Chapter 1

Instructions

Before Hogwarts: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Audrey! AUDREY! You have mail!" Mum shouts from downstairs. I stir faintly from my bed. It's too early to wake up. "Did you hear me? Oh, for heaven's sake, I'm coming up there." I fumble to comb my hair and pretend I was reading. Mum enters the room, holding a letter: To: Audrey Greengrass I frown. Who would write to me? It's the middle of summer. Then I realize: My parents went to Hogwarts; I will, too! "Oh my gosh! Am I really going to HOGWARTS?!" Mum nods proudly, "At least you aren't a squib." Wait- if I got it then Daphne did, too, probably. "Is Daphne going?" "Yes, dear. I'm glad you've both brought no disgrace to this pureblood family." I groan quietly. Daphne's my older sister by a week. She allllways gets what she wants. I do, too, but I just wish I could have this one thing to myself. One thing I had that Daphne didn't. Astoria, my younger sister by about a year, rushes into the room. "I heard, I heard! You and Daphne are going to be magical!" She squeals. I hug her dearly. "It's not really like that, dear. Oh, and Audrey, do try not to associate with muggle borns or blood traitors. It would cause us shame." Of course. My parents are such an ancient pureblood family, they think themselves superior, and they think we should all marry purebloods. I know there aren't many left. The Malfoys sometimes come, but usually not. They're the only ones I remember. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Present night~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I get up groggily. Where's Autumn? Maybe she was cold and went to the fireplace. I start looking for her, and descend into the Slytherin common room. "Looking for someone?" Avery familiar voice drawls behind me. I turn. "Actually, yes. Draco, have you seen Autumn anywhere?" I reply as calmly as I can. "Yeah. Well, actually, she ran off after Potter. After I slapped her." I death glare him. "You WHAT? Where is she?!" "Detention. Or, the trophy room. Not like it matters. Why are you hanging out with scum like her?" "She's my friend," I say defensively. Oh, please don't tell my parents. Then, I run off into the dark hallways in search of my friend. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Before the Yule Ball ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I still don't get why you're fussing about all this." Autumn protests a little. "You know how Daphne obsesses over makeup? Well, it's because my mum taught us to do it ourselves. Gotta make a good impression and look flawless, she says. I can do it, but I usually don't. Daphne does it everyday." I roll my eyes, "And Astoria does it for fun sometimes. One of us is pretty much destined to marry Draco one day." Autumn frowns a little in the mirror. "But I'm not pretty, or beautiful." I grab her shoulders and look her straight in the eye, "You are beautiful. Not just the way you look, but also the person you are. Who cares if blondies are in style? Well, so are amazing, smart people like you. Just because we're going as friends instead of with dates, doesn't mean you're not pretty." Then, I take out my makeup kit. "I'm going to make your buds bloom." I tell her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A half-hour later: Autumn stands in front of the mirror, wearing the dark blue dress I picked for her. She's bold, beautiful, and she's catchy. My eyes stay on her. "Sit still." I say sternly. Then, I twist some of her hair back into an elegant knot. "There. You're bluetiful. See what I did there?" She smiles. "Thanks."