Emma Swan was a witch. Somehow, even after months of knowing it, even after three days of living in a gigantic magical castle taking actual magical classes, she still didn't quite believe it. Part of her was convinced she was just having a really long and weird dream, that she would wake up any moment and find herself in the crowded cramped room she shared with a dozen other kids in the group home. It was all just too good to be true, and Emma had given up good things, on fairy tales like this, a long time ago.

But still, she went to the classes, still spent hours flicking and swishing her wand trying to get magic out of it, because even if this was all just some dream, she wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

That included exploring as much of the strange, giant castle as she could. According to rumor, it was full of secrets and hiding places that were yet to be discovered. The thought immediately captured her attention, and she was determined to find a little hidey hole of her own within the castle that no one else knew of. A place she could call her own.

So, taking advantage of the break they had after breakfast, Emma had picked a direction at random and started to walk. Her process of "exploring" the castle, involved getting lost mostly, but she didn't mind too much. Sooner or later, she'd end up somewhere she knew. The castle might've been big, but it wasn't exactly the inner city streets of downtown London.

Just as she'd turned into yet another unfamiliar corridor, she heard the sound of someone crying. Having grown up an orphan in Muggle foster care, that was a sound she was well used to hearing. It seemed out of place here though, in this magnificent castle of magic that was like something straight out of a storybook.

Curiosity spurred Emma on, and she followed the noise to its source, right up to a small, half-hidden nook by the corner where she could see a small figure peeking out. A fellow first year, then. Pausing in her steps, she wondered what to do next.

Steeling her nerves, the newly minted Hufflepuff approached, softly calling out, "Are you okay?"

As soon as she spoke, a dark-haired head whipped up to look at her, revealing that the mystery crier was, in fact, her dormmate, Regina Mills, who'd been quite the topic of conversation in the castle gossip. The Mills were one of the oldest and richest magical families in the country, and she was the first in centuries not to be Sorted into Slytherin, and the very first Hufflepuff ever. To add to the disbelief, her mother was the infamous "Queen of Hearts", who had long managed to evade charges for her use of the Imperius curse in particular. There were all sorts of crazy stories whirling around, like how her mother was using her daughter as a spy in Hogwarts, making her a Hufflepuff so that she'd avoid suspicion. No one knew quite how to treat her, beyond like some kind of zoo animal they occasionally stared or pointed at.

Then, of course, there had been the Howler at breakfast earlier today, where Cora Mills' magically enhanced voice had quite icily declared Regina to be a disgrace to the family name and as her daughter. Emma, being a muggleborn, had been completely shocked by the sudden booming voice coming from an envelope, and had the misfortune of being only a few seats away from Regina at the Hufflepuff table. She could all too easily recall the expression on the dark-haired girl's face, and the chills she felt from hearing that scary voice. No wonder people were terrified of her mother. After, Regina had stood out without a word and rushed out of the Great Hall.

That had been maybe a half hour ago. Maybe she should've expected to run into her at some point during her exploration of the castle, but the thought had not even crossed her mind. The startled expression on Regina's face must have matched her own, but the other girl recovered much faster.

"What are you doing here?" There was clear distrust and suspicion, but also, fear, badly hidden. Clearly, Regina did not appreciate being stumbled upon during her moment of vulnerability. It was pointless, since she'd already seen them anyway, but she still quickly rubbed at her eyes and cheeks, tried to make it look like she hadn't just been caught crying.

Emma shifted on her feet awkwardly, just as uncomfortable with the whole situation as the other girl clearly was. At the question, she could only shrug. "Heard a noise. Followed it."

Why had she even followed the sound of crying, anyway? What had she expected to find? Emma cursed her inability to think before she acted yet again. Now, she was stuck here, trying to comfort a girl who didn't seem to want any comforting.

"A noise?" Regina frowned briefly in confusion, before her face flushed as she realized she'd been louder than she'd thought. Fists clenching, she demanded roughly, "Are you going to go tell your friends what a big crybaby I am now?"

Despite the growing anger on the other girl's face, Emma couldn't stop herself from snorting sarcastically. "What friends?" She had never been good with other people, probably thanks to her abandonment issues or whatever, as the shrink would say.

The look of confusion, still tinged with suspicion, on the other girl's face made her huff. Looking away, she promised quietly. "I won't tell anyone, okay? Not like I've got anyone to tell anyway."

Though the tension had started to leave her shoulders, Regina still asked cautiously, "Not even our dormmates?"

Emma rolled her eyes. Though she could understand where it was coming from, the interrogation was starting to get on her nerves. "No, not even them. Geez, it's just a little crying. I doubt they'd even care." Of course, even as she said it, she was pretty sure it was a lie.

In her brand new home amongst the badgers, she didn't fit in too much better. The upper years, especially the prefects, treated her well enough, but kids could be cruel, and had about as much tact as sandpaper. On the very first night, her new dormmates had bombarded her with all sorts of questions, with the pureblooded ones in particular treating her suspicion. Regina had hesitantly answered a few questions before it had gotten to be too much and she'd snapped at them, rather viciously too. Of course, that had ended up in the rumor mill the next day, and Regina continued to get questions and looks pelted her way by her more persistent dormmates.

If they got wind of this little incident, Emma had no doubt it would probably hit the Hogwarts' gossip circles in no time. Clearly, Regina thought the same, and huffed a short, humorless laugh. Bitterly, she remarked, "I don't even know why this matters so much. Why is it such a big deal to be a Hufflepuff?"

"Don't ask me." Emma shrugged. "I didn't even know what a Hufflepuff was 'til the train ride over."

"You're a muggleborn?" Regina asked curiously. "I've never really met one before Hogwarts, you know."

Emma frowned. "Really? Aren't they-we, I guess-pretty common though? I think our dorm is half muggleborn, even." It had been a relief, honestly, to know that she was not as out of place or behind as she'd secretly feared. She was still an orphan, still in secondhand clothes and carrying tattered books, but it was still one less thing for people to judge her on.

The brunette blushed, looking a little embarrassed as she admitted, "I grew up pretty sheltered. Homeschooled, mostly, in an old, magical neighborhood."

"Oh. That's pretty cool, I guess." Emma said, not quite sure what to say, before a question occurred. "Are magical neighborhoods different from non-magical ones?" Were there streets that changed randomly, like some of the stairs in the castle? Were there living trees or broomsticks instead of cars?

Regina's brow furrowed in thought. "Um, well, I'm not really sure what a Muggle neighborhood is like? But I know there are a lot of wards and spells built into the streets and things like that." She hummed thoughtfully, before explaining, "Mostly for protection and secrecy, I think. I'm not too sure, honestly."

That sounded a lot more boring than she imagined, and she couldn't the slight disappointment at that. "Guess they're not that different after all, then." Emma noted with a shake of her head.

"Sorry," Regina replied, looking genuinely apologetic. "But maybe I'm wrong. We could probably go to the library to check?"

Instinctively, Emma's nose scrunched up in distaste. "The library?"

A giggle erupted from the dark-haired girl at the expression on her face, and she quickly tried to stifle it by covering her mouth, but it was too late. Emma thought it was a nice laugh, though a little too girly for her taste, maybe. Still, she couldn't help a grin of her own. "Hey, I like books as much as the next person, but aren't our textbooks enough?"

"But this is different." Regina replied reasonably. "Besides, we're going to go to answer your question."

"Well, maybe I don't want to know the answer anymore!" Just for good measure, she stuck her tongue out too.

An overly dramatic gasp escaped Regina's mouth, before she accused, "No fair! No take backs." Then, switching tactics, she pouted and asked pleadingly, "Come on! It'll be fun. The library's on the way back to the dorms anyway."

Though she tried to stay serious, Emma couldn't help cracking a grin at the other girl's antics. Briefly, she thought of what other people might've said if they saw the infamous Regina Mills now. But she quickly shook it off and replied, with a fake sigh, "Fine. I'll go to the library with you. But only because I really do wanna know the answer."

Then, suddenly realizing something, she blurted out, "Wait, you know how to get back?"

Regina blinked confusedly at her. "What are you talking about?"

Flushing, Emma decided not to share the fact that she'd been walking around lost for a while now, quickly shaking her head as she spoke, "Nevermind. Let's just go. Lead the way!"

Though still a little confused, the brunette shrugged it off, before starting to walk ahead. With a small sigh of relief and a smile forming, Emma followed.