2 September 2011

Highlands of Scotland

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"Rosier! Hey, Circe wait for me!"

The familiarly unpleasant sound of Liera Goyle's squeaky voice filled me with apprehension as I reluctantly slowed to a stop in the hallway. I waited for my dark haired acquaintance to catch up before resuming my path towards Arithmancy.

"I cannot believe you ditched me at breakfast! You know you're basically my only friend right?"

I shrugged my shoulders with indifference before responding, "If you bothered to wake up on time I might bother to wait for you."

Liera huffed in indignation but said nothing else as we carried on to our first class. I didn't apologize, or even feel the need to. There was a reason I was the only friend Liera had. Her personality was nothing short of intolerable, and her voice was by far the most annoying thing to grace the halls of Hogwarts. However, she was the ticket to the Rosier's long running invitation to the Malfoy Ball. Our friendship was strictly for my grandmother's benefit alone. Dinner parties and balls were tiresome occasions, but as the youngest and sole heiress to the family name and fortune, I am left no choice but to play my role.

We arrived at the classroom earlier than the professor, taking our seats at the back of the class.

"Did you read your timetable? We have herbology with Hufflepuff this year! This is my chance to get in good with Teddy Lupin. I've had my eye on him since last year." Liera confessed with a dreamy sigh. I tried my hardest to hide my snort, but to no avail as she caught on anyway.

"What, do you think this is funny?"

Rarely the one to sugar coat the truth unless it benefitted me I replied, "Immensely considering Lupin's been chasing the tail of some first year Gryffindor since the school year began."

The love lives of other witches and wizards were hardly on my list of priorities, but considering the Weasley family was a member of the Sacred 28, it was my business to keep up with each pure blooded family's ins and outs. Grandmother spent ages teaching me how to use information to exploit others for the gain of myself. A practice I rather enjoyed.

"WEASLEY?!" Liera's pale fist came crashing down onto the table, "That Veela? Who does she think she is?"

I shrugged but said nothing more as the professor entered the classroom and began the lesson. Liera's head whipped to the front and studiously began taking notes. I repressed a sigh of relief, thankful for the reprieve of the girl's incessant obsession with the metamorphmagus. It was only a matter of time before she humiliated herself, and I would be right there to pick up the pieces of her shame the way I always did. Brown nosing is such a fickle task. I wonder how long I will bow down like a dog in order to undo the damage my family caused in the wake of the Second Wizarding War.

. . .

Herbology was after lunch, and Liera pulled me along to the greenhouse, the silent, black figure of my cat slinking along behind us at a much more controlled pace. Eros, the little shit, ditched me the moment we arrived at the castle, off to chase the tails of the female cats and eat enough mice to bloat his belly. He followed me everywhere the first year, but his budding hatred for the bouncing ball of energy that is Liera Goyle made him more elusive over the course of our second year. He must miss me if he's willing to deal with her.

The sea of black robes and green and yellow ties all blurred together as Liera tugged me along through the greenhouse. The smell of soil and various plants was comforting, but her non stop talking was ruining it for me. "We have to find a seat near Teddy. I heard he hadn't asked anyone to Hogsmeade. I can't believe we get to go this year. Two years of waiting to travel outside the school, and it's finally here. We'll start getting invited to parties this year too. Think about it. Third year is our year! Oh, look! there is a seat open on one side of Teddy."

Liera took off, finally letting go of my arm and allowing me to walk at my own pace to the only available seat left. Thankfully it was by Keris, a mild tempered Slytherin girl who I was semi acquainted with, and a nameless Hufflepuff boy I vaguely recognized who sat on the other side of Teddy. I tucked myself into the space without a glance to Keris or the Hufflepuff, situating my bag beneath my chair and allowing Eros to wrap himself comfortingly around my ankles.

Regardless of it being the first day back, the workload was heavy. I could only hope Professor Longbottom's big heart was feeling more than averagely large. With three lengthy essays and a few charms to memorize, it didn't look as if I was getting much sleep tonight.

I smoothed out my uniform, straightened my back, and took out parchment, quills, and ink, preparing for the class period ahead. As I finished organizing everything to perfection I felt a tap on my shoulder, nearly startling me.

"I give it another minute and a half before Teddy loses his Hufflepuff kindness and tells your friend to take a hike." A lilting, brogue voice gambled lowly.

I turned ever so slightly to the aforementioned Hufflepuff, suddenly noticing how very red his hair is, "Good, maybe it will teach her some self restraint."

A flash of straight white teeth appeared from behind his defined cupid's bow, "I thought that was a common problem among third year girls."

"I can hardly vouch for the girls you've been hanging around with, but that is certainly not a common problem." I muttered darkly, irritation running through me at his poor attempt to converse.

Surprise flashed across his eyes, and his smile twisted into an awkward grimace, "Well, I uh-"

I turned from him, finished with the pointless conversation, but unfortunately he wasn't. "My name is Wynn Sudrach."

Looking down at his outstretched hand, I searched my head endlessly for something familiar in that name. Could I use his friendship to my advantage? No, the name was foreign to me, and foreign connections are irrelevant. My face scrunched in distaste, dismissing his offered hand, "Sudrach isn't familiar to me. I assume one or both of your parents are a muggle? Figures, only filthy mudbloods end up in Hufflepuff."

I looked him dead in his blue eyes as I spoke, a twinge of something akin to discomfort shooting through me at the hurt I saw there. I shoved the discomfort away and grinned wickedly as he turned to fiddle with a string hanging from his robe, refusing to meet my eyes again. Good, that'll teach him his place. Blood purity is less prevalent now than it used to be, but I was raised to believe his kind were beneath me. His feelings are meaningless. Teddy Lupin was meaningless, which is why I did not understand Liera's insistence on his attention. She knew better.

Thankfully Professor Longbottom entered the classroom, and I was spared any more thoughts toward the boys beside me.

...

~ Revised ~