I woke abruptly from a restless sleep to the blaring of an alarm clock, a funny little spell bouncing around the dorm room for several seconds. A few groans sounded around me and pillows were slapped over unhappy faces as we were rudely awoken bright and early for morning classes.
Luna had warned me about this last night. It wasn't a daily thing, the teachers just wanted everyone in the Great Hall by 7am on the first day in order to dole out times tables for the year. Every other morning after it would be our own responsibility to get ready and be in class by 8am.
It was precisely 6am and the sun had just barely began peaking over the horizon and through the stained glass windows, the dorm room still rather dark as we all rolled out of bed. I had five dorm mates, all seventh year Ravenclaw girls, and it was quite clear that not a single one of them was a morning person.
Even Luna was rather quiet this early in the am, sleepily rubbing her light blue eyes and trying to de tangle the jumble of knots on her head with her fingers as she released a large yawn. I heard mumbling of 'too early' and 'bloody gits' as the other four grabbed shower bags and headed out the door to the communal showers at the end of the upperclassmen side of the tower.
Luna and I had been smart enough to shower last night when everyone else was too tired or too focused on gossiping with their friends and could avoid the morning crowds. I started off by working the tangles out of my own long dark hair, struggling through the back of my head until it was smooth and wavy again.
I worked on a bit of black eye makeup as I listened to Luna hum an old childhood song I just barely recognized, having a vague memory of my own mother singing it to me as a young child. I turned to see the other girl putting her incredibly long hair into a single, flowery braid that cascaded loosely down her back.
"What's that song?" I questioned, wanting to know why I recognized it.
"I don't know what it's called, but my mother used to sing it to me before she died." My eyebrows shot upwards, surprised.
"My mum is dead too. And she sang that song to me." The other girl finally turned to meet my gaze, an understanding smile on her kind face.
"So you can see them too then. The thestrals."
"Yeah I can. You saw.."
"Yeah I was with her in her final moments."
"So was I." I breathed out, a comfortable silence settling over us as we both returned to getting ready for the day, Luna continuing to hum the old lullaby as I imagined my mother sitting behind me at her makeup desk doing the exact same thing.
I had never met anyone that understood exactly what I had gone through, anyone that had experienced the same emotions of fear, sadness, and confusion. I wished I knew something more to say but the other girl didn't seem troubled in the slightest. Happy even as she wove flowers throughout her hair.
I finished up my makeup and went to my wardrobe, pulling out my school robes and pulling them on. I took a look in the mirror to see how the blue suited me, finding it quite nice actually and something a bit different from my normal wardrobe full of blacks, grays, and the occasional very dark green or purple.
The other girls returned about 6:30 to finish getting ready for the day, quiet chatter filling the room as they all dug out robes and uniforms that had been stuffed into bottoms of trunks for the last 3 months.
"Jackson has been writing me letters all summer. I just know he's going to ask me out soon." Hailey jabbered, smoothing her long blonde locks and applying mascara to big blue eyes. Every man's dream girl right there.
"He will Hailey! You two are so perfect for each other." Melonie, Hailey's shadow piped in, praising her friend like she was expected to. How the Hell those two got into the so called smart house I'd never understand as they appeared to be nothing more than gossip girls, obsessed with boys and drama and nothing more.
Effie and Theodora were quieter, more reserved, but certainly weren't afraid to speak their minds. They were both kind enough towards me upon arrival and I definitely understood why they were in this house being as Effie's nose was normally buried in a sketchbook and Thea's in a library book.
Hailey and Melonie continued gossiping about boys until it was time for us all to venture down to the Great Hall, continuing in their own little world as Thea and Effie went to find their friends and Luna reminded me how to get to that part of the castle. We settled ourselves in the same spots we normally did, a bubble around Luna and I as we had very quickly become outcasts together, not that I particularly minded.
I dug into my breakfast of fruit and syrup covered waffles as we waited on the rest of the professors to get here, including my father.
"If I may, how did your mum die Runa?" Luna asked suddenly, still engrossed in her yogurt parfait. "If it's not too intrusive of course."
"No, no it's alright. She was sick. She had been for nearly two years. She finally passed the night before my 8th birthday." I still remembered that fateful day like it was yesterday. She had taken a sudden turn that night and died within a couple of hours. No one had expected it but I was glad I could be there holding her hand through it and ultimately be the last face she ever laid her eyes on.
"I'm so sorry Runa. That's awful and the night before your birthday too. I can't imagine." The other girl stated sadly, sympathetically. "Mine liked to experiment with spells but one didn't go as planned. She died right in front of me."
"Jesus, I'm so sorry Luna. That's truly horrible."
"Yeah, it was. At least she died doing what she loved." Luna sighed with a content smile, her acceptance of her mother's fate something I envied.
"May I have your attention please!" A female voice boomed from the front of the room, everyone silencing their conversations and turning to give their undivided attention to professor Mcgonagall.
I saw the teacher's table was now full and sat quietly as the deputy headmistress did her job, glaring at a couple of groups of tweens that had no interest in respecting their elders. The witch's harsh stare silenced them albeit sulkily, and she cleared her throat before addressing the Great Hall.
"Classes will begin at 8am sharp. You will have an hour to look over your times table and familiarize yourself with your yearly schedule. I expect all upperclassmen to assist the new students in finding their way around the castle and of course, professors will be here to help as well." The older woman sent stacks of parchment paper down each of the house tables with a flick of her wand, the papers taking themselves to their respective student.
I reached out and grabbed the paper floating in front of my face, skimming its contents quickly and finding everything I had signed up for listed on the page.
I turned to Luna to compare schedules and found we had all core classes together with the rest of the seventh year Ravenclaws. My extracurriculars were the only things I'd be handling alone, care of magical creatures with professor Hagrid, Divination with professor Trelawney, and this year there was enough demand for an alchemy class with my father so I had signed up for an extra credit as Hogwarts was supposedly far more lax about curriculum than Beaubatons and father had stated that I would find the class an easy 'O'.
"Alright, I will obviously help you find the classes we have together but care of magical creatures is on the castle grounds. Everyone meets at Hagrid's hut to begin the lesson. Divination is in the highest tower of the castle, other than the astronomy tower of course, and I'll point it out on the way to charms. Alchemy should be held in the potion's classroom I'd assume." I thanked the other girl for helping me out so much while I was learning, finding it far easier to adjust with her by my side.
"Looks like we have potions and defense against the dark arts with the Slytherins. That should be amusing." Luna giggled, eating a quirked eyebrow from me in response.
"Those two classes are notoriously Slytherin classes. With his house and you in there, Snape should actually be mildly pleasant." I laughed, understanding completely as my father often went off on a tear about how much he hated the incompetent Gryffindors and how the Hufflepuffs always look too stoned out of their minds to comprehend what he was saying.
"Defense against the dark arts isn't so bad. Professor Lupin is very kind and a good teacher." I nodded and Luna went on to tell me about the rest of our professors and who was harder on their students than others.
"Looks like we have charms with Flitwick first." I stated, glancing up to the teacher's table to see the half goblin laughing at something Hagrid had said.
"Yes. That's a good start to a Monday morning. Professor Flitwick's class is fun and relaxed."
"Perfect. Tomorrow we start off with potions so I will happily take the easy class this morning." I sighed. Even being the potion master's daughter I wasn't very adept at brewing, once managing to blow up a cauldron of mild calming draught so badly that we were still finding it in cracks and crevices 3 years later.
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"Finally I'm starved." I blurted out, shoveling mashed potatoes onto a plate alongside an assortment of mixed vegetables and roasted turkey. If nothing else Hogwarts certainly had good food.
"Me too. I think there's pudding." Luna said excitedly, searching for the sweet treat even as she piled a mound of creamed corn on her own plate.
"Classes were easy enough this morning at least. The professors seem nice."
"Yes most of them are. Transfiguration with professor Mcgonagall will probably be the worst we have today. She's not mean, just strict."
We had completed charms and History of magic together this morning and I had finished Divination before lunch. This afternoon we had defense against the dark arts, Herbology, and I had alchemy tonight after normal classes were finished for the day.
I hadn't seen the Slytherin group outside of meals since we had arrived at Hogwarts, too engrossed in my own life and figuring out this new school. However, we'd be conjoining in the first class after lunch and I had an inkling I'd be seeing a couple of them in alchemy this evening.
Finishing up lunch the very group I had been thinking about caught up to us on the way out, walking with us to our next class.
"You two have gotten friendly." Mattheo announced, waggling his eyebrows at Pansy who draped an arm across her girlfriend's shoulders.
"Might have some competition Pansy." The boy laughed, earning a bemused glare from the goth girl.
"I don't know about competition but we'd let her join wouldn't we Loons? Cant deny she's hot. Certainly too hot for blokes." The girl laughed and I just rolled my eyes, shaking my head.
"I'm bi actually." Can't have them thinking I'd settle for only one gender after all. I liked who I liked and it really didn't matter if they were a guy or girl.
Mattheo perked up at that, 'ooing' with a grin on his face. "Hear that everyone? The new girl is into both. That's hot Snape."
"In your dreams Mattheo."
"Certainly my wet ones." The brunette boy let out a loud laugh as the others made faces of disgust, shoving him off as they tried to erase the image of that planted in their heads.
"If I was gonna fuck any of you it would definitely be Pansy and Luna." I grinned at the two girls, Luna giggling and Pansy shooting me a wink and an air kiss.
"Damnnn. A girl on girl threesome. I beg of you to let me watch." Mattheo pleaded.
"For gods sake Riddle give it a rest. They're all out of your league mate." Blaise chuckled, clapping his friend on the shoulder.
"Fuck off Zabini. You know they want me."
"Like a rash." Draco finally chimed in, making all of us cackle.
"You know what? Fuck all of you." Mattheo strode ahead of us, flipping us two middle fingers with a stupid expression on his face before practically running off down the hall.
"Finally." Theo appeared behind us, placing himself in our little group. "I thought he'd never leave."
"That would make 6 of us." Draco responded with a little side smile.
Entering the defense classroom most of the room was still empty as we were there a bit early. Slytherins we're on the left, Ravenclaws on the right, and we claimed a spot in the middle of the back. Luna was in front of me next to her girlfriend and I was beside Draco, the other Slytherin group sitting along the last two rows.
Professor Lupin was nowhere to be found and the room chattered quietly, waiting on class to begin.
At precisely 1:10pm the wooden door slammed shut, a tall lanky man entering the room and taking a seat on the edge of his desk. He had a kind aura about him but I recognized the scars on his face for what they were almost instantly. A werewolf teacher, interesting indeed.
"Good afternoon class. Most of you know me from previous years but for our new arrival, my name is professor Lupin." He offered me a kind smile and a nod before continuing. "I expect this will be just as good a year as it has been in the past and you will all try your very best in my class. Remember, this year you will take your N.E.W.Ts and they will determine whether or not you achieve the profession you wish to pursue."
The man continued on with his beginning of the year speech for another 15 minuets or so, detailing his class and what he expected from us as well as the materials needed. Afterwards he started somewhat of a game, asking questions from previous years to see who had retained what. While I didn't answer any questions aloud I knew most of them, ensuring that I would do well in this class.
After defense Luna and I made our way to transfiguration while the Slytherin squad left to go to History of magic with much complaint about how boring professor Binns was.
Professor Mcgonagall was already sat at her large mahogany desk scribbling away on a piece of parchment paper as we entered, taking two of the last seats up front this time. Once again at precisely 2:10pm the older witch stood from her spot, waiting in silence for the class to give her their undivided attention.
Once silence had fallen over the room and she had sufficiently unnerved the gaggle of seventh year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, the matriarch began speaking.
"Good afternoon students. As you all know, I am professor Mcgonagall. Transfiguration is an incredibly useful tool in everyday life and you will do well to pay attention in my class, especially those of you that need a high score on the N.E.W.Ts in this field." The woman continued on as she paced in front of the room, going over the syllabus in a monotone voice as she recited the same speech she had every year before.
After going over the usual start of term bs we jumped straight into lessons, acquiring homework on the first day of classes. Luna had been correct, the deputy headmistress certainly wasn't mean but she had very high expectations of her students much like Beaubatons.
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I quietly entered my last class of the day, offering a tight lipped smile and a side eye glance to my father as his pitch black gaze followed me to my seat in the middle of the room next to Draco who nodded towards me in acknowledgement. There were students of every house here but only 6th and 7th years were allowed to take the extra credit course and I was mildly surprised the blonde boy was the only one of my new friend group undoubtedly forced into this class by prestigious parents.
It wasn't surprising however to see mainly Slytherin and Ravenclaw students attending this class as the potion's master was notoriously more favorable towards them and did not harass them quite so much. Nevertheless, there was still a smattering of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, including one of Harry Potter's little cronies who Luna had said went by the name of Hermione Granger and tended to be a bit of a know it all.
I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting any of the Golden Trio yet but from what I'd seen regarding house rivalries we most likely wouldn't get along too well. While Gryffindors and Ravenclaws weren't quite as hostile towards each other as the Slytherins and Gryffindors, I was still a Snape and everyone seemed to be regarding me as one of the snakes anyhow.
"Quiet." My father snarled, his eyes resting on each of the students in the room as he replaced a quill in the ink pot at his side.
"You all chose to take this class because you have either excelled in previous classes or your career path encourages it. Either way this is an extra curricular activity and I will not be held responsible should you begin to falter. This class will be rigorous and you will learn to brew some of the most advanced potions we have in the wizarding world. There will be no nonsense or foolish wand waving in my class. Am I understood?" Murmurs of agreement resounded throughout the room as my father stilled his pacing to glare at us.
"Good. Turn to page 34 and we shall begin." My father turned his back on us and allowed his wand to flit lazily through the air as a piece of chalk outlined the instructions for our first potion of the year, liquid luck.
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Returning to my dorm room that night I flopped onto my squishy bed with an exhausted sigh. Luna was going homework with Pansy, although I doubted there was much studying going on, and the others were who knows where doing their own things so I had the room to myself for a little while.
Picking myself up out of my comfortable spot I accioed my own books, only having a bit of reading to do for two classes and wanting to get it over with as soon as possible.
I realized quite quickly that I wouldn't be able to keep myself on track up here and decided to pack my things and head down to the common room, settling myself at one of the many empty tables. There were very few people mingling in the common area tonight, mostly lonely first years getting a head start on their schoolwork for the week since they didn't have any friends to hang out with.
I worked on my meager homework for less than an hour, finding it simple and far less excruciating than that of Beaubatons. While repacking my things I noticed a particularly small first year girl who looked to be on the verge of tears while deciphering the papers cluttered about her table.
I don't know what made me do it but I found myself walking towards her, taking a seat beside the mousy girl as she quickly looked up at me with glassy blue eyes. I tried to make myself look as welcoming as possible to try and earn her trust, simply wanting nothing more than to ease her worries.
"Hey, it looked like you were having some trouble. I thought I could help." I offered in a kind voice, offering the girl a smile as she sighed exasperatedly. "I'm Runa. I'm new too."
That caught the younger girl's attention, innocent eyes flashing towards me again.
"You're professor Snape's daughter." She rasped out, voice thick with unshed tears.
"Yes, I am. But I assure you I am not quite as.. harsh as my father." There was certainly a better way to phrase that but I didn't need to be teaching 11 year olds new words this early in the school year.
"Yes well, that's the class I'm already struggling with." The girl ran a hand through her short, blonde bob as her eyes started working over her homework once more. "I'm Janie by the way. Janie Lenova."
"It's nice to meet you Janie. May I?" I took the worksheet out from under the first year's nose, scanning over the questions.
"Alright. Where's your book?" She handed me the shiny new first year potion's book and I opened it to chapter 1, beginning to read aloud from a section I knew had the first answer within it.
I had decided I wanted to be a better person this year and aiding the younger kids was a pretty good start to that ambition.