Chapter 2
The next day I woke up, feeling groggy. I had gone to bed pretty late last night. I pulled open the curtains to see that everyone save Malfoy was awake. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and got ready to do my morning duties. It was only a little bit before I was ready and down in the main area. I had gotten ready quicker than most of the people, and there were only a few people down there. Togami was sitting and reading a book, but I really didn't feel like talking to him. Parkinson was also there, but conversations with her were always slightly painful.
The last person there was one of the girls from the feast who I did not recognize. Her name had been Celestia Ludenberg. I considered introducing myself, before I realized something that I actually hadn't thought on until then. Ludenberg...that wasn't a pureblooded name. That was odd. Most of the people who made it into Slytherin were pureblooded. Still, she seemed like the perfect Slytherin. She sat poised, with the perfect mask on. Her hair eyes shone and her eyes were like ice cold rubies. She was...she was more beautiful than anyone I had ever met.
I paused before walking over to her. I fought down a slight blush, replacing it with my typical pureblood mask. I walked over, keeping my chin pointed slightly upward, but trying my hardest to not look like the rest of the arrogant prats in my house. I wanted something slightly in between, and I think I managed it well. I gave a clipped, formal, greeting. She responded likewise. I saw her judging eyes look over me in the same way that I had sized her up earlier. She did not allow a nod, but I saw the look in her eyes change slightly.
I chatted with her lightly, and the more I talked with her, the more I felt the blush threatening to show itself. I didn't allow it, but I couldn't just ignore the beauty in front of me. Her eyes were icy cold, revealing nothing. They were lovely. The conversation continued for a bit, but eventually we both left for breakfast. We walked for a bit down the hallways, but Celestia eventually left to make small talk with some of the other members of the house. I was left alone with my thoughts. At that point the only thing on my mind was Celestia. Her porcelain face, her ruby red eyes, her lips painted black as night. I was interrupted by Nagito.
I looked to my side as I felt someone tap my shoulder. I saw Nagito, a darkly serious look on his face. He looked around him for a second, almost as if to check if anyone was listening in before whispering into my ear.
"She's a mudblood."
I stiffened. I knew exactly who he was talking about. I pulled away from him roughly, opting to ignore him entirely. He moved to whisper into my ear again, but I said something before he could say a word.
"Not now."
I didn't want to have the conversation in a public area where anyone could hear us talking. I also didn't want a public argument with us in the middle of a group of snakes ready to strike at the first sign of weakness. I had known that Celestia wasn't a pureblood the moment I heard her name. Anything less than pure blooded wouldn't please my parents, but a mudblood was still worse than a halfblood. My parents would not be happy if I wished to court Celestia.
The dining room was loud, most of the noise unsurprisingly coming from the Gryffindor table. I sat down next to Zabini, and much to my joy, Celestia moved to sit next to me. There was no blush on her face, no sign that she enjoyed me, but I was happy nonetheless. Nagito went to sit next to Celestia, giving me a warning look first. I ignored him, deciding to eat and chat with the nearby people instead. I didn't want to be too obvious, so I didn't ignore the people around me for Celestia. I didn't want her to think that I was stupid.
The breakfast passed with enjoyment on my end. Nagito didn't bother me as much, and I was happy to talk to Zabini and Celestia. I was fine right up until I saw Professor Snape approach me. I never liked the man very much. I think the dislike was mostly due to my mother's dislike for him. She suspected him of being disloyal to the Dark Lord, and with good reason. He was supposedly a "spy" for the Dark Lord, infiltrating Dumbledore's close group of supporters. While it was very helpful at times, I knew my mother suspected him of being more loyal to Dumbledore. Snape was a true Slytherin, only loyal to the side that he was certain to be the winning side.
Snape came up to me and informed me that Dumbledore requested my presence in his office after breakfast. He also gave around timetables to the whole table. I saw the other teachers handing out the timetables to their respective houses as well. I noticed absentmindedly that most of our classes were with the Gryffindors. I wonder if that was Dumbledore's way of trying to make the Slytherins and Gryffindors get along. It was a rotating schedule.
After breakfast, I said goodbye to Zabini and Celestia, and left for Dumbledore's office. I wasn't missing any classes since first period was a free period. I had no idea what the password to his office was, so I stood there for a few minutes to see if Dumbledore himself would come down before wandering around slightly looking for a ghost or painting. I eventually found the Hufflepuff ghost, The Fat Friar, and he told me that the password was lemon drops.
I went up the stairs to find Dumbledore seated in a very loud office. It was filled with all manner of strange magical objects, but the most eye catching thing there was the bright red phoenix perched on his desk. The phoenix trilled, and I was entranced by it. I was only brought out of it by Dumbledore's greeting. He told me to sit down, summoning a deep purple armchair. It was crudely decorated with stars and moons, but I couldn't exactly refuse it. I sat down, I prepared myself to listen to the old man's babble.
He asked me a few opening questions, mostly about how life was going. It took a few minutes, but he eventually got to the point. The question took me slightly off guard.
"I talked with Mr. Potter earlier, and he told me that you, Hajime Hinata, have been tutoring him in our ways. I was surprised, but grateful that you, one of our greatest young wizards, was taking up that mantle. I simply wanted to ask this: why did you agree to tutor him?"
I hadn't expected him to be so upfront. He knew that it made no sense for me to want to help Harry Potter, but I hadn't thought he would have asked me straight up. I knew that I had to be partially truthful, but I couldn't mention anything about the alliance. If so, Dumbledore would immediately try to figure out a way to get Potter to destroy the alliance. He might even force Potter to do so.
"I talked to him on the train. During that time, I realized that he knew next to nothing about our world. I figured that someone would have to teach him our ways."
"And why did you decide that person should be you?"
"I never said that it should be me, I just speculated that I might be the only person willing to teach him our ways. I figured that if no one was willing to educate him during his upbringing, it might be a while before he was educated at all. He was placed with muggles, after all."
I put a small bite of malice and disgust in that last sentence, feeling vicious satisfaction as I saw a flash of anger in Dumbledore's bright blue eyes. He knew that I had every right to teach Potter the ways of our world. It wasn't like teaching someone was illegal. He knew I wouldn't admit what I asked in return for my teachings. If he had asked straight up, I would've said "friendship" with a completely straight face. I could practically see the wheels turning in Dumbledore's head as we sat there in silence. He eventually let me go, but I could see the barely veiled anger in his eyes. I had power over Potter now, and Dumbledore couldn't do anything about it. I could tell Potter everything that Dumbledore had clearly purposefully kept hidden from him. I could destroy whatever plots the old man had.
I saw that it was still the free period, so I headed down to the library. Almost no one was there, save for a few upperclassmen and one Ravenclaw from our grade that I recognized but couldn't name. She was the girl with bright red hair that I had seen near the lake. I pulled out my book on dark curses, and began to get engulfed in it. It was a while before I was bothered. I felt a finger tap on my shoulder, and looked up to see the librarian.
"Hey, that book's from the restricted section, you're not supposed to have that. I won't get you in trouble this time, but don't do it again." Ah, that amused me slightly. I had known that this was going to happen, my mother had as well. She had bought me one book for each year, so I could come in each year with an even more concerning book just so I could freak out the librarian.
"I'm sorry, I didn't borrow this book. My mother bought this for me, I brought it from home." Her brow furrowed, obviously doubting my statement. I handed the book to her, to show that it lacked the library seal. She turned the book over, and after not being able to find the seal at all, handed it back to me slowly. She looked like she wanted to say something, but wasn't quite sure how to phrase it.
"Kid...that material is dark stuff. You shouldn't ever be reading it, but especially not at your age." I almost laughed. That's what all the people who were too scared to read this kind of stuff said. I wished Sonia was here to actually educate her on some of the amazing spells that all of the Light witches and wizards completely ignored because they were too dark for their tastes.
"Oh, I'm used to it. My mother used to teach me this stuff all the time." If she wanted to pry, she'd get more than she bargained for. I drank in the shocked look on her face.
"Just who is your mother?" Why was everyone around here so upfront? I wasn't used to this. It used to be all veiled words and secret meanings but now everyone here seemed to completely refuse to beat around the bush. I didn't quite understand it, but it was a welcome difference from the ways of the purebloods.
"Veronica Hinata." I saw her eyes widen in sudden understanding. She took a miniscule step backwards, before saying her condolences, which were obviously false. No one cared what happened to my mother, so long as she was behind bars. The librarian apologized and then excused herself. I heard the bell ring, and I knew it was finally time for class. Taking a quick look at the time table I saw that it was potions with the Gryffindors. I knew that this would be interesting. Snape was famous for despising the Gryffindors, although no one really knew why. When I arrived at the classroom, about half of the class was there. Snape wasn't there.
I took a seat next to Nagito. I would've sat with Zabini or Celestia, but Zabini was with Malfoy and Celestia was with Greengrass. Nagito grinned as I sat down next to him. The main reason I sat with him instead of practically anyone else was because I knew that he was absolutely amazing at potions. Sitting next to a prodigy for the whole year might not be so bad, even if he was incredibly annoying.
We talked for a few minutes, but eventually the whole class was there, and everyone slowly fell into silence. Snape wasn't there yet, but everyone was still slightly uncomfortable and didn't want to make noise. After a few seconds, the door flew open with a bang anstrode in, cape dramatically billowing behind him. I saw Nagito quietly snicker out of the corner of my eye. I saw what Nagito was snickering at, and almost snickered as well. I would have, but I wasn't about to get caught. It was Longbottom, who looked as if he had seen a ghost. He had cringed away from the path where Snape had strode, and I saw the mudblood Granger was petting his arm, attempting to get him to calm down. Perhaps Longbottom wasn't as smart as I had thought.
The rest of the class wasn't very eventful. Snape picked on Potter for a few minutes as Granger tried with all her might to get Snape to call on her. It was almost pitiful. When she called out the answer without being called on, I almost physically cringed. She was smart academically, she just lacked it in multiple other areas.
It was slightly funny so see Potter picked on, but it was also slightly pitiful on Snape's part. Very few first years would be able to answer questions like that, let alone someone raised by muggles. It was likely Snape knew that, which was what made it pitiful. I wondered if Snape had some personal vendetta against Potter like I do. It almost seemed like he did, the more that I watched the way he looked at Potter. Snape glared at Potter almost the whole time, going far out of his way to clearly show his hatred towards the boy that he had supposedly just met.
Class ended without Nagito being too annoying, which was very impressive. He was probably still thinking about my very obvious crush on Celestia, and was trying to figure out some way to make me see sense. I knew that it was stupid to have a crush on a mudblood, and I knew that I would never be able to act on my feelings. Even so, I couldn't just make the feelings go away. If I could do that, I never would've had my crush on Peko Pekoyama a couple years ago. Now that was a shitshow.
I had a bad habit of falling in love with mudbloods, and I knew it. First Peko, now Celestia. I had met Peko for the first time at a party. She had already been taken in by the Kuzuryu family by that point. I fell in love with her, even though I was only about nine. I tried my best to find out anything at all about her family history at all. I wanted to prove that she had some powerful witch or wizard in her ancestry so I could justify my crush in some way. I found nothing. She was a mystery, but that only made me even more infatuated. Not even Nagito ever found out about that crush. I kept it a total secret, not even telling my own parents. It didn't take me too long to get over her, but I never forgave myself for falling for a mudblood.
And now I was falling for another. I looked at Celestia out of the corner of my eye. She didn't even glance at me, she was too busy talking with Greengrass on her way out of the classroom. I could see her eyes analyzing Greengrass as they talked casually. I pulled myself away and saw Nagito looking at me with a look that was some mix of disappointment and amusement. I ignored him.
I walked to my next class, which was charms with the Ravenclaws. I saw Sonia sitting by herself, so I sat down next to her. I ended up enjoying the class quite a lot, finding Flitwick to be quite a good teacher. The spell wasn't very hard, but it did take me a couple of tries to do it. Sonia was about to try to help me, but I finally did it right and gave her a proud smirk, to which she responded with a large smile. The rest of the class was spent listening to the class attempt the spell and fail. I watched as one of the Ravenclaw boys set his feather on fire, letting myself put on a small mocking smile before seeing Sonia's frown at the Slytherins laughing. I didn't want to upset Sonia, so I went back to his blank mask. The rest of the class passed fairly uneventfully.
The next class was DADA with the Gryffindors. I hurried out of the class when I saw Celestia leave quickly. I wanted to snag the seat next to her. I was very good at defensive and offensive spells, and I wanted to show that off. I slowed down slightly to not make it look like I was stalking her or something. I let a few Gryffindors pass me so I wouldn't be one of the first ones in the classroom. Just as I had hoped, none of the Gryffindors had sat down next to her, and the few Slytherins in the room hadn't paired with her. I made eye contact with her, and she gave a slight nod. I went to sit next to her.
My stomach was fluttering, but I ignored it. We chatted for a few seconds before the teacher rushed into the room. He was thin and gangly, with a ugly purple turban on his head. He introduced himself, stuttering through almost every single word.
I got tired of his presence in about thirty seconds. The way he stuttered was so annoying and constant it almost seemed fake. I got slightly suspicious when I realized how fake it seemed. The stutter didn't sound like other stutters I'd heard before. As the class carried on, I realized that there were other weird behaviors he had. He kept fingering with his turban, pulling it down near the area behind his neck. He also seemed weirdly stupid for someone in his position. Dumbledore was incompetent in some ways, but I doubted that he would purposefully hire someone who didn't really know what they were talking about. He also seemed to be utterly terrified of everything, which was odd for someone who taught defense against the dark arts. Why would he teach such a class if he was terrified of dark creatures?
There were other, smaller things, but I didn't really pay too much attention to them. I was too busy thinking about how those weird habits could possibly be connected. Was he pretending to be a nervous wreck to fool everyone into thinking he wasn't a threat? That seemed to be a possibility. If he was, he was acting the part incredibly well. If this was all an act, he could be very dangerous. The bell cut off my train of thought. I said goodbye to Celestia, since this period was a free period. I would've left just then, but Celestia spoke.
"Since this is a free period, would you like to join Zabini and I down by the lake?"
I was elated, happier than I had been in a while. It would've been nice without Zabini, but I could care less. I was going to spend an entire period with Celestia! I walked next to her in comfortable silence as we went to meet up with Zabini. We all walked down to the lake. When we got there, there were already a lot of groups out on the lawn. Celestia walked us down to a nice area near the lake and she summoned a blanket. We talked about this and that, unimportant stuff, but I could care less. Best thing was, I liked everyone I was hanging out with. Zabini was calm and I liked him quite a lot. And Celestia, well, I didn't care what I was doing as long as I was with her. I knew that my infatuation was going a bit too far, but I didn't care.
The period seemed to pass faster than anything ever had before. It was over before I knew it, and it seemed all too soon that Celestia was banishing the blanket and we were headed for Flying. We had the class with the Gryffindors, but that wasn't the only reason I wasn't looking forward to it. I hated flying with a burning passion. I wasn't very good at it and it wasn't enjoyable at all. I could get on the broom and fly around, but I couldn't do anything beyond that. When we got to the field, I felt a pit form in my stomach.
In the middle of the field, arguing loudly, were Potter and Malfoy. They were at each other's throats, and no one was interfering. Looks like Potter finally got tired of Malfoy's bullshit. I had to push back the urge to sigh loudly and put my head in my hands. I looked over and saw Celestia had a small smile and Zabini was looking on the scene with a bored yet slightly annoyed look on his face. The teacher came and broke them up, but I saw that they were still sending each other glares.
"Oh there you are Hajime!" Oh no, it's Nagito. I saw him stride over from the group of Slytherins he was originally with to greet me with a large smile. "Where were you, I was looking for you the whole free period!" I had such a genuine frown on his face I honestly wondered if he really was looking for me and truly wished to be with me. Nagito was one of the most confusing people I'd ever met.
"I was with Celestia and Zabini." I saw him look up and a dark look crossed his eyes before going back to his previous happiness. I don't think anyone would've noticed it besides me. I knew Nagito better than most people, and from what I could tell he opened up to me more than anyone else, which was barely anything at all but it was something. Nagito had confused me from the day I met him, and I doubted I would ever understand him.
The class started simply, you just had to get a broom in your hand. That wasn't too hard, it took me two tries. I saw Celestia having a bit of trouble, and I thought I could hear my heartbeat when she let me hold her hand to show her the right grip after I had shown the inflection when summoning the broom. I managed to keep a calm mask on, but it was barely on there when she let me touch her hand. Going back to my own broom, I talked myself back calm. I had to calm down. It would be shameful to let my emotions be too obvious to the people around me, and I knew she would never feel the same way towards me if I wasn't able to keep even the simplest mask on. I told myself that even if I couldn't get rid of the feelings, from this point on no one would be able to look at me and get even a hint of my true feelings for Celestia. I wasn't about to be like Malfoy, with his very obvious feelings for Potter.
The class was going fine, until Potter and Malfoy got back at it again. They argued for a few minutes and no one paid attention until Malfoy yelled out, calling Granger a mudblood for the world to hear. This was why I disliked Malfoy. Sure, yes, they were mudbloods, but you didn't just say to their face with next to no backup. There were a lot of people who would get seriously angry if you called them or anyone else a mudblood. I used it in my head or with other people who also used it, but I rarely called someone a mudblood to their face and had never called someone a mudblood behind their back to a light side supporter. They were typically the ones who disliked the use of the word. And the reason I hadn't because I wasn't stupid, like Malfoy clearly was. I watched in distaste as the Gryffindors all got furious. Most of us didn't want to get involved, but it wouldn't do for us to let one of our own go down in flames.
I looked for someone who was going to take the lead. I was getting slightly nervous for Malfoy when I saw Togami step forward. He strode over to Malfoy, and he was followed by his two lackeys, Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson. Neither were particularly intimidating, but Togami made up for both of them. He walked up behind Malfoy and sneered at the Gryffindors who looked like they were about to gang up on Malfoy. At the time, Malfoy was only backed by Crabbe and Goyle, his two idiotic lackeys. When Togami showed up, some of the Gryffindor's started to back off. Even so, some of them looked like they were going to go for it anyway. I saw Potter, Weasley, and quite a few others who I didn't recognize. I suddenly realized why they were still going for it. As I looked closer, I realized that two of the people in that group looked more intimidating than Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Nott, and Togami combined. They stood tall with way more muscles than any other eleven year old I had ever seen. One of them was female with long white hair and the other was male with short brown hair.
The girl stood tall and poised while the boy had a strong fury radiating off him that seemed like it was about to burst at any moment. They came to the front of the Gryffindor group, and even from a distance I could feel the 'oh shit' coming from the Slytherin group.
Just when it looked like they were going to throw hands, the teacher came back with the box of balls. She ran over and stopped the two groups in their tracks. The muscled boy almost looked like he was going to ignore her and punch the shit out of Malfoy anyway, but in the end the groups separated. Even though they didn't end up fighting, the air in the field got very tense. I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
The period seemed to take forever to end. When I heard the bell I practically jumped off my broom. Potter had fought with Malfoy again and ended up doing something stupid again. And, of course, he had gotten in trouble. As soon as I was a decent distance away from the rest of my classmates, I let out a deep sigh. I poured everything tiresome that had happened so far into that sigh. I was so tired. I was only two days in. It felt like it had been months. I walked into history and saw that it was with the Hufflepuffs. At least nothing crazy would happen this period. I sat next to Zabini, so that was fine as well. The teacher was so incredibly boring that I started to fall asleep. I jolted awake as I felt myself going to sleep, but then I looked over to my right and saw Zabini face down, snoring into the desk. I allowed myself a small smile before going back to sleep.
I woke up to someone tapping me on the shoulder. I jolted up to come face to face with Celestia. I was barely able to stop the blush at all, some of it managing reddening my cheeks. I saw Celestia smirk before informing me that we had Transfiguration next. I got up quickly, realizing that Zabini had already left. The rest of the students were mostly other people still sleeping and their friends waking them up. I rushed out of the classroom since Transfiguration was quite the bit away. Going into Transfiguration I realized that we had it with the Ravenclaws. Thankfully another period that might just possibly be calm. Sonia was already seated next to someone who I didn't know, so I sat next to Kirigiri. She greeted me with a small smile.
Seeing McGonagall switch in and out of her animagus form was quite impressive. I liked her. She was a powerful and smart witch. She was also quite the teacher. We didn't perform any spells that period, instead she went over theory for the whole period. I was disappointed at first, but soon found myself intrigued by the way she spoke about the simple spells. She knew what she was talking about, and I absolutely loved that. I think the reason I liked her was because the way she spoke about spells was similar to the way my mom did. The period passed uneventfully, which was a welcome change.
I looked over Kirigiri once during that period, mostly because I was interested to see if she would elicit the same feeling in me that Celestia did. She did not. Although I did notice that she was quite attractive, I felt none of the same strong attraction that I felt with Celestia. I was a little disappointed at that. I might end up being wed to Kirigiri. I'd hope that I might have at least some attraction to my possible future wife. She was better than a lot of the other possibilities though. I would take Kirigiri over Parkinson or Maizono any day. Both of them were possibilities, but both were utterly stupid. Maizono was slightly better than Parkinson, because at least she was nice. Even so, neither of them had been blessed with intelligence.
As Transfiguration was the last class of the day, I headed back to my dorm at that point. No one else was in the dorm, to my relief. I eventually got bored sitting in my room alone and went to meet up with someone who wouldn't drive me insane. Sadly, there weren't many people who fit that category. I really wanted to spend some time with Celestia, but I didn't want to come off like a stalker or something.
In the end, I decided to wander around the castle until I found someone. I saw a couple people, but then saw that they were already talking to people or saw that they weren't looking all too chatty. I turned the corner, and ran completely into someone. I stumbled, and almost fell but was caught by whoever was in front of me. I didn't recognize them, but their hair was colored wildly and they had a ton of piercings.
"Sup, sorry 'bout that. Name's Ibuki Mioda, what's yours?" She spoke extremely casually and as I got to my feet, I noted that she was a Hufflepuff. Also most likely a mudblood.
"It's fine. My name is Hajime Hinata." I spoke casually, since I didn't want to scare her off. She seemed nice and cheerful.
"Awesome, nice ta meetcha, Hajime! You look lonely, wanna come practice spells with me a couple other dudes in an empty classroom? I'm on my way there right now, and it's not like a class or anything so you can come along!" I didn't really know what else to do with my time, so I nodded and she skipped off, leaving me to follow behind her. We walked for quite a while before stopping at an empty looking classroom on the fourth floor. I followed in behind her and found a completely upturned room. The chairs and desks were haphazardly thrown to the side and replaced with a bunch of dummies. Looking around, I saw five other people in the room. I saw Naegi, Potter, Weasley, Granger, and one last Gryffindor boy who I did not know.
Mioda went around the room with introductions and I learned the boy was Gundham Tanaka. Tanaka eyed the whole room with ice in his eyes, which was odd for a Gryffindor. After introductions, Mioda commenced the practice. Looking around, I saw many different spells being performed. Naegi and Tanaka were doing the disarming spell, Naegi having more luck than Tanaka. Potter and Weasley were listening to Granger talk about the shield spell, which didn't surprise me even though we hadn't covered it yet. Of course Granger knew how to do a spell that we wouldn't be taught for about a month. Mioda was practicing the lighting charm with a lot of success. She quickly moved on to the floating charm, which she had slightly less luck with.
I eyed the dummy. I decided to do simple light spells, but nothing dark since I didn't want to freak out anyone. I wasn't that far ahead in the curriculum, my mother had only taught me a few of the lighter spells before quickly changing the session towards the darker. I had only let two spells fly before I heard the noise in the room quickly die down to nothing. I paused, looking behind me to see everyone in the room looking at me with surprise.
"Hey, how do you know all those spells?" Granger's voice was the first, curiosity instead of suspicion filling her voice, which was a relief.
"My mother taught me." Granger nodded slowly, but the rest weren't so easily calmed. Mioda was giving me an odd look that I couldn't really read. Tanaka was giving me a cold look, but I could see that he was put off. Potter looked confused, but admiring as well. Weasley looked suspicious and slightly afraid. Naegi was completely unreadable, but not because he had a good mask. It was similar to Mioda, but very different at the same time. Naegi seemed like he was having an internal conflict. I could see emotion covering his face, but at the same time I couldn't figure out what he was thinking.
"What is the extent of your knowledge?" Tanaka's cold voice came from the corner of the room. It was deep and uncaring, so unexpected for a Gryffindor.
"Oh, not very far. My mother liked combat spells, but I was never amazing at them. I know a lot of the first year defense spells, but nothing beyond that." That was a partial lie. It was true that I didn't know far beyond the first year defense spells, but that was only for light magic. I knew a lot more if dark spells counted, but I wasn't about to admit that.
I looked around the room for one more quick scan. Tanaka looked slightly less put off, although still just as cold. Weasley still looked the same, but that was to be expected. Potter looked less confused, but still admiring. Mioda had a similar unreadable expression as the one from earlier, but somehow she looked a little less put off. Maybe I was imagining things. The moment I knew I fucked up was when I saw the look on Naegi's face. He was staring at me, dark suspicion in his eyes.
I tried to remember what about what I just said had contradicted something he knew, and then I remembered. He had seen the book on dark curses I had been reading on the train. He knew what I had said was a lie, and now he knew he couldn't trust me. Most likely, right now he is trying to think about everything I've told him so far and trying to piece together what was the truth, and what was a lie.
Thankfully, he was the only one who'd seen it. Now I was just wondering why he had looked so conflicted earlier. Perhaps he was trying to decide whether I was good person or not. I didn't really have much to go off there, so I didn't think on it for any longer. I had no wish to confuse myself more than necessary.
I made small talk over the rest of the time. By the end, I was fairly proud of myself. Almost everyone had warmed up to me, and even Weasley was looking less suspicious by the end. The only one who had stayed cold to me was Naegi. He had contributed to the small talk, but I could see a look in his eyes that hadn't been there before. It was a dark look, one full of distrust and suspicion. My guess is that he had known exactly who I was from the beginning, but had ignored that for my sake. Now, he had thrown away that ignorance and replaced it with the distrusting that should've been there from the beginning. I was surprised that he had trusted me at all, most people didn't. I got angry at myself there. If only I could've told the truth, I might've been able to become friends with someone who seemed very kind.
Sadly, it seemed like it would be difficult to start up a friendship now. I guess for now I'm stuck with bastards like Malfoy and Nagito. I wish I had gotten sorted into Ravenclaw so bad. I could've been with Kirigiri and Sonia if I was in Ravenclaw. Although if I was in Ravenclaw there was a good chance I would've never met Celestia. And I doubted she would date a Ravenclaw. That's right, that's why I had to be the perfect Slytherin. I had to be perfect so Celestia would see me as a potential partner. I would be perfect, if not for anybody else, then for Celestia. Oh I was getting far too obsessed. That wasn't acting like a Slytherin, that was acting like a Gryffindor. To hell with it, I'll be the perfect Slytherin, and there won't be any damn reason for it. No, I'll be the perfect Slytherin just so I could rub it in Nagito's face. There, there's a good reason. Rub in the prick's face, rub it in all of their faces, show them all just what the Hinata heir was capable of.
I left the practice, heading back to the dorm rooms with a new fire ignited in my soul. A cold fire that burned with an icy chill. I felt new, ready for anything. I felt ready to face anybody, I could talk to Nagito, Togami, Malfoy, Dumbledore, even the Dark Lord himself. I was ready for anything. I didn't quite know where it came from, but I felt inspired to do something.
I entered the dorm room, seeing Togami and Nagito inside. Typically this would fill me with despair, not wanting to talk to either of them and simply wishing they would go away. Now seeing them made me feel nothing. I felt neither downtrodden nor inspired. They had no effect on me any longer, at least for now. I looked at them and nodded a greeting to them. They both responded politely, and I made my way to my bed. I knew this feeling wouldn't last, it never did. I would sometimes get feelings of inspiration similar to this one, but eventually they would all be broken down as I spent more and more time with people I hated. I decided that as long as I had it, I shouldn't let it go to waste.
Unlike yesterday, I only stayed near my bed for a few minutes tidying some things up. I straightened my sheets, took a deep breath, and walked over to Togami. He was one of the people who I hated the most. He drove me insane. I decided if there was one thing to do while I felt inspired, it was Togami. I would have to talk to him at some point, why not now? I asked him if he would like to chat, and he accepted. We walked down to the courtyard together, making small talk along the way. I knew I had to talk to him because our families had a very good relationship, but it grew shaky after the Dark Lord's downfall. If I wanted to maintain that connection, I would have to form some form of relationship with the Togami heir. They were a rich and powerful family, and their alliance was important for the Hinata house.
I kept my mask on the whole time, and he did too. He was the perfect pureblood, the epitome of everyone's expectations for a rich pureblood Slytherin heir. I hated it, but somehow I found it tolerable this time around. This period of inspiration was either really getting to me, or he had become less irritating since the last time I talked to him. Somehow I doubted it was the latter. He had more or less stayed his same annoying self ever since the day I had met him. I doubted he had changed immensely over the couple months I hadn't seen him.
Down in the courtyard, we took a seat on a bench far away from the others. We talked for a while, my spirits staying surprisingly high the whole time. No, Togami was definitely purposefully being tolerable. Why, I couldn't say. He had a small smile on his face now, and he was being fairly amiable. It was too out of character for him. He wanted something from me. I waited for him to get to the point. As much as I enjoyed talking casually, I was extremely curious as to what the Togami heir wanted from me. He wasn't known for doing this sort of thing. It was a while before he got serious. I noticed the change in his demeanor instantly. His eyes narrowed as he realized he would have to make the first move. His smile went away and I saw the gears in his mind moving as he processed what he would say.
"All right. Hinata, I know what you're doing." His face was deadly serious. I suddenly got afraid, but none of it showed on my face. He hadn't elaborated at all, perhaps he did not know and was trying to get something out of me.
"And what might that be?" I forced my voice icy, even though I felt fear starting to creep it's way into me.
"I know that you've made an alliance with the Potter heir." I knew this would get out at some point, but I didn't think it would be so quick. It must've been Nagito, the little snitch.
"Yes I have, and why is that any business of yours exactly?" My tone was still icy, but with a slight hint of mockery in it.
"It is my business because you have made an alliance with the vanquisher of the Dark Lord. When the Dark Lord returns, he will be furious. As an ally of your family, I cannot allow this to happen." Ah, so that was why. That makes sense. The Togami family was a fierce supporter of the Dark Lord. They had seen what happened to people that angered the Dark Lord, and were adamant on not becoming like them.
"I have no intention of turning my back on the Dark Lord. I simply saw an opportunity and took it, surely you of all people can understand that." It wasn't a lie. I didn't form that alliance to turn my back on the Dark Lord, I formed it for power. Most of all, I formed it so my mother could look at everything I'd done in her absence and be proud of me.
"Hm. You know what happens to traitors, know that I won't be there to protect you should you choose to betray the Dark Lord."
"I never expected you to." That was the truth as well. I knew fully well that Togami would save himself at the first sign of trouble. I was no fool.
With that, Togami seemed to be satisfied. He paused, but slowly our conversation went casual again. We chatted for a while, Togami seeming more relaxed than usual, but not out of character as he was earlier. He seemed to be happy with what I said, which was good. It was important to keep that alliance for as long as possible. As the courtyard darkened, I headed back to the dorm with Togami. I felt like I had accomplished something that day, and felt almost happy.
I walked into the dungeon, and that near happiness became real joy. I saw Celestia sitting on a sofa in the center of the main room. I said a polite goodbye to Togami as he headed upstairs, and I walked over to Celestia. I sat down next to her, waiting for her to notice me. She was engrossed in a book, and I didn't want to interrupt her. She greeted me politely, but with a hint of kindness in it. I was surprised to see her opening up to me so quickly, but then I remembered that she was a mudblood. She hadn't grown up as a pureblood. No matter how naturally Slytherin she may have been, she hadn't learned the ways. She was still only an eleven year old girl.
Eleven years old. That number rang in my head. Eleven. It didn't feel right. I didn't feel eleven. I had a weight on my heart and mind that didn't feel like it was meant for an eleven year old. We are all eleven. Me, Togami, Malfoy, Potter, Celestia, Nagito. All only a mere eleven years old. I shook my thoughts away. Now was not the time to despair over my lost childhood. I would never have one, I'd come to peace with that years ago. My childhood was spent learning dark spells and the pureblooded mannerisms. My childhood was filled with parties, but not a single one was playful or lighthearted. They were all full of liars and crooks, but I didn't avoid them. I learned how to beat them at their own game. My childhood was spent learning how to survive. I didn't play with toys or read children's fairy tales because my parents weren't foolish enough to let me waste my time with that.
I talked to Celestia for a while, pushing away my thoughts. I saw that she was reading a potions book. I enjoyed potions, but Nagito was always the prodigy. While I didn't excel with potions, I was absolutely amazing at defensive and offensive spells. That was my field. I never beat my mom though. Talking with Celestia was incredibly enjoyable. I loved her voice, the way her lips twitched when she was just barely holding back a smile, her beautiful accent that made her seem exotic. She was amazing. When she asked me about what class I liked the most, it was all I could do not to start talking at 100 mph.
I started talking at a normal pace, but I couldn't keep the excitement out of my voice. I was just so excited that Celestia was asking me to talk about my favorite thing ever. I first talked about how I loved offensive and defensive spells in general. I then started talking about how my mom had taught me lots of spells as a child. I started talking about all sorts of spells, dark, light grey, and how each category had different benefits. I suddenly realized I was talking too fast and that I was most definitely acting too much like a Gryffindor. I looked over at Celestia and saw a small smile on her face. I felt the butterflies in my stomach again, I was like a little schoolboy who'd fallen in love with a girl he'd just met, and I hated it.
She then looked around quickly, supposedly to see if anyone was around. She then leaned in close, her lips almost touching my ear. "6:00 tomorrow morning, meet me down here." Her voice was quiet and in a low hush. She pulled away and scanned the room once more. She gave me a silent nod and said goodnight.
I went up to my room, feeling exhausted but happy. It had only been two days, and I was already in love, had an alliance with the Potters, joined a DADA practice club of sorts, and made secret plans with Celestia to meet up early in the morning. It felt insane. Today had felt like it had lasted a lifetime, but now it was finally time to go to bed. I could hardly believe it, but night was finally here. It was very late, as I had talked with Celestia for quite a while. Sleep came quickly as I lay down on the soft silver and green sheets of Slytherin.