Chapter 4 - Not his equals

                                    

                                          
Brave girl, you were made for far more beautiful things. Chaos is only understood when it is loved by the wild, not by the weak.
                          
- Unknown
                          


                          
"Why is Adrian staring at you, Eleanor?" Tracey asked suspiciously at supper. I looked to the side to see Adrian indeed looking my way. When our eyes met, he smiled slightly before averting his gaze. I was still wary about his behaviour, as I could not allow myself to fall for him, but I couldn't help but smile.
                          
I was in a good mood today. I had been able to avoid Malfoy every day except last night, as we were also paired up for Astrology, but since it had been a very theoretical class, he had bothered me minimally. We did have prefect duties in a couple hours and if he was skipping again, I'd make sure he'd regret it.
                          
"Eleanor, I'm pretty sure that's an almost-blush!" Daphne whispered in my ear. I kicked her underneath the table and cleared my throat.
                          
"I don't know why he is staring, ask him yourself", I said.
                          
"Oh I think I know why he's staring at you, honey", Tracy smirked, wiggling her eyebrows.
                          
"Oh please, nothing changed since last year", I scoffed, making sure no one was listening in on our conversation.
                          
"You have changed very much, young lady. Puberty finally hit you", Daphne said, causing Tracey to burst out laughing, almost spitting her pumpkin juice everywhere.
                          
"Merlin, you guys are actual children. Behave yourselves", I hissed, shoving my plate away from me. "Let's just go to the common room, shall we?" I sighed and stood up, averting my eyes.
                          
"What's going on there?" Tracey asked as we walked through the corridor, on our way to the dungeons. I looked towards where Tracey was looking, spotting a Slytherin girl and a Gryffindor. The Slytherin had her wand out.
                          
"I'll go sort it", I sighed, walking up to the two.
                          
"Bet you can't produce a simple spell!" the Slytherin girl chimed. "I can do loads, because I have proper parents who taught me. Not such-"
                          
"Melania, I suggest you do not finish that sentence", I said slowly. I knew this girl. Melania Pritchard, pureblood, but a very nast kind. Could very much be related to Malfoy. A particular type that besmurged the Slytherin name with hate and prejudice.
                          
The girl looked up and widened her eyes as she spotted me. 
                          
"Eleanor Selwyn, what are you doing here?" she said, her voice almost a whisper. 
                          
"It's none of your business what I am doing. However, as a prefect, what you are doing is my business. So care to explain?" Melania regained her posture, pocketing her wand.
                          
"This mudblood dared to-"
                          
"Pritchard, what did you call her?" She opened her mouth to give a snappy comeback, but quickly shut it again and looked at the ground.
                          
"She was trying to show off. I was just showing her that she's wrong." It took all the willpower I owned not to roll my eyes. She really could be related to the Malfoys. Sure, there was some  superiority in being pureblood, but I did not agree with terms such as "mudblood". I couldn't ever imagine dating a muggle, mainly because I didn't really know any, but bashing a kid based on their parents is low and not what Slytherin stands for.
                          
"I suggest you apologize to her, right now." The Gryffindor was simply looking at me like I had two heads. I raised my eyebrows and she quickly stopped staring, but smiled slightly. Sure I was no Gryffindor fan, but Melania's behaviour was unacceptable.