Alya Merope Black, twin to Sirius, beloved sister to Regulus and daughter to Walburga and Orion Black.
The complete opposite to her twin Sirius, Alya is the typical pureblood Slytherin, full of ambition and arrogance.
But something strange is going...
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October, 1976. Hogwarts.
As Regulus had cleverly guessed, Maynard Nott wasn't long in inviting Alya to go out with him. The girl gladly accepted the proposal. It was her first real date with a guy and, before then, Alya had never shown any particular interest in the handsome boy who was now courting her. Although Maynard Nott was one of the most popular students in Slytherin House and enjoyed considerable success among the girls - Philippa first among them - Alya certainly didn't belong to the group of his admirers. To be honest, Alya had never shown any kind of interest in any boy in general. The romantic side typical of adolescence seemed to be alien to her.
Nevertheless, she had enjoyed this sudden turn of events and had felt flattered. After all, Maynard Nott, besides being a good-looking and elegant boy, belonged to a high-ranking family - like Alya's - and of pure lineage. The Slytherin girls were clamouring for a date with him.
The big day soon came. It was the third Saturday in October, the date on which a visit to Hogsmeade had been arranged for Hogwarts students.
Alya and Nott had arranged to meet early in the afternoon, so she left the Great Hall and her lunch banquet earlier than usual to go to the Slytherin girls' dormitory to prepare herself carefully and quietly. Her little group of friends followed her faithfully, even though Philippa showed a pulled expression, with tight, clenched lips, as if she had forcefully swallowed a lemon. Melyssa tried to shoulder her blonde friend's discontent, but still couldn't hold back enthusiastic exclamations, which she and Beth addressed to Alya. Both of them did nothing but repeat phrases like:
"You're going out with Maynard Nott, can you believe it? How can you be so relaxed?"
"What if he tries to kiss you?"
Beth and Melyssa's trilling questions accompanied Alya all the way into the room the four girls shared, and gave no sign of dying out even as Alya began to slip off her school uniform to put on the dress she had chosen for the occasion. From the depths of her large trunk, Alya pulled out a black velvet dress, simple in cut but very elegant. It had long sleeves that flared wide at the elbows; despite the fabric's sustained thickness, ideal for coping with the cold, crisp air that reigned around Hogwarts at that time of year, the dress hugged Alya's body tightly, emphasising her slender figure and highlighting her slim waist. A wide, long, soft skirt covered Alya's legs down to below the knees (the good taste shared by the pureblood families of the high society of the time would not have allowed shorter measurements). At the level of the collarbones, the dark fabric of the dress opened like a curtain in a slight V-neckline, welcoming the heavy silver pendant Alya had received as a gift from her mother. Apart from the precious family heirloom, Alya wore no other jewellery, except for two sumptuous earrings, also made of silver, with white opal stones that hung exquisitely from the lobes. Normally Alya was not in the habit of wearing earrings or other jewellery, following her mother's tradition of displaying sombre sobriety and avoiding frivolity, but given the occasion Alya thought it appropriate to adorn herself properly. Not even Walburga would have objected, knowing that she was about to spend a few hours in the company of a great catch, such as Maynard Nott.
