There was nothing around her except for darkness. She fell through the black, falling farther and farther into the abyss of her mind. Layla waited, knowing that she would hit the bottom soon. Yet she never did. Just when she was certain that she couldn't fall much farther, that she had to land soon, the sound of someone kicking a trunk and the soft cussing that followed it woke her. The door opened and closed softly as whoever had tripped left the room.
Almost instantly, she realized that she was in an unfamiliar place; the sights, sounds, and smells were all different, and they triggered her internal alarms. Merely a second later, she was standing on her bed, having thrown off her covers and jumped up at a remarkable speed. Her eyes instantly adjusted to the darkness, and she realized that she was in her four-poster bed, with the curtains shielding her from the rest of the world. Mentally berating herself for panicking so quickly, Layla pulled back the crimson curtains, noticing that their color reminded her of blood. Wincing slightly at the thought, she peered at the clock beside her bed. It was just after six. She paused for a moment, silently debating whether or not school was really important, but realized that she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. A stream of cuss words in French issued from her mouth as she trudged towards a light that she assumed was a beacon directing her towards the bathroom. After a quick shower, she felt a bit more alive, and dressed in her new uniform.
As she looked at herself in the mirror, she realized that she was in an outfit very similar to the one that she had worn at her old school in France. A white button-up shirt covered her upper half, mostly covered by a plain grey vest, and tucked neatly into a knee-length grey skirt. Boring white stockings, shiny black shoes with a silver buckle, and a black cloak with the Gryffindor emblem finished off the outfit. She frowned at her reflection, and then turned her attention towards the striped red and gold tie in her hand. A few minutes later, her tie hung loosely around her neck; another one that she had retrieved from her trunk was around her waist as a makeshift belt. Her shirt now hung out of her waistband, since it was only tucked in on the sides.
Glancing at the clock again, she saw that forty-five minutes had passed. The curtains on Ren's bed were still drawn shut.
"Not fair," she muttered as she trudged over to her sister's bed. "I had to wake up early."
She pulled back the curtains and looked at her sister, surprised for a moment at how peaceful she looked. She didn't want to wake her up, but they couldn't be late for classes on their first day; it would make a bad impression. Layla shook her sister's shoulder gently. "Wake up, Ren." Ren blinked groggily at her, looking confused. "Everyone else is gone; we can't be late our first day."
For a minute, Ren just stared at her, as if thinking about something. "I'm coming," she muttered, sitting up.
Layla headed back to the bathroom. After quickly running a brush through her hair, she pulled her long black hair into a messy bun, and gave herself a final look-over. She didn't really care what people thought of her, but she was in a rather self-conscious mood and had to feel that she looked good, even if she was the only person who though so.
"Hurry up," Layla called, poking her head of the bathroom to make sure her sister was moving.
"I'm right here," Ren said somewhat angrily, entering the bathroom. Layla went back over to her trunk and got her bag ready, then did the same for her sister. She dropped the two bags by the door and waited impatiently, clearing her throat loudly every few minutes just for the effect.
"See? I can get ready just as well as you, and in less time." Ren came out of the bathroom wearing a slightly crumpled uniform, an aggravated look on her face. She took her bag from Layla, who was letting it swing in her hand in a bored manner. "Now let's go."
Layla followed her twin down the stairs, at a slightly slower pace. Now awake, Ren seemed to be full of energy. She almost walked into her sister when they reached the bottom of the spiral staircase, as Ren had stopped suddenly.
"Tu as l'air con," Layla muttered, but her sister didn't seem to hear her. Ren stared around the room, but Layla knew that they'd have time to stare later, if they so desired. She tugged on the sleeve of her sister's robe, and almost dragged her across the room.
As they stepped out of the portrait hole, Layla realized that both of them were too tired last night to notice where they had been walking. For a moment, she worried that they would be late solely because they would get lost, but then she noticed a few girls standing farther down the corridor. She bit her lip; though she had taken to Skye rather quickly, she usually didn't like to talk to people very often, and hated to ask favors of others. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized one of the girls in the assembly.
"Skye!" Layla called, walking towards her.
Skye turned and smiled at the twins, quickly excused herself from the group, and walked towards them, meeting Layla in the middle of the corridor; Ren was trailing behind slightly.
"Hey, you two," she said brightly. "I wasn't sure if you were gone or not yet. But sine we're together, let's go down to breakfast together."
"That'd be good; I was so tired last night I couldn't recall the way there if my life depended on it," Layla agreed. "I know my Ren doesn't know; I was practically carrying her to her bed."
"You were not," Ren protested, speaking for the first time since they had left the bedroom.
"Sure," Layla chuckled, ruffling her sister's hair fondly.
"Stop it," Ren said, pushing her sister's hand away. "Let's just go."
Layla's lips tilted downwards a little, stung by her sister's actions and harsh words. Nevertheless, she nodded slightly to her sister, silently acknowledging that she understood and would stop.
As Ren lagged behind, Layla and Skye talked about the lessons. Layla was pleased to discover that her sister and she would be slightly ahead of the students here, though not by much. Though she found the conversation quite interesting, she was deep in thought at the same time. She had always had a hard time opening up with people, or even holding a conversation with someone that she hadn't know for a long time. Skye, though, was surprisingly easy to talk to.
The three sat down in a few empty seats at the end of the Gryffindor table closest to the doors. The room was creepily empty, as most people had yet to go down for breakfast. Ren was staring up at the magical ceiling, which was grey and cloudy. She seemed to be lost in thought again.
McGonagall handed some pieces of parchments to a group of students clustered in the middle of the long table, and then walked towards the three loners at the end. She handed each one of them a schedule of classes from her stack of parchments, before going back down the table to where two girls had just sat down, and proceeded to give them their schedules, as well. Layla glanced down at hers, then looked up at her sister, to see if they had the same classes, though she was pretty sure they would. Ren was staring at the two girls McGonagall has just visited, her eyes never leaving the ones belonging to the redhead. Layla watched the silent, trance-like exchange, wondering what exactly was happening and what her sister was thinking.
"Are you two going to eat anything?" Skye asked, taking a bite out of the muffin in her hand.
"Sorry. What?" Ren asked, looking a bit disoriented.
"I asked if you were going to eat anything."
"Oh. I'm not really that hungry. I'll have some eggs though," Ren said, putting some onto her plate and surveying the Great Hall.
Layla drank a little from the flask on her waist before taking a muffin from the bowl in front of her. She shot a nasty glare at the bacon and sausage plate on her right before taking a bite. Trying to avoid falling asleep, she stared up at the enchanted ceiling, mesmerized by how realistic it looked.
"We should be going. Potions first," Skye said with a sigh. "Don't want to be late. Slughorn doesn't like me as it is."
"Why not?" Layla inquired, picking up her bag and putting it on her right shoulder in one smooth motion.
"Slughorn has a nasty habit of favoring students. Unfortunately, I'm not one of his favorites," Skye explained as the three walked out of the Great Hall, which was considerably more crowded now.
Layla, seeing that her sister was lagging behind again, grabbed her hand and gave it a tug. "Let's go, Ren," she said, trying not to voice her exasperation.
"All right, I'm coming," Ren sighed.
Walking down to the dungeons where Potions was held, Layla was rather surprised to discover just how cold and dark it was. She had guessed, by the name of the area, that it wouldn't be quite as pleasant as the upper portion of the school, but hadn't expected the intensity of it.
Torches sat crookedly in brackets spaced out on the wall, casting creepy shadows on the walls. The spacing between the torches was wide, leaving areas of the corridor that seemed to be almost filled with mist, caused by the flicker of light on either side of the students. At the end of the corridor, Skye lead the twins into the Potions classroom. Two rows of battered tables, each with an assortment of holes and burns, ran perpendicular to the door. At the front of the room, a few feet to their right, was Slughorn's desk, behind which was a large blackboard. Beside it, his cauldron held a simmering concoction, which Layla quickly identified as a Befuddlement Potion.
Skye quickly walked to a table at the back, and Layla followed, Ren right behind her. Layla ended up sitting beside Skye at the table farthest from the door, and Ren sat right in front of them with a girl from Ravenclaw.
Five minutes after class had officially begun, Professor Slughorn still hadn't appeared. The chatter of her classmates filled the room, and Layla shot Skye a questioning look.
"Slughorn likes to be dramatic. He always starts class late on the first day," she explained.
Layla's ears caught a faint wheezing sound about a minute before anyone else in the class did, with the exception of her sister. Both of the sisters looked towards the door and stared, waiting. The other students, when they finally heard it, grew silent and slouched down in their seats. As the noise coming from the corridor grew louder, Layla tried to gather what information she could of the person. A fat, aging man was the best impression she could make, and it turned out to be quite accurate as Professor Slughorn came into the room.
His outfit was entirely maroon, with brass buttons on the vest and suit. Layla was given the impression of an overly ripe raspberry, and tried not to laugh, as that certainly wouldn't put her at the top of Slughorn's list. His head had only a few wisps of hair left, and they were a graying blond. A large mustache hung down his chubby face, outlining his large mouth.
The professor surveyed the room for a moment, before waddling over to his desk and picking up a piece of parchment. Layla again was forced to stifle a laugh, this time as she was reminded of a penguin walking. Calling out the students' names, Layla realized just how right Skye had been; Slughorn was very biased. Some students he greeted eagerly with a bright smile, while others, like Skye, he just nodded at. He shot inquiring looks at Ren and Layla, when he reached them, as if he was looking over horses to determine whether or not they had good qualities that would make him a profit if he were to sell them. Layla met his eyes with a defiant glare, not appreciating the way that he looked at her and her older sister at all. Despite the fact that she was the younger twin, she felt a fierce protectiveness over her sister.
Professor Slughorn spent the entire period talking about what he expected of them, the importance of OWLs, and what they would cover this year. Layla struggled to not fall asleep, feeling quite disappointed. Though she didn't care whether or not she did well in school, she loved learning, and usually loved her classes. She hated when a good class was ruined for her by a boring teacher.
"That class seems lackluster," Layla sighed after they were dismissed.
"Le vieux garçon," Ren said sarcastically to her, and Layla bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"It'll pick up," Skye said, looking a bit left out as she hadn't understood what Ren had just said. "He generally is a bore, though; he's especially fond of the Slytherin students, since he's the Head of the house, but he gets attached to a lot of students."
"Does he like you?" Layla asked her, though she had already guessed the answer, by the way Slughorn had greeted her in class.
"Not especially, but he's got nothing against me, either," Skye replied, shrugging.
"It's not like it matters, does it?" Ren said in a bored voice.
"No, I suppose not."
"Problem solved."
Layla resisted the urge to hit her sister upside the head. Skye looked kind of downhearted, as Ren showed absolutely no signs of liking her, and she had just tried to be friendly. Layla put an arm around Skye's shoulders and gave her a small hug, coaxing a smile out of the girl.
The rest of the day passed without much excitement. Defense Against the Dark Arts passed similarly to Potions, in that notes were copied from the blackboard. Professor Daniels, the DADA teacher, was a calm person of Middle Eastern descent, and a kid at heart, though he was nearing the top of the hill. He was nice enough, but Layla saw a large silver cross hanging from his neck and he instantly dropped a little in her book. Neither her sister nor her were raised to be religious, but she had developed something that her sister hadn't over the years; an utter hatred of religion in general. Layla could tolerate people who had religions, but the more religious they were, the less she could stand them. She planned on having a debate with him one day over the existence, or lack thereof, of a god. She also decided that she would debate with him about how the way people taught about werewolves and vampires was deceiving and needed to be rethought.
Transfiguration passed the same way as the previous two classes, with notes and a discussion over the importance of OWLs. McGonagall had a commanding presence about her, as she stood in the front of the room in neat black robes, her dark hair pulled back from her face in a tight bun. Layla could tell that she was a good teacher, and that the class would be enjoyable.
By dinnertime, Layla felt much more comfortable in the castle. She was learning how to get between her classes, and loved the medieval feel the place had. She planned on exploring the castle grounds on the weekend; Hogwarts was quickly feeling like a home. Her old school in France had taken much longer to adjust to, but Layla knew that she would probably never fully get rid of her homesickness.
Dinner in itself was a nice affair. It wasn't as elaborate as the feast last night, but that had been a special occasion; though surviving your first day of classes could also be considered an occasion worth celebrating. The food took some getting used to, but Layla had always loved trying new foods, as long as they weren't meat.
"J'ai les dents de fond qui baignent," Ren said with a content sigh, as the food vanished from the tables.
"Toute famille a son bâfreur," Layla said, laughing softly; she loved teasing her sister. Ren gave her a sleepy glare, which only made her laugh more.
The three followed most of the other Gryffindors as they went up to the Common Room. It was a good place to study and do homework in, as it provided a warm, rather calm environment. Various little groups of people would sit around the room, occasionally bursting into laughter, receiving curious glances from other groups as they did this. Layla found it rather amusing to watch the people in the room.
Skye was finishing up the last of her homework as Ren showed Layla a passage in one of their books that she found amusing. Suddenly, Ren looked up and froze, her mouth dropping open the slightest bit. Layla followed her gaze to the redheaded girl that Ren had been staring at during breakfast. She watched her sister, trying to figure out her thoughts, but Ren shook her head and looked back at the book before Layla could figure out what was happening.
About half an hour later, as Skye and the twins headed up, Layla noticed her sister lagging behind again, staring at the same girl as before. They made eye contact again, just like at breakfast, before Ren's feet carried her unwillingly away from the connection. Layla shook her head, still confused, and headed up to bed.
As she curled up in a ball underneath her blankets, she wondered if the dream she had the night before would continue, and show her some clarity.