When the start-of-term feast ended, the Ravenclaw Prefects led the students back to Ravenclaw Tower. The Prefect informed the first-years that Ravenclaw students did not have a password to enter the common room. Instead, each student must answer a riddle, thus testing their wit. For the first time since being sorted, Anastasia felt she could find a home at Hogwarts after all. While she was not necessarily a fan of riddles, the continuous test of wit seemed exciting. Even if she found herself lacking stimulus within her classes, she would have to be stimulated before entering her own common room.
Anastasia followed the hoard of first-years into the common room and found herself stunned into shock. Not only was the space massive, but it was conducive to and encouraging of studying. The room was filled with couches and chairs, and the Ravenclaw blue that covered most of the walls and ceilings was calming. The color would clearly help calm nerves of any stressed student, and the comfy furniture allowed for lounging or relaxed studying.
The furniture and color of the space weren't even the best parts. From where she stood at the entryway, Anastasia heard the Prefect inform the first-years that the Ravenclaw library was in the back of the common room and was just as large as the school's library. "That is," he said, "if you convince the books you are worthy enough to see them. Some of the books may hide from students who are not advanced enough to understand the content or who fail to show the book the respect it thinks it deserves." The Prefect smiled as the eleven-year-olds gazed back at him in awe.
Finishing up the tour, the Prefect informed the first-years of curfew, mealtimes, and other miscellaneous restrictions and guidelines. When he had finished, he dismissed the students to do as they pleased for the remainder of the night. Most of them wandered up the stairs to the dormitory and found that their luggage had been left in front of beds. Anastasia located what would be her bed for the next seven years and began to search through her trunk. She found a piece of a parchment, a quill, and some ink and wandered back down to the common room. Older students were sprawled across couches and chairs as they chatted and played games. She made her way to a small desk along the edge of the room (there were no corners to hide in since Ravenclaw Tower is a circular tower) and began to write a letter.
Mother,
Did you know the Sorting Hat could laugh? I did not until he laughed at me. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on my head, and, as I prepared to be sorted into Slytherin like you and father were, the hat laughed and informed everyone I belonged in Ravenclaw. I'm writing to you from Ravenclaw Tower.
Oh, Mother! I don't know what to do! I don't know why the Sorting Hat put me here, but I don't belong! Draco is in Slytherin, and so were you. Why am I so far away from the people who care about me? I don't understand.
I'm sorry if my sorting has disappointed you, Mother. I really wanted to be a Slytherin. I really did.
I love you and will write again soon.
Anastasia
She rolled the piece of parchment up and made her way to the window. Someone had opened it to let in the cool, evening breeze, and there was a handful of owls sitting on the sill staring at the moon. Anastasia tied the parchment to the owl's leg and watched the bird fly away, disappearing into the dark night. Wandering back over to her quill and ink, she packed her things and headed to bed. Her first day of school was in the morning, and she had no doubt it would be a very long day.
The next morning, Anastasia arose and wandered down to breakfast on her own. She thought about inviting Luna to join her, but Anastasia was not yet comfortable initiating conversation with the girl. Instead, she gathered the books for her morning classes and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast alone. The hall was filled with students, but there was still plenty of places to sit at each house table.
Finding a large empty space at the Ravenclaw table, Anastasia sat down alone and began to survey the area. The array of food before her was magnificent. Everything she could have ever wanted for breakfast was available: pancakes, waffles, bacon, eggs, sausage, muffins, toast, the list went on and on. She assumed some must have been overwhelmed by the choices, but, sadly, she didn't find herself too hungry. Choosing a small portion of eggs, a few pieces of bacon, and some fresh fruit, she began to read one her books as she ate.
Anastasia was slightly self-conscious at eating alone in a room filled with people, but her book filled her with solace. She knew she was not an extremely social person, and her time at school was supposed to further her education. While she might make a handful of friends along the way, that wasn't the reason she was attending Hogwarts. The whole point was to learn, and she intended to learn as much as she possibly could in the next seven years.
Having long ago accepted this mindset, she happily ate breakfast alone. She was so engrossed in her book that Anastasia never noticed the shadow looming behind her. The shadow spoke before she realized anyone was near. "Haven't you finished that already?"
Startled, Anastasia jumped in her seat. She turned the shadow and found herself smiling so large that her cheeks would later hurt. "Draco," she whispered, relieved to see the boy again. It hadn't even been a whole day since the sorting ceremony, but Anastasia felt incredibly alone and abandoned. Draco's presence reassured her and acted as a reminder that her best friend would never leave her. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't; they were engaged after all. "I did finish the assigned book for Charms class, but I picked this up in the Ravenclaw library this morning. It's just some advanced charms."
Draco rolled his eyes and picked a bright, green apple off the serving platter before her. "Of course you are. I think we have class together. Are you ready?" He took a bite into the apple as he waited for her answer.
Nodding, Anastasia quickly gathered her books and stood. Their first class was Charms, but nothing exciting or educational really occurred there. She had already read the whole textbook, so the homework also failed to fascinate her.
Transfiguration was much better. Anastasia knew she was naturally gifted at Transfiguration because her father was an expert at it, but, without him to teach her, she had yet to learn much. Her mother wasn't inclined to teaching spells in the home before school anyway, but Anastasia had taken it upon herself to make Transfiguration a passion to study. Whenever she did meet her father, she intended to ask him all he knew about the subject and why Rosaline considered him gifted with it. Until then, she decided to make it her goal to be the top student in Transfiguration (it was actually her goal to be the top student in all classes, but this one took priority).
Professor McGonagall instructed the students on how to turn a match into a needle, and, after class had ended, only two students had accomplished the task. Anastasia was one, and the other girl was named Hermione Granger. Anastasia made a mental note to watch Granger in other classes. While she was not one for taking initiative and making friends, befriending her academic competition certainly wouldn't hurt.
Her next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the class was a complete waste. Professor Quirrell seemed consumed by anxiety, and Anastasia was not confident he would be effective in teaching them anything. If he was too nervous to lecture in front of a group of eleven-year-olds, how was he supposed to teach them spells and incantations to ward off dark magic? Rosaline didn't allow any books about dark magic or extremely powerful magic in the family library, so this was going to be the class Anastasia could learn from the most. She was quite disappointed to realize this was the class that would be the least educational.
As she stumbled down the hall after Defence Against the Dark Arts, she found herself disappointed. She knew reading ahead would cause the classes to be a little boring, but she was still hoping to learn something exciting on her first day. Changing a match into a needle was pretty cool, but, since so few students had accomplished the task, that was going to be the focus of the class for the remainder of the week. One day of excitement would now lead to many filled with boredom.
While thinking about how disappointing her classes would be, she was making her way with the rest of the crowd of first-years toward the staircase for potions class. Just as she was about to step onto the stairs, they moved away from her. Anastasia stomped a foot in irritation. How was she supposed to make it to class promptly if the stairs moved away at the last second? Now she would have to wait for the stairs to reappear, and she wasn't sure how long that would take.
She was looking around for another landing of stairs to take when Draco caught her eye at the end of the hall. He smiled at her and turned a corner. Following him, she found herself facing a back set of stairs. She smiled and followed Draco down a maze of stairs and halls she hadn't seen yet. Draco knew exactly where the classroom was and how to navigate the strangely deserted halls and stairs, and Anastasia assumed this was due to the Slytherin dormitory being located in the dungeons. She highly doubted Draco went to the trouble of scoping out his classrooms or researching secret ways around Hogwarts.
When they reached the classroom, Anastasia noticed the tables were split to allow two students at each. All their other classes so far had pretty carefully divided the students by house, but this was not the case in the potions room. Most students sat with others from their house, but there was some variety. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting together, so she smiled knowing Draco would choose to sit with her over a stranger in his own house. The two didn't talk before class started, and they hadn't spoken since he found her at breakfast hours before. She didn't really feel there was anything to say. Part of her wanted to apologize, but it didn't seem like the correct time or place. They were surrounded by other students, and, while she was incredibly upset over being sorted into Ravenclaw, it didn't seem to bother Draco. He had come to retrieve her from breakfast and saved her from waiting on the main staircase, and that had to mean they were on good terms, right?
Anastasia thought her and Draco would be some of the last students entering the room, but this wasn't the case. A boy with bright hair and one with dark hair and glasses entered. She watched as the boy with flaming red hair sat a few rows in front of her, and his appearance recalled some statements Lucius had made about a family of redheads. The statements were not in any way kind, so Anastasia made a point to drop that train of thought. As much as she respected Lucius, she didn't want her opinion of someone damaged by the harsh words of another. That was no way to make friends, and she certainly didn't have room to pick and choose who her friends might be so early on in the term. Besides Draco, not a single person had spoken to her yet. The blonde from last night, Luna, was obviously in all of the first-year classes, but the girl always seemed to be distracted and staring into a distant corner of whatever classroom they were in.
Professor Snape entered the room, and Anastasia recognized him as a sometimes guest of Malfoy Manor. She knew Professor Snape had attended school at the same time as her mother, but he never visited their home. Professor Snape was good friends with the Malfoys, but not to the point that Anastasia knew him extremely well. It was still enough to make her feel comfortable in the classroom and eager to learn from someone her family respected.
While taking roll, Professor Snape made a snide remark about Harry Potter. Anastasia knew the boy was in every class with her and every professor had stumbled over his name, but she still hadn't found herself too distracted by him. She knew he was the "celebrity" of the school, as Professor Snape had noted, but that had nothing to do with her. The last thing she wanted was to become distracted by someone so absorbed in his fame that studying didn't matter. She decided she was much better off learning on her own than befriending "The Boy Who Lived."
Anastasia also decided that potions might end up being a good class. Professor Snape had them mix a potion despite it being the first day, and her and Draco were paired together to share a cauldron. Much to her surprise, Draco was good at potions. He was able to follow the directions exactly, and Professor Snape complimented the two on their success. The pride she felt was short-lived as another pair melted their pot and covered the floor in a boiling potion. Anastasia couldn't help but laugh with Draco as Professor Snape began to yell at the students who created the mess.
When the class came to an end, Anastasia packed her things and began to head back toward the abandoned stairs Draco had showed her. She wasn't interested in getting caught in the mess of students stumbling up the stairs, and she definitely didn't want the stairs to abandon her again. She was just about to begin climbing the stairs out of the dungeon when she heard someone call her name. Turning, she saw Draco fast-walking toward her. Her face became shrouded in a puzzled look. She didn't forget any of her school items, so Draco following her didn't make sense.
"I wish you were in Slytherin too," he said, handing her a small item before walking away. Anastasia watched him round the corner before looking down at the item in her hand. It was the chocolate frog card for Mirabella Plunkett that she had received yesterday. I must have left it on the train, and he kept it for me, she thought, smiling as a blush spread across her cheeks. Squeezing the card in her hand, she made her way up the stairs and back to Ravenclaw Tower.
Anastasia spent the remainder of her first day doing homework assignments, but the assignments didn't take long. When they were complete, she returned to reading until she fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with laughter and ridicule directed toward her. Rather than receiving a restful sleep, Anastasia tossed and turned as people laughed at her for being placed where she didn't belong. In her common room, students laughed. In the Great Hall, Slytherins laughed. At home, her parents laughed. She had failed them all, and now they would haunt her in her dreams.
When she finally awoke, Anastasia was drenched in sweat and was knotted into the sheets. She scrambled to get ready and shower before making her way down to breakfast. The last thing she wanted after a night of bad dreams was to arrive late and hungry to class. While she might have proved herself to her professors so far, it was important for her to continue making a good impression, and the new day brought a handful of new classes. She still had not yet been to History of Magic, Astronomy, or Flying. None of these classes interested her, but they were still educational opportunities that she needed to take advantage of.
Her plan was to quickly eat, but an onslaught of owls overtook the Great Hall. Letters dropped everywhere along the four student tables. She was shocked by the sheer number of owls and letters, and she watched as the parchment fell like snow. A single letter landed before her and had her name sprawled across it. Reaching for the letter, Anastasia found herself hesitant to open it. She had expected a letter from her mother, but the handwriting on the envelope was not Rosaline's. There wasn't a single person she could think of who would write to her, so she found herself nervous to open the letter.
Unable to resist reading what the letter contained, she opened it anyway.
My dearest Anastasia,
Your mother informed me of your sorting, and I can not be more proud. You will prove to be the smartest Fawley yet. Do not fret.
I will see you soon, my little one.
Your Father
Anastasia stared at the letter. She had never received a letter from her father before. She didn't know her mother was even in contact with him. This was the first memory she would have of her father, and she was confused by it. She didn't understand why he would choose to contact her now of all times. And why write so little? Why was it so important to him that she accept her placement within Ravenclaw?
Her father might have written to help calm her nerves, but the letter accomplished the opposite. Instead of relieved that her father would accept her placement, Anastasia was now concerned as to why he chose this time in her life to initiate contact. Should she write him back? Would he see it? Where would she send it? Will he write again? She knew from overhearing her mother's conversation with the Malfoys that her father would return soon, but she wasn't entirely sure when that was. Most likely, she wouldn't see him until the end of term, but she had no idea how to react when she met him. Most girls don't meet their fathers for the first time at age eleven. She was completely lost, and, if she sat any longer thinking about it, she would be late to class as well.
Placing the letter carefully in the cover of one of her books, Anastasia hurried to class. She had hoped Draco might come fetch her from the breakfast table again, but, after giving the Slytherin table a quick glance, she saw that he was nowhere to be found. He had clearly left for class without her. It hurt to know that he didn't make the effort to walk her to class again, but she recognized that it was silly for her to expect him to wait on her every morning. He had friends within Slytherin already, and he would only make more as school went on. She was the one who failed to fit in, and she was the one who couldn't seem to make any friends. There was no reason for him to waste his time on her if he didn't have to.
By the time she made it to class, there was only a single empty seat. As she made her way toward it, Anastasia realized she would be sitting next to Hermione Granger, the girl who had also transfigured a match into a needle. It appeared no one in Gryffindor was willing to sit next to the girl. Anastasia wasn't entirely sure why no one would sit next to Granger, but she understood the feeling of being all alone despite being surrounded by people she was supposed to relate to. Deciding it was now or never, she sat down and introduced herself.
"Hello, I'm Anastasia Fawley."
"My name is Hermione Granger. You turned your match into a needle yesterday, didn't you? I had been up late studying that spell; it's very lucky I was able to do it on the first day," the girl responded. Hermione's hair was a curly mess that invaded the space around her head. Anastasia wasn't sure if a spell would have been strong enough to lay the hair flat. She found herself stroking her suddenly boring, straight hair as the other girl spoke. "What made you sit next to me? No one seems to like me. It's because I study too much, but why are you here and not with your house?"
Anastasia internally cringed. She wasn't expecting Hermione to be talkative, but she understood the need to talk to the only person who seemed willing to associate with her. If she had barely spoken to anyone since arriving at school, she would probably be bursting with opinions too. "I don't really belong in Ravenclaw. I love to study and read, but my family seems to have acquired a negative reputation for being made of Purebloods."
Hermione nodded, seeming to understand. "Both my parents are muggles, so some people here don't like me much either. I'm here to learn about magic, so it's okay. Friendship comes second to an education," she said, smiling in an attempt to reassure herself.
While Anastasia wasn't sure if the two would become close, she felt better knowing there was another person feeling as alone as she was. She found herself continually thinking that education is more important than friends, so knowing that Hermione was coping with loneliness in the same way was reassuring. It meant that, no matter how alone she felt, there was someone else who felt the same way. Hermione's loneliness saddened Anastasia, and she wished the curly-haired girl had been sorted into Ravenclaw as well. At least then they could have been lonely and studious together.
Anastasia quietly made her way through the day. She didn't speak to anyone after introducing herself to Hermione, but she was proud of herself for taking that initiative. Yesterday she had talked to Draco, and Luna had introduced herself the day before. One friend a day was good...right?
Stepping outside, Anastasia felt refreshed by the green grass and the breeze off of the lake. Her next class was Flying, so her afternoon would be spent outside. She had grown up flying around her backyard and the Malfoy Manor, so the class seemed silly to her. It would be fairly basic, but at least it allowed her to be outside while the weather was still nice. Having so many classes kept her schedule full and left her stuck in the castle from nearly dawn until dusk. The silly flying class would be appreciated just because it allowed her to roam free, even if it was only for a little while.
Before class began, she overheard Draco bragging to other Slytherin students about how skilled at flying he was. She couldn't help but roll her eyes. Draco and her flew together often back home, and, while he was good, the bragging was unnecessary. It wasn't like he could do anything about it. No matter how much he complained, he wasn't going to make the quidditch team as a first-year; no one did that. He would have to wait and try-out next year. Until then, his bragging was just silly. She thought his time could have been better spent studying.
Draco finally stopped bragging when Madam Hooch arrived and began instructing the students on how to summon their broom, mount it, fly, and land. Anastasia was able to summon her broom into her hand fairly easily, and so were a handful of other students. She didn't credit this to being smart; it was just experience with a broom. If flying were based on wits, she wouldn't have watched Hermione struggle with the broom. After all, Hermione had already proven herself to be the best competition Anastasia was going to encounter. It simply seemed that Flying was not going to be a class that Hermione immediately excelled in.
Anastasia was ready to begin hovering on her broom when the boy who melted his cauldron the day before lost control of his broom and floated dangerously high into the air. Madam Hooch began yelling for him to land, but the boy just kept screaming. No matter what he did, the broom continued to ascend. She began to run the charms she had studied thus far through her head; perhaps Madam Hooch would choose one to bring the boy back to the ground, and Anastasia would be given the chance to see the charm first-hand. However, before that happened, the boy fell off the broom and plummeted to the ground.
The group of first-years gasped simultaneously as Madam Hooch rushed to the boy's side. Madam Hood muttered something about a broken wrist before leading the boy inside and ordering everyone else to remain on the ground. Anastasia felt sorry for the injured boy, but she was annoyed that she didn't have a book. While she was excited to be outside, she didn't want to just stand in silence and wait for her professor to return. Lucky for her, Draco had other things in mind.
He picked up an item the injured boy had left on the ground and began arguing with Potter about it. Refusing to return it to Potter, Draco hopped onto his broom and hovered a few feet in the air. Anastasia heard Hermione inform Potter not to be so stupid as to get on his broom, but the boy did it anyway. Annoyed that Draco was being so reckless, Anastasia pushed her way through the crowd and up to his side.
"Draco, get down this instant!" she yelled at him. "Give the ball back and get off your stupid broom!"
"Who are you, his mom?" Pansy Parkinson sneered. If Draco had momentarily considered listening to Anastasia, he certainly wasn't going to now. Parkinson was encouraging his reckless behavior, and Anastasia knew he wouldn't dismount from his broom after someone challenged his independence and authority. She knew Draco liked to feel important, and being a bully who ignored his best friend and received cheers of encouragement from his housemates made him feel important. Anastasia felt defeated and hurt. It was no use trying to talk Draco down at this point, so she watched as he flew higher and higher, allowing Potter to chase him in search of the trinket.
Giving up on the chase, Draco threw the trinket and flew back to the ground. To everyone's surprise, Potter chased the item down, faster and faster, until he caught it before tumbling off his broom. Before anyone had time to react, Professor McGonagall stormed out of the building and escorted Potter inside. Gryffindor students began to whisper concerns about Potter being expelled for disobeying Madam Hooch's order while Slytherin students gathered around Draco to congratulate him on showing Potter who's in charge. Anastasia saw the look of pride on Draco's face and shook her head. She had thought that his choice to walk to class with her yesterday and the words he uttered while returning her chocolate frog card meant that the two would remain best friends, but her initial fears had been right: the two lived in two separate worlds now. More than likely, the young girl had just lost her best and only friend.
After dinner that night, Anastasia made her way to the library. She had tried studying in the Ravenclaw common room after Flying, but other students kept whispering about her being from an evil family. It was killing her to listen to people talk about her family like that. She knew before coming to school that some people disliked families within the Sacred Twenty-Eight, but that didn't mean she was evil for being a Pureblood witch. Her family took pride in their lineage, and she couldn't understand why that was such a problem. Lots of families took pride in having Purebloods. It didn't make sense to her why the older students looked at her like she was dangerous.
So, unable to bare the harsh looks and cruel words any longer, she retreated to the safety of the library. Far fewer people spent their time there, and she knew she'd be safe from the onslaught of hate that seemed to surround her whenever she was near other students. All she wanted to do was read in peace, and the library allowed for that. It was too early in the term for most students to care about the library, and the few who were present were so engrossed in their studies that they didn't notice her enter and sit at an empty table.
Accepting that Professor Quirrell would be a useless Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Anastasia pulled a stack of books on basic defense spells. If her professor was not interested in teaching her what she needed to know, she would learn it herself. It would be hard to understand the spells without practice, but at least she could learn the required actions and pronunciations of each. A little knowledge was better than no knowledge at all.
She had made it through a few of the spells before someone sat across from her at the table. Looking up, Anastasia was surprised to find Draco. "What do you want?" she spat out, still upset from being ignored during Flying.
"Why are you here all alone?" he asked, his voice soft.
"I'm trying to study, Draco. Don't you have someone to bully?"
His face hardened at her jab. It was unlike Anastasia to try and hurt his feelings or insult him, but the loneliness was getting to her. "You don't understand, Ana. Potter's not all the stories say he is. You've heard how Father speaks of him. I'm not going to give him respect he doesn't deserve."
She sighed. The comment her mother had made before they left for school shopping in Diagon Alley rang through her ears: I'm filling her head with manners, Lucius. Something your son could stand to learn from.Draco could stand to learn some manners, but Anastasia knew it was useless to argue with him. Lucius Malfoy had a mean streak in him, and he made sure his son inherited it. The hateful comments that were common within Malfoy Manor were one of the things Anastasia's mother strictly prohibited within their own home.
Looking into her best friend's eyes, Anastasia wanted to cry. She felt so alone, and he didn't seem to notice. "I wasn't just talking about Potter, Draco. You...you ignored me."
Draco looked away. He knew ignoring Anastasia would hurt her, but, in the moment, it didn't matter to him. He was more concerned with humiliating Potter, and he had achieved that. It made him the talk of Slytherin House for the rest of the day. If she was just in Slytherin, she would understand, he thought. Without her being around the people he was around, there was no way to convince her of the importance of showing strength and completing actions that would bring pride upon both the house and his family. "Ana, I'm-I'm sorry, okay? You just don't understand. It looks bad for me to be talking to you. People are saying you weren't sorted into Slytherin because you're not a Pureblood."
Anastasia was shocked. Part of her was humiliated by the rumors that her family lineage was stained, but the other part of her was furious that Draco would allow such rumors to interfere with their friendship. She was so angry that she stood and slammed her hands against the table. "I don't understand? You don't understand, Draco! I am a Pureblood, and you know that! That's why no one in Ravenclaw will talk to me! No one will even sit next to me because of my lineage, but my lineage isn't good enough for you and your Slytherin friends anymore? FINE! Then don't bother talking to me at all!" She slammed her book shut and stormed out of the library.
Draco remained seated at the table, stunned that she was angry, stunned that she yelled, and stunned that she walked away from him. He was the one with the rash temper, not her. He hadn't meant to upset her by saying that people didn't trust her lineage; he was just explaining why he couldn't be seen talking to or listening to her. Draco was certain the rumors would die down in a few days or weeks, and Draco had planned on sticking it out until then. Now it looked like Anastasia wasn't going to give him the chance.
As a still extremely angry Anastasia climbed into bed, her only regret of the day was not bringing the Defense Against the Dark Arts books with her from the library.