August 28th, 1996. Wednesday.
Diagon Alley
Fourth year students will require:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 by Miranda Goshawk
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Tremble
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (if taking Care of Magical Creatures)
Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky (if taking Divination)
Ancient Runes Made Easy by Laurenzoo (if taking Ancient Runes)
Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles by Wilhelm Wigworthy (if taking Muggle Studies)
Selena Malast peered over the list of books. She hummed, and leaned over to show the list to her cousin. "Do you think it's worth get a new copy of Scamander's book? Alisson spilled ink over half of my copy last May."
Annabeth Black glanced over, blinking her sapphire blue eyes once. Half of her face was hidden by a mass of fiery curls. "I think she'll probably just do it again if you get a new copy."
Selena tilted her head, black strands of wavy hair spilling over her shoulder. "Fair enough."
A chilly breeze - chillier than most August weather - blew through the cobblestone street. Selena pulled her green cloak tighter around herself, bracing against the breeze. Anne barely moved, her red curls fluttering wildly around her head like flames. She didn't so much as shiver in her magenta cloak and pleated black skirt. Anne turned from the shop front they'd been standing by.
Selena didn't blame her.
A large purple "WANTED" poster was plastered on the window, featuring the face of Rabastan Lestrange glaring darkly. Selena took a step away from the poster. She'd already been close enough to the Lestranges a few months ago, and it didn't need to happen again.
She turned, following her cousin.
Anne swept down Diagon Alley, her magenta cloak fanning out behind her. Selena nearly had to jog over the cobblestones to keep up. A year ago, running down Diagon Alley would've been a fight, elbowing through the sea of people chattering and laughing. New students would be rushing around laughing, holding up an owl cage or a toad. Food vendors would be spinning candyfloss and selling tiny mince pies.
Instead, people walked around in clusters, no one shopping alone. People had drawn expressions, eyes glancing apprehensively at strangers as they went about their day. Nobody was stopping for small talk or to admire something in a shop window anymore.
Then again, Selena thought sadly, nobody can.
All the shop windows were covered in those purple posters by the Ministry, some with moving 'WANTED' pictures and some with a list of self-defense tips. All summer, the Ministry had been sending different wizarding homes pamphlets on how to keep themselves safe. Selena hadn't dared tell her parents where she and Anne had been before and who they had faced. Her mother was already concerned enough.
Ever since Voldemort's return had been published in the Daily Prophet and just about every other paper in the Wizarding World, people had been more nervous to go out in public alone. It was tension Selena had felt at home, but her parents tried to act like nothing had changed, keeping up smiles for their children despite Selena overhearing their nervous whispers downstairs when they thought she was asleep in bed.
Selena watched as a family stood murmuring outside of Ollivander's. Poor Ollivander's wand shop was locked up tight, boarded up with uneven wooden planks, and had been that way since July. No one knew where Garrick Ollivander had gone or if he would return soon.
Every year, Selena looked forward to getting her new books and a set of robes. Just last year she had watched her sister, Ivy, find her wand - dogwood, unicorn tail hair, twelve inches, inflexible - at Ollivander's. This past summer, the Daily Prophet had run a story about a witch named Alexandra Walker trying to rob the shop. And now all the poor First Year students would have to go to another wand maker.
Selena felt the back pocket of her blue jeans where her own wand was tucked safely. She still remembered that day three years ago after she'd turned eleven and received her letter. She had felt so thrilled the moment her fingertips touched her wand, a cherrywood number with a dragon heartstring, eleven inches and surprisingly swishy. She had felt such pride knowing that her wand had chosen her. Selena could feel the carvings of the stars and moons on the wand beneath her fingertips, just as they had been that day.
She never would've guessed Diagon Alley would've been like this just a few years later.
Shrill laughter made her and Anne turn around.
Selena groaned, unfortunately knowing the sound by heart. She and Anne had been listening to it for the past two weeks.
"I can beat you!" Ivy Malast hollered.
"You wish!" Raven Kinomoto called back.
Both girls tore up Diagon Alley, their black-and-blue Ravenclaw robes fluttering proudly behind them. Grins were plastered on their pale, flushed faces as they dodged through the crowd, earning disapproving looks from the other witches and wizards.
Ivy didn't seem to care, dodging around a woman's large shopping bags. Her big blue eyes were lit up with excitement, and her black hair was frizzy and tangling as it swung at her shoulders.
Anne laughed as Raven leaped over a puddle. Even with her backpack on, she was as quick as Ivy. "And Raven goes for the Snitch! She's almost got it! Ravenclaw might go all the way!"
"Wait for me!" Violet Malast huffed, swinging her small arms as she attempted to keep up with the older girls. "Wait for me! Ivyyyyy!"
Ivy flipped a peace sign to Violet as she ran ahead. "Sorry, Vi, Hogwarts students only can compete in the Quidditch Cup!"
Violet puffed, stopping by Selena as she breathed heavily, her little cheeks blotchy and red. Violet peered up her older sister, hazel eyes wide. "We're the good kids, Sel."
Selena cracked a smile. She wrapped an arm around her baby sister who wasn't so much of a baby now. Violet had turned nine in July and was looking more and more like their mother every day with her brown tresses, freckles, and hazel eyes fringed in short lashes. But she definitely hadn't had a growth spurt yet, something she complained about all summer (and something Ivy teased her about, spending too much time holding things out of Violet's reach.)
"Ivy Miriam Malast!"
Selena's mother came to a stop nearby, holding two large loads of boxes and bags. She sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. Her navy witch's hat tilted on her hair, pulled into a loose bun. "That girl needs to get into sports. Too much energy, it's like she gets more and more every day." She glanced at Selena and Violet. "I keep telling your father she gets it from him."
A smashing sound from ahead made Selena's mother cringe.
Selena turned around, spotting her troublesome sister and Raven lying in a pile of soil next to a shattered pot. A pink flower sat atop Ivy's head as she crowed with laughter.
"What in the name of Merlin?" Mrs. Malast muttered. "The amount of times I've had to cast the Repairing Charm this month alone..." She walked ahead, heels clicking purposefully and expertly across the cobblestones. She struggled with the weight of the boxes hanging from a twine string on her fingers.
Anne quickly stepped up to her. "Here, Mrs. Malast, let me help with you that." She reached out without waiting for an answer, sweeping the boxes from Selena's mother's hands.
Mrs. Malast readjusted her grip on her remaining shopping bags and parcels. "You are an angel, Annalise. And how many times do I need to remind you - call me Caroline."
Anne beamed, the corners of eyes crinkling.
Selena smiled as she watched the scene. It was good to see Anne smiling again. Selena had introduced Anne as Annalise Brown, her friend whose grandmother was away on official family matters and couldn't take her in over the holiday. Selena had given her parents strict instructions to not ask Anne about her parents, who she said Anne was estranged from. Of course, she had worried Ivy might know Anne from school, but Ivy had quickly proven she was oblivious to anything not Ravenclaw or boy related. But she still had been complaining enough about Selena getting to have a friend over that her parents relented and let Raven come stay for two weeks at the end of summer.
Ever since, the house had been full of the two screaming girls. Selena didn't remember being this hyper when she was twelve, but it like someone had let the two girls loose in Honeyduke's and they were on an eternal sugar rush.
Usually her father was there to back up her mother, but he was at work and her mother had been more frightened at the idea of not getting their school supply lists than wait to go shopping with their father. Besides, Selena always knew her mother was a gifted witch at Protection Charms.
"Too bad we can't go to Florean Fortescue's," Violet said with a frown. She pulled her tiny purple cloak around herself.
Selena hugged her sister as they both looked at the vacant ice cream parlor. Florean had been dragged off a month ago, and had been missing ever since. His was a presence especially missed on Diagon Alley. Without the familiar ice cream shop and its kind owner, things seemed even bleaker, even if the sky out today was a brilliant August blue.
Everything seemed to have changed. Now it felt to Selena as if all the color had been drained out of Diagon Alley.
Well.
Nearly.
Up at the top of Diagon Alley, past the heads of the rest of the crowd, a bright shop seemed to defy the rest.
Leave it to the Weasley Twins to be the bright spot in the middle of a post-apocalyptic-looking Diagon Alley.
"Do we really have to go?" Anne muttered as Selena and Violet caught up to her. She kicked one of her black, steel-toed boots at a rock on the ground. "It's just pranks and stuff anyways."
Up ahead, Selena's mother was casting a charm to repair the flower pot while Ivy picked soil out of her hair.
Selena shrugged. "Ivy has been begging to go since we got back. We're meeting Raven's older brother afterwards at Flourish and Blott's to hand Raven back over. And I mean, c'mon, it does look pretty wicked."
Over the summer, Anne had taken a portkey to meet up with Fred Weasley. She had broken the news to him that she wanted to break up, and, according to her, he took it well. He agreed it was best given the circumstances to part ways as friends.
"A second boyfriend, dumped in the summer," Selena sighed. She smiled playfully at Anne. "You're leaving a string of broken hearts behind you, Anne. First Harry Potter, then Fred Weasley."
"Oh stuff it," Anne grumbled.
The three walked on once the flower pot situation got figured out. Selena took a heavy bag from her mother full of wrapped Potions ingredients from the apothecary for Selena, Anne and Ivy. Anne was now going into her Sixth Year, and that meant she was a N.E.W.T. student now but she had complained endlessly about having to still get Potions ingredients. Everything else seemed to suit her just fine, since she'd received her O.W.L. marks by owl delivery at the Malast residence. She had gotten a D for Dreadful in History of Magic (which Anne had taken one look at and blown a raspberry.) She was much more excited by her O for Outstanding in Care for Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Can't wait 'till I don't have Potions anymore," Selena said, hefting the bag up. "One more bottle of frog brains and I think I'll-"
"SELENA!"
The Gryffindor witch nearly dropped the whole bag of bottles as a figure came flying towards her.
Renee Pierce tackled her in a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around Selena as the girls laughed and squealed. They pulled apart, grinning at each other, a dimple appearing on Renee's right cheek.
"I didn't know you were shopping today!" Selena laughed, shaking her head at her roommate and one of her closest friends.
Renee nodded. Her light brown hair bobbed in its usual ponytail. She tucked one of her side-fringes back, revealing her trademark golden spade earrings dangling from her ears. "Dad and I wanted to come get a few extra bits and bobs. Hey there, Anne, long time no see."
Anne smiled, nodding politely at Renee. "Likewise, Pierce."
Renee turned, putting her hands on her hips with a big, goofy grin on her face as she looked down at the youngest Malast sister. "And you must be... Violet?"
Violet nodded happily, blushing at being recognized.
"Going up to the best prank shop since Zonko's?" Renee asked, glancing at the colorful building a few meters away.
Selena nodded. "You bet. Are you?"
"What do you think?" Renee said, winking one of her honey-colored eyes. She shoved her hands into the pocket of her red hoodie. "Dad said he'll wait outside while I go in." She nodded towards a man with his back turned to Selena as he examined one of the purple Ministry posters.
"Hurry up!" Ivy called from the doors of the shop.
Selena grinned at Renee - who mirrored her excitement - and Anne - who rolled her eyes but walked on with them nevertheless.
Up close, Selena could appreciate the work of the Weasley Twins. Their joke shop at 93 Diagon Alley was bright purple with orange borders on the windows. In one of the windows on the left, sparks and pops went off like a fireworks display, items bouncing and zooming around in a myriad of colors. The window on the right showed off a massive purple poster with a message flashing in electric yellow:
WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT
YOU-KNOW-WHO?
YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT
U-NO-POO -
THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION
THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!
Selena and Renee burst out laughing. Anne sighed, shaking her head. "It's like they want You-Know-Who to come knocking on their door."
"I think it's brilliant," Renee said, wiping a tear from her eyes. "I'm glad you dumped Fred, Anne, because I want to marry both of those boys."
Anne shot Selena a deadpan look. "You sent her a letter and told her, didn't you?"
Selena smiled guiltily. "Sorry."
Renee eagerly walked ahead, her black Converse stumbling over a cobblestone in the process. "I'm so excited! Alisson sent me a letter saying she had already been and had gotten some things stocked up, so I've been saving up my birthday Galleons."
Selena nodded as her friend spoke. She maneuvered her mother's bags through the doorway, the sound of spinning tops, fizzing fireworks, poppers and other items pouring out of the shop.
Inside Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, it was a cacophony of colors and bright lights and sparks. The multi-story shop was bustling with people squeezing themselves around shelves and displays. Sparkly orange barrels contained different assortments of prank items. The sound of a cash register ringing nearly every minute was barely audible over the excited shrieking and laughter from the customers.
"This is what Heaven must look like," Renee breathed in awe, her eyes as big as saucers as she gazed around the shop.
Anne sighed next to Selena. "Fred used to show me drawings of this place back when they were still planning it at Hogwarts. It's even better than I had expected."
"Well, that's so sweet of you, Annie," a familiar voice said.
The girls turned around to find one of the Weasley Twins standing on the staircase, dressed in magenta robes, a smile on his freckled face and his hair as flaming as ever.
"Hello, Fred," Anne said, cringing slightly. Her face began to turn almost as red as her hair.
"This place is incredible!" Renee broke in. She shook her head in wonder. "You both are going to be legends at Hogwarts."
"Haven't we always been?" Fred said with a proud expression, peering around his shop. He winked at Anne as he brushed off his magenta robes, which matched perfectly with her cloak. "You could've had all this, Annie. I'm a proper business man now."
"Fred, stop running your mouth and let the ladies have a glance around," George Weasley said, appearing in matching robes to Fred's with a box of Skiving Snackboxes in his arms.
Renee bobbed her head excitedly, ponytail whipping around. "I really want something big, maybe something with lots of explosions."
"We'll give you a discount if you promise to use it to mess with Filch," George called over his shoulder.
Fred motioned towards a blue display. "We have these perfect Bombastic Bombs you may be interested in." He led them over to the display table as a firecracker screamed and sparkled above their heads.
Selena could barely squeeze between some of the squealing students next to her. She was thankful she had grown a few centimeters over the summer and was able to see over their heads. As Fred showed Renee a green-orange-and-purple box with three mortar bombs on it, Ivy ran up to the bright pink WonderWitch display next to them. Raven wasn't far behind, three teal boxes already in her arms.
"WHOA!" Ivy said. She picked up a baby pink glass bottle in the shape of a heart labeled Cupid Crystals. "Is this a real love potion?"
Fred nodded. "Depending on how much the boy weighs and how attractive the girl is."
"Am I attractive?" Ivy asked Raven.
"Obviously," Raven said and flipped her own dark locks. "The potion would definitely work for us."
Selena grabbed the potion bottle from Ivy's hand and put it back on the display. "You are twelve."
"Hey!" Ivy snapped, scowling. "Not fair! I'm sure it's harmless, Selena, it's probably, like, super temporary or something."
"It'll last for twenty-four hours," a blonde woman in magenta robes said with a bright smile as she floated past.
Anne's brows knitted together. "Who was she?"
Fred gave her a teasing smile. "Don't be jealous, Annie, Verity is just an employee."
Anne rolled her eyes, opening her mouth before Raven interrupted with a giant gasp.
"IVY, LOOK! PUFFBALLS!"
The two girls squealed as they watched pink and purple puffs roll around in a cage, squeaking and blinking little black eyes.
"Those are Pygmy Puffs," Fred said. "We bred them as a miniature Puffskein, minus the drinking out of the toilet habit. They're a bestseller."
Raven giggled, beaming. "There was a Puffskein in my house the other month. They love being tossed around and cuddled. Do these little guys cuddle?"
"They're quite snuggly," Fred confirmed. "It's ten Galleons per adoption."
Mrs. Malast drifted over, holding Violet's hand, as Ivy pointed as the cage.
"Mum, I need one of these!" Ivy said. She clasped her hands together, becoming the picture of innocence. "Please? I'll never ask for anything for Christmas ever and I'll only ask for a couple things on my birthday, just a few little teeny things."
Mrs. Malast set her fist on her hip. "Absolute not, missy."
Ivy pointed a finger at Selena. "But Selena has a cat! I should be allowed to have a puffball! I had to live with Anne's rat all summer!"
"Selena hasn't killed five houseplants this summer, unlike somebody," Mrs. Malast said, setting her lips in a line as she shook her head at Ivy.
"It was four houseplants, not five."
Selena covered her mouth as she and Renee burst into laughter.
"What?" Ivy asked innocently. "What did I say?"
20 Minutes Later
"I'll never be happy again," Ivy moped as they walked outside of the shop. "I will never forget those Pygmy Puffs."
Selena sighed, shaking her head. "Give it a rest, Ivy."
Renee squeezed her bag of wizarding gags. "I cannot wait to try these out! No telling Elizabeth, okay?"
Selena giggled with a nod.
The man who had been looking at posters before waved towards Renee with a smile. "All done, darling?"
"Yup!" Renee said with a bounce in her step. She grinned, opening up the bag to show her father. "There's a whole bunch of stuff in here, I'll have to sort them all out at home."
Mrs. Malast shut the shop door behind them to the shop. "Well that was quite the adventure," she said, reaching up to fix her pointed hat. She blinked in surprise as she saw Renee's father, narrowing her hazel eyes in disbelief. "Is that... Rayleigh Pierce?"
Renee's father glanced up, his eyebrows shooting up. "Caroline? Caroline Buttontop, is that you?"
Selena watched in confusion as her mother laughed, outstretching her bag-laden arms to give Mr. Pierce a hug. "I had no idea you were Renee's father!"
"Likewise!" Mr. Pierce replied with a smile. He glanced over at Selena. "Renee has told me so much about your daughter, she's a great friend to Renee."
Selena beamed proudly at Renee, who grinned back.
"And these your other daughters?" he said, motioning to Anne, Ivy, Violet and Raven.
Mrs. Malast chuckled. "These other two are: this is Ivy, she's going into her second year at Hogwarts this term."
"Congratulations, Miss Ivy," Mr. Pierce said with a kind nod.
Ivy smiled back, preening her Ravenclaw cloak. "Thank you."
"And this is my youngest, Violet," Mrs. Malast continued. "She'll be starting Hogwarts in a couple of years. Our eldest is living in London working at the Ministry now."
Mr. Pierce waved sweetly at Violet, who smiled back shyly and hid behind her mother's navy robes.
"These two are Raven Kinomoto, Ivy's friend, and Annalise Brown, a friend of Selena's," Mrs. Malast continued. Both girls said hello when she introduced them.
Renee shot Selena a puzzled look at the name "Annalise Brown" but Selena pretended not to notice. She couldn't exactly explain to Renee everything about Sirius Black and trying to conceal Anne's identity from her family.
"How do you know each other?" Selena said instead, hoping to change the conversation.
"We were a couple years apart in Ravenclaw together!" her mother chirped.
Mr. Pierce smiled at Ivy and Raven. "The best Hogwarts House."
"Obviously," Raven said with a smirk at Ivy. The girls high-fived.
Renee cleared her throat. "I think you mean Gryffindor is the best House, Dad."
Selena and Anne nodded in solidarity.
"Oh, my bad," Mr. Pierce said, laughing good-naturedly and elbowing his daughter lightly. "I'm very proud of my little lion." Renee smiled back up at him.
"I'd love to stay and chat, but we have to meet Raven's brother at Flourish and Blotts," Mrs. Malast said. "You and Renee are welcome to join."
Renee looked up pleadingly at her father who nodded. "Of course," he said. "Now, how's Castor? And you said your eldest is working in the Ministry? Wild times these must be for him."
The two adults chatted while Renee skipped over to Selena and Anne. The whole group wound its way through the somber crowd towards Flourish and Blotts, the green-fronted shop with purple Ministry posters covering up the massive gold-embossed spellbooks usually displayed. The doorbell tinkled overhead as Selena opened the front door and the group piled into the busy shop. The smell of parchment hit Selena, reminding her of the Hogwarts library. Books lined every inch of the shop, continuing up the wrap-around wooden balcony with even more books. Signs directed shoppers around to help them select which book - school or leisure - they may need.
Anne reached into her magenta cloak pockets, pulling out her crumpled up school letter. "Can someone help me find A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration? I'll be needing it for Professor McGonagall's N.E.W.T. Transfiguration class."
Renee grimaced. "That'll be a riot, won't it?"
Anne shrugged. "It'll be more interesting than Potions."
"I don't think I'll ever continue Potions with Snape beyond when I need to," Selena said, shaking her head. Already she was dreading going back into the dingy dungeon for Potions class where Professor Snape would inevitably favor the Slytherins again and again.
"Well, if I want to be an Auror I need to take Potions," Anne replied as she scanned her books list. "N.E.W.T.-level Potions with Snape is bound to be brutal."
"I can't wait for N.E.W.T. classes," Renee said with a dreamy sigh as they headed towards the Transfiguration section, tucked beneath the staircase. "It would be so nice to have some extra free time."
"Something tells me that time is moreso going to be used to pile on even more assignments," Anne said. She ran her fingers along the book bindings, searching for the title she needed. "I'm gonna' take that Apparition class, even if it is twelve Galleons. Kind of a rip-off if you ask me. I asked McGonagall about the Alchemy class and she said there was enough interest, so that should be - ah! Got it!" She pulled out a thick, leather-bound book. She waved the book at Selena and Renee. "This is your future in two years."
Renee mimed throwing up in her Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes shopping bag.
"DJ!"
The girls turned to see Raven throw her arms around a broad-shouldered boy with his straight black hair pulled into a ponytail. His face lit up with a smile as he picked up Raven in a bear hug.
"How has my favorite sister been?" Darien Kinomoto asked Raven with a wide smile that stretched the scars on his handsome face.
"I'm your only sister, DJ," Raven giggled.
He grinned and hugged her again, setting her back on the ground. He took her backpack for her, swinging it on.
Anne shot Selena a look. "You didn't tell me Raven's older brother was fit."
Renee laughed. "He's a Quidditch player, he plays Beater for Ravenclaw."
"I think you just have a thing for Quidditch players," Selena teased.
Anne rolled her eyes. "Alright then. C'mon, let's go, I need a Charms book."
The girls turned, heading up the creaky staircase. Selena avoided a worker who was rushing down the steps with a stack of books a meter high. At the top, they turned towards the massive Charms section.
Anne sighed, sitting down as she began to sort through the books. "Madam Pince would go mad if she saw this place. Flourish and Blotts needs to take notes from the Hogwarts library on organization."
"I wonder how much longer they'll be in business," Renee said, suddenly serious. She leaned against the balcony railing, peering out sadly across the sea of bustling wizards and witches amongst the books.
Selena tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
Renee shrugged one shoulder. "Look what's happened to poor Ollivander's and Florian Fortescue's... I feel like it's just a matter of time until all of Diagon Alley becomes a ghost town. I mean, you both heard about the Brockdale Bridge?"
Selena and Anne shared a grim look.
"'Course we did," Anne replied. She turned back to sorting the Charms books but her hands shook the slightest bit. "Those poor Muggles..."
"It isn't just the Muggles dying either, is it?" Renee said quietly. "So many people are turning up dead... Amelia Bones from the Ministry in July... Now that Auror - what's his name - Rufus Scrimgeour is in charge of the Ministry instead of Fudge, but who knows how much better that is... Did you hear about how Igor Karkaroff was found dead with the Dark Mark in the sky? Remember him? The headmaster of Durmstrang during the Triwizard Tournament?"
Selena looked down at the scuffed wooden floorboards beneath her feet. "I mean... Igor was an ex-Death Eater, I don't think they were going to let him just ever leave."
"Things are just getting scarier," Renee murmured. She looked down at her father who was talking happily with Mrs. Malast and Darien. "I wonder how much longer Hogwarts will be safe."
"Hogwash," Anne snapped. "As long as Dumbledore is there, Hogwarts is the safest place to be."
Selena bit her lip, hoping it was true. The whole summer had been wonderful with Anne, enjoying the English weather and going around Bath together. Anne had finally begun smiling again and enjoying their daily walks. She started playing with her rat, Cinnamon, again. The reports on the radio, though, were a constant source of tension. Selena's parents never turned it on around Ivy and Violet anymore, but Ivy still got quiet whenever someone read the papers. Selena didn't like to think about what was going on, but she knew it wasn't going to go away anytime soon.
Renee tensed. "Oh great, look who it is."
Selena peered over the wooden banister. Maryana Callahan was walking up the staircase, dressed in black leggings and an oversized green jumper. Her already-light-olive skin was darker, probably from holiday. She seemed like the picture of innocence with her wavy, reddish light-brown hair pulled into a bun atop her head. Next to Maryana was her fellow Slytherin - but slightly more tolerable - brunette friend, Astoria Greengrass.
"Is it that girl you were telling me about, Selena?" Anne called from the floor as she continued looking for her Charms book.
"Yeah," Selena said, grabbing Renee's arm and pulling her away from the banister as Maryana and Astoria appeared on the second floor.
Maryana's smile leveled into a frown when she saw the Gryffindor girls at the top of the stairs. "Oh. It's you two."
"Hello, Maryana," Selena said. She glanced over at the other girl. "Hi, Daphne."
Daphne gave a shy smile.
Maryana looked over at the bag in Renee's arms, stamped in white letter with 'WEASLEY'S WIZARDING WHEEZES.' She made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. "Of course you would shop in that kind of place, Pierce. Show's how little class you really have."
Renee glanced at Selena, hugging her bag tightly to her.
Selena felt her blood boil. Maryana had especially had it out for Renee since an incident in April of their Second Year when Renee accidentally burned some of Maryana's hair off. Despite Madam Pomfrey managing to get her hair to regrow, some students had already heard about it, and Maryana never seemed willing to forgive the incident since.
"Are you shopping for textbooks?" Maryana said, tilting her head. She narrowed her bright green eyes. "I can't believe you haven't failed out of Hogwarts alrea-"
"Why are you always on about something petty, Maryana?" Selena snapped. She shook her head. "Can't you just leave people be sometimes?"
Maryana pursed her lips. "Oh, don't think I've forgotten about your stunt in Professor Umbridge's office."
"You're the one who brought me there," Selena snapped angrily, pointing at herself. Maryana was the one in the Inquisitorial Squad who had taken it upon herself to bring Selena to the office in the first place!
"Too bad the Mudblood wasn't there," Maryana spat.
Anne stood up just as Selena drew her wand. "That's enough of that," Anne said in a low voice. She motioned to Selena to put away her wand and then stood there with a hand on her hip, lifting up her chin to peer down the few centimeters separating her and the younger Slytherin girl. "Feel free to be nice or get out. Preferably the second one."
Maryana gave her a derisive look. "I don't take orders from someone who dates scum like the Weasley's. You're all the same."
Anne tensed, clenching her jaw.
Maryana turned her head towards Renee. "Won't be long now before the dim ones start turning up dead too."
Selena pointed her wand at Maryana, fuming, wanting so badly to jinx her into next week. But Anne stepped in front of her.
Anne pointed a finger at Mr. Pierce down in the shop. "See that man there? That's Renee's father. He's a Curse-Breaker, so you know he's gotta' be good at Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Would you like me to go tell him some of the things you're saying to his daughter?"
Maryana hesitated, glaring up at Anne.
Anne peered at her in mock surprise. "No? Well then, why don't you keep your foul mouth shut?"
Maryana turned towards Astoria who looked uncomfortable with the scene before her. "Let's go, Tori. We can find better company in other shops." Without a second glance, Maryana turned, hurrying back down the steps with Astoria in tow.
Renee breathed out deeply. "Thanks... both of you."
Selena tucked her wand away, glaring at the back of Maryana's head as she left the shop and the bell tinkled. "Sorry about her, Ree. Just forget about it, she's not worth it."
Anne smiled down at Renee. "Hey, don't worry. You know you could've out-duelled her anyways, what with all of our D.A. practice from last year."
A small smile appeared on Renee's lips.
Selena put her arm around her friend, leaning her head on her shoulder. "Why don't we see if we can talk my mum into letting us go get tea?"
"Sounds nice," Renee said, smiling back.
Selena gave Anne a grateful smile. But her heart twinged, thinking back to Maryana's words.
This year was going to be a rough one.
And so the year begins!
The next chapter will bring us onto the Hogwarts Express with plenty of excitement and some familiar faces. I just wanted this chapter to go ahead and lay some background for the year and reintroduce some people and themes.
Well, I hope you guys are staying safe in all of this. Keep yourselves isolated and occupied, we'll all get through this together.
Thanks for reviewing the last chapter:
Captain Sigma- Karry Beta
SakuraDragomir
Thanks for reading!
~ Meghan