The Bug Collector | marauders

Common Emerald Moth

"Evan Rosier"

Rose overheard an older Slytherin boy introduce himself to Regulus. He seemed to already know a few of them, she didn't catch the names of most but there was one, once again older, black haired boy who she thought she heard get called Barty. She figured if someone named Barty could be a Slytherin so could she. Though, like most of them from what she had gathered, this Barty was a pureblood. Rose had already decided it was best to keep her blood status to herself, though it would eventually be asked about.

At this time Rose took one final look at her sister at the Gryffindor table, who gave a reassuring smile. She finally sat down at her own table as the sorting hat finished with it's final student. Now that sorting the first years was concluded a man with the longest beard she had ever seen stepped forward and got everyone's attention, he made a short speech about what to expect and what not to do. His speech ended with "Let the feast begin".

Food seemed to appear before their eyes, filling all the empty plates that lined the tables of the great hall. Rose grabbed for some baked apples at the same time as the girl sitting next to her, also a first year. The girl had a creamy dark complexion and curly black hair. Her eyes were big, brown, and bright. She moved her hand and let the girl add some of the apples to her plate and took the opportunity to introduce herself, first name only.

"They look really good. I'm Rose." She said with as inviting of a smile she could. Now adding some to her own plate.

"Odette Meadows"

Odette Meadows had to be the prettiest name Rose had ever heard.

"May I call you Ode?"

"Oh I love that! It sounds so...Ravenclaw!"

The girls shared a laugh at that, perhaps Rose was not the only one feeling unsure of where that dusty old hat had put her. She didn't feel like a Slytherin from what she had seen of them up to this point but she also didn't seem to fit in any of the other houses either.

"So do you like baked apples because you like apples or because you like cinnamon?" Odette asked.

"Cinnamon! How'd you know?" Rose took a bite then continued. "I add cinnamon to my tea every morning, black tea with honey and cinnamon. You'll get use to the smell in the morning."

The girls finished their dinner along with the rest of the students. Rose waved a goodbye to Regulus as she and the other first year girls got up and followed their prefect past the common room to the female dorms.

The dorms were in fact under the lake, and under the castle, the Slytherin dorms were in the dungeons. The girls dormitory held their beds, each with green silk curtains that could be shut for privacy. There were silver lanterns throughout the room and tapestries on the walls as well as many snake emblems. A slight green hue came from the windows and the room felt cold. The soft sounds of fire from the common room and the lake moving against the windows would surely make sleep rather easy in these rooms. She noticed there wasn't much of a smell to the dorms.

Their luggage had already been placed beside their respective beds along with their uniform for the coming day. It looked as if there was going to be four girls in this room. The other two seemed content enough talking amongst themselves without paying Rose or Ode any mind so they both began to unpack silently.

Rose started by taking the card from the chocolate frog she had gotten on the train out of her pocket and placing it on the the stand next to her bed. She looked at the card for a moment and wondered if Herpo the Foul would have been a Slytherin— if that was a thing in Ancient Greece.

She then began to unpack her bags, placing things like clothes and toiletries in their appropriate places before getting to her more personal items like her small travel-friendly house plants or other trinkets.

The sorting hat was right, she was horrible at keeping plants alive so half of them were fake but she liked the way they looked and it brought some life to the dreary room. She had started with all live plants, slowly she would replace the dead ones with fake ones, she felt that eventually she would be unpacking all fake plants. They were green but a brighter green than her surroundings and it made her feel lighter and more at home. She also placed several candles of varying sizes on her bedside table to give some warm light, she was sure that when lit the light would bounce across the silk of her bed curtains beautifully. Lastly she placed another item the sorting hat had mentioned on her nightstand, a dried moth in a glass frame. It was a common emerald moth, and not very large. The hat had said she collected butterflies, which was only half true. She found the preserved bugs to be very pretty and it reminded her of how they frightened Lily.  At home if Lily or Petunia were to spot an insect and their mother wasn't home it was Rose who would scoop up the poor creature and set it free. The little things we do for the people we love. She would never harm the bugs, there was no need for that, nothing to gain. She had come across this specific preserved bug while visiting a museum with her family, it's frame was smoother then, it sat perfectly in the gift shop. She took care of it but time had dulled the wood a bit.

Once she had finished unpacking and flopped down onto her bed Odette spoke to her from across the room on her own bed, she had finished unpacking her things a little while earlier.

"You said your name was Rose? What about your surname?"

"Evans, I'm Rose Evans." Rose said, a bit nervous how the girl might react if she somehow knew of her blood status.

"Evans...that sounds so familiar! You wouldn't happen to have an older sister in Gryffindor would you? Lily Evans?"

She knew Lily? Does this mean she wouldn't mind?

"Yeah, that's my sister. Last year was her first year."

"Really?! I have an older sister in Gryffindor too! In your sister's year, her name is Dorcas!"

Rose got up from her own bed and walked up to Ode's, waiting there a moment before Ode invited her to sit with her.

"We both have sisters in Gryffindor, a boy who- I think is my friend has a brother there as well, all in the same year, we should visit them! Or prank them! We should prank our sisters!"

Rose was shushed simultaneously by both the other two girls, one also mumbled something about how they shouldn't visit second year Gryffindors. Rose apologized as she was being rather loud, and spoke quieter. She also knew the remark was in the girl's own interest as well. Apparently each house can gain points throughout the year, or lose points, based on things the individuals within the houses did. If they were to get in trouble for any reason the whole house suffered not only them.

"We could turn their hair green, or maybe their ties- that would be less hurtful."

"But how would we even do that? We don't really know much magic yet."

"We don't need magic, decent sneaking skills and some muggle food dye should do the trick!" She whisper yelled.