No Pixie: A Day to Be Remembered

No Pixie: A Day to Be Remembered

Millicent Bulstrode lumbered down the dormitory stairs of the Slytherin Common Room early Monday morning. It was the first day of term and Millicent was determined to make this a day to remember.

Making her way to the Great Hall, Millicent tugged at her sweater, two sizes too small. The green fibers strained and stretched over her protruding breasts and belly and the frayed bottom rode up her back as her bum swayed to the rhythm of her gait. Inhaling deeply, she pushed the Hall doors open and was instantly overwhelmed by the familiar smells of freshly baked croissants, warm brown sugar porridge, boiled eggs, smoky bacon, honeyed sausages, and toasty crumpets with marmalade. Closing her eyes, smiling as though she were saying hello to old friends, she paused before heading to the table flanked by green and silver.

Millicent was surprised to see a few of her classmates were already enjoying the feast whose emanating scents she savored just a moment before. Draco Malfoy, the ethereal boy with a permanent scowl as though he's just smelt something horrid, sat slightly apart from the group. Pansy, staring longingly at the blonde to her right, twiddled her fork mindlessly, knocking a few sausages off her plate. Millicent lamented the wasted morsels as her eyes made their way down the line. Next to Pansy sat Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. The two boys were fighting over the last crumpet. Gregory won out and wore a triumphant smile until the bowl was magically replenished and Vincent grabbed five in victorious glee. Millicent chuckled to herself and, upon deeper consideration, decided that, as today was to be a day to remember, she would break from tradition and sit with the group. Plopping herself next to Daphne Greengrass, who sat across from Pansy, she began to load her plate with sweets and savory treats alike, leaving no selection untouched. The glistening frosting on the apple danish, perched precariously atop a mound of juicy baked beans, sang to Millicent. It called to her and she willingly acquiesced.

Millicent could feel every eye on her as she brought the fork to her mouth once again. In shock and disgust, her fellow Slytherins stared as the rotund girl who normally spent mealtimes eating alone, perhaps for more elbow room, happily chewed her umpteenth bite of breakfast. Millicent's eyes glinted with joy as a dribble of bacon grease oozed down her chin. Looking up from her plate for the first time, her eyes met steely grey irises and a cocked brow.

"My, my, Bulstrode. Watching your figure?" Draco sneered as sycophantic shrieks from Daphne and Pansy startled nearby first-years.

"Well, you lot certainly are." Millicent smirked as every eye dropped to the table to avoid the "figure" in question.

"Really, Millie...I'm trying to keep down my breakfast but it's becoming more and more difficult with you here...eating like that!" Pansy's upper lip curled and Daphne feigned vomiting to the delight of her tablemates.

"Like you ever keep your breakfast down, Pansy. You're just jealous" Another forkful.

"Jealous of a fat lard like you?"

"Yes. Jealous of a fat lard like me." Another forkful.

"Ah, Pans. She does have a point. You have always wanted bigger tits." Draco could be such a sod.

Pansy crossed her arms and huffed as the two larger boys to her left guffawed, shaking the entire table. Daphne acted scandalized but her twinkling eyes betrayed her.

"Honestly, though, Bulstrode...your habits are so off-putting, I can only assume you inherited them from your, ahem, other side?" Draco's eyes narrowed, awaiting a response from the Slytherin half-blood (a rarity indeed). Draco, however, would be sorely disappointed.

Millicent, finally replete and staring at her reflection in the plate that was once piled high with goodies, got up and, without a word, sauntered away from the gobsmacked Slytherins. As she walked off, feeling quite elated, she spotted a familiar head of brown, bushy hair.

Hermione Granger. Millicent knew the Gryffindor well, or as well as one can know someone without ever holding even the simplest of conversations with them. In their second year, the two were paired to duel. Millicent knew Hermione Granger was brilliant but she had no idea how talented she was with a wand, at least for a second-year. What struck Millicent the most, though, was her smile. That all-knowing smile she flashed her friends before striking her large partner with a disarming spell. That smile that sparkled in a fairy tale sort of way. That smile that had Millicent dreaming of study sessions and walks around the lake and secret-spilling sleepovers. That smile belonging to a scrawny 12 year old who has grown into a...well, a scrawny 15 year old. But a beautiful one... Millicent asserted. And as she mused over the brainy brunette, Millicent smiled to herself. Today was to be a day to remember. And with that thought bouncing and bubbling about in her head, she changed direction and made for the Gryffindor table.

Conversation gradually came to a halt one by one as the sizeable mass of green strode deliberately toward the middle of the table. Finally, to an almost silent Hall, Millicent reached her destination. Harry Potter, normally notoriously oblivious, was the first to notice the imposing Slytherin standing behind his friend. After a few seconds of disbelief (Was that an arm pinch I saw? Millicent smiled), Harry shifted his gaze to Hermione.

"Er, 'Mione?"

"Harry, please. I told you, I need to finish this chapter on Bridget Wenlock's distinctions between the Agrippan and Chaldean methods of Arithmancy!"

"Er, I think someone wants to speak with you..." Harry looked helplessly from Millicent to Hermione.

Hermione Granger turned slowly and was faced with a mass of green thread, pulling in certain areas. Millicent, buoyed by her mantra and fearful of rejection if the slight Gryffindor had a chance to react, grabbed Hermione's face, one plump hand on each side, and pulled, Millicent's lips finally meeting her target's.

A collective gasp rippled through the House tables. Hermione, speechless, stared at the space Millicent once occupied, but the large girl was already marching towards the doors. Today was a day to remember, after all.

This is turning out better than I had even planned. Millicent swelled with satisfaction. Considering her years of suffering and depression, today was most certainly a day to be remembered.

Millicent was replaying the events of the morning as she made her way up the winding staircase. Her delicious breakfast was the most enjoyable meal she's ever had. And she had finally bested Draco and Pansy, revenge for their torment. Millicent chuckled to herself as she thought of Pansy's horrified face.

A complete success! She grinned proudly as she breathed a winded sigh of relief, at last reaching the Astronomy Tower. And after years of painful longing for the bushy-headed Gryffindor with the beautiful smile, Millicent felt so content. So at ease.

And as she stepped up onto the ledge of the Tower and looked out upon the Hogwarts grounds, she was in newfound awe.

"So beautiful", she breathed.

And with that, Millicent Bulstrode stepped off the tower ledge. Yes, most definitely a day to be remembered.

A/N: This was just an idea I had. Please be kind. Oh, and the title is from canon: "'And Millicent Bulstrode's no pixie.'" (COS 23)