Senna found herself fidgeting in transfiguration class. Today they were changing the color of their eyebrows. It was so bad, that instead of changing just her eyebrows to a different color, she managed to change all of the hair on her head to silver.
Would she actually do it? Put her name in the cup? Senna asked herself for the thousandth time. Could she trust Viola to keep her side of the bargain? Probably not. If Senna did not get chosen for the tournament, there was no way to know whether or not Viola had actually put her name in the cup. And in that case, would Viola expect her to keep her side of the bargain?
She looked at herself in the handheld mirror and groaned. Well… at least her eyebrows matched the drapes.
She threw a glance around the class to see if anyone noticed. Several heads turned away when she looked. Yes, they did notice, but they were much too scared of her to laugh.
Senna sighed and continued to takes notes in her notebook. When Mcgongall passed her, she raised one eyebrow, but did not question her.
The bell rang and class was dismissed. Senna threw her bag over her shoulder and rushed into the hall. It was time for lunch, and the rush of students were headed towards the Great Hall. Senna took a different route. She had managed to avoid Viola and Tonks for the last two days and did not want to change that. Luckily, during meals, Viola had too much pride than to approach the Hufflepuff table.
Senna was made a fool of. The idea of running into Viola now, seeing that sexy smug smile of hers, made her stomach coil in rage.
As Senna made her way through the great hall, many students starred. It was probably due to her old lady hair, but it didn't matter. People stared regardless of her hair color.
Hannah stopped chewing and gave Senna a confused look. What happened to her? Transfiguration mistake? No, I've never seen Senna make a mistake. Her thoughts echoed. "Erm… New look?" Hannah said, "I like it!"
Senna choked out a small laugh. "Accident," Senna sighed, "Used too much power in Transfiguration." Senna pulled up the sleeve to her white blazer, "See, even my arm hairs are silver!" Senna didn't have much hair on her arms, but the few fine black hairs that were there, were now a whitish silver.
Hannah chuckled.
Justin peered over Hannah's shoulder. "Wow. It looks good on you actually," He appraised her positively.
"Really it does!" Hannah chirped, she clasped her hands together in excitement. "Are you going to keep it?"
Senna turned to a polished goblet and observed her appearance. The silver made her look even colder, if that were possible. Her dark eyes seemed more severe as well, a huge contrast against her pale skin. Maybe she should. People treated her like she always wore a lion on her head anyways. What difference did it make?
"Where did you get that hair potion?" A sneer came from behind her, a sneer she would recognize anywhere, "A retirement home?"
Senna groaned before turning around to face the redhead.
"What do you want?" Senna hissed.
Viola's green eyes widened as she appraised Senna's new look. But then she wrinkled her freckled nose is disgust.
"I wanted to invite you to sit with me." Viola waved a dismissive hand, "So we can start talking about our deal."
Senna scoffed, "What makes you think I want to sit with you?"
"We had a deal." Violas eyes were sharp and piercing.
Senna threw her glance towards the Goblet of fire, which was still sleeping. "Our deal hasn't started yet."
"It starts in three days."
"That's three Viola-free days I want to cherish, if you don't mind."
The color pink rose in Viola's cheeks. She was starting to get irritated with her. Good.
All Hufflepuffs surrounding them had gone quiet.
"Fine," She huffed. "Whatever."
Senna had begun to turn back around, when she saw Violas wand out of the corner of her eye. "What are you doing?" Senna demanded.
"Why don't I fix your hair for you?" She said in a very sarcastic, non-helpful kind of way. "It looks awful."
"No thanks," Senna eyed her wand warily.
"Why not?" Viola sneered again. "You want to be just like your favorite auror?"
Shocked, Senna's stomach felt as though it dropped ten feet. How could she possibly know about Tonks? Viola knew that Senna had an auror friend, but there was no way she could have found out who it was.
How much did Viola know? Senna's heart picked up in fear and embarrassment.
Seeing Senna's dumbstruck expression, Viola smiled. Her perfect teeth shone back at Senna, smug and accomplished. This made heat boil in Senna's stomach.
Viola had already flicked her wrist, the transfiguration spell already being mouthed on her perfectly pink lips. Senna swiped her hand at Viola wand as fast as she could, but she still felt the trickle of magic hitting the side of her face and the top of her head, while sending most of the spell across the Hufflepuff table. There was an exclamation of frightened students, but all that paled when another voice rose.
"Stop!" Roared Mcgonagall, who was just walking in. "Magic in the Great Hall? What are you two thinking? This is absolutely unacceptable. 15 points from Syltherin." The chatter in the Great Hall had stopped. Everyone was now focused on Professor Mcgonagall's voice. She turned Viola, "As you are a prefect, I am very disappointed in this behavior, be sure that your head of house will hear of this."
"There is no need." A monotone voice came from behind Mcgonagall. Snape had just entered the Great Hall for lunch. "I am right here." His black eyes surveyed the two of them with a scowl.
"Right," Mcgonagall nodded, "I'll let you take care of this." Mcgonagall stepped away. When she looked around, all the nosy students had turned back to their lunch, afraid to meet her gaze.
"You two, again?" he said harshly. "Detention. Tonight. Eight o'clock. Don't be late!"
"But—" Senna protested. She hadn't done anything, except defend herself. As much as she wanted to talk to Snape alone, she didn't not want to be stuck in a room with Viola.
"No buts!" He snapped.
He swished his cloak as spun around, and for a moment he resembled a giant bat, and then strode away to the staff table.
Viola shot Senna one last spiteful glance. Her face was red, and her eyes were very very sharp. If looks could kill, Senna would certainly be dead. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, the angry flames or red hair flying through the air for just a moment, and she stomped off to the Syltherin's table.
Senna looked back at Hannah and the other Hufflepuffs. Hannah looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Senna leaned towards her pale-looking friend. "Are you okay?"
Hannah shook her head and composed herself. "Uh… yeah. Are you ok?" She asked in a shaky voice.
"Yeah." Senna sighed. "Sorry the commotion scared you."
Senna looked back at the shiny goblet's surface. The spell had hit her, but not all of it. Senna's hair and eyebrows were midnight black again—for the most part. Silver streaks still highlight her hair in random places, and to Senna's surprise—she loved it. Senna knew she was aesthetically beautiful, from reading the minds of others. But she never actually felt beautiful. Senna was just Senna. It's not like being beautiful ever got her anywhere in terms of friendship. In fact, it alienated her even more. But this new look, for whatever reason, sent a pang of pleasure down her stomach.
And then it hit her. Maybe Viola, of all people, was right. Maybe she did want to be like Tonks. The image of Tonks' carefree walk. Her studded leather belts and dangling bracelets. Her obscenely inappropriate tops and multicolored hair. It was outrageous. And rebellious. These images caused a mix of pain and pleasure to fill her chest. As irrational as it was, she missed Tonks.
And she didn't realize it until now, but she envied her as well. She was different. Many people disliked the way she lived. And yet… She seemed perfectly happy to keep being different. She had the audacity to embrace the quirks that made her a freak. Tonks didn't act in a manner where she felt sorry for herself. She wasn't afraid of herself. Tonks was headstrong, and full of strangeness, and yet it didn't take away from her. The strangeness made her more beautiful.
Senna turned her head side to side to admire the highlights in her hair. It was different. And kind of rebellious.
"Thanks Viola." She muttered with a smile.