PART ONE

CHAPTER THREE: COBÆEA

Reviews:

FosterJacksonPotter: oh, I forgot to specify... Thanks for reminding me :). It's in the Mauraders Era.

Word count: 1,225

ONTO THE FIRST CHAPTER!

Lilies were strange flowers.

They were beautiful, of course, but there was so much variety. Other flowers weren't like that. For example, roses were different colors (like red, white, pink, et cetera), but they all looked similar. But lilies were so different from one another, it was weird.

The same stood for Lily Evans.

Lily Evans was different from other humans. For one, she had stormed into Raven's compartment, ranting about some people to another boy. That was strange. It was like she had no idea that Raven and Hestia existed.

For another, there was something about her that just seemed different. If Hestia was like a candle, Lily Evans was like the sun; bright, radiant, and claiming everyone's attention without realizing it.

Lily had blushed darkly when she saw that Raven and Hestia were staring at her. Hestia looked concerned, but it looked like she was worried if Lily was all right and not her mental health status. Raven, on the other hand, had one eyebrow raised with her lips tilting up with amusement.

Lily had sat down on next to Raven, and the boy sat next to Hestia—without really asking. Normally, there would be some awkward silence after hearing a stranger rant like that, but Hestia just smiled at Lily and asked, "So, who annoyed you?"

Lily's long, fiery-red hair fell into her almond-shaped, emerald-green eyes, which narrowed in anger at Hestia's question—but the anger wasn't directed at Hestia herself. "Two boys," Lily spat in disgust. "They're awful."

The boy Lily came in with—Severus Snape, as Raven later learned—smirked at Lily's words. He had dark eyes that reminded Raven of a fish's—an intelligent fish, of course. He didn't particularly seem like an idiot.

Raven ignored him, and instead listened to Lily as she explained what atrocities hadshe been committed by those boys:

"First of all, they insulted Severus for wanting to be in Slytherin," She had scowled darkly as she said this. "Then, they insulted Severus's hair! As if theirs was any better; one looked like he hadn't brushed his in years!"

Raven quickly decided that whoever the two boys were, they both wanted to be Gryffindors. It wasn't because only Gryffindors hated Slytherins (from what she heard, most people hated Slytherins), but because Gryffindors had the strongest rivalry with them. She wasn't the type to judge people based off of others' descriptions (perspective was oftentimes different from reality), but she had to admit that them taunting Severus because he wanted to be a Slytherin irked her. Homophobia, racism, sexism—prejudice of any type, really; they were all incredibly foolish—irked her in general. She absolutely hated that they still existed, too; It was 1971; the end of such ridiculous ideas was long overdue.

But as for them insulting his hair... Well, if one of the boys looked like he hadn't brushed his in years, Severus looked he hadn't washed his in years. His hair was naturally dark black, but it was so greasy, it shone—and not in a good way. If Raven's hair ever got that oily, it would be because she was stuck in a desert with no water. She may have not been too particular about her appearance (so long as she was clean and dressed decently, she was fine; besides, she spent most of her time outside, anyway, so it was stupid to do something fancy with her looks because it would get messed up fast), but she didn't want to look like she had never heard of the miracle called shampoo.

Still, Hestia seemed a little more convinced of what Lily said than Raven.

"That's horrible!" she exclaimed. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be a Slytherin; it's just as good as any other houses." Then, she added, "Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Hestia Jones."

Lily had smiled at this. "I'm Lily Evans, and he's Severus Snape."

Raven muttered her name when everyone's eyes fell on her: "Raven Nightshade."

Raven recounted this as a boat took her, Lily, Hestia, and Severus to Hogwarts. Lily and Severus had to have known each other for a while; they were too close to have just met on the train. They were practically polar opposites, too; Lily was the epitome of an extrovert, whereas Severus was the most introverted introvert Raven had ever met—and that included her, herself. They did say opposites attracted, although this seemed a little extreme... But who was she to judge? Besides, it wasn't as if she cared if they were friends, after all; it couldn't possibly impact her, so why should she?

Before either could catch them staring at her, she quickly averted her eyes to the castle called Hogwarts. Despite its unflattering name (really, though; Hogwarts? Couldn't they think of anything better to name it?), Hogwarts was a truly majestic sight. It was made of stone, and six—maybe seven?—stories tall. The windows on the many towers and turrets glimmered merrily, reflecting the the starry night sky.

It's kind of ironic, Raven thought in amusement, that something so dark and endless would be naturally studded with millions of tiny diamonds that light even up. Ironic, but beautiful to think about. Very poetic. I ought to be a poet. I just need to figure out how to make it rhyme...

Everyone was silent. The only sound came from soft swishing of magically propelled boats on dark water. It was a mildly sedating, calming noise, like a lavender plant's sweet whisper. If it wouldn't make the boat tilt to the side, Raven would've dipped her fingers in.

"Heads down!" Raven heard the gamekeeper, Ogg, shout. Everyone did so, and the boats took them through the curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in a cliff. It took them through a dark tunnel to some sort of underground harbor. Everyone clambered out onto pebbles and rocks.

They shuffled up a passageway in the rock, using the light of Ogg's lamp—not that Raven needed it, since she was a heartless and had impeccable eyesight, but the other humans did, so...

Oh, my... It's so inconvenient to be human.

They finally came out onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle and walked up a flight of stone steps, crowding around a huge, oak front door when they reached the top.

"Everyone here?" Ogg checked, and when no one said anything, he raised a fist and knocked thrice on the castle door.

In the language of flowers, COBÆEAS represent gossip.

Okay, so that's done... Just a one thing:

When I ask for your favorite quote, I mean your favorite quote from the new chapter. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with giving your favorite quote from the whole book, but it helps so I know what people like to read.

Questions:

1. Favorite quote?

2. What do you think about the new cover?

And, remember; please review!

~Sarcasticsnark13