Chapter Text
Daniela could not believe this was how her final year was starting.
With sweat dripping down the side of her face and her tie barely holding on, she ran through the maze of Hogwarts corridors. Up these stairs, down those, through this hallway. She tried to duck while passing some talking portraits. Some were yelling at her to hurry up, some were laughing at yet another student running late on their first day back.
Usually, she would stop to talk with some of them, forever curious about their experience being a wizard.
See she hadn’t asked for any of this. One day, this giant bird decided it was her time and almost left with her hair as it dropped a letter into her hands.
An entire world opened up to her, hidden until now. She had done her fair share of jumping off the swings hoping the wind would catch her and shoving her hands at water expecting it to move the way she wanted to. But honestly, what child hadn’t dreamed of magic when it’s in every story you are told.
Still, nothing could have prepared her for this. And right now she was starting to regret it.
Her lovely roommate had decided to not wake her up this morning and let the sun be her alarm. The slight problem was that Hogwarts was known for being in a particularly rainy area. Meaning the sun did not do its job and Daniela woke up late. And not late as in she simply won’t have time to eat breakfast.
No, late as in she woke up all alone in Gryffindor tower, the silence indicating something was very wrong. Late as in she is currently running for her life through Hogwarts. Late as in she will be lucky if she doesn’t suffer the wrath of Professor Snape when you don’t make it in time for his class.
"Fucking Megan." An old lady patting a cat in her lap snickered in her portrait as she passed by. Daniela barely managing to shoot her a glare as she ran by, bunching up tin her fist the yellow sticky note that had been stuck to her forehead when she woke up.
‘You look way too cute to be woken up by me, you deserve the sun. See you in class pretty girl’
The curvy handwriting of her best friend was mixed with a bunch of hearts and smily faces decorating her note. Normally, she would have kept it in her box full of memories hidden underneath her bed, but she didn’t have time for sentimentality this morning.
Living at Hogwarts had its perks, of course. Who wouldn’t dream to spend each day living with their best friends in a magical castle while learning magic. With endless food of your choice and beautiful scenery, you had to be ready for everything. Who knows when your professor decides it’s the day to start teaching you how to fly a hippogriff.
She had been the lucky chosen one in their third year. A light shove at her back had her stumbling towards the front of the group, Hagrid taking her misstep for volunteering. A barely hidden chuckle whispered at her back as she carefully approached the flying beast. With her heart pounding in her ears, she tried to ignore what was going on behind her and focus on the task at hand.
Still, nothing could have prepared her for the thrill she felt as the great beast took to the sky and left her heart on the ground. As she flew around every wing of the castle, part of her was scared she would never feel like this again.
But as her feet finally rested on the solid ground, she quickly took off marching towards Professor McGonagall’s office, ignoring a dizzying stare coming from the group of students.
As she barged in, the professor lifted her eyes to peer at her underneath her hat.
"I want to be on the quidditch team!" She exclaimed full of determination. "Please." Was added when only a look was given to her in response.
"Very well, Oliver just announced to me that his seeker was injured at practice and probably won’t make it back this year." The raspy voice of McGonagall often filled her with warmth, but hearing her wish coming true had her running screaming towards her friends to announce the good news.
So yeah, living at Hogwarts the past 6 years had been incredible. But it also had its downs…
One of which was currently standing in front of the door, blocking the path leading to her class.
Sophia Laforteza.
Hair perfectly resting against her shoulders, immaculate robes, green tie sparkling against her white button down and an infuriating smirk against her lips. With her arms crossed, shoes lightly tapping a random rhythm on the stones beneath her, her eyes lightly squinted as Daniela came into view.
Squeezing her books to her chest, Daniela paused a few meters away from Sophia. The soft glow of candles around them was the only source of light down in the dungeons. The soft light shimmered against both of their faces as their gazes met. The air thickened until the only sounds left were Daniela’s heavy breathing and Sophia’s quiet tapping.
Before giving it much more thought, she turned around intending to go back to her room.
"And where do you think you’re going, hmm?" This was enough to make her pause, carefully trying to regulate her breathing after running all around the castle.
"None of your fucking business." Was whispered to the empty corridor before her. Her eyes glancing around the stone to find a way out of this situation.
"I would appreciate it if you looked at me while I’m talking to you."
Daniela knows that tone well. The one where her voice dropped, usually paired with hypnotizing eye contact. This was the tone she used when her patience had left but she still needed to make her point. God, she hated that voice, but unfortunately, it seemed only reserved for her.
Despite herself, Daniela complied and turned around. Meeting Sophia’s stare, her smirk had left her lips, just as Daniela had expected."And when have I ever wanted to please you, Laforteza. "
Daniela lifted her chin as she took in the girl before her. Six years later, the sight of the taller girl still woke up this angry beast inside of her. The simple thought of having to interact with Sophia was enough to ruin her entire day and night.
"You would be smart to remember your place." She paused, her eyes dancing across Daniela’s messy robes. "A prefect’s word isn’t something to mess with." She added with a slight glint in her eyes.
Daniela had a feeling it wasn’t her status as a prefect that was making Sophia feel superior right now.
When it was announced in their fifth year that Sophia would be Slytherin’s new prefect, Daniela had almost packed her bags and left. After four years of torture from the girl, she simply could not handle the power trip that would come from being given this role.
But, she was quick to realize that she now also had an advantage. Because Sophia had to be perfect. And a perfect prefect would always stop a student from doing things they were not supposed to right?
And thus began the second phase of their ongoing war. With Daniela doing everything in her power to make Sophia take the blame for her mischief and Sophia doing her best to stop her every time she tried something.
Daniela was currently evaluating her options. She could stay here staring at Sophia, making both of them late to their first lesson of the year. Would Sophia really take that chance and break her 6 years strike just to prove a point? Was Daniela really willing to have Snape call them out in front of everyone and make them clean his terrifying ingredients closet?
Shivering at the thought and furrowing her brows, Daniela crossed the last few feet separating them. Intending on bumping her shoulder into Sophia, the latter girl moved out of the way at the last second, making Daniela stumble slightly.
"Careful," was whispered into the back of her neck, soft breath caressing her slightly damp baby hair. "Wouldn’t want you to fall."
A hand brushed against her back and suddenly shoved her, making Daniela step quicker into the room than she wanted to. Seething wasn’t a big enough word to describe the rage that filled the curly haired girl.
She was still trying to calm her breathing down when she looked up and met the eyes of Megan across the room.
The girl had a small frown on her face as she mouthed an apology to Daniela. She responded with a small smile before realizing Megan was sharing her station with another Slytherin girl. As she looked around, she realized almost all of the stations were occupied with a pair of students.
All but one.
As she looked at the empty station at the back of the class, she let out a small groan. "You’ve got to be fucking kidding me".
"Language!" was shouted across the room as Snape came out of his office, cape trailing behind him.
"You would be wise to take your seat Miss Avanzini before class begins and I’m forced to consider you late."
Slightly rolling her eyes, Daniela made her way across the room, Megan squeezing her arm as she passed before sitting down on her stool.
The air shifted around her as a draft of floral perfume invaded her nostrils.
"Perfect, this way I’ll get to keep an eye on you."
-
"This is just great, not only do I have to have this fucking girl on my back everyday, now I have to have her watching over my shoulder in every class. I don’t think I can do it, Megs, she might actually kill me this time." Daniela groaned as they walk towards the great hall.
"Oh my god, what if she actually tries to poison me. Make some weird potion arrangement and gets away with it saying it was an accident. She would get away with, I know she would get away with it."
Daniela had been ranting ever since they left their first lesson of the day. Of course every professor had decided to keep the same teams for all of the classes. She had run to Megan as soon as their first lesson had finished, gripping the girl as they marched out of the class. Putting as much space as possible between her and her enemy.
"Why did you have to sit with someone else?" Daniela frowned, resting her head against Megan’s shoulder.
"Dude, I didn’t know if you were gonna make it in time! I didn’t want to be stuck alone." She patted Daniela’s shoulder as the kept walking through the corridors. "And you know any chance to get closer to Yoonchae I have, I’ll take."
"Since when do you want to get close to Yoonchae? You didn’t even know her name until now." Daniela rolled her eyes as Megan lightly tapped her forehead.
"I’ll have you know that I knew her before now, I was just waiting for the right moment to get close to her."
"And our last year is the right moment?"
"You know what they say, better late than never." Megan winked.
"Anyway, I don’t get why you still think Sophia Laforteza hates you, the girl is a literal angel. I’ve never seen her say or do something bad to anyone, including you! I bet she can actually without a broom and flowers bloom in her presence." Megan threw her hands in the air, almost making them bump against other students walking close to them.
Daniela was so tired of hearing this same speech.
‘Oh, Sophia is so perfect, I would give everything to be her friend’
‘Oh Sophia is so perfect, I heard she saved a bunch of kittens and hides them in her dorm’
‘Oh Sophia just smiled at me, I think we’re getting married next month!’
It was as if the entirety of Hogwarts, including the teachers, the ghosts and the house-elves were under a great spell.
The Laforteza spell.
The one where everyone worshipped the very ground she walked on. Where they thought everything that came out of your mouth as either an epiphany or straight up gold.
But Daniela knew better, under this great facade was the most heartless person in the entire world. She tried to make people realize what a horrible person she was, but after years of being told she was exaggerating and telling lies, she accepted that Sophia was simply her personal demon. Made from the great pits of hell to torment every moment and every thought of Daniela’s life.
When she accepted that, things became easier because she realized she could torment her just as much she did.
Countless nights had she spent conjuring new ways to get under Sophia’s skin. Spells were thrown her, all in hopes of tainting the girl’s image. But even with her hair full of pigs blood conjured in her sleep or with spiders clawing out of her clothes, she remained the angel of Hogwarts.
"I think I’ve figured it out." Megan said as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.
"And what have you figured out, Oh Great One."
Megan pushed her shoulder as she let out a laugh. "I’m serious! I think you’re jealous of her."
Daniela stared at her, her eyes widening. "Are you kidding me? Me jealous of Satan herself?"
"Please, as if that girl could hurt a fly." Megan pointed towards the girl in question. Sophia was sitting with some other slytherin girls at the table behind them.
First of all, who decided that it was a good idea to put the two houses with the greatest rivalry next to each other. It was simply a disaster waiting to happen. Second of all, Sophia Laforteza being in Slytherin was one of Hogwarts’ greatest mystery.
Everyone had assumed that the girl who spent her first ever ride on the Hogwarts Express gifting sweets to every cabin would end up in Hufflepuff. But when the Sorting Hat screamed house of the snakes as it brushed her shining black hair, Sophia simply smiled and sat down with her fellow housemates, already making her introduction.
People assumed it was because of her family. It was no secret that the Laforteza’s were a very powerful family. The pureblooded family were mostly from house Slytherin so it made sense that Sophia would follow in their path.
But Daniela knew the real reason. She was the only one who knew why. She knew the girl was green through and through as soon as she met her.
They locked eyes as Sophia opened their cabin door. Tiny Daniela was alone in her cabin, not knowing anyone yet. Her eyes lit up as soon as the door opened and a small girl with a bright smile already dressed in her robes appeared.
"Hi! I’m Sophia Laforteza, do you want a chocolate frog?" She asked while reaching with a box in her hand.
"Hello, I’m Daniela." She smiled. "What’s a chocolate frog?" She questioned as she eyed suspiciously the golden box.
Sophia’s smile dropped. "You don’t know what a chocolate frog is? I’ve been eating them since I was old enough to chew!" She pushed the box in her hands, Daniela fumbling with the top as she tried to open it.
As soon as the frog lunged out, Daniela caught it with a single hand and shoved it in her mouth.
"Woah, nice catch! "
"Are you telling I could have been eating this all my life if my parents were wizards?" Daniela asked with her mouth full of chocolate, some of it staining her lips.
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Sophia’s smile dropped. She grabbed the box that was resting on the seat and rushed out of the cabin. Daniela was stunned as she tried to understand what had happened, the smell of flowers still flowing around the cabin.
Ever since that first moment, every interaction between them had been hostile. Daniela had tried to reach out to Sophia when they were waiting for their turn with the sorting hat, but the girl had shoved her arm away and moved to the front of the group.
Daniela had watched her as she was chosen to be in Slytherin, her brows furrowing as she smiled at her everyone around her.
"Anyway, I’m tired of hearing you talk about Sophia. I’ve heard the same speech about the wicked witch being shouted in my ears for six years now. Can you please just move on and enjoy our last year." Megan pleaded as she eyed Daniela with her big eyes and then proceeded to fill both of their plates.
Food had just started to appear and more students were filling the bench around them as the great ceiling turned to a bright night sky.
Daniela looked up at the table in front of her, grumbling as she took the plate being handed to her. "I’ll move on when she moves on."
Sophia was already staring at her from the other table. Some girl was talking her ear off on her right side, Manon she thinks was her name. She hadn’t given much time to learn about the other Slytherins during her time at Hogwarts, one on her back was enough.
Still Sophia’s gaze would not leave her. Her hair was lightly more puffy than this morning. The first button of her shirt a had been undone as her tie rested loosely on it. This made her neck appear longer as it dropped to hint at prominent collarbones. Long fingers came up and tugged lightly at her tie, loosening it a bit more. More skin was revealed. Her hand started to drift down but her middle finger stayed resting against the gap between the her collarbones. The single digit contrasting against tanned skin of her neck.
Daniela unfortunately reacted too late, snapping her eyes back to the girl. She had been caught staring. As Sophia lightly smirked and started to mouth something probably hurtful, Daniela quickly looked away, trying to get her bearings back in the room.
Megan was still talking to her, completely unaware of the scene that had just transpired in front of her. Sophia had always been infuriating, but for the first time, Daniela had found her hypnotizing.
She quickly shook the thought away, blaming her tiredness for her momentary trance. Because that’s all that this was, a moment.
-
Students were rushing to get out of the dining hall as Dumbledore finished his start of the year speech. Daniela had zoned out halfway through, distracted by Megan pointing some new couples among the students. She had heard this speech seven times now and frankly it was a bit boring.
She adored Dumbledore, the headmaster personally helping her get used to the wizarding world, but she had to admit that his speeches were often too long and repeating.
He had just started talking about some ball as Megan shook her shoulder. "Did you see Manon and Lara! I swear to you they didn’t used to sit this close together!"
As food started to disappear, more and more students left their seat, most of them probably intending on going back to their common rooms and celebrating the start of the year.
Locked in their conversation, Megan and Daniela realized most of the students had left and that they were practically alone in the great hall. Some professors were still at front of the room, Flitwick’s bouncing off the walls as Hagrid told him one of his recent stories. Something about marrying a giant but Daniela couldn’t be sure.
"Wait, everyone’s already gone? I wanted to invite Yoonchae to our common room for tonight’s celebrations." Megan exclaimed as she looked around the room and quickly got out of her seat, her plate instantly disappearing.
" She was telling me about how Slytherins’ parties are less her style when we were in potions together this morning. I have to go find her before she hides in the dungeons, I’ll meet you back at the dorm later." Megan barely finished squeezing her shoulders before sprinting out of the hall in search of the girl.
Daniela let out a breath as she also got up and out of the hall at a much slower pace. As she turned around the corner, she noticed a figure leaning against the wall.
"Why were you staring at me earlier?" Sophia asked as she pushed off the wall and stepped right in front of Daniela. Her shirt was still a bit undone but Daniela made sure to keep her eyes away from the haunting skin.
"Were you waiting for me just now? Besides, I could ask you the same question." Challenged Daniela as she pulled her shoulders back and took a step closer to the taller girl.
Sophia rolled her eyes at the response. "I was simply making sure you weren’t planning anything. Last year you tried to corrupt the sky to make it rain in the middle of Dumbledore’s speech so pardon me for being on my guard."
Daniela had somehow found her mouth unable to form words as she started to raise her wand towards the ceiling. A quick glance towards the table in front of her explained everything as Sophia raised her eyebrows at her, eyes glinting with satisfaction.
"Speaking of, I’m pretty sure the rain would have somehow only found its way towards me."
Sophia pushed her hair behind her shoulder, eyes never leaving Daniela. "Couldn’t have let your precious Dumbledore get all wet, could you?" Sophia asked with her lips forming a pout. "Who knows what could have happened if Hogwarts’ greatest headmaster had been humiliated in front of his students."
She was infuriating. Daniela could handle being the victim of Sophia’s harsh words, she was used to it. What she could not handle was when Sophia directed her insults towards someone she cared about or didn’t deserve. Especially when she knew Sophia was being her perfect self with them. Just last week Sophia interrupted her and Dumbledore’s tea to bring some kind of family heirloom delivered the night before. The headmaster had the pocket watch on display at his desk ever since.
"You really are a snake." Daniela tried to change the subject, afraid of her reaction if Sophia kept insulting the headmaster.
Sophia lightly chuckled. "And what are you, a lion?"
She stepped closer, invading Daniela’s personal space. "Are you going to pounce on me Avanzini?"
Daniela refused to break their stare. Sophia never stepped this close to her, she usually pushed the curly haired girl away at the smallest proximity. From this distance she could see the slight variations of brown in her eyes and the way her lips were glowing, probably recently painted with lipgloss.
"Don’t you ever get tired of this?" Daniela took a step back, suddenly feeling herself get warmer. But Sophia would not let her go far, she stepped even closer than before, their feet almost touching.
"But don’t you know Daniela," Hearing her name whispered from the other girl’s lips made goosebumps appear all over her arms. "Nothing brings me as much thrill as getting under your skin."
She was so close, her stare combined with her perfume made all of her senses blur. She could not see anything but those bright eyes that seemed the shine brighter at every one of her reactions. Her breathing picked up despite herself. She refused to shiver.
"You get this look in your eyes… Just like you’re doing now." Daniela’s eyebrows furrowed at the comment. Since when did Sophia look at her eyes?
"The small wrinkle between your eyebrows always makes an appearance but I gotta say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you turn this red before Avanzini." Sophia’s eyes trailed around her face, her smirk widening.
"Is this the effect I have on you Daniela?" Sophia asked as she tilted her head slightly. Hearing the sound of her name curled around the other girl's tongue once again resonated in her ears, making her breath slightly catch. "Oh I’m gonna have so much fun with this."
Sophia finally stepped away, just to brush their shoulders as she passed Daniela. "Try to get back to your common room before curfew Avanzini, wouldn’t want you to get in trouble."
Daniela realized she was holding her breath as she heard heels resonating down the corridor behind her.
“What just happened?" She took a moment to gather her thoughts before lifting her head and turning around towards the Gryffindor common room. Megan must have caught up to Yoonchae by now and would be waiting for her.
But as she looked up, she saw Sophia standing still at the end of the corridor.
Daniela froze.
“What the hell is she still doing here?”
As if she had been waiting for it, Sophia glanced back.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, she simply looked at her.
Then she turned and disappeared around the corner.