BAD LUCK BLACK! ─── Harry Potter

v. First Day Blues

     In the morning, Lorelei's in a terrible mood.

     Face flushed crimson, Lorelei ran to the dormitories immediately after her uncle disappeared from her vision. Then she discovered she didn't have the password. Thankfully, her Gryffindor hero was outside with two friends; he let her in with a smile. Carmine Weatherby, you saint! She tearfully thanked him as she rushed inside.

     Ron and Harry were slumped by the fireplace engaged in idle conversation. The Weasley boy laid face-first lengthwise on the couch, while Harry sprawled over an armchair, head leaning off the edge. They turned to her when she ran in sniffling, yet they couldn't get a word out as she rushed into the girl's dormitory. She heard their confused voices from upstairs.

     The Gryffindor girls instantly jumped into action at the sight and sound of trouble. Not gossip galore but genuine concern and curiosity. Lorelei would've appreciated the gesture if she could think. All she could hear at the time were Lonnie's words. She ignored everyone's prying questions including Hermione who put her book aside.

     All throughout the night, Lorelei tossed and turned. Either her pillow was too warm or the blankets too suffocating. She heard every sound, every squeak in the old castle; she heard Margaery Callum's barely noticeable puffs of air and Pavarti Patil's tap, tap, tap from a restless finger. Shadows loomed like ghostly silhouettes. Each time her eyes shut, screams replayed, a gnarly chill crawled down her spine, stinging sensations on her cheek, and an aching heart.

     Time passed so slowly she never thought she'd see the daylight. In the end, Lorelei managed to close her eyes right as the morning birds sang.

     She woke up to Hermione shaking her awake saying she had missed breakfast. "You'll be late if you don't get up now!" Her friend had said. There was nothing more atrocious than being late to class in Hermione's eyes.

     Yet, her first day continued going horribly. As Lorelei was hurriedly shoving on her uniform, which she normally tidily organizes, she couldn't find her favorite shirt. Forget the mismatched shoes, loose fitting trousers missing a belt, she needed her shirt! It's an orange striped, simple cotton shirt her Nana bought for first year; she wore it under her gray sweater every year on the first day. With a frustrated groan, she realized she probably left it at Lonnie's house.

     She grabbed an entirely red shirt instead. And it felt scratchy and wrong all day.

     Lorelei feels her lungs gasping for air, robes flowing behind her, as she runs up the stairs of the North Tower. One thing after another. Her hands shove open the door before anyone can mark her late.

     All eyes land on her. Cadence Bluewin waves and excitedly points to an empty seat beside her.

     Huffing and blushing, Lorelei holds her head high and walks to her friend. She tries to ignore the hushed whispers of her peers. Unfortunately, waking up a mess, disheveled clothes, and sleepy eyes does not aid in the expulsion of the rumors. The seats are on raised platforms in varying heights. Ron and Harry sat up front, which is objectively the worst place to sit, and Cadence's is on the second.

     Right when she plops into the seat, regular conversation continues like it never stopped. Lorelei groans, tipping her head back. Her hair spills over the chair.

     "You've got a little something . . ." Cadence says, bringing up a hand to pull a piece of fuzz from a brown strand of hair. "There! Got it."

     Lorelei tilts her head up. "No more?" She asks, grimacing.

     Cadence squints as she diligently scans her head. "Nope."