PRETENDING TO LIVE~ {The Lestrange Daughter #2}

𝟐𝟖. Welcome

Valentine's eyelids snapped open as she woke with a start, her head coming up off the pillow slightly. She hadn't dreamt at all since Dumbledore had removed the parasite and for a second the horrifying thought filled her mind that it was somehow back.

She sighed, letting her head relax back into the pillow, pressing a hand over her eyes.

Calm down. You saw it yourself and you sure as hell felt it.

The dream she'd just woken from was nothing but a jumbled blur. She couldn't place any faces or names or locations though she was certain she'd had some kind of dream.

She let her fingertips wander over her temple, where the small scar was partly hidden in her hairline, the proof that it had happened at all.

Dreaming is an everyday occurrence that everyone experiences. I've just had that other bizarre dream for so long that I forgot what it was like to have them as a normal person would.

Unlike the dreams brought on by the parasite, which were always clear and simple reminders of things she'd already lived through, this dream was nothing but a faint imprint of a time and a place, somewhere with someone. Simple and inconsequential.

As long as it's not trying to kill me I have no quarrels with it.

Valentine turned her head to see Leah, lying dead asleep in her bed, buried under her mountain of stuffed animals. She figured it must have still been early as Leah was a morning person and she had no problem rising with the sun every day. Valentine knew Blaze to be the opposite and could only imagine the friction that must have caused while the two had spent time together over the summer.

She sat up slowly, rubbing at her eyes. She stretched her arms over her head, feeling something pop satisfyingly along her spine. After several nights of sleeping on Snape's hardwood floor, it was inevitable that her body would eventually have had enough.

She threw back the blanket and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Today was officially the beginning of the school year as classes would start right after breakfast. Valentine had Defence Against the Dark Arts during the second period. She wasn't sure whether she was eager to get it over with or wanted it to never arrive.

-----Pretending to Hate-----

Valentine and her friends took seats at the back of the class as they typically would. Draco and Valentine sat together in the very last seats, Leah and Blaze right in front of them, while Liam sat just to the left of Leah beside Meriton Hasani.

The class was still reasonably rowdy. It was still early enough for the morning people to be bright and full of energy, yet late enough that everyone else was fully awake and present. This naturally meant that Leah- a morning person- was already deep into prodding at her boyfriend's patience and Draco- not a morning person- already wanted very much for the day to be over.

"My mother said that she works for the Ministry."

These words caught Valentine's attention and she leaned slightly into the aisle to see Anna Henley and Chloe Connelly sitting close to the front together, talking just loud enough to be heard over the chatter by her keen ears.

"She's the Minister's Undersecretary." said Chloe.

"Seriously?" Valentine could hear the frown in Anna's voices. "Why would someone so important want to teach at Hogwarts?"

"I don't- woah!" Chloe ducked suddenly and laughed as a paper bird flew and dipped down close to her.

The bird had been charmed to float about the room with a flap of its wings. The students watched it giddily.