*  *  *

THEODORE NOTT HUMMED quietly as he shovelled bites of cauldron cakes into his mouth at ten o'clock in the evening.

The boy had been kicked out of his dormitory for eating, to which he responded with a shrug before choosing to continue his snack down in the Common Room. Technically speaking it was already past curfew, but the Slytherin Prefects were too preoccupied with picking on frightened first-years in the halls.

His luck seemed to have run out as the painting door creaked open, cueing him to shove the last piece of cake in his mouth. It was a rather ghastly sight.

He sighed in relief when Valerie Grindelwald came walking in, he wasn't about to get caught after all.

A cheeky grin made its way to his face. "Well, what do you know?"

The blonde nearly jumped at his words, something Theodore thought to be completely out of character. Sure, she always look drained in class, but she never had a care in the world.

Valerie looked around the room in an alarmed manner, before making her way towards the boy, "What are you doing here?"

"Got kicked out for eating." Theodore raised his eyebrows in amusement as she took a seat beside him, "Where were you? You missed a lot, there was this troll in the— wait, are you alright?"

It was only then that he noticed her bloodshot eyes. The girl was clearly unnerved, and her hands were trembling as she set them on the table.

"Perfectly spiffing." Valerie answered, with a nod. "Could you talk about something? Anything at all."

"You don't look—"

"Just talk, please." she told him.

As much as Theodore wanted to know, he sighed and slouched back in his seat. "Okay, what do you wanna hear?"

Valerie shrugged, "Tell me one of your nonsense stories, you're good at those."

Theodore laid a hand over his heart, gasping dramatically. "Mind you, my stories are not nonsense. They have morals, and carefully thought-out wording."

"Sure," she sighed without argument.

"Oh, I do have one you might like." Theodore perked up. "So, you know how my family's been rather close with the Malfoys?"

"Yeah." Valerie recalled the times she'd seen him by Draco's side, looking rather irked.

"Well, during the summer, they invited us over for afternoon tea. We had arrived a little earlier than usual, and I desperately needed to use the loo, so I walked upstairs. You'll never believe who I found in the bathroom."

Valerie tilted her head at him curiously.

"It was Lucius, adding some sort of extensions to his hair." Theodore shook his head, horrified. "Could never look at him the same way."

Valerie failed to stifle a laugh, cracking a grin. "No way, his hair's fake?"

"Oh c'mon, it's not fake." Theodore chided, "Just the tips."

Valerie was the first to throw her head back in laughter, and suddenly the two were pulled into an unruly fit.

It was the first time Theodore saw her this happy, or with this much of any emotion, really. But, he could still tell she had been crying and he wasn't one to let go.

"You know, I'm a pretty good listener when I want to be." he informed her. The girl raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

Theodore rolled his eyes. "Like I said, when I want to be."

Valerie responded with a slow taunting nod, earning a light shove from the boy. She hesitated for a few seconds as they fell in an awkward silence, before deciding to take a leap of faith.

"My grandfather tells me I was left in his care right after my parents died," she started. "I believed him."

"I believed everything he told me. He was kind to me, and he taught me all kinds of magic. I never paid much attention to the armed guards, or the fact that I spent most of my time with him in a cell. Whenever I'd ask why he was imprisoned, he would talk in riddles, and at one point I just stopped asking." Valerie told him.

"I didn't find out who he really was, or what he did until I got my acceptance letter." she scoffed.

"You didn't know he was Gellert Grindelwald?" Theodore asked.

"I didn't know the same Gellert Grindelwald the world had come to know." Valerie replied. "But then I read about the wars and the attacks and the murders. I guess, when I saw a picture of my parents, I just lost it."

Theodore couldn't believe what the girl was going through. "Bloody hell, Valerie. I had no idea."

Valerie shook her head, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "No one did."

"Which is why," she pointed a finger at him. "If you talk, you're a goner, Nott. I mean it."

"I'm so threatened— whoa, alright." Theodore cut himself off as Valerie's eyes gleamed a dangerous electric blue.

"I never thought I'd be friends with such a delinquent." he voiced out his thoughts.

Valerie looked at him in surprise, "We're friends now?"

"Yup, your very first." Theodore chimed. "Can't get rid of me."

"You aren't my first friend, you git." she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh yeah, then who is?"

"He's—" Valerie frowned as she remembered her last encounter with the Potter boy. "He's ignoring me."

"Sensitive topic." Theodore whistled lowly.

Valerie's glare hardened, and she crossed her arms over her chest.

The boy noticed the girl's sudden change in mood, amusement twinkling in his brown eyes.

"Say, do you think you're so affected by him ignoring you, because you fancy him?"

* * *

Valerie Grindelwald woke up to the sound of soft classical music.

"Morning." She turned to Tracey Davis, who had her eyes locked on a book. Beside the girl was her owl, Harriett.

"Good morning?" Valerie replied, standing up to make her bed. "I see you've made friends with my owl."

Tracey smiled, "Yeah, she's lovely."

"Where's the music coming from?" Valerie asked.

"Oh," Tracey pointed toward the small black box by her bedside. "I think it's called a radio."

"Where'd you get it?"

Tracey grinned, "Nicked it from a muggle-born Hufflepuff yesterday. You should have seen his face."

Valerie shook her head at the girl, just when she was starting to think she was alright. She then noticed the rest of their roommates were still asleep, "Are you always up this early?"

"Not as early as you." Tracey shrugged. "This is the first time I've woken up and you're not sitting there by the window looking like a zombie."

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows, realising the girl was right. It was the first time she'd slept soundly in her past two months at Hogwarts. It was the first time she'd been in such a deep sleep, a dreamless sleep. She let out a quiet laugh, "Fair enough."

A smile found its way to her face, feeling oddly happy about the day to come. In the bathroom, she quickly changed into her robes before standing in front of the mirror. Her short blonde hair stuck up in every direction as it always did, and the dark circles under her eyes stayed the same.

It was a good thing she had a knack for Charms.

* * *

Stares followed Valerie Grindelwald as she walked out of her dormitory and into the Common Room. She was used to it by now, taking her usual seat by the corner table alone.

The Slytherin students were waiting to leave for breakfast, and this time was spent catching up with their friends or in some cases, cronies.

Theodore Nott didn't know how much more of Draco's rants he could take, exchanging weary glances with Blaise Zabini. He was never truly fond of the Malfoy boy.

"Of course, Potter saves the day again. I bet mountain trolls aren't even— hey, where are you going?" Draco and the rest of the table watched as Theodore marched up to Valerie with a silly grin.

"What are you doing?" the girl hissed as all the attention was drawn to them.

"Sitting down?" Theodore answered in an obvious tone as he plopped down on a seat across her.

"In case, you haven't noticed, you've just publicly associated yourself with the resident freak show." Valerie told him, referring to herself.

"Have I?" Theodore asked, standing up yet again, this time on his chair as he clasped his together, all eyes turning to him."I just want to announce that Grindelwald here, is my good, good friend."

Valerie buried her face in her hands in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. "Have you gone mad?"

"No, but I have gone hungry." Theodore pulled her up, catching the girl off guard. "C'mon, mate. It's time for breakfast!"

"You're killing me." Valerie groaned at his antics.

Theodore only ignored her remark as he lead her out of the common room, "Hey, did you change your hair? It's starting to less like a broomstick and more like a straw bale."

Valerie shoved the boy with a roll of her eyes, sending him staggering backward.

*  *  *

"I'm not hungry."

Harry Potter dropped the fork on his plate. Today was his first Quidditch game, and as much as he knew he needed it, he hadn't touched his meal.

"Good luck today, Potter." Professor Snape appeared behind them, "Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you... Even if it is against Slytherin."

Harry's stare followed the man as he walked away, noticing the limp on his left foot. "That explains the—"

He was interrupted by the sight of two Slytherins who had entered the Great Hall, their laughter unceasing as they walked to their table.

Valerie Grindelwald smiled brightly at something Theodore Nott had said, while the sandy-haired boy looked just as happy.

Harry didn't know if it was the fact that he hadn't eaten, or something completely different, but he suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

"You were about to say something?" Ron Weasley frantically waved a hand in front of his face.

Hermione Granger noticed the distaste in his eyes, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Harry turned away from the two, going back to picking at his food.