously, this was the usual around here. You definitely didn't see teachers jumping off of their desks as cats at Durmstrang...

"Good morning, students. Welcome to your sixth year of Transfiguration. Well, forget the endless chatter. I will pass out a toad and I would like to change it into a teakettle. Ok? Ok," she said, and with a wave of her wand, a large, fat toad was sitting in front of everyone in the room. Ella cringed. She hated toads.

Draco transformed his with a simple flick of his wrist. Ella stared down at hers with a little nervousness. Everyone around her had already changed theirs. Desperately, she poked the toad with the tip of her wand. It began to swell at an alarming rate and seemed as if it might explode. She panicked and looked for the teacher.

"Professor!? I think it's gonna blow!" she said, ducking under her desk. The group around her began to back away and Professor McGonagall came running to the front of the room. She muttered a simple spell and the toad began to shrink back to normal. It had been about the size of a Quaffle.

"Ms. Stone, did you even take Transfiguration last year?" she asked with that famous glare. Ella rose slowly from her hiding place beneath the desk.

"Of course, Professor."

"Did you even open a book all summer?"

"Well..." she said, casting a look at Draco, who smiled. He was trying unsuccessfully to suppress a laugh. They both began laughing and with one look from the teacher, they stopped. She turned her attention to another girl that Ella had seen in the Common Room this morning.

"Ms. Parkinson, do you think that it is acceptable that Ms. Stone has come unprepared to this class?"

The girl looked at Ella and then back at the teacher. With a satisfied smile, she put on a serious face.

"No, Professor, I don't think it is acceptable at all," she said in a spoiled tone. Ella's jaw dropped.

"And do you think that it would be appropriate for me to ask her to leave this class until she has remembered the very simple basics of Transfiguration?" she asked again. Once again, the squashed-nose girl looked at Ella with a smile.

"I totally would support that decision, Professor."

Kiss ass, Ella thought to herself. She blew a piece of hair lazily from her eye.

"Well, Ms. Stone, since we do not accept people interrupting my class with the threat of exploding toads, I would like to ask you to leave and come back when you are able to do a very simple spell," she said. Ella's jaw dropped again. What a bitch! In a huff, she gathered up her belongings and stomped towards the door. Before she exited, she heard the teacher call one final remark after her.

"Oh, and Ms. Stone? Please be so kind as to change your uniform back to its original state. I don't think that we would all like a free view of your undergarments every time you bend over," she said in a tone that Ella did not like. She took special attention to make sure that the door slammed particularly loud on her way out.

It was not going to be an easy year.