At some point, in the middle of the dinner, the young girl got just a bit closer to be sure nobody would hear her, and she whispered, "You're not talking to your housemate?" She was obviously referring to Severus Snape sitting as his other side which she had noticed when she entered the place.

He listened closely to her words whispered in such a quiet tone before whispering back, "He's not of good company," reusing the expression she had used before.

She hummed as she looked up, feeling a stare on her. Lily Evans was there, staring at her. She offered her a polite smile before bringing her hand close to her mouth, so she wouldn't catch her words. She whispered again, coming closer at the same time to be more discreet.

"Am I of better company?"

He could feel the smirk on her lips as she spoke in his ear.

"It's not like I had a choice anyway, so I go along with that," he replied back, faking exasperation but it only made the girl chuckle.

She then focused back on Slughorn, forcing herself to not look at the older girl facing her, still sensing her stare.

After another few moments of eating and chatting, the students were finally dismissed.

"See you later," said Regulus as he left the girl to go back to his common room. They were going to change before patrolling, their uniform would be  a more appropriate outfit for patrolling as prefects.

"Why did Regulus Black told you 'see you later'?" asked Eugenia, rather confused, on their way back.

"What? I don't know, to say goodbye you know." Adena and Noah hadn't spoken about their exchange to anyone yet. At least Adena hadn't. She didn't want this to be known.

"Like he'd see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I don't know," she acted as neutral as possible.

"He'd have say 'see you tomorrow'?"

Eugenia was persistent and it made the brunette sigh, "Maybe but I guess he was referring to our patrolling sessions. Noah and I often meet him and Flint and other prefects as well during our sessions."

Eugenia didn't respond but Adena thought it was a rather good explanation because that wasn't totally a lie.

Once Adena arrived in her bedroom, she quickly changed so she wouldn't make Regulus and Ivanna Flint wait too long outside. She knew the girl was kind of impatient. In five minutes, she was ready. She only had to wait for Noah now.

"Oh, sorry Adena, I hope you didn't wait too long."

"It's fine Noah, let's go."

With that, they both left the place to meet their partner outside.

Ivanna Flint and Noah quietly left Adena and Regulus behind, walking slowly towards a hallway.

"Do you think they get along well?"

"I'm not sure. You should ask him, you two are more friends then she and I."

"I guess so..." quietly said the girl.

"What, aren't you friends?"

"I think. I don't know if we're close enough to be considered friends. He's a nice comrade, that's all I know."

"I can't help you with that."

She hummed and stayed quiet afterwards.

After a while of walking around, Regulus broke the silence.

"How is it going with your sister since last time?"

"Pretty much the same," the brunette tried to act disinterested, but it was rather hard considering it was affecting her more that she would admit.

"Maybe she'll make the first step during the holidays."

The girl only shrugged, not really sure about that. And Regulus noted that.

"You seem like the pessimistic type."

"And you seem like the analyzing type," she replied, avoiding his assumption.

"What's that," questioned the Slytherin boy, trying not to sound too amused.

"I don't know. You just seem like the type to analyze others or guess them."

"Maybe you're right."

"It looks like you often read me. Am I such an easy enigma?"

It was Regulus' turn to shrug as he turned to her. "I'm not sure. I feel like there's a lot more behind that façade and these words. But after all it's not like we know each other a lot."

Her eyes went a bit wide as she nodded. He thought there was more to her. But Adena felt like an empty shell with nothing special to see inside. Not that she would tell him that. She always had a hard time expressing herself regarding her emotions that she couldn't figure out herself sometimes. Not only she had a hard time speaking out her feelings, but she didn't want to as well. She withdrew into herself, with her thoughts and emotions. That's why she felt so lonely as well, she was mostly living by herself, inside her somehow safe shell. So why would Regulus think that. In that moment, Adena thought she would probably never find out.

Adena woke up in a gloomy mood that morning. While everyone was feeling excited regarding the holidays, the brunette couldn't even let out one smile. Just like every morning, she was drinking her tea, but didn't take part in her housemates' conversation about the holidays. They had noticed she was being detached, and Millie, being kind and caring, decided to confront her.

"Are you alright Adena?"

Adena just nodded but Jade added something afterwards.

"Is it about Candace? You two haven't talked yet?"

"Yeah," was all the young girl could say.

"Don't worry, she won't stay mad for long, especially with the holidays coming up!" Millie's optimistic voice said, making Adena's lips turned up slightly.

"Well ladies, I'll have to leave you now. I didn't pack my stuff yet."

The girls nodded at Jacob as he left his companions.

"I should do it as well."

"Adena, I don't think you're as messy as Jacob, it won't take you three hours, like him," replied Isaac, making everyone laugh.

"Right, I can take my time."

After finishing, Adena dragged herself to her dorm. She was too tired and too lazy to do anything, so she just lied on her bed, waving her wand in the air so the visible books and clothes would put themselves into her luggage. The other girls just laughed at her laziness as they cleaned up their belongings as well. Not too long after, the four of them had finished. The beds were tidy, the suitcases locked.

"Let's just go wait in the courtyard," said Eugenia. The others just agreed as they put on their warmest clothes.

What Adena hadn't expected was to meet her sister in a hallway with her friends, Lily, Rosie, Briella and of course Maylyn. Candace's eyes turned sad as they met her sister's cold stare. She still approached her, nonetheless. Candace wasn't the best at staying serious nor at forgiving. So, the blonde girl gave her a puppy eyes look as well as a small pout before saying.

"Sis could you forgive your dummy sister for being a stubborn daft, please?"

Adena's glare remained for a few seconds before her face broke into a small, resigned smile, her hazel eyes turning softer as well.

"Okay." And it was enough for Candace to engulf her into a bone-crushing hug. Slightly taken aback, the brunette still wrapped her arms around her sister's waist, somewhat missing her embrace after such a long time. But she quickly waved her away barely a few seconds later.

"You guys would like to join us for a stroll outside before leaving?" asked Jade.

"Yeah, let's go," replied Lily,  as the others agreed as well.

The group took the direction of the courtyard, Candace not leaving Adena's side obviously. They walked for the remaining time before the departure, throwing snowballs at each other on the way, just goofing around, acting silly and childish. But that small moment made Adena happy.

When it was almost 11am, the Ravenclaw girls made their way to the train station, being soon joined by their male companions who threw snowballs at them once again.

"You're such a child," teased Jade to Jacob as he had thrown a big snowball onto Noah's head.

"I'm just having fun. Don't you agree, Noah?"

Noah rolled his eyes. His usually pale cheeks were reddened by the cold as he answered. "Well you basically made me your victim, I'm not sure if I should be having fun..." He was smiling, nonetheless.

"Oh, I'm just teasing," said the boy while wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulders.

author's note: i'm sorry, the beginning of chapters is kinda confusing sometimes, i guess i suck at beginnings lol

anyway, i don't know if you've noticed but i try to have an update schedule (not sure if you follow the updates...) and i usually try to update on tuesdays but i didn't cause i was busy seeing conan gray that night :D  i don't know if you know him but i highly recommend his music!!