Hi! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter but things have been busy, I haven't had alot of time to write recently and I didn't have acess to my computer for a while. However, I am back with another chapter for your reading pleasure, I hope, and to make it up to you I have made this chapter more exciting than the others before! I hope...

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Chapter 5

Of Serpents and Lions

Bella's first week at Hogwarts was interesting, to say the least. The castle itself was such a wonder, there were trick steps she always seemed to trip on and doors that moved around and paintings that moved and spoke like real people. It was awe inspiring. She and Alice, fast friends, were having more that a little trouble finding their way to classes every morning.

And the classes themselves were even more extraordinary. Professor Longbottom, head of Gryffindor house, taught them Herbology in the Greenhouses three times a week, where they learnt all about magical plants and fungi and their various uses. They had Charms on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Professor Flitwick, a very tiny old wizard who had to had to pile books on his chair in order to see over his desk.

Astronomy was taught on Wednesday at midnight by Professor Sinistra, they had to study the night sky through telescopes and learn the names of the stars and track the movements of their planets. Their most boring class was History of Magic with Professor Binns who was the only ghost teacher. They spent most of his class on the edge of falling asleep as he droned on and on about Goblin Wars and Emeric the Evil. The only one who ever seemed to show any interest in his class was Jasper Whitlock, who wrote perfect notes which everyone else who had been asleep begged to copy later.

Tranfiguration was taught by the very pretty Professor Laurel. The boys in class hung on to her every word as she coached them through the very difficult art of Transfiguration. Her classes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays were always enjoyable, if not very trying. The only one who seemed to be any good was Edward who beamed in pride as Professor Laurel showed his shiny pin, recently transfigured from a matchstick, to the class in their first lesson. The girls were all impressed and the boys, envious.

The young, handsome and funny Professor Jameson taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. This class was the most fun, as they all enjoyed learning about dangerous magical beasts and the spells which could be used to fend them off. Professor Jameson told them that they wouldn't be able to perform most of the spells yet but he taught them the wand movements and they studied the incantations. Alice, Bella noticed, was very keen to do well in this class and was well on her way to being a teacher's pet. Of course it was because she fancied Professor Jameson she revealed to Bella.

On Friday morning Alice and Bella managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. They sat, as they usually did, opposite Edward, Jasper and Emmett, who too had become fast friends and were always at the table early for every meal.

"What have we got this morning?" Alice asked as she piled scrambled eggs onto her plate.

Everyone turned to Bella, because she seemed to already have her whole timetable memorised.

"We've got Potions with the Slytherins first," She said pouring herself some pumpkin juice.

"My Dad went to school with Professor Everard," Edward said smirking, "Apparently he was always really good at potions but he's a real recluse and a bit odd, have you noticed he never comes to meals?"

Everyone nodded.

"Classes with the Slytherins should be interesting," Emmett said glancing over at their table, "They're a funny lot, those Slytherins."

Bella hadn't known but she soon found out that there was an intense rivalry that existed between Gryffindor and Slytherin that went back centuries. The Slytherins seemed keen to keep it that way. Earlier in the week Bella and Alice had come across a slim red haired girl with hard grey eyes taunting Angela Weber in an empty corridor. She'd been teasing Angela about her big round glasses and calling her short and fat. Poor Angela had tears in her eyes.

"Leave her alone!" Alice had shouted striding confidently up to the girl who Bella recognised as Victoria Dashwood, a first year Slytherin.

"Oh if it isn't little Alice!" Victoria had cooed in a baby voice, her eyes gleaming, "Honestly, I'd have thought a Brandon would have better taste in friends."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alice had demanded. Victoria's eyes flicked from Angela, backed against the wall, to Bella who had gone over to comfort her.

"I think you know Brandon," Victoria said nastily, her eyes lingering on Bella, "but I suppose your family always was a bunch of muggle lovers."

"You can shut up about my family!" Alice cried angrily and instinctively plunged her hand into her pocket for her wand. Victoria noticed this and a slow sticky smile spread across her face.

"Ah well," she sighed, "I've so much to do, have fun with your friends Brandon." She had then turned to smirk at Angela. "Bye bye Crybaby."

She didn't say anything to Bella at all.

Which was another thing Bella noticed about some of the Slytherins, they seemed to have a certain disdain for muggle borns. Most of the time, it was cleverly hidden, masked by a cold smile but at times a harsh word escaped or a look that could only be described as disgust was revealed and Bella wondered at it. However, for some reason, she was uncomfortable asking about it, so she did her best to ignore it

"Do you think Professor Everard will favor the Slytherins?" Alice asked, jolting Bella out of her thoughts.

"I dunno," Jasper shrugged, "Professor Longbottom doesn't exactly give us special treatment does he? Look at all that homework he gave us."

Just then the mail arrived. Bella had by now gotten used to the flurry of owls that streamed into the Great Hall every morning at breakfast. She's sent her parents two letters with Circe since her first day and they had replied sending back sweets and some homemade cakes her mother had made which Bella didn't touch. She knew her mother's cooking too well. However the sweets were well appreciated and she shared them with Alice, who particularly enjoyed 'Skittles'.

That day Circe didn't fly in carrying any packages so Bella returned to her pancakes, out of the corner of her eye though she saw an eagle owl glide silently down to Rosalie Hale who Bella had noticed hadn't gotten any mail since the term began. She untied the letter from the owl's leg eagerly and it took off immediately. Rosalie ripped open the very official looking envelope and unfolded the letter. Bella watched as a look of heart breaking sadness crossed Rosalie's face before it was replaced by blank look. She squeezed the letter into a ball in her fist and threw it into her bag before getting up and striding out of the Hall.

"I wonder what that was all about..." Alice whispered and Bella realised that she too had watched Rosalie's reaction.

"She must've gotten bad news or something," Bella said shrugging, though she couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl whatever it was that made her so angry and cold.

"Or something," Alice agreed softly.

Potions took place down in the Dungeons. It was cold and drafty down there and smelt of damp and mildew. The only light came from the flickery torches on the walls that threatened to be blown out at any second. In all honesty the Potions class room was quite scary enough without the bits of pickled animal parts floating in jars around the room.

When the students had first entered the room their Professor had been sitting behind his desk. His face hidden by a black leather bound book. The first years had stood awkwardly by the door for a moment before gradually taking seats in class. It was only when the last person was seat that Professor Everard set down his book and stood.

He was a tall man with long dark hair pulled back from his face. His facial expression was one of extreme boredom, with just a trace of annoyance. He turned to the black board behind him and wrote in large curling script:

Professor Alistair Everard

"As it is every year," he began in a dull voice, his eyes sweeping over them, "there is once again a new crop of children here to interupt my solitude, it is my charge to teach you but it is unlikely that any of you will amount to much in this subject."

At this many of the class exchanged disbelieving glances.

"However," Professor Everard continued, "teach you I must, whether or not you learn anything is none of my concern. Now, turn to page 63 in the books on your desks, you will be working on a painfully simple potion which is used to cure boils, follow the instructions in your books."

With that he went to sit behind his desk and once more buried his nose behind his big black book.

Alice and Bella looked at each other nervously before opening their potions books to the page their Professor had told them. Bella read the instruction a few times before getting started, she found that they sounded surprisingly easy. She got out her cauldron and placed on the burner on her desk before lighting the fire and pouring the first ingredient, essence of fire weed, into the cauldron. After that things went smoothly, she actually found herself enjoying making the potion. It was like following a recipe and she had always been good at cooking.

Every now and then the instructions in the book gave the indication of what the potion should look like when completed and it seemed that she was perfectly on track, when the book said that her potion should be lime green it was lime green and when it said it should be bright red it was bright red. While she was letting her horned slugs stew she looked around to see how everyone else was doing. What she saw surprised her.

Alice was muttering angrily under her breath as she ladled a very lumpy concoction out of her cauldron. A few desks away Edward was stirring the liquid in his cauldron frustratedly and kept glancing at his book with a confused exprssion on his face. Next to him Jasper was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed as his potion spat purple sparks into the air and Emmett was throwing ingredients haphazardly into his cauldron which was emitting loud bangs.

Very few people seemed to be doing well. Bella could help but smile when she saw Victoria Dashwood leaning over her cauldron worriedly, the fumes making her wild hair even more frizzy. Rosalie Hale didn't seem to be doing too badly, although her potion was still pale pink when it should have turned red a while ago. Twins Jane and Alec Lawson weren't doing badly either, though they were working together and helping each other with their potions.

Just as Bella's potion had turned a deep purple which signified it's completion, Professor Everard stood and told them time was up. He swept down to the back of the class and began to criticize people's potions. He told Mike Newton that he wouldn't use his to clean a toilet and Tyler Crowley was asked if he could read. Maria Villanueva was told that if she had paid as much attention to her potion as she had to gossiping with Lauren Mallory, who had an equally dismal potion, she might not appear such a waste of time.

He merely rolled his eyes at Emmett's potion before vanishing it and tutted at Jasper's who didn't seem to care anyway. He paused for a moment at Edward's cauldron, the potion inside was pale green.

"I know your father," he said dryly, "he was never much good at potions either."

Then he swept away to peer at Jessica's, which had the consistency of wet cement,and Angela's which was much too Hunt received a raised eyebrow and Afton Darcy a 'not completely abysmal'.

Jane, Alec and Rosalie got nods of approval but at Alice's potion Professor Everard shook his head in disapproval before moving on to Bella's.

"Ah," he said tilting his head as he stirred her potion, "it would seem that one of you may actually amount to something."

Bella blushed fiercely.

"This is not a bad attempt," Professor Everard said inspecting the potion more closely, "not bad at all. What is your name girl?"

"Isabella Swan, sir," Bella said nervously.

"Muggle born?"

"Yes."

"Well, it seems you are not a dunderhead, keep it up," he said and a trace of a smile crossed his lips before he strode up to his desk, "I want a twelve inch essay from each of you explaining exactly what you did wrong with this potion, I expect to receive it by Monday afternoon, you are dismissed."

Grumbling softly, everyone collected their things and began to file out of the classroom.

"Miss Swan, come here," He said when most people had left. Alice signalled that she would wait outside and Bella walked up to her teacher's desk.

"Yes Professor?" she asked curious.

"I will not be expecting an essay from you as your potion was as good as I believe any first year could possibly make," he said plainly and Bella flushed, "read page 75 in your book in preparation for next week's class instead. Dismissed."

"What did he want?" Alice asked as Bella walked with her to their next class Tranfiguration.

"He said I didn't have to do the essay," Bella said hoping Alice wouldn't be too jealous.

"Ugh!" Alice said, "I am sooo jealous! How did you do that? it was sooo hard! I kept getting messed up!'

Bella shrugged.

"I don't know," she said, "I just followed the instructions I guess."

"Well next class you're going to help me out!" Alice laughed, "My instructions looked like Ancient Runes for all I could see!"

After Dinner that night Bella went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth before bed. She was alone because Alice had gone to ask Professor Jameson about something he'd taught in class that day. She was just about to leave when her ink bottle fell from her bag and rolled into a stall. Bella went after it, reaching behind the toilet to grab it when someone entered the bathroom.

"I don't know what to do Vera," a sad voice said, "the hat put me in Gryffindor, is that really enough reason to shun your only daughter?"

"They're just disappointed Rosalie," A softer more mature voice came comfortingly, "They'll get over it eventually."

Bella peeped under the stall and saw Rosalie, her lovely violet eyes red rimmed, and an older Slytherin girl with black curls and blue eyes.

"Oh they're disappointed," Rosalie said bitterly, "My mother said how upset she was that I ruined such a long family tradition, and my father was so disappointed that he couldn't even write to me, all my mother would say is that atleast the Kings weren't too worried about it. If she thinks I'm going to marry that awful boy she is dead wrong, I won't!"

Bella stifled a gasp and wished she wasn't there hearing this, it seemed awfully like eavesdropping.

"That's years ahead Rose," Vera said an odd catch to her voice, "you might feel differently in the future."

"I won't," Rosalie hissed, "I know I won't, he's a spoilt, arrogant little snob, he thinks he can have whatever he wants, well he can't! I will never marry Royce King!"

Bella heard the door of the bathroom swing open.

"Oh, hello," She heard Alice's tinkling voice, "Have you seen Bella? She said she was coming here."

"Well as you can see she isn't," Rosalie said frostily.

"Er, right," Alice said uncomfortably, "she's probably in the common room, I'll just go."

When Alice left there was a moment of silence.

"You should try to make some friends Rose," Vera said gently, "There's no use in being alone and angry."

"I don't need anyone but myself," Rosalie said stiffly, "It's the way it's always been and always will be."

"It doesn't have to be," Vera sighed.

"Come on, let's go before someone else comes in," Rosalie said as if she hadn't heard the other girl.

When they left Bella stayed hidden in the stall for a little while longer. She now knew for sure that there was a lot more to Rosalie than meets the eye, and once again she couldn't help but feel sorry for the beautiful girl.

Okay!

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