I found myself on my way down to the Great Hall, following the directions that the Headmaster had given me. I dreaded the look of hatred that I saw on Sirius and James's faces when they were talking of those Slytherin kids.
Before I left the office, Professor Dumbledore had given me the appropriately coloured uniform, of which I was wearing now. The robes felt one hundred times heavier than the robes I was wearing before, even if all he had done was bewitch the colours into being different.
I finally reached the doors to the Great Hall, where everyone was sitting and enjoying their meal. I could see Sirius, James, Remus and Peter roaring with laughter at the Gryffindor table, and I saw the rather boring and cold faces of the Slytherins. I took a deep breath and then put on my brave face as I took a step into the room.
As I made my way, I heard some of the conversation die down. I felt eyes on me. I felt like I was walking in slow motion.
As I passed the Gryffindor table, I sneaked a glance at the group of four. I saw narrowed eyes from Sirius and James; they looked as if I had betrayed them. Peter as copying them, but that didn't matter to me. I saw a pitying glance from Remus as he shook his head and let it fall sadly.
I turned my head forwards, forcing myself not to look back at the hurtful faces of the people I thought I would possibly be friends with.
After what seemed like forever, I finally made my way to my seat at the farthest table from the entrance in the corner. As I sat, I noticed how beautiful the wood that the table was made out of was. I looked at myself and noticed that I was slouching; that I looked rather weak and meek. That being so, I sat up straight, looking prim and proper, and then put on a smile to the people who looked about my age around me.
"Hello," I announced to anyone who could hear me, and I saw quite a few people turn to look at me. "My name is Seraphina Hawkwood, pleasure to meet all of you. I just transferred from Russia."
I saw a pale bloke with black, greasy looking hair and cold eyes straighten up. "Welcome to Slytherin," he drawled, sounding quite stuffed up and rather evil. "My name is Severus Snape."
"Pleasure," I repeated, giving him a smile. To my surprise, he sneered back. How rude, I thought.
A smaller boy who looked strangely familiar with black hair, pale skin, grey eyes and a certain charm to him smiled at me. I smiled back, relief filling my lungs; at least there was someone at this table who had an ounce of friendliness in them.
"My name is Regulus Black," he said in a slightly timid voice, somehow still sounding strong and charming. So this was Sirius's brother… That's why they looked alike.
"Very nice to meet you, Regulus," I told him.
"Oh, and what do we have here?" a sleazy voice drawled from a few seats down. Seated between two rather large and dopey looking men was a very attractive blonde with cold, green eyes. His hair was sleeked back, but it was clearly gel, not greasy.
"Seraphina. Nice to meet you," I said with a flirty little smile that I shot towards him. What? He was cute!
"Lucius Malfoy, at your service," he drawled once more.
My heart sank. This was the guy that James had warned me against, and here I was conversing, even flirting, with him. How did I have the feeling that I was going to pay for this?
"You said you came from Greece?" he said, snatching me away from my thoughts.
"Russia," I corrected him, smiling as I hoped I hadn't offended him.
"Oh? And why did you leave?" I then launched into my story, only answering what I was asked, but I found myself surprised at how much they really were asking.
"What about your mum?" one of the other guys asked.
I felt myself stiffen at the mention of my mother. "She passed away when I was quite young, actually. My father and I don't really speak of her." Apologies ensued, and people telling me they hoped the best for me and my father.
I felt as if I quite fit in after that; the only one who made me feel unwanted was Severus, but I'd work on him.
My confidence was back.
Dinner was delicious, as was dessert. When everyone had eaten their fill, everything cleared and the Headmaster stood. The student body fell silent, and I saw Professor Dumbledore smile.
"Another year, another group of faces. Some, I have seen before, some I know better than I should," At this, he winked to the Gryffindor table – to the group of boys? – And a brief burst of laughter ensued.
"And some are entirely new. Our first years are welcome as always. However, this year, we have a transfer student of the sixth year in our school. I do not wish to embarrass our welcomed addition to our wonderful student body, but if you see her in any of your classes, be sure to show her the Hogwarts charm!"
I felt myself blushing slightly, although I wasn't worried about being caught; my blush was all but invisible, and I was sure that no one would see it.
He babbled on about new professors, about the caregiver, forbidden places and rules. Finally, we were dismissed.
If I was honest with myself, I had absolutely no idea where the Slytherin 'Common Room' was, so I was completely relying on Lucius, Regulus, Vincent and all the other blokes I had met at dinner that were friendly to me to get me where I needed to be.
We walked to the dungeons of the castle until I guessed we were under the lake. Then, we came to a portrait to which Lucius said "Dark Arts". The portrait sprung open, and we walked into a cold, dark room lit by green lamps and decorated by skulls. The entire room was black, white, grey, silver and green.
I loved it.
The Common room was bleak, dreary and unwelcoming, and I felt right at home. I'd deal with the Gryffindors when the time arose.
For a while, the guys and I just talked, got to know each other a bit better. Besides, talking to someone over dinner wasn't really enough to ensure me a spot in the social networking. I was determined; never had a school been able to defeat me, this one no different.
I may sound like a terrible person for saying this stuff, but it isn't just a game to me; I enjoyed getting to know everyone, too. I liked being able to be nice to everyone and not get weird looks, although weird looks were fun sometimes.
I was a performer, but I didn't like getting weird looks when I didn't want nor expect them.
Anyways, I found out that Regulus was my age, Lucius was in seventh year, and Severus was a year older. I analysed all three of them; Severus was obviously a bit of a bookworm compared to the other two, who were quite apparently athletes. They were all attractive in their own way; Lucius sexy, Regulus charming and mysterious, and Severus a downright mystery.
Regulus was the seeker for the Slytherins, whereas Lucius was a Beater. Severus's favourite subject was defense against the dark arts, although he was a shining star in potions. Lucius wasn't fond of pumpkin juice. Regulus was fond of his family house elf. Severus spent a lot of time in the library.
And above all, they all despised muggles and muggleborns.
"Is that right," I asked cautiously, keeping my voice light and interested. "Why's that?"
"Muggleborns are a disgrace to wizardry," Severus sneered, "A complete freckle on the face of wizarding society." The other two nodded in fierce agreement. I left that conversation and we moved on to rice cakes.
Hours later, Lucius and Severus headed to the boys dormitories, Lucius kissing my hand as he left. I smiled and blushed a little; So chivalry wasn't dead at Hogwarts.
I turned to Regulus. "Aren't you tired?" He smiled an adorable smile and shook his head, a crease in his forehead, showing he was stressed about something.
"Nah, I'm not tired. I don't sleep much anymore," he told me, voice considerably more quiet than it had been when his friends were around. I could see by the bags under his eyes that his words were the truth.
"Oh?" I said gently. "Why's that?"
Regulus looked as if he were choking on his words for a second, then he swallowed. "It's just some family stuff that I'm not particularly fond of. To be honest, to me, all this muggle prejudice is rubbish. Not all of them are that bad, remember that." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. 'I feel backed into a corner."
"If you want or need to talk, I'll always be here. Like you, I don't sleep much." She smiled gently, and then reached her hand out to rest it on his shoulder. He jumped slightly in surprise, but moved his hand to cover her's.
"Thanks... Can I call you Serr?" he asked playfully. I nodded and smiled a little smile for him.
So the two stayed up for a bit longer and talked; they talked about Regulus's brother and how he was unbearable, how he always had to be the center of attention or else he wasn't happy. They also talked about his best mates, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. She felt sort of bad for Remus, the way Regulus talked about him.
He obviously knew that Remus was a werewolf, and he wasn't alright with it.
It was a touchy subject for a lot of people, though, so she left it. Plus, she could have just been over analyzing things and he actually had no idea about Remus; then where would she be? She would've given his identity, which appeared to be hidden rather well, surprisingly enough, away. He could've gotten kicked out of school.
Speaking of that, she wondered how he managed changing once a month and never getting caught. He had obviously never hurt any of the students, either.
So, he was either crazily tame, or the professors knew and were just keeping it on the down low…
"Serr?" Regulus asked, sounding concerned. "You with me?"
She shook out of her reverie. "Oh yeah, sorry, totally just spaced out there. Maybe the trip has taken a toll on my ability to not need sleep," she grinned. "Well, I suppose I should probably get to bed. Talk to you tomorrow? Hopefully, we'll have some of the same classes?"
Regulus laughed, but his brow was still furrowed as she began to walk up the stairs. "Yeah, tomorrow… Sweet dreams."