A Darker Shade of Magic

VII

Time: Rose's First Year, Violet's Fourth

Rose groaned loudly in protest, as she was woken up unceremoniously by the unholy morning lark she had the misfortune of calling her best friend, shaking her with all the grace of a violent earthquake.

She forced her heavy eyelids open, trying to fight the urge to go back to sleep and ignoring the comfortable, soft and beckoning warmth of her bedsheets with all of her willpower, scrunching her face up at the bright light that flooded her vision from all the curtains thrown open in their dorms, and cursing whoever had the bright idea to put Ravenclaw tower in the as the highest point in the eastern part of Hogwarts castle.

"Ugh- what's the time?" Her words came out a bit slurred as she sat up, leaning against her pillows as she searched her bedside table for her classic round glasses, trying not to knock over anything with her blind search.

"It's six thirty. Breakfast starts in thirty minutes."

She finally found her glasses, and thanked Merlin for the charmed magical spectacles which always stayed clean, as she put them on with a sigh of relief. Her blurry vision cleared almost immediately, and the first thing she saw was the pair of bright blue eyes, as deeply cerulean as a beautiful, calm ocean, staring back at her with muted mirth at her morning antics.

"I thought I told you to make me up ten minutes before breakfast, Astoria."

"And I thought I told you that my sister would kill me if I let you go out looking like a wild monkey." Astoria retorted, her pink lips curling in a bright smile that would have blinded any unwary onlooker, before tugging at her sheets. "Now up you get, before I have to haul your sorry ass out of bed and in the shower myself, because trust me, I'll do it in a heartbeat."

"Ugh, fuck off." The Girl who lived tried to push her first friend off the bed, but to no avail. "Fine, fine, I'll get going. Don't get your panties in a twist, baby girl, I'm gonna take a shower and brush my hair just like you want."

She forced herself to get off the bed, making her way to the showers in only her pyjamas, dragging her heavy feet along as she glanced at the other beds, noting that they were empty, and the elves had already changed the sheets. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the typical Ravenclaw tendency to get up stupidly early in the morning to study, Rose got her towel from her locker in the first-year girls' shower, before hopping in, having deposited her clothes in the laundry basket.

Well, it's not like Rose particularly disliked studying, far from it, actually, but it was just that she preferred to study at night, when darkness had fallen and everyone had gone to sleep, leaving her alone with her books before the gentle crackling and orange glow of the warm, homely fire in the Ravenclaw common room.

It was barely ten minutes later that she emerged from the showers, all freshened up, a heavy cloud of steam following her nubile, towel-wrapped body. Her damp raven hair glistened, dripping with warm water and sticking to her skin, even messier than it usually was.

Thankful that it was only her and Astoria in the dorms, she padded her way over to the closet beside her bed, her bare feet sinking into the thick, soft fur carpet on the floor and barely making any noise as she lazily meandered her way through their dorm.

As she sat on the bed, having pulled on a simple white t-shirt and skirt over which she would wear her school robes, Rose couldn't help but watch as Astoria groomed herself in front of the mirror, almost obsessively going over every little detail until she looked as perfect and flawless, like a miniature version of the succubutic goddess that was her elder sister. Her wavy golden blonde hair was perfectly done, not a single strand out of place, a brighter shade than Daphne's own hair that almost looked like it was woven out of icy gold, and her flawless porcelain skin and high cheekbones that made all the boys in their year make googly eyes at her. She was wearing her navy and bronze Ravenclaw robes, and even the baggy school robes seemed only to accentuate her beautiful, young and curvy body.