The leaving feast had begun; all students would be gathered in the Great Hall, enjoying one last feast with friends and, in some cases, family. Every student would head to Hogsmeade station the following morning, ready to begin the long journey back to Kings Cross and home. There were plenty of things to talk about now the end-of-term exams had passed and the stress of studying had vanished.
Allegra entered the Great Hall later than everyone else. She had spent plenty of time in the girls' bathroom getting ready for the leaving feast, repeating her actions and thoughts from previous years as she convinced herself that the leaving feast was one of the most important events of the school year. When she finally arrived, she saw students mixing together, no particular house at their assigned long table; instead, most minded their own business while conversing with friends and others around them.
A wave of awkwardness and realization hit the entitled muggle-born witch almost instantly. She had entered alone and was now faced with the harrowing decision of where to sit. The ugly truth that quickly hit her wasn't something she welcomed nor desired to acknowledge. Standing alone at the golden doors, Allegra finally became aware that she had no friends despite attending school for two years. She had no group to call her own, nor was there a best friend who called out to her.
Instead, she was made aware that most older and younger students avoided her as if she were some drama-causing plague. The girls in her year had shunned her after her vicious bullying and humiliation of Marlene McKinnon came to light. Not even the ordinarily aggressive Slytherin students found humor in her cruel actions; instead, they, too, had turned on her. Only a few girls spoke to her now and again: three other Gryffindor girls and a Slytherin.
The boys were no better; often, they acted as if she wasn't there and ignored her to the best of their abilities unless they had to talk to her; even then, the interactions were short. Some would rudely reject her requests, while others would laugh at her for one reason or another. Almost all of them denied her the attention she sought after. The only boys who did pay attention to her were those she had branded as weird and tried her best to avoid being seen with in public areas. If only so, she wasn't branded as a weirdo as they had been.
Only when Allegra's hazel eyes of judgment landed on her twin sister, Isolde, did she truly begin to question when their dynamic had changed and switched roles. Before Hogwarts, Allegra had been the most popular girl at school; she was the queen bee everyone wanted to be friends with, and there was no end to people thawing over and fighting for her attention. She had so many friends she could remember the names of all of them, and always had a never-ending list of things to do on weekends and holidays.
Isolde had been the opposite back then, a loner, the weirdo who had few friends and hid in the shadows for fear of being bullied or the butt of every joke. She was quiet but thoughtful, often found in the abandoned school halls with her creepy little friends or reading some random book in the library. Isolde never had a long list of things to do on weekends or holidays, maybe the odd outing, but nothing more. Back then, Isolde had no real place in the school hierarchy, whereas Allegra was the queen who ruled at the top of the mountain.
Now, however, everything was different. Allegra was the loner, the sister with no friends, and had yet to find her place within the student body. She had yet to discover what she was truly good at outside of causing drama and find friends with whom she had plenty of things in common and to talk about. On the other hand, Isolde quickly found her place; Marlene, Lily, and (Y/N) promptly became her friends. However, her social group wasn't limited to the girls; she often spoke and studied with the Marauders when they weren't causing havoc. The friend group wasn't perfect, but at least Isolde had something.
There hadn't been a day without Isolde laughing about something, whether Lily and James were throwing jabs at each other or Sirius purposely fiddling with (Y/N)'s ever-changing hair. There wasn't a single day to pass when Isolde wasn't studying, talking with her friends, or helping another student. Even worse for Allegra, she was sure her younger twin would soon beat her to another milestone their parents dreaded the most: dating, especially if Allegra had read the signs so obvious for all to see when it comes to a particular fourth-year student.
Only now did Allegra genuinely wish she had achieved what Isolde had. She wished she had friends in the same house with whom to talk and bond. Friends she could go on explorations with and be herself around without fear of rejection or cruel judgment, to have friends with the same beliefs and ideals as her.
With a heavy sigh, Allegra began to move from the spot she'd been glued to for what felt like forever; immediately, she felt like everyone was watching her, waiting to see where she'd go. There was an awkward atmosphere as she walked over to where Isolde sat toward the middle of the usual Gryffindor long table. Deep down, Allegra suspected she wouldn't be easily welcomed anywhere but at least hoped Isolde and her little group of friends would take pity on her for now and spare her the humiliation of a public rejection.
Only when Allegra shuffled closer did she hear the group talking about their summer plans and potential trips to Hogsmeade during the following school year? A wave of shame and sadness crashed onto the muggle-born again, as she thought that should have been her. Soon after, jealousy began to bubble as she thought about how happy Isolde was while she suffered alone and how Isolde had gotten everything Allegra had personally wanted.
Allegra listened as Remus commented on finding (Y/N) in Zonko's when they were finally allowed to visit Hogsmeade. (Y/N) didn't argue, instead agreed with her mischievous grin firmly in place, at least before she smacked Sirius' hand from her hair. The two wasted little time engaging in a thumb war, much to the amusement of those surrounding them. Peter had mentioned his plans of quiet holidays filled with homecooked meals and comforts of home, at least when he wasn't sending letters to friends and taking the usual trips to Diagon Alley to gather school supplies.
"Can I join you?" meekly asked Allegra, standing just behind Remus, who'd happily been chowing down on his favorite custard pudding; he looked a little worse for wear, but Allegra didn't care; her hazel eyes were locked on her twin sister as if she was asking Isolde permission to join the group. For a moment, the joy was replaced with awkwardness, and the conversations had died, but it soon returned to normal when Lily silently nodded to Allegra's request. Peter scooted over to allow the dramatic girl to sit between himself and James, at least so she felt included. "Thank you," she added in the same tone, her heart hammering in her chest as a wave of anxiety gripped her; she wanted to feel happy they had let her join them but couldn't bring herself to smile. They were her last resort, and she knew she didn't belong with them; they knew it too, but they still showed kindness and allowed her to stay.
"We should do Truth or Dare on the train," commented James, at least trying to act like nothing was out of the ordinary. "We can't end up in detention this time," he added as if to remove what would hold them back from agreeing to the game again.
"That's a terrible idea," Marlene responded, recalling the last game in the common room several months prior. All of them ended up in a week-long detention. Pringle had caught some of them out of bed after hours, whereas others had been caught fulfilling their dare the following day, namely Sirius, who had stood on the tables during Herbology and sang the most out-of-tune version of the Hogwarts song.
"I don't know, it's better than Sirius' idea of trying to brew Polyjuice potion," spoke Peter, remembering that disaster. However, he couldn't remember why Sirius had been brewing it in the first place or how he'd managed to go undetected by professors. Disaster had only been adverted when (Y/N) had pointed out that the potion didn't look right. It did look awful and smelt disgusting.
"Just don't dare me to cast the Patronus charm again," laughed (Y/N), remembering the heart attack she'd had upon succeeding; the others in the common room with her hadn't faired any better, although James had won the wager on the animal it would be. "I don't think any of us have recovered from that delightful fright yet," she added, her laughter growing as she recalled tumbling off the back of the sofa she'd been perched on; she was a trembling mess when the silvery Hungarian Horntail disappeared, and it had taken her a few days to accept the dragon had been her patronus rather than the real thing.
"Fantastic way of coursing pandemonium on the train, though," replied Sirius, as he began to flick (Y/N)'s ever-changing hair again. This time, however, (Y/N) just rolled her eyes and proceeded to munch on the strawberry cheesecake she was so fond of. "Be the train ride from hell they won't forget," he laughed, noticing that Allegra seemed intrigued by the idea of terrorizing people using the Patronus charm, almost as if she'd use that as motivation to learn the difficult spell.
"Yeah, Peeves can still cause the most chaos in a short time," Lilly recalled some things the mischief-loving poltergeist had been up to over the past week. Everything from pestering other ghosts to juggling things above selected students, something harmless, things other times more concerning. He'd locked a few students and professors in the suits of armor, too, and interrupted classes by popping out of things. He did other things, too, such as sending students into the line of the prank war fire or following a specific student around, making farting noises and blowing raspberries whenever they spoke.
"Can I share your cabin tomorrow? I don't want to be alone on the train," asked Allegra, finally finding the courage to speak and at least try to sound sincere, even though it was apparent she had failed. For a moment, everyone fell silent, as if they were thinking over her request carefully before answering.
"Sure, Lilly Flower is planning on spending the ride home with Snivellus; you can take her spot," started James, ignoring the glare Lily threw at him for the name he'd bestowed Severus with. "Failing that, I'm sure Sirius wouldn't complain if (Y/N) sat on his lap," he commented, jumping when (Y/N) kicked his shins. However, he successfully hid the surprise by draping an arm over Allegra's shoulder and grinning innocently at the pair across from him.
"You're pushing it a bit, mate," warned Sirius, although it was clear he hadn't taken any offense to James' comment. Instead, laughter flooded the group when Peter fell from the bench while attempting to reach the large bowl of Jelly. A squeak escaped him as he lost his footing and tumbled off the bench. The laughter only grew after they were sure Peter was unharmed despite his tumble. For a second, Allegra tricked herself into believing she belonged with the group, that they were her people, but soon she remembered these were Isolde's friends, thrust they could never truly be hers; they were too different and carefree for her to consider them anything but valuable tools, at least until she found where she belonged, then they'd be enemies once more.
