I rush onto a platform between nine and ten. My pet snake, name Piper, pokes his little head from under my sleeve. "We're never going to make it." I ignore him, as I pass through the barriers, just to see a train leaving the station. "Told you, what are you going to do now?"
"Not exactly sure, I do have an idea, but I doubt it's a good one." I reply to him, as I watch the train getting further and further away. Piper gives me a look of concern and full of doubt.
"Please be careful, then." He says, as he slithers back in my sleeve. I take a breath and run towards at the end of the platform. As I leap from the edge, the color of midnight wings spring from my back. They flap once, and I soar to the skies. "Remember, steady with the wind. Be careful not to unbalance your wings when you get higher in altitude."
"I know how to fly, Piper." I smile down at him, as I fly past the train, and onto the way to Hogwarts. By the time I reach Hogwarts, the train is already park at the new station next to Hogwarts, and kids are piling out onto the platform. The night is full of misty clouds that lurk near the grounds. I fly toward the trees, trying so little to be noticed. My wings fold in and shrink into my back. As I climb down to the ground, I look around before hiding myself with a crowd of little kids dressed in black robes. The crowd travels to a black lake, where boats lie together in a row. In groups of four or five, the kids pack in the small boats. And like magic, the boats start to move itself through the lake. In the distance, on a large hill, lies a giant castle.
Once the boats dock at the other side of the black lake, all of the kids file into the castle, stopping at an old woman in green robes. "Everybody, I'll be your escort into the main hall. There, you'll be sorted into one of the four houses." She said, with a curt nod. Behind her, large oak doors open, and on the inside, thousands of other and older kids sit on long tables. At the far end of the room, another long table sit horizontal, where teachers sit and watch us walking in.
I feel a sudden stare of aw, as I walk along with the kids in the large room. The other kids begin to whisper, mostly about me.
"Hey, look at that one kid! Isn't he a bit taller to be a first year?" one says with curly brown hair, and brown eyes.
"I don't know about you, but I think he's pretty cute." Another says with dirty blond hair, and hazel eyes.
I ignore most of them; apparently, I do not care in the world about rumors, and the little gossipers that love to chatter. And also, that I am a girl, indeed. Piper moves uncomfortable from under my sleeve, I caress my arm, to let him know that everything is fine at the moment.
The lady in green robes stop and turns around. "First years, gather around here, please. When I call your names, you'll be sorted into your houses." She says, as she brings out a large scroll consisting of names. The list seems to last forever. One by one, each kid has been sorted and seated among the four long tables in the room. And at last, the old woman announces my name. For being the last kid to be called, it seems a bit nerve-wrecking to have so much attention in one moment. I walk up to the platform, and sit onto a three legged stool. There, the old woman places a rusty and old hat on top of me. At the time the hat touches my head, it suddenly comes to life.
"My, my, what do we have here?" the hat whispers in my ears. "It seems like you are not an ordinary witch or wizard. But I can tell something from you for sure, that there is a reason why you have come to Hogwarts. Grim Reaper." He purrs out those two words, my eyes widening at the sound of that name. "Don't be alarm," it chuckles, "only the headmaster and I know your secret, dear child. Now, onto sorting you into the right house!" I sigh a bit, as the hat uses some kind of magic to dig through my mind. Carefully putting aside non-important memories, and really examining the real events in my life. Deeper and further it searches, I begin to panic. Wait! You're in too deep! I want to scream that aloud, but it's too late. The hat stops abruptly, as my entire previous memories flood into the poor thing. I push him away from the darkest area of my mind, as he screams out loud. The whole room begins to whisper again, and the chatter seems too much for me.
The hat seems to calm down a bit, but I can feel it shaking non-stop. "Slyth, Slytherin!" it screeches out, and I turn to face a table where older kids are clapping. Though, they look like they are unsure if they should be glad or not. I take off the hat, and give it to the woman, as I make my way towards the cheering table. I don't feel welcome at all, though, what should I expect for being a Grim Reaper?
The hall shushes down to a minimum whisper, as an old man stands up and walks to the podium, before smiling to the crowd and opening his mouth to speak. I shut him off by paying attention to the reflection on my silver plate. Seeing how my deep red eyes glaring innocently like a rose in full bloom back at me. I can see my pale skin glowing with the moonlight that is affecting from the enchanted ceiling. A curtain of black hair covers part of my face.
Someone near me nudges me in the arm. I force myself to look away at my hideous face, to look eye to eye with someone else with light grey eyes and pale skin. It is a boy with blond hair, as he smirks down at me. "Interesting little show you did there."
I shake my head, "That hat shouldn't poke his mind into other people's businesses."
"It's his way to sort us. But, never mind the hat. My name is Draco, Draco Malfoy." he says, with his hand outreach towards me. I take it and shake it once, before taking my hand back. He watches me, as I look at him. "Aren't you going to tell me your name?"
"Oh, well, weren't you listening to the old woman in green robes?" Draco narrows his eyes, and I get the feeling he wasn't paying attention to her much. "I see, my name is Rose, Rose Angerona." At the sound of my name, the colors in his face start to drain. His irises begin to shake, and he forces to speak.
"Y-you're Rose Angerona?" he declares, as he edges away from me. I simply nod at him, and he swallows hard. "Um, the headmaster would like to see you after dinner." Our conversation ends shortly after the headmaster said 'Let the feast begin!' a variety of food blooms across the tables, meat, fruit, and vegetables line with each student. I simply shake my head and sneer at the human food, as Piper pokes his head out to stare at the roasting meat. I take pieces of the meat and secretly hand them to him, where he happily gobbles them quickly.
After dinner, Draco says to follow him to the headmaster's office, as the rest of the students retire for the evening in their dormitories. Walking with the boy seems a bit awkward, considering he does fear me in a way anyone else would. He leads me to a golem, where Draco mutters a word to it. The golem quickly jumps out of the way, revealing a staircase spiraling up. We finally reach the top of the staircase, where a door is cracked open slightly. Draco pushes the door inwards to see an old man whose beard touches the ground, and has half moon spectacles. And a tall dark gloomy figure, who stands in the corner of the office.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, thank you for escorting Ms. Angerona to my office." The old man smiles and beckons for both of us to sit in front of his desk. We do, and as we sit, the old man faces me first. "It is a very dark matter that you have come here this evening, Ms. Angerona. This letter," he pulls out a letter where the paper is ready to tear if you pull on it, "has described on your nature and what you are. I believe that most people would not think serious of you if they knew the real you." Draco and the dark figure watch us carefully, as the old man continues. "What is your job exactly?"
I take a moment to think, "To purify the souls once more, if the souls are to be poisoned, it is my duty to cleanse them with a simple cut. I will collect all of the souls that are living in this castle. I must collect the Luneon before it is too late."
"Sorry to interrupt, but what is a Luneon?" the old man questions me, as Draco and the dark figure watch in the background.
"A Luneon is a special type of crystal that rests inside the human soul. That crystal cannot be seen or felt to the one who has it living inside them. I, and along with my pet snake, can sense and know where the Luneon is hiding. Anyway, if the Luneon remains too long within the soul, creatures from the afterlife would come to the land of the living and take the soul, along with the body. The creatures of the afterlife would surely risk anything to get the Luneon."
The old man just nods. "I will grant permission for you to do your job, but you must've gone too far. We don't want to have rumors about this."
I don't think that will happen. I narrow my eyes slightly before he continues.
"It also states that you are a vampire, you are not?" I nod to him, showing him my fangs with the tip of my fingers. "I see, well then, I would strongly urge you to use this than going around eating every student you see."
"I don't have that kind of behavior!" I exclaim. Everyone looks at me, as the old man takes a bottle from under his desk, and displays it onto his desk. He pops the lid off the bottle with a wand. The smell of rotting blood from the bottle travels its way up to my nose. I clench my mouth shut, to restrain myself from grabbing the bottle and drinking it all. "Thank you for the offer, but I doubt I would need it from that source." The old man's eyes stare at me with concern. "By the way," I point to the two other people in the room with my thumb, "what do those two have to do with this situation?"
The old man simply smiles at me, "One of them is your head of house, Professor Snape. The other one, which is Draco Malfoy, he is needed for your source of food."
I blink at him, "You can't be serious!" I exclaim louder than before. Piper hisses at me to stay calm.
"But, I am."
"I can't just feed on him for the time I am here. It's like for you humans, to eat one food only for the rest of your life without changing your diet." I feel it, the strength of a monster ready to burst out. My eyes glow ruby red, as I bare my fangs. Everyone in the room is starting to get afraid, besides the old man.
"Are you saying that Draco isn't enough?"
I gasp and hide my face away from them. "Rose…" Piper hisses at me, trying to sooth my anger out. There is sudden silence for a few moments before the old man points at my sleeve.
"May I ask, is that your pet snake?" he asks, just as my sleeve decides to move on its own. I slowly nod, as I roll my sleeve up, revealing Piper resting his head onto my wrist. "In your letter, there was nothing about a snake."
I lower my head to pet Piper under his chin. "This is Piper, he is a special kind of snake." I said quietly, and just as I said this, Piper decides to change colors and change form. Draco and the dark figure crane their necks to look closer at Piper. Piper's skin changes to colors of black and yellow, lining together in a pattern of stripes that is going horizontal. He slithers from under my sleeve and onto the desk, where he curls himself in an upside cone.
"Ah, krait snake, clever. May I also ask, is he an enchanted snake?" the old man asks with a smile, as he watches closely at Piper, where Piper just flicks out his tongue in amusement.
"Not really, Piper is indeed a magical creature, but he is allowed to take form of any kind of snake. My father gave him to me." I say that last line like I regret it. My father, not the best kind of fathers, but he gave Piper to me as a gift.
"One last thing, Miss Angerona, Draco Malfoy will also be held responsible for being your boyfriend." The old man explains, as he watches my reactions.
I stand up in shock. A boyfriend? "Why would I need one?" I shout back at him. He just raises his hand to calm my screaming.
"Miss Angerona, both Professor Snape and I, agreed that it is essential for Draco to be your boyfriend. You may not like the idea now, but he will be there when you need to eat. Professor Snape also chose Draco because he knows that Mr. Malfoy would be good for the job." I look over at the dark figure, known as Professor Snape, and give him an angry glare. Only where Professor Snape just stares back at me with a blank expression. To be loved, once again. My chest begins to ache in pain, and I squeeze my fists together as I open my mouth in response of this foolish idea.
"Not to be a bother, headmaster, but it is getting late, and Miss Angerona and Mr. Malfoy need their sleep." Professor Snape glooms over to the desk, as he stares down upon Draco and me.
"Oh yes, Severus, thank you for reminding me of the time. Well you two, goodnight." The old man known as the headmaster, smiles at us with a twinkle in his eyes. I look over at Draco, who nods, and we begin to take our leave. I reach my arm out for Piper, as he transform back into a much smaller snake, only leaving his remaining colors on his body.
Once outside the office, Draco and I exchange looks of exhaustion. "Well, that was fun." I breathe, as I start to follow Draco down the stairs. He doesn't seem very amuse about my sarcastic remark. Draco just walks in silence down the halls in front of me. I look down at Piper, who slithers from under my sleeve and rests around my shoulders. He observes Draco up ahead, while I jog up to him. We both walk in silence, knowing that he is in deep thought. Finally, Draco stops in front of a stone wall down in the dungeons. He mutters a word, and the wall opens up for us to see a short tunnel that leads into a room full of Slytherin colors. I follow him in, as the wall closes up once more.
"This is the Slytherin's common room, up stairs is where the boys and girls dormitory lies." Draco says with a final sigh, and leaves without another word. I watch him as he climbs the stairs and exit the room on the right.
Then, Piper whispers into my ears, "It is best if you get your rest now, Rose. Tomorrow, I will begin my search for the Luneon." I nod slightly, while I walk up the stairs and went inside the opposite door where Draco exits. Inside the room is dark, and four beds line out like a windmill. In the center of the room, sits a heater, where there are socks and clothes drying on the railings. The three beds are full of three different Slytherin girls, while there is one vacant bed left. I walk over to it and sit down.
"Goodnight, Piper." I whisper to him, as we both crawl under the covers. He hisses a goodnight in response before I close my eyes.