"Listen, Penelope, you look terrible right now."
The bespectacled witch, Hanks, tried to reason with her beautiful roommate. "You're as pale as a ghost. You need rest! Merlin, you've been like this since you returned from Christmas break. I really want to know what happened to you over the holiday..."
Penelope let out a silly chuckle.
What happened? Now, that was a long story.
I could tell you—but could you handle the truth?
"I don't need to see a healer, Shiva. Though I know you won't believe me, I insist—I'm in perfect health." At least, in a vampire's sense of the word. "The holiday just brought some changes to my routine. For instance, my sleeping schedule is a bit different now. Maybe I've taken a liking to the nightlife. Waking with the sunset, sleeping with the dawn—it's almost poetic, don't you think? Like something out of a Muggle poem."
Hanks stared at her in stunned silence before shaking her head. "Not at all. Penelope, you need to pull yourself together. This is a critical time for us. Next term, we take our N.E.W.T.s! That's our ticket to the Ministry of Magic, remember?"
"The Ministry..." Penelope murmured the word, feeling strangely detached as she drifted toward the washroom.
Cold water splashed against her face. She lifted her head, and in the dim reflection of the mirror, she saw a pale, hauntingly beautiful woman staring back at her with deep brown eyes.
She parted her crimson lips. A faint pull of blood through her veins brought forth the truth—two elongated, razor-sharp fangs.
As her fangs extended, her dark brown irises bled into a striking crimson, and her rich brunette locks lost their color, turning an icy, ethereal white, as if drenched in a vat of pale paint.
This was Penelope's vampire form.
She had to admit—it was mesmerizing. She was no longer just a schoolgirl but carried an undeniable air of aristocracy, like a noblewoman straight from the Middle Ages.
Now that she was a vampire, she didn't need to strive anymore. She had an eternity ahead of her, along with wealth far beyond what any ordinary wizard could imagine.
Take the N.E.W.T.s? For what? To work at the Ministry?
Oh, please. What nonsense.
After receiving Nolan's blood and becoming his fourth "death kin," Penelope found herself at a loss. For the first time in her life, she had no clear goal.
She hadn't even spoken to Eve Stock about any of this. Perhaps Eve would have answers, but Penelope didn't want the younger girl to see her so lost and uncertain.
"Penelope, your hair—?"
Her roommate's startled voice pulled her back to reality. Penelope immediately calmed her blood, and in an instant, her fangs, eyes, and hair returned to normal. She wiped the last traces of water from her face and asked, "What about my hair, Shiva?"
"Uh… nothing. For a second, it looked like it turned white. Why did it…? Maybe I imagined it."
"Obviously, you imagined it. Now, stop worrying about my hair. I still have plenty of time before it turns gray with age. Instead of that, why don't you think about what we should do in Hogsmeade this weekend?"
"The weekend!" Hanks suddenly yelped, gripping Penelope's shoulders. "You haven't made plans yet, right?!"
"What?"
"A date, Miss Clearwater! Someone has asked you out again!"
"Who?"
"Who else could it be?!" Hanks rolled her eyes dramatically.
Years ago, Hogwarts' young wizards had all taken their chances in challenging Miss Clearwater, only to be utterly defeated. Percy Weasley had been the last brave soul to try—he had asked Penelope out twice last term, but both times, he had failed.
Hanks' meaning was obvious. Other boys had long since given up. So who else could it be, if not Percy Weasley?
But to Penelope, that wasn't the first person who came to mind.
Ever since Christmas, Nolan had been speaking to her often. While they mostly discussed the Switch, Hogwarts had already started whispering about them. Rumors swirled that they were secretly dating.
She had denied it in the Ravenclaw common room, but gossip was a stubborn beast.
Penelope assumed Nolan was the one asking her out, and her lips curled in amusement. "At least he has some conscience."
"What?" Hanks looked at her, startled. "Is there something between you two that I don't know about?"
"Maybe! To be honest, I've been waiting for him to ask me out. There are some things that, if he doesn't give me a proper explanation for, I'll make sure he regrets it!"
Penelope clenched her small fists with determination.
"So… you're saying yes?"
"Of course! Tell him I'll meet him at—" She paused. "Never mind, I'll tell him myself."
Hanks gawked as Penelope rummaged through her wardrobe, picked out a pristine robe, slipped on her boots, and dashed out of the room. She watched her roommate disappear, utterly dumbfounded.
Miss Hanks realized something: after one Christmas break, her dear friend had undergone a dramatic transformation.
But that didn't matter. What mattered was that Ravenclaw's flower, Penelope Clearwater, had finally accepted a date.
And the lucky guy? The Gryffindor who had been pursuing her—Percy Weasley!
Within hours, the news spread like wildfire, sweeping down from Ravenclaw Tower and spiraling through Hogwarts like a breath of fresh air amid all the tension surrounding the Chamber of Secrets.
Upon hearing the rumor, Hogwarts' male population collectively groaned in frustration. They cursed Percy Weasley to the high heavens, swearing that come Saturday, they would tie him to a stake and roast him with fiendfyre until not even ashes remained!
Completely unaware of this impending doom, Percy was over the moon. He frantically pulled aside the Gryffindor girls and even his little sister, Ginny—who was still recovering from a cold—to ask which robes would make him look less "hopelessly unfashionable."
Meanwhile, Penelope was oblivious to the rumors swirling around her. She was looking for Nolan.
She finally found Eve and Cho in the Great Hall, locked in yet another heated argument. Interrupting them, she got straight to the point.
"Nolan? He's been in the hospital wing these past few days. For Hermione," Eve said with a sigh. "I support him. I really hope he can help her. Poor Hermione…"
Eve then added, "Hey, Penelope, if you're going to see Nolan, could you bring him a jug of tomato juice? Oh, and roast squab—that's Hermione's favorite."
Penelope thanked her and hurried off, leaving Cho staring suspiciously at Eve.
"Since when were you two so close? Just this Christmas break?"
Eve smirked mischievously. "You know, Cho, Penelope and I have slept together!"
"What?! Liar!"
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