Chapter three:
The wretched colour

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Elisa already knew what to expect before they got there. Ever since she and Terrence began school apart, he would always send her very detailed letters about everything you could imagine. She held those letters very close to her heart, as he is the only family member she truly cares about. She has always felt lucky to have him as a brother. She doesn't even want to imagine what her life without him would be like. She snaps out of her thoughts and looks around the common room. The common room was extremely green, but it varied in tones. But most of it was a emerald green. Elisa thinks it could use a lot more black or even silver. She hates the colour green. It reminds her of every green vegetable and fruit that had been shoved down her throat to stay skinny, and the shade of green that her mother always wears.

Elisa stares at the colour in pure disgust, which Emilia notices, and an amused smile appears on her face. "Do you not like the colour?" the brunette asks. The blonde girl shakes her head. "It's a wretched colour." Elisa replies dryly. Someone laughs behind them, which makes Elisa turn around, only to see Alexander. "I wonder, do you like any colour, at all?" He asks with an amused tone. Elisa stares at him blankly for a few seconds. "Now that you mention it- I do like brown. Specifically the shade of your eyes." Elisa answers before walking away, leaving Alexander red in the face.

Emilia awkwardly stands there before deciding to make her way to her shared dorm. Elisa made her way over to the multiple bookshelves lining one of the walls. Her hand grazed the spines of a few of the books until she reached one that catches her eye. The title read "Becoming an Animagus." She hums slightly, keeping in mind where the book is located before looking at the other books. She makes sure to remember where each and every book is, just in case she needs one of them. Another thing that she notices is that someone had been staring at her for the past couple of minutes. She could feel their gaze burning into the back of her head.

She walks away from the books and makes her way to the stairs, which leads to the girl's dormitory. And even then, she feels their eyes follow her until she is completely out of their sight. She doesn't bother turning back around and trying to figure out who it is. If they want to stare at her again, she'll figure out who they are. But, since she is a new student, she cannot blame them for staring. They must be curious as to why she transferred and during her sixth year at that. Therefore, she'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

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The next morning, Elisa was the first to wake up in her dorm. She isn't a morning person at all. The only reason she had woken up is because she could hear Emilia tossing and turning in the bed next to hers. She could also hear her muttering something in her sleep. Elisa turned towards her so she could hear better(she can be very nosey sometimes, alright?). She could hear Emilia muttering something along the lines of, "The snake shall squeeze... the queen and her pawns." And that's all that was able to hear. Was Emilia just sleep talking, or was something else going on? Elisa decided to wait, hoping that she would hear more, but she didn't. Emilia stayed quiet.

Elisa rolled over, facing away from Emilia's bed. She only stayed like that for a few minutes, debating if she should get out of bed or not. In the end, she does. She slips on her robe and sits on the window seat closest to her bed. She could see the different creatures swimming in the lake. She stays there for a few minutes before making her way to her and Emilia's shared bathroom to take a shower. She sets her clothes on top of the sink counter. After her shower, she changes into her uniform and walks back into the dorm to see Emilia awake. "Finally awake?" Elisa remarks.

Emilia nods groggily. Elisa grins before moving to the vanity. Emilia grabs one of her pillows and covers her face. Elisa laughs quietly as she sees her do this through the vanity mirror. Emilia spends the next twenty minutes in bed, trying to fall back asleep and failing miserably. Elisa finishes getting ready and waits for Emilia. But, as time continues to pass, Elisa starts getting impatient and decides to wait for her in the common room. She reaches the last step and looks around the common room, expecting it to be empty. But she sees a dark-haired boy, sitting on one of the (disgustingly green) couches, reading a book. She observes him for a few seconds before realizing that he is one of the people that Terrence was sitting with yesterday at dinner.

Once the realization hits her, she ignores him. She has no intentions of speaking to any of Terrence's friends. Well, besides Alexander. He is her friend too, after all. She sits on the couch that is farthest from him. She stares at the bookshelves from her spot. She completely zones out, not even remotely aware of how much time had passed, until she's tapped lightly on her shoulder by someone. She turns her head and sees Alexander in his uniform, and with a smile on his face. "Why are you smiling?" Elisa asks him, full of suspicion.

"Can I not smile?" Alexander retorts. Elisa shakes her head. "Whenever you smile like that, it means you're up to something. And it's never good." Elisa replies dryly. "Fine, I swear on my grandmother's grave, I am not 'up to' anything." Alexander says while putting a palm up, facing towards Elisa and the other over his heart. "If it's your grandmother Theresa, then I don't believe you. You hated her." Elisa retorts with a grin. Alexander laughs. "That is a fact. But, for once, I'm not up to anything. I am just having a good morning. That's all." Alexander responds. He continues grinning at Elisa, the adoration very evident on his face, to everyone except her.

He is snapped out of his daze when someone calls his name. "I'll see you later, скъпа." He says with a smirk before walking away.  She furrows her brow at the last word, having no clue what it means. Before she can think too much about it, she sees Alexander talking to the dark-haired boy. But Alexander's expression is completely different to what she is used to. There's a dark look in his eyes, anger, perhaps. She doesn't dwell on it for too long before Emilia finally walks down into the common room. "Ready?" Emilia asks her. "No." Elisa deadpans. Emilia rolls her eyes playfully. "I get it, I get it, okay? We can go now." Emilia responds. "About time." Elisa says. Emilia is unable to tell if she's serious or not, it’s hard to get a proper read on her.

They both make their way towards the Great Hall, both of them very hungry.