The thing is, she's never been away from the tower for any significant amount of time, certainly not for long enough to not sleep in her own bed surrounded by the things that make her feel safe. Here in the castle, late at night with the silence ringing loudly in her ears, she feels alone and small in a way she's never experienced before. At home, regardless of the time, she could always find someone awake and alert enough to calm her down. Here, there is only her thoughts to accompany her as the other girls in the room blissfully sleep on, unaware of her silent dread in the curtained area closest to the large windows. No one else had wanted it, afraid of heights as they were, and being up in the air had never scared her. How could it, when her first memory of the tower was pressing her face to the thick glass windows and gaping at the cars travelling by far below, so small they looked like ants. The morning comes slowly, light creeping into the room so slowly she doesn't even notice it at first until the pale light glints off the glass case she has sitting on the ledge of the window next to her pillow.
Breakfast doesn't do a thing to settle her nerves as she hunches over her plate and avoids everyone's eyes as they look at her, wondering what's wrong. She wants to be sitting at her own kitchen table, with Bucky on her left and Frank on her right, Wade across from them nudging her leg with his foot whenever water dripped from her fingertips. She wanted her family. Hermione's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she tried for a smile, but even she could tell that the effect fell far short of what she had intended.
"Is everything alright? You look sick."
"Just not used to all of this, I think."
Hermione nods knowingly, understanding what she was getting at. Both of them had grown up in the non-magical world, so to leave that behind and come into a world where everything seems to have not advanced past the middle ages was jarring. She missed the almost silent hum of the appliances throughout the house, and JARVIS' constant checking in when her parents weren't around. Apart from Hermione, the AI was really her only friend. Sure, there was always other kids around at the school she'd been attending before this, but she had never really fit in there. Even if she had, there was always the lingering suspicion that their attention was because of her last name, not because they liked her as a person or as a friend. None of that mattered, though, not really. She had her family, and she had Frank, and Wade, Peter and Foggy and Darcy. She had Hermione.
-POV switch to Hermione-
It hadn't clicked for her that Hayley was one of those Starks, even if she had a different last name to keep herself out of the public eye as much as she could. Living with them couldn't have been an easy place to grow up in, but taking her father's name rather than her mother's would've given her more freedom from the eyes always watching. Still, finding out your friend came from a family of geniuses, superheroes, assassins and gifted people hadn't been an easy thing to come to terms with. Mostly, the thing that surprises her the most is how normal Hayley is, as if she doesn't seem to know or realise there's not a person in the world that doesn't recognise her true last name.
"We've got potions first. Sit next to me?"
She doesn't mean to ask, to sound so insecure and afraid, but rather than ridicule her for the obvious tone of desperation Hayley just smiles at her and takes her hand, the two of them walking out of the hall hand in hand. Hayley had been the first true friend she'd ever made. She hadn't had much luck with bonding with the children she grew up around, labeled as too weird and not worth the time, and a small part of her was apprehensive about joining the pen pal program, but it had led her to Hayley and a friendship that had struck up almost immediately. She understands why Hayley hadn't told her about her family, and why she kept so many secrets, but she won't deny that it hurts.
"Nervous?"
She jumps a little as Hayley's query snaps her out of her thoughts, almost running into the wall on her right, and if Hayley noticed she didn't say anything about that either. She considers the girl beside her, who stayed awake all night because she wasn't used to staying away from home but seemed perfectly steady when faced with a class filled with things she wouldn't understand and a man that didn't seem to like them at all, but the more she thinks about it, the more it makes sense.
There had been a few times, not many, but a few, when the letters traded back and forth would be delayed by what Hayley said was an unplanned vacation, but now she realises that maybe the delays were because she was the only child of two high profile people and living with many others. Why would she fear this, walking into the unknown, when she's faced worse? Everyone in the world knew about what happened in New York, although she hadn't known who Hayley's parents were then.
What was a little dislike from a teacher, when you've faced a god and came away intact?
