Chapter Text
Her first evening at Hogwarts didn't exude the same magic the second time around.
The castle didn't feel the same. Despite the number of burning braziers and the clusters of students donning the robes of their specific houses, the castle felt hollow and cold and completely devoid of the joy and warmth she had been fortunate to feel when she first walked through the halls, exactly one year ago.
This time, as she made her way down within the depths of the castle, she didn't have Professor Weasley at her side. No guide, no friendly face to help keep her grounded and to stop her from getting lost in her thoughts anymore than she already was. It was her, and her alone, walking opposite her classmates with a rush in her step, her hands tucked wrist-deep within her coat pockets, an intense feeling of estrangement, and a flickering hope that after her less-than-pleasant trip back to Hogwarts, her dormitory would be empty.
A cool rush of air filled her lungs and a sense of relief washed over her as she began to descend the stairs that curved around the waterfall, leading to the common room was practically barren aside from a few stragglers who were lost in their own quiet conversation - but that was something that would surely change in the hours to come, and if she were to be honest, she wasn't looking forward to it. She didn't want to hear the raucous cheers of her classmates, or the blabbering of her roommates, who had clearly been settled into their dormitory long before her.
Each of their trunks had been placed in front of, or on top of their claimed beds, leaving Cordelia with the empty bed to the right, closest to the door.
After grabbing her shabby old trunk by the handle that was worryingly loose and dragging it to the bed that had been assigned for her, she dug through it while grumbling at her past self for packing at the last minute, and cursing at herself in the present moment for leaving every last article unfolded. Piece by wrinkled piece, she pulled out everything she needed from within the rumpled sea of green and grey - socks, a shirt, her tie that had a crease in the very spot that would be conveniently covered by her vest, and a skirt. It was far from her best, but, it was good enough.
Of course, she would have liked to assimilate with her fellow students by stepping off of the Hogwarts Express already dressed in her uniform and robes, but in her unintentional and typical fashion, she was ten steps behind, and tremendously confused.
That morning when she arrived, alone, at Kings Cross Station, she had a vague idea of what was to come. She'd board the train, enjoy the trip, and arrive at Hogwarts in time for the Start of Term Feast - but, as her luck would have it, her first ride on the Hogwarts Express was...memorable, to say the least.
Of course, she was thrilled knowing that this time around, her journey to Hogwarts would be much safer. No dragons, no portkeys - just a ride through the countryside coupled with free time to collect both herself and her thoughts, and to catch up with Poppy, with whom she had been exchanging correspondence with throughout the summer.
Except, as things typically did, they didn't go as planned.
She had nearly missed the train, and in her haste, she hopped into a car full of first and second year students, then was told to sit down by the attendant, leaving her with no chance of finding Poppy, or anybody her own age. So for those few hours, she planted herself in a corner seat near a window, so she could stare out over the rolling highlands while listening to children under the age of thirteen experience their first awkward, pubescent vocal cracks, and rave about the sickening mass of candies and treats they had purchased from the trolley while relishing in their newfound freedom.
Then, came the situation regarding her uniform...or, lack of. Amidst the chaos and disorganization of numerous panicking children that couldn't figure out why their robes were lined with a plum-colored silk and bore a simple 'H' in place of a crest for a house they had yet to be sorted into, Cordelia accepted her loss and passed up on trying to use the changing rooms for herself - which made the ride in the carriage bound for Hogwarts that much more mortifying.
"That's a bold choice." were Cressida's exact, condescending words when Cordelia squeezed into the carriage, still dressed head-to-toe in the clothes that she wore when she left home. She sat across from Samantha and the snappy Gryffindor girl she wasn't particularly fond of, and beside Poppy, who had been holding her hand since the moment she had been found, frazzled and stewing in minor distress on the crowded train platform.
Amongst the four girls - a member from each house that embodied either the best, or worst personality trait that one would expect, given their houses - Cressida with bold antagonism, Samantha, frantically trying to figure the best way to keep the situation from boiling over, and Poppy, who kept a calm and caring head while distracting Cordelia, who was close to demonstrating the more cold-blooded traits one would, stereotypically, associate with anybody whose house was depicted with a serpent.
Rather than using the absolutely boorish slew of words that would shock the girls around her and ultimately make her feel worse than she already did, Cordelia bit her tongue, swallowed back every last bitter insult, and held Poppy's hand a little bit tighter
until she was able to get out of the carriage and flee to the hopefully deserted washroom nearest to the entry hall - so she could pacify herself in peace alongside some toilets and leaking faucets.
Before she left the comfort of her empty dormitory, she took one last look in the mirror, which, thankfully for her, had no quips about her appearance. She brushed a few loose waves behind her ear and stared at herself long and hard, hoping that the slight puffiness beneath her eyes was something only she could notice, and the rosy, thin line of a another permanent blemish that sat just beneath her hairline would remain covered by auburn wisps of hair.
Then, she smiled - teeth, no teeth, perky, plump cheeks with her eyebrows raised like she had seen a basket full of kittens, and then a cheeky little grin just for good measure - but it effortlessly deflated when she realized that even she couldn't find her expression of false joy convincing. By the time she was done fidgeting with the last minor details of her appearance and finally deciding it was time to leave, the last of her housemates were already gone, bound for the feast and festivities that would soon be taking place.
It wasn't often that she got to spend time in the common room while it was still - in fact, she never spent much time in the common room at all.
So for those fine and few seconds she stood still, taking in the silence and knowing that those were the last moments of true peace she would know - and they were shorter than she thought.
Behind her, coming from the hallway that led to the wizards dormitories, there was a loud, heavy slam, and the faint hint of a crimson glow reflecting off the walls that disappeared just as quickly as Sebastian came powering around the bend.
He barely looked up as he walked, lumbering his way towards the stairs in order to put some distance between what she could only assume was something to do with Ominis.
"...your hair is gone." Sebastian slowed as he came closer, and despite his grouchy demeanor, was still able to crack out what she assumed was a joke. "I almost didn't recognize you. I never thought I'd see the day where you would part with your braid."
She reached up instinctively, her fingers grazing against the ends of her noticeably-shortened hair instead of wrapping around a thick braid that at one point, not too long ago, kept her curls contained.
"I did it on a whim." she humorlessly chuckled as she fell into a slow gait that matched up perfectly with his.
"Never mentioned that in your letters," he added, gesturing for her to head up the stairs before him. "It doesn't look half bad."
She was grateful that in the eyes of another, she didn't come off as unkempt or unsightly. But, she was hesitant to extend her thanks, knowing the night that she made the hasty decision to chop her braid with a pair of rusted shears she had stolen from the kitchen was a night she spent crying in her room over something that she couldn't even remember.
Almost immediately did she notice that she wasn't the only one whose appearance had undergone a transformation over the summer months. Wanting to make sure she wasn't imagining his loss of weight - or the, for a lack of a better word, gaunt circles beneath his eyes and the exceptionally noticeable hollows of his once-full cheeks, she continued to steal quick glances out of the corner of her eye as they walked up the stairs until their pace came to a crawl. She considered bringing up his letters, and asking him for some sort of proof of the 'alright' summer he had written of - because it was obvious that he hadn't been fully honest with her. But, for both his sake and hers, she didn't go digging for answers or prodding around, and simply accepted his 'compliment'.
"Thanks." she said, half-heartedly. "Where are you off too in such a hurry?"
"Anywhere but here." he groaned.
"Want to come with me to the courtyard then? I was on my way to watch the first years sail in."
"I don't see why not." he shrugged. "The idea of sitting around and waiting for the ceremony to begin didn't sound appealing to begin with. You know, I wasn't expecting to catch you down here. Usually, everybody is in the Great Hall by now. Tell me, how was your first ride on the Hogwarts Express?"
Cordelia shrugged. "I suppose it could have been better. It was very cramped and loud, and I had to sit with a bunch of first years—"
"I thought you arranged to sit with Poppy."
"Well, I did, but..." in that split second she decided that the last thing she wanted to do was speak on her earlier misfortunes. "I couldn't find her."
Sebastian swiftly hummed in response. "What about Natty? The two of you are close."
"She arrives alongside her mother."
He then nodded, and looked back over his shoulder as if he were checking for something, or rather, someone behind him. "And Ominis?" his tone had dropped as asked. "Did you see him?"
"I didn't, but I assume you did."
Sebastian scoffed. "What gave it away?"
"Well, if it wasn't for seeing the glow from his wand in the tunnel, I'd say it was from that notch in your bushy eyebrows—" she said, squinting her eyes and twirling her finger in a tight little circle.
"They are not bushy—"
"...and..." she said, drawling the out the word "...that scowl you've been wearing since we left the common room."
He turned his head down to her with his eyes rolling and nostrils flaring as he took that sharp breath. "You'd feel the same way if you had to share a room with a backstabbing traitor for the next year."
It was a vile and weighted word, one that he didn't use lightly to describe the boy he, at one point, considered his dearest friend.
Traitor.
Though his voice didn't crack when he used it, nor did he stutter or bat an eye, there was still a lingering ache in his voice that made itself apparent when he thought of how somebody he had known for most of his young life was so quick to try and throw him to the wolves within the Ministry...and that it was something he wouldn't soon forget.
Between them, the silence remained as they reached the apex of the stairs and crossed through the serpentine door and into the threshold of the chilly corridor, which was nearly empty, save for a few straggling Slytherins who hadn't made it out of the dungeons, and Professor Weasley. She had just reached to the bottom of the stairs, with her hands clasped at her front and donning a warm smile as she approached both Sebastian and Cordelia, the latter of whom she had her sights set on.
"Miss Blevine, Mister Sallow," Professor Weasley's cheerfully-squinted eyes flicked between the pair as she spoke. "I trust that the two of you enjoyed your summer holiday?"
If stagnancy as a response wasn't telling enough, Cordelia's unsure droning and Sebastian's delayed and curt 'Yes' told the Deputy Headmistress all she needed to know. She sighed an unfortunate sigh, and shook off whatever it was that anybody in her position would have wanted to say, and instead, she turned back to Cordelia.
"I'd like to have a word with you, Miss Blevine. I won't keep you long." she said softly, never once dropping the friendly demeanor she was known for.
Cordelia then directed her gaze back to Sebastian, who was already watching her.
"I...suppose." she said quietly as Sebastian waved her off with a loose hand and a smirk, then headed on his way.
Before walking with Professor Weasley and thinking too much into how her silly little plans to watch the first years sail across the lake had just been ruined, she sighed to herself. The schoolyear hadn't even begun and she was already the object of the faculty eye.
"What is this about, Professor?" Cordelia asked.
Professor Weasley raised her eyebrows as she spoke. "Actually, it's a few things, Miss Blevine. Namely, let's call them 'concerns'. Now, before we get ahead of ourselves..." Professor Weasley said calmly in order to help quell the sudden, doom-stricken look on Cordelia's face, and to keep any students they passed from eavesdropping in on their little chat, "There isn't anything you need bother yourself with at this moment, but, the other Professors, and myself, have all agreed..."
Cordelia was sure she could feel her heart cease to beat as Professor Weasley built up to whatever it was that she, clearly, didn't want to hear - and she sighed. The start of term hadn't even begun, and there she was, stuck in the middle of the hall, with the Deputy Headmistress holding her back and reminding her she wasn't allowed to be average.
"That it would be best if you started coming into my office, weekly, for a meeting, of sorts."
"Meetings?" her lip contorted and her nose wrinkled up. "I...don't understand, Professor, I haven't done anything-"
"You haven't, Cordelia." Professor Weasley reassured her. "It's more the matter of, well, your well-being."
To that, Cordelia didn't respond.
"The other Professors and I think it would be in your best interest if you came by my office so we can make sure things are alright. That you're alright." She immediately took notice of how Cordelia's face turned to stone, seemingly becoming unresponsive to her words while she kept her eyes locked dead-ahead as they walked. "You and I both know that your time at Hogwarts has been spent much, much differently than that of your classmates. It isn't every day that somebody with a gift such as yours..."
Cordelia tensed up at the mere mention of her 'gift', which, to her, wasn't a gift at all - instead, a curse. A wicked curse that brought nothing but despair and destruction, and other things, worse things, her way.
But Professor Weasley didn't seem to care. She paid not attention how Cordelia had the ends of her robe sleeves tucked into her tightly-balled fists, or how she kept tapping her knuckles together with arms held up to her chest. Instead, the older, and in Cordelia's opinion, not much wiser witch only cared to go on about Cordelia's barely-passing O.W.L.s from the school year before.
"I'll see you in my office next Tuesday, after your Advanced Potions class. I'll inform Professor Sharp about our arrangement. How does that sound?"
'Absolutely fucking dreadful' she thought to herself, but, she mustered up the energy to answer without so much as a hint of attitude.
"Tuesday, after Potions."
She still wasn't sure of the etiquette surrounding the Start of Term Feast. The classmates that spanned the length of the table, in between her and the podium at the other end of the hall, all had been picking at food from the spread before them...meanwhile, Sebastian, who sat across the table from her, with his back turned to the other three houses, had his gaudy, golden plate filled with a hefty share of meat and potatoes and gravy, and the precious metal beneath it all could barely be seen.
"So..." there was little room left for words with the amount of food Sebastian was shoveling into his mouth. "She wants to meet with you weekly? Whatever for?"
Cordelia began to swirl the tin cup full of pumpkin juice that was too tart for her liking in front of her before taking another swig. Just as she shrugged her shoulders, cheers erupted from across the hall as a young girl hopped off the stool on the center of the stage, and bounced her way towards the Hufflepuff table.
"She wants to keep an eye on me," she grumbled, both at her annoyance with the professor, and the bitterness of her drink. "She made me miss out on the first years sailing in just so she could tell me that I practically failed my O.W.L.s and that her and the other professors now know what's best for me!"
The lot of them all sat at their half-rounded table, applauding each student that was sorted while smiling amongst themselves and nodding approvingly. Professor Ronen clapped joyfully when a young boy took his seat at the Slytherin table, and Professor Shah, through less theatrically, did the same when a young girl was sorted into Ravenclaw. Even Professor Garlick, and another older, more portly woman that Cordelia didn't recognize clapped when not one, but two students took their seats at the Gryffindor table.
"I didn't realize you needed a nanny." The corner of Sebastian's lip curled just before he tore into the crispy skin of his second leg of turkey that evening. Like some sort of starved animal, he bit into the meat and tucked it into the side of his mouth before he spoke, not bothering to exhibit any manners. "What's got Professor Weasley taking such a special interest in you this time?"
Cordelia looked at him in disgust, her eyes rolling as she mindlessly picked up her fork. "Your question couldn't wait until after you finished chewing? You're acting as if you haven't eaten at all, Sebastian. Have you eaten?"
He paused before he answered, his own eyes flicking away and looking back down at the spread of food before him - but just before he could spit out his response, the enormous doors to the hall cracked open, grabbing Cordelia's attention in an instant. Amongst the cheers and overall noise, there was far too much commotion for anybody to notice any latecomers to the ceremony, which allowed for one person, in specific, to slither his way into the feast practically undetected.
She watched as Ominis silently walked down the aisle behind Sebastian towards the middle of the table, almost as if he knew that his former friends were sitting in the spot they had claimed the year before.
"He didn't speak, or write to me the entire summer, you know. Neither him, nor Anne." He wiped his hands on the linen napkin he had kept next to his plate, then wadded it up and tossed on the table.
"But he spoke to you earlier?" Cordelia asked. "You never did tell me what about..."
His brows furrowed as he glanced down the length of the table, the familiar red glow of Ominis' wand disappearing entirely as he tucked it into his robe.
Just as Sebastian went to speak, Professor Weasley took to the lectern, and cleared her throat in order to gather the attention of the rambunctious student body. Cordelia's attention was on her - or, at least she tried her best - it was nearly impossible to listen to both her announcements, and Sebastian making a silly remark about 'Nanny Weasley'.
She started off with giving the students, both new and old, well-wishes for the year ahead before stepping to the side and gesturing towards the end of the faculty table.
"Who is that?" Sebastian asked. "A new professor?"
"I'm...not sure." Cordelia muttered.
The older woman next to Professor Garlick stood from her seat and waved both of her hands, wearing a jovial smile that stretched to her ears and could be seen from across the hall, just as clearly as the eccentric robes and incredibly decorative hat she was wearing.
"I'd like to introduce the newest member of our staff, Professor Greytwig, who will be taking over as Professor of Magical Theory." Professor Weasley said, smiling genially.
The hall erupted into cheers once more, giving the new professor the warmest of welcomes, which, Cordelia was sure the woman deserved - but, she didn't bother to partake in the cheering or clapping. She didn't bother to even smile, or continue to look towards the stage where Professor Weasley was finishing up her well wishes for the year ahead, and certainly not bothering to listen to anything the blowhard of a Headmaster had to say when he took the lectern over.
Instead, Cordelia put down the fork she'd been holding idly for minutes, and pushed her plate away. She was no longer hungry.