Chapter Text
I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The typical Black family features I had spent so much of my life trying to hide were marred by some of the scars I had sustained during the war. I could still change my appearance but we had agreed that it would be best to remain with something as close to a potential natural appearance as possible. That included the scars, even if I would get asked questions about them. Not that all of them were on display, some were hidden by my abilities or just in other places where they would be covered by clothes. It felt weird to be looking in a mirror and seeing an almost ordinary reflection instead of all the colours I would make my hair and all the experiments I would do regarding my appearance. The war was over now. We had won. Not that it felt like it.
I heard the door open and turned. A girl about my own age entered. "Zoe Tonks, right?" she said. Her accent was American. "I'm Katie Brown. I'm your new roommate." I didn't say anything. "How'd you get those scars?" she asked. Yet again, I didn't say anything. "Sorry." Katie pulled her suitcase into the room. She lifted it up and dropped it on the bed I hadn't claimed. "Are you excited for classes to start tomorrow?"
"Yes," I lied.
"Where are you from?"
"The UK."
"Where in the UK?"
"You don't need to know." Were all muggles this invasive and excitable? I hoped not.
She opened her suitcase and started to unpack. "Strange, isn't it? Being away from home."
"I went to a boarding school. I'm used to it."
"What school did you go to?"
"You don't need to know that either."
"Oh, come on, Zoe. We're roommates. We should get to know each other."
"I prefer to be called Artie."
"Any particular reason why?"
"Multiple reasons. None that you need to know."
She stopped asking me questions after that. We both continued to unpack our belongings. Before Katie had entered, I had been using magic to unpack, however now that she was here, I was unable to do that and so I had to resort to doing it the muggle way which was incredibly boring and involved no flying objects at all.
On my bedside table, I placed a picture of myself with my parents and older sister as well as a separate picture of me with Sirius Black. The muggles hadn't yet been alerted to his death or his innocence, but I didn't care. He was still my cousin and family is family. When Katie saw it, she paled and looked as though she was about to ask a question, but I raised an eyebrow and she stopped. "He was innocent," was all that I said.
"Are you sure?"
"Fairly sure. After his death just over two years ago, it was proven that he had been framed by someone he had called a friend."
"He's dead?"
"Yes. He was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange.
"I'm guessing she wasn't innocent."
"You would be correct."
"So, you knew Sirius Black?"
"Yeah."
"Does S.H.I.E.L.D. know?"
"They know as much as I deemed necessary. Though I would appreciate it if you didn't go about telling everyone."
"Of course."
"Thank you."
A few hours later, we had finished unpacking and were trying to find our way to the canteen. "It's really confusing, isn't it?" she said.
"Not as confusing as the school I went to," I said. It was the truth. Even after years of attending, I still got lost sometimes. Though that was probably because of the moving staircases and all the magical tricks the ancient castle would play on the students and even the staff.
"Yes, your mysterious boarding school that you can't talk about."
"We could really do with a map."
"Yep. Was there one of your school?"
"Of course there was. But there was only one and only a few students knew about its existence."
"Of course."
Eventually, we found our way to the canteen and sat at a reasonably empty table with trays full of food. What struck me as odd was that there were no set tables. Though, perhaps, that had something to do with the years I had spent at Hogwarts. A tall, blonde girl, also my age, came up to us carrying a tray. "Hi. Can I sit here?"
"Go ahead," I said. "I'm Artie and this is Katie."
"I'm Bobbi," she said, sitting down next to me. "What were your summers like?"
"Boring," Katie said.
"Busy with various things that I am not allowed to talk about."
"Was it stuff for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"Not all of it."
"You're not getting much more out of her," Katie said. "Trust me. I've tried."
"I like to have an air of mystery."