Chapter 2

The autumn had progressed and it was already five weeks into the term, when Ionia Rivers made her slow ascend toward the castle. The light drizzle of rain wouldn't have bothered her any other day, nor the resulting frizz of her hair.

This though was the first night at her new school - Merlin forbid she looked presentable for the occasion. Ionia sighed. The second hand school uniform didn't help either.

At least McKinnon's impervious charm had made sure she wouldn't arrive soaked through. The thought consoled her a little as she trailed behind the ever quiet Auror.

Of course, she had already been to Hogwarts. In fact she had spent the entire last week taking tests in various subjects and getting appraised by her new teachers. All in all Io had fared well. Better than anyone had expected apparantly which, even though she didn't let it on, had hurt her pride quite a bit. Ionia was clever. If only...

She scratched her chest. After weeks of getting used to it, the ink still felt like it was made from itching powder. Of course, the symbols carved into her skin didn't really itch, it was rather the spellwork wrapping around her senses that was bothering her. It made her feel confined in her body and weirdly numb at the same time.

That numbness certainly didn't help with her weaker subjects; the memory of her Transfiguration test still made her want to cringe in embarassment. The bloody teacup simply wouldn't stop squeaking, so Io had lost her nerve and smashed it by accident.

But she would deal with it, Io told herself sternly. She would deal with it and not be ungrateful. After all, the runes were the only reason she was about to enter the fifth year at Hogwarts, albeit five weeks late.

They had arrived.

Ionia looked up to the huge stone arc looming over her. It didn't look all that welcoming. A door opened and a big belly appeared on the threshold. She recognized it at once. It belonged to Professor Slughorn, her house teacher.

„Ah there you are, Miss Rivers. Right on time."

With a curt nod McKinnon bid her farewell and dissapeared. Ionia snorted. So much for soppy goodbyes.

As Slughorn took his lead, she followed on. An utmost sense of doom enveloped her. Everything about her Hogwarts experience so far had been bizarre. Well, nothing could be worse than what they had called the Sorting ceremony.

Those were certainly not the words Io would use to describe it. It had not been ceremonious in any way and rather too invasive for her liking. Put a dirty old hat on your head so it can rummage through your brain and be insolent about it - that's what she'd call it. If that was how things were done at Hogwarts, Merlin knew what lay ahead of her.

They walked down a dark corridor and up some stairs until they arrived at the great hall.

Ionia stopped and her gloomy thoughts were blown away as she stared up at the enchanted ceiling and felt like a wide-eyed kid again. That magical sense of wonder lasted for only about 10 seconds though. Then hundreds of eyes turned toward her.

Oh well, Io thought wryly, here goes your big entrance scene.

Dinner passed in a blur. Someone had piled food onto her plate. Io chewed but barely tasted whatever she was eating. Not that she got around to much eating, what with all the questions. The Slytherin prefect had been so gracious and manoeuvred her to a free seat surrounded by other fifth years. What was her name again? Elana? Elaine?

Some questions were to be expected. Where she was from - Greece. How come she had switched schools - she had been homeschooled till her father died. McKinnon had „briefed" her in such depth on the fake life of Ionia Rivers, she almost felt as if her real life had been a vague, dark dream and she had been Io all along.

Some questions were weirder. Was she related to the Rosenham Rivers - never heard of them. The Peltham Rivers? Dutroux Rivers? Io just kept shaking her head. McKinnon had warned her that the Slytherins would be interested in her ancestry.

And then some questions were so odd, Io had no idea what to say. Did the girls in Greece follow Muggle fashion - she wouldn't know, they'd lived in a remote area. Were the boys good looking - err, sure? Did they allow Muggleborns into school? Into the ministry? Io shrugged helplessly.

„Come on, let her eat something."

The prefect girl, Elaine, had appearantly sensed that Io was feeling overwhelmed by the onslaught of questions. She gave Io a warm smile and passed her the roast potatoes.

„How were you sorted?"

Elaine shot an exasperated look toward the tall boy who had asked. Io had just managed to put a spoonful of hot potatoes in her mouth. She chewed hastily, burning her tongue in the process and grimaced. The tall boy didn't wait for an answer.

„Ah well, you're a Slytherin now. In case they didn't tell you: Congrats, that means you're part of the elite."

The people around them grinned.

„So why are you here, Wilkes?" a blonde girl challenged.

The tall boy clutched his heart in mock outrage.

„Why, my lovely Abby, I never..."

The others laughed, the blonde rolled her eyes and gave Wilkes a peck on the cheek.

Finally the conversation turned to other things and Io sighed in relief. She wasn't particularly shy but then again she had never spent much time around peers.

Merlin's beard, some kid at another table had just stood up on the bench to catch a better glimpse of her. Ionia groaned and hunched her shoulders.

She reached out for a jug right in front of her. A hand caught her wrist before she could touch it. Ionia froze and looked into a pair of glowing black eyes. The boy let go of her hand instantly.

„You don't want to drink that."

„I don't-"

With an irritated jerk of his head, he motioned toward a group of kids at the other end of the hall. A boy with messy black hair and glasses bent over laughing hysterically, spilling his milk in the process.

The dark haired boy next to him grinned and looked mighty pleased with himself. Io had no idea what made her think that, but she was pretty sure that was a rather permanent facial expression of his. She looked back up at the boy next to her, raising a brow.

„What would happen?"

He shrugged. „Nothing, if you don't mind opulent plumage."

„Oh."

She quietly returned to the food in front of her, but whatever appetite she had had, was gone.

„Don't worry."

She looked up again, surprised she had been that easy to read.

„They're not going to give you a hard time. Just steer clear of Gryffindors, you'll be fine."

She looked back over to the other table. The smug kid caught her glance and winked. Merlin. Now that was just perfect. Io pointedly ignored him and extended a hand to the boy next to her instead.

„I'm Io."

„Severus."

She scanned the table in front of her. „Now what hasn't been tampered with?"

„Try the pomegranate juice and the treacle tart."

She raised a brow at the odd choices.

Severus shrugged again. „I loathe both of those."

Once Io was able to relax a bit, she found she actually enjoyed herself. The students around her were a bright, quick-witted bunch and before long Io joined in the laughter.

On their way down to the dungeons, the blonde girl, who had introduced herself as Abigail Yvette Rosier, informed her of the complex relations of the student body and the latest gossip.

Of course Io had no idea who she was talking about, all that she gathered was that the house rivalries were a big deal and the Gryffindors were a bunch of loud and pompous trolls, who believed they were better than everyone else.

Also, some boy from Ravenclaw had started dating a Muggle-born. Telling from the nasty sneer on Abby's face and Elaine's guarded expression, there seemed to be a story there. However Io was prudent enough not to ask about it.

They arrived at the end of a long corridor. Elaine stepped in front of the damp stone wall.

„Melusine."

The stones started to move backwards, forming an arched door that slid noiselessly to the side. Io followed behind Elaine and entered a large furnished room that was flooded with soft green light.

Ionia gasped. Large windows were set into all six stones walls of the room that looked out into... the lake? She turned around. The door was there, closing this very moment behind Abby and to each side was a window, framed with heavy curtains in the house colours.

Wait a second, Io wondered. It's night out - how can the water be illuminated?

„It's quite something, isn't it?", Elaine smiled.

Io nodded faintly, marveling at the impossible architecture. A school of fish shot by one of the windows. Groups of students were sitting in comfortable looking chairs around the large fireplace. Some turned around to look at them curiously.

„Wait till you see our dorm."

Elaine led them down one of the hallways that spread out in each direction from the common room. The stone walls were covered in opulent tapestries that showed idyllic underwater sceneries. Io was sure she had never been around this much luxury in her life.

„Slytherin alumni tend to be quite generous," Elaine explained.

„We like to take care of our own," Abby added, not without an air of pride.

The dorm was another hexagon-shaped room. Five wooden four-poster beds were grouped around the centre. They had rich green curtains that could be drawn for privacy and what looked like satin bedding. Next to each bed was a dresser made of the same dark wood. Io noticed her shabby trunk on top of one of them.

The large windows were looking out into the lake at a spot with particularly beautiful flowers swaying in the water.

„You've met Ethelyn-", a stout girl with curly red hair and freckles waved at her „and this is Cadi Jones." Cadi shook Ionia's hand with a firm handshake. „Ionia."

„Nice to meet you."

„She's our prime Quidditch star," Elaine added.

The girl with the short brown hair and athletic build rolled her eyes at that.

„Oh. Which position?"

„Seeker. Do you play?"

She shook her head.

Cadi looked a bit disappointed. Io had in fact never even touched a broom, but she'd rather drop dead than admit that.

Abby nodded toward Io's bed.

„It appeared overnight. So we'd guessed we would get a new classmate even before Slughorn told our precious prefect."

Elaine shrugged.

„They probably thought the student body would delve into wild speculations otherwise."

Io frowned at that.

„Don't worry. One, two weeks tops and the novelty will have passed."

Io's frown deepened.

That didn't ease her worry one bit.

Abby chuckled at her expression and Io couldn't help but feel her mood brighten a bit.

Much later when Io lay in her soft bed and peered out into the soothing green of the water, she realized she felt something she hadn't in a long time:

She was looking forward to the next morning.