Hogwarts has always been a wonderful place. Quidditch, the food, teachers, and even classes have always made Ascella feel at home. Well, as at home as she has ever felt. She wishes she could stay in the castle all year, and never has to go home. Going home means facing her dad, and that is NOT something she wants to do.
It hasn't always been this way. When Ascella was little, things were much better. Her mom wasn't drinking. Her dad…well, he has never been around as much as she would like. Instead, she gets to have Cyris. He used to be nice to Ascella. He would take her on walks when her mother was drunk, buy her the candy she never would have gotten otherwise. He would often take her shopping, using what little money he had managed to save to buy her a nice dress for the first day of school, or getting her band merch, seemingly for no reason other than to please her. Looking back on it now, Ascella realized that what her stepfather had done was squander what few dollars they earned on sweet nothings. Nothing he bought her lasted. Nothing she got took the edge off the pain for more than a few hours. Maybe if he had used the money to get her mom help, to get her to the hospital all those times she passed out on the couch. But none of that matters now.
At Hogwarts, everything is better. She can forget that she comes from a broken home. None of her friends knew about her past, and why should she tell them? It would just make things awkward, like it always did. She would tell them, they would offer meaningless apologies for something they had no control over, and from then on they would offer to buy things for her. None of them understands that the offers of gifts don't make her feel any better. If anything, they make things harder on her once she gets home. Her siblings would find whatever sunshine she has, and use it's light so much that eventually it would break, or get lost, or Cyris would take it away. It was easier for Ascella to keep the memories of the past just that, memories.
Usually, none of this bothered Ascella. She was fine with her clothes and books being second-hand, and never having as many presents at Christmastime as the rest of the students. She would hold her head high and think about how lucky she was to have escaped her house, and know that in a few years, she would have a job, and be able to send her siblings nice presents when they get to Hogwarts. She could picture their faces alight with joy when they found the small mountain of presents at the foot of their bunks. She could already feel the warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of your stomach that comes from doing something nice for other people.
Ascella was perfectly happy at Hogwarts. She couldn't imagine something more wonderful existing in the world. At least, not until Scorpius Malfoy arrived.