⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧ophelia୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

March 29th

New York City had been awake since before the sun made it's appearance. Colorful cars were running around the big apple, taxis looked like lights on the dark road while people had started their day. Runners in fluorescent clothing were jogging on the sidewalks, cafès had already started their coffee machines, the smell of bread, coming from the various bakeries scattered around the big apple was blending itself with car engine. It was one of the last days of march, sun rays lightly kissed the modern buildings, the black road and the fast cars as well as the trees of Central Park and the small animals living in it.

Aurora Angeli was a nineteen year old girl who lived on the seventeenth floor of a nineteenth century apartment complex. The walls were made of dark red bricks, the windows were wide, gridded with thin golden colored iron. Her apartment was small, the entrance door was a deep forest green, next to it was a wooden kitchen, a small one, with some cabinets and a small oven. In front of it there was a small brown leather couch, facing the opposite direction of the kitchen. A knittned cover was folded on the side of it, a couple of cushions sat on the opposite side. In front was a small coffee table, a load of things were scattered on it, a couple of books from Laura's course, "History of fashion" and "Fabrics for fashion" both were noted from front to back. There were Kevin's black headphones and above was his physics notebook, he had been trying to study for that exam for an exceptionally long amount of time. There were also Aurora's house keys, her drawing notebook and her watercolors.

There was a corridor, it's first door was the small green tiled bathroom, in front was Laura's room and next to hers was Kevin's. Aurora's was next to the bathroom.

Her small bedroom had white walls, they were decorated with her drawings and paintings as well as pictures of her and her friends from home, a few tickets to the concerts she had attended, a poster of her of her album, that she hung because she couldn't believe in everything that she achieved. Her bed was next to the door, above it was a list of things she aspired to experience. There were a few she had achieved, like becoming a singer or going to university, others were still waiting, like going to a formula 1 race or going to Thailand.

In front of her bed there was a desk and a couple of libraries, one on each side. The two were full of books, some she had read and some not, on the desk were her university books and her pens, a few make up products scattered around and a jewelry box. There was a brown wardrobe with a few drawings that fans had made for her, they had been waiting for her outside Rockefeller Plaza, where she had an interview with Jimmy Fallon. Right beside it were a long mirror and her guitars, collected on the side of the big wardrobe, her first one was a dark wood one, then an electric one that was cherry colored, then an aquamarine one with doodled sketch of Spiderman's face.

Aurora was laying on her bed, her navy blue duvet was lazily draped around her figure, the morning light was gently brushing it's rays around her, she was supine, wearing her golden string glasses while she was reading "The midnight library" all morning while listening to classical music with her white wired headphones. She took her time, memorizing what was happening, writing around the edges her thoughs with a black gel pen, enjoying the morning sun and the tranquility of a spring morning.

She heard her bedroom door open before she saw it. It was Laura, she wore a tight long sleeved shirt and blue shorts, her hair was tied in a ponytail.

"It's time to get up" she said while the brunette took off her earplugs and putted a small bookmark on her book.

"Why" she rolled her eyes "Because we did not celebrate your birthday a couple of days ago" the other explained "I don't want anything" "Get up or I will make you" she exclaimed before shutting the door.

Reclutantly she got up from her comfortable bed, she putted her book on her small bedside table and opened her wardrobe. Aurora had no idea about where her friend wanted to take her, she didn't know about the dress code or the activities. If she had asked her friend she would've said "it's a surprise I'm not telling you" exactly like a couple of years ago, when she made a surprise party for her eighteenth birthday.

She decided on a jeans miniskirt and a black tank top, with a baggy leather jacket with 'Mercedes' written on a white banner around it. The girl putted then on long heeled boots and then looked at her refletion in the mirror.

She felt partially satisfied, her face stared into her eyes with a tired look, she walked to her desk and grabbed concealer. She putted it on her eyebags and on a small pimple on her chin, then she grabbed a black eye pen and drew a smokey eye to embrace her eyes, then she applied brown lip gloss on her lips.

Aurora walked out of her bedroom and found Laura sitting on their small couch, she wore blue jeans, a white tank top and a black leather jacket with red accents and "Ferrari" written on it, their symbols too. They looked at each other and chuckled.

"We really do read each other's mind" The brunette said "We actually do it's crazy"

Just then Kevin arrived, his green hair was slicked back, he wore an orange tee shirt and long jeans.

"Buongiorno bella addormentata" "good morning Sleeping Beauty"

He sat next to them and asked in italian if she was exited for this surprise, she replied that she was actually pretty scared.

"Non stavo dormendo comunque" "Anyway I wasn't sleeping"

She added after her friend sat down, trying to defend her absence that morning. He chuckled and grabbed his phone.

Ten minutes after the three were waiting on the sidewalk, the brunette was trying to ask them where they were going but both of them were silent. A black Audi stopped in front of them, the window was pulled down, revealing her brother Lorenzo and their manager Elizabeth. "Hey you three, get in the car!" exclaimed the woman.

Laura was the first to get in, followed by Kevin and then Aurora, who had no idea that her brother was in New York, or that he had a car. She kept wondering if he had started living there, or if he was just driving her manager's car, which she had never seen. On the radio was playing "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, she smiled while remembering how many times she had listened to that same song when she was a child, pretending to sing at her own concert with an imaginary microphone and an invisible but massive crowd.

They stopped in front of a restaurant she had always dreamt of trying. It was in Brooklyn, named "Le Crocodile" it had a fancy and elegant exterior and an even more elegant interior, Aurora felt extremely underdressed. They sat around a circular table with golden crockery, whine glasses and a long white tablecloth.

"You guys didn't have to do all of this" Aurora said, she felt like going there was already too much for her birthday "Honey don't say that" her manager said "Yeah and besides, you didn't even see your gift" her blonde friend exclaimed while looking at the menu. "I thought this was the gift" said the brunette with a puzzled expression "Well it's part of it" Kevin said smiling. Aurora returned the smile, although she was already convinced that all of this for her was definitely too much.

She ordered an onion soup with gruyere, a dish she had tried in Paris and couldn't wait to try again, everyone else got either a steak or a club sandwich, the conversation flew by naturally, her brother explained how he had just found a job in the Big Apple and had to move basically overnight, he died tell her because he wanted it to be a surprise. Her and her house mates spoke about exams and classes, university was hard, especially since she now had so many things to do, but she wanted that degree more than anything. Well almost anything, her dream had already been achieved.

The food arrived after a loose ten minutes, her soup looked and smelled incredibly, she started taking small spoons of it while her manager started talking about the tour they had been organizing. Preparing everything, from choreographies to dancers, the setlist and the places they would go to, everything took a lot of time, they were barely at half of it.

The sun was now warmer and the city's colors were vibrant and full of life.

"Aurora" he called her "We can go watch the race at my apartment after we finish lunch" "Of course, I'd love that" she smiled happily.

One of the few things the two siblings shared was their passion for race cars, it started when they were both young, they played with toy cars together, pretending to be in "Cars" and creating races. After a couple of years their mom showed them a real race, both of them seemed hypnotized. They had watched almost every race after that, it almost became a tradition between them and their mother.

They took their time to eat, the soup was exactly like the one she had in Paris, she tried to enjoy it as much as she could. After their main course her brother asked if they could take the cake, the waiter nodded and brought a big tiramisú with two pink candles shaped like a one and a nine. She smiled, their mom always made them tiramisú for their birthday.

"Cosí ti sembra di essere a casa" "Like this it'll seem like you're home"

She gratefully smiled at him, a tear was about to run away from her left eye. She blew the candles while making the same wish she had been making her entire life "I wish to be happy" then the waiters took the cake again to cut it.

"Now it's time for the gift" the blonde girl said exited while her manager took a flat colored paper with a golden bow, she took it and gently opened it, trying to not ruin anything.

Inside were two papers, the first one was a printed email from Mercedes. When she saw it her heart stopped beating for a few seconds. "I'm crying already and I didn't even read it, what did you do" she said while another tear fell down her cheek.

from: Mercedes- AMG PETRONAS F1 team to: [email protected]

Good evening Mrs. Smith, after taking consideration of your email regarding the possibility of having the singer Aurora as a guest on our paddock and giving her a tour of our spaces in the future we have decided to improve the experience for her. Since our next stop for the Formula 1 World Championship will be Miami from May first to May third, it would be our pleasure to have her as our guest for the entirety of Race day, she would stay with our pilot's engineers while the race is happening, and after it, an exclusive hot lap with our driver Kimi Antonelli, we thought they would get along better than George Russell since they are closer in age. Best regards, see you on May third.

-Toto Wolff

As she finished reading Aurora felt her hands lightly trembling whilst her eyes felt salty and watery. "You are all crazy" she said as she read the mail once again "Thank you so much this is the best present you could've ever given me" she continued, a couple of tears fell, she wiped them off with her left hand. Elizabeth hugged her since the two were sitting beside each other "You are the craziest of them all" Aurora exclaimed to her manager while smiling "What you read was Toto, i just asked if you could stay there for the race" the woman reminded her "That is actually even crazier" the girl joked, but another tear was dripping out of her eyes.

She then looked at the second paper, which was a pass for the Formula 1 security, it was white, her name and all of the information had been written in red ink, as well as a QR code on the left side and a the edges of the ticket.

"This is incredible" she said "I actually can't believe it thank you all so much" she had been smiling from ear to ear when the white clothed waiters arrived with the pieces of tiramisú which were distributed in silence. "Wait, just a question" she said, mostly talking to her manager "Am i going to drive against Kimi Antonelli or is he just gonna drive us around? Because I do not have any idea on how drive a kart"

Her manager gently took the printed email from the birthday girl and read that part of the letter herself "I would think he will drive you two around, which is great since I saw you drive once"

The girl chuckled at her manager's joke "Yeah it would not be a great first impression"

Aurora ate her cake happily, thinking about the most shallow but important thing for her, what was she supposed to wear? How would she dress for such an occasion, it was all completely new.

"Laura?" she called

"Si?". "yeah?"

"What do I wear?"

Her friends chuckled at her question "You could do something similar to Alexandra Leclerc" the blonde suggested, Aurora wasn't too sure of it, she felt like people would think that she was 'doing too much for a race' and she wasn't dating any of the drivers either, there wouldn't be any reason to dress up. The brunette nodded at her friend's suggestion while eating.

After they all finished their lunches they got up, Aurora took the birthday wrapping paper, the print and the pass, she held them lightly, almost trying not to break them, her fingers gently held them while her brother paid.

Elizabeth walked beside her while they had gotten out of the restaurant. "Rory?" the woman called for her attention "Yeah?" "I can come to Miami with you if you don't want to go alone" The girl hadn't realized that she would've been alone yet, nevertheless knowing that her manager could go with her made her happy. "I would love that, thank you so much" The woman hugged her, she had a nurturing presence in her, something almost motherly even though she didn't have any children.

Lorenzo drove the group to his apartment, the building was one of the newest ones in the Big Apple and it had garages under the ground, her brother's was red, positioned in the right corner, it was small and completely empty, except for the car.

They took fire escape stairs and walked rapidly to the seventh floor, the man explained that the complex wasn't finished yet, they were installing the elevator and building apartments.

They opened the fire escape door and entered the complex, the hall was long, the doors were all wooded, painted in a bright red color, most of them had small doormats in front of them.

Her brother's apartment was the very last door on the left side of the hall, number 20, just like Monica's in 'Friends' she thought while Lorenzo opened the door. The interior was minimalist, just like she had expected. There were windows on the entirety of the left side, invisible walls created an enormous postcard of New York. The other walls were white, a small kitchen was positioned on the side, all of it was black, there weren't any pans or cutters out, it didn't surprise Aurora, her brother was a disgrace in cooking.

He had a big white couch with a very large television in front of it, a small rack was just under it, keeping a PlayStation, a movie player, videogames and movies. Aurora sat on the couch, the papers were nearly folded on her legs, next to her were Lorenzo on the right and Kevin on the left, next to him were Laura and Elizabeth.

The owner turned on the television and turned to his sister.

"Sai le posizioni da cui partono?" "Do you know in which position they start?"

"Non l'ho cercato ieri, avevo un esame" "I didn't even look it up yesterday, I had an exam"

The others were all listening to them, Laura was traducing everything to Elizabeth.

"Okay, so Antonelli's first, then Russell, Piastri, Leclerc and Norris" he explained, the brunette stayed silent, she was watching the drivers, Leclerc was putting on his baclava, Norris was speaking with a couple of engineers, Piastri was eating some ice.

As the race started and suddenly everyone was focused on the screen, Laura sat cross legged, explaining things to Kevin, who barely understood anything about Formula 1, Elizabeth was typing on her tablet, probably something regarding the tour, her brother was screaming at the television in italian, to help the drivers improve.

Aurora watched quietly, like every time she watched races, she hoped either for Ferrari or Mercedes, the first positions were, as usual the most difficult ones to maintain, it was always tough, but it was very fun to watch.

The race had been long, as usual, Antonelli and Russell started the race poorly, both of them seemed to have something wrong with their cars, this made Piastri the lead of the race.

Lorenzo had been screaming cuss words in his native language, Bearman had an accident, a big one too, and just like Aurora had learned, nothing in Formula 1 is said until the very end. The crash helped Antonelli to regain the lead, winning the race by over thirteen seconds, which the brunette found impressive.

The group clapped at the podium and watched as the drivers drowned each other in champagne.

"They must smell really weird after that" Elizabeth chuckled

"Yeah hopefully he will shower himself before we meet for the tour" the singer said smiling, the group laughed at her

"Don't worry honey, I'm sure his boss will tell him that" her manager reassured her

"See? She gets me"

The three housemates took a taxi to get back to their apartment, Kevin run to his room to study, he had a project presentation the next day, Laura and Aurora sat on their couch, the blonde started studying one of her fashion textbooks while the brunette painted, she had drawn a strawberry field a few days prior, while listening to the omonimous song by The Beatles and she decided to paint it with her beloved watercolors.

It was almost eight when the had gotten back home and since none of them felt like cooking that night they decided to order take out chinese food. The three ate while listening to the green haired boy talk about statistics and algebra, the brunette was always amazed by how easily he spoke about such things, it's not like she wasn't good at it, she was, but only after a lot of studying and exercises, her friend just got it.

She complimented him while eating vegetarian gyoza and he was very happy, Laura smiled at him and complimented him as well. The blonde asked them about their opinion on a boy she had been seeing, Sean, a tall guy who worked in a coffee shop and barely texted her back. She always claimed that it didn't bother her, but her best friend knew the truth.

"Do whatever makes you happy, but remember that you deserve the world" Aurora said, Kevin nodded "Exactly, you deserve everything, don't forget it" Laura smiled.

After dinner the brunette had a shower, she thought of how lucky she was to have such great friends, of course it wasn't a big friend group, but she didn't need it. She had people who cared for her and most importantly she finally felt like she was deserving of their love.

She felt a weird feeling on her chest when her thoughts wandered to her trip to Miami's Formula 1 in May, it seemed scary now that it was real. She had to meet these people she always saw on television, it felt frightening. But she couldn't wait to there anyways.

After her shower she brushed her teeth and removed her makeup, she wore a short sleeved black shirt and long white pants.

Then she ran to her bedroom, she had a book to finish for "Medieval History" an exam she had the next month. Aurora sat on her bed and highlighted key words, important things and dates, she made notes on the book's edges and, according to the highlighter color she added a post it that was the same color. The brunette had always loved studying, she used to use it as a method to not think, to block her thoughts when they got too much, sometimes she still did. But it was mostly because she was studying something that had interested her for years, ever since she was a little girl she had loved history, art and everything about them.

It was eleven thirty when she finished the book, everything had been deposited above the same subject's textbook, it was something that really interested her, but it was draining.

The gift had been placed on her desk, she read the mail again and smiled as she walked to her bed, her body had quickly been covered with her duvet, the girl opened her bedside table and got out her diary and a blue inked pen, it was the place where her songs were created.

She wrote about how grateful she felt about her friends.

• ↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ •

Aurora Angelo was born in a small town in northern Italy, she lived with her mother and older brother Lorenzo, who helped her develop a passion for music and songwriting, he was also the one to teach her how to play guitar and piano.

The girl also grew a passion for drawing and painting, she attended a very good art school during her high school years which helped her achieve a scholarship to addend an important university in New York City, where she studies Archeology.

Aurora lives in New York City with her friends, Laura, a blonde girl she had met during primary school, they had been attached ever since. And Kevin, her best friend since their first year of high school, when they were paired together for a chemistry project.

Aurora's secret dream had always been to be a singer, she had been playing music and singing for all her life, but it wasn't until her friend Laura read her notebook and told her that she should try to make a music career out of it.

She had been walking home from a day full of lessons about history and art, she felt tired and sleepy, walking home with a half finished coffee, bought at the university's cafè, the last thing she had expected when she closed her small apartment's door was Laura waiting for her with her notebook. The one she always hid behind her bed, hoping that nobody could find it. Aurora asked her why she was holding her diary. "Rory you don't understand, with these things you write here and the voice you have, you could be incredible, and you just don't do it" She spoke with a thick italian accent, they both still had it, that's why the two decided to speak in english with each other. "I have no idea on how to even make an album Laura" The brunette said, but truthfully she only felt scared. "We'll figure it out, don't worry" her friend reassured her.

After a few days, in which Laura and Kevin continuously begged their friend to start posting herself singing on social medias, to try and gain a little bit of attention. After four days they convinced her. She had already thought of her ink thoughts as songs, it wasn't difficult for her to sing, she positioned her phone horizontally on her study desk's foot and sat on the ground, with her dark brown guitar.

Over the next couple of months a community of people grew around her singing account, people asked her to put the songs on streaming services and to start doing live shows more and more often. That's when she understood that her friend had been right and that her silly dream could become reality.

She then searched for a manager and a record company, both of them were pretty good even though not too pricey. They spent months perfectioning every song, every lyric, every note that seemed weird. They played with instruments, with words until the results were good enough for them.

During the second to third month Laura hired a photographer, a "really good one" said the reviews. They had photoshoots in quite a few places, to try and get a good interpretation of everything. From the record studio to New York and Aurora's small bedroom.

It took seven months for them to finish everything, the cover was simple, Aurora was sitting above her bed, strumming her red electric guitar, the title was above her, written in a black cursive, her name was slightly smaller. It would've been named "notes from a teenage notebook" she had always know that.

People say success doesn't arrive overnight, it took a month for it to find the italian. People who knew her started to use her songs everywhere, making other people listen to her and do the same thing. It found her startled, not entirely ready for that much attention from the world.

Aurora was born in 2006, but graduating early made the rest of 2024 and all of 2025 a crazy journey. Her manager had managed to book a load of interviews, which was great since it was her first album and everything was still working itself out. The second year mentioned was filled with interviews around America, while behind the scenes she still studied to maintain good grades.

Her manager also started organizing a tour. Which would've taken place the upcoming year.

notes from a teenage notebook

⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

heyyy, sorry if this is short, it's just a little introduction to the female main character, sorry for any mistakes but english isn't my first language, i hope you will enjoy the story🫶

The two often met up in Hermione's dorm room and sometimes, when the tests were particularly hard, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley joined them.

Estelle thought Harry was very nice to be around, he had a quite wit that only showed when the time was right and she found it endearing. Ronald wasn't the smartest of her course, but she found him very funny, she was convinced that if he applied a little more could've been a prefect.

On the few days she did not have to study her and Luna liked going to Hogsmeade, they had found a small shop that sold magic books from around the world and Isa, whom had always been interested in that matter, had bought quite a few.

From Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Egypt.

She studied them, highlighted the most important parts and filled the white spaces with blue pen notes and post-its, she promised herself to go visit those places when she would have finished school.

Riddle did not stop giving her a hard time, he loved to talk to her about stupid stuff just so she couldn't take annotations during lessons, professors told him to shut it up and he would just smile and continue.

He made snarky remarks to almost everything she did, including teasing her for the grades she had, which were great.

He couldn't care less about school, which annoyed her since he had the same grades as her without doing anything "Why would I study that?" he would say "I have better things to do" but then he would have the same results as her and her Gryffindor friend.

She learned that he loved getting into fights, which were usually started by him, as Daphne told her once, usually she knew about them by the next day, he would show up with a new wound and a colourful face.

There had been a particular time where he was especially wounded, his right eyebrow had a cut, his left cheek too, on his forehead he had a purple bruise, on his bottom lip he had a small cut and a blue punch.

"Prince, you look worse than usual " she said as she sat down

"You flatter me" he said toneless, without looking at her, she was looking at him 'He wouldn't be ugly if he just kept his hands to himself' she thought

"Did you fight a giant?"

"He looks worse" he smirked, this time looking into her eyes.

He got on her nerves a lot, but she still found herself caring for him, only a little tiny bit, she wasn't happy when she saw the state on his poor face and she found herself to be worried when he wasn't present in class.

Only a small bit obviously, she mostly hated him.

On November fifteenth she had an appointment with Fred Weasley, he had asked her to go to Hogsmeade together and she was very excited about it.

It was a Saturday, just after lunch, and Pansy had insisted to help her choose the outfit, Luna was there too and, as opposed to what she thought, the two got along pretty well, Isadora was very content about it.

They chose a jeans miniskirt with a white lacey shirt that had a V cut, she wore brown tights and long leather boots, her hair was tied in a bun and she had a brown eye pencil cat eye and pink lip gloss on her lips.

On top she wore a brown leather jacket that had fur on he inside, she hope it would've kept ber warm since it had snowed the night prior, Luna also gave her a red scarf, a very cute one.

Fred was waiting for her just outside of the Ravenclaw common room, he was in his last year of Hogwarts and he was really tall.

They spoke like they had always been friends, he was probably the funniest person she had ever met.

He took her to the "Three Broomsticks" a very cute place to get something to drink. He had a butter beer and she had a chocolate.

"Do you have any plans for next year?" she asked curious

"I do yeah, me and my brother want to open a little shop in Diagon Alley" he smiled

"That's so beautiful, what would you sell?"

"Magical stuff for jokes"

She chuckled "That's unusual and a great idea"

He thanked her and asked about her hobbies, she told him of reading and tarots which he was very interested in.

The pub's bell rang and she saw Riddle, Theodore and the brunette guy that Pansy told her was named Lorenzo, they sat right across from her and Fred.

The pair talked comfortably, she didn't dare to ask if it was a date or not, it felt very friendly so she decided it was just a friendly hang out.

She felt the tickling presence of Riddle's stare as she spoke to the red headed boy in front of her and she found it incredibly annoying.

Fred accompanied her back to her common room, it was late in the afternoon and she felt happy, the guy was a great company.

The following Monday, like usual, she sat next to Riddle, he had looked at her with his usual mocking face.

"Did you have fun your little date?" he snarked, his arms were crossed and a smile was forming on the right side of his face

"I did, thank you" she replied, knowing it wasn't even a romantic date

"He suits you, a Weasley"

She knew what he was impling and she hated him for that, why would he ever say something like so? Why did he even care?

"You're horrible"

"And you're original with your insults" he spatted and she had to hold herself to not laugh, he was incredible, so entitled.

She did not say anything more, there was no need to, she just rolled her eyes and he chuckled.

He did not show up to any lesson the next day.

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗

It was the end of November, the twenty fifth to be precise, and Isadora had been studying her new magic book, about Japanese traditional magic, mostly related to Buddhism and mythology when someone had knocked her door.

She slowly got up to open it, her book closed and hidden under her pillow, it was her thing, she liked to keep private some things.

It was Pansy, she had a big smile on her face.

"He asked me to go to the Yule Ball with him!" she exclaimed

"The what?" Isadora asked as her friend came in and sat on her unmade bed.

"The Yule Ball, it's a Ball for the winter solstice, it's a month away" her friend explained

"How did I not know of this?"

"Guys here don't really think in advance, but Draco does!"

"Right, so he's just asked you?"

Her friend nodded and told her that Draco had sat next to her in their common room and quietly asked her to go together.

"Riddle said Draco's becoming a soft one" she said, not in an annoyed tone which surprised Estelle who, in fact, rolled her eyes.

"What?" her friend asked chuckling

"Nothing, I see him too often" she tried to be diplomatic

"Oh" Pansy said "Right"

Isadora hadn't told anyone about how annoying the boy was with her, if she had said something it would've felt too real and she didn't like that.

"Well I see that at least he speaks to you" Pansy smiled

"What does that mean?"

"The other people who were paired with him, let's say didn't last very long" Pansy said "They said he scared them"

Isadora understood why they were, he was The Dark Lord's son, he frequently got into fights and he was hot tempered, but had never felt unsafe, she didn't like him because he got under her skin.

"Anyway, do you have any ideas of who you could be going with?" the Slytherin asked

"Go where?"

"To the Ball!"

"Oh right, no I don't"

"What about Fred?"

"We're not talking in a romantic way!" Estelle said, a few days prior the Weasley had asked her if their just started friendship seemed like more to her, she said no and he was glad, because he didn't see it like that either, they still hung out a lot.

"Then Potter?"

"Not my type"

Pansy rolled her eyes "What's your type Princess?"

Isadora chuckled at the nickname, similar to the one she had for Riddle "I like brunettes, but I prefer dark eyes, and I like people who have things to say" she said "I like them tall too"

"Well Mattheo seems like a match"

"Ew, are you crazy" she said making a face, truly she had never even have the ghost of a thought in that sense towards Riddle"He wouldn't even go to an event like that"

"That's what he says too but he's still there every year" she said "Mostly drinking but he's still there"

Isadora chuckled, she remembered doing a spring solstice ball a few years back, her and her friends decided to all go alone.

"Well maybe I'll go there by myself"

"Then we must think of what dress we should have!"

In the next few weeks Isadora learned that the Yule Ball was actually a very important event for the school, even Hermione was exited to go. There had been an afternoon where the two had met up for their usual readings, Estelle asked her about Yule Balls and her Gryffindor friend told her about the Ball the previous year, she went with Viktor Krum, he was there for the Triwizard Tournament.

It was the year where Him Who Must Not Be Named had came back, the blonde girl said it had been sickening to watch him come back.

They had decided to go to the ball together, Ronald had been occupied with a girl named Lavander, Hermione did not want to see him, especially not that night. Harry had been going around with a fellow Ravenclaw, Cho Chang, but the two weren't sure if they were dating or not.

At lessons Riddle never said anything about the Ball, and for that she was glad, she could already hear what he thought of going with a friend, especially if that friend was Hermione.

He did tease her about everything else, being 'too focused on grades' which was funny since she just enjoyed learning, or 'reading too much' that was very similar to what her mother used to tell her during summer holidays.

༺♡༻

The day of the Ball was electric, one could feel the excitement with their fingers, Pansy and Daphne had been hectic the entire day, which was understandable since they both had dates to go with.

Isadora didn't want to go.

She could pretend it didn't matter that she didn't have a boy to go to the ball with, but it made her self conscious, maybe she wasn't pretty enough for boys there.

Or maybe it was just because, at the end of the day, she was still the new girl.

Hermione told her that they would've met up at the Great Hall entrance by nine o'clock, and the italian was sad, she had been for the past few days and the reason was foolish, who cares if you're going with a friend?

But still it was hard, she would've cancelled but she wanted to prove herself she could have fun without a date too.

She had taken a long and warm shower, steam was clinging everywhere in the small bathroom.

Her hair was up, a low bun with a few strands down to compliment her face, then she putted on her dress.

It was a light blue dress with darker blue sparkles, the gown was not too voluminous, just enough to swirl during dances, it was layered too, from lighter to darker.

The bodice had a heart shaped cut that showed exactly what had to be showed, the sleeves were long, a light blue lace with small sparkles, she wore a pearl necklace and matching earrings, her shoes were dark blue.

She then used a really light blue to brighten her eyes, she used a bit of concealer to hide the purple rings under her eyes from all the reading and studying. She used brown lip gloss.

As she went down the stairs to reach the Great Hall she saw a lot of people, mostly couples, she recognized Seamus Finnigan with a redhead, then Susan Bones with a Gryffindor boy who was probably older than her.

Hogwarts was decorated with wintery and magical elements, especially Yule themed, it had snowed that day, it was snowing still, so the magical feeling was somehow mirrored by the Highlands's weather.

Hermione had been waiting for her by the left door of the Hall, her blonde hair was down, with small curls and a few small braids, she was wearing a purple dress with blue accents, sleeveless, she had a small silver necklace, she looked beautiful.

"Hi" said Isadora "You look amazing"

"You too" said her friend whom then took the italian's hand "Come on"

The Great Hall seemed bigger, everything had been enchanted in silver, there was an enormous Yule tree which had candles on it, candles were also floating on the Hall's roof. On the sides were four long tables, two on each sides with foods and drinks.

Music was classical, a load of people was dancing, cute couples mostly and some of the ghosts too, Nearly Headless Nick, Isadora's favorite ghost was seemingly having the time of his life with The Fat Friar, Hufflepuff's ghost.

Isadora and Hermione went to have a drink, they saw Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley, she looked really pretty, then Pansy, which waved at Isa with Draco, the italian had to admit they looked cute together.

After a little while Harry Potter came to the girls, he was wearing a blue tuxedo which brought out his blue eyes, he complimented them and then asked Hermione for a dance.

Isadora loved to watch people live their lives, she enjoyed watching her friends dance around with boys, she liked to wonder about why people drank or why some ran away from the Hall.

"May I have this dance?"

She raised her head and saw Fred Weasley, dressed in a sage green tux, his hair slicked back and his mischievous eyes smiling.

"Of course" she said

They danced to a muggle song, "Fur Elise" by Beethoven, his hands were around her waist and hers were around his neck, he was a lot taller than her sp she was glad about wearing heels, he spun her and cracked a few jokes, when the dance was over he told her she looked amazing and then went to talk to his brother.

Isadora felt something weird in her chest, not quite heartbreak, she didn't like Fred that way, moreso a feeling of sadness, of feeling as if there wasn't anyone who would've noticed if she had not been there.

It seemed selfish to her but she couldn't help it and it wasn't unusual for her to turn a beautiful moment into a sad one, she didn't like it of course.

Isadora decided to go get some fresh air just out of the castle, maybe it would've helped her mind to calm down.

It was cold outside but she didn't mind, the moon was full and it was snowing, everything felt magical, the moon's light painting the snow of an ethereal blue, she felt content knowing she was wearing a blue dress.

"Why are you here?"

Mattheo Riddle asked.

She didn't even see him in the Hall.

"I needed some fresh air" she noticed his hair had small snowflakes in his hair

"You looked pretty cozy with Weasley" he then said, she noticed that the boy wasn't looking at her but at the moon.

"It was just a dance, we're not in a relationship"

He chuckled at that

"Is something funny?" She asked annoyed

"He's a loser" he spatted "He couldn't even see what was in front of him"

What did Mattheo Riddle just say? was that supposed to be a compliment?

"I'm sorry?"

"I don't like repeating myself" he whispered, then he looked at her "You look like Yuki-Onna"

Her heart skipped a beat, Yuki-Onna was a part of Japan's mithology that she had loved since she was a small child, the creature was described as unearthly and ethereal, haunting, her eyes piercing and her skin pale.

"Thank you" she whispered, he nodded her head and walked away.

That night after she went back into her dorm she wore a comfortable long sleeved shirt and a pair of long pants, she removed all of her makeup and then slipped into her bed's warm covers, thick for the Highlands's cold winter.

She tried to not think of Riddle's words, he had given her a compliment, a striking one, and she had always been convinced that he hated her. He was a Riddle truly, she couldn't understand him at all, what was she supposed to think?

┅┅┅┅༻❁༺┅┅┅┅

The day after her first hang out with the Slytherin girl had been horrible. Her first class war Ancient runes and as soon as she sat on her seat she felt something different, Mattheo had looked at her, his brown eyes seemed bothered by her presence.

As usual she ignored him, the professor was talking faster than usual so she had to write faster, her fingers were now a permanent black-ink color, they didn't use quills back in Italy, they used pens.

The second hour arrived, Isadora opened the velvet box and started to get the runes, the woman asked to cast some sort of spell through the wooden circles.

"Aren't we doing this together?" she heard him ask, his voice was annoyed, mocking, pissed and something else along the line of teasing.

That part she chose to ignore.

His voice was low, not too deep and not as sharp as she expected from The Dark Lord's son.

"I thought the Prince didn't have to work with the common folk" she replied

For a sliver of a second his face betrayed him, he was astonished, maybe even angry, not that she cared obviously.

"Careful Isadora" he said looking into her eyes "You're playing with fire" he wasn't messing, at least it seemed to her, he was simply stating a fact.

She was surprised that he knew her name, the girl rolled her eyes and gave him half of the runes. "You do yours, I do mine"

"No" he said, a small annoying smile crept on his face, complimenting the rest of his annoying features "We're doing it together"

She knew he did it to annoy her, he had heard her the day prior and now he wanted to have fun.

"Alright Prince, we'll do as you please" she rolled her eyes.

They were both hot headed and prideful, Isadora was annoyed because she had done all this already but Riddle just had to do it in his own way, which took more time.

The rest of the day went along those lines. The pair was sitting beside each other in basically every lesson Ravenclaw was with Slytherin, and they were quite a few.

She entered 'Defence against dark arts' and took a deep breath, he was already there and he was scribbling something in his black cover sketch book, his legs were parted.

She sat and got her text book and her quill out of her purse.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, the mocking tone came back, she rolled her eyes, he wasn't even looking at her.

"You're so funny" she whispered

"And you didn't answer my question"

Estelle was about to reply when professor Moody arrived, she looked at her teacher and a genuine smile appeared on her face, she found him very interesting.

Mattheo didn't say anything but he noticed she had a bag today, a big black leather bag with silver details, he saw the shadow of a book inside of it, the title was something along the lines of Catcher In The Rye, probably a muggle book, then he looked at her.

The profile was sharp, her nose was small and straight, her eyes big and attentive, her face structure was accentuated by the ponytail she had that day, it made her look fierce and mean, the boy thought she should've been put into Slytherin.

"You read?" he whispered, way too close to her ear, he was aware, he did it because it would annoy her.

"Don't look at my stuff and let me listen" she replied after she closed her bag.

He chuckled.

That's how the rest of the day went, bickering and arguing at every chance they could.

Isadora was sure it was just for that day, by the day after everything would've been the like before, he would go back to ignoring her and no one would've thought of that day.

With some luck se would've forget about it as well.

{ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ }

The next days passed slowly, her newfound problem with Riddle persisted, he had taken a liking in annoying her and getting her mad.

She met up with Hermione quite a few times, they had finished 'Wuthering Heights' and had just started 'To Kill a Mockingbird' her friend had told her about her problems with Ronald Weasley, a Gryffindor she had a crush on since their first year.

Isabella told her that she was incredibly beautiful and intelligent, he was probably too scared because that's what all boys are. To that Hermione laughed.

The italian though of asking the Gryffindor girl for an opinion about Riddle, but she was somehow shy about it, she was scared her friend would've told her to just ignore him, and she just couldn't do that.

Isadora also thought of telling Luna, but again she would've told her to ignore him.

However, the two Ravencalws talked a lot, Luna discovered that her roommate had a gift for tarot reading since her ancestors had always read them, so she asked for readings quite soon, some of them were fun, others were very profund.

Once the blonde asked her about the fate of 'The Order of the Phoenix' it had been the most rough reading she had ever done.

"The Order will suffer immensely, but I do see a great rebirth" she said, but she saw deaths and losses, the victory would've taken a big cost.

Isadora often thought of joining the Order, but something inside of her was too scared, it reminded her that her father had died because of it.

That Saturday she woke up with a headache.

What a great start.

She got out of bed groaning, her roommate was in the hospital wing since she had caught a really bad flu a few days back, Isa quickly changed, then she did her hair, she brushed them and then putted on a white lacey headband, then she shoved her Charms book into her black bag and went to the Great Hall.

As usual, it was full of people, she sat down at the very end of the table and ate her usual breakfast, a yogurt bowl with cereal and fruit. Her table was undoubtedly the calmest one, a few girls were talking about tonight's Slytherin party.

Isadora wasn't exactly feral about going, she wasn't really a party girl, but Pansy was so happy about having a girl to go with she just had to go.

Maybe she would've met some cute guy to talk to, or she would've made another friend.

Her first lesson was 'Charms', she wasn't exactly thrilled about it, back home they didn't use wands as much as in Hogwarts, she knew how to cast a spell from her hands very well, wands weren't new but they weren't that familiar either.

She sat on her usual seat, Mattheo didn't show up that day, so she got paired with Pansy and Daphne Greengrass, a blonde haired girl that was taller than both of them, her eyes were mint green and her smile was genuine.

They cast spells on books while they talked about the party.

It was the topic of the day, the first Slytherin party of the year.

Pansy said that both the girls could get ready in her room, so they could have some girl-time before the night. The other two happily agreed, Estelle thought that she didn't have a dress for that kind of party.

"Pansy?" she called, more shy that what she intended to be

"Yes?"

"I don't have a dress"

"No worries, we have plenty" said Daphne "You can borrow one of ours, it's no problem at all"

"Thank you" smiled Isa

"No worries at all"

That afternoon Isadora took a long shower, the water was hot, almost burning her skin, she loved that sensation. She used raspberry and strawberry bubble bath, then a vanilla body cream, then she washed her hair, rose and orchid shampoo and almond hair lotion.

After going out of the shower she thanked herself for shaving the day prior, her hair had lose waves, she wore a long sleeved white shirt and sweatpants, then she shoved her make up into a little beauty case and started walking to the Slytherin wing.

Outside of the Slytherin common room was the guy with blue eyes, Pansy said his name was Theodore, he looked like he was waiting for someone.

"Hey you're the italian girl right?" he asked when he saw her

"Yeah" she smiled

"I'm Italian too" he said, his voice was stern and broken

"Really? Where?" she asked

"Rome"

"I'm from Bologna" she smiled, he nodded while looking down the wooden floor

"My mother was from there" he said, then another boy came running up the stairs, his hair was dark and he had a charming attire "Did you find him?" Theodore asked

"No, we thought he might be in the Forbidden Forest" the other boy had a particularly thick accent, Theodore nodded

"I kinda have to go but, see you tonight if you're there" the Italian said to Isa before going down the enchanted stairs, his friend awkwardly waved at her before running after his friend.

What a strange encounter.

Pansy's room smelled like expensive perfume, the short haired girl hugged her when she arrived, her wardrobe was wide open, all her party dresses were laying on her unmade bed.

"Chose whatever you like" she smiled

There was a burgundy satin one that looked amazing, it had flower lace details, but she didn't like how it fitted her.

A blue velvet one with long sleeves that was very cute but was "too long for that party" as Pansy said.

A black one that showed too much of her chest.

"I think you should try on this one" her friend said showing her a forest green satin dress, very short, the skirt wasn't too tight and she was sure it would've hugged her curves very nicely.

"Oh I love this" she said after she tried it on, it accentuated her curves without showing too much

"I might just let you have it, I don't even wear it" Pansy said

"Are you serious?"

She nodded smiling and Isadora hugged her and thanked her. The two head someone knocking the door.

"Get in" Pansy yelled "Can I do your makeup?" she then whispered to the Ravenclaw, whom nodded happily.

Two girls entered the room, one was Daphne, she was wearing a tight black dress and her blonde hair was styled into a messy bun, the second girl, she assumed was Astoria, had brown hair and big doe eyes, she wore a bright red dress that reached her knees and made her look beautiful.

Pansy didn't hold back with doing her make up, she applied concealer with a brush and then used different shades of green and black for eye make up, which was completed by silver glitters.

Isadora did Pansy's make up, her friend was wearing a black leather miniskirt and a pink top, so the italian did a black smoky eye with pink accents and silver glitter on the inner corner.

The girls were chatting, Daphne mostly, she was explaining her situation with Theodore, Theo, as they called him, she had been crushing on him since their first year together.

Pansy said that if Draco didn't do anything that night she would've moved on to somebody else.

"I met Theo before coming here" said Isadora "Him and another brunette boy were looking for someone"

"Oh it was probably Mattheo" said Astoria absentmindedly "He has a habit of disappearing sometimes"

"Why?" asked Estelle while applying a black eye pen on her short haired firend, that guy seemed even more weird

"Who knows, he doesn't tell us" said Pansy "He's pretty volatile" she added, Isadora nodded, she wasn't worried about Riddle, he could handle himself.

After half an hour the girls were ready. Before leaving the room Pansy, Daphne and Astoria removed their heels, Isadora didn't know the reason behind it, she just did the same thing.

They slowly went out of the Slytherin wing, then downstairsand upstairs, then right and left on corridors and classrooms, everything was dark and silent.

They only stopped in front of a tapestry, one of Barnabas the Balmy, on the seventh floor, Pansy quickly walked past it, Isadora and the others swiftly followed.

"I love the Room of Requirements" Astoria said as they got it, Isa made a mental note of asking what that was.

The party was in a big room, larger that what she had anticipated, neon green lights painted the chamber of a green aura, on the longest wall was a table, she saw a little to eat and a lot to drink, different drinks she had never seen before.

On the center of the room were a couple of couches, on the left side were big speakers that produced music she didn't recognize, it was wizard music, it seemed a mixture of techno and old school rap.

There was also a dance floor.

Everything was full of people, most she recognized, a few were new faces, Daphne had gone to Theodore with her sister while her and Pansy went to the table for a drink.

"What is firewiskey?" Isadora asked

"Try it!" her friend responded, she got two cups and poured some of the liquor in, Estelle tasted it and immediately understood why it's first name was "fire".

"Merlin it's strong" she laughed, her friend chuckled and drank too.

Time passed faster than she thought, after a couple of drinks the musical started to grow on her, she danced with Pansy and Daphne for a while, then the first one went away to get another drink and never came back.

Daphne disappeared to go find Theodore and suddenly she was left alone.

Isadora decided to move away from the dance floor, there were a load of people, more than when she arrived so it was kind of difficult to move. She sat on one of the small sofas, which were usually empty, and almost immediately someone sat beside her.

It was a tall boy with ginger hair, which was short and whiskey, he had hazel eyes and a fun look on his face. He was one of the Weasley twins, she didn't quite understand which one.

"Hey, you're the new girl right?" he asked, on his hand was holding a plastic cup with a red substance

"Yeah" she smiled "Isadora"

"I'm Fred" he said

"I know, I saw the prank you pulled at the start of the year, it was so funny"

He laughed, "Me and George had to really think about how to put it together" he said "Are you liking it here?"

"It's lovely, I really like-"

Everything stopped. The music was suddenly nonexistent, people stopped talking and dancing and drinking, next to the couches was now a boy, curly blonde hair and brown eyes, who was screaming at Mattheo Riddle, the first one had a violet punch on his cheek and a cut on his forehead.

Riddle's eyes were red and had a sad veil on them, the bridge of his nose was violet and so was his left cheek, he also had a small cut.

The Slytherin quickly got on top of him, he was yelling something she couldn't understand, on his eyes little tears had formed, she felt her chest tighten for him a little bit.

The other boy tried to change their positions but Riddle was visibly stronger than him, not that it intested Estelle of course, behind him Theodore, the boy from that afternoon and Draco whose hair was very visible due to the lighting.

They tried to hold Mattheo back, it wasn't that easy, the boy wasn't a feather and he was hot headed and very mad.

"I'm sorry I have to go but see you around" she whispered to Fred, he smiled and waved at her.

In a few seconds she individuated Pansy, she was just behind Draco.

"What is going on?" she asked her friend

"Apparently Cormac said something he didn't like and now he wants to kill him"

"Is he always like this?"

"He's a lot of things" she whispered looking at him being pulled away by his friends "But I swear to you, he is not a bad person"

Hard to believe for Him Who Must Not Be Named's son, but maybe she just reseted him for what had happened to her father.

They watched as Theodore and Draco finally pulled the two apart, Mattheo's lip was bloody, Cormac's face was a mess, his nose had been broken.

"Let's go away" said Pansy "You can sleep in my room if you want" she smiled, Isadora agreed.

To go back to the Slytherin wing they had to be very swift and silent, their heels had been removed and they both silenced themselves, Estelle didn't really understand how they went back, but they did.

They sat on Pansy's bed and stayed silent for a while.

"I had never seen a fight before" said Isadora, Pansy chuckled, her black heels standing in front of her.

"At least you saw a good one" she joked

"Has he always been like this?" Isadora whispered, she wasn't sure why but she couldn't help her curiousness.

"He used to be a shy child, as Draco says" she started "He didn't have it really easy at home, Azkaban, his father and everything"

"Azkaban?"

"He used to stay there with his mother as a toddler, then he stayed with what remained of his dad and I was told it wasn't easy"

"I'm sorry" she whispered, she had never thought that if she had it hard, someone who had lived with Him probably had it worse and now she felt bad towards him.

Although it would've been a lot easier to emphasize with him if he wouldn't have been such an annoying being.

~∘◦❁◦∘~

The next day was a Sunday, that meant they didn't have any lessons, and Isadora couldn't be happier since she had woken up with a headache.

She heard by the water running that Pansy was in the bathroom, Isadora was still wearing the green dress, which had turned out to be very comfortable. She yawned and slowly got out of bed, her friend had just opened the door.

"Hi" said the Slytherin, her voice was tired and still sleepy.

"Hello" smiled Estelle

"How are you?"

"Got a little headache but I'm good, the party was great" she said "I didn't even tell you-"

"Tell me!" Pansy yelled as she was getting dressed

"Just before the party Fred Weasley sat beside me, we were chatting"

"Oh Merlin" her friend smiled "He's so cute"

"He is! I told him I'll see him around since I saw you and the fight was happening"

Pansy nodded "Well he's not a jerk so, all should be well"

Isadora wore the clothes she had the previous afternoon and then they ran to breakfast.

Since it wasn't a school day they could wear their normal clothes and could sit in other tables with their friends, Isa and Pansy ate slowly, both silent and hungry.

Draco, Theodore and Riddle entered the Great Hall, the last boy had an unreadable look on his face, his wounds were now clean and she saw just how deep they were, he had one on the bridge of his nose that she hadn't seen last night, his cheek was purple and yellow, he was looking down; they sat near her Slytherin friend.

"How are you three?" she teased

"We're good" Theodore said "How are you?" he then asked "Did you like the party?"

Pansy smiled and gave her friend a look that said 'He's talking to you, you should say something' Isadora wanted to sink into the leather bound chair like never before in her life.

"Yeah it was really nice" she smiled before sipping her orange juice

"You had that green dress right?" Riddle asked, his voice low and mocking

"Yeah" she responded, trying to sound neutral

He looked at her and smiled, a sarcastic one, he was messing with her, he had an expression that said he didn't like it, like she cared about his opinion.

He didn't say anything, his face was enough, she decided she didn't care that his life had been a mess, she still hated him.

──────⊹⊱✫⊰⊹──────

The scottish highlands seemed so fitting for a wizardry school, it was foggy and rainy, the sky was painted grey, in the distance she saw high mountains and black clouds, nothing like what she was used to.

Her mother had barged into her bedroom on a summer evening while she was reading a tarot book and excitedly told her she had finally bought a small shop in Diagon Alley, so they would've moved to London.

Moving had been sad, she said goodbye to the friends she had grown up with, the ones who helped her when she needed and whom she helped when they needed. Emma was the hardest. They met on the first day of primary school and had been bound together ever since, it felt like a dagger into her heart.

London was a big city and they had a small apartment, very different from the family house they used to live in. Everything seemed grey and sad to her, maybe she just missed her friends, her life back home in Italy.

As the train ran she noticed big black mountains, the clouds were about the same color and she had found a mysterious beauty about it, 'sublime nature' she thought of the English art movement and it seemed fitting.

As they arrived an ocean of people flooded out of the train, she waited until it was easy to step outside, she noticed a girl with blonde hair and a pair of colored glasses, she seemed cool. On the opposite side was a group of boys with smug looks on their faces, they seemed like the kind of people who would make fun of you.

Hogwarts was enormous, a castle full of bridges and towers and lights, adorned by a full moon by the highest tower. She followed the people to the Great Hall, it's walls had candles which seemed to float and a night sky so clear it was contrasting the one outside.

Everyone took place in their house's respective tables, the blonde girl sat on the right and the smug boys on the very left. Where was she supposed to go?

"Good evening students" said a man, he had a long white beard and a wise look "I do hope your ride was alright and i will let you eat in just a minute" he nodded "But first, this year we have made an exception for a student that comes from one of the most important magic schools of Europe and that has a very striking family history" He was talking about her.

"Isadora Bonivarda, please do come" he said. She walked the hall to a wooden chair, next to it was a woman dressed in green who was holding a funny looking hat. She sat down and the object was placed on top of her head.

"Great mind" It said "Interested character" it then added, she tried to hold back a laugh because it was true "I can see that she's smart" it murmured "But where do I place you? You would make a wonderful Ravenclaw and a great Slytherin"

Her mother had told her that she would've been putted into Ravenclaw.

"Ravenclaw" she whispered

"Ravenclaw?" it asked her again and she nodded "Ravenclaw!" it exclaimed, everyone clapped as the hat was removed from her head.

The table was full of people, the colors were blue and silver, which were colors that complimented her nicely since she had dark hair. She sat between the blonde girl, she seemed lonely and so was her.

"Hi" Isadora said "Hello" responded the blonde with a smile "I'm Luna" "Isadora, call me Isa" "It is nice to meet you"

The two talked a lot during dinner, Luna was very smart, she knew a lot of stuff about magic and books so the conversation flooded like butter on bread, from cartomancy to astrology and crystals.

After dinner her and her new friend went to the Ravenclaw common room, a big library with a few sofas, everything was blue and silver, a door led to stairs that took to the girl's dorms if you took the left way. Luna didn't have a roommate, so it was natural that Isa decided to share her room with her.

She wrote a letter to her mother to tell her what had happened that day, she also thanked her for what she did, even if she missed everything from her old life dearly.

{.⋅ ✯ ⋅.}

Isadora woke up earlier than she should've, she got out of her bed lazily, her roommate was still sound asleep. She opened her wardrobe and took her uniform, then she went to the bathroom.

Her pajamas was quickly charged into her school stuff, a white long sleeved shirt and a dark blue and silver tie, then a grey skirt and a black rope. On her feet she wore white socks and her Mary Janes, for her hair she decided on a silver headband.

She went back into her room and got her wand, Luna was still sleeping.

"Luna are you coming to breakfast?" she whispered to the girl as she gently shook her.

"No don't worry" she replied

Isa listened and let her sleep.

It was easy to find the way to The Great Hall, a lot of students were running there to eat and she followed them.

The Hall was painted of a bright sky, perfectly capturing the happiness of students having breakfast with all they wanted. Estelle sat down next to a boy who looked a little older than her,she got herself a little yogurt, some neatly cut strawberries, granola and honey, it felt like paradise.

She noticed that her table was mostly silent, everyone looked tired and sleepy, some exchanged a few words and then silenced themselves to eat, while the table behind her, the Slytherins, were loud, they yelled about some sport called 'quidditch' and about professors. Some about girls, the ones who looked like snobby boys yesterday night were talking about the last matter of the list.

Her first lesson was 'Study of ancient runes' and it lasted two hours, Luna was a year younger than her so she would've been alone. Luckily she had been given a map of the school and she was rightfully proud of her sense of direction.

The room was circular, small and full the morning light, basically everyone was already seated, she noticed that Ravencalws were partnered with Slytherins.

Professor Babbling, what a great surname, was a small woman with vaporous red hair and big glasses, she welcomed her with a kind smile.

"Miss Bonivarda, as you may have seen I will partner you with a student from the respective house, now the only student left Mr. Riddle, who sits there" her small finger pointed to a curly haired figure on the second row to the right.

"Alright" she said before going to sit next to the boy

"Hi" she said, no one responded

Isadora sat down and took her little notebook and her burgundy quill as the lesson started. She took notes and occasionally looked at her deskmate, he was pretty, too bad he wouldn't talk to her.

For an hour the professor had spoken about runes, everyone took notes, exept for Riddle who just looked annoyed. The second hour the desk pairs were supposed to try to identify the runes together.

Between them was a velvet box that contained the small circular objects, she opened it. "So, would you like to start?" she tried, he didn't even look at her "You could do that on your own" he said and she looked at him with a stern expression "Why would I?" she said, he looked at her, his brown eyes told her he was annoyed, the boy didn't bother to respond, he just looked at her and then went back to scribble whatever he was before the conversation.

'I miss my school ' she thought as she identified all of the runes alone.

As soon as the lesson finished she made sure to quickly go away, scoffing lightly at the boy's behavior.

Her next period was 'History of magic', held by professor Binns, a ghost teacher, Isa noticed that both Ravencalws and Griffindors were mostly asleep, she took notes and listed attentively, next to her was a wavy haired girl, a beautiful one who was also taking notes. The hour passed quickly and when it finished she asked the girl the way to the Great Hall.

"Of course, we could go together" she suggested and Isadora was glad.

She learned her name was Hermione Granger and she seemed smart, smarter than everyone she had met, they ended up talking about muggle books and decided to meet up in the library after dinner.

During lunch she sat with Luna, who told her about her morning, after she was finished Estelle wondered if her friend could tell her why the boy from earlier was so... silent.

"Luna, do you know who is Riddle?" she said as she was eating pasta

"You don't know who Mattheo Riddle is?" she whisper-yelled

"Why is he a celebrity?"

"Well he is You Know Who's son" she whispered

Isadora almost choked on her delicious food. She thought of her father, he fought during the First Wizarding War, flew all the way to England, joined 'The Order of the Phoenix' while she had just been born, he had been killed by the Dark Lord after just a few months there. Her mother always told her how intelligent her dad was.

"As in that You Know Who? The One Who Must Not Be Named?" she then said, her friend nodded

"Why?"

"I was paired with him and he wouldn't talk to me"

"He's not the one you want to talk to" Luna said "He's arrogant and aggressive" she then added, still whispering.

From there she could see him, surrounded by people who were talking and yelling, next to him was the platinum blonde from last night who was yelling and laughing with someone, Mattheo seemed a stone, he looked annoyed and he wasn't eating much, his eyes now unexpressive.

Gods only knew what he was thinking.

On the afternoon Herbology was her only lesson, she happily walked to the Greenhouses, professor Sprout taught Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs about magical plants in the forests, next to her was a red haired girl named Susan Bones, she asked to parter to plant Barnacle Trees seeds, she agreed.

The two had fun, they took everything slowly and talked instead of doing the work most of the time, but that was okay, Susan was sweet, she liked comic books and music and was very gentle.

Two hours passed quickly and after saying goodbye Isadora found her way to the library. It was amazing, everything she had ever dreamed, section after section, everything was filled with old books and occasionally some armchairs and tables.

She sat on a brown leathered chair and started reading her book, everything was silent and still, her book was great, outside a light rain had taken over the sun. She stayed there until dinner.

Dinner was probably the best meal at Hogwarts, the tables were full of students, all chatty and happy, like Isa and Luna, talking about everything and nothing while eating.

After dinner she went to the library again, Hermione followed soon after with a book, 'Wuthering Heights', it had been just to show her, but they ended up reading it together, it seemed like a great read.

Days followed and she understood a few things, like to always do Snape's homework for Potions, to always study ahead, to never talk too much with professor Cooman, or else she would've noticed you and never stop talking to you, to never believe Fred or George and that apparently she had the right face to be paired with Mattheo Riddle for basically every lesson they had together.

Luna said it was because no one wanted to be his parter last year since he always gets into fights, another thing she understood, so now she was stuck with him.

Estelle also missed her family, her friends, Emma who always read romance books, Giulia, the best in Numerology, Elisa who had expressive blue eyes and a passion for writing, Leo who helped her with her first heartbreak and Erica who was the best Healer in her class. She wrote them letters and they had all responded, sometimes at night she shed a tear or two, thinking that maybe this wasn't the place for her.

∘◦❁◦∘

September flew by and so did October, during the last week of that month she had been paired with a Slytherin girl named Pansy for Potions class, they had decided to meet at the serpent's common room to work together.

Isadora wasn't happy to go there, the thought of meeting Riddle made her blood boil, he reminded her of the childhood she could've had, even though she did know it wasn't actually his fault.

The room was dark and cold, it had two green sofas facing each other and a few candles, she opened the door and found Riddle with his group, next to him was the blue eyed, then the platinum guy and then her Potions partner, then a couple of other guys she hadn't seen before.

"Hi" Pansy smiled greeting her, her hair was black and short, she had bangs and beautiful green eyes

"Hi" Isa smiled back

The black haired girl said they would've worked in her dorm and the Italian was glad. As they were walking she heard Mattheo whisper "Why is she always where I am" and it infuriated her.

She had been friendly with him and he didn't say anything, she ignored him and it still annoyed him, he didn't have the right to be the annoyed one.

"That's what I always think too" she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear, she heard him get up but then she entered Pansy's room.

The space was beautiful, posters from different alternative rock bands were hanging, immediately she recognized "Radiohead" and "The Cranberries" two groups she loved as well. Then she saw a fanity full of make up, glittery make up, a black satin dress was disposed on a mannequin and then a tall library had school books and some stuff for potions.

"Sorry for the mess" she said as she got the book they need

"No worries, I love it"

"Really?"

Isadora nodded "I love Radiohead and The Cranberries too, and I love make up too"

"Then you must come to the Slytherin parties!" Pansy said as they sat on her bed.

Isadora had never been invited to a party, she had heard about the Slytherin parties from Luna, who wasn't a fan.

"We'll have one this Saturday" she continued "We could get ready together!"

Estelle was happy. "Of course" she smiled "I would be thrilled"

Hours passed like minutes, they got the work done easily and Pansy told her about her crush on the platinum blonde, who's name was Draco and about her and Astoria's shopping obsession, Isadora told her about a guy she was seeing back home and about how he got mad when she told him about transferring so they broke up.

Pansy told her that there were a lot of guys at Hogwarts that were for sure better looking than that guy and it made Isadora laugh.

"Like who?"

"Well Theodore is cute"

"Who's Theodore?"

"The one with curly hair and blue eyes that was next to me when you arrived"

"Oh right, he's not my type"

"Well we have Cedric from Hufflepuff, Enzo, another one of my friends, I don't think Mattheo's a good option"

"Why?" she asked, just for the sake of gossip

"He has a habit of getting into fights easily and he's really closed off you know"

Isadora nodded understanding, Pansy and her ended up going to dinner together, only parting ways to go to their tables.

Luna was happy to see her friend talking to someone else, and listed to Estelle talking about her day.

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