Chapter 4
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Millie didn't like talking about her family very much, and Adhara wasn't the kind of person to pry in such matters. Her own home life wasn't her favourite topic of conversation, so she could understand why her friend felt the same way.

However, with what little information both Hermione and she got from Millie's passing comments, they managed to gather two things: Millie's mother was muggleborn, and her pureblood father didn't like talking about that.

And with the sheer amount of times she mentioned her mother rather than her father, it wasn't difficult to tell which of her parents she was more fond of. It's only unfortunate that Millie's mother wasn't in the picture anymore.

On their third week of lessons, Adhara and Millicent sat at breakfast at the Slytherin table. Hermione seemed to be nowhere in sight even though usually they ate together in the morning, at whosever's table got to the Hall first, and then walked to class together.

Most of the professors were already there, chatting amongst themselves. And although both Slytherins sat right next to the teacher's table, they couldn't make out any of the conversations. Hermione once voiced how she thought they might be using a muffling spell, one that Adhara was very eager to use herself someday.

Neither of them had taken a bite of their breakfast yet, with Adhara still taking her time to cut her egg roll and sausage into small pieces and Millie too engrossed on the walkman she was holding.

"Where did you even get that?"

"I have a box of my mum's old stuff hidden in my room back home. I found it in there, have been trying to make it work for ages."

"And your dad's got no problem with it?"

"He doesn't know about it."

Adhara shook her head. "You shouldn't have to hide this from him."

"He means well."

"It's only a Walkman."

Millie let out a sigh. "I- I know. Let's jus- Let's not talk about this. Please?"

Adhara didn't bother to argue. The conversation wouldn't lead anywhere at all, so she went back to eating her breakfast. Just as she was about to take her first bite, however, the device in Millie's hand burst out, making them both jump.

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The high-pitched shoutings of students shrilled through the air of the Great Hall. Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into utter chaos. Oddly though, the entire student body was huddled over to the Slytherin table as some of them tried to peak over others' shoulders.

The three exchanged a look before maneuvering their way towards the front, where the students were mostly crammed and found Adhara and Millie under the mess. Adhara looked rather miffed, obviously annoyed with all the people swarming them. She kept glaring daggers at Millie, who, in return, only shrugged her shoulders, looking smug. She proudly lifted her walkman that was blasting a song that even Harry was able to recognize.

Hermione squealed, "You did it! You made it work!"

Several other students chimed in, one tried to push Adhara out of the way to get a better look at the device, but the girl simply glared at them, making them stumble back a few steps, muttering apologies.

Harry watched as everyone started to shout out questions.

"How did you do that?!"

"Do you think I can bring my phone next term? I'm dying to call my mum!"

"If I bring my Walkman, do you think you could get it to work too?"

"I have my phone with me right now! Can you fix it, please!?"

The last one surprised Harry the most. A Slytherin student from third year approached Millie with his phone in his hand, trying to hand it to her. He searched for Ron amongst the ruckus and saw that he was just as shocked. They knew that muggleborn Slytherins existed, they just never had the proof thrown into their face like so.

McGonagall's roaring voice cut through the bustle. "Settle down! Everyone back to your respective tables. You can ask you questions later on your own," she turned towards Millie, her voice stern "and Miss Bulstrode, I must ask you to keep your contraption at your dorm room to avoid another hubbub such as this one."

"Yes, Professor."

It was strange to see everyone go back to their spots from the snake's table wearing such disappointed expressions. Harry was just about to do the same, following the hoard of students walk back to their own table and joining Ron and Hermione when he noticed Malfoy approach his two other friends.

Harry halted in his step, automatically glaring at the blond.

He watched him throw jeers at the pair, pointing at Millicent's walkman at some point. He couldn't hear what the blond was saying from where he stood, but he could've sworn he made out the words "muggles" and "mudblood" on his lips.

A wrinkle appears between his brows as he made his way towards them. Adhara sat facing away from him, so she didn't see him approach them, and Millie seemed far too preoccupied trying to burn a hole through the table. Harry didn't take out his wand, knowing precisely what that would look like to the professors, who, unfortunately, sat near them.

"Go away, Malfoy."

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Adhara still felt agitated about the whole commotion. She tried to steady out her annoyance by putting all her attention on her plate, but apparently, even that was too much to ask because she saw Draco Malfoy march up to her and Millie the minute the rest of the student cleared out.

Adhara let herself groan out loud. She tried her best to ignore the git, drowning out his insults. She caught Millie's eye at one point, noticing how the girl had her hands balled into fists as she tried her best to keep her anger in control. The professors were right there, and neither of them fancied detention so early into the term.

Apparently, Gryffindors didn't care for such things because, in the next moment, she heard Harry call out Malfoy from beside her, which made her snap her head towards the boy.

Malfoy switched his attention on him, fixing him with a glare. "Mind your own business, Potter."

"I could ask the same from you."

Adhara noticed how he kept his hand pressed against the side of his leg, on top of his robes right where he kept his wand.

"Leave them alone. The professors are right there, and I'm pretty sure they saw you show up first."

Malfoy scowled. He was about to respond back, but Millie beat him to it.

"I think it'd do you good to remember that are no professors in the common room, Malfoy."

"If you even dare to raise a wand at me, the news will go straight to my father. Or even Snape. He's my godfather, you should know." He tried to shift the conversation in his side.

Adhara scoffed at the pathetic attempt.

"That wouldn't erase the bruise I might give you," reminded Millie.

Harry, who decided to take a seat next to his god-sister, was smirking. Adhara rested both her elbows onto the table, folding her hands underneath her chin as she finally met Malfoy's eyes.

Malfoy took in the trio, the way their eyes shimmered with a promise to harm him if they have to. He gulped, taking a few steps back. When Millie loudly banged her fist on the table, he dashed the other way, making Adhara scoff once more.

She shook her head, deciding to forget about the blond and instead brought a plate in front of Harry. Millie took in on herself to fill it up with egg rolls and sausages, acting as if none of this ever happened. Harry watched, just as unfazed, and then dug in without complaint.

Behind them, the eyes of the Headmaster glinted with equal amounts of worry and curiosity as he watched the entire thing unfold.

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Calling Hermione smart would be an understatement. She scored top mark on every exam and, at the age of 12 only, she was already dubbed as the brightest witch of her age. But anyone who's ever had a single conversation with a Ravenclaw would know that grades aren't what made someone intelligent. There was more to it.

Which is why Adhara believed Hermione wasn't a Ravenclaw. Sure, she asked a lot of questions that made the professors lose their hair, but whereas Ravens would put aside an assignment that was due the next day to concentrate on a topic that was way more interesting, Hermione tackled her to-do list with priority levels—Weasley might argue her priorities were messed up since she listed school above life, but that was his opinion.

Hermione Granger was smart, and she was logical. She didn't approach a situation with emotions, but with logic, finding the best way to solve a problem and normally came out with clever solutions.

And that was what Adhara liked about her. However, there was one thing about that statement that confused people.

Hermione was logical. But she wasn't heartless. Although she solved problems logically, she tended to get into problems because she let her emotions get the best of her.

Which may be why Adhara didn't inform the girl of her living situation. Because if Hermione found out about Aleyne, she would definitely get herself involved, trying to get her out of there.

And Adhara couldn't let her do that. Not for her.

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On the morning of September 19th, Harry watched as two girls from Slytherin House sat at the Gryffindor table instead. The sight, being no longer unusual to the rest of the school, attracted no attention, except for perhaps the questioning looks of a few first years.

Millicent, who wore black trousers and matching day robes, pushed Ron aside and took a seat next to Hermione. Adhara joined Harry on the other side of the table.

Adhara wore her school robes like she did every weekend. Hermione informed Harry that she's done so last year as well, but he hadn't noticed then. He only realized she did this when he no longer spotted her grey hoodie she wore all of summer.

He thought maybe, like himself, she may not own many clothes. Even so, he's seen her wear normal clothes during the summer months, why didn't she just wear those? He decided at the end to brush aside the thought altogether. His own wardrobe wasn't any more glamorous than hers. He had no right to judge.

Millie put a package in Hermione's hand, wrapped in brown paper with a maroon ribbon tied around.

"Here, take this. Happy Birthday!"

Harry watched as Hermione's eyes doubled in size. She brought a hand to her mouth.

"Oh, Millie! You shouldn't have!" she practically shouted, giving her a quick hug.

"It was Adhi's idea."

The 13-year-old girl swooped underneath the table, reaching the other side in mere seconds. She sat next to her friend, engulfing her into a hug.

"Thank you!"

"You haven't even opened it yet, 'Mione."

"Oh," she let go of Adhara, "right!"

Ron and Harry peered over their breakfast as they watched Hermione rip open her present. Harry felt somewhat guilty for not getting her something himself. In all fairness, he never bought a birthday present for anyone before, so the thought hadn't even occurred to him.

"A book," Ron stated. He wasn't even surprised, "of course." He rolled his eyes but knew it was a perfect gift for Hermione.

Everyone else at the table shared the thought. Hermione hugged Adhara again, who looked taken aback by the act of affection. Neither of the girls normally hugged. Hermione didn't either, but this seemed to be a special occasion.

Mille spoke up, "We found it at Diagon Alley when we went shopping for our school supplies. It's a book of wizarding fairytales. We know them already, so we thought maybe you'd like to as well."

"I don't," said Harry.

Millie turned to look at him. "Oh, right. I completely forgot. Sorry 'bout that!"

"It's okay, Harry!" Hermione called out, "I'll lend it to you after I'm done!"

Harry didn't look too enthusiastic at the thought. He honestly couldn't care less about fairytales. He only made the comment because, well. Because that's it. It was just a statement. Nothing more, nothing less.

Adhara and Ron seemed to have caught onto Harry's thoughts, making the redhead snort. Harry kicked him from under the table, which wiped off the smile from his face, replacing it with a scowl.

Harry smirked.

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The conversation derailed from there. They started talking about their own birthdays, with Ron speaking mostly about his siblings' birthdays and pranks the twins decided to pull at some of the parties.

Harry and Adhara mostly stayed quiet, not really having anything to add on. His only notable birthdays were the one from last year when Hagrid showed up at the door and the one from last summer when Ron and his brothers rescued him from Surrey. He didn't want anyone else knowing that his birthdays normally went unnoticed. It embarrassed him.

"Wait! Adhara!" called Millie, "when's your birthday? You never said!"

Adhara looked at her. "Some time is spring, I presume."

Harry paused. He slowly turned his head towards her as the words registered properly. "You presume?" he asked.

Adhara spared him a glance before looking at the others' faces, who were equally as shocked at the statement. Harry watched as her brows knitted on her forehead. She clearly didn't understand why her answer warranted such a reaction.

"Umm, yeah? I know the date when my mother dropped me off at Al- the orphanage," she corrected at the end. She grabbed Harry's wrist from under the table at the same time as he exchanged a look with Ron. It seemed like she hasn't told the other two about Aleyne yet.

The hand that squeezed tightly onto his wrist told him that she wasn't planning on letting them know any soon either. Harry kept his mouth shut.

"April 13th. Though, I don't know if that's my real birthdate."

Harry continued to stare at Adhara. He wasn't sure what to think of the situation. At least he knew when his birthday was.

"I never really met my mother. In fact, I only found out she was Moroccan when I was six, which was around the same time my roommate started teaching me Arabic."

Harry didn't know what to say.

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"You didn't tell them about Aleyne?"

Harry walked beside Adhara. They were making their way to their next class, which was, unfortunately, Potions, and apparently, Harry thought that to be the perfect timing to interrogate her.

Adhara didn't. "No. They don't know. And it's going to stay that way."

Harry didn't like that idea. "They're your best friends. They should know."

Adhara stopped in her tracks, halting Harry's step. He watched her check around her until her eyes stopped on Ron, who was right behind him.

She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him away, keeping them both a few steps ahead of the redhead.

"Oi! Black, what the hell?!"

Then she whispered: "Is Weasley aware of the Dursleys?"

"The Dursleys don't burn my hands."

"No, but they starve you, which is reason enough. And don't think me as a fool, Harry. I know there's more to them than what you let on."

Harry glared. "Ron doesn't need to know."

"Neither do 'Mione and Millie."

Harry sighed, getting her point. "Fine. I won't say anything, and you won't either in return."

"Deal," she confirmed, letting go of him. She didn't bother to look back at him as she marched her way straight towards the dungeons.

Ron caught up to Harry.

"What was that about?!"

"Nothing."

Ron glared, which Harry only responded with a shrug.

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A/N     yeah I never really liked the fact that we couldn't use electronics at Hogwarts. Like I get it, with what happened to the flying car and all that but still. In a world where people can use magic to do literally everything you're telling me no one figured out how to work a walkman at Hogwarts? Or that now one even tried?? Well Millie did, and she figured it out cause she's a smart one.

Also, idk if some of you noticed but I'm trying to figure out the faceclaims for the characters. I'm still not 100% satisfied so you might see some changes in the following days hehe.

Thank you for reading~