A Child Of Darkness : A Draco Malfoy fanfic

02 - Enemies and Friends?

Eleanora glanced at the table to her right as she walked out of the hall.
Students in yellow ties turned to look at her and while some faces held small smiles, the rest looked upon her with doubt.

The girl averted her gaze, bringing her hands closer to her. Eleanora picked on her fingers as she followed the students out of the hall.

Gryffindor?

She had been perfectly sure Marcus's blood running through her veins would undoubtedly put her in slytherin. While under the hat she had been praying for it to not be the case and just maybe it had listened to her.
And while Hufflepuff had been her next certain option, Eleonora wasn't all surprised she hadn't gotten into it.
Her mother had spoken so much of the house and quite frankly, 11 year old Eleonora would have looked forward to it.
But with the way things were now, she hardly had the personality or the qualities to be sorted into Hufflepuff.

And Gryffindor couldn't possibly be any worse.
She hoped.

Eleonara tucked her dark black hair behind her ears, wondering behind the group of first years as they were given directions by the prefects.

The students kept a fair distance away from her. While most of them had smiled, others merely glanced away. And Eleonora was quite glad it hadn't escalated to more than that.

Eleonora marvelled at the sight before her as she climbed stairs that would change right before her.
She had spent some time in the muggle world and they could only dream of things that she had found here.

The prefect motioned them to stop as he stood facing a portrait of a woman.
Like all portraits, she moved and acknowledged them. The boy stated a password and a door swung back, revealing a brightly lit room.

The common room. It is what she had heard the first years talk about.

Moving into the large room, it was warm and cosy. Atleast it was, until several eyes turned in her direction.

Any welcoming feeling from the room was lost so quickly and Eleonara's gaze fell instantly.

She walked around the crowd of first years, looking at the fireplace, then at the study tables, the stuffed armchairs and repeated the cycle all over again until she was at the opposite side of the room.

The silence was deafening and Eleonara glanced back at the crowd. Some turned their gaze away from her immediately while others smiled softly.

The different responses were growing rather tiring and it had only been a day since she had arrived. Eleonora didn't know if she was welcomed or if they were looking for a chance to chuck her out the tower window.

Fawley bit her lip and turned away from the crowd of strangers.

There were two staircases leading off from the common room into the Tower itself.
And noting a girl standing still in a certain staircase, Fawley assumed it led to the girls' dormitories.

If she was even going in the right direction, she didn't know but she climbed up the winding staircase and up the tower. She could hear excited voices echo up the stairs as the first years gushed at everything they laid eyes on.

Eleonora eventually found the rooms for the third years and walked into her designated dorm.
Just like it had been in the common room, there was plenty of gold in the dormitory and Eleonora didn't exactly hate it.

Although, she could see herself getting sick of the same red and gold on every nook and corner.

Her suitcase was already beside her bed. Walking towards the window, she could see other towers of the school; down below, students walked across the yard in groups.

Eleonora stuffed her hand in her pocket, pulling out a chicken leg she had snuck in during dinner.

Chucking it into a cage as the owl in it rattled impatiently against it, Eleonora tutted.
"I will let you out only if you promise to behave, Hermes".

She eyed the Eagle owl as it shoved down the piece of meat, his beady eyes looking to her expectantly once done.

"Get out of here", she chuckled. She pulled open the door and the owl wasted no time in flying out the window.

Eleonara watched him fly away and she could only hope that the owl she had only known for two weeks would return.

Fawley pulled off her shoes, glancing at the three other beds in the room.
As if going to Hogwarts wasn't as bad enough as it was, Eleonara had to share the room with three others.

And if they were to be anything like some she had already run into in the great hall and corridors, she'd be flipping herself out of the window on her own very soon.

The door pushed open with a bang, the girl's curly hair showing up before she even did.
The girl paused at the sight of Eleonora, visibly tensing at the door.

Fawley did the girl a favour and looked away, unlocking her suitcase to unpack. She could hear the soft footsteps of the girl making her way across the room and Eleonora paid no heed to it.

Fawley glanced at the girl, who then averted her gaze, her curls swishing wildly at the motion.

"Hello". A second girl walked through the door, her face lighting up in a smile.

"Well, you must be joining us then". The girl let her thick hair loose, sighing at the comfort she felt with loosening her braids.

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm Parvati Patil", the girl introduced herself as she plopped down on her bed.

Eleonora nodded her head and smiled gratefully at Parvati.
She instinctly turned to the other girl in the room and found her already staring at Fawley.

Eleonora noted the hesitance in her gaze but the girl smiled slightly as she spoke.
"Hermione Granger".

"Eleonora Fawley".
The girl huffed as she picked up a bag and dumped it onto her bed.
The two girls smiled as the weight almost threatened to topple Eleonora over.

"That's a pretty name", Parvati complimented. She dragged her suitcase across the room to the wall, sighing loudly when she was done.

"Also Lavender will be here soon. She's just downstairs. She's sharing the room with us".

Eleonora smiled at the compliment and nodded, glancing one final time at the two before resuming to unpack her bags.

Her experience in Hogwarts so far had been good. It hadn't been very long since she had left France and left the comfort she had felt with no one knowing who she was.

Eleonora previously had no intention of moving back to England but circumstances had brought her here. And she had feared the worst.

It had only been one day but atleast she had roommates that did not see her as a banshee. Although the recurring short glances of doubt from the bushy haired girl was rather uncomfortable.

Ofcourse. It was only a matter of time before everything came out and her room mates would begin ostracizing her but until then, she would rather try keeping things the way they were.