It had been an hour but the screaming downstairs refused to cease. Ebony tucked herself further into the corner and tried to concentrate on the book propped up against her knees. She couldn't even remember what they were fighting about, she only hoped that they would either cool off soon or keep the fight downstairs so that their anger wouldn't be taken out on her again. It always seemed to be her fault. Ever since she had been put into Gryffindor her parents' anger seemed to focus on her a lot more, though sometimes she did ask for it by saying things that were more than acceptable at Hogwarts but not in the very pureblood elitist household she lived in, the bruise across her cheek bore witness to that.

Ebony sighed and closed the book, unable to focus on 'Fantastic Beasts and where to find them' with the screeching going on in the background. She flopped her head back against the wall and stared out the window at the stars glimmering in the sky. She just needed to hold on for one more day and then she would be back at Hogwarts for her third year. The thought of the place made her smile. The Lestrange manor was an awfully lonely place to be and while Ebony wouldn't necessarily say that she had many friends at Hogwarts, she would say that she wasn't lonely. At least at Hogwarts people smiled at her, made her smile and well she just felt comfortable there. At Hogwarts, she could breathe and let her guard down, relax. At Hogwarts, she was home.

She crawled across the room to her bed and pulled her school trunk out from under it. She opened it and rummaged around until she found her scarf. The red and gold wool was soft on her fingers and she held it up to her face to breathe in its scent, to calm her self. The smell made her think of the common room. The crackling of the fire. The laughter that always seemed to be there, most likely the result of the Weasley twins. Oliver Wood's endless talk of Quidditch. Neville and his plants.

Neville, he was the only person who Ebony could call a friend which amused her since, he of all people, should hate her the most. But he didn't. She wasn't quite sure how the whole friendship started, he understandably seemed wary of her at first but then, by some miracle, they ended up becoming quite close. they would stay up in the common room at night, both of them troubled by nightmares that neither wanted to talk about. But they would talk about other things, about everything from food to their deepest fears.

Ebony thought of his smile. His eyes. Merlin, she could get lost in them. The way he tapped his wand against his knee when he was thinking. She'd never had a friend like him before. If her parents ever found out they would be furious. But they wouldn't, she would make sure of it. She would protect him at all costs.

Ebony found herself snapped out of her daydream by the slamming of a door. The house had finally fallen silent. She breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could finally get some sleep. She folded her scarf back into the trunk and shoved it under the bed. Her parents didn't like seeing her school trunk, it reminded them how much of a disappointment their only daughter was.

Climbing into bed Ebony found herself still smiling at the thought of home.