Smoke | James Potter

。one 。

phoenix whitehall was a slytherin like harley and astra and they made friends in first year. he had dark skin, brown eyes and he always sported a huge smile. he could usually be seen wearing bright clothes and sparkly makeup. he was a half-blood. sophia jones, unlike the other three members of her friend group, was a hufflepuff and also befriended them in first year as she shared a compartment and boat on the way. she had pale skin and brown hair with wide eyes. her hair was always in strange styles and her clothes consisted of odd colours and patterns that not a lot of people thought went together, but she enjoyed how she dressed. she was muggleborn.

"i wish i could have dopey back." sophia muttered as splotch stretched before settling on her lap. "nan's allergic." she used to have one but since her nan had taken ill, she was living with sophia's parents so dopey, who was named after the hufflepuff's favourite dwarf from snow white, now lived with her uncle. "he's too fluffy for his own good."

"i'll bring him around to your dorm a lot." astra assured and sophi grinned happily, scratching behind the cats ears, which splotch seemed to be thrilled with. "forgot to mention, i'm quidditch captain."

"we're losing the cup." phoenix pouted to harley, laughing loudly when astra threw her dress at him. he gasped at the sight of it. "oh, this is hideous! get it off me!"

harley pulled the dress off of him, the boy shivering in dramatic disgust, before she turned back to astra, "at least you won't be the only girl this time. you get to pick. i assume regulus is still gonna be seeker?"

"definitely." astra nodded firmly. "flint and warrington are still chasers. as much as i hate them, they're too good. not sure about montague. me and bole beaters. although i might switch him."

"i'm gonna try out." harley stated.

"for which?" sophia asked.

"chaser. i'm better at flying." harley hummed and she was.

"i heard potter's gryffindor captain." sophia said, looking around at her friends. "he's very determined to get the cup. so was sirius."

"well, i'll knock sirius off his broom." astra shrugged.

"what about malfoy? he's a great flyer." sophia mused.

"salem? no." astra denied.

phoenix hummed with a slightly tilted head, "soph's right, he is a great flyer. strong, too. and bloody gorgeous."

"we've found his personal fangirl." harley mumbled, reopening her book as phoenix shot her an offended gasp, before he switched his gaze back on astra.

"besides, i thought he left you alone after easter last year." phoenix started. "he'd be mental not to. skele-gro kills, speaking from personal experience here."

"he did. and he would be a great beater. he might not even go to trials." astra said.

"or maybe you won't have to worry about him this year. i wonder if he finally saw sense." sophia mused, still petting splotch who was now asleep in her lap. "keep away from him and he probably won't speak to you. like how spiders are."

"she tried that but he was close to stalking her." harley chimed in.

"i forgot about that, if i'm honest. anyway, phoenix is probably right. skele-gro is very painful." sophia said lightly.

their compartment door slid open suddenly and a witch smiled at them, a trolley of sweets and snacks in front of her, "anything from the trolley?"

they packed their pockets full, paying for their purchases. after a while, they arrived at hogwarts, now in their robes, and once their short carriage ride was over, they were at the castle, not just the grounds. entering the great hall, sophia split off from the group with a light wave, skipping towards the hufflepuff table. the other three strode to the slytherin table, taking their own seats in the middle of the table.

while the majority of the school's conversations were loud and full of laughter, a large number of the slytherin table was filled with mumbles and hushed whispers. they were discussing voldemort's rise of power. phoenix heard a nearby whisper that voldemort was doing good by killing muggleborns and even some half-bloods and rolled his eyes and the stupidness of some people. voldemort himself wasn't even pureblood.

the sorting was boring, first years being sorted into their houses, all looking scared and nervous. once everyone was seated, dumbledore gave a small speech, which astra tried to block out: she wasn't exactly fond of the old wizard. following his speech, the large plates in front of them were filled with food magically and everyone in the hall started to eat.

astra looked over her shoulder, her grey eyes searching the gryffindor table for her twin. sirius appeared to be doing the same as he was already looking at her when she found him. sirius had straight black hair, the same as the rest of their family, minus narcissa black who hard blonde hair. he was tall but shorter than his 'friend' remus and he walked with an air of slight smugness like his best friend, who was really more of a brother, james potter.

speaking of james, astra noticed him looking towards her and when he noticed his eyes hardened in a not so intimidating glare. smirking in amusement, astra turned back, knowing that they were both captains of their house quidditch teams meant the rivalry would get worse between them. however, they hadn't had a problem before, they never spoke.

james potter had black hair which was rarely in the right place unless he used an ungodly amount of product. he had light blue eyes that lit up whenever someone spoke of something that interested him. he was tall, an inch or two taller than astra, and muscular. despite their predicted rivalry, astra was definitely aware of his good looks, and vice versa. he was most definitely aware of his own good looks, that's why lily evans had gave him the nickname of 'the arrogant toe-rag'.

after pudding at had popped up on the large gold plates and everyone had stuffed themselves full for the night, the houses made their way to their common rooms, the prefects informing the first years of the passwords, or riddles if they were a ravenclaw. the slytherin dorms were located in the dungeons, which were just as dark and dinghy as their house was perceived by others.

going up to their dorm, harley and astra got into bed, splotch curling up at the end of astra's bed. their other two roommates got into bed silently and soon enough they were all asleep, tired from the feast. astra just didn't know that while things would get better, everything would easily come crashing down.

{2316}