「 ✦ aithne greengrass  ✦ 」

     Aithne Greengrass glided into the Slytherin Common Room, her mere presence commanded attention. It wasn't just her confidence or beauty that captivated those around her; it was the aura of perfection that surrounded her, an aura she had inherited and learned from her older sister, Clover. From the moment she stepped foot in Hogwarts, Aithne felt the weight of her family's reputation upon her shoulders. Growing up, she had practically kissed the flawless ground her older sister walked on. In Aithne's mind - and she was sure everyone else's - Clover was faultless

     Through years of observation, Aithne honed her skills. She made sure to refine every gesture, every word, every breath until she became the ideal Slytherin. And when she took over the map her sister had left behind, she didn't just maintain it, she enhanced it.

     Her fellow Slytherins worshipped her, drawn to Aithne like moths to a flame. The Greengrass sisters held quite the reputation at the school. Aithne did not mind this at all. She loved it... as much as one could. Sometimes it did get annoying, especially when they followed her around like lost puppies. Was Aithne miserable? Occasionally. But people loved her so that hardly matters! Did it bother her when her friends would spew heinous insults out at unsuspecting students? Absolutely. But she couldn't say anything, what if they stopped loving her? And if they stopped loving her, what did Aithne have left?

     Utterly and truly nothing.

     Occasionally, amidst the whispers of praise and the fluttering of admiring gazes, Aithne felt a hollow emptiness. It all felt fake, and she supposed it was. But again, it didn't matter. So she smiled, she played her part, and she buried her pain deep beneath the surface, pretending that she was content with the hollow shell of herself she had designed. She built her entire world around what other people thought of her. There wasn't much she could do to change that.

     It was her last year at Hogwarts anyway. Aithne just had to continue the game for a year and then she was done. But then there was the issue of continuing it for the rest of her life because of who she was. But Aithne did not need to think about that, what truly mattered was in front of her.

     The light from the deep emerald lamps beside the couch, cast a faint glow onto her face as Aithne joined her friends. She shuddered when her thighs met the cold leather, it was always so frigid in the Common Room. It was the start of term and she was glad to be back. If Aithne was stuck at her home a day longer she did not think she would make it. Her parents had become weirdly obsessed with her over the break. That is what happens when their beloved Clover is in training to become an Auror. This was fine, Aithne was just not used to it. With her mother's constant preening to straighten her posture and her father's disapproving glances,  Aithne was ready to be back.

     She examined the faces of her friends sitting around her. Across from her, there was Constance Alba, with her dark black hair which was fantastic. She was recounting the story of meeting her newest fling over the summer. Beside Constance was Phoebe Avery. Phoebe was the definition of nonchalant. She sauntered through life with an air of indifference, as if the world was minuscule to her. She was twirling her bleached blonde hair between her fingers as she nodded along intently to Constance's story. Aithne's eyes shifted to the person beside her: Theodore Nott. Aithne had not meant to start anything with him over the summer but her parents had suggested that she start to talk to him. Now they seemed to be a thing.

     Once Constance was finished with her story, she then turned to Aithne with a wide grin. "Aithne, what do you think?" she asked. It was her time now to pretend to ask for her advice, but it was more of a way to see if Aithne approved.

      Aithne noticed Constance staring at her and she finally made her way out of her thoughts. "Hm?"

         Constance's body deflated in disappointment, "Zayne, the fling. What do you think?"

     "Oh," Aithne began, trying to recall any details from her story. She had the bad habit of zoning out of conversations. "Yeah, he seems cool."

     The dark-haired girl perked up with an excited smile, "Yeah, he really was."

       Constance was nice. All of Aithne's inner circle was as nice as you could find in Slytherin, they didn't usually bully people, at least not when Aithne was around. People quickly noticed that Aithne was not the type to pick on others. This was normal behavior to them because Clover never made fun of them either. The Greengrass sisters were way too cool for that.

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

     "It is hard to ignore," A younger Aithne complained. It was her first year at school and she was having a tough time acclimating to Slytherin culture. Even though Aithne was used to the idea of blood purity due to her upbringing, she did not expect it to be such a strong theme at Hogwarts. "And they don't like me! Just because I told them to stop hexing that poor girl."

     "I know, honey," Clover said softly, as she straightened out the wrinkles on her sister's robe. "Just try your best. You will be an outcast if you become too outspoken about it. If the comments become too much, just redirect people."

    "But—" Aithne tried to argue.

    "No buts," Clover interrupted her. "You are too young to understand this. We have certain expectations and pictures we have to uphold. Just watch what I do. You will be fine, I promise."

Clover swept her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she moved on to fixing her sister's tie, "Sometimes, it's better to play the game. So we play the game, and we will be damn good at it."

Aithne nodded, "Okay."

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

Aithne sat next to Theodore in the Great Hall for the welcoming feast. She was focusing all her attention on not reaching for the potatoes. Dumbledore was droning on about random things she did not care about. It was the same boring speech each year. As his talking finally stopped, Aithne reached for the food excitedly. Back home the food was fine, but it was nothing like this.

She mindlessly began to shovel food into her mouth as she listened to the stories around her. Alison Bulstrode was talking her ear off about the upcoming N.E.W.T.S, she was hoping that Aithne could help her prepare for them. Aithne agreed by nodding at her, she didn't mind helping, she would be studying anyway. Then Martha Zabini was telling her about her new owl named Millie - or was it named Tilly? Aithne didn't know. There were so many people talking it was starting to get overwhelming. Although it was always like this, she needed time to get used to it again since her entire summer was extremely quiet. Aithne decided she could most likely get them to quiet down if she began talking.

"Glad to hear how all your summers were," She began, and just like she had expected everyone stopped their stories and moved their attention to her. "Mine was good. I decided to keep to myself for the most part. I wanted to prepare myself for this year since it really counts."

"That is so wise," Martha spoke up dreamily.

The people around her all muttered their agreement. Aithne let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding, it seemed Theodore noticed because his hand brushed against her thigh in a comforting manner. She sent him a tight-lipped smile that did not quite reach her eyes, she swore she just saw him staring at Lacy Carrow. Whatever!

Her focus moved from the people around her to what she really wanted to focus on. She was now met with a sea of crimson and gold, her eyes roamed the crowd of students talking and laughing. Aithne could not help but notice how they all looked much happier than Slytherin ever did. She finally pinpointed who she was looking for. He was listening to something his friend (she believed his name was Remus) was saying. Then, after a moment he began laughing loudly. James Potter - who she had become encaptured by -  was very popular so of course she knew who he was before this, but she never paid him any mind. Aithne had begun noticing him near the end of her sixth year. She was in awe of him for whatever reason.

Aithne hadn't even noticed her lips upturning into a smile until Phoebe pointed it out. "What has you smiling?" She asked curiously.

Her attention shifted back to them as she responded, "Just happy to be back."

★・・・・・・★

e speaks: welcome to guilty as sin! i am so happy you are here.