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Chapter Text

Ashley was in the back seat of the car that was going to take her to King's Cross.
The vehicle didn't smell good, just like every time it picked her up in front of the orphanage, but honestly, Ashley didn't care as long as it meant getting away from that place for the rest of the year.
The driver never spoke, and neither did Ashley. They had a mutual agreement to pretend the other didn't exist, and it had worked perfectly for years. Ashley preferred it that way, she wasn't good at making small talk, so she just stared out the window.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the car came to a stop.
"We're here" the driver announced, glancing at Ashley through the rearview mirror, "the trunk's open."
And just like that, she knew she had to grab her luggage by herself, same as every year.

It wasn't really a big deal, anyway. She didn't have much to bring.

After grabbing everything from the trunk (two carry-on suitcases and a backpack), Ashley stepped into the station.
She immediately felt the air shift, and a spontaneous smile crept across her lips: she'd be seeing her friends again soon. At that thought, she placed the suitcases on the ground beside her and pulled a crumpled parchment from the pocket of her jeans.
"Let's meet at King's Cross at 10:30, maybe we'll find an empty cabin if we're quick."

Hermione's letter was written in her usual neat, precise handwriting. Ashley never really knew why, but it always made her feel a little nostalgic.

She looked around for the station clock, but couldn't see it, so she picked up her bags again and started walking.

She would've checked her wristwatch, if she only had one; Ashley didn't have much money to spend on things like that. Her possessions could almost be counted on one hand: exactly enough clothes to not look completely broke, books and supplies for school, her wand, a few books she kept re-reading while waiting to afford new ones, a stuffed dog (Turi) she'd had for as long as she could remember, and a small camera (a gift from her friends two Christmases ago).

After a few minutes of searching, she ended up right under the big station clock, which read 10:38.
She looked around, searching for her friend with her eyes: Hermione was never late.

Just as she was about to give up and sit on one of the benches a bit farther away, she saw a curly-haired girl waving at her from not too far away. A radiant smile filled Ashley's eyes with joy, and she started trotting toward her friend.

As soon as they reunited, they hugged tightly, swaying slightly from side to side.
"I missed you so much, you have no idea" Ashley confessed, pulling back from the hug.

"I missed you too" Hermione said, almost moved, gently stroking her friend's arm.

Hermione knew how hard it was for Ashley to spend the holidays at the orphanage, and it saddened her that she couldn't do much about it, except invite her over for a few days like she had in previous years.

"Come on let's go, my parents are waiting by the platform" Hermione then said, taking a suitcase from Ashley's hand.

"Thanks" Ashley replied, following her friend, "the other two were with you, right?" she asked just before crossing through the wall to platform 9¾.

"Yeah, Molly and the others are here too" Hermione answered, referring to the Weasley family, "Harry, Ron, and I came here together in the same taxi" she added with a slightly annoyed tone. "It wasn't exactly a comfortable ride, Crookshanks wasn't happy" she concluded once they had crossed the barrier.

Ashley chuckled to herself, imagining the scene of her friends crammed into the back seats, stuck in a corner while Hermione's cat stared at them menacingly.

At the platform, the train was already in front of them, puffing clouds of white smoke, several students and their parents were crowding around the various entrances with trunks and suitcases. Seeing that, Ashley couldn't hold back a smile. She had been waiting to go back to Hogwarts since she walked out of that same station three months before, and now it almost didn't feel real.

"Don't worry, we've already taken a compartment" Hermione reassured her, making her way through the crowd.
"There they are!" she then exclaimed, quickening her pace with Ashley at her heels after spotting Harry and Ron near the train.

As soon as she was close enough, the Ashley wrapped both her friends in a hug, much to their surprise. They didn't usually show affection through physical contact, if anything, it was more through teasing or indirect gestures, but the girl couldn't help herself after not seeing them for almost three months.

"Uhm, hi Li" Harry finally spoke, "I'm happy to see you too" he smiled awkwardly, pulling away from the hug.
Ashley saw the weird looks Harry and Ron shot her, but she honestly couldn't have cared less. She was so euphoric to experience all that again after the shitty summer she went through, that she just couldn't hold back.

"How were your holidays? You went to see the World Cup? How did it go? Who won?" Ashley bombarded them with questions, curious about every single detail.

"Ashley!" the girl turned around, recognizing Molly Weasley's voice, who pulled her into a warm hug. "We were so sorry you couldn't go with the others to the Championship" she told her with kind eyes.
Ashley reassured Mrs Weasley, thanking her for the thought, and her gaze fell on two boys she had never seen before, but with their red hair and freckles covering their faces, she figured they had to be the only Weasley brothers she hadn't met yet.

Mrs. Weasley quickly stepped away and looked at his sons, gesturing them to come closer. The one who introduced himself as Charlie was just a bit taller than Ashley and stocky, with muscular arms and a weather-beaten face. Bill, the oldest, was taller, lean, wore his long hair tied back in a ponytail, and had an earring on his left lobe.

Both good-looking guys, Ashley thought as she shook their hands.

They all kept chatting in front of the train, waiting for the conductor to announce departure, and got into an interesting conversation with Ron's two brothers.
Charlie started saying that something exciting was going to happen at Hogwarts, but no matter how much Ron and the twins insisted, neither he nor Molly would give any more details about what they were talking about.

"I might even take a few days off to come have a look" said Bill, his eyes practically sparkling.

"A look at what?!" Ron tried again, frustrated by the whole thing.

But before anyone could say anything else, the train whistled, and Mrs. Weasley urged the kids to board. They immediately ran toward their carriage, sticking their heads out of the open window, just enough space for all four friends' heads to fit side by side. Hermione and Harry thanked Molly for her hospitality, while Fred, George, and Ginny's heads popped out from the window next to theirs.

"I'd invite you for Christmas too, but I reckon you'll want to stay at Hogwarts... given everything that's going on" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Mum! What are you talking about?!" Ron snapped, leaning out so far he nearly strangled Harry, Hermione and Ashley.

"You'll see" she replied, "It'll be fun, I'm glad the rules have changed".

"What rules?" asked Harry, Ron, Ashley and the twins in unison.

The train let out a loud puff and began moving down the tracks. The Weasleys and Harry begged Molly to explain, but she simply smiled and waved them off as the train pulled away.

---

The four of them spent most of the trip talking and telling each other about their summer. Well, mostly Ron and Hermione actually did the talking, Harry and Ashley spent their summers in a very similar way: locked away in their rooms. Ashley loved hearing her friends' stories tho, and as the train crossed the English countryside, she kept listening to Ron's tales about the Quidditch World Cup.

"And so Ireland won in the end" he concluded after a long description of the Quidditch methods used in the match against Bulgaria, "and... well, we already told you the rest" he added in a slightly lower voice, clearing his throat right after.

Yes, her friends had filled Ashley in on what happened after the tournament by mail, along with a few attached articles from the Daily Prophet.

"I'm just glad you guys are safe" Ashley said, "do you think something like that could happen again? I mean, with the dark mark and everything...".

The girl was genuinely curious about her friends' opinions, but Hermione quickly changed the subject, worried about Harry who definitely didn't want to be reminded again of what had happened.
And so, they started talking about the goals they wanted to achieve during the year.

"I'd like to manage to get top marks in Potions, if Snape lets me" sighed Hermione straightening her back a little, like if trying to look more legit, "and also, I want to know what more people think about the way house elves are treated because-" she declared, but she was stopped by Ron's annoyed grunt.

"Bloody hell Hermione! I told you they do not care how they're treated!" the boy exclaimed, starting bickering with his friend.

Ashley smiled, realizing she missed even their stupid married-couple-like quarrels.

"I don't know" said Harry a little louder to stop Ron and Hermione's fight, "maybe trying to have a quieter year wouldn't be so bad" he finally said, looking at his friend slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind either" said Ron glaring at Hermione, "maybe I'll try out for the Quidditch team, if I have the time" he added ignoring his friend's protest, weighing what he had just said.

"You mean if you have the guts?" said Ashley, smirking, teasing him.

"Your Slytherin's showing, Li" he replied, slightly annoyed.
Ashley chuckled, amused by Ron's response.

The friends kept chatting about this and that for a while, until Hermione looked at her watch.

"It won't be long guys until we're there" she announced, glancing at Ashley, whose heart skipped a beat.

She was finally going back to Hogwarts, she was finally going home.

Chapter Text

"We should start getting into our uniforms," Hermione suggested.

"I'll go first, see if the bathroom's free," said Ashley, standing up.

Each compartment had two bathrooms -one for boys, one for girls. Ashley remembered how in previous years she had to wait in line forever while the other girls who picked the same carriage took their sweet time changing. So this time, she decided to be a bit ahead of the game.

When she reached the door, she knocked.
"Occupied!" said a frustrated voice from inside.

She waited a minute or two, until a girl walked out smoothing down her Slytherin uniform.

"Oh. Hi," the girl said, her gaze laced with a slight hint of judgment.
Ashley had never been liked by Pansy. Hell, she'd never really been liked by anyone in her house. Everyone knew she was an orphan, but rumors whispered that her parents were Muggles -and for a Slytherin, having a Muggle-born in the house was practically sacrilege.

"Hi," Ashley replied timidly, watching Pansy carefully.

She was a good-looking girl: slightly round face framed by a sleek bob of dark hair, with a perfectly symmetrical fringe, a few faint freckles, and dark brown eyes with a sharp shape; she was about the same height as Ashley -when she wasn't wearing heels (which was almost never).

Ashley didn't really know what Pansy was like, personality-wise, since they had no relationship outside of school interactions (like when Pansy asked her for a sheet of parchment once during Transfiguration). But she had never really caused her trouble, didn't treat her badly in general, and had never used the term "Mudblood" to describe her. Sure, she never stepped in when her friends did, but Ashley sort of appreciated the fact that Pansy just let her live her life.

The girl looked at her for another second before walking past, and Ashley stepped into the bathroom.

She changed quickly and looked at herself in the mirror: her wavy hair, just above her shoulders, was slightly messy -but then again, it always was. She just fixed her fringe a bit and cleaned her glasses, which were a little dirty.

As she stepped out of the bathroom, she found Hermione in front of her.

"The boys already changed, the conductor told us we'll be arriving in ten minutes" she informed her before heading into the toilet.

Ashley spun on her heel, making her way back to the cabin where her friends were, even tho it took a bit of effort; it was always crowded right before reaching Hogwarts.
Just before opening the cabin door, she exchanged a quick glance with a blond boy from her house: Malfoy. She thanked Salazar he was at a safe distance from her and quickly shut the door behind her.

Just as Hermione had said, ten minutes later the train came to a stop. It arrived at the station under a sky streaked with clouds and orange light, the last sliver of sun trying to push through the twilight. The mountains loomed in the distance, tall and jagged. Mist drifted like lazy smoke across the ground, curling around the students' feet as they stepped off the carriages. Ashley stepped off the train and took a deep breath.
The air smelled of pine, damp earth, and moss. Like Hogwarts.
She was home.

"First years! This way!"
Ashley turned immediately, recognizing the deep, gravelly voice calling the newcomers to follow.
Hagrid was waving one massive arm toward the cluster of tiny students. His beard looked like it hadn't been brushed since last spring, and his long hair seemed frizzier with every passing year. She had missed him.

As soon as the man spotted them, they were immediately greeted by the giant gamekeeper.

"Hagrid!" Harry called out, walking up to the big man, followed by the other three.

"Look at yeh lot, you're doin' well" Hagrid said with a wide smile, "how were yer holidays?" he asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Oh please, don't let Ronald start rambling about the World Cup again" Hermione groaned, quickly followed by an offended "Hey!" from Ron.

Hagrid chuckled warmly and motioned for the four of them to walk toward the carriages that would take them up to the castle.
"Guess you'll have to tell me tomorrow, Ron" the gamekeeper reassured him, "come see me after classes tomorrow you four" he added as he opened the door of an empty carriage, ushering them inside.

The three Gryffindors and the Slytherin climbed in quickly, and Hagrid shut the door, waving his massive hand at them as the carriage started to move. The carriages at Hogwarts moved on their own—one of Ashley's favorite things about arriving at school. Only one thing beat it: the Sorting.

She remembered her first week of the first year as the best days of her entire life. Meeting, purely by chance, the three friends she was sitting next to now, seeing real magic with her own eyes for the first time, being sorted into her House, and even making a few friends there -at least before rumors started spreading about her being Muggle-born.
She still thought of Blaise and Theo sometimes, but that was long gone now. They had their own friend group, who preferred to pretend Ashley didn't exist—just like Harry, Ron, and Hermione did with their Slytherin classmates.

As the carriages creaked up the hill, Hogwarts came into full view, perched high on the cliffs. Its towers pierced the sky, its windows glowing gold. Ashley couldn't have been happier.

By the time they reached the main gate, the sun had completely set. The torches lit up, casting long shadows across the ground. The massive castle doors swung open, as if pulled by invisible hands. Ashley and her friends entered alongside the rest of the school, chatting and talking about the feast they were about to attend.

The Great Hall was exactly as she remembered it (after all, why would it have changed), and it was still beautiful, no matter how many times she had seen it. The enchanted ceiling was the color of a deep blue night illuminated by the glow of the stars. Candles floated in the air, flickering gently. The four long tables that filled most of the space stretched through the room, with the house crests lazily waving above them, right before where the teachers' table and the headmaster's lectern stood.

"See you tomorrow then?" asked Harry to Ashley, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah sure" she answered.

For the Sorting Feast, everyone was required to eat at their own house table; for the rest of the year, Ashley always sat with the Gryffindors, but tonight she had to find a spot at her own house's table trying to get noticed as little as possible.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, Sorting Hat placed on the stool. The hall grew quieter as the professor unrolled the scroll of parchment. The first-years were lined up nervously, waiting in anticipation to be called.

The hat began its song, which it sang every year to mark the start of the school experience. This time, it hummed something about unity among the houses, courage and cunning, like it did pretty much every year.

The Sorting went perfectly, lots of little boys and girls ended up in Slytherin, and every time the Sorting Hat called out the house name, the table erupted in loud cheers and applause.
Ashley's own Sorting hadn't been much different: as soon as the hat was placed on her head, it started talking in her mind, saying things like, "Mmh, interesting... mmmh, I could place you here... but also there, mmmhh..." In the end, feeling uneasy and nervous, Ashley asked it to hurry up, and heard the hat shouting "SLYTHERIN!". That day, she sat next to Blaise, who then introduced her to Theo.

At the thought, almost instinctively, she glanced over at them—they were sitting with their friends, not far from her. The elite group of Slytherin was made up of seven people: Mattheo and Tom Riddle, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Theo Nott, Blaise Zabini, and Lorenzo Berkshire. They all came from pure-blood, wealthy families, and everyone respected them. Despite that, they were maybe the only ones who didn't constantly mock or insult Ashley—though they also never lifted a finger to stop the ones who did. Actually, Malfoy had fun teasing her and her Gryffindor friends during the first two years, but by last year, they'd started to peacefully coexist.

Almost as if he'd read her mind, the boy's eyes landed on her as she was already looking at him. Embarrassed, she quickly turned away, pretending to be glancing around the room.

'Real slick' Ashley thought to herself, sighing.

Finally, the Sorting Ceremony ended. The hat was brought away, and Dumbledore stood up to announce the beginning of dinner. The food appeared with the snap of the headmaster's fingers, like every year.

Ashley smiled slightly to herself, finally truly feeling the essence of Hogwarts: magic.

After almost an hour, everyone had arrived at dessert, and Ashley was drinking the last sip of her pumpkin juice.

"Hey munter move over" heard Ashley on the other side of the table: a boy who looked a few years older than her was gesturing her to scooch to the right, to make room for a friend of him who was standing behind her.

"There’s no space" simply replied Ashley, trying not to sound rude, not because she wanted to be polite, but because she had learned by now that to avoid any scenes she had to just keep it down -and she was not really in the mood to fight at that moment.

"Then get up" she heard saying the boy behind her.

She turned, slightly glaring.
"Dinner's literally over, you think you can stand to be without your boyfriend for ten minutes?" she replied annoyed.

"Get up, mudblood" he said in response, blatantly ignoring what she had just said.

Just as to confirm what the girl had said, the headmaster raised his voice and rose again from his chair.

The boy snorted slightly, turning his heels.

Dumbledore stood up with a sort of gleam in his eyes, gave the usual speech about safety, curfews, "please don't duel in the hallways," and something vaguely threatening about the Forbidden Forest.
"Unfortunately, it is also my duty to inform you that this year will not take place the Quidditch Championship" he announced finally, followed by a disoriented murmur that soon turned into howls of dissension.

"This!" yelled the headmaster, trying to overcome the voices of the students, "this, due to the fact that in the school will take place an equally important magical event, which will take most of the time of both you and the teachers" he continued as the noise decreased, "I have the great pleasure to announce that this year..."

A deafening thunder rang in the room, and the large doors of the Great Hall opened wide, showing a man standing on the threshold.

Ashley looked at him, taken aback by the whole situation: he was resting on a large wooden staff, and was covered by a long coat.

Another thunderbolt lit up the room, and the man pointed his wand towards the enchanted ceiling. The dark clouds dissolved revealing the starred sky, then he walked to the teachers' table.

The wizard was covered with scars and missing part of his nose, had dark gray hair and a prosthetic leg that produced a metallic noise at every step. His left bulb was round and clearly a prosthesis of an unnatural electric blue, swirling frenetically in the eye socket.

For a few seconds, Ashley had the impression that the spooky little eye was looking at her, but she didn’t have the time to assimilate the thought, because people around her began mumbling under their breaths.
"Mad-eye Moody?" the girl heard, "you think he’s the new teacher?"

Ashley turned back to the stranger, who had sat down to eat a plate of sausages, and wondered who the weird man was.

"I would like to introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher" announced Dumbledore happier than he should have been, "Professor Moody".
No one clapped to welcome the new professor, and Ashley wondered who that man must have been to generate so much dread.

"As I was saying" spoke Dumbledore, bringing the attention back on him, "this year there will be an important magical event called the Triwizard Tournament!"

"YOU'RE KIDDING!" heard Ashley scream from the Gryffindor table, whose voice she recognized as coming from Fred.

A couple of laughs and several exclamations flew through the room, even Dumbledore seemed amused.
"No, Mr Weasley" he admitted satisfied, "and since probably not everyone knows what I'm talking about, you’ll forgive me if I give a brief description".
And so, he explained what that fateful Triwizard Tournament consisted of.

From what Ashely understood, the Tournament was a magical competition held between the three largest schools of magic in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Each school was represented by a champion, who had to compete in three tests, that took place during the school year. The tournament was actually known to be dangerous, as many champions died during the trials, and so it was stopped. Despite this, for some reason, they decided to resume the Tournament, although with restrictions to prevent potential deaths (which did not reassure Ashley).

"The headmaster of Durmstrang and Bauxbatons will arrive in October with selected students, who will stay at Hogwarts for the rest of the year, and the selection of the three champions will be held on Halloween" explained Dumbledore, "and although I am sure that many of you are eager to compete, for safety reasons all boys under the age of seventeen will not be able to participate in the Tournament".

A deafening roar rose from the tables, and Ashley turned around with a smile, hearing the voices she recognized as those of Fred and George prevail over the other shouts.

Dumbledore let the protests settle by themselves, before announcing the definitive end of the dinner, inviting the prefects to accompany their respective houses to the dormitories.

---

The walk down the dungeons was long, the corridors lit by torches flickering against damp, cold stone walls. The air grew heavier with every step.

The entrance swung open after the prefect hissed the password Ashley had to memorize for the year (serpensomnia), and the common room unfolded before her eyes.

The green light shone from the lake, casting shadows on the dark stone and black leather sofas. The crackling fireplace invited her to stay there, but Ashley headed straight to her room.

To be fair, the girl loved that common room, but she preferred being there during school hours or late at night when she could be alone; but since it was now crawling with boys and girls chatting with their friends, sharing stories of their summers, she decided to lock herself in her room.

Closing the door behind her, she stopped to take a look at it: it was exactly as she had left it the year before.

The king's size bed, next to it a nightstand with a lamp already on -casting a soft warm light-, shelves scattered on the walls, the dark wooden desk, the mirror, the dresser and wardrobe, and, of course, her favorite part: the balcony. Ashley's room was at the top floor of the Slytherin dormitories, and even though she had to climb several flights of stairs every time she wanted to get there, she had the privilege of a small terrace overlooking the lake, while all the lower floors had windows shut tight from which you could only see the murky lake water, and if you were lucky, a fish or two passing by every now and then.

Ashley opened the French door, inhaling the fresh air. She smiled, happy to be back at Hogwarts after all that time spent in the orphanage.

She threw herself on the bed satisfied, and fell asleep still in her uniform, thinking about the day waiting for her in the morning.

Chapter Text

Ashley opened her eyes at some point in the morning. The girl always took a few minutes (actually a bit more) to fully wake up. She rubbed her eyes, stretched a bit, then pulled her knees to her chest, yawning deeply.

'I wonder what time it is' Ashley thought.

Her eyes shot open, and she sat up immediately. How long had she slept? Was she already late on the first day of school? She still had to get her class schedule, what if she had already missed the first lesson of the year?

She jumped to her feet and headed toward the desk, where there was sitting an alarm clock that she hadn't set the night before.

The witch let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was still 7:13 in the morning, and the first week of school classes didn't start before 9:30. That gave her about an hour to get ready and go to breakfast, and a bit of time to compare her schedule with that of her Gryffindor friends.

Ashley stretched while standing, lifting her arms above her head, sighed, and went into the bathroom. She forced herself to take a shower, hot enough to wash the sleep off her body. After drying her hair, she put on the white shirt of her uniform, the green and silver tie of her house, and the black skirt that reached just above her knees.

Around 8:30 AM she was walking through the corridor leading to the Great Hall, where she ran into Hermione waiting in line to collect the weekly schedules. "Hey Herm," Ash greeted her.
The Gryffindor girl gave her a soft smile in return, lightly brushing her arm, her eyes still a little sleepy.

"Harry and Ron are already inside eating, if you want to join them" Hermione said, "I'm getting the schedules for them too."
Ashley replied that she preferred to wait in line with her, so after a few minutes they collected their fourth-year schedules (three Gryffindors' and a Slytherin's) and walked in the Great hall for breakfast.

The pale morning light filtered through the windows of the Great Hall, lighting up the few students scattered around the tables—mostly Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs.

Ron had filled his plate with porridge and pastries and was eating voraciously while reading his schedule.

"Oh come on, History of Magic first thing on a Monday should be illegal" he complained, putting his spoon down, mouth still half full, "what've you got?" he asked Ashley, swallowing the bite.

The girl looked at her friend with an expression that was meant to be indifferent, but came off more as disgusted.
"Not Potions, thank Merlin," she muttered, taking a sip of coffee.

Ashley actually didn't mind the subject, but the professor (Severus Snape) always paired her with some Slytherin, pushing the girl to the edge of a nervous breakdown by the end of each class.

"I have Transfiguration" she finally said, placing the schedule on the table and resting her head on one hand.

Up until that moment, Ashley had been excited to be back at Hogwarts, but now that she looked over her timetable again, all the reasons she hated being sorted into her house came flooding back. The knot in her stomach that had formed a few minutes ago tightened further at the thought of spending so much time away from her friends -the same friends she had impatiently waited all summer to see again.

As if that wasn't enough, that year they didn't even have that many classes together, so she was stuck with two options: making friends with Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws, or grit her teeth and endure her Slytherin classmates. Both ideas made her want to drown herself in Ron's porridge.

Ashley had never been good at making new friends. With Harry and Ron, it had happened by pure chance when she couldn't find any other empty compartments on the train and ended up sitting in theirs. Hermione had come along after. All the other people she knew, even from other years, had been introduced to her by those same friends, and they were all Gryffindors (yet another reason she gave to her housemates to resent her).

Just the thought of voluntarily starting a conversation with someone new made her feel seasick, and her friends noticed it.

"Maybe this year won't be as bad as the others" Harry tried, wiping his hands, sticky of jam, "I mean, it's been a year since Malfoy & company stopped bothering us".

That was true, the blonde and his cronies hadn't pestered the four of them anymore, but a whole summer had passed, who knew if things had changed?

"Maybe," Ashley simply replied, and her friend looked at her with apprehension.
"Anyway, I better get going. McGonagall will eat me alive if I'm late on the first day" the Slytherin announced, standing up from the table.

She said goodbye to her friends and, bag on her shoulder, she headed toward the Transfiguration classroom, which -although on the same floor as the Great Hall- was quite a walk from there.

As she was leaving, she got a few dirty looks from her housemates, but ignored them and kept walking.

---

The room was bathed in the light filtered through a few stained-glass windows, casting colorful patterns across the wooden floor.

Arriving a few minutes early, Ashley had the privilege of choosing her seat -the one that would, unofficially, remain hers for the rest of the year. It wasn't mandatory to always sit in the same place, but there was this unspoken rule in every class that people stuck to the seats they picked on the first day. She chose the third row (not too far from the desk, but not too close either).

Just as she placed her bag on the desk and started pulling out her things, the other students began to arrive. They shared class with the Ravenclaws, who (Ashley hated to admit it) intimidated her quite a bit, so she waved goodbye to whatever bit of courage she had about making friends.

Little by little, more and more desks filled up, and the seat next to Ashley was the only one left unoccupied. She wasn't surprised, but it was slightly embarrassing being the only one without a deskmate.

"For fuck's sake, you guys could've saved me a seat" Ashley didn't turn around, but she recognized the voice speaking to the boys behind her.

"You should've gotten here earlier Pans, don't make it that big of a deal" replied a male voice, which Ashley identified as Mattheo Riddle.

A slight shiver ran down her spine as she heard Pansy scof. Even without seeing her she could feel her glaring, mentally cursing her friends for sticking her with the one Slytherin nobody wanted anything to do with.

Suddenly, Ashley became incredibly interested in her quill as Pansy approached.

She heard a soft throat-clearing behind her, and turned around. Her hair was perfectly sleek and combed with almost obsessive precision. The skirt of her uniform was shorter than regulation length (which made Ashley feel a bit awkward about hers, which covered the entirety of her thighs), and she was eyeing her a little reluctantly, as if she didn't want to ask what she was about to.

"Can I?" Pansy asked, pointing toward the empty seat.

Ashley nodded, trying not to seem nervous. "Uhm, sure," she answered before Pansy gave her a lowkey fake smile and sat down.

Professor McGonagall entered a few minutes later, immediately starting the class without preamble. The lesson actually -despite Ashley's concern- went quite well.
The professor had decided to begin Transfiguration theory at a higher level than the previous year, and Ashley had to take several notes to make sure she didn't miss anything.

As soon as they heard the bell, McGonagall let them go, and Ashley began gathering her things. While she was putting her notebook into her bag, she heard a surprised gasp from her desk mate.

"Crap!" said Pansy, trying in vain to grab the ink bottle that had spilled all over her parchment pages.

The girl, attempting to wipe her ink-stained hands on a piece of parchment that was still clean, mumbled a "I really put effort into those" to herself, and turned toward the two desks behind her.

"You wouldn't mind giving me your notes, would you?" she asked Mattheo, hopeful.

"What makes you think I took any?" he replied smirking, already standing with his backpack on the shoulder.

Pansy sighed in exasperation, turning to the other boy, of whom Ashley only remembered the last name -Berkshire.

"Enzo?" she asked in a pleading tone.

"Sorry" he replied, almost sincerely.

"Oh c'mon, the others will never pass me theirs, fucking nerds" she complained, turning back to her desk where the ink was still spilled.

"We're heading out, Pans" Mattheo announced, and she muttered a "yeah yeah" looking around for something to clean her hands with.

Ashley had listened to the whole thing -even tho she didn't really know why- and without thinking too much, she handed her a tissue. The other girl froze for a second, looking at her with an expression halfway between confused and unsure, but eventually took the piece of paper, hinting a faint thank you.

Ashley finished gathering her things and was about to leave, when her eyes fell again on Pansy's ruined notes. She sighed, and before she could stop herself, asked if she needed hers. Caught off guard by her own action, she blushed slightly, looking at the confused face of her new desk mate, who had stopped wiping the black ink off her fingers.

"Uhm, only if you need them" she hurried to say, almost as if she was trying to save the awkward situation she had just created.

As for Pansy, she found the situation extremely strange, but also somehow interesting.
In front of her was the girl she herself had tormented for two whole years -almost three- and whom she had fully ignored, since she had no interest in forming any kind of relationship with her.
And now this girl, though reluctantly, had asked if she needed her notes. The first thing Pansy found herself thinking, was why she had never even tried to have a civil conversation with her own housemate.

"Actually, yeah" Pansy finally admitted, eyeing Ashley with a look the latter interpreted as disgusted -but that was actually just enquiring.

Ashley, fighting every fiber of her body that screamed not to be so nice to the girl who had made her friends' lives hell, reached into her bag, took out the notes she had just written, and handed them to Pansy.

"I'd like them back by Thursday if possible" Ashley said, trying to keep her tone as polite as possible.

Even though Pansy's first instinct would've been to give her a sharp reply, she held back. Not even she knew exactly why. She just nodded.

"Alright, I'll bring them back once I've copied them" she replied, taking them from Ashley's outstretched hand.

For a few seconds, the two girls looked into each other's eyes, exchanging a glance filled with mutual suspicion -not sure if they could trust each other, even for something as small as sharing notes- but also of mutual respect.

They both knew deep down they had just ignored a part of their pride deeply rooted in their subconscious. And it had all happened so suddenly, over something so trivial, that both started to question the thick wall that had always divided them since the beginning of school.

Chapter Text

"What?!" exclaimed Hermione, trying to keep her voice down.

Ashley had told her three friends about her interaction with Pansy, which happened no more than five hours before.

"Well, it's..." began Ron, trying to find the right words to define the situation.

"Strange" ended Ashley for him.

They were heading to the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom, where they would attend the new professor's first class.

"But she didn't seem, I don't know, offended that I spoke to her" she tried to explain by recalling what happened, "she just seemed a little suspicious that's all".

The others looked at her, probably unconvinced.

"I think that was very mature of you" said Hermione, even though she didn't know if she really believed her own words.

"Or very naive" spat Harry, who had not said a word until then.

They all turned to him, taken by surprise.

"I'm just saying don't get too close to her" he continued, trying to seem calm, "at the end of the day it's the same girl who bullied us for three years in a row" he finished, entering first into the classroom they were headed to.

The thing was, though, that Ashley wasn't convinced by what Harry said. Maybe it was true, she had been a little naive, but she had also always been a person who tried to find good in everyone, and she felt something different during her conversation with Pansy.

It had been a long time, and no, neither were the same girls from a year before.

They fortunately found nearby seats: the girls were seated next to each other in the middle row (at the Gryffindor's insistence), while the two boys sat in the row to their left.

The classroom filled up in a short time, all ready with their textbook open on the desk.

Moody arrived shortly afterwards, wearing the same heavy coat he had the night before.

"You won't be needing these," he said, taking Ron's volume of The Dark Forces: self-defense guide and throwing it in his open bag, "you can put them away".

The new professor sat behind the table, quietly scanning the room with his good eye, while the enchanted one whirled in orbit.

"From a letter I received from your former professor Lupin, you are somewhat behind on curses" he said, resting his arms on the desk, "so I'd like to get straight to the point without beating around the bush too much".

After saying this, he got up from his chair and stood in front of the desk.

"Can anyone tell me what are the curses that correspond to the highest penalty according to the magic law?".

A somewhat ambiguous silence descended upon the room, while some hands raised hesitantly.

Ashley didn't know much on the subject, she only knew one -the most dangerous- but stood still on her seat.

Moody pointed to someone behind her, and she heard Ron's voice start talking. Surprised, she turned around.

"Dad told me about the Imperius Curse" he said a little hesitantly.

While Moody nodded slowly, he went back behind the desk again, opening a drawer from which he pulled out a jar. Ashely heard a slight groan from Ron: there were three large spiders in the glass pot. The professor proceeded to open the jar and take one, which he held in his palm, then pointed the wand at it.

"Imperius!"

Ashley gasped in surprise as Moody cursed the poor animal, and several people started whispering to each other.

The spider began to jump, fly, turn on itself. Someone even laughed silently.

"Funny, isn't it?" said Moody, "how about I do that to you?".

Another total silence fell among the students, that looked at the professor seriously.

"I could make you throw yourself out the window. Drown you. Even make you kill someone" Moody continued as he put the spider back in the jar, "this created several problems at the Ministry some time ago, trying to understand who had been forced to do certain things or who had done it willingly, and all that".

Ashley understood he was talking about when the Dark Lord was in power, and a a slight shiver fell down her back.

"Now, this curse is difficult to counter, but not impossible" continued Moody, "and I will try to teach you how".

Ashley and Hermione looked at each other for a moment, exchanging a slightly worried look. What did he mean by that?

"Does anyone know another one?" asked the professor.

Hermione timidly raised her hand, but Ashley saw Moody pointing to a boy who was sitting a few steps away from them: Neville. The Gryffindor boy never really made his voice heard -except during Herbology lessons- so this sudden decision of his particularly peaked the girl's interest.

"The... the Cruciatus Curse?" said Neville, timidly but in a clear voice.

Both of Moody's eyes were set on the boy.

"You're Longbottom, aren't you?"

Neville nodded slowly.

"The Cruciatus Curse..." spoke the professor, now addressing back to the class.

He picked up the glass jar, and pulled out a spider that was significantly larger than the other two: it occupied his hand almost completely. A slight whine came again from Ron's seat. Again, Moody pointed his wand at the poor animal, and Ashley held her breath.

"Crucio!"

The spider bent over itself, contorting its legs and moving in sudden twitches. Ashley wanted to close her eyes, but watched the scene anyway as the miserable animal was shaking and jolting more forcefully.

"Stop it!"

The scream came from Hermione, and Ashley turned around surprised, but her friend's gaze was fixed on Neville. Ashley looked at him: he was trembling slightly, his gaze low on the bench and his fists tight.

Moody raised his wand, and the spider collapsed on his hand before being put back in its container. The professor then caught the last spider, which was trying in vain to hide at the bottom of the jar.

"This Curse is pure pain, no point in trying to explain what it feels like... you can only understand when you're under its influence" he said as he approached Hermione's desk, placing a hand beside her closed book.

"Maybe you can tell me what the last Curse is, miss Granger" he said looking at Hermione with his good eye, while the magic one was set on Ashley, who was determined not to look back at it.

Hermione shook her head slightly, and Ashley was sure she was trying to hold back the tears, even as she looked up at Moody. It was the first time Ashley saw her friend refusing to answer a question. Seeing her best friend like that, a heat started spreading through her guts, and her muscles stiffened.

"Why would you do this?" said Ashley before she could stop herself, glaring at Moody with a sharp look.

Whereas before only the blue eye was looking at her, the professor's whole body turned towards the Slytherin, taking a step closer to her. Both of Moody's eyes stared insistently at her, and Ashley was hit by the urge to look down, intimidated.

"Barberis... am I right?" said the man's roaring voice, "why don't you tell me what the last Curse is?".

Ashley didn't answer, while her feeling of anger mixed with one of anxiety and nausea. Moody kept staring at her, the spider still in his hand.

"The killing curse".

Ashley turned, looking at the boy who had spoken. Tom Riddle.

He sat next to Draco, and while the dark haired boy was looking at the professor, Malfoy had his eye on Ashley.

Moody merely nodded and mumbled a "right, right" as he put the spider on Ashley's desk.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Ashley flinched on the spot as a sudden noise came out of Moody's wand, followed by a beam of green light.

The spider turned on his back, unscathed, but definetely dead.

"There is no counter-spell, there is no stopping it" explained Moody moving between the desks, "only one person has survived it, and he's sitting in this room".

Several students began whispering to each other, clearly speaking about Harry. Ashley didn't look at him, instead she looked at the new professor with contempt. She didn't like him at all.

"But if there is no counter-spell, why did I show it to you?" asked the man leaning on his chair.

It was exactly what Ashley wanted to know, why? Why torment an entire class, a class of teenagers?

"Because you need to know" Moody said firmly.

'Ok Plato' thought Ashley, holding back a sigh of disdain.

"Now, these are called Unforgivable Curses" he continued, writing on the chalkboard, "this is what I want to teach you to counter, you need preparation, you need to be in constant vigilance".

Moody's words were getting further and further away from Ashley's mind, whose eyes fell on the spider killed just before, that was still standing in front of her on the desk. She blew it away gently, and a feeling of tension crept into her stomach, causing a slight shiver to rise up the back of her neck, that was burning as if someone was digging it out with their eyes.

Chapter Text

The next day Ashley woke up from strange and somewhat disturbing dreams, in which Moody was always the protagonist.

One she remembered vividly, included her forced to dance the salsa for hours in a row in front of the whole class under the influence of the Imperius Cursed.

Ashley shook her head as if she wanted to shake those dreams away, and stood up to get ready.

When she went down to the Common Room, there were several people divided into groups or pairs, and among them all Ashley's gaze fell right on Malfoy.

He was sitting on a couch, feet on the table in front of him, next to him on one side Zabini and on the other Pansy, who -to Ashley's surprise- stood up. She even seemed to walk right towards her.

"Hey Brooks" she greeted her with indifference, approaching with sheets of parchment in her hand, "your notes".

Ashley looked at her a little surprised, she didn't know what to expect, but she was glad it was this.

"Thank you" she hastened to say, "you could have kept them a bit longer, you didn't have to bring them back right the next day".

Pansy merely shrugged.
"I preferred to get rid of the thought immediately" she explained.

Ashley nodded, holding the notes in her hand.
A second of silence fell between the two, and Ashley was ready to leave when Pansy stopped her.

"Uhm, if..." she looked away from Ashley, as if she was making an effort in trying to say what was on her mind, "if you need something for some classes or whatever, feel free to ask".

Ashley raised her eyebrows, definitely not expecting such a statement from the girl in front of her. It took her a few seconds to answer.

"Thank you" was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

Pansy nodded before turning her heels and heading back to Draco and Blaise, who quickly turned their backs on the girls when Pansy turned around (as they were clearly prying).

---

That morning Ashley had potions on first period, but luckily for her, Gryffindors did too, so she was heading down the stairs to Snape's classroom with Hermione, Ron and Harry.

She hadn't told her friends about her interaction with Pansy. Partly because she didn't think it was so important, but partly because she was a little afraid of their reaction -last time Harry had not seemed so happy.

Entering the room, Ashley pointed to a table still free with a big smile, around which the four hastened to position themselves.

Sitting together at the same table for the first class meant having a permanent seat there, so Ashley would've spent the rest of the year with her best friends.

Snape entered shortly after, closing the door behind him forcefully -as he always did- and waving his cloak in a dramatic way, positioning himself in front of the desk.

He immediately started the class, instructing students to open a page of their textbook and start making the required potion.

"Snape looks pretty pissed off" said Ron, setting up his station.

"More than usual?" asked Ashley with a half smile.

"I think it's because of Moody" said Hermione, who had already started shredding the ingredients.

Ashley turned to the professor, who was walking around the tables with a critical look.
Everyone knew that Snape coveted the place of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but was always relegated to that of Potions.

"At the beginning of the year he's always more grumpy than usual, I think he still has to assimilate the blow" continued Hermione lowering her voice out of fear of being heard.

Ashley laughed quietly, adding the first ingredients to her cauldron.

After most of the class was well underway, a slight smell of burnt food began to soar in the air, followed by something that sounded incredibly similar to a gunshot.

Ashley's head instinctively turned towards Seamus' station, which was usually the cause of various explosions. To her surprise though, the boy's cauldron seemed intact.

In response the Gryffindor, after seeing Ashley's look on him, protested with a slight "hey!", and the girl turned around smiling.

The noise seemed to have been caused by a Slytherin, because Ashley noticed that around the crook's table were Lorenzo Berkshire, Pansy and Malfoy.
However, the culprit of the accident was covered by the figure of Snape, who was trying to clean up the disaster with his wand: a thick yellowish foam was incessantly coming out of the cauldron. It vaguely reminded Ashley of a yellow spray foam, that was once used to plug a hole in the wall of her room back at the orphanage.

"Good start of the year, Riddle" Ashley heard Snape say sarcastic, "we'd better get someone to check on you during class, so maybe we won't flood the classroom before the end of the year" he said sternly.

"I can help" Draco proposed, clearly annoyed by the situation.

"No" replied Snape, "it would just seem like a holiday for Riddle, I wouldn't want him to get too comfortable" he hissed with disdain at a curly-haired boy, whom Ashley recognized as Mattheo.

The professor turned suddenly, scanning the room with his eyes.
Ashley and her friends did their best to appear engaged in what they were doing, and each prayed silently not to be chosen.

"Barberis".

"You're fucking with me" Ashley whispered, holding back a laugh of despair.
"Yes, professor?" she said then sighing, having accepted her fate.

"Your potion looked decent enough, come and monitor Riddle" he ordered by loosely pointing at the boy before walking away.

Ashley gazed at her friends, who had a look of pure sorrow on their faces, as if she had just been told to fight a dragon (something she would have much preferred at the time). She reserved them a last nod of farewell, and went to the table of her housemates as if she was about to go to war.

Arrived next to Riddle, she gave him an awkward smile, which he returned before turning to look at his cauldron, now cleaned.

Ashley could feel everyone's eyes on her, and when she looked, Berkshire and Pansy quickly turned around, pretending to read a recipe in their book.
Malfoy on the other hand, stared at her with a look that Ashley could not decipher, but that made her extremely embarrassed.

She turned again to Mattheo, and asked him if he knew what he had done wrong.

"No" he replied in a nonchalant tone.

Ashley sighed, hoping that a brick would fall on her head and knock her out.
"Alright, let's start from the beginning then, okay?" she said grabbing the first ingredient they needed.

She explained the first steps, while the boy watched in silence. After a few seconds, he raised his voice.
"Couldn't you, you know..." Ashley looked up, waiting for him to finish the sentence "...couldn't you just do it?"

The girl had to hold back from laughing, but a chuffed smile sprang on her face.
"Are you serious?" she asked, trying to stay calm.

"I mean, at the end of the day I don't really care about this stuff " he started playing with the pages of the book, "and the sooner you finish the sooner you can go back to your friends".

A choked laugh came from Malfoy, which Ashley turned to look annoyed. In an attempt to look smooth, he pretended to cough and slightly raised a hand towards her as a sort of apology.

The thing was that Mattheo wasn't really wrong. There was no point in trying to teach something to a person who wasn't interested in learning, and the sooner she got out of that situation the happier she was.

Ashley sighed slightly, looking at Mattheo.
"Okay" she said sluggishly, giving up.

It took her about twenty minutes, just in time for Snape to come check. When Ashley saw him approaching, she took Riddle's hand with little delicacy, and quickly exchanged it with hers to turn the potion, that he started mixing in the wrong direction.

"Opposite way" muttered Ashley.

"What?" asked Mattheo in a whisper, watching Snape approach.

"You're mixing it the wrong way" she whispered nervously.

Mattheo looked at the cauldron, and muttered an "oh" adjusting the movement.

Lorenzo and Pansy held back their laughter as they looked at their friend, while Snape arrived at the table.

"Finished?" asked the professor, looking at Ashley and Mattheo.

"Yes sir" he replied with proud a smile.

If it wasn't for the situation at hand, the witch would've scoffed heavily.

"Did you do it yourself, Riddle?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes sir" repeated Mattheo, smile still wide in his face.

Ashley's eyes kept going from the boy to the teacher, as her anxiety grew.

"Good" finally said Snape, and Ashley held back a sigh of relief.

"Since you improved so much in just one lesson" he began, "I want you and Barberis to work together for the rest of the term, at the end of which you will have to bring me a range of potions at my request -with a final mark of course" he concluded looking at Mattheo with a satisfied grin.

"No" Ashley said suddenly almost without realizing, in a desperate voice.

"Oh yes" replied the man, gurgling her severely "and I'll tell you more, if Riddle does it wrong, the bad grade will be shared between the two of you".

The girl looked at Snape, indignant and speechless, and before she or Mattheo could retort anything, the teacher announced the end of the class, turning his back at them.

Chapter Text

"Murder me" begged Ashley, as she walked out of Potions' class with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"You could always not help him" suggested Harry trying to be helpful, with poor results.

"Not if I want to pass Potions" replied Ashley, snorting loudly. Even though Ashley was a Slytherin, the professor didn't really treat her like her housemates, and she knew it was because of her friendship with the Gryffindors -with Harry in particular.

"I'm sorry Li" consoled her Hermione "maybe it won't be as bad as you think".

"Sure, because Riddle's such a sweetheart" giggled Ron, receiving a death glare from the curly girl.

Hermione sighed, clearly feeling sorry for her friend, which Ashley appreciated even though it didn't really make a difference.

"Look, we have Herbology now, but we'll see you at dinner, alright?" said Hermione gently stroking her friend's arm.

Ashley nodded and said bye reluctantly, heading to Charms class.

The room was large, with the enchanted ceiling that allowed to see the sky outside. At the center of the room were long rows of benches and on the walls stood glass cabinets with artifacts, potion jars and other objects that Ashley never had the care to observe closely.

While entering she found most of the seats occupied, then -carefully avoiding eye contact with Mattheo- she sat next to a Ravenclaw girl. Ashley had already seen her during the course of previous years, but they never spoke, she wasn't even sure of her name.

She had long blonde hair, slightly wavy and a little ruffled, and thin pale eyebrows. Ashley really liked a necklace she was wearing, made of butterbeer corks, which looked handmade.

Usually Ashley was a little intimidated by Ravenclaws, but this girl inspired her good vibes and friendliness, and maybe it was because of that that she decided to take courage and introduce herself.

"My name is Ashley, by the way".

The Ravenclaw looked up from her notebook, and Ashley for a moment thought she didn't understand, because she was looking at her with something like a surprised expression.

"Hi, I'm Luna" she replied with a slight smile, "Barberis, right?" she added.

Ashley looked at her slightly puzzled.

"Oh, so you know me?"

"I know who you are" she replied, and Ashley realized that her slightly surprised expression was just her face, "I think we all kind of know who you are".

"Oh" said the Slytherin, who didn't really know what Luna meant by that, who was said 'us'?

Before either of them could say anything else, Professor Flitwick walked in, announcing the start of the class.

"Dad gave it to me," explained Luna, referring to the necklace that Ashley had complimented.

The period was over, and the girls were walking out of the classroom.

"I like it, it's original" Ashley smiled.

Just as they were crossing the threshold, a boy rushed past Luna, snatching her notebook from her hand. The girl protested weakly, but stopped on her feet soon after.

Ashley knew the boy in question, his name was Julian, and he was a Slytherin of her year, who often enjoyed bothering her.

"Come on, give it back to Julian" said Ashley sternly.

In response, the boy chuckled satisfied.

"And why should I listen to a mudblood?" he asked, without really expecting an answer, "what do you write in here Loony? Mh?" he continued, with the usual annoying grin on his face.

Ashley looked at Luna for a moment, and her usual dreamy expression had changed to one more upset.

"You always carry it" said Julian, waving his notebook, "who gave it to you, mom?" he concluded, with a tone that made Ashley sense he had said something really bad.

With an annoyed sigh, Ashley pulled out her wand, using a summoning spell to retrieve the notebook, which flew from Julian's hand to hers. She passed it to Luna, who gave her a smile of gratitude.

"I've had enough" said Ashley, "let us live in peace".

Julian seemed furious. He was not used to anyone talking back to him or trying to defend themselves, much less Ashley, who had always been his favorite victim -precisely because she usually preferred not to respond to his provocations. He stepped forward towards the girls, but stopped when he saw someone approaching.

"Can we chat real quick?" it was Mattheo "for Potions I mean" he specified, looking at Ashley.

The look of the Slytherin girl went from Mattheo to Julian, who was standing on the spot looking at the back of the boy's head in front of him.

"Uhm, yes, of course" she replied, seizing the opportunity to get rid of Julian and pulling out her schedule, "I'm free even now actually, for the hole hour".

"No, not now" said the boy, "next Tuesday?"

"You want to wait a week?" asked Ashley in surprise.

Mattheo shrugged, irritating the girl a tad.

"All right" she sighed then, noting on the schedule that she had to meet with Mattheo on Tuesday.

He nodded, pressing his lips in a satisfied expression, and walked away.

Julian was out of sight, and Ashley internally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you" Luna had been so quiet up to that moment, that Ashley almost got scared when she spoke.

"Oh, you're welcome, Julian's a moron" she replied walking, followed by the Ravenclaw.

"Do you get along with people in your house?" asked Luna, putting her notebook back in the bag.

"You mean Mattheo? No, actually no, it was Snape who forced me to tutor him for the rest of the term" admitted Ashley, "I don't really talk to anyone in Slytherin".

"I'm not very close with people from Ravenclaw either" Luna confessed, "they think I'm a little weird".

Ashley remembered how Julian had called her: "Loony". It wasn't very nice.

"I think you're just a bit particular" Ashley said sincerely, then, realizing that it could be misinterpreted, she hurried to specify, "in a good way, I mean".

Luna didn't answer, but smiled softly at her, and that was enough for Ashley.

Chapter Text

Ashley was standing in the middle of the Trophy Room, that housed an extensive collection of awards, trophies, cups, plaques, shields, statues and medals, all displayed in glass cases -which she was currently polishing.

She was there because, to her misfortune, when she tried to cast a spell on Malfoy for picking on Harry, Snape was a few yards away from them without her knowledge. The good thing was that the blondie responded to Ashley's spell, and was seen by McGonagall.

The other bad thing was that the professor grounded him along with her, so she was forced to breathe the same air as him for the next hour, polishing trophies.

"Hey Li, can you pass me that rag?" asked the boy, referring to a cloth on the table next to Ashley.

"You have no right to call me that".

Only her friends used that nickname for her, and Malfoy was not a friend of hers.

"Why? Those losers of your friends use it" he replied bored.

"That's right, friends".

"Crikey you're a pain, what did i do to you that was so wrong?" he asked exasperated, turning to the girl.

Ashley looked at him in shock with a nervous smile.

"You're fucking with me." That wasn't a question.

In response, he turned around grumbling and rolling his eyes. Out of anger, Ashley threw the cloth she was using on the ground.

"You know what? I'm sick and tired of your shitty attitude Malfoy" she snapped, "you spend your days tormenting me, Harry, Ron, Hermione and every single person I care about, and ten minutes later you talk to me pretending like nothing happened" she vented flying into a rage.

"As if I wanted to waste my time talking to a mudblood".

"See?! That's what I'm talking about!" Ashley exclaimed, "do you know how exhausting it is to have to wake up every day knowing that you have to endure for the rest of the day the incessant mockery of your housemates? Even tho technically, they should be the ones to give me a support of some kind" she said embittered.

"Oh, why don't you grow up a bit, Brooks?" Malfoy said turning completely towards the girl, snapping back, "you're not as special as you think" he hissed at her with contempt.

Ashley was speechless. Was that what he got from her speech? Really?

"I'm not saying I am".

"Then stop acting like that" he said gesturing to her.

"Like what?"

"As if you were the only one with problems" Draco said.

Ashley froze on the spot, unsure on what to answer.

"I'm sorry your life's not perfect Draco" she said, "but you don't know what's it like. Being ashamed of existing every time you are looked at by the same people who you thought would've welcomed you as one of them".

The boy's look changed imperceptibly, but enough to make Ashley understand that what she said somehow got to him.

A long silence fell between the two, and Ashley was the first to look away. The girl picked up the cloth she had thrown on the ground just before, which she realized, was actually a sponge -weird.

"I don't even really care, you know" he almost whispered, "about all that crap on pure and noble blood, I mean".

Ashley couldn't believe his words, was she dreaming? Perhaps Peeves was having a laugh playing a trick on her, after all the Trophy Room was one of his favorite rooms to haunt.

"It's my father who's obsessed" added Draco shortly after, convincing Ashley that she did not imagine everything.

"I think you'll forgive me if I say that I don't believe it" she replied, laughing irritated.

Draco looked at her with a blank expression, which she almost felt sorry for. Ashley sighed deeply, trying to be reasonable.

"Then why do you enjoy calling me a mudblood so much?" she asked, trying to stay calm.

As if he was trying to anger her even more, he shrugged, turning to the trophy he was cleaning. Ashley looked at him exasperated, but she was so tense that she couldn't even tell him anything. She just wanted to rip by locks those brown curls out of his hair.

Wait, curly? Brown?

Ashley rubbed her eyes as if she was cleaning one of the trophies, and looked back at the boy who had turned blond again.

"I had to fit in too somehow".

Those few words, though said almost casually, overturned the girl's whole world. She watched him rub a gold medal, unable to utter a word.

She had always seen Malfoy as a perfidious boy who enjoyed tormenting her and her friends only because he could and it made him feel bigger. She never tried to look at his attitudes from another point of view, after all why would she? She had always been the victim in this matter.

Instead, now that she was watching Draco, all she saw was a fourteen-year-old boy, anxious and eager to make some friends, just like she was when she arrived at Hogwarts. That he just wanted to be part of a group of people who -for the first time in his life- would accept him, even if not for what he really was.

"You definitely did that better than I did" said Ashley, raising her eyebrows slightly.

This time it was Draco's turn to look at her, taken aback by her words. He expected a laugh of indignation, an insult, he expected her shouting at him -certainly not this. He watched her place a small trophy in its cabinet.

"I'm sorry" he said so quietly that Ashley barely heard it.

She immediately turned around, but he had disappeared.

She looked around confused, looking for the boy who was a few meters away from her until moments before.

She turned, and almost screamed when she saw Professor Moody a few inches away from her face.

"Professor?" she said frightened.

In response, he raised his wand, shouting "Imperius!"

Ashley ducked to the ground, putting her arms over her head as if trying to shelter herself from the curse. She stood in that position for a few seconds, but a grave silence descended into the room.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, that had been closed by fear, and the only thing she saw was a man standing at the back of the room looking at her motionless.

He was tall, his scalp perfectly smooth, and he wore some sort of black cloak, which was so thin that it looked almost like a second skin. But the thing that actaully took her aback were his feet: he was barefoot.

"Excuse me?" asked Ashley, increasingly terrified.

As if she had activated him by speaking, the man began to float rapidly towards her, hissing something in a weird language.

"NO!"

Ashley was lying at the foot of her bed.

'Did i fall while dreaming?' she thought.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It was just a nightmare.

She was sweating, and when she fell she carried the blanket along witg her, which was on the ground next to her.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to recall as many details of the nightmare as possible, but could not remember what it was that had frightened her so much.

It had been a year or so since she thought about the detention she had spent with Draco, and that night she dreamed it -with a nice addendum of him apologising to her, which she was actually glad her mind fabricated.

From what Ashley remembered, after that discussion the Slytherin and his friends had no longer bothered her, and actually, now she even managed to establish a peaceful relationship with Pansy Parkinson.

Sighing and stretching slightly, she rose from the ground, wondering why her subconscious had decided to withdraw that memory right that day.

She went into the bathroom and began to get ready, trying to distract herself; but for the rest of the day, she could not dispel the feeling that the dream was more sinister than it might have seemed.

Chapter Text

The feeling of uneasiness that the dream had left her followed Ashley for the rest of the day. She woke up more tired than usual, and at breakfast she barely managed to eat half of her porridge.

During the Transfiguration lesson McGonagall had shown them a spell to turn a little hedgehog into a pin-point, but the only thing Ashley was able to do was make the animal's spikes slightly silver -getting a stern look from the teacher.

She didn't know why, but that day her mind just didn't want to commit or focus in any way, and Ashley came to the peak of mental endurance when she walked into the wrong classroom during second period, convinced she had Divination -when that year she decided instead to do Ancient Runes with Hermione. Frustrated, she hastened to the right classroom, which was on the sixth floor, while she was on the first one.

She arrived breathless ten minutes late, apologizing to the teacher as she sat next to Hermione, who had kept a seat for her.

"Did I miss anything important?" Ashley asked, pulling out her book.

"No don't worry, I asked for a little recap of last class when I didn't see you coming" reassured her Hermione.

"You're a saint" thanked Ash, "they should make a statue in your honor".

Hermione laughed quietly, starting to take notes.

Ashley also wanted to take notes, but unfortunately that day -as already shown- her mind was not going to help her.

Looking at the runes the professor wrote on the blackboard, she had several flashbacks of the math she had to do at the orphanage before Hogwarts, and couldn't concentrate. Her gaze wandered through the classroom, while the teacher's voice faded away in the distance.

"This is all you wrote down?" asked Hermione reading the piece of paper Ashley used to take notes.

The professor had just dismissed the class, and the girls where putting back in their bags the school materials.

"I don't know, I think i slept weird tonight" Ashley said rubbing her forehead.

Hermione shook her head gently, putting her bag on the shoulder. Just as she was about to open her mouth again, someone knocked on the open door.

"Please come in Tom" the professor said, and Ashley looked at the boy as he walked towards the lady.

She found herself looking at the dark haired and curly boy from her own house. Tom Riddle didn't look much like his brother -Ashley noticed- except for some distinctive traits: the hair, light skin and eyes, brown and with a slightly elongated cut. He was barely a year older than his brother, but he still carried himself with an attitude of a much older man.

As she watched him, she had a faint feeling of déjà vu, which made her shiver up the back. Just as Ashley was telling herself to stop looking at him, Tom turned around, meeting her gaze. Feeling her face heat up slightly, she immediately turned around, pretending to read back her notes.

"Real sly Ashley" she thought.

She cursed herself mentally, feeling like a half maniac.

The girl left the classroom followed by a confused Hermione, carefully avoiding Tom's gaze.

----

After four days, it was Tuesday, and that meant for Ashley the first day of tutoring Mattheo Riddle. She wasn't excited about it, quite the opposite actually.

"I wish I could help, you know" Hermione said as they ate their lunch at the Gryffindor table, "but we have Cure of Magic Creatures... I can't skip class, even though I'd like to avoid Hagrid's Screwts".

"It's okay" sighed Ashley, playing with her food, "I just hope he doesn't cause me problems, I don't want my grades to drop".

"As soon as class is over we can come there with an excuse to get you out of there" suggested Ron knocking back his glass of pumpkin juice.

Even tho she was tempted to accept Ron's offer, she knew she had to do it.

"No no, I really hope we'll finish in less than an hour anyway".

"As you wish" replied the Gryffindor, shrugging.

After Charms class was over, Ashley waved goodbye to Luna and walked towards Mattheo, who was leaving the room while chatting with Theodore Nott and Pansy.

She fastened her pace to reach them, and called him timidly once close enough. He turned around with his friends, who stopped in their footsteps.

"Do you mind if we go to the Potions classroom?" Ashley asked.

The boy looked at her for a few seconds, the expression of someone who had just been stopped on the road by a stranger.

Ashley felt a bit out of place, and started fidgeting with the fingers of her right hand.

"I looked at the schedule and on the third floor there shouldn't be anyone, maybe just someone revising like us" she tried again, hoping to break the ice a bit more.

He continued to look at her as if trying to remember someone's name, then a light bulb lit in his mind.

"Bollocks, was it today?" he asked scratching his neck, "I had completely forgotten about it".

Ashley looked at him halfway between dismayed and disappointed.

"Bro."

It was Nott who brought to life the girl's thoughts, and if the situation had not been embarrassing enough on its own, she would have even thanked him.

Mattheo turned to look at his friend, as if to say "what do you want", before turning again to Ashley.

"Look, just give me the time to go and put this stuff in my room, okay? " he said referring to the school bag on his shoulder.

Ashley sighed, but nodded patiently.

"Okay, do you know where the classroom is?" she asked, since the room was mostly used by sixth and seventh graders.

Matthew squeezed his lips slightly in an expression of uncertainty. Ashley held back another resigned sigh.

"Let's meet at the beginning of the main corridor" she said, "on the third floor" she added, since one never knows.

"All right".

Having said that, he turned and walked away, followed by his friends.

"You're a lost cause" Ashley heard Pansy say, and a spontaneous smile popped on her face.

It was about ten minutes that Ashley was waiting when Mattheo decided to show up. They exchanged a half greeting and set off.

"Sorry I made you wait" he said, although he didn't really sound sorry.

"No problem" said Ashley, but even she was clearly not happy with the situation, "I put it to good use and got these from the library".

After her last conversations -if that's what you'd call them- with Mattheo, Ashley had decided that maybe it was better to do a recap from the basics, so since the library was close to where she was waiting, she took a couple of beginners' manuals.

"Aren't those first-year's books?" asked Mattheo, looking at the titles.

"Yes, a couple" she admitted, placing them under her arms.

Mattheo didn't answer, but raised his eyebrows slightly, and Ashley ignored him as she continued to walk.

Just as they were entering the classroom, a student bumped into Ashley he was exiting, causing some books to fall.

"Watch where you're going mudblood" said the boy as he walked away, irritated.

Ashley just snapped her tongue in a sound of disappointment and pulled out her wand, returning the fallen books to her hands, along with the others.

Mattheo had just watched the scene in silence, without reacting in any way, but Ashley didn't expect anything more from him. They resumed walking entering the room, and Ashley thanked Merlin it was empty.

After setting up their work station, Ashley asked Mattheo what he wanted to start with.

"Snape gave me the list of potions he wants delivered by the holidays" he said, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.

Ashley took it and read the assignment: it was seven potions, all already performed in the previous year except two, which Ashley imagined they would've done during the course of the year.

"Wideye potion, shrinking solution, girding potion..." she read aloud, "Snape was quite benevolent actually... I think we'll be fine with the doxycide and confusing concoction too".

"Benevolent?" laughed Mattheo, "it's a shit ton of stuff" he said irritated.

"Believe me, if he wanted to be an asshole, he wouldn't have given you this list" explained Ashley gently waiving the note.

She then put the paper away, while grabbing three of the library's books and putting them in front of Mattheo.

"So, what do you want to start with?" she asked again.

"Dunno, which one's the easiest?" asked the boy as he reread the list.

Ashley barely laughed, getting an annoyed look from Mattheo.

"I think it's better to repeat some basics first" she said, looking at the books she had placed in front of Slytherin.

"You're kidding me" that wasn't a question, "we did this stuff three years ago".

"Then I think you can safely tell me what each of these things are for" said Ashley referring to the materials she had organised just before.

Mattheo looked at the girl's set-up: indeed he had seen all that stuff at least once in his life, but he wouldn't have been able to explain what they were for - he didn't even know the name of some of them.

"I know those are measuring cups" he said, pointing to glass containers.

"Okay... I guess it's something" sighed Ashley, "how about the ingredients instead?"

"Dittany, snake fangs and aconite" he said, naming three of the dozens of objects that were on the table.

"You just said the names of the most common ingredients in the magical world".

"Are you here to teach me or not?" he said annoyed, putting his hands on the table.

Ashley mentally recalled all her inner calmness.

"Do you want to start with materials, ingredients or techniques?" she asked patiently, pointing to the three books that Mattheo had ignored so far.

"Which one's faster?"

The girl grabbed the bridge of her nose out of exasperation, and inhaled deeply.

"Look" started Ashley getting upset, "you may not give a shit, but I worked hard to get a decent grade with Snape, allright? So could you at least pretend to commit?"

Mattheo seemed rather browned off by the girl's words, but he clenched his teeth and restrained himself.

"All right" he said, "where do you suggest I start?"

Ashley looked at him gleefully, pointing to the materials book.

"For today we can concentrate on these, grab some stuff to take notes".

Mattheo looked at her, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Are you serious?" he almost whispered.

The girl shot him a warning glare, clearly done with his attitude. He almost felt bad.

"...sorry" he said, looking at her with his face lowered.

Although she was rather exasperated, the situation made Ashley let out a sincere giggle. Mattheo looked at her perplexed, clearly not expecting that reaction.

"Here" she said, handing him a sheet of paper and a quill, "next time maybe you'll be a little more equipped".

Mattheo nodded -the confused expression still plastered on his face- and for the rest of the hour he took notes while listening to the girl explaining. Perhaps he was even starting to enjoy it.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since Ashley had helped Mattheo with potions, and although she had initially thought that it would've been an impossible challenge, Mattheo turned out to be smarter than she thought.

These were the thoughts that went through the girl's mind during the first hour of saturday, in the middle of the History of Magic lesson with Professor Binns. To tell the truth, Ashley could've even started to recite the whole school hymn in her head, and it still would've been more interesting than that class. It wasn't really the subject either, it was the teacher.

Professor Binns was an old, shriveled-looking man, wearing small, thick glasses, and had a dry, squeaky voice that slured every single word that came out of his mouth.

He wasn't really a "normal" teacher, since he was a ghost (some people said that one day he just woke up to go to class, forgetting his body behind), but the only thing that would have been different if he still had skin and bones, was that he wouldn't have been able to pass straight through the sleeping students, waking them up in a sudden cold shiver -it was no fun, Ashley knew it from personal experience.

When the hour finally ended, Ashley sprang to her feet, eager to leave that room.

"For the next class, I want three pages of parchment on today's lesson" announced the professor.

"Blimey" Ashley thought, "I'm fucked".

"Hermione please help me, I don't think I can make it this time" begged Ashley.

They were sitting at lunch, and the girl had just asked her friend lend her a hand for History of Magic.

"It's not even my fault, it's Binns who is soporific" she complained.

"Never have you spoken truer words" said Ron, waving a piece of sausage with his fork.

"I'm sorry Li, but I have a bunch of stuff to study and homework to do, I wouldn't even know when to help you" said Hermione with a hint of regret, ignoring Ron.

Ashley murmured exasperated, her hands on her face.

"Sorry" said Hermione sincerely.

"It's okay" sighed Ashley.

After lunch, the Gryffinors had to attend Transfiguration class, so Ashley decided to walk there with them, since she had a free hour.

"My teeth still hurt after eating Hagrid's cookies yesterday" complained Harry as they walked up the stairs.

"Me too, but I'm always afraid he'll take it wrong if I refuse" said Ron, massaging his jaw.

While getting to the top of the stairs, Ashley saw Pansy and Theodore Nott pass by them, and a desperate idea crossed her mind.

"I remembered I have a thing to do" she made up quickly waving by to her friends, who looked at her puzzled but kept on walking.

Ashley rushed down the stairs, her eyes fixed on Pansy, praying that her courage wouldn't suddenly fade away.

"Pansy!"

The witch turned around, noticing Ashley walking rapidly towards her.

"It's ok, I'll catch up with you" she said to her friend, who waved before continuing on his way.

Now that Ashley had arrived face to face with Pansy, she realized she didn't really know what to ask her.

"...so?" asked the brunette, looking at her both curious and impatient.

Ashley's cheeks blushed slightly, and she felt slightly pathetic.

"Could you maybe help me with History of Magic?" came out of her mouth before she could stop.

Pansy's face filled with surprise for a moment, but she quickly recovered by blinking her eyes a few times.

"I guess so".

She knew she was the one who told her she could come to her if she needed a hand, but Pansy didn't expect Ashley to actually do it.

"When... when are you free?" asked Pansy rallying from the unexpected request.

Ashley thought for a moment, trying to remember her schedule and homework.

"Monday? During free period" she then suggested.

Pansy weighed the question.

"Yeah, I think it's fine" she finally answered, "after this though, we're even".

Ashley couldn't say she was totally surprised by the specification of the girl, but a small part of her was almost hurt. Perhaps Harry was right.

Before she could answer anything, Pansy turned around and went back down the stairs quickly, probably to catch up with Nott.

Ashley stood for a few seconds watching the other girl walk away, then sighed and went in the opposite direction.

When she got to the top of the stairs, she realized that she didn't really know where she was going. Ashley had a whole free hour that she could have easily used to do her homework, but she didn't really feel like it.

"Hey Ash!"

The girl was brought back to reality by a female voice, which she identified as that of Luna when she saw the Ravenclaw walk down the stairs.

Almost automatically, she turned and chased her.

"Hey, Luna?"

The blonde girl stopped, turning her head.

"Hey Ash?" she said in her usual dreamy voice.

"Ehm, are you doing anything special?" asked hopeful the Slytherin.

"No" she replied, "I'm going in the Forest" she said calm.

"In the Forbidden Forest?"

Ashley looked at Luna in amazement. Not that she had never been there herself (indeed too many times she had set foot there for her taste), but surely she wouldn't have said it with such nonchalance.

It was Luna Lovegood we were talking about though.

"Yes" she simply replied, "are there any other forests?"

If it was someone else telling her that, Ashley would probably have thought they were making fun of her, but she knew the Ravenclaw's question was genuine.

She smiled slightly.

"No" she replied, "and-er... were you going alone?" she dared.

"Well yes" replied Luna with a slightly absent look, "nobody wants to come with me usually".

Ashley sighed slightly, struck by the girl's unawareness. She raised her voice a little, gaining courage.

"Do you mind if I come with?"

The expression that usually covered Luna's face changed into one of sincere hope.

"No!" she smiled, "not at all!"

"So... why are we here?"

Ashley and Luna had walked through the forest for about five minutes before arriving at an empty clearing surrounded by trees.

The light was leaking from the leaves, and a strong smell of moss sorrounded the place, mixed with something more unpleasant, which Ashley couldn't quite decipher.

"Oh, to keep them company" replied Luna, sitting on a boulder.

Ashley looked around, searching for these "them" the friend was talking about. For a moment she was almost worried about Luna's sanity, then began to wonder if she was the crazy one herself.

"And... is it normal that I don't see them?" she asked sincerely confused.

Luna merely looked at her with a little nostalgic smile.

"It's actually a good thing" she said, "sometimes when I think about it it makes me very sad".

Ashley was getting more and more confused, but seeing that the other girl's morale was going down slightly, she sat down next to her on the rock, temporarily putting aside all the questions that were buzzing in her head and focusing on one.

"When do you think of what?"

Luna opened her bag, and a pungent smell hit Ashley's nostrils.

"Of my mother"

Ashley looked at Luna, taken a bit by surprise. She was not very good at comforting when it came to parents. Growing up without knowing who hers were, she was never sure what to do when her friends complained about them.

"I was very young when she died, but sometimes I still miss her".

"Oh well, problem solved" Ashley found herself thinking, relieved to avoid the usual embarrassing pat-pat on the shoulder as a comforting gesture. At least that was a field in which she was slightly more experienced.

Then a deep sense of guilt hit her in the chest.

"Oh cmon, her mom died, have a bit of empathy" she thought severely.

She put a hand on Luna's knee, trying to give her some support.

"Yeah, it definetly sucks" she said frankly with a half smile.

Ashley wondered if Luna had told her about her mother because she knew that her parents didn't even exist.

Finally, the blonde pulled out of her bag the cause of that strong smell of... blood?

A steak.

A raw steak.

Ashley was so taken aback that she almost laughed.

"They're Thestrals" said Luna, throwing the slice of meat in front of them.

And just like that, everything was much clearer.

Thestrals.

The animals you can only see if you saw someone die. That's why Luna had said those things, that's why the clearing seemed so empty, and that's why the steak was raw.

Ashley was relieved that all that actually made sense, and she was also glad to have given Luna time to express herself as best she could.

"Thank you for bringing me here" the Slytherin said.

She was sure that for Luna that was a special place, a place where she felt safe. With animals that only she could see, and who somehow could understand her, by being always judged badly.

Ashley wondered if the Thestrals were really as she had seen them pictured in the books as she watched the steak rise up into the air. It was quite strange, but after all she was studying in a school of magic.

"Thank you Ashley" Luna smiled, "people usually think I'm crazy".

The two looked at the piece of meat being eaten in front of them, and although they saw two different things them, they saw each other perfectly.

"You can call me Li" she replied, "my friends usually call me that".

And while Ashley promised herself to protect the girl sitting next to her at all costs, Luna couldn't be happier that she had, for once, put her trust in the right person.