If You Wish Upon a Star
Chapter 1: Their Story Starts
"Gryffindor!" The hat bellowed and as the last syllabus echoed into nothingness, there was silence in the hall, till Principal Minami started clapping. Other applauses followed, but Eli took no notice of it, whipping off the hat as she made her way towards the tables filled with colours that was honestly too bright for her eyes.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the girl from before, giving her a gentle smile like when they first met in the carriage. Unsure with how to respond, Eli corked her head away, stealing another glance after she passed by the Slytherin's tables. The smile on Nozomi's face was gone, replaced with one that was mildly hurt, before Yazawa took her attention away from the newly declared Gryffindor.
"It's not like I want to be in the same room with you, but as luck would have it, I would then graciously share the space," Nico sighed as she dumped her luggage by the bedside, "I'm taking this one if you don't mind," rolling on the bed immediately after that.
Nozomi tried to stifle her giggle, vaguely recalling the excited little first year zipping past her to find her mother, (who was the Slytherin house head), holding the room arrangements form with both their names on it after agreeing to share a room together.
"Nicocchi, you aren't being very honest are you?" She giggled, dumping her own luggage on the floor and made a leap for the other bed.
"Oh we are speaking on first name terms now? The nickname sounds ridiculous by the way, not that I mind or something…" Nico had her head buried in the pillow as she groaned, settling into silence after that.
The purple-haired girl sat down by the bedside then, noting the difference between this place and her house down the loud neighbourhood. It was quiet, almost as if the castle was enchanted with a silencing spell. The ceiling within the room was one that was grey, other than the flickering torches on the walls there was not much movement either.
Outside, the moon shone brightly, illuminating their shared room and painting everything in silver. The unearthly glow almost made it seemed ethereal, but nothing ever seemed normal anymore. Nozomi hung her new scarf on the chair, piling her school uniform (which was transformed into its own house colours upon sorting) upon the empty chair nearby.
Was this what her parents wanted? She pulled out a yellowed photo, one that the Principal gave her three years ago, taken by the outside of the Slytherin common room. And on the photo was four smiling faces, one that used to kiss Nozomi to sleep, one that mirrored the Principal, a young lady with flaming red hair and the face of her father that she would never see again.
"Nicocchi!" The scream that came out was nothing like she had expected, even with the earmuffs on. The deed was done, yet nothing seemed to be accomplished, not with a gazillion other tasks to fulfil within the time. Nozomi shut her eyes, only to hear the screams twice as loud.
"Nicocchi!" Right before her very eyes was short human holding a human shaped plant, with a grin plastered on her face.
"Did you see it? I pulled it out with only one hand!" Nico gave the mandrake another shake, giggling at her partner's horrified face.
"Nicocchi!"
"Oh come on Nozomi, praise me for my efforts. Be glad that you're grouping with me for your very first herbology class," The Slytherin held out her right arm proudly as the mandrake struggled to kick free, its frowning face showing its obvious displeasure as its hideous lopsided mouth opened wide in another yell.
There was a flurry of movement near the table next to theirs, Nozomi caught a glimpse of gold before a plant zipped across the room, stopping only when it met Nico's head.
"That's correct. Ten points to Gryffindor, and ten points from Slytherin," Professor Koizumi gave them a look of disdain, nodding at the standing Gryffindor. Eli gave a curt bow in return, taking her own seat as Nico cursed under her breath, removing the slimy green substance from her face as the young professor made her way to their table.
"Honestly Nico! What would your mother say?" Professor Koizumi whispered, albeit a little angrily, giving Nico another blop on the head as the Slytherin clutched her head with her arms.
"That she will be proud of me for successfully pulling out the mandrake with only one hand?" Nico smiled sheepishly as the professor sighed.
"That's it Yazawa, you're going to wash all the cauldrons later," The professor waved her wand and the bell outside their class gave a shrill 'ding!'. "Class dismissed! Good attempt, I never expected anyone to finish the experiment by the end of the class. I will have your reports by tomorrow."
"And no escaping from your duty, Nico, or your mother will be informed," The professor gave Nico's ear one last pull before disappearing out of the doorway.
Another bell in the distance rang, and the young Slytherin groaned, huffing as she grabbed the brushes from the back of the class.
"Elichi actually answered your question for you," Nozomi commented, following her fellow dorm mate to the back, where the cupboard shelves were. Some rummaging, two yelps and a few bangs later, Nico emerged from the inside of the shelves with a dust coated face and an annoyed expression.
"Why are you still here, it's lunch break," Nico snorted, "Yeah, thanks Elichi. Oh my god, you have a nickname for her too! I thought it was exclusive!"
"Let me help you," Nozomi giggled, "It's not like lunch would be fun alone." She didn't miss the small smile that was briefly on Nico's face. Maybe coming here wasn't so bad if Nico was around.
"Lunch means owls. Weren't you waiting for your sister's mail or something?" Nico asked, furiously scrubbing the cauldrons left over by the class. The clock on the wall reads twelve, lunch break would be over by one, and there were fifteen to clean.
"I guess… that'll have to wait? I hope Mochi doesn't get lost…" Nozomi gave a sigh, wondering if Kotori would be missing their nights sleeping together. The small alpaca could never replace its owner after all, but even then she spent the entire night hugging the fluffy soft toy.
"Whatever rocks your boat. You named your owl Mochi, you sure have a bad sense of naming…" The sickening squelch that came after that had the both of them looking away in disgust. Nico abandoned her robe all together, before rolling up her sleeves, determined to finish the job before break was over.
"She's round like one! And Nicocchi, you still have slime down your collar."
"Curse that professor!"
"Should I be worried?" Nozomi asked, pacing around the Slytherin common room, occasionally playing with her wand in hand. The green lights of the common room did nothing to quell her uneasiness; the room was like a dungeon in a shipwreck, the tiles before their stone wall entrance was replaced with jagged black marbles.
"Lost owls get brought to the Principal's office. They would send them to your room anyway." Nico replied calmly, rummaging in her pockets before tossing a chocolate frog over.
It was almost midnight, and most students went to bed early, there was a school rule that lights would be out before eleven. The crackling fire by the fire place was the only sound in the silence, save for Nico's occasional injections.
"What if someone took-"
The knock on the door interrupted Nozomi before she could finish, three slow knocks before the frequency increases, whoever was outside obviously didn't want to be caught out of bed.
"The teachers make their rounds at midnight," Nico whispered, making her way to the door. A screeching sound could be heard before another series of urgent knocks, and Nico bubbled up in laughter.
"To think that someone could actually forget their password."
"Nicocchi, you're being mean." Nozomi reprimanded before uttering the common room password.
The newest comer tripped over the tiles the moment the door swung open, an inhuman screech was heard before an "oof" and a flurry of feathers fluttered down.
"Mochi!"
"If it isn't our favourite Elichi!" Nico snorted. The blonde hastily stood up from her original position on the floor, raising an eyebrow at Nico's comment.
"Yazawa," Eli gave a small nod, her usual stoic expression replacing the brief moment of confusion. "I came here to return Nozomi's owl. I must return now."
Eli pulled her robes closer, turning around before Mochi flew over, leaning its head on the blonde's cheeks. She gave the owl a little kiss, the creature chirping happily in return.
"There there, go back to your owner now-"
"You used Nozomi's first name, explain-"
"Mochi-"
The sound of the midnight bell silenced all of them as the fire by the common room gave way to the darkness, drowning the room in black, save for the moon's glow outside. The moonlight shining through the windows made Eli's face seemed even paler than usual, and Nico giggled at the Gryffindor's obvious fear.
"Not that brave after all, aren't you. Looks like you can't leave now," Nico grinned, throwing her scarf on top of Eli's head.
"Eli?" Nozomi tried as Nico shot her a glance, it wasn't like the Gryffindor to completely freeze.
"You can have my chocolate frog, if that helps, Miss Russian." That finally brought a reaction, before the blonde almost broke down. The Slytherins sighed, there was a brief moment of agreement and the two of them hauled the blonde up from the floor towards their room.
"It wouldn't be nice for my mother to catch a Gryffindor loitering here right?"
"I guess you just have to spend a night here and leave before breakfast starts!"