7. Friendship

Despite only having Potions class with Elixyvette, Sypriana still found time to spend with her friend. During meals with the exception of breakfast, Elixyvette sat with Sypriana at Gryffindor table — they both weren't morning people, so more often than not, one of them usually missed breakfast, and one of them would save a small snack for the other who missed out on her morning meal. On the very rare occasions that they'd both be up for breakfast, they'd enjoy the terrified faces of their fellow students as Icaria swooped down towards the table to drop off Sypriana's mail — it took a long while for the other students to get used to Sypriana's menacing harpy eagle, even longer for them to get used to the fact that Icaria would hover while waiting for little Winnie to finish lugging around Elixyvette's mail before both birds flew back to the Hogwarts Owlery.

Just like Icaria and Winnie, Sypriana and Elixyvette were inseparable whenever classes weren't in session. After their classes were finished for the day, the two would wander around the school until dinner and then would head to the library to work on their homework. They were both advanced for their age, and so for most of the time, they scoured the library for any interesting books. Occasionally, Jun or Ethan would join in on their study sessions, but either it'd get too loud and Madam Pince would start scolding them all or Jun's girl of the week would appear and Elixyvette would suddenly not want to study at all.

There seemed to be some truth in what Ethan had told Sypriana on the train ride. Sypriana could definitely see that Elixyvette fancied Jun to some extent, but Sypriana had yet to broach that topic, though, because every time she wanted to bring it up, Elixyvette would be in an especially sour mood and Sypriana didn't want to worsen it — Elixyvette never turned her temper on Sypriana, but Sypriana wasn't daft enough to turn that sour mood into a volatile one. Sometimes, however, Sypriana would entertain the idea of a volatile Elixyvette only because Elixyvette really was too meek sometimes and also because the girls Jun entertained really were unsightly, either in appearance or personality or sometimes unsightly in both regards.

Weekends were much more relaxing, especially when the upperclassmen from third year and up were out at Hogsmeade. Sypriana and Elixyvette would spend some time chatting with the portraits, idling away the late mornings with stories of olden times and tales of chivalry. When the weather permitted, they'd spend their time in various locations around the castle — Sypriana especially loved to sketch the ornate hallways and towering turrets of the castle while Elixyvette read and learned about spells and potions in different languages.

The Sorting Hat didn't make a mistake when sorting Elixyvette, Sypriana would think to herself. Her friend was thoroughly a Ravenclaw. Sypriana had no idea where Elixyvette stored all the information she absorbed — perhaps Elixyvette's brain had an Extension Charm on it because there was no way an eleven-year-old girl's brain could store all those spells and potions in English, Chinese, Malay, and Japanese! The girl was trying to learn Korean too, whenever Jun wasn't busy with any one of the girls trying to catch his attention.

Sometimes, in rare moments of self-doubt, Sypriana wondered if there was really a gap between Muggle-borns and Purebloods. Elixyvette, for a lack of a better word, was very learned in comparison — very knowledgeable in almost every aspect of the wizarding world, even of wizarding cultures beyond that of Great Britain — while Sypriana was still learning how to go about her daily life without much Muggle technology. (She had to admit, though, that the hair-drying spell was much better for her wild curls than an old hairdryer.)

But then, those moments of self-doubt would disappear whenever Elixyvette would ask about the Muggle world. The only thing Elixyvette had known about the Muggle world was in terms of Disney movies and shows, and that was the extent of her knowledge on all things Muggle — of course, Elixyvette knew about the telly, but she had thought there had to be some magic to the boxed contraption. It was very amusing for Sypriana to watch as Elixyvette wrapped her head around the latest Muggle technology or even the thought of riding an aeroplane for hours on end to reach a far-away destination.

And on most nights, Elixyvette would always sneak into Gryffindor Tower, and the two of them would continue whatever conversation they left unfinished during the day or they'd whisper about a random topic until they both drifted off to sleep. Their little sleepovers always happened in Gryffindor Tower — Elixyvette insisted it was much harder for Sypriana to sneak into Ravenclaw Tower, and so Sypriana never really gave it much thought why they never spent any time there — and sometimes, if they were giggling too much, they would move their little sleepovers to the common room.

Very often during these little sleepovers, Sypriana wondered if this was what it was like to have a sister, to have someone close enough to just talk the days away with not a care in the world.

That was how Sypriana and Elixyvette spent their first year at Hogwarts. And in no time at all, the end of the school year came about.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of JK Rowling. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

The next chapter starts the second year! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Honestly, this is just a fun little project for me to do, not really something super grand, but I really hope there's some people who find this amusing or fun to read!