Disclaimer: Please refer to the introduction and first two chapters. I apologize as well for any grammar mistakes or typos, I am doing this story sans-beta.


I had always felt comfortable in my own skin. I had never really had self-confidence issues but as I entered the Great Hall, I felt it. The terrible sinking, aching feeling of anxiety, I felt the ball of nerves in my stomach as I ached to run in the opposite direction of the huge looming doorways. My skin – no, my Great, several great's, Aunt Lollia's skin – itched, it felt like there were thousands of bugs crawling under it. My mouth was dry, chalky. All I could do was trudge on into the Great Hall of Hell.

"Who's she?" the whispers started, grinding into my mind.

"She isn't a first year. That much is obvious."

"When have we ever had a new student that wasn't a first year?"

"It's not like some one can develop magically when they turn sixteen."

"Perhaps she has been here all along?"

"I've never seen her before… trust me, if I had I would've remembered that face." Their accents made the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and my skin ripple. Even in a disguise to fit in, I still didn't fit in. All I wanted right now was to be invisible.

Everyone rushed around me, joyously greeting old friends and getting seats at the long, ominous tables. I quickly sat in the closest seat I could find, keeping my eyes down. Another day, I would notice the sheer beauty that was the Great Hall, with it's magical, night sky mimicking ceiling, ancient walls, and bannered, colourful décor. But I did not notice any of that beauty today. Today, all I wanted was to be back at my old school, where the whole school welcomed me in with warm arms. My old school, where there were no walls, no tables, just a clearing in the forest, surrounded by nothing but trees, grass and the real sky.

"Um… this is the Ravenclaw table…" a girl's voice spoke above me. I looked up and saw her and her friends trying to hold back laughter. I looked up at her in confusion. "You're in Gryffindor? Your house's table is over there."

She pointed over to a sea of red, gold and black. I felt my face grow hot as I gathered my things and mumbled an apology and rushed away. Her and her friends burst into uncontrollable laughter, the sound making my eyes sting and my throat close. I found a seat at the very end of the table, farthest from where the professors sat, and closest to the doors. I settled myself in again, cracking open my book furiously as my eyes burned even more.

It was silly, crying over something so trivial. I knew that. I tried to stop the tears from coming, blinking hard, instead that just made them squeeze out, falling with a splat onto the page in front of me. I wiped the moisture away furiously, feeling like a child. I was no child, and should stop acting like one. I knew that I was different from them. I didn't understand how their school worked, or how their damned seating plan was arranged. And that, made me feel incredibly stupid.

The whispers surrounded me once again and I heard shuffling around me. I dared to glance up and saw that everyone who had been mildly close to me, had chosen to push themselves further down the table, and away from where I sat. People were cruel, I knew that. But that was just blatantly rude behavior. It stung. I had never faced much rejection, and damn did it ever hurt. The stress of everything had finally gotten to me. At this point, I decided that I hated this school and everything in it with every fiber of my being. I hated England. I knew, at this moment, that I wanted to go home.


My brother nudged me, we were still standing at the doorway, shuffling through the students. We stood a bit over most of the bulk, so we could see everything around us.

"Fred, look," George nudged me again, motioning towards the Ravenclaw table. I saw a ruffle of red lined robes placing themselves near the end of the table; I quirked a brow in curiosity at the sight, a Gryffindor sitting at Ravenclaw table?

"Looks as if we've got a bit of a commotion going on over at Ravenclaw's table, George," I said to him, keeping my eyes on the scene as the group of giggling girls approached the slouched figure.

"Exactly my thoughts, Fred," he said, the expression on his face matching mine. I heard vaguely what the girls said to the strange Gryffindor.

"This is Ravenclaw table. You're in Gryffindor, their table is over there," the girl said – rather rudely Fred thought. The figure glanced up, Fred noticed then that it was a girl. Her face turned over to George's and mine's direction, to the Gryffindor table. That's when I saw her much more clearly, and my breath caught. I found myself at a lost for air as the girl's huge grey, blue – terrified looking - eyes turned to the table. Her light pink lips pinched slightly, the lower one fuller than the top one, giving her a natural pout. Pale skin seemed to shine in the candlelight, high, sharp cheekbones casting shadows onto shallow cheeks, and a small pert nose. She was thin, almost fragile looking as she stood, gathering her things. Heels clicked against the stone floors as she rushed over to the Gryffindor table, clearly upset. Her eyes shone with tears, it was a look I knew all too well from when my brother's and I had pushed Ginny too far with our teasing.

"Merlin's beard…" I spoke suddenly, barely able to get the words out.

"She is a looker isn't she?" George murmured in agreement as we watched her settle into our house's table, everyone around her pushing down.

"Good grief… what is wrong with people?" I said, remarking the rudeness of our classmates.

"She's a stranger; people don't take well to strangers around here. You know that as well as I," George remarked coolly.

"That doesn't make it right." I continued to watch, feeling bad for the way people were treating her. She bowed her head again after snapping open a book on the table. She was fairly close to George and me, close enough for me to see the glimmer of water fall from her eyes and splash onto her book. I instantly moved to go and comfort her. I didn't know her, I didn't even recognize her, but it didn't take a genius to see that she was getting bullied by the whole student body. George instantly put an arm out, stopping me from going to her.

"C'mon George, can't you see that the girl is upset? She's going through hell." I saw her hands fly to her eyes and furiously rub them, clearly trying to stop herself.

"We don't even know her Fred! What if she doesn't want some stranger to comfort her?" he asked, making a valid point. I took a step back, relaxing a little.

"If you were in her shoes, wouldn't you want to know that there was some one out there who wasn't a complete asshole?"

"I think that I would, but she's a girl. Girls have pride, they don't all want Prince Charming to come to their rescue. I'm sure that she doesn't want anyone to see that she's crying, or that she wants anymore attention brought to her." George gave me a look, I relaxed a little more.

"We should at least go and sit with her," I insisted, refusing to leave this girl to the wolves.

"In a moment. Give her a moment, don't try shoving your cock down her throat quite yet," my brother said knowingly as I gave him a look, making a sound. I was taken aback.

"Have a little faith in me brother. I've more tact than that. Besides, I'd rather be her friend, for now at least." George raised a ginger eyebrow, clearly not buying what I was selling. "She is beautiful… breath-taking, a real life effigy of Aphrodite herself, but… with a girl like that? I want to take my time."

"You don't even know her, Fred," he pointed out. I shook my head, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I don't need to. I've got that feeling in my gut… the one that you get with –" he cut me off.

"Come on now, I told you that while I was drunk. And you said that you wouldn't bring it up anymore!" George hissed.

"I lied."

"You're cruel."

"The world is a cruel place, brother." A few teachers called out for everyone to take their seats, the sorting ceremony was going to begin soon. I moved quickly, too quickly for George to stop me as I strutted over to the end of the table.


A/N: A bit of a longer chapter, I hope that you all enjoyed it. I wanted to show Aurelia's vulnerable side. She isn't the type to have breakdowns all the time, but imagine yourself getting thrown into such a tight-knit school like Hogwarts in the middle of teenage-dom, it would suck. Anyone wondering what Aurelia looks like can find links on my profile page. Thanks everyone for reading! Be extra awesome and leave me a review! They are absolutely fantastic.