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ᏟᎻᎪᏢᎢᎬᎡ ᎢᎻᎡᎬᎬ
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     NOT a single soul was alive when Valentina woke. The thoughts that swarmed in her mind were peaceful, happy dreams. The girl that lay next to her, Elenora Avery, dreamt in flashes of random dream sequences. One moment she was flying by flapping her arms like a wingless bird and the next she was at home with her family during Christmas. The other girls were dead asleep with nothing crossing their minds whatsoever.

     Valentina wanted to scratch the eyeballs of whoever made Slytherin house deep below in the dungeons. It was very hard to tell the time of day underwater and underground. She loved the beautiful mixture of colours in sunrise and the sight of dew on a fresh morning. The way the pinks and oranges stretched their arms across the sky and cut its fingertips on the opposite end made Valentina smile. She would have to wake up early to configure the layout of Hogwarts in her head and find her way to a courtyard or even the Forbidden Forest. However, Valentina loves seeing the creatures down in the lake right across from her window. The Slytherin common room felt like one grand green and silver aquarium.

     Valentina decided to write a letter to her cousin. She managed to find some parchment and a quill and paused above the paper for minutes. She had so much to say but not the brain to convert it into a nice letter. She forgot all she was about to say to him and instead wrote 'Stop ignoring me you twat'.

    "No that's too mean, even if it's the truth it will just justify his hatred towards my house even more." She whispered to herself.

     Valentina had grabbed a couch in front of the fireplace and rested her feet on a small coffee table in front of her. She crossed out the word 'twat' but just enough that the word was still noticeable and readable. Next to it, she wrote 'my very very brave Gryffindor cousin, Love your favourite Slytherin." She hoped he wasn't too dim to not see through her obvious sarcasm.

     The Slytherin girl stepped outside the common room and into the dungeons. She remembered the path Snape had led her down before and reworked through her steps. It was entirely unhelpful that the staircases moved though. It took a good hour out of her time to find anywhere exciting. She stepped outside and soaked up the warm rays of the morning sun. It took her just as much time to find the Owlery and find Francis. The medium-sized owl covered in brown feathers and pale underparts slept snuggly in his nest. Isadora had given her daughter the family owl after buying a new, sleeker snowy owl called Lambkins. Valentina always had a place in her heart for Francis. Even in his old age, she felt a twinge of guilt when her mother suggested getting rid of him. Francis was her family's owl since before she was born and she grew up with him all her life. So when she saw the sight of Francis tucked sleepily in his corner she smiled.

     "Hey buddy, mind sending this to our old friend Neville. He's being such a prat right now and he deserves to know it."

     She smoothed down his feathers. Valentina patted his head. He hooted a 'twoowoo' in response and Valentina walked back towards the Great Hall. Almost everyone was awake now so Valentina followed the large crowds in hoped that they'd lead her to breakfast. Hogwarts finally felt like a real concept to her. She was wearing her house colours with a green and silver tie and scarf. Her robes were lined with green and Valentina thought the colour complimented her skin tone.

     When she reached the Great Hall she found a familiar face, Astoria. Her hair was pulled back into a half-up, half-down style. Two butterfly clips held back two parts of her hair and Valentina would discover it soon enough to be her signature style. Valentina was too excited for the day to start that she forgot about her hair. It laid straight down her back. 

     "Hey, Astoria." She hopped over the bench into a sitting position next to Astoria.

     "Hey." 

     Astoria looked like a nightmare. Her head kept bobbing up and down. She faded into and out of consciousness. Patches of dark skin supported her eyes underneath. The skin underneath her eyes was puffy enough that her eyes looked swollen shut. Astoria lost the balance in her neck, forcing her head to dramatically fall upon Valentina's shoulder. 

     "Looks like you've slept well."

     "Shut up Belrose." Astoria groaned.

     Valentina scooped fried eggs and sausage from the middle of the table with difficulty. Astoria's head made an indent in her shoulder. Valentina was practically left-handed for the entire meal. The pug-faced Pansy and her posse of Daphne Greengrass and two unfamiliar faces. One girl had a heavy, jutting jaw and a large, square build. She must have been the muscle of the group. Her hair was a very light black shade or a very dark shade of brow, Valentina thought. The other girl had dark golden brown hair and intimidating cold green eyes. The latter smiled warmly at Valentina and sat left of her. 

     "Hello, I'm Tracey Davis and you must be the new transfer student, correct?"

     "That would be me. I'm Valentina Belrose." She reached out her hand to shake the girl's hand. 

     "These are my friends Millicent Bulstrode and I'm certain you've already met Parkinson and Greengrass." The girl gestured to her friends who sat across the table from them. 

     "Regretfully," Valentina whispered to Astoria.

     "Wake up Astoria or I will throw this glass of milk in your face." Daphne, ever the kind and warm soul giggled and motioned towards her sister with the glass.

     "Fine, what do you want?"

     "Is it too much that I wanted a family gathering at this time. Our headmaster's gone mad. Look at The Daily Prophet."

     Valentina strained her neck over to see the headline 'Boy Who Lived Boy Who Lies?'. The article bashed Harry Potter for being mentally insane and the Headmaster for being just as insane as the Potter boy to believe him or just plain naive. Apparently, exiting the maze in the Triwizard Tournament with a competitor's dead body was not good press. Valentina wished she had arrived at Hogwarts a year earlier. It would have been an exciting year to experience the Triwizard Tournament. She wanted to soak up the drama of the events that had unfolded first hand. 

     "What was it like? The Triwizard Tournament I mean." Valentina chimed into the background conversations. 

     "Oh, it was amazing. There was the Yule Ball and not to mention this boy I met from Durmstrang." Tracey sighed. "He was so handsome. Whoever fed those boys at Durmstrang, I'd like to thank them personally. Sergei was so fit and those piercing blue eyes-"

     "We get the picture, Tracey." Pansy Parkinson interjected. "Too bad Sergei probably left you for another girl at Durmstrang right now." 

     There was an awkward pause as their forks scraped their plates in front of them for the last bites of breakfast. 

     "Can I have that copy of The Daily Prophet?" Valentina asked Daphne. 

     "Do you think I'm made of money?" Daphne glared at her and then smiled. "Of course. I was going to pitch it anyway. I can't stand the sight of that mental Potter boy." 

     Valentina tucked the paper under her armpit after thoroughly scanning through it and was on her way to her first class, Charms. It was a double class with Hufflepuff. She dreaded being the only one without a crutch of previous years at Hogwarts in that class. True, she did take extensive tests to allow her in fourth year, but that did not lessen the worry. She saw a group of Slytherin girls walking towards Professor Flitwick's classroom and followed them. The only name she knew was Elenora Avery. She grabbed a seat by the girl and received pointed death stares from the six fourth years. 

     "Hello, I'm Valentina Belrose." Her lips stretched into the fakest smile she could muster. 

     "Yeah, we know who you are," Avery responded. 

     They gave no recognition to Valentina other than Avery's response. None of them introduced themselves. The girls scooted their chairs as far away as possible in the limited space. Professor Flitwick stood atop a stack of books before his desk. The class began with an introduction to the Summoning Charm. It ended quickly with a lecture that turned into a rant of the many useful examples of the Charm. The Slytherin's took no notes and let their quills copy the professor's voice for them. Valentina had to learn that spell. 

∴ ∵ ∴

     Valentina was soon on her way to Herbology when she spotted a familiar blond head in the crowd. They caught each other's gaze. Neville looked away instantly and continued walking to his next class. 

     "Neville Frank Longbottom you stop right there!" She shouted. 

     He froze in place. His cheeks turned to a dark shade of fire engine red. She forced her arms around the lanky boy. 

     "Why can't you bother to see me anymore?" Valentina scolded. 

     "You're in Slytherin now. I don't want you to lose out on friends in your own house because you're with me." 

     "Liar. I guess I'll just turn into an evil snake and start murdering the Gryffindors since I don't have a positive influence in my life." 

     "I'm sorry Valentina. My friends don't much like Slytherin. Maybe they'll change their mind when I reintroduce you to them." 

     "That better be a deal. Let's shake hands on it." Valentina snatched Neville's hand and shook. "I'll see you later. That's a promise." 

     Valentina scurried to her next class, leaving Neville dumbfounded.