it only hurts this much right now ━✫ sebastian sallow

chapter 1

The First Day

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"Sofiya? ..Sofiya!~"

"Oh, would you hush up? It's too early for this, Samantha..."

Sofiya's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her roommates fading into her ears, causing her brows to furrow slightly in confusion. When her blurry vision came into focus, she found herself face-to-face with one of her roommates, Samantha Dale. The other girl was unusually close to Sofiya's face, causing her to flinch in surprise.

"Samantha!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, Sofiya!" Samantha hopped a few steps back, her hands coming up to cover her lips in surprise, "I sincerely apologize, I did not mean to get so close! I didn't want you to miss breakfast, is all!"

Rising from her sheets, Sofiya gazed around the room. Everyone seemed to still be in bed - all except for Samantha, of course, who was already dressed in her robes and ready for the day. Over the summer, Sofiya nearly forgot what dorm life was like at Hogwarts. She forgot these early mornings when Samantha would wake the girls long before they needed to be up - a habit she developed from living with her brother, presumably. Samantha was always very sisterly toward Sofiya, so although she wasn't the happiest about being woken up so early, she could at least appreciate her caring nature.

"Enough, Samantha! Why not wake up the rest of the house, don't you?" Sofiya leaned slightly to her left, catching a glance of the girl still bundled up in the bed in front of her.

Astoria Crickett, a headstrong girl who Sofiya hadn't interacted with often, but their first meeting was quite memorable. It was in a match of Crossed Wands, where Astoria was incredibly impressed that she beat not one, but three opponents at once. She could be quite aggressive at times, but from that sole interaction, Sofiya knew she had a good heart.

As Sofiya got out of bed and started dressing for the day, she noticed her last roommate, Sophronia Franklin, wasn't in bed. Perhaps she was out even earlier than Samantha.

It made sense, it was the first day of classes after all. Although she didn't quite feel it yet, Sofiya was beyond excited to be starting the new school year. As she buttoned up her dress shirt and spoke nonsense with the other girls, she pondered about the upcoming day. The previous year, Sofiya couldn't quite enjoy her courses like the other students. She had to spend quite a lot of time catching up to them, the added stress of extra assignments not letting her relish in what they were currently learning. This year, however, was different. She wasn't the new student anymore – at least, not quite as much.

The trio walked out of their dorms together, making their way to the Great Hall. As they exited, Sofiya noticed the chatter of passing crowds of students — the way the younger students lit up at every movement of an object, and the older ones chuckled at the familiarity. Hogwarts felt so full of life now that she didn't have the world to save, or a secret power to harness. Now, she was just a witch attending her magical classes. What else could she ask for?

Pushing open the doors to the Great Hall, the girls were greeted by even louder chatter than in the halls. Each table seemed mostly packed with students, making Sofiya question how so many even managed to fit on just one bench. Either way, the trio made a beeline toward the Ravenclaw table, taking a seat at the nearest opening.

In front of them sat Amit Thakkar and Everett Clopton, two housemates Sofiya wasn't entirely familiar with but knew enough to greet them with a smile.

"A fine morning to you ladies!" Everett greeted them boastfully, his voice booming even over the overlapping conversations around them, "How did the summertime treat you?"