The way to greatness

Prompt: First night at Hogwarts

Cruella was tired of being an ordinary person; she had been for all her young life, but now she finally had the chance to change. She had lived locked in her mother's attic since she was very little, until one day a special owl arrived carrying a letter: here it was explained the strange accidents she was protagonyst of, here it was explained that magic she had always felt inside her, here it was explained that desire for darkness too.

A wand, a black and white owl, a cauldron and a train, headed far, far away from that ordinary she hated so much. She was ready to be special, she was ready not to be alone anymore. The door of her compartment opened right in that moment as an answer to her thoughts, showing the cordial face of a girl of her same age.

"Can I sit here?" she asked, but without waiting for the answer she had already took a seat in front of her, hinting a smile.

It was difficult to classify it as friendly or annoying. But Cruella after some moments of hesitation decided for the first option and tried to smile back. There was something in the new girl's feautures that attracted her; maybe it was the dark color of her hair and skin, equivalent of that darkness she loved. And then if she were on that train, she must have been someone special too.

"My name's Cruella De Vil… And who are you?"

"Ursula Triton!" the new arrived answered quickly. "My parents are both wizards, or better my mother was… She died some years ago" she added almost naturally, letting the smile weakening a little.

Cruella didn't offer her condolences, she just looked at her in silence and then nodded, without apparent reason. "My father is dead too…" she finally said, omitting that she had had a part in it. "He was an ordinary man, just like my mother…" she continued though, finding a way to express her contempt toward her parents.

"Muggle, you mean"

Miss De Vil just shrugged. "It's the same"

They remained silent for some instants, looking at each other every now and then, or looking at the world outside the window that was becoming more and more magical. The interruption was offered by the arrival of the wagon of sweets and the sweets offered even a reason to talk: in fact, Ursula started to introduce the main foods of the magical world and then moved to a lot of other topics; Cruella listened patiently and couldn't help but feel more attracted by that girl. Even if she talked too much.

"…It's the hat to choose, but my father says that he considers your preference. Which house would you like to be in?"

The blonde shrugged and hesitated for a short while before answering; she knew nothing about Hogwarts's houses, apart from what she had just been told, but frankly she didn't care less.

"I don't know… I'd just like to be great somehow" she admitted in the end with a strange twinkle in her blue eyes. "Maybe we could be great together. What do you say?"

Ursula's dark eyes darkened if possible even more. Slytherin: there was no other way to describe the place her new friend wanted to be in, but it was also the same place she herself didn't want to end up.

Anyway, she didn't say anything and just attempted a smile.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The hat's yell was like a stab in the chest for Cruella, a feeling she was having for the first time in her life. While she watched her only friend heading with a smile on her lips to the table of her new house, she felt angry, hurt, betrayed and most of all very lonely. She hated herself for that, but let her eyes reveal nothing more than a certain coldness. After all, her turn came too soon to allow her to express anything else.

"Mmm… New in the world of magic, aren't you? I see that you're smart, but no, Ravenclaw isn't your way… You want to be special, great, powerful and oh… I see the right pinch of wickedness! I know exactly where to put you…"

The hat on her head hadn't said the destination yet, but her mind had already arrived at the same conclusion. And for a moment she found herself hating it, while her eyes unwillingly looked for Ursula – revealing now everything but coldness. Affection, fear, despair… Feelings the hat immediately perceived as well and so it shut up, hesitating before saying its sentence.

"You don't seem convincted though… Would you like to be with your friend?"

Cruella looked up, in the vain attempt to look at the hat in the eyes, and then looked back again to Ursula. "Yes, if it's possible…" she let escape, with a trace of hope in her voice, suddenly remembering about the chance of choice the other girl had talked about in the train.

"Hufflepuff: the house of the justs, patients, loyals… I don't think it's the most appropriate for you, but at least you must have loyalty if you want to follow your friend so much…"

"Yes, I do! Put me in her same house!" she exclaimed immediately, without even understanding completely the adjectives just used by the hat.

It laughed uenxpectedly. "No, you are not patient at all. And tell me, would you be avaible to work hard and be totally at others' service?"

Cruella felt confused and inside even a bit disgusted by the idea. "What do you mean?"

"You won't react to offenses, you will offer your help to other people, you will avoid any argument and any deception… You will be good, honest… An ordinary person"

The girl, who had remained silent until that moment, suddenly let out a scream hearing the last sentence. "NO!"

And in the same instant the hat announced a convincted: "SLYTHERIN!"

Cruella stood up and, slightly shaken, reached the table where green-silver dressed boys and girls were clapping. A bit annoyed, not speaking to anyone and keeping her eyes down, she took a seat beside a redhead girl with a stragely olive-colored skin. But she didn't realize that she had hit a dirty-blond boy in the process. He must had some years more than her, but yet she was a bit taller than him already.

"Watch out, little girl… You wouldn't like to be on my black list" he said with a smirk, sure to scare her at least a bit.

But she just smirked back. "Com'on, short stuff. Shall I get you a step stool so you can look me in the eyes while you threaten me?"

The boy appeared indignant for a moment, but then unexpectedly smiled and even offered his hand. "I am Rumplestiltskin Gold"

Cruella shook his hand and introduced herself as well. Maybe she wouldn't have been completely alone, maybe she would have gained other friends… But yet, while some moments later she shook Zelena Mills's hand too, she couldn't help but give a look to the black-yellow table and think that she would have always preferred that first real friendship with Ursula.

Always.

I know, it's been long since my last update. But what can I say? "I'm a really terrible person" LoL. Thanks so much to KirijoKanaru for the prompt, I really hope you liked it!:)

Oh an talking about late updates, I've run out of prompts now, so I don't know when I'll update again!