A/N: Thank you so much for your kind reviews! Know that I appreciate them deeply, and work extra hard when I read them. Also, thank you for favouriting and following the story; hopefully, it will be worth your while! In this chapter, Lola attempts to make a fresh start but doesn't realise that there is a heinous plan being made against her... Stay tuned for next chapter, when Lola gets in some serious trouble!
The long corridor was faintly illuminated by rays of weak moonlight creeping in through two small windows. It was completely deserted except for the tall, pale figure of a young man wearing black robes and a purple turban, followed only by his own shadow. The man looked up and down the hallway cautiously before entering one of the empty classrooms along the corridor.
Quirinus Quirrell pointed his alder-wood wand at the doorknob and murmured "Colloportus". The heavy classroom door sealed itself shut after a quiet thud. He then pointed the wand at himself, muttering "Cave inimicum!". A white aura momentarily traced the outline of his slender figure before disappearing.
Quirrell proceeded to undo his turban. "We are alone now, Master," he said into nothingness. "You can speak freely."
"Tell me again…" whispered a voice that came from Quirrell, though his lips had not moved at all. "What you saw…"
"I was watching Harry Potter –" (the mystery voice hissed at the boy's name) "As you ordered, Master. I was using Legilimency to see if the boy had any knowledge of our plans or any other useful information. He does not suspect us, much like Dumbledore."
"Yesss…" the voice wheezed contentedly.
"But then I saw the girl… The girl next to Potter… She looked at me like she knew. At first, I assumed she was after Severus, Potter was asking about him you see, but then she stared right into my eyes."
"And…? Did you peak into her mind…?" said the voice, sounding impatient.
"That's the thing!" Quirrell exclaimed, more to himself than to the voice. "I tried. But it was like trying to read an empty book. No matter how hard I concentrated, I could not penetrate her mind!" Quirrell's frustration was evident from the way his voice cracked with fury. "How… How is it possible?"
"She is protected…" the voice whispered softly. "By whom, I know not…"
Quirrell collapsed into a nearby chair, looking defeated. "What do you wish from your servant, Master?" he asked, nonetheless. "What should be my next step?"
There was a momentary pause, before the voice whispered a very devious, shrewd plan.
Lola had never shared a bedroom with anyone else before.
When the doctor announced that Lola was going to be a girl, her father had built a separate bedroom for her so that she wouldn't have to share one with her brother. But because it was initially designed for a baby, Lola's room had always been small, but just enough, for the entirety of her life. Still, it had always been just her. Even when her little sister Leona was born when Lola was eight-years-old, she had also gotten a separate room built for her. Lola always thought she was lucky for being able to have a room all to herself, as her best friend Ellie had to share hers with her older sister.
Now that Lola had four roommates, she realised what she had been missing out on all these years. The whole concept almost felt like a slumber party, except nobody would have to go home in the morning. They could gossip all night, talk about their crushes, play dress-up or even practice magic. And there would be no nosy parents around to tell them to go to bed.
For the first time since everything began unfolding, Lola felt glad for being in her eleven-year-old form.
Hermione, who was assigned the bed to Lola's immediate left, did not look as pleased about this arrangement at all. She quickly emptied the contents of her trunk, picked up a book from the mini-library that she carried around with her and made her way back downstairs to the common room without saying another word.
"Hi!" a friendly girl with brown hair and warm, blue eyes approached Lola after Hermione left. She was the owner of the bed to the right of Lola's, and extended a hand out as she spoke. "My name is Fay. I thought I'd introduce myself as we're going to be classmates now – and roommates!"
Lola smiled as she shook the girl's hand. "Nice thinking. I'm Lola. Nice to meet you."
"Back at you," she winked and went back to tiding her belongings.
In the following half an hour, Lola met her other two roommates, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. The two had become best friends already, as they seemed to have a lot in common. By midnight, Lola was done unpacking and felt really exhausted. She let her body fall back onto her new, velvety soft bed.
"So," Fay said a few minutes later as she climbed into bed. "Are you excited about tomorrow?"
"I guess so…" Lola lied. She knew that having to face Quirrell, or Snape for that matter, without a solid plan didn't really arouse 'excitement' in her.
"Well, I know I am!" Fay exclaimed. "Especially about the Flying lessons. I love Quidditch, you see, and can't wait to learn how to use a broom properly. My brother taught me how to fly but he's not very good himself. He got denied onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team four times in a row so far."
"Wow," Lola whistled, in awe. "That's an achievement."
Fay chuckled. "Yeah. I admire his perseverance."
"Are you going to try your luck?" enquired Lola.
"Maybe next year, when we get to bring our own brooms to Hogwarts. And when I develop enough skill to qualify, of course. Hopefully." She sounded nervous and tugged her hair vigorously as she spoke.
"I'm sure you'll do great. Madam Hooch is a great teacher," Lola said compassionately.
Fay sat up quickly, looking awakened. "How do you know that?! Have you met her already? What does she look like?! What did she say to you?! Is she nice?"
"Um…" Lola said quickly, trying not to panic. "It's just – it's just what I heard through the grapevine…"
Thankfully, a spent looking Hermione entered the dormitory right at that moment.
"Hey," she said quietly as she opened her wardrobe. "Hope I didn't disturb…"
"Not at all," Lola said warmly.
Hermione nodded and walked into the bathroom with her pyjamas in hand.
"Is it just me," Fay whispered at a volume only Lola could hear. "Or does she get weird around you?"
"Really?" Lola replied, surprised. "You think so?"
Before Fay could say anything, Hermione came out of the bathroom.
"Goodnight, guys," she said before she clambered into bed and turned her bedside lamp off.
Fay shrugged, looking baffled.
They chatted for a little while longer, mainly about the differences between a Muggle upbringing and a Magical upbringing. When they got a few dirty looks from Parvati, who didn't seem to appreciate their post-midnight chatter, they wished each other a good night's sleep and drew their curtains respectively.
Not long after, Lola surrendered herself into her first long and sweet slumber at Hogwarts. The last thought that crossed her mind before her eyelids closed shut was why both Harry Potter and Hermione Granger seemed to avoid her like the plague. "Huh," she thought to herself sleepily. "Maybe I should try my luck with Ron instead…"
Lola woke up to a beautiful morning.
Though she hadn't gotten much sleep on the night of her first day, she felt amazing. The golden rays of dawn crept in through the scarlet and gold curtains covering the two huge bay windows. Birds chirped merrily, filling Lola with warmth and hope. She felt as though nothing could ruin her day.
Knowing she probably wouldn't have time afterwards, she brushed her teeth and took a quick shower. She then braided her hair and wore a plain, buttoned shirt with Gryffindor's gold and scarlet striped tie under her black robes. After putting on a pair of grey socks and wearing her shiny black shoes, she took a moment in front of the mirror to appreciate how fresh she felt in her new and soft clothes. Finally, she attached the huge Gryffindor crest to the front of her robes, feeling proud as she did.
Lola was finally ready to make a great first impression. "Or perhaps a second one," she thought to herself as she remembered Harry and Hermione.
It took a while to find her way back down to the Great Hall. Lola could swear the entire castle was alive, from its staircases to its conventional portraits to the coats of armour at every corner. She made it a mental note to study the map that she had bought from Flourish and Blotts. Being as bad at navigation as she was, there was no way for her to go from A to B without getting terribly lost otherwise.
She noticed three things immediately when she entered the Great Hall. The first thing was how everyone was looking at Harry Potter, whispering unintelligibly. The second was how uncomfortable he looked about it. And the third thing was how, apart from Ronald Weasley, everyone had been too scared to sit anywhere near him.
As Lola approached Harry, she saw a first-year Hufflepuff girl directly point at Harry as she leaned into her friend's ear to say something.
Lola stopped dead in her tracks. "Is there a problem?" she asked the girl directly.
Everyone within a ten feet radius turned around, including Harry and Ron, to see what was going on.
The girl, whose name was Megan Jones, scratched her head as she blushed crimson. "N – no," she muttered quietly.
"Then I guess there's no reason for you to point and whisper behind anyone's back, right?" Lola pressed.
Megan looked incredibly embarrassed. She looked at Harry with doe-like eyes and muttered an apology before she turned back to her breakfast.
No one else would bother Harry Potter for the remainder of that morning.
Lola sat next to Harry, though leaving him considerable space. "Thank you," Harry said a while later, as Lola was loading her plate with scrambled eggs. "You didn't have to do that."
Lola shrugged, trying to hide how elated she felt to have finally gotten the attention of the Boy Who Lived. "I would want someone to say something if the same was being done to me, so…" she said coolly.
Harry looked at Ron, who seemed impressed. "We didn't get to fully introduce ourselves to you. I'm Harry… Harry Potter," he said. Lola refrained herself from saying "I know!", and nodded instead.
"Ron Weasley," added Ron from across Harry.
"Nice to meet you both," said Lola impassively.
They ate in silence until Harry and Ron began talking about Chocolate Frog Cards.
Thirty minutes later, as the three of them were trying to find the Astronomy Tower for their first lesson of the year, they ended up at the last place that they were supposed to be.
"It's beyond this door!" Ron exclaimed as he tried to push his way through a wooden door on the third-floor corridor. "It's the one that Fred and George told me about. I'm sure of it!"
Lola thought about using Alohamora, only if she knew how to cast it.
That is exactly when Filch the caretaker, and his side-kick Mrs. Norris, found them.
"What are you three weasels doing here?" he grunted, licking his lips. He looked like a hungry lion cornering its prey.
"Trying to get to the Astronomy Tower," Harry said.
"Of course…" Filch said dangerously. "Except that door your friend is trying to bust open is out-of-bounds to all students!"
Ron stopped trying immediately.
"We didn't know, I swear!" Lola said at once. "We're lost!"
"Sure you are," said Filch, with a wide smirk that revealed his grossly rotten teeth. "You'll all feel even more lost when I lock you in the dungeons, sure you will… Come with me now, before I get Professor McGonagall over here."
"Is the – there a p – p – problem here?" someone asked behind them, stuttering. Lola turned around to find Quirrell standing right behind her.
It was funny how that one simple sentence seemed to have a tremendously significant impact on Lola's life that morning.
"These three were trying to sneak into the forbidden room, Professor," Filch said quickly. He reminded Lola of that one kid in class who enjoyed snitching on other people's wrong-doings. "I caught them in the act, you see."
"We were lost, Professor Quirrell," Harry complained defensively. "We thought this was the door leading up to the Astronomy Tower!"
"I'm going to kill Fred and George when I see them," Ron muttered under his breath.
"I will h – h – handle it fr – from here, F – Filch, thank you," said Quirrell.
Filch, who didn't look too pleased about the arrangement, turned on his heels and left.
Quirrell's eyes searched Lola's face for a second too long, before he stammered "You three sh – should be more c – careful where you're going. You d – don't want to get in t – t – trouble."
Harry nodded seriously. "Thank you Professor. Do you know the way to the Astronomy Tower?"
Quirrell proceeded to give them simple directions that would eventually take them to their destination.
Lola couldn't help but feel extremely uneasy as she realised, under that innocent-looking turban, was hidden none other than Lord Voldemort himself. She wondered whether it was a huge coincidence that Quirinus Quirrell just happened to be passing by the third-floor corridor that morning.
As Quirrell watched Lola's retreating back, he wondered the exact same thing about her. Could she possibly know what was behind that door…?
A/N: Thanks a lot for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. See you next chapter, which will be very soon!