slytherins do it better

Chapter 19

At the end of the summer Camila was happy to go back to school and start the penultimate year with her friends (except those who have just graduated). 

She met Zendaya, Dinah and Hailee at the station and they said goodbye to their parents before leaving on the Hogwarts Express.

They settled into an empty wagon and Camila immediately noticed that the atmosphere had changed.  Without the other girls to animate the trip it all seemed so strange ... luckily Hailee undertook to keep them busy with burning gossip and unlikely love triangles and the girls ended up leaving that cold atmosphere behind and buying almost the whole cart of sweets.

When they finally arrived at Hogsmeade station and lined up to pick up their bags, Camila looked around for Lauren.  She spotted her in the midst of a group of Slytherins and jumped when their eyes met. Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment, but Lauren smiled softly at her and she went back to talking to Zayn and Normani, who were hugging each other.

With every minute that passed the Gryffindor glanced fleetingly at that raven-haired girl, until they called her for her luggage and she was forced to walk towards the castle. 

Once in the Great Hall, however, she made sure to sit facing the Slytherin table, so that she had a perfect view of what was happening at that table, even though Lauren was facing away from her.

The welcome was over the top and extravagant, like every year, and Camila tried to refrain from staring at that girl all the time, focusing instead on the huge amount of food on the table.

The first year boys had just been sorted and a veil of sadness crossed her face at the thought of her that she would not attend the initiation ceremony the following year.

She also regretfully discovered that Rose Weasley, Hermione Granger's daughter, would only start school two years later and therefore she would not be able to become friends with her and meet her idol. 

She suddenly remembered that she always had a chance to be friends with James Potter, but when she saw the sophomore making fun of the new arrivals, she remembered why she had excluded that one in the first place eventuality.

At the end of the banquet some students stopped in the Great Hall to greet friends of other houses, while the others walked to their dormitories, some to celebrate, others to recover from the long journey. 

Camila and Hailee greeted their friends and escorted the new arrivals to the Gryffindor Tower, slightly annoyed by the behavior of the boys, who stopped every two paces to admire the castle. The journey to the dorms took perhaps an eternity, but Camila did not despair too much, after all she too had been a firstborn and the emotion that Hogwarts transmits the first time you observe it is truly indescribable.

When she was finally released from her duties, she went to celebrate with her fellow Gryffindors until Hailee dragged her to sleep. The friend had just been elected Head Girl and she already was no longer in her skin and she wanted to plan the year in detail. She immediately informed her of the meeting organized for the next day, where they would have to discuss, together with other students, the roster. 

Camila was skeptical of having to get up early the next morning, but she didn't want to disappoint her friend, who was so excited about her first official meeting that she decided not to complain. The next morning, however, she could not help herself and she began to insult the girl, who practically pushed her out of bed to wake her up and drag her to the meeting. 

She stood up reluctantly and before leaving the room she glanced enviously at Dinah and Zendaya who were still huddled under the covers.

She was so tired that she could barely open her eyes and Hailee dragged her down the stairs without her even noticing. She didn't even notice that she had arrived at the meeting and sat right next to the Slytherin, who was watching her with an amused smile.