And I would be the one (to hold you down) | Yandere Lily Evans

A hope (Part I)

The first time Natsumi's felt wonder was probably when she was about three years old and she was allowed her first kite: it was a bright, vermillion red, as tall as she was, in the shape of a gorgeous koi fish. When not in flight, it would swim through the air around her placidly, sticking close to her like a dog to its master (she had subsequently named it Bubbles as one would a pet fish), but oh when it took flight, it would soar through the skies like a lark, threatening to take off by itself into the vast distance. It would do no such thing, of course, being enchanted not to, but the thought thrilled her all the same. Particularly when it would fly up alongside Mao's hawk shaped kite, her step-father's dragon, and her mother's butterfly. How lovely would it be to see them all gliding away together: a comfortable and whole family.

The wonder she feels upon laying eyes on Hogwarts for the first time is a hard second.

In front of her, Lily gasps and squeals quietly, pressing her hands into Severus rapidly, who tolerates his friend's excitement for her sake, but tells her to be careful because she's rocking the boat. She turns around to face Natsumi and include her in the hype as well, "Can you believe it? We're here!!"

Natsumi can believe it. She's been waiting for it for most of her life, but it's understandable that Lily be so excited. Apparently Muggleborns often are.

Together, they enter the castle in between whispers of curiosity and assumptions about what lies ahead, Lily in the middle of them both, tethering them together with her hands. As they are guided up the stairs by the humongous groundskeeper (Severus had quipped about him having creature blood and Lily stared in awe), they approach a large set of doors, timmering with magic. A woman waits for them at the top, and she introduces herself as Deputy Headmistress Mcgonagall, and she explains the process of entering the hall and being sorted--She looks stern, no-nonsense, just like her step-father's mother. She's softly aged, and looks to be the sort of woman who was quite pretty in her youth, just like her mother's mother. At this thought, she finds herself filled with the odd, unexplainable desire to win her favor. Hm.

The doors before them open, and the entire group walks forward into a crowded hall with rows of tables and colorful banners. Eyes are on her, but they're also on the rest of the thirty-something first years looking around them in awe. Natsumi would be doing the same but if she stares at her own feet, she can pretend she's alone in the hall. It's not that the Great Hall isn't wondrous and magnificent, it's just that it's absolutely not worth it to her to risk making accidental eye-contact with a stranger. She's heard plenty about it from Mao, who claims that the architecture in their parents' home is much more splendid...Natsumi will have plenty of time to look at it once she's sorted and not jittering with nerves.

The person in front of her stops. She almost bumps into them--Looks up to see what test awaits them (she studied, just in case), and finds an old witch's hat on a stool: wrinkled, torn, and patched up. Mcgonagall beside it with a scroll of parchment. What's going on? They're not going to wear that thing, are they? It looks so old, what if it has louses? Oh dear--

The hat, possibly as ancient as her family, begins to sing. A folksy tune reminiscent of the styles back in her hometown (it makes her homesick already), that makes her foot tap along to the beat. It sings of the houses and its job to sort all of the children into the right one, of how it belonged to Godric Gryffindor himself and was a part of history. She supposes it's a useful little thing for the Muggleborns who haven't done much research into it, but she doesn't need anything like that--She knows where she belongs and where she is meant to be, like many other young, eleven year old girls.

It doesn't even make her nervous when, predictably, she's the first to be called up to the stool, it's alphabetical after all. And oh no, everyone's staring at her, aren't they? An Akiyama with bright flaming hair is sure to arise questions...Could she get away with telling others that it's a clever colorvaria spell? Some freak accident involving spell experimentation that left her hair and eyes permanently strange and different? Please don't look at her, please don't look at her, she can't stand it--