Shy
As a first year muggle born, Elora Brown didn't know the first thing about spells, potions, or anything of the sort- but she did know how to be invisible. Even at her old school, the kids didn't notice her. It wasn't that they disliked her, she just didn't stand out. Elora was the kind of girl that everyone knew was there, but chose to ignore. So when she was sorted into Hufflepuff, she wasn't surprised. She may have just been introduced into the wizarding world, but she had heard the kids on the trolley.
"Blimey, Tom. If you go to Hufflepuff, I'm not sure whether I'll laugh at you or forget you all together."
"Did you see that girl? By the stupid look on her face, I'd say she is a Hufflepuff."
"If you had to choose, would you rather go to Slytherin or Hufflepuff?"
She was no fool. All of the houses had some virtue that represented their morals. Gryffindors treasured loyalty, Ravenclaw was the house of ingenuity, and even Slytherins revered something other than themselves-ambition. Hufflepuff was the outlier. Politely put, it was "diverse". However, to most it was regarded as "The House of Nobodies". So as she tried to find her next class that had started five minutes earlier, she expected no help.
Yet, there is a funny thing called irony in the world, and that was just what Elora was about to get a taste of. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Elora spun around to find a tall, lanky student walking towards her. As he got closer, she could just make out a green and silver tie. Her eyesight wasn't so good without her glasses, and she had broken those two days ago. As he approached, Elora idly wondered why a Slytherin of all people would even acknowledge her.
Matthew Dyer didn't even know why he was wasting his breath on a Hufflepuff. His parents had taught him not to converse with such people, and he was not about to risk getting a Howler when they found out. His parents had also taught him not to ignore girls when they needed help, however, so he forged ahead.
"You're a first year, aren't you?" he asked flatly. It wasn't so much a question as a statement, and the girl knew it. She blushed, and squinted up at him. It also appeared that she had bad eyesight.
"Um… yeah." she stammered. Wonderful. The girl appeared to be illiterate, also. Well, most Hufflepuffs were, anyway. He took a deep breath and continued pulling information out of her.
"You have charms now, right? The door's right in front of you. I presume you don't need help for that too, right?" Matthew said dryly. The girl's eyes widened, probably wondering how he knew what class she had. "It was on your schedule." With that, Matthew walked away, wondering how on earth anyone could be so air-headed. He guessed it was a Hufflepuff thing.
Somehow, Elora had gotten herself hopelessly lost on her way to lunch. Charms had been embarrassing enough. The boy had walked away so abruptly, as if just being near her was unpleasant. The class itself was not unbearable- quite the contrary, in fact. It really was interesting stuff. No one had even noticed her slip in, so she had not gotten in trouble. She supposed she could always just eat in the hallways, if she could find food. But with her sense of direction, that wasn't very likely. Suddenly, she noticed the tall blonde boy staring down at her again. Elora jumped. If people could always sneak up on her like that, her future was looking pretty dim. Exasperated, the boy sighed and gestured to her to follow him.
"How is it that a person can get themselves lost for every class of the day?" he asked, looking slightly amused. Elora turned beet red.
"How is it that you know that I've gotten myself lost for every class of the day? That's not very normal, is it?" she said testily. She had surprised herself, and apparently the boy too. It was not often that she got even remotely annoyed, so this day had been quite unusual. After a few seconds, the boy's mouth twitched, and he held out his hand.
"The name's Matt. You are?" he said. It was quite clear that he looked down on her, and Elora hated that almost as much as she despised being ignored.
"Elora. Elora Brown," she said, shaking Matt's hand, "I didn't even know that this place existed a couple of weeks ago." For some reason, the boy winced.
Matt cringed. The girl was a muggle born, then. He should have realized earlier, but it was too late. If his friends saw this, they would tell his parents for sure. He had to end this conversation quickly. Judging by the girl's confidence levels, she would be hurt if he walked away, but since when did he care about mudbloods anyway?
"I'm a third year. Bye." Matt said, quickly striding to the Slytherin table. If he had turned around, he would have seen Elora staring at his back, trying to figure out why he had even talked to her in the first place.
Now in a normal story, this would have been the ending. The snake and badger would have parted ways, and never seen each other again. Matt would have grown up, married a beautiful pureblood girl, and enjoy a rather successful life. The invisible girl would stay invisible, eventually marrying a man who had no real importance in her life. They would have grown up separately, and not even remember one another's name.
But remember what I said about irony? It is a funny thing, and uses people as its playground. By this time you have probably realized what direction this story is going in, and you are right. However, be warned: Elora and Matt will never get a truly happy ending. Elora will die very, very young, and I will leave it to you, dear reader, to guess how and when.