Zephlin's day was uneventful, as usual, until dinnertime. Seating herself as far away from Malcolm and Graham as she could get, she paid no attention to the headmaster, who was speaking to them. Glancing up at the old man for a slight second, she was surprised to see a group of people standing off to the side. Professor McGonagall was standing beside them.

The black haired witch led the group over to the sorting hat, which Zephlin didn't notice beforehand. The sorting hat sang no song, which Zephlin thought unusual but ignored it. As the sorting hat sorted the first three students, the next one, Adeil Farfelu, a tall girl with platinum white hair, took her place on the stool. Zephlin looked around and noticed a vast majority of the male population were practically drooling over the girl. The black haired girl rolled her eyes in disgust.

The boys from the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables looked away with disappointment, which made the girl smirk. Without looking at any of the other Slytherin's, the girl made her way down the table, her eyes focused on the solitary Zephlin, who was watching the rest of the sorting with boredom. Seating herself in front of the distracted girl, Adeil snarled at the first-year boy beside her, who happened to be excited that the white-haired girl was sitting next to him. When Elijah Zézayer, a thin boy with black and blue spiked hair, sat on the stool up front, Adeil scowled. 'I hope to hell he doesn't get in Slytherin!'

"SLYTHERIN!"

Pounding her fist on the table, making the plates jump, Adeil let out a string of curse words that would've made Draco Malfoy blush. Zephlin turned around with owl-eyes and looked at the girl in shock. The blonde smiled apologetically at the black-haired girl. "Sorry about that. I don't like him."

Before their conversation could go any further, the table between them was suddenly covered with food, but different food compared to the norm. Besides the usual meat and vegetables, were some strange delicatessens that looked strangely French. Adeil smiled slightly at the quiet girl in front of her, who was trying not to look at the exchange student whilst piling her plate with food. "So, what's your name?" she asked suddenly.

Zephlin smiled at her new friend, a smile that was very genuine, and suddenly she felt a little better than her usual self.

Conversation for the rest of the meal was very little, but both girls enjoyed the other's company nonetheless. Just as Zephlin was finishing off her desert, Malcolm and Graham walked passed - with Elijah. Malcolm smirked at Zephlin, while Elijah grinned at Adeil's back. Adeil didn't turn around once but, from the look on Zephlin's face, knew who it was anyway. Earlier on during the meal, she had spotted Elijah talking, and looking down the table at the two girls, to two boys, one with black hair and the other with brown.

Zephlin let out a small groan and looked at Adeil. With Elijah on his side, Malcolm would sure to be around a lot more. Adeil glanced at the retreating figures before facing Zephlin again. "Looks like Elijah's made some friends."

"Well then, it's a bit of a pity he's friends with them, and you're friends with me. I can tell it's gonna be one hell of-a four months," Adeil commented, stuffing a potato into her mouth.

On the way to the library, the 'Gryffindor Trio', who were incidentally going to the same place, intercepted them. The redhead snared pointedly at the tense Zephlin, to which Adeil simply raised an eyebrow at. The bushy-haired girl just sighed and the brunette boy just stared at the white-haired girl. Ignoring them all, she pushed Zephlin in the back, egging her onwards. She knew there was something between the redhead and the Slytherin, but decided not to interfere as she knew no details.

Before she came to Hogwarts, Adeil had read about the school, for further information. She was glad she did, for she knew the rivalry between Gryffindor's and Slytherin's. What she had just seen was something that ran a little deeper.

Following the other girl, Adeil noticed that the corridors seemed to have grown darker, only candles lighting the way. Zephlin spoke to the stone wall, which slid open to reveal the Slytherin common room. Other Slytherin's were lounging around or doing their homework. Adeil also noted a pile of black ashes in the middle of the floor. Sinking into one of the available seats, Adeil looked at Zephlin, who was staring intently into the fire. Feeling a little uncomfortable, Adeil looked at the black-haired girl questioningly. Before she could open her mouth, another exchange student came over.

As a group of Slytherin's fawned over the white-haired girl, Zephlin stared off into the fire once again. Muting out all sources of life except for the dancing flames, she didn't hear someone sitting in Adeil's vacant seat. Being drawn deeper into the warm colours of the fire, her thoughts swam around in her head. The flames never looked so beautiful and as she slowly drifted into the world of oblivious, the tap on her shoulder brought her back into the world of the living. Snapping her head to the side, she was surprised to see the white-haired girl staring at her.

Zephlin said nothing for she was surprised at the white-haired girl's statement. Adeil looked at the other girl worryingly. "Are you ok?"

But before Zephlin could answer, an accented voice interrupted. "Bon soir, mesdames."

Letting the comfortable silence come between the again, Zephlin's focus was drawn back to the flames. The confrontation between the two exchange students played in her mind. Although most of it was in French, which she didn't understand one bit, Zephlin thought it a bit strange that Adeil didn't have a French accent. Looking over at the white-haired girl, she finally took in a good look at what her new-found friend looked like. The long white hair cascaded over slim shoulders, dropping an inch below the shoulders and was only held up by a black head band. The pale blue robes that the other witch wore would've made the girl appear pale, if not for the light tan. Because of the reflecting fire, Zephlin could not determine the girl's eye colour but, as if the other read her mind, Adeil turned her head and smiled at Zephlin. Her dark brown eyes held no sparkle nor shine, and had a faint hint of redness in them. An unusual colour that made Zephlin think of contact lenses.

"But aren't you a little too young to be doing an overseas experience?" Zephlin asked in surprise.

Zephlin sat back into her seat and stared back into the fire. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "Well, it started about this time last year. My fourth year at Hogwarts. The fateful year that I..."