Wherever You Stray, I Follow

Wherever You Stray, I Follow (FULL)

The last words of advice Dmitry's father had given him before he got on the train were, "Be wary of Slytherin house." Trusting his father, Dmitry had taken those words to heart.

He was promptly sorted into Ravenclaw, just like his father before him. His mother was a Muggle, and had died when he was a toddler, so he had know clue what her opinions on Hogwarts houses would be. Dmitry was thrilled to be in Ravenclaw, knowing it would make his father proud. And he heeded his father's advice, avoiding Slytherins at all cost.

His classmates echoed his father's sentiments, telling stories of how Slytherins are evil and elitist. Every dark wizard was a Slytherin, that house was nothing but trouble, best to stay away from them. He heard people talk about how Gryffindors were brash and arrogant, and Hufflepuffs were push-overs. He wondered what the other houses said about Ravenclaw.

Ravenclaw and Slytherin doubled up for Herbology class, much to Dmitry's annoyance. They tended to look down upon his visibly secondhand robes. Herbology was one of Dmitry's least favorite classes already, and having to share it with a bunch of snarky purebloods only made it worse. Dmitry much preferred learning from books, or learning more practical forms of magic. Learning how to take care of magical plants did nothing for him.

One rainy day in October, he accidentally knocked over a pot of fluxweed and the dirt got all over a girl's shoes. He felt his stomach twist when he glanced up at her and saw the green and silver tie. He braced himself for an insult, but instead she laughed and kneeled down beside him to help him clean it up. She had strawberry blonde hair and smelled like flowers. Dmitry got away from her as quickly as he could after cleaning up the fluxweed, and she gave him a curious look as he scrambled off.

He had thought that was that, but then she sat beside him while he was in the library studying Charms the next week. He tensed up, wondering if this was the moment she'd choose to make fun of him, but instead she held out her hand for him to shake and said, "I'm Anastasia, what's your name?"

"Why are you talking to me?" Dmitry asked instead of answering. He was genuinely confused, and a little worried this was the lead up to some sort of prank. She withdrew her hand, but didn't say anything. She just tilted her head at him in confusion. "I'm a half-blood," he said.

Anastasia winced. "I don't care about all of that. We have Herbology together and you're always so quiet, I just wanted to see if you wanted to chat." She looked a little hurt that Dmitry would think that of her, and he felt bad.

But still, a Slytherin. He couldn't quite look past that tie she wore.

"I'm very focused on schoolwork, I don't have time to chat with anyone," he said. It wasn't an excuse, Dmitry took school very seriously. In fact, he hadn't actually made any friends so far. The closest he had were his dormates, who were nice, but they weren't close. "Sorry," he added, noticing her frown.

She didn't try talking to him again, but he couldn't stop thinking about her. Wondering about her.

In his fourth year, Dmitry received a letter from an owl he didn't recognize. Normally, the only person who wrote him was his father, but this was a completely different kind to his father's barn owl. He opened it quickly, and as he read the letter his hands started shaking so much that he knocked over a goblet of pumpkin juice. The sixth year sitting next to him yelped and stood up as the drink seeped onto the scroll she had been reading. Dmitry wasn't paying any attention to this, however, as he had just learned that his father was dead.

He left the Great Hall quickly, not knowing where he was going. He felt a strong need to get out of there and away from people as quickly as possible. He found himself sitting under a tree by the lake, staring out at the water. He could barely remember taking himself there. He still held the letter in hands.