Chapter 2

Serena looked around the crowded common room dispassionately. Her fellow Slytherin whispered behind her back; as if she couldn't hear them. Like everywhere else, she knew every nook and cranny of the common room. Especially this common room.

She stepped right in front of the fire, the flames almost licking her dragon-hide boots. She stood so close to the heat of the flame, it might've burned her, but at that moment, a girl somewhat taller than Serena appeared beside her.

"Hi, you must be Serena. My name's Lucy," The girl extended a hand to Serena welcomingly, a bright smile plastered on her face. Serena only stared at the hand, and after a while, it dropped, "Do you not know where your dorm is? I can show you, if you'd like."

Lucy, without waiting for an answer, hooked her arm with Serena's and began to pull her towards the staircase at the back left of the large room. Of course, Serena knew exactly where to go, but she let the bubbly, young girl lead her along anyway.

"So you're really Snape's daughter? I never knew that he had one," Lucy glanced sideways at Serena and continued talking, "You seem a lot like him. I think most of the other students are scared of you because of that."

"Why aren't you?" Serena asked in an almost bored tone. Lucy shrugged and then grinned.

"Everyone needs a friend, right?"

Serena didn't respond, but continued her way up the staircase with Lucy beside her. The blonde had a skip in her step, very unlike Serena, whose posture was straight and stiff.

"Did you get your time table? I hope we're in a lot of classes together; it would make things much easier. Can I see it?" Lucy chattered on. Without even looking at her, Serena handed over the memorized time table.

"We have double Astronomy together on Tuesdays and History of Magic on Thursdays! How did you manage to get into Advanced Potions? Is it because of your father?" Lucy questioned.

"No. It's not because of my father."

Lucy nodded questions still clear in her eyes. She glanced back down at the time table and continued, "You know, Harry Potter's in that class."

Serena wondered how she knew his time table, but didn't voice the question. Lucy, however, went on to answer, "Yeah, I know, weird right? I know a fifth year's time table. But I mean, he's Harry Potter."

"And?"

Lucy gave Serena a skeptical look, but dropped the subject, and pushed open a dorm door, "We share a dorm with three other girls. Miranda's a light sleeper, so if you come in and out at night, be extra quiet. Julianne always uses the lavatory first because she wakes up early and Kayla's never really here. And then there's me!"

Serena nodded and went over to the only untouched bed in the room. Fortunately, the House Elves had already brought in her bags. She began to unpack, folding her clothes neatly into the chest seated before her bed. Lucy jumped onto the bed to her left, fiddling with the many pillows that adorned her bed.

"So why did you decide to come in your fourth year?" Lucy questioned. Serena began taking the many books and supplies that occupied her second bag.

"Personal reasons." She answered, without looking up. Lucy nodded and played with the lace on a pillow, picking at it subconsciously.

"You have a lot of stuff. How did you manage to fit all of that in those small bags?"

"Bottomless spell." Serena grabbed a nightgown and some toiletries, making her way to the lavatory and locking it behind her. After placing her things on the counter and changing, she stopped to stare at her reflection in the mirror. Strange colored eyes stared back at her, the mix of green and grey clashing beautifully. Her long, black curls framed her small face, while dark lashes outlined her eyes. Her skin matched the white of the nightgown, so pale yet so alluring. Her overall appearance was so delicate yet deceiving. She could incapacitate a man twice her age and size with only the lift of a finger, courtesy of her father's vigorous training.

Using wandless magic, she removed any traces of cosmetics. Then, Serena cleaned her teeth and face, before putting away her things and exiting the lavatory. She picked up the ornate silver brush from her bedside table and began to brush the few tangles from her hair.

While Serena was in the lavatory, Lucy had changed into small pajamas, very unlike Serena's own nightgown which ended at her ankles. Lucy inspected Serena's appearance carefully, "That's a very interesting nightgown."

Before Serena could respond, the door swung open and two girls stumbled inside, talking energetically to one another. They stopped, though, after seeing Serena.

"Julianne, Miranda, this is our new dorm mate, Serena." Said Lucy, smiling happily at the awkward situation. Serena nodded in the direction of the two girls, setting down the ornate brush next to a matching comb and mirror.

The two continued to stare at an impartial Serena, whispering as they went into the lavatory. Lucy quickly called over, "We were going to turn out the lights; big day tomorrow. That alright with you?"

Miranda nodded and closed the door behind them. Lucy, then, turned the small lever on the oil lamp, sending her part of the room into darkness. Serena pulled the comforter and blanket, copying Lucy's actions and climbing into the warm bed.

"Maybe tomorrow I can give you a tour of the school?" Lucy wondered aloud.

"That won't be necessary."

Time passed and Serena began to believe that Lucy had fallen asleep. She quickly found that she was wrong.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

Serena gave a small smile that was unseen in the darkness of the room.

"Only if I need to."

The next morning, Serena was seated at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, eating her usual breakfast, consisting of oatmeal, an apple, and water. Very few other students sat in the hall with her, the majority of them still asleep. She had a book perched neatly in her left hand, while she used her right to eat.

"There you are! I woke up and you were gone. What time did you wake up?" Lucy plopped down beside Serena and began piling her plate with various foods.

Serena, after swallowing her bite of food, answered indifferently, "Five o'clock."

Lucy's eyes widened considerably and she raised her voice in surprise, "Why?"

"I have a schedule."

"Okay…well, what have you been doing for the past three hours?" Lucy asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I ran five miles around the castle." Serena told her. For once, Lucy was speechless. Serena turned her wrist to look at fashionable watch she wore.

"I should get to class." Serena didn't wait for a response, just stood from the table, grabbed her book bag, and left the hall.

"I'll see you in DADA!" Lucy called after her.

Serena kept on going, not looking back. She had noticed that her father wasn't at breakfast, but she resigned to talk to him after all of her classes were over.

She arrived at the classroom fifteen minutes early, and sat down at a desk close to the door. A few other students lingered, talking amongst themselves. None dared to approach Serena.

More minutes past and students began to trickle in by groups. No one sat in the chair next to Serena, with the exception of a panting Lucy as she arrived seconds before the bell.

"I was almost late." Lucy huffed, smiling at Serena. As she did, though, a woman dressed in all pink walked through the middle of the rows, waving her wand to shut the oak doors. Once she had reached the platform, she didn't say anything, but smiled almost secretly at the students.

"Fourth year students, if you didn't know already, my name is Dolores Umbridge, but you may call me Professor. In this class, you will be learning the theory behind curses, counter curses, and spells. No wands shall be needed, so please put those away now." She paused, and then proceeded to grab a book from her desk and hold it up so everyone could see, "Please take out your Defensive Magical Theory IV textbooks now."

The class did as she instructed, and for the next three and a half hours they read the text and completed summaries of what they had learned. Serena found it to be boring work, as she had already learned most of what they were being taught, and left as soon as she was allowed.

Lucy and Serena went to the Great Hall for lunch, but split up afterwards. Unlike the rest of her house, she had Charms with the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, while they had potions with Ravenclaw.

Once again, she was one of the earliest students to reach the classroom. This time, Professor Flitwick instructed her to sit at a certain table near the upper right of the classroom. By the time everyone had entered, Flitwick had assigned each student a seat, including Ginny Weasley in the one next to her.

The red head looked somewhat jealous, but Serena was used to those looks by now. They were silent for the longest time, listening quietly to Flitwick's lecture. But once he had instructed them to practice with their partners, Ginny finally spoke up, "Why are you in this class? There aren't any other Slytherin."

"I have a slightly different schedule."

Ginny only nodded, and they didn't talk anymore other than that, instead working on the banishing charm. By the end of the hour and a half class, Serena had perfected the spell, while Ginny was close. Neither said goodbye.

For the final class of the day, Serena had History of Magic, in which most of the students fell asleep, doodled, or worked on homework for another class. Serena didn't even bother to listen to the lecture; she knew all of it already, so instead she stared out the giant glass window at the mountains in view.

She remembered that she had wanted to go to see her father and decided to do so, not stopping in the common room to drop off her things. Serena easily found her way to her father's classroom and pushed open the single wooden door.

"Please knock before entering, Serena." He said to her without looking up from his already large stack of papers.

"Yes Father." Serena replied as she sat down on top of the cleared desk in front of his own, "How was class?"

"Full of students who have no potential whatsoever in potions. They should just transfer out of my class and be done with it. Most of them will fail anyway." He scowled in thought. Serena smirked at his next sentence, "I expect that you will set an example to all the fifth years tomorrow in class."

"Don't worry. It shouldn't be too hard." She told him confidently. There was a moment of silence after that where neither of them said a word, but it wasn't uncomfortable. That was how they spent most of their time together.

"Why were you late to the sorting?"

"Madam Hartman fell ill and couldn't apparate me here, so I had to do so myself." Serena waited for his unhappy reaction, knowing very well that he would not be pleased.

Her father sighed and looked up at her with exasperation, "I thought I told you not to apparate without me?"

"Would you've rather I didn't come at all?"

He glared at her in a way that would've scared any other person out of their wits, but by now she was immune. He resigned, "Don't apparate without me anymore, understood?"

"Yes Father."

He shuffled the papers around some more, before standing up and checking the time. "Go wash up in my quarters, then we can go to the Great Hall for dinner."

"Alright." Serena nodded to him and walked over to the practically hidden door that led to his quarters.

Right as her hand was turning the knob, her father called out her name, "Serena."

She turned back to him, raising her eyebrows in question. His eyes soften momentarily as he looked at his daughter and stated, "I am glad that you are here."

Serena smiled at him, a rare occurrence in itself, and closed the door behind her.