┏ ೋღ : 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂. : ღೋ ┓

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓:
𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔬𝔯 𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰?

┗━━ ೋღ : ©-𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒄 : ღೋ ━━━┛

𝕾ITTING IN POTIONS WAS ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL. On one hand, you had Mattheo doing anything he could to get under your skin, irritating you to the fullest — though, you never let it show. On the other, you had Pansy doing anything she could to get to know you, which made you insanely paranoid that she was trying to do something against you.

The other Slytherins never bothered you. Sure, Lorenzo talked to you from time to time, but it wasn't something persistent — not like Pansy. You hoped that Mattheo and Pansy would follow and return to the time when they hadn't even known about your existence, but it seemed like things would not go back to that time.

"You know, (Y/n), I absolutely love your jewelry," Pansy mentioned as she sat across from you after having moved her chair to you when Snape dismissed the class for textbook work. She gestured to the gold rings decorating your fingers and the dainty gold chains hanging around your neck.

"Uhm, thanks..." You muttered with slight confusion before continuing to place your ingredients in the small cauldron on your wooden desk.

"You wear a lot of jewelry?" She inquired, watching you do the work without bothering to do her own. It wasn't as if she were going to get in trouble with Snape — not when she was a Slytherin.

"Yeah, I guess so..." You trailed off, dropping some shredded dittany leaves into the bubbling liquid of the potion.

"Silver or gold?" Her questions seemed like they would never end. If she weren't notoriously prejudiced against muggleborns and your own best friend, you would've actually loved to talk to Pansy, but knowing girls like Pansy — girls like Alexia — they would only ever talk to someone like you to squeeze information out of you.

"Just... whatever I feel like at the time," you answered hesitantly, finding it odd that Pansy was asking such insignificant questions. "Or whatever matches my outfit."

"I'm very much a silver type of girl," Pansy noted with a smile — a smile that seemed oddly friendly and kind. "But I really like that gold chain of yours. The one with the stars."

Maybe that was it? Maybe she was just talking to you to take your necklace?

Unclasping the necklace, you held it out to the girl to test out your theory. "Did you wanna see it?"

Gently taking the necklace from your offering hands, Pansy looked closer at the necklace. There were stars interlinked in the gold chain, shining in the lights of the Potions classroom every time Pansy turned it over in her palm. "This is so cute. Do you like astronomy and all that?"

You found the question odd, but unbeknownst to you, Pansy had just been trying to spew any question she could think of to keep the conversation going. With a slight nod of your head, you answered, "Yeah, it's cool."

Just as Pansy was about to bullshit another question, she was interrupted by a rough hand yanking the gold necklace out of her grasp. You and Pansy stared in shock at Mattheo as he quickly dropped the necklace into his potion. The gold immediately melted in the cauldron, mixing in with the liquid.

"Dude!" Pansy exclaimed, seemingly angry for you. Her voice caught the attention of the surrounding students, but Snape seemed to have disappeared somewhere into his office.

"What the hell?" Lorenzo questioned, having watched the whole scene unfold.

Blaise, Theodore, and Draco stared in shock, not foreseeing Mattheo doing any of that. The Riddle boy stayed completely silent, simply gazing at you like he was waiting for a reaction. His eyes bore into yours, trying to gauge your expression. Somehow, your face remained neutral and unmoving.

Then you blinked.

And your lips pulled into a frown. "That was my grandmother's..."

Pansy was at your side in an instant, soothingly rubbing her hand up and down your back. "Oh my gosh. (Y/n), I'm so sorry."

You nodded, your frown plastered on your face. "She gave it to me before she..." You stopped there, but everyone seemed to connect the dots. In the blink of an eye, everyone's gaze snapped to Mattheo, who gaped like a blubbering fish.

"Shit, I didn't know," Mattheo muttered almost apologetically, raising his arms in defense. In his eyes seemed an almost genuine kind of guilt, but you weren't quite sure if it was true and sincere. "I am so sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Riddle," Pansy spat, her eyes drilling holes into his skull as she left your side to scold Mattheo.

"Dude, that was too far," Theodore muttered, stepping toward Mattheo.

"Even I know that was too far," Draco scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Why would you even do that?" Blaise questioned, narrowing his eyes at the boy.

"Are you serious, Mattheo?" Lorenzo scolded, looking like he was about to dunk Mattheo's head into the cauldron.

With everyone's eyes on Mattheo, your eyes caught Kyra's, and her eyes burned with indescribable rage. She looked as if she were about to pounce on the boy, but when you sent her a subtle wink and a small, lopsided grin, she immediately loosened up and began chuckling under her breath.

Your grandmothers from both sides were actually very much alive.

That necklace was never actually your grandmother's either — you just found it for cheap at some muggle thrift shop.

And, in all honesty, you couldn't have cared less about that necklace.

It appeared that Mattheo had caught your smile and wink to Kyra. He immediately dropped his defensive hands and his guilty expression, replacing them both with an accusatory finger point and an angered frown. "Hey, wait! She's just tryna get you guys against me!"

"You're so full of shit!" Pansy exclaimed, roughly shoving his shoulders.

"Just give it up, dude," Theodore sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You're not getting out of this one," Blaise whistled in amusement, he and Draco sharing a slight laugh when they simultaneously glanced over at Lorenzo and Pansy seething with rage.

"I'm telling you guys!" Mattheo exclaimed, glaring at you smirking behind the hand that covered your mouth. Across the classroom, Kyra almost couldn't contain her laughter. "You guys have to listen to me! That stiff is a liar!"

The sound of student chatter filled the room, Lupin somehow still not making his appearance to class despite class starting in less than a minute. Somehow, you figured that Snape would be substituting yet again since it had been a frequent occurrence for Professor Lupin to fail to teach a class.

You noticed how it was once every month that Professor Lupin would disappear and Snape would substitute.

You also noticed how it happened to be after a full moon every time, without fail.

The theories plagued your mind for weeks prior — from the professor's odd fear of the moon to the werewolf paper that Snape had assigned during his first time substituting.

The answer was painfully obvious recently after thinking about it for a while. The fear of the moon? The disappearances after every full moon? The werewolf paper from Snape?

You just figured that it wasn't your secret to tell.

As you sat beside Kyra, you listened to her rant to Rhys about her encounter with the Carrow twins in the Middle Courtyard. "I wish I could hex their stupid faces!" Kyra sneered, her knuckles turning white at just the thought of the encounter. "Better than running into Git Gardner though."

"Oh, please," Rhys sighed, dramatically rolling his eyes and crossing his arms across the top of his desk. "You think simply running into those three is bad? Imagine being in the same house as them."

Soon, your attention was pulled away when you heard Ron whisper-yell to Harry, "I swear she didn't come in! Did you see her come in?"

Hermione simply rolled her eyes as she began unpacking her things, filling the formerly empty spot beside Harry while Ron sat beside Seamus. "Please Ronald, I've literally been here the entire time."

Harry and Ron shared the same confused and baffled look, thinking that they for sure would've noticed if she'd been there that whole time. "No, I'm with Ron. I swear that chair was empty," Harry stated, his eyes flitting between Hermione and Ron.

"You're both hallucinating." As Hermione rolled her eyes again, she caught sight of you and her eyes brightened with an idea popping into her mind. "Right, (Y/n)? I've been here the whole time?"

Upon your name being called, you noticed Harry and Ron snap their gazes to you. Despite the confusion as to why you were being brought up, they looked at you expectantly. They expected you to agree with them — that Hermione had in fact appeared out of nowhere and that they weren't crazy.

The two boys went slack-jawed at your words. "Yeah? Hermione's been sitting there all this time," you lied, but you said it in a way that made it seem like it wasn't even a question, so it made it sound so truthful. You seemed so sure that the two boys blinked in surprise and started to seriously second-guess themselves.

"See? I told you," Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes. In the midst of their confusion, Hermione sent you a grateful smile and you gave her a subtle nod. Before Harry and Ron could question it any further, the door slamming open caught everyone's attention.

You watched unsurprisingly at Snape waltzing into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. His black robes swayed dramatically as if he donned a cape. The class quieted at the professor's arrival, but you noticed some of the students sharing disappointed expressions as they had hoped Lupin would be teaching them instead of the intimidatingly strict Potions teacher.

Students immediately reached for their textbooks, already knowing the drill for when Snape substituted.

Ripping out a piece of paper from your History of Magic notebook, you wrote down three statements while your classmates at your table did the same. The six students at your desk — Alana, Kyra, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and you — had all decided to play two truths and a lie in order to pass the time.

Once everyone had written down their statements, Alana whispered lowly to avoid garnering Professor Binns' attention. "Okay, I'll go first?"

No one objected and Alana even earned a few agreeing nods. For a brief moment, she glanced over to Binns to see if his eyes were on them. When the professor wasn't looking, Alana passed her paper over to Kyra.

Kyra read the statements written on the paper before flipping over the paper to write her name and the number of the statement she thought was a lie. After she was finished, she passed Alana's paper to you.

The statements that Alana had written down went in this order:

1. I can play the drums.

2. I've never been on an airplane.

3. I've never broken a bone.

Despite not being very close to Alana, from what you knew about her character, she seemed like the type to know how to play the drums, so you crossed that statement off as a truth. As a half-blood, Alana could've very well been on an airplane before, but from what you knew through Kyra, Alana had barely interacted with the muggle world. Seeing as wizards had the Floo Network, Alana would've never had any use for an airplane, so that made statement two true as well.

Flipping over the paper, you wrote your name and the number three to indicate that you thought that the third statement was the lie. When you saw Kyra's name and the number three next to it, you figured you were correct since Kyra and Alana were close friends.

Passing the paper over to Seamus, he read the statements over before writing which one he thought was the lie. This continued with Dean and Neville.

When the paper returned to Alana, she used the red pen that she had borrowed from you to draw a circle around the number that had been the lie. With a grin, she showed the rest of the table the paper to reveal the red circle around the number three.

"Welp, I got that one wrong," Seamus sighed while Dean chuckled, nodding his head in agreement.

Looking on the other side of the paper, where names and numbers were written, Alana muttered, "Seamus, you thought I was lying about being able to play the drums?"

"I didn't think you had the coordination for it," Seamus defended, earning an offended expression from Alana.

Reading what Dean had guessed, Alana said, "Dean thought that I was lying about never being on an airplane."

"You're half-blood. I thought you were in touch with your muggle side, like me," Dean sighed out.

"Kyra, (Y/n), and Neville got it right," Alana mentioned, crumpling the piece of parchment paper in her hand as it was no longer needed.

"Of course, we got it right," Kyra muttered, giving you a low and quiet high-five.

When Dean and Seamus glanced at Neville in surprise, Neville gave a bashful smile and mumbled, "I just guessed."

As Binns glanced over to the group of six, they all acted like they were taking notes before the professor's eyes turned away and they resumed their game.

The next one was Kyra, who gave her paper to Alana first, seeing as she was on the end. Alana was quick to make her decision and slid the paper over to you. You skimmed over the options, knowing that it'd be easy since you and Kyra were best friends.

1. I've been skydiving.

2. I've run a marathon.

3. I can ride a unicycle.

Easily, you chose the second statement, knowing very well that Kyra would never in her life willingly choose to run a marathon. Once you had written your name and the number two on the back, you passed the paper to Seamus. Once Seamus, Dean, and Neville finished their guesses, the paper returned to Kyra's grasp.

Using your red pen, you watched with a grin as Kyra circled the second statement. When she revealed it to the rest of the table, you watched Alana's grin widen across her face.

"Oh, I knew it," Alana whispered with an accomplished smile.

"Of course, you and (Y/n) got it right and everyone else got it wrong," Kyra sighed dramatically, feigning a look of offense.

"Why do you know how to unicycle?" Dean inquired with a slight laugh. Seamus nodded in agreement, indicating that both of them had guessed the third statement had been wrong. Kyra simply shrugged in response.

"I'd be terrified skydiving," Neville muttered, slightly shivering at just the thought of it.

'You and me both, Neville,' you thought before sliding your two truths and a lie paper over to Alana.

The Gryffindor girl read them over, looking as if she were thinking harder than when she read Kyra's. It made sense though, seeing as you and Alana were never close — especially not as close as her and Kyra.

After writing her answer, Alana passed the paper over to Kyra. She skimmed the statements before quickly making her decision and moving the note over to Seamus, who then passed it to Dean, then Neville.

Once the paper returned to you, your eyes trailed over the ink that curved into your handwriting.

1. I have a cat named Salem.

2. I have over 100 vinyl records.

3. My favorite subject is astronomy.

When you circled the first statement in red, you watched all but one face drop.

"Ugh, I'm so good at this game," Kyra stated lowly, dramatically flipping her hair. She had been the only one to correctly guess the lie — that you "had a cat named Salem".

"I'm sorry, you have over 100 vinyl records?" Seamus asked incredulously, gaping slightly in surprise. He and Neville had been the ones to guess that you were lying about having over 100 vinyl records.

Neville nodded a bit in agreement, muttering, "It seems like it'd be a lot."

"She likes music," Dean noted with a slight shrug, remembering your endless talks from second-year Charms about muggle music. "I didn't think that your favorite subject would be astronomy though."

"Yeah, I'm always super tired in that class," Alana agreed as she and Dean were the ones to guess that you were lying about having astronomy as your favorite subject.

"I don't like the class itself, but I think the subject's super interesting..." You answered quietly. "Y'know, constellations and meteors and all that?"

"I suppose that is interesting," Dean hummed.

Seamus was next as he tossed his paper to Alana, wincing slightly when Professor Binns almost saw his terrible throw.

When Alana and Kyra were done answering, you found Seamus' paper in your hand and his chicken-like handwriting staring up at you.

1. I know how to cook.

2. I have a collection of comics.

3. I prefer pancakes over waffles.

Pursing your lips in thought, you hesitated before writing your answer as the first statement. It had been a complete guess, but seeing as Seamus wasn't exactly great with potions — since he always made something explode — you figured he wouldn't be the best with cooking either.

Dean answered right after you, followed by Neville. Once Seamus received the paper, he drew a big red circle around the third statement.

"Waffles for the win," Seamus commented, revealing the answer to everyone else.

"You know how to cook?" You, Kyra, and Alana whispered in synchronized shock, all of you trying to keep your voice down so you wouldn't attract Binns' attention.

"Is that so shocking?" Seamus asked with a hint of offense.

"Uh, yes?" Kyra answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

It seemed Dean and Neville weren't surprised since they had both gotten it right.

"His mum taught him," Dean mentioned.

"And he's got comics back in the dorm," Neville added quietly as they had both used their deduction skills to figure it