Chapter 2

Baroque, the only word that truly encapsulates the style of the centuries-old mansion. It sits hidden away from prying muggle eyes. The old house, which is likened to a small castle, was built on a small peninsula that stretches to the middle of a great loch. It can only be seen by magical persons and creatures. One must walk along a long white stone path, covered by tall evergreens from the mainland to reach the front door.

The outside of the house is a bright white marble, with intricate swirls and designs carved and sculpted in the walls from the ground up to the roof. Surely, seeming out of place for such a marvelously constructed building to be located in the middle of the woods.

The main colors throughout the inside of the house are green, gold, and a deep cherry-brown. Each room containing different shades of forest greens and shimmering gold accents in one way or another.

The children that have grown up in this house are generally separated from the outside world, for tradition and safety. Often they found amusement in their isolation by staring into the twisting patterns of the Persian rugs adorning the cherry wood floors. Or the emerald colored damask wallpaper in nearly every room of the home.

This is not a warm and welcoming house. The light barely penetrates through the windows, causing darkness that spreads deeper through the long halls the farther down one walks through them. She often refers to her home as the lake house of horrors. When so many have lived and died within the mansion's halls, there's no escaping those who do not wish to leave thereafter. Walking through the darkened rooms of the mansion feels heavy. As though every emotion anyone had ever felt in a particular spot in the house had stayed there to collect dust. Sometimes the heaviness in the house's atmosphere is too much to bare.

But in her room she is safe. The light shines through her long rectangular windows on the third floor. The green wallpaper is uniform throughout the rooms of the house, and hers is no exception. However, because the window shades are almost never drawn, light pours through and makes her walls almost shimmer. All the furniture is the same dark-cherry wood as in the rest of the house. Her mother, known for being extremely meticulous in every way, places severe punishments for any non-uniformity throughout the home. However, Cheryl has always been a trouble maker. Sneakily defying her mother in any way she can, especially and much more often since Jason's death.

She would always move her furniture to different position around the room and when she would go to sleep against the right wall, she would wake up back on the left with her mother's line covered scowl glaring down at her, wand in hand as always.

But this never deterred her, always putting everything back the way she liked it. Eventually Penelope got tired of having to correct her and decided to just not step foot into Cheryl's room again. Which she was behind grateful to the gods for, finally a new sense of privacy she had always longed to have.

The bay window on the wall opposite her door faces the shore to the right of the home. The little nook has a seat overlooking the water below, making it the coziest place to read and watch the clouds roll by. When stressed at school she "goes to her happy place"; she imagines herself sitting on the circular seat, wrapped in her fuzzy black robe leaning against the little alcove while listening to the birds outside. Occasionally apperating there in the middle of the night, just to get away from the castle for a bit. Often at night, Cheryl leaves the window open to let in the sounds of the water gently crashing on the shore of her backyard sing her to sleep.

Cheryl often dreams of one day bringing "a special someone" to her little piece of happiness and share with them the beauty of her corner.

Her second favorite place on their peninsula is the conservatory. Located off the den connecting to the back yard. From Cheryl's bedroom window, she can see the peak of the glass ceiling below her. She prefers to practice nature-related-magic,so having her own greenhouse is something she never took for granted. As a young girl, she and Jason often spent hours out in the conservatory, no matter the season. The two red-heads would laugh and talk for hours. Casting spells on small piles of dead leaves to make them dance and spiral above their small heads. The children were homeschooled in the ways of their family tradition until they were old enough to attend Hogwarts.

But everything is different now; ever since their father found out about Jason and their cousin Polly's plans to run away together. At the time, the Blossom and Cooper children didn't know they were related. The news was too much of a shock to handle for their father. He killed Jason in a fit of rage and disgust. And shortly thereafter, his wife killed him. Cheryl was then left traumatized, afraid and feeling more alone in that big old house than she had ever felt before.

She sits perched on the red cushion of her wooden stool. Facing the mirror that sits atop a dark-cherry Victorian-era vanity. The mirror reflects back the image of the beautiful young girl. The velvety striped forest green wallpaper that covers floor to ceiling the space around her; perfectly contrasting her bright ginger hair. Gilded crown molding wraps around the edges of the green walls, Like a strip of ribbon wrapped around a gift.

Her right hand white knuckle grips the handle of an antique sterling silver hairbrush. The back and stem, embellished with a section from "The Birth of Venus" where the goddess emerges from a scallop shell. It runs through her hair once, twice, so many times she lost track. In fact, the act has become so unconscious she isn't even aware of it anymore.

The faint sounds of her mother in yet another one of her fits of rage could be heard through the floor. She was screaming at their house elf Beesy, most likely for something that wasn't the elf's fault. Soon followed by the sound of what she assumed was an antique vase shattering against the floor.

Cheryl's routine every time her mother is at her worst has been the same for years. She sits in front of her vanity prettying herself in various ways in order to distract herself and ignore Penelope. After Jason's death, however, Cheryl started to disassociate during her routine. The emotional and mental wherewithal of a teenage girl can only be stretched so thin.

Her vacant brown eyes making contact with their reflection. Her mind is too preoccupied with all her fast-paced thoughts and painful memories for her to see what's in front of her. Cheryl at that moment put her body on autopilot so her mind could attempt to compartmentalize everything she was experiencing internally and externally. A single tear escaped from her left eye but she doesn't notice and doesn't react.

She has a countdown written on a piece of paper hidden in her desk. Whenever she is so ill-fated to be stuck in her "house of horrors" as she so calls it, she marks the days until she can return to the Slytherin dungeons. Many students regard Slytherin living arrangements as less than luxury, but Cheryl sees anywhere other than "Thornhill" as a luxury in itself.

Cheryl is snapped from her repetitive motions of the silver brush through her long red hair, when the faint sound of Beesy's high-pitched squeak called to her through the heavy wooden door. The elf's voice was something her mother always complained about. "Oh for the love of the Dark Lord, shut your miserable little mouth or I'll sew it closed." Penelope would say when Beesy and young Cheryl ran in circles around the first floor's parlor room. The elf always would then take the children out to the conservatory and tell them stories.

"Miss Cheryl, you should leave for Hogwarts now you won't want to be late." She said. Cheryl's shoulders untensed, her head drifted to the side as she let out a long breath she hadn't realized she was holding. . She pulled the countdown scrap from under the lamp's foot and scratched out the last notch. She then ripped the paper into a hundred little pieces and discarded them in the bin by her feet.

She slid off the chair and walked on her knees the door and called after the house elf. Beesy turned on a dime and quickly padded back over to her. "Thank you Beesy," Cheryl says. She sat back on her feet and stretched out her arms to welcome a hug. Beesy reciprocated and placed her small arms around Cheryl's neck. When they pulled away, the elf placed her left hand on Cheryl's chin and used her other to wipe away the tear from before. "You could sneak away with me you know," Cheryl says. Beesy replies, "Miss Penelope would not like that very much." replies the elf. Cheryl knowingly nodded and sent Beesy on her way.

After she placed the last few items into one of her trunks, she dressed in her Slytherin robes. Cheryl stood in front of the body length mirror across from her as she dressed in the heavy garments. Cheryl felt herself slowly coming back into her body. Autopilot shutting down completely just as she put up the hood on her robe. At the end of each summer when she put her Slytherin robe back on for the first time, she knew she was going home. Her chosen home.

She double and triple checked her lists, and luggage and locked them all up. She called over her familiar, who presents as a tri-color Maincoon. He had been resting in his small tufted suede bed against the far back wall, opposite to the large windows. Basil has been with Cheryl since she began at Hogwarts. He is the closest thing to a best friend she ever had, other than Jason. Even after she and Betty had finally formed a relationship, still she remained closest to no one like she was with Basil.

He was a larger cat, with a body almost as wide as it is long. His fur is black and orange patchwork up his spine, with a white underbelly reaching all the way to his chin. The fur on his head is split straight between his eyes, the left side is orange and the right black. Both eyes are a piercing green.

She bends and gathers him in her arms from the floor and gives him a kiss on the head. "Meet me there in 10 okay?" she says to her companion. He leaps from her arms to the floor and trots out her door.

Since Basil is a familiar and not a regular pet he has abilities of his own, like being able to perfectly understand Cheryl's thoughts and words, as well as getting to Hogsmeade on his own. They walk side by side through Hogsmeade before returning to the dungeons at the beginning of each year. Making sure to stop at Honeydukes for some sweet treats to share.

…

When the two meet up in Hogsmeade, the multicolored cat was already waiting for Cheryl just down the street from Honeydukes, waving his tail in anticipation.

Cheryl wanders the aisles of the small and brightly colored acquiring a small collection of sweets in her arms.

Basil excitedly Cheryl enjoyed her red jelly-slug as she watched Basil chase a chocolate frog down the path in front of them.

…

When she finally arrives back to the Slytherin dorm she takes in the sight of the dark stone walls. Cold water drips down through the lines of grout following along the line that connect each large stone. Cheryl takes her time as she makes her way down the hall. Dragging her hand along the damp wall, it's quieter than she expected, even though she always arrives earlier than most of the other students, which causes Cheryl to furrow her brows in confusion. She decides to check the common room for signs of her fellow Slytherins. Turning on her heels she heads down the hallways to her right. The light from the sconces mounting the walls illuminating her way. The glow of deep yellow light pouring out from the candles making large circles of light on the low ceilings. As she closed in on the main entrance of the common-room she heard the sounds of a few voices. Only one was familiar to her ears. The rest were foreign and at least one boy in the group was heavily accented. The voices were exchanging pleasantries. As she reached the the large door frame, she placed her hand on the side and used it as leverage to peer her head around the corner to scan the room in an attempt not to be noticed.

The head girl, a 7th year named Molly was giving a tour, to who Cheryl assumed were some transfer students, of their new home. The bright fire roared behind them and green light poured in through the small windows high on the walls around the edges of the room. The abundant mix of green and yellow light was one of Cheryl's favorite things about the dungeons.

The group of five students included two boys, one blonde and one brunette who stood next to one another, while the three girls in the group stood two together and one on her own. The two girls together both had nearly white blonde hair. While the third girl standing off to the side had… "Are those pink streaks? Did this bitch really come here with pink streaks in her hair? Oh my god." Cheryl thought to herself.

Cheryl was intrigued by whoever she was because whoever had the audacity to have pink hair despite such strict uniform regulations, must be bold in personality as well. She decided to make her presence known and crossed the space to meet the group in the center of the room.

"Well, who do we have here?" Cheryl said walking up behind the girl with pink streaks. The group all turned to face Cheryl. "Oh hi Cheryl!" said Molly, giving her a small wave of the hand. "These are transfers from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Ilvermorny, and they were sorted into our very own Slytherin!" Molly said overly cheery for Cheryl's liking. She was nice enough but Cheryl seriously didn't understand how someone could be so happy all of the time. She made eye contact with the shorter pink haired girl. Cheryl studied her face taking in her big brown eyes and full pink lips, and "..damn she has great eyebrows" Cheryl continued in thought.

She was captivated by her beauty but kept her face stoic and observant as she scanned the shorter girl in front of her. The girl took a confident step closer to Cheryl, head held high. "Antoinette Topaz, but you," she said with a smirk. "Can call me Toni." Toni held out her hand and Cheryl gripped it with hers, "Cheryl Blossom, legacy and bombshell if you couldn't already tell." Both girls raised their eyebrows with intrigue towards each other.

The golden light from the fire glows against the taller girl's face. Toni releases her grip on Cheryl's hand and tucks the stray section of hair that was blocking her full view of the redhead behind her ear. "So what's your deal, how did someone as radiant as you get thrown in this dark depressing dungeon?" she said lifting her hands and gesturing to the space around her. Toni gives her a flirtatious smile as her soft gaze awaits cheryl's answer. The rest of the group continues to follow Molly as they leave the common room and head down the opposite hall from where Cheryl entered.

Cheryl laughed and crossed her arms in front of her. "It really isn't that bad once you get used to it." Her eyes glancing towards the warm fire and then back to the girl. Toni definitely surprised Cheryl by matching the boldness of her hair and personality. Something she certainly wasn't used to. "Every year I come back, and it feels like I'm coming home," Cheryl replied, releasing her arms and hanging them at her sides. She's never this honest with strangers or anyone for that matter. But something about the way this girl looks at her, she feels more seen than she ever has. It starts to scare her a little. Toni's expression changes from flirtatious to captivated and slightly concerned.

After a beat, she places a hand on her hips and says "Wow, that actually kind of sad," she shook her head lightly laughing. Cheryl feigns offense, scrunching her eyebrows and scoffing at her, placing a splayed hand on her chest. "I'm kidding! I'm totally kidding!" Toni says and places a hand on Cheryl's forearm. Cheryl tries to contain a blush from forming on her cheeks by diverting her gaze from the girl. She can't.

"Well, when you come from a family as cruel and wicked as mine," she says rolling her eyes. "Even the darkest of dungeons would feel like home," Cheryl states half joking. Perhaps she shouldn't have released so much personal information, but with her reputation, she knew Toni would've heard about the blossom family's past within her first week if she hadn't already within her first day.

Toni could sense Cheryl's slight regret in her words and immediately felt a responsibility to alleviate that feeling from her mind. "Well, I guess you'll just have to teach me how to love it down here," Toni says with a shrug, hoping she can show the self-proclaimed bombshell she isn't turned off by her seemingly heavy baggage. Cheryl picks up on the attempt and is flattered. "I guess I will.." she replies

There was a connection immediately. Cheryl had never felt something so strong with someone she had just met. She wasn't even sure what it was. Toni felt her heart flutter at the exchange, she has always been a flirt but never truly felt drawn to someone the way she was drawn to the red-haired girl.

There's a moment of silence and tentative eye-contact. The girls stand and look at each other, both able to feel their faces getting hot. Toni breaks the silence. "Well, i should probably go catch up to the rest of the group," she says gesturing with her thumb over her shoulder. "They're probably pretty far into this maze of a castle by now.." she finishes, shuffling her feet. Cheryl nods, "Oh shit yeah, don't get lost it can be very easy to..um..get lost." She stumbles over her words. Cheryl is a little annoyed, no one causes her to fumble or look less than. However because it's caused by the beautiful. Girl standing in front of her, Cheryl doesn't mind as much. Toni laughs at the obvious frustration the red-haired girl is feeling. Toni takes a few steps back and begins to head in the direction the group went off to. "So will i see you tomorrow then?" She asks. Cheryl smiles and replies, "Definitely." Toni smiles back and turns away, jogging out of the common room and down the hallway.

Cheryl's head is absolutely spinning. "What the fuck was that? What even just happened?" She speaks out loud to herself and places her palm against her forehead. Crossing the room and exiting through the same side she entered. A very large smile firmly stuck on her face.

...

When she eventually got back to her dorm her trunk cases were already waiting for her stacked next to her bed. She undressed and put on a pair of fleece pajama pants and her favorite oversized sweater. She walked over to the window and glanced at the underwater scene before her. The sunlight allowing a small amount of the water outside her window to be illuminated.

She turned away after a minute or so and threw herself into the covers and fur blankets that adorn her bed. She is finally home. She breathes a long sigh of relief, taking in the scent of her room. Basil quickly joins her on the bed, leaping up from the stone floor and nuzzling himself under her neck. She strokes his back while smirking to herself at the memory of the bewitching "Miss Topaz".

"Basil," Cheryl began. "Do you believe in love at first sight?" she asked with a smile. The multicolored cat lifted up his head and looked at her with hooded eyes as if to say a sarcastic "Really?" Cheryl giggled and laid her head down on the pillow. Basil followed suit and the two soon fall asleep cuddled together.

…