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Of Earth and Stars
Chapter 5: Nathaniel Avery & Mara Selwyn
*Author Note: GUYS! I completely forgot to post a chapter! So if you've recently read another "chapter 5" I have since deleted it, to post this one instead. If this is your first time reading chapter 5 of OEaS, then, disregard this and continue reading! Thanks! : )
October 1988
"What are you doing?"
Suri turned to focus on the boy talking to her. It was Nathaniel Avery—or Nate, as he introduced himself earlier in September. He walked up to where she stood by one of the ceiling-to-floor windows that was usually obscured by thick green drapes. Suri had pushed it back to look at the Great Lake that filled the majority of the view.
The look in his hazel eyes told Suri that he judged her staring out the window.
"Listening," Suri answered when Nate stood next to her.
"To what, the mermaids? Hideous creatures." Nate grimaced at the thought, and Suri rolled her eyes.
"Yes, the mermaids," she said, turning her attention back to the window. She had not seen Nate approach, but now it made sense why the mermaid who floated in front of her suddenly swam away.
"Why?" Nate frowned, clearly bored by the vacant view.
"When you listen, they sing," Suri answered. "I can't quite make out the words, but their voices are lovely."
Suri perked up when the mermaid girl she watched earlier tentatively swam back. The mergirl, who appeared to be their age, looked at Nate warily.
"It's okay, don't be frightened," Suri murmured, putting a hand to the window, hoping the mergirl would trust her smile.
The mergirl swam closer, her lips stretched in a close-lipped smile as she put her webbed fingers against the window, her fingers longer than Suri's.
"Boo!" Nate made a face at the mergirl.
"Nate!" Suri pushed at his shoulder, and the mergirl hissed with indignation, baring her sharp teeth before she swiftly swam away.
"Why did you do that?!" Suri demanded, her hands balling into fists as Nate laughed and closed the curtains.
"I'm sorry, Suri, I really am, that was mean," he said. He then laughed again.
"You don't seem very sorry."
"Yes, I get a kick out of being mean to creatures," Nate said, rolling his eyes. "Come on, Suri, you should be talking to other people not befriending mermaids."
"Not when the people around me are such ugly toads." Suri narrowed her grey-blue eyes and stormed off. She sat heavily into the cushions of a couch in front of the grand fireplace and crossed her arms.
There was a moment of silence before Suri sensed Nate walk over to her and sit next to her on the couch. Frowning, she turned her head away from him, keeping her arms crossed.
"You don't like Slytherin very much, do you?"
Grudgingly, Suri turned her attention to Nate. She searched his eyes, and before she realized, she had made her way into his mind. From him, she picked up feelings of offense and a genuine curiosity to understand her. Slowly, Suri's shoulders sagged as she pulled out of Nate's thoughts as easy as he closed the curtains on the mermaid.
"I do…" she noticed Nate made a face and she frowned again. "I guess, Slytherin's fine. I get along with Gemma Farley, the second-year, and my fifth-year sponsor Isabella Li is great too-"
"And I'm great," Nate interjected. He raised his eyebrows, so obviously fishing for a compliment that Suri had to smile.
"Nate the great," Suri responded drily, earning a chuckle from the boy. She sighed. "I guess there are a couple good people, but there are a few people I don't care to make friends with."
Nate leaned back against the couch and was silent. After a moment's pause he spoke. "You know, my uncle always says to keep our friends close, but keep an even closer eye on our enemy. With your attitude, you're bound to keep everyone away."
"I don't have a bad attitude!"
"You act like you're better than the rest of us, and not in a good way," said Nate. Suri opened her mouth to protest, but Nate held up a hand.
"I mean, it's been a bit of a shock to the lot of us that a Rosier-Black has shown up after most of our families have heard the last remaining Rosiers and Blacks are either dead, in Azkaban, or have gone into hiding. Now that you're here, of course people are going to act more stuck up than usual. The Rosier and Black families are kind of like the Nott, Malfoy, and Lestrange families: incredibly rich, powerful, and prideful. They're trying to scare you. You're doing too good of a job at keeping people away when you could easily sway people just by your names alone."
Suri narrowed her eyes. "You know a lot about family history, Nate."
"I know history and pureblood families, my mother made sure of that," Nate grimaced. "It's kind of a sore subject, really."
"I'm sorry." Suri watched the boy next to her as he looked at her intently. She shifted her gaze for a moment and looked back up, only to find he was still watching her, too. He looked like he had something more to say on the matter of pureblood families, but she wouldn't press him.
"It's not your fault," said Nate. "Anyway, that's okay if you don't like Slytherin-"
"I don't dislike it," Suri protested.
"We're not like other houses," Nate continued. "Not everyone gets along here, and it's important to make sure you have the right friends."
"That's the problem! I don't want to be something I'm not to make "the right" friends!" Suri moved her fingers in the air like quotation marks.
"That's a hard bargain," said Nate. He laughed when Suri put her head in her hands irritably. "Hey."
Suri looked up at Nate, and he offered her a smile—a real one. "If you're real with me, I'll be real with you. I'll even help you know what you need to know about the other Slytherins and their families. I like you, Suri. There's something about you that makes me think we could be great friends."
Suri inhaled and exhaled slowly. Nate's hazel eyes were hard to read, but he didn't seem to be making fun of her in any way. Beneath that, Suri was also surprised to find that there was something about him that made her like him too.
"Alright," Suri agreed. "Friends." After a month of acting more arrogant than she wanted to be, she could use someone to be honest with.
"Friends," Nate agreed-and his shoulders relaxed, as if he were the one fearing rejection or misplaced trust.
"And since we're friends," Nate continued, "I heard the team is out practicing today, if we hurry we can catch them."
"You like quidditch too?" Suri bounced excitedly to her feet at and ran a hand through her thick waves.
"Yeah, I can't wait until next year to try-out for keeper! Let's go!"
Suri smiled as she and Nate ran out of the Slytherin Common Room for the quidditch field. Suri decided that maybe not all was lost here in the house known for its affiliation with dark magic.
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Suri and Nate climbed the bleachers to the very top where Mara was sitting with other first years, necks craned to the sky as the Slytherin quidditch players raced overhead in pairs and intervals.
Nate ushered Suri forward so that she sat between him and Mara who shared a blanket with Carly Davis.
"Come on, Davis, pass the blanket this way," Nate demanded, leaning over Suri for Carly's attention. "There's more than enough for all of us."
Carly and Mara exchanged looks and Mara puffed out a sigh to share the thick wool blanket. Suri rolled her eyes at the girl as she tucked the blanket over her knees while still leaving enough for Nate.
"He's rather cute, isn't he," said Mara as a third year boy with dark hair flew across the field.
"What's his name again," asked Carla.
"Marcus Flint."
Suri made a face that suggested he was anything but attractive. "I mean, if you're into mountain trolls…"
"What's that supposed to mean," Mara asked, her watery blue eyes fixed on Suri angrily.
"That he has absolutely no brains at all," Suri clarified. She watched as Marcus steered his broom back into formation with the rest of the team, and the chasers began passing a quaffle back and forth.
"Sorry, Selwyn," said Nate, "I have to agree with Suri on this one."
Mara huffed angrily. "Then who would you fancy, Suri?"
"I don't know," Suri flipped her hair over her shoulder and leaned back against the cold metal railing of the bleachers, engrossed in the training style. "Probably someone who doesn't need to pay a first year to do their assignments."
"That was one time," said Willem Thorne, a dark-skinned first year sitting next to Carly. He frowned when everyone giggled at his indignation.
"They don't play very nice," Suri murmured, watching as Marcus shoved his own teammate to take possession of the quaffle-they weren't even competing against each other.
"They don't," Nate agreed, his eyes narrowed and watchful. "But I heard they're a pretty good team."
"I heard Gryffindor was a good time," said Suri, remembering Oliver's confidence in his house's abilities. She wondered if he made the team.
"Their seeker, Charlie Weasley is good," said Nate, he then grimaced. "He's good for a muggle-lover. Aside from him, none of the other teams can do what ours can do."
"I'm excited for the game," said Mara. "Slytherin's first game is next week against Gryffindor. The schedule originally had Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, but Ravenclaw asked for a re-schedule because-"
"Ravenclaw sucks," both Mara and Suri said in unison. The two girls looked at each other. Suri was the first to offer a smile, and Mara returned it, lifting the tension between them.
The first years made commentary on the rest of practice, and cheered encouragingly when the team ended practice with a scrimmage game. Watching Slytherin practice once again reminded Suri of Oliver wanting to try out for Gryffindor. She hoped he made the team.
"You'd better come up with cheers for the game," said Marcus Flint at the end of practice, showing off as he flew his broom low over the first years' heads.
"We'll think of something," Mara promised and smiled, she then turned swiftly on Suri. "Don't say anything Rosier-Black."
"I wasn't going to," Suri laughed, "anything I would say, no matter how simple, would have to be watered down for that troll to understand." She was surprised when she earned laughs from all the first years but Mara.
Nate was the first to rise, dramatically tossing the blanket from his legs. "I'm confident that we'll win next week. In the meantime," he raised his eyebrows conspiratorially, "what are we doing for the rest of the weekend?"
"We have that Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment," Willem offered, "we could finish that early."
"Nope," Nate said, giving his friend a thumbs down. "Any other ideas?"
Suri's blue-grey eyes brightened. "There are at least seven levels to this castle, I think we should explore."
"Now that's a winner," said Nate as he offered a hand to Suri to help her stand. "Any other takers?"
"Count me in," said Mara, standing with Nate and Suri while Carly and Willem made weak protests.
Suri's eyebrows raised quickly before she arrange her face back into a neutral expression. She still wasn't sure about Mara, but if Mara would make effort toward being her friend, then Suri would make effort too.
The trio parted ways with their first-year housemates and climbed down the bleachers.
"Hey, where are you going," asked Mara when they passed the locker rooms and Suri paused before she ran in the other direction.
A large bulletin board had caught her attention. Behind the locked glass were four pieces of parchment with the names of the students from each house on their team's rosters. She quickly scanned through Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin before she made it to Gryffindor. Listed under keeper was Oliver Wood, second year starter. She smiled to herself, feeling an unexpected amount of pride for the first person who talked to her during her Hogwarts journey.
"Hey, Suri, anyone home," Nate called.
"Coming!" Suri called back and jogged over to them, her wild black curls flying free behind her. Both Nate and Mara gave her a look as though they expected an answer.
"I met a boy on the Express," Suri explained, "he ended up being a Gryffindor, and he talked as though he was good enough to play for his house. Turns out he was right."
"Well, it doesn't matter how good he is," said Mara. "They'll still lose."
"Who was it," asked Nate.
"Oliver Wood," Suri answered. She then shrugged her shoulders, shrugging off their impending questions and comments. She knew Mara would ask if she fancied him, and Nate would make a snide remark about their rival house.
So instead, Suri smiled impishly, her eyes bright with playfulness. "Let's explore shall we? We'll work from the ground up!"
Author's Note:
To the reviewer who said they feel like they owe me Starbucks-thank you! I so appreciate the kind thought. Instead, I encourage you to pay it forward (treat a random stranger)-I would definitely love that!
Don't worry, friends, I'm still working on this story! :)
Your reviews are love!
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