CHAPTER TWO
"Miss. Serpico, ah yes please come in and have a seat," Professor Mcgonagall looked up from a stack of papers, peering over her glasses.
"Good morning," I sat in the chair opposite of her.
"I have spent the past hour looking over papers from your previous school and tutors. I must ask, what does CHE stand for?"
I laughed lightly, finding it funny my parents would transfer those courses as well to a school of magic. "That stands for chemistry, it's a course code. I took one college course at a university near my home last year."
"And besides that, you went to a private muggle school? You also had tutors for magical courses?" She asked.
"Yes, my father thought it important to maintain the schooling I started when I was young, so they kept me in the private school even after starting to have magical tutors come to our house."
"And you never attended Ilvermorny?" Her eyebrow raised.
"No," I said slowly. "My father likes to keep an eye on his kids, it would be a bit hard to explain to the ones watching."
Something about my face must have deterred her from asking further. She cleared her throat looking back down at the paper in her hand. "You have outstanding marks in both your muggle schooling and with tutors. How long have you had private tutors for magic?"
"Since I was about 7, when I first started showing signs of magic," I answered.
"You are well versed, it seems you learned an adequate amount to maintain the same learning level as others of your year. Do you know what kind of electives you were looking to take here?" Her eyebrows raised, studying me.
"I would love to take Alchemy, not just because Uncle G- Professor Passerini- is teaching it, but because it is a genuine interest of mine. I also would like to take potions if that is possible. I read that I needed very high marks in my previous year so I don't know if they translate the same way but-" I trailed off with the argument I had prepared to convince her to let me take potions when I realized I didn't need to convince her, as she was already inking in "Potions" into a first period slot.
"Both your uncle and your mother were very advanced in Potions," she smiled at me as she looked up.
"I know," I grinned back. "He taught chemistry at muggle schools, too."
"Professor Slughorn will be delighted to have you in his class."
We went over a few more elective options, and she described the standard courses sixth years take that I would be attending, before she handed me the piece of paper and wished me luck on my first day.
I wanted to say hi to Uncle Gio before first period- double potions with Gryffindor. Nocturn was waiting in the rafters for my return from Professor Mcgonagall's office.
"Hey bud," I called to him, gesturing for him to come down towards me, as I set off in the direction Professor Mcgonagall had mapped out to be towards where my uncle's office was.
I always had to tell my no-maj friends back home that Nocturn was a rescue, as they would tease me that 'daddy would find a unicorn to give to me if I asked'. I'd always thought to myself that it was actually my mom who had more of an idea where unicorns would be.
"There she is," Uncle Gio looked up from the front of the room as I walked in.
"Hi Uncle Gio," I smiled, grabbing him into a hug, Nocturn flying from my arm to wait out the embrace.
"I told your mom an owl was a good idea." He eyed my owl, smirking.
"Eh, he's alright," I joked, sitting on the corner of a desk.
"Slytherin, huh?" He raised his eyebrows at me, smiling wide.
"I can't escape the Serpico name even in a different country," I laughed.
"The Italian serpent," he laughed. "I don't think that's it though. There had to be more than that for the hat to place you there. Nothing wrong with that, it's a good house. Don't let anyone bully you into thinking otherwise."
"The hat debated Ravenclaw before finally settling on Slytherin," I kicked my feet lightly, watching his expression.
"Cunning, like your father. That's what put you in Slytherin," He winked.
"I think it may be my fault Roman was placed in there, though. When the hat was on my head all I was thinking was that I hoped I'd be in the same house as him. Maybe he should have gone first."
"My guess is your brother thought the same thing as you did, it wouldn't have mattered who went first," He reassured me. "Slytherin needs someone like you anyway. Maybe the hat knew that and threw a curveball."
I laughed, "I'm not Nicholas Serpico's daughter in England Uncle Gio, someone 'like me' doesn't mean much."
"Now that is not true, and as much as your father pisses me off, you and I both know he would never accept that kind of talk. You have a good heart," His words were stern, but warm and friendly like they always were.
His green eyes looked just like my mothers, and mine for that matter. A trait that ran in the Passerini's. It was comforting having a piece of home here with Roman and I.
We talked a little longer, he asked what classes I would be taking- other than his of course- and what times I had open. We settled on meeting in the courtyard after classes with Roman, to talk about the day, giving me something to look forward to. When it was almost time for first period, and some seventh years started wandering into Uncle Gio's classroom, I gave him a quick hug, put my arm out for Nocturn to return onto, and headed to Potions with Professor Slughorn and the Gryffindors.
I walked into the classroom, where I was greeted by who I figured was Professor Slughorn. He asked if I was the niece of Giovanni Passerini, and when I confirmed, his face broke out into a huge smile as he told me how much he loved my uncle and my mother, that they were wonderful students, both worthy of the wall- whatever that meant. He pointed to a shelf where I could grab a book, but I declined, showing a book I had already bought- possibly presumptive considering I wasn't even sure if they would let me take the class. But, no wasn't the answer I was looking for.
I made my way to what looked like an open spot before I heard my name- well almost my name being called to the right of me.
"Virtually-never- Selena!" Theo grinned from a chair. "Don't be shy come sit with us!"
The tables held four lab sets, and all four of theirs were filled with Slytherins, all of whom I recognized from the great hall, all who had been sitting with Theo the night prior. Including the pale blonde haired boy, but this time, I could see his face.
I locked eyes with him, his face was hard, and hard to read. He definitely didn't pretend to put on a friendly face. Neither did the girl next to him either, to be fair. The dark boy kept his attention on his book, not bothering to look over.
"Right, because it looks like there is so much room over there. I'm okay here," I shrugged to the open seat I had eyed before. "Thank you, Theo."
He smirked and sat back into his seat, still watching me. I looked back at the boy with white blonde hair, but he had returned his gaze to the beaker and cauldron in front of him.
I sat, and placed my book, and a notebook- which I had already started to fill with some notes- in front of me, and looked up to see who was occupying the seat next to me. A girl with big, brown curls, her nose inside her book.
"Hi," I smiled, trying to catch her attention.
She looked up and blinked, as if surprised I was talking to her. "Oh, hi," She replied, a small smile on her face, still eyeing me.
"I couldn't help but notice you have notes in your book already," I smiled sheepishly, and then lifted up my notebook to show her that mine matched.
This time her eyes went wide and she smiled big "Really? You got a head start as well? Did you think the O.W.L.S. were difficult last semester- actually, I've never seen you before, have I?"
"I'm new, my mother and uncle went to this school growing up, but my mother moved to America right after she graduated. But yes, I had loads of tutors before I came here, I always like to get a head start."
"I'm Hermione," She held her hand out.
"Holy shit! I'm sorry," I laughed, shaking her hand. "I read about you! I've heard you're the brightest witch of our age. I didn't think I'd be lucky enough to meet you, this is so cool!"
She blushed, laughing. "I just really like to read, that's all."
"Me too," I grinned. "Hey, would you ever be interested in studying with me? I would absolutely love to have someone to read and go back and forth with."
"Sure, I would like that-?" She turned her head to the side and I realized I never told her my name.
"Oh, duh sorry, I'm Sil."
"That's the girl I was talking about!" Theo sat back down across from me, huffing over another topic I didn't care to hear about.
"That's the girl all you boys are talking about," Pansy rolled her eyes next to me.
"Jealous Pans?" Theo sneered.
"Hardly, she just has the 'shiny new toy' effect. It's like in fourth year, when the Baeuxbaton girls were new here." Pansy remarked, shrugging her shoulders.
I eyed the new girl, "Sitting next to the mudblood, clearly she has poor taste." My voice was flat.
"Oh come on, she just doesn't know who she is, we'll just have to show her the right crowd, eh Draco?" Theo snickered, looking at me.
"Who said she's even pureblood?" Pansy countered.
"She's not," Blaise chimed in for the first time, keeping his eyes on whatever he had been reading. "Her uncle is Professor Passerini, though."
"How do you know?" Theo inquired.
Blaise looked up to make a face at Theo, "If your blood didn't spend so much time in your dick maybe you'd know some stuff too, Theo. For starters, her Uncle's last name is Passerini, and her last name is Serpico. Considering neither of those are names of the sacred 28, I would say one plus one does in fact equal two. She's Italian, my mother knows her mother. Her mothers side has magic, her father is a muggle. He runs some business in America, my mother mentioned something about it over summer."
"Okay, so not pure blood. She's still hot," Theo grinned a dumb grin, as Blaise rolled his eyes and went back to reading.
I looked back at the new girl, maybe I'd hit on her just to piss off Theo. If this was last year, it wouldn't be a maybe. I would, and not even to just piss off Theo, although that is always a bonus. She was cute. But, I just didn't care anymore. I had too much to do, and too little time to do it. I closed my eyes, and breathed to calm myself, as I felt Pansy put a hand lightly on my leg form beside me. Fuck Theo and not having to care about anything. And fuck that new girl, who the fuck would come here to go to school when the world is on the brink of war? And also, fuck the mudblood sitting next to her.
The first week flew by, mountains of homework already piling up, but nothing I couldn't handle. Roman and I had met with Uncle Gio everyday after classes in the courtyard, eating peanut butter crackers- mom packed for Roman- and talking about our classes. Roman was excited, and making a lot of friends, as I knew he would. I, on the other hand, was having a harder time making friends. I hung around Hermione in the classes we had together, where she introduced me to Harry Potter himself. He was nice, as was their friend Ron, who they also introduced me to. The only friend that I had made from Slytherin, if you could even call him that, was Theo. His friend, whose name I found out to be Blaise, also turned out to be okay. Like my family, his family was from Italy, and he said his mother knew my mother. My mother failed to mention she knew someone with a kid my age, so I figured she didn't know either. Blaise was intelligent, but seemed bored a lot. I was intimidated by the girls my age as well, not sure what kind of common ground to look for. Back home, the friends I had didn't have magic. And whereas that had made me feel alienated there for having to hide a big part of myself, I now felt alienated here because I was so used to no-maj activities and life. This one girl Pansy, who was often hanging around Blaise and Theo gave me dirty looks whenever I said hi. And the boy with the white blonde hair, Draco, really seemed disgusted by my general presence as well, so I felt uncomfortable sitting with Theo and Blaise in the great hall.
It was Friday night, and I sat next to the window in the Slytherin common room reading a book. It was quiet, a little after eleven and the only other student who was sharing the common room so late had retired to their dormitory about 20 minutes ago. I had just decided on another chapter, Nocturn, sitting by my feet, when Theo, Blaise, and Draco came down the stairs, smirking to one another as a bottle was passed between them.
"Look who we have here," Theo smirked, taking a big swig out of the bottle.
"Gentleman, behaving are we?" I smirked, pretending to keep my attention on the book in front of me.
"Come on American, I heard about the parties your kind has, don't act like you're above it," Blaise smiled, must have been feeling loosened up from the whiskey.
"My kind," I laughed, "My kind doesn't get drunk off a couple small sips of whiskey." My face twisted into a fake pout.
"Cute, but this isn't our first bottle."
I think that was the first time I had heard Draco speak, especially directed towards me. After spending the last week pretending I basically did not exist, I was surprised he was even looking at me.
"Ah, gossiping about kissing boys upstairs?" I looked directly at him, holding his eye contact.
"Sounds like a topic you know a little about," Theo winked.
Draco extended his arm that was holding the bottle towards me. "I don't think we've been properly introduced."
I took the bottle, which I was hoping was his peace offering. "Sil," I offered, before bringing the bottle to my lips.
"Draco," A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.
"So Miss. America," Theo plopped on one of the couches close to where I was sitting. "You never did tell me why you were here."
"What a welcoming way to word that, Theo," Blaise rolled his eyes, drinking from the bottle I passed along to him. "But why are you here?"
"My uncle and mom went to this school, they were born and raised in Italy. Mom graduated, and went to America to visit the land of the free. Expecting fully to come back until she met father dearest. Let's just say my dad has a very convincing nature." I grabbed the bottle Draco was handing to me.
"I heard your dads a mobster," Theo smiled big.
"Theo!" Blaise threw one of the decorative pillows towards him.
I laughed awkwardly, handing the bottle to Draco. "It's alright, I don't mind. People would ask me this a lot back home, too. The family prefers to call it Organized Crime," I threw up my hands to emphasize quotations over the phrase.
"Your dad's a muggle?" Draco asked, handing me the bottle again.
"Yeah, no magic in his family at all. But, you'd be surprised at how much power they hold." I chewed on the inside of my lip, thinking out loud.
"Doubtful," Draco scoffed, handing me back the bottle.
I looked over at him, and there was that stone cold look once again.
"Says someone who has never met my father," I eyed him.
"I thought my father was powerful too," he took a swig of the bottle. "It doesn't mean shit though really, does it? At least my father isn't a muggle."
"I don't think magic is the determining factor of someone's worth, or level of power for that matter." I retorted, shoving the bottle back towards him.
"Then I guess it's true what they say about Americans and their intelligence," He smiled cruelly, handing the bottle back towards me.
"Yeah? And you're not even American, so what's your excuse for your lack of intelligence?" I mirrored his stupid fucking smile after taking another swig, and handing the bottle back towards him.
Theo intercepted the bottle, reminding me that him and Blaise were even there. He looked like he was watching his favorite movie, his eyes flicking back and forth between Draco and I.
"Leave it to Draco, always knows how to impress the ladies," Blaise joined in, while Draco kept his eyes on me with that infuriating fucking smirk.
"No, no, this was fun." Draco drawled, standing from the chair he had been sitting in. "We should do it again some time."
He winked at me, and I made a face at him, feeling my lip twitch a bit.
"Where are you going Draco?" Blaise asked.
"I've got some work I need to do." He answered, moving towards the portrait hole.
I sat there, bewildered at what had just occurred. They told me not to worry about Draco, that he gets in moods and can be a dick head to pretty much everyone- including them. They both told me a bit about their families, as we continued drinking from the bottle together. Eventually it turned into a game of "Would You Rather" as we tried to out- do the ridiculousness of the last person.
Around 2 AM, Draco still hadn't returned, and we all stood to head to bed.
"Thanks for hanging out Miss. America," Blaise smiled at me, nudging me with his elbow as we all walked towards stairs.
"Thanks for infiltrating my peaceful night," I grinned.
"Next Friday though, we're playing truth or dare," Theo winked at me.
"I'm going to dare you to kiss Blaise, then." My eyebrows pulled together.
"Don't make me kiss this idiot, I'd rather kiss Goyle." Blaise made a face. "On second thought, no actually, I really wouldn't."
I laughed and bid them both a goodnight before turning to head to my dormitory, hearing them banter at each other as their voices faded from ear shot. It turned out to be a really fun night and I was happy to have company for the first time in the Slytherin common room.
So why, when I laid in my bed and closed my eyes for the night, did that stone cold face and pale blonde hair flash through my mind?
