-

     ADELINA SHIVERED AS SHE SAT in the Slytherin common room. She was always cold and having a common room that was not only underground, but also surrounded by the Black lake, surely didn't help her abnormally low body temperature. Her foot began to tap restlessly on the ground. 

    "Can you stop?" A random boy — probably a second year, Lina presumed, although he looked about eight — called out to Lina. "Some of us are actually trying to concentrate here." Lina felt awful. She stopped tapping her foot and instead began to drum her fingers against her thumb.

     Julianna noticed her friend's distress. "Then go to the library, dickhead. This is a common room, we're allowed to be as noisy as we want," she said, sticking up for Lina. 

     Adelina smiled at Jules in return, thankful for her loyalty and lack of fear to speak out. "Thanks," she said, "I don't know why, but I'm just really restless today. Like, worse than usual." 

     Lina was used to it. The only time she was ever truly at rest was when she was asleep. At all other times, she was always moving. Whether it was picking at her hands, bouncing her leg, or messing with any nearby object, she was never completely still. She was constantly told by her teachers and parents to sit still, but it was nearly impossible. Her whole body would buzz with eagerness to move, and it would feel physically uncomfortable.

     It often got her in trouble. She just had so much pent-up energy all of the time — she needed to get it out somehow. 

     "Have you seen Madam Pomfrey about it?" Jules asked. 

     Lina shook her head. She had seen Healers for the issue in the past, but they had never found any real problem. All of them had just written it up as energy that comes with being a kid, but Lina, nearly 17 and full-grown, knew that couldn't be the truth. "There's nothing they can do," she said.

     Julianna frowned. "What good is magic if we can't use it to solve actual  problems?" She asked, flopping back onto the plush, green sofa. 

     Lina said nothing but silently agreed. She always thought it was kind of odd. Wizards and witches could transform into literal animals, but somehow they couldn't find a way to cure diseases? Weird. 

     The curly-haired girl sighed before pushing herself off of the ugly couch. "We should probably get to Potions," she said, gathering her books and quills.

     A large groan came from Lina. "I already know I'm not going to be able to focus on a single thing Slughorn says. What's the point of even going?" She asked.

     "At least you made the effort to show up?" Jules offered, shrugging, "if you go, at least you tried. Slughorn will appreciate that."

     Lina grumbled to herself, gathering her school materials and straightening her tie. "I guess. Let's go."

-

     Slughorn's classroom was also freezing, but Lina really wasn't surprised either. What was Hogwarts' deal with underground classrooms? 

     "Welcome back, students!" He announced, walking to the front of the room. "Lovely to see you again! Good morning, Miss Evans," he greeted the red-head. 

     "I know you are probably eager to pair up with your friends, but I think it would be beneficial to meet new people," Lina's throat went dry at her Professor's words, "so everyone will be paired up with someone from the other house!" Almost the whole room rang out in a groan. Lina wasn't too fond of the idea, either, but for different reasons. 

     She didn't mind Gryffindors, honestly — she aligned with their beliefs more than she aligned with the pureblood supremacist ideals that most of the people in her house had — her discomfort came from the notion of being separated from Jules and thrust into a partnership that she wasn't familiar with. 

     Jules flashed Lina a look of sympathy as she noticed her hands begin to fidget with her tie again. 

     Lina stopped focusing after Slughorn droned out lists of partners, only focusing in when she heard that Tommy was paired with Lily. She stifled a laugh as she watched him fist pump the air: he had just been paired with not only the smartest in the class but also the Professor's favorite. 

    "Mister Lupin, you'll be with Miss Baker,"  Slughorn announced, and Jules looked up to smile at Remus. The tall boy smiled back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He looked awful. The skin underneath his eyes was tinted a deep purple color and his face was abnormally pale. The two found their desks and Lina was happy that Jules had actually gotten a good partner. 

     "Miss Romano," Slughorn began, and Lina's palms began to sweat as she felt everyone's eyes on her, "you'll be with Mister Black," she turned her head to meet Sirius' eyes. He looked pleasantly surprised, probably assuming that due to the girl's quiet nature, she was naturally smart and would therefore be easy to copy off of. 

     He would be sorely disappointed. 

     Lina, however, was less than enthused to be partnered with Black. While she kept to herself for the most part, it didn't mean she was oblivious to the drama that occurred throughout the castle. She was very aware of the events that had taken place after O.W.L.S. the previous year, and while she wasn't particularly fond of Severus Snape, Potter and Black's actions had been just plain cruel. She knew that their pranks ( and borderline bullying, if you ask Lina ) were usually targeted towards Slytherins, so she didn't know what to expect. 

     She walked over to the desks that they were assigned to sit at and took out her Potions book, some parchment, and a quill, messily setting them atop her desk. Sirius did the same.

     "Just apologizing in advance," she began when she finally gained the courage to speak, "I'm not very good at school."

     "School in general? Or, just like, Potions?" Sirius said with an amused smile, obviously taken aback by her confession. 

     "School in general," she said, ashamed to admit it. She didn't want him to think she was dumb. "It's just hard for me to focus most of the time."

     "So what I'm hearing is, I can't copy off of you?" He said with a fake pout. 

     Lina knew he was joking, and immediately felt a little more at ease.  She was glad that he didn't think she was dumb (or at least if he did, he didn't say it), and glad that he wasn't being hostile to her because of her house.

     "Well, I'm not sure I'll even be paying attention enough to write down anything," she said honestly, "but if by some miracle I do, then you can copy." 

     Sirius threw both of his hands in the air in mock excitement, and Lina fought back a smile. 

     "I'm Adelina, by the way," she introduced herself, knowing that there was no way someone as popular as Sirius was aware of her existence prior to this moment. 

     "Sirius."

     After a few minutes of introductions between partners, Slughorn stood up in front of the class. "Now, on with the lesson! Parchment and quills out, please! Follow along and take notes; we'll be making this potion next class."

-

     By the end of the lesson, the only thing Lina had accomplished was tearing a piece of parchment into thousands of little shreds. She had to keep her hands busy, and her mind couldn't focus on Slughorn's monotonous voice long enough to actually  take notes. 

     Jules and Remus both walked up to Lina's desk, each there to retrieve their friend. Lina was busy shoving her books into her horribly messy bag. 

     "Lina, did a piece of parchment throw up on your desk?" Jules asked, eyeing the pile of paper shreds. 

     "Those are my notes," Lina said sheepishly, "or at least, what was supposed to be my notes. I couldn't really focus enough to take any."

     Jules looked to Sirius for an explanation, whose desk was also empty. "I just didn't feel like taking any," he shrugged. 

     Remus began to shuffle around in his bag, searching for something. "Here," he said, thrusting his notes out to Lina, "you can copy mine. Julianna's would be impossible to read." 

     Lina smiled at the tall boy's kindness and grabbed the notes. "Thanks," she said, "I'll give them back later today. I'll copy them at lunch." 

     "Unbelievable, Moony. You don't even share your notes with your own best friend," Sirius joked, playfully pushing Remus' shoulder. Even though it was light, Remus winced as if it caused him actual pain.

     Sirius stood up, grabbing his bag, and the four began to walk out of the Potions classroom. "I know you guys are like, Slytherins—" he made an "oomph" noise as Remus' elbow came in contact with his abdomen for the comment. "But we're having a start-of-the-year party in our common room tonight, and you're welcome to come. Don't invite anyone else from your house, though. No offense, but most of them kinda suck," Jules laughed at the last sentence.

     "Thanks for the invite, Black," Julianna said, "we'll be there." Lina's heart began to beat faster at the idea of attending a party: a Gryffindor  party at that. They were always crazy. 

     Adelina wasn't opposed to partying — in fact, the alcohol often loosened her up enough to have a good time — but she preferred hanging out with just her friends. 

     As the girls prepared to take a left to head to their common room, Sirius called out, "Pass the invite along to Moreau, too!"

-

     Later that night, Lina stood in front of the full-length mirror that stood ominously in the corner of the dorm she shared with Jules. 

     The mirror itself was beautiful—she admired the crisp, red color of the wooden frame, the gold details on the inside edge of the glass, and the clear glass itself—her only complaint was the figure behind the glass. 

     She smoothed down the fabric of her shirt as she swallowed harshly, pushing down the lump that threatened to form in her throat. She desperately tried to ignore how her ribs poked through and were visible even through the thick cotton. She tried to ignore her stick-thin legs and knobby knees that just looked plain unnatural.

     "Almost ready?" Jules asked, putting mascara on in her small mirror. 

     Lina took a deep breath, looking herself over in her own mirror once more. Her hair was slightly wavy, but less frizzy than usual, and she actually didn't hate the way it looked for once. 

     "Yeah," she replied, "let's go get Tommy." The girls left the dormitory that they shared, making their way to the boys' dorm. While there were many sixth-year boys in her house, she and Jules were surprisingly the only sixth-year girls. 

     "Looking beautiful, girls," Tommy greeted them with a cheeky smile. He stood in between the two, linking his arms with theirs, and the trio began to walk towards the Gryffindor common room. 

     "Looking handsome, Tommy," Lina complimented. He really did — his tight, grey tee shirt showed off his impressive build and his curly hair was charming in a messy way.

     "Oh how you flatter me, love," he replied, smiling. 

     When they arrived at the door to the common room, Lina could already hear the noise coming from the inside. She would be extremely surprised if this party didn't get busted. But then again, the Gryffindors were throwing it, and she was well-aware of Dumbledore's favoritism to the house. 

     "Hello, ladies," Sirius black greeted the two girls, "and Moreau," he nodded at Thomas. He opened the door for the three of them to walk in, and Lina was immediately met with the trademark signs of a Gryffindor party. 

     Number one — alcohol. There was a punch bowl to the side that was definitely spiked, a couple bottles of firewhiskey next to a stack of cups, a box full of butterbeers, and she even spotted some students carrying around their own personal flasks. 

     Number two — noise. It was so loud in there that Lina visibly winced as she walked in. Not only was the music deafening, but the excessive volume of the tacky song caused everyone to have to practically scream in order to be heard.

     And number three — people. Although they were the only Slytherins, it seemed that every other house had shown up. It looked to be only sixth and seventh years, from what Lina could tell, but damn, it was packed. 

     Tommy unlinked his arms from the two girls', and excused himself, telling them he was going to go find some of the Hufflepuff quidditch team to pester. Lina rolled her eyes.

     "Is he even capable of holding a normal conversation with someone?" She asked Jules as the two made their way over to the drinks table. 

     "I'm not sure," Lina laughed. Jules waved her wand and two shot glasses floated over towards the two girls. After they were topped off with firewhiskey, they clinked the glasses together and downed the amber liquid. Lina winced as it burned her throat, but smiled at the warm feeling it left in her stomach.

     "Remember the party rules? Or are you going to get so shitfaced that I have to write them on your hand again?" Lina asked the curly-haired girl as she downed another shot. 

     Jules scoffed, yet the smile on her face remained. "I'm not planning on getting shitfaced," she told her, setting the glass back down on the table, "not after last time." She cringed at the memory. 

     "You didn't answer my question," Lina teased, the alcohol running through her veins causing her to loosen up a bit. 

     "Always stay with someone, don't take drinks from strangers—no matter how pretty they are—, tell the other if you're leaving and where you're going," Jules listed off, counting them on her fingers.

     "Good," Lina nodded, looking around to see if she could spot Tommy, but the boy was nowhere in sight. "How come Tommy hasn't had a girlfriend since me?" She wondered aloud, glancing at Jules briefly.

     "I reckon he's still caught up on you," she commented nonchalantly. Lina wanted to laugh at the thought. Even when they were together, she was incredibly aware of just how out of her league Thomas Moreau was—there was no way  that he still had feelings for her. 

     "I doubt it," Lina replied, gazing into the distance at all of the pretty girls dancing, "he could literally get any girl he wanted," she pursed her lips as her chest began to ache with self-disdain.

     Jules groaned as she reached for the firewhiskey again, fully prepared to pour herself another shot. Lina grabbed her hand before any of the liquid could leave the bottle.

     "I thought you weren't getting shitfaced," she said, bringing up Jules' past words.

     "I'm going to have  to be shitfaced if you're going to talk bad about yourself all night, Lina," Jules said, putting the bottle down and turning to her friend. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're gorgeous and have nothing to be insecure about before you believe it?" 

     Lina just looked at the ground, feeling bad for saying anything in the first place. She couldn't help it, though: no matter how many times her friends complimented her, she never saw herself as they saw her. She hated the person she saw in the mirror. 

     "I'm sorry," Lina muttered, embarrassed. "Just please don't get shitfaced. I don't think I can handle another night of you drunk-crying over how much you miss Maggie. Why do you have to be a sad drunk?" She joked, trying to lighten up the mood. 

     "Oh, piss off," Jules laughed at the memory. "I won't get shitfaced, I promise."

     "That's a bummer, Baker," Sirius Black said, walking up to the two girls with James and Remus in tow. "Was hoping you'd embarrass yourself and give me some blackmail material," the boy joked. His eyes suddenly flickered over to Adelina, who had absentmindedly began to pick at the plastic cup she was holding. "Well if it isn't my favorite potions partner!" He greeted, moving to stand next to her. She could smell the alcohol on him already. 

     "Hi, Sirius," she laughed lightly at the boy's intoxicated state. 

     "Prongs, Moony," he addressed his friends with nicknames that only confused the two girls, "this is Julianna," he gestured to Jules, "and Adelina."

     "You can call me Lina," she said with a nervous smile.

     "I'm James," he said, extending a hand towards each of the girls with a smirk. "Pleasure meeting you, and it'll be a pleasure beating you for house cup," he concluded cockily. Jules rolled her eyes at his arrogance. 

     "I'm Remus," the tall boy said, mostly directed towards Adelina since the two hadn't properly met yet. Lina noted that he still looked awful: his eye bags had darkened and he looked even paler than he had in Potions earlier. His red sweater seemed to hang off of his pallid frame and his scarred hands nervously fumbled with each other. "Sorry about them," he apologized, which caused both James and Sirius to simultaneously roll their eyes. 

     "What, are you embarrassed of us, Moony?" James asked, ruffling Remus' already-messy hair and slinging an arm over his shoulder. "Let's get you a drink." The two walked over to the drinks table, leaving the girls alone with Sirius.

     "Did Moreau come?" Sirius asked. Lina furrowed her eyebrows at his question. Of course, she had thought it was odd when he had asked Tommy to come in the first place, but she had written it off to the fact that the three were such close friends that he couldn't not  invite one of them. 

     Then again, it was weird that the two were invited to begin with. They weren't friends with Black and his friends — merely just Potions partners. 

     Jules nodded at his question, taking a sip from her cup that Lina hoped wasn't filled with alcohol. She could feel it buzzing through her own system already after just one shot, and although Jules wasn't as much of a lightweight as herself, it didn't take much for the girl to be plastered. "I know he came, but I'm not sure where he is," she said, "he left to go start some quidditch-related arguments, and we haven't seen him since."

     Sirius turned his head and began to look around as Lina turned to Jules with a questioning look on her face. "I'm gonna go try to find him," he said, stumbling further into the crowd. They were both thinking the same thing: why? 

     Their inquiries were interrupted by a shout coming from behind him. The girls turned around once more to find Peter Pettigrew cheering Remus on as the taller boy chugged a glass of firewhiskey. He set the glass down onto a nearby table when he finished, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he winced at the awful taste. James just watched in awe, obviously not used to seeing his quite shy friend acting so reckless. 

     "Didn't know my potions partner was such a party animal," Jules joked, and the boy's face burned a deep scarlet at the comment.

     "He's usually not," said Peter, "that's James and Sirius. Looks like Moony's trying to out-drink them, though," he observed as Remus fumbled with the firewhiskey cap. 

     Lina watched as James clapped a hand onto Remus' shoulder. "Give him a break, Peter. He's had a rough day." Lina could surely see the truth in James' words: for the third time that day, she took in his awful state. Was he ill?

     Yet again, her train of thought was interrupted as a strong arm slithered around her waist and a deep voice said far too loudly for her liking, "hello, love." She rolled her eyes at Tommy's comment but made no moves to leave his arms. He was always flirty with her — especially when he was intoxicated — but there were no feelings. 

     Tommy had always been an affectionate person before, after, and during their relationship. Lina was used to it; they were such close friends that it wasn't weird to either of them. 

     "Where have you been?" Lina asked him, frowning as the boy grabbed her cup and took a couple sips out of it. She snatched it back only to find that it was now empty. 

     "Wishing Ravenclaw's captain good luck for the next game," he winked in James' direction, fully aware that the next game was in fact against Gryffindor. James scowled.

     Lina, not wanting Tommy to ruin any chances of friendship, slapped his chest lightly. "Play nice," she warned, only half-joking.

     "Only for you, love," he joked. Lina rolled her eyes. Suddenly aware of the fact that the Gryffindor boys around them were probably assuming that the two were together, she unwrapped his arm from around her waist and handed him her cup. 

     After he had left to get her a refill, Peter's eyes flickered between the two. "So..." he trailed off, "you and Moreau?"

     Lina groaned. This was going to be a long night. 

-

okay abrupt and cringey ending but i NEEDED to end it here otherwise it was going to be like 288239403294 words long.

sorry for the dialogue-heavy chapter — it's nearly impossible to establish the direction in which this book is heading without lots and lots of conversation, so for the first couple chapters, that's how its going to be!!

anywaysssss next chapter is going to be a roller coaster so uh get ready for that

hope everyone is well :) stay healthy loves!!