Circi | 2

EIGHT

"What kind of mother..."

February 1994, 2 months later

Circi slept well into the new year, often drifting off to sleep with her mother's scarf around her neck.

When the rest of Hogwarts returned from their holiday, she was nervous, at first, that the girls in her dorm would find it, question it, maybe even destroy it. Instead, however, they simply greeted her with a smile and even presented gifts of sweets. A box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, a handful of Chocolate Frogs and a tub of homemade fudge. They all admitted that they were gifts they had received from distant family but had all decided to put a pool together for Circi. The gesture was sweet and warmed Circi's heart and put her at ease among them. Sure, the others had known each other longer, but they were stuck with each other for seven years.

At the welcoming feast, they were warned once again about the dementors guarding the grounds and, at one point, Leslie had commented on Circi's fading circles under her eyes. This had spurred Isabell to lean over and reprimand him, warning him not to comment on a girl's looks. This interjection baffled the two first-years, who had not really spoken to Isabell nor bothered to think about her much, but she seemed desperate to get to know them.

Further, up the table, over Isabell's shoulder, Circi spotted Draco chatting animatedly to Carmen Breckinridge where their year groups joined together. Carmen looked statue-esque in front of Draco's wild arm movements, but she smiled none-the-less and let him speak, scooping peas and carrots into her mouth. For a moment, Circi felt a spark of jealousy at the sight- she wanted to talk to Carmen Breckinridge.

Herbology class was slow. The students weren't necessarily thrilled at the prospect of Professor Sprout lecturing them for an hour. But, about halfway through the lesson, the Professor instructed the students out of the classroom and led them into the courtyard between the greenhouses. She instructed the students with long hair to tie their hair back before going into detail about the fire making charm.

Circi clawed her hair into a low ponytail, focusing on what the Professor had to say rather than how she looked. Her wand was poised after repeating the incantation several times, and she waited for her turn on the dummy.

"Your hair would look really pretty in plaits." Turning around, accidentally bumping the student in front of her, Circi came face to face with the Gryffindor student only ever referred to, in class, as Crane.

"Sorry?" Crane smiled, picking up the limp ponytail before dropping it.

"Your hair, it would look good like this," she pointed to her own hair which had been split into two braids, a style she had conveniently decided on earlier that morning. Circi's eyebrows knitted together.

"Oh, well, I'm sure it would but I don't know how to do that?"

"You don't know how?" Crane's mouth hung agape, unsure of how to process the information. "Well, that's not good enough, I'll teach you?"

"What?" Before Circi could receive her answer, Professor Sprout called her name, and she had no choice but to step up to the dummy. Flicking her wrist as she spoke, she called out "Incendio!" and watched as flames shot from her wand and licked at the dummy before disappearing.

The rest of the lesson passed with Leslie sharing dirty looks with Mica while Circi did her best while balancing two different conversations between them and casting the charm when her turn arrived. By the end of the lesson, and the beginning of lunch, she was exhausted. She left Leslie to walk to lunch by himself and accepted Mica's invitation to wait awhile.

When Circi finally found her way to the Slytherin benches, her hair was up in two neat braids and both Leslie and Isabell were watching her through narrowed eyes.