The Tree of Blacks (English version)

At Hogsmeade

10 February, 1977. Hogwarts.

The Slytherin common room enveloped with its torpor the small groups of sixth-year students, intent on lazing about during a dark hour.

Among them was Alya. Having dropped out of the Divination class, the free moments between classes had increased that year and young Black took advantage of this to lounge around with her inseparable companions.

However, the amount of homework assigned by the professors had become so overwhelming over the months that those rare scraps of freedom had to be used to catch up on subjects and keep up with the syllabus.

It was a Thursday morning and the foursome, consisting of Alya, Philippa, Melyssa and Beth, were hunched over dusty volumes taken from the library in the common room, intent on tackling the Care of Magical Creatures assignment.

It was a typically wintry, cold and grey day; even the depths of the Black Lake seemed to have fallen victim to the frost that raged on the surface, so Alya and her friends had strategically lurked in the black leather sofas near the fireplace.

With composed tranquillity, young Black flipped through the pages of a large, old, dusty volume in search of the information she needed to finish her paper on the illicit trade in foreign monsters on British soil. Alya was so focused on reading the chapter describing the smuggling of Kappa, Japanese aquatic creatures popular in circus shows at the turn of the century, that she failed to notice Maynard Nott's presence behind her.

The first one to notice the boy, needless to say, was Philippa, who had had a well-known crush on the bumptious Captain of the Slytherin team for years now. The blonde looked at Alya in transfixion, indignant at the total indifference the algid and cold companion showed towards her coveted boyfriend. Philippa would have done anything to be in his place.

But Alya was so absorbed in her study that she noticed neither Philippa's silent glances nor Nott's insistent lingering behind her back. It was only when the latter gave a loud cough that Alya finally realised her presence.

"Forgive me Maynard. I didn't see you." the girl hastened to apologise, noticing Nott's frowning expression at being ignored. "I thought you had class." she added, looking puzzled.

"Skipped. The professor is sick." the boy explained, spicily. "Can we talk for a second in private?" he said, then, lowering his voice.

Alya agreed and rose from her seat, accompanied by Beth and Melyssa's mischievous hushed giggles. Philippa, on the other hand, was anything but smiling. She stared at young Black with an icy gaze, crackling with ill-concealed envy. In order to conceal her annoyance, the blonde glared at the parchment in front of her, feverishly lashing the air with the wielded quill.

Obviously, Alya was well aware of the hidden feelings felt by her companion, but she was not bothered by her discontent. On the contrary, knowing how much Philippa secretly yearned to be in her place gave her a perverse sense of superiority.

However, if anyone had taken a closer look at the real state of the relationship between the young Black and the handsome scion of House Nott, they would certainly have noticed some serious flaws. In the last period, above all, Alya had been so engrossed by the events that had befallen her and her family, first and foremost Sirius' escape, the news of which had by then spread throughout the school, that she had forgotten all about her commitments as a girlfriend. She had ended up neglecting, without even too much regret, the handsome Quidditch captain, who felt deeply offended at being ignored. His pride was hurt, to say the least.

Once they had secluded themselves in a sheltered corner of the common room, Maynard Nott aimed his impenetrable dark eyes at Alya's snow-white face, scrutinising her with visible reproach.