Life After Death - An Erica Black Continuation (4)

Eleven

Charlotte Black was a first year Gryffindor student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her mother was the newly appointed History of Magic teacher and her twin sister, only older by 23 minutes, was sorted into Ravenclaw.
It had only been a few weeks since their first term had begun and already she knew almost everyone in their year and had blown up a cauldron in the potions classroom.

She left the first year girl, Gryffindor dormitories, her ebony hair like a waterfall, straight down her back without a single kink or curl. Her tie loose around her neck, the top button of her white shirt undone, black skinny jeans and her grey, V-necked jumper crumpled and entered the great hall, her eyes immediately locking on her mother's. Erica's bright smile greeted her daughter warmly each morning, a smile that she couldn't help but return. Once she'd taken her seat, she scanned the rows of student in search of her sister...
There she was, the spitting image of their mother: her inky ringlets up in an intricate bun woven around her wand effortlessly, her uniform almost perfect, her skirt to her knees, her grey cardigan over her white shirt. Unlike her twin, Willow had brought her robes down and was wearing them. She smiled into the open pages of her book, exposing the deep dimples beneath the freckles that dusted both the twins cheeks. Sometimes Lottie found herself wishing she could look like her sister because despite their physical differences being few and far between, she had always seen Willow as the prettier twin.

She pulled out her wand to summon the text books she'd forgotten in her dorm earlier that morning. At the time of getting her wand, she had paid little to no attention to Ollivander's words, her excitement roaring in her ears too loudly but afterwards, Willow had been sure to tell her repeatedly what her wand was made of. Each time the topic had arose, Lottie rolled her eyes more and more animatedly until it almost hurt and all in vain as much to her distaste; the information had wormed its way into her memory. Staring down at the 9 ¾ inches of Walnut wood and dragon heartstring in her hand, she gave it an absentminded swish, admiring it's unbending flexibility.

Cramming the books into her bag and a slice of toast in her mouth, she stood at the sound of the clock tower and began walking at a leisurely pace, watching her peers rush around her.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Black" a tall professor with almost white blond hair sighed as she slinked into his classroom ten minutes after the bell had rung.
"Professor Malfoy" she nodded with an uninterested look. The man supressed an eye roll as the student took her seat, he hated how deeply the girl reminded him of himself at her age.
"Anyway! Today first years, we will be covering the Verdimillious Charm"

"Can we go to the Library Lottie?" asked her twin again causing her to sigh in exasperation
"Fine! Honestly Will, what do you like so much about that place? It smells of... old" she wrinkled her nose in disgust almost as if she could already smell it. Willow laughed at her sister,
"Old? Really Lotts? It smells of... Old?" she giggled disbelievingly, "Old isn't even a smell- what does 'old' even smell like?"
"Hogwarts Library- obviously" she joined her sisters laughter, rolling her bottle-green eyes playfully.
The Black twins headed deeper into the castle towards the library. They found a small table and Lottie watched as her sister pulled out a notebook from her bag, one she had never seen before.
"What's in there then Wills?" she asked casually, her interest momentarily grabbed. That moment ended abruptly however, upon her twin's reply.
"I wrote to Mr Ollivander a few weeks back asking for more information on wand-lore, he sent me back a few pages of notes and asked that once I'm done I send them back along with any questions I may have, isn't that exciting?"
"compelling" she replied, her voice thick with sarcasm, her face offering only a bored smile to soften the blow.
"That doesn't explain the notebook though" she continued, noticing her sister's face drop and feeling a small pang of guilt.
Once again, the elder girl perked up, pulling her wand from her hair, allowing the ringlets to fall around her shoulders as she continued.
"Well, since I can't keep the notes, I thought it only appropriate to make my own, that way I can include any extra information or clarifications he sends back. Hence, the notebook"
"Makes sense" she nods in agreement.
After a moment of silence, Willow coughed awkwardly, avoiding her sister's eye as she continued, "So.... I um, I heard you got in trouble with Professor Malfoy this morning?" Rolling her eyes once again, Lottie glared at her sister.
"Hardly" she scoffed, "He just doesn't like me. I'm telling you Willa"
"mhm," the other girl hums her agreement, "I'm sure he likes you even less when you're tardy and rude Lottie" she grimaced disapprovingly "Oh, why do you always do this Lotts? It's like you can't help yourself..." she sighed.
"I- I don't know Wills... I just get bored, it's like I have a bubble around be and the lesson can't get inside or something! Besides, I can't sit still that long, it's like torture"
"Okay.." her sister reluctantly accepts her explanation, eager to move on. "Do you wanna do some homework?"
"Nah, I'll do it later" Charlotte Black shrugged it off like it was nothing in a way that made her sister's palms sweat anxiously, knowing full well that she would not. For a moment she considered calling her twin out on her procrastination but thinking better of it, she suppressed a frustrated sigh and nodded, pulling out a roll of parchment and a muggle fountain pen.