Eclipse| Harry Potter fanfiction

6. Hufflepuff? Ew

Athena
EVERY TIME I WOKE UP, my mind was blank, but that day I woke up to the image of Micheal in my head. His soft pink lips curled into a mischievous grin. His tight, bouncy curls gave me a strong urge to run my fingers through them. Wait! I shouldn't have been having such impure thoughts.

I sat up from bed and looked out the window, and the moon was still out. I ran my hands through my hair and groaned in frustration. I couldn't pinpoint exactly why I felt such anger at that moment. Was it because of what mother did Michael? No, it couldn't be; she was just protecting me.

I walked into my bathroom and washed my face with cold water to try and soothe this burning anger. After several splashes on my face, I closed the faucet and stared into the mirror. You are the family's image, mother always said. I didn't see the family's image in the mirror—just a panicking girl. I went back to bed and only concentrated on my breath. In through the noise, out through the mouth. I did that for several minutes until I fell asleep. Sometimes I had panic attacks, but neither Mother nor Father knew about it. I didn't want to be seen as weak in their eyes.

⋆ ⟡ ꙳ ⭑ ⋆

MOTHER, FATHER AND I were at King's Cross, and I was gleaming with excitement. We were at the station twenty minutes before the train's departure because my mother was a firm believer in always arriving early.

One time is always late, Mother constantly told me.

Mother was in a particularly nasty mood, probably because of all the muggles that surrounded us. Both Mother and Father had a firm grip on my shoulder as they directed me to a wall.

Not any wall. The wall. A wall that separated the wizarding world from the muggles. I pushed my trolley through the wall and opened my eyes to a whole new world. The scarlet-red smoke from the noisy train was suffocating. There were loud owl hoots and excessive meows from cats.

"Best we leave now. Your mother and I have work to attend to." I was quite disappointed with their early departure. They had an off day, so what business would they rather be doing than spending their remaining minutes with their only child?

"Here, I got you a going away gift." Father smiled at me and revealed a book in his hands. It was the book I always stole from Father's library. It was a book about flowers. I gave an appreciative smile and contemplated giving him a hug. Kara's don't do hugs, but I made an exception that day because I wouldn't see my father for a long time. I gave him a tight hug. When he released me, he warned me, "When you become Slytherin, make sure to befriend the children that we told you about."

Mother now cupped my face and gave me a rare smile: "Be good, Athena. Very soon, all this will make sense."

They soon left, and my new life began. I packed my trunk into the train and began hunting for any free compartments. Nothing was going well. Energetic first-year students were constantly running around and bumping into me. There weren't any free compartments. No one looked familiar. I knew one of my main tasks was to make friends. I opened a lot of compartments, but there wasn't anyone I recognised.

I swung one of the compartment doors to find a girl sitting all by herself. I was tempted to sit with her because there were no other free compartments. She had a friendly look, and that obviously meant she wasn't in Slytherin. She spotted me, and she said, "Hello, I'm Eloise Hughes."

"Ew," I said. I was disgusted because she was a clear Hufflepuff. I had no business being near a hufflepuff, so I closed the door and continued my hunt. I went all the way to the end of the train, and I gave a sigh of relief when I noticed a particular white-haired boy. exactly how his mother, Narcissa, described him. I slid the door open, and he was seated among three of his friends.