starstruck || hannah abbott

2 || among friends

Taking their seats in the familiar Great Hall, Anastasia stared up at the ceiling. No moon was present and it was a deep grey all across. The candles floated above like acting stars in place of the real celestial bodies above.

Professor Albus Dumbledore called everyone's attention after the students had settled and commenced with the Sorting Ceremony. The rumpled Sorting Hat recited a poem to welcome back the older students and eventually Professor Minerva McGonagall strode in through vast oak doors with a gaggle of wide-eyed first years in tow. She cleared her throat before unrolling a rather long scroll of all the incoming first years and began calling them up one by one alphabetically.

Anastasia lost interest quickly as she had no siblings or younger friends to anticipate their Sorting. Her mind and eyes were somewhere else: the girl from before. Anastasia carefully scanned the Hufflepuff table until she found what her eyes sought. The same blonde hair and, now, laughing blue eyes shone brightly. She felt captivated. But her moment of joy was cut short when Blaise elbowed her in the ribs. Anastasia turned her attention up to the head table where a chubby little woman decked out in a garish shade of pink was taking center stage.

"Thank you, headmaster, for your kind words of welcome. And how lovely to see all your smiling faces!" She exclaimed to all of Hogwarts with an ugly smile. The woman droned on and on about the importance of a magical education and the Ministry of Magic this and Cornelius Fudge that but Anastasia was mostly astounded that this toad-faced creature was, apparently, taking over Defense Against The Dark Arts. Professor Dumbledore's selection of teachers was seriously lacking.

Not long after her speech, each of the four long tables miraculously conjured up a feast fit for kings. Anastasia picked at her chicken, potatoes, and beans all the while still observing the Hufflepuff from afar. The girl was sandwiched between a tall boy with mousy brown hair and another girl with flaming red hair. The three seemed immersed in a conversation Anastasia could only fathom.

"Ana, hey, Ana!" A voice pulled her away from staring at the golden girl two tables away.

"What? Oh, sorry, Theo," she blinked and turned her attention up to him.

He was fairly tall for his age with thick brown hair and hard brown eyes. His skin was rather pale and he wore an almost constant scowl. The scowl was often replaced with a smirk whenever Anastasia was around which she noticed but never mentioned to him. She knew Theodore had a hard life after his mother died and his father was presumed a Death Eater which was what many fellow Slytherins faced.

"You looked lost," he commented.

"I was. . .I was thinking about my grandparents," she felt flustered and wrong lying to Theodore but she wasn't about to admit out loud that she had been staring at a girl from the Hufflepuff table.

"Are they doing all right?" Tho asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"They're both still very worried about this school being safe enough for me to continue my education after last year," Ana explained.

"It sounds as though that's all your grandparents do," Theo said with that little smirk.

"I'm all they have left after. . ." Her voice faltered as memories bubbled up her throat and she looked down at her plate.

"Understandably so," Theo replied gently. "The same goes for my father."

"How is he doing?" Anastasia asked after a while, again looking up and meeting his brown eyes.

"Tired, last year really did him over," Theo explained.

Anastasia nodded. With Voldemort supposedly back with no proof other than Cedric Diggory's dead body and a hysterical Harry Potter to round out the Triwizard Tournament, all sorts of speculations arose. Theodore's father had been added to a list of people assumed to be Death Eaters which meant he was either on the run or hiding from the Ministry somewhere. Even so, Minister Fudge was ardently denying the Dark Lord's return.

An awkward silence settled between the two as dinner came to an end and Dumbledore ordered everyone to bed. Anastasia caught a few more glimpses of the girl from Hufflepuff before she and her friends descended down the stone stairs to the Slytherin Common Room.

Here, she settled on a black leather couch and went back to thinking about her encounter on the train. Theodore and Blaise sat next her and Pansy sat on Draco's lap in a chair next to them. A greenish glow filled the room from the lake and the stain glass windows giving the room a damp feeling. Anastasia had always loved this room because of how relaxing it was to stare out the windows and be in the company of her friends.

Eventually, everyone grew tired from the long train ride and retired to their respective dormitories. Anastasia unpacked carefully as Tracey Davis, Millicent Bulstrode, and Pansy trickled in to unpack as well. Anastasia had shared a dorm with these three girls since day one of their first year. Tracey was nice enough, Millicent was annoying, and Pansy was awful. It seemed that Millicent and Pansy enjoyed hogging the shared bathroom and gossiping late into the early morning hours. Anastasia and Tracey disliked that about their fellow dorm mates but no form intervention ever helped.

"Hey, Anastasia, have a nice summer?" Tracey inquired politely while they sorted out tomorrow's outfit and organized bedside tables.

"It was all right, my grandparents almost didn't let me come back this year," Ana answered. "How about you?"

"Pretty boring actually, went shopping," came her modest reply.

"Did you see our new Defense Against The Dark Arts professor?" Ana asked ruefully.

"I've never hated anyone so much on sight before," Tracey chuckled.

"It's going to be a rough year for that class and probably every other class too," Ana said.

"Only schedules tomorrow will tell," Tracey exhaled. "Good night, Ana."