Début, Ella
To her slight annoyance, Ella woke up very early the following morning. Despite the drawn curtains, the darkness of night had filtered away to a pale morning haze. Sighing, she turned over on her stomach, feeling a rush of pleasure as the fabric of her nightgown caressed her skin. She stretched like a cat, then sat up, feeling restless. The ticking of the clock she had brought with her to school was calming in its uniformity. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. 4:27 became 4:28. Why must time pass so slowly? she wondered idly, lying back down in her bed and gazing up at the canopy. Reaching over to her night-stand, she seized Anne of Green Gables - her favourite book - and felt thankful that she had thought to leave it there before going to bed, "just in case".
What felt like (and could have been, for all she knew) an eternity later, a soft rustling inserted itself between her half-dream half-book world and her immersion in it, like a metaphorical piece of grit in her heart's eye. Glancing towards its source, she saw Keosha, who had the bed next to hers, sitting up, bleary-eyed, and rubbing her face tiredly. On Ella's other side, Alicia's shoulders were rising and falling evenly, her light brown hair strewn all over her pillow like party streamers. Keosha yawned, and Ella inevitably felt the urge to do the same. Instead, she spoke softly, so as to not disturb the others. "Sleep well?" she asked with a small smile. The other girl shrugged. "Eh. You?" Ella's smile widened slightly. "It was good while it lasted" she replied, straightening up as well and turning to sit on the edge of her bed. Her small feet swung downwards, her toe-tips burying in the soft carpet.
Keosha yawned again, stretching. Her short, thin curls were comparable to a birds' nest, and the dim light seemed to magnify every imperfection on her epidermis. Then again, Ella doubted that anyone could present a flattering image at - she checked the clock - 5:16. Her own lips were dry as paper, and the bottom one had split at some point, leaving the salty, metallic taste of dried blood on her tongue. So much for beauty sleep, she thought, standing up and starting to make her bed, the soles of her feet feeling every fibre in the carpet. "Are you getting up already?" asked Keosha, as Ella tucked the corners of the sheet in. "Well, I believe breakfast starts as early as 6:45," said Ella, trying to recall everything Percy and Bill had told her, "so, I don't see why not." Leaving Keosha in bed, she went to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and washed her face. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she arranged her fringe to hide a small spot that had appeared on her forehead overnight. She wished she could do something about the bruise-like shadows under her eyes, but her mother had refused to let her bring even plain powder to school. Lucky, really, that her glasses covered them, even if the lenses drastically reduced the size of her eyes.
Her mouth tingling from the strong minty flavour of her toothpaste, she returned to the dorm, where she found Keosha getting dressed. The other girl had also made her bed (although not very neatly, if Ella had to be honest), and was now pulling on the white pair of stockings that were part of the uniform. Ella joined her and had just finished buckling her right shoe - half of a pair of extremely plain black Mary Janes, without even the hint of a heel - when Angelina Johnson began stirring. The footwear for female Hogwarts students was, surprisingly, the most comfortable part of their uniform, a fact that Ella remarked as she was fastening her wristwatch. She touched her earlobes with her fingertips, a quick verification that her earrings, which she slept in, were still in their place and well-fastened.
Together, the two girls made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, chattering about lessons - or rather, Ella talked and Keosha listened. It didn't seem to bother Keosha, Ella remarked, who would occasionally interrupt with a question or a fascinated interjection. By the time they had reached the nearly empty tables, Keosha's eyes were round (most probably with amazement) at everything Ella had told her. As they sat down in Gryffindor, Ella espied Amanda sitting on her own, forlornly picking at a slice of grilled toast. Looking up, she saw Ella and gave a half-hearted smile, which was quickly replaced by an expression of boredom as she broke eye-contact. Ella's brow tightened in consternation as she sank into a seat next to Keosha, but she smiled widely at her fellow Gryffindor, hoping that the combination of facial expressions did not result in some sort of hideous grimace. As Keosha did not jump up and flee in horror, Ella assumed she looked fine, or at the very least not repulsive. Pushing her glasses up her nose, she immersed herself in a joke of some sort that the other girl was telling her, paying just enough attention to laugh in the right places.
Their schedules were handed to them by Professor McGonagall, later that same morning. Up close, their head of house seemed a little less stern than Ella had been expecting. Her pale, papery face was a map of fine wrinkles, the most pronounced ones being around the mouth and her clear green eyes. Tracing the edge of her timetable, Ella decided there and then that Minerva McGonagall had some of the most beautiful irises she had ever seen. To Ella's considerable relief, their first lesson was Charms - the threat of a bubbling cauldron to start the day off had been hanging over her nape like a guillotine - followed by Transfiguration. A fizzing sensation in her stomach seemed to send shivers through her body; a new day, a clean roll of parchment was stretching out in front of her. Her cheeks ached and she realized she was smiling. Beside her, Keosha and Spencer were gabbling away excitedly, sounding almost as feverish as Ella felt.
A sudden dark curtain descended over Ella's glasses - no, not a curtain, a pair of sweaty palms. "Eek!" she squealed, batting away the fingers that turned out to be Fred's. "Keep your paws off me!" she said, laughing. "Why's that, little E?" he asked mischievously, waggling his eyebrows at her in a most ridiculous manner. "Going to smite us with your 'carroty' powers, is that it?" Ella rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but was nonetheless amused. "It's karate, George, not 'carroty'. And there's no smiting involved -"
"You do karate?!" exclaimed Lee Jordan with a touch of incredulity. He had been talking to Angelina and Alicia, who now also looked mildly interested. Ella felt a little flattered by the way they gazed at her, and shrugged, her lips curving into a smile. "Yes, well, it's not so difficult.", she said, trying to seem modest. In truth, it was, as she had come to loathe physical activity by engaging in it too often. "I've got a blue belt.", she added as they lined up in front of their classroom. Lee Jordan nodded and was about to say something when the door swung open, revealing a beaming Professor Flitwick. "Oh, do come in! Sit down wherever you want, now, hurry, and keep the chit-chat at a minimum please!" he squeaked.
The day passed in a breeze.