NIKITA PLAYED WITH HER NEW glasses, twirling them between her thin fingers as she sat patiently at Minnerva Mcgonagall's desk.

It had been a week since she had last seen Tom. Dumbledore sent a letter to ahead to explain that she'd need to attend school earlier then planned so she could attempt to catch up. It was a nice sentiment. But Nik was hopeless.

She was distracted by anything she saw, constantly curious by the world around her. Mcgonagall had warned her that come September first, they wouldn't be able to help her much more.

She ran her fingers over the Gryffindor crest, feeling the fabric change beneath her fingers. Nik had surprised the teachers when she got sorted, apparently they had been expecting Hufflepuff, or even Slytherin. But Nikita had smiled, remembering Sirius' adoration for the house.

Her legs swung back and forth, the clock above her head ticking loudly. Footsteps suddenly echoed behind her and Mcgonagall appeared in the room. She looked at Nik in surprise.

"You're early, Ms Vane."

"You told me not to be late. If I can't be late then the only thing I can be is early," Nik pointed out.

"False. You could be on time instead." Mcgonagall corrected, sitting down and re-arranging her desk. "Did you eat breakfast?"

"What's that?"

"Food you have in the morning."

"Oh. Why?"

"To help you." The witch sighed, before reaching into her bag and pulling out a small plastic box. "Here, eat this before the other's come."

Nik carefully slid the lid off. Inside was a small plate with an omelette inside, with small packets of ketchup and salt beside it. She picked up the fork and cornered a small piece off, grimacing when she tasted the unfamiliar flavours and chewy consistency.

"Eat up," Mcgonagall instructed.

"Yes Ms Minnerva,"

"Professor Mcgonagall."

"Who?"

The woman sighed in defeat, watching Nikita innocently chew her omelette with her head tilted in confusion.

"Nothing, nothing."

***

Nik barely had time to step back when she found a hand suddenly in her face.

A girl with buck teeth, frizzy hair and brown eye's stood in front of her. Her nose was stuck up in the air ever so slightly and her school uniform was so neatly buttoned up it would've made Nik feel subconscious, had she not nearly been whacked in the face.

"I'm Hermione Granger," She said in a well rehearsed voice. "What's your name?"

Nik slowly pushed Hermione's hand down, afraid it would shoot back up. "My name's Nik."

"What's your last name?"

"Vane..?" She replied, unsure.

"It's nice to meet you. Are you a muggle born like me?"

"A what born?"

"Muggle born. You sound like you are."

"I'm... prison born." Nik said slowly, wondering if that was correct. Of course it is. What else could the girl mean?

"Prison born?" Hermione echoed. "Are you ill? Like, menatally?"

Nik blinked. "I don't know what that word means. I don't even know what a muggle is," She confessed quietly.

"Oh my. Well that needs to be fixed. Have you got any friends?"

"The- the two boy's that look the same, they told me I was their best friend," She shrugged, "But I don't have any 'friends'."

"Hmm. Come on, I'll show you some of my books," Hermione said, grabbing her hand and leading her over to a desk on the other side of the girls dorm. It was night, and both girls were wearing pajamas.

Hermione crawled on her bed and pulled out three large text books. "Here, these should help. You can read, can't you?"

"Some words," Nik muttered, squinting through her glasses at the small font.

"It's okay, I can teach you," Hermione assured her. "Have you done any homework yet?"

"I didn't get any. What's a 'Vine?'"

"It's a green plant that grows on walls, sometime's with flowers. So, the professor's know you can't read?"

Nik nodded. "And they got me these," She poked her glasses. "What's this say?"

"Tomato. Are you an orphan?"

"I think so, that's what Sirius said. What about that one?"

"Flour. Who's Sirius?"

"He... He's my... he..." Nik frowned, struggling to think of the correct word in her already limited vocabulary. "He's been there since I was born, and he protected me from the darkness. But he- he's far away now."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said automatically. "Was he your father?"

"No. But I wish he was, it'd make more sense," Nik muttered.

"Why don't you write him a letter?" Hermione suggested, "Like a farewell, and send it to his resting place."

"Will you help me?" Nik asked hopefully, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Sure. After I do my homework of course, I don't want to get behind on homework on my first day." Hermione handed her a book, "Here, take this to your friends and they'll help you while I do this."

"Okay,"

Nik crawled off the bed, walking out of their dorm only to stop at the foot of the stairs. A small rat was at the bottom, staring up at her. She blinked at it and it blinked back.

It's paw barely touched the step when the whole stair case turned into a slide, sending her down. Her hands instinctively covered her face, bracing for impact.

She was surprised when instead her feat touched the carpet, and the stair case behind her returned to it's previous state.

"Speak of the devil!" Fred said, helping her up.

"The what?" Nik asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"The devil," George piped up from the other side of her. "A beautiful-"

"Charming-"

"Crush worthy-"

"Oh shut up!" Ron snapped, his face red in embarrassment.

Beside him sat a boy with messy black hair that reminded Nikita of Sirius, with his pale skin and bony figure. The twins stuck their tongues out at their brother, before grinning.

"I still don't know who the devil is," Nik whispered to George.

He patted her head, "Don't worry about it, Hazel."

***

"Scared, girly?"

"Is the little half breed scared!?"

"There goes the ickle one. Bye bye."

"Look at the little gnome!"

"Just die in your sleep, stop hogging the floor!"

"Screaming yet?"

Nikita woke with a gasp, her bed sheets on the floor. Tears were running down her cheeks and her hair had been torn out.

Tom wasn't there this time. It was just the darkness. The darkness thatnever left.

***

A/N

Don't mind me, just re-writing.
Wednesday the eighth of July, 2020.

Q: Pizza or Lasagna?

Lasagna boi.