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     THE REST OF ADELINA'S SUMMER had been absolutely horrible. The only contact she had with the outside world was with that of the Romano family house elf, Maisie, and she spent most of her time sleeping. Her father had taken her wand, her owl, and even her radio. Sleeping was really the only thing she could do. 

     So when her father apparated her to King's Cross Station, she had never been more ecstatic (even though he left as soon as they arrived, causing her to stand all alone, surrounded by loving parents kissing their children goodbye). 

     Her happiness only grew when she found her friends in a train compartment by themselves. Lina wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was glad there weren't other people from her house and her year in the compartment — she wasn't a fan of most of them. 

     "Jules!" She exclaimed, launching herself at the girl and wrapping her arms around her. 

     Adelina Romano had first met Julianna Baker in her first year. Julianna was an outgoing eleven-year-old, contrasting Lina's reserved personality greatly. The Baker family always suspected that was why they got along so well: they brought out the best in each other.

     Jules was gorgeous and she knew it. Lina was extremely jealous of not only her looks, but also her confidence. She had short, curly hair that complimented her brown eyes and dark complexion wonderfully, and she was always dressed in the latest fashion.

     "How was your holiday?" Lina asked after putting her trunk above her head.

     "It was great! I spent most of it in Leeds with Maggie and her family. Of course, we couldn't really do anything romantic since we're still not out, but it was still lots of fun," Julianna's smile grew as she spoke of her girlfriend, "I feel bad for lying to her though. She still thinks I go to some boarding school for troubled girls in Norway."

      Lina laughed at the thought. "Surprised she didn't run off after you told her that," she joked, "troubled girls? Really?"

     Jules playfully swatted Lina's thin arm, "I panicked! And she loves me no matter what..." she trailed off with a dreamy look in her eyes.

     Lina pretended to gag in disgust at Jules' lovestruck state.

      "Oh, shove off, Romano. When you're in love I'll be sure to make fun of you," Julianna rolled her eyes, amused. "Speaking of love: you need some action. The last boy you've talked to was Tommy, and he barely counts."

      At the mention of the curly-haired boy, he entered the compartment perfectly on cue. "Oi ladies, you talking about me?"

     "Yeah," Lina replied, and Tommy's eyebrows raised suggestively, "talking shit," she finished, stifling a laugh. His expression fell.

      "How sweet, Lina!" The boy exclaimed sarcastically, wrapping an arm around her and messing up her hair. "That's why you're my favorite ex-girlfriend — you always have the nicest things to say."

     Thomas Moreau and Lina had quite a different story: the two met in third year after they were paired together in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and immediately hit it off. Tommy quickly found his way into Lina and Julianna's hearts, and consequently earned himself a place in the friend group that was previously just the two girls. But things began to change as their fourth year approached — Lina found herself always wanting to be near the dark-haired boy, and Tommy couldn't get the Italian girl off of his mind. It was no surprise to anyone in the castle when they made it official. 

     After six months, though, the two lost feelings and ended mutually. They missed being best friends, and although they enjoyed their time together, both agreed that they worked best platonically. There was no bad blood, and Tommy and Lina were closer after the breakup than they were before. 

     "Shove off, Tommy," both of the girls said at the same time, eyes lighting up when they realized how in-sync they were. 

     "Merlin, we need another guy in this friend group. You two always gang up on me," he said, pouting. 

     "Maybe if you weren't so bloody annoying—" Lina fired at him, but their playful banter was interrupted when a boy was roughly shoved against the door of their apartment, pushing open the doors and falling through. The three friends stared as three boys walked in, following the one who had hit the ground.

     Lina blushed a fierce scarlet at the prospect of not one, but four boys hearing her outburst. She was shy when it came to people she didn't know, and now these boys probably thought she was insane. She sat back in her seat, burying her face in Tommy's robes in embarrassment. 

     She recognized them to be James Potter and his friends: Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin. She had never really spoken to any of them before — she shared lessons with them, of course, but that was the extent of their interactions. Lina knew of the four Gryffindors' distaste for her friend group's house, and she didn't want to irritate them, so she never really made an effort to speak to them. 

     Lina liked to avoid confrontation as much as she could.

     Much to her surprise, James flashed their group a small smile as grabbed Sirius' hand and pulled him up. Lina smiled back shyly, Jules nodded in return, and of course, Tommy had to ruin the civility with his fat mouth, much to Lina's dismay.

     "Ready to get beat for the House Cup again this year, Potter?" Thomas asked with a cocky smirk plastered on his face. 

     "Fat chance, Moreau," James responded with a glare. The once-peaceful compartment was now charged with tension as the two quidditch players stared each other down. 

     "Fancy a date to Hogsmeade?" Sirius broke the tension and Julianna groaned. Over the course of their time at Hogwarts, the one constant was Sirius Black's infatuation with Julianna Baker. Lina was pretty sure it was a joke — Jules had rejected him more times than Lily Evans had rejected James Potter (and that's saying something) — but it was consistent nonetheless. 

     "I'm taken, Black. And trust me, you're not my type in the slightest." Lina laughed at the truth behind the statement that the boy was unaware of. Sirius pouted, before following James out of the compartment with Peter right behind him. 

     The last of them, Remus Lupin, a tall boy with messy brown hair and scars along his face, hesitated before joining his friends. 

     He offered them a small, apologetic smile, and a brief "sorry."

     Tommy mumbled something under his breath while Lina and Jules smiled at his apology. 

     "It's fine, Remus. You don't have to apologize for them," Julianna spoke up. He smiled once more and left to go find his friends. 

     As soon as he was out of their compartment, Julianna turned to Lina with mischief in her eyes. "You should date one of them!" Lina continued to stare at her in disbelief. "I mean, not Potter, because he's obsessed with Lily Evans, but Sirius is fit! Plus, if you date him, he'll stop pestering me. Pettigrew is cute too!"

     When Lina's blank stare still didn't falter, Jules continued. "What, is Lupin more your type? I can see that, actually. You guys are both shy, and he's adorable. Kind of hot too, you know, with the scars—" She gestured at her face before Thomas cut her rant off. 

     "All of them are gits," Tommy butted in, "you could do so much better than Black or any of his friends." He spat his name in disgust.

     "Just because they're your quidditch rivals doesn't mean they're gits, Thomas. I bet they'd be really nice if you actually spoke to them in a cordial manner." Julianna lectured him with a stern look. Thomas just scoffed. 

     Lina had tuned out a while ago. Ever since she and Tommy had broken up, she hadn't really paid much attention to guys in general. Unlike Jules, she wasn't the type that guys paid attention to. 

     She was much too skinny in her own eyes — a result of a tiny appetite that stemmed from the countless meals her father deprived her from as punishment — she hated her hair, her eyes were an ugly shade of brown, and much more. 

    Her insecurities prevented her from being confident and outgoing like her best friend. She was much too shy to approach anyone outside of her small friend group, and most people thought that she just didn't speak at all (which was very far from the truth; when she was with her friends, it was hard for her to shut up).

     "Are you okay, Lina? I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, you can stay single if you want, I just thought it would be nice if you had someone since I'm always talking about Maggie," Jules said, and Lina smiled at her friend's genuine and caring nature. 

     "I'm fine. And it's okay, I don't mind. Good luck finding someone that's interested in me, though," she said, only half-joking. Jules gave her a stern look, fully prepared to go on her famous "Adelina Grace Romano, You Are Beautiful And Need To Open Your Eyes And Realize It" rant, but Lina changed the topic. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I think my father has finally lost it!"

     Tommy looked at her like she was crazy. "Finally? Lina, He's always been insane." Jules nodded in agreement and Lina just rolled her eyes. 

     "He wants me to get the bite." Immediately, her two friends began to freak out: Tommy uttering many obscenities, and Jules doing the same.

     "That's bloody psychotic!" Thomas exclaimed. "You're a kid! It could kill you! What is he thinking?"

     "First of all, I don't really think my father is the most concerned when it comes to my well-being," Lina said, ignoring Jules' concerned glances. "And he says it's because he wants me to 'follow in his footsteps,' or some rubbish like that."

     "When?" Jules asked. 

     "He told me a couple weeks ago. He had one of his werewolf mates over — he was right creepy — and then told me that I'll receive the bite when I'm of-age. So, I have until July to live my life as normal," she concluded. "I would've told you guys sooner, but I was grounded for the second half of the holiday. He took my owl, my wand, and even my radio and record player. Like, I get that I need to learn my lesson, but at least let me listen to my Hotel California  vinyl."

     "Did he let you eat? At least two meals a day?" Jules asked, picking up Lina's wrist and frowning at the thin size of it. 

     Lina didn't answer, only looked to the ground. Jules knew that was answer enough, and she looked to Tommy with concern. He only shrugged. 

     "Why don't you tell someone, Lina? You know you could get out of there. He would be arrested as soon as anyone finds out what he's done and who he associates himself with," Tommy lectured. 

     "Because I don't want to make it public," she sighed, exasperated. Her trembling hand brushed the hair out of her face before settling in her lap, clutching her robes to let out some of her pent-up energy. "Not all werewolves are bad," she ignored the looks of disbelief coming from her friends, "believe me, I would know. After living with one for sixteen years, I've done lots  of research. Most of them, excluding my father, are completely harmless when they aren't transformed. My dad is just an arse no matter what. And if I report him, they'll find out he's a werewolf, and then they'll just get more bad publicity. The lycanthropy isn't what makes him a bad person, but that's what the press will make it look like." Jules and Tommy nodded, understanding. 

     "Damn, why are you so nice? I'm starting to think you should've been placed into Hufflepuff," Tommy said, effectively ruining the moment. 

      Lina laughed, knowing that the Sorting Hat actually did consider putting her into Hufflepuff; it only picked Slytherin in the end because Lina practically begged it to. While she sometimes wished she would've been in the kindhearted house, she was happy with her sorting because her father was happy with her sorting. A proud Slytherin himself, it seemed that getting sorted into the same house was one of the only things Lina could do right. "Dad would've killed me," she said. 

     "Forget Potter and his friends; your dad's the real git." Tommy's words elicited a loud laugh from the two girls, who despite his joking tone, knew the truth behind Tommy's words. 

     "Now back to what I was saying earlier. Could you see yourself with Lupin? Or what about someone in our house? Regulus?" Lina rolled her eyes at Jules' words and prepared herself for a long train ride. 

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    ok sorry that was like kinda SHIT it's just a filler to establish some important character relationships and traits and such!! also we had a little bit of remus & lina action — i mean, they didn't really talk but like they're aware of each other's existence and THATS AS GOOD AS YOULL GET FOR NOWWWW

jkjk these next few chapters are going to be interesting for sure LMAO buckle up fellas