@hphm-fandom-events | day 1: starlight / enemies to lovers
merula snyde x alysa nouzen (mc) | 2722 words | late submission
this story includes my own mc and was written with her in mind. it is also accessible on ao3 and wattpad. if you prefer to read it with an unnamed/undescribed mc, click here for female and here for male.
From the moment Merula Snyde first laid eyes on Alysa Nouzen, she knew she hated her.
It wasn't necessarily that Alysa had done anything wrong. No, it was the way she pranced around the castle, sticking her nose into every problem she could get her filthy hands on. It was the way she always solved everyone's rubbish problems in the end, rewarded with house points by Dumbledore no matter how many school rules she broke to get there. It was the way she collected friends like they were mere pieces in the puzzle that was her hunt for the Cursed Vaults and her brother. Seriously, if Merula had a sickle for every time she had seen Alysa hang out with her friends when she didn't need something from them, she wouldn't even have enough for a galleon.
But what she really hated was that everyone practically worshipped Alysa. All of her friends were thick enough to think she cared about them more than she cared about the Cursed Vaults. But not Merula, Merula saw right through her on the first day. She always knew Alysa was nothing but a typical Slytherin, using people for her own gain and not caring if they got hurt. She'd known it from day one, before she even had proof, and now she had seen it over and over.
"I don't see what you hate so much," Tulip told her during their first year, back when the two of them were still friends, "she's not so different from you, really. It's not as if you wanted to be friends with me because of my personality."
But they weren't the same, thought Merula, not at all. Merula wasn't interested in pretending to be this kindhearted, weak girl who ran around helping first years and incompetent professors. What was the point in that, when she was the most powerful witch at Hogwarts? It was pathetic.
But then, there was that day.
Just like always, Merula walked into the potions dungeon and sat in her seat between Ismelda and Barnaby. On the other side of the room, she could see Professor Snape chastising one of her fellow Slytherins, specifically the nameless boy (or rather, Merula didn't consider him worthy of a name) who always drank defective potion and made himself sick. Alysa usually was quick to brew the antidote, but it seemed that she hadn't been quick enough that day before he was caught. Actually, Alysa seemed to be nowhere in sight at all. How strange, Merula thought to herself, how unlike her. Alysa was a rule breaker, sure, but a bad student she was not. She was always on time, always making sure that despite the fact that Professor Snape had gone from hating to barely tolerating her in four years, she would use her skills and charm to force him to give her house points anyway.
Merula shook her head. Why would she even care that she wasn’t here? It was better if Alysa wasn't in class. Merula would have Professor Snape all to herself. After all, he was one of the only professors at Hogwarts who preferred her to her arch-nemesis, and now she wasn't here. It was her time to shine.
Only, why did she feel so dejected?
While Professor Snape was busy lecturing Hazel Arster — a lamb-like girl from her dormitory who only spoke in half-sentences — on her previous exam performance (the grading scale called it Acceptable, Merula called it Abysmal, as anything below Outstanding was a failure in her eyes), she got to work on her Pepperup Potion. But while she tried to stir the perfect twelve times clockwise, her eyes kept wandering over to the empty seat where Alysa usually sat. Where could she possibly be?
Perhaps she was searching for another Cursed Vault, no doubt using another one of her "friends" without a care in the world if they ended up in detention or in trouble with their professors. Merula rolled her eyes at the thought. Alysa was so aggravating, she was such a wolf in sheep's clothing, she was such a—
Professor Snape's stern, cold voice snapped Merula from her thoughts. He was looming over her potion with narrowed eyes and she didn't have to think very hard as to why: her potion was bright orange when it should have been red.
"Far from your best work," he said.
Merula felt like using an unforgivable on herself right then and there, and she could not stop herself from turning a shade of crimson. She only made eye contact with Snape for a brief moment before breaking away and frantically trying to fix her defective Pepperup Potion, but in that moment, she saw Professor Snape's eyes narrow dangerously. He looked over at the empty seat next to Rowan Khanna — Alysa's best friend — and then back at Merula.
"What a shame," he sneered, then he swept away towards the next table.
She heard Barnaby’s nostrils flare, offended on his friend’s behalf, but somehow, Merula had a funny feeling that Professor Snape's attitude had not been directed at Alysa's absence at all.
"Rowan," Barnaby said a little too loudly; luckily Professor Snape was too busy chastising someone at the other table for their foul-odored Pepperup Potion attempt.
"What?" Rowan looked up from her cauldron, which was in an even worse state than Merula's without Alysa's help.
"Where's Alysa?" asked Barnaby.
Rowan’s nose scrunched up as if someone had stuck dragon dung underneath it. Merula stopped what she was doing. She had never seen that sort of reaction from anyone at the mention of Alysa, not to mention from her own best friend. Barnaby, thick as he is, didn't seem to notice Rowan’s less-than-expected reaction to his question.
"I don't know," shrugged Rowan.
"Perhaps she's finally gotten herself killed in the Forbidden Forest looking for her dead brother's corpse," sneered Merula, grateful to finally have an excuse to comment on Alysa's disappearance.
"Bugger off, Merula!" Barnaby shouted.
It was decidedly too loud. Professor Snape stopped talking, straightened himself out, and slowly turned to face them, his eyes fixed dangerously on Barnaby and his smoking green potion. He was hardly seen for the following week.
Alysa did not reappear at lunchtime, nor at dinnertime, nor in any of their classes, and Merula was beginning to grow restless without her. There weren't very many guarantees in Merula's life growing up. She wasn't guaranteed parental love and guidance — her parents were in Azkaban, after all — and she wasn't guaranteed peace at home — her guardian was a nightmare. What she was guaranteed every day at Hogwarts, however, was being able to pick a fight with Alysa Nouzen, being able to hate her no matter how much everyone gushed about her being their angelic savior. It was ridiculous, how could no one see through her act but Merula? Was everyone else just that thick, that naive?
Merula tossed and turned that night in her bed, completely unable to sleep without knowing her arch-nemesis' whereabouts. She lay there for a while staring at the top of her four-poster bed, listening to Ismelda's snores and Hazel's occasional sobs. When the clock on her watch struck two o'clock in the morning, she had had enough. Merula quietly slipped into her slippers and tiptoed out the dorm, then out of the common room and into the deserted dungeon corridor.
She walked for a while, the air filled with nothing but the sounds of snoring portraits and the occasional steady footsteps that no doubt belonged to either Mr. Filch or Mrs. Norris. At first, Merula's only intentions were to take a walk to clear her head, but she found herself peering into classrooms as she passed them, hoping to find even just a glimpse of Alysa. Where could she be?
"What's wrong with you?" whispered Merula under her breath, quietly so as not to alert anyone that she was out of bed, "You're acting just like her."
She could picture this exact scenario with the roles reversed. Had Merula been the once missing, Alysa would have torn apart the entire castle looking for her. She would have brought her friends along and screamed her name all night, somehow avoiding Filch with one of her rubbish plans that would only work because it’s her coming up with them. Merula would laugh and laugh with Ismelda later at her stupidity. They would never be friends as long as they lived and breathed, so why even bother with something like that?
The walk just wasn't working, her head was fuller than it had been in the dormitory. Perhaps a look at the night sky would help her. Yes, that was exactly what Merula needed. One look at the starry night would completely rid her thoughts of Alysa, it was a brilliant idea that only the most powerful witch at Hogwarts could have had.
Luckily, she was just around the corner from the Astronomy Tower, which was bound to be deserted at this hour, and it would give her the best view of the stars. She wouldn't accept anything less. But as she made her way up the stairs and the beautiful starry night sky came into view, her eyes widened in shock.
There she was, in all her glory, with her long red hair that gleamed blue in the moonlight: Alysa Nouzen herself.
She was still in her day clothes, but only her black pants and fitted, white collar shirt remained on her body. Her hair was pulled back with her Slytherin tie, her shoes were kicked off to the side, and her school robes were strung out carelessly along the floor.
"Well, well, well," started Merula, stepping into the moonlight, "so this is where you've been hiding all day."
Alysa looked up, her lime green eyes finding Merula's purple ones. She looked absolutely exhausted, as if she hadn't slept in days. It was then that Merula realized that Alysa was doing something. Her palms and fingers were completely black and she seemed to be hunched over a dirty piece of parchment. Alysa noticed Merula frowning and quickly brushed everything aside.
"What's that?" Merula pointed towards the parchment.
Alysa closed her eyes as she inhaled, then sighed, and Merula felt a knot in the pit of her stomach. Hatred, of course, because Merula wanted nothing more than to jinx her into a jelly.
"Don't pretend to care." she said softly, with a smile.
"I'm not," Merula protested, louder than she intended, "and I don't care!"
"Then what does it matter?" said Alysa, matter of factly.
And she was right. What did it matter what she was doing, or why she hadn't shown up for classes that day? Merula scowled, feeling as defeated as she always did whenever she argued or picked a fight with her arch-nemesis. She hated defeat more than anything, and yet she couldn't stop, she couldn't stay away. All of that was a can of worms that she did not want to open, so instead, she took a seat on the floor next to Alysa, using her clothed arm to slide the discarded robes out of the way.
"If you don't tell me, I'll report you to Snape for being out of bed," said Merula, her nostrils flaring.
Alysa sighed; she, too, was defeated.
Merula raised her eyebrows, now understanding Rowan’s earlier peculiar behavior.
"Rowan was, er, mad we don't hang out anymore," she muttered despairingly, "she said we only talk about the Cursed Vaults these days."
Alysa looked genuinely depressed as she turned to look away from Merula and towards the starry night sky. Merula usually had a lot to say to her, but in that moment, she seemed to forget how to string her words together. She sat there like a fool with her legs crossed and her lips ever so slightly parted, wondering if there was anything she could say that wouldn't trick Alysa into thinking she tolerated her in any way. And she didn't, Merula reminded herself, she didn't even tolerate her, she just hated her. So why was she so stumped?
"So you're crying over some dirty parchment?" she said with a sneer.
"It's not dirty!" Alysa snapped.
"Oh?" Merula raised her eyebrows with a smirk.
So she could lose her composure. How interesting. But only because it was a new challenge for Merula. That was the only reason.
She trailed off, and both hers and Merula's eyes found the parchment Alysa had swept aside.
Alysa made an effort to knock Merula's wand out of her hands, but she wasn't quick enough.
It soared through the air towards Merula faster than either of them were ready for and collided with Merula's forehead, and she was knocked over by the force of it. Alysa laughed while Merula crossly grabbed the parchment from her face and held it up in the moonlight, making Alysa’s laughter very quickly die down.
It seemed to be some sort of… black blob? It was definitely covered in black scribbles that all seemed to blend together in the center, like a ball of yarn. When Merula squinted, she could see the faint outline of what appeared to be eyes. She turned her gaze to Alysa, who was suddenly very interested in her cuticles. Now it was her turn to laugh hysterically. It was so intense that she clutched her sides and nearly fell over again as she threw her head back. She knew she was laughing far too loudly for the hour and that she was risking being caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, but it would almost be worth it.
“Merlin’s… Beard,” cried Merula between laughs, “what the hell… is that… supposed to be?”
“It’s Fuzzclaw!” exclaimed Alysa, “I was trying to draw Rowan’s cat–”
“THAT’S MEANT TO BE A CAT?” Merula laughed even harder, so hard that her eyes began to sting and tears fell.
At first, Alysa’s ears were pink with embarrassment, but as Merula roared with laughter, she couldn’t help but crack a smile and giggle herself. She had never seen Merula act this way before, she spent so much time trying to pick a fight despite Alysa’s best attempts at avoiding conflict with her (because she truly did not have the time nor energy, and Merula would be a powerful ally if she wasn’t so stubborn). Alysa had to admit, it was kind of cute…
“I suppose it is a bit ridiculous-looking,” Alysa chuckled over Merula’s howling.
Merula wiped her tears and did her best not to keep smiling, but every time she glanced at the “drawing” of the “cat,” she couldn’t help but grin.
“What’s the point in trying to draw that thing anyway?” she asked.
“I don’t know…” sighed Alysa, “I just wanted to show Rowan that, you know, I’m listening to her even if she doesn’t think I am, and I care. I do care, I know you tell people I don’t, but I do.”
Merula stared at her for a moment, but Alysa wasn’t looking back. Instead, she turned her attention towards the night sky. It had to be close to three o’clock in the morning now and there wasn’t a single light outside except for the moonlight. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky nor a distraction in sight, it was just the two of them, the stars, and the moon.
“The sky is so beautiful,” whispered Alysa.
Merula stopped abruptly, realizing in that moment exactly what she had been about to say and exactly what situation she was in. She was still staring at Alysa. Her face turned crimson and she jumped to her feet. Alysa looked away from the sky and towards Merula.
“I hate you, Nouzen,” said Merula forcefully.
“That’s a shame.” Alysa smiled sadly.
“STUDENTS! STUDENTS OUT OF BED!”
Before Merula could process anything she had said and felt, Filch rounded the corner with a murderous look in his eyes and they both found themselves being dragged off to his office. While he screamed at them and threatened expulsion, Merula knew that the next time she and Alysa met, she would have to be ten times as cruel as she normally was.
Just as long as she never had to think of that night ever again.
Ok now pretend this isn't like two weeks late~ I don't have much experience with oneshots so this was a fun exercise and if you made it to the end thank you so much for reading!! Sorry the art is just a sketch I spent so much time on the writing that by the time I got to the art I was kinda ready to move on... Anyways have a good day!
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