September 1st, 1977
-Estelle-
Just like she had done for the past two years, Estelle Laurence parted ways with her younger sister and made her way to her usual compartment. A smile broke out on her face when she saw the group of black wearing purebloods that she had so desperately missed.
"Merlin, you take forever, I was starting to get worried you were going to leave me here alone with these idiots," Arabella said with a playful smile.
"I sure hope you didn't just lump me in with them," said Claudia as she shot a glare at the girl.
"Definitely not Dia, I would never," Arabella replied sweetly as she pats her friend's cheek.
Estelle laughed and opened her arms for the girls who gladly embraced her. Being outnumbered by boys in their group, which was referred to as the "kingdom" by the rest of the school due to their royal-like reputations, the three girls had become inseparable.
"I missed you both very much. Two months is a quite painful amount of time spent with only my sister and Corrent. Please promise me you will be visiting next summer."
The group usually came to France over the summer and stayed with the Laurence family but this year they all had to stay home, for what Estelle didn't know, thus leaving her alone with her sister and her best friend.
Cosette Laurence was a fourth-year Slytherin that could have easily been a Ravenclaw if it wasn't for her hunger for power. She was always the smartest person in the room and she made sure everyone knew it. Reyna Corrent was a spunky Hufflepuff Cosette had practically adopted. During the first day of Hogwarts, the youngest Laurence saw a blue-haired girl being picked on by a group of Slytherin boys and decided to punch the leader in the face. She not only broke his nose but also secured herself a friend for life. She learned that Reyna was a metamorphmagus which Cosette thought was incredibly cool. Ever since that day, the two girls were rarely seen without the other. Reyna often spent summers with the Laurence family and as much as Estelle liked to pretend she got annoyed by the two girls, she adored her sister and had grown quite a soft spot for the young metamorphmagus.
"Please you adore them and yes, we will be joining you this summer. Do not fret." Arabella replied as she placed a little kiss on the blonde's cheek.
"Can't let you keep all those French boys to yourself can we?" Claudia replied cheekily.
Someone cleared their voice from behind the girls, "Why go for a stupid French muggle when you have a perfect british pureblood right here."
Arabella groaned, "Perfect my arse," while Claudia snickered, both releasing the witch from their embrace. Estelle's eyes were met with a pair of differently colored eyes.
The witch let out an airy laugh, "Gabriel, still on this are we?"
"One of these days you'll wake up and realize you're madly in love with me," Gabriel replied with a prominent smirk on his lips.
"Oh I'm sure, now give me a hug you git."
Gabriel pulled her into a tight embrace. Although the Mucliber boy's favorite activity seemed to be flirting with Estelle, he was one of her dearest friends. She quite enjoyed their playful relationship and always knew she could count on him.
"Move aside loverboy," the only other blonde in the compartment stated as he jokingly shoved his mate out of the way to wrap his arms around the witch. "I missed you, Queenie. How are you?"
"I'm good, I missed you too Ev."
Evan Rosier was, as often times said by the rest of the group, her male counterpart. The two had bonded over their absentee fathers. They swore to protect and care for one another, even if it brought them to their own demise. He had begun calling her Queenie after a first-year informed the group that Estelle had been dubbed the Slytherin Queen, much to her dismay, though she had come to embrace it.
The blonde boy placed a small kiss on her hairline before breaking away from the girl and letting a black-haired boy be the next to trap her in a tight embrace.
"Hello my dearest Avery, how I have missed you," the witch said softly into the boy's shoulder.
Nathaniel Avery in the simplest of terms, was her twin flame. While the girls, along with the rest of the group, were her best friends, the Avery boy was a part of her. He was the closet thing she had to a brother figure.
"I almost died without you, none of these imbeciles get my jokes Stell," the boy draped his hand across his forehead to add to the dramatics.
"That is because they aren't funny Nate," a deep voice retorted causing the blonde witch to glare at the source.
If Estelle Laurence was the Slytherin queen, Regulus Arcturus Black was the king. It wasn't that anything exactly happened to cause so much disdain between the purebloods, the two had instantly disliked one another. Constantly at each other's necks and competing for top marks, the only thing that the two could agree on was that despite their obvious loathing, they would exist with one another for the sake of their friends.
"Black," she spits out the name as if it would burn her mouth to keep it on her tongue a second longer.
Regulus narrowed his eyes, "Laurence. No, I miss you for me?"
"Not seeing you this summer was the only upside to the group not visiting." She replied with an eye roll.
"Hush up the both of you, we aren't doing this right now. We aren't even at school yet." Arabella scolded as she shot them both a look.
"Seriously, it's too confined in here to deal with the sexual tension. I'll choke on it." Evan joked before shooting Regulus a small smirk.
The black-haired boy rolled his eyes and leaned back against the wall, turning to look out the window and successfully ignoring Evan's comment. Arabella patted the seat between her and Nate, which she gladly took. She sat across from Claudia and the other two boys while Gabriel took his usual spot on the floor in front of the blonde witch, leaning against her legs while she played with his hair.
Estelle's eyes traveled over her friends with a small smile pulling at her lips before she found her eyes stopped when she reached soft dark curls. Regulus Black was gorgeous, there was no denying that, though she often did just that when anyone mentioned his appearance around her. It's the eyes, she thought. His eyes were a greyish blue color, almost like crystals.
A shame he's such a dick.
A subtle jab to her side was given by the boy next to her. She turned to look at the Avery boy who was giving her an accusatory look.
"What?" She responded quietly.
"I should be asking you that," Nathaniel whispered back before he discreetly motioned towards Regulus with his eyes. He had caught her staring at him.
"I don't believe I know what you are referring to. I wasn't doing anything." Estelle replied as she narrowed her eyes at the now smirking boy beside her.
"Alright whatever you say, but when you are ready to discuss what caused you to do what you weren't doing, I'm here," Nate stated with a slightly condescending tone.
Estelle scoffed, "There will be no discussion because there is nothing to talk about."
"Talk about what?" Gabriel asked as he had just picked up on their conversation, causing the rest of the group to look at them expectedly.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Estelle replied smoothly.
The rest of the group seemed to accept this answer and return to their previous conversations. but she could feel a certain pair of blue-grey eyes still on her. She chose to ignore them as they had gotten her into this predicament in the first place.
Damn him and his eyes.
i know this is kind of a bland chapter
but I needed to properly introduce all the characters
and their relationship dynamics.
hang in there, i'm looking forward to making this story rather spicy.
feel free to read my sirius and remus fics as well
if you haven't already. all are a work in progress.
xxx
-sammy