Bonded by Evil [COMPLETED STORY]

chapter three

First day of Christmas Holidays
Alora Slater POV

"Are you sure you don't want to go home? There's still time to pack your things, we can-"

"I haven't gone home since my first year, I don't plan on going now. Seriously, get out of here, you're going to be late."

Pansy smiled at me once more before dragging her things out the door and closing it behind her. It was almost noon, which was when the train was boarding. I always felt awful the day everyone went home, so I crawled back into bed and pulled the blankets over me. The sick feeling in my stomach made it impossible to sleep, so I laid there, staring at the ceiling.

What I said was true, I hadn't gone home for Christmas since my first year. Adrian usually told me not to, but I also didn't want to be anywhere near my mother. She was awful during the holidays and a real menace to be around. Hogwarts was calm and quiet during the holidays, and I was the only Slytherin who every stayed behind. I had the whole common room to myself and there were very few others in the rest of the castle.

It wasn't as bad as it seemed either. I wasn't miserable about staying. I liked it here, more than my own house most of the time. It's a shame though, I haven't seen Adrian since the summer after my third year. He was in France all of last summer and now I won't be seeing him until June. Maybe I could send him an owl to convince him to sneak away from our mother for a few hours.
-
When I woke up, it was around dusk. The sky was cloudy and it was getting dark quickly, the days were nearly nonexistent. I don't even remember when I fell asleep, or even when the sick feeling went away. The bed was warm, but I knew I had to get up soon or I wouldn't sleep all night. The rest of the room was incredibly cold, so I threw on a jumper and a hat.

There wasn't much for me do today, I didn't want to waste all my homework on the first night. I had to make Snape's Potions homework last for two weeks, my other teachers didn't assign much. They actually cared for the students, you see. I never really understood why Snape hated me but favoured Draco, he wasn't good for much.

I paced around the room a few times, trying to get my blood flowing better. My sneakers were not doing an excellent job at keeping my toes warm, so I jammed my feet into a pair of boots instead. There was no effective way to get warmed up in the dormitories, for the only fireplace was in the common room. I figured it was safe to go down there, everyone should definitely be gone by now.

The entire place was silent except for my footsteps through the room across the floor. The logs in the fireplace were waiting to be burned, so I set them ablaze with a wave of my wand and a simple incantation. A crackling noise filled the room to break the silence a bit, it was nice. I needed to find some things to do over this break or I would go mad.

The entire common room was pitch black except for the fire that glowed in front of me. I wasn't sure what time it was or how long I had been down here, but surely it was getting time to head back up to bed. I've been sleeping all day so obviously I wasn't tired, but there wasn't much else I could do. If I was caught out of bed this late Filch and his wretched cat would have my head.

Eventually I decided to write to Adrian, just to make sure he's doing alright. He spent Christmas at home with our mother every year and I'm honestly surprised he hasn't gone mad. I grabbed some parchment and a quill from my bag, there was ink in the common room for anyone to use.
-
Adrian,

Merry Christmas, it's been so long since I've seen you. I hope everything is alright at home, I know it's only the first night but we both know how mother can get. She doesn't deserve you.

There has to be some way I can see you, there's so much you have to tell me. How was France? How is school? Over a year is far too long to go without speaking, writing just isn't the same. Maybe we can meet in Hogsmeade one day, surely you can sneak away for a couple of hours.

It's quiet here at the castle, but we could all use some quiet every now and then. Please write soon, I miss you, Adrian.

From Lora
-
I folded the letter up gently, being careful not to smudge the ink. My owl was up in my dorm, but it was so warm down here, it would just have to wait until later. The flames were slowly dying out but it wasn't worth relighting them. I would have to go up sooner or later, and the sooner I went the sooner I could send the letter.

I sighed quietly and stood up, grabbing my things and stuffing them into the pocket of my jumper. My father had bought it for me for my birthday in my first year, surprisingly it still fit. Part of that was me enchanting it to grow a little bigger each year, but that wasn't important. It was dark green, knitted, he was so happy when I got sorted into Slytherin.

Before I could spiral, I swallowed hard and headed for the dormitory stairs. They were dark, apparently I had forgotten to turn the lights on. I raised my wand to whisper a spell to light the tip of it, but someone beat me to it.