Merula sat in the common room in her pajamas reading a book in silence as other students walked by, minding their own business. She sat near one of the several fireplaces on a dark green couch that was soft to the touch. She had her legs to ger side with her book resting on the couch's arm.
It was still early in the morning, grey clouds hung in the sky as the smell of dirt filled the air. Signs that it would rain soon.
Today was a free day for the first years. An entire day of no classes and the ability to run amok as they saw fit.. within reason of course. Peeves was definitely taking advantage of the new found freedom the young students had, helping some of them pull pranks on the older students and a few teachers.
In the corner of the room, PJ and Pansy were huddled up at a table. Or Pansy was being held hostage by PJ, who was hellbent on letting the entire school know that she and Pansy were best friends.
"Why do you wear braces?" Pansy asked. "You know your teeth will never need them."
"Well, my dad's a muggle and doesn't understand that while thing. He's never really gotten used to magic with me or my mum and so he insists on doing things normally." PJ uses her fingers to make air quotes.
"OK, doesn't explain the braces." Pansy remarked.
"Well, my dad had them when he was a kid and he thinks I should have them, too. I don't know why, but it's not all bad. I think they're kinda neat." PJ smiles a big toothy grin, showing Pansy her multicolored, rainbow braces. Pansy scoffs at PJ, but smiles.
"You're lucky you're so cute." Pansy says under her breath, throwing a crumbled peice of parchment at PJ, hitting her in the nose.
Merula continued to read until Y/n came running into the Common Room, still in his pajamas, and leapt onto the couch Merula was sitting on. Merula groaned as her book was almost knocked into the floor by the impact of the boy and the furniture.
"Good morning, Merula." Y/n greeted with a wide smile.
"Morning, Y/n." Merula sighed. "There a reason you're so energetic this morning?"
"I wanted to give you something." Y/n pulled out a small box he had been hiding behind his back. The box was unremarkable, no bigger than his hand and was black in color with no fanfare whatsoever. Merula looked away from her book, setting on an endtable, very interested in the box. She looked at Y/n and saw he wasn't meeting her eye, his cheeks a noticeable pink.
She took the box and gingerly opened it. Inside was a well crafted locket and key.
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Merula look the locket from the box, holding it my its chain. She twirled it around, as if inspecting it.
"What's the occasion?" She asked.
"Well.. it.." Y/n stuttered, still not meeting her gaze. "I wanted to get you something as thanks for being my first friend.. and well.. I want us to be friends forever and.. this will help us be better friends.."
"How will a locket and key help us be better friends?"
"Because you can keep your secrets in the locket and I'll be the only one with the key to them." Y/n finally looked at Merula as he took the key from the box. "You can trust me with anything."
Merula stared at him with wide eyes for a moment. She looked down at the locket and stopped herself from smiling.
"By Merlin, you're so stupid and corny." Merula said as her cheeks turned pink. "Go get dressed so we can eat breakfast." Merula quickly stood up and sped out of the room to the girl's dorm. When she got to the dorm she quickly sifted through her school work and found a small piece of parchment. She took a quill and ink, and set the parchment on a desk before writing..
I really really like Y/n and want him to stay with me forever
She folded the parchment and held up the locket, finding it to already be unlocked. She clicked it open, placed the parchment inside and closed it. The sound of the lock clicking into place made her smile. She hung the locket around her neck before getting dressed in some casual clothes.
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She met Y/n back in the common room, finding him dressed and ready to go. She noticed that he had the key to the locket wrapped around his wrist with a small chain in a makeshift bracelet of sorts.
"Ready?" She asked.
"Yeah, let's go. I'm starved." They left the common room and traversed the eerie corridors of the dungeons towards the Great Hall.
Outside, rain had begun to pour, soaking anyone that was caught in it. Teachers and students rushed inside, many of the older students laughing and joking, the rain not dampening their spirits. A few even stayed outside to splash around in the water, until Professor Snape yelled at them to get inside.
A bolt of lightning struck across the sky, illuminating the clouds. The sudden rumble of thunder startled Merula. She looked out the giant double front doors of the school and could have sworn she saw a black dog in the clouds, lit up by the lightning.
She was snapped from her thoughts by Y/n shaking her shoulder.
"Hey, Merula, you okay?" Y/n looked at his friend with concern. Merula was pale, a drop of sweat rolling down her cheek. She quickly looked back to the sky and saw only formless stormclouds.
"Yeah.. yeah, I'm fine. Just my imagination is all. Let's get something to eat." She turned back towards the Great Hall, taking Y/n's hand in her own, and rushing inside.
As they sat down at the Slytherin table, from the teacher's table at the back of the hall, Professor Quirrell was watching. He jerked his head to the side and threw his hand around his ear, as if he was trying to silence someone from speaking.
