I awoke to the sound of Winton hooting to get my attention, he used to wake me every morning back at Beauxbaton, my body is aching as I sit up, I'm undoubtedly covered in bruises from yesterday's chaos. I look around the room and notice my roommates have already gotten up and left, I'm kind of glad in a way I'm not sure I'm ready for probing questions before I've even adjusted to the day. I slip out of bed and look around the room, it's rather charming.
The sounds of a crackling fire fill the room coming from a metal fire place in the middle of the room, 4 beds with beautiful dark wood banisters, emerald green drapes hanging from each, the Slytherin snake etched into each bed. The ceiling arches up into a dome and the walls have stunning murals of forests. Each bed has a bedside table and a trunk at the end of the bed, a basin against the far wall, a big dark wood wardrobe and a vanity. It seems one of my roommates has a black cat napping on their bed, the other a toad in his own terrarium on her bedside table. I change into my robes and make myself look somewhat presentable for my first day before I leave a girl comes into the dorm.
She has brown hair slicked back into a ponytail, a stern face and confident look yet she greets me with a small smile
"Ah you're awake, we didn't want to wake you after the night you had. Quite the entrance you made" she says raising an eyebrow with a cheeky smirk.
"Oh thank you, yeah I suppose it was. I do like to make an entrance" I wink jokingly.
She lets out a small chuckle "Imelda Reyes and you are?" She extends her hand for me to shake.
"my name is Y/N" I shake her hand, noticing she has a very strong grip "pleasure" she smiles a small smile again.
She walks over to the bed opposite mine with the toad, I also notice a broom hung above her bed with small black and green detailing down the handle. She follows my gaze and seems to perk up.
"she's a beauty isn't she? I adore flying, I'm the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team" she beams.
"oh damn that's impressive, I'll have to come see you show off those skills then" she looks back at me a confident look that could be mistaken for arrogance "I'm the fastest in the school and use most of my time practicing, I hold the fastest time in the whole school for the track we have here. I'm trying to beat my own record though" she boasts.
I chuckle slightly "It was great meeting you, I'll catch you later".
I excuse myself politely and head out to the common room.
Heading down the stairs from the dorms I'm greeted with the sound of slytherin students chatter, the smell of sea salt, fire embers and something sweet I can't quite put my finger on, it really is beautiful I think to myself as I stand at the bottom of the stairs admiring it for a moment.
Portraits fill the walls except for what seems to be the main part of the common room which the walls are filled with murals of the forest just like in the dorm room, a few lounge seats against the walls, globes and plants. The floor is tiled and the room has a slight blue, green tint to it I assume from the windows at the far end giving a view out into the Black Lake. I start to walk towards the middle of the room and can hear a few whispers mentioning a new fifth year and a dragon attack, news travels fast here it would seem. The middle of the common room has a rather large rug detailed with snakes, gold, green and black detailing, two black longue sofas face each other and slightly to the left of them a giant fireplace.
I look towards the fire place, a student stood in front of it looking straight at me, the fireplace lighting his features perfectly. He has brown slightly ruffled hair, faint freckles all over his face, dark piercing eyes and a smile across his lips.
"you must be Y/N" the boy says walking to me, for some reason I can feel heat rising to my cheeks.
"the one and only" I reply smirking matching his energy. He nods in amusement
"I must say that's quite the introduction you've made, starting as late as you are and rumor's of you surviving a Dragon attack no less" he looks at me with questioning eyes.
"what can I say, I like to leave an impression" I smile at him and he chuckles lightly causing me to have butterflies form in my stomach. He moves slightly closer and I can't help but notice how sweet he smells a mix of bertie bots every flavoured beans, pine and parchment or old books.
"you certainly left an impression that's for sure, I'm Sallow, Sebastian Sallow" he gives a small silly bow making me laugh.
"I'm Y/N" I return the gesture. His eye's seem to gleam.
"Welcome to Slytherin, I'm glad you got here in one piece despite Dragons trying to stop you. Let me introduce you to my friend Ominis" he gestures for me to follow and heads towards the back of the common room.
Three giant windows from the floor to the ceiling giving a breathtaking view of the Black Lake and a group of first years seemed anxious looking out muttering something about mermaids, near them a boy smiling in amusement, blonde slicked back hair and greyed out eyes.
"Ominis, this is the new fifth year ; Y/N" Sebastian announces to the boy.
Ominis smiles "Well you certainly had a memorable arrival" his head slightly tilted in my direction.
"well starting late I had to make my presence as memorable as possible"I chuckle, he laughed at my statement.
"you're in the correct house then, let me know if you need help navigating your way around the school" he smiles, Sebastian lets out a small laugh "oh shut up Sallow" Ominis sighs.
I look at Sebastian an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, don't mind me I just appreciated his use of 'navigation' Ominis is blind and uses his wand to navigate the school, highly impressive if you ask me" he smirks making Ominis sigh once again. Before I speak a loud voice echoes in the common room.
"Y/N? Professor Weasley is waiting for you outside the entrance to our common room, she requests your presence".
I recognize the voice of the prefect who showed me to my dorm last night "well, duty calls" I smile at Sebastian "I'll hopefully see you around, it was a pleasure meeting both of you" I say to them both but don't take my eyes of Sebastian .
"Good luck" Ominis nods "Pleasure was all mine, Y/N" Sebastian gives me a wink and I turn on my hells heading for the stairs before he notices the blush I can feel burning on my cheeks.
Leaving the Slytherin common I am greeted by Professor Weasley "Good Morning Miss Y/L/N, I hope you slept well" she smiles sweetly at me.
"Good Morning Professor, I did thank you" I nodded.
"I'm glad to hear it" she gestures for me to follow "as you're starting late you'll be at an disadvantage for your O.W.Ls however me and the other professors have come up with some extra assignments out of the classroom for you to complete that should help you catch up a bit, I'm also looking into something a little extra that may help but will discuss that more with you later today once arrangements have been put in place. There are also some students who may be willing to tutor you in your free time if needed I'm sure" I sigh slightly at the idea of all this work but understand it's for the best.
"Thank you Professor, I appreciate all the help" following her through the school it's interesting to see the life everywhere you look. Flying books, portraits moving and talking it seems there's mysteries in every corner of Hogwarts and the school alive with the hum of all the students. Following Professor Weasley down some more corridors I wonder where we're heading and as if she was reading my mind she spoke up.
"Before you attend your first class I've arranged a small meeting for you, She doesn't have much time as she has a field trip planned with the first years but I thought it would do you some good to see her" she pushes a door open to an office, sitting down inside I was greeted with the warm smile of my Godmother Mirabel Garlick.
I didn't think I'd have such a strong reaction but before I knew it I was running to her and throwing my arms around her before sobbing, Professor Weasley leaves the room and for a moment me and Mirabel stay in the silence of our embrace until my sobbing slows as she slowly strokes my hair. I take a deep breath and pull away from the hug, looking up at her soft expression her eyes a little red from her crying too.
"Oh my beautiful sunflower, I'm so sorry this world has been so cruel" she wipes a tear from my face, she's called me sunflower for as long as I can remember it's comforting to hear it again after all that's happened .
"Thank you for taking me in, I don't know how I'll ever repay you" I sigh as she cups my face in her hands.
"you owe me nothing, you're my family and I will always protect you" she smiles before placing a kiss on my forehead.
We spend the next hour catching up over tea, it's been a while since I've laughed this hard I'm glad she's here with me, we hug once more before parting ways and I head to my first Defense Against The Dark Arts class.
After a few wrong turns and directions from a friendly portrait I find the classroom just before class starts, as I enter a duel seems to be going on between Sebastian and a boy from Gryffindor. I stand next to Ominous and watch intently at Sebastian, he seems very talented with offensive spells and knocks the Gryffindor on his back within moments, smirking proudly in doing so. Just as the Gryffindor gets back on his feet, a rather annoyed look on his face an elderly woman appears from her office, stopping the students in their tracks as she heads towards us. She is rather small and frail looking lady wearing all blue robes.
She looks around the room "Good morning students and welcome to your fifth year of Defense Against The Dark Arts, I see some of you have been practicing OUTSIDE of the classroom" she says looking between Sebastian and the Gryffindor from before "Incase some of you have forgotten I am Professor Hecat, now lets begin. I see our new fifth year is here to join us this morning, lets get you straight into it shall we..now let me see.." she scans around the faces of students "Mr.Sallow seeing as you're so eager to duel this morning, lets see how you fair against a new opponent" she flicks her wand moving desks and chairs to the sides of the room.
Sebastian and I lock eyes, a cheeky glint in his and a smile forming at the corner of his mouth
"time for a proper Hogwarts welcome, hm" he winks at me as he walks past to take his position at the other end of the platform that has risen beneath us, I take my stand at the far left side.
Professor Hecat starts to explain she wants a fair duel using only a handful of spells, I barely heard what she was explaining as Sebastian was looking at me so deeply I forgot what we were about to do until he raised his wand "Levioso!" Sebastian exclaimed, so distracted I forgot to block in time, my body now floating in the air , great.
He chuckles lightly "You'll regret that Sallow" I hiss playfully "I hope so" he teases back.
I fire a few basic attacks his way landing a few. This goes back and forth between us when I throw him a wink, it seems to catch him off guard just in time for me to cast Levioso at him, raising him up before throwing several basic attack spells his way and he falls off the platform, earning myself a round of applause from the rest of the class.
The platform lowers and Sebastian climbs back to his feet, walking towards me and brushing off the dust from his robes "Not bad for a beginner, you give as good as you get hmph" he nods impressed and takes his seat.
For the rest of the class I could of sworn I could feel his gaze on the back of my head. As class is dismissed Professor Hecat passes me my extra assignments, I'm leaving her classroom when I notice Sebastian still lingering outside "Hey Y/N".I join him at the top of the stairs.
"Hello Sebastian, I quite enjoyed that class" I mocked and he shook his head smiling.
"It was quite a duel, I'm sure the school wont let me forget it anytime soon. I wasn't expecting you to be so deft with a wand.." he raised an eyebrow and something about the way he said that made butterflies appear in my stomach.
"well what can I say, I'm full of surprises, just count yourself lucky I held back" I shrug trying to stop blood rushing to my cheeks.
"Is that so? well in that case you owe me an honest duel sometime" he leans against the railing of the staircase, wait is he flirting with me? "You might be a perfect fit for a certain unsanctioned exclusive dueling club here..".
of course he's not flirting why would I even think that..
"Exclusive and unsanctioned? sounds fun to me" I smile at him, he smiles back.
"I knew I was right about you, if you're going to get the most out of your time here at Hogwarts you'll have to break a few rules now and then" he pushes himself of the railing, moving slightly closer to me "whether that's joining a secret dueling club... or sneaking into the restricted section of the library... You just have to be clever enough not to get caught" He paused and for a moment his eyes glanced down at my lips then back up to my eyes, I'm almost certain I'm blushing now.
Before either of us can say anything a familiar voice snaps our attention away.
"Sebastian, why are you still here? I walked halfway to the great hall before I realized I'd left you behind" Ominis asks confused, Sebastain clears his throat and takes a step away from me.
"I was just telling our new fifth year about the dueling club" he sounds casual about the conversation.
"Oh that's a brilliant idea, after what she did to you she's more than earned her spot there" Ominis chuckles.
"How would you know? you didn't see anything" Sebastian teases him making Ominis scoff.
"I don't NEED to see when the entire school is already talking about how the new girl put our very own Sebastian Sallow on his arse" he smirks. Sebastian sighs and runs his hands through his hair.
"Great that's just great, well that's enough embarrassment for one day I'll see you around Y/N" he looks at me his eyes a little bit darker than I remember, Ominous starts to walk away probably back towards the great hall "perhaps somewhere unsanctioned" Sebastian winks before following after him.
I spent some of free period working on the assignments Professor Hecat assigned me but wasn't getting too much done, I can't stop thinking about Sebastian. This is the last thing I need as a new student; a crush! For all I know he's just a flirt with all the new girls. I shake my head trying to get stupid Sallow out of my thoughts and focus on my work. I got as much done as I could before heading to my next class: charms.
When I reach the classroom its abuzz with conversation I look around and notice each desk has two seats, my eyes scanning for a spare seat when my gaze falls on Sebastian, He's already looking at me and looks as if he was about to offer the seat next to him when Ominous takes it, he gives me an apologetic smile and I shrug it off. I start to feel a bit awkward as more and more students fill the seats.
"Over here" a voice behind me calls, I turn to see a girl from Gryffindor gesturing for me to sit next to her and I hurry over.
"Hello, my name is Natsai but you may call me Natty, you're the new Slytherin fifth year right?" Natty smiles at me sweetly, she has beautiful dark brown eyes, soft dark skin and dark hair with an enchanting accent.
"that's me, it seems everyone knows who I am and I don't know anyone! it's a strange feeling" I chuckle feeling shy.
"Oh do not worry, I know the feeling I transferred here myself from Uganda when my mother accepted a position here as the Divination Professor. It seems overwhelming at first but it gets easier and you know me now, I am happy to be your guide to Hogwarts" she smiles brightly at me.
"Thank you Natty, that's very kind of you" I return the smile as the Professor makes his entrance from office in the room.
"Welcome back students to fifth year Charms! For those of you who are new I am Professor Ronen and I thought we'd make the most of this nice day and play some friendly games of Summoners Court to practice out Accio skills as a refresher to the term, follow me!" we followed Professor Ronen outside.
He had a captivating energy about him, he seemed older and wore purple robes and a matching hat. We spent the afternoon playing summoners court and being quizzed on various charm spells, despite Sebastian and Ominous being in my class I stuck with Natty she seems very kind and it would be good to have friends outside of Slytherin. As class ends Professor Ronen has gone back to his office to collect my extra assignments and I can overhear a conversation between Sebastian and Ominous.
"then again you could use Accio on humans" Sebastian suggests, interesting observation..
"well you'd be using it on their clothes, Sebastian, it wouldn't work on a human...surely you know that?" Ominous replies a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"clothes.. hm.." was Sebastian only reply I couldn't help myself and looked over in their direction to find Sebastian already looking at me , a small smirk appearing when we lock eyes.
"Miss.Y/N" Professor Ronen snaps me out of my eye contact handing me my extra assignments "Thank you Professor" I take the paperwork and rush out of the classroom mildly embarrassed Ronen noticed whatever that was back there.
I head back to the common room to place my books and assignments on my bedside table back in my dorm room. When I leave to head to the great hall for some food I am greeted with Professor Weasley waiting for me .
"Oh hello Professor, is everything alright?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Yes everything is quite well thank you Y/N, I was hoping to find you here. Due to the horrible incident on your travels here to Hogwarts you lost most of your belongings, as I understand it?" I nod to confirm her statement unsure of where she's going with this "And as I also understand it, you're in need of a new wand. Seeing as your afternoon is free of classes I wanted to suggest you go to Hogsmead to replace your books, clothes and there are a few ingredients I need you to purchase" She finishes.
I hesitate for a moment "Uh that's a lovely suggestion Professor but I lost any money I had in the attack.." I mumble a little bit ashamed I'm broke.
"Oh don't worry about that, Professor Garlick has provide you with enough galleons to purchase what you need and some extras to treat yourself" she hands me a coin purse, my Godmother is the best.
She smiles at me "However due to the fact you've never been to Hogsmead I'd like to assign a student to be your guide to the town. I've been informed you've seemed to of made some friends in Sebastian Sallow and Natsai Onai, both are very capable students who can help, just let me know who you'd prefer to take you and I'll have them meet you by the front door in half an hour" she looks at me waiting for my decision.
I ponder it for a moment, Natty is lovely and I do wish to spend more time with her... but not as much as I want to spend more time with Sebastian and get to know him a bit more.
"I think Sebastian would be a good guide seeing as we're both in Slytherin" I reply, my reasoning making no sense and is just a lame cover for wanting to see him outside of class but she doesn't seem to notice.
"Very well, I'll have Mr.Sallow meet you in half an hour" She smiles before walking back up the stairs and out of sight.
Okay thirty minuets... I have time to make myself look a little bit more presentable and I rush back down to my dorm room to achieve. Something?. I wash my face in the basin, put on some light make up and brush my hair a bit before heading to the front gate to meet Sebastian Sallow.