...Hogwarts...
Tom leads me through the crowded station one arm wrapped around me protectively. "Pay attention Aniela." he hisses. We go through a wall onto the platform where a bright red train awaits. I stare at it. "It's so pretty." I gasp. "Come on, onto the pretty train we go." Tom leads me onto the train. We stow our things away. It's only then that I notice the people staring. I hide behind Tom.
"You've been modeling, singing, acting and the like for nearly three years but you still get so shy." Tom laughs. "It was a boy." I hiss. Tom looks out the window where the boy is still staring. His smile widens. "Ah, that little sister is Avery, Andrew Avery." Tom chuckles waving the boy inside. "Avery! This is my little sister, Aniela. Aniela say hello to Avery." Tom waves the blonde boy inside. Tossing his blonde hair out of his electric blue orbs he outstretches a hand.
I take it and we shake. I turn to give Ailia a treat while the two talk. I can feel them glance my way every now and again. I look out the window and squeal in delight. "I'm going to say hi to a friend. I'll be right back." I kiss Tom's cheek and skip from the compartment. I hop off the train and race right into the arms of Alana Rosier, my best friend. Just last year she began working in the same field as me. We jump around excitedly in each other's arms ignoring everyone around us.
"I've missed you doll!" Alana smiles tossing back her caramel brown hair her ice blue eyes shining brightly. "I missed you too!" I giggle. We take her things onboard and put them away. "By the way, I saw you with your brother. You were so distracted by everything around you and you nearly ran into a wall." she smiles. "I can't help it. The train is gorgeous, isn't it?" I wave my hands in the air elegantly and we start laughing. We sit and talk about what the year could possibly have in store for us.
I watch quietly as everyone is sorted. "Aniela Riddle." the man at the front calls. I walk carefully to the stool as he places the sorting hat on my head. I wait patiently ignoring everyone's stares. "Slytherin!" the hat yells after ten seconds. I take the hat off and hand it back to the professor. I skip over to the Slytherin table and hug Tom. He chuckles and pinches my cheek. "Welcome to Slytherin house little sister." he whispers.
I'm lying on the common room floor doing my homework with my friends when Tom and his friends walk in. I don't look up from my transfigurations essay. "Hard at work?" Tom asks sitting on a nearby couch. I nod deep in a vast sea of words. "Dumbledore issued a 12-page essay, due next class." Alana yawns. "It looks more like you girls are beginning to doze off." Tom laughs. I look up and sure enough my friends are on the verge of passing out.
Alana's head keeps drifting and bumping into Keres Mulciber, Keres' eyes are closed and she's still scribbling away, Phoebe Lestrange is staring dazedly at her quill, and Macy Nott is yawning widely. I laugh to myself and nudge them. "It's nearly midnight. Why don't you girls head to bed." Tom whispers to me. I nod stifling a yawn of my own. "But we haven't finished our papers." Keres complains half-heartedly. I roll my eyes. I lead them to our dorm and make sure they're all tucked in before I allow myself to go to bed.
I wake in the morning to find them all in my bed. I brush Keres honey yellow hair out of her face and nudge her. She groans and sits up. She nudges Alana and Phoebe who also sit up while I wake Macy. Macy hands me her brush and I set to work brushing out mahogany red hair and putting it in a French braid. Alana has set to work on Phoebe's mess of black curls.
Macy eyes mint green eyes take in the braid with a happy glint. Phoebe's ink black eyes take in her surroundings with a trace of tiredness lurking in the shadows. I smile to myself and turn to Keres whose cobalt blue eyes are watching me. "We didn't finish the essay." she whispers. I shake my head. "Tom said it was around midnight and sent us all to bed. Shame really. Though it wasn't all bad. You were scribbling away while you were dozing." I giggle.
Keres gasps and searches for her essay. I watch in mute fascination. She finally digs her essay out of her bag and falls to the ground dramatically. "Come on. We still have time to fix it." I laugh helping her to her feet. We dress and head up to breakfast.
Tom ruffles my hair. "Your nose is almost touching the page of that book Aniela." he tuts. "So, someone sent me off to bed last night. I still have 10 whole pages to do." I complain. "That's because your writing is so tiny. What looks like a paragraph to most is actually 4 pages in anyone else's handwriting." Tom nudges me. I roll y eyes and show him my paper. "That a girl." he teases reading my paper.
I watch his reaction for any signs that my paper thus far is terrible. He points at a paragraph I wrote yesterday. "You got this wrong, but it's really simple. Why?" he asks. I look at the section and huff. "I was writing while I was walking through the library and ran into Minerva." I mumble. Tom's smile widens. "And what happened?" he wonders his curiosity peeping through his normally bored attitude. "She said I should be used to watching where I was going and that if I couldn't multitask, I shouldn't walk and write. Which totally isn't fair. I was already reading up for History of Magic, Potions, and Charms all at the same time." I pout starting to get upset again.
Alana glances at me and then Tom with worry. He nods calmly at her. She relaxes and turns back to her breakfast. "Aniela." he whispers. I look at my nails examining them. "Yes?" I whisper after a minute. "You lit your paper on fire." he laughs. I look at my paper which is burning at the speed of light. I stare in horror. I whimper as my paper is reduced to ashes before my eyes.
Keres snickers but I ignore her. "Aniela, why don't you ask Avery for help? He's good at transfigurations and can help you." Tom suggests. "Avery... Avery?" I mumble still poking at the ashes that are my paper. Tom lifts my chin and turns my head so I'm looking past him to the blonde boy from the train. I tilt my head thinking for a minute then gasp. "You can help me?!" I stare at him like he's the most fascinating thing in the room.
He looks to Tom for help but Alana beats him to it. She reaches over the table and smacks my arm. "What?" I ask so innocently that Tom chokes on his pumpkin juice. "My brain feels broken." Avery mumbles. "You were using your alluring smile on him." Alana tsks. I stare at the ceiling. "My apologies." I nod at Avery.
I skip into the library and look around. Avery is sitting by a window. I sit next to him. I place my elbow on the table and put my head on my hands. I tap his shoulder then give him a dazzling smile as he turns around. He starts to stammer and I laugh. "I'm only teasing. Tom said you could help me. He's right, isn't he? You can help me?" I ask still unsure. "Aniela, are you doubting me?" he asks. "Why of course." I blink at him. This makes him laugh and he starts to get to his feet.
I pull him back down. "I'm only teasing. Now please help me." I smile. He mutters to himself but sits back down as I pull out my book, parchment, ink, and quill. I scoot closer and start writing. After 30 minutes I feel him staring and laughing. "Yes?" I ask not looking up. "Oh, nothing. Its just Tom was right. You really do fit several pages of words into a few paragraphs." he chuckles. I look up into his eyes.
He turns to look at me and pauses. We sit there staring at each other for what feels like forever. I clear my throat and look away first feeling a blush rising on my cheeks. "Is my writing really that small?" I wonder. He laughs and shakes his head. "Really small handwriting. It's amazing really. Such small handwriting for someone with a big personality." he laughs. We return to my essay and finish just before midnight.
I yawn tiredly and stumble. Avery sighs and bends down guiding me onto his back. He stands and makes sure I have a good grip. I put my head on his as he gives me a piggy back ride down to the common room. "I thought you were just helping her with her paper, not boring her until she fell asleep!" I hear Tom chuckle. "I didn't bore her. Hell, she spent half the time teasing me just like you do. She's a perfectionist you know. That's why we missed dinner." Avery groans.
I hear the door open. "You're lucky the house elves are so considerate. You still haven't gotten her off your back yet Avery?" I hear Alana's brother chuckle. "Don't worry, she'll wake when she smells the food. Or, she could be faking it and is already awake. Aniela time to get up." Tom's voice is much closer now.
I feel Tom tap my shoulder. I groan and slowly open my eyes. My arms are wrapped tightly around Avery who is focused on the plate of sandwiches in Rosier's hands. I quickly unwrap myself and hide behind Tom. "Curious reaction." Rosier chuckles. I grab my bag and snatch the plate before racing off to my dorm leaving them standing there dumbfounded.
I eat while I read over a few new job requests I received. I fall asleep sitting up and going through the requests. Alana nudges me awake in the morning. "Hey sleepy girl." she whispers. I jump sending papers flying and she giggles. I gather the papers and pinch her cheek. "It's not my fault you fell asleep working." she pouts rubbing her cheek.
I finish reading over the requests while I eat breakfast. Phoebe and Macy read over my shoulder. "Are you going to do all of these?" Macy gasps. "Heavens no, some of these are Alana's. She sent her owl off with messages for her family." I explain. "What jobs are you taking then?" Keres wonders.
"There's a clothing company I really like and they need to get the spring/ summer pictures done. I also really like the script I got for a small movie part but Alana doesn't want to go with me." I sigh as if I've just experienced a great loss. She tuts at me like Ms. Jones would. "You can't always just go to whatever auditions and jobs I go to." she states. I know she's right but I get the feeling that if I go by myself something will happen to me.
I send the list of auditions and jobs we'd like off with Ailia. "What did you do before Alana got into the business?" Keres smiles. I tilt my head trying to remember. "Ms. Jones took me, but it's always fun going with a friend." I look at Alana with puppy dog eyes. She looks away and moves down the table to talk to her brother. "Which job is she taking?" Phoebe wonders. "A first kiss scene with Jesse Brown in a sitcom." I roll my eyes.
Keres drops the juice pitcher of juice she's holding. "JESSE BROWN!" she screeches. I nod. "Aniela doesn't like him right now because he took the last slice of cookie cake at a party. They bicker like this all the time. The time before last Aniela took his favorite jacket and his sandwich." Alana scoffs cleaning up the mess. I dance happily in my seat. Keres stares at me.
Macy smacks the back of my head. "What?!" I whine. "Is it possible that you just don't realize how lucky you are sometimes?" she demands. "Did you want the jacket? It's in my trunk if you..." I don't get a chance to finish. She jumps up and takes off like a bat out of hell. "I'm absolutely sure the dorm will be a mess if we leave her by herself." Alana sighs getting to her feet. "Oh, I nearly forgot. I asked him to send them autographed photos of himself, but I hid them in your trunk." I smirk. Keres and Phoebe jump to their feet and take off running Alana racing behind them telling them to calm down.
Jesse's smiling charcoal gray eyes stare at me from across the dorm where it lies on Keres' pillow. She's decided this is the only way she put it to good use is by sleeping with it every night. I flick my wand at her bed and her curtains slam shut blocking Jesse from view. To my displeasure he moves into Phoebe's signed photo high-fiving himself. I pretend to hurl my book at him and they dive out of the picture.
I fling myself onto my bed and start memorizing the script for a movie I'm going to be in. Keres skips in merrily and spins all the way to her bed. "Where's Jesse?!" she shrieks. I point to Phoebe's picture on the wall. All three Jesse's are pointing at me and pouting. "Staring is rude!" I snap at them raising my script. They dive cinnamon brown hair flying. "Don't be mean to them. They meant no harm." Keres insists.
"No need to get snippy. I was just trying to memorize lines. Kind of hard to work in peace when they're all staring and pointing." I frown. She coaxes the three Jesse's into her photo and closes the curtains. I hear her humming and jump up. "Keres my little darling!" I call sweetly. I hear her shudder. "Do you want to go to a musical audition with me?!" I ask. She falls out of her bed. "Never mind if you hate the idea that much." I turn to go back to my own bed.
She tackles me and I shriek. She starts peppering my face with kisses and I squirm trying to unseat her. "I thought you'd be my sugar momma for life but I'll take you, Jesse, and the job!" she giggles. Alana and Macy burst in and I call out for help. Phoebe hurries in after them and they help me. I tear out of the room and hide behind Tom who has just walked in. Keres chases after me and pauses when she sees Tom.
"Are you going to keep hiding sugar momma, Tom?" she asks sweetly. I pretend to gag and see Tom fighting a smile. "Help me! She wants me, Jesse and the audition I offered." I tug his sleeve. "By all means." he chuckles moving to reveal me. I smack his arm before running away from Keres. "Oh, please come back! I just want to treasure you!" she whines as she chases me around the common room.
At dinner that night I have Macy sit in between us for safety reasons. "Alana, sugar momma number one is being mean!" Keres whines. "Sugar momma number 1?" Alana laughs. "Yeah, you're sugar momma number 2." Keres winks seductively. Alana and I both shudder and groan.
Mr. Wilson agrees to let Keres audition with me as long as I teach her the basics. We use the empty music classroom at the end of each day. Kere's voice is lovely but I think she could do something with much more soul if she wanted to. When I bring this up, she's hesitant but after sending a few letters to Ms. Smith she gradually warms up to the idea. I take inspiration from some American jazz since it suits her more.
She damn near melts into the music and I smile. With the help of the music professor, who's in contact with Ms. Smith, we record Keres' voice and send it to her. "I look forward to having you girls in my music class in the future." she smiles as we clean up. I smile and look around "I love it in here, and I'm sure I'll love taking your class."
"Are you going to be working all break?" Tom asks leaning on the wall. "You could come with me and get out of here for a bit.", I offer, "They have amazing food on set." He chuckles and turns to look at me. "Are you afraid of going alone?" he hisses. I nod and look away. "I keep getting this eerie feeling that if I go alone something bad is going to happen to me and I might not..." I can no longer find the right words so I just pet Ailia. I can feel Tom's eyes searching my face.
"How long have you felt like this?" he demands dropping down to eye level. "About a year. Mr. Wilson knows. That's why I don't attend any schedules alone. I never told my friends though. Should I tell them?" I ask turning to Tom. He nods. "But only when you're ready. I'll go with you for now, ok?" he whispers. I nod and throw my arms around him. "What are you going to do when I graduate?" he wonders. "I don't know. I hadn't thought that far ahead. Maybe this ominous feeling will be gone by then." I sigh hopefully.
Tom ruffles my hair and smiles. "If this feeling doesn't go away, I may look into getting you a security escort or pick you up myself.", he pinches my cheek, "Let's go. You shouldn't be late." We let Mrs. Cole know we're leaving and head out. We make it to the shooting location super early. The staff have no problem with Tom staying so he opens a book to read while he waits. Ms. Williams sits across from me and smiles.
"You start school to study and wind up finding another talented little girl. Are you a human Niffler on top of a human Veela?" she teases. I shrug. "I wouldn't have known Keres was talented if she hadn't been humming at the time." I confess as Ms. Smith brings the clothes in. "Why hello there, Tom." she smiles politely at him as passes by. He nods politely and returns to his book.
"How's school so far Aniela?" Ms. Smith asks turning to examine me. "Good, I've accidentally burned a few papers." I blush. Tom chuckles. "It's not funny. It was terrible. I had rewrite the whole thing. 12 whole pages and Tom and our friends just watched." I pout. Ms. Smith and Ms. Wiliams burst out laughing.
I fold my arms and turn away. "I didn't come here to be teased I came here to work." I sniff. They double over with renewed laughter. I jump up and start looking through the clothes. Tom shoots me a smirk and I roll my eyes go change into the first outfit.
When I come out Tom looks up a disapproving look in his eyes. "No fussing." I mouth sitting in the styling chair so Ms. Williams can do my make-up. Ms. Smith starts to laugh and Ms. Williams turns to her. "Aren't the clothes pretty?" Ms. Smith bites her lip to stop a laugh from escaping. "My apologies, they are. I'm just used to going to her acting and singing performance." Tom replies smoothly.
"Nice save." I mumble as Ms. Williams adds a little color to my lips. He mumbles to himself while the women finish my hair make-up. When I'm done, I skip over to him. "Do I look pretty or what?" I ask twirling in an aspen gold apron dress with matching flats. "What." he replies coolly. I toss my head in the air and walk out to see if the photographer is ready for me.