《Thorn | Neville Longbottom》Chapter 1: Hogwarts Is Not My Home

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Briar Davies had known that she had a soulmate since her first year when Dumbledore explained how the phenomenon worked for witches and wizards. Everyone had a soulmate, he had told them.

She knew from that day that she and fellow students would receive their first soulmate letter on the first day of third year, giving them a clue about the identity of their soulmate. The Ministry had found a spell to determine who their soulmates were, giving them hints as they aged and matured, hoping that many of them would discover it themselves along the way.

While her peers excitedly waited for the first day of third year, she dreaded the moment the process would begin. She would slip from the room whenever she heard someone discussing it or change the subject if anyone brought it up with her.

Luckily, her fellow Slytherins seemed to be the ones who brought it up the least. Many of them avoided the subject just as much as she did, and it felt like a breath of fresh air when Briar could slip into her bed at night without girls whispering about who they hoped their soulmate would be.

Unfortunately, this had all changed between their second and third years as the day they'd receive their first letter grew closer. On the train ride to Hogwarts, Briar had found an empty compartment at the back of the train where the other Slytherins normally gathered, but she was soon joined by her roommates.

Pansy Parkinson slipped into the compartment and chattered to Daphne Greengrass about how good-looking Draco Malfoy had gotten over the summer, fanning herself with her hand as she spoke. Millicent Bulstrode shuffled in next, trailing behind the two other girls like a lost puppy.

Briar gave Millicent a small smile, so Millicent plopped into the seat beside her. Millicent didn't greet Briar as she leaned forward to hear more of what Pansy was saying with bright, curious eyes. Pansy gushed, "You girls should have seen him. His hair...and those eyes... Oh merlin, I hope he's my soulmate."

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As Pansy continued fantasizing about dating Malfoy, Briar stiffened. She had forgotten what tomorrow would bring, but now her skin crawled with this realization. Tomorrow was the first time they'd learn any hints about their soulmate, and Briar just wanted to skip right past that moment.

She stood up and told the other girls she needed to use the restroom, but they all barely glanced at her as Pansy rambled about what she heard the first clue would tell them.

Briar hurried down the aisles to find a bathroom, but she passed a couple second year Hufflepuff girls who jumped in their skin at the sight of being close to a Slytherin. Briar grimaced and stared at her feet as she hurried down the aisle with an ice beginning to settle into her features again. She felt even colder as she passed a group of fourth year Gryffindors who sneered under their breath, "Pureblood supremacist."

Briar stared at them with disbelief and rage flashing through her eyes, but the group just raised their eyebrows and scurried into the closest compartment to avoid any retort she could have thrown out. They acted as if she would certainly hex them if they didn't escape immediately.

How could people call her such terrible things and then act as if Slytherin were the cruel house?

She followed their movements with her dark eyes narrowed, the expression accenting the dark bags that were visible underneath her long lashes. She blinked her now cold eyes as she continued down the hall in search of an open bathroom.

She finally found an empty bathroom on the train and splashed some cold water on her face once inside. She dabbed away the excess water with a towel and stared at her reflection in the mirror coldly. She poked at the dark circles under her eyes and dryly laughed. She wondered what her soulmate would think of that.

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A group of Hufflepuff girls who were older than her came into the bathroom then and gave her wide grins. She nodded at them and gave them a tight-lipped smile in return as she left the bathroom. As she pushed out of the room, she heard one of the Hufflepuff girls dreamily sigh, "We're almost home."

Hogwarts felt like home for many, but for Briar, it didn't. Truthfully, nowhere really felt like home to her, and she didn't think that would ever change.

———

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