Charmbracelets and Eyeliner

PROLOGUE

CRASH

The entire potions class went silent, and most heads turned to the short, dark-haired girl in the back of the room. One would think that she would be used to this by now, as there was a black mark right in front of her assigned table from previous spills. It was almost routine for this particular girl, in this particular class.

Glass lay on the floor, and a green, bubbly substance ate through the stone, causing a burning rubber smell to linger in the air.

"Eh heh... oops," she stuttered, trying to put on the best non-phony smile she could while mopping up the mess with a rag.

Across the room a tall, lanky boy held out his palm to his friend and said, "Five Galleons, van Daan."

"Professor, I am so, so, sorry..."

"Did you not read the directions on the board beforehand as I specifically instructed, Miss Kournikova-Stolichnaya?" the woman asked raising a thin, penciled-in eyebrow and crossing her arms. Her voice was patronizing and cold, causing a chill to run up through the pale girl's spine.

"Well, yes, but..." she trailed off.

"Then could you explain to me and the whole class, exactly what is so hard about two, not three, drops of bat saliva?" Professor Kraut was extremely intimidating to those who didn't immediately impress her, or meet her extremely high standards as a potions student. She looked more like a model than a professor, really. And she had a reputation for purposely humiliating the students, especially the girls. The worse part of it was, the boys loved her.

The girl stuttered again, "But I did read the directions Professor Kraut, it's just that..."

The woman held up her hand to silence her, then walked across the classroom to the mess in the back, her stiletto heels clicking against the floor. The boys watched as the jugular formations on her chest bounced up and down when she moved.

"The next time you purposely disturb my class Stetlanna, you'll be in remedial potions before you can say 'pewter cauldron.'" She always used this voice when someone thoroughly annoyed her. Black hair brushed Stetlanna's face when she whispered her warning into her ear. She heaved a silent sigh of relief as the professor turned to leave, seemingly making a point to bounce up and down.

"Stupid bitch," muttered the other taller girl next to Stetlanna, pretending to take notes from the board.

"Quiet Lil, she can hear you."

"I don't rightly care, Stets. The woman the biggest pain in the arse at Durmstrang who looks more like a whore than a professor."

"Aw, you're just jealous."

Lilian glared at the spiky-haired boy next to her and hissed, "You just like ogling her boobs, Trevor!"

He thought for a moment, dramatically rubbing his chin and leaning back, then turned back to her with a smirk and said, "Yeah, you're right."

"Perv."

The last bell rang, and Stetlanna couldn't have been happier to pack up her things and leave. In fact, neither could any of the witches who had to deal with Professor Kraut that day. Lilian and Stetlanna retreated to their dormitories and bid Trevor good day until dinner.

"Ahhhh, home sweet home!" Lilian breathed, falling back onto her large canopy bed, taking in the essence of rain from outside. The room wasn't extremely spacious, but it was cozy and both huge canopy beds compensated for the lack of furniture besides a bookcase and a vanity (which they shared.) Both magic and muggle books could be found on the shelves, along with whatever else seemed to collect on it. Some items included hairbrushes, various lip-gloss tubes, a few quills and notebooks, and opened howlers. On the walls were quite a bit of posters, many featuring the muggle film star Orlando Bloom (much to Stetlanna's displeasure, but Lilian charmed them so that 'her Orli' could never be 'savagely ripped off the wall.') To get even with Lilian, Stetlanna kept a few pickled animals on her bedside table. Lilian kept a copy of Heart-wrenching Romance Stories and a journal.

Stetlanna began to brush her shoulder-length hair as she said, "Don't get too comfy there. Remember our werewolf essays for Defense against the Dark Arts are due on Monday."

"Shisse."

"Hey, watch your language!" the other girl warned.

"This coming from you? Whatever." Lily rolled over and studied the red mark on her index finger, then inquired, "And since when do you care about homework?"

"I don't. But I'm actually doing quite well this year, so I figure why the hell not try to get decent marks? Besides, Professor Berdinov is sexy!"

Lilian threw a pillow at her friend and they both laughed. Of course, Stetlanna didn't really think that. It was more of a sarcastic comment directed towards every other girl at the school. Think of Berdinov as the Russian version of Lockhart. He'd been at the end of most of their crude stick-figure drawings. The top left drawer of his desk contained nothing but pieces of parchment that he confiscated from them during his classes.

The short girl grabbed the massive green cushion, then started to chuck it back in Lilian's direction.

"Hey, what's that on your finger?"

"I'm not sure, but it stings like hell!" She flipped her exceptionally long dark hair out of her face, making it easier to study the burning red mark.

Stetlanna hopped onto Lily's bed and pulled her hand close to her face, staring at it with her deep brown eyes. Her eyebrow raised and she asked, "Where's that ring you had on this morning?"

"The crystal one? It's in my bag."

"What was the band made out of?"

"Considering Trevor gave it to me it could be anything."

Stetlanna crossed her arms and said matter-of-factly, "Bet it was silver."

She sat up almost immediately and yelled, "That bastard! He knows I'm allergic! Ow, damn..."

"You'd better get to the Hospital Wing..."

Lilian pulled her boots back on and ran to the Hospital Wing, wincing in pain.

* * * *

"Put this on it, Vite. I vood vatch vat I put on my feengers from now on eef I vere you." The nurse scowled at her and gave her a small jar containing a purple fluffy cream before tending to a short stocky boy who'd taken a bludger to the head.

"Danke." With that thank you, she set out to find Stetlanna. On the way back to East Tower, she picked up her copy of the Daily Prophet from the owlry. On the front page was a photo of a scraggly looking man beneath the bold header. She'd immediately recognized the man as Sirius Black. Everyone at school and at home had been talking about it all week and summer. No mater where she turned around, someone was either talking about him or about Harry Potter blowing up his aunt.

"Hey, he'd be pretty hot without all that hair," she thought to herself. "Hmmm let's see, escaped from Azkaban, blah blah, supports You-Know-Who, blah blah, going to kill us all... well, nothing Karkaroff hasn't told us... OW!"

Interrupting her pondering and collapsing with her was none other than Trevor, who now had red robes on and un-spiked bleach-blonde hair. "Hey, Lil! You know if you wanted to fall into my lap you could've asked..."

Ignoring the routine suggestive comment, she examined the new grass stains and brushed herself off before yelling, "You BUM! That ring you gave me nearly killed me. I could have been shipped off to Saint Mungo's you know!"

He shrugged and replied, "Hey, you're the one that wanted it. Do I look like a geologist to you?" He dusted himself off and stood up, then offered his hand to the girl who was rolling her huge hazel eyes at him.

"You know I would never intentionally hurt you, love." Trevor used a low whispery voice when he called her 'love.' As annoying and sex-fiend-ish as he was, he did his best to be there for his friends. Especially since they were the only two girls in the school who didn't slap him every time he made an attempt to be 'charming.'

"Quit while you're ahead, you." The tall boy smiled at her and winked, then held his arm out to Lilian. She took it and grinned, shaking her head. He was so annoying at times.

And yet there was something about him that made her listen...

Standing up, she was almost as tall as Trevor, perhaps a couple of centimeters shorter. The two walked back to West Tower, chattering about what dinner would be. But Lilian kept thinking about the article, and about the warning Karkaroff gave the school on the first night. Would Sirius Black find his way to Durmstrang?

"Of course not," she told herself. "He wouldn't be that dumb, there's at least a hundred dementors outside of the school..."

"Lil, you alright?"

Coming back to reality, she replied, "Yeah, fine... come on, let's go find Stets..."

Trevor studied her face as they opened the door to their house. Something was making her uncomfortable, he could tell. The way her eyes stayed on the ground beneath them, and the way she answered with one-word answers rather than punching his arm or laughing with him. "I'll get it our of her later, she never keeps anything from me for long."