Hera

{Chapter Thirteen}

To be frank, Cassiopeia-Hera Lestrange did not know what love was. She was only eleven, and the thought of love never came to her before. Obviously, she'd hear her Aunt Narcissa talking about the subject of love when it came to her marriage with Lucius, but never has she seen the epitome of love.

Christmas break was over, and the cousins found themselves back at the castle. On the train, Crabbe and Goyle both stuck at Draco's sides as he boasted about the Christmas gifts he receiced from his parents, Blaise was amongst the trio obviously searching for his curly-haired bestfriend but to no avail he couldn't find her.

Hera purposely avoided sitting with Draco so that she wouldn't have to face Blaise, just to appease her Aunt Narcissa and her wishes. She was lucky enough to sit with Elena Huang, who she shared her dorm with. The two got along just fine, but she didn't feel as comfortable as she did with Blaise. She barely spent time with the Asian girl since the start of her first year, but Elena made it easier on Hera by being kind to her.

Elena Huang came from a prestigious family from the East, a family with a pure bloodline and a lengthy line of achievements that made even the European purebloods blush. Rumour had it, that she was born in England while her parents were visiting from China, which led to her acceptance letter from Hogwarts eleven years later.

She was popular among the other first year Slytherins for her powerful last name, but it was clear that Elena seemed to be too happy-go-lucky to be a Slytherin. Hera assumed she was only sorted into Slytherin because of her bloodline, even though none of her family members haven't previously attended Hogwarts at all.

During the first term, Elena stuck by Pansy's side, like how the pug-faced girl did to Draco, but now it was quite strange that Elena decided to join Hera in the empty compartment. Used to being by herself, Hera felt awkward as Elena sat across from her, a leather journal in had with a small strange wooden stick in her hand that was coated in yellow paint. The tip seemed to be sharpened with a red tip at the end. The sounds of the wooden stick scratching against paper filled the compartment as Hera watched the Asian girl.

"Elena," The curly haired girl hummed curiously from her place "What is that?"

"What is what?" Elena looked up to look at her roommate with a questioning glance. Hera's eyes pointed to the pencil in her hands when it finally dawned upon the girl what she was talking about. With a chuckle, Elena grinned at her, "Oh, this is a pencil."

"A pencil?" Hera's eyebrows raised, perplexed."What on earth?"

"Yes, it's a muggle contraption, I guess." Elena paused for a moment. "My mother gave it to me, it's an erasable equivalent to a quill, I suppose."

Hera felt skeptical as Elena gave her an uncaring shrug, from her experiences with her aunt and uncle, she was never allowed to use muggle-made items, so how is Elena allowed to? That question repeated in her mind as she watched Elena get up and take the seat next to her. Holding her leather book open to a blank page and held out the pencil. "Try writing something."

A feeling of confusion and uncertainty washed over her as she kept staring at Elena, as if she grew two more limbs. The young witch raised an eyebrow at her roommate, waiting for her to take the book and pencil from her. Hera sighed and gingerly took the book and pencil from her.

Holding the pencil as she would with a quill, Hera started writing her full name. Cassiopeia-Hera Lestrange II. She looked satisfied with her writing and was quite impressed with the fact that she didn't have to wait for the writing to dry. "You know, I could get into trouble just for holding this thing." Hera mused.

Elena chuckled with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she brushed back the strands of hair behind her ear, "You won't get in trouble if we keep this discreet. Goodness, Hera. What can a pencil do to sabotage purebloods?"

"In all honesty, I have no idea."

♧

The rest of the duration of the train ride back to Hogwarts, both Hera and Elena enjoyed each other's company, talking about their holidays and their other interests. For Hera, it felt nice to have another girl to talk to. When it came to Blaise and Draco, it was hard for them to understand her.

During supper in the Great Hall that night, Hera sat next to Elena as the Asian girl excitedly talked about Herbology. Hera was glad that she had read through her herbology textbook during the Christmas break, or she wouldn't have understood her new friend as she talked.

Across from the other side of the table, Blaise sat next to Hera's bleach-blonde arrogant cousin. His dark eyes kept stealing glances at her, hoping to catch her looking at him or at least approach him, but to no avail, she didn't even acknowledge him. A weary feeling kept growing in his stomach the longer he stared at his friend, not knowing what he did wrong to deserve this.

He searched for her on the train but couldn't find her at all, so he opted to join Draco and his two goons along with Pansy. He was surprised that Elena wasn't with Pansy, considering they had spent the first term attached to the hip. Seeing Hera sitting next to Elena, finally made sense. But he couldn't help but feel abandoned by his first friend.

Not being able to take it any longer, Blaise took his plate and stood up, earning a few glances from his fellow housemates, and moved to sit next to Hera. "Hera," He paused, the two girls looked at Blaise, making him uncomfortable in his seat. "Hi, I didn't see you on the train. Where were you?"

"I sat with Elena." Helena kept her answer short, an awkward silence fell upon the three first-years. Blaise's eyebrows narrowed at the Asian girl that sat next to his best friend. "Well you could have asked me to join you, you know."

"But what if I didn't want you to join us." Hera snapped, a feeling of guilt washed over her as she watched Blaise's eyes widen. She didn't want to be harsh. It hurt her deeply to act so hard on him. She didn't want to lie to him, but she kept her face straight, giving him a blank stare.

This is for my own good. Hera reminded herself.

Hurt flashed in his brown eyes, as a silence fell among the three. The sound of chattering and cutlery against plates surrounded them. Elena turned to her plate of food and stuffed her mouth with the mashed potatoes, occupying herself so she wouldn't be involved with the awkward tension.

Blaise clenched his teeth, flexing his jaw and took his plate, giving Hera one last look. Just long enough to see if she was bluffing, but nothing but a look indifference was etched on her face, something he wasn't used to seeing on her face. He closed his eyes and took a breath, walking to the far end of the table to sit by himself.

Hera watched Blaise's retreating back, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. Elena rubbed her shoulder, "Are you okay? Why did you act like that towards him?" Elena asked quietly.

Hera turned to her new friend, a sad look gracing her chubby features. "I have a lot to explain."

Blaise sat by himself, not wanting to be talked to while he moved his dinner around his plate. He was confused, very confused as he stared at the girl he had once called his best friend. Nothing made sense as to why she suddenly became so harsh towards him, and why she didn't send him an owl during the Christmas holidays.

He closed his eyes, and set his gaze on his plate, his appetite was gone. Hoping that things would soon blow over and he'd have his friend back...

But, they didn't.