Hera-Cassiopeia Lestrange II made her way to the Great Hall with Elena Huang by her side, pushing past several other students who were taking their sweet time, walking to their house tables. It was early in the evening, just before supper, and Hera was feeling tired from her escapade to Hogsmeade with Elena and Draco. Although she had eaten a few of her treats from Honeydukes, her stomach growled, yearning for the savoury dishes that would soon be laid out on the Slytherin table.
The black-haired girl sat down next to her cousin, Draco Malfoy, who was going through his daily boast, talking about the new quidditch equipment he had bought, nothing that peaked any interest in Hera. Looking through her peripheral vision, she couldn't find Blaise sitting anywhere near Draco or any of his goons, which sparked her curiosity.
Where would he be?
Elena brought her out of her thoughts, by asking if she had done her charms homework yet. Hera shook her head, and dished a spoonful of vegetables onto her platter, accompanied by a small amount of rice and gravy that made her mouth water. She was careful not to fill her plate, not wanting to go any more sizes bigger than she was. She had to maintain her physique, to keep up with Aunt Narcissa's perfect image she had for her.
The Asian girl that sat next to her, eyed her plate, a hint of disapproval glazed over her eyes for a moment before she took her attention away and filled her plate with almost everything she could reach. In terms of their stature, the two girls contrasted each other. Hera was the taller and skinnier of the duo, with her pale skin and straightened black and white hair, she looked menacing, much like her mother, whilst Elena, was more hearty, her baby-fat refusing to let go of her skeleton, she was shorter and either had a small smile gracing her chubby cheeks, or the stoic pokerface, she was so accustomed to giving everyone else but Hera.
Elena placed a few potatoes onto Hera's plate, "A few potatoes won't hurt, you know. You're looking a bit more sticky than usual."
Elena was physically different, compared to her relatives. Her own father, Tao Huang, was tall and lanky, with pale skin and a stern expression hardening his face, making him look decades older than he actually was. Elena, she was more olive-toned, with lighter eyes and fuller in comparison to her father. No one knew Elena's late mother. Hera had heard from Aunt Narcissa, that Elena was probably born out of wedlock, to a woman who was lowerclass. Despite this, the Huang Family was held in high regards by most pureblood families as they were one of the oldest pure blood lines.
The only reason why Narcissa permitted Hera to stay friends with Elena, was due to her father's power and influence, he had in the wizarding world, despite all speculation. No one dared questioned Elena's parentage, because the Huang family was one of the most powerful pureblood wizarding families in the world.
Hera peered at her best friend, after knowing the girl for more than two years, it felt like something else was amiss.
♧
There was murmur going around the Slytherin common room, all of its members assembled in the area, unsure of what was going on. Everyone was hastily ordered to return to their houses, and Professor Snape had just left the common room, to assist the other professors.
"It can't be-"
"Hogwarts isn't as safe as you think-"
"-inside job..."
"...Black, in Hogwarts?"
"You're kidding me-"
Hera could only hope the rumours weren't true, as she sat on the love seat next to Elena, who seemed to fumble with her sleeve. The prefects were taking into account each and every house member into the common room, before sending them off into their respective dorm rooms. Hera had gotten up to leave, but Elena seemed to be out of it, as she sat on the loveseat, oblivious to the outside world.
The dark-haired girl gently nudged her best friend, "Elena, we should get going."
The girl looked up, staring right into Hera's eyes. An unsettling shiver went down her spine, and a gasp left her lips as she stared right into Elena's eyes. She couldn't tear her gaze away, as if she was forced to keep staring. The sight was disturbing, a sheer white had glazed over Elena's eyes. Her usual dark brown irises, were now a colour of a shocking silver. It was almost as if she was staring right at the moon, but the sight had disturbed her so much that she tore her hand away from Elena's shoulder.
The sudden movement snapped the Asian girl out of her trance, the glossy overlay over her eyes had disappeared, and her brown irises had gone back to normal. The girl blinked a few times, registering her surroundings. She noticed her best friend standing in front of her, a look of horror formed on her features.
"Hera, what's the matter?"
It was as if Elena has switched bodies in a matter of seconds. The one moment, she was completely still, phased out and her eyes had changed into a completely abnormal colour, whilst the girl she was currently looking at, was the normal Elena Huang she had come to know for the past three years. Never in her life, would have Hera ever think or even imagine seeing what she had just seen earlier.
Taking her lower lip in between her teeth, Hera just shook her head. "Nothing, let's go up to bed, shall we?"
Elena nodded, dusting off her lap and jumping right onto her feet. She tucked her black hair behind her ear, before following Hera down the passageway to their dorm room.
Whilst walking down the hall, with Elena close behind her, she had past one of the window seats that looked out into the Black Lake. It was a small corner that usually had a fellow student reading a book or sat empty through out the day. But that night, was not like any other night. Through her peripheral vision, she could see two people occupying the seat, enjoying the moonlight, and holding hands.
Small bursts of giggles could be heard as she passed them, not knowing or even caring who each of the individuals were. She kept her gaze straight forward, as there were whisperings that could be heard between the couple. As usual, she did not stick her nose into the couple's business, that was Pansy's job, who stuffed her unwanted nose into everyone's life. The boy and girl probably did not anticipate to see anyone else come down the corridor, as they quieted down when Elena and Hera had passed them, as if they were holding their breath.
The two girls promptly entered the girls dormitories before entering their own room that they shared with the rest of the third year girls. Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode were sitting on the latter's bed, deeply engrossed in a one sided conversation. Millicent just raised her eyebrows at Hera, making Pansy turn around to look at the two girls standing by the door.
She moved her mouth to say something, but Millicent stopped her by muttering something, that immediately made her close her mouth and tear her eyes away from the black-and-white haired girl to look at her companion. Despite the odd behaviour, Elena walked over to her bed and plopped herself onto it like a ragdoll, spreading her arms on the duvet as she let out a sigh.
Hera strode to hers, right next to Elena's bed, and started sorting out the things she had bought from Hogsmeade. Fifteen minutes had passed by, and Hera looked around the room, to find that one of her other dormmates were missing. The head of auburn tresses were nowhere to be found, as she scanned the room that belonged to the five girls. Furrowing her eyebrows, she got up and shook Elena's leg, getting her attention.
"Elena, Daphne isn't here..."
"Daphne...who?" She asked, her voice muffled by her pillow.
"Daphne Greengrass, our roommate?"
"What do you mean she's not here?" Elena sat up on her bed, immediately turning her gaze towards Daphne's bed, which lay void of the said girl.
Hera played with the end of her sleeve, looking at the same bed that belonged to the missing girl. "The prefects said to immediately leave to our rooms, I haven't seen her since the trip to Hogsmead..." The girl trailed off.
The Asian girl gasped and began to exclaim, "Do you think...do you think Sirius Black got to her?!" "What? No! Merlin, I hope not."
Pansy's voice came from the other side of the room, as she glared daggers towards the two girls. Her nose was scrunched up, making her resemble a pug even more than usual, and her dark eyes were squinted at them. "What are you two gossips on about?"
Hera inwardly scoffed to herself, Parkinson was one to talk, having been one of the biggest gossips in their year. Elena was quick to brush off Pansy's statement, and immediately turned to them, her thick eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Where's Daphne?"
Both Millicent and Pansy turned their gaze towards Daphne's empty bed, before realizing that their dorm mate wasn't in the room with them. Millicent eyes widened, if they could have gotten any wider, but it was clear that she was also concerned. "We were all strictly told to go come back to our dorm rooms. She should be in here-"
The larger girl was cut off by the wooden door to their dorm room, as it opened, revealing Daphne Greengrass. The four girls in the room let out a sigh of relief, and Elena perked up from her seat. "Oh thank Merlin! We thought you were taken by Sirius Black!"
"What...no! Why'd you think that?"
"Well, for starters, we haven't seen you since this morning...and you come into the room twenty minutes after we were told to hurry to our dorms. Obviously we'd think something happened to you." Elena explained, crossing her arms as she narrowed her almond eyes to the Auburn-haired girl.
Before Daphne could reply to Elena, she was interrupted by Pansy, who couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Where were you?"
Hera kept her eyes trained on Daphne, watching the creeping blush that started to tinge her fair and flawless skin. The girl's eyes were cast down as a small bashful smile graced her lips, and she fiddled with her the end of her sleeve, nervously. "Well...nowhere that was too important." She trailed off, as she went off into thought, but she continued. "I am exhausted though, I'm going to bed."
And with that, no one else decided to question Daphne.